Overhead, in the still dawn air, only the faint whisper of the wind rustling through the leaves, the cackle of a small fire and the swosh of a small trickling crick nearby could be heard. The sky was still a dark sheen of blue, but it was morning.
The young man, hardly twenty years of age sat cross-legged at the edge of a very small camp. He was fully conscious, but in another state of mind; a very precise meditation technique that drew the meditator's mind to a distant place that was different to each person. His hair was now tied back, and only shoulder length, which was four inches longer then it was since he cut it a full ear ago, and the color was a dark shade of brown; lighter than it used to be.
'Good.' Change was good. The only thing that stuck with him since he left the Order was the scars; both mental and physical. He had stubble on his chin, and slightly more than the shadow of a mustache. He was bigger, more physically and mentally fit, and was now a master at the art of fire bending. But none of that mattered. Only the cleansing of his soul did. The cleansing of his sword.
His name was Gendo Riis; a kid with the intelligence of a battle tested and battle proven general, the strength and speed of a Bull ox and the grace of a butterfly.
Gendo took a breath, and opened his eyes. 'West to the capitol,' he thought, before packing his camp an hour later. 'Once there, i will clear my name, and look for a career,' His biggest wish was to start anew, and he planned on doing it in the Light Nation's Capitol any way he could. 'Welcome to your new life, Gendo' he thought, then started west.