Chapter Five: Traitor
Azula and Katara reach the Ruthless Sun camp and find that it is no longer deserted. They hide behind a thick tree and try to keep their breathing silent. Five soldiers sit around a campfire. Two clean their weapons, one meditates, one warms their hands and the other watches the jungle.
Katara turns to Azula and whispers, "What do you think we should do?"
"I am glad you asked," Azula softly replies. "We have an opportunity to find their base of operations here, and, by extension the egg, their ship, and their leader."
"And how is that?" Katara hisses, doubtfully cocking an eyebrow.
Azula reveals her master plan with, "I will get captured, and you will follow us."
"That seems like a bad idea," murmurs the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe.
Katara has wasted her breath, because Azula bolts out to the campsite without another word. She looks at the ground and picks up Azula's darling blue egg, shoving it into her heavy bag and kneeling deeper behind the boulders.
Azula runs at them and throws three balls of fire that intentionally miss and hit the trees. One of the soldiers tackles her to the ground, knocking the winds out of her before the other hooks metal to her wrists. She feels herself sinking deep into the ground and her head spins.
When she tries to lift her arms, she cannot. The terror of helplessness sets in and she screams. Katara shivers; she has felt that before and knows that even the worst person she has ever met—see: Azula—does not deserve it.
As soon as the Ruthless Sun smothers their fire and starts walking, Katara leaps to her feet.
[X]
Katara tracks the Ruthless Sun through the jungle.
Her brother taught her how to hunt, and, while she never liked killing animals much—she always tried to heal them instead of eat them—the skills are useful now. She follows from the shadows, ready at any moment to fight for her life.
Thankfully, the soldiers do not notice her until they reach the cliffs on the side of the island. The ocean draws Katara's gaze for a few moments. At the beach where she and Azula slept, it lapped languidly at the shore. Here, it assaults the dilapidated stone fortress with a vengeance.
The Ruthless Sun stops in front of the fort—on the dirt path that has no cover for a sneaky waterbender—and one man signals someone in the pigeon-crow's nest. When the gates groan and open, they enter, and before Katara can even pick up her feet to run in, they slide shut. She looks up and sees archers posted on the top of the structure. Katara needs to find a better way in.
She runs down towards the lagoon below. Water always has served her well in life. Katara sees the long drop down. Part of her thinks she should go back and try to find a way around the archers and gate. The other part of her shouts, JUMP.
Katara obeys the louder voice, launching off of the dirt and freefalling. into the water. She stifles a scream as she plummets. Once she hits it, she is in her element, and knows she can get into the fort. She swims across the lagoon and finds a small gap in the stone. On one hand, she could get crushed or hit a dead end, on the other, she can bend water and probably escape any tight spot within.
Quickly, Katara dives under the water and swims in, pushing back waves to propel herself. She cannot see in the pitch black darkness and for the first time in her life finds herself wishing for a firebender. She just keeps swimming until her feet hit solid ground. Her neck bends and the back of her head scrapes against the stone, but she starts to wade through the tunnel.
She comes out on the other side and sees a wide room. It does not seem to serve much of a purpose, which gives her hope that no one will be patrolling the area. Katara squints and finds a ladder. While it is in a state of decay, she still manages to climb up and stand on dry land again.
Katara bends the water off of her skin and clothes, and tip-toes towards the illuminated corridor ahead.
[X]`
Inside, Azula sits tethered in an interrogation room. This fortress is older than the Ruthless Sun; it must have been built by the Sun Warriors. The room has what Azula believes to be a sacrificial altar, which has been outfitted to torture people.
Azula and Katara are not the first targets or prisoners on this island, a curious fact. The only conclusion Azula can bring herself to is that the Ruthless Sun has extra ships on patrol, boarding vessels and capturing any information or bodies that are worth a copper piece.
The metal clips dig into her wrists and a feeling of helplessness overwhelms her. It is reminiscent of sleep paralysis, but far worse. She tries to raise her fingers and bend, but she cannot. That is her very worst nightmare.
"Would you like a drink?" asks the woman, entering the room with a small smile. Azula recognizes it; she has seen it on her own face. That is when she realizes that perhaps this was not the best plan in history. "You could probably use one after all you have gone through."
"All you have put me through," Azula corrects, her voice a weak rasp.
"Oh, princess, princess, princess—if you can be called that—your choices led you to this position. We all know it," the woman says.
"You don't know anything," Azula says, again trying to bend. She knew she could not outwit the devices.
"I do, actually. You left to go join your cousin. I think there's a word for that. It starts with a T. Unfortunately, you never made it, and so now everybody wants your head on a platter. If you had just stayed with your father, maybe you could have avoided such a messy situation."
"I was made an offer by my cousin. He clearly thinks I have declined, but I ended up in a bit of a shipwreck, if you cannot tell by my clothes and my company."
"The waterbender."
"Yes. She was my prisoner." Azula looks at that resurfacing smile and her heartrate surges. "One I am absolutely willing to trade to you if you take me to my cousin. I was going to use her to secure my passage, but you could make an awful lot of money selling her."
Azula thinks the offer might still work, but the woman has clearly not made up her mind yet.
"Did you really have plans of joining him?" asks the woman, cocking an eyebrow. "Because it seems very unlike you."
"I do not believe we have met, and so I cannot imagine that you know what is like or unlike me," Azula smoothly says, knowing her lies never fail. She was not going to meet Lu Ten; she was going rogue to take advantage of the power struggle. A rightful heir with her own army…
"Maybe that's true. Why would you leave daddy for someone who wants you dead?"
"Because I wouldn't call him a father. He made me into a weapon but didn't think about the fact that his greatest weapon had a mind of her own. My father tried to chain a dragon."
"So, you thought you'd offer your services as a human weapon to someone with more power?"
"Why not? Lu Ten has a better palace and you have seen my bending and training. I assure you that I am the turning point in this war. When Sozin's Comet comes, I will stand on the winning side."
"Once Sozin's Comet comes you would be discarded. You'd have better luck watching your father rule; he'd throw you more bones."
"You caught me," Azula admits, tired of this already. "I want what everyone else wants; power over an empire. My brother got himself banished. I decided it was an excellent opportunity to end the war and restore balance as I see fit. I even have a name for myself: Dragon Queen Azula. If my brother behaves himself, he can be Fire Lord Zuko."
That is the truth, and Azula's interrogator believes it.
[X]
Three years before her assault on the Ruthless Sun Fortress, Katara creeps out of her hiding place with her cheeks hot and her eyes averted. Sokka looks more shameless, but even he shrivels at the sight of their father. They were stowaways on a warship.
"Please don't send us home. We can help you," Sokka pleads.
Katara clasps her hands, widens her eyes, and nods feverishly.
Hakoda initially shakes his head, but Bato changes his mind later that evening.
[X]
Katara runs up the stairs, laying waste to the guards. She honestly wishes she knew precisely where Azula and a boat are, but she will do what she must. At last, Katara grabs a teenage boy by the neck and pins him to the wall with ice.
"Where's the Fire Princess?" she demands, feeling something strange and new swell inside of her. It is a kind of excitement she has never felt before.
"In-interrogation room. Two floors down," he stammers.
Katara nods and runs away. She slows down and quiets her footsteps as she creeps down two flights of stairs and reaches an open door. Katara catches a glimpse of Azula and pins her back to the stone wall.
She hears everything, all about how dear Princess Azula wanted to be Dragon Queen Azula. It all adds up to Katara now, but she would not abandon the girl now. Katara promised she would save Azula, and she will.
Katara barges in. The interrogator spins around and locks eyes with Katara.
"How did you get in here?" demands the Ruthless Sun leader.
"You can ask the trail of soldiers I knocked out once Azula and I are gone," Katara growls, stunned at her own voice. She has never spoken this way before in her life. "Now, are we going to stand around here all day, or are we going to fight?"
The woman eagerly accepts the offer for combat.
Katara dodges forward, avoiding orange flame, and freezes the metal on Azula's wrists. The princess yelps and Katara hisses, "Do not melt that!"
Raising two tendrils of water, Katara holds her own. She makes a note to herself to force Pakku into a hug if she ever sees him again. When she has the chance, she strikes the metal on Azula and breaks the restraints enough for the princess to burn herself free.
Azula stands up and the room turns blue.
The woman staggers back after avoiding shards of ice.
Katara says, "You should let us go if you want to live."
Azula smirks. The woman nods and stands back.
Katara starts to bolt from the room. She stops when she sees Azula is not following her. She turns in time to hear the scream of a person's death. Her eyes flash when the princess leaves the room as if she has done nothing wrong.
The sound of boots hitting against stone stops Katara from informing Azula that they will be parting ways now.
[X]
Katara leads Azula out through a window. The princess does not like the idea of jumping; Katara likes the idea of pushing her and catching her with the water to avoid injury.
They pry themselves onto land and run down to the harbor. It is…
"It's empty," Azula shrieks, kicking a wooden post. "Why do they not have ships?"
Katara shrugs. Then she sees a glimmer of hope.
"They do." Katara nods towards the beach and she and Azula run down.
"That is a rowboat," Azula dryly says, rolling her eyes.
Katara clenches her fists. "It's the best we can do right now."
"Did you get the yellow egg?" Azula demands and Katara shakes her head.
"No, but I got a boat and I have the blue and red ones. That's way more important."
"We have to go back for it," Azula orders.
"You can start swimming. I'm leaving."
"In a rowboat? You are going to get across the ocean on a rowboat?"
"Yes."
"Marvelous." Azula sighs and steps onto the boat.
She feels a strange sense of security when she sees Katara set the bag with the two fossilized eggs down on the wood.
[X]
Rescue finds the girls after a torturous day and night at sea. Azula barely can see as the rope hits her back and voices call down at her and Katara. Princess Azula grabs onto the rope, tucks the blue egg under her arm, and tries to climb. Exhaustion prohibits her from making it very far, so someone pulls her up.
She lies down on the deck of the large metal ship.
Her eyes seek flags for a few moments before she blacks out.
[X]
Azula wakes in a bunk. She thinks she is alone until she hears soft breathing. Princess Azula looks over her shoulder to see Katara fast asleep. The red egg is with her, thank Agni.
"Katara," Azula whispers. "Katara, wake up."
The waterbender stirs and at last turns over to face Azula.
"Yeah?" Katara whispers. She was just getting the first sleep she has had in ages, and Azula interrupted it.
"Who are we with?" Azula breathes, lifting her head from the scratchy pillow.
"Merchants," Katara explains, but Azula feels skeptical.
Azula does not think she will ever trust anyone again. After trying and failing to flip sides for her own personal gain, she has become far too desirable of a target to let her guard down.
"We left that egg," Azula whispers and Katara rolls her eyes. "We need to get it."
"We need to survive; we don't need a fancy relic. I heard your conversation with that woman. I'm really happy you offered to sell me for your own freedom."
"What did you expect?"
Katara sighs exasperatedly. "I didn't understand half of what you talked about, but I do understand that you killed her. She agreed to let us go."
"You killed a whole fortress."
"No, no, I didn't. Not a single person I fought died, because they don't deserve to die."
"Because you are too weak to do it. Now shut up about it. I promise to let you go as soon as we reach shore."
"I don't think I've been your prisoner for a while."'
"Regardless, I will let you go in exchange for rescuing me. You have no need to criticize my highly effective methods."
"What's Sozin's Comet?"
"It's a… well, a comet. It's coming back this summer."
"Back?"
"My great-grandfather used it to wipe out the Air Nomads and start the war. In the simplest of terms, it makes firebenders incredibly powerful. My father and cousin both intend to use it in their own ways. Let me be the first to inform you that that island was nothing compared to what is to come. I also believe we could have gotten that egg."
"You were a paralyzed captive when I saved you. I think you overestimate yourself."
"What are you going to do next?"
"Go back to my family somehow. And you?"
"Keep fighting, I guess."
"You totally keep forgetting I overheard that whole conversation. You're not exactly on any side of this war. What are you fighting for?"
"I am not fighting for anything. I am fighting because I don't know how to do anything else."
Silence.
"Goodnight, Azula," Katara whispers. She does not think the princess meant to be so open, and she does not want to point it out.
They are not friends, even if they did work together to escape that island.
Katara does not fall asleep, but she keeps quiet.
Azula notices a mark on the wall above her bed. Something hung there once. She looks around and reaches back under her bunk. Her fingers grasp coarse cloth; it is a flag.
She takes one look at it and feels sick.
It is the symbol of the Ruthless Sun.