Chapter 18: The Learning Curve

The rest of the day was quite droll, in Xisheng's opinion. They had reached the Overlord the day before by noon, at which point he alone had been tasked with clearing away all of the foliage that had been used as concealment. Thankfully that had been quite easy, since most of it could be burned in relative safety. Following that, there was some discussion with Azula as to which particular base Xisheng should deliver the party to. Poring over a map she had procured from Omashu revealed that the nearest Fire Nation base was a small foothold to the east of Gaoling. Said base had been established in preparation for an assault on Gaoling years ago, but considering the lack of strategic value, such an invasion had never taken place. Nevertheless, the base was manned, and should have been informed of any upcoming military operations.

Xisheng had rightly pointed out that this base was not the best choice if their ultimate goal was reaching Ba Sing Se, seeing as how it had not only mountains, but the entirety of the Si Wong Desert between it and the city. Even beyond the desert, Full Moon Bay was in the way as well. He personally believed that heading back in Omashu's general direction was a better choice in the long run, but ultimately Xisheng had been overruled. According to Azula, any conceivable route to Ba Sing Se would be fraught with inconvenience and trouble, and they didn't even know if it was worth it to head towards the stronghold anyway. She believed gathering more information before making their next move was more important.

That said, Xisheng had been forced to repeat a similar process from a few days before, that being driving the Overlord through the thick forests that surrounded most of Gaoling. Like last time, the experience hadn't been particularly pleasant, especially since he had no company during the trip. None of the girls had saw fit to join him in the driver's cabin, for reasons he could only guess at.

But while the brief journey had been boring and tiresome thus far, the evening was finally upon them, and that meant Xisheng could at least rest from the driving. And just like the state of affairs before arriving at Gaoling, evenings were generally filled with enjoyable interactions with the girls, especially since Azula had left him to his own devices for the day.

Frankly the soldier was surprised by that:he had expected the Princess to get right back to training now that they were out of Gaoling and had the chance to do so, but perhaps she was consumed with her plots for the uncertain future. Xisheng didn't know why such things couldn't wait until they actually had some information to plan around, which Azula herself had claimed was important, but maybe he was completely wrong in his assumption anyway. Perhaps the Princess was just tired, or didn't feel like catering to his inferior skill level that day.

Either way, the party had situated themselves readily enough once the Overlord had come to a stop at the edge of a forest clearing. Ty Lee had taken care of the Mongoose Lizards, something that had practically become expected of her at this point. Besides, maybe she felt bad about leaving them cooped up in the Overlord during the stay in Gaoling, even if they had plenty of food and water to stick it out. Neither Azula nor Mai had elected to leave the comforts of the vehicle yet, which had left Xisheng to make a campfire from which dinner could be cooked, whatever that was going to be.

While he hadn't put much thought into before now, Xisheng really did wonder what the girls had been eating this whole time. He just couldn't imagine which one of them actually had cooking skills. His money was on Ty Lee, even though he had only seen her make rice correctly, which was no great feat. He supposed simply asking was an option, but Xisheng preferred conducting his own investigations. He had to have some fun in his life, after all. Either way, there was no harm in preparing a fire, in case he had to make some rice all by his lonesome at some point.

Thankfully, managing a campfire was a very relaxing and effortless task for a Firebender. Short of ensuring there was enough material to maintain a fire, all one had to do was stoke the flames with their pyrokinetic abilities every once in awhile. Were it not for the need of a pot, Firebenders could have cooked without almost any tools.

Staring at the flame he had created, encircled by stones for safety, Xisheng watched as it flickered to and fro with the occasional gust of wind. The ethereal sight may have normally intrigued him, but at the moment all it did was worry the soldier.

Despite fire's potential for destruction, it had many weaknesses, namely in the form of the elements it faced. The flame before Xisheng was powerful enough to scorch his flesh, yet a gentle breeze was enough to control its path, potentially rendering it harmless. This flame had the power to burn down the entire forest, yet a handful of dirt could snuff it out. A bucket of water was more than enough to render all of that destructive potential worthless.

Of course, Xisheng couldn't care less about the survival of this one particular campfire: it was the battlefield that worried him. Frankly, the soldier felt ill-prepared for fights with the Avatar's group, especially now that Toph had joined them. Granted, he had mostly dominated Katara during their fight in Gaoling, but the Waterbender had been at a great disadvantage due to the lack of ammunition available to her at the time. In a fight where a Waterbender only had the ammo they could carry on their person available, the advantage clearly went to the Firebender.

But if she had been near even a mildly decent body of water, that advantage went out the window. Xisheng may have had more experience in battle than her, but Katara became exponentially more dangerous the more water she had available. Frankly, a fight near a river would likely result in Xisheng's demise.

As for Toph, Xisheng was not at all confident in his ability to defeat her. In ideal circumstances, sure: if they were in a location that didn't have much earth for her to bend. But finding a natural battleground in this world that didn't have earth readily available was a serious challenge. Short of leading the Avatar and his group into a trap, there was very little chance of encountering Toph in a location without any earth, or at least without very much of it.

Making matters worse was a particular fact that Xisheng had already realized: fire was at a huge disadvantage against earth. Dirt and stone just didn't burn. A simple earth shield that any Earthbender could make was often enough to thwart a Firebending attack. At least with water, flame could vaporize an incoming attack, but a thrown rock would often just plow right through a plume of flame.

And then there was the Avatar: Xisheng felt that they had yet to see the full extent of his Airbending prowess, and he was not eager to do so. If that child stopped holding back and actually fought to win they would all be in serious trouble. With Airbending, it was easy to deflect all but the most massive of infernos.

Taking all of this into consideration, Xisheng was frankly amazed at how well the war had gone for the Fire Nation over the past hundred years. If it weren't for their superior tactics and technology, and likely the incompetence of some of their enemy's governing forces, he had no doubt the war would have been over swiftly, and not in their favor. The Fire Nation's dedication to militarism, combat and technology was likely what had saved them.

Unfortunately none of those advantages gave Xisheng a personal edge against his foes. He couldn't defeat the Avatar or his allies with war machines, siege engines or an army of disciplined troops. Granted, on paper he could defeat them with those things, but in reality there was no way to levy those assets against them. Direct confrontation in which martial skill and bending prowess won the day were the only options, and Xisheng knew already that he didn't stack up.

Problem was, it was the very nature of his Firebending that was his weakness, not a lack of skill or dedication. That he possessed a disadvantageous element was something he couldn't change. But that didn't mean he couldn't find some way to surpass that limitation. Perhaps the key was finding a new way to use his flames, a technique that couldn't be countered so easily...

Xisheng was startled out of his thoughts when one of the bags the group had carried out of Gaoling landed next to him with a light thud. Glancing over his shoulder to examine the perpetrator, the soldier turned officer was surprised to see Mai, who wasted no time in handing him a pot he often used to boil rice while they were on the move.

"Set this up."

Instead of taking the cooking apparatus immediately, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at the girl above him, many questions on his mind. Apparently, Mai misinterpreted the look, as she reiterated her 'request' by actually making it one.

"Set this up, please."

Despite the fact that a request for politeness was not at all what he had intended to get across, Xisheng was too pleasantly surprised to make any comment on it, instead choosing to do what had been asked of him. Not that Mai was rude regularly, but her bluntness usually ended up seeming like she was.

As he proceeded to do what was necessary to place the pot over the campfire, Xisheng watched as Mai began pulling various ingredients out of the bag she had brought with her. Naturally, he couldn't help but comment on this.

"You're kidding."

"What?"

"You're the one who knows how to cook?"

Mai didn't take her eyes of the task she was performing, though Xisheng noticed her movements becoming a little more rigid. He knew that likely implied she was uncomfortable with the topic, but he couldn't imagine why that would be the case.

"It's not that unlikely."

Certain he had made a mistake somewhere but unsure of how, Xisheng worded his response carefully.

"I guess you have tried a bunch of things just for kicks. It's not too unlikely that cooking would be one of them, right?"

Mai briefly looked up at him as she began to peel some sort of vegetable with one of her knives.

"...sure."

By her reaction and her response, Xisheng could immediately tell that his guess was not accurate. Even so, he said nothing. He got the distinct feeling that Mai wasn't too keen on talking about it.

"I can tell you want to ask."

Surprised by her powers of observation, Xisheng nevertheless chose to play it dumb.

"Ask what? I already got the answer."

Mai kept her gaze focused on what she was doing: Xisheng couldn't imagine her ever hurting herself with a blade, but prudence was probably a large part of making that happen.

"It's the wrong answer and you know it. And I know that you know because you aren't a clueless idiot."

"Thanks?"

"But I also know your unhealthy obsession with learning things about people against their will. So just get it over with."

With a wry look of amusement, Xisheng shook his head. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I knew you didn't want to talk about it and proceeded to bring it up, would that not make me a clueless idiot? Of course I'm curious, but I'm not going to get answers at the expense of your comfort."

With the faintest of smiles, Mai responded to his statement.

"You're too nice..."

"Why thank-"

"It kind of makes me sick."

Xisheng's smile fell immediately, even though he got the feeling she was joking. Even if it was a joke, was it really necessary to make such a backhanded compliment?

Feeling like he should pout about his mistreatment a bit, Xisheng was about to go fetch the water they would need for whatever meal dinner would be, but he didn't get a chance to get on his feet, because Mai was speaking to him again.

"Were there things in the military you had to learn that you really didn't want to, Gohan?"

Unsure of where this was going but interested in the end result, Xisheng thought back to his Army training.

"Well, sure. Digging latrines is something no one really wants to be familiar with. And I wasn't too fond of learning how to skin wild game for food. There's a lot of not so glamorous skills the Army forces you to learn."

Mai smirked, likely at his expense, but the expression fell quickly.

"Believe it or not, there's a lot of things you 'have' to learn as the daughter of a noble. Nothing so disgusting as cutting up animals or making improvised toilets, but... there's a lot of skills you're expected to be capable in to prove you're a worthwhile member of high society, though it's more along the lines of proving you can cater to the needs of whatever lord you marry."

As a commoner, Xisheng generally didn't consider this aspect of a noble woman's life. In retrospect, it kind of made sense: while the Fire Nation had significantly more gender equality than the other nations, it wasn't a perfect balance. Men still dominated high society, and he imagined that a woman born to a noble house was expected to become the ideal wife for some lord, in order to bring more prestige to the family or something.

Ironically, it was a burden the common people didn't really have to deal with too much. If you were a woman in middle class or lower, at least no one expected you to specifically fulfill a certain particular niche. You could pretty much do what you wanted to and nobody would give you too much trouble for it.

"Sorry. This type of complaining must sound ridiculous to someone who has fought on the front lines of a war."

Caught off guard since Mai didn't seem the type to apologize for something like this (though to be fair he hadn't expected her to even initiate a conversation like this), Xisheng nevertheless managed to say his piece without hesitation.

"I don't think it's ridiculous. Sure, I believe there's an objective scale of how bad things are: watching people die and being in harm's way is worse than being bullied. But I also think that everyone has a relative scale of how bad things are for them, and that scale is no less justifiable. Problems that are serious for you may not be serious for me, and vice versa. People can't be blamed for not understanding or caring about problems that don't concern them, no matter how serious those problems may be for someone else. But it also means that no one has a right to label the problems of someone else as 'inferior' or 'ridiculous' compared to their own... what I'm saying is, it's true that I've seen people die and risked my life on a battlefield, but that doesn't invalidate your problems or how serious they are for you, even if they aren't as objectively bad."

There was silence between the two of them as Mai leveled an intrigued look at him, though Xisheng interpreted it incorrectly.

"S-sorry, sometimes I stray way off-topic like that..."

With the faint smile from before returning a little wider, Mai focused on her culinary task once more.

"Don't apologize for it. I like how much thought you put into these kinds of things. You always think of things normal people don't even bother to consider. Or care to, I guess."

"I thought you of all people would find such philosophy tedious."

"Well, I don't like to waste time pondering things with no practical point, but I certainly wouldn't say that I find your intellect tedious."

With a smirk, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at her.

"My intellect, huh?"

"Don't let it go to your head. Ty Lee is around too, so the bar isn't all that high."

A shadow passed over the duo just as Mai said this, prompting Xisheng to grin sheepishly as he identified the caster. Ty Lee stood behind them, arms folded and frown in place.

"You know, one of these days all the mean things you guys say about me will actually hurt."

As she began cutting up another ingredient, Mai apologized, though she didn't sound all that apologetic.

"Sorry. Didn't think you were that close."

"Whether or not I hear it shouldn't be the determining factor!"

Feeling a little bad about the admittedly heavy-handed teasing Ty Lee often suffered at the hands of her companions, Xisheng took it upon himself to placate her.

"Don't worry Ty Lee: you've got a certain type of wisdom the rest of us are lacking. We've all got our strengths and weaknesses."

Contrary to expectations, Ty Lee's pout didn't lessen upon hearing this.

"That's sweet and all, but you didn't deny anything about what Mai implied..."

"C'mon, none of us are stupid. We all have some knowledge that the others don't..."

With a sigh, Ty Lee placed her hands on her hips.

"Stop trying to make me feel better with all this practicality and just spend time with me or something."

The acrobat cast a certain look in Mai's direction, likely questioning whether or not she was going to oppose Ty Lee's poaching of Xisheng's company. She hadn't heard much of what the two of them were talking about prior to the comment about her intelligence, but she didn't have to understand the conversation to pick up on how much Mai was opening up to Xisheng. There had been a lot of signs lately; initiating conversations of her own accord, smiling in those conversations, even complimenting him. These were all things one might consider normal in everyday interaction between people that didn't hate each other, but for Mai it was kind of unusual. Ty Lee doubted she had changed too terribly much in the years that had separated them: she had rarely cared for putting on airs with people she didn't care at least a little bit about.

Still, maybe Ty Lee was being a little ridiculous, assuming that Mai would openly try to resist the notion she had put forth. She either didn't care that much or had no intent of making it obvious if she did. That's probably why all she did was shrug.

"If you could bring some water from the vehicle first, I'd appreciate it."

Xisheng was honestly a little reluctant to leave the conversation he'd been having with Mai, as he felt as though he was uncovering some new things about her. But on the other hand, he didn't want to just ignore Ty Lee. Admittedly, splitting his attention between the three girls in the group was actually a bit difficult.

Even so, the soldier ultimately agreed with the course of action that had been set before him.

"Alright. How much do you need?"

"Just enough to fill the pot."

Seeing as how there was no immediate source of water nearby, Xisheng had no choice but to get some from the Overlord's stores: naturally it was limited in quantity, but since they had just recently left Gaoling with supplies, it wasn't like the group was particularly hurting for it. That said, it didn't take Xisheng too terribly long to fetch what was required of him, which earned a brief word of gratitude from Mai. As soon as that was accomplished, Ty Lee was quick to drag the soldier away from the campfire that had been erected.

Xisheng cast a brief glance back at the Overlord, noting with a little uncertainty that he hadn't seen Azula at all this evening. He couldn't help but wonder if she would be upset to find him absent if she finally decided that training was in order that day. Still, it wasn't like he could just lounge around outside the vehicle all day long, on the off chance that she would require his presence at some point. With that in mind, he turned his attention entirely to Ty Lee.

"So, do you have a routine you'd like to show me?"

Smiling at how eager Xisheng was to see her perform, Ty Lee nevertheless said what was really on her mind. Well, not what was really on her mind. She didn't want to tell Xisheng to his face that she was getting a little jealous of how much attention he had been affording Mai the past few days. In her heart, she knew that it was petty and shallow to feel that way, but it just didn't seem fair: Ty Lee was the only one that treated Xisheng well at all in the beginning. Not that she had done so in order to be rewarded, but the man could at least divvy up his attention a little better.

That was why she had decided to grab his attention a little more often. If he wanted her to teach him a few things, she had quite a few options.

"Actually, I was considering what you said back in Gaoling. About if I could teach you a few things? If you want, I could maybe help you get more limber?"

Being a martial artist who had seen many battlefields, Xisheng by no means possessed an inflexible and rigid body. However, he knew he didn't hold a candle to what Ty Lee could do. Frankly, this wasn't the kind of thing that had been on his mind when he was considering what Ty Lee could teach him, but there was hardly any harm in becoming more flexible. Besides, maybe that could be a stepping stone to some acrobatic lessons? If he had Ty Lee's agility and his own Firebending, maybe he could take his combat prowess to another level?

"That sounds great. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, it would probably be best if we determine exactly how flexible you are first. It would be kind of silly to try and make you do anything way beyond your current means."

Agreeing with that assessment, Xisheng ended up following Ty Lee a little ways out into the woods they were staying in, creating a little bit of privacy for them. It didn't dawn on him that this may have been intentional on her part.

Once they had reached the area of Ty Lee's choice, she turned to him with a smile.

"OK, so I'll go through some stretches, and you just try to copy me. That way we can see where you are right now."

"Alright, that sounds reasonable."

With that, the two of them began the exercise in earnest. At first, Ty Lee performed simple arm stretches and the like, seeing how far Xisheng was able to bend his limbs in general. Considering his martial background, such things were well within the soldier's capability, so it didn't take long to move on from there.

It was after those stretches that Xisheng realized the level of composure he would actually need for this whole ordeal, because once those simple stretches were out of the way, Ty Lee moved onto ones that more often than not resulted in scandalous parts of her body being pointed in Xisheng's direction. Whether it was arching her back towards him or spreading her legs for a thigh stretch, it occurred to Xisheng that she was absolutely doing this on purpose. After all, she could have done all of these suggestive stretches while facing away from him, and judging by the pleased expression on her face as they went about this activity, it was clear that she was enjoying his reaction to all of it.

That said, Xisheng hadn't been subjected to such direct or suggestive flirting in all of his life, and he felt extremely awkward about it. In an attempt to rectify that situation, he tried to bring up a topic that had interested him earlier that day, though his eyes never left the curves of Ty Lee's flexible body.

"Ah, y-you know, earlier today at the market... you mentioned that I had a certain... presence? And you mentioned a lot of colors. What was all of that supposed to mean?"

With talking hardly requiring too much focus, Ty Lee didn't interrupt her physical activity to answer this question. "I said gold, orange, red, pink, and blue, specifically. Of course you exude other colors sometimes but since I've known you those colors have been the most prominent and consistent."

Despite the visual in front of him, this actually interested Xisheng enough to distract him from any scandalous thoughts: temporarily, at least.

"This color business... what exactly do you mean? You bring up auras and colors a lot, but what exactly are you seeing?"

Perhaps forgetting her own agenda for a moment, Ty Lee pondered how to describe something no one else seemed to understand. "It's kind of like... a mist. A really colorful mist that hangs around people. And it changes color based on a lot of things. Most of the time it's specific feelings at a point in time, like bright pink when people are embarrassed or really dark green for people who are jealous. But the color also depends on someone's personality as a whole. Those are the colors that are almost always present."

"I... kind of get it, I guess. But how do you know what all the colors stand for?"

"Well, colors can actually mean several things, depending on their shade, or how bright they are, or a bunch of other stuff. You probably figured this out already, but it's not like anyone taught me any of this: I kind of just had to figure it out as I grew up. It's probably part of why I turned out to be so social with everyone. I mean, to figure out what a bunch of different colors meant, I had to talk to people and find out how they were feeling. It's actually how I met Mai when we were kids."

While he was interested in hearing that story, Xisheng decided it was better to stay focused on the topic at hand.

"Well, I'm almost scared to ask, but what do the colors you mentioned for me symbolize? I mean, you said pink was embarrassment... I won't deny that I feel that a lot, but I'd hardly say it is a crucial part of my personality..."

Perhaps amused by his concern, Ty Lee giggled at his expense, though she was quick to assuage his fears.

"Don't worry about it Gohan. Pink can stand for embarrassment, but it also represents people who are sensitive and compassionate. Of course if it's a dark pink it usually means someone is dishonest or immature, but yours isn't like that."

While glad to hear that his shade of pink was apparently a good thing, Xisheng couldn't help but question it as he tired to copy the way Ty Lee was bending her body.

"So if different colors can mean different things based on something as slight as their shade, isn't it really difficult to tell how people are feeling? I mean, apparently pink can mean ten different things depending on how light or dark it is."

"Well of course, it's not like I'm psychic or anything: I've definitely misread people's feelings before. But it's not like I rely on auras alone to tell how people are feeling. I mean, if I see the shade of pink I think symbolizes embarrassment, but the person clearly isn't embarrassed, it's got to mean something else, right? It's actually quite a bit of guesswork."

As he watched Ty Lee move into a handstand that he definitely couldn't imitate, it occurred to Xisheng that this aura business was likely something specific to Ty Lee's interpretation of any one person, rather than some sort of absolute cosmic sign of a person's feeling or personality. After all, she was the only person who saw these auras, which could only mean one of two things.

Either one, auras were totally real but regular people couldn't see them, and Ty Lee had some sort of transcendent quality about her that allowed her to see them. Or two, there was something 'wrong' with her. Of course, Xisheng didn't mean that in the sense that she was actually broken or something: only that something about her was off compared to your average human being. After all, not once had she struck him as a crazy hallucinating person, so he believed her when she said she saw all these colors around people.

But if the reason she saw those colors was because something was different about her biologically, didn't that just mean that any 'aura' she saw was just a manifestation of how she viewed them? In that case, she could be completely wrong about a person's feelings or personality, just like any normal person trying to identify those things about someone.

Ultimately, Xisheng concluded that it didn't really matter: if his assumption was right and these auras Ty Lee saw were just manifestations of how she viewed them, this was still a great opportunity to find out how she really saw him as a person. Having completely forgotten about trying to imitate Ty Lee's stretches, Xisheng decided to investigate further.

"OK, so the pink is good: what do those other colors you see around me mean?"

With her back turned and her hands planted firmly on the ground, Ty Lee spread her legs, shaping her body into a form very reminiscent of the letter T. While most of his focus was commanded by the arousing view, Xisheng couldn't help but wonder if the acrobat was trying to mess with him, because surely she knew he wouldn't be able to do that if he was still trying to copy her.

If she noticed the explicit attention he was paying to her rear, Ty Lee didn't mention it as she answered his question.

"Well, orange is something I see around people that are creative and brave... I said I saw a lot of blue with you, but in hindsight, maybe it's more of an indigo? That usually means you're intuitive, which goes really well with the gold, 'cuz that usually means someone is really wise."

Wow, I had no idea Ty Lee thought this highly of me...

"And the red means you're a huge pervert thinking about really naughty things while looking at my butt."

Needless to say, this break from the praise thus far threw Xisheng for a loop.

"H-hey, what!? Are you making that up!?"

Glancing back at him with a smirk on her face, it was obvious that Ty Lee found his reaction amusing.

"Nope, a clear, prominent red is a sure sign of passion, which includes the carnal side of desire. And your aura always grows a bit more crimson when you're checking out my body..."

"N-n-now hold on, don't you think you might be misinterpreting something...?"

Coming out of her handstand to face him directly, Ty Lee did nothing to calm Xisheng's nerves.

"Not at all. After all, my aura gets really red when I look at your butt too."

Utterly flustered by this new line of conversation, Xisheng had no response ready, though it turned out he didn't need one, as somebody else filled the immediate silence.

"Is this truly how you spend your free time Lieutenant? Color me appalled."

Feeling a slight bit of dread creeping into his being, Xisheng couldn't help but wonder how much had been overheard as he looked over his shoulder at an irate Azula, her arms crossed. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but Ty Lee beat him to it anyway, though not in a way Xisheng had been expecting.

"Excuse me, but what exactly do you mean by that, Azula? Because it sounds like you're saying something really offensive."

"If you find my disdain for wasting time offensive, that's hardly my problem."

For the first time since he had been inducted into this odd group, Xisheng witnessed Ty Lee grow combative, and with Azula no less. In a few seconds the circus performer was standing but a few inches from the Fire Nation princess, a none too happy glare on her face.

"Xisheng spending time with me is not a waste!"

This confrontational stance from Ty Lee clearly didn't sit well with the Crown Princess, as made obvious by the very displeased expression that crossed her face. Xisheng figured it might be a good idea to try and defuse the situation.

"Princess, the purpose of our time together was actually to train. Her acrobatics would-"

Xisheng's defense was cut short as Azula turned her ire on him. Frankly, he had no idea what had put her in such a bad mood, since she had seemed fine earlier today.

"Oh yes, training. That was made evident by your conversation, I assure you. Need I remind you that someone of your middling talents has no time to waste fooling around?"

Honestly, to hear this scathing remark from the Princess wounded Xisheng, but more than that, it angered him. Azula was undoubtedly his better in almost everything relating to fighting, but he was hardly some pushover that couldn't hold his own. Where the hell did she get off on accosting him like this?

"Middling is surely an overstatement, Princess. I-"

"I'd daresay it's an understatement! You don't hold a candle to anyone you should be striving to surpass! Your commitment to improvement is so pathetic that you waste your time flirting with any girl that offers you the slightest attention instead of bettering your own worthless skills."

It looked like Ty Lee was about to interject again, likely not pleased with how insignificant her investment in any of this was being considered, but before she could the voice of the only uninvolved member of the party made itself known.

"Uh... dinner's ready."

The three of them all glanced over to see Mai standing a little distance away, clearly confused by the hostile situation. She had directed Azula in the direction that Ty Lee and Gohan had gone when asked, but she hadn't expected the irritable look on her face to lead to something of this nature. Despite not being the most attuned to the group's overall atmosphere, she certainly hadn't detected any sort of tension that would have lead to this situation prior to now.

Not commenting on Mai's helpful notice, Azula directed her glare back to Ty Lee.

"I need to speak to the Lieutenant alone. Make yourself scarce."

Clearly angry with the way she was being treated, Ty Lee nevertheless held back whatever she wanted to say. Xisheng had no idea what spurred her to hold her tongue now, considering that she had already snapped once. Maybe she was privy to something the soldier wasn't, but either way she stalked away from the situation without another word. Mai was quick to follow, not nearly curious enough to try and intervene in whatever was going on here.

For Xisheng's part, he was none too pleased with anything that was transpiring here, least of all how Azula was treating people that were supposed to be her friends and comrades seemingly out of nowhere, but he too held his tongue. He couldn't let his personal feelings supersede his station.

Azula watched her friends leave the area, at which point she faced Xisheng again and quickly jabbed a finger into his chest.

"In one week, you and I are going to fight. If you fail to land a single blow on me, I will demote you and leave you under the command of the very next Fire Nation unit we encounter. That's all."

With that, the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation turned away and walked back towards the camp, leaving a stunned Xisheng in her wake. Needless to say, she had done a stellar job of ruining what had thus far been a very good day.