Very well - so sate my curiosity then! At present I am in my quarters at the inn, but I can soon be outside. That seems to me a suitable place to meet.
[He had been bent over the cramped table, cutting apart the roots and stems and sundry components of local flora he had gathered, that he might discover how best to apply these to medicinal purposes, but he supposes that with time so abundant it does no harm to take a break.]
]And he holds true to his word, bounding away from his campsite and towards the main street in town, his journey sped up by liberal use of the very skill he's about to show off.
He arrives at the inn after Achilles does in a small cloud of air and kicked up dust, whereupon he beams upwards and gives a small wave.]
[He possesses the sort of presence that commands attention, and thus he draws eyes to himself as easily as gravity draws the moon into its orbit around the earth. The boy should have little trouble finding him amid the middling crowd that peoples the main thoroughfare. His wave is returned with a nod of acknowledgement, and Achilles speaks these words in greeting.]
Indeed I am - then you must be young Aang.
[Such a curious looking boy, with his hair shorn more closely than a sheep's wool in the spring, and his pate painted.]
Will you show me how it is that your people bend the very air itself? Such a feat I've not heard of, but here in this company I have seen so many awesome crafts that the Danaans possess not.
[A quick affirmation, because it never hurts to be absolutely sure. Brief psuedo-introductions done, he hops back three steps, leaving enough space between himself and Achilles that the older man won't be caught in any stray breeze.]
And of course! Just watch.
[More specifically, watch his hands, both immediately encircling each other and spinning around to form a ball of whirling air that grows larger and larger with each passing moment until its half the size of his body. At that point, Aang leaps into the air to land on the still-spinning ball of air, balancing carefully on both feet.]
[He has borne witness before to astonishing feats wrought by those whom this crew comprises, yet awe fills his features all the same, just as he would be struck with awe still to witness the gods at work although they have granted him their divine aid before.]
By the gods upon high Olympus! How easily you bend the winds to your will! Why, if I knew no better I might think you the child of swift Aeolus, he who rules as king over the Four Winds.
[Translation: woah, that was super cool???]
How else might you tame the wind as man only tames animals? Will you show me, young Aang?
[Who's Aeol—you know what, never mind, it probably doesn't matter. (But along those same lines—what's an "Olympus"? All very important questions, best saved for later.) Instead, Aang merely shakes his head, an almost bashful expression crossing his face.]
I don't remember my parents. They gave me to the temple when I was a baby. But if I had to pick, I guess Monk Gyatso was kind of like my dad.
[Certainly an important figure in his life, and even now the name fills him both with a wave of happiness coupled with deep sadness. Maybe if he hadn't run away, Monk Gyatso would still be alive. Maybe....
But the world isn't built on maybes, so he shakes himself out of that.]
He's the one who taught me most of my airbending. I can show you more if you want, but I don't think I can teach you any of it.
Unfortunate is the boy who knows not his father, but glad it is indeed that still there was this priest to take you into his care and raise you to worship the gods. Well do I know that one need not share the selfsame blood to revere another as his father, for I regard noble Chiron in this manner too for all he has taught me.
[Although Achilles of course still had his father's house to which to return all the while he lived under the centaur's care. Nevertheless, he wishes to reassure the boy.]
Yet you misunderstand, for I do not suppose that I can wield such a strange craft as this, although my mother's divine blood flows through me. Men of my race learn not these gifts such that the gods might bestow upon one so blessed. The closest to godcraft we may come are the seers whose eyes have been touched by Phoebus Apollo.
I wish only to delight in the display of your skill, young Aang, beloved of Aeolus.
my eyes glazed over trying to read this tag on 4.5 hours of sleep
[Once again, Achilles spouts a whole lotta words Aang doesn't fully understand - selfsame, Chiron, Fee-buss Apolo?? - but he's captivated by Achilles' gravity all the same, buffeted by words that he can only assume are praises of some form or another. If Achilles wants to see more airbending, then surely he's gotta be doing something right.]
Sure! I can show you stuff whenever you want. There's a lotta stuff you can do with airbending - flip a cake onto someone's head, play airball, make a huge tornado. But if you wanna see real airbending, you should come for a ride on Appa! The sky bison are the first airbenders - no one can bend like they can.
By the gods! Never had I dreamed it possible to fly through the air as does the eagle or falcon, but this would be much to my liking indeed.
[Despite having spent the better part of a year trekking all over the far-flung corners of the universe, there is much yet for an Ancient Greek hero to experience for the first time.
Then the strangely matched pair likely find Appa and embark on an air bison excursion - and all the while Achilles spins classical mythological references that fly straight over Aang's shorn head.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[He had been bent over the cramped table, cutting apart the roots and stems and sundry components of local flora he had gathered, that he might discover how best to apply these to medicinal purposes, but he supposes that with time so abundant it does no harm to take a break.]
no subject
]And he holds true to his word, bounding away from his campsite and towards the main street in town, his journey sped up by liberal use of the very skill he's about to show off.
He arrives at the inn after Achilles does in a small cloud of air and kicked up dust, whereupon he beams upwards and gives a small wave.]
Are you Achilles?
no subject
Indeed I am - then you must be young Aang.
[Such a curious looking boy, with his hair shorn more closely than a sheep's wool in the spring, and his pate painted.]
Will you show me how it is that your people bend the very air itself? Such a feat I've not heard of, but here in this company I have seen so many awesome crafts that the Danaans possess not.
no subject
[A quick affirmation, because it never hurts to be absolutely sure. Brief psuedo-introductions done, he hops back three steps, leaving enough space between himself and Achilles that the older man won't be caught in any stray breeze.]
And of course! Just watch.
[More specifically, watch his hands, both immediately encircling each other and spinning around to form a ball of whirling air that grows larger and larger with each passing moment until its half the size of his body. At that point, Aang leaps into the air to land on the still-spinning ball of air, balancing carefully on both feet.]
See? That's airbending.
no subject
By the gods upon high Olympus! How easily you bend the winds to your will! Why, if I knew no better I might think you the child of swift Aeolus, he who rules as king over the Four Winds.
[Translation: woah, that was super cool???]
How else might you tame the wind as man only tames animals? Will you show me, young Aang?
no subject
I don't remember my parents. They gave me to the temple when I was a baby. But if I had to pick, I guess Monk Gyatso was kind of like my dad.
[Certainly an important figure in his life, and even now the name fills him both with a wave of happiness coupled with deep sadness. Maybe if he hadn't run away, Monk Gyatso would still be alive. Maybe....
But the world isn't built on maybes, so he shakes himself out of that.]
He's the one who taught me most of my airbending. I can show you more if you want, but I don't think I can teach you any of it.
no subject
[Although Achilles of course still had his father's house to which to return all the while he lived under the centaur's care. Nevertheless, he wishes to reassure the boy.]
Yet you misunderstand, for I do not suppose that I can wield such a strange craft as this, although my mother's divine blood flows through me. Men of my race learn not these gifts such that the gods might bestow upon one so blessed. The closest to godcraft we may come are the seers whose eyes have been touched by Phoebus Apollo.
I wish only to delight in the display of your skill, young Aang, beloved of Aeolus.
my eyes glazed over trying to read this tag on 4.5 hours of sleep
Sure! I can show you stuff whenever you want. There's a lotta stuff you can do with airbending - flip a cake onto someone's head, play airball, make a huge tornado. But if you wanna see real airbending, you should come for a ride on Appa! The sky bison are the first airbenders - no one can bend like they can.
u tried so hard, i'm proud of u
[Despite having spent the better part of a year trekking all over the far-flung corners of the universe, there is much yet for an Ancient Greek hero to experience for the first time.
Then the strangely matched pair likely find Appa and embark on an air bison excursion - and all the while Achilles spins classical mythological references that fly straight over Aang's shorn head.
The end.]