Post by Ilise on Feb 3, 2007 21:29:25 GMT -5
And tomorrow, there will be a soldier around, recruiting for the army- so you'd better all think hard about whether or not you will choose to be men.
Takeo slid into the bath, steam rising from his sizzling form. Upon starting training earlier that morning, he had quickly changed from slightly chilly to burning hot with firebending. He had been fully exhausted by the techniques Master Zinan had forced upon them, and worse, a recruiting soldier would be there the next day, sending him straight to the place where he would least want to be in the world.
His muscles screamed in pain as he shifted his aching shoulders to relieve them from stress. His shorts wafted slightly around his legs in the boiling water, which was evaporating around his heated body. Being a firebender was sort of like an exothermic reaction, thought Takeo- it releases a lot of heat...
Suddenly a pair of small hands clasped over his shoulders. Takeo slowly turned around and saw Masami, wearing her bathing suit, massaging his neck and upper body.
"Heard it was hard," she said. "Taia said that he worked you guys' butts off."
"Hm," Takeo mused, groaning. "Not too far from the truth, I guess. How was your class?"
"Well, I'm going to be moving to your class soon, so Master what's-his-name worked us pretty hard." She stopped moving her hands around and slid into the water next to him, groaning as her tense muscles eased as well.
Takeo got out of the sauna and began to rub her back faithfully. She sighed.
"The recruiting officer's comin' tomorrow," Takeo murmured. Masami shot off her feet at least two feet out of the pool, fire curling around her fists. "REALLY?!" she squealed, doing a perfect flip and landing on the slippery floor. "Is he recruiting the other class? Are you going? Do you think it's males only?"
"Hard to say," Takeo said calmly, "since our class is composed of only males, Zinan didn't tell us. He's not recruiting the lower class, but he might take you if you're moving up soon enough."
"I want to go- I want to fight!" Masami said eagerly, pulling on her red tunic and black belt, buckling on her boots and tugging on brown breeches. She shook back her black hair into a loose knot that soon began to shed locks of hair at a time. Takeo stood slowly, evaporating the water off his shorts with a short puff of heated air. He slowly pulled on his maroon vest- it was hot in the house, and he liked a cool breeze on his bare chest.
Masami waited impatiently for him to gather up the rest of his clothes and grabbed his upper arm with one hand, dragging him out of the heated room into a long hallway.
"Daddyyyy," Masami pouted, "the recruiting officer's coming tomorrow. Can I go, can I go?"
Takahashi Ronin was a stern but kindly man, his quickly graying brown hair brushed in a desperate attempt at a comb-over.
"Masami... I don't want you fussing if they won't take you- you know it's fine with me, we've been over this several times. Don't make a scene- we have honour to preserve." He spoke slowly and deliberately, sipping a cup of ginseng tea.
Takeo stood there awkwardly for a few moments, then Masami dragged him once more out of a room.
"And that accomplished... what?" he said, bewildered.
"That's a yes, Takeo..." Masami sighed. "I just hope there's room for females at this camp thing."
Takeo felt uneasy- he wasn't sure if they did allow girls- and how would he get along in the soon-to-be army when he didn't support the war and he knew no one who did?
The next day, Takeo woke up early. The candle that was automatically set at midnight said that the time was five o'clock.
Takeo walked out into the darkness once dressed and took out his private notebook, scribbling down a short idea.
He placed a note on the door telling Masami that he had left early to be there on time, and set off, twirling his daggers absentmindedly.
I'll warm up early today, he thought, in order to prevent muscle seizure such as last time.
He walked down to a huge lake, tranquil and deep, and set afloat a raft he and Masami had crafted a year ago. He clambered onto it.
Balance, Maeda! If you have no balance how can you hope to execute these moves correctly? If you have no balance you have no control! The little Master Zinan in his head screeched. Takeo decided to meditate- perhaps that would make the Master go away.
Several counts of eight later, his mind was sufficiently cleared. He stood, feeling as calm as the waters of the lake, to see that the raft had come to a stop.
Takeo was cold. He knew he would have been freezing, had he not been a firebender, but he retained heat better because of it. Slowly he started to move, his muscles flexing as the sweeping movements stretched them to their limits. The raft rocked slightly, and Takeo fought to keep his balance. He strained backwards into a complex position and held himself there, still breathing calmly. Then he sprung backwards off the raft onto a rock and forwards again in a flip onto the raft. He wheeled for a moment, struggling to retain grace.
I must not struggle, I must not struggle... I must be calm, I must be fluid. I must have balance. Takeo muttered slowly to himself as he meditated again.
Hm, balance. Balance was an interesting concept. Takeo had seen a waterbender once- strange, fluid, graceful moves, nothing like the furiously strong movements of a firebender. Maybe to have balance he needed to have that grace.
Takeo settled into a regular stance, feeling strangely cool and focused. He kicked off the raft onto the rock, then sprang back, his limbs moving like liquid, his arms bending over his head just in time to receive the weight of his body and hold him there on the raft. He did not strain; he closed his eyes and felt the push of his inner fire and the pull of water around him. His arms supported his tall frame, his muscles stretched taut and bulging slightly.
He was still immersed in the focus of the move, but opened his eyes. He saw the world upside down, water near his head rippling slightly, and slowly he did five vertical push-ups. Exhausted, he let himself down onto the raft.
Wonderful. Now I'll just be tired faster.
One and a half hours later, he walked into town, still early for training, but fully warmed up already- and in every sense of the term 'warm', as he had had to exercise his bending, as well.
He saw the recruiting officer upon entering the second courtyard. Well... this is it. No turning back.
And with that thought of finality, he walked up to the officer, bowed, and put his name on the list.
As a last thought, he asked the officer, "Do you take females?"
The officer thought for a moment. "No, we don't- but you look like a male, so you'll do."
There was soft chuckling behind Takeo from a few other students and he flushed red.
At the beginning of the class, Zinan addressed them.
"If any of you have not signed up- I oblige you to, or you will be moved down to the other class to be with the rest of the non-recruitees... You will be going to the camp at the regular time of training tomorrow."
There was an abrupt outbreak of muttering at the early departure.
"Is there a problem?" Zinan growled, glaring around at them. Takeo's lazily hooded eyes roamed upwards into a steady roll for a moment, then flickered back into their original position.
"Then let us begin," he whispered, and they settled once more into their lines.
Takeo slid into the bath, steam rising from his sizzling form. Upon starting training earlier that morning, he had quickly changed from slightly chilly to burning hot with firebending. He had been fully exhausted by the techniques Master Zinan had forced upon them, and worse, a recruiting soldier would be there the next day, sending him straight to the place where he would least want to be in the world.
His muscles screamed in pain as he shifted his aching shoulders to relieve them from stress. His shorts wafted slightly around his legs in the boiling water, which was evaporating around his heated body. Being a firebender was sort of like an exothermic reaction, thought Takeo- it releases a lot of heat...
Suddenly a pair of small hands clasped over his shoulders. Takeo slowly turned around and saw Masami, wearing her bathing suit, massaging his neck and upper body.
"Heard it was hard," she said. "Taia said that he worked you guys' butts off."
"Hm," Takeo mused, groaning. "Not too far from the truth, I guess. How was your class?"
"Well, I'm going to be moving to your class soon, so Master what's-his-name worked us pretty hard." She stopped moving her hands around and slid into the water next to him, groaning as her tense muscles eased as well.
Takeo got out of the sauna and began to rub her back faithfully. She sighed.
"The recruiting officer's comin' tomorrow," Takeo murmured. Masami shot off her feet at least two feet out of the pool, fire curling around her fists. "REALLY?!" she squealed, doing a perfect flip and landing on the slippery floor. "Is he recruiting the other class? Are you going? Do you think it's males only?"
"Hard to say," Takeo said calmly, "since our class is composed of only males, Zinan didn't tell us. He's not recruiting the lower class, but he might take you if you're moving up soon enough."
"I want to go- I want to fight!" Masami said eagerly, pulling on her red tunic and black belt, buckling on her boots and tugging on brown breeches. She shook back her black hair into a loose knot that soon began to shed locks of hair at a time. Takeo stood slowly, evaporating the water off his shorts with a short puff of heated air. He slowly pulled on his maroon vest- it was hot in the house, and he liked a cool breeze on his bare chest.
Masami waited impatiently for him to gather up the rest of his clothes and grabbed his upper arm with one hand, dragging him out of the heated room into a long hallway.
"Daddyyyy," Masami pouted, "the recruiting officer's coming tomorrow. Can I go, can I go?"
Takahashi Ronin was a stern but kindly man, his quickly graying brown hair brushed in a desperate attempt at a comb-over.
"Masami... I don't want you fussing if they won't take you- you know it's fine with me, we've been over this several times. Don't make a scene- we have honour to preserve." He spoke slowly and deliberately, sipping a cup of ginseng tea.
Takeo stood there awkwardly for a few moments, then Masami dragged him once more out of a room.
"And that accomplished... what?" he said, bewildered.
"That's a yes, Takeo..." Masami sighed. "I just hope there's room for females at this camp thing."
Takeo felt uneasy- he wasn't sure if they did allow girls- and how would he get along in the soon-to-be army when he didn't support the war and he knew no one who did?
The next day, Takeo woke up early. The candle that was automatically set at midnight said that the time was five o'clock.
Takeo walked out into the darkness once dressed and took out his private notebook, scribbling down a short idea.
He placed a note on the door telling Masami that he had left early to be there on time, and set off, twirling his daggers absentmindedly.
I'll warm up early today, he thought, in order to prevent muscle seizure such as last time.
He walked down to a huge lake, tranquil and deep, and set afloat a raft he and Masami had crafted a year ago. He clambered onto it.
Balance, Maeda! If you have no balance how can you hope to execute these moves correctly? If you have no balance you have no control! The little Master Zinan in his head screeched. Takeo decided to meditate- perhaps that would make the Master go away.
Several counts of eight later, his mind was sufficiently cleared. He stood, feeling as calm as the waters of the lake, to see that the raft had come to a stop.
Takeo was cold. He knew he would have been freezing, had he not been a firebender, but he retained heat better because of it. Slowly he started to move, his muscles flexing as the sweeping movements stretched them to their limits. The raft rocked slightly, and Takeo fought to keep his balance. He strained backwards into a complex position and held himself there, still breathing calmly. Then he sprung backwards off the raft onto a rock and forwards again in a flip onto the raft. He wheeled for a moment, struggling to retain grace.
I must not struggle, I must not struggle... I must be calm, I must be fluid. I must have balance. Takeo muttered slowly to himself as he meditated again.
Hm, balance. Balance was an interesting concept. Takeo had seen a waterbender once- strange, fluid, graceful moves, nothing like the furiously strong movements of a firebender. Maybe to have balance he needed to have that grace.
Takeo settled into a regular stance, feeling strangely cool and focused. He kicked off the raft onto the rock, then sprang back, his limbs moving like liquid, his arms bending over his head just in time to receive the weight of his body and hold him there on the raft. He did not strain; he closed his eyes and felt the push of his inner fire and the pull of water around him. His arms supported his tall frame, his muscles stretched taut and bulging slightly.
He was still immersed in the focus of the move, but opened his eyes. He saw the world upside down, water near his head rippling slightly, and slowly he did five vertical push-ups. Exhausted, he let himself down onto the raft.
Wonderful. Now I'll just be tired faster.
One and a half hours later, he walked into town, still early for training, but fully warmed up already- and in every sense of the term 'warm', as he had had to exercise his bending, as well.
He saw the recruiting officer upon entering the second courtyard. Well... this is it. No turning back.
And with that thought of finality, he walked up to the officer, bowed, and put his name on the list.
As a last thought, he asked the officer, "Do you take females?"
The officer thought for a moment. "No, we don't- but you look like a male, so you'll do."
There was soft chuckling behind Takeo from a few other students and he flushed red.
At the beginning of the class, Zinan addressed them.
"If any of you have not signed up- I oblige you to, or you will be moved down to the other class to be with the rest of the non-recruitees... You will be going to the camp at the regular time of training tomorrow."
There was an abrupt outbreak of muttering at the early departure.
"Is there a problem?" Zinan growled, glaring around at them. Takeo's lazily hooded eyes roamed upwards into a steady roll for a moment, then flickered back into their original position.
"Then let us begin," he whispered, and they settled once more into their lines.