"Ah, Colonel Xing."
The boy in question bowed deeply and offered a sharp salute as he stopped about ten paces away. "Princess Azula." He dropped the salute and straightened up, but his gaze was lowered, as befitted his station.
Azula regarded the teen colonel in silence for a moment, frowning as she tried to decipher the interesting image he presented to her. The colonel was dressed in a freshly pressed set of civilian clothes, that of a well-to-do (but not wealthy) lowborn. His face looked less like a skull as he clearly enjoyed the benefits of a proper diet ever since arriving at the capital city. Despite his age his eyes held a harder edge than some of the graying commanders that advised her father. He was tense and alert despite the blank gaze he offered, but not afraid or nervous.
Interesting.
Finally, the princess let out a lopsided grin. "It's good to see you've answered my summons so promptly, colonel."
Xing gave a curt nod, not rude, but not too respectful either. "It would be disrespectful of me to do otherwise, princess."
He masked his annoyance well, but it still showed nonetheless. Yet his answer was faultless.
Intriguing.
Time to stoke the flames then.
Azula fought off the urge to grin. "Let me be frank, colonel. I've summoned you because I am puzzled. You see, a few nights ago, Duke Cho was found horribly dead in his estate…"
Xing twitched oh so faintly at the mention of the duke's name. Practically impossible to notice if one didn't look for it.
"...and while many are claiming it to be the work of angered spirits, I've heard whispers telling me otherwise." The girl tapped at her lips thoughtfully with one finger, carefully pacing her words. "You see, I've been told that it's not the spirits who were angered, but several officers from a regiment that Duke Cho had offended. Something to do with securing his brother a general's commission for that particular regiment?"
Xing was almost utterly unmoving - there were slightly more noticeable twitches on his fingers, and the very slight shift of his feet as if he was ready to pounce. His gaze was still directed to the air in front of him, but the sharp anger - not panic - that exuded from him was palpable. Azula allowed herself to smirk a bit. "Well, colonel? Do you have any thoughts on that matter?"
"As you are frank, princess, I ask that you allow me to do so as well."
Azula gave a gracious nod of her head, and she fought the urge to reel back as Xing's gaze rose to meet hers. His disgust - caged as it was - was intense. "I would like to know the point of what your highness is getting at."
Still respectful, if only just barely. Despite his poor manners Azula was getting genuinely impressed with Xing, especially when compared to her weakling brother.
"Relax, colonel. I am not here to threaten or punish you."
More credit to him, he did not relax at all.
"In fact, I wish to applaud your actions." Still tense. "You uprooted a weakness within my father's kingdom, and thanks to your message the spineless nobles will know better than to weaken our forces with their corruption. Your punishment of Duke Cho's failure will remain a secret, as much as I would like to publicly reward you for that service."
The anger in the colonel subsided into simmering embers, and he managed a stiff nod before lowering his gaze once more. "I am…grateful for your praise, princess."
"It's no matter," Azula replied breezily, waving a hand with equal casualness. "It's good to see that there are loyal and competent leaders serving the Fire Nation. Such talent should not be wasted on courtly intrigues, am I right?"
Colonel Xing did not reply, so she arched an eyebrow as she continued. "You know, by now I'm sure most men would be simpering out of gratitude or bursting with outrage. Yet you're still standing there, all quiet and angry."
"I apologize for disappointing your expectations, princess," he said, the words forced through gritted teeth.
"Oh, you're far from a disappointment, Xing. May I call you Xing?" She didn't wait for an answer. "I find your control and achievements to be impressive indeed. Impressive enough that I might offer you my official support."
This finally got Xing to raise an eyebrow. "'Might', princess?"
Azula smirked. "I will first need to confirm for myself that you are truly as competent as they say. You will not mind a brief spar, would you?"
Xing seemed to pause in thought, before letting out a resigned sigh. "I would have to admit that I will be a poor choice of a sparring partner, your highness."
"Oh?" That was actually surprising. Azula folded her arms in front of her as she regarded him curiously. She'd expected the boy to be more than happy to vent some of his outrage.
The colonel bowed again, this time to feign apology. "I am just an orphan unofficially adopted by the regiment that I now have the honor of leading. Though the 11th were always diligent in their duties, my firebending training is limited to the most…pragmatic uses. I learned mostly from combat against the Earth Kingdom armies. My bending will undoubtedly be unsightly and…unsafe for formal sparring."
"Is that so?" Now it was Azula's turn to quirk up an eyebrow. Unsafe firebending? She definitely wanted to see that. "Then it is fortunate that I am competent enough for both of us, Xing," she proclaimed confidently, and then moved past him towards the door.
"Come, we shall use the private training grounds." Azula grinned to herself as she felt Xing's annoyance radiate for a moment before he reluctantly followed along.
Unsafe firebending? Would it be worse compared to Zuko's weak bending? Azula would find out, and she would no doubt prove her superiority to this promising officer.
The princess frowned as she considered that she might have to come up with a suitably gracious speech. Can't have the young colonel too upset with her if she wanted him to work for her…
"Surely you can do better than that," Azula drawled, her tone thick with disappointment as she dusted some loose dirt off her attire.
At least he was honest about being a poor sparring partner.
The test of character was disappointing, very disappointing indeed. Even the palace guards watching them at a distance were muttering their disapproval. Xing's movements were swift but stiff, greatly lacking in the fluidity required to channel and focus his chi. His punches and kicks were half-hearted and indecisive, creating pitiful gouts of flame that wouldn't even melt a candle. She barely needed to block or avoid most of his sad attempts at an offensive. The boy was clearly holding back on some misguided attempt to not harm her.
"Are you going to bother trying?" Azula asked right before she lunged into a flurry of punches and whirling kicks, lashing out with tongues of flame. Maybe with enough pressure, she could break Xing from his reticence.
The colonel however dodged her strikes with surprising ease, his gaze never leaving the princess as he sidestepped and whirled aside just enough to avoid the attacks.
Azula allowed a small scowl to grace her features as she continued her attack, leaping to close the distance and launching a series of kicks mid-air that sent a barrage of fiery bolts raining down on Xing. He weaved through the hail of fire effortlessly, and as the princess descended with an axe kick aimed for his head, Xing opted to step back and avoid the flurry of fire punches instead of blocking and stopping the offensive momentum as standard convention dictated.
If nothing else, Xing was good at not getting hit. Was he really that bad a firebender that he had to resort to dodging? Or was the boy merely toying with her? The fact that she even considered the latter thought offended Azula.
"You are starting to annoy me, colonel," she hissed. "I'm starting to think that all the tales about your exploits are just mirages."
"They were greatly exaggerated," Xing replied with an infuriating nod, eyes just low enough to not meet hers. Did he really not care about his prestige?
"If you truly are this incompetent, maybe I should have my father rethink your promotion."
Ah. A twitch in the corner of his eye.
Azula grinned as she found his weakness. "Perhaps I should suggest another…appointment for the 11th Regiment. Another…promising noble who could use the glory, hm?"
Xing's body stiffened, and there was a flash of fury in his eyes.
Good.
Basking in her triumph, Azula gestured at him with a hand. "Come then, colonel. If you wish to keep your command, prove to me that you are worthy of it." She settled into a combat stance, grinning with anticipation.
"Fight me. I promise, you don't have to beat me."
It wouldn't be fair to set an impossible challenge, after all.
The boy's stare blazed for a second, and she noticed how his eyes then glazed over with hostility. "As you wish, princess," he said flatly while bowing deeply. "I deeply apologize in advance for the offense I will commit." With that, he adopted a crouched, almost hunched stance.
Azula was about to laugh at the proclamation when her instincts screamed at her to leap aside. She did so just as Xing suddenly closed the distance, fists leading the way. Azula's eyes were wide as she watched the punches fill the space where her head used to be. Her mouth gaped open in further surprise as a jet of blinding white flames then burst out from them.
Before she could comprehend what she had just avoided, Azula quickly rolled away as a small orb of the same fire blasted out a small crater on the ground she once occupied. Pure instincts kept her moving as Xing's leg came down and left a small smoldering crater upon contacting the ground. She made enough distance to safely stand, but had to immediately twist painfully to one side to avoid another punch aimed for her head. The burst of fire erupting from the strike caused some of the guards behind her to shout out. Whether in panic or otherwise, she was too busy to care.
Azula tried to retaliate with a fiery strike of her own, sending a knee up to his guts. Xing shifted aside as she expected, but her ensuing elbow strike was batted aside with a backhand that trailed a curtain of fire which forced the princess to wince and backpedal away.
She wanted to growl her annoyance, but Xing did not give her that luxury. Without hesitation the colonel charged through the dissipating flames, striking and kicking in a pattern that Azula was completely unfamiliar with. The speed at which he delivered his attacks - along with the recent memory of his fiery follow up - made blocking a risky prospect, so she had to desperately dance aside or deflect the blows as they came.
For all his poor posture, Xing was fast, faster than many of her mentors. He also kept close to Azula, never letting up in his offense and never giving her the space and the chance to get into the proper stance to deliver a decisive counterattack. It didn't help that he kept aiming at her neck and face with fists and knifehands, while his legs swept and whipped about in an attempt to trip and knock her over.
She tried batting aside a jab aimed for the throat, and with the same arm sent an elbow into his face. Xing responded by quickly delivering a quick jab into her now exposed side. It forced her to abort her attack and instead send the elbow down to intercept the strike, landing a sharp blow onto his wrist. But the awkward stance she was forced into put her back in the defensive again, and Xing didn't seem to register the damage that was supposed to be inflicted to his hand.
Instead, he kept his blank stare locked onto her, and Azula noticed how he never spun about or moved in any way that might break his vision. Not that the close proximity allowed him to do anything fancy to begin with. Still, the unrelenting gaze was genuinely unnerving.
Azula's final attempt at breaking Xing's momentum was a bold and desperate lunge forwards, using the palm and elbow of one arm to push aside his arms and make way for a swift punch into his throat. However Xing deftly shifted out of the attempt at deflection, and his hand grabbed tightly onto her blocking wrist to yank her towards him just as he lowered his head.
A burst of fire from her feet propelled her away from the waiting headbutt, but he still held onto her arm, and the jarring imbalance from the desperate move allowed him to shift his weight and throw her groundward. Azula's fall was arrested by strong hands grabbing her shoulders, but that only brought her face inches from his.
Azula remembered the nickname the colonel had earned in the 11th, and saw the wisps of smoke exiting his widening maw as he continued to glare death at her.
This was the end, she thought.
She wanted to cry out her denial, her defiance at the inevitable, but instead Azula found herself frozen and staring in horror as Xing opened his mouth fully…
…and an intense blast of heat washed across the left side of her face, coupled with a deafening roar. And then it was gone, leaving relieving coolness to soak across her warmed skin.
The princess and the colonel stared at each other, the former in incomprehensible shock, while the latter was starting to lose his combat daze. Colonel Xing stepped back, pulling Azula up to her feet in the process. The fury and raw violence in his eyes melted away, and he backed away further before bowing and saluting her. "I hope the demonstration is to your satisfaction, princess."
Azula blinked at his sudden change in demeanor, and then glanced around her. A small, charred hole in the ground smoldered next to where her head would've been just now. The rest of the training grounds were peppered with small craters, a fate shared by parts of the stone walls around it. Some of the palace guards were cowering behind blasted cover.
With the rush from certain death still thick in her veins, the Fire Nation princess stared at the colonel with his lowered gaze.
He had not declared his victory. There was no triumphant mockery from him, no smirk of superiority. The boy was back to his stoic expression again. The lowborn orphan wasn't even showing signs of exertion, though Azula was still too shaken to take offense at that insult.
"Yes." She took a steadying breath full of smoke and burnt soil and then forced herself to don the mask of royal aloofness. "Yes, that will be sufficient, colonel." She paused for a few seconds, waiting in vain for any reply before continuing. "You are clearly…more than capable of leading the 11th Regiment."
"Thank you for your praise, your highness."
Try as she might, Azula found no trace of sarcasm in his voice. If anything, he was…annoyed? Why was he annoyed?
Quickly recovering from her surprise, Azula cleared her throat and regained some of her usual composure. "Indeed. As I promised, the 11th Regiment will have my royal patronage. I will ensure that the needs of your command are not disgracefully overlooked again like before."
Xing saluted, still as infuriatingly sharp as ever. "My men and women will be most elated to hear of your highness' generosity. I thank you on their behalf, princess."
"Yes, yes," Azula said with forced offhandedness, waving him off. "I'll not hold you any longer. Return to your task, and see to it that your regiment does not disappoint me, colonel."
"By your leave then, princess."
With that, he was gone, and Azula watched as the boy left her sight before she hurried off to her room, the heat from the side of her face quickly growing to encapsulate the other half.
This Xing was a troubling puzzle.
What in the world was his firebending? Surely it couldn't be something just learned from combat?
And if his firebending was so devastating, why was he insistent about hiding it? Was there something else to it that he didn't want to draw attention to?
Why was he annoyed at his obvious victory? Was he worried about causing offense? Did he think her to be so petty? (Sure she might be on occasion, but that's besides the point.)
And why was it that her blood still raced and her heart still pounded even after the match was over? It was clearly not insult or anger Azula was feeling, though that revelation was surprising by itself.
There was something about that display of ruthlessness that was…
If it was not frustrating, then what?
*****
With the sparring over, one of the two figures in the upper floors finally spoke. "What do you think, General Bujing?"
The calculative general nodded thoughtfully. "Colonel Xing seems to be as impressive as the tales make him out to be, your majesty. While inelegant, it's clear enough that his method of fighting is meant to exploit the earthbenders' defensive stances. Only the inherent swiftness of firebending kept the princess from any serious harm." Despite the implied danger to royalty, Bujing smiled. "I can see why the Earth Kingdom has such a high bounty on the Young Dragon."
"Does his men share his…aptitude for firebending?"
Bujing shook his head slowly. "So far as I know, the firebenders of the 11th show praiseworthy skill in battle, but nothing like the flames of the colonel." The high general frowned in thought. "Come to think of it, none of the other forces we've questioned mentioned anything about the white flames. Perhaps it's meant to be kept secret?"
Fire Lord Ozai hummed in thought before coming to a decision. "As Colonel Xing shows great talent, we shall not squander it. Have the 11th Regiment be reassigned from resistance suppression. They have a reputation of breaking through stubborn earthbender formations; utilize that."
"I will adjust our plans accordingly, Fire Lord."
"The fools who had allowed for the 11th Regiment's relegation and deterioration. See to it that they are punished for their corruption."
General Bujing smiled widely. "I know just the front that could use such cowards, your majesty."
The Fire Lord watched as his daughter stormed off with a bit of a limp, and another thought occurred to him.
"Tell me honestly, general, how much would the Fire Nation stand to gain if we adopted this orphan? Or tie this commoner colonel to the royal family by…other means? Assuming he proves his worth, of course."