Disclaimer: As per previous chapters.
A/N: Okay, so I broke my promise. I hope this Futurefic! is to your liking.
"Have you ever wondered what kind of life you would lead, in a world where everyone knew your name?" The man spoke to her with a thoughtful tone, "By all means, you should be known by every man, woman and child of this land."
"Why?" The girl said, tuning the strings of her pipa thoughtlessly.
"Because the avatar is always known," He replied, stretching out his limbs, "In every age, the avatar has been an active worker for balance, peace and serenity; A fighter, someone who travels the lands and demands justice."
"There's more than one way to achieve peace, and justice." The girl laughed, strumming the pipa with her long fingers.
"Music isn't the same thing."
"Why not?" She paused to watch him with narrowed eyes, "I sing songs of peace and kindness, I sing of restoring the balance, and I'm just as well known as any Avatar."
"You ARE an Avatar."
"I am, and I am not." She mused, pulling her black hair from her face, "I'm an Avatar of the Air- yet an entire cycle ago, I was an Avatar named Aang. I can't compete against that. I won't compete against that. The world has changed too much for me to simply be an Avatar. But I will be a peace-bringer, through my own ways."
"Music?" The man supplied, with a frown, "How can music bring peace?"
"How can it not?" The girl smiled, then paused as a few people appeared from the corner or her eyes, "Music inspires people. It inspires rage and sorrow, kindness and greed. And it inspires change."
A small group, friends perhaps- with clothing that gave the impression of a few spare coins in their pockets.
"Change?" The man laughed, "No such thing can happen in the world we've built. You can't inspire change in people who have no concept of such. Besides, change can be dangerous, for the people who try..."
"Isn't pain worth it, for a better world?"
"I know the words of what you're about to sing," The man muttered, "You want a revolution. Republic City, once more in a blaze of upheaval and revolt."
"Except this time, it'll be changed for the better," The girl spoke, "The glory that the Republic city was suppose to be is now tarnished and bitter-"
"Don't say that." The man urgently replied, "You know what happens when..."
The girl pursed her lips, as she straightened her shoulders as she posed herself to start strumming the strings of her pipa. "This is exactly what I mean. Too afraid to speak lest our criticisms of our system lead us to a shallow grave..."
The man beside her knew the sign, and quickly moved his flute to his lips, to start the slow melody she had taught him, only days before.
"Perhaps I'll bid farewell and never to return, can you comprehend?" Her entire demeanour changed as she started singing, now she excreted an air of 'look at me'- an inviting picture to anyone who would walk past.
Her voice climbed to a higher and higher note as she sung the words in her soft sweet voice, strumming her pipa slowly, "Do you understand?"
The small group paused to listen to her sing; she smiled as yet more people came closer, down the winding path of the park.
She had timed the Lunch Hour well.
As soon as the time came, the workers would be walking to the grass of the spacious park; a haven away from the hustle and bustle of the city beyond the walls. In other lands, she had sung in greater halls, though for now, she was content to sing, with the numbers who had paused in their lives to listen to her words, penned from her own hand and delivered with a sentiment that sent a shiver down the spine of anyone caught under her lyrical spell.
Just as expected, a few coins were tossed into her hat; from the small group she had first seen. Smiling in return, her fingers almost lost a hold of a string, but she was quickly back on track before anyone noticed her stumble.
The magic however, could not last forever.
"Miss," A loud voice interrupted her song, breaking the spell unforgivably, "We've had a few noise complaints; you need a busking license to busk here."
The crowd who had gathered grumbled, unnerved and irritated over the sudden interruption by the metal-bending police. Still, they didn't move and kept their ground as the singer stared back defiantly.
"I've accepted no coins, nor did I sing for them. Do you have any concept of singing just for the beauty of it?" It wasn't exactly a lie, nor a line delivered with any hint of snark, and yet the sting of her words hit the officer enough to make his jaw flex. Anger came to easily to him, as he glanced to his even muscular partner, who smirked in return.
"And yet, you have a hat in front of you, filled with coins." He countered, walking forwards with the air of confident man, a man who easily towered over her small stature, and who saw no threat in her petite frame.
"That's mine," A man from the grass shuffled then stood; surprising the girl who looked at the stranger with a smile, "I was showing a few coin tricks before you arrived."
"There's quite a few coins." The officer's eyes narrowed.
"I have quite a few tricks."
"Then you wouldn't mind us to stay and listen to you?" The officer called her bluff, letting a smile cross his face, "After all, you have such a melodic voice, Miss-"
"Shey pön." The girl retorted, pushing her short black hair from her eyes, "By all means, as long as you are silent."
The officers made a show of leaning against a tree, as the girl watched them critically. It wasn't until they had settled that her fingers once again found their strings, intent on delivering a perfect song.
"Perhaps I'll bid farewell and never to return, can you comprehend? Do you understand?" Her voice climbed higher as she once again recited the sweet lullaby, her blue eyes hidden behind her eyelids, "Perhaps I will fall and never to rise again."
Shey pön's eyes met the officer's as her lip curled and her voice strengthened "Will you be forever waiting?"
"If it's to be so, grieve not, the flag of our Republic has our blood-stained glory." The man with the flute paused momentarily to sing the words with her; a melodic union of both feminine and masculine tones, " If it's to be so, grieve not, the flag of our Republic has our blood-stained glory."
The officer twitched, standing up straight with a look of surprise, yet still Sheypon sung.
"Perhaps my eyes will shut and never open again, will you understand my silent emotions? Perhaps I will sleep forever, never able to wake up. Will you believe that I have been transformed into mountains?"
Her voice dropped to a near silent whisper that sent a chill down the spines of those who listened," If it's to be so, grieve not, the soil of our Republic contains the love we have given. If it's to be so, grieve not, the soil of our Republic contains the love we have given. If it's to be so, grieve not, the flag of our Republic has our blood-stained glory.
If it's to be so, grieve not, the flag of our Republic has our blood-stained glory. Blood-stained Glory."
The song used in this chapter is named, Bloodstained Glory, and is a Chinese Folk song written in 1987. It was originally used to commemorate those who died during the Sino-Vietnamese War but became popular for its commemoration of those who died during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
I received a message, asking if the names I used for each avatar had a purpose;
Chapter 5: Shey pön (gzhas-dpon) - "song master", a teacher of a particular song style, who is recognized as an experiened and competent singer. (Tibetan origin.)
Chapter 4: Baojia - 1."Protects the family" (Name of Chinese Origin) 2. "The Baojia System" - A system of law enforcement and civil control.
Chapter 3: Anuhya- "Something unexpected" (Name of Oriya origin.)
Chapter 2: Kizu- "A flaw of any kind" (Japanese Origin.)
Chapter 1: Kala- "one sixteenth of the moon". (A lunar digit.)
Would you like this information to be placed at the bottom of each chapter?
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