literature

Tenzin

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Literature Text

Tenzin – Warrior of the Air

For centuries the Air Nomads preached a philosophy of nonviolence.  In recent times, however, the younger generation of Air Nomads could not stand by and watch the Fire Nation set the world ablaze.  A split began to form within the ranks of the surviving Air Nomads.  On one side was the older generation, who wanted to remain true to the ancient ways and live in peace and anonymity.  On the other side was the younger generation, who wanted to fight back and reclaim their homes.

Tenzin was one of the most gifted of this new generation of airbenders.  In the old days, for an airbender to earn his tattoos and the title of master, he had to pass the 36 levels of airbending and create a new airbending technique.  Necessity demanded that the Air Nomads do away with the tattoos long ago.  Tenzin, an airbending prodigy at 16, became the second youngest person ever to earn the rank of master after Avatar Aang himself.  He did so by studying the movements of the Sky Bison and developing the technique of True Flight.

Master Tenzin soon became the loudest voice for change among the Air Nomads.  It disgusted him to see the Fire Nation take over the world and kill anyone who got in their way.  He spoke passionately of going back out into the world and fighting for their freedom.  His voice struck a chord among the youth of the Air Nomads.  However, tradition ran strong and many still followed the ways of the monks of old.  The elders of the colony overruled him and forbade him from travelling out into the world and risk discovery.  They still remembered their years as fugitives and had no interest in reliving them.

All of this changed with the coming of En Chang Kuei.  He brought with him news that the Fire Nation was setting up an outpost nearby.  The point was brought forcefully home to the elders of the Air Nomads – they couldn’t stay in hiding forever, sooner or later the war would find them.  Reluctantly, they gave the word to join in on the fight against the Fire Nation.

Tenzin exploded into action.  He became fast friends with the Dai Li agent and was soon taken under En’s wing.  En began training the young airbenders in the skills they would need to survive in the world.  Tenzin quickly became his star pupil.  He excelled in every skill the Earth Kingdom spy taught him.  It wasn’t long before he joined En on his excursions into the outside world.  Not long after that Tenzin himself would be the one who was leading raids into the Fire Nation.  

It was Tenzin who lead the raid against the Fire Nation factory that was responsible for manufacturing the airships for the Firelord’s attack on the Earth Kingdom.  When Sozin’s Comet finally arrived, only a dozen airships survived Tenzin’s raid.    Originally, the Firelord planned on sending hundreds of airships all over the world to destroy every bastion of resistance simultaneously.  But with only a dozen airships ready, he was forced to concentrate his ships on the single most powerful target – The Earth Kingdom.
Whew! I guess I'm on a roll here!

Another one of my characters for my fan fiction. I think I have about five or six of these left to go before I get moving on the actual story. Doing these little bios helps me organize my thoughts and gives me a framework to work with when I write.

Tenzin is meant to be a departure from the Airbender stereotype. He's not a pacifist. He won't turn the other cheek. He has no problem killing if the situation warrants it. He's meant to be everything Aang is not.

I don't like stories where the 'good guys' and 'bad guys' are clearly defined. Tenzin is definitely one of those characters that could go either way, and you won't really know for sure what side he's on until the very end.

Hope you like!
© 2008 - 2024 MadHatter3479
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ShrubNinja's avatar
Very interesting character. You seem to have put a lot of thought into your character's background stories. How long have you had this in your head?