Chapter 2 Azula's Royal Ship
Azula woke up to see the first rays of light breaking through the opening of the cave. She got up and looked at Ty Lee sleeping there peacefully. Azula was still a bit skeptical about this but she had to admit that having her bending taken away would be a fate worse than death and Ty Lee had saved her from that so she supposed she should give the girl a second chance. "Ty Lee we need to be moving." Azula said in a authoritative voice. She saw Ty Lee roll over and say in her cheery voice with a bright smile "Morning Azula." "We need some food, I suppose I'll go and try to find some edible berries or something around here, be ready to move when I get back Ty Lee." Azula said as she was about to leave the cave. "Oh Azula I have some hippocow jerky in my bag we can eat that." Ty Lee said still with a bright smile.
Azula sat down as Ty Lee reached into her bag and pulled out some jerky and handed her a slice. Azula bit into it and thought about how much she missed the amenities of being crown princess of the Fire Nation. It was terrible in prison and now even free she would be a fugitive living on the run. Ty Lee said "So princess, what is the plan now, I never thought much past breaking you out as I figured you would have some great idea about what to do." "Well Ty Lee the most important thing in the long run is to usurp my brother as Firelord, but for now I think it would be best if we just got out of the Fire Nation and laid low for a while." Azula said.
She chewed some more of the jerky, how disgusting this was. She spoke "I think we should hide out in the Earth Kingdom for some time where we will be less recognizable, until the search for us dies down." Ty Lee smiled and said "Wow Azula that sounds really smart." Azula smiled to herself, she was so glad that if she had to have one of her allies back that it was Ty Lee who so easily played her subservient retainer. She also knew that in her moment of weakness last night when she expressed her gratefulness to Ty Lee for saving her that the girl would take this as a strong expression of their friendship. The shame she felt for showing weakness may have been worth it in the loyalty it had earned in the girl who was now her only subject.
Ty Lee looked over and said "How are we going to get there, I don't have much money or a boat?" Azula said. "Well there is a safe in my quarters on my ship, I kept enough gold in it to get us through for a while, and to get there we should be able to steal a war balloon and then we can fly it over to the Earth Kingdom." "Won't there be guards?" Ty Lee asked. "I figured between the two of us it will take the Avatar himself to stop us." Azula said back with a confident smirk. "You are right Princess, I forgot how just being around you makes me feel so much stronger, I'm glad to be back in the presence of someone as pretty and smart as you." Ty Lee said. "Yes, Yes I know Ty Lee, now we should move back down towards the harbor and hopefully my ship is still docked there." Azula said standing up.
The two girls kept to the same plan as yesterday hopping from tree to tree when they could to leave no discernible trail. Moving this way it was near dusk when they finally made it near the harbor. They had seen some soldiers moving through the forest looking for them but had managed to sneak past fairly easily without being detected. Azula smiled as from the top of a tree at the edge of the forest next to the harbor she could see her beautiful flagship sitting just where she saw it last. She turned back to see Ty Lee picking a flower that was growing next to the tree she was perched in. "Look Azula isn't this so pretty? Plus it smells so nice." She saw Ty Lee take a big whiff of the flower as she spoke. "We will wait til around midnight to make our move, so just keep your eyes peeled for anyone approaching." Azula said in a commanding voice. Ty Lee bowed and said "Of course Princess." and then got up and proceeded to pick another flower. Azula smiled at this, had she not known Ty Lee so well she might be concerned, but as silly and frivolous as Ty Lee may appear Azula knew she was a ferocious and dangerous warrior who may appear to be ignoring her surroundings, but spirits help anyone who tried to sneak up on them.
"I'm going to try and take a small nap before we move as I will be up all night stoking the fires of the balloon, so keep watch." Azula said. "Of course Princess." Ty Lee said bowing down again. When Azula was about to close her eyes she saw a giant white cloud looking thing fly over head that she recognized as the Avatar's bison. She smiled to herself, and whispered to herself as she closed her eyes"There will be no stripping me of my power this day Avatar. Your greatest enemy will see her self standing victorious over you yet, be sure of that."
She opened her eyes and saw the moon high in the sky and felt Ty Lee perched right next to her. Azula was impressed, she was a very light sleeper and yet Ty lee had climbed next to her without waking her. "Are you ready Ty Lee it seems late enough.?"
Azula said to the girl. "Of course princess, what is the plan.?" "It is a simple one, the ship is guarded by Fire Nation soldiers I am their crown princess they will not deny me access to my own belongings. Now Let's go." Azula said with a confident smirk.
The two girls approached the ship Azula walking with an extreme confidence, Ty Lee just a few feet behind her. As they approached the ramp up to the ship two soldiers stood their and called out "Stop who goes there, come no further." Azula took two steps forward and made a large blue flame in her hand that revealed her face, she smiled as she saw the look of fear in their eyes behind there helmet as her voice boomed out. "It is I Fire Princess and rightful Firelord Azula, now if you two dogs dare stand in the way of me gaining access to my own ship I will have no problem reducing you both to pile of ash where you stand, now step aside or be prepared to face the dire consequences of resisting me." Both soldier instantaneously moved to the side and bowed down in front of her saying meekly "Yes of course princess."
The two girls walked up the ramp and Azula said over her shoulder "I want to see you both in that exact same position when I exit the ship." She made her way towards her room and said "Ty Lee I will get all I need from my room and safe, you check the other compartments for anything that may be useful." Azula entered her room as Ty lee scampered off in the other direction. Azula laughed to herself as she thought of all the missions Ty lee would be good at she doubted finding useful things for being fugitives would be one of them. She used the combination to open her safe, and took out the giant sack of gold coins she kept in there in case of emergency, and also the ruby encrusted flame shaped tiara her father had given her for her fourteenth birthday. She grabbed a bag and threw some of her clothes in it and then closed the door and walked out into the hallway.
She went towards the room Ty lee had occupied when they traveled together and entered it to see her changing out of her Kiyoshi warrior outfit and back into the pink acrobat outfit she always wore when traveling with Azula. "What else did you get other than clothes Ty Lee?" Azula asked her. "Oh well I grabbed a couple of maps and some dry rations to eat till we got in the Earth Kingdom." Once she saw Ty Lee finish changing and put her little pink shoes on she said "Well let's get going towards the balloons."
They walked back down the ramp and Ty Lee said to the guards who were still bowed in the same exact position "Wow I bet you guys didn't move an inch, look Azula it's so funny." Azula just smiled and said "Come Ty Lee of course they didn't move they knew they have far more to fear from me then my pathetic brother who stole my throne. You can stand now, and when you report this to Zuko you can tell him that I will not be gone for long and when I return I will take from him what is rightfully mine, no matter how many water tribe peasant girls he brings to fight his battles." Ty Lee laughed and as they walked off together she said to Azula "I think you're going to scare your brother as much as you scared them."
They approached the depot where the war balloons were being held and saw several guards near the entrance. Once again Azula stepped out as the guards ordered her to halt. With blue flames dancing in her palms she spoke in a commanding voice "You can step aside and let me take what I want or you can stand in my way and pay for your insolence, just know that I will be taking no prisoners." She stared at each soldier one by one with an intense gaze, they all immediately lowered their head fearful of the fire burning not only in her hands but also in her eyes. The commander of the guard bowed and said "Take whatever you need princess we are still yours to command." Azula and Ty Lee walked past each of them and towards the closest balloon. As they got into the balloon Ty Lee said "Gosh Azula you're amazing, even after spending two months in prison you're still just as powerful and confident and frightening and beautiful as you have always been." Azula smirked as she said"When you are born with greatness nothing can take it away from you."
She started a fire inside the balloon and it started to lift off. "You will tell no one of this until the morning understand me?" She screamed down at the cowering guards as they raised out of sight. Azula was manipulating the fire inside, frustrated with how slow the balloon was going. She turned to Ty Lee and said"You've had a long day Ty Lee you should get some rest I should be fine to navigate this by myself." Ty Lee bowed and smiled and said "Thank you princess, I will, goodnight." She then switched to a position where she was laying down looking up at the sky as she said. "The stars really are beautiful tonight Azula don't you think." "Yes Ty Lee they are, and bright too so that will make it easier to navigate. Now like I said get some rest, we have a long quest ahead of us, the next time I come home I need it to be a triumphant return and that means you and I have a lot of work to do." Ty Lee smiled a huge grin up at Azula and said "Of course princess. Goodnight Azula." Azula looked down on her friend and said with a contented look. "Goodnight Ty Lee."