Elemental Dance- 2
Zuko stepped onto the sandy beach and gazed at the path leading into a young rainforest. Behind him, he heard Kurina come down the steel ramp. His men ran into the forest directly behind the Fire Nation Lady; many had already divested themselves of their shirts. With the intense training Zuko required of them they had become amongst the best fighters in the world.
"How lovely," she commented softly. Up close her amber eyes were paler than most, almost cream in color with sparks of gold shooting out from the irises.
Zuko glanced at her. "Would you mind if I went to train with my men?"
"Of course not. That is your right and privilege, Prince Zuko," she answered. "I'll be fine here with your Uncle."
He gave her a small bow. "Thank you, Kurina. We will return in a few hours time."
She bowed back in reply and waited until he had boarded the ship to change. To do so was respectful of those considered higher than oneself. She turned to General Iroh and smiled. "So, what shall we do?"
"Why don't you show me how to dance?"
She tilted her head to the side, puzzlement on her face. "Didn't you learn as a child, General Iroh?"
"Yes, however years in the Fire Nation Army can put one out of practice."
She gave a merry laugh as the image of Iroh practicing dance in the middle of the Fire Nation Army popped into her head.
"Something amusing?"
They both turned to Prince Zuko as he came down wearing black training pants and boots. He had left his shirt on the ship.
Kurina couldn't help but trail her eyes over his sculpted, toned chest. Dear Agni… She mentally shook herself and smiled at Prince Zuko.
"Lady Kurina is going to teach me how to dance," Iroh replied. He glanced from one to the other, noting the looks they had been giving each other- hot, steamy looks. He held back a gleeful laugh. This was going to be almost-too easy.
Zuko shook his head, nodded to Kurina respectfully and ran into the forest after wishing them goodbye.
"Now… shall we get started, General Iroh? We'll practice 'Illumination' first, a dance I'm sure that you remember from your days in the Court." She began with her hands placed in front of her, gazing at the sand beside her bent feet. Her hair swung in front of her face like a sleek curtain of ebony silk to create the image of hiding oneself from the light. She fell into the pose gracefully, glancing back to check on Iroh. He wasn't nearly as skilled as Kurina, but he managed.
"Do you need a drum, Lady Kurina? I used to play before I joined the army."
Kurina looked up to see the cook and captain watching them. "Sure."
The cook ran off to retrieve his drum, the captain following to get his fumiko (my word for the cool horn).
When they returned, she began re-teaching Iroh the steps to the beginner dance. Their laughter occasionally filtered towards a certain threesome a few feet away in the forest.
Katara and Aang wanted to watch. They ignored Sokka as he tried to get them to leave before anything could happen.
For her part, Kurina had more fun in those few hours than she had in the last four years of her life. Ever since Prince Zuko and his company had left, the Court had fallen into more and more darkness. Rape had become commonplace. Noblewomen were no longer respected. Drunkenness was advocated. A single wrong word could get you hung, or worse- burned to death. To be killed by one's own element was a type of betrayal that stung more than anything else in the world.
Zuko side-stepped the soldier who had stopped dead in front of him, laughing at a joke Ping had made. His crew didn't observe societal propriety unless in public. He glanced up and froze.
Kurina was dancing to the hauntingly beautiful melody of the captain's fumiko. The drum beat a dark thunder to which her feet moved lightly over the glimmering sand. She had divested herself of the tunic, underneath of which she wore a black breast band. She had also removed her shoes so that the slightly-too-big pants flowed like water over her legs. She moved with lithe grace, whips of fire trailing where her body willed them to go. To use bending in dance was a skill that few possessed.
Zuko was mesmerized. He could feel the rhythm calling to his blood, having trained in dancing himself. That was one of the reasons he stayed away from 'music night'; it brought back memories of a time when the sun was a bright, playful thing instead of the dawn of another dark day.
She created a fireball in the sky to symbolize the sun, telling a story with her movements. The sorrow portrayed in her enticing steps slid over the beach on the salty breeze. A wave of fire appeared around her swaying body, turning her into a living, flickering flame. When she twirled, the flame disappeared and the drums abruptly stopped. The fumiko held one long, smooth note that she bent her back, portraying the dying lover. The tale was one of sweet love and heartbreak. Her rendition had been perfect.
Zuko let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and gazed at his hands where his fingers had made half-moons into his palms. His men began to cheer around him and he looked up and caught her eyes with his. The air between them electrified with lightening and their heartbeats quickened. The moment was gone in an instant and even General Iroh hadn't caught it.
She smiled to the men and gave a small bow. Grabbing the tunic, she put it back on. They gathered around her, congratulating her and asking if she would teach them. She laughed.
Suddenly the captain glanced at the forest and found three shocked faces staring back at him. "The Avatar!"
Zuko whipped around, saw the lemur's tail disappearing into the trees and growled. He turned back around gave Kurina a short bow, excused himself and ran into the forest, his men hot on his heels.
The battle was short, but successful. He managed to capture the water-bender despite her new status as a master. He was one as well and he had more experience with his skills than she did.
He was already formulating a plan to use her as bait when they returned to the beach. The Captain, his Uncle and Kurina were sitting around a large fire, talking quietly amongst themselves.
Iroh had taken it upon himself to inform Kurina of all the things that had happened over the past four years that their small company had been at sea.
Zuko smiled and shook his head. "Hiro? Put the water-bender in the room without windows. Make sure everything is sealed and that she has no liquid whatsoever to bend. If she's thirsty you may give her a little bit. No more. No less. Understood? She will be a valuable asset in capturing the Avatar."
"You'll never capture Aang, you coward! He's much too strong for the likes of you to take on!"
Kurina looked over at the commotion. Her gaze met with Katara's and in an instant they had both gone rigid, their eyes glowing with a pale, ghostly light.
AN: I don't own Avatar. I own Kurina. Cheers, loves.