Chapter 69: The Omens of Mount Makapu
The immense, iron-bound gates of Pohuai Stronghold closed behind them with a final, thunderous boom, sealing the Freedom Fighters and Commander Morohiro's doubts within its stony heart. The humid, oppressive air of the swamp was replaced by the crisp, clean scent of pine and highland earth. Zuko led his column, Azula, Rin, Lee, and the remaining soldiers away from the sea cliffs and back into the sprawling embrace of the Earth Kingdom's interior.
Their pace was relentless, a forced march driven by Zuko's simmering urgency. The brief detour to the fortress had been necessary to secure the prisoners, but it was a delay nonetheless. The Avatar was moving, always moving, and every day spent not pursuing him felt like a lifetime.
They trekked for days, following game trails and dry riverbeds that cut through the forested foothills. The terrain began to change, the gentle slopes gradually rising into steeper, rockier passes. The air grew thinner and carried a new, faint scent that made Rin's nose wrinkle.
"Sulfur," he grunted, adjusting the strap of his pack. "Smells like a forge. Or rotten eggs."
Lee, consulting a worn map he had procured from the Stronghold's archives, nodded. "Geologically consistent. These mountains are volcanic. Dormant, according to this, but the vents still breathe." He pointed ahead to a plume of wispy white smoke rising from a distant peak. "That is likely the source. There should be a village in its shadow. Makapu. It is the only settlement marked on this route for two days' march. An ideal point for resupply."
"Volcano or not, if they have a market, they have food that isn't travel rations," Rin said, the thought alone quickening his step.
Azula, who had been walking in silence, her expression one of profound boredom, finally spoke. "Let's hope their taste in entertainment is better than their air quality. I require something more stimulating than watching you two discuss geology and groceries."
By the next afternoon, they crested a final ridge and looked down into the wide, fertile caldera of the dormant volcano. Nestled within it was the village of Makapu, its stone houses and vibrant green fields a stark contrast to the dark, volcanic soil. It was quiet, but not peacefully so. An unusual tension hung in the air, a feeling of hushed expectation.
As they descended into the village, the reason became clear. The place was not deserted; it was mesmerized. The villagers moved with a purpose, but it was a quiet, reverent one. Their chatter was low, their glances consistently drifting toward a large, well-kept hut at the village's center, where a long, patient line of people had gathered.
Zuko's hand instinctively went to the hood of his travel-worn cloak, pulling it lower to shadow his scar. "What is this?" he muttered, his voice tight with suspicion. "An assembly? A conscription?"
Rin, ever direct, stepped into the path of a young man carrying a basket of sweet-smelling buns. "You. What's happening? Why is everyone gathered like sheep?"
The young man blinked, startled by the gruff tone, but his face quickly broke into an excited grin. "Travellers? You've come at a wonderful time! Aunt Wu is here! She's granting audiences today, reading the fates!"
"A fortune-teller?" Azula's voice dripped with such pure, undiluted scorn that the young man flinched. She looked around at the simple huts and hopeful faces as if she had discovered a new species of insect. "This is what passes for culture? You line up to have your ears filled with comforting lies?"
The villager puffed out his chest, defensive. "Aunt Wu is never wrong! She predicted the rains would come last week to water our fields, and they did! She knows all!"
Before Azula could eviscerate him with a reply, Lee interjected, his analytical mind seizing on the information. "A single figure who commands this level of influence... she dictates the mood and actions of the entire village. She is the de facto leader. This is a prime intelligence opportunity."
Zuko said nothing. His initial impulse was to agree with Azula, to dismiss this as peasant superstition and demand directions to a proper inn or merchant. But Lee's assessment was coldly logical. And another, older impulse stirred within him: the desperate, three-year-long gamble that had him chasing whispers and legends across the globe. The Avatar was a myth to most, yet he was real. What was one more myth?
His eyes, narrowed and calculating, scanned the line of believers, the mysterious hut. Somewhere in this vast kingdom, the Avatar was hiding. Perhaps the path wasn't just through force and tracking. Perhaps it was through any means, any omen, no matter how foolish it seemed.
A decision, reckless and born of desperation, was made.
"Lee is correct," Zuko stated, his voice low and final. "This 'Aunt Wu' is a resource. We will see what she knows." He adjusted his cloak, ensuring his features were well hidden. "We'll get in line."
Azula stared at him, her perfect composure cracking for a fraction of a second into genuine disbelief. "You cannot be serious."
"I am never anything but serious," Zuko replied, his golden eyes glinting from the depths of his hood. He turned and took a single step toward the end of the line before stopping abruptly. He glanced back at Azula, his expression unreadable. "You. Wait here. Guard our position. The last thing we need is your… commentary… scaring off the locals."
Azula's eyes narrowed into slits, a silent promise of retribution flashing within them. But the order, framed as a tactical necessity, was one she could not openly refuse without causing the very scene she despised. She leaned against the wall of a nearby shed with an exaggerated sigh of boredom, radiating an aura of lethal indifference.
Zuko didn't wait for her compliance. He turned to Rin and Lee, his gaze sharp. "You two. With me. Now." The command brooked no argument. He didn't lead them toward the line, but instead veered sharply into a narrow, dank alleyway between two stone houses, well out of earshot of the main thoroughfare and, most importantly, Azula.
The alley was shadowed and cool, smelling of damp earth and old vegetables. The cheerful murmur of the crowd was muffled, replaced by the tense silence between the three men. Rin and Lee followed, confusion on their faces, assuming their prince had some swift, tactical briefing.
Zuko turned to face them, his back to the alley's entrance, blocking the light. He didn't speak immediately, letting the weight of the isolated space press down on them. His hood was still up, casting his scarred face in deep shadow, making his glowing amber eyes the most visible feature, sharp and unnerving.
"Sir?" Lee prompted, his voice cautious. "What are your orders regarding the fortune-teller? Should we prepare specific questions to…"
"You know," Zuko interrupted, his voice a low, quiet thing that was far more threatening than a shout. It was utterly flat, devoid of all emotion, and it froze the words in Lee's throat. "Don't you?"
Rin's confused frown deepened. "Know what, my Prince? Know what about the village?"
"Not about the village," Zuko said, his eyes flicking between them, missing nothing. "You know what happened. That night before the ambush. In the forest, before we reached Pohuai. Don't you remember your little conversation?"
A different, deeper silence descended. Rin's face went carefully, professionally blank. Lee's breath hitched, almost imperceptibly. It was all the confirmation Zuko needed.
Lee, ever the analyst, tried to navigate the minefield. "Prince Zuko, the events of the ambush and our subsequent victory were…"
"Don't," Zuko snarled, the first crack in his icy control, a flicker of raw fire in his eyes. "Do not insult me by pretending to misunderstand. You know. I see it in the way you look at me. In the way you look at her. The careful silence you keep when we are all together. You were on watch that night on the Crescent Island. You saw."
Rin, whose loyalty was built on blunt honesty rather than intellectual evasion, finally broke. His shoulders slumped slightly, and he let out a long, slow breath, the sound loud in the confined space. He looked at the ground, then back at his prince, his gaze steady but filled with a profound, uncomfortable respect. "We didn't see anything, Prince Zuko. We heard… enough."
The admission hung In the air, ugly and undeniable.
Lee found his voice again, his tone hushed, urgent. "It is not our place to know, sir. It is not our place to speak of it. We are your men. Our loyalty is to you. Our duty is to forget what we… inferred."
"Forget?" Zuko took a half-step forward, and though he was not firebending, the heat seemed to radiate from him. "Do you think I care about your gossip? Do you think I care about your judgment?" The questions were laced with a venom that was as much self-directed as it was aimed at them. "I brought you in here to ask you one question, and you will answer with the truth. Do you understand the consequences if this ever leaves the confines of your own minds?"
The threat was absolute, colder than the mountain air.
Rin answered first, his voice a gravelly whisper. "On my life, my Prince. It is already forgotten. It was a moment of… exhaustion. Of battle frenzy. It means nothing." He was trying to give them both an out, to frame it as something that could be dismissed.
Lee nodded sharply, his mind already categorizing the information as a top secret to be sealed away forever. "It is a non-factor. A statistical anomaly with no bearing on our mission parameters or our loyalty. You have our absolute discretion, Prince Zuko. You have my word as a strategist and Rin's as your soldier."
Zuko studied them for a long, agonizing moment, his eyes searching theirs for any hint of deceit, any flicker of mockery. He saw only fear, unwavering loyalty, and a desperate desire to never speak of this again. It was the best he could hope for.
"Good," he said, the fire in his eyes receding, replaced by the familiar, hardened resolve. "Then it is never mentioned again. By anyone. To anyone. Especially not to her." He didn't need to specify who 'her' was. "What happened in that forest is dead. You will bury it."
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