Hello! This is my first ATLA fic, which I'm pretty excited about. That said, those of you who know me from my Naruto stories know that I'm allergic to finishing anything, so please don't expect too much from this.
In terms of the story itself, it's set around the time of The Search, but takes that story in a different direction.
Hope you enjoy!
- Chapter One: Runaway -
Azula runs. She's slower than she remembers being the last time she was free, but still fast enough to outmaneuver that damned flying bison—she hopes.
Deep beneath the swirling chaos of her mind, there is a part of the former Fire Princess that thinks it might just be easier to play along with everyone, that she should have caved and followed along with the Avatar on this little trip. A "spiritual retreat," as her brother called it.
But whenever the peaceful thoughts come to her, they are gone a second later. Whether they're leave her of their own accord or whether she's pushing them away, Azula can't tell.
Either way, they are not meant for someone like her. That much she knows.
And so, she abandoned the trip in midair.
And now she runs.
The forest of the southern Earth Kingdom is thick and expansive, so where she is headed, she isn't sure. All that matters for now, she knows, is putting distance between herself and the Avatar.
She takes a look above her, sees clear skies through the many high branches; but the roar of the bison still echoes through the damp air.
She goes deeper, through the cluttered plants and over the winding roots, the sunlight that was slipping in through the leaves above now vanishing in the darkness of the ever-tightening trees.
The forest, she feels, is closing in on her.
When the far-off roar vanishes, Azula finally stops. Her ears take in the sounds of the world around her: the buzzing of insects, the chirping of birds, the rustle of shrubbery in the distance…
Finally, she thinks. Alone.
She moves forward. The first thing she comes upon is a path that appears out of nowhere, as if the forest is crafting it for her as she walks. Pushing aside low-hanging branches and giant flowers, she follows it to its end: a small clearing.
A stream runs through the forest floor in front of her, the dirt she had gotten used to giving way to bright green grass. The dim of the natural light is just bright enough so as not to feel ominous—and it is far more comforting than the darkness she lived in inside the asylum.
Azula stops at the edge of this paradise and wonders where it came from. She feels far too good, far too at home for being on the run from the Avatar and, when word reaches Zuko, the Fire Nation.
But as she checks once again for a sign of the bison and finds nothing, Azula allows herself the slightest of reprieves, and gives in. She moves over to a small rock and takes a seat.
The tension in her shoulders eases slightly as she takes a heavy but sharp breath. She finds her own reflection in the water before her; something she has not gotten to see often over the past two years.
Her clothes, better fit for a Fire Nation commoner than royalty, are frayed. Her amber eyes are shot wide open. Her topknot threatens to come undone, so she does the rest of the work and takes the hairpiece out, letting her ebony hair fall. She brushes it back, ties it into a ponytail; she stares at her own face.
She finds weakness in it.
The anger comes quickly. The Princess of the Fire Nation, she thinks. The rightful heir to the throne, reduced to nothing.
Worse than nothing, in fact.
A mental patient.
A prisoner.
Soon, a runaway and a traitor.
She wants her old face back, the one she had worn for all those years: the one brimming with arrogance; the one people bowed to out of fear; the one that intimidated even the hardest of Fire Nation generals…
The one that allowed her to know who she was.
Azula finds none of these qualities in the person staring back at her, and sinks into pain.
Her eyes, though, remain on the stream—and ever so slowly, they widen as they see the face in the water begin to change, morph into that of another. It's that of a woman, and it is similar to her own.
It doesn't take her long to recognize, but when she does, the rage boiling inside her brings her to her feet.
"Azula," her mother's voice says. It comes from the forest itself, and inside her own head. "Please, stop this."
"Y-You…!" Azula's voice slithers out as she begins to seethe. "What do you want from me!?"
"I want you to understand."
"Shut up! There is nothing to understand!" She finds her mother's golden eyes and grows livid. "You did this, didn't you!? You lured me here! You convinced Brother and the Avatar to bring me out here, to get me alone so you could finally do what you've always wanted to! Didn't you!?"
"Please, Azula, listen to me. You're confused."
"No! I know exactly what you're up to! All you've ever wanted was to see me dead like the monster you think I am!"
A tear rolls down her mother's cheek. "You're wrong, Azula. I love you."
The heat inside of Azula rises. She doesn't realize she is bringing lightning to her fingertips, but when it forms, she shoots it towards the false reflection. A terrific blast of water erupts around the shock, and when it falls back down, the stream is empty; all that's left is the ripple of her attack.
Azula falls to her knees and her breaths turn jagged. Her eyes remain on the water as she tries her best to forget there was ever a face in it; but it's no use.
It's the one face, after all, that she will never forget.
As her senses return, she hears a rustle in the forest beyond. She stands quickly and naturally assumes her fighting stance.
For a moment, there is silence…
And then the sound comes again. Closer.
"Who's there!?" Azula shouts. "Show yourself, now!"
"I don't think you want that."
As soon as she realizes the voice is coming from behind her, Azula jumps forward. Turning back, blue fire sparking on the edge of her fist, she freezes. An enormous black centipede hangs before her, body coming from the black of the forest above. As Azula stares into the white Noh mask on its face, she feels something is wrong—as if the world around her is gone, having fallen away into nothing.
"Who…who are you!?" Azula manages to say. "What are you!?"
A deep, haunting laugh escapes the creature, and echoes all around. "The better question, girl, is who are you? It appears that you don't truly know…"
The monster slithers towards Azula, and, on instinct, she fires—but the flame, somehow, misses, and the white mask appears to her right. "Normally, I wouldn't go out of my way for someone like this, but you just seemed so…willing."
Azula starts again, this time jumping right into an attack. Throwing both fists in the monster's direction, an incredible streak of blue fire lights the clearing—once again, though, it hits nothing. She keeps firing until she can't anymore.
Finally, she stops, panting. She wonders if she's killed the monster, if she's done anything at all. But soon the mask appears again, this time beneath her feet, and she jumps onto a rock as the giant insect body crawls out of the ground.
"I must say, this is the poorest reception I've been given in ages. At least the Avatar was respectful, however boring he may have been."
The Avatar? Azula thinks, realizing that the boy must have meeten this monster somewhere before. And, if that was the case, then…
"Y-you're a spirit, are you?" she asks, barely keeping the fear off her face.
"So you know of spirits. You are wise, for a human…still, I will make this quick. You asked me who I am, didn't you?"
Suddenly, the white mask disappears back into the beast. In its place comes the face of a woman with long brown hair—but when her lips move, the same voice comes out.
"I am Koh, the Face Stealer."
Azula, for a moment, thinks of burning herself awake from this nightmare. If she weren't seeing one with her own two eyes, she would think of spirits as nothing more than fantasy, nothing but tales invented to scare children.
But this, she can tell, is no fantasy—and though she is no child, she is plenty scared.
"What…what do you want with me!?" Azula yells. "Why are you here!?"
Koh waits a moment before switching faces once again, this time to that of an ape with white fur and a red nose. Just as Azula is about to run, Koh comes forth, and she is frozen. Whether it is the power of the spirit or her own fear, Azula doesn't know—but she is helpless as the monster blots out the world, the darkness setting in all around her.
"Well, perhaps you're not so wise, after all. I just told you, didn't I…?"
Koh changes his face for the final time, and the white mask stares into Azula's eyes once again. For the first time in what feels like forever, Azula wishes that she is not alone…
But she is.
"I am the Face Stealer," says Koh. "And I am here for you!"
The last thing Azula remembers is her own piercing scream.