Chapter 7: A Marksman's Grace

Xisheng had buried himself in his training over the course of the next few days, having been thoroughly humiliated after the incident with the Princess and her friend. He still couldn't believe he had made such an unsightly display before them, and even now he was mortified.

Thankfully Azula hadn't made any mention of it whatsoever. In fact she seemed to have entirely forgotten about dinner that day in favor of enacting the next stage of her training curriculum. Having worked out the majority of the basics in the simple things like form and concepts, she was now attempting to actually teach Xisheng new things. Unfortunately, learning anything new from Azula was a grueling process. Like always, she demanded excellence, and it was difficult for someone that was not a prodigy to live up to her standards in any decent time frame. Even so, Xisheng had discovered by now that Azula was far easier to read as a teacher than a general person.

She was rather straightforward as an instructor. She did not expect perfection immediately, but she did expect you to strive for perfection as your end goal. As long as Xisheng gave his very best in learning what she had to teach him, she accepted his progress for what it was. Not that she never criticized him of course. She was harsh in pointing out his flaws, but it was always factual. A simple acknowledgement that he was not perfect yet and that he needed to improve, something that Xisheng knew as well as she did.

The most recent lesson was about accomplishing more with less. Generally speaking, bending a larger amount of an element required more energy and strength. This was especially true for Earth and Water Benders, but when it came to fire this concept was somewhat more subtle. Unlike bending the other elements, which involved the manipulation of outside forces, the source of power for Firebending came almost completely from within the bender. That being the case, the power of a bending inferno was completely relative to the bender's own power.

Azula had made the comparison to a fixed value and a shifting one. In Earthbending, the weight of a boulder did not change regardless of how skilled the bender was. From amateur to master, a five hundred pound boulder was five hundred pounds to anyone that tried to lift it. Firebending was different in the sense that a more powerful Firebender could produce an inferno of a certain size at far less cost than a less skilled Firebender.

Metaphorically, the five hundred pound boulder would only weigh two hundred to a more skilled Firebender than an amateur one. It was a completely relative scale, and it also explained why Azula was as powerful as she was. She could produce infernos of an equal caliber to Xisheng, but at far less expense than him. In that sense a weaker Firebender like Xisheng could never match her in raw power or attrition.

So if Xisheng could learn to regulate his power more effectively, he could begin to create more flames but with less energy. It was the key to fighting powerful enemies or waging prolonged battles.

Unfortunately, Xisheng had not even gotten close to reaching a new level. It was difficult to simply... gain more power. For one, Xisheng didn't even know what that meant. Azula told him that it would happen naturally as he trained. Supposedly all benders gained more strength simply through practice. Their bodies adapted to the flow of chi to be more efficient, or they simply became capable of utilizing more of it. Bending being around as long as it had, there was actually a great deal of knowledge on it throughout the nations.

But Xisheng had not conducted too much research on it. For now, he understood that more training would give him more power, though his current regimen with Azula was difficult. For the past few days they had been pitting their infernos against each other in direct clashes, Xisheng simply giving it his all in an attempt to overpower her. Naturally he had yet to succeed, and even though the training was simple and straightforward, it was far from easy. Unleashing that much power in so short a time frame was truly taxing, especially when you had to compete against a even larger force.

That was why Xisheng was taking advantage of any chance he could to rest. Right now, he was just trying to enjoy some breakfast as the ship sailed forward to their next destination. Unfortunately all he had to eat was rice, since he still couldn't stomach much else. On the bright side he had this little section of the deck to himself. A lot of other Royal Guards were on the deck as well, but they were scattered enough in their activities to avoid bothering Xisheng's alone time, something he didn't get too much of.

"I'm so happy Azula has left you in one piece so far Gohan!"

Startled by the loud and bubbly voice that erupted directly behind him, Xisheng nearly dropped his bowl of rice overboard. Thankfully he managed to save the meal in time, and he turned to face the acrobat that had crept up on him from behind.

"Ah, y-yes, that's fortunate... what... what did you just call me?"

Ty Lee smiled at him without apology. "It's your new nickname! For all the rice."

Xisheng didn't know how much he could breach protocol in this situation, but he felt the need to speak openly. "Ty Lee, please don't call me that..."

The brunette's beaming smile just grew even wider. "Sorry, no can do. I've already settled on it, and I think it fits really well."

"So you're seriously going to call me 'rice' just because of my eating habits?"

"Yes Gohan, yes I am."

Xisheng was about to resist further, but Azula walked by him on her way to the center of the deck. "Stop whining Gohan, we have a lot of practice to do."

Ty Lee giggled at the defeated expression on Xisheng's face as he turned to follow the Princess to the largest part of the deck for their training. On the bright side, at least he knew Azula was calling him that just to antagonize him.

---

The following day, Azula's ship docked at a new harbor in the Earth Kingdom, and the Princess disembarked with an actual portion of her retinue. Roughly half of the Royal Guards accompanied her off of the Barge along with her palanquin, and of course Xisheng and Ty Lee were there. While Xisheng had initially been ignorant of their objective, the ever talkative Ty Lee had informed him of their plans quickly enough.

"...and that's why we're heading to Omashu to rescue Mai from certain death."

With his helmet actually equipped considering the situation, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at the girl that flipped and cartwheeled on the road to Omashu alongside him. "But... we control Omashu now and this girl is supposedly the daughter of the new governor. What is there to save her from?"

"Oh Gohan-"

"Please stop that."

"No. Anyway, as I was saying, you'll get what I mean when we see her. She's probably thought about jumping off a roof at least once a day since the occupation started. You know what she'll probably say when we get there? 'I'm bored, please kill me, there's nothing to do here, my aura is gray and dingy and I hate everything, bleh."

Xisheng's look of confusion amplified, though it was of course still hidden. "That sounded... overly harsh for someone who is supposedly one of your best friends..."

Ty Lee shot him one of her usual blinding smiles as she began walking on her hands. "Well of course, it was just a joke. I mean, she will probably say a lot of that stuff, but that's just who she is. She doesn't really have a passion for anything, so-"

"That can't be true."

Surprised at the rather blunt interruption, Ty Lee glanced up at the soldier that was walking beside her. "What do you mean?"

Returning the hazel gaze he was offered, Xisheng shrugged. "There's no such thing as not having any passion whatsoever. Everybody cares about something. Even if people aren't vocal about it, they have a passion."

"Hm... well, I guess Mai may have a passion for knives."

"Uh, knives...?"

"Yep. And arrows, and daggers, and blades of any shape and size really. Let's just keep it simple and say anything that can pierce, cut, gut, slash, or gouge the human body."

Xisheng gulped as he tried to picture the kind of psycho Ty Lee was describing to him. He had been kind of eager to see what other kind of company Azula had kept when she was a child, but all of a sudden he was feeling a little anxious about it. What kind of madwoman were they going to fetch today...?"

---

"Please tell me you're here to kill me."

As always, Xisheng gave silent praise for the helmet that hid his face. For one, it allowed him to hide his incredulous and confused expression upon hearing these words. Secondly, and more importantly, it also hid his relative gawking. The girl they had come to fetch, Mai, was extremely severe. Xisheng could tell that much even though he had just laid eyes on her. But it was a graceful seriousness, and definitely a beautiful one. She had piercing eyes of a dull amber that held sharpness and wit to them, and her raven hair had even more of a total darkness to it than Azula's did. Xisheng had a thing for dark hair, and he had to admit that Mai's was quite beautiful.

Either way, there was a moment of awkward silence in which Xisheng had trouble telling how serious Mai was, but she soon cracked the slightest of grins for her friends to see that indicated she was joking. It was strange, since she did not seem to be the joking type.

Even so, she was quickly greeted by a hug from both of her friends, though Ty Lee's was naturally more enthusiastic. "It's so good to see you again, Mai!"

"You too Ty Lee. But I'm surprised you're here at all, I thought you had found your calling in the circus or something."

The acrobat finally released her hold on the friend she was seeing for the first time in many years, nearly a full minute after Azula had done the same. "I did honestly, but Azula needs my help on a very important mission. I can always go back when this is all done, but this is something Azula needs my help with now."

Mai glanced over at her other present friend and Princess. "I'm assuming you're here to recruit me for this mission of yours too? Please tell me you are."

Azula smirked at her. "Come now Mai, you don't even know what the mission is. Besides, why would you possibly want to leave such a comfy position here in the city to go traipsing about with me in the countryside?"

The night haired girl glared slightly at her for even asking questions with such obvious answers. "I would rather do anything than sit around here for another day. And you know damn good and well that nothing, absolutely nothing is more boring than a political position. You know what I do all day around here? I laze around, twirling my knives until my Dad needs me to appear as a member of the governor's perfect family. We can go camping in the backwoods of the Earth Kingdom for all I care. Please, just take me with you."

This completely deadpan yet totally earnest plea from her earned a giggle from Ty Lee and an even wider smirk from Azula, the latter of which shrugged. "Well, while I do so hate to bring you on so harsh an adventure, who am I to say no? Unfortunately my objective isn't nearly so plebeian as camping. We're hunting my Uncle... and Zuko."

Mai's body visibly stiffened for the briefest of moments, but she quickly relaxed into some semblance of control. "News of your Uncle has spread this far already, but this is the first time I've heard about Zuko. What happened?"

The Crown Princess folded her arms as a more somber expression took over her features. "Well on a technicality he attacked a member of the Royal Family and he aided a fugitive in escaping from Fire Nation custody. Unofficially, Iroh's sunk his claws into him and he's confused. Don't worry Mai; I have no intention of bringing in my brother unless it becomes a necessary last resort."

Listening to all of this, Mai uttered a long, drawn out sigh. "Zuko confused? Why am I not surprised? But you really think your Uncle is leading him on?"

"Almost certainly. He's likely been spewing nonsense in Zuko's ear for the last few years. It's no surprise that dear Zuzu has been swayed considering Iroh has been the only major influence he has had all this time. But I believe I have already put some doubt into his mind regarding the trust he has placed in the man. If we're lucky, the next time we see Zuko he'll have figured out where his loyalties lie."

Mai's gaze narrowed as she heard this. "And is that the reason you want to bring me along? Hoping that Zuko will be more likely to come quietly if I'm there?"

The Princess shrugged, unfazed by the mild accusation. "I'll admit that I have considered that as a benefit, but ultimately there's no guarantee that we'll have such an advantage. It has been over three years Mai, and the two of you were quite young before he was exiled..."

These words caused Mai to scowl, prompting Ty Lee to make an intervention of some sort. "Azula, is that really necessary...?"

Surprisingly, Mai cut her off. "No, she's right Ty Lee. We weren't even really a thing before he left. There's no point in expecting him to really care after all this time."

"But Mai-"

"We'll see how things stand when we see him again Ty Lee. That's all there is to it."

Suitably cut off from that tangent, Azula moved onto another. "So, while I would like to get underway with my own mission as quickly as possible, I've heard reports of resistance fighters here in Omashu. If the situation is yet to be quelled, I would like to speak to your father."

Mai cringed just slightly at the mention of it. "About those rebels..."

She began leading Azula towards the palace that her father had taken residence in as governor, leaving Xisheng with Ty Lee. "She's certainly..."

"Strange? Weird? Unusual?"

"Unique."

"Aw, Gohan, you're so sweet, using such nice words to describe her! You can be brutally honest you know, I won't tell."

Xisheng rolled his eyes as he began to follow the other guards after the Princess. "I could have some sweeter things to say about you if you'd stop calling me that..."

The girl trailed after him with a smile on her face. "Just because you don't say them doesn't mean you aren't thinking them Gohan..."

Rather than fight a futile battle, Xisheng simply sighed to himself, concluding that there really was no way to win against a girl of this nature.

---

"So, let's make sure I have this scenario right."

Ukano, the recently appointed governor of Omashu, swallowed hard as he prepared to listen to Azula's retelling of events in the city during the last few days. He and his wife were both uneasy facing the Fire Nation Princess, especially since they had not been expecting her. At least Mai seemed calm, but when did she ever seem flustered?

As for Azula, she was trying to wrap her head around the incompetence that had been displayed here in the past few days as she reclined on the chair she had more or less commandeered from the governor.

"Not only did you not make it a top priority to root out the enemy resistance fighters that were plaguing the city, but you let them all escape thanks to a stunt that involved a fabricated illness that you did not bother to check the validity of with a doctor. Moreover, even if you did believe it was real, you decided to let them just walk out of Omashu, rather than quarantine them in a sector of the city for further investigation. Or, if it was absolutely necessary, it didn't occur to you to just burn the pestilence away with the hundreds of Firebenders under your command here? I do believe that is what you're telling me."

Ukano bowed his head as low to the floor as he could manage. "F-forgive me your Highness, but the troops panicked under the threat of a plague..."

Azula likely would have continued her verbal lashing if Mai didn't have something to say. "To be fair Azula, the gate guards let them out of the city without any orders. There wasn't enough time to tell them to contain the threat."

The Crown Princess sighed in frustration. While she would never admit it, she had actually grown accustomed to Xisheng's competence as a soldier. She had almost forgotten that there were still plenty of incompetent simpletons in the army.

"Well, nothing can be done about that now. But as for this trade of hostages you are planning..."

While she would never speak up against the Princess under normal circumstances, Mai's mother did so now. "Princess, they have our son. We can't let the rebels keep him, he's just a toddler!"

"Indeed, he is just a toddler. And you want to exchange the King of Omashu for him, an extremely powerful Earthbender and a grave threat to our forces."

Though she was nowhere near as open about it as her parents, Mai still didn't like where Azula may have been going with this. "Azula, you aren't suggesting-"

Already knowing what Mai was going to ask, Azula cut her off. "Not to worry Mai, I'm not suggesting that we just let the enemy keep your brother. But there are far better ways to go about this than making a completely one-sided exchange."

The governor still did not look convinced. "But they have demanded King Bumi..."

"Leave the negotiations to me, governor. I will get your son back, and at no great cost to ourselves while I'm at it."

"T-t-thank you, your Highness..."

Off to the side, Xisheng stood next to Ty Lee, something that was starting to become quite typical in these situations. Neither of them was well-versed in the political trappings of the world, so they often found themselves as little more than passive observers to Azula's machinations.

"The Princess is quite capable of controlling the conversation..."

Ty Lee traded her usual beaming smile for a slight grin since the prior may have been a bit out of place in their situation. "You didn't really just figure that out, did you?"

"Of course not, it was obvious the very first time I spoke to her."

This brief tangent may have continued a bit longer, if the Princess did not descend from King Bumi's stolen throne. "If I remember correctly the trade is supposed to occur in just over an hour. Let us go ahead and make the necessary preparations for a smooth... 'exchange.' Governor, take me to King Bumi."

"O-of course, your Highness."

---

If there was one thing Azula respected, it was genius. She knew that she was far from the only gifted individual in the world, and that others had been blessed with prodigious talents as well. That said, she had heard of King Bumi, the supposedly legendary tactical genius, but in light of recent events she found herself questioning his title.

She stood alone in the chamber in which King Bumi had been imprisoned, staring at the steel coffin he was encased in, which covered every part of him save his wrinkled face. Thankfully the governor had at least been smart enough to place him in a room devoid of stone, as Fire Nation engineers had covered everything in this small square space in steel. To his credit though, Bumi did not seem concerned. Of course, that could have just been because he was insane.

She briefly wondered if she should have brought Xisheng along so she could make a lesson out of this, but she reminded herself that she was his teacher as a Firebender more than anything else. He would have to take notes on anything else he wished to learn from her when he was in her presence. For now, she wished to converse with the Mad King alone, which was why everyone else was outside of the chamber making other preparations that she had commanded.

For now she would focus on the conversation she was about to have with the old geezer that had greatly disappointed her so far, despite this being their first encounter.

"So, I finally get to meet the exalted king of Omashu, alleged tactical genius... I must say, I expected someone a little more... sane."

The mad king snorted and cackled, producing sounds that made Azula want to set his hair on fire. "So rude, for royalty to greet each other with insults. To what do I owe the honor of this visit Princess?"

"Honestly this is a friendly visit. I have no need to speak to you, but I find myself doing so because I am curious. You see, reports from the general that took your city state that he marched in without any resistance whatsoever. And while I would like to simply be grateful for the swift victory, I cannot help but ask: why? What could have possibly possessed you to surrender without so much as a single iota of resistance?"

Bumi wrinkled his nose in some sort of distaste. "Why you ask? I just didn't feel like fighting that day. You see, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning and you know what they say-"

Irritated by this nonsense, Azula didn't suffer it. "Cut the tripe, you fool. You and I both know your feigned insanity is a ploy to make your foes underestimate you. Either that, or you truly are insane. So which is it?"

The deposed king frowned back at her, not used to being stopped cold so quickly. "Or, a little of both perhaps? There's a fine line that divides genius and insanity..."

"Indeed there is. But that line is whether or not something works. Needless to say allowing us to march in unopposed didn't work, making you insane, not a genius."

Bumi smirked at her. "Or did it? The entire battle passed without a single casualty for my people. I'd say it worked quite well."

"Yet you've lost control of the city and handed over a vital stronghold to your enemies, when you could have easily defeated them or at least inflicted heavy damage upon them. You had the high ground, and destroying the bridge that leads to the city would have forced the Fire Nation forces to climb the slopes to even reach Omashu. Dispatching them at that point would have been simple for a defending force made up of Earthbenders."

"Not all battles are won with weapons and soldiers your Highness. It wasn't the right time for a fight. I will liberate my city when the time is right."

Azula shook her head as she scoffed at the man. "Perhaps there would not be a city to liberate were you not such a fool. But I digress: your senility has greatly improved our situation. Now Ba Sing Se is the last stronghold we must conquer to win this war, and you yourself may have planted the seeds of our victory. But for now, we have something more important to attend to. Your city's resistance is attempting to have you freed, and I doubt we can have any sort of trade without you actually present."

Bumi looked perturbed by this news, but said nothing on the matter. Azula could only assume that his own resistance forces were throwing a wrench into some sort of plan of his, but she did not care for that. After all, in one of the many outcomes this day could have, King Bumi would not even survive it.

---

There was a certain dramatic flair to having an exchange like this one on the scaffolding surrounding the statue of Ozai being constructed. Or at least, Xisheng thought so. Moreover, he questioned why a statue was being erected this soon after the battle. Surely there were more important things they could put their time and resources into, but then again, Omashu was one of the few Earth Kingdom cities that wasn't rolling in corruption and poverty. Good military leader or not, Bumi at least kept things in far better order than Ba Sing Se.

Either way, the grounds for the trade was what it was, unusual or not, but what was strange for Xisheng was the scrutiny with which he was being observed by the newest member of Azula's flunkies. Of course, he was absolutely positive that it wasn't a flattering analysis, as Mai did not seem the type for it, and even if she were he was still fully armored.

That said, as the four of them stood among the scaffolding, waiting for the arrival of the resistance negotiators, Xisheng could do nothing but suffer her piercing gaze in silence. Eventually though Mai broke her dedicated vigil to pose a question to Azula. "I understand why you might bring some of your guards as backup, but why did you only bring one?"

Azula glanced over her shoulder curiously, Mai not being one that asked too many questions, but before she could offer any response Ty Lee essentially tackled Xisheng with a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. "This is no ordinary soldier Mai! This is Gohan, Azula's personal pupil!"

Xisheng made it halfway to clarifying that his name was not in fact what Ty Lee claimed it to be, but Mai cocked an eyebrow at Azula first. "Seriously? You took on a student? That's got to be a joke."

"Oh, it's not a joke, Mai. Though it does sound like one coming from Ty Lee."

"Why? What's the point in taking on dead weight like that? He'll just slow us down."

This comment kind of stung, but it actually only caused Azula to smirk. "Really Mai, you think I would take any common rabble as my personal student? I assure you my pupil is no pushover. He won't get in the way. Or at least, he better not."

Azula marked the end of that statement with a glare in Xisheng's direction, though he took it as more of a high expectation as opposed to a threat. Mai simply cast another doubtful look at him, choosing to ignore him after that final glance in favor of looking forward, just in time to spot their quarry in fact.

"Azula."

The Crown Princess turned to face forward once again, and Ty Lee came out of the handstand she had been doing to stand on her feet, allowing the entire troop to focus on what was now before them: a group of kids that Xisheng recognized from personal experience, with a dark haired toddler in the arms of the boy who was clearly of Water Tribe descent.

As the trio of kids approached, Xisheng lowered his voice to speak to the Princess. "Milady, that boy in the orange is the Avatar."

Azula cocked an eyebrow at the approaching monk. "Well, I can't imagine anyone other than an Airbender wearing such garish attire. Make no move against him yet. And let me do all of the talking."

"As you command."

As the two groups got close enough to speak to one another, Azula took the lead, ignoring Tom-Tom's infantile babbling and needy pawing in Mai's direction. He clearly recognized his big sister. "So, the rebel scum actually held onto their end of the bargain. I'm honestly surprised."

Instead of retorting to this, the Avatar, head wrapped in an orange cloth, jabbed a finger at her. "Where's Bumi?! What have you done with him?!"

Azula frowned at the bluntness. "So uncivilized. Worry not, that senile old coot is present."

The Crown Princess snapped her fingers, and King Bumi was lowered to their position by a pulley, still encased in a steel coffin. Xisheng could only assume that some engineers somewhere had been stationed for this purpose. Unfortunately, they had not gone out of their way to gag the old man.

"Helllloooo everybody! Did you miss me?"

Surprisingly, Azula mumbled to herself quietly enough for the Avatar's group not to hear. "Not in the slightest..."

Ignoring her, King Bumi took a gander at his surroundings, as well as he could at any rate, and turned his gaze on Xisheng when he finished. "My my, aren't you the lucky one? Three pretty girls to keep you company at night."

Xisheng blundered in his response, not dense enough to miss the implication being made or the visual it presented him with. The sight of it got a giggle out of Ty Lee, but the more reserved girls ignored it for the situation at hand.

Completely unaware of the brief exchange, the Water Tribe boy holding Tom-Tom made to place the toddler on the ground. "Alright, we've held up our end of the deal. Let King Bumi out of there."

Azula actually scoffed at his simplicity. "There are a dozen reasons why that would be a terrible idea. But here's the main one; why should I have to trade the King of Omashu for a toddler?"

The Avatar's trio looked taken aback, and Mai's expression became just the slightest bit more negative than neutral. But she was still trusting Azula for the moment.

On the Avatar's side, the only girl in the group seemed agitated by these words. "I should have known the Fire Nation wouldn't value the life of a child over their strategic advantage!"

"Really? Because last time I checked, the 'evil' Fire Nation wasn't the one holding a mere child hostage so they could further their own position. Isn't that right, Avatar?"

For some reason, the Avatar seemed surprised. "W-what? How did you-?"

"You are literally traipsing about in the colors of the Air Nomads, of which you are the last. How could anyone not connect those dots? That being said, I thought you were supposed to be the good guy?"

"I-I am!"

"And yet here you are, holding a three year old hostage all so you can free King Bumi, who I assume you wish to teach you Earthbending. You are holding a child for ransom just so you can advance your own position, and yet you accuse us of being evil?"

Clearly rattled by this accusation, the Avatar had to rely on his male accomplice to answer for him, the boy waving about some primitive club as he accosted them. "Like you're any better! You're holding someone hostage to advance your position too!"

"Indeed we are. A fully grown man who, might I add, willingly surrendered to us and our custody. Tell me, did Tom-Tom wave a white flag for you? Give an eloquent speech explaining his surrender perhaps?"

The Avatar faltered even further, though his allies did not. The Water Tribe girl was especially vehement. "We're not going to fall for your tricks. If anything, you're just making it obvious how desperate you are-"

"No."

Cut off by the Avatar himself, the girl turned to him. "What?"

The Airbender was staring at the ground, grip tight on his staff. "She's right Katara. We're supposed to be the good guys, aren't we? What we're doing here is wrong!"

"But Aang, what about Bumi?"

As if his name was an invitation to talk, Bumi did exactly that. "Don't you worry about me Aang. You're doing the right thing. Besides, this contraption is actually kinda comfy. It could use a little renovation, but..."

Wanting to stop him before he started to ramble, Azula cut the old man off. "So, what will it be, Avatar? Contrary to popular belief, I do have quite a lot to do."

Aang furrowed his brow in consternation for a moment, but ultimately Azula had read him all too well. "Let's just give him back guys. It's the right thing to do."

His allies both gave him a questioning look, but in the end they nodded their agreement with his choice, the boy lowering Tom-Tom to the ground so the toddler could take some faltering steps towards his sister. Mai crouched down to scoop him up in her arms when he got close enough, and Azula stopped their hostile negotiators before they even thought to leave.

"So, onto our next order of business..."

Katara glared at her. "We have no other business. Don't even think about it."

"Come now, you didn't think I would just let the most dangerous risk to my nation's cause walk away from me did you? And from a city under Fire Nation control no less? Surrender. It's the easiest for all of us."

As if naturally more hostile just because her opponent was a woman, Katara snapped at her. "You think we're going to just roll over and give up because you said so?"

"Of course not... I expect you to surrender for the greater good. You see, normally I would threaten the citizens of the city itself, but a certain someone allowed most of them to leave. So I'll have to make do with what I have: this senile dustbin that you seem to care about so much. So here's the deal. You surrender completely and unconditionally or I test the conductivity of Bumi's metal coffin with a little lightning. Or perhaps toss him off the edge of the scaffolding. Or even just let Mai stab him in the face. Whatever works."

Azula's ultimatum earned a myriad array of reactions from everyone assembled. Naturally, Mai didn't seem to care at all, her expression a perfect mask of neutrality. Ty Lee looked shocked that such a grave threat was being issued. Xisheng's face was hidden of course, but he had no qualms with the Princess' tactically adept move. On the other side the Water Tribe natives were either gritting their teeth or glaring icy daggers at them, but the Avatar just seemed conflicted. And his reaction was the most important one.

As before, Katara was determined to keep the situation between them hostile. "Don't listen to her Aang, she's bluffing! It's just a trick!"

Knowing full well that the largest influence when it came to pressure was time, Azula made sure to bring it to bear. "You have ten seconds to comply Avatar. Otherwise he dies."

Now provided with an extremely sparse time frame to make his decision, Aang found it almost impossible to reach a conclusion of any sort. Naturally he wanted to do whatever it took to save Bumi, but both Katara and Sokka were telling him not to do it. And of course he knew that the fate of the world was in his hands, but what would be the point of saving the world if he couldn't even save one of his closest friends?

Unfortunately Aang wasn't used to situations this dire at all. His mind was moving far too fast for his mouth, and he was stuttering and floundering and altogether failing to say what he needed to say. Being a woman of her word, Azula merely shrugged as the time limit she had set passed. "So be it then."

The Crown Princess conjured one of her sapphire flames in her palm, turning to face Bumi's cage with the clear intent to strike written on her face. To his credit, Bumi himself did not look overly perturbed. Then again, when you got to be as old as he was, surely you came to expect death on any given day, from old age if nothing else.

Even Ty Lee could tell that Azula was serious, shielding her eyes from the approaching violence, but there was no need to. Azula was only halfway through launching her fatal attack when the Avatar sprung into action.

"No!"

While Aang's cry of opposition was basic, it was punctuated by a massive blast of wind that rocketed all four of the Fire Nation natives away from Bumi's prison. Sent flying, Xisheng decided against simply recovering to save himself and made to assist Mai, since she was unable to use her hands with Tom-Tom cradled securely in her arms. She'd have a hard time landing on her feet with such a burden.

Using the force of of his Firebending to correct his flight a little sooner than his non-bending counterparts, Xisheng managed to plant his boots on solid ground just in time to catch Mai in his arms, though the force of her impact made him skid a few more feet. He briefly noted Ty Lee careening a bit farther past him before she managed to catch herself as well.

"Are you alright milady?"

While normally not one to show gratitude, Mai decided she at least owed him that much since he had helped protect Tom-Tom as well. "I'm fine. Thanks."

Even so, that was all she offered before getting to her own feet. Gratitude or not, it was sparse. Xisheng hoped it was because she was just a somber individual and not because she was actively hostile towards him. Either way, he didn't have long to think about it since Ty Lee was in his ear a second later.

"Hey! Why didn't you catch me?!"

Genuinely confused, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at her underneath his helmet. "You're an extremely skilled acrobat, I knew you would be fine. And Lady Mai was holding her brother."

The currently ex-circus performer blushed. "Aw, you had faith in me, huh? Still, catch me next time! I want to be in the arms of a strong guy too! Mai didn't even appreciate it!"

The two of them glanced towards the aforementioned girl just in time to see her pinning Tom-Tom to the floor of the scaffolding with two knives through his pants. "Don't wander off this time."

The young child simply uttered some unintelligible gibberish in reply, but as he tried to move it seemed that he was well and truly stuck. She must have driven those knives in pretty deep. All of that aside, Azula had recovered in the same manner that Xisheng did, and she was already moving forward to engage the enemy. "Don't just stand there! Xisheng, with me! Mai, Ty Lee, get the other two!"

Xisheng rushed forward to assist his teacher, who was heading directly for the Avatar that was likewise rushing for Bumi in some attempt to free him from his bondage. Still, he called out to the other girls as they moved towards their own fight. "Watch out for the Avatar's Sky Bison! It has to be around here somewhere!"

He missed the incredulous expression that briefly crossed Mai's face at the mention of a 'Sky Bison,' instead following Azula's lead as she leaped over the steel coffin Bumi rested in to launch a flaming blue kick at the rapidly approaching Airbender. Aang was forced to leap backwards to avoid it, but even as he landed he had to repeat the maneuver to dodge a typical orange blast that came from Xisheng. Azula gave him a brief look of curiosity as he landed beside her.

"This may be a little off-topic, but how much experience do you have fighting in tandem Xisheng?"

"I was in the Army Your Highness. It's all fighting in tandem."

As for Mai and Ty Lee, they had a more interesting battle to wage. Even without actually facing him yet, Mai could tell that the Water Tribe boy was far from an experienced warrior, and definitely far from a threat. It was obvious that he had strength, but he had no real training. The clumsiness of his movements made that obvious. As for the girl, she had the fluidity of movement that pointed to real training, but she didn't have the sure steps of experience. She was young after all, and it was unlikely she had fought in too many truly serious conflicts.

Then again, it was not as if Mai was a seasoned veteran herself. She had hardly fought in any real battles. But she had been training with her myriad array of weapons for years. Since she was eight actually, and that many years of practice ensured that she moved with the skill and grace of an experienced warrior. Lucky for her throwing sharp things had been a halfway decent cure for boredom during her childhood, or she'd be nowhere near as skilled as she was now.

All things considered, Mai decided to ignore her male adversary in favor of launching an array of her knives at Katara. Unfortunately they were all blocked by a wall of ice, but she had not expected immediate success. Besides, she was just covering Ty Lee's approach.

The acrobat was speeding as quickly as she could towards Katara, knowing that it was her job to disable the bender more than anything else. Normally she would attempt a lot more dodging and weaving in her approach, but Mai was doing an excellent job of keeping Katara's attention with a rain of very pointy objects. Skilled as she had become through her tenure under Pakku, Katara still couldn't counter two opponents at once.

That said Ty Lee had an easy approach, one that wasn't made any more difficult by the clumsy swing of a club along the way. She leaped over that with ease, twirling through the air in a manner truly befitting of her station, and landed right next to Katara, who barely had time to use her Waterbending to carry her away from a chi-blocking fist.

"Oh, come on! I just put a ton of work into getting over here!"

Instead of receiving any sort of apology for dodging her attack, Katara sent back a deadly icicle spear, though Ty Lee had no issue sidestepping it.

"Hey, rude!"

"I could say the same to you!"

Back on Azula's end of things, she was pleasantly surprised to find that Xisheng was quite adept at working together with her. She didn't have to give him any special instructions even. He simply read her movements and followed her lead as efficiently as he could manage, which was quite well considering his recent yet thorough training with her. Every time the Avatar dodged one of Azula's attacks, the place he dodged to was filled with orange flame. Xisheng worked in nigh perfect harmony as far as boxing in the Avatar was concerned, which was critical considering how evasive of a fighter he was. So far the entire fight had been the Avatar on defense. He hadn't even managed to strike back yet.

"I must say Xisheng, you continue to impress me even now. I recognized your prowess in single combat but you're quite capable on a team as well."

Xisheng subconsciously noted that Azula was calling him by name rather than his rank. "Thank you, Your Highness. I'm glad to be able to serve so well."

"Well, I'm certainly looking forward to the exercises we can try now that we have Mai and Ty Lee as well. I'm quite looking forward to it."

The Avatar took this break in the attack to make a quip of his own. "That sounds fun. You guys should go do that!"

Azula turned to launch more of her signature dart-like attacks at the boy. "I'm afraid I'll have to politely decline. We'll have plenty of time to do that after you're captured or killed. Either is acceptable."

Deciding that he didn't quite like the way Azula spoke so casually about killing him, Aang swung his stuff in a wide arc that sent a roaring wave of wind at his foes. Unfortunately they both took the brunt of his attack with their Firebending, but it at least gave Aang enough time to take stock of the situation. To say the least, the fight between his friends and Azula's allies was not going well. Sokka had already had both arms paralyzed, courtesy of Ty Lee after he had tried to attack her with his club again. Now he was just trying to flip, flop, and flounder around all of the dangerous pointy things Mai was throwing at him.

As for Katara, she was being pressured by Ty Lee in close quarters, just barely managing to stay out of range of her knuckles with swipes of water or thin walls of ice. She attempted to retaliate with water whips and even more lethal icicle spears, but Ty Lee always managed to contort her body at some extreme angle to dodge them no matter how Katara attempted to make contact.

In short, it was bad. Bad enough for Sokka to voice as much. "Aang, we need to get out of here! We're getting our butts kicked!"

No one had the heart to point out that only Sokka had gotten his butt kicked so far, so Aang instead pointed out his unwillingness to leave. "Not without Bumi! We can't leave him here!"

Well aware that Aang and his allies were completely disadvantaged here, Bumi called out to him. "It's fine Aang! I can take care of myself, you can't win here!"

Still attempting to burn holes in the Avatar's glider as Xisheng boxed him towards the ground with wider arcs of flame, Azula smirked. "King Bumi actually offering sound, logical, advice? The world may as well end now."

Jokes aside, the situation went from bad to worse when Ty Lee front flipped over the next water whip that came her way, striking Katara in the shoulder as she sailed over her. The Waterbender's arm immediately went limp, and the water it had been manipulating splashed to the ground uselessly.

"My arm!"

Sokka ran to her side, his arms still completely worthless at his own flanks. "Welcome to the club. Now what?!"

Ty Lee flipped away from her adversary to stand by Mai, who had already armed her right hand with plenty more weapons. "Now you surrender or get turned into pincushions. I hope you barbarians are at least smart enough to figure that one out."

Instead of giving any sort of snarky reply, Katara whipped another gush of water at Mai, encasing her right hand in ice and thoroughly neutralizing the threat of any weapons in that hand. To her credit, Mai barely glanced at the block of ice now entrapping her slender fingers, instead choosing to slip a thin needle into the palm of her left hand.

"Suit yourself."

Snapping the projectile at her too fast for Katara to intercept with her good arm neutralized, the Waterbender took the needle straight to the shoulder, splotching her blue attire with a spot of red. Surprisingly, her brother seemed more concerned at this development than Katara herself did, the Waterbender taking all of the liquid she had to form a thin yet sturdy barrier of ice between her position and Mai's.

"Aang, this is getting really bad! We have to run!"

While he was still busy bobbing and weaving through a literal firestorm, Aang nevertheless managed to glance between his new friends and his old one. He had no desire to leave Bumi here in Omashu with the Fire Nation, but the longer they stayed the more he risked something happening to Katara and Sokka.

"Bumi... I'm sorry!"

Still trapped as always, Bumi smiled at the boy. "Don't worry Aang. You just get out of here, I'll be fine!"

Despite his reluctance to leave, Aang went through the motions necessary to organize his escape, forming a powerful cyclone of air with his bending prowess that protected him from the immediate Firebending threat and giving him enough time to turn tail and sprint away from Azula and Xisheng. Once the residual flames faded enough for Azula to take stock of the situation, she noted with dismay that the Avatar's impressive speed had already placed him out of her immediate effective range.

"Mai, stop him!"

Taking the command to heart, Mai unleashed a hail of razor discs at the boy, throwing them with pinpoint interception accuracy that would have made for a series of clean hits, if only the Avatar didn't turn in his sprint just long enough to blast the projectiles away with his Airbending. This now posed the problem of several deadly projectiles soaring towards Azula's retinue, but thankfully all four of them had good enough reflexes to escape injury. Unfortunately, by the time they managed that, the Avatar and his comrades had already leaped over the edge of the scaffolding that was their battleground. Before any one of them could reach the edge of said scaffolding to see what had become of them, that Sky Bison Xisheng had mentioned rose over the edge, roaring at them in defiance as it carried their foes.

By the time Azula's troop reached the edge of the scaffolding, the Avatar's bison was already turning away from them to escape the city. Mai launched an arrow from some sort of launcher at it, catching the animal's hind leg, but it was Azula that conjured lightning around her fingertips in an attempt to fry their adversaries and blast them out of the sky. Unfortunately the animal she was targeting was much faster than it looked, and it was already a significant distance away when Azula unleashed the bolt of lethal energy she had created. The bluish white lance arced across the sky and came far too close for the comfort of the bison's occupants, but ultimately it passed its target harmlessly, and they were too far by then for Azula to try again.

The Crown Princess merely huffed in annoyance as she watched their prey escape, but Xisheng took it upon himself to conjure a controlled flame in his hand so he could assist Mai with the block of ice around hers. Honestly he was surprised that the way she was glaring at it in annoyance hadn't melted the thing already.

"Milady, use this."

Mai gave the flame in his hands one glance before holding her frozen limb over it, but Xisheng received no thanks for his efforts this time. Behind them, Bumi cackled in his coffin.

"Looks like you've got a real Ice Queen on your hands there boy! Get it? Get it?! Hahahahahaha!"

Everyone except Ty Lee sighed in distaste at that one.

---

Having engaged the Avatar so late during the day, Azula decided that they would spend the night in Omashu before moving on to their next destination the following day, which happened to be information that she was keeping to herself for now. No surprise there.

One way or another, she and Ty Lee were now resting in the room Ukano had provided to the Princess as accommodations for the night, with Xisheng present as well at the Princess' insistence. As per the instructions she had already given some day prior, he was without his helmet, much to Ty Lee's not so subtle delight. She was very straightforward about what she liked, having a pleased smile and a definitely appreciative gaze for the only male in the room.

Still unused to such attention from a girl, Xisheng tried to ignore it in favor of listening to what Azula was saying. "It seems the Avatar's penchant for cowardice is the same as it was back at the North Pole. This fight hardly ended up being more than a scuffle."

Ty Lee smiled as she rested her chin in her palms. "If you could even call it that. You were amazing out there Gohan, fighting the Avatar so well!"

Still uncomfortable with the attention being given to him, Xisheng turned it away as best he could. "Ah, w-well, I think Lady Mai was very impressive. She's uh, v-very skilled and, um, collected."

Ty Lee pouted in disappointment hearing Xisheng's praise go to Mai when she wasn't even here, but she didn't complain about it since it would be kind of shallow. Besides, Xisheng had already expressed confidence and appreciation for her acrobatic skills. He thought she was cool too.

As for Azula, she didn't care where the praise went, though she did have some to offer herself. "Everyone performed admirably, but I must say Lieutenant, I was suitably impressed by your efficiency in a team. It's been a long time since I've had someone I could actually look forward to fighting alongside."

Ty Lee had the presence of mind to be offended. "Hey!"

"I meant another Firebender Ty Lee. It's different than working together with you and Mai. And before you ask, no I don't mean different as in better, I just mean different."

Ty Lee frowned anyway, but said nothing as Xisheng gave his gratitude for Azula's praise. "Thank you Princess, but I'm sure I could improve..."

"Well of course you could. So could we all, though all of you more than me..."

Now it was Xisheng's turn to be offended, but he decided to simply take the compliments he could get.

With all of that out of the way, Azula moved onto a new tangent. "Either way, without the Avatar around it should be simple for Governor Ukano to hunt down and recapture those resistance fighters that escaped on his watch. After that's accomplished I imagine it'll be the usual grind of converting this backwards city to some state of respectable civilization."

Leaning back in the chair she occupied, Ty Lee glanced over at her friend that sat on the king sized bed the suite offered. "I dunno Azula, Omashu doesn't actually seem that bad off. Compared to other Earth Kingdom cities and towns it's not bad at all. And I've seen a lot of those towns to compare it too while in the circus."

"Perhaps, but there are still issues to be addressed. I'll be the first to admit that Omashu is far better off than some of its neighbors, but there is still a sizable population of impoverished and hungry. Not to mention that we'll have to get the city to willingly accept our rule. A conquered city is more trouble than gain as long as it has a resistance."

Forgetting about his embarrassment for a moment in the face of all this political discussion, Xisheng interjected. "In that case it may be a bad idea to bring those resistance fighters back Princess. Bringing them back into the city will only solidify the base of opposition here."

"Perhaps, but if we let them go free it's practically guaranteed that they'll join up with another Earth Kingdom force. To leave them at large is paramount to endangering our own soldiers, wouldn't you say?"

When she put it like that, Xisheng could only agree. "I-I suppose so, Your Highness..."

"Good. Now, I plan on us leaving for our next destination quite early in the morning, so if you don't mind..."

Not catching onto the implication immediately, Xisheng simply stared at her for a moment, which prompted a cocked eyebrow from the Princess. "I do hope you didn't take that senile old fool's words to heart..."

Remembering a certain comment about spending the night with pretty girls, Xisheng's face flushed in embarrassment, spurring him to make his exit as quickly as possible. "O-o course not Your Highness. I-I'll take my leave now..."

He bowed to the Princess, then bowed to Ty Lee as well just to be polite, earning him a girly wave and a wink for his trouble, which did nothing to ease his nerves. Unfortunately, as he turned to leave the room, he opened the door to come face to face with the only member of this feminine trio that had been absent, likely because she had wanted to talk to Azula for some reason herself.

Being scarcely half a foot away from her, Xisheng realized he may have been mistaken regarding the color of Mai's eyes earlier. He had thought they were one of the typical shades of amber most Fire Nation natives had, but now that he was this close to her he saw that they were actually far from ordinary. No, there was a rich blend of a little dark brown and fairly brighter orange to be seen here, equating to a vivid tawny color that was all too easy for Xisheng to lose himself in. Of course, the intensity of this unique color union could have also been in part due to the sharpness and wit that made it stand out even more.

Xisheng was drawn into the lovely color despite his efforts to the contrary, but he nevertheless noticed that their sudden encounter and close proximity gave rise to the most expression Xisheng had seen on Mai's face thus far: she blinked. Then she cocked an eyebrow at him likely because he was just standing there and barring her path.

Realizing that he must have looked like a dumbstruck fool, Xisheng quickly took a step back and bowed to her. "M-my apologies, milady..."

Instead of giving any verbal response, Mai simply stepped to the side and let Xisheng pass her. The ascended soldier wasted no time in retreating away from the room of feminine charm and attractiveness that Mai was about to add her repertoire to, eager to get away after being flustered at nearly every turn. As for Mai, she watched him retreat as she stepped into the room.

"Who was that?"

Ty Lee smirked at her. "Oh, is that interest I'm hearing Mai?"

Ukano's daughter turned to face her, displaying her typical emotionless mask. "Does it look like interest to you?"

"Maybe not to most people, but I know you Mai. You watched him leave and asked about him. You may as well have painted your fascination on a sign and hung it around your neck."

Mai rolled her eyes as she closed the door to the suite Azula had been provided. "Or maybe I'm interested because he's a guy, a soldier, and a soldier out of uniform in Azula's room. That's all sorts of unusual."

Ty Lee stole whatever explanation Azula was going to give with her own voice. "That was Gohan, Azula's new student. Isn't he cute? And he's got such beautiful eyes!"

The knife thrower ignored the question Ty Lee asked for the bit of information she was actually interested in. "That was the soldier you brought with you to the exchange?"

Azula leaned back on her bed. "The same."

"Huh. I guess he's not half bad."

"Slow it down there Mai, I've already got him wrapped around my finger. He can't have two harpies toying with him."

Ty lee folded her arms and gave her friend a disdainful look. "Azula, that's not the type of thing you should be proud of..."

In what was a true rarity considering that she had already done it once today, Mai smirked. "It's what the ruling class does."

Folding her arms behind her head, Azula matched her expression. "And don't you forget it."