The Golden Wolf Warrior
By: Agent-Ayu
Chapter 10: The Deserter
Notes: We're coming close to the end of Book 1 in Golden Wolf Warrior. Two more chapters and then we'll be moving on to Book 2. You'll find this chapter written a little differently. It is done on purpose.
Disclaimer: Disclaimer from Prologue still applies.
When they walked into town they realized they were out of place. Nearly everyone was wearing masks.
"I think we need some new disguises." Katara pointed out.
"Where are we gonna get masks like that?" Sokka asked annoyingly.
Azula looked around. "Over there." Everyone turned their attention to Azula's direction. There was a stall selling masks.
"You just love proving me wrong don't you?
"You make it too easy."
She picked of a half-face red dragon mask and put it on.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
They spent the last hour wondering around the town seeing the different events and activities that was happening. Finally they sat on a bench near a fountain resting a bit. Azula's eyes wandered to one small Fire Nation girl who was with her parents and her older brother.
She began to picture the little girl as herself when she was the girl's age and it being her family here. Azula couldn't remember ever doing this with her family or if they even did. The firebender snapped out of it when she felt Katara's hand on her shoulder.
"Ugh, where can we get something to eat?" Sokka complained while holding his stomach.
"Free flaming fire flakes!" A merchant shouted to the crowd.
Sokka shot up and ran to the stand taking two bags of flaming fire flakes. Just as he sat down on the bench again he started stuffing his face and regretted it immediately. Azula swore she thought she was literally seeing smoke coming from his ears and mouth.
"Aaahhh! Hot! Hot!" He screamed while trying to find something to drink. When he didn't find anything he dunked his head into the fountain.
"'Flaming fire flakes' hot? What do you know." Katara replied while crossing her arms.
Azula reached over Katara and grabbed a handful of the flaming fire flakes and ate it. "I don't see what he's complaining about. It's not that hot. Spicy. But not hot. They're rather good."
The water tribe boy shoved the rest of the flakes towards me. "Enjoy!"
"I'm not eating this by myself. You're eating it with me. Take small amounts until you're used to it. How do you think I got used to eating stewed sea prunes?" Azula shoved one of the bags of flakes back to Sokka.
"But, I thought you hate stewed sea prunes. Don't you?" Aang asked.
"I don't hate them anymore. It's just not my first choice of cuisine to eat." Suddenly Azula felt as though someone was watching them very closely. She turned her head to the crowd behind them searching for someone or something.
"What's wrong asked again?"
"I get the feeling we're being watched." Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone else in a dark poncho try to hide from them. "Come on let's move on."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
After being chased around the town and escaping thanks to Chey, the four teens sat in the words listening to Chey explain to them about his master. Azula was starting to get annoyed with him and his rambling. He constantly contradicted himself. Slowly she started to nod off.
"I serve a man. More than a man really, he's a myth, but he's real, a living legend, Jeong Jeong the Deserter."
Hearing the name 'Jeong Jeong' caused Azula to shoot her head up and listen to him carefully. The name seemed really familiar to her. She tried to picture a face to the name. Then it hit her. The admiral from the wanted poster with the two parallel scars on the right side of his face, he was Jeong Jeong.
"He was a Fire Nation general, or wait-"
"For being one of his followers, it's rather pathetic who you don't remember he was an admiral." Azula snapped and glared at him.
Everyone was silent. "Azula… how do you know that?" Katara finally asked.
"Remember when Sokka found the wanted poster of Aang and I? Jeong Jeong and Chey's wanted poster were on the same board." Azula easily replied. She knew there was something else that caused her to remember Jeong Jeong being an admiral, she couldn't figure out what though.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Azula was mentally kicking herself for not sensing the forest warriors from trapping them. It reminded her when the Kyoshi Warriors did the same thing to them so many weeks ago.
As they walked through the forest guided by Lin Yee and the other forest warriors, they learned that all the forest warriors were with Jeong Jeong and deserters of the Fire Nation military.
They finally arrived to a hillside that had many metal shacks of the flatter surfaces of the hill. There was a river at the bottom of the hill along with another metal shack.
Lin Yee pushed Chey forward physically telling him to walk down the hill to the shack by the river. "Go on. He sees you only."
"Oh that's okay, we can chat later." Chey said nervously as he tried backing away.
"Is that where Jeong Jeong is?" Aang asked excitedly. "I need to talk to him right away." The airbender tried to move forward but was abruptly stopped by Azula grabbing the back of his collar and Lin Yee blocking his path with the spear.
"No, you wait here." Lin Yee roughly pushed Chey again. "Go now!"
"Don't worry! Everything'll be fine. He's a great man, great man!" Chey said as he began walking down the hill steps as Lin Yee guided the rest towards the metal shack closets to them.
"I really want to talk to Jeong Jeong though!" Aang complained.
"Aang, shut up!" Azula snapped.
Everyone froze. Katara and Sokka looked at each other. They've seen Azula angry before, but not as much as she was currently with Aang.
"Aang, if you keep trying to rush into things without thinking of the consequences you're going to get hurt or someone else hurt. You drew attention to us back at the Fire Nation town when you wanted to be part of that magic show, which caused Katara to be in the show, but the problem was the magician had it under control the whole time!"
"But, he said that it was too strong and was going to lose control of it. I wasn't going to let Katara get burnt or worse killed!" Aang argued.
"He was acting! The magician was acting as if he didn't have control to keep the audience in suspense so his finale would have to extinguish the fire dragon and have confetti appear from it before the fire dragon even touched Katara!" Azula argued back.
"What is going on out here?" a woman asked as she exited the metal shack the teens and Lin Yee were standing in front of.
Azula looked over at the woman and froze. She had trouble breathing as she recognize the woman standing before them.
The woman gasped as she too recognized Azula. "Spirits, I hope my eyes aren't deceiving me." Tears started pouring the woman and Azula's face.
"You're not being deceived. It's me, Azula." The two embraced each other tightly not wanting to ever let go. "I missed you so much, Mizuki." Azula whispered.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Hmm… so that's what you guys were arguing about." Mizuki said as she firebended on the bowls to heat up the broth and rice before passing them to the four teens. After Azula and Mizuki had their little reunion, Mizuki guided them into the metal shack to fix them something to eat.
"Yes, Aang shouldn't have worried too much, but it never is bad to worry about a friend's well being. Malu is a very talented firebending magician. Believe it or not, I knew him when we were children. Whenever we had our firebending classes he was always trying to figure out a new trick to show off to the other kids during recess." Mizuki took a sip of her broth as she watched the teens.
Azula dumped all her rice into her broth as sipped her food. Sokka was too busy stuffing food into his mouth to care what was happening. Aang slowly ate still feeling guilty and sad after Azula yelled at him. Katara placed a little bit of her rice in her broth to try it before dumping the rest of her rice in her broth bowl like Azula.
When no one else spoke Mizuki continued. "Katara, Sokka. You two have also grown a lot since I last saw you. Katara, you've turned into a very beautiful young woman."
Katara blushed and quickly whispered a 'thanks' before eating more of her food. Sokka loudly burped still ignoring everyone.
"You look so much like your mother, Azula." Mizuki complimented.
The young firebender looked up from her food. "Did you ever find her? My uncle? My brother?"
Mizuki looked down into her lap. "I'm sorry, we searched for six months before it became to dangerous for us to travel in a Fire Nation ship. When the other benders and I abandoned the ship, we ran into Jeong Jeong, and he told us to stop looking. He said it would risk our lives and the lives of your family if we did find them."
"Oh." Azula quietly whispered looking down at her food.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
After everyone else had fallen asleep, Azula and Mizuki continued taking learning about what happened to the other for the past nine years. Azula explained everything from relearning firebending and training with the wolf warriors with Sokka.
"That's amazing. I'm amazed you were able to teach yourself firebending again. It's hard to imagine anyone finding their drive again to firebend once they lost it. Let alone a child finding their drive again."
"Drive?" Azula questioned.
Mizuki looked over at her friend. "Your drive… this feeling that is inside is like your fuel to your inner fire. Without that fuel you will not be able to firebend. Before you had your panic attack and lost your memory, like every firebending child it was probably the purest drive of all, to feel the sun.
"But after your panic attack, when I tried helping you practice when we were on the ship, you seemed timid when it came to firebending. For some reason, you found your drive again to start firebending."
"I lived in the Water Tribe for a year, most of the village still didn't appreciate me being there. They wouldn't let their kids play with me at the time. So I just sat outside on the wall staying out of everyone's way. As I sat there I was feeling the sun and how good it felt, and I suddenly heard a voice just as warm helping me find my way to firebend again." Azula smiled at the memory. "A few weeks ago I found out the voice, that taught me to firebend again, belonged to Avatar Roku."
"Avatar Roku?"
"Yeah, would you believe he's actually my great-grandfather?"
Before Mizuki could say anything, Chey appeared through the curtain very gloomed. Thinking that Aang, Sokka, and Katara were asleep, Chey sat down next to Mizuki and was about to tell Azula something, but was interrupted.
"What happened? Can I see Jeong Jeong now?" Aang asked immediately upon waking up instantly.
"Aang! Shut up!" Azula snapped.
"He won't see you." Chey responded glumly. "He's very angry that I brought you here. He wants you to leave immediately a-"
"Finally!" Sokka explained as he stretched. "Let's hit the road."
"Hold up, he wants you to leave immediately after he trains Azula." Chey finished explaining.
Everyone looked over at Azula, including Katara who had just woken up. Aang was irritated at how everything lately was focused around Azula.
"Why will he teach her and not me? I'm the Avatar I need to know how to firebend!" Aang shouted.
Suddenly he was looking at the metal shack ceiling as Azula held him down glaring at him. "Aang, you don't understand. Firebending is the most difficult bending art. You might think by the time you start Earthbending is difficult because it's your natural opposite, but you're wrong. Firebending will always be the most difficult for any Avatar."
Aang pushed Azula off of him. "How difficult can it be? Unlike the other elements you can create fire!"
"That's one of the reasons it's difficult. While you can use other sources of fire…" Azula firebended a small flame out of the fire that was burning in the shack. "Fire is the only one that can be created from the benders, and there are consequences that come with being a firebender that are more devastating than the other elements if you don't learn it properly."
"Don't you mean, 'If I'm not taught it properly'?" Aang asked.
"No, if you don't learn it properly."
The airbender stood up. "You taught yourself to firebend when you were a kid and you don't have a problem with it. I want Jeong Jeong to teach me."
"He says you're not ready." Chey finally interrupted. "Says you haven't mastered waterbending and earthbending yet."
"Wait, how does he know that?"
"He saw the way you walked into camp. He can tell."
"I'm going in anyway!" Aang walked out of the entrance.
"The Avatar is a fool." Azula mumbled to herself.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Some time had gone by and Azula fell asleep leaning against Mizuki. Chey smiled as he watched the scene in front of him.
"Is it really her?" He asked. "Is it really our pr-" Mizuki held her hand up silencing him.
Mizuki brushed Azula's bangs out of the girl's face. "Yes, only nine years older. Not a day had gone by did I not worry about her. Chey, if you saw the way she looked at me when I told her we had to leave her at the South Pole you would have felt so guilty for doing so. I looked after her and her family for only two years before that day, and only had two weeks to get to know her…" Mizuki's voice dragged not sure what else to say.
"She seems like a little sister to you." He observed.
The former captain smiled. "It feels that way. After what happened I had all my attention on protecting her as if she was the only family I had left."
"I'm sure if we have a daughter in the future, you'll raise her to be strong like Azula." Chey responded.
"Yes." Mizuki leaned forward and peck her husband's lips. "But, I don't want to get pregnant while we're refugees, I don't want that for our child."
Chey laughed. "Understandable. Oh wait, that means I would have to stop making explosives… oh boy."
Mizuki giggled. "This is going to be a shocker for Azula when she wakes up. I don't think she would have guessed you were my husband."
Just then Azula began to stir. "Huh? I guess I must have fallen asleep." Azula sat up and rubbed the weariness from her eyes.
Aang suddenly walked in with a big cheesy smile on his face. "I did it! Jeong Jeong is going to teach me to firebend! And you guys said he wouldn't! By the way, Azula he wants to talk to you. Maybe instead of teaching you, he's going to focus his attention on me."
"Are you sure it was you and not Roku threatening him?" Azula asked, still angry with the Air Nomad.
"What makes you say that?" He asked nervously.
"I really doubt Jeong Jeong would just suddenly change his mind to teach you unless someone more powerful than him threatens him to teach you. You lack the discipline to be a firebender." Azula said as she walked out of the tent.
Once she walked down to Jeong Jeong's shack, she stopped and listened to the sound of the water moving. Suddenly something snapped. She began firebending shooting varies blasts and arcs in different directions.
"Hah!" She shouted while kicked the air sending a powerful fireball down the river.
"Anger is the worst drive for firebending."
Azula turned around to see Jeong Jeong looking at her. "Right now, all I am is angry. I don't understand why you would teach Aang. He doesn't understand firebending."
"No, he doesn't, but Avatar Roku thinks he is ready."
The two look out towards the river again, seeing fireflies flying around the water. "He's wrong." Azula simply said.
"I agree, but I was not in a position to argue with him. However, my main focus is re-training you. It's obvious you're not aware, but you're already a master firebender."
"If I'm already a master why do you need to re-train me?" Azula asked now turning her attention to the former admiral.
"You lost your way. Yes, you are able to firebend but your intentions for your drive is wrong. I don't know what your intentions are, but the way you carry yourself shows you have conflicted feelings. The first time I saw you, you had the drive of every child and that of a true firebending master."
"The sun." Azula answered.
Jeong Jeong nodded. "Any firebender can be a master, but only those who understand firebending, only those who become one with Agni, the sun spirit, are the true firebending masters. There was only one other person, beside myself, who I know was one with Agni. Your uncle."
Azula smiled. "My uncle was amazing. I don't remember much about him, but I do remember it was different being around him. When he walked into the room, it made me feel like everything was going to be fine and warm. Just like the sun. I got the same feeling from you nine years ago and even now."
"So remember me. Chey told me earlier how you yelled at him. However, he said you remembered because of one of my wanted posters."
"Originally that's what I thought too. But after talking to you I started remembering more. I'm truly honored for you to take me under your wing." Azula bowed towards her new firebending master.
"Well start in the morning. I'll get you started, but everything depends on you in your training. Mizuki will make sure no one interrupts you. Your training is going to affect you mentally, spiritually, and possibly physically. You'll know when you find your drive."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Morning arrived after a long night. After eating their breakfast, Jeong Jeong had Mizuki and Azula follow him away from the camp to a large tree facing the sun.
"I want you to sit here and meditate. Meditate on what your drives in the past were and how they affected you and your firebending. You will not move from this spot until you find your path. Even if it takes days, you will not move. Understand?"
"Yes, master."
"Mizuki can not help you in your journey. She is here to make sure your friends don't try to disturb you. However, if you meditate properly it wouldn't matter if she was here or not."
With that Jeong Jeong walked back to camp. Azula sat down close to the tree and tried to feel Agni's warmth on her. She didn't know how long they were there, but she knew she wasn't getting anywhere.
The former captain began to speak before Azula cut her off. "No, Jeong Jeong said I have to do this alone."
Azula stared towards the horizon looking just below the sun so she wouldn't be blinded. She closed her eyes and began to meditate feeling Agni shine his warmth on her.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
I was three when I bent fire for the first time. My family was surprised, especially my brother. He had also just recently realized he was a firebender as well. My brother was five, the usual age for some one to discover their bending abilities.
I remembered my mom making sure I didn't learn firebending until I was five. When I was finally allowed to start my firebending lessons my uncle was to be my master since my father was teaching my brother.
Uncle spent the first month of my lessons teaching me the proper breathing techniques. I found those lessons boring until I struggled producing fire when he asked me to. After that I didn't try to think bad about his lessons. We spent another week training me to breath properly and I was able to produce fire again.
The warm feeling I felt every time I firebended made me want to never stop bending. It was as if I was playing with Agni every day. I felt like I was starting to really understand firebending, but that all changed after I saw Lu Ten murdered in front of me.
I couldn't firebend anymore. Mizuki tried so hard to teach me how to firebend again so I could use my inner fire to keep myself warm the closer we got to the Southern Water Tribe, but I couldn't. I couldn't feel Agni anymore. Everything felt cold and nothing was going to keep me warm.
That was until I saw her. Katara. For weeks the whole crew on the ship tried helping me keep warm by putting me in clothes meant for cold temperatures but in the end they failed. Just meeting Katara sparked something in me to feel warmth again.
But that warmth was not enough for me to firebend still. Until that day I sat at the wall feeling Agni again. There's no doubt in my mind that Roku was talking to me, teaching me how to firebend again. His voice was just as warm as Uncle's. That's probably why I didn't have trouble learning again.
The whole village thought I was crazy when I told Hakoda and Kya that there was a voice in my head teaching me to firebend. Hakoda and Kya didn't think crazy, and neither did Sokka or Katara. Not even Gran Gran thought I was crazy. To avoid accidentally melting the village, Hakoda set up my training area just outside the village.
I was playing with Agni again.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Katara walked up the make shift path to Mizuki and Azula. She couldn't help by smile seeing how peaceful Azula looked by the tree.
"Has she been sitting there this whole time?" Katara quietly asked Mizuki.
Mizuki nodded. "Jeong Jeong wants her to find the true way of firebending. Children who just discovered their firebending abilities are true masters spiritually. If they learn firebending properly guided by a master they will be true masters of firebending mentally, spiritually, and physically. Life strays us from the path. That is part of Jeong Jeong's teachings to us."
"So no one can teach her the true way to firebending?" Katara asked.
"No one. Not even the original firebenders, the dragons."
"I thought dragons were extinct."
"They are, but if they were still around they couldn't teach anyone the true way to firebending. It is different for everyone. I curious as to what her drive will be. What does Jeong Jeong have Aang doing?"
Katara giggled at the memory of what Aang is going through. "Concentration and breathing exercises. He keeps trying to learn how to actually bend fire."
"He can't without proper breathing and concentration. Every new firebender has to learn those before being taught how to control the fire."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
After learning about the war, I lost my way. I know I did. I was only seven. I was furious at Akuzo. He killed my grandfather, my father, and Lu Ten. I didn't even know if the rest of my family was still a live. I was alone.
I remember being so angry that I practically destroyed my training area. My fire was stronger and more violent that it ever had been. That caused Gran Gran to start worrying about me. I was worried when she started warming up to me, she hated me ever since they day I came to the Southern Water Tribe.
After Hakoda fixed up my training area again, it was Gran Gran who woke me up and started teaching me the movements to waterbending. She wasn't a waterbender, but everything she taught me she learned from Hama. Hama, the greatest waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe was taken prisoner by the Fire Nation, taught Gran Gran everything she knew about waterbending.
I mentally smiled remembering Katara asking Gran Gran to teach her waterbending, but no matter how had Gran Gran tried there was no way she could properly teach Katara. Gran Gran wasn't a waterbender and couldn't feel what all benders feel with their element.
The memories of how much time Katara and I spent working on waterbending, or in my case, waterbending with fire. It was very different. It was only a few months before we left the Southern Water Tribe with Aang did I figure out to bend fire as if it were water.
And then it finally dawned on me. I felt as if the world around me shifted, and everything was in its rightful place. My drive was Katara.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Azula took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Jeong Jeong told her she'd know when she finds her drive. She did. The firebender stood up and noticed Katara.
"Hey." Katara said casually.
"Hey." Azula surprised herself when she suddenly wrapped her arms around Katara's waist.
Katara didn't say anything. She wrapped her arms around Azula's neck. They stayed there for a while in their embrace.
"You seem different."
"I feel different. I found my drive."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
The firebender sat down on the rock in front of Jeong Jeong's shack. She didn't have to wait long. Jeong Jeong returned and was shocked to see Azula.
"Of all the students I've had, you're the quickest to find your drive. You're actually the only student who found their true drive. Stand."
Azula did what she was told. Jeong Jeong quickly instructed her on what he wanted to see. Sokka and Katara watched from afar on the rock Sokka was fishing on. Sokka still hadn't caught a fish.
Once Jeong Jeong finished his in instructions. Azula took a deep breath and produced a small fireball. She was shocked to see her flame was no longer the color of a normal fire. In her control was a beautiful blue flame burning in many shades of blue.
She ducked under the ball of fire and she turned in a full circle charging her abilities to one move. She created an opening in the middle of the flame and stood up having a ring of fire surrounding her. Azula effortlessly pushed the fire outward creating a bigger ring.
Using one hand to keep the fire in place, she reached out and broke the fire ring circling around the ring building the stream of the ring into the small flame it once was again. She stepped back into a low stance bring her arms with the fireball back before shifting her weight forward sending a long stream of fire down the river.
There was no doubt. Her firebending was stronger. She was a true master of firebending.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Aang, come on!" Sokka shouted.
Aang quickly got out of the water and hopped onto Appa's saddle. "Wait, where's Azula?"
Azula was standing far from the group she was with Mizuki. "Where are you guys going?"
"I can't tell you. Trust me, we'll be fine, but you need to get out of here!" Mizuki embraced Azula. "You're not the little girl I left at the Southern Water Tribe anymore. I promise we will meet again someday. Now go!"
Mizuki pushed Azula towards her friends. Azula sprinted not looking back. Once Aang got Appa into the air, Azula looked back to see Mizuki was gone.
"Aang, you're burned." Katara pointed out. She opened her water pouch and bended some water to cover her hand. Azula and Sokka watched as Katara placed her hand over Aang's wound. When she removed it Sokka was in shock.
"Wow! That's good water." Aang complimented.
"When did you learn to do that?" Sokka asked. "And why am I the only one in shock?"
"Azula was with me when I healed my hands and I guess I always knew how to heal." Katara explained.
"Oh… well then-" Sokka began ranting on of all his past wounds.
Aang turned his attention to the firebender. "Azula. Azula, I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier. You were right. I wasn't ready. I didn't understand the consequences of not being disciplined. I don't ever want to firebend again."
"You're going have to learn in the future. Like it or not Aang, you're a firebender as well as a waterbender, an earthbender, and an airbender. When you start learning firebending again, you will listen to your master. If you hurt anyone, especially Katara again, I will personally end your Avatar life and make sure your next life will be disciplined when he or she learns to firebend." Azula threatened.
The airbender looked away feeling really guilty.
"You were lucky today." Azula continued. "Just be thankful Katara knows how to heal. I didn't have to attempt to murder you." She smiled towards Aang.
"Uh… thanks, I guess." Aang said sheepishly. "Alright, next stop Northern Water Tribe!"