The great swordmaster Piandao took a few days leave from the Fire Nation army, and just... never returned. that was it, no great escape, no speeches, he just walked away. Oh, he defeated the hundred men they sent after him, but that isn't the important part. The important part was that he walked away, quietly, simply, and without notice, someone left.
He remembers that moment, hanging on the edge, bowing, and just walking out the door. He remembers the days of leave, and how he stood his ground and let them pass, until they were gone and he was still on his island. He remembered the way he kept having to make the choice to stay, over and over and over, and he did. Those are the parts he remembers, because walking away was harder than it looked.
Other people remember the hundred men who couldn't drag him back. Piandao remembers that part too, because it was so much easier than it looked.
He paints these days, and writes, and makes swords, and keeps his little pocket of peace, and hopes it makes some kind of example after the war ends, because peace is exactly as hard as it looks.
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branchandroot
Piandao - Fanfare
Date: 2012-04-08 12:19 am (UTC)He remembers that moment, hanging on the edge, bowing, and just walking out the door. He remembers the days of leave, and how he stood his ground and let them pass, until they were gone and he was still on his island. He remembered the way he kept having to make the choice to stay, over and over and over, and he did. Those are the parts he remembers, because walking away was harder than it looked.
Other people remember the hundred men who couldn't drag him back. Piandao remembers that part too, because it was so much easier than it looked.
He paints these days, and writes, and makes swords, and keeps his little pocket of peace, and hopes it makes some kind of example after the war ends, because peace is exactly as hard as it looks.