Chapter 10: The Dragon of the West

In the lowest prison cell of Pohuai Stronghold, former General Iroh was held captive. His wrists were chained behind his back and his feet chained to the floor. The chains kept Iroh far from the door, giving any visitors plenty of warning if he tried to breathe fire at anyone entering. Unless some other Blue Spirit came to the rescue, Azula was certain her uncle wouldn't be going anywhere.

When Iroh was awake the guards sent a message to Azula, which was her cue to interrogate the old man. She carried the blue oni mask in her right hand, observing the fine craftsmanship. The inside around the mouth hole had been burned by Iroh breathing fire, and there was a small nick in the forehead where one of the Yu Yan hit it with an arrow.

As Azula approached the cell the guards quickly let her inside. She found Iroh humming to himself to pass the time. "Dear uncle Iroh," Azula said. "I knew you had fallen out of father's favor a year ago, but I never expected treason this blatant."

"Until recently, I didn't think I had to," Iroh responded. "And were it not for one mistake, no one would know who released the Avatar."

"Yes, it would have been blamed on the Blue Spirit," Azula said, holding up the blue oni mask. "I'm curious why you would choose that of all disguises."

"A hasty decision I'll admit," Iroh said. "The mask was going to be a gift to your brother. The Blue Spirit was his favorite character from 'Fire's Journey'."

"Tell me uncle, why did you free the Avatar?" Azula asked.

"I want the throne," Iroh lied. "When your father took it from me I was in no condition to rule, but now I am. Helping the Avatar win would secure it for me."

"So there's still some of the great general left in you after all," Azula said. "I thought it had been lost in all that weight. Speaking of weight it seems you lost quite a bit of it."

"A man has to keep busy when sailing the seas for a year," Iroh said. "You have to find a way to keep busy, otherwise you'll go mad."

"Indeed," Azula said. "Well I'd love to stay and chat but I need to arrange a transport for a traitor. I think I'll keep this mask as a souvenir."

Azula left the cell, leaving Iroh alone. It was late and Iroh was tired, so he tried to make the chains as comfortable as possible so he could get some sleep. He dreamed about the day his brother had forced him to leave the Fire Nation.

One year ago…

"Again Prince Zuko!" Iroh ordered.

At the Fire Nation Royal Palace, General Iroh was personally training the young prince. Today's lesson was lightning generation, which Fire Lord Ozai wanted his son and heir to know as early as possible. Zuko's form was perfect and he could build a charge of lightning, but when he tried to fire it the lightning would explode in his face.

"Why can't I do it?" Zuko asked after another failed attempt.

"Creating lightning requires peace of mind," Iroh said. "There must be something troubling you."

"There is nothing troubling me!" Zuko yelled.

"Maybe a certain lady friend is on your mind," Iroh said. "I've seen the way you look at Mai."

"I just wish everyone would leave us alone," Zuko said. "Her parents expect us to get together, but how are we supposed to do that if we can't get any privacy."

"Good things come to those who wait," Iroh said. "Her father is overdue for a governor's position, which will leave their home in Mai's care."

"I see…" Zuko said with a smile.

"Take the rest of the day off," Iroh said. "Take Mai to the theatre. I believe they are performing 'Love Amongst the Dragons' tonight. And no, the Ember Island Players are not involved in any way."

"Thank Agni for that," Zuko said.

At that moment a servant walked into the room. "A summons from the Fire Lord," the servant said while handing Iroh a scroll. Iroh quickly read it and dismissed the servant.

"What does father want?" Zuko asked.

"Just a talk," Iroh said.

Iroh walked through the palace hallways to the throne room. When he entered it Iroh saw the wall of flames that concealed the Fire Lord's appearance. Iroh gave the customary bow and Ozai dismissed the flames, allowing Iroh to approach him. In front of the throne was a small table with a teapot on it, with two cups next to it.

"How is Zuko's training progressing?" Ozai asked, pouring a cup of tea for himself.

"Better than I expected," Iroh said, taking a seat and pouring his own cup. "He's gotten the technique for lightning, but needs practice before he can use it."

"I see," Ozai said, taking a sip of his tea. "Have you seen Azula's reports from the Earth Kingdom?"

"Yes, she's taken quite a bit of territory in the last few months," Iroh said, then drank some tea. "Very impressive for her age."

"Indeed," Ozai said. "Although she's found some… troubling information."

"What do you mean?" Iroh asked.

"Tell me brother, what does the White Lotus mean to you?" Ozai asked, refilling his cup.

"Someone wants to play a game of Pai Sho," Iroh answered.

"Of course, one of your hobbies," Ozai said. "You were always the better player."

"You flatter me," Iroh said.

"However that is beside the point," Ozai said. "It's been brought to my attention that there's a secret society using the White Lotus as their symbol."

"A society based on a Pai Sho tile?" Iroh said. "Surely there are more important matters to deal with?"

"Not when its members include highly skilled warriors," Ozai said.

"Where are you going with this?" Iroh asked, setting down his cup.

"You have connections all over the world," Ozai said. "Surely you know something about this society."

"I'm afraid I don't," Iroh said.

"Don't lie to me," Ozai said. "Azula found proof that you're involved in this society. Now tell me what you know."

"Nothing that would be useful to you," Iroh said.

"You're treading on treacherous ground brother," Ozai said. "Tell me what you know or suffer the consequences."

"There is nothing I can tell you," Iroh said.

"I should have you imprisoned for treason now," Ozai said. "However I'm feeling lenient today, so I am giving you a choice. You can either tell me everything now, or leave the Fire Nation until you come to your senses and give me the information."

Present day…

In the morning Iroh woke up with as much rest as he was ever going to get while chained up. Unwilling to wait for an opportunity to escape, Iroh decided to make his own opportunity. Iroh flexed his fingers, bending heat in and out of the chains binding his wrists. Heating the chains made the metal softer, while removing the heat made them more brittle. Slowly over time and plenty of pain the chains were weakened by the extremes in temperature, enough to let Iroh break them with brute force.

After freeing his hands Iroh examined his wrists. They had been burned each time he had heated the metal, enough to leave scars if left untreated. I am not doing that again Iroh thought as he tried to suppress the pain. With his hands free Iroh firebended at the chains holding his feet to the floor, keeping the fire going until the chains were melted.

Free from the chains, Iroh quietly walked to the cell door. He listened for the guards, trying to determine how many were watching the other side. Then he backed away from the door and placed his shirt on the floor, folded it to be as thick as possible, and stood on top of it. As quietly as he could manage Iroh charged a lightning blast and fired it at the metal floor just in front of the door.

When the lightning hit the floor it conducted through the metal, spreading in all directions. On Iroh's side of the door the lightning passed by him, singing the folded shirt. On the guard's side of the door the lightning hit their feet and went up their legs, the sudden shock from diluted lightning knocking them out. Iroh heard the bodies hit the floor, letting him know that his gamble had worked. He put his shirt back on, despite having burn holes in several places. Then he firebended at the door, melting the lock and the hinges, then forced the door open.

Iroh knew it was only a matter of time before someone realized he was trying to escape. He stuck to the shadows and moved through the fortress, trying to get as far as possible before someone sounded the alarm. When he reached the ground level of the fortress the alarms went off. Iroh went inside a small room and waited for the guards to come, and he heard a couple of them running down the hallway.

The guards ran past the room Iroh was in, not even bothering to check it. Then a dozen soldiers ran past the room, again not bothering to check it. Wondering why they weren't searching for him, Iroh resumed his escape, running through the hallways and hiding when guards and soldiers ran past. When Iroh reached the inner courtyard of the fortress he was surprised at what was going on.

The fortress had been attacked from the air. Iroh wasn't expecting to see a sky bison flying above the fortress's walls, drawing the attention of the archers. In the courtyard Iroh saw three teens he didn't recognize fighting the soldiers, and the Avatar was fighting Azula. Taking advantage of the situation, Iroh stepped out of the shadows and breathed fire into the area between the Avatar and Azula.

While Iroh continued to breathe fire, Aang turned and saw him doing it. He remembered The Blue Spirit breathing fire, and realized that the stranger with the same body shape and breathing fire had to be the same person. "That's him!" Aang shouted to his friends. "He's the firebender that rescued me."

One of the teens, a Kyoshi Warrior Iroh determined by the uniform, ran over to Iroh. "No mask? Oh well," she said. Then she saw Iroh's burned wrists. "Katara, he's injured. We have to get out of here now."

"Okay!" Katara shouted. She bended some water into several ice spikes and threw them at the archers on the wall, hitting their bows and breaking them into pieces. This gave the sky bison an opening to land, allowing the Kyoshi Warrior to help Iroh get into the bison's saddle. While they climbed another teen created a wall around the bison to shield it from firebenders. Once Iroh was in the saddle the other teens got on.

"Appa Yip Yip!" Aang shouted. The bison took off, avoiding fireblasts sent from below. Within minutes it was outside the range of fireblasts and arrows, allowing the riders to relax. Katara saw the burns on Iroh's wrists and immediately got started healing them with waterbending.

"Why did you come back here?" Iroh asked while Katara worked.

"You got caught rescuing me," Aang said. "I had to return the favor."

"Thank you," Iroh said.

"I'm also going to need a firebending teacher," Aang said. "I saw you breathing fire and thought you could teach me."

"There are other firebending teachers not in prison," Iroh said.

"But you're the only one we know for certain is not going to kill Aang," Katara said. "Who are you anyway?"

"That's not important," Iroh said. "I know someone else that can teach firebending."

"Why can't you do it?" the earthbender asked.

"I'm needed elsewhere," Iroh said. "Head north of here until you reach one of the Fire Nation colonies. In the forests near it there's a deserter from the army. Jeong Jeong is a master firebender and I recommend you learn from him. When you meet him tell him that the White Lotus sends his regards."

"White Lotus, got it," Aang said.

"Good, now could you please drop me off near the shore," Iroh asked.

"Okay," Aang said.

Back at the fortress, Azula was furious. First the Avatar had escaped her grasp, and now Iroh as well. It was humiliating to experience failure twice in as many days. She couldn't afford to let it happen again, or she would have to face the Fire Lord's punishment.

Maybe a break from hunting the Avatar will do me some good Azula thought. Wait for my arm to heal and examine where I went wrong, then fix the problem. While sitting back in the fortress's command center, Azula studied Iroh's blue oni mask and the Water Tribe necklace she still had. Maybe these could be useful?