Gazing along the exceptionally long table upon which she sat, Crown Princess Azula of the Fire Nation saw the kinds of people she would expect to be the cronies of the Fire Nation's local governor- gruff and serious army officers, eloquent but pitiful noblemen and merchants and a spattering of women- mostly the wives or daughters of the given figures; the table wasn't quiet in any regard- there was chatter constantly, quiet murmurs and gossip, nothing that Azula cared much about herself. She was far more concerned with more pressing issues that she would rather not discuss publicly amongst the group she was currently stuck with; the governor perhaps, and many soldiers in this city, were in Azula's eyes potential conspirators, whether willingly or not, in a conspiracy against the Fire Nation, something she could not stand for, and to crush such ideas was her exact purpose in the city, not to be the Fire Lord's delegate to the 'impenetrable city'. Sitting next to her was the governor himself and his young wife- both of them were chatting away with the guests, talking about the latest fads from the homeland and colonies- the world seemed so distant to a place that was almost a world of its own; Azula considered the conversing to be friendly and lighthearted enough, not that she would concern herself with likes of small-talk, but she was soon forced into the conversation by the governor himself, who looked at him kindly with a few guests around him- it was as if the man wanted to show Azula off to the crowd- she wasn't surprised when he decided to chirpily ask her.
"Your highness- I'm sure the guests would love to her of your recent journey to Ba Sing Se- I know it was quite an interesting tale!" the governor asked of her indirectly, wanting her to recount her story for the sake of the guests interest- she had offhandedly told the governor some details, as much as she would trust a complete stranger with.
"Well- it might seem interesting, but it certainly was not- uh- fun, as they would say." Azula tried to explain- realising in the moment that her skill of speaking to people in a relatively casual way was not her forte- she was so used to commanding and mocking people that it was almost as if she couldn't speak to people nicely- not that she wanted to, but this was expected of her in the social situation she had found herself in.
"Of course- a shipwreck wouldn't be fun at all your highness- it would be horrific!" one of the guests exclaimed, his dramatic take on her few words making her chuckle.
"No- you are most certainly right," she begun to explain, trying to think of a suitable way to tell the story in the moment, "I was attacked by a small group of Water Tribe warriors- they destroyed the ship, and in the end I was separated from my loyal crew and forced to swim ashore."
One of the guests, this time a woman asked her curiously, "Ooh- is this where you met that Water Tribe savage?" she asked Azula, who sighed in response, with slight exaggeration on Azula's behalf.
"Ah yes- Sokka." she sighed his name, as if she was disgusted by his very being- this wasn't necessarily a lie, but she didn't have as much a distaste towards the Water Tribesman as she tried to play up- the people would be shocked if they knew the Princess actually was acquainted with a barbarian from the South Pole of all people.
"Your highness, heard he works for you now- how did you tame a savage?" one of the guests asked her, Azula chuckling at the man's question.
"Whether he likes it or not, he had to join me if he wanted to get home." she explained.
"My Princess, do mean that you'll let him run free when you're done with him?" another guest asked her, Azula looking at him with a shrug.
"Well- I must say- it depends, I have a lot of work that needs doing- if he proves his worth- he may earn himself a ship home- that all depends on his loyalty." she explained, eyeing the governor for a reaction when she said the last word- he didn't react at all.
"It's not like a Water Tribesman to swear allegiance the Fire Nation- you must have quite a compelling argument my Princess." the Governor commented, himself seemingly intrigued in Azula's description of events- which caught Azula by surprise.
"Well Governor- I am sure you would find I can give a compelling argu-" Azula begun to explain, being cut off by the sudden starkly loud sound of a horn.
"An emergency?" the Governor questioned momentarily, making the guests look in slight shock, Azula immediately standing from the her seat to check the room- the large hall was guarded by at least ten guards- and she didn't know exactly was happening- at the best it was a false alarm, and at the worst the Dai Li had already decided to strike the palace upon realising the Princesses knowledge- maybe they had intercepted the Captain- she was relying on whatever forces to arrive to quell any potential coup, but now she feared she had moved far too slowly with her strategies.
"I will not be outsmarted by braid-wearing arseholes..." the Princess grumbled, immediately noticing from the sound of the hall doors swinging open- a guard appeared at the door, serious and determined looking in appearance, he stood tall and shouted into the room.
"The Fire Lord has invited you to visit the Capital!" he shouted out, confusing the Princess immensely- she immediately assumed the words were code for something; she got her answer moments later when she heard utensils fall onto a plate- the Governor's eyes were open wide in shock, but they were soon turned to those of determination.
Looking directly at the Princess with a face she thought only the most cold man could muster, he proclaimed, "Arrest them all- they have committed treason against the Fire Nation!"
Azula's eyes opened wide in realisation, "So this was their plan huh- make you arrest me?" she questioned the Governor, who simply looked at her coldly- unintimidated by her threatening behaviour.
Drawing her fists bared with flames, Azula gnarled at the guards that begun to surround her- reminding her of her guards training formation that she herself- she smirked at the knowledge that the men she was facing were not elite firebenders like her guards, let alone masters of their art.
The lead guard made a forward motion with his arm and shouted out sternly, "Fire!" with his followers firing beams of fire at Azula in synchronisation- the bright orange flames flushed around her like water, but her own bending was able to keep the opposing flames at bay, although she wouldn't admit it was a struggle to take on so many firebenders as once- she considered that perhaps this was how earthbending soldiers felt when they had faced her people's armies.
Azula shouted out in frustration, "Stop it now you ingrates!" she commanded, her arms swinging out- directing the flames that had been surrounding her into the circle of guards, knocking a number of them off their feet; she smirked in approval of her show of force, before she decided to make a more intimidating action- glaring at the Governor, she simply replied to his claims, "It is you who is the traitor- and you have already paid the price."
The Governor didn't react to her statement, simply drawing himself into a bending position to face her- Azula scoffed at him before spinning her forearms to generate sparks- moments later the room was filled with the blinding light of Azula's lightning striking the Governor right into the chest, flinging him well away across the room. The guards that Azula had temporarily knocked back were back in form and Azula swung her fist around herself in a circular motion to bend a spiral of flames away from her, to ward off the guards while she continued to strategise; she noticed the lunch guests looking on in fear as they themselves were surrounded by a few guards- she threw a volley of flames at the guards around the guests- shouting back at the frightened few who had no idea what was actually going on.
"Get out of here! I command you!" she almost screamed at them- she desired to avoid collateral damage or unnecessary hostages- getting the guests out of the palace would ensure the guards wouldn't focus on them- only on her, the real target of the Dai Li's plot; turning to the guards once more, Azula moved into a defensive stance and prepared to burn her enemies until they stopped squirming to fight her- whatever the Dai Li had done to their minds, she knew certainly these men were unwilling to stop fighting even in the worst odds.
Azula bent her distinctive blue flames into a ball between her hands- she immediately considered what were other firebenders weren't good at combating and came to the conclusion that they couldn't reasonably defend themselves from an explosion. She charged the ball of flames until it couldn't be contained in her hands, Azula smirked as her opponents threw a volley of flames at her; launching herself into the air, Azula sent the fireball into the ground below her, causing the flames to arch out across the floor underneath her, Azula's body flying upward into the air as the guards looked in shock and fear as her blue flames begun to swallow the room. Azula realised at that her flames had begun to set the carpets and furnishings in the room alight- she smirked in devious delight as her opponents raced away from her fire; she decidedly mocked the Dai Li, who she assumed to be listening to her every word.
Her voice cackled over the roaring blue flames, "O Long Feng- I'm going to find you!"
Heaving his chest in exhaustion, Sokka lowered his club to the ground, acknowledging the incapacitated bodies surrounded him and his unlikely ally- the Captain of Azula's guard, standing with his fists drawn, flames dissipating from his hands as he realised their duel with the enemy was over. Looking at the Captain with a face of relief, he raised his eyebrow to consider their circumstances; he was certainly unsure of what was actually going on- if these soldiers were in league with the Dai Li, he assumed that he, Azula and all of her guards and servants would be under threat of capture or worse by whoever they had in their pocket.
"So Captain- do you have any better idea than I do with what's going on here?" he questioned, the Captain shrugging his shoulders and glancing at the soldiers bodies.
"I- uh- I'm unsure- I don't think the Fire Lord would order the capture of his own daughters guard- so this all obviously came from the Governor- probably something to do with the Dai Li, unless the man's really just an idiot who thinks he can beat the Crown Princess." he thought aloud, Sokka chuckling at his final statement.
"Yeah- I'd be going with the first one- no one in their right mind would attack Azula without reasonable backing." Sokka concluded.
"Assuming this is the Dai Li- they would want us dealt with, even if they had to do it themselves- meaning they're probably coming for us right now." he explained, Sokka nodding along in agreement.
"So what are we doing- Mister Captain?" Sokka questioned him, the Captain frowning at him before replying.
"You know that's not my name right- but that's beside the point, the others are preoccupied with this mutiny as it is, so we have to help Azula, in whichever way we can." he responded, Sokka raising his club back up as if preparing to fight.
"There's no time like the present- plus I'd rather fight the Dai Li with her rather than without." he explained before beginning to run as fast as he could towards the central hall of the palace, knowing that was where the Governor's lunch likely was occurring and with that the Princess herself; the Captain grumbled momentarily before following Sokka with as much haste as he could garner.
They raced as fast as they could up the long stairs into the palace hall itself- the building was massive, and they had no idea how many guards were inside, and of those who was hostile. As they reached the top of the staircase they came running into another group- well-dressed and somewhat shaken Fire Nation citizens who Sokka assumed to be the guests at the party itself; the group looked at Sokka and the Captain with realisation of their identities, Sokka's blue and white clothing marking him out as the rumoured Water Tribesman.
"It's you! Are you going to help the Princess?" one of the guests asked him- although it was directly at the Sokka, both he and the Captain nodded in response to the question.
"Is her highness safe?" the Captain asked them; one of the guest made himself noticed by pointing down into the palace's hall.
"She was fighting some of the guards- they suddenly turned on her, it all went so fast." the guest exclaimed, Sokka nodding in understanding.
"The brainwashing- I knew it." he glanced to the Captain with a smirk, who rolled his eyes but nodded at Sokka before ushering him to keep moving.
"Citizens- go to the barracks over there" he pointed out their barracks where he knew his men to still be protecting defensively against the mutineers "my men are there and will protect you for the meantime- it would not be safe to try and make it back out to the city." the Captain quickly ordered the guests, who nodded responsively at him before rushing away down the stairs- they didn't understand the whole crisis so Sokka guessed that made them far more scared than Sokka and the Captain had been.
Before they could even take another step, suddenly whirring sounds flashed through the air, instinctively making Sokka somersault away from the noise, which revealed itself to a pair of rock gloves, ready to hit and grab a potential captive; he raised his head and glared at those above him- Dai Li agents disguised as Fire Nation soldiers- all clawing themselves to the top of the pillars outside the palace, obviously waiting for the Princess or her followers to walk straight into their trap. Before the Captain could even react to the attack, Sokka had thrown his boomerang straight at their opponents, the one he aimed at simply jumped to the next pillar, making him grumble in frustration as another set of rock gloves flew at him, this time barely missing Sokka's waist; his boomerang returning to his hand, he immediately realised he'd need another tactic to defeat such agile earthbenders, realising at that moment that his belt still carried a number of small bags of explosive powder.
Sokka turned to the Captain and pointed up at the Dai Li agents, holding one of his makeshift explosives in his hand, "I'm going to throw this at them- when it gets close, I need to to set it on fire- and quick." he simply told him, the Captain nodding before Sokka threw one at one of the Dai Li behind him.
Sokka's bomb flew as high as he could throw it, and his accuracy wasn't too bad for his first attempt at using a projectile that wasn't a boomerang or snowball; just as the Dai Li agent was about to move in response to the bomb's trajectory, the Captain's firebending lashed out a single flash of flames that struck the bag- causing a flash and explosion that nearly both blinded and deafened Sokka himself- even with his ears ringing, he could only smirk as the Dai Li agent fell to the ground, his fall cushioned by one of his comrades swift bending moves. Using the distraction of the bomb, Sokka threw his boomerang at one of the Dai Li agents while the Captain faced the other side, throwing a volley of powerful fire blasts at the agents; Sokka's boomerang struck one of the agents, who was forced to fall down from his pillar, while the Captain forced the Dai Li to start using earth to block his attacks, preventing them from effectively striking him down.
Seeing the agent that had fallen down was injured, Sokka decided to break from his guarded position with the Captain, racing up toward the agent with his bone knife and club armed; the agent thrust out an arm, sending a rock glove at the Water Tribe warrior, who simply dodged the attack with a quick sidestep- he threw his knife at the agent, who without his glove, instinctively blocked with his forearm, the bone dagger lodging itself into his arm, making the agent grunt audibly in pain.
"Now you're mine." Sokka smirked, raising his club to strike the agent, who responded with a quick raising of the earth below them, hitting Sokka's right arm and disarming him of his club- luckily for Sokka, the agent's skill with close-combat was lacking and he was unable to stop Sokka subsequently tackling him with his entire body weight.
In a last ditch effort the agent tried to use the earth around them to strike the Water Tribesman, but he was stopped by Sokka when he ripped his bone dagger out of the man's hand, making him flinch in pain, blood oozing from his forearm as Sokka moved the dagger to the agent's throat, making him stop all movement- the agent had no time to argue as he grabbed the man's head and forcefully thrust it into the ground, knocking him out cold despite the Fire Nation helmet the agent was wearing.
Turning back Sokka glanced at the Captain's own progress, he was successfully countering the Dai Li's attempts at striking him with their gloves, and had successfully struck the last agent to the ground- now all the agents were either on the ground- incapacitated or not. Sokka grabbed his discarded boomerang before he raced forward to rejoin the captain in defending from the Dai Li agent's attacks- they threw a number of portions that of the pillars that surrounded them toward the two of them, the Captain jumping to the side while Sokka ducked under a stone block as it flew toward him.
Returning to the Captain's side, he withdrew another bomb from his belt, the Captain acknowledging it with a nod; looking at their opponents, which now consisted of two conscious agents, he bet his attack would do the most damage right between them. Sokka threw it in that direction, although he vaulted the bomb as a distraction, ensuring the Dai Li would take attention to the new dangerous weapon he had fielded; his other hand wielded his boomerang, which he threw at one of the agents, catching him off guard and forcing him to block, leaving only one agent to potentially deflect the bomb- which he was unable to do when the Captain struck the agent square in the gut with a jab of flames. The agents looked on in horror as the Captain threw a blast of flames at the midair explosive, which blew up right above the two men- the bright light of the explosion temporarily masking its effects, but Sokka soon saw that the two guards lay incapacitated on the ground, burns across their bared skin and clothing, which to their luck was flame-proof, but the intense heat would have seared their flesh nonetheless. Sokka turned to the Captain with a smirk, although it was not of the mocking kind as per usual.
"We did it- we beat the shit of those rock tossing arseholes." he proclaimed, the Captain patting Sokka on the shoulder in a short moment of camaraderie before he turned to the long hall that led into the palace.
"She needs our help- even if she would deny it to the end of her days." he told Sokka, who simply nodded in agreement and followed the Fire Nation royal guard as he jogged as fast as his legs could let him- he was more than eager to serve the Princess and do his duty, the Dai Li was a side-show to his actual purpose- defending the Princess from all harm that may come her way.
The former throne room of the Earth King was coloured a bright blue by her flames encompassing the floor- the ornate carpets and dressings the Governor had brought from the Fire Nation, as to mask the original purpose of the room, now set aflame- something that Azula found somewhat amusing- the fire was cleansing away the lies and revealing the truth behind them, a conspiracy against her nation- in consequence, an effacement of her own families honour which was something she would not stand for. Her enemies- the traitorous governor and his cronies- tried their best to ward the flames away, stop them from encroaching the entire room, but it was of little use; she would make the room burn until all before her would kneel or die in the flames- Azula had declared her fatal intent with her smirk and mocking laughter at her enemies. Soon enough she felt the motion and pattering of steps in the ground around her- although the flames blinded her sight, Azula knew exactly what was coming from behind them- she skilfully dodged a rock glove before spinning and kicking a barrage of flames back at the suspect Dai Li agent, whose scream she heard as the flames tore across the room at near lightning speed. Azula soon noticed that the material that her fire was feeding on had begun to be completely destroyed, meaning that her blue flames dissipated around her- revealing that the Fire Nation soldiers fled, but just as easily replaced by a large number of Dai Li agents, making Azula smirk.
"I see you got my memo- good, now we can settle this." she proclaimed, the agents dead silent as they swiftly moved into form to attack her.
Azula acknowledged at that moment the fact she was standing on a stone floor would make it far easier for her enemies to hold her down, so she tactfully shot herself into the air with four blasts of fire from each of her limbs; the Dai Li looked up at her and simultaneously fired out their rock gloves at the levitated Princess, who sent out a wave of flames from all her extremities, to hopefully deflect the earthbenders combined attack- the rock gloves flew up toward the Princess, missing her only due to her defensive attack actually sent her higher into the air than they had expected, before she was forced to fall back toward the floor of the room. Azula dampened her fall with fire from her feet, but soon realised, even without the use of their gloves at hand, the agents were surely to be more powerful than her bending alone; the Dai Li moved into a different form once more, sending an earthbending wave through the ground to strike her and capture her in stone, Azula precipitated this attack by jumping once more, although this time she tried to move herself forward toward the main door into the hall- if she could get out of the throne room, Azula believed she would far a lot better against the Dai Li's pincer attacks. As she landed from her jump Azula suddenly heard a whirring noise coming toward her and instinctively ducked, but then realised after that she wasn't the target- Sokka's boomerang struck a Dai Li agent in the back of the head.
"Aha! Water Tribe style!" Sokka shouted out from a distance, Azula able to spot him standing with the Captain, both ready to fight the numerous agents in the room; the two of them moved into battle positions and acknowledged Azula momentarily, preparing to fight their way through the entire Dai Li- confidence and loyalty that Azula could respect but found somewhat unsettling, Sokka wasn't the type to simply willingly follow her into battle just because she would want him to- it was of his own volition to come to this fight.
At acknowledgement of the new arrivals, half of the agents turned to face Sokka and the Captain, while the rest looked onto her with their weapons prepared- from what Azula could see they were chains- she assumed they would be used to restrain her, something she wouldn't let happen while she had at least half a brain. Throwing out the chains to grab her, Azula dodged the first attempt with a drop and slide, from which motion she sent a kick of flames toward some of the agents, before returning to her feet to face their next attack; the agents sent their gloves at Azula again making her smirk in realising that they had used their second hands- meaning she was one step closer to disarming them all. She raced forward, cutting the stones apart with a sharp cut of blue flames before sending a volley of flames at the agents in front of her, forcing them to back down from sending their chains at her again; the other agents sent their chains forth again, one of them snaring Azula's right leg, forcing her to the ground and making her ankle wince in pain- the thought of having to deal with another ankle injury was enough to infuriate the Princess. She sent out a bellow of bright blue flames from her mouth, her hands joining in sending out beams of fire and as she ripped her arms downward she struck the agents as well as snapping the chain that had snagged her. Azula heaved her chest from the pure power of her display, glaring out at the agents, who closed in toward her preparing to strike again; momentarily she glanced over to see if the Captain and Sokka were having any better luck- given the circumstances she was at least relieved to know they were holding their own against the elite earthbenders.
Turning back to the Dai Li agents Azula shouted at them with frustration, "You will bow before me, you degenerates!" her tone not dissuading the agents from moving closer, which she responded to by setting her forearms alight with blue flames- she would not have her honour disgraced by being defeated by an inferior element.
As one of the agents used their chains to grab her, Azula decided to jump into the attack, snagging the chain on her left arm, tugging it harshly to draw the agent closer to her- he looked in undeniable fear as the Princess drew her flame covered fist to his face, knocking him down with such force that it broke the chain he had tried to capture her with; looking at her fists with near delight she smirked at the now shaken agents.
"You will burn." she simply stated, sending out waves of flames to disorient the Dai Li agents, who sent their chains back toward the Princess in an attempt to stop her barrage, none of which could make it past her waves of blue fire.
One of the agents that was closer to Azula raced toward her, attempting to strike her with conventional earthbending, but before he could even land a hit, Azula drew lightning from her finger tips and struck him in the shoulder, flinging him across the floor. Another agent appeared from behind her, with his stone gloves bared, and sent them at Azula, who tactfully ducked the weapons and dropping her flames at the same time- the gloves incidentally struck another unsuspecting Dai Li agent across from Azula right in the head- knocking him out cold. She smirked at the agent, who looked on with a face of regret as she kicked him down with a foot of flames- another down for the count; the remaining Dai Li agents formed a semi-circle at struck out their chains again, Azula simply jumping above them before volleying the agents with another barrage of blue flames. The barrage was strong enough that the agents were forced to stagger back, giving Azula the opportunity to knock them all to the ground with a massive wave of fire that she conjured with some effort- it pushed the agents away from her, allowing Azula to prepare to strike any of them stupid enough to walk forward.
"Anyone else?" she questioned the agents mockingly, before being cut off by rock gloves grabbing her feet and forcing her to the ground in shock.
The Crown Princess winced in pain as she hit the floor, immediately glancing back behind her to see her opponent. Before her Azula saw a man wearing ornate black robes with gold trimmings, his ponytail distinguishing him as a member of the Dai Li.
"Long Feng I presume?" she asked him casually, the man smirking at her holding a chain like the other agents.
"The very same, Princess Azula." he affirmed, sending out the chain with the motion of his hand, which Azula barely dodged by rolling to the side, her legs constricted by the rock gloves.
Quickly realising her immediate disadvantage, Azula shattered the rock gloves on her feet with a fist of flames, before she could bring herself back to a more formidable stance; Long Feng seemingly ordered the agents behind her to back off, as if to try and show his own forte against the Princess- a mistake in Azula's eyes- the man obviously was in his position of power not from his earthbending skills but his tact and strategy- his bending prowess couldn't be any better than the next Dai Li agent. Long Feng struck out his fists, sending pillars of stone flying out at Azula, who dodged one and kicked the other with a blast of flames, shattering the rock instantaneously; Azula used her moment in the air to send out an accurate strike of fire at Long Feng- hitting him right in the hand, preventing him from bending with it effectively. Her agile footing was of little use when he grabbed her feet through the stone ground- her feet were dragged down and in the swift motion Azula hit the ground hard- close to knocking her out at the moment; she used her left hand to send another concise flame at Long Feng, this time hitting his own feet, actually setting his robe alight, bringing a smirk to the downed Princesses face. Given the distraction of his robes being on fire, Azula was able to break her feet from the hold he had taken to her feet quite easily- earthbent material was exceptionally brittle when no one was holding it together; she stood up defiantly and drew her hands out to motion balls of fire- she considered lightning for a moment, but Azula knew well enough that Long Feng was better to her alive than a smouldering corpse. The Grand Secretariat sent out a wave of destruction through the floor, unable to accurately bend while dealing with his robes burning- which he tried to stop smouldering to some success; Azula responded simply by jumping over his attack, throwing flames at him- he raised a wall of stone, making Azula chuckle at him- she didn't think of earthbenders as the defensive cowardly types- she attributed that to the man's personality rather than any flaw in his people as a whole.
"You're the scared one- is that why they chose you, too paranoid to be out-strategised?" she mocked him as she sent blast after blast of flames at his stone wall, finally eroding its strength to the point at which Long Feng had to retaliate somehow; Azula was too slow to react to two portions of the wall flying out toward her, Azula dodging one but being hit in the torso with another- her armour blocked much of the potential injury, but it made her gasp in pain as she was tossed away from Long Feng.
Azula at the moment acknowledged as she fell to the ground with a sense of exhaustion that she might not be able to fight on indefinitely, so she would rather strategise than let him stop her without a choice. The Grand Secretariat walked towards her slowly, a smirk growing as he unsheathed his chain- it grasped her ankle and forced Azula to face him with a punch of flames; Long Feng dodged her attack before using his bending to hold her down- the stone below her grasping onto the edges of her plate armour. He mockingly laughed looking at Azula, who instead of needlessly fighting back looked at him with derisive contempt.
"You have made a mistake." she told him, Long Feng raising his hand to tighten the rock holding her bound.
He dismissed her claim with a chuckle, "What would that be- not getting rid of you earlier?"
Azula tried to shrug, a challenge in her constrained position, but rolled her eyes exaggeratedly at him,
"No- you simply considered me- the Crown Princess, prodigy firebender and master strategist- the only threat in the room."
Long Feng laughed at her claims, glancing over to see the Water Tribesman and the Princesses' personal guard fighting the Dai Li to a standstill, but in no way able to assist her practically.
"What- do you think the governor's brainwashing going to suddenly stop and he'll rush in and save you?" he asked her, mocking her claims of superiority, either numerical or analytical; he tensed his bending momentarily, signalling his other men to disperse- their job was done as long as they had the Princess in captivity.
Suddenly however, Long Feng heard a battle cry- Azula glanced as far rightward as she could to see that Sokka had broken through the Dai Li lines and was ready to fight Long Feng- an action she would personally not recommend, although she was in no position to stop his berserk behaviour. Sokka threw his boomerang at Long Feng, the weapon arcing past the Grand Secretariat and Azula- making the master earthbender mockingly chuckle before raising a stone wall to stop him from threatening his imprisonment of Azula any further. Azula looked Long Feng dead in the eye, and smirked without a word, making Long Feng raise an eyebrow suspiciously; he was interrupted by a hammering to his nape, forcing him out of his stance and flinging him to the ground, causing him to grunt in pain as he hit the stone tiles hard.
He grumbled almost inaudibly at the situation, "This is why- urgh- we had carpets." before turning to notice that Sokka's boomerang had curved around and hit him right in the neck- Long Feng now considered perhaps that the Water Tribesman was more dangerous than he had presumed.
He turned to face the stone wall he had raised, immediately noticing that the Water Tribesman was whacking away at the sheer surface- to some success actually- his club was causing the wall to crack as Long Feng sighed with disappointment. Raising his fist to try and push the wall back, as to stop Sokka in his tracks, Long Feng made a shocking discovery- his bending wasn't actually working- his attempts only made a feeble grunt in the stone- turning back to his captive, the Crown Princess, he asked her with confusion.
"What did he do to me?" he asked- unsure of what had actually just transpired.
"Chi-blocking, although I doubt that was intentional- good luck keeping me here now." Azula told him, her smirk growing as she started to heat up the tiles around her with her bending- flames beginning to seep through the natural cracks in the makeshift bonds that Long Feng had placed on her.
Long Feng grumbled, and decided he best get away at that moment- his prize was going to escape and if she did, she would hunt him down like a rabid dog; he saw part of the stone wall he had raised collapse into rubble and dust, and Long Feng picked up his pace realising that the snow barbarian would be upon him. Suddenly he heard the Princesses mocking voice, although the statement wasn't directed at him.
"He can't bend- go get him dog!" she commanded, Sokka smirking in devious delight- he would finally get to beat down on the Dai Li leader he was so eager to meet- for this specific reason of course.
Racing after Long Feng, Sokka picked up his boomerang and threw it at the Grand Secretariat once more- knowing his bending was disabled made his job a whole lot easier; the boomerang flew at his ankles, clipping them and forcing him to the ground. Long Feng grunted in anger, begun to clamour back up to his feet, hearing Sokka's voice cheerfully mocking him.
"Oh no you don't- we have a date Mr. Feng!" he joked at him, before pouncing at Long Feng- whose lack of bending made in unable to respond to the leaping attack that forced the two of them to the floor.
Long Feng disgruntled with his situation, turned to his back and threw his fist at Sokka, striking him square in the side of the face, although to little effect; Sokka pulled a savage grin at the near defenceless man, before throwing his own fist right into the middle of his opponents face, breaking his nose with a clear snap- Long Feng barely muffled his scream of pain from the injury. In a knee-jerk reaction Long Feng kicked upward into Sokka's gut, flinging the Water Tribesman off him momentarily; Sokka grumbled in frustration, withdrawing his bone dagger before jumping back at the Grand Secretariat.
"Stay still will you- I've got to take some blood out of this." Sokka joked at him while he threw his hands onto Long Feng's shoulders, headbutting him before pushing him back onto the ground; before Long Feng could even try and punch Sokka, his bone dagger hammered dead-centre into his right palm, making a cracking noise as the bone dagger struck the tile surface underneath.
"Argh- you barbarian!" he nearly squealed- the pain overcoming his restrain; Sokka shrugged at Long Feng before beginning to punch him again- whacking his face until it was most certainly bruising a dark purple.
Soon enough Azula walked up from behind them and grumbled at Sokka, "You can stop beating the fool- he's better to us alive, no matter how much I'd personally like to see the snake burn." making Sokka turn back to her and shrug.
"Eh- if that's fine by you- I'd rather not get any more blood on my hands." Sokka admitted, standing above Long Feng, who by that point was regaining some sense of feeling to his face.
"Well- you better speel your information- that's all you are alive for." Azula told the man before kicking him in the head with a flame-powered kick, finally sending him unconscious; Azula turned back to her companion and raised an eyebrow at him, "Stabbing hands- getting blood- you're more violent than ever, and here I was thinking you were the honour-bound type."
Sokka looked at Azula with frustration and grumbled, "Well that arsehole deserved it- and I enjoy serving justice- it's my favourite pastime after eating and fighting." his comments making Azula laugh at him with a smile- he surely knew how to turn the situation around, even in the worst of times.
The flames of the Fire Lord's throne room masked the area beyond the throne from the eyes of the Fire Lord himself- he usually wouldn't be seated on his throne- but he was expecting detailed reports on the purported sightings of his exiled and traitorous son- Ozai was sure that he must remain in his throne before his subjects, as to assure them of his unrelenting authority and distance from the common man. At that moment he heard the door opening into the throne room, glints of light appearing in the distance and a silhouette with them- as the figure approached, the Fire Lord recognised the individual as one of the Palace's guards- not his personal guard, but that assigned to the various nooks and crannies of the massive palace that would need protecting in case of a potential assassin or other kinds of unwanted presences.
The figure bowed before him and respected him with an introduction, "Your majesty, I have information- I have received word of sightings of the banished prince in the Harbour City."
Ozai raised an eyebrow, although he was certain the guard couldn't see his facial expressions, "Soldier- are you sure that these sightings are accurate?" he questioned the informants information, the guard raising his head to look the Fire Lord directly in the face- although he couldn't see it through the flames.
"I am certain." the guard told him, a distinctive rasp coming from the man's voice made Ozai think momentarily, before chuckling in realisation.
"Stop with the charades- I know it is you." Ozai commanded, unwilling to speak his son's name- the guard responded by standing up and taking the helmet off his head, revealing Zuko's face, although in Ozai's eyes he was barely recognisable.
His son's features were sharper and his left side of his face actually uncannily resembled the Fire Lord's own- his right side was covered with the marking that Ozai had given him for his act of disrespect- a mark of a weakling and unfit prince, he thought at that moment.
"So you've finally returned- but I see no Avatar, were my directions unclear?" Ozai mocked his son, who almost scoffed at his claim.
"The Avatar doesn't matter- what matters is justice, father." Zuko proclaimed, his face stern and cold looking into his father's eyes.
Ozai chuckled at Zuko, "What justice- do you want to save your poor little soldiers who died for the glory of our nation? Their honourable deaths are more respectable that your dishonourable weakness could ever be." mocking his character with a sadistic smile- but he got no argument from Zuko, who simply drew off the armour that he was wearing over his torso.
"You do not understand father-" Zuko smirked, replicating his own father's face to a fault, "you are the one who is weak- you cannot even claim you have ever fought for anyone beside yourself."
"Then what are you doing here- fighting for yourself little prince?" his father mocked him, standing from the golden throne he had been sitting upon.
"No- you are going to see the truth- I am your reckoning father." Zuko bluntly replied, taking off his shirt to reveal that he was wearing the traditional metal bands around his arms as would be expected in an Agni Kai.
"Reckoning, boy? I will reckon your fate, you fool." Ozai proclaimed, the flames of his throne falling before him, revealing his large and imposing frame to his son, just like he had when he duelled him the first time- Zuko's face was the opposite of his face when the Fire Lord had proved his weakness- he was cold, determined and more than anything, a reflective mirror of Ozai's own unbridled pride and confidence.
Zuko immediately drew himself into a defensive stance, holding his hands forward, ready to send out flames at any moment- Ozai smirked at his son before raising his head toward the roof, breathing out a beam of fire, doing the same with his two fists- Ozai truly desired to prove his son's weakness for a second time- he knew now that he had been far to lenient the first time. Ozai directed his beams of fire at Zuko, who redirected the flames away from himself onto the ground, making Zuko's smirk of confidence grow larger; knowing that his father's show of power was over, Zuko drew flames onto his forearms and held them in form to prepare to strike- making Ozai send short beams of fire at Zuko in immediate response. The younger firebender stepped back and dodged each of the beams of fire, completely nullifying the last beam with his own fist- bending his father's fire into nothing, making his father contort into one of frustration; Fire Lord Ozai would not have his superior bending effaced by an amateur, no matter his bloodline. Ozai begun to shoot blasts of flames in succession with his hands at his son, who simply dodged or deflected each blast with his own bending; Zuko raised a wall of flames and sent them toward Ozai in an attempt to stop his barrage, but the Fire Lord simply dispersed Zuko's flames with a smirk.
"Weak- you're always weak." he mocked his son, throwing another barrage of flames at his son, who dodged the blasts by jumping upward, making a kick of fire toward his father, who dodged the attack and sent his own wave at Zuko, who cut through the wave with a powerful kick, staring down his father once more.
"I am not weak- I am strong!" Zuko shouted at Ozai, making an exposition of his own power with three beams of fire, one from each of his hands and another from his mouth toward his father, who blocked the tripartite blast with a concentrated beam of fire, which then blasted through Zuko's own attack- striking his son in the chest and forcing him to back down to a more defensive stance.
Upon seeing Zuko finally be burned, Ozai proclaimed to his son, "You have always been so foolish." before throwing a powerful blast of fire at his son, which he was able to deflect into two halves, standing between the divided flames unfazed.
Ozai contorted his face into one of indomitable rage, and threw another blast at Zuko, who redirected the flames around himself and set the ground around him on fire- the dissipating flames illuminating Zuko's face of confidence; Ozai threw another barrage at Zuko, which he blocked with slices of flames from his fists before sending a wall of flames at his father. Ozai angrily blasted away the wall of fire, it's flames dispersing throughout the throne room, lighting the normally dark and shrouded place to as if it was in the midday sun; Ozai heaved his chest after his attack and stared down his son with piercing eyes.
He could not believe his son's hubris before him- Ozai proclaimed with a bellowing voice, "I- I am the Fire Lord- the master of the superior element!"
"Prove it." Zuko chided his father, making Ozai accept the situation for what it was- Zuko needed to learn his place- he spun his arms forward clockwise, drawing up sparks momentarily before sending a lightning bolt straight at his son, which he made no attempt to dodge, not that he could given the rapid firing of his attack; Zuko was hit with the lightning, which begun to pulse through his body- Ozai wanted to scream at his rebellious child upon realising that the lightning wasn't harming Zuko, but was unable to feel anything but regret when he realised his own lightning was being fired right back at him.