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((I would like to apply for a normal White Lotus member; my character is much too young to be a Grand Lotus.))

The small wooden boast smashed against the strong waves, causing mist to drift onto its two passengers. They were sailing around the shore of the Fire Nation, on their way to the Southern Water Tribe. Kaito was doing his best to propel the boat forwards through the crashing waves; he was extremely eager to reach home. And now that his girlfriend Zatana had agreed to go back to the Arctic with him, things couldn’t be better. He was only eighteen and knew who he was going to marry. Sure, their elements were polar opposites, but their love for each other was the same none of the less.

Kaito was surprised he hadn’t noticed the large ship earlier. Yet, within the blink of an eye, there it was, coming right up on their port side. Its crew looked malicious and hungry, armed to the teeth. Kaito’s skin crawled as he glanced at each of them. He knew exactly what they were: pirates. And it seemed that they had targeted his ship for a raid. No way was he going to let that happen.

“Can I help you gentlemen with something?” Kaito asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. He knew that within a moment’s notice he could shoot up a pillar of ice through their ship and destroy them all, but he wanted to wait on that for a moment.

“Yeah,” their leader grinned. “Everything on your ship. All of it.”

“Now, now,” Kaito said, as if he were talking to a small child. “That isn’t a very good idea.”

“Neither is refusin’ us, kid,” the older man laughed. His eyes diverted its attention to something behind Kaito. Turning around, Kaito’s eyes opened as he saw pirates holding knives and swords to Zatana’s neck. He noticed that the pirates were glistening with water; they must have swam under his boat and climbed on the other side while he wasn’t looking. “You’ve got to the count of three…” the pirate captain muttered.

“Please,” Kaito said in a pleading voice. “Don’t…”

“One,” the pirate smiled.

“You don’t want to do this…” Kaito warned, taking a slight battle stance. He was already gathering water from the ocean around him.

“Two…” the leader was already giving his men the signal.

“No!” Kaito shouted, flinging his hand towards Zatana. A pillar of water shot up from the ocean and spun towards the pirates… but it was too late. They sliced Zatana’s neck, spilling her blood across the deck. The one holding her was splashed off of the boat as Kaito screamed in anger and agony. He could only watch as his true love fell over onto the ship’s deck, lifeless. Seething rage boiled up in Kaito’s veins as he faced the other three that had boarded his boat. Lashing out, a humongous wave of water slammed against the enemy pirates, smashing their bones. Turning back to the pirate’s boat, Kaito placed his palms down, gathering all of the water that he could. Now was when the pirates finally became fearful; the leader yelled at his men to catch the wind and head out, but the orders fell on deaf ears. Raising his arms, two gigantic pillars of water rose from the ocean, taking watery and loose forms of dragons. Once they had reached their peak, Kaito froze the heads so they were more like soaring missiles. Yanking his arms down, Kaito brought the enormous dragon-shaped water pillars onto the pirate boat, smashing it to pieces and killing most of the crew.

The resulting wave unexpectedly flipped over Kaito’s boat, knocking him unconscious.

It was the next day when he woke up on the beach. His eyes fluttered open as the sun blazed down upon him. He was sore, but alright. Unbeknownst to him, someone had healed his injuries while he lay on the beach. The first thing young Kaito noticed was a small chip on the ground. Picking it up, he brushed the sand off of it and inspected it. It was a Pai Sho chip; the White Lotus.

I would like to be Grand Lotus of Fire.

Sixteen-year-old Luo Agagisan walked along the lively streets of Fire Fountain City, past the statue of Ozai that spat out flames of fire like a fountain, for which the city was named after. He carried a red Fire Nation schoolbag and was dressed in red robes, the standard school uniform. As he approached his modest dwelling he saw that his old mother wasn't outside sweeping the road.

"But we payed the tax already! You can't possibly demand more!" he heard his father's voice from inside the store. "This is oppressive behavior!"

"The tax just tripled. Now pay up, or we'll put you in jail for the rest of your pitiful life." A stranger's authoritative voice, probably domestic soldiers bullying his poor blacksmith family.

Agagisan slammed the door open and rushed in. He saw several soldiers in his family store confronting his family. His mother's face was slightly bruised and indicated she had been hit.

Before the soldiers to blink, Agagisan raised his right leg and kicked a fire blast at a soldier, causing him to fall face-first into a vase. "What are you doing here?" Agagisan demanded, glaring at them.

"Who is this brat, your son? Well, we get to kill him in front of his father!" the leader chuckled. He got into horse stance and held his arms in front of him, prepared to attack Agagisan.

Just then, Agagisan's father kicked the soldier in the back and sent him crashing to the floor. "Nobody messes with my family!" he roared, sending a wave of fire at the rest of the soldiers.

The leader got up to his feet and dusted himself. "I'll be back, old man. Don't be surprised when you find you store in flames!" The soldier turned and shoved past Agagisan with the rest of his men.

"Father, I want to join the Army," Agagisan proposed after witnessing this cruelty. "Let me join the Army, please."

"WHAT?" His father shook his head. "I will not let my son fight in the war. Or any way. It's just too dangerous."

"But Father," Agagisan reasoned, "our family is poor and often bullied by those awful soldiers. If I join the Army, I will be able to support our family and gain respect, especially if I become an officer."

"The soldiers are the scum of the Fire Nation! I will not let you compare yourself to them!" his father yelled angrily while helping Agagisan's mother up.

Agagisan's disabled cousin, Zhu Roku, appeared from the kitchen on a wheelchair. Roku had always understood him the most and Agagisan admired him even though he was disabled. "Uncle, my mother always told you that we owe ourselves to the country. And plus, Agagisan's firebending is strong. No earthbender or waterbender can defeat him easily," Roku argued on Agagisan's side.

"Agagisan, we're just worried for your safety," his mother managed to say.

His father pondered this for a moment, rubbing his sweaty forehead. "Alright. But be safe." Although Agagisan's father was a strong man, he couldn't resist having his family leave him. He held back his tears as his son packed and hugged his family.

The next morning, Luo Agagisan made his way through the busy, humid streets of Fire Fountain City as street vendors called for people to buy their products. He imagined it would be the last time he saw these people. "Farewell," he whispered to the wind. He took a deep breath, then pushed open the heavy doors of the recruitment center. It was basically a large one-story building with standard red roofs. Many young men were lining up to get a good position in the military. To Luo, this was his entrance to adulthood.

As they interviewed the candidates slowly, Luo got his number, number 152 and waited in line. Other people had set up tables and were playing games or playing music. "Hey you, you want to play Pai-Sho?" a guy asked. Luo nodded and took a seat. His father had taught him some tricks in Pai-Sho which he often used. Within minutes, the other two players had lost all their money. "Woah, are you a member of the Order of the White Lotus or something?"

Luo shook his head. "My father taught me many things about Pai-Sho. Besides, I thought only old people joined it. Is it even real?"

"Of course! Fire Lord Zuko's uncle Iroh was one of the most famous Grand Masters of the order. But after Sozin's War ended the order disappeared back into the shadows... never to be heard again!"

Luo Agagisan chuckled. "I see you're also pretty good in storytelling too." But Luo did believe him. He always heard stories about these members, who were rumored to be the most powerful fighters int he world. And he believed he would join them, someday in the future.

That was 4 years ago... Luo Agagisan is now 20. But I suppose that's still quite young for a Grand Master. Can't I be a regular member, at least?

Thank you... so I'm in the Order of the White Lotus now?

So tell me again...how powerful are these lotus master thingy?

but what is a white lotus again?

ooh, can I be a lotus member?