Blue Fire 火 Tyzula

XXI. Temple

♫

A Purgee - The Spy Gone North OST

''Who are you and how do you know who I am?'' Azula yelled back at the mysterious figure that approached them in the dark.

A man with a long feather-made crown stepped into the light and stood just a couple meters away from the brunette and the Princess.

''My name is Torxen and I am Chief and Shaman to my people. You can relax your stance, I am not here to harm you.'' He said with calm.

Ty Lee relaxed but Azula remained stiff with her hands in a fighting position.

''Azula...'' Ty Lee said softly putting her hand on the princess' arm until she relaxed as well.

''Sir, are you by any chance a Sun Warrior? I mean, you're sure dressed like one.'' Ty Lee asked innocently, looking at the similar clothes the statues around them wore.

The Shaman simply smiled back without saying a word.

''No, you can't possibly be a Sun Warrior, they're supposed to be long gone.'' Azula said skeptically.

''Join me in the next room, will you.'' He simply said before turning and calmly heading back to the direction where he came from.

Azula and Ty Lee exchanged confused looks, but decided to follow along cautiously behind the Shaman nonetheless.

The corridor they began walking through was dark and cold, but they followed along until the dim lights of another room lit the end of the corridor.

The brightness increased magnificently as they stepped inside the next room.

"Wooow." Ty Lee said in awe as the three of them entered the huge room that was beautifully decorated all over with ethnic imagery made with shiny mosaics.

"This is insane." Azula said standing still looking perplexed at all the art in the walls that looked like it told a story.

"This is the room of beginnings. Here is where the story of our people is written. From the first spark of the universe, until the time we came to possess the knowledge of firebending thanks to the first firebenders." The Shaman said.

"By first firebenders, you mean.... the dragons." Azula said without taking her eyes away from huge dragons depicted in the mosaic murals.

"Correct. Long before humans had any control over fire, the dragons were the original firebenders. But with time, the gift of firebending became wrongly used for personal gain, and the philosophy and teachings of the Sun Warriors was deconstructed and misused during the expansion of the Fire Nation for the use of power, control, and destruction." Torxen explained as Azula and Ty Lee listened with attention.

''This is so beautiful. How come we never got to see anything like this during our history lessons?'' The brunette asked astounded.

''Probably because it wasn't beneficial for the government that the citizens knew about the true history of what went down when this civilisation disappeared.'' Azula told Ty Lee.

''That's true as well. The Fire Nation needed an excuse to make themselves superior from the rest of the nations, so as to control the other three. The history as you've heard it was re-written, and all the teachings form our people were hidden from the masses. There would be no expansion necessary if the people knew that the four elements are supposed to remain in a perfect balance with one another.'' The Shaman said.

''Are there more people like you? Why did we see only ruins when we came in?'' Ty Lee asked.

''Because that's what we wanted you to See. On the outside, this city looks nothing but an archeological site that has been abandoned. But we still live here, my people and I. There's not many left of us, but we're still carrying on with our lineage and traditions. Also by making sure the sacred teachings don't get into the wrong hands.'' Torxen explained.