Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 31: New Students and Old Creatures
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Western Air Temple)
Zuko, Azula, and Aang stood on a balcony. It had been a full day since the assassin attacked and now, the two exiles were ready to begin teaching their student. The previous night, Sokka had told Zuko about Aang's previous attempt to learn Firebending from the infamous deserter Jeong Jeong, and how that attempt ended in failure. Both Zuko and Azula were amused at how Aang's foolhardy experiment in Firebending had resulted in burning Katara by accident, even if it revealed her ability to heal.
"I know you're nervous," Zuko told Aang. Both he and his sister stood across from the Avatar. "But remember, Firebending in it of itself is not something to fear."
"Okay," Aang said, taking a breath. "Not something to fear."
"But if you don't respect it, it'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo rhino!" he shouted, making the Air Nomad flinch back.
"Was that really necessary, Zuko?" Azula asked her brother while also keeping an eye at their student (who was about to jump out of his skin).
"Hey, our teachers did it to us. We might as well do it to our student."
She rolled her eyes before looking at Aang. "Show us what you got," she ordered him. "Any amount of fire you can make."
He took a couple of deep breaths, took a stance, and tried to bend fire. What he got was a puff of smoke. "Maybe I need a little more instruction," ge said apologetically. "Perhaps a demonstration?"
She sighed. "If you insist. You might wanna take a few steps back." He did and she took a stance. She breathed in deep and threw out a punch. A very small flame, which wasn't even blue, slipped out and faded quick. Aang applauded at her attempt until she glared at him.
"What was that?" Zuko asked her. "That was the worst Firebending I've seen!" He had seen his sister do much, much better.
"I thought it was…nice," Aang offered with a weak smile.
"You think yours is any better?" she asked her brother, ignoring the Airbender.
He took his stance and tried three times, getting the same results as her. "Why is this happening?!" he demanded.
"Maybe it's the altitude?" Aang suggested, rubbing his head.
"Yeah, could be," he agreed. They went lower in the temple. When they found a suitable spot, both Azula and Zuko tried to Firebend again, only getting small flames. Azula's flames still weren't blue, they were orange. Aang sat on a broken pillar and yawned in boredom.
"Just breathe and…" Zuko said as he tried again. Once again, he only got a small flame.
"That one kinda felt hot," Aang said, sitting up from where he had briefly laid down.
"Don't patronize me!" he snapped. "You know what's supposed to look like!"
"Sorry, Sifu Hotman," the Air Nomad apologized.
"And stop calling me that!"
"Why should he?" Azula asked with a small smirk on her lips. "It works."
He turned to his sister. "You do realize that means you're Sifu Hotwoman, right?" She lost the smirk and returned her focus to trying to bend.
Sokka came walking by, eating an apple. "Hey, guys," he said in greeting. "How's it coming?"
"Go away," Azula told him. His presence there would not help them in any way.
"I was just wondering."
"Get out of here!" Zuko snapped at him.
"Alright, alright, sheesh." He walked away.
"Aang, that's it for today," Azula told him.
"Are you sure?" he asked. While he was excited to stop learning how to Firebend, he wanted to be sure that was what she wanted.
"Go, Zuko and I need to talk," she practically ordered. If she had been a little angrier, she would've used her finger to point at the exit, emphasizing her point.
"Okay, bye!" He was gone quicker than they could blink.
She turned to face her brother. "What in the name of Agni has happened?"
"Why are you asking me? I don't know," he answered. His Firebending had never been this weak before, not even when he had just begun to bend.
"Well, we need to figure it out."
Nobody saw them until that night, at dinner. They stood at the edges, looking back at the campfire the others had going. "Listen, everybody, I've got some pretty bad news," Zuko told them as he walked over to the fire. Azula walked beside him. "Azula and I have lost our stuff."
"Don't look at me!" Toph declared instantly. "I didn't touch your stuff."
"He's talking about our Firebending," Azula explained with a small amount of annoyance. "It's gone."
Somehow, that struck Katara as funny, making her laugh. Everyone looked at her as she laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony," she told the two as they glared in unison at her. "You know, how it would've been nice for us if you both had lost your Firebending a long time ago."
"Well, it's not lost," Zuko told her, trying to explain what was going on. "It's just weaker for some reason."
"Maybe you're just not as good as either of you think you are," Sshe remarked, trying to be insulting.
"Ouch." Toph commented.
"I'll be sure to say that to you when your Waterbending has diminished to the point it just looks pathetic," Azula told the Waterbender in reply.
"Ouch again," Toph said.
"I bet it's because we changed sides," Zuko said.
"That's ridiculous," Katara said. How could changing sides make someone's bending weaker? That was just stupid.
"I don't know," Aang disagreed. "Maybe it isn't. Maybe your Firebending comes from rage and neither of you don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to," he told the two exiles.
"So, all we have to is to make them angry?" Sokka asked. He looked at Zuko and Azula. "Do you guys want me to poke you with my sword?" Akela rolled his eyes at that.
"Don't even think about it," Zuko warned him before turning his attention back to his supposed student. "Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore."
"There has to be another way," Azula agreed.
"You're gonna need to learn to your Firebending from a different source," Toph said. "I'd recommend the original source."
"How are they supposed to that? Just jump into a volcano or something?" Sokka asked. It was full of fire, maybe that would do the trick.
"No. Zuko and Azula needs to go back to whatever the original source of Firebending is."
"And what is that?"
"I don't know. For Earthbending, the original Benders were Badgermoles. One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave." She could still remember being lost in the cave. "That's where I met them." She had been terrified of something she couldn't see. That feeling turned to laughter when she felt a big tongue licking her and when she licked back. "They were blind, just like me. So, we understood each other. I was able to learn Earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original Earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world." She remembered copying what they did and the joy she felt when she could bend the earth.
"That's amazing, Toph," Aang told her. "I learn from the monks, but the original Airbenders were the sky bison." He turned his head over to Appa. "Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime, buddy." The sky bison gave a roar and turn his attention back to his dinner.
"This doesn't help us," Azula said. If the original Benders were animals, then they had nothing to go to.
"The original Firebenders were the dragons," Zuko said, silently agreeing with his sister. "And they're all but extinct."
"What do you mean?" Aang asked, a little surprised by what he was hearing. "Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid."
"Well, they aren't really around anymore, okay!?" he shouted.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," the Air Nomad instantly apologized.
"Maybe there's another way," Azula said, getting their attention. "The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors." She walked away from the fire and back to the wall, looking at the fountain in front of her.
"Sun Warriors?" repeated Aang as he stood up and joined her. "Well, I know they weren't around when I was a kid."
"They died off a thousand years ago," Zuko told him, joining the two. "But their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins."
"It's like the monks use to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present," he commented.
"So, you're going to go the ruins of an ancient civilization and hope to get some super Sun Warrior energy?" Sokka asked for clarification.
"Do you have a better idea?" Zuko asked him pointedly.
"Either we find a way to Firebend," Azula said. "Or the Avatar has to find a new teacher." Both she and her brother looked at their student as she spoke. And what she offered wasn't really an option, as the rest of the Firebenders were more likely to kill him rather than teach him.
The next morning, the two resident Firebenders and the Airbender left the others on Appa. They flew out over the ocean, settling in for a long ride. But after a while, some of the passengers began to get bored. "We've been flying for hours," Zuko said, sitting in the saddle and looking down at the sea. "I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster."
Appa roared in reply. "Appa's right, Zuko," Aang said. "In our group, typically we start our missions with a more up-beat attitude."
He groaned. "I can't believe this."
"Of course, you can't," Azula remarked from where she sat opposite of him.
"Don't worry, you two," Aang told them. "You'll get the hang of it."
"Why do I have a hard time believing that?" she wondered aloud.
"You're asking me?" her brother asked.
"No, I wasn't." They fell silent for the next hour, until they saw the island they were looking for. They flew inland and found the ruins of the Sun Warriors, which filled them with awe, for even though they were ruins, they were still impressive.
They landed and got off Appa. "This place is amazing," Aang declared as they walked through the ruins. Nature had partially reclaimed them, but they still stood out.
"Yeah," Zuko agreed. "Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them. I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these."
"And how, exactly, does that help us?" Azula asked him. She could see the similarities as well, but she wanted to know if he had an actual answer.
"Well, we learned something about architecture," Aang told her. "Hopefully we'll learn something about Firebending too. The past can be a great teacher." He was about to say something else when he walked through a tripwire, pulling it and stumbling forward. The ground in front of him dropped, revealing spikes. He might have killed himself, had he not used his Airbending to get him over to the over side. "Zuko, Azula, I think the past is trying to kill me."
Zuko knelt and looked at the tripwire. "I can't believe it," he said, picking it up. "This booby trap must be centuries old, and it still works."
"There's probably a lot more. Maybe this means we shouldn't be here."
He took a few steps back and then ran forward. But instead of trying to leap over the spikes, he ran across the wall. "Where's that upbeat attitude you were talking about?" he asked the Avatar.
"He's right," Azula agreed, landing next to them (she jumped across the spikes). "Besides, people don't make traps unless they got something worth protecting." And what was worth protecting in ruins such as these?
"So…we keep going?" Aang asked, wanting to be sure.
"Just keeping walking," Zuko told him. They kept walking forward and soon started climbing a long flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, they found a mural of two dragons breathing fire around a Sun Warrior.
"Look, this seems promising," Aang said as he examined the mural. "Though, I'm not sure what this tells us about the original source of Firebending."
"They look angry to me," Azula commented, looking at the dragons. She felt unnerved at the sight of the statues and their depictions.
"I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors."
"Well, they had a funny way of showing it," Zuko remarked as he started to walk away from the mural.
His sister turned to follow, only to stop when the Avatar spoke. "Zuko, Azula…something happened to the dragons in the last hundred years, right? Something you two aren't telling me," he said.
The siblings shared a look with each other. "Our great-grandfather Sozin happened," Azula told him as they walked away.
"What do you mean?" he asked, following them deeper into the ruins.
"He started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory," Zuko explained as they crossed a bridge. "They were the ultimate Firebenders. And if you defeat one, your Firebending talents would become legendary, and you would earn the honorary title, Dragon." They stood in front of another flight of stairs, with a statue of a dragon on each side. One of the statues' head had fallen off and now lay on the ground, which he walked up to. "The last great dragon was defeated long before either of us was born, by our uncle." He placed a hand on the dragon's eye.
"But I thought your uncle was…I don't know, good?"
"He had a complicated past. It seems to be a family tradition," Azula remarked. "And besides, the last person to earn the title of Dragon was you," she told Zuko.
"But I technically didn't defeat it," he replied before chuckling. "How much do you want to bet that Dad's trying to use that to strip me of that title?"
"No bet," she replied, chuckling as well. It would be something their father would do to discredit them.
"Wait," Aang said, looking at Zuko. "You defeated the last dragon alive?"
He shook his head. "No, I let it go free. Bao-yu still gave me the title of Scarred Dragon anyway." He made his way to the stairs. "Let's just move on." They went up the stairs and at the top; they saw a big door that was closed shut.
Aang ran over to the door and tried to open it, with no success. "It's locked up!" he told them.
"We gathered as much," Azula told him, the sarcasm blatant in her voice. She turned around and noticed the column with the sunstone embedded in it. Turning back around, she saw that it was shining down, but was being blocked by Zuko. "Zuko, move." He did so, revealing the light shining down on a particular spot on the ground. "It's a celestial calendar, just like the Fire Sages have in their temples." She looked up above the door and saw another sunstone embedded there. "I bet that sunstone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits it at just the right angle, in other words, on the solstice."
"Monkey feathers!" swore Aang. "The solstice again? We can't wait here that long."
"No, we can't," Zuko agreed. "But we might be able to speed time up." He drew one of his Dao swords and held against the light on the ground, making it shine on the wall around the door. "Let's see if we can outsmart the sunstone." Moving his sword carefully, he reflected the light onto the sunstone over the door.
"Nothing's happening," the Air Nomad told him.
"Come on," he muttered. He held the sword at the angle, keeping the light on the sunstone. His efforts paid off when the door opened.
"You know guys," Aang said as he picked up his staff from the ground. "I don't care what everyone else says about you to. You're pretty smart." He walked into the room. Both Zuko and Azula shared a small smile as Zuko sheathed his sword. Then they realized what he meant. He tried looked the room and the first thing he saw was a scary-looking face, looking right at him, making him gasp and flinch back.
"Would you relax?" Azula asked him. "They're just statues." They walked into the room and started looking around. The statue they had first seen was just one of two sets. The two sets had several statues, each in a different position. With each position, the statues curved around to the back of the room.
Aang read the inscription on one of the first two statues. "It says this is something called the Dancing Dragon," he said aloud. Putting his staff down, he took a step back and copied the pose the statue held. When he did, his foot pressed a button, causing it to go into the floor a bit. He came out of the pose and looked at the button, which came back up. He then looked at the other statues in the set. "Zuko, Azula, get over here! I want you two to dance with me," he told them, grabbing Zuko's arm.
"What?" they said in unison. That had been something they never would've expected the Air Nomad to say (to them, at least).
"Just do it." He dragged Zuko over to the first statue of the second set. "Okay, you stand there. Azula, stand behind him." He went over to his statue. "Let's follow the steps of the statues." They had no idea what he was thinking, but when they did the first pose and moved into the second, they heard the click of a button. "Don't you guys see?" he asked them as they went through the poses. "These aren't dance moves. These statues are giving us a lesson. I think this is some kind of Sun Warrior Firebending form."
"This better teach us some really good Firebending," Azula said. The three did the last pose and they heard something moving. Turning to face the front, they saw a pedestal holding a big golden egg-like stone coming out from the middle of the floor.
"Hurray!" Aang cheered. "Wait, what exactly is that?"
"Looks like some sort of gemstone," Zuko noted as he went over to it.
"Well, don't touch it!"
"Why not?" asked Azula, walking over to the stone as well.
"Remember what happened out there with those spikes?" he asked the two of them. "I'm just very suspicious of giant glowing gems sitting on pedestals."
"Of course you are," she sarcastically remarked.
"It feels…almost alive," Zuko said after picking it up to look more closely at it. When he tried to put it back, a geyser of green slime shot out, sending both him and Azula flying upwards and hitting a grate in the roof.
"Oh no, it's another trap!" Aang said as he saw the doors close.
"What gave it away?" Azula asked from where she was plastered against the grate and her brother.
"Not the time, Azula," Zuko told her before returning his attention to Aang. "We can't break free. It's like some sort of glue."
Aang ran back to his staff, picked it up and leapt onto one of the statues' head. He swung the staff, bending the air to try and get Zuko and Azula free. All it did was flipped them over, so their faces saw the sky. As he looked at that, he realized too late that the slime had gotten his staff. He tried to pull it free with no success. Seeing as the slime was about to get him, he leapt up to the grate and grabbed hold. But he had forgotten that the slime was there as well.
"I can't move!" he said, trying to break free. "Zuko, Azula, do something!"
"Me? I can't move either!" Azula said.
"Same here!" said Zuko. The slime continued to rise until it pressed into their backs. For a moment, it looked like it would overflow the grate, but it didn't.
"It stopped," Aang said as he felt the slime settle.
"Way to state the obvious," Azula said.
"At least we have air," Zuko noted. "Maybe if we stay calm, we can figure a way out of this." They did try to stay calm. But as the day wore on and eventually turned into night, the calm started to get worn away.
"You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" Aang finally asked Zuko.
"At least I made something happen!" he snapped. "If it were up to you, we'd never made it past the courtyard."
"HELP!" the Avatar bellowed, using Airbending to enhance the shouting. But it only echoed through the ruins. No one had seemed to have heard it, except for them.
"Who are you yelling to?" Azula asked him. "Nobody's lived here for centuries."
"Well, what do you think we should do?"
"…Think about our place in the universe?" Zuko offered.
"No way, I am not talking about that with you guys," his sister said. "And I'm kicking the ass of whichever one of you is making my leg cramp when we get out of this." She didn't who was doing it, but she knew one of them was doing it.
"Who is down there?" a voice demanded, surprising them. Standing over the grate was a Sun Warrior, an actual living Sun Warrior.
"Um…hi?" offered a nervous Aang, making the other two groan.
Others soon joined the warrior, who they soon figured out was the chief. He had them pull the grate free and the three dug out. They were carried down to the celestial calendar, where the remaining slime was slowly being licked off by aardvark sloths. "For trying to take our sunstone, you must be severely punished!" the chief declared, surrounded by his people. Four of the warriors had bent fire and cradled it in their hands.
"We didn't come here to take your sunstone," Zuko told them from where he sat before, still somewhat covered in slime. "We came here to find the ancient origin of all Firebending."
"Yeah, right," the Sun Warrior holding the sunstone said. "They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures."
"Please," Aang said to them all. "I don't normally play this card, but…I'm the Avatar." No one said a word at his proclamation. "Just hear us out," he asked them, standing up.
"My name is Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation," he introduced himself, standing up. "Or, at least, I was."
"And my name is Azula," she introduced herself as she too stood up. Enough slime had been licked off for them to do that. "I am his sister, but I am not the princess of the Fire Nation, not anymore."
"I know my people have distorted the ways of Firebending, to be fuel by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the true way, the original way," her brother told the Sun Warriors.
"I do as well. When we came here, we did not know that the Sun Warriors' civilization was still alive. I am both honored and humbled to be in your presence." She bowed her head, her brother and Aang copying her movement. "Please, teach us."
The chief was silent as he looked at them. "If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the masters, Ran and Shaw," he finally declared.
"Ran and Shaw?" repeated Aang. "There are two of them?"
"When you present yourself to them, they will examine you," he told them, walking closer. "They'll read your hearts, your souls, and your ancestry. If they deem you worthy, they'll teach you. If they don't, you'll be destroyed on the spot."
"No pressure or anything," Azula commented, making everyone looked at her. "Sorry, I was channeling Naruto." She wished the blonde was there with them.
"Finish cleaning them up and then give them places to sleep," the chief ordered before walking away. The aardvark sloths continued their slow cleaning (they are part sloth, after all). When they were finally done, the three were led to an empty room. They were told not to leave it for the rest of the night. They were too exhausted to even think about going past the doorframe. They practically fell to the ground, already out.
When morning came, they were roughly woken up and given a light meal for breakfast. Once they had finished eating, they were led out of the room and taken to another temple building, where the chief and the Sun Warriors waited in front of a fire.
"If you are going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the Eternal Flame," the chief explained. "This fire is the very first one. It was given to man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years."
"I don't believe it," Zuko said with surprise. He had never thought that something like that had existed.
"You will each take a piece of it to the masters, to show your commitment to the scared art of Firebending."
"Umm, Mister Sun Chief, sir?" said Aang nervously. "Yeah, I'm not a Firebender yet. Couldn't one of my friends carry my fire for me?" He felt a hand slap the back of his head, making him yelp slightly.
"Don't be lazy," Azula told him, withdrawing her hand from his body. If he acted like that, there was no way he could be a good Firebender.
The chief turned to the fire and bent two small flames from it. "This ritual illustrates the essences of Sun Warrior philosophy." He handed the two flames to Zuko and Azula, before bending a third out from the Eternal Flame. "You must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control." He offered the third to Aang.
The Avatar was hesitant, at first. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous." He took the flame from the chief, and he was surprised at how it felt. "It's like a little heartbeat," he said in wonder.
"Fire is life, not just destruction," the chief told him. "You will take your flames up there." He pointed to a nearby mountain. "The cave of the masters is beneath that rock."
The three of them bowed to him and made their way down the steps and into the forest. Azula and Zuko took the lead while Aang walked slower, still unsure of maintaining his flame. As the day wore on, they got closer and closer to the mountain. Zuko stopped and looked back at Aang, who had widened the distance between the three of them. "Hurry up," he told him.
"I can't," Aang replied. "If I walk too fast, my flame will go out."
"Your flame is going to go out because it's too small," Azula told him. "You're too scared. Give it a little more energy."
"But what if I can't control it?" The memories of what happened the last time he tried to bend fire came to the edges of his mind.
"You can do it," Zuko answered. "I know you can. You're a talented kid." When he heard those words, the memories disappeared from The Air Nomad's mind.
The rest of the walk was silent as they continued up the mountain. By the time they had reached the caves, which were two rocks with a hole in the middle of them and connected by a bridge and a staircase, the rest of the Sun Warriors had already arrived.
"Is anyone else wondering how they got here first?" Azula whispered to the other two as the chief and two other Sun Warriors approached.
"I'm not focusing on it right now," Zuko whispered back.
"Facing the judgment of the Firebending masters will be difficult for you," The chief told them as he approached them. He looked at Zuko and Azula. "Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearance."
"The sins of our ancestors are not ours," Zuko replied.
"That might be, but the masters might not see it that way. They also might not be so happy to see you."
"I know I wouldn't be," one of the warriors said.
"But once they find out that I'm the Avatar…" Aang began to say.
"Have you forgotten that you vanished, allowing the Fire Nation to wreak havoc on this side of the planet?" the chief asked, cutting him off. "The decline of the dragons is your burden, too."
He looked away in shame. The chief slammed his staff into the ground and took a part of the flames from the three. He then split it into two and gave one to both warriors. They took it and sent down the line, each Sun Warrior would bend a small piece of the fire into a burning circle before handing off to the next person.
As the chief walked away, Aang, Azula and Zuko had a hushed conversation. "We could turn back now," Aang suggested quietly. "We've already learned more about fire then we'd hoped."
"No," Azula answered. "We're seeing this through to the end. We're gonna meet these masters and find out what's so great about them."
"What if they judge us, and attack us?"
"Well, we're the Fire Prince, the Fire Princess, and the Avatar," Zuko said, drawing one of his swords slightly to emphasize his point. "I think we can take these guys in a fight, whoever they are."
"I'm not the Fire Princess anymore, Zuko," Azula reminded her brother. She had chosen to give up that title.
"Right, sorry." He turned to face the chief. "Bring them out!" he declared.
"Chanters!" shouted the chief. The Sun Warriors who didn't hold a ring of fire began to drum out a beat and chanters started up while also genuflecting. The three made their way to the stairs, stopping in of the chief and the two warriors, who then stepped out of the way. The stairs loomed over them, almost looking like a mountain itself.
Aang, Azula, and Zuko all shared a look, took a deep breath, and started walking up the steps. Aang looked back once as they climbed but kept on going. They reached the top of the stairs and stood at the top, looking at the bridges as the setting sun looked down on them.
"Those who wish to meet the masters, Ran and Shaw, will now present their fire," a Sun Warrior announced through a horn that amplified his voice. The three shared one more look together and turned to face the cave entrances, Aang faced one while the siblings faced the other. They bowed their heads and raised their hands, holding their fire in an offering position.
"Sound the call!" the chief ordered. A Sun Warrior standing on a ledge took a deep breath and blew a horn, making nearby birds fly and caused the sounds of something crashing in the caves.
When Aang heard that, he began to tremble. "What's happening?" he asked, turning around to face Zuko and Azula, who kept their positions. Only Zuko spared him a look when he peeked under their shoulders to see what was going on their end. When he turned back around and brought his hands back up, he realized too late that he had extinguished the small flame he had been given. "Guys, my fire went out," he told the other two.
"What do you want us to do?" Azula asked.
"Give me some of yours." He tried grabbing Zuko's fire.
He held the Air Nomad back with his free arm. "No, just make your own."
"I can't."
"Then get some from those warriors. Hurry! Stop cheating off me!"
"Don't be stingy!"
"Will you two knock it off?" Azula asked them as she looked them.
What the three had forgotten was the Sun Warriors could still see them and could still hear them. As they watched what happened, every single Sun Warrior shared the same thought. "That kid cannot be serious."
As Aang struggled to get some of Zuko's fire, he accidently extinguished it as well as Azula's by knocking their arms down. The noises that came from the cave were getting louder and the floor beneath them began to shake. "Uh oh," Aang said as he looked back at the other cave.
A pair of eyes briefly glowed before a red dragon flew out of the cave, roaring for all to hear, catching the three by surprise. As Zuko looked back at the other cave, he saw a blue dragon fly out and joined the red dragon. The two dragons flew around the platform, circling them. Sometimes the blue one would fly above. Sometimes the red one flew above.
"These are the masters," Azula said in awe. Never in her life would she have thought that they would be dragons.
"Still think we can take them?" Aang asked Zuko.
He shushed the Avatar. "I never said that!"
Meanwhile, the Sun Warriors went down to their knees and the ones who weren't holding fire bowed their heads. "Oh, here it comes," the warrior to the chief's left said. "Any moment now, it'll be dinnertime for the masters."
"Quiet, Ham Ghao!" the chief told him.
"What?" He looked away. "Everyone's thinking it."
Still the dragons flew around them. They were flying in a pattern, like they were trying to say something. Aang watched them and was struck with a realization. "Zuko, Azula," he whispered to the other two. "I think we're supposed to do the Dragon Dance with them."
"What?" Zuko asked. "What about this situation makes you think they want us to dance?" This did not look like a dancing situation to him.
"Well, I think they want us do something. Let's just try it."
"We might as well," Azula agreed.
"Fine," Zuko agreed. "But if we die because of this, I'm going to kill the both of you." He and Azula stood next to each other with their backs to Aang.
All three of them took the first position of the Dancing Dragon. When they saw this, the two dragons flew upward. They went through the positions and the dragons followed. No one was sure if the dragons were copying the humans, or the humans were copying the dragons. When the humans moved into a position, the dragons twisted, moved, or turned in the same way. The blue dragon followed Aang while the red one followed Zuko and Azula.
When the three of them moved into the last position, holding their fists out to each other, they saw that the dragons had stopped moving. They just hung there in the air, looking at them.
"Judgment time!" declared the chief, his head still bowed.
The dragons looked straight into the three's eyes. They held themselves in the air, not moving a single muscle, save for their lips which they had pulled back somewhat into a growl. Azula and Zuko looked at the blue dragon. Both nervous and scared as all hell but were doing their best not to show it. Aang stared at the red dragon. He was also scared, but unlike the other two, he was trembling visibly.
Finally, the dragons moved. They landed on both sides of the staircase. For a moment that somehow managed to take forever, nothing happened. Then the dragons opened their mouths and breathed fire, engulfing the three in a tornado of flames. The three screamed and covered their faces, trying to protect them.
But they realized that the fire wasn't burning them. They uncovered their eyes, looked up and saw a wondrous thing. The tornado was made of fire; that much was true. But it wasn't the fire they were looking at; it was the many different colors of fire they saw. Orange flickered into red, green twisted into blue, purple came forth from yellow. They saw all of that and so much more. And that was when they realized this tornado was a lesson. It was a lesson done in the form of a demonstration.
"I understand," Zuko whispered. The dragons somehow heard him as the tornado dissipated. The dragons, having shown what Firebending was all about, flew upward. They executed a loop and flew back into their caves. And just like that, as quickly as it begun, it was over. The Sun Warriors holding the circles of fire let them die and bowed their heads in a salute.
"Their fire was beautiful," Azula admitted with a voice full of awe as they walked back down the stairs. She had never seen anything like that before in her life (sadly, she also had the feeling that she never would again).
"I saw so many colors," Zuko told them. "Colors I've never imagined."
"Like Firebending harmony," Aang stated.
"Yes," the chief agreed as they met him at the bottom. "They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of Firebending."
"I can't believe there are more living dragons," Zuko said in surprise. "Before Akawan, I had thought that my uncle Iroh faced the last dragon and killed it."
"SoUncle lied," Azula stated.
"Actually, it wasn't a total lie," the chief said, surprising them. "Iroh was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well."
"He must've lied to protect them," Zuko realized. "Sono one else would hunt them."
"All this time, I thought Firebending was destruction," Aang admitted. "Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is. It's energy and life."
"Yeah, it's like the Sun, but inside of you. Do you guys realize this?" he asked the chief.
'Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors…so yeah."
"And once again, you've proven why I call you dum-dum," Azula told Zuko, a small teasing in her voice.
He glared at her half-heartily before realizing something. "That's why my Firebending was so weak before," He turned to face Aang. "Because for so many years, hunting you was my drive…it was my purpose. So, when we joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire."
"You're right," Azula said, seeing where he was going with this. "For as long as I could remember, my drive was to be the perfect princess of the Fire Nation that everyone thought I was. When I said that Ozai wasn't my father anymore and I joined you," she told Aang. "I had lost my drive too and I didn't even know it."
"But now, we have a new drive. We have to help you defeat my father and bring balance back to this side of the planet," Zuko declared, looking at Aang. He took a stance and tried to Firebend once more. This time, he got a big burst of flame. He did another one just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Azula did the same thing. She was happy not just to see her Firebending was working, it had turned back to its blue color. Aang tried it too. He bent a fireball, and he was happy to see that he could do it.
"Now that you have learned the secrets," the chief said, walking towards, his face serious. "And you know about our tribe's existence, we have no choice but to imprison you here forever." His statement surprised the three. "Just kidding," he said, making them breathe a sigh of relief. "But seriously, don't tell anyone."
"Don't worry, we won't," Azula promised him. She then saw something against the glare of the sun. "What is that?" she asked, trying to see what it was.
"What are you talking about?" Aang asked her, turning around as well.
"That." She pointed at she was looking at. But before anyone could turn and see what she was looking at, it had already landed.
"You?!" said Zuko in surprise. He knew the creature that was standing over him. He had never thought to see it again.
"You know him?" Both the chief and Aang asked him in unison.
"Do you remember how exactly I got the title of Dragon?" he asked Aang and Azula, who nodded. "Meet the dragon I freed." He pointed to the creature, which was indeed the same dragon he had freed from imprisonment. He had grown bigger, and it looked like his whiskers and horns had fully grown.
"Yes, we were quite surprised when the young dragon had arrived," the chief explained to the three of them. "He had arrived in the middle of a storm. When the masters came out to see who it was, they investigated the storm. We did as well. I am not sure about the other warriors, but I briefly saw a pair of solid gold eyes flash through the storm clouds. To the surprise of everyone who was there, the masters had bowed their heads to the storm. They took the young dragon in. Although I am glad to see another dragon alive, I still do not know what those eyes were."
"I know who brought him here," Zuko told him.
"Who was it?"
"His king."
The chief's eyes went wide. "You mean…?" The question was left hanging, as he was too surprised to fully say it.
"Yes."
"But do you…?" Again, the question was left hanging.
"I met him myself." That simple statement made every single Sun Warrior bow their heads to him in respect.
"Um…am I missing something?" Aang whispered to Azula, completely confused. "Who are they talking about?"
"Even before dragons became rare to see, there was one dragon that almost never showed itself," she explained quietly. "This dragon was the first, said to be created by Agni himself. He wanders the world. Many have gone looking for him, most to challenge him, but they never found him. My father and grandfather were among these people. He only shows himself to those he finds worthy and even then, he has never truly revealed himself. He is the King of all Dragons, Bahamut." As she finished explaining, the Avatar looked at the exiled prince of the Fire Nation with awe in his eyes.
"So do you still want to fight?" Zuko asked the dragon. The dragon shook his head and, to the surprise of everyone there (save for the chief), he lowered his head. "What…what's he doing?" he asked, unsure of what just happened.
"When he first came here, the young dragon would have gladly fought you, had you come looking for him," the chief explained. "But the masters taught him, and he realized that by freeing him, you had saved his life. He owes his life to you and would gladly be in your service."
"You…want to serve me?" he asked the dragon, who nodded his head. "…No, I won't take you as a servant." His words surprised everyone there. But before they said anything, his next words calmed them down. "But I'll take you as a friend." He held his hand out. "What do you say?"
Everyone fell silent as they waited for the dragon to answer. He raised his head and roared, breathing fire into the air. It flew upwards and made the very air shimmer. Once he was done, he brought his head down and pressed his nose up against his hand. Every single person knew that the dragon had accepted his offer. "It's good to know you…Fǎn Yìng," he told the dragon, giving him a name.
"Fǎn Yìng," Azula repeated. "That's an appropriate name for him."
"I know."
(Location: Western Air Temple)
They had flown back to the temple (Aang and Azula on Appa, Zuko on Fǎn Yìng). When everyone saw the dragon, they were shocked, surprised, and intimidated all at the same time. But their attentions were diverted when Aang told them that they could Firebend again. "With this technique the dragons showed us," he explained as he, Zuko and Azula went through the movements and bending fire. "The three of us will be unstoppable." They finished the movements, earning applause from the others.
"Well, it's a great dance, I'll admit," Sokka said.
"It's not a dance, it's a Firebending form," Zuko told him.
"Sorry, for a minute, I thought we would be tap-dancing our way to victory over the Fire Lord," he sarcastically commented.
"It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old!" Azula stated, walking over to them.
"Oh yeah?" asked Katara, acting like a bit of snot. "What's your little form called?"
"…The Dancing Dragon," she answered, making the others laugh. "Oh sure, laugh it up because we're using a form with an odd name. How much do you want to bet there's an ancient Waterbending form called the Flopping Fish or an Earthbending form called the Blundering Badgermole?"
"That's sounds stupid," Toph declared.
"And yet, it's possible."
"Anyway," Zuko interrupted the conversation. "Sokka, do we have any meat to cook?"
"Yes, we do," he answered. "But why are we cooking meat?" They had already eaten.
"I'm feeding Fǎn Yìng." He pointed back at the dragon, who lay curled up around the fountain. "I figure if one of you doesn't want to become a snack for him on accident, we feed him." Everyone heartily agreed on that idea.
(Location: Fire Nation)
"Sir, you have a visitor," Ming said from the door.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me sir?" Naruto asked, facing the wall. His hands were chained to his back and his body still hurt from his last session with Yāo Jing "I'm a prisoner."
"That may be," a new voice said, surprising him. "But you're still my commanding officer."
He stood up and faced the visitor. "Bao-yu," he greeted the head of the Yuyan archers, who stood before the bars.
"My lord," he greeted back, saluting his leader.
He chuckled. "Normally, I'd chastise you for saying that. But you'll keep doing it even if I'm in here. So, what's up?"
The archer looked back at Ming, who nodded and closed the door. "My lord, I am here to inform you that soldiers who are loyal to you are currently planning to break you free," he told the blonde.
His face, which held a carefree look, hardened immediately. "What?"
"Yes sir. Both I and Ming are involved in this plan. We will free you the day they will move you to—"
"Lieutenant Bao-yu!" he roared unexpectedly, surprising Bao-yu. "If you were in this cell with me and if my hands were free, I would punch you for even thinking of doing something like that! Then I'd have you bring in Ming so I could hit her too!"
"But sir," the Yuyan archer protested. "We're trying to set you free. Once you're free, we'll be able to have you smuggled out of the Fire Nation."
"And if the prison break is foiled or they catch you before I'm out of the Fire Nation? You know as well as I do that every soldier who had a hand in this plan will be killed, if they're lucky. If they're not, Yāo Jing will get her hands on them." And there was no promise that they would live if that happened.
"Sir, we're doing this for you!"
"And I don't want you to!" he shouted at his subordinate. "No soldier is going to sacrifice his life just so I might escape! That's an order! You will tell every single member of this plan to cease and desist. No escape plans will be made, and they will most certainly not be carried out!"
"Sir, you'll never be able to escape once the Fire Lord has sent you to—"
"I know where I'm going, lieutenant," he cut him off. "I also know what I'm doing. Have I ever let you down before?"
"Do you really want me to answer that, sir?"
He laughed. "Okay, fair point. Let me rephrase it: Have I ever let you down when it counted?"
"…No, sir, you have not," the leader of the Yuyan archers admitted.
"I'll be fine, Bao-yu. Look at it this way, where I'm going, at least I'll be out of Yāo Jing's hands." If that happens, his body might get a bit of a break.
"I see the point, sir." He turned around and made his way back to the door. "It's been an honor serving with you, sir."
"You're making sound like I'm already dead. Don't worry. You know I always pull through. You and the others will know when I'm okay, I promise you that."
He stopped at the door. He turned back around and gave him a salute. "Yes sir." He turned around and walked through the door, leaving Naruto alone.
(Location: Western Air Temple)
Zuko looked around to see where he was. It looked like he was standing on a mountain ledge. If he looked above, all he saw were clouds. If he tried to look down, he couldn't see the bottom. There was enough room for him to walk around, but if he wasn't careful, he would fall off. "I see you've recovered your spark," a voice spoke.
"Who's there?" he asked, looking around. But he could see were the clouds off of the ledge.
"I'm right here, dum-dum," the voice said, coming from his right. He turned to see another human. He was dressed in a plain traveler's cloak, covering his entire body, except for his head. His skin had the paleness of people who hailed from the Fire Nation. But it was his eyes and hair that got your attention. His eyes were a bright blueand his hair was a fiery red.
"Who are you?"
The person groaned. "Are you kidding me? You still can't hear my name? It's…" At that point, a wind came through and muffled his voice.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."
"Of course, you didn't, dum-dum."
"Don't call me that!" It was bad enough his sister did it. He didn't need a stranger calling him the same.
"Why? You are one."
"What gives you the right to insult me?"
"What gives me the right?" he repeated. "I have more than the right to insult you, Zuko. I am still pissed off at you!"
"How do you know my name?"
"We've known each other for quite some time and you have the audacity to ask me that?" he growled, before turning his back. "Go away. Don't come back until you can hear me."
"Hold on!" He reached out to grab the person, only to wake up in his bed. He sat up. "What in the name of Agni was that all about?" he asked himself. "He made it sound like I did something to offend him." He shook his head. "It's been a rough couple of days; I just need to get some sleep." He put his head down and tried to fall asleep. When he did, he did not meet the blue-eyed, red-haired person again.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
Yes, the dragon from Ch.8 is back. What? Did you think I was just going to let him go? And for the record, Fǎn Yìng means "Mirror" or "Reflect".
You're probably betting that Naruto is going to have a similar dream soon, right? Wrong! He'll be going through something like this much later in the story.
He also has a point about the soldiers planning his escape. Would you allow people, who might die if they failed or worse, be given to a psychotic bitch, to try and rescue you? I know I wouldn't. If that kept them safe, I would gladly stay put. And don't tell me that there are always risks to this kind of thing. When it comes to be given to psychotic bitches, all bets are off.
And if you have to ask where Naruto is going, then you're an idiot. However, I will tell you how he got there. I just won't do it right now.
I'll see you all next chapter!