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Prompt #3 Undying: "Flames Go Out" Owldee K+
Hey guys, first post here.:) And right before the deadline, just the way I like it.:P
Title: Flames Go Out
Author: owldee
Rating: K+
Words: 500
Genre: Gen
Char/Pair: Sun Warrior Chief, Ran & Shao
Warning: Spoilers for The Firebending Masters
Summary: The Sun Chief doesn't want to believe the dragons can be killed.
The Eternal Flame never goes out, but they do.
One by one the dragons are slain. The Sun Chief knows. He was taught to understand the Masters by his father, as his father had taught him. Their movements, their calls, their behavior - and the meaning of every subtle change in it.
When the murders began, they had hid in the caves for days, too many to count. They didn’t make a sound. Their normal morning flight over the cliffs - twirling, snaking, rising, falling - it was gone. Their dance was gone. The Warriors knew something was wrong, but only the Chief really knew what would make them stop dancing. Their dance was a celebration of life, love, energy, spirit. It made him smile, all of them smile, to see it in the distance every morning at sunrise. A dance flickering, wild, alive like their fire. Their cries would echo about the cliffs, a song of pure joy, exhilaration, simple love of being alive as they awoke every morning to the sun. It always reminded the Sun Warriors of what living meant.
The Masters danced to celebrate life, and they found no reason to dance once it began being taken away. They knew it was happening, they could sense it.
The Chief is angry, at first. Why wouldn’t they fly off to aid their brothers and sisters? Why did they cower in darkness? Did they really think they were no match for mere men?
But maybe they weren’t, the Chief realized. He didn’t want to admit it, that the great and powerful Masters he had worshipped all his life weren’t all-powerful. But perhaps it was true. He had always thought the dragons were undying, like the Eternal Flame they had given man. But dragons were living creatures, they were not gods. They lived for hundreds of years, but they too, like man, laid their eggs. They too, when it came time, said their goodbyes and let their children take their place. The Chief had to face the truth. They were just as vulnerable as him and his people. To live was to be mortal.
What the Chief would never understand was how those men could do it. Those men that had built great cities, far beyond anything his tribe was capable of. How could men so great do what seemed so inhuman? How could they betray those who had selflessly shared their power? The dragons had been the ones to give man the gift of the flame. And man had now taken that age-old gift and turned it against the giver. The innocent, selfless givers of firebending.
The Chief swore to never leave the island then. To never again acknowledge a world of men who couldn’t understand what the gift of the flame was. He pitied them.
And so the Sun Warriors hid, watching over the Masters. For the first time the Chief realized they were the ones who had to protect them, not the other way around.
Title: Flames Go Out
Author: owldee
Rating: K+
Words: 500
Genre: Gen
Char/Pair: Sun Warrior Chief, Ran & Shao
Warning: Spoilers for The Firebending Masters
Summary: The Sun Chief doesn't want to believe the dragons can be killed.
The Eternal Flame never goes out, but they do.
One by one the dragons are slain. The Sun Chief knows. He was taught to understand the Masters by his father, as his father had taught him. Their movements, their calls, their behavior - and the meaning of every subtle change in it.
When the murders began, they had hid in the caves for days, too many to count. They didn’t make a sound. Their normal morning flight over the cliffs - twirling, snaking, rising, falling - it was gone. Their dance was gone. The Warriors knew something was wrong, but only the Chief really knew what would make them stop dancing. Their dance was a celebration of life, love, energy, spirit. It made him smile, all of them smile, to see it in the distance every morning at sunrise. A dance flickering, wild, alive like their fire. Their cries would echo about the cliffs, a song of pure joy, exhilaration, simple love of being alive as they awoke every morning to the sun. It always reminded the Sun Warriors of what living meant.
The Masters danced to celebrate life, and they found no reason to dance once it began being taken away. They knew it was happening, they could sense it.
The Chief is angry, at first. Why wouldn’t they fly off to aid their brothers and sisters? Why did they cower in darkness? Did they really think they were no match for mere men?
But maybe they weren’t, the Chief realized. He didn’t want to admit it, that the great and powerful Masters he had worshipped all his life weren’t all-powerful. But perhaps it was true. He had always thought the dragons were undying, like the Eternal Flame they had given man. But dragons were living creatures, they were not gods. They lived for hundreds of years, but they too, like man, laid their eggs. They too, when it came time, said their goodbyes and let their children take their place. The Chief had to face the truth. They were just as vulnerable as him and his people. To live was to be mortal.
What the Chief would never understand was how those men could do it. Those men that had built great cities, far beyond anything his tribe was capable of. How could men so great do what seemed so inhuman? How could they betray those who had selflessly shared their power? The dragons had been the ones to give man the gift of the flame. And man had now taken that age-old gift and turned it against the giver. The innocent, selfless givers of firebending.
The Chief swore to never leave the island then. To never again acknowledge a world of men who couldn’t understand what the gift of the flame was. He pitied them.
And so the Sun Warriors hid, watching over the Masters. For the first time the Chief realized they were the ones who had to protect them, not the other way around.