Looking upon their enemy, the Freedom Fighters were more than prepared- two men challenging them on the street- Smellerbee looked upon them with a tinge of fear- these were probably the same people that had tried to capture Sokka- maybe they had known of their association, or worse- they knew of their plans and were trying to get rid of the Freedom Fighters before they could cause any damage.
One of the men stood forward and jested at the Freedom Fighters, "You stupid children, don't y-" before being cut off by a sharp noise- an arrow striking him square in the shoulder and flinging him to the ground.
Longshot smiled upon his work- the shot was accurate but wouldn't keep the man down for long; Smellerbee grimaced as the remaining man struck out a concise earthbending move to thrust at their group, forcing Jet to sidestep the attack before it reached him- the other Freedom Fighters weren't so lucky. Longshot was hit right off his feet into the air, and The Duke and Smellerbee were forced off their feet and fell hard onto the gravel street- she screamed out for her friend realising he was barely capable of landing from such a hit.
"Longshot!" Smellerbee shouted out- luckily Pipsqueak was standing behind them and was able to grab his friend before he hit the ground- his hat and bow had fallen to the ground and his face showed something he wasn't usually willing to- his fear.
"Good job Pipsqueak." Smellerbee thanked him, kicking Longshot's bow up into her hand before throwing it back into her friends arms, which he took without a second thought, drawing another arrow while still being held up by Pipsqueak.
Looking back toward Jet, she saw her leader quickly making work of the other earthbender with his hook swords, deflecting a number of bricks before being thrown into one of the walls by the earthbender thrusting the neighbouring wall at him; Jet fell through the wall, and disappeared from sight for a moment- the struck down earthbender looked as if he was commanding the other one, who glanced at the group before running down the alley away from them- Smellerbee's face contorted into one of rage.
"Get back here you fucking coward!" she screamed, running after the man with all the power she could carry in her legs.
Within moments the downed earthbender stopped Smellerbee right in her tracks- he threw up the gravel toward her- which she dodged by sidestepping the stones and throwing a knife at the man which he was able to block with what seemed to be rock gloves- it was of little use when Smellerbee's foot collided with the man's face, knocking his head sharply into the gravel- she grimaced slightly at the sound of man's neck abruptly cracking, hoping that she hadn't just killed him with the force of her foot; Smellerbee heard a grunt from her side, the collapsed wall where Jet was laying- his head raised in dizziness and pain.
"A-ah- good job; you go after that other bastard." he grumbled to her, rubbing his sore head as he pulled the stone fragments off of his body.
"Don't have to order me for that one." she smirked, saluting her injured leader with a motion of her fingers before running down the alleyway in the direction of the cowardly earthbender.
Smellerbee was joined by The Duke and Longshot in her pursuit of the earthbender- Pipsqueak stayed by Jet's side to protect him from anything else that might come by while he recovered; the three of them raced down the alleyway and spotted the man using his earthbending to climb up onto the roofs of the Lower Rings slums- agile and capable as they were, the Freedom Fighters saw little effort in quickly scaling the walls to follow him once more. Once he had sighted them again, the man threw roof tiles at them to try and break their footing, but he was being quickly countered by Longshot's volleys of arrows toward him- the man suddenly disappeared from their sight, and The Duke glanced over across the buildings.
"He went back to the street, I'll stay and keep an eye from the roof, you guys get down there and beat the crap of that guy!" The Duke assured Smellerbee and Longshot, racing along the roofs toward where they last saw the man, Longshot and Smellerbee detouring to slide down the roof and onto a balcony, from where they jumped back to the ground.
"There!" Smellerbee shouted, pointing out the man racing down the alleyway directly across the street from them, Longshot drawing an arrow on a bell curve to strike him- he didn't miss, of course- the arrow struck the man in his upper thigh and forced him to face-plant. Smellerbee and Longshot were delayed by having to cross the street, but quickly enough they reached were they last saw the man only to find that he had disappeared from the alleyway- the blood stain on the ground showed well enough that the arrow had done it's work- they could follow the trail of his bleeding leg now. Following the distinct red smatterings on the ground, the two made their way into a small commons garden- where the blood trail seemed to have simply ended; Longshot checked their surroundings, but looked on in suspicion.
"Where did he go?" Smellerbee asked out, before finding her answer right before her- the ground begun to shake and their legs were pulled into the soil of the garden- the dirt solidifying as they sunk; giving her friend a glance, Smellerbee started to pant and grunt in fear as she tried to release herself from the grasp of the earth.
"Not like this- we have to kill the ash-makers before we die!" she shouted out, before hearing a familiar battle-cry.
"Take cover!" The Duke screamed out, throwing a round object down into the centre of the garden, Smellerbee and Longshot instinctively covering their faces by leaning away- the garden was thundered by a dirty explosion- flames spurting out before the dust covered them all- suddenly Longshot and Smellerbee could move and they dragged themselves out of the dirt before glancing to where they guessed their opponent would be; the man stood before them covered in dust and his face covered in cuts from the explosion.
"You grimy shits." the man growled, raising his rock covered fist to throw a wall of soil at the two Freedom Fighters- but was stopped by a heavy weight crashing onto his shoulders- The Duke had jumped onto his back and was eager to hammer his fists down on him.
"Yee-ha!" The Duke squealed in an adrenaline rush, punching the man in the skull a number of times before being flung off the mans back by a stone hitting him in the side, tossing him into the dirt.
This gave Longshot enough time to draw another arrow and shoot it at the man, just missing his chest, clipping the man's shoulder and flinging him back onto the ground, where Smellerbee raced to tackle him. As she attempted to finally stop their enemy, Smellerbee found herself at the same end of a rock as The Duke, being flung across the garden and into the dirt again- Longshot remained steadfast and drew another arrow, which the earthbender was able to stop by raising his hand to draw Longshot into the dirt- the arrow was shot off course and flew right over the mans head.
"It's time you meet the spirits." the man told them with a devious, near evil grin on his face, rising from the soil and preparing to draw another stone wall to toss at the group.
"Not yet." a voice told him- the man turned to face his new opponent but looked in shock as a club swung into his head and knocked him out cold and onto the ground.
Standing above the practically defeated Freedom Fighters, the man looked at them with a curt smile and asked them, "Are you kids okay?"
Smellerbee looked at the man- he wore blue and white attire, although it was partially masked by a green cloak and a hat- he seemed familiar, and out of her dazed form she called out a name, "Is that you- Sokka?" she asked, her tone grumbling and angry- she didn't want to have to deal with him again- Jet had told them explicitly what to do if he tried to come to them.
"Wait what- I'm not Sokka- you know Sokka?!" the man looked at her in shock, Smellerbee raising her eyebrow in confusion.
"Uh- yes- you do too?" she asked him.
The man lent out his hand, smiling at her with a sense of relief, "I'm Bato- Sokka's my best friends son."
"Wait so you were with him at sea- are you a traitor too?" she asked him, slightly dazed and pained from the strike in the chest which had winded her thoroughly.
"A traitor? I am a Water Tribe warrior- I fight to help the Earth Kingdom in their plight against the Fire Nation- why would Sokka be a traitor?" he asked her in confusion.
"Because he works for the Princess- he's her servant now." she told him- relaying what Jet had explained to her.
Bato looked at Smellerbee with a sense of shock and disbelief, "What- you're joking right?" before hearing no response, he face-palmed and sighed, "Well- that's a twist of fate if I've ever seen one."
Standing outside the palace armoury barely after sunrise wasn't what Princess Azula was expecting to be spending her morning- a week prior she expected to be walking about a forest near aimlessly in search of civilisation and now she was stuck looking for the threat that loomed over the city- and by extension, the Fire Nation as a whole. She could hear Sokka fumbling about inside the armoury looking for the ingredients to create his weapon, which he told her would be the best way to fight potential earthbenders- from the description he had already given her, she assumed it had to do with deceiving the earthbenders into bending something they shouldn't, of which she didn't really know- but soon enough Sokka had come out the armoury doors with a number of small canvas bags.
"So what does the 'brilliant engineer of the Southern Water Tribe' have to offer?" she mocked him, Sokka looked back at her with arms crossed.
"I'll have you know that these are based off a design my father created- although it was for a different purpose." he told her, making Azula raise an eyebrow sceptically.
"What purpose exactly?" she asked him, Sokka freezing in a slight of fear, before rubbing his head as if he had regret.
"Well uh- to destroy your ship actually." he admitted, Azula smirking at him.
"Oh well what a change we have here- using the tactics you used against me at the dirt throwing scumbags." she thought aloud, chuckling at the fact that Sokka was clearly doing his all to impress her.
"As I said- they deserve it." Sokka reminded her, Azula skirted toward him and glared at him with questioning eyes.
"So you think I deserved to have my ship sunk?" she asked him, Sokka's eyes opening wide in fear.
"Well- uh- I think that it gave you a reality check- you're not infallible or invincible- you ought to keep that one in mind." he tried to explain, Azula reeling away and dismissing his statements with a flick of her wrist.
"You think that I'm not capable of self-reflection- trust me, I do it all the time." she grumbled at him, offended that he would think that she was absorbed by her own hubris.
"Oh really." he jested at her, smirking in belief that she really didn't understand her own weaknesses.
"I have an excellent reminder to remain conscious and understanding over your own pride- the last person I knew who forgot that lost half his face." she told Sokka, who almost gasped in realisation.
"Your brother- I forgot about him- he's still trying to overthrow daddy?" he joked, making Azula frown at Sokka.
"For the last time- I told you tot stop effacing the image of the Fire Lord." she grumbled at Sokka, her volume raising as she grew more frustrated before returning to a more calm tone, "I would think so- I'm betting father will tell me any day now to go take care of that whole issue." making Sokka roll his eyes.
"Please don't tell me we're going to go half way across the world just for you to beat up your brother." he grumbled, Azula chuckling at him.
"It'd be a bit more than a beating- and who says that you'd be coming?" she questioned Sokka, who raised his hands defensively.
"Hey! Remember the debt I owed so I could eventually get home? It isn't going to pay itself off." he told her, Azula shrugging her shoulders.
"As much as I'd like to get rid of you savage- you do have a point- your debt remains unpaid."
"So let's go down again- we ought to get this over and done with." Sokka smirked, pacing himself in front of Azula and back toward the former Royal Prison- she held her voice to yell at Sokka, realising that he was doing exactly what she wanted him to- stay on task and fulfil their goal.
The two of them made their way down back into the former prison with hast- they both knew of the potential threat of informants learning of their actions before they could make use of the element of surprise; within a few minutes the two of them had returned to the deepest point of the prison proper-
Sokka looked back down at the rough map that had been drawn and noted where it faded into unknowns- that would be their first target. Looking around from the base of the prison, they could see that there was a metal door that had been busted down, but behind it was a partially collapsed hallway- they could see unlit lanterns and other signs of habitation- the destruction must have been on purpose.
"So we head down this pathway- it seems to have been obstructed- by our Dai Li friends no doubt." Azula commented, glancing out at the collapsed hallways, "No matter- a few rocks won't be much against a lightning strike."
Sokka gulped and looked back at her, "You're telling me you could have blown me apart with lightning?!" reminiscing of when Azula had first beaten him up with the firebending form.
"Not really-" she nonchalantly replied, "lightning-bending is usually too weak actually explode a human being- brittle rocks and bricks- that's another matter."
"Knowing you, you'll be the first person to explode a person with lightning-bending." Sokka joked, grimacing at the thought once more, making Azula smirk back.
"Well you're right- it ought to be me- but that doesn't make it any less disturbing." she explained to him before preparing her stance, a signal for Sokka to step back and try and get out of her way.
Azula moved into her form, raising her arms in motion to gather her energies before directing them into a single lightning strike via her right hand- the crackling sound thundered through the room as the blast raced into the collapsed hallway, causing an explosion of dust to cover them and block both their sights- within a few moments, the dust cleared to show the hallway open and the rocks scattered down away from the spot Azula shot at.
"Uh-" Sokka looked at her awkwardly, noticing her confident smirk, "good job?"
Azula raised an eyebrow, "What- are you scared of a little lightning?"
He glanced back with his mouth agape, "Are you serious? Lightning is extremely dangerous!"
She raised a finger to her mouth in thought, "Well, that means that I'm extremely dangerous- I'll take that as a compliment." Azula jested at him, making Sokka smack his forehead loudly with his hand.
"You've gotta be kidding me." he mumbled, before he was forced to follow Azula into the hallway as she ushered him in.
"Go on savage- we haven't got all day to appreciate my amazing bending." she joked at him, Sokka raising his head in defiance, before pacing down the hallway with his crude map in hand.
Sokka and Azula continued down the serpentine hallways and made their way toward an unmapped area away from the centre of the palace- her firebending lit their path and ensured they would spot anything out of the ordinary; within a few minutes they had walked all the way into an older decrepit portion of the underground tunnels- the stone work faded into cavernous walls and Sokka swore he could notice small glints of light around him, but he simply dismissed it as the reflection of Azula's flames. Soon enough they came upon an underground stream- which gleamed a with the reflection of Azula's blue flames- Sokka glanced at her and pointed down the stream.
"I'm guessing this goes down into the Crystal Catacombs- so where does that put us?" Sokka asked her, Azula rubbing her chin in thought before pointing across the cavern.
"There's a flat wall right there- they've tried to mask it with damage, but it's manmade." she told him, Sokka glancing at the wall and confirming her own sight- there was a clean stone face across the stream- it was clearly placed there on purpose- an earthbending powered door he guessed.
Without saying a word Azula bent a ring of fire around her arm before releasing it as a concentrated blast- crashing into the wall and shattering it with the pure force of the strike- Sokka looked on and smirked.
"If it was that easy- I could have just broken the wall with my club." he remarked- Azula glancing at him with scepticism.
"I doubt it- and that would take far too long- efficiency, savage." she explained to him, reminding him of his purpose as a second mind for the Princess- which complimented his mental acuity and insulted his physical capabilities at the same time.
"Urgh- yeah you're right," he admitted, before running into the hole formed by her fire blast- checking momentarily for any signs of human activity on the other side, "no one is here at the moment- let's go." he told Azula before making his way into the next portion of the hallway which led down a much more direct passage- this time lined with stonework.
They walked down the hallway, making out some ambient light at the end- some kind of opening; Sokka raced down to the end first, noticing a ladder leading up to the light source- which seemed to be right above him. Azula arrived behind him and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the light-source.
"We don't seem to be in the Crystal Catacombs-" she remarked, "Where in the name of spirits was your map leading us?" she questioned Sokka who raised his hands defensively.
"Hey- I didn't make the map- but don't think this is all bad news- this path must still be used by the Dai Li- if we can catch them using this- we can follow them or better just capture and beat some information out of them."
Climbing up the ladder, Sokka pushed up the rotting wooden covering and looked out of the porthole- they seemed to be in a warehouse of sorts- he was surrounded by wooden crates. Pulling himself up Sokka glanced around to check if anyone seemed to be in the building, but to their luck it seemed to be empty of any people at the moment; looking back down to Azula he waved his hand telling her to follow him up.
"Now let's look around for some of those finicky earthbenders." Azula confirmed as she climbed out of the porthole, Sokka nodding before heading around the towers of crates to guide himself out of building.
Sokka turned around a corner and found what he was looking for- a large set of wooden doors for the cargo and a smaller one to the side, which he quickly raced up to and peered out of- he was in luck for their timeliness, there wouldn't be any crowds that might take suspicion to the Princesses appearance outside of the palace. Sokka walked out onto the street and glanced up and down along it- he noticed clearly that he was in a clean neighbourhood that had distinctively gold roofs- looking behind him Sokka could see the walls of the palace in the far distance- they had travelled some distance in the tunnel- and he knew that if they had gotten that far underground that the Dai Li probably had a lot more up their sleeves. Azula walked out an made the same look as Sokka at acknowledging how far they had travelled just down a single tunnel. Sokka grabbed his belly and irked at it's grumbling, glancing to Azula.
"Before we go on a hunt for the Dai Li- could I please get some breakfast?" he asked her as courteously as he could muster, Azula raising an eyebrow at his statement.
"Didn't you proclaim that you didn't need breakfast?" she questioned him before glancing down the street where she could hear the sounds a market, "Hmm- if you can be quick, I mightn't punish you for you foolish eating habits." Sokka nodded rapidly before running in the direction of the market.
Azula shook her head in disappointment at Sokka's behaviour- he was off to a good start when he woke up, but now their initial plan had led to nothing but a secret passage into the palace- he took it upon himself to excuse time for breakfast. She acknowledged basic human needs, but she worried a group of Dai Li could pop up at any moment and she wouldn't have him to back her up- he had his handmade weapons with him- she knew that ought to come in handy even though now she assumed they wouldn't be fighting the Dai Li under the palace.
Pacing down the streets of the Upper Ring once again Sokka was more than cautious of his surroundings- he knew all too well what happened last time, although he intended to get breakfast as soon as possible- he'd rather not get intoxicated while working; he walked down into the small side street market, it was barely opening at the early time of the morning, but he already saw what seemed to be the local servants filing around to collect food and luxury items for their masters. He eyed off the stalls cautiously, easily able to see that most of the food that was being offerred was unprepared and expensive- the elite of Ba Sing Se were no strangers to unusual and pricey delicacies; Sokka noticed a stall where they were selling 'beef jerky'- something he assumed by the name was close enough to his traditional seal jerky that he'd enjoy it.
Walking up to the stall it's owner greeted him, a wiry man with a long moustache, "Hello young man- do you need to purchase some jerky- we have a full stock, you came at the right time." the man asked Sokka, who simply glanced down at his belt-bag, pulling out a few coins before turning to the man.
"What will this get me?" he asked, holding the coins before the man who looked at him with intrigue.
"Are you sure you only want to buy that much? I usually get larger orders than that." the man commented, Sokka returning a confused glance.
"Uh- yes?" he responded, unsure what the man was exactly implying.
"Your master doesn't give out much money to spare for buying his jerky it seems." the man simply commented, Sokka clenching his nose bridge with his fingers.
"I- I'm not a servant!" Sokka fumed at the man, pointing his finger at the man accusingly, "And because I'm under the Princesses employ I think I could get away with beating the shit out of you for insulting me." Sokka smirked deviously at the man, who gulped in fear in realisation- Sokka thought that he had perhaps connected the dots between the Princess Azula's 'mysterious Water Tribe attache' and the man before him.
"Oh spirits- please forgive me!" the man pleaded, handing Sokka more jerky into his hand.
Although he was pleased the man had broken down in fear because of Sokka's threats, he didn't desire to eat the man's entire stock of jerky, "Not too much man- I'm trying to eat breakfast not preparing to hibernate like a polar-bear-dog!" Sokka complained, pushing some of the jerky back into the mans hands before beginning to walk away, still irked by the man's comments, "Not a servant." he spat at the man again before making his way out of the market, chewing down on the beef jerky to calm his mood.
Sokka found the new meat to be quite tasty and reminiscent of his diet on the ship, which he missed dearly- the palace might have offered him far more food than their rations, but he loved his native cuisine to a fault; he chewed slowly on some of the jerky as he walked back along the street, where he caught sight of Azula standing by one of the alleyways near the warehouse- she was obviously intently waiting for either Sokka or some foolish Dai Li to show up and make her morning a bit more interesting.
Sokka walked up to her, "Anything of not while I was gone for my quick run to the market?"
Azula chaffed at him, "Quick? The Dai Li could have come and gone by now and I would have had no backup."
He chuckled at her, "Okay- so you need backup now?" smirking at her in realisation that he was seen as useful in her investigation.
She refuted his claim with a flick of her hand, "No- I simply would prefer the extra eyes and ears when I'm attempting to stealthily follow a group of elite earthbenders."
"You keep saying that..." he mocked her before considering her prior statements, "-I was actually pretty quick, c'mon you have to admit it."
She glanced at him holding his jerky and raised an eyebrow, "I admit you were quick- but how did you even get that much jerky- didn't you spend most of your money on that foolish night out?"
"Uh yeah- I intimidated a merchant after he implied I was servant- I sorta used your name to justify it, so if the Governor starts complaining- yeah that was me." he admitted to her, Azula chuckling at Sokka's story.
"Well if it isn't the dishonourable Sokka that I've been needing to help me around the city- would he mind jumping in and beating the crap out of some Dai Li agents?" she jokingly asked Sokka, her description of disgruntling him, but he couldn't help but smirk back.
"I mean it wouldn't hurt to try." he admitted, before taking his spot to lean along the other side of the alleyway from Azula to keep watch for potential movement at the warehouse.
Standing by the alleyway the two kept watch for a few minutes as Sokka chewed down on his supply of jerky- the street begun to have more and more passersby, making it harder to distinguish if any of them were potentially Dai Li; Sokka slumped down the wall to sit as the morning sun rose, and he felt more bored than he expected he would, so he decided to turn to conversation with Azula, although he knew there was a high chance it would end up with an argument that made Sokka seem like more of an idiot in Azula's eyes.
"So- uh- did you have breakfast?" Sokka attempted to small talk, Azula looking back at him with slight confusion.
"I came straight to the barracks after dressing myself- I have no time for an early breakfast- I expect to be well treated at the Governor's Noon Feast." she explained to Sokka.
"Oh- well, I mean I'd expect you to eat, being royalty must mean you're used to a lot of fancy food." he commented, Azula chuckling at him.
"Yes- well I also have to endure an extremely intense firebending regime while I'm at home, so while I'm not constantly training I avoid overeating- I must remain in peak condition, how else will I remain a worthy heir to the Fire Lord?" she told him, Sokka gulping at her final question.
"Uh- I keep forgetting that you're actually going to be Fire Lord some day- it's kind of weird- I forget you come from a crazy evil family like it's nothing." Sokka admitted, his eyes wide in the reminding realisation of Azula's identity as the Princess and heir of the man he most wanted dead- well probably second-most-wanted-dead, whoever decided to kill his mother was at the top of that list.
"I will be Fire Lord savage- at least I hope so, I wouldn't want my idiot brother to take the throne- he's far to weak and 'nice' to be an effective ruler." Azula explained to her companion, who raised his eyebrow in interest.
"So it's bad if the Fire Lord's nice? No wonder you guys invaded the entire world- you're all heartless." he grumbled, not agreeable to Azula's outlook- who looked back in offence, not as much to his indecent comment towards her, but towards the position of Fire Lord itself.
"What so you think a fool should lead my country?!" Azula questioned Sokka, who sighed in knowing that her brother of all things was what set off their argument today.
"No- I think someone who cares about justice and duty should be Fire Lord- you'd fit that decently enough, but I think you know where you're falling short." he told Azula, who raised an eyebrow at him, considering his comments inflammatory.
"What do you mean? Do you think I couldn't run the Fire Nation effectively?" she asked Sokka who shrugged his shoulders and glanced back.
"No- you could run the Fire Nation- but could you be a fair and compassionate ruler who deserves the love of her citizens? Uh- probably not." Sokka told her.
"Your honesty is- it's starting to get old." Azula grumbled at Sokka, glancing at him with cold eyes, which he held strong against.
"Honesty or not- being Fire Lord isn't all about scaring the shit out of other people- I mean it helps, but it won't get the people to remain loyal- only fearful." Sokka shrugged again, perfectly calm in stating what he believed to be true.
"Fear is the only way Sokka- why else would you be helping me if it wasn't for the other way it could go?" she questioned him, only responding by raising his arms in a statement of uncertainty.
"I help people because I think they could use my help- and they haven't gone against me to the point of no return." he told her, Azula raising an eyebrow at him and pointing at him.
"What did my father ever do to you? The last raids on the Southern Water Tribe was some 8 years ago- that means my grandfather was Fire Lord- my father hasn't sought quarrel with your people." Azula spat at him, raising to her feet to tower over his own slumped form, which he responded to by simply raising his chin to glance at her.
"No- he did and continues to order the massacre of innocent Earth Kingdom civilians- as long as the war continues under his command, your father is the enemy of everyone who isn't Fire Nation; all needless killing is against everything that can make a man honourable- no one can escape judgement from that." Sokka told her- who eyes opened in realisation.
"Wait-" she stated with realisation, "those deserters- back in the mining village; they were murderers, you could tell."
"Those kind of men run the Fire Nation, opportunists who think that killing people can solve problems- they only cause more." he affirmed to Azula, who looked at him with derision.
"But you killed one of them- and you didn't need to." she told Sokka, making him shrug.
"I regret it everyday since- but in asking that you proved my point." Sokka looked back at her.
Azula raised an eyebrow at Sokka, confused by his remarks, "What point could that prove- that you're just as bad as them?"
"No- that you're better than me- because you can acknowledge that and still have the honour of being clean of anothers blood." he told her, Azula looked away in response- she seemed to him to be both offended by her logic of him being more ruthless making him stronger in her eyes, and confident in the respect Sokka had given her.
Sokka glanced away from Azula's frustrated face and realised that there was movement at the warehouse- he could clearly see two men- coming out of the doorway- not just any men, Fire Nation soldiers luckily it seemed that the two hadn't noticed Sokka, who dropped away from their line of sight before baring his teeth to Azula and spoke as loudly as he could with a closed mouth.
"Azula! There's two soldiers at the warehouse!" he grated at her, Azula's eyes opening wide in realisation before she made a short peer across to see their potential targets.
"Ponytails- they've got the damned ponytails." Azula grumbled- before she looked at Sokka with a serious face, "It seems the palace is more compromised than I would have liked; you follow my lead- no explosives unless I tell you- we want to find, isolate and interrogate them, not cause a scene, right?" she rhetorically asked Sokka, who dismissed her demanding attitude with a pfft.
"Yeah- I already got that 'master of strategy Crown Princess Azula'" he mocked her, before continuing to examine the two Dai Li agents- their disguises were real it seemed, the two men would be indistinguishable from any Fire Nation soldiers if it wasn't for their distinctive ponytails that hung down their backs- their faces were masked by the heavy helmets they were required to wear and that obviously was a good way to mask the expected green eyes of an Earth Kingdom citizen.
Azula glanced back at him after a moment of thought, "We have to assume that they are aware of us at anytime, consider our stealth nullified."
"What- but what if they don't see us?" Sokka questioned her, Azula sighing in clear frustration of the situation.
"Then we'll be lucky." she told him before glancing back to follow the disguised agents with her eyes- they were leaving the premises and walking down the road, nodding at Sokka to acknowledge that they should start following them, who nodded back curtly before beginning to walk down the street like any other person would- unaware of the danger that lay only a few metres ahead of them- two agents of an organisation most people didn't think existed anymore- the proof was stacking before the two investigators, it was only a matter of time before the trail led to the treasure.
Following behind the two Dai Li agents, Sokka and Azula kept their distance as much as they could- as long as they were in their sights, there was little chance they would simply lose them to the city- and if the agents saw them, they knew well enough that there was two potential outcomes- either that the two men would run in fear of the Princess, or they would try to beat them both, which Sokka doubted the agents could do, but the power of surprise was sure to be the side that hit first. The streets of the Upper Ring were wide and open, which meant it would be hard to lose the agents, but it made it much more likely that the two that were trailing would be noticed; even though they were wearing cloaks to mask their appearance somewhat, it would be quite easy for trained secret police to notice they clearly weren't from around Ba Sing Se. After a fair while following the disguised agents, who seemed to be following a planned patrol route, like any real soldiers would, the two agents seemed to veer off from the main road to what looked like a relatively expansive estate- at least for what they could see was a densely populated city. Sokka and Azula immediately noticed that the estate itself was guarded by what they could assume to be other Dai Li agents or at the very least, people under their employ- those they could see looked like gardeners, but were obviously keeping watch, as two of them stood by the gates tending to the plants, but held their eyes in concert toward the road.
"Looks like we're going to have to get around those guys." Sokka commented as they stood on the other side of the road from the estate.
"Perhaps this is some kind of safe-house for the agents- if we can just eavesdrop that will be enough to corroborate my suspicions and put them to good use in getting this city back it order." Azula explained to Sokka, who nodded in agreement.
"We shouldn't try and face off the Dai Li here- we have no idea how many agents are here- they could be watching us right now." Sokka admitted to Azula, glancing around to check for any suspicious onlookers- beside themselves of course.
"We'll need a good enough distraction, but not enough that it stops the entire Dai Li from spilling their information unintentionally to yours truly." Azula smirked at Sokka, who pouted in disappointment.
"Aw man- I was looking forward to some stealth- but no, relegated to distraction duty." Sokka sighed, glancing up and down the street to look for someone or something he could cause a scene with to distract the Dai Li.
"What's more important to the Dai Li than conniving against the Fire Nation?" Sokka thought aloud, before he raised a finger in realisation, "They are the 'secret' police, why don't I do something worthy of their intervention?" Sokka rhetorically asked her with a smirk.
"Disturbing the peace- how typical." Azula glanced at him with light disappointment before looking to the low brick wall surrounding the estate, "I'll vault the wall, but you've got to make that distraction and make it loud."
Sokka winked at Azula with slight exaggeration, "No problem!" before pacing off to find someone to cause a distraction with.
Azula turned immediately to the matter at hand, walking along the wall to check if anyone would immediately spot her from their numerous vantage points- there was at least four spotters in the gardens of the estate- not a lot from its size, but Azula assumed that they were well attuned to taking notice of unwelcome guests. She took a bet that the spotters near the gate would be closest to Sokka's distraction and most likely to find themselves unable to spot the Princesses swift motion into the estate grounds and then to the manor-house; now all she had to do was wait for right moment and make the move, lest she find herself at the end of an alert earthbenders attacks, something she'd rather avoid- the less the Dai Li knew about the threat before them, the better.
Suddenly she heard a thumping noise, and then Sokka's distinctive voice sounding out a furious shout, "What was that for, huh?! Trying to fight me you rich prick?!" she could hear him, and Azula refrained from laughing before making her quick sprint to vault the brick wall, which she was able to do with relative ease, landing on her foot feeling relieved that she was once again in peak physical condition.
Glancing across the garden she saw the two 'gardeners' paying keen attention to Sokka's confrontation- he was making it as bombastic as possible, his shouts were muffled by the other man's shouts, that were equally furious- that meant Sokka was doing his job well- if his opponent actually started throwing punches he'd get the Dai Li's unrivalled attention- it was obvious to them that a Water Tribesman shouldn't be in Ba Sing Se, so once they put two and two together they'd try to deal with him themselves. Azula took her opportunity with her feet racing to the exterior wall of the manor house, from which inside she could hear the sounds of speaking- she would have to sneak in, but luckily for her there were windows she could climb into. Checking for the other guards before pulling herself toward the windowsill- she glanced into the room momentarily before dropping back down the wall; Azula could make out that the room was an office, and maybe it might have intelligence from the Dai Li's operations if she was lucky, and seeing that there was no one in the room she ought to get in and out as quickly as possible. Azula climbed into the window, pushing it as far ajar as she could before slipping her legs into the room first, before pulling her upper body through and closing the window all in one swift motion- outside she could still hear Sokka's indistinct shouting, meaning that she had probably not been seen by the guards- if they were heading after her, Sokka would have broke character- she assumed at least, guessing he had half a brain left after all the beatings to the head she had given him.
Rummaging around the room, Azula read through the brief and cryptically worded notes, primarily talking about 'flowers' and 'arrows' which made no sense to Azula at the moment- she kept the words in her mind for safe-keeping- she guessed these had something to do with the Dai Li's plans, but the cryptic naming meant they had little meaning to her- Azula desired to give a reasonable argument of conspiracy to the governor or whatever military commanders that would back her up in case the command chain had been compromised itself. Azula lightly pushed the door open and revealed two hallways going away from the room, bounded on the far side with windows that opened into an interior courtyard- the voices were louder now, and she guessed the agents they had followed were in that courtyard, discussing their observations or perhaps orders given by whatever command structure the organisation followed- all writings that she and Sokka had searched through mentioned a Grand Secretariat, but there was no name of the individual who filled this position- she assumed that this person was in hiding or they were killed in the invasion- after what she and Sokka had found in the prison office, she feared that many, if not most of the Dai Li remained on the streets of Ba Sing Se- a formidable and completely hidden force, perhaps still led by this mysterious figure. Azula held her back against the windowed wall, hiding below the glass to conceal herself while she eavesdropped on the conversation below.
She heard one voice, cold and stoic sounding, "So- that's it- she's been looking through the Governor's initial survey files- I thought we got rid of anyone who posed a threat?" the man asked, talking to who Azula assumed to be his subordinates, the agents disguised as Fire Nation soldiers.
"Yes sir we did- I personally oversaw the removal of a number of key troublemakers- but it seems the Fire Lord might have caught wind of our operations- someone told him- we don't know who, but it doesn't seem like a productive venture to find their identity now." one of the men told the commanding officer, who sighed in frustration.
"Yes- I would agree with you there- he has told us what to do with the new troublemakers, correct?" the officer asked the men, who seemed to silently wait for a few moments before responding- she guessed they might be afraid of what they might have to do to the troublemakers- she assumed this referred to her and Sokka.
"We must eliminate them or their desire to face us- the Fire Lord couldn't know about our organisation personally as a threat- he must also have knowledge of the pressing desire for rebellion amongst the masses as well." the agent explained; Azula nodded at the agents explanations, which seemed to be coming from someone they would only refer to as 'him'- perhaps the Grand Secretariat himself- or the Earth King- or some nobleman who had vested into the Dai Li- there were too many potentials for the real leader's identity- she desired to decapitate the organisation before it to reasonably pose a threat to the Fire Nation's rule of the city.
Suddenly Azula felt a rumbling of earthbending- at that moment she thought that Sokka might have accidentally gone a bit too far in his distraction; moments later a new voice appeared in the room.
"Argh- he's here! The Water Tribesman- we've underestimated the bastard!" the new voice panted in frustration and a slight of pain; Azula chuckled at the idea of Sokka being an actual threat, but then considered his boomerang- he had incapacitated many before with extreme ease- it would only take a delicate strike to beat an elite earthbender if he was caught unaware.
Seeing that she Sokka had broken the agents conversation and her stealth had lost all practical use, Azula decided at that moment to make an entrance, kicking through the glass window and thrusting herself through the air with her starkly firebending, flipping around and landing before the four men and smirked deviously at them, "Which one of you wants to have the honour of being my prisoner?" she mocked the men, who moved into their bending forms- their eyes showed to her that they feared the Princess far more than they would ever fear any nonbending warrior; without any response, she slid her right foot back and circled her arms in motion, sparks crackling between her hands and glared at the men with a near joking smile, "One of you is already dead."