Chapter 21: Kindlings of Another Order

Urdu shivered as he gingerly tiptoed through his house and out the door. This was absolutely crazy. He was sneaking out late at night… on today of all days! He was already duty bound to pull roots and lug water through the gardens for a solid month, and if he got in trouble again so soon, Agni only knew what his parents would do to him. But Shoji had begged him to come, and Urdu wasn't about to let down the closest friend he had ever had. He couldn't let Shoji go back to the cave alone. What if there were guards from town still keeping watch over it? He couldn't- wouldn't- let them take Shoji to the coal mines. It was bad enough that Kuzon was on the run and On Ji… was missing. The whole town was in an uproar. Parents were baffled and furious, school had been canceled for the day, and in all of the commotion, Urdu still hadn't had time to process how much his life had changed since last night.

As Urdu quickly and quietly made a beeline for the coastline down the street, he heard gentle footfalls approaching behind him. Terrified, he dove headfirst into a bush, nearly yelping when several thorns made little cuts across his face. Suddenly, a hand was grasping his collar and pulling him out. Urdu's heart rate tripled and his thoughts raced in a full blown panic. He had been caught. This was it. He would be the next one going to the coal mines. He couldn't hold in a soft wail.

"Please don't send me away! I'll do anything!"

The hand on his collar quickly clapped around his mouth. "Quiet, or you'll get us all caught."

Urdu spun around and looked at his would-be-jailor. It was another boy in a school uniform who looked oddly familiar.

"What… but you're one of Hide's gang! Wait… were you one of the music players last night?"

The boy nodded carefully. "Shh… not so loud. That's a secret, you hear me? Now, are you coming to the meeting or not? Word on the street is that this kid Shoji's got something really important to show everybody, and I'm not going to miss it."

Urdu brushed the remaining bush nettles from his clothes and nodded. "Yeah. I'm friends with Shoji, actually. You can trust him. Let's go."

Silently, the two boys continued down the street out of town, keeping sharp eyes out for guards or anyone else who might be watching them. By the time they got to the beach, there were three other kids with them, all in uniforms and resolutely quiet, understanding the urgent need to remain hidden under the cloak the darkness provided. Finally, they reached the cave. Urdu listened carefully for any sounds that might indicate the presence of unwanted interlopers, but all he could hear was the repetitive sound of the waves hitting the shoreline. As the small group made its way inside the cave, they saw a small flicker of light coming from the enclosed area where they had all danced and rebelled the night before. Was it the meeting… or a trap? The group froze, unsure whether or not to proceed. Finally, Urdu couldn't take the tension anymore and called out in a hushed yell.

"Shoji?"

A moment later, a voice responded from inside the cave. "Urdu? Is that you! Get in here, quickly!" Recognizing Shoji's voice, Urdu nodded at the rest of the group and they all approached the enclosure, where they found a group of not more than fifteen other students seated around a single lit candle. Shoji alone was standing and pacing back and forth in an agitated fashion. The rest included the other members of the Flameos, a few of On Ji's friends, and some of the firebenders who had helped everyone else escape the night before. One boy in particular looked rather worse for wear. He was seated slightly away from the others, clutching his Sunghi horn, and not making eye contact with the rest of the group. Curiously enough, Urdu didn't spot Senyo anywhere.

"Finally! All right, everyone. I don't think anyone else is coming. I know how hard it was for you guys to sneak out, especially tonight. I wouldn't have asked you to take the risk if it wasn't seriously important." Shoji continued to pace, the group seemingly entranced into attentive listening by the passion in his voice.

"You all were here last night. You all put your belts on your foreheads and helped Kuzon escape. Why? Why did you help a kid you've only known for a few days when it could cost you everything?"

One of On Ji's friends tentatively raised her hand. "Kuzon seemed really sweet. When Hide provoked him to fight the other day, he didn't even fight back. I didn't think it was right that someone who was so nice would get punished when he didn't hurt anyone. Plus, when I saw everyone taking their belts off, it seemed safer because they wouldn't be able to punish all of us."

A Flameo spoke up. "Kuzon showed us how to play a whole new kind of music I didn't even know existed. I don't care what Hide has to say about it, and I think it was really crummy of him to rat us out. Hide was just jealous 'cuz On Ji was all over Kuzon from the moment he got here. But Kuzon helped me, and so I helped him."

To his surprise, Urdu found himself speaking up. He hated talking in front of big groups. But it was like he couldn't stop himself. "Kuzon showed us how to dance… and I liked it! It made me feel free."

Shoji nodded and acknowledged all of them, but he never stopped pacing. "See… you all sort of get it. Kuzon was different. He was special. Look at how many different ways he affected all of you in such a short time! But there's more to it than that. Kuzon… wasn't who he said he was. C'mon, Urdu. Grab that candle- we don't want to make too much light. Let's show them what I saw last night."

Urdu went cold. What was Shoji doing? Was Shoji still convinced that Kuzon was an earthbender? Everyone was going to think they were crazy and leave! That couldn't happen. They needed everyone's help to save On Ji. But still, he dutifully picked up the candle and followed Shoji and the group to the back of the cave.

One of girls gasped when they arrived at the odd looking rock wall. "What is that?"

Shoji spoke again, his voice determined but trembling slightly. "Kuzon escaped through this tunnel last night. I was standing at the back of the crowd and I saw him and his friends run through here. Kuzon turned around, looked me in the eye, and bowed to me. Then, he ran out of sight and the tunnel closed up behind him. See that distinct line in the middle? That's where the rock came together. The top half came down from the ceiling and the bottom half thrust up from the floor to meet in the middle. Look how neat it is. We've all learned about rockslides in Basic Engineering class. This is not how they look. So, that means there's only one explanation. Kuzon did this. Kuzon has to be an earthbender."

Everyone's jaws dropped. Urdu looked around, expecting people to call Shoji crazy or laugh at him, but strangely enough, no one was laughing. Then, the same friend of On Ji's who had spoken earlier piped up. "That would explain why Kuzon didn't know how to bow the first day, and why he couldn't recite the Fire Nation oath. I thought it was weird, 'cuz wouldn't they teach that in the colonies too?" Another kid exclaimed. "Yeah, and his skin and eyes were a different color! I wondered why he didn't look like any of us!"

One of the Flameos put his hand against the wall. "It does look like this was a tunnel, and Shoji's got a point- I've never seen a cave-in look so neat, like someone carved it to make the wall of a house." The students began chattering in amazement, coming to believe Shoji's conclusion far more easily that Urdu could ever have imagined. But then, a quiet yet furious voice echoed from a few feet away that stopped everyone. It was from the forlorn looking boy holding the Sunghi horn.

"So, you mean I just ruined my whole life helping a no-good dirthead? Are you serious?" The boy began to shake as fat tears rolled down his cheeks beyond his control. Little flames appeared in his palms.

Another one of the Flameos rushed over and grabbed his arms. "Enough, Xinlang! Calm down! Haven't you already hurt enough people today?" The boy called Xinlang shoved the other Flameo away. "I don't need your help, Qingzuo. Agni, this is unbelievable. How could I have been so stupid to trust that kid? Go on, then. Tell them what I did. Tell them what I am now!"

Qingzuo stepped towards Xinlang again. "No one made you do that! Yeah, it was really awful that your dad was going to make you join the Spark Corps, but you were the one who burned him and ran away. For all you know, you could have killed him! Do you even care?"

The rest of the group watched wide eyed at the dramatic confrontation exploding between the two musicians. To Urdu, it was obvious that there was some kind of deeper conflict brewing between the two friends. He was completely floored that mild mannered Xinlang, the best Sunghi horn player in the class who only reluctantly tagged along with Hide's circle, had done something so horrifying. In the Fire Nation, there were very few actions more devastating to a family than a first born son burning his father or a father burning his first born son. It created a permanent rift in the line of inheritance and could actually result in the end of a family line if there was no other male heir to carry on the family name. Some families in this situation kept the name alive through their daughters, but such an alternative was usually only available to a noble family whose daughter could marry a lower class man willing to take her name to increase his own social status. Urdu shuddered. As resentful as he was of the punishment his parents had saddled him with, he could never imagine causing such pain to them or his future disgraced descendants. For a kid like Xinlang to do so, he must have had a very good reason.

Xinlang began backing away. "I don't know why I even came tonight. None of you can help me. There's no help for a fatherburner like me!" With a sob, he ran off and soon his footsteps stopped echoing, indicating that he had left the cave.

Qingzuo's hand reached after him, but its owner, like the rest of the group, stood frozen in utter shock. The other Flameos moved towards Qingzuo and wrapped their arms around his shoulders as tears, unbidden, ran silently down his cheeks.

Finally, someone else broke the silence. "If we helped Kuzon, and Kuzon's an earthbender… what does that make us?"

Shoji sighed. "Look, you guys. I got to know Kuzon better than anybody. I thought he was my friend, and it turns out he was lying to me from the moment we met. I hate that. I hate that he had so many secrets. But maybe there's a reason for it. What's an earthbender doing sneaking into a Fire Nation school? I don't know. But I do know that for some reason, I still want to help him however I can. And you know what? On Ji believed in him too, and she paid the price for what we all did last night. So even if you're not sure about Kuzon, you owe it to On Ji to keep fighting. And no matter who Kuzon was, he made us all happy, right? Happier than I know I've felt in longer than I can remember. So, I thought maybe we could keep that happiness alive by… trying to be a bit more like Kuzon."

Qingzuo frowned. "What do you mean, Shoji?" Shoji threw his hands up. "I mean, let's have another dance party soon. Let's learn to dodge Hide's punches if he picks on us. Let's ask questions in class that make Ms. Kwan's eyebrows fly up. I'm sick of playing by the grownups' rules. It's time to do what makes us feel good, for once. And while we're at it, we can start investigating. Someone must have seen what happened to On Ji. We've got to find her before the guards do."

A kid from their class piped up. "Hide said that Mr. Wei knocked him unconscious. On Ji's probably with him."

Shoji nodded. "Right. But why did Mr. Wei help her? And where would he take her? Does anyone know anything about him?"

All of the firebenders shook their heads. A Flameo shrugged. "Not really. He doesn't say much, even in class, and I've never seen him outside of school."

Shoji sighed. "Okay then, that's our first order of business. We need to find out as much as we can about who Mr. Wei is. The more we know, the more likely it is that we'll be able to figure out where he and On Ji went. So… are you all with me?" He glanced around nervously, wringing his hands.

A ten year old girl, the youngest student in the group, spoke up, her voice quavering. "We're all gonna get sent to the coal mines, aren't we? For being traitors to Fire Lord Ozai. For disobeying our parents again. I… I liked dancing last night and I want to help your friend… but I'm scared."

Shoji reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. They're not going to send us to the coal mines- not if we stick together. There's power in numbers- you saw that last night. We need to get more kids involved- anyone who came to the party and can keep a secret. They won't punish all of us. But… if something does go wrong… I'll take the blame. I'm the one who asked you all to come here tonight. This was my idea. And I'd rather go work in the coal mines forever than see anyone else's honor destroyed because they followed me."

As Shoji's passionate words sunk in, Urdu surveyed the group, looking to see how they were reacting. Slowly, he watched them all nod, new respect for Shoji evident on their faces. In a wave, they all started to bow with their hands clasped in front. Surprise and relief flickered across Shoji's face. He bowed back, wordlessly thanking the group for trusting him.

"It's getting late. We should all return home, before someone discovers that one of us is missing from our beds."

One of the Flameos raised his hand. "Wait! How are we going to know when and where we're meeting again? We need some kind of signal, like the fires the Fire Navy uses to indicate their position at sea. And we should have some kind of code word to identify who's with us and who's not."

A girl chimed in. "Ooh, and we should have a name."

Shoji scratched his head, taken aback. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Okay, I've got an idea. My dad is crazy about Fire Flakes- he keeps huge sacks of them in our house. If I take some, he won't even know they're missing. When we have another meeting, I'll hand out little bags of flakes with time and place of the meeting hidden on a scroll inside. That won't be too suspicious- who would think it weird for a kid to have a bag of Fire Flakes with him at school?"

"What about the code word, though?"

The Flameo who had suggested it spoke again. "What about that weird greeting that Kuzon had? "Stay flamin'?" I've never heard anybody else say it, so it would make a pretty good test for who's in on the secret, right?"

Shoji smiled. "I like it. Okay, but what should we call ourselves?"

"The Secret Dancers?"

"How about… the Fire Detectives?"

"The Camelephant Strutters?"

Urdu had been quietly listening and absentmindedly taking off his belt and fiddling with it. As he stared at the piece of red cloth, he vividly pictured an identical belt wrapped around Kuzon's head. And that was when it came to him.

"We should be the Order of the Headband."

Everyone stopped talking and stared at him. Urdu shrunk his head into his uniform self-consciously. "I just thought… because Kuzon always wore his belt like one and headbands were how we all got out of the cave last night… it could sort of be our symbol. Like the ones in the books we read in class."

Shoji's smile bloomed across his face. "That's… that's perfect." The rest of the group seemed to be in agreement. He took his belt and put it around his head, motioning for the others to follow suit.

"We are the Order of the Headband. We will dance and ask questions and play music and fight for On Ji Pan and all others who are punished for doing nothing wrong. We will protect each other and keep each other safe. We ask Agni to bless us in all that we do. For the Headband!"

"For the Headband!"

And as the new members of a revolutionary secret society scattered to the winds to disappear into the townsfolk once again, Urdu swallowed a lump in his throat, wondering if he had just made the biggest mistake or the best decision of his life.