It took Zhao quite a while to reach the Northern Air Temple on foot, but with his Demon enhanced physiology, it was easier than it would've been otherwise.
"Master, are you sure they'll be here?"
"I am quite sure of my own daughter's intentions. Because she is not a Demon, I can't actually see inside of her head nor read her thoughts, but because she is my offspring, we have a...connection of sorts that allows me to keep tabs on her. It is stronger in her than it is my worthless son, Zuko, but it is still there nonetheless."
Zhao scrunched his face in confusion, "So why do you think Azula is coming here?"
"Most likely because she figured something out about the Avatar's location and by proxy, Zuko's location. If they aren't here yet then that's a good thing. We have the upper hand and can plan accordingly."
"What would you have me do?"
"Hide yourself and observe until I give you further instructions. I am mere days away from my destination to deal with that wretched filth, The King of Omashu. After I dispose of him, we can then fully move forward with the final steps of the plan. I'm putting my faith in you to not be discovered and take heed in that cursed swordsman's battle instincts. If he so much as detects you, the entire plan could be thrown in disarray."
"My daughter is also a crucial part of this, so if you are able too, keep a close eye on her as well. I want to see just how she handles a situation like the one that will soon arise on her own and without outside interference."
"But sir, she can't possibly hope to beat Kyojuro should she confront him."
"You misunderstand my intentions, Zhao. I do not need the girl to beat Kyojuro nor accomplish anything major. I gave her a task I had no hope of her actually being able to complete. There's something in particular I wish to test within my daughter."
"Her humanity."
"Such a fragile and feeble thing that I have always instilled in her that it is worthless. Discarding such a worthless concept is something that I am eager to see if she can successfully pull off and if so, I will welcome her into our ranks as an Upper Ranked Demon."
"What if…", Zhao almost loses his nerve to ask the question, but must follow through with it, "What if she fails like last time when she lost against that girl and her troops?"
Ozai took a moment to ponder something before answering, "Do you still have that vial I gave you before embarking on this mission?"
"Yes sir."
"Well then you already know what must be done if she fails. At first I thought she had plenty of time to grow and reach an acceptable level, but with the invasion drawing near, I need every available pawn in place and ready to go. You know what must be done should she fail."
"Right, I will carry out my duties perfectly," Zhao promised.
With that out of the way, Zhao hid himself away within the Northern Air Temple and waited. It wouldn't be long before Azula and her cohorts arrived along with Kyojuro and his company. He grinned thinking about the numerous scenarios that could unfold here and wondered how things would play out in the end.
Only one way to find out and boy will this be a treat to someone like him.
"Wake up, everyone!" Aang shouted as loud as possible, waking everyone on board up.
Sokka rolled over on his side and groaned, "Five more minutes…"
Katara simply rubbed her eyes and gauged their surroundings, still not quite sure why they all had to get up.
Zuko was already up, having risen with the sun like he always does and was very annoyed that Aang yelled extremely loud for seemingly no reason.
"What is it now…" Zuko murmured under his breath.
"Guys! You're gonna miss it!" Aang continued to shout.
"Miss what?" Sokka asked, still groggy.
"Why else would I be yelling at sunrise? We're almost at the Northern Air Temple!" The small monk was feeling extremely happy as he hadn't been here, but if it's anything like his air temple, they are going to love it.
Kyojuro continued to sleep, completely undisturbed and oblivious that they were almost to their destination.
"So who's gonna wake him up?" Sokka asked. "You already know whoever does is more than likely going to get a vice hug the moment he wakes up. I hate doing it."
"I'm not," Zuko replied. He also was not fond of being grabbed tightly by a man as strong as Kyojuro.
"Katara, you haven't done it in ages. It's your turn," Sokka said.
She shook her head before moving closer to him, "Seriously, I don't understand why you two are so hesitant on waking him up. Watch," She nudged the man exactly three times before his eyes opened and he shot up with a bright and beaming expression covering his face.
"Ah, Katara! I didn't know it was your turn to wake me up this morning! Thank you!"
She chuckled as Sokka and Zuko's jaws were on the ground.
"It wasn't but these two were afraid to be hugged by you again," Katara said.
He brought the girl into a hug and laughed, "Hahaha! There is no reason to be fearful of my hugs! They are only meant to make you all stronger!"
"What do you mean, Kyojuro?"
"Allow me to explain! Demon strength far exceeds that of normal humans and if you manage to get captured by one, your fate will be set in stone."
"However! If you are able to break away from the grip of someone like me then you will be better off for it should the need arise for you to escape a Demon's clutches!"
"That...actually makes sense!" Sokka agreed.
"Of course it does, Sokka! I told you I would think of everything for my young pupils!" Kyojuro boomed in joy.
"Guys, I get you're having fun back there, but hold on tight!" Aang motioned for Appa to move upwards and as he did they went higher and higher past the clouds until another temple came into view.
The Northern Air Temple and most likely their last stop until they reached the Northern Water Tribe, looked absolutely stunning to them while Aang continued full throttle until they could see tiny specks flying around near the temple.
"Aang, what is that?" Katara asked.
"I don't know, but I better get a closer look since there shouldn't be anyone else here...unless," Aang swooped in even closer, readying his heart for the worst. Maybe his people hadn't been killed off completely. Maybe there really were a few members left that hid themselves away.
Reaching his destination, Aang focused his vision in anticipation hoping that he would see the familiar faces of his people, but a small frown came instead.
"It's not them," Aang said. "I thought there were more Airbenders, but I don't see any markings."
"Are they...flying? How the heck are they even doing that?" Sokka stared in disbelief.
"Interesting! This is quite the unusual occurrence. Aang, please take us closer, I wish to see this up close!" Kyojuro stated.
Sighing, Aang took them even closer to the temple. Katara could tell he was disappointed and a tad bit annoyed over the fact that these people seemingly weren't airbenders and instead were flying with gadgets instead of airbending.
"That's good, right here is fine!" Kyojuro stood up and walked to the edge of Appa's saddle and gave them all a smile before leaping off.
"Kyojuro!" Katara and Sokka cried.
Not wasting any time, Aang flew off after him, very confused and worried as to why he jumped off of Appa for seemingly no reason.
He leapt extremely high and close to one of the people flying in the air, "Hello Air Nation residents! I have come to introduce myself as my curiosity is now piqued when I see you all flying through the air like that!"
"Are you insane!?" The boy reached out to catch Kyojuro as they began to freefall at a rapid pace and instead of panicking and reaching out for his hand, the man smiled and laughed as if nothing was wrong.
"Hahaha! What an exhilarating rush it must be to soar through the air! The only other person I know that can fly like you all do is one of my pupils and he uses his own bending to do it!"
Aang had already reached their location and grabbed hold of the man who didn't look surprised in the slightest. Kyojuro was heavy. Heavier than Aang expected so suffice to say, they needed to land and fast before they both fell down.
"Ah, Aang I was just talking about you! Introduce yourself to the child I was talking to!"
The small child that was looking on was not as amused as Kyojuro originally figured he would be. Maybe jumping off of a flying bison wasn't the greatest way to introduce himself in hindsight.
"Kyojuro, we really do not have the time for this right now! I need to find somewhere to land or we'll both fall," Aang struggled to hold the man and Kyojuro decided it'd be better to test out something anyway.
"Aang, you can release me, I'll make it safely to the top of the mountain! Rest assured I will be ok, I promise!"
"But-"
"Now that that's settled, I will see you two at the top!" He unsheathed his sword and the familiar touch of fire danced around it. The little flying boy hurried away from them with fear covering his face while Aang reluctantly followed suit, hoping the man knew what he was doing.
"Now if I can just get the timing of my form…", Kyojuro had been thinking of something that could faintly emulate Aang's flying abilities or Zuko's swiftness with his firebending and determined that the best course of action would be master one of the few forms he didn't have a good enough grasp on.
He aimed his sword downward as he continued to free fall while spinning it clockwise needing the speed to increase to pull this off. He continued to spin it until he found the speed and tempo it was being spun satisfactory.
Flame Breathing, Sixth Form…, Fire began to cover the blade as they spun themselves around as well, slowing his descent down. Now he just needed to get the timing right or he'd overshoot and crash into the mountain instead of shooting over it.
Blazing Hurricane!, The flames that were building up shot themselves forwards at a rapid pace which in turn slowed his descent downward. Eventually he began to rise through the sky slowly building up speed until he reached the very top of the mountain where the Temple resided.
He stopped the rotation of his sword as he reached the top and landed gracefully on the ground in front of the now budding crowd. Katara had landed Appa alongside the edge of the cliff where she, Sokka and Zuko got off and watched him land in front of them.
Aang had landed alongside the little boy who was in some sort of wheelchair from what Kyojuro could tell.
"Kyojuro, why did you do that!?" Katara cried.
"Hahaha! Calm yourself Katara. I was never in any real danger! I simply wanted to train one of my other Flame Breathing forms that I'm not well versed in! I did manage to reach the top of the mountain on my own, so no harm no foul!" Kyojuro patted the girl on her shoulder and laughed as if jumping off of a flying sky bison was a completely natural thing to do.
"You're a firebender," The little boy from earlier said.
"Ah, where are my manners!", Kyojuro sheathed his sword since he didn't want to scare these people anymore than he probably already had, "Allow me to properly introduce myself!"
"My name is Kyojuro Rengoku and I am the Flame Pillar! It is so very nice to meet you all!" He boomed while his bright and kind expression never faded even as people clearly were uncomfortable with someone like him being here.
"You're a firebender, aren't you?" someone in the crowd asked, fearfully.
"If you are fearful of me being from the nation of demons known as the Fire Nation then I can assure you, I am not! I guess I am what you may call a Firebender, but have no intention of bringing harm to any of you!"
"Liar. All the Fire Nation does is hurt people," The little boy shot back.
Kyojuro took one look at him and realized why he was sitting in this funny looking contraption.
"The boy is paralyzed from the waist down. It's unsurprising why he's so hostile…", Kyojuro simply smiled at the young man who continued to stare him down with fierceness in his eyes.
"I see! Even though you are paralyzed from the waist down, I can tell you do not plan on allowing me to hurt anyone here! That is absolutely incredible mental fortitude, young man! If you do not mind me asking, what is your name?
"My name is Teo and why are you people here?"
"My friends here are traveling with the Avatar and he is in dire need of contacting one of his past lives! I only ask that you allow us to use the Sanctuary where the statues of Avatar's past and allow us to use that. Afterwards, I promise you we will not linger here any longer than necessary!"
"Why do you need permission for something you already have access to? It's not like that's stopped your people from forcing your way into our home anyway!" Teo spat.
"My, my, my, just what do we have here?" A fire nation soldier was making his way over towards the commotion with a weapon drawn in hand.
Kyojuro watched as the soldier came eye to eye with him and pressed the spear close to his chest, clearly threatening him that if he made any sudan movements, things would get messy.
He looked over at the rest of the Gaang before focusing back to Kyojuro, "I don't understand who you are or what you are doing here, but this is under the protection of the Fire Nation and outsiders have no business here."
"That's a lie! This temple is a sacred place where only Air Nomads should be to begin with. If anything, you people should pack your stuff and leave," Aang removed his glider and aimed at the soldier threatening Kyojuro. His expression was one of fury and Kyojuro knew his emotions must be in turmoil seeing more people desecrating a place that was sacred to him.
The soldier went wide eyed upon seeing the bald monk take aim at him, "It's you! You're the Avatar we've been looking for! Ok, now none of you may leave. As per the decree of Firelord Ozai, you are all under arrest!"
Looking even closer at the group, he noticed a certain prince trying to hide himself away and failing. "Prince Zuko? Thank Agni, you are unharmed. Please move away from these people so we can assure your safety."
Zuko stood completely still trying to gauge the situation at hand. More soldiers began to move closer to them and from the looks of it, there were a lot of them. On one hand, this may be the chance to finally be rid of these people and get back home for the first time in forever, but on the other hand…
Why did he feel like he was about to do something he was going to regret later?
"Please stand down!" Zuko cried. He moved ahead of Katara, Sokka and Aang while stretching his hands in front of them, trying to show they meant no harm.
"Stand down, these people mean you no harm. My kidnapping was all just a big misunderstanding, so there is no need for all these weapons. Just put them down so we can talk things over."
The soldier looked for a moment before turning back to Kyojuro with fury in his eyes, "She said that you'd probably brainwashed the Prince, but this is appalling. I should gut you like a fish for doing something so despicable!"
"I am not brainwashed and am completely sane! I am trying to save your life, this man is above what you can handle! I don't want to see my people hurt, so please stop before you do something you regret," Zuko tried to reason with the man to no avail as the soldiers slowly inched closer to them with their intentions clear.
"What do I do? What do I do?" He was panicking and fast. It was never brought up, but he knew that if Kyojuro desired, he could slaughter them without much effort on his part and this was something Zuko wanted to avoid at all costs.
His people were stubborn and most likely wouldn't listen to reason. "Swallow your pride and do it before it's too late!" He kicked himself in advance for what would amount to begging.
"Kyojuro!" The man looked over to see Zuko on his knees with his head placed on the ground, "If you have to fight back, please don't kill them! They are confused and don't understand what they are doing is wrong! I know my nation has done unforgivable things and even now I'm still conflicted, but…" Zuko found himself choked up as the words came flowing out.
"They are still my people and I care for them. Just knock them out or restrain them, but please...don't kill them."
Kyojuro was slightly taken aback. He'd never known Zuko to ever show this much emotion about something, so the fact that he was doing it at all must mean that these are people he cares about. Counting the amount of soldiers surrounding them, Kyojuro saw no more than twenty four individuals. Normally he wouldn't hesitate to eliminate the enemy who is threatening his family, but seeing his pupil on his knees with clear tears clouding his voice swayed him.
"Zuko, I want you to know that your plea did reach my ears and even though this goes against my better judgement, I will apre their lives!" He smiled at Zuko as he placed his hand on the tip of the spear and crushed it as if it were nothing more than a cracker. The soldier tried to firebend in retaliation, but was met with a swift chop to the neck for his troubles.
"If you do not wish to be knocked unconscious then stand down immediately! Anyone else who takes even a single step forward signals to me that you must be challenging me to a fight," Kyojuro readied himself and beamed another bright expression, "And I won't lose to anyone in front of my pupils!"
He could see the soldiers look somewhat shocked that he dealt with the weapon and soldier so easily. They were not swayed in the slightest however.
"Don't worry, men! We can take him!" He heard one shout.
"We will burn you to a crisp for attacking our comrade!" Another roared.
"We'll show you what happens when you rebel against the Fire Nation!" Yet another yelled.
They all ran towards Kyojuro with murderous intent in their eyes and he simply smiled in response. "Well, aren't we just a fiesty bunch!" He dashed forward, much faster than any of them anticipated and before any of them knew it, over half were laid on the ground unconscious while the other half was completely frozen in their tracks.
Kyojuro's main objective was to make it towards the crowd still overlooking the fight to ask them to leave. He didn't want any of them getting caught in the crossfire.
"If you do not mind me asking, please leave the area immediately! There is a serious battle ongoing and I only seek the best for each and every one of you!" Kyojuro stood tall as the crowd was in awe at how bright the man was. He just knocked out half the soldiers in one go and he didn't even look tired or bothered by it.
As he continued to try and dissipate the crowd, another soldier ran up from behind him with a spear, but instead caught a boomerang to the head, knocking him out as Sokka grinned at his impeccable aim.
"C'mon guys, you're gonna have to try a little better than that if you wanna beat us," Sokka teased.
Katara followed this up with using the water that she carried in her pouch, freezing the remaining soldiers in place which then allowed Aang to airbend a strong gust of wind that knocked them all down.
"Aw, Zuko, you didn't tell us that the Fire Nation had turned soft. This was like taking candy from a baby," Katara added.
Aang still didn't look as amused as the other two. These people were disecrating his land and he would not tolerate it any longer.
Kyojuro, watching this all unfold, felt a massive amount of pride for his pupils who handled the rest all on their own.
"Excellent job, my pupils! The little seedlings that were once buried in the ground below are now finally starting to bear fruit! You all have gotten much better combat wise and I am so proud!"
He turned back to the ground, "I'm so very sorry for this interruption, but as I was saying, I think it'd be better if you all stepped away from the area-"
A throwing knife cut off his speech as Kyojuro caught it one handed as it was moments from making contact with his face. "Well…" He turned his eyes to see a teenage girl staring him down with a stoic expression, very reminiscent of Muichiro.
"It seems we have more guests wanting to join in," Kyojuro said while throwing the knife to the ground.
"Oooooh, he's good! I never would've been able to stop one of your throwing knives that easily, Mai!" Ty Lee joined her side cheerfully while also eyeing Kyojuro with an excited expression.
"You idiot. Stop praising the enemy," Mai deadpanned.
"But he's so cute! Do we really have to fight him?" Ty Lee asked.
Zuko went wide eyed upon seeing both his childhood friends once again. "Mai? Ty Lee? What are you doing here!?"
Ty Lee giggled and waved at him, "Hey Zuko! We are trying to rescue you from being kidnapped, duh."
Mai could only groan at the giant bundle of bubbliness that was standing beside her. She looked at Zuko, "Hey."
"Hey, Mai…" Zuko really didn't know what to say to make the situation less awkward.
"Long time, no see," She responded.
Kyojuro looked over at Zuko, then over at Mai and noticed the boy fidgeting when making eye contact with her. It didn't take him long to understand why Zuko was blushing.
"Zuko! You did not inform me that you had a crush on someone!" Kyojuro made his way over to him and wrapped his arm across his shoulder and smiled, "When a woman speaks to you, you need to have confidence if you want to leave a good impression especially after not seeing her for so long!"
Zuko was taken aback by this blatant admission from Kyojuro who could almost read his facial expressions and mannerisms, "I...I do not have a crush on her! Let go of me!"
"Hahaha! Of course you do, it is quite obvious to me and the way you are acting right now all but confirms it!" Kyojuro continued to tease Zuko as the boy continued to deny it. Mai and Ty Lee watched on in confusion as the story they were led to believe was that the man who kidnapped Zuko was an evil vindictive man. Instead they were being treated to a comedy show as if they weren't here to save him.
"So even a kidnapper can spot the crush you two have on each other a mile away. This is too good," Ty Lee giggled.
Mai brought forth more throwing knives and readied herself, "Shut up." She threw them towards Kyojuro who swiftly released Zuko and caught all of them with ease.
"Okay. Maybe the first time wasn't luck," Mai thought to herself. His speed and reflexes was the fastest she'd ever seen so it looks like she'd have to get in close in order to deal with him.
"You are quite talented with these throwing knives! If my reflexes were not honed to their absolute peak, I'd be in real trouble!" Kyojuro placed the knives down and continued on,
"But!"
"As I am currently, you two cannot hope to match me! Please stand down!"
"I like him! Can we pleeeeeeeeease not throw him in jail after we arrest him?" Ty Lee begged. She was taking a real liking to Kyojuro. Maybe it's the whole sunny disposition they both had going on.
"No," Mai deadpanned again.
They both rushed forward as their intentions were now clear to him. They had no plan of backing down and that's fine. He'd teach them some manners one way or another.
"Everyone stay back and that includes all of you!" He motioned for his pupils to stand back and allow him to handle things. He had a feeling this was going to be very very interesting. "I will handle this alone!"
Mai made it into range first and threw a few knives in his general area to draw his attention. Dodging them with ease, he was met with Ty Lee trying to touch him before he evaded her as well. Mai followed through with another flurry of throwing knives and Ty Lee took the opportunity to catch him as he finished evading them with a swift jab to the shoulder.
It wasn't exactly powerful, but somehow Kyojuro's entire left arm went limp as the girl flipped backwards in glee.
"I did it! I did it! See I knew we could beat him!" Ty Lee held her hand out for a high five which was completely ignored by Mai.
"Look alive you idiot. You only took his arm away," Mai said.
Kyojuro went to move his arm, but found it extremely difficult to do so. It was if something was blocking the movement of his arm "What an interesting technique you possess! You don't seem all that powerful so I wonder how you managed to completely sever the connection I have with my left arm!"
They both expected him to start breaking down in fear, finally understanding that he couldn't hope to beat the two of them together. Instead, they noticed a bright expression covering his face once again.
"Hahaha! What an enigmatic fighting style! If you managed to hit a part of my stomach, you may have actually beaten me here today!" Kyojuro channeled his breathing and found what exactly was wrong with him.
"You are able to disable the muscles in someone's body by targeting their vital weak points, correct?" Kyojuro gauged.
Ty Lee giggled at having been figured out as quickly as she did, "Zuko must've told you how it works. Yeah, and now that I did that, you probably already know that your bending is disabled too. We win."
Kyojuro pondered something to himself. Taking a closer look at the girl and her erratic and flexible movements, he noticed she greatly remembered his original pupil, Mitsuri which caused his heart to flutter in sadness.
They may be strangers to him, but somehow, it felt like he was staring down Muichiro and Mitsuri.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but losing an arm isn't enough to beat someone of my caliber! I will give you an A+ for effort though. Landing a solid hit on someone like me takes much skill!"
"If you do not mind me asking, what are your names?" Kyojuro could already tell these were two individuals that he would want to keep an eye on.
"This isn't the time for talk, old man," Mai made another rush at him, who followed through with more knives aimed in his direction. Kyojuro stood his ground as he used his right hand to grab them out of the air faster than they could hit him, but in his peripheral vision, he saw Ty Lee aim and successfully hit his lower back area which caused his entire body to shut down and collapse to the floor.
"Kyojuro!" Katara made a move to rush over to her, but Kyojuro would not allow this.
"Stay where you are and do not interfere!" Kyojuro stated. He could no longer control any part of his body, but the more interesting thing to him was just how exactly did this girl know where to hit him. Sure she could train herself to know the parts of the body to hit, but her level of mastery of this technique isn't just one of dedication and hard work. No, it reeked of genius level talent and he only needed to ask her one question.
"There, happy now, Mai? We beat him!" Ty Lee stuck her hand out once again for a high five and was ignored for a second time.
"Zuko, come over to us so we can get outta here. You don't have to stay with them anymore, we beat the man who kidnapped you," Mai said.
Zuko looked over at Kyojuro who was lying on the floor then Katara, Sokka and Aang who were standing there watching. This was it. His opportunity to escape was right in front of him. All he had to do was run over to them and they could probably be gone by the time he regained control of his limbs. It would be so easy to leave and never look back.
So why was his body refusing to listen?
Zuko stood there unmoving as he continued to lock eyes with Mai. "What are you waiting for? We need to go. "
"She's right, Zuko. She gave us a time limit to bring you back and if we fail, she'll come here herself and that won't be good for any of you," Ty Lee agreed.
"She?" His eyes went wide in fear. "You don't mean she's actually here too!" Zuko looked around nervously. If she was here then things could end up going from bad to downright horrible.
"Well now! This is quite the predicament I find myself in!" Kyojuro laughed. "If you do not mind me asking, how are you able to specifically target my vital points without being able to see them?"
Seeing no harm in it, Ty Lee decided to indulge him, "Well, when I was growing up, I was always really in tune with my surroundings and auras. Mai here thinks I'm making it all up, but I can just...sorta tell where I need to hit and I trained myself to do just that. Pretty cool, right!"
"Very!" Kyojuro beamed in excitement. "To be able to do this to someone such as myself is incredible and you have my praise, Young Ty Lee! You are very reminiscent of someone once close to my heart and to say the two of you are similar would be an understatement!"
Kyojuro slowly started to move again which caused the two girls' jaws to drop. He dusted himself off and looked over to Zuko, "It seems you are friends with some exceptionally special people, Zuko!"
"How is he moving? I thought you said you hit his weak points," Mai stated while prepping more knives.
"Dunno because I definitely did," Ty Lee answered in confusion.
"I suppose I should have informed you from the start, but my technique allows me to control and fine tune my body to my liking! Once I realized what you were doing, I took that last hit on purpose to get a firmer understanding of the technique and luckily for me, it was as simple as forcing my muscles back awake!
"Your muscle dissociation technique is quite the spectacle and I applaud your tenacity in combat! I will say however that you are failing to use it to its full potential!"
"Huh?"
"Ah, allow me to explain what I mean. When you aim for a vital point, is there any point in time that the world and people around you look and feel different? Like when you look at your opponent, you can see the muscles, joints and every other movement as if they were somewhat transparent?"
Ty Lee looked stunned, "...How did you know that?"
His face grew eager as that was exactly what he wanted to hear, "Ty Lee, what you are doing is something that has not been seen in a very long time! You may not understand just how gifted you truly are!"
He clapped his hands together as if he made up his mind about something, "Now that I understand your technique, I will try and demonstrate exactly where you went wrong! I will only need five seconds to beat the both of you and end this battle!"
Kyojuro looked over at his pupils, "Make sure you all watch closely! This will be over in an instant!"
Before Mai and Ty Lee could even begin to initiate the exchange, Kyojuro had burst forward with far more speed than he originally had and blasted by Mai entirely seemingly aiming for Ty Lee.
Ty Lee tried to chi block him again as he stood still in front of her, but he parried her hands with ease and lightly tapped on the stomach which surprised her. She dropped to the ground, finding herself unable to move.
"How did you-I can't move!" She struggled, but found herself completely immobilized and barely able to get her words out.
"I simply showed you that while your technique is quite powerful, it is still very young in its development! I hit a pressure point that only one such as yourself should be able to hit, but since we can see the same view that many others can not, the impossible becomes possible!"
He turned to Mai who motioned for more throwing knives, but found none on herself. Kyojuro, before he dashed by her, had managed to steal every last one of them off of her faster than she could react too or realize where even gone to begin with.
Mai sighed and looked at her fallen comrade, "We lost...Azula is not gonna be happy about this."
A name that was almost forgotten reached Kyojuro's ears and he zoomed over to her in eagerness, "Azula? Is that the one who is related to my pupil, Zuko?"
Mai took a step back, not wanting the man to be so close to her, "Yeah, that's the one." Mai looked over at Zuko and noticed something interesting. She smirked at Kyojuro who thought he'd won, but instead had played right into their hands.
"You might wanna pay closer attention to your surroundings, hotshot," Mai deadpanned while pointing to her right. Numerous guards had surrounded Katara, Aang and Sokka and while they were confident they could take most of them out, there were far too many to risk it. Zuko had been pulled away and restrained by a large soldier.
"It's such a pity that things even had to come to this. If only you came quietly instead of hesitating, things wouldn't have gotten to this point. What a shame."
Azula walked forward through the commotion with a prideful smirk on her face while retaining the same air of invincibility that Zuko had known her to have for years.
"It's been a while, Brother. I do hope you've been well," Azula walked over to him and signaled for the guard to release him.
"She gauged the surroundings and noticed Ty Lee sprawled out on the ground unable to move and Mai also unable to use her throwing knives. She looked at Kyojuro with an analyzing expression before smirking again.
"So I take it you are the man that kidnapped my older brother?"
Kyojuro wasted no time rushing over to the woman. He leaned down over her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "So you must be the one I've been looking for! Princess Azula, correct? My name is Kyojuro Rengoku and I am the Flame Pillar!"
She shoved his hand off of her and eyed the man with a look of disgust, "Watch where you are touching, peasant! Don't you have any idea how important I am?"
"Hahaha! Not in the slightest! Also if you don't mind, would you please refrain from trying to capture my friends?"
"I don't think you really get what's going on here, so allow me to explain. Once we take Zuko away from you, each and every last one of you criminals will be thrown in jail until Firelord Ozai decides a punishment fitting for criminals like you. This is not up for debate."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, young lady! Do you truly believe these guards are able to handle me? I ask once more that you let them go before things turn messy!" Kyojuro stared Azula down with his bright expression never changing in the face of her own prideful one.
Azula did find it odd that this man wasn't backing down from her as whenever she asserts her dominance over someone, they normally cower and submit to her. Kyojuro was different. Very very different from the people she was known to encounter. He wants to be stubborn? Try and defy her? Fine. She would simply have to show him the difference between them.
She motioned for one of the guards to aim his weapon at Katara's neck which caused Kyojuro to waver almost immediately. "So that's it huh…"
"Now that you see who's really in control, I believe you understand how little control you have of this situation right now. Stand down and let my men arrest you or I will kill each and every last one of them right before your very eyes."
"You...you drive a hard bargain, Azula. If I don't do as you say, you threaten to hurt them and anything I do can be seen as a threat. I have only just met you, but I can already tell your cunning and tactical mindset is far above anyone here besides me," Kyojuro walked over to Mai and handed her his sword.
He turned back to Azula with only one goal in mind, "I challenge you to an Agni Kai! If I win, you must let us go, but if I lose, you can do what you want with us! How about it? My skill versus your own!"
Azula scoffed at the offer, "I have no need to hold an Agni Kai against people beneath me. I will not allow you to waste my time any longer."
"You believe myself to be beneath you? Hahaha! Don't make me laugh, young woman! Even if I was a withered old man, it would still be a hundred years too early for you to even hope to challenge me!" Kyojuro did not move from his spot as he crossed his arms. He clearly managed to hit a nerve as Azula was completely taken aback by his brashness along with his rudeness.
Mai and Ty Lee watched anxiously as they wondered how insane this man truly was. Insulting Azula like that never ended well for the perpetrator. "What's he doing? Ty Lee asked, still trying to regain control of her limbs.
Mai racked her head to find an answer and only one thing came to mind, "He's out of his mind. Doesn't he know Azula will kill him?"
"Kyojuro, stop!" Zuko shouted and rushed over to both of them hoping to stop this madness.
He looked at Azula, "I'll go with you and won't fight back, so please just stop this."
"Oh, Zuzu. Always the kind and brave one. Always the hardheaded and foolish one. We are going to take you back by force regardless of you willingly giving yourself over to us, but," She really really really hated the way this man was looking at her. It was if he was looking down on her instead of the other way around.
"Your friend here just earned himself a one way ticket to the boiling rock."
"Guards, seize him and end this pointless conversation before I end up doing something I regret," Azula turned away and began to walk back to one of the houses the people here had accommodated for them, but little did she know that Kyojuro had no intention of letting things end here.
"Zuko, I never would have taken your sister for a coward! I understand you and her share the same blood, but you never hesitated to fight me when provoked, but she instead tucks her tail between her legs and scurries off! How interesting is that!"
Azula stopped instantly and Zuko could see Kyojuro definitely struck a major nerve with that one.
"If she was afraid to challenge me to an Agni Kai, then why didn't she just say that! I am one who would never raise my hand to a defenseless child! Especially one as fragile and weak as her!"
Zuko watched as his sister turned around with scorn and fury covering his entire face. Whatever Kyojuro had hoped to accomplish by making the woman upset, he'd undoubtedly gotten his wish.
"How-how dare you speak to me like this! Do you have a death wish?" She asked, feeling the fire within begin to burn in anger.
Kyojuro smiled as if he wasn't dealing with a homicidal princess, "As if you could even hope to scare me with your puppy dog antics! If we were to fight, I would only need one hand to beat you and I wouldn't even break a sweat!"
Azula watched as Kyojuro began to laugh and laugh and laugh some more. She just met the man, but she really really really wanted to see him grovel beneath her feet.
"Since you seem to want to die so badly then fine. Be my guest, but don't think a simple apology or begging will let you escape my wrath. Zuko, I'll mark you for your insolence."
"Mark me? You mean the same thing the Firelord did to Zuko, right?" Kyojuro's entire demeanor changed and Azula could see she managed to strike a nerve this time.
"Of course that's what I mean. The only time the Fire Nation marks anyone is when they absolutely deserved it and you are at the absolute top of the list right now," She growled as she took her stance.
Kyojuro noticed Zuko slightly flinch when mentioning being marked and that told him all he needed to know about this sister of his. She didn't care about Zuko and definitely did not act like a little sister is supposed to. Agni was right. The Firelord has tainted her young mind into one of hate and anger. He'd just have to teach her the error of her ways by breaking her down step by step until she concedes the fight.
"Before this fight begins, let me say this. I do not like you nor this high and mighty attitude you possess! When I first met Zuko, the boy, while arrogant, had enough humility within him to understand right and wrong, but I can take one look at you and tell you've been spoiled for your entire life! Well, I can assure you that will end today, Azula! Consider this the start of our first lesson!"
"Lesson? What could someone like you possibly hope to teach me?" She sneered as she took her fighting stance."
"What it's like to lose!" Kyojuro kept his body relaxed and brought his right arm forward signaling he really was not taking her seriously, "Come at me like you are trying to kill me!"
"Is he really not gonna take her seriously?" Mai asked.
"I guess not," Ty Lee responded.
Either this man was extremely confident in his abilities or borderline suicidal. Azula was not a woman to be trifled with and soon he would see why she ruled her over troops with an iron fist.
Zuko on the other hand knew from first hand experience what Kyojuro could do and just how bad things could get for her. Azula wasn't one to take losses lightly and Kyojuro, if he was not careful, could destroy her ego and cause her to go off the rails.
Agni only knows how this would play out.
"So, my daughter is going to challenge that flaming haired swordsman herself…"
"Yes, sir." Zhao was hiding himself away watching everything unfold.
Zhao could tell that his master was thinking about something, deeply. Although he couldn't see it, it almost felt like the man was smiling.
"Observe my daughter and gauge how far she's grown. If she can at least damage the bastard then leave her alone and allow her to progress on her own, but...if she fails…"
"You know what to do."
Zhao removed the vial from his pocket and smirked. Things were going to get far more interesting than he originally thought.
The soldiers, Zuko, Ty Lee and Mai, Katara, Aang and Sokka all watched as Azula continued to attack Kyojuro relentlessly while he barely looked like he was trying at all.
Azula shot another large conglomerate of flames at the man who swatted it away like nothing while smiling at her.
"Come now, is this really the best you can do? These flames are mere child's play to someone like me!"
"Shut your mouth, peasant!" She rushed forward and started mixing in punches and kicks infused with her firebending in hopes of catching off guard, but even that proved useless as Kyojuro began to talk with her while parrying and dodging each attack.
"You know-", He ducked a punch, "For someone who's a self proclaimed master-", He evaded a flurry of punches and parried one of them to the left causing her to stumble, "Your form could definitely use some work!"
Azula shot multiple fire blasts at him, he continued to smile in return. Kyojuro took his right hand and batted them away once again.
"These flames are colored blue, but they are barely even hot to me! I wonder why that is?" He teased as she continued to grow angrier and angrier as he was outright mocking her at this point.
She burst forward with her firebending, attempting to kick him in the face and he simply grabbed her leg right before it made contact with his face and pushed her backward with such force that she skidded across the ground.
Azula was racking her brain trying to access the situation at hand and why was this happening. This fool was treating her like an infant and she was giving her all at this point.
"Have you had enough yet? I do not wish to continue a battle where the winner has already been decided, little girl! Admit defeat and release my comrades!"
She stood back and burst forward along the ground with her bending hoping she'd be able to sweep the man off his feet. Kyojuro foresaw this and leapt right as she came into range and as she stopped herself to turn around and attack again, he flicked her forhead which sent her flying back again.
"Hahaha! I must admit, for an amatuer, you sure are good at combat! If I were to compare you to my other pupils, I'd say you could probably take them on one on one and come out on top. If you were to take them on all at once, you'd probably end up taking out most of them as well! Your skill level is very very high Azula!"
"On a scale of one to ten, I'd say you score one hundred!"
"But!", Kyojuro crossed his arms and posed in an almost dramatic manner, "I'm the million point man, you cannot hope to defeat me!"
"Ok, that was kinda cool," Ty Lee admitted. Mai reluctantly nodded her head as they watched the man toying with Azula school her as if this was nothing more than a game.
Kyojuro turned to his pupils and smiled, "Aang, Sokka, how was my new one liner? Was it flamboyant enough for you?"
"I'll admit it was pretty cool," Aang giggled.
"Ditto, but you know, it'd be nice if you could do something about these guards holding us at knife point," Sokka complained. He could use his breathing to escape from them, but it'd be too risky to make any sudden moves and he still wasn't as fast as Kyojuro.
"Leave it to me!" Kyojuro assured.
Beginning to walk over to Azula, the woman found herself struggling to move. She gave it her all and not only did he completely brush her off as an amatuer, he had his way with her the entire time they fought. She couldn't even land a blow on this arrogant fool who never stopped smiling at her.
It made her sick to her stomach the longer she looked at him.
"Little girl, I will say it once more! Give up and admit defeat or suffer more humiliation! Your blue flames are incredible, but lack the heat needed to even tickle me!"
"Stop it…" Azula was already at her limit and she had no more intention of letting this man do what he wanted. Forget the boiling rock. She'd end him, right here and now. Father would just have to understand that this fool earned what was about to hit him.
"Why? Did I touch some sort of nerve? You didn't stop when you insulted my pupil, so why would I stop when I speak the truth? Your flames are ice cold to someone like me!" He pointed to Zuko who was still watching flabbergasted. He had never seen anyone belittle his sister like this.
"My pupil has better flames than you could ever hope to have! Hahahahaha!"
That was the straw that broke the camel's back.
She leapt up and shot herself backwards. Her hair was a complete mess at this point, but screw it. He had to know that he couldn't do this to her and get away with it.
"My flames are cold? Ha! You want a cold flame? I'll show you a cold flame!" Azula was done with entertaining this piece of commoner filth.
Up and down, left to right, her body continued to sway in an odd pattern as sparks of what looked like lightning crackled and swirled around her as she moved. Kyojuro noted that it seemed to be focused on her two fingers.
Danger.
Kyojuro's entire demeanor changed as he could feel just how dangerous this technique was. His instincts were screaming at him to not allow her to fire whatever it is she's charging up at him.
"This looks dangerous...very much so!" An odd thought crossed his mind however. Zuko didn't inform him of people being able to generate lightning here as well. That young child with yellow hair who had an odd habit of falling asleep at the worst of times popped into his head and he smiled.
He didn't have time to waste though as she was almost done charging this attack and he was pretty sure something like this would be fatal for even someone of his caliber should he get hit close enough to a vital organ.
"Kyojuro, you have to stop her! Don't let her shoot you with that!" Zuko cried. "It doesn't matter how tough you are, it will kill you if you take it head on!"
"Not a problem, Zuko! I won't take the attack head on as it will never come close to hitting someone like me!"
Kyojuro, listen to me! Stop being a giant dumbass and stop her!" Zuko tried to rush at the man, but was stopped by one of the guards who snatched him in a bear hug, not letting him interfere.
"Do not worry, Zuko! I have everything under control! If the attack is unblockable then I will simply have to dodge it to prove my point! Nothing this woman has can match me!"
"You can't just dodge lightning! It's impossible!" Zuko tried to reason. He simply received a confident expression in return.
"I will make the impossible possible! Just sit back and watch me!"
Being able to dodge lightning at almost point block range also means he'd grown as a pillar so he figured this would be good training for a future confrontation with any Upper Rank Demon. They'd most likely have no issue dodging something like this and if he is to be able to stand on equal footing with them, then he has to test his limits at any opportunity.
Azula felt her energies divert from each other and smirked, "I'll show you weak, peasant. When you're nothing more than a charred corpse at my feet, remember this is what you wanted!"
She shot her fingers forward aiming directly at Kyojuro's heart and fired. With an attack like this and a man this foolish just standing there waiting for it to hit him, this fight would be over.
Or at least that's what should happen.
Faster than she could get the attack off, Zhao had appeared before her with speed far exceeding anything she had ever seen before and grabbed her snapped her finger tips, completely killing the attack before its completion.
As Azula dropped to the ground in pain, Zhao turned around to greet his old rival, "It's been such a long time, Kyojuro. I hope all has been well with you" He sneered as Kyojuro felt pure anger rising within himself.
"You!" He turned to Mai, "Give me my sword now! This man is dangerous and I am the only one who can protect you!"
"I wouldn't move if I were you," Zhao stated. "I'd be more worried about your pupils of yours more than anything else."
Zhao lifted Azula off the ground in a stranglehold, "I was told to observe your progress, but alas...it seems as if you won't be able to do this on your own. If I was able to out speed it, then that was never going to land on that bastard."
"The soldiers holding those snot nosed brats are as good as dead. You might want to worry about the sticky situation you are in before this girl's safety."
As he choked Azula with his right hand, Kyojuro saw him bring his left hand up in a peculiar motion. It was as if he was about to push an imaginary switch.
Imaginary Switch.
Switch.
His mind flashed back to the dam from the earlier incident with Jet and how it seemingly burst even though he had removed the explosives. Apparently he missed the largest one as he finally figured out that it was Zhao who managed to blow the dam up on his own and now he had undoubtedly done something to the soldiers too. They had to move and fast.
Kyojuro went into a panic as he rushed over to the soldiers and immediately gathered Katara, Zuko, Aang and Sokka. He took a moment to snatch Ty Lee and Mai away from the area as well even though he hardly knew them. He tried to move as fast as he possibly could have in order to escape the blast zone, but it was too late.
Zhao activated his Blood Demon Art which caused the numerous soldiers surrounding them to explode, causing everyone to be blown away. Kyojuro turned at the last minute to try and take the blunt of it, but everyone still took some of the blast. Aang and Sokka were thrown into the town area where the villagers and Teo were watching everything unfold. Katara was thrown into a nearby wall while Ty Lee and Mai were both thrown near Zhao and Azula.
Kyojuro and Zuko were thrown to the edge of the cliffside area where both were about to be granted a front row seat for a grand spectacle. Zhao sharpened his claws as he watched the girl continue to struggle.
Slash*
Zhap had slashed Azula diagonally across her chest and dropped her to the ground as she squirmed in agony.
"AZULA!" Zuko ran over to Zhao and tried to firebend an attack to force the man away from her.
Nothing came out. Confusing, but that did not deter him as he launched himself at the man who barely even gave him the time of day.
Zhao kicked the boy away with such force that it caused him to almost vomit up the contents within his stomach. Kyojuro, who had taken the brunt of the attack was trying to channel his breathing in order for him to stand again, but that explosion was far more powerful than he expected to be. It was like getting hit by a moving train at top speed, but all over his body.
"Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon enough," He removed the vial from his pocket and crushed it standing over her. The contents spilled out and dripped into her open wound which more or less signaled his job was done.
"And soon she will be in yours." Zhao turned to leave as his job was complete, His next stop would be for the Northern Water Tribe in order to meet up with Hama and the rest of his feet.
Before leaving, he decided to impart a few words of advice for his potential new comrade, "What I have given you is the purest essence of our Master's blood. He saw something great within you, but from what he observed it was your own humanity that continued to slow you down, so he decided to do something about that."
Azula felt her body run hot as she continued to writhe in agony as she could barely think straight. Zhao was saying something, but it was being tuned out due to the amount of pain she was in.
"When your transformation is complete and you have had your fill of these insignificant ants, come and find us. We will be waiting for you, Princess."
And with that, he vanished which left Zuko the ability to run over to his sister who was still crying out in agony.
"Azula, just hang on! Everything's gonna be ok!" Zuko and Azula were never the closest siblings, but he'd be damned if he just sat by while she was hurting like this.
After some time, she stopped moving altogether which worried the boy as he immediately feared the worst.
"Et...away…" He heard her mumble.
"Azula, Thank Agni you're ok! Don't move, I'm gonna go get Katara to heal you, just stay still," Zuko urged his sister to remain still, but she had other plans in mind.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She sat up and took a swipe at Zuko which he just barely dodged.
Azula removed her armor as she stood up. Zuko's eyes widened in horror and dismay as her injuries healed themselves at a rapid pace. Drool poured down from her mouth as she grabbed her head in confusion. Or maybe pain? Maybe a mix of both, but whatever it was, she was beginning to feel agitated.
"No...don't tell me, you're…" Zuko desperately wanted to avoid accepting what he was looking at, but his eyes played no tricks on him.
She lunged at him with her eyes slitted like an animal and her teeth sharp like fangs. Zuko dodged the uncoordinated attacks, but the only thing he was asking himself was why? Why did Zhao turn her into one of these abominations? Why her?
"Azula, please stop! Try and remember who you are!" His cries were to no avail as she continued to mindlessly attack him.
As she continued her mindless assault, Zuko steeled himself to try and restrain her until Kyojuro recovered. They could figure out what to do afterwards, but he was not going to let anyone hurt nor kill his little sister.
He tried to shoot a small burst of fire at her hoping she'd take a step back and give him some time to recover, but nothing came out.
Why was nothing coming out? Zuko dodged a few more of her attacks before trying once more and coming up empty. This time however, he stopped dead in his tracks with fear creeping through his mind.
He tried to deny it earlier. He truly truly did, but there was no doubt about it. This man and these bunch of kids had finally brought one of his worst fears to life. He heard his uncle speak of it during their earlier travels when he was training with him during his first year aboard his ship.
Somewhere along the line, his loyalties changed and deep within his heart, no...deep within his soul he knew it to be true.
His longing to return home...his wanting to become someone his father was proud of...his desire to capture the Avatar…
He didn't know exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way. It faded. It was gradual and wasn't noticeable unless you paid close enough attention, but it just faded away.
His inner spark that had fueled his Firebending had completely fizzled out and as much as he wanted it to be a lie, Zuko understood what this meant.
Time seemed to slow for him as Azula lunged at him again, but instead of dodging, Zuko stood his ground as tears trickled down and he widened his arms. This was probably a stupid, nonsensical and suicidal idea, but...now that his spark is gone, it's the only option he has available.
If he couldn't fight his sister, then he'd give her what she wanted. If she's hungry then...she can feed on him if need be. It was his own fault for not being able to reach her in time, so he should be the one to take responsibility for this tragedy.
He hoped that Kyojuro wouldn't take what was about to happen to him personally. Sometimes things just don't go your way and for Zuko, luck was a luxury he just didn't possess. Never had and most likely never will.
Even after everything they'd been through growing up. The insults, the teasing, the jealousy and everything else in between…
She was still his little sister and he'd do what he could to help her.
Because that's what big brothers were supposed to do and he'd see this through to the end.
I did say Azula was going to be a very important character in this fic and I meant it, but...yeah, she's kind of a Demon now lol. Also Zuko somewhere along the way has lost his spark for Firebending similar to how he did in S3, it just happened much earlier this time around since it's been a few months since Kyojuro originally separated him from Iroh and his crew. (Kidnapping is such a strong word lol)
Kyojuro seeing Muichiro and Mitsuri in Mai and Ty Lee was also very fun to play around with and this will be expanded upon more later down the line.
Anyways if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask in the comments below. Thank you all for reading and see you next week!