The History of Renko: Book 2 Voyager (Avatar, BoyxBoy)

Chapter 7: The Hanging Temple

Dark clouds hung heavy in the distance. Renko could hear the thunder and see the lightning flash. He turned to look around him but the barren wasteland was devoid of all life and color. He turned back and the storm was already overhead. Hail the size of palm fruit cascaded down threatening to strike him unconscious. Freezing rain stabbed through his clothes causing him to shiver. The deafening sound of the thunder pounded in his head like a migraine.

He fell to his knees and squeezed his eyes shut. He prayed that the storm would pass. He squinted his eyes open and found that the wasteland he was standing in was now completely flooded. Water was rising to his neck and he tried to stand to avoid drowning. He reached his hand out to the dark sky to find any reprieve from his apparent watery fate. He felt a sharp pain in his lower half. It was like little needles were being kneaded into him. It was starting to hurt and it felt more real than the storm above him.

Renko awoke and found a nearly grown tigercat on top of him. Nashi had her claws out and her eyes fixated on the door. Her front paws kneaded Renko's lower back like dough.

"Nashi stop," Renko flipped over and nudged her off of him. She had gotten really heavy. He looked to see what Nashi was staring at and through the door, he saw a little girl peeking her eyes through. He must have forgotten to close it all the way. After he and the White Lotus were rescued by the Air Nomads, they were escorted to their final destination, the Western Air Temple. It was incredible. Tiulo and Renko couldn't believe that it was built thousands of years ago hanging right off a cliff. What was even weirder was that the complex was built upside down. The tall tiered towers they saw on Air Temple Island were hanging down into an abyss below. The chambers and walkways of the temple zig-zagged and crossed into and out of the cliff side.

Renko turned his attention back to the little girl that was peeking in on him.

"Good morning," he sweetly said with a smile. In response, the girl bolted away from the door shouting,

"He's awake! He's awake!"

Confused, Renko left his bed and made his way over to the tiny wardrobe provided to him by the nomads. He scratched Nashi behind the ears as he walked past her. She was to his waist and her canines had poked through her lower jaw. She purred and brushed herself against him. The room provided to him was cramped with the two of them. It was more like a closet with a tiny window overlooking the rest of the air temple.

The wardrobe creaked as he opened it to grab his clothes. A lot of his old clothes were donated after he left the Fire Nation. The Air Nomads told him he wouldn't be needing much in the way of possessions here and gave him the essentials. He put on his gray long-sleeved shirt with a red jumpsuit over it and gray boots. The clips on his chest and waist had snapped open revealing the layer of fabric between them. Eventually, as he learned to fly he would use this extra fabric. For now, he kept his wings secured. He looked in the mirror. The suit glided nicely with his movements. It fit almost perfectly too and he did a couple of squats in the mirror.

On the top shelf in his wardrobe was the paper package Kuzo made him. He still hadn't opened it. He reached for it but thought better of it. Now was not the time to reminisce. The door opened.

"Good morning Avatar Renko," the brown haired girl from yesterday poked her head through the door. Just under the bangs of her short hair was that blue arrow tattoo.

"How did you sleep?" she asked him.

"I've had easier nights," he said. "Thank you Pāru."

The little girl that peeked through Renko's door that morning hid behind Pāru's legs.

"Hello again," he squatted down to be eye level with the girl.

"Hi," she said in a small voice.

"Sorry about Ingo," Pāru said. "She's a little shy at first."

"Is she your sister?"

"Yep. But we have to get you started with a tour of the temple."

They hopped on Pāru's sky bison Sogn and flew around the temple. As they weaved around the hanging towers, dozens of air benders in their wingsuits flew around them. Many didn't have tattoos but those that did, nodded at them as they passed. They passed the barns where the sky bison slept and Renko watched as young bison tried to fly for the first time watched by their bison mothers. A couple of times, flying lemurs would land on top Sogn and delight little Ingo. She would reach for them but they flew away. Renko patted her head when she almost began to cry. She looked up him with wide eyes and sniffled a little. He told her that they would come back and she can always play with them again.

All the while, Renko stroked Sogn's white fur. He remembered meeting air benders for the first time at his Dad's inauguration and asking them what it felt like to fly. Now, he had a pretty good idea. The mist below him swirled mysteriously hiding the ground hundreds of meters below them. For the first time, Renko felt free. They flew past a row of giant statues built into the cliff. They landed. Pāru took Ingo's hand and walked her around. Renko sat down to look up at the tall structures. They were carved in the shape of air bender monks sitting crisscrossed. Their fists were together and their eyes were closed. Renko walked up to touch them. The gray stone felt cold to his touch.

"Pāru," he called to her. "Who are these guys?"

"They're monks from hundreds of years ago," she said. "Their names have been forgotten. My mom says that they probably founded this temple eight or nine thousand years ago."

"Wow," Renko said. "To think, every air bender follows in their footsteps."

Pāru gave him time to reflect. Then she said,

"We have one more place to go. And Tiulo is probably waiting for you."

That's right, Renko thought, Tiulo is sticking around for a while. He was glad Tiulo was coming with for at least part of his journey.

"And my mom still wants to teach you the basics before you leave," Pāru said. "You're not going to be helping anyone if you can't air bend. And it would be pretty bad to have the Avatar fall to his death from 1,200 feet."

"Right," Renko said. The three of them hopped onto Sogn and prepared to leave. Renko looked back at the monks embedded in the rock. He decided. He will follow in the footsteps of those that came before him.