A/N: And this half-written story is horror at best, the kind where the hero still dies in the end. Love and be loved. Read… and review!
Some Damn Rocks
[Winter 155 AG]
Zaheer tumbles to the ground, disarmed and defeated. In a flurry, he rises up to his knees and turns to look up at his assailant. The tip of a black blade points at him from a few feet away, while his rapier sword is under the foot of his attacker. Azula of Caldera, the Dragon Empress, stands above Zaheer victorious. Splashed as the background behind Azula is a full moon, and a midnight darkness juxtaposed by a burning fortress. An exploding, flowing volcano rushes down upon a hapless land while the massive infrastructure is ablaze. She looks down on him as if he had just insulted her legacy. The gravel and dirt pin against his knees and he realizes he has lost. Despite all of his faith and fighting, despite his rage and righteousness, he has been defeated.
The Dragon Empress holds the kill stroke.
[4 Hours Earlier]
Zaheer stares out into the void. The world continues going all around him. It is late in the night of the new full moon and they are on the cusp of a monumental evening to fight for and get back his once great love. The air is wretched with anticipation. Others might expect him to be anxious, concerned about what is to come, but feels no such fear. For now he is without attachments, allowing him to be focused on what is ahead. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain. No weapon formed against him could prosper.
"Earth to Zaheer? Hello-o-o-o?"
The 17 year old martial artist comes out of his trance-like state and looks into the dark gray eyes of his contemporary. "What do you want, Ming-Hua?"
"Don't you sass me. 'What do you want'? You're unbearable, you know that? Have you been listening to anything we've been saying?"
"He's got a lot on his mind. Can you really blame him? I mean, with everything on the line tonight."
"Stop giving him the benefit of the doubt, Ghazan. He checked out on our conversation. Are we boring you?"
"Aww, c'mon-"
"No. She's right, and I'm sorry. I was lost in thought," Zaheer apologizes to the 18 year old Ming-Hua and the 14 year old Ghazan. "Now, what did you ask me?"
"That's more like it," the waterbender quietly applauds. She wears a triumphant expression, if only briefly. "We were asking you what she was like?"
"Yeah! Tell us more. You haven't shared any details since she agreed to help."
Zaheer acquiesces, begrudgingly.
"She was surprisingly inspiring. I can understand why people would've followed her," he admits. With a new tone though he says, "But there was also something unnerving about her. She didn't even blink with a blade to her throat - almost as if she was expecting it."
Xai Bau interrupts finally.
"The Dragon Empress is as much a threat as she is an ally. That is the way it has always been. You should all do well to remember that."
The four Red Lotus members are on the outskirts of the Garsai district, along a forest treeline, late on a winter night, the sun long since gone. They stand at the ready, waiting for their final party member to arrive. In the Northern Earth Kingdom winter is not as bitter as other parts of the world, so they are not quite buttoned up as much as they are wearing an extra layer than they would at other times of the year. They each have a mongoose lizard, tied to some trees. Yu Dao is not far, a few dozen miles away, a distance that they can erase in no time upon their trusty steeds. Zaheer has a scabbard at his hip, while Xai Bau keeps his blade in a baldric over his left shoulder. They are running low on time so Ghazan asks what the other teenagers are thinking.
"How do we know she'll come? She's known for disappearing and hiding right?"
"As a great man once said," a voice cuts through the black of the forest and a woman appears to them like a vision of Death itself, wielding a black sword. "The world is far too small for a woman like Princess Azula to simply disappear."
After a brief pause to look around she adds, "No matter how deep she chooses to sink."
Azula wears black leggings that disappear into tall, black leather boots. Her arms are black sleeves that extend all the way down to her knuckles, but leave her fingers exposed. She has a black belt as well, and from her waist up her outfit becomes gray. The top extends the gray down to droop in front of her like a skirt, but otherwise goes up all the way to her neck. There's a window of black fabric where her cleavage would've been. The gray shoulder pads have spikes and gray cape-like cloth hanging in the back. Finally, the accents on the shoulder pads and neckline are gold.
"Whoa." Ghazan can't stop himself.
Ming-Hua looks her up and down but says nothing. She looks the part of an Empress in her armor, although her hair is barely beyond a pixie cut. Zaheer steps forward with his free hand going to the hilt of his blade. Xai Bau welcomes her.
"Greetings Princess. So you decided to join us after all?"
The 69 year old woman strides up to them all in the clearing. She holds out her arms as if expecting to be embraced by the entourage. She replies, "A chance to add the next page to my legacy? I'd trade an empire to be here with you all."
"Indeed." Xai Bau all but rolls his eyes.
"I just had some, hm, last second preparations to take care of. Pardon my tardiness."
"This may sound strange," Ming-Hua starts, "But I love the sound of your voice."
"Thank you. I love your elemental extremities," Azula points to get water arms. "But who might you two be? I haven't had the pleasure yet."
Ming-Hua and Ghazan proceed to explain who they are and their unique bending abilities. It all makes plenty of sense and Azula nods along as they explain. Azula explains to them she's known many such unique benders in her time, going out of her way to highlight an expert ice wielder and another with a white fire that could heal.
"If you all are done with introductions," Xai Bau cuts them off, much to the chagrin of everyone except he and Zaheer. Her motions to the mongoose lizards as he says, "We should get on with the task at hand."
"Excellent," Azula concurs, grabbing the reins of hers and preparing to mount it. "Let's go save a life."
The first sign of trouble comes from the sky. They have reached the area directly surrounding Yu Dao and thus slowed the mongoose lizards to a crawl. The air feels unusually warm for the winter, but despite that thick aridness, Zaheer looks up and watches snow drift down upon them. It is wholly incongruous with the feel of the atmosphere, even if it is relevant to the season. He then noticed a soft orange glow bouncing off the trees and providing a light or sorts, like a city landscape or a very low sunrise. There's a low rumbling sound coming from somewhere. His concern is just starting to peak when all doubt is erased.
BOOM!
A massive explosive noise fills the burgeoning silence that had encased all of them.
"What was that!" Xai Bau demands.
Ghazan is the first to answer, "I don't know but I feel so good about it!"
It's not immediately clear if he's being honest or sarcastic. Zaheer is too busy being mesmerized by the falling snow. A tiny particle drifts down towards him. He raises his finger up and it melts like ash on contact.
"This way, we're not far." Xai Bau commands with a quick whip of his harness.
"I don't like this." Ming-Hua mutters to herself, visibly shaken, as they all fall quickly into a hustle behind him.
Zaheer watches as the low, orange glow grows brighter. There's a greasy, smoky taste to the air he notices at last. The black expanse of the forest disappears into view as they emerge at the top of a cliff above their destination.
Yu Dao, a city at the foot of a volcano, and their specific destination of the compound directly underfoot, is being besieged. There must be dozens of benders and nonbenders fighting all-out, while above them the volcano has erupted and hot lava pours down slowly, inching closer and closer to their target location. The 'snow' that sprinkles down upon them is ash. Topping it all off is that there are wildfires burning all around the complex.
"Oh yeah!" Ghazan shouts, sounding triumphant. "I knew I was feeling good!"
"What is the meaning of this?" Zaheer ponders out loud.
Xai Bau is uneasy but holds his thoughts as he calculates and recalculates what is unfolding. Azula whips her mongoose lizard to descend the hill.
"Looks like we're not the only ones who wanted Zase dead. C'mon! No time to waste!"
She speaks with all of the surety of someone who already knows everything that is about to happen.
They quickly tucked the mongoose lizards a few hundred yards away from the compound, figuring it was safer for them should the lava reach the building. If they managed to survive and return to the lizards, they could make their daring escape at that point. The roving death squadron moves quickly but deliberately together towards their destination. They arrive at a fortress with twenty foot walls, but no guards to stop them. Ming-Hua finds herself wondering how they could've possibly snuck their way inside without this cover. The red fire of the sky fills the darkness up with light as they disappear inside.
They enter the complex with relatively no resistance. There is fighting and there are dead bodies littering the hallways to indicate it's been a struggle, but there's no telling how long this has been going on or what started it. Ghazan is deeply empowered by the current conditions, while Ming-Hua is visibly bothered by them. At one point Xai Bau tries to lead them down a path, but Azula and Zaheer redirect them. They claim to know where to find Zase, and the others dutifully follow. It's not much longer that they come to double doors, broken down. Xai Bau pushes them open, carefully gripping the sword hilt at his hip.
They arrive at Zase's throne room, a large square-shaped room and find it all but deserted. There are no fires in here, but the marble flooring has splashes of blood. There's damage around the room, with pieces of wall blown off and pillars with giant chips knocked out. There are cracks in the flooring somehow too. Whatever happened here was not a polite and positive outcome.
"Well, well, well. I'll be damned." Xai Bau mumbles to himself.
Zaheer walks out in front of all of them, joined shortly by Azula. The rest lag behind them, slowly ambling to the center of the room.
"Oh, this is too good to be true." Ghazan marvels.
Slumped in the throne of the Yu Dao "Kingdom" is its current, at least for now, warlord. Zase sits upon the chair, bleeding out and impaled through the shoulder with a slick, metal javelin. His face is beaten beyond repair, but with one good eye he peers out at his audience. He is silent, immobilized, and dying, but still he draws breath, for the Red Lotus had come to his door, not Death.
"C'mon, he's as good as gone," Azula explains. "We have to find the girl before it's too late."
"You go on. I'll catch up. I have unfinished business."
Azula looks concerned at first but then rolls her eyes at the young survivor. She waves a hand for others to follow.
"You do what you have to, the rest of you - on me. Prison cells should be through these doors." She both leads the others and dismisses Zaheer.
Ghazan and Ming-Hua don't hesitate to fall in line behind her, but Xai Bau stays with his protege. When the room clears and they are alone they approach the throne. A space that Zaheer had only ever stood in once before, but he would never forget. They stop a couple of feet away. Xai Bau speaks while Zaheer keeps his eyes on Zase.
"The Princess is correct. Time is not a resource we have in excess."
"I've waited my whole life for this moment, Master."
"I understand. Do what you must."
Zaheer steps forward and Zase's one functioning eye lazily traces his outline.
"Do you remember who I am?"
No answer comes.
"I understand if you don't. I was just a boy the last time I was here. So scared back then, even more scared than you are now."
Zaheer steps forward and inspects the javelin.
"I told you then that I would be the end of you."
An end is all that Zase desires.
"That someday I would hear you scream."
Zaheer scoffs at the placement of the steel tipped weapon. Whoever had done this had been in a hurry and passionate. There was nothing precise about where they had pierced the skin. Zaheer knows, all too well from his time in Zase's "kingdom," all of the places where someone can be stabbed without being killed. He knows how to avoid all of the major arteries and muscles so that his enemies will bleed the longest and suffer the most. All of this and more he learned, in part, thanks to this "king."
"So?" He asks. "Will you scream for me?"
With all of his power, Zaheer pulls the javelin out of the warlord's shoulder. He immediately, swiftly, slams it back in, this time making sure it clips as many major blood vessels as possible and pierces the bone.
"Gah! Fuu. Ragh."
When Zase is done crying in pain, Zaheer asks him a question, while watching the color drain from his face. "Now tell me: Who did this to you?"
His eyes flicker back to his former tormentor. Zase, now bleeding out, rapidly approaching his long awaited meeting with Death, speaks his final words on this Earth.
"It was her. Th… the dra… go… n-"
"You do what you have to, the rest of you - on me. Prison cells should be through these doors."
Ghazan's legs spring to life as he follows the old woman through the side door, with the slightly older Ming-Hua right behind him. They walk through some dark hallways, a lovely heat burning around the building imbuing the teenager with great strength. As a child he heard tall tales about a comet that gave a power boost to firebenders. He has to imagine this roughly the equivalent for him as an Earthbender who can manipulate lava, to have natural lava be so close to him. He is so lost in thought about this that he doesn't realize how long they've been going down this passageway. He asks a question to his de facto tour guide.
"How did you know where to go?"
"It was Ghazan, right?" She seeks confirmation without replying.
"Yeah?"
"Well, Ghazan, I don't have any bending. Why do you think I'm here?" She trails off, thinking it a rhetorical question. However, as the seconds awkwardly tick by without a reply she decides to tack on, "For my brain."
They keep walking through the narrow straightaway, passing various wooden doors. The ground swells, the air is thick with a smoky taste, and the besieged building rumbles. Ghazan asks her what he thinks is a good follow up question, "So you have some kind of brain that knows how to navigate dungeons like this?"
"No, you dumb ass," she chides him with a laugh but not breaking stride. Ming-Hua, struggling to keep up given the conditions, laughs too. She would pile on but she feels too weak to do so. Azula continues, "I used my considerable resources to get a map of this place."
"But you don't have a map!" He quickly points out.
"I memorized it! You think I'd just bring it with me and pull it out of my pocket every few seconds?" She asks as they approach their destination.
"Oh," he replies meekly, embarrassed. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"You goof." Ming-Hua huffs from behind and his cheeks burn more deeply red.
Azula comes to a stop in front of a reinforced door. She begins explaining, "Alright, so this is it. On the other side — hey, WAIT!"
Ghazan, desperate to show his worth to his friend Ming-Hua and show off his lava infused power spike to the legendary Dragon Empress, instantly barges forward and kicks the door down. It flies off the hinges and he enters first, a triumphant look on his face. A man leading the charge for the weaker women.
"Get them!" An unseen voice whispers and Ghazan never stands a chance.
Out of the darkness of the room, three sets of rock gloves fly forward. Ghazan is captured by the attack and feels his hands come together in front of him, then quickly to the ground, leaving him in a very vulnerable position. The second set goes for Azula, but she swings her Space Sword and shatters them on impact. The final set, aimed at Ming-Hua, would've grabbed her as well if she had any wrists. Instead, the rock gloves splash harmlessly into her water arms.
Before any of the trio can act, the assailants rush towards them. One of them shouts, "They must be with the Kemurikage! Kill them!"
"The who?!" Ming-Hua screams as she rushes forward while Azula remains still behind her.
Ghazan is assaulted by two of the guards who swing massive sledgehammers into his forearms, one on each side, shattering the bones.
"FUCK! GAHHH! NO!" He screams his lungs out but the damage is done.
Under normal circumstances, Ming-Hua would decimate these foes in the blink of an eye. She is perhaps the most deadly soldier in the entire Red Lotus network, capable of taking on dozens of men at once and dispatching them with ease. Unfortunately, these are not normal circumstances. She enters the fray and blasts one guard into the wall behind him, but they shoot rocks and fire at her and she struggles to dodge. The sledgehammer wielding guards both step forward and take their turns at her. The first narrowly misses, but the second connects. Ming-Hua collapses into a heap on the ground with two broken ribs, feeling like she may never stand up again.
Azula, unmoved, finally steps forward.
"Impressive work." She commends the soldiers as she admires their work. She takes stock of the room. The two aforementioned brawlers with sledgehammers, two earthbenders, one of whom is splashed against the wall and getting back up, and finally a firebender. None attack her. She concludes, "You've done your part well."
Ghazan and Ming-Hua look up at the unphased and undamaged Azula. They are astonished at first, but the shock quickly morphs into fear. Ming-Hua recalls Xai Bau's warning from the forest, that The Dragon Empress is as much an enemy as an ally. Both of the defeated Red Lotus members wonder if the path to this point had been paved with betrayal and treachery all along. They look up to the sky and beg for help with their eyes.
One of the guards addresses her.
"Give up, Lady. There's no reason to die today."
Azula, in her black, grey, and gold armor chuckles audibly. Ming-Hua, despite her broken ribs, feels something warm rising in her chest. Ghazan can't bend any lava, but he feels it too. A small kindle, growing quickly.
"How sweet. You offer me mercy? Then I shall return the gesture."
"You can't seriously think you can take us on?" He says, menacingly as his comrade picks himself up off of the wall, still wet. They all surround her. "We've got you out-numbered five to one."
She smirks.
"Then it sounds like you're about eight men short."
He laughs at the brazenness of the old woman.
"Alright! Have it your way. Kill the hag!"
One of the Earthbenders bends the ground to swallow her entire lower body, all the way up to her hips. This is not unexpected for the grizzled veteran of life and death scenarios. One of the men wielding a sledgehammer steps forward and swings the weapon over his shoulder. He aims to crack her head open like an egg, but Azula is faster, swifter, and has a better weapon than him. She swings the space sword, with both arms, not at the man, but at the handle of his hammer. With little difficulty she slices through the wooden handle and the hammer falls quickly to the ground.
"Huh!"
The man's momentum carries him forward and Azula uses that to her advantage. She takes one hand off of the blade handle and then grabs him by the arm, sending him flying towards his comrades.
"Oof!"
The other Earthbender sends a brick right for Azula's stagnant midsection, but just like with the rock gloves she sees this coming and reacts, swinging the sword down and slicing the rock in half. Now that she has established who is bending what element and which of the Earthbenders is holding her in place she turns to them. With a heave she chucks her space sword at them.
"WHOA!" The bender barely dodges away from the sword, which gets lodged in the brick wall behind them.
Their concentration broken, Azula is free from the Earth holding her to the ground, which crumbles around her.
"Let's dance!"
She moves with all of the fluidity of a circus acrobat, spinning away from fire and rock blasts. In quick succession she dodges the remaining sledgehammer assailant and retrieves her space sword from the wall. When she turns back the once confident group is suddenly apprehensive. Every second they spend thinking, every moment they are not attacking her, is time wasted and time lost. She rushes at the sledgehammer attacker. He knows she can slice through his handle too, but he thinks he's faster than her.
"No!" He screams when the woman breaks his handle with ease.
She dodges away from him and moves towards the Earth benders. They try to quickly grab hold of her with their bending but she is too close and too agile, dodging it and getting in their face before they can react.
"No you don't!"
The other large man who has been using a sledgehammer earlier swings at her with his fists. She dodges and is suddenly isolated again.
"Burn her, Tusok!"
Out of the corner of her eye she sees the man prepare a fireball, so she does the same thing again, launching her space sword at them. She misses wildly, over their shoulder.
"Don't let her get it back again!"
Azula cracks her knuckles.
"This is gonna be fun!"
The weaponless assailant runs up and goes to tackle her. As he grabs hold of her she taps both of his shoulders with her fingers. Instead of falling backwards, she steps back and he collapses onto the dusty floor.
"Gili! What did she do to him?"
Azula spins away from incoming Earth bending attacks and does the same to one of the earthbenders, hitting pressure points that make his arm go weak.
"Gah!" He screams, feeling the bending leave him.
"No!" The other firebender steps forward and launches a wave of flame at her.
Azula drops to the ground and the blast flies over her, but crashes into the lone remaining earthbenders, who lets out a scream as he drops to the ground and begins rolling. Azula quickly rises to her feet and stares down the firebender. Just as she goes to move towards him, the lone remaining nonbending man, who had previously held the other sledgehammer, comes out of the shadows and delivers a massive blow to her head.
"Ugh!" She stumbles backwards into the wall, her lip split. Blood and saliva fly out of her mouth. She mutters to no one, "Lost count. That's on me."
The mammoth of a man barrels down on her. He cocks his fist back and swings it forward to go for the kill. Unfortunately for him, Azula catches his giant fist with hers. He is stunned by the strength in such a small, frail, old woman. She smirks at his look of disbelief before she punches his arm with her free hand. His arm goes limp, but she doesn't stop there. She punches him in the face and then again. He stumbles backwards a bit, not defeated, but she continues her onslaught. She hits the chis on his chest and then, when his body begins to slump against his will, she hits his kneecap.
"Grah!" He falls and she lets him.
All that remains is the firebender named Tusok. From his viewpoint she is mostly shrouded in shadows, but she turns her amber eyes to him and he has nowhere to go. She stalks towards him and whispers quietly.
"I told you that you were 8 men too short."
"You're… how… I - !"
He is stunned but as she closes in he throws his hands up to blast her with fire.
"Stop this," she smacks his hands away and then chi blocks his arm. Instead of continuing her assault she grabs the wrist of his limp arm. She turns it's over and then grabs his other wrist. "You? You're not worthy of the flames."
She lifts her leg up and delivers a kick to his chest, releasing his arms at the same time. Unable to brace his fall, the firebender smacks his head against the ground. He loses consciousness, the last of her enemies defeated. She sees a key ring on the loop of his belt, and rips it off.
"Ming-Hua," The Dragon Empress says, approaching to help her up. "Can you heal at all?"
"N-no." She replies between panged breaths.
Azula can see the excruciating pain in her face and tells her, "Alright. Don't talk. Just focus on breathing. Find the places that don't hurt in your lungs and think only of that, alright? Nod if you understand, Child."
Ming-Hua does as she's told. Azula gives her a reaffirming look and then leaves her side to check on their other fallen comrade. He is on his knees, his forehead pressed against the ground. She asks him, "Are you alright? Do you have any feeling in your fingers?"
"Gah! Fuck! I can't feel anything but pain! I think they broke both of my arms!"
"Here, stop. Let me see."
The older Azula sits Ghazan back on his legs and examines the arms. There's no blood or protruding bones. She tells him, "It's going to hurt until we can get you to a healer, but you're going to be okay."
Feeling secure that her young wards are safe, Azula rises. She strides up to the singular prison door present in the room. It is a completely shut door, not barred like the other ones throughout the dungeon. There's an eye hole and she can see through it that the inside is an ice box. Using the key she got from Tusok, she unlocks the door and swings it open. A blast of cold air stings her face, a remarkable achievement given how hot it is with the fires and impending lava.
"Yue."
Azula mumbles to herself as she looks inside. Chained up in the back of the cell, both arms extended out, her knees also locked into the ground, is a small, frail, shivering girl. She looks like all bones, not any fat or muscle on her whatsoever. What's more, in addition to her hands and legs, there is a mask covering her eyes and forehead. Her mouth is free though, and a meek, trembling voice speaks to her.
"P-p-please. No-no more. Haven't you had enough?"
Azula walks into the ice box, her feet crunching on the ground. She stands over the malnourished, violently assaulted girl. She has bruises all over her arms and body, tattered clothes, and she shakes in the breezing chill. Azula can't imagine the pain she has been through, the unimaginable torture. The old woman suffers a series of flashbacks, remembering young girls, throughout her life, who have been similarly treated. She winces at the memories.
"P-p-please. Tell-tel M-Master, I-I-I'm sorry."
"Your master is dead."
"Huh!" The girl gasps. A woman's voice speaks to her. Besides the other prisoners, maids, and sex slaves, there hadn't been a woman in the complex in her memory. She can't believe it and says so, "You're lying! Master Zase was ordained by Agni himself. He is-"
"He's bleeding out on his throne right now, girl," Azula grabs one arm binding and unlocks it with the same key that got her into the cell. As the girl gains her arm back she still can't believe the words. Azula reaches up and unlocks her other arm, "I was sent to get you out of here. So that's what I'm doing."
"H-how?" She asks, her hands rubbing their raw wrists while Azula unlocks the mechanism that keeps her kneeling on the ground. "How have you killed someone personally chosen by Agni?"
"Well for starters, I believe in Yue," Azula explains as she finishes the last lock. She kneels and places an arm around the waist of the teenager, and helps her to stand up. She carefully guided the blind girl out of the cell, "And second of all, I didn't kill him. Someone else did."
Just as they are stepping out of the threshold of the cell, two figures appear out of thin air. Azula almost jumps at the sight but then realizes they are friends, not foes. She doesn't greet them though because the younger one, Zaheer, wears a surprising look on his face. His eyes light up and tears percolate on the edges, he reaches out and touches the metal blinding the young girl. She, in turn, shutters away from the touch.
"Take this off of her now — right now!" He demands.
"Right, okay."
"No! Could it be… is it!"
"It's me, P'Li."
He tells her while Azula reaches up behind her head and inserts the key into the locking mechanism. She turns it and the metal clasp comes undone. Azula pulls it off and the girl named P'Li can see at last. She steps away from Azula and up to the young man in front of her. His hands reach up and cup her face. She grabs hold of anything she can touch, her hands moving and feeling, desperate to confirm that what she sees is real and not some figment of her wildest imagination.
"Zaheer? Is it you?"
"It is! It is!"
"Is it really you? You came back for me?"
He pulls her into a tight embrace and holds her as if she might slip away if he ever let go.
"Of course I did. Of course. Of course. I told you I would, I promised."
P'Li breaks down into sobs and free flowing tears. Ghazan, with his two broken arms, and Ming-Hua, with her two broken ribs, join the group at the entryway to the prison cell. These two do not know P'Li, but they have heard what she meant to their friend Zaheer, so in a way it feels like they know her. It feels like cosmic forces had been at play to bring them all together like this, and despite their physical pain, the metaphorical cups of their souls are overflowing with thanks and gratitude.
"Yue, can we move this along? The world is ending around us, for crying out loud."
Azula cuts through their emotional reunion to remind them that the sky is filled with falling ash, the massive complex is burning down, and lava is trudging towards them, if not already compromising the integrity of the building. Recognizing this, the collective scurries out the way they came, leaving all of the incapacitated guards behind.
The ground shakes, the smell of burning firewood fills their nostrils and lungs, and now there are explosions happening all around them. Zaheer leads in the front, his fingers interlocked with P'Li, guiding her back the way they came. Ming-Hua, weak and hurt but technically still capable of bending, is behind P'Li, while Ghazan, arguably the weakest member of the crew right now, is walking slightly behind her. Azula and Xai Bau bring up the rear, protecting the pack in case the guards chase after them or just any kind of threat arises from behind.
When they pass through the throne room, P'Li can't help but stare. Her eyes linger over the dead warlord. A fate she had hoped and wished for, for so long, and yet never actually believed it would come to pass. She stumbles forward, being pulled by Zaheer's strong hand. As they exit the throne room, they enter back into the fray of battle grounds, where benders and nonbenders alike are still ravaging one another. The group is trying to move quickly while none are in sight, desperate to escape amongst the chaos and return home without any other damage.
Fate has other plans for them.
BOOM!
"MING-HUA!"
"XAI BAU!"
The ceiling collapses practically on top of them. The group scurries and falls down, desperate to avoid the falling rubble and debris. Ming-Hua is the most vulnerable in this situation, her broken ribs making it impossible for her to move away in time. Luckily for her, Ghazan raised up his broken arms and crashed into her anyway to tackle her out of the way. P'Li and Zaheer were far from the situation, but nonetheless hit the floor to avoid any flying rocks.
"FUCK!" Ghazan screams out from the ground.
"Are you dead?" Ming-Hua asks, only somewhat joking as he screams into her ear. "Or just dismembered?"
"My arms. My fucking arms!"
"Dismembered it is."
"Is everyone alright?" Zaheer yells.
"Yeah," Ming-Hua answers for the two of them. "Ghazan saved me and lost his arms in the process. We'll be twins soon enough, except I might go deaf too from his screaming."
"No I didn't, damn it! But I wish I had!"
P'Li turns back and sees the collapsed ceiling is directly behind the bickering two, but is alarmed that she can't see anyone else. She gets up and walks back towards the rocks, "Where are the others? The old woman and the man?"
A faint voice replies, "We're alive. We're just… trapped."
Zaheer rushes to the rubble at this sound. He can only barely hear his mentor. "Master! Are you alright?"
"Yes, Zaheer."
"I saved him." The woman's voice calls back.
"She did." He reluctantly grunts.
"Sorry you lost your arms, Ghazan." Azula shouts over the barricade.
BOOM!
The entire building shakes again.
"What do we do, Master?" Zaheer yells.
"We're not hurt, but we have no course of advance."
Zaheer turns to the Earthbender. "Ghazan, can you - ?"
Ming-Hua, now in a sitting position beside the 14 year old Ghazan, scowls at Zaheer for even asking. To his credit, the boy rolls and looks at his friend. His face is pained and he is laboring. He offers, "I can try?"
Ming-Hua doubles down on her expression to Zaheer before offering, "That's probably useless at this point."
"Can you heal him?" P'Li asks innocently.
"No. I'm not a healer." Ming-Hua replies to the younger girl. "I would've already if I could."
"I see," she nods. Next P'Li turns her attention to Zaheer. "I could blast it?"
"You're too weak," he correctly analyzes. He turns back towards the rocks, "But it's our only choice. Master! Step back from the rubble!"
"No!" Xai Bau shouts from the other side. "That'll only make matters worse."
"I can get us out of here, Xai Bau," Azula tells her dark skinned partner quietly. "But it'll be dangerous. We have to go back some of the way we came, towards the lava side."
Looking around, the grey eyed man shrugs, not seeing any other course of action. He tells her, "Better than waiting for the lava to come to us, or the roof to collapse again."
The bald Xai Bau turns and shouts across the distance, "We're going to find a way around. Meet us back at the lizards! Be safe! If we're not there in an hour, just leave without us!"
With that, the group goes their separate ways.
They wait at the mongoose lizards for thirty-five minutes when it finally happens. The entire complex is engulfed with flames, the lava overtaking it and only helping to melt it down. Smoke billows up into the sky, the city of Yu Dao burning, and the full moon shines down upon a figure that approaches them from the distance. It is Azula and Azula alone. She jogs up towards them, her clothes and armor more tarnished now than it had been when she skillfully fought 5 men alone in an enclosed space. Zaheer, P'Li, Ming-Hua, and Ghazan all rise and stand in a semi-circle together as Azula comes to a stop in front of them. Ming-Hua is the one to ask.
"Where is he?"
Zaheer hangs on her every movement, breath, word, and nonverbal cue.
Huffing, out of breath, Azula is sullen as she tries to explain, "There was a landslide, and - WHOA!"
"LIAR!" Zaheer lunges at her.
The older woman deftly swats his hands away, grabbing his wrists and using his momentum to toss him away from her and the rest of the group. He stumbles a bit and then recovers. He rips his sword from its scabbard on his hip.
"Zaheer!" P'Li pleads with him. "Please! What-!"
"Zaheer, stop!" Ghazan yells.
"Zaheer, what the fuck is wrong with you? You immature- !" Ming-Hua reprimands him.
Azula, no longer huffing for breath, no longer destitute or tired, suddenly is solemn and serious. She puts both of her hands out at her side and strides in a semi-circle around Zaheer, away from the group. She is staring fireballs at the seventeen year old. She doesn't say anything but every staredown, every threatening gesture, every breath she takes is an admission of guilt in Zaheer's eyes.
"SHE KILLED HIM!" He shakes his rapier, pointed right at her.
"I didn't," she calmly explains. "There was a landslide. He didn't make it."
"BECAUSE YOU KILLED HIM!"
"There's nothing I'm going to say that will convince you otherwise." She remains calm.
"Zaheer, please!" P'Li begs one of her saviors to not kill her other savior.
"Stop this!" Ming-Hua demands.
"C'mon, man! C'mon! Cut the bullshit!" Ghazan begs him.
"No! There is no lie you could tell because I know the truth!"
"Fine," Azula accepts, drawing the space sword from its scabbard. "Have it your way."
"RAH!" And Zaheer dashes forward.
Every angle Zaheer takes is parried. Every attack he goes for she sees coming and blocks. Despite everything he tries to accomplish, Azula is prepared for and has a defense ready. Their swords clang a number of times as their audience of teenagers screams for it to stop. That is not an option for the nonbending Zaheer. He had been warned that Azula couldn't be trusted and now she has killed his mentor and Master. He sees red and only blood will suffice to quench his thirst. He is so busy trying to kill Azula that he doesn't even realize she hasn't taken one chance on the offensive. Under normal circumstances, it's right to assume the much younger and stronger fighter would've outmatched his opponent. Instead, his anger blinds him and she lets him wear himself out. Finally, she puts her blade perpendicular to his and stops his momentum.
His olive green eyes meet with her amber eyes. His rage meets with her calm. His youth and anger at the world meets with her wisdom and acceptance of the order of things. For a moment there is nothing else except this moment and their eyes meeting.
She lets the blades fall forward for a moment and then pushes upward with all of her strength. Zaheer staggers backwards. He tries to raise his blade up to attack her but he's too slow and she is already attacking. She swings her space sword and smashes it into his, near the hilt. The vibration stings his hand and he loses his blade. Azula kicks him in the thigh, causing him to fall down to one knee. With her free hand she grabs his shoulder and spins him around. The next thing he knows she pushes him forcefully. He takes a step or two before he trips and falls.
Zaheer tumbles to the ground, disarmed and defeated. In a flurry, he rises up to his knees and turns to look up at his assailant. The tip of a black blade points at him from a few feet away, while his rapier sword is under the foot of his attacker. Azula of Caldera, the Dragon Empress, stands above Zaheer victorious. Splashed as the background behind Azula is a full moon, and a midnight darkness juxtaposed by a burning fortress. An exploding, flowing volcano rushes down upon a hapless land while the massive infrastructure is ablaze. She looks down on him as if he had just insulted her legacy. The gravel and dirt pin against his knees and he realizes he has lost. Despite all of his faith and fighting, despite his rage and righteousness, he has been defeated.
The Dragon Empress holds the kill stroke.
Zaheer's eyes dart from the rapier to the face of the Dragon Empress. They dance back and forth frantically. Zaheer has not lost in a fight like this in his entire life. Sick memories poison his mind and blur the line between what he sees and what he feels. His breathing becomes quick and shallow. He feels his heart pounding. P'Li and the others stand in the background, and notice the quick breaths. Zaheer wonders if perhaps she will kill him too.
Azula sees the fear in his eyes for the first time since meeting him. She puts a foot on the handle of his rapier, seemingly signifying her dominance over him, claiming victory and his blade.
The next moment though she kicks forward and his sword bounces on the ground towards him. With all eyes on Zaheer's blade, the rapier comes to a rest in front of him. His olive green eyes rise to meet the amber ones of the woman across from them. She eggs him on with three words.
"Pick it up."
Zaheer scrambles to his feet, clutching the ornate handle of his rapier. Azula lays down a gauntlet.
"Xai Bau is gone. The Red Lotus will need a leader. Will you rise to the occasion, Zaheer?"
Growing solemn, accepting the fact that he lost but she still would not kill him, he nods.
"Good. Because it won't be me."
She sheaths her blade and walks towards the mongoose lizards. Incredulous, Ming-Hua speaks first, "What do you mean?"
"I want nothing to do with the Red Lotus. I was out, free, working on my own shit. And this? This little rescue nearly killed me many times over."
She pauses and looks out at the raging inferno and lava completely desolating what remains of Yu Dao. She says two simple words.
"I quit."
Ghazan asks her, "But didn't you, like, create the Red Lotus? Weren't you one of the founders? The only living founder left?"
"Not anymore. I'm not dying to some damn rocks like Xai Bau did. My life has to mean something more than that."
She mounts the mongoose lizard while the teenagers all look on in shock. Azula guides it to walk towards Zaheer. His eyes belong only to Azula as it comes to a stop in front of him.
"Never forget, Zaheer: The Dragon awaits you in the end. Don't be like the others who only thought they could chase it."
She extends a hand for him to shake. Zaheer contemplates the words of his late mentor. Earlier in the night he had said she is just as much an ally as she is an enemy. He feels he is finally understanding what that means. Zaheer shakes the hand of Azula.
The Dragon Empress rides off into the night.
The Dragon Empress rises once more.
A/N: This chapter's OST is "Muddy Waters" by LP.
Love always. Red Lotus forever!
Notorious