Rairi Times [Training a Hothead]

The sun was scorching the grass plains below on another blazing day in the Earth Kingdom. The small team had landed near a medium sized lake to take a small break from the constant travel and hot sun. The black scaled dragon would press its body into the water almost as though it was cooling off from being in the sun for too long. That was kind of funny, seeing how fire benders loved the sun, and the Dragons were the ones to teach fire bending in the first place. Raizo found himself laughing near the shore, as he had a piece of watermelon sitting on his lap and a few more laid across a blanket abit behind him. During their journey, Raizo made a pit-stop in a small village that housed a number of vendors. They ranged from watermelon vendors, all the way to cabbage vendors. Seeing the expression on Riri's face to the watermelon, Raizo would use a few gold pieces to buy three whole melons just for her. After slicing each piece up, and landing in a good spot to relax, he'd make sure Riri got her fair share before kicking back. Who said the life of an Avatar had to be all serious? Fun and games were important too! Atleast that meant they wouldn't be a lifeless stick in the future, right?

Kicking his legs in the water, Raizo would turn towards Riri while taking another bite of the watermelon. "How is it Riri? I've never had watermelon in the fire nation, so this is kinda new to me. I gotta say..I love it!" The boy would stick his tongue out at the little girl, making a funny face, before taking another bite and looking forward towards his dragon. "Can you tell me about the Air Monks, Riri? Like what kind of people they are? One day I'm going to have to travel to the temples or meet one to learn airbending..but the fire sages always told me it would be one of the harder elements for me to learn. Something about me being too aggressive and headstrong..I don't remember everything they said." The boy would close his eyes and take another bite from the watermelon at this time. "I'm sure it won't be too hard. The Avatar is supposed to be the master of all four elements. They said one needed to be completely calm to lightning bend and I learned it..I even mastered it. Can Air Bending be that difficult to where I can't even learn the basics?" With an annoyed expression, Raizo would spit a seed in the water while the massive dragon would wag its tail and send a small wave onto the two. "Thinking about it, I can barely waterbend too.."

Riri was incredibly busy tucking in to her melon, taking large bites through the middle of the slice. So it was no surprise that she almost missed that Raizo was talking to her. She raised her face from her fruit to look at him as he asked her the questions. Blinking a little, with her melon covered face, all puffed up from the chunks of melon inside her mouth. As he finished speaking she made a large gulp, swallowing the melon in her mouth. Though not getting rid of any of the mess on her face.

"Uwaa... The Air Monks..." She rolled her eyes upwards, as if looking to her forehead for insight into the question. She remembered the particular instance when she learned to glide. "Uwaa!" She almost jumped up remembering. "Their real scary! Their like ten feet tall! And real muscled and stuff." She made the appropriate gestures, pointing high up for the part about their size, and flexing her little biceps to show how muscular they were. She calmed herself, and took another bite of her melon, silencing her for a moment as she looked to the ground, gulping down the rest before continuing in a quieter voice. "The other kids are hard to talk to, they all know each other and stuff. And the monks are always busy." She huffed in a pout.

Riri was quick to change the subject, for she had realized that she was actually embarrassing herself and had gained her red blush back (Fortunately minimized due to red watermelon juice covering her cheeks). "Airbending is easy. You uhm... Just gotta..." She got to her feet, trying to remember how to explain it. She made a few stepping motions that were obviously part of the practice, focusing intently, trying to remember her lessons. "Oh yeah! You got to remember to be the leaf" She nodded, as if that explained everything. That was how to airbend.

Raizo would laugh at the little Riri, while she at so much of the Watermelon her cheeks were practically puffy. "You gotta swallow your food, Princess." When she started to describe the Air Monks, Raizo practically dropped his Watermelon into the water. They sounded more like monsters than actual monks. Monks were supposed to be peaceful people, so he imagined them as lean and very subtle. However, what she spoke of was a large mammoth that could probably wipe out a whole city with one swipe of the arm. The thought made him tremble abit.."Yeah, they're probably busy working out all the time..They sound like monsters..Don't worry though, Riri. I won't be too busy to talk to you." The fire bender would tilt his head and give a smile, before turning back to the melon and taking another bite.

Next the girl went on with a physical demonstration of Air bending, and Raizo's attention would be fully on her. Even if she wasn't a master, she surely knew the basics. He watched the steps she took, and raised a brow when she mentioned to 'be the leaf.' What was she talking about? Raizo would place his melon to the ground before removing his scarf and walking up to the small air bender. Kneeling down, he'd clean her face with his scarf before smiling. "Princess Riri, you wouldn't mind showing me more would you? I wanna learn how to 'be the leaf' just like you." The Avatar would stand and toss his scarf into the water while taking a few steps back. He'd bow to the little girl, like she was a master, before laughing abit. "Okay Master Sky Princess Riri. Teach me how to bend the air!"

Riri blushed a deep red colour as Raizo took the scarf to her face. Now cleaned up. Riri brought her attention back to trying to figure out how to teach airbending. She'd never gotten very far in her own training, most of what she knew was natural, and not learned. She made a very very long "Hmmmm..." sound, trying to designate the proper training method.

She returned to doing a small dancing sequence, trailing one foot close to the other, then twisting and stepping out again. Looking down at her feet then nodding to herself repeatedly. The most important thing was to get all the moving around right, and then bend the air with the movements afterwards. "So you need to... uhm... like this" She made the movements again, slower. She huffed, unable to explain it correctly. And waved her hand backwards and forewards as she spoke. "You just gotta... Move with the air, and then the air moves with you" She nodded to herself, assuming she'd explained it correctly.

Raizo's amber eyes would watch the small girls movements, as his smiling face twisted into confusion. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to ask her how to Airbend, but sadly she was the only Air bender he had met his entire journey so far. Unlike his fire bending style, the Air one seemed more passive and fluent. Something he wasn't used too whatsoever. Trying to mimic her style, he'd place his feet together and take a deep breath. "Okay, move with the air and the air moves with you..Got it. Shouldn't be too hard.." The Avatar nodded to himself as he twisted his upper body while taking a step outward. He'd trail his right foot behind the left, attempting to copy her completely, but would end up kicking the back of his foot and stumbling forward slightly. He'd catch himself, and try once more. "Be the leaf..Be the leaf..Come on.." He'd repeat the lines to himself over and over, as he continued to try and mimic her dance, but tripped over his own feet almost every attempt. Raizo would even go far enough to trip and stumble into the lake, after his last attempt to mimic the girls stance. The water he had fallen within would begin boil as he'd emerge, breathing fire from his mouth. "Why is this so hard?! Every other Avatar can bend air except me! And let me not get started on water! This is so infuriating!"

Raizo would smash his hands through the water like a child having a tantrum. This would cause Wafu to wag his tail and send a wave crashing onto him for a cool down. The impatient Avatar would be washed ashore, where he would be sitting on his but soaked and still steaming. "Urg..Riri can you give me anymore tips? Maybe demonstrate some Air bending for me?"

Riri tilted her head, watching the avatar struggle over the moves. Her eyes darted away from him as he made the simple mistakes. It was obviously not coming naturally to him at all. She flinched away as her companion began to yell in frustration, retreating into herself slightly, hugging her body close to herself. He was the avatar after all, if there was something wrong with his bending, it was probably that she was a bad teacher. "I-is it really that hard? she asked timidly, swirling a foot in the soil.

She looked upwards, meeting the avatars gaze as he asked for more tips. "There was a really big training tool for basics back at the temple..." She bent around, rummaging through her pouch for something. "But... Uhn... hmmmmm.... This might help a lil'" She pulled out her fan, flicking it open. Waving it about normally a few times, then swinging it against the air with her bending, sending a gust forward/ She smiled to herself. "See? The fan helps." She nodded to herself in agreement with her logic. She looked to the fan, giving a little pout, and then looked back to Raizo, steaming at the edge of the water. Taking a few quick steps towards him she stopped, hands behind her back. "Hea." She pulled her hands forward, extending the fan to him. "You can borrow." She looked away as she said it. "B-but it's Riri's only real thingy, so you have to give it back! Got it?"

Raizo would watch the girl dig her foot into the ground. His words were obviously bothering her, and he'd raise a hand and shake it. "It's not your fault, Riri. It's my own. I've always been a hothead..The fire sages were right. I just need to try and learn patience." The Avatar would nod to himself before flipping back to his feet. Though it was rare to take the blame for anything, he couldn't bring himself to blame a small girl. Avatar or not, it wasn't right to blame a little one for one's own faults. Raizo would suck it up and stretch out his arms while she began to talk about a training tool the Airbenders used when just starting out. His eyes would widen abit, as he was expecting some amazing weapon, but instead was shown a small fan. "A..fan?" Really? Just a fan? To think something so simple was used almost made Raizo smack himself in the face. After watching the small girl send a gust forward, the Avatar would nod his head before removing his own fan. "I never knew a fan was used. That's pretty crazy, seeing how my previous self used a fan in combat. I wonder if he had trouble learning Air too, so he got this fan to teach himself how to bend it." Raizo felt alittle better about himself after coming to such a conclusion. Instead of taking the little girl's fan, he would open his own and nod towards her. "If we both have fans it'll be easier for me to mimic your stance. Also I don't want to accidently burn yours if I get too hotheaded." The boy would laugh under his breath, like he was joking, but in all honesty he was completely serious. When it came to his temper and him losing it, he could literally explode.

Getting back into stance, Raizo would take a deep breath and then exhale. "Be the leaf..Be the leaf.." The young Avatar would calm himself before twirling his body and pressing a foot forward. He trailed behind it with his other foot, and began to twirl almost like a dancer. The fan would remain in his hand, catching the air on its sails and directing his body. He'd continue these movements for a few seconds, keeping his eyes closed and attempting to stay focused. "..Feel the wind and become the wind..Feel the wind and become the wind.." The Fire bender continued the movements for a total of ten seconds before tripping over his own foot and stumbling forward a few steps. He'd catch himself, before opening his eyes and looking towards his teacher. "You're a genius, Riri! That's ten seconds more than before!" Raizo would run to the girl and pick her up into a hug, rubbing his cheek into hers. Suddenly he'd stop and put her back on the ground before crossing his arms and turning away. "..I mean..Psh that was easy! Nothing an Avatar can't do! So what's next?"

She nodded her head. Of course it was a fan, what other item collected wind so well? She listened to the avatar talk about his past lives. Not entirely sure what those were, she nodded along as he talked about it. A bright smile came to her face as she realized that Raizo had a fan too. That would make things even easier, and she wouldn't have to give up her fan. She took his laughing as a sign she should probably laugh too, so she let out a small giggle, though she wasn't entirely sure what the joke was. But then it was back to training time. She watched with a furrowed brow, and big curious eyes as the avatar went through the airbending steps once again. He was definitely better. Though she would have been upset if she'd failed to last so long. It was time for the next step, whatever that was. Giving a giggle as Raizo wrote off the improvement as just avatar awesomness, she took a step forward trying to think of what the next step should be.

"Uhm.... Uhh... Next... try it and..." She spun on the spot, collecting the air with her fan as she did, launching a gust forward. "Do like that. Use fan to feel the air, and then let it push forward when you do." Riri nodded in confirmation, that sounded very grown up and monk like, so it must be true, cause that's the way the world worked. "But, uhn... speed isn' important, kay?" After all, the air wasn't going to vanish if they didn't practice speedily. "It's the technique, and feeling it that's suppose to do stuff."

Raizo would continue to watch the little girl, as she'd twirl, collecting the air with her fan, and then pushing it forward to send out a small gust. This was air bending at its most basic level. Even he could tell that. With their stance kinda down, surely it wouldn't be too troublesome to learn how to send a simple gust out. "Alright I got it..Just can't be too impatient, and it should come naturally." The Avatar would nod to himself before raising both hands infront of his body and facing his palms outward. Sliding a foot across the ground, the other would trail behind it, allowing his body to twirl almost like a dancer. As he continued the movements, he'd extend his fan slightly infront of his body, allowing the air to slide upon its folds. With one final twirl, he'd swing his arm forward and unleash a gust of air from the tips of his fan. The gust wasn't anything special. Hardly strong enough to move a simple patch of grass..However, the fact Raizo got just alittle airbending out of it, when he couldn't air bend at all before, made him ecstatic. A giant smile came across his face as he twisted his body to do a sideways flip before swinging his fan down to release another gust of wind into the dirt. "Wow! Riri you're amazing! With the fan it's much more focused than before. Without it it feels like I'm reaching for everything at once, which makes it a pain."

The Avatar would turn towards the little girl and give her a bow before standing straight up again. "To be a real airbender I'm going to need to learn how to do it without relying on my fan. I never expected it to be this hard..but atleast I have the basics down.." The boy would speak to himself, as he'd cross his arms and look towards the scorching sun above. It made his blood boil, which he loved seeing how he was a firebender. He couldn't help but wonder what empowered the people of Air. He heard the moon made the Water benders formidable and the Sun made the fire benders unstoppable. What could have possibly made the air benders more than what they were? Maybe if he found that out, he'd be able to speed up his training abit. He'd have to ask Riri about this later, however. He didn't want to tire the girl out for his own benefit.

Falling back on his butt and taking a piece of watermelon in hand, he'd raise it up towards the little air bender with a smile. "Here you go Princess Riri. You're the best Air bending teacher I know."

Riri clapped happily at her companions success. Though her clapping remained soft, and not very loud. The praise hit her like a wave, she wasn't quite used to praise from people. Her cheeks flushed again, turning a brighter red, doing her standard procedure of looking towards the ground. Felt neat to get some appreciation. Maybe she wasn't such a bad teacher after all. Raizo certainly didn't seem to think she was terrible. She hoped that he had someone in mind for a true air sifu though.

Taking the slice of melon that she was offered she sat back down on her rump too. Giving the avatar a smile she tucked into the red flesh of the melon happily, coating her face all over with juice yet again. She suddenly felt the fatigue of the past day hit her as she finished off the melon. Spitting out the seeds first, she stretched and made a wide yawn. She felt the breeze catch in her red hair, as if joining in with their bending training. Maybe it could help them next time they trained. The breeze softened, and Riri's hair fell back down, a mess now. The tired girl's thoughts wandered into what their next little adventure would be, and if her own techniques of bending the air would ever improve.

[End?]