You know , it is very difficult to balance updating this story , along with my other active stories along with dealing with college work . And its funny because if I put the same of dedication I put in this fic to my college work , I probably would already have graduated by now . Yes , I am in fact most likely and very probably going to be complaining about college for the next couple of chapters , I am sorry .
:P
Stopping myself before I got into a rant , I finally managed to get this chapter finished . I'll admit I originally wanted to showcase a bit more about the Royal Fire Nation and what's been going on over there , but since we didn't get to see too much with what's been happening with Kazumi and Azula , I decided to have this chapter focus mainly on them . With some bits of our fan favorite ever lovable Captain Shin sprinkled in here and there . I really do love that guy .
:)
Now a quick word before we get into this chapter , I really should have put this in the chapter where I revealed Kazumi's Dishonored powers , but I should probably warn that a good chunk of her powers are mostly stolen from the canon game so don't expect too many new powers to be shown here , but I do promise that the powers that I did come up with myself are indeed quite interesting . And one power in particular which I will not be revealing now was actually contributed by HammerTide .
So if you have any ideas for potential powers for Kazumi put them in the reviews .
With that said , let's get this chapter started !
When Kazumi was young and still just an apprentice to her mother , she had a somewhat strict routine when she was training to be a spirit navigator . Granted , she will admit that her training routine as a spirit navigator didn't have the same intenseness as that of a proper military , then again it wasn't as if her family was a long line of soldiers or anything like that . Her mother was actually quite gentle when integrating it into her life and she was quite understanding as well when it came to her training .
Her morning always started bright and early , even before the sun actually came up , it was a means to have her get in touch with her inner fire . She would practice her bending , then after that came weapon arts and finally practicing on some of her spiritual powers . Kazumi had to admit that she personally liked practicing her spiritual powers the most .
But even now with so many years having passed and Kazumi having stopped the practice of spirit navigating . She still trains the same way her mother had taught her all those years ago .
I could never quite shake off all those years of training and discipline .
Not that Kazumi ever would , she may not be a spirit navigator anymore but she still likes to keep her skills honed and in shape .
At the moment , she was walking out of the clearing of her home and a bit deeper into the forest . It was still dark out , but she knew that the sun would be up soon and she didn't want to train inside the house or even close to it cause she might wake up Azula or Tira and Serenity .
So she resolved to go a bit deeper into the forest , she wasn't concerned about getting lost , she knew this forest like the back of her hand and knew how to get back to her home . That and she only walked in a straight line away from her house , so it wasn't as if she took a particularly complex path away from her home anyway .
Kazumi stopped in the middle of a very very small clearing in the middle of the forest , one that was surrounded by trees and bamboo stems but provided just enough room for her to move around in .
Perfect .
Kazumi stood in the middle of the clearing as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath .
She focused not on the darkness , but rather everything that she could detect with her other senses and her own mind .
She waited ... until she striked .
In half a second , Kazumi flicked several shuriken's in between her fingers and she threw them at where her senses guided her .
She heard the familiar sound of wood getting chirped followed by the sound of bamboo falling to the ground , confirming for her that she had hit the bamboo she was aiming for .
She twirled around and threw even more shuriken's , once again followed by the familiar sound of bamboo hitting the ground .
Kazumi opened her eyes once again to see the fallen bamboo branches , before she moved on to practicing with her next couple of weapons .
She started with the katana next . Doing a quick warm up by doing some basic kata's before she moved on to some more advanced things .
You must remember to make use of all of her skills and abilities , do not focus on just one .
She remembered her mother saying so long ago . Her teachings and wisdom still reaching out to Kazumi .
Kazumi focused and thought about where she wished to be standing , and in less than a second she felt her entire body reposition itself . And she was standing in front of one the trees and gave it a hard horizontal slice .
A critical strike on a human . Even with armor on , it would damage their vital organs .
Kazumi tried not to think too hard on that as she blinked again .
Kazumi proceeded to do several more quick transversals all around the small clearing , doing what would be critical strikes on humans to the trees . Sometimes even tethering pieces of bamboo to her before cutting them in half .
The last thing an enemy would expect is to suddenly be pulled toward you in an almost impossible force .
Contrary to its name , Kazumi had found that tethering was less about pulling something or a faraway enemy to you and more about pulling your enemies off balance and surprising them .
Kazumi did this with several more pieces of bamboo , leaving a strewn pieces of half cut bamboo all over the clearing .
Kazumi let out a breath as she took a moment to compose herself .
She wondered if she should practice with her chain-knife next , when she noticed that the sun was already coming up . Which meant that Azula wasn't that far from waking up either along with Tira and Serenity .
Kazumi quickly picked up all of her thrown shuriken's and blinked back to her home .
She was planning on practicing with Azula later in the afternoon anyway , so there was no trouble .
Azula had actually slept peacefully . Her first peaceful sleep in a good long while .
She had told Kazumi about it during breakfast , the older woman being happy for her peaceful sleep . If Azula hadn't spent almost over 2 months living with Kazumi , she would have thought the older woman was being patronizing for congratulating her for sleeping .
Then again , a peaceful sleep for her was a miracle of Agni .
No nightmares , no dark void with mother nagging at her , no strange ghosts of her past haunting her ...
Just a relatively peaceful sleep .
Which was probably the reason for her increased performance with practice today .
" Hah ! Hah ! "Azula yelled as she did another hard swing .
Kazumi had started her off back with the basics first , said it was to help her get reattached with the blade before getting back to where she had left off . Azula could somewhat understand the logic of this , though Azula was willing to bet that this was partly Kazumi just wanting not want to overwhelm her with instruction again .
" Very good Azula , very good ..." Kazumi stood to the side as she instructed Azula " Just remember to keep your center of gravity low when you make the strike so that you can get the most force out of it "
Azula nodded as she tried it , finding that her swing had that much more force behind it . Probably enough to break someone's guard off easy .
" Excellent work Azula ..." Kazumi smiled as she watched Azula get back into the groove of swordsmanship . She was very happy that Azula had managed to get back into the swing of things so soon .
" Now let's see about the more advanced stances I taught you ... " Kazumi said as she picked up her own wooden practice sword off the grass .
Azula gave a small smile . About time , she was getting tired swinging at air .
" Alright , let's start off slow ..." Kazumi said as she touched her sword with Azula's . Azula slowly began to parry Kazumi's sword with her own , the older woman blocking each parry attempt effortlessly , all the while she was instructing and giving her advice .
They went slow before they went a little bit faster , Azula parrying and striking a bit faster , but still not being able to land even a slight hit on Kazumi . Not that she was actually trying to since this was just practice after all .
" Very good Azula , its important not to keep your moves repetitive less your opponent figures out your method of fighting " Kazumi advised as she blocked another parry from Azula " Realistically you probably won't be able to apply all stances and techniques you learn in a real fight , but they do help add some layer of elegance and technique to it . Along with your own wits of course ..."
" Yeah , I know that ..." Azula muttered as she slowed down a bit and did a thrust stab towards Kazumi , who still managed to block it by holding her sword semi horizontally .
Azula already figured out long ago that most of the stances and forms that you do in bending or really any martial art won't be able to be totally applied to any and all situations when you're in a real fight . All they do is teach you to have a bit more finesse and skill than any two-bit thug that wildly throws their fire around like an uncouth earthbender . When it really comes down it , a real fight is dependent on your own ability and wit to either outthink , outplay or overpower your opponent .
Azula shrugs those thoughts away as she sends another parry to Kazumi , trying to break the woman's guard , but so far Kazumi seemed too quick and strong . Probably quicker and stronger than Azula .
When has that ever stopped her though ?
Azula rethinks her strategy and tries something else .
The next time she attempted a strike , she bent her knees and sent a downward strike . This time forcing Kazumi to hold her sword completely horizontally to defend against it . This strike had more force than the previous ones , but it still wasn't enough .
Kazumi gently pushed her sword away and signaled for the two of them to stop briefly .
" Very good try there Azula , clever use of a fairly basic stance " Kazumi smiled that Azula had actually managed to surprise her a little just then " You almost managed to break my guard back there ..."
Azula froze that word .
Almost.
One hair out of place.
" Almost isn't good enough ..." Azula muttered out without thinking , making Kazumi look at her in surprise . When Azula realized it , she wanted to smack herself on the back of the head for saying something so stupid and out of the blue .
" What makes you say that Azula ? "Kazumi asked and Azula wished she hadn't . But she was in it now and there was no turning back .
" ...Sorry , that's something from ... before ..." Azula struggled to explain " My father always wanted nothing short of perfection out of me ... and almost perfect was no substitute for him "
" Its okay Azula I understand ..." Kazumi said gently , she knew that there were some parents that expected the best out of their kids but this was on a whole new level of pressure . And based on how young Azula actually is , she can only imagine how many years she had to endure living under such a parent .
After a minute or so of silence , Kazumi decided to move things along .
" Come on Azula , let's take a break for a while ..." Kazumi suggested and Azula simply nodded as she set her practice sword down . They sat close to the lake , it was a rather serene silence all things considered .
Tira and Serenity were taking a nap in their shelter , so they weren't going to be interrupted anytime soon .
" Kazumi ..." Azula was surprisingly the one to break the silence between them " How ... do people work ?"
Kazumi initially looked at Azula in surprise at her question . Not so much the question itself though , but more the suddenness of the question entirely .
Kazumi thought hard for a minute before answering " Well ...that's a bit of a broad question to ask Azula ..." Kazumi admitted before quickly elaborating " People aren't just something you can study and explain a few sentences . They are complicated and they have emotions that don't always make sense to those around them or they easily want to explain ..."
Azula grumbled a little but said nothing .
" I won't lie Azula , it can be very hard to understand people sometimes , and you're most likely not going to be able to figure them out entirely " Kazumi admitted " But its always important to try to get to know them at least ... be empathetic and try to understand them a bit more is all I'm saying ..."
Azula thought about it ... and it sounded a lot harder than she would have thought .
" You don't need to take my advice word for word Azula ..." Kazumi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder " Just think about it okay ? "
" Okay ..." Azula nodded , not really wanting to think about this anymore .
" Do you want to continue ? " Kazumi gestured to their practice swords .
Azula thought about it for a moment , before nodding .
" I'm offended you even have to ask ..." Azula said , a small smirk on her lips .
Kazumi smiled as well as they continued to spar for a few more hours .
At the moment , Azula didn't want to think about anyone or anything else from her past . She just wanted to enjoy the moment with Kazumi .
" Alright , move through here ..." Shin ordered as his men stepped through the dense vegetation .
" Sir , shouldn't we stop for today ? Its already gotten pretty dark... " Cheng stepped beside him holding a torch looking around at the dark forest around him uneasiness .
" After we clear this sector than we'll be done for the day , come on " Shin reassured his men as he carefully stepped through some bushes .
He knew that they probably should have stopped hours ago when the sun went down and they had to make a few torches and lamps to see where they were going , but Shin kept moving his men forward . He now had positive confirmation that Princess Azula was still alive and that was more than enough to motivate him to find her and bring her back . Of course , the matter of actually convincing/capturing the princess was a matter he hadn't completely figured out yet . If what he has heard about her is true than she will still be just as deadly and volatile as to be expected .
Shin really should have brought more men all things considered .
Shin felt his eyes start to get heavy as he looked up at the moon . The source of power for waterbenders providing some essence of light for him and his men.
The irony was not lost on him .
To hell with it , they can continue in the morning .
" Alright men , let's set up camp " Shin suddenly ordered much to relief of the rest of his team " Find a decent enough spot , anywhere will do "
For what was the next 5 or so minutes , he and his fanned out to try and find a good spot to set up camp .
" Hey ! What about over here , there's a bit of space and ..." Cho trailed off as he looked in a specific direction " Sir , I think you need to see this " Cho said suddenly sounding a lot more alert .
Shin went over to Cho as did the rest of the team ... and they were all pleasantly surprised by what they saw .
It was a very very small clearing in the middle of the forest , one that was surrounded by trees and bamboo stems but provided just enough room for one to move around in . But the part that surprised Shin was the numerous amount of half-cut bamboo all over the ground and large gashes and cuts on the trees .
" What the hell ..." Zheng went up to a fallen bamboo branch and picked it up .
" What could have done this ? " Cheng asked as he placed his hands across the cuts and gashes of one of the trees .
Good question indeed .
" Do you think it could be Princess Azula that did this ? " Cho suggested and Shin considered it for a minute .
" ...No . Look a bit closer there are no scorch or burn marks anywhere , whoever did this used a very sharp blade ..." Shin deduced as he looked around carefully trying to spot anyone " Stay alert ..."
That did nothing to comfort his men as they all kept a hard grip on their weapons .
Shin knew from hearsay that Princess Azula had never used or picked up a weapon before . Choosing instead to fight with her bending .
So the question is ... who else is in this fores-
Shin stopped . As that feeling from nights ago came back . Even stronger than before .
And immediately after that feeling , came a sudden fog that seemed to have rolled in out of nowhere .
" What the hell ? Where's this fog coming from ? " Cheng said in shock as he pulled out his sword .
" Everybody stay close to each other ! Don't stray ! " Shin ordered as all of his men as he pulled out his own weapon , a dao blade .
Something was out here with us ...
Something incredibly dangerous ...
" I got a bad feeling about this Captain ..." Zheng said fearfully .
" Shut up and stay alert " Shin ordered .
A minute passed and then two and then three and then 4 , all the way to five .
The fog didn't dissipate or go away ...instead it just stayed there ...until-
" LOOK OUT !" Cheng let out a cry as he pushed everyone away , it was followed by a loud roar and a flash of glowing yellow eyes .
" Panther ! " Someone screamed , Shin didn't know who .
" Shit ! Watch out, we got snakes !" Someone else screamed , followed by something getting stomped on .
Shin turned and saw another pair of glowing yellow eyes jump at him , this time he was lucky and managed to get a cut in on the second panther that tried to jump at him .
" Where did all these animals come from !? Shit ! " Zheng shouted in frustration as he did a few jabs at the fog , hitting nothing at all " Damnit ! We can't fight like this ! "
" To hell with it , everybody run now ! " Shin yelled out and he heard all of his men make a run for it at break neck speed .
And so they ran through the forest , not giving a damn what they hit or stepped on .
They were just running for their lives .
Shin didn't dare to look back , he kept running and running ...
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Shin stopped when he and his men collapsed on the other side of some vegetation . All of them simply getting sprawled all over the ground .
Shin panted as he looked up , they were right back at the village of Hira'a ...
And as he looked back at the Forgetful Valley ... he felt an even more fearful presence coming off of it .
" What ... in Agni's name ...was that ? " Cheng asked , just barely having the strength to look up at his superior .
" I do not know ..." Shin answered truthfully .
" But I get the feeling we aren't alone out there ..."
Goddamn this was a fun chapter to write ! Shin's scenes were definitely my favorite part . You always gotta love that guy when he shows up in the story , he's always trying his best to find Azula , you gotta admire his effort if nothing else . And even in the face of danger , he still manages to keep a semi cooled head and is capable of leading his men to victory . Or more specifically in this case , survival .
I'm not gonna insult anybody's intelligence by making you guess who Shin is talking about , so I hope you are all excited to see what's going to happen next to Shin and his crew .
Now about Azula and Kazumi ... I'll admit there scene was a bit hard to write . Especially the whole bit where Azula asks Kazumi how people work , I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not exactly very in touch with my feelings , at least in the most honest sense of it . So that somewhat hinders my ability to have Kazumi give good advice about people to Azula ...without going overboard and keeping Kazumi in full character while it happens .
Nonetheless , I hope you'll all enjoy what's to come . Kazumi training Azula , Shin and his crew getting closer and closer , and some even more exciting things will be happening soon .
With that said , I'll see you all in the next one .
Angel Out .