WaterPhoenix20: Thanks for your review! I really appreciate it as well as everyone else's reviews. I'm glad you enjoy my interpretation of the characters. I intend to keep the momentum going.
"So, Kyoshi Island was a dud," came Azula's comment. She was looking at the ocean as its waves rolled by underneath Appa's flying form. She had an elbow propped on the saddle, having grown more accustomed now to being near the clouds. Occasionally, she'd flick a bang of hair away from her face. The wind whipped past and she was silently grateful to Uncle for the headpiece - Her hair would have been in flying multiple directions otherwise.
At some point, Momo had curled up on her lap, and she absentmindedly stroked at the fur on his head.
Zuko sat across from her, observing the ocean from the other side. "It wasn't that bad," he said, his arms folded. "We got a chance to learn more about other lifestyles besides our own." The scent of seawater tickled his nose. "It was interesting."
"And that there's a whole village of warriors!" Aang supplied. Zuko half smiled at Aang's exclamation.
"Just make sure you remember her address," Azula quipped to Zuko with an eye roll.
Zuko sighed, annoyed at her constant jabbing. "I told you, we're not a thing!" he cried, swiping his hand sideways to punctuate his point.
"I didn't say you were," Azula retorted with a shrug, sounding unimpressed. Her brother could only glare daggers at her before looking back toward the skyline, suddenly moody.
"Anyways," Azula continued. "We need to find that Sun Warrior tribe we were discussing before." She pulled the map out from within her tunic, and placed it flat against the saddle's surface. She kept a firm grip on one end of it to keep the wind from launching it into open air.
"We need to fly towards the Northwest, back toward the direction of Crescent Island," she said loud enough for Aang to hear from atop Appa's head. Zuko scooted up to get a better look at the map.
"Is it a good idea to go there first?" Aang looked toward them, his expression betraying some concern. "The monks told me I'm supposed to learn the elements in order." He pointed out a finger as he named each element.
"Water, Earth, then Fire."
"You're the one who told me about the Sun Warriors," Azula reminded. "And does it matter what order you learn them? Getting a Waterbender teacher is next to impossible." She then made a thinking face. "Unless you think you can convince that waterbending buffoon with the power of friendship," she added.
Aang's face lit up. "Hey, that's a-" he paused at seeing Zuko making a show of coughing, failing to suppress a laugh. Aang's face fell. "That was sarcasm, wasn't it?" he asked Azula.
"Mhm."
Aang's brows lowered in mild annoyance, but it was only fleeting. He remembered his time on the Water Clan Ship.
"Well, when I was on that ship, Sokka seemed kind of nice." He scratched his chin in thought. "He didn't really seem all that bad to me." Azula looked at him skeptically before rolling her eyes.
"He was obviously trying to draw you into a false sense of security," she said with finality, folding her arms. Momo chose that moment to scamper over to where Aang sat atop Appa's head. "They're sneaky like that." Aang looked down in thought, but didn't seem entirely convinced.
"Besides, I'm sure the spirits aren't going to be in a bad mood if you're learning how to throw fire first instead of water," Azula said, her voice much less snarky than earlier.
"I guess you're right," Aang agreed, his mood already improved, though some reservation was still there. "They never told me why I should learn them in order anyway."
"I still think this is a waste of a trip," Zuko cut in, studying the map. "If there was a place like this, Uncle would have mentioned it."
"Old people don't tell us everything, Zuzu," Azula sighed as if stating the obvious.
Zuko raised a brow at her but didn't argue the point. "We're still zigzagging across the ocean," he said. "Its already been at least a week and Aang still doesn't have any teacher."
"More of a reason to search," Azula shrugged, folding the map back up. "If there's no Sun Warriors, then you can gloat about it as much as you want."
Zuko shrugged, sliding back over to his spot on the saddle. Even though he felt it was a waste, they technically didn't have any other destination in mind.
The South Pole was still a definite no. They knew of no waterbender that could teach Aang, let alone assist the Fire Nation in any capacity. Aang mentioned Sokka, but Zuko and Azula have only had bad luck running into that guy and were not in a hurry to see him again.
"Well, what about Earth?" Aang supplied. still a bit nervous abou training in the elements out of order. Azula had a point, she really did. And the logic made sense. But something about training in the elements out of order just felt...kind of wrong somehow. He didn't know how to explain it in words.
"From where we are, there's no way to know which Earth Kingdom cities are affiliated with the Water Clan or not," Azula replied. Aang's brows rose.
"Affiliated?"
Zuko nodded. "Not all of the Earth Kingdom are allied with the Fire Nation," he added.
"Exactly," Azula agreed. "Think about it, Aang. There's no way a bunch of tribesmen," Azula paused before sarcastically correcting herself. "I mean, clansmen could take over whole territories on their own without some help. If it wasn't for some of the Earth Kingdom cities, waterbenders wouldn't even have a foothold on land, let alone be at war with other nations."
Aang was all ears at this point, having turned to face the siblings.
"What even started the war?" Aang asked. "Waterbenders are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They're all about adapting and going with the flow." Now that Aang had time to really sit down and think about it, it didn't make any sense that the Water Tribes would start a war. From what he could remember, the Water Tribes were fairly isolationist to begin with and only interacted with other nations through trade.
"Some spirit nonsense, most likely," Azula dismissed. "The generals often talk about how the Water Clan act like religious zealots." She looked out at the water, thoughts of her mother suddenly coming unbidden. "But it's just an excuse for their war crimes."
Aang and Zuko could tell there was more to what Azula was saying on the surface. And Aang didn't know why, but he felt like it was unfair to label Sokka as just another criminal.
"I admit I don't know how much the world's changed yet, but I think Sokka's different." He was pretty amicable, when Aang thought about. His ship didn't even have a brig.
"They're all the same," Azula spat, as if hearing his thoughts, and was now glaring at the passing ocean.
Aang knew he wouldn't be able to convince her right now. And they weren't headed to a Waterbending teacher now anyway, but he knew this would be an important conversation eventually. He studied her from his peripheral vision and sighed.
Talking about a possible future friend in the Water Clan was obviously touching a nerve, so he dropped the subject.
Azula glanced over at him, looking apologetic.
"Look, I apologize for shouting," Azula managed to say. "It's just been a rough few days..."
Aang smiled softly, not offended by her earlier outburst.
An awkward silence commenced before thankfully being broken by none other than Zuko.
"I see something down there."
Aang and Azula turned to Zuko, who was pointing down at a massive stretch of land.
The sun was still close to its Zenith, so rays of light made the scene easily visible.
Down below were massive ziggurats, easily catching the eye. They had a roughly pyramid shape, and Zuko couldn't tell if they were homes, temples, or a mix of both. Surrounding the bases of these massive structures were paved roads, reflecting the sunlight and creating sun glare if you looked down below at certain angles. While the ziggurats were colored in tones of an earthy stone, the roads themselves almost looked gold in comparison.
"Looks like I win the bet," Azula commented. Zuko sighed, but did not say anything else.
"You think there's a firebender master?" Aang asked aloud. "Place looks abandoned..."
While the structures were awe inspiring, the settlement didn't looked lived in for years. There were no people walking the streets, no domesticated animals wandering the roads.
Zuko cupped his chin in his hand, thinking. "We should take a closer look," he suggested. With a silent nod, Aang guided Appa to head towards the strangely abandoned city, while Momo scurried over to Zuko's side to lay down.
The descent didn't take long at all, and Appa had landed by the base of one of the massive pyramid-like structures. Aang sucked in a breath, impressed by the architecture. "Wow, these buildings have to be like...20 Appas high." Aang looked down at his fingers as if calculating some advanced mathematics. "No, 30 Appas!"
Zuko and Azula looked at the building in response to his statement.
"This place really does seem abandoned," Zuko added, looking around. "See those vines?" he asked, pointing at one of the many roads ahead of them. Vines and moss snaked over and around the walls of the structure, hinting at the age of the place. "This city hasn't been maintained in maybe a hundred years."
They ran in some pattern only nature and perhaps the spirits were aware of, snaking into the surprisingly sturdy stone masonry, giving the ziggurats a different but just as majestic aesthetic as originally intended.
Aang studied the vines, a little confused. "The Sun Warriors were considered ancient even in my time though." He ran a hand over one of the vines along the walls, which nearly snapped upon touching it, as if confirming his statement.
"Well, this is all well and good," Azula cut in, walking past them and deeper into the city. "But I'd rather find some Firebenders."
Aang and Zuko shared a glance before shrugging simultaneously. They trailed behind her, examining the massive buildings.
"This place is eerily familiar," Zuko commented. He focused on the way the stairs were shaped and how the roofs had a distinctive slope on some of the smaller buildings surrounding the ziggurats. "I can tell that the Fire Sages' temples are descended from these."
"Hey, we're learning some things about the Sun Warriors already!" Aang replied, excited. "They say the past is a great teacher."
Azula suddenly stopped walking, pulling on the back of Aang's collar and Zuko's sleeve as they walked past.
Zuko was about to round on Azula before she cut him off.
"You two were about to walk right into a tripwire."
She thrust two fingers, launching a dart of flame at a seemingly innocuous spot on the paved road.
"Woah!" Aang gasped. The ground ahead of them suddenly slid open like a loose tile, revealing a pit filled jagged edged spikes. They looked like teeth rising up out of some pitch dark maw.
"Uh, nice work," Zuko relunctantly admitted. He knelt down in front of the pit and was able to see more clearly now the cut tripwire. "This place is ancient, yet these traps still work perfectly."
Aang glanced around, paranoid, and stood behind Azula as if she were a protective barrier. "I think the past is trying to kill us."
"Don't be a baby," Azula scolded, taking a step forward from Aang. "Traps can only mean something is being hidden."
"Could be firebending scrolls or something" Zuko suggested with a shrug, standing back up.
"This could also mean that the Sun Warrios are long gone," Azula added. "Hopefully there is a scroll here somewhere."
Aang accepted the logic. "Ok, but, I'm getting a weird feeling about this place," he admitted, hugging his own arms.
"Let's move on," Zuko said. He took two steps back, the charged forward, running toward the wall. Using his momentum, he managed to keep his footing on the wall as he ran at an angle over the pit of spikes. With a graceful dismount. he turned around with a smile.
"I thought you were always excited about adventures," Zuko teased.
"Yeah, what happened to "conquering your fear"?", Azula supplied, mirroring Zuko's earlier movement.
Aang sighed. Of she'd use his own words against him. He followed suit, but instead of wall running, simply used his airbending to somersault over the revealed pit trap. "So where do we go now?"
Zuko pointed to one of the ziggurats directly ahead. it seemed to dwarf the nearby ones in size. "That one looks pretty important."
After a short walk up the steps, the entrance was finally visible. It's massive doorway was framed by intricate carvings, depicting a man surrounded on both sides by two dragons who seemed to he breathing fire at him.
The team of three studied the image, Aang looking more and more uncomfortable with each new thing they found. The expression on the man's face in the carving looked monstrously fierce.
"Interesting," Azula commented. "This seems promising already."
"I thought Dragons and firebenders were friends?" Aang asked. Why did it look like the depictions were fighting?
Zuko held an unreadable expression on his face. "Well, they had a funny way of showing it." Azula glanced at him through the corner of her eye but didn't elaborate.
"I haven't seen Dragons since our adventure started," Aang said slowly. "They're still around, right?"
Zuko had remained silent for a moment before walking torward the entrance. Azula followed and Aang thought for a moment that his question was going to be ignored, but Zuko spoke up.
"My Great-Grandfather happened."
Aang parroted his statement, confusion on his face.
"Fire Lord Sozin had started a tradition of hunting Dragons. They were considered the ultimate firebenders. If you could conquer one, you would achieve great glory and receive the honorary title of 'Dragon'". Zuko sighed. "They're still around, but they're not in large numbers like they used to be."
"Hunting dragons was honestly stupid," Azula supplied. "They could be used as companions in war time, and we had idiots killing them for brownie points."
"What made people, y'know, stop hunting them?" Aang asked. He noticed they were speaking in the past tense.
"Having a Nation declare war on you can make you rethink some things," Azula replied. They all traveled deeper into the passageway, passing by a colum with a red tinted gem buried in its center. Azula observed it for a moment before continuing on. Just ahead of them was a massive door, an ornate decoration about the size of the gem Azula saw earlier nestled in the center of the door, several heads above them.
Immediately, Aang set aside his staff and tried pushing the door open, to no avail. Azula found it ironic that the first strange door he sees, he tries to push it open. Didn't the Air Temple door require airbending to operate?
"I think it's a celestial calendar," Azula said, pointing back at the column they had walked past. Aang and Zuko looked at it, with the Avatar's face falling.
"Monkey Feathers! We can't just wait all the way until the summer!"
Zuko rubbed his hair, studying the column, and then the door. He noticed a faint circle of red light a small distance from the decoration on the door. Maybe of he...
"Maybe we won't have to..." Zuko ventured, drawing one of his swords. He walked towards the column where the Ruby-like gem sat nestled in the stone. It was about waist high, so he knelt down.
"Destroying it isn't a good idea, brother," Azula warned.
Zuko ignored her, angling the blade of his sword in front of the gem.
"I'm gonna see if we can speed up time," Zuko commented. He turned the handle of his sword in every which way, causing the circle of red light to begin traveling in an erratic path. "Let's see if we can outsmart the sunstone."
"Hm," Azula grunted, impressed.
After a few brief moments, there was no obvious change in their surroundings.
"Nothing'a happening," Aang said, looking around trying to spot a suddenly opened door, or a revealed secret passage.
"Come on..." Zuko reigned in his frustration, keeping his breathing even, lest he mess this up. His patience seemed to be rewarded, as the circle of light slowly traveled upward in an arc before finally, it rested within the decoration on the door. The light from the sunstone suddenly fizzled out and the room began to shake violently. Fortunately, it ended as quickly as it happened, and the grind of stone on stone could be heard as the door seemed to lift on it's own and dissapear into the ceiling.
"The way it looked, I thought it would open sideways." Aang grabbed his staff, and gently elbowed Zuko as he headed through the new pathway to follow Azula who'd already began walking inside.
"I don't care what Azula says, you're pretty smart."
Zuko smiled at the compliment before the context of what he said hit home.
"Wha-?" he stuttered. Azula and Aang were already several paces ahead and didn't hear him. He sighed before shaking his head and trailing behind them.
Zuko entered a large circular atrium that seemed larger than what was suggested from the outside. There wasn't much light that touched the room, and Zuko looked up to see what looked like metal grates in the ceiling. From the tiny of the sky, the sun had begun to set about a half hour ago.
Funnily enough, it looked like there might be a road above them, but that didn't seem right. He remembered ascending stairs, not traveling downward any important distance.
Looking back to the center of the atrium, Azula was standing I'm front of one of the statues, reading something he couldn't decipher from his current distance. Aang was examining some of the other statues, all depicting a firebender with an enraged expression on his face in each one. Aang seemed to be repeatedly sneaking glances at Azula when he thought she wasn't looking.
Approaching one of the statues, Zuko could hear Azula and Aang talking.
"It says 'The Dancing Dragon'," he recited pointing at the characters on the nearest statue. He glanced at Azula again before replacing his staff on the wall. Standing in front of the stone firebender, he takes a stance, mirroring the posture of it.
Azula raised a brow at the display and took a look at the statues again. Each one showed a warrior on a progression of different poses. It looked like a form of some sort, but what was the purpose behind it?
Zuko was able to fill in the blanks. "The statues are mirroring each other." He pointed at the statues, sweeping his arm in the general direction of their placement.
"Hey, we should try it!" Aang declared, stepping forward to mirror the first movements of the statues. Zuko regarded Aang for a moment and looked meaningfully at Azula.
"Did you want to?-"
"Not interested in learning a dance," Azula waved away his question, although she wasn't completely sure why he suggested it. Zuko shrugged, taking his place opposite of Aang. He took a stance mirroring the statue nearest to himself, and reflecting Aang's posture, the red sleeves of his tunic bunching just a bit at the shoulders.
Azula said she wasn't interested in whatever performance they were about to conduct, but she did want to see what it would look like.
After Zuko made the observation of the statues mirroring the one across from it within the room, she tried to find anything else that stood out. The walls looked normal enough, but the flooring, which was made of stone, looked like there might have been some inconsistencies.
Some parts of the floor had tiles that didn't seem to match each other, like it wasn't filled in completely, making some of the stone tiles asymmetrical. Why was that?
Zuko and Aang began their performance and then her question was answered. The boys noticed it too; some of the stone tiles depressed as they went through the form. She kept note of this as they continued through the form.
As they progressed through a semi-circle and stepped on more of the specific tiles, the room seemed to alter itself. A thin column seemed to spiral out of the ground, steadily ascending ad they went through the movements. And Azula had to admit, the footwork was very interesting.
None of the movements seemed to suggest anger or rage like the statue's face was suggesting. A lot of the movements were flowing into each other. Energetic, but not rigid. It could almost be mistaken for waterbending movements.
The room's rumbling had ceased. It was easy to ignore when the noise had even started, but it stopped in sync with the spiral column, which had stopped moving as soon as Zuko and Aang were done. In the center of the room now was a column that had risen up to about Zuko's waist in height. Atop thos stone column was a flat base that held an egg-shaped stone.
Azula politely clapped her hands, drawing the boys' attention.
"A wonderful performance!" Azula applauded in mock awe. "You were right, Zuzu, this was a waste of time." She regarded the stone atop the pedestal for only a moment. "Maybe we should just see if Uncle can take some time off to teach us more firebending."
"What about the stone?" Zuko countered. "It could be important." Possibly, it could act as a key of some sort was what ran through his mind.
"I don't know, Zuko, it could be a trap," Aang spoke up, remembering their experience outside on the road. The ground already had boobytraps, who's to say this isn't another one?"
Zuko took this into consideration, resting his own chin between his thumb and index finger, looking contemplative. Sure, it could be a trap, Zuko agreed. But then, what would have been the point of coming this far, if not to take some risk?
Eventually, however, caution won out, and he sighed slowly, as if it physically pained him to ignore the treasure.
"Fine," he relented. Maybe they could search another one of these temples. There were at least a half dozen of them all over the place. Zuko led the way back to the doorway, and Aang followed behind him, obvious relief on his face. Azula watched them go, and looked again at the stone that resembled some sort of egg.
She checked to see if Zuko and Aang were looking, then quickly snatched it from the pedestal.
It almost felt warm to the touch, she realized. But she banished the thought, and figured, they would need to leave this room quickly before something happened. "Zuko, Aang, to the other room!" she shouted, dashing past them back into the hallway, and nearly startling them.
"Huh? Why?" Zuko asked, but he and Aang didn't linger as he questioned her, deciding to trail behind Azula's fleeing form. A sudden rumbling sounded behind them and Zuko turned his head to see the room they just vacated was rapidly sealing shut. Zuko looked on, confused, as they continued to escape further towards the entrance of the temple.
Just as they reached the entrance where large stone columns signified the separation of the building to the outside world, they stopped to take a breather.
"Azula, how did you know the room was going to shut like that?!" Aang wheezed, slowly getting his breath under control.
Zuko looked far less impressed about it. "Yeah, what did you do?"
Azula leaned backwards onto one of the columns, briefly suprised by the coolness of the stone as it touched her back. "I might have grabbed the stone on the way out."
Zuko frowned. "So let me get this straight, you tried to act like you weren't interested in the thing, and you took it anyway?"
"Oh, come off it, Zuzu," Azula retorted. "I never said we shouldn't take it."
Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Why do you always do that?" He demanded, swiping his hand to the side. "You could have put us in danger!" Azula only sucked her teeth.
"You're just upset you didn't take it when you had the chance."
Zuko raised a finger as if about to argue her down, but hesitated.
He absolutely hated when she was always right! Azula smirked, to his chagrin, as if she knew he just realized it.
"Let's just move on," Zuko grit his teeth, heading towards the stone steps.
Aang laughed uneasily. "We're out of the worst of it, right?" He suggested eith a shrug.
"I'd say," Azula agreed.
Aang stepped nearer to Azula as they headed toward the temple opening. "What is that, anyway? Looks kind of weird for a stone.
Azula looked down at the stone as they continued to walk. Aang was right, it did look strange. The strange warmth coming from the object and its shape reminded her more of an egg than a precious rock. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Maybe Uncle could tell us something about it."
Zuko came to a stop once he made it to the steps, waiting for Aang and Azula.
"So, what now?" Aang asked. "I don't know if going to another temple is a good idea. It might just be more booby traps."
Azula and Zuko were inclined to agree. Sure, there was a lot of hidden history here, but it didn't seem like they would learn any firebending techniques here.
"Maybe we can see if one of the generals will teach us," Azula suggested. "What about Commander Zhao? I hear he's stationed somewhere not too far from the mainland."
Zuko scowled at the mention of the name. "Why would we go to him?"
"This Zhao guy's a master firebender, right?" Aang asked.
"He's a jerk with an overblown ego," Zuko corrected.
"You're exaggerating," Azula dismissed with a wave of her hand.
"That's because he's always nice to you at least," Zuko retorted, but didn't elaborate.
"Whatever, it doesn't change the fact that he's a master. He could teach us some of the advanced sets."
Zuko folded his arms and sighed, his head drooping low. "This is a horrible idea..." he said, but he knew it was probably the only choice they had. "Fine, we'll go see Commander Zhao-"
His sentence was cut off by a plume of flame exploding near his feet. With a shout, he jumped backwards, falling into a stance. Azula and Aang did the same.
They looked every which way, but did not see where the blast of fire originated from.
"Identify yourselves, trespassers!" a disembodied voice demanded.
Strangely enough, it seemed to come from within the Temple. Azula and Aang turned to face the entrance, and several people stepped out of the shadows, dressed in some sort of tribal wear of vibrant reds and golds. Some wore sandals of some strange make, others were even barefoot. Some wore sashes held together by roughspun cloth while some of them wore what might have looked like a Fire Nation armored skirt if it were made completely of fabric.
"Apparently, people still live here," Azula said quietly.
Other warriors jumped from behind pillars as well, effectively surrounding them.They all fell into stances that didn't look like any of the traditional firebending forms that Zuko grew up learning.
He realized they shared similarities with Dancing Dragon statues inside the temple.
Finally, two more warriors appeared from within the temple, one wearing a headdress, and another that stood next to him, who might have been an assistant or right hand man.
The man with the headdress spoke, and the team realized he was the voice they heard earlier. It was deep and intimidating. He spoke clearly, projecting his voice easily.
"Who are you three?"
