The cave was dim, only lit by the sheen of candlelight.

The air was hazy, and smelled of  smoky campfires.

A man was sitting cross -legged, his back turned towards the entrance.

The palm fronds rustled and the cool scent of night air came rushing in.

A hooded figure emerged, looking around, as if to make sure that nobody would see it, even though the cave was obviously empty apart from the meditating owner.

The figure dipped its head, a gesture of deep respect.

When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't used it for years.

"Master, I come seeking your knowledge. I plead you, help me in these troubled times!"

The flames on the candles surrounding the meditator flared brighter, as if they were mocking him.

"Shintozu, you dare come here to ask me for advice? Even after I warned you not to return to my home ever? How foolish of you. Foolish, yet brave. You always were the type to charge before thinking, weren't you."

The strangers breath caught in his throat and he threw himself to the ground, pleading.

"Please! Master, I'm deeply ashamed of what I did then. My heart is filled with nothing but remorse. I beg you, forgive me!

I was young and foolish. I shouldn't have done what I did." 

The candles glowed even brighter.

"Very well. I shall show you what you seek. But be warned, your future is not bright. Knowledge comes with a cost. Your children's children will pay for your greed and hunger for power."

The man, Shintozu, let out a cry of gratitude, scrambling upward, thanking the other with grateful words.

"Follow me."

The Avatar's voice was cold.

Shintozu followed him through winding tunnels, narrow and chlostrophobic.

The closer they came to the source of his search, the colder the air got, until it felt as if they were trudging through ice.

"We are here. Kneel." 

The voice with which the knowing one spoke was not his anymore, but the voices of all of the former Avatars In one, creating a bone chilling, echoing chorus.

Shintozu gasped in fear and kneeled down, as demanded.

"You have dared to try break the Avatar's cycle. Now you come here, seeking your own destruction. Bestow what the future has in store for you and your successors, unholy one!"

He let out a scream of pain as his body was forced to twist in ways not imaginable. 

His eyes, once so dazzling green, fogged over as he was driven to insanity.

Unhuman cries echoed through the caves.

Shintozu doubled over, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

His eyes were blinding quickly, and as the last of the beautiful green was covered by white,his body stopped moving.

Then, slowly, eerily, he stood up, limp like a puppet being controlled by another, otherworldly being.

There was a sudden change of air.

The clear, ice cold oxygen was replaced with withering blue smoke, curling off the walls in sickly waves.

A voice echoed through the room, not the Avatar's, not Shintozu's. A mystical, commanding voice, hissing through the thick fog.

'You have taken the curse, Shintozu. So, as a last wish, I grant you what you were looking for. The prophecy will only be spoken once. As a reminder to your sin, one of your successors will receive the burden of being the subject to it's horrible fate. 

So listen closely, and I shall bestow the future of your cursed race upon your fragile shoulders.

Forced to greatness

Fleeing from destiny

Hiding underneath an Assassins' cloak

Can neither escape the perils of the war,

Nor the gruesomeness of DEATH

The nightmares shall give glimpses of what is yet to come

Plagued by eternal fear

A frenzied chase for freedom

Blood is written over her hands

Bestowing her the power to kill

To burn

To  destroy

Insanity is a close friend

Though she tries to escape it,

Future cannot be undone

A path written in stone

Sealed with blood

Time is drawing closer, so is peril.

So behold the Dragons' chosen!

 Deathstalker Scorpion,

RISE,

Rise from the ashes of your forefathers 

Change your fate.