"Interesting," Azula replied, slipping back into her familiar cold bitch mode. I let out an exaggerated sigh, which earned me a faint chuckle in return. "But tell me… what exactly was such an 'unconventional' Herald doing all night that he looks so sleep-deprived this morning?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I said I'd simply been spending time with my girlfriend after we'd been apart for so long?"
"That would be far too… predictable." She narrowed her eyes. "So?"
"I was getting caught up on the situation in the Earth Kingdom, the latest news about Prince Zuko and General Iroh, and the state of affairs in the colonies."
"I see. And how much longer were you planning to keep that to yourself?" Now the narrowing of her eyes carried no trace of amusement.
"I am merely your advisor, Princess. You are the one commanding this operation, and you alone. Therefore, if the commanding officer doesn't consider it necessary to familiarize herself with the current situation, I have to assume she has her reasons. As your advisor, my role is simply to provide a safety net." Smile. It drives people crazy.
"Very well." Hmm. I could have sworn her eye twitched. "Now I'm interested."
"We're roughly a month behind Zuko and Iroh. The prince brought his damaged ships into Yu Dao's harbor about a month and a half ago, arranged accommodations for the wounded, even distributed the captured Water Tribe warriors among the local garrisons, and then set out once more with a small detachment to continue searching for the Avatar."
"So little Zu-Zu has changed while we were apart," the princess muttered under her breath.
Like any loyal subject, I pretended to suffer from highly selective hearing.
"So he's somewhere in the Earth Kingdom with only a small force?"
"Yes. More specifically, along the western coast."
"And how are we supposed to find him?"
"He's looking for the Avatar. And knowing Zuko, I'd be willing to bet he's either already picked up the Avatar's trail or is just about to."
"That doesn't help us." Azula's irritation began to show. "Unlike Zuko, the Avatar can fly and has a flying bison. Finding him will be even harder than finding my brother and uncle."
"True. But we don't need to look for the Avatar."
"Chan..." She exhaled slowly. "I'm once again developing an irresistible urge to have two or three full-contact sparring matches with you. Could you, for once, explain things normally instead of feeding me information one teaspoon at a time? And if you say you're 'only an advisor' again..."
Yeah.
I really should break myself of the habit of deliberately irritating one of the strongest firebenders—and one of the most influential people—in the world.
But...
I couldn't help myself.
There was something strangely, perversely satisfying about getting under Azula's skin.
"All right. The Avatar is looking for an earthbending teacher. That means he'll be searching for accomplished earthbenders, and there are only a handful of those. Since he was last seen on the western coast, the most likely destination is his old friend Bumi."
"But Omashu has already fallen!" Azula objected. "And Bumi is our prisoner."
"Doesn't matter. He may well try to rescue him. Three ducks with one arrow: he'll gain a teacher, the Earth Kingdom will recover one of its strongest earthbenders, and we'll lose a valuable prisoner."
"Then why hasn't he done it already?"
"Who knows?" I shrugged. "Bumi may be the strongest and most skilled earthbender on the western coast, but even an ordinary army rock-thrower could teach the basics. Considering the Avatar's power, spending a month broadening his repertoire and making himself twenty-five percent more dangerous is a perfectly sensible move."
"That's a lot of assumptions," Azula said with a frown.
"I agree. It's only a hypothesis. But at the moment, I don't have a better one. Surely we aren't going to sit around waiting for that boy to come into his full power and march straight for the Fire Lord?"
The princess never had a chance to answer.
"There you are!" came Toph's voice. "The show's about to start, you know... Or were you two busy... over here... in this nice, secluded little corner?"
The little troll was walking a very fine line again.
Though, for now, she was still a child and made full use of that fact.
"Yes," I replied evenly. "We were discussing something not meant for unnecessary ears. Yours included."
Yeah...
Trying to glare intimidatingly at a blind girl was rather pointless. She knew perfectly well when I was doing it, but she'd simply switch into her usual Who, me? I had nothing to do with it routine, and that would be that.
"Indeed, we've delayed long enough," the princess said smoothly, her expression flawlessly composed, betraying not the slightest reaction to Toph's provocative little jab. "We shouldn't keep Ty Lee waiting."
And with that, we headed off to watch the acrobat's performance.
***
The performance exceeded every expectation.
Personally, I learned far more than I'd ever imagined about the things one could do with a pole and a length of rope—not to mention all those juggling "pins," or whatever those things are actually called.
In any case, Ty Lee's farewell act was absolutely spectacular, and afterward, with a perfectly clear conscience, she officially joined our merry little band.
"So then, what next, Your Highness?" I asked Azula.
"Next, we're heading for Omashu," the princess decided after a moment's thought.
"Though we'll make a slight detour to the east first. The supply routes for the Earth Kingdom garrisons still holding the coastline should run through there. We'll carry out Father's orders while bringing me closer to my objective. Besides, you were the one who said we'd have the best chance of finding both Zuko and the Avatar in Omashu."
"Very well. There's one of our garrisons not too far from here where the famous Yuyan Archers train. If we're really planning to hunt down supply caravans, I'd suggest bringing at least a small detachment of them along."
"There are already fifteen of us," Azula replied with a frown. "There's no point making the group any larger. Our current strength is more than enough to deal with supply caravans. We aren't planning to capture the remaining garrisons, are we, Herald?" she asked, arching an eyebrow with unmistakable irony.
"As you wish, milady." I gave a slight bow
(End of Chapter)
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