Chapter 8: Wind and Flame
Kang and Eamon stood before the elder at the centre of the air ball pit, the sounds of the Air Clan playing and training filled with air whilst the scent of lavender flowed through the chamber.
"A Fire nation Prince wanting to learn Air-bending... I never thought I'd see the day," the elder told them as he looked Kang up and down.
"Do you have a name we can call you?" Kang asked, lightly shrugging his arms.
"My name is Yorru," The Elder told them as Kang and Eamon slowly nodded.
"What's the first lesson going to be?" Kang asked, eager to get started as Yorru gestured to the Airball pit.
"A good old-fashioned game of Airball!" Yorru proclaimed, Kang raising an eyebrow before looking to a shrugging Eamon.
"Alright... Airball," Kang replied as Yorru invited the mad inventor onto the slender poles.
Kang leapt onto them, carefully balancing members of the Air Clan quizzically looked at him.
"Elder, why are you allowing this Fire Nation scum into our game!?" An Air Clansman asked.
"Curb your tongue, Re Tou! The war—from what these outsiders have told me—ended long ago. We need not fear the Fire Nation any longer," Yorru replied, the Air Clansman glaring at Kang as he waved to them, but a stray female Air Clansman approached the mad inventor, hair partially covered the back of her head, and she wore orange and yellow monk robes.
"Don't mind them. The elders taught us to fear the Fire Nation and kill them on sight... and you being a Fire Nation Prince has them on edge," The Air Clansman informed Kang.
"I only found out I was a Prince last week," Kang nonchalantly replied, surprising the Air Clansman.
"Well, I'm Ku Tou, it's nice to meet you!" The Air Clansman greeted him, extending her hand out to Kang.
"And I'm Kang, a Fire-bending Inventor!" Kang replied as he shook Ku-Tou's hand whilst Yorru looked to Eamon, the shadow-bender's arms crossed in a slouched posture.
"Are you not joining in?" Yorru asked, catching Eamon off guard.
"I think I've learnt enough bending styles for one life," Eamon replied in a melancholy manner.
Kang and the Air Clansmen broke into two teams, beginning their game of Airball, leaping between poles and striking the ball, bouncing it between the members of each team, the Air Clansmen woefully outclassed Kang, but he kept his balance atop the poles whilst darting across them, surprising Yorru.
Re Tou lined up a shot towards Kang as he leapt onto a pole, striking the ball with a ferocious kick.
"Kang, on your left!" Ku Tou shouted as Kang looked to his left, the ball smacking his upper chest and knocking him from the pole, but as he fell, Eamon opened up a portal beneath Kang, briefly transporting him to the Shadow Realm before reopening the portal next to him, causing Kang to fall out and into Eamon's grasp.
"You okay?" Eamon asked as he supported Kang.
"Yeah... one of these Air-benders just smashed the ball into me," Kang winced, looking around to see Re Tou smirking at him.
Yorru grimaced at the Re Tou, leaping onto the poles, intending to teach him a lesson, but to his surprise, Ku Tou blasted the hot-headed air clansman off his pole with a howling gale, throwing him down into the pits.
"Ku Tou!" Yorru shouted, surprising her as she twisted around to look at him.
"Nice hit!" Yorru added with a smile, Ku Tou smirking before the Elder returned to the platform Kang and Eamon stood on.
"I must say, Prince. You moved... adequately well for a Fire-bender," Yorru commented on his performance.
"Well... I had an Air-bending friend teach me some moves," Kang replied as Yorru gave him a quizzical stare.
"We have a friend who can... 'switch' personalities and bending styles," Eamon nonchalantly explained, but Yorru became even more confused.
"The world has changed much since our time in the Air Mountain it seems," Yorru replied, sauntering off into the mountain.
Kang and Eamon pursued him up a staircase which spiralled up the mountain. Small plots of farmland built within the mountain stood off to the sides of the spiralling stairway, with large holes above them to allow sun and moonlight into the farm plots. The three walked past statues of past Air-bending Masters, some ancient and others more recent until they reached a small stone chamber near the peak of the mountain.
"If you are to become an Air-bender, you must bolster your spirituality. Air-bending is much more than just fancy footwork after all," Yorru told him, leaping into the air, crossing his legs and breaking his fall with a gust of wind. Kang nodded, slowly sitting down before Yorru whilst Eamon leaned against the walls of the chamber.
"Take a deep breath, and let your mind empty," Yorru told him as he and Kang repeated what he said to do, causing the two to go into their meditation.
Hours passed by, Eamon had fallen asleep, snoozing next to the wall whilst the two meditated, but as they did, two misty forms began emerging from Kang and Yorru, their spirits departing from their body whilst the elder's spirit looked at Kang's in shocked awe.
"You're just a natural at everything, aren't you?" Yorru sarcastically asked.
"What? The Avatar did this during her first meditation session. Is this not normal?" Kang asked as he looked at his spiritual self.
"This is a technique that only the spiritually connected can pull off! It would make sense for the Avatar, but some Fire Nation Prince? Absurd!" Yorru replied in his tone mildly offended tone whilst Kang thought to himself.
"Hmm... could be because of my recent trip to the Spirit World?" Kang suggested, offending Yorru even further.
"You went to the Spirit World? How?" Yorru asked, offended but curious.
"Spirit Portal," Kang nonchalantly replied whilst Yorru bewilderingly stared.
"You know, if Spirits could faint, I think mine would," Yorru replied in an unimpressed manner, an uncontrollable smirk coming over Kang as a silence loomed over the two.
"Well... anywhere you want to go? Or do you just want to continue your training?" Yorru curiously asked.
"Well... I haven't been able to see my friends for a while, perhaps I could go see how they're doing?" Kang asked, hoping Yorru would be alright with it.
"Very well, focus on the energy of a person you have a powerful bond with, and transport your spirit to their location. Keep in mind though, if they don't have a spiritual connection, they won't be able to see you," Yorru explained as Kang nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on Lin within Republic City, his spirit flickering before disappearing entirely.
Kang's spirit appeared in front of the Heart of Chaos, seeing Khana, Lin, Ty Lee and Sky stood before it, all four looking up, fear toiling in their eyes. Kang turned around, floating upwards to see the Heart of Chaos in all its dreadful glory.
"Sweet Fire Buns!" Kang exclaimed, but as he did Tenzin began sceptically looking around.
"Are you alright, Tenzin?" Bumi asked with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
"I'm pretty sure I just heard someone say 'Sweet Fire Buns'," Tenzin replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I think that False Avatar hit you in the head a little too hard," Kya jested as Sokka lightly smacked his lips.
"Although now that you mention it, I could go for some Fire Buns right now," Sokka hungrily replied.
"Me too! I'll go raid the bakery!" Zu replied as he charged off towards the bakery whilst Toph shook her head.
"He never changes," Toph muttered with a smirk as Li grinned at her comment, continuing his healing. Kang drifted back down to Khana, Lin, Ty Lee and Sky, worryingly looking at them.
"Let's not push ourselves too hard..." Sky told them as he entered, but Khana scoffed at him.
"We're getting the Avatar Spirit back no matter what!" Khana replied whilst Ty Lee followed her in.
"He's right though, Khana. We don't want to go dying," Ty Lee replied as Lin remained quiet, looking up at the Heart of Chaos, swallowing her dread before stepping in, passing through Kang's spirit as she entered, an odd warmth catching her off guard as she let out a slowly sharp gasp, catching the attention of the other three.
"Are you okay, Lin?" Ty Lee asked whilst the three looked at her, but Lin slowly nodded.
"I'm fine... just... felt something strange when I entered," Lin replied, quizzically looking behind her before following the others in Kang's spirit fondly smiling at her.
"Good luck, Lin," Kang told her, his spirit flickering before disappearing once more.
Kang reappeared before Yorru, smiling at him as Yorru smirked back, the two returning to their bodies and reawakening within their mortal forms.
"Thank you, Yorru!" Kang told him, bowing his head to him before the two stood back up.
"Come, Prince. We still have to forge you into an Air-bender!" Yorru replied with a smile before marching out of the room, lightly kicking Eamon and startling him awake.
"What did I miss?" Eamon asked as he sat up, looking at Kang offering him a hand up.
"Just some spiritual stuff," Kang replied with a smile as he pulled his friend up, following Yorru out of the chamber.
Eamon lightly shrugged, chasing after Kang and Yorru, passing by the statues and farms once more, the lavender scent hitting their senses once again as Yorru guided them to a small training ground.
Yorru invited Kang and Eamon to the centre, the two standing against each other as they quizzically looked at Yorru.
"In the old days of Air-bending, its primary use was defence, but as you know it had to undergo drastic changes," Yorru explained as Kang and Eamon nodded.
"But despite the changes, we cannot alter the pacifistic roots of Air-bending, so you must learn to evade, flow like the wind away from Shadow Man's attacks, feel the air course around you. And do not fight back," Yorru explained further as Kang and Eamon looked to each other with brief smirks.
"At least I know I'll keep my head this time," Eamon jested as he raised his fists.
Kang smiled at him as Yorru backed away, signalling them to begin. Eamon launched his fist forward with magnificent speed, but Kang flowed away from it, the fist just barely missing his face as the Shadow-bender went to sweep the mad inventor's legs. But he jumped over the attack, smirking at Eamon.
Kang and Eamon circled around one another, Eamon with his fists raised whilst Kang sauntered around with his hands behind his back, the Shadow-bender lunged forward, kicking out as Kang evaded once more, gracefully flowing away whilst Eamon kept up his assault, charging and striking at the mad inventor whilst he evaded, but the more his friend persisted, the more Kang stumbled, feeling the urge to fight back, teetering on the edge of the small arena, glaring at Eamon and pushing out his palm, unleashing a small blast of air, knocking Eamon off his balance whilst Kang pushed himself away from the edge.
"Kang... I think you just did Air-bent," Eamon told him as Kang sceptically looked at his hand.
"He's correct... although it could've been just a fluke," Yorru replied, shrugging at them as Kang looked at Eamon with a determined gaze.
"Let's keep going," Kang told him.
The two would practise for several minutes more, but as they did, a chill ran down Kang's spine, catching Eamon's punch in his hand as he looked down at the ground, the Shadow-bender and Elder looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Is everything alright there, Prince?" Yorru asked, but Kang shook his head.
"I think... I really need to get back to Republic City..." Kang told them, Eamon and Yorru looked at one another then back to Kang.
"You haven't finished your Air-bending training yet... I don't even know if you can properly do it yet," Yorru told him.
Kang released Eamon's fist, looking down at himself with worry whilst Yorru thought to himself, inviting Kang over to the centre of the arena. Kang walked over, standing within the centre whilst Yorru stood to his side.
"We air-benders learn to feel the energy of the wind, not just the breeze on our skin. You must be one with that energy. Use your chi to bend the wind to your will," Yorru explained, twirling his hand as a slow breeze gusted behind Kang.
"Do you feel the wind at your back, Prince?" Yorru asked as Kang slowly nodded.
"Now... bend it, you've pulled off the fancy footwork, the avoid and evade, even taking control of your own Spirit. Now don't go disappointing me," Yorru told him as Kang took a slow breath, raising his open palms.
Kang lightly squatted, his chi coursing through his body, Yorru ceasing the breeze as Kang struck his palm out, letting loose a blast of wind, a grin of glee coming over his face.
"And with that, you're an Air-bender. Albeit a novice," Yorru told him as Kang turned around to the Elder, looking at his tingling hand.
"Thank you, Yorru!" Kang bowed to him as the elder nodded before looking at the two.
"I suppose you'll be needing a ride back to this 'Republic City'?" Yorru asked as Kang nodded, lowering his hand to his side.
Yorru guided them towards a large enclosure near the base of the mountain where a small herd of Sky Bison lived. Yorru placed his thumb and index finger into his mouth, whistling to one of the Sky Bison.
"Tuan! Come here, girl!" Yorru called over to a Sky Bison, making one of the older looking Sky Bison raise its head, lowly gruffing, before walking over to Yorru.
Yorru quickly handed Kang an apple he had hidden in his sleeve.
"Give that to Tuan," Yorru whispered as the Sky bison loomed over them.
Kang slowly approached Tuan with the apple in his prosthetic hand, giving it to the Sky Bison.
"Here you go!" Kang happily told her as Tuan sniffed the apple before lightly pinching it from Kang's hand.
"Now Tuan, I want you to take this Prince back to Republic City, is that clear?" Yorru asked as Tuan gave a low grumble.
Yorru looked to Kang, gesturing for him to jump on. Kang climbed aboard Tuan, looking down to Yorru and Eamon.
"Are you coming, Eamon?" Kang asked as he grabbed the reins attached to Tuan's horns.
"I'm afraid not, Kang. The Earth Kingdom's in disarray and I need to do everything I can to help," Eamon replied as Kang smiled at him.
"Good Luck, Eamon!" Kang told him as Eamon smiled back before opening a portal and leaping through it, departing from the Air Mountain.
"Now, to make Tuan fly, you need to say the words 'Yip-Yip'... It's one of the few things we can say that Sky Bison understand," Yorru replied as he stroked Tuan's fur.
"Alright!" Kang replied, nodding as he prepared to set off.
"Feel free to come back to finish your training any time, Prince. And if we're not here... check the Air Temples," Yorru told him as Kang smiled.
"I'll come back sometime... but for now," Kang replied, looking down Tuan's head.
"Tuan! Yip-Yip!" Kang commanded as Tuan set off into the air, flying through the Skylight at the top of their enclosure, beginning their journey to Republic City.