Night had fallen in the forest. There was little moonlight – only a thin sliver of silver was shining through the canopy of leaves overhead.
On the ground, two young women lounged by a flickering campfire. One was petite, her features neat and delicate. She was sitting by the fire quietly, cross-legged, her hands resting in her lap. She would have been quite beautiful, with her ivory skin, aristocratic nose and smoldering amber eyes, but for a large, brownish-red scar that covered the upper left part of her face. It sprawled from just below her hairline to partway down her cheek, extending from her nose to her ear. The jet-black hair that hung at the sides of her face covered a bit of it, but not much. She was dressed in a long, gray tunic, with a cloak of a darker gray over her shoulders. Her hands and forearms were wrapped up in light gray strips of cloth.
The other girl lay on her back on the opposite side of the campfire, her head resting on her hands, her heels kicking in the dirt like a child's. Her hair was dark brown, pulled back into a braid that would have hung to the middle of her back, had she been standing. She was curvier than her companion; her loose pants and shirt exposed her midriff, from below her navel to just below her breasts. Her right arm, exposed by the short sleeve of her shirt, displayed a similar scar to that which marred the other woman's face. With a pout of her full lips, she stopped kicking and turned large gray eyes to her companion. "I'm hungry," she complained. "When's Mai coming back with the food?"
"Whenever she gets back, I suppose." The smaller woman's brow arched. "If you're bored, Ty Lee, you could scout our perimeter again."
With a melodramatic sigh, the girl shook her head and turned onto her belly. "I've already checked it four times. There's no one around for miles!" With a sudden effort, she lifted the lower part of her body up off the ground until her legs stood straight up in the air. Slowly, she drew her feet downward until they hovered just above her head, curving her body into a perfect backwards "C." She sighed again, putting her elbows against the ground and resting her chin in her hands. "Besides, I'm not bored, Azula. I'm hungry!"
"Chew on some grass, then." Azula's brows lowered in a slight frown. Even though it was only the smallest movement, it made her golden eyes suddenly look very dangerous.
The contortionist seemed unmoved by the threat in her companion's face. She flipped her body effortlessly around, coming to rest on the ground in full splits, and leaned forward to rest her cheek against her leg. "I bet you're hungry, too," she said petulantly. "None of us got anything today, running away from those stupid vigilantes!"
Azula sneered a little, but shrugged and looked back into the flames. "We'll eat soon enough. That pitiful little Earth Kingdom village is only a couple of hours from here. Mai will be back soon."
"Mai's back now." The calm voice broke in from the edge of the clearing where the two girls were lounging.
Both of them spun toward it in surprise. Azula's hands came up aggressively for a moment, then lowered at the sight of the tall, black-muffled woman approaching them. "Mai!" she said, half-ruefully. "You shouldn't surprise me like that. One of these days I'll launch a fireball, and you'll be sorry!"
The taller woman looked at her coolly. There was a flash of something in her hooded golden eyes – then it was gone. She looked away from Azula and took the leather satchel from her hip, tossing it to the ground by the campfire. "Bread," she said shortly. "It's all I could get. Most of the shops were closed by the time I got there, and it wasn't safe to break in somewhere – too many people." Ty Lee pounced on the package with a happy squeak.
"It'll do." The petite woman resumed her scrutiny of the fire, her eyes half-closed. "Once we've put more distance between us and those knife-slingers who're tailing us, we should double back toward Ba Sing Se. More towns and farms – better chance of finding food."
Mai eyed her. "Better chance of getting caught, too," she pointed out. "There's still a big Fire Nation presence around there, and a lot of those Earth Kingdom people remember you, especially in Ba Sing Se. And that…that bounty hunter hangs out in the area. The one with the shirshu."
"Mm." Azula nodded, her eyes narrowing. "We've given June the slip before, and we can do it again. Besides, I'd rather go down fighting than starve to death. Wouldn't you?"
"I'd rather not go down at all." Mai's mouth grew tight. "You haven't given up, have you?"
The dangerous glint was back in Azula's amber eyes. "Don't. Ever. Suggest that again." There was a tense silence as the two women locked gazes, and a battle of wills raged in the stillness. At last, the taller woman dropped her eyes and turned aside a little, with a slight nod of her black head. Azula smirked openly, leaning back on her hands as the tension went out of her shoulders. "You'd better eat, Mai. You've had a bit more exercise today than we have."
"I'm fine." Mai's voice was nonchalant, but she didn't dare meet the smaller woman's gaze. "I ate in town."
"Well, that's good. We'll have at least one set of eyes on the lookout, then." Azula looked at Ty Lee, who was happily stuffing her mouth full of food. "Ty Lee, give me a loaf." The contortionist stopped, her cheeks bulging, then obediently rose and crossed over to lay the bread in the other woman's hands.
Mai's lip curled a touch, but she turned from the fire and began to pace watchfully at the edge of the clearing. Though she did feel free to question Azula's decisions on occasion, she had no real desire to challenge the woman. There was no point anymore – she served her by choice, now, and not by force. Her hand drifted up to the neckline of her robe, tracing the uneven surface of the scar tissue that lay beneath the cloth. Her eyes darkened.
It had been six years since she had been given those wounds, at the hands of the young man she had once been willing to give her life for. When the Avatar had defeated Fire Lord Ozai, the war that the Fire Nation had waged on the rest of the world had come to an end. The Fire Lord's son, Prince Zuko, had been crowned Fire Lord soon after, and Mai had happily taken her place at his side as the Fire Lord's consort-to-be. As time had gone on, however, she had seen that she really had little place in his life. He was dedicated to peace-making, to the good of his people – these things left little time for her. She had begun to resent him as the months had gone on, and to spend more time with his younger sister, Princess Azula.
When the Fire Nation had first fallen, Azula had been a screaming, sobbing wreck. She'd actually been locked up in a mental institution for a few weeks, until the shock wore off and she returned to something like her right mind. Then her brother had released her, allowing her to come back to the palace, with the proviso that she not be given any of the powers inherent to royalty. The princess had seemed content enough to play dress-up and act charming at court functions – something she was very good at.
As time passed, Azula began to make subtle moves to undermine her brother's rule. Mai, who by that time already resented Zuko bitterly, had sided with the sister. Ty Lee had returned to the Fire Nation from Kyoshi Island at about that time. She'd been hesitant at first, but had been quickly won over on the strength of her long friendship with both young women. The three of them had begun to scheme together.
Zuko had, of course, found out. He'd summoned his sister before him and questioned her in the sight of the full court. She had attacked him in a fit of humiliation and rage. Though the shock had been great, Ty Lee had immediately thrown in her lot with Azula's, taking down guard after guard with her chi-blocking jitsu. After the briefest of pauses, Mai had unleashed her stilettos in defense of the princess. A small-scale battle had broken out right there in the throne room.
At first, Azula and her two companions had the upper hand. The three of them had been fighting side-by-side for many years already, and they worked together like a well-oiled war machine. Then the Fire Lord himself had roared down from his throne! Mai had felt the heat of the first blast of flame, and heard Ty Lee's agonized screams as she lay writhing on the ground. She had stepped forward then to fling out a handful of kunai knives; off-balance for the briefest moment, she'd only been able to avoid part of the second jet of fire, which had seared her right side and hip. Gasping, nearly blinded with tears of pain, she'd tried to lash out again, only to be struck down by a fireball that scorched her left shoulder and the side of her throat. She'd only been half-conscious when he had thrust his blazing hand into his sister's face; darkness had taken her soon afterward, as Azula's screams echoed in her ears.
There had followed a period of three or four weeks in prison. She had known that Ty Lee and Azula were locked away somewhere nearby, but had been mostly alone during that time, except for the occasional (painful) visits of the healer. Then she had been taken from her cell and brought before the court in chains. It had been Azula's trial, really – Mai and Ty Lee had remained in the background, on their knees, held firmly by guards. It had ended with all three of them being exiled from the Fire Nation. They had been wandering in the Earth Kingdom ever since, struggling to remain a step ahead of the countless bounty hunters and vigilantes after Azula's blood.
Abruptly, Mai stopped, swiveling her head. She was almost certain she had heard something, something that was neither the chattering voices of her companions nor the natural sounds of the forest around them. Eyes narrowing, she twisted her wrist, letting three knives slip down to rest loosely between her fingers. Her knees bent slightly as her gaze raked over the black contours of the bushes around her.
"Mai?" That was Ty Lee's voice, a sudden note of concern in it. "What's up?"
She didn't look at her. "I heard something," she said simply. She turned her head slowly, still searching.
Something shifted to her right! Mai spun on her heel, her arm sweeping wide as she brought her knives forward. Before she could release them, she felt two sickening pains shoot through her abdomen! Her battle-cry became a grunt as her knees gave way beneath her, throwing her down on her side. The throwing knives dropped from her limp fingers. She heard Ty Lee shout her name, but it sounded hazy in her ears.
Her own breaths seemed impossibly loud as they grated in and out. Every movement of her chest sent pains shooting through her belly. Her groping hands came away dripping with blood – she moaned. What happened? What…what hit me? She heard cries, and blearily opened her eyes in time to see a mighty wave of blue flame shoot past her. Then there was silence for a moment.
Not ten seconds later, she was being rolled onto her back. "Mai!" came Ty Lee's frantic voice. "Mai, are you all right? Talk to me!" Her hands grasped Mai's shoulders; the tall woman hissed through her teeth as pain knifed through her.
"Let her go, fool!" That was Azula. The former princess fairly shoved the contortionist aside as she leaned over their fallen comrade. Mai felt her robe being parted over her middle, and heard Ty Lee sucking in her breath in horror. Azula's voice came again. "Mai, you've been wounded. You're bleeding a lot – I think we're going to need to get you to a healer. We'll have to take you back to that town where you got the bread." Her voice was steady, but Mai thought she could detect a note of fear.
Gasping, the injured woman forced her eyes to focus on Ty Lee's face. Am I dying? She extended her bloodstained fingers toward her; the teary-eyed acrobat took them. "I'm sorry," Mai whispered, before weakness overcame her. Consciousness fled.