"Before we begin with true airbending, you must first learn its foundations," Roku said as they walked towards the temple entrance.
"What? Can't I just skip to the bending portion? That would be way faster. I don't want to waste my time here trying to meditate like a monk."
"I know why you want to begin airbending as soon as possible, but bending is an art. Just as with any art form, familiarizing yourself with the fundamentals will serve as a sturdy base for advancing your skills." Roku stopped and peered at Nathan over his shoulder. "Is that understood?"
With chills going down his spine, Nathan froze at Roku's stare before eventually nodding. Satisfied, Roku continued forward.
'I got too excited. And he has a point. Skipping the basics will probably backfire on me in the future. But I really didn't expect this personality construct of Roku to be so intimidating. It felt like I was in front of an apex predator!'
They entered the temple, passing by many closed rooms until they stopped at the fifth door. Inside, there was a large contraption composed of a raised circular platform topped with multiple vertical doors engraved with the symbol of the air nomads. It looked to be around twice as big as a boxing ring.
Nathan raised an eyebrow. 'Oh? I think I get how this works. Those things look like they should spin, and if I'm right… a strong wind should do it. This thing looks really useful for training airbenders. I wonder why ATLA didn't include them?'
With a push of his hand, Roku sent a blast of air that forced the wooden doors to spin at different rates, confirming his guess.
Wordlessly getting close to the contraption, Roku entered a stance, his feet slightly apart and his hands held open. Both palms were aimed forward, with one leading in front while the other stayed close to his body, imitating the placement of his feet. Slowly, as if on purpose, Roku moved between the spinning doors, masterfully changing directions and using his footwork to weave through the contraption. It was as if he was performing a dance.
Burning his movements into his memory, Nathan's attention was solely focused on Roku.
'Roku's feet just keep switching directions so smoothly. His footwork is just incredible. Can I really do that?'
He certainly felt like he could.
"I take it you already possess some knowledge about airbending, but let me refresh your mind," Roku began as he continued moving. "Air is the element of freedom. And for airbending, learning how to evade any attack is essential. This training device will assist with that. To succeed in moving through this contraption, the key is to be like a leaf. Flow with the movement of the gates. Airbending is all about spiral movements. When you meet resistance, you must be able to change directions at a moment's notice."
When Roku exited, he blew another blast of wind, spinning the doors once more. He gestured to the contraption.
"Just like so. Would you like to try?"
Nodding, Nathan confidently approached and drew in a deep breath. 'Be like a leaf.'
Shifting his body, Nathan entered the exact same stance as Roku. He took a moment to replay Roku's attempt and his movement in his mind before he stepped in. Letting his mind free of any distractions, Nathan concentrated on his movements and weaved through the doors seamlessly, his feet constantly changing positions with each step forward, moving in circular motions. Keeping track of the spinning gates with his eyes wasn't a problem, either.
At the back of his mind, he knew the Clarity of Mind perk and the super soldier serum he got were why he could concentrate so deeply. It would've taken him ages if he didn't have them.
His clothes would sometimes brush with the gates, but as he flowed through them, he found himself in a trance-like state. It was only when the doors went completely still that he stopped moving.
Standing straight, Nathan looked at a surprised Roku with confusion. Looking around, he realized that he forgot about going out the other side and had remained inside the whole time.
"Uh, is it over?"
Roku seemed surprised as he looked at him. "You finished it in your first attempt."
Getting out of the contraption, Nathan scratched his head. "I did? It didn't feel like I completely mastered it, though. Can I try again? Also, please make them spin around… three times faster. Yeah, that should be fine. That felt a bit too easy, to be honest."
Roku stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh. "As you wish."
With a powerful gust of wind, the doors began to spin at an incredibly fast rate, to the point that tracking the gates with his eyes had become challenging.
Nathan entered once again with more apprehension. But this time, he focused on coming out the other side without making any contact at all. His movements this time were smoother and lacked any hesitation. However, about halfway through the device, he made a great mistake in his timing.
A gate hit Nathan with such force that he became a pinball, bouncing from gate to gate until he was launched into the wall. His body flopped onto the ground face first.
"Ow…" Nathan grumbled in pain. It wasn't truly that painful, but he felt obligated to say it.
"That was a commendable attempt, Nathan." Roku stepped closer towards Nathan and leaned down. "But I suggest we move on."
"What? Hell no." Shakily, Nathan stood up and wiped the dust off his clothes. "Let me try again. I'll get through this time."
"Very well." Roku complied, making the gates spin just as fast as before.
Nathan walked towards the contraption before stretching his legs and arms. Determination etched on his face, he began his second attempt. He wasn't making the same mistake.
This time, Nathan got through the gates with even more finesse than before. To his surprise, it felt easier than his last attempt. Way easier.
'...Wow. This is how fast I can learn movements with both the serum and the motion memory perk? It's like a completely overpowered passive skill.' Nathan thought as he finally exited from the gates.
"Do you want to try again?" Roku asked.
Nathan opened his mouth to say 'No,' but he closed it when an idea popped into his head. "You don't happen to have a blindfold, do you?"
Roku silently looked at him before raising his hand. It suddenly had a black blindfold that wasn't there before.
"Huh. Neat."
Nathan got the blindfold and thanked Roku. When he got through the second time, he felt the flow of air around him and the doors. This gave him the idea that he could weave through the doors and come out the other side just by paying more attention to the wind and following the air currents.
After another blast of air from Roku, Nathan wrapped the blindfold around his head tightly, making sure there were no gaps.
'Just follow the air. Can't be that hard.'
After a small moment of pumping himself up, Nathan took three steps inside and was immediately hit in the face.
'Damn it! No, don't lose your cool. It's fine. Stay focused.'
Even with one mistake, Nathan remained unperturbed and continued without losing much momentum. Just like when he first learned the basics of every fighting style he knew, mistakes only stayed as mistakes if you didn't learn from them. If you did learn from those mistakes, they become lessons.
Inside the contraption, he experienced more close brushes with the doors, but none made direct physical contact. It didn't take long for him to learn how to interpret the swift changes in the air and change directions accordingly. After that, it was smooth sailing.
Emerging on the other side, Nathan turned towards Roku. "Can I try one more time?"
"I think that is quite enough, young Nathan," Roku said with a tired voice. "Going through this while impairing your vision and having the doors spin many times faster is something very, very few airbenders have done Air Nomad history, and even then, it took them far more tries than you did. It's my pleasure to announce that you have officially become somewhat proficient in the fundamental principles of airbending: evasion and finding the path of least resistance. I think it is time for you to learn the second—and arguably most important—aspect of airbending."
"Oh," Nathan muttered with disappointment and removed his blindfold. "Okay. But can you first tell me how much time we have left?"
"Don't worry about the time. If you're as talented in the other three elements, you will have plenty left to practice each one. And even if you're forced to leave early, there's no shame in learning about the other elements in later sessions. Now follow me." Roku began walking towards an open area outside and Nathan followed.
They arrived at an open balcony overlooking the forest below, decorated by etched symbols of airbending. Roku promptly sat down in a meditative pose and gestured for Nathan to do the same.
"Let us begin your spiritual training. For bending, spirituality is as much of a necessity as chi itself," Roku said and closed his eyes. "This is an essential part of your bending ability, as it will apply to every facet of the bending arts, most notably in airbending. But most important of all, mastery of your spiritual side will allow you to access the Avatar State at will, and after that, you can begin the journey to mastering your use of it."
"Don't I need to open my seven chakras to access the Avatar state? Wasn't it something about letting the cosmic energies flow through me?" Nathan questioned.
"Since you're not the true Avatar, opening the seven chakras will merely help you gain a minor level of control over the Avatar state. To truly have full access to it will require extensive meditation and full mastery over your chi."
"Oh, okay… It doesn't sound too hard. Quick question, Avatar Roku," Nathan said, raising his hand as if he was in class. "Will my Avatar State be the same as the real Avatar's?"
"Unfortunately, because you are not the true Avatar, you will not receive the same benefit of having access to all the past Avatars' knowledge and skill. However, everything else is the same aside from that aspect. Activating the Avatar state will give you the same manyfold enhancement to your bending prowess as it normally would for the true Avatar. And as you already know, the more time passes and the more you regularly train your bending, the more powerful it will become."
"Oh…" It was disappointing that his Avatar state wasn't the same, but he could manage with just the power boost and knowing that he'll grow more powerful with time and practice because of the Shattered Limiter perk. "How do I start meditating? Do I just empty my thoughts and focus on my breathing?"
"Close. To meditate is to let your mind and spirit be free. Yes, you can choose to try to empty your thoughts, but it is easier said than done. You are human, and even the most spiritual airbenders find it difficult. Instead, I advise you to focus on your breathing. Be aware of your own thoughts, emotions, and the present moment. Breathe in and out through your nose. Your stomach should be rising when you breathe, not your chest and shoulders. Mastery over your breathing is also necessary as a firebender, so learning how to breathe correctly and how to draw power from your breath sooner will be an immense help to you."
"Alright, I'll try."
Nathan had never tried meditating before, even when he saw multiple people attest to its benefits on YouTube and social media. He was just skeptical of it. He wasn't that close-minded enough to call it pure bullshit.
After a moment of calming himself, he followed Roku's instructions and focused on his breathing.
'Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.'
His thoughts began to stray. He started thinking about what airbending would be like, and after that was waterbending, then earthbending, then firebending. It didn't stop. He found himself having to repeatedly drag his focus back to his breathing.
"If you find your thoughts wandering, do not think you are doing something wrong. It is completely natural. Let your thoughts and emotions flow. Observe them. Understand them and the cause of their emergence. Meditation will allow you to delve into your innermost self, and later, when you've spent more time meditating, developing your spirituality, and opening your chakras, you may even find spiritual enlightenment."
Roku's words flowed into his ears and etched themselves into his mind. However, internalizing Roku's words was more difficult than he thought. Nathan had been using logic and intuition to solve most of his problems in his life. Both helped a lot when it came to predicting people's movements during a fight, but meditation and spirituality both mostly relied on "feeling". And it seemed not even the super soldier serum could enhance the learning of something that relied on using the abstract. Or maybe he was just doing it wrong.
'Am I doing things wrong? Probably… Damn it. At this rate, I'll never be able to airbend,' he thought, his face twisting in frustration.
'Maybe… maybe I'm just using the wrong kind of logic? I'm just trying to rush into this head first, but not every challenge can be tackled head on like it's a math problem. In the same way, special challenges and puzzles can be solved through brute force, but it would be way more efficient if you just find the best way to figure out each step in solving it by thinking outside the box or changing your approach.'
His body began to lose its tension as he thought about it more.
'Maybe that's what I should do. I should embrace the principles and foundations airbending was built upon… And I shouldn't limit myself by just relying only on what I've always used before. Open my mind to the possibilities. Airbending is the element of freedom, and just like air, my thoughts should flow freely.'
With that change in mindset, something clicked in Nathan's mind, and his previously unstable concentration finally settled into a form of tranquility.
-===-
"Avatar Roku" peeked with one eye open and smiled when he sensed young Nathan's internal change.
He was an artificial entity created by the shard within Nathan and possessed unique abilities. This allowed him to sense the energy within Nathan, as well as its flow. With it, every change of emotion happening was visible to him, among other things.
'He's getting the hang of this quickly. It seems to be quite literally just as easy as breathing to him. I did not expect him to breeze through the evasion training with that much ease, either. His Body Power and Perks are incredibly helpful, but this amount of ease in learning airbending is different. Hmm. I'm interested in seeing how well he fares with the other bending arts. Waterbending may come just as easy to him due to its likeness to airbending, but what about firebending and earthbending?'
How quickly was Nathan going to master all four elements? That question lingered in his mind.
Aang, one of the youngest Avatars to begin his mastery of all four elements, had been one of the fastest to master all four. The pressure of war and Sozin's Comet did wonders for Aang's bending development. But after the war ended, he had no reason to train like he did before, and therefore changed his focus towards his duties as a fully realized Avatar and his relationship with Katara instead.
For Nathan, the opposite could be said. He had no war to end and no duty to fulfill. The only thing pushing him was the pure desire to learn and improve. And yet the barely thirteen-year-old boy had grasped the fundamentals of airbending at such speed that he had already made as much progress as an average airbender that had been training for months.
'Of course, this world's influence is helping accelerate his progress just as it was designed to do, and I should also take into account his potential as an Avatar contributing as well. But how much of his progress is due to those two factors and how much of it is due to his pure innate talent?'
Shaking his head clear, Roku returned to his meditation.
He was getting ahead of himself. Nathan had not even begun proper airbending yet, so it was too soon to judge his true capacity in the bending arts. For now, he'll have to see after they were done meditating.
-===-
Author's Note: I attempted making the airbending training more in-depth as I find it to be the most fascinating out of the four bending arts and it's also the element we have the most information on in terms of how airbenders are trained.
And to avoid any misunderstandings or questions; Yes, Nathan's Avatar State is a bit nerfed in that he won't have access to the past knowledge and skills of every Avatar before Aang. Though, it still does buff his bending as normal. After he gains access to it and trains with it for a long period of time, it will eventually surpass the real Avatar's Avatar State in power.
If you have any doubts about Nathan's decisions, such as his decision to learn airbending first when he's literally in the Fire Nation, then I implore you to wait for the next chapters. Although I'm not a hundred percent sure that I have all my bases covered, I try to cover most of them.
Thanks for reading. Let me know of any feedback you have and have a nice day.