"Wait, sister. I don't think we should be doing this—"
"Oh, don't be such a wuss. I'm just asking for a spar, nothing more."
"But are you sure you're even allowed to fight him? He's a guest!"
"Bugger off, Zuko, I'm having this match no matter what!"
The prince tried to stop the spar from happening—bless the kid's soul—but Princess Azula was having none of it. She seemed fully intent on fighting and most likely punching me in the face for her own amusement. Which, for the record, I was not eager to experience.
Unfortunately, the words of the Fire Nation's princess carried far more weight than Toph's status as an honored guest of the Royal Guard.
So, a spar it was.
The trip didn't take long. Following behind Azula, we were led into a spacious chamber, the center left wide and empty for training or duels. As I was brought to equip armor and training equipment, I pondered why Azula would want a spar with me.
A moment later, I simply shrugged. It's not like I could read minds, let alone a princess's one. Still, I did wonder. With how confident she looked, she acted like she already knew how this would end. How strong was she? Realistically, she's about the same age as Toph, so there was no way she could be that strong.
Then again, that confidence didn't feel fake.
Dang, this whole situation was giving me a headache.
Another thing to worry about was how much I could get away with. Sure, the princess had been the one to initiate the spar, but considering that I was about to fight against a member of the Royal Family...
Maybe I should hold back a little.
Not enough to make it obvious, just enough to prove her strength. A misstep here, a delayed reaction there. Let her take advantage of the openings.
Stepping into the center of the sparring space, I adjusted the straps of my headgear, tightening it until it sat snug against my temples.
Across from me, the princess approached.
She wore similar training gear, but the helmet was notably absent. Her face remained uncovered, revealing her calm, confident smirk. Resting her hand on her hip, she stood relaxed as she gestured a 'come hither' hand signal.
"Come on, butler of the Beifongs. Show me the Fire Bending techniques that your Earth Kingdom peasants stole from us."
She launched towards me like a rocket a breath later. There was no warning or countdown at all. One moment she stood still; the next she was already approaching in range, fire blooming in her palm.
Reacting instantly to the surprise attack, my body instinctively took a step back and to the right, barely dodging the concentrated blast of fire that sought to incinerate my face. Chi flooded through my body as I pivoted on the ball of my foot, twisting as my leg swept low, aiming to take her footing out from under her.
Azula raised her foot a fraction before mine could come in contact, avoiding the sweep effortlessly, and in the same motion, she snapped her leg forward. A roar of fire erupts from the kick at my torso.
I jumped back, narrowly avoiding the beam of flames as it tore through the space I had occupied a second ago. Landing a few feet away, a cold sweat dripped from my brow as I raised my guard.
She was fast. Faster than I anticipated. Apparently constant sparring with Toph had conditioned me to the slowness and stiffness of an Earth Bender, even if the young lady's style was more fluid and defensive.
The princess had none of that, proving to be the complete opposite as she closed the distance in a matter of seconds.
She was relentless in the face of my defense. A flurry of blazing missiles and sweeping arcs of fire rained down on me. My arms and legs moved to intercept, Chi coating my limbs as I blocked, the energy dispersing the heat before it could burn through.
"Beat her up, Ren!"
"I-Ignore her, push on, Azula!"
I did not allow myself to be distracted by the cheers that were coming from either side as I concentrated on the fight fully, letting the surroundings fade into white.
Her pressure was overwhelming. But that initial surprise had already passed.
Now that I had adjusted to her speed, I began to adapt my defense. Tighter and more rigid, my defense slowly closed the prior openings that I showed, forcing her to intensify her attacks to create new ones.
Her actions, however, caused the faintest gaps of an opportunity to appear, deep between her movements. A small delay when transitioning from punching fire to kicking fire arcs.
I waited until the chance to attack revealed itself for the third time before pouncing.
As Azula unleashed the largest wave of fire yet, her eyes widened in shock as I jumped forward and plunged straight into the inferno without hesitation. A split second later, the fire before her disperses in a gust of wind as a fist slams into her face with immense force.
Skidding to the ground, her head whips up to watch as I push straight into her range, arms raised. Fire bursts from my cocked fist, my Chi exploding outwards as I thrust my arm outwards, my aim at her padded chestplate—
"What is the meaning of this?!"
The voice of the Fire Lord thundered across the sparring grounds.
Startled, I froze mid-motion. The fire trailing from my fist sputtered and vanished as I skidded to a halt, stopping just short of the fallen princess.
Azula lay there, chest heaving, eyes wide, but I barely registered her. My attention was grabbed by the group filing through the massive doors.
At the front stood the Fire Lord, his expression revealing hints of anger and irritation. Behind him, retainers and advisors of the Fire Nation froze in shock, mouths slightly agape as their eyes flickered from the fallen figure of their princess to my hostile posture.
But the horror-striking fact was Lord Beifong and Madam Beifong, who stood next to the Fire Lord, eyes wide in surprise at the raised fist.
The same fist that had burned with fire just seconds ago.
Oh fuck.
They saw my Fire Bending.
My secret was out.
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NEXT UPDATE: 22 April, Wednesday
A/N: I'm not really that satisfied about how this chapter came out; there are things that I feel like I could do or write better in this chapter.
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