Page 2 of Fire Dancing For Icey Dragons (Obscure Academy #15)

ZARA

The square is full of people milling around and chattering to their friends and families. Some of them have food trays from the various vans and stalls around the square in their hands and are either making appreciative faces or throwing them away unfinished. An empty stage is set up at the other end of the courtyard, which I assume will have some entertainment on it in a bit, but for the moment, music is blaring out from the speakers, a little louder than is comfortable, making me wish I had some way to filter out the noise to a more manageable level.

Yuri and I pass a truck selling burgers and my mouth waters at the smell of cooking onions even if I know I'll only be disappointed if I get one for myself. If I'm going to stray from my strict diet during competitive cheer season, then it's going to be for something really good rather than a burger that will only disappoint me after a few bites.

We get ourselves some drinks and do a lap of the stalls to see what's what and decide what we're getting.

"Are you really not going to have anything stronger than Earl Grey?" Yuri asks me, nodding to the cup in my hand.

"No. And you shouldn't either, we've got practice tomorrow," I respond.

"Yes, at four, I'll be over my hangover by then."

I raise an eyebrow but don't point out how much a lie that is. I've known her for long enough to be aware that her hangovers last at least a day. And my own aren't much better, especially when there isn't enough space in my dorm room to shift into my dragon form to get rid of the lingering effects of the alcohol.

"You take life far too seriously," Yuri says, hooking her arm through mine. "We're here to have a good time, not just drink tea."

"I can have a good time drinking tea," I murmur.

"Mmhmm, sure you can. I'm going to get some cheesy chips, do you want some?"

"Definitely not."

"Your loss." She grins and heads over to the truck selling the chips. I roll my eyes. She's in great shape and some chips aren't going to make a difference to that, but I still can't bring myself to do that. I have to set an example for the rest of the squad.

Yuri finds one of her other friends and starts chatting, meaning that it will be a while until she gets back. I know she doesn't mean to, but she's so easily distracted by everything.

I look around, seeing a small crowd in front of the stage. I send Yuri a quick message to tell her that I'm going to check it out and go take my place, leaning against the fence and waiting for the show to begin. She'll be fine so long as she knows where I am once she's finished chatting to her friend. I'm used to it. She's much more sociable than I am, and certainly more likeable.

The crowd around me goes silent as two women dressed in black take their positions on the stage, each with two equally black sticks in their hands. They bow their heads and wait until music starts to play.

The woman on the left starts swinging her stick around, and brilliant fire sparks from the top of it. My eyes transfix on it, enjoying the flickering even if it's more yellow than my own flames. She moves with elegance, constantly twirling the stick with the flames. Her movements are smooth, and I have to admire the artistry with which she moves.

She switches places with the other women and they go through some basic moves, passing the fire sticks back and forth while moving increasingly quickly. It's impressive to watch, but I can tell from here that this is just a warm-up act, both for the dancers and the audience.

The song comes to an end and I clap along with the rest of the people surrounding me. The women hurry off the stage, being replaced by a guy with dark hair and a close-fitting black shirt that makes it clear he's got the body of someone who is constantly practising. If I had to guess, I'd say he's the same age as me, but it's hard to tell without being closer to him.

The music starts and I find myself fixated on him as he swings a cord with a fireball on the end of it around, doing some amazingly intricate acrobatic tricks while being very close to an open flame. It's not easy to get me to admit it, but I'm impressed by the control he possesses.

He's replaced by some of the other dancers, but thankfully returns soon enough, and every time he's on stage, my gaze is drawn to him, I'm not even sure why. Maybe it's just me recognising someone else's talent. I've always been good at that.

Yuri still hasn't reappeared by the time the performance is over, so I lean against the fence, holding my empty paper cup and searching the crowd for where she's gotten to. No doubt she'll turn up at some point.

The performers head back onto the stage and I find myself watching the same guy as before. He seems to notice me looking and smiles over in my direction. Rather than back down, I hold my head up high. He's a performer, he knows what it's like to be watched like this.

To my surprise, he takes it as an invitation to come over.

"Enjoy the show?" he asks, leaning on the other side of the fence.

"I did," I respond.

"Blaze," he says, holding out his hand.

I raise an eyebrow.

"My name," he responds.

"Oh, Zara." I take his hand and give it a shake, feeling the calluses that are no doubt formed by the amount of practice he likely does with the fire sticks.

"So, thinking about joining the Fire Tumblers?" he asks.

"Is that the name of your troupe?"

He nods. "Not very original, but I'm not the one who came up with it."

"And being a fire dancer while your name is Blaze is original?"

He chuckles. "You've got bite."

"So I've been told."

"So, interested?"

I shake my head. "I'm impressed, but it's not for me."

He looks me up and down as if trying to assess me. I resist the urge to strike some kind of pose that will make it clear that I'm an athlete and have the body for that. It doesn't matter what some random guy thinks of my appearance.

"I'd guess you're a gymnast," he says once he's done.

"Close," I respond. "Cheerleader."

"Ah. So I'm guessing you're in the Sapphire Sparks?"

"What? How do you know?"

"Your student ID is attached to your bag," he responds, nodding to where it's hanging.

I stuff it back inside. "I'm the captain."

"Impressive. I only managed to get co-captain of the Fire Tumblers, and considering I'm going to be graduating at the end of the year, there's no chance to be in charge on my own."

So I was right about him being a student. I can't help but be impressed with myself over that. "I didn't realise the academy had a fire dancing team."

"It's fairly new." One of his teammates comes over and gives him a bottle of water without saying anything. Blaze twists off the cap and takes a drink. "It's about six years old."

"Oh."

"Yeah, it's no Sapphire Sparks. How long has the team been going?"

"About thirty years, my mum was one of the first captains."

He chuckles. "So not just a cheerleader, a legacy cheerleader."

I stiffen. "I got the position because of me, not because of who I'm related to."

"I'm sure you did. I've seen your squad cheer at matches a couple of times. You're good."

"We are." Though we could be better. Not that I'm going to say as much to a random guy I meet at a food festival.

"I should go finish breaking down," Blaze says. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Maybe." Though if we haven't run into one another in the nearly four years we've both been at the academy, then it seems unlikely we're suddenly going to start seeing one another around campus now.

He heads off to help the rest of his team, giving me a reason to finally turn away from the stage. Yuri waves at me from the kimbap stall, and I go to join her. Fried food is out, but I think I can enjoy some of the Korean street food rolls, especially the good ones filled with fish. Once we're done here, and I'm back in my room, I can try again to figure out the issue with the routine I'm working on. Maybe having watched the Fire Tumblers perform will help with that, it's always inspiring to see people perform at a high level, even if it's also a bit intimidating.