Nujian

Nujian was a flying bison loyal to Avatar Yangchen, sharing a strong bond with her. Nujian was a fast and efficient means of transportation for Yangchen and her allies, though her diplomatic duties meant that she sometimes had to travel at a slower pace due to standards of etiquette.
== History ==
On Bonding Day, Nujian immediately went to Yangchen along with most of the bison calves. The other children cried to see that Yangchen's strong bond with animals led to them all trying to go to her, but Yangchen fled with Nujian before she was overwhelmed by the other bison. She chose the name Nujian for the natural arrow on his fur, though she would somewhat joke about the somewhat childish choice of name later on.
After becoming a fully-realized Avatar, Yangchen rode Nujian to Tienhaishi accompanied by Pik, Pak, and Boma. The party flew through a heavy storm, with General Old Iron preparing to attack the city. After Yangchen and General Old Iron agreed that the city would be abandoned, Nujian was by her side for a time as Yangchen tried to find new homes for the displaced citizens of Tienhaishi. However, she eventually sent him away in fear that he would eat too much of the locally foraged food.
As Yangchen began to settle into her diplomatic duties as the Avatar, she was advised by Sidao that plummeting from the sky on Nujian would not project the correct aura of dignity. In compliance, Yangchen taught Nujian how to perform an exaggerated trot whenever they had to satisfy Sidao's definition of procedure, and got him to mimic the high-stepping bounce of beasts with fewer legs. The trot looked ridiculous and made children laugh. Yangchen made Nujian ride on the ground through the streets of Bin-Er when she planned to meet the shang merchants for the first time at the city's gathering hall. Despite Sidao's request for Yangchen to speed up, she expressed doubts about the damage a bison would cause by going any faster on the ground. When a disgruntled citizen threw a clay jug at Boma, Yangchen was furious, and Nujian responded to her heightened emotions by slamming his giant tail down, causing a gust of wind to reach outward and flatten the crowd. She left Nujian outside the gathering hall, and Boma later left on him alone when Yangchen got him to impersonate her in order to spy on the shangs.
When she reached the Northern Air Temple after leaving Bin-Er for the first time, Yangchen whistled for Nujian, slamming to the ground. Nujian was introduced to Kavik for the first time, and the Avatar permitted the waterbender to pet his fur, with the bison approving of Yangchen's new companion. The Avatar took this as a sign that Kavik was trustworthy. Knowing that Nujian would be their primary mode of transportation, Yangchen said she would allow him to take the reins later on, and watched Kavik gawk from above when she let Kavik sit alongside her on a practice flight. When they left for Jonduri, she did let Kavik fly Nujian for a short amount of time, but only in a straight path, low to the water, and for a short time. She then helped lift Kavik off Nujian and into the water where he would wait for her contacts in Jonduri, as planned.
Yangchen had to make use of Nujian once more when she took a detour from Jonduri to Ma'inka Island in order to deal with the urgent problems with dark spirits. Not wanting to take Nujian to the cenotes, where he would get jittery, Yangchen left him by the Saowon manor and went to deal with the situation on her glider.
After returning to Jonduri on her flying bison, Yangchen took Nujian on another long trip when they went to Port Tuugaq in search of the Unanimity project. Not wanting to be spotted, she got her bison to land further away from the city. After meeting up with Ayunerak, Yangchen whistled for him so that they could scout the strange disturbances on the rest of the island. On their return to Jonduri, Nujian heard someone whistling for him, and both he and his rider were surprised to find Jujinta, Kavik's new contact from Jonduri. They then made their way back to Bin-Er as soon as possible.
In Bin-Er, Yangchen put an end to the Unanimity project by apprehending Zongdu Henshe and the combustionbenders involved in the plot. Afterward, she flew Nujian to Ba Sing Se in order to meet with Earth King Feishan and discuss the situation. They then flew back to the Northern Air Temple to meet up with Abbot Sonam, and the Avatar used her bison to go to the otherwise inaccessible hamlets around the temple where Yingsu, Xiaoyun, and Thapa were confined to.
== Appearances ==
== References ==
Category:A to Z
Category:Air Nomad characters
Category:Airbenders
Category:Animal characters
Category:Characters
Category:Fauna
Category:Flying bison
Category:Graphic novel characters
Category:Hybridized creatures
Category:Major characters (Yangchen novels)
Category:Minor graphic novel characters
Category:The Rift characters
Category:Yangchen novels characters
Category:Yangchen's network