53 Dancing with Dragons
The silence remained for a good half minute before Chief Song, in a solemn tone, addressed Madara;
"I don't know where you got that information from, but we will not tolerate any aggressiveness towards the Great Masters." His tone was sharp and low, clearly showing that regardless of any possible friendship established, Madara would be walking on eggshells when it came to the Masters.
"Why do you believe that I came here with such horrible thoughts?" Asked Madara, nonchalantly, while drinking his sake. He was not really worried, he knew that these people would die to protect the two residing within the mountains.
"And what do you want with them?" Asked the Sun Warrior Chief, trying not to sound too aggressive since Madara still hasn't said or done anything that goes against their beliefs and morals.
"The same that I wanted with you and your people… Friendship..." replied Madara while shrugging.
His words eased the tension quite a bit, but not entirely, Song still kept his solemn expression while enquiring "Friendship? With the Masters? Do you believe that something like that is achieved just like that?"
Raising an eyebrow Madara said, "Why not?"
"They are not like the rest of us, or you…"
"So what? We share the same world and share the same gift of firebending, regardless of what you think or say… they are very similar to us…" Concluded Madara with a confident grin.
Those words struck not only Chief Song but every single Sun Warrior that heard them. They never thought about it like that, well… the Masters were Dragons that didn't communicate at all, they were treated more as superior beings than equals… But perhaps…
"Perhaps… that kind of mentality would actually allow you to befriend them, but it's not up to me to decide…" The Chief concluded taking a deep breath and finally relaxing.
The party eventually resumed, and with the tension finally removed people went back to playing the drums, dancing with fire, drinking, eating, and even brawling…. Well, Kaliya did some of the brawlings and knocked a few Sun Warriors on the ground cold, she trained with Madara after all... No way in hell would she lose in a brawl against people that focused solely on their bending.
"It's up to whom, then?"
The Chief kept staring at Madara for a few long seconds before standing up.
"Tomorrow at dawn, come to this very place with your lady friends… you shall have an audience with the Masters, and your fate will be up to them to decide. I thank you for the gifts, we shall talk in the morning."
As Song walked away towards his residence, many other Sun Warriors decided to retire for the night as well, leaving only a few outcasts outside to keep drinking and laughing.
"So… Who are those Masters ye wanna meet?" Asked Kaliya as she approached from the side.
"I am curious as well Mr. Uchiha." Said Nari, appearing behind him as if she was a ghost… good lord woman!...
Madara just kept his cool guy face and shrugged, not being bothered by the way the party ended or how the Chief just... left … "Why would I ruin the surprise?" he said, grinning afterward.
"I really wanna punch ye really hard…" The corner of Kaliya's lips twitched, and a small vein popped on her forehead.
Nari just chuckled, she was used to having Madara hold little secrets just for the sake of a dramatic reveal, sadly she had no idea that these 'little' secrets were not 'little' at all… if she had known so beforehand, she would've done her best to force him to speak and save herself from a near heart attack first thing in the morning.
Xi, the niece of the Sun Warrior Chief, kept staring at the trio of outsiders from a distance with an amused smirk. 'It seems he already knows… but the two ladies don't, it will be a very entertaining morning tomorrow…'.
Team Red Could remained in the vicinity for nearly an hour after that, chatting, talking, and relaxing before retiring to their rooms inside the airship, they were offered a place to stay, but no fucking way Madara would pick a stone bed with hay "mattresses" over his expensive, luxurious and incredibly soft bed, no sir!
The darkness of the night eventually went away, with the first rays of the morning already spreading over the tip of the layered pyramids of the Ancient City.
In front of the twin mountains, every single Sun Warrior was present, even Sun Warriors that were not even at the feast the night prior! An outsider's meeting with the Masters was a very rare occasion, the last one dating over forty years ago! Most of them weren't even born yet!
"How long do you think it will take for him to be eaten?" Asked a tall and slim man, he had narrow eyes and sported a haircut similar to Zuko's currently, except that his ponytail was long and reached his back.
The person whom he was talking to couldn't help but sigh "You know, Ham Ghao, no wonder people don't like you very much… You are always gossiping and creating discord between people." Answered Xi, with her arms crossed as she observed the ceremony being prepared.
The man frowned "Bah, I just speak what everyone thinks… No way some outsider would become 'friends' with the Masters…"
"Sure... Sure… Whatever you say…" Answered Xi while articulating her left wrist before walking away, this guy always pissed her off.
"Tch…"
Was the only thing she could hear from behind her as she approached the trio that finally decided to show up.
"Better late than never, eh?" She asked with a grin.
Madara raised an eyebrow at this girl's approach, Kaliya told him about her last night but they didn't interact at all, so he was a bit surprised by her forwardness, but decided to be carefree as always "… Well… a man needs his beauty sleep…"
She chuckled and walked towards Kaliya, the two girls started talking about… who the fuck knows what they were talking about… all that Madara had in mind was the top of that stairway, everything else faded into the background.
After a few more minutes, Chief Song approached.
"It's time for you to take the Eternal Flame and start your ascension." He spoke with a solemn air, friendly or not, this was a sacred ritual for him and his people.
After nodding, Madara was led alone towards a huge fire that resided inside a finely crafted wall on the base of a nearby mountain, the place was surrounded by many Sun Warriors in meditative positions.
After grabbing a portion of the flame and inspecting it as he walked back towards the stairway, Madara couldn't spot any difference from a regular fire, perhaps the Sharingan could give him clues but he won't activate it here and scare these people, they might jump on him and he would be forced to commit some war crimes… he'd rather avoid that…
As he approached the large square at the bottom of the stairs, Sun Warriors were already using their firebending to create rings of fire surrounding the place, just like they did in the show, Madara approached the chief.
"Let's do this," he said solemnly.
Giving him a nod, the Chief motioned to his people to start the ceremony, and with it… Came the drums and chants that were eerily similar to the Credits Scene of the Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon, Madara had to raise an eyebrow to that and felt nostalgia kicking in for a brief moment.
Madara took a deep breath and started his ascent towards the platform on the top of the stairway slowly.
"Do ye think he will be alright?" Asked Kaliya in a hushed tone, while holding her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"I think Mr. Uchiha has this all planned out, but I am rather curious about these Masters… no one spoke much about them but what they said made it seem like they are not…" Replied Nari with a very curious and somewhat apprehensive expression.
"… Humans, right?" a third voice came from behind and concluded Nari's thoughts, and as the two girls looked back, they could see Xi approaching with a smirk. "You are in for a treat, a treat that is impossibly rare nowadays." She concluded as she looked towards the stairs, seeing Madara already reaching the platform.
"PRESENT YOUR FLAME TO THE MASTERS!" said a man to Madara, using a loud horn to communicate with the man on top of the platform.
Madara didn't bow as Aang and Zuko did, he came here to befriend them as equals, not as an apprentice to a teacher, he simply raised his hand above his head.
A silent moment remained for a brief time before a loud horn echoes through the whole mountain from below, and with it came a loud Clang sound from the top of the platform.
Standing there with one hand raised high holding a flame, he used his other hand to pull his gunbai from his back, holding it upside down in a reverse grip, with its tip in contact with the ground, a huge maniacal grin appeared on his lips and his eyes instantly glowed bright red, his three tomoe spinning slowly, demonstrating his excitement, as he shouted;
"COME!"
[This one I was in doubt about which music to use as a background, part of me wanted to use the same music as in canon, the end credits, but I decided with a more appropriate one… Naruto Soundtrack (Cover) – Sannin Battle Theme]
Two loud growls echoed through the two caves on the mountains, the ground shook so hard that it would've destabilized a less prepared person, and suddenly two massive Dragons rushed outside their lair, one blue and one red.
Different from canon, this time they rushed directly at Madara, scaring not only the Sun Warriors but also Nari and Kaliya who were already shocked beyond belief.
With wisps of flames already appearing in their mouths, Madara didn't wait and rushed towards the blue one in the front.
"Show me how powerful a Dragon is! And in return…" He shouted in excitement, finally a worthy battle.
The two Dragons didn't wait for a second and released a massive fire blast toward Madara.
As Madara was closer to the blue Dragon, that blast arrived first.
"…I will show you the power of Uchiha Madara!" he waved his gunbai, and as it was about to collide with the fire blast he shouted;
"Uchiha REFLECT!"
Using his gunbai and twisting his body in full 360 degrees, he managed to reflect the blue Dragon's fire blast towards the other blast behind his back, nullifying both of them with a huge explosion that shook the mountain and cracked the platform.
"HAHAHAHA!" his laugh echoed through the mountain followed by a very distinct sound
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIII
Abandoning the flame in his left hand and throwing a kunai tied to a wire, he managed to hook it on the horn of the Blue Dragon, that in turn took flight and carried Madara with him.
While being carried by wire mid-air, Madara didn't have much time to think as he saw a massive open red maw about to swallow him whole.
Using firebending to launch himself from the wire, Madara managed to dodge the maw and landed himself on the top of the red Dragon's head.
Watching this, the Blue Dragon got pissed and he flapped his powerful wings, and turned mid-flight, aiming at Madara even if the price was hitting his fellow Dragon.
Noticing the incoming attack, Madara pulled a scythe that was tied horizontally on the back of his sash, it was hidden between himself and the gunbai, and somersaulted backward, falling back on the platform while using firebending on his feet to glide himself safely back towards the platform.
He watched with glee as the two massive Dragons collided, forcing the red one to fall on the bridge before sliding down toward the base of the mountain.
Looking up, Madara's Sharingan shone intensely as he stared at the huge Blue Dragon shaking his head because of the pain.
"Yeah… I like you the most!"
Down on the square below the platform, it was pure chaos… The fight caught them off-guard and made everyone already panic, but when they saw the massive red Dragon about to fall on top of their heads, they all screamed in horror and started to evacuate.
"GOD DAMMIT MADARA!" Shouted Kaliya while running away, trying to dodge that massive beast fall.
"I have to agree with you on this … damn you, Madara!" Said Nari while running, huffing with a narrowed and displeased gaze.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOUR FRIEND!?" Shouted Xi, running right beside them with a scared expression.
On the top of the platform, the battle was still ongoing between the Blue Dragon and Madara, every time the beast tried to strike, Madara dodged with ease… a beast that size, with such predictable attack patterns, and with no possibility of sneak attacks… Was easy for him to dodge.
He even used his scythe as a hook to hold onto the Dragon's horn again, which made the Dragon crazy in anger.
Coming up with a plan, the blue Dragon soared upwards like a reverse comet, Madara kept holding onto his scythe as if his life depended on it… well, it kinda did…
After they reached high in the sky, the Dragon maneuvered himself in a way that launched Madara upwards alone after unhooking the scythe from his horn.
As Madara was launched even higher, he could see the colossal multi-colored fire wave coming towards him…
"You never learn, do you?!" He shouted while putting the gunbai in front of himself
"REFLECT!"
The multi-colored fire wave seemed to have hit a mirror, it was forced to stop midway as spiritual ripples spread around it, before being forced to move back toward its owner.
Without time to react, the Dragon was hit almost point-blank by his own attack and was sent plummeting toward the ground at least 100 feet below.
As the Sun Warriors finally regrouped and caught their breath, still holding panic and fear on their faces, the Chief Warrior approached the two girls with an angry expression.
"WHAT IS THE MEA-" he was interrupted mid-speech as a massive shadow spread through their location, growing bigger extremely fast.
Looking up, everyone went pale as they saw the blue Dragon falling at their exact spot, while Madara followed by using his firebending on his feet to propel himself faster toward the beast.
""""FUCK YOU MADARA!""""
