Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Character:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2024-09-25
Updated:
2025-05-17
Words:
726
Chapters:
2/?
Comments:
12
Kudos:
83
Bookmarks:
8
Hits:
1,084

in [my:our] twilight find [yours:mine:ours]

Summary:

Excerpts from "Birth and [Rebirth:Rededication] and Death" as written by the Great Sage Urakano of the High Temple of Hari Bulkan in 10 Szeto-hari; including notes and redactions from Sage Asineem of the High Temple of the Fire Lord in 20 Souzan and notes by Junior Fujisato Yuri of the Southern Circuit in 50 Azulon, as archived by the Wong Shi Tong library.

Updates sporadically/when the Agni brainrot gets too much.

Notes:

You ever read a fanfic so good it made you start writing scripture? Well that's exactly what happened when I read While Mighty Oaks Do Fall. So here it is in all of its un-beta'ed poetic glory. Have fun.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: On Rebirth [135:143]

Summary:

Sekum’s last breath and Great Sage Asineem’s note on great spirits.

Chapter Text

“As Sekum drew his last breath he sensed Agni draw near,
felt her heat envelop her [beloved:child:her], words whispered in exaltation against his [skin:body:flame?:flame]:
‘Be near [my:our] child, be warmed by [my:our]
[breast:light:flame:heat];
In [my:our] twilight find [yours:mine:ours] and together [we:I:you] will sink across the horizon,
[we:you:I] will chase [my:our:your] Tui, who will [push:pull:push:pull],
[their:our:my] La to [my:our:your] Tui to [I:you:we:Agni:Agni:please];
hold, watch, wait, have [faith:trust] until [I:you:we] break the horizon once
again as [I:you:we:we:we:we] are again, again, again, new, wreathed in
[flame:light:heat:Agni].’”

—Birth and [Rebirth:Rededication] and Death, 135:143; as written by the Great Sage Urakano of the High Temple of Hari Bulkan in 10 Szeto-hari, copied by Great Sage Asineem of the High Temple of the Fire Lord in 20 Souzan with a note:

(In accordance with the reforms passed through the body of the 143rd Great Council in unanimous decision all references to the so-called great spirits have been redacted, un-tainting the sacred text of Agni from their presence. Future transcribing of this text will leave two lines black as is the custom for retracted scripture.)

—added to the library of Wong Shi Tong by Feng

Chapter 2: Esun’s Rededication [308:334]

Summary:

Esun finds her way back, Junior Fujisato Yuri of the Southern Circuit contemplates Esun's place within the canon

Chapter Text

"And as Esun fled [flame:warmth:place:belonging:Agni:Agni:Agni],
As Esun cast off her [robes:vows:name:heart:Agni],
As Esun [turned her back:ran:wept]—come forth still, still, still—Agni burned.
‘Come back [child:Esun:Esun],’ Agni said; ‘Come back she who [was:is:will be mine:again]’
‘Come back; come let [me:us] burn what you were, so that what [we:us:them] may rise,
so that [I:we:us] may give Esun [light:heat:flame:purpose above all else].’

And Esun came—[barefoot:ash-covered:unclean]
And Esun came again—[empty-handed:heart-sick:truth-starved]
And Esun came again—[tired:sobbing:laughing:silent]
And Esun came again—[always back:always:home]

‘Agni, Agni, Agni,’ Esun said. ‘Burn me.’
Esun said, ‘Bend me.’
Esun said, ‘Place me: I [ran:failed:fought:lost]’
Esun said, ‘But to your embrace I [always:forever:now:for this moment] return.’

And Agni answered—Not with [fury:scorn:anger] but with heat.
With [flame that seared the shame but spared the soul:light that blinded and blessed:purest]

‘You are [Esun:mine:Esun]:,’ Agni said, ‘who ran';
Agni said, ‘who returned;'
Agni said, ‘[Beloved:of my beloved:flame barer:who is me].’

‘Let the name be [ash:Agni], the path be [embers:Agni], the self be [flame:Agni].’
‘[You:we:us] are [refound:rebirthed:rededicated];
[Mine:ours] for [now:later:this moment:maybe not the next]’

‘So hold [near:warm;ours]
Walk with Us for now–[through the ash and into the light:across the horizon and into the blaze:again–again–again]
As [flame:truth:Mine:Mine:Ours]’"

—Birth and [Rebirth:Rededication] and Death, 308:332; as written by the Great Sage Urakano of the High Temple of Hari Bulkan in 10 Szeto, copied by Junior Fujisato Yuri of the Southern Circuit in 50 Azulon with a note:

This passage, known as Esun’s Rededication, is often used as the rededication ritual of choice for the re-initiated. While the rite has fallen out of favor over the past 50 years, historically it was spoken at dawn, facing the first light with flame in hand after a period of seclusion. Those who have spoken it have often expressed the settling that come with this particular re-commitment is almost cathartic. Esun herself is an odd figure within the texts as well. The flame-adopted daughter of Sekum she stands apart as the only woman who is directly attached to Agni within the current accepted texts. She also is connected to the first true god-king via blood, as a progenitor of Zoryu. She was quoted by the White Lotus herself during her rise, so much of her alleged writing has been scrubbed from the record (I can only find fragments from the library in Hari Bulkan) but the stories of her in Birth and [Rebirth:Rededication] and Death are virtually un-redacted. Very curious because her passages here are very revolutionary on their own—

—Added to the library of Wong-Shi-Tong by Feng

Notes:

Comments and kudos always appreciated! Come yell at:with me on tumblr (where I also post art) or at your local bodega: sausage, egg, and cheese on a kosher roll, part of a perfectly balanced breakfast.