It's been a few days since that little incident with the supposed spy fleeing toward the Fire Nation; however, I may or may not have misjudged the situation. After capturing the 'spy' I had brought her to the council of elders so they could interrogate her, which they did, and that's how we came to learn she was actually married to a Fire Nation citizen.
Yes, as surprising as it sounded, her lover belonged to the Fire Nation, and the reason she was heading toward the Fire Nation was to bring her lover to safety; when I learned of that, a great deal of embarrassment and shame washed over me. I had wrongfully accused an elder sister of mine of a very severe offense; after profusely apologizing, she was promptly set free and headed toward the Fire Nation almost immediately afterward.
"You may enter." Said Aang softly as he opened his eyes and raised his head, gazing at the stone door, which Gyatso opened before entering.
"Ah, Monk Gyatso." Added Aang respectfully as he swiftly stood up and clasped his hands before bowing, causing Gyatso to wryly smile.
"Despite probably being the strongest Airbender, you still bow to this old man; if you continue with this, you'll inflate my ego." Gyatso chuckled with a faint chuckle as he closed the door behind him and glanced at Aang, who simply nodded.
"You're like a father to me, Monk Gyatso; it's only a given I show you my respect." Stated Aang lightly as he gazed at Gyatso, who softly smiled, only to clear his throat while sitting down.
Sitting back down on the mat, Monk Gyatso and I silently gazed at each other, filling me with confusion as to why he even came here in the first place.
"I see your mistake from last week still plagues your mind." Remarked Gyatso lightly as he narrowed his eyes, seemingly staring into the deepest parts of Aang, who lowered his head and sighed.
"It wasn't a small matter, Monk Gyatso; I had accused my elder sister of traitorous behavior. That is no laughing matter." Stated Aang with a deep frown as he glanced at Gyatso, who nodded in agreement.
"No, it was not; however, you didn't accuse her maliciously; you did so out of your desire to protect your home. Two completely different things; you merely made a mistake, a decently severe one, but a mistake nonetheless." Remarked Gyatso with a faint expression as he gazed at Aang, who silently listened, only to quietly sigh afterward.
"Besides, the woman in question has already forgiven you; you're beating yourself over needless worry as of now." Added Gyatso lightly as he dismissively waved his hand, causing Aang to roll his eyes while shaking his head.
"I'm not beating myself up over it, just merely ashamed that I so quickly jumped to a conclusion and assumed one of our own was a spy instead of trusting her." Said Aang with a frown as he softly sighed while lowering his head again, causing Gyatso to shake his head.
"Anyway, since you're here, Monk Gyatso, do you think you could serve as a test subject?" Asked Aang as he suddenly shifted topics and glanced at Gyatso, who raised an eyebrow with a look of confusion and intrigue.
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"So, what am I a test subject for, Aang?" Asked Gyatso curiously as he stood in the middle of the training grounds beside Aang, who was waving his hands in a circular motion above his head.
"It's for a new technique I've been creating; I was hoping you could test it out so you can give me thoughts on it. It'll also help me see how much farther I must perfect it." Replied Aang lightly as he momentarily glanced at Gyatso before focusing on his movements, which grew in intensity, causing the wind to turn aggressive.
Creating a vortex above my head, I continuously surged wind into it, causing it to rapidly grow until it was taller than even the peak of the Temple; stopping my movements, I swiftly sat on the ground and touched my fists together, manifesting a spherical vortex amidst the raging winds as I engulfed the entire training grounds in it. With the vortex, or at this point, miniature tornado, connected to the spherical vortex, I used the wind it sucked out from the sky into the vortex and let it run rampant, yet I ensured it didn't leave the confines of the vortex.
"Monk Gyatso, if you could please use your air bending." Said Aang lightly with furrowed brows as he concentrated on keeping the technique from falling apart, though his voice barely reached Gyatso, given the raging winds.
With a nod, Monk Gyatso heeded my words and began practicing his air bending, moving like usual amidst the raging winds; I maintained the technique for five minutes so he could thoroughly understand how it worked before I dispelled it.
Lowering my hands, the spherical vortex that enveloped the training grounds disappeared, followed by the miniature tornado a few moments later once it lost enough strength; during this time, he had gathered quite a lot of onlookers, including some elders, but I was too concerned with Monk Gyatso's thoughts.
"How was it, Monk Gyatso?" Asked Aang curiously as he approached Gyatso, who gave him a slightly surprised expression.
"I don't know what you're intending with that technique, but my bending had been strengthened; it surprised me." Replied Gyatso softly as he gazed at Aang, who faintly smiled at his words.
"How much would you say? Was it only a slight increase, or was it decently significant?" Asked Aang, his enthusiasm taking Gyatso aback while he quickly responded.
"It didn't take long for me to notice the change, so I would say it was pretty significant." Replied Gyatso with a nod as he glanced at Aang, who promptly furrowed his brows with a thoughtful expression.
"If that's so, that's great; with this, it should be able to massively help during the day of the invasion." Muttered Aang with a firm expression while his eyes shone brightly, only for him to release a deep sigh of relief.
To know the technique I had spent most of my time on was a success was incredibly relieving; if my idea had turned out to be a dud, I would've been more than just a little upset with myself since I could've been spending that time doing something more productive.
'Still, it won't be enough to completely change the inevitable invasion in our favor.' Thought Aang with a frown as he reeled in his joy and excitement, only for Tashi to break him out of his daze.
"Aang, what was that you had just performed?" Asked Tashi with a permanent frown as he and Jun gazed at Aang in curiosity, prompting him to clasp his hands at their presence.
"Monk Tashi, Monk Jun; that was a new technique I had created to help us combat the Fire Nation's invasion. As the Avatar, I may be a powerful bender capable of changing the tides of war, but that's only in the future; the me of now isn't quite there yet, so instead, I thought of ways to strengthen my fellow brothers and sister and increase their chances of surviving." Replied Aang softly as he glanced between Tashi and Jun, who both nodded while glancing at Gyatso.
"Well, seeing how you tested this unique technique, what do you have to say about this, Brother?" Asked Jun curiously as he gazed at Gyatso, who faintly smiled before gesturing to Aang.
"It's impressive, to say the least, but I believe it would be best if you two were to experience it firsthand. If you could do the honors, Aang." Remarked Gyatso with a faint smile as he looked at Aang, who nodded and began waving his arms into the air.
Once the miniature tornado had formed, I sat down and touched my fists, creating another spherical vortex that engulfed the training grounds; after a few moments, when the inside of the spherical vortex was filled with raging winds, only then did Monk Tashi, Gyatso and Jun before air bending.
Just like my intention, the raging wind flowed with their bending, strengthening all aspects of their bending exactly as Monk Gyatso had said; yet after a minute, I couldn't help but frown when I noticed how the raging winds began to calm. By the time the three elders had gotten a basic understanding of the technique, the air was calm and offered nothing to their bending; dispelling the technique, I stood up and approached them.
"It felt like I was in the middle of a powerful storm." Muttered Jun with widened eyes as he rubbed his long beard before glancing at Tashi, who nodded in agreement.
"That was my intention from the very beginning; I had an idea that it may be possible for an air bender to harness the powerful winds of a storm to strengthen their bending." Declared Aang with a nod as he gazed at Jun, who raised an eyebrow in slight surprise.
"Yet, on the day of the supposed invasion, there may be no storm… So essentially, you created your own storm?" Remarked Tashi as he narrowed his eyes at Aang, who faintly smiled in response.
"Yes. However, the technique still isn't quite perfect since I wasn't even able to accommodate three elders. If I can't even do a simple thing like that, the idea of doing so for the entire Temple will be nothing but a pipe dream." Replied Aang with a nod, only for him to frown with a thoughtful expression as he rubbed his chin while Gyatso, Jun, and Tashi were taken aback by his words.