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i. raimundo (dashi) - stormheart
People are singing for him on the streets. He is both glad and embarrassed for them. Dashi is a legend. He who defeated the Lady of the Darkest Suns. He who will live for eons to come. But Dashi does not like these names. Even in his heydays, he is the simplest of men, still remembering his adolescence and the failures which songs likely omitted. What he really wanted, almost on a daily basis, is to enjoy an afternoon nap. He had no care or need for a bed or a pillow: he would lay down to the bare earth, down into the greenest of grass and would smile a small smile and dream. Such was Dashi of the Nameless Winds.
The black robe above the red is in blinding contrast with each other: it is meant to punctuate; to affirm. I am the leader of this lot. These are my people. It is scary, Rai concludes, as he lays in the lazy October sun. One mistake can cost so much now, not just frowns or disappointment. It could cost friendships, even blood.
But then again, he thinks and closes his eyes, these are almost the same things.
He dreams then, of lightning, of creating sharp things out of nothingness, his name a scream and this scream is on the lips of thousands.
Like a tearful, rainy prayer. A funeral of an old day. Like thunders of hope.
When he wakes, Clay is singing something horrible and Omi attempts to join in. Twilight colors Kimiko's hair silver. He feels something growing inside him, a hurricane, and they -not him, never him- are the eyes of it.
ii. clay (guan) - constant concrete
Although he had always been the most tenacious of students, Guan knows in his heart of hearts that he will never become a Shaolin Dragon. He is careful and he is diligent and he is strong; but he does not take risks and does not bend the rules as one would like or expect from someone creating moves out of thin air. Dashi, who is airborn, laughs goodheartedly when he mentions this. But Chase nods, his face serious. 'Who could we rely on otherwise? he asks, very gently. 'Who would possibly be the North of our compass, Guan?'
Clay hates to run, or really, hurry in any possible way - and yet he is nearly flying when Omi starts falling, one of the delicate rocks of the mountainside betrays him. His grasp slips and down he goes.
Kimiko screams something, but he can only hear oceans of blood rushing to his ears, thumping and thinking - God please no, Lord, he'll break his neck, and his hands move on his own and there is a bed made of soil waiting Omi after he does not manage to catch Kim's hand and drags Rai with him, the sheer force of his petite body too heavy in the descent.
Rai and Omi both are buried neckdeep in dirt, but Omi looks up at Clay who just reached them from below.
His voice is as small as his body when he speaks:
'You saved my life, Clay.'
Rai does not say anything but takes his hands when he offers it, and for a moment, he feels the reassuring clasp. The foundation of friendship is trust - and Clay is the Earth himself.
iii. kimiko (chase) - spark and wildfire
A real showcase of vanity, that is what he is at sixteen- he is curiously passionate about learning and winning and to be honest, wants to know to succeed and shine in the wisdom of his acts. It is better to do something before you overthink it, he tells to Menna and Guan at dinner, knowing both of them adore to overthink everything. Guan just glares down at him - for Chase Young is still not as tall as any of the boys - and the other, the Dragon-to-be of Water, simply pours the remains of her carrot soup in his face. Chase laughs of course. He is quick to anger but even quicker to smile a firebright smile.
Sometimes she catches herself wishing to wear a blue dress, the bluest of dresses she can dream of. It would bring out her eyes, the sukai-me, the sky orbs, as her father calls them. Kimiko is ruthless when it comes to her desires, and drills and twirls through her wardrobe, swearing on the high heavens that she used to have a blue material like that and yet there is no sign of it; none.
She asks the boys and they swear they don't have it (and Kimiko has had many dealings in this temple with missing pieces of clothing so she became an expert, thank you very much) and then she asks her father and even rings up Keiko at dawn, asking in a low voice - Do you remember that blue chemise of mine? They don't recall. Kimiko saddens greatly at this. As though she had lost something of immense value. As though she had lost a piece of herself, longlong gone.
iv. omi (menna) - clean water, eternal brooks
'Water is both the most playful and most fearful element' - warns her the Master. - 'It only adapts to a certain extent then it suddenly grows impatient and starts to carve its way instead; destroying and eating away what it can find.' Menna grimaces for she is not convinced of her own destructiveness. She is a gentle child, not always quiet, but trusting and generous. 'Does that mean' she asks after a second or two. 'that I should always be careful?' The Master smiles. 'Water is the element of healing. Know this, child, even the most remote stream may find its home, the ocean. And every clean drop has the ability to purify.' Menna does not know what this means until she is nineteen and dying.
What Omi feels is the deepest, most hideous shame as he watches their dragon fly off, away away from the lair which should feel home, but never will be. This he knows in his sinews.
"You deceived me." he whispers to Chase's broad shoulders in passing. They are both in human form again, thanks to the spirits. He is human and that mean he feels the tears coming, unstoppable and eternal. "I trusted you in all things, and you deceived me."
Chase Young does not bother to look back at him. But he stops and his back stiffens as he speaks.
"You reap what you sow, Omi. Naivety and trust are not absolute virtues and I warned you."
"We'll see."
Chase grunts and his body shakes with it.
"You think your peers will return for a rematch soon?"
Omi bows his head and though he had not stopped crying, he smiles through it all.
"I would bet my life on it."
The Dragon Lord finally turns around to face him. The snarl on his face is an ugly one that runs deep.
"You may cease to miss them soon."
"Have you?"
It's like a slap.
"Obviously." His reply is a second too quick, a hiss, and Omi sees and hears the lie.
The tears stop, finally.