⠀ ⠀ ⠀ can you remember
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ who you were?
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ . . . .
One hundred years ago, the Fire Nation took everything she held dear and obliterated it all, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake. Nahuang vowed she...
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98 AG - ONE YEAR PRIOR
There was a tale — a somber but exciting myth — that the spirit of a brilliant dragon used to roam the vast expanses of the Physical World. He was elusive and hardly ever seen, but those lucky enough to cross paths with him would be left in awe and wonderment.
Once a proud guardian of a divine world called the Celestial Realm, the spirit temporarily resigned from his position to search for something, someone important. Someone so significant, their loss weighed heavily on his heart, and he wandered across the globe, searching for any clues that might lead him to his loved one. He scoured every nook and cranny for over millennia, from humble abodes to grand palaces, from holy temples to forgotten ruins, but to no avail. Despite his tireless efforts, the spirit was always left with an empty feeling, and his mind was muddled with confusion.
The one he searched for was another spirit, whom he referred to as his soulmate. She was a phoenix spirit who used to fight alongside him and two other guardians. Tied together by a red string made by the spirits of red rose fairies, the two were supposedly inseparable. But as fate would have it, a tragedy struck during a battle, and she was lost to the rebirth cycles of the Physical World. Her absence left a void in his heart that could not be filled.
The dragon spent years in a mournful state, so grief-stricken that one of his tears formed a single crystal, an extension of his being that he sent to her would-be reincarnation to help him find her. He never would, though. No. Instead, he would fall victim to merciless hunts of dragons, an event started by the nobility of the Fire Nation for sport.
Ryūji loved listening to his mother tell the tragic story of the dragon, but every time he heard it, tears would roll down his cheeks like he could feel the dragon's sorrow through her words alone. It was hard for him to accept that the dragon had to endure so much hardship only to never find his true love again. He'd ask her if the dragon had been reincarnated, just like the phoenix, but she'd simply smile, a sense melancholy in her brown eyes, and tell him, "If that's what your heart believes."
His mother always seemed regretful, whether to him or to something with the story — he wasn't sure. She never elaborated on the reason for it, and he never asked either. He just let her proceed to tell him another story if he wasn't ready to sleep yet.
Gone were those days, though. As Ryūji grew up, his life gradually turned, and his desire to hear his mother's tales gradually died. He was no longer the naive child who knew little of his lowly place in nobility. He immersed himself in rigorous combat training to escape the constant rumors and whispers surrounding his mother's past misdeeds. His father's neglectful attitude towards him and his mother's situation only added to his growing disillusionment, causing Ryūji to feel like a mere pawn in his father's game for power. As a result, he simply felt like there was no time to worry about childish beliefs.
Until now, that is.
When Ryūji was seventeen, he received his very first mission. He was thrilled when he first heard the news — leaving the crushing atmosphere of the Fire Nation capital was a dream come true. But when he learned about the nature of this mission, Ryūji felt utterly defeated.
