Chương 8: A Chanced Meeting

Walking up to the gates of Gaoling, Zangpo couldn't help but feel at ease. It's been almost a whole year since he had left this town and Toph behind, and a lot has changed since then. His bending abilities have grown exponentially. He couldn't wait to show Toph how much stronger he's gotten, he only hoped she wouldn't be upset with him for being gone so long.

He actually had an idea that he wanted to run by Toph that may or may not help with her bending. Zangpo's sensitivity to his element has allowed him to have excellent control of the air around him. He still didn't know what they were called, but the airbender was able to sense the molecules that made up the air around him. Though he still struggled with moving them individually, the past year had allowed him to gain much more control.

An added benefit to gaining more control was that he could fly a little better. Being able to manipulate the air currents around him and the molecules that encompassed his body, he was very close to being able to make himself 'weightless.' However, that was still a bit aways still. As of the moment, he could lift himself up in the air and move himself around at slow speeds, but it was still difficult. On the bright side, though, he could now multitask while flying. While hovering, he could airbend nearly as well as he could if he was still on the ground

Zangpo couldn't wait to show Toph what he could do. Just imagining the face she made when he would beat her again made him giddy with anticipation.

Though his skill in flying made a lot of progress in the past year, the skill he was most proud of was sound manipulation. He could now vibrate air molecules at specific frequencies to create sound out of nothing. Sure, he could also manipulate the volume of his voice, but that wasn't as fun. Another trick he learned was to make his wind-blades vibrate at high frequency, giving them a lot more cutting power. Trees were no longer the worthy opponents he had once thought they were, now they were nothing but annoyances in his way.

Rock, however, he somewhat still struggled with cutting through thick rock with his wind-blades. And, he hadn't even tried his bending on metal, yet. Zangpo had no doubt in his mind that making his little dense air death-marbles vibrate would be able to penetrate steel easily, though.

Training his abilities had taken up most of his time this past year. While he traveled from town to town looking for knowledge or anything useful, he'd constantly be thinking of new ways to manipulate the air around him. When it came to combat experience, he's garnered quite a bit of that as well. Once he finally made it to Omashu, the airbender had taken to accepting bounties

Most towns and cities had bounties available, apparently. You could find jobs at local taverns and inns if you knew where to look. Not all of the jobs were for capturing or killing people, though. Most of the jobs he took were for taking care of troublesome animals or even escorting people from place to place.

Because of his age, many people wouldn't take the risk in hiring him. So, he had to slowly build up his reputation before any real money could be made. Just as he promised, he had begun to make a name for himself. During jobs and when turning in rewards, he'd go by the name, 'Cyclone.' The boy honestly had no other ideas for a name, but Cyclone wasn't bad. It went well with his airbending. He's just glad he didn't ask Toph what his business name would be. She'd probably come up with something ridiculous like fan-boy or something.

Shaking his head, he smiled ruefully as he entered Gaoling. Zangpo couldn't believe how quickly the last year had passed him by. It was almost like he had simply turned the page and a whole new chapter began.

Deciding to head to the inn and rent a room for a week or so, he was surprised to find the old innkeeper had passed while he was away. Instead, a middle-aged man worked the counter. Apparently, the man was the old woman's grandson and had inherited the inn from her after her death.

The airbender was a little thankful that the old woman wasn't there anymore. She had gotten quite suspicious of him before he left. No doubt she would have called him out once his parents never arrived like he said they would.

Entering inside the familiar room that he once rented, he laid on the bed with a content sigh. He didn't really know why, but he kind of missed Gaoling. Of course, that could also just be him missing Toph. The now twelve year old boy was going to visit her home tonight, knowing that she takes walks around the garden nearly every night. He missed his friend. When he was living on the road, Zangpo hadn't really made any new friends; not any like Toph, anyway. The friends he made were more like acquaintances if anything.

He had kept to himself a lot, having already been used to being on his own. Not having any friends didn't really bother him, not really. Growing up, he never had any real friends. Sure, when he was younger he had sought out friendship, but seeing how people treated him, he grew out of it. Instead, he preferred his own company.

Toph was somewhat of an outlier. Somehow, they just seemed to click together. Maybe it was because they shared some similarities in their lives, or maybe their friendship was just something they both needed at the time… he didn't know.

Whatever the case was, he was thankful for his friend.

Knowing that he still had an entire day left until he would see Toph again, Zangpo decided to spend his time meditating. Meditation had become somewhat of an integral part of his life. Meditation helped him feel grounded in reality, it made him feel like he was still sane after he occasionally killed someone on a job.

Zangpo had been going through somewhat of a metamorphosis this past year. He's killed around a dozen people now, but he wasn't too sure how to feel about that fact. Oftentimes, he struggled with a type of dissociation. The boy felt like he was looking at himself as he committed these murders in third person. However, whenever that happened, he felt calm. It was difficult to explain. There'd be times he had feelings about his actions, but they were never bad or even apprehensive. A small part of him knew that what he was doing was wrong, but the apathy in him was strong.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind to drift away. Away from all of his problems, away from his emotions, away from his room, away from everything…

If he opened his eyes, he'd see that he was currently hovering above his bed. Unbeknownst to him, he had achieved the state of weightlessness that is needed to fly. However, he had yet to do it while aware. While meditating, Zangpo had unknowingly left behind everything that tied him down to the physical world.

A few hours later, the airbender slowly lowered to the bed as his mind came back to the present. Opening his eyes, he let a look of contentment cross his features. Meditating for long periods of time always left him feeling very refreshed, almost renewed.

Looking out the window at the grand silver-speckled canvas above, a familiar excitement overcame him. After being away for a year, he'd be reunited with his best friend.

Walking past all the closed storefronts and the occasional group of friends that were hanging out late, Zangpo made his way to the usual trespassing spot into the Beifong estate. When he had first tried sneaking onto the property, the spot that he chose was a nondescript patch of wall between two large hedges at the back of the estate. It was the perfect spot because it was the farthest wall from the house and any guard patrols.

Wanting to at least check if Toph was outside before trespassing on the off chance that she was there, he closed his eyes and began his air-sense. With the training he's done the past year and taking the blind earthbender's tips to heart, he could effectively see with his ability. No longer was it just rough shapes and guesswork, now he was able to see even better than when he has his eyes open. Anything that the air currents touch, he was able to identify with ease.

Expanding his senses, Zangpo could make out his friend standing along the edge of the garden's pond. After making sure she was alone, the airbender smoothly jumped over the wall. Almost instantly, he saw Toph's head snap in his direction with a wide smile on her face.

The two began moving towards each other at the same time, a matching smile on his face.

When she was within arm's reach, he opened his arms wide expecting a hug. Instead, she punched him in the shoulder with a surprising amount of force for the petite girl. "Ow," The airbender exclaimed, faux hurt lacing his voice. "And here I thought that you'd be happy to see me."

"That's for making me wait so long, Windmill," She replied with a smirk, wrapping her arms around his chest in a demanding embrace. "Besides, I can't even see you."

He promptly returned her hug, rolling his eyes at her little joke. Looking down at the top of her head that was pressed against his chest, Zangpo was surprised to notice that she was actually smaller than him now by several inches at least.

Eventually, she pulled back from her hug and looked at him with a pout. "You're taller."

Laughing at the way her pout made her look adorable, the boy gave her a couple head pats in response, which ignited a small blush on his friend's pale cheeks. "And you haven't grown much." He pointed out, still smiling as brightly as ever.

"Yeah yeah yeah," She slapped his hand away, trying and failing to hide her rising blush. "But, in all seriousness, I did miss you."

"I missed you as well, little badgermole." Zangpo voiced fondly.

"You're lucky I happen to actually like badger-moles." Toph warned, pointing at him accusingly. "So, what have you been up to this past year? Did you bring me any gifts?"

"I did, actually." He replied, all of the sudden finding his nails interesting, fighting the grin that was threatening to break his face apart. The airbender knew that Toph wouldn't be able to hide her intrigue at the possibility of what he gave her.

"You did?! Well what are you waiting for, show me what you got!" She exclaimed excitedly, before getting embarrassed by her own excitement and trying to sound nonchalant. "I mean, cool. What is it?"

Zangpo merely laughed at his friend's antics. He had missed her. Taking a small wooden box from his pocket, he handed it off to the eager girl's awaiting palm.

"I made sure that the box was wood so you couldn't guess what it was."

"You're meaner than I remember," She pouted cutely once more, opening the box eagerly. Sticking her hand inside fearlessly, Toph grasped the object and took it out of the box curiously. "A metal ball?"

On his travels, the airbender had become much more sensitive to his element. He was able to feel the gas particles that made up water, though he wasn't able to manipulate them. At least, not yet. But being aware that air made up water was the first step along a whole new road of possibilities.

As he thought about the implications of such knowledge and what he could possibly do with it, he started to think about Toph. She was more in tune with her element than anyone he had met so far. She literally sees through the feeling of earth alone. All metal is just refined earth. If anyone was able to feel their element inside of it, if it was even possible, Toph could.

"Yes. I know it might seem like an unusual gift, but when I saw it, I couldn't help but think of you." At her look of confusion, he added, "With the progress I've made with my own element, sensing different types of gases that make up the air around us, and even sensing air where there visibly isn't any, I figured that if anyone could connect with something not visible, it'd be you."

Understanding his line of thought, her confused face shifted into a look of realization. "You think that I'd be able to feel the earth in the metal?"

"Exactly." Zangpo confirmed, nodding his head.

Rolling the steel ball around in her palm with her fingers, she frowns. "It's cold. There's almost something there, but I feel disconnected from it."

"Let me try something." The airbender suggested, taking her free hand, having dropped the box a bit ago, and placed it on top of the ball. With the ball now between both her hands, Zangpo placed his hand on top of Tophs. "I'm going to try and guide you through this, just listen to my voice and relax." He said softly.

Unable to hide her blush at the way Zangpo's larger hands seemed to hold hers comfortingly, she tried to calm her beating heart. I'm blushing too much. She noted.

"Ok…" Toph uttered quietly, focusing her attention on the ball and not his warm hands.

"Breathe in through your nose, hold it for a second or two, and then exhale through your mouth," His spoke gently, silver eyes trained on her milky ones. "Visualize the structure of your element. Visualize yourself connecting to the earth on a level beyond mere physicality. The metal is still earth, you mustn't forget that. Refinement may have temporarily disrupted the connection you feel, but that earth is still there."

She listened to his words intently, relaxing as his soothing voice seemed to wash over her. Slowly but surely, the faint connection she felt with the metal grew. Eventually, Toph was able to visualize her element within the ball. Her steady heartbeat thrummed lively through her hand, allowing for her to see the steel ball clearly within her mind's eye.

Toph was hesitant to try and bend the metal. What if it didn't work? Would Zang be disappointed in her?

Deciding to take the risk, the earthbender began to close her hand around the ball and squeezed firmly. To her surprise, her fingers began to morph the ball in her grasp. And just like that, the young earthbending prodigy became the world's first metal bender.

Noticing that Toph was indeed able to metalbend, he allowed a proud smile to overcome his calm features. "You did it, Toph. I knew you could do it." Zangpo voiced happily yet softly, feeling very proud of his first and only real friend.

The young earthbender was somewhat in shock, having never thought metalbending was even possible.

"I'm the greatest earthbender in the world!" She suddenly exclaimed ecstatically, removing her hands from his and throwing her arms up in the air.

Zangpo just shook his head bemusedly at her actions.

While only twelve years old, Toph had achieved the impossible. She was the first person ever in recorded history to bend metal. He had no doubt in his mind that she was the best earthbender in the world, the girl was awesome.

***

The next few days in Gaoling were spent catching up with his friend. Toph had just as much to tell him as he had to tell her.

Informing her about what he's been up to, she actually begrudgingly admitted that the name 'Cyclone' was pretty cool and suited him well. However, she still preferred the name, 'Windmill.' He had decided to forgo telling her about the people that he's killed, not really sure how well she'd take it.

The girl had a pure heart that always shined through, no matter how much of a tough girl act she put up. While she would no doubt beat someone unconscious if she needed to, he couldn't really see her killing anyone unless she had no other choice. And even then, Toph would probably beat herself up over it, thinking she's a bad person or something like that. The earthbender just wasn't like him in the fact that he could kill without remorse.

In some weird way, Toph was something of a moral compass for him. Every time he had killed in the past year, she would always be in the back of his mind. He'd often wonder, What would Toph think?

Without her, he didn't know what he'd be capable of for the sake of power.

On a brighter note, Toph had told him something amazing. She had joined the underground fighting tournament, Earth Rumble. She's already begun to make a name for herself as well, her fighting name was the Blind Bandit. The name suited her brilliantly, but Zangpo told her that Badgermole would have been much better. However, she didn't seem to share his sentiments if her over exaggerated eye-roll and agonized groan were anything to go by.

The sad part was, that by the time Earth Rumble started back up again, he would be long gone from Gaoling. There wasn't really much for him at the town except Toph.

After they had reconnected and caught each other up, they decided to spar. They wanted to see where their skill levels were in comparison to where they were last year. Though it was a challenging fight, Zangpo had eventually pulled ahead and snagged the win, much to the smaller girl's displeasure.

Using his new sound-bending, he had trapped her in a dome that was constantly emitting deafening screeching noises. Zangpo made sure not to permanently deafen her, though. Once she was trapped in the dome, the airbender had flown up in the air to avoid being sensed by her before blasting her out of the dome with a well placed heavy gust of wind.

Since he didn't actually want to hurt her, he avoided his condensed air attacks and wind-blades. He could also attack with soundbending, sending concentrated bursts of sound or high frequency wind attacks, but they were too risky. The silver-eyed airbender found out that if he vibrated the air at high frequencies, it was easily able to cut through stone like it was butter.

If he vibrated the air at extremely low frequency, depending on the intensity, those attacks would be just as damaging and potentially deadly, especially on the human body. However, if he trained more, Zangpo could easily see himself subduing or incapacitating someone easily. Until he was sufficiently adept with soundbending, he wouldn't be trying anything like that on Toph. However, non-blind bandits and other threats he came across were free game.

A day after he had defeated Toph in their friendly sparring match, which she was still butthurt about losing, the airbender decided it'd be a good idea to look and see if Gaoling had any jobs for him. Walking around the inn's bar area, he kept his ears open for anything. His jobs weren't like normal jobs where the requests were visible and he could pick and choose, no, he had to be patient and hope a broker liked to hang around.

More often than not, the jobs were anonymous and he never met the person who put out the request. Usually, there would be a broker acting as a middle man between the person who set up the bounty or request and the person accepting the job.

In Zangpo's experience, brokers came in two types: those who were shady and obviously suspicious-looking, and those who were clearly well off.

Surprisingly, the rich looking brokers seemed to give out the darker jobs, such as assassinations, kidnapping, theft, etc. The shady guys seemed to deal with more of the common jobs, such as clearing out bandit camps, escorts, dealing with wild animals, and so on.

Finding an empty seat in the corner with a good view, he waited for someone to take his order while he scanned the room. There weren't many other patrons present, but he made sure to analyze each and every one.

When the waitress, a young red haired woman, took his order, he chose a simple chicken sandwich and a tall glass of milk.

Zangpo wasn't too sure how long he wanted to wait at the inn for, but he figured that a couple hours would do it. Luckily, only an hour had passed since sitting down before someone of interest walked into the dining area.

The man that caught his attention was wearing rich green silks and had a mustache similar to Master Yu's. Catching his eye, the airbender was taken aback a bit. He had piercing black-green eyes that gazed at him with an unsettling coldness. They stared at one another for a moment, neither one wanting to be the first to look away. Eventually, the waitress grabbed the man's attention, causing him to be the one to break eye contact.

The airbender was sure that he was the man he was looking for. From the brokers that he's met this past year, he learned that they all had a specific vibe about them, especially the rich looking ones. They were the type of people that would do anything for some gold and power, they were exactly the type of people that Zangpo liked…

Walking over to the man once the waitress had left, he took a seat at his table. Ignoring the cold glare the man across from him sent his way, Zangpo began to speak. "I'm looking for work. Do you have any errands I can run?" He said quietly, not specifically saying that he was looking for the kind of dirty work that would get him in trouble with the town's guard.

Though the business practices were very common in the Earth Kingdom and no doubt in the Fire Nation as well, many of the jobs weren't exactly legal. While traveling, he picked up a thing or two about subtlety. However, he still had quite a bit to learn.

The man said nothing for a minute, choosing to instead analyze the boy in front of him. He's been in the broker business for quite a few years now, and the kid sitting across from him was definitely not the youngest he's encountered in his line of work. There were actually a few jobs available, but they weren't exactly for amateurs. If someone failed a job, there was always a possibility of targets catching wind of him, usually only if they were caught in the act.

Looking around the sparsely populated room, the broker made sure that no one was within listening distance before speaking.

"Do you have experience?" He asked quietly, sipping from his glass of water.

Seeing that the broker was at least giving him a chance to talk and would hear him out, he couldn't help but feel elated. Usually people would automatically turn him down because of his age.

"Yes, I have done multiples of jobs and my work has varied." Zangpo replied honestly, leaning back in his chair a little.

"How long have you been working in this line of business?" The man continued, wanting to see if his hunch about the boy was correct. He could tell he didn't have too much experience by the way he holds himself.

"I started almost a year ago, back when I was in Omashu. I needed work, and this happened to be up my alley."

Looking at the boy with a contemplative gaze, he couldn't help but be a little curious about him. He has said that the work was right up his alley, and the man knows for a fact that not all of the jobs were looked upon lightly.

"Do you have any notable skills?" He asked the boy, curious about his abilities.

When asked, a look of slight hesitation crossed Zangpo's features before being replaced with surprisingly fierce determination. Figuring it would be better just to show the man, Zangpo made a slight gesture with his hand and sent a tiny tornado to swirl the man's water in his glass. The demonstration wasn't meant to impress, but more to give away what type of bending he used.

Watching with wide eyes as the small tornado soon dissipated, he then looked upon the boy with obvious interest. "Kid, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention."

Smirking at the man's reaction to his little airbending trick, he couldn't help but feel a little proud. This would be the first real time that he's used his bending in front of someone other than Toph since he was a kid. Well, not counting the people he's killed with it, anyway.

He had told himself a year ago that he would begin to make a name for himself, but he had never shown anyone who lived to tell about his bending ability. He's been on a couple of bandit clearing jobs, but he had left no witnesses alive to spread word about him. Now, though? Zangpo figured it was finally time to come out of hiding and let the world know why he called himself Cyclone.

"As you just saw, I'm an airbender." Zangpo said perhaps a little too smugly for his liking.

"I thought you all were supposed to be pacifists or some tiger-moose shit like that?" The man wondered, more surprised that an airbender would be willing to do this kind of work than the fact that the kid was an airbender at all.

The boy's eyes darkened at that, his smirk taking on a more sinister look to it. "Oh believe me, I'm no pacifist." He explained darkly.

Looking at the young airbender before him appraisingly, he began to stroke his beard in thought. There was one job that he had for him, but he didn't think the kid could pull it off. Then again, who knew what kind of tricks airbenders had up their sleeves. Thinking about it more deeply, there really wasn't any downside to giving the kid the job. If he failed, he would very likely be either dead or captured… and if he got captured, the Fire Nation would have more important things to ask him than why the kid decided to attack them and who gave him the job. But if he succeeded, then there would be quite a few less Fire Nation soldiers he had to worry about.

"I have a job for you, but it is quite dangerous," The man started, folding his hands in front of him with his elbows on the table. "Not only will you have to kill, but you could very easily be killed or worse." He warned, doubting that the kid would be scared off.

"Believe me, I can handle myself just fine. Whatever the job is, I want it." Zangpo declared, sincere in his desire to prove himself.

"Hmm," The man hummed to himself, gauging whether or not the kid was worth the risk. He didn't seem to have much experience, but the man had no idea of his bending abilities. Everything that he knew of airbenders was basically a myth. The Fire Nation made it their mission to wipe them out, and that included their teachings. The Air Nomads were pacifists, but that didn't mean that they were necessarily harmless. "Alright, I'll give you a shot." He eventually decided.

Fighting down the urge to fist pump the air in celebration, he allowed his lips to form a grin as he leaned forward a little ways. "So, what's the job?" Zangpo asked quietly, eager to get started no matter what it was. He had a reputation to build.

"I'm taking a chance with you, boy. Whether you are successful or not, it doesn't really matter to me. The only person it affects is my employer. The downside, is that I won't get paid on a job well done, but it's only money, after all," He paused, taking another sip of his water before continuing. "However, if you succeed, I get paid, the Earth Kingdom faces one less threat, and I get a new and obviously powerful contact.

"The job is difficult, but rather simple. About ten miles east out of town, there is an encampment of Fire Nation soldiers. I don't know what their intentions are, but I would rather not find out. The fact of the matter is, my employer is willing to pay three hundred gold pieces for the platoon of soldiers to be cleared out."

Zangpo was certainly intrigued by the job… this could be a momentous step in sling-shotting his name across the Earth Kingdom, and even the Fire Nation. This job would open many doors for him in the future if he could pull it off. Although, there would be just as many negatives as positives if not more so when he completed the job.

Since he was the only airbender in the world that he knew of, there was a strong likelihood that people would think him to be the Avatar.

If that were the case, there would certainly be a large target on his back from here on out. Unless, he could somehow dissuade people from thinking he was the avatar and instead convinced them he was just some airbender. Then again, there would probably be people hunting him for the sole fact that he was an airbender anyway. In either case, he'd be a target. He knew that he couldn't hide his abilities forever, so the airbender wanted to at least show the world who he was on his own terms.

Whatever the consequences were, they'd just be more problems that he'd have to deal with when the time comes.

"I accept."

***

"Tomorrow morning, the troops will begin their new and improved training, Princess." An older gentleman spoke respectfully, his pot belly bulging against his armor as he bowed low.

"See to it that there is at least some improvement from what I have seen, Captain. Their incompetence reflects the inadequacy of their leadership. If their skill continues to lack, I will have you whipped and flayed. Am I clear?" The princess spoke haughtily, her eyes narrowed as she glared at the pathetic excuse of an officer in front of her.

This was supposed to be a reward for her doing so well at the academy, but so far her visit to the Earth Kingdom has been nothing but a waste of time. Captain Cheng, the man in front of her, was supposed to teach her about how the military worked outside of the Fire Nation and in enemy territory, but his platoon was woefully disappointing.

Azula wouldn't even be surprised if she learned that the only action the captain and his men have seen were from attacking defenseless towns of farmers and other such peasants. It was painfully obvious that his unit hadn't seen much action. His soldiers were lazy, that much was proven once she had requested to see some of their formations. Not only were they lazy and unmotivated, but they clearly lacked discipline.

When she arrived at the encampment with two of her royal firebenders, none of the soldiers even knew who she was. How dare they not recognize her? Her, the princess of the Fire Nation. If it was up to her, they'd be executed or used as cannon fodder for a larger military force.

"Y-yes, Princess. Understood." The grown man whimpered, prostrating himself before the small demanding twelve year old girl.

As she opened her mouth to belittle the old captain even further, the sounds of panicked shouts, firebending, and howling winds cut her off.

Soon enough, a young soldier came rushing into the tent. "Captain! We're under attack!" He shouted urgently, breathily heavily as he was obviously scared. Immediately, everyone inside the command tent tensed up, the royal firebenders by Azula's side shuffling closer to the girl to protect her.

"Is it the Earth Kingdom?! How many are there?! The captain asked frantically, shooting furtive glances at the princess. He knew that if they somehow failed to repel this attack and defeat the perpetrators, his career would end in ash.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, having been there when the princess arrived, the soldier swallowed hard before answering. "It's not the Earth Kingdom army, sir, and as far as we can tell, there's only one hostile… an airbender."

Following the new information, everyone's eyes went wide. No one spoke for a moment, still in shock, before the princess suddenly began laughing. The men present eyed her warily, unsure what to make of the laughing girl.

"So let's get this straight, Captain," She started sternly after having stopped laughing, pinning the aforementioned captain with her piercing golden eyes. "We are getting attacked by a single individual, an airbender at that, and your men are struggling?" Azula finished coldly, making a hand gesture at the sudden sound of one of the men outside the tent screaming before suddenly being cut off.

"It is not an issue, Princess. I shall handle it." Captain Cheng spoke eagerly, not wanting to upset Azula as he charged out of the tent and towards the sound of battle. She just rolled her eyes at his pathetic behavior, she could tell just by looking at him that he wasn't much of a fighter.

"I recommend you stay in the tent, Princess. The attackers could be here for you." One of her armored guards spoke seriously, his voice sounding almost robotic through his metal mask.

Quickly spinning around angrily to face the guard that spoke, her eyes narrowed at him dangerously.

"If the attacker is here for me, then that is all the more reason to be out there. I am not some defenseless princess. Do not forget that, Ming." She argued lowly, ice creeping into her voice as fire danced in her eyes.

"Understood, Princess." The guard voiced respectfully, bowing his head as he saluted her.

Satisfied, Azula nodded her head at his actions and motions for them to follow her as she walked out of the tent. Even with many possibilities on her mind, she was abruptly caught off guard by the sight that awaited her.

There, in the middle of the camp, was a boy that looked to be the same age as her dancing around wide swaths of bright orange flame. It wasn't necessarily his age that surprised her, she herself could probably take on the platoon of sorry excuses of soldiers as well. No, what did surprise her were the mutilated corpses of his victims at his feet.

Time seemed to slow down as she watched the boy slack-jawed. With every graceful swipe of his hand, the very air around him seemed to jump at his command. Blade after blade of air was manifested and sent towards the numerous soldiers around him, each one cutting deeply into their respective targets. Some of the soldiers were even bisected by the ferocity of the boy's attacks. Azula watched in awe as the captain of the soldiers stepped forward challengingly, the airbender's only reaction being a small smirk.

Thrusting out his palm with his other palm against the inside of his elbow, the princess watched as air was forcefully being fed into the old captain's lungs. Within only a couple seconds, the man's lungs expanded to their max size in his chest cavity before violently exploding. The officer that she was just speaking to was no longer recognizable, his entire torso blown open with his blood and viscera coating the ground, and even some of the unfortunate soldiers near him.

With the death of their commanding officer, those who were left standing tried to make a break for it and run for the trees. They didn't get far, though. The airbender made a huge sweeping motion with one of his arms before slamming his clawed hand onto his fist.

On command, the retreating soldiers were seemingly squashed against the ground in a bloody, red mess. Even with the occasional fire burning along the ground from their attacks, she could see the ghostly white shards of their bones glinting under the moonlight. Getting over her shock as she quickly noticed that the only people left were her and her guards, she picked up her jaw and curled her pink lips up in a snarl as she began to charge.

Once she began moving towards him, the boy finally seemed to notice her locked eyes with the armored girl. As if time stood still, a sudden recognition seemed to ignite between both of them.

Though obviously younger, she was no doubt the girl that came to him in the swamp a year ago. He wouldn't forget those eyes so easily, they had caused more than a few sleepless nights on his travels. Just who is she? Zangpo wondered, his analytical gaze sweeping over the two guards beside her. Their red armored forms were way different than the other soldiers he had killed. Are they her guards?

As with Zangpo, Azula's mind was also being bombarded with thoughts of the other person. Those beautiful silver eyes of his seemed to almost glow in the moonlight. She tried to get him out of her head many times since that night she first dreamt of him, but like an armadillo-roach, she just couldn't squash him. He had shown up in Azula's thoughts more times than she would ever admit to anybody, she just didn't know what to do about it.

Figuring that she could just interrogate him once she subdued him, the girl shook the thoughts from her head and continued on with her charge, blue flame-daggers held at her sides with clenched fists.

Zangpo wanted to simply kill her like the rest and be done with it, but it was as if his thoughts were screaming at him not to. She's important! She's Important! She's Important! They seemed to repeat over and over again. Frowning, he skillfully dodged the two intersecting fire blasts that were fired at him from her two guards. Just as he recovered though, the girl was upon him.

Quickly leaning back to avoid one of the girl's flame daggers, he had to jump backwards to avoid the next one. She was much more skilled than the soldiers he had just defeated, and she was fast.

Every time he dodged one of her attacks, she seemed to be already aiming her next attack where he would be. Obviously she was experienced in close combat, he could barely defend against her. As he thrust out his hand and hit her in the chest with a concentrated blast of wind, she gracefully flipped backwards and landed with a savage grin.

The entire time he and her fought, the two royal firebenders hadn't been idle. Once Azula broke immediate contact with him, they each launched fire balls and large streams of deadly fire in his direction.

Using his bending to jump up in the air, he nimbly flipped and immediately kicked his feet out towards one of the red guards.

Getting struck by what felt like a flying invisible komodo-rhino, the guard, Ming, was rocketed backwards. Skidding to a stop after skipping for what seemed to be dozens of feet, the royal firebender did not get back up again.

Landing on the ground with the grace of a cat, Zangpo engaged the other guard before Azula could reach him. Shooting out his fist in the direction of the red armored guard, an apparent white marble of air fired towards the shocked firebender. The condensed air-ball attack of his was much too fast for most people to react to in time, and from the distance the airbender had fired it… the guard had no chance.

Reaching him in only a few heartbeats, the death-marble punched straight through the front and back of his armor. As if hit by a cannonball, the armor on his chest folded inward like it was mere parchment, killing the firebender before he even hit the ground.

With the hair on his neck standing up, he instinctively dodged Azula's attack aimed at his open back and jumped away from her reach.

Now that it was just the two of them, they sized each other up. The princess's sharp golden eyes shifted quickly between the bodies of her two guards and the airbender in front of her. He fought like no one she had ever encountered before. He was powerful, there was no doubt about that anywhere in her mind. Is he the avatar? Azula wondered, her mind racing at what that would mean for the Fire Nation.

"Are you the Avatar?" She inquired, still in one of her firebending stances. If he was the avatar, then her father would undoubtedly send the entirety of the Fire Nation's military to capture him. That is, if she doesn't subdue him right at this moment.

She knew of the stories, she knew why her great-grandfather had wiped out the Air Nomads. Somewhere among them, the avatar was born. He was an airbender before he disappeared, and a threat to Fire Lord Sozin's rule of the world.

Quirking an eyebrow at her question, he began to chuckle lightly, shaking his head as he seemed to ignore the seriousness of the situation they were in. "No, I am not the Avatar. I am just a humble airbender." The silver-eyed boy voiced smoothly, in a combat stance of his own.

Only visible to those with keen eyes, her shoulders marginally relaxed in relief. However, the princess made sure that no such weakness was shown to the airbender.

Effectively shunning the part of her that seemed to shiver at the way he looked her way, Azula asked, "What's your name and why are you here?" She knew that he had no real reason to tell her anything, but she planned to milk him for every bit of information he had.

He smiled at that, unknowingly causing her heart rate to increase slightly. "My name… my name is unimportant. But, you can just call me Cyclone. And as for why I'm here, this is nothing personal, it's just business. I was hired to take these soldiers out."

Zangpo didn't know why he was even entertaining this conversation. He should be shooting one of his death-marbles at her, but he didn't. She hadn't done anything to him to really piss him off, and she was far too young to be one of the soldiers. Yes, the girl had attacked him, but he couldn't really blame her for that. He was an unknown variable and had started killing her people.

Now knowing that he wasn't here for her, she felt a little better. He didn't seem to harbor any hatred for the Fire Nation, so Azula believed that this was just a job he was hired to do. If he could be persuaded, he might eventually even be a valuable ally to have. Considering the boy looked to be her age, give or take a year, the airbender was very much a prodigy like herself. She didn't think he could handle her father, but he was definitely on her level, if their short exchange was anything to go by.

Suddenly feeling hesitant, she was internally debating if she wanted to introduce herself to him or not. Would he see her as a valuable hostage if she identified as the princess?

"What's your name?" His soft voice suddenly pulled her from her thoughts.

Coming to a decision, she decided to forgo the introduction of princess for the time being. It was too much of a risk, and as she loathes to admit it… she didn't know if she could beat him.

"My name is Azula." The girl introduced herself, neglecting to mention the fact that she was the crown princess of the Fire Nation.

"Azula… That's a pretty name." Zangpo spoke lightly, almost offhandedly.

She could feel her cheeks heat up at his compliment. And once again, she internally cursed her stupid hormones.

"Well, Azula, it was nice to meet you, but this is where we part ways."

Widening her eyes as she realized he was going to attempt to escape, her blue fire-daggers burned brighter as she lunged towards him. However, for some reason she couldn't explain, the fire in her hands went out and she stopped, struggling to breathe as she dropped to one knee. Try as she might, Azula just couldn't seem to fill her lungs with any air, it was like there just wasn't any air to breathe…

Through blurry vision, she could barely make out the fact that his arms were making a circular motion. And as everything turned black, the princess had one last realization.

He removed the air…