Chapter 63

Azula, Tanya thought absently, really did have a powerful urge to be dramatic.

Perhaps it was a trait passed down along the Firelord's bloodline? It would explain their fondness for receiving important matters of state while shadowed behind an imposing wall of fire.

Whatever the case, Tanya had observed that even as a little girl, Azula had a tendency to get very theatrical when carrying out one of her cunning plans without realising it.

If they were back in her first world Azula would totally be a drama kid. It was a harmless, perhaps even a little endearing, trait that Tanya didn't mind humouring to keep her happy.

It was for that reason that, when she heard the sound of combat breaking out on the deck above, Tanya held her position for a couple of seconds. Iroh had once been a powerful bender, trained since birth in the royal style and capable of personally leading the charge against the Earth Kingdom in his youth, but that was in the past.

Now he was old and overweight, and even with Zuko at his side there was no way he could overcome Azula and a full squadron of soldiers alone. There was no harm in waiting a few seconds to let Azula have her fun before reinforcing her.

"Oh admiral!"

Speaking of the devil, that sounded like her cue. Flames erupted from Tanya's feet as she propelled herself up and through the pre-opened hatch, blasting into the sky like a rocket ship.

Okay, so maybe she'd picked up a flair for the dramatic too somewhere along the line. So what?

As she slowed her propulsion down to a hover, Tanya took a bird's-eye-view look down at the scene below her. What she saw didn't please her. Iroh was tearing through her soldiers like they were made of wet paper.

Generally speaking elderly people struggled with the high levels of aggression and energy called for by most firebending styles, yet that didn't seem to be the case for Iroh. It wasn't that he was any faster or more acrobatic than she'd been expecting, but that his style was like nothing she'd ever seen before.

She could see moves from the royal and military styles that served as the base, but strung together with them were movements that she recognised from the northern waterbending style, a few earthbender stances, as well as what seemed suspiciously like some sort of dance movements.

It was weird to watch, yet Tanya could not deny its effectiveness. Whenever a jet of fire came towards him Iroh reached out and took control of it, stealing the flames away from his enemy, and then combining it with his own fire to make his own attack twice as powerful.

He expended half as much energy on attacks, and then flowed between solid stances or surprisingly agile dodges to defend himself, conserving his energy for important moments and finishing blows in a way no other firebender she'd ever seen did.

"He's stolen techniques from the other nations. Incorporated them into his own moveset." Tanya realised. He'd have had plenty of opportunities to copy the earthbenders he warred against during his youth, and could have scavenged what he could from the scrolls and murals left behind at the airbending temples he and Zuko had searched when they first set out to hunt for The Avatar.

Yet why he seemed so much more proficient in waterbending movements was a mystery.

Fortunately that unexpected show of prowess would not be enough. Only a foolish commander based their strategy on the ability of one particular fighter. As strong as Iroh might be, even he would be worn down by the combined waves of soldiers relentlessly smashing into him as he tried to escape. And besides, he had a weak link.

Zuko didn't stand a chance against Azula. He was upset and angry, wasting his strength on pointlessly aggressive moves that Azula could see coming from miles away. Even if Iroh did clear a path for them to flee the ship, Zuko was so focused on attacking Azula that he might have ignored the opportunity. It really was amazing how effective Azula's mind games could be.

Since Azula didn't need any backup, Tanya moved to support her troops on the gangplank before Iroh could crush them all. She lobbed a large, clumsy fireball directly at Iroh, predicting that he would move to steal control of it, then followed it up with a smaller, more intense bolt of fire hidden behind the first. As expected Iroh's hand snapped out to grab the fireball with practised ease, already twisting to redirect it as the firebolt snuck up on him.

Got you!

Yet to her surprise Iroh shifted his weight from one foot to the other, turning his twist into a spin that carried him out of the path of the firebolt just in the nick of time. "Drat! He saw it coming!"

As he spun Iroh brought the hand holding Tanya's fireball out towards his mouth, opening his jaw as if about to eat it. Yet instead of inhaling, Iroh blew out, conjuring a wave of rolling flames like the breath of a dragon that grew even brighter as they absorbed Tanya's fireball. Tanya dove to the side to avoid it, scowling at the sheer heat.

"No wonder they called him The Dragon of the West."

Still, the fact that he'd opted to dodge the second attack rather than absorb it was telling. Quicker, more intense blasts must've been more difficult for him to steal control of. Jetting to the left, Tanya jabbed out a series of three punches, each one unleashing another quick firebolt at Iroh.

Iroh shifted his feet, settling into an adaptation of what Tanya recognised to be the earthbender's famous horse stance. He thrust out with a palm strike at the first firebolt, swatting it to the side like a pinball in a shower of sparks, then brought his arm back to bounce the second bolt off his elbow. As the third one drew near he lashed out with an overhead chop, smacking it directly down into the gangplank.

It was becoming obvious that fighting at a distance wasn't working out as intended. Switching tactics, Tanya blasted towards Iroh in a straight charge, reasoning that the natural flexibility of youth would give her the advantage in close quarters. As she drew closer Tanya flipped forwards, falling feet-first, and slid along the gangplank with a wave of fire behind her.

Iroh waited until she was about an inch away from hitting him, then leapt just high enough for her to sail harmlessly beneath him. He stomped down on the wave of fire behind her, parting it in a circle all around him like a meteor crater, then turned around to release a whip of flames.

Tanya was still on the ground after her attempted tackle, and had to roll quickly to the side to avoid the sting of the whip. While lying on her front she placed her hands flat on the floor, as if about to do a press-up, and unleashed two fierce blasts of fire to immediately boost herself up to a standing position.

Iroh hadn't taken the opportunity to press his attack, so Tanya settled back into a fighting stance and decided to buy herself a moment to catch her breath. "I thought you'd be quicker. Am I giving the fabled dragon slayer a run for his money?" She taunted.

Yet Iroh let the insult slide off him like water on a duck's back. "Indeed." He replied. "You must be getting rather good at beating up tired old men."

Tanya grit her teeth, and sprinted up the gangplank at him. A sharp blast of flame from her feet jettisoned her upward quickly enough to try and knee Iroh in the face, but one of the old general's hands snapped up to catch it, whilst the other went higher to block the hammer blown Tanya tried to follow up with before she'd even begun it.

With a strong grip on her knee he slammed Tanya down onto the ground, then grabbed one of her wrists as he stepped over her to pin her in an arm lock.

Fortunately for Tanya she wasn't fighting alone, just as she cried out at the uncomfortable pressure on her shoulder, a couple of fireballs thrown by the other soldiers surrounding them forced Iroh to disengage and use both hands to redirect them. Sensing her chance, Tanya rolled onto her back and kicked up between Iroh's legs, aiming for the family jewels.

At the last possible moment Iroh twisted one leg, deflecting the kick with his knee, and gave a very disapproving glare down at Tanya for the cheap shot.

One hand grasped the ankle of Tanya's overextended leg, and with a shriek Tanya found herself whipping through the air as Iroh swung her around in a circle and threw her at the two soldiers who'd interfered.

...

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