Ten Years of Difference
Chapter Twenty
"Look, Aang!" Sokka tried to put it as gently as he could, despite the fact that all of this spiritual mumbo-jumbo was beginning to irritate the wits out of him, "I get what you're saying. Somewhat. A little bit. I think. But I don't see what that's got to do with me."
He saw that his tone hadn't carried the gentleness he had tried to imbue it with. The young monk looked a bit saddened, while Katara shot him an highly disapproving look. That last, however, had become commonplace. At least she doesn't want to take my head off anymore. There's always that.
He couldn't help if he felt irritated, however. There was a situation going on outside. There were Imperial troops out there, and he was busy using what forces he had to push them back. He could be useful there, was useful there.
Instead he'd been dragged here by his insistant sister, and served a story which beat most of the fairy tales he'd been told ever since he was a boy. It wasn't that he really disbelieved it. But he didn't see what the point in Aang telling him was.
"Hey, look, try to see it from my side." he said before anyone else could speak, "You're telling me that one of your previous selves is trying to do something to this world. Something real bad."
"Right!" the boy said with blunt honesty. Too honest. Is he an exception, or were his days really that much more peaceful? "And we gotta find a way to stop him!"
Sokka reflected on that a moment, but his pragmatic, tactical mentality pushed him to speak quickly, even as he thought. "I get it. But you can't move on poor information like that."
"Poor?" Aang seemed confused. Katara stirred at that.
"Sokka, you heard what he said. His own past selves told him what was going on!" She said, defending him. Always defending him. It surprised him how attached to the boy his sister had become. Yeah, like I haven't, he thought to himself. The young Avatar had something about him which made others want to believe, want to help. He wished he had something like that.
He didn't buy what he'd been told, however. Nearly a decade fighting had taught him better. "The way you talked about it, your…geezer lives…" he chuckled at this without thinking, caught himself, and coughed. Remnants from my youth. Thought I'd rid myself of that. "Your predecessors said it was one of your past selves. Now, I can believe that there was an Avatar that turned bad somewhere along the way…"
"You do?" Aang said. "I'm having problems with that right now."
"It makes sense. You're all people that the Avatar Spirit's bonded with for life. But you're still people. Its not impossible that something like this happened. But that's not the problem here." They looked blank, and he sighed. "Okay, so I guess I gotta be a bit clearer."
"You're saying the guy got killed," And thats a feat right there, I think, "Then got tossed out of everything about the Avatar cycle – whatever that means." He looked at them, waiting for them to nod. When they did, he continued.
"Now, I don't really know anything about all that spiritual talk, but I can get that something like this is, well, something real huge. Hugest huge." I'm needed somewhere else!
Aang looked a bit confused – or maybe hesitant to make any link. But Katara seemed to grasp it, for her eyes widened. "You're saying there's more than just Aang's former self acting up."
He stood up. She got it, it seemed. They could figure the rest out. Frankly, they could better than he could. "Thats how I see it. Look. I'll see what I can do about getting you help getting to that Fire Temple. Firebender would be good. Earthbender, too. Gotta learn those, right?"
As he made his way to exit the earthbended room, Aang caught up with him, smiling happily, and bowed in the way he'd seen him bow to respected elders. 'Thank you, sir. Thank you for the help.'
Over the years, many people had thanked him, including kids. But, for some reason, he didn't want this one to do that. In some, strange way, Sokka was the one feeling thankful. Because ever since he'd seen Aang, seen the young boy's ability to cope and move forward, it had galvanized something inside of him.
He put his hand on the boy's head a moment, gently, and felt this strange feeling of loss. Like I'm supposed to be with this kid in some way. Like me, standing here, is right. Nonsense. But it made him grin. "Hey, don't call me 'sir', kiddo. Sokka's enough when I'm with friends."
This made the boy happy, he could see that. "Friends. Yeah. That sounds great!"
"You bet. Well, plan the spiritual thing together. I got a really material thing to take care of." He mused, waving as he left. I've wasted tactical time. But I don't feel bad about it. Weird.
He felt her presence as he left, belatedly, and cursed himself for letting the conversation take him so completely off-guard. Ty Lee was leaning on the wall, the bright, happy grin on her face present as it almost always was. She was garbed in less flamboyant clothes, and yet she still retained her lean, alluring figure. 'That was really nice in there.' She said.
Flustered – by her opinion, his being caught off-guard, or her presence, he couldn't tell which – he started walking back to the place he made decisions from, where scouts likely waited for him with urgent reports. "Shouldn't you be locked up in a situation like this?" he groused.
It didn't deter her as she somersaulted and landed right next to him. It actually seemed to amuse her, as she made sweet, slightly mocking eyes at him. She leaned a bit closer. "Well, y'know, if you wanna chain me up yourself, then…"
He turned away from her, not certain he liked the effect she was having on him, not disliking it, either. The conflicting feelings made him revert to the only thing which served him in those moments : sarcasm.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure I'd love to get both my arms broken if I tried." He mused with a face he hoped was blank. She shrugged.
"I wouldn't do that!" she said.
"You'd… okay, conversation over. Too much weirdness." I got a fight to finish. I got leaders to call, and I got changes to make like yesterday. Dunno if Bumi'll like it, but it's gotta be done.
Yeah, and I need someone to watch that kid. Someone less mothering than Katara. It all adds up. All the time.
"Whatever you say." He heard her muse behind him, keeping only two steps behind. "Yup, yup. Whatever you say."
And he wondered what to do with the seriousness with which she repeated that last sentence.
It had never been designed to truly feel comfortable, it seemed.
Azula realized this much as she squirmed on her seat, the one which had seated fifty-two Earth Kings over two millennia of the Earth Kingdom's existence. She now ruled over most of the Earth Kingdom as the Regent of the East – the new fancy title her father had chosen for her position. The position gave her power over many resources, many people, and much territory.
It usually bored her to tears. Sometimes, it amused her. And sometimes, it infuriated her. Like the man she was watching sternly at the moment, quivering between two silent Dai Li agents.
"Your network has yet to uncover the men responsible for the constant leaks of information, Colonel Fogao." She all but purred, the gentleness in her voice laced with implacable acid. "This is getting… most annoying."
The man bowed down at that, his face all but hitting the floor in his haste to prostrate himself. She eyed the man in distaste. People who cowered or bowed so easily were nothing to her. They were disgusting at the best of time, in her opinion.
"I swear, Your Highness!" the man gasped, "I swear that we are doing everything in our power to find the sources of the leaks! I swear that we will find them one day, that much I can promise!"
"'One day' doesn't mean 'today'." She growled, making her displeasure known. She shook her head as the man continued to gibber and cower. There was nothing to be done about this man. She looked at Mai, standing beside her, looking utterly bored by the entire proceedings, and smiled. Boring as a platypus bear, yet effective and a good counsel.
"I'm starting to think I should have let Long Feng live." She hissed to her friend swiftly. Mai simply looked down at her and leaned forward a bit.
"No use crying over that." The dark-toned and dark-garbed woman mused dispassionately, "Might have been worse giving that old man any sort of power. He was too stubborn for his own good."
Azula had to admit that her friend – for that was the term she preferred to use – was right on that point. The former Secretariat of Ba Sing Se had been a fool, but not without resources of his own, having long been able to rule under the Earth King's very nose. That took a certain amount of flair, she had to admit.
However, the men and women who'd tried to control the Dai Li after Long Feng had been disposed had met with nothing but dismal failure, as the special agents decided only Azula was worthy of giving orders. As for the intelligence network…
The very thought of it angered her, and she rose from her seat as the man continued to try and cover up his own lack of results. At once, her prey tensed, even as Mai seemed to look on with a glimmer of genuine interest. A rare sight, that: ever since Ty Lee had betrayed them, Mai's mood had been unusually dark, even for her. Yeah, like it didn't affect me? Ty Lee… she was going to make a special example out of her one day.
"You're wasting your breath, which doesn't really bother anyone." She growled, "But you're also wasting my time right now, and that is very different indeed!" She swept her arm, to dismiss the man. "Leave at once. And if you come with failure again the next time I call upon you…" she left it at that. Let the man's imagination interpret it the way it wished.
Azula had been in a very foul mood herself lately. Although she'd been able to keep her temper in check, she'd found herself giving way to anger more often than ever before. That the Resistance hadn't fallen for her bluff didn't particularly bother her – there would be opportunities enough for the Regent of the East to show her ability to control the situation later.
Nor did general Fung's recent mishaps even bother her. She didn't count on the man succeeding to begin with. All she wanted was force a reaction out of the forces located in that forest.
Ty Lee… that… that enraged her. I've given her everything. And her answer to that? Betraying me to a lost cause! To think that… that… anger took hold of her for moment, anger and a mounting hate mingled with hurt. She pushed it away. Feeling of inadequacy, of misspent time, of failed friendships, she stamped under the heel of her will.
The days when she questioned herself over her own worth as a person were long gone. There had been a time, Azula remembered, when what her parents thought of her mattered. She had once yearned for her mother's love and, when that had failed, had tried everything she could to prove herself worthy in her father's eyes.
It had failed with Lady Ursa. The Fire Lady had always favored Zuko, and Azula was certain that she'd never felt any love towards her, just like her uncle Iroh certainly never felt. No, to them, the weaker, whiny Zuko, the boy who looked nothing like the pillar of strength a Fire Lord had to be, was their favored.
She got over that mostly intact.
But her father had been everything she'd wanted to be. So she had taken his lessons to heart, had accepted his harsh upbringing, didn't let Iroh interfere – stupid old man, who was that loser for trying to interfere?! – and delved into a physical and mental regimen designed to make her as perfect as she could be.
It was when she'd been sent to the Earth Kingdom, had fought their armies, had formulated strategies, that she'd understood. As her victories piled up, she realized that her vaunted father, far from a brilliant man, was nothing but a Firebender. An extremely powerful, amazing Firebender, but nothing else. Not a soldier, not a general, and barely better than the Earth King as a Ruler.
No, Azula had stopped trying to prove herself to anyone. She didn't need to. But that didn't mean that the thing about Ty Lee didn't enrage her. That she'd run to one of the few men who'd been able to counter her in tactics and strategy only made it all the more unacceptable.
Sokka thought she was bluffing when she threatened Ba Sing Se, so her contact told her. And he was right. A purge in Ba Sing Se would be politically incorrect. Ba Sing Se was her throne, the seat of her own power, her own future empire.
She would soon remind him that she wasn't the type to make empty threats. And there was a way to do that. A way to show Sokka her ruthlessness, and Ty Lee her rage.
"Mai," she called to her friend. "Remind me why Ty Lee wanted to become an acrobat and martial artist again?"
There were many times when Sokka's patience had been worn thin over the years, most of them after he had reluctantly assumed leadership of Hakoda's group. He had been forced to make deals which made his blood boil, had to have verbal or litteral fights to get adequate supplies, and sometimes had to endure being clearly insulted.
Yes, his nerves had been frayed many times. But never to the extent he was feeling now as he looked at the just-arrived Toph. The Blind Bandit actually shifted, and he supposed that she could read his emotions on the matter. And I just left a fun, well, maybe weird, moment for this.
"Okay. Wait." He said, trying very hard not to grit his teeth, and not quite succeeding in that sense. "Repeat that. Slowly, please."
Toph shrugged, frowning a little. "What I said. June wants to run her own show. She's sent six of her people to help us."
"That part's bad enough." Sokka muttered. "Six! What am I supposed to do with only six people! What's June thinking?!"
"Hey, who knows? She always walked and fought at her own pace." Toph answered.
That's what we all end up doing, ain't it? He thought sourly. We raid separately, we work separately, and we get together only for the shortest time, for big attacks. Resistance… what a joke. Its just a convenient title.
"That's a problem right there, and that brings me to the second part." He said, and felt his fury rising behind his voice. Toph shifted a little more. Although the powerful Earthbender would never fear him for any reason, she did seem uncomfortable with the current discussion. Sokka leaned against the wall of his rough, Earthbender-tunnelled war room. "There's the part about being independent."
Toph nodded. "Yeah, yeah, that's bothered me, too. They say we do things differently, so they'll help us… but on their own terms. Sokka…"
Whatever his friend might have said was lost, as the young man was already out of the place, out in the open, and into the now lightly-inhabited base. Most of his forces were sent to counter the last Imperial foray. Aside from the former imperial, Ty Lee – who was likely now training nearby with two guards as probably needless chaperons - only six Earthbenders, twenty soldiers and a few Waterbending healers remained.
That sight, reminding him of the dire straits, only fed Sokka's fury even more than before. Yes, he had heard that the enemy forces had moved in poorly. Yes, they were holding their own and yes, he had confidence that Zuko would cut the head of this particular lionsnake before the body did too much damage. It didn't matter. It was too much. He was through with whimsical leaders and poor support.
He briefly saw the young Avatar farther away, probably going somewhere to help out, or prepare for his weird trip. He wished he could help the boy, talk with him about some things further, but he had to deal with this first. It was a long time coming.
He saw them at once. Dressed in leather and dark garb, with a sword at the or the back or both for each of them. They were clustered together, lazing about. Sokka found he had taken a blade with him in his absent-minded, survival-based, instinctive need for defense, and nimbly strapped it to his side as he charged forward.
The one who came towards him as the other five languidly looked at the surrounding, near-empty camp was certainly the leader. Although a burn scar mangled a part of her left cheek, he saw that the leader in question was a rather beautiful woman, hard, arrogant eyes notwithstanding. A woman he'd have looked at with some attention, had he cared at all at the moment. Which he truly didn't.
"You're Sokka, I guess." The woman said, her voice fairly gentle, as catapulted near "I'm Jin. We've been sent to…"
"I don't care what your spirits-blasted name is." Sokka snapped with restrained fury, and his poise must have surprised her, since she took a step back at the sound. "And I know what you've been sent to do. I'll make it clear right here and now: I'm in command. I decide where you go. I decide what you do. No questions. Got it?"
Once again the woman seemed surprised, although a scowl grew on her face. One of the other Blades, a rather big man, glared and came forward a bit, hand on a rather large sword. In answer, Sokka gripped his own weapon and gave the Blade his best glare. It made the other man hesitate, and then the big man's stare rested on a point some way behind Sokka.
"Not all that sure what the game here is, people," Toph's voice stated. So she followed after me. I was so angry I just didn't feel it. "but anyone drawing a sword who's not Sokka'll be eating rocks before they can say 'ouch'." That sneering sentence was enough to calm the Blades, though they all looked ready to chew something. All of them except the woman named Jin, who glared at Sokka. She was prepared to chew him up.
"We're of the Blades Group." She said stiffly. "You're the Mist Group leader. We don't work for you. June's decided that we'd help you, but we'll do it our way. Otherwise we'll just leave. Now if you'd please..."
"Not a chance, girl." Sokka snapped. June had never learned to keep her arrogance in check, but he respected her enough to let it be. Until now. And one thing's certain, I'm not gonna let some underling take control of this conversation! "You're going to do what I want, when I want. You're with me, you obey me. Don't like it, too darn bad!"
Jin stiffened even more at that. Perhaps she was entertaining foolish thoughts, the way her eyes blazed. But having stared down Azula's glare itself in the past, Sokka found he was anything but impressed. In fact, the girl's sullenness made him even more furious.
"Now look here…" she began in a tone which crossed the line as far as he was concerned. He thrust his face within an inch of hers. She flinched, and he knew he'd won the battle for control. Yet, he wasn't going to leave things like that.
"No, you look. And try to get this in one go, 'cause I'll never bother repeating it! You're Resistance. June pledged herself to Bumi, and I did the same thing. I'm a higher Resistance leader than you, and you're going to blasted listen to my orders." He growled right back.
"June…"
"June's not here! Stop bothering me with her! She doesn't command this area and spirits know she doesn't command this operation!" he shouted right at her, his patience worn out. He thought he saw the young Airbender and his sister from the corner of his eye, but he didn't take his eyes off Jin's.
He was being harsh with the girl. He knew it. But he was through dancing around. That was partly Aang's fault. The boy had had an effect, something he'd just realized a while ago.
And then there was Katara. His strong-willed, short-tempered, all-too-dear little sister. Guilt over some things, and many regrets, were at the forefront when he thought about her.
But, presently, anger was blooming. Because he'd left her, left his village, to make a difference. And he could do better than this, and he knew it. His dad and Iroh knew it. But he'd kept playing a role he'd felt safe with while the world suffered.
A coward hiding under raids and proud words. No way. That wasn't him.
"I'm in command, Jin." And if June has any problem with that, then she's gonna be pretty unhappy, because I'm through with this stuff." And a lot of things. I'm gonna change that. I've got to. "Now, I'll make this clear. I'm gonna give you a command. You either obey it, or I'll see you as a danger to my forces and lock you in a cell right now!"
His voice cracked like a whip in the air. "Got it?! Now, shut up and listen!" He then pivoted and walked towards Toph, fed up with it. It was as he did that that he was reminded of another annoyance, and his fears of what might happen. And suddenly, it clicked. He clapped his hand on the Blind Bandit's shoulder. Here, with that stubborn girl, he could do one good deed.
"Toph, I think I'm going to be needing you for something special…"
Aang had been bonded to the Sky Bison since childhood. Although no magic had ever been involved in said bond, there was no mistaking its potency. It was for that reason that Aang tended to eat beside the beast as often as he ate with Katara or anyone else. And Appa had been his place to sleep, the only piece of home he had left.
Yes, there was a bond, and it allowed the young Avatar to feel that his huge friend disapproved what was happening.
After his talk with Sokka, Aang had felt that there was a very urgent need for him to go and see those documents Roku had talked about. It had become even more urgent after Sokka had given his opinion. The water tribesman had been sarcastic, but his arguments had made sense. Most importantly, he had pointed out that neither Aang nor even previous Avatars really knew what they were up against. Even the others appeared to be guessing.
He had to go. He had to know. He had to do something with his own two hands. So he had resolved to go, but refused to involve anyone else. So he had taken pains to smuggle food for both himself and Appa, as well as some items he deemed useful for camping. The bison had clearly been against the entire thing.
"I know, buddy, I know", he mused, feeling the very real need to explain himself to his friend – a throwback to earlier days, when the bison had been a silent confidante in a sea of ever-mounting pressure for the new Avatar to suceed. "I know its crazy, okay ? But what choice do I have?"
Appa grunted. The grunt of morose disapproval. As he placed one last bundle, and surveyed what he had there, Aang glanced back, slightly irritated himself.
"It's not like I'm running away, Appa! I'll come back when I know what I'm supposed to fight here!" he defended himself.
Another grunt. Deeper. Different. The young monk read it at once, and pointed at his childhood friend. "Oh, yeah, pouting's going to help us a lot!" He surveyed his things a moment, and sighed. "It's better this way. I've involved Katara too much. And the others are busy in all this fighting."
Now the Bison sniffed and grunted at the same time. Excuses, excuses, it said to the boy. Aang felt a bit angry at that, but couldn't actually retort. As a matter of fact, he was making excuses. It felt right. But at the same time, it somewhat frightened him to go like this, towards a land which had become something…horrible.
Aang closed his eyes for a moment. The inner contemplation of what he was doing, however, was jarred loose by a rough, female voice ringing in his ears.
"Hey, going somewhere?"
Aang was startled, and looked to the side to find who had spoken. For a panicked moment, he thought Katara had come back from going to talk with the few warriors from her village still in camp – any except for Sokka. It would've been disaster. Instead of her, however, he saw a lean, athletic woman in Earth Kingdom colours, who was grinning yet wasn't looking towards him. Such an act would have been useless, at any rate.
"T-Toph?" He asked hesitantly. The smirk – which had been absent at first, but had turned up to become a common theme for the woman ever since her return to camp – became sharper.
"Yeah, Toph. Good to see you can figure that out yourself, Twinkle-Toes." She answered.
He cringed. He didn't really like that nickname. "I'd like Aang a bit better." He mused diplomatically.
"Whatever you say, Twinkle-Toes. I don't care. Like this trip you're planning. I don't care. Seems pretty stupid to me, though." She replied smoothly. "Wanna know why?"
"No, thank you." He said defensively. He had a pretty good idea himself. Once again, his comment seemed to waft around Toph, utterly ignored by the woman.
"You can Airbend good, but I'm betting there were some Airbenders who could do better. But let's leave that aside. Even with that thing you did at the Temple, you're still going to go to a world of hurt. Because, for an Avatar, what do you got besides Airbending ? Just a bit of Waterbending, thats all !"
"I know it's crazy. But I gotta go." He mumbled, "I gotta know. I… I got to do this, or I'll just stay dependant on… well, on everything !" Toph fell silent a moment, but her smirk didn't budge. That smirk was starting to make him nervous. He wondered if that was the impression she wanted to give.
She spoke with the same cynicism as before. "Ooh, trying to impress me with a brave little speech?" He shook his head.
"No. Just what I feel. That's it."
"Really gonna do it, huh? You're gonna get killed."
"I guess I'll have to risk it, right ? I gotta know. I gotta do this." He shrugged, "Thats all there is to it."
She nodded, looking at Appa's feet – although, he reminded himself, she never really looked anywhere in the normal sense. 'Good.' She mused, her smirk lessening, and she thumped the ground with her right foot. A bundle suddenly flew in, barely missing Aang, who all but ducked. He barely had time to register the incident before there was another thumping of feet, and rock jutted from the ground, catapulting Toph right next to Aang.
"I'm coming along." She mused, then waved her hand. "And before you start gibbering about all this being your idea, I gotta tell you that Sokka had caught on that you might do something stupid, so here you go." And as she said that, she gave Aang a folded piece of paper.
He eyed it a moment. To his embarassment, the first thing which came out of his mouth sounded too stupid for his taste. "For me?"
"Nope. Sokka decided it'd be a good idea for a blind girl to have a written note." She grunted, "Of course its for you, Twinkle Toes! Take it already!"
The note, when opened, was pretty simple.
Aang,
You're an idiot. Take Toph along with you. She's a bit psycho at times, but she's great at what she does. And she needs closure of some kind.
I'll handle things here. Get going on that stupid trip of yours.
-Sokka-
Aang blinked, then looked at Toph. She shrugged.
"Let's go. Always wanted to get the feel of old Fire Tribe grounds under my feet!"
Appa grunted again. And, this time, it didn't sound quite as disapproving as before.
Zhao, as far as he was concerned, knew that he was meant for greater things. He had always been smarter than other children, always more skilled. His competence had never been questioned, and he had embraced the teachings of the Fire Nation wholeheartedly.
Born into an influential family, he had been raised to be the best and act like him. His father had been a naval officer and had expected his son to do the same. Quickly seeing how powerful and important the fleet was, he'd easily accepted that fate, and had become the finest student at the Academy. He would have accepted no less.
It was there that he'd read about the man he could have as a role model. Lord Kazaki, formerly Admiral of the Fleet, the highest possible rank attainable. The man had won all of his battles, some of them so decisively that he became feared throughout the seas for his ruthless efficiency. Even the Earth Kingdom's best – a paltry man named Toroden – had fallen to his fleet.
He had resolved to surpass this man, to become a thing of legend – a living legend, as Kazaki yet lived during Zhao's younger days, the man's passing mourned throughout the nation and, specifically, towards the Fleet.
He wanted that power, that respect, that adulation. He would have it. Of that he was certain.
And he had risen through the ranks, his ambitions to become someone legendary fueling him. He had mastered Firebending, despite losing patience with his original teacher, the traitorous Zeong Zeong. He had been an ensign, a lieutenant, a senior lieutenant, all the way to the rank of commander, where he'd found himself stalled frustratingly. But he knew his chance would come.
And come it had, a decade ago. A promotion to admiral, and the command of over one hundred warships. His mission : to take and raze the Northern Water Tribe capital, long a thorn in the side of the Fire Nation's effort.
He had taken the assignment almost merrily, even enlisting the aid of the disgraced Dragon of the West, General Iroh. Of course, he had removed the exiled Prince, Zuko, from the equation, having long disdained the boy for his strange obsession with honour.
More than anything, he had found something in his youth, a secret which would spell doom to the Waterbenders, and elevate him to heights even the legendary Kazaki could never have hoped to reach. He knew that the Spirit of the Moon, the physical master of Waterbending, had taken physical form within the Northern Water Tribe capital. All he had to do was get there, destroy the spirit, and their victory would be ensured.
It was a perfect plan. It should have worked. Would have, if not for that blasted Prince Zuko, he corrected himself in a rage.
Two attacks there had been. The first one had been repulsed, although it had damaged enemy positions. The second had penetrated the city's walls, and the slaughter had begun. The Waterbenders had rallied, and the Fire Nation's losses were mounting, but Zhao managed to reach the fabled oasis were Wan Shi Tong's texts told there lived his prey.
But there had been no spirits there. Only the insufferable Prince had been, standing there as if he had been Fire Lord Ho Jin the Wise himself! The prince had taken the spirits and secreted them away, and refused to tell Zhao were they were.
'I won't be a part of something like this. This is wrong. This… this has no honour in it.' The prince had said and Zhao, in a rage, attempted to incinerate the boy on the spot. The young man had resisted well, but was falling to his might, when Zhao suffered another betrayal.
General Iroh decided to go the way of treason as well, the mild old man suddenly becoming the warlord tales had once described him to be. It had been all Zhao had been able to do to get away from the Dragon of the West's fury.
By that time, the battle had turned against the Fire Nation. The strike had been too deep, and nightfall gave Waterbenders added power. The city lay shattered, but Zhao no longer had enough strength to control it. Reluctantly, he had ordered a retreat, certain his next strike would be the final one.
Except there had never been a next strike. Word of the debacle had reached the Fire Lord's ears, and Ozai's punishment had been swift : Zhao was reduced to Commander once more, and was barred from entering the admiralty ever again. Another had led the third assault, to find that the city had been deserted. The Northern Water Tribe had escaped.
Disgraceful. Shameful. Zhao's dreams had been shattered. All that kept him going now, was finding a way to avenge his wounded honour, and to kill the former, disinherited Prince Zuko, the surviving member of the pair who had destroyed him.
It was in the middle of such foul musings – his life these days – that Zhao had seen it. This time, it hadn't been a report, but his own eyes. He had kept his patrol ships close to the coast in the hopes of seeing this. Once he saw the shape, flying away from the coast, he was certain of it. He had read enough lore to know what he was seeing.
A Sky Bison. A species thought extinct, even as the Airbenders were said to be destroyed. Yet it seemed that the creature had a rider!
"Lookout!" he called swiftly. "Do you see this beast flying in the sky?"
"Sir, I don't – wait, I do! Spirits, there is something flying out there. Something big!" The lookout answered, sounding astounded. Zhao was elated. An Airbender at least, more at best. Either way, an opportunity.
His opportunity! This might yet be the way for Zhao to restore his rightful path towards true glory. He wasn't about to lose it.
"Helm! Follow the lookout's instructions! Tell engineering I want full speed maintained!" he growled.
'Yes, sir! How long?'
He grinned, and it must have been something frightening, as the young officer took a step backwards.
"Until we shoot it down from the sky!" he answered. He wasn't letting this opportunity go. Not if it cost him and his crew their lives.