lacameleon

Chapter 6 - The First Betrayal           10 years ago           2 years after Yojing’s death                The fire snapped quietly along the logs, throwing up sparks on occasion. These disappeared up the flue or caught on the back of the fire-case, creating a hundred brilliant stars that died just as quickly.                Kanzagan’s eyes followed each one, from the moment of its

The Present He wasn’t aware of the seconds passing. Koh’s words hung in his thoughts like a creeping fungus, tendrils wrapping around his throat and heart. Of course, Hikoshu hadn’t misunderstood him. He didn’t need to ask for clarification. But he couldn’t grasp it, either. So he stood, staring blankly at the darkness in front of him. “I see you’re at a loss for words.” The spirit sounded so smug, its lips curling viciously as it entwined itself around him. The ground under Hikoshu vibrated gently with Koh’s movements, and for a moment he thought he would fall. “Koh…our deal. Do you r

Chapter 4 - Faith His face hurt. It was the only sensation he had at first. But slowly, he began to feel the other aches, as well. His hands tingled vaguely, and his back throbbed as if it had been broken in two places. All over, he felt exhausted. Pulled as thin as a wire and then allowed to snap back. His arm began to cramp under him, and so he carefully rolled over to his other side. It didn't relieve the pain, but he did suddenly become aware of the bedding underneath him. Hikoshu opened his eyes slowly, dreading what awaited him. He admittedly didn’t remember much of the conflict that led him to this, but he remembered enough to k

          2 years later          Yojing groaned tiredly as he entered his chambers. It was a groan he’d never let anyone outside that room hear; too many people who’d be eager to know he was starting to feel his age. But there was a limp in his step that wasn’t there a year ago, and a strange sagging in his joints which seemed to creak whenever he chose to meditate. Everything about him screamed old, and even his spirit felt that way. Too many years, too many games. He was ready for it to be done.          The only thing of value he had accomplished in the time since they brought him back into service was Hikoshu. Though Yo

          6 months later          Hikoshu’s hair stuck to his back, caught in the sweat along his naked shoulders. Well-defined muscles shifted as he focused on the flame cradled in his hand, the other hand moving rapidly below it. In response, the flame grew a bit larger and then brighter, shifting from a dull red-orange to a fierce gold.          As he breathed slowly in and out, he felt the air in his lungs change form, burning against his ribs. The energy ebbed and flowed with the movement of his chest, kept in check by his steady breaths. Any slight loss of control would send the flame raging outward. And that’s what he lov

                                             Chapter 1 - Of Pranks and Change -- Zhi Huan Year of the Ostrich-Horse, Fifth Month 36 Years Later -- "Ready?" "I don't know…" Hikoshu gave a frustrated groan, pulling at his cheeks in exaggeration. "What is it now?" Yu Ping, crouched beside him, shook his head and peeked between the rotund balusters. "I mean, what if someone sees me?" Hikoshu blinked, then follow

Time. What a ridiculous notion. Koh didn't think he even had a face to express how laughable it really was. But humans not only lived by it—they fought for it. They fought over it, each person grasping for fleeting moments like raindrops in a parched desert. They anticipated the good times, they looked back on the old ones, and in their minds, there was always time enough to do what they needed to do, until there was no time left at all. Koh supposed that strange definition—of time as a finite resource—came about because humans could not separate their existence from their own perception of time. It moved differently for t

Jeong Jeong was awed. There were so many historical men that he admired – mostly Fire Nation, and a few from other countries, though the latter he would never admit aloud.  Before he was recruited to the navy, barely fourteen, he had been an avid lover of history – a time vaguely remembered as something half-pleasant.  His father used to tell him not to dwell on what's passed.  And then his father became the past.  So Jeong Jeong continued to look back, collecting memories he never had. But in all the hours spent devouring chronicles, all the time not devoted to rigorous training, Jeong Jeong had never encountered this man.  The figure was

"I have a task for you." When she raised her head, the fire glinted in her eyes, and for a moment he thought they burned as well. He knew that was ridiculous. She was a prodigy firebender, but no one could be filled with flames. No human, at any rate. Yet the young girl who knelt before him was no mere human, as far as he had known. He wasn't sure if she had ever been human. Ozai had seen the flames first when she was a child, no more than five. When she had been given a roo-cat, an exotic pet sent by her uncle from the northern plains of the Earth Kingdom. If it had bitten her, or if it had simply refused to play – he wasn't sure. She nev