tailored directly to the girl's beautiful figure, everything possible is polished and shiny, a perfectly styled hairstyle and an arrogant look of amber eyes on a beautiful aristocratic face.
An image that is etched into the memory of everyone who sees it once and for all. She climbed aboard the ship, where she was an entire procession, led by Princess Azula herself, and entered the ship. They walked rather slowly, even sedately, because princesses must always show their status.
So that everyone around can see and have time to enjoy the fact that they saw Princess Azula herself live. Clothes without a single wrinkle, already waiting... an assistant and accompanying person in nearby affairs. Her father, Fire Lord Ozai, sends her to the front on an important sabotage mission.
Finish what my uncle started. Capture Ba Sing Se. For many, this will sound impossible and even suicidal, but this is just a simple gray mass. Who else but she, trained by the best teachers, the Master of the blue flame, the future ruler, will cope with this task? Especially with such a valuable asset as this newly minted Kira (note: For those who don't know, this means "killer" in Japanese).
They called it very simply and at the same time catchy. His call sign, or as they call each other in a cultural way, came primarily from pirates. At least, this is what the dossier says, which came personally into the hands of the Fire Lord and then to Azula herself. From the pirates, it spread to the soldiers, and there it took root. And this is already an indicator.
Azula did not believe in various superstitions, but even in the dossier, they wrote in notes that one must be able to keep the nickname. Otherwise, every second person would choose something pathetic to the point of gnashing their teeth. Also in the same dossier, it is said that Kira owns a blue flame - very similar to the flame of the princess herself, which has already interested the Fire Lord very much.
Coupled with the attached characteristics right from school to the very last mission, the father considered this person worthy to accompany Azula on such a difficult task.And Azula didn't mind. She was also taught strategic and tactical skills, and she perfectly understood how difficult the task was before her, so help from such a person would not be superfluous.There was a lot more written in the dossier, and the princess read everything carefully, but was in no hurry to draw conclusions without a personal meeting.
An agent network may be experienced in such a thing, but in such matters it is better to see everything for yourself. It's bad that there's no time for a normal preliminary assessment and you'll have to decide right away whether to take it or not. And only if the decision is positive, then, already on the way, will we outline goals and objectives in more detail.
And her first impression was... ambiguous. She was met on board by the captain of the ship, and not Kira himself, and although the meeting was worthy of Princess Azula, it already shows some attitude towards her .Although perhaps to the very fact of the procession, in the end she herself would gladly avoid this boring exchange, or rather acceptance, of pleasantries."Come along, princess, Kira is on the deck," the captain said, smiling unnaturally, bending down and showing the direction with both hands, but then he caught himself, "oh, that is, I wanted to say, sir..."
"I understand," Azula interrupted, allowing herself to add a note of irritation to her voice. The dossier didn't lie. "Kira" has firmly stuck to him, so much so that, apparently, they don't address him differently. Although, again, if you believe what was written, they respected him very much. Or they were afraid. Which sounded like synonyms in the princess's head. The ships of the Fire Nation were the pinnacle of engineering, and therefore loading or lifting on board was carried out along a special ladder, which opened on the side of the ship and made it possible not to block various complex systems by loading something into the ship's hold through the deck.
Therefore, Kira still had to be reached. However, this was not a problem for Azula, barking at her escort so that they began to settle into the ship, the girl herself quickly walked to the deck, catching herself that she was slightly intrigued by this character and realized this only now, when she was almost impatient to see him live. And when the last door finally opened, letting Azula out onto the deck, she saw Kira. Who stood and looked somewhere into the distance of the sea, leaning his hands on the side and not even paying attention to the princess.
With a quick glance, Azula scanned Kira's figure, comparing it with what was written in the dossier. Over the Fire Nation armor was a simple dark blue cloak with a fairly high collar. At the moment it was fluttering slightly dramatically in the sea breeze, adding some charm to the overall look. Hanging from his belt on the left side was some kind of strange sword, which was now slightly pushed behind his back.
Even in the dossier they did not find the name of this weapon, only describing it externally: thinner than a regular blade and clearly longer, with a massive handle that had a very strange guard, which not only was extended to the sides more than usual, but also formed protection for the hand.
Azula knew many types of weapons. I had to learn it, at least in order to resist them, as well as to understand the combat potential of a particular unit. But she didn't even see anything roughly similar to Kira's sword. From her experience, Azula could tell that this weapon clearly emphasized speed and accuracy. You can't cut through armor like this, but you can very easily get into vulnerable spots.Next came white gloves, which were now tucked into his belt, but according to the agents, Kira wore them before the battle. These were clearly not just decorations, but no one could fully understand their purpose. Just like how and why, during a fight, Kira constantly snaps her fingers before summoning flames.
"I told you not to bother me until the princess arrives," Kira said without even turning around. Azula was taken aback for a second. And how should she react to this? "I'm ALREADY here," Azula emphasized, trying not to start throwing flames. No matter what they say about her, she was not going to kill such a valuable personnel because of such a stupid mistake.- M? - Kira said, looking up from the side and turning to face her.
More precisely, a mask. The last characteristic feature of Kira was a rather terrifying mask that resembled a skull. He didn't wear it all the time either, and he received the nickname much earlier than the mask, but nevertheless, this miracle technology was separately noted in the dossier. This is not a decoration, it is quite a technical tool. An angular mask with some strange tubes. One eye socket was a full-fledged lens, and the second consisted of three smaller ones, which also sometimes rotated. With the hood on, even Azula felt uneasy looking at Kira's face.
- Damn, it's already eleven o'clock, right? - Kira moaned in a simple tone slightly inappropriate for his terrifying appearance, - I beg your pardon, Princess Azula, welcome aboard. It's an honor for me to welcome you on board..." but he continued without any emotion in his voice and it was clear that the speech had clearly been prepared in advance.
— Did you memorize it? Azula asked sarcastically, tilting her head slightly towards her shoulder."... yes," Kira immediately relaxed, visually as if slightly straightening his shoulders, "I absolutely cannot communicate with higher ranks, so the captain, at my request, prepared a speech."- Why weren't you taught how to communicate with a princess as a child, Kira? — the princess continued, highlighting the address sarcastically.- We taught. But my master dug up all the grains of knowledge on this basis and threw them away,"
Kira said, clearly smiling behind the mask. "Hmm," yes, she read about this Master and understands what her new subordinate means, and also that servility can't be expected. As well as respect, before she even shows herself in any way. Despite her outwardly calm appearance, the flames of anger blazed inside her from these thoughts. Does she, Princess Azula, have something to prove to anyone?
But hot thoughts were firmly held behind a wall of cold logic. Such people are not uncommon among strong personalities. It is her father who is the Fire Lord now, not her. Of her personal achievements, only the early Mastery of Fire, which, by the way, Kira officially does not have."Is something wrong, princess?" - Kira asked in a tone as if asking his girlfriend the weather, looking at the slightly prolonged pause in their dialogue.
- Maybe you will observe at least the minimum rules of decency and take off your mask in front of the crowned person? — the princess asked, almost hissing, but keeping her ice mask. He irritated her more and more every minute."Oh, that's right," said the famous warrior, who was responsible for hundreds of corpses that he personally killed, awkwardly. First, he removed his hood, revealing the hair typical of the Fire Nation aristocracy. True, the hairstyle was non-standard. No haircut, just hair pulled into a small ponytail. The mask was removed with a quick movement, clearly honed to the point of automatism, following the hood, revealing a rather charismatic young face.
Azula didn't see anything particularly new; her face was quite typical for the aristocracy of the Fire Nation with all the required descriptions: pronounced cheekbones, a neat nose and other typical features. This does not surprise her; after all, she grew up surrounded by similar people. The eyes stood out a little. Instead of the standard black eyes that many members of the Fire Nation had, he had brown ones.
It's not something that immediately catches the eye, but Azula's attentive gaze won't hide even smaller things. Like, for example, a small, strange-looking hatchet that was already under his cloak. It was difficult to notice him, but he flashed for just a few seconds while Kira was moving, and that was enough. She didn't manage to get a good look at it; after all, she didn't have much time, but she managed to see that it was not a standard military ax and that it was clearly handmade.- Well, how? Liked? — Kira grinned with what the princess thought was a stupid smile.
"Will do for a chaperone," Azula waved it off easily, at least outwardly. A flame of irritation and anger burns inside her. And she will take it out on him, oh-oh, how she will take it out.Although it is suitable for her purposes. It would be much worse if he fawned and put on airs.
She met such people even among seasoned warriors who, in front of her, began to give out a bunch of unnecessary compliments after one sensible sentence. Either they wanted to impress, or to show themselves in a good light with a subsequent promotion, but it was impossible to do business with them.
And vice versa, the princess also met her parents' sons who were forcibly pushed into different positions, who, at best, could not blaze with a very hot fire, and then run away behind the backs of normal soldiers.
And they pretended to be real veteran military officers and described their exploits in such a way that it seemed as if they'd put three of them on the same Ba Sing Se and everything would be ready in a month. Of course, these are two extremes, most often they are mixed in one way or another in different proportions, but everything comes down to the fact that they are trying to present themselves in the best possible light in front of the princess.
Maybe even with some fantastic ideas about marriage. In the end, the age is right; many aristocratic ladies have already chosen a better husband for themselves. And the fools apparently think that Azula is also eyeing someone. Naive.
She's not interested in any of this. How can one seriously put HER, Princess Azula, and marriage, pregnancy, and a child in one sentence. Ugh. Her goal is to become the best and conquer this world, and not to suffer from nonsense like other aristocrats. In this matter, Azula looks much more favorably at ordinary residents, where such gender distribution has sunk into oblivion and both men and women serve in the army.
And on absolutely equal terms.- Do you know what the essence of our trip is? — the princess focused her narrowed gaze, looking straight into the eyes of her subordinate.- Mmm, well, shall we take Ba Sing Se? - Kira shrugged, - and if possible, probably also an avatar?"Hmm," was all Azula answered. An assumption with a secondary purpose may be logical, but she expected to hear from him what he was told, and not speculation, as befits a soldier - and you, of course, have ideas on how to do this?"No," the soldier shrugged again."He's repeating himself," flashed through Azula's mind, "Either he's worried, or just a habitual gesture for him."- Let's think of something.
Personally, all I know about that fortified city is that it is surrounded by large walls. Although we are not titans to just try to break through them, are we? So along the way we will formulate a plan for how we will penetrate there. Maybe we'll organize a revolution - there are always oppressed classes, or maybe we'll just quietly kill the tsar and say that's how it happened. Let's see."Go give the order to leave," Azula said, turning her gaze to the sea, "and then come back here, let's see what you're worth in a direct confrontation.""As you order, princess," Kira smiled, saluting playfully, and moved straight to the captain's cabin, immediately losing all emotion on his face."What an... interesting specimen," Azula thought, squinting after Kira, "We should keep an eye on him. I really don't like his flighty attitude towards everything that happens. And the ease with which he talks about the revolution. And what are titans?