Hi peeps! This is a story about Iroh's awesome past. PS-he liked tea back then too. :) Review please!!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or the characters. :( But... my friend is working on a plan for world domination!!!! And, she promised to give the rights to Avatar!!! YAY!!!!
The arena was nearly silent, save for the whisper of the cool morning wind. It was the end of summer, and the rising sun baked down upon their backs, but the early autumn gusts kept them comfortable.
A dark haired teenage boy stood at one end of the arena, wearing only loose fitted brown pants. He had a fierce look in his golden amber eyes, and he stood at the ready position.
On the other end of the arena stood a much older man, who wore heavy fire nation robes. His hands were neatly folded behind his back.
There was a long, serene silence as the two stared at each other, waiting.
"Begin," the older man said simply, watching the boy closely.
Iroh breathed in, long and hard, and then released gently. Slowly, he extended his right hand and channeled his inner fire through it. A small flame appeared, hovering just above his palm. In one quick motion, he formed an arc of fire over his head, bent his knees, and thrust his hands out, pushing the fire away from him and creating a circular defense ring. He then punched forward, striking through an imaginary opponent.
Thoughts flew through the Prince's head as he approached the section of the routine that he'd always had the most trouble with. You can, he said to himself as he flew through the air, kicking and punching. But I've only managed to complete the routine all the way through twice! What if I fail? Suddenly, there was no more time for thoughts. The boy thrust his hands back, and shot fire from them, propelling him forward. He moved faster than he'd ever done in his life, circling around the arena. Everything began to move in slow motion as he shot up a column, nearly reaching the top before he moved his hands over his head and placed the balls of his feet against the wall. As his upper body began to fall backward, he pushed off the column, roaring long and hard. Fire shot from all four of his limbs, as well as his mouth, and he twirled through the air, freefalling. He thrust downward with his arms, quickly gathering his sense of up and down, and shot fire as hard as he could at the ground, creating a cushion of flames which he landed upon and quickly extinguished. Then he straightened up, pressed his fist into his palm, and bowed.
The old man smiled. He knew how the Prince had struggled with the routine, and he was very proud that he'd managed it without any slip ups.
"Excellent, Prince Iroh. That was beautiful." He congratulated.
"Thank you, Master Shu Lin," Iroh replied. He couldn't help but grin. It had taken him over three months to learn the routine, and he still wasn't even close to mastering it.
"Now, I know the Fire Lord wishes you to perform this particular routine at your coronation next week." Shu Lin said, walking over to the Prince, who was taking long sip from a glass of water that a servant had brought to him. "And although what you just showed me was an astonishing improvement, I'm afraid it just isn't there yet. You will need to practice very hard these next few days. To perform a routine like this, you must be able to do it perfectly several times over. Do you understand?"
Iroh nodded. "Of course, Master," he replied. The Prince had expected as much, he himself had been surprised that he done so well.
Shu Lin was a fire sage, one of the few that agreed to teach young firebenders to become masters. Fire Scouts traveled the country searching for naturally talented benders from good families. These benders were brought to the palace and Shu Lin trained them to be future elite firebenders, the guards that protected the royal family. Because of this, Iroh trusted Shu Lin's experience teaching firebenders, and he had never doubted the Master's opinions and commands.
"Good," Shu Lin said. "Now, I believe it is time for you to meet with the royal tutor, is it not?"
"Yes," Iroh replied. "I should be getting down there. Master Taisho doesn't appreciate it when I am late." He grimaced at the memory of the last time he'd been late to his lessons. Taisho had marched away, overly furious that the Prince had neglected his learning. He'd refused to teach Iroh that day, and Azulon had been very upset with his son for angering the tutor. Iroh had been punished severely.
Shuddering at the thought, Iroh bowed quickly to Shu Lin and hurried away, first to his quarters, where he changed into robes, and then to his tutor's quarters. He paused before knocking on the door, adjusting his ponytail and smoothing his robes. Then he took a deep breath and straightened up, remembering to act like a Prince.
Iroh reached up and knocked quietly, then remembered that Taisho had hearing problems and knocked harder. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Taisho stood there, his brow furrowing as he saw Iroh.
"Ah, Prince Iroh," he said shortly, bowing quickly. "I was just finishing a lesson on battle tactics with Lady Ursa," It was then that Iroh noticed a young girl standing behind Taisho. She moved swiftly to stand next to him and bowed low, her face hidden.
"Your highness," she said; her voice sweet and smooth. "It is a pleasure to meet the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation."
Iroh bowed very slightly. "The pleasure is all mine, my lady."
Ursa stood and eyed him warily, her eyes and facial expression revealing none of the sweetness her voice had held, but rather a cold hardness that could come only from a difficult life. She had a long, flawless face and bright, honey golden eyes. Her black hair was silky and shone in the light. She wore traditional fire nation clothing; a tunic over pants and robes, and she was strangely beautiful, though it was obvious she had gone to no length to achieve her beauty. If you looked more closely, her hair was slightly off line, as though she'd just thrown it up carelessly, and her clothes hung limply against her body; they were far too large for her. Iroh could tell she was at least one or two years younger than he was, he face still showed slight signs of innocent youth, though the sharp look she regarded the Prince with made it difficult to recognize these signs.
"Lady Ursa is Commander Orison's daughter. She has just recently moved from the Fire Nation Colonies in the Earth Kingdom, where she was born and raised while her father was stationed there." Taisho said, his voice dull and strained as he watched the Prince and Ursa closely.
Careful to remember his manners despite the girl's icy stare, Iroh nodded politely. "That's interesting, indeed, Lady Ursa." He paused for a second, and a devious idea came into his head. He looked Ursa right in the eyes, smiling warmly and said, "Would you care to discuss it over the midday meal?"
Her mouth dropped a fraction, and she shut it quickly, but not before the Prince noticed. He smiled smugly to himself, knowing he had her trapped. It was extremely inappropriate and impolite to decline an offer of hospitality from a member of the royal family. Ursa eyes narrowed slightly, hating the Prince more and more by the second. She could see it in his eyes; Iroh had set her up. But she could do nothing about it while Taisho was standing there. The two of them watched her expectantly.
"I'd be honored to join you, Your Highness," she replied through slightly gritted teeth.
"Well, that's settled," Taisho said, clapping his hands lightly, obviously impatient. "Now, if you don't mind, Lady Ursa, the Prince and I have a few things to discuss before his coronation next week."
Lady Ursa nodded curtly and bowed; the same strange glare in her eyes as she turned and left.
Iroh tried to shake thoughts of Ursa out of his head, but even as he and his tutor sat down at the table and Taisho began to speak, the image of her filled his brain and he suddenly grew almost nervous about the meal they would share after his lesson.
"Prince Iroh?" Taisho said, watching the Prince. Iroh did not reply. The old tutor sighed in frustration and placed his face in his hands. He could remember his first lesson with the boy, nearly nine years previously. Iroh had always been very attentive and extremely cautious. These were both good traits to have as a future Fire Lord, but Taisho had noticed that often Iroh over thought many things that weren't important. Sighing again, he looked up. The boy was still deep in thought, staring into space. "Prince Iroh!" Taisho called, waving his hand in front of the Prince eyes.
Jerking his head up, Iroh realized what had happened. He looked down sheepishly. "I'm very sorry, Master Taisho," he whispered, finally managing to push Ursa out of his head.
Taisho sighed. "Are you ready to pay attention, now, young Iroh?"
'Yes, Master," Iroh nodded, trying to seem eager.
"Well, as you know, next Thursday is your coronation, the day you officially become Crown Prince of the fire nation." Taisho paused and glanced at the boy, nodding approvingly when he saw he had Iroh's full attention. "There are a few things that you must take into account before Thursday comes.
"Firstly, this means that you have passed or have nearly passed the twenty levels of basic firebending. And you already have a routine worked out for the ceremony, I assume, since you arrived at your lesson five minutes late." Iroh looked down again, embarrassed. "Fortunately," Taisho continued, smiling very slightly, "Lady Ursa and I were late in finishing her lesson." This seemed to help make the young Prince feel a little better. At the mention of Ursa's name, her image immediately floated into Iroh's head. He quickly thrust it out again, hoping the frustration he felt towards himself wasn't showing on his face.
"As is tradition, your first master lesson with Shu Lin will take place on Friday morning. It will be open to public viewing." Taisho said. "Naturally, so you don't embarrass yourself in front of the public, Shu Lin will rehearse the lesson with you beforehand.
"Secondly, as I'm sure you have heard, the Royal Coronation Ball will take place Friday evening. Nobles and high ranking citizens have been invited from all over the nation. The Ball will be held outdoors, as there is not enough room within the Palace." Taisho paused, standing and starting to pace. "I'm forgetting something…" he murmured quietly.
"Oh yes!" Taisho exclaimed, turning on Iroh with a broad smile upon his old wizened face. "You need a proper date to the ball, as the new Crown Prince."
Iroh felt as though his stomach had been turned upside down and then stuffed up his throat. His eyes grew wide as he watched the old tutor, standing there, grinning, as if nothing at all was wrong with that statement.
At nearly fifteen years old, Iroh could firebend well beyond his years, he was a good student, and he could even step in for his father when the need was there. But he could barely talk to a girl unless he was in "Prince Mode", let alone ask a girl out. Ursa, of course, was an exception. Already, he very much enjoyed annoying her.
"Uh… a date?" Iroh replied, managing to choke the words out.
"Yes," Taisho said, seeming distracted. He was staring out the window, watching something.
Iroh stood and walked to where the tutor was looking out the window. A crowd had gathered in the Capital Plaza that surrounded the Palace. Taisho and the Prince could just make out the people. They were clustered around a small group of men who wore traveler's robes. Each man held a large brown sack, and some of the people in the crowd were poking and prodding the sack's contents.
"I would suggest sending someone to see what that is about," Taisho said. "The Capital Plaza is close to the Palace, and we wouldn't want a bad reputation because a riot was started near the Palace."
Iroh nodded. He walked to the door and opened it. Two guards stood there, and they snapped to attention as the Prince came out of the room.
"Guards," Iroh began, straightening up to look more Prince-like. "There is a crowd of people outside in the Plaza. A group of men stands in the center of the crowd. They are holding sacks full of items. Go and split the crowd up. If the men have anything of interest in the sacks, bring them to see me in my throne room." The two guards nodded curtly and turned to leave.
"One more thing-" Iroh called. "Thank you."
Taisho had come to stand behind Iroh in the doorway. He smiled at the Prince's last words. The boy was strong and commanding, but he showed compassion for his servants and his people. Iroh would indeed make a fine firelord.
"We should head to your throne room," the tutor said curtly. The Prince nodded and the two walked together in silence to the Secondary Throne room.
It took several minutes for the guards to return to the palace, and Iroh knew he was already late for his lunch with Ursa. He sent a chamberlain to invite her to the throne room, instead, much to his unwillingness.
Ursa arrived quickly, disgust written all over her face, but only Iroh seemed to notice. Behind her trailed Iroh's younger brother Ozai, a short, pale eleven year old who always wore an agonized smirk.
"Lady Ursa," Iroh said, standing to greet her.
"Prince Iroh," she replied, bowing quickly. "This is an unfortunate delay,"
Iroh saw her eyebrows rise slightly, and he knew she wanted to know why a mob outside the palace was more important than the lunch he had insisted she attended.
"Yes… Indeed," the Prince replied, attempting to choose his words carefully. "I wished to see if they had anything of interest with them." He nearly blushed after he finished, knowing how selfish and rude he sounded. She was glaring at him, but smiled slightly at his expression. "Ozai," Iroh turned to his younger brother, his junior by four years. "What are you doing here? There is no need for a young boy to be involved with something like this."
"You're nothing more than a boy yourself," Ozai replied softly, his voice low and deadly. Ursa glanced at him, surprised that a small, sickly looking boy could send such a terrible chill through her bones simply by speaking. "And you most certainly cannot order me around; I'm just as much Prince of the Fire Nation as you are. Who says dad won't revoke your birthright in the next week?" This short, piercing speech seemed to have almost brought tears to the younger Prince's eyes, he seemed so furious. And yet, he was so composed. Ursa watched him closely, intrigued. Iroh, however, seemed to have completely forgotten his brother was there. It seemed routine for him, Ozai threats appeared to not have even penetrated him.
Just then the guard outside of the throne room pushed open the doors and called in "Guard Phu ad Win, Your Highness, retuned with the cause of the mob in the plaza." Ursa stepped quickly aside and watched with mild interest. Ozai noticed her for the first time as he moved to the far side of the room, near to the base of Iroh's throne.
"Let them pass," Iroh replied, dignity seeping through his every syllable. "Guard Phu?" he asked expectantly as the two guards lead a small group of men to the base of the throne.
"These are the men you instructed us to bring to you, Your Highness," Guard Phu replied. "Here are the sacks they were carrying." The group of men brought forward several brown sacks, some small and light, others very heavy looking.
"Open them," Iroh instructed, standing and peering down the sacks. The men opened the sacks and pulled out the items inside, slowly and dramatically. A collective gasp was heard from every person in the hall but the seven men who had been found in the plaza. Iroh's mouth had dropped open nearly a foot, and he instinctively shut it, remembering that he was the Prince. Ursa didn't bother to stifle a cry of horror, and a few of the men turned to look at her. She glanced at the Prince, who was staring at the items the men had pulled out with amazement. He didn't seem the least bit concerned.
"But…" Iroh murmured. "How did you… you know…"
"Kill it, your highness?" One of the men replied.
Iroh was silent for a long moment. Finally, he replied. "Yes." He said simply, taking his seat on the throne. "Please tell."
Ursa had no wish to hear the men's account of how they killed the magnificent dragon whose remains now rested in the crude sacks, but she didn't have much of a choice, as she was in the crown Prince's presence, and she couldn't just excuse herself.
One of the men stepped forward cautiously, kneeling. "My name is Gaanzo, your highness. I live with my wife and children in a village located on the outer islands."
Iroh was determined not to leave anything out. He was suddenly very interested in the men's story. "How many children do you have, Gaanzo?" he asked, he voice strangely casual.
"Four, your highness. Three sons and one daughter, the oldest is fifteen and the youngest 4."
"Hmm." Iroh said. And for a brief second, Taisho saw his father shining through him. He almost shuddered. Ozai watched his brother with the painful smirk still plastered across his face. Once in a while, he glanced over at Ursa, too far away to notice the flaws in her seemingly incredible beauty.
"Go on," Iroh said mildly, as if he were speaking to a family member.
"My life skill is fishing and I travel to the Earth Kingdom every year for the trader's market, where I sell my stocks of frozen fish. Last year, I heard a few rumors about the dragons while I was in the Earth Kingdom. People were saying that the ancient Dragon Clan of Sozin, named after you Grandfather, of course, had been spotted on the Pyric Islands, near the Western Air Temple. I became very interested in the Clan, and gathered my friends. We traveled to the island and stayed there for sixty days, but there was no sign of the dragons. We grew weary and just as we were leaving to return home, Shumon…" he gestured to the man standing behind him, "found the entrance to a secret cave that turned out to be a magnificent underground labyrinth. Naïve as we were regarding the dragons, we hardly expected them to be in the cavern, thinking that they would naturally prefer the light. In the very heart of the labyrinth, when we felt for sure that we were lost, a heavy breathing sound began to echo around us. We were only a few feet from a gargantuan male dragon, one of the leaders of the Clan of Sozin. Recognizing only just in time what the beast was, we managed to surround it, and simultaneously, we drove our spears into its side, killing it almost instantly. We were indeed fortunate that the beast was deep in sleep.
"Indeed…" Iroh murmured. Ursa looked, disgusted, from him to Gaanzo, and then to the sacks. Suddenly, her stomach twisted in a fierce knot and a sharp wave of dizziness came over her. Everything went black.