peacekeeping- zuko

The Beauty of Fire

Statues of what looked like chefs lined the halls. Well, they didn't look like chefs, just their hats did. They were situated in the middle, revolving around..nothing. Circles stood in front of each one. We examined the room, and there was something quite eerie about it. "It says this is something called the Dancing Dragon." Aang noted. I stared at the statues, finding something odd about them. "Zuko, Y/N, get over here! I want you to dance with me!" Aang exclaimed, grabbing onto Zuko's arm. What? Zuko pulled his arm away, "What?" "Just do it."

"Yeah, I think this is a two person thing. Ima stay out." I announced, crossing my arms. Zuko sent me a pleading look which I cruelly laughed at. I'm not gonna save the Fire boi this time. The two followed the steps of the statues and a pedestal appeared, holding a golden gemstone looking thing on it. I don't know why, but it felt...alive. "Hooray!" Aang cheered, raising his hands. He paused, staring at the thing, "What exactly is that?"
"It's some kind of magical gemstone." Zuko answered, voice brim in with doubt. "Well, don't touch it!" Aang yelled, as Zuko reached out for it. "Why not?" I asked, also curious to know what would happen. "Remember what happened out there with those spikes? I'm just very suspicious of giant glowing gemstones sitting on pedestals."

Zuko picked it up despite Aang's warning, "It feels almost...alive." I nodded. "Same. It's energy is- OHHH GOD!!" A geyser of weird slime looking stuff burst through the ground. I stepped back out of its range but Zuko wasn't so lucky. He got stuck at the little vent in the ceiling. I attempted to bend the stuff but it wasn't a bendable. "Oh no! It's another trap!" Aang exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise. Well, frick. "Ugh. I can't pull free. It's like some kind of glue!" Zuko yelled back, attempting to break free. "No, if it was glue I'd be able to bend it. It's something like...I don't know! How am I supposed to know?" "No one asked you to know!" Aang yelped, getting a bit frustrated with the substance, and be encased by it.

"No one asked you to talk!" "Well, no one asked you to-"
"SHUT UP!! How do we get out of here!!" Zuko interjected. "How do we know?!" We yelled back. The slime took over the place, getting us stuck at the same spot as Zuko. Aang and I struggled against the metal bars, having not given up yet, unlike Zuko. "I can't move! Zuko, do something!" Aang said, voice filled with panic. "Me!? I can't move either!" Zuko shot back. I grabbed the metal bars, the slime pushing us farther towards the surface. The rumbling stopped. "It stopped." Aang declared, voicing our thoughts. "At least we have air. Maybe we can figure a way out of this." Zuko shrugged. "No we can't! We're gonna be stuck here forever and perish!" I apposed. "We're gonna be fine, Y/N." Zuko sighed.

"How do you know that?!" "I don't! I'm just tryna be optimistic!" "Since when did you like being optimistic Mr. Angst?!" "Since...well, I don't know!" "How bout you-" "HOW BOUT YOU TWO SHUT UP!!" Aang yelled in between our bicker. We listened, and shut up. The sun sunk below the horizon, as the moon rose, bringing an assortment of stars with it. "You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" Aang sighed. "Least I made something happen! If it were up to you, we wouldnt even have made it past the courtyard!" Zuko shot back. "I wanna go home," I whined to no one. "HELP!!" Bellowed Aang. I attempted to cover my ears but my fingers were glued. "Who are you yelling to?! Nobody's lived here for centuries." Zuko scolded. "Well, what do you think we should do?" "Think about our place in the universe?" Zuko offered. His hand had somehow found its way onto mine, despite the glue.

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We ended up being found by the Sun Warriors. "So your not dead?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "For the last time, we are not dead!" One of them yelled, having answered the same question over and over again by the same person. "Really? I thought you were dead. You sure those aren't just costumes?" I asked again. "They are not costumes! We are the Sun Warriors!!" The guy yelled, losing his patience with me. "You sure, sure? You seem really-" "WE ARE THE SUN WARRIORS!!" "Okay, okay. Chill out. I was just asking." I shrugged, with a small scoff. The guy made incoherent anger and annoyance noises, which the others ignored. They thought we were after their stupid sunstone but the guys explained to them that we wanted to learn the firebending moves.

They took us to their little 'eternal' fire. It was apparently the first one and was going on for many years. Oh, and from the notes I took, Fire isn't the element of destruction and danger. It's the element of power and life. Okay, cool. "What if I blowed out the Fire?" I asked the same guy I'd managed to annoy before. "You can't do that!" "I can. Just watch me." I smirked. "Hey! No! You can't-" "Y/N, quit bothering the poor guy. She's not gonna blow it out, trust me." Aang jumped in, comforting the guy. "I might if he gets on my nerves." I teased. The chief dude handed us small flames, mine turning blue. "Hey, w-why's mine blue?" I asked. "Huh? Look what we have here." The chief said, examining the flame on my palm.

"Much like the Fire Princess is driven by pure hatred, your driven by pure passion for power and acceptance. That's what makes your flames appear hotter and blue. Other firebenders may be just as passionate as you, but the way you are passionate for it, is something else." The chief explained. "What?" I blurted. "Does everything go in one ear and out the other, with you?" The guy I bothered asked. "Meh. Probably." I shrugged. We headed out to the masters. I felt really anxious but something told me it'd be fine. Zuko had grabbed my hand with his free one. We climbed the stairs, panic starting to rush over us. "Sound the call!" The chief ordered. A horn rang, filling the air with a sound.

Drums played, and the Warriors started chanting or...something. I wasn't really paying attention. "Zuko, my Fire went out," Aang whispered to Zuko, him being the closest to him. "Well, what do you want me to do?" Zuko asked. "Give me some of yours." "No. Just make your own." Zuko answered, pushing Aang away as he tried to get some of Zuko's Fire. "I can't." Aang whined. "Get some from those Warriors. Hurry. Stop cheating off me." "Quit being stingy!" Oh my god. The chaos these two bring-

Zuko's flame also went out. "Uh oh." Aang whispered, eyes landing on the dragons that came out of the caves. Oh god. "Still think we can take them?" Aang teased to Zuko about a previous comment. "Shhhh. I never said that." "Yes you did." I added. "No. I didnt." Aang and Zuko said that we should do the Dragon Dance with them and we did. They paused for judgement time. The beasts's mouths opened and I raised a hand, ready to defend ourselves if needed. Fire erupted and I stumbled back, closer to the other two. The dragons didn't attack us, they were trying to show us the reality and beauty of Fire. It was pretty life changing. Thank you, Ran and Shaw. I'll probably forget it, but still, thanks. My fire had returned to it's original strength but now it was blue.

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When we got back, at nighttime, Zuko and Aang showed the others the Dragon Dance, while I stood on the sidelines not knowing all the steps even though I had performed it. "Yeah, that's a great dance you two learned, there." Sokka teased, elbowing me to join in. "Mhm. Nice performance." "It's not a dance, it's a firebending form." Zuko defended. "We'll just tap-dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord." Sokka teased again. "It's a sacred form that happens to be over a thousand years old!!" Zuko exclaimed, advancing towards Sokka and me. "Oh, yeah? And what's your little form called?" I joined in. Zuko paused, embarrassed, "The Dancing Dragon." We all laughed, Toph throwing a rock at Sokka when he stole some of her food, while I gave Zuko an apology hug.