Ty Lee was sure Mai would like to hug her goodbye, even if she didn't act like it; there were a few things they discussed after she climbed through her window, like how Zuko tended to do just that, more often than not, to avoid having to deal with Ukano, who supposedly would give his daughter strife over her courting with the young Prince. The thought of a secret romance made the acrobat giddy, though she tried her best to contain her excitement.
"So, the circus?" Mai raised a brow at her, the closest thing she'd get from her friend to a look of surprise, though her tone suggested she was sarcastic in such an expression, "I thought you'd get around to going there sooner."
"Well, I'm only fourteen, Mai." she admitted the obvious; she was young and naive, though less so when she was younger, and still held the same aspiration to go join the circus, "But I feel like I know enough about the world now. And I'm looking forward to learning much more."
"How terrible commoner's food is?" her friend asked, making Ty Lee cringe, realising she hadn't considered her future living conditions as a factor; her parents weren't the wealthiest nobles, but she never had to eat anything subpar or meagre- she and her sisters were well cared for, even if their parents' attention was in short supply.
"Urgh." she mumbled, looking down, dejected that she mightn't enjoy that aspect of her journey, "That's... that's just part of the package, I guess."
Mai raised her hand up to her chin, crossing one leg over another as she glanced over to the window, "How'd Azula react?"
"She seemed like she didn't want me to go." she admitted, "But she was supportive enough."
"Calling Azula supportive is a bit of a stretch." her friend retorted, making Ty Lee scrunch her lips up.
"Azula was supportive in her own Azula way... telling me that she was a better acrobat, but I'm still a great one."
"Of course she did." Mai monotonously acknowledged, shaking her head; the Princess would never waste an opportunity to brag about her skill.
A few moments of silence fell between them, and Ty Lee leaned in a little closer to her friend, knowing there was something she wanted to know,
"How are you going, Mai? Has Zuko been around?"
"Yesterday." she nonchalantly acknowledged, as if there was nothing odd about it; whether it was some kind of amusingly drawn out courtship, or just the Prince looking for a friend, it did seem a little weird that he was always so secretive about it, at least from what she'd heard from Mai and Azula- she didn't speak enough with Zuko to ask for his side of the story.
"And what'd you do?"
"Talked." she shrugged her shoulders, the acrobat scrunching her lips up.
"Just talked? About what?" she pressed her question, Mai rolling her eyes.
"Is it really that important that you know?" she asked Ty Lee, who pouted, disappointed that her friend wasn't telling her about her talks with Zuko; she thought at the very least she could give her some advice on how to flirt with the Prince instead of being stoic and distant all the time.
"Well, I just want to know."
"His father." she simply responded, making the acrobat tense up; she didn't have to snoop around that much to know the Prince had a rather unhealthy relationship with his father- Azula would joke about how much Prince Ozai chided his son, and the very fact it was a joke to her meant it had to happen a lot, "He's angry about... well, a few things. His firebending regimes, especially."
"Azula upstaging him a little?" the acrobat asked, cringed in her face, realising that every success her friend made when it came to firebending was a defeat for her brother, especially given how competitive their relationship was.
"Not a little. Completely." she retorted, "Shooting lightning bolts isn't exactly something he can compare to."
"Barely anyone can generate lightning anyway." Ty Lee argued, "That's a stupid thing to compare."
"Well, perhaps Prince Ozai isn't that smart." she dared to suggest, the acrobat raising her chin up; she wouldn't think that the father of Azula, who was probably the smartest person she knew, could be stupid.
"Maybe he's just mean." she gave an alternative argument, cringing at the thought of what the two royal siblings had to deal with in comparison to herself, "I certainly prefer oblivious parents over mean ones."
Mai raised her chin up, "So, where are you going to go, specifically? I'm assuming there's more than one circus in the world for you to run away to."
"There's one in the Fire Nation colonies I've heard of. I'll go there, because I know my parents won't be able to find me there."
Her friend raised a brow, "What, are they going to send a bounty hunter after you?" she asked, the acrobat shrugging her shoulders.
"I wrote a letter and put it under my pillow to tell them what I'm doing so they don't do that. If they do, I'll beat up the bounty hunters and send their sorry butts back to the Fire Nation." she raised up a fist to stress her intention, "I'm going to go to the circus, and nobody's going to stop me."
"You say that now, Ty Lee." she crossed her arms, "Don't you say talking about something is a way to get bad luck?" she asked her, making the acrobat cringe, realising that she did prescribe to that very view; it was better to let good things happen rather than suggest they might, and then have the opposite occur.
"Ah..." she raised a hand to her chin, "Now I'm fated to get my dream stuffed up." she grumbled, before rising up to her feet, placing her hands on her hips, "But I'll enjoy it while I have it. That's what counts, right?"
Mai shrugged her shoulders, and the acrobat giggled, knowing that she wasn't going to have an enthusiastic reaction no matter what she said.
"Nothing really counts, Ty Lee. That's kind of the whole point. You can go to the circus, and nobody is going to stop you." she nonchalantly explained, before glancing over toward the window, "So, are you going, or what?"
"Well, I want to know what you're going to do if I'm not here." she admitted, just wanting to have some things to imagine Mai doing while she was away; she didn't assume she'd send many letters to her, and if she did, they'd probably have a bit of an issue with making sure the letters were sent to the right place.
"I don't know, do schoolwork." she shrugged her shoulders, before narrowing her eyes at Ty Lee, "You're not going to have to do any of that."
"Jealous?" she smugly asked her, the stoic girl straightening her lips.
"I'm not jealous. I just know you'll be free of all that stupid work. Good for you." she noted, not seeming too fussed; her words told her that she was happy for her, and that made the acrobat grin.
"I'm happy about that too." she assured her, before smirking, "But, I know you'll have something else on your plate."
"Yeah, you can imagine all the things I won't be doing with Zuko." she quipped in return, "Your imagination is a little too strong when it comes to what we do together."
"I mean, come on. You're both teenagers. You like each other. Things happen." she suggested, Mai rolling her eyes, glancing over to her desk once more.
"The closest thing we've gotten to a date is him showing me the tunnels under the city. And that was creepy, not romantic." she argued, the acrobat raising a finger up.
"Maybe you'll go on some amazing adventure with him." she suggested, the stoic girl almost scoffing at her idea.
"Yeah, and you'll achieve enlightenment somewhere between jumping around and gawking at boys." she retorted, the acrobat scrunching her lips up.
"You never know. There's things to see out there. I might come back a whole lot wiser."
"Well, it's better you get wise out there than in a classroom. I want to slam my head into my desk every time my teachers mention some stupid poetry techniques, or some obscure Fire Nation history that nobody in their right mind should care about."
"Maybe you should run away too." Ty Lee suggested, her friend looking at her blankly for a few moments, perhaps actually considering the idea, before she shook her head.
"To where? I have no where I want to go."
"That's a lie. You must want to go somewhere."
"Somewhere I can live and not have to worry about my parents expectations." she argued, before sighing, "Hopefully, that world might be a little closer once they put all their attention on Tom-Tom."
"Your problems are the opposite of mine." she noted, making Mai purse her lips upward.
"Want to swap lives?" she jokingly suggested, the acrobat raising a hand up to refuse; she was set in her intentions, and the idea of just living without having to vie with her sisters for her parents' attention sounded rather boring, "No, yours isn't interesting enough for me... ask me again when you and Zuko go do something crazy."
"If Zuko does something crazy, it'll be fighting Azula in an Agni Kai... and I'm sure I don't want to be around to experience that." she admitted, making the acrobat blink a few times; she seemed like, despite her stoicism, to be rather supportive of Zuko, so it made little sense that she'd not want to be there, even if it would be terrible for the siblings to fight.
"Really? I thought you'd want to support Zuko."
"If he got into an Agni Kai with Azula, he would've lost his mind. There's no way he'd win. I'm not going to cheer on an idiot."
"You don't cheer on anybody, Mai." she observed, her friend leaning back in her chair, raising both hands up to emphasise the point Ty Lee had raised.
"Exactly."
"My daughter, I hope you enjoy yourself."
Mai raised a brow, slightly confused by her father's words; she didn't want to outright question him, but she didn't have much of a choice when he said something that seemed so unusual. He was just going out for lunch with her mother, so she was confused as to why he'd think she'd be enjoying herself. She'd already told him about the work she had to do for school, which she was getting ahead on so she could go spend some time with Zuko, knowing that convincing him to send a letter to Azula was imperative at that moment.
It was dominating her mind, so much so that she found it a struggle to keep a calm demeanour; the safety of not just her nation, but of her and Zuko personally, was on the line, and they needed to tread carefully if they were make it of the coming political bloodbath unscathed. Even though Iroh was not her uncle, because of how much Zuko spoke about him, she knew what he meant to the Prince; his fears and clearly justified anger were getting the better of him, and she knew that the best path forward would be one where they could rely on Azula to help them, as she was out of the capital and probably far better equipped to help the Fire Lord, if he survived the assassins going after his head.
"Enjoy what, Father? My homework?"
He chuckled at that suggestion, "No, no, not that. Your trip with Prince Zuko. A royal vacation to Ember Island." he clarified, making her straighten her face; she had a few ideas where he could get an idea like that- he was involved with government affairs, and she knew he talked from time to time with Zuko's father, Prince Ozai, "Wait, oh no." her father's eyes widened, obviously realising she had no idea what he was talking about, "The Prince hasn't told you yet, hasn't he?"
"This is the first time I've heard about it." she admitted, before scrunching her lips up, "Maybe Zuko was going to tell me later."
"I apologise, Mai." he made a grimace, bowing his head down slightly, "I didn't mean to ruin the surprise."
"It's fine, Father." she told him with a straight face; keeping a stoic expression was hard when she could only wonder what the ulterior motive behind such a holiday could be.
She immediately was drawn towards thinking it was the worst case scenario, that being a cover for them fleeing from Ozai; she knew that was a serious possibility, but Zuko hadn't explained anything to her yet, other than that he was growing more concerned about his father's intentions to try and openly claim the throne. She was sure it was a possibility, but there was nothing she could do about it personally; revealing the Prince's complicity in his brother's assassination, successful or otherwise, would be a quick way to find herself in prison, or perhaps even worse.
"Well, I hope you enjoy your time with the Prince. You need to get out more often, Mai." he suggested, and she nodded, not having any other response in mind.
"I will, Father." she gave the generic response she always would whenever he told her to do something, "Enjoy your lunch with Mum." she added, knowing that the two of them needed a break; her father had a lot of work in his government job, and her mother was constantly dealing with Tom-Tom, not to mention they were both spending most nights tending to her little brother, who was a restless sleeper.
He nodded, and turned his heels to walk back toward the foyer of their house, "Michi, I'm ready to go." he called out to his wife, who responded a few moments later.
"Come on then, we'll be late for our reservation." she called back, and Ukano hastily strode down the hallway, waving back to his daughter to farewell her; she raised her hand up, and gave a short wave as a courtesy, before turning her heels.
She let her straight face falter as she considered what she'd just learned; a holiday with Zuko to Ember Island was unexpected, but she knew there could only be some underlying motivation behind it. She didn't know what the motivation was yet, but she was sure she would find out sooner or later. She knew that Zuko might show up later that day, but he had his own work to deal with. Tutorials and firebending training were something he had to deal with every day, and he spoke of them as a frustration, though clearly distracting him from the pressing danger they both faced.
She knew that for the meantime, before he arrived, she could distract herself with the homework she had; she considered whether she ought to write the letter she knew she would have to send to Azula without the Prince's permission or not, but decided that was a way to needlessly aggravate him. Zuko would see reason eventually, and she knew that when he did, they could write to Azula, and get her on side. She would have to support them if she knew what her father wanted to do, and what he had already done; if there was one kind of dedication she could trust with her friend, it was that to her uncle.
She sighed, knowing that she couldn't be certain that her dedication to her uncle would extend so far as to betray her own father; Mai decided that even if she couldn't know what was going on in the Princess's head, she could at least try and reach out to her, and tell her what had happened. She strode back into her bedroom, closing the door behind her, before approaching her desk, sitting down on the chair, glancing over the work she had been doing earlier. She was honestly disinterested in it, knowing that her thoughts about the potential conflict she could create from the very message she intended to send.
Azula obviously cared about her uncle, even if she didn't discuss it openly, just like how she seemed to care about Zuko, despite his antagonistic behaviour; she didn't want the conflict that had arisen between them. It was a natural result of the clearly terrible parenting of Prince Ozai, whose actions were still undermining Zuko, even if he didn't see it himself; Mai wouldn't go as far to say she despised him, but she was a frustrating thorn in her side. She wanted to be there for both of the royal siblings, knowing that they needed the support; they were both alone, and she felt bad for Azula, knowing she was stuck on her ship friendless, hunting down the Avatar, while she was stuck with her tutors.
Her train of thought was broken by the odd sound of what sounded like a roof tile being hit by something hard; she glanced over to her windowsill, and was unable to see anything, though she heard the south of light thumping on the roof above her, before a pebble fell down right in front of her window, continuing to roll on down the roof. Her eyes darted over to the fence of her house which lay ahead of her, and she saw a very familiar mask perched on a darkly clothed man. Zuko had already arrived, it seemed, and he was dressed in a way that certainly suggested he was going to something serious.
She realised that perhaps he wanted her help, and not thinking she had much of a choice in the matter, given the dire situation they were already facing with Ozai, she stepped over to her bed, knowing she ought to disguise herself too. She pulled the mattress up, taking out her own theatre mask, and quickly tying it up around the back of her head; turning her head a few times, she made sure it was secured in place, before she grasped at her wrists, making sure her stiletto launchers were in place. She had them and her knives on her person, knowing that they might be of use at any time. She wasn't paranoid, but knew that preparing for potential fights was important. Zuko standing outside of her house suggested things weren't going very well.
Pulling her window open, she looked back over to Zuko, who tilted his head toward a nearby alley between two houses, which led off to a small garden they had been to a few times before. He began to pace on toward the alleyway, obviously wanting to get some place they could inconspicuously chat, though she was a little confused why he didn't just come up to the window. She stepped on out of the window, and glanced off down the street, noting that her mother and father were already riding away in a carriage, off to head to their dinner; she immediately jumped down off of the roof, and into the front yard, walking amongst the flowers, bushes and trimmed hedges before she approached the brick fence that lined the front of the property.
She reached forward and jumped up, grasping the top of the wall before she jumped over it, landing in the street. Mai noted that it was rather vacant at that time of the evening, after most people had finished their work, but before they would go out for dinner, if that was what they were doing; she walked over to the alleyway where she saw Zuko walk off to, and wondered exactly what he might have to tell her. She turned around the corner, and noted that the Prince was standing idly by the garden down the alley, sitting on a short brick fence, leaning against a pot plant with bright flowers in it. She approached him, and saw that his posture was surprisingly relaxed, and she could only think why; Zuko was a rather paranoid and anxious person, and tended to get pent up about minor things, not to mention the life-threatening issues they were currently facing.
"Why are you here, Zuko? Did you learn something new from your father?" she asked him, the Prince glancing her way, remaining silent; now looking at the Dark Water Spirit mask, she could only feel a little uneasy, and she noted the sound of footsteps behind her.
Glancing back, she saw three men dressed in dark clothes with their faces covered, each of them wielding dao swords, just like Zuko did; her eyes widened, and she immediately raised her right arm up, shooting her stilettos right at the men who were approaching her. They struck the extremities of the men, who were able to weave out of the way of her attack and avoid getting their chests pierced. She glanced back toward Zuko, who drew out his own swords, and Mai grit her teeth; it couldn't be Zuko standing before her, even if he was wearing the same mask. Ozai had already got to her, and she had a feeling that the 'holiday' had something to do with the men surrounding her.
"Great." she sarcastically snarled, knowing that she had a serious fight on her hands; there could be more of them for all she knew, and the very fact they knew exactly how to draw her out was something that made her feel like there was more to the attack than Ozai simply wanting her dead.
She drew her sai out of her robes, before using it to block the dao swords of the man imitating Zuko, before she fired her stilettos, stabbing his feet through the leather boots he was wearing; he cried out with pain, and the distinctive sound of his voice assured her it really wasn't the Prince. She then kicked him in the crotch, hoping to keep him down while she dealt with the other attackers. She weaved out of the way of one of the attackers, who swung his dao down at her; she then tossed a knife with her right hand, stabbing his arm, and forcing him to drop his blade. She was forced to duck under a fireball that one of the assassins sent out; they weren't just non-benders, it seemed, and that made it a marginally more challenging fight.
"Go for the head!" she heard one of the assassins call out to another, and she immediately tossed two knives his way, slashing his upper arms, which made him wince in pain; she ducked under another fireball, before using her sai to block a dao, barely holding it away from her face, which was luckily covered by the mask.
She glanced back, and noticed that the fake Zuko was moving to attack her with his dao again, and she weaved out of the way of his swinging, before she used her stilettos like claws, stabbing them into his shoulder; she didn't want to hurt him that bad, knowing that she could interrogate him once the fighting was over. She was forced to dodge another fireball sent her way, and decided to throw the fake Zuko in front of it, the fireball splashing over his chest and making him stumble back, barely able to stand after she had stabbed his feet.
"Hit her!" she heard one of the assassins demand of their comrades, obviously growing worried that they were up to the task of beating her.
A dao swung for her throat, and she raised her right leg up to kick, before firing the stilettos attached to her ankle, shooting them right into her attacker's right shoulder ensuring he would drop his blade. She then grappled him by the shoulder, threatening him with her sai to his throat; though she could stab him in the throat, and end the threat he posed at that instance, she couldn't stomach killing anyone, not when she could clearly see out her own victory. She instead used him as a shield, though two of the assassins attacked at once; their fire streams were powerful enough that the assassin was forced back, landing on top of her as she was pushed to the ground.
She grunted from his weight, but quickly was able to roll away, missing a dao sword which was swung down at her head. Raising her sai up, she blocked another sword, which aimed to cut her head clean off, before she raised her left leg up, sending stilettos right into his gut. He stumbled back and wretched in pain, the wooden projectiles obviously piercing his abdomen. She then drew out two knives in her right hand before throwing them right at the last assassin standing, whose chest was stabbed by the knives; he must have been wearing some padding, as he cried out in pain, rather than writhing violently as she expected him to suffocate on his own blood.
She didn't need to kill him, and approached him with a straight, serious face, not letting out any kind of fear in her eyes; she then hammered his head into the ground with a kick to the forehead, and that knocked him out cold. She glanced around at the others, who were still curled up in pain, though the fake Zuko seemed to think he could kill her; she assured him that wasn't the case by throwing another knife at him, stabbing his right hand before he could retrieve one of his dao.
"I don't have any time to chat, so you're going to tell me why you came pretending to be Zuko." she spoke her intentions as plainly as she could; she wasn't Auzla, and she wouldn't goad, mock and intimidate her opponents- she would get the information she needed, with the necessary force applied to retrieve it.
He scrambled back in fear, and she drew out a knife on each hand, "Running would be a bad idea. I stabbed your feet." she warned him, and he stopped moving.
"Y-you're too late." he simply told her, Mai narrowing her eyes at him; she didn't understand what she was late for.
"Late for what?"
"To save him." he retorted, "They'll come for you next." he warned her, Mai raising her chin up.
"So Zuko's alive." she noted, "Then these must just be replicas." she noted his blades and mask, which she assumed could be replicated easily enough, given that one was a mask from a common theatre show, and the other were swords regularly used by thieves and criminals throughout the Fire Nation, easily purchased on the black market, "Where is he?" she asked, hoping that she'd get a straight answer, even if she doubted that's what he would give.
"On his way." he simply told her, "You should run... if you don't want to die." he warned her, the stoic girl shaking her head, she drew the mask off of her face, untying it so she could look the assassin in the eye.
"I'm going to need some specifics." she admitted, before drawing her sai up toward his mask, ready to do what she had to, "What fingers do you need the most?" she asked, the assassin turning his head up, silently looking at her, seemingly unsure how to respond to such a question.
"My-" he began, before she grasped him by the back of the head, and slammed his mask down into the ground, audibly cracking it.
"You're going to tell me where he is, or I'm going to cut off every one of your fingers."
Prince Zuko did not know why his father had left the palace, but he was sure it had something to do with his uncle, and his planned seizure of power in the Fire Nation; obviously, as long as Iroh was still alive, he would not be the Fire Lord by law, and any seizure of the throne would be unlawful. It made sense that he would want his backers to openly support him if he did that, so the Prince guessed his carriage was going to the hideout located out in the Caldera City. He had gone as fast as he could to the hideout, and waited there for the carriage, and surely enough, it showed up, his father stepping out as he always did, walking over toward the hidden entrance, only activated by firebending.
When he had arrived, he hadn't seen anybody else walking in, which interested him; it was possible that his father was only meeting with a select few individuals to carry out his messages, presumably to prepare for whatever move he might make against his brother publicly. Sitting on the rooftop, he watched as his father, covered by a long, flowing red cloak which obscured his royal robes, made his way to the entrance, raising his hand up and activating the mechanism to open the door. The Prince waited for him to step inside, before he eyed the windows across from him; he waited for the carriage to leave, so he could be sure none of his father's guards saw him, before he jumped across the alleyway, landing on the windowsill.
Without a second thought, he pulled the window open, and slowly drew it up, before he slipped inside. He couldn't hear any voices yet, but he was sure that something would be happening soon enough. He walked through the room he found himself in, pushing the door slightly ajar so he could glance around the hallways. He couldn't see anybody around the building, though that didn't surprise him; if anybody was inside, they were likely down in the atrium waiting for his father, as he had seen them do so previous times.
He made his way slowly down the hallway, making sure the floor didn't creak, and slowly, but surely, he made his way toward the atrium, where he could still hear nothing, he glanced down into the room below, and noted that his father was sitting at the table, silently with his hands in his lap, like he was waiting for someone. Zuko's eyes widened, wondering if he was waiting for him; it was possible that he already knew, given that he was pretty sure Ozai knew that Zuko had been in communication with Iroh, or at least was assuming he had been.
He stepped back, and suddenly, the floor creaked; he grit his teeth, and saw his father's gaze turn up toward him; the thing was, he realised that it wasn't his father sitting at the table, but a body-double. He looked quite similar, which was rather eerie for someone like himself, who knew his father's face and expressions well; he played the part effectively, but the Prince knew when he wasn't looking at his father. Knowing that, he decided that he ought to interrogate the body-double, given they might actually know where his father was, and why he had been sent there. He leapt down through the atrium, landing on the ground in front of the body double, who raised his hands up, ready to firebend at him.
"Assassin, prepare to face my wrath!" he snarled at him, the Prince rolling his eyes; he really was playing his father, which was less intimidating and more amusing.
Zuko used his swords to guide the flames he bent at him, and the body double's jaw dropped as he understood his flames were completely ineffective; the Prince was no great firebender, but he was above the average one, which meant some random body double was no match for him.
"Where's the actual Prince?" he snarled at him, his eyes widening as he realised he'd been caught out.
"Wait... how do you know- who are you?" he asked him, the Prince sighing, before he moved his swords closer to the body double, darkening his voice to add a bit of emphasis.
"Where is Prince Ozai?" he reiterated his statement, "Are you one of his goons?" he asked, the body double leaning back, his eyes filled with fear.
"I'm just a body double. I came here because the Prince requested it of me." he explained, Zuko gritting his teeth, wanting a more detailed answer than that.
"Where?!" he almost shouted, "In the carriage? In the palace? I need some specifics!" he demanded, his dark acting voice a struggle to pull off; he knew that if he used his real voice, it was likely he might figure out his identity, given that it was possible the body double had been around the palace regularly, even if he didn't realise it at the time.
"In the palace." he raised his hands up, "You won't be able to kill him, there's no chance." he argued, making Zuko scoff.
"I know that." he rolled his eyes, before pressing his dao against his chest, "Why did he send you here?"
His eyes widened, and he shrugged his shoulders, suggesting he really had no idea; Zuko was considering to just walk away from the situation, but he was surprised when the man thrust his hands forward, creating two fireballs which pushed the Prince back slightly; he then reflexively swung his swords forward, slashing through his robes, which made the body double cry out in pain.
"Why?" he demanded once more, snarling with a growing anger; that anger covered his unease, realising that his father might have known that he intended to follow the carriage to the hideout.
He grasped at his chest, and the Prince immediately noted the blood on his hands; the cut might have been a little deeper than he intended, "Probably to capture you." he deduced, which furthered Zuko's suspicions.
He immediately glanced around the room, confused to see there was nobody there; if they wanted to attack him, they would do so before he could escape. He scoffed, thinking they were stupid for giving him a chance, and he immediately moved to exit the building, striding his way down the hallway, the Prince narrowing his eyes as he noted an odd smell. He didn't recognise it, but it was pungent, and he immediately assumed he was in danger; the Prince turned around to face the body double, who was still writhing in pain from his injury.
"What's going on here?" he demanded of him, not getting a response, only noting that he could hear a crackling noise, a bit like the sound of lightning being generated, eerily enough.
Reflexively he turned around to face the door, knowing somebody could be coming for him at any moment; he was sure that, whether it was his father or not, he would have to fight his way out. Suddenly, he heard the sound of an explosion, which immediately flung him forward, throwing his body into the doorway, his back being licked by flames, before his head was slammed into the door, barely covered by his raised arms. His ears rung out, and he felt a hot, numbing sensation on his back; he was sure it was the pain from his robes being set alight, but all his senses were in a mess, his vision blurred and his smell and taste useless, only sensing the overwhelming smell of fire around him.
He couldn't speak, his throat parched as he struggled to breath; he assumed that had something to do with the pain he felt in his gut. Looking down, he noted that the hilts of his dao were slammed into his abdomen, and though he couldn't see them, he was sure there were bruises there. The burning sensation on his back, however, was the strongest of all, and he rolled himself over, hoping that would stop any flames that had formed on his clothes. It only tightened the contact, and made the pain all the more sharper.
He cried out in pain, his breathing pained as he tried to recover from his self-inflicted winding; Zuko was struggling enough with the smell and heavy smoke and dust in the air. He forced his eyes shut to try and stop the pain there, and it helped a little. He reached forward, knowing that if he could open the door, he might have a chance of getting away; he struggled to reach up, finding his strength all but depleted after being smacked hard into the door. Suddenly, the door opened up, and he opened his eyes, and saw what looked like some kind of thief.
"He's still alive!" he heard them call out, rather distinctive to the ringing that had been dominating his hearing since the explosion went off.
He realised that it wasn't a thief, but in fact, one of the people sent to kill him, and upon that realisation, his eyes widened; his own father wanted him dead, and now, he had to fight for his life. He knew that with his injuries, it was only a matter of time before they killed him, so he snarled, and rolled backwards, kicking his feet out to create two fire streams, which struck the assassin square in the chest. If he was going to die, he was going to die with a shred of dignity. He groaned from hitting his back on the ground, and reached around for his dao, which he had already dropped. He grasped the hilt of one of them, using it to quickly block the blade the assassin wielded, before he pulled himself up, unsure if he could try and get away.
"Kill him!" he heard another voice shout out, and Zuko grit his teeth, rising up to his feet, his legs aching from having hit the door, along with the rest of his body.
He tried to ignore the pain, but that was hard to do in and of itself, so he struggled to keep up any semblance of form against his opponents; the dao blocked another sword swing, and the Prince stepped back when the blade came swinging for his throat. He couldn't win, he knew that, but he stumbled back anyway, just hoping that he might be able to get away; getting away was the goal, and even if it made him feel like a coward, he knew it was the only option, other than dying. He remembered how his uncle had been after Lu Ten's death, and decided then and there that if he himself was still alive, he could not die; his uncle of all people didn't deserve that, not after all the kindness he had given him.
He jumped out of the way of another sword swing, swinging his blade around and using it to slash the side of his opponent; that was the best he could do until he was forced to leap through an open doorway to dodge a fire stream that was sent his way. He did not have the energy to disperse their firebending, so he could only just try and avoid it. The room he was in was in shambles due to the explosion, but there were some chairs and a low table which he thought might provide some cover if he reoriented them; he didn't have much time, and spent it stumbling forward and shoving a chair over, providing a small bit of cover when the next firebending attack came his way. He cowered behind the chair, which was set alight, before readying his sword.
He snarled, and spoke the only thing that came to mind, "Kill me already." he mocked his opponent, who came at him again.
He swung his sword hard and fast, but the Prince held his hands steady, before abusing a small opening to jab the enemy in the shoulder; he grunted with pain, before swinging his sword down hard on Zuko's dao, which was flung out of his hand. His eyes widened, unsure what to do, so he clenched his fists and threw them up, flames moving from the burning chair, making an explosive bonfire out of the wood, which set the assassin's clothes alight. He screamed in fear, and the Prince threw his fist forward, covered in flames, and hammered him in the jaw, throwing him down onto the ground.
Another person stepped through the doorway, and kicked a leg up, creating a fire stream which was sent right into Zuko, who slashed his arms across, bending the flames away from himself, down into the floor beside him, the carpet on which was set alight. He then ducked down, dodging the next attack, a fireball from their right hand; they then sent a fireball from their left, but Zuko blocked it with his sword, which he picked up just in time; the heat on his sword from all the dispersed fire was making it uncomfortably hot to touch, and he snarled, not knowing what to do with it. It was a weapon designed to kill, and he didn't know if he could stomach doing that; he knew he didn't have much of a choice, and even if his knees were feeling like they might buckle and that he might pass out, he could not give up, not yet.
"You want to go?" he asked the assassin, charging toward them with his blade in hand, ready to use it as intended; the assassin had their own blade in hand, and raised it to block Zuko's sword swing, before slashing his own sword up, nearly slicing his mask in half.
The Prince was only momentarily disoriented, at least relatively, given the ringing in his ears and the squeamish feeling in his gut that was already distracting him; he slammed his sword down once more on the enemy's, but failed to disarm them, growling with frustration as he was forced back, parrying the assassin's next blow. They filled their left hand with flames, and looked poised to set his mask alight, so instead, he swung his sword toward that, the blood splatter from lopping off a few fingers a good distraction to allow Zuko to step back, avoiding getting his chest cut open by the enemy's sword.
"You little shit!" the assassin shouted at him, furiously swinging his blade about, before Zuko was able to disarm him when he accidentally got his sword stuck in the burnt out remains of a chair.
That was not the last of the assassin's efforts, as he raised both hands up, despite the bleeding on his left side, and conjured two fire streams, less impressive than the ones he himself could generate, but still a serious threat, he could barely hold the attack off with his sword, and noticed the metal heating up. He grit his teeth and swung the blade as hard as he could through the flames, cutting something, though due to his poor eyesight and the flames, he couldn't tell what. The enemy screamed and reflexively kicked him the guts, making the Prince stumble back, winded once more and barely able to hold onto his sword.
He saw the assassin stumble back, and another came into the room, seemingly ready to take his place; he was surprised to notice that he looked rather panicked, and was already injured, though he had no idea how. A moment later, his question was answered as he fell down to the ground, Zuko noting a few stilettos stabbed into his back, and by the doorway, stood Mai, wearing her own mask.
"Zuko." she addressed him, her tone surprisingly concerned, stepping closer with her sai pointed toward him, "You're the real Zuko, right?" she asked him, sounding rather cynical and suspicious, which confused him; his confusion was nothing compared to the aches he felt across his body, and the Prince groaned with pain as he slumped down, leaning up against the wall.
"What do I look like, roast komodo rhino? I sure feel like it." he retorted, before grasping his mask, and tearing it from his face, revealing himself to Mai, just to assure her he was 'the real Zuko'.
"Zuko." she spoke his name once more, sounding even more concerned, though her posture remained poised as she approached, "We need to get out of here. Your father wants us dead." she warned him of something he already knew, grasping him by the shoulder.
He blinked a few times, remembering how powerful the explosion was, and realising that might be a very good excuse to cover his survival; hiding from his father was the only option he had- the option they had, assuming Ozai knew about her complicity with the Prince's actions.
"Well, I guess I can pretend I'm dead now."
"Where's the nearest catacomb entrance?" she asked him, the Prince squinting, trying to think while his body was telling him to slump over and pass out.
"Down the street. At the end of the alleyway." he explained, Mai nodding before she grasped the underside of his legs, picking Zuko up, which surprised him; he didn't think she was going to be strong enough to lift his whole body weight, "W-wow... you're actually strong."
"Don't ask me to do this again." she snappily responded, before carrying him through the doorway, after which her tone softened, perhaps sympathising a little with his pain, "How much does it hurt?" she asked, the Prince gritting his teeth.
"Enough." he simply responded, "Why does this... why me..." he mumbled, letting his head slump back on her arm, "I can't..." he gasped out, not knowing what to do; everything hurt so much, and he had no idea where they could go, or how they could escape.
The most reassuring thing was the little snicker she made as she took him out of the doorway, the Prince eyeing the numerous beaten assassins, who were all unconscious, or worse, bleeding all over the floor from the cuts they had received. She had saved his life, and as long as she was strong as she seemed, he thought he mightn't die just yet.
"Thank you." he whispered softly, unsure what else to say; he was alive, and that was what counted; she glanced down toward him, and he was sure her expression was just as stoic as her mask was.
"Don't worry, Zuko. You're not dead... not yet."
