AN: I really didn't expect this level of attention to anything I wrote. I would never have thought I would be able to push out 10,000 words every few days, but the happiness I get seeing alerts for follows, favs and especially reviews makes it so much easier to fly through the writing process. So to anyone who has stopped by and let me know what they thought, genuinely, truly, thank you.
Chapter 5: Sunder
Ozai never saw it coming.
One moment he was confidently stepping towards Sasuke, the next, he had been completely frozen in place, victim of a particularly crafty jutsu. Not daring to move in the risk of breaking the shadow possession jutsu that he had cast, Sasuke simply stared at the Fire Lord who stood a few long paces away, unmoving and teeth grit in concentration. Closing off his Sharingan, Sasuke pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his shoulders.
"You won't be able to move. I've connected my shadow to yours, and as long as it stays that way, you're completely immobilized. That big firestorm you were getting ready to throw my way won't be happening."
He took a small amount of satisfaction from the look of surprise on Ozai's face that he had been read at all, but knew he didn't have much time. After snaring his opponent, he had cast Wind Release: Hunter Sense and the wind had told him that not only was a great mass of soldiers converging on the Fire Lord's chamber, they were also entering through the back of the palace and would be meeting with Toph shortly. That wouldn't do.
Trying to not show any of the pain he was feeling as a result of the beating he had taken from Ozai, Sasuke straightened and spoke briskly. "I'll give you a last chance to save your own skin. What do you know about me?"
Ozai's snarl turned into a sadistic grin. "You really can't leave that alone, can you? Well, the truth then: I don't know a thing about you, boy."
Sasuke stared in anger as the Fire Lord continued on, "You were thrown into the bottom of Boiling Rock because I didn't know what to do with you. I had to put you somewhere you were kept out of sight, so rumors wouldn't spread that an infiltrator such as you even existed. I intended to send along orders for my daughter to interrogate you following her arrival to overlook the prison, but those plans were cut short for a multitude of reasons. I know nothing about you, Sasuke, save for your impossible adeptness with multiple elements, and your impossible entry into my grandfather's temple."
His eyes were alight with glee at the clear displeasure his lack of a real answer had caused Sasuke, who triggered his own eyes to peer into Ozai's heart, but his jutsu turned up nothing. The Fire Lord was being truthful.
Finding this difficult to wrestle with, Sasuke growled towards the ground, "Yeah those plans wouldn't have lasted. I forgot: you find your daughter only worthwhile as a lamb to be butchered in a primitive attempt to gain power from a celestial body. Hard to believe you're what everyone's so scared of."
Sasuke was glad to see, at least, that this seemed to have gotten somewhat under Ozai's skin. He tilted up his chin and snapped in return, "Don't act like you have any right to judge me, child. My daughter understood, though it is clear you, nor her friends could do the same. For what I am willing to pay, the return I will gain will be enough to fully cement my place, the Fire Nation's place, in history."
His manic expression was enough to give Sasuke pause; there would be no debating with this man, no words would show him the error of his ways. Though his entire purpose currently was to uncover the reason behind his own existing in this world, Sasuke found himself not entirely opposed to snuffing out this contemptible man for what he deemed a worthy trade for the life of his own daughter. His hand brushed the hilt of his sword as he considered drawing it and taking the life of the Fire Lord.
It would be so easy.
The Fire Lord had to fall to the hand of Aang, Katara had made this very clear to him before he had departed the temple. This would be the only way true balance could be restored to the Four Nations, and Sasuke was not to get any ideas about trying to take down the Fire Lord on his own.
But here he was, here in the now, with the very man in question helpless before him. Sasuke found himself drawing his sword and angling it at the ground near his feet. Would it not be better for everyone if he made did this now? It could be reported that Aang had been the one to strike down the Fire Lord, if that's what the people needed to hear. All Sasuke needed to do was pull back his sword, rush forward and…
Ahead of him Ozai cocked his head, "I must ask you… who is it you think has been trapped? I didn't expect such prowess from you, young man, nor did I expect the danger you posed. I will remedy that."
There was a glowing glint behind him and Sasuke turned in time just to throw up a defensive jutsu.
"Wind Release: Heightened Current!"
With the rush of wind flowing chaotically in all directions but towards him, the downpour of fireballs that had been cast in his direction were swept away, either splashing against the walls and pillars or were dissipated entirely. As Sasuke came out of his evasive movement in a tight roll, he saw a countless number of Fire Nation soldiers conglomerated where he and Toph had entered the chambers not minutes ago. He also realized that following his movement and break in concentration, Ozai no longer was bound by his shadow possession jutsu, and now seemed entirely bored with the situation.
The Fire Lord rubbed his wrists apathetically and gestured dismissively in Sasuke's direction as the pounding of armored feet overtook the room. "This assassin broke into my chambers and attempted to kill me, and his compatriots have kidnapped Princess Azula. Destroy him and order the rest of your men, captain, to find my daughter and retrieve her."
Sasuke had a single moment to turn and face the several dozen armored individuals whom had poured into the room before a rush of fire nearly overtook him. Turning and sprinting towards the stone wall he had erected to wall himself off from Toph and tore it down, blowing the pieces back over his shoulder to slow the progress of his pursuers. As he scrambled through the hole in the wall, he rolled to the side to recover his breath, he heard a great deal of noise behind him as the steady flow of soldiers moved to pursue.
Just before Sasuke turned to continue his escape, he heard the captain ask the Fire Lord, "Your highness, what should be done with the ones who took your daughter?"
"I believe they were two of my daughter's friends turned traitor, and a young earthbender who is not to be underestimated. I injured one of them, but kill them all regardless, captain, I don't want any survivors."
Before they even reached the back entrance of the palace, Azula slowly found herself returning to reality. She saw a piece of earth carrying the unconscious body of Ty Lee on her left as she felt a tight, firm grip around her wrist. She saw Mai to her left as well as both of them were being dragged along the dimly lit corridors by one of the last people she would expect.
Toph was pulling her along as though she were even younger than the girl in question; finally coming to her senses of what was happening, she dug her heels in and yanked her wrist free from the grip of the younger girl. Their small procession came to a halt as Azula looked frantically around at her situation, unsure of what to say. It took only a couple seconds before her opening and closing mouth finally thought of words to say and she pointed accusatorily at Toph. Her finger seemed to tremble beyond her control.
"You. You are the enemy! You break into my father's palace and—"
Mai walked up beside her, looking into her eyes intently. "And saved us, Azula. Our lives our forfeit here."
As she recalled what happened, Azula turned wildly towards where they had come, feeling a distinct numbness spreading throughout her fingers and feet. "We can go back. He'll forgive us, I know he will. He'll get Ty Lee to a doctor, he'll let you go Mai, if we just… "
She trailed off as the absurdity of what she was saying settled in. In a turn, it was actually Toph who walked up and jabbed her in the stomach sharply. Wincing, Azula looked down angrily to see the girl directing her attention in her relative direction, a fed-up expression on her face.
"Is that what you think this is going to come down to? You trusting the good will of the maniac who was about to kill you for something he doesn't even have proof will work? After everything you've done for him, all the trouble you've caused us personally, he still is ready to trash you for what he thinks will be a greater advantage. I doubt it would have worked anyway, even if this stupid ritual is the real deal. He doesn't love you, he never did. And so he would gain nothing by losing you, and he wouldn't care one bit that it didn't work regardless."
Azula could think of nothing to say as each sentence that the small earthbender uttered smashed into her insides with an overwhelming force. Because no matter how she tried to spin it in her head, that Toph was an enemy, a child, someone who had no idea what this all meant, everything she said made too much sense.
Next to her, Mai put a hand on her shoulder tentatively and Azula recoiled, shouting now, "And you! You threw a knife at him! You could have killed him!"
Mai shrugged, "Wish that I had."
Azula swallowed in a desperate attempt to find more words to sling angrily, when she caught sight of the floating table of earth that hovered next to them at about chest level.
Ty Lee lay atop it, eyes closed; she looked very peaceful. A horrible circle of black extended from her left shoulder outward to stretch from her neck down to near her breast. It didn't take a medical expert to tell that she was in something near critical condition.
As she stared transfixed at the barely breathing form of her friend, Mai's voice seemed to echo from some distance away. "In his eyes, we're all guilty now. You attacked him too, you'll remember, Azula. I know it hurts, it probably all hurts more than I can imagine, but you have to be strong now. You can stay here and give up your life, or you can leave with us, and live. Find purpose again."
Purpose.
Was that what she wanted? What she needed? Her brother had sailed the entire ocean multiple times over in brash pursuit of his honor and pride, something Azula had never failed to joke loftily about as she enjoyed her position of power and luxury. Was this how Zuko had felt? No, Zuko had been better off than her. He had been graced with a goal, something to chase.
Unable to stop herself, she dropped to her knees and let out a strangled moan. She saw Mai and Toph react to her outburst with surprised confusion, both of them raising their hands slightly and stepping away. Azula couldn't have cared less in that moment, the hurt was too much, the absolute pain of it, of not knowing what was for certain any longer. She wanted to close her eyes and wake up from this madness, this imposed torture, this…
"That's it!" She leapt to her feet in exclamation and Toph and Mai stepped back again. The latter cocked her head inquisitively, still keeping a safe distance.
"What's it, Azula?"
Hardly able to believe how simple it was to her now that the answer had been shown as perfect and pure as anything, Azula stared at her friend, almost unaware of the frenzied and mad smile that was likely stretching across her face.
"That Sasuke! This is one of his tricks, one of those… you know! What he did to the both of us at the prison! This isn't real, none of it!"
She pointed to them one by one, a laugh bubbling up from her throat.
"You're not real! And you're not real! And you're not real!"
The laughter rode a crescendo up into a mad shriek of hysteric mirth as she slammed her open palms against her chest.
"And I'm not real! None of this has happened, any moment now I'll wake up from this dream and then I'll find that bastard and drown him in his own—"
Mai's voice was so smooth and strong that even though it was much lower in volume, it cut through Azula's ramblings with an overwhelming power.
"Azula. You're not dreaming."
The relief she had felt from her realization was already fading and she tried to reach out and grab it, cling to it and hold it tight to her mental consciousness, but it still continued to slip away. Her desperation peaking, Azula brought to life a handful of blue fire that roiled intensely over her palm. Toph took up a defensive stance immediately, but she needn't have worried, Azula thought. She was going to disappear now, disappear just like the nothing she was.
"You'll see!" she cried out as shook down the sleeve of her free arm. She looked at the smooth and perfect skin of her forearm and brought the flame to it in an instant. Immediately, pain flashed from the point of contact and spread through her entire body with a ravenous stinging. Mai shouted something, but Azula ignored her and kept the fire pressed against her skin, screaming through her clenched teeth as tears of pain blurred her vision.
Any second now… any second, I'll wake up, any second, any se—
The pain in her arm disappeared and was replaced with a fresh aching as Mai tackled her to the ground, breaking her concentration and causing the flame to disappear.
"Azula, stop it!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Azula howled against her friend's grip, thrashing about and trying to free herself. "You don't get it! Let me go, I can get myself out, I just need to—"
"There is nothing to escape from, Azula!" Mai managed to restrain her by the wrists and held her down. Panting, Azula looked up to see Mai's face streaked with tears.
"This is it! This is what we've chosen, you can't just take it back! Ty Lee could die because she chose to save you! We could all die now because of the choices we made back there!"
Swiftly, she pulled Azula up into a tight hug where she sat and shook with a sob against her. "This is what we have. Each other. Please… please believe me."
The dream Sasuke had made for her was so real that Azula actually believed for a moment that this was indeed the real Mai. But no, the real Mai would never show this kind of emotion and Ty Lee would never have sacrificed herself for Azula's sake, what had Azula ever done to warrant such selflessness on her behalf? No, none of it added up, it couldn't add up.
"She's right."
At hearing the voice, Azula slammed her eyelids tightly shut. She knew this voice, and she didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to be told what she knew deep down she already believed to be true. But slowly, she opened her eyes and looked over Mai's shoulder to see Sasuke standing in the hallway, looking battered. He looked as though he had sustained several burns, but he still looked entirely unfazed.
"This isn't of my doing, princess. You want the truth, the reality of your world?"
After staring into his black eyes for a long moment, Azula nodded after which Sasuke simply directed his finger at Toph.
"She just told it to you. You're unloved by your father, and you're unloved by yourself. I know what you are, Azula. You've thrown aside every piece of your humanity, locked it away to hunt down some goal that you believe will grant you fulfilment. But now that you know that goal was for nothing, you don't know what to think or what to believe."
He closed the distance and crouched down near where Azula and Mai sat embracing one another. Mai pulled away slightly and directed a knife towards Sasuke in a defensive gesture but he paid it no mind.
"This is your reality. You can let it drown you, or you can throw it to the ground and stomp on it, and craft it anew."
His words battered against her just as hard as Toph's had; could he be right? Could he really be telling her exactly what she needed to hear? If she accepted the truth of what the three of them had just told her, there would be no going back, no living in further denial, only the pain of her every waking moment. It would gouge at her heart for the rest of her life, and she didn't feel she would be able to bear it.
Suddenly, she smelled the crackling of a wood fire, heard the distant rush of waves and felt sand beneath her feet.
"For so long I thought that if my dad accepted me, I'd be happy. I'm back home now, my dad talks to me. Ha! He even thinks I'm a hero. Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not. I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why!"
And she broke, dropping her head into Mai's chest and cried her defeat and her loss, letting it flow as freely as Zuko's words had that night.
Because now, she knew just how he had felt.
Sasuke looked down at the collapsed and defeated young woman in front of him. Truly, it might have been pitiable had it not been so pathetic.
Her luxury is gone. Her power is gone. This is what she has now, and she probably won't even be able to deal with it.
Not that it mattered much to Sasuke. Half of his job was already done, and now came the difficult part. He turned his gaze up to speak to Toph who stood as rigid as a board and looking rather like she was hoping to not be noticed during this drama.
"The jig is up. Ozai has the royal guard back inside the palace and they'll be working their way around towards us. We don't have much time."
Pulling Azula to her feet, Mai was the first to reply to him and he noted the open distrust she eyed him with. Still, her words spoke only to their situation and not their past. "This way should get us to the royal airships, but I don't know how we'll get enough altitude and speed in time to get away from the firebending they're inevitably going to sling our way."
Sasuke dismissed this. "You let me worry about that. Lead the way."
Mai give him a last stink eye before jogging ahead, holding Azula's arm to make sure she maintained pace. Toph and Sasuke followed behind her, the medical makeshift tablet hovering after them. He gave it a glance as they jogged onwards.
"We really need the extra baggage?"
Toph sniffed haughtily at him before replying. "Well, if I leave Ty Lee behind, Mai will stay behind for her, thus leaving the psychotic and likely unstable princess to us. Second, us bringing her along doesn't lose us any time and lastly, if she's against the Fire Lord now, she'd be a pretty strong asset to the team."
She turned her head slightly in his direction and added, "All that, and if we leave her here, she'll be executed as a traitor. It wouldn't do you any harm to show some compassion every once in a while, you asshole."
To this, Sasuke didn't reply. Her points were valid enough and he had no time to open up a debate on empathy and morality.
After several more hallways, Mai threw a pair of wide doors and the full fury of the storm that Sasuke and Toph had only recently left roared at them again. Toph froze in place and Sasuke risked putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly to spur her onwards. It fortunately worked and as a crack of thunder sounded overhead and with the rain and wind whipping at them, Mai had to shout to be heard.
"And I don't suppose anyone took into account this storm either!"
With the arm that wasn't supporting Azula, she gestured forward and Sasuke saw about a half dozen airships being tossed tightly around, their mooring keeping them mostly in place. They were about the same size as the military one that he and Toph had flown over, but were sleeker and their balloons were more streamlined. Starting towards the closest one, Mai called back, "We'll need to get a fire going quick to start the burners, but if we can manage that relatively quickly, I know of a route where—agh!"
She shouted in pain as the shaft of an arrow planted in her upper back glistened in the torchlight from the palace and the lighting above them. Sasuke whirled to see several dark figures on the roof of the structure, armed with bows and pikes. Several arrows whizzed by them, burying themselves in the ground and bouncing off the stone steps.
Waving a hand, Sasuke shouted, "Move!"
He raced forward to help Mai up the rest of the way while Toph levitated the slab carrying Ty Lee aboard the small basket. Grunting, Mai pushed him aside as he made to help her onboard. "Don't treat me like some little girl."
Toph leapt from the basket and smashed her feet heavily on the ground, raising a shield of pure earth to stave off the flurry of arrows sent their way.
"I heard that."
Mai spared a smile at Toph's comment and gave Sasuke another weak push, wincing as she did. "I'll live. Got any fire for us?"
Drawing up his hands to perform the jutsu, Sasuke watched as a burst of blue flame sprang to life on the burner and he turned his head to see Azula looking at the fire she had started, wisps of sapphire heat still curving around her hand. She met his gaze and then looked away immediately.
"Sasuke!" He turned at the shout of his name to see Toph gesturing forward. Ahead of her, dozens of royal guards were spilling from the palace doors and heading their way.
"I can feel more of them coming around the sides of the palace too!"
He raced up beside her and threw several of his makeshift kunai to force back the archers. "How many?"
The panicked look on her face was enough and he turned to face the onslaught heading their way. Running up the barrier Toph had pulled from the ground, he leapt into the air, narrowing his eyes as fireballs shot past him.
See how you like it.
"Amaterasu!"
Melding with the darkness imposed by the storm, a wall of black fire followed his gaze from one end of the grounds to the other, blocking off most of the potential attackers and igniting those unlucky enough to be caught in its path. As Sasuke landed, he turned his hands and eyes up and the black fire swirled over the roof, wrapping up all the archers and pikemen he could see.
A large fireball rushed over his head and nearly struck the balloon of the airship that Mai was currently in the process of detaching from its mooring and Sasuke looked up to see several airships descending towards them. Clearly of military make, he saw long rods ascending from the casings of their balloons, clearly there to act as lightning rods and make them capable to operation even during a storm. They rocked in the heavy wind and rain, but still approached quickly, those aboard adding to the bombardment.
Sasuke leapt away to higher ground and made several quick symbols with his hands. "Water Release: Slicing Formation!"
At his command, much of the water falling from the sky coalesced to form a great many disks of pure water.
"Water Release: Rising Water Severing!"
Five more words and several hand symbols later, the discs rocketed towards the airships, slicing at the balloons, the baskets and those aboard. Sasuke saw several men fall from their positions, missing limbs and one of the airships began to spiral out of control, one of the discs clearly having hit a weak point in the balloon's structure. As Sasuke prepared another volley, he looked down at a shrill cry.
Toph had been working her way back towards the balloon and had taken an arrow in both the midsection and the arm. She was somehow on her feet, but struggling to reach the basket as arrows and fireballs continued to whip past her. Sasuke made to jump down from his place on the higher ground, but as he watched, Azula leapt from her place aboard the airship and drew up a wall of blue flame and with a pushing motion, hurled it at the royal guard who were finding ways to work around the Amaterasu and continue to press their attack. Azula reached down and lifted Toph, carrying her back to the ship as her flames burned their victims to a crisp.
Sasuke cocked his head.
Well, what do you know.
But as he looked on, he saw a spear of fire slam into Azula's back as she hoisted Toph aboard; he saw her face clench in pain and she dropped to the ground and sent a flurry of flaming blue spheres in every which way, but Sasuke saw that there were just too many of them.
"Fire Rel—"
Was as far as he got before a massive fireball exploded behind him and threw him forward and onto the rain soaked stone. His Sharingan saved him from taking another hit as he rolled away, but he watched another fireball race towards the balloon before a giant piece of earth rushed up to deflect it in midair as Toph continued to assist even in her weakened state. Azula was trying to pull herself aboard despite her injury and was also blasting incoming projectiles from the air, her shining blue fire matching the lightning crackling above them.
Sasuke looked back to the enemy and saw just how overwhelmed they were. Despite his Amaterasu, soldiers were using their firebending to propel themselves over it and even with him tracking his black fire up to catch some of them, there were too many. On top of that, the airships continued to descend and more and more archers poured over the roof, adding their arrows to the chaos, invisible until their shafts bounced off the ground or stuck somewhere. One of which caught Sasuke in the chest and he gasped at the sudden trauma. He drew up his Chidori to lance at the archers, but before he could release it, another monstrous fireball crushed the ground in front of him and he was thrown backwards, landing heavily on the stairs.
There were just too many of them.
Looking over his shoulder as his vision swam hazily, he watched a struggling Toph and Azula lend their powers to keep their slowly rising airship from being struck, and he saw Mai grappling with the controls, trying to account for the multitude of dangers that made their takeoff near impossible. He looked back to the countless soldiers spilling towards them over the palace grounds and finally closed his eyes.
No.
This was pathetic. He was going to be overcome by foot soldiers? He, Sasuke, was going to be taken down this easily? Hah.
Picking himself up, he put a hand above his head, fingers jutting skyward. All at once, the wind seemed to gather in a tight current, racing upwards and swirling into the clouds. Then, the clouds themselves tightened into a funnel, lightning flashing through the center of its point. The sky above them began to fade in its darkness, becoming overwhelmed by the flashing blue surges that conjoined thousands of feet above Sasuke's head.
The soldiers began to take notice and point, but it was already too late. Sasuke glared at them with furious eyes.
"Disappear with the thunder."
His voice seemed to carry despite the low volume of his tone, echoing over the grounds. The royal guard seemed to fully understand that he was about to do something and their attention turned from assailing the airship to flinging attacks his way, from fireballs to airships to arrows, the attacks were all blown away from him as the lightning peaked and gathered at his fingertips.
His eyes flashed. "KIRIN!"
The very heavens themselves seemed to be split asunder and a piercing shine rolled from the very middle of the clouds, but the shine was more than just a luminescent beam. As it descended, it took on shape, beginning to spiral as it did. And by the time it was within a few hundred feet of the palace itself, the beaming blue lightning had formed into a dragon as wide as any of the airships with a furious, vicious head, its fangs rippling with lightning. It came to swirl above Sasuke's head, the manifestation of his will prepared to release at his barest nudge.
For a moment, Sasuke took in the enormity of his creation and how it had stunned his entire opposition into complete immobility; the soldiers had stopped trying to clear his Amaterasu, the archers on the roof were no longer poised to fire, instead they were standing stock straight, looking upwards in awe. The airships had come to level over the back of the palace and they too had ceased their attack, all of them lit up by the blinding blue glow of his jutsu. This gave Sasuke great satisfaction as he flicked his fingers.
The Kirin rose up into the sky with a great deal more speed than it had descended, all the way to the height it had initially appeared at. Then, with a flash, it propelled itself towards the palace and touched down just where the doors fed into the grounds.
The resounding clap of thunder, and the sheer rush of energy was overwhelming as the world lit up as bright as day. Despite the blinding eruption of blue light, Sasuke was able to see soldiers tossed away as easily as dust in the wind, hurled far enough away that he lost sight of them. The half sphere that glowed for a single, overpowering moment blew away the back of the palace and the grounds themselves.
And just as quickly, the light faded and the drizzle of rain resumed as the only primely noticeable sound. Sasuke looked up above the massive smoldering crater that now occupied most of what had just recently been the proving grounds for dozens upon dozens of royal soldiers, and noticed that the thunderclouds above were beginning to part, giving way to the stars.
Then those stars faded to black as Sasuke's consciousness shut down and he collapsed into oblivion.
"No, you're not pulling your arms back far enough, you have to let them serve as your conductors, they're not just there to direct!"
Aang sighed as Zuko's barked instruction echoed loudly in his tired ear. They had been up since the very crack of dawn to resume his training, and Aang was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
He hadn't slept well the previous night; he had dreamt of a pair of dark red eyes staring endlessly into him while he ran upon ceaseless darkness, unable to move or discern where he was. All that had been present were the eyes staring into him and provoking him with screams of agony from the person he cared most about. He had tried to find Katara in all that blackness, to try and help her and keep her from whatever pain was ailing her, but he could do nothing more than hear her. He had awoken a couple hours before sunrise and had chosen not to fall back asleep.
Zuko had almost seemed to perfectly match his rising and as Aang had gone to take an early morning bathroom break, the Fire Nation prince had confronted him and stated the urgency that they continue training immediately. And so here they were now, whipping fire around themselves as the sun barely managed to peak over the top of the canyon above them.
"Pay attention!"
As Aang drifted carelessly through his motions, Zuko angrily tossed a fireball at his feet, singing his toes and making him jump back in surprise. He looked up angrily at his teacher, "What's your problem?! It's not my fault you decided to get us on this before anyone's even really awake!"
Zuko jabbed a finger in his direction. "You're making excuses!"
"You're being crazy!"
Just when things might have turned a shade uglier, Katara walked up the stairs to the plateau where they had been practicing. "That's enough, both of you!"
Aang couldn't help but feel his stomach flip as it always did when he saw her, though this usually pleasant feeling was accompanied by something akin to distant dread as he remembered his dream. Hair flying about as she looked angrily between the both of them, both Zuko and Aang immediately fell to acting like children squabbling before their mother, fingers pointing and all.
"He started it, we shouldn't have to be doing this this early-!"
"He's being unreasonable, this is too important to shirk-!"
Her expression darkened and they both closed their mouths wisely. "I saw the whole thing, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what the problem is here."
She walked briskly towards them, but slowed as she neared Zuko. Her face softened a fair bit and she put her hand on his shoulder.
"I know what you're thinking about. And I have some idea what you're feeling. But this isn't how to deal with it. If you need to talk, then let's talk, but you can't go burying your head in firebending and expect that to take all your fear away."
Katara seemed to have hit the nail on the head and Zuko sighed, the fight seeming to drain from him as his shoulders slumped; he looked past her to give Aang an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Aang… Katara's right."
He slowly sat himself down on the stone floor and Katara followed suit, putting an arm around his shoulder and pulling him to her. Aang felt a sudden urge to blow Zuko clean off the plateau.
"By now, my sister would have long since reached the capital. She would have been summoned by my father, and he would have… done it."
Katara squeezed his shoulder lightly. "Sasuke said he was going to get to her in time."
Zuko looked to her with desperate eyes. "Katara, do you really believe him when he said that? I'm not great with people, but I know you are. You can read them well, and it wasn't hard for me to see the distrust you were showing towards him from the moment he arrived to the moment he left with the airship."
He bowed his head and dug his finger into the stone distractedly.
"You don't think he's coming back, and you sure don't think he actually went to try and warn Azula."
Katara seemed to think long and hard about this as Zuko continued to pick absently at the ground before speaking slowly as though afraid that she might stumble over her words and say something she didn't want to.
"Maybe I don't. And I hate to spoil your evaluation of me, but you've got it wrong. I'm terrible with people."
Both Aang and Zuko looked to her, utterly bemused and she grinned at their expressions. "Honestly, I'm not. I can never bring myself to trust those I inevitably find out are the most loyal people of all, and I go trusting those who ought not to be just because of a notion I get about them that I have absolutely nothing to back up."
She tilted her head to the side, looking up thoughtfully.
"So, maybe I don't like the looks of Sasuke. I think he's dangerous, he's a pure defilement of the natural order, and I don't really want him around. But considering all the times I've been wrong, I see no reason why that couldn't happen here."
Something very close to a smile touched at the corners of Zuko's mouth.
"I hope you'll forgive me when I say I hope you are."
She smiled at him and for the second time in recent memory, Aang felt a surge of jealousy course through him. There was no time to reflect on it though as another voice joined their small congregation.
"Guys, guys, guys, I need to talk to—"
As Sokka reached the top of the stairs, he misplaced his foot and tripped over himself, falling spectacularly to skid several feet before stopping.
Unable to help himself, Aang finished Sokka's sentence for him. "—the ground?"
Both Zuko and Katara laughed at his joke, but Sokka had no time for it and pushed himself furiously to his feet. "This is serious, you three!"
Katara waved a hand at her brother as though granting permission.
"Please don't leave us in suspense any longer."
Clearly fed up with the lack of respect he was getting, Sokka didn't waste any time.
"Toph's missing."
This was enough to immediately put a damper on the whole affair and Zuko and Katara got to their feet quickly, the former holding up his hands as if to try and stop himself from getting carried away too quickly.
"Are you sure she's missing? She said yesterday she was going to go exploring the temple's more deserted passages and was going to be gone for a while."
Sokka shook his head, his brows furrowed with worry. "She would never leave for this long. I didn't see her when everyone turned in last night and no one's seen her since yesterday when we—"
The pieces all fell into place for the four of them at once and Aang's eyes widened. "When we saw Sasuke off."
Katara had a hand over her mouth. "She wouldn't."
Spinning to look out towards the sky as though expecting to see the airship that Sasuke had departed on, Zuko shook his head. "I think she might have."
He turned to look back at them.
"Of everyone, she seemed to be the least into him, didn't trust him, didn't like the looks of him. Who's to say she didn't want to follow along and make sure he stayed in line?"
Sokka drew his hands through his hair, trying to rationalize what was being said.
"That doesn't make sense. If Sasuke had taken a path over land, then maybe. But we're talking about a small airship and flying the whole way there. It took Toph forever to get used to flying on Appa and she said she only did because she was able to trust him. She still hates flying and has that awful fear of heights. Why would she throw that aside and leave with Sasuke, and not tell us?"
His sister gave him a disapproving look.
"Wouldn't be the first time in recent memory someone's beat feet without the approval of the group."
Sokka met her look with a snarky one of his own and Aang walked between them, intent on keeping the focus on Toph.
"Guys, come on. You guys can't go butting heads now, not when Toph's missing."
Zuko walked up to stand near the three of them. "What can we even do?"
Completely deflated by this impossible question, Aang leaned on his staff, feeling helpless once again.
"I don't know… what about—"
The powerful and commanding voice of Hakoda echoed over the temple grounds then, carrying loudly as he relayed a very pertinent piece of information.
"Airship on the horizon! I repeat, airship on the horizon!"
The four of them exchanged looks and without another word, they sprinted for the stairs.
Zuko hadn't even been thinking about how it was going to feel, no matter the outcome. As he climbed aboard Appa alongside Aang, Katara and Sokka, all that mattered to him was that he was going to know, he was going to see the result of whatever had occurred the previous night. He wasn't considering possibilities, the potential cases that may have arisen, he just had to know.
Appa soared out from under the canyon to land above in the grassy field where they had seen Sasuke off the previous day. The airship was already touched down, the maroon of its coloration clashing with the swaying bright green of the grass that almost seemed to shine on its own with the morning sun. And as Zuko nearly fell off Appa in a heap in his desperation to talk to Sasuke and as what had happened, the world seemed to draw to a sudden standstill.
Because Zuko wasn't looking at Sasuke.
He was looking at his sister.
He stared into her perpetually hateful eyes that seemed to glow of an emotion he didn't think he had ever seen in Azula before. Her royal garb had burns and strips of it missing and her usually well kept hair was down around her shoulders being tossed in the wind. It looked as though she had just been through a war.
"Zuko, get back!" was all he heard before Sokka took his sister's command to heart and wrapped his arms around Zuko's chest, dragging him backwards as Aang and Katara rushed past him to adopt defensive stances. Azula simply regarded them as Katara snapped at her.
"I'm not sure what it is you've been told, but you're not welcome here."
Zuko struggled against Sokka's grip, "Katara, wait, don't-"
He wasn't paid any mind as Aang added his thoughts to the situation. "If Sasuke really brought you back here, he's even more dangerous than I thought."
Azula looked between the both of them before pointing a thumb over her shoulder.
"Sasuke, had nothing to do with it. She's the one who told us where you were."
Two more people exited the airship and Zuko's heart did a furious backflip. Mai walked down the ramp, carrying Toph in her arms; the relief Zuko felt at seeing the both of them was quickly overrun with anger at seeing what appeared to be wounds on both of their bodies, Toph looking the worse for wear. Katara let out a short cry at the sight and rushed to them, all confrontational motivation thrown aside. As she reached Mai, she looked down, eyes wide as Aang cautiously walked up behind her.
"What happened?!" she shouted towards Azula who didn't so much as look at her, but spoke, not addressing anyone in particular.
"The royal guard attacked us as we tried to leave. Toph and Mai both were hit with arrows."
As though brought back by the talking over her, Toph grunted and shifted in Mai's arm before rolling out of them to land shakily on the ground.
"I'm fine, but Katara you need to get on the airship, Ty Lee got hit real bad."
Zuko's head reeled.
All three of them are here?
Katara rushed up the ramp without a word and Aang took her place in front of Toph. He looked to struggle for a good moment as to what to say before frowning.
"That was a very dumb thing to do."
In her usual show of affection, she punched him in the stomach and he doubled over, coughing.
"Good to see you too, twinkle-toes."
As the both of them shared a gentle embrace as to not stress her wounds further, Zuko finally shook himself free from Sokka who had more or less given up on holding him and was looking himself quite like he was trying to wrap his head around the situation. Zuko closed the distance halfway between Mai and his sister, entirely unsure himself of what to say.
Mai broke the silence for him. "You look better since becoming a traitor."
Her smile was enough to draw one of his own across his face; he shrugged off her joke with one of his own. "I have to wonder if that won't apply similarly to you. Considering…"
He trailed off and they both looked to Azula who still wasn't looking at anyone. She spoke with the same flat intonation he always had remembered hearing, but the telltale smirk was long gone from the corners of her mouth.
"Don't assume this changes anything between us, Zuko. Father's attempt on my life has only emboldened by belief that the Fire Nation must take control of the Four Nations."
She very clearly struggled on the next few words. "Under new leadership if necessary."
Nearly unable to believe what he was hearing, Zuko looked weakly back to Mai. "... What happened… ?"
Before she could reply to him, Katara shouted from the other side of the burner aboard the airship.
"Zuko, Sokka, I need your hands!"
Noting the urgency in her voice, Zuko raced up the ramp behind Sokka who was clearly happy for something to do.
Ty Lee was a brutal sight. She had clearly taken a very intense fire bolt to the shoulder, and the resulting damage had spread across her upper body on the side where the attack had impacted. It wasn't hard to tell that, at its point, the fire had punched clean through her body, skin, muscle and all. Zuko swallowed and stared at his childhood friend as Katara looked her over with a swift eye.
"Are… are you going to be able to help her?"
Katara's face was grim, but determined. "I'll try, but we need to get her down to a stable water source. I need you both to carry her and get her aboard Appa; we'll take her down as quick as we can."
Sokka muttered to himself as he walked to Ty Lee's other side. "She tries to kill us a hundred times and now we're going to try and save her life… not like princess homicide literally isn't also here… no, makes sense…"
"Sokka!"
He raised his hands, "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Alright, Zuko, on three…"
They lifted her carefully from the floor of the airship and carried her off towards Appa. But it was not lost on Zuko that Katara was staring intently at the last passenger aboard, who Sokka had missed completely, eyes closed and leaning against the burner. And despite his wildly mixed feelings, Zuko couldn't help but feel the tugs of gratitude towards the resting Sasuke.
He dreamt and remembered.
Names and relationships still danced outside his reach, but he saw who he had been, who he was, and what he had done.
He saw the bodies of his parents and the cold face of his brother. He saw his childhood smashed to pieces and all his naivety dashed to the wayside. He watched himself grow and train with a single purpose in mind, a purpose that took him away from everything else, friends, happiness, life itself. A drive was all he had and all he needed. He saw himself abandon any chance for peace and confront his brother and finally take his revenge. And he saw the agony that had flooded him upon realizing what his brother had truly hidden away.
How his actions had ultimately been for a blind goal, with nothing past it and nothing between. He felt the pain that had ravaged him those days and while nothing told him how he had come to leave that life and be here, he found himself occupied with quite enough. There was nothing he could remember beyond the barest outline, but it was all still there, the particulars didn't even seem to matter much anymore.
He dreamt and wished he hadn't remembered.
Wished he couldn't remember.
Katara had to remind herself to let her arms come uncrossed occasionally to keep them falling asleep, but she found that such a stance was all she could really manage given their current company.
She sat around a fire, with Aang and Sokka to her left and right, Azula and Mai across from them, with Toph and Zuko sitting between the two groups on the other edge of their circle. Katara was still struggling very hard to make sense of what had happened; after they had brought Ty Lee down for treatment, she had worked meticulously for several hours with the aid of her father and Aang, the former because of his experience with wartime wounds and the latter due to his waterbending. Following the assurance that she would just need rest to recover appropriately, the had turned her attention to Toph, Mai and, very reluctantly Azula. The first two had only been sporting arrow wounds which had been treatable enough, but Azula had taken a nasty hit to the center of her back and had taken more time. Katara had found healing the princess's wounds less than desirable work, and judging by the look that had occupied Azula's face when she had been forced to bear her back to Katara's bending, she had been no fan either.
Katara had been surprised though when she had worked on Toph and Mai; their arrow wounds had been very lightly cauterized, with a very delicate touch to stop bleeding and potential infection, and to her knowledge, there had only been one person aboard that airship awake who could have performed this care.
Azula, caring about anyone… I'd sooner believe Appa can prepare fine dining.
Now, they were doing their best to come to terms with what had happened, to get everything out in the open. Mai and Toph had done most of the talking, with Katara or Sokka occasionally interjecting with a question. Aang remained as silent as Azula did, though Katara could tell his mind was racing.
The story that was regaled was a doozy, even by Team Avatar standards. Sasuke's ridiculous plan of skydiving through a storm, Fire Lord Ozai's ultimate betrayal of his own flesh and blood, and the dramatic escape that had followed were so engrossing that Katara found on more than one occasion that she needed to remind herself just who they were sitting across from.
"… wait, so I'm sorry," Sokka interjected as Mai spoke of the difficulty getting the airship prepared while being fervently assaulted by the royal guard, "how exactly did you get out of there if there really were, as you put it, hundreds of soldiers?"
Mai massaged the area that Katara had touched up with her healing and said almost absently, "Sasuke blew them up with a lightning dragon."
There was an appropriate pause as those who hadn't witnessed the feat gaped; Toph turned her head in Mai's direction.
"Wait, that's what happened?"
Mai gave her a look. "Yeah, I suppose not being able to see probably made that whole sequence of events a little confusing."
Toph shrugged and looked at her feet.
"I just knew we were getting hammered with arrows and fireballs, I was just trying to protect the ship when I got hit. I remember it getting very warm and I heard Sasuke yell something before it got really hot, and really loud. I passed out for a while once we got cruising after that."
Katara shook her head and looked down as well, trying to grapple with her feelings towards Sasuke. He was absent from the campfire as well, resting in a different room within the temple, separate from the one Ty Lee was recovering in, at Azula's request. He hadn't been badly hurt, in fact, considering that he had taken on what might have been a sizeable chunk of the royal army and the Fire Lord to boot, his condition was rather miraculous.
Whatever he had done… this dragon he summoned… made? Whatever it was must have been enough to take him out.
Aang piped up for the first time since the story had begun.
"When you say dragon… what do you mean?"
Mai shook her head as she clearly tried to recall details. "It's hard to say, we were all so caught up, I don't really know. Once moment though, the storm clouds above us sort of seemed to spiral and the lightning all glowed towards the center of it. I remember seeing Sasuke then holding up his hand and then that spiral opened up in the middle and a dragon shaped entirely by lightning came down. It floated around long enough for everyone to get a good look at it, and then, like Toph says, Sasuke yelled something and it just flew up and smashed into the back of the palace. Blew every soldier, every guard, every sharpshooter clean away like they were nothing."
She snapped to emphasize her point before turning to Aang.
"To answer what I think you're asking though, no, I don't think it was an actual dragon… more like something he crafted with the lightning in order to wield it."
She rested her forearms on her knees, hands clasped tightly together. "It was big. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. Azula's made some pretty impressive stuff with her lightning, but this… it was like he was controlling the storm itself."
Seeming to remember something, she added, "After the dragon touched down and Sasuke passed out, the clouds just seemed to dissipate. The biggest storm we've ever seen at the capital, and it just disperses. I think he drained it or something."
Katara considered this as Sokka prodded, "Then?"
Mai gestured around her. "Then that's about it. Toph woke up a few minutes later and told us where you were hidden out. I knew where the Air Temple was so I was able to get us over some hours later."
She finished rather anticlimactically, and the weight of the story settled in. Sokka blew out a long 'whew' and put his hands behind his head.
"Wowza. Well, I have to say, for all of Zuko's insisting, I never would have guessed anything would come of this."
Turning her piercing gaze towards him, Mai asked, "What do you mean?"
Realizing they had a part of their own story to tell, Katara decided to be open about this particular bit. She had no intention of getting too friendly with any of the three Fire Nation women who had joined them in recent hours, but this was hardly something they needed to hide.
"Sasuke's first memories of our world began in a Fire Temple the Fire Lord visited some weeks ago. He recalls briefly waking up there and being bested by Ozai where he then found himself waking to being a prisoner at Boiling Rock and from there, well, I think you know a chunk of his story."
Katara was surprised to see the dark looks cross over both Mai and Azula's faces at this remark and she coughed somewhat awkwardly before continuing. "After the prison escape, they came back here and he was able to remember hearing about some ritual that Ozai was looking into, something about Sozin?"
Zuko spoke up, "The Ritual of Sozin's Rites."
She nodded in his direction. "Yes, that. There were some writings here in the Air Temple that, while not giving a ton of specifics, outlined basic practices and teachings of other Nations. Through this, we were able to find that Ozai intended to kill Azula, based mostly on deduction."
While she talked, she paid careful attention to both Mai and Azula. Mai was listening attentively, but Azula was frustratingly impossible to read. She had been sitting as rigid as a statue since they had sat down, her only words since they had come down to the temple being a snarky remark about the state of the place and requesting that Ty Lee not be placed in the same room as Sasuke. Other than that, she had been entirely silent and was not staring perpetually to her right, looking flat into the wall as though expecting it to make a more conversational partner.
Upon coming down with Ty Lee and sending Appa back up for the others, Katara had rushed about before beginning the healing process, ordering Chit Sang to take the kids and Haru and move to another part of the temple grounds. Her father she had no choice in showing, but she didn't want any one else near Azula, but the general aura that the princess was giving off was very odd.
Her antisocial tendencies towards them notwithstanding, she had composed herself very differently from the last time Katara had seen her. She seemed two seconds away from exploding into a rage, but her eyes seemed to say that said rage would burn out as quickly as it began. She had no interest in Aang, the person she had been hunting for months, and had little reaction to seeing her sworn enemies. Ultimately, Katara saw defeat in Azula's eyes and more than that, a sense that she was entirely lost. She didn't seem very aware of her surroundings, only seeming to hear certain things and her movements were sporadic and flinching.
And Katara truly wasn't sure which version of Azula she found more worrying.
Toph continued in her place as she cut off a moment, looking anxiously at Azula, waiting for any sign of life.
"Zuko started off about how he couldn't just let his sister walk into the slaughter like that without at least a warning and how he needed to go back and yadda, yadda. We were trying to convince him not to try some crazy mission to save his sister, who wanted him just as dead as the Fire Lord did mind you, when Sasuke walked up and said he'd go and deliver the message."
She dug her bare toes into the ground, a common habit of hers. "I think most of us weren't sure what to think, but we sent him off anyway, anything to keep Zuko training Aang I guess. I didn't believe that he was going to the capital and I snuck aboard and well, you heard that part of the story on."
Mai took this all in before sitting back with a thoughtful look before flicking her gaze up.
"So, Sasuke… what's his deal? What's he after?"
Sokka, Aang and Katara exchanged looks, clearly looking for the best course of action to take for this rather dubious line of questioning. Katara could see Zuko opening his mouth, clearly ready to tell all to the woman he fancied as his girlfriend and she spoke over him. "We don't know. He claims that he's here to help Aang defeat the Fire Lord, and that doing so will help bring back his memory."
Holding up a hand, Mai looked between them all. "Wait. He has memory loss?"
Sokka nodded. "Everything before his run in with ol' Ozai, dust in the wind."
Mai nodded slowly, clearly taking this in. Katara could tell she had very mixed feelings on Sasuke as she did herself. When Mai finally spoke, she seemed distantly impressed. "He's one of the best firebenders I've ever seen, in regards to pure power. I've never seen anything like it."
Aang opened his mouth and Katara, having a pretty good idea what he was going to reveal, put a hand on his thigh and dug her nails into him as much as she dared. He tightened in pain, but got the hint and slammed his mouth shut.
It seemed an odd thing to keep reserved, but opening up about Sasuke's true array of abilities hardly seemed necessary. Especially after all the ground they had just covered.
Seeming to sense a lull, Mai stretched, wincing. "Well, if we're done for now, anyone know a spot a girl could get a nap?"
Zuko stood up so fast that he nearly fell over as he moved to help Mai. As the pair of them moved towards the innards of the temple, Sokka whispered to Katara. "I think I'll go and keep an eye on them."
She replied with a small smile, "Careful you don't see more than you bargained for."
His cheeks flushed and he rose to his feet to follow Zuko and Mai at a respectable distance. Toph got to her feet then.
"I'm going to check on Sasuke and Ty Lee."
Katara had kept her eyes locked on Azula and she spoke pointedly to Aang as her gaze didn't shift. "Aang, why don't you go with her?"
He turned to her with an air of confusion, "Me? Why would-"
She turned her eyes down for a single moment and was able to transfer her insistence in just that once second. Aang jumped to his feet rather as Zuko had.
"Yep, no, great idea, awesome, really."
He might have continued to look incredibly conspicuous if Toph hadn't dragged him off then. Somehow, she was better at reading a room than anyone Katara knew.
As the footsteps faded away, Katara found that she had gotten what she wanted, but also felt a great rise in anxiety as being alone with Azula was hardly cause for celebration.
Relax. She's not going to try anything, why would she?
Azula surprised her then by being the first of them to talk, the first words she had uttered since they had sat down.
"Whatever you're going to ask, do so. I'd rather be left alone, but I can tell you've got something on your mind."
Katara found it very easy then to throw aside her apprehension as her usual feelings for Azula came rolling back in. This despicable girl, even in the state she was in, still condescending, still demanding, still infuriating to no end… it was all Katara could do to try and keep from raising her voice.
"Just because some of ours saved you, don't think that makes you welcome here. When Ty Lee has recovered, we'll have a proper sit down about what's to be done about you and your lot."
At last, Azula turned to meet Katara's eyes, her gaze dark and penetrating. "Oh, what an adorable idea. Is that really all you do when we're not on your tail? Sit around and talk? No wonder the Avatar is still so unprepared to meet my father, you're all too busy forming committees then to actually accomplish anything."
Her biting voice was enough to knock Katara into silence for a moment. How could she have expected anything different? No matter the situation, Azula was Azula, still a stunted and vile person.
Keeping down a snapping reply, Katara tried to approach it somewhat more diplomatically. "We will consider your circumstances obviously. Having your own father try to kill you would be hard on anyone, even you."
She couldn't keep that particular comment to herself and silently cursed herself as she watched Azula raise an eyebrow in acceptance of her accidental challenge. The princess rose to her feet, crossing her arms in a mirror of Katara's own stance.
"I don't need your pity, and I don't need some half-assed psychoanalysis. Don't think that just because of what I endured I'm not still entirely loyal to my nation. If my father has deemed the only way to move forward is killing me, I will pursue the advancement of the Fire Nation in my own way."
Katara wasn't able to hold back now. "Then why not just go to him and kneel like the slave you are?! I noticed when Mai was talking about your meeting the Fire Lord, any detail of your reaction to his desire were pretty absent. Almost as though she didn't want to say that if she and Ty Lee hadn't been there, you would have just let yourself die then and there."
Azula said nothing and Katara drove on, "For all that you command and for all the people you view as beneath you, you've never once stopped to think for yourself, have you? Forever your father's puppet."
This seemed to snap something in Azula's restraint and in a flash, the two of them were nose to nose.
"Don't speak to me of puppets! All you people are doing are blindly clinging to some prophecy that the Avatar will being balance! If you had any brains about you instead of blind faith, you would have gone after my father months ago, but no, one failed attempt and its hide until the last possible second before Sozin's Comet arrives!"
"And what will you do, your highness?" Katara snapped back. "Wait for someone else to do the work for you and then swoop in for the throne? Not so confident without the army you inherited at your back is it?"
Azula laughed then, a harsh and ringing sound. "You're a farce, waterbender. I can see it in your eyes, all you are is scared."
She turned away and walked towards a deserted part of the temple before stopping and throwing a last remark over her shoulder. "Oh, and saying that it was Zuko's idea to have me rescued? If you're going to lie about anything, I think you could stand to try a little harder."
The princess resumed walking haughtily away.
"Come get me when Ty Lee is awake. Until then, please don't bother me with that superiority complex you're hiding behind."
As the princess stalked off, Katara stood shaking for a moment, quite unable to form words before finally shouting after her, "Superiority complex? Are you serious?!"
Azula seemed to be done with their brief confrontation however and had already disappeared into the depths of the upper temple. Huffing, Katara resisted the childish urge to stomp her foot before spinning to go check on her patients. As she descended the stairs however, disbelieving laugh escaped her throat as she reflected on the fact that they were now sharing a living space with three women who had done everything in their power to kill them and capture Aang for months.
I'd say stranger things have happened… but I'm really not sure they have.
Gossip, as in any part of the world, was just as powerful a phenomenon in the Fire Nation capital as it would have been anywhere else. When a singular merchant spoke to his friends how he had seen a dragon descend from the storm clouds the previous evening and attack the royal palace, he had been met with initial eye-rolling, but pieces of reality began to slowly give credence to his claim.
Firstly, the storm the previous night had been truly remarkable, and for it to have been brought about by supernatural forces might not have been farfetched. Secondly, there had supposedly been several bodies that were being cleaned up late in the night, lying around the palace walls as though they had fallen from the wall all at once. And with the palace being on total lockdown since the storm, with not even the regular suppliers allowed inside, the assumption that something very odd had indeed happened began to spread throughout the capital. From those passing one another in the streets, to family members taking the words home, the stories spread and flourished.
It was in a popular tavern that one of the merchant's friends seized the opportunity to take the spotlight when he heard the stories being passed amongst his fellow regulars. He leapt onto a table and began to regale an exaggerated version of the story he had heard just that morning, very sure to include the dragon that had been the climatic detail. The dozens of patrons watched him intently, but by the end, most were rolling their eyes and laughing at this mystery dragon, a species that hadn't been seen alive in many years. But as they returned to their drinks, many of them felt the inkling of doubt creeping in their guts.
The merchant's friend, happy with his brief glory, took to the streets as night fell, sufficiently satisfied and buzzed. Had he not been so high on his own success, he might have noticed that a figure, one who had been tucked away in the corner of the tavern out of sight, had followed him. As he passed by an alley, he had been lifted cleanly off his feet and thrown against the wall of the alley, away from the eyes of any one else walking those streets that late.
Immediately, the merchant's friend fell into a slurred babble, "Look, buddy, you don't want any trouble, I don't even got much money on me, and my friend's a firebender, he'll-"
The figure's tone was low and overpowering, plenty enough to cut off the man's rambling.
"A dragon came from the storm you said?"
"Wha…?"
The figure pulled the man away from the wall and slammed him into it again with renewed intensity. "Your story. The dragon."
Catching on and coughing in pain, the merchant's friend waved his hand desperately.
"Yeah that's what he told me! Bright blue dragon, said it could have been made from lightning itself?"
"And it attacked the palace."
"I'm just telling you what I heard! And it sort of makes sense, they closed off all roads around the palace and no one's allowed inside! There was talk they were cleaning up some bodies, Kash Reen got beat up by some soldiers for talking about it at the market today!"
This was seemingly all the stranger needed to hear and he dropped the man heavily to the ground who reached as his assaulter walked away. He would pass out in that alley shortly thereafter, but got sight of the stranger's odd garb before he lapsed into unconsciousness, quite the odd black cloak with red clouds decorating it.