Into the Fire and the Flame<Lun Yang, Fire Nation>

[nim]

After so many days on the sea solid land under Nim's feet was strange and the loud noise of the city was almost as overwhelming as the crashing waves of the ocean. Though she still swayed when she walked she was more than happy to be on dry land once again even if it was Fire Nation soil. She trried her best to stay close to familiar voices, a little turned around especially during when they were getting of the ship, so many people moving this way and that made it hard to follow any one person. She tripped more than once, feeling as though the world were moving when it was still. The feeling was making her a bit sick and after trying for a time to keep up she took to simply sitting on an empty barrel off to the side; it was like moving day, she was fairly useless not being ale to see where everything was going.

She thought over her act as she waited, she was sure her friends wouldn't forget to tell her when they were ready to be on their way, until then she sat like a bump on a log- well, a barrel. She had been wanting to try a new trick, a little more Ballet like, but she wasn't sure if it was practiced enough. She thought the moves over thoroughly in her head, they looked nice enough, very fluid, like water.

'Though maybe it should be more like fire,' she thought to herself and she tried to imagine making the fluid movements flicker more like a flame. She could probably wrap an oil damp clothe on the tip of her whip and light it on fire, but that would take more thought.

[shanghuang]

The Flame Dancers, as it turned out, had a lot of stuff, and Shang Huang felt like he was carrying just about all of it. For the past hour, he’d been helping unload the ship and organize the caravan’s belongings. Being one of…well…mediocre strength, this was quickly taking its toll. He was sweating through his shirt and breathing hard as he slowly walked down the pier carrying a large crate with the help of another man. Even just setting it down without dropping it was proving difficult at this point.

“Is that the last of it?” he panted, sitting on the crate and breathing hard.

“Almost,” the other man said, briefly making Shang beam. “We’ve got about a fourth of it left.”

Shang’s smile quickly disappeared, and he slowly picked himself up to head back towards the ship and unload more of the cargo.

[blackcrow]

Meanwhile, as Shang worked himself to the bone and sweated off about ten pounds, Li-Wu had managed to wiggle out of work due to his increased weakness from the near constant sea-sickness he had to endure. The still pale faced twin had departed the boat still shakily, having lost a good amount of weight during the journey since food would not stay down for him. He was only carrying a small bag full of personal belongings when he approached the blind whip-woman, Nimuta. Amid the commotion, he wasn't sure if she'd hear his footsteps on the stone docks so he approached her with a heavy step and also called out to her. "'ey Nim." He sighed heavily as he heaved his bag down at his feet. He took standing next to her barrel, letting his shoulders sag.

The elder of the two twins leaned back into a thick, nearly five inch think rope that was strung between posts, letting it hold up his weight. His face was thin, his eyes having sunken in somewhat from the drastic weight loss. He knew he looked like hell, mirrors on board had told that him. No longer did he and Bai look exactly alike. It would ruin their performances. He had.. maybe a week to put the weight back on.. Ugh. Of course, the food they'd be eating on for the next few weeks would be of the highest quality. Yum. Except right now, his stomach didn't share the sentiment.

"...Glad to be off that damn ship."

[nim]

Nim didn't hear anyone come in her direction and was nearly startled off her barrel when Li greeted her. He didn't sound well even on dry land, she hoped it wouldn't effect his act to much, thougn they all had a few days to recover before preforming.

"I hear ya," she said in concurence with being glad to be off the ship; she was already dreading the trip back.

"How is the unloading going?" she asked Li, she didn't want to be a bother, but she was really hoping they were almost done becuase she was more tha ready to scrub off somewhere. She was used to not being clean every day or even every week, but after throwing up as much as she had she was dying to be clean and she was sure a lot of the other seasick gypsies were feeling the same way. It was horribe smelling week old vomit on your clothes and the fact that the sea water had left a lot to be desired when it came to cleaning didn't help either.

[pamuy]

Ah, to set food on solid land again. It didn't shake or wobble, it wouldn't throw one inexperienced off-balance whenever it pleased, and wouldn't make Pamuy and most of her comrades sick. The air even smelled different, and the scenery was a change in itself. From where they stood on the docks, guards watched everywhere from their lofty walls, sure to keep a close eye on the caravaners before they boarded a carriage that would take them up that mountain. As she was informed, that high peak was the location of the capital itself.

Things other than the contents of her stomach had settled, for the most part. Hilang had kept true to his word, surprisingly, but she could only hope he kept up the guise as long as they needed. Once they stepped back aboard the next Earth Kingdom-bound ship, he could make as many bigoted comments as he wanted...as long as Pamuy was out of earshot. Come to think of it, everyone else would have to be out of his range as well, except perhaps the twins, who seemed to enjoy his stupidity just fine. Some people...

The Fire Nation would be an adventure in itself, though. Everyone else had survived the boat trip, but how would things go from there? Who knew...? For now, though, she would stay away from everything important being done, like the task of unpacking by the menfolk, and watch patiently. There was nothing better to do, as much as she wanted to lend a helping hand to poor Shang. Perhaps she would in time, when her conscious wouldn't let him suffer any longer.

[blackcrow]

"Sloooooooooooow." He groaned as he rested on the barrel infront of him, his elbows on the barrel's nailed down top. It smelled like fish. Yuck. After the two weeks.. eating mostly fished, he was ready for some meat. Mmm.. meat. The twin rolled his eyes and head to the side, glancing towards the men who were crossing the space between the ship and the dock, carrying large bags and boxes of supplies. "We're almost done unloading.. Mother and Father say that we're expecting a home guard escort and someone from the Yubi Family.." He explained calmly to the blind girl who stood next to him.

He glanced towards her for a moment, smiling at her. It always amused him how.. surreal her blank expression was. It wasn't that she showed no emotion, but her eyes never seemed to.. focus on him. They looked beyond him.. out towards the city. Her hair.. so dark seemed to sparkle with copper thread in this light. Curled and thick... he sighed for a moment.. Before glancing back out, following her gaze. "Don't worry.. we'll be okay."

[nim]

"An escort, sounds exciting," Nim gave her usual big grin and she didn't mention it, but she was betting the grub was going to be great where they were staying. Normal Li would have been fine talking about food, like most guys do, but he had been one of the more-often-than-not sick on the boat and she figured food wasn't the first thing on his mind right now.

She herself was rather excited to try Fire nation cuisine and was wondering how different it was to the Earth Kingdom.

"Who knew we had so much stuff," she was really surprised at how long it was taking to unpack the boat since it hadn't seemed to take that long to pack it back home. Of course once she thought about it she was sure a lot of the help from before was still recovering from sea sickness and not in great physical condition to be moving things.

"So, are you excited to see the Fire Nation, Li-Wu?" She wished she could see it, the sounds were different than the Earth Kingdom, but only slightly, for the most part babbling sounded the same everywhere.

[hilang]

Hilang was not pleased with his first experience in the Fire Nation. He was not pleased one bit. As he heaved box after box down the gangplank, all he could think was that he could be out experiencing the Fire Nation culture right now. He could be acting like a real Fire Nation resident, as opposed to some sort of Earth Kingdom trash who was merely unloading his things. Of course, normally, this would’ve been vocalized rather loudly, but in his current condition, and keeping in mind his vendetta against Pamuy, his lips stayed sealed. He had chosen this opportunity to don his shoes, which were rarely worn, and he was glad he had.

He had already dropped a box on his feet once today, so his shoes had already come in handy, and now, it seemed, they would come in handy again, as the small box full of dry food goods fell on his feet. He had gotten a splinter in his hand from the wooden crate, causing him to drop it. It still hurt, but not nearly as bad as it would have if he had not been wearing the shoes. “Curse the spirits!” Afterward, he did a bit of a hop, and then tried to walk it off, scooping up what had spilled and throwing it over the dock, and salvaging what had not spilled, picking up the box, and returning to work, with a slight throbbing in his feet.

This did not improve his mood.

[blackcrow]

"Spirits.. Yeah." He breathed, leaning into the barrel and his elbows. He had been to the 'homeland' only once before at age 10 or 12 by invitation. Both Wu boys had grown up knowing of the history of the Caravan and how 80 years ago they had been sent to the front lines by Fire Lord Sozin to entertain the troops and the new colonists. Charged with bringing the Fire Days Festival, the Caravan had been roaming the Eastern Earth Kingdom ever since. Li didn't know what to think of that. It was an honor that a group such as the Flame Dancers had received that royal charter from the Fire Lord, despite their attitude of embracing all the other cultures of the world in a time of cleansing.

Or that was they were billing it as. The Great March of Civilization. Those words had been drilled into his head though not in the way originally intended. Li-Wu, his brother and the other Fire Nation origin Flame Dancers had grown up aside Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe origin children. They all knew of the war, all knew of the Fire Nation's intentions, but did they shun the other cultures? No! That diversity was embraced within the small unit. And Yet, they were still Fire Nation at heart.. the Flame Dancers had started here and it was there where they choose to align themselves to when necessary. Even if they were completely wrong.

"Yeah.. I'm excited to come back." Li-Wu murmured softly. Though the site of Hilang dropping a crate was enough to garner a grin from the still weakened Fire Bender. "Hilang's making a fool out himself.." he informed Nimuta, taking the chance to be her eyes. "Bai's about to die laughing while on the ramp. Oh.. Oh..." Watch and wait.. watch and wait!

Li wasn't a masochist.. or a sadist.. but he was a twinist. And when he saw his twin stumbling back, cackling with laughter and loosing his balance on the thin ramp.. he didn't do a thing. Except watch as the boy took a step back.. and fell straight down into the water! "There he goes!"

[yinhe]

The group of soldiers weaved their way through merchants, fishermen and others on the streets that ran down by the waterfront. Past shops and vendors selling a fresh bounty gleaned from the sea. The group of five moved along at a leisurely pace, a relatively tall woman leading while the other four, two men and two women, followed along behind her.

Their uniforms clearly distinguished the soldiers as members of the Fire Nation’s Domestic Forces or “Home Guard”, the leader sporting the armor and uniform of a Firebending Corporal. As for her subordinates; one man and one woman wore the uniforms of non benders while the other two were clearly denoted by their gear as possessing the ability to bend. The citizens mulling about the streets seemed to step from their path, likely not from fear, but perhaps out of respect or simply habit.

As they passed another vendor, Corporal Yin He Zhong turned her head for a moment, idly inspecting the sea-derived foodstuffs offered. She shivered involuntarily, spotting a small tub filled with large prawns marked “Giant Prawns, five silver pieces for three”, shellfish, Yin’s bane. The Corporal had discovered her allergy to that specific type of seafood only a few months earlier and it had nearly cost her, her life. Glaring bitterly at the large shrimp, Yin continued on, leading her Squad down to the docks.

“Why did they have to send us?” whined Private Shing, dramatically, “They could have sent Chung and his Squad.. but no, we get stuck babysitting the Gypsies,” the non bending soldier had a reputation for being a bit of a whiner, a joker as well. Yin found it best to just ignore him at times, though she found herself forced to step in when he got on the nerves of his other Squad mates.

“Oh, quit your whining, this is better than regular patrols and you know it,” said Private Xiu, scowling and wagging her finger at the non bender. Xiu, the only other female bender in the group was quite temperamental and Yin often found herself breaking Shing and Xiu up when they started to go after each other. The Corporal knew Shing enjoyed getting a rise out of Xiu and, though Shing’s jokes were, for the most part, harmless, she couldn’t take chances when it came to Xiu’s angry outbursts.

Shing rolled his eyes at Xiu and turned to the third Firebending Squad member, a tall and very reserved fellow named Li, “Li, bet’cha ten silver pieces, yeah, ten silver pieces, we end up carrying bags.” Private Li cocked an eyebrow and gave the non bender a curious look, “No deal, Shing,” he said simply, shaking his head once. Li was a decent fellow and, though he rarely spoke, Yin found him to be dependable and trustworthy with a very even, albeit serious, disposition.

Trailing along at the back of the group there walked the fourth and last member of Yin’s Second Squad. The only other non bender in the group and clearly the youngest soldier as well, Private Pang trudged along with a sickened expression upon her face. She was paler than usual and had remained silent since the Squad had met up that morning.

Xiu jabbed Shing in the side and pointed back over her shoulder at Pang, “What’s wrong with the kid?” she asked, in a rather bored tone. Shing shrugged and looked playfully at the group’s leader, “Maybe she ate some bad shrimp,” he said, smirking and turning toward Li, grinning, hoping for a chuckle from someone. The tall Firebender simply scowled at Shing and remained silent.

“That was pretty cold, Shing,” said Pang, speaking up from the back. Yin turned and looked back over her shoulder at the youngest soldier in the group, Pang didn’t look well, a bad cold perhaps. The Corporal’s features softened, a look of concern crossing her face as she looked over the girl. Pang was generally rather quiet, somewhat shy at times, though reasonable and probably the friendliest member of the group. Due to her shy nature, she often caught hell from Shing and Xiu, the former more so playful, while the latter was domineering.

“Okay, okay.. that was mean, I get it, I get it,” said Shing, holding up his hands in defeat, “I didn’t mean anything by it, Corp, you know I was just as worried as everyone else when you ate that shrimp,” he said turning to Yin. The Corporal looked back over her shoulder for a moment, giving the non bender a blank look, her typical half-lidded gaze in place, “I know, Shing,” she said flatly, she understood that he rarely meant his jokes to be offensive, though she had nearly died from the allergic reaction.

As the group turned off of the main road onto the docks, Yin paused and turned to address at her Squad mates, “Lets all be well behaved here, alright? We were chosen to escort of Flame Dancers to the Yubi place and that’s what we’re going to do, no trouble,” said the Corporal, looking each member of her Squad in the eye.

She reached Pang and gave the girl a sympathetic look, “If you’re not feeling well, I could have Li here walk to back to the base, perhaps the Doc could give you something.” Pang gave her commander a weary look but shook her head, “Nah.. I’m okay.” Yin nodded slowly in response and turned back up the dock, shaking her head to herself. Up ahead, she spotted them, the Gypsies and their boat.

Strolling up to the ship and those present on the dock, Yin watched curiously as one man broke into a fit of laughter and fell off of the gangplank into the bay. As the group of soldiers approached, it seemed that most of the folks, likely all Flame Dancers, had turned their attention to the man who’d fallen into the drink.

Yin slowed to a halt beside a couple seated upon a barrel and a rope strung between the dock’s posts, respectively. “Do either of you two know who’s in charge around here?” the Corporal asked, hoping to catch their attention.

[shanghuang]

With no small effort, Shang set down his final crate of the day, and then leaned against the stack of crates and barrels, sweating and panting with sheer exhaustion. He sincerely hoped that there would be no more heavy lifting for him for at least a few days. That had been exhausting. Of course, it would have been easier if more people had been helping. He glanced at the Wu twins, but held back a glare. Did they believe their own hype, that they were really “princes” or something, that they didn’t have to do any real work? He could at least get some satisfaction out of Bai falling into the water, though, and he couldn’t help but smile a little at the sight.

The smile was short lived, as a new voice could be heard nearby. Shang turned towards the voice and paled a little. Fire Nation soldiers. Not the ones he was used to, granted, with their devlish armor and masks, but home guards or not, they were still Fire Nation soldiers. He tore his eyes away from them and started to fiddle with the positioning of the crates for no particular reason, hoping to blend into the background. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the soldiers, but they reminded him of too many things that he’d rather forget. Hopefully, if he just tried to ignore them, there wouldn’t be any problems.

[nim]

Nim listened to Li-wu's description of what was going on around, a small grin on her face and she broke out into side splitting laughter when she heard the splash of water that marked Bai-wu falling off the gang plank.

Holding her side, she nearly fell off her crate as she tried to calm her laughing, but even when they were adressed she was still chuckling a bit and gasping for air.

"Do either of you two know who’s in charge around here?” A strange voice asked them and between fighting for air and bursts of laughing she reached out next to her before she hit Li-wu's shoulder, then she poked it a few times.

"This is your man, Prince Li-Wu of the Flame Dancers, ma'am," Nim focused her eyes where she had felt Li's shoulder, "Good luck, almight prince, I'm going to help fish your brother out even though He's not much of a catch," she giggled to herself as she wonder off to where she heard more familiar voices.

"Where's the big fish?" she asked to no one in particularly, she would head wherever a voice answered, of course after hereing Bai-wu fall in she was a little nervouse walking near the water, she didn't want to wind up next to him.

[whitecrow]

Bai-Wu had been helping unload because unlike his brother, he hadn't lost nearly 15 pounds during the two week trip when he had started laughing at Hilang.. and taken a tumble into the ocean! The box of scarves and flowy ribbons, pack snugly among decorative plates using a spinning routine had thankfully! Caught the edge of the ramp and slid along the roughed up wood, safely remaining undisturbed. Bai-Wu however was another story. The fire bender took a tumble, his voice catching in his throat in some sort of roughened up, gargly yell as he fell back.

The cold water was a shock to his system, choked with dark, pine green algae and lord knows what else gathered near the docks. He was only under a moment before he surfaced, spurting and cursing more than seven feet below the level of the docks. Treading water, he shook the clingy strands of wet hair from his face, or tried to anyway and miserably failed, glancing around with wide, golden colored eyes. After a moment's hasty breath, Bai-Wu managed to skim the stone wall of the dock, looking for a ladder or something he could use to climb up. Further down a strong, rope net was strung across an small inlet in the wall, covered with zebra mussels and rotting seaweed it was a pleasant alternative to becoming a sea prune.

"I'm.. Okay!" He shouted in between breaths, upwards to the others who.. were laughing or completely ignoring him. Not like it mattered. A sheepish grin as thick strands of oil-slick hair clung to his forehead and cheek. Taking a deep breath, he began dog-pladding his way along the dock, kicking with his bare feet. After a few moments, the water felt good.. cool and refreshing. His hands reached for the wet ropes, pulling himself close to and then up. With a grunt, he began to climb, sticking his bare feet on the slick ropes with his toes gripping while his arms stretched, reached and pulled. A quick climb, but none the less a tiring one, and Bai-wu was soon back on land: Soaked and smelly.

"...Ah!" He sighed, feigning refreshed as he ran his hands over his face and flung his wet hair back, sending a crest of water droplets through the air. All the while a BAD!-eating grin was plastered on his face, eyes lit up like a child at the winter solstice with a new toy.

[mingzhu]

Mingzhu raised the piece of boiled chicken to her lips delicately; one would notice that it also happened to the possible tiniest bit of chicken she’d picked from her bowl. She sat neatly, her slim long legs tucked under herself in a kneeling position, back inclined at delicate sweep that wasn’t too formal, yet maintained her air of control and poise. On any other occasion she would have dined in her own quarters at her own table, but on this particular day, her father had requested her company at the breakfast table.

The tensions weren’t exactly electric, not could you cut them with a knife, Mingzhu worked with the edges of her mind to remain polite, in the beautiful face of her step mother, who was only 3 years older than her. Kuan-yin, as Mingzhu would always address her, looked complacent at her father’s side, lovely in her simple day robe and hair arranged simply, some flowers picked from the garden in her topknot. Mingzhu was never one to be jealous, she was assured of her own power, beauty and intelligence, Kuan-yin was merely a trophy wife, one who had not yet managed to conceive a child. The lessons of Zhen had not yet faded from her mind, and Mingzhu on this morning controlled her faint disgust, and turned it into a empathy of sorts, she pitied Kuan-yin, married off as a possession, because of her wealth and status, Mingzhu would not be subjected to any such fate.

The barest of smirks tipped the corners of her mouth, and her liquid gold eyes trailed over to her father briefly, watching the sagging lines of his mouth as he chewed his meal quietly. Few words had been exchanged at all this passing meal time, Mingzhu knew very well that the Flame Dancers of the Fire Lord Ozai were due very soon, her father wanted to ensure that their family reputation would be altered slightly with this strange, aiming to see them as more likable to the lower public.

“I pray the Ambassador himself will not hold too much surprise at the state of these entertainers, from distant reports and such, I have learnt they are not all true Dancers of the Flame, they carry many from the different nations I do believe, bastards of the water and earth-nations” Mingzhu’s hated seeped in through her emotional blocks, has Zhen known of her childhood loss, perhaps that may have been a good direction to take their mediation, to let go of her anger. Her anger, so much wasn’t irrational, her racism to the people of Earthkingdom and culture had simple increased several fold over the years. This much was going to be a test of character and will, and Mingzhu had plenty of that knocking about in her over ambitious head.

“Still any anger Mingzhu, I will not have this opportunity ruined by a fancy of hatred, we will be hospitable, even to the extent if they want their noses wiping for them.” Her father shot back, his strong voice putting off any further conversation. With the breakfast ordeal over, Mingzhu returned to her chambers to dress more formally for the day, and have her hair brushed again. As the maid worked her way gently with a comb through her mistresses hair, Mingzhu sat with a favourite bird of hers in her lap, stroking its head gently with the tip of her finger.

Perhaps not a day to go down in Fire Nation history, it would be a marked day in her own.

[blackcrow]

Li-Wu knew when to show respect, and to anyone in uniform.. unless it was part of a performance or they rightfully deserved it, he did. Especially to a woman who looked like she might want to snap him in two. He lifted his head as the woman spoke, harshly asking for whoever was in charge. His eyes flashed with attention, even tough Nimuta beat him to the punch line by announcing that he was in charge.. oh crap. Really, he wasn't.. Juning and Huang, his parents, were but they were both directing the loading of a wagon that the gypsies had commandeered. He had just been grinning and listening to Nimuta's laughter, giving her a basic run-down of Bai's tumble when she quickly vacated out of the area, trotting over to where a group of gypsies had stopped their work to laugh at Bai-Wu's follies

He watched her leave with a playful expression of exasperation for just a moment, before his eyes flickered over the faces of the guard. The playful grin faded immediately as he straightened, standing, his hands pressing against the top of the barrel. The young man was tall, with a strong, lean body made leaner by his lack of eating during the trip over. A dark, sangria colored vest was over over his chest, the mandarin collar edged with faded, worn golden embroidery. Decorative knots secured the vest's panels over each other, and the sleeves had long been hacked away. He had a youthful face, although gaunt, and his eyes were the bright gold traditional to the Fire Nation's pure bloodlines. A goldenrod bandanna, patterned lightly with a geometric design, was rolled up and tied around his forehead, sitting right on the hairline and keeping back the mid-back length dark hair, much like a sweatband.

"..Not really.. prince.."

He muttered to clarify in front of the uniformed officers who were obviously a part of the home guard. Li-Wu assumed such.. as no civilian would wear that uniform. His lips curled down in a bit of a frown as he tilted his head to the side and took a step back. What was the Home Guard wanting with the flame dancers. Li let his dark hair caress his shoulder, the even slice tickling his bare bicep as it moved in the sea breeze. "..My name is Li-Wu.. My Mother and Father are Juning and Huang Wu, the leaders of the Flame Dancers by Royal Warrant.." He spoke cautiously to the Corporal, though he did not know her rank. His golden eyes stayed respectful, an unusual move for the playboy twin but when he was dealing with Military personnel? Yeah it'd smart not to lose his head.

"How may I help you?"