Avatar: God Of Bending

Meditating within my room while hovering in the air, using a vortex to keep me afloat, I felt the warmth of the sun peek through the slit in the window as it hit my face, causing me to faintly open my eyes as I took a deep breath before exhaling while at the same time, the vortex keeping me afloat vanished. Catching myself before I plummeted toward the ground, I stood upright and stretched my body slightly, as it gets stiff whenever I do prolonged meditation.

"I had told myself I was going to sleep tonight, yet here I am." Muttered Aang calmly as he yawned while looking at his neatly made bed before shaking his head.

Having stayed up the whole night meditating yet again, I sighed to myself as I knew I was going to get a stern lecture from Monk Gyatso, and it wasn't going to be the first time, far from it, actually. However, thankfully, meditation is comparable to pseudo-sleep, so while it cannot fully replicate the benefits you get from sleeping, it can be used as a temporary substitute, at least for a few days; trust me, I've tried and tested its limits a few times already, and if you go for any longer than five days in a row, you'll really begin to feel the impacts of sleep deprivation.

'…And it's not pretty; Monk Gyatso had said I looked like a walking corpse. Not to mention, the detriments began to vastly outweigh the benefits of meditating instead of sleeping.' Mused Aang lightly with a wry expression as he walked toward a water bowl, only to lean over and splash himself in the face a few times.

Subconsciously shivering from the icy cold water, I grabbed a cloth and dried my face as I left my room and headed towards the training grounds to practice a little before class started; though as I began walking, I got a strong, nauseating smell causing me to stop and look around before sniffing myself.

"Yes, that smell is me. I suppose that's what happens when you spend two days training intensely without taking a break." Said Aang quietly with a slightly disgusted expression as he promptly turned around and headed towards the hot springs at the bottom of the Southern Air Temple.

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"Ahh, this feels nice." Muttered Aang lightly as he fully submerged himself in the hot springs, enjoying the warm water soothing his skin and helping repair his fatigued muscles.

While I enjoyed the soothing and calming pleasure of the hot spring, I looked up at the morning sky, watching the Sky Bisons occasionally fly overhead and for the first time in this short life, I truly sat here and thought about my circumstance.

'I was really reborn in Avatar: The Last Airbender; not only that but as Aang, the Avatar, himself. This brings up so many questions I'd love the answer to. Like, I couldn't just be Aang; after all, he, or I, am the reincarnation of all the previous Avatars, so that must mean I was reincarnated as the very first Avatar, Wan. At least, that would make the most sense?' Pondered Aang intensely as he closed his eyes and focused on himself.

"Haa, well, I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't truly matter. Though still, I'd like to figure it out one day." Muttered Aang as he opened his eyes and looked at the water, only to gently wave his hand through the air, creating a small whirlpool.

Despite being the Avatar, I rarely used the other three elements; not because I'm not competent in them, well, compared to the mastery of my air bending, I'm not, but that only makes sense considering I rarely ever use the three other elements. However, while the different elements represent different emotions, being able to harness said emotions significantly affects your bending; this is one of the reasons why Aang from the TV show how had such a difficult time learning fire and earth bending.

Yet, for me, I didn't have such problems; I wasn't aggressive or hot-headed, but I was passionate about bending, and as for earth bending, I was pretty stubborn, which is a given considering how I disobeyed Monk Gyatso's words several times and trained in secret. Now, I don't really understand why I don't have problems with learning water bending, but perhaps I just haven't recognized what part of my personality correlates to water bending.

Regarding the topic of bending, I've already decided that once I reach a plateau or a bottleneck in my progress with air bending, I'll learn earth bending, and I'm doing so for two reasons. One would be because I find earth bending the most versatile among the four elements; after all, how many different minerals are considered 'Earth'? I don't remember much about chemistry, but the periodic table is comprised of mostly minerals that are considered 'Earth'.

Now, for the second reason, it's simple: to learn the secret immortality technique that my past self mastered. Like most people who liked Avatar, I've done some slight research on the previous avatars of Aang in my past life, so I know about Kyoshi, Yagnchen, Roku, Kuruk, Wan, and even Korra, who may not come to be born. With that knowledge, I knew a little about each of my past lives, and I knew Kyoshi learned a secret earth-bending technique that allowed her to live for over two hundred years.

I wanted to learn the technique to not only live long enough to one day hopefully master the four elements, but in case my wife was reborn one hundred years from now; after all, I wouldn't want to be nearly dead when she's finally born. That's why I wish to learn earth bending second, since the earlier I do, the more time I'll have to master it; I'd prefer to still be somewhat young when I actually implement the technique.

'Though it is theorized that the Avatar can live longer than normal humans, so maybe I have more time than I think.' Thought Aang lightly, only to shake his head before standing up and exiting the hot spring.

Using a towel, I dried myself off while creating a soft gust of wind that helped before I kneeled down and began to wash my normal clothes, which didn't take long. Once I finished, I wore them and headed back towards my room after walking up numerous flights of stairs while greeting the occasional brother.

Setting my towel down, I grabbed my bo-staff that was leaning against the wall and headed towards the training grounds, which were already filled with my fellow brothers as they chatted with each other and sparred with their bo-staff.

I didn't bother anyone and simply sat at the front of the class like always while resting my bo-staff on my legs, which we had gotten once we turned six, so roughly a year ago; they allowed us to fly through the sky similarly to Sky Bisons, so they were very useful, and I quite liked them.

However, while sitting, I suddenly felt a gust of wind head right for us, and while I simply created a dome around me, the other students stumbled back slightly, with some even flying into the sky since their gliders were open.

Opening my eyes, I looked up at the balcony and spotted Monk Tashi, Monk Gyatso, and Monk Pasang, which caused me to tilt my head in confusion since, while they do teach classes, they don't do them together.

'Hmm, now that I think about it, the number of students present is much larger than usual, roughly double.' Mused Aang lightly as he turned and glanced behind, eyeing the numerous Air Nomads quickly sitting in a seiza position.

"Hmph, a rowdy bunch you lot are." Said Tashi with a frown as he eyed the students below, only for him to faintly smile when his eyes landed upon Aang, who lightly bowed his head as a form of respect and greeting.

"Would you please do the honors, Gyatso?" Asked Pasang as he glanced at Tashi before glancing at Gyatso, who nodded and cleared his throat while stepping forward, gathering the student's attention.

"Young Air Nomads, I'm sure the observant ones are curious as to why three Elders are present, and yes, you're correct, today is a unique day. Today is the day when you all shall meet your future companions for life." Stated Gyatso lightly with a faint smile as he looked at the crowd below, his words causing the children's eyes to sparkle in joy, though before they could erupt into cheers, a piercing glare from Tashi kept them quiet.

'Hmm, companions? I heard from Monk Gyatso that such a thing is usually done when the news generation is around the age of six; I wonder why they delayed it by a whole year.' Thought Aang curiously as he looked up at Gyatso, who suddenly reached into the large sleeve, prompting Pasang and Tashi to do the same, only to hold a Sky Bison whistle.

Watching as the three Elders blow their whistles, and while no sound was heard, I had no doubt the ones those were made for heard such a noise, and as if right on cue, not even ten seconds later, I spotted three large Sky Bisons flying through the air as they flapped their massive tails. As they descended toward the ground, the wind from the flap of their tails caused the students to be swept back, and although I was able to withstand it, I still backed away out of respect.