Masked figures at the end of an alleyway would be terrifying to any ordinary person, but Xai Bau was no ordinary person. He had a responsibility to aid his comrades, even if he detested fighting; it was crude and frustrating, but that was what was required to achieve their aims. The Open Eyes had spent years agitating for change, first peacefully by trying to influence local politicians and figures in the military.
That had all been for naught, as the Fire Lord banned the organisation and made association with them a crime. Support dried up, even if there were those who silently agreed with their message: the war was wrong, and they needed to bring about radical change to the Fire Nation. Wealthy industrialists, bankers, and landowners held sway over the Fire Lord's court, and ensured that the policies that had drowned the world in conflict for nearly a century would continue unabated.
So the Open Eyes had decided to act, and their actions were extreme and brutal, even by his own standards; they were to kill the Fire Lord, seize control of the government offices, and force the new Fire Lord, Iroh, to cooperate with their demands on threats against his life and the lives of his family members. That would involve assassinating the Fire Lord, killing or restraining as many Imperial Firebenders as possible, and capturing the two adult members of the royal family, Crown Prince Iroh and Prince Ozai. He knew that the smarter move would have been to agitate the masses to move against the Fire Lord, and then, when the chaos had proved too much for the government to handle, enact a coup via their supporters in the military.
Xai Bau himself had not participated in the attack on the palace, and had relegated himself to his day job as a publisher for his own local news organisation. They had called on the people to join them in forming a new government, and led protests against the Fire Lord's policies, partially as a distraction, but also to make the public opinions on the matter clear. Not as many people joined the protests as he would have hoped, and once the attack began, the inevitable crackdown began.
So, when he arrived in the alleyway, he had had to evade the Home Guard, running through dark alleys, over rooftops, and through secret passages to find his way to their hideout. He was just relieved that the Home Guard hadn't beaten him there, though he expected them to arrive in due course.
"Identify yourself." the masked guards ordered him, two wielding dao while the rest were firebenders, all ready to attack him on a moment's notice.
He gestured to his mask, which identified him as a member of their group, though it was possible an Intelligence Service agent could have stolen their attire and come to infiltrate them.
"It's me, Xai Bau. I was just at the protest." he explained who he was and where he came from; behind the guards, the door was opened, Xai Bau recognising the unmasked man immediately.
"Kurasu." he said his name, "You got back from the palace already?"
"I was- uh, actually leading the diversionary attack." he explained, "It didn't seem to help our brothers and sisters at the palace, but we were able to free some comrades from the capital prison." he acknowledged their achievement, "They will at least be able to fight on another day."
"That is better than nothing." he admitted, knowing that from the fact that the fighting hadn't been stopped by some decree, that their plans had failed; Azulon was either alive, or Iroh succeeded him but repulsed their forces and was not forced to comply with their demands.
In either case, they were not going to win, and Xai Bau knew that as soon as their wounded were tended to, they would have to leave the capital at once. He stepped past the guards and entered the hideout, following after Kurasu. The place was dimly lit, located underneath a restaurant in the port district of the capital, and they had to follow their way down a staircase into the basement, where he could see dozens of Open Eyes fighters, most badly injured, covered in bandages, and some of them were lying down, being treated by physicians.
The less injured fighters noticed their arrival, and a few got up, seeing Xai Bau; one of them, a man by the name of Akame, came over and eyed the minor injuries he had received, "Xai Bau... I see you didn't get arrested."
"No, I was able to evade the authorities before they had... well, more to handle." he acknowledged that his escape was mostly due to the fact most of the Home Guard in the city was drawn over to the palace.
Akame nodded, "I think we're going to need to leave the capital tonight. A group was sent out just before to go get us a ship. Something discreet, so we can get over to the other side of the bay without getting caught up with the navy."
"We should move the injured from here first." he suggested, "My publishing house probably hasn't been raided by the Home Guard yet, so I could keep a few of them safe there."
"That's only a block away." Akame recalled, before nodding, "Maybe go ask the Master about it. He'll be the one to decide."
He nodded, deciding to go do just that, pacing past the injured to the curtain that covered another part of the hideout; in there were a few boards, which were where they had plotted out their movements to avoid being attacked. Their original distraction was a poisoning of the water supply, but that was a complete farce, which they had leaked to the Intelligence Service in hopes of drawing the Home Guard away from the key security points they needed to take to enter the palace. He had no idea what had happened to those who were meant to play their parts there, but guessed they fled as soon as the Home Guard came to try and arrest them.
By the back of the room sat the man that most just referred to as the Master; he was the secretive founder of the Open Eyes, who had once been the mayor of an outer island town before he was arrested by the Home Guard for sedition. Few knew his name, as he refused to tell it to most, fearing for the safety of his remaining kin in his hometown. However, he'd told Xai Bau his name.
"Master Kuzon." he addressed him, and he raised his gaze from the scroll he was reading, "We need to evacuate the hideout at once."
The Master was very old; he'd been alive when Sozin's Comet last passed over their world, and had been able to firebend during it, though he said it was only for the fun of it. He had lived throughout the entirety of their war against the other nations, and abhorred it. Because of his age, he had grown less active in their protests and planning, but had remained confidently supportive of their plan to seize control of the palace. He believed that they could affect real change once Fire Lord Azulon was gone, citing him as worse than his father and predecessor, Fire Lord Sozin.
"I knew that this was a possibility." Master Kuzon replied, his voice low and tired; he rose to his feet, and gestured to the scroll he had in his hands, "Do you know much about the Air Nomads, Xai Bau?"
"Not as much as I'd like to, Master." he admitted, before eyeing the scroll, "Were you reading about them?"
"No, I was reading about how their ruins have been appropriated by some Earth Kingdom refugees." he clarified, "I heard about this story in the docks, and found this snippet of news in the city square."
"Why would anyone in the Fire Nation care about that?" Xai Bau asked, confused as to what about the habitation of some ruins would interest the average citizen.
"Because of the war dead." he clarified, "Thousands died destroying the Air Nomads. You might have seen the memorials for them when you were younger. They removed most of them because it made the Fire Nation Army look weak and incompetent with the propaganda about the Air Nomads becoming even more incredulous."
"So, they think they're desecrating their graves?" he asked, before chuckling, "These nationalists never fail to disgust me."
"I feel the same way." he nodded, and put the scroll into his robes, "Unlike those people who died committing the greatest atrocity of our war, I actually knew Air Nomads." he declared, before narrowing his eyes, "They were a kind people. They never wanted to take from others, or harm them. Truly, at peace with the world and themselves."
"That is how we should live." Xai Bau agreed with the sentiment, and Kuzon chuckled.
"Our elites will never allow it... and neither would those in the other nations." he warned him, before stepping past him, "We'll need to burn everything." he added, and Xai Bau lit a flame in his palm.
"Just say the word." he assured him, and his Master shook his head.
"No, we need everyone out." he clarified, making a crooked walk over to a table, and pulled a cloth off it's top; underneath was what Xai Bau recognised as a military issue barrel of blasting jelly, used primarily in earthworks or when battling earthbenders, "When our friends in the Home Guard arrive, I'd like to leave them a surprise."
"There are people upstairs." he warned him, and Kuzon scrunched his lips.
"Well, we'll just have to scare them away first." he decided, "Everyone!" he called out to those in the main section of the hideout, "I know you've all fought hard today, and suffered much, but we have little time. You need to take the path through the catacombs down to the port. Let's just hope the Home Guard doesn't have the same idea as me." he directed everyone, and they began to file over to a bookcase, which was shoved out of the way by Kurasu, revealing the entrance to the catacombs.
"Go!" he directed the injured, who began limping through, and Xai Bau narrowed his eyes.
"I'll go tell the guards that they need to get the people out from upstairs." he decided what he would do, and Master Kuzon nodded.
"Quickly." he stressed, and Xai Bau dashed up the staircase.
At the entrance, the guards still stood still with their masks on, already in fighting stances; they realised Xai Bau had come back, and one turned to face him.
"What are you doing? Do we need to move out?"
"Yes. We're taking the catacombs, but we need to get everyone in the rest of the building out." he explained, another masked fighter letting out a sigh before he readied his dao.
"Shit... I mean, I've robbed people before." he acknowledged, before scaling the ladder beside the wall, which led up to one of the windows, "Where are we meeting?"
"The port." Xai Bau clarified, "You'll find us." he assured him, and the masked fighter chuckled.
"If I don't, well, I can guess why you want them evacuated." he realised the plan, and saluted his comrades, before kicking in the window, "Give me all your gold, now!" he screamed, and Xai Bau cringed as he heard cries of fear from inside the building.
"I'll go with him." one of the firebenders decided, scaling the ladder, "Spirits protect you." he farewelled them, quickly getting to the top before he followed his comrade through the shattered window.
Xai Bau's eyes turned back down the hallway, and he could already hear footsteps approaching, and the sounds of shouts on the street. A few moments later a five masked fighters, clearly burnt and injured from the fighting they'd partaken in, rushed down the alleyway.
"They're coming!" they warned, and Xai Bau grit his teeth, knowing what would likely follow right after them.
"Run another way! We don't want them coming here yet!" he warned, but it was too late.
He saw a few Home Guard soldiers come around the corner, most of them firebenders, and all of them ready to fight; Xai Bau pulled his mask over his face again, knowing he didn't want to get an even bigger bounty if he made it out alive.
"Get inside, now!" he demanded of the guards and those injured fighters, while he threw his hands forward, bending up a massive wall of flames; he knew he couldn't maintain it for long, but as long as his comrades escaped, that was all that mattered.
He held the flames for a few moments, allowing everyone to run inside; once they were in, he threw the flames forward, hoping that would distract the Home Guard for a few moments. He rushed inside, narrowly dodging a fire stream that was sent his way, before he slammed the door shut.
The others were still running down the staircase, and he followed after, hearing the sounds of shouts outside and above them; he hoped that the civilians would realise the danger and leave at once, before Kuzon's plan came to fruition. He shot a few fireballs up the staircase as he heard the door swing open, getting a few of the Home Guard in their faces. When he got down to the bottom of the stairs, he was relieved to see that most of the injured were already gone, with only a handful still making their way into the catacombs.
Xai Bau nodded at him, and kicked over a table to use it as cover; the firebending guards followed suit, and began shooting fireballs at the enemy as they came down the stairs. They beat back a few of them, but they returned the attacks in kind, setting their defences alight, and forcing him to focus on snuffing out the flames. He was holding them off until a synchronised set of fire streams blasted down three of the guards at once, forcing Xai Bau to try and drag one away towards the catacombs while the rest held their ground. He was smacked in the back by a few fireballs, but his cloak was fireproof, meaning that it mostly just irritated him rather than stopping him from getting the injured guard away.
Then he was smacked right in the mask, which wasn't fireproof, made of wood rather than retardant fabric; when it set alight, he let out a frightened cry, which would have been embarrassing if it weren't for the extreme danger he found himself in. He leapt down to the ground, while the injured guard stumbled forward, just making it into the catacombs.
"Come on, brother." he pleaded to Xai Bau, who didn't want to flee yet; there were still people who needed his protection.
"Not yet." he refused, and stood up, already having pulled his mask from his face.
He shot out a charged bolt of flames, setting somebody's face alight; they screamed out in pain, and he shot his foot out, shooting a fire stream from his sole, striking another fighter down, this time one wielding a jian.
"Get into the catacombs, now!" Kuzon, who had been until that point covering behind one of the tables, demanded of them.
He drew off his outer robes, and he gathered flames in his hands, before pelting the Home Guard with flames; the rest of the guards ran from cover and into the catacombs, except two, who remained by their master's side. Xai Bau continued his own assault, furiously throwing flames at the Home Guard until all of the attackers were either fleeing for cover or knocked to the ground. Kuzon, despite his age, did most of the work, as he was a far faster firebender than Xai Bau, quickly dispensing fireballs into the enemy. He gestured for the guards to get into the catacombs, and they did, while Xai Bau paced over to his master.
"We need to go, Master. They won't be down for long." he warned him, and he gestured behind himself.
"You need to light the charge." he warned him, and he obliged him, pacing back into the rear of the hideout, where he found a cord running along the divider, all the way to the barrel.
He guessed there were other ones hidden throughout the basement, but he couldn't see them; that was on purpose, as the Home Guard wouldn't realise the danger they were in until it was too late. Once he set the spark, he turned back around, and saw that his master was shooting a flurry of fireballs at the stairs, where more soldiers were coming down. Before he could go and assist him, he realised that one of the men he'd knocked down was still kicking, and lunged up at Kuzon with his jian, thrusting it into his side.
The firebending master lurched in pain, but quickly threw his open palm into the man's mouth, sending a fire stream down his throat; that caused the man to sputter and scream as he fell back, his face set alight from the heat while his tongue and throat burned. Xai Bau grabbed his master before he fell to the ground, shooting a fire stream out in the process to distract the Home Guard.
"Master, I need to get you out of here." he warned him, "You must get to the others. They'll be just down the hall."
"No, you go." he requested, "I have lived long enough, boy. You must finish our work. All this violence is terrible... but it's what's necessary to stop tyrants." he warned him, coughing out blood.
Xai Bau stood up, and furiously shot out a flurry of fireballs, which caught the Home Guard by surprise, forcing them to take cover; he then turned his eyes down to Kuzon, who just smiled at him, tears welling up in his eyes.
"I will die as they did... making them gasp for air." he declared, and Xai Bau realised what he was going to do; he ran into the tunnel, and didn't turn back, as much as he would have preferred to carry the Master out on his shoulder.
He could see the light of the flames growing brighter in the corner of his eye, and closed them as he heard the explosion that followed. The tunnel shook around him, the roof beginning to give way; when he finally got to the guards, who were waiting for him, he collapsed to the ground, feeling exhausted from the sprinting and all the firebending he had just done.
"Spirits..." he gasped out, his eyes turning towards the rubble behind him.
"Master." one of the guards mumbled, "Damn those bastards." he angrily proclaimed, kicking a stray brick into the pile of rubble.
"We have to survive... he ordered it." Xai Bau declared, rising back up to his feet.
"We won't have much more time." another guard warned him, "The Open Eyes are done for."
"But the cause will never die. Not as long as we bear breath."
Aang felt like a fish out of water; surrounded by other waterbending students, practising the forms that Master Pakku was instructing him on. He felt so uneasy and frustrated by Katara's absence; even if they got competitive at times over their waterbending, training was so much easier with her around. He knew it was unfair that she wasn't allowed to learn; it made him mad, and Aang was usually a very agreeable and happy person, so to himself, the feelings were odd.
He knew it was interfering with his training; Aang was good at waterbending, that was clear as he and Katara had progressed quite far with only a single scroll and each other to rely on. She had even begun to excel beyond, becoming more of a teacher to him rather than a peer. However, since he arrived in the North Pole, he had had to train without her.
Pakku was a good teacher, but he was a little harsh and stern for Aang's taste; Monk Gyatso and Katara were both kind and patient with him, but Pakku had no time for that. He had other students to focus on, and as he promised, the young Avatar was given no special attention. That said nothing of the man's character, which he had already grown to dislike. However, he kept his frustrations to himself, knowing that he had to respect his new master.
So, as Aang went through the sets, he kept his focus steady, letting the water move back and forth in his grasp. The moves they were practising were all quite simple, just moving water around, in different directions and for different purposes; he knew how to do a water whip and some moves that he and Katara had figured out by training together. None of those had proper names, but the moves he was learning now did: water arms, shields, snow blast, and ice walls. The latter reminded him more of earthbending than waterbending, though it made sense, as ice was basically the equivalent to rock and dirt for somebody in the polar regions.
He found the moves to be easy to replicate, but not as precisely and fast as he wanted to; he knew that water, like any other element, could be a nuisance or danger to those who wielded it if they couldn't control it properly. Aang felt that he had good self control, only bending when he needed to, but airbending was more erratic than waterbending, which required his constant focus.
Once they were done with the set Pakku was instructing, he told them to go and practice using water reactively; it was one thing to bend it knowingly and with purpose, but another to use it reflexively to defend oneself. He could already do so with airbending, but waterbending was still strange to him- he had to think every time he tried to move, reshape, or freeze water.
He was paired up with another waterbending student, a boy by the name of Anik; he was a few years older than Aang, and not a bad waterbender, meaning that he had to take the practice very seriously. They had to bend at each other and react without being prepared, standing still as if they were unaware; Pakku had told him multiple times to relax, instead of tensing up and taking a fighting stance. Aang was usually calm and relaxed, but with the training being the only thing on his mind, it was hard to push it to the side.
"Ready?" Anik asked him, and the Air Nomad nodded, closing his eyes to tell him that he was relaxed and ready to face whatever came his way.
He wasn't planning to keep them shut, and didn't, as he heard some snow burst up behind him; Aang spun himself around, and weaved out of the way of the snow, which would have otherwise hit him in the head. His partner didn't seem impressed, and crossed his arms.
"I know you're new at this... but come on, you can't dodge everything. Master was saying we need to be able to react with waterbending alone." he reminded him, and Aang cautiously nodded.
"Okay, well, show me." he requested, and the boy nodded, before dropping his hands to his side and closing his eyes.
"Go." he simply told him, and Aang scrunched his lips, reaching a hand behind him to bend up some of the loose snow, and turned it into water, simply opening his hand to force the water to heat up and melt.
He let out a short breath before turning his body around, flicking his right hand out to send the mass of water out as a thin stream, which was aimed right at Anik's legs. The boy must have heard him, and pushed his left foot forward, and then flung his left arm sideways, bending Aang's stream into snow again and tossing it to the side.
"You see?" he asked, opening his eyes as Aang glanced down at his own hands, wondering if he could be so graceful in his waterbending.
"I guess." he mumbled, before turning his gaze back up, "Let's go again."
Aang closed his eyes, and let Anik make the next move; he closed his eyes again, and listened out for his bending. The only thing he could hear was a sliding noise, and he guessed it was a sheet or wall or ice that had been pulled up from the ice below them. The Avatar then reached out two hands to either side, clenched his fists at the water he could sense careening towards him, and spun himself around, twisting his arms as he did. The crunching and crashing of ice was loud and shook the ground beneath him, Aang opening his eyes to see what remained of the slabs of ice around him.
"That's what he meant." his partner acknowledged his effort, before pointing to his eyes, "Keep them open. Let's make this harder."
"Harder, alright." he agreed to the proposition, before throwing both his hands forward, bending two streams of water out of the ice that had shattered, before flinging one after the other at Anik.
He spun himself around, ducking below the streams, bending one when it came his way and turned it back around to Aang, who bent it back into snow by simply raising his hand in front of it as it careened towards his head. Anik seemed to approve, smiling at him, before he threw up the ice underneath Aang; he stumbled from the sudden loss of footing, but was able to jump back and bend the ice fully out, forming a wall between him and his training partner.
"Alright, you wanna hide?" he asked him, and Aang smirked, not having intended to do that.
He raised his hands up, bending the wall around him in a circular motion, liquifying it in the process; by the time he was tossing it at Anik, it had become a mass of water as tall as him and wide as well. His opponent threw up his own hands to try and bend the water, but he was too slow, and the water splashed him. Aang did him a favour by bending it into snow so his parka wasn't completely drenched. The result was that Anik was covered from head to toe, making the other pupils laugh at him. He seemed embarrassed, so the Air Nomad used his airbending to blast the snow off him, so he could more easily get himself up.
"Sorry about that." he apologised, offering him a hand.
Anik seemed frustrated, but he accepted his hand, "You're pretty good at this when you try."
"Uh... thanks. I guess I'm a natural." he admitted, knowing that he had learned it countless times before throughout his past lives.
"That you are." Master Pakku spoke up, having been watching him train, "Alright, everyone take a break... unless you enjoy getting sprayed by snow. We'll return to our sets in a bit." he directed his students, who got out of their fighting forms and pairs, heading towards the hall that the students used to get changed, as well as for eating and resting.
As Aang followed, the waterbending master gestured for him to approach, instead of following the others; he obliged him, knowing what Katara had told him. He had to be a good student for the sake of the world, even if he felt frustrated that she couldn't learn how to fight as he did.
"Yes, Master?" he spoke up, wondering what he had to talk about.
"You're my newest student, so I am taking an interest in your progress." he admitted his reasons for focusing on him, "Not because you are the Avatar... though that is important. You should not forget it while you train."
"I know." he nodded, "I have to master the elements quickly."
"Well, I wouldn't say there is an extreme urgency to it. You must learn as fast as you can, but no more." Pakku suggested, "To overexert yourself will only lead to exhaustion."
"I- I don't really have a choice." he admitted, wondering if he should say what Avatar Roku had told him.
"Well, I don't know what it is like to be the Avatar, but I understand the expectations that weigh on you. Nobody else in the world has your power, or responsibilities." he admitted, before his expression softened, "I am not trying to make you worry, Aang."
"I get that." he nodded, before grimacing, "I need to tell you something, Master."
"What is it?"
"When I went to Crescent Island, in the Fire Nation, I spoke with my previous life, Avatar Roku. He told me that I had to master the elements and stop Prince Ozai from enacting his plans, before the comet arrives." he explained, and Pakku's expression shifted to one of confusion.
"You mean to say, you must intervene in the Fire Nation's civil war?" he asked, and Aang glanced away, unsure if that was exactly what Roku wanted him to do; he didn't think the Avatar was mean to be politically involved to the point of making sure Iroh won his fight with Ozai, but he did think Ozai as a person had to be stopped.
He didn't know much about him, other than what he had gleaned from his talks with Azula; what he had, none of it was flattering, not to mention the revelation that he had been behind the attempted assassination of the Fire Lord, his own brother.
"I don't know. I have to stop him somehow."
"So, either stop the war, or kill him." Pakku came to the conclusion that he didn't want to hear.
"I don't want to have to kill someone." he bluntly admitted his feelings.
"Being the Avatar means you have obligations... and though your past life might have told you that, it doesn't necessarily mean you must kill him." Pakku warned him, his possible out making Aang smile, relieved that there might be another way, "You will have to make sure he is defeated and imprisoned, however." he added, and Aang nodded.
"Y-yeah, I guess you're right." he agreed to his proposal, though the more he thought about it, the more he realised he didn't know how he'd go about that; he was just relieved that Azula was going to be his firebending master- of all people, she would be the one who would know how to deal with her father.
"If he is going to use the comet, then I can understand the time constraint." Pakku added, before placing his hands behind him, "You need to focus harder on your training. I know that waterbending won't come as naturally to you as it will to others, but you must ingrain the mindsets I am teaching you if you hope to master the elements." he directed him, now as his master, rather than as a wisened man giving him some advice.
"Yes, Master." he acknowledged him with a bow, and he turned around to face the hall, before he realised he ought to press him; his advice was surprisingly direct, as if he knew what Prince Ozai was capable of, "How do you know I have to defeat him? I didn't think you would know about the Fire Nation here."
"The common people do not, but I am no common man. I am in contact with friends and acquaintances in the Earth Kingdom. They have spoken in great depth about their fears for their safety in recent letters. The Fire Nation's policies are going to eventuate to something, and if what you're telling me about Roku is true, then the Prince will be... well, finishing Fire Lord Sozin's work."
He narrowed his eyes, wondering how he was remaining in contact with those people if the North was for the most part isolated and ignoring world affairs, "How did you meet your friends?"
"Ah, well, an Earth Kingdom captain introduced me to a game many years ago, and I realised that there was more to it than what the pieces showed." he acknowledged, Aang realising what he was saying only because he had been in that meeting with King Bumi and his associates- the Order of the White Lotus.
"You're in the White Lotus." he deduced, and Pakku's eyes widened.
"You figured it out that quickly?" he asked, before chuckling, "I guess more secrets were revealed in Omashu than I was first led to believe."
"I know that your society is trying to make peace between the nations." he recalled what he had learnt back in Omashu, "So, why are you not trying to get the Chief to help the Earth Kingdom?"
"There are other factors at play... I mean to say, the other elders will not approve of it." he conceded, "War is a stranger here, even if we train our waterbenders and warriors tirelessly for it."
"Arnook seems like a nice guy... he would want to help them, wouldn't he?"
"Arnook is a cautious man. He is... kind, as you say, but he serves the interests of the tribe, not his own whims. He wouldn't be a very good Chief if he did." he warned Aang, who glanced away.
"Okay... but what about the White Lotus? Can't they do more?"
"Our organisation has never been the most proactive. We have worked best in the shadows, and we have achieved much. One of our members, who I am sure you are familiar with now, rules the most powerful nation in the world. We must hope that he brings them to heel, and keeps the semblance of peace he achieved."
"I don't think the Fire Nation ruling the world is peace." Aang bluntly gave his own opinion, and Pakku huffed, a smirk forming on his lips.
"That's why I said a semblance. There is no true peace." he warned him, before crossing his arms, "So, train hard, young Avatar. You must."
He bowed to his master, before that lurking fear that was growing reared its head, "Are they... are they going to try and kill me?"
"The agents of Ozai?" he assumed correctly, Aang nodding, and his master chuckled, "Do not fear them. I am sure that you will be able to fight off most people he could send your way, and even those you cannot, you have my assurance... the White Lotus will find a way to protect you."
"Really? But I thought you guys... uh, weren't really meant to get involved."
"Well, we must when we must. The Avatar is the bringer of balance and order to the Four Nations. You are the only one who can make the peace that most desire." he explained his thinking, and by extension, what those in the White Lotus must have been thinking.
"I- I guess I just have to trust you." he admitted, not lacking any trust in Pakku specifically, but in the promise that seemed hard to fulfil.
"There are eyes and ears everywhere, Avatar Aang." he warned him, raising a finger towards his face, before turning his heels, "Now, take your break before we continue. Overexertion will not help you master waterbending."
"I won't say no to relaxing." he admitted, before pacing ahead of his master.
Before he left, there was one last thing he had to ask, "Why can't you teach Katara?" he pressed him, and Pakku raised a brow.
"Because of our traditions. I do not mean to demean your friend's ability to waterbend." he assured him, and Aang clenched his fists.
"Well, that's what it sounded like." he replied, restraining his frustrations as much as he could; the unfairness of it was what angered Aang more than anything.
He was the Avatar, an outsider, and yet, they were perfectly fine with training him to waterbend, despite not being willing to train a girl. If he had been a girl instead of a boy, then he wondered if nobody would have been willing to train him.
"Men and women are different, Aang. That is a fact of life, and here, we treat each with respect... roles are vital to keeping our traditions." he tried to explain his line of thinking, and Aang tried not to laugh.
"But Katara... she's not even from here. Why would that even matter? It's not like she's going to teach other girls in the north how to fight." he argued, even though he could not be sure of that; he was just trying to make an argument, and Pakku snickered.
"And you really believe that?" he asked him, "I've heard how your friend speaks. She is... aspirational. She has great ideas about the world and herself. I do not want her to undermine our way of life... which she will." he argued, and Aang's lips scrunched up.
"Well, what if she wasn't?" he asked, and Pakku shrugged his shoulders.
"You really want to keep pressing this. My answer will not change." he warned him, and Aang sighed.
"I just don't understand. She's the last waterbender from the South Pole. That's gotta mean something... if she doesn't learn, then nobody will." he argued, and his master ran his finger through his goatee.
"And when a boy is born who can waterbend... he can come here to learn. She will have learnt healing, and then, together, they will be able to teach the following generations to waterbend. Men and women both." he explained his own idea for what might happen, and Aang narrowed his eyes.
"Well... I can waterbend. Why can't I teach?"
"Do you want to be my student?" he asked Aang, who nodded, "Then don't. I understand your reasoning, but you should not mistake my concerns for you for a willingness to go against my people."
"Uh... okay." he nodded, feeling disappointed that he wouldn't even allow him to teach her himself; Aang would prefer if she had an actual teacher, but if even he wasn't permitted to teach her, then she had no choice but to continue learning healing.
"Go on." his master told him, and he paced over to the doors; he let out a sigh as he pushed them open.
He was going to have to lie. Katara was going to learn how to fight, whether Pakku liked it or not. That wasn't Aang's decision, that was hers, and he had to oblige it. He would be a terrible friend otherwise, and he couldn't stomach that. The unfairness of it all made him feel almost irrationally mad, but he knew there was reason to his rage.
"I don't want to be angry." he mumbled to himself, eyeing the other students as they ate their lunches.
"I have to find a way to make him see."
The sky was cloudy above, obscuring the midday sun from Azula's view; she wasn't looking at it, but the dull colouration around her felt like it was sapping her enthusiasm for training. She wasn't doing combat training with her guards, but instead was focusing on honing her mind for battle. She knew she wasn't a soldier, and didn't act as such, but she needed to be prepared for whatever she might face. Relying too much on her guards or military escorts would leave her vulnerable to attacks when she least expected them.
She usually wouldn't have thought about such things in the past, as she was confident in her abilities and overwhelming power; she had no doubt that she would be able to use her firebending effectively, as she always had, but her confrontation with Ozai had shattered her confidence. She had the resolve and desire to continue on fighting her uncle's war, and doing his bidding for the good of the Fire Nation, but she knew that without a sound mind, she would be as useful on the battlefield as a dummy strung up to get beaten.
Fear of injury, fear of defeat, and fear of the shame that came with both was something that now motivated her more than anything, but those fears also made her less inclined to fight to begin with. Azula had her legs crossed, and her eyes were set out at the water, eyeing the horizon. Clouds lay off that way, obscuring any land that might have been lying in the distance.
They were well away from the capital by that point, sailing northeastward in the direction of the westernmost tip of the continent. From there they'd follow the coast north until they reached a Fire Navy base near the Northern Air Temple, which she had visited a few months prior on her journey to find the Avatar. They had a few stops where they would resupply and remove waste from the ship, but other than that, she expected to be on the water the entire trip there.
Ty Lee was sitting beside her, following her lead in meditating, and to Azula's frustration, she was seeming far more relaxed than herself. It wasn't really a surprise, given her nature, but it annoyed her that she couldn't find the same sense of calm when she actually wanted it. Usually she'd be frustrated by the boredom of meditation, but at that very moment, it was all she wanted.
"Are you struggling?" her friend softly asked her, her words almost completely deafened by the wind that was blowing upon them.
"No." she sternly retorted; it was a lie, but she couldn't admit that she couldn't stop thinking about the various problems she was facing, both as a person, but also for the Fire Nation as a whole.
Ty Lee offered her a hand, and Azula glanced down at it, a bit surprised that she wanted to hold hands while meditating, but her eager smile forced her to go along with it. Their fingers interlocked, and for a few moments, she found that calm she was looking for. The bright sky drowned out her frustrations, and all she could think of was how peaceful the whole situation was.
"Better?" she asked, and Azula just nodded, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of hearing that she was right, "Heh." she let out a snicker, her smile remaining on her face as they looked out to the water.
But her thoughts returned, her mind going over what she had been discussing with her uncle before she left the capital; the plots of her father were growing more complex by the day, and she had no idea if they could be unravelled, or if he could at least be caught in the act, instead of them having chase after the scraps left over from his attacks.
"Distract me." she requested, and Ty Lee hummed in thought.
"What was the nicest place you visited on your trip around the world?" she asked her, and Azula's eyes narrowed.
"I don't know... I only really visited the Air Temples." she admitted, though that wasn't wholly true; there were a few colonial settlements, ports, and military bases that she visited along the course of her journey, which were required as she needed her ship resupplied, or in one case, to kick Lo and Li off the ship.
"But they were pretty, right?" she asked, and Azula scrunched her lips.
"The Western and Eastern Air Temples. They were just silent ruins. It was unusual, because I expected far more destruction than I found." she acknowledged, narrowing her eyes, "Maybe the soldiers cleared it all away when they left."
"To cover up what they did?" she asked her, her framing not something she expected to hear, but then when she thought about it, that did make sense.
"I mean, if the general public was to realise the propaganda about the Air Nomads were utter lies, then perhaps the Fire Lord's position would be far less assured." she noted a reason why they would have removed as much evidence of the violence as they could.
She knew that the public weren't aware of the nature of the destruction of the Air Nomads nor the actual way of life of the people. They didn't have an army, central government, nor any complex political arrangements. There wasn't even a way, from her understanding, for the monks to order their people to help fight the Fire Nation, if that was what it would have come to. They had absolute freedom, something that was almost admirable, if it weren't for the fact the weaknesses it endowed on the people as a whole made them so much easier to wipe out. The fact her ancestor was behind it, and another could have prevented it if he had been alive made her feel so uneasy about the whole ordeal.
She had not expected herself to feel such a way about something she had no control over, but everything weighed on her. First it was the fact her father was a traitor, and then her realisation that the war was effectively pointless and had only brought suffering to the people they were claiming to liberate. She always thought that her firebending abilities made her superior to everyone else, but that just ignored the fact that most people were unable to protect themselves from the horrors of the world. If she had chosen to do things differently, she would have been one of those horrors.
"Azula?"
Ty Lee's voice took her out of the depths of her mind, her eyes turning around to stare her own.
"Why should I care what he did?" she proposed the question that had been on her mind.
Her friend looked confused, but it clicked in her head after a few moments, "You aren't Fire Lord Sozin." she assured her, but Azula didn't think that was a sufficient answer.
"I know that, but I'm not talking about being him. I am the inheritor of his legacy." she stressed, raising her free hand up, "I feel like I'm obliged to betray the legacy of one ancestor for another."
"I mean you don't have to do anything. You aren't going to do what some dead people would want you to." she argued, "I'm doing basically the opposite of what my parents would want me to do, but that doesn't matter, because I'm doing the right thing."
"Right and wrong are quite subjective, Ty Lee." she warned her, before narrowing her eyes in thought, "I want to be right, but... how can I be? I'm going to go against my own father and hope that the people of the Fire Nation accept my Uncle's way. What if they don't?"
"Then we'll find another way." she proposed, and grimaced, "Stop worrying Azula. You wanted me to distract you, I can do that." she reminded her of what she had said earlier.
"Fine, go ahead." she allowed, closing her eyes and waiting for her to give another bland, non-controversial conversation topic.
"What do you think of sailing?"
"Hmm... that is a pretty random one." she noted the unrelated nature of the question, "I prefer this ship over others... it's bigger and doesn't rock with the waves. You know how bad the steamer can get."
"Yeah... I discovered sea sickness when we were going to Crescent Island." she noted with an uneasy voice, "I wonder what an actual sailboat would be like."
Azula didn't like the idea, "I'd prefer not to find out." she spoke her mind, before her eyes turned back ahead of them, "Sailing like that sounds like effort and a whole lot of seasickness without getting anywhere. The most inefficient way to travel by water." she argued, before scrunching her lips, "Besides rowing, that is."
"Yeah, that would be pretty bad." she mumbled, "Luckily we won't ever have to do that unless the ship sinks." she noted, and Azula grimaced; she knew Ty Lee could be a bit oblivious at times, but she was almost ignoring the very reason she wanted her to talk about random things.
She must have realised her mistake, and her eyes met Azula's, looking first at her, and then down in shame.
"You really didn't need to say that." she warned her, before raising a hand to her cheek, "I would prefer not to think about that possibility." she stressed, "A sinking ship is the last thing a passenger should have to think about."
"Hey, who knows, maybe we'd wash ashore on one of those abandoned islands and have to live like peasants do." she suggested, "That'd be interesting."
Azula was most unenthused by the idea; having to survive on some random island with little supplies or resources was already hard enough, but the fact that she would have to do it while knowing that she could otherwise be out there in the world helping to end the war between her father and uncle.
"And gruelling. I don't know what interests you about hard labour." she commented, "It would be terrifying to be stuck in some place, unable to do anything to stop what's going on in the outside world." she spoke her mind, and Ty Lee tilted her head; she looked to have something on her mind, and leaned closer.
"But wouldn't it be kind of... liberating?" she suggested, and the Princess did not agree.
She understood why she'd think that, because being wrecked would stop her from doing her duties, but Azula would not just give up. If she had to swim back to the Fire Nation like a madman, then she'd do it, for knowing what would happen if she did not.
"I do not take my duties lightly, Ty Lee." she warned her, "The only reason we're sailing right now is so I can fulfil them." she reminded her, "And even if I didn't have those to worry about, I'd still want to escape. I want to live my life... not be forced to toil in the mud."
"A lot of people's lives are just that." Ty Lee reminded her, and the Princess' expression hardened; she knew that people lived their lives toiling, but Azula was one of the only people in the position to influence that sordid state of affairs, for better or for worse.
"And they could be a lot worse if I don't do my job." she warned her, before snapping her free fingers, "Another topic... this one already floundered."
"Okay... how about- uh..." she mumbled, unsure what to turn to next; she glanced around, presumably trying to find something to talk about.
Her eyes fell upon Azula, and then she suddenly blurt out, "Have you ever thought of having a different haircut?"
She reflexively reached for one of her side bangs, and her eyes darted back over to Ty Lee, "Why would I want to cut my hair? I like it the way it is."
"I'm just asking if you've ever thought of doing it." she clarified, "I mean, I know you don't want to right now. I mean, come on, Zuko doing it would have been the best excuse to do it yourself."
"I realise that." she mumbled, before shaking her head, "My hair is nice. Proper, refined, and elegant. I could go for something a little more simplistic, or more ornate, but neither change would suit my purposes." she explained her thoughts, twisting her sidebang through her fingers.
"So... you just like it the way it is?" she asked, and Azula narrowed her eyes.
"I think my hair represents myself. How I show myself to the world." she spoke her mind, "Without it... would I really be Princess Azula?"
"Huh." she murmured, and tilted her head, "Maybe not? If you had a different hairstyle, you'd look completely different."
"Yes, that's the beauty of hair. It makes us more than you'd think." she said something that sounded like a proverb her uncle would say, though she'd actually heard the words from Lo and Li; they were always so fussed about etiquette and appearance, telling her it was key to presenting herself as a Princess of the Fire Nation.
"I mean, I'd say auras are more important." Ty Lee argued, placing her free hand on her sternum, "If your aura changes, you change... and yours has changed a bit."
"Since when?"
"I mean, when we first met again after I went to the circus... It seemed different. Not too different, but I could tell. Now, after what happened with your dad, it's different again."
"People change, Ty Lee." she acknowledged; she had gotten better with her firebending with age, and more confident in all her abilities, even if she was always a little arrogant due to how her father would boost her ego, "You're acting like that's a surprise."
"Your aura didn't change before then... I mean, other than..." she trailed off, Azula not needing to hear what she was going to say; it was when her cousin died, that was when her mindset last changed drastically.
"I know." she mumbled, "If I was to change my hair... would it make me seem as different as I am to the me you knew before?"
"Probably as much... haircuts usually happen when you're emotionally going through things." she mumbled, "Like with Zuko."
"Yes... but I am sound of mind, Ty Lee. You have nothing to fear." she assured her, before rising to her feet, "I think I want to do some actual exercises now."
Ty Lee's head perked up, and then she shot to her feet, "Ooh! Can I do some acrobatics?" she asked, and leaned closer, "Do you wanna?"
"I mean, I guess it would help me make sure I'm ready to fight." she decided upon the utility of such exercise, "Yes, let's do it." she agreed to the proposal, and watched as Ty Lee stretched her arms out, before doing a handstand; she smirked and looked at the Princess with a sense of pride.
"So, can you do this yet?" she asked, and Azula scoffed.
"I could already do it." she declared, reaching her arms out, stepping one leg forward, before she leapt into a handstand.
She may have been overestimating her balance, as she leaned too hard into the motion, falling down onto her back. She let out a groan as she felt a sharp pain up her back, rolling herself back over onto her chest.
"My pride." she mumbled to herself, knowing she only had herself to blame for that, trying to prove herself when she should have been more cautious.
"Ah, well, you didn't change too much." Ty Lee smugly commented, before offering her a hand as she got back to her feet; Azula accepted it, and once she stood back up, she stretched her arms and legs out again.
"I'll try again." she declared, knowing that she would feel ashamed if she couldn't do at least one handstand.
"Just go slow this time." she suggested, and the Princess rolled her eyes, before taking a deep breath.
Then she let herself roll forward, bending her arms as she let her palms plant down on the deck, before straightening them as she pulled her whole lower body into the air. Once she was up, she widened the space between her hands, making sure she had as wide a stance as possible. It seemed to help, as she found it easier to balance, and remained there, turning her head around to glance at Ty Lee.
"Told you." she declared with a smile; her friend clapped her hands eagerly, and Azula leaned back, landing her feet back down before she did a cartwheel.
She spun herself around only once, knowing if she did it more than that, she might actually fall flat on her face; once she was back on her feet, she planted her hands on her hips and smirked.
"I have lost none of my finesse." she assured her, before turning her mind to the actual goal, "So, do you have any exercises that will be more straightforward? I could cartwheel all afternoon, but I would prefer not to get sick." she acknowledged, the former words a fib; she certainly could not cartwheel anymore than a few times, and would much prefer to just do ordinary stretches and endurance training.
Ty Lee stretched out both her arms before stepping forward, "I like to do reaching stretches." she explained, sitting herself down with her legs fully extended out; she then reached her left hand forward and tapped her right foot, before doing the opposite with her right hand and left foot.
Azula followed suit, sitting herself down beside Ty Lee and imitating her actions; she found that it was a lot harder to stretch her left arm out, due to the burns, but she persisted anyways, knowing that once she could do as much stretching with both arms, she was ready for a real fight. Actually matching the stretching was possible, but the aches it caused forced her to be more conservative in her motions. Her friend seemed to notice, and got up, pointing to her burnt arm.
"Why don't you do it a little slower?" she suggested, before pointing to her legs, "Pull your knees up."
"Why?" she narrowed her eyes, confused about what she wanted to do; Azula obliged her anyways, and Ty Lee sat in front of her on the deck, grasping both of Azula's hands, their fingers interlocking.
"What are you going to do, kiss me?" she prodded her friend, who snickered.
"No, this." she explained herself by moving her left hand forward and pulling her right hand back; that forced Azula's right hand to move out and stretch, and her left arm to pull up and back.
"Oh." she mumbled, realising what her idea was, "Thank you." she added, her friend smiling as they began to push each other's hands back and forth, which reminded Azula of the motion she'd make if she was shooting out fire streams from her palms.
"We can start moving faster when you're comfortable... then you'll be ready to shoot fireballs like a madman." she assured her, and the Princess just sighed.
"What would I do without you?" she asked rhetorically, knowing that Ty Lee was being more helpful with her bending than her former masters ever were, despite the fact she wasn't even firebending.
"Ah, probably get cooked by the first assassin who gets too big for his boots." she acknowledged, and grinned, "I'm kidding... you'd just be lonely."
"Hmph." she mumbled, finding her words truthful in both cases, "You're stuck with me for now, Ty." she warned her, and her friend shrugged.
"I didn't come here for the sights... I came here to keep you safe."
The stacks of letters Zuko had sent Piandao were a bit of a hassle, but he knew he didn't have much better things to spend his time doing. He enjoyed his calligraphy, swordsmithing, and training, but he knew that helping his student protect the Fire Nation was more important. He hadn't wanted to directly involve himself in the matters of the conflict between Fire Lord Iroh and his younger brother, but when Zuko sent him the stack of letters and his rationale, he couldn't refuse him.
The White Lotus operatives that he had been relying on to help Zuko when he had sought refuge in his home, had been wiped out in their entirety. Being in the capital, it was of no surprise that the Intelligence Service, or more accurately, Ozai's personal goons, caught onto them, but the fact that they had been destroyed so thoroughly, instead of simply captured for information, concerned Piandao. He was sure that Ozai would like to pick away at any notable White Lotus members within the Fire Nation, out of fear that they would aid the Fire Lord in hunting him down, but that didn't seem to be the case, at least not immediately.
So, he went through the letters, trying to find something that would explain what happened; the White Lotus group was caught by surprise, that was clear enough, but he knew that something might have tipped them off. They were looking in Ozai and his plans, but being civilians, they couldn't do too much without arousing suspicion. Piandao and Fat agreed that they might have gotten Ozai's attention, one way or another, but if they had, they would have said something- the letters weren't just from the White Lotus group themselves, but from everyone they were in contact with.
The letters were a mix, some from Iroh, some from other White Lotus members across the Fire Nation or even the other nations, and a few were from himself, those letters easily ignored as his words came from his mind- he already knew what he knew. He recognised some of the names, but not all of them; some of the people were actually interesting: Intelligence Service operatives, public servants, and members of the Home Guard. Zuko had already checked the names and made sure whether they were alive, missing or dead.
From what he had been told, a few of them had disappeared, though none of them were confirmed dead. That wasn't the best news he could hear, but those people weren't even all White Lotus members, but simply contacts who were sympathetic with their ideals. Some were even former members of the Open Eye movement, which had been almost entirely purged of its upper ranks after the Intelligence Service hunted them down.
"Master Piandao, are you sure we're going to even find anything here?" Fat asked him with an understandably sceptical and tired voice.
"Not really, to be frank." he admitted, "There are a lot of letters here, about a lot of stuff. These are the sources of information they used to form the letters they already sent to me, so I'm already familiar with most of the information." he conceded, and Fat raised his right hand to his chin, pondering the contents of the letter he was reading, while Piandao looked through another.
"Do you know most of these White Lotus members?" he asked him, "The ones mentioned in the letters."
"I'm familiar with a few of them. Some of them even came here to be trained by me." he acknowledged, "Most I haven't seen in many years... a few have come back to visit, I'm sure you'd recognise those names."
"Hmph." he mumbled, and nodded, "Yes, I do. Do we know if all these people are dead?"
"Well, the ones who ran the... well, I don't know what to call it. I guess we could call it a chapter. We don't really have names for our local meeting houses." he acknowledged, before his glare hardened, "They're dead. Zuko confirmed as such... all of them were supposedly interrogated and then killed by Ozai's agents. Their bodies were in the palace dungeon... that's how they were able to account for them."
"I hope the boy didn't have to find their bodies." Fat replied with a grimace, "It would not have been a nice sight."
"No, it wouldn't've been." he agreed with the sentiment, "I imagine the guards or Intelligence Service found them and he just got the reports. He's running the Intelligence Service now, not doing the grunt work."
"Your student is moving up in the world." his butler noted with a pleased look, "I hope that he has kept your teachings in mind while in that unsavoury world out there."
"As do I." he agreed with the sentiment, and turned his eyes down to the letters.
He was looking through the last few ones that appeared at the meeting house. Most of them were partially burnt or otherwise damaged, presumably because they weren't filed away when the place was attacked. However, he couldn't see anything suspicious yet. All he saw were a few of his own letters, tattered and marred with blackness, and then, a few others that came from other White Lotus members. Of those, he only recognised one name, that being the sender of the letter.
"Xai Bau." he mumbled, "So, he wanted to organise a meeting in the capital." he observed, wondering what motivated such a thing; perhaps, like Piandao, he was aware of the coming conflict and wanted to prepare their organisation.
However, he knew for a fact that Xai Bau had been distant from the White Lotus for quite some time. He had disapproved of their support of Iroh and aiding his plans in the dying months of Fire Lord Azulon's reign; he still agreed with them on the principle that they should serve the greater good and aid peace, but didn't want to associate himself with the future Fire Lord. Piandao himself opposed the war, and only hoped for its swift and complete end, but he had never tried to be proactive about it, knowing that would only have the Intelligence Service come after him. So, he had not supported Xai Bau and those others who believed in a more radical stance, even if he could agree that it was a bit foolhardy to wholly trust Iroh's intentions.
However, the date of the meeting, from his understanding, was the day the Intelligence Service had raided the place, and captured or killed all the White Lotus members. That was too much of a coincidence. He wondered if he ought to send a message to Xai Bau, knowing that he certainly wasn't among the dead; he was a wanted criminal in the Fire Nation due to his prior public support of the Open Eyes, and though he acted under various pseudonyms, if he was killed, somebody in the Intelligence Service would have been able to identify him.
"Who is Xai Bau, sir?" Fat asked him, and Piandao raised a hand to stroke his facial hair.
"A member of the White Lotus, and an outspoken one at that. He has long been... well, more radically minded than other members. He supported the secret peace process in principle, but thought it didn't go far enough." he explained who the man was to his butler, "I don't want to accuse... but it's awfully suspect that he wanted to meet with the members in the capital the day they were all killed or captured."
"Do you think he would betray the White Lotus?" he asked bluntly, "And... why?"
"Not to Ozai." he assured him, "He would rather die than help a man like that... but him informing on the Intelligence Service would explain how they were all caught unawares."
"This is... concerning, sir. Should we be worried that he's- what, trying to root out his own people?" Fat asked with a surprisingly uneasy face; his butler was courteous but ever-serious, and to see him visibly fearful was something that made Piandao himself uneasy.
"That would be preposterous." he argued, before standing up, "But... it makes sense. There has to be a reason... beyond spite towards Iroh, and the Fire Nation in general."
"The war will only bring pain to our people. He couldn't reasonably want to help it come to fruition. I understand that some despise the war machine of the Fire Nation, but this conflict will only harm those least responsible." Fat admitted, "Didn't you say he wants peace?"
"Peace can..." he began, recalling a set of proverbs that he'd heard once before, "Peace comes from war. Suffering comes from inaction. Justice comes from action."
"Where did you hear that?" he asked, and Piandao grimaced.
"The man himself." he acknowledged, before pacing over to his windows, wondering what he should tell Zuko.
"If my fears are true, then we are in danger. The Fire Lord as well." he acknowledged, placing his hands behind himself, "I want you to write something to the Prince. Inform him that Xai Bau might have betrayed the White Lotus, and he should try and find him."
"Will that do him any good?" Fat asked, "Might that not just confirm the man's biases and make him want to make war with Iroh?"
"He's but a man... but if this is true, then he must have more than a few connections, probably left over from his years in the Open Eyes." he acknowledged the danger Xai Bau could pose; even if he wasn't aiding their enemies, the fact of the attack meant that Ozai's supporters would likely want to come after him eventually.
"So, what, he might have some people he could send to... what, try and deal with us?" Fat asked, and Piandao grimaced.
"I'm afraid so." he confirmed, "As soon as we have informed the Prince, I will consider planning... a trip, of sorts."
"Where shall we go, Master?" he Fat asked, stepping closer to him.
"I believe the Prince could still use my counsel, but I feel it would be suffocating to involve myself in the court politics." he acknowledged, "So, we'll have to head to the colonies. It's the only place I have contacts beside the homeland... and my friends there might help us find somewhere to hold out while the war rages."
"It would be sad to let this place go." Fat acknowledged with a pensive look, "You have invested many years into rebuilding this place."
"We wouldn't be gone forever. If I'm lucky, I'll pick up some more students... perhaps some people to help fill out the lonely halls here."
"The world's always in need of more weaponsmiths and soldiers... given how things are." his butler acknowledged with a distant look.
"For all the wrong reasons." he mumbled, "I wish that our artform could be respected for its grace and beauty, and not just for the utility it grants to a man wishing to fight."
His gaze turned from the window, and he wondered what to do next; he could not be certain of what happened in the capital, but Xai Bau was certainly somehow involved, though whether that was due to malicious intent or mere accident, remained unclear. However, everything he had heard coming out of the man's mouth for the past few years told Piandao that he was not going to work with Iroh, let alone tolerate the Fire Nation's continued domination of the world. What he didn't know was the lengths he would take to ensure that the Fire Nation would be forced to give up its empire and stop oppressing the people of the other nations.
The worst part was that despite Piandao's lack of a desire to fight, he truly agreed with the ideals by which a personal war against the White Lotus might be waged; if they were going to be politically active, they ought to be in the interests of the greater good and all people, not just whatever aims a given White Lotus member had for themselves. Iroh was not going to do that, despite what he might say about his own lofty goals, and neither would other powerful members, like King Bumi, who despite fighting for the other side, would likely not do much to limit his own power for the good of the people he ruled.
The swordmaster turned around, and paced over to his desk, "Let me get a start to it."
"Should I start boiling some noodles, sir?" Fat inquired, and he nodded.
"Yes, I am getting a little hungry." he agreed to the proposition, "Thank you for your help."
"You don't need to thank me. I know that this is important to you."
"Many things are." he acknowledged, "Thank you nonetheless. Prince Zuko will be most appreciative."
"I'm sure he will be. If I ever leave this place, I'm sure I'll be able to find a spot in another great kitchen." he acknowledged, making Piandao snicker.
"You certainly will, Fat." he agreed, thinking that ending up in the palace kitchens would be a great turn of fortune for his friend, and a well deserved one.
Once Fat had left for the kitchen, Piandao pulled out his ink brush, and eyed the piece of paper in front of himself. He didn't know how to phrase his thoughts, which were conflicted and scattered in his mind; he could not be sure of Xai Bau's intent, nor if he actually had anything to do with the attack. It could have been simply a coincidence, and a terrible one at that, but the fact that he wasn't among the dead himself was too suspicious to ignore.
So, he decided to start by explaining what he learnt from the letter. Xai Bau organised a meeting with the local White Lotus members, and he was not among the dead after Ozai's men attacked the meeting house. He said what he believed: Xai Bau was already known to be opposed to Iroh and the Fire Nation government in general, along with a general distaste towards the authorities across the nations, and already had made statements indicating his split from the White Lotus. He had not actively been in meetings and discussions with other prominent members for at least the past year. His actions seemed to suggest he might have allowed the White Lotus group to be killed, though for what purpose, he could not discern.
"Sir!" he heard Fat shout out, his fearful tone making Piandao worry; he didn't smell any smoke, so his immediate assumption that a fire had started was extinguished, leading him to be simply confused as to why he was so concerned.
He stood up, put the brush away and walked over to the kitchen; when he was halfway there, Fat ran up to him with a frantic look on his face, "Piandao, you have to look out the window." he told him, and his eyes narrowed, before he turned his heels and paced over to the nearest window, which looked down over the valley, where a set of impressive waterfalls laid.
"Not there." Fat corrected him, before gesturing to his right, Piandao pacing down the hallway over to the kitchen, before looking out the windows he found there, which faced to the north, towards the town.
Smokestacks billowing out from the town of Shu Jing was nothing out of the ordinary, but what he could see before him were no ordinary smokestacks. He could see flames coming from houses, and could make out faintly the sounds of shouts and screams from the town; he hadn't noticed that while in his room, presumably because he was so engrossed in what he was writing.
"Sir, what are we going to do?" Fat asked him nervously, and he reached for the hilt of his jian.
"What I have always tried to do... help others." he acknowledged, before turning his gaze to his butler, "Ozai's men must have finally caught a whiff of our location."
"Would Ozai be so brazen?" Fat asked him, "This is a town in the centre of the Fire Nation... it's still daylight."
"That didn't stop him from bombing Zuko's train in Kurosuna." he recalled what the Prince had informed him about, though he'd already heard of it from rumours in the town of an assassination attempt.
"How barbaric." Fat simply commented on the nature of what they were witnessing, "Our nation hasn't seen this kind of fighting in centuries."
"And I hope that we won't see it again for centuries to come." Piandao acknowledged, before he narrowed his eyes, "To the armoury." he decided, and his butler followed after him as he made his way down the staircase that led them to the armoury, which mostly consisted of the blades he had yet to sell along with some worn and tattered armour that he retained from his time in the army.
When they got inside, Piandao quickly picked up his armour pieces, and hung them over his torso; Fat was kind enough to tighten the bands on his arms, back, and shoulders. Then, he took the remaining pieces of armour, which covered his waist and lower body, and tightened those as well. His butler put on his own armour, which was simpler, consisting of a cuirass that covered his torso. Piandao returned the favour, and quickly tightened the bands that kept his cuirass in place, and watched as Fat pulled out his own jian sword, and hung it on his belt.
"Do you think this is the doing of Xai Bau?" he questioned, and the swordmaster narrowed his eyes; from his understanding, he had no idea that Piandao lived in Shu Jing, unless he had heard about the rumours of the fight between him and the soldiers that were sent to impress him back into the military.
"He's never been here before." he assured him, "And I doubt-" he began, before narrowing his eyes, "There's the possibility he could have looked through the letters at the capital hideout." he realised, knowing that if he had come to the hideout after the fight, it wouldn't have been very hard to search their records and find all he could on Piandao.
"In any case, we best get a move on. Whatever they're doing in town, it's meant to get your attention." Fat warned him, and the swordmaster narrowed his eyes; the thought of innocents dying simply to get his attention was beyond disgusting- it gave him a visceral sense of fear, anger, and anxiety, all mixed in one.
He drew out his jian and took a deep breath; he had not fought properly for over a decade, but he would do what he had to. That was the responsibility that fell on him as soon as he learned how to fight.
"If they want a fight, I will give them hell. No spirit will save them from my blade."