They entered the cavern, which had been renovated into usable space by the Dai Li. Flanked on either side by Mehr spies, both Azula and Naina took in the expansive room for the first time. Posters of prime targets lined the walls, interspersed between Fire Nation hangings each bearing Azula's emblem.
Most soldiers were bowing low; others had fallen to their knees at the sight of their leader. Taking their cue, Naina, too, bowed, her thoughts quite sardonic. At this rate, my back's going to become permanently stooped. I think I've bowed to this egotistic girl ten times in the past two hours!
As to be expected of her, Azula ignored them, save for a glance, choosing instead to admonish Naina. "Why do you follow me? I have no use for you." Forced to take on again her subservient roles, she answered in oily politeness, "Pardon me, ma'am, but the late Ri Chan was my superior officer. Now I must keep you protected in his absence."
Azula raised her eyebrow, wielding her power as one does a sword. "Very well. I will assess your intellectual and swordsmanship abilities in an hour's time in the Northern Regiment Arena. Have you a sword? As she spoke, servants rushed forward, taking her cloak and fanning her.
"No, your Highness. I had not the funds to procure one." She hung her head convincingly.
"And Ri never thought to get you one?" She crossed her arms, frowning. When Naina shook her head, she said vehemently, "Well, if he could not have the foresight to provide his own page a sword, and to be killed in something as stupid as a border skirmish, then perhaps he deserved to go. Qin, bring Zaira a sword."
Qin nodded. "Yes, your Highness."
Azula followed one of the servants, walking into a maze of hallways; one presumably leading to the residential area of the rebellion's officers. Once Azula had disappeared from sight and Qin returned with an exquisite sword, Naina asked in a law voice, "Qin, can you help me find my quarters? I cannot for the life of me find my way in this maze."
Qin bowed slightly, saying "Yes, come this way, ma'am." As he turned on his heel, Naina raised her eyebrows. She guessed that Ri Chan's death had led her to being promoted. She followed him down the same corridor Azula had taken, but instead of making a left at a fork, Qin made an abrupt right. He walked a few feet, and stopped, turning quickly. He lit a fire in his hands, and held it up to Naina's startled face.
"I have not seen you before, and I knew Zaira. You are not the late Ri Chan's page. Are you a Zinnian spy?" He slipped into a fighting stance, still keeping the fire trained on her face. His anger was short lived, turning into surprise when she sighed, looking around for prying ears. Suddenly, she pushed past him deeper into the hallway, grabbing his arm and dragging him along. She looked at him, reading his face as he regained his stature.
"Can I confide in you, Qin?" Her face was earnest, making him bemused. Unexpectedly, he scowled and shot a ball of fire directly into her face. Quick on reflexes, Naina parried the flames with her suddenly unsheathed sword, ducking in anticipation of another blow. Playing on the defensive, she blocked several more attempts to fry her, continuing to talk. "Well, judging from your obvious loyalty to the Mehrs, I take it that I can confide in you." She heaved a fake sigh. "If only you'd listen…"
Qin glared defiantly at her. "Such bold words for one who can hardly hold her own against a messenger," he growled, twisting and shooting an inferno at her through his feet. Naina raised her eyebrows and remained silent, choosing instead to force him to eat his words. She easily dodged the attack before returning it with a flick of her blade. The flames sprang back at a flabbergasted Qin, effectively distracting him in his efforts to parry it.
In the split second it took him to block the returning fire by raising his arms over his face, Naina moved. Before he had winced, she had pinned both his arms and neck behind the flat of her sword. "You were saying?" Her voice was cool and confident, not a trace of tiredness behind it. She smirked at his fear, wishing it had been a longer fight.
Qin, in comparison, had paled, breathing heavily and sweating. "I can only ask you to kill my quickly," he said, defeated.
Naina withdrew her sword. "You never called for help, both a brave and foolish thing to do. Were I really a spy and made such short work of you, you would never have been able to alert the others of an infiltration into the Mehrs. Besides, if I killed you now, who would show me my quarters and the Northern Regiment Arena?"
He gaped at her, jaw hanging slightly open. "Well, if you are not a spy, then who are you? You do not seem to be Fire Nation – no proper Fire Nation warrior would ever leave her quarry alive. You managed to defeat a firebender without any bending at all. Why are you here and why have you taken Zaira's identity?"
"You're more observant that I gave you credit for," she mused. "Alright, suppose I was to tell you my purpose and position here, what would you do with that information?" He eyed her sword, which hung loosely in her hand.
He ignored her question, asking one of his own. "Are you a friend of Zaira's?" He gazed warily at her, slowly regaining his spent energy.
"Yes, and no," she said, sheathing her sword. "I know her well, but she has never met me. It's a complex idea to put a mind around, but I need you to take it in your stride: I am Zaira now. My arrival, I think, resulted in her disappearance. I do not know where she is now, but I do know that she's safe. I'm only telling you all of this because you seem to be a friend of hers, and now I must take her place in the rebellion. I must ask you again; what are you going to do with this information?"
She waited a moment, surveying the hallway while he took in her words. "For now, I will keep them to myself, but I need to know why you are here. I cannot condone anything being done to harm Lady Azula." He folded his arms, leaning back against the wall.
"I have not formulated a purpose to my being here yet, but I am on your side; I will not try to harm her. For the time being, the purpose of the Mehrs is my own, and I will fight for it. But now time has passed, and I need to find my room as well as the arena." She glanced at one of the torches lining the wall, where it had burned down, leaving a pile of soot below.
He eyed her for a second, deciding whether to instill his trust in her or not. "For now," he reminded her finally, receiving a nod in response. He turned, leading her back down the corridor and up the other, making another left before stopping in front of a door adjacent to a more decorated one. Naina glanced at it, noting the guards outside and the servants' bell hanging beside it.
Qin pushed open her door, leading her inside. "That's Azula's room," he informed her. "This used to be Ri Chan's room, and Zaira stayed in the hall behind this one. Look, there's a door over there leading to her old room. Now Ri is gone, Zaira was next in line to take his position, even though she was only a page. Her level of skill was higher than the other officers' skill, but not enough to trump Ri's. Ri had shown mercy to her during a duel, so she became his page instead of the third officer. It's something about honor and duty; I never fully understood it."
His dry humor made Naina chuckle, but she shook her head and asked him, "So who lives there now?" She pointed to the adjoining room's door.
"Nobody. The space is for you to use now; the room is locked from that hallway, so you can only get in from this side. Most officers have the extra rooms, for future pages that may need to occupy them. You do not have much time before Azula wants to see you; it is best that you arrive at the arena a few minutes before she does." He glanced at a light-powered clock on the wall. The torch beside it that provided its power was still burning high.
"Sure, let's go."
Qin led her through the door that joined hers to the extra room, taking a key off the wall at the other end of the space. He unlocked the door, waited for her to get through, and locked it once more. "Here's the key, if you need to get through here for any reason." She took it, pocketing the silver object.
"This is a shorter way towards the arena, but you really should not be in this corridor. It is meant for lower soldiers and servants only. Since we are short on time, though, I will show you the other way later." He looked to the right, facing an empty wall. Bending a small stream of fire at the center, he waited until a hole was illuminated in the upper right corner – something a spy would have missed.
Naina watched in fascination as Qin pressed a finger into the hole, triggering some sort of release mechanism. The wall opened, revealing a tunnel, at the end of which was a dim light. Naina turned to watch the wall slide back together, noticing two large steel doors. She smiled. A few hours earlier, she would have laughed at the prospect of meeting Azula, taking Zaira's place, and walking through a not-quite-so-primitive secret passage in the heart of Mehr headquarters.
She followed Qin through the tunnel, to find that it opened back into the forest. A few hundred meters ahead, she saw a clearing, which had been lined with metal walls and sentries. A quiet murmur told her that there was already an audience to watch her assessment. Qin stopped near the entrance, to give her a solemn look. "I cannot enter from here. Good luck." After a moment's hesitation, he held out his hand; a sign of acceptance.
"Thanks for this, Qin. I have one more question, though." She returned the handshake, speaking again. "Would others here be able to know me apart from the real Zaira?"
He looked cast down. "No, you look much like her. I was only able to deduce your false identity because I knew her well."
"You miss her." It wasn't a question, and Naina knew the answer.
"She was a good friend." He looked away.
"Qin, listen to me. She is safe, and will return when the time comes. I promise you that." He didn't look fully convinced, but nodded regardless.
Naina spared him a parting smile before donning a determined and confident expression. As the noise of the audience rose, she strode into the arena, hand ready to unsheathe her sword.
Standing in the middle of the arena, wind blowing her hair about, she waited for her adversary. Within moments, a man strode in from the opening in front of her, looking up at the crowds.
She watched him with a keen eye, ready for any attack that was to come. Instead, Azula's amplified voice rang through the arena, silencing the soldiers. "Zaira, meet my cousin Rokon. He is our best firebender and swordsman, too. Like me, he is descended from past Fire Lord Sozin, whose revolutionary ideas sparked more than a hundred years of prosperity for our great nation. Beat him at his own game."
Naina's eyes flicked back to the man, who had advanced several feet while she was watching Azula. She unsheathed her sword, bending low into an aggressive stance. Knowing the first rule of combat, she waited. Never be the first to strike – it puts you at a great disadvantage, and furthermore, shows you as being in a hurry. Her master's words echoed through her head.
Rokon stepped closer, strategically placing himself to her left, after noting that her sword was held in her right hand. In the excited silence that fell, a breeze sent a faux calmness into the arena.
Suddenly, he thrust forward, driving the point of his sword towards her. Naina smiled slightly, flipping to her left and kicking her legs low, aiming to make him lose balance. He sidestepped, striking at her again.
Flipping backwards, she kicked his sword upwards with a booted foot. It shot out of his fingers and into the air, but he deftly caught it before she had returned into her stance. "You're better than I expected," he informed her.
She tilted her head in acknowledgement, but said nothing; choosing instead to dive towards him, point towards his chest. He stepped backwards, parrying with a flick of his wrist. Arm out in traditional fencing style, he stepped forward, aiming at the point he had made vulnerable with his parry.
He was quick, but she managed to duck back just as his sword pierced skin. "Touché," she muttered, not giving a glance to her torn shirt. Nevertheless, it was only a scratch on her arm, and was hardly a score on his part. She feinted to the right, and again to the left, making him leave himself open.
She struck forward, hitting just below his right collarbone. "Hmm," he said, "That's the fastest someone has been able to hit me." He moved to his offensive again, and she retreated.
Suddenly, she ran towards one of the borders of the arena, surprising him. "Where are you going?" he shouted, running after her. Moments before hitting the wall, she sprang up, kicking the ground for an extra jump. Standing on the narrow ledge formed by the wall, she began her attack once again, at an advantage because of the height.
Rokon knew he couldn't balance on the ledge because of his bulkier gait, so he worked to bring her down by the ankles. She performed a balestra, hopping above his oncoming blade before landing on its flat edge. As his blade was trapped, she flipped over him and lunged, hitting his shoulder blade.
The broken time of her actions sent him ducking awkwardly, landing on his back instead of his feet. As she drove in, he rolled to the side, jumping to his feet and taking advantage of her downward momentum. With the butt of his sword, he knocked into her back, making her reel. Once her sword was stuck in the ground, she jumped behind, dodging another attack.
"That will bruise," she told him, squaring her shoulders to alleviate the numbness that followed his blow. He shrugged, settling back into a beginning stance. "Payback. I have never been hit twice in a row by any opponent, so I chose to resort to the more…effective methods."
"Cheating, you mean." She backed up until she was against the wall. He couléd, and then moved to a direct attack, thinking she had no way to move. Instead, she jumped up and kicked against the wall, rolling forward and past him. He turned on his heel, chasing after her and making a jabbing cut to the right.
She counter-parried, and then fleched, leaping off her leading foot, making a hit, and then passing her opponent at a run. He rubbed his arm, muttering something unintelligible as he turned to meet her attack.
Naina raised an eyebrow at his more wary expression and said, "I see you've lost your smugness for this bout. Any more words to offer?" He rolled his eyes, making a passata-soto – lunging while dropping his hand to the ground. He kicked her legs out from under her knocking her down. His blade approached her face, and he said cockily, "Yeah, I win."
Instead of closing her eyes in fear, she returned his cocky smile. "Maybe, but I still have my sword, and you've left your left side wide open." She arched her back, jumping up and smashing her hilt into his side.
He grunted, curling over slightly as his rib cracked. She slid behind him, knocking his sword out of his hand. He frowned, rolling low to avoid being hit. His retreat brought him to his sword, though, which had fallen to the ground only feet away. Even Naina didn't have that much energy.
He pulled it upwards, counter-parrying another attack, and playing on the defensive line. "That hurt, you know. I don't appreciate it."
"All's fair," she countered.
Suddenly, he pushed his sword into the ground, swinging around it and kicking dirt into her eyes. "You're right," he told her, "All is fair."
Instead of looking frustrated, she grinned blindly. "Using my arguments against me, are we? Well, then," She crouched low, uncannily dodging his sword and flung dirt into his face.
Laughing, she wiped her face, and pushed him over as he stumbled backwards, dropping his sword as his hands flew to his eyes. When he had rid his face of dirt and looked up at her, shocked, she pointed her sword at his face. "I'm not going to kill you, because according to Lady Azula, you are supposed to teach me firebending." She looked up, raising an eyebrow to where she was seated.
Azula's face was unreadable as usual, but she finally nodded. Naina looked back down at Rokon, moving her sword to the side. Sheathing it, she extended a hand towards him. Staring at her, he took it and stood.
"I think we have a bit to learn from each other, Zaira. I can't have you beating me like this every time. Nice fight, though."
The fencing terms were found off the internet, though most of them are explained right there. If you have a question, let me know. (Or, if something is used incorrectly - I don't fence myself, though I'd love to).
ATLA, bending, and Azula (c) to Mike DiMartinez and Bryan Koneitzko (hopefully I spelled those right!)
Naina, Qin, Rokon, Zaira, and emblem (c) to me. (Speaking of which, these are pretty much all of the OCs in the whole story. Of which at least two of them play little to no part.)
Questions? Comments? Review Please!
~iamtheblindbandit