Chapter 4: Challenges From On High

By the time Xisheng finally set foot on Fire Nation soil again, the irony of his situation had long since grown sour. On the way to the North Pole, he had enjoyed the novelty of riding across the open seas. On the way back to the Fire Nation, he had come to hate it. Even being an individual that was not prone to seasickness, he had grown seriously tired of that ironclad ship plowing through the waves. The ride from the Earth Kingdom's northern coast to the North Pole had been a little more than a week and a half. The ride from the North Pole to the Fire Nation had been almost three. It had been maddening, and so unbelievably droll that Xisheng had lost his nervousness and anticipation for the future for awhile.

He had of course spent most of the ride in solitude, considering his lack of familiarity with the crew. All things considered, he was kind of eager to get back to some sort of unit he would actually be a part of, even if he was nervous to join the Royal Guards. He was even more nervous when he thought about who else he would be around when he did join the unit. He recalled Captain Chikaraishi's words: Fire Lord Ozai wouldn't have pulled an able combatant from the field to stand guard at home unless the Royal Guards wouldn't be home for much longer.

Of course, the Fire Lord certainly wouldn't be going anywhere. But that only left his daughter, Crown Princess Azula. Xisheng didn't know anything more about her than the average Fire Nation citizen, but he had of course heard that she was supposed to be some sort of Firebending prodigy. And while Xisheng didn't doubt those rumors himself, there had been no practical chance for the Princess to exemplify her skills. Going to the front line could be that chance for her, but she was very young. Of course, age was not an indicator of capability, but Xisheng wasn't comfortable with the notion of someone so young going to war. Then again, maybe he was jumping to conclusions. For all he knew, the Crown Princess wouldn't be going anywhere at all, and even if she did, it probably wouldn't be to the actual front line. Besides, he was still a only a few months past seventeen himself. He was hardly a grizzled old man, and he had fought in many heated battles.

Either way, as much as Xisheng would have enjoyed a day or two to relax after so long at sea, he knew as well as any soldier that a delay in following the Fire Lord's orders was unacceptable. He had to report to the palace for induction into the Royal Guards immediately, though he doubted the process would be so simple. Surely a demonstration of his abilities would be in order before he would be allowed to join such an important unit. The only question was who he would be performing for.

The thought of it was nerve-wracking, but on the other hand, it was pleasantly soothing to be back in the capital. The city of Xuchang rested comfortably within the famous Caldera of an ancient volcano. It was not the place of his birth, but he had spent many weeks training here in the capital to be a soldier. He briefly wondered if Sergeant Taizo was still around, terrorizing new recruits, but there was little time for Xisheng to track down his very first mentor. Still, he wondered what the Sergeant would say if he learned that one of the men he had trained was being inducted into the Royal Guards. Chances were he would claim most of the credit, but that was alright. The most important aspects of Firebending had been drilled into Xisheng by that man, after all. He deserved some of the credit at least.

For a brief while, Xisheng managed to turn his attention away from his impending future. Walking through the well-maintained cobblestone streets of the Fire Nation capital served as a strong symbol of what he was fighting for. A model city of white stone and slanted tile roofs, and impeccable waterways and curved bridges that was an example of what the world could achieve. Here, there was no 'poor district.' There were no beggars on the street, trying to survive on the whims of their fellow man. There were no squalid children trying to scrape a living in alleys, no sickly elders walking about in rags, no one clearly suffering from starvation... it was the idea Fire Lord Sozin had wished to spread to the rest of the world, just not yet fully realized.

That said, it was far from a utopia. Of course Xuchang had problems; taxes were higher than normal because the war had to be funded. There was an upper echelon of society that often looked down on the common class. There was a mandated draft for males over sixteen. It was a wartime city, with all of the problems that included, but it was still far beyond the decrepit cities of the Earth Kingdom, where the poor were kicked to the farthest outskirts to suffer in silence.

Of course, one could argue that the only reason Xuchang was in a better state than Ba Sing Se was because the Fire Nation was winning and the Earth Kingdom was not. But any historical expert could tell you that the situation in the Earth Kingdom had been what it was now long before the war started. The symptoms may have been exacerbated now, but the war was not their origin.

Xisheng wondered if anyone in the Earth Kingdom knew how truly terrible their situation was. Were they oblivious to it, because they had experienced it all their lives? Did they think their lives were the way things were supposed to be?

He supposed they did. After all, it was difficult to be aware that there was something wrong with the only life you had ever known. It was why so many people actually changed their tune under Fire Nation dominion. Granted, newer colonies and conquered cities were still resentful and bitter, but older ones like Yu Dao had not only accepted Fire Nation rule, but embraced it. Once the Fire Nation had introduced a better quality of life to them, it was but a matter of time before the people realized their conquerors offered some worthy benefits in exchange for loyalty to their flag.

Of course, it had been well over a decade before Yu Dao came to appreciate the benefits their conquerors brought, but hopefully that city would be the first of many. Unfortunately, Xisheng got the feeling that Ba Sing Se would take much longer to acclimate to the new rule than most of the smaller cities had. If it was ever conquered at all...

Xisheng did his best to weave through pedestrian traffic on his way to the palace, which was easily seen even from his position on the streets. Xuchang was easily the largest city in the Fire Nation, and this fact was mostly amplified for those traveling to the palace because most people that arrived in the city did it from the shore. The palace lied at the center of the city, making it a long walk from the perimeter.

But it gave Xisheng time to relax his nerves as he walked towards the next step in his career. He was nervous of course, but expectant as well. He had never thought he would advance beyond the rank of common soldier, yet here he was, a Lieutenant about to be inducted into the most prestigious and elite unit in the Fire Nation. As far as he knew, the Royal Guards weren't military; they answered only to the Royal Family. Then again, considering that the Fire Lord was the commander in chief, didn't that mean that they technically were military...?

Ultimately, Xisheng shelved that thought to be answered at a later date, and the rest of his journey consisted of a nostalgic enjoyment of Xuchang's sights, sounds, smells, and overall atmosphere. He couldn't even remember the last time you could actually smell spices in the air. And the sound of actual laughter from the surrounding citizens was something Xisheng had not heard in many months.

This being the case, the hour long trip to the palace went by a bit faster than Xisheng had anticipated, and soon enough he was at the gates of the palace, where four of the Royal Guards he could possibly be joining barred his entry. While they all looked the same to Xisheng (uniformity was pretty popular in the military), the one that was supposedly the leader stepped forward to ascertain Xisheng's purpose for being there.

"State your business."

Knowing that his word was as good as nothing at all here, Xisheng handed over the letter Chikaraishi had given to him back at the North Pole. The guard before him perused the entirety of the letter before rolling it up and handing it back to him.

"Welcome to the palace, Lieutenant. You'll be escorted to the proper room."

The guard motioned towards one of his cohorts, who bowed to Xisheng before turning and heading into the palace. Xisheng bowed to the other guards before hurrying after the one that was guiding him. While he focused on following the woman, Xisheng couldn't help but gawk at the architecture and design around him. He had of course never been to the palace before, being nothing more than a common soldier, and the view from a distance really didn't do the place justice.

The outside was flourishing with all sorts of vegetation, with a plethora of trees, bushes, and flowers dominating any open area. The structure of the palace itself was distinctly ornate, with dark red wood accented by flawless gold comprising the majority of the used materials. The interior itself had a distinctly dusky feel to it, being dark but not unwelcoming. It was strange that a place lit with so many torches could have any shadow at all, but Xisheng found the atmosphere kind of homey, if nothing else. At one point he and his guide passed a hall depicting every Fire Lord since Sozin, which Xisheng found strange considering that there had been far more than that. Then again, perhaps this hall was only for the current dynasty, which had begun with Sozin.

Due to his insatiable curiosity in observing his surroundings, Xisheng did not really take note of how he got to the chamber he was lead to. The only indicator that he had arrived was his guide stopping at that particular door. He was ushered in without any delay, at which point Xisheng found himself in a large, open chamber that was clearly designed to house Agni Kais.

The guard that had lead him here bowed before retreating out of the chamber, leaving Xisheng to walk out to the isolated platform that rested in the center of the chamber. It was Xisheng's understanding that this was the place Prince Zuko had undergone his ill-fated Agni Kai. It was kind of foreboding in that respect, though Xisheng doubted he would be facing the Fire Lord.

When a few newcomers did enter the chamber, Xisheng turned to face them with a mix of determination and anxiety, the latter of which was quickly amplified when he noted that the man entering the room was exactly who he had just told himself he would not be facing. The stoic, stalwart face of Fire Lord Ozai peered down at him from the balcony Xisheng had just left, with several Royal Guards flanking him.

OK, calm down. This doesn't mean anything. It's only logical that the Fire Lord would be here for this. The Royal Guards protect both him and his family. He would want to see for himself the prowess of the people he's entrusting such a responsibility to.

Thankfully Xisheng was right, and the Fire Lord sat in an ornate seat separated from the others. It seemed he would be observing this test alone, as the four Royal Guards that had entered the chamber with him descended onto the platform Xisheng currently occupied. As they all took combat stances to face him, Xisheng deducted that he would simply have to prove himself against them. Whether or not that meant actually winning was another question entirely.

There was absolutely zero delay in the start of the combat, as two of his opponents shot forth obvious yet powerful fists of flame to meet him. Xisheng's first instinct was to dodge the raging blast, but he quelled that impulse, choosing instead to block the combined attack with a wall of his own flame. He was being tested as a guard, meaning his role would be to protect. His concern would be the safety of his charge, not himself. That meant blocking attacks that came their way, not avoiding them. While the Fire Lord's face remained completely impassive, Xisheng hoped he was on the mark, and that actual defense was what the stony ruler wanted to see.

That would be easy enough if the enemy continued with straightforward attacks, but it was no surprise when they attacked all at once, and in different patterns. After all, who knew when a Royal Guard would be outnumbered? Two of the guards repeated the initial straightforward attack, but the right most one launched a curving fireball to hit Xisheng from the side while the final guard leaped over the combined inferno with the ever popular flaming axe kick. Xisheng had to think fast if he wanted to handle them all appropriately.

The curved fireball reached him first. Instead of wasting time and energy blocking it, Xisheng chose to divert the flame, briefly commanding it to follow the path of his shoulders and fly harmlessly to the other side of him. Unfortunately, diverting a light attack like that one was easy. Diverting a combined power blast was not, forcing Xisheng to once again rely on a fire wall to protect him. He only had a second after dealing with that attack to nullify the incoming kick from the sky, but since there was no time to attempt a Firebending move of his own, Xisheng simply weathered the blow and blocked it physically, stopping the physical contact but still having the flame wash over him.

His armor protected him from the worst of that, allowing him to shove his attacker away, head over heels through the air. She landed on her feet just fine, however, just in time for the remaining three guards to launch a barrage of fireballs from every conceivable direction they could manage. Still holding fast to the belief that he was supposed to thwart the attacks rather than dodge them, Xisheng quickly calculated the best way to handle this assault.

He would never be able to react in time if he waited for each sphere of flame to reach him. Instead, he began launching fireballs of his own to intercept them. There was only one of him and three of the enemy, so he could not block them all this way, but by nullifying as many attacks as possible before they reached him, he could block most of the rest through defensive walls. It was a technique he had quickly learned on the defensive line in the Earth Kingdom, where being outnumbered by Earthbenders and their numerous projectiles was all too common.

There was no time at all to try and see what the Fire Lord thought of his efforts so far, but Xisheng figured he would have to be offensive at some point. After all, you could protect against attacks all day long, but until the enemy was neutralized the threat would not cease. With this in mind, Xisheng redirected the next fireball to reach him through the barrage of similar attacks to target one of the Firebenders about to throw another one at him. Caught in the middle of a motion, the man was unable to react fast enough to protect himself, getting launched backwards by the impact.

Taking advantage of the now decreased number of attacks he had to fend off for a split second, Xisheng quickly advanced towards the remaining enemies, continuing to counter their attacks as he did so. Unfortunately, the woman who had thrown the axe kick at him earlier now stepped forward to sweep a tendril of flame at his legs, an attack that would easily knock him off balance if it wasn't avoided. Xisheng hopped over it, not wanting to expose himself with a high jump into the air. He even managed to block two more fireballs during the maneuver, but he did not manage to block the followup bolt of flame when the only female guard threw a straight kick at him. The force of the blow sent Xisheng sailing backwards, though he rolled to his feet as soon as he hit the floor and unleashed a torrent of flame back at his trio of attackers, about to be rejoined by the one guard Xisheng had hit earlier.

Just as he had with Iroh, Xisheng took advantage of the blinding flame he had unleashed to close the distance between himself and his group of opponents, a movement they failed to notice whatsoever until their collective Firebending cleared away his inferno. Unfortunately for them, by the time they were able to see Xisheng's new proximity to their position, the potential Royal Guard was close enough to launch two powerful palm strikes at his center foes. The strikes to the chest, amplified by the concussive force of condensed Firebending, sent two of the guards careening off the edge of the Agni Kai platform, essentially removing them from the conflict.

Xisheng did not have long to revel in his small victory however, as his remaining two adversaries began to attack him in close quarters, foregoing Firebending altogether to instead rely on simple martial arts prowess. Firebending utilized a martial form that translated very well to purely physical combat, though it was unusual for it to be used without the associated element. That said, Xisheng himself was quite adept at hand-to-hand combat, because the chaotic battles on the defensive line had often called for a quick reaction to a nearby foe.

Even so, he was outnumbered by two skilled fighters. He managed to block a few strikes on either side of his body, but his opponents were smart enough to alternate their attacks to catch him off guard. Xisheng quickly found one of his legs kicked out from under him, sending him to one knee as he raised both arms to block combined side kicks to his torso. But the force of the dual blow broke his guard, and the follow up straight kick to his chest both knocked the wind out of him and sent him reeling backwards.

Despite the tightness in his chest, Xisheng knew he had to display perseverance and determination to keep fighting. Performing a recovery roll that allowed him to windmill his legs in the direction of his two remaining opponents, Xisheng unleashed two torrents of flame that kept them at bay as he used his motion to return to a fighting stance.

Both he and his adversaries were ready to engage once again, exhaustion be damned, but they were prevented from doing so as the voice of the Fire Lord cut them off with one curt command.

"Enough."

Dropping their stances, the combatants turned to face the Fire Lord, bowing to him. The ruler of their nation said nothing, instead rising to his feet and calmly walking to the door to exit the Agni Kai chamber. Xisheng waited until he was absolutely sure the man was gone before daring to speak his misgivings.

"Is that... good? He didn't say anything, what does that mean?"

Understanding his trepidation, one of the Royal Guards turned to face him. "Don't worry about it. If the Fire Lord were not satisfied with your performance, he definitely would have made it obvious. This means you passed, and it's a well earned passage too, if I do say so myself. Welcome to the Royal Guards, Lieutenant Xisheng."

Xisheng breathed a sigh of relief, his concern over his performance washing away with the news that he had been sufficient. "Great. So... what's next?"

"You'll need to get acquainted with a new uniform, obviously. After that you'll need to be briefed on a series of protocol and rules, not to mention quite a few oaths... but after that it's just rest. We're leaving the Fire Nation first thing tomorrow morning."

The now advanced Firebender shook his head in dismay. "Seriously? I literally just got back..."

"It's rough I know, but the Crown Princess is departing for the Earth Kingdom tomorrow to apprehend the traitor Iroh. She's taking the best fighters in the Royal Guards with her, and after your performance today, that includes you. If you have any other questions, you can ask them once we're out to sea tomorrow."

Xisheng bowed, not at all pleased with the idea of getting back on another ship. "Yes sir."

With a bow back in his direction, the two Royal Guards left on the platform began their descent to ground level to help their fallen comrades. As for Xisheng, he rolled the stiffness out of his shoulders, and went to go figure out where he could get the new uniform with the way more kickass helmet.

---

The next morning, Xisheng found himself hurried at a much more leisurely pace than he had expected. The day before, he had acquired his uniform and been sworn into the service of the Royal Guards, then been told they would be leaving first thing in the morning. Turns out first thing in the morning in the capital was a little different than first thing in the morning on the front lines.

For one, it wasn't the crack of dawn. Xisheng was roused by his fellow guards at roughly eight in the morning, and succinctly told that he had thirty minutes to be at the docks with everyone else. Not wanting to make a bad impression or otherwise do anything foolish on his very first day, Xisheng had wasted no time in donning his new uniform, one that he, to some childish degree, thought looked far cooler than the standard one. He especially loved the far more intimidating helmet and mask, though it was arguably a little more difficult to see out of compared to the standard Army helmet.

Either way, Xisheng had properly equipped himself with everything necessary in just under seven minutes, and it was at that point that he questioned how on earth he and the others would reach the docks in twenty minutes with the distance and the traffic taken into consideration. Turned out that the Royal Guards moved throughout the city with an underground network, something that Xisheng would have thought a myth until he used it himself.

The maze of underground tunnels was home to tracks that utilized wheeled platforms. They were little more than steel squares with benches on them, but either way they allowed eight Royal Guards at a time to move unhindered through the city and at a much faster pace. Xisheng was impressed with the device, if only because only the Fire Nation could have it considering everyone's technological levels. Sure, the Earth Kingdom had that train thing they used in Ba Sing Se, but that was powered through Earthbending, not technology.

Mode of transport aside, Xisheng and his comrades in arms reached the docks with plenty of time to spare, and locating the ship they were to be stationed on was easy; while certainly not the size of the Inferno super battleship from the North Pole, the Royal Barge had plenty of features to give it away, aside from being the size of a Dragon Class Destroyer. The significantly more ornate prow than any standard ship certainly made it obvious as well. It also had its own space at the private docks, with no civilian or military ships within a thousand yards.

The Royal Guard contingent boarded the ship without delay, sweeping the entire craft for anything even mildly threatening, though mostly for threats along the lines of spies and assassins. When that was done, they returned to the deck and formed two lines, simply waiting for the arrival of the Crown Princess. Xisheng wasn't really familiar with all of this protocol, but he simply followed along well enough.

They did not have to wait long for the Princess and her palanquin to be brought aboard. If Xisheng had a way to tell the time, he would have seen that she arrived at exactly nine in the morning. While her notion of 'first thing in the morning' may have been a little askew, she was certainly punctual.

Following the cue of his fellow guards, Xisheng prostrated himself in deference well before the Princess even bothered disembarking from her luxurious means of transportation. Only after they had been in this position for a few moments did she actually emerge from her palanquin, not that Xisheng could see with his face practically in the ground. Considering that no one could see in their positions, the Princess had no choice but to use her voice to command them.

"Rise."

Every one of the Royal Guards did so, turning to face forwards when they did. As for Xisheng, he was struck by how commanding the voice of such a young girl could be. She certainly sounded older than her young age, in tone if nothing else. Then again, she looked a far cry from a typical young teenage girl as well. Sure, she had the height of a budding teenager, but her countenance, her poise, even the near flawlessness of her overall appearance: they all seemed unnatural on someone her age. Even so, she was very pretty. The severity of her expression didn't diminish the pure, piercing amber eyes that only the Royal Family laid claim to. Nor did it degrade the obsidian bangs that framed her features so perfectly.

Descending from the steps her palanquin rested on, the Princess wasted no time in beginning her succinct briefing for their mission.

"General Iroh has disgraced and betrayed the Fire Nation, and brought shame to each and every one of us. My brother may be in league with him, or he may not. One way or another, you will be fighting members of the Royal Family. I understand some of you may have mixed feelings about this; but rest assured, I will not tolerate hesitation. If you cannot strike down Iroh and, potentially, my brother, I'll have no choice but to remove you from the Royal Guards. Permanently. Is that perfectly understood?"

"Yes, Princess!"

Even as Xisheng gave his affirmation along with his new comrades, he was glad for the helmet that hid his face. It allowed him to more or less gawk at this young girl that assumed total command of grown men and women so effortlessly. He had expected her to be stern, but not to threaten her own men. Then again, she was embarking on a mission to apprehend a legendary Firebender and relatively accomplished general. She would need complete dedication and unwavering conviction in the mission from her men, and this was one very effective way of ensuring it. Xisheng attributed her threat to that more than any other potential reason.

Regardless, the contingent of Royal Guards was dismissed after that short and to the point briefing. Strangely enough, there was little for Xisheng to actually do. There was actually very little for any of them to do. Their job was to guard the Princess. And while that was a much larger responsibility than any normal soldier had, it was also a very narrow range of responsibility. As a common soldier there was always something for Xisheng to do: check supplies, relay orders from officers, manage squads he may have been put in charge of, the works. Here he only had one job, and he couldn't very well do it unless the Princess was being attacked or in a compromised situation. Even on his first day, there was a surprising amount of downtime for a Royal Guard...

That being the case, Xisheng spent most of the day familiarizing himself with the ship and getting more familiar with his new comrades. What surprised him the most about the latter was the ratio of male and female guards. While women were certainly nothing new in the Fire Nation military, they were still a minority for the most part. Only about eight percent of enlisted troops were female, and only a moderately higher fifteen percent were officers. This was mostly because most women didn't choose the military life, and because the draft didn't apply to them the same way it did men, because the ratio for the entire population was somewhat askew in favor of males: or at least it had been, before the impact of the war had taken hold on the nation's demographics.

Here though, roughly half of the Royal Guards were women. While some chauvinists in the regular Army disliked the idea of trusting women on the battlefield, here they were respected. And why not? They had all been required to prove themselves. They were all capable fighters, surely.

For Xisheng, the day passed very slowly. Aside from having nothing truly important to do, he was extremely unhappy to be aboard a ship once again, so soon after finishing one voyage. It wasn't until the late afternoon that someone actually brought forth a decent idea. One of the other relatively new Royal Guards, Akuwagata, suggested that he and Xisheng do a little sparring on the deck. He seemed to be as depressed with the boring nature of their first day as well, and since he was no longer the 'rookie' of the group thanks to Xisheng's induction, he wanted to test himself against the new guy. Xisheng had no problem with that, and the two of them found themselves on the deck of the barge rather quickly.

Xisheng thought it strange that they had the entire deck to themselves. He figured that more people would have been up here, enjoying the sea breeze or the vermilion shade of the sun on the waters, but there was no one else present. Everyone was below deck somewhere, or on the bridge. That being the case, at least he and Akuwagata had plenty of space to fight.

Their match was nothing special, though mostly because Akuwagata was nothing special. Xisheng hated to think that since it seemed kind of haughty on his part, but he didn't really see anything too impressive from his sparring partner. The man had raw power, but he didn't have any strategy. His method of fighting was little more than executing various combat forms, and it wasn't difficult to predict or even defend against. Xisheng had to actually hold back to have the match last longer than a few minutes. He supposed a regimented fighter could be useful in certain situations, perhaps against a score of typical combatants, but if it came down to a fight against a skilled warrior, like the traitor they were hunting, such an approach to fighting would be less than useless.

He was too rigid really. He almost fought like an Earthbender, with one set course of action that he didn't know how to deviate from. Still, maybe it was unfair to be so judgmental. In a one on one fight Akuwagata's style wasn't worth much, but coordinated with his comrades he would be much more efficient. Certain styles of fighting did fare better in certain situations, after all.

Xisheng was about to block another straightforward blast when Akuwagata stopped himself short, staring at the bridge of the ship for a second or two before bowing. Easily concluding what the holdup was, Xisheng turned around as well, spotting the Princess descending down the crimson carpet that shrouded the steps to the bridge. He of course wasted no time in bowing as well.

Surprisingly, the Princess seemed to find their actions amusing. Then again, that half sardonic tone she so excelled in exuding made it seem like she found everything amusing. "Please, don't stop on my account. What worth would you have as my guards if you didn't keep your skills sharp?"

Xisheng wasn't sure how to respond to this; she was technically giving them the go ahead to continue practicing, but protocol dictated that engaging in anything even remotely dangerous around the Royal Family was a massive folly. That included training within a hundred feet of the Crown Princess.

Thankfully, Akuwagata voiced this concern. "Your Highness, we will vacate the deck if you desire to occupy it..."

This reply earned a slight frown from the young girl. "Well, I see you weren't chosen for intellectual reasons. What part of 'don't stop on my account' was unclear? In fact, just consider it an order. I won't have my guards grow incompetent because they don't train."

With nothing to really say to that, Akuwagata bowed even further. "Yes, Your Highness."

With no valid way to dissent, Xisheng and Akuwagata returned to their sparring match, though it was much more tense now. Xisheng had his back turned, so he didn't know what the Princess was doing, but what if she were watching them? Judging their abilities? Granted, if he could impress the Fire Lord, Xisheng was reasonably confident he could impress his daughter as well, but that would mean demolishing Akuwagata, something that didn't sit quite right with him.

Thankfully, it became painfully obvious that the Princess wasn't watching them at all when a brief crackling sound heralded a bolt of electricity shooting forth from the deck of the ship. The lance of blue cracked across the amber sky, a strange sight indeed considering the temperate weather, but Xisheng was far too flabbergasted by the feat itself to dwell on its magnificence.

I'd heard rumors that the Royal Family could bend lightning, but I never thought it had much merit to it... does she even need protection when she is capable of such an incredible form of bending? I doubt even that traitor Iroh could counter that...

Briefly lost in thought as he was, Xisheng was caught off guard when a somewhat strained blast of fire came roughly his way. He said roughly because it was actually quite a bit off, so much so that Xisheng could simply stand still to avoid it. Unfortunately, letting the attack pass him was a very bad idea because of who was behind him. Even more unfortunately than that, Xisheng was too unprepared to somehow intercept the blast before it passed him.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the ball of flame hurtling right at the Princess, and he immediately questioned how he was going to die. Thrown overboard? Burnt to a crisp? Hanged? Who knew?

Alarmed as he was, Xisheng barely managed to breathe a sigh of relief when the blast of ill-aimed fire briefly turned an azure blue before dissipating at the hand of the Princess herself. Unfortunately, his relief didn't last long. The expression on the girl's face was calm as ever, but definitely unhappy. Disdainful maybe. Xisheng didn't know, but either way it was bad.

Azula sighed as though she had only been inconvenienced, stroking one of her bangs as she glanced off into the ocean. "Not for intellectual reasons indeed... if I were paranoid, I would almost accuse you of being an assassin of some sort, but no one that actually wanted to kill me would employ such a pathetic attack."

Akuwagata bowed so low his head was almost level with his knees. "M-m-my apologies P-Princess..."

"Oh, I'm sure. But I really don't care much for apologetic drivel. So stand up; you can hardly fight me like that."

There was a brief moment of confusion for the two Royal Guards, once again voiced by Akuwagata. "I-I don't understand, Your H-highness..."

The Princess leveled a disdainful glare at Akuwagata. She seemed to be exceptionally adept at that. "Yes, we've established already that you're lacking in mental acuity. It just seems to me that if you're so eager to train that you can't even control your own Firebending properly, you must need some 'advanced' opposition. Both of you will fight me. Perhaps you will learn something useful before you are destroyed."

Though she gave a relatively solid reason for doing this, Xisheng got the feeling the Princess just wanted to exact some petty revenge for the misstep of her subordinates. One could call her a terrible person for doing such a thing, but hell, she was actually being quite merciful. After all, had she been caught off guard she could have been seriously injured. Akuwagata had messed up, and so had Xisheng to some extent for failing to block the attack before it reached her. The Princess could have done any number of terrible, horrible things to them for endangering her, but she instead chose to simply mop the floor with them in a sparring match. Whether the goal was to just beat them up or humiliate them was a mystery.

Either way, Xisheng knew there was no getting out of this one, so he took a firm stance and prepared for the worst. Behind him, Akuwagata did the same, but he was clearly wavering and far too scared for his own good. The Princess actually seemed to appreciate Xisheng's resolve in facing her, though interpreting her expression was actually pretty difficult. But if there was one thing drilled into every soldier's head during training, it was to stand your ground against a foe no matter how outclassed you were, provided a fight was inevitable. It was a lesson Xisheng had displayed against Iroh. That mentality was exactly what had gotten him noticed in the first place.

The Princess didn't wait even a moment for her far outclassed opponents to be ready, launching thin, spear-like bolts of azure flame at both of them simultaneously. Akuwagata, still fumbling in his stance, attempted to block it but was sent hurtling backwards, while Xisheng decided to dodge the blue flame rather than block it, considering his lack of experience with it. He had no idea how strong this variety of Firebending was compared to the regular kind, but he was willing to bet that the difference was significant.

However, he barely had a second after dodging the first attack before another bolt raced at him, and then a third when he dodged that one. Not only were the Princess' attacks powerful, but they were fast: much faster than any Firebender Xisheng had ever seen. It was all he could do to less than gracefully evade getting shot in the chest by rolling, ducking, and practically dropping to the deck of the ship to avoid getting hit.

By now Akuwagata had returned to his shaky feet, but he did nothing in regards to actually attacking the Princess. His lack of involvement on that front caused him to be almost entirely ignored by the teenager, who continued to harry Xisheng with shots that he was sure were not as strong or fast as they could have been. He got the distinct feeling that she was toying with him, which was no surprise really but still insulting. Xisheng knew he was not the best Firebender: he was certainly not better than the Princess. But he at least believed himself to be a good fighter. No matter who he was facing, he liked to think he at least provided some challenge.

Besides, he noticed that the Princess seemed to be rather disappointed in the whole ordeal, or bored at the very least. Xisheng could at least rectify that. Akuwagata may have been unwilling to attack the Princess, but she had explicitly stated that they were to fight her. Not stand around and get pummeled by her. With that in mind, Xisheng settled on returning fire after his next dodge.

Leaping over the next shot, Xisheng kicked out two wheels of flame, the duo soaring towards his target for but a moment before they were nonchalantly sidestepped. Even so, The Princess almost looked impressed. Almost.

"Bravo, one of you actually did something. I honestly thought you were going to let me shoot at you all day."

While he definitely wasn't going to bet on his interpretation of anything the Princess said, Xisheng felt that she too understood the inherent code of honorable combat for a Firebender: fight for fighting's sake. It didn't matter if you won, as long as you fought your absolute hardest.

With that notion in mind, Xisheng went on the attack, hurling every conceivable move he could at the Princess from his distance. He swept waves of fire at her feet, launched wheels of flame at her torso, curved fireballs from different angles, he even used the somewhat rare sunder technique, launching a wall of flame at the girl that split in two as it traveled. They were all equally useless. Every single one was dodged or simply brought under the Princess' control before she forcefully dispersed them. The powerful sunder technique was simply kicked into nothingness by one swipe of blue flame.

Desperate for some kind of headway, Xisheng tried his somewhat signature technique of blinding the enemy with an inferno before closing the distance. However, he had no time to employ the second half of the technique, as a condensed tendril of blue flame pierced the veil of orange and blasted Xisheng right in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. The force of the blow was enough to knock the wind out of him and probably bruise his torso, but not pierce his armor.

Without him to power it, Xisheng's own attack faltered and dissipated, revealing the Princess looking no worse for wear than she had before. Still, Xisheng was standing, and not without energy. He wasn't going to stop now. But he had figured by now that he would never match the Princess in Firebending. Considering her unusual bending style, perhaps she was unskilled in hand to hand combat?

Trying to capitalize on that gamble, Xisheng used his Firebending to boost him forward, closing the distance between him and the Princess in but a few seconds. Of course, Xisheng was certain she could have reacted at any time to stop him from getting so close, but she must have been curious as to what his next attack would be.

Indeed, she was surprised to see a regular axe kick coming at her, but surprised or not she nevertheless dodged it. In fact, rather than retaliate at all, she simply avoided everything. Every punch, every kick, every feint, and certainly any other kind of threat her opponent posed. At some point Xisheng tried to crush the shorter girl under a downward elbow strike, but he found the Princess' fingers half an inch from his gut before he could connect, and a controlled yet nevertheless powerful spurt of blue flame smashed into Xisheng's stomach with enough force to keel him over in pain. In a second he was on his knees, struggling to breathe.

The Princess seemed convinced that the match was over, but she found herself rather pleasantly surprised when Xisheng struggled to his feet and took some semblance of a combat stance, though it was suffering from fatigue and pain.

The Princess cocked a curious eyebrow at him. "Are you a sane member of my guards, soldier?"

While he found it hard to speak, Xisheng knew he couldn't leave the Princess unanswered. "I... haven't been incapacitated yet... I can still fight...Your Highness..."

There was a brief moment of silence from the younger girl as she contemplated the man before her that looked no different than any of her other guards. "Is that so? Well in that case, I order you to stand down."

More than a little relieved to hear that, Xisheng dropped his stance, though he refrained from any display that was too unsightly.

"What's your name, soldier?"

Surprised that the Princess had anything else to say to him, Xisheng nevertheless managed a reply. "Lieu...Lieutenant Xisheng, Your Highness."

His response actually earned a small expression of surprise from the Princess. "Really? The same Xisheng that fought against my Uncle at the North Pole?"

"T-the same, Your Highness."

This actually elicited a slight smirk from the girl. "I didn't think you'd actually arrive in the Capital for induction before I left, Lieutenant. Allow me to commend you personally for your efforts to thwart my traitorous Uncle at the North Pole."

Xisheng wasn't sure how rare praise from the Crown Princess was, but based on what he had seen of her so far, he was convinced that it was a once in a blue moon occurrence. "You speak too highly of me, Princess. I only did what was expected of any soldier."

"Oh, it's your duty as a common soldier alright, but I doubt there are many soldiers in our military that would have dueled the Dragon of the West. Furthermore, it's my understanding that you played a significant tactical role in the siege. The Fire Nation needs more soldiers like you, truly."

"I-I'm honored that Your Highness thinks so."

The Princess glanced down at her nails. "As for your combat prowess..."

This was the part Xisheng didn't want to hear. He had been soundly defeated without giving a single scratch in return, after all.

"You're good. Not even close to my level of course, but definitely better than most of the common rabble in our Army. More importantly, you fought me seriously despite knowing you couldn't win. Your awareness of the futility of your efforts didn't stop you from nevertheless fighting your hardest. Truth be told I admire your bravery, though I suppose it could be considered asinine as well."

Xisheng wasn't sure how he felt about that last spiel, since a lot of the compliments seemed kind of backhanded. But they were still compliments, so Xisheng decided to take them for what they were. As for the Princess, she turned on her heel, stalking back towards the bridge where her private quarters were. "Be on the deck by sunrise tomorrow morning, Lieutenant. I prefer to train early."

Left speechless by that order that could have meant any number of things, Xisheng fumbled for some sort of reply. His shock didn't last long though, because the Princess seemed to remember something just before she left the deck.

"Oh, and one more thing."

Quickly turning on her heel, the Princess shot another of her blue lances of flame at Akuwagata, who was still standing on the far end of the ship. The impact was significantly harder than anything she had used in her spar, blasting the poor guard backwards and smashing him against the edge of the deck railing.

"Hesitating to fight members of the Royal Family includes me."

With that, the daughter of the Fire Lord finally made her exit, leaving Xisheng staring after her with a wide array of mixed feelings. He wasn't sure if she was a ruthless individual or simply a girl that knew what she wanted and expected and worked to make it happen. Either way, Xisheng decided to worry about the Princess' intentions in the morning later. Instead, he took a brief moment to futilely rub the soreness out of his torso, then turned and walked back towards Akuwagata to make sure the guy hadn't broken his spine or something.