Avatar: God Of Bending

Walking up the flight of stairs towards the peak of the Air Temple, a place where only the Elders are usually allowed access to, such as Monk Gyatso, though while the other Elders typically isolate themselves from the rest of the Air Nomads, Monk Gyatso is quite the opposite. Although I use the term isolate, it should be taken with a grain of salt; they're not too hard to find since, similar to Monk Gyatso, they also teach the new generation of Air Nomads, such as myself, it's just other than the classes they teach, they usually aren't seen too much.

'I wonder what the Elders want with me? Monk Gyatso had said it wasn't anything too important, though he seemed slightly troubled.' Thought Aang lightly with furrowed brows as he walked up the numerous steps, only to eventually arrive at the peak of the Air Temple.

Since I was curious, I suppose it was a good thing I was about to find out: approaching the double doors, which had a symbol of three swirling lines, which is supposed to represent air, and it is the symbol of us Air Nomads. Personally, I found the Water Tribe symbol to be the most visually pleasing, with the Fire Nation being third and the Earth Kingdom being last; shaking my head slightly to get rid of such irrelevant thoughts, I placed my hands against the doors and pushed, needing to use quite a lot of strength as well.

'I suppose the Elders aren't as physically weak as they look if they open this door daily.' Thought Aang lightly as he looked at the five elders sitting in the distance atop small wooden boxes, all wearing the same attire.

Closing the door behind me, I slowly approached the five elders, yet while doing so, I noticed numerous boxes on either side of the room filled with what looked to be toys, causing me slightly tilt my head, though I quickly ignored it as I clasped my hands together and greeted the five elders with a deep bow.

Sitting from right to left, there was a slightly plump Elder by the name of Monk Hitsugaya; he was relatively mellow and almost always in a good mood; then there was Monk Tashi to his left, who was rather scrawny yet strict and serious, and unsurprisingly, given my habit to almost always be training, he was pretty fond of me. Beside Monk Tashi, sitting in the middle, was Monk Pasang; he was also calm like Monk Hitsugaya and was also the youngest Elder, having joined just last year after the death of the previous Elder. To his left was Monk Gyatso, who, unlike usual, had a decently serious expression, something I rarely ever saw, and finally, on his left was Monk Jun; besides also being calm, the most striking thing about him was his long, black beard and long, white mustache.

(Note: I believe two of the five elders of the Southern Air Temple weren't named; if they were, such information wouldn't be easily found.)

And, of course, as they were Elders and incredibly advanced air benders, they had the bluish arrow tattoo over their body, depicting their status as master air benders by Air Nomad standards.

"Monk Hitsugaya, Monk Tashi, Monk Pasang, Monk Gyatso, Monk Jun." Stated Aang respectfully with a deep bow as he greeted the Elders, causing them all to nod, while Tashi faintly smiled, only for it to quickly vanish.

"Sit, young Aang, no need to be so stiff; be free like the wind." Said Hitsugaya softly with a soft smile as he looked at Aang, who nodded before sitting in a seiza position with his hands on his knees.

"Aang, do you know why we summoned you?" Asked Pasang lightly as he glanced at Hitsugaya before looking at Aang, who gently shook his head.

"No, Monk Pasang, I'm clueless."

"Hmm, I see. Well, there is no need to feel worried; what we're conducting is nothing special; numerous other children have already done this, and now it's simply your turn. We'd just like you to pick a few toys from those boxes of there." Replied Pasang gently as he gestured toward the boxes on either side of the room, causing Aang to hesitantly nod.

"If you'll excuse me, Elders." Said Aang lightly as he stood up and lightly bowed before approaching the right side of the room, searching through the numerous boxes.

While the Elders had said this was nothing special, they may have been able to deceive a child, but I wasn't an ordinary child; how could something possibly not be special if it required all five Elders of the Southern Air Temple to be present? Removing some of the stacks of boxes using a vortex of air since it was too high for me to grab, I heard Monk Tashi quietly praise my skill, though I continued searching through the boxes, trying to find a toy.

'I don't know if this occurred in the show or not; I quite enjoyed that show and knew quite a bit, but I don't know everything; my memory isn't perfect.' Mused Aang softly as he rummaged through box after box, finding nothing that quite caught his interest, only to suddenly stop while searching through the sixth box.

Grabbing a wooden pull-string propeller, which looked very similar to a wind turbine, I didn't know why, but I felt strongly connected to this seemingly ordinary toy; closely inspecting it to make sure I wasn't making a mistake, I gently set aside on the ground before I finished looking through the box, only to put it aside and grab another one.

Several boxes later, I found another toy that seemed to resonate with me, and while it wasn't as profound as the wooden pull-string propeller, I was still weirdly attached to it. In the end, over a full hour passed, with me doing nothing but rummaging through the numerous boxes while picking two more toys that I strongly resonated with.

Once I had finished, I carried the four toys and placed them on a faded white cloth while sitting in a seiza position before the five Elders.

"Are these the toys you've chosen, Aang?" Asked Monk Jun as he stroked his long beard while looking at Aang, who nodded, causing the four other Elders to nod while Gyatso sported a complicated look in his eyes.

"Yes. Monk Jun. The wooden pull-string propeller, clay turtle, wooden hog monkey, and wooden hand drum are the four I've chosen." Replied Aang respectfully with a nod as he glanced at the five Elders.

"An interesting choice, Aang. Do you mind telling us why you chose only those four?" Asked Monk Gyatso with a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes as he eyed Aang.

"I don't have a logical reason for choosing them; I just felt as if they resonated with me." Said Aang lightly after taking a second to think, his words causing a glint to pass through the eyes of the five Elders, while Gyatso sighed but nodded nonetheless 

"Hmm, do you know what those toys represent, Aang?" Asked Tashi with a slight frown as he gazed at the four toys, only for Aang to slightly shake his head.

"No, I don't, Monk Tashi; I spend most of my time training, so I have very little time to read through the library of scrolls and expand my knowledge, a bad habit I'll try to fix." Replied Aang with a shake of his head while slightly bowing, though his words only caused Tashi to faintly smile, yet Gyatso interfered before he could open his mouth to speak.

"Thank you, Aang, that is all; if you could please leave, I need to discuss something important with my fellow Elders." Stated Gyatso firmly with a slightly apologetic expression, causing Aang to nod as he stood up and gave a deep bow before saying his farewells, and only when the door closed behind him did the Elders speak their Mind.

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"Tsk, Gyatso, what was that about?" Asked Tashi with a slight frown as he turned and eyed Gyatso, who furrowed his brows and shook his head.

"I should be asking you that, Tashi; with your question, it almost seemed to me as if you were trying to tell Aang the truth." Remarked Gyatso with a frown as he narrowed his eyes at Tashi, who scoffed.

"Hmph, I wasn't; he is too young, only 4; at that age, he won't even fully comprehend the burden he was born with. However, it might not be such a bad thing since, last I checked, the world has grown rather restless over the years after Avatar Roku's death. Especially the Fire Nation; I had heard they're increasing their military might again." Remarked Tashi with a slight scowl as he eyed Gyatso, who showed a slightly pained expression before shaking his head, only for Hitsugaya to intervene.

"Brothers, there is no need to argue; Aang is the Avatar; that is almost certainly a fact. However, given the state of the world, it's best we keep this a secret until the time is right." Declared Hitsugaya softly as he glanced at Tashi and Gyatso, causing them to both calm down while Jun and Pasang nodded.

"Yes, I agree with Hitsugaya; we shall keep this secret tightly closed. Though I partially agree with Tashi, given the current state of the world and the strife between the bending world, I believe it would be best to start taking Aang out from the Air Temple and allow him to experience other cultures as soon as he finds his companion. He is young, but at the same time, the world's fate rests on his shoulders." Stated Pasang lightly as he glanced at the four elders before looking at the four toys laid on the white cloth, his words causing them to all silently ponder.

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Now, I know this didn't happen until Aang had already acquired his title as a bending Master, but obviously, things have changed given Aang's personality; also, I don't think this part really held enough significance to the story, so it's fine if it were revealed a few years earlier.