Hello again! Well, this is chapter one. There's not much to explain except for one thing. I'm using some of the songs from the movie "The Prince of Egypt" in the fic, but it's not a songfic. You'll understand when you get to that part. The one used in this chapter is "The Plagues" which I've also heard called "Let My People Go" performed by Ralph Fiennes and Amick Bryan. Okay, that's pretty much all! Enjoy chapter one!
Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA or Prince of Egypt or the song "The Plagues." I just own the fic itself.
Chapter 1: Prince Zuko
"I am very disappointed in the two of you."
Prince Zuko and his younger sister Princess Azula hung their heads in shame (well, fake shame in her case) as their father glared down at them. "I'm sorry, father. Please, don't blame Azula. It was my fault." Ozai eyed his children impatiently. He sighed, exasperated. "Zuko, you can't keep up this foolishness. One day, you'll take my place as Fire Lord. You will have responsibility to your nation. These silly pranks have to stop. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir." "Good. Now, go apologize to Li and Lo for dumping water on their heads."
Ozai shooed his children away, and they left obediently. Once they were out of earshot, Zuko turned to his sister. "That is the last time I cover for you." Azula smirked. "You never had to, you know. I can take care of myself and I never asked for your help. You just started doing it one day. And now I'm used to it. So now you do have to." He scowled, annoyed.
Azula left for her room, but Zuko wandered the palace, thinking. His father was right. He had responsibilities, or at least he would when he took his father's place, and he couldn't keep acting like a child. Of course, all of the childish activities he took part in were Azula's idea, but he had given in to joining her on multiple occasions, including this one. And he wasn't sure why, but he always took the rap for her. It was all so stupid.
Eventually, he found himself outside the palace walls. How he got there, he wasn't completely sure, but he didn't particularly care. He stood outside the palace, watching the Water Tribe Slaves. His father refused to tell him what they were building now. The young prince couldn't help but wonder. The slaves worked harder than anyone he'd ever seen in his life. Fire Nation soldiers stood watch, whipping some, shouting orders at others. Some were even physically abusing the slaves. They weren't supposed to use firebending, seeing as they could risk killing one, which left them with one less pair of hands, but many disregarded the rule. Zuko's face contorted into a frown. "Mother would be ashamed." He thought.
"Mother." The face of said woman flashed across his mind. She had left years ago; who knows where she'd gone, or if she was even still alive. Part of him resented her for leaving. She abandoned them. Abandoned him. Of course, he still had his father, but Ozai wasn't exactly proud of his son. Zuko was a disappointment to the Fire Lord. Why, the prince would never know, seeing as he was to be Ozai's successor one day and had long ago promised to keep everything the way it was. Zuko was even loyal to Ozai after the Agni Kai that had left a scar on his face. He would never understand what made him such a disappointment to his father, although he suspected Azula's antics had something to do with it.
Ursa had left right after Lu Ten died. Zuko couldn't help but think there was a connection between the two events, however distant it may be. Just like how he felt about the slaves. Somehow, he felt that he had some sort of relation to the Water Tribe. He couldn't put his finger on it, but for some reason, he didn't like seeing them being hurt the way they always were.
He brushed the thought from his mind. Preposterous. The prince of the Fire Nation having a relation to the Water Tribe slaves? Impossible.
Yet he still couldn't shake the feeling that they should be important to him.
Zuko and Azula dated down the hallway, frantically searching for the right room (seeing as they both forgot) as a couple of palace servants followed them, attempting to make them look more presentable. "Dad is going to kill us!" Zuko shouted. The two were supposed to be present at Zuko's sixteenth birthday party, but had managed to make themselves late. Again.
"Us? He's going to kill you! He'll be furious that his guest of honor or whatever is late!" "Okay, whatever! Point is, someone's dead!" Just as he said it, Zuko opened the door to the room where the party was held. Everyone inside went silent for a moment, and then burst into applause and cheers. Zuko suddenly felt the need to hide. He beckoned his sister over and they entered the room together, taking their places next to their father. "Where have you been?" Ozai hissed so that no one but his children could hear. "We got caught in a…situation. It won't happen again." Was all Zuko could think to say. Really, Azula had pestered him into pranking Li and Lo again, but he didn't feel like mentioning it.
"Zuko!"
A rare smile crossed Zuko's face at the sight of his uncle. "Uncle!" The older man embraced his nephew in a bone-crushing hug. "I thought you were in Ba Sing Se!" "I was." Iroh gave a barely noticeable nod. "But I couldn't miss my nephew's sixteenth birthday, could I?" "I'm glad you're here, Uncle." Zuko replied. He saw his uncle exchange a look with his father, one that was partially smug and partially excited. Iroh turned to face the main entrance of the room. "Bring her in!"
The large door crashed open and in walked two guards dragging in an ostrich horse. "But an ostrich horse can't scream like that. That's definitely a human sound…" Zuko thought. He examined the animal, slightly shocked when he saw her. A girl, looking to be about a year or so younger than him, was tied to the ostrich horse's saddle by her wrists. He assumed they had intended for her to ride it, but she had refused. She struggled against it, tugging at the ropes binding her wrists, refusing to walk alongside the large animal, but was eventually dragged forward. She looked angry, almost vicious. And her murderous glare was directed right at Zuko.
He tried not to make eye contact, but he did study her, he hoped inconspicuously. Her blue eyes gave her away as a Water Tribe girl, as did her long chestnut hair and dark skin tone. Zuko briefly wondered if she was a slave, but that thought was quickly replaced with why she was there in the first place.
"This young lady will be our entertainment for the night. Rumor has it her singing voice is phenomenal." Iroh said. "Where did she come from? I've never seen her…" Zuko kept staring at the girl, unsure what was going on. Did he actually…feel sorry for the girl tied to the ostrich horse? He had expected his uncle to answer him, but instead the girl shouted furiously "I'm not one of your slaves! I am one of the few free Water Tribe people. Or, at least, I was, until this…this…" She hesitated, searching for the right word until she finally found her voice again. "This filthy scumbag kidnapped me!"
Zuko glanced at his uncle, almost disgusted with what he heard for a reason he didn't understand. Why did he hate the way the Water Tribe people were treated so much? "You kidnapped her?" He asked incredulously. "Well, I wouldn't call it-" "YOU TOOK ME FROM MY HOME BY FORCE! THAT'S KIDNAPPING!" The girl roared. She was then pushed to the ground by one of the guards. Zuko winced as she hit the ground.
They untied her and forced her to the front of the room. "Sing, peasant." Ozai ordered. She did nothing, and Azula laughed cruelly. "I guess your voice isn't as great as they say, Water Tribe filth." She taunted. The crowd gasped in unison as the Water Tribe girl spat into Azula's face. "Oh, you did not just do that, you little-" Iroh held back his niece. "Now, Azula. Control yourself." Azula sat begrudgingly back down, glaring daggers at the Water Tribe girl. "You want me to sing?" The girl's lips curled into an almost evil smile. "I'll sing."
"Since you refuse to free my people
All through the land of Fire
I send a pestilence and plague
Into your house, into your bed
Into your streams, into your streets
Into your drink, into your bread
Upon your cattle, on your sheep
Upon your oxen in your field
Into your dreams, into your sleep
Until you break, until you yield
I send the swarm, I send the hoard
Thus saith the Lord!"
It was true; her voice was mesmerizing. But her words…they were frightening. It wasn't as if she could do any of those things unless she caught a plague herself and spread it throughout the Fire Nation, but the hate the words held were enough. Zuko knew people hated the Fire Nation. But he did not know that people would go so far as to wish such a fate upon them.
Time seemed to stand still as the entirety of the room stared at her in shock. "Was that a threat, peasant?" Ozai seethed. In response, the girl only hardened her glare. "Arrest her!" The guards charged at her on Ozai's command. They bound her wrists once again and began dragging her out the door. As they did so, she half-shouted, half-sang a few more unsettling verses as if in protest or, more likely, a final threat:
"I send the thunder from the sky
I send the fire raining down
I send a hail of burning ice
On every field, on every town
I send the locusts on a wind
Such as the world has never seen
On every leaf, on every stalk
Until there's nothing left of green
I send my scourge, I send my sword
Thus saith the Lord!"
That was the last they heard of her voice as the doors slammed shut.
Okay, so what do you guys think? I'd love to hear from you! And by the way, the Water Tribe girl was NOT a random character I made up, and if you can't guess who she is, I don't know what this fandom is going to do with you. Seriously. Anyway, she becomes very important later on so don't forget about her!
