"Perhaps I forgot to introduce myself... My name is Kyoshi. I was born in the Southern Earth Kingdom to farmers, Han and Lian. I started Earthbending when I was one, and was a master by the age of twelve. On my sixteenth birthday, I learned the truth; I was not just a farmer's daughter, not just a normal Earthbender... My name is Kyoshi, and I am the new Avatar."
Kyoshi Rising is an Avatar: The Last Airbender Fan Fic by iowaforever, focusing on the titular Avatar and her rise to prominence after the death of Avatar Kuruk.
It can be found here
. Or here.
Not to be confused with The Rise of Kyoshi, a canon tie-in novel depicting Avatar Kyoshi's life.
Kyoshi Rising provides examples of:
- A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: Kyoshi is the youngest of three (her older sister being approximately nine years older), and is the only Bender in the family.
- Bad Liar: Kyoshi.
- Badass Normal: Ty Jun, a high ranking general in the Fire Nation military and the inventor of Chi Blocking.
- The Bard: Sun; a Wandering Minstrel from a long line of Wandering Minstrels, he meets Kyoshi as he's traveling the Earth Kingdom collecting songs and stories. His dream is to write the Avatar's biography, and he tries his best to use his knowledge of folklore and theater to help Kyoshi achieve her potential, to varying degrees of success.
- Beleaguered Bureaucrat: The dock master of Taizhou is grumpy and over-stressed, but he does help Kyoshi out when she asks for him to point out a ship to the Fire Nation. Sun notes that the two aren't so different in regards to their stress and duties.
- Berserk Button:
- Kyoshi doesn't take too kindly to people who pretend to be the Avatar.
- Anything to do with Chin is slowly becoming one for Kyoshi.
- Better as Friends: Kyoshi and Adachi ultimately decide to stay friends instead of pursuing a relationship.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Kuruk dies quelling a storm in the Northern Water Tribe, and the next scene shows Kyoshi being born in the Earth Kingdom.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Kyoshi to Adachi, when their discussion about dealing with Jian Feng and a possible traitor devolves into an argument.
- Combat Hand Fan: Lady Sho's specialty. Ty Jun knows a bit of the art and Kyoshi seeks out Lady Sho to learn from her.
- The Confidant: Sun is slowly growing into this role for Kyoshi, helping her open up and lending an ear whenever she needs someone to talk to.
- Con Artist: Kyoshi and Sun run into one on their way to Omashu. Kyoshi uses her Earthbending to expose his cheating to the (now very angry) crowd.
- Cool Old Guy: Lau Dan, Xin Beifong and Wei-Jin. This was to be expected, since they are members of the White Lotus.
- Cool Teacher: Lau Dan, Kyoshi's Earthbending instructor and White Lotus member.
- Kyoshi herself towards Princess Miyaki, tempering the princess' brattiness while also assisting her with lessons in Firebending and leadership.
- Cooldown Hug: Sun administers one to Kyoshi when she almost smashes the head of one of the men who attacked her family.
- Country Mouse: Kyoshi is very impressed by Omashu and large cities in general. She doesn't like crowds or how paranoid the guards are, though, and has very little experience dealing with nobles or rulers.
- Cowboys and Indians: As a child, Kyoshi's older brother and his friends enjoy playing rounds of "Earth Kingdom Soldier", breaking off into teams and having the heroic Earth Kingdom defeating the evil Fire King with the assistance of the Avatar (the biggest argument is not over who gets to be on the good team, but who gets to be the Avatar). Kyoshi is often "kidnapped" to be the Damsel in Distress, at least until she gets more control over her Earthbending and gets everyone to accept her as the Avatar whenever they play.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: a few, not all of them in favor of Kyoshi:
- Kyoshi vs. Wong Chu: Kyoshi completely destroys Wong Chu while the latter is busy trying to make himself look impressive. She takes him down even quicker when they fight again near the end of the first story arc.
- Kyoshi vs. Princess Miyaki: while not a serious fight, Kyoshi manages to beat the princess simply by out-maneuvering her before striking at opportune moments.
- Kyoshi vs. Fire Lord Mitsuo: Kyoshi is beaten rather savagely, but manages to land a final hit on the Fire Lord, forcing the fight into a draw.
- Kyoshi vs. Lady Sho: Kyoshi loses, but does win the right to train with Lady Sho.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Mai-Lin, although she does her best to hide it from her friends. It finally catches up to her in Chapter 46.
- Eye Scream: The One-eyed Earthbender gets first his good eye and then his face burned off when he fights Kyoshi.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: While in Omashu, Kyoshi runs into a man who claims to be the Avatar. She objects to his claims, and the two fight a duel over who is right. Kyoshi trashes him without breaking a sweat.
- Farm Girl: Kyoshi was born to farmers in the Southern Earth Kingdom.
- Faux Affably Evil: Chin acts friendly and cordial towards Kyoshi when they meet. Keyword is act.
- Fear of Thunder: Kyoshi expresses a dislike of storms, saying that she used to run crying for her parents whenever a storm rolled in.
- Fluffy Tamer: Kyoshi tames a shirshu, which she named "Isra", before facing Lady Sho.
- The Gambling Addict: Sun; he almost lost his earlier traveling partner in a bet, and would have lost quite a bit of money to a Con Artist had Kyoshi not cleared things up.
- Honor Before Reason: Mai-Lin accuses the Fire Nation nobility of this after Kyoshi's Agni Kai with the Fire Lord.
- How Do I Shot Web?: At the beginning of the story, Kyoshi is only a child and thus has little experience with actual Earthbending. She tries to teach herself based off of what others have told her (mainly flailing her arms and stomping her feet ala The Last Airbender), but can never Bend more than a few small rocks unless she gets angry. Once she gets some formal training, she progresses quickly.
- Humble Hero: Kyoshi doesn't like receiving any special treatment.
- I Am Not Him: Kyoshi is a bit more blunt than Kuruk was, and people have noticed it.Obstructive Bureaucrat (whom Kyoshi currently has in a Neck Lift): Th-the Avatar wouldn't threaten people.Kyoshi: Sorry if I am not Kuruk, but your actions and blatant disrespect for the spirits have endangered the entire village. If I need to threaten you, then so be it.
- Even more explicit when Kyoshi kills Jian Feng.
"I am not like you, Jian Feng... But let me tell you of another mistake you made... I am not Kuruk." - I Did What I Had to Do: Yangchen's outlook on her tenure as the Avatar.
- I Should Have Been Better: Kyoshi blames herself for her mother being injured by bandits on the night Kyoshi learned she was the Avatar. Her main goal is to make sure that never happens to anyone ever again.
- I Work Alone: Kyoshi's initial outlook. Sun talks her out of it after she reveals she's the Avatar.
- Killed Off for Real: Jian Feng and Adachi die by the end of the first arc.
- Lost Him in a Card Game: In Sun's backstory, he almost had his travelling partner enslaved by Sandbenders when he bet too high in a game. His partner repaid him once they reached Gaoling by taking the winnings and framing Sun for robbery.
- Manipulative Bastard: Minister Honsou is pulling the strings behind the Fire Nation royal family, working hard to make sure they stay under his control. Hard enough that he is willing to hire Jian Feng as a mercenary to attack the Fire Nation and draw Kyoshi away from the Fire Nation.
- The Medic: Mai-Lin; in the scene she is introduced in, she heals Kyoshi's arms after the latter burns them in a duel.
- Motive Rant: Honsou, after he is attacked by Miyaki, rants about how his manipulations were done to help the Fire Nation. This is enough for her to convict him and have him arrested.
- Mundane Utility: Lau Dan teaches Kyoshi how to use her Earthbending to fish (although he has practical reasons for it; Earthbenders need to be able to feel impacts and tremors through the ground, so they don't get snuck up on).
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: the magistrate's assistant in the first town Kyoshi and Sun visit continuously rejects Kyoshi's offers to help with a spirit problem, even after she reveals herself to be the Avatar. Kyoshi eventually gets fed up with him and puts him in a Neck Lift.
- Oh, Crap!: Kyoshi, when she meets Sage Gorou after her escape from the temple.
- Parental Neglect: Fire Lord Mitsuo, due to lingering grief over his wife's death.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Fire Lord Mitsuo. He is a stern father but he seems to want the best for both his son and his nation, although his Parental Neglect sometimes gets in the way and he can be manipulated by the likes of Honsou.
- Renowned Selective Mentor: Lady Sho, one of the last practitioners of the art of using Combat hand fans and Ty Jun's former instructor. She's a recluse who lives on Ember Island and has turned away many potential students, including the Fire Lord himself.
- Revenge: One of Jian Feng's motives for hunting Kyoshi; Kuruk made some kind of slight against him, and he is now set on taking out his revenge on his successor.
- Royal Brat: Princess Miyaki. She grows out of it through Kyoshi's influence.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Fire Nation Prince Adachi. His father even reproves him for doing reckless things to help his subjects.
- Starter Villain: Jian Feng serves as the catalyst for Kyoshi's journey, and his presence and influence weighs heavily on her mind throughout her travels. He's killed off in Chapter 38, but not after striking down Adachi.
- Shock and Awe: Miyaki starts researching the possibility of Bending Lightning after she brings it up in a conversation with Kyoshi. She succeed and uses it to subdue Honsou.
- Shout-Out:
- When Kyoshi's powers first manifest, she pushes her brother and sister away with some small pillars. Her sister runs to her mother and says Kyoshi threw a rock at her... it was a big rock.
- The Fake Ultimate Hero Kyoshi fights in Omashu, Wong-Chu, was based off an early Iron Man villain, a Vietnamese colonel who liked to wrestle his prisoners in exchange for their "freedom".
- A villain named Honsou.
- Show Within a Show: Sun's stage adaptation of "The Avatar and the Dragon Queen", an old history on the rise of the Fire Nation. Watching the play gives Kyoshi a few things to think about in regards to her duties as the Avatar, and influences the decision to choose her makeup for her Iconic Outfit.
- Statuesque Stunner: Kyoshi usually towers over most of the people she interacts with.
- Stern Teacher: Lady Sho; she constantly calls Kyoshi an "idiot girl", gives Kyoshi vague instructions on performing tasks (and then hits Kyoshi with her fans or thrown sticks if Kyoshi gets the task wrong/questions the task), and keeps Kyoshi relatively isolated from the rest of the world. However, her training does produce results, and Kyoshi is able to learn quickly and win some respect from the master. And she is not a total sadist, allowing Kyoshi a day off to see Sun's play.
- Take That!: The style of Bending in The Last Airbender is mocked a few times, with Lau Dan saying that excessive arm motions actually makes a person's Bending weaker.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Played straight during Kyoshi's fight with Jian Feng and his group, averted during her fight with Wong-Chu.
- Tame Her Anger: A recurring theme concerning Kyoshi; Kuruk points out her anger issues when they first speak, and Kyoshi lets her temper get the best of her and she yells at the Fire Lord when calling him out on his Parental Neglect. Several characters say that while she was in the right, she didn't have to scream about it.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Kyoshi would have been fine just living out her life on her family farm, but then Jian Feng attacks her home and she's forced to take up her role as the Avatar.
- The Needs of the Many: Yangchen's philosophy boils down to this; it is the Avatar's duty to preserve balance in the world, and thus they must be unrestrained from all possible bonds. Kyoshi appears to be taking up this view when she goes to confront Jian Feng.
- The Wise Prince: Prince Adachi. He does his best to help people, wishes to learn how to be a good Firelord and treats commoners with respect.
- Tiny Tyrannical Girl: Princess Miyaki demands plenty of things, most of them focusing on having her brother or Kyoshi teach her Firebending than a more capable master. It takes Kyoshi confronting her head-on that Miyaki takes a level in kindness and mellows out.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kyoshi is the tomboy to her very girly sister Mei.
- Trial by Combat: To be accepted as a student of Lady Sho, Kyoshi has to fight a duel against the master. Kyoshi loses, but Lady Sho decides to train her anyway.
- Wandering Minstrel: Sun, whom Kyoshi meets early in her journey. He doesn't actually get an instrument until they arrive in Omashu, and usually acts as Kyoshi's tether in case she starts slipping too far into Knight Templar mode.
- Walking the Earth: Kyoshi, in a literal sense of the term; she spends most of her time walking from place to place, although she does get help from fishermen, merchant sailors and White Lotus members.
- Sun's occupation as a Wandering Minstrel demands that he does this. He doesn't seem to mind, until his wanderings lead to him getting into trouble.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Both of the fire Nation siblings have issues regarding their father's Parental Neglect.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Minister Honsou claims to have done all his manipulations for the betterment of the Fire Nation. It's not enough to save him from being arrested.
- Wizard Duel: Agni Kai, as in canon. Kyoshi ends up fighting one with Fire Lord Mitsuo after their argument over parenting; Kyoshi is beaten into unconsciousness but manages to land a final blow on the Fire Lord, causing a draw.
