A being unlike any they had ever seen before

Kuvira and Jinora hadn't even marched into the cave's tunnels for more than 5 minutes before they heard footsteps approaching from the darkened end of their tunnel.

The battle-tested metalbender tensed. "Show yourself, at once!" She commanded, her tone firm.

Her order was met by an amused and, oddly enough, musical sort of giggle.

"My, my, you really like to order people around, don't you?" A female voice said from the darkness. "That is good. You may indeed prove a worthy match for my power. But I need to be sure..."

The two of them raised their torches as the footsteps got louder. Before long, they saw an ethereally beautiful woman with purple skin, pointy ears, and even horns on her head. She was carrying a wooden staff that held a large, glimmering gem at the top.

Kuvira blinked at the sight. "Have you ever seen a spirit like that?"

"No," Jinora said slowly, "and coming from me, that is saying a lot."

The woman laughed again. "That's because I am not a spirit. In fact, you have more in common with spirits than I do, girl," She added while looking at the airbending master. "After all, a small portion of the light of Raava lives in your blood...most curious."

Jinora's eyes widened at the remark and then, the exotic-looking woman inhaled deeply after tilting her purple head in the airbender's direction. Then she nodded.

"Ah," She said in dawning understanding. "You are a direct descendant from one of the Avatars. That explains it. Well, now I have mixed feelings. What am I to do with you?"

Kuvira took a step forward, ready to bend the metal pieces and blades from her armor directly at her at a moment's notice if she started to attack.

"If you are not a spirit, then what are you?" The general demanded to know.

The woman grinned and part of her skin seemed to glow momentarily at the mere question. "Why, I am a Startouch Elf. But I suppose that name does not have any meaning to you."

Kuvira was mentally drawing a blank, so the woman was right about that and after a brief glance at Jinora, it seemed the feeling was mutual.

"You feel...extremely powerful," The spiritually attuned airbender said at last. "Even Vaatu at the height of his power might have trouble against you. Yet your energy feels...so different too...and the spiritual essence is just a mere fraction of it."

Kuvira tensed even further at the announcement that she was a potential threat that could have matched the Spirit of Darkness in a duel...and probably a fully realized Avatar by extension. While she was preparing to bend her metallic spikes if it came to that, the so-called elf shrugged.

"That's because, while I spent several centuries trapped in the Spirit world, I am not actually from that world, or yours for that matter," She explained in a matter-of-fact. "I suppose that would explain why my energy feels so foreign to you.

"Wait what?" Jinora asked, her mouth agape. "You come from another world?!"

Kuvira's expression was not immune to that revelation either, her eyes widening in a rare moment of shock. The elf chuckled at their reaction.

"What?" She asked in an innocent tone. "You must have known that for Harmonic Convergence to occur, the planets around the sun must align. You really thought yours was the only world in this corner of the stars where life arose?"

The two benders were silent as they took a moment to digest those revelations and very suddenly, Kuvira's mind was filled with new dreams of visiting other worlds, basking in the wonder of looking up to a different sky, and seeing what they had to offer for her nation.

The purple woman smirked at her and Kuvira frowned, wondering what was up with that.

"My name is Yaravas," The woman said with a slight nod of the head. "May I ask yours?"

"This is Jinora," Kuvira introduced with a wave of her hand. "She is, as you suspected, a grandchild of Avatar Aang. As for me, I am General Kuvira, Interim President of the Earth Kingdom."

"Ahhhhh," The elven woman said slowly. "Then you are the Great Uniter I have heard so much about from the minds of the Earthbenders that wandered into this cave. That explains a lot."

The two humans tensed yet again at what she said. Then, the metalbender crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

"We are looking for a murderous bandit that would have entered this cave yesterday, trying to flee the consequences of his crimes," She declared.

"And all the other people that had been stranded here in the last few months," Jinora added.

"Precisely," The general continued. "Do you know where they are?"

"But of course!" The elf assured them. "I offered them the chance to complete the trial that would grant them a powerful boon and release me from my bonds in the process. After they all failed, I used my powers to keep them asleep while I gathered information from their minds."

Kuvira narrowed her eyes, her fist clenching as she braced herself for combat. "I suggest you release them then."

"You know, I have a feeling I actually will," Yaravas responded. "But for me to allow that, you need to pass my test first. And I assure you, the boons, should you succeed, will make it worth it."

Before Kuvira could reply, she moved her staff, which had started glowing intensely and to their astonished eyes, the cave around them disappeared, replaced by a wide-open canyon.

And before them stood...a huge dragon.

For a long moment, the famous Great Uniter was actually speechless. That dragon was bigger and different than any other she had seen from artworks and as far as she knew, Lord Zuko's companion was the last living dragon of the age. So it was surprising to see a new one, especially when she realized after looking at the name of the Startouched elf tattooed on the white scales of its chest, thereby highlighting that the mighty dragon was her property.

The elven woman chuckled at their expressions. "This is Sol Princeps," She announced. "An Archdragon from my homeworld of Xadia. I was able to take him with me after I was banished from my world. Find a way to dominate him in combat and I will grant you the first boon. And if you succeed, you may meet me deeper into the cave to see if you are worthy of...taking charge of the powers of ownership.

Her smile faded. "For both our sakes, please, do not disappoint me."

Then, the elven woman glowed in a purplish hue and disappeared from their line of sight. Then, the dragon the elf owned glanced at the pair of benders and roared.

A/N: For those that didn't get the reference, know that I was taking inspiration from the lore of The Dragon Prince Netflix show (also produced by part of the original Avatar show crew) when it comes to the character of Yaravas. I even named dropped her planet, Xadia. But here, she is an OC. If you must, think of her as a twin sister of the main Big Bad of the Dragon Prince series, the Startouched elf known as Aaravos. And, yes, she is the current holder of the written ownership power in this parallel universe. But, as she hinted, she is looking for a worthy, kindred spirit to share the power with. More on that later. But yeah, Kuvira is getting that ability soon, now that most of the set-up lore has been taken care of.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did, then please review. And until next time everyone, see ya!