Chapter 11: Fire and Ice
Long Feng scowled as he lowered his spyglass. "It appears," he said to the Dai Li agent standing on the deck next to him, "that we have a problem."
"What is it, sir?" the Dai Li asked. "Has the princess's ship discovered us?"
"No," Long Feng said. "Though I am certain that Azula is aware of the possibility that she is being followed. Our difficulty now is that her ship is already under attack from another party- a group of pirates, from the look of their ship. It would appear that the princess's crew is losing rather badly."
"I'm sorry, sir," the agent said, "but I don't see the problem. Wouldn't it save us effort simply to allow the pirates to kill Azula for us?"
Long Feng scowled again. "You fail to understand why I brought us out here in the first place. Azula is leading us right to her mother, who will be our bargaining chip back into power. Having revenge against her personally is a happy side benefit, nothing more. If we allow the pirates to kill her, we lose the trail- and if we step in to aid her, we alert her to our presence."
"I see, sir," the agent said, nodding in apparent understanding. "What are your orders?"
Long Feng looked out again at the battling ships. Before he could speak, however, he felt the air rustle at his side. Turning, he saw Wei Ming standing between him and the Dai Li agent, who stared in open-mouthed shock for a moment then dropped into a combat stance, stone hands at the ready.
"At ease," the former Grand Secretariat said. "This is Wei Ming. She isn't a threat to us- she's here on my invitation." Long Feng turned to the cloaked girl. "Now then, you will explain to me what you're doing on deck in broad daylight, frightening my crew. The Dai Li are elite warriors, girl- startle one again without me there to save you, and it may well be the last thing you do."
"Oh, I'm well aware of what your agents can do, Long Feng," Wei Ming said, a bitterly ironic twist to her voice. "But that's not the point right now. I only caught the end of your conversation here- tell me what the difficulty with Azula is, now."
"You will not speak to Minister Long Feng in that tone-" the agent began, but Long Feng held up a hand to silence him.
"It appears that Azula's ship is under attack by pirates," he said simply.
"What?" Wei Ming snarled. Seizing the spyglass, she held it up to study the scene herself. "No! Azula is mine!"
"In which case I hope you have a plan for making sure of that," Long Feng said.
Wei Ming bared her teeth in a strikingly feral expression, then grabbed the clasp of her cloak and undid it, pulling the concealing outer garment off. Beneath it she wore a tunic and pants of the same dark, shimmering material, with her pair of knives sheathed at the waist, and between that, her chalk-white skin, violet eyes, and the perpetual shadows that clung to her, she somehow looked even more uncanny uncloaked than concealed.
"Do not lose this," she said sharply, shoving her cloak into the startled Dai Li agent's hands. Then she leaped up onto the ship's prow and with a fluid grace dove into the sea.
"Should we stop her, sir?" the Dai Li asked.
"No," Long Feng said quietly. "Let's see what she can do."
/
She sank into the dark water, dragged downwards by the heavy chains and the will of the waterbender Ilook. Chains and ice bound her hands and feet, not permitting her the movement needed for any kind of advanced bending. It would almost be easier, part of her thought, to simply stop struggling, to let go of the pain and anger and fear that drove her and simply let the seawater end it.
But there was a core of strength inside her that would not die- that indomitable will that characterized every member of the Fire Nation royal house to a greater or lesser degree, the refusal to give up until every possible option had been exhausted. Too there was her royal pride- she knew full well that she would die someday, but it would not be here, not at the hands of a crew of common pirates and their tame waterbender.
Her chains were too tight for advanced bending- but she didn't need anything fancy now- just power. And she'd always had plenty of power to spare, fueled by ambition and pride and the determination to be the best at whatever she put her mind to. She called on that reserve of emotion now, and the water around her hands and feet began to boil.
I am Azula, she thought, daughter of Ozai and Ursa, princess of the Fire Nation and the youngest master firebender in the world. I will not die!
/
Ty Lee's hands and feet were starting to go numb. She'd decided that she didn't like being encased in ice up to her neck very much at all shortly after the pirate waterbender had frozen her- sure, it was a novelty for a few moments, but the fact that she was bitterly cold and couldn't move really took the fun out of it. She could only imagine what Azula was feeling right now, not only iced but chained, and being dragged down to the bottom of the sea…
The Fire Nation crew was being held in the center of the deck, surrounded on all sides by pirate guards, though Captain Shin still seemed defiant. Other pirates had gone below to search the ship, sometimes coming up with food or someone's personal possessions. Ty Lee had to resist the urge to shout at one pirate who was swinging her Kyoshi Warrior sword and fan around with every indication he had no idea whatsoever how to use either. Ty Lee didn't particularly like either of the things herself, but still, they deserved a bit more respect- and that guy looked like he was going to cut himself any minute.
Captain Shang stood off to one side, Ilook the waterbender going over his ruined face with wet, faintly glowing hands. The pirate captain's burns were healing somewhat under Ilook's ministrations, though it looked like he was going to be horribly scarred for the rest of his life. Finally Shang waved the waterbender away and stepped towards his prisoners.
"We've taken enough time here, men," he said. "Load what you've got onto the ship- there's nothing of real value here."
"What about the crew?" Ilook asked. "Are we going to leave them drifting here, or would you prefer a more… permanent solution."
Shang looked down at Shin. "I'll give you firebenders a choice- come sail with me, and I'll let you go. You people make good enough fighters that I can't just pass you up. But don't think I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart- if you won't join me, then you can join that girl in the depths."
Shin stared at the pirate for several moments, then spat. "Then you choose your own fate," Shang snarled. "Ilook! Throw them overboard."
The waterbender didn't respond- he was staring out at the sea. "Ilook!" Shang repeated, "are you even listening to me?"
Now Ty Lee followed the waterbender's gaze, and she saw that the sea was boiling. The acrobat knew what was about to happen, and she braced herself. She wouldn't want to be in the position Shang and his crew were about to be in at all.
The water boiled more intensely, and then seemed to explode. A figure shot up out of the depths, wreathed in steam and shooting jets of flame from hands and feet. Ty Lee had seen Azula use those jets before, but the concentration to maintain them while chained up underwater must have been enormous. She hovered in midair for a moment and then dropped to the deck, her wet, disheveled hair and curtain of steam giving her the look of some feral spirit. Azula appeared to have managed to have worked her hands free of the chain, and it slipped to the deck and pooled around her feet.
"Azula!" Ty Lee called. "You're alive!"
"Impossible," Captain Shang breathed, but at his side Ilook smiled his dreamy smile.
"This ought to be interesting," the waterbender murmured, and something in his voice struck Ty Lee as profoundly eerie. They said that Azula was insane- the acrobat had heard stories about her rather spectacular breakdown on the day of the Comet- but there seemed to be something about this man that was perhaps less noticeable, but every bit as wrong. Ty Lee shivered, but this time it wasn't from the cold.
"Interesting!" Shang barked at Ilook. "Are you out of your mind! You saw how powerful she is." He turned back to look at Azula, who stood perfectly still on the deck. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
"Captain Shang," Azula said with a faint smile of her own, "it's your move."
/
Wei Ming slipped aboard the pirate vessel at the same time as Azula landed on board the Fire Nation ship amidst steam and fire. Excellent- that meant that the princess would most likely survive this- Wei Ming had no doubt that she could make quick work of the pirates given a fair fight. The shadow's plans still required Azula alive – for now. The brutes had still tried to steal her prey, however, and for that they were going to be punished.
She slipped quietly along the deck, coming to the entrance to the hold. A pirate stood guard there, apparently not high-ranking enough to get a first shot at any loot. He was young and bored looking, staring off at the other ship with an expression that clearly said he wanted to get in on the action. He never saw the knife that killed him.
Wei Ming opened the door quietly and passed through the crew's quarters and into the pirate ship's cargo hold. Treasure and exotic weaponry lined the walls, but the shadow-girl paid them no mind. Her attention was focused on a pair of unremarkable wooden barrels near the back. Wei Ming padded silently over to them and lifted the lid of one, sniffing the colorless goop inside. She smiled. Trust pirates to have a good supply of blasting jelly on hand. A dangerous thing to have on a ship, but then, people like this always liked to play with volatile toys. Wei Ming had never sailed on a ship, had never met a pirate before today; she couldn't have said how she knew these things, but knew them she did.
A quick search through the supplies revealed a pair of spark stones for firestarting. Wei Ming hurried back over to the blasting jelly and dumped one of the barrels over, then stuck her hand in it and drew a thin line of it leading towards the hold door. When this was completed, she knelt by the end of her jelly-line and rubbed the spark stones together, igniting a small blaze that began to travel towards the two barrels.
Nodding to herself, satisfied that the pirate ship had only a short time to live, Wei Ming slipped away and hurried from the ship. She had no desire to be caught in the impending explosion.
/
Azula studied Captain Shang and his men, taking in the fear and anger on their faces as they clutched their weapons, torn between their fear of her and their fear of their captain. Only Ilook seemed calm, but he also showed no inclination towards immediate attack. That was fine by Azula- she would take out the ordinary pirates, and then duel the waterbender who'd nearly killed her. Her own crew seemed anxious for the battle to start- presumably sick of being held captive and waiting for a chance to overpower their guards. Ty Lee, of course, looked about as happy as a person frozen up to her neck in ice could be.
Finally one of the pirates roared a battle-cry and lunged for Azula, raising a sword that looked like it could serve equally well as a meat cleaver. The princess neatly sidestepped his charge and seized his wrist, twisting it in such a way that he was forced to drop his sword, moaning in pain. After a blow to the stomach and another to a more sensitive region, he collapsed to the deck in a heap.
"That was pathetic," Azula said. "Please tell me the rest of your men can do better, Shang. I didn't even need to use bending!"
"We took her once, and we can do it again!" the pirate captain shouted. "Come on, men- get her!"
The pirates came at Azula in a rush, but in their haste they forgot their prisoners. Captain Shin gave a tight nod to his men, and as one they leaped to their feet and attacked their captors. The battle turned into a general melee, but this time the firebenders had the element of surprise. Fire flashed across the deck, and pirates crumpled, unconscious or dead, or else dove over the side to douse flames that clung to them.
Blue fire flashed from Azula's feet and fists, striking opponent after opponent. Some of the pirates fell back, unable to continue fighting while the clothing and hair burned, but others were able to dodge or else were simply so tough that they powered on through the pain. A few more well-timed fireblasts took down some of these, and then it was hand-to-hand. Azula twisted, punched, and kicked, disarming her opponents and then sending them painfully to their knees, when someone seized her from behind. A huge pirate lifted her into the air, and pulled out a serrated dagger.
"End of the line, your highness," he snarled, when a blast of red fire struck him in the back of the head. He collapsed, screaming, and as Azula dropped to the deck she twisted to face her rescuer- Captain Shin.
"I had everything under control," she snapped.
"Of course you did," Shin replied. "I just thought you might appreciate a little help."
Azula said nothing, but turned back to the fight. Captain Shang was approaching, a drawn sword in hand.
"You may be a great bender, girl," he said, "but you can't beat me. I've been a pirate for more than thirty years, and I've yet to meet the fighter who could match me sword to sword. Give up now, and I'll kill you quickly. Fight, and I'll make it slow." A horrible smile spread across his burned face, and he brought his sword up to attack.
Azula dropped into a crouch and began pulling her hands through familiar motions, feeling the energy coursing through them. As Shang lunged at her she shot a hand out and lightning flashed. Captain Shang fell dead to the deck, still smoldering.
"You talked too long," she said. "If you'd just fought, I wouldn't have had time to charge up. Oh, well. Your loss." Azula gave the pirate's body a kick. "Could somebody pitch this overboard?"
Two of Shin's men rushed to do so, while those pirates who still fought threw down their weapons. Ilook, though, stood still with that eerie smile on his face, applauding slowly.
"I do believe you are Princess Azula," he said. "That ought to make this a challenge." His grin became wolfish and he raised his hands, seawater surging around them and forming into a pair of sharp-clawed gloves.
"We'll take him for you, princess," Captain Shin said softly. "You don't need to fight any more."
"No," Azula replied, "this is my fight." She stepped towards Ilook and the two benders began to circle each other, hands raised. Ty Lee watched the fight with a worried, anxious expression even while she was being thawed out, but Azula paid her little attention. Her entire will was focused on the waterbender before her.
"You like ice, don't you?" she said, nodding at the frozen claws. It was a weak taunt, but it was about all she knew about the man- if she could get him to talk, he might reveal a weakness.
"I do, actually," Ilook said. "It's cold and sharp and… pure." He laughed quietly. "Oh, I've heard all about you, Azula. The conquest of Ba Sing Se by three teenage girls is the stuff of legends. I've heard you like to play with people's minds, discover their weaknesses and undermine their confidence. They say that's what you did to the man who controlled the Earth King. But that won't work on me. I know exactly what I am- the crazy one, the freak, the kid who practiced his waterbending by freezing small animals to death. I was kicked out of the Northern Water Tribe when old Pakku found out what I was doing with his teachings, and I've been a mercenary ever since. And guess what? I don't care."
"Then I'll just have to beat you the old fashioned way." Azula leaped into the air and brought her feet down as she dropped, shooting a blast of fire straight at Ilook. He dodged and extended one of his hands, the icy talons detaching and shooting at the princess like small, deadly arrows. Another burst of fire and they melted, but the water she herself had dripped onto the ship's deck shot up and wrapped around her feet, freezing her in place the same way Ty Lee had been.
"Poor little firebender," Ilook crooned. "It must get so uncomfortable having a fire burning inside you all the time. Here- let me help you cool off." He raised his hands and blew cold air from his mouth, and Azula felt herself freezing. She was still wet from her dunking in the sea, and now Ilook was turning all of that water into ice. Could he freeze her blood, too, and kill her that way? She didn't know, but she had no intention of finding out.
Azula could still move her hands, so she brought them down and ignited a pair of blazing jets. With incredible force she blasted free of the ice and shot straight towards the waterbender. Ilook's eyes widened in shock as Azula brought her feet up and slammed them straight into his chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Righting himself, he called up a whip of water from the sea, but Azula blasted it into steam almost contemptuously.
"I appear to be outmatched," Ilook grunted. "You're good, princess- I'll give you that. Maybe we can battle again someday, on a field of my choosing. For now, though, good-bye." Without looking behind him, Ilook jumped lightly off the ship. The sea rose up and caught him, and with a final mocking wave he was born away on the waves. Azula fired several fireblasts after him, but he was able to dodge quickly enough that hitting him was impossible. Sighing, she gave up and the waterbender vanished from sight.
Ty Lee, free of the ice, hurried over and wrapped Azula in an embrace. "You're alive!" she said. "I was so worried about you. And the way you took out those pirates- it was incredible!"
"I'm glad to be alive too," Azula said, extracting herself from the acrobat's embrace and going over to stand by Captain Shin, who was overseeing his crew collecting the pirates' weapons. "What are you going to do with them?" In the princess's opinion a summary execution of the whole crew would do quite nicely, but she doubted Shin would agree.
"We're locking them in the brig," he said. "Next time we put in at port, we'll hand them over to Earth Kingdom authorities."
"What about their ship? It seems a waste to leave it here."
At that moment a shadowy figure slipped across the deck of the pirate ship and out of sight over the edge. Azula's eyes widened- surely that was the same shadow-girl she'd confronted on the Capital's docks!- and then the pirate ship was rocked by a loud blast. It was forced away from the Fire Nation ship and the ice-bridge was sent spilling into the ocean, and a huge hole had been blasted in its side. Water rushed in, and the ship began to sink. Moans of despair rose from the captured crew.
Ty Lee stared open-mouthed. "Whoa," she breathed. "What could've done that?"
"Blasting jelly," Shin said with an air of professional knowledge. "The real question is- who set it off? It doesn't go up like that on its own, and I doubt the pirates were foolish enough to arm it before coming over here." Both turned to look at Azula, and she realized that neither of them had seen that figure who she now knew had haunted her steps from the moment she left the Fire Nation.
"I don't know," the princess said, but as with so many things she had said during her life, it was a lie.
/
Azula triumphs! Those pirates really didn't understand who it was they were dealing with, especially when her near-death experience drove the Fire Princess to give the battle her all. Captain Shang's death was deliberately anticlimactic; as she did with Aang, Azula took advantage of her foe's taking their time to land a fatal blow, but nobody is going to be willing to do for Shang what Katara did for Aang. The real test was escaping from the sea; some of my early readers wondered what Azula did there – basically, she used her firebending to release a massive blast of concussive force, shooting the water away from her and managing to break some of the links on the chains. She was then able to jet herself to the surface and shed what was left of the chains when she landed on the ship.
Ilook is a psychopath, of course. I've mentioned previously that the Trilogy's villains are meant as reflections of Azula herself; Ilook has her cruelty and capacity for violence absence her intelligence and self-control. He works as a mercenary to satisfy his desire to do violence and get paid for it at the same time, but really, all he cares about is himself and his own twisted entertainments. As a waterbender, he's talented, cunning, and ruthless, if a bit reckless and undisciplined; he's got some nasty tricks up his sleeves, but never got the chance to use them here, as he realized he'd been backed into a situation he couldn't win. We'll be seeing him again, though not in this fic – he'll have a bigger role in the concluding volume, Soul of Fire.
And of course, Azula always lies, in this case about the true identity and nature of the enemy. She doesn't really know who or what Wei Ming is, but she knows more than anyone else at the moment, and fears revealing that knowledge might cost her the mission. As for Wei Ming herself, she still wants Azula alive, for the moment. But, as should be becoming increasingly apparent, there's even more to our shadow than what she appears…
-MasterGhandalf