The Smoke That Binds Us- Chapter One: Childhood play
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Scorpion blinked at her; did he hear her right? “You want to share your clan’s tradition…with an outsider?” Varian sat upright, straightening her posture “If I want to share any traditions at all they’d have to be with outsiders. Kinda don’t have a choice in that regard.” Her tone was cool and very matter-of-factly. Scorpion mentally kicked himself for that one. “My deepest apologies, it was not my intention to upset you. It’s just rather surprising that you do this now, especially since you’ve shown no interest before.” He had to admit though; he was a bit curious.
Varian got up and went towards the pile of sticks she’d gathered earlier “I know you meant no harm, but I’m still waiting for an answer.” She threw the sticks into the makeshift firepit, glancing at the Wraith as she did so. “How can I agree if I don’t know what the tradition is? All you’ve said is that it involves a campfire.” He said a bit impatiently. If she wants him to partake so badly, why doesn’t she just outright tell him what it is? The red head gave a dramatic, exaggerated sigh “Elder Gods forbid a lady wants to be a bit cryptic first!” She stuck her tongue out at him before giggling.
Scorpion rolled his eyes at her theatrics. There’s a reason why her and the Actor got on so well. “All right, all right, I’ll tell you” She began as she motioned for him to light the wood, she spoke as he did so “In my clan there was ancient but well-loved tradition: Telling our stories to those who have passed on in our lives.” Scorpion stiffened his posture and stared at her intensely. Just what she planning? “In order for our stories to reach them, we’d gather around the campfire, talk into the flame, and the smoke carried our stories to our loved ones. So they could hear all about who you’ve become when they’ve crossed the mortal plane.” Varian glanced at the Wraith to see how he responded to the suggestion. When she met his eyes, she got her answer: Intrigued, but skeptical of her intentions.
“What kind of stories?” Scorpion asked, still unsure of how to feel about this. Varian poked at the fire, determined to get a better flame going. “Any kind that you’re willing to share. It can be about your current day, something that happened a week ago, anything that you’re planning to do or even a story that your parents told. They want to hear it all.” He remained silent as he took it all in. Varian continued “Your loved ones, alive or dead, want to still know about you. To hear about the mundane or severity of your life. Even of they were there for it.” The Wraith squinted at her in curiosity “That last bit, what do you mean by it?” Varian scooted off the log and towards the fire until she was right up to it. “I mean even if they were involved in the story you plan to share. Even the dead like to reminisce, Scorpion.”
His heart panged at that. Even the dead, huh? He’s been trying not to think about his dead, it brings an uncomfortable burn in his chest. But perhaps she has a point. If they really wanted to know his life, who was he to deny them? The problem was, does he even have it in him to share? The scarred woman noticed his demeanor change and gave him an empathetic look “You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. I figured since I’m doing it, I’d invite you to participate as well.” Scorpion rose his head to meet her eyes “What story are you going to share? Perhaps it’ll help me decide if I want to partake or not.” Varian’s eyes gleamed with hope. Yes! It’s not a guarantee, but consideration is definitely a start. She hummed in thought for about ten seconds before it came to her. “A childhood memory, one I’m quite fond of. It involves my father and I at the Sky Temple.” She closed her eyes and smiled brightly as the memory came flooding back to her.
“You see, before I came to live with my clan, I lived in the Sky Temple. At the time, I was the only child who resided there. Meaning I had only two ways to find entertainment: Myself or my father and uncle. With the latter being kept busy with the protection of EarthRealm and other duties that the Elder Gods gave them, they often had very little, if any time to play with me. I didn’t take that very well. I was very hyperactive and craved a constant need for my father’s presence. So much so that I followed him everywhere he went in that temple. My reasoning was: If I follow him, he’d have to play with me eventually. It sort of worked. He did try to keep me entertained, but there only so much he could do with all the duties he’d been given. The most he could really do was make faces and mouth little quips at me. Small gestures, but I appreciated and reciprocated them as often as I could.” She paused for a moment to get a proper look at her friend. He sat on the edge of the log, full attention to her reminiscing. Varian chuckled and continued on.
“But one day when I was four, he changed things up a bit. I still don’t know what caused it, but it made me aware of his mischievous nature. We were in the meditation hall. I was keeping myself busy by practicing my “kombat” with a stick, he was meditating. Or so I thought.” The wind started to pick up as her story progressed. Scorpion noticed as well “It would appear that this story is reaching Fujin as well.” Varian let out a hearty laugh and looked up to the sky “What old man? Know I’m snitching on you?!” She turned her attention back to the fire “Anyways, in the middle of my “self-training” there was a breeze. I didn’t pay any mind to it as a breeze here and there was common. Then, the breeze began to pick up around me. It blew my hair over my face making it fall in my mouth. After spitting it out, I turned to my father and asked him if he felt that.” Varian was making wild hand motions as she retold the story. Scorpion couldn’t help but be entertained by the way she did it, it was as if she were trying to re-summon the same wind she speaks of.
“What did he say?” “Nothing. He was ‘so deep in meditation’ that he happened to not hear me.” Both friends snickered at that. Being parents themselves, they know how fun it is to mess with your kids by feigning ignorance. “I was annoyed by his silence but assumed that meant he didn’t feel it. Just as I bent down to pick my stick back up, a stronger gust blew at me and almost made me fall over.” She got up and re-created the scene for Scorpion just so he can get a better vision of the memory “At that point I knew there was no way he didn’t feel that. So I walked over to him, sat myself in his lap, and asked again if he felt the wind. Once again he said nothing, didn’t even open his eyes to acknowledge me.” The Wraith could tell were this was going, but he was still interested to see how Fujin kept a young Varian on her toes. “I refused to move until he responded to me. Then, I saw him crack a smile.” Varian jumped onto the log behind her for even more dramatic effect “Just before I could ask him what he was smiling about, I was blown halfway across the room! I was unharmed mind you, but it definitely shocked me!” Right at that moment, she fell off the log from a particularly sudden strong gust of wind.
Scorpion attempted to hide his laughter “Are you alright, Varian?” Varian got up and dusted herself off, laughing uncontrollably. “Yeah I’m fine! Thanks for asking, and thanks old man for the visualization!” She shook her fist at the sky before returning back to her story. “At that point, I’d put two and two together. I ran full force at him, craving payback. He finally opened his eyes, caught me, and spun me around until we were both howling with laughter.” The scarred woman sighed happily at the memory, her fuchsia starred eyes drifting to the smoke in the sky “And he wonders how I became so mischievous later in life.” Scorpion hummed in agreeance “It seems to run in the family. Much like mine-“ He cut himself off, still unsure if he wants to share. Varian whipped her towards him “Whoa hold the phone, you’ve got mischief in your blood too?” Goddamnit. Now he felt obligated to share a story.
She noticed his uneasiness “Hey now, you don’t gotta share if you don’t wanna. I was just surprised is all.” Varian tried assuring him. Forcing him to share would only cause him to close up more, which was not the goal here. Scorpion sighed in defeat “I’m aware, but there’s not point in goading you into curiosity and leaving you with nothing. I Just need to think of one that will truly show it.” He closed his eyes “And one that would cause the least amount of pain.” He thought to himself. Varian tilted her head “Are you positive? I don’t want you to feel pain on this trip, it’s supposed to be relaxing.” Scorpion re-opened his eyes, meeting her’s “Yes I’m sure, I just need to think of one.” His tone was flat and quick. The redhead didn’t fully believe him, but she knew there was no point arguing with him. They’d be here all night if they did, very counter-productive.
Scorpion sat in thought for a few minutes, since she shared a story from her childhood, he figured that’s the type of he’d share too. Not as young, just a bit older, and one that involved not his parents, but rather his sisters. His gaze centered on the fire, he’d found his story, now to share it. He braced himself as he began “Due to the clan’s Grandmaster inheritance system, it was common for the Grandmaster to have multiple children to ensure an heir. As a result, my mother had three children. Myself, and my two elder sisters, Kazue and Hikari.” Varian’s eyes widened “You had sisters? Was one of them the next heir?” She had only heard only a few sentences, and she was already hooked. The Wraith shook his head at the question “No, that was me. The way the system went was this: Mother to son, father to daughter. Since my mother was Grandmaster, she needed to have a son to continue the line. That’s why she had three of us.” He was still refusing eye contact with the woman in front of him, it was easier to tell the story this way.
Varian nodded as she took the information in. “Never would’ve taken you as the baby of the family. What was the age difference between you three?” Scorpion took a moment to respond, it wasn’t hurting yet, so it should be ok to continue. “Kazue was the eldest. She was three years older than Hikari and seven years older than I. Hikari was four years older than I.” Memories of the girls roughhousing and manhandling him in his toddler years came flooding back to him. He shook his head and pushed them down. Those aren’t the stories he wants to share. Not now. Scorpion took a deep breath and continued on “Kazue, despite being the eldest and meant to be a role model to Hikari and I, loved trouble the most. She always went out of her way to pull pranks on elders and our parents. It didn’t matter how much discipline she went through; she’d never learn her lesson. But no one was really surprised. According to my father and clan elders, before my mother became official Grandmaster she was the same way. As was my grandfather, and my great grandmother and so on and so forth.” Varian giggled at the image of the oh so serious and dangerous Shirai Ryu being full of pranksters. “You weren’t kidding! It did run in family!” Scorpion hummed “Kazue was always adamant that Hikari and I join her on her pranks. Insistent that they were ‘perfect training opportunities’. In my mind, I had no reason to doubt my eldest sister, so I always joined her. Hikari, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Kazue’s schemes. The two always butted heads over rules and how they should’ve acted around me.”
The redhead snickered “Sounds like my dad and uncle.” Scorpion hummed in response “Similar yes, but not quite. Hikari was insistent that they behaved around me so I could ‘be a responsible Grandmaster’ one day. That, and she hated getting in trouble. Even more so with our mother. She was the most well behaved out of the three of us. Our father often chastising Kazue and I to take after her with how much trouble we got into.” Varian stared warmly at her friend, happy that he was able to get this out. “Never took you for a troublemaker, Mister Scorpion.” She teased as she poked at the fire to keep the flame going. The Wraith couldn’t help but give a barely visible smile at that. “That’s what made it easier to get away with it and put all the blame on Kazue.” “Brutal. I love it.” The two friends both laughed out loud at that response.
“The true story though” Scorpion began “Is when three of us successfully pulled a dessert heist together.” Varian quirked her brow at Scorpion. “A dessert heist? Color me intrigued.” The Wraith stared more intently at the fire; he was sure that this was going to hurt. Looking at Varian would only make it worse. “You see, I had a knack for eavesdropping on the chefs for our village to know what they had planned for the days meals. That’s when I heard that they were making dorayaki for dessert. Dorayaki was a favorite of mine and my sisters’. I knew I had to tell them so we could get as much possible before anyone else. If anyone knew how to do it, it’d be Kazue. But I also knew that it’d take all three of us, so Hikari was going to need some convincing. So, I went and found Kazue and told her about my discovery. She was on board with my idea and agreed that we needed Hikari’s help.” A slight sting started in Scorpion’s chest. He took a deep breath and continued on. There’s no going back now, he just needed to finish the story.
“We found her with our father and told her that we wanted to show her a new kombat move we’d just perfected. Naturally, father wanted to witness this alleged new move that we came up with. I quickly told him that it was a private matter, as we planned on using it against him and mother in training. I held my breath as he remained quiet. I was so sure that I’d just ruined the plan before we could even start it. He remained there for a few moments before dismissing the three of us to our training.” The sting grew slightly, causing Scorpion to wince. Varian heard the wince and straightened herself up “Are you okay? You can stop if you wish.” Scorpion waved her off “I’m fine.” “Are you-“ “Yes. Now, Hikari was understandably skeptical of the both of us and our true intentions. I told her about what I’d heard and how we needed her help to pull this plan off. She scolded the both of us. Me for eavesdropping and Kazue for indulging in my mischief. Kazue interrupted her scolding by telling her that Hikari had owed for taking the blame for the burned mess found in our home’s library.”
The sting was starting to ease, but the Wraith didn’t trust it to not sharpen it’s pain again. He continued on “With much reluctance, she agreed and helped us plan the heist.” “Who did what?” Varian asked, more enthralled with the story than she’d been earlier. “We had decided that: Kazue and Hikari would be the bait and I the retriever. It was best that I was the retriever because I was the most nimble and agile out of the three of us. They were the distraction since it was common for them to chase each other and have the chefs get involved. After we’d fully discussed who did what and where to be, we all got in position.” Scorpion momentarily stopped staring at the fire and followed the smoke towards the sky. He wondered if this story was really reaching his sisters. “I waited behind the kitchens. Not even a minute later, they came running down towards us. Chasing one another and yelling expletives. On cue, the chefs ran out to settle them down. I took the opportunity and grabbed as much dorayaki as I could. My arms were so full of them that I almost dropped them a few times trying to get out. I made sure that the two of them saw me as I left the kitchens. They stayed behind to let the chefs ‘calm them down’ so it wouldn’t cause suspicion.” “I can’t believe you all actually got away with it.” Varian giggled as she stretched herself across the log she was on “Only temporarily” Scorpion felt his smile creep back up “when we went back home and ate the food, mother came in and scolded us for stealing the chefs hard work. We each got a hit on the head, forbidden from dinner for that night, dessert for the month, and sent to clean the kitchens until they were sparkling.” Despite the memory being of one of him being punished, he couldn’t help but start laughing. “We deserved it, but it didn’t stop Kazue and I from causing more trouble and Hikari being tired of us.”
Varian smiled at him “How’re you feeling now that you’ve told a story?” Scorpion thought for a moment and realized that the sting had been replaced by a feeling of relief. “Oddly…Relieved.” He was confused. It used to hurt before, why isn’t it now? What’s different? Varian stood up and stretched “I’m happy. You deserve some relief in your life.” A yawn escaped her “I’m hitting the sack. You gonna stay up?” Scorpion stared up into the sky, watching the smoke and embers fly up “Yes, please don’t wait for me. Have a goodnight, Varian.” She opened the tent and looked at Scorpion one last time “Thank you for sharing a part of yourself to me, Hellfire. It means a lot to me. I hope that I can learn more when you’re ready.” This caught him slightly off guard, though his face didn’t show it. “…Thank you for inviting me to partake in this tradition. It’s very comforting.” “You’re welcome. Have a goodnight, Hellfire.” He heard the zipper of the tent close. He stood up to stretch his legs, feeling them stiffen up a bit from sitting so rigidly. Just then, a smell hit him. It wasn’t campfire, woods or the river.
It was the smell of dorayaki.
