Bison whistle



Bison whistles are small wooden mechanisms used to attract various fauna in the world of Avatar. They are the only known instruments capable of calling flying bison from long distances. These antique whistles are thought by many to be worthless, but they were once used by the Air Nomads to herd their bison.

Bison whistles produce sound waves too intense in pitch to be picked up by human ears, and as such, are only noticeable to animals, who can capably identify the reverberations transmitted by the whistles and pinpoint their origin. They vary tremendously in design.

Acquirement
On their journey toward the North, Aang, Katara, and Sokka halted at a waterfall lagoon, where Aang would learn the first steps of waterbending under the tutelage of the young tribe girl. When Katara taught Aang to create a big, powerful wave, the young Avatar created a large wave that accidentally washed away their supplies, forcing Team Avatar to visit seedy merchants pier in order to replace the lost items. Here, Aang purchased a supposedly authentic bison whistle for one copper piece, much to his companions' disappointment.



When Aang blew into the whistle to test its potency, the team was surprised to find that it seemingly did not produce any sound. Sokka was quick to declare the trinket as a dupe and that Aang had been tricked by the merchant who sold it. However, unbeknownst to him and the rest of Team Avatar, the whistle was effective, and was able to produce sound waves identifiable to nearby animals, such as Momo. The purchase of the seemingly busted whistle caused Katara to collect the remaining copper pieces from Aang, much to the latter's disappointment.

While browsing the many stalls in the pier, the team was enticed by a barker to enter a small boutique ran by pirates that offered a wide selection of "exotic curios". Amongst the merchandise was a stolen waterbending scroll, which Katara stole in turn. This theft, and an alliance with Prince Zuko, prompted the pirates to hunt down the Avatar.

Amidst the chaos of the ensuing battle, Aang, Katara, and Sokka, were able to hijack the pirates' ship. Forced down the river by the pursuing pirates, they were threatened by a waterfall not far ahead. Aang pulled out the bison whistle and blew on it, angering Sokka, who exclaimed that it was not the time to have "flute practice". Despite this, the whistle's vibrations were caught by Appa, who arrived just in time to catch the threesome free falling down the waterfall.

Lost in the swamp
Brought down by a freak tornado raging over the swamp, Appa and Momo got separated from their human companions. After Momo nibbled through the vines that held Appa suspended in the air, the two animals set out to find their friends. Hitching a ride on Appa's saddle, the lemur started snooping through the team's belongings and soon discovered the bison whistle. Momo blew on the whistle, much to Appa's dismay as the high-pitched sound, emitted from such a close distance, hurt the bison's ears. Appa growled in pain at the sound, however, Momo did not get the hint as he blew on the whistle a second time. This time Appa ended the excruciating noise by slamming Momo unconscious with his tail.

Search for Appa
After meeting Professor Zei at the Misty Palms Oasis, Team Avatar decided to launch an expedition to find the Great Library amidst the Si Wong Desert. Toph refused to go and remained outside with Appa. They were eventually spotted and cornered by sandbenders, who had expressed interest in Appa earlier because flying bison were thought to be extinct. Toph was unable to protect Appa effectively, as the constant shifting of sand impaired her unique way of seeing, and she was restricted in her movements by her efforts to keep the sinking library which still held her friends inside. Despite being warded off by Appa, the sandbenders overwhelmed the beast, and departed with him on their sand-sailers.



Heartbroken, the airbender set out to scour the desert in search of any trace of his oldest and best friend. During his quest, Aang used his bison whistle as a last-ditch effort to find his companion, though he assumed that Appa was long gone due to a lack of response. However, Appa was able to pick up the whistle's sound while being secured for shipment, and began to go rampant in an attempt to escape. However, he was soon sedated with shirshu-spit darts by the merchants, immediately rendering him unconscious and unable to answer Aang's call.

Journey to Ba Sing Se
When Appa regained his freedom after being caged in a Fire Nation circus, chased by a farmer and his wife, rumbled with a boarcupine, met Suki and her Kyoshi Warriors as well as Azula and her party, discovered Guru Pathik at the Eastern Air Temple, the bison eventually made his way to the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se, where he heard the call of a bison whistle, and rushed to locate its origin, hoping to find Aang. Instead, he found Long Feng, using a similar whistle, who trapped him underground not long after.

Creating the Ba Sing Se Zoo
After seeing the horrid conditions within Ba Sing Se Zoo, Aang offered to help the establishment's administrator, Kenji, in creating a more spacious environment. Kenji expressed doubts about Aang's ability to control all the animals, to which he replied that there was no need to worry, as he was great with animals.



Contrary to this, the zoo's collection of fauna went on a rampage following their release from captivity. In order to herd the animals, Aang used airbending to produce a magnified call from his bison whistle. It was effective, and the animals rushed toward Aang, who directed them towards the agrarian zone. Once outside the city, Aang used a combination of airbending and earthbending to create artificial landforms such as trenches and mountains, as to provide the fauna with relatively realistic environments similar in nature to what would be found in the wild.

Aang's whistle
Aang's whistle was acquired from the seedy merchants pier for the price of one copper piece. The instrument is relatively uniform in coloration, being generally white in color apart from two sections silver in appearance. Aang's bison whistle is designed in the likeness of a sky bison, though only in shape. It is relatively plain in appearance, and as such, does not have detailing to outline the bison's fur, nor does it depict the flying bison's arrows.

Aang's whistle is capable of producing long range reverberations that can effectively attract animals in large numbers scattered over a given area of land. In conjunction with airbending, it can prove to be quite potent. The call transmitted by Aang's whistle can only be picked up by animals, and as such, are unidentifiable to humans.

Long Feng's whistle


Long Feng's whistle is a whistle similar in capabilities to Aang's whistle, however, the two instruments vary greatly in appearance. Long Feng's whistle is considerably longer than Aang's, with a large rectangular gap near the edge where sound escapes. The whistle is fairly geometrical, with long flat surfaces throughout. The device ends in a circular swirl, reminiscent to components present in various architectural structures from the air temples.

This whistle was only seen once, and as such, its capabilities are not certain. It does possess the ability to call flying bison, and like Aang's whistle, also produces vibrations too high in pitch for human ears to detect.

Trivia

 * It is interesting to note that this depiction of the flying bison only has four legs, something as of yet unseen in the world of Avatar.