The afternoon sun shone through the canopy of a pine forest, through which walked an massed group of elite Fire Nation forces; walking and riding in formation, the group had made quite some ground in the past day, marching from the valley where the Pohuai Stronghold was located to the coastline of the Mo Ce Sea, from which the group noted the sight of Admiral Zhao's blockade moving along the horizon. Princess Azula rode with upon her komodo rhino, followed in suite by her Water Tribe 'assistant' who had mounted his own rhino, graciously granted to him by the Princess so she wouldn't have to hear his complaints about having to walk. Sokka rode his mount a bit faster so he could catch up to her, who he thought to be his only reasonable choice of a conversation partner- he certainly wasn't going to try and talk to the Yuyan Archers, which he thought to be creepily stoic and intimidating- a bit like how she tried to be toward him before he made a fool of her on the deck of her sinking ship, but to Sokka, that stage of their relationship was long past.
He cleared his throat before trying to make conversation, "Uh- so, is there anything interesting on our way?"
She raised a brow at his question, "Aren't you the one who looked at all the maps?" she questioned him, the Water Tribesman shrugging.
"Well- the maps that were detailed were navy ones, and they had not much information on anything other than Fire Nation ports and colonies." he explained, the Princess glancing forward to look out where they were moving- she was unable to see much but trees and shrubbery.
"Well, seeing that I can't fly, I would say that we won't know about something until we see it before us- isn't it great that we know everything about this damned forest." she sarcastically remarked, rolling her eyes at the realisation that her group could be walking into a bandit den without even knowing it- she was certain the Yuyan Archers were knowledgeable enough to stop her from making any mistakes, but she doubted they were omnipotent when it came to the regions surrounding their stronghold.
"I have instincts- they'll tell me if somethings up." Sokka noted with a raising of a finger, making Azula chuckle at him.
"Yes, just like your instincts decided it would be best to get stupendously drunk on your first night in Ba Sing Se." she jested to him, who grumbled with the thought that she didn't consider her own part in his eventual decision making that night.
"Excuse me- I got drunk because you battered my jaw so hard my ears were ringing- the pain could have only been resolved with a drink!" he explained with a gruff voice, before scratching his chin in thought, "In hindsight though, the prison being full of confiscated alcohol would have been a lot more practical."
"Yes- if only you had been more inquisitive- I hope that you learnt you lesson there." Azula jested back at him, who narrowed his eyes and looked back at her seriously.
"Yeah- always watch your back." he said in a stoic, though somewhat fearful tone.
"Is that advice that you're giving to me at this very moment- I thought you weren't on strategy duty today." she jested, Sokka rolling his eyes back at her.
"Come on, I'm being serious- for all we know there's been somebody informing someone- and that might not end well for us." he warned her with a dead serious face, but she shrugged his comments off.
"I have been sure to make Zhao deal with any insubordination, and Shinu has his fortress on a tight lock-down now- I doubt any messages are getting out." she assured him, who looked at her with a face of thought.
"Be prepared for the worst outcome, even if it never happens." he told her, who raised a brow at him.
"Where did you get all these one-liners from? You sound like my Uncle saying proverbs like that." she questioned with a tone of humour.
He shrugged his shoulders, looking forward along the path, "Well I mean my father's always one to give advice, but my experiences ever since that shipwreck have given me some perspective- I don't want to make the same mistakes twice, you know?" he explained, Azula nodding with a smirk.
"Ah yes- you've adapted well haven't you- joining the enemy to work from the inside- I would call you a great student if it wasn't me the one you were trying to turn." she deadpanned to him, who coughed at her rather direct commentary of his situation.
"You could say it like that- I'd rather say I'm trying to be a good friend- how about that?" he asked her, who rolled her eyes in response.
"I have no time for friends- I would use the word allies- although I doubt you would want to try and justify being allies with your enemy." she noted to Sokka, whose eyes opened wide at his dilemma.
"I mean- I'm not fighting with my enemy- I'm fighting for what I believe in." he told her, the Princess chuckling at his thought-process.
"Ah- so supporting me and killing Yon Rha aren't mutually exclusive- that's a good way of making yourself right every time you think about a problem." she commented, both making a joke about his rather serious vendetta against the former leader of the Southern Raiders and his own moral philosophy, which he took with a grain of salt.
"Urgh- yeah whatever- I'm totally a perfect person and have no flaws, just like yourself." he sarcastically remarked, Azula glaring at him with offence before shrugging.
"I can't argue against you putting yourself down." she admitted with a smirk, making him grumble in frustration.
"Can't you take an insult as an insult- do you just not take me seriously or something?" he questioned her, who shrugged her shoulders and smirked back at him.
"I guess..." she mocked him with a false sense of vagueness, before turning her head forward to look down toward the front of the party, leaving him speechless in offence.
"I can be serious, you know? Who exactly beat Long Feng to a pulp?" he questioned her, who nodded in concession.
"That was quite the serious fight- a non-bender fighting a man who spent his entire life fighting with bending- I wouldn't think that ought to be much of a challenge." she told him, turning his statement around, much to his dissatisfaction.
"Well- urgh- I guess you were right, but you wouldn't want to get into a fight like that, wouldn't you?" he asked her, Azula scoffing refusing to look at him.
"Are you implying you could even chi-block me- I'm not stupid enough to fall to that trick." she told him, Sokka raising a brow at her comment.
"So you have experience with chi-blocking?" he asked her, the Princess throwing him an offhanded glare.
"My childhood friend Ty Lee- she built up quite a proficiency in the skill- she is the one non-bending individual I consider to be a fair fight." she explained, the Water Tribesman raising a hand in confusion.
"Okay so now I'm confused- you tell me you have a friend despite claiming friends are useless and claim this friend to be capable of fighting you, something that you refuse to grant upon anyone but your own father." he questioned her logic, the Princess turning to glare at him more intently this time.
"Ty Lee is a sentiment of childhood, nothing more- I haven't seen her in years- and she, unlike you, could actually dodge my attacks and fight back with something a bit more effective that a boomerang." she argued to him, who grumbled in offence of her blatant detracting of his boomerang.
"Remember when the boomerang was the thing that chi-blocked? Yeah- that means I could probably do exactly what this Ty Lee girl does and better because I don't risk getting hurt when doing it." he argued back, Azula nodding with a smirk.
"Perhaps I should find her and get you two to fight it out, prove who is the better non-bender." she considered with a joking tone, making himroll his eyes at her dismissal of his fighting abilities.
"How about I just figure out this chi-blocking thing and see how it goes?" Sokka asked her, who shrugged with a nod.
"You could always use more skills- it makes up for the lack of bending, something that I stress is hard to compensate for." she told him, who looked away in thought of his own biases against bending, before chuckling.
"You'd get along with my sister with that mindset- she's very into arguing for the power of bending over my feeble abilities." he admitted with a sense of humour- comparing Azula to Katara in anyway made both of them seem very different in that light- the one who could bend and liked to make a big deal out of it.
She chuckled at his commentary, "Well I personally doubt we'd get along that well- she ought to be as insanely against my people just as you were when we first met." she noted, making him look at her with a sense of distaste.
"Yeah I still don't like your people- too angry and serious, an over-use of metal in their boats and buildings, and of course the genocide of both the Air Nomads and my people." she proclaimed, the Princess laughing at his stepping-scale of seriousness as he described his disdain toward the Fire Nation.
"I don't blame either of you for such an attitude, after all-" she begun to explain before Sokka cut her off with a pointing motion and shocked face.
"Wait Azula- what is that?" he asked her, the Princess noting his pointing and glanced forward, noting that the forest they had been riding through had cleared to blacked soil and rock, few trees in sight all the way up to a large conical mountain in the distance.
"I don't know exactly- a forest fire perhaps?" she wondered, making him glare at her with suspicion.
"Did the Fire Nation just decide to casually burn down this forest?" he accused, Azula glaring at him with confusion.
"General Shinu didn't say there was any mandated land clearing- let alone colonists in this region, all of the settlement is located miles north of this area." she defended, the Water Tribesman continuing to examine the barren landscape with his eyes, noting the rocky formations and distinct lack of trees.
She gasped in realisation as their group moved into the barren plain, "Wait- I figured it out- this is just like places I've seen back in the homeland- that isn't any mountain, it's a volcano!" she exclaimed, the Water Tribesman raising a brow.
"A volcano- what exactly is that?" he asked her, who realised that there would be no reason for him to actually understand what a volcano was, coming from the South Pole of all places.
"A mountain that spits out balls of fire and rock so hot that it becomes a red liquid- something that you wouldn't believe until you see one yourself." she explained, Sokka scratching his chin with interest.
"So these volcanoes- they're common where you come from?" he asked, Azula nodding intently.
"Yes the Fire Nation is filled with volcanoes, mountains and islands dispersed throughout our lands- they are a great boon for agriculture, supposedly, but there is a danger too." she explained, from which he noted with a sense of dread.
"This can happen- how long ago do you think it happened?" he asked, the Princess shrugging.
"I couldn't tell from the sight of it myself- there's no plants here, perhaps this area was recently destroyed in an eruption." she explained, Sokka nodding with a sense of fear.
"I hope no one got hurt when that happened- it looks like it destroyed everything here." he thought aloud, looking around his horizon, noting the distinctive spurts of blackened areas around them, with spurts of forest peeking out back toward the mountain in between them.
Riding along upon their mounts, the group moved further into the ashen landscape, making their way across the approximation of the pathway that formerly existed in the area, noted by the trodden parts of the ashen soil where Fire Nation forces had marched through recently, through a number of small wooded areas before they arrived at the sea-ward side of the volcano, gazing upon what seemed to be the ruins of a village.
"Well that answers your question Sokka..." she noted stoically, realising that they could be riding upon the death-sites of those who could have fallen to the fury of the volcano.
"An entire village, gone from the earth- just like that." he noted with a grimace, fearing the fates of those that lived in the village themselves.
"Their fate was outside anybodies hands- perhaps the people who lived here had wronged the spirits." she questioned, Sokka glaring at her with annoyance.
"Not that you would believe such fancies- these mountains just explode with fire whenever they like, I would assume." he questioned her attempt to try and justify the destruction before them.
"No you are right- we should keep moving, don't want to scare the men- a lot of Fire Nation people are more superstitious than you and me." Azula noted, the Water Tribesman nodding with a sense of ominous fear- he didn't want wait around to find out if the spirits of the dead haunted the place of their deaths.
Maintaining their pace, the group moved past the village ruins up along the hilly coastline, back into forest- once they were cleared of the ashen barrens, she turned back to him with interest.
"You have the map don't you- you should be able to tell us how far away we are from Yu Dao now." she asked Sokka, who nodded in obligation, pulling out an aged parchment which detailed the geography of the local area with small detail.
Sokka scanned the map with his finger, noting where the Pohuai Stronghold was on the map and then in converse where the colony of Yu Dao was- he plotted his figure and noted immediately a distinctive feature, "Mt. Makapu! That's what that volcano is called- we're nearly half way there- there's a mapped river to the north of here, but after that we'll be close to Yu Dao- I assume that we will have to start worrying about other Fire Nation people by then." he explained, Azula nodding at his worry.
"Yes- the Fire Nation garrison of the city would likely patrol the surrounding regions for potential rebels and Earth Kingdom insurgents- we must avoid both them and their enemies, who are most certainly still our own." she explained to him, who nodded in understanding.
"Are we not going to consider their grievances? I'm sure they would be legitimate..." he asked, knowing he would certainly not get a positive answer.
"That is not an issue for now- unifying the colonies is the issue at hand- I'll have plenty of time to play politics with their grievances once I'm Fire Lord." she explained to him who nodded with a sense of fear- he didn't want to doubt her resolve to better her nation, but he doubted that she would be as relatively 'nice' as he had seen her act toward him, an agreeable and pragmatic ally, as she would to the people of the Earth Kingdom, who despite their best efforts, would one day call Azula her majesty, for better or worse.
Holding his head up high, Fire Lord Zuko stood before the palace of Governor of New Ozai, a city named purportedly in honour of his father, over it's original name Omashu- which it had held for centuries if not longer before the Fire Nation brought under their empire; he was prepared after all his years at sea, then becoming the leader of his nation, to finally meet Mai again- the thought of her smile could only make him smile- he missed her and could only hope she felt the same way.
The large gold and red doors of the palace opened wide before him, Governor Ukano, Mai's father, walking out with a wide smile and bow of deference, "Your royal majesty- the words of your glorious triumph has made your name across this city and the entire Nation- I am humbled in your presence." he explained to the Fire Lord, who waved away his formalities.
"Thank you Governor- I know my father treated you well, and for you to show such respect for me is quite heartening, but I am not here to discuss my victories." he confirmed him, who nodded in realisation of hiss words.
"Ah yes- Mai is in her room- she has been avidly awaiting your arrival, Fire Lord Zuko." he explained, holding his arm out to let Zuko freely enter his palace; hearing of Mai made the Fire Lord blush in embarrassment and interest.
"Oh- uh- has she really?" he asked, his tone of near childish intrigue making him seem a little too youthful to be the Fire Lord, ruler of the Fire Nation and commander of the greatest army and navy the world had ever seen.
"Yes your majesty- right this way." he nodded, letting the Fire Lord pass in front of him to enter his ornate palace- the building had only been constructed in past years and he could certainly tell- the architecture inside reminded him more of his own ornate Royal Barge than an actual noble's manor; Ukano led him to the centre of his palace, a large lounge room for guests, adjacent to the dining area for the Governor's family- the room was surrounded by a mezzanine walkway and staircases that led up to the second floor.
Pointing up to the second floor, "Mai's room in up there, the second last room along the hallway to the left." he explained to Zuko, who nodded curtly in response.
"Thank you" he told Ukano, before making his way to walk up the central staircase to take the left branch up to the second floor, giving him a good view of the entire lounge, before walking up to the hallway, which he noted a number of doors, all ornate and gold encrusted, reminding him of his palace back home- very dark and very ornate- he wouldn't complain about it, he had no problem with it, but it seemed a bit gloomy at times, off-set by his Uncle's smell of fresh tea permeating the entire building.
He walked down the hallway, making his way to the second last door, stopping himself before knocking twice, waiting for a response, which he made out as a gruff and somewhat antagonistic, "What?"
The Fire Lord cleared his throat and spoke somewhat softly at the hearing of Mai's voice, no matter the tone, "It's me." he simply said, hearing a fumbling of feet in the room before moments later the door was opened before him, his eyes crossing hers intently; he noted that she was far taller than when he had last saw her, her hair longer and split in two, each part going over her shoulders, wearing a long red dress that went to feet, with a burgundy tunic worn over it, but her face said more than her clothes- the kind of shock she saw in her eyes was something he hadn't seen ever before.
"Z-Zuko..." she murmured, unable to think of anything to say as they glanced at each other.
"I- I should have tried to come sooner-" he admitted, blushing as he tried to explain himself.
"No- it's not your fault Zuko- you've just become Fire Lord." she told him, looking at him with some concern, "I don't have any idea how it must have felt after all those years- what you've done- why you did it? Zuko, I think we've changed a lot since I used to throw mud at you." she smiled somewhat jokingly at him, who inched away as she looked at his scar with interest.
Mai stepped closer to him, holding a hand to touch his right cheek, "Did it hurt?" she asked, the Fire Lord blushing from the contact but feeling somewhat uneasy with her asking him about his greatest shame.
"U-uh- it was h-horrible-" he grimaced, "I don't think I've ever felt anything like it since- but I made sure- I made sure they did." he explained, his tone growing darker, Mai taken aback by his comments.
"Zuko- what do you mean? Are you talking about Zhao and your father?" she questioned him, who nodded in response, feeling distasteful about his actions.
"I did things- horrible things- to those that deserved it, but- it was like looking at myself in a mirror." he explained to her, who looked back in concern.
"You did what you had to do Zuko- I know you- you wouldn't have done something dishonourable, or unjustified- that's not like you." she affirmed him, who turned away, feeling ashamed.
"I'm a different person Mai- I don't think I'm worthy- not worthy of you, or my title." he explained, distraught by both his past actions and present situation where he was certain to face off his own sister in battle.
She held her head high and glanced at Zuko with empathy, "Just because you have a scar and that you're Fire Lord doesn't mean that you're a different person;" she told him, holding a hand on his shoulder, "not everything has changed."
He turned back with a blush, "I-I'm sorry- I shouldn't have acted all angry and sad- I'm here with you, and that makes me happier than I've been a long time." he smiled at her, making her return her own small smile, removing her hand from his shoulder.
"Let's go and get out of this cramped palace, there's better places to talk than this." Mai told him, her tone less soft and more frustrated, slightly confusing him, who followed her with a nod as she walked down the hallway, where she stood upon the railing to sight her father sitting in the lounge below, "Father- I'm taking Zuko on a tour of the city- we'll be back soon." she told him, the Governor nodding, not daring to oppose his daughter with the Fire Lord in their presence.
"Of course daughter, as you wish." he nodded to her, as she led Zuko down the staircase into the lounge.
He nodded at Ukano as they walked by him, "Governor" he simply stated, Ukano slightly bowing as he remained seated, before following Mai out of the main door of the palace where his Imperial Guards stood ready to follow their Fire Lord; Mai and Zuko stood at the stone railing in front of the palace, looking down at the city below, as well as the ravine and mountains following out beyond the high walls that bound it, "It's actually quite pretty..." he noted, making her shrug her shoulders.
"It's dry and smoggy- just like any other Fire Nation city." she commented, making him chuckle lightly at the accurate comment; she led Zuko down the stairs adjacent to the palace, walking down to the streets of the city, his Imperial Guards trailing them at a fair distance.
Leading him through the streets, Mai decided to tell him what she found interesting about the rather recently established colony, "This city is old- probably older than the Capital itself; the city was built out of a sheer mountain with earthbending, and the original palace was built the same way- my father had it destroyed because it was inaccessible and non-functional without any earthbenders to operate it." she explained, the Fire Lord nodding with interest.
"This city seems like it must have held out for quite a long time- never falling to the Fire Nation until just before the comet." he commented, Mai nodding in agreement.
"I don't know why the king surrendered the city- the Fire Nation forces had only just arrived at the walls themselves, but he gave up the fight immediately." she explained to him, who scratched his chin in interest.
"Maybe he didn't want his people to die needlessly in a battle they might have lost." Zuko wondered, Mai shrugging in nonchalance.
"These earthbenders were tough- my father's men had to deal with an underground resistance before it was expelled from the city a few years ago- now he's scared they might try and take the city back from underneath him." she explained to him, who nodded in understanding.
"I wouldn't blame them- after their king surrendered, they probably thought it wasn't a fair fight." he acknowledged, before she looked back at him, holding a hand on his shoulder.
"I need to explain something to you Zuko- something I couldn't afford having anyone else hear." she told him with a quiet and serious tone, who raised a brow, looking at his guards behind him within earshot.
"You can trust my men- they're completely loyal to the Fire Lord." he affirmed her, Mai nodding before continuing to explain herself.
"My father wants us to return to 'courtship'- not that I don't want to see you again Zuko, but my father is a secretive and manipulative man- he wants one thing in this world, and that is power, and he got it all through his boot-licking to your father, the Fire Lord you killed." she explained, the Fire Lord coughing in shock as she explicitly mentioned his father, before continuing to, "Zuko- I don't think you can trust him- I'm not saying to discredit him entirely, but his deference shouldn't be treated as real loyalty- he believes that he can benefit off of you Zuko, off our relationship." she told him, Zuko looking at her with a slight of shock.
"I- uh- I don't know what to say." Zuko mumbled, unable to think of a response to Mai's warning.
"You shouldn't say anything- what I'm telling you is now that you're Fire Lord- there's things you should worry about, and men like my father, you should worry about him." she explained.
"Yes- my Uncle has given me somewhat similar advice about the people who bow before me in the palace- I don't want to mistrust everyone under my command, but it's hard to know who is your ally and who is your enemy when you've just become Fire Lord, after years away from home." Zuko acknowledged, furrowing his brow in distraught, "I did something horrible to one of the men who I believed to be my enemy- he deserved it, but it was simply to put the others in line, and it made me consider for a moment that I might just be the same Fire Lord as my father, ruling through threat and fear."
"Fear is something you shouldn't need to use Zuko- that makes you no different from... from her." she explained, muttering as she finished, making him look back with a grimace.
"Azula is the embodiment of everything I desire to avoid, but she is my sister- I don't know how I'm going to- do what has to be done." he muttered, looking down in shame upon acknowledging the inevitability of his future duel with his sister.
"Your sister isn't someone anyone would want to face, not in a real fight, but if you beat your father, you can surely beat her." Mai assured him, who looked at her with fear.
"But what if I can't? What if she wins- I'll have failed not just myself, but Uncle- everything he taught me led to me becoming Fire Lord, to right the wrongs of our nation." he asked her, becoming more anxious and distraught as he explained himself.
She raised her hand to his face, holding his cheek, "Don't worry about that Zuko." he tried to assure him, glancing to his side, noting on the wall something of interest, getting Zuko's attention, who noted the distraction.
"What is it?" he asked, Mai breaking her hold and walking up to a poster she had seen on the wall, ripping it off and glancing at with a slight grimace.
"It says: 'The traitor Prince has taken the throne of his father from the true heir of fire, his great sister the Crown Princess! Join the true Sons of Fire!'; some one in this city is posting posters against you Zuko- and it seems like it's organised." she explained to him, who looked at her with a sense of conflict.
"I-I'm not surprised." he admitted, before looking down the street with interest, noting a crowd in the distance, "I think that may have something to do with your poster." he explained, Mai stepping forward to eye off the crowd.
"They're definitely Fire Nation- I thought my father would have banned them from assembling, or at least got the guards to deal with it." Mai noted with a frown, unhappy knowing that there were people who wanted him gone in the very city in which she was forced to live- in the streets they walked; raising his shoulders high, Zuko started to walk toward the crowd, making out the shouting and ramblings that were causing quite the commotion.
"He is a traitor to our glorious nation!" one voice called out, positive calls coming from the crowd, which at that moment hadn't noticed the two of them standing nearby; their words made him frown in frustration- he would not have his honour disgraced by those who knew nothing of him, or his struggles.
"The governor is a boot-licker- is he willing to sacrifice his own honour to save his own hide?!" another voice asked out, the crowd continuing their positive responses.
"Any more words of advice?" Zuko asked out to the noisy crowd, who looked on in shock, their faces quickly turning to either rage or fear- a group of five men stood out of the crowd and pointed at him with accusation.
"You!" one of them accusingly pointed, "Rise against the traitor! His disgrace will doom us all!" he proclaimed, the men drawing flames from their fists.
"Big mistake buddy..." he smirked at the group of men who raced at him with fists of flames drawn, bellowing flames out of his mouth before drawing his fists to fight the group, his guards standing behind him in shock.
As the men raced toward him, he set his hands alight with fire, and quickly dispersed the blasts sent at him by his opponents- by the time they had a chance to land a fist on him, Zuko thrust out two beams of hot orange flames that swamped the street in an array of light, knocking the men off of their feet; he smirked at the men who before they could even get back to their feet were hit by a barrage of knives from Mai, who quickly dispatched of two of the men by sticking their clothing onto the ground. The Fire Lord drew daggers of flames, racing at his opponents with a smirk, striking one of the men in the face as he tried to defend himself, before kicking him in the chest; he was caught off-guard as one of the other men jumped at him, tackling him in a swift motion, the two of them rolling onto the street- his armour gave him an advantage of not being injured by the impact, his opponent however wasn't as lucky- grunting in pain he drew fists of flames to face him as he recollected himself. Before the other man could even pounce at Zuko he was struck by two knifes right in his shoulders, flinging him onto his back, allowing the Fire Lord to side-sweep him with a kick of flames, distracting him by having his clothes alight; he nodded at Mai in affirmation, who returned with a small smirk upon the appreciation of her skill. The two men who had been forced down by the knives got up and started running away from the fight, pushing past their crowd in fear of reprisal from the Fire Lord who clearly stood before them as a threat to their lives; he frowned at the sight, and snickered to himself.
"What cowards-" before turning to the other two men who weren't distracted with their own clothes on fire, "what about you two, do you want to prove your point?" he smirked at the two of them, two drew their fists in frustration, the Fire Lord drawing his flames while Mai stood beside him with her own throwing knives drawn- both their eyes focused on the two targets who decided not to relent on an unwinnable fight.
The two frustrated firebenders raced at them, going around to their sides to avoid being struck by both of them, forcing each of them to focus on a single opponent; Zuko took a defensive stance, prepared to dissipate any attack from his opponent, while Mai prepared to strike her opponent down with her knives. His opponent threw a barrage of flames at him before kicking a solid blast square into his chest, which the Fire Lord was able to dissipate with his own fire blasts before swinging the kick away with his arms, leaving his opponent fearfully standing before him out of breath; Mai threw a knife at her opponent, who sidestepped one before being struck in the side by another, forcing him to trip over, leaving him to the mercy of her knife throwing. In a swift motion, Zuko and Mai switched positions and faced each other's opponents, the Fire Lord drawing a fist of flames to strike down the tripped firebender, while she drew two knives to throw at the exhausted one; he quickly struck his opponent with a swift kick to the face, not even bothering to draw flames- his opponent spat out blood and he coiled in pain, while she threw her two blades at the man, attempting to block the blades with his raised forearms, he simply had the knives strike his hands, cutting sharply before exiting and being flung right past his face.
"Argh- mercy! Please!" Mai's opponent begged, his Imperial guards quickly surrounding the man and picking him up to take away, while his opponent curled in pain, looked at the two of them with horror.
"Y-you can't win just beating me traitor- there's a lot more of us." he muttered to Zuko who simply raised his hand to have him taken away by the guards, who he didn't bother to flee from as they grabbed him by his wrists and took him away, the man glaring the two of them down, as if to assert some kind of power he clearly lacked.
The last man, which Zuko had set his clothes alight, decided to stand up, realising his small group had been utterly defeated by them, raised his hands defensively, "This isn't over-" the man told him, who stepped forth, to stare the injured and burnt man down.
"You're right- it isn't- I'm going to make sure that you learn your lesson- I will make the Fire Nation better than it has ever been- no one will ever dare do what you just did- that is something for you to think on while you're in jail." he explained to man, who grunted as the Imperial guards clasped his wrists in metal chains.
"Y-you underestimate us- you- you don't know anything about the r-real people of the Fire Nation." he stammered, the Fire Lord glaring him down.
"I know the state of this world- we have done far to much bad things in the past hundred years- it's about time the Fire Nation does some good, for the world and for itself- I hope that you one day understand that." he told the man, who glared at him momentarily before the guards shunted his head down and forced him away.
He turned back to Mai and smiled once more, out of his mindset of fighting his detractors, "U-uh thanks for the help."
She shrugged, "It was nothing really Zuko- I'm just more worried that so many people might really think you're that bad- you're not." she affirmed to him, who smile grew in warmth in response.
"S-so uh-" he stammered, upon realising he would have to ask the question sooner or later, "I was wondering if you'd like to join me?" he asked, Mai raising a brow.
"Go back to the capital?" she asked him, unsure if he what he was actually specifying.
"Well- uh- no I was more thinking a date." he blushed- making Mai blush in response, before he coughed to break the awkwardness of his question, "But I'm also heading to the other colonies to do some 'politics'- I was wondering if you wanted to join me- it gets a little lonely with just me, Uncle and his tea." he asked her again.
Mai raised a finger to her chin with intrigue, before nodding with a blank face, "Well, yes- and yes." she affirmed him, as if it wasn't a big deal- but he took her words in a different light, breaking down with a blush, unable to make out any words, before she patted him on the shoulder.
"When was the last time you had any kind of social interaction with a girl Zuko?" she questioned him, unsure of why he was being so awkward.
"Probably the last time I saw you- which was when I was thirteen- Uncle always bugged me to try and talk to girls- or 'flirt', as he liked to say." he admitted with embarrassment, Mai chuckling lightly at his demeanour.
"Well- I guess we'll both be having a new experience then." she acknowledged, the Fire Lord nodding with a curt smile, feeling a little less embarrassed.
"Uh- so do you want to just go back to the palace now? I don't think I should be getting into any more fights with angry citizens." Zuko asked her in acknowledgement of his unnecessary intervention in the crowd's badmouthing of him.
"Yes," Mai simply affirmed, before grabbing his hand and pulling him along as they walked the opposite direction, back toward the Governor's Palace, "you can just get angry with my father instead of the commoners." she noted to him, who considering her prior words of advice with caution.
The two of them reunited after so many years brought mixed emotions to Zuko's mind- he both felt relieved that there was someone else for him to confide in, to talk to, and find happiness with- but the Fire Lord feared that she could be taken away from him, that he could lose her support and care because of his arrogance and brash decisions- those actions in the past had earned him his scar. He declared to himself at that moment that he didn't want to lose anything more- he was finished losing- he wanted to win, not just for his own sake, but for hers.
Standing before his drawn tent, Sokka nodded in approval- one of the many skills he had been forced to learn over his years of hardship caring for his village, he had learnt how to skillfully prop up a tent and prep it for the worst weather the South Pole could throw at it. Luckily for him he wasn't expecting any blizzards in this part of the world so he could use his tarp as a covering on the ground to soften his bedding, which he didn't approve of being straight on the ground; he had grown quite accustomed to actual Fire Nation bedding which put his bedrolls to shame- they weren't as warm, but they were light and comfortable, and as such he couldn't bear to sleep on bare ground if he didn't have to. Turning around he looked upon the rest of the campsite, which consisted of a number of small tents for each of guards as well as more makeshift tarpaulin coverings for the Yuyan Archer units- like him they were better trained for camping out in unfavourable conditions and were able to use limited resources in ensuring they could sleep- a large portion of them would be on watch anyway, ensuring that they couldn't get sneaked up on in the dead of night. The Water Tribe warrior walked along through the campsite, making his way past the tethered komodo rhinos, which were feeding off the grass of the clearing in which they camped- it was their luck to find a clear spot to camp closing in on sunset, meaning that they wouldn't be stuck walking through the night northward- if his maps were correct, by the midday the next day, they would be at the outskirts of Yu Dao, close enough their small army couldn't get any closer without raising suspicion from the locals.
Walking up to the Captain, who was personally preparing his own tent, he smirked at the realisation of his own speed and efficiency at setting up his own tent and bedding, "A little slow there Captain?" he asked, the man returning him a frustrated frown.
"Ah-ha- very funny-" he sarcastically remarked, before glaring at him more seriously, "now bugger off and annoy somebody else." he nodded at him, knowing that he ought not to annoy the man who still held a grudge toward him, stepping back before smirking as he turned away- he liked to jest at the Captain, if only to one-up him and prove his worth, but more so for his own amusement.
Walking up along the path through the campsite, he arrived at the largest tent, more ornate than the others, with a large tarpaulin covering at the entrance- Azula's personal tent, suitable for no one less than royalty; stepping up to the canvas door he opened it slightly ajar to call in, "You there?" he asked, her voice responding after a few moments.
"Yes- what do you want?" she asked him, her tone both sounding confused and frustrated- he thought perhaps she was in the middle of something.
"Uh I was just wondering if there was anything we needed to discuss before everyone get's ready to sleep?" he asked her, not facing his head into the tent to look, thinking he ought to be respectful of her privacy.
"You can come in, you know?" she sighed in disapproval, Sokka nodding to himself before opening the canvas, walking into the tent, where he saw her standing by a chest which had some maps and papers laid over it- she was still completely dressed in her armour, much to his relief- he wanted to avoid an awkward situation finding a half-dressed Princess.
"So- what are you reading?" he asked, both curious and wanting to find something to talk about- he rather be sociable with Azula, no matter the argumentative outcome, rather than be stuck awkwardly hanging around her guards.
"Some reports on Yu Dao, and the map you gave me from earlier- we seem to be quite close now." she noted, Sokka nodding in agreement.
"I say it's only just over this ridge-line to the river, and past that we'll be close to the colony." he explained, stepping closer to point at specific locations on the map.
"The intelligence we have in this area isn't the best it could be- the older colonies aren't exactly hotbeds of resistance- Earth Kingdom locals around the colonies themselves are rather complacent under Fire Nation rule- it's the area's that lack proper infrastructure and military forces that are far more resistant to our forces." she explained to him, who nodded with interest.
"That does make sense- the less reasonable fighting back is, the less of a chance they will do it." he commented, the Princess smirking at his compliance.
"Well it isn't like you to agree with our judgements- are you feeling a little less patriotic than usual, savage?" she questioned him, who raised a brow at her with confusion.
"Uh- no- I'm just agreeing with you on a practical level- why would anyone revolt from Fire Nation rule if they can't reason fighting them- I doubt those in the colonies are having their villages burnt to the ground, their benders captured and thrown in prisons- unlike the rest of the Earth Kingdom." he explained his thoughts, Azula nodding in affirmation.
"That's exactly the case- those who adapted into our glorious nation have found themselves prosperous and at peace, just like Fire Lord Sozin promised." she proclaimed with a smirk.
"Yes and as I just said- the rest of the Earth Kingdom, and my people- don't even forget the Air Nomads- they all suffered, and continue to suffer- why was it that the colonies could be so 'nice' if all the Fire Nation does otherwise is burn- burn- burn?!" he exclaimed to her, who was somewhat humoured by his outburst, but considered his words for a moment.
"You do have a point Sokka- the Fire Nation has been getting rather worse at handling the Earth Kingdom- Ba Sing Se has been an exception due to it's size, but otherwise we have been rather forceful with our occupations- but most of the land is at peace- you see that right?" she questioned his ideology, the Water Tribesman frowning in frustration.
"Not every village is going to be like Fuchang- although I personally would prefer all villages to be 'free' like them, they aren't- I don't like people like Jet just appear out of nowhere- someone, somewhere, killed a lot of people, and that peeved off a lot of Earth Kingdom peasants who wouldn't take that without biting back." he argued back, the Princess shrugging.
"It's war- what do you expect?" she questioned him, who crossed his arms in disappointment.
"No Azula- it's not what you or me expect, it's what should be done." he told her flatly, the Princess raising a brow in intrigue,
"What should be done then, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe?" she mockingly questioned him with a non-serious pouting face.
"T-the war is bad- you know that- and neither of us can stand idly by and let innocents suffer- I'm sure there's bad people everywhere, but not everyone's that crappy- I know a lot of good, decent people." he told her, who scoffed at his claims.
"Oh and next you're going to claim I'm one of them- for the last time, I'm not a damned paragon of virtue! Who do you think I am? Some tea-loving philosopher who thinks we can all get along?" she questioned him, who raised a brow at the very specific description she made.
"Uh- what now?" he asked, Azula shaking her head and turning away, sitting by her own bedding.
"It's nothing- things I don't have time for anymore." she muttered, Sokka walking slightly closer, sitting by her on the mat that crossed her tent floor.
"When you were a kid- it sounds like it sucked." he commented, the Princess glaring at him momentarily, before looking away again, her face scrunched in annoyance, trying to avoid showing any semblance of 'weak' emotion.
"My father was always angry- my mother hated me- my brother was a weakling who acted like he was as good as me- my grandfather was an old crook who thought he was the strongest man alive- my uncle was a weak-willed fool- I can go on, trust me..." she rambled, noting the features of her family members and their key negative traits, at least in her own eyes.
"Azula- your family couldn't have been that bad." he tried to assure her, who chuckled at his rather assuming statement.
"You're one to talk- 'I want to kill the Fire Lord because he's so evil blah blah blah'" she mocked him, making him roll his eyes at her before returning to a more conciliatory tone.
"It's okay to... y'know, talk about that kind of stuff- I mean my childhood wasn't the best- my father went off to war, my mother died in a raid- all I really had was my sister and Gran-Gran- even then I felt kind of lonely, no other kids my age to hang around." he explained to her, trying to tell his own childhood to her in comparison to whatever she was refusing to try and tell him.
She sighed at his explanation, "My mother- she disappeared when I was eight- when my father became Fire Lord- I try not to question why it happened, but I'm glad it did- my brother always got her attention, but even after she was gone, he continued to get all the adoration he could ever want from my Uncle Iroh- ever since then I've seen my uncle as a degenerating influence on my brother- not that I'd like my idiot brother to succeed at anything in his life, but my uncle was one of the many things that led to his rightful banishment." Azula explained to him, who nodded in interest, this being the first time he had heard of anything about her relationship with her mother, as well as her reasoning behind disdaining her brother so much.
"So you don't like your uncle for turning your brother against your own beliefs?" Sokka asked with a raised brow, hoping his conclusions were correct, for the sake of not offending her.
"Well, I guess you could say it like that- Zuko was always weak- he never learnt how to be strong, even after being banished- I guess he ought to have gotten better at fighting since I last saw him- perhaps he's not a coward anymore?" she touted, the Water Tribesman shrugging in notice of his complete lack of understanding of Zuko's character.
"Well I've never met the guy- I'll be sure to qualify your harsh description when we finally meet him." he chuckled, the Princess rolling her eyes.
"Of course- you're going to want to socialise- knowing you you'd try to talk him to death." she mocked him, whoo grinned at her comment.
"I mean it sounds a little less painful that being beaten by a whale-bone club." he admitted with a laugh, Azula chuckling in response, before realising that she ought to prepare herself for bed.
"I think it be best you leave the room now- I will have to get changed and ready to sleep- we have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow." she explained, Sokka nodded, rising to his feet and giving her a somewhat mocking bow of courtesy.
"Your highness." he nodded, before turning and leaving without a word, missing the sight of Azula rolling her eyes at his disingenuous display of respect.
Walking out of her tent, the Water Tribesman made his way past the other tents, momentarily stopping by the Captain, who was sitting by himself eating some rations; the Captain glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, "So what did you talk to her highness about?"
He coughed upon realising he ought not to spill his rather private conversation with the Princess and rather decided to generalise it, "Uh- just about the issues in the occupied Earth Kingdom and some other stuff." he replied to the Captain, who chuckled at his explanation.
"Sure you didn't do anything inappropriate?" he asked him.
He shrugged his shoulders, "I mean not really- I think I've learnt a lot about Azula- she's more contrived than I first expected." he commented, the Captain coughing under his breath.
"You don't say." he mumbled, making Sokka chuckle at the banter, before nodding at him.
"Well- I best go back to my tent- the sun's down now, and I like to get more sleep than less." he concluded after their short words, the Captain shrugging a nod before he paced his way toward his own tent.
Walking his way past the other guards tents to finally reach his own, he stretched out momentarily, before reaching into his bag to grab some rations- simply packed rice and some jerky, which he bit into eagerly, having little other food to eat for the past day riding out; finishing his relatively small meal, Sokka wiped his face of gunk before laying himself onto the outside of his bedroll to rest before he decided he ought to go to sleep. He still had things on his mind, such as the issues Azula was facing- of all the things she could seem to be conflicted about, it was the issue with her brother; it confused him how bad a sibling rivalry could get, even considering the feuds he and Katara had had over the years- he simply decided to place the blame squarely on their insane father, Fire Lord Ozai, who seemed to be for a lack of better words, a shit father. Sokka's chain of thought was interrupted by an odd smell from outside his tent, forcing him to get up and investigate it- he didn't want to be sleeping by bad smells, despite the Princess's description of his own odour- he had personal standards in that regard; raising a part of the tent he looked out and smelt again, recognising the smell from his little weapon-designing stint in Ba Sing Se- it was gunpowder- and he already knew that archers and firebenders didn't need gunpowder, so he thought immediately to the kind of people that would- Sokka instinctively grabbed his boomerang from it's position beside his bedroll before stepping out of the tent to get a better look, a Yuyan Archer that had his tarp propped up nearby noticed his worried glances and paced over.
"What is it kid? Did something happen?" he asked the Water Tribesman, who simply grabbed the man on the shoulder.
Gritting his teeth and remaining as calm-voiced and quiet as possible, Sokka explained, "There's been gunpowder laid in the camp, I want you to very quietly get your men ready for whoever is trying their best to get us all killed."
The Archer nodded with a stoic face, but shaken eyes, before pacing back, giving the Archers hand signals, the Water Tribesman turning back to the forest edge in the distance where he could smell the gunpowder from, mentally preparing himself for what was going to come next; his eyes caught sight of a spark in the distance and he immediately turned to the rest of the camp, realising there was no more time for caution.
"Everybody take cover!"
The sound of explosions shocked Azula to the core- the same sounds reminded her of exactly what happened on her ship on that fateful night, except right now the explosions were much louder; she immediately jumped into a prone position as the ground shook from the power of whatever explosives had just been detonated, fire tearing through one of the sides of her tent, forcing her to exhaust the brightly lit fire with her own bending- the speed of the motion had her in a slight of confusion. Pulling herself up to her feet, the Princess continued to weaken the flames before her, stopping them from encroaching any further into her tent; she immediately checked her surroundings, noting that there was no hostiles in her line of sight, which made her more concerned- she immediately decided to try and group up with her guards to ward off whoever had the balls to attack her with her own small army. She returned from the dampened flames to run out her canvas door, checking the state of the camp- a number of tents were on fire, and the guards and archers were doing their best to handle the flames, but the bigger threat was unseen- whoever set off those explosions was likely to be ready to fight the Princess and her men at any given moment.
"Captain! Get over here!" she shouted out in a commanding voice over the sound of flames and voices of the men, the Captain immediately noticing her voice and racing up toward her accompanied by two other Royal Guards.
"Your highness, your life is under threat if we remain here- I insist we evacuate from the camp at this instance." he advised her upon reaching her presence, Azula rolling her eyes at him before pointing to her left, where the explosions had occurred.
"Someone is coming to try and fight me- my command is to annihilate them- a survivor or two for interrogation purposes, but nothing more- is that understood?" she asked of her guards, all three before her nodding before repeating out her command in unison.
"Find and kill them all!" they shouted out, the Princess nodding with a smirk of confidence from her command- she thought such advice likely was to give a morale boost- she thought to herself that no man loves anything more than a chance to get back at the enemy- it was a near proverb that made her smirk- she desired to be the antithesis of her Uncle, and she would prove that to her men today.
Pacing forward, she scanned the closest area of the campsite for any casualties of the explosions, and was glad to see that all of her men had been away from the sites of the explosions to avoid any real harm; she turned to her side and eyed off the Captain, considering any direct orders should ought to give him.
"I want you to find their leader, single him out and capture him- understood?" she asked him, the Captain audibly sighing, reminding himself of his first encounter with Sokka which had resulted from very similar orders upon the Royal Barge.
"Of course your highness." he nodded, before racing off into the flames, heading toward whoever was setting off explosions in their camp.
Azula continued to pace forward through the camp, and made her way to where she believed Sokka's tent would be, but found the desiccated remains of a tent, folded over itself by the pure force of an explosion, with it's owner lying beside it, lacking his armour, covered in cuts from the explosion; her eyes opened wide at the sight of Sokka in such a state, racing herself to his side, the two guards accompanying behind her to keep watch for any attackers; she grabbed his shoulder, trying to check if he was still breathing, let alone conscious.
"Sokka? Are you okay?" she asked him- her voice genuinely concerned; he could only respond by grunting in pain, lifting his head to look at her with a frown.
"N-no- urgh- I- w-warned 'em." he mumbled, Azula nodding at his words, raising herself up with a new sense of anger- whoever had hurt him deserved only the harshest of responses- if he himself was unable to give it, she would handle that herself.
She stood up beside Sokka and drew flames in her hands and shouted out, "Come on your bastards- let's have some fun!" she shouted out, before noticing figures behind the flames that had appeared from the explosions- men dressed in green- she immediately considered them to be Earth Kingdom resistance fighters, and shouted out in recompense, "You dirt-eating bastards- you're mine!" she shouted out, stepping forward and dispersing the wall of flames with a single wave of her arms.
Looking upon the enemies that she saw before her she knew they weren't the usual Earth Kingdom fighters looking to square up against the Fire Nation- they were wearing very primitive clothing, wearing leaf and straw hats, armed with spears and stone weapons, not too different from Sokka's own armament- the words savage and barbarian came to mind when she considered them. She raced toward the men who held out their spears defensively, Azula simply thrusting her arms out to spit a wave of flames at the men, who dodged it by somersaulting under her attack; the Princess frowned as she laid blast after blast at the men, setting their clothing on fire and forcing them to javellin their weapons at her- after experiencing the Water Tribeman's moves with pole-arms, she could simply sidestep their attacks before returning volleys flames at her opponents. From behind her volleys of arrows flew out- the Yuyan Archers were in form, as the results showed; the primitive warriors before her were stuck on the ground, their clothing impaled with numerous arrows, making Azula smirk in confidence of her forces.
"You're mine now." she proclaimed to the men before her, who looked on in fear as she struck each of them in the head with short blasts of fire, knocking them unconscious.
Turning around she heard a war-cry- more warriors were coming to attack them, making her turn her mind back to Sokka, who she raced to return to- the Water Tribesman was barely recollecting himself by the time she arrived by his side.
"Sokka-" she gasped in relief of his quick recovery, "I see you're conscious now- can you fight?" she asked him, who shook his head from the dizziness he found himself in, before nodding at her question.
"I'm not done fighting just yet." he smirked, rising from his prone position, the Princess grabbing his arm to help him up, pulling him to his feet.
She smiled at his confidence, "Let's beat the crap out of these guys." she affirmed him, Sokka nodding before drawing his boomerang off his back.
The two of them turned toward a larger group of warriors that had decided to flank the Yuyan Archers, whose propensity for ranged combat had left them a rather lacking and weak front when it came to melee combat; they raced toward the fight, Sokka bearing his trusty boomerang and Azula her deep blue flames. Sprinting towards the warriors, she sent out a volley of fireballs at the warriors, their opponents smart enough to dodge the incoming firebending attack, while he raced in to tackle one of the warriors down with his boomerang in hand; raising her foot into the air, she sent out of a wave of flames into the group of warriors, forcing them to break their line against the Yuyan Archers, who were able to take the advantage by drawing their weapons once more upon their enemies. Sokka flung his boomerang at one of the warriors, clipping his spear out of his hand, before Azula knocked the man out with a fire blast- the Yuyan Archers drew arrows and fired them at the peripheries of the remaining warriors, flinging them all to the ground before they could even attempt to face her off, who used the advantageous position to knock them all out with a wave of fire to their collective faces.
Panting slightly, she turned her eyes to the Yuyan Archers, "Didn't Shinu teach you how to use your fists?" she questioned them, the Archers looking at her with confusion, before she scoffed at their silence, stepping over to Sokka who was retrieving his boomerang, "You got one of them- that's good enough given the context." she affirmed him, who sighed in acknowledgement of his relative uselessness.
"Well- I still hurt like shit- I'm guessing that was all of them?" he asked her, who shrugged before turning her head sideways to look in the direction where she had sent the Captain.
"Depends if the Captain did his job right this time." she acknowledged, the Water Tribesman chuckling upon the reminder of his father's victory over the Captain the first time they fought.
"Ah yes- he surely can't fall for the old savage tricks again, can he?" he jested, making her scoff, trying to keep down laughter, before returning to a more stoic face.
"Let's just see what's going on- men, follow me." she commanded the two guards who had been standing behind her as they fought, the two of them nodding and diligently following Azula and Sokka as they walked back toward the centre of the camp, where she was sure the Captain would be taking any prisoners he had.
Pacing through the remains of their campsite, she frowned at the destruction that had been dealt- their supplies set on fire and destroyed; it was to their luck that the group was only a day's walk from Yu Dao, otherwise they might've starved in a forest- something that she surely did not want to relive. She caught sight of the Captain standing with a cloaked man on his knees, making her smirk- their leader, who intriguingly was wearing very distinctive clothing- brown rags, covering what she assumed to be proper armour obscured by the long brown cloak he wore over his torso, compared to the primitive flax, bark and leaf clothing the warriors had been wearing.
She smirked and clapped at the Captain's work, almost mockingly given the context of her orders, "Bravo Captain- I see you have succeeded at apprehending the enemy leader- this time." she applauded him, the sound of audible chuckling coming from the guards behind her- the whole unit must have been berating him for his screw-up on the ship, so this thoughtful reminder was music to their ears.
The Captain ignored her comments and simply lifted the head of the leader, showing a slightly bruised and cut face that must have resulted from his encounter with the firebending guard, "This is their leader, he calls himself Chey- he's clearly Fire Nation- and more than that, he disguised himself as one of our own to infiltrate the camp."
Azula stepped forward to look at the man, "So, are you a traitor to our nation, or are you just working for my traitorous brother?" she questioned the man, who spat at her feet.
"N-no- I don't believe in the war- you're all the traitors in my eyes!" he proclaimed to the group, the Princess peering closer.
"Is that so- so are you willing to say that you know more to what is right than me, the rightful heir to the throne." she questioned him, Chey shaking his head in dismissal.
"No- my master is the one who can make that claim, I am simply a disciple." he humbled himself, Sokka raising a brow and stepping forward.
"So who's your master then? Another Fire Nation guy like you?" he asked, the cloaked man turning away, realising he probably shouldn't speak.
Azula crouched down and lifted the man's face forcefully, "Wait a minute- I do recognise you- off some wanted poster I remember seeing in Pohuai- you're a deserter- Captain Chey, is it?" she asked him, the man grunting from the forceful movement.
"I'm no captain anymore- and I'm guessing I won't be anything soon enough." he simply stated, Azula scoffing at his statement.
"Trust me- you will die when I want you to- currently you seem like an ample source of information- may I ask, why exactly did you attack my group?" she questioned him, Chey's eyes narrowing and looking downward, refusing to look her in the eye, Sokka piping up upon realising the man's logic.
"You don't want to refuse speaking to the Princess- trust me, I know from experience." he simply stated, the Princess glaring at him momentarily for his complete lack of seriousness in the situation, but noted the importance of the fact he was trying to get across to Chey.
"I- uh- I got a message- it directed me lead this tribe against the Fire Nation forces that would be moving through." he explained with hesitation, Azula kneeling down at him to look at him at eye-to-eye level.
"Now- would you happen to have that message on you?" she suggestively asked him, who tilt his head to the side.
"On my belt, under the cloak." he simply told her, who gave Sokka a head motion, signalling him to check for the message.
The Water Tribe warrior nodded and crouched down to fumble his way to reach for the message; after a few moments awkwardly fumbling through Chey's cloak he grasped the message and pulled it from his belt, showing it to her, who grabbed it immediately.
Opening the message up, her eyes widened in realisation, "It's them- the fucking White Lotus." she exclaimed, the Water Tribesman turning in shock upon understanding their words.
"They- they did it again- w-wait- who is your master Chey?" Sokka questioned him, grabbing the man by the shoulders, shaking him with frustration.
"U-urgh- I can't tell you that." he muttered, Sokka pulling out his bone dagger and holding it up against his cheek.
"About a month ago, my tribe were hired to attack the Princess here, and our employer happened to be in the Order of the White Lotus- now I'm not exactly for the war myself, however seeing that the Order clearly is trying to take her down, I'd like to know who it is doing that." he explained to Chey, who nodded slightly with a fearful face, acknowledging that he had no power in their situation.
"J-Jeong Jeong," he muttered, "My master is Jeong Jeong."
She stood up, knowing that name well from her history lessons, "The traitor Jeong Jeong- the man who deserted the Fire Navy and has supposedly lived to this very day despite the best efforts of our Nation to hunt him down?" she questioned Chey, who simply nodded at the rhetoric of her question, before she continued, glaring him down, "Thank you, I will be sure to tell your Master how willing to betray him you were when I find him and kill him." she told him, whose eyes opened in shock upon realising his mistake, which he was unable to rectify before the Captain knocked him unconscious with a knee to the head.
He looked on in shock, and commented with a slight of humour, "Well- that escalated." he muttered, before kneeling down, reeling from the pain he had endured in the explosion.
Azula turned to him, understanding the physical trauma he had just suffered, "I'm surprised you're even conscious- you really are that stubborn, aren't you?" she asked him, who nodded slowly, feeling light-headed from the explosion.
"U-uh yep..." he muttered, rubbing his eyes, before turning around toward where his tent would have been, "Uh wait- so where do I sleep?" he asked her, who chuckled at the content his first question.
"Ah yes- you certainly love that certain activity, don't you?" she jested at him, Sokka shrugging before falling in the dirt face-first, unable to keep himself conscious any longer.
The Captain muttered from the sight of his state, "Wow that kid really took a hit, didn't he?" he asked, Azula nodding with a sense of concern.
"He sure did Captain- he sure did."