I'm no expert on this, but I don't think a successful woman would have much trouble finding lovers to her taste.
— A very sensible catgirl
***
The Herald's Airship. Noon the Following Day.
I stared thoughtfully at the green sea stretching out beneath us. One unbroken green canopy as far as the eye could see. The only thing that broke it up at all was an enormous tree standing smack in the middle of that emerald carpet. Silence reigned around us, while curious, questioning gazes bored into my back.
Silently working my lips, I paced across the deck and once again looked down at the forest below. As though answering my gaze, the distant chirping of some birds drifted up from somewhere within it.
"Hmmmm..." Iroh drawled meaningfully from where he stood, staring intently at the green sea below with exactly the same expression on his face as mine.
I shot the general a brief sidelong glance, said nothing, and resumed pacing back and forth, desperately racking my brain. Meanwhile, the silence behind me had somehow grown almost unnaturally thick. Turning toward the group waiting for the order to act, I looked in turn into each pair of eyes burning with impatience and... turned back toward the forest below.
The gazes boring into my back were starting to feel like needles being driven into my skin.
"Captain Li..."
"Herald, sir!" the officer snapped to attention.
"Set a course for Gaoling."
"Y... yes, sir!" the warrior stammered, while the rest of my companions looked distinctly... surprised.
"U-u-uh?" Ty Lee was the most eloquent of them all.
"Explain," the princess grumbled irritably.
Actually, she'd been expressing her displeasure since early that morning. It had all started with Mai and Ty Lee's story... And no, I hadn't been eavesdropping. I just happened to have very good hearing, yeah... Anyway, those two lovely ladies had told the princess exactly how she'd ended up back in her cabin.
From there, I could only speculate, but judging by Ozai's daughter's behavior, her train of thought had gone something like this: She's embarrassed, and angry with herself for such unforgivable carelessness, and ashamed, and for some reason pleased—and that last part is the worst of all! And why the hell is everyone grinning?! Bastards! They saw her weakness! Now they think they have an advantage! Tear them apart! Tear them all apart—emotionally! Azula smash!
All in all, even her desire to roast the Avatar had somehow taken a back seat.
"Look down. What do you see?"
"Trees," the princess replied, with a certain amount of suspicion regarding my sanity.
"Yes, trees. Mangroves, to be precise. And personally, I have absolutely no idea how we're supposed to find anyone in that mess. Meanwhile, we stand out like a sore thumb—the weather is exceptionally cloudless."
I confess, it genuinely hadn't occurred to me that our dear flying asshole and his accomplices could disappear into all that greenery with ridiculous ease. Or rather, something along those lines had been nagging at the back of my mind, but unfortunately, I hadn't figured out what it was.
After all, I had precisely zero experience conducting aerial reconnaissance, and searching for the library in the desert didn't count. A gigantic tower sticking up in the middle of a sea of sand was fundamentally different from a small, mobile group trying to hide in a mangrove forest.
"Hmm." The girl looked at the forest with new eyes. For a brief moment, annoyance flashed across her features, but her regal composure was restored almost instantly.
"Maybe we could burn it?" Zuko suggested somewhat uncertainly.
"Zu-Zu, you've become far too bloodthirsty," Azula chided her brother mockingly, unable to suppress a smirk at the expression on the boy's face when he realized Who had just said What to him. "Besides, we don't have enough blasting jelly or firepower of our own. There's too much forest, and it's far too wet."
"Maybe you have some brilliant ideas, then?" the boy shot back in his usual manner.
"Unfortunately, nothing beyond Chan's suggestion that we visit Gaoling. From there, we'll send dispatches to our checkpoints with orders to report immediately if a flying bison is sighted."
"Well then," Iroh joined the conversation, "it appears we have no other choice. In the meantime, I suggest we have some tea—I discovered the most marvelous collection aboard!"
"Uncle..." Zuko rolled his eyes.
"Mmm, teeeea. Excellent idea, General!" I agreed with the old man.
"I knew you would support me, Herald!" the firebender chuckled good-naturedly, clearly deriving some sort of perverse pleasure from the sight of all the glum faces around us. Well, I certainly was, heh-heh.
***
Three Days Later. Gaoling.
Our arrival was spectacular—there was really no other word for it. The crew, however, was already used to this sort of thing; according to the soldiers, they'd approached Omashu with the same solemn pomp and ceremony.
Admittedly, not everyone was particularly pleased with such a maneuver.
"We should have landed on the outskirts and entered the city discreetly." Zuko had no desire whatsoever to draw attention to himself. Hell, his ninja nature was practically screaming bloody murder at such a conspicuous entrance. Now, if this had been our capital, with all the proper honors—that would have been one thing. But in technically hostile territory...
"Spend half a day each way wearing our feet out on dusty roads? And for what, Zu-Zu?" Azula was still dispensing sarcasm in industrial quantities. Though she was gradually returning to normal.
"Besides, Gaoling is more of a trading enclave than a city that's actually part of the Earth Kingdom," I added.
(End of Chapter)
🙌Bonus chapter for 200 power stones!
🔥The next bonus chapter will be for 200 power stones.