Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters, and content therein related to them. Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon, and any mentioned creator's work belongs to them, and them alone.

Happy 2023 y'all.

Chapter 4 Bloody Money, Bloody Knuckles, and Bloody Moons.

At the end of the day after Connor's sale of arms to the Fire Nation, he returned to the palace with Azula and the rest of the royal procession. Traveling on the Komodo-Rhino left of Azula's servant-carried seat, Connor turned to look at her, then ahead to where her father sat on his own palanquin. He cleared his throat and Azula's eyes shifted to look at him.

"Yes, Connor?" Azula asked.

"What now?" Connor asked rather simply.

Azula looked ahead again. The Fire Lord had been impressed by his people's destructive weapons, and if Connor continued to provide his services there was no doubt in her mind that anything he could ask for at this point could be granted. Citizenship, a job in the War Ministry, (albeit at a management position to begin work on the Fire Nation's domestic production of muskets,) even status as nobility if his story of being such was seen as true in the eyes of the court. Naturally Azula doubted such a claim still and would continue to do so, thanks in part to Connor's own lack of etiquette and contradictory statements, but once more her lack of perspective on this other world's politics meant she had no idea if Conner was telling tall tales or being honest… Still.

Azula turned to speak to Connor, carefully not to shift her weight on the palanquin too much. "For now, we uphold our agreement. I grant you protections and privileges, and you remain my loyal servant. As such, you can expect to be lodged in the Palace grounds permanent servant quarters for the foreseeable future. Your wardrobe and dietary needs will be met and exceeded… You should feel honored. After your deal was secured I could have left you to fend for yourself."

Connor remained silent for a moment looking as if he was processing everything, before he nodded, then spoke. "Still want to learn, to read, to write. Get better speech."

Azula nearly chuckled. "That can be arranged."

From that day on, Conner had a room to call his own. His wardrobe expanded to about a week's worth of clothing, and he was free to eat from the palace kitchen with the other servants of the royal family. His average day was taken up by language lessons from a retired grade school teacher Azula had chartered to tutor him. A week of the dry and structured lessons gave Connor a better grasp on his grammar, but there was a small issue he had sat on long enough. He had seen no reward for his provision of knowledge and the forfeiture of everything on the ship, (well almost everything,) which he'd given to the War Council, nor had he seen heads or tails of a single coin for his employment as Azula's servant. (Meager as the pay was compared to the benefits.)

After his language lesson one day, Connor started a search for Azula, and after failing to get directions from two maids who walked away quickly in fear, and a caterer who gave the wrong route to Azula's room, Connor finally stumbled into the bath house, where he found Azula having what looked like a spa day. She was seated comfortably on a cushioned and reclined chair. She was covered in a silk robe, hair in a wash basin, with both hands and feet being scrubbed by the ladies attending to her.

Connor paused for a moment, going unnoticed by the room, and found himself surprised by how beautiful Azula looked without her makeup… The last time he'd seen her without it, he was well robbed of his senses thanks to the gut rot the sailors were drinking. Quickly he banished the thought.

Connor cleared his throat, and two of the five women in the room nearly jumped. Azula sighed, opening her eyes as she knew who it was. "What do you want, Connor? I am trying to relax today." Azula said, closing her eyes again as the manicurists resumed their work.

Connor took two more steps into the room. "It has been a week since I gave The Fire Nation my guns and I have not been rewarded in any way." He said.

"I see your language lessons are going very well." Azula commented. "Though you should be referring to me by my title as Princess by now." Azula peeked one eye open to look at Connor with a smirk.

Connor blinked twice then caved. "Princess… I have not been paid for my service."

"Oh calm down, it's only been a week. The treasury probably hasn't even counted all the coins you're due." Azula said, closing her eye once more. "In case you're wondering, the price my father offered you was more than fair."

"I know. Six ˈaʊnsɪz of gold is nearly one hundred twenty ˈdɒləz per gun. You think I would have agreed if I was not getting my money's worth?" Connor asked, folding his arms across his chest. "But I should be seeing some of that money show up… Same with servant pay…" Connor trailed off for a moment. "I do not have a bank here…"

Azula sighed as she opened her eyes. "Then go find a bank to send your money to… In fact." Azula got up from the spa chair abruptly, and walked over to her day clothes hanging off a peg on the wall. Keeping her robe tight to her body with one hand, she dug into her pocket, and retrieved two Ban. "Here. Go do whatever it is you need to do, and pay me back when the treasury starts giving you money." Azula said, handing the gold coins to Connor as she looked up at him.

Connor looked at the gold in his hand, then shook his head in exasperation. "greɪt, aɪm ɪn dɛt ɔːlˈrɛdi." He muttered. "Ok, I'll take the money… But I am getting paid when I come back in the afternoon."

"I'm sure the tellers stacking your coins will be done by then…" Azula said dismissively, as she sat back in the spa chair. "Oh, and I wouldn't splurge too much. I've requested a few masters to begin training you by tomorrow."

"Train in what, and for what?" Connor asked, pocketing his money.

"In what? Fire bending kata's obviously. Even if you're not a bender, the movements are all practical for fighting unarmed… As for what? I've got to find some use for you other than waiting for a good idea to pop into your head, otherwise you'll end up a leach to the throne… I don't need more servants doing menial biddings, and I go abroad often enough that I find myself in the company of lesser educated people who know of my status as Princes, but have not the knowledge to fear me for my bending prowess, and well, nothing says "bodyguard" quite like a muscled up freak of nature. You'll fit right in, given a month or so." Azula said, smiling lightly as she closed her eyes once more. "I don't actually need a bodyguard of course, but the less time I spend dealing with common rabble the better, and you seem to have no issue among them… Anyways, you may go now."

"kreɪzi bɪʧ." Connor muttered.

"I heard that." Azula said.

"Good, princess, now figure out what it means." Connor taunted, as he left the room.

Azula gently shook her head. "It's so hard to find good help these days."

The next morning, after finally being handed his first payment of gold, Connor began his training in the palace garden. He trained and trained and trained the katas of a fire bender with Azula's former bending and self defense teacher. For two whole weeks, between his language lessons, and having to answer questions asked of master blacksmiths who were working for the War Ministry to recreate the musket, Connor tried his damndest to learn how the people of the fire nation fought unarmed, and at every turn he seemed to fail.

Azula watched Connor's progress one day, from the shade of a tree within the garden. She couldn't help but chuckle when Connor in the middle of a sweeping kick, lost balance, and fell to a knee. "Enjoying the show, princess?" Connor asked, as he stood, and gave a short bow to his teacher, their lesson done for the day.

"You remind me of my brother… You're horrible with your forms." Azula said.

"Oh, you put on one hundred paʊndz and tell me how easy it is to spin around like that." Connor said, wiping his mouth.

"You'll learn, it may take you months to get any good, but you'll learn." Azula shrugged. "More importantly you have to."

"tɒs miː ɪn ə pɪt ænd siː huː lɜːnz wɒt, ˈkreɪzi bɪʧ." Connor said, in his language too fast for Azula to catch anything but what she'd come to understand was something of an endearing name he'd given hear or insult at the end. Either way she didn't like how Conner spoke.

"Careful with your tone. You are still my servant. If I'm going to keep you under my personal employ, you have to prove you can actually play the part of a guard. Imagine if all the benefits I'm providing you, simply vanished." Azula said, as she stood up. "No home, no citizenship, no favors from the court, all over a few katas."

"I did well in prison fights." Connor said. "Proof enough?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Then how is it that you struggle with the basics of kuoshu forms?"

Connor shrugged. "læk ɒv ə ʃɪt tuː gɪv?"

Azula sighed. "Exactly. You lack discipline. That's all the forms rely on."

"əʊ aɪ? Well maybe I could show you that I don't need all the fancy kick stuff to be a good body guard?" Connor suggested.

"Is that some sort of threat?" Azula asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, but find me an average man my size and put me in a fight with him. I bet you me next two gold Ban, I could beat him like a rented mjuːl." Connor said.

Azula grew a thin smirk, though didn't know what a "mule" was. "I think I know just the place where that can be arranged."

Late that night, under cover of darkness, Azula, draped in a cloak to conceal her identity, walked Connor to the capitol's industrial district. Azula stopped at an alley. She checked the street once more, before turning down the path, Connor close behind, his noticeable hair kept hidden by a cap. With what moonlight the two had, Azula was able to make out a thin man standing guard outside a door. "Sorry, private party you two." Azula simply held out a gold Ban, and the guard scoffed. "Rich kids." He said, before knocking on the door in code.

Azula and Connor walked past the guard inside, and down the lantern lit corridor into the basement of the sheet metal factory. "Is this a fight ring? For ˈbɒksɪŋ?" Connor asked as they began to make their way down a set of stairs, the sound of shouts coming from below them, as Connor took off his cap and stuffed the cloth garment in his tunic.

"You could say that." Azula said, smirking as they reached the basement propper. Connor was treated to a familiar sight. In an improvised boxing square made of rope and chains, two men were going through the usual motions of a fight. "It's one of the few fight houses the throne lets operate. The owner's father is in the Ministry of Logistics, and has significant pull with the court." She said, before sneaking off while Connor watched the fight from over the heads of the crowd, being roughly half a head taller than the rest of the room.

Azula found the betting table and sign up roster for combatants. "I have a fighter I'd like to sponsor."

The lady at the table looked up at the hooded girl before her, and sighed. "He got a name?" She asked. Azula took the brush from the table, and wrote down, "The Burning Man." The lady gave the name a chortle. "Real original. This "Burning Man" fighting tonight? We got a free slot open for the next match."

Azula smirked. "Oh believe me, his name is fitting. See the tall man near the stairs, with hair that looks like it's on fire, and skin white like ash?" Azula asked. The lady looked over Azula's shoulder and her eyes went wide. "That's him. And he bets 2 gold Ban, he can beat your best fighter." Azula said, putting two gold Ban on the table.

The lady smirked at the hooded girl in front of her. "Of course he can… I'll call Li Chong down."

Azula made her way back over to Connor, who seemed to be enjoying himself. "Where'd you go?" Connor asked.

"I went and got you signed up for the next fight. And your two gold Ban is on the line." Azula said, just before the current pair of fighters were finally halted after the twelfth round. The bigger of the two was declared the winner, and both combatants gave a bow to each other, before clearing the stage.

"What are the rules?" Connor asked.

"Rules?" Azula questioned. "Don't get knocked out." At this Conner smirked.

A balding man entered the ring, and began his announcements. "Our next fighters are, a house favorite, our undefeated champion, the young master Li Chong." The man said, as a man in his mid twenties stepped into the ring, easily a head taller than Connor, truly a giant by the Fire Nation's standards, and roughly the same build. "And our newest challenger, The Burning Man."

With Connor's que being given, he made his way to the ring, and ducked under the chains. The first thing he did was pull his shirt off, and toss it over the side for Azula to keep hold of for him. Connor looked Li Chong up and down, and let out a small laugh. Li Chong scowled, as he took up a wide stance Connor knew was part of a firebending form. "What's so funny?" Li Chong asked.

"I didn't know a woman could get so big." Connor said, putting his fists up as the announcer blew a whistle signaling the start of the match. Connor immediately ducked out of the way of a sweeping high kick that was sent in his head's direction. "Whew, bit drafty." Connor said, still taunting Li Chong, who went in for a very stiff straight left punch. One Connor batted away with the inside of his forearm, before sending his right fist flying into Li Chong's jaw. Backing up a step, Connor shook his hand. Li Chong had a stiff jaw. "gɒd, jʊər ə θɪk ˈhɛdɪd gɪt." Connor said, re-balling his fist as Li Chong swung with a wide left open palm strike, which Connor made good to at least block with his right forearm, before he felt a left kick sent into his gut. The kick was strong enough to send him into the ropes, and Connor felt a wave of nausea hit him, before Li Chong clocked him in the nose, and there was a sharp snap heard.

Connor held his hand to his face, and put one arm up to defend himself, before the announcer got between the two, as Connor began to drop to the floor a little. Connor looked to his left and saw Azula gazing at him through the crowd. Connor grew a grin. He snorted, then spat blood onto the wooden floor, and stood back up, facing Li Chong. With a snap, Connor reset his nose, and chuckled at Li Chong again, as his body started to flush a bright red, blood boiling for the fight. "You hit like a girl too." Connor taunted, arms going back up, as he and Li Chong reset in the center of the ring.

The announcer blew his whistle, and Li Chong went in with an aggressive flying knee. Connor managed to bat the strike down and away from his face, before clocking Li Chong with a back hand from the same arm, leading into a left jab once Li Chong had landed and the two were right on top of each other. Connor caught a left elbow to his jaw, and in the same motion, felt his leg get sweeped out from under him in the opposite direction of the elbow. Connor only prevented his fall by hooking his arm around Li Chonng's neck, and driving his left fist into the larger man's chest, which gave him enough time to push away and regain his footing.

Li Chong switched his footing back and forth twice, before going for a shin strike to Connor's thigh. Connor let the attack connect, and with his left arm, hugged Li Chong's leg to his side. "!gɒt jə bɪʧ" Connor shouted, as he hiked Li Chong's leg higher and stepped into the man's groin faster than he could hop away, slamming the man to the ground. Once on the floor, Connor used his left hand to grab a hold of Li Chong's shirt, wedging the man's still trapped leg between his left knee and armpit. Then Connor put his right knee on Li Chong's inner left thigh, and let his right fist earn it's keep. Connor drove home punch after punch after punch, before the announcer pulled him off Li Chong.

Li Chong got back up, and though shaky, spat off to the side, and took his stance again. Connor raised his fist's once more, body bright as a rose, before the whistle blew. Taking off in a dead sprint, Connor jumped up, wrapped his legs around Li Chong's waist, grabbed him by the shirt and threw his forehead flying into Li Chong's face, sending the both of them backwards to the floor. As Connor stood back up, Li Chong stayed down, knocked out cold, two front teeth missing, and nose cocked at an awkward angle. The announcer blew his whistle signaling the end of the fight, and Connor nodded his head, as the crowd gave a small round of cheers.

Connor stumbled out of the ring, and took his shirt back from Azula, flinging it over his shoulder. "Well… I did it." Connor said, before spitting blood onto the floor once more.

"Yes you certainly did." Azula paused for a moment. Though brutish, and lacking in finesse like an Earth Kingdom stone chucker Connor did in fact have the ability to fight quite well against someone with a significant size advantage. Though Azula wouldn't admit it outright, the aggression and commitment to violence was so "firebender" in it's own way. "You still need training though." Azula added. She looked down at Connor's hands, and saw that his knuckles were split open, and his entire right hand was an inflamed red, likely thanks to a finger he'd just fractured, though she couldn't really tell given his whole body was still a warm red. He probably had several other injuries aside from his broken nose, but nothing that seemed too substantial. "Alright, let's collect your prize money and get you cleaned up. It would be suspicious if we were to be caught returning to the palace too late past midnight."

"Why Azula, you assume people are not going to find it suspicious we're out late at night in the first place." Connor said with a sarcastic tone, as they walked over to the bidding table. Rubbing his head with a groan.

"If you are insinuating that people will think we're attempting to elope, they will be made swiftly aware of the punishment for spreading baseless rumors." Azula said, as she snatched the four gold Ban off the table as the lady there offered it to her.

"Eh, you are right… ɪtəd biː ˈiːzɪə fɔː miː tuː sniːk ˈɪntuː jɔː ruːm." Connor said. Azula understood some of what he said, though mostly she didn't like the grin he gave her, and decided Connor was probably being crass. She shot him a murderous glare to stamp out the behavior, and Connor rolled his eyes. "Kidding… ɡɒd, aɪv ɡɒt ə ˈhɛdeɪk naʊ."

In the passing months, as the year began anew, all manner of reports would flow into the palace, and Azula would always find out one way or another. Either by sitting in on war meetings, or overhearing private conversations held by the servants. The Fire Army unit testing the muskets Connor had sold reported a great success in an attack on Earth Kingdom forces, and both the Army and Navy were already acquiring cannons for the upcoming siege of Omashu and Admiral Zhao's siege of the Northern Water Tribe.

Then there was what was happenings of the Avatar. Thanks to Zhao's reports it was confirmed that the Avatar was in fact only a twelve year old boy in body, though an air bender, giving credence to the theory that he had fled into the spirit world over one hundred years ago. The Avatar was, as expected, a formidable force with an assortment of allies it seemed. He had a giant pet flying bison, which Azula assumed had died out when the Airbenders did, and his two consistently seen companions were southern peasants. A water bender of roughly his age in appearance, and some young warrior savage.

In the three short months the Avatar had spent in the physical world.

He'd free'd a prison labor force from an offshore shipyard rig in the southern Earth Kingdom, then killed the warden and a few of his men.

Managed to run the Fire Nation naval blockade and destroy Avatar Roku's temple during the winter solstice for whatever reason.

Escaped a fortress after his capture, with the aid of a bandit in the Earth Kingdom called "the blue spirit," who was likely a fire nation traitor, or colonial citizen who knew of the play the character was from.

Had started training in fire bending with the deserter General Jeong Jeong.

And worst yet, had a run in with War Minister Qin.

Though clearly laced with hyperbole and exaggeration, Minister Qin gave a retelling of the events that led to an abject failure. The Avatar had traveled to the Northern Air Temple and befriended the inventor that Qin was milking for all his brilliance. There was a disagreement, and Qin had the nearby army detachment receiving the inventor's weapons move in to capture the temple and a new weapon that was being worked on. Said weapon was a flying machine that the temple defenders used against Qin's forces, having blown some couple dozen men off the side of the mountain to their deaths with a bomb. If it wasn't for the land worm project, the few armored carriages coded "Water Tanks" that had survived the battle, and the fact that the flying machine had been recovered, Qin very well would have lost his position as War Minister, if not lost his head during the meeting.

Azula, feeling particularly smug, spoke after Qin finished his story. "Perhaps if you'd had a few muskets with you, the balloon and gliders would have been less of an issue." Azula said with a smirk.

War Minister Qin turned to her. "The battalion had little chance of taking the temple as it stood. Even without the defenders holding the advantage of surprise and the power of the air, the men had to ascend a mountain, and get into the defensively engineered temple before they could attempt to capture it. It would have been a hard fight even with the muskets." Qin said.

"Well then, at least your inventor delivered on his last creation before evading you." Azula taunted.

"Indeed." Qin said flatly.

"In other news. Admiral Zhao has reported his invasion force is setting sail for the Northern Water Tribe… This coordinates nicely with the siege of Omashu in two days." General Hun said.

"Yes… A decisive victory over both the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom." Lord Ozai said, before looking at Azula. "And in both battles we shall see if these iron cannons prove themselves useful."

"I'm confident they will perform as advertised, My lord." Azula said.

Zhao stood overlooking his fleet with pride. The first day of the Siege Of The North had come. The scouting ship that had been sent ahead of the rest of the fleet to probe the North's deficiencies was immobilized within minutes by a team of water benders pushing it from the sea with an iceberg they had created. Similarly the Avatar had shown his face, doing his part to take roughly a dozen ships out of commission with them. As the daylight began to wane, Zhao read the message that had been delivered to him only moments ago.

"It's almost sunset Admiral, as your advisor, I would recommend you cease your attack. The water benders will grow stronger with the moon, and tomorrow night it will be full." The re-commissioned General Iroh spoke to Zhao from over his shoulder.

"I'm well aware of the Moon problem, General. And I have a solution for that… But tonight, we'll be partaking in a test of stratagem and a demonstration of Fire Nation technological superiority." Admera Zhao said, as he walked around the watchtower deck observing the five rearmost cruisers from the fleet begin to break away westward, all having been modified to accommodate their new armament.

"I can not say I understand what you mean, Admiral." Iroh said.

Zhao smirked to himself, as the ships began to form a line, similar to a blockade, though halting, parked like an iron curtain between the rest of the fleet and the Water Tribe's wall. "Times are changing, General, and the Navy's done a great deal to begin modernization. The work of a single trebuchet can now be done with a package a tenth the size." Zhao said, as he observed the five aptly named "two hundred-gun boats" (though in actuality they carried two hundred fifty six) hurriedly preparing their weather deck, and two sub decks worth of port side cannons.

Zhao nearly scoffed at the notion of the trebuchet now. It had far exceed it's service life, made useful only through years of upgrades, and stretching the limitations of Fire Nation mechanical ingenuity. It seemed almost silly in retrospect, how much went into flinging burning lumps of coal a few Li. Mathematicians in the conning tower would use complicated mechanical optical rangefinders to aim for the trebuchets, the pressure tanks, filled with steam from the engine, and pulley cables running the length of the ship, (both owing to the standard cruiser's bloated size since Sozin's era) would provide the torque required to throw the arm and fire the coal ball.

But now? A cannon need only be pointed at it's target, both it's propellant and shot could be stored in half of the space that just the steam required, the weapon cost so little to make, being nothing more than a cast iron tube, that for every trebuchet the fire nation built, (not including the cost of the steam pulley system or man hours worked) ten cannons could be smelted. The crew required to operate a cannon was only a quarter the men needed for a trebuchet. The cannon exceeded the centuries old siege engine in nearly every way. The bombardment work of a fleet could now be done with a handful of ships, which had given Zhao a great many ideas and options when commissioning his invasion force.

"In short, General…" Zhao could see the flash from the volley of cannon fire, before the concussive "BOOM" reached him. "We'll hammer the North until dawn, and approach only once the cannon fire has softened them up."

True to his word, Zhao waited until the first wall of The Northern Tribe crumbled at daybreak, finally succumbing to nearly 19 hours of cannon fire, the 5 ships each having unloaded their 150 tons worth of cannonballs in timed increments to last throughout the night. It was then that Admiral Zhao's vision of "Ship diversification" showed it's worth.

Landing carrieres had made their way to shore. Ships specifically modified by gutting the interior of the standard cruiser and widening the bow crest ramp, containing nothing but space for soldiers, tanks, or komodo-rhinos, all housed in massive bays. As the ramps descended, hundreds of men flooded from each of them.

With the advance of the landing party, Fire Nation Army footmen formed their ranks with their spears. The Komodo-rhino cavalry took up the attack of the flanks once the first wall was broken, as the freshly fielded and improved "caterpillar" tracked tanks began to press the advance, towing artillery with them to destroy the secondary defenses of the city. The concept of arming a tank with a cannon was an obvious one, however creating a "gunned" tank was much harder as both weapons were so new, and so a stopgap method to put a cannon on a tank was cooked up by a few bored engineers participating in the invasion who didn't understand the concept of basic safety.

The tanks themselves had undergone a simplification process as part of mass production that removed the redundant gyroscopic center carriage system, as a future gun turret (having been part of the design since the discovery of the cannon,) would ultimately make them unable to recover from a roll over as it was. Additionally, as the tanks had treds there was no need for a front and a separate rear dual sprocket engine and transmission. The rear engine and transmission had been removed, along with the rear driver, though the frame and wheel base remained the same. This however created a large open space on the back of the tank between the rear wheels which the engineers stuck a cannon above, with a jerry rigged three strut pintle mount and a metal front armored plate, which allowed the soldier manning it to aim within a forty five degree cone.

Of course to load the cannon, the firebender inside of the tank that would usually be the vehicle's primary means of issuing out damage, (now relegated to closer ranged attacks,) would pull out a paper bag packed with powder and shot from the space that would have otherwise been occupied by the second driver, open the top hatch of the cabin, load the cannon's muzzle which would sit right behind the hatch at neutral, before he would then button up in the tank so that the gunner could fire. It was not a perfect system, but it worked well against the primitive enemy they faced.

Strange as they were, the gunned tanks were not the oddest of units fielded that day. Among the most peculiar of forces the Navy had deployed, was the expediently formed "Marine Battalion." Appearing no different than the standard army footmen in uniform, the Marines were former sailors and soldiers selected by their respective commanders for this battle for one reason and one reason alone, they were the most disciplined.

When no more walls were between the Fire Nation and the Northern defenders in the final stretch of open ground between the city and it's ramparts, the Marines stood in front of all other formations, spread the width of the ice field, with clear lines of sight between them and the enemy, unobstructed by cover, in three rows. As the water benders and non bending warriors stood their ground facing the new threat, they held fast, a sense of safety in the distance between them. The Fire Nation men held what looked like spears of an exceptionally poor quality and ill conceived manual of arms, as each of the men raised the weapons to their shoulders when ordered to "present." Though given what had been strapped to the ships and the tanks, it should have become apparent sooner that the fire casting devices could be made much smaller.

There were three loud claps of thunder, one after another, and many of the water tribesmen fell. The volleys easily broke the ranks, piercing their animal skin shields, and sending the now panic stricken warriors deeper into their city, as the battlefield became obscured by gunsmoke. As the Marines reloaded their mixture of predominantly French made "M1777" and home-grown "Type 99" muskets, the regular infantry and cavalry pressed further into the city, the job of the Marines now becoming that of holding the landing site they had secured.

As Admiral Zhao walked onto the battlefield, General Iroh by his side, he chuckled at the sight of the mighty Northern Tribe, successfully fending off one hundred years of attacks, with their great and noble warriors, crumbling now to a single siege. "A bunch of savages aren't they." Zhao commented.

"Be careful, Admiral. Underestimating an enemy has led to the defeat of many great military minds." Iroh said.

Zhao disregarded his advisor. "Yet holding the technological and logistic advantage has led to victory for even the most incompetent of leaders."

"Then that begs the question, Admiral, which will you be?" Iroh asked, only serving to irritate Zhao.

In the dead of night under the glow of a full moon, Connor found himself unable to sleep, walking the grounds of the palace, ending up in the gardens where he trained daily still. He'd fully healed from his fight in the factory basement, but was hung up on his own failings in the discipline of Kuoshu. Trying one of the more basic punches, Connor sighed. A large part of him held the childlike desire to shoot flames from his hands as he'd seen others do in the strange new world he'd found himself. Or perhaps he could perform the other magic arts Azula had told him of.

Crouching down, Connor picked up a small rock in the grass, and tried to skip it off the water of the turtle-duck (an adorable thing really) pond. The instant the stone hit the water, the sky above him began to darken, and turn a bloody hue. Looking up, Connor saw the moon seem to become awash with red. Dread coursed through Connor, panic clutching at his heart as it beat faster and faster. "God save us all." Connor muttered to himself in his native English, before he took off running towards Azula's room, calling her name as he came closer to her chambers. "Azula! Azula!" He shouted, beating on her door.

Azula sat up from sleep in a state of shock, hearing her name and the thumping on her door. She secured her night robe over her shoulders and tightly around her waist, as she quickly got out of bed, and opened the door, guided only by her own blue fire light. "What is it?!" She asked, as Connor stood before her in a panic, his ability to communicate degrading as he tried to speak to her.

"T-th-the Moon is red. Sky red!" He said, grabbing her by the arm, and dragging her with all his strength to the nearest portal by which the two could see the night sky, conveniently the balcony of her room.

"What are you talking about you oaf! Let go of me! The sky is…" Azula felt words fail her as Connor released her arm before he drew aside the curtains and opened the balcony door, allowing the cool night air into the dark room. The sky's hazy red light shining in. Azula stepped out onto the decking, and as she reached the railing there, saw the bloody moon looming over her, casting its full glow onto the rest of the land. Connor walked up beside her, and the two gazed up at the astrological impossibility before them.

"What's happening?" Connor asked, his voice still full of fear Azula had yet seen him display.

"I… I don't know." For some reason not knowing was all the more terrifying to Azula than any logical explanation could hope to be.

For another two minutes the sky remained red, before after only a brief second of the moon's glow returning, did it darken completely, and it seemed as if all the color and light was gone from the world, all color and light but that surrounding Azula's little blue hand held flame, it's glow encapsulating the two.

Connor's gaze into the now darkened night sky was broken, as he looked down at Azula. "Spirits… Angry?" He asked.

Azula's eyes lightly darted from star to star. Her own indifference to the happenings of the supernatural was being tested. "It's possible…"

"Scared…" Connor said, looking out to the sky again. "I'm scared… And I don't get scared by much…" Connor sat down on the deck, putting his back to the railing.

Azula looked down at him, before joining him on the floor. "It's natural… Fear of what lies beyond your control and understanding is…" Azula trailed off, allowing her flame to die out. "It's normal." She said, averting eye contact with Connor.

"What do we do now?" Connor asked, looking over at Azula.

"I…" She resisted saying that she did not know what to do. Even without an understanding of the situation Azula would appear weak if she could not remain collected in her thoughts. "Wait until daybreak, consult the sages. Pray Agni is merciful."

"Can't sleep." Connor said.

"I don't think I'll be going back to bed eather." Azula seconded.

The two sat on the deck in relative silence for another three minutes, before the vibrant white of the moon returned in full. Both stood, as Connor leaned on the rail, waiting for something else to happen. Another two minutes passed in silence before Connor sighed.

Azula closed her eyes for a minute. "Everything seems to have returned to normal, and it's late. Get some rest. You look like you've exhausted yourself. I'll find out what happened, and will let you know if it is of any concern to you." She said, as Connor backed away from the railing of the balcony.

"Aye…" Connor said, turning to leave. "Good… Have a good rest of the night, Azula."

AN: Holiday delayed this one obviously, but here it is, and I give you behind the scenes info as a late gift.

Little bit about this fic. Communication is a big part of it if that wasn't obvious, and creating the air of "language barriers" is hard.

Depicting common speech (mandarin, which I know a little about from high school) from Connor's point of view is done initially by having the first chapter have more of his point of view exclusively, where it sounds like harsh gibberish to him. When Azula is introduced I depict english in the same way from her point of view, at least until I started to keep the story contained to her side of things language wise. This is where the italicised weird characters start coming into play.

To depict Connor as the stranger here, rather than have him be a self insert for the reader, any time that Conner is not speaking his rapidly adopted language, (barring a few relevant utterances that are better for us to read in english, which I note when he uses it,) I write his words in their phonetic spelling. (Granted I am using a translator for this but still.) This can be read if you slow down and try sounding out the words, and it becomes easy to understand with context, but when glanced at like a normal sentence it appears like a foreign language.

Azula understands Conner's english here and there through exposure and context, which is implied and explicit, but she isn't actively learning it like Connor is learning common speak, so when she, on the few occasions, uses it, it's equally as broken and primitive as his initial common speech, and also written in phonetic to appear foreign still. On top of that, a lot of meaning is lost in translation.