Dancing On His Flames
Chapter One
Her body moved like ripples in water. She moved with grace and her dance was filled with sadness, grief, and loneliness. Water spun around her as she beckoned to it, making it follow her every movement, like a shadow. Her long light blue skirt that faded to a darker green danced with her, giving to illusion of morphing colors. The black locks of bangs beside her ears swung slowly as her movements hypnotized her audience. She spun, moving her arms and bending her left leg as she arched her back, twirling once again.
There was just something about her that made the people in audience watch intently. Wanting to know how her dance would end. But she knew, that her dance would stay unchanging and always be filled with the same grief held in the tears she shed long ago.
Finally her legs gave out. After her last spin she dropped to her knees and bowed her head. Murmurs of guests and other rich aristocrats could be heard. Her master nodded in approval and she was bound in her chains of bondage again before she even made another breath.
They dragged her into a dark room and left her there till the master had the intention of seeing her dance once again. The doors that held the light of hope, closed unmercifully as she hugged her knees to her legs. Wanting to sing something to reassure herself of fear, she opened her mouth, but all that came out was a silent breath, a breath that would never make any sound at all.
(:O)
The doors opened once again. Light barged into the windowless room; the girl opened her brown eyes, her expression undaunted. The guard looked at the and then they tugged her chains roughly.
"Get up, the Lord Yen wants to see you again," the guard stated gruffly as he yanked at her chains, making the girl stumble forward.
The moved down the dark hallways, bowls of flowers glowed warmly, beckoning for a glance at its natural beauty and statues with emerald lining decorated it. It was almost impossible to not recognize that this building was located inside an earth nation village.
The guards opened a large door and shoved the girl into the room. The girl slid on her knees, she winced and forced herself up. Her chocolate eyes were emotionless and calm as she stood, waiting to serve whatever purpose her master called her forward for.
"Play for me," her master commanded.
He chucked a flute at her feet. It was wooden flute, carved with the most elegant and meticulously drawn designs. He grinned waiting for his slave to pick up the flute and play for him.
The girl simply stared at it, and made no action to play it. Her eyes grew cold and barren as she continued to stare at the woodwind.
"Are you deaf? Play it," the master proclaimed once again, his impatience already tired of the girl.
She made no move to show that she heard him. He took this as an insult and glowered angrily.
"Bring me the whip," he sneered.
The servant on his left brought out the long whip and the guards came beside the girl and pushed her to the ground as they held her down.
The master over loomed in a shadow that cascaded over the girl's petite form. He raised the weapon and brought it down onto her back, tearing the silky fabric. Her back jolted in reaction of the force of the whip. She struggled to free herself, gritting her teeth. The guards put her back down as the whip flew down again and again and again.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as the sting on her back continued to burn with every lash he threatened upon her. Blood flowed freely from the wounds and he stopped, satisfied with his work. He made a flick of his wrists and the guards moved back to their post near the door.
He kneeled down beside her and grasped her chin, making her stare at his old, wrinkled, white face.
"You should have listened to me," he breathed into her ear.
She tried her best not to shudder in fear, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of his dominance.
He licked the side of her face, trying to provoke her into a reaction.
"I can do more then that, but we'll wait for that later," he whispered lustfully into her ear.
Standing up he walked towards the door on the other side of the room. Next to the door, a single line of five beautiful women in slinky, silk robes was standing. As he made his way he stated loudly, "I expect you to dance for me tomorrow."
He left the room into his chambers and the girls in their silk robes followed after him and the door was closed.
The guard came to fetch her, looking at her back disapprovingly, and apathetic about her pain.
"Get up, no time to waste here girl," he said and kicked her in the ribs while heaving her chains.
She struggled to stand. She eyed the flute and picked it up, then limped after him only to be thrown into the dark chamber once again.
She lay on the ground, her back still bleeding. Tears continued to stream from her eyes.
If only there was more then this… But something tells me…
Images flashed before her. The palace was burned down into rubble. A boy with a distorted scar on the right side of his face stood over the heap of destruction. Fire blazed as the flag of the fire nation blew wildly in the wind.
Maybe some day retribution such as that will come… Someday…
Her eyes closed as she drifted off into sleep.
(:O)
"You mean you've seen the Avatar near the earth country on that island in the south over there?" Prince Zuko asked, his voice dangerous and full of threat.
"Y-y-yes sir…" the peasant stuttered, his arms over his head trying to protect him from whatever blow might come.
Zuko let go of the scruff of the peasant's collar and let him drop to the ground.
"To the island in the south!" he shouted, the crew listened as all boarded and prepared to move.
(:O)
"Oy, woman, get up and change into this, Lord Yen will be expecting your performance in a matter of time," the guard said and threw another skirt and top into the room.
The wardrobe the guard threw in much resembled what she had already been wearing; with the exception that the skirt was white and faded into a light yellow with long slits on both sides of the thighs and her top was yellow with Chinese buttoning.
She changed quickly and fixed the disarray of her hair into a bun with her chopsticks. She cringed at the pain in her back that she had bandaged with the skirt she had been wearing the night before. Rubbing her feet, which had only a thin cloth of dancing shoes, and bandages to cover her blistered feet.
Suddenly she felt a wave of fatigue. The dark comforted her and eased her heavy eyelids to close. Once again did the darkness claim her.
(:O)
Zuko entered the main chamber doorway, with Iro tailing jovially behind him. Zuko's demeanor was dangerously calm, but you could feel the temperature and anger that was easily broken. The guards opened the door and allowed him to enter.
He glowered slightly and inquired, "Where is the Avatar?"
"What do you mean?" Lord Yen replied, his eyes looking foreboding.
"Someone told me they spotted him here," Zuko argued.
"Well they obviously lied, and besides," Lord Yen stopped and snapped, suddenly guards appeared everywhere, surrounding Zuko and Iro, "We don't make any peace with the fire nation."
The guards attacked, Zuko's brow furrowed as he began to fight. Iro smirked as he fought with surprising strength. The door slammed open as fire soldiers infiltrated the palace and began to fight. Zuko defeated the guards that surrounded him and went after Yen.
"Where is the Avatar?" Zuko gritted through his teeth.
"I'll never say," Yen retorted.
Zuko glared and then commanded, "Take this man into the dungeons and raid the castle! Find the avatar and any other people you can find! Bring them here!"
The fire soldiers filed out and began to raid.
(:O)
The girl awoke. Crashes could be heard and cries of people could be heard outside the door.
"Hurry, hurry! All of you, out of the compartment under the rug! Before they come!" a servant yelled as she ushered all the stray people into the secret passage into freedom.
A slam could be heard and another crash bellowed, right out from the door. The door began to creak open and the girl cowered into the corner, bringer her knees closer to her as she closed her eyes and chewed on her lip to keep from doing anything foolish.
"There's a person in there! A girl!" a man cried.
"Take her to the main chamber, Zuko wants to interrogate all the people here!" the other replied.
The first man came in and yanked her by her arm, dragging her out into the main chambers. She stumbled along, trying not to cry from the pain in her back from the lashes.
The moved down the corridor and entered the main chamber; a boy was standing there. His head was all shaven except for a single ponytail, and there was a scar on the right side of his face. The girl gasped, this was the boy from the vision.
"Is she the only one?" he solicited.
"Yes Prince Zuko, all the other servants have escaped and the guards are out or else long gone," the guard replied and threw the girl to the ground.
She winced and resisted the urge to rub her stinging kneecaps. The boy, or Zuko, kneeled down and stared at her. The girl felt timid and immediately looked away. Her chains suddenly felt very heavy as the sores on her wrists began to ache along with her feet and back.
"Do you know anything about the Avatar?" he asked softly.
She looked at him curiously and opened her mouth and made a gesture with her hands.
"Is something wrong? I asked of you knew anything of the Avatar," he repeated.
She looked frustrated for a minute. She pointed to her neck and then made an 'X' with her arms.
"You can't speak can you?" he stated.
She nodded solemnly and looked away, ashamed for her disability.
"Take her to the ship into my room, we'll have to interrogate her there," he replied.
Her eyes widened as the guard tugged at her chains and guided her out.
(:O)
"Stay in there," the guard claimed and pushed her into Zuko's room.
She wondered around. There wasn't anything unusual about the room. There was a bunk bed and desk piled with maps and other knick-knacks. She sat herself onto the floor and made herself as scarce as possible. She stayed there until the door opened again and Zuko entered.
She looked at him warily and covered her chest and shut her eyes close. Zuko stared and then raised and inquiring eyebrow at her action. She slowly opened one eye and then the other and stared at him.
"I'm not going to do that if that's what you're worried about," Zuko replied flatly.
She looked at him and then dropped her arms and looked to her knees.
"Can you write?" he asked.
She nodded lightly.
He took out a sheet of paper and a brush with a bowl of ink.
"Tell me all you know about the Avatar," he directed.
She looked at him and shifted uncomfortably. The she glided the brush onto the paper and turned it around when she was finished with it. Zuko immediately began to read it and then his temper flared. The paper read:
What is an avatar?
Smoke bellowed from his ears as he tried his best not to get angry. She smiled and then covered her face. Suddenly, the pain was all too real. She gasped.
"Is something wrong with you?" he asked, his voice only hinting a slight possibility of concern.
She grinned at him lightly, trying to reassure him that there was nothing wrong with her. She slid over and twitched. Zuko's eyes widened. Blood was on the wall and caked all the way the girl slid. She shivered tried to touch the wounds on her back.
"You're bleeding… This is bad we-"
The rest was cut off, and the world went black.
(:O)
She awoke and felt warm cloth around her. It felt good, but strange, in a foreign way. She stood up and looked down and yelped, covering herself again. She peered around nervously, only to find Zuko staring all-knowingly at her.
"You've got some nasty scars," he uttered.
She covered her face, embarrassed. She unveiled it and looked at him and pointed to her bandages.
"That was me," he replied coolly.
She twitched slightly.
"Who else was going to do it?" he stated in an annoyed tone.
Suddenly, she looked at his face and remembered his scar. Daringly, she reached out to it. Her fingers grazed it before Zuko's hands snatched it away from it.
"It's disgusting isn't it?" he muttered, his voice low and angry.
She shook her head and his grip surprisingly loosened. She reached out to it and touched it again. There's so much anger and hate inside of him… And at the same time… So much pain… I want to heal it…
Her eyes looked sad as she stroked his cheek and scar. As if she was trying to say she understood.
(End of the Chapter!)
A little OOC neh? Ionno, I'll try harder to make him more eviler… Or should I? You guys can decide on that! I'll try to add more plot and hopefully my character won't turn out to be some Mary Sue! O.o I'll try not to... Oh well, review and send all you want! Until next time my lovely readers!