Airbending Training
"Rong, our strange visitor is awake!" Jia told his wife as he walked into the next room.
Rong was stopped setting the table and turned around. "Good; will he be staying for supper?"
"He hasn't eaten anything since at least this morning, so yes, if that's alright with you?"
"I would be delighted!" Rong smiled.
In a blur, the stranger excited their son's room.
"Oh, hello!" Rong began walking towards Danny, but he kept walking. "I'm Rong…"
She stopped talking when Danny exited the small house.
Rong looked over to Jing, met with the same puzzled and confused look. Jia followed him out.
"Are you sure you don't want any supper?" Jia asked. "My wife makes lovely roast duck!"
Danny stopped and looked back at the man.
Jia was a forty-something earth kingdom fisher with greying black hair. He wasn't a rich man, but he was one of the best fishermen in the village, and he had a nice family. He and his wife had their third child last year, and their oldest son wasn't much younger than Danny.
When Jia left to work early in the morning—the best time to catch an open crested salmon—and saw this strange teen lying on the side of the road, he immediately decided to help him.
"Thanks you, for giving me a bed and everything, but I really need to be going now." Danny said. Jia nodded.
"Alright. Do you need anything for your journey ahead?"
"Actually," Danny said, turning around, "you wouldn't happen to know where the Southern Air Temple is, would you?"
Jia smiled.
"You're in luck. I'm one of the few in my village to visit the mountain ranges the Air Temple sits on." Jia disappeared back into his house and emerged and few minutes later with a map. He spread it out on the ground and pointed to their location on their map.
"We are here." He pointed at Whale Tail Island on the map. "And here is the Southern Air Temple. Its South West of our island, and about a days worth of travel by sea. I know a few guys going to this island here tomorrow, so you could probably—"
"That won't be necessary." Danny told him, standing up. "Again, thanks for everything. I can take it from here."
"Not a problem." Jia said, and bowed. Danny bowed back, and Jia turned back to his house. When he looked back to the stranger, he was gone.
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. . .
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Danny was once again in the sky, following the sun westwards as it set, trying not to think about what he had just learned.
But he couldn't help it.
Maybe it was just a dream? Maybe a nightmare brought up by his dread.
No. It felt too unnatural to be just an average nightmare. Clockwork had really talked to him. Roku was really dead.
Where did that leave him? Everything he had thought could happen had just changed. Everything depended on Roku; his training, his housing, finding Ming…
How was he going to find Ming? The task seemed impossible now. He could not train with Roku, therefore he would likely stay and train at the Southern Air Temple for what could be the next year.
Unless Clockwork was right, and he could only bend fire; and Danny prayed that Clockwork was wrong. Not that he was that excited and eager to learn the other elements, but if he could not prove that he could airbend, Clockwork will send him to the next Avatar.
Danny couldn't let that happen. He felt at peace here; he didn't want to be plunged into some war. Not to mention he wanted to find Ming, figure out if anything would come of that kiss that she had given him.
Even if he could airbend, he would have to stall his training to stay here longer. Take long breaks between practices, maybe even a little "vacation" to find Ming and the others, make sure they're all okay.
Roku told him it took twelve years for him to completely master all the elements. Hopefully that will happen to Danny.
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It was night by the time Danny found Southern Air Temple. He passed over the sea and land until a distinctive mountain range could be seen in the distance. Then Danny just had to find the right mountain; which would seem difficult in the dark, but given Danny's heightened vision in his ghost form, along with the slightly fire-lit Temple, it didn't take too long.
Danny landed in the courtyard and looked up at the large structures. He tried to think of where Gyatso normally slept; he remembered which tower it was, and what floor, but the room was a bit fuzzy from when he and Roku went to Gyatso.
He became invisible—to avoid startling anyone—and phased through the wall of the tower. Danny emerged from the wall, still invisible, and looked around the room that he was in. The monk in the bed was facing towards Danny, and snoring quite loudly.
Danny floated through the door and into the hall, becoming visible again. He sighed and started walking down the hallway, peaking his invisible, intangible, head through each door.
He heard footsteps further down the hall and immediately became invisible. Danny turned his head, and saw none other than Gyatso walking down the hall. Danny stepped to the side to let Gyatso pass, and followed him outside. Gyatso stopped in the courtyard and looked up at the crescent moon in the sky.
Danny hid behind a tree as he became human, and then walked towards Gyatso.
"Monk Gyatso…" Danny said, and Gyatso jumped in surprise. He turned around and looked at Danny in surprise.
"Danny! What are you doing here?" Gyatso walked over to meet Danny. "And where's Roku?"
Danny looked away from Gyatso.
"Roku's gone." He told him.
"Gone?" Gyatso was taken aback. "What do you… What do you mean?"
"He's dead—"
"What? But how—"
"The volcano on his island." Danny explained. "It erupted, and he… He didn't make it."
Gyatso looked back up at the moon, grief clearly showing on his face. Danny could tell he just lost a life long friend.
"How long ago was this?"
"Last night."
Gyatso's head snapped towards Danny.
"Last night? How on earth did you get here so fast? And how did you get up here?" Gyatso looked around. "Is Fang with you?"
Danny shook his head.
"No. I don't know what happened to Fang." Danny wasn't sure how to explain this without giving away his secret, but he had to think of something. "Clockwork helped me."
Gyatso's confusion seemed to fade away.
"Ah. I actually came out here because I thought I saw something flying up here. I'd assume that was you and the spirit Clockwork, then?"
"Yes. He wants me to begin learning airbending." Danny lied, getting straight to the point for why he was here.
"Of course." Gyatso said. "It is the next step in your Avatar training, after all.
Gyatso showed Danny to the room he would be staying in while he trained. Danny thanked Gyatso, and threw himself onto the bed.
Gyatso began to leave, but then stopped at the doorway.
"I'm sorry Danny."
Danny looked up at him.
"Sorry for what?" He asked.
"I was so caught up in my own grief when you told me, I forgot to ask if you are alright." Gyatso said. "You must have grown fairly close to him after all this time."
Danny stared at the floor, not sure what to say. Of course he wasn't okay, but for some reason he didn't want to say it.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Danny reassured, somewhat to himself.
"Are you sure?" Gyatso asked. Danny laid down on the bed, facing away from Gyatso.
"Yes. Good night, Gyatso." He said.
Gyatso could see that he wanted to be alone, and so he closed the door, and said,
"Good night, Danny." As he left to grieve on his own.
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. . .
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"We're starting with this?" Danny grumbled as he looked at his old foe, the airbending gates. Gyatso chuckled.
"Of course. This is where all the students begin." Gyatso said. "It teaches the most fundamental techniques of airbending."
Danny sighed and scratched at his clothes. He was currently wearing the standard yellow and orange airbender's clothes, and he felt like an idiot. The colors just felt too bright for him. Although they did give him room to move, in these clothes he felt he could be more flexible and quick with his stances without tearing fabric at un-stretchable seams.
Gyatso sent a blast of air into the gates, causing them all to spin.
" Airbending is about spiral movements. When you meet resistance, you must be able to switch directions at a moments notice." Gyatso looked to Danny. "I believe you remember what you need to do?" He asked. Danny nodded and took a deep breath in before running into the maze of spinning gates.
"Agh!" He yelled as he slammed into one of the first spinning gates. He stumbled forward before getting pushed to the side by another gate, which launched him into another, and that one threw him out of the circle.
Danny groaned and Gyatso came over to help him up.
"You can't force your way through. The trick is to flow through it, like a leaf through a hurricane." He told Danny as he pulled him to his feet.
Danny looked at the gates as Gyatso sent another gust of wind through them. He started running at the gates, realizing that his enhanced reflexes could give him an edge if he concentrated. They did help a few more steps in, before Danny was once again tumbled through and out of the gates.
He got up and rubbed his bruised shoulder, as he got ready for the next go.
And the next.
And the next.
And the next.
Every time Danny felt like he was going a step farther, he was thrown a step back. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make it any more than half way through!
When he was thrown out headfirst, for what felt like the hundredth time, he pounded his fist in frustration.
He was never going to be able to do this! What if he couldn't get any farther than this in his airbending training?
Danny looked up at the still-spinning airbending gates with determination in his eyes.
No.
He had to get further.
If he was stuck here, at the airbending gates, for the next few days, then Clockwork—who Danny felt was probably watching this—would deem that Danny could not airbend, could not be taught airbending and therefore, with nothing left to do here, he would have to move on to help the next Avatar.
But he did have something left to do here; but Clockwork didn't see it that way. Danny wanted to try and start over here. He had to find Ming.
So he was going to get through these gates.
One way, or another.
Danny's eyes flashed green as he ran into the gates. When he felt a gate touching his shoulder, it became intangible; and Danny spun in the direction of the gate for some show.
He did this for every gate that got in his way, until he reached the other side of the circle and jumped through.
Gyatso ran to the other side to congratulate him.
"Very good, Danny!" He said excitedly, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Just do that one more time, and we'll start on basic forms."
Danny smiled at the monk.
"No problem."
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Despite Danny's pleas, Monk Gyatso insisted on meditating for the rest of the day, and then move on to basic airbending forms the next.
"Air is a element of freedom." Gyatso explained. "Therefore, it is necessary for anyone wishing to learn it to get into the mindset of freedom. Meditation will allow your spirit to wander, like the air around us."
Gyatso led Danny to a small gazebo-type structure with several other monks and children meditating there. Not wanting to make a sound, Gyatso motioned Danny to sit and use the breathing techniques Gyatso had instructed him to use before they had arrived.
Danny sat and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. Gyatso explained that the key to meditating was to clear ones mind, and completely relax.
This felt nearly impossible for Danny. How could he clear his mind when so much was on it? The closest he could get to clear his mind was to concentrate on clearing his mind; but then his mind wasn't clear, because he was thinking about clearing his mind.
Was he even doing this right? He fidgeted a little in his uncertainty. Danny decided to just sit still, and pretend to know what he was doing. The sooner Gyatso thought Danny had meditation down, the sooner he could move on to the next step in his airbending training.
Hours past, and his body was beginning to cramp up from the lack of movement. Danny couldn't take it any longer, and stood up to stretch his legs. He walked out of the little structure, began walking back to the tower he was staying in.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to see Gyatso.
"Oh, hey." Danny said, turning around, rubbing his neck. "Sorry I left, I just couldn't sit still any longer! And I was trying to clear my head of all my thoughts, but I couldn't do it. It feels impossible!"
Gyatso smiled and put his hand back on Danny's shoulder as they began to walk.
"It's all quiet alright. I didn't expect you to master meditation on your first day. Most people take years to clear their minds, and I'm surprised you were able to sit there as long as you did." Gyatso chuckled. "You should have seen Roku when he was first taught meditation. He walked out after the first ten minutes!"
Danny smiled and they continued back to his quarters. It was already beginning to get dark, so a tired and bruised Danny decided to retire to his room. They parted ways, and Danny closed the door behind him.
He sat on his bed for a while, contemplating an idea that swirled around in his head.
Danny wanted to go flying.
For leisure.
Which would actually be the first time he had done that for almost two years. Before, he had almost no choice. He had people to save, and places to be. But now, he needed to let out some pent up anger and grief. He needed to feel the wind on his face, stretch the ol' flying muscle. After all, it would seem as though Danny Phantom was back in action, and so he would need to start stretching and exercising his wings again.
The familiar white halo traveled over his body. Once he was fully transformed, he flew through the wall and launched himself into the night sky. He decided it would be best to fly away from the air temple, so that a wandering eye, or flying monk, would not see him.
As soon as he was out of sight, he began to twirl, and loop, and soar through the night sky at incredible speeds. He stopped for a moment and looked at his hand. He began to make it glow green with ectoplasmic energy before launch and green orb into the sky, which exploded like a firework around him.
Danny smiled as small green embers floated downwards before disappearing. Danny held his hands apart in front of him, and both began to glow as he summoned a large ball of energy between them. The orb sparked as it continued to grow to the size of a beach ball. He threw it towards a cliff side on a nearby mountain. The ball hit an overhanging rock, and an explosion shook the mountain as part of the rock crumbled and the pieces rolled down.
"Wow." Danny said, looking at the rubble. "If only my firebending was that powerful." He stared at what was left of the boulder, and a thought came to him. Clockwork told him that his bending would be more powerful in his ghost form….
How powerful?
Danny got into a floating stance, and did a side kick at the mountainside. A huge, green ball of fire erupted from his foot and was launched at the snowy peak. Once it hit, there was a huge "BANG" and fire spread to the trees around the area of impact.
"Shit!" He yelled as he flew down to the small forest fire. "Shit shit shit shit shit…" Danny landed close to the fires and stared at the flames. "What do I do… what do I do?"
He looked at the snow that was not yet melted around the trees, something that would change soon, and he got an idea. Danny thought back to the basic waterbending forms Roku showed him while trying to decide his core element, and got into a back stance.
He closed his eyes and, slowly at first, began bring his arms forward with his body, and slowly back. Pushing and pulling. He did this for a while, almost warming up, before opening his eyes and throwing his arms up and in the direction of the fire.
Miraculously, the snow on the ground followed his movements into the air, and onto the trees! Well, some of them anyways. And they didn't extinguish the flames as well as he hoped. Danny sighed. This wasn't going to work… Not with this little of snow.
Danny only had to look up the mountain for more snow, tons of it, in fact. He was surprised that the sound of his initial fire-blast didn't cause an avalanche.
That the sound didn't cause an avalanche.
Danny smacked himself in the head for being so stupid. He flew up into the air, and up the mountain. When he was at the very peak, he let loose his ghostly wail down the mountain. Sure enough, a wave of snow made its way down the mountain, and extinguished the fire. Unfortunately, his wail also caused the destruction of a small patch of forest in front of him.
"Oops…" Danny muttered. He had forgotten how powerful his that could be. And how draining it was on him…
Danny slowly floated down and landed on the ground. It felt like he just spent the entire day holding up a boulder. He waited for the rings to come and turn him back, dreading the hike back to the Air Temple. But they didn't appear. He was still in his ghost form.
That was curious. Good, but curious.
Had he somehow grown in strength in his ghost form as he grew in age? Even though he hadn't used his powers in so long? Maybe he just had better endurance.
Whatever the reason, Danny was grateful he could still fly back to the Air Temple. Once he was back in his room, he collapsed on his bed and immediately fell asleep
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The next few days were frustrating for Danny, and worrisome for Gyatso. Gyatso had begun showing Danny the basic stances and forms key to airbending, yet Danny couldn't perform the simplest airbending maneuver. He couldn't even conjure up a slight breeze!
Whenever Danny became frustrated, Gyatso made him stop and meditate, (which Danny was beginning to figure out, but really couldn't stand doing it for more than half an hour) or he would show him around the temple.
He would show him where the flying bison were kept, the kitchen where they made their famous fruit pies—one of which Gyatso graciously offered to Danny, who gratefully accepted—and the airball court; where several kids asked Danny to play, who denied the requests based on the fact that he currently couldn't airbend (although he was sure he could easily take them on in his ghost form).
The area of the temple that Danny was the most interested in though was a room, locked by a huge, round, intricate looking lock. When Danny asked Gyatso about it, he explained,
"In there is the air temple sanctuary. It can only be opened by bending air into the two pipes on either side." Gyatso said. Danny began walking towards the door.
"So can we go inside?" Danny asked. Gyatso frowned.
"No. Only the Avatar and a member of the Council of Elders, such as myself, can go inside." He told him.
"Well, I am the Avatar." Danny said in a matter-of-fact kind of way. Gyatso laughed.
"Yes, I guess you are. But this room is not for you. It's for the next Avatar in the cycle; who is, in fact, an airbender."
Danny looked at the door one last time before following Gyatso back into the courtyard.
"Shall we try again?" Gyatso said, and Danny nodded while getting into his stance.
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Danny collapsed onto his bed. Nearly three weeks have passed, and still nothing. He had even mastered the majority of the basic techniques, but somehow airebending escaped him.
Gyatso assured him that he would eventually succeed, but Danny was beginning to have doubts; and he was worried that Clockwork was having doubts too.
It was coming to the point where Danny was worried Clockwork was going to come any day. Every tingle in his chest, heightened heartbeat, tickle in his throat, he was worried it was the medallion on his chest, activating some sort of time-change.
He laid awake in his bed for hours, a hand over the medallion on his chest, dreading that something would happen. He was exhausted, but he just couldn't sleep. Danny eventually sat up in his bed, deciding that he could use a short flight around the mountain range to settle his mind.
Danny stood up, went ghost, and flew through the wall. As he flew into the night sky, before he gained any distance from the temple, he stopped. An idea had entered his mind. Danny started flying back towards the temple.
He was out, he was in his ghost form, and he was curious. Danny could go check out the air temple sanctuary. He really wanted to know what was in there, and while it would take an air bender to open the door, he just had to phase through it.
Danny smiled as he floated through the building and up to the door, and paused before entering.
Was this wrong? He was about to enter somewhere sacred against the wishes of the people who kept it. Only the Council of Elders or the Avatar should enter…
'But I am the Avatar.' Danny thought firmly as he phased through the door and landed on the cold stone floor. The room was pitch dark, so Danny had to light it up by making his hand glow with ectoplasm.
"Whoa…" A vast array of statues emerged in the green light, expanding upwards in a spiral. Danny walked through the statues, looking at each one and admiring their detail.
While Danny was looking at one statue adorning a wolf pelt, he bumped into one. Danny stumbled backwards in surprise, and looked up at the statue.
"Roku…" Danny whispered as he looked at the statue of his deceased friend.
"These must be statues of all the Avatars." Danny thought out loud. He looked around the room, then up at the never-ending spiral of statues.
If he followed this spiral, would he eventually reach the first Avatar? This idea intrigued him, but as he was about to start floating upwards, the eyes on Roku's statue lit up in a bright blue glow.
"Ah!" Danny fell backwards in surprise. The glow from his hand faded, and he was briefly sent into darkness before the entire room lit up from the eyes of each Avatar.
"Danny." Roku's voice echoed through the room.
"Roku?" Danny gasped and got to his feet. He looked around the room. "Where are you? H-how are you doing this?"
"I am in the spirit world." Roku's voice seemed to come from all around him. "I live on through the Avatar's next reincarnation, an airbender name Aang. I am able to speak to you through the spiritual connection in this sanctuary."
"Roku…" Danny started. "I am so sorry that I didn't help you. I have all these powers, and I could have—"
"Danny, stop." Roku told him and the halfa looked to the statue of the former Avatar. "You must not blame yourself for my end. It was destined to happen, even if tried to stop it. There was nothing you could do. And if you were there, Sozin would have seen you, and seen a new threat to his plans. He would have actively sought to end you."
"But I could have—"
"Danny." Roku's voice became louder and stern. "Everything is as it should be."
Danny sighed and looked down to the floor. That sounded like something Clockwork would say. He knew Roku was right, but somewhere in his mind, he still felt as though he could have done something.
Roku's voice sounded again.
"I have come to tell you that it is time for you to move on."
Danny's head shot up.
"No…"
"It has become clear to Clockwork that you are unable to airbend. Any more time spent here, will be time wasted."
"No, no, no I just need more time! More training! I know I can do it—"
"Danny, you know that you don't. You are stalling—"
"I don't want to go, Roku!" Danny shouted. "I don't want to leave! I felt welcomed here, I need to find Ming and make sure she's okay, and—"
"Ming is fine, Danny. She is safe with Ta Min."
"No, please!" Danny yelled as the eyes on the Avatars around him became brighter. "I need more time!" The medallion on Danny's chest began to tingle, and the CW began to glow.
"Please! You can't do this! Roku, Clockwork, you can't do this!"
"I'm sorry, Danny." Roku said. Clockwork's voice suddenly echoed through the room.
"Everything is the way it should be." The lights became brighter, and then blinding before Danny's world went black.
A/N: Sorry for taking so long, but as you can see this was a fairly long chapter.
All of these chapters have been basically one big prologue, leading up to the next chapter, so stay tuned!
And review please! Tell me what you think, what you like and don't like, if you are confused, ask some questions, anything.
Your feedback keeps me going at a faster pace!