Water shot up from the surface of the sea and formed a wide ring around Roku.
"Very well," said her master, "keep it going…"
Roku kept the water swirling around her. She had been training for hours. The setting sun behind her made the sea look scarlet. The ring wavered for a moment. Concentrate, she thought to herself. She proceeded to execute a series of movements with complex footwork while manipulating the water, making it follow her movements like a large snake. The thought amused her. A translucent, floating, faceless snake… At one point, she saw master's face contorted through the translucent, floating, faceless snake. He looked very weird.
"Attack!" her master commanded.
Roku sent the water-snake flying like a dart towards the dummy. She had been instructed to earth-bend about a dozen of those dummies out of the hard dark rock around the temple. She hit it squarely in the chest. Her master smiled in satisfaction and she looked at him eagerly, sweat dripping down her brow. Master chuckled.
"Yes, that will be all, Roku."
Roku beamed at him, bowed and jumped off the rock, into the sea. The water engulfed her and she welcomed the sudden shock coolness and the bubbles all around her scurrying to the surface. She hadn't realized how hot training had made her. Soon Roku swam to the surface, gasping for air.
"You really are improving," Master called from the shore.
"I know!" she called in turn and dove back in just in time to hear him laugh. Water had been extremely difficult for her at first, but recently she was getting the hang of it. She used water-bending to reach the bottom faster, but it got trickier the deeper she went. When she resurfaced, master was already climbing up the steps from the rocky shore to the temple. Roku normally practiced her water-bending at night, as the moon made things more convenient with that element. This time, however, master had thought it would be more challenging to try without that benefit. Plus the Fire Sages were performing a ritual that night and, being a Fire Sage, master had to attend.
High above, at the temple's highest tower, Fire Lord Ozai observed the swimming girl. He had been watching for quite some time, almost since the beginning of her training session.
"I believe the child is making progress," he said to the High Sage.
"Indeed, my Lord," said the old man standing in the shadows behind him, just as respectful people always pointlessly comment at a Lord's remark.
"Make sure she trains harder."
"I shall see to that myself."
The High Sage moved closer to the window. The sun had almost completely sunk into the horizon. The old man was several floors higher than he was supposed to be by now.
"You seem to allow her too much freedom." Ozai watched the girl splash about in the waves. "The Avatar could use more discipline."
"As is your wish, Fire Lord."
"She will be ready soon," Ozai continued, watching the Avatar crawl out of the water and stand up on the rock. "I shall speak with her tonight."
The High Sage was taken aback by the last statement. The girl had been visited by the Fire Lord before, but this time she had received no warning. An unexpected visit by him…
"As you wish, my Lord," he said, trying to conceal his reluctance. Ozai showed no sign of noticing. Even if he had, he did not care for it.
The chamber was quickly getting darker. The High Sage shifted anxiously. He ought to have already left; he had to begin the ritual. He did not dare, however, leave without permission.
"You are free to go." It seemed as if Ozai had read the old man's mind.
"Thank you, Fire Lord." And with that, the High Sage exited the chamber.
Roku dragged her feet through the torch lit corridor leading to her room. She did feel rather tired, although there had been worse days. Such as her fire-bending training with Sage Rao, an exceptionally unpleasant middle-aged man, who smelled strongly of spices, never failed to exhaust her and allowed her very little rest. Roku opened the door to her chamber and her eyes widened. Someone was standing in the middle of the room, someone whose hair was longer and darker than her own. He was the last person she had expected or wanted to see. Roku instantly recognized his heavy crimson and gold robes, high cheekbones, penetrating golden eyes that gave you the feeling they could violate your thoughts. Plus, the crown.
"Fire Lord Ozai," she croaked. A moment later it occurred to her to bow. Roku dropped to her knees.
"Rise, child."
Roku rose. His voice was deeper than any she had ever heard. It never failed to give her the creeps. She suddenly felt very conscious of how soaked she was from the top of her head to her toes. Her sandals were sort of dry, though.
"I am here because I wish you would answer some questions."
She blinked. "Of course, Fire Lord." Her wet clothes clung to her. That increased her sense of vulnerability.
There was silence, then- "How old are you now, Avatar Roku?"
Roku gulped. "Fifteen."
He asked her several unimportant things about the treatment she received from the Sages and her training. One could easily tell he had no interest in those matters. What does he want?
"Do you meditate often?" His tone and furrowed brow made Roku suspect he actually cared for that next answer.
"I guess… I mean yes. I do meditate, several times a week."
"Of your own accord or do the Fire Sages command you to?"
"They… They ask me to meditate." She pushed some strands of hair out of her face. "I have recently started to do it on my own."
Ozai raised an eyebrow. "Did you see anything?"
Roku's heart started to beat faster as she suspected what he was after. "N-no. The Sages say meditating will make my chi flow unblocked."
"I would discourage you from lying or concealing things from me, Roku." The threat in his voice was evident.
Her mouth went dry. "I'm not!" She was positive that the Fire Lord could now hear her heartbeat. It would have been easy and right to tell the truth, but something inside her kept telling her to lie, to hide what she had seen. Then she had an idea. "I've only… I've only had fleeting visions… Images from some kind of past life..." Roku saw his golden eyes narrow. He stroked his goatee.
"Go on," Ozai urged her, intrigued. Roku braced herself.
"They don't make much sense, they're… inconsistent." The visions had actually been pretty clear and consistent. "I saw something like a battle," she continued, "between some fire-benders and a woman. She was very powerful and I… I felt connected to her somehow; like she was… a part of me." He was buying it. She might actually pull this off.
"Did she speak to you?"
"No," said Roku firmly.
"Do you know who the woman was?
"I'm not sure. She felt familiar." Roku wondered whether she should continue. "Do you think that I may be connected to the previous Avatar? Spiritually?" Of course I am, she thought, I know I am.
"That is possible. It is one of the reasons I came to see you tonight. You said that the woman was fighting men from our nation."
"I did."
"Then you understand that she was an enemy to us. That woman was likely the previous Avatar who opposed our nation's expansion."
"I understand," Roku agreed. She felt confident that her deception was successful. She also felt extremely uncomfortable for numerous reasons, including her being drenched in salt-water.
"Are you certain she did not contact you?" Ozai looked into her eyes; his gaze was scrutinizing.
Roku did not blink. Be brave. Kyoshi said I have to be brave. "I am."
"Are you aware of your duty, Roku?" The question hid warning.
"My duty is to the Fire Nation and to you, Fire Lord."
"I am the Fire Nation, child. I embody this nation's past, present and future. Our legacy falls on my shoulders. My duty is to heed that legacy, to finish what my grandfather started. Fire Lord Sozin's vision was that the majesty of our nation be shared with the rest of the world. We are going to become the greatest empire this world has ever known and your part is crucial in making this vision a reality."
"I understand," said Roku blankly.
"Your nation shall need you soon enough.
This is your destiny.
Are you willing to serve me?"
Her eyes never leaving the Fire Lord's, Roku bowed. "I am."
"Do you know what the meeting's about?"
Prince Zuko was leaning against the wall next to his sister's vanity, arms crossed. He was in formal armor, watching Princess Azula's handmaidens fix her long dark hair into a top knot.
"No, Zuzu," the Princess replied. "For the last time, I know no more than you do." She sounded mildly exasperated at him, as usual.
"You always say that; even when you do know more." More often than not, their father divulged information only to his favored child.
Azula rolled her eyes. Zuko looked the other way and scowled.
"You're like a child," she said, as a hairpin was placed in her hair.
"I am not. I just want to know what's happening."
Azula ignored him and extended her hands for the servants to put on her formal gloves. Traditionally made out of silk or lace with pointy gold talons at the fingertips, they were to be worn by the Fire Princess. Azula, however had had hers fashioned out of sleek black leather and demanded that the talons have the length of her ring finger's middle phalanx and be razor-sharp. The princess then had one of the servants apply red paint on her lips. The servant was scarcely done when the prince declared that "that would be all" and sent the handmaidens away. They looked to the Princess for approval before leaving her chambers.
"No," stated Azula, standing up from the vanity.
He grabbed her belt and pulled her against him. "Oh come on, we have time."
"We don't, Zuzu. Father will not be pleased if we make him wait."
She was too close for him to see her mouth, but he could hear the slight smile in her voice and she wasn't pushing him away. The prince took his chances and kissed her. She let him. Azula's fingers crept up her brother's neck as he pushed her against the vanity, savoring her reciprocation. He soon grew bolder and ran his hand up her thigh. He heard a vial hit the floor right after that. However, the second his tongue touched hers, her knee found his belly and he landed on the floor, wincing and grinning at the same time. Red paint was slathered all over his mouth and jaw.
"Naughty," Azula drawled. "I said we don't. And now you've smudged it." She turned to the mirror in her vanity and inspected the red mess around her mouth. Azula heard Zuko get up from the floor.
"I'll fix it," he mumbled and fetched a wet cloth from her bedside table. Zuko cleaned up both their faces and used his bending to burn the stained cloth in his fist. It might have looked suspicious. The princess had sat before her vanity again. Zuko picked up the red paint, knelt in front of her and reapplied it. He had done this before.
"Ty Lee and Mai are dining with us tonight," she announced after checking his work in the mirror.
"Oh, good." He exited the chamber and held the door for her.
"Hurry, we'll be late." Azula was already several feet away when Zuko closed the door behind him. He rushed after her. Their boots echoed in the wide corridors. You couldn't see the ceiling; it became lost in the darkness. They took a turn.
"Hey, has Mai really gotten that good with knives?"
"She is better than you and your so-called swordplay, I'll say that much." Azula seemed to always amuse herself with her remarks.
"Hey!"
"It's true," she persisted, smirking. "Without your bending, Mai could take you."
"That is not true." He adjusted his top knot. It felt a little loose.
"Be quiet now," she snapped. They had reached the War Chamber.
"Don't tell me what to do," he muttered under his breath.
Azula pulled back the heavy, blood red curtain and Zuko walked in after her.
Knives may have various shapes and sizes. A large enough knife may pierce through the submandibular triangle of a person and exit at about the top of their skull. This knife, the one protruding from the eye of a certain elephant-rat, was rather small. A knife may also be used in various ways, ranging from cooking to killing. The "rather small" knife had never been used in a kitchen. No one uses a stiletto to cut up salary. This knife was thrown. It had swiftly pierced the air and had precisely found its target in the eye of the animal, released from the hand of a girl, who was now looking expressionlessly at her doing.
She had unusually long, straight, jet-black hair, fixed in an elaborate hairdo that involved braiding and three knots – two on top of her head and one at the back of her neck. In the end, two even strands of hair sprouting from the back of her head were loose, one on either side. She made a point of bringing them over her shoulders, so that they were visible to whoever she was facing.
"Wow, Mai! You got it!" Ty Lee squealed.
"Yeah" Mai allowed herself the hint of a smile.
"You're quite the markswoman," remarked the other. She looked at Mai proudly.
"Thanks."
Ty Lee approached the dead elephant-rat that used to live at the docks. Now it lay dead at the docks. "Poor bastard though…" Ty Lee cocked her head. "Oh well," she shrugged and turned to face her friend, flicking her braid. Her hair was just as long as Mai's, though honey-colored and wavy. It had always sprouted from the top of her head in a braid, for as long as Mai could remember.
Ty Lee was the kind of person who would only see the bright side of being lost in a desert with no means of survival whatsoever. Mai was the sort of person who would notice the downsides in finding an oasis in said hypothetical desert.
"Don't you think we should go back now? Get ready for dinner?" Ty Lee wasn't trying very hard to hide her impatience.
"I guess," Mai replied, "in a while."
"But it's already dark!"
"The sun is right there, Ty Lee."
"Well, it won't be for long. See?" she pointed. "It's all orange and sinking behind the mountains and making the clouds pink and pretty and everything."
Mai shot her an exasperated look. "You're exhausting."
Ty Lee pouted and started to play with the end of her braid. "I just don't want to make her wait. She doesn't like that."
Mai sighed. "Azula doesn't wait for you or me or anyone. And anyway, they have this war meeting thing today. It'll take hours."
She saw something move behind some crates. Producing another stiletto from the folds of her robe, Mai aimed at what she recognized to be the protruding behind of another rat.
Ty Lee crossed her arms and sat on a crate. "Okay, but-"
"Oh for fuck's sake," Mai burst out and threw the knife. There were many things her noble parents didn't know about her. Knife-throwing was one. Cursing like a sailor was another.
"Hey, don't get mad," said Ty Lee. "It's bad for your energy. Also you missed." She pointed at the stiletto protruding from the edge of the crater. "Nearly, but still. Can we go now?"
Mai glared at her. "Look, if you want to leave, just leave."
Ty Lee did not move. Mai fiddled with a shuriken.
"I get that you can't wait to see her," said the knife-thrower quietly, "but you need to understand that she doesn't…. feel that strongly about you."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" flared the other.
"Because she sleeps with you?" Her tone was indifferent.
The other girl frowned. "Don't patronize me. Besides, you wanna see Zuko too."
That struck a nerve. "What does Zuko have to do with anything?"
Ty Lee raised an eyebrow.
"That was three years ago." There was a silent 'I don't care anymore' thrown in there.
"Right," smiled her friend, the way one does when they doubt something but don't want to hurt their friend's feelings.
The darker girl released another knife. Something squealed in the shadows and there was a thud.
"Do you want to go now?" Mai offered, satisfied with herself.
"Yes!" Ty Lee jumped happily to her feet. "Oh, can I collect the knives?" she asked eagerly.
"Sure."
She watched in amusement as her friend pulled bloody blades out of dead rats. Only two people in this world knew that Ty Lee was far from a typical sweet, gullible young girl. Mai was one of them.
The small room was completely dark but for the moonlight coming from the window. Roku sat in the small bathtub built on the wall opposite her bed. She had bathed already, but did not feel like getting out just yet. Arms around her legs, chin resting on her knees, she absentmindedly used her bending to keep the water warm and steaming. Roku was deep in thought.
She said she is my past life. I am not her, but she is a part of me… What am I? What am I supposed to do? I need to talk to Kyoshi again, I have to try…
She shut her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could, mentally calling out for the woman with the war paint she had seen in her dreams. It was hopeless. She did not have a clue as to what she was doing.
"You are being deceived," Kyoshi had said to her the night before.
"What are you talking about? Deceived by whom?" Roku had asked.
"Everyone you have ever known."
"The Sages? And… And the Fire Lord?"
Kyoshi had nodded.
"That's… That's nonsense! I'm Fire Nation! I serve the Fire Lord."
"You are the Avatar. Your duty is to the world."
"What… This is a dream, you're not even real."
Kyoshi's scarlet lips had curved. "Does it feel like a dream?"
Roku had not replied. They had been floating in empty space but… Somehow it had felt nothing like a dream. And she still remembered every word. She remembered Kyoshi showing her the suffering caused by the war, telling her the Fire Lord was planning on using her to satisfy his hunger for power. And he had indeed come to her tonight, to inform her of her role in his plan.
"Why should I believe any of this is true?"
"Because you know it is."
And Roku did know. She could not explain or understand why, but it was true. The pain, the suffering, the war…
"You can stop this, Roku. You can prevent chaos and fulfill your destiny. The choice is yours."
Destiny… Everyone seemed to have a different idea as to what her destiny was. She finally got out of the tub and squeezed her hair. Water poured from it. Prevent chaos?, she wondered. What was chaos? Roku had never experienced anything close to that. How could she prevent it? Why should she?
The dining table was made out of dark wood and lined with gold, with the emblem of the royal family exactly in the middle. Four people were seated on its far left end—they always sat on the far left end when they dined together. Zuko and Ty Lee were in the middle of their second and third helping of desert respectively. Mai had refused to have any desert. She and Azula were sipping their tea, after the princess was done with her own desert, to the sound of Zuko and Ty Lee's chewing.
Azula felt a wave of satisfaction, tasting the liquor in her tea. She had gotten a servant to secretly spike her tea with fire water. The wine she'd had before the girls arrived had not been enough. It was never enough. And she had supposedly quit… Azula began to trace the rim of her cup with her finger while listening to her friends chat.
"Boy, you have the appetite of a bear-lion," said Mai to Ty Lee. If one paid close attention they could detect the well-masked amusement hiding under her passive tone. Ty Lee's slender figure was incredulous, considering her diet.
"What?" Ty Lee retorted, "I like food!" She took another bite before adding "Besides, I work out."
Azula laughed and Ty Lee beamed at her. Then the princess proceeded to discreetly remove the girl's sleeve from inside the syrup covered desert plate, eliciting an "oops" and a blush from the latter.
"You're just jealous 'cause you're afraid you'll get fat if you eat like she does," Zuko taunted Mai, his eyes gleaming playfully.
Mai shot the prince a dirty look. "That is not true."
Zuko scoffed, taking another bite.
Mai raised her eyebrows. "Carry on like that and you won't fit in your royal armor." A smile crept across her lips as she said it.
"Watch it, I am the Fire Prince," grinned Zuko.
"You are royally obnoxious," drawled Mai.
"You guys are so cute," teased Ty Lee.
Azula rolled her eyes and motioned to the servant for a refill, while Mai and Zuko glared at Ty Lee.
"You're quiet," said the prince to his sister, as tea was served to him and the girl with the long braid.
"Sorry, Zuzu, I'm not much for the cute."
There was a pause during which Ty Lee looked curiously at the princess. It was Mai who broke the silence.
"So have you two actually seen this Avatar girl?"
"No," replied Azula. "All we know is that she lives with the Fire Sages and trains with them. She has never left that temple."
"Father says he will take her to battle in a couple of years," Zuko added. "He thinks she is the key to the conquest." The prince took no notice of his sister's disapproving look at his sharing battle plans with civilians.
"So she's probably a brainwashed freak," said Mai.
Ty Lee shrugged. "Aren't we all?"
The other three looked at her incredulously. She sipped her tea—"Oooh, hot!" and almost threw it back on the table. The others exchanged looks, holding back laughter. For a second, the prince smiled endearingly at his old friend, but it was gone as quick as it came. Azula, however, did not take her eyes off the girl with the long braid. Immediately noticing, Ty Lee took the princess's hand under the table, while the latter pretended to focus on her tea. The others took no notice.
Sleep wouldn't come. The Avatar hopped out of bed and let the blanket fall to the floor. She stood on her windowsill, turned her back on the moon, gripped a familiar metallic ornament above and hoisted herself up on the roof. She sat there, looking at her hands. Everything felt wrong. She was powerful, she was the Avatar. Why did she feel so… empty? The Sages had been kind to her, as far as kindness goes with them, the Fire Lord had given her a purpose and she had lied to them, she had concealed her visions. It seemed ungrateful, yet Roku felt no remorse for her ingratitude.
She wanted… What did she want? Run? She wanted to run. Roku looked up and saw darkness, one could hardly tell the difference between sky and sea… The cold fingers of fear tangled with her insides. Ahead, everything was black; black like his hair.
Pain. Searing pain right between her eyes. She couldn't see and that was a different darkness. Sound came before sight; sound of wind making robes flap, of bellowing, of crazed laughter, of crackling fire… When the darkness dissolved, Roku didn't see the starry night sky. She was floating mid-air and the world around her was a hellish red. Something was shooting through the sky high above. Flames consumed the ground beneath her. She could hear faint screaming coming from there. But what she saw in front of her would haunt her dreams for years to come. There was a gigantic airship with a golden phoenix on the front, which reminded her of the significantly smaller and plainer ones she had seen floating above the capital, with an entire fleet following it. From a platform set in the phoenix's open mouth the Fire Lord rained fire to the burning hell beneath, with otherworldly power and an expression of demented joy across his face. A girl—no, a beast was flying above Ozai's airship. There was no trace of mania on her features; her face was a cold mask. Her eyes were glowing with a bright white light. She was making the earth shake, she was making the fire taller, wilder, hungrier, she was releasing lightning from her fingertips… She was Roku.
Sky. Night sky. The vision had been sucked away the way it had invaded her head. Roku was drenched in cold sweat, sprawled on the roof. Her throat felt raw; she must have been screaming—not that the Sages 70 feet beneath the ground would have heard. Was that the future? Was what she'd just seen her...'destiny?' Every inch of her felt numb.
So that's what the Avatar is. That's what I am… What I'm 'destined' to become; A demon.
The last word rang through her and the decision locked in her mind with perfect certainty. Roku threw herself through the window and into the room. It was a quite small and narrow room, there was a bed, a table, a tub and a trunk. Roku went for the trunk. She hastily gathered what few possessions she would need, place them on her blanket and tied the whole thing into a make-shift bag. It was rather light. Satisfied, she walked back to the window—makeshift bag in hand—and used her left hand to earth bend a protrusion on the outer wall, large enough for her to sit on. Soon she had lowered herself to the ground and, lingering to look back for a couple of moments, she turned her back on the temple of the Fire Sages. It wasn't difficult to find the path to the capital. With a bit of luck, she would find the Royal Harbor.
Thus, while inside the crown prince's chamber the Fire Lord's children let their robes fall to the floor and surrendered to vice, the Avatar fled.