NOW COMES THE END OF THE ROAD BEFORE HEADING BACK TO WHATEVER AWAITS ZUKO IN THE FIRE NATION AND WAITING TO SEE IF HE WILL CARRY OUT THE WILL OF AGNI. BUT IS THE WORST OF HIS JOURNEY OVER? WILL THERE BE ONE LAST SOUL TO AID HIM IN THIS FINAL TRIP? WILL HE MEET ONE LAST TORMENTOR IN THIS KINGDOM WHERE THE RICH LOOK DOWN ON THE POOR? JUST READ IT CUZ NOW I'M STARTING TO SOUND LIKE THOSE ANNOYING NARRORATORS. Lol
I do not own ATLA or any of the characters.
Book 1: Road To War
Chapter 5: Hatred
Part 2
DARK LAIR OF KOH
For his whole existence, he has been hiding in this cold cruel place of the void. The light is unwelcome, death hangs thick in the air that you can taste it; fell spirits are so close you can feel their touch, and the cold is so harsh it freezes you soul. This is the favorite place of the Dark Spirit Koh.
For months he has been lurking in the darkness and shadows of the four realms of the Great Spirits. Listening, watching, observing, and planning. The world of mortals was to his liking. Disorder, despair, and death made it all so sweet for him to feel such suffering. And now a new breed of suffering brought his attention. The same suffering that Agni had his eyes on. Such strong emotions he had. Fear was deep in his soul from what he had faced, anger had plagued his mind from the abuse he had received, sorrow, rejection, and despair was carved into his very nature of understanding. But now Hatred began to seep inside of his understanding. Nothing satisfied the Dark Spirit more than deep hatred in one person.
Koh wanted this soul; he wanted it for his own gain. The things he could accomplish with such a spirit was boundless. Plus the people were increasing his potential even more. This one mortal, this one human. This one boy could change the fate of the world, but how he could change it was yet to be determined. If pushed in the right direction, Koh could have an advantage over the other Spirits and place his element of darkness over the lands again as it used to be before he was banished under a withered old tree of the spirit realm.
Koh's revenge on this world and the spirit world will come swift and hard. All that needs to be done is taking the lead on this child to corrupt the future into his rule.
But now he had too be careful. Surely he knew that Agni felt his presence and would be suspicious of what Koh is up to. That dragon was real clever and needed to be taken seriously. For now Koh would wait in the darkness until he could make his appearance.
FULL MOON BAY FERRY PORT
It took over a month, but they finally made it to the ferry port of Mull Moon Bay. As was told in reports, the ferry port was busy and crowded with refugees trying to escape the war by the safe haven behind the walls. The port was in a cave that lead out into the great moat surrounding the flat grounds of the kingdom.
Zuko was given a black cloak by his Uncle to hide him from the people's eye. Although some people were growing suspicious after hearing rumors of the captive fire nation prince. Since he looked to be the only prisoner transfer there at the time, people began to question the guards around Zuko. Luckily his Uncle was a quick thinker and was able to come up with an answer to put those suspicions to rest.
During the trip Zuko was beginning to listen to his uncle as he tried to speak to his nephew. Iroh was only able to get a shake or a nod from Zuko to yes and no questions only. It wasn't much, but it was progress. Iroh was feeling more confident about a plan to rescue Zuko from this fate, if he could find out more of his brother's plan when they returned, he would be able to form an escape for the two of them and disappear from knowledge. They just needed to get through this last torture session. If Iroh were to take Zuko now without finding out more of his brother's plot, he might make the mistake of missing a hidden backup plan by his brother. Ozai was clever like that.
Iroh walked up to Zuko's cage, "Do not worry Zuko, I have been telling them you are a part of an entertaining act for the King and are not to be disturbed by the king's orders," Iroh whispered to him. Zuko did notice that some of the people began to ignore his presence, "It won't be long until we head onto the ferry."
Soon the Ferry came into port and the captain called the next passengers onto the ferry boat. Iroh leads the group onto the boat and soon sets sail for the Ba Sing Se kingdom.
Zuko sat silent to himself contemplating this whole journey. He was fighting himself to understand it all on what was good and bad, who was wrong or right, but more importantly, was trust in others something getting in his way or something helpful to reach a goal. From time to time, Zuko experienced to up and downsides to trust and both seemed to leave him still confused and undecided. He was able to gain deeper understandings of the purity in the human soul, but also seen it punished or ridiculed for its act. Those have been subject to suffer for his sake in order to do the right thing. Also, some of those he tried to trust only proved to fail him over again. But then again, they seem to try to make amends for it no matter how hopeless it is. Zuko still feels conflicted by all this. He decides to wait and watch as the rest of his fate unfolds. Right now, for this long trip, Zuko decided best to meditate and temporarily forget all the troubles of trip.
Soon Zuko was in a state of mind of pure silence and solitude. Yet strangely it began to feel eerie and cold. It was be the breeze from the open area of the bay. Zuko opened his eye to find himself unchained and in a place of a darkened void. Only himself and a small circle on where he stood was lightened up as if in the sun, except there was no sun anywhere. Zuko had no idea what to make of this until he heard the sounds of clicking and crackling as if it was an insect, a giant insect.
"Do you know who I am son of the fire nation?" a deep, dark, echoing voice asked. Zuko tried to make a small light from his hands, until he found out that he could not feel any of his chi flowing through his body. He began to become uneasy about all this until he remembered one time his Uncle spoke of a place where no mortal could use their chi, the spirit world, "Be still child, I will not harm you in anyway," the voice calmly said.
Zuko knew better not to trust a spirit, especially when they had the advantage, "Who are you!?" Zuko shouted as he still kept himself in the defense.
"I am Koh," Zuko froze in fear, his uncle told him about this spirit when he was small. Zuko always thought of it as a myth just to get kids to do as they were told, "I am the keeper of the darkness," Koh crept around Zuko in the darkness just from out of view, "You do not need to worry, I promise not to steel your face, at least not in this meeting," He said in a cold chuckle.
Soon Koh appeared before Zuko face to face. He knew it was crazy, but he took the word of the giant demon, "What do you want?" Zuko demanded flatly.
"I have a offer for you," Koh started as he circled Zuko slowly, "You don't need to answer me now, because I want you to think about it first," Zuko relaxed himself and waited to hear the rest, "I have watched you with great interest. I have seen you take much suffering and much knowledge as well from that suffering. You have shown great value even among the Great Spirits themselves. Some of them see you as a tool and some of them see you as a threat."
Zuko narrowed his eyes at the dark insect, "And what do you see me as?"
Koh smiled, "I see you as a changing point for this whole world that was never given the choice of having what he wanted. I will make a deal with you to have anything you want even the power of darkness at your command," Koh twisted his body making himself crack the joints of his body that sent uncomfortable shivers down Zuko's spine, "Since you command the gift of fire, I will give you this."
Koh then closed his claws surrounding his face just in front of him to ignite a dark flame with mixtures of black and night blue-ish colors. It felt intense and gave off a strong presence of the dead. Zuko could feel himself as well as the void begin to shake and rumble from the flame.
"This is the flames of the void, containing the essence of death, darkness, and destruction. It even has the power to consume the very soul of a being and sending it into oblivion," Koh then extinguished the dark flame, "This is what I could offer you Prince Zuko."
Zuko knew that there was a catch, there always was a catch, "What do you want from me then?" Zuko calmly asked.
Koh laughed, "You truly are a clever one. I will tell you this, what you gain greatly you will have to give up something just as great of worth," Koh then stopped to face Zuko.
Zuko thought about this until another question crossed his mind, "And what of the other Great Spirits knowing this deal?"
"They can not see what goes through your mind when they are too busy seeing what goes through the events outside your body. As I said, you need not decide now," He began to crawl beck into the darkness of the void as he spoke his last words, "All you need to do is whisper my name with the desire in your heart and I will answer."
Then, as if from waking from a dream, Zuko opened his eyes as the boat made a sudden stop on the shore of the other side to Full Moon Bay and the road to the great city. Zuko didn't know whether now it was a dream or not. Then again why would he dream of such a creature calling himself Koh and mentioning about past events and the Great Spirits? Now wasn't the time for that. He needed to keep his focus on what was ahead and what was ahead was a group of, what looked like, a squad of elite earth benders, no doubt waiting for him. The bald on in the front center seemed to be the head of the group as he wore no armor, but elegant robes and had a small thin mustache and goatee. But those eyes screamed of sinister to Zuko after the facial expressions he has seen on his journey.
The head man walked up to Iroh with a sly smirk, "Greetings, I am Long Feng, head of the Dai Li and right hand of King Kuei," he presented himself with a small bow.
Iroh returned the gesture, "I am the head of the guard, for secrecy, my name need not be of importance," Long Feng nodded in accepting the matter, "I am in charge of watching over the prisoner for most of the time and…"
Iroh was cut off by Long Feng, "That won't be necessary, for the King has granted me charge over the prisoner," he informed Iroh.
Iroh was taken off guard by the sudden change in plans by the king, "But Master Long Feng, I was not given any orders to hand over…" Iroh started before being once again cut off by Long Feng.
"The King has thought it over just as you crossed the bay. He sends his apologies for any inconvenience." Long Feng excused.
Iroh would have none of this, "I am sorry Long Feng, but I will not give the prisoner up until I see the message from the king himself," Iroh pointed out flat.
Long Feng's smirk grew more sinister, "Then should I have word sent that you have questioned the king's adviser?"
Iroh then saw the game Long Feng played. He had great power and influence over the king and would use it to his advantage to have his way. Iroh could not do anything without raising suspicion. He then bowed in apology, "Forgive me, I meant no disrespect. I was given strict orders to keep watch over the prisoner until I was given an official release."
"Quite alright, we will just have to call this an official release then. Dai Li, take the prisoner to his cell," The Dai Li took the cage and made their way back into the city, "You may reside at the palace for a place to sleep and if you ever need something, the Dai Li will always be around if you need them."
Iroh saw the hint of threat in his words. He could do nothing now that Long Feng has his minions watching every move he makes. He has heard of the Dai Li being stealthy and observant of everything around them, but he never realized that they abused their power for the sake of their leader. Iroh felt a great amount of dread wash over him as he helplessly watched Zuko be taken away by Long Feng. Spirits know what will befall on the boy and may the spirits watch over him.
Zuko sat in his cage unresponsive to whatever may or may not happen. He over heard what just happen, though he did not blame his uncle for this. He knew the type of man he was under and he could expect not comfort or humanity from him as well. It was only a matter of time until he revealed who Zuko was to the passing people.
"Sergeant?" Long Feng called out to one his men.
"Yes Long Feng," He replied.
"Make sure you clear the way to the palace, tell the people we need to transport Prince Zuko before the King to pass judgment on him," He smirked coldly.
"As you wish Long Feng," With that the Dai Li agent began informing the people to move out of the way for the prisoner. He used Zuko's name purposely to which caused people to stop and make an open lane to see the now hated son of the fire lord.
Shout and curses started to erupt from the people. The Dai Li then made enough space from the cage to allow Zuko to be seen. Soon after that, people started to follow and throw garbage and stones at Zuko, although the stones had to be small to be able to land a more likely hit through the bars of the cage. All along the way, Long Feng smiled in satisfaction now that most of the Earth Kingdom was present and alert to the news of Zuko being taken to the king to be pass judgment on. It took most of the whole day to reach the palace by parading Zuko through the streets. By the time they got there, the whole front of the palace was surrounded by most of Ba Sing Se to witness the verdict of the hated prince.
"Captain," Long Feng called over a standing guard, "Go inform the King we have a prisoner for him."
The guard captain hesitated, "But Long Feng, he is in a dinner meeting with a very important earth kingdom family from Gaoling."
"I am sure the king would excuse himself for a while. Tell the king that the prisoner Prince Zuko has arrived," he commanded.
The Captain was stunned a bit from the news and bowed in haste, "At once sir!" he then took off quick to the kings dinning hall.
"Bring the prisoner to the throne room," Long Feng directed.
The Dai Li did as told. "This is too good to be true" thought Long Feng.
DINNING HALL
The king dined and spoke to the father of a very wealthy family. The mother sat by her, just turned, eleven young daughter as the father discussed business with the king.
The daughter ate and soon found out she needed a refill for her cup, "Jin come here!" She called in a commanding tone.
An older young female came rushing in with a jar of pot of hot tea. She had been picked out by the daughter as they came into town to be a temporary servant. Jin was still nervous of having the honor to serve such a rich and wealthy family. This would really help out her family if she performed her duties to her employers to their liking. She tried her best to serve the tea without shaking too much from still being excited and nervous from the sudden surprise for being chosen to be given such a job.
"Your tea Miss Beifong," Jin said.
The Daughter grumbled a sigh, "How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Toph? Is that so hard just to say a four letter name?" Toph said irritably.
Jin quickly apologies nervously, "Forgive me Toph Beifong, I didn't mean to offend!"
"Ugh, well its close enough. At least you're much more better than our own servants just calling me by my last name only." Toph smirked as she sipped her tea.
Toph liked Jin after getting her to do errands for her. She was a bit clumsy here and there and she always tried to do what Toph wanted despite her lack of knowledge of serving such high a class of people. Jin was the closest thing Toph could call a friend, despite her awkwardness around her parents. Sure she played a small prank on Jin every so often, but it was always out of friendship and the two would just laugh right after.
Just then the captain came in and bowed to the king before he spoke in a whisper. The King's expression turned from cheerful to shock and then stern before turning to his guests, "If you'll excuse me, I have an urgent matter to attend to. Please enjoy the rest of the meal and we shall continue our business another time."
He made a bow and left quickly after. Toph felt his vibrations and knew this was something really important and that she wanted to know what it was.
Toph stood from her seat, "Mom, Dad, may I be excused to my room please?" a little decency never hurt to go off spying.
"Yes you may my daughter," the father answered.
"Do you need me to help you to your room dear?" her mother asked worried.
"No thank you mom, I have Jin to take me," Toph said and held out a hand for Jin to take. Jin hesitantly took her hand and led her down the hall and out of sight on their way down to their room. Then her arm was suddenly jerked back and she found herself being dragged off by Toph, "Come on let's go!" Toph whispered a shout.
Jin was, at this point completely confused, "Miss…err I mean Toph! Where are you going? Our room is this way!" Jin said fighting to keep her balance.
"SHH! We are going to see what the king is doing." Toph told Jin trying to keep her quiet.
"But Toph, we can't go. Besides, there are guards everywhere. We will never be able to get in," Jin pointed out. Then Toph turned to a blank wall and made a tunnel through. "Toph what have you done!?" Jin whispered her hysteria.
"I made a way to sneak in now get in there," Toph pushed her in and sealed the wall just in time as a guard walked by.
Soon the two found their way in from underneath the throne of the King as he came in to sit in it. Toph made a shushing gesture to Jin to keep quiet as they snuck under the throne and made their way closer to underside of the stairs in the dark undetected. Jin was trying to keep her heart from beating so fast from all the voices in her head telling her she really shouldn't be here and the consequences of being caught.
Soon King Kuei took his seat on the throne and Long Feng stood to his right waiting for the prisoner to come in. King Kuei sat in his throne a bit nervous of hearing what he was about to do. He had been told of a message of a prisoner being brought in to judge, but he had no idea it was the prince of the fire nation. He had no idea what he had committed to bring him before the king.
Long Feng saw the distressed look on the king's features, "Are you fine my king?" he asked plainly.
Kuei did not notice the bluntness of the question, "Yes, I just am a little nervous of having to pass judgment on the son of the fire lord."
"I have received word from the fire lord that his son attacked our nation and want's us to teach him the consequences of trying to start a war." Long Feng lied. Toph was able to tell it was a lie to begin with. It made her wonder what this prince's true reason for being here was.
Kuei sighed in relief, "I am glad it was not a plan from the fire lord to start a war in a time of peace."
Toph frowned at hearing this, "So that's why Long Feng didn't want the king hearing about the war," thought Toph, "He is manipulating the king." Jin was still confused on why the king thought there wasn't a war going on. Part of her wanted to come out and tell the king straight out that there was indeed a war outside the walls, but part of her was afraid of what the Dai Li would do if they discovered them there in the first place.
Just then a guard at the throne door popped in and announced that the fire nation prince was ready to come. Long Feng nodded to bring him in and the guard disappeared behind the door to fetch Zuko.
Jin slowly peeked around the side of the stairs just enough so not to be seen. Toph just crouched in her position to feel what was happening, "I always wanted to see a member of the fire nation family," She whispered.
Toph expressed a look of annoyance, "Lucky you," she whispered in a deadpanned tone.
Jin looked back realizing what she meant, "Oh sorry," she said awkwardly whispered back.
The doors parted as an escort of four Dai Li agents brought out the fire prince towards the front of the throne before the king and in chains held by the Dai Li. At the moment he was too far to see clearly for Jin.
"Well what does he look like?" Toph asked in a whisper.
Jin shook her head, "I don't know, he's too far to see clearly," she whispered back.
Soon they stopped in front of the throne as Zuko was forced to his knees and keeping his head down facing the floor. This made it impossible for Jin to get a good look. Toph only could see a rough vibrating form of him. There was something wrapped around his face that sort of made it hard to tell the shape of his face, but she could obviously tell what his mood was. Emptiness, lifeless, and still.
Kuei waved his hand towards Long Feng to begin the process, "Fire Nation Prince Zuko, you are brought before the king of Ba Sing Se to be judged and punished for the crimes against the Earth Nation. The charges are murder, raid, rape, treason, theft, manipulation, and attempted plot against, his Highness, King \Kuei," Kuei was shocked at the last charge, he never thought anyone would go so far as to plot his murder. On the ether hand, Toph felt every lie that spewed out of the advisor's mouth ad began to wonder what the prince actually did to deserve punishment for, "How do you plead and what do you have to say in your defense?"
Zuko remained silent and unresponsive. Toph was shocked that he didn't say anything to defend himself. She wondered if he was wishing for punishment or to be executed. Jin just sat there shocked at the charges brought against him.
Long Feng smirked at Zuko's silence, "Well your silence says it all tat you are guilty of every charge. Therefore you will receive there max punishment of torture."
Kuei looked up at Long Feng at his judgment on Zuko. He thought this might have been too much for a young boy. Jin thought the same even thought she had no favor for him and his crimes. Long Feng walked down and lowered himself for only Zuko to hear, "I bet your mother would crack just to know her baby boy is about to be tortured for a very long time," Long Feng whispered in a mocking tone. At this Zuko looked up at the man with a mixture of emotions on his face of rage, hate, loss, and sorrow. Jin was able to see the devastating sight of his bandaged face with spots of dried blood, dirt, and sweat. She wondered what he could have experienced to give him such severe injuries, "To bad she left your family in time to spare herself from you," he spat.
"Now that was just low" thought Toph. Zuko sprung from the floors. Long Feng fell back as Zuko nearly bite his face off and roared at him. It took all the strength of the Dai Li agents to barely hold back Zuko in his chains. Jin jumped a bit herself. She was surprised; despite his weaken appearance, he was still strong enough to pull against his chains. Soon more agents came to pull on Zuko's chains to pull him away.
Long Feng rose as he straightened himself up, "You will wish you haven't done that, take him to the square!" he demanded. Soon the Dai Li pulled him out of the throne room and Long Feng took his place by Kuei's side.
"Isn't it a bit severe to be so harsh on such a young boy?" Kuei asked still troubled by the punishment.
"King Kuei, he has plotted to murder you. Thing's like that must not go unpunished without severe consequences. That will only inspire young enemies to follow in his footsteps if not treated with firm and strict punishment. I only allow this to protect you." Long Feng said.
Kuei nodded and rose from his seat, "Then let this be done as you see."
Soon the room was empty with Toph and Jin still under the throne. They crept back against the wall where they came from.
"I can't believe someone that young would actually do all that stuff," Jin said still shocked at the charges.
"He didn't," Toph said bluntly.
"What? What do you mean?" Jin asked confused.
"I know when someone is lying," she said. Jin remembered that Toph could do that, "Everything he accused Zuko of was a lie."
"Shouldn't we tell someone?" Jin asked.
Toph knocked on Jin's head, "Hello? Anyone home? If we told someone this then they would know we were there watching."
"Oh yeah," Jin rubbed her head, "Then what do we do then?"
Toph thought for a moment as she quietly opened a way back their room, "We need to ask him," Toph said.
"How? He will be put in the dungeon after his punishment," Jin pointed out.
"Duh? How did we sneak in the throne room?" Toph also pointed out.
Jin sighed in a worried and nervous breath, "This is so wrong and dangerous."
"Ah, you'll miss it when I have to leave," Toph said.
Jin had to admit she will miss it. This was the most fun adventure she had. It will sadden her when Toph, her only and best friend leaves back to her home. The two made their way back to their rooms without being detected.
REALM OF IRESH
Iresh sat on his throne looking into a pool of molten rock that displayed a window to the happenings of the earth kingdom. He watched as the judgment of Zuko was passed and Agni's promise coming through. He felt satisfied that his people would get the satisfaction of seeing the worst brought down on a fire nation royal. He did admit it was a bit severe for the young boy, but the boy was none of his concern.
"Quite the show isn't it?" a dark deep sinister voice asked in humor.
With a loud snap of his claws, a whole legion of the Tigerdillo soldiers surrounded the Dark Spirit Koh. Iresh rose from his throne and stomped his way towards the intruding insect.
"What are you doing in my realm with your filth!?" Iresh growled.
Koh smirked, "Do you really trust that dragon?" he asked as he saw the look on Iresh's face changed to focus on the question, "Do you even trust this boy in your very kingdom?"
"What do you want bug?" Iresh demanded in a snarl.
"Nothing, I just want to lend you a hand or a claw, which ever you prefer, to watch over Agni in case he might have a scheme." Koh offered.
"Why would I need your help?" he asked shortly.
"I have my reasons against the dragon let's leave it at that. All I ask is that I keep a close eye on the boy, talk to him, and try to foil any plot Agni might have, but I need your approval to enter your lands." Koh stated his request.
Iresh knew he shouldn't trust the Dark Spirit, but he trusted Agni even less and if Agni was planning something, he wanted it to fail, "One condition," he demanded, "You only make contact with the boy and nothing less a part of my kingdom."
"Agreed," Koh accepted.
"Now leave my realm before I give my army something to practice their skills on," Iresh threatened as he walked back to his throne.
Koh vanished in a dark cloud and was gone. Iresh pondered if this was the right thing to do, but after he disregarded that thought. He wanted to know Agni's plan and end it. Even if it meant trusting a Dark Spirit.
PART 2 COMPLETE. THINGS ARE HEATING UP, THE PLOT IS THICKENING, AND DEALS ARE BEING MADE. IF THIS SEEMS LIKE A CLIFFHANGER TO YOU THEN TOUGH HA HA HA. (JK) ANYWAYS I HOPE YOU LIKE HOW I DECIDE TO PLACE BOTH TOPH AND JIN THERE. WE WILL SEE HOW THEY DEAL WITH ZUKO IN THE FINAL PART OF THE ANGER CHAPTER AND WHAT KOH WILL PLAN TO DO.
