The Iron Sole Alchemist in the Benders' World (Chapter 2) Air Bending
by Howlin
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)
The next morning, I woke to the smell of cooing. I kissed Sloth who was still dozing next to me and she stirred.
"Smells like breakfast is cooking," I said. "Shall we see what our hosts have made?"
"Sounds good," said Sloth, stretching and climbing out of bed.
We stepped out into the main dining room. A cooking pot filled with noodles, some sort of greens, thin strips of meat, and eggs was boiling on the stove while Tanrag and his wife set the table.
"You're up," said Tanraq. "How did you sleep?"
"Most comfortable bed I've had in days," I joked. "Like I said, we usually arrive someplace civilized, so we didn't pack camping gear."
"Something to keep in mind for next time," noted Sloth.
"We managed to rig some sleeping bags with what we were carrying, and it wasn't hard to make a shelter from the snow and ice, but it wasn't very comfortable."
"Most people who go out there without supplies doesn't come back," noted Tanraq.
"Come. Sit down. It looks like breakfast is ready," said Tanraq's wife.
The food was different from what I'd had before, but it was quite good. I made sure to get the recipe, both for my own later use and to share with my friends in other worlds after we left this one.
"Tenzin stopped by while you were asleep," said Tanraq as we slurped down our noodles. "He wants to talk to you about those spirit weapons."
"We'll go see him first thing," I said.
"I want to thank you for your efforts on our behalf," said Tanraq. "You are welcome in our home any time."
"Thank you," I said.
"We're honored," Sloth added, inclining her head.
As Sloth, Loki, and I approached the house Tenzin was staying at, we noticed a massive creature we'd mistaken for part of the house in the dark the previous night. It was enormous, the size of a small house. Light colored fur covered its body from its round head to its flat, beaver like tail. It had six legs and a pair of curved horns. A set of grey, arrow shaped markings brought to mind the blue, arrow shaped tattoos on the back of Tenzin's hands and his shaved head. The creature was saddled, thought he saddle looked like it could hold a large family rather than a single rider.
I knocked on the door, and it was answered by a slightly pudgy, grey haired man with a beard. "Hello?"
"Tenzin wanted to see us," I said. "Is he in?"
"Oh, sure. Tenzin! It's for you!" he called back into the house.
The air bending master came up to the door, rubbing hsi ear. "Thank you, Bumi. You!"
"Us?" I asked.
"Them?" asked Bumi, seemingly to avoid feeling left out.
"You didn't mention one of the three people you were talking about was my daughter, Jinora," said Tenzin.
"Tenin, aren't you going to invite our guests in?" asked an elderly woman who was bouncing a young boy with a shaved head and loose yellow clothes on her knee.
"Yes, mother," said Tenzin, stepping aside. Sloth and I entered with Loki trotting behind.
"Everyone, this is Greed and Sloth, the travelers I mentioned," introduced Tenzin. "This is my mother, Katara. My sister Kaya," he indicated a fit, middle aged woman with grey hair. "You've already met my brother Bumi and my wife Pemma. These are our children. Rohan," he indicated an infant boy in Pemma's arms. "Meelo," he pointed at the boy on Katara's knee. "Ikki," he indicated an eight year old girl with her hair done up in two buns. "And Jinora," he put his hands on the shoulders of a worried looking eleven year old girl with a single bun of hair clutching the zanpakto we'd delivered the previous night.
"What does this mean?" asked Jinora.
"Oh, come on," said Ikki. "A mysterious traveler giving you a magic sword means you go on an adventure, slay horrible monsters, fall in love with a prince, and go live in an enchanted castle."
"Not quite," I said, bursting Ikki's bubble. "You don't need to do anything with it right away. Just keep it close to you, and eventually you'll be able to hear its voice. In the meantime, I can teach you how to use it if you want."
"What's it for, and why am I the only one who can see it?" asked Jinora.
"It's a spiritual weapon called a zanpakto," I said. "It's for fighting dark spirits. Any of them struck down by a zanpakto turns back into a normal spirit and returns to the spirit world. As for why they can't see it, that's because only people with spirit energy can."
"No fair," whined Ikki. "Why does Jinora have spirit energy and I don't?"
"Yeah," added Meelo.
"It isn't fair," I agreed. "Just like it isn't fair that some people are born with bending and some aren't."
"It's okay," said Bumi, hugging Ikki and Meelo. "I wasn't born a bender, and I've traveled the world, fought pirates, and gone on all sorts of adventures."
"And you're going to be okay too, Jinora," said Tenzin flashing a grateful look to his brother. "No one's going to make you do anything you don't want to do. If you don't want to learn to fight dark spirits, you don't have to."
"If you don't want it, we can dispose of it for you," said Sloth. "There's nothing wrong with turning it down. I had the chance and decided it wasn't for me."
"And what happens if I decide to keep it?" asked Jinora.
"We'll support you whatever you decide to do," said Pemma.
"Gran-gran, what do you think?" asked Jinora.
"I think you might come to regret it if you turn down the opportunity," said Katara. "Chances like this don't come along often."
Jinora nodded. "Thanks, gran-gran. I don't want to throw it away. I just want to know what's going to happen if I keep it."
"At first, it'll just be a sword," I said. "Over time, it'll absorb some of your spirit energy, developing a personality and unique powers. There's no way to tell what it will eventually become, but as a being born of your soul, it will be perfect for you. Mastering it is an exercise in self knowledge and takes most people many years."
"I think I can do that," said Jinora, nodding. "Thank you."
"Tenzin," I said, taking him aside, "the trip you were planning to the air temples, with Korra not coming, were you still planning to go?"
"Yes," said Tenzin. "Korra may not be coming, but this is a chance to spend some time with my family. Why?"
"Because I copied Korra's energy bending technique," I said. "If you'll have us along, I can grant the Air Acolytes air bending."
"How did you just copy something like that?" asked Tenzin.
"Sloth was reading Korra's mind at the instant she used it on me, to make sure I was safe. Between us, we worked out how to do it."
"I... Of course you're welcome to come," said Tenzin. "You would've been welcome even without this. I'm sure Jinora will have a lot of questions. But I assumed you'd want to stay and help with the spirit problem."
"I wouldn't be much use," I admitted. "My knowledge of local spirits and spiritual phenomenon is nonexistent, and I can't use my spiritual powers safely."
"Why not?" asked Tenzin.
"Because I got greedy," I said with a small smile. "Remember that first gust of wind? The only reason I'm not causing hurricanes or fire storms with every gesture is because I put on a pair of bracers that completely suppress my spirit energy. I'm going to need to wear them until I can get a grip on my new bending abilities."
"I see," said Tenzin. "I would be honored to teach you everything I know. About the spirits. About air bending. About this world."
The large creature outside was named Uggi. Uggi was a sky bison, a species with natural air bending abilities. Sloth, Loki, and I joined Tenzin and his family, minus Katara, on Uggi's back. Taking the reins, Tenzin called out, "Yip-yip," and Uggi levitated into the air, flapped his tail once, and flew off over the ocean.
"Bumi, Pemma," I said once we were at cruising altitude, "one of the reasons I'm coming on this trip is because I learned to duplicate Korra's energy bending technique. I'll be using it to grant air bending to the Air Acolytes at the temples we visit. Did either of you want to become benders?"
"You can do that?" asked Bumi. "All right. Show me."
I touched my thumbs to his forehead and chest, bending the energy in his body. When I withdrew my hands, Bumi looked at his. Then he thrust out his palms to no effect.
"I don't think it worked," said Bumi.
"It felt like it worked," I said, looking at my hands.
"You're doing it wrong, Uncle Bumi," said Ikki. "Like this." She made a circular gesture with two hands that produced a rotating burst of wind.
"Like this?" asked Bumi, mimicking her gesture. A similar burst of wind shot from his hands. He stared at them in awe.
"I knew that felt like it took hold," I said.
"I can air bend," said Bumi, still processing that fact.
"Pemma?" I asked.
She nodded. "Go ahead."
After I granted her air bending, I leaned back and settled in for the journey.
"You learned this from Korra?" asked Kaya.
"Korra learned it to counter Amon," said Tenzin. "It was only last night anyone even considered it might be useful for more than just restoring Amon's victims."
"I was her test subject," I said, repeating Ikki's movement and producing a burst of wind.
"And you learned it just like that?" asked Kaya.
"It was a little more complicated than that," said Sloth. "I read Korra's mind while she energy bent Greed and showed him exactly what to do."
"You can read minds?" asked Jinora. "What am I thinking right now?"
"You're thinking it's going to be weird teaching your mom and your uncle air bending," said Sloth.
"That was too easy," interrupted Ikki. "What number am I thinking of?"
"Five," said Sloth. Telepathically, she added, "My abilities are very real."
"Awesome," marveled the three air bender kids currently capable of speech.
The Southern Air Temple was a beautiful collection of towers, spires, and courtyards built on the peak of an isolated mountain. The temple was situated just above cloud level, and I could see clouds drifting lazily along nearby peaks and plateaus. Despite the elevation, it was still much warmer than the Southern Water Tribe capital city had been. Green grass and flowers were abundant along with small streams and waterfalls within easy walking distance of the temple.
As we'd approached warmer climates, Sloth and I had demonstrated our ability to alter our clothing with a thought as an extension of our more general shape shifting abilities. Everyone aboard Uggi had gotten their surprise out of the way well before Uggi landed in one of the courtyards. Sloth had returned to her short, sleeveless black dress and I'd switched back to my black open half vest, showing off the oroboros mark on Sloth's back and the center of my chest respectively.
The abbot responsible for taking care of the temple, an elderly Air Acolyte, warmly greeted Tenzin, Pemma, and their children. Sloth and I helped Kaya and Bumi with the luggage. The bracers meant I was limited to human levels of strength, so I wasn't as much help as I'd have liked to be, but Sloth was under no such limitation and got to amuse herself playing with the Air Acolytes' expectations by hopping nimbly down from Uggi with the heaviest, bulkiest items balanced in a stack in her arms.
Once Uggi was offloaded, Tenzin asked the abbot to gather the acolytes in the courtyard. His excitement and anticipation were infectious. There were a couple dozen Air Acolytes living in the temple, and it didn't take long for them to gather.
"I have a wonderful announcement to make," said Tenzin beaming. "You all know my brother Bumi." From the way the acolytes looked at each other confused, I guessed they didn't. Ignoring or missing that in his enthusiasm, Tenzin continued, "and my wife, Pemma." That got significantly more nods of recognition. "Both of them were born as non benders, just like all of you.
"A few days ago, during the Glacier Spirits Festival at the south pole, two travelers arrived from another world. Working together with Avatar Korra, they have rediscovered the secret to granting bending abilities to non benders."
On cue, Pemma and Bumi fired air blasts at the crowd who were stunned into silence. Tenzin's chest was puffed up with pride as he continued.
"Avatar Korra is currently busy with an urgent spiritual matter in the south, but the two travelers have graciously agreed to be our guests. Allow me to introduce Greed and Sloth, who have offered to grant air bending to each of the Air Acolytes."
A cheer welled up from the crowd that seemed too loud for their numbers. I smiled, grateful to be a part of this. One by one, Tenzin called them up. I used energy bending on each of them to grant them air bending. Everyone tried something to test their new powers, with a lot of them falling flat on their faces, giggling all the while. Finally, Tenzin spoke again.
"I'm sure you're all anxious to learn about your new abilities. We can begin formal air bending training first thing tomorrow morning. For tonight, your usual duties can wait. I'll escort our guests to their rooms myself."
Most of the living space in the temple consisted of gender segregated dormitories. There was a small amount of space set aside for married couples. Sloth and I were given a small room right next door to Tenzin and Pemma. After confirming where it was, Sloth and I headed back out to mingle with the newly empowered air benders. There was a mood of celebration as various new air benders approached us to offer their thanks. After the sun set, we took Loki and returned to our room.
Sloth sat down at the small desk that had been provided and started drawing something while I opened the window, breathed the cool night air, and listened as the sounds of revelry faded.
"You're planning something," said Sloth without looking up from her drawing.
"Of course I am," I said with a small smile. "I'll tell you all about it when I get back."
I kissed Sloth on the cheek and slipped out the door into the now silent night. I silently made my way to one of the court yards and got to my knees. I carefully laid three objects on the ground in front of me and began carefully picking them up, gesturing with them, and setting them down again.
"What are you doing?" asked Kaya, startling me and nearly causing me to jump.
"I thought everyone had gone to bed," I said.
"I was having trouble sleeping and decided to go for a walk. Your turn."
"I'm trying to master air bending," I said.
"Tenzin said lessons start tomorrow," said Kaya. "What does kneeling on the ground with a bowl and a stick have to do with air bending?"
"This place has been home to air benders for thousands of years," I said. "Generations upon generations of masters have trained here. One of my powers is called Book of the End. I can use it to insert myself into the past of an object or place."
"Is that what you were doing? Studying under the old air bending masters?"
"No. I was practicing the movements of the ritual I need to perform. I need to take off the power sealing bracers I'm wearing to use the Book of the End. When I do, I won't be able to control my bending. I had to make sure none of the movements involved triggered my bending. I don't want to accidentally knock down the mountain with earth bending or incinerate the temple with fire bending I didn't mean to do."
"Even the Avatar isn't going to knock a mountain down on accident," said Kaya.
"I'm stronger than the Avatar," I said. "That was a big part of why Sloth and I came to this world. We were horribly outmatched the last two worlds we explored and we had to scramble to keep up. This world was supposed to be something easy, where we were undeniably the strongest things here."
"Sloth is a lot stronger than she looks," mused Kaya, "but I'm not sure I buy the scale you're implying."
"Once I've mastered the four elements, it should be safe for me to take my bracers off and show you what I can do. Until then, Sloth's not under any restrictions."
"So, how does this ritual work?" asked Kaya, changing the subject.
"First I take off my bracers," I said, unclipping the bindings from my wrists and setting them down in front of me. "Then I pick up the wooden badge you can't see anymore than you can see my bracers, and use my spirit energy to transform it into something you should be able to see." I took the pentagon shaped badge in my right hand and it was enveloped by bright green flames. When the flames faded, the badge had transformed into a curved short sword with the badge serving as cross guard.
"I can definitely see that," confirmed Kaya, her eyes wide.
"Next, I stab the ground and insert myself into the past," I said, sliding the tip of the blade through the stone tile without damaging it. Withdrawing the sword, I gently set it down on the ground in front of me. "Now I was here, studying air bending for the last ten thousand years under every great master who ever taught here. Nest I take my wand." Picking up the wooden wand I'd forged from spiritually active wood in the Soul Society, with a whisker from the soul reaper captain Sajin Komumura as its core, I touched its tip to my temple. Pulling the wand away, I drew shimmering silver threads out of my head with the wand. "The memories of those thousands of years of studying air bending, I place in the pensive." Thread after thread I drew out, placing them in the rune covered bowl before me.
"Why take them out?" asked Kaya quietly.
I set down my wand and picked the sword back up. "Book of the End creates false histories shared between me and the object I cut. Cutting the same object a second time removes that false history." I stabbed the ground again. After taking the sword out, it was again surrounded by green flames as it reverted to a wooden badge Kaya couldn't see again. "The pensive wasn't part of Book of the End's effects, so it is unaffected by my changes to the timeline being reversed. Now, I just put those memories back in my head." Scooping up the silvery threads with my wand, I carefully tucked them back into my temple. Then I set my wand down again. "Finally, I put my bracers back on." Once they were back on my wrists, I gathered up my things, clipped my badge back onto my belt, holstered my wand, and put the pensive into a pouch of my utility belt that would have been far too small to fit it without space distorting spells laid on every compartment.
"And just like that, you're a master air bender, huh?" said Kaya skeptically.
I shifted my weight, forming a small whirlwind around myself to lift me off the ground just enough to extend out my feet and land standing on the ground. I gestured at a pile of scrap wood near one of the buildings, and a burst of wind sucked a few sticks toward me. While the sticks were flying at me, I clapped my hands. Catching the sticks, blue arcs of alchemic light crackled over them, transmuting them into a traditional Air Nomad glider staff. I unfolded the paper wings and tail before jumping.
The wings were nowhere near wide enough to act as a traditional glider, but by bending a very powerful tail wind, I could not just glide, but gain altitude and properly fly. I flew a quick circuit around the courtyard before flying straight up and folding in the wings and tail of the staff. Twirling the staff above my head, I bent the air into a localized vortex that slowed my descent and let me land lightly, the staff naturally moving to a relaxed ready position.
"That was some really impressive air bending," admitted Kaya. "How did you make the staff though? I thought you put on your bracers and couldn't use your powers?"
"Most of my powers are sealed," I clarified. "Obviously, I can still bend. Other than some shape shifting, the only other power I can use is an ability called alchemy. Alchemy lets me break down and reassemble matter any way I want. Turning those sticks into a wood and paper glider was a really simple example of alchemy."
"What are you going to do next?" asked Kaya.
"Immediately? I'm going to bed. Tomorrow, I'll see how my skills measure up with Tenzin. Ultimately, I'd like to visit other places like this for the other elements Korra gave me."
"I know you'll have better luck with that in the Northern Water Tribe than the south," said Kaya. "All the places we traditionally studied water bending in the south were destroyed during the Hundred Year War. The north held out better and still maintains the old places."
"Thanks. I'll remember that," I said, taking my leave.
"That'll speed things up a lot," said Sloth when I finished explaining what I'd done. "Can you give me an imprint of what you learned?"
"Sure," I said, clapping my hands and touching the oroboros mark on her shoulder. The mark glowed blue with alchemic light as I imprinted a copy of my newly acquired bending skills onto Sloth's mind.
"This actually goes pretty well with what I was working on while you were gone. Tada!" Sloth presented a silver bracelet that bore a slight resemblance to a wristwatch. "I'm calling it my Soul Bracelet."
"What's it do?" I asked.
"I'm not doing that zanpakto bonding and hollowfication that makes it safe for you to hold multiple elements," said Sloth.
"You've made that very clear," I said with a fond smile. "This is your alternate way to access bending?"
She nodded and said, "The inside has a clockwork mechanism for swapping out modified soul coins. I used an undetectable extension charm to make it bigger on the inside to make room for everything. The transmutation circles are all linked and run off a single red stone. With the charm in place, I can fit a whole stone in there instead of just chips so I won't have to change it out that often."
"How are you keeping the blanking process from removing bending abilities?" I asked.
"I'm not blanking them," said Sloth. "Instead, whenever a soul is removed from my body, loaded with a copy of my memories and personality up to the point of the split, the coin goes into stasis until it's loaded into me again."
"Assuming you go the timing right, the souls wouldn't notice a discontinuity, and they'd serve as memory backups that synchronize whenever they're loaded in. That's a clever solution."
"I'm glad you think so," said Sloth smiling. "I have five positions on the dial. One for each of the elements and one for my Soul Gem. When I want to swap out from my Soul Gem, I open the glass cover and put the ring the these grooves. I close the cover and it locks into place when I different soul is selected. I have a modified soul coin to store my reigai."
"I'm going to assume the whole thing's made of soul synthesized silver and glass," I said. "Lets you keep all the souls you're not using behind an indestructible casing."
Sloth nodded. "I have four blank souls loaded. I need you to energy bend them one at a time."
"Glad to help you finish up your project," I said.
Sloth put on the bracelet, put her Soul Gem ring under the protective cover, and set the dial to air. A quick burst of red alchemic light from the underside of the watch was the only outward sign of the soul swap. I gave her the elements one by one with her switching the dial back to air when I was done.
"Tomorrow morning, we can go flying then play a game of air ball," suggested Sloth.
"After breakfast," I agreed. "Wearing the bracers all the time means I need less food and sleep than I do with them off, but it doesn't eliminate those needs all together."
"I wonder what Air Nomad food's like," mused Sloth. "You didn't get any memories of that?"
"I only inserted memories of the training," I said. "Book of the End doesn't need to insert whole narratives, or even internally consistent ones."
"And you saved the fun parts for us to learn about together in the present," said Sloth, air bending herself up level with me to kiss me. "I love you."
Catching her rather than let her drop to the ground when she stopped air bending, I said, I love you too." Then I kissed her back.
I carried my wife to our bed, tossed our utility belts to the side table, and pulled aside the sheets. We laid down together, dismissing our clothing with a thought.
"I haven't warded the room," said Sloth as we laid down together. "No soundproofing, anyone could walk in on us, no privacy measures at all."
"We're here among friends," I said. "We're probably safe for one night without wards. We can set some up tomorrow. I'm pretty tired from the trip, the spirit bending, and the thousands of years of air bending training anyway. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight," she said, blowing out the candles in the room with air bending without getting out of bed. We snuggled together and drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.
Author's comments:
By granting bending to the existing Air Acolytes, who have already embraced the Air Nomad lifestyle, Tenzin is going to have much less trouble training them than he did trying to assemble Air Nomads out of people who never cared about that culture and didn't want to be a part of it.