-Inside the Jasmine Dragon-
"If Kang was with them, they were in good hands" said a former fire nation soldier
"Really?" asked Hahn "Don't tell me Kang was real too?
"Yep, as real as you or I" said a former earth kingdom soldier "A man worthy of respect "
Iroh never thought he'd see it in his life time, former enemies, now good friends sharing a table, tea laughter and interest in a good story. It was a wonderful sight to see
"So what happened?" asked Tai
"Oh I think Iroh would tell it a lot better than we ever could" said the former soldiers " Please, continue"
"Well "Iroh started "With just a few hours of until sunrise, a plan had to be formulated. However with the issue of trust or lack thereof between a few of them, things weren't going well. The three weren't so sure about this Kang character and most certainly didn't trust Azula."
"So they were at a standstill?" asked Lan
"Yes, with the ships coming, they didn't have much time. So they had to put aside their feelings for the moment"
"How can you ally yourself with someone you can't trust? Especially someone with a reputation like Princess Azula's." asked Hui
"Normally I'd say you couldn't. However over the past few days, a change started in the heart of my niece. It even confused her as she did things she normally wouldn't do or feel things she normally wouldn't feel."
"Like empathy?" asked Kanna
"Yes. Empathy, joy, regret, and maybe some small stirrings of love... "
Chapter 9
-Unlikely Allies-
"So you claim to know Xi'an, so where is he?" asked Azula suspiciously
"To be honest I have no idea" said Kang "I was hoping you might know"
"Who's Xi'an?" asked Katara
"And what does he have to do with you, Azula" asked Zuko
Azula stayed silent, slightly turning red at the thought of the boy, despite a small voice screaming that he meant nothing to her. Blushing a little harder, she knew she wouldn't mind seeing him again for no reason other than she just wanted to.
"Xi'an found this young lady outside our village injured" said Kang "A few days later the village was attacked by those strange armored solders". We fought them off but afterwords she took off and Xi'an was banished as a result
"He was banished?" asked Azula " Because of me?"
"Guilty conscience, Azula?" snipped Katara "Oh wait, you dont have one!"
"Actually, she saved a few people at the risk of her own life" said Kang "With her help we able to defeat the whole bunch"
"For all we know this is some sort of grand plan of hers" accused Katara
"What's your motive Azula?" asked Zuko "Are you behind this? Are you with the ones that invaded the fire nation capital?"
"Me? You're the one that sent them to kill me on the retched island you banished me to!" spat Azula
"He did no such thing! He sent you there to help you!" yelled Katara
"Humph, sure he did! You all want me gone!" yelled back Azula
"Guys this is no time to fight. I'm sure we can all..." Aang started
"Shut up! Nobody asked you!" Azula hissed
"Listen, you ungrateful little... Aang started
The small vein in Kang's forehead throbbed in annoyance and frustration and as he watched the four argue. Hard to believe that one of these kids brought down a city with pure cunning and planning, and the other three saved the world during the arrival of Sozin's comet, reduced to petty bickering.
"ENOUGH!" yelled Kang "Whatever problems you have with each other, can wait! In case any of you haven't noticed it's almost morning so whatever we can do, needs to be done now!"
"What's your stake in it, old man?" asked Zuko
"I promised Xi'an that I would keep safe a very precious treasure for him. It was taken while I was gone and I intend to get it back" said Kang roughly "Look, I remember hearing you wanting information right? Help me and I give you my word that I'll tell you all that I found out about this Black Phoenix Character. Do we have a deal, kids?"
"Okay, let's say we do this, do you have a plan?" asked Zuko
"As a matter of fact, I do" said Kang drawing a circle in the ground "I saw Elder Fung and his tub of lard son, moving their "slaves" to a large compound outside the town... here . Guards are posted here, here and here. We'll sneak in though the side here... Release the slaves and sneak out here... simple"
"It won't work" said Azula matter of factly
Oh?" said Katara "I suppose you have a better plan then?"
"Hey now, let hear what she has to say?" said Kang "Why won't it work?"
"First get me out of these cuffs and I'll show you" Azula bargained
"Absolutely not" said Zuko "I don't trust you as far as I can throw you"
"None of us do" snapped Katara
"We don't have time for this. If you guys won't, I will…" said Kang looking at Azula "But I warn you princess, if you try anything to jeopardize this, I won't hesitate to put you down. Friend of Xi'an or not, you got it?"
Azula nodded softly. Slowly squeezing his hands, Kang shattered Azula's full arm cuffs. A little voice in her screamed for her to destroy everyone in camp, especially the old man who had the nerve to threaten her... She took a slight measure of satisfaction when other three flinched as the cuffs broke. However her body betrayed her again, instead moving to Kang's drawings. Taking a slender finger, she erased the well meaning but painfully flawed plan
"First off" she explained "With the guards stationed the way they are, we'd be caught and possibly killed quite easily. However, if we were to cause a slight distraction, here...
Elder Fung may have been a coward but he was no fool. In a town like Totodan, it was literally a cut throat business. A lot of slavers had a run of bad luck lately, risking getting killed and their product getting stolen or worse, escaped. Such a shame really.
Now he could care less about the common rubbish and dregs, but when a golden opportunity presents itself, one would be a fool not to take advantage. Sparing no expense of the village's money (why spend his own), he constructed a massive compound that he deemed escape proof. Slavers from all over could store their "product" here, for a modest fee of course, without risk of escape or common thievery. His venture had been quite profitable but of course he wanted more, a bigger piece of the slave profits. He had the perfect pool of prospects to take from, his own village. Such unsuspecting fools. It was a bit hard at first, getting rid of all that stood in their way, but after that it was almost too easy.
It was brilliant, he thought to himself as he walked toward the slave quarters. A cruel smile appeared on as he looked forward to his nightly entertainment.
Kang staggered right to the front gates appearing to be very, very drunk. Using his wine gourd, He pounded on the heavy steel doors of the compound very loudly.
"A'right uses n'good wife stealin' bunch of skunkbears, open up!" slurred Kang
The guards laughed as the crazy old man repeatedly pounded on the gate. The night patrol was incredibly boring and the young guards even found the prospect of beating up an old man quite appealing, if nothing else just for fun. Still, just to be fair they would be kind enough to give one warning.
"Your trespassing, old man!" yelled a guard "Be gone or else we won't be responsible for what happens to you!"
"Are use guys threatenin' me? Come on out then and let fight...Unless you wimps are afraid of getting whipped by an old man!" Kang challenged
"Fine, old man you asked for it!" yelled the guard as he left his post.
Kang smiled inwardly, this was almost too easy.
"The youth of today" he thought "so easily riled into a fight."
Well, tonight they just bit off just a little more then they could chew. He just hoped that the girls would be able to do their parts...If they didn't kill each other first.
As the guards from the west side rushed to the front to see what all the commotion was about, Katara and Azula sneaked into position
Katara hated to admit it but Azula's plan wasn't bad at all. However just to be on the safe side she insisted that they pair up while Zuko, Kang, and Aang took care of the guards. They scaled the wall while all the noise coming from the front provided the perfect distraction. Landing silently on the other side, Azula quickly snatched Katara, and dragged her behind a small tool shed as another guard raced toward the commotion at the front gate.
Sighing in relief, she looked over at the fire princess in slight confusion; she wondered why she of all people was doing this. Good deeds weren't exactly what Azula was known for. She certainly didn't trust her, but she wondered what her angle was.
"What? What are you looking at?" Azula asked in annoyance; noticing the water tribe peasant's glance
"Nothing, Let's just hope your plan works " whispered Katara
"Humph! Just try to keep up and make yourself useful" Azula shot back.
Using the tips her fingers, she bent very small concentrated blue flames, cutting a large hole in the inner wall while Katara stood look out.
"Escape tunnel is done, now we just have to get the slaves loose." Azula whispered
"Easier said than done, look!" S]said Katara pointing in the direction of the slave quarters
From their hiding place, they she saw at least 50 large and small cages. In the center a large table sat that horrible example of a man who tried to purchase her for 300 gold and an equally disgusting man who she could only assume was his father. Katara's nostrils flared as the saw what they were doing; it was nothing short of torture
"So how's the delicious food, son?" asked Elder Fung stuffing his face
"Perfect father!" said his son slurping loudly "The meat is just mouth watering"
The slaves in the cages stomachs growled loudly as they watched the two just gorging themselves on the bounty of food that was on the table, for they haven't eaten in days. The two had made of habit of doing this every night for the past few days, in an effort to fully break them.
"What are you doing this Fung?" said a caged villager "We're your own townspeople!"
"It's nothing personal" said Fung the second with a mouth full of food "It's just that your worth more to me as product than as loyal member of the village. It's just good business that's all"
"So do you two want a taste?" asked Elder Fung to a small cage to their right.
The two twins nodded slowly hoping for some sort of nourishment. Elder Fung handed a two small grapes to the twins, just as they reached for it he snatched it back and popped them in his mouth. Tears streamed from the girls eyes in pure frustration, as they cried. They cried out for their mom, Xi'an, Mei Li, anyone. Fung the second kicked the cage in disgust.
"Cry all you want, you little snots. Nobody's coming to get you, not your mom and not that freak brother of yours" Fung the second said cruelly "Odds are he's already dead now"
Azula gritted her teeth in anger as heard them her fists shaking as she thought of all the cruel ways to destroy them.
"If you're lucky, you might be bought by the same person tomorrow." Elder Fung said "Though I doubt it, most of the time sisters are separated"
He smiled as the two cried even harder grabbing each other in fear of being separated. From their vantage point, Azula and Katara had had enough.
"Azula?" said Katara
"Don't try to stop me!" growled Azula
"I have no intention of trying" said Katara "Shall we make their night miserable?
"Gladly" whispered Azula with a twisted smile "Junior and I have some unfinished business"
"Then I guess I'll take care of Daddy then" Katara smiled evilly
A blast of blue hot fire licked across the face of the vice elder and his son as Azula jumped on the table.
"Hello boys" she sneered cruelly as Fung's eyes widened in fear
Fung the second, tried to sneak attack her from behind. It was a mistake he'd soon regret due to Azula's lingering paranoia. Grabbing the son, she proceeded to slam his head on the table with a sickening thud, promptly knocking him out cold. The elder Fung displeased at this act of disrespect by two commoners quickly shot two sharp stone spikes at Azula with incredible speed. Spinning around her eyes widened as the spike stopped an inch from her face...
Katara using her water bending froze both spikes before they could do any damage. She then froze Elder Fung to his stool leaving only his head free. Grabbing his keys they proceeded to unlock the cages. The newly free slaves almost immediately raced to the table grabbing whatever food they could.
Katara noticed Azula taking great care to unlock a nearby cage that held a pair of twins. Almost immediately as the cage was open, they drove out to her wrapping their arms around her waist. Azula returned the hug much to the surprise of water bender. To see Azula of all people calmly shushing two little girls, Earth kingdom girls at that, was not something she expected.
"Mei Li!" they sobbed "You came for us!"
"Of course I did" said Azula with a gentle smile "Did you think I'd let you two get sold away?"
"Azula? Having a heart?" Katara thought with confusion "Who are these kids?"
"We got to go now!" said Katara noticing the early breaking dawn "Time's running out!"
"I need you two to do me a favor okay?" Azula said to the twins "I need you to lead the people out of here while my "friend" Katara and I clean up okay? Head for the south wall there's a way out there "
They nodded while both giving Azula another hug and making sure to get a cheap kick in on the elder and his son as they ran off
"Mei Li?" asked Katara with a smirk
"Don't start" sneered Azula "Now what do we do with these two?"
"You'll never escape! Guards!" yelled Elder Fung but no response came
The last thing he saw was both girl's fists...
Kang and Zuko dragged the unconscious guards into a small pile. Sadly the fight was quite short despite the 40 to 3 odds. They came out thinking they it was just an old drunk man and instead got a seasoned earth bender , a master fire bender and the avatar. They didn't have a chance
"I guess they don't make guards like they used to "said Kang sarcastically
"Nope!" smiled Zuko "I'm kind of disappointed"
Kang reminded him a lot of his uncle Iroh, albeit a little more on the grouchy side. He might be old but he was more than handy in a fight.
"Hey, are you okay Aang?" asked the old man
Aang was leaning against a tree, out of breath and extremely tired. Zuko noticed that lately that the Avatar was weakening. Even in this fight, Zuko had to help bail Aang out of a fight he would normally win on his own. For the sake of his friend he had find out what was wrong.
"Come on Aang we need to meet the others" said Zuko
At the rendezvous point Kang and the boys met up with the girls and most of the escaped slaves.
"We looked but couldn't find your valuable treasure" said Katara to Kang "We didn't have time"
"KANG!" yelled the twins racing over to him
"You found it all right." said Kang smiling as the twins dove on him, with a choking hug around the neck "GACK! Too rough, you know I'm old and fragile! Are you both okay?"
They nodded going back to Azula, each grabbing one of her hands. He smiled knowingly as saw how attached they were to her. Sho had mentioned that they kind of "forcefully" adopted her as their older sister. Once those two had an idea in their heads, there was no shaking them.
"Katara, Zuko, Aang" explained Kang "This is Xi'an's little sisters Ye and Te"
"Aang?!" squealed Te "The Avatar?! COOOOOOOL!
His smile go a bit bigger as Te rapidly asked Aang a ton of questions as her sister tried to reign her in but failing. However it disappeared as a few from Elder Fung's Village approached him.
"Kang!" one said "It's good to see you. Thank you"
"I wish I could say it was mutual"
Kang's face was like stone. He unimpressed with the lot of them. He didn't forget their selfishness or their treatment of Xi'an or Azula
"We never thought Fung would betray us" said one villager "We need a new village elder, I vote in Kang"
"I agree" said another "Kang would be perfect for a new elder"
"What makes you think I would want be elder of you bunch of ungrateful buzzard wasps. If not for these two.."Kang growled motioning to the two twins "I would have left you all to your well deserved fate"
"Kang, I understand you're still upset, but you have to understand..." another said
"I'm old! I don't HAVE to understand anything!" roared Kang "What I do know is this young lady here helped save you ungrateful slugs not once but twice"
"Do you know who she is?!" one argued "She the the crown princess...
"I don't care who she is! What I do know is that she help defend the village while all of you did nothing!" roared Kang "As far as I'm concerned, she's far better than any of you people!
But what will we do now? Where will we go" asked another villager "We have no elder or a village hunter!"
"That's no longer my problem! As for the village hunter, You sent him to the bandits woods remember?" snapped Kang
"He had the odd-eye! He had to go for the good of the village" argued one villager
"For the good of the village?" growled Kang " That boy did more pull his weight for the good of the village. And what did he get for it? Spat on, insulted and disrespected...
"Kang...Please we have nothing now
"You're free now which, I have to say is more than any of you deserve." Kang said "The only thing I want from any of you is for the lot of you to get out of my sight! What happens now is not my concern."
The group slowly left heading north. Kang watched in disgust as they left. He meant what he said, if not for Te and Ye having to suffer this, he would have gladly left the ungrateful people to be slaves
Sending Katara to take the twins to get something to eat, Kang turned his attention to his new captives, Elder Fung and his son. His eyes filled with a murderous anger
"Now what am I to do with you two?" said Kang unstrapping his hammers "You both have a lot to answer for"
"Just what do you intend to do about it?" mocked Elder Fung
Grabbing Fung by the collar, the seasoned earth bender slammed him violently into a tree. Picking him up off the ground he slammed him through another tree.
"You sold out your people, exiled the boy" growled Kang "And now I find out you in cahoots with the same soldiers that attacked the village."
"Prove it!" said Fung the second "Sadly you can't old man.
Grabbing the son by the shirt, Azula pulled him face to face, her fiery eyes flickering with anger.
"What's the matter you old geezer? Reduced to having a slave fight your battles?" mocked the son
"Who said she was a slave?" Kang said with a smirk
"You don't know who I am do you?" asked Azula acidly
"A slave girl who should know her place in the presence of her betters?" snipped Fung the second
"I'm sure you've heard tales about Princess Azula" she said conjuring a handful of blue flame
"You...you're the Princess of the Fire Nation?!" shivered the son, realizing how much danger he was in
"Indeed" she said "But honestly, I think the stories about me don't do me justice...I'm so much worse"
"Talk!" Kang growled lifting Fung off the ground by his throat "And it better be good because your life depends on it!"
"Yes, we did it!" said Fung defiantly "We played the village like a cheap pipa. The death of Kun, The attack on the village, all of it was our doing. Once you left to re supply the shop, it was all too easy to get the village captured"
"Why!?" asked Kang
"Why?! I'll tell you why" said Fung "There will be a new era, The Black Phoenix Empire. For my help I would get Omashu as my reward. All it would require would be my villagers as slaves, a reasonable request plus the money wasn't bad"
Kang responded by slamming him hard into another tree
Azula was having problems of her own. Out of all the villagers, Azula noticed one conspicuous person absent from the group of villagers.
"Where is Sho?" asked Azula "Tell me where she is"
"Make me!" said Fung the second
Azula's gritted her teeth in anger, blasting a fire ball close to his face
"DO NOT TEST ME!" yelled Azula at the top of her lungs "TALK...NOW!"
"Sho saw us trapping the girls. It was her fault really, if she had just let us take them, then she would have been okay. It wasn't like she couldn't have other children!"
"What happened?" Kang roared in anger "What did you do to Sho?"
"It was father who did it" he begged "I told him not to"
"He's lying, he's the one that did it" Elder Fung pleaded
"At this point I don't care which one of you did the deed" Kang said unstrapping his hammers"Both of you are guilty and there is nothing stopping me from killing you.
Aang's eyes widened as he saw the hatred in Kang's eyes. He had to stop this madness, before Kang did something he regretted.
"Wait you can't do this, Kang!" Aang said desperately trying to stop Kang "There has to be another way"
"You didn't see what they did to her, How they injured her so badly and left her to die alone in the woods. By the time I found her it was too late to do anything but stay with her till the end and to lay her to rest " Kang said closing his eyes fighting back the tears "They left those girls without their mother. Without a family, it's not right."
"And taking their lives? Will that make it right?" asked Zuko
"Should I just let them go? Let them get away with it?" yelled Kang
Azula softly set a hand on Kang's shoulder. She truly empathized with the old man; Sho was a kind wonderful woman, and what they did boiled her blood. But the dum-dum had a slight point...
"No" said Azula gently while glaring at the two Fungs "My idiot brother is right, death is way too good for these two"
"We're nobility" snorted Elder Kang "We have connections, there's no court in the earth kingdom that will imprison us"
"Who said anything about turning you in?" said Kang "Rumor has it, that most of those slaves weren't yours. Just what do you think will happen when your 'connections', find out you lost their investment?"
Fung and his son came to the realization that by morning they would dead men. They had no slaves or the money to cover the losses. The men they dealt with would demand blood, namely theirs"
"You can't leave us here!" the two pathetically begged
A moment inspiration hit Azula. Walking over to Katara and the twins, she shortly brought them up to speed, omitting telling the girls about their mother, they didn't need to know yet. Laying out her plan, the guys saw a round of evil smiles appearing on the faces of all the girls, all nodding in agreement
"Kang, do you happen to have some paper and wax?" asked Azula sweetly with a malevolent smirk on still her face
The sun peaked over the horizon as horrendous looking woman, Pearl, that hit on Zuko and Aang was heading home slightly drunk and disappointed.
"Bah, the men in this town had no taste in women" she thought
Not more than a minute after she entered her apartment she heard a knock at her door. Though curious, she armed herself with a knife, this was Totodan.
Looking out she saw not one but two men on her door step, unconscious probably from a long night of drinking. Looking closely she noticed one had a note with seal on it. Grabbing it, she broke the seal unrolling it with great interest.
My dearest Pearl,
Ever since I first saw you, I just knew I just had to have you as my wife. I have a hereditary sickness that causes me and my son to black out every now and then. So just in case, I made this certified letter to cement my intentions. I hereby not only pledge my undying love but all my lands and money to you as you see fit. On my belt is a pouch containing enough for a modest wedding. Please say yes to being my bride
Elder Fung
Looking around, the lady drug the two men inside. Drunk or not, a letter like that was legal and binding. Not did she find a suitable husband but a rich one at that. She giggled like a little schoolgirl at her good fortune
Outside the girls hid nearby thoroughly enjoying their work. Azula was quite impressed with Katara's letter; though she was at loathe admitting it. It a bit of silly romantic fluff...not that she was into that sort of thing. Then it was just a simple matter of using the elder's signet ring to make it nice and legal with a seal. Then all was needed was to knock them out, which the twins did a marvelous job of doing, they deserved that much.
"In... 5" started Katara
"...4" said Ye
"...3" and Te
"...2" said Azula
"...1" they all said in unison
From inside the apartment Fung screamed bloody murder much to the delight of the girls. The Boys and Kang looked on in a mix of fear and nervous amusement
"That girl is sadistic!" said Kang
"No" said Zuko "That's Azula showing charity"