Avatar: The Red Dragon

Chapter 3: The Royal Fire Academy

Nanami and Shuu left the house just after breakfast. The shopping district was the biggest district of the capital. It gathered all restaurants, tea shops, tailors and grocery stores in one place.

As the Red Dragon tea shop was one of the first shops to be established in this district, Nanami's family was pretty well-known in their neighborhood. While they were walking along the main street to reach the end of the shopping district, other artisans greeted them and some chatted with the two siblings.

To get to the Royal Fire Academy, they had to cross the Fire Sages Capital Temple first, and then the Coronation Plaza. It took about 40 minutes to walk from their house.

Nanami had never left the shopping district. It was the first time she saw those two places, so she stopped at each spot to look closer. Shuu smiled when he saw the amazed look in his little sister's eyes.

The two siblings happily talked on their way to the academy. Nanami told her brother that she was really excited about attending the famous Royal Fire Academy.

"I still don't know what I want to do in the future, but I still have time to think about it, since the first year is common to all courses."

The Royal Fire Academy was created a long time ago. It used to be an institution exclusively for kids from the Fire Nation nobility. However, under his reign, Fire Lord Zuko changed the education of his nation. He favored open-mindedness culture over nationalism and allowed kids from all over the nation to attend the prestigious academy.

The massive institute was located in the center of the town, near the Royal Palace, and could accommodate up to five-thousand people. The Royal Fire Academy has about four-thousand students a year, coming from all over the nation.

The architecture was typical for the Fire Nation: white brick walls with red roof tiles and golden moldings. The enclosure of the academy was defined by high walls that joined together at the imposing entrance gate. A water fountain, representing a dragon, was built in the center of the large rectangular courtyard that made a path from the gate to the main building.

The main building was the largest building on the campus and displayed the Fire Nation flag above its gate. The sides of the courtyard included covered passages that led to the yard behind the main building.

The inner yard was smaller and in a semicircle shape. It was surrounded by small buildings on the sides, each building having a different symbol on its door. Behind those small buildings, was a third backyard that led to a large dormitory, built for students coming from other islands of the Fire Nation. Many benches were distributed in the three yards to let the students leisurely converse during their free time.

Upon arriving at the entrance gate, Nanami was amazed by how big the academy was. The campus looked gigantic. The entrance gate was at least as tall as The Red Dragon tea shop. Nanami looked around and saw a lot of students coming to enroll. The main courtyard was crowded; teachers were positioned all over the courtyard to give directions to new students.

Shuu laughed when he saw his little sister looking everywhere around her excitedly.

"It's so great! I can't believe it! It's huge! Everything is huge! And there're so many people here!" she excitedly said.

They passed across the fountain to get to the main building. Shuu had been attending this academy for three years now. He knew the place like his own pocket. The northern gate of the main building guided students to a hall which led to different places depending on the path taken.

Shuu went straight to the large door in front of him. That was the Common Hall. A row of teachers were sitting at a long table while registering each student who showed up. Nanami and Shuu stood in line and waited for their turn.

"Next!" an old teacher called.

Nanami and her brother went to him.

"Name, year, firebender or not" he said, not even looking at them.

"Nanami, first year and firebender, sir," Nanami politely answered.

"Are you really a firebender? I can't sense any firebending spirit coming from you," he commented, squinting doubtfully and finally looking up at the young girl.

"Yes sir, I am indeed a firebender," Nanami replied, surprised by his question. She started to doubt.

Was I not a firebender after all? But why was my whole body covered by fire then?

Nanami was feeling upset. She was so sure she was a firebender, and now it turned out she was not. Her face scowled as disappointment and frustration took hold of her.

"Guess your power is too weak, I can barely sense it," he simply said. "Here's your registration paper. Bring it on the first day." He handed her the paper. "Next!"

Nanami snatched the paper from him, and walked away with her brother, mumbling swear words at the old man.

"Don't mind what he just said! I heard that he's the most annoying teacher in the whole academy! I'm sure you're strong!" Shuu comforted her.

"Thanks, Shuu, you're truly a great older brother," she said. "What an unpleasant old man!"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and then looked at the paper he gave her. Two numbers were written on it: 4 and 10.

"What are those numbers for?"

"The first number is your group. You will be divided in groups in first year because there are too many of you. But I don't know about the second number, I only had one number on my paper. It's probably related to firebending. Maybe that will be your group for firebending lessons," he explained.

They went back to the main courtyard, passed the water fountain and stopped at the entrance gate. Nanami looked back at the main building.

I'm going to be studying here from now on! I'll show that pesky old teacher what I am capable of!

"Let's go back, they probably need us at the tea shop!" her brother said and started to run.

Nanami turned around, surprised not to see her brother, and began running after him. The entrance was still crowded, so she could not see well in front of her and in a hurry, she bumped into someone.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't being careful! Sorry again!" she said before trying to catch up to her brother. "Shuu! Wait for me!"

"Are you alright?" an old man asked the boy that Nanami had just bumped into.

"I'm fine, Grandfather. Thank you," the boy answered.

"Good! Let's get going, Prince Iroh!" Fire Lord Zuko said.

A/N: Thank you for reading Chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed it! Iroh and Zuko finally appeared :)

Next time: Nanami's first day at the academy!

Don't hesitate to leave comments to let me know your thoughts and vote if you liked the chapter!  Thanks again for reading!

Credit for the school picture: https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Nation_school