The Rise and Fall of the Air Nomad Empire
Excerpt from Chapter 7- The Air Empire, a fiction 500 years in the making
The third great misconception is how the Air Nomads "ruled". Over time four main perceptions on how the Air Nomads interacted with the Earth Kingdoms have popped up. The first, which was popular during the time of the empire, painted the Air Nomads not as rulers, but more a creators of an alliance. Each kingdom was still self-ruled, the Air Nomads merely helping to facilitate peace between kingdoms. Territories joined of their own accord, and could leave at any time. Certain apologist works, such as "A reconsideration of the role of the Air Nomads in history"(K. Song 1730) have also taken this view.
The second one treats the Air Nomads as simple conquerors. This view is usually taken by Earth Kingdom books with a nationalist bent and a 'loose' view of history such as "Arise, Sons of the Earth!"(1650).
The third view is equally simplistic, treating the Earth Kingdom as either easily tricked fools who bowed to the Air Nomads or dolts who needed to be ruled over. This view was especially popular in the late 1600's to early 1700's in the Water Tribes and Fire Nation. It both glorified their own achievements in fighting the Air Nomad and provided justification for colonization efforts. Unfortunately, this view may have never really died out, especially give the popularity of "Rebirth of the Fire Nation!"
The final view is a mix of the first and second. Instead of portraying the Air Nomads as direct conquerors it instead portrays them as more subtle. In it they use underhanded deals and tricks to rule, such as replacing a king who was unwilling to join with one who was, or declaring any movement that wanted to leave the Air Empire "rebels". By far the most famous work of this type is the Play, "The Divided Earth".
Ultimately the truth is likely a mixture of the first and fourth, though it is hard to tell how much of each. Writers during Air Nomad rule wrote positively of them, but almost immediately switched when it ended. There is no way to tell whether that was due to the Air Nomads suppressing dissident or because the governments afterwards would have been adverse to positive writings about them.
Like the debate on how the empire was formed, the very structure of the Air Nomad hierarchy during the time makes it difficult to tell how widespread corruption was. Each kingdom had it own ambassador who sent back their own reports. As such it is impossible to tell whether dirty politics was "official unofficial" policy or the act of independent masters.
Perhaps the best way to tell is by the dissent in the earth kingdom itself. If so then it would indicate a sharp rise in problems during the last decade. Aside from the mass revolutions in the last year, unrest had been brewing for quite some time and several revolutions had broken out. The Bei Fong rebellion was the most famous, and is covered in chapter 14. However, it was far from the only one.
Avatar: Last Firebender
Book 1, Chapter 11
"Jet"
Katara raised the bloody butcher's knife, holding it high in the air before bringing it down upon her target.
Chop!
The blood splattered onto her face. Katara peeled another hunk of meat off the animal, placing it on rocks she'd washed clean earlier. Noticing Azula's distress, she looked up in confusion. "Is something wrong?"
Azula, who had been watching Katara butcher the animal with fascinated horror, replied with the only words she could think of, "How can you do that so easily?"
"Well, my mother first showed me how, but I was really too young to take it in. It was really Gran-Gran who taught me to actually wield a knife. It kind of weird doing it on an animal I've never seen before, but that's why I'm only taking the obvious bits of meat. Do want me to show you how?"
Azula waved her off, "No thanks." She turned around and made an expression of disgust. She liked her meat as much as the next person, but could not understand how the Water Tribe siblings could be so casual about the whole thing. It was gross. One moment Katara could be declaring an animal 'cute' then the next day Sukara would bring its headless corpse and she or Sokka would just chop it up. And that's not even counting the time Sokka had gone in to a long description of how the best seal jerky was gotten from baby seals…
Clubbed baby seals….
To make the meat tender.
Azula sat down and begin looking at the sky. Trying to ignore the squishy chopping sounds in the back.
OoOoOo
Sokka gave another groan of disappointment. He had been searching all day and so far had come up with a few nuts, and some of them might have been rocks. "That's it! If the others want something other than meat so badly, they can get it themselves!" he shouted to the world. "This is the last time I do the foraging."
Kicking his feet in the dirt, Sokka headed back to the camp. When he arrived back he found it surprisingly… empty. "Guys? GUYS? Please don't tell me I got lost- Mhhhh!"
"Be quiet!" Azula hissed, as she covered his mouth and pulled him to the ground. Sokka nodded, and Azula released her hand.
"What's going on?" Sokka whispered. Azula wordlessly pointed up to the sky. He followed her finger and was able to make out two sky bison circling overhead. "Did they see us? Where's Katara?"
"She's hiding behind the tree over there. I don't know if they saw us. The tree covering is fairly dense so hopefully-" Azula's words died in her mouth as several figures flew down from the bison. Azula turned to Sokka and put one figure over her lips, while giving a 'wait' sign with the other hand and a look that promised horrible vengeance were he to make so much as a sound.
The Air Nomad gliders circled the area, like vultures hovering over a kill. Slowly they began to get larger as they got closer to the ground. They landed in a 'ring' pattern, each one about fifteen feet from two others. Azula looked out from the tree she was hidden behind and counted seven in total. The nearest was only a few yards away from her hiding spot, but evidently they hadn't seen her.
The forest was nearly silent, punctuated only by the occasional bird cry. Finally, after several tense seconds Azula decided to risk another peek. The Air Nomads were facing each other, and exchanging several quick hand signs. The group began to walk towards her spot. Azula quickly ducked back around the tree.
As they came closer Azula tried to form a plan. They were still remaining in the circle formation, far enough to keep a decent spread, but close enough to cover each other. That and the use of hand signs indicated these men were not amateurs. One of them was marching near the river; Sukara was hiding there so Azula didn't have to worry about him. On the other hand, while Katara and Sokka might be able to take out one, they were too much of a wild card to rely on.
Azula's heart nearly stopped as a sound echoed throughout the forest, before realizing it was only another bird. Evidently the Air Nomads were as spooked as her, as she couldn't hear them moving. Azula got back to thinking. The six of them presented a problem; taking on six decent benders was dangerous, even for her. She could probably take them, but if she started getting too effective one might run off, and given the Air Nomad base in the area that likely spelled doom for her. She needed to beat them, but also make sure they were confident enough they were all in range when she started winning.
Azula decided on a plan. She would ambush the one nearest as soon as he came by the tree, then make a dash for the farthest one. The others would most likely figure she killed him only because of the ambush, and move to flank her. With luck she could reduce the odds to four to one and still have them all in range. As the moments passed Azula nervously looked to where Katara was hiding. She had no way to contact her and could only hope she stayed hidden. If they survived this Azula resolved to teach the siblings some hand signals. She began charging up a fire blast.
Finally the Air Nomad stepped into view. Azula thrust her hand forward and released a blast of blue fire, enveloping the unlucky Air Nomad. The forest erupted into chaos, as several people seemed materialize out of nowhere. To her left, one of the Air Nomads made a gurgling sound as an arrow appeared through his neck. Another barely dodged the massive club that came down upon him, only to fall as he was knifed in his unprotected legs. A cry from the river let Azula know Sukara was getting his own prey. The farthest Air Nomad was already in combat, though Azula couldn't make out the details.
Azula quickly looked around for any Air Nomads still up. Only two were unoccupied and the wave of water coming from Katara meant that number would soon be reduced to one. Azula charged the last Nomad, who was still trying to figure out what was going on. He raised his staff and began deflecting her blasts, but against a bender of Azula's caliber, there was really only one possible outcome.
Katara had knocked her opponent into a tree and was in the process of freezing him there. Most of the others were various stages of "dead", "dying" or "smashed". The only airbender up left was desperately fighting off a swordsman wielding two hook-swords. Whoever he was he was clearly used to fighting airbenders, keeping in close enough to prevent the Air Nomad from being able to properly use his staff. Unfortunately that also meant they were to close for Azula to fry him.
"Get back!" she shouted.
The swordsman took one quick look at her, and then thrust both of his swords forward. The monk grinned as he easily dodged them. He stopped grinning as one of the swords caught the edge of his staff, pulling it forward. As one end of the staff was dragged forward, the other was thrust backward, catching onto the 'hook' of other sword. The swordsman kicked the Air Nomad in the stomach, and pulled on the swords, the combined effect cause the helpless Air Nomad to lose his grip on the staff. Wasting no time, the swordsman brought his swords forward, putting one into the chest and one into the throat.
The man stood up, wiping his blades on a tree before turning to Azula, who was looking on in appreciative silence. "Thanks" he began. "Always nice to have help cleaning up the trash in these woods."
Azula smiled and gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "It was nothing."
He chuckled. "I imagine not, from the way you destroyed the first one. Don't get many fire benders around here…"
"We're just passing through." Azula replied. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. Azula tried to pick up the conversation "So-"
"AHHH!"
Azula gave a curse under her breath as she was interrupted by Katara's scream. "What in the world does she want?"
Heading over, Azula found Katara in a rather vigorous argument with a small boy about half her size. While Sokka, and the swordsman's group looked onward.
"I had him!"
"And we finished him."
"Murderer!"
"idiot!"
"Be quiet!" Azula and the man ordered at the same time. Both sides obeyed. "What is going on here?"
"She-"
"He-"
"Stop" Azula ordered, and turned towards the swordsman, who was clearly the leader of the group. "Excuse me a moment," she said to swordsman, before dragging Katara off a few feet, while Sokka followed behind.
"Just what is your problem?" Azula hissed.
Katara stepped back, surprised by Azula hostility. Then she rebounded "He," she pointed to the archer,"killed him" she finished, pointing to an Air Nomad. Who was frozen to a tree, with an arrow sticking out of his throat.
Azula blinked. "So your problem is with killing an Air Nomad?" she said, looking at the various bodies strewn around the forest.
"No, I mean..." Katara trailed of, trying to think of the right words. "He was helpless. I already had him frozen."
Azula gave a sigh, putting her hand on Katara's shoulder. "Katara, we are not on the ship anymore. We cannot simply put prisoners on islands, nor can we keep them in the brig. If he had been left there the ice would have eventually melted and then he would have informed his allies both of us and of these fighters. Our lives depend on the Air Nomads not knowing where we are. Do you understand?" Azula said, looking Katara in the eyes.
Katara frowned, but gave a reluctant nod of understanding. Azula smiled and headed back to other group. "Sorry about that. Now where were we?"
"I don't trust her Jet," the small boy began.
Jet cut her off. "Well I do. Princess Azula, right?"
Azula gave a small bow. "You have me at a disadvantage."
"Name's Jet. Freedom fighters, this is Princess Azula. Probably the most wanted woman in all the Air Empire. Azula, these are my freedom fighters: Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, the Duke and Longshot." Jet pointed to each one in turn.
As Jet introduction the various looks of disapproval began to change to respect. Anyone so wanted by the Air Nomads was obviously welcome. "You probably shouldn't stay out here. This won't be the only Air Nomad patrol going by. If you want you and your friends could stay at our base, it's not far from here and well hidden."
"Sure, just let me get them."
OoOoOo
It hadn't taken long to pack up camp. Once Sukara realized they were leaving he simply devoured the half butchered carcass in a few bites. The freedom fighters were giving the Whale-Wolf a wide berth, which Katara seemed to appreciate as she was right next to Sukara.
After about fifteen minutes of walking the Freedom Fighters came to a halt. "What is it?" asked Azula. Jet's only response was to give a quick bird whistle. A second later a rope dropped down from the tree.
Jet grabbed the rope with one hand and Azula with the other, before giving another whistle. As they were lifted up someone began calling down.
"Uggh, not funny Pipsqueak."
"Can it Sneers, it's really me." Jet called back.
"Seriously? Man you really need to lose some weight- " the complaining stopped as they were finally lifted high enough to be able to see each other. "Or maybe not." He finished, eyeing Azula.
Azula considered burning him, but didn't want to offend Jet.
OoOoOoO
"You have fun with your boyfriend?" Katara asked.
Azula rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You've been making eyes at Jet all night."
"And you, having lived all your life in a tiny village with only your brother, are clearly the expert on the difference between being polite and love struck. What is your problem? The entire night you've been nothing but nasty to all of them. Just admit you were wrong."
"I-"
Sokka cut his sister off. "Azula, you called us over here for a reason. What is it?"
"Jet needs our help-"
"I don't trust him." Katara hissed.
"Of course you don't. Look, the people in this valley are starving, and the Air Nomads are keeping the supplies. Jet knows when the next supply wagon is coming through."
"If he knows that much then why does he need our help?" Katara argued.
"He's robbed them before and their beefing up security. Look, it's about helping the people in this valley. You like that sort of thing don't you?"
Katara gave a noncommittal grunt, which Azula choose to interpret as a 'Yes'.
"Why should we help them?" Sokka asked.
"What?" Azula asked.
"Look I'm all for helping people, rah rah yay" said Sokka. "But we need to get north. We can't afford to stay here and help a band that already has people after them."
"This area is a valley; the cliffs up North have several scattered Air Nomad bases. In order to get around them we'd need to head miles inward. Jet knows the lay of the land. He can help us sneak by them if we help him. The next shipment's coming tomorrow and he says it's a big enough one to last the rest of the winter."
"Alright."
"Good, now here's what we need to do-"
OoOoOoO
The wagon moved slowly along the path. The guards consisted of a mixed assortment of earthbenders and spearmen. The earthbenders were closer to the cart, allowing them to use their range and protect the cargo with walls if needed. The caravan stopped when they encountered the fallen tree along the road. Instantly the spearmen lifted their shields and looked to the woods. After a few seconds two of the earthbenders stepped forward and began to bend the ground around the tree, rolling it out of the way. As they bent it they made sure to stay behind the spearmen's shields. Their actions confirmed what Azula had already suspected, these guards were professionals, not some barely trained peasants.
"Remember, don't hit the cargo, we don't want the food burning."
"I know, little boy." Azula, condescension dripping from her tone.
"I'm a girl!"
Azula sneered, "Not that anyone would be able to tell."
"Why you-"
"Quiet now, wouldn't want to give away the ambush, now would we?" Azula finished as she began charging up a lightning blast.
Professional or not, the guards didn't know what hit them. The lightning blast struck the closest earthbender dead on, frying him and the two spearmen near him. The guards were well trained in dealing with bandits and earthbenders. Perhaps they had even encountered a firebender once or twice, but they had never seen one of Azula's caliber. Unfamiliar with the sound of called lightning, they made their fatal mistake, they turned towards it.
In an instant the rest of the ambush was sprung. On each side of the caravan, Sukara and Pipsqueak pushed over the trees that Azula had partially burned out the night before. Longshot picked off the distracted earthbenders before they could even turn to face the new threat, while others were simply battered aside by Katara's water whip. Jet and Sokka charged the remaining spearmen from the front, while Azula's fire hit them from behind.
The battle was over in less than a minute, and Azula began to climb onto the wagon to inspect the spoils of war. Within were several sealed barrels, Azula moved to the nearest one and began to pry the lid off. To her frustration she found it was tightly sealed.
"Hey," Jet appeared behind her, putting his arm over her shoulder. "What you doing?"
"Just inspecting the cargo." Azula replied.
"Don't worry about it, we've ambushed these before, this should be plenty. Taking the lids off could spoil the contents and we need this to last through the winter." Azula lifted her hands away from the barrel. "Cmon, let's head back."
OoOoOoOo
"Hey Sneers, you mind lowering me down?" Sokka asked.
"Sure, going out for a nighttime walk?"
"Nah, just going out to look for my sister." Katara had left awhile back and Sokka was beginning to get worried.
Sokka headed down to the river, where he found her practicing the water whip, while Sukara was laying along the banks. "So, any luck with your whip?'
Katara didn't even turn around. "Just watch," she said happily. Moving into her bending stance she brought a small bit of water up from the river. She shifted her stance forward and the water whipped out in front of her, hitting the river with a satisfying splash. "I can even keep the whip together," she finished as she slid back into her original stance, while the whip curled back into the original 'globe' shape.
"Cool, I guess that scroll must have really helped out."
The water splashed to the ground. "Err… yeah! I mean, once I got a chance to really study it…"
Sokka's eyes narrowed. His sister and Azula's beliefs aside, he wasn't stupid, and had lived with his sister long enough to know when she was lying. Now he was sure something had gone on at the docks. He found her knocked unconscious. According to her she'd heard Azula's fight, and had ran to help before being trapped, (and later knocked unconscious) by "That miserable old hag" but Sokka was sure she was hiding something. Still, it wasn't like a direct confrontation was going to help him.
"Look, it's getting late. We should be heading back to camp." Katara gave one last look of longing at the river before following him back, while Sukara lazily rolled onto his feet and began to follow them.
"UGGH, why are only we carrying these?" Katara and Sokka stopped, recognizing Smellerbee's voice.
"Because Fearless leader's back chatting with that princess and if all of us went, it would look pretty suspicious." Pipsqueak replied, while Katara and Sokka snuck closer, trying to get a look at what was going on.
"Yeah well why me and the Duke?" Peering out from behind the trees the siblings saw the three freedom fighters carrying the food barrels. Pipsqueak was holding one with each arm, while the Duke and Smellerbee were struggling to hold up a third between them.
"Because I'm the only one who knows how to arm the Blasting Jelly, and you're the only one my height. Just imagine me trying to carry this with Longshot holding up the other end." The Duke replied.
Sokka and Katara turned to each other. "I knew-" Katara began, before being cut off by Sokka desperately clamping his hand over her mouth.
"What was that?" Smellerbee asked, looking around.
"What was what?" Pipsqueak asked.
"I heard something." Katara and Sokka ducked behind the tree, hoping they weren't spotted. Sokka gave Katara a silent look that nevertheless managed to convey the expression 'You idiot' quite well.
The Duke sighed. "Look, I know you don't want to carry this but the faster we plant these the sooner we don't have to carry them."
"I'm serious. I heard something. Just put it down for a second and we can take a look-" Smellerbee was cut off by a rustling among the trees, and a set of heavy footfalls Katara and Sokka recognized quite well.
The siblings nearly had a heart attack as one ton of Killer Whale-wolf bounded right towards their hiding place. There was no way the Freedom Fighters could miss it. Sukara began circling the tree, flipping onto its belly in the expectation of being rubbed.
Pisqueak let out a laugh. "It's just the Princess's pet. Shame we can't get him to carry these. Sorry boy but we're busy right now. Don't worry, once were done you should be able to enjoy this valley a lot better." Pipsquak let out another laugh at his own joke.
"Honestly I don't know how you can enjoy that thing. Come on, we need to plant the charges by sunset if we want to end the Air Nomad presence in the valley," The Duke said with exasperation.
Katara and Sokka gave a silent prayer of thanks to whatever spirit had made the freedom fighters think that Sukara had been asking for a belly rub from them. The siblings stood perfectly still until they were sure the trio was far away. Sukara whined, having expected a belly rub and finding them doing nothing but standing still as statues. Finally the siblings could no longer hear the heavy footsteps of Pipsqueak, and both let out a breath of air.
"What are they doing?" Asked Katara.
Sokka nodded. "Hmmmmm. Quite a puzzler."
"You have no idea, do you?" Katara replied as she knelt down to deliver Sukara's belly rub.
"Don't be silly, my dear sister. What do we know about the facts?"
"They're using blasting jelly?"
"That's the first. The second is that they don't want us to know, so it's likely something they don't think one of us would approve of. The third is that they think it will liberate the valley."
"And all this means…?"
Sokka scratched his head. "I have no idea. Maybe they plan to blow up an Air Nomad compound or something?"
"But none of us would really object to that."
"Yeah maybe-" Sukara gave a cry of satisfactions as he rolled back onto his feet. "Wait, that's it!" Sokka yelled, pointing to the Whale Wolf.
"What's it?"
"Pipsqueak said that after their plan Sukara would like this valley a lot better, what does Sukara like?"
"Meat?"
Sokka frowned in annoyance. "Besides that?"
Katara stood up. "Water?"
"Exactly, they're plan will make the valley a virtual lake."
"But how-" Katara stopped, realization dawning on her. "The dam! They're going to blow up the dam! We have to tell Azula!"
OoOoOoO
They managed to get back to the base without incident, but one final obstacle remained. "How do we get her away from Jet?" Katara asked as quietly as she could.
"I don't know. You do it." Sokka whispered back.
"Me?"
"Yeah, just claim it's, 'girl talk' or something," Sokka hissed back.
"Hey!" Both siblings jumped as Sneers approached them. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Oh nothing. Just …floods!" Katara said the first thing that came to mind. A look of horror when she realized what she'd said.
"Water! She means the water back home. When the sea rises in a certain way we call it a flood, it's really amazing to see." Sokka desperately covered.
"Really? I've never been to the South Pole. I'd love to hear about it."
Katara decided to exit from the conversation, trusting Sokka's mouth to find something to talk about. She headed over to where Azula and Jet were talking, gently tapping Azula on the shoulder.
"Hmmm, what is it Katara?" Azula asked.
"Azula, could we talk for a second?"
Azula shrugged. "Given I'm still listening…"
Katara looked over to Jet. "I mean alone? Girl-to-girl?"
Azula rolled her eyes. "Jet, could you excuse me a moment?" Azula followed Katara to an empty corner of the tree house. "What is it?"
"It's Jet."
"Oh give it up! I am-"
"He's going to blow up the dam." Katara whispered a loud as possible without crossing the border from 'whispered' to 'said'.
"What?"
"The dam. The wagon didn't contain food. It had something called Blasting Jelly. They're going to blow up the dam and flood the whole valley."
Azula's gave a sigh of exasperation. "You have got to be kidding me. Do you think I would believe such a ridiculous tale? I don't know what's gotten into you-"
"I'm telling the truth. Where do you think the rest of the Freedom Fighters are?"
"Hiding the food."
"…. Well what about the attack?"
"What about it?"
"Why were they so insistent you didn't burn the cart? Or let you open the Barrels?"
"They didn't want the food spoiled"
"They weren't as worried about trees falling on it. Plus, if they've been raiding these before they could afford a few barrels spoiled, just attack another cart." Katara clamped her hands together. "Please Azula, you have to belief me."
Azula's eyes narrowed.
OoOoOo
"Are we there yet?" Azula asked.
"Yeah. The spot I wanted to show you is just over here." Jet said, pointing to the edge of the tree line.
As she walked into view, Azula gave a gasp. They had hiked all the way up the sides of the valley, looking across she could see the sun beginning to dawn, and looking down she could see the entire valley. "It's the perfect place to assess the tactical situation of the valley." She said in the same tone most people would use to say 'it's beautiful'.
"Yeah, but that's not the best part." Jet added.
"Oh?"
"Today's the day this valley is finally cleansed of the Air Nomads."
Azula looked back toward Jet, curious. "How?"
"I'm sorry for not telling you last night but I wasn't sure I could trust you… or your companions. But I think you, at least, would understand. The cart we had last night contained some high grade blasting Jelly. Last night we moved it to the dam. Once I give the signal Longshot will set it off and this entire valley will be cleansed."
"But… why? I thought you wanted to help them?" Azula asked.
"Help them? Help them? Those cowards, who handed themselves over to the Air Nomads? Those cowards? Who hung my father as a bandit? Who forced me and my mother out of the village? No, they can drown like the rats they are!" Jet shouted, fury in his eyes.
Azula sighed. When she next spoke her voice held none of the timidity or questioning it had before, instead filled with only contempt. "So that's it then? Petty revenge? How disappointing."
"Petty? What are you talking about?" Jet asked, completely confused as Azula's sudden change of manner.
"The village hated me, boo hoo I must have my revenge. Now don't get me wrong. Revenge is wonderful and I plan to indulge in it myself, but you can't even think about the larger consequences. Can you?"
"What are you talking about?" Jet yelled.
Azula sighed, and continued in the voice of someone lecturing a very stupid child. "Your plan doesn't take into account the larger world. Sure you've destroyed one town, but what has that really accomplished? The Air Empire is huge, and one little town won't make much of a difference. Plus it's not like you would take out many Air Nomads. As you showed me last night their main base is on the cliffs, not within the town."
Jet pulled out his hook swords, gritting his teeth in anger. "Any damage to the Air Nomads is worth it. Besides it will show people the price of collaborating."
Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head. "My dear Jet, you understand so much, and yet so little. Threats are a wonderful tool. But like any tool they have their time and place. A threat is only good if people think you can carry it out a second time. Otherwise it simply enrages and alienates them. Blowing up the dam would only drive more people into the arms of the Air Nomads. That's the difference between you and me. I look at the big picture, and that's why I can't let you blow up the dam."
"Oh yeah? Just try and stop me!" Jet screamed, charging forward with his hooks swords. Azula dodged his attacks with contemptuous ease, and then thrust a readied fist right in front of his face. Jet stopped, slowly raising his hands above his heads.
"What was that? Something about not being able to stop you?"
Jet grinned. "You still can't." He said, letting out a bird call and looking off into the valley.
Farther down a single flaming arrow was fired, arcing high into the sky before dropping down towards the bottom of the dam. Neither Azula nor Jet spoke for a few seconds. Then, as nothing happened, Azula resumed her earlier smirk.
"What?" Jet asked, dumbfounded.
Azula laughed. "You know it was a shame you didn't double check this morning. If you had you might have found out that the Blasting Jelly was encased in ice last night. Terribly thing, those freak winter weather storms."
"Why you-"
Azula free hand wagged a finger. "Aha ah ah, I'm not done. You see, something else happened last night. The clerk in town had a bit of a break in, though only some paper and ink were taken. Meanwhile the mayor had an anonymous paper shoved under his door, detailing your little plan." Azula turned toward the Air Nomad base, where several figures, no bigger than pinpricks at this distance, were emerging. "And from the looks of things he shared his concerns with the Air Nomads. You know how good their telescopes are, able to spot a single arrow. Those poor dears," Azula looked down to where the arrow had been fired. "Have absolutely no idea what's going on."
"You bit-" Jet lunged forward, but was cut off by a blast from Azula. The blast was modified for force, not heat, knocking Jet off his feet without burning him.
"I'm going to turn around and walk away. You can follow me and try to kill me, or you can save your friends. Your choice."
Jet snarled as Azula began calmly walking away.
OoOoOo
Once Jet was out of sight Azula broke into a run, heading to the spot she told Sokka and Katara to meet her.
"Azula!" Katara cried, waving. "Are you okay?"
Azula rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, but we need to get going, are we all packed?"
Sukara gave a cry and lumbered into view, the various travel supplies tied to its back providing her answer.
"Good. Jet showed me a way to get to the top of the cliffs without being detected, but we need to hurry. The Air Nomads will be distracted for a while, but sooner or later they'll either catch them all or some of Jet's group will get away, and we can't afford to be here when that happens.
OoOoOo
Author's Note:"Will the princess and the rebel be able to work together to defeat the Air Nomads?"- Evidently not. (unless you count "live bait" as working together)
Remember folks, never trust my previews. They'll always be factually accurate, but not necessarily in the way you'd first think.
Hopefully there were no Jetzula fans in the audience, if not…. sorry? (I have nothing personal against Jetzula, or any other ship for that matter, just the way the ball bounces)
That said, if anyone curious. Azula did sort of have a crush on Jet at the beginning, but she does not take kindly to being tricked. Hence the rather over the top revenge. (Using him as live bait? Mean, but pragmatic. But sticking the knife in by telling him? And making him choose between getting her and trying to save his friends? Yeah that was just sticking the knife in.)
Again, thanks to all my readers, and reviewers. And a special thanks to everyone who offered constructive criticism. Sorry this chapter took so long, then next one should be up in a week or two (after that…. It might be awhile.)
OoOoO
Preview: Picture a castle… or don't. It isn't really grand enough to be called a castle. 'Fort' would be a better term. Though even that may be dignifying it too much, given one wall has fallen down completely, and the rest is in disrepair. It is ancient, built before the unification of the Fire Nation. It has only recently been re-inhabited.
If someone were to stand in the center of the fort they would find it empty. The only things decorating the courtyard are a collection of targets opposite the destroyed wall. Examining these targets one would find two things odd about them… assuming the examiner were native to the world.
The first is that the targets were archery targets. The bow and arrow is all but dead… or more accurately stillborn. Benders can deliver ranges attack, but no archer can create walls in seconds. No archer can fly from one battle to the other. No archer can make his bow send a continuous stream of arrows, or heal his comrades with it.
The second odd thing is the inaccuracy of the arrows. While there are a few bull's-eyes here and there, the arrows are mostly strewn around the targets, hitting them, but not near the center. Because of the rarity of the bow, those who do use it tend to be supremely accurate. Only an elite force would bother with it. While everyone must start somewhere, almost all of them are trained from childhood and by the time they would participate in formal practice, all of them could hit the center nine times out of ten.
If one were to continue standing there one would hope to either be very lucky or very observant, because a volley or arrows would soon come towards the targets. Assuming one didn't get killed by the arrows they might wonder where they came from. The walls seem the obvious choice, but while there are people on them, all are facing outward, watching for attacks.
One might then walk outside through the broken wall, thinking perhaps the archers were far away, thus explaining the inaccuracy. Again one would find nothing, no matter how far one's eyes could see. The ears, on the other hand….
The sound of strings being drawn back might cause someone to turn their head to the left, and only then would they finally find the archers. The first thing they would notice would be the clothes, black robes. The second would probably be the bow. The final thing, if someone had good enough eyesight, might be the fact that they were all female.
One of them, off to the side, would give a small signal and the arrows would fly. Most people would duck, or close their eyes, but if someone were very brave(or very stupid) and wished to stare death in the face, they might turn to face the arrows. If they did they would see something extraordinary, as the arrows streaked forward they would begin to turn in midflight, heading into the fortress and striking the targets.
Ultimately, however, our story is not concerned with these women… at least not directly, and not right now. Rather it is concerned with two figures on the wall. It should be night, that's the best time to hold conversations such as these; secret, dramatic and tense. Dawn or dusk would at least have some symbolism, or even high noon. But unfortunately, neither the world, nor the figures cares about proper dramatic lighting, and thus it is merely a slightly cloudy morning, possibly one of the most boring backgrounds in existence.
If one were a poet, and thought oneself very clever by comparing figures to the element they bend, one might compare the first figure to the Northern wind; stern, cold, ancient and deadly. The second figure might be compared to a gentle breeze, warm, calm and rather unassuming. Though perhaps a better, or at least more accurate, comparison might be the calm before the storm, or eye of the hurricane.
"Hmmmm, Malu, it is always a pleasure to see such an honored elder."
"Quite, Jamayang. I have no need of your honeyed tongue."
Jamayang sighed; this was not going to be easy. "Very well. I wish to ask for you help-"
"No."
"I haven't even-"
"I know what you're going to ask. I'm one of the head monks of the Western Air Temple."
"The 'Western Air Temple', of course. I meant no disrespect. Please reconsider, the Xuan Feng could be a great help-"
"You can continue your little hunt, but I'm not interested in her. We have real work."
"Hmmmm, really? I was under the impression that the Fire Nation was our ally now… Am I mistaken?"
"Please, that incompetent puppet can barely control his own city, let alone the Nation. Now go." Malu turned around and began walking.
Jamayang stood there for a few moments. Then, like a man revealing his wheel tile was in a position to capture someone's boat, he spoke. "So you're saying you don't want to help capture princess Azula?"
She stopped. Slowly, Malu began turning around, "I'll consider it."
"Just remember, capture, not kill. No 'accidental' misfired arrows."
Malu's eye's narrowed. "I didn't say we were coming."
Jamayang smiled. "Of course not, my mistake."