First Steps 6

Hours passed, and the only entertainment at all, was making small talk with Azula. And by god was she boring. She probed for a question here or there about me and my background, but other than that, all she really wanted to talk about was the Fire Nation, and well, taking the time to praise her own greatness.

Finally though, when the sky was splashed with red and orange, and the sun began setting, our targets made their way back, and I got my first good look at them.

"Look at all these beautiful shells!" Iroh, pot bellied and joyful emptied a sack of sea shells out onto the table beside the door, while the pair of us kept silent. With no light in the room, they hadn't seen us yet, "These are keepsakes I will keep for a lifetime."

(Prince Iroh, Dragon Of The West – Level 88)

I almost gaped at his level. It was almost double that of Azula's, and this is old, out of shape Iroh!

"In case you've forgotten uncle, we have to carry things by ourselves now." Zuko gestured widely, with a scowl, "We don't have the room to lug around useless shells from the beach."

(The Exiled Prince, Zuko – Level 50)

And why the hell is Zuko a higher level than Azula!? It took me a moment to remember that the level was more of a reflection their overall combat threat level. And that made sense when you took into account Zuko's monstrous physical abilities, his obscene stealth and infiltration skills, his skill as a master of the dao blades on the level of Master Piando, his powerful fire bending that allowed him to overcome a fire bending master like Zhao and of course, his sheer damn determination and grit. Azula for all her skill and mental abilities only had that going for her in comparison to the mass of techniques and abilities Zuko had gained over the years.

Before Iroh could response, the girl at my side spoke up, "Hello brother." Azula purred, gold eyes glinting in the darkness of the room, before scowling looking to Zuko's side, "Uncle." she spat.

"What are you doing here?" Zuko scowled harder, body tensing up in preparation for a fight. It was hard to believe this was a pair of siblings that hadn't seen each other in three years.

"In my country, we exchange a pleasant hello before asking silly questions," Azula mocked him, before standing up out of her seat and making her way over towards her brother and uncle, "Have you become uncivilized so soon dear Zuzu?"

Zuko reared back in affront, before leaning forward and baring his teeth angrily, "Don't call me that!" he hissed.

"To what do we owe this honour Princess Azula?" Iroh cut in with a genial smile, he cast an eye in my direction, "And who may I ask, is your young friend?"

"Hmm, must be a family trait, both of you so quick to get to the point, and here I was willing to exchange meaningless polite platitudes with you, oh well," Azula scowled herself, the facade of politeness fading from her countenance, "Don't mind Zan, he's just a dear friend I made while you both were gone."

She huffed, running an irritated finger through her sleek shiny black bangs, "I've come with a message from home, father's changed his mind," she said, and made a great show of rolling her eyes, "Family is suddenly very important to him for whatever reason. He's apparently heard rumours of plans to overthrow him, treacherous plots. Family are the only ones he can really trust."

She sighed then, and frowned 'sadly' and really, it was amazing how quickly and seamlessly she could play these fake emotions, "Father regrets your banishment, he wants you home," she relayed, looking away out of the window. Both Zuko and Iroh were silent for a moment, and she turned back to them, a scowl back on her face, "Did you hear me? You should be happy. Excited, grateful! I just gave you great news."

Zuko didn't say anything, instead turning and making his way to the window, resting his hands on the windowsill and staring outside.

Iroh stepped forward, raising his arms up to placate her, "I'm sure your brother simply needs to take moment to let it sink in t-"

"DON'T INTERRUPT UNCLE!" She snapped angrily at him. Huffing, she turned as the old man fell silent and walked up to Zuko's side, "I still haven't heard my thank you. I'm not some messenger lackey. I didn't have to come all this way!"

Only then did Zuko speak, "Father...regrets?" he murmured softly, and the hope I could hear in his voice would tug a lesser man's heart strings, "He...wants me back?"

Azula rolled her eyes again, "I can see you need time to take this in," she said, "I'll send someone to call on you tomorrow. Good evening."

With that said, she departed from Zuko's side and met my eyes, "Let's go then shall we Zan?" she asked, smiling at me. Before turning on her heel and walking away, making her way out of the room.

I stood up from my place sitting on the chair, Zuko made indication that he noticed me, still staring out of the window, but Iroh eyed me with a smile and tossed me a little wave. I made my way out of the room, but just as I was about to pass him, I reached into my inventory, retrieving a bag of fifty earth nation coins and stealthily pressed it into his hand as I passed him by, "It's a trap." I whispered.

Iroh just continued smiling, making no indication he heard me as I left the room behind. But I knew he heard me. After all, the system itself let me know.

(Gained 10 Reputation With Iroh.)

(Gained 5 Affection with Iroh.)

I liked Iroh, and I liked Zuko. If I could help them out a bit without causing myself any trouble, and get in good with them both with something as simple as this? Then I was all for it.

With that done, I hurriedly upped my pace to catch up with Azula so that she didn't get suspicious and followed her all the way back down from the cozy and beautiful resort down to the port and the fire nation ship we came in.