Morality Chain
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"We shouldn't be here," Zuko's voice was hesitant.
"Hm? Why?" Preoccupied as she was with studying the map she'd made of the hidden passages of the palace, Azula didn't pay much attention to whatever it was her brother was saying. "Our classes have finished for the day, or at least mine have."
"I mean that we're not allowed to be here," Zuko said irritably.
"Not allowed?" Azula scoffed. "We're prince and princess of the Fire Nation, Zuko. These passages were built for us to use in the first place!"
"When we're grown up, maybe. But I don't think mother would like us sneaking around like this."
"Mother never likes anything I do anyway," Azula muttered. "And I'm sure father would approve of us learning more about the palace. Don't you think so?"
Silence was her only answer. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Zuko simply looking at the ground.
"Come on, Zuzu!" she snapped, annoyed. "If you keep worrying about getting permission to do anything you'll always end up missing out on all the fun things in life."
"This is one of the fun things?" Zuko questioned with more than a hint of scepticism.
"You don't like it? Exploring and finding out more isn't exciting to you? Like that hidden room we discovered with all the scrolls and treasures-"
"And you went around poking all of them!"
"What did it matter?" tugging at one of her bangs, Azula shrugged. "All the dust in the room meant that no one's been in there for ages. We won't get in trouble, if that's what you're worried about." Silently, she replayed the mental image of her brother sneezing violently as they'd entered the room and stifled a chuckle.
After another moment of silence, Azula paused at the entrance to another of the room and glanced back at her brother. "Look, if you're really worried about mother scolding us for this later, don't worry. I'll just tell her it was my idea and that I dragged you along, okay?"
Zuko's expression brightened. "Really? You promise?"
"I'll promise if you promise to stop being such a wet blanket," was her reply. "Come on, hurry up, I want to see what's on the side of this door."
(X)
"C'mon, hurry up," Sokka said to Toph. "I want to see what they've got under the lake."
"Yeah, yeah, hold on a sec," the Earthbender grumbled as she tapped her foot on the ground, making sure that the passage was where she'd first sensed it to be. "And… there we go!"
The was the soft rumble of shifting earth, and a path slowly rose up from the lakebed, ending in a tiny stairway that led further down.
"Good work, Toph!" Aang nodded. "All right, guys, let's go free Appa."
"Be careful," Katara spoke up as they moved forward. "This is the Dai Li's base. We don't know what will be waiting for us there."
As they entered the cavern, Toph turned around, preparing to sink the pathway behind her.
"No, leave it," Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Huh?"
"If we need to make a quick getaway, it's better to still have that path open for us, isn't it?"
"And that's worth leaving evidence that we're sneaking around here to you?" the Earthbender raised an eyebrow in a display of scepticism.
"If we find Appa here there's going to be a lot of evidence of us sneaking around anyway," Sokka took a slow glance down the dimly lit hallways. "And have our attempts at stealth ever worked out? We always get discovered or tracked and then everything goes to pieces."
"Maybe the Dai Li aren't as tenacious as the Fire Nation," Katara pointed out, but nonetheless she nodded. "We might need a quick escape route, though, so I'm with Sokka on this one."
"I'm not going to escape," Aang's eyes were set as he stared down the corridor. "I'm finding Appa and breaking him out of here, and I'm not going to leave until that happens."
"Right, right," Toph nodded. "And once we've found Appa, we can leave this city and never come back again. I can hardly wait!"
A quick look was shared amongst the group (except for Toph, for obvious reasons), and then the four of them headed deeper into the depths of the Dai Li's base.
(X)
"They even left the path open for us. How thoughtful of them," Azula said as she stared down at the shore of the lake from her vantage point. After a moment, she turned to look over her shoulder. "Mai, Ty Lee. Are you ready?"
Mai's only reply was a wordless nod.
"Boy this mask is uncomfortable," was Ty Lee's muffled response.
"I'll take that as a yes," Azula muttered as she paused to take a closer look at her friends.
They were all dressed entirely in dark blues, to help them blend further into the night. To be frank, she didn't expect this to be as useful once they'd actually entered the underground base, seeing as how there would probably be actual lighting down there, but every little bit helped.
More striking were the masks she'd appropriated for them. Each coloured a rich maroon, they were carved to represent what were supposedly famous spirits of the Earth Kingdom's mythology, although none of the specific names came to Azula's mind just now. Not that it was particular important either, she supposed.
"Well then, let's-"
"Wait," Mai's warning stopped her at the last second, and Azula crouched low again, eyes peering through the holes in her mask in her attempt to catch sight of what it was that had made Mai sound the alarm.
Illuminated by the moonlight, Long Feng and a small entourage of Dai Li agents were walking purposefully towards the Lake, only stopping in surprise when they came close enough to realize that someone had left the path open.
"Well, well," Azula murmured under her breath. "Things have just gotten more interesting." Or dangerous. I don't know if Long Feng being here is usual or if something big is going on tonight, but either way we'll need to finish this quickly.
"If they sink the bridge, won't we end up stranded out here?" Ty Lee asked as she slowly crept up beside Azula.
"I don't think so," Azula shifted her head slightly to indicate the group before them. "He's leaving a guard," a smile behind the carved wood of her mask. "Mai, Ty Lee, you know what to do."
The soft rustle of cloth next to her, and the presences at her side vanished. Azula kept low, watching as Long Feng's group vanished into the base as well, with the path sinking back under the waves. The lone guard stood on the shore of lake, keeping a bored vigil – up until a sudden jab at his knees caused him to tumble to the ground.
Smiling, Azula stood, and after another quick check to ensure that there was indeed no one else in the vicinity, made her way to the fallen guard, who now had a knife pressed close to his neck courtesy of Mai.
"Can you raise the bridge without letting the people inside notice?"
A hasty nod.
"Good. You've just saved your own life."
(X)
"I still say splitting up was a bad idea," Toph grumbled as they plodded through the silent hallways.
"It can't be helped, can it?" at her side, Katara's eyes narrowed as she peered through the gloom, trying to see if there was anything she'd missed. "The place is a whole lot bigger than what we'd imagined from the outside. Splitting up is the only way to cover everything in a reasonable timeframe," a pause, and then a smile quirked Katara's lips. "Or don't tell me you don't think you can take any Dai Li we meet in a straight fight without Aang backing us up?"
"As if," the Earthbender folded her arms as she continued walking, letting her earthsense spread out to warn her of any approaching threats. "If you want to be worried about someone, worry about Snoozles. He's not on the level for taking on Earthbenders all by himself."
"He's got Aang with him," Katara said, trying to reassure both Toph and herself. "He'll be f-"
"Sh!" Toph slashed her hand down in a silencing motion as her body tensed. Instinctively, Katara got herself into a battle ready pose as well.
A tense moment passed. Then two.
Then…
"We've been discovered," Toph said softly.
So quickly? Katara barely had time to react to Toph's words before the Earthbender began her attack, swinging both arms forward to tear down the wall the Dai Li had been hiding behind in their attempt to ambush them. Taken by surprise, the first of the Dai Li went down quickly to a water whip that Katara lashed out with.
Surrounded as she was by the earth, Toph was in her natural element, and shifting her stance, she stomped the ground once, sending a rippling wave through the ground that knocked two of the remaining three agents off balance. As if to take advantage of the distraction, a follow-up boulder smashed into one of the disoriented agents, taking him down for the count.
Two down within five seconds. Good. Katara prepared to lash out with her next attack when a premonition warned her of danger, and she whirled in time to see a hole in the ceiling open up, and three more Dai Li dropping down smoothly.
"To-!" her word of warning was drowned out in a rumbling noise as the three newcomers raised their hands, attacking as one with a huge pillar of stone that lashed out towards the diminutive Earthbender. The sudden intrusion had not gone unnoticed, however, as Toph whirled, bringing up her own earthern wall with which to counter their attack.
As the two attacks crashed into each other, Katara took a step back, wincing from the force of the impact – and then her eyes widened as she caught sight of cracks, spreading across the walls.
Frantically she brought a water whip out, trying to restrain one of the Dai Li and to maybe slow the damage down – but it was already too late. With a rumbling crash, the walls and ceiling of the cavern gave way and Katara's vision was lost in the dust and rubble.
(X)
"Now, if I were a repressive agent of the government, where would I hide an Air Bison in my elaborate underground base?" Sokka mused from behind Aang as they rounded a corner.
"I don't know," Aang admitted as he peered down a hallway filled with identical, unlabelled doors. "But I get the feeling Appa isn't in any one of these rooms. It'd be a bit small for him."
"Aang, I don't think the Dai Li had Appa's comfort in mind when trying to figure out where to shove him and keep him under lock and key."
A pause. Then, "you're right, Sokka." Aang conceded and snuck close to one of the doors that was slightly ajar. Deftly twitching his fingers slightly, Aang caused a tiny knot of earth to jut out and slowly ease the door slightly wider open. Leaning over, he peered into the doorway, and his eyes widened in horror.
What – what is this?
"We are so lucky to have our walls to create order." The Dai Li agent who had said that stood near the doorway of the room, lit by a series of lamps that gave of an eerie green glow. And…
"We are so lucky to have our walls to create order," repeated a room full of glassy-eyed women in perfect monotone.
"There is no war in Ba Sing Se."
"There is no war in Ba Sing Se."
Aang reeled back from the doorway bad, this is bad. Very very bad his thoughts in disarray. So this is what they've done to Joo Dee… both of them shaking his head how could they he signalled for Sokka to follow him further down the corridor, away from the eerie room.
"Come on. Before we get noticed by anyone," he said in a shouting whisper to Sokka who nodded, his usual snark having been effectively dried up by the scene before him. Quickly, the two of them crept further into the darkness of the cavern.
And then, something shifted in one of many shadowed alcoves behind them, and a figure in black slipped into view.
"Too late for that, Avatar," Azula muttered to herself as she began to silently follow behind the pair.
(X)
"I still say splitting up was a bad idea," Mai mumbled to herself as she peered into a room containing what appeared to be row upon row of identical green clothing. It wasn't the Dai Li uniform, but something about it seemed vaguely familiar anyway. With a shrug, she dismissed that wisp of thought and turned back to Ty Lee.
"Yeah, but this place is a lot bigger than we thought it would be," Ty Lee, sharp of hearing as always, had overheard her. "If we want to track down Zuko in any reasonable timeframe, we'd be better off dividing our search, wouldn't we?"
"Maybe," a paused, and then both of them flattened themselves into one of the dimly lit rooms, as a bored Dai Li patrol that was obviously paying absolutely no attention whatsoever walked past them. After a moment's hesitation, the two of them crept out again. "But do you think Azula will be all right on her own?"
"Come on, Mai!" Ty Lee chuckled as she randomly flipped into a handstand halfway through their walk. "This is Azula we're talking about! She can do all this sort of thing on her own."
"I wonder…" was Mai's only response as they entered yet another series of doors. Her face twitched in annoyance. "How big is this facility, anyway?"
"Well, this is the Dai Li's base, after all. It's only natural that they'd have a lot of stuff in here. Besides, so many rooms means that it was easy to stuff the guys who attacked us just now into a random place that people wouldn't notice."
"True," Mai cupped her chin and glanced down another fork in the road. "Now, which way seems like it would hold the prison facilities?"
Ty Lee glanced down the right, and then the left. "This way?"
"As good as any," Mai acknowledged with a sigh.
They travelled in silence for a few more seconds, Mai keeping a tight grip on a knife just in case she ran into any unexpected trouble. Then she halted.
"There's a chamber at the end of the hall," she said softly. "A big one."
Ty Lee nodded. "Well, let's go see what it is!"
"It probably won't hold Zuko," Mai said dismissively. "It's not built like a prison. At least, not for humans."
"We should at least check it out!" Ty Lee's voice was petulant. Mai sighed and resisted the urge to rub her forehead.
"It'll be a waste of time," she said, but nevertheless she headed forward, knives held at the ready.
Slowly, she pushed the door open, hesitating to see if there were any calls of alarm or surprise.
There were none of that. What she heard instead was –
A low, rumbling growl. Almost like some huge beast-
"You have got to be kidding," she said to no one in particular as she stepped into the chamber room.
Chained to the far end of the wall, the Avatar's bison growled in apprehension and shifted farther away from the two of them.
(X)
Katara shook her head, staring at the pile of rubble that had once been the passage way leading back out of the base. After a quick moment of hesitation, she spun, looking for her assailants and Toph.
There was no one else with her.
Gritting her teeth, Katara hesitated for a long moment before deciding to risk alerting other enemies of her position. "Toph!" she called into the gloom, as loud as she dared.
Nothing.
Maybe she had decided to chase the Dai Li further down. Maybe a stray rock had hit her on the head and she was now unconscious. Maybe the Dai Li's combined strength had overpowered her and she was-
No. Katara shook her head. Toph was fine. She had to be fine.
And now what Katara needed to do was find Appa and hook up with the others. Not necessarily in that order, of course.
Taking a deep breath, and keeping a wary eye out for enemies, Katara continued to move forward through the underground caverns.
Eventually, she began to notice that the doors around appeared heavier and more bulky than the ones from earlier on. Almost as if they had been built with the intention of keeping something or someone out… well, that or keeping whatever was inside the room on the inside of the room.
After quickly glancing back and forth to ensure that there were no guards or patrols, Katara edged closer to one of the doors, and boosting herself to stand on tiptoe, peered into the slot built into the door.
Well, she'd definitely found was counted as the prison block, if the manacled skeleton lying on the metal floor was any indication. Hastily, Katara turned away, already sickened by the sight. Appa probably wasn't here –
"You! Halt!"
Katara whirled at the sight of a Dai Li agent coming at her, one of his hands coming up to launch a stone fist at her. Instinctively, she brought forth a thin screen of water out from her pouch, collapsing and freezing it around the projectile to render it harmless as she tossed it to the side.
Annoyed that his initial strike did not have the desired effect, the Dai Li raised his other hand, firing off what appeared to be a stream of tiny bullets from the segments of his rock glove. Throwing herself to the side, Katara slashed out with one hand, the whip of water rising forth to catch the Dai Li full on the chin. The Earthbender staggered, and before he could recover an iceball hurled as hard as Katara could manage rendered him unconscious for the time being.
Pausing to wipe the thin sheen of sweat that had accumulated on her brow, Katara turned to venture deeper into the depths of the base when she heard a low groan coming from one of the cells and froze.
For an eternal moment, Katara played a silent debate with herself, wondering if she should go check what it was. On one hand, it could well have been a dangerous criminal trapped in there. On the other hand, given what she knew of the Dai Li's methods, it could just as easily have been an innocent person unjustly imprisoned.
Finally, with a sigh, she crept up close to the door. Just her luck that this one didn't have a viewing hole. Not a problem, though. Opening her pouch again, Katara let a thin whip of water out, letting it seep into the keyhole before freezing it solid in the shape of the needed key.
Jiggling with the lock for a moment, Katara allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction at the sound of the click, and swinging the creaking door open, she peered into the room.
Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation, sat chained to the wall of the cell, head lolling weakly to one side.
(X)
Tonight was not going particularly well, Long Feng reflected with more than a hint of ruefulness as stood in the central chamber of the Dai Li's Correctional Facility. His journey here to oversee the finishing up of the rogue Firebender's processing had been rather rudely interrupted by the unforeseen intrusion of the Avatar and his friends, presumably in their search for the accursed Bison. Even after dealing with them, he was going to have to hunt down and plug the security leak that had allowed this situation to come to pass in the first place.
At least they had split their numbers and their firepower in the process of searching the place, which meant that picking them off would be far easier than it would be otherwise. Impulsive and rash. Long Feng almost shook his head in distaste. The Avatar was an outdated relic of the past ages – if this was how he was going to behave then there was no way he could enforce peace in the current world.
"You," he began without preamble, making sure to pour emphasis into every word as he stared down at the Avatar and the Water Tribesman at his side. "Have made yourself enemies of the state with your actions here. I will no longer suffer your presence within the Walls of Ba Sing Se," he raised his hand in a dismissive gesture towards the Dai Li flanking him. "Dispose of them."
As he turned away to let his men deal with the interlopers, he paused. Had there been a flash of movement from the far side of the room? He glared down towards the darkness, trying to see if it had been a trick of the light.
After a long moment, he shook his head and turned away, heading deeper into the facility.
(X)
Azula almost shook her head as she watched what appeared to be two squads of Dai Li agents strike at the Avatar simultaneously. She had to admit that the boy was holding his own in an impressive manner, but given that the Water Tribesman at his side was little more than deadweight, he would be overwhelmed before too long.
She would have snuck off and left the two of them to their fate if not for the fact that she needed to ensure that the Avatar at least survived this particular bout. Feeling a rather unpleasant sensation in the back of her throat at the thought of willingly helping one of her enemies, she jumped to the top of one of the stone platforms that the Dai Li were chucking rocks at the Avatar from, ready to take on some foes of her own.
Two of them on this one. The first one was already turning towards her, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of a masked figure coming at him. Before he could attack, she dropped low, sweeping her leg out in a kick that sent the man tumbling. A follow up kick swept him off the platform, sending him to the floor with a rather loud of thump.
The second of the Dai Li took the opportunity to make an attack of his own, his signature rock gloves shooting out at Azula. Ducking low, she let them fly harmlessly overhead before she lashed out and caught him in the neck with her elbow. He crumpled without a sound.
Her lack of a Firebending was a disadvantage, true, but not enough that she would really have to struggle against these ants. Nodding to herself, Azula continued moving further in through the shadows.
(X)
Shock rooted Katara to the spot for a very long moment as she stared at the man who had, more than anything else, become her symbol of everything rotten and bad about the Fire Nation. A flash of anger, red hot, seared its way through her mind for an instant, and she nearly staggered from the sudden rush of emotion that wound its way through her.
Questions such as what he was even doing here in an Earth Kingdom prison were quickly shoved aside by the pure, simple fact that he was here and helpless before her. Almost unconsciously, her trembling hand went to her water pouch. It wouldn't take much at all – just a tiny little bit of water, maybe frozen into a sharp spike of ice, at exactly the right spot-
Zuko's eyes flashed open as he jerked upright, the back of his head slamming hard against the metal of the cell. Shaking his head, his eyes blinked blearily as Katara took a step backwards in spite of herself. After a long moment, he raised his head, enough to look her in the eye.
"You…" he rasped out, his voice hoarse.
That same vindictive anger flooded her again, and Katara glared down at him. "Yes," she all but spat. "It's me."
He blinked once. Then again. "Who… are you?"
Katara froze.
"Are you…" he was shuddering, staring at the floor. "Don't bring that light again… hate that light. Hate that voice. Tells me thing. Makes me forget. I am…" he trailed off into silence. "I am…" he repeated, his voice nothing more than a whisper.
Katara swallowed hard.
Then, in a low voice, he spoke again. "I am…" he jerked up, staring at her with wild eyes. "Can't tell you! Can't let them know! Can't-" he broke off as a coughing fit struck him, and when it subsided he slumped over again, the outburst having apparently drained all his strength.
Katara's fingers twitched slightly as she stared down at the helpless boy in front of her.
(X)
"There, there, it's okay," Ty Lee said soothingly as she stroked Appa's fur. Turning over her shoulder, she looked at Mai. "How's it coming along?"
"We shouldn't even be doing this," Mai replied as she unfastened another one of Appa's chains. The Ski Bison had two of his legs free now, and her mask lay at her side, allowing her freedom to solve the locks.
"Come on! They had him chained up in this cramped room and everything, and look! They didn't even take good care of his fur. I bet they didn't feed him properly, either. That's just animal cruelty, that's what it is," Ty Lee lifted the mask from her face for a moment to take a closer look at the discoloured marks on his fur, and her expression clouded over. "I saw enough of those things back in the circus."
"The animal they're being cruel to is the Avatar's bison," Mai said.
"Yeah, maybe doing this will make it friendly enough to us that it'll help us capture the Avatar, huh?" a low growl sounded from the back of Appa's throat, although he didn't do anything else. "Or maybe not." Ty Lee chuckled.
Click. The third of the chains was unfastened. "Azula won't like this. Freeing the Bison could give he Avatar the mobility he needs to evade us again."
"Yeah, you say that, but you agreed to help me, didn't you. We'll deal with tracking the Avatar down again if we have to, but I know even you care enough that you can't leave this poor guy be," Ty Lee hesitated. "Besides, Azula doesn't have to know, does she?"
There was a significant pause, the only sound the soft clink of metal against metal as Mai worked on the final lock. Finally there was a soft click and Mai sat back as the Sky Bison pulled his legs, the last of the bindings slipping from her body. "No," she said in a soft voice. "I suppose she doesn't."
(X)
"That was… closer than I would have liked," Sokka gasped as the last of the Dai Li ambush retreated to safety. "Come on, Aang, we've got to get out of here before they regroup."
Aang nodded and set off for the far end of the room. "Hey, Sokka?"
"Huh?"
"Was it just me, or did that seem a little easier than it should have been?"
"Easier?" Exhaustion wasn't helping Sokka process very many words right now. "You call that easy?"
"Well, to be honest, I don't think we could've taken that many on our own. It almost seems like there were less of them than I thought at first," Aang's face was knotted in contemplation.
"Yeah, well maybe the Dai Li are just good at appearing intimidating and all that jazz, but when push comes to shove they blow it?" Sokka threw out.
The next chamber was likewise empty, and Sokka was starting to get the creeping sensation that maybe they had been going the wrong way all this while. Then again, Long Feng had been here, so maybe he was guarding something valuable.
That, or he'd just made his way here to confront them or something.
"Maybe we should go back and ask one of those Dai Li guys we beat up for a map."
(X)
The sound of crumbling rock instantly sent Katara into a combat-ready stance as she stared.
"Easy there, sugar queen, it's just me," Toph called as she stepped through hole she'd made in the wall.
"Toph! What happened?"
"I got separated in the big fight earlier. Kicked their butts, then came looking for you. Ran into more of 'em on the way, so I kicked their butts too. Sorry it took so long," Toph spoke with a casual air, although even in the darkness she could spot a discoloured bruise on Toph's arm.
"Are you injured?"
"Not much," the Earthbender shrugged. "Couple of hits here and there. If you wouldn't mind healing me, though?"
"Of course," Katara was already opening her pouch before she paused. "Ah, I'm almost out of water, so I'll have to careful with what I've got left. Hang on."
"Out already?" Toph raised an eyebrow. "What happened? You ran into a bunch of soldiers, too?"
A frown appeared on Katara's face as she bathed Toph's arm in the healing light of her waterbending. "Not exactly. It's complicated, all right? I don't really want to talk about it."
Toph nodded after a moment's hesitation. "If you say so. Come on, we've still got to find our way around this place."
"Right behind you."
(X)
Alone once more, Azula slunk through the shadows of the base, always keeping a lookout. She'd already gotten a pretty good idea of the layout of the entire place, and assuming that their design conventions were standardized, the prisons would be…
Right in the same direction where the sounds of a scuffle taking place were coming from.
Quickening her pace and ignoring the dull thuds of pain from injuries she'd sustained earlier, Azula rounded the corner to see Mai and Ty Lee – still in their masks – facing down yet another squad of Dai Li soldiers. How many of these pests does Long Feng even have? Azula thought with a growl as she launched herself at the back of the unsuspecting soldiers, dropping one with a swift kick to the abdomen.
With Azula showing up to present an unexpected reinforcements, the Dai Li were summarily dispatched, and the princess shook her head in disgust as she stared at the heap of soldiers lying on the floor. After that, she turned to her friends.
"Found anything?"
"Not yet," Ty Lee shrugged, her expression hidden behind her mask. "We just came here a moment ago, but this looks like a prison complex."
"True," Azula tapped her chin thoughtfully. "One of the entrances to this section was blocked by fallen rocks, so I have to assume that was made recently. Probably our earthbending friend from the Avatar's group."
"Anyway," Mai spoke up. "We haven't started searching the cells yet."
"Well," Azula said softly. "No time to waste, then."
Some of the prison cells had viewing ports in the doors, allowing for easy checking. After ascertaining that nothing of interest was in one, Azula could quickly move on to the next. Others, however, were completely sealed, forcing them to waste valuable time as Mai had to slowly pick the lock before confirming that there was nothing inside. More infuriating was that Azula was certain Zuko would be kept in one of the higher-security cells, which meant she couldn't afford to simply leave them be.
It was only as they were passing the fourth set of doors in the wall that Azula felt a ripple of unease sweep through her. Something wasn't right about the situation, something-
The ceiling above her burst open, and Dai Li agents burst through, one of them almost landing directly on Azula's head. Twisting out of the way, she aimed a kick at the earthbender that was blocked, and she jumped back to give herself some room. Just how many of them are there?
Her opponent settled himself into the same (predictable) stance of preparing to fire his rock gloves at her, one that Azula took full advantage off by throwing herself forward, grabbing his arm, and twisting. There was an audible and satisfying snap, and as the Dai Li gave a cry of pain, Azula's knee came up to send him slamming into the wall.
"Ah-!" a strangled cry of pain from Ty Lee caught Azula's attention, and she glanced up in time see her friend frantically trying to evade the simultaneous attacks of two Dai Li agents while her right arm hung limp and useless. Even as Azula watched, a stone shot fired from one of the Dai Li clipped Ty Lee in the stomach, sending her to the ground with a cry of pain.
Ty Lee! A body a blur of motion, a jet of blue fire was striking out from Azula's outstretched fingers even before she realized it, burning through the chest of the closer of the Dai Li agents. The other agent's eyes had time to widen in surprise before a flurry of Mai's knives pinned him to the wall, rendering him immobile.
Standing still, Azula cursed her own carelessness for allowing herself to be caught by surprise and firebending. She cast a quick glance over the defeated Dai Li strewn about the corridor. If any of them had caught sight of her blue fire…
A pained groan from Ty Lee brought her focus back to the immediate situation and she squatted down next to her incapacitated friend. "How bad is it?" she questioned. "Can you walk?"
There was a pained groan. And then, "S- sorry, Azula," came Ty Lee's weak voice. "I'm sorry for… being… so useless…"
Azula closed her eyes and reined in a sigh. "Be quiet and save your strength," she said brusquely. "Mai, come here. I'll need you to-"
The low rumble of shifting earth heralded the arrival of yet more Dai Li, and Azula had to physically force herself not to let loose with a string of invectives. With Ty Lee unable to fight, there was no way they could continue this operation. Shaking her head, she picked Ty Lee up and slung her over her back. It wasn't particular comfortable, but speed was what was important now.
"Let's move. Help me harry pursuers and slow them down," Azula instructed Mai, and she was awarded with a quick nod. Turning, she began moving down the corridor with all the speed she could muster. And with each step, the thudding of her heartbeat seemed to remind her of the failure of her objective.
This isn't over, Long Feng, she swore to herself. I'll make you pay for everything that's happened, and soon.
(X)
Approximately one hour later, an absolutely furious Long Feng was striding through the Dai Li's facility as his agents hurriedly moved everything that they couldn't afford to destroy. With this base as compromised as it was, there really wasn't much else of an option.
How had the accursed Avatar's bison gotten free? Who were the second group of masked intruders? And what on earth did the Avatar plan on doing now?
"Sir," came the voice of an aide from behind him. Long Feng barely glanced his way.
"I do not wish to be disturbed."
"But sir," the aide continued. "This missive comes from the Earth King."
Long Feng paused and ground his teeth. Just what he needed. A meeting with the royal idiot right now. With a sigh, he turned and accepted the scroll.
"Also," the aide cleared his throat before producing a second scroll. "One of the Dai Li agents had a rather unusual report concerning one of the intruders."
Long Feng accepted the second scroll with considerably more reluctance, but as he scanned the contents his eyes widened. "Blue…?"
"Sir?"
It's nothing." Long Feng dismissed the servant's question as his mind whirled. Interesting. Most interesting. With a nod, he rolled the scroll up again.
"Well," he began. "I'd best get ready for my audience with the Earth King. We wouldn't want to keep his exalted majesty waiting, would we?"
(X)
"Honestly, creeping about all day in the secret passages?" Ursa's face was set into a frown. "Just look at the both of you! All your clothes are covered in dirt! And Azula, you missed the recital your father and I planned for you weeks ago!"
Azula fidgeted with her hair as she endured another one of mother's scolding sessions. This was nothing new to her, but Zuko apparently wasn't used enough to it, and he looked remarkably like the time Azula had broken his favourite painting brush. Even though she had repeatedly stressed that it was an accident…
Well, she had promised to claim responsibility after all. She just needed a good opening to claim responsibility for the whole thing without looking like she was covering for Zuzu…
"Honestly, Zuko, you should know better than this!"
There it was. Azula cleared her throat and began to speak. "Actually, mother, it was my-"
"I'm sorry, mom," Zuko spoke over her while looking at their mother in the eye. "I just got so excited at the thought of exploring that I didn't think about the consequences, or whether or not Azula had anything else to do."
Her mother let out a long sigh, and Azula silently stewed at the fact that she always gave in so readily whenever Zuko was in the picture. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again, all right?"
As soon as Ursa departed Azula whirled on Zuko, a question in her eyes and on her lips. "What was that about, Zuzu? I thought you wanted me to take the blame for this?"
"Ahaha…" rubbing the back of his head, Zuko turned to look at Azula. "Well, I can't let you take the blame all the time, right? I mean, I already owe you for that time with the broken teapot…"
Azula snorted and folded her arms, but she still couldn't keep the tiny smile from forming on her face. "Dum-dum," she muttered, just loud enough that he could hear.
His only response was another chuckle.
Chapter End
Wow. Honestly, this was a really hard chapter to right. Juggling a rapid shift of so many viewpoints, less Azula than usual, trying to balance the deviations from canon… the list goes on.
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Thanks for reading. Please review.