yeah, yeah... Listen, I know I haven't exactly been very faithful with updating the chapters, but a lot of s*** has been going on in my life lately and I think that most of you swimmers would understand. Anyways, this is the next chapter of my trilogy. Enjoy!!
Suki picked up a dumpling from her own plate and pointed to an empty bench towards the middle of the audience that was slowly beginning to gather.
"What's going on?" I asked as we sat down.
"It's Zuko and Nika. They offered to perform a peace ceremony that they learned in school." Suki answered. I munched thoughtfully on a piece of… something that tasted good.
"Hey, I didn't know that Fire Nation schools taught things having to do with peace." I said.
"Shhh!!!" Suki said. "Here they come!"
Chapter 12 - Firebreath
The sun was setting, illuminating the sky with brilliant reds and pinks and yellows, along with colors that no known word could describe. I would have been content with simply watching the light slowly fade over the horizon. But it seemed like Zuko and Nika had some other things planned for the audience. They stood silently on either side of the big log pile that had been created from most of the reserve wood that was kept for the winter. I saw that Nika had changed out of the dress in the time that I had been milling around with Suki amongst the stalls. She was now wearing something that looked like what Katara always wore to waterbending practice. The only difference was that the material was a shimmery purple satin instead of our rough Southern Water Tribe seal fur cotton.
Zuko wasn't wearing a shirt. Akward… but his pants matched his sister's outfit.
"Aren't Nika's clothes beautiful? Look at how they shimmer in the sunset!" Suki whispered. I nodded absentmindedly, much more concentrated on devouring the food that was still silently taunting me.
The crowd grew quiet, so much that the only sound in the distance was the song of a bird and the hushed breaths of an expectant village. I looked up and caught Nika staring at me. She blushed and quickly looked away. That got me to thinking. Was Toph right? Could it be that Nika wasn't as cold as I had always thought?
A quiet, steady beat rung out from the two drummers that were seated on opposite sides of the wooden monolith.
Thump thumpa thump… thump thumpa thump… thumpa thumpa thump…
Thump thumpa thump… thump thumpa thump… thumpa thumpa thump…
Zuko and Nika began to move, slowly at first. Kneeling down, they placed both of their palms onto the side of the wood pile. Every movement that they made… it was like looking at both sides of a mirror. They removed their hands and turned to where the sun was lingering, almost like it was waiting to receive their embraces. They pulled an invisible string from the sky and turned back to face their original target. They bent backwards until their hands touched the ground underneath their heads. It looked almost like the bridge that crossed the river in the middle of the island.
My food was gone now, and there was nothing hindering me from watching what was going on.
They began to raise their right leg up to the sky until it was exactly perpendicular to the ground. It was strange. Normally, I would have considered this to be a very girly position, but the way that Zuko did it seemed almost too… natural.
"What are they doing?" I asked Suki. She turned to me angrily.
"They said that it was supposed to symbolize the rising and setting of the sun. Now stop asking so many questions!"
I huffed obnoxiously, but did as I was told.
The siblings stood at either side of the woodpile, positioning themselves the same way that they had been at the beginning of the ceremony, with their hands touching the woody mass. They turned, facing opposite directions, and then spun to face each other again. Zuko pushed his hands down, interlocking his fingers in front of him, as if he was about to begin a formation. Nika spun on one leg, doing a reverse back flip towards her brother. She repeated the spin and the front flip, resting her hands on her brother's shoulder. She let go and cartwheeled in front of him. He caught her waist as she passed, guiding her to the other side. They faced each other again, exchanging a grateful glance, and went to the same positions, only on reverse sides. The entire dance exchange had actually only been a switching of viewpoints!
Their movements were mesmerizing, especially Nika's. I stared at her with fascination, her face beading up with sweat from the intense concentration. I felt Suki snuggling into my arm warmly, enjoying the ceremony.
Nika walked around back, so that all I could see was Zuko. He began to recreate a series of movements that resembled a very complicated firebending technique. Every once in a while, he shot a ball of fire into the air enthusiastically, showers of brightly lit sparks raining down around him and extinguishing on the grass. Oohs and Aahs emanated from the enthralled spectators, my voice mixing with theirs. But where was Nika?
In what I assumed to be the final phase of his solo, Zuko side-stepped to the center of the stage and shot of a pillar of fire straight into the air. It was a magnificent display of might that made my head spin happily. But… what was that emerging out of the fire? Nika's slender silhouette was barely visible behind the motion of the fire, which wasn't even close to lighting the timber. Zuko continued to repeatedly shoot fire into the air at a seemingly unbroken interval while Nika performed a seductive and exotically hypnotic dance, hidden behind the anonymity of the flame. Her hands moved outward and inward gracefully, flowing with the swirl of the fire, matching the beat of the drum perfectly. She spun once, raising her hands towards the sun.
"Hm." Suki said, slightly annoyed. "I didn't know she was so good at… um… dancing…" I ignored her comment, instead paying closer attention to what was going on in front of me.
All eyes were on her as she kneeled, still hidden by the translucent flame, and bowed in the direction of the sun, which was almost set. Zuko stopped shooting out his flame and vanished to some unseen corner of the podium. No one noticed his disappearance, which I think was the point. All eyes were focused on the girl stooped on the pile of wood, which was at least twice her size. It looked ominous at first glance, but the confident way that she looked at the skies posed her as the dominant one. She raised herself slowly, increasing her uprightness by a miniscule increment with each beat of the drum, until she was sitting on her heels. She raised her face to the steadily darkening sky, and inhaled deeply. A thin strand of fire came out of her mouth, twisting and writhing in the summer air.
I watched as the fire from Nika's breath fed it and it slowly increased in size, taking the form of a slender, elegant dragon. She stood slowly as it wrapped itself around her body, curving itself around her waist and through her legs. It blew past her hair, throwing her hair up in its passing. It danced around her and she joined it, willingly mimicking its movements… or was it mimicking hers? Whatever the case may be, she raised her hands up, and it flew, higher and higher, until she brought it back. In one swift movement, she threw her hands down. The dragon plunged into the wood loudly, emitting an almost roar-like sound.
At first, I couldn't see anything. It was completely dark, and the stars shone brightly in the sky. The moon was almost full, I could tell. Suddenly, I saw a glowing, small at first, but gradually getting larger. It grew and grew, and I saw Nika, raising her arms ever so slowly. The drums beat faster and faster, until the drummer's hands flew over the surface of the drum so that I could barely see them. Suddenly, Nika dropped to her knees in a trance-like way. She fell onto her side unconsciously, so that I almost wanted to reach out and grab her and save her from the expanding core. Another figure stepped out behind her; Zuko had returned to finish the ceremony.
He took one hand and rolled her down, where she hit the floor in a way that looked romanticized, but was probably pretty painful. She stayed there, unmoving, as Zuko heaved his arms onto the wood. Fire exploded around him, and he vanished. The fire was finally lit! It crackled and popped eagerly as Nika awoke. She stared at the fire in wonder, her back facing us, then raised her hands graciously, crossing her legs behind one another and bowing to the enormous inferno. She turned to us, her eyes glittering in excitement. Gathering two ribbons of fire around her, she spun quickly. It was only once, and it was in a flash, but the fire encased her, and she disappeared in the small twister. There was absolute silence, until the audience jumped to their feet and roared a thunderous applause. I jumped up along with them, whooping enthusiastically. The Firebreath Ceremony was complete.
So, I'm glad that went well. And... I'm sorry to say... the next chapter will be the second to last one. Just thought I should give you the heads up so that you don't get mad at me for not updating. I'll put a bit WARNING sign on the next chapter, just to be sure you guys don't miss it^^
Now, do me a favor and...
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!
~Sweep~
