A/N: Hey everyone! So excited to share my newest fan fiction, Ashes and Blood! I'm taking a bit of time off from my story FOD because this idea has been playing on my mind for a while now. But not to worry i'll be going back as soon as I can. Please follow/review/favorite! Suggestions are always appreciated as a new writer!
Disclaimer: I do no own Avatar the Last Airbender all characters belong to Mike and Bryan,
Warnings: Rated M for: VIolence, Character death, some language, some sextual themes. More to come if needed.
The cloaked figure sped down the dark corridor with eyes straight ahead. His pace was quick, but not enough to draw attention to himself if he were to be seen.
Every so often, he turned his hooded face around to make sure he was not being followed. This night was too important to be interrupted…he only had a limited amount of time before it was too late. And his failure was not an option. He needed to be swift if he is to achieve his task.
His footsteps could not be heard as he walked on the cold marble floor. His giant looming shadow was his only company when passing the moonlit windows. The darkness of the night blended with the black of his cloak, concealing him from wandering eyes.
He stopped at the end of the corridor and peered around the edge. The man scanned the wide expanse of the room until he finally spotted where he was told to go…
"There will be two guards stationed in front of the Fire Lords room. They are both Master Fire Benders…you will need to approach them with caution."
"Nothing I haven't done before. I will not fail."
The figure thought about his next move carefully. How to enter without being seen…?
He scanned the room more diligently, until his lips slowly lifted to a smirk.
There. That's was his way in. He looked up to see large pipes that ran in many directions along the ceiling of the Great Hall.
The cloaked man stepped out from around the corner and slid down the wall to get closer. He kept to the shadows of the dimly lit room, where he knew he would not be spotted.
When he got to his wanted position he looked back to the guards. They were stiff…unmoving. If he didn't know better he would have thought they were stone statues.
All it takes is one sound… The cloaked man looked back to the pipes and narrowed his eyes in concentration.
He raised his sleeved arms into the air; slowly he spread his fingers apart and began to feel his element call to him.
He could feel the water in the pipe respond to his movements. It swayed gently back in forth at the push and pull of his gestures.
The man concentrated harder; slowly he clenched his fist and could feel the water inside of the pipes get warmer, until it was nearly boiling.
Just a few more seconds…he thought as he closed his eyes tighter. The sharp crack from the bend in the pipe echoed throughout the silent hall. The man relaxed his fingers and smirked at the reaction from the heated water.
He looked back to the guards and watched, as they looked up in surprise to the sudden noise in the quiet night.
"What was that?" The tall one asked. The smaller one looked around the hall with squinted eyes.
"Sounded like someone knocking into something?" he said warily. The other looked at him with raised eyebrows,
"You don't think…it could be an intruder? Do you…?" He said giving his partner one questioning look before they took off down the hall in the direction of the loud noise.
The cloaked figure smirked at how gullible they were. When he concluded that there was no one else in the hall, he silently made his way out of the shadows.
He approached the grand door with caution. Now this was the tricky part…
"The Fire Lord is not an idiot. He is smart. If you are not to your upmost of silence he will hear you."
"How do you propose I go about that"
"Do not use your bending when you are in his presence. He will sense your chi. Do it…the old fashioned way."
The man smirked.
Quickly he reached out and grabbed the long cold metal door handle. He tugged at it cautiously to see if it was unlocked.
When the door responded to his movements, he took no time to hesitate…quickly he slipped through the opening and placed the door back.
Now the man stood in the dark sitting room of the Fire Nations ruler's bedroom. This must be the antechamber they had told him about.
It was a wide room, with a Grand fireplace, a working desk, many shelves filled with hundreds of assortments of books. There was a small couch to the right of the room that sat next to a small Pi Sho table.
It was serenely quiet. One lone candle burned on the Fire Lords desk that filled the room with an auburn glow. His shadow loomed above him with a haunted look.
The man walked to the other side of the room, where another grand door awaited him. He knew that this was the entrance to the Nations leaders sleeping corridors. He knew it was just about time.
Again he placed his hand on the handle. Tugging gently he felt the door open slightly and in one swift movement slipped inside.
Many years of sneaking through places he shouldn't be have taught him to be light on his feet. Unheard by the world around him.
The man stood with his back to the door. He took in his surroundings as quick as he could.
The room was smaller than the antechamber, but was still just as grand. Another great fireplace loomed in the right corner of the room. A few candles burned around a small rectangular pillow on the floor in from of the fireplace, which he suspected was for the Leaders meditation.
To the left of the fireplace was a set of doors that were covered by expensive red curtains that hid the almost full moon. The man also suspected it led to a balcony.
His eyes drifted back right to where another door was slightly open by the fireplace. He leaned his head foreword to get a better look. Inside that door was a bathing room of what he could tell.
But it was when the man looked all the way to his far left did he find what he was looking for.
He could feel the blood in his veins begin to run hot at the sleeping figure. Lying in a massive red curtained bed was the Fire Lord himself.
Even though the room was almost as dark as his cloak he could clearly make out the sleeping man.
It wasn't very hard with his pale white skin gleaming In the hint of candle light. His long ebony hair was tied into a low tail to keep out of his face while he slept.
He had one red sheet draped across his bare chest that also glowed white. There was no mistaking who this man was.
The figure laid his eyes on the most noticeable feature of the man. Glowing almost a fiery red in the candlelight was the Fire Lords scar.
"You wont be able to mistake him. He is marked with a burn plastered on the left side of his face."
The man nodded at this comment in understanding. So he had heard.
"You are not curious as to where the young lord received such a mark?"
The man frowned, "I was taught not to ask questions"
The man looked intently at the red scar. It was quite menacing and he was curious to know how he received it. But the less he knew of his assignment the better. The less of him he knew the better.
The man looked to the floor and smiled. Marble…perfect for sneaking across because there was no chance of something squeaking.
Quietly the man took heisted steps toward the bed. Step by step he made sure nothing made a sound.
He was as silent as night as he approached the Nations Leader. Until he was hovering right above the Fire Lord did he stop walking.
The man shifted his arm inside of his cloak and felt the hard hilt of his dagger. He wrapped his hands firmly around the weapon and slid it out into the open.
He admired the tool. He raised it to eye level and watched as his hooded reflection stared back at him. The curve of the metal was only work of a great master sword maker.
He then reached inside his cloak once more until his hand wrapped securely around a small vile.
He pulled the object up and raised it to his eyes. A honey thick brown liquid slowly moved in the vile as he moved it back and forth.
Quickly he pressed his thumb to the lid and watched as it unlatched. Moving his dagger underneath the vile, the man began to pour the substance on the tip of his weapon.
He knew it didn't take much for it to work. He silently moved the vile back into his cloak. The man looked back down at the sleeping figure.
"You will need to be swift. Plunge it right through his heart and make your way out as silently as you came in. He should not struggle."
The man eyed his superior warily. He knew what they wanted him to do. But he couldn't help but feel the need to do it his way.
"Is that going to be a problem?"
The man looked up from his thoughts, "No. I will not fail the resistance."
His cheeks began to heat, and he could feel his hands begin to shake with anger.
He could not just deny all the wrong that this man had caused him. He could not make this death quick like his superiors wanted him to. No. If he were to die for this, he wanted to make the reason good. He wanted him to suffer.
"I will not fail the resistance!" The man scream as he swiftly lifted the dagger into the air and plunged the blade into the Fire Lords stomach.
He had just enough time to securely get the blade into the man before two wide golden globes stared up at him. A scream escaped the Firelord as he jumped from his bed, hands wrapped around the hilt of the dagger that was placed into his middle. His torso was on fire, and Zuko knew that was no good feeling.
The cloaked man jumped out of the way just in time as a great flume of red flame shot over his head.
The Fire Lord charged at the intruder, ignoring the searing pain that came from his abdomen. His adrenaline pumped at the shock at what just occurred, and it blinded him from most of the pain he was feeling.
The cloaked mans eyes went wide at the sudden blast of Fire. He should be on the ground screaming?
The man quickly looked around him to find his easiest escape route.
"Guards! Guards! Intruder!" The Fire Lord scream with all his energy as he shot another blast of flame to the cloaked man with one hand and the other quickly pulling the dagger out.
The man quickly decided the balcony was his best bet, and sprinted toward the door.
The Fire Lord hobbled after the man, as he began to feel the pain more. In the distance he could hear the shouts of orders from his guards.
The hooded man quickly grabbed the door handle and tugged. But of all doors he had to go through these were the ones that were locked!
He turned around, terror shooting up through his body for the first time in years. He had miscalculated this.
He could see the Fire Lord struggling to stay on his feet as he made his way to him. He punched his fist out in an effort to blast the intruder with fire but no flame escaped his fist.
The man smirked; the poison was already taking effect. He turned back around to the door and quickly unlocked it, then pulling it wide he slipped through the door.
But that was not before the Fire Lord was able to take a fist full of the intruder's cloak in his hands and pull.
The black cloak came off of the man in a heap on the floor. The man looked back in horror as he locked eyes with the Fire Lord himself.
The Fire Lord stared at a man he could not recognize, his cold blue eyes stared at him with hate, and Zuko could make out a jagged scar that ran along his right cheek.
The man had just enough time to pull back the cloak from the leaders hands before the Fire lord fell into a heap on the ground. He looked up to see guards racing to the entrance of his sleeping corridors and decided that this was his time to go.
Quickly he ran to the balcony, and easily swept over the side. Running into the black night, not to be seen again.
The next morning….
Katara inhaled the cool Fire nation breeze. She had her eyes closed for the last twenty minutes, trying to calm her stressed nerves in the warm sunrise. Appa had been flying for the whole of the night, traveling non-stop to take her and Aang from the Western Air temple to the Fire nation.
Since Zuko had sent them his messenger hawk, asking for them to meet him at his home for meetings on the hearings of possible resistance sightings in his nation, Katara had been finding herself having trouble sleeping.
She had received the message from the Firelord about four days ago, whilst retouching an Air nomad painting she had found in an abandoned room in the Western Temple.
Aang was out at the time, doing spirits knows what. It had been this way for a while now. Actually it had been this way for a good two years.
She had found herself thinking about all sorts of different things as she rested in Appa's saddle.
It has been six years since that day. The day of Sozin's Comet. It felt like yesterday…the years had just gone by too fast. She had kept herself busy. She needed to keep her mind off of the battles and the wars, so she didn't mind if she felt more alone then she's ever been.
Her new life was quaint. It was busy and sometimes stressful, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Or so she told herself. Some days she felt like she was the happiest she has ever been. Then there were the days that she felt as if something important was missing from her life.
Ever since the war ended she had become the ambassador of the Southern Water tribe. She traveled the world with her best friend Aang to help where it is needed. She promoted trade, took care of war debts, and leant a healing hand in the villages devastated by the war.
She had watched the world reshape its self. Watched how Aang began to create balance between the Nations with their leaders help.
He had kept himself busy also. It had become his new mission the last few years to rebuild the Air Temples to their prior beauty. He has been searching towns wherever they went to find scholars, historians, and philosophers to ask them if they might be interested in becoming Air Acolytes. And to Katara's surprise they have had a great response.
There are at least 30 permanent residents in each temple, who live there and help rebuild and restore Air Nation culture and teachings. Aang couldn't be happier.
The world had come a long way from how it was six years ago. Ba Sing Se opened its gates permanently to the world, and took in all of the many new customs its people had to offer. Some now called it Union City, because people of all nations live and thrive there.
That was not the only city that learnt to ingrate, Aang and Fire Lord Zuko had begun the process of building a great city that would be the center of the worlds politics and cultures. It will go by the name of Republic City. It is just in its early stages of production, but Zuko and Aang have big plans in store for it.
Not only has the Earth Kingdom, and Air nations changed, but also her home and the Fire Nation.
The Southern Pole has grown ten times the size it was during the war. With the help of their sister tribe in the North, her home has raised in population ten fold. Benders live there, and are helping build a wall that will one day be as grand as the Northern Water Tribes.
Katara thought about her brother Sokka and how he has become her tribes interim chief, learning everything her father had to teach him to become their leader.
But the greatest change Katara has seen has been with the Fire Nation. Fire Lord Zuko has been teaching his nation love and peace. To accept others and to realize that no Nation is better than the other.
Katara found herself smiling at this. He's changed a lot from the angry boy she met at the Southern pole at 14. And it surprised her that the last time she saw Zuko…or for that fact Suki, Mai or Ty Lee was about five years ago…everyone has just been so busy. Maybe that's why she's finding herself nervous to see him.
"Katara?" She heard Aang say from Appa's head. Katara opened her eyes and squinted from the bright Fire Nation sun, letting her thoughts slip out.
She stretched out her arms and looked over and gave him a smile, "Yes Aang?" she asked.
"We're here!" He said happily. Katara's eyes shot open in surprise and jumped to the side of the saddle to look down.
She had to smile, before she never really could admire the beauty of this nation with all the war and hatred spewing from it. But now that she's here, now that everything is different she saw what Zuko fought so hard to get back for.
It was like the ground glittered a fiery gold. There were so many trees that were turning the color of red and orange with the fall. Katara saw lakes and ponds and fields of flowers. Then in the distance she saw the volcano that held the palace.
"Wow Aang it's beautiful." Katara said in awe as Appa flew over the brim of the volcanoes to reveal the Fire Nation Palace. Katara noticed many beautiful things here. Nothing reminded her of the once ash covered building of the war. Just gardens and flowers and fruits.
But Katara noticed something out of the corner of her eye as they flew lower toward the stables.
"Aang? Why are there so many guards? I thought Zuko cut back since the war ended to give them time with their family's?" Katara asked as she saw at least twenty guards lined along the front door of the palace. Then to both sides of the entrance to the volcano fifteen more.
Katara watched as Aang stood to look over Appa down to the palace as they approached the ground. His face-hardened and he closed his eyes in concentration. After a few seconds he shook his head and clenched his jaw.
"I don't sense anything," he said to her turning his back and guiding Appa to the floor.
Katara sighed; she had noticed Aang getting like this more and more lately. He'll go into silence and in deep concentration then open his eyes in annoyance.
She shook her head and held onto Appa's saddle as he touched the ground. Katara grabbed her bag as Aang jumped off Appa to catch her things she threw down at him.
Katara smiled as her heart began to pound in excitement. She slid down Appa's fur and felt her long brown curls fly behind her.
When she landed on the ground she felt her smile fade at what greeted her.
About four guards stood in front of Aang in an armed stance, which took poor Aang by surprise.
"Who are you? State your business!" One guard yelled out. Katara furrowed her brow and put her hand onto her water skin that rested on her hip. She walked toward Aang and he looked over at her, noticing the face that she made when she was about to trap someone in ice. He put out his hand to her to hold her back and turned toward the guard.
"I am Avatar Aang, and this is Master Water Bender Katara of the Southern Water tribe, here on behalf of Fire Lord Zuko's request." Aang said to the men.
Katara crossed her arms and smirked at the way the men's faces grew in surprise.
"Our apologies." One man said as they backed off. Then one of the guards, which were a little smaller than the others stepped foreword in eagerness.
"Are you Katara? The healer, who saved our Fire Lord many years ago?" He asked her worried.
Katara smiled lightly, but began to feel that pit in her stomach form with the feeling that something wasn't right, "Yes…I am." She said to the man who looked to the others in a sort of worried relief.
"You must come with us, Fire Lord Zuko is in trouble, he was stabbed by an intruder and needs your healing!" The guard yelled as he pointed toward the palace.
Katara felt her veins go cold. She stood there in place and couldn't urge her body to move foreword. Horrible, haunting memories flew threw her mind. Memories that she thought she stored away and forgotten.
It was like she was seeing Zuko jump in front of the lightning bolt all over again, she felt helpless.
"Katara! Let's Go!" Aang yelled at her tugging at her arms. Katara snapped out of her nightmares and realized the guards were already running away.
Katara dropped her bag to the ground and ran with Aang after the guards. She hadn't run like this since she was a girl running away from the Fire Nation. She pulled ahead of all the guards except one who showed her the way.
In the blur of running through the corridors she made out hazy visions of Fire Palace staff running about.
Every single staff member stood in the hallways and watched them run to Zuko, almost as if they didn't know what to do with out their Fire Lord.
Katara noticed as they rounded the third corner that it was starting to look like the healing corridors.
The guard opened a door and Katara saw Fire nation healers standing at white cots with a few patients. She looked around for Zuko but didn't see him. But whom she did see made her mouth drop.
"Katara? Aang?" she heard Sokka yell over to her from down the large room.
"Sokka?" Katara said in barely an audible whisper. The tears that were already brimming on her eyes from Zuko fell over the edge when she saw her brother for the first time in a year. She ran down the rest of the hallway and he ran to her too and swept her up in a quick hug.
"As much as I'm so happy to see you, we've got a much bigger problem," he said to her holding grabbing her shoulder in a worried tone.
The guard sprinted a few more feet passed them to a door at the end of the corridor and opened it abruptly. Katara, Sokka and Aang followed him into a separate room with one hospital bed in it.
Katara stopped suddenly at the sight of what lay inside the room. In the corner of her eye she vaguely noticed the fact that Suki and Toph stood off to the left of what held her main focus.
Zuko lay flat on the hospital bed, screaming. His arms were flaring as two healers held them away from his clearly blistering abdomen.
Katara felt as if someone took hold of her body and did all the following acts for her.
She ran to the side of his bed to examine the extent of his injury. Sweat covered his whole upper body, his now very long black hair hung in a loose in heaps across his chest.
Katara shook her head at the rancid smell that radiated from what looked like a…stab wound maybe. As she touched the out side of the injury trying to determine how to face it. Zuko hissed in pain at when she touched the blistering wound.
Katara looked at his face, still Zuko but…older. His eyes were shut closed in pain.
"Fire Lord Zuko was asleep in his bed last night when an intruder made his way in. He was stabbed, and the dagger was infused with viper-rat venom, master Katara." A young Fire nation healer said to her.
Katara felt her throat thicken, "Get me some fresh water!" she yelled to her. The young girl hurried off before she even finished her sentence to the other side of the room where a sink was.
Katara shook her head at how Zuko was, "Katara is there anything we can do to help?" she heard the worried voice of Suki ask from behind her. Katara turned around to see the helpless expressions of her friends.
Katara scratched her sweaty forehead, "No, no there's not much you can do but pray. Maybe it's best if you all wait outside, to give me some space." Katara said as she looked back down at Zuko.
He was mumbling incoherent things and Katara's brow only furrowed more.
"Of course." She heard Suki say from behind her, and the movement of her friends leaving and the room getting bigger.
"Oh Zuko…" she said in pain as she leaned close to him and moved a piece of his long hair behind his ear. He mumbled in response but still did not open his eyes. Katara looked up as the healer girl handed her a bucket of water, she grabbed the lid and set it down at her feet.
She sighed, time to get to work. Katara quickly did her long brown hair into a braid to keep it out of her way, and pulled back the covers to get a better look.
Katara's breath caught as her eyes focused on something she hadn't been looking for at first. She reached out her hand and touched the scar that set in the middle of the Fire benders chest and remembered that this mark was caused by the lightning bolt that should have killed her.
Katara then quickly reached down with an open hand and grabbed at her element. Quickly the water formed around her hands and began to glow a brilliant blue.
She reached for the open wound that blistered green at the edges from the venom and placed her hands on it gently.
She thought Zuko was screaming a lot before. She quickly removed her hands as he tried to lift himself up, but only ended up collapsing on the bed in exhaustion. She looked over at him and by the looks of it he seemed to be passed out. It was a small blessing.
She again reached down to her element and summoned it, a familiar glowing blue met her eyes again as she placed her hands back onto the wound.
She eyed him warily and concluded he was too passed out to notice anymore, so she began to move her hands. Katara felt for the venom inside her friend.
She had to close her eyes in concentration to find the liquid that was out of place. She moved her hands in a skillful way, almost like an artist played their instrument.
Finally she found what she was looking for. It was thicker then his blood, and with her healing hands she grabbed onto the venom and began to pull.
When it was out of the wound, and the edges of his cut was no longer green and pussy, Katara threw away the water she was using and reached for clean water.
She looked down at the wound, it already looking better, she also looked over at Zuko's face, and his breathing was no longer jagged.
Katara sighed in relief and said a silent thank you to the spirits. When her hands began to glow blue once again Katara went back to work on healing the now battered flesh.
She placed her hands again on the wound and closed her eyes. She felt the tissue began to heal itself, the muscle began to knit itself together again, and when she could no longer feel the skin open, Katara opened her eyes then pulled her hands away.
She was satisfied with her work for now. He was healed and he was going to get better, and that was what mattered.
But she found herself staring too hard at the wound and the…scar it had left behind. Right now it was an ugly jagged red mark that went across is lower right of his stomach, with more healing sessions it would fade, but he'd still be left with a mark.
Katara felt her eyes began to water at that thought. Just another scar to add to his collection. She shook her head, it just wasn't fair. Katara felt herself fall to her knees and land with her face in her hands on his built forearm.
Her work made her body exhausted, and she could only lie there in her hands with tears in her eyes if she didn't want to pass out herself.
"Ka-Katara?" She heard above her in an all too familiar low voice. She quickly sat up ignoring the pain that shot to her forehead at her quick movements.
What greeted her made her already tear stained cheeks fill up again. Zuko moved his head slowly over to look at her; his eyes began to open slowly.
Soon Katara was staring into the foreign golden globes of her friend, the Fire Lord, and before she could find the sense to stop herself, she jumped foreword and wrapped her arms around his head.
"Ouch..Katara." he said to her as he softly patted her back. Katara moved back quickly and chuckled with tears in her eyes.
"Sorry." She sniffed and began to look him over again to make sure he was all right.
"No… don't say that. You have nothing…to be sorry for." Zuko muffled as he strained his body up onto his elbows, then into a sitting position.
"Zuko! Don't move you'll hurt yourself more!" She scream to him as she grabbed onto his shoulder helping him into his sitting position.
He laughed at her a little, and looked over to her worried expression, it was the same old Katara just a little…older. Maybe a lot older as he caught sight of more of her. Zuko shook his head and quickly looked back up to her blue eyes and took her hand in his.
"Thank you" he said to her in all seriousness. She smiled at him with the most sincerity and nodded.
That was when they heard the door open and the calls of there friends,
"Wow sparky you sure did give us a scare!" They heard Toph yell as she walked in followed by Aang, Sokka and Suki. They were all smiling at the sight of seeing Zuko healed.
"Hello to you too Toph it's nice to see you, to see all of you." Zuko said to his friends sincerely. He looked at each one of them and smiled, till he landed on Katara… whom he found himself looking longer at then the others. She was smiling at Toph, who walked over and gave her a short hug.
"Good too see you too sugarqueen, its been too long!" she yelled giving her a short punch on the shoulder. Katara laughed at her small friend, who by the looks of it was really no longer that small.
"Zuko…how did this happen?" they heard Aang say from behind them all. He stood there with a worried expression. Katara stared at him, he had that face on that he had when he didn't understand something, or when something was off.
Zuko smiled at his friend in sadness, "It's what I've called you all hear to tell you….they just came a little sooner than I expected." He said looking down and clenching his jaw.
The air in the room began to get thick with anticipation, "Who Zuko?" asked Katara as she squeezed his hand. He looked up at her and the rest of his friends in anger.
Zuko sighed, "They are called The Phoenix Fighters."
A/N: Reviews are greatly appreciated! Chapter two up soon!