The sun in the sky hung low, its soft, warm glow casting an orange filter over the ground and the soft waves of the water. In the water, a massive steel horse, a Fire Nation ship, was parked.
Guarding the ship were a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers. On the dock, 10 soldiers guarded the ship from its tail to its nose. While on top of the craft, another 20 soldiers were standing guard.
The voice of two guards rang out as they talked.
"Man, when will we go back home? The Fire Lord told us that we will be sent on an important mission to conquer the Earth Kingdom. But all we are doing is just waiting," The Fire Nation soldier said with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"SHHH! You idiot! Do you wanna be killed as an example of what traitors should get? If the Fire Lord manages to catch a whiff of your words, you'll be executed." The other soldier spoke with fear and tension in his voice. Reprimanded his friend, his hand around the handle of his spear, clenched with fear.
They were just normal soldiers who could throw a fireball and kick out an arc of average temperature flame. They also don't want to fight in this war, but they don't have a choice.
It's either be declared a traitor by the Fire Lord for abandoning your duty of protecting the Fire Nation. Implicating your entire family in poverty and ridicule by others.
Or you will pick up a spear to fight in the war. Without more than a month's training, and march forward across oceans, abandoning your family for years at a time, and fight a battle that's not yours.
Yeah, they could revolt against the Fire Lord. But it's useless since the Fire Lord is equal to every soldier. With a single wave of his hand, massive tsunamis of flames could appear, swallowing them and turning them to ash.
They could rush forward regardless, wait for the Fire Lord to get tired and unable to fight anymore and then finish him. The number of people who would be sacrificed in the fight is enough of a risk that they wouldn't dare actually try.
"Tch! You'r right..." The soldier answered his friend, his eyes unable to do anything but accept the words. While the soldier returned to silence, someone approached the ship.
Zuko's eyes narrowed as he looked at the soldiers in front of him. His fist clenched, his breathing working in a certain rhythm, he walked forward with unbreakable momentum, his eyes firm and unwavering.
"Hmm? You, stop right there and identify yourself!" The soldier who just spoke noticed Zuko and loudly exclaimed. His shout caught the attention of every soldier, including the General.
"Call out your General Zhang. Tell him that Zuko is here to talk," Zuko's voice was calm as he spoke, his clenched fist prepared for a fight with his own race if necessary.
"What? Prince Zuko, who could be attacked on sight? Don't resist arrest!" The fire soldier did not want to do this, but if he didn't. The General would have his head, so he stepped forward, his voice firm.
Zuko also stepped forward, prepared to fight his way onto the ship and confront the General. This way, he could force them to take him to the Fire Nation so he could defeat his father.
Just as the fight was about to start, a voice called out from the ship.
"That's enough, Prince Zuko. I am here as you ordered. Now tell me what you need me for," Zhang called out from the ship, his hands behind his back, a long white beard on his face.
Zuko stopped, and the fire soldier let out a sigh of relief. Just now, he felt like he was not facing a human, but facing a dragon who could incinerate him in an instant.
"Take me to the Fire Nation. And don't try anything funny, or I will be forced to take you out in assurance," Zuko spoke, his eyes glaring at Zhang with a warning light in them.
Zuko was more confident than ever. But his confidence was different from the past, where he thought he could defeat and capture a fully realised avatar.
He now had confidence in his strength, but not blindly. Zhang Seeing, the look in Zuko's eyes, sighed as he placed his hands out. His eyes turned fierce, and his lips curled up in a mocking smirk as he looked down at Zuko.
"Everyone! On my order, attack this traitor to the Fire Nation! Attack now!" Zhang's voice startled Zuko, who opened his eyes wide in rage. The soldiers were shocked. Their fear of Zhang existed, while their nonexistent fear of Zuko did not.
"Zhang! I promise to return this incompetence tenfold!" Zuko's voice, tinged with anger, rippled through the air as tens of fireballs rained down towards him like a rain of fire.
The area was instantly illuminated by the fireballs, the heat of a collective 30 fireballs the size of a head, and a wave of fire from Zhang, warping the air due to the extreme heat.
"Haha! Die, you filthy traitor! From now on, I will be known as the killer of traitorous royalty!" Zhang's voice, tinged with madness and arrogance, echoed behind the louder shriek of flames raining down towards Zuko.
"Tch! I have no choice but to finish you before I reach father... So be it," Zuko spread his legs wider, taking a horse stance. He crossed his arms in an X shape in front of his chest and closed his eyes.
Hot mist erupted from Zuko's nose into two long curls, while a whistle erupted from his closed mouth as hot steam seeped through his closed teeth.
Zhang watched with a massive smirk, his eyes flashing crazily with glee as the flames washed over Zuko's body, incinerating him, or so he thought, as his eyes opened wide in shock.
Boom!
Zuko swung his arms out to his side like lightning. Zuko separated the massive Tsunami of conjoined flames to the sides of his body. The ground was instantly scorched black for tens of meters behind him, while not a single hair on him was burned or touched.
The heat vanished, while Zuko stood up, satraioght, smoke drifting from his body as he locked eyes with a shocked and now fearful Zhang. He stepped forward, and it seemed like an invisible blow as Zhang stumbled back in fright.
"S-Soldiers! Attack h-him! Kill him!" Zhang shouted, but no soldier listened as they were rooted to the spot in fear of Zuko. Zuko suddenly vanished from the place, leaving behind burned footprints on the ground.
Boom!
Squelch!
Zhang's eyes turned wide as a flaming fist that exploded on contact, generating colossal force behind the punch, smashed into his throat, instantly penetrating the skin and muscle, crushing the oesophagus and sending his body flying back into the side of the ship, denting the steel.
The sickening sound made the soldiers tremble, and Zuko turned around with narrowed eyes. His flaming fist calmed down. While the figure on the floor erupted in intense crackling flame.
"Eternal Flames," Zuko muttered, the body on him burning with flames above 2,000 Celcisu until nothing remained of him. Eternal flames, learned from the ever-burning flames granted to humans by the Dragons.
"Set course for the Fire Nation," Zuko ordered.
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What do you guys think about Zuko's character improvement? I tried to make it as realistic as possible. Zuko could generate eternal flames. Which keep burning forever as long as they are attached to Chi.
Meaning it won't work on thigns without Chi as the Chi works as a fuel, so it keeps burning.
Leave a power stone!