The fighting style of water bending is mostly fluid and graceful, acting in concert with the environment. Foggy Swamp style water bending, however, is more rigid and straight. Water benders deal with the flow of energy; they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' own forces against them. Even when water benders do take an attack stance, their moves always appear to flow from one to the other.
During the era of Raava, the power of water bending was first granted by the water lion turtle, who would temporarily provide it as protection to those venturing into the Spirit Wilds. However, after the lion turtles renounced their roles as protectors of mankind, the turtles refused to give people bending anymore. The descendants of the people living atop the water lion turtle eventually learned to water bend again by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides of the ocean; they learned how to simulate the effect themselves. As such, they have a strong spiritual connection to the Moon and its counterpart, the Ocean. Any adverse effect on these spirits detrimentally affects water benders too.
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During the era of Raava, the power of earth bending was temporarily bestowed on the inhabitants who lived on a giant lion turtle while they left the village to hunt for food. After the inhabitants permanently left the care of the lion turtle, humans first learned to reconnect and refine their earth bending by observing and imitating the badger-moles that naturally inhabit the mountains. According to a legend, known widely as "The Legend of the Two Lovers", two star-crossed lovers named Oma and Shu, who hailed from separate warring villages, were the first people who learned the art from these creatures so that they could meet within the mountain that divided them. To make sure no one could ever find them, they used their new abilities to create a labyrinth of tunnels inside the mountain, which only they could navigate.
One day, after many meetings in the series of passageways, the man did not come to see his lover, as he had died, a casualty of the villages' quarrel. His lover showcased a devastating display of her earth bending abilities and ultimately proclaimed the feud over. The villages subsequently collaborated to construct a city, Omashu, in their honor. The pathways they made by earth bending became known as the Cave of Two Lovers.
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Fire bending is notable for its intense and aggressive attacking style and general lack of adequate defensive moves, although some notable fire benders utilize creative defensive techniques by creating large walls of fire, or shooting down incoming objects with precise attacks. During the era of Raava, people received the element of fire from the fire lion turtle that was the guardian of their city, who would grant them the power with energy bending. They could request it whenever they ventured into the Spirit Wilds and were to return it when they came back. In the years following, fire bending was learned from the dragons that had once populated the fire benders' land. The first people during the era of the Avatar to learn from the dragons were the Sun Warriors, who understood the connection between the fire of their souls, the fire of the dragons, and the sun. Fire benders draw their power from the sun and other solar objects, such as comets. A solar eclipse has the potential to completely negate a fire bender's power, which is the result of a direct connection between the sun and fire bending.
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During the era of Raava, the power of air bending was temporarily bestowed on the inhabitants who lived on a giant lion turtle while they left the village to stock up on food. After the inhabitants permanently left the care of the lion turtle, air benders learned to reconnect and refine their bending from the flying bison, a sacred creature in the Air Nomad culture. The bison typically use their massive beaver-like tail to create gusts of wind and, as the name suggests, can fly without any visible means of propulsion. It is also said that the air benders borrowed the arrow mark from the flying bison for the design of their traditional tattoos. These markings symbolize one's mastery of the air bending art and are given to a practitioner once their training is complete. Unlike other nations, all Air Nomads are born air benders, due to the high amount of spirituality infused within the culture. However, at the start of the hundred year war the air benders were whipped out by the fire nation and the current Avatar - a 12 year old name Aang - was taken hostage.