Fourteen.
Footsteps rattled through the dimly lit hollow halls as a man dressed in elaborate red clothing scuttled along. In stark contrast to his clothing, the paths were dull; there was nothing special about the carved-out rock except for the occasional off shoots from the hallway and a fire nation symbol that greeted people however, if one were to take the wrong path, they would find themselves plunging into lava. The man walking through the current hallway did not want to meet that fate today. From the start of the never-ending tunnel, one must pass twenty entrances before taking a sharp right and he was only at fifteen. There was no easy way to get to the room he wanted to be at, in fact, everyone had to go through this since there was only one way in and one way out. A handful of people knew about this place, fewer know what goes on here.
Twenty.
The man took the sharp right and immediately took the first left. As he travelled down the path, the torches on the wall started to diminish until he was in darkness. He took a breath, held out his right hand and gestured, causing a flame to hover above his palm. It was automatic at this point as the man had not stopped pace. It still surprised him that the floor had not worn away in the slightest as this path had been taken thousands of times before, by people who were just like him. Men and women alike met here every other day since the downfall of Fire Lord Ozai. In fact, to be more precise, since the failed attempt at bringing Fire Lord Zuko down and the jailing of Ukano, they had been meeting more and more. Once a week turned four times a week in the dead of the night. It was surprising to see more and more people pop up in the meetings, with many of them being unexpected. Those that met here ranged from high ranking officials to the ordinary shopkeepers in the Fire Nation.
Very surprising indeed.
At a halt, the man looked at the large double doors in front of him. It was completely silent. He placed his left hand on the handle and sighed. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple and to his lips where he licked it off before pressing down on the brass handle while pushing the door open. The room was immediately different from the hallways he had traversed. Banners with the national emblem draped the walls with large torches in between each, a large table with many seats filled sat in the centre of the room, a buffet lined the right side of the wall and a map set up on a table was pressed up against the left side of the wall. The people sat at the table looked at the man with grins on their faces as he distinguished the flame and made his way to the chair at the top of the table.
"Where are we now in our plans?" the man who had just sat down asked in a raspy voice. The heads turned to a young man in a military outfit. He straightened his clothing before speaking.
"We are ready to attack Fire Lord Zuko as soon as he reaches the mouth of the river."
"How definite are you about this, General Zuo?"
General Zuo smirked. "Sir Tu, my men are more than ready to take Zuko on; in fact, many of the people on board the ships are my men. I made sure that those who are neutral or in favour of the Fire Lord will be taken care of by about five minutes before the attack ensues."
"How will we know if he is dead?" squeaked a middle-aged woman from the left side of the room. General Zuo's smirk disappeared and was instantly replaced with an upturned face. He bared his teeth.
"Who do you think you are talking to?" General Zuo seethed. He stood up and moved his arm in a way to shoot a fire ball at the banner opposite him. Tu looked at General Zuo and then to the burning banner.
"I would like to live to hear of his death General," Tu calmly retorted. General Zuo snapped his head towards Tu, his chest rising up and down frantically. His eyes burned into Tu's, while Tu ran his hand over his chin. "I need a shave."
"This is more than your stupid, god damned shave!" the general screamed. Tu moved his head back while General Tu's jaw dropped. "Sir, I did not mean-"
Before Tu could finish his sentence, Zuo had raised his hand and calmly swatted it away from him. A string of fire erupted from his hand and hit Tu square in the chest, causing him and his chair to fly backwards. Zuo cracked his neck and stood up calmly. The whole room was silent, watching him carefully. He ran his hand through his long black hair before walking over to the moaning man on the floor. He knelt down beside him and grabbed his armour. "Now, Tu, will we hear about his death?"
"Y…es."
"How will we hear about his death?"
"Sir…Kaili will be near the scene…"
Zuo let go of Tu, stood and looked for Kaili at the table. He scanned the room before his eyes bore into the bright green eyes of a young woman. She smiled softly at him, to which he returned a brief upturn of his lips. No one seemed to have caught the gesture. "Kaili, how will you be there and how will the information spread?"
"I'll have my printing services ready with the news as we already have two different papers ready: one for if he is still alive and one for if he is dead. I shall be by the lake, and I will be the one to announce if he survived the attack by sending a hawk back to my printing presses," she replied in a sing-song manner. She moved her red hair with the back of her hand.
"I would also like a hawk sent my way," Zuo informed her. She nodded.
"Of course." Zuo smiled before walking back to his seat, ignoring the groaning and writhing Tu on the floor.
"Afterwards we need to have a plan for if we succeed. If we fail, life goes on and we meet again but if we succeed what is our plan again? I believe this rests with Shen." Zuo scanned the room for Shen before meeting another pair of green eyes.
"We will be releasing the rightful Fire Lord Ozai from jail."
"Okay…and? He has no powers? Wouldn't it make more sense to release Azula?" the same woman from before squeaked. Zuo smiled.
"Indeed, Alice is correct, that is an issue. How do you plan on getting his powers back? As of now, Ozai is useless to us."
"We capture the Avatar!" Shen announced. The entire table erupted into laughter. Zuo chuckled and looked over at Kaili to find her frowing.
"You think the Avatar is going to come easily? You think he knows how to give back Ozai's powers?" a man in the back laughed. "I think it'd be easier for us to get Azula out of jail and then find the Avatar. If we release Ozai first, we'll be defenceless. He can't protect us."
Zuo nodded. "Agreed. Shen, make the arrangements to release Azula instead. Kill anyone you have to, even if they're from the Fire Nation. Anyone in our way is an enemy of the state as soon as Zuko is dead."
The meeting continued on, with quips and ideas on how they could get back Ozai's powers. It ranged from finding dragons to retraining Ozai, to which Zuo had either frowned or laughed at but his thoughts strayed from the conversation as he caught himself looking over at Kaili's direction. She was beautiful, he thought. After the last time they spent the night together, she kept on sitting further and further away from him as the weeks went on. Nothing had changed to him; everything was the same as it always had been. He would conduct meetings, there would be advancements in plots and plans (to the point where it is at now), she would quip two things and then stay silent throughout the rest of the night. At the end, she would be the first to leave without a word.
"Uh…Sir?" someone called out. Zuo shook his head and realised he had been staring at Kaili for far too long with everyone looking at him. He looked at everyone, even General Tu who had managed to make it back to his seat before resting on Kaili once again. Kaili looked away from him and to her hands.
"I would like to apologise, I wasn't listening. My mind was on tomorrow's event. Let's reconvene tomorrow and bring up the other issues, but for now let's stick with our current plan and release Azula once we are sure that Zuko is dead. We'll pick it up from there. This meeting is dismissed." Most people fell into a discussion at the table as they stood ready to leave, with no one paying attention to Kaili already at the door, except for Zuo. "Kaili may I talk to you?"
Kaili's hand dropped from the handle and turned around. She smiled weakly at him and nodded. The discussions fell to murmurs as the others started for the door where one by one they filed out. Tu was the last to leave as he paused before Kaili, placed a hand on her shoulder, smiled gently and walked out, closing the door behind him. Zuo's clenched his fist briefly at the gesture before unclenching and resting it on the table.
Kaili and Zuo were the only ones left in the room. The air turned into awkward silence, neither one of them knew what to say, before Tu's burning banner from before fell to the ground and flamed out. Zuo cleared his throat and stood up. The distance between him and her was devastatingly far all of a sudden. "Uh…Sir-"
"I believe we're past this stage of that professionalism, Kai," Zuo laughed half-heartedly. Kaili cleared her throat, causing Zuo to stop laughing. He moved the chair back and made his way to the chair at the end of the table. He leaned against the all mahogany backing of the chair. He raised an eyebrow towards her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie to me." The room fell silent again. Kaili looked down at the floor then looked up. She was chewing her bottom lip and moving her hands. He could tell she was thinking of what to say, or how to say it. Briefly looking at him, her eyes burned with something indistinguishable, before dropping them to her hands. "There's something you aren't telling me. You can trust me, I thought we established that."
"It's not that I don't trust you," she finally said. Zuo raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms and legs. "I think something terrible is going to happen."
"You're basing this on intuition?"
"Yes and no. Why do you think I haven't said anything?" she whispered, her bottom lip trembled. Cocking his head to the side, Zuo reached his arm out, extending his hand for her to take. She looked at him from the corner of her eye before taking it. Zuo pulled her towards him and enclosed her in his arms. She reciprocated the gesture.
"Tell me."
"It's Fall."
"What does that even mean? Of course, it's Fall." Zuo looked down at her to find the side of her head resting on his chest. He took a deep breath in, smelling the floral shampoo she washed her hair with earlier that day.
"I mean," she began and looked up at him, her eyes filled with dread, "what about the Guiders? I've been reading old texts that my ancestors had about them and they're terrifying Zuo."
Zuo pulled a face. "No one's heard of or from them for years, Kai. If they were meant to come back then they would have when the Avatar came back. They've probably died off."
"What happens if you're wrong? Do you even know anything about them?" Kaili countered. Zuo sighed heavily.
"Is this why you've been ignoring me for the past few weeks? Because of some folk tales?" As soon as the last word slipped out of his mouth, Kaili pulled away and felt around her light jacket until she stopped on her left breast. Opening her jacket up, she pulled a dull coloured green book out of the hidden inner pocket and passed it over to Zuo. He looked at the book with curiosity before taking it from her.
The Centre of Nations: The Lost World of Guiders.
Zuko stood on deck, looking out at landscape as the land drew nearer. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath in of the clean ocean air. This was peaceful. Everything felt just right. The chaos that had unfolded in the past few years was reminiscent on his worn face, which surprised most people as he was only 23, but he looked at peace for once. A breeze passed and Zuko eventually released his breath. Life was good.
Zuko did not budge or open his eyes when footsteps neared him. They stopped mere feet from him and the person stayed quiet for a brief moment. He raised an eyebrow at the silence. "Fire Lord Zuko, we are approaching the United Republic of Nations. We shall be nearing shore in around twenty minutes," a raspy voice announced. Zuko opened his eyes and was surprised to see the republic so close.
"They know we're coming, General Tuo," Zuko replied, turning around to face him. General Tuo stiffened. Zuko pulled a face. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Fire Lord Zuko." A bead of sweat ran down the General's face as his bottom lip quivered slightly. Zuko's eyes narrowed.
"I will ask again, what is wrong?" Zuko asked slowly.
"I've just been feeling sick, Sir. I think I might have sea sickness now," General Tuo responded quickly. Zuko burst into laughter and patted him on the shoulder.
"Not to worry, we'll be landing soon! How about we find a good tea shop when we get to the United Republic of Nations?"
"It would be my honour," General Tuo said, bowing his head slightly. Apologising, the General excused himself from Zuko's presence and walked back to the cabin of the ship. Zuko chuckled, murmuring to himself about sea sickness, before turning around and facing the landscape once more. The incoming land was beautiful. As the ship approached land, he could see the mountains becoming more defined; their green hills vibrant against the light blue sky. Birds fly by overhead, cawing to one another, as they too made their way to the Nation. To imagine, Zuko thought, his father wanted to destroy this land. It was so serene, so beautiful, so green.
"Fire Lord Zuko," someone screamed, breaking the serenity Zuko was engulfed in. He turned around to find one of his men running towards him. "Get off the ship!"
"Excuse me?" Zuko asked and before he knew it, the running man was blasted off his feet by a fireball and landed a metre away from Zuko. He snapped his head back towards the superstructure and found fireballs after fireballs being flung towards him. He jumped out of the way, and fell to his side, watching as the deck caught on fire. "What the hell is going on? Where are my men?" Zuko yelled as he jumped to his feet.
He sprinted towards the superstructure of the ship, which was now engulfed in flames. He watched in horror as men were flung from the top of the ship and either fell into the ocean or the deck with a devasting thud. His eyes widened as he reached the door, pulling down on the lever before he was blasted off his feet. He was flown back several metres, landing on his back with a loud thud, and the metal door pinning him to the ground. Swearing under his breath, he gestured his hands and a fireball erupted from them, blasting the door off of him. He grunted as he sat up, trying to regain his composure but was interrupted with several blazing rings were being thrown at him. He jumped up in time to evade the attacks but found that his Fire Lord outfit was restraining him.
Ripping off the heavy outer layer, he was left in his red shirt and pants. With a grunt, he made a run for the door before stopping mere metres from it. Men were filling out of it, creating a wall between him and the door. Zuko looked at each of the men in the eyes, his heart sinking. These were men he had travelled with for years. These were men he trusted. These were his men. "What are you doing? What are you not helping with putting out these fires?" Zuko yelled. He continued to look at the men as none responded.
"I believe what you missed," Zuko heard General Tuo say as he emerged from behind the door and walked through the line of men, "is that we are not your supporters."
"This is treason!" Zuko barked as he spread his legs and outreached his arms. "You will pay for this."
"How will I pay for this when no one…alive…supports you on this ship?" General Tuo smirked. He outstretched his arms and showed his palms before large streams of fire erupted from them. In a fluid motion, Zuko redirected the flames. General Tuo laughed and lunged at Zuko. Zuko started in sprint as they both threw what firebending they could at one another in such close proximity. Fire daggers, balls, whips and streams erupted from the both of them as they inched closer to one another. Each of them avoided the other's attack by mere millimetres.
Zuko screamed as he charged his attack and threw it at General Tuo who moved swiftly out of the way. What the fuck is going on? Zuko's mind was screaming as he evaded oncoming attacks. I am better than this, what is happening? As if sensing Zuko's thoughts, General Tuo stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Zuko with a smirk.
"For Fire Lord Ozai." Zuko stopped dead in his tracks. General Tuo, without Zuko's realisation, was furiously gesturing his fingers.
"What?" Zuko breathed as sweat was raining from his forehead and down his face.
"What a waste," General Tuo chuckled darkly, his eyes becoming hooded. "You are pathetic, useless and weak. Look at you standing there." Zuko screamed and threw fireball after fireball at him. Out of breath he stopped and examined the damage to find that he had missed the General entirely. How is that possible? "You must be wondering how."
"You will pay for this," Zuko barked through gritted teeth. Tuo released a bellowing laugh, his fingers still moving rapidly.
"No, Zuko, you will be the one to pay the price for the release of your father." At the last minute, Zuko looked at Tuo's hands, his eyes widening. Before he could start his own firebending, a large pressurised ball of fire erupted from Tuo's hands. As Zuko tried to jump out of the ball's way, his leg got caught in the line of fire and was thrown back and just over the metal railing, to the point where he caught the third to last rail. Zuko screamed in pain and looked at his damaged leg that was hanging in the air. The metal railing was boiling hot but he couldn't remove it. He attempted to pull himself up but a booted foot landed on his fingers, causing him to cry out in pain. Tears welled up as he looked up. Tuo was looking down at him.
"Why?" Zuko breathed. Tuo shrugged gently and leaned down.
"Maybe if you weren't such a fuck up, we wouldn't be in this mess," Tuo whispered and kicked Zuko in the face. His grip weakened on the rail and fell into the ocean, being engulfed in darkness.
Zuko sat up, breathing heavily, in a comfortable bed with the duvet falling off his bandaged wrapped bare chest and his long hair framing his face. He looked around to find himself in an unknown, dimly lit room. The walls were of a light peach colour, with supposedly a lotus mural that ran across all four walls of the room. Two large windows were in the room, one was placed behind Zuko's bed and one to the left, which revealed the night sky. Two tables were placed on either side of the elevated bed, with fire lit lamps giving the room the dim lighting. A wardrobe was pressed up against the right wall with a vanity and mirror to the left of it. In front of Zuko was a large wooden door with a metal door knob.
Wincing, Zuko got out of the bed and nearly fell to the floor. He looked down at his right leg to find it wrapped up in a thick layer of bandages as well as a pair of red shorts. He moved towards the door and found a pair of slippers to the right of it. His eyebrows furrowed as he put them on. Where am I? I'm too comfortable to be kidnapped. What even happened? He opened the door slightly to be greeted by dimly lit hallway and a door opposite to him. He looked left, only to find a dead-end, and then turned his head to the right to a door that was left ajar with light emerging from it. He grunted and started towards the door, passing several tables with fire lit lamps. Paintings lined the wooden walls, all from artists that were unknown to Zuko, as well as small artefacts hung up in between the paintings. Who is this person?
Zuko peered through the gap of the door, only to be blinded by the brightness. He pushed the door a little more to find his nostrils hit with the scent of noodles being cooked. He pulled a confused face and immediately lit a fire ball in his right palm. He wasn't going to go in blind. He wasn't going to get sideswiped for the second time. He pushed the door with his left hand and leaned half of his body in, leaving his right hand out of the way. His eyes adjusted slowly, and painfully, to the brightness of the room.
"Oh, you're awake!" sang a young woman.
"Uh…yeah," Zuko replied. He blinked several times, eventually adjusting to the brightness of the room. He found himself in a lounge type area with several comfortable looking chairs that was connected to a kitchen that had a small table in it. A woman, who was about three inches shorter than him, had her back to the stove. She had her brown hair down, with round brown eyes watching him intently. Her lips were curved into a smile as she held a wooden spoon in her right hand. "Where am I and why is it so bright in this room?" Zuko asked as he looked around, fisting his palm so the fireball went away. He walked in to find the source of light.
"Well, you're in my house," laughed the young woman. He pulled a face. "And it's bright because of something we like to call light."
He had no patience for this. "Where am I and why is it so bright in this room when it's dark outside?" he repeated. The young woman raised her eyebrows then rolled her eyes. She turned around and focused on the pot in front of her.
"If you must know, you're in a town called Lian which is in the Earth Kingdom; and it's bright because there is a white fireball in the chandelier in the centre of the room," she replied.
"There's no such thing as white fire," Zuko retorted as he walked further into the room and identified the chandelier.
"Basic knowledge of science tells us that the white part of the flame is the hottest," the young woman said in a matter-of-fact tone. Does she not know who I am?
"And how did you manage to create this?" Zuko asked. He examined the white ball in the large glass bulb. It was bright and intrigued him. He had ever only seen the generic red fire as well as the deadly blue fire his sister used on a regular basis before she was sent to jail.
"That's a story for another time," she replied quickly. Before Zuko could ask a follow up question, she turned around and slammed the pot on the table. "The noodles are fresh and hot so it might be good to eat since you're awake!"
Zuko sat down at the table as she placed a bowl in front of him. His stomach growled loudly, making her laugh. She grabbed the spoon and poured the noodles and soup into his bowl. She placed a pair of wooden chopsticks next to the bowl and sat opposite him, doing the same for herself. Zuko inspected the food before looking up and watching the girl casually eat her noodles. She slurped up the noodle in her mouth and swallowed. "It's not poisonous if you're wondering. I literally got it from the same pot as you. You watched me put it into your bowl."
"How do I know you're not going to kill me? Did you know I was going to wake up at this time?"
"Because if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have put you in my bed and I wouldn't be sleeping in my shitty guest room," she snapped, her eyebrows furrowing, "Also, this food wasn't meant for you but since you're awake you can have some." He looked down at his body and realised she had been the one looking after him while he was out. How long was I out for though? He thought as he slowly dug into his meal. It was good, he admitted to himself, especially for his empty stomach. He paused for a moment and wished he was back home, eating the food his cooks would prepare for him. Home, he thought before remembering General Tuo's face that was framed with flames. He clutched his chopsticks, his knuckles turning white, as he stared at the half-eaten bowl.
"…I'm sorry if the food isn't good?" the young girl said weakly, her voice cracking at the end. Zuko looked up to find her brown eyes studying him. "There has been a shortage of food recently so it's not the best meal. I mean, if you want proper food, you'll have to wait until morning, myself and the other women are cooking-"
"Uh, no, it's okay. Don't worry." Zuko continued eating his meal, looking down at his bowl. He felt embarrassed that he had offended the person who had been looking after him for God knows how long. He was drawn out of his thoughts when the chair opposite him scraped the floor. He looked up to find the young woman getting up and putting her bowl in the sink. He looked at her red silk robe as he ate before realising it was a product of the fire nation. His thoughts then went to the white fire ball in the centre of the room. "Are you from the Fire Nation?"
"You ask a lot of questions," she replied and turned around, flinging her brown hair behind her shoulder. He narrowed his eyes at her while she rolled hers. "Who I am isn't important-"
"Can I at least know your name so I can thank you?"
"I'm Liang, but you can call me Li if you want," she replied. Liang crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "Are you Zuko?"
"What is it to you?" Zuko asked her, throwing back her apprehensive questions from earlier. She raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, I gave you the courtesy of knowing my name. How long do you think you've been out for, probably Zuko of the Fire Nation?" she said.
"I don't appreciate how you talk to me."
"Well get used to it because you're in my house."
"I don't have to get used to this!" Zuko snapped. Liang pulled her head back before clicking her tongue. She walked to her left and grabbed a parchment from the table top before placing it in front of Zuko. Zuko's eyes widened as he read through the parchment.
"Fire Lord Zuko is no more," Liang said, repeating the headline of the parchment. Zuko eyes snapped to brown ones and he studied her.
"Why are you showing me this?"
"Because when day breaks, it'll be the start of the Fall Festival in Lian and it will be the talk of the town. You," she said, pausing as she gestured her head towards him, "look like Zuko. Do I care if you're actually ex-Fire Lord Zuko? No. Do I care if you are and your presence hurts some of the people in this town? Yes." Zuko stared at her hard. He was taken aback by how she was treating him, as if he were dirt to her.
"You must have some issues."
"That is beside the point," she shrugged. "How long do you think you've been out for?"
"I don't know, maybe a couple of days?"
"Well, sorry to break it to you but it's been two weeks. During those two weeks, those news flyers have been circulating all the kingdoms, and straight from the-"
"You're talking as if I am Zuko," he interrupted. He was uncomfortable at the fact she was so sure and definite that he is Zuko. She's right.. Liang turned around and faced the sink. She twisted the knob and started washing her bowl and the materials she used to cook the noodles.
"Your scar is pretty hard to miss," she replied loudly. Zuko gestured with his hand and the fire ball came alive once again. The flames whooshed quietly, but he saw that Liang was unmoved by the gesture. "If you attack me, right here, not only will people come to see who hurt me but other people will come as well. Remember, they haven't found your body yet. I don't want to get in the middle of this."
"So why are you helping me?" Zuko asked, rising to his feet. His fire ball still lit, he inched towards her. He started to pull his arm back, ready to throw the ball at her.
"I need a helper for the week-long Fall festival," she replied. Turning around with her half-filled bowl of water, she looked at the fire ball. In a smooth motion, she threw the water over his right hand, burning out the flame. Zuko was on his last nerve with this girl.
"I am not going to help you."
She shrugged. "Suit yourself," she replied. She turned back around with bowl in hand and continued to wash, leaving Zuko seething with anger as he stared at her back.