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Although the Avatar and Fire Lord were indeed good friends, it was still unheard of for the former to arrive completely unannounced. Even when he wished to avoid all of the pomp and circumstance of a formal state visit he still wrote ahead so that the palace staff knew to prepare an extra (and vegetarian) meal.
Which made it very surprising when Izumi arrived at the table to find Aang sitting there as if he ate with the Royal Family every day. Despite her confusion Izumi was thrilled to see him, and the gangly 15 year old gave the Avatar a quick hug and he mussed her long black hair in turn.
“Uncle Aang!” She said shortly after that. “What are you doing here?”
“Can’t I visit my favorite honorary niece?” He said laughing.
“Don’t let Lin or Su hear that,” Zuko intoned “I prefer this palace in one piece.”
Izumi sat down on the floor next to Aang, who was sitting in the space reserved for the guest. Singular. Although breakfast was the most private meal the royal family was afforded there was still almost always a minister or diplomat or seemed even else important who received the honor of dining with them in the morning. Across from Izumi sat her father, already heating his tea. Soon her mother entered, and slightly raised her eyebrows as she surveyed the room.
“I must say this is a surprise,” Mai said. “We had Minister Niou today I thought. Although considering how boring he is, Aang is a welcome improvement.” Aang gave the Fire Lady a polite nod as she sat. The two were not particularly close to one another, but they got along well enough.
Servents entered and delivered breakfast to the royal family, fish, rice, soup, and some berries. Aang had the same, minus the fish and with a bit more soup. They briefly thanked their servers and began to eat, nibbling away during the gaps in their conversation.
“I hope I’m not causing too much trouble, showing up unannounced like this.” Both Mai and Zuko gave immediate dismissive waves of their hand.
“Of course not,” Mai said.
“Like she said, he’s boring, fisheries can wait.” Zuko added.
Izumi, somewhat overeager to involve herself in the adult conversation as teens often are, interjected.
“Master Zhou says that fisheries are a very important part of the economy.” She said with a bit more excitement than was perhaps warranted by the situation. Zuko nodded and raised his chopsticks in agreement.
“That is very true, they are not, however, a particularly exciting breakfast conversation.” He replied.
“I don’t suppose government talk is ever interesting at breakfast, not with food this good” Aang said good naturedly before shoving some rice into his mouth. Zuko shrugged.
“Reza certainly had some interesting things to say.”
“Zuko dear, he was subtly threatening to kill you every time you spoke,” Mai said, giving her husband a long and icy glare before returning to her fish.
“True, but that did make things interesting.” Zuko mused before returning to his meal. “Horrifying, we were lucky Sokka was here, but interesting nonetheless.”
“Shall we take Appa or Druk?” asked Aang as they departed the small dining room. Izumi had her opinion on that front, who wouldn’t want to ride on a dragon? She had always loved riding Druk behind her father and had tried to sneak out once and ride Druk by herself, only to be refused by the steadfastly loyal dragon. At least Tenzin had his own Sky Bison by now, she couldn’t get a ride anywhere. So obviously she was in favor of traveling to... wherever by dragon back. But her father spoke before she could interject, as she was busy throwing on a set of robes she technically was supposed to have already put on. Grabbing them from a bemused attendant she muttered a ‘thank you’ and began to put it in as her father spoke.
“Appa,” said Zuko firmly. “It’s easier to talk on a bison. And, well, we might not have the opportunity for much longer.” Aang let out a sad sigh, and suddenly Izumi felt very, very guilty about preferring Druk. She’d known the Air Bison was getting old, but hadn’t realized her father was getting worried about the matter.
So it was with a certain degree of contemplative silence that Izumi clambered aboard the old Bison, and she could not help but notice a few gray hairs on his pelt. But he rose just as quickly as always and the thrill of flying remained. Izumi looked down with excitement as her home and the city it was in faded away into mere specks, before they broke through the clouds. She couldn't help but grin.
“Tell me Izumi,” Aang said. “what you know about the history of Firebenders.” Izumi sighed an overly dramatic teenage sigh, one that would have made her mother proud. Normally Uncle Aang could be relied upon to be fun and not spring history lessons on people.
“Well, my great great, well you know a lot of greats grandfather was the lord of his domains But that wasn’t enough so he was like rawr, I want more land and…” Aang still had his back to her, but he quickly raised his hand to stop her.
“Not the Fire Nation Izumi, although I’m sure your telling of it is very funny,” she suspected he was grinning now. “The history of Firebenders.”
“Oh well, the first Firebenders were dragons like Druk, and humans learned how to use fire from them. The dragons only lived in the Fire Islands and on that big island further North. The first ones were the Sun Warriors, but they died out like, a million years ago. Some of them came south and brought the art to the Fire Nation. Master Ku” Again Aang raised a hand and Izumi fell silent. This was very unlike him, dismissively silencing others. He seemed to sense her discomfort and turned around and clambered away from Appa’s reigns.
“Don’t worry, he can still fly straight for a long time.” He said, this is a bit more cheer. “I’m sorry about the whole ‘serious Avatar’ thing.” At this he made an overly pouty face to parody the whole concept. “It’s well, it’s never really been my thing, so I prepare for it, like a play.” Izumi raised an eyebrow.
“I thought this was a friendly bonding trip?” Both Aang and Zuko suddenly gave incredibly guilty smiles.
“It is!” Protested Zuko. “It’s just also a secret excursion! It’s like when Bumi used to sneak off at the festivals.”
“That was a bit of harmless fun, the guards knew where he was. The Fire Lord, his heir, and the Avatar absconding from the capital seems like more of a security issue.”
“Your mother knows where we’re going.” Muttered Zuko petulantly.
“Anyway,” said Aang “What do you know about Sozin’s efforts to change the philosophy of Firebending?”
“He changed it from a celebration of passion and life, to an art of anger and suffering.” Izumi said, parrotfroging a commentary Aang had written on the subject. Recognizing his own work, the Airbender grinned. “But you and father brought it back to the old way.”
“That’s right! Only we didn’t have access to the scrolls and stuff the sages saved, and neither did your Great Uncle Iroh.” Aang replied. “So we had to find another source. Now, at the time we were cowering in the Western Air Temple…”
“We were planning our next move!” Protested Zuko half heartedly.
“So we decided to go to the original source of Firebending, which was conveniently nearby! The Sun Warrior ruins!” Aang finished excitedly. Gears began to turn in Izumi’s head.
“Wait a minute...those were claimed by Sozin for the Fire Nation...” She trailed off as her father made a grim but approving nod. “So who owns them now?”
“We do, legally speaking.” He replied. Izumi started with shock. Everything had been signed away after the war that hadn’t been part of the Fire Nation before Sozin. Every scrap of land had returned to the Earth Kingdom, United Republic, or Air Acolytes.
“But why would we still have it, it was a foreign entanglement!” She squacked, her voice cracking with some indignity. ‘Foreign Entanglement’, a polite euphemism for a century long project of empire building and destruction. Zuko again nodded grimmly, and even Aang seemed to have returned to his earlier stonieness.
“No other nation really had any claim to the land, it seems like just a bunch of volcanic ruins. And me, Aang, and Uncle agreed that we didn’t need to introduce them into negotiations. Some petty Earth Kingdom lord might have demanded them. But since we didn't mention it, they never brought it up.”
Izumi cocked her head.
“Why haven’t you sent any archeological expeditions, Docto-what do you mean it seems?” Izumi said, her brain finally catching up to her mouth. “If it only seems like a bunch of ruins than what is it really?”
Aang gave a wry grin.
“Give it a guess,” He said. “You're clever, figure it out.”
Izumi pondered. No one had really owned the island before the Fire Nation had planted a flag there. Earth Kingdom presence would have been covered by the treaties at the end of the War. Any surviving Air Nomads would have had Aang trumpeting their existence. A secret tribe of water benders…but everyone knew about the Swamp now. She supposed if whoever lived there had requested to be kept a secret, both her father and Aang would have kept it. But who would be secretly squatting in the ruins of the Sun Warriors…unless…
“The Sun Warriors aren't actually extinct!” She blurted out. “That's it, isn't it? Their civilization never actually collapsed?”
“Well something happened,” Zuko admitted. “There was still a mass migration to the Fire Nation, but yes there are still Sun Warriors, they've been hiding for centuries. We’ve been pretty much the only visitors they've had.”
“Great Uncle Iroh, and you two,” Izumi summarized. “Who else?”
“We visited again after the war,” Zuko added. “Just to give them a heads up. And we occasionally pop over to keep things smooth.”
“They seemed to know already,” Aang noted. “They were surprisingly well informed. But yeah. Now we're going back to check in.”
“The world is changing,” Zuko explained. “More and more people are crossing the oceans, and not just by sea, but by air. There are fewer and fewer hidden places. Something is going to give eventually. And we want to be ready for that.”
“And why me?” Izumi asked, this whole affair suddenly seeming beyond her ability.
Her father gave a tight smile, and Aang gave a knowing grin.
“You're the next generation,” Zuko replied. “And I am trying to prepare you to rule wisely. This is different than when I take you to Ba Sing Se or the United Republic, but this is still diplomacy.”
“Oh,” She replied. Truthfully she had always found diplomatic missions rather boring. She couldn't run off and explore, or curl up with a book or anything like that. Just had to sit and listen and talk and be polite even when everyone else was rude. It was exhausting.
“Don't worry,” Aang said, chuckling. “I think you'll find this one a bit more interesting than most trips.”
Her dad gave another wry smile. They weren't telling her something. But what weren't they telling her? Izumi didn't have a clue.
Appa groaned, and they began to descend.
“We're here,” Aang said, face slipping back into that of a serious Avatar rather than a jovial uncle. “Let us do the talking, at least at first. Alright?”
That sounded suspiciously like every other diplomatic venture Izumi had ever been on but she nodded all the same. She could be polite and pay attention if meeting a long gone civilization was at stake.
Aang clambered back to the front of Appa, taking the reins to guide the sky bison down. Izumi peered over the edge, but the clouds were low today. She could only see the tips of grey and green peaks, at least until they plunged through the clouds.
Below them was a wide plaza, tucked into the center of a city tucked in a valley. On three sides the plaza was surrounded by fairly normal sized buildings. The architecture was like nothing Izumi had ever seen before, but they were recognizably some combination of shops and home. But the fourth side of the plaza was dominated by a massive stone pyramid, stepped and climbing upwards, almost to the height of the low clouds. They passed it quickly as Appa descended quickly towards the square, which was ringed with the bright lights of fire.
Appa landed with a huff, and the three people on his back began to climb down. Izumi nearly fell down as she did so, so enamored was she with the new sights.
“Don’t gawk,” Aang whispered to her in a passable imitation of her mother. She stifled a giggle and he winked.
She stood slightly behind her father and Aang, and hastily followed in bowing to a vaguely important looking man before them. He was thin and tall, his hight only enhanced by the feathered headdress he wore. Red paint covered the top half of his face. He wore a massive gold necklace over his bare chest, along with a red vest and lower robes.
“Avatar Aang,” He said with a bow. “Zuko of the Southern Isles.” He gave a curt nod. It was the least respect Izumi had ever seen anyone give her father outside of close friends and family. She decided she liked him.
“Tlatoani Ham Ghao,” Her father replied with a bow. “It has been too long.”
“If you say so,” He said dismissively, waving his hand. “I see you’ve brought another guest this time. Even though I told you not to after that Earthbender nearly took my head off…”
“Toph apologized for that,” Aang piped up, although he sounded halfhearted. Much like Toph’s apologies tended to be.
“This isn’t a guest,” Izumi’s dad said defensively. “This is my heir. Crown Princess Izumi of the Fire Nation.”
“Joy,” The man replied. “Another title that means little to us. We recognize no one but ourselves, and yet we are part of the nation of Fire.”
“I’m also Daimyo of Kaino Bay,” Izumi said impatiently. Normally she didn’t like bragging about her titles but she felt justified in this instance.
To her surprise he just laughed.
“Well said,” He replied. “We do not claim your bay, so well met Izumi, Daimyo of Kaino Bay. I am Ham Ghao, Tlatoani of the Sun Warriors, First Student of the Masters.”
“Pleased to meet you,” She replied.
“I already like her more than you,” Ham Ghao said to her Zuko. Both father and daughter spluttered, although Zuko was angry and Izumi was giggling.
“Ham Ghao was a junior priest when we first met him,” Aang explained. “But he’s been promoted since then. Is old Nojpetén still around or has he…”
“He’s still around,” Ham Ghao assured them.
“He was in charge the first few times we were here,” Aang added for Izumi’s benefit.
“Shall we eat?” Ham Ghao asked, and there was general assent.
Izumi gawked at pretty much everything in the old city, partially overgrown, partially functioning. Various people, scurrying about their days, pausing to look at the strangers. Men shot dice in the streets, women hung the washing, children played with rubber balls. It was all so familiar, it was all so foreign.
A tall handsome youth, around her age, passed her by, slowing his gait with interest. He was not wearing a shirt. She blushed. He winked. She blushed some more, before a voice called him away.
Izumi suddenly realized that she had fallen behind the three elder men, and scurried to catch up with them, and to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“…took the Bison,” Ham Ghao was saying. “Not the gift the masters so generously bestowed upon you.”
“Are you still bitter about that?” Her father asked, exasperated. “We agreed that…”
“Exactly my point,” Ham Ghao snapped. “We agreed that you would actually…”
“Three people is a lot,” Aang cut in, with a glance back to Izumi. “Especially if the return trip involves…”
“Involves what?” Izumi asked, somewhat desperately.
“We shall see,” Ham Ghao said tersely, as he led them into the hall where they were to eat their dinner. It was a hearty meal, beans and rice, along with a strange brown drink that was bitter but appealing. The conversation between the adults turned from the cryptic to the mundane, as the three men talked trade.
“I do not like how close this route has been,” Ham Ghao said. “We can see it from the peaks, and sooner or later our sentries may be spotted. And if there’s a wreck. To say nothing of these airship lanes. We’re lucky we live out of the war, but sooner or later there will be a curious traveler…”
“I appreciate the concern, I really do,” Izumi’s father said. “But if I protest too much, people will ask questions. There are no new routes being proposed that would come anywhere near here, I suspect it’s leveling off.”
“You’ve suspected that before,” Ham Ghao retorted.
“I know,” Father conceded helplessly. “We could revisit the fake volcano idea.”
“The amount of smoke was unacceptable,” Ham Ghao said. “And we’d burn the entire forest and still be exposed.”
“There are more efficient methods of smoke,” Father noted. “But those require machinery and coal. I could provide them, but that rather defeats the purpose of this whole thing doesn’t it?”
“Better to accept some outside tools than be swamped entirely,” Ham Ghao conceded.
“Swamped,” Aang mused. “You know there are some waterbenders living in the Earth Kingdom, who kept themselves hidden for the entire war. They’ve revealed themselves now. But they can keep a secret…”
“And steam is more sustainable than smoke,” Ham Ghao conceded. “But one crack leads to a full shatter. And I don’t want that.”
Izumi tried to be a proper princess and listen intently to the very important conversation. Really she did. But there was so much going on. There were paintings of the walls showing dragons. Some of the women who had served the meal had started dancing, while others had set the beat with some drums and other instruments. It looked like a lot of fun. One of the dancing girls gave Izumi an inviting grin, which just made her blush again.
She looked hopefully over at her father, who eventually did glance her way. He looked sympathetic to her plight, but he was also very clearly going to say no to her. Despite what he had said this was going to be another stuffy diplomatic mission.
But then salvation came from a most unexpected source.
“Oh go on then,” Ham Ghao said with a sort of grumpy affection Izumi associated with her mother. “Let the kids have their fun.”
Aang grinned, Father nodded, and Izumi scrambled up to join in the fun before anyone had the chance to change her mind.
Izumi had quite literally zero knowledge of how to dance in the way of the Sun Warriors. Thankfully, this one mainly seemed to be mostly about having fun. She imitated the steps with a wide grin on her face. Forward than back than to the side. She was typically behind the beat since she had to watch first then imitate, but no one seemed to care. They all laughed over her missteps together, her most of all. They moved broadly in a circle.
“I'm Izumi,” She said over the drum beat to one of the girls beside her.
“Yatzil,” came the reply. “You've caused quite a stir. First outsiders we've had in years.”
“Really?” Izumi said. “I guess that makes sense. I never even knew this place existed before today.”
“Your loss!” Yatzil said with a grin. “LIke your hair by the way.”
Izumi blushed.
“You too,” She said, hastily looking up at Yatzil’s brown locks, noticing a serpentine accessory. “That’s a very nice pin.”
Yatzil beamed and lightly touched the light blue pin holding her hair back as they danced.
“Thanks!” She said, “It’s Xiuhcoatl, the turquoise fire serpent. But I guess you don’t have those in the Southern Islands do you?”
Izumi only managed to shake her head before the turn of the dance split them apart.
That conversation seemed to open the door for more questions from Izumi’s fellow dancers.
“Is that really the Avatar?” Yes.
“So you've been all over the world?” Yes, well, mostly.
“Is it true you eat coal?” No.
“Are you here to see the Masters?”
“The masters?” Izumi asked. “Who are they?”
“You don't even know about the Masters?”
The dance swung her away before she could get any answers.
“Are you going to get the egg?” Someone asked. Izumi had no idea what that meant. Presumably they had eggs here like in the Fire Nation? But getting an egg back home wasn't that notable? Maybe it was some sort of symbolic thing.
Before she could get any more odd questions, or ask any questions of her own, the music slowed, and the dance with it. As she passed her former seat, she saw that Aang, Father, and Ham Ghao had stood to depart. Father indicated that she should join them. Izumi gave a rueful wave to her dance companions, and followed the adults.
Izumi had been born and raised in the Fire Nation, she could handle the heat and humidity with the best of them. But here the stones seemed to trap the heat inside of them, with little way of escaping. She was sweating slightly as they approached a mountain. At least there were stairs up the mountain. Kind of.
“First,” Ham Ghao said. “First there is the matter of the offering to present to the Fire Bending masters.”
“Oh,” Izumi said. “Do your masters not like, live with you? Cause all of my teachers have, well not lived with me with me. Well, my dad obviously does and…I should stop talking now shouldn’t I?”
Ham Ghao glared, but presented her with a small hearth, flame crackling in the middle.
“The Eternal Flame,” He explained. “Given to us by the Dragons of Old. Given to us to protect. And protect it we have. For thousands of years we have protected it, preserved it. Now, take some, to bring to the Masters to show your commitment to the art of true Firebending.”
“Um, ok,” Izumi said. She stepped forward and reached her hand out to the fire. She took a couple of deep breaths, getting a feel for this particular flame.
“You do not take it!” Ham Ghao said sharply. “Only I may do so!”
Izumi jumped back, abashed.
“Sorry,” She mumbled.
Ham Ghao took some fire from the eternal flame, and spun it in his hands.
“This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy. You must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control. Fire is Life. Remember that.”
Izumi tried to take that to heart, she really did. But she…kind of already knew this? Like it was phrased differently, but she’d been getting lessons like this one since she was a literal baby. Fire was unlike the other elements. It was not something that needed to be moved. It was already alive. Channeled not controlled. It was the only one you could find within yourself. The heartbeat of the flickering flame.
She took the fire and followed Ham Ghao and the rest of the entourage up the mountainside. She had to admit this fire did feel…different. It was difficult for a non-Firebender to understand. But you could sometimes tell the source of a fire when you bent it. Fire you created felt natural, at home. Fire from others felt distinct in subtle ways. Natural or stone made fires were another. Something about Chi, her Father had always said. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it came from, but with enough training and intuition you could reach some level of understanding.
This flame, this flame however, felt like nothing she had ever felt before. It wasn’t her own, yet she felt it connect to her. Like she was a part of it, rather than the other way around. And yet there was something familiar, something about it that felt…recognizable. It was Druk, she realized. It was like the fire from Druk. That fact almost made her trip over her own two feet. If this was like Druk…they hadn't been lying about this being Dragonfire, kept alive for the ages.
They reached the top of the mountain. Two caves on either side, joined by a long platform, in turn connected to the ground by a long staircase.
“Are we going to go up there?” She asked.
“We?” Ham Ghao replied. “No. We will not be. You, however, young Daimyo, will be going up there.”
Oh.
She looked to her Father and Aang, who both nodded in support. Although Aang quickly flashed a look of concern.
“Hey,” he said. “If she's going to go alone, how is she gonna…you know…”
“The Masters,” Ham Ghao replied firmly. “Have their ways.”
He whistled, and suddenly there was a cacophony of drums and chanting. Sun Warriors spun fire, or kowtowed on the ground, or made music in anticipation of the masters. Clearly, this was her cue to climb the stairs.
Giving her Father and the Avatar a nervous wave, she walked up the stairs, slowly, keeping the fire steady as she went up and up and up. When she eventually reached the top.
“Those who wish to meet the masters, Ran and Shaw, will now present their fire,” A voice called.
Monkeyfeathers she didn't know which cave to face. She hastily split the fire between her two hands, pointing one towards each cave opening.
“SOUND THE CALL!” Ham Ghao shouted, which provoked a loud horn blow. The caves shook. Izumi closed her eyes and kept her focus on the flames. Breathing in, and out, in, and out. The platform shook, and blasts of winds blasted her from either side. But she kept breathing, and she kept the flames alive.
She opened her eyes and oh, those were dragons. Two big flying dragons flying in front of her. Maybe bigger than Druk even. One red, one blue. Swirling in front of her, around her. Wow.
She couldn't pick which one to focus on, not that it mattered. They were both doing the same thing, whipping around, up and down and around. What did they want from her? Was this a test? How was she supposed to pass a test without clear expectations?
But then her eye caught something. They weren't in perfect unison. Not actually. Every so often one would dart a head off to the side as they spun in the air, or lash out a tail, or double back over. Almost as if they were dancing…or maybe bending.
Izumi locked her eyes on the blue dragon to her left, Ren or Shaw she did not know, and followed the movements. Then she did so with the red one on her left. Yes…there were movements. Abstracted maybe, but these were not random actions of beasts. When their heads lunged, she could almost feel a tug on the Dragonfire in her palms. She wondered if either of them had been the source of this fire. Or if it had been some other, now long gone, dragon.
Izumi watched the red one for a few seconds then began to use her palm to match the head movements. She was rewarded with a powerful blast of fire. She tried the same with the blue dragon and, yes this was some sort of bending move. And a surprisingly powerful one at that. She could just feel the chi flowing freely, more directly, and it showed in the size of her flames. And if the dragon’s heads were her hands then that meant that when they flicked their tails…
She gave a kick in time with the dance and a powerful burst of fire came out. Izumi could not help but laugh. This was fun! It was a fun set of moves and while she felt powerful and unbound she still felt in control. No risk of losing control. She smiled.
Eventually the dragons stopped however, lowering themselves below her and breathing up a vast tunnel of flame…and wow that was a lot of colors.
She'd heard stories that her Aunt Azula had been able to create blue fire. She wasn't supposed to be listening to those but this was something else. Every color she could think of, there, swirling around her. It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet
And black and ochre and peach and ruby and marlim…and so much more. A color for every emotion, every passion, every feeling, no matter how fleeting, no matter how heartfelt. Passion shown for the world to see.
And then they stopped, bowed, and flew back to their caves. As quickly as they had arrived, they had left.
Izumi descended the stairs carefully, her legs were shaking and she was pretty sure falling down these stairs would hurt.
She arrived to see her relieved father, a beaming Aang, and a pensive looking Ham Ghao.
“So the Masters have blessed you,” He said, stroking his chin. “I suppose that makes you as eligible as anyone else.”
“Eligible for what?” She asked, looking around in confusion. Her father was smiling now, which somehow made things even more unnerving.
“There is a ceremony here that every young fire bender is entitled to perform, should they be blessed by the Masters…although I must say your father did it out of order…”
He shot a glare at her father who did not dignify it with a reaction.
“He performed this ritual before being properly blessed and it caused a great deal of confusion,” Ham Ghao said, continuing to glare. “To say nothing of the damage done in the interim before the…”
“How was I supposed to know?” Her father grumbled.
“There are some,” Ham Ghao said, casting his eyes over the crowd murmuring of Sun Warriors. Had it grown while she was with the dragons? How long had she been up there? It felt so fleeting but also like an eternity.
“There are some,” Ham Ghao repeated, this time loudly enough to silence the crowd. “Who might say an outsider is not worthy of this chance…”
Well great, now Izumi was questioning if she was worthy to partake in this sacred Sun Warriors ceremony.
“But it is not our decision,” He continued. “The Masters have made their opinion known, but there is another who must be consulted…”
Another Master? Izumi asked herself.
“Not another Master,” Ham Ghao said, as if he could read her mind. “But one who’s journey is just beginning…”
A woman approached from the side, bearing a large pillow, far more luxurious than Izumi had seen elsewhere from the Sun Warriors. Atop it sat…a grey rock. A grey rock shaped like an egg. There were some pretty carvings on the side of the rock, but nothing terribly intricate, especially compared to the wall carvings all around the ancient city. If Izumi was being charitable it might be described as silvery, although it was hardly shining brightly. Although she had been surprised several times today by the Sun Warriors, so she wasn’t going to doubt their very special rock.
“Lay your hands onto it,” Ham Ghao instructed her.
Izumi did as she was told, and placed both of her hands on top of the egg shaped rock. There were sillier ceremonies back home, she supposed.
“Huh,” She said, letting a note of surprise into her voice. “It’s warm.”
Ham Ghao raised his eyebrows, and a ripple of noise spread through the crowd, although Izumi wasn’t sure why, and she was distracted by the fact that the rock was getting warmer. Despite the fact that she was pretty sure the woman holding it wasn’t firebending. Also the rock was shaking slightly.
In fact, it was beginning to crack. For half a second Izumi thought there was a secret Earthbending group to go along with the Sun Warriors, before she realized that the egg shaped rock was in fact a rock colored egg. She gasped as cracks continued to run across the surface, and she realized the exact type of egg would be super important to the Sun Warriors.
“Is this…” She asked, before being interrupted by her answer, when a small, toothed, snout popped out from one of the cracks, and quickly began to break away the rest of the shell.
When the baby dragon finally popped its full head out of the egg it immediately locked eyes with her. They were entirely silver, save the dark pupil. It felt…intelligent for a reptile. And for a baby for that matter. But more pressingly Izumi felt a jolt of connection run between them, a strange combination of admiration and approval.
As he, and Izumi somehow knew it was a ‘he’ already, worked to break its way out of the shell, Izumi was able to see more of the dragon. His back was greenish blue, shimmering like turquoise in the setting sun, his belly and horns a darker azure, puffs of silvery hair as whiskers, and running down his back.
It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.
The baby dragon continued to struggle its way out of the egg, slipping and bumping bits and pieces away until it locked eyes with her again, and gave her what Izumi swore was a perturbed look.
“Oh right,” She said, feeling inexplicably embarrassed. “Sorry sorry.”
She began to assist the dragon, pulling the egg apart around him, untangling him from the goo and the shell. He began to nibble on the remains of his own egg, so Izumi broke the remaining chunks into more manageable pieces for him, which he devoured gratefully.
It was at this point that Izumi noticed the deathly silence around her. Aside from the snorts and munches of the baby dragon not a single person was making any noise. Even the woman holding up the pillow had not moved a muscle, and there was a dragon right in front of her.
Izumi flushed red as she realized that every eye in the entire Sun Warrior city was locked onto her and her new dragon friend(?).
Eventually the dragon finished devouring its own egg, and gave a contented huff, which was accompanied by a puff of smoke from its nose. It then spread its wings, still somewhat wet from being inside of the egg. They were, like the rest of him, a beautiful shade of blue. Letting them dry slightly in the setting sun, the dragon gave his wings a few tentative flaps. For a brief moment, Izumi expected it to take off and fly away, perhaps to join the Masters.
Instead it did something even more unexpected, and leaped into Izumi’s arms. She was so startled she nearly dropped the dragon onto the ground, which would have been bad. But she managed to catch him and avoid disaster, although holding him was a different matter.
Holding a dragon, Izumi learned, was rather like holding a cateel, in the sense that one did not really hold it, instead fumbling as one tried to keep up the the sudden movements. The dragon wriggled from her grasp, before catching onto her arm, and scrambling up it, snaking around her neck, before darting down her other arm. He dove into her sleeve then emerged from her robes on the back of her neck. His claws were sharp, but merely prickled Izumi, not cutting or piercing her. The dragon clambered up the back of Izumi's head, and began riffling through her hair. Her mother's careful styling was quickly ruined, as the dragon explored Izumi's raven locks.
Izumi could not help herself, she laughed. Some of it was that it did kind of tickle, but most of it was from the pure joy of having a friendly dragon scurrying around her. Eventually, however, he seemed to fire himself out and he departed her hair, leaving a mess behind him.
He settled down just beneath her collar, like a hidden necklace. Only the tip of his tail, marked with a gift of fur, and his head poked out above the fabric, keeping an eye on events. Otherwise he was pressed against her. He was even warmer than his egg had been, but somehow Izumi didn't mind, even considering the heat and humidity of the Sun Warrior’s island.
“It is done,” Ham Ghao said simply, dismissing the attendant with a wave of his hand. A murmur swept through the crowd. “The babe begat of the Masters has chosen its partner, Izumi, Daughter of Zuko, Daimyo of Kaino Bay!”
There were some scattered cheers, her father clapped politely while Aang gave a whoop. Izumi blushed.
“Um,” She said. “I mean the Masters are…I mean are you okay with this? Because like this seems like your dragon…like it was born here I guess? I mean the egg, obviously he hatched just now…” Izumi trailed off, embarrassed by her own rambling.
Some people in the crowd sounded like they agreed, but Ham Ghao shook his head.
“Only those chosen by the dragon still in its egg can hatch it,” He explained. “If they have been blessed by the masters. And most everyone here either has not been blessed by the masters or already had their chance with this egg.”
“What happens if you get chosen after the egg chooses you?” Izumi asked before she could help herself.
“Then it hatches on its own,” Ham Ghao sighed. “And runs about until it finds its chosen. Which isn’t a problem, unless, of course, said chosen has already left the island and did not return for many months…”
At this Ham Ghao glared at her father, who threw up his hands into the air.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know that Druk was causing mayhem,” He said. Oh so that was how he had gotten Druk.
“Wait so this is Druk’s…” She looked at the little dragon around he neck. “Brother?”
“In a sense,” Ham Ghao said. “Dragons do not reproduce in quite the same way as us humans. The Masters have born many eggs over the years.”
That answered absolutely nothing from Izumi’s perspective. But she had so many questions that she didn’t even mind.
“This is a grave responsibility,” Ham Ghao explained. “You are not wrong that this young one is part of our sacred heritage. Your spirit has been deemed worthy, but that does not make you a dragonrider.”
“He has a point,” Her father said. “Druk was, well raising him took a lot of time and effort, time that I really didn’t have.”
“I’m also not ruling the Fire Nation,” Izumi countered.
“Neither is he,” Ham Ghao muttered.
“Look,” Izumi said. “I get it. This isn’t a toy, or even a pet, I’ll have to be responsible for him and feed him and clean him. Keep him from turning down the palace. I can tell you have this entire lecture in your head. You can give it to me on the ride back, because I am not just to abandon this little guy.”
Her dragon purred.
Her father looked helplessly at Aang.
“I got a several ton flying animal when I was way younger than her,” was all the Avatar could muster. Her father sighed in defeat and nodded. Izumi squealed and gave the dragon a little pat on the head which he seemed to appreciate.
Tenzin was going to be so jealous.
“Very well,” Ham Ghao said. “I do believe a farewell feast is in order, it is not everyday one of our number leaves us.”
“I could bring him back to visit,” Izumi said suddenly, without thinking. “I mean if that’s alright, I know you like to keep to yourselves and everything, but like, maybe we could both learn some things.”
Ham Ghao gave a small smile at that.
“I’m sure something could be arranged for you Izumi,” He said. “As well as…well I suppose your first task is giving him a name.”
Izumi thought back onto her day, then looked down at her new turquoise companion, remembering the hair pin she had seen while dancing, as well as the dancing the masters had taught her.
“Xiuhcoatl,” She said, which earned her a murmur of approval from the crowd, as well as a purr from Xiuhcoatl himself.
“An excellent choice, a most excellent choice indeed.”
“You know,” Izumi said, looking down at her companion. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”