Officer Yoru (SI/OC)
"You alright, Yoru?" My attention snapped to Kuzon, a larger fire-bender who had been assigned to our ship after helping quell a minor uprising in one of the newer colonies. "You were spacing out a bit. Is the Siege still troubling you?"
"No, I didn't lose anyone too close, though I did know a few people who have yet to return." I shook my head. I had some acquaintances who had died at the Siege, but such was the way of War. One did not launch an attack and then cry when death happened; it was just the nature of War in its most primal state. "Kind of crazy to think that such a large fleet is just…gone."
"Hey, there might be some survivors." Kuzon consoled me, however vainly, though the rest of our little group travelling through the ship agreed with him, if hesitantly. "The whole reason they aren't making a memorial immediately is in case some people managed to pull through."
The great thing about mass murders is that they gave me an excuse to space out without catching too much flak from the Captain. Plus, it meant that soon Princess Azula would be on her way to capture her uncle and brother (by my foreknowledge), since things shouldn't have changed that much.
I knew she would visit my ship in particular because, for one, it was the largest remaining cruiser left nearby to where Prince Zuko and Prince Iroh had come to dock following the incident at the Northern Water Tribe, and also because we had some of the more proficient fire-benders to aid in her endeavors. Mostly fodder against Iroh and even Zuko himself, but quantity was a quality of its own.
"Not because of any decency or anything." Maki, a woman from my batch of recruits, snorted. "The Ministry of War doesn't want to have to bother updating the names if survivors return a few months later."
"Let's can the treasonous talk!" Jin glared at Maki. "We serve under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, don't forget that, Officer Maki!"
"And don't forget that being a boot-sniffing mole-rat doesn't make you a higher rank than I am, Officer Jin."
Jin fumed, though he limited himself to glaring at the now smug Maki as they continued to move through the ship towards the deck.
"Are the rumors true?" One of the older conscripts, Izen, asked out loud, likely hoping to shift the conversation to something less contentious. The Captain had called a meeting, and everyone knew how temperamental he got when things didn't go his way.
"Don't ask vague shit like that," Maki asked. "There are a lot of rumors about, you have to be specific."
"Yeah, are you asking about the rumor that Prince Zuko has joined up with the Northern Water Tribe to overthrow the Fire Lord?" One of the soldiers piped up, laughing at the blushing Izen who seemed to shrink into his armor at her words. "I'd snort up ash before I believed that. His bitching about honor is legendary throughout the Fire Nation! The Ember Island Players are even thinking about making a comedy about him!"
"What are they going to call it?" Kuzon asked, chuckling. The Ember Island Players were…certainly something.
"The Search for Honor, probably," I smirked. "Here is a huge spoiler, though, the big twist will be that it was on top of the Fire Nation flagpole shoved up his ass the entire time!"
"Yoru!" Chang, the youngest of the little group of Fire Nation soldiers, scolded. His eyes, however, betrayed the amusement he was desperately restraining. "You can't be saying that kind of thing."
Poor Zuko. While his actual actions regarding the 41st had been decently heroic, the information was not shared around, and it was mostly thought that he had just spoken rashly to his father. Add in his prickly demeanor and the lack of objection to the whispers by the Fire Lord, Zuko was soon the butt of every other joke in the Nation.
"I'm hardly the first." I laughed. "Nor will I be the last, I imagine."
"No, not that one!" Izen interrupted, having recovered from his bout of embarrassment. "There are rumors that the Princess is on her way. To our ship, in fact."
At long last! If it were true.
I had learned, from passive observation, that there were many differences between this new world of mine and the world of Avatar in 'canon'. My presence was one of them, but some other minor things included skewed ages. Prince Zuko had been seventeen when he was banished, and Azula had turned eighteen herself a few months back. Yet, it appeared that the Avatar was still a young child, meaning only certain people had found themselves older than they had been in the show.
What changes would this have on the world's direction? What had remained the same?
I was curious to find out.
But the search for gratification required patience; everything was finally coming together. What a euphoric feeling!
"Sounds like a load of nonsense to me." Jin scoffed. "Why would the Princess be coming here? After the Siege of the North Pole and the loss of most of our Navy, it seems like the worst time for a high-profile Royal to be leaving the safety of the Fire Nation and adjacent waters."
"The Princess is hardly any damsel in distress, Jin." I waved his concerns away. "Even we've heard the rumors. Blue fire and supposedly 'cold fire' on top of that."
"She is still a single person." Jin countered. "The Princess's safety is paramount! What if the water-benders try to take revenge by sinking her ship?"
What a simp. Sure, her safety was paramount, but it was more likely that anyone dumb enough to attack a royal sloop would be in fear for their safety.
"The Northern Water Tribe is still recovering from the Siege as well," Izen answered with a shrug before his voice turned ripe with glee, of the teasing kind. "They aren't going to be a factor in the war for some time. Besides, she probably has some kind of entourage following around, at least for a bit."
"More importantly, describing the Princess as a 'single person'? Aiming for royalty, are we? Want to be Prince Consort Jin of Bum-fuck the Colony?" I asked.
"Burn off!" Jin flicked a small spark of flame at the suddenly yelping Izen. "You know that wasn't what I meant at all! Don't even joke about things like that, just in case she is coming here! Also, I'm from Bhanti! I'm no colonial hick!"
"You speaking shit about the colonies?" I raised my brow. "My aunt's a colonial!"
"Yeah, my sister moved to the colonies!" Further down the line, a voice called out.
"My granduncle is from Oystery Bay!"
"My girlfriend is from Tahno!"
"Isn't your girlfriend from the Capital?"
"Nah, that's my campfire near the barracks." The guard in question winked exaggeratedly enough for it to be practically visible despite the suit of armor he wore and his mask. "If you get what I mean."
He regretted it as Maki, who was walking behind him, swiftly kicked him hard enough that everyone else winced.
"Don't sound so proud of that, you two-timer!"
I didn't have an aunt, but it had been a while since we had engaged in a proper battle, so some small-scale conflict would be satisfying to pass the time.
"Your Aunt could be Prince Zuko in a damn wig for all I care." Jin snorted. "The colonies haven't been pulling their weight since before Fire-Lord Azulon died! I say just let the Earth Kingdom take them back and save us the trouble!"
"And who cares about what you say?" A booming voice interrupted the festering argument. A shame. Jin was so talented at making things complicated for himself, which is why a promising young fire-bender was sent to this middle-management ship instead of one of the lead vessels during the invasion of the North Pole. Though perhaps that had worked to his favor. "Last, I remember, you were a part of my ship's crew and not some lofty general or admiral. I must have forgotten when you got promoted, Officer Jin!"
Ah, it was the Captain. It was certainly useful that we generally referred to superiors by their title alone, unless in some sort of large meeting with overlapping titles, because I had yet to remember his name. At this point, it was probably too late to ask politely as well.
"M-my ap-"
"Shut up." The Captain growled before turning to look at me. "Officer Yoru, come to my office. The rest of you drop and work on your principal exercises until you can't even sit on your ass without the sores from practice stinging!"
Being called into the captain's office was not usually a good thing, especially for me. It tended to be either pointless or annoying; sometimes it was even both.
With a wry grin, I sauntered off behind the captain, and although they were to the back of my head, I could almost feel the middle fingers they were flipping me off with.
Within a few minutes, we had climbed the metal stairs and entered the Captain's frugally decorated office.
"Sit down, boy." Kratos?! "What I am about to discuss with you is probably the biggest opportunity in your career."
"Permission to speak freely?"
"You do that anyway." He truly knew me! Though I would have appreciated the comment without the teeth grinding or look of hatred.
"Permission to continue speaking freely?"
"Ughhhh…permission granted." I would drive this man to an early grave! Why? Because I felt like it! Was this why I was hated?
"I assume that rumors about the Princess's arrival are true, then." The Captain would only be this unnerved if someone with a much higher status would soon be arriving and with most of the Navy being out of commission for the time being after Admiral Zhao's disastrous Siege in the North, the Generals of the Army being dragged into yet another extended conflict in the Earth Kingdom, and the now prevalent rumors about the prodigal fire-bending Princess, it wasn't too hard of an idea to grasp even if he did not have future knowledge (however rusty or inapplicable it may end up being).
The Fire Nation's primary reprieve was that a persistent and deadly famine had spread its way across the bountiful Earth Kingdom, hampering their ability to mobilize. And the Earth Kingdom had never been known for being a particularly cohesive political, economic, militaristic, or social unit. He had some inkling of the background behind the famine, but nothing concrete.
But if his hunch was right, then things were going to get a lot worse for everyone. Everyone but him, that is.
"I figured you'd have found out by now." The Captain huffed. "I am not sure why she is arriving, but I suspect that the Fire Lord is sending his best after the Avatar at this point."
"Or perhaps it is regarding Prince Zuko and Prince Iroh?" Their actions had caused a stir back in the Fire Nation. Their intervention had turned things decisively against the Fire Nation in the North, but the more spiritual factions like the Fire Sages claimed that it was Zhao overreaching and killing a Spirit that kick-started the whole mess.
"Hah!" The Captain laughed, a deep mocking thing at that. How rude. "The Fire Lord barely remembers that his eldest son exists, let alone is worth sending his favored child and presumptive heir to retrieve. A squad of imperial fire-benders or even a warrant alone would do the trick."
"For Prince Zuko, yes." He was a late bloomer. A very late bloomer, at that. "But the Dragon of the West warrants caution."
The lack of retort showed the Captain's reluctant agreement to his words as the man sat in his seat with an exhausted sigh and tapped his desk methodically.
"Fair enough." It must have killed the man to openly admit to my point, a fact that I would relish. "It hardly matters; the point is that she wishes to requisition the most elite fire-benders I can afford for her mission, whatever it may be. And while I…certainly do not like you, I will not deny that you are by far the best bender on this sheep, hell, perhaps our section of the Navy."
Keep on glazing me, old geezer!
"I am humbled by your kind words." Respectful and demure~
The Captain glared at me harder, for some reason.
"See, you say stuff like that." He gestured, exasperated. "But it always feels like an act, a long con. I am of two minds on this whole matter. On one hand, I get to wash my hands of you and your antics, and on the other hand, I have to also give up a few other loyal, normal, powerful benders."
Ah, yes, my collection of extras! While they weren't particularly powerful, they had made for good enough conversation partners through his time embedded in the Fire Nation Navy. Hopefully, they wouldn't all die horribly against Iroh or as punishment if the old geezer and the egg-head prince managed to escape again.
"When will our illustrious Princess be arriving?" Honestly, I was ready to go at any time. Being the Spirit of War meant that I was always prepared for conflict of all sorts.
"Merely an hour away." The Captain said, leaning back into his chair. "I just received a messenger hawk from the Princess's minders. Why else do you think I have the crew practicing until they drop from exhaustion?"
Because you are a morose old codger who can't bear seeing the youthful be happy?
"I called you here partly since you will be, nominatively, in charge of the group of benders and also your new superior will be the Princess herself." The Captain gave me a sharp look. "I have turned a blind eye to your borderline insubordination, crassness, and other eccentricities, but do not think that the Princess will be quite as lenient as I."
"Of course, Captain." Now that I think about it, would this scenario mean that the Captain was the idiot who allowed good old Zuko and Iroh to know about Azula's trap? If so, he probably wasn't long for this world anyway, and wasting time on a dead man was a waste of time. "I would never dream of defying the Princess!"
I wonder if I was a good enough liar to beat Toph's whole lie detector schtick. Hopefully, my plan to stick to the Princess's little 'special ops' team would work out. Of course it would! Doubt was for other people, like Zuko.
"I know you'll inevitably step out of line somehow." The Captain groaned. "Just try to wait until after you get off my ship and go far enough away that she won't just pin getting stuck with you on me. And for Agni's sake, don't mention my fucking name. Now go and inform the crew of the development."
"You can count on me!" I don't even know your name, so I was already pretty confident in that regard.
"Please leave." I will. But only after lingering just long enough to make it clear I don't respect your authority at all!
Princess Azula
She gazed at the mirror, her comb gently retreading already pristine locks. By all standards, her hair was already more than good, but when had Azula ever stooped for less than perfection?
"Dear Princess, it is…" An annoying voice began.
"…time to come to the deck." A minutely different one continued. "The Cruiser is in sight, and it is…"
"…time to recruit your forces and fulfill the mission entrusted by your father." Azula knew she was clever. No, not just clever. She was a genius. But even she had yet to figure out why the old twins bothered putting in so much effort to speak like that when it was obvious that they rehearsed it.
The machinations of the stupid and the mad were unknown to her forevermore, she supposed. Perhaps her addled Uncle would be able to shed some light on her minder's particular madness. Once he was secured in chains and away from the sun, of course.
"I will be there in but a moment." Finally, she sighed as the last strand finally ceased its resistance and went down with the others. The sea air had messed with her hair, and it had taken irritatingly longer to get the issue back under control. If she were a sentimental person, she would name that rebellious strand of hair Zuko for how stupid and inadequate it was. "A Princess must be no less than perfect at all times. Imperfection and failure are for burned Princes, after all."
She would remember that one. It would be nice to rub her Father's final gift to him in his face. She could do it manually by jabbing her hand into the wound and rubbing it in, but it seemed too blunt to be her manner of cruelty.
Unlike Zuko, she was quite capable of subtlety and guile.
With a deep breath, she got up and walked out onto the deck. A few Imperial Fire-benders had been sent along with her, but they were laughable by her standards and would likely alert her uncle to her plans far too early. So here she was, requisitioning a few capable of Fire-benders from one of the few Navy cruisers they had left.
"The Captain seemed cooperative in handing over his more capable fire-benders." Azula shared her new thoughts with those old hags who nodded thoughtfully. "Rather strange, all things considered. I would have assumed he would have put up some fuss."
"Do not fret, Princess, we are sure..." One of them began.
"…that he is simply in awe of your majesty and wishes…"
"…to provide his full assistance, even at…"
"…the expense of his crew." The other one finally finished.
Truly, restraining herself from rolling her eyes or sneering was a feat worthy of Father's approval. Why had he kept the two after Grandfather passed was anyone's guess.
"Awe is to be expected, but so is acting in one's interest," Azula muttered under her breath. "Why give away proficient benders when a shortage has just appeared in the Navy?"
Her initial hypothesis was that this Captain Feng was attempting, quite pathetically, to play her for a fool and giving her the worst fire-benders. This seemed the most logical, but her understanding of his character seemed to paint a picture of a dutiful man, perhaps to a fault.
Not that it mattered, now that she thought about it. The quality of the benders was a minor issue. She just needed them to last long enough to leverage her skill should the fight become a match between her and both Uncle and Zuko, should their plan to separate and confine them go awry.
"The last Fire Nation cruiser in the Northern Hemisphere." Azula gazed at the ship that her sloop had come to the side of. "What a shame. Admiral Zhao's failure was truly pathetic. To bring the full naval might of the Fire Nation and yet somehow still snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
It made sense that such an incompetent man would be Zuko's 'rival' in the hunt for the Avatar. Her brother truly was fighting in his weight class.
She turned towards the old twins for a moment.
"Stay on the sloop and keep things in check." At the sign of objection, her neutral expression changed into a glare. "That is an order, I shall not be long, and frankly, the Cruiser is perhaps even safer for me than the sloop."
They closed their mouths, looked at one another, and then nodded their ascent as they turned and walked back towards the center of the deck while Azula stood waiting with perfect posture and decorum.
"The bridge has been prepared, and the troops have prepared themselves." A gruff voice greeted her as she saw a large man walk onto the sloop from the cruiser. Captain Feng himself, by the looks of it. "I, Captain Feng, am honored to welcome you aboard the Ashstrider."
Azula allowed a proper mask of politeness to rise. The kind, yet tinted with arrogance, mask of the noble princess of the Fire Nation. Respecting her status and position, while appealing to the sense of awe that her Father had diligently worked to cultivate about the Royal Family.
"It is my pleasure." She nodded and strode forward onto the ship's deck. She had shown her manners; now it was time to show her steel. "Truly, you are fortunate to have avoided joining the late Admiral Zhao's, may Agni provide him grace, fleet during the attack. A true stroke of luck for your crew and the Fire Nation as a whole."
Zuko had never thrived in court, despite how much he desired to impress Father. He was simply his Mother's son. He did not truly understand the art of wearing masks and speaking of words that meant things other than what they seemed to.
Captain Feng, at least, was passable in the art if the clenching of his fist and narrowing of his eyes was any indicator.
Why wasn't your ship part of such an ambitious and significant Siege?
It insinuated either incompetence, treachery, or plain misfortune. Either his crew and he were not skilled enough to be worth the effort of conscripting (unlikely, considering that even Zuko's bunch of useless exiles had been recalled), treacherous (possibly, but unlikely), or simply a level of having bad connections or being viewed as overly ambitious (Zhao seemed only to tolerate his own ambitions), the last of which her instincts seemed to lean towards.
"Admiral Zhao wanted to leave behind a ship of some capability crewed by some of the finest sailors in the army, to prevent any sneak attacks or retaliations from the Earth Kingdom."
"Last I was aware, Captain, the Earth Kingdom was not known for its naval prowess." Azula raised a brow as they walked onto the Cruiser side by side. "Their levies have mostly become untrained peasants while the truly important are sealed away behind the walls of Ba Sing Se. And what use are Earthbenders at sea?"
"The Earth Kingdom has resorted to giving privateering charters to ambitious pirate groups." Captain Feng countered. A good point, certainly, but not one that Azula wasn't expecting either.
"Pirates who stick just beyond the Fire Nation border, looking for easy targets." She gave the man beside her a condescending look, revealing a hint of her true nature. "And there is only so much a single Fire Nation ship can do, cruiser or not, against opportunistic pirate hordes, especially concerning their quantity."
"I believe the Princess overestimates the daring of pirates." Captain Feng replied. It was surprisingly audacious from the infamously deferential man, but then she supposed even such an individual had to have some sense of pride to captain their vessel. "Pirates are a scared lot that prefer to exercise their power over the defenseless. A Fire Nation cruiser's attack power is stronger than what they can bring to bear, so even if there is only one, it works well enough as a deterrent anyway."
Azula hummed as if in thought. She had gotten a proper measure of Captain Feng's personality from this conversation, beyond just the words of others. Indeed, a dutiful man, but one who was confident in his skills and proud of the experience his years of service had brought him.
And indeed, a man unlikely to give up his best Fire-benders without too much fuss, but also not one who would seek to cheat a Princess out of her request.
"I suppose if anyone were to know such things, it would be you, Captain." She decided to let the discussion die down. It irked her to even play at 'losing' an argument or at least retreating from the discussion, but she had more important issues at hand. "Let us move on to the more important matters. I have been told that you have assembled a team for deployment?"
"A small team, but one comprised of the best fire-benders on deck." Captain Feng assured. "Might I ask what mission warrants not only the Princess herself but depriving me of such firepower?"
"It is quite audacious to ask for permission to ask a question, yet to posit such a thing before waiting for my answer," Azula replied, letting a more genuine smirk grace her face. "Yes, you may ask, but I will not answer just yet. I despise repeating myself, and I will inform you at the same time as my new subordinates."
She continued forward as the Captain frowned, but did not continue their debate. The deck of the ship was in pristine condition, likely cleaned thoroughly right before her arrival. The entire crew was standing in formation, each bowing enough to convey respect to her position without going so far as to unintentionally insult her Father's higher status or their deference for the Captain.
Five soldiers, proper fire-benders of high rank at that, based on their insignias, stood at attention in the front. The benders that the Captain would be signing off to her, no doubt. Their bows came well timed as well, though she did note that the one in the middle, the presumptive leader at that, was a fraction of an instant slower than the rest. Hesitation? Perhaps a rising star from some colony who happened to be poor in manners.
While it irritated her, proper manners could be instilled easily, while it seemed the same was not the case for talent in fire-bending, or else Zuko would not be such a disgrace.
"So, these are the best of the bunch?" Azula turned towards the Captain, who nodded.
"All who serve on the Ashstrider are dutiful and talented." The man blabbered empty praises. "But these five benders are a cut above the rest."
"Hm." Azula was proud of her eye for talent, but even for her, it was difficult to truly judge a bender's capabilities without seeing them in action. But she could not afford to waste too much time if she wanted to capture Uncle and, to a lesser extent, Zuko. "We shall see."
"Is there a private room for discussion, Captain?" Not taking her eye from the line of benders, she addressed the Captain. "My mission has been handed down from my Father, the Fire Lord himself. It is on a need-to-know basis."
"My office is available; I shall lead the way." While she had a distaste for those who lack ambition and drive, like these 'dutiful' types tended to, she could not deny they were still useful. Subordinates who knew their place were the cornerstone of not just the Fire Nation but every cluster of individuals, even the barbaric Water Tribes or the locust clouds once known as the Air Nomads. "At your command, Princess."
She nodded before turning to her new group of pet fire-benders.
"I will start my introduction with the assumption that you are not, in fact, a group of bumbling morons who Agni took pity on," Azula smirked as they remained silent, only the one in the middle twitching slightly. The one who had bowed slower at that. Very likely to be an ill-mannered colonial hick then. "I do not like to be wrong, so please do not make me be so. I am Princess Azula, as you are no doubt aware. You will be my subordinate from now on until I say you are not. As you must have heard, we will head to the Captain's office and discuss the specifics of your new assignment. Play your part well, and you will be rewarded. Fail, and you will be punished. Nod if you understand."
They all nodded.
"Excellent." Azula smiled and then waved at the Captain. "Lead the way, Captain."
The man grunted before turning to the other soldiers on the deck.
"Get back to your positions!" The Captain barked out. "The War Ministry doesn't pay you to stand around!"
Amusing, she was sure some of the more corrupt officials would do just that. A thought that Azula decided not to share with Captain Feng as they walked through the now busy ship towards his office.
As they traveled, she took the time to look around the ship. It was busy as the soldiers left from the deck to return to their places and roles in the function of the vessel. Despite the apparent chaos, there was a sort of rhythm to their movements and the noise. The sort of organized disorder that came from years of working together.
Azula strangled the odd memory of her days with Mai and Ty-Lee. Sentimentality was a weakness. It was for Uncle, for Zuko, for Mother. Never her. Though she would admit to herself that their skills would be useful once she brought back Uncle and Zuko, for when they were sent to go after the Avatar.
"Here we are." Captain Feng opened the door to his surprisingly spacious office. "After you, Princess."
She walked in and took the Captain's seat for herself. Admirably, the slight clenching of a fist was his only response. A pity, she thought for a moment, he would be interesting.
"Close the door." The last of the group of benders quickly moved back and shut the door, locking it as well before returning to stand in attention with the other soldiers at the center of the room while the Captain stood off to the side. "You may remove your masks and introduce yourselves. Make it quick so we may move on to more important matters."
The colonial was the first to remove his helmet. Black-haired with curious red eyes ringed with gold, spirit-touched perhaps. Muscular, too.
"I am Officer Yoru." He bowed, perfectly this time around. Either he had learned from his previous mistake, or he had been purposefully needling her. Spirit-touched and strange even otherwise. A curiosity, but not one she had time to think on for the moment.
The short one who closed the door took off her helmet next. A woman with cropped black hair and dark eyes.
"Officer Maki, at your service, Princess."
The others removed their masks at about the same time. The usual looks all around, but not much compared to the first two Officers.
"Officer Izen." A cranky-looking middle-aged man introduced himself, holding his helmet at his side with his right arm.
"Officer Kuzon." A plain man who appeared to be the eldest of the bunch.
"Officer Jin!" The youngest of the lot, even younger than she, introduced himself. "It is an honor to meet and serve the Princess!"
A kiss ass, by the look of it. Hopefully not of the obnoxious ones, in which case he'd likely have a 'tumble of the prow of the ship' at some point in the day.
Officer Yoru, taking initiative, reached over and slapped the boy across the back of his head.
"She didn't ask, stupid brat."
"You aren't that much older than I am!" Officer Jin huffed, no more like he pouted.
"In terms of age, yes." Officer Kuzon agreed. "In terms of maturity, Officer Yoru is by far your elder."
Soon, the others, barring the now silently amused Yoru, were all drawn into a squabble. Azula turned to arch an eyebrow at the Captain, who sought to look anywhere other than his rambunctious Fire-benders.
"You asked for my best fire-benders." He huffed. "Not my most manageable ones."
And like that, everything made sense. Oh well, it wasn't like she needed them to be a perfect cohesive group. Their reckless socializing might be what is needed to lure Uncle and Zuko into a false sense of security.
Nonetheless, she coughed loudly. The group stopped squabbling and quickly returned to attention, with the only hint of their previous lack of discipline being their flushed faces.
"I understand that years together under lax jurisdiction have allowed you the freedom to express yourselves, but remember whose presence you stand in." Azula narrowed her eyes, the benders all nodding and shrinking into themselves slightly. Except, once again, for Officer Yoru, who simply nodded with what she almost believed was the ghost of a smile. "I will not tolerate insubordination, unprofessionalism, or imperfection. Do not believe that perfection is merely the point that you should strive for. It is the minimum standard."
"As you command, Princess!" All the officers shouted, re-establishing their previous atmosphere of competent individuals. An atmosphere that Azula now knew could disappear in seconds. Perhaps such casualness was acceptable in this circus that Captain Feng was running, but Azula would not abide by such insolence.
"Good, let us move on to the matters that have brought me here." Azula rested her boots on the Captain's desk, enjoying the look of displeasure that almost emanated from the man. Once her business was wrapped up, she would investigate the man. His absence from the Siege and general demeanor were signs of something, even if she couldn't figure out what exactly they were for. "My brother and uncle have been declared traitors. My assignment is to capture them and bring them back for trial in the Fire Nation. You five will be joining me in subduing them."
The officers and even the Captain looked at her in shock.
"Princess Azula." Captain Feng coughed. "Putting aside our ill feelings of capturing esteemed members of your family, especially one as illustrious as Prince Iroh, is this mission not one that is practically suicide?"
"Watch your words." Azula snapped, glaring at the insolent man. "I may have been speaking to your previous subordinates, but my words apply to you as well, Captain. Questioning me is questioning the Fire Lord. Look no further than my brother to know how such action is taken. If his own blood is not spared punishment, why would you, a mere Captain, avoid far worse a fate?"
"Of course." The Captain responded, though his tone seemed to show that he meant the opposite. "I simply wonder why you believe that five fire-benders, even if five of the best I can scavenge, would be able to help change the tide against General Iroh."
"Prince Iroh and perhaps not even that," Azula commented, letting a small blue flame light in her hand as she spoke with a tone that conveyed her sheer boredom. "He has grown old, complacent, fat, and perhaps even senile. Or, well, more senile than he used to be. Besides, you are not paid to wonder. You are paid to follow orders. Perhaps I shall replace you with a Komodo Rhino? At least they seem to know how to follow my instructions without needless nagging."
"Even if it were old, fat, and senile, it would make a dragon no less of a dragon." Officer Yoru posited, his Captain nodding in agreement hesitantly. "All the members of the Royal Family claim lineage from the original fire-benders. I am confident in our skills, but to defeat the Dragon of the West is a…tall order, for any fire-bender."
The interesting thing in his words was the lack of fear, and what she felt could only be excitement. Different passions drove different people; perhaps this Yoru was one of the more bloodthirsty ones. A useful characteristic, if he could be tamed properly.
"I suppose expecting your lot to keep up with a member of the Royal family, rusty or not, would be ignorant." Azula agreed. Her Uncle might be one step away from the madhouse, but he was still the man whom the Earth Kingdom spoke in hushed tones about. "Ideally, my plan will go off without any errors, and we will be able to subdue them without a fight. If not, your job will not be to defeat my Uncle, but to fend him off long enough for me to subdue my brother. My Uncle is quite attached to him, so I imagine he will surrender at that point, then risk harm to Zuko."
"To threaten your own brother?" The Captain questioned uneasily. Why would he say such a thing, almost questioningly? She had tolerated his initial instance of insubordination, but Azula did not believe in second chances. "Your uncle?"
"A traitor is a traitor, even if they are a member of the royal family." She paused. "Especially if they are a member of the royal family. I can understand your reticence on the matter, but orders are orders. Besides, as long as they cooperate with Father's quite merciful order for arrest and not execution, we can avoid any unpleasantness."
"And yet, you are seeking to first and foremost trick them into submission." The insolent Captain pointed out. An ironic death, then. Something poetic and humiliating for a man like Captain Feng.
"It is better to ask forgiveness than permission." Azula replied, it would not do good to make a poor impression upon her new subordinates, so she would play along and 'explain' her actions. What was this peasant thinking? Asking for the royalty to explain themselves? "If they cooperate, I can relax the restrictions on them. If they do not cooperate, then I would like them to be under our thumb before the fighting breaks out. Ideally, of course."
"It makes good sense, tactically." Officer Kuzon nodded, though the Captain grimaced. "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
Hope was for fools, but Azula was clever enough to never say such a thing out loud. The truth was a harsh salve while lies were a sweet poison, yet most preferred to swallow the latter than apply the former.
"You must be wondering why I allowed you to remain as well, Captain." Azula turned towards the man in question. "I will be needing a bit more from you than initially thought after all."
"This was not the request." Captain Feng growled. So, there was some backbone in there beyond questioning her and the Firelord's decisions; it was just buried deep down.
"A request from the Fire Lord supersedes all lesser agreements and duties, Captain." Officer Yoru pointed out.
Azula smirked at the now fuming Captain Feng.
"Even your own man seems to see my side of things, Captain Feng." Her eyes glittered with barely restrained malice. "So, are you loyal? Or does the Ashstrider need a new Captain?"
It did need a new Captain, but she doubted Feng was aware of his fate already. He seemed like a rather slow man when it came to these kinds of things.
There was a brief silence, and despite her relaxed posture, Azula's grip on her inner fire was tight and waiting. It would be fascinating to see where these fire-benders would interject. Azula would win, but it would be a good test of the loyalty of these benders and their reliability on her mission. A very impromptu test.
The man had brief whisps of flames near his hands, and his breath seemed to emit powerful heat with every haggard breath. Barely restraining himself.
Suddenly, Azula almost wished the man would grow a pair and strike at her. Disappointingly, he seemed to regain his composure and control over his fire.
"I am…loyal to the Fire Nation." The Captain let out a breath of air, devoid of flame. "And the Fire Lord, above all. Whatever your request, Princess Azula, will be yours if it is within my capability to provide."
No wonder the man never rose beyond Captain. There was backbone, but not nearly enough. He was competent enough a leader to captain a ship, but not capable enough to grow beyond that, and perhaps he did not have the drive to do so.
Even Zuko wasn't such a disappointing mess. And he was now basically one of the last remnants of the once terrifying Fire Nation Navy.
"Your cruiser will be travelling along with my sloop as we go to capture my uncle and brother." She let another formal smile appear on her face. "Rejoice, this is your chance for glory. Admiral Zhao fell in part due to the machinations of Prince Iroh; this is your chance to end a traitorous threat and carve your names into the history books of the Fire Nation."
The blank look on Captain Feng's face was amusing, though it did make her wonder what sort of emotions the 'legendary Dragon of the West' was inspiring in the man. Hero-worship to this degree? Or something far more sinister? All the more reason to keep him close to gauge his connections before cutting away the rot.
Uncle Iroh still had a disturbing number of allies within Caldera City, enough that Father's reign had never truly stabilized since his ascension, even years after the fact.
"As you command, Princess."
"Indeed." Azula could already see her plan's success on the horizon. "As I have commanded."
Prince Iroh
He had been a fool.
His niece's presence and her honeyed words should have tipped him off first. Some part of him had hoped, foolishly, that the girl had changed. That his brother had changed. That they understood what they had so haphazardly thrown away that day Zuko had burned.
And why bring two ships? A royal sloop would have been enough of an escort to bring them back home. Not to mention the Fire-benders who had stood with the girl. Not the usual Imperial ones who had grown lax, but leftovers from the Navy that had either survived the Siege or were assigned elsewhere at the time.
Now? Zuko and Azula were clashing, and it was going about as well as predicted, if not worse. The girl had only gotten better as time had progressed, and it pained him to see such talent and drive twisted by Ozai.
It was only Captain Feng's brief lapse in judgment that had given Iroh a chance to react, though it had not been enough time. His years of retirement had worn away the Dragon of the West and left a garden snake in its wake, a mistake he would rectify if he could get out of here alive and with Zuko.
He and Zuko had made quick work of the ordinary soldiers without much issue before Azula and her fire-benders had gotten involved.
Unfortunately, while Zuko fought Azula and seemed to be losing quite badly, another blow to what was left of his nephew's tattered pride, Iroh found himself accosted by four of the Navy fire-benders.
He dodged their attacks easily enough, despite his rustiness, and waited. Iroh had not only studied the water-benders, but also air-bending and earth-bending. From the latter bending styles, he had learned the importance of neutral jing.
When the time came, and their ferocious onslaught cooled down, Iroh struck. He grabbed the one at the front and swung the figure into two of the others and launched a powerful blast of flames that sent the last fighter skidding across the deck.
Despite his hopes and the slight ache that came from age and sitting around without much training these days, his opponents got up swiftly and seemingly without much damage. Ah, to be young again!
"You all seem quite proficient in fire-bending." Iroh laughed, and truly his words were genuine. "I do not wish to hurt you, and you cannot hope to harm me. Why not play a game of Pai Sho instead? I have a pot of tea ready, a new blend I picked up from a market just outside the North Pole!"
Of course, Iroh regretted his words almost immediately as his opponents tensed up and immediately charged again, obviously incensed by his words. Sometimes, he had wondered if Sozin had bended with anger or simply his sheer, overwhelming sense of pride and superiority.
"Fuck you, old man!" A voice, distorted by the mask but so feminine, was clear. "I worked hard for my skills! Don't just laugh me off like that!"
"Indeed!"
"Yeah, screw you!"
"Shove that hot leaf juice up your ass!"
"Insult me if you wish!" Iroh growled. He would not damage them overly, but that last one had earned a good beating with those callous words. He was glad that the boy in question was not of his own blood, at least. "Insult my nephew's honor, his haircut, his fire-bending, or his lack of skill with women! But do not speak poorly of either my tea-making or tea itself!"
With a flick of his fingers, the scalding hot teacup flipped over, and the vapor from the tea flew through the air and the gaps in the insolent child's mask, making him scream.
"You face no mere fire-bender." Iroh smiled, entering a stance that combined many attributes from not only fire-bending, but also air-bending and water-bending. "I am the first tea-bender! Avatar of the Jasmine, I shall bring balance to the beverages!"
"Heat!" With a form of fire-bending that had long been relegated to obscurity as a lesser technique by Sozin, a wave of heat originating from the overturned teacup into the loud woman with the crass words. It was not a bar of soap, as he had done to Zuko on occasion, but hopefully she would learn to be more polite before corrupting his nephew and niece with such impolite words.
"Tea!" This had been the most difficult part of his little trick. Normally, he imagined his tea-bending would only be possible for a water-bender or the Avatar, but as the first (and likely last) tea-bender, the spirits had blessed him with great knowledge! When the tea was heated to the stage where it drifted between vapor and liquid, imbued with heat to an absolute level, it was capable of being manipulated in a very crude manner. Which is what he made fly under the shoe of another of his opponents, causing the man to slide into his comrade and creating a heap on the deck.
"Cup!" Picking up the teacup, he flung it at the insolent young man who had gotten up after his light tea-vapor burning where it smashed on his head, causing him to fall back down. Likely unconscious. Calling it bending was a bit of a stretch, but for the sake of the joke, he thought it was acceptable.
He did not feel proud of his actions; these were good children. Fighting for what they believed was right. However misguided they were, he could not take pleasure in besting them in such a humiliating manner. Hopefully, they would take this loss in stride and only grow stronger from it.
"Now then, young man, are you ready to try your luck?" Iroh got into a stance at the one fire-bender who had merely observed the proceedings thus far, staying in the back. "Or have you understood the futility of such action?"
The last fire-bender that remained standing chuckled, though through his mask it echoed in an almost cruel manner. It was no wonder that their troops were so despised throughout the world when even genuine kindness and laughter were distorted into shrill noises by their metal suits.
"Not quite." The fire-bender looked around at his fallen comrades. "I simply wanted to let my soldiers have a go at you before I did. Observe your techniques. It isn't every day you get to do battle with the Dragon of the West."
"I imagine that you must have been quite disappointed." Iroh had noted the watchful eye. Increased connection to the Spiritual World following his visit to the Original Masters had allowed him a much greater perception of the Material World as well. His tea-bending, while amusing, had also worked to obscure his true skills from this more cautious opponent.
"Quite the opposite." The boy who was almost a man by the sound of it chuckled. "Fire-bending that incorporates elements of air-bending, water-bending, and even earth-bending? And not simply for aesthetics either, there is a notable effect on your bending with each technique or movement. A masterwork, truly."
Iroh stilled. Had his techniques been seen through so simply? No, to recognize those movements, combined to the point where it only had passing familiarity to the original bending styles they were derived from (which were, in turn, rather obscure variants themselves), would require knowledge of those bending styles themselves.
"Ah, a fellow scholar then!" Iroh laughed, though in his gut, he did not feel amused at all. This, his instincts screamed at him, would be a much closer fight.
"Of a sort, I suppose." His opponent replied, amusement still evident in his voice. "I do have an interest in a great library of sorts, but I have yet to visit it."
Iroh did not have time to ponder his words as he leapt into action. The boy's stance was similar to that of an earthbender's as well; neutral jing would not aid him at the moment. Not with Zuko steadily being cornered by his sister, and thus the timer on his battle ticking away.
He cursed himself for his arrogance; he had thought that Ba Sing Se, the Masters, and years in the White Lotus had purged such thoughts, but his follies remained. Iroh knew he should have blasted them all away as quickly as possible and grabbed Zuko. Once Azula had his nephew defeated, he would be all but helpless.
Not that he was much better at the moment. The boy had excellent combat instincts, dodging and weaving around his strikes and even deflecting what blasts of fire could not be dodged. A cut above the others, for sure. Not better than Iroh, but that was not what disturbed the Dragon of the West.
No, what chilled him was that with each blow, the boy seemed to be learning a little bit more. His stances were more fluid when he moved, more grounded when he stood, more ephemeral when he dodged, and fiercer when he struck.
He wasn't fighting, no, he was learning. Another talented bender. Where once Ozai had snatched up Azula to put under his thrall, now another would fall to the man's daughter. The Spirits were cruel in their ways, that was for sure.
"Losing your nerve?" The boy asked, his voice filled with glee. Fire was the element of drive, of passion. Back in their more spiritual days, before Sozin had standardized fire-bending as a weapon for war, the Agni Kai existed not as mere duels but as a way for fire-benders to convey their thoughts through flame. A skill that he had only learned after it was too late to matter, truly. But since then, Iroh had learned much. He knew he fought for peace, Zuko fought for his honor (his father's love), Azula fought for perfection, and Ozai fought for power. This boy? He fought for the sake of fighting. "Perhaps you would like to surrender. Save yourself the trouble, we can even play Pai Sho when you are locked in the brig."
Iroh laughed despite how unnerving this boy was proving to be.
"Alas, a dragon fights until the end." He replied evenly, casting wary glances as Zuko began to waver. Azula's arms moved in a horrifying, familiar movement, crackling with electricity as his nephew stood in place, in terror. "But above all else, it fights to protect."
"Pretty words." The boy laughed, though it was a harsher thing than before. "But you cannot believe that I will allow you to go. Not when I am having so much fun! Show me your flames, old man!"
Iroh leapt away as the boy bounded after him, hot on his heels. The timing for this would need to be perfect; otherwise, he would find himself once again at a disadvantage.
As Azula struck, Iroh leapt in front of the paralyzed Zuko with terror and felt himself flow into the necessary stance. Lightning entered one hand, and the path of chi he created would allow him to redirect it; the question was where.
His mind flashed through the possibilities at incredible speeds as the lightning coursed through him, energizing him in a way that was unmatched.
He hated that his first choice was Azula. The girl whom he had failed to save from Ozai's clutches. Iroh briefly thought that he had failed to remove one monster, but he could prevent another. Immediately, he was ashamed of the thought. Because when he looked at Azula, he could still see a flash of Lu Ten. A boy who had been thrown into a life harsher than he deserved and suffered for it, and the girl who had been left alone with a monster.
The next choice would be the mad boy who had bound after him, a thirst for battle in his eyes. His eagerness for war was heartbreaking, but he was young and passionate. Killing a boy for such eagerness that even he had been guilty of in his youth seemed needless.
The only option that was left was to let it dissipate into the air or…
Iroh angled his other hand towards the bottom hull of the royal sloop. The location was away from where any living creature should be, but he prayed for forgiveness for anyone that might be lost because damn them. His nephew was worth so much more, and it once again tore him apart that the terror of the Dragon of the West, his Father's pet monster, still lived on in some small way.
The sloop's bottom was torn through as he subtly infused some of his chi and enhanced Azula's formidable lightning even further. Her ship would be out of operation for some time with this, allowing for the next part of his plan.
Azula's shocked expression as he redirected lightning was a sight to behold. The girl was too used to things going exactly as she thought they would. Then again, this confrontation was mostly her victory despite his efforts. What a terrifying girl.
"That was pretty cool, old man!" The mad boy laughed; his hands engulfed with fire that burned white hot. "I knew the theory, but seeing it in person is something else entirely! Alas, this is where you surrender. Don't try to fight back!"
Iroh felt like the boy would like nothing more than for him to fight back.
"Uncle!" Zuko hissed. "What do we do?"
"I am afraid you are asking yourself the wrong question, nephew." Iroh smiled. He hoped he would see the boy again sooner rather than later, despite the growing dread in his heart. "The question you should ask is 'What do I do?'. I will be fine, Zuko. Go find your way."
"Un-" Azula growled, her eyes narrowing as she began to walk closer.
At the confusion on Zuko's face and the subsequent realization that dawned on his scarred visage, Iroh clapped his hands before an objection could be raised. He did not summon fire, but the cloud of ash that surrounded them caught even the always observant Azula and the other boy by surprise.
Iroh knew that Azula had long since been superior to her brother in most matters that held importance in their life, but his boy was unmatched in his stealth in the royal family.
So, when the smoke cleared, there was no sign of his nephew.
Azula waved away the smoke and glared at him, while Iroh maintained his serene smile. The boy coughed and spluttered as he shook his head.
"Smoke." The boy muttered, his tone contemplative. "Clever. Are you ready to resume fighting then?"
Azula entered into her own stance at the words her subordinate uttered.
"No." Iroh shook his head, sitting down. "A prince knows when to surrender with dignity. I would like to take you up on the Pai Sho offer, however. Cells get boring without some way to pass the time. Especially ones on ships."
The boy huffed while Azula glared at Iroh.
"Where did he go, Uncle?" Her eyes gleamed with malice as a bright blue fire ignited in the air, above her extended palm. "If you tell me now, I'll be far more merciful on Zuzu when I catch him."
"I never understood that nickname." Iroh mused. "I mean, it is the same length as Zuko! It should be shorter than his actual name, shouldn't it? I think Zu alone would have been fine."
"Tell me!" Azula stomped closer, ignoring Iroh's perfectly valid criticism of her nickname for her brother.
"How would I know?" He laughed. "I simply gave him an opening. I know as much as you do about his next direction from here."
The sloop had taken more damage than Iroh had reckoned and was slowly sinking into the sea as a panicked evacuation onto the cruiser was being done.
"Go and check on the others." She ordered. "We will discuss the situation at a later time."
"Super uncool old man." The fire-bender grumbled as he turned around to his groaning fellows, who were slowly getting up from their brief 'nap'. "Cutting our fight short like that."
"I am a fire-bender." Iroh chuckled. "I am as uncool as it gets!"
"If you make another joke like that, I will visit you every day in the brig-" She stopped Iroh's smile with a hand. "And I will waste the most expensive and rare tea leaves imaginable by mixing them with the cheap Earth Kingdom slop you find at the market."
"Not even you would do something so horrible!" Iroh gasped.
Azula gave him a look.
Iroh decided, quite wisely, to shut up at that moment.
Princess Azula
The situation had not gone as well as she had hoped, nor had it gone as badly as she feared. Sure, Zuzu got away, but he had always been more of an afterthought to her father. It was Uncle who posed a true threat, and he was now locked in the brig at the lowest level of the cruiser.
The mission was more a success than a failure, but her father expected nothing less than perfection. She expected nothing less than perfection. Zuko's escape was an imperfection, something she could not abide by.
The fire-benders that Captain Feng had provided had proven to be more effective than she thought. At least one of them was. Officer Yoru seemed to live up to her initial speculations, a fire-bender who lived for the thrill of the fight.
It was likely that he was some kind of tournament fighter before being enlisted. Being lowborn and a brawler, it would explain his casual defiance of norms, along with his discomfort with social customs such as proper bowing.
Right now, she needed to explain to Father why she was not simply returning with Iroh captured. While she had no doubt he would accept the partial success, the stain of letting Zuko, of all people, escape her grasp while she had him dead to rights would never escape her. In court or her dreams.
"Funny how we find ourselves back here again." Azula mused as she propped her feet back up on the desk again, gazing at the five fire-benders with their helmets in hand, standing in formation in front of her. "Anything you wish to say?"
"Nothing beyond expressing our embarrassment at being dispatched so easily by your Uncle, Princess." The gruff one, Maki, growled. "We will accept any punishment with dignity."
"I knew he was beyond us, but that was a little too fast, wasn't it?" One of the more forgettable ones, Izen she believed, complained.
"We might have been more successful if someone had helped out!" The young one, Jin, growled and glared at the unperturbed Officer Yoru.
"Our goal was not to defeat Prince Iroh, but to stall him long enough for the Princess to take Prince Zuko as a hostage and negotiate a complete surrender." Yoru shrugged. "Pushing the initiative is a valid strategy in a battle between two relatively equal opponents. Against a superior fire-bender, it is very much not so. Since you decided to ignore my suggestion and charge headfirst, I decided to at least learn from your mistake."
"I guess that is fair." Kuzon groaned. "I just wish he had at least taken us down with some normal fire-bending. I don't want to talk about the 'first tea-bender' ever again."
"Your stalling was…adequate." Azula was willing to admit that she had underestimated her uncle yet again, despite numerous warnings not to. It was simply difficult to remember that the bumbling fool of a man was skilled enough to have her Father worried at all times. "Officer Yoru's point is valid. You forgot yourself in that battle, Officers. Stalling and victory are different kinds of battles; do not forget why you are fighting."
The four in question grumbled their apologies as they bowed.
"Will we be assisting in the hunt for Zuko, Princess?" Izen asked.
"No." Azula shook her head. "My uncle was the main threat. Zuko is not worth such a heavy waste of resources. The mission, while not a complete success, has defanged the threat enough to be considered complete."
Iroh had played her well. With his capture, her Father would not care enough to push for the now exiled and hunted Prince. He would certainly not allow her to leverage untold resources to hunt Zuko down to correct her perceived mistake.
"It is a shame to leave a mission half complete." Officer Yoru spoke softly, but his words echoed her thoughts. He seemed much calmer now than he had on the deck. The gleeful, violent bender is being replaced by a more contemplative character. Bloodthirsty indeed. "Might I suggest a possible rectification?"
"You may."
"Prince Zuko is a well-known figure." He began. "I believe, based on his reputation, we can make a few reasonable guesses as to what his next course of action will be. He will either accept that his days as a Prince are over and live out in the countryside, destitute and dishonored forevermore. This appears unlikely. Alternatively, he will attempt some grand act to win back the Fire Lord's favor. This is the theory that I lean towards, personally. Prince Zuko has spent three years on a fool's errand and managed to turn up gold; he is not lacking in conviction."
Azula had thought on the matter herself, and her view on the situation aligned. Zuzu was so desperate for Father's love. Even now, so clearly discarded, he could not help but reach for it anyway. This left him only with one true goal going forward.
"Capturing the Avatar." She laughed. Zuko had failed to do so when the boy had only mastered a single element, and he had all but sole focus on the wielder of all four elements. It was exactly the kind of moronic thing that Zuko would do to think he could succeed against a more proficient Avatar, with fewer resources and no crew. "I believe I see where you are going with this, Officer."
Father would be disappointed in her for failing to capture Zuko, but not enough to allow her to correct the error, that strand of hair out of place, with Fire Nation resources.
He would, however, be more willing to allow her to chase after the Avatar, who would no doubt be seeking an earthbending instructor if his actions in the North were any indicator of the Avatar's proficiency in Water.
And if she just so happened to run into and capture Zuko, who would also be chasing the Avatar? What a fortuitous coincidence! Indeed, Azula was born lucky.
She would need a proper team to capture the last airbender. Already, the shape of an elite squad was forming.
"Officer Yoru." Azula smiled. "Considering your efforts in battling my uncle and your useful insight, I would like to make an offer to you. A position in a very elite group that will be enacting the Fire Lord's will. This will be a grand opportunity. Should you prove successful and useful, you will rise high. If not…"
The candle in the room sparked blue.
"Yoru." One of the others whispered, "Think this through."
It was certainly bold of them to think there was ever more than one answer to her 'request'.
"There has never been gain without risk." Yoru bowed. "I humbly accept your offer, Princess."
"Excellent!" She turned her gaze away. "The rest of you may leave."
She ignored the parting goodbyes they shared with their soon-to-be departing leader. It was about time to address the thing that had ruined her plan.
"I have a request for you, Yoru." Her squad was mainly about having a wide array of different skills to help counter the Avatar's group, but Yoru's talents overlapped with her specialty: bending. Of course, having two benders to counter the Avatar and whatever teachers he may have would be a boon, but not just any bender would do. He would need to be ruthless and loyal to her beyond question. "Think of it as an initiation."
And as she spoke, Azula was convinced she had the right man for the job as his eyes sparkled with a murderous glee.
Captain Feng
He stared at his glass; the Earth Kingdom rum was an acquired taste, but the burn allowed him to forget. It had been a gift from Biyako, a close friend from the Fire Nation Naval Academy. A spoil from a small, but wealthy, Earth Kingdom port town that she had conquered. A friend who was now most likely at the bottom of the sea in that Agni-forsaken North Pole.
If he could only have wrung Zhao's neck himself, but he imagined he was but another in a long line of people who had their share of grievances with the now disgraced and deceased Admiral.
Night had fallen, and soon the Princess would be leaving, along with Yoru, surprisingly. A new mission had been declared by the Princess, and his competence in fire-bending had earned him a spot on her new 'elite team'. Two of the most irritating people he had ever known (Zhao, forever taking the first spot on that list), disappearing the following day, should be a cause for celebration.
"Are you done standing around?" Feng asked, and for a moment, he was greeted with silence.
"You have gotten a lot more perceptive, Captain!" The familiar voice of his least favorite yet most talented fire-bender greeted him. "Back when I first joined up, you could barely even catch a whiff of my presence. Unless you were just guessing, which would be lame."
"After so long with you on board, I had to learn to perceive my surroundings better." He had found a trick with fire-bending. While no great talent with the Art of Agni, he had learned to sense the currents of heat in the air in a very vague sort of manner. Yoru, naturally, was somehow able to avoid this technique, but he could sometimes be perceived more indirectly. Especially in a room that might as well have been his home, the Captain's Office.
"You have changed since then," Yoru spoke fondly, as if he were the old man reminiscing on bygone times. "It is a shame that it has come to this, you know. I might not like or respect you…"
Feng raised a brow as the boy trailed off.
"And?"
"Nothing, that was it." The irritating brat laughed. "I guess I just don't like you. Which is why I am here to right an old wrong."
"Have I wronged you, Spirit?"
For the first time since Feng had met the thing, Yoru paused with a look of genuine surprise.
"Wait, you know?" He laughed even louder now, his hands previously in a readied position dropped to a more relaxed state. "Now that is interesting! I didn't exactly hide some of my quirks, but nothing should have given me away that easily. Out of curiosity, what exactly did in my disguise?"
"Why should I tell my murderer what he wishes to hear?"
"Because, despite your gruff, heart of stone act, you truly love your crew." The monster smiled. "And I think you know enough about my kind to know that we tend to be a bit…unreasonable when upset. Or annoyed. Or happy. Or basically, when doing anything. When I put it that way, what the first Avatar did makes a little bit of sense. Nah, Wan was a chump."
Feng ignored the evil spirit's ramblings; he did not have time to ponder whether it was meaningful or simply madness.
"I am not quite as spiritual as the likes of General Iroh, but I have some perception of such things." Feng was on guard, though he had accepted his inevitable demise. Simply walking into death was still a terrifying thought. Besides, Spirits were dangerous, beyond just matters of life and death, as Father Glowworm had proven to Kyoshi or Koh the Face-Stealer to the Avatar before her.
"That didn't answer my question." Yoru pointed out, with his gold rimmed eyes gleaming with otherworldliness. It was so obvious, in hindsight. "Even those far more spiritual than you haven't been able to see through me."
"Partially because you are always on guard against them and partially because you simply did not spend enough time or attract enough of their attention at the time." Feng took a sip of his drink, though he had grown used to the taste, he would have loved a pre-war bottle of Sozin's Flame Whiskey. "You have brief slips, far and few in between, but once I saw it twice, it was enough to suspect. Once I suspected, then I saw the other signs."
"Oh?"
"Your detachment, your mindset, your general demeanor." Feng listed off, calmly. "Inhuman. You are a good actor, but time is the bane of all lies."
"The others haven't suspected." Of course not, they didn't have a reason to, even if they did, foolish sentimentality would have blinded them to what he was. "I wonder why, if it is as simple as you say."
"I think you already know why not Spirit." There was a silence as Yoru nodded his agreement, and they stayed there, in the Captain's office illuminated only by the lit candles and the rays of moonlight that shone upon the sea.
The same Moon that had brought death to all that he had left in this world.
"You know, I am kind of glad you found out." Yoru eventually started speaking again. "I haven't talked to anyone in the know, just some fellow Spirits in my 'birthplace'. The only other ones I know of in an even remotely similar situation are Raava, who is busy being inside a little boy right now, and those two dumb fish in the North."
The air seemed to become heavier.
"My name is indeed Yoru." The Spirit smiled, an inhuman thing. His teeth were too sharp and too many, a tongue that was too long, and the grin itself seemed to be getting larger and larger, beyond the limits of human flesh or structure. "But I am also the human incarnation of the Spirit of War."
"Why?" Why would he join a mortal military? Work with the Fire Nation, who abhorred the balance? Why make yourself subservient to some human?
"Don't think of us Spirits as human, even when we look like it." The monster explained, not unkindly. "I don't have much to do, since your lot are so good at keeping my whole deal alive even without me doing all that much. I got a lot of downtime as a result. So, I just do what I want. I felt like joining Princess Crazy because, well, I felt like it.
"Speaking of Princess Ass-zula, she is sort of the reason I am here." The Human Spirit seemed amused at his confusion, and Feng decided to ignore the decidedly crude nickname for the more important information he was being given. "It was a mission from the Princess. She didn't take kindly to you cocking up her plan. Total perfectionist, that one. One day, she'll need to learn that you can't control everything."
"So, she knew." The jig was up. He hadn't wished to be so heavy-handed in giving Iroh a warning to escape, but he could not betray the one to whom he owed his true allegiance. "I could not betray my leader."
"So, you are a part of the White Lotus, huh?" Yoru looked him up and down. "Surprising. They just let anyone in their little club, I guess."
"I have no idea what this 'White Lotus' is," Feng answered, confused. "I am of the Sons of the Dragon. Supporters of the Fire Lord."
The thing that pretended to be a boy was confused for barely a moment before it started laughing quietly.
"You are loyalists, but to Prince Iroh?" The boy continued laughing. "That is hilarious! My apologies, Captain, I wasn't aware that you were capable of such a thing!"
"Azulon hated the Usurper Ozai!" Feng growled as his soon-to-be murderer insulted the cause he had devoted himself to. "They argued, the Fire Lord turned up dead, and Ozai became his successor despite his father's known hatred? Treason, there is no doubt!"
"I don't care!" Yoru's laughter slowly cut off as the boy got a hold of himself. "I genuinely wasn't expecting that! You threw me for a loop. Just for that, I'll make your death an interesting one! I haven't gotten a chance to do this in a year or so, so I am pretty pumped up. Don't move too much."
Feng could barely restrain his shiver as the boy grabbed his head.
"Long live Fire Lord Ir-"
"Captain Spinal Cord Sword." And as he felt an unmatched agony, his mind was focused on the last words he could hear.
"Still don't know what his name was, but I guess the guilt does make the weapon stronger." The vile thing continued speaking as if it hadn't humiliated him even in death. "Shame it is so ugly though; I'll dump it somewhere far enough away."
What a pathetic end. Did you feel the same way, Biyako? In the cold water, as you stared death in the face, did you regret everything? Feng had many regrets, but not saying how he felt about her was the greatest of them. They had always thought they would have more time, but the Spirits had made a mockery of such a thing.
Literally.
If he had another chance, Feng would not have been so afraid. At least, that is what he would like to think.
And so, Captain Feng faded away, his last scream immortalized in the grotesque weapon carried by the Horseman. A foul end for a broken man, but not one that Yoru particularly cared to think about now that it was said and done.
"What a fun day!" The Spirit of War laughed. This world was truly incredible, and he would not give it up for anyone. Not Feng, not the White Lotus, and certainly not for that imbecile Raava. "Hehehe, it's going to be a MASSACRE!"