Chapter 51: Against the End

Chaiy sighed as she shoved the report away from her along the table. Another riot had broken out in one of the city's market districts; the people had been complaining that the merchants were using the upheaval as an excuse to gouge them, and before long the situation had overflowed into violence. Soldiers- both some of Chaiy's rebels and a handful of guards who, like their governor, were more loyal to stability than the Empire- had broken it up shortly, but hostilities still lingered.

She glanced to her side where Yan Li was drumming his fingers idly on what had once been his own council table. He glanced up at Chaiy and shrugged. "Now do you see my point?" he asked. "This city- my city- stands on the brink of chaos, and your methods are clearly not working to contain it. Now, if you merely execute, say, one out of ten rioters, the rest will be forced to fall into line-"

"No!" Chaiy snapped, rather more harshly than she'd intended, though she found she didn't regret it. "This isn't your city any more, Governor, and your methods are why my people rebelled in the first place." She lowered her voice and glanced down at her hands. "My father wouldn't have wanted us to kill our own people just to ensure temporary order."

"You'll find I'm far more lenient than most of my peers," Yan Li observed mildly. "Most of the nobles or officers of my acquaintance would simply execute all of them and have done with it. That's not my way- it's cruel, it's sloppy, and it just breeds resentment- but if we don't crack down Long Du Shi is going to come apart at the seams and I will not allow that!"

Chaiy glared at him, and then glanced at the rebel guards that flanked him. "You're not in a position to allow anything, milord, and there's no "we"- the other rebels and I are making the decisions. You're just an advisor."

"Then listen to my advice," the former governor insisted. "Don't try and claim the moral high ground with me- we both know you would have killed me already without a second thought if you didn't need me. You want order? So do I, and I have more experience with maintaining it."

"You have experience being a tyrant!" Chaiy spat, rising to her feet in anger, fists clenching and the ground rumbling slightly beneath her feet.

"You don't know what true tyranny is!" Yan Li retorted, rising himself, eyes blazing. They stared at each other for a moment, then the former governor collapsed back into his chair. "What's the point?" he muttered. "You're not going to listen- I accomplish nothing here. We solve nothing by quarreling. I wish your father was still here- him I could have worked with."

"Don't talk about my father," Chaiy said, but her heart wasn't in it. She slid back into the chair and put her head in her hands. She might deplore Yan Li's ruthlessness, but he was right about one thing- they were solving nothing. By the Spirits, running a city like Long Du Shi made leading a force of rebel earthbenders look easy!

They both looked up at the sound of the council chamber's great doors bursting open. A group of rebels came hurrying inside- Tong was at their head, helping to support a scout who looked so exhausted he could barely stand, though there weren't any visible wounds. Chaiy frowned. Had this man run all the way from the walls, and if so, what had prompted it? "Tong," she asked, rising to her feet. "What's going on?"

"This man was on patrol near the docks," Tong told her. "He saw… well, you need to hear it for yourself.

/

Roughly an hour later, Tong and the elite rebel warriors who formed Chaiy's unofficial guard disembarked from the train at the docks, followed closely by Chaiy herself and Governor- former Governor- Yan Li. Glancing around at the abandoned construction sites, Tong recalled the day he'd seen the governor and his family leave this very train from where he'd labored. How far they'd all come since then- the slave was now a free warrior, the proud nobleman, a captive. It was at once humbling and unsettling.

Tong turned his gaze out to the harbor itself. There could be seen the first lines of the approaching warships- guards looking through their glasses had confirmed there were many more behind. They'd dropped anchor out there, and now waited for some signal, save for a small ship that had sailed into the middle of the harbor and put up a flag of truce. One of the guards had recognized it as matching the description of the same ship Yue and her companions had stolen; that was when he'd dispatched a runner to the palace. Whatever this meant, Tong doubted it was good.

He glanced back at Chaiy and Yan Li. "Do you think it was smart to bring him?" he asked her. "Jiazin was sincere, but I don't trust him. Are you sure you want him so close to his people?"

Chaiy shrugged. "He knows how to talk to them, and he's not a fighter. What can he do? Besides, I could always offer to trade him to them for concessions. I, for one, wouldn't miss him."

Yan Li shrugged. "They would not take me," he said, almost sadly. "I am a traitor to my class and my Empire- I am marked for death as much as you, if Azula or her minions catch me."

"Small comforts," Chaiy muttered. "Well, let's see what they have to say." Taking the lead, she marched towards the end of the nearest dock, her guards, Tong, and Yan Li following behind. As they stopped, the small ship began to move slowly towards them, pulling up along the pier and lowering its ramp. Two soldiers in the armor of elite firebenders marched down it and faced the rebels silently. Next came a dignified-looking middle-aged man in a general's uniform.

"High General Xia," Yan Li muttered to Chaiy. "Supreme commander of the Imperial Army, and an honorable man. But I don't know what he's doing with a fleet. This is Yuan's territory, not his."

The High General said nothing, merely regarding the rebels speculatively, and then stepped aside. Several more figures began to descend, and Tong's eyes widened as he recognized….

"Jiazin?" Yan Li breathed in a strangled voice.

She stopped, eyes falling on him and widening in shock. "Father?" she asked, seemingly unsure if she believed it. "Xia said you were with the rebels, but I didn't believe it!"

"Not by choice, to be sure," Yan Li said. He seemed trying to maintain his calm dignity, but there was emotion and concern barely contained within it- Tong was certain that, if the two hadn't had an audience, he would have run forward and embraced her. It was the most genuine humanity Tong had seen from him since Long Du Shi fell. "But what are you doing with Xia?" He glanced over at Chaiy. "I was told you were on some sort of mission and I wasn't to enquire further."

Jiazin looked over her shoulder at her companions- Kanoda and the rebels who'd gone with them but, Tong noted, no Yue. Was the waterbender simply not showing herself yet, or had something happened to her? Either way, Tong found himself concerned. "Xia and his fleet captured us on the way back," the firebender finally said. "I'd thought we were going to be imprisoned or executed for certain, but… well, the High General has something to say."

Xia stepped forward, eyes haunted. "I know you have no reason to trust me," he began, "and it is difficult for I, who have spent my life battling rebels and bandits at every turn, to trust you. I hope the fact that I have returned your warriors to you alive and whole will help with that. But you see…" he drew in a deep breath, as though preparing himself to say something very difficult, "you see, we need each other's help."

"Help?" Chaiy demanded, after an incredulous silence. "Since when has the Fire Empire ever helped us? What's your angle, General?"

Xia looked at her intently. "You would be Chaiy, I take it? My "angle", as you put it, is simply survival." He began to pace up and down before the ship. "Let me tell you something about myself, in the hopes that you will understand my decision here today. I entered the military as a young man, of a noble but unimportant line, afire with high ideals and determined that I would help bring peace to the world. I found corruption and brutality, and it sickened me, but I still thought that the Empire could bring about good purposes, if its power was used correctly. So I played their game, and worked hard to improve my skills, and my successes and a few well-placed connections earned me the High Generalship and a seat along with Yuan and Qing Xi at Azula's right hand.

"Along the way I saw and did things that have blacked my soul and my honor, but I convinced myself it was justified because my cause was just. I was a blind fool- I think I knew all along what Azula and her Empire were, but I deluded myself into thinking I could still be a force for order and fulfill my youthful dreams. It was Qing Xi himself who opened my eyes, strangely enough, for he stumbled on something very dark and terrible at the heart of the Empire."

He turned to look full on them now. "Azula grows old, and her reign draws to a close. She fears and hates death above all other enemies, because it is the only one her cunning and deadly skill cannot defeat. We of her inner circle thought she pursued some form of immortality," he glanced at Jiazin when he said this, and Tong wondered what he meant by it, "but we were misled. Azula, it seems, has come to terms with her mortality after all- but only if all she has built shares it with her."

Chaiy's eyes widened as she seemed to process what he was saying. "You're not serious," she breathed. "You can't mean…"

"I do," Xia said gravely. "I've never been more serious in my entire life. Azula intends to drag the entire Empire- and everyone in it- down into death with her. She's already laid the groundwork for a civil war to be triggered at her death, and even if the world survives it, the Empire as we know it will be smashed beyond recovery, and millions of innocents will die. She needs only an excuse to set it off- and you have given her one."

"What do you mean?" Chaiy demanded.

"Your rebellion has already weakened the Empire- the nobles grow fearful," Xia explained. "Azula intended for war to begin here and spread with her death- she's named many heirs, all of them powerful and ambitious, and all with legitimate claims to the throne. With her gone and the Empire already fraying, they'll fall to fighting over it like vulturewasps, and that will be the end of it."

Chaiy looked thoughtful. "So the Empress intends to bring down her own Empire," she mused aloud. "And why shouldn't we let her?"

"No," Tong said, leaning close, "we have to. The Empire is a great evil- I know that very well- but world war would be worse. And no matter who won, they'd be no better than Azula. We fought for freedom, not chaos."

"You're right," Chaiy said. "My father's dream was to destroy the Fire Empire, but we never talked about what to do beyond that. But this is worse. We need to remember that we're not fighting against the Empire- we're fighting for our people." She looked back at Xia. "Whatever you're selling, I'm listening."

"I propose an alliance," the High General said. "Your forces and mine, to stand against the Dragon Empress and stop her before she destroys all either of his has fought for. My footsoldiers haven't yet been informed- I couldn't risk one of them managing to bolt back to the Capital and warn the Empress- but my officers are trustworthy. Azula's death will change the world, and we can discuss later what to make of it, but neither of us wants what she will bring." He held out his hand. "I presume you can speak for your father here?"

"My father is dead," Chaiy said quietly. "I lead the rebels now, and if what you say is true, we need each other." She took his hand slowly, as though it was the most difficult thing she'd ever done. "We will work together, but your forces will not enter my city en masse, and if you show any sign of treachery, I will deal with you personally. Are we clear?"

"Very," said Xia with a tight smile as he shook. "Now then, we must talk. We have a world to save." He withdrew his hand, and then added under his breath, "The spirits help us all."

/

Shiyan watched the meeting from the top of one of the cliffs overlooking the harbor, hatred welling inside her. She'd left her ship at a base just west of the city- now largely empty, with Yuan having taken most of the fleet, and Xia having conscripted the rest- and changed into civilian clothes before heading into occupied territory. She felt naked without her facepaint, and had some trouble on the road, but the sight of her sword was enough to deter many would-be bandits, and she'd made excellent time. When she'd heard about Xia's attack force at the base, she'd been heartened- now the rebels would face the Empire's retribution!- but looking down at this… farce shattered all her hopes.

It was disgusting! She couldn't hear the words being spoken, but she saw the archer girl- apparently the rebel leader- walking together with the traitor Yan Li and speaking to the High General of the Fire Empire as an equal! And he was treating her as one! This was no surrender negotiation, as Shiyan had first thought- it was a treacherous plot against the Empress herself and all she stood for. There was no other explanation.

Shiyan's blood burned as she slipped away from the cliff and down towards the main city. Her objectives were clear. She would find out what had happened to Cheng, and if the other Chosen still lived, free her.

Then they would show all the rebels and traitors what it was to so foolishly invoke the Dragon's wrath.

/

Things are starting to come together now. Whatever their differences, neither Chaiy nor Xia wants the world to end, and as such the rebels and the Fire Army have now managed to arrange an alliance against Azula – who, of course, still has some tricks left up her sleeve. The story is now rapidly heading towards its final climax – the Dragon Empress versus the world.

I wanted to show with the scene at the beginning that Chaiy is not –yet- an ideal peacetime leader. She's a guerilla fighter, not a politician, and not even twenty at that. She's trying, though, and the potential is there, even if it hasn't been realized yet. Yan Li, of course, represents the Fire Empire's perspective on ruling, a perspective that even he knows may soon become irrelevant.

And Shiyan is becoming increasingly frayed as her worldview takes blow after blow, but she isn't someone to bend – she'll endure or break completely, with no middle ground. In the face of everything she's witnessed, her need to punish Azula's enemies has kindled into a burning obsession – but operating on her own, ignorant of the Empress's intentions, she's become something of a wildcard. Hidebound, rule-focused Shiyan would be outraged if you called her a rogue agent, but it may well be what she's turning into.

-MasterGhandalf