The black phoenix.
Disclaimer :I don't own avatar the last airbender.
Chapter 29
He walked back and forth in the small office, his eyes darting from the heavy table to the huge map displayed behind his table, marked with numerous small red green and blue pins.
"Damn it to all hells" he exclaimed, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he looked again at the map "The allied forces are already on our doorstep! They are already at the Gates!" his hand striked the table, leaving a small scorch on the wood.
Noise from outside caught his aattention, causing him to approach the door where he could hear the noises better.
" I have to reach the major!" a fairly young voice sounded, urgency noticeable in it.
"I am afraid the major is busy, private" the last word was said sternly, reminding the other man of proper conduct.
"Sir! This can't wait! We are under attack!" the young private exclaimed "Right here in the city!".
That stopped the other officer in his tracks, and before he had a chance to recuperate the major opened the door of his office, walking out in his red armor decorated with a few medals.
The private, seeing the bulky form of the major appearing in the door, saluted to the officer.
"Private" the officer spoke, his voice cold and commanding "Report".
The man nodded his freckled face lighting up for a second "Yes sir!" he saluted again "The city is under attack, princess Azula infiltrated the city and is now in the middle of a combat against our forces! She is aided by a man using black flames!" the soldier reported "Also, we just got a report that the enemy forces moved to assault the gates of Azulan!".
With each word the major eyes grew wider and wider, causing them to look like saucers.
The man turned to the lieutenant who finally got out of his stupor and caught his eye, a small nearly invisible nod which was returned by the other man.
The lieutenant approached the private still standing straight in attention and passing him he slapped the man lightly on the shoulder.
Just as he passed him, a small blade appeared in the man's hand before it was buried in the soldier's back.
Collapsing, his blood pouring from his wound and gathering under him, the last thing the private saw was the two officers running out of the room before he lost his consciousness.
Shun ducked, his eyes burning with black fire his right hand outstretched as he released an explosive fire ball before catching one with his left.
Jumping and ducking, sidestepping and rolling he danced around his opponents, catching their fire and using it against them, sometimes crushing a rib or two with the occasional punch and kick.
Jumping up, he propelled himself into the sky before quickly casting a glance at where Azula was dancing the dance of death.
All around them were dosensdozens of burnt corpses, their futures unrecognizable.
But it appeared that no matter how many they killed, the enemy just kept coming in greater numbers.
His headache wasn't helping things either.
A frown crossed his face as he pirueted, avoiding another fire ball before jabbing two fingers forward and releasing a fire torrent which he aided by another stream from his legs burning his assailant.
"We have to get away!" he called to the black haired princess who just electrified to death some unfortunate grunt.
She nodded and cast a quick glance around, they were surrounded!
"Take them out!" a command was issued from somwhere far away, getting in response a dark black lightning bolt.
They continued fighting, Shun finally reaching close enough to his freind.
"Azula.. On my mark we are making a run for it and jumping into the nearest building!" he ordered her frantically.
The girl nodded just as she redirected a fire ball.
"Three" he started counting.
The enemy continued pouring in, there were just too damn many of them!
"Two" he ducked creating a fire wall which he sent forward, leaving the soldiers no choice but to confront the burning structure.
He was about to finish his count when something happened.
Right in front of them, where the enemy forces were abundant something started to steer and cries of panic sounded from there.
Deciding to try and make the best of the opportunity, he sprinted forward, his hands moving around him to create a barrier of flmaes.. Azula was right behind him.
They broke through the panicking enemies when they saw what made them panic.
It was a group of soldiers, wearing the standard issue armor and helmets who were causing the panic as they were assaulting their former comrades.
In their head was a bulky man, his body moving expertly as he commanded his troops to crush the opposition before them.
Seeing the two fugitives the man lifted his hand and motioned his soldiers spread and cover them.
The two groups reached each other, and a masked soldier approached them.
"Sir!" the soldier called to Shun "Please come this way!"
"All soldiers! Keep formation! " the officer commanded again.
The two fugitives continued to ran after the soldier as they were covered by the soldiers behind them.
Just before they turned a corner Shun spun around his eyes burning.
Flames sprouting from all over his body as he released all his pent up emotions out, creating a huge bird of flame above them, a bird which he released on his enemies.
He turned back and resumed his sprint, not wasting time to even check what he attack caused.. The screams of pain were enough.
As they ran the princess looked around carefully, distrustful of the soldier they were following.
"Who are you?" she asked the man causing him to turn around and face her, his expression covered by his mask.
"The major will explain everything, there is no time!"
Deciding to let it go for now, Azula resumed her sprint until they reached a small encampment, the likes of which were created all over the city in case of an attack.
After the soldier said something to the guard they let them pass.
They walked into the small building, where they were shown to an office where they were greeted by a maksed officer standing in front of a huge map of the city , the stripes on his shoulder showing his rank of a major.
Before Shun had the chance to ask the man in front of him bowed down.
"Your majesty, my lord" the man said his voice brisk " It's an honor to see you again" he said "I have not forgotten how you saved my life! I was eagerly awaiting your return!"
Shun furrowed his brows, he didn't remember saving the man's life.
Turning to Azula she shook her head, she didn't know who the man was either.
Before they were able to say anything the man tentatively removed his helmet reveling his scarred futures.
Shun widened his eyes "Captain Lee!" he exclaimed, surprised to see the captain who commanded their ship on the disastrous campaign to the pole.
The man smiled and nodded "I am truly blessed by the spirits to see the two of you again" he said lightly before putting the helmet back on and getting up.
"Please excuse me milady, milord.. But unfortunately our time is short.. We need to move quickly " he said getting a nod from the two.. There was no more time and they knew it.
"We should decide on our next step Shun" the princess said getting a nod from the boy.
"We really should" he said.
They looked at each other for a long moment, each itching to say something but finally Shun shook his head.
"Now is not the time Azula.. After all this.. Then we will talk" he said.
The woman looked at him before nodding "Promise?" she asked
"Promise"
"Uhhm" the major coughed lightly "I am sorry to interrupt your moment but I still have to debrief you on the situation"
Shun nodded, blushing slightly "Please do major, we are all ears"
The man nodded turning back toward the map "The resistance is aiming to concur the city" he said his hand moving to point at various parts of map "We are striking at six areas at once, including the arsenal the food storages and a few strategic points, even as we speak our forces are already fighting ".
Shun nodded "Why did you wait until now? What prompted you to act?" he asked
"The allied forces are already assaulting the gates of Azulan, thus causing a distraction big enough for us to act"
"Then why didn't I hear anything about you from uncle Iroh?" the princess asked her eyes narrowed.
"The allied forces don't know of our existence, we had no interest to end up like Jhon Jhon"
The boy nodded "Very well, so are you going to storm the palace?"
The major shook his head "We'll be waiting for the allied forces to join us, when they will arrive the city will be in our hands"
"Then let us help you"
"I hoped you'll say that milord" the man said a smile stretching on his face.
The wind striked their face as the large bison glided over the wind.
Aang eyes were narrowed in determination, one matched by each one of his small group of freinds.
The earth kingdom special forces were moving separately, taking a roundabout route toward the capital of the fire nation, where they planned to meet.
"So how far are we from the capital?" the blind girl asked, her finger deep in her ear as she cleaned it "We lost enough time waiting for the army to strike at the gates".
"We'll be there soon enough, our greatest concern is the enemy spotting us before we're ready"
"There is no point to worry about it Zuko" Katara's voice was relaxed though her tugging on her braid showed her nervousness "We should hope the enemy is distracted by the attack".
The prince nodded slightly his eyes closing.
"According to the map we should be able to see the walls of the city in a few moments" the water tribe soldier answered the blind girl's question before his eyes turned back to the map.
After a few moments the teen's words proved to be correct as they saw the city from afar, high walls surrounding it.
"What is this?!" the Avatar suddenly exclaimed shifting everyone attention to where he was pointing.
Smoke was rising from the city, and as they closed distance strong smell of ozone and burnt wood assaulted their noses.
"Is that how the city normally is?" Sokka asked his brows furrowed in disgust for the horid smell.
"Of course not!" Zuko replied angrily "Something is going on there!".
"We should get closer and investigate what's going on.." Katara said quietly.
Without a word the avatar raised the reigns and the sky bison accelerated toward the city.
And as they did, they couldn't help but stare at the destruction they were witnessing.
The city was on fire, battles were happening all over the city between fire nation soldiers, buildings were burning and the smell of burnt flesh and screams of the wounded filled the air.
"I have no idea why they fight each other.. But let's not look a gifted horse in the mourmouth we should use this opportunity to find Azula while the enemy is distracted!" Sokka said his eyes on the burning city.
"And how exactly do you plan on finding her here?" Zuko asked "The city is a literal war zone! Instead we should focus on defeating the fire lord! This way we'll be able to find her later!".
Sokka gritt his teeth but nodded "Fine!" he replied.
They descended toward the ground, heading to a relatively quite area when Aang suddenly caught his heart, his eyes started flickering between his normal and avatar state eyes.
"Aang!" Katara moved toward him, concern in her voice.
"I am alright" the boy said breathing heavily "What was that?" he asked.
Just as he did an explosion lit up the area, and a group of soldiers ran right toward them, their helmets lost along the way reveling the terrified expression of their faces.
Before the group could wonder what terrified the soldiers so much they got their answer.
From behind them a man walked in, his eyes burning with dark fire black flames dancing around him.
"How can that be?" Aang asked his eyes as wide as saucers, his legs buckled "I thought you were dead" his voice broke.
"Shun!".
At the palace the fire lord walked briskly through the halls, donned in his armor and surrounded by the royal guard.
"I don't care that they were holding key positions!" the monarch raged "I won't let them occupy my city!" his eyes were full of rage.
"We should strike them, call out all our forces and crush them from behind.. Otherwise we might not be able to hold until the comet" Haruto spoke urgently.
"I know that!" the fire lord snapped "We should split up! You go take care of the western part and Kinoko will retake the south!We can't afford to lose here."
Haruto bowed to his freind "At once sir!" he replied before leaving quickly .
Ozai himself moved toward the barracks, to organize the soldiers personally.. He couldn't afford to lose here.
He won't.
end if chapter 29.