Night.
The stars shone in the cloudless sky. The wind roamed the plains, rustling the grass. In the city of Shu Jing, people had long since gone to bed. Only the wind broke the silence, driving dust along the roads, swaying signs. In this quiet time, when people preferred to dream, gaining strength before the upcoming workday, in the estate of the great master Piandao, one girl thought nothing of rest. This was the disciple of the great master — Tai Li. In her room, she breathed deeply, wishing to immerse herself in meditation as deeply as possible, under the sinister glow of five blue fire candles.
"Nothing... no changes," a calm voice of the spirit resounded in the girl's head.
She merely inhaled deeper, exhaling blue flame. The candle flames rose and fell in time with her breathing. Inhale-exhale-flame, inhale-exhale-flame, inhale-exhale-flame...
"No changes," the spirit said again.
Inhale-exhale-flame, inhale-exhale-flame, inhale-exhale-flame...
"You're treading water. It's useless. Can you even meditate?"
"I can't succeed because someone is constantly distracting me from meditation!" the girl replied irritably to the voice in her head.
"This is the third night of your attempts to open the first chakra! You just sit and breathe, practicing breathing techniques. No, it's beautiful, but it's not what's needed at all. Another hour wasted. Do I need to remind you what the master said about this?" the spirit said in a stern voice, hitting a sore spot.
"There's no need, I remember his words perfectly. Don't interfere, I've almost opened the earth chakra!" the girl waved her off irritably.
"Uh-huh, you opened it. Uh-huh, you remember. Overcome your fear and the chakra will open — that's exactly what Piandao said after your first attempts. Overcome your fear... fear. You don't understand, do you?" the spirit continued in a calm, even somewhat tired tone.
"I fear nothing. I inspire fear, not experience it. There is no being, situation, or anything else in the world that I would fear. No, I am not acquainted with fear! I use fear, I manipulate fear, I am the embodiment of fear!" Azula finished with pathos, and the candle flames rose by a meter, but immediately subsided to their normal state without burning anything.
"Ahem... hee-hee-hee-hee. Be careful, don't start a fire. Hee-hee-hee-hee. Oops. Are you serious?" The spirit's words made the girl purse her lips, frowning.
"Rid me of your laughter. Don't bother me, just be quiet, I'm almost there!"
"Your 'almost there' has been going on for three days. Maybe it's time to change tactics, or do things that you're somewhat good at?"
"You talk as if it's easy! As if you know the answer!" the girl continued to get angry, feeling quite terrible. Never before had she felt so foolish. Opening a chakra turned out to be harder than she had imagined.
"Don't raise your voice, the master has a keen ear, if you haven't noticed. He might think something about you. But yes, I know and can even tell you, but it won't help," the spirit continued in a tired voice.
"How would a spirit know that?"
"Mmm... it seems meditation only makes it worse," the interlocutor replied thoughtfully, and then, without letting the girl get a word in, continued.
"Already forgotten? Fine, I'll tell you what you're afraid of. You're afraid of ending up in your brother's place. Being alone, incurring your father's wrath, you're afraid of losing your reputation, you're afraid of being ordinary, imperfect. In short, you're a coward, and deep down you know I'm right."
"You are mistaken," the girl replied curtly, frowning even more.
"Denial won't help you solve the problem, and it needs to be solved. Ugh. You can be so difficult sometimes..." the spirit returned to its tired tone.
The conversation ended by itself. The spirit fell silent, while Azula took a deep breath and exhaled blue fire sharply, beginning to reflect on her problem. A problem she simply didn't see, didn't feel, didn't notice, and didn't even suspect existed. No, the girl simply denied even the possibility of this problem's existence, but she needed to find a way out of the current situation. The more she stumbled over this problem, the worse she performed, which was infuriating. However, in the girl's imagination, there was only one way out of the situation. Several days of futile attempts had undermined the princess's self-esteem; she was ready to do anything to be perfect in everything.
"Spirit?"
"Yes?"
"You said you could interact with my chakras."
"No."
"But you said you could influence them."
"I did. The answer is still no. Over time, I've realized that I can't influence all your chakras. As you might have guessed, the earth chakra is not within my capabilities. And if not all chakras are opened, there will be no result. In other words, I can't fully influence the rest until you open the earth chakra," the spirit explained in a tired voice. Such news greatly upset Azula; she had counted on his help, but in vain.
"So, chakras are a waste of time? There's no way out?" the spirit answered, watching the blue flame of the candles dance.
"There is, but you won't see it even if it's shoved under your nose. Therefore, it's better to postpone chakras until better times. You lack wisdom, spiritual practices, and meditation. Your meditations can hardly be called meditations; do something else. Distract yourself, Azula, the mind needs rest. I advise you to focus on controlling your Qi within your body. At least you're making progress there, and I can help you with it," the spirit continued to persuade the girl. The weariness even disappeared from his tone.
Another heavy sigh from the girl was accompanied by an exhale of flame. She couldn't open her chakras, and the spirit was useless.
"I need a distraction. You already guessed that to improve Qi control, all chakras need to be opened, right?"
"I didn't want to hurt you with my words, but yes. Only there do you really have progress, unlike with chakras. Opening all chakras will undoubtedly improve your control, but even without it, you manage your Qi to a greater or lesser extent."
"Alright, I'll postpone meditation with chakras for later," Azula replied, relaxing and getting up from the lotus position. The candle flames stopped burning blue, becoming ordinary.
"Well done, will you start with push-ups?" the spirit asked enthusiastically.
Instead of answering, the girl stood on her hands and began to do push-ups. For someone with such a perfect body, handstand push-ups were not a problem. The spirit silently monitored her condition, especially her internal energy. Azula lowered herself to the ground, then sharply straightened her arms, jumping a meter up. Landing gently on her hands, she did another push-up with a small jump.
"Not bad, keep it up and you'll definitely succeed," the spirit praised, continuing to watch the girl.
Thus, after a tiring day of training with a sword and other cold weapons, of which the master had a huge amount at his disposal, the disciple continued to train her internal Qi control. Of course, if it weren't for the special breathing technique that the spirit created while watching her, she would have felt fatigue and pain from the training. However, as soon as she performed the breathing exercises, the pain disappeared, and the fatigue vanished. It was a pity that Azula herself had not mastered this technique, so she had to ask the spirit.
After some time, when Azula was about to go to bed, the starlight outside the window became particularly bright. This did not escape their attention, but while the girl didn't care, the spirit became interested in what was happening.
"Look out the window."
"Why?"
"Just look, the stars are too bright, and it's still a long way to dawn. We need to find out where the light is coming from," heeding the spirit, she opened the window, immediately noticing a beautiful meteor shower.
Bright lights flew rapidly across the dark sky. A natural phenomenon that gave rise to many rumors and fascinated many with its beauty. Many, but not Azula.
"Beautiful," the spirit remarked.
"Had enough? I need to rest, you can watch them all night," the girl said, preparing to go to sleep.
"I'd like to watch them with you, but if you insist..." the girl understood the hint and, with an ominous smile, agreed.
"Alright, I'm willing to stand here for a while, but only for a little bit..."
***
Three weeks of training with the great master Piandao had passed.
During this time, Azula, posing as Tai Li, honed various skills, learning to counter an opponent with any weapon known to mankind, which was undoubtedly useful and very informative. She herself mastered various weapons, mainly the sword, but the master also taught her a number of techniques with many other cold weapons. At one time, Piandao traveled a lot and learned many different styles of handling various weapons.
Her fire and lightning skills also did not stand still and grew, albeit not as quickly as her mastery of cold weapons. The girl trained everything she could get her hands on, experimenting and creating her own style. The spirit helped her well with this, with its unconventional perspective and extensive imagination. He particularly shocked the girl with some fire techniques she would never have thought of herself. Combining the acquired knowledge with what she already possessed, the girl generated something new. The spirit actively helped, ceasing to demand poetic apologies, and often talked with the girl about ordinary things. Thanks to him, she even managed to perfect lightning.
However, it was a great disappointment for the ingenious princess that she could not open the first earth chakra. Nor could she interact with any of the seven chakras. Her Qi control was also not as good as she would have liked. However, swallowing her pride and narcissism and her desire to be perfect, she came to terms with this drawback. Sometimes, she returned to attempts to open the chakras.
Her apprenticeship was coming to an end; the master could offer her nothing more. She had even learned to draw pictures decently, play the violin, and the basics of blacksmithing. Piandao could offer no more. And this was felt more and more with each passing day. Such progress increasingly allowed the girl to defeat the master in training battles, relying on her own skills, youthful body, and a series of dirty tricks.
This day began almost as usual. The master decided to give his student a special lesson, each of which differed from any other. He often conducted them, but this one was special even compared to the others. Bandits had settled on the roads leading to the city of Shu Jing, who had plundered one of the trade caravans carrying swords and weapons personally forged by the master.
The lesson was simple. Bring Piandao the heads of these bandits...
Tai Li listened silently to the master's demands, remaining completely calm. Before setting out to track down her targets, she asked to be shown on the map where the plundered caravan was found and when it happened. After looking at the indicated point on the map for about half a minute, she set off to track down her targets, taking the map of the area with her.
It was not difficult for the ingenious girl to track down the bandits. Knowing the approximate time of the attack, the amount of stolen goods, and possible points of sale for the stolen items... also having access to the most accurate map, she easily calculated the most likely place where the criminals might be hiding. That same evening, she found them and, renting a Komodo rhino in the city, easily reached their lair.
The bandits were hiding in a small cave from which a stream flowed into a large river. Several kilometers from the main road connecting the city and the port. The bandits' lair was hard to spot and was a great place to hide a lot of stolen goods to sell them piecemeal later. Leaving the rhino below, Azula climbed the cliff to determine the location and number of robbers. Apparently, they hadn't even set up sentries. After lying there for ten minutes, she discovered four.
"Azula."
"Spirit? Now is not the time."
"I know, I just want to have a little chat with you about criminals too."
"Can this wait until I finish them off?" the girl hissed, fearing she might be overheard. But the howling wind perfectly muffled the sounds, and the height of the hill only helped her remain unnoticed.
"Leave at least one alive. Interrogate him. Ask about his life, how he ended up like this. When justice comes for his head. I think it will be useful for you. It will broaden your worldview," the spirit announced his idea, making the girl elegantly raise her left eyebrow.
"Why? I don't have time for such foolishness. They chose their fate by breaking the law; retribution is inevitable."
"I want you to learn the reasons for such actions. Perhaps they were simply looking for a better life, or perhaps they found no other way to survive, or a series of accidents forced them to be in this place," the spirit said philosophically, but the girl was concerned about something else entirely.
"I hope you won't interfere during the fight because of your mercy?"
"This is not foolish mercy, but cold calculation and an attempt to show you a wider world than you see it. Not everyone was lucky enough to be born into the family of the ruler of the strongest country and have access to all the benefits of civilization and the best mentors."
"They were lucky enough to be born in the Fire Nation, not somewhere at the South Pole or in the Earth Kingdom. And as my brother's example showed, it's not enough to be born to be above others. And now, don't bother me."
"Act as you see fit," the spirit responded, then fell silent.
For some time, Azula continued to study her opponents. There were five of them, all men; there were traces of drill and other details that revealed them as army deserters. Their clothes were old, as was their weapons. Equipment that had been written off but not destroyed.
Having learned all she needed, she began to attack immediately with her trump cards. A flash of lightning instantly killed the first bandit. The rest fell into a panic, not understanding what was happening or what to do, and were also deafened by the thunderclap. She managed to kill another one in a similar way. The rest guessed to hide in the cave. Without thinking long, Azula jumped down from the steep cliff.
After falling fifty meters in free fall, she slowed her descent by releasing fire from her legs and landed softly on a moss-covered clearing. Taking out the sword she had brought, she headed for the cave. Pleas for mercy were ignored. The bandits tried to ambush the attacking girl, but Azula successfully dodged the crossbow bolt. And then close combat began, in which the army deserters had no chance of survival... The girl decided not to take anyone alive.
"Do you remember your first kill?" the spirit asked unemotionally, while the girl was cutting off another bandit's head and stuffing it into a specially prepared bag. In the current era, people were calm about death and killings. Especially in such a warlike and aggressive environment as the Fire Nation.
"Why are you asking about that? Yes, I remember," Azula answered calmly, paying no attention to the blood that stained her hands, sword, and clothes in places.
"Will you tell me? The way back will be long, I'd like to hear this story in detail."
"Alright, it happened during my first Agni Kai..."