Sound Bender (Avatar: The Last Airbender) #Wattys2017

||Chapter 28 - Student Becomes Teacher||

Himoko's POV

"This should be a good place to work at.".

We stood in the middle of a dense forest, the sound of everything within the background bouncing off of the trees- It was basically pitch perfect for us (Pun intended). Aang smiled, ready to learn.

"Okay, what are you going to teach me? Are you going to teach me to make whirlpools of sounds or weapons oh! Or you can teach-" I chuckled, resting my hand on his shoulder, "Calm down. I get you are excited but, we aren't going to get to the cool stuff yet." He pouted in disappointment. I gestured to our surroundings, taking a deep breath in.

"Close your eyes and what do you hear?" I asked him. He rose a brow, shrugging before closing his eyes. Sokka and Katara watched me teach Aang, intrigued in the new form of bending. We were here for a rest stop, originally we were going to land closer to a village to explore but once I spotted this forest, it was perfect for Sound Bending. Since everything was so close together but also wide apart at the same time, it would be easier to listen to the sound going on for miles across the forest ground. Aang and Katara also wanted a break from learning waterbending, and wanted to do something more fresh- Which is where Sound Bending comes into play. Only Aang was the only one between the two capable of learning it.

"Uhh... Foresting sounds?"

"Yeah, there is forest sounds... But what kind are they?" I asked him. He popped an eye open, confusion prominent on his face. I smiled softly, "There are sounds within sounds. What are the forest sounds, are they the critters, animals, leaves rustling, the wind howling through the tree branches?" I paused for a moment, listening in until I heard running water, "There is also sounds from a stream. Pinpoint sounds- and maybe you will find other sounds you wouldn't think about hearing in a forest." I told him, lifting my hand upwards to a huge tree, hearing the sounds of leaves rustling before grabbing hold of the sound and pulling it down towards us in one form. As I pulled it down, Momo screeched in surprise, not expecting the sound to disappear and ran down the tree and jumped onto my shoulder, watching me bend the sound around in my hands curiously.

"You first have to find the sounds, listen and feel the sound waves course around this very area. What do you hear now?" I asked him. Aang closed his eyes again, relaxing his shoulders. Slowly and quietly, I began to click my tongue, wondering if he will be able to pick it up and pinpoint where it was coming from.

"I hear... Dirt being dugged up... A branch falling to the ground and... I don't know what else."

"What directions are they coming from?" I asked him, momentarily stopping my clicking. He bit his lower lip, his ears slightly twitching as he searched for those locations. He pointed his right first, the east of us.

"There is the dirt..." He pointed to behind me, which was south. "And that is where the branch fell."

"Good. Anything else?" He went quiet for a moment, thinking and listening. Sokka groaned, bored of nothing exciting happening from his point of view.

"He can hear, Himoko?! When are you going to actually teach him-" I threw the sound ball I created earlier at him and Momo chased after it, the sound ball exploded once it hit the tree next to him with a loud sound of branches rustling and a chittering Momo.

"Shh. This is important." I told him with a small glare. Sokka made a small face at me and Katara sighed heavily, not believing that this was her older brother. I clicked my tongue once more, seeing his eyes eyebrows furrow with the sound.

"Clicking... I keep hearing clicks..."

"Where are they coming from?" I asked him, continuing to click with spaces in between. He turned around a few times before I grabbed a hold of him to make him stop. I leant back slightly, waiting until he pinpointed the sound.