I didn't want to showcase the extent of my skills in front of all the spies on the ship. An assumed enemy shouldn't know more about me; otherwise, they'll be better prepared and could unpleasantly surprise me when they decide to attack. If they decide to...
But Princess Azula apparently couldn't care less about the sudden onset of spy games on the vessel, nor about my unwillingness to display all my abilities.
"Long, are you holding back?!" Azula glared at me when she knocked me onto the ship's deck for what felt like the tenth time with a not-very-powerful blow. Earlier, she had already asked—or rather, ordered—me to fight her at full strength. I hinted as best I could about the spies on the ship and my reluctance to reveal myself in front of them, but the Princess merely scoffed. I remember her saying in childhood that she hated when people went easy on her.
Seeing Azula's displeased look, I closed my eyes and let out a weary sigh. She clearly wasn't going to make my life any easier. And those elderly women who were part of the Princess's entourage… They were observing our training on the ship's deck very closely. I'd bet my bending that they were more informants in the service of the Fire Lord. This is not a crew with a couple of passengers; it's a mess, to be honest.
I don't like when a collective has a toxic atmosphere. By "toxic atmosphere," I mean a relationship between people where one is likely to stab the other in the back. Literally. I have no fear of death. Moreover, in this world, I'm mostly living on inertia, hoping for some miracle that will grant me comprehensive, structured knowledge about bending. The level I reached during the battle with Jeong Jeong was already enough for me.
This world has shown that it won't let me reach the peaks of local bending easily. Of course, life has instilled patience in me, the ability to wait, but what's the point of all that if I can simply be reborn in another world where access to knowledge is more open? And I had no doubt that I would continue to encounter worlds with magic or some other supernatural power. Not after three such worlds.
I just don't like dying on someone else's terms. I must choose the reason and time of my death myself, because I want to. This is one of the obsessions that follows me from life to life. A cockroach in the head that, through endless reincarnations, has gorged itself into a monstrously large, otherworldly chthonic entity.
Getting back on my feet, I realized it was better not to anger the Princess. She could simply take offense and refuse to take me on the expedition to find the Spirit of Knowledge's library. It became clear that Azula had chosen this as her assignment when she ordered the course corrected so that once we reached the Earth Kingdom territory, we would be closest to the desert within it.
Although… on the other hand, I might be the only person on this ship the Princess trusted, even a little. You simply cannot live as long as I have and not become a superb actor in that time. I can even smile normally when I choose to.
The other thing is that sometimes I just don't feel like using my skills. But this case didn't concern my relationship with the Princess. I was earning her trust. Like a snake, I was enveloping her in lies. The Fire Lord's daughter was undoubtedly intelligent and perceptive for her age, but she still lacked the skill to see through my lies.
Moreover, it was inherently easier for me to earn her trust. The girl held purely positive emotions toward me since our last meeting. I understood this the moment she walked up the gangplank and exchanged a few words with me. My cautious questions to the Princess about whether I had offended the Fire Lord somehow made her realize that I was concerned about the presence of spies on the ship not only because of her. By doing so, I pushed Azula to the idea that since I was surprised by their presence, I most likely wasn't involved with them.
A little later, I added that I had once wanted to transfer and serve at the palace, as I remembered the Princess's offer to become her bodyguard, but I was inexplicably refused, even though Prince Iroh's recommendation—a solid thing, actually—was in my possession.
After this, the Princess's belief was reinforced that I was in some kind of inexplicable disgrace with Ozai. Well, relatively inexplicable. She knew about the situation with Lu Ten, although she wasn't entirely certain that the Prince's death was the reason. The Fire Lord's character isn't like that. But he could have refused to accept me into the elite guard precisely because of that mistake. An error was made once, what will stop a second?
In the Princess's eyes, I was someone who, despite all obstacles, somehow managed to rise to the rank of Captain and even join her group. On the other hand, the Princess herself was sent into a kind of exile. To think about her behavior. Therefore, she began to consider the possibility that not only she, but also I, having accidentally gotten caught up, were banished. Or perhaps not accidentally.
Princess Azula suggested that perhaps other crew members had also messed up during their studies or service, and were deliberately assigned to her for this reason. That is, she no longer assumed she was surrounded only by spies and informants. Now the Princess thought that Ozai had additionally complicated her life with a crew of… screw-ups.
I had to stage a small spectacle to lead her to this conclusion. The Princess's day was strictly scheduled, so I knew when she would leave her cabin and practice bending, for instance. I started a conversation with one of the fighters on her route, and just as she was about to come out to us, I abruptly changed the topic to that soldier's screw-ups. He was laughing as he recounted every one of his mistakes and the punishments the command had promised and sometimes actually assigned for them. He only stopped the moment a thoughtful Azula walked past us.
And she even tested this theory. She grabbed the first fighter she could find, one who couldn't immediately be recognized as a spy, and began questioning him about the mistakes he had made during his service. Azula overlooked one thing: her demeanor at that moment was very threatening, so, as I later found out, the soldier began confessing even to things he hadn't done. That's how much the Princess of his own nation impressed him.
But earning Azula's trust wasn't enough. I needed to deepen our relationship. Perhaps then I could elevate myself through the Princess. As a bender, of course. Nothing else interests me. Although…
I sighed heavily once more when I realized I needed to make a positive impression on Azula. One thing was comforting: I already knew the recipe. The Princess, as I had observed myself and learned from rumors, responded better to strong and intelligent people. And also to those who don't hold back during training.
I carefully scrutinized the Princess again, who gave me a chance to get back on my feet unmolested. Clapping my clothes to brush off the dust, I saw Azula's displeasure and immediately threw several knives at her that I had subtly drawn. Azula didn't manage to dodge all of them and received a graze on her armor from one. A second of hesitation, and numerous fireballs were already flying at her. But those, she easily shattered. Blue flame, devouring everything in its path, covered the deck.
When the Princess's fire disappeared, she noticed that I had defended myself with a sphere of flame. The sphere circled me a few more times, and then all the fire sharply headed toward Azula. She once again used a crude block to split my flame into two parts that rushed past her.
Fire daggers appeared in my hands. A second later, Azula had to hastily dodge all my strikes, which flew along the most unexpected and difficult trajectories to intercept. Scorches appeared on the Princess's uniform. Surprise bordering on shock flashed across her face again. But she gathered her strength. I felt the chi in the Princess's body begin to behave very strangely. This happens when Firebenders use advanced techniques. Lightning was about to break off from the Princess's fingers directed at me when I simply grabbed them with one hand and threw the other behind my back. I enveloped the Princess's aggressive chi with my own, but in much larger quantities than Azula was using, practically squeezing every last drop of energy from myself. I broke the flow of Azula's chi, letting it pass through me to my other hand. And immediately, a powerful wave of fire shot out from it.
While the Princess was surprised, I swept her off her feet with a trip and, with an unperturbed expression, placed a newly summoned fire dagger at her neck.
"Princess, I must leave you for today. I need to fulfill my duties as Captain," I informed her, removing the dagger.
I felt the girl's attentive gaze on my back. She couldn't have missed the occasional blue flashes in my fire, even though I tried to restrain and control the flame. And the defense against the advanced technique, as well as my sudden victory after a series of defeats, must have intrigued her.
When I managed to reach my cabin, I slowly slid down the wall. My insides were burning. My heart felt like it was melting. The lightning defense technique that I learned from an Admiral during my service under Ozai was imperfect. I would even say it was flawed. It only allows for a reduction of damage, not its complete removal. Foreign chi, even if only for a moment, affects the body very badly. It's a shame that Admiral didn't manage to complete his technique. An order came from Ozai to eliminate him. But the Admiral confided that he was inspired to develop such a defense against lightning by former General Iroh.
A rumor circulated among the high command that Iroh could now redirect lightning bolts fired at him with absolutely no harm to himself. As I later learned, the rumor arose from gossip among the high command members who helped Iroh practice the new technique.
*********
"Decided to send a letter home, soldier?" I asked the fighter who was tying a small piece of paper to a messenger hawk.
It was slightly comical when the soldier blew a special whistle, and suddenly about a dozen birds swooped down on him. All these birds belonged to people on the ship.
The soldier flinched and slowly turned to me.
"Yes, Captain. I wanted to send a message to my wife and children so they would know that their father is serving in Princess Azula's escort!" the fighter said with a happy smile.
"I understand," I nodded to the soldier, patting his shoulder. The next second, the fighter's neck was snapped, and he fell overboard.
I picked up the letter and the whistle. I burned the letter, which mentioned "Captain Long's fire, suspiciously similar to Princess Azula's flame." This soldier was present on the deck during my training with Azula. I wiped the whistle clean and summoned all the birds I had scared away earlier. I looked at them thoughtfully, then ruthlessly covered them in fire. They died quickly. They didn't even have time to really feel the pain.
"Hmm, I can report to the Princess that the activity of informants on the ship has ceased for a while," I muttered, playing with the whistle in my hand.
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