Author's Note: Written for my dear friend SeyaryMinamoto for the Sokkla Secret Santa Gift Exchange – Happy Holidays! Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 1: Get the Party Started
"What is all the hubbub about?" Princess Azula wondered as she made her way through the bustling streets of Harbor City. The townspeople of this lower-class district were unusually fussy this afternoon. From what she could gather, there was talk of some tournament in the Earth Kingdom, some call to action, a mysterious reward.
Cloaked from head to toe to avoid being recognized as the royal Fire Nation princess, Azula meandered her way through the crowd until she reached the pier. That's when she saw it, on the bulletin board nestled between a warning about increased dark spirit activity in the area and a wanted poster for a local cabbage thief: an ornate proclamation from King Bumi of Omashu.
"Greetings, adventurers. King Bumi of Omashu cordially invites you to participate in a legendary, first-of-its-kind tournament. Three challenges await – ones that will test your power, wisdom, and courage. The victors will not be prized with gold, but instead, a reward so extraordinary, only the boldest will dare seek it. Gather your best party of four and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime. Will you rise to the challenge?"
Azula's lips curled into a sly grin as she read the announcement, her entire body buzzing with intrigue. An adventure of a lifetime? No palace walls. No overbearing parents. Total freedom. Having grown up as a sheltered, spoiled princess, she had never been permitted to see the world. Even her little excursions to Harbor City were forbidden by her overprotective parents, not that that ever stopped her. "The world is too dangerous." "Dark spirit attacks are on the rise." "The palace will keep you safe." Blah, blah, blah. What was the point of having all this mana and training if she couldn't use any of it? Come hell or high water, she was going to this tournament. Now all she needed to do was recruit an elite team.
"We're never going to find her," Sokka grumbled, kicking a loose pebble down the crowded street of Gaoling.
"Not with that attitude, Grumpy Pants," Katara quipped, keeping her eyes peeled as she peered down a side alley. "Are you even looking?!"
"I am looking. Looking forward to the end of this wild goose eel chase."
"Hey, cheer up!" Aang said encouragingly. "We're fated to find her. Just like how I was fated to meet you two!"
"We don't even know what she looks like!" Sokka threw his hands up, nearly smacking a passing cabbage cart. "We don't know her name, where she lives, or if she even exists!"
"I already told you – she's short, has black hair and light green eyes, she's about my age – "
"Oh, how specific! Black hair and green eyes? Great! That's, what, over half the population here?!"
Aang ignored him and pressed on. "She lives here in Gaoling – "
"This city is enormous!"
"And she definitely exists because I've seen her."
"In your head!"
"In one of his spiritual visions," Katara adamantly corrected, planting her hands on her hips.
"Exactly! In his head, where he also saw flying pigs! Last time I checked, pigs can't fly."
"Pig chickens can," she shot back with a smirk.
"She's right, you know," Aang smiled cheekily.
Sokka groaned, dipping his head back dramatically. Traveling with the so-called great Sage wasn't exactly what he'd imagined. Still, chasing down spiritual visions in a lively Earth Kingdom city was leagues better than his humdrum life back in the Southern Water Tribe. He'd had his fill of fishing, igloo-building, boatmaking, and crafting tools to last a lifetime. Joining the Sage's journey was his chance to finally step into the warrior role he'd always dreamed of. At nineteen-years-old, Sokka felt like his life was just beginning.
"Why am I telling you all this? Because I want you all to join my team, and let me be clear, I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." Azula stopped pacing, her sharp gaze sweeping over the group. "We may be novice adventurers, but we're going to win this tournament and bring glory to the Fire Nation. Any questions?"
"Yeah," Mai said, locking eyes with Azula. "Does it have to be your team?"
Azula rolled her eyes. "Fine. It can just be our team. No leader. Happy now? Any other questions?"
"When do we leave?" Ty Lee chirped, currently upside down in a handstand. She flipped gracefully onto her feet, grinning ear to ear. "I'm so in! Win or lose, this is going to be so much fun!"
"We are going to win," Azula corrected sharply, "but to answer your question, given that the tournament starts in three weeks and it will take about a week to get there, we'll leave in ten days. That gives us some wiggle room in case travel conditions are not ideal. Anything else?"
"Just one little concern…" Zuko shifted on the garden bench, gently removing his arm from around Mai's shoulders. Straightening up, he fixed Azula with a pointed look. "…how are we going to convince Mother and Father to let us go?"
Azula's confidence flickered for just a moment. Convincing the Fire Lord and Lady to let their precious children embark on a potentially dangerous journey would be far more challenging than assembling the team. She sighed, crossing her arms. "That," she muttered, "is a great question, Zuzu."
She glanced at her team. They were a far cry from seasoned adventurers, but their skills made them a force to be reckoned with. That, at least, would work in their favor.
Adventurers generally fell into three categories: fighters, rogues, and mages. Fighters relied on brawn and came in two main types – tank-like warriors who absorbed damage and dealt heavy blows, and nimble martial artists who specialized in speed and precision. Ty Lee was their martial artist. A whirlwind of agility, she could incapacitate opponents with a single strike, her mastery of pressure points allowing her to temporarily block the flow of mana through the body.
Rogues were masters of stealth and cunning. Thieves were adept at picking locks and disarming traps, while rangers excelled in long-distance combat. Mai was their rogue, her uncanny precision with knives making her a silent, deadly force capable of striking from hundreds of meters away.
Mages, the rarest of all adventurers, used their innate mana to cast spells. Clerics, like Zuko, channeled light magic for healing and protective buffs, while sorcerers, like Azula, channeled dark magic for offensive spells and enemy debuffs.
In this regard, Azula and Zuko were two halves of the same coin. During Fire Lady Ursa's pregnancy with the twins, midwives had whispered that the mana inside her womb rivaled that of the great Sage. Zuko's orange fire was warm and soothing, radiating healing energy, while Azula's fierce blue flames scorched everything they touched. It wasn't fair. No one chose their affinity for light or dark magic, yet clerics were revered, and sorcerers were feared. Even so, the bond between the twins was unshakable. For all their differences, and there were many, their connection was unparalleled.
Azula's smirk returned, sharper now as she began plotting. "We'll figure out how to handle Mother and Father," she said, a gleam of mischief in her eyes. "We always do."
Mages, whose mana was tied to one of the four elements, could intrinsically cast either light or dark magic. However, there was one extraordinary person per generation who could channel both: the Sage. In Sokka's lifetime, that Sage was a cheerful, free-spirited sixteen-year-old boy named Aang. Following the cycle of elements, Aang's predecessor had been a Fire Sage, Aang himself was an Air Sage, and his successors would one day be a Water Sage and an Earth Sage in that order. With immense discipline and training, Sages could master all four elements in both light and dark magic. But for now, Aang only knew a handful of air spells, and none were particularly reliable.
Sokka wasn't one to believe in fate, but even he had to admit that meeting Aang had been a remarkable coincidence. While on a fishing expedition with his sister, Katara, the two stumbled upon a boy encased in a massive block of ice. Acting instinctively, they worked together to free him, Sokka hacking away at the ice with his sword while Katara, a gifted water cleric, used her light magic to melt it and restore the boy to consciousness. They soon learned that Aang had been attempting a teleportation spell, zuma, to reach Gaoling in the southwestern Earth Kingdom. Instead, the spell had gone awry, landing him in some dangerous terrain in the Southern Water Tribe, where a dark spirit's attack had left him frozen solid.
But Aang's optimism never wavered. No sooner had he recovered than he was back to practicing his spells. The small Southern Water Tribe village welcomed the Sage with open arms, and Sokka and Katara quickly grew inseparable from him. Aang firmly believed that his botched teleportation spell wasn't an accident, it was destiny. He had been searching for a team of adventurers to join him after being personally invited by King Bumi to compete in the legendary tournament. Now, the trio was on a mission to find their final party member, a powerful earth sorcerer.
After what felt like hours of searching, but in actuality was probably more like twenty minutes, Sokka's patience was wearing thin. He gave the loose pebble he'd been kicking around a solid boot, sending it ricocheting off a merchant's stall, the siding of a house, and finally a rickety street sign, which promptly collapsed onto his head.
"Yeow!" he yelped, clutching his forehead.
"Spruzzio," Katara chanted, raising her wand. A cool stream of water flowed from its tip, soothing his bump.
"Thanks, Katara."
"You're welcome. But honestly, you had that coming."
"Yeah," Sokka replied, rubbing the mark the sign had made as it gently faded away in response to the healing spell.
"You guys!" Aang exclaimed, holding up the wooden plank that had fallen on his friend. "It's a sign!"
"Yes, Aang," Sokka said dryly, "It's a street sign. Very good. And here I thought I was the one who just suffered a head injury…."
"No, it's a sign! Look!" Aang flipped the plank around, revealing a carved emblem.
"There's a flying boar on it!" Katara gasped. "Just like in your vision!"
"Okay, but what does it mean?" Sokka asked skeptically.
"The flying boar is the symbol of the Beifong family," a young passerby chimed in. "They're the richest people in town. Probably the whole world! Their mansion is on the outskirts of the city. I'd say you can't miss it, but it's pretty well hidden."
Before the trio could respond, a distant explosion rattled the ground beneath them. To their surprise, none of the townsfolk seemed remotely concerned.
"Actually," the passerby added nonchalantly, "just follow the noise and you'll find the Beifong mansion. The young Beifong girl is, uh… let's just say she's spirited."
Katara exchanged a knowing look with Aang, who was practically buzzing with excitement.
"Great," Sokka groaned. "Just what we need. A literal earth-shatterer."
"So how did you find out about this tournament anyway?" Ursa questioned, her eyebrows arching with scrutiny.
"Unimportant," Azula replied dismissively.
"Azula…"
"Mother, come on," she pressed. "We're nineteen, and the furthest we've been outside the palace is Ember Island! Most adventurers start their journeys at sixteen!"
"The world is growing darker every day," Ursa countered, her voice tinged with concern. "It's too dangerous – "
"We've spent our entire lives training for this," Azula interjected, standing tall. "We're prepared. We have a formidable, well-rounded party. We're ready to face any adversity coming our way. And if we win, we'll bring honor and respect to the Fire Nation."
Ozai's lips curved into a faint smirk. "I must admit, I do like the sound of that."
Ursa sighed, her gaze softening as she turned to her son. "And you, Zuko? Is this truly what you want? Or is your sister pressuring you into it?"
"This is what I want," Zuko answered confidently. "One day, I'm going to take the throne – "
Normally, any mention of Zuko's birthright – being born mere minutes before her – would have Azula fighting the urge to roll her eyes. This time, however, she was relieved her brother wasn't panicking or bungling their carefully rehearsed script.
" – and I need to learn how to lead. Whether we win or lose, this tournament will help me identify my areas of weakness and show me where I need to grow."
"The children make compelling arguments," Ozai remarked, a glint of approval in his golden eyes. "Perhaps it's time for them to venture off into the world. We can't shield them forever."
Ursa hesitated, then softened. "I suppose you're right. My babies are growing up." She turned back to the twins, her voice gentler. "Promise me you'll stay safe and look after each other."
"We will," Zuko said reassuringly.
"Does this mean we can go?!" Azula blurted, no longer able to conceal her excitement.
Ursa nodded, a reluctant smile playing on her lips. "Yes, you can – "
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Azula threw her arms around her brother in an uncharacteristically tight hug. "You won't regret this!"
Before their parents could reconsider, the twins darted out of the throne room, their giddy laughter echoing through the halls.
Ursa's eyes lingered on the door.
"They'll be okay," Ozai said after a moment. "They have each other."
Ursa placed a hand on his arm, her smile soft but wistful. "Let's hope that's enough."
The girl from the Sage's vision turned out to be the Beifong daughter, a sixteen-year-old named Toph. While she was dressed all prim and proper, her slouched posture and the way she kept blowing strands of hair out of her face didn't exactly scream elegance. Not that appearances really mattered to her, because the earth sorcerer was, apparently, completely blind.
As to whether Toph would be an asset to their party, only time would tell. For now, Sokka was more invested in the feast laid out before him: steaming soup, roast duck, bao buns, roasted vegetables, white rice, and fragrant tea, all generously prepared by the servants of Lao and Poppy Beifong, Toph's parents. He tore into his meal until Katara nudged him sharply, shooting him a look that clearly read "mind your manners".
"Great Sage Aang, it's an honor to have you visit us," Poppy said humbly.
"Yes," Lao agreed, setting down his chopsticks. "It's not every day the great Sage graces our table. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"I'm sure you've heard about the tournament King Bumi is hosting in Omashu? I'm looking for our final party member, and based on a spiritual vision I had, I believe that person is supposed to be your daughter." Aang gave Toph his signature friendly grin from across the dining room table.
Toph cocked her head, eyebrows raising in a mix of skepticism and amusement.
"My daughter?" Lao repeated, baffled. "Toph is still learning the basics of earth sorcery. And because of her blindness, I fear she'd be more of a hinderance than a boon to your team."
Toph blew her bangs out of her face with a loud huff.
Aang smiled encouragingly. "Oh, I'm sure she's more capable than you think."
"That's not what I was trying to imply – " Lao began.
"Yeah, we heard the explosion," Sokka interjected mid-bite. "She might be blind and tiny, but she's definitely not helpless or fragile."
"Don't get involved," Katara whisper-shouted, glancing nervously at their hosts. "We're guests."
Lao cleared his throat. "She's exactly the opposite of helpless and fragile. That's the problem." He glanced at his wife before adding, "My daughter hasn't learned to control her spells. Blind and tiny, yes, but she's also a menace."
Toph grinned like she'd just been given a compliment. "It's true."
"Well, why don't we take this 'menace' off your hands for a while?" Aang offered, his gray eyes pleading.
Lao and Poppy exchanged a long look, as if having a silent debate.
"You know," Lao finally said, "that might not be the worst idea. We could certainly use the time to… repair the mansion."
"And who are we to refuse the great Sage?" Poppy added, her tone carrying a hint of relief.
"All right!" Aang cheered, beaming as he turned to Toph. "Welcome to the party!"
"Yeah!" Toph threw her fists triumphantly into the air. "Let's do this thing!"