Kira Jhong
The wind whistled through the leaves, twisting and turning the leaves as it brushed by. Wind is believed to be the element of freedom for it freely traveled through the world, hindered only be large rocks and trees. But, Kira believed wind was not just freedom but also beauty. The wind harmed nobody intentionally and existed is peacful in nature. It would not rip the leaves off a tree unless the time had come for the leaf to leave the tree. Instead, the wind would brush past the leaves or ripple across the water creating waves. To Kira, wind has always been something that one simply enjoyed as it blew through her hair and rippled her robes. Listening to the wind in a forest or by a river simply had always been her favorite past time.
"Kira, do you know how to fly through the sky like a flying bison?" asked the bald Master with his tattoo arrows that were typical of airbenders. He had been given the task of personally teaching the young girl and had often tracked her down in the forests when she left the classes of others. He was never cross with her and had always understood her fascination with the wind in the forest. The Master had done the same thing throughout his entire life for he personally believed that meditating in the forest gave him better understanding of the air.
"No Master, I never quite understood how something so large could fly through the skies." said the young girl sitting with her legs crossed on a stone platform.
"The flying bison is where we learned air bending from. They are the true Masters of air bending. A flying bison doesn't just fly on air currents, they manipulate them to allow them to fly like a bird through the sky. They aren't the lightest creatures as you know but their control over the air keeps them aloft for many hours, some times entire days. Few people have the skill to manipulate the air currents to fly without aid which is why we as airbenders use the glider. The glider allows us to catch air currents and manipulate them to a degree to keep us afloat in the air. We can fly using the glider and air currents as a flying bison can." the Master ended his lecture by unfolding a glider and hoping of the cliff. The young Kira watched in horror as the man fell down the cliff only for him to rise up as if floating. He changed the angle of his glider to face directly up and was lifted up by the air currents he had manipulated.
"Wow, that was awesome Master..."
"Hey! Hey! Kira Jhong, we have a message here from the White Lotus for you." called a young woman running towards her. Kira had been reminiscing about old classes she enjoyed at the temple before she left those four years ago. She had been recruited by the White Lotus even before she had been gone from the temple for a year. Kira had seen little of the world but had already determined that the world needs force to change it. That force just happened to be the White Lotus for Kira. The young woman handed a letter to Kira after she had stood up from her meditation and brushed of the dead leaves and pieces of grass which had gather on her pants and sashes.
The young woman instantly ran off, obviously going to another delivery that she had to make that day. Kira opened the letter and read the paper in case it was important. Noramlly she would have opened it later in the day, perhaps after she ate her breakfast, but any message from the White Lotus took priority to her food. Though, she was pretty hungry since she had been meditating since the first light of the sun peaked out. If you have recieved this letter then you are required to show up to a mandatory meeting at the White Lotus camp. So, her important message were orders for her to come to the White Lotus camp which, while not far from the forest, was in the middle of the ocean. She hated them not only for calling her in like some sort of dog on a leash but also for calling her to the middle of an ocean.
The White Lotus knew just how much Kira hated water since she couldn't swim and yet they had still called her to a camp in the middle of the water. They also had given her no choice but to go there to figure out why she had been called to the camp. Kira quickly climbed the nearest tree to her with her pack strapped on her chest and her glider in hand. The wind was blowing in her favor, towards the ocean rather than against it. Glider in hand, Kira unfolded the thing flaps and jumped into the skies. The wind quickly caught her glider, partly from her bending, and propelled her forward as she sailed through the skies. Not too far away was a small village and, as Kira got closer to the ocean, she noticed that there was a small boat heading towards the camp. It was probably just another person answering the message but one could never be to careful, Kira reminded herself as she glided down towards the boat. Without getting too close to the water to disrupt her gliding, Kira pulled up beside the boat which seemed to have been the canoes she had been taught about.
"Hello there! You going to the camp as well?" Kira called from a safe height on the right side of the canoe to the single passenger, a tall woman who seemed somewhat attractive. Kira rocked side to side slightly by tilting the wing so as to stay floating on a straight line. Flying with a glider, while simple, was difficult to do without angling the glider up or down to change height. It was almost necessary to do so when trying to fly somewhere quickly. Staying in a straight line without changing elevation slightly required one to rock side to side to catch small updrafts while allowing downdrafts to balance them out. It was a more natural way of flying than normal but could get tiring. "Mind if I land on your canoe just so I can rest? Flying like this isn't as easy as it seems." Kira said as her glider wing nearly dipped into the water causing a spray to splash on her's and possibly the woman's face.
