Ch6
"My my you're easy to find," Azula said, holding up and examining the wadded up fur of the ten ton bison which now stood before her. "It's really astounding my brother hasn't captured you yet."
The metal on their gauntlets extended in a circular motion, fully forming a retractable circular shield which carried the coin-like crest of the Earth Kingdom. The group of girls, faces painted and in full uniform, formed a defensive line between Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, and the Avatar's bison.
"What do you want with us?" The apparent leader confronted.
"Who are you? The Avatar's fan girls?"
"Ohhh," Ty Lee remarked from the mongoose lizard to Azula's flank, "I get it! Good one, Azula."
Azula looked the group before her up and down. By now, the Avatar and his friends would have made their presence known, undoubtedly. But no indicator, apart from the putrid beast, of the Avatar's presence could be seen. He wasn't here, none of them were. But Azula now had some very potent leverage.
"If you're looking for the Avatar, you're out of luck," their leader retorted.
Mai nonchalantly reacted, "Ugh, I knew this was a waste of time."
Azula prepped herself to jump into action. This would come in handy one way or another down the line. "No Avatar huh? Well that's okay. Any friend of the Avatar, is an enemy of mine!" She leapt from her mount, immediately blasting fire at her opponents.
The Kyoshi Warriors huddled close in, forming a joined wall with their shields to block the blast of blue flame. The Avatar's bison growled and groaned as he reacted to the blast.
The leader was hers! As her companions worked to deal with the other warriors, Azula dueled with Suki in an agile deadly dance. A symphony of sapphire flame, thrown knives, and swinging swords, the battle although short was intense. A stray blast of fire set a fallen log on fire, burning intensely behind the warriors' leader and sky bison. The creature groaned in fear of the torrential flames. "Afraid of fire I see," Azula remarked. "That's good. You should be."
Suki drew her katana, "Go Appa! Fly away from here!"
The beast flapped its massive tail, climbing into the air behind her. Suki charged Azula with her sword at the ready, making a lunge with the blade. Azula quickly jumped, bringing herself horizontally parallel with the ground. Suki's sword passed mere inches below her, barely clearing in time. The nimble princess rotated about, slapping the katana from Suki's grasp. The sword rebounded, posting itself deep into a nearby tree trunk. Azula landed back on her feet, throwing another fire blast at the painted warrior, which was blocked in time by her shield. Bringing her right foot about, Azula swept Suki's stance out from under her, and with the heel of her foot in the same motion swiftly kicked the captain of the group to the ground- another peasant kicked to the curb. She heard the metallic unfurling of metal fans behind her. Azula ducked just in time, as two fans from another of the warriors were thrown at her, blasting forth a line of fire from a spinning kick during the dodge. The assisting Kyoshi Warrior ran off as Azula gave chase to put her down. A blast of flame, sent the dodging warrior girl straight into the engagement area of Ty Lee, who landed numerous blows to her chi points. The girl crumpled to the ground.
"Get out of here," Suki yelled, waving a stick ablaze. "You have to find Aang! We'll be okay!"
The bison reluctantly retreated, roaring as it took off over the treeline. Azula had lost one major piece to leverage. She was not going to lose the other. These warriors would be key in her next concocted plan. A rebound from the colossal failure that was the now totalled siege drill from a few days prior. She sent a powerful blast of flame at their leader, who managed to block the blast with her shield but was forcefully pushed back.
Suki stumbled but managed to steady herself. She drew her war fan from her belt as she brought her shield up, readying for a final attack.
"Don't you know fans just make flames stronger?"
The two charged at each other. Azula's fire blast was blocked by her shield as they closed the distance. Suki tried to use her fan as a tool of redirection. She tried to use Azula's momentum and energy against her. But Azula was not attacking with brute strength! Suki latched on, but Azula managed to break free of her grasp. Her agility giving her an equal footing with Suki's. The green-clad warrior went for a jab, but missed as Azula ducked beneath. The princess countered, pushing Suki back by her chestplate. Before the captain could regain her balance, Azula followed up with a fierce roundhouse kick. A great blast of flame erupted, striking Suki with the force of a charging komodo rhino and knocking her back, tossing her to the ground. She tumbled as she hit the dirt.
Azula walked over and pulled Suki's sword from the tree trunk. Suki tried to muster the strength to stand and continue her fight. It couldn't end like this! The fire nation princess stood over her, looking down her defeated and winded opponent. She drove the tip of the sword through one sleeve of Suki's green uniform. The edge of the blade coming close enough that it cut shallowly into her arm. Suki winced from the sharp pain, she was pinned to the ground.
"We're about the same size and physique, don't you think?" Azula looked down on Suki with a scheming gaze. She removed the bronze head piece from Suki's head, tilting and rotating it in her hands as she examined the ornament.
"What should we do with them?" Mai inquired as she looked over the disabled grouping of fallen kyoshi warriors.
"We'll wait for nearby Fire Nation troops to detain them. This one here is their leader," she said standing over Suki.
"Sokka'll come save me," Suki said in a lower tone. "I know he will. When he comes, he'll bring the Avatar. You won't be so tough then!"
Azula's brow crinkled. "Sokka you say? That useless boomerang throwing oaf?" The firebending prodigy laughed. "Out of all of them, the non-bender. You're hilarious."
Suki glared at her. A look of infatuation arose from Azula's remarks of Sokka.
"Ty Lee, gather their supplies. We'll surely make use of them," Azula ordered.
Mai examined one of their iron war fans plainly, "What are you thinking?"
"I found our ticket into Ba Sing Se."
Suki pulled the bindings taught around Azula's waist and shoulders. After an ample amount of time had passed, the left side of Azula's torso was mainly covered in bandaging. This helped address the bleeding and support her injuries to her rib cage, aiding in their healing. Although she was helping tend to the princess's wounds, Suki was far from enthusiastic or glad to be the one to carry out the task.
"Ow!" Azula hissed as Suki pulled on the bandages, cinching them tight. "Do you mind possibly being any more gentle?!"
Suki scoffed, "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't think this was particularly rough or painful, your highness."
"What are you insinuating?" Azula sneered.
"Nothing at all in particular," she mocked. "Just you know...beating and stabbing me, taking advantage of our honored uniforms, throwing me in a high security hell of a prison- the usual."
"Aww. The little peasant warrior girl couldn't handle the consequences of war," she mocked with an exaggerated pouting tone. "Such a shame- Ow!"
Suki yanked her bindings once again, tightly, to finish up. "It's not the aspects of war! I just don't exactly worship you as a person," she yelled. "You and your father have brought nothing but pain and suffering everywhere you went! Anything and everything you endure now is deserved!"
"'Worship me?' Well I hate to break it to you, but it would do you justice to your nation as well," Azula sarcastically replied, pulling down her tunic. "After all, I am your former Earth Queen." She saw the fury in Suki's expression grow like a fire met with a gust of wind. Despite the obvious rage from the earth kingdom warrior, Azula maintained a collected smirk and neutral face.
"Cling on to your past glory all you want. Your regime has been toppled and your father is locked up- You'll soon be joining him behind bars once again," Suki thundered. "And despite all that you've done, and all the struggling you'd undergone...Zuko was the one actually crowned Fire Lord."
Azula's eyes ignited like a raging flame at Suki's jab. She had spent time reading up and learning through word of mouth how the former princess's personality and pride was like, and knew how to weaponize it.
"That ignorant, disgraceful, weak, fool! He doesn't deserve to be on that throne!" Azula seemed to take it personally. The metal cuffs and chains which bound her wrists rattled as Azula lunged forward at the warrior.
"And you're nothing more than our prisoner too now. Seems the table's been flipped," Suki chuckled provocatively.
Her captors had discussed their plans with the captured princess. Unfortunately, it was going to involve a lot of walking and long distance travelling. A relatively quick trip by Sky Bison but one endearing by foot, the trio would have to march from the swamp to Omashu to get to a port which was frequented by airships to and from the Fire Nation. The journey would take them days of constant travel. And the three of them were not looking forward to the prolonged company of the other party.
"'Our' prisoner you say," Azula began slyly. "So, the obvious is finally confirmed. You two are a couple. How absolutely precious...and uncanny."
"What of it?"
"The innocuous fan girl and the little soldier boy. I guess you two were made for each other. I don't have anything against it. It's not like I can speak from experience after all. I think it's just so commendable that because you two are together, you think you could manage to keep me in line. You hopeless romantics are just that, hopeless," she jabbed.
"Who could possibly love you?" Suki hissed, she unknowingly managed to strike a big nerve. Azula had indeed involuntarily backed herself into a corner, and it did sting. "Of course you can't speak from experience. And yes, I think the two of us can absolutely handle you."
"Hmph," she snorted. "You're boyfriend doesn't seem to see me that way," she said in a sly tone.
Suki had managed to land a painful internal blow prior, but Azula knew how to really push someone's buttons. They weren't going to kill her, and in her current state she couldn't run off. But she could still chip away at them.
"You heard it yourself after all. 'I'm not going to cast you aside when you're vulnerable and need support,'" she recited in a gruff voice, meant to imitate Sokka's. "He seemed so heartfelt and genuine there, like someone who just jumps at the opportunity to comfort someone at their lowest point." The words just seemed to roll off her tongue, really selling the idea that she could very well be experienced at this. "And you know just how convincing I can be. If you're not careful, Suki, I might just-"
Suki suddenly pushed Azula back, knocking the princess of the rock she sat on. With her hands chained, Azula couldn't brace against the fall. She landed flat on her back, caught off guard at the sudden attack.
Suki grabbed Azula's collar and hoisted her up. "Listen to me. I'm warning you right now. If you so much as lay a hand on him- never mind hurting Sokka- not even the spirits would be able to save you when I'm through with you." Suki suddenly released her grip, letting Azula fall back down to the dirt once she had spoken her mind.
"Hey what's going on...here?" Sokka peaked from his separated location, checking in on the commotion.
"Nothing, Sokka," Suki surmised. "She just...fell?"
The water tribesman sighed. "I know she's kind of a horrible person, but we can't expect to make good progress if she's further injured." He extended a hand to Azula to help her up. The deposed princess was slightly surprised by his extension and found herself taking his hand. His grip on hers was firm and strong. Despite handling such commoner's weapons like swords and clubs, he was gentle and warm. She quickly pulled her hand back once she was on her feet. Filthy peasant. She was soon again repulsed, her pride resettling.
"I know, she's kind of a third wheel," he directed to Suki. "But the sooner we get to Omashu, the sooner we can be done with her." He put his hands on the kyoshi warrior's waist and pulled her in. "Don't let her get to ya," he lightheartedly cautioned as the two shared a tight embrace. He spoke from experience.
Azula rolled her eyes and sighed strongly. The public show of intimacy repulsed her.
So there goes an initial attempt creating some dramatic tension between the two. Please forgive me if things just seem a bit out of character. Azula's character for me is honestly a difficult one for me to mimic. That being said, in this series, I wanted to work with a more broken and emotionally and mentally weakened version of her since she is still being haunted by her feelings and inner demons from the end of the show. I'm working on improving my dialogue and set up and portrayal of drama. I hope this chapter did well at hinting at a possible conflict between the two in this story. Hope you enjoyed the story up until this point, the prospect of writing a sort of redemption arc for Azula after her downfall was what really drove me to writing this series, but for hers I envision a much harder and not so clean cut recovery compared to Zuko's redemption arc. Things will slowly and progressively become more jagged and painful, surely.
Til next one!