Avatar:Xiaoyun

  

Xiaoyun

Ethnicity	Fire Nation
Died	Year 17 of the era of Yangchen
Eye color	Golden
Position	Human weapon
Affiliation	Shang merchants (formerly)
Weapon	Fire
Fighting style	Firebending, combustionbending
Allies	Zongdu Henshe, Zongdu Chaisee, Yingsu
Enemies	Avatar Yangchen, Thapa
First appearance	"Last Chances"

Xiaoyun was a firebender who became one of the earliest combustionbenders in recorded history, and was planned to be used by the shang merchants as a human weapon in order to break free of the authority of the four nations.

History

Xiaoyun was one of many recruited for the secretive Unanimity project to create human weapons on the remote Natsuo Island chain, designed to be used in a bid for independence by the shang merchants. Like other firebender recruits, he was subjected to a murderous training to develop an extremely dangerous firebending technique, combustionbending. Many others did not survive the ordeal and drowned in the process. Aside from Xiaoyun, only two others survived: Yingsu and Thapa. All three were subjected to brainwashing by Zongdu Chaisee, the main head of the project, though Xiaoyun and Yingsu never fully surrendered to the mind control. After completing their training, the three left for Jonduri.

When Unanimity was dispatched by Zongdu Henshe from Jonduri to Bin-Er, the three combustionbenders boarded the Queen of Omashu, a ponderous five-masted junk. During the voyage, they guarded three large wooden boxes that were carrying rocks, which acted for a decoy to those that thought Unanimity would be an actual object. They were very tight-lipped to other crew members, such as Kavik. They ate twice as much as everyone else to preserve their energy and their strength, and slept in shifts. Once the ship arrived, Kavik saw that the crates were full of chopped seal blanks, and realized that the benders were in fact Unanimity itself.

During the display of Unanimity's power that Zongdu Henshe had planned, Xiaoyun and Yingsu were posted in separate apartments deeper inside Bin-Er, while Thapa stayed by the zongdu's side. However, Avatar Yangchen arrived in the city just in time, and executed a raid on his position. Yangchen removed the air from the room he was in, making him unable to breathe. He lost consciousness, but Yangchen immediately paused afterward in order to spare his life. She dealt with him so effectively that Akuudan and Tayagum only had to pick up his unconscious form.

As Yangchen could not expose the truth behind Unanimity to the Earth Kingdom, she had the three combustionbenders contained in plots of land along the mountains of the Northern Air Temple, and made monks renowned for their martial prowess watch over them. Abbot Sonam was disappointed that the Avatar had made jailers of the Air Nomads, but she had no other option. The combustionbenders refused to answer her questions, and she realized that they were players in their own right, eager to improve their position.

Half a year later, the Northern Air Temple and its surroundings were raided by Chaisee's agents. Having known of the raid in advance, Thapa decided to increase his own uniqueness and value as an assassin by murdering his former comrades Xiaoyun and Yingsu. After overwhelming his own guards with the aid of Chaisee's agents, Thapa immediately went off and attacked Xiaoyun's small jail with combustionbending before the latter knew what was going on. Xiaoyun was killed in the attack, though the explosion causing his demise warned Yingsu of Thapa's treason. The remains of his corpse were later recovered by the Air Nomads.

Physical description

Xiaoyun was a tall and powerfully built man. He had golden eyes that were often only found in the Fire Nation, and wore a beard.