"Lulu! Come look at the turtleducks they dance so beautifully." The childish voice of her older brother meets Azula's ears as she feels her brow twitch, looking up from her kata she flowers at her brother.
"What do you want, Zuzu?" She asks blandly, relaxing from her defense position letting her arms fall limply and her fire snuff out.
"I said come look-"
"I don't care," she growls, feeling vindictive pleasure, and a smidge of guilt when the light in his eyes dim.
"Besides, father expects me to be perfect."
'Something you don't have to worry about.' She thinks bitterly as she wills down the heartache from his forlorn expression and the rage at her envy for how free he can be. Zuko should be lucky he doesn't have Lord Father breathing down his neck, knowing if she ever disappoints, she could end up like Lee Ten. Azula hasn't said anything, but she overheard her father speaking to someone about asking if he had done his job only to receive news of her uncle's son's passing shortly after. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, especially with her family's genocidal history.
Still seeing the look on his dumb face makes her scowl, letting out an irritated sigh she shoves past him towards the pond, looking back at him with a 'are you stupid look'
"Well, you coming, Dweeb?" She asks not looking back as she hears the excited yell as Zuko grabs her hand and races towards the pond.
No, she definitely didn't curl her fingers around his.
Opening her eyes Azula surveys her room, if one could call it that.
The memory fading as she takes in the musky smell she knows is from the unwashed and filthy bed. She is ashamed to admit that after sleeping on the cold ground the shoddy stuffed bed was a blessing. Raising her arms over her head she stretches like a panther, her black main she calls hair in disarray as she just lays there and tries to figure out what her end game is.
Should she bother looking for a way home?
She doubts anyone cares that she is gone anyway.
Probably throwing a party at her supposed demise.
Shaking her head Azula dismisses the thoughts, she doesn't care what they would think anyway she has more dire things to worry about. Like how she can get a shower. Azula loathes to admit she wishes she could waterbender at this moment.
Why couldn't she have been the avatar?
Mentally groaning at the loss of such potential Azula sits up and faces reality by sneering down at the dust she can feel on her skin.
Letting a burst of flames travel across her body she feels relief as the particles disintegrate and makes her feel more comfortable.
First thing she needs to do is find some food, leaning down she picks up the little pouch full of coins she stole from the various bandits that fell on her path. Azula knows her uncle would admonish her for being so blatant in her behavior and actions while being in an unknown situation.
He would tell her, "you must keep a low profile for you never know how others would react to the unknown."
Or some rubbish of the like. As a direct descendant of Agne himself, Azula isn't one who will lower herself or hide who she is and how powerful she can be. She isn't named one of the best and most powerful fire benders in the fire nation for nothing.
Besides, when has she ever taken his advice?
'The traitor.' She sneers into her reflection as she ties her hair up with a ribbon.
'All of them.' She mentally snarls, the image of Ty Lee and Mai making their traitorous appearance in her mind.
—-
"No more, no more! please!" The pathetic man screamed as she pressed his head into the dirt.
"Quiet, you sniveling rat." She emphasizes her words by pressing his face harder into the dirt before letting up, enjoying the way he withers in pain. His victim clutching her torn dress while watching the amazing sight of the tiny girl degrading the man that tried to attack her. The lady had been fortunate that the foreigner was in earshot of her scream before her mouth was muffled.
"I despise your kind. You cowardly disgusting mongrel." Azula says making sure to kick the man in the crotch making him weeze and curl into himself.
The crowd hovering watching in morbid fascination is too curious to intervene, but one kind lady takes the abused woman and starts to console her while everyone else watches as the foreigner who has been saying in their little village for the last moon beats the shit out of the assaulter.
The people of this small village, specifically the woman and mothers have taken a liking to the abrasive lady.
Though It's not hard to grow fond of the young woman when she is one of the reasons their daughters don't have to fear walking down the street every second of their life.
"Who said you can get up!" The villagers wince as the lady brutally slams her foot into his bruised face.
"Kneel." The girl who only few know is named Azula says in a voice that is akin to a king. They watch as the bloodied man gets up to his knees as if she were a king.
"I said kneel!" Azula says lifting her foot and slamming it on the back of his head causing him to press his face into the ground. Despite fact that the man was trying to rape a woman they still wince at the rough treatment.
"This is how you appropriately greet your betters, though I suppose I can forgive you, since one can't expect a meer dog to understand decency." She says stepping back as he mumbles incoherently.
"Do you want to know what we do with defective dogs?" She asks him, not bothering to wait for an answer.
"Well how about I just show you." They all shiver as the surrounding area is filled with blue light and the agonizing electricity inducing scream.
—
The girl who was saved by the foreign girl shifts as she creeps closer to where the girl is doing strange moves similar to the boys with swords but at a level they could never achieve. The black hair of azula, she likes to be called. Most of the town addresses her as a lady out of self preservation, while others do it out of respect. The small girl a few years younger than her has men thrice her size cowering like it's child's play.
Misty, named after the foggy day on the boat to the north after her father got an offer to be a fisherman packing his pregnant wife and shipping off to the other side of the kingdom. She wishes she could have even a fraction of the power Alzula possessed.
"Either come out or get lost." The sharp tone makes her squeak from her hiding place as she stumbles out.
"Ah-sorry, milady." She mutters feeling sheepish and awed at being so close to her savior. She feels something like pride enter her being as the warrior woman seems to preen at the respect she gives her.
Alzula stares at her for a long while the silence makes her fidget then her golden gaze moves down to the basket in her hands, questions in her eyes, causing Misty to tighten her grip on the handle.
"I- just wanted to thank you for saving me. My mom is a baker next to the Inn you're staying in and I-" she stops rambling as Azula raises her hand walking towards her.
"What is it you want?" At the girl's confused stare Azula rolls her eyes.
"Why did you come here with bribery?" She reiterates as if speaking to a child. That makes Misty 'eep' before bowing and humbly asking if she would be willing to teach her how to be stronger.
Which leads her to her current position on the ground with an ache in her shoulder.
"Get up," the stern tone in Azula's voice makes her push off her throbbing bottom and shakily stand. She feels like prey as Azula glides around her like a tiger stalking its prey.
Azula's accented voice only made her instructions even more enthralling,"I want you to imagine that there are marks, or targets on these stops of your body," she flinched slightly as sharp fingers started poking certain parts of her body.
"This is what my homeland calls Chi blocking." Misty winces as one particular jab causes a numbing sensation to travel along her shoulder.
"This is a method that is extremely difficult to get right as you have to know the different points of contact, but once you become proficient at it, for instance dodge!!" Azula shouts, suddenly coming at her with a volley of quick jabs as she desperately tries to weave her body like Azula mentioned. It only takes a couple minutes before she crumbles with a thump, her muscles too numb to hold her up.
Misty looks up at the unaffected looking woman standing over her without a hair out of place feeling envious of how unrumpled she looks while she looks like she had a run in with a black bear.
'I want to be that good,' she thinks, feeling determination.
—--
Azula watches with a strange warm feeling as Misty helps instruct the newer members of their ragtag training session. The older girl has taken to Chi-blocking with a ferocity that reminds her of Ty-Lee, just without the bubbly personality. After a few weeks the woman had nervously asked if she could invite her friends who could benefit from the lessons as well.
The only reason Azula even bothers to do this is because she needs to have loyal minions. She encouraged Misty to see if any of the local whores would be interested in learning how to defend themselves should the need arise, knowing that they would feel indebted to her and then she'll have more access to information about things that go one in this town and with more information she can find her bearings in this backwater world.
"Milady," she looks over to Tily the youngest of them to try and learn her methods of fighting.
"What is it, little rat," she asks. The nickname is said more fondly than she may have intended, tilting her head down feeling vindicated at the fact that she isn't the shortest.
"There is someone at Duddy's pub that I think you would like to meet." Azula turns to said pub wondering who, so she asks.
"The man is of the night's watch milady, but he's not just any black, he's a stark." She whispers the last part as if it's a great secret.
"Stark?" She asks intrigued, knowing a little of the lore in this world courtesy of those who she trained teaching her the ways of this world in return for protection and self defense lessons.
The wolves of the north are said to be the most prestigious of the land, having held the north with an iron fist for over thousands of years. She doesn't much care for the current lord's rumored obsession with honor, as it reminds her too much of her foolish brother. Though she'll gladly use his and his family's honor to her advantage.
The little runt nods like an over eager pup,"Benjen Stark, the younger brother of lord Stark."
'Well it looks like I have a pack of wolves to tame.' She thinks with a wicked grin.
—————
"Here ya go," the sweet voice of the owner's daughter meets Benjens ear as he sips on his cup of ale. The steaming venison pie makes his mouth water and he can't help the grin that crosses his face as he digs in, mumbling a thanks as he does so.
He looks around as he eats his eyes flicking past his men who are being a little rowdy, but not enough to warrant a scene. His eyes caught the sight of a couple people walking around with a wince or seemingly holding a limp arm. They don't seem distressed if anything they seem proud. He can hear some words about someone being a hard ass.
He wonders what they are talking about.
"What brings you 'round here Stark?" The aged drawl makes him turn to the other end of his table as an old crook waddles into the vacant chair.
"You know, just doing my duty as a ranger, gotta' runner." He says with a helpless shrug, though inside he pities the young man.
"Ah, I see." The old woman croaks her wrinkled hand reaching towards an empty cup raising it with shaky hands to gain the maid's attention.
"What is with all of them?" He can't help but question his curiosity nodding towards the people who are giving each other massages as if they did a bunch of labor.
The croon laughs, sounding like the rattle of death as she does, "oh them? They have been taking lessons on self defense, a few moons ago this foreigner, a small thing, but very furiocious a spit fire if you will." Here she chuckles at her own joke, her eyes shining with some inside knowledge.
"I see." He repeats her own words feeling dubious, but before he can ask the entrance is swung open and two figures enter, one being a child and the other obviously being the foreigner the old woman was speaking about. He watches as she surveys the room like a lord surveying his subjects.
When she meets his gaze he is startled to find a bright golden gaze piercing his.
Bebjen feels some type of foreboding feeling sink in his stomach as the little thing starts making her way to him with a confident strut. As she stops before him he watches as her stern face turns into a salacious grin before she opens her mouth the words making his brow tick.
"When I heard that the Starks black sheep was in town I was curious to meet him, or would it be the black wolf?" She muses as she cocks her hip. Her cocky attitude reminded him of his late sister.
Letting out a laugh, he nods his head towards her, "it seems you have me at a disadvantage, just who might you be?"
She flicks her loose hair haughtily, her grin widening and her eyes blazing.
"The name Azula, daughter of Agni himself."she declares seemingly not caring that he doesn't even understand the significance.
"Remember that because soon everyone will be worshiping it."
A/n:
I hope I did Azula justice in her portrayal.
The only reason Benjen noticed the wincing and all that is because he is use to training newbies and I would think and experienced ranger wouldn't let little things slide.
Azula is most likely on her way to winterfell now that she has meet one of the actual members.
I was thinking of having those that were loyal to her follow as her personal 'household' while she isn't a Lady in the sense that she has noble blood in westeros
I think she would be powerful enough and mysterious enough that most would give her the respect out of caution. She isn't one to hide just how powerful she is and what she is capable of.
Anyways thoughts and constructive criticism is always appreciated. And suggestions are welcome if you consent to them being used.