Book 1: Civil War
Chapter 3: Agni Kai
In the Northern Air Temple, a young man walks into a large meditation room. As he opens the door, he sees a man in deep meditation, floating a few feet off the ground. The man has a message to deliver, but he does not want to disturb his master.
"What have you brought me," his master asks.
"We have news on the civil war in the fire nation," he says. "There are only two parties left, the Firelord and one rebel faction, led by Jianchi. We also have reports of seeing Jianchi's fleet heading to the capital city. Shall we strike while they are this close together?"
"No," his master answers. "We will wait for a victor to emerge, when they will be weak after so many years of fighting. We will destroy whoever is left."
With that, the young man stands up, bows, and leaves.
Zhongfeng stands with his mouth agape. He can't believe what has been announced. He doesn't want to fight his brother, or see him banished.
"You are dismissed," Moshu says. The two brothers begin to leave, "Zhongfeng, stay behind. I wish to speak with you privately."
Shiwang glares at the two of them, and then walks out the door. Zhongfeng is afraid of what his father might tell him. He turns to face Moshu.
"Father, I don't want to face Shiwang," he says. "Please, don't make me."
His father stands up, and walks toward him. "I'm very sorry for the trouble I have caused, but this is what must happen. I did not want it to end this way either, but your brother is stubborn, and he will not back down, even if it would be for his own good."
"I can't fight him. I don't want you to banish him."
"You will fight him, because I demand it of you. He has disgraced us too many times. This is the final straw. Now, go and prepare for your battle."
Zhongfeng stands, and turns to walk out the door. As he reaches the door, Moshu says, "One final thing. When you beat him, do not hold back. Show no mercy."
Zhongfeng walks out the door, horrified at what his father has said.
Early the next morning, Jianchi's fleet is slowly approaching the capital city. Troops are hurrying all over, getting everything ready for the attack. Jianchi is in his quarters, sharpening his sword. Yiban walks in, "Sir, the capital city is finally in sight."
"Have they noticed us yet?"
"No sir, our informant has come through yet again."
"Good, we will strike at sunset."
Yiban leaves to give the order. Jianchi stands up and walks out of his room. He walks to the balcony at the top of the ship. As he looks out, he can just barely make out the royal palace. He smiles. He has finally returned home.
Zhongfeng reaches his room, as he opens the door, he sees Yinying pacing the room. She runs over and hugs him. "I was so worried about you," she says. "What happened?" She looks at the bruises appearing on his face where Shiwang had punched him.
"Shiwang didn't take it well, as one would think. He thought I had something to do with it, so he punched me, and we got into a fight." Zhongfeng lowers his head, "He declared an Agni Kai for the throne. I have to face him tomorrow at sunset."
She gasps in shock, and hugs him again. "I'm so sorry. Is there a way to stop it?"
"No, my father wouldn't stop it, even though I asked him to. He also told me to not hold back against him."
"You can't do that to your brother. He's your family, you can't destroy him."
"What else am I supposed to do? It's a direct order from the Firelord."
"I just want you to do what you think is right." Yinying gets up, "I'm going to eat, I'll see you later."
After she leaves, Zhongfeng recalls his master's words, and he walks out to search for him.
The moon is starting to rise, and Jianchi's fleet is approaching the docks. The fleet has put up fire nation flags, and dressed in stolen military uniforms. They have documentation papers, which had been forged by the informant. As they pull in to the docks, a soldier boards, asking for the papers. Jianchi hands them to the soldier, who looks as though he has seen many battles.
The man looks over the papers, using a flame to read. "Everything seems to be in order, but I thought all the ships that were required to be here had already arrived."
"We were a late addition to the list. I apologize for the confusion," Jianchi says.
The soldier moves his hand up to look at Jianchi. The man gasps and his eyes widen, "Jianchi," he says, clearly surprised and afraid. The man looks around for an escape route, but he is cut short when Jianchi quickly slashes across the man's chest with his sword. The man slumps to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Dispose of him and get into position," Jianchi orders. Men rush to drag the man away. The rest grab their weapons and move into the city, sticking to the shadows and moving towards the palace.
Zhongfeng blasts through the door into his training room. He sees four of his teachers playing a game of Pai Sho. Jufeng, his Airbending master, sits in front of him, his back towards Zhongfeng. His Earthbending teacher, Jishin, is to the left of the table. Feng, his Firebending master, sits to the right. At the head of the table, sits Bushi. Zhongfeng flips the table over, startling his teacher's, He grabs Bushi by the collar and picks him up. The rest of the teachers take a fighting stance, prepared to defend their friend, but are waved off by Bushi.
"Did you know," Zhongfeng demands of him. "Did you know I would be named the crown prince?"
Bushi shakes his head, "I did not, but I had a feeling something big would happen."
"You're lying," he says as he tightens his grip.
"Your father passively mentioned it to me, but I did not think he was serious," Bushi said with a calm look on his face.
"How could you not say anything to me or Shiwang? You betrayed us both." Zhongfeng throws his master to the ground and leaves.
Jianchi and a few of his men arrive at the palace. They are standing underneath the outer watchtower. Jianchi climbs the ladder, and the three fire nation soldiers turn to face him. In the dim moonlight, they see he is in uniform, but his face is shrouded in darkness.
"Who are you," the commander asks as he lights a flame in his hand to see the man. Before the light can reach his face, Jianchi unsheathes his sword. He spins around and cuts the commander's hand off. The man screams in pain, and the other soldiers begin to take a battle stance. Jianchi lunges forward and his sword cuts through the one's chest, he pulls back and the man falls to the ground.
The final soldier runs to sound the alarm. Before he can pick it up, a sword is driven through his heart. He lets out a final gasp, and then falls over the side of the tower. Jianchi walks over to the commander, who is trying to crawl over to the ladder. He shoves his sword through the man's throat. The commander chokes on his blood and dies.
Jianchi waves his men up. "Get rid of the bodies, a few soldiers are coming, as they heard the commander's screams."
"Shall we dispose of them as well, sir?"
"No, I'll talk to them." He pulls his facemask up to cover his nose as the soldiers arrive.
"What's going on? We heard screaming coming from this tower," the first soldier says.
"It was nothing. One of them was frightened, as he thought he saw a dark spirit heading towards the palace, but it was just the moon's reflection off a wind chime. There's no reason to be worried."
"Very well, commander. Keep your soldier's outbursts to a minimum." The soldier climbs down the ladder, and leaves.
Jianchi turns to his men, "Keep this tower under our control. I'll be taking the rest of the men to take the remaining watchtowers. When the rest are under control, I will move into the palace. Do not strike until you see the signal."
In his room, Shiwang lays on his bed. He thinks about the next day, and the battle that awaits him. He knows he can't beat his brother, but he doesn't have to. It's about his honor, and he won't let his father throw that away so easily. His heart races with anticipation and worry. He does his best to assure himself that everything he's done is for the right thing. He rolls to his left side, and sees a painting of his family together. He rolls to his other side, and cries himself to sleep.
The sun is just beginning to rise on the palace. The watchtowers have been taken, the explosives have been set, and Jianchi's men have inserted themselves into different guarding stations throughout the palace. Jianchi, in uniform with his mask pulled up, waits for his unsuspecting victim just outside the Firelord's bedroom. He has hidden his sword away, as the Firelord's bodyguard does not carry one, and Jianchi needs to blend in.
The bodyguard comes out of the room, and Jianchi knows he has a very limited time until the Firelord walks out as well. Jianchi springs into action, coming up behind the guard. He wraps his arm around the man's throat and covers his mouth. After a few seconds, the man's body goes limp, and Jianchi drags him away.
He returns just as the Firelord walks out of his room.
"What were you just doing," Moshu asks.
"I thought I heard someone sneaking around, but I found no one. There will be no intruders today, my lord," Jianchi answers behind grit teeth. His anger has only grown over the years towards Moshu.
"That's good to hear. Let's begin the preparations for tonight. I just want this day to be over with." Moshu begins walking down the hall towards the throne room.
"I couldn't agree more, my lord," replies Jianchi as he follows him.
Shiwang sits in his room, thinking about the consequences of his actions. He tries to assure himself that it is for the better. He is pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. He opens it to see Yinying standing there.
"What do you want," he asks.
"I came to tell you good luck, and that I'm sorry for what happened to you. And, I'm scared that you'll have to leave, because I've come to see you as a brother, and I don't want to see you go," she says.
Shiwang hugs her. "Everything is happening for a reason."
She gives him a kiss on the cheek as she leaves. Shiwang begins to prepare for the fight, and hopes his decision doesn't hurt Yinying too much.
The battle is about to begin. Zhongfeng sits in a hallway near the entrance. He can hear the spectators talking. He dreads what comes next, and what his father told him to do. He looks up and sees Fudo and Yinying approaching him. Yinying hugs him.
"I'm so sorry you have to do this. Please, do what you know is right, not what your father wants."
He nods in response to her, and Fudo shakes his hand. "That's what a good brother does," his friend says. Zhongfeng smiles in response.
Before he walks out, Yinying gives him a kiss, "Good luck," she tells him as he turns to the door.
The two brothers walk out to the arena. The crowd cheers as they walk up the stairs on opposite ends. They look at each other, both faces are hard with determination. They turn around and kneel down. Zhongfeng's mind is racing, looking for a way to win, but not hurt his brother. Shiwang's heart races with anticipation.
Moshu stands, "Let the Agni Kai begin."
The two stand up and face each other. Shiwang takes a fighting stance, feet wide and arms up. Zhongfeng doesn't move. "This is your last chance brother, stand down," he says.
Shiwang blasts a fireball at him in response. Zhongfeng grabs the flame with his right hand, spins, and fires it back at his brother. Shiwang dodges it, and claps his hands together and a huge flame is sent out towards Zhongfeng. Shiwang loses sight of his brother. He keeps blasting the fire out from his hands. Zhongfeng has clapped his hands together to part the fire in front of him, and he's making his way towards the source. He reaches his brother, and sends the flames to the side. Shiwang's eyes widen with shock. He punches forward, but the flame is redirected with a kick from Zhongfeng. Zhongfeng then sweeps his leg around and knocks Shiwang to the ground.
He rushes over and puts a knee on Shiwang's chest and raises his fist, but hesitates to do it.
"Do it," Shiwang tells him.
"No," Zhongfeng says as he stands up. "I'm not going to scar you. I've beaten you, there's no reason to finish it like that."
"If you've ever cared about me, you will do it," Shiwang yells at him.
Zhongfeng shakes his head and falls to his knees. Shiwang snarls and shoots a flame towards him. Zhongfeng rolls out of the way and watches the flame reach the door that leads to the city. The door explodes and the two brothers and countless spectators are thrown back.