Journey to the Past
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate the feedback! I also wanted to let everyone know that I now require at least 5 reviews per chapter before I update. This does not, however, mean that I will necessarily update as soon as I receive 5 reviews. But I am more likely to update faster the more reviews I get, so keep that in mind, at least.
Chapter 6: A Mysterious Figure & A Sinister Plan
As the foursome left the old palace, a dark figure appeared from their hiding place behind a portrait in the old nursery and scurried into the shadows.
The ominous figure slunk from shadow to shadow, while remaining certain that no one was following them at the same time. But even if there had been someone trying to follow the sinister figure, they would've lost sight of them quickly, what with all the secret passageways, hidden doors and numerous corridors. Not to mention the amazing speed this strange figure was traveling at.
Finally the figure seemed to have reached its destination, judging by the way it slowed down in front of a portrait of the Fire Nation royal family that was tucked safely away in a labyrinth of secret passageways. The figure hurriedly checked their surroundings before knocking five times on picture-Iroh's head and whispering what appeared to be some sort of password or secret code:
"The rightful heir to the throne will rise again."
There were several clicking noises followed by the opening of another corridor behind the painting. It was now apparent that the royal family portrait was actually another cleverly disguised door inside of the castle. The ominous figure quickly slipped into the corridor and shut the door/portrait behind them. The sound of several clicks confirmed that the portrait had indeed been re-locked.
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-Unknown-
A teenage girl of about sixteen lazed in her comfy chair contently while idly twiddling a piece of dark hair in between her two fingers.
There was a girl dressed in total pink at her feet doing backbends, cartwheels, and other impressive acrobatics, but the girl wasn't paying attention. Her hard-gold eyes were staring intently on her strand of jet-black hair as she tried to wait patiently for the return of her faithful messenger and scout.
"Hey, Azula, watch this!" the girl in pink, more commonly known as Ty Lee, shouted to her friend/leader as she contortioned her body into some grotesque form with an obvious amount of ease. She turned her head to face Azula with a big smile on her face, eagerly searching for her approval.
"That's great Ty Lee," Azula said without even bothering to look up.
Ty Lee sighed as her face dropped and she quickly un-did her body out of the complicated pretzel-form it was currently in.
As soon as Ty Lee finished untangling herself she stood up while stretching out her muscles, the duo heard the sound of several locks clicking signaled that the secret door had been opened. Azula and Ty Lee both looked up expectantly to see a dark-hooded figure walk in.
"Welcome back, Mai," Azula said with a small, evil smile playing at her lips.
"Hi Mai!" Ty Lee greeted enthusiastically.
"Hey," Mai responded while throwing back her hood and approaching the two of them.
"So? What news?" Azula asked expectantly.
"Well, people keep going on about this rumor that the prince, Zuko, might still be alive," Mai said.
"Those pathetic fools," Azula sneered, "They just want to believe that because of the state the Fire Nation is in right now."
"There's more though. The rumors have reached your uncle, who's currently living in Ba Sing Se, and he's giving the person who can find him a large reward."
"So, as a result," Mai continued, "Of course there are many people trying to find your brother. Most of them just pick up some Fire Nation prince look-a-like though and train him to behave like royalty. Everyone's just in it for the money really."
"But what happens after they train the guys to act like a prince? I mean what do the do?" Ty Lee asked her.
"Apparently your uncle has a friend living in Ba Sing Se who's an earth-bending master. Everyone calls her, 'The Blind Bandit.' Rumor has it that she can tell if you're lying by the vibrations in the earth. She's the one that questions all the so-called 'Prince Zukos' and apparently her abilities make it easier to weed through them quickly."
"Have they found anyone yet?" Ty Lee asked, wide-eyed.
Mai shook her head.
"Those fools," Azula sneered, "They're wasting their time looking for my 'dear' brother. He's been dead for at least ten years by now!"
"True, it definitely would seem that way. However…" Mai said.
"However?" Azula arched an eyebrow an eyebrow.
Mai shrugged indifferently, "As I was walking back here, I saw three people, teenagers, actually, and they were in the old nursery. Apparently, they were searching for your brother too, but by the looks of it, I'd say they'd been pretty unsuccessful. But then they ran into a guy that looked about seventeen years old, and he looked an awful lot like Zuko."
Azula appeared rather bored with the whole matter.
"So?" she snapped, "There must be tons of others that look like him. Black hair, golden eyes, and a guy of seventeen aren't exactly uncommon in the Fire Nation you know."
Mai seemed unfazed, "But this guy…he had a scar. On his face, around his left eye. A burn mark. You could tell it was from a firebender."
Azula's eyes widened, and for the first time, Azula actually seemed to be remotely interested in what Mai had said.
For a moment, Ty Lee thought she saw something like fear flash in the princess's eyes and she could understand why. 'Zuko is really the only one that could put a stop to Azula's plans,' she thought.
However, the fear in Azula's eyes quickly disappeared and her expression was replaced with a wicked smile playing at her lips and her eyes were sharp and full of loathing. Mai and Ty Lee recognized this look immediately: Azula had a plan.
"Azula…?" Ty Lee asked her friend uncertainly.
"Girls, I think it's time we pay my father another visit," Azula said evilly.
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A/N: So there you have it. Another chapter to Journey to the Past and some new characters have been introduced too! The next chapter is titled "Awkward Situations." Please review!
