Neutral Jing

Book One: Ember

Chapter Four: Mudslides

The group of five had been walking in stony silence for quite some time before they finally reached their destination. The silence was awkward, but no one dared breach it. Instead, they merely walked quickly, with their heads down, until the four young teens finally reached their destination: The Mudslides.

The Mudslides, formally known as the Great Burning Tunnels of Sozin, were long ditches that fell down the side of a large hill. In times before the War, when travel between the Four Nations was still open, people used to compare going down the slides to riding down the delivery system in Ba Sing Se. Unfortunately, the mudslides were even more treacherous. Because the slides are naturally carved, they erode away, often leaving dead ends, or catapulting someone off of the side of the hill. The only truly safe way is to somehow find a slide that carries you all the way to the bottom, where there is a small lake to break your fall. Still, people came from far and wide for the thrill of sliding down them.

"Well, we're here," said Iroh. He badly wanted to impress Ali, so he strode bravely to the top of the hill. What he saw made him gulp. Very few of the tunnels were visible all the way down, so it was impossible to make more than an educated guess about which were safe to ride.

"Hey, pipsqueak," said Yan Rha, "you gonna slide down or are we gonna stand here all day?"

Iroh just held up a hand and thought some more. The hills were carved by rain water. The rain water carried dirt and debris with it, which clogged up most of the slides. But which ones?

It hit Iroh like a fire blast to the chest. The hill slanted to the right. All rain water and debris that came into the right side would stay there. But most of the rain and debris that fell into the far left side of the hill would wash back down and out, because of gravity. Everybody thought the left side of the hill was more dangerous because it was higher up. Actually, it was the safest, because there was a good chance that there would be nothing to block a clean ride to the bottom.

Iroh smiled and said, "Actually, Yan Rha, lets make it a bit more interesting. We both race down the hill. Whoever comes out at the bottom first wins. I'll ride the slide on the far left and you'll ride the one on the far right."

Yan Rha considered this for a second and said, "Deal." They both walked up to their respective slides. As Iroh looked down at the very highest slide on the hill, he thought that maybe he had made a grave mistake. There was no way that this was the safest ride down. He desperately wanted to quit. He would have too, but Ali was watching, and besides, there was no way he was gonna let Yan Rha beat him. So Iroh grasped the sides of the ditch and prepares to plunge downhill.

Then Han said, "On your mark. Get set. Go!" Yan Rha had actually started sliding far too early, as soon as Han said, "Get" but that was the least of Iroh's worries now.

The ditch was very slick and wet, and there was little friction to slow him down. Iroh felt like he was moving as fast as light as he whizzed down the side of the hill. He looked in front of him and saw the lake approaching, fast. Before the lake, though, there was a tiny little obstacle- a small log. Iroh had been right about there being a very good chance of there being no obstacles on the left side- but there was just one, and one would be enough to stop him. In desperation, Iroh let out the most powerful fire kick he could, and to his amazement, he incinerated the log. He shouted, "Woo-hoo!" Then the slide ended and he plunged into the muddy lake.

He climbed out of the lake, exhausted but happy. He quickly looked around to see if Yan Rha had beaten him- and almost laughed aloud. Yan Rha had not gone more than fifteen feet before an impassable wall of mud and logs had stopped him. He was now climbing down the hill on his feet, on the part with no slides. Ali and Han had taken slides towards the middle, but had been lucky, and they were also plunged into the lake. Lu Fo had taken a slide on the right, but when he saw his path blocked by debris he quickly jumped into the slide next to him. Amazingly, he too had made it down.

The three children all climbed out of the lake and started laughing. They had done it! They had gone down the mudslides and came out no worse for wear. Ali hugged Iroh. Iroh thought that this was the greatest moment of his life.

But it couldn't last. By this time, Yan Rha had stumbled down the side of the hill. He started screaming, "That wasn't fair! You set me up. You knew that the slide I took was a dead end."

"My slide was a dead end too. I just fire bended the debris away."

"You can't fire bend, that's cheating," cried Yan Rha. "You're just a cheater who got lucky." At this, Yan Rha started shooting fire balls at him. Iroh, who had faced far better opponents, deflected them with ease but did not fire back.

"Thanks for heating me up. I do feel a slight chill after plunging into the lake," taunted Iroh.

Yan Rha screamed and launched himself at the smaller boy, determined to beat him up without the help of bending, but with his fists. Iroh braced himself for the impact, bur never felt it.

Han and Lu Fo had grabbed Yan Rha by the shoulders and forced him onto the ground. Lu Fo yelled, "No you don't! If the kid's more skilled at you with Fire Bending, just accept that! Don't try to pummel a kid half your size." Lu Fo shoved him into the ground.

Yan Rha said, "What the hell is wrong with you. I'm your friend!"

Han said, "No, you're not. You're just a bully. All you want to talk about is how great you are, and how everybody else sucks. You're a loser."

Yan Rha slowly stood up and backed away, "Ali?"

"You think I act like I don't like you because I actually do? You're wrong. I just don't like you."

"Fine," said Yan Rha, "I get it. I'll leave." Yan Rha turned to walk away. Suddenly, though, he turned back and fired a stream of fire at Ali.

Iroh jumped in front of her, blocked it, and sent it back at Yan Rha. "You filthy coward," he yelled, "You know she can't bend! How was she supposed to block that?"

Yan Rha's arms and legs had small burns from Iroh's attack. They would heal completely in a couple of weeks. Still, from the way he acted you would have thought he had been shoved into a volcano. He howled, and quickly ran away, up the hill, presumably to head back home.

For a few minutes, the four friends stood in total silence. All of a sudden, though, Ali started cheering, and Han and Lu Fo quickly joined in. They chanted, "Lee! Lee! Lee!"

When they were done, the whole group walked back up the side of the hill, eagerly recounting tales of the night. While but a few hours they had been acquaintances, now they were fast friends. There are some things you can't go through together without ending up liking each other, and taking out a fourteen year old bully together is one of them.

Han, Lu Fo, and Iroh were excitedly recounting how Lu Fo had brilliantly changed his slide to avoid debris, and how Yan Rha had been too slow to do this himself when Ali held up a hand. They all quieted. Ali said, "Your name isn't really Lee, is it, Lee?"

His heart pounded, but he struggled to remain calm and said, "What would make you say that?"

"Whenever someone calls you that, you hesitate a little before you answer, like you've forgotten your name. I don't think you're stupid enough to do that, so what's your real name?"

A couple of hours ago, he wouldn't have admitted anything. He would have came up with a real name, a bad excuse for lying about it, and made an effort to not hesitate anymore. But now, after taking down Yan Rha together, after becoming friends; he couldn't lie. "My name is Iroh."

Han said, "That's cool. It's like the Prince's name."

Iroh replied, "Yes. Exactly like." It took a few seconds for the other three to realize what he meant by that. When they did, he saw them think about whether or not it was possible.

So he said, "Its true. Lu Fo, when I met you guys, I came from the direction of the South Exit of the palace. I was late because I was eavesdropping on my father."

Ali looked dumbstruck and said, "Fire Lord Azulon."

"Yes. Look, I hope you guys don't treat me any differently now that I've told you."

The other three looked at each other as if Iroh was crazy. Han said, "Treat you any differently, Iroh? Of course we will! You're crown prince of the Fire Nation. You have total access to the palace, and everybody in the city will let you anywhere and not ask questions if you tell them who you are. Think of all the trouble we can get into!"

Iroh grinned, "I think I could handle that."

They walked back to the city as friends, amiably chatting. Han, Ali, and Lu Fo all wanted to know about his life as Prince, so he opened up. It felt good to finally have somebody to talk to. He told them about his tutor, about his fire bending lessons, about the stuffy formal state dinners he had to attend, and above all, he talked about his father, the legendary Azulon. He almost told them about the 18th division, but decided that would be violating his father's trust. Even though his father hadn't really entrusted him with the information yet.

Once they reached the city, Lu Fo said goodbye and quickly left, after saying that they should meet tomorrow at noon at the same street. Han and Ali prepared to leave but before they did, Ali whispered in Iroh's ear, "Don't go home yet. I'll meet you back here in five minutes." She then took off with her brother.

When she returned five minutes later without Han, Iroh looked at her quizzically. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I need to do something without Han watching."

"What would that be?"

"This." And she leaned in and kissed Iroh slowly. Although it only lasted a few seconds, to them it was the most memorable part of the night. When they came apart, they both simultaneously said, "Thanks."

They both giggled a bit at that. Finally, Ali said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Iroh," and finally left for good.

As Iroh slowly walked back to the Palace and into bed, he knew that he should be quiet to avoid detection, as it was now very early morning. Still, he could not stop himself from whistling a little jaunt, the tune of which came to him naturally.

I hope you liked Chapter Four! Believe it or not, at the end of Avatar, Yan Rha is 66 and Iroh is 64. It is totally plausible that they both lived in the Fire Nation Capital when Iroh was twelve and Yan Rha was fourteen. Plus, it's comforting to know that Yan Rha was always a bully and a coward.

Please review! The more I write this story, the more it intrigues me. Expect it to last for at least twenty chapters. Thanks for reading!