Chapter 72: Schemes
Waking up to the crackling sound of fire and wood, while slowly perceiving a sweet scent of what seemed to be an aromatic tea, Zuko slowly opened his eyes to reveal hollow, hopeless yellow irises;
"Still having nightmares?" Asked Iroh, still working on his tea.
"… Yeah…" Answered Zuko, softly.
"The healing of the spirit, just like the healing of the body, cannot be rushed. Everything has its time to heal." Said the old wise General as he poured some tea and gently handed it to Zuko. "But, that does not mean that we are helpless while waiting." He concluded by offering a smile.
"… Yeah…" Zuko nodded with a blank look while slowly drinking his tea.
Iroh wanted to talk, but he couldn't think of anything that could bring Zuko back to his fiery, determined spirit. He could only sigh and shake his head while standing up.
"My cooking skills might not be as grand and renowned as my tea making skills, but I shall double my effort." He said while doing a muscle stance "In the meanwhile, you can meditate if you wish." Iroh nodded and quickly left their cavernous home.
Zuko's eyes were guided towards the crackling fire, but not even the brightness and warmth of a flame could bring light to his hollow eyes.
It had been a harsh week for the duo, they had been living in a cave since the incident in the refugee camp, luckily, they had resources to survive. Madara would never let Uncle Iroh and Zuko suffer any more than they already had in life.
As the sun set on the horizon, Iroh made his way back from the nearest village, which was quite far away, with enough bags of food to last them a few days without any worry.
As he walked near the cave, he saw his nephew sitting on the shore of a small river. In one hand he had his twin swords, while in the other he carried what looked like tattered black robes with red clouds, even after so long… these two were two of his three most valuable remaining treasures.
Iroh approached slowly as to not startle his beloved nephew, only to see him staring at his own reflection in the water.
The banished Prince obviously heard the sound of steps behind him, but he didn't move a muscle, he was so lost in his thoughts that even if the most amateurish assassin in the world tried to kill him right now, it would be an easy task.
The old uncle simply sat beside his nephew, and accompanied him in his silence;
As the sun hid further between the mountain peaks on the horizon, Zuko finally started talking;
"… I … I had dreams… dreams about how things were before…. Before all this…. Before my … banishment…"
Iroh kept silent but made sure that his presence and comfort could be felt by his nephew.
"… My …f…father…. Never liked me…. Did he?"
"Zuko that's not-" Iroh tried to talk but Zuko raised his hand;
"I remember…" he said while looking up "Ever since Azula's brilliance and talent was shown for the first time… Father…. Decided to give up on me…."
Iroh could only close his eyes and clench his fists
"I remember that I got… so… so frustrated… so… sad… that I started thinking… that if I somehow… started behaving like Azula… father would… like me like he liked … her..."
A hint of a smile appeared on his lips;
"It is one of the fondest memories I have… The day that I tried to show… Mother… how Azula used to feed the turtle ducks that used to live in the palace's pond…. I tossed fist sized pieces of bread at one of them… just like I saw Azula doing many times… Mother disliked it… she chastised me…"
Iroh kept quiet, simply staring at his own reflection, alongside his nephew's in the river.
"You were on the front lines back then… It was before you sent me this dagger as a gift…"
Zuko said as he pulled his third treasure from his robes and placed it between him and his uncle.
"She said… "Never forget who you are" to me…"
Closing his eyes, the Prince clenched his fist.
"Until this day …. I still don't know… who I am…" He stared, for a moment, at each side of his face in the reflection "Am I the banished, criminal Zuko… or am I …the proud crown Prince Zuko, son of Fire Lord Ozai and Ursa?"
For several minutes, only neutral sounds could be heard from the Prince/uncle duo.
"You know, Prince Zuko." Said Iroh, with his eyes seemingly glued to their reflections "The day that you came to me… asking to learn how to wield a weapon… I took it upon myself to decide which weapon would be most fitting for you, for days I thought it over and ended up deciding on the twin swords… do you know why?"
Zuko shook his head as Iroh grabbed his swords and unsheathed them. "In your first lesson you were taught that although they look like two separate swords, they actually are not… they are simply two sides of a single weapon… you can't have one without the other, otherwise it would be incomplete."
The Prince stared at the swords, as each blade reflected one side of his face, on one blade he saw his handsome side, while on the other blade he saw his burnt eye.
"The things that you've seen, and the experiences that you've had are what molded you into who and what you are right now, you can't remove the bad and only keep the good. Otherwise, you would be as incomplete as this sword without its pair."
Iroh stared into his nephew's eyes as he sheathed the swords again "And who you are is not for anyone to decide, but you. Not me, not Azula and not even your father, you are you, Zuko."
"… I… I don't understand…" Said a frustrated Zuko.
Offering an understanding smile, Iroh patted his shoulder "There's no hurry, life is long and you will have plenty of time to find out. I can't tell you where the journey will end, but I can tell you that you will not be traveling alone."
"Uncle…I… " tears started flowing down Zuko's cheeks as Iroh simply hugged him.
"It's fine, everything will be fine, we will go through this together… only, mind the ramblings, and the requests of an old man to stop at a few tea shops in the middle…"
Zuko couldn't help but chuckle at that
"Yes… we shall visit plenty…" Said the Prince with a little bit of light back in his eyes.
….
"How is our development towards Yu Dao?" Asked a calm Madara while reading reports of the fall of Omashu and the appearance of Azula with her girl squad.
"Yu Dao has been tough Mr. Uchiha, being the oldest colony, it has a good foundation which proves to be troublesome to exploit, they seem very self-sufficient with no weaknesses for us to take advantage of." Said Nari while sitting on the other side of the desk.
"And what about this place?" he pointed towards a small, almost imperceptible colony marked on the map;
"Earthen Fire Refinery?" Nari asked with her raised eyebrows "That's just a small industrial site, Mr. Uchiha. Honestly people there are not that happy considering the toxicity of the place, the natives there were originally from Yu Dao, but left due to their economical situation… Yu Dao didn't want 'street rats dirtying their ideal city'. Over the last ten years that town has been used as an … 'independent industrial colony." The older woman said, already with all information needed recorded in her memory.
"Independent?" Madara couldn't help but raise his own eyebrow "Who gave them the balls to call themselves 'Independent Industrial Colony'? Don't they know how angry the Fire Nation would be if they heard that?"
"Not really, you see… the Refinery is where autonomous inventors usually go to have a big break. According to our information the Fire Nation lets the residents be free to pursue their aspirations, and when one of them comes up with an impressive creation… the Fire Nation offers them sponsorship and takes them to the capital, completely claiming ownership of said creation while still funding the successful subject forward."
"Sounds too expensive to keep running like that just for one or two decent inventors to pop up every year or two" Madara said with a frown.
"I thought that too, so we did a deeper inspection… It seems that…. Lao Beifong also invests in this place." Nari narrowed her eyes as, ex-boss or not, she was fully loyal to Madara. "It seems that your airship was also built there, no wonder Lao Beifong could get his hands on it, he was one of the investors in the first place."
"Ohoooo the plot thickens, huh? Lao Beifong siding with both the Fire Nation AND the Earth Kingdom… sounds very interesting, doesn't it?"
With a nod, Nari said her own opinion "The Beifong family is one of the oldest recorded noble families, they have scrolls pre-dating the era of Avatar Szeto. He was a very politically inclined Avatar and had many deals with the Beifongs from back then. It seems that the Fire Nation were in dire straits back then and Szeto used his influence to get a good deal with the Earth Kingdom nobles."
"How Ironic."
"Indeed, Szeto's and Beifong's deals made the Fire Nation strong again, and also seem to be the source of the current Beifong fortune. It seems that old ties remain and the Fire Nation still has a line of contact with the Beifongs, even if it's just for pure business's sake."
Narrowing his eyes looking at the records presented by Nari, Madara spoke "I want a slice of that pie, Yu Dao and the Refinery are the key points for our future, I want the natives of the colonies to want us... no… to DEMAND us to be their ruler… before the war ends."
"Mr. Uchiha… may I ask why? I know you are a driven man, you've built everything from nothing, but even till this day… your Oasis Project remains dry, void of any profit… Are you sure you want to risk getting into the sights of the Fire Nation even more than before due to these two little colonies?"
"Two Little Colonies? Nari you are a smart woman, the smartest that I know… but sometimes you underestimate things… Tell me, what do you think will happen when the War ends and Zuko takes the crown of the Fire Lord?"
Nari narrowed her eyes in deep thought, a fool would say "peace" but it's not that easy, "peace" doesn't happen just because the new head of the state has a different approach, there's a hundred years of war looming behind them, every single living person today was born during that war… they won't just 'forget about it and live in peace'.
"I think a short time of peace will come, six months... maybe less…" said Nari deep in thought "Then… on an international scale, the colonies will become the new battleground for an aftermath war… the Earth Kingdom will want their lands back, the Fire Nation will probably agree… but the people... people whose fathers and grandfathers were born in those colonies, who have a deep rooted sense of belonging… they won't accept… they will fight back… and then a second war might start, on a smaller scale, yes, but a second war nonetheless."
"Zuko and… who cares about his name, the Earth King, will probably have to fight. The firecracker is proud of his people, and won't let them hang when he sees that they really love their home, he would relinquish his rights to the colonies, but the Earth King and his bunch of nobles would try to take over and push the Fire Nation loyalists away anyway…" Madara said with a tone of certainty "And then… there's the Avatar…"
A deep silence spread for a few seconds;
"The Avatar will get involved, it's his self-given job to do so. But…. That tattooed kid… he will side with the people, no doubts about that. He will try the best way he can think of to make a deal, and I put my money on the Avatar allowing these colonies to achieve independence, not subjected to the Earth Kingdom OR the Fire Nation…"
"A 5th Nation…" Said Nari softly. "And do you think that, even if that comes to pass, the Avatar would allow you to rule over it?"
Madara started chuckling, and then burst into a strong laugh that had a very evil feeling to it.
"Allow me? NO! He would never… but what if he doesn't have the choice? What would the dear pacifist Avatar do when he sees every single person within the colonies, clamoring and calling for me by name to be their ruler?"
Madara's grin was fully evil.
"HE will have no choice; HIS opinions will bear no weight. The people decide their ruler, and if the Avatar goes against the people… how long until their people decide that they don't want or need an Avatar anymore?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Hello!!!!!
Thought that i left and abandoend you all? WRONG!
I am here! and i've been writing this chapter for a while, honestly book 2 is being more complicated than book 1.
Will have to skip A LOT of episodes, but i will add a bunch of original plots as well.
Zuko storyline took a turn now, he is not alone, 'Zuko Alone' will never happen, and while some events will remain, the meaning and reasoning for such events will be completely different.
Madara is also showing more of his scheming side this chapter, there's a reason why he never wanted to take over the Avatar job, because the Avatar is chained, they have a unique level of Authority in the world, but at the same time... they have many limitations that regular people don't have.
I welcome all my wonderful sausage army to gather and prepare, because we are taking over the colony boys!!!!
Have a great day! stay awesome and see you next chapter!
Chapter 73: Toph
"And now the moment you've all been waiting for!"
In an underground, dimly lit hall, a large rectangular arena was located in the middle. The arena had stairs running down to a lower, oval shaped area. Seats for spectators started at the same level as the arena. Sitting among the crowd, team Avatar seemed rather excited about what was going on… well… at least one of them…
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO" Shouted Sokka. "YEEEEEEEAHHHHHHHH!"
"The Boulder versus…. Your champion… the Blind Bandit!"
As Xin Fu, the announcer, introduced the new fighter, the lights seemed to focus on a single person. A short, black haired girl with bangs covering her milky-green eyes, almost half of her body was hidden behind a massive Champion green belt as she raised the belt up above her head.
"She can't really be blind," Said Katara, observing the small champion girl. "It's just part of her character…. Right?"
"I think she is…" Said Aang looking at her as if he had seen her before.
"I think she is…" Said Sokka with a deadpan face… Before instantly shouting while gesturing down with both hands "GOING DOWN!"
In the center of the Arena;
"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young…. Blind…. Girl."
"Sounds to me like you are scared, Boulder… " Said the blind girl mockingly as she pointed at her opponent.
"The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings…. And now he's ready to bury you… in a rock-alanche!"
"Let's dance then…. The Pebble!" The girl threw her head back and laughed.
"It's on!" the Boulder replied as he took one step forward. As his heel hit the ground, a smirk appeared on the blind girl's face as her opponent took a second step, but this time the blind girl suddenly kicked the arena surface, creating a shock wave through the arena floor that churned up the ground in the direction of the Boulder in a straight line.
Once the Boulder felt his feet meeting the shock wave from the blind girl, he was forced down onto the ground in a perfect split.
"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Exclaimed the poor Boulder in pain as his crotch was forced to stretch in angles that were never attempted by him before.
Grinning evilly, the blind girl stomped the ground with her other foot's heel, suddenly making a pillar of rock rise right below the Boulder's crotch, which was only a few inches above the ground.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" This time it was not just the Boulder, every single male in the audience, including the announcer, shared the dread and closed their legs in reflex.
"EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!" Shouted Sokka with a pale face while protecting his crotch with his hands.
"I don't understand why every single other man screamed like they were the ones in pain…." Said Katara in confusion.
"You don't understand men, Katara," Said Sokka with a sage expression "We share pain…." A lonely tear fell from one of his eyes as he stared at the horizon.
"…. Okay…?" Said the young waterbender.
Even Aang looked incredibly uncomfortable, though he tried to maintain his serene expression, but his crossed legs and trembling hands expressed his real thoughts.
Back in the Arena, Toph was satisfied with her performance considering the shouts she heard from both her target and the audience, so without further ado, she simply did a motion with her right hand, forming three pillars of earth that launched the Boulder outside the Arena.
"A-and your winner, and still champion…. The Blind Bandit!!!!" Said Xin Fu, the muscular announcer with long dark hair, his legs were almost crossed but one could see that he was using his entire willpower to remain serious and aloof towards the situation.
"How did she do that?" Asked Katara in confusion, again, the girl was supposed to be blind!
"Heartlessly…" Said Sokka, still protecting his crotch.
"She waited…. And listened…" Said Aang, remembering what Bumi told him in Omashu.
As Xin Fu jumped back towards the arena from his raised announcer platform, he shouted to the crowd "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!"
For the first few seconds there was only silence, until Aang raised his hand "I will!"
Xin Fu looked disappointed for a moment, but nodded and accepted the challenge anyway.
"Go Aang! Avenge the Boulder!" Shouted Sokka with passion in his voice.
Feeling the newcomer walking into the Arena platform, Toph smirked "Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!" The audience was relentless.
"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you" Said the disguised Avatar as he put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture.
"BOOOOO!!!!" Shouted Sokka with a disgusted expression that was short lived considering that Katara slapped him in the back of the head right away.
"Don't boo at him!"
Back in the arena, Aang could be seen gliding inches above the ground after dodging the first strike from Toph.
"Somebody's a little light on his feet! What's your fighting name? The Fancy Dancer?" Said a focused Toph as she concentrated on her earthbending skills. "Now… where'd you go?..."
"Please, wait!" Shouted Aang as he finally touched the ground.
Unfortunately for Aang, his move to throw Toph's rock back at her was met with an earth wall, Toph had been ambushed before, and although she never had fought an airbender before, she didn't just trust her earthbending, but also her other senses.
As soon as the Avatar touched the ground, Toph grinned "Gotcha"
Aang could only watch as one of his feet was swallowed by the Arena.
"Let's see you dodge me now… Twinkle Toes…" She grinned as she pushed the Earth Wall she used as defense towards Aang with incredible speed, pushing him out of the arena.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone shouted in excitement.
"And there we have it! The unmatched! The victorious! The Blind Bandit!" Shouted Xin Fu while pocketing his bag of coins.
Grabbing her Champion belt back, Toph wore a huge smirk on her face as she simply escaped through the wall, thwarting any plans that Aang had about reaching out to her for a talk.
After everything was over, Team Avatar went on an investigation tour through the city of Gao Ling, first being the Earthbending School, but no one seemed to know anything about the Blind Bandit.
Finally, the team managed to get some clues due to Aang's dream about a white flying boar, the sigil of the Beifong family, which led them to their current situation.
Lao and Poppy Beifong seemed happy as they stared at their guests, they heard about the Avatar coming for a visit and prepared a welcome feast for all of them.
"Avatar Aang. It's an honor to have you visit us." Said Poppy with a happy smile on her face.
"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?" Asked Lao with a friendly face, but his eyes were sharp and focused.
"I'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer, but I can't do that without an earthbending teacher first…" Aang said while staring at Toph, making her annoyed.
"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land." Lao said as he pointed towards the pompous, second-rate earthbending 'Master' that was having dinner with them. "He's been teaching Toph since she was little."
"Then she must be a great earthbender! Probably good enough to teach someone else!" Said Aang with a beaming smile.
Toph didn't like what he said, so she sent a fissure under the table at him.
"Ow!" He shouted, as Lao cast an odd glance towards his daughter who merely ate her soup.
"Toph is still learning the basics." Said Yu.
"And what about firebending? Have you already secured a teacher?" Asked Lao while eating his meal.
"Hmm… Well I didn't think that far ahead, having to master earthbending first and all…" Said an uncomfortable Aang, he didn't like the idea that he needed to learn firebending at all!
"But… We met one very strong firebender a while ago, who seemed friendly enough. If it comes down to it, I will request him to teach me…" Said Aang reluctantly.
"I don't think Madara will teach you Aang, he said he would never teach his firebending to anyone" said Sokka offhandedly while using a toothpick.
That single offhand comment raised the eyebrows of almost everyone in the room.
Poppy's were twitching furiously;
Lao's were sweating… a lot... as he stole quick glances towards his wife while pretending that everything was fine;
Toph's almost reached her hairline as she had to hold herself back, she really wanted to trap Aang with her earthbending and ask him some questions right now.
Yu, on the other hand, was clueless and simply looked at everyone's reactions then simply shrugged.
"W-well…. Shall we move to the living room for dessert, then?" Said Poppy while controlling herself, regardless of anything, she was a noble lady and would always follow the right protocol.
Later that night, while everyone was already sleeping on the comfiest beds in the world, thanks to the Beifong's wealth, Aang was patting Appa outside, staring at the night sky.
"Goodnight, Buddy." The Avatar said softly, staring at his sleepy flying bison.
As he was about to leave, his path was blocked by Toph, who stared at him with a seriousness that she didn't have even when playing the Blind Bandit role.
Aang just moved into a defensive position, expecting the worst.
"Relax. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?" Said the blind girl, which indeed made Aang let down his defensive position as the two of them headed out to the yard.
"Even though I was born blind. I've never had a problem seeing." Said Toph as she walked along the side of the bridge and jumped down, hitting the ground. "I see with earthbending, it's kind of like seeing with my feet. I feel vibrations in the earth, and I can see where everything is… You… That tree… Even those ants over there."
"That's… That's amazing!" Shouted Aang in excitement
"But my parents don't understand, they never did… and to be honest, they don't even know that I can do it. It's not even about me being good at hiding it, it's just that they are so sure that I'm helpless that they don't even pay attention."
"Is that why you became the Blind Bandit?"
"Yeah... It's the only place where I can be myself." Said Toph.
"Then why stay here where you're not happy?" Asked Aang, confused.
"They're my parents. Where else am I supposed to go?"
"You could come with us!" Said an excited Aang.
"Yeah. You guys get to go wherever you want. No one telling you what to do, that's the life!" She said excitedly before getting downcast "It's just not… My life…"
"It can be your life, your life is yours to go wherever you want!" Aang said sagely.
Chuckling, Toph shook her head "It's not that easy Twinkle Toes… Things are expected of me."
"Then… What do you want?"
Taking a deep breath, Toph turned to Aang "You mentioned Madara…"
"Yes?" Aang was confused. "Do you know him?"
"Know him? He is my brother!"
"WHAT?!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
Starting strong this week! I had to skip a few chapters of Book 2, but hey those were... booooriiiiing.... and were absolute filler, i mean who here wants to read about Avatar Kyoshi's trial and all that crap right?
Anyway, for those who doesn't know, sundays are my day off. I don't write on Sundays because even i deserve one day to just chill, am i right?
Now i did spend my day off on the comics, and boy o boy that shit breaks canon hard. They ruined Lightning and Metalbending for me... like... for real...
Azula with her instant non-deadly lightning. I mean, Iroh pretty much teach Zuko that lightning is deadly and cold just like Azula, but in the comics Zuko takes a dual lightning to the chest and stands up the next panel saying "I'm okay" >_>.
So while i will follow the comics story to certain point, i will not follow it on it's entirety, i will NOT make lightning something so feeble that its just like a knockback jinx from Harry Potter!
As for metal bending, one of the things that i found cool is the limitation, Toph always needed to touch metal to bend it, it was a limitation that made it even more awesome because limitations actually adds to the skill instead of subtracting, but on the comics she can just ... do it like telekinesis... >_>
Oh yeah.. Katara can fly on the comics using waterbending to form a midair ice slide... and Aang can create an airbubble for himself while 200 feet deep underwater... not BEFORE diving...
Yeah... im gonna change some things... >_>
Anyway, Author's Rant is over, i hope yall have a great day! you beautiful Sausages, i wont be aiming for top 1 this week XD but if we reach there... yaaay if we don't... well... i will always know that we can do it again if i write on the sundays lol XD.
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