Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire- Chapter Three

Alright, here is the third instalment in the Playing with Fire story. I'm hoping to finish this story before the end of the year, although that seems unlikely. Still, I really just want to finish a story instead of just letting it drift off and working on it when I get inspired.

So, without further ado, chapter three of Playing with Fire!

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The next week all classes were put on hold for the celebration and welcoming of Master Reed. Parties were had, food was consumed, music was played. It was the most fun I'd had since Jamie was brought in when I was seven. Even then, I was only young and couldn't enjoy it as much as I did now.

All throughout the ceremonies, a spot was empty. The spot to my right, the chair reserved for the Brown Dragon Master, never once had an occupant. All Dragon Masters alive were supposed to return to the islands for the welcoming. I wasn't surprised Master George hadn't shown up, considering he'd been missing for over seven years and surely wasn't up to date on information concerning the Dragon Masters.

I considered myself lucky that I got to sit next to the tiny baby all throughout the week. He was delightful, always laughing or grinning at the antics of our entertainers. Being a Xuétú meant that I'd only seen a few babies in my life, and was always too young to appreciate their charm.

After the last ceremony was over it was well past midnight on the seventh day of welcoming. Hayden and I were hiding from everyone else. There was a ledge on the cliffside of Qīpiàn dǎo, hidden by what seemed to be moss and dipping into the island slightly to form a pleasant cave.

I can still remember the day we discovered it, seeing as it was one of the scariest experiences of my life. Hayden and I were standing at the edge of the island, letting our toes dangle over the sharp cliff. Hayden was ten, I was eight. It was back when the height difference between us was maybe an inch.

"Betcha I can lean over further than you," Haden had teased. I accepted the challenge happily; balance was the one thing I prided myself on before the discovery of the bond between Yín sè and I.

"What are you, chicken?" I'd mocked, putting my entire upper half over the edge. Hayden only had his head and part of his chest over open air.

"No, I can do that too! Just gimme a sec!" Carefully, he tilted forward until his position mimicked mine. Then he went one inch further. His lanky body couldn't balance itself out, and he'd toppled headfirst over the cliff.

"Hayden!" I'd screamed, dropping to my knees and peering at the moss attached to the side of the cliff. Panicked thoughts had raced through my mind, none of them registering. I couldn't call anyone to help immediately; everyone was surely asleep.

"Reiara! Look at this! You gotta come down and check this out!" I was so startled by the sound of his voice that I almost jolted over into the water. A thin, pale hand reached through the moss that later turned out to be trees, beckoning me to climb down.

It took only a moment to scramble down the rocky cliff and land on the ledge that was about twenty feet down. Hayden was standing there, relief clear in his eyes even through the smug smile on his face.

"Isn't this neat?" He'd asked, showing me the tiny cave with crystals embedded in the walls that seemed to glow. We'd shared a hug in that cave, both of glad that he was alive and not broken apart on the rocks at the base of the island.

"Here, Rei," Hayden called from inside the glowing cave, jolting me back to the present. He leaned out and tossed me a moonfruit, a sort of juicy orange that only grew in the cool light from the crystals that so resembled moonlight.