Tinderbox – Part 02
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Disclaimer: Nickelodeon owns the Earth Kingdom's swanky fashions, and all other Avatar-related trademarks. I own an iBook and a copy of Microsoft Word. Together, we fight crime!
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Lin jumped at the sound of the explosion just beyond the village walls. It wasn't a pleasant experience. His hipbone had been shattered years ago, one of the many victims of the Dragon of the West's assault on Ba Sing Se. Better men than Lin had been crippled during the fall of the outer wall. When the cannonballs came thundering in, the Earthbenders had been too overwhelmed to redirect all of the falling stone and mortar.
Hot little lances of pain dug into Lin's flesh. They were familiar – too familiar. Each time this happened he hoped that the pain would abate a little, or that he'd gain some tolerance. Each time, he was disappointed.
Lin propped himself up against the wall of the alleyway, breath ragged. At least he hadn't fallen. If he'd fallen they would have seen him. And the blacksmith – bloody Mitsuo – didn't know how to keep his damned mouth shut.
People were shouting in the distance. Lin could do nothing to help, so he ignored them. Instead he focused on little Tulip, who seemed to have found an… ally? Sweet little girl like her and a scruffy vagabond like that didn't seem right somehow.
Poor little Tulip. So dour. She must have a lot to worry about.
Lucky for her that Lin had a good head on his shoulders.
When the mismatched pair of outsiders began their dash towards the gate, Lin bit his lip until it bled in order to distract himself from the agony of walking. Then he followed.
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Mai was skilled at schooling her emotions. It was an important talent to hold at court, where any and all weaknesses would be mercilessly exploited. Fire Nation aristocrats took their intrigues as seriously as they took their wars.
Unlike wars, the intrigues never had to end.
Mai found it all very tedious. It was hard to be affected by gossip and political head-games when you were too jaded to care.
Except Mai kind of wished that Ty Lee were here, right now, because suddenly her emotional control was failing. Techniques that worked in the world's greatest city were of no use at all in this stupid little town. Mai had grimaced at the explosions and spoken without thinking and she was very annoyed with herself and… where the hell was Zuko going?
The knife-thrower sighed, imperceptibly, and then took off after him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Mai asked, as soon as she caught up to the former Prince. She had to walk at a brisk trot in order to keep up.
When had Zuko gotten so tall?
"Now you decide to speak plainly?"
"I was speaking plainly," Mai responded dryly. It wasn't Mai's fault that Zuko had somehow managed to spend even more of his childhood at court than she had, without picking up an ounce of doublespeak. It took real talent to be that oblivious.
Zuko suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, and turned on Mai. A less coordinated girl would have run smack-dab into his chest.
Mai noted that he hadn't sheathed his swords.
When did Zuko start carrying swords?
"What is Azula doing?" Zuko demanded, his voice low and rough with urgency. Was he insane? They were in the middle of a crowded square! Townspeople flowed around them, running everywhere and which-way. All roads led to the high stone walls.
"General Iroh is hiding somewhere around here, right? You don't want the Earth Kingdom on your trail. You can't attack me here."
Mai brought a hand to her breast, as though she were a sheltered merchant's daughter overwhelmed by the thought of the Fire Nation's approach. The motion allowed her to pull a thin, sharp needle from its hiding-place in her cleavage.
It felt good to be armed.
"Stop stalling," Zuko said, looming over her.
When had Zuko gotten so… solid?
"I'm not stalling." Mai wrestled her tone into the usual deadpan. Speaking emotionally would not motivate Zuko to see reason. "You know I'm right. Azula sent me shopping in this ridiculous getup, precisely so that we wouldn't be detected. Nobody wants the Earth Kingdom army in this area. I don't know what happened out there, but Azula had no intention of setting off a blast."
"Azula always lies," Zuko said, as if by rote.
"Azula's too smart to draw the eye of Ba Sing Se. We can't run now. I didn't get a chance to purchase supplies," Mai thought out loud. Azula might send Mai on an errand, knowing she would encounter Zuko, as some kind of bizarre test. But Azula would never set a blast so perilously close to the trio's own base of operations! The more Mai considered the explosion, the less sense it made. "You know this. You can't charge into something Azula couldn't fight without breaking her cover."
Zuko appeared to consider Mai's words for a few seconds. Then he shook his head.
"Azula always lies. That means I can't trust you either. If this is her way of drawing me out into a trap then I don't care, because I'm tired of running. I'll face her lies straight on."
Zuko turned – turned his unprotected back to her, such disrespect! – and resumed walking towards the gate in the town walls.
When had Zuko become so adamant? When had the sensitive boy that liked to sit in parks with his mother become the kind of person that casually walked into a firestorm?
And why was Mai trying to help him?
Ty Lee was out there somewhere, dealing with Agni knew what. Azula could take care of herself, but Ty Lee was…Ty Lee never thought about anything. She was obnoxiously cheerful and her stupidity was legendary, but Fire Spirit help Mai, Ty Lee was the only person in the world who could even come close to understanding Mai's position. Maybe that counted for something.
Or maybe this strange new Zuko-shaped person was throwing off Mai's good sense. That had to be it. Azula's misstep was a shock in and of itself.
There was no other excuse for feeling so…lost.
Stupid. This feeling was incredibly annoying.
"Listen to me, Zuko!"
She narrowed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and flicked her needle at Zuko's neck. Blood oozed from the tiny wound. A few millimeters to the left, and the projectile would have opened up an artery.
Zuko slapped his hand to his neck and pulled out the needle. It looked like he was slapping away a mosquito.
"Listen to me." Mai lowered her voice again, approaching the furious ex-Prince. She'd just given away a weapon that she could have used to kill him. Zuko was a trained warrior. He'd have to understand that kind of doublespeak. "It's not a ploy. If Ty Lee is in danger I want backup. The General's out there too. You might need the same. Who else in this village are you going to tell about the Dragon of the West?"
Mai knew that Zuko had gotten the unspoken message when she moved within arm's reach, and he responded by nodding warily. He could just as easily have put her in an arm-lock or thrown her into a wall.
"So now you want me to lead you straight to Uncle? Be serious."
"What did I just-"
"We'll go to the gate," Zuko interrupted. He sheathed one of his swords, then then closed his free hand over Mai's bare shoulder. It was a strange parody of affection.
When had Zuko's skin grown so rough?
The exile bent his head in order to murmur into the shell of Mai's ear. His breath was hot on her neck. His hand squeezed tighter against her skin and yes, Mai understood this language. Finally, after all that bickering, they had a way to communicate. It was about time.
"And we'll go together, because I don't trust you out of my sight. If you have any more stunts up your dress, then I will hurt you, witnesses or no. I've announced my presence in an Earth Kingdom village before."
The pressure of his palm was a show of strength. It warned Mai not to press her luck.
Zuko watched Mai like a hawk as they pushed their way through the panicked crowd, but that was fine. All it meant was that Mai had to turn her head when she smiled her secret smile. And why not? Mai had gotten through. Part of Zuko must suspect that Mai's concern for Ty Lee was genuine.
Trust Zuko to buy into the kind of sentimental argument that no respectable Fire Nation commander would touch with a ten-foot pike. Under all that bluster, he hadn't changed at all.
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When Zuko was sent to sea, he was given an all-male crew. Apparently the sailors thought that it was bad luck to have women on-board.
At first, Zuko had been skeptical about the practice. The Fire Nation prided itself on being egalitarian towards the placement of women in the armed forces. It was one of the many things that set them apart from the savages.
Over time, boredom drove Zuko to ask the sailors why women were unwelcome. They said it was the same reason why the Water Tribe must restrict female Waterbenders to healing – the Moon Spirit lent women her power, but the Ocean Spirit did not want them. Otherwise it didn't make sense not to use those girls as a military asset. No mariner worth his salt was foolish enough to defy the wisdom of the Water Tribe.
Personally, Zuko thought that the superstition had its roots in something that his men knew instinctively: all women were crazy.
Azula's follower was case-in-point. Mai had enabled Zuko's insane sister to chase him into the Earth Kingdom. She'd babbled at him in some kind of weird code, and then flung a needle into his neck. Her little friends had probably sent this place into a stampede with their pyrotechnics. And yet somehow he, Zuko, had been made to feel like the unreasonable party in their dealings.
It was bewildering. How did Mai do that?
Zuko would dearly love to know when he'd built up enough poor karma to deserve all of this.
Uncle had taught Zuko to assess and break down any emergency situation into manageable pieces. It was sound advice.
Facts:
1) All women were crazy.
2) Zuko could smell smoke in the air, and feel a sea of flame flickering out of his reach. If he concentrated hard enough he could hear trees crack and fall beyond the wall. It wouldn't surprise him if a forest fire were under way. Nearby rural people might flee to the town for shelter.
3) The town itself was worn and picked-over. Non-essential infrastructure had been stripped away and sent off to fuel the war effort. However, the walls of the town were probably older than the unification of the Earth Kingdom itself. They were old, strong, and sturdy. That meant they could withstand an inferno.
4) Soldiers ran through the streets, trying to usher civilians back into their homes, but it did no good. The militiamen were too timid, because they were the sons and brothers of the people they ought to have been herding. There was no way that untrained boys like these could keep order by force. Even a weak enemy could overrun a soft target like this, within a matter of hours.
...and there was no reason for Zuko to categorize anything because there was no reason for him to care. It was only a mental exercise. A reflex. If Zuko didn't have to make sure Mai wasn't plotting to knife him in the back, he'd already have been beyond the gate already.
Uncle had better be all right.
Mai threaded her way ahead of him. While Zuko had to muscle people out of the way, Mai seemed to weave her way through the mob effortlessly. The pudgy little girl that he remembered had grown angular and pale – as long-limbed as a spidergazelle.
It was disconcerting to think about how much else must have changed in the Fire Nation, since Zuko had been gone.
"Slow down," Zuko grumbled.
"You can't keep up?"
"I didn't say that."
"Mmm," Mai made a bored, dismissive noise. Again, Zuko felt like the unreasonable person in the conversation. She hadn't even had to use words this time. Dammit.
Finally the pair reached the town gate. What they found there was enough to make Zuko want to beat his head against the nearest brick wall. A crowd of women and what could loosely be termed 'soldiers' were milling around with no discernable objective. People outside the walls were banging on the doors to get it, but no one would let the door down. They were too busy screaming, crying, hyperventilating, and arguing about whether or not unbarring the door would let in Fire Nation troops.
Bashing his own brains out would have been dishonorable, so Zuko chose to yell instead.
"All of you, stop it right now," Zuko roared. It made him feel marginally better about his day.
The townsfolk were stunned enough to pause.
"Who's in charge here?" Zuko demanded.
The rabble looked at one another. Then they looked back at Zuko. The pounding on the other side of the gate continued.
Incidents like this reminded Zuko why Fire Nation conquest was so often justified. What the hell was wrong with these people?
"Have any of you ever smelled burnt flesh? Have you ever heard someone burned alive?"
No one responded.
"I didn't think so." Zuko stomped up to the pulley that would lower the gate. The townsfolk stood uselessly around him, and Mai looked…bemused?
Feh. Crazy.
A young man in too-large Earth Kingdom uniform stood in Zuko's way, blocking his access to the primitive gate mechanism. He waved around a long spear, unstable as a newborn fawn. Zuko realized with a start that the boy couldn't be much younger than himself. The rookie's obvious inexperience was surreal. In the Fire Nation a boy this age who couldn't hold his own in combat would be a laughingstock.
"You have a problem?" Zuko crossed his arms. It was time to get down to business.
The rookie's knees shook, but he held his ground.
"Wh-who do you think you are? I've been in the city militia a whole year! Y-you… I mean, you could let the Fire Nation in here. We could all die! Chiang Rai is a proud town of the Earth Kingdom, a-and…"
Rookie was as pale as a pelicandove.
A rash of murmuring broke out amongst the townsfolk. In his peripheral vision, Zuko caught Mai brushing her hemline in a way that made him instantly wary.
Zuko didn't have time for this.
"Stand down," Zuko ordered. He drew his swords in a smooth, flashy movement that was calculated to impress.
The murmuring grew louder. A few of the other faux-soldiers looked prepared to support their comrade. Mai hung back. She shouldn't be worried. If worst came to worst, they could take the gate by force.
The Firebender was swiftly losing patience. Something had to give.
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Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. This was not good. This was the opposite of good. This was very bad!
Lin had found hope, all wrapped up in a pretty green dress. The fishwives and rejects left in this town were not going to take that away from him!
"Stop!" Lin shouted, hoarsely. "Listen to me! You're making a mistake!"
The veteran shuffled through the crowd, towards the pair of strangers. Lin had gathered several friends on the way over, spreading the good news. They followed in his wake.
His eyes drank in the sight of them. The girl shifted uncomfortably. Oh, but she couldn't understand how much she meant!
"Look at them. A professional soldier and a merchant princess! People like them would never come to goddamned Chiang Rai for themselves. We ain't nothing but peasants!"
Lin's pain was gone, replaced by a manic breed of optimism.
"You've all heard the rumors about how the Avatar joined forces with some rich missy, hidden away from the world. The mercenaries have been crawling all over here. Come on, look!"
Lin brandished a crudely-inked poster that had been dropped off at the local pub by a stranger who called himself Boulder. Dark hair, pale skin, light eyes.
"Why would someone like her be here? I reckon I know," Lin said, conspiratorially. His eyes sparkled. "She told me that her master sent her here. Don't you see? The Avatar knew there would be danger, and he sent help for us! That there's gotta be Toph Bei Fong!"
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What?
Mai cleared her throat before Zuko had the chance to open his mouth. If he was proud enough to proclaim his identity in the last village he'd visited, Agni knew what he'd blurt out this time.
She surveyed the crowd. They were pathetically hopeful. Also, many of them were carrying weapons. Mai and Zuko could take out this mob, but slaughtering such inferior combatants would be deathly boring. Not to mention that it was in poor taste.
Time to think fast.
"You're right," Mai agreed, in a no-nonsense manner. She was doing her very best impression of the way she'd seen the captain of the Palace Guard order around his troops. As far as impressions went, it was extremely poor.
"All of you should heed my associate."
Fortunately for Mai, the townsfolk were desperate to see what they wanted to see: someone who cared about their backwater burg as more than a depot supplying bodies and bread to the Earth Kingdom Army. An agent of the savior who would end the war.
"My master is the Avatar. I am Toph Bei Fong."
The crowd erupted into a ragged cheer.
Hm.
Mai couldn't rightfully complain. She had been the one to wish for interesting times.
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Author's Note:
Many thanks to Rawles for her beta-reading of this chapter. Any clarity or style mistakes remaining are my fault. If you're into Zuko/Mai, you should not need me to tell you that you need to seek out her fic. Get thee hence!
The original version of this chapter was about 2000 words longer, and contained sections from Azula and Ty Lee's POVs. Ultimately, I decided that it would be better to leave what's going on beyond the village walls a mystery. The reader knows what Mai and Zuko know, and that's it.
C&C is more than welcome. I'm happy to have received so many kind reviews thus far.
Cheers!