Chapter Text
Tanya Degurechaff
She felt heavy in her body, like the world was pulling down on her. Her old body left her no strength left in her advanced age. Tanya's old and milky eyes slowly turned to gaze out the window, she was in comfort in knowing she beat Being X, he cheated but she never truly prayed to him earnestly or put faith in him.
Her compulsory use of that orb did not count, and he knew it.
Tanya's tired eyes slowly drooped and closed, she took this as a win.
But as the darkness overtook her, instead of the quiet void, a rush of light and the sensation of being pulled made her annoyed and angry.
"Begone then, foul lost lamb of mine, I offered you miracles, and all you do is throw a fit. I tire of your incessant behavior towards me!"
The white void filled with clouds and a sun glared down on whatever she was now, but she snarled back at Being X. "Please, I am no lamb of yours, nor did I ask to be! You are no god, with your cheating ways, and brainwashing miracles! I refuse to have anything more to do with you!"
The clouds blackened, and stormed, "Petulant child! The grace of my miracles were for you to find sanctity and meaning in faith towards me, and you spite me every way!"
Tanya raged at Being X, "Sanctity and meaning!? You gave a berserking girl the same power to fight against me, you are the petulant one! Of all the souls, you picked me out of them, and made my life worse! That is no god, that is a demon desiring worship!"
The clouds began to calm down, "Then perhaps you are a mere lost cost to my cycle of reincarnation, I wash my hands of your heretical nonsense of logic and apathetic attitude! Better to prune you from my tree, than deal with you at all!"
Tanya scoffed, she would have grinned victoriously, if she could. "Admit it, I won, that means I would enter reincarnation, and you don't take losing well!"
Being X's divine composure shattered completely. The calm clouds vanished, replaced by an oppressive, blinding flash of light. "Silence!" the voice boomed, vibrating through her very soul. "If you love your precious logic so much, let us see how it serves you in a world where the laws of nature bend to the spirit, not the market! Enjoy your retirement, Tanya Degurechaff!"
Before she could fire back another cutting retort, the white void cracked open.
The sensation was the same as before, it was like feeling the sensation of falling and being pulled towards something at the same time. And before she knew it, she felt the sensation of a warmth, before cool air touched her skin.
20 BG, Tanza
Suddenly, her lungs expanded. The freezing air rushed into her chest, and a loud, high-pitched, pathetic wail escaped her lips. "Waaaaah!" She couldn't help but scream out, the knee jerk feeling of being born was new to her, since she only remembers waking up in a nuns arms previously as a baby.
She felt the sensation of motherly hands cradle her small body, "She looks beautiful!" A female voice by her cooed, leaving another voice to chime in.
"...hmhm…" she let out a baby whine, reborn again, and as a female again! Being X really was petty with his crap!
Her mother cooed to her before cuddling her into her breast to let her lie on her mother, the body heat of her helped stem the cold feeling of being naked in this atmosphere she was in, and her newborn baby skin. "Shhh…" Her mother said while she gently rubbed the back of her newborn wet head. "It's okay Tanza, mama's here."
The harsh light still hurt her newborn eyes, but she did her best to open them to see the face of her mother as she whined a bit in annoyance. This newborn stuff was not to be enjoyed at all.
"A perfectly safe birth, Laya!" Another female remarked in joy for her mother while she looked at a blurred face of her mother, who she can safely now know is Laya.
Her vision was still blurry, but she could make out the tell-tale signs of her face, though the entire front and top portion of her head was completely shaved smooth. Beyond that, an arrow tattoo in blue color was centered on her forehead that ran from the back.
While her eyes were shut, she calmed down. This was a far cry from being an orphan, but from the looks of what she saw the blurry image of her mother, it looked like she was wearing Tibetan monk-like robes with shades of orange and yellow.
While Tanza felt the sensation of her mother rubbing the small of her back, Laya spoke to the midwife, "I can rest easy from now, thanks Sister Khandro, mind getting me some water now? I feel a bit parched."
"Sure! I'll be right ba-"
Tanza tried to focus her blurry eyes open again to test them, but the freezing mountain air tickled her brand-new sinuses. A sudden, unstoppable tickle built up. 'Achoo!' Instead of a cute baby squeak, a violent gale blasted outward from her tiny face, surprising her with a snap of her eyes open to see blurry images still. 'What did I just do!? Was that magic!?
Silence between the two females left Tanza unsure what their reactions were, but she had to shut her eyes again to let her eyes rest.
Sister Khandro's sentence died in her throat as the infant's first airbending tore through the room. The sudden gale caught her robes whipping the fabric violently around her ankles. A stack of clean linens on a nearby stool was caught in the draft, scattering across the stone floor like loose autumn leaves. Khandro froze, her eyes wide with breathless shock before a massive grin broke across her face.
Laya took the brunt of the blast. The sheer force of the newborn sneeze hit her chin, instantly blowing her long, dark back-hair straight up and over her shoulders into a wild mess of hair before the air settled and her hair fell to the wayside against her shoulders and back.
Instead of panic, a warm, booming laugh rumbled through Laya's chest, vibrating right against Tanza's cheek.
Sister Khandro laughed in delight, before she quickly smoothed down her robs and looked at her longtime friend Laya, "Congrats, Laya, your daughter's first airbending is a sneeze! She giggled into a fit against her first.
Laya smiled lovingly down at her daughter, and watched as little Tanza with her eyes closed whimpered and winkled her cute little nose in exhaustion. She beamed with maternal pride and smooth down the now damp head of her infant daughter of her afterbirth. "Oh, my little storm." Laya cooed, her voice dripping with amusement. "A bit impatient to fly, aren't we, Tanza? You almost blew your poor mama right out of the bed!" She giggled.
Tanza
'Airbending?' She thought while she felt the onset of tiredness creep onto her, something she welcomed to get her away from this state of being a baby again. 'A simple sneeze and I can perform this 'airbending'...well sure, it was an accident, but ...what system of magic is that derived from?'
Her tiny, weak limbs twitched once in panic, and a quiet, defeated baby sigh escaped her lips. She was completely helpless, entirely dependent on these smiling, spiritual women who thought her involuntary display of airbending was cute. With a final, annoyed wrinkle of her nose, her consciousness faded into the heavy, inescapable sleep of infancy. She would find out later.
6 months later
Her sleep was met with a rush of time, her consciousness as a baby affording her another glimpse to the new world she was in.
The first thing she heard were distant soft gongs and chimes, before nose picked up the smell of burning incense. The first sight she saw once she opened her eyes were gray stones for the ceiling, before she tried to turn her head and looked at her state of bedding.
While she was tightly swaddled in a blanket, she noticed quickly she was in a woven wicker crib, which did not let her see much for her sides, but she was able to make out an image of another crib through the holes through the weaves.
Tanza let out an annoyed sound, before letting her head rest forward again. She was left alone, and going by what she saw earlier upon her birth, she most likely lives amongst monks with 'airbending'.
She let out a sigh, which probably sounded cute to the passing female monk with a full head of hair, and none of that head tattoo she saw on her mother's head. A question for later she guessed of what significance the tattoo is for.
The female herself though, who looked her way, smiled while she was sweeping the floor judging the looks of what she was holding and the motions she was doing. "Aw, look who's up, is that little Tanza I see up early for the day!" The girl remarked with a cooing voice while she had stopped and reached in to rub her head gently.
Tanza only let out a small whine of indignation, she was going to have to suffer through childhood again, all thanks to that petulant Being X!
But the girl took her whine for a different meaning, as she retracted her hand, and giggled, "Awe, miss you mom?" She patted the crib she was in, "I'll get Laya for you when I'm done~!" She cooed at her, before resuming her task of sweeping the floor.
As the young nun disappeared from her sight, Tanza peered upward from her restrictive bindings toward the stone wall nearest her crib. The best she could see was a stone brick roof outside of an overhang for the building she was, and beyond that was what looked like… 'Is that the bottom of a cliff?' She asked herself. Did these monks live in a monastery that was built under a cliffside? She has to assume so judging by the looks of it.
She'll see later what her new home is like outside, for now, she has to wait to grow up.
After what felt like at least half an hour of pondering, chief of which was the term 'airbending' from the previous time she was awake and aware, she did her best to think what sort of system revolved around this 'airbending', and not just that, the fact that there is airbending, means there must be more elements there.
'Logically speaking, if there is 'bending' for air, then there must be bending for the other basic elements, right?' She questioned herself.
There is also the fact that her sneeze on the day of her birth did not need magic by the feel of it, if anything, bending of an element more than likely dictates the need to perform actions with one's body, and mostly like as well, a mindset by her best guess.
'So can't really call it magic, or maybe I can, but it'd be pointless since this 'bending' of an element has a name for it…though, strictly speaking, going by any logic of a power system, it would not surprise me if this different type of power systems relies on something within a person's system…'
Regardless, the fact that she has the ability of an 'airbender' might either be her fortune or misfortune. Either way, she was interested in how far she can utilize this type of ability.
Tanza remembered back to her day of birth, and her sneeze. 'I can at least safety assume airbending can be done from the lungs, but I can also assume there are other methods, like performing an actions…and judging by these monastic nuns, it would not surprise me if airbending utilizes physical katas, hand and leg movements reminiscent of Shaolin martial arts to perform 'airbending'.'
While she waited for her mother to come and pick her up, she noted the restrictive nature of her swaddle, designed to prevent infants from tossing and turning. She frowned softly, and let out an annoyed sigh that escaped her mouth in the sound of a baby huff. 'Okay, I can't move my arms or legs to try it, but I have my lungs to test this airbending out…' She mused, it was better than doing nothing.
The soft chime of a wind-catcher on the ceiling caught her attention, leaving her to gaze a bit downward from her laying position; hanging there on the ceiling amongst a few others across the nursery room was a hanging prayer flag with a bell on the bottom. 'Okay, got a target.' She noted for herself.
She wasn't going to expect anything on the first try and she inhaled and blew out a pathetic breath of air, 'Of course it's not as easy, but I know I drew on something by accident with that sneeze…' Perhaps there was a chi system or flow of something in the body.
She then remembered during that brief moment of sneezing, something inside her helped her generate that harsh breeze. She searched inside herself, and found something, be it chi or something, but it was there…she thinks.
Trying again, Tanza inhaled briefly, and exhaled a soft blow of air, but once again, nothing, making her furrow her baby face in annoyance. 'What else am I missing?'
After searching for the memory of what she felt, she remembers being relaxed against her mother's bosom. Perhaps she needs to be loose in thought and not be too forceful on it?
Afterall, perhaps this airbending works on how Shaolin monks operate?
She consciously forced her tiny infant muscles to go completely limp within the tight swaddle. She stopped fighting the fabric, stopped overanalyzing, and simply let her thoughts drift, mimicking the relaxed state she felt right after birth.
She took a slow, deep breath, focused on the phantom spark of energy in her chest, and exhaled with a gentle, smooth push of intent.
Thwack.
The invisible stream of air shot straight up from her lips. It struck the long strip of paper and its bell hanging directly above her wicker crib, causing the paper and bell to snap upward violently with a harsh 'ding' of the bell chime, before settling back down with a few more chimes of swinging back to its natural state.
Tanza's eyes widened slightly in satisfaction. 'Success!' She cheered, and while it required a state of mind and body, it was a step in the right direction!"
But her small victory was short-lived. The sudden, loud chime had shattered the peace of the room. Outside the doorway, the soft, rhythmic patter of approaching footsteps suddenly quickened.
A shadow fell across the stone entrance, and a warm, familiar face with a distinct, freshly-shaved forehead and a bright blue arrow tattoo peered into the nursery. "Oh? What was that noise?" Laya's voice cooed, her long, dark back-hair swaying gently as she hurried over to Tanza's crib.
Tanza did her best to look innocent, by the looks of her mother's face, Laya knew she just airbended again.
As such, Laya looked from her wicker crib to the chime she blew with her breath, and looked back down at her with a proud smile, "Awwe, is my little storm having another fit, or is she playing with her airbending!?" She giggled and bent over before picking her up her swaddled form, "Who's an early airbender! You are!" she tickled under Tanza's chin while she held her in her arm, "Yes you are!"
Tanza however let out an annoyed whine, 'baby talk…just great…' She refrained from showing a grimace, and instead made a grumpy face, as something that could be reasonably shown on a baby's face.
Laya however took that as something else in a different meaning from her whine, "Is my little Tanza being a grumpy girl? Is she hungry!?" She smiled motherly down at her daughter.
But Tanza's eyes widened. Hungry. Right. She was six months old in most likely a low-tech, pre-industrial monastery. There were no formula cans or pasteurized bottles here. Her mind instantly came to the reality of what was about to happen. A flash of intense awkwardness spiked through her, but she quickly suppressed it. Survival required resources, and pride was a useless luxury.
If anything, her pride needed to be put to the wayside and let the process happen. She was better off accepting whatever nutrition she could to grow, compared to her previous malnutritioned life.
Her mother on the other hand smiled motherly down at her as she held her swaddled form and began unwrapping her, "Come on, let's get you out of there, we gotta get you fed by mommy!" Laya cooed to her while Tanza felt the restriction of the blanket around her loosen around her.
Once free of the blanket, Tanza felt better and flexed her tiny hands. Laya gathered her close, cradling the baby's head against her chest as she moved toward the doorway.
"Come on, let's find a nice place to enjoy the air together for lunchtime!" She cooed while she cradled Tanza to her chest.
The moment they stepped out of the nursery though, Tanza's world expanded. Resting sideways against her mother's chest, she could finally see past the nursery walls.
'...the monastery is hanging on the cliff!?' Tanza's eyes widened as her mother carried her elsewhere through the monastery, of which she saw dozens of women and girls in the same garb, young and old of varying ages. There were many even flying on gliders between the hanging temples, and beyond them…
'...flying animals without wings? What, do they Airbend as well!?' Tanza asked herself as her mother carried her to a circular balcony with several wicker chairs overlooking the expanse below. 'What ever are those large things as a matter of fact!?'
But her mother soon interrupted her thoughts as Laya sat down in one of the wicker chairs, "See the Skybison!?" She caught Tanza's attention back to her with pondering eyes, her mother must have caught her tracking the flying 'skybison', she tickled Tanza's chin in a soothing motherly fashion, "One day, you'll get to fly one!" she cooed at her.
Tanza wanted to reply, to ask a hundred questions about the giant beasts and the gravity-defying monastery, but all that came out of her tiny mouth was a soft, babble. Her infant body was quickly forgetting the sky bison as a sharp wave of hunger took over.
Laya smiled down at her, instinctively reading the cues. With practiced ease, she shifted Tanza's weight, cradling her in the crook of one arm while using her free hand to unfasten the front of her robes.
'Well, no sense in refusing a logical need for substance.' She inwardly grimaced but showed no signs of it outside as Laya began to feed her milk from the source. Tanza's newborn instincts completely took over. 'Wow, okay, body autopilot is real', Tanza thought, her mind drifting into a warm, comfortable haze as the rich milk began to flow.
The warm milk hit Tanza's stomach, and her infant biology immediately betrayed her. A heavy, irresistible wave of exhaustion washed over her limbs, melting away her adult thoughts.
'Wait, no-I wanted to watch the gliders…' Tanza fought to keep her eyelids open, but they felt like lead. Her nursing slowed to a rhythmic, heavy pulse as her brain chemistry completely surrendered to the milk. 'Stupid... baby... hormones…'
Her eyes fluttered shut, blanking out the view of the sky bison and the hanging temples. Her tiny fists relaxed, slipping off Laya's robes as she drifted into a deep, milk-drunk slumber, leaving the secrets of the cliffside monastery for another day.