Ripples In The World

Chapter 4 - Feigned choices

Edited ~ Stage 1

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"Happy Birthday!" everyone shouted at Yue and I, simultaneously. We both bowed where we stood beaming at the crowd in the gathering hall. The loud applause merged with the gushing of the waterfalls along behind us.

My father walked forward to stand between my sister and I, silencing everyone with his presence, "My Daughters have both grown up so fast and I am truly proud of the young women they have become. As today is their sixteenth birthday the girls are now of marrying age and have been engaged to none other than Nanuq and Hahn; two brave warriors of our tribe." The two stood and bowed as a congratulatory applause ensued. As scanned the crowd beaming I caught the gaze of Katashi who smiled just as bright but whose eye no longer gleamed... My eyes began to water ever so slightly but I held them back and continued to smile.

"Now," the crowd fell into silence again, "as a special gift Master Pakku and his students will perform, so please take a seat and enjoy." My Father's happiness could not be contained by his being and was shown evidently in his voice and it seemed to sing out across the open hall.

Master Pakku walked up onto the raised area opposite the one my family resided on. He was soon joined by Katashi and one other student who was tall and slender. I got myself prepared mentally and sat a little further back than everyone else so as to make for an easy disappearance. The three stood as the points of a triangle Master Pakku at the front.

Each participant began to swirl their arms around like a ribbon in the breeze moving their bodies with the motion. The each pulled a large stream of water from the nearby vases and carried them in a circular motion around them: a look of strict concentration on their faces. They all moved in unison and the comet-like stream travelled gracefully around each person but never touched. Master Pakku's form was mesmerising to watch, it was so fluent and graceful. Just watching him made me want to stand up and imitate the beauty he was demonstrating. If you blinked you would have missed the three stream become one as they swirled around the three of them as they all controlled it in perfect unison. They continually moved and swirled their arms around in synchronised movements.

I stood up slowly, this was my queue to get ready to highjack the performance. Master Pakku then Took hold of the entire stream and split it into three which he then looped around himself, each at a different angle. It was astonishing to watch and as I crept around behind the onlooking crowd I found myself being compelled to learn everything the Master of the North knew. He then turned to the other student, Ghan, and punched small icicles at the boy using the rings that spun around him as a source. A ruckus of applause and cheers burst through the room at the Masters display of expertise. Ghan caught each one and slowly accumulated them into a protective shield that seemingly absorbed the rest.

I missed Ghan's performance as the crowd turned into the Ballor Family which consisted of a rather large abundance of bulky and tall men and women. However I catch the large icicles that were thrown in the air as yet another roar of applause ensued. The icicles then morphed back into a liquid form and began to mould into various shapes. Simply by the movement of the water and the style of the performance I could tell it was Katashi who was now in control of the water mass. He moulded the water into the shape of spiked ball that looked deadly with sharp pointed edges and then in the shape of a fat blubbery seal before he let the ice sculpture plummet to the ground and shatter. I emerged from behind joining in on the merry applause that congratulated Katashi's creativity and talent.

From the broken shards on the ground Katashi crafted the sculpture of a beautiful woman in explicit detail. Everyone gasped including myself as everyone realised it was my sister Yue. I was astonished at the elegance and smoothness of the ice: even more so when the figure morphed into another woman. This time it took me longer to identify but after meeting the proud eyes of Katashi I realised it was me. He then winked at me, giving me the signal that it was my turn. I was thankful for his participation in light of everything that has happened. The figure of ice then grew and stretched and Katashi melted, curled and began to throw the mass at the open space in the middle before freezing it mid-movement creating a perfect wave. The massive wave served as a giant wall that blocked the view of the stage and gave me an opportunity to enter the scene. I peeled of my thick, formal, fur lined over dress that I always wear to reveal my more manoeuvrable and light under dress and pants that I normally trained in. The dress was sleeveless and a dark ocean blue colour. The skirt section of the dress consisted of a front and back rectangle section with a darker blue edge that were the same colour as my tight pants and wrappings that were around my waist, forearms and wrists, and calves and ankles.