Chapter 206: Freak Show (2)
"We should have taken a seat in the back... at least, things would have been more interesting then," Azula spoke in a tone loud enough to let her voice drift over to Nik. Much to her annoyance, frustration, and sheer speechlessness, SHE wasn't sitting next to Nik and was made to sit next to Mai... the galls!
Why should Azula have to care who came 'first' or not? Why is it that Suki and Katara got to sit next to him? Everything annoyed her... but not more than the freak show happening in front of her.
*Fssht*
The dragon made of flames continued to fly around in the arena as Azula noted how worthless this skill at manipulation of flame was. It was decorative. A luxury. A dragon made of flames would burn an enemy as much as a ball of flame.
It wasn't like flames had a solid substance that could make use of the dragon horns to pierce something.
Her words made a few of them smile as Yue chimed softly, "I think it's really good. This is my first time seeing something so colorful and festive."
The white-haired exotic treat's ocean-blue eyes reflected the fiery dragon as Nik's smile broadened, "You know, Azula did make a good point. We'd get many things done on the back of the seats." His words made a few bashful as Jin shuffled in her seat. She was somewhat of an... enthusiast of secret plays. Often trying to peep at him even when with other girls.
"But," Turning his head towards Yue, Nik suggested, "Why not volunteer yourself?"
Yue blushed a little before averting her gaze, embarrassed at the thought of it as she mumbled, "I cannot—"
"My friend wants the dragon around her!" Katara declared loudly and grinned as the fire-breather was stunned before making the dragon he controlled flow around the edges of the stage and spoke loudly, "Well, a dragon deserves a sacrifice. Lovely viewer, do step forward."
Shooting Katara an annoyed glare, Yue stepped out with an eager strut. Being the only one with such different hair color, Yue was known by many within and outside of Old Ba Sing Se. The other villagers from Old Ba Sing Se cheered and even a few from the neighboring village knew of the tea store and had Yue waiting on them. Thus... the response she received as she stepped on the stage was astounding. But trailing gazes on her form as she adopted a modest sky-blue kimono top with a white belt over her navy blue pants barely made the former tribal princess uncomfortable.
The flames parted for her as she grew more interested. It was always hard for her to imagine a tool of destruction such as fire used for such entertaining purposes. She'd only heard of festivities as such but seeing with her own eyes was different.
"The Dragon asks the name of the lovely lady who wishes to offer a sacrifice," the fire-breather, a middle-aged man wearing his grey hair back slickly with a thin grey mustache over his lips smiled widely.
"Yue," She smiled and looked around as the flames began to grow lively again. They collected above Yue from the marked perimeter and the dragon's head emerged again.
The fire-breather moved around, his style of bending flames reminiscent of dance as the dragon flew around Yue, making her yelp and clap at times as others cheered, too.
"I almost forgot the tradition to offer sincerity to dragons," Ursa, among others in one of the top seats grew a bit fond of the sight in front of her.
"What do you mean?" Poppy inquired as Ursa shook her head, "Before the war, there was said to be a civilization of the first fire benders. They were also considered descendants of the extinct dragons. One of their traditions included letting a Dragon test their hearts."
"All the dragons, unfortunately, were hunted down," Michi added while looking at Iroh who blinked before stroking his pointed beard and chuckling, "Dragons are far too fearsome. It takes a natural disaster to end another disaster and since the beginning of the hunt, many firebenders used these words as an inspiration."
Poppy's eyes almost popped out, "You fought a dragon?!"
"A blemish in my career," Iroh smiled sadly.
Before Poppy could satiate her curiosity, the flaming dragon opened its fierce fiery jaws and rushed towards Yue. The act made her smile freeze as she stepped back with a frightened expression only for the dragon to stop in front of her and then bow its head.
"The Dragon is pleased!" The fire-breather smiled widely, proclaiming loudly, as he looked at Yue and knelt on a knee with one arm stretched towards her.
"And allow me to express my gratitude for livening the show with your presence."
Although a tiny bit flustered, Yue was quick on uptake and placed her hand on the fire-breather's hand as he pecked the back of her hand before pulling back and clapping.
"That was amazing~! Did you see that?" Yue returned to her seat with a chipper smirk before sitting next to Katara as Nik snickered, "Of course, we did."
"Now... I want to volunteer, too," Jin groaned as Azula shot back, "In that stupid display. Oh, please, its only value is in the show. In real battles, Nik or I could break that performer in half."
Jin and others glanced at her before Azula blinked and discreetly looked at Yue's pout. Yue held a special position not because she was a royal in her standing, too, or the healer of the group... but just because Nik held great affection for her. Sometimes, more than many. It was simply the fact that Yue, like Michi, Poppy, and Jin, grew on others.
'I wonder if that's because they were married into fucked up relationships... wait, Jin wasn't married but...' Realizing what kind of role she has had for Jin before Nik came along, Azula grew frustrated for a moment and huffed, "Don't look at me like that. Haven't I shown the sincerity of my lips and tongue another way? I refuse to have my right to speech taken away just for all of your sensitivity to the truth."
Yue scoffed at that. Like they forced Azula to use that very pair of lips and tongue to eat them out. The second princess of their group was just crazy for the taste!
"And now! Please welcome Nus, Akkos, Mot-Mot, and Aner! These four have studied under the great master Pippinpaddleopsicopolis and have mastered skills that WILL most certainly entertain all of you!"
The Master of the Circus, a man dressed in a luxurious fire nation outfit announced loudly while Nik, Mai, Katara, and Michi looked a little weirded out...
"Heya!" A youth wearing a cap in the shape of a wolf's hide jumped onto the stage. His dusky face was marked by white, ash-like powder in straight patterns near his cheek. His vibrant blue gaze instantly dulled when he saw a dark-skinned brunette in the front row seat next to a youth holding his laugh.
"The Mighty Akkos of the Boomerang!"
The leader shouted loudly as Akkos raised his hand weakly.
"Pffft... I can't! This is too good!" Nik's face was already flushed as he tried to hold it. He really did. Sokka has always been good to him to the point the brave warrior of the Southern Tribe readily entered the spirit world with him. But Akkos... Nik didn't know Akkos.
His laugh barely grew muffled as Nik covered his mouth with his hand while Katara groaned and let out an exhausted sigh.
But... there was more.
"The Spry and Dangerous Mot-Mot!" The leader continued as a young and fair-skinned boy with onyx pupils jumped out from the door leading backstage. He wore a completely red outfit, a jumpsuit of sorts. And with a massive grin, the boy proudly raised his head before his expression froze as he heard a familiar voice from a distance distinct from all the cheers alongside matching a pair of tawny, uninterested pupils in the front.
"That's my boy!" Michi stood up, almost hollering in a manner fitter to someone half her age but Michi was the kind of gal to proclaim age is just a number if her sense of fashion was an indication of anything.
Poppy giggled at Michi's excitement while Ursa was stunned. Iroh merely smiled with an interesting look.
"That is... Tom-Tom, your son? Ah... Mot-Mot... so that's what it is..." Ursa chuckled wryly but Michi was too happy to care about anything and was sincerely gratified to see her son doing well.
"Doesn't he look the most handsome in that cute little red dress?" Michi gushed as others didn't know what to say except to agree with it.
"The Smoldering Nus!"
At the announcement, a jet of lava streamed out from the center of the flattened earth marked as the stage. Before it could cause panic, the lava cooled down and now remained in the form of an erect pike as a figure seemingly rushed out from behind the curtains and ran up the straight pike before standing on top of the 5-meter-long tower. With a shout, the masked, enigmatic tanned youth jumped down and solidly landed on the ground without any need to roll and raised his hands.
The blackened tower heated the next second and turned back into the lava that pooled around the youth as he steadily lowered both of his hands to the height of his waist and a steady stream of smoke and sulfur that once filled the lava began to settle...
'Damn...' Nik blinked, "That's actually impressive."
'Nus' smirked, knowingly standing not far from this particular seat, and smugly replied, "I know. Good to see all of you well, too."
He nodded subtly as Azula raised her brows at such a familiarity that some clowns seemed to have for Nik and others. Jin, herself, wondered what was all this about.
"And finally, the proud warrior of the Northern Tribe that survived horrors and battles untold, the lady of water— Aner!"
A masked figure wearing a blue blouse that was tied around her waist with frills flowing down freely and a pair of shimmering blue tights slid onto a rapidly freezing tide of Ice before sliding down it and standing alongside Akkos and Mot-Mot.
"Lady of Water? Her?" Katara blew her top as her blue eyes widened in annoyance, "I'm the one constantly busting my ass in the kitchen making multiple pots of tea! I'm the one constantly trying to get better and beyond Master Hama and Pakku! Damn—"
"Now, now... you should have had some sleep before coming," Nik smiled, his hand around her shoulder as he pulled her close and let her head lean against his shoulders. Still, Katara grumbled, "I can't be sleeping when you managed to do THAT," Katara emphasized one skill that amazed and scared her to the point that she wanted to master it without a doubt to defend against it.
"Sleep is required for progress," Suki smirked, "After all, it is during resting that our bodies digest most of the results and gains of the day."
Katara snorted but didn't reply and snuggled against Nik now that she had a chance and finally... remembered something.
She stared at a set of blue eyes looking back at her unblinkingly with a weird, almost nauseous expression, making Katara scowl at Akkos who looked away while shrinking his neck. She wasn't about to let that disguised brother of hers stop her from resting with her lover.
'But... I should maybe talk about Nik being an outsider. Can't leave without him and Sokka also feels responsible for the village...' Katara made up her mind internally.
She needed to start from somewhere and since there still wasn't any information on her father, Katara wanted to have this discussion with Sokka. She was sure Suki, Michi, and others had their own considerations while Jin, June, and Azula weren't even aware of it.
Purring, Katara hummed against Nik's neck, "I still can't sleep and miss out on their show... and Pippinpaddleopsicopolis is next alongside Ty Lee."
Amazingly, only Katara managed to speak the entire name of the sage beside Nik as others didn't even try.
The show the four presented didn't require any volunteers because their game was actually skilled and dangerous, more so than a construct of flaming fire which Nik was now interested in practicing himself later just for the sake of refining his control. While Iroh was correct that fancy constructs didn't mean anything in a battle but Nik had a number of theories now long present in his mind that stated the higher the control in fire bending, the better the ability to manipulate lightning.
Nus would form rings of floating Lava and move them around as Sokka threw his boomerang that flew through every one of these circles of lava and then Aner used the giant barrels of water to create a miniature, contained swirl over which she stood.
Michi, however, almost leaped from her seat, fully intending to demonstrate her recent gains under Suki's spartan Kyoshi training and spank Mot-Mot who had the wits of a monkey to jump through the hoops of lava one by one with a massive, uncaring grin. And she would have most certainly ruined the show if not for Poppy holding her back with a wry and slightly empathetic expression. Toph happened to be a handful at times, too.
Well... it wasn't as dangerous as it looked since Nus happened to be an expert lava bender, a realm Nik strived to attain. Just because Nik was considered an expert in earth bending by the status of infinity didn't mean he was an expert lavabender, too.
All in all, Nik and others were certainly entertained. Well, entertainment was only one of the reasons why they came here, however. The other was for Mai and Azula, especially Mai, to have a good look at her friend. In their words, all they needed to know about Ty Lee was having a good look at her which was weird because... Azula hadn't seen the woman in years but her similar response to Mai just made Ty Lee all the more impressionable even if Nik hadn't met her yet.
'The one with six other sisters, huh... they must have one crazy father,' Nik chuckled internally. From her description to her background and not to mention, the boasts from the circus posters, everything painted Ty Lee as a woman that garnered interest.
Finally...
"And NOW!" the circus master gave a wide grin. His voice grew even louder as he revealed himself to be a firebender, too, with his arms spread out and the flames from the torches burning even higher out of a sudden, "Hold your breaths for the great Pippinpaddleopsicopolis, the master of Sky Bisons, and the Fire Nation's best and cutest acrobat— Ty Lee!"
"Did he just say cutest? Doesn't she have six identical faces back home or did they die?" Azula raised her brow in surprise.
"No... they're alive. Most probably Ty Lee had it added..." Mai narrowed her gaze and Azula blinked before shaking her head. This was very much in line with the Ty-Lee they knew. The one who wanted all eyes on herself.
***
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