The sky was dark and gloomy, and the seas rough, much to the Princess' displeasure; she sought to arrive in Ba Sing Se as soon as possible, and perhaps she could find a sense of security away from the rough seas. Azula didn't think that this diplomatic mission would be of much use to actually appease the people of the city, but her father sought her out of the capital to deal with growing threats there, although this was perhaps for more mysterious reasons that she was unable to know at the time. Despite her proficiencies for lying and deceit, Azula didn't seek to plot her way to the throne; she valued loyalty above all else, and if someone shyed away from that, they were dishonourable cowards. This to her mind, brought a degree of respect to the few who remained to oppose the Fire Nation, holding their own against the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Soon enough they would disappear, just like the Air Nomads before them; the Water Tribes were weak and under pressure from Fire Nation raids, and the Earth Kingdom, or what was left of it, remained under Fire Nation domination. Now she was the sword of her nation, striking her face into their minds when to think of what to fear, despite her mission itself being focused on the nonviolent intimidation that she brought with her father's reputation behind her.
The Princess was unable to continue her sleeping in such rough seas and had thus turned to reading a book compiled to detail information about the city she was about to visit; it's history, being long and arduous, was a bit of a strain to understand, and it's size just as incomprehensible: The biggest city in the world, three walls and a massive palace to top it all off. Supposedly it also contained a massive underground labyrinth that remained from the cities layered growth, to the Princess' surprise. The Fire Nation's Caldera City had similar structures, although they had been built for military purposes rather than the natural development of a metropolis. A knock hit her door, and she answered abruptly.
"What is it?"
The guard opened the door slightly and cleared their throat, clearly fearful of the Princess' potential response.
"Your highness, the ship is not fairing well in these rough seas; the helmsman recommends that we move closer to the coastline."
"That is fine; tell him to move closer to the coast, make up the time with a bit more engine power."
"Of course Princess," the guard bowed slightly, before quietly shutting the door. She turned back to the book, returning back to the chapter about the "Crystal Catacombs" that intrigued her. Supposedly the catacombs had been little explored by the new Fire Nation occupiers, and were believed to be the hiding spot of earthbending rebels and as such the military avoided sending anyone in without good reason; perhaps she could change that and lead an expedition herself? Finding some rebels would clearly enhance her reputation and help her gain further favour with the aged military men who perhaps doubted her abilities, being sexist as they were. The flicking of a page was interrupted by a banging sound, clearly coming from the side of the ship.
"What in the name of-" she exclaimed, hearing an even louder banging sound that violently shook the Royal Barge.
Standing up the Princess grumbled and released fire from her palms; Perhaps it was more dangerous on these seas than she had initially thought. Looking out the window, the princess gained a better look at the deck and it's current happenings; although darkness had clouded the deck of the Fire Nation's Royal Barge, this clearly wasn't the case moments after a large explosion rocked the ship. Firebenders rushed out to the deck, looking for their attackers with little luck, the dark waters disguising whoever had created the explosion, if they had been from off the vessel at all. Suddenly a number of darkly clothed men appeared on both sides of the ships, catching the firebending guards unaware, leading to a number of them being unable to defend themselves from strikes to their heads by blunt clubs. The Princess was immediately aware of who their opponents were: warriors from the Southern Water Tribe, non-bending weaklings who had to rely on such crude methods to fight someone. No one else would send a squad of non-benders into battle and expect them to defeat some the best trained firebenders in the world. She was already frustrated enough with the situation, and the fact her men would be easily beaten by such underdogs made her furious; they would learn well to regret the day they tried to fight Princess Azula of the Fire Nation.
Wearing his warriors armour and face paint, Sokka felt ready as ever to finally fight the ashmakers. They were going to pay for everything they had done, and finally his father had almost divinely given him the opportunity. Supposedly they were attacking this ship because some one high up commanded it and capturing them would hamper the Fire Nation's efforts in conquering the remains of the Earth Kingdom. Even without Ba Sing Se, the tide could be turned, and finally Sokka could do his part and make his father proud. The firebenders they fought weren't prepared for their arrival and the weather made it so much sweeter for Sokka, knowing their firebending they relied on so much would be barely functional in such poor conditions.
Sokka swung his club at a guards legs, clipping his shins and forcing him to the ground, where he quickly felt the thrust of his foot to his jaw, knocking him out cold. Smirking at his small victory, Sokka threw his trusty boomerang, flinging out past the firebenders, confusing them with it's rapid motion, and using that small distraction whacked another across the side of their head with his club, before his returning boomerang struck another guard right in the back of the head, falling to Sokka's feet; right where he would need it. His father called out to him in the midst of battle, making him turn around to see his father with a bone dagger in hand.
"This may come in handyǃ" he shouted, throwing the dagger into Sokka's hand, which he grasped with his left hand.
Sokka turned to strike another guard with it's hilt, this one far more prepared, right in his hand; breaking his move to hit Sokka square in the forehead with a ball of fire. He flinched and cried out from the pain before grabbing Sokka with his other hand in an attempt to settle the warrior into a single position where he could beat him with his fire. Sokka grabbed the firebender with his own hand and grinned viciously, thinking even he could set fear into their eyes, before headbutting the guard, hearing the hard break on his nose. The guard fell back, dazed from the hit when Hakoda returned to Sokka's side with his spear, stabbing the guard in the shoulder and thrusting him across the deck.
"Thanks for the help Dadǃ" Sokka exclaimed.
His father grimaced at his son's near rabid enthusiasm in battle and held his hand on his shoulder.
"Sokka, you will go with the others to capture the target; we'll hold the deck."
Sokka nodded clearly at his father, whistling to the men, signaling that they would make a break for the bridge's door, where they would be able to reach their target. Sokka was followed by another four men, and they raced towards the door, where a single guard stood with his fists prepared to fight them; expecting a club or spear, the man wasn't prepared when Sokka's boomerang struck him in the side of the head. Sokka chuckled at his work, before turning to his men; finally he was a leader of something, he though to himself.
"Let's do this." he stated bluntly, before kicking the door open somewhat dramatically. He smirked as he looked down the hallway and saw a figure before him; a teenage girl, probably about his age, wearing black armour with golden outlines around it's plates, topped with a golden flame headpiece.
"Wait what... We're capturing a girl?" Sokka remarked, his voice clearly showing his disbelief in the situation.
"A girl you say? We'll see about that." she replied, smirking with the same grin Sokka had when fighting the firebenders.
She thrust a wall of fire down the hallway, Sokka turning his pelt coat towards it in and attempt to block her powerful attack. His comrades pulled out their own weapons and made a battle-cry, which Sokka joined as well. Aware that the hallway was too narrow for them to all run down, the biggest of them- a dark haired warrior, from a village Sokka hadn't heard of until they met, decided that it'd be best if he were the 'meat-shield' as per say. Screaming at their opponent he charged toward her with two clubs in his hands, quickly discarding her first fist of fire with them. She chuckled at the warriors attempts before kicking a blast of fire straight at his head, causing him to fall and trip over his own feet backwards, head first colliding with the metal floor.
Sokka decided he'd rather go before his other men and pulled out his boomerang, making their opponent laugh at him.
"And what is that supposed to be? Scrap metal you hope to cut me with?ǃ" she shouted with the same smirk, making Sokka grumble in frustration, before his own smirk returned.
Sokka never had a good strategy in his pocket, but had all the tactics anyone would need to beat an arrogant firebender. He ran towards her with his spear in hand, quickly thrusting it at her head, missing her by quite a distance, almost making her laugh. But that distraction gave him enough time to suddenly stab his boomerang straight into the metal wall, before thrusting himself nearly horizontally, his feet guarding him from any potential attack, forcing his opponent to try and basically burn his shoes off, which wasn't too helpful when he struck her square in the chest with his flying feet.
The Princess for one didn't approve of uppity Water Tribesmen kicking her in the chest, but she certainly appreciated the opening he had given her, as she quickly able to return to her feet and throw a fireball toward his face, which he was barely able to block with his arm-guards. She sought to strike the man down for his insolence but couldn't help but notice the youth in him; he was probably own her own age, and even then as a non-bender, could even try to go toe to toe with her, the most prodigious firebender of a generation. The warrior pulled his weapon out from the corridor's wall and smirked at her with arrogance, his own self-confidence mirroring her own.
"Give up now and I won't really hurt you." Sokka proclaimed, trying to see if the woman would notice that she was outnumbered in this situation.
"No thanks, I'd rather hurt you!" she shouted, throwing a vicious wave of fire at him, making Sokka trip over his fallen comrade and fall to his knees.
"Shit!" he shouted from the burns he could feel on his arms.
He pulled out his club once more to protect himself from his opponent, who punched another fist of flames towards his head. He growled in anger before rushing to strike her legs, in a quick attempt to force her down, like he would to his other opponents, but simply hit the walls as he crouched in pain before her; she laughed at him before striking him in face with a blast of fire, flinging him back along the corridor ontop of his fellow warrior. One of his comrades threw a spear to his side and screamed at him as to encourage.
"Show no fear!" making the young warrior smirk in confidence before arming himself with the weapon.
The Princess laughed at the warriors feeble displays of courage and threw a barrage of fireblasts at him, which he was able to surprisingly deflect with the motion of his spear circularly. She raised her fingers in motion to bend lightning at him, knowing the warrior had no real defense against such an attack. He raised his boomerang as to throw it at her while she was preparing her attack; but it was too late and his weapon was struck with a powerful blast of lightning, shocking him and flinging him down the corridor once more, hopefully for good. The warrior grunted as he tried to recover from the attack that he never could have expected and his attempts were little use when he felt the strike of her knee to his jaw, and slumped to the ground unconscious; the three warriors behind him shouted for their fallen brother, and as such she learnt the fallen man's name - Sokka; Sokka of the Water Tribe. What a pity it was that he had to be fighting her in this hallway, it might have been more fun in the open.
When he came rocking back into consciousness, Sokka could only notice one thing clearly, that being that his jaw stung as if it had been broken; he tried to move it in a chewing motion, and to his expectation, increased the pain sharply. Pushing his body off the metal plate floor, he pushed himself against the corridor, mostly unaware of his current surroundings. Noticing that the hallway was now quiet he looked to his left to see all of his men, knocked unconscious with a plethora of burns on their clothes and skin. His entire squad had just been taken down by some crazy firebending bitch, and Sokka's mind turned to the idea that he owed her a broken jaw to fit with his own. His vision and coordination were clearly off par now, and the sides of his head stung despite not being injured. He thought he might perhaps had been concussed, but that wasn't what he focused on now. His father and all the tribesmen were out there, and for all he knew they could all be beaten or worse, seeing what had happened to himself already. That was enough to get Sokka to slide his back up the wall and grab the corridor walls with both his arms, trying to lift himself back to his feet.
"F-fucking... I'm going to fight that one again." Sokka proclaimed to himself, looking back down the hallway to find his boomerang, seemingly undamaged from the lightning strike he had been hit with.
"Well at least you're still okay boomerang; someone ought to make it out alive!" he joked to himself, trying to improve his mood in the dire circumstances.
His legs ached as he stepped one foot at a time toward his boomerang, before he had to arch downward to reach it, bringing more pain to his back. Although this might not have been the worst possible outcome of his fight with a firebender, Sokka was certain it was the most immediately painful. He grabbed the boomerang swiftly and pulled himself back up, and thought to try and focus on the goal: beat the shit out of some firebenders and maybe get out alive. He brought his smirk back, finally feeling some pride in this moment of defeat.
"It'll take more than lightning to kill me you ash-maker scum!" he shouted, before pacing down the corridor as quickly as his legs would take him, shuddering to a stop at the door. He didn't want to make too much of an entrance onto the deck, especially if his men were in trouble. Slowly turning the metal lever he pushed the door slightly ajar as to look out the gap, perhaps to take a quick glance at the deck; Sokka saw exactly what he didn't want to see, knocked out firebenders and water tribesmen, with a couple of firebender guards standing over them. Sokka took a deep breath, knowing that he might not last too long against any remaining firebenders, so he decided it'd be better to go out screaming than simply being knocked down by his enemies.
"Hey you fuckers!" he screamed opening the door with a loud kick, swiftly throwing his boomerang, knocking out an unaware guard before swinging out his club and charging at the guards in front of him; the guards on deck turned around, and as did the remaining tribesmen, who cheered in relief when Sokka came in swinging with his overtly distracting arrangement of attacks. He swung his club swiftly at another guards shins, his head clipping the club as he fell down. Another two guards came to surround Sokka, who decided to attack one by throwing his club at him, while the other tried to reach him; the guard obviously forgot about the warrior's flying boomerang, which returned to it's owner by clipping his head before careening into the ground. Sokka rolled in a somersault to grab his boomerang while the other remaining guard grabbed Sokka's own club as a weapon, leaving Sokka to defend against an attack he'd usually use himself; the guard swung the club at Sokka's turned head, in an attempt to knock him out unaware, but Sokka had intentionally provoked the guard to use his club, he was able to barrel roll across the deck before flicking the boomerang straight into the left side of the guards helmet, sending his body head first into the deck.
"Take that!" he piped as he raised his fist at his small victory.
Sokka quickly retrieved his boomerang and saw that his entrance had reinvigorated his comrades fighting and defenses against the vicious attacks of the firebending guards, clearly working as hard as they could to take down the warriors, the weather obviously hampering their own bending; perhaps the spirits were in their favour today, if they had any care for their tribe to begin with. Sokka turned to see a shocking sight, an elite firebender, noted by his golden rimmed armour and helmet, had singled out his father Hakoda as their leader and was strangling him on the side of the ship, trying to throw him overboard. The sight of his father in such danger sent Sokka into overdrive and he quickly got to his feet, racing towards the two, knocking a guard out of the way with little effort.
"Dad!" he shouted in terror, as Hakoda turned to see his son sprinting towards him, Sokka armed with his bone dagger once more, ready to bloody himself for his father's sake.
The guard turned to Sokka, shocked by his sudden appearance, and more so when Sokka pounced onto him with a fist straight into his face. He retaliated immediately with a wave of fire hitting Sokka in the face, barely burning his face with the flames fading as quick as they came in the rain. Sokka smirked at him, grabbing his collar before stabbing him right in the shoulder, causing him to whelp in pain and knee Sokka in the stomach, making him reel back.
"You little shit!" the guard shouted, his demeanor clearly shifted from one of dominance to that of fury.
The guard swung another wave of fire at Sokka before sending a kick of fire at him, both of which he avoided by ducking to the side. As the guard remained unable to hit him, Sokka decided to make the best of his opponents anger and drop his weapons. He knew the guard would go all out on him now, without any means to defend himself. The guard raised his arms into a bending position, poised to strike, but was cut short by a strike to the head; Hakoda stood above the guard, with his own club, somewhat infuriated by his previous situation and knocked out he guard properly with a kick to the head. Sokka had expected his fathers response, because it's what he would have done himself
"Good job dad!" Sokka praised, patting his father on the shoulder before turning back to the battlefield.
"We can't win this with our weapons, but luckily I had a backup plan." Hakoda commented, his son grinning at the mention of another plan.
"Lemme guess- Sink this ship and all the bastards on board." Sokka confirmed, knowing that they had already a stash of explosives with them for the attack, planned to stop the ships engine; his father nodded in confirmation and Sokka realised the serious situation they and their men were in- they couldn't face capture, and a sinking ship was a good distraction to avoid it.
"Retreat!" Hakoda called out, signaling to his men to get back to their ships, handing Sokka his spear before patting him on the back, as if to grant him good luck; he smiled briefly at his father before turning back to the battle.
The remaining conscious warriors quickly diverted their attention to running across the deck and away from any battles they were facing; Sokka saw a few stragglers and took it upon himself to help, throwing his boomerang at a guard who had cornered a tribesman on the other side of the deck, slamming the guard in his nape, throwing him to the ground like rock. Sokka shouted again at the firebenders, to both quench his thirst for a fight and a desire to distract any remaining firebenders from their imminent escape. The remaining firebenders turned to him and formed a circle around him, preparing to all strike him at once; they moved into stance while Sokka stood there unfazed by their potential attack, unnerving them somewhat, knowing for certain what came next. Suddenly a blast shook the ship violently and the men lost their footing, and Sokka already prepared for the explosion, was able to knock out of the one men with his boomerang and throw his spear at another, forcing him to the ground. Sokka broke down laughing at the remaining soldiers who stood in shock, probably in disbelief from their situation; he presumed that Fire Nation sailors weren't well trained for potential disasters, as they were the only nation with a well designed and powerful navy; but that didn't make the mightiest steel vessels indestructible.
"You should have been going for the lifeboats guys!" he joked, before grabbing his returning boomerang.
The soldiers immediately ran down the deck towards where Sokka assumed their lifeboat was, where he could see one remaining figure in the rain. Her hair was falling down in the rain and her hands filled with blue fire; the blue-fire-girl, as Sokka thought of her, finally made her reappearance. He pointed his boomerang at her and jested.
"So are you here for a rematch?"
Azula glanced at Sokka with contempt and he knew that she must have been pretty angry; he had blown up her ship for one, even if only indirectly; but that didn't stop her from considering him responsible and the target of her current rage. How on earth would she get to Ba Sing Se now? By floating along in a cramped lifeboat for a few days? Not a chance.
"You will pay for what you've done, savage!" she shouted at him, before throwing a rally of fire blasts at Sokka.
The Water Tribe warrior was able to dodge her flurry of attacks rather easily. Firebending was surprisingly easy to ignore at a distance it seemed; the remaining guards and tribesmen on the deck quickly ran off with their lives, knowing for certain the ship was doomed, mostly ignoring the duel between the non-bending warrior and firebending prodigy. Sokka retrieved another bone spear from the ground, throwing it directly at his opponent, who simply grabbed the weapon and broke it in two. Realising that his water tribe weapons mightn't be as sturdy as he might have believed, Sokka chose to grab a Fire Nation guards spear on the deck, kicking it up with his right foot and grabbing it with his right hand, not fazing his opponent who was forming a whip-like formation of fire and stretching it to strike Sokka's side. Sokka barrel-rolled under the wave of fire and then charged at his opponent, hoping to strike her before she got any smart idea about using lightning. She side-stepped his attack and uppercut the warrior with a fireblast, sending him into the air for a few moments, before abruptly crashing back down on the deck. Sokka turned his head up towards Azula, who gazed somewhat disgusted at his bleeding mouth and nose, before he beared the most mocking smirk he could muster.
"I-I won..." he muttered, making her laugh at him.
"I'm about to knock you out and throw your body overboard; in what bizarre world have you won this duel?" she curtly replied, mocking him with a smirk of her own.
"You can't throw me overboard... If we are going overboard." he chuckled, making her realise her situation.
The entire ship started to tilt portward, and Azula stumbled and returned to her full height, realising that Sokka had been playing her in an attempt to let his men escape, while she remained on her own sinking ship; Sokka stabbed the end of the spear he held into the deck, as to keep himself upright while the ocean water rushed onto the ship's deck.
"I've been played by some fool! What a disappointment." Azula laughed, kicking Sokka's spear down before trying to race toward the bridge, to little avail when a wave rushed onto the deck and swept her off her feet; Sokka laughed at her before he realised the water would take him down too, being swept into the flooded portion of the deck.
"Ah shit!" he shouted, as his mouth was filled with somewhat distasteful ocean water.
Sokka pulled himself out from the water and attempted to wade across the deck, similar to his opponents prior attempt, but another wave flushed the deck, and pushed him back into the water. He instead decided to swim toward the bridge, slowly wading through the water, when he finally noticed Azula standing by the bridge, trying to hold onto the open entrance-way as the deck continued to rotate. As he neared the bridge, he saw heard another abrupt explosion under the deck, causing the ship's bow to start sinking directly into the water and the bridge subsequently was raised higher; he was able to more easily start climbing as the water receded, but his opponent decided to start throwing fireballs at him, at the moment when he could just as easily fall off the boat and drown.
"Come on! I'm just trying to not drown here." he shouted at her in desperation. He saw to his right the Water Tribe's vessels withdrawing from the ship, and tried to shout out to his comrades, "Hey! Guys I'm here!" he screamed at the ships, but to no avail, as they continued to move away from the sinking Fire Nation vessel.
Sokka decided at that moment he'd practically been given a death sentence, now all he could do is try and find some way not to drown in the water; he knew he was a decent enough swimmer, but in these stormy waters, he'd face it better trying to just climb onto the Fire Nation's life raft. He turned to see that his opponent was still trying to make her way to the back of the ship, and obviously had for the moment given up on fighting him. He decided to keep climbing along the deck as the water rushed up behind him, eventually making it to the door of the bridge; looking inside Sokka found little but a few discarded weapons, even one of his own, his spear. He decided to climb into the corridor and try and make his way up the ship's bridge, to at the very least afford him some time while the rest of the ship sunk under the water; maybe by then he'd find a way to signal his father and the others.
Sokka paced down the hallway, quickly picking up his spear, in case there was anyone left on the bridge that might try to cause him any problems. Looking down either side of the corridors end he saw little but more dark metal halls; not knowing his way around these ships he made an assumption that the ladder or stairs would be somewhere near the middle and took a bet going right. He paced himself through the somewhat more upright section of the ship before finally making his way to the ladder. Sokka was relieved at this sight but still fearful; what if his father had already left with their ships, and he considered Sokka dead meat fighting the remaining guards? He doubted his father would abandon his own son, but this was war and sacrifices like that could be made on a daily basis. Climbing up the ladder he finally made his way to the top of the bridge, where he assumed the vessel was commanded from. Here he could see little but some equipment that he clearly didn't understand, but he searched the chests that remained up here; the ship would have to have some kind of beacon or flare that could be set off for a potential 'accident' like this. Sokka rustled through each of them, feeling the sway of the ship's motion becoming stronger and his feet straining from the harsh angle he had to stand at. Finally he found a device that set off a flare and quickly paced himself toward the open balcony of the bridge. He realised how deep the ship already was with the bridge half into the water already, now Sokka was only a few metres above the water. Not knowing how the device worked, he pressed the device in various spots before it set off an explosion that flung a blast of smoke and fire into the sky. Sokka hoped that his father or another warrior saw his attempt to communicate, but at this point Sokka could barely see the Water Tribe ships, which were at least a few hundred metres away from Sokka now, too far for him to swim in this weather.
Realising his first plan had failed, Sokka decided to find something that would float; looking back into the bridge he noticed that the metal chests he had rummaged through to find the flare had been pretty toughly sealed; were they airtight? There was only one way to find out at this point, and he wasn't for one looking forward to it. He unpacked one of the boxes completely before locking it back shut, and kicking it down the bridge, where gravity did it's work and the chest fell straight into the water; looking out into the water he saw that it did float, and did his best to make his way towards the water. Suddenly the ship begun to tilt port-ward again, and Sokka fell to the side, slamming into the windows of the bridge. As his head ringed from striking the window, compounding the pains he was already feeling at the moment, he could distantly hear the cries of whoever remained on the ship; it scared him well enough that he was partly responsible for the potential deaths of those onboard. Realising that he was in luck that the window he laid on didn't break, he pulled himself up and tried to look out of the bridge for his makeshift flotation device but soon enough water had started rushing into the bridge- Sokka's time was up. The ship had finally started to go fully under the water and he had a few moments to climb out of the balcony door before the water flooded in, nearly pushing him back into the bridge. Sokka threw his arms forward and started to swim nearly violently against the rush of water flowing into the ship, and after a few moments of frustration he made his way out into the open waters, where he could now see no other boats; he could however clearly hear the Fire Nation life raft's engine rumbling behind him. He waded towards his metal chest and grabbed held of it tightly. Luckily the waters here, unlike down south, were actually not too cold at the moment and he could tolerate floating in the rough waters; He tied a rope he had in his belt to his wrist and the other end to the chest, making sure he wouldn't drown in case he eventually passed out. Sokka noticed the life raft behind him smoking away and realised that he could try and at least follow it somewhat. His paddling motion became almost natural, as the fear became less dominant and his mind fogged with the desire to just keep his body moving and soon enough despite his best intentions, he had fallen asleep on top of the chest, his body numb and cool in the ocean water.