Pre-Chapter A/N: Please do check out the first chapter of the novel I'm working on up on pa-treon- it's completely free to access. What can I say except you're welcome? Here we go. Lovely to have you all here, and I hope you enjoy this one. If you do, feel free to head over to pa-treon and read the next two chapters- I update there on a daily basis so there's always something for you to read.
He was a one-trick pony, but it was a damn good trick. I tracked the arc of explosive force as it came towards me and darted to the side. It hit the ground, exploded and pushed me forward. I called my flames into being, green as the trees around the estate I'd grown up in, and forced them to form a circular shield in front of me. The next explosion clashed against the shield and the shield held.
"And our Fire Lord has finally called upon his flames" The announcer called. I smiled. This guy thought he had a good chance, and maybe in a world where I hadn't spent my teen years messing around with Maki, he might have. I knew how to track the distortion of air that came with his arcs of concussive power, and there was nothing subtle about the way he would take two steps forward and push out his head before firing from his third eye. I practically skated across the sand with my flames acting as jet boosters behind me.
I staffed my run to the side, dodging two more blasts, and then I was upon him. I could see flashes of the fight he had with Aang and his team in how he fought now. He had been a foe beyond their abilities when they met him, but I was far from awed in person. His metal arm blocked my kick with ease, but that as only the first step. I pushed further, forcing hum to take a step back. The shock on his face brought me no small amount of joy. Yes, fool. I am your better.
His other arm lifted with a punch that tasted naught but air. Heat cursed through my very being. I stamped down on the ground, causing a small explosion and sending sand everywhere. He had the good sense not to scratch at his eyes but could do little to stop himself from blinking. I dug a fist into his side with all my strength, and he staggered. I had him. I felt it, that feeling that I hadn't felt since I put Aang in the dirt. A fight. His head snapped forward. I jumped over him in a front flip, a perfect mirror of the one that I had executed earlier. But there was no explosion. It was a feint. I barely managed to cross my arms in front of my chest as a metal foot smashed into it and sent me flying into the sand, skating backwards along it. I stared at the sky for a second, while feeling my back begin to smart. Yeah, fighting shirtless here was a bit silly— even if it was tradition to fight thus. Sparky Sparky Boom Man definitely wasn't following that rule.
I pushed myself up, executing a perfect rising handspring that would have made a table of judges preen. Yet, all my technical perfection went unmentioned as Sparky Sparky Boom Man— henceforth dubbed sparky, sent another arc of concussive force. This one, I blocked with another shield of verdant flames.
I moulded the flames into a lance and sent it flying at the hulk of a man. He moved, dodging the attack, and sent another one coming my way. I backflipped away from this arc of concussive force, and against my will, a smile formed on my face\. My flames responded to my desire and flared around me. I formed two whips in each of my hands by curling my fists like I was holding something in them. He sent another blast, and this one, I slapped aside with a whip of green fire. It smashed against my fire and somehow that redirected it into the sand. I smiled at that. The next one was sent off into the sky, exploding there, and I lashed out at him with the whips.
He dodged away from them and when they hit the sand, the sand sizzled from their heat. Now, he was the one on the run, and he was doing a far less graceful job than I had been. I sent several arcs of my whips, doing an intentional job of not hitting him and making him dance his way across the field. After he completed, his first circuit, he sent a glare in my direction and I smiled innocently. He tried to send another blast my way, but I used his inattention to rid him of his prosthetic leg. He fell to the floor, looking at me enraged. He glared at me with easily apparent rage. He tried another blast. I slapped it to the side with one of my whips and then removed his prosthetic arm with another pass of my whip. He would have to get new ones— I noted. The green flames had burnt the edges of the metal limbs, not attempting a clean break.
"Do you yield?" I asked, whips still held in my hands.
He nodded. I nodded back.
"Another Win for the Fire Lord! Is anyone going to be able to stop him?" The announcer played it up while I smiled. I turned to the crowd, lifting up my fist for the applause. I enjoyed it. It luxuriated in the feeling as the announcer struggled to be heard as he announced the next challenger.
"Natsu" Toji's voice screamed, and I barely managed to duck in time. I felt the charged air pass over my head before it hit part of the stands, exploding. There had been people there. I could hear my heart beating in my head as I turned to the dismembered fool as he was being dragged off. He was smirking. He died with that smirk on his face. The people who had been hauling him let go as if he had burned them. That saved their lives. Lightning answered my call like an old lover, and struck him down in seconds.
Toji was at my side a second later, holding his spear aloft and watching our surroundings carefully.
"That was stupid" I said because what else could it have been? He'd lost the Agni kai already. Attacking afterward would have gained him nothing.
"Or it was an assassination attempt" Toji refuted.
"Would anyone be so stupid?" I wondered.
"You'd be surprised at the kind of shit civilians can come up with when you give them the space and time to plot" He said leadingly. I sighed.
"For the last time, Toji. I will not be imprisoning your father and his friends because they rub you funny".
"I can swear that they're up to something. Bet it on my own life".
"You're not the best gambler out there" I said even as I watched people scramble to help rescue the survivors of the explosion. Toph had scrambled over there and was taking charge with surprising ease.
"That's not the point. That man had tried to kill you with your back turned. The Agni Kai was over. Everyone knows that. The only reason he'd try is if he had some other motivation for your death. Assuming he's not some jilted lover of Maki's then him being paid would be the only explanation".
"Or he got embarrassed to be beaten so easily" I countered. I knew Spark Sparky Boom Man from the show, and this was the same man who rejected double the pay to stop pursuing the Avatar because he was embarrassed at having them lead him by the nose and give him the run around for so long.
"Let me investigate" he pushed.
"Feel free" it was easy to say yes to that. I doubted anyone would have the audacity to pay someone to kill me so early in my reign, especially considering I was yet to be anointed by the Fire Sages. I was saving that for after I had put an end to the war and dispatched all possible challengers to cement my rule.
"How many do I have left?" I asked.
"Doesn't matter. You'll put an end to it for today".
"And seem like I got scared off by a dishonorable coward"
"Better that than to seem like you don't care about the lives lost to the dishonorable coward" He replied.
"If they see me as weak, then my rule is over before it even begins."
"If they see you as cruel and callous, then your rule will never even begin in the first place," he pressed.
"We stop for today and resume by dawn tomorrow then" I say.
"Also, see to it that every family who lost someone today receives adequate compensation— something like twelve gold pieces should be fine?"
"Double it"
"Twenty-Four gold pieces is a lot for an accidental death" I pushed.
"The treasury can bear the cost, and once you end the war, the Fire Nation will be making more money than ever. Just refill it then" He said.
"Fine. Thank you, my friend".
"You never need to thank me, Natsu. Now go help with the chaos. You've done enough standing around" He said, with a tap on my back. I nodded.
XXXXX- TOJI
'If I wanted to assassinate the Fire Lord, then the Agni Kais would be the best place to do it', he thought to himself as they rode through the city. The second-best place would be right here and now. They recognised this risk, of course. That was why Natsu's objections had been ignored, and he was made to ride in a closed and covered carriage initially. Of course, it was made with the finest cedar and gilded with gold to display the status of the Fire Lord. And now that one attempt had been made, they had cast the carriage away to ride on horses in full view of anyone and everyone.
Sometimes, Toji wondered why he even bothered trying to keep this man who clearly had no value for his life alive. That was a lie. He never wondered. Natsu was more than a friend to him. Natsu was all the family he had in this world, and that meant he would save him no matter what— even if he had to save him from himself. And the truth as that Natsu's pride was not the hindrance he played it up to be.
The carriage had been slow and difficult to maneuver in an emergency. He would have suggested ditching it if Natsu hadn't first. But then once Natsu had, he made sure to oppose it vehemently. He was overruled, of course. He expected to be. But that was the game they played. Natsu had given in to him once, and then refuted him once. That meant the next request he had would be one that Natsu would acquiesce to. It was a delicate dance— a performance as much for those who watched, for they were always watching, as it was for themselves. Some bit of normalcy to hold on to in a world determined to change.
He absently noticed an old, slumped man take too long to cross the road and make way for them. One of the guards made to flog the man, but Natsu was there to stop him. Good, let them see you are kinder than the Brood of Sozin. Let them see the parts of you that I do, he thought to his friend.
In a matter of minutes, they were moving again. But then the road they were supposed to use was blocked off with some overturned barrels.
"Get to work, men. Remove those blocks" The Captain of the guard barked. Toji looked down at the barrels. They were from an overturned Merchant's carriage, at least a dozen plenty.
"No. No, belay that" he whispered at first before shouting. The man, a veteran named Shi turned to him.
"We are too exposed. We'll take another route" He ordered. They couldn't remain this exposed for too long. He was beginning to get a bad feeling in his stomach. He turned his eyes to Natsu. His friend was still there, an easy smile on his face as he discussed with his Grandfather and turned to wave at the civilians every other minute.
The men listened and began turning the Ostrich-horses around to make their way down a different route. Toji still felt that ugly feeling in his chest that something was wrong. He kept a careful eye out for anything suspicious, but essentially, everything remained as it should be. Barrels of various sizes lined the streets— he noticed a faint smell but struggled to place it and kept moving. People walked across the streets, moving from place to place and then stopping to bow when Natsu passed. He was pleased with the fact that anointed or not, Natsu's plan was clearly beginning to show some dividends. No one could beat him, and hopefully this would be the way he'd get the feeling out of his body before taking the throne.
What happened to a warrior when there were no more wars to fight? That was the question he was trying his best to never have to answer. A traitorous part of him welled up at that moment with a whisper— waste away, or start a new war. He shook his head to knock the thought loose. It was one that kept coming to him as he watched natsu over the last few days. There weren't any enemies left. Would he make new enemies to fight? Consciously or unconsciously? Even that, he was fine with. He'd fight by Natsu's side till his dying breath, just war or not. What he couldn't imagine stomaching was watching his friend waste away, though? That would be something else. Something he'd never be able to deal with.
He noticed an old man dithering along the road. A very familiar old man. The same limp, the same stump where a right hand was supposed to be. Then he noticed the barrels again. The smell suddenly came to him.
"Get down" He shouted and the world exploded.
—
His whole body hurt. That was the first thing he noticed the second he woke up. He felt his ribs ache with each breath he took. There was a tightness in his throat as well. The explosion must have hit him hard, he realised. Especially because he could feel a bed beneath him. How long had he been out for? It hurt to open his eyes, but he did so either way. When he did, he was met with the sight of a woman. She was in her late twenties or early thirties, he reckoned. And she was definitely the source of the soothing sensation he felt across his lower half.
"Ho-how lo—" he struggled to get the words out.
"Hold on. Your throat is still in quite a state. Just sit tight, General" She said, and tapped him on the forehead.
He didn't come to until what felt like much later. It had to be because his whole body felt much better. And now, when he opened his eyes, there wasn't a woman there, but a very familiar man.
"Nat-Natsu?" It still hurt to speak, but it was a different kind of pain.
"Toji? You're up? His friend was at his side in a matter of seconds and practically shoving water down his throat. He drank slowly as he ran his eyes down his friend's body. He looked good. Not a scratch on him.
"What happened?"
"A fool," Natsu replied instantly. There it was. That quiet rage that made him the best killer the world would ever see.
"More detail than that" He said with a chuckle. A chuckle that made his ribs tingle in a manner that was far from pleasant.
"The barrels had blasting jelly in them. I'm surprised none of us noticed the smell, to be honest. But the fool set off a chain reaction with one of them and blew an entire street sky-high. An attempt to kill me that" He said.
"Did you get him?" Natsu smiled, a savage, brutal thing.
"Of course. He was stupid enough to come and try to confirm his kill. He wielded a rope dart with more competence than most, but it availed him little. I enjoyed the feeling of his blood running down my arm" He said.
"And casualties?"
"You and I are the only ones who survived" He said.
"You and me? Your Grandfather?" Natsu just shook his head, eyes cold.
"I'm sorry"
"You didn't do this."
"Of course, I didn't. But I'm still sorry".
"Just get better and come help us. Maki, Toph, and I are doing the best we can, but we need you" He said.
"I'll be there. And Zhufu?" If he couldn't reach his friend in this pain, then he had to rely on someone who could.
"What about her?"
"Have you finally been to see her?" Natsu sighed and ran a hand through his hair. So no, then.
"Surely, you don't blame her for what happened" He asked.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"It's yourself you blame then" He said, seeing in his friend's eyes that he was right.
"I should never have let her go"
"And what could a newly commissioned Captain have done to stop it? Stop being silly, Natsu. Go talk to the girl" he admonished.
Natsu sighed. Then he sighed again, before turning and leaving. Hopefully, to Zhufu's rooms.
He, in turn, began to think. Two assassination attempts in close proximity. There had to be something there to explain it. Some common thread. Both the would-be assassins were dead, yes, but he had a name for one of them at least. Baki. He just had to dig into it. There's nothing he couldn't find with some hard work, curiosity, and torture— the torture tended to be the important part.
A/N: And so we have the chapter. Worry not, the Fire Nation plot resolves itself relatively quickly, but Fs in the chat for Grandpa Natsu would be appropriate. Toph didn't travel back with them, worry not. She can't ride horses or carriages- blindness, and so prefers to walk everywhere. As always, the next two chapters are up on pa-treon. If you just want to read complete chapters and not my work in real-time, then feel free to purchase this story as a collection on my pa-treon page so you get to read each chapter after I finish it and not neecessarily the daily updates available with a regular pa-treon membership- nice way to support this story and me while you're at it. Enjoy!