Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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A Friend for Life
Written by: Cylisy
Chapter Two
Guardian
Aang yawned a large, and happy yawn as he sat up in one of the guest beds. Light filtered through the cracks in the blinds, illuminated parts of the room, mainly the four empty beds and the one still occupied by the yawning child. He groggily looked about the room, lazily taking note of the empty beds, the sole glider, and the chattering of scavenging winged lemurs outside the guest room looking for a quick breakfast.
"Mm," Aang sleepily said, "Food."
He sat tiredly in the bed before his eyes opened fully as he exclaimed, "Food! I'm late! Oh, no!"
The six-year-old Airbender scrambled from his bed and hurriedly gathered his clothes, dressing as he fled from his room. He rushed across the guesthouse, used a blast of air to quickly ascend a large flight of stairs and ran as fast as he could across the temple grounds.
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" He worriedly said as he crossed a bridge to the most distant structure of the Eastern Air Temple, located on the farthest mountain. The Eastern Air Temple was scattered across three mountaintops thusly making travel between them troublesome to those on feet. Gliding was much quicker, but, in his haste, the young monk had forgotten his glider back at the guesthouse.
He ventured higher and higher up the temple with a clumsy but determined gait. He passed meditating monks, scheming winged lemurs, and training nuns practicing their bending. Aang did not stopping until he reached the bison stables at the very tip top of the holy structure. He slid through the large doors, stirring up dust and straw, and quickly took his place next to his snickering peers.
The nun that had introduced the young monks to their animal guides had been given other duties so a monk from the boys' home temple had arrived in her place over night. He was not a professional at sky bison rearing, but knew enough for the day's lesson. He was the renowned Monk Gyatso, one of the monks in charge of the Southern Air Temple. Monk Gyatso was also the sole caretaker of Aang, the reason of such relationship was unknown to the boy, however, and was quite baffling. None of the other boys were being raised by a single monk. Everyone grew up as a family.
Monk Gyatso eyed the late arriver with a humorous look, raising a curious eyebrow as he did. He cleared his throat as he said, "Now that each of you have been given the responsibility of raising a sky bison, you must be sure to take complete care of the little calf. That includes being on time to feed it."
Aang scuffed his feet and hung his head as red embarrassment crept across his face.
The monk continued. "Most of you have fed your calf and the ones who have not will be given the chance to in just a moment. For now, I have a short word to share with you about the importance of bonding with your animal guide. It will be your friend, that much is true, but it will also grow to be your guardian. You must trust in your bison and it must have complete, unwavering faith in you. Your very lives may someday depend on the strength of your relationship with your spirit guide. Remember this."
He smiled as he observed his studious pupils. They were deeply contemplating what had been told to them. Monk Gyatso cleared his throat and asked, "Have any of you thought of a name to call your new friends? That is surely to first step to bonding with your sky bison."
A wave of lightheartedness washed over the group of young monks as they were given something much more pleasant for their youthful minds to think about.
"Fluffy!" One of the children jokingly announced.
"Spot!"
"Tiny!"
The list continued on for a moment before the children separated to tend to their animal guides. Aang hastily made way to his hungry friend but was unfortunately detained by his caretaker.
"I'm proud of you, Aang."
"What for, Monk Gyatso?" Aang asked with a voice of question.
"For taking the stand of leader yesterday. You gave your peers bravery. You will need this great power for when you're older," the wise man said.
"What do you mean?"
Monk Gyatso shook his head and did not answer. He, instead, said, "Have you named him yet?"
"Uh-uh," the boy answered. "I haven't thought of what to call him yet."
"A name will come in time. Go to him and feed him, Aang," he kindly said. "I'm sure he is very hungry."
A surprised remembrance popped onto Aang's face as he remembered what it was he was doing. "Oh, no!"
He ran off towards his newfound friend while his caretaker watched him with humor twinkling in his eyes. Aang found his sky bison patiently waiting for him in a bed of straw. The Airbender compassionately said, "I'm so sorry buddy! I woke up late! I won't do it again!"
The calf made a little noise and licked his caregiver's hand. He was a friend for life. He would be forgiving. He would be a good listener. He would be a playmate. He would be Aang's guardian.
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