Morality Chain
Hey, I'm back!
Before I begin, I'd like to ask others if they haven't been receiving updates or alerts recently for reviews and stuff like that, because I haven't despite going back to check all my Alert settings. It's kinda odd.
That aside, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.
Disclaimer: Soon, I will own the world. (For a given value of 'soon'.)
"Father?"
"Yes, daughter?"
"I've been wondering – I mean, I have a question for you."
"Speak."
"I was practising some of the moves you taught me, but I didn't have a real target to practice on, so I asked one of the servants to stand still so I could practice my accuracy on her."
"And?"
"Well, mommy – I mean, mother saw me doing it, and then she… she yelled at me. She asked me how I could even think of doing such a thing, and then she… she slapped me!"
For the first time since the star of the conversation, her father put his brush down and turned to look at her. "Did she, now?"
"Yes."
"I will have to talk to her about that." He said, and there was an undercurrent in her voice even the young girl had learned to be well wary off. He glanced back at the letter he had apparently been writing on his desk, and then turned to face her again. "Azula, are you free now?"
"Well, Zuzu said he wanted to play hide-and-seek with-"
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. What I'm going to teach you is far more important than some frivolous game with your brother."
"O – okay…"
"Azula, as you grow older, you will meet many people who talk to you about the 'right' and 'wrong' thing to do. Your mother is one such person, and your uncle another. They'll hold you to some arbitrary standard of what a person should and should not do, and they call this 'morality'."
"Okay..." yes, she could certainly remember occasions where her mother had gone on long lectures about how this was 'wrong', while never bothering to actually explain why.
"That is a trap. They are weak and afraid, and so they try to drag others down to their level to ensure that they cannot be harmed. Whenever you try to get a leg up on them, whenever you try to exploit their weaknesses, they will cry foul and try to hide under the guise of morality," her father's face had twisted over the course of the conversation, and Azula could recognize it as anger. "Their so-called morality is a chain – a chain that binds the strong and makes them weak. Those who would be strong must break free of such shackles. Azula, do you understand?"
To be perfectly honest, she didn't, not really. Her uncle, for example. He was a general, wasn't he? And a master Firebender, to boot – certainly not weak. But father had lumped him in with mother, and it was true he had also lectured her before, and…
But she knew how to please her father and make him happy, and so she shoved those doubts to the side and gave him a bright, eager smile. "I understand, father."
"Good. Run along now, daughter. And if your mother ever tries to talk to you like that again, tell her to take up the issue with me first."
Well, this was a fair bonus indeed. Having apparently secured amnesty for any future actions that her mother might be unhappy with, Azula scampered out of the room, a grin on her face.. Maybe if she hurried, she'd still be able to join Zuko in time to play…
(X)
Azula hated the rain. She supposed that, being a Firebender, this was only natural, as was her uneasiness with anything that had to do with water. The oceans that the Fire nation had to traverse weren't quite so bad – at least, not with the metal ships they had designed that allowed them to traverse the world freely. With the power of technology, it was possible to mitigate most of the unpleasantness associated with the ocean.
But the rain. The damnable rain. Even if you took shelter under some convenient overhang or roof, the cold would permeate the very air until it seeped straight through your very bones, and the humid air afterwards always made her skin feel horribly clammy. And that wasn't even considering what happened after the rain stopped, where in contrast to the dictates of common sense, the sun could be shining high in the sky, and it would still be cold and damp and ugh.
As Azula sat at a bench of an outdoor eatery staring at the torrential downpour in front of her with her arms folded and released intermittent waves of heat to warm herself up, if only marginally, she reflected that this was the first time since she had set out on her journey that she was truly miserable. At her side, Zuko appeared less affected – perhaps his years on the ship and travelling to the poles had inured him somewhat. Gaoling was almost completely devoid of Fire Nation presence, so they had to keep themselves discreet – and in this regard Zuko's scar was a bit of a boon, since everyone who saw it immediately assumed he'd gotten it by fighting Firebenders.
Ty Lee loved the rain. In complete defiance of everything one would expect from Fire Nation nobility, the energetic girl was currently in the middle of the paved streets, doing cartwheels and handstands over the slippery ground, and giggling with delight. Idly, Azula recalled that this was one trait that she had apparently retained all the way from childhood (and this memory brought up a rather more embarrassing one where she had, as a child, accused Ty Lee of treason for not hating the rain like any proper Fire Nation citizen should. Mother had all but fallen over laughing at that outburst).
In a bid to ignore the steady drumming noise in the background, she turned over and stared down at the hastily scribbled notes on the table. "So," she began without preamble. "What do we know?" Ty Lee could be left alone for now – the girl knew little and cared less about the planning aspects of any operation.
Mai glanced up. "There've been recent shakeups in Gaoling recently, most of it centred around House Bei Fong, the most influential family in the city. We can't directly link it to the Avatar, though."
"Rumours of kidnapping are the most prominent," Zuko continued. "But that falls apart, because there's apparently no one missing in the first place. More to the point, the Avatar and his friends aren't really the type to kidnap people in the first place."
"Aren't they?" Azula shared a glance with Mai.
"I think Tom-Tom was the idea of one of the Earth Kingdom rebels. According to Ty Lee, they were perfectly willing to return him once she asked."
"All right, so this may be a dead end." Azula shook her head in frustration. "There was that news from that merchant about the Avatar making an appearance at Chin village, but that was a while ago, so it's probably not entirely relevant."
"Hey! You guys started the discussion without me?" Ty Lee leaned over Azula's shoulder to stare down at the paper. "What did you do that for? I got some important information too, you know!"
Azula went very, very still, and clenched her fists. "Ty. Lee." She said calmly.
"Yes?"
"You are dripping on me."
"Wha – Oh! OH! Sorry, 'Zula, I just – I didn't mean to –" Her friend jerked away in consternation, which unfortunately sent her long braid swinging around and slapping into Azula's face with a rather squishy sounding thwap!
Closing her eyes and counting very slowly to ten, Azula fought once more to keep her temper under control and to behave rationally. "Please. Sit." She managed to say in a somewhat strangled voice as she opened her eyes again.
Ty Lee quickly settled herself onto one of the stone benches, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, an effect that was somewhat ruined by the continuous dripping sound around her.
Taking a deep breath, Azula turned to look at her. "Now. What was it you found out?"
"Okay, well, when I went to check out the Earth Rumble ring, I heard that-"
"Earth Rumble?" Her brother said in a disbelieving tone. "You mean that stupid underground tournament thing? Why'd you go there?"
"Well, I thought there might be some strong Earthbenders there. Azula told us to keep an eye out for those, after all. Plus, I kindasortawantedtocatchoneofthematches, and also I know-"
"Wait, you wanted to watch one of those things?" Azula raised an eyebrow. She'd always known Ty Lee's interests were somewhat out there, but still… "I'd never have pegged you as the type to enjoy these kinds of violent sports."
"Are you kidding?" Ty Lee burst out, her natural exuberance coming to the fore again. "They're hilarious! I mean, most of them aren't really that good at fighting, but it's just as much about the performance itself. They have these guys that go 'You stand no chance against the might of my GRANITE GRENADE!' and then the other guy goes, 'You'll never have a chance to use it, because first I'm gonna bury you in a ROCK-ALANCHE!' and then…" she trailed off as she realized her three companions were staring at her in complete silence with looks of varying levels of disbelief on her face.
Azula shook her head and raised her hands to rub her temples. "Just tell us what you found out." She said wearily.
"Okay," settling herself down again, Ty Lee tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Okay, see, there's this girl, they call her the Blind Robber or something, and she's the champion of the last few Tournaments, and she's only twelve years old."
"And how is this even remotely relevant?"
"Because during the last tournament, she fought a match against a young kid. A kid that beat her without actually touching her once."
Azula's eyes widened. "You mean -?"
"Wait, wait, wait, there's more. Okay, so the girl stomps off, and later that night she gets captured and held ransom because they thought she was cheating or something, because you know, the other guy beat her without touching her. Her family – they're the Bei Fongs or something – they paid the ransom, but the other guy they refused to let go of, because they thought he was the Avatar, and that the Fire Nation would pay a lot for him."
Well, they're not wrong. Azula thought wryly. "And then what happened?" She questioned, a note of urgency in her voice. If the Avatar was already on his way to the Fire Nation…
"The girl beat the lot of them up and freed the Avatar." Ty Lee grinned. "Pretty tough, huh?"
"The Bei Fongs?" Mai finally cut in. "Why would they pay a ransom? From what I understand, they have no children or close relatives."
"They don't? Huh. Weird. I mean, from what I heard the patriarch was really worried about the girl. Anyway!" Ty Lee shook her head. "That's not the really important part."
Azula sat up straighter. "There's more?"
"Right. I went down to the ring, like I said. But there were no matches for the foreseeable future, because the announcer guy had left recently. I asked around a bit, and it turns out there's rumours he left to go chasing down the Avatar, because the Avatar took the girl with him and the Bei Fongs want her back."
Azula sat back, processing this information. This was… critical information, certainly. If that earthbending girl was as good as Ty Lee claimed, there was every reason to believe the Avatar had chosen her to be his earthbending teacher, and that they were now on their way off to… to…
"Do they know where the Avatar headed off to?"
Ty Lee's shoulders slumped. "Sorry, Azula," she confessed. "No. Apparently they left in the middle of the night."
"Don't worry about it. What you've already told us is invaluable." Azula stood. It looked like a visit to the Bei Fongs was in the cards. And maybe the Earth Rumble ring…
Of course, there was the rain to consider. With a glare of undisguised annoyance, Azula reached for the umbrella, opened it, and stepped out into the storm.
(X)
The visit to the Bei Fong manor had been singularly unproductive. The guard at the gate had unceremoniously turned them away, despite their attempts to pass themselves off as merchants of some import. Apparently the Bei Fongs hadn't been seeing anyone for the past few days, which lent credence to the idea that they had just lost someone dear to them, but did little to help Azula's own cause.
Now, as she stepped into the relative dryness of the Earth Rumble ring, she took an impatient glance around the place, being reminded once more of just why she had such a low opinion of the Earth Kingdom peasantry.
"All right," she said. "Let's just try to find someone who works here and might know a bit more about that earthbending girl and then we can-"
"HEY!" Ty Lee's delighted shout cut through her own. "I'd recognize that aura anywhere! Miki! You're Miki, aren't you?'
Azula turned to regard the figure that Ty Lee had called out to – and was confronted by an overly muscled man who was walking with a pronounced swagger up through the stands. As the man heard her, he looked up, and his eyes widened in surprise and recognition.
"Ty Lee! Never did The Boulder expect to find you in a place such as this! What are you doing here?"
"Huh? 'The Boulder'?" Ty Lee wrinkled her nose. 'What's with that funny title? Aren't you Miki?"
"C – cease referring to me with such an unflattering moniker! The Boulder will no longer acknowledge such a feminine name as his own!" The man blurted out hurriedly.
"Friend of yours?" Azula inquired in a bored tone. Dear Agni, she'd met the man for all of ten seconds and he was already giving her a headache.
"Uh-huh!" Her friend grinned. "I knew him from back in the circus – he was our strongman, you know."
"Isn't the circus from the Fire Nation?"
"Azula." Ty Lee drew herself to her full height, and a faintly lecturing tone entered her voice. "Talent is talent, regardless of what country one comes from."
'Whatever." The princess muttered in response. "Hurry up and say goodbye and we can move on."
"What? I haven't seen Miki in over a year! How can I just-"
"I am The Boulder! Not Miki!"
"Okay, okay… how about I call you Mik instead? Does that sound any better, Mik?"
"… I see that your mannerisms have not changed one iota, Ty Lee."
Behind Ty Lee's back, Azula traded a despairing glance with Zuko. Mai simply stared off into the corner of one of the chamber and sighed deeply.
(X)
"Oh yes! The Boulder engaged the Blind Bandit in an epic bout of earthbending prowess! It was a mighty clash that resounded all the way to Spirit World as stone and rock shattered under our colossal might!" The Boulder – Miki – paused, "And then The Boulder lost."
Ty Lee smiled sweetly. "I'm sure it was a close match, though."
"Indeed! Why, had The Boulder reacted but a split second faster, it would have been her that had been sent flying out of the ring! Come to think of it, The Boulder probably underestimated the Blind Bandit due to her diminutive stature. If ever we meet again on opposing sides, The Boulder will not be so lenient!"
Azula pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten again. She had been doing a lot of that every since she'd entered Gaoling, she realized.
She felt a tap on her sleeve and looked up to see Zuko's annoyed face. "Azula, we're wasting far too much time here." Here being the bar that they had been dragged off to so that Ty Lee and her buffoon of a friend could catch up. "We need to figure which way the Avatar is heading so we can continue chasing him."
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "You want to break them up? Go ahead. I'll wait."
Zuko glanced over at Ty Lee and back again before finally settling himself on the seat next to his sister. "This better not take too long." He muttered. "I mean, who knows where the Avatar and his friends could be by now."
(X)
"And I telling you, Sugar Queen, that I can take care of myself!" Toph snapped, glaring with sightless eyes. "So if you would kindly butt out, I would-"
"Butt out? Butt out? I cannot believe this!" The blind girl could sense Katara's agitation, and it was increasing by the second. "I come up here to you and I ask you nicely to help – because that's what we do, you know, we all help each other-"
"I don't. Need. Any. Help." Toph spoke slowly and deliberately, arms held in front of her for emphasis.
Something softer entered Katara's body language – Toph noted the subtle changes in her weight distribution and movement – and when she spoke again, it was in a voice that was softer and almost sad. "Toph, I'm just saying that all of us here pull our own weight."
Wordlessly, Toph stomped the ground once, feeling the earth rumble in response, and a moment later a tent formed of stone rose from the ground. "There," she said, a smile on my face. "I've pulled my weight, so none of you need to worry about me. Okay?" And before Katara could respond, Toph leaned back into the earth tent, letting it open enough to swallow her. It was pretty rare for her to sleep like this back in the manor, but it was usually a comforting experience, and this time was no different. "Night." She called out before rolling over and closing her eyes – not that it made much difference, of course.
For several long seconds, she could sense Katara standing outside her tent, not moving. Toph crinkled her brow in frustration. What did she want now? Just as she was about to raise her head and fire out a piece of snark – maybe place an order for some lettuce or something – she felt Katara spin on her heel and walk off, each footstep noticeably heavier than normal.
With a shrug, Toph settled herself down and went to sleep.
(X)
"Ah, the Avatar…" The Boulder furrowed his brow. "Yes, The Boulder remembers seeing the girl in the company of that individual."
"And?" Azula's eyes gleamed with anticipation. "Do you know where they went?"
"Well… no." He shrugged, and Azula had to resist the urge to set him on fire. "But The Boulder knows someone who might!"
"Oh?"
"Master Xin Fu, head announcer of the Earth Rumble tournament, has left the city in great haste, and The Boulder has reason to believe that it involves the pursuit of the Avatar."
Azula shared a glance with her brother. "If he's left the city, how does that help me?"
"Master Xin Fu is a meticulously organized individual. If you were to peruse his notes in his office, you might discover some piece of information to aid you in your search."
"Fair enough." Azula stood from her chair. "Looks like we'll have to visit the Ring once more, then."
"Ah, Azula!" Ty Lee looked up at her. "Are we leaving already?"
The princess hesitated and shook her head. "No, you stay here and catch up with your friend. Zuko and I can handle this ourselves."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks!" flashing them a cheery smile, she turned back to The Boulder and continued to prattle on, "You know, Mik, just before I left the circus, they'd just gotten a Boar-Q-Pine as part of the exotic animal collection. Isn't that neat? We-"
With a sigh, Azula stepped out into the rain once more, Zuko following close behind.
(X)
"What are we even supposed to be looking for?" Zuko questioned as he stared down the garishly decorated room. "A diary that goes 'I am going to hunt the Avatar in a north-eastern direction?" Breaking into the man's private office had been simplicity itself, but more problematic were the leads that had apparently failed to present themselves.
"And wouldn't that be convenient," his sister replied dryly as she flipped through a few pages of a book before returning it to its place on the shelf. "While I have my doubts about this Xin Fu being kind enough to leave a deliberate message on where to go, most people leave behind far more clues than they'd intend to."
Zuko looked over the room once more – nothing seemed particularly implicating to him, so he sighed in frustration. If he asked, he knew his sister was going to go into a long lecture that would make him feel like a complete idiot for not picking up all the hints, but… "Like what?" He questioned.
"First, for all of this talk of Master Xin Fu being a meticulous records keeper, he was obviously in a hurry when he left. Case in point," she lifted a scroll from the writing desk. "He didn't even bother to clean up after whatever research he was doing."
"A wanted poster for the Avatar." Zuko stated as he looked at it. "That's nice, Az, but we already know what he looks like."
She sighed. "I did say that this was the first step, didn't I? It confirms what that idiot of an earthbender was saying – he's after the Avatar, so now if we can figure out where this man is, we can go after him." Walking away from her desk, she scanned the rows of books, and her smirk grew. "My, how interesting."
He looked up. "What? None of the books or scrolls are missing."
"Perhaps not, but one has been misplaced." Reaching over, she plucked the offending tome from the shelf. "Hm. A study of the Si Wong desert."
"You don't know that he didn't just leave it in the wrong place by mistake."
"True. But it's a hypothesis to start with, especially this man is supposed to be so organized. Now we can start looking for evidence to confirm or disprove that hypothesis."
The two of them continued to search the shelves in silence for several minutes, until Zuko pulled a scroll out and unfurled it to reveal a map. He raised an eyebrow, and pulled out the next scroll in line to check as well.
Also a map. Of a different region. A thought flared through his mind, and quickly he continued to pull map after map out, checking the area they covered, hoping that he didn't find one particular area.
"Nothing." He said, unable to keep a note of triumph out of his voice.
"What's that?" Azula glanced up from the drawers she had been checking. "Found something important?"
"Yes. These," Zuko held up one of the map scrolls triumphantly. "Cover all the major regions of the Earth Kingdom. Except for the one detailing the Si Wong desert, which has apparently gone missing."
A predatory smile graced her sister's face. "Good enough for me. Good work, Zuko. Now, let's –"
"Hey!" A gruff voice sounded from around the corner. "Why's there light coming out of Xin Fu's study? Isn't he on some trip with that earthbending teacher?"
"Time to go." His sister was already heading for the doorway. With a brief nod of acknowledgement, he discarded the map and ducked out of the room, his sister following close behind.
(X)
"So."
Azula looked up at her brother, who was following close behind. Thankfully, in the period between the entering the room and coming out of it, the rain had apparently deigned to let up to a drizzle. "What is it, Zuko?"
"Where'd you learn to root around for clues like that?'
"That?" Azula snorted. "Leaving aside that in this particular case nothing was particular well-hidden, Father would put me through a dozen of those exercises back in the Capital."
"How's that?" Zuko raised an eyebrow – the one he still had, anyway.
Azula sighed. "He'd rearrange a room a little, then let me enter it and ask me to tell him what was wrong with it. Sometimes he wouldn't tell me at all, and simply leave it to me to spot the fact that something wasn't quite right. That happened about once a week, as I recall."
"What did he do that for?"
"Well obviously it helps with picking up clues, like you saw for yourself. But more importantly, Father wanted me to be wary of assassins and the traps they could use to waylay me."
Zuko fell silent with an astonishing speed, enough so that she paused in her step to look at him.
"Zuko?"
He shook his head once and looked away. "Father never gave any training of that sort," he said in a low voice, so low that Azula wondered if he'd actually intended for her to hear him.
She was about to formulate a response when she heard Ty Lee's cheery shout. "Hey! There you guys are! We were wondering what took you so long, so we came to look for you."
"She's complaining about holding us up?" Zuko muttered, and Azula simply shrugged in response. At her side stood The Boulder, and at several paces behind was Mai, arms tucked into her sleeves and giving Azula an 'I will make you pay for leaving me with those two' look.
"Anyway, like I was saying," apparently satisfied that Azula hadn't run off to abandon them or something, Ty Lee had turned back to her conversation with The Boulder. "Back in the Fire Nation Azula would always-"
"TY LEE!" Azula cried, horrified. "You told him that we're from the Fire Nation? And my name? How could you be so careless as to-"
"But… but he already knew!" The acrobat cringed away. "I mean, it's like you said, Azula – the circus was from the Fire Nation, and he was hired into it, so…"
The princess folded her arms and fumed. "Enough is enough, Ty Lee. We have what we need, and we're leaving now. Say your goodbyes," snd with that, she turned and stalked away."
(X)
Ty lee watched Azula go, feeling an uncomfortable tugging in her stomach. Azula was upset again, and it was all her fault. "I… I'm sorry, Mik. I guess I have to go now."
"No worries! The Boulder understands!"
"So where are you gonna go now? I mean, with the Earth Rumble ring closed and all…"
"Well, to be honest, The Boulder has always considered a career in the military. After all, it is the perfect place to demonstrate my immense earthbending prowess!"
"Oh… you mean the Earth Kingdom Army, don't you?"
"Indeed! And don't worry, Ty Lee! Should The Boulder ever meet you or your friends on the battlefield, I will be sure to give you a five-minute head start!"
Ty Lee thought back to a visibly enraged Azula and chuckled nervously. "Sure. Thanks. That's… uh… very generous of you, Mik."
"TY LEE!"
"Gotta go, bye!" She waved once and dashed off.
(X)
"Okay. Enough is enough!"
Toph halted in her walk away from Katara, grinding her teeth. Back when they'd first met in Gaoling she hadn't really gotten the chance to form a strong impression of the Waterbender girl. An oversight that had been quickly rectified, much to Toph's disappointment.
"Now. What." She countered testily as she turned around to face Katara. In the distance, she felt Aang and Sokka stand up, both showing signs of uncertainty in their movements. Toph supposed she couldn't blame them. Tensions between the two females of the team had been getting steadily worse over the past few days.
"Now what? Now what? Toph, from the very first day, you have not lifted a finger to help us with any of our work!"
"This again? Look, Sweetness, I told you, I take care of my own, you take care of yours, and that's all-"
"I'm not finished. Yes, you 'take care of your own', and it's bad enough that you do, but what you just did is…"
"What?" For the first time since the argument began, Toph felt some of her anger peel back, to be replaced by confusion. "What did I do?"
She heard Katara take in several deep breaths in an attempt to slow her heart rate down. "Toph, I know all of us like to practice our own bending skills. But sending a shower of dust into the clothes, after I have just finished washing them, is completely over the line!"
Oh. Had she done that? Toph blinked. Ergh. She was definitely going to have to get used to reining in her Earthbending now. Back when it had been just her and the badgermoles, she'd been free to try for as powerful and explosive attacks as she pleased. But now…
"Okay," she sighed. Man, what was the big deal anyway? Her clothes were caked with earth twenty-four seven, and she certainly never minded. "Fine. I'm sorry. There, happy? It's no big deal, but-"
"No big deal? Toph, you just wasted a good hour of work, and you don't even do anything to help! How can you be so completely obnoxious?!"
She could hear Aang and Sokka whispering in the background, wondering if it was time to step in. Toph's eyes narrowed with determination. No. She could handle her own battles, thank you very much.
"Well, maybe I'd be nicer and more understanding if you weren't acting like such a stuck up priss!" She fired off the next line – and immediately thought that Katara was about to suffer a stroke, so spectacular was her reaction.
"I'm acting like a-? Well, excuse me, princess! At least I don't act like a spoiled, pampered, noble brat!" The last few words were practically a screech.
"Okay! OKAY! Time-out!" Aang leapt into the middle of the two of them. "Okay, look, we're all a little on edge right now, but-"
"On edge? Me? Nuh-uh." Toph shook her head. "If anyone's about to blow her top it's Sugar Queen here," she drew in a deep breath. "Don't lump me in with someone who's got no way to let off steam other than being rude and condescending-"
"Toph, stop it." The blind girl pulled her face back into a snarl as a new voice entered the fray. Even Sokka was- "I'm not even sure who's in the wrong anymore, but-"
"But you're all ganging up on me anyway. Because I'm the new girl," she said, her voice hard.
'What? No! Don't be ridic-"
"Save it, Twinkletoes." She waved her hand in his general direction and turned around. "Catch ya guys later."
"Huh? but – wait, where are you going?"
She paused in her walk and rolled her eyes heavenward. "Don't worry, Snoozles. I'm not leaving, if that's what you're worried about. I've still got a job as Twinketoes' teacher, remember?" She shook and lowered her head. "I just… Just leave me alone for a while, okay? I'll catch up with you in the next town."
She stalked off into the tranquil woods, hearing the uncomfortable silence that had fallen on the trio behind get swiftly swallowed up by the sound of songbirds and the rustle of leaves in the wind.
(X)
"So we're heading in the general direction of the Si Wong desert?" Mai looked up.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Azula pursed her lips. "There's an oasis town at the entrance of the most commonly used routes. I think heading for that and sourcing for news would be our best option. Meanwhile, though…" She looked down at the map in her hands. "There are several towns on the way. We can try out those."
Ty Lee looked over. "Um… Azula. How old is this map?"
"Hm? It was made last year, I think." She glanced at Mai, who gave a slight nod of confirmation. "Why?"
"Because, well, I know that this town doesn't exist anymore." Ty Lee jabbed down at the map. "It… kinda got on the bad side of a Fire Nation guard detachment."
"Oh. Huh. Strike that one, then." Azula said. Pity – it would have been a rather good location to replenish their supplies. "I guess this town would be better for our needs then. It's close enough."
Glancing up, she saw Zuko re-emerging from the woods – for what reason he'd decided to go there, Azula decided not to ask. "Zuko, ready to head out? We've got a destination now."
"I've got a better one." At this curious statement, the princess realized that her brother had an expression on his face akin to eager triumph. With the air of a tournament champion displaying his trophy, he held up a handful of pale white fur.
There was silence for several seconds. "And that is?" Azula questioned mildly.
"Fur. From the Avatar's bison. He's shedding. We follow the trail-"
"And we'll find him in no time."
(X)
Toph wasn't sure exactly how long she had kept walking – always in the vague direction of the town, of course, but that was still a fair bit away. Still, judging by the heat on her head, it was near midday.
She shook her head, feeling another wave of irritation sweep over her. Why was Katara so stubborn? She always seemed to want to shove off work onto her, but as far as Toph could tell she'd been perfectly fine before, so why should it be any different now? After all, she'd made sure that her presence in camp hadn't led to any increase in workload for any of the others.
Well, except for her accidentally blowing dust over the washing like just now. Okay, her bad, but Katara didn't have to take it so personally. Toph huffed in frustration and crossed her arms.
It was then that she noticed the steady, thudding footfalls of someone riding an ostrich-horse. That in itself wasn't particularly unusual – more suspect was that Toph knew that she was about as far removed from the main roads as one got, and that drastically narrowed the reasons for riding an ostrich-horse around the place. Hunting was out – the rider was being far too noisy and obvious for that.
The rider was close now, close enough to be within earshot. Toph sighed and leaned against a tree. If the person turned out to be hostile, well, she'd be able to handle it no sweat. If the person simply passed by, then…
The ostrich-horse was pulled to a sudden stop, and the thud of footsteps told Toph that the person had dismounted.
Hm. Pretty old, kinda pudgy, body's still in good shape, though… The way he moved appeared gentle, but Toph could tell the man carried himself like a soldier – probably he'd been so drilled with it at an earlier age that he did it regardless now. The man drew in a breath, and her eyes widened. Wow. He's got pretty strong lungs. Almost as good as Twinkletoes', actually.
"And who might you be, miss?" The voice was gentle, almost… jolly. "Should you really be wandering around the woods by yourself?"
She sighed. Typical. Everyone met her and thought she was a helpless little girl. "I'm fine. I can take care of myself."
"Of course. And may I add that it is indeed rare to see such a talented Earthbender at such a young age." The tone of the voice was still warm and inviting, but Toph nearly tumbled over her own feet in shock. He knows? He can tell that… Wow. This guy was good. "But my question stands. If one is to enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of nature, I've found it is best to have companions to share the experience with. And some hot tea, of course. Would you like a cup?"
Toph paused. He's not lying… Aw, what the heck. She nodded and plopped herself onto the forest floor. "I'm in. What sort of tea do you got?"
"Well, I'm feeling like a nice brew of jasmine right now…"
(X)
The trail veered off some distance from a town, but Azula surmised that it was merely where the Avatar had decided to park his mount temporarily. After all, they were so near a town, it only made sense that they'd enter it.
"Ty Lee, Mai. You guys take the far end of the town. Zuko, we'll start together from this end. Don't draw any attention to yourselves until we've found them."
"Got it!" Ty Lee said enthusiastically before bounding off, while Mai followed at a more sedate pace. Placing one hand on her hip, Azula tapped her finger thoughtfully with her chin as she surveyed the area.
"This place is decent-sized." She murmured. "Let's start with the inn there. We'll ask around and…" she trailed off. "Zuko?" He was staring around, eyes glancing about furtively
"Fine. I'm fine." He brushed off her question. "I'm just… eager. I want to find the Avatar as quickly as possible."
"Well," she replied, an amused tone in her voice as she stepped towards the entrance of the inn. "You might want to rein in that eagerness just a little, because we're not going to just bump into them like- umph!" She stumbled back as someone who obviously hadn't been paying attention walked headfirst into her.
"Ow…" The dark-skinned girl rubbed her head and winced. "Oh, sorry about that. I wasn't looking–" Her eyes widened, revealing pupils the colour of shining ice.
"YOU!" Both girls shouted simultaneously.
Azula was already reaching forward, sending a bolt of fire at the girl, but her opponent's reflexes were good, and she ducked out of the way. A quick twist of the waterbender's hands, and a stream of water lashed out from under her arm, forcing Azula back.
With a short jump back to put some distance between herself and the waterbender, Azula took the opportunity to assess the situation. The waterbender was standing in the doorway, a globe of water floating over one hand. Her eyes were narrowed in determination. Behind him was the Water boy, eyes wide but still fumbling for his weapons.
There was no sign of the Avatar.
"Where's the Avatar?" Azula demanded harshly. The waterbender responded about how she'd expected her to, which was to say another gush of water at the Fire Nation princess.
She dodged to the side, and she saw Zuko retaliating with a burst of fire, forcing the waterbender to the side, and the warrior to duck hastily. It exploded in the interior of the inn, and screams of fear and pain soon began to fill the air.
Hm. Messy. Azula shook her head, noting the presence of several town guards responding hastily to the disturbance. Stepping forward, she loosed a whip of fire at the waterbender, forcing her back again. She reached her hand out, made a motion to attack – but then Zuko followed up with another strike and she was forced away again without a chance to retaliate. Azula smiled. If they could just keep this up, they might be able to–
Abruptly a third shot of flame soared through the air, and Azula had to take a rather inelegant dive to the side to avoid the fireball caused by that blast. As she pulled herself to her feet, she noted that the newest attack had been significantly rougher and less controlled. Who-?
"There he is! Get the exile!"
What? Azula whirled, catching sight of komodo-rhinos moving to intercept Zuko, who gazed at them with a bewildered air that quickly morphed into fierce determination.
"Princess Azula." The leader of the group gazed down at her from his mount.
"Colonel Mongke of the Rough Rhinos." She said angrily. "What are you doing here?"
"Apprehending your brother and returning him to the Fire Nation – as the Fire Lord has specifically requested."
She clenched her fists. "I do not have time for your games, Colonel." She snarled. "Order your men away at once, or I will–" A blast of water struck with incredible force from the back, and Azula was sent sprawling forward onto the dusty ground.
Coward! A sneak attack? Twisting as she fell, Azula absorbed the shock of the fall as best she could and sprang to her feet again. Apparently deciding to let the two Fire nation groups duke it out, the waterbender and her brother were rapidly moving into the centre of the town. "Oh, like I'm going to let you–" She began, and then a battle-cry from behind rooted her to the spot. The Colonel had turned away from her and rejoined the rest of his men in attacking Zuko.
For a moment, Azula hesitated, torn between pursuing the waterbender and going to aid her brother.
(X)
Zuko twisted to his side, narrowly avoiding a shot fired from the Yu Yan archer. The one with the halberd was rushing him now, his weapon sweeping down on Zuko. With a growl of irritation, Zuko brought his broadswords to bear, managing to parry the blow.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to be fighting Fire Nation soldiers. He was Fire Nation, like them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the leader preparing to Firebend and he leapt as high as he could, sailing pasting the one with chain. As he did so, he brought his swords up in several sweeping slices, sending waves of fire at the leader and forcing him back..
Another arrow – Zuko slashed it out of the air – where was the fifth one? Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Zuko brought his blade up, barely managing to stave off another sweeping attack from the halberd. Another flash of movement, another whirl to block – and a chain wrapped itself around his sword, yanking it away.
Damn. But he was still a Firebender. He was never without a weapon. Using his free hand to shoot a blast of fire at the chain-wielder – it scored a glancing blow – Zuko ducked away again, trying to catch what all the others were doing.
And then the world around him exploded, and Zuko was sent flying. Of course. The fifth one. The explosives expert… he thought dimly before he crashed to the ground with the wind knocked out of them.
This wasn't working. He knew he would be a match for any two of them, maybe any three. But five of them working in concert meant that there were simply too many people to keep track off, too many attacks to fend off. Slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position, feeling the coppery taste of blood in his mouth.
Abruptly, twin blasts of shining blue flame roared through the air, burning through the stunned rider's defences with pinpoint accuracy. The archer and the chain wielder were sent flying from their rhinos to crash into the ground – taken out of the fight in a single hit.
"Come on, Zuko, on your feet." Her sister never lifted her gaze from the glaring colonel. "Are you okay?"
"I'm…" He took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm fine. Where's the girl?"
"She ran off. Towards the plaza."
"What? Go. Find her!"
"What? But-"
"I can take care of the rest of them." With his single remaining sword, Zuko settled into the hybrid stance he'd practised over the years. "I promise."
His sister shot him the briefest of glances – and the briefest of encouraging smiles – before she turned and rushed for the centre of the town. And then Zuko let everything bleed out from his mind except for the three glowering foes in front of him.
One Firebender. One with a halberd. And one bomber.
Taking in a deep breath, Zuko lunged forward.
(X)
Aang had been settling himself on the rooftop of one of the houses, partly to mope, and partly to keep a lookout for Toph.
He'd been pretty depressed over her departure, considering that it hadn't been on particularly good terms. And he couldn't shake the feeling that as nominal team leader (as close to their group ever got to leadership anyway), he should have been able to stop them from arguing so much.
"Guess I screwed the pooch on that one, huh, Momo?"
Any response the lemur might have made was drowned out by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Whirling, Aang settled himself into a fighting stance, looking for the source of the disturbance,
The crowds were running around and fleeing, mostly away from the far end of the town, mostly from the inn the inn where we were going to spend the night that's where Katara and Sokka are! Adrenaline surged through his veins and he leapt into the air, already unfurling his glider-
Only to see something bound up at him from the nearby roof, moving even faster than he was, forcing him away why does everything always have to go wrong all at once and towards the ground.
Tucking his glider back into a staff, Aang landed on the ground. A part of him was grateful that this area was largely deserted, and that what few people that remained were quickly emptying out.
As the smoke cleared, two women approached him. One walked slowly and would have looked almost entirely regal if not for the knives glinting in her hands. The other was is that an actual skip in her step? practically bouncing as she walked, as if she couldn't wait for the action to begin.
Aang's eyes narrowed. "I know you." He said. "You were with that girl from Omashu." Sokka told me her name was Azula.
"Wow, you remembered!" The cheerful one said. "That's nice of you! I'm Ty Lee. What's your name, huh?"
"Ah – huh?" Aang blinked. "I'm… my name's Aang."
"Aang… that's a nice name!" She grinned and flashed him a quick thumbs up, which mainly served to confuse him even more. "She's Mai, but she doesn't like to talk too much."
"Ty Lee." Mai said, a warning tone in her voice.
"Okay, okay, fine. Sheesh. So, Aang, if you promise not to struggle too much, I promise this isn't going to hurt too much, okay?" And before Aang could react, she launched herself at him like a pellet from a blowdart.
(X)
"Mmm… ahh." Iroh smiled. "To truly appreciate tea, one must always inhale the fragrances first, do you not agree?" He smiled at the blind girl sitting several feet away from him.
"Yeah." She smiled back. "This is really good tea, gramps. Even better than anything from the brewers my parents hired." After taking a small sip, she leaned her head back, pouring the rest of the cup down her throat in one smooth motion.
"Hm. You enjoy taking your tea like that, then?"
"Hah!" She wiped her mouth and grinned at him. "If it's not steaming when you drink it, you're missing out on the best part."
"Ah, a girl after my own heart." He hummed with amusement and lifted the pot. "Seconds?"
"Don't mind if I do."
As they continued to drink their tea, Iroh could tell that the girl had something weighing heavy on her mind – he could tell from almost the moment he'd first met her. Still, he knew not to pry. Just as he was about to lift the pot for a refill for himself, she spoke up again.
"You know, everyone keeps assuming they have to do things for me, and that I can't take care of myself. Like just now – I always like my tea scalding, but my parents would always have someone blow on it first to cool it down to lukewarm levels." The girl sighed and leaned back again. "You're the first one who's been pretty cool about it, but even then," she glanced down at the cup in her hand. "You didn't have to pour the tea for me, you know. I've done it myself plenty of times."
"I poured the tea for you because I wanted to," he replied pleasantly. "And for no other reason."
The girl fell silent at that, and Iroh could tell she didn't entirely believe him. Another warm chuckle escaped him. "Ah, you remind me a bit of my nephew." He said. "He's a lot like you – proud and stubborn."
He saw her roll her blind eyes. "Thanks, gramps. I'm so touched." Her voice was thick with sarcasm.
"I didn't say those qualities were bad. He has a spark of blazing determination that allows him to fulfil almost any goal he devotes his mind to – and I can sense that same spark in you. After all, it's not just anyone who could have achieved such a high level of earthbending mastery at such a young age."
"Heh." She grinned. She obviously took great pride in her prodigious talent in earthbending. Just like… Iroh paused and shook his head.
"But both of you have trouble accepting help from others. It's a pity, really. There is no shame in accepting help freely offered, especially from friends. After all, in my experience true friends should want to help each other. It's one of the true delights of life."
The girl did not reply to this immediately. "So, where's your nephew?" She finally asked.
"Oh, I believe he should be near the local town right about now. He's travelling with someone he trusts very much, on an important quest." Iroh sighed. "He's been through a hard time in his life recently. I'm glad he has someone he feels that he can rely completely on." Even if I am worried about other influences my niece may have on him.
"If he's near the town, and you're here too…" an eyebrow was raised. "Are you following him?"
"You could say that. If it turns out that he needs me, I'll be there for him."
The girl sat silent for a few moments. "Well, I think your nephew is lucky to have someone like you for an uncle." She stood. "Thanks for the tea, and for the advice. But I should going back to my friends now."
He stood and bowed slightly as well. "The pleasure was all mine, my dear."
(X)
The crowd was thinning. While that was good in some ways, it was problematic in that it left Azula with every possibility that the girl would simply merge into the crowd and disappear with it. Maybe she could find the boy instead – if anything, he would certainly be easier to find and capture. Such thoughts were driven from her mind as she caught sight of a flash of blue cloth.
There! Focusing, Azula struck, sending a firebomb sailing for the girl – but she was good enough to sense it and to duck aside at the last moment. The firebomb sailed past her and exploded in a loud roar.
"MY CABBAGES!"
Ignoring the anguished cry, Azula spun, sending thin streamers of fire at the water peasant. Her blue eyes flashing dangerously, the waterbender retaliated in kind, thin mobile whips reaching out from her pack to intercept and knock aside the fire streams.
The two of them faced each other across the largely deserted town square. "I'm not going to tell you where Aang is," the water peasant said in a low, dangerous tone.
Azula chuckled. "Oh, really? Well, I'll find him myself, then. But first, I've a bone to pick with you."
The waterbender's eyes widened slightly in confusion.
"You see, the last time you met my brother, you beat him up rather badly." Azula let the silky undertones of menace slip into her words. "I don't like it when people do that." With an easy grace, she settled into a Firebending stance.
"Hah!" The waterbender snorted. "Now Zuko needs his little sister to come fight his battles for him? What a brave hero of the Fire Nation he must be."
Not wasting any more breath on words, Azula spun on one leg, sending a blast of flame with her other at the girl. The waterbender swerved and twisted, letting the water around her warp and fly at Azula. Even as it did, it quickly hardened into gleaming daggers of ice.
A quick wave of her hand sent out a fire sheet that knocked aside the ice daggers, melting them in the process, and then Azula retaliated with another series of jabs, shooting tiny darts of flame at the waterbender.
To her credit, the girl was able to avoid most of them – but not all, and Azula's smirk widened as she heard the hiss of pain – but that had given her the opening she needed. Twisting her arms, she quickly formed a whirling circle of fire and hurled it at the girl.
The waterbender quickly sidestepped the strike again and summoned yet more water from her pouch, sending them at Azula in slashing waves. Azula had heard tales of how powerful waterbenders could slice through even metal with ease, and she didn't particular feel like finding out if such tales had any truth in them – not firsthand, at any rate, and so she weaved her way through them, gathering more fire in her hands as she did so.
A quick burst of fire from the soles of her feet propelled her forward, and she swung her hand forward in a fire-enhanced punch. It was a rather inelegant attack, but sometimes that was what you needed – force at the right point at the right time. Instinctively the waterbender brought up her own water covered hand to catch the blow, but Azula had the advantage of momentum on her side, and so the waterbender was sent careening backwards, hitting the ground hard.
Landing in a crouch, Azula quickly straightened herself again as the waterbender pulled herself to her feet, coughing and hacking. As she succeeded in standing, the peasant shot Azula a murderous glare.
"Where's that arrogance from two minutes ago?" She questioned coyly. Her only response was a water whip that shot out at her so fast she barely dodged in time.
That was… a lot closer than I would have liked. Her smile vanished and Azula quickly began building up another firebomb to attack with.
(X)
Sudden strikes at precise points along his arm, and suddenly his staff was clattering away as his arm hung limply from his side. Aang's eyes widened in consternation. Katara had told him about this. Frantically, he used a boost of air to propel himself backwards to a safer location.
The whoosh of thrown projectiles alerted him to a new threat where is she hiding, I can't figure out where she's throwing the knives from, and bringing his arm up he created a sphere of air that caught the knives and tossed them aside harmlessly.
"Hey!" He called at the acrobatic girl bearing down on him again. "What did you do to my arm?"
"Huh? Oh, that." Ty Lee shrugged. "I blocked your chi flow." At his look, she frowned back. "Why are you so surprised? I mean, I already know where to hit anyway, but you guys had it tattooed over your bodies. Surely you knew what it meant?"
Aang grunted in response I knew it, she's easily distracted… not that I'm one to talk and using his functioning hand, he created a burst of concentrated wind that knocked the acrobat back into a pile of discarded crates.
"Hey! No fair attacking me when I was talking and caught off guard!" Aang barely paid any attention as she ran past her, slightly more focused on avoiding the seeming hail of sharp implements was that a fork? as they thudded into the walls and ground all around him. "Guess I couldn't expect any more from the bad guys."
Aang screeched to a halt, which turned out to be lucky as a knife hit where he would have been had he continued running. Quickly picking up his discarded staff which lay nearby, he turned to stare at Ty Lee. "Wait, 'bad guys'?"
"Uh huh." Ty Lee somersaulted out of the wreckage and entered a battle stance again. "The Fire Nation are the good guys, and the people fighting against the Fire Nation are the bad guys, and you're the Avatar and everyone says you'll fight us, so I guess that makes you a bad guy."
Aang swung, blowing away another three more knives how many of those things does she have?! as he turned to face Ty Lee again. "Um… have you ever considered that maybe the Fire Nation are the bad guys?"
Ty Lee paused her advance and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, see," she shook her head. "Now you're just being silly."
(X)
Azula slammed to the ground, feeling a streak of pain up her side where the water whip had scored a blow. Nevertheless, given that the waterbender was currently lying on the floor in an immobile heap, she supposed she could consider herself having gotten more out of their exchange. Wearily, she stood.
As she watched, the waterbender slowly began to move, fighting against her injuries as she tried to stand. Azula shook her head pityingly as she took a couple of steps forward. Unless I miss my guess, she takes great pride in her waterbending, so… "Don't feel too bad. You were never going to win. After all, I'm a Firebender and you're not."
That certainly got the girl's attention. "What?" She snapped menacingly, the effect somewhat ruined by how the girl's eyes were swimming in and out of focus. She probably hasn't recovered from that last blow to the head.
"Oh, don't take that the wrong way," Azula continued in a conversational tone. "You're really quite good for a waterbender. But, well…" she glanced up at the midday sun. "It's the middle of the day. We Firebenders are empowered by the sun, you know. Secondly, I can make as much fire as I please. You're rather limited in what you can use your water for – it's tragic, I know. Third," and her smile grew. 'You care about collateral damage." She waved her arms once, summoning a wall of flame easily twice the waterbender's height. "I don't." And with a single gesture, she sent the flame wall careening towards the waterbender.
Katara's eyes widened in shock. Oh no! Hurriedly, she summoned forth all the water she had in reserve, using it to create a shield directly in front of her as the wall of flame engulfed her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused all of her concentration on maintaining the water, trying to ensure it could hold out for the critical few seconds.
Finally, the wave passed, and she slumped in exhaustion. Behind her, the wave of flame continued, noisily eradicating a house behind her.
And then, before she could react, a boot slammed into her stomach, sending her flying backwards and slamming onto the newly created rubble. With a groan of pain, Katara crumpled to the ground, staring wearily up at the princess. "Which means," her tormentor continued pleasantly. "I'm free to make my attacks as destructive as I want."
Azula paused, gazing down on the defeated girl. If she was going to be honest with herself, the girl had actually offered a better fight than the Avatar. That was unusual enough-
She was distracted by a war cry from behind, and she turned in time to see a club swinging down at her. She ducked quickly to her left, wincing as pain flared in her abdomen again. That water whip had hit her harder than she'd thought. Driving the pain away, she glared up at her assailant – the Water Tribe boy. Of course.
"Sokka...?" She heard the waterbender gasp out. "What are you… told you to… help evacuate the town…"
"I am not going to abandon my sister!" He yelled in fury as he charged at Azula, swinging his weapon wildly again. In a smooth motion, Azula ducked under the attack and reached up to grasp his hand in her own, effectively immobilizing his arm.
"So you wish to protect your sibling." She said softly. "I can respect that devotion." And before the Water boy could react, she kneed him in the gut and then stepped back to watch him double over in pain. "But determination without ability to back it up is ultimately worthless. You'd do well to remember that."
Turning, she left the two defeated siblings where they lay – they could be dealt with later. She had to locate the Avat-
There was the sound of crumbling rock behind her. Slowing her steps, she turned around to see that both of the Water peasants were now on stone slabs that were being slid away from the town square. Where the waterbender had been lying was now standing a young girl dressed in the yellow and green of the Earth Kingdom.
"Looks like I got here just in time." Toph said softly to herself.
(X)
The lackeys had been defeated, Now only the Colonel remained. The two of them continued their tense standoff, circling each other around the narrow street
"You are good." Colonel Mongke acknowledged. "I would expect no less from the nephew of the Dragon of the West."
"You knew Uncle?" He said tightly.
"Indeed. Once, he was a legend who conquered vast swathes of land for the Fire Nation. Now he is nothing but a dreamer." He snorted.
Zuko clenched his fists. "Don't you dare talk about my Uncle like that!"
"I will say whatever I wish. Is he not a fugitive now, just like you?" Mongke retorted.
Pausing in his stride, Zuko drew his arm back and sucked in air. Everything he had was going to go into his next attack.
No one was going to insult his Uncle and get away with it.
(X)
Dodging, twisting and whirling, Aang was always able to stay just one step ahead of his attackers. However, going on the offensive was impossible, at least until his paralysed arm recovered. At least it didn't appear to be taking too long – he was certain he could feel a tingling in his arm that signified that sensation would be returning soon.
As he dashed past a row of houses, he finally caught sight of the Knife Girl Mai, Ty lee told me her name was Mai leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Every time she landed, she would sweep her arm out, and another flurry of knives would fly at him. Is she using some sort of infinite knife spirit charm… spell… thing?
Ty Lee was constantly harassing him, forcing him to halt, veer, dodge, duck, and weave to avoid her precise strikes. She leapt from place to place she's almost as agile as an Airbender bouncing off the walls to strike at him from every angle. Once or twice he was able to catch her in powerful air currents that sent her flying away, but she soon rejoined the battle-cum-chase with fervent enthusiasm.
All in all, not his best day. And that wasn't even counting the fact that if they were here, Creepy Girl – Azula – was probably here too. Along with Zuko. Aang shook his head. Why wouldn't they just leave him alone?
Suddenly, he was in the town square, by now long cleared of any noncombatants. He glanced around briefly, saw Ty Lee crouch down in preparation to lunge at him, saw Mai from the corner of his eye readying yet another set of knives, saw - Toph! It's Toph! And she's fighting Azula!
(X)
Azula knew she was in trouble.
The earthbender girl was good. She was using some sort of unorthodox style that Azula had never really seen before – she thought she recognized some brief strikes, but otherwise the patterns and flows were alien to her, forcing her to only be able to react to the attacks instead of anticipating them.
She had power – brief twists of her wrists and feet could send large columns of stone bursting from the ground. With each impact against the ground, clouds of dirt were thrown up, quickly obscuring Azula's vision; and for some Agni-forsaken reason, the earthbender didn't seem the least bit perturbed by all the dust.
She had control. More than once, she'd caught tiny lines snaking their way through the dirt, softening the soil and creating traps that would have snared Azula's foot had she stepped on them. So far she'd been able to keep one step ahead, but that led to the third problem.
She, like almost every other earthbender, had stamina. Buckets of it. Azula knew that in a fair match against two people of equal skill, the earthbender would always, always beat out the Firebender in stamina. If this kept up, Azula was going to collapse long before the earthbender did.
And the worst part was that despite all this, Azula was still one-hundred percent certain that she would have managed a comfortable victory had she not been drained by fighting the waterbender prior. As it was, she was already tired and hurt – not a good thing to be when facing a fresh, powerful bender.
Right. I'm going to have to end this quickly. Leaping onto one of the stone pillars, she saw the girl standing amidst the dust, arms still up in that strange battle pose – as soon as Azula landed, she saw the girl's head snap up to focus in her direction – and Azula noticed the milky film over her eyes.
The girl's blind? Pulling both arms back, she prepared herself for a quick, precise strike, and she could see the earthbender clench her fist, preparing to retaliate. Time seemed to slow down for a brief moment.
BOOM!
The wall of a nearby building exploded outward, and the bruised, battered, and rather charred form of Colonel Mongke was sent sailing through the hole to land in an ungainly heap at the far end of the town square. At the same time, Zuko leapt through the hole, both hands clenched and glowing slightly with more pent up energy.
"Wha-!" The earthbender girl's head whipped to the side to face in the general direction of the noise as she took a single step back. At the same time, Azula thrust her arms forward, sending twin streaks of blue fire forward. While they had been aimed at the earthbender's midsection, her step back now meant they hit the floor in front of her – and they spread quickly to catch her feet in the backwash.
Toph's eyes widened and she gave a cry of agony as she felt searing, blinding pain flare through her feet. In an instant, the world around her spasmed and then shattered.
"Dam – Damn it!" She cried, falling forward. As soon as her hands touched the earth again she could feel the reassuring images of her earthsense revert into place, but she was mainly distracted by the searing, mind-numbing pain that stormed through her soles. She'd always been extra careful not to let her feet get hurt or injured, because they were her only link to the world, and now they – A fresh wave of pain broke through again, and she fought against the urge to whimper.
Abruptly she was aware of light, delicate footfalls carrying themselves towards her. The Firebender girl. Panicked, she thrust her hand out, but not in anything remotely resembling a battle stance and unable to focus properly, she did little more than send out a clod of dirt to crumple against the Firebender's knee. She hadn't even bothered to dodge.
"Damn it…" she whispered again as she slumped. She had… she had failed. When her friends had been counting on her to save them… she had failed.
(X)
So her feet… her feet are her weakness. Azula stood wearily, drawing in deep gulps of air as she stared down at the earthbender girl. Then she shifted her gaze to Zuko and nodded in affirmation. I can only assume that's the last of the Avatar's companions. Now, where's the Avatar hims-
Her instincts screamed of danger and she weaved to the right, letting a water bullet splash against the wall. With a scowl, she whirled to confront the waterbender girl, back on her feet.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you." She said softly, in a voice filled with venom. "Just don't know when to crawl away like the filthy peasant you are." As she finished, she launched three brutal fireblasts in a row, putting most of her remaining strength into the blows.
The waterbender did her best to defend herself, and even managed to deflect the first blast without injury. But she was tired and wounded, and she just wasn't good enough and the second and third shots slammed into her, sending her sprawling to the ground where she lay, unconscious.
Azula stood over the fallen form. "You know," she began, although she knew full well that the waterbender could no longer hear her. "I was almost willing to let you live after roughing you up a bit, but now I-"
"KATARA!" The voice was raw, cracked with grief and rage, and as Azula looked up in shock she saw the Avatar at the far end of the town square, with Ty Lee and Mai trying to box him in. Even as she watched, his eyes and tattoos began to glow with an otherwordly radiance, and he began to float in the air. A howling wind whipped through the area, whirling the rubble through the air and sending them flying. A flick of his hands and Mai and Ty Lee were sent crashing away into buildings.
Azula fought to stand her ground, fought to keep her eyes open against the howling wind, fought to keep her gaze on the Avatar. What on – what on earth is this? This power… I've never even heard of anything like it… Suddenly her mind flashed back to days she had spent at her desk, sifting through reports of a living ocean that had single-handedly annihilated the Fire Navy, and Azula felt afraid.
Abruptly the howling winds died, although the Avatar remained suspended in the air, glowing eyes still staring straight at her. And then his arms were swinging in arcs, impossibly familiar arcs – It's lightning, he's generating lightning – except far faster than she could ever accomplish, far faster than she had ever seen her Father accomplish, and there was a blistering white streak of cold fire coming straight at her, far more powerful and more forked than she had seen before in her entire life, and –
"GET DOWN!" Suddenly her cheek was pressed against the hard dirt, and she looked up to see, of all people, her Uncle, one hand reaching out and impossibly catching the lightning, his body twisting in some manner that seeming vaguely familiar, and suddenly lightning was sprouting from his other hand, aimed at the far corner of the square where no one was, and he was somehow channelling the lightning away.
She watched as her Uncle's face screwed up in absolute concentration, eyes narrowed, teeth pulled back in a wordless snarl, and suddenly he didn't look like a fat, jovial, kooky Uncle that Azula could never understand, but the legendary General who had breached the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se. Tearing her gaze away from his face, Azula's eyes widened in alarm as she saw the hand he was using to catch the Avatar's lightning – it was raw and blistered, flesh already beginning to peel from the palm, and she realized that he was in utter agony.
"GRAMPS!" The cry came from the earthbending girl. "Twinkletoes! Aang! CUT IT OUT!"
The desperate cry seemed to rouse something from the Avatar – abruptly he jerked, the glow faded and the lightning died out, leaving Uncle to stagger back before finally falling to the ground. She was vaguely aware of Zuko letting out a cry of grief and hurrying to their Uncle's side, but she remained staring at the Avatar as suddenly a mournful bellow came from above as the Avatar's bison came swooping down. She stared, silent, as they quickly piled onto the bison – those that could walk carrying the ones that couldn't, the Avatar staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face as the bison flew off into the horizon. She remained there as Ty Lee and Mai eventually picked themselves from the rubble, slowly walking to join the others.
Finally she turned and stared dumbly at her Uncle. His eyes were closed, his breathing troubled. Staring at the massive burn wounds covering his hand, arm, and most of his torso, and something clicked in her mind that she should help, after all he had just saved her life, and she began to move numbly to get the medicinal kits.
(X)
"We got creamed." Toph's statement was blunt and to the point, much like nearly everything else she said. She was sitting near the edge of Appa's saddle, letting her legs rest on the bench as a tired Katara worked to heal her feet.
"I wouldn't put it quite like –" Sokka started, and was interrupted by a nut hitting his nose. "Ow."
"We. Got. Creamed." Toph repeated with added emphasis, "The Firebender girl-"
"Azula."
"She can called herself Agnila for all I care. The point is that she took on three of us in a row – although Snoozles barely counts –"
"Hey!"
"Three of us in a row, and she beat us. Okay, she had a bit of help, and I got distracted, but outside of a tournament, that's no excuse. If Twinkletoes hadn't done that… whatever it was, we-"
"It's called the Avatar State."
"Would you quit interrupting? If Aang hadn't saved our butts, we'd be dead or worse right now. And you can't do that whenever you want, right?"
"No. I have to be in serious danger or serious emotional pain."
"Right. And we're going to face that bunch again sooner or later?"
"…most probably. They're the Fire Nation, so they've got a bit of a thing about hunting me down."
"Right. Find a rock quarry."
"Huh?"
"Find a rock quarry," she said again, "You're going to need every advantage you can get, Twinkletoes. Earthbending training starts tomorrow."
Despite having just narrowly escaped with their lives (again), Aang felt a smile come onto his face.
Chapter End
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