Blood and Fire

Show and Tell

Taiyo and I walked down the bay of Republic City. The sun was just setting – dipping below Yue Bay – its light piercing through the fog that covered the city, giving my skin soft brushes of warmth through the cold autumn air. The note left by Dalha indicated that we meet her and Tao under The Kyoshi Bridge at sundown. Since we had the opening shift that day, we were off work in the early hours of the afternoon, giving us time to go home and decide if we really did want to go to the meeting. Funnily enough, neither of us needed to be persuaded, we just needed to be reassured that we were making the right decision and not jumping head-first into danger. I had taken time to ponder upon bringing a waterskin but opted against it in the end. It would have been like screaming that I was looking for trouble at the top of my lungs in the middle of a crowd. In any case, there would be plenty of water for me to bend if there were to be an emergency.

Through the fog I could see Kyoshi Bridge getting bigger and bigger, becoming clearer and clearer as we approached it. With each step, my body trembled with a new wave of apprehension and excitement. Finally, we were going to be able to start doing what we came to Republic City for. I must have been wearing some sort of weird or worried expression on my face because I felt Taiyo's hand slip into mine and give it a squeeze. I squeezed back. I'll be alright. He wasn't wrong though, I was worried. I could barely feel my legs under me as I paced into the fog. Though Dalha didn't have a reason to suspect us of anything, Tao worked for City Hall – we didn't know anything else about him. He very well could be tied to Laghima Island in some way. Even if he didn't seem much older than myself or Taiyo, he still had ties to the United Republic's government and he could have had a surprise up his sleeve but we didn't have a choice. We had to take this chance. It was as if someone had put food in our mouths and chewed it for us: all we had left to do was swallow.

As the sun got lower, the fog got thicker. When we reached the bridge we easily spotted Dalha – despite her height or rather lack thereof. After all, there weren't many people dressed in bright orange and yellow. She greeted us with the same wide smile she had when we'd first seen her at the bookshop. Next to her stood Tao, his narrow eyes looking us up and down, analyzing us like lab subjects, in a way that felt all too familiar. His hands were hidden in his pants' pockets, clearly balled into fists. I couldn't tell whether it was from frustration or anxiousness, but whatever the case he was not excited to see us.

"Hi, guys! I'm glad you made it!" said Dalha, waving at us as she approached. "This is Tao, he's been helping me with..." she paused, calculating which words were most appropriate. "This project" she settled.

"Nice to meet you, Tao," I said, reaching a hand out to shake his with a forced smile on my face. He didn't react. Not at first at least. He held eye contact with me for a long moment, his expression unwavering. Unreadable. He slowly took his hand out of his pocket and grabbed mine, shaking it firmly.

"Pleasure," he replied.

I cleared my throat to fight the awkwardness that rose from my stomach and introduced myself. "I'm Yuka, this is Taiyo," I said, pointing at the Firebender with my thumb. He shook Tao's hand, reciprocating his stone-cold glare. For a moment the air was thick with tension. No one said a word but I could tell it weighed on all of us.

"Anyway," Dalha said, breaking the silence. "Are we buying drinks or are we getting right to it?"

"Let's get to it now" replied Tao. "No one's nearby, we can speak freely".

"Alright then," Dalha went to sit legs crossed at the foot of one of the metallic green pillars that held up the bridge. "Let's get comfortable, we have a lot to share". We all sat in a circle around her, miming her position. No one spoke. None of us were even willing to make eye contact with each other, Tao looking at his shoes, Dalha to the side of her thigh, Taiyo and I at each other, then at the ground, then back at each other.