Categories > Cartoons > Avatar: The Last Airbender > Avatar: Last of the Airbenders
Aang stared out over the vast ocean. The seas were calm today and there was a slight breeze coming out from the North West that was allowing the massive ship to sail faster then usual.
‘Massive, even that is an understatement,’ thought Aang with a smile.
The ship was almost like a floating fortress. At over three hundred yards long, seventy yards wide, and ten stories high, it was the largest wooden ship ever to sail the seas. The Earth Kingdom had built this one-of-a-kind ship in his honor after he had saved the people of Ba Sing Se from a severe drought two years prior. The ship was named Savior and could house up to twenty-five hundred people. What Aang liked most of the ship, though, was what the crew and him had dubbed ‘the hanger’. The hanger was a fifty yard long by fifty yard wide section of the ship that had been converted into living quarters for Sky Bisons; at any one moment, there where at least twenty Sky Bisons on board the Savior. Since this segment was at the front of the ship, there was even a ramp, originally built to allow supplies to be hauled on board at rest in harbor, which could be lowered to allow the Bisons to take flight while the ship was in route to a destination.
The last four years seemed to be a blur.
In the first year, Master Kamchatka and Avatar Roku had taught Aang so much that he thought his head was going to exploded.
Master Kamchatka was a strong willed woman. From what Aang had heard of her past, she had been a tomboyish as a result of being the only girl of nine children and had an on going streak of getting into fights. She was middle aged and fairly beautiful with the exception of a thin white scare that ran from above her left eye, down and across to her right cheekbone. Kamchatka had explained to Aang that she had received the scare in and air duel against another kid when she was seven. Kamchatka had taught Aang how use Airbending as both a weapon and a shield. She taught how to create miniature tornados that, uncontrolled, could reek paths of destruction while at the same time teaching him how to make a shield from wind moving so fast, it reduced boulders to dust. She taught him how to lift himself up using air, and eventually Aang taught himself how to fly unaided by any tools. Kamchatka did not restrict Aang to training everyday, however. Sakaya would probably been horrified to find out that there were days on end where Kamchatka taught Aang things that had absolutely nothing to do with Airbending. Kamchatka taught Aang how to dance, draw, and play the flute on top of his Airbending training. As with Airbending, Aang excelled in those three areas as well. On the day he left for the Northern Water Tribe, Kamchatka told Aang that he was the most gifted student she had ever taught and was proud to have been able to teach him. As a parting gift, she gave Aang a hand craved flute.
While Kamchatka was teaching Aang Airbending during the day, Roku was teaching Aang Firebending as he slumbered. Aang would then practice what he learned the night before when he found time the next day. Aang progressed quickly in his Firebending. So quickly, in fact that Roku told Aang his lessons would be postponed until Aang’s flame was blue-white instead of the normal red-orange; an exceedingly rare talent that even few Fire Nation Avatars ever achieved. Roku could not honestly say he was surprise when had achieved pure blue flame with white tips five weeks later. If the mastery of blue flame Firebending achieved, Roku moved on to an even more challenging goal: teaching Aang to wield lighting. Roku spent hours drilling in the fact to Aang that lighting was the most dangerous use of Firebending in existence since there was no known way to block it. Aang took his study of this task seriously and promised never to use it lightly. On the day he left for the Northern Water Tribe, Aang had completed half of his Avatar training in a single year, a feat never before accomplished by any Avatar.
Aang found Waterbending to be very similar to Airbending so it was easy for him to learn from Sensei Kya. Kya was a young woman in her early twenties; her age was not to be taken lightly, however. She was also the young Admiral in the Northern Tribe Navy. A fierce warrior having fought her way up from an orphan, she was a no non-sense person who firmly believed in the saying ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ which, unfortunately for Aang, apparently meant the opposite of what it sounded. She taught Aang how to fight like a tiger when the odds were in you favor, but at the same time how to slip away like a snake when the numbers were against you. She gave him an in depth view of military philosophy and battle tactics, as well as how to use conventional weapons like swords and daggers for close range combat. She encouraged him to combine Airbending and Waterbending for use on the battlefield such as creating fog to mask his movements. Aang also realized he could apply the same method with Firebending to create steam. By the time Aang left for the Earth Kingdom, he could taken on any three Waterbenders and come out victorious. He could plan an attack against superior forces and succeed. He could defend against massive assaults and pull throw in one piece. He had earned the honorary rank of Lieutenant General in the Northern Tribe Army.
General Kuwabara was Aang’s Earthbending instructor. After knowing the man for only ten minutes, Aang hated him more then he had ever hated anyone before. The man accepted nothing but complete obedience from Aang; he expected Aang to do whatever was asked of it without questioning the reasons behind the action, which was in total contrast to what Gyatso, Roku, and Kamchatka had taught him. Kuwabara also expected Aang, being the Avatar and all, to be able to master anything he taught the boy immediately. With Earthbending being the polar opposite of Airbending, Aang was experience some major difficulties in simply learning the basics. Kuwabara declared Aang to be lazy, talent-less, and weak in front of the Earth King and the top Generals. Tensions were running high in Ba Sing Se at the time. The temperature had been in the triple digits for a record setting one hundred and thirty days and all the crops that feed the town were dying along with the thousands of livestock. Furious at the General and himself, Aang strolled out on to the balcony in the War Room. With his eyes glowing blue, Aang stretched forth his arm towards Lake Laogai and brought his hand down like in the form of a karate chop. The earth rumbled as what appeared to be many small grooves in the earth began to snake out in all direction, being careful not to disturb already built dwellings, until they reached every corner of the city. Next, Aang raised his hands to the heavens and summoned forth so many clouds, that they darkened the sky for miles. He exhaled quietly and it began to pour. Aang merely had a neutral expression on his face as the Earth King and the Generals, Kuwabara included, looked on in shock at Aang’s awesome display of power. It would rain for the next five days without letting up. The irrigation system Aang had set up allowed for Ba Sing Se to retain more rainwater for times of emergency when they need it to water their crops. It was at General Kuwabara’s suggestion that the Savior be built as a gift for Aang. While the amazing display of bending broke down the barrier that was keeping Aang from learning Earthbending, Kuwabara still had much to teach Aang and he was still as tough as ever on the Avatar. When seen outside of training, though, it appeared as if Kuwabara was a mixture of a father and brother to Aang.
During those four years, Moraku and Sakaya had not kept their promise and had only allowed Gyatso to visit Aang once a year, which was why Aang was currently sailing towards home.
It had been over a year since Aang, now sixteen, had seen his guardian and four years since he had seen his friends from the Southern Air Temple. Aang could not wait to be home.
All of a suddenly, the wind shifted and as Aang took a deep breath, he could distinctly smell smoke in the air. He looked up towards the smell and saw a small plume of soot in the distance. His eyes widened in fear.
“Zack,” Aang called out to a fellow shipmate “Get Appa ready and prepare to launch the Alert Five Bison. I want to know where that smoke is coming from,”
“Yes sir,” said Zack giving a quick salute as he hurried off.
In less then three minutes Aang, Appa, and four other Sky Bisons each carrying five men were airborne and heading in the direction of the Southern Air Temple, where the smoke seemed to be coming from. When they reached the temple, there was nowhere to land seeing as it was completely engulfed in flame. Tears of sadness and angered flowed freely from Aang’s eyes. He shut them tightly as he concentrated. Within seconds, he felt the light trickle of water as it began to rain over the temple. After all the fires had been extinguished, three Bisons landed in an attempt to search for survives, the fourth flew back to the Savior to inform them of what happened, and the fifth flew out to scout the area. The search turned up no survivors as Aang had been afraid of but secretly expected. As they were burying the dead and trying to salvage what little they could, the fifth Bison returned informing them they had spotted Ember Blaze, the Flagship for the Imperial Navy of the Fire Nation, along with half a dozen support ships. In a fit of rage, Aang hopped on Appa and flew out in the direction of the small fleet with the other three Bison groups following him. It didn’t take him long to find the Fire Nation ships.
Bring his hand up merely inches from his face with his pointer and middle fingers extended, he willed the power to flow throw him to his finger tips. His eyes blazed blue as he sent the most powerful bolt of lighting he had ever produced at the Ember Blaze. It exploded violently in a shower of fire and shrapnel. Bolt after bolt struck the fleet of ships until every one of them was either ablaze or sunk. None of the crewmembers onboard of the ships ever stood a chance, just like the Air Nomads they had just slaughtered. Every ship had sustained such critical damage, that they would sink before making it to port. All but one… and Aang would let it limp its way back to the Fire Nation so that Fire Lord Souzen would know what had happened.
Aang’s comrades looked on in grim satisfaction.
The war had begun and the Fire Nation had made the first move. Even though they were victorious on every front when attacking the Air Nomads, they had suffered greatly in this one attack. It was a demoralizing blow to learn that the Flagship, the pride and joy of the Imperial Navy had been sunk so quickly. They would realize that there attack had failed to kill the Avatar and would now have to face him, the Naval Forces of the Water Tribes, and the Armies of the Earth Kingdom if they wish to conquer the world.
‘Massive, even that is an understatement,’ thought Aang with a smile.
The ship was almost like a floating fortress. At over three hundred yards long, seventy yards wide, and ten stories high, it was the largest wooden ship ever to sail the seas. The Earth Kingdom had built this one-of-a-kind ship in his honor after he had saved the people of Ba Sing Se from a severe drought two years prior. The ship was named Savior and could house up to twenty-five hundred people. What Aang liked most of the ship, though, was what the crew and him had dubbed ‘the hanger’. The hanger was a fifty yard long by fifty yard wide section of the ship that had been converted into living quarters for Sky Bisons; at any one moment, there where at least twenty Sky Bisons on board the Savior. Since this segment was at the front of the ship, there was even a ramp, originally built to allow supplies to be hauled on board at rest in harbor, which could be lowered to allow the Bisons to take flight while the ship was in route to a destination.
The last four years seemed to be a blur.
In the first year, Master Kamchatka and Avatar Roku had taught Aang so much that he thought his head was going to exploded.
Master Kamchatka was a strong willed woman. From what Aang had heard of her past, she had been a tomboyish as a result of being the only girl of nine children and had an on going streak of getting into fights. She was middle aged and fairly beautiful with the exception of a thin white scare that ran from above her left eye, down and across to her right cheekbone. Kamchatka had explained to Aang that she had received the scare in and air duel against another kid when she was seven. Kamchatka had taught Aang how use Airbending as both a weapon and a shield. She taught how to create miniature tornados that, uncontrolled, could reek paths of destruction while at the same time teaching him how to make a shield from wind moving so fast, it reduced boulders to dust. She taught him how to lift himself up using air, and eventually Aang taught himself how to fly unaided by any tools. Kamchatka did not restrict Aang to training everyday, however. Sakaya would probably been horrified to find out that there were days on end where Kamchatka taught Aang things that had absolutely nothing to do with Airbending. Kamchatka taught Aang how to dance, draw, and play the flute on top of his Airbending training. As with Airbending, Aang excelled in those three areas as well. On the day he left for the Northern Water Tribe, Kamchatka told Aang that he was the most gifted student she had ever taught and was proud to have been able to teach him. As a parting gift, she gave Aang a hand craved flute.
While Kamchatka was teaching Aang Airbending during the day, Roku was teaching Aang Firebending as he slumbered. Aang would then practice what he learned the night before when he found time the next day. Aang progressed quickly in his Firebending. So quickly, in fact that Roku told Aang his lessons would be postponed until Aang’s flame was blue-white instead of the normal red-orange; an exceedingly rare talent that even few Fire Nation Avatars ever achieved. Roku could not honestly say he was surprise when had achieved pure blue flame with white tips five weeks later. If the mastery of blue flame Firebending achieved, Roku moved on to an even more challenging goal: teaching Aang to wield lighting. Roku spent hours drilling in the fact to Aang that lighting was the most dangerous use of Firebending in existence since there was no known way to block it. Aang took his study of this task seriously and promised never to use it lightly. On the day he left for the Northern Water Tribe, Aang had completed half of his Avatar training in a single year, a feat never before accomplished by any Avatar.
Aang found Waterbending to be very similar to Airbending so it was easy for him to learn from Sensei Kya. Kya was a young woman in her early twenties; her age was not to be taken lightly, however. She was also the young Admiral in the Northern Tribe Navy. A fierce warrior having fought her way up from an orphan, she was a no non-sense person who firmly believed in the saying ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ which, unfortunately for Aang, apparently meant the opposite of what it sounded. She taught Aang how to fight like a tiger when the odds were in you favor, but at the same time how to slip away like a snake when the numbers were against you. She gave him an in depth view of military philosophy and battle tactics, as well as how to use conventional weapons like swords and daggers for close range combat. She encouraged him to combine Airbending and Waterbending for use on the battlefield such as creating fog to mask his movements. Aang also realized he could apply the same method with Firebending to create steam. By the time Aang left for the Earth Kingdom, he could taken on any three Waterbenders and come out victorious. He could plan an attack against superior forces and succeed. He could defend against massive assaults and pull throw in one piece. He had earned the honorary rank of Lieutenant General in the Northern Tribe Army.
General Kuwabara was Aang’s Earthbending instructor. After knowing the man for only ten minutes, Aang hated him more then he had ever hated anyone before. The man accepted nothing but complete obedience from Aang; he expected Aang to do whatever was asked of it without questioning the reasons behind the action, which was in total contrast to what Gyatso, Roku, and Kamchatka had taught him. Kuwabara also expected Aang, being the Avatar and all, to be able to master anything he taught the boy immediately. With Earthbending being the polar opposite of Airbending, Aang was experience some major difficulties in simply learning the basics. Kuwabara declared Aang to be lazy, talent-less, and weak in front of the Earth King and the top Generals. Tensions were running high in Ba Sing Se at the time. The temperature had been in the triple digits for a record setting one hundred and thirty days and all the crops that feed the town were dying along with the thousands of livestock. Furious at the General and himself, Aang strolled out on to the balcony in the War Room. With his eyes glowing blue, Aang stretched forth his arm towards Lake Laogai and brought his hand down like in the form of a karate chop. The earth rumbled as what appeared to be many small grooves in the earth began to snake out in all direction, being careful not to disturb already built dwellings, until they reached every corner of the city. Next, Aang raised his hands to the heavens and summoned forth so many clouds, that they darkened the sky for miles. He exhaled quietly and it began to pour. Aang merely had a neutral expression on his face as the Earth King and the Generals, Kuwabara included, looked on in shock at Aang’s awesome display of power. It would rain for the next five days without letting up. The irrigation system Aang had set up allowed for Ba Sing Se to retain more rainwater for times of emergency when they need it to water their crops. It was at General Kuwabara’s suggestion that the Savior be built as a gift for Aang. While the amazing display of bending broke down the barrier that was keeping Aang from learning Earthbending, Kuwabara still had much to teach Aang and he was still as tough as ever on the Avatar. When seen outside of training, though, it appeared as if Kuwabara was a mixture of a father and brother to Aang.
During those four years, Moraku and Sakaya had not kept their promise and had only allowed Gyatso to visit Aang once a year, which was why Aang was currently sailing towards home.
It had been over a year since Aang, now sixteen, had seen his guardian and four years since he had seen his friends from the Southern Air Temple. Aang could not wait to be home.
All of a suddenly, the wind shifted and as Aang took a deep breath, he could distinctly smell smoke in the air. He looked up towards the smell and saw a small plume of soot in the distance. His eyes widened in fear.
“Zack,” Aang called out to a fellow shipmate “Get Appa ready and prepare to launch the Alert Five Bison. I want to know where that smoke is coming from,”
“Yes sir,” said Zack giving a quick salute as he hurried off.
In less then three minutes Aang, Appa, and four other Sky Bisons each carrying five men were airborne and heading in the direction of the Southern Air Temple, where the smoke seemed to be coming from. When they reached the temple, there was nowhere to land seeing as it was completely engulfed in flame. Tears of sadness and angered flowed freely from Aang’s eyes. He shut them tightly as he concentrated. Within seconds, he felt the light trickle of water as it began to rain over the temple. After all the fires had been extinguished, three Bisons landed in an attempt to search for survives, the fourth flew back to the Savior to inform them of what happened, and the fifth flew out to scout the area. The search turned up no survivors as Aang had been afraid of but secretly expected. As they were burying the dead and trying to salvage what little they could, the fifth Bison returned informing them they had spotted Ember Blaze, the Flagship for the Imperial Navy of the Fire Nation, along with half a dozen support ships. In a fit of rage, Aang hopped on Appa and flew out in the direction of the small fleet with the other three Bison groups following him. It didn’t take him long to find the Fire Nation ships.
Bring his hand up merely inches from his face with his pointer and middle fingers extended, he willed the power to flow throw him to his finger tips. His eyes blazed blue as he sent the most powerful bolt of lighting he had ever produced at the Ember Blaze. It exploded violently in a shower of fire and shrapnel. Bolt after bolt struck the fleet of ships until every one of them was either ablaze or sunk. None of the crewmembers onboard of the ships ever stood a chance, just like the Air Nomads they had just slaughtered. Every ship had sustained such critical damage, that they would sink before making it to port. All but one… and Aang would let it limp its way back to the Fire Nation so that Fire Lord Souzen would know what had happened.
Aang’s comrades looked on in grim satisfaction.
The war had begun and the Fire Nation had made the first move. Even though they were victorious on every front when attacking the Air Nomads, they had suffered greatly in this one attack. It was a demoralizing blow to learn that the Flagship, the pride and joy of the Imperial Navy had been sunk so quickly. They would realize that there attack had failed to kill the Avatar and would now have to face him, the Naval Forces of the Water Tribes, and the Armies of the Earth Kingdom if they wish to conquer the world.
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