Wind Down

Jingshen was a village built on the branches of Emperor Trees. The trees were mighty bastions that pierced the very skies above the village with leaves that blanketed the sky and kept the days cool and shaded even in the depths of summer. Branches of the trees were of a strength that rivaled metal. Naruto had seen for himself a many axes break on contact.

Legend has it that the trees were remnants of ancient spirits that had given themselves to the planet itself. Naruto placed a hand on one of the nearby trunks. Fingers running over the rough ridges, he could just make out the dense spiritual energy just beneath the bark. Sensing all of that made him want to believe that.

The Over Brush, the portion of the village built upon the branches, contained the residences. Some of the buildings were tens of stories high yet the branches held true and he never even saw as much as a swaying. It was odd though that there were far more buildings than there were occupants, stranger still was his ignorance of their construction. He couldn't point out a moment in his childhood that he had seen anybody building the residences. There was just a steady stream of new buildings that would be built days at a time.

Portions of the Over Brush that were on separate trees were linked through wooden bridges. One could make their way through the whole of the upper village on the different bridges.

The village square was the ground level of the village. Spaces between the trees were great enough to offer room for structures as well. No one actually lived on this level of the village, instead it was filled with restaurants and shops. On a given day, one could just take in the rich aroma of foodstuff seeping on the ground level.

The levels of Jingshen were disconnected. Travel between the levels was done with the regular use of air bending. When he had been very young, he needed to be carried from the different levels. It was a rather convenient set up for air benders.

It was normal to see villagers chatting amiably amongst one another, often times sharing a little laugh and merriment. Naruto couldn't endure the sight of any of that today. Looking at his fellow villagers just further cemented how misplaced he felt. Every other villager donned the traditional arrow tattoo that marked an air bending master.

Today their typical jovial and playful laughter felt more like jeering at his failure. That was all he was: a failure. Sometimes he felt like the brat of the village. A large portion of the village was well into their twilight years and the rest were gliding to that age. Naruto was literally the only kid in the place.

Naruto didn't pay anyone much attention beyond polite smiles as he made his way through the village. He wasn't in quite the right mood to interact with them. He ducked his head as he noticed a group of flying lemurs speeding just past his head.

At the same time he nimbly danced around a group of doll like spirits that donned colorful but simple robes and each carried a single leaf as an umbrella of sorts. Recognizing him, the spirits chirped greetings his way.

A smile worked up to his lips despite his mood. Flying lemurs and leaf spirits held a special place in his heart. He had spent many days in his childhood playing with these guys as dear friends. Even now he could remember the joy of leaping into bundles of leaves they would collect as they fell from the massive trees and sound of listening to them sing their songs as the sun would rise. As far as he was concerned, they were his peers ever since youth.

One of the spirits yanked on his pants as it chirped and pointed upwards. Looking up, he saw an acorn on a nearby branch. Chuckling, he crouched down and shot upwards using a jet of wind that shot out of his foot and snatched the acorn. Landing gracefully, he knelt down and offered the acorn to the leaf spirit. It clapped in joy and took the acorn. Naruto held down a chuckle as he saw the spirit tumble away with an acorn a touch too large for its arms.

Leaf spirits weren't the only welcoming spirit in the village. Jingshen was a place of such spiritual richness that it invited the presence of spirits in the physical world. Since youth, he had been taught to have great respect for the spirits. While those in the village were playful and helpful, he remembered all the lessons Yangchen had given him on malicious spirits. Naruto was very grateful to have never crossed paths with one of those powerful and wrathful spirits. Not that he was scared of them anyway!

Naruto heard the sound of something traveling through the air. He clumsily caught what he realized was a yellow mango. Glaring at the direction the mango had come from, he berated the thrower, "Watch where you toss things to Jiraiya! That could've knocked me out."

Jiraiya laughed him off with that boisterous laugh of his that could grate on even Yangchen's nerves. The man was leaning leisurely on a high branch with his long white hair fluttering dramatically with no external breeze. A splattering of scrolls were on his lap.

Jiraiya was a sort of secondary teacher to Naruto. Where Yangchen focused on formal airbending, Jiraiya gave him practical little tricks and tips. What he really excelled at though was life lessons. Out of all the air nomads in the village, he was the most world travelled even Yangchen lauded his expertise.

"You're not going to make much of a master if you get brained by a piece of ripe fruit. Well by the look on your face, I don't have to worry about a scrawny master anyway," Jiraiya said with a snicker.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me, you old bum," Naruto retorted while crossing his arms in annoyance. Leave it to Jiraiya to get under his skin so easily.

Instead of taking offense from Naruto's rebuttal, Jiraiya slapped his knees in gleeful agreement, "Nope. Besides, we're air nomads; we're all a bunch of old bums with nothing better to do than looking out for an itty bitty airbender like you."

"I'm not itty bitty," Naruto groused out.

Jiraiya took note of his expression and sighed, "Don't take it so hard, kid. I can't even remember how many times I failed to become a master. Even now I think the masters overseeing my tests got tired of seeing my ugly mug all the time and gave me the title of master as a bribe. The last thing you need is to take yourself so seriously, poke some fun at yourself every now and then. If you can't do that, what's the point in being an air nomad?"

Jiraiya leapt off his sitting spot and landed in a controlled gust of wind, "Well kid, I'll see you around. I have actual things to do. Enjoy the fruit."

Naruto watched his retreating back. Sometimes he just couldn't understand that man. Even if Naruto wanted to dismiss him as a fool, there were just moments where he was just a sharp and critical as any of the other masters. It kind of gave Naruto hope that he too could reach mastery even after today's failure. Peeling back the skin of the mango, he bit into the ripe fruit and marveled at the sweetness. If nothing else, the man knew his produce.

Walking East, Naruto passed the village square and entered the Wilds. It was the denser portion of the forest Jingshen was built on. Smaller trees grew in between the spaces of the Emperor Trees. Here animals ran in higher density. The deeper one ventured into the Wilds the hardier the animal life became. There was a distinct sound of animal calls mixing together into a beautiful song that was rather pleasant to meditate to when he was in the mood. He kept his eyes open for the trees with the thickest foliage.

It took a whole frustrating hour of stepping over upturned roots, slinking away from animal slime, and shooing away persistent insects with a generous amount of wind before he found his target. There was a dense type of foliage that grew on some of the smaller trees. The leaves were a darker green than most others with a size comparable to a man's abdomen and roughly in the shape of a star. Excess dew still dripped down the center of the leaves like a natural glaze.

Naruto rolled his shoulders a couple of times before spinning his right arm in quick circular motions. Wind collected in surging spurts that caused the plants and dirt around him to kick around in chaotic patterns. He parted his legs for support and unleashed the bended winds like a throwing ball. A wind blade thrice his height shot from his arm and cut the branches that were holding the leaves on the tree and the surrounding trees as well.

He grimaced. That wind blade wasn't supposed to be that powerful. Naruto had intended to make a set of numerous smaller wind blades as to not damage the trees too much. Sighing in disappointment, he went to work in collecting the goods. Naruto took as much as he could and left the remaining leaves for the creatures he saw inching closer.

Giving them a friendly wave, he made his trek back to village square and set off to the southern exit of Jingshen. It was the home of a herd of air bison. Each bison had white shaggy fur, flat tails, and three pair of legs. Their large frames could carry at least five grown adults.

Air bison were a sacred beast to the Air Nomads. Legend had it that the first human airbenders had learned the art from the air bison themselves. Naruto could see it. Despite their large frames, air bison flew with more grace than any master could hope to achieve.

Naruto waded his way through the herd to reach a familiar bison, his oldest friend Chomei. She grunted in greeting and he raced towards her. It was good to see her after today. There was a pleasantness that she always exuded that would cheer him up even as a little kid.

"I got some tasty treats for you," Naruto cajoled as he dumped star leaves in front of Chomei.

Chomei gave a pleased cry. It was tiresome for creatures her size to make their way through the forest without trampling on the food they wanted to eat in the first place, provided if they could even bypass the hindrance of the Emperor trees. She was especially partial to the star leaves he had brought over. Without further persuasion, she dug into her meal.

"Hey, Chomei. You know that test I was practicing for with you? Well, I kind of… completely failed it. Sorry for wasting all of your time. I kind of lost control and made my bending too powerful again. I guess that didn't change much. It wasn't your fault though! You really helped. Honestly, it's because of you that I lasted so long in the test in the first place," he admitted with no little shame. Naruto had boasted long and hard to her that with her help there was no way he could fail.

Chomei's eyes grew softer than usual. She pressed her snout against his midsection in comfort.

"Thanks, buddy. I can always rely on you to make me feel better," he said with a quiet sincerity. Naruto took the offer and rubbed her forehead where there was a brown arrow mark. The Air Nomads had mimicked the design of their mastery tattoos from air bison markings in the first place. Naruto wondered if the air bison thought people looked silly copying their natural markings.

Chomei lowered her body further. Naruto smiled and took the offer for what it was. He leapt unto her back and nestled comfortably into her fluffy fur. Breathing in, he bubbled with pleasantness at the familiar scent of plants and fruits that hung to even the roots of Chomei's fur.

Naruto and Chomei had shared countless lazy afternoons like this with him nestling into her soft fur. Rubbing his cheek against the warm and soft body of his best buddy, he fell into a nice sleep. For now Naruto was unconcerned with his failure and frustration.

Naruto was content.