Dancing in the Snow (Sadako, Open)

"For dancing remember." Seira said,standing back as Sadako sat up in bed smacking her lips. She plopped back down on the foot of Sadako's bed and pulled her Parka on but smiled when Sadako shook her head. "Never mind about the dragon." She said feeling suddenly peppy despite her few hours of sleep. "I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast. Maybe we can catch someone early."and bounded out the door.

"Sure." Seira said leading the way out the inn and into the somewhat crowded street. There weren't a lot of people around and the cold air was cutting through her parka but her resolve to find a teacher kept her warm. "I think I saw a temple out that way when we were coming in. Let's check it out."

Striding through the somewhat empty streets, Seira followed the tops of the temples to their smooth roads paved with ice. As their tops grew closer she began to run. "Come on!" She shouted,looking over her shoulder at Sadako. As she turned back around, her foot caught in a hole and she went face first towards the ice.
"Woah!" She cried as the ice rushed up to her face but immediately retreated as she righted herself. She let out a sigh of relief before she noticed that the temples were brushing by her and the one at the end was getting larger and larger. Putting out her arms like it would help slow her down, she braced for the pile of snow she was heading for.

Seira could see Sadako gracefully skating past her on the frozen ground and was for a moment jealous of the earth bender's grace on the frozen surface. Shaking the snow out of her hair, she found herself sliding once again but this time in a different direction, thankfully not in the direction of the snow drift.
"I think I'll be okay!" She shouted to Sadako as she gently smacked into a wall then turned around and pushed off in an aimlessly straight line. SHe continued sliding about and the firstfew tries gave way to sudden laughter before she found herself sliding in new more annoying directions. Every so often she would see Sadako drift by gracefully before Seira eventually found herself on her ass, in the snow drift she was trying to avoid. At least I'm by the temple she thought as she looked up to see the enormous doors opening very slowly.

Seira pulled herself up the stairs and when she sat at the doors she shrugged her shoulders to Sadako's question. "Most likely." She said as she got up from her seated position on the steps. "Should we go?" She asked softly peering into the darkness behind the doors.

Watching Sadako disappear into the darkness, she silently emboldened herself to follow. Her eyes took some time to get used to the darkness as she occasionally skidded on the floor and soon she was well into the temple where it was well lit. But there was no sign of Sadako, somehow Seira had lost her in the dark. Making a face, she peered back into the darkness before she felt presence behind her. Turning around, she found herself face to face with a man. Two long whiskers of white hair dropped down the sides of his face making him look like a lemur cat while a single white pony tail hung down from his head.
"Who are you." His question seemed to be a statement as if he already knew who she was.
"Ummm..." Emi managed to throw out, earning a displeased look from the man.
'Great going genius.' she yelled at herself mentally.

"There you are!" Seira exclaimed, turning away from the older man's harsh face. Sadako had just appeared out of the shadows and they exchanged a glance. Seira knew her eyes displayed a bit of fear and her heart felt like it was jumping in her throat. Turning back around she bowed deeply to the man. "I would like to be your student in water bending." She was surprised by the clarity of her voice. There was silence from the man.

There was absolute silence in the room and Seira felt as if her heart was about to fall out her chest. Her stomach settled when she caught Sadako bowing along side her, though she didn't know why.The man was silent in front of her and had an expression set in stone. "You want to learn water bending?" He asked in a toneless voice. Seira nodded eagerly. "Korak! Come here!" The man yelled into a hallway where a younger man emerged with a pitcher in hand.
"Yes Master?"
"You are teaching this young..." he trailed off looking at her disdainfully, "To waterbend."
Korak looked at her somewhat skepticly and she glared at him forcing his gaze away.
"Yes Master."

Seira watched the old master walk off into another corridor. She waited until he disappeared before looking at Korak to lead the way. He stared back at her for a moment before walking off in the opposite direction. As he started receding, Seira turned to Sadako and grinned. "Lets go!" she turned and ran to catch up to Korak outside where he proceeded to yell at her as she went through various forms. "Teach me all you can." She said standing in front of him. The sun had already set when he let her go, and her clothing was sticking to her in uncomfortable places and her arms and legs were shaking slightly from exertion. He had not gone easy on her but she waqs grinning from ear to ear. Her smile was contagious since Korak was standing at the top of the stairs grinning back at her.
"Come back tomorrow for another lesson." Korak called down to her from the steps of the temple before he disappeared inside.

Seira was skipping ahead of Sadako, a wide grin on her face. She barely noticed her sweaty state or the fact that her clothing was sticking to her. On an adrenaline high, she ran in a zigg-zagging pattern before returning to Sadako on light feet.
"so are we going back to the room?" Sadako asked and Seira nodded, her eyelids suddenly feeling heavy. "you look like you're ready to get out of your clothes... I mean, cuz you look really sweaty and stuff..."
Seira looked at her arms curiously as if noticing that she was encased in sweat stained clothing. "Sure..." She mumbled. The excited high was leaving her slowly and by the time they reached the inn, she was almost asleep on her feet.

The following hours after the training session were a blur in Siera's mind. Only her feet and the stairs she was climbing were the sole focus of her attention. In the morning, she woke up in the bathroom with her head resting against the edge of the tub. Sitting up, she blinked, yawned and stretched, the last she immediately regretted. 'Mother of Kai!' was the first thought that swam into her mind as her muscles as well as stiff clothing objected to her moving around. Seira reeled for a moment before turning to the tub, slightly blinded by light coming in from a high window. Before long there was steaming hot water that had loosed the knots in her muscles before she remembered that day's training session. "Dragons help me." She groaned looking at the ceiling.