Chapter 3.1- And so the Dragons Danced

XXXX- SUMMER, 88 AG

"In."

"Out."

"In."

"Out."

I followed along with Grandfather's whispered instructions as we practiced breathing in tandem. The goal was to improve my ability to take in air from the surroundings, use it to stoke my inner flames, and then increase my firebending power.

Firebending was actually a whole process, more complicated and complex than what I could have ever anticipated. It all started at the nose (or mouth for all y'all mouth-breathing fellows). Air comes in, travels to the lungs, expanding the lungs and going down to the stomach. The stomach was where the inner flame resided. It was where the real fire came from.

Stoked by the inflow of air, it traveled down to the limbs and followed the firebender's desire. Grandfather was yet to teach me the breath of fire as it was apparently a more complex move than watching him use it made it seem. But apart from that, we'd covered all forms of firebending moves. He trained me to breathe in at the right times for each movement and to exhale in the most economical way. The major goal of the first month of our training was just that: breathing. In and out. Bringing an act that often happened unconsciously to my conscious awareness to give me any hope of controlling and improving it.

He also taught me about what lack of the right kind of air could do to firebenders. We were notoriously weaker in colder weathers and higher altitudes, but it wasn't the cold magically reducing our power like Kryptonite or something. It was cold air. Cold air quelled our internal flames the way warm air stoked it.

An unprepared or unskilled firebender in the North Pole would scarcely be able to make more than a fire blast or two before tiring himself out. A skilled one could do more. Much more, but it took a master to bend in cold climates without experiencing any drop-off. The secret to that? The breath of fire. It was the same skill Zuko had shown off in the North Pole and the Cooler in the boiling rock. It was also a skill that Grandfather had warned me to avoid spreading willy-nilly.

Even in the middle of a war against the waterbenders and their icy domains, the Fire Nation was wary of spreading the method of defeating one of the few methods they had of keeping firebenders in line. Beyond breathing, Grandfather and I also had theoretical lessons, and as he told me to exhale for the last time, that was clearly what was about to begin.

"When is a firebender at his strongest?"

"Midday. Noon, when the sun is at its highest," I replied immediately, confident in my answer and approach.

"Yes. And when are we at our weakest?"

"At night."

"Indeed. We rise and set with the sun. That is the greatest weakness of being a firebender, and it is one you must familiarize yourself with. Your powers will be diminished at night, but you will never be as strong as you will be under the midday sun. Except for Sozin's comet, of course, but that blessing only comes once in a lifetime." He said the last bit with a sigh, like it was an especially sad occurrence.

"But even at night, we are not truly at our weakest. No. Today, I will tell you a secret the Fire Nation has hidden for centuries. It is about the darkest day in Fire Nation history. The Sages predict we will see it again within the next 12 years, at the turn of the century. A scarce few months before Sozin's comet's return. Come closer, my boy."

XXXXXXX- 90AG

"You know why you are all here. Either by virtue of pedigree, talent, or some mixture of both"... "Usually more the former than the latter if you ask me," some wiseass whispered by my side.

"...you have been found worthy to continue your education here, in the Fire Nation Royal Military Academy, prized for producing the most commissioned officers of any academy..." "Also happens to be the only military academy in the entire Fire Nation," said wiseass commented again, and this time I was forced to turn my eyes in his direction. Was he trying to get expelled or something? But like the last three times he'd opened his mouth, the instructor apparently didn't hear a word he said.

"We are proud of that history, and each and every one of you must match and measure up to that rich history. We expect the best from you. Benders and non-benders alike..." "Doesn't that just tickle his fancy," Wiseass commented again at the last phrase, and I could get the joke, even if I didn't find it to be a particularly good one.

The supreme military commander had released an edict two years ago, requiring all academies that fed officers into the military to accept an equal amount of non-benders as they did benders. Even as sheltered as I was, I noticed the uproar that had caused within the nobilities. Grandfather's drinking buddies had had more than a few choice words for the military commander and his edicts.

It was the first time I was confronted with what was essentially racism in this seemingly idyllic world I'd been born into. Sure, Master Kuonyo had never had positive statements about residents of the other nations, but it was easy to blame that on war and propaganda. This, however? I knew we praised and honored firebending, but the way some of Grandfather's friends had casually referred to non-benders like they were second-class citizens was something I struggled to swallow.

I didn't confront Grandfather. Sure, I could give a thousand and one excuses, and some of them might even hold some weight or make sense, but the truth is, I didn't confront Grandfather on his racist views for one simple reason. I was scared. He was family. The one family I truly had in this world, and I didn't want to be forced to change my opinion of him. If that made me a terrible person, then I would accept that weight.

"Those of you who fail to meet these expectations shall find yourselves sent back home in short order"... "Of course, we will," Wiseass spoke again, and this time, the instructor, a severe man with sharp sideburns and short spiky black hair, was less interested in ignoring the boy.

"Zenin. Is there something you have to share with us?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing, Sir." The man's eyebrows began to twitch. The Zenin boy's tone had been so obviously sarcastic that there wasn't even a vague attempt at pretending to hold anything resembling respect for the man in front of us.

"I see. Get out of the line and give me 40 laps around the grounds." The instructor said, his tone dripping with sadistic satisfaction.

"Sir, Yes, Sir." The boy spoke and took off near instantly at high speeds. I wanted to shake my head at the idiot. The grounds were large. The school itself was large enough to host over a thousand students, and the grounds had room for at least five times that number. 40 laps were probably beyond what most non-Olympian athletes from my first world would have been able to manage. The punishment was preposterous, and the boy seemed to be taking

it in stride.

From there, the Instructor had been quick to have us all shuffled off to our quarters. Older students had come out from the woodwork and taken charge of us first years. There were about three hundred of us from all over the Fire Nation, so we were quickly being separated and herded to various wings of the hostel. Girls separated from boys first, and then the boys took our spaces in different areas of the hostel. It took me a bit to find my room. It was on one of the higher floors. Once I did, I went in to tool around.

Thankfully, this school was an expensive private school that didn't want for funds, so the facilities were well-maintained and suitable. There also weren't that many students, so I was only going to have to share my room with one other person. One 'Toji Zennin.' Considering the person hadn't shown up yet, I was willing to bet it was the idiot currently committing suicide via exercise outside. All the boy had needed to do was apologize and back down, but the last name made that virtually impossible. I wasn't the most well-read on Fire Nation nobility as Grandfather considered it a waste of time to learn about century-old grudges and whatnot, but the Zenin family had come up more than once in my studies.

They were old. Not as old as my family, but still old. Old enough that several of my ancestors had written in their memoirs about encounters with the family. They were also unquestionably wealthy. They owned steel, and because they owned most of the steel manufacturing, they were probably indispensable to the war effort. Made me wonder what one of them was doing here though.

"Oh. So you're my roommate." A voice said from the doorway in a tone that was neither here nor there.

A/N: Let's end things here for today. Yes, I'm shamelessly stealing names from the JJK universe. Sue me.