Hi, dear readers! I have decided to publish this chapter as is, with only a quick re-read, because a volunteer to beta suddenly stopped contact and gave me no feedback, If you see any mistakes please point them out. I had this chapter already finished by September, thus the good news: chapter 8 is as good as finished and I will most likely publish it before new year. I also have already almost half of chapter 9 and I already know what's going to happen in chapters 10 to 13 more or less, with only details to work out.
I have finished my bachelor and social service and I have also been accepted to spend a year in Germany thus I will put a small pause in my thesis to travel, read, study and write (yes, this fanfic will be a priority) so you can expect a quicker pace.
I would like to thank my readers, and specially my reviewers and those who have favoured this story for their patience, appreciation and time. I promise that I will do my best to write something that will fulfil your expectations. As I have said before I have my doubts about my ability with descriptions, so if you wish to get a better view of my volcano descriptions search in YouTube for "Most incredible volcano expedition ever".
To KunnegAndris: You actually hit a bull's eye in one of the things that I plan on working on and dedicating a lot of chapters to. But I have to say that I dislike the whole Korra series, I honestly think they ruined the whole Avatar universe, so you won't be hearing from her in this story. But you will get plenty of Sokka eventually.
Now to put this simply: This is where shit gets real, from this chapter on I implement all changes, innovations and twists that I have long desired and that will make this story, in my humble opinion, original and different from all that I have found so far in this wonderful site.
„Solchen Menschen, welche mich etwas angehn, wünsche ich Leiden, Verlassenheit, Krankheit, Mißhandlung, Entwürdigung, — ich wünsche daß ihnen die tiefe Selbstverachtung, die Marter des Mißtrauens gegen sich, das Elend des Überwundenen nicht unbekannt bleibt: ich habe kein Mitleid mit ihnen, weil ich ihnen das Einzige wünsche, was heute beweisen kann, ob Einer Werth hat oder nicht — daß er Stand hält…‟
"To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities - I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not - that one endures."
Nachgelassene Fragmente Herbst 1887, 10[103] (KSA 12.513) - F. W. Nietzsche
For the first time in almost two months Zuko had a genuine smile on his face. He was finally able to dress in proper Fire Nation clothes, even if they were civilian clothes. He and Katara had found a small harbour after exiting the cave. A few golden dragons had persuaded a group of fishermen to transport them into Fire Nation colonies. Though the weather had been kind and their trip was overall pleasant. Zuko had kept a tight vigil over their backpacks and specially over Katara. Zuko knew for a fact that even if most fishing villages had remained neutral or had surrendered, tacitly or openly, to Fire Nation authorities, they were still uncivilised savages with no respect for the law. If given the chance Zuko had no doubt that they would have slit his throat while he slept, stolen their goods and kept Katara as a slave.
The fishermen had taken them as far as the coast line in the Taku region, near Mt. Makapu, no less than some hundred or so kilometres away from Pohuai, they were close, perhaps some three days' march away. And they could now travel safely, even if the many farming villages around the fertile lands in the slopes if Mt. Makeup were not officially under direct control of the Fire Nation they had long ago submitted themselves to the Fire Nation law and tribute, they kept a great degree of autonomy, as long they payed their taxes, and abrogated their own laws in favour of the Fire Nation's they were left alone, watched over constantly by the colonies in the vicinity such as Yu Dao or by military outposts and forts as Pohuai. They were safe routes for travellers and merchants from the Fire Nation.
Once again it had been Sozin's idea to leave them so much freedom, he had simply forbid them from having any men at arms and controlled tightly the kind and quantity of weapons they could privately own. His policies, specially his education campaign and the indoctrination of the autochthonous inhabitants had been so successful that many villages had petitioned for full citizenship, and the benefits that it entailed. The Fire Nation judicial system had played a key part in this, its effectiveness and swiftness had been welcomed. Where before the people had been poor illiterate farmers, dependent on the weather and constantly oppressed by the local nobility; Sozin and Azulon had now made prosperous merchants, modern farmers with new methods of irrigation, they had given them written laws, a fair justice system, education, schools and hospitals. Most of this had been archived with little to no bloodshed, for many of these villages and cities had surrendered without battle. The Earth Kingdom had suffered from constant civil war and unrest for the last thousand years, to many villages it made no difference if they were ruled by the now extinct Kingdom of Taku, or the Water Tribe pirates or the Fire Nation.
Zuko's journey was finally coming to an end. He literally needed only to walk to Pohuai, pass the the military tests and then he would be assigned a post in the army, from which he would continue his search for the Avatar.
Yet, he was now finally aware that somehow this journey had changed him. First of all he realised that he was actually curious about Katara. What was to become of her now? His uncle had made him take her with him until now, but it was impossible for him to take her to Pohuai. Even more, Zuko realised that Katara had gotten quite intimate with him. Not only did she refer to him by his bare name, but during the journey she had actually begun to order him around, neither of them had noticed it. But the "Pass me the water", "Light the fire" and "Bring the wood" had transformed into "Let's sleep here", "Look for a village" or "Wash you hands".
If any other person spoke to him in that manner, he or she would probably have burned. How and why had Katara acquired such status? And why did Zuko remain greatly unbothered by it?
"Tell me about your mother." She had said in the ship. Zuko had not answered, far too surprised to even think of an answer. She probably had realised too the awkwardness of the situation, the fact that she was speaking to him as a close friend, or a sibling, not as the acquaintance that she was. The whole atmosphere had reminded both of them of the cave, the darkness, and the kiss, they had not spoken about it since. They were too afraid of it, and, as much as it embarrassed Zuko, he had never kissed a girl before, and he didn't know how he was supposed to react and act around Katara.
Getting off the ship had been in many ways a relief. After a comfortable night in a small inn in the port, they had set out. They did not have to worry about survival anymore, Fire Nation roads were the safest place in the world to be, every kilometre you found a milestone which indicated if there was a village, city or security outpost near you, and it was not uncommon to meet travelling soldiers or guards, it was even possible to hire private protection if needed. An now Zuko could firebend freely, without fear of prosecution of the Earth Kingdom, thus he had really nothing to worry about.
So long as he kept his mind off Katara, he was sure to be fine, yet he constantly wondered if they were going to take separate paths as soon as they reached a village close to Pohuai. Deep down, he feared for her, he did not want leave her alone.
Katara took her time to wash her face in the small river they had come across. Even tough she had finally taken a very much desired bath in one of those tubes that were apparently so common in the Fire Nation, they had travelled on foot along the road that passed near the slopes of the mountains. This time Katara was too preoccupied with her thoughts to pay any mind to her surroundings or the astounding view of the tall forests. The large rock boulders that surrounded their path were as interesting to her as the mountain chain at her right, or the mist that enveloped the gigantic pines in their slopes.
As she dried her hands and looked at Zuko's quiet form, she could not help but blush again, hoping that he did not see it. She began to walk behind him when they heard a roar directly in front of them. Zuko drew his swords and gestured her to take cover behind a rock at his back. They peaked they heads in order to view what animal lay ahead of them.
Katara gasped. Right in their path, a couple of meters away from the river bank a large, ferocious creature with dark brown fur, stood upright on its hind legs and swung at a man clad in blue, who smiled merrily, his hands behind his back. The man managed to avoid the bear's swing by calmly stepping backward. The creature continued its attacks, before Katara could even register it Zuko had climbed to the top of their rock and leaped onto a rock directly behind it. The man continued to smile as though nothing was occurring.
"Well, hello there!" The man said as he saw Zuko, then he dodged another swift swing of the bear's claws, and continued. "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Run, I'll handle it!" Zuko screamed.
The man continued to walk around the platypus bear happily. "Whoa, close one!" He laughed bemusedly as he dodged.
Katara then remembered an advice she had heard her father give to his friends when they chanced upon a wild bear dog in the islands were they hunted. She cupped a hand to her mouth and made gestures with her other hand. "Run downhill, then climb a tree!"
"No need, it's going to be fine!" The man screamed back to her.
The platypus bear attempted to land another blow, cutting a large chunk of wood from the trunk of a nearby tree, the calm man simply dodged the attack once again. Zuko leaped into the air and landed onto the ground, placing himself between the calm man and the platypus bear, with a punch to the ground that sent a big and continuous blast of fire he managed to scare the creature away. The bear laid a large, spotted egg and escaped the scene, swimming down the river.
Zuko watched until the bear had disappeared from sight, then he gestured to Katara to come closer and turned to the man. "Are you all right?"
"Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry. Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey." The man folded his hands together and bowed slightly.
"Aunt who?" Asked Zuko, evidently confused, he sent a look to Katara, to see if she had understood.
"No, Aunt Wu. She's the fortuneteller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future." Commented the old man.
Katara looked off to the side as she pondered over the idea. "Wow, it must be." She faced the man with a bright expression on her face. "That explains why you were so calm!"
"I'd hardly consider safe a journey when you are almost killed by a platypus bear." Zuko dryly replied as he crossed his arms.
The old man looked at him with a smile and cheerfully stated. "But I wasn't! All right, have a good one!" He bid them a farewell and began to walk away only to turn back again. "Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travellers to give them this." He handed Zuko a wrapped parcel seemingly containing a long, thin object and left.
Katara excitedly said. "Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun."
Zuko seemed to pay no mind to her, instead he unwrapped the mysterious parcel, which turned out to be a red umbrella. He opened it and held it over his head. At that moment, the sky darkened and it began to rain. A low rumble of thunder was heard. Katara pressed tightly to his side in order to avoid the falling drops.
"That proves it!" Katara exclaimed as she began to lead the two to the village of the fortune teller, even Zuko had to agree that they needed shelter and it just happened that the closest village was the one Katara wanted to visit.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you." Said a white haired man clad in dark silken robes. His deep dark tone made him more mysterious-looking still.
"Really?" Asked Katara excitedly. The man gestured to her and Zuko to enter as he opened the door to the large wooden house. Katara couldn't decide if she was more impressed by seeing such a large and elegant structure made of wood for the first time in her life, or by the prospect of meeting a seer, some one who could disperse her doubts and tell her what destiny had in store for her.
They entered a room, three pillows were situated on the floor to the right, a sitting place for the visitors. The strange man closed the door as a young girl walked clad in a pink robe and wearing her hair in braids that stuck out from the sides of her head came to formally greet them.
"My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." The girl finally lifted her head and her eyes fixed on Zuko, but Katara did not notice.
"Well, hello there." Said Meng as she walked up to Zuko. Katara barely registered as Zuko greeted the girl. She still couldn't believe that she was finally going to get an answer to her questions, or that Zuko had actually agreed to take her here before looking for an inn to spend the night.
Zuko and Katara sat themselves on the pillows as Meng attended to them. "Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?"
Zuko answered. "I'm sorry to bother you with some tea. Would you like some too, Katara?" Katara nodded, ignoring the cringe of Zuko's shoulders as he spoke to her so casually.
With her answer Meng began to walk away. "Well, it was very nice to meet you." She smiled slyly. "Very nice."
As Meng left, Katara heard Zuko whisper to her casually, as if trying to start a conversation. "I'm not really sure if I can take these people seriously".
"Try to keep an open mind, Zuko. There are things in this world that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?" Zuko had no answer for that, or if he did he had no chance to state it. Just as they heard Meng approaching the room through a nearby hallway. A door opened and a woman clad in green exited. She approached Meng excitedly.
"Oh, Meng! Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love. He's going to give me a rare panda lily."
"That's so romantic!" Said Meng dreamily, while casting Zuko a flirtatious look. "I wonder if my true love will give me a rare flower." The woman followed her sight and asked laughingly.
"Is that the big-eared guy who Aunt Wu predicted you'd marry?" Embarrassed by this statement, Meng pushed the woman aside and continued on her way to the other room. She approached Zuko her eyes fixated hopefully on him, who stared off into space, almost unaware of her presence. She suddenly tripped. Zuko reacted and attempted to help her recover, accidentally holding her hands in the process. The two stared at each other for a moment; Meng blushed.
"Enjoy your tea!" She said before leaving in a hurry leaving a very confused Zuko and an oblivious Katara. Before Zuko could comment, an old lady, dressed in a fashionable yellowed silk dress came out of the room and spoke to them.
"Welcome, young travellers. Now, who's next? Don't be shy."
This as Madame Wu. Thought Katara. Zuko looked away uninterested and casted a look at Katara to tell her she could go first.
Katara rose nervously in anticipation. "I guess that's me."
Katara would never know how she was able to take such firm steeps into Madame Wu's prediction room, her mind was such a mixture of excitement, curiosity and expectation that she barely paid any mind to the small talk the old lady made with her before they got into business.
"So, do you see anything interesting in my love line?" She finally asked after a senseless chat about the see weed lotion she used on her hands.
"I feel a great romance for you. The man you are going to marry." That picked her interest much more than what it probably should have. She knew she was going to marry, had she stayed back at the South Pole her father or Sokka would have chosen a husband for her. But recently she had had too much on her mind to think about it, only now did she realise that marriage was something she had never stopped yearning for.
"Tell me more!" Pleaded Katara excitedly.
"I can see that he's a very powerful bender." The answer made Katara blush furiously and her heart speed. For some reason an image of Zuko struck her mind.
There were many things prince Zuko regretted, but he was sure that skipping on letting a deluded old woman look at his hands and telling him his future was not something he'd need to add to the list. He already knew his own destiny. He was going to capture the Avatar and return home to reclaim his rightful place as the crown prince. His destiny was to become Fire Lord.
He slowed his pace so as to allow Katara to catch up to him. He glanced at his sides in search for an inn, but his mind was somewhere else entirely.
"How was it?" He tried to ask as casually as he could. He didn't realise the irony of the fact that the very question from his part was a very noticeable anomaly in his character. And stranger still was his inner desire for conversation, something which he usually abhorred, Zuko was a man that preferred to let his fists and his fire bending do the talking. Only this time something was very different, he had disliked small talk before, but he had not feared it, now he feared it and he desired it, he needed to talk to Katara, there had been too much silence between them since their... moment at the cave. Zuko hoped that some talking would clarify whatever had happened or at least return things to normal, but he wasn't entirely sure that that was what he really wanted and that unsettled him, he had always known what he wanted, his heart was not used to doubt, and doubt was pretty much what he felt every time his thoughts wandered to Katara.
"Well, I liked my predictions." She said satisfied, she clasped her hands together anxiously. "Certain things are going to turn out very well."
Zuko's mind got stuck with no reply, before he could find a suitable answer they arrived to the centre of the village. It was a big courtyard, with a pagoda-like structure lying centred in the middle. Almost all of the villagers were present looking up at the sky. Zuko vaguely remembered Aunt Wu heading out in some urgent business with the villagers right in the middle of Katara's session, much to her disappointment, he wondered if this crowd was related to the "business" of that woman.
"What's with the sky?" Zuko heard Katara and turned to see her looking up. Zuko casted a glance at the crowd, everyone was gazing at the sky.
A local overheard her question, and approached them. "We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village."
A small kid was running around and pointing at the clouds while discerning their forms. "That cloud kind of looks like a fluffy bunny."
The man who had approached them turned his attention to the child and nervously warned him. "You better hope that's not a bunny! The fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction." The boy bursted into tears and ran in search of his mother.
Zuko could not take this anymore. "Do you even hear yourself?" He asked and turned to Katara in search of some support, surely she could empathise with the poor boy. Instead Katara had turned her attention to a woman that had offered to explain the whole procedure to her.
"The cloud reading will tell us if Mt. Makapu will remain dormant for another year or if it will erupt." Told her the woman as she gestured to the mountain in the background. True enough that village was placed right in the side of the volcano, just a few kilometres away from its cone. Zuko was about to ask what kind of idiot would settle so close to a volcano when he remembered that forty percent of his nations cities were near or in a volcano, the fertile ground was tempting enough to risk the dangers.
"We used to have a tradition once a year of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves. But every since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of not doing that."
That was it, Zuko had heard enough to actually be worried. "I have a bad feeling about this..." He muttered. If Katara heard him he wouldn't know, she pimply laid a hand on his shoulder and said.
"Shhh! She's coming!"
Zuko turned to see Aunt Wu and her guard approaching, the crowd formed an aisle to allow for the two figures to pass by and ascend a stairway. Zuko glanced and saw Katara smiling widely as Aunt Wu and the guard walk by them. The crowd was clapping and cheering for the fortuneteller.
As soon as Aunt Wu stood over the pagoda she spread her arms outward dramatically. In the sky Zuko saw an arrow-shaped cloud hovering above. Aunt Wu who studied a cloud reading book in her hand and spoke.
"Bending arrow cloud ... Good crops this year. Nice big harvest."
"Darn good news!" Zuko heard a farmer scream and hug his wife happily while Aunt Wu continued.
"Wavy, moon-shaped cloud ... Lets see. Gonna be a great year for twins!"
"Yes!" A couple of twins high-fived each other joyfully.
"And a cumulus cloud with a twisted nob coming off the end of it... The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!" Aunt Wu screamed causing an ecstatic cheer from the crowd.
There's something wrong with these people. Thought Zuko, his mind was finally able to free itself of the matter with Katara, it took actual fear and concern for the well being of the village to stop thinking about Katara.
Zuko was no devotee and had his doubts about religion, about the spirits and their existence, even so he had always acknowledged his incapacity to fully penetrate the subject and understood the need for religion, for comfort and for spiritual support; more than once he had found himself at a loss and in need of prayer. But this was just too much, this was beyond mere belief or simple, well-intended, harmless, religious behaviour, this was vulgar superstition. Perhaps tolerable if reduced to a very limited circle, but as it was an influence on the practical life of a whole village Zuko made up his mind to write a report on the situation and share his worries with the local governor and if necessary with the court. Even if Madame Wu had no ulterior motives, and her actions and her intentions were pure, she was a danger to the whole community.
Zuko kept revolving around the subject for hours, snapping out of it only to answer to Katara's occasional comments, or to pay the room they of the inn at the village's centre. He dined with Katara and even let her talk him into taking a nightly walk to look around before heading to bed.
Katara's loud gasp finally returned his mind into reality. Zuko looked up and saw a man on top a tree branch, a rope tied to the branch connected with a knot around the man's head. It was clear he had climbed with the intention to jump, but stood on the edge petrified.
Zuko wasted no time and drew one of his swords, he threw with with a marksman's precision and cut the rope loose from the branch. The surprise of the hit of the sword as it stuck into the branch caused the man to fall harmlessly into the floor. Zuko quickly ran to see if he was injured, while Katara trailed behind him.
"Are you completely mad?" Roared Zuko as soon as he determined the man would only suffer from a sore back and some bruises in the morning.
The man was young, probably in his early twenties. Zuko had almost begun to raise when the villager threw himself in his arms and began to cry and curse himself. Zuko found the scene so ridiculous and so unbecoming of a man that he lost all initial compassion that the man had initially inspired him, specially when he found out the reason for the suicide attempt.
Apparently Madame Wu had told him that he'd meet and marry his true love if he had a flower with him to give her. But it seemed that the flower in question only bloomed once every few years and in very small numbers and it only grew in the top of local volcanoes like Mt. Makapu. To make matters worse the man was terrified of heights. He told them that he had spent the last three years in a vain search for it. He even had gotten his friends to help him the first two years, but they had given up, they had even asked Madame Wu if any of them would find the flower, she had said that none of his friends would succeed.
The rare panda lily only sprung during autumn and quickly died before the arrival of winter, as it needed heat to grow. The autumn was almost at an end, if the man didn't succeed in getting the flower now, he'd have to wait until the next year, without any guarantee that the flower would bloom again, he might be stuck for two or three more years until it did. It was now or never, a local mountain hiker had told him that he had seen some unbloomed flowers that could be the panda lily a few weeks ago near near the crater on the western side of the volcano, but they grew far below into it, to be able to easily get one. He had already tried two times to climb the volcano on his own, but he had fainted before he even passed beyond the village's borders, the mere notion of height made his breathing stop dead.
Pathetic. Thought Zuko. I should have let him hang himself, it would have been more honourable. The prince couldn't begin to list the things he found stupid, unmanly and dishonourable of the man's situation. It was sad enough that he actually believed the old hag and let himself be fooled into wasting three valuable years in a fool's errand, but for him not to realise that he could find someone to love despite the lack of a plant was even lower, not to mention the man's obsession with finding a true love. I should have let him hang himself.
"Zuko, we have to help him." He heard Katara and saw her wiping the man's tears with a handkerchief. Somehow this seemed to anger him. He thought about refusing, about punching that sad excuse of a man that Katara helped stand and screaming him to grow a pair, but it all faded when he saw the determined look in Katara's eyes, it brought back memories of the cave.
"Fine." He said while blushing. He didn't realise that they had reached a point in their relationship where he just couldn't say no to her.
At least I'll get a good look at that volcano and protect these brain-dead buffoons from their own stupidity. He said to himself, he tried to suppress the notion that it would also give him the opportunity to be alone with Katara, and finally put an end to this madness.
I can't believe you're dragging me all the way up here for a stupid flower.
Katara was sure that it must have been the thought that rammed into Zuko's skull every few seconds. It was easy to see the annoyance and frustration engraved on his face, yet he remained quiet without any complaints. Only now did Katara realise how odd it was, she remembered a much different Zuko, she had heard him scream and complain to his uncle and his crew a few times, and during the first days of their journey he had grumbled enough for her to label him as a grumpy. A blush painted her cheeks as she thought that he had begun to behave differently since their first shared night in the swamp, and he had almost completely transformed since the cave...
They had begun their ascent early in the morning with the intention of returning before dawn back to the village. So far they had not encountered any trouble but the need to rest occasionally and get used to the height. Even that was not as hard as Zuko had told her it would be, Mt. Makapu was relatively short compared with the mountains around it.
Zuko had done his research by asking the innkeeper about the volcano early in the morning. Katara had heard as the old innkeeper proudly spoke of his native homeland. She understood little of what they spoke of, and she had been too embarrassed to ask Zuko the meaning of many of the words the man used in describing the volcano. He'd told Zuko that even though Mt. Makapu was a composite volcano a century old eruption had so radically changed its form with the lava, rocks and debris it erupted that it had become almost as gradual as a shield volcano, only when one tried to reach the crater there were some rocks that formed a small and steep wall, just a few metres high. What surprised Zuko the most was that according to the innkeeper Mt. Makapu had actually formed what he called a small caldera on its crater, so if one wanted to see the actual vent it was necessary to descent into the crater and walk a hundredth or so metres of ashes, rocks and solidified lava. That was of course out of the question.
Katara had actually never seen a volcano, she vaguely remembered that once she had heard her father describe it as a fire throwing mountain. Only now that she clumsily climbed the rocks right below the crater did she realise how dangerous the whole idea was, only Zuko's strong presence at her side kept her from trembling. This was also the first time she climbed a mountain and having come from a house at sea level she was slowly feeling the lack of air around her more drastically that Zuko was, still a man's live and life depended on them an Katara of the Water Tribe would never abandon a person in need.
She saw as Zuko reached the top and extended her a hand, with a strong pull from his part she was at his side. They quickly spotted the panda lily right in the inner border of the crater no more than a few metres in. Before Zuko could tell her to stop she ran to them and fetched few. As she turned to look around she discovered that the insides of the volcano could be described as a bowl, with puddles here and there, some big enough to actually look like small lakes, she saw that the closer one got to the centre the hole went deeper, and there were actual levels or rings around it that made sudden steep steps, like a rounded stair that descended into the centre of the earth.
She turned to look as Zuko gave her an angry look, it was obvious that he didn't like one bit the way she had advanced so quickly and so carelessly into the crater, as she gave him an apologetic smile and weaved the small garland of panda lilys, suddenly they felt as the earth trembled around them making them loose their footing. Before they could get up they heard the explosion-like-sound roar from within the volcano only to come to a sudden acute stop when it escaped from the deepness of the vent, along it a spit of small rocks and lava. An unbearable heat ran through the air and the gastly smell of ashes and sulfur made them cough.
"Oh, no" Managed to say Zuko as he saw smoke begin to pour from the the vent like a chimney. Katara felt the strong grip on her hand as he began to lead her in retreat. "We have to warn the village, this thing is going to erupt soon, very violently... We need to evacuate"
Katara was stunned, she had trouble breathing and she felt the disappointment begin to ache in her heart, Madame Wu had been wrong. Then she felt as if the ground under her gave away, a very strong yank from Zuko sent her flying and she hit the ground like a sack of rice. She felt the stinging pain of the impact against small rocks curse through her body. She turned to look at Zuko and her heart stopped, right were they both had been standing there was nothing but a whole.
Her eyes widened as she ran towards the border of the whole, Zuko had thrown her away from the danger while he himself fell into the abyss.
"Zuko!" She screamed and she felt the salty taste of tears on her lips and the blur on her vision.
"Katara get out of here!" Called Zuko's voice from within, she could hardly discern his image, he had fallen some twenty meters below and she couldn't find a wall or support to climb down to help him, he had literally fallen one story below through the hole.
"No! I won't leave you!" She screamed as she looked desperately for anything that could help her.
"Katara, I'll be fine, I'm a firebender... You need to escape quickly, you must warn the village, everyone will die if you don't." Zuko told her from the near darkness. Katara could do nothing but sob and tremble, deep down she knew he was lying.
"But..."
"Fuck it Katara! There are innocent lives down there, think of the children, you have to save them!... I'll be right behind you." Zuko screamed at her and threw her a small sack. Katara merely saw as it hit the ground at her feet.
"Look for Fire Nation soldiers, show them the ring and the letter in the sack, tell them that they have to activate the emergency protocol."
"I'll be back with help" Spoke Katara while taking the sack tightly into her hands, she began to run.
Katara would feel the shame of her cowardice and the frustration of her helplessness all that way down the volcano and through the rest of her life, even though she didn't know how much of a toll the ashes, the sulphur and the gases were already taking on Zuko, before she even reached the border of the crater he had already begun to suffer the wrath of the volcano.
Colonel Yu Mak took a long, slow gulp at his wine skin. He wanted nothing more than to finish with his duties to be able to get a good night's rest. He was not lazy by any means, on the contrary his military record was something to be proud of.
He was the first son of a paramour to graduate with honours from the Fire Nation Military Academy as the top student of his generation. He had served with distinction in the armoured cavalry units under Lord Bei during Fire Lord Azulon's final campaign against the rebels in the Senlin forest. He had been quickly promoted to lieutenant and fought under General Iroh during the conquest of the Xi province, between the West Lake and the Wu river. For his bravery in battle and his talent as a tactician he was a awarded the medal of merit and received a reward, and a promotion to mayor, from Fire Lord Azulon himself. A few months later he wrote a proposal to modernise, restructure and reorganise the tank divisions so as to make more effective use of them in battle, General Iroh incorporated this proposal into his military reforms while preparing for the Ba Sing Se campaign.
Mak had then been personally selected by prince Lu Ten to work as his adjutant while he conducted anti rebel operations in the Xi province, he had kept the post well into the Ba Sing Se campaign when prince Lu Ten was promoted to general and given command of the third division of the western army and he himself was promoted to colonel and served as his chief of staff, where he had conducted the operations on the successful sieges of Xixuan and Nixuan and the ensuing march of the western army to Ba Sing Se.
Yet it was to his greatest shame and dishonour that he had been unable to prevent the Earth Kingdom's counterattack to pierce the southern line of defence and threaten the southern supply line, this had forced prince Lu Ten to relocate more troops to his position, leaving him vulnerable to the massive suicide operation orchestrated by General How to break their attack lines and send an attacking force to the army's rear. The cruel fate had wanted that this bold move from Ba Sing Se reached the ears of a then unknown colonel, from the small satellite Kingdom of Jing by the name of Fong who had coordinated a pincer attack to the prince's retreating route while a third force from Huen diverted the main forces of General Iroh with another suicide attack. The result had been a hundred kilometres breach in their attacking formation, the isolation of the southern supply route and his tank division, and the dead of prince Lu Ten.
Colonel Mak took another angry gulp at his wine before he descended his Komodo rhino and gave orders to his men to buy provisions from the market. No matter how much he was praised latter on for taking upon his shoulders the task of recovering the prince's body while saving and rallying all survivors and then leading a retreat back north to join the main army of Iroh, he had always seen himself as the responsible, the culprit of his prince's death, his army's defeat and the utter failure of the whole campaign, the one stain in Iroh's perfect military record and the loss of his son had been caused by his incompetence.
Angrily colonel Mak realised he had finished his wine and went to the nearest inn for more and a moment's rest. I should have hanged. He thought, either by his own had or by Iroh's he should have died in shame like the useless deer-dog he was. Only this guilt and self-loathing regret had allowed him to live on and serve in the humiliation that Ozai had put him five years ago.
After the defeat, Fire Lord Azulon had suddenly died while naming Ozai as his successor on a last second change in his will, the late Fire Lord's close friend and advisor Ma Sun had died the next day after a meeting of the Fire Council in mysterious circumstances, and princess Ursa had vanished from the face of the earth. National indignation spread quickly and Mak was one of Iroh's officers who most vehemently and openly questioned Ozai's ascension and called for arms, he was the man who had led the massive search parties after Iroh's disappearance and he was the first officer to draw his sword and follow him to the Fire Nation when he reappeared. He was firmly decided to give his life in defending Iroh's birthright, it was the very least he could do to amend for his failure.
Yet Iroh had refused his sword and the crown, the old man had actually recognised Ozai as his ruler. During the ensuing purge, all of Iroh's friends and loyal offices had been dismissed, forcefully retired, replaced or demoted... Or like him reassigned away from important positions and forced to do useless, menial tasks worthy of a mediocre sergeant. Most had left the army soon after, unable to bear the humiliation and frustration that came with knowing that their talent was wasted on trivialities. But not Mak, deep down he yearned for a punishment he knew he deserved and serving as a lowly command officer of patrolling soldiers in a conquered and peaceful region was the only punishment that Ozai's high command had given him, even if it was not a punishment for his mistakes but for his loyalty to Iroh, Mak was not about to complain about it. The humiliation was deserved enough, plus it kept him away from the front lines and from risking that his incompetence hurt more people, thus he remained in the army, it also gave him a good excuse not to return to the fatherland, were he'd have to face his native town as the failure he was.
He could see himself doing this until he mustered enough courage to cut open his belly or hang himself from a tree. His life had become a series of monotone routine, teaching some basic theory at the camp in Pohuai and taking out young trainees to patrol the neighbouring provinces while they waited to be assigned to a unit in the front lines. For a man who had war so deep in his veins like him, it was a complete torture, for that reason alone he endured, he deserved to, he had to be punished.
The forsaken village in which he had ended up that dreadful day, or at least as dreadful as every single day in his life had been since his prince's death, was a spirits' foresaken shithole that had been fortunate enough to be a few kilometres away from the main road and the trade route, close to several small rivers and streams, between two mountains, a sleeping volcano and relatively close to the sea. It was well located enough to merit a yearly visit from the local governor or the occasional patrol like the one he currently led, but not big enough for someone to care.
The colonel took a good look of Mt. Makapu through the window, before asking for more wine, with a prolonged gulp he finished a cup and began consuming the roast duck he had in front of him. He was beginning to feel his senses dull, sleep was slowly running through his eyes when he heard the scream.
"Help!" He heard, and he had to force himself to stand up to see what the commotion was about, as he neared the door he could hear the distinctive voice of a young girl calling for help, screaming something about his friend being trapped in the volcano, and the volcano going to erupt.
At this point he entered what he liked to call his alert mode, despite the wine, his most inner survival instincts told him that something was wrong, those instincts had saved his life before, he walked with as much dignity as a half drunken man could muster to the middle of the street were some locals were bulling the girl, accusing her of lying, and some nonsense about Aunt Wu's prediction.
"What's going on here?" He asked, causing the whole crowd that had gathered around the young girl to freeze on the spot, his crimson armour commanded still much fear and respect despite the fact that there had been no open rebellions on this area since Azulon had burned alive the Earth bender brotherhood and hunted down the last survivor of the Taku resistance. To his good luck most of his men had heard the commotion and quickly gathered at his back.
"Soldier, this girl is mad, she lost her boyfriend or something while playing near the volcano and now she's saying we are in danger because the volcano is going to erupt." Said an old man from the crowd.
Before Mak could reply, the girl had thrown herself at his feet. She was covered in ashes, but her cheeks and eyes still shined through the tears and dirt.
"Soldier! Thank goodness! You must evacuate the village and help me rescue prince Zuko!" His heart stopped and his men gasped.
"What did you say?" He asked in total shock.
"Prince Zuko is trapped in the volcano, it's going to explode, he told me to tell a Fire Nation soldier that he ordered the emergency protocol, he said to show you this." And she extended him a ring and a parchment.
Colonel Mak was sure that every soul on the spirit world heard his dry gasp as he realised that in his hands he held a golden ring with the royal insignia, and a passport with a safe conduct of the crown prince Zuko, the seal on it belonged to Fire Lord Ozai himself. He wasn't sure if his hand trembled because of the surprise or the wine finally taking full effect on him.
At that precise moment the earth trembled and a thundering explosion was heard as Mt. Makapu spat a gigantic cloud of ashes and smoke. With a gulp he realised that destiny had once again put the fate of a crown prince on his hands.
What is he doing here? He wanted to ask the girl, but it would be of little help, his life was in danger, the lives of the whole village and possibly more were in danger. Last he had heard, prince Zuko was in the southernmost harbour and had apparently defeated and killed Commander Zhao on an Agni Kai, everybody had talked about the event for weeks, some had cursed him, others had toasted to his health but none had disputed the fact that the young prince had done something impressive in defeating the older, more experienced and battle hardened Zhao.
"Lieutenant! Assemble the troops, as of this moment martial law is in effect, this village and its surroundings are to be evacuated, any resistance is to be neutralised. Take the girl into protective custody." He said as he ran to the stables for his komodo rhino, he was going to lead a rescue party to the crater as soon as the evacuation was completed, but then it stuck him, they were less than seventy kilometres away from Yu Dao to the north and a hundredth to Pohuai to the south, not far away enough to remain immune to a full eruption, they still had time to evacuate and prepare, but he reckoned that the Makapu village was half doomed.
"Lieutenant send a message to Yu Dao and Pohuai, tell them that they are to be in full alert and make emergency evacuation at once, tell Yu Dao to send a team of its best earth benders at once, prince Zuko is in danger." And with that he opened up his way through the crowds of fleeing people into the other side of the village, he needed to find volunteers to dig a trench to channel the lava that would soon come this way, away from the village into the river so as to buy them more time to evacuate, after that he would haste to the crater and to his prince.
But the volcano had other plans, his men and some earth bender farmers had not even begun to cave when the earth trembled again and Mt. Makapu sent up his first spit of lava into the earth. In tears, colonel Mak realised that it was too late for prince Zuko.
Hurt. Pain. Fear. Zuko had not felt any of these emotions so vividly since his father had burned him, at times he woke up screaming, feeling the scorching skin around his eye melting away. He had thought that he'd never experience any pain worse in is life. He was wrong.
Zuko had no idea how much time had passed since Katara had gone looking for help, but he was glad that he had acted princely and honourably before she left, he knew that soon enough he'd be overwhelmed in such suffering that he'd plead and beg for his life like a low life coward, in fact he was already beginning to regret not trying to escape through the hole from which he had fallen.
A sudden misstep caused him to stumble his face right into a few rocks in his path, he tried to ignore the pain and begin walking but he found that he could not move. For the last few hours Zuko had been wandering through the vast series of tunnels trying to find an exit from his predicament, he had only succeeded in covering himself in ashes, dirt, sulfur and whatever volcanic gases were on his path.
His nose felt as if he had soaked it on alcohol and the set it on fire. His throat hurt as if someone had scraped it with sand paper. His coughing made his lungs feel as if they were stuffed with broken, sharp crystals, scratching each other. Zuko managed to turn himself around, facing upwards, his vision was blurry, the near darkness was only interrupted by the occasional stream of lava or the brightness of the overheated rocks in the walls, Zuko tried to close his eyes, but the tears felt like lemon juice on his eyelids.
Even if he could have gotten up, the sulfur and gases had already made him dizzy, making it almost impossible to steadily move. Now a fear more primarial, more instinctive and savage began to take over him, a fear that Zuko had somehow become more familiar with, it was the same fear that he had felt on his maiden battle in the ocean, when the Earth Kingdom had attacked his ship, once again the fear made it seem like time stopped.
The next thing Zuko knew, he was facing downwards again, crawling, deep down he knew it was useless, but his body crawled anyway. Soon his throat would choke on all the ashes and tiny molten crystals that swarmed in volcanic air, if the gases did not finish him first. He was going to die, even if he found an exit, he did not have any strength to climb or walk, he was defenceless.
Yet his body refused to give up, it continued to advance, a small ray of light have him hope and he willed himself to advance, he eventually saw what looked like an opening, he felt some warmth coming to his face and he deluded himself into thinking that he was finally going to receive the fresh air from the dusk. As he pulled himself to the edge of the entrance he realised in terror that he had moved right into the very vent of the volcano. In front of him lay that could be described as a hole, or more accurately a pool, a pool of gurgling lava, and between him and it stood only some fifty metres of solidified lava and what looked like a boulder to his left.
Zuko saw a wave of pure molten rock erupt from the vent and splash the wall opposite of him, the heat wave that came it with was powerful enough to make him relieve the sensation of a burn in his face, he screamed. A torrent of memories hit him like a rock.
You will learn respect. He heard.
Shut up! He tried to scream, but the words felt like sandpaper on his throat. His arms finally gave up and he stumbled back into the floor, with the realisation that this was it, he could do nothing but wait until another splash of lava came to end to his misery before he suffocated in ash and sulphur.
He tried to close his eyes, but every time he'd see his father flaming punch coming to him, he'd see Azula's cruel smirk, or the Earth Kingdoms' soldiers fear stricken eyes as he waited for his doom, he'd hear the agonising wails of the burning soldiers on his ship and he'd smell their scorching skin. Eventually he gave up, and endured the sting that tears brought to his eyes, he'd be forced to meet his death with his eyes wide open.
Not that he could see anything beyond his nose anymore, everything was a blur of redness, like flames dancing, painted on the walls. Zuko tried to speak, but realised in terror that he could no longer hear his own voice, he could only feel the pain of the vibration in his chest, and perceive only the gurgling of the lava, the falling rocks, and the trembling of the earth.
He tried to escape, at least in thought from the desolation of suffering and hopelessness in which he was to die, only to realise that his thoughts kept tormenting him with as much cruelty as the reality, he thought the threat of nothingness merciful, in comparison to the shame, his afterlife was going to end as much of a failure as his life, having accomplished nothing. Zuko tired with all his might to cling to that nothingness, he tried to force his mind into silence, if only for a moment he tried to lose himself in the heat and the vibration of his surroundings.
Who are you?
He heard, pretty much sure he was hallucinating at this point, his mind was probably so desperate for any human contact that it registered the hisses of gas and the scorching and gurgling of molten rock as human voice. Then the visions returned.
And suffering will be your teacher!
Shut up!
Oh, you are so dumb Zuzu...
Shut up!
Stop, please, mercy!
Shut up! He tried to scream, but his voice was lost in a sea of wailing and burning flames.
Who are you? Zuko heard again.
Another splash of lava landed close to him. Zuko could not see it in the crimson of flames that was his vision, he could barely hear it through the ever rising drum of soft explosions and the constant, muttering roar of the crater. But he could feel its heat.
Who are you?
Zuko had never been prone to philosophy, or any abstract thought for that matter, thus he found extremely curious that only now, on the verge of death, after having been burned, humiliated and exiled by his father and forced to wander the world in search of a mere legend, after having lost his dear mother and after crying in a stranger's arms he gained clarity, it had all been useless, meaningless, and it would have no enduring consequence in the universe, it would all return to nothingness. Human life was nothing but coincidence, he finally saw that they were doomed to suffering and error and regret, without hope of redemption, justice, salvation or escaping. His father had been right, suffering had become his teacher, only through suffering did he come to realise the cruel truth of the world.
He had lost everything, or more accurately he had never had anything, he himself was nothing, he was finally able to accept it.
"I am nothing." He whispered through his dry and bloody throat.
Who are you?
"Who am I? I am nothing, I have nothing, except pain, and sadness, and regret, and anger, and hate."
Do you want to die?
"No!" Screamed Zuko, and the clarity struck again, if he had nothing but pain and sadness and regret and anger and hate, why did he wish to live?
Who are you?
"I am nothing, I have nothing, except pain, and sadness, and regret, and anger, and hate... And will!"
Are you worthy?
"I am nothing, I have nothing, except pain, and sadness, and regret, and anger, and hate and will, I am Zuko, who has come from nothing and will return to nothing. I will suffer, I will regret, I will hate but I will fight."
Why?
"Because I will it."
Who are you?
"I am Zuko, will take pain, and sadness, and regret, and anger, and hate and my will. I am Zuko, who has come from nothing and will return to nothing. I will suffer, I will regret, I will hate but I will live."
You are worthy!
And then Zuko's vision suddenly cleared, he saw the magma rise from its vent and dance, like water, it moved around him and formed a dome. But Zuko did not fear, he knew this was the end, one last tormenting vision before he died. But he resolved to face it, and fight it fully aware that he could not win, he was doomed to failure for eternity. He gathered what he knew was his last breath and forced himself to his knees.
As he looked up he saw his father's fist, and the soldier's eyes, and Zhao's open throat with his ever hating eyes staring at him, cursing him for all eternity. But this time, Zuko did not deny or reject them, he accepted the pain, the suffering, the doubt and the regret. He somehow got to his feet and faced his father, and his victims.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha you are worthy!" He heard the voice behind him, deep, loud, thundering and burning behind him. He turned to see a small flame floating right in front of his face. The voice had sounded more real than anything before in his life, and he felt seen, Zuko's instincts told him that the flame was observing him, observing through him.
"Who are you?" Asked Zuko.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha" the flame vibrated, and grew big and small with each laugh. "These humans and their stupid questions. I am called Agni, boy."
Zuko stood speechless, looking at the flame, with a nod he began to walk past the spirit.
"Aren't you going to get on your knees boy? Are you not going to pray and ask and beg like the many before you?"
Zuko stopped and turned to face the spirit. "I am nothing, I have nothing to pray or ask or beg for. I am Zuko."
"What about your life?" The flame grew until it took a humanoid like form and then pointed a finger at him.
Zuko took a good look at himself, it was a miracle that he was standing, his throat and mouth and eyes and nose were dripping with blood, and his chest hurt with every exhalation. "My life is meaningless, I will not beg for it, I will simply fight and live until I die."
"Bold words, I am almost tempted to lend you a hand, just to see if you can actually stick by them." Agni crossed his arms.
"I am no longer weak. So tell me what do you want."
"Do you have a death wish boy?" Asked the spirit menacingly, and the lava dome shrank around them, leaving only the two beings and the boulder inside.
"I am nothing, but I will become more, I will become Fire Lord and the Fire Lord does not beg nor does he receive alms from no one." Stated Zuko looking straight to the spirit never flinching.
"I like your attitude boy, but the Fire Lords die too."
"So be it spirit, I will die, but first I will live." Stated Zuko.
"It will be a short life then, very well." Agni raised a hand and with a sudden tightening a blast came out of his palm and impacted Zuko right in the chest. With evident astonishment the Fire Spirit saw that the prince stood still as the blast passed right through his chest, leaving him unhurt and still unflinching.
"You really are worthy, boy... and you are actually serious about that pride of yours. Are you sure you won't ask anything of me? I confess I'm impressed by your resolve, so I might actually grant you a wish."
"No spirit, what I want I will get with my own hands."
"And what if you fail?"
"Then I fail... I will die soon Spirit, but I think I have a few moments to spare, so I will ask again. What does the mighty and all powerful spirit of fire want?"
"How dare you boy?" Agni was angry, very angry, in a blink he was right in front of Zuko, a few millimetres away from actually burning him.
"My days are numbered, but I am a prince nonetheless, so I will grant you a wish, if it's within my power it's yours." Said Zuko half expecting to be burned into ashes for his arrogance, instead the spirit laughed, and laughed, for a very long time causing the whole volcano to tremble.
"This is rich! It's the first time in millennia that anyone has asked me what I want, and a puny half dead human that calls himself a prince!" And he laughed again. "You've passed the test boy, if you had begged or cried or asked for anything ridiculous I would have killed you on the spot. I'll spare your life."
"The legends say that you helped the first Fire Lord to stop the unending war, they say you felt compassion for my people, I'm guessing the story is false." Remarked Zuko causing the spirit to growl in anger.
"Don't push it boy, I owe explanations to anyone!"
"Fair enough, then tell me if I can do anything for you, or else let me be on my way." Said Zuko before he coughed up more blood.
"You couldn't give me what I wanted even if I told you." Countered the spirit as he walked in circles around Zuko.
"I can die trying." The answered caused the Fire Spirit to burst in laughter once again.
"Very well boy, I shall give you a chance to do me a favour, but you won't be able to do it with your own strength, so I shall lend you some."
"I take no alms." Stated the prince.
"Then let us think of this as a trade, I shall help you become the Fire Lord and in return you will do something for me."
"You still have not told me what do you want." Replied the prince dryly.
"It is actually quite simple, boy, I want back something that was taken away from me, and was placed out of my reach, deep within the human world. I want you to recover this for me and then make sure it never gets away from me ever again."
"I can return your belongings, but how do I prevent you from losing them again?" The sarcasm in Zuko's voice echoed throughout the lava dome around them.
"You sever the connection between the human realm and the spirit world." The answer from the spirit could not have been more cold. Zuko saw clearly that he was not joking, he decided to trust that he was not already mad and imagining the whole thing and played along with the spirit.
"I'll need more details."
"Which I'll give you when you need to know them, right know I need to stop your lungs from drowning in ash and blood... This will be a good chance to see if you are up to the task and to see if your bold words hold true." The Spirit had no face, not anything that resembled a face, but Zuko could have sworn that Agni looked at him with a menacing grin, with a weave of his flaming hand a splash of lava hit the boulder that stood to their left, Zuko turned to look as the lava slowly tore away the gigantic rock, piece by piece. Then he gasped.
It was not a rock, it a a corpse, a dragon corpse. It had probably been covered in lava many times throughout the centuries, the lava had solidified and left the corpse covered in a strong shell. Zuko knew his share about dragons, once they grew old and felt death approaching, they would fly into a volcano and throw themselves into the lava. Scholars guessed that it was to return to Agni, their creator, they suggested that lava was hot enough to dissolve their thick, fire proof, scales. Apparently they were wrong.
Zuko was about to aks what he was supposed to do with a dead dragon but Agni raised his hand and with a thrust he pointed to the dragon's corpse, a gigantic bolt of lighting pierced through the dome and thrusted right into the corpse's belly, leaving a big nasty hole and splashing thick, viscous and dark red dragon blood all over.
"Take of your clothes" He told the prince.
"What?"
"Oh, sorry let me help you." And with a snap of his fingers Zuko's clothes bursted into flames and turned to ashes, Zuko once again hit the floor startled. With a laugh the spirit walked up to him.
"Go!" He ordered, but Zuko looked at him with a confused face.
"To the dragon you imbecile, you'll die if you don't treat those internal wounds. Drink its blood and eat its flesh." Ordered the spirit.
Zuko's mind was no longer thinking clearly, he could barely breath, he had probably used up whatever oxygen was in the lava dome. But he willed himself to his feet and manged to crawl into the dragon's belly. He had expected some putrid smell but it was not so, or perhaps he could no longer smell at all. What surprised him the most was the warmth and freshness of the flesh, this dragon must have been death for at least a century, yet it remained completely preserved.
Zuko licked his hand, already covered in dragon blood, and his mind stopped, a hunger unlike anything he had ever felt took over him, he bit and gnawed and swallowed and drank whatever he could, he stuffed himself full, going as far as to penetrating into the dragon with his whole body so as to better eat its internal organs.
What emerged could have been described as a rabid polar bear dog. Zuko crawled out of the dragon completely bathed in blood. He advanced in four legs like a beast, he growled, showing his red glowing eyes, thirsting, hungry.
"Well prince Zuko, it seems the rest is up to you, if you survive I expect you shall keep me entertained until you fulfil your part of the deal. Let us see if you are truly as strong as you think." With that the Fire Spirit disappeared and the lava dome came crashing down on Zuko. A screeching and painful scream was heard as he was bathed in lava and the volcano erupted.
In a humble cabin in the outskirts of Yu Dao old men played Pai Sho. It was almost completely dark, the only source of light was the small flame that warmed the tea pot next to the table. An external eye would have been suspicious if he had seen these men play, he would have wondered how did they manage to see the pieces covered in shadows, and the answer was that they didn't, these men were experts and so familiar with the game that they could play by memory and without ever seen the pieces, the mental image they had of the table, the pieces and its positions was enough for them. They could have played against one another while walking, without a table nor pieces, simply telling each other what the next move was.
One of these men was the former general Iroh, though even a palace servant wouldn't have been able to recognise him in the old rags he wore, his normally cleaned beard was covered in mud and dirt, he looked like a poor farmer.
Iroh had arrived that precise morning to the city of Yu Dao were he was welcomed by the mayor Morishita and was offered a feast and a grand party to welcome him, Iroh had of course declined and under a pretence of weariness he had retired to his room, after a swift escapade he had arrived just in time to his meeting, he only had a few hours before someone noticed his absence, but he was determined to hold his ground in the discussion and walk out having archived the best possible terms for his nephew and for his nation. He was well aware that his actions that day would be considered treason, but it was a small price to pay if he could finally archive peace for the world and security for his nephew.
"He's not coming." Stated the other firebender in the room. This caused the earthbender to laugh and cackle histerically.
"He, he, he, of course he isn't, he's freezing his butt back at home. He trust us to reach an agreement favourable to all parties. His tribe was little to contribute anyway." Said the earthbender, he was undoubtedly the oldest of the four men present, but he was also the most shrewd and smart of them, and probably the one how held more real power, he was essential if peace was to be archived.
"We have reached a fairly understandable agreement, we are ready to finally execute our plan, we only need to work out the details, that's why we are here." Said the swordsman, by far the youngest of the men in the room.
"I have already made my petitions clear, I want security for my nephew, I want to be sure that you will support him in returning home. And I want your words that the colonists lives and goods will be respected, I will do all I can to return as much land to the Earth Kingdom as possible, but it is likely that the Taku region will have to remain in Fire Nation control for the next years, until we can form an autonomous government, capable of fighting for its independence." Stated Iroh.
"I have no problem being patient with the Taku region, but do you think it's possible for them to willingly separate from the Fire Nation? They have reaped massive benefits from its colonisation, not to mention the level of indoctrination that has taken place there is impressive, most of these people will live and die for the Fire Lord." Stated the swordsman.
"They are not fully integrated, a lot of considerable cultural and social differences remain that could separate us from them... think of the harems." Countered the other firebender.
"A problem that Sozin practically solved with the paramours, they can keep their wives in everything but name." Replied the swordsman.
"Gentlemen, I believe that this problem will be resolved in time, and by the people themselves not by us. I'm more worried about prince Zuko, will he really join our ranks? What if he were to decide that his father and his conquests are the right path for him? What guarantees can you give us Iroh?" Asked the earthbender with a cackle.
"Only my word, and you should take it at face value, if something where to happen to me, Zuko would be the only real ally you could possibly find. It's true that he gets confused and doubtful easily, but he's good at heart. I can't promise you that he'll join our society, but I can swear that he'll fight for peace and justice." Said Iroh.
"I'll have to test him for myself." Was the only reply from the firebender.
"Be my guest, but as a proof of my resolve to the cause, I bring you this." Said Iroh as he handed them several scrolls. The old general waited a few moments for his companions to inspect the documents, then he continued. "This should put your worries at rest, if the right people get this information, it can all but guarantee a certain defeat for Bujing's campaign, if the armies of Omashu were to join with those of Ba Sing Se and rally to themselves the lesser kingdoms and free cities I can see that my brother gets enough pressure from the inside to force him to sue for peace. That way you won't have to worry about the path my nephew will choose."
Everyone was astonished, he had just handed them what would be known as the greatest leak of military intelligence in known history, everything was there, names, dates, troop movements, plans, secret projects, supply lists and routes, protocols, stock inventories, even lists of damaged equipment and vulnerabilities in weapons and formations.
"If we can defeat Bujing's army, it will take the Fire Nation many years to recover the momentum, but what could possibly force Ozai into peace? He has the industrial and scientific capability to outperform the rest of the world." Said the swordsman.
"What if I told you that I have a plan to wipe out the entire upper echelon of Ozai's generals?" Iroh noticed with satisfaction that he finally had given them what they wanted, a clear possibility for peace and balance. He continued.
"If you give me your word that you'll help my nephew if he is ever in trouble, I'll give you not only Bujing's army, but the entire high command in a silver plate."
"I suppose you'll give us more details of your plan Iroh." Said the firebender and with a nod Iroh took the word again.
"As you all know, the entire eastern army, the only one that's full of Ozai's men and the only army that he really trusts is currently trying to siege Najuan, Bujing hopes he can distract Nixuan with heavy bombardment of the western fleet while he takes Najuan, then he plans to cross the Wu river and cut off Nixuan by earth and sea and starve them to death, afterwards is a straight path to Ba Sing Se or so he thinks, he hopes he can archive all this while general Shu keeps an eye on the south for any reinforcements from Omashu or from general Fong."
"We have to warn Nixuan immediately!" Exclaimed the sword master prompting the earthbender into an insane cackle.
"There's no need" continued the earthbender after he was done laughing. "General Fong actually predicted something like this could happen, he took most of his troops through the desert two months ago, last I heard he had assumed command of the entire defence force in the region, after hanging a few of the local generals of course. He took the young king of Jing as a hostage." The earthbender finished his las sentence with a prolonged laugh.
Iroh took the opportunity to continue with his explanation. "As you can see it is almost guaranteed that Bujing will never take Najuan, in fact I think general Fong will keep him busy enough for the winter to arrive, and even if by some miracle he does take the city, Fong will make sure he bleeds, he won't have the strength nor the brains to make an attack on Nixuan, much less on Ba Sing Se."
"Because we will distract him with an attack on the colonies." Spoke the sword master as he finally grasped the full meaning of the scrolls in front of him.
"During which we'll eliminate all of Ozai's generals, without them he'll never be able to launch another offensive, it'll give us many years to prepare a solid defence." Finished Iroh.
"There's something we should consider." Spoke the earthbender gaining even more attention for his lack of cackles or jokes. "General Fong is as much dangerous to our plans as Ozai, he's ambitious, and talented, he has gained much power, much fast by very ruthless means, he won't stop just because the Fire Nation is halted, he's smart too, we should be wary of how we use him."
"For the time being we need him, we'll se what we do about him afterwards." Replied the swordsman.
"Well gentlemen, do I have your word that you'll help my nephew into the path of peace and balance?" Asked Iroh, only to receive a general nod. He was about to continue when one of the bodyguards entered the room.
"My lords, everyone in the city is looking for Iroh, there's a general uproar colonel Mak has sent an emergency message from the Makapu village, Mt. Makapu has awakened." He said hurriedly.
"We'll have to end the meeting, it seems we must evacuate." Said Iroh calmly.
"My lord there's more, it's prince Zuko, he's trapped in the crater." Iroh's calm shattered at the words, not because all the work of the past months was at risk, but because his nephew's life was in danger.
Colonel Mak should have been relieved when the two messages arrived, the first had come from Yu Dao, the city had already begun an emergency evacuation and thanks to its Fire Nation-level infrastructure and organisation it would be completed in a few hours so most of its citizens were safe, they had sent an emergency team of earthbenders to help with contain the disaster and rescue survivors, they were led by the mayor's daughter, apparently general Iroh was coming with them they were marching at full speed and through the well maintained roads built by Sozin to transport troops speedily, they were to arrive at any moment. This had greatly saddened the colonel, he'd have to inform his old general of his nephew's death. The second message came from the Pohuai Stronghold, they were ready to face any effects of the eruption and they had also sent some troops to provide support and help with the evacuation.
It was already pass midnight and fortunately the volcano had not erupted in a way as horrible as he had feared, it had just spat some ashes and few rocks, but it had released lava, enormous amounts of it. He had barely managed to get his men and some earthbending volunteers to dig up a trench big enough to channel enough lava away from the city, they even had the fortune that the seismic activity from the volcano had opened up underground trenches that connected the neighbouring rivers with their trench, they had all screamed in joy when the saw that ever growing streams were beginning to flow through it, it would help them delay the lava's advance.
He had long given up on saving the village but he was confident that he could save most of its inhabitants, but that did not cure his guilt at having been unable to save his prince once again, he swore he would at least make sure that everybody knew that prince Zuko had died as a hero, protecting his people and that his last thoughts and concerns had been to alert and protect them.
The lieutenant came to inform him that both rescue parties had arrived at the southern entrance and that they would soon meet him to relieve him of his duty and assume command of the situation. He dreaded the thought that once again he'd have to face general Iroh and report his failure just as much as he yearned for some help. His trench was just a temporary measure after all.
He turned to go meet the rescue parties but he was interrupted by a scream.
"Colonel! The girl!"
"What?" He asked.
"The girl has escaped she ran towards the volcano!"
Mak's blood turned cold, he had already lost a prince, he would not let his prince's friend and companion, in all probability a noble Fire Nation girl, die in his watch. He ran towards the village's northern entrance, facing the volcano, he saw as Mt. Makapu spew another gigantic weave of lava, he saw in the distance how the lava was already arriving at the village, he saw as the red liquid slowly advanced towards the cement area and destroyed the headstones as it flowed.
He and the lava reached the trench simultaneously, the lava began to fill in rapidly, but its progress temporarily stopped. Mak realised that he had mere minutes before it over flew. He thanked the spirits when he saw the girl a few metres way on the safe side of the trench.
"It's too much! It's gonna overflow! We need to evacuate!" He told her as he grabbed her by the waist and began to drag her away, she resisted ferociously.
"No! Zuko's still out there, we gotta help him!" Said the girl as streams of tears poured down her cheeks.
His reply was drowned in another explosion that rocked the village. Burning rocks began to rain down in addition to the ash. Mak heard in the distance the calls and screams from the rescue teams as they got closer. He was confident they would make it when he saw as the side of the crater facing the village broke, releasing a torrent of lava right into their direction, he could not help but tremble as he saw that a titanic weave formed and gained speed and momentum, it was going to cover the entire village and then some more.
This is how I die. He thought. But he was snapped out of his petrified state as an arm suddenly appeared and emerged from the lava, right at his feet and grabbed onto the edge, another soon followed. Both he and the girl gasped as they saw how a naked man stepped out of the lava, the same way a man would come out from a river or a pool. The man grunted, and groaned in evident pain, but Mak and the girl were too stunned to react, they stood still as the man clumsily got to his feet, for a moment his eyes met his, he had a horrible scar that covered almost all the left side of his face, but other than that he seemed unhurt despite the fact that lava was still drip-drying from his body.
"Zuko!" Screamed the girl.
What? It can't be. Thought Mak, forgetting how he had just seen this man emerge from hot lava. Then he heard the thunderous advance of the massive wave, he thought he heard the resigned voices of the rescue teams not far behind, they too knew that the weave would kill them, it was useless to even try to escape.
But the young man whom the girl had recognised as prince Zuko walked to the edge of the trench he extended his hands and with a sudden gesture he tensed his arms, with palms opened in a stopping positions, as if he were trying to stop a solid object in front of him, to his utter astonishment the weave stopped, it was just a few hundredth metres away. Then the prince drew a deep breath and he slowly lowered his arms, like a music director slowly ordering his orchestra into silence, and with it the wave descended quietly into the floor to begin a slow flow, like a calm stream. It looked almost like waterbending, as if the prince was waterbending the lava.
But the prince was not done, with swift motion he opened his legs to into a fighting stance and extended his arms together in front of him, pointing at the almost overflown lava in the trench with two extended fingers on each palm. While keeping his left arm firm and steady the prince slowly moved his right arm across his left one, all the way through the shoulder, down into his stomach and upwards through his torso until his two fingers touched his right shoulder, he then swiftly pointed his right hand to the sky in the opposite direction of the volcano and a miracle began.
The colonel saw how a very visible and loud line of steam began to fly from the lava toward the prince's left hand and then it blasted out of his right hand into the sky. Mak would forever remember the sound, like a thousand coal engines steaming simultaneously.
He's absorbing the heat! He heard the slow, clumsy, stunned steps of the nearby soldiers as they approached to watch this prodigy. They saw how the magma quickly lost its reddish colour and turned to solid rock right in front of their faces. When he was done, the prince finally exhaled, slowly, almost painfully and stood straight. In front of him Mt. Makapu still smoked but it no longer spit lava or ashes or rocks. The night was covered in a haunting, unnatural silence.
"I have never seen such a powerful blender." A nearby soldier finally spoke. Mek saw how the girl's expression changed.
"Wait, what did you just say?" She asked.
"That kid who just saved all our assess is the most powerful bender I've ever seen." Answered the soldier, perhaps not even aware that he had answered, it was obvious that his mind was completely stuck trying to process what he had just seen.
The girl's eyes slowly widened in realisation; as if having an epiphany. Though Mak couldn't tall what could have been more impressive than watching a man singlehandedly stop a volcano. "I suppose he is." She said completely lost in thought.
Mak turned to the prince, just in time to see him fall, he had passed out in exhaustion.