Book 3: STONE

CHAPTER 10:

THE WEDDING

The sun rose up over the mountains that surrounded the two cities. Kilmojo was washed in light, dew still shining on the trenches. Pathigo lay in shadow, slowly coming into the light of day. Oma walked out onto her balcony and yawned. The songbird flitted out the window and flew up onto the cherry blossom tree. Oma smiled as she saw her lover, sitting there as if nothing had changed.

There was a knock on the door. Her maids entered swiftly, dressed in bright red dresses. "It is time for the preparations." Her maid said to her as a red scarf was wrapped around her neck.

"Yes, I suppose." Oma said as she looked out at Shu. Everything would work out right, she knew it.

She was taken to the large tub in the bathhouse, filled to the top with warm water and infused with pumelo. Candles were lit around the tub as Oma stepped in and began to wash. On the other side of the city, Shishou was placing his long red robes on. He tied the sash around his hip with a red silk ball attached at the bottom. He fixed the red cap upon his head and smiled at himself in the mirror.

"Time to take your seat." Shishou said to himself. He chuckled and walked out of his chambers, passing his ancestors tablets as he went.

Oma was sitting before her vanity, phoenix candles burning before her. She had her head bent as her hair was tied up in an intricate design. The red shoes were placed over her feet and a pink undergarment was thrown over her.

"We all know the plan?" Kan asked his men as they assembled in the courtyard of the barracks. Pici was rubbing his eyes as Stretch gave his long arms a well deserved stretch.

"Yes, we've been through this." Nyil said impatiently. "We wait until the benders hear the signal and then we go in and try not to make much of a sound.

"Well, I'm just making sure." Kan said. "When they reach the shrine there will still be some servants guarding the house, especially after last night. There is little room for error here."

"Then why don't I come along too?" Kizu said as he slipped the helmet onto his head and trotted over to the line up.

"You're only a boy, Kizu." Kan remarked.

"So. You've been off doing all the fighting. I want to have a go. I'm tired of sitting around here."

"Well, you had your fight with the assassins." Kan stated. "And you ran from that one pretty quick."

"I can fight. You might need some help out there." Kizu argued. "You know that I have more experience than the benders in your platoon. I can be really helpful in a tight spot."

Kan thought it through and then sighed. "Okay, but you are only helping if we need it."

"Yep." Kizu said with a smile across his face.

"Good. Then we all know the plan. Head for the tunnels." The soldiers gave a salute and marched off. Some of the early birds stood outside their tents as they watched the men go off to the biggest mission of the war. Even Dueno gave them a salute as they passed.

Oma was now kneeling before the tablets of her ancestors. "Please, if you are up there, help me find happiness. Let me escape this." Oma lit the candles and sighed. She got up and turned, slipping into the red dress and robe her maids were holding for her.

Shu opened the hole in the mountain behind a bush, hoping to not be seen. He stepped out in his best green robes and sealed the hole up. The songbird landed on his shoulder and gave a chirp. "Yeah I know it's dangerous." Shu said as he counted his blessings. "But I can't let it happen. I love her too much to let it happen." He placed the servant's hat upon his head and wrapped an old blanket around him. He hunched over and began to hobble along the street. Only a few children stopped to look at him.

The red veil was pulled down over Oma's face. It was embroidered with red beads that formed hearts, birds, flowers, and conveniently hid the tears from her eyes.

The wedding procession reached Oma's house. The large red canopy waited outside her door for her. The maids stood behind her, brooms held in their hands. Her palanquin was waiting with a soft cushion and red curtains surrounding her. As Oma descended the steps, maids dressed in red tossing rice at her feet and the maids behind sweeping them away with their brooms. Oma stepped into her cage and sat upon the cushion. She closed her eyes and exhaled, allowing the men to buckle her feet to the bottom, making sure she would not escape.

The palanquin lifted into the air and the procession began through the streets of the city, with the most care taken not to pass any shady areas.

Shu slipped in through the side door of the wedding house and walked back into the hallway. He removed the blanket and hid his green robe in a cupboard. "Excuse me, I seem to have misplaced my keys." Shu said timidly as he held out his hand to the superior. The superior servant looked Shu over. He could see the hat clearly upon his head and reluctantly handed over the keys.

"You can borrow them if you desire, but I need them back promptly." The superior said as he shoved the keys into Shu's outstretched hand.

"Thank you." Shu bowed to the man and walked away. He headed for the side window of the wedding house and unlocked the window. He laid the clasp to the side, making it appear that the screen was still shut. He then turned to the back of the wedding house. He heaved the rice bags into a corner and laid his blanket over them. He shoved a few unwanted items over them. This would buy him some time when he was making his escape. The servants would be too busy looking for the ceremonial rice to notice a man sprinting through the house.

Pici lifted the top off his tunnel and looked around. He felt Fa Suto nudge up next to him. "There's one by the table." Pici whispered.

"I got him." Fa Suto replied. He turned to the bender and nodded. The bender nodded in reply and made another tunnel to the west.

"Now we wait for Kan's signal." Pici replied as he saw another man walk down into the cellar.

Kan appeared near the front gate. He sealed the street beneath him and shuffled along the wall. He peered around, spotting the archers were not there. They must be at the wedding. Kan turned and nodded for Kizu. Kizu leapt out of the earth and crept to Kan's side. "What do you need?"

"Go to the wedding house and send us word when the procession is about to depart back here.

"That's it?" Kizu said as his shoulders slumped.

"Yes. We'll handle the mansion, you be a look out. The procession is going to have a lot of people in it, namely guards and military." Kan said as he explained everything to Kizu. "I want to know how fast we have to be outta here. I don't want us around when they return."

"Okay." Kizu sighed. He opened a hole in the earth and dove in. He bent his way along the tunnel, trying his best to figure out where the wedding house was. "What did Shu say? Try and feel with the earth?" Kizu said to himself. He closed his eyes and felt. He could feel a great mass of people arriving at a large house set in the south of the city. Kizu opened his eyes and began to earthbend towards it.

Shu had slipped back into his green robes for the ceremony and had a large hood over his head. He watched as Shishou entered the hall, his thugs spreading out to cover the chapel. The window escape was now out of the question. He looked up to see archers take their places, precariously perched in the upper rafters.

He wouldn't be able to blast his way out of here. Shu weighed his options, beginning to feel like he should have turned and run a long time ago. But faith kept him rooted to the spot. And it was faith that made his bow as the bride was escorted down the aisle by her father.

The guards laid their arms in an arch as Oma and her father passed through. Through the thin red veil, Shu could see a single tear fall from her cheek. She reached the alter, where her father handed her over to Shishou. "Are we ready, my love?" Shishou asked enticingly. Oma took his elbow and stepped forward. "There we go." Shishou sighed as they knelt before the alter, tablets to the Earth set behind it. A priest walked out, decked in a white suit and wearing a long red vest.

Kizu reached the wedding house and shimmied over to the wall. He looked up to see the archers prepared for any attack. He sighed and turned to the screen that thinly veiled the wedding scene within.

Kan had made it to the balcony. He gave a thrust and a plume of flame shot into the air, followed by a small explosion of sound. The two guards in the cellar turned to see what was going on when Fa Suto had leapt out of the hole and done away with them. Pici slipped the key into the hole and began taking the food supplies out. He handed them to the bender who then shot them along the tunnel on a sheet of earth.

Kei had ripped open the bars on the dining hall and him, Stretch, and Bo had already entered the house. One of the benders calmly sealed the bars back together and leapt onto the roof with airbending. He ran a hand over the path of roof at it caught on fire. He lowered his rope to the soldiers below. Stretch attached the basket to the rope and began piling on as much gold and silver as he could find.

Meanwhile, Kan had entered Oma's room. There was nothing much in there and he kicked down the door. He grabbed the guard's spear as it aimed for him and shot him away. Bo flattened him down the hall and added him to the other guards they had taken out. "Get those maps down to the tunnel." Kan instructed as Kei and Pici returned with bundles of army plans in their hands. The headed towards the window, where Nyil had set up a zipline to bring the sack straight into one of the tunnels they had prepared.

"What do we do now?" Bo asked as they checked around the house for more items. Stretch had already finished gathering all the gold and silver and the bender was now on his way back to Kilmojo with the goods and food supplies.

"Now, we start the deconstruction." Kan said with a smile on his face. He walked over to the nearest tapestry and conjured fire into his hand. He laughed and set the place ablaze.

The incense had been burned, respects had been paid, and the wedding was nearing its close. The priest was saying a prayer over the cup of wine as he handed it to Shishou. Shishou took it gladly, a broad smile across his face as he took a sip.

"And now, to join these two lives, his wife will also drink of the cup." The priest announced as he took the goblet from Shishou and offered it to Oma.

She sat there, stone quiet. Shihsou reached over and lifted the red veil from Oma's head. Her eyes were closed and her head hanging low. She opened them slowly and reached for the goblet with shaking hands.

She lifted the cup to her lips and-

A rock smashed the goblet into pieces, sending the wine all over the ground. Shihsou turned to see the attackers and felt himself fly backwards as a column of earth appeared beneath him. Shihsou hit the wall and slid off, falling into a heap on the ground.

Shu stood in the center of the house, his arm outstretched from his attack.

"Shu!" Oma shouted as her face lit up and a smile stretched across her face. She gathered her dress and ran to him. The audience was too shocked at seeing the dead prince of Kilmojo that they could hardly move. One of the women fainted on the spot.

Shu and Oma embraced. "What do you think you are doing?" the governor asked as he rose to his feet in rage. The guards were now surrounding them, archer's arrows tilted to them.

"I love your daughter." Shu said bravely as he held her close. "I don't care where I come from or where she does. I want to be with her and you can't stop us."

"I can't?" the governor asked as the spears rose to an attack position.

"No. Because you can't touch a bender." Shu spun around, an earth shield protecting him and Oma. Then, with a rumble, they blasted outwards, shooting the guards into the windows and pouring out onto the street.

Kizu poked his head inside to see the chaos ensuing. Shu had Oma by the hand and was now running down the aisle. Some guards attempted to block their route but Shu gave a flick of his hand, the ground shifting beneath them and knocking them to the ground. They raced past and knocked down the door.

"This way!" Shu shouted as he led Oma out of the wedding house and towards the cherry blossom tree. The songbird was flying above the houses, showing Shu where more troops were arriving from. One man, jumping out of no where grabbed at Oma's dress.

"No!" Oma shouted as she was ripped from Shu's grasp. But before Shu could do anything, Oma had twisted her arms and turned her body, forcing the man to sink into the ground. Shu stood in awe as his lover gathered her dress again and continued to run.

"How did you?" Shu asked as she overtook him.

"I'm a fast learner." Oma said as he stopped. She held out her hand for him and Shu gladly took it. They sprinted through the streets, gaining speed as they reached the mountain.

Kan could hear the shouts from the house. "I think the wedding's over." Fa Suto commented as they could see the army running through the streets.

"Everyone, back to the tunnels!" Kan shouted as he set one more table on fire and sprinted to the tunnel in the cellar.

They leapt in, running pel mel to Kilmojo. The benders sealed up the tunnels again and departed, leaving the mansion to burn.

Shu and Oma ran up over a small hill, reaching the mountain and their cherry blossom tree. "What do we do now?" Oma asked as Shu continued to climb. "I cannot return to your city. They will kill me."

Shu stopped and thought about this for a moment. He looked around, spotting a crevice in the mountain. "Here." Shu said as he stopped and opened the crevice wider. "You're an earthbender now, right?"

"Well, not really." Oma said as she walked over to where he was.

"We can create passages in the mountain and hide in them. We can have the badgermoles help us as well." Shu explained as he opened up the cave and ran inside, bending out two more passages in the earth.

"Okay, but how are we going to know where we are?" Oma asked as she stumbled inside.

Shu thought about this for a moment. It took him a few moments before he realized the crystals from above. "That's it! We can use the crystals to show us the way." Shu bent some of the crystals onto the left path and continued onwards, helping Oma create new passages that twisted throughout the mountain.

And the Cave of Two Lovers was made.

They met in the center of the tunnels, embracing at last as the Badgermoles took over the task of shifting them. "Are you sure they know?" Oma asked as she held Shu tighter.

"I'm sure." Shu said as he looked on of the badgermoles in the eyes and bowed. The badgermole nodded and continued earthbending.

"So, we're finally together." Oma said as she sighed.

"Yes. At last." Shu whispered as he drew her in and kissed her, dropping his torch into the dirt. And as they embraced, the crystals above shone light upon their happy reunion.

Kan and his army trudged back into camp, a healthy coating of dirt on their skin. "So, how did it go?" Aer asked as Kan slumped into the tent.

"Well." Kan responded. "I think it went really well."