airnomadatheart

[airnomadatheart]

Opal and Bolin's Family

The couple had four children together:

Muqatil (fighter in Arabic)- Oldest, he began to call himself Drago after learning that he was the only fire bender in his immediate family. His younger siblings preferred to call him “Mu," while his parents later adopted the nickname. Mu is very protective of his family, he is very calm and collected and tries not to snap or show emotion. He prefers to be serious, than joke around, even in joyful situations. Being the only fire bender, he was taught everything he knows by his uncle, Mako. Mu also has a love for pro bending, and has a soft spot for all animals. He has green eyes, he is tall and thin, and his hair is medium length and is always slicked back. When his brother Ai left to the Air Temples to train, he took to pro bending to cope with his brother leaving and eventually joined a team.

Ai (Love in Japanese)- second to oldest, Ai is 2 years younger than his brother Mu. He is a polar opposite to Mu. He is loud and does on impulse. He loves to joke around and mess with Mu, he was the one who gave him that nickname. He plays pranks on everyone in his family and is very light-hearted. Ai is an Airbender like his mother and once he turned 13 he wanted to master his bending, and went to live with Jinora and her family where he mastered Air bending. He was torn that he had to leave his best friend (Mu) behind because the two were inseparable. Ai is tall (but not as tall as Mu) and is bulky, and has soft green eyes. He is also very muscular. As a child, his hair was always braided, but after discovering his bending abilities, he chose to shave his head bald. As an adult, he chooses to sport the braids his mother always did for him in his beard instead. As a remembrance and ode to his mother and childhood. He was a huge momma's boy.

Yanshi (Rocky in Chinese)- second to youngest, Yanshi is 5 years younger than Mu (3 years behind Ai) and is very shy and quiet. Also known as Yan. Opening up can be difficult for Yanshi but when he does, he is a ball of energy. He is often very nervous and skittish. Although he is nervous, he is very loyal and will give his life to those he loves. He has a knack for technology and building new things. He enjoys playing traditional Pai Sho and applies those rules to everyday life. He always plans his next lives and is meticulous. He discovered that he was an air bender at age 5 but wasn't sent to train at the air temples until he was 11. Opal and Bolin saw it fit because his brother had been at the temples for a year, and felt that Ai could watch him and keep him company. He, like his older brother, was eager to master air bending as soon as he learned he could in fact air bend. He obtained his tattoos a year before Ai but he looks up to him and Mu. He is short with a medium build, he also has green eyes. As a young child, his hair was long and the top layer was put in a ponytail while the rest was down. He never shaved his head at the temples during his training years, and wore a full ponytail until he received his tattoos. When he did, he shaved the hair closest to the arrowhead and the rest was kept long and in a ponytail.

Amal (Hope in Arabic)- youngest, she is 4 years younger than Yan, 7 years younger than Ai, and 9 years younger than Mu. Being the only girl, she was spoiled by her brothers and parents. All three of her brothers are very protective of her, but she dislikes their overprotectiveness and always prefers to explore alone. She is an adventurer and loves to discover new things or places. She is bubbly and giggly, and is always smiling. Like Yan, she loves to invent new things and is not in the least “lady like," like her Beifong relatives would like. At first she was thought to be a nonbender, because for the first 10 years of her life, she never showed any bending abilities at all. Before she was born, Bolin hoped he would have an Earthbending child to pass along everything he knew and mastered, although he never showed or shared these feelings with even his wife. He was always proud of his sons and their abilities. After she turned 10, Bolin was Earthbending outside of their home, and Amal, being the curious child she is ran out. Bolin was demonstrating his abilities and Amal started giggling for no reason. She said she could dodge anything he tossed at her, so the two began playing. While they played in the yard, Opal called for Bolin and he was distracted, a small rock the size of an orange was thrown wrong and he thought it would hurt Amal. Amal laughed and stopped the rock, she started yelling about being an Earthbender and Bolin began screaming. After that incident, Bolin trained his daughter in Earthbending and she eventually learned how to lavabend and mastered metalbending from her grandmother. She is short stalky in build and is the only child to have brown eyes (similar to those belonging to Mako). As a child, her hair was long and in one big braid down her back, but as an adult, she chose to cut her hair into a bob, eventually shaving the right side. She enjoys pro bending and as a teen she joined her brother, Mu's team.

[airnomadatheart]

The New Air Nation

(The is the period of the next Fire bending Avatar, Vahni)

(As told by Seji for dramatic effects)

Since Avatar Aang's time, our world as Air Nomads has changed. As descendants of Aang, we have done our best to uphold the ancient ways of the great Nomads before us, but we have also lived along with the world around us. We have begun to trade with the other nations around us, and even own modern technologies. Many of us are still vegetarian, and we don't use carbon or electricity to help the world and lessen air pollution to avoid any climate change.

However, we strive for enlightenment and materialism is taught to have no great importance. After the Harmonic Convergence, many new benders came about, and they weren't at all related to my own ancestor, Avatar Aang. And with that, sparked new curiosity from the outside citizens. Nonbenders traveled to Air Temple Island in search of enlightenment. They wanted to become true air acolytes. My great grandfather, Master Rohan and his older siblings, Jinora, Meelo, and Ikki, took these people in and trained them in our ways. Acolytes do greatly outnumber air benders, but our peace and enlightenment persists stronger than ever.

Now, there is a council of older monks and nuns who help lead their Temple, and there is one leading monk or nun who has the last word in their respected Temple. During meetings with the councils from other nations, those leaders each represent their Temple and Nation. However, before each meeting, those individual leaders meet up and converse topics going around their temples and agree or disagree together as a unit to avoid conflict during the council meetings.

Although each Temple is slightly damaged, they're still being used and air Nomads and acolytes are being housed. The Northern Temple, although it was destroyed, has been going under construction and is being renovated to be habitable. Temples are not seperated by gender.

After Master Tenzin's death, many politicians argued about discontinuing reparations to the Air Nation. There were protests that stated it was unfair, and before my older sister, Jin was born, my parents and the other leaders decided that they should in fact discontinue the reparations from the Fire Nation. Those reparations greatly helped us grow as a whole, but because Tenzin and the benders and acolytes of his time swore to bring balance to the world, my parents decided that they would do just that by no longer accepting the reparations. They had long forgiven the Fire Nation, so it was time to let that genocide go.

It is still required that in order to receive one's air bender tattoos, that they must master the 36 tiers of Air Bending. Air acolytes don't receive these tattoos, though, and many of them are fine with that fact. No air bender is of higher power than their nonbending brothers or sisters, all are equal.

Unlike the ways of the past, Air Nomads and acolytes are not required to give their babies up in search of enlightenment. Some parents can choose to do so though, and it is not frowned upon. It has been discovered that enlightenment can still be reached, even as a parent, as demonstrated by Master Tenzin and his family.

Air Bending has only slightly changed; however, the ancient art of healing through air bending has been rediscovered. It was practiced by the second Avatar, Air Master Hanami, and was created by her grandmother. The practice was popular in the older world of Nomads, but lost popularity. This was because those air benders traveled so much, and were seperated by tribes. Each tribe had its own distinct practice, and there came a time when small tribes came together and created a larger one, they then inhabited certain areas, on every corner of the globe, and began to create temples. Many practices were lost, but are being rediscovered by the new benders and acolytes. After the genocide, many writings and teachings were lost, but not all. Master Jinora was able to find some of those lost artifacts that detailed the ancient practice, and she and the other benders began to further explore and retune it, passing it on to the next generation.

Air bison are no longer an endangered species, thanks to Avatar Aang, and have fully returned to also call each Temple home. Like the ancient nomadic ways, they travel every season for sunny weather and food.

Many air benders and acolytes have begun traveling again like we once used to before because our numbers are continuing to grow larger and are prospering. Those travelers only return to the temples during festivals or special events. We have also rediscovered old celebrations and have began to celebrate them. Special nomadic recipes have been passed on again and are often practiced.

We still continue the practice of wearing traditional robes; however, young children wear different attire, and those who are learning air bending, no matter their age, wear glider suits.

However, some nomadic scholars, like my annoying older ster, argue that we should revert back to the ancient practices, like seperating each Temple by gender. We do uphold the ancient ways, but we must continue to evolve with the world around us. We are still able to seek enlightenment, but we can't stay stuck in the old.