Zukaang Week 2013: Day 6 - Masks
Title: Avatars of the Elements - Masquerade
Type: AU Fanfic
Characters: Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Jet, Azula
Rating: T
Warnings: Zuko-torture
Summary: Azula strikes. Hard.
Aang barely had enough time to get home before he was given more bad news, and he even got that much reprieve only because the bad news were waiting for him in the entrance hall of the house in the form of both of his teammates and Sokka.
“We have a situation,” Sokka told Aang before the boy could even take his shoes off. “There’s a nasty Phoenix Kin stirring up trouble downtown.”
“Green and Blue are back again?” Aang queried while Katara herded him out through the door, Sokka once again perched on her shoulder.
“Nah, this is someone different,” Sokka replied. “She actually popped up at the amphitheatre and declared loudly that she would start killing people if the Avatars dawdled before showing up.”
There had been a precarious balance between the supernatural and normal sides of Republic City to begin with. The citizens preferred to pretend they weren’t aware that something out of this world went on in the city after nightfall, as no one had ever been severely hurt thanks to the Avatars’ involvement. Aang would often hear his classmates gossiping about the city’s mysterious defenders but until now the Avatars of the Elements had been the city’s worst kept secret.
“That’s really bold,” Aang commented, still rather dumbstruck by it all.
“Not to mention tiresome,” Toph added in. “We don’t even get a chance to find out what happened to the previous Kin before we’re forced to fight a new one.”
“I’m worried, though,” Katara said softly. “Even Zhao tried for secrecy. This is insane.”
“It’s really something else.” Aang nodded in agreement. “If she’s threatening civilians we need to take her out now and not let her methods escalate.” This was even worse than the last stunt the Blue Boss and Green Grunt pulled with their Truth Stone. At least that one wasn’t directly threatening civilians and focused more on disrupting the peace. This was blatant blackmail.
Aang felt the by now familiar tingle go up from his feet to his head as he called his element forth to transform him into the Avatar of Air. His friends also called for their elements and together they headed off to stop this new threat.
--
Zuko had to admit that the human realm wasn’t completely horrible to look at. It was full of vibrant colors that were scarce in the realm of the Kin. It especially helped that the apartment he and Jet were hiding in was high up and not only allowed for easy access to the rooftops of the surrounding buildings but also had a clear view of the city.
“Zuko?” A sudden voice snapped Zuko’s attention away from the view and Zuko turned to face his companion and new roommate. “You okay there?”
“Yes?” Zuko drew out the response hesitantly, uncertain as to why Jet would ask such a question now. “Why do you ask?”
Jet looked surprisingly unwilling to speak up and Zuko encouraged the other with a dark glare. If the other was trying to spare his feelings for any reason, he wasn’t going to stand for it.
“Azula is your sister,” Jet started. “And she is undoubtedly reporting back to the First General. I just wanted to make sure you’re sure you want to oppose the General. You’ve been very reluctant to do so before.”
“I’m sick and tired of being indecisive,” Zuko said with conviction. “I’ve always been balancing the line between what I knew was right and what I thought the General would want.” Zuko thought back to the moment when he’d made his decision, in a mere instant. “The moment I saw Aang’s face on that monitor I knew I had to protect him. I’ve never been more certain of anything.”
“Okay.” Jet nodded and clapped his hands once. “So, what’s next? Joining ‘Team Avatar’?”
Raising a brow at the title Jet used, Zuko replied: “With Azula practically breathing down my neck I would just be risking Aang further and bringing attention to him. I can’t let Azula know his true identity.”
“Well, that puts a damper on things,” Jet mused as he brought a hand to his chin in a thoughtful gesture.
“But I don’t think Azula can track you like she can me,” Zuko added. “If you wanted to, you could warn the Avatar of Water about her.”
“What?” Jet flinched, caught off-guard by the insinuation in the words. “What makes you think she would listen to me?” He released a nervous laugh.
Zuko merely gave Jet a deadpan look and the other Kin gave a sheepish smile. “Right.”
The growing light-hearted mood was abruptly shattered when Zuko felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew exactly what caused that reaction, although the source of it wasn’t anywhere near his vicinity.
“Do you feel that?” Jet asked just then, confirming Zuko’s own similar wonderings. “That’s a huge gathering of magic.”
“It’s Azula.” They were by now both aware of the fact. Zuko was immediately up from his seat by the window. “We need to get out there.”
“I’ll follow your lead,” Jet assured him as they both quickly geared up. Zuko saw from the corner of his eye how Jet hesitated putting his mask on, pausing to stare at the green object.
“You can leave it behind,” Zuko said, all the while strapping his own blue one in place. He knew Jet was going to question the action and spoke: “I want Azula to know exactly who she is facing; she is sure to recognize it faster than my face.”
Jet smirked briefly before placing his own mask over his face. “Then we might as well match.”
Zuko opened the window and, fully equipped, the Kin left together, making their way across the rooftops towards the source of the energy they were both feeling. All the while a sensation of foreboding brewed in Zuko’s chest. He had a bad feeling about this all.
The instant Zuko and Jet arrived at the scene, the situation was revealed to be just as bad as Zuko had expected. Azula was solidly wiping the floor with the Avatars, her combined power and viciousness making her a tough opponent to them. There was little chance of the Avatars getting out of this on their own. But simply adding Zuko and Jet into their ranks wouldn’t increase their chances much, what with Zuko’s dwindled magical powers. He would need something else.
Zuko glanced around the battle field. He needed to find the otter. He primed all of his senses on locating a small creature with a spiritual presence far too large for its physical size. And he found it, scattering around out of the immediate vicinity of the battle, trying to avoid the fires Azula’s attack frenzy had lit all over the area.
“There,” Zuko signalled to Jet, who nodded and leaped off their vantage point with Zuko hot on his heels. Jet quickly caught up with the animal-but-not-really and grabbed it by the back of its neck, pinching the skin between his fingers as he hauled the otter out of the range of fire and lifted it to be on eye-level with the two Kin.
“You, familiar,” Zuko addressed the creature, only to get indignant screeching in response. Apparently the thing didn’t like being called a familiar and that he had a name and it was Sokka thankyouverymuch.
“Very well, Sokka,” Zuka conceded. “Zhao’s armband, I know you have it. What did you do with it?”
“Why would I give it to you?” the otter snapped angrily. “You’re our enemy.”
“I don’t have time to explain.” Zuko did note the use of the word ‘give’ rather than ‘tell’; the otter most likely had access to the artefact even from here. “All you need to know is that I want Azula taken down as much, if even not more than you do. Besides,” Zuko shot a meaningful glance towards the battlefield, “it doesn’t look like the Avatars can win this one on their own.”
Sokka hesitated; he wasn’t denying the request yet. Zuko pressed on a little further. “You can’t get the band to any of the Avatars through all of this fire, and I actually know how to use it.”
“Alright!” Sokka shouted, not having many options and hating it. “Alright. I’ll give it to you.”
There was a shimmer of magic and the golden armband appeared in front of Zuko, who accepted it readily. It wouldn’t only help him save Aang; it would temporarily restore his magic to him. With this the flames would obey him once more.
Zuko slipped the armband on and instantly felt a rush of heat within. It was working just as he had hoped, regardless of all of his fears to the contrary. He was ready to move out.
“You with me?”
“Of course.” The answer unexpectedly didn’t come from Jet, but from the otter still in the Kin’s grasp. “I want to know what you’ll do with that thing.”
“Fair enough.” The fire roared and reared within him; it was a sensation he could easily get drunk on after not experiencing it in so long. “But stick to Jet. It’s safer that way.”
“So that’s his name!” Sokka cheerer while Jet spluttered in indignation over being assigned pet sitting duty. Trusting that his companion would follow him with no hesitation regardless, Zuko rushed out of the nook they had been shielded in during their exchange.
He was most likely rusty after being separated from his element for so long. He would need to catch Azula off-guard and work quickly to get the Avatars away from here. It should be possible; there was no way Azula would expect him to be able to throw flames at her.
The Avatar of Water was holding the line against Azula. Her water attacks, while effective against Azula’s fire, could only weaken Azula’s attacks, keeping her on the defensive. The Avatar of Air, Aang, was trying to support the Avatar of Earth, who had clearly gotten too close to Azula and had ended up on the wrong end of one of the Kin’s attacks.
“Azula, stop!” Zuko knew Azula would never take any orders from him, but he needed to catch her attention before she roasted the Avatars.
Thankfully, the woman did pause, as did the Avatar of Water (foolish girl, you could get her now!) and they both turned to face Zuko with surprised expressions.
“Zu-chan!” Azula was all false cheer for her brother once more. “I was wondering where you disappeared off to.” The tone was so falsely sweet that it dripped with steel-concealing honey. “You haven’t decided to turn against your family have you?” She was trying to rile Zuko up, thinking he was still ready to blindly follow the First General.
“Actually,” Zuko spoke out. “That’s exactly what I have decided.” He wasn’t sure which startled Azula more, his response or the fireball he threw her way at the following moment. The woman moved out of the attack’s way, furthering her distance from the Avatars in the process, and Zuko saw his chance. A sweep of his arm had a wall of fire rising between Azula and her quarry and Zuko dashed closer to the trio.
“Oh wow, you actually did help them!” The shout signalled that Jet, along with Sokka, was still right behind him, keeping his distance to a few steps as he always had. It was a comforting constant in this chaotic situation.
“You need to get out of here.” Zuko watched as Sokka leaped past him to clamber on to Water’s shoulder. “Azula will recover soon and then she’ll resume attacking.”
“What are you saying?” The Avatar of Water frowned in confusion. “That you’ll cover our escape? Why would you even-?”
“Aang.” Zuko focused on the one person who could potentially listen to him. “You need to run. Now.”
Aang was gaping. Finally the Avatar of Air recovered enough to whisper: “How do you know my name?”
He hadn’t received the gift. This was not the time to focus on that but Zuko couldn’t help but be bothered by the fact that Aang had either not tried to visit him in his absence or had not opened the gift Zuko had left for him.
“Just go!” Zuko’s tone was probably harsher than he had intended it, but he needed to get these Avatars moving. He could already feel Azula pulling away his control of the wall of fire even as his magic was strong enough to make his body tingle with it.
“Best do as he says,” Sokka said and the Avatars finally started to make their retreat. This allowed Zuko to completely focus on rebuffing Azula’s attempts to wrench the firewall away from Zuko’s control. She would most likely send the entire thing sweeping over them all if she managed that, and Zuko wasn’t about to allow it to happen.
Zuko’s single-minded focus on his magic didn’t stop him from hearing the Avatar of Water speak a few soft words to Jet. “Be careful,” she said and Zuko was determined to get Jet out of this alive so that he could see the girl again. He pushed with all his might, drawing out all the magic he could find within him, and made the firewall’s ends fold, making the wall envelop Azula and press in.
“Ruby Grasp.” He barely managed to whisper the magic words but they worked, the cage of fire not allowing Azula any escape. While Fire Magic would most likely not ever be enough to severely injure Azula, the attack would have weaken her, which was proven when the fire faded away to reveal Azula slumped down on her knees on the ground.
“She’ll be up in moments.” Zuko was breathing heavily from the exertion but still managed to inform Jet of this fact. “Run.”
“No way,” was Jet’s instant response. Zuko felt an arm go around his waist, pulling his swaying body against Jet’s for support. “You’re in no shape to keep fighting and I promised to help you. Nature Snare!”
It wasn’t a technique Zuko had seen his companion use before, and Zuko marvelled at the skilful weaving of magic in the snake of water for it to trap Azula so effectively. It would take her a while to get out of that.
“Nice work,” he commented.
“Thanks.” Jet’s response was curt, the other already casting another spell. This one had little to do with Jet’s affinity with the woodlands and was more inert Phoenix Kin magic. A pocket of shadows swallowed the pair up whole and spat them out a safe distance away from the battlefield.
Zuko tried to stand up on his own, but only ended up tipping over. Jet’s reflexes were thankfully quick enough for the other Kin to catch him and throw his almost entirely limp arm around Jet’s shoulders for additional support.
“I should have let you fall of your face, just to teach you a lesson about this pride of yours,” Jet grumbled.
“Sorry.” Zuko chuckled softly while Jet practically carried him towards their lodgings. The shadows could only carry them so far, so they’d need to be a bit closer if Jet wanted to teleport them right inside the apartment, away from prying eyes.
“It’ll take Azula a while to recover from all of that,” Jet spoke, choosing to change the subject. “In addition to the physical injuries, her pride is pretty bruised now too.”
“It’ll make her angrier, that’s for sure.” Zuko was finding it hard to concentrate on both speaking and moving his legs forward; he hadn’t realized that last bit of magic had taken so much out of him. “She’ll come after both us and the Avatars more viciously next time.”
“We’ll be ready for her,” Jet assured him and stopped. “Here we go. Hang on.” There was another cold rush and the two were inside their apartment, safe and sound. “Now, let’s get you to bed; you’re a mess.”
“No arguments here.” Zuko tried for another brief chuckle, but a violent stab of pain went through his chest at the minor disruption. “Ah!” He went completely limp and fell to the floor, dragging Jet halfway down with him.
“Zuko? Zuko!” Jet was screaming his name in panic. The Kin tore Zuko’s mask off and a moment later there was a touch of skin against his cheek, Jet trying to sense what was wrong. “Come on, talk to me, where does it hurt?”
Zuko tried to speak, he honestly did, but the pain in his chest was too great. He could barely breathe and he would have been clutching his shirt, showing Jet what was wrong, if only his hands would move.
There were hands opening the folds of his top now and as Zuko struggled to simply keep breathing he was keenly aware how much they were shaking. “Come on, Zuko, don’t die on me. I still need to get you back to Aang in one piece.”
Another almost-laugh meant another searing jab of pain. It was startling, how alike he and Jet thought sometimes.
Jet’s hands felt cold as ice as they pressed against Zuko’s skin, the other’s magical senses trying to find the cause for Zuko’s condition. Those jabbing fingers became the only point that wasn’t on fire as the pain and flames inside Zuko spread, taking over his entire body, eating away the oxygen in his lungs, his very breath of life. He was burning so hotly he now he didn’t think he’d ever felt anything like it even when he’d still held his own magic within him. He was on fire.
He was gone.
Type: AU Fanfic
Characters: Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Jet, Azula
Rating: T
Warnings: Zuko-torture
Summary: Azula strikes. Hard.
Aang barely had enough time to get home before he was given more bad news, and he even got that much reprieve only because the bad news were waiting for him in the entrance hall of the house in the form of both of his teammates and Sokka.
“We have a situation,” Sokka told Aang before the boy could even take his shoes off. “There’s a nasty Phoenix Kin stirring up trouble downtown.”
“Green and Blue are back again?” Aang queried while Katara herded him out through the door, Sokka once again perched on her shoulder.
“Nah, this is someone different,” Sokka replied. “She actually popped up at the amphitheatre and declared loudly that she would start killing people if the Avatars dawdled before showing up.”
There had been a precarious balance between the supernatural and normal sides of Republic City to begin with. The citizens preferred to pretend they weren’t aware that something out of this world went on in the city after nightfall, as no one had ever been severely hurt thanks to the Avatars’ involvement. Aang would often hear his classmates gossiping about the city’s mysterious defenders but until now the Avatars of the Elements had been the city’s worst kept secret.
“That’s really bold,” Aang commented, still rather dumbstruck by it all.
“Not to mention tiresome,” Toph added in. “We don’t even get a chance to find out what happened to the previous Kin before we’re forced to fight a new one.”
“I’m worried, though,” Katara said softly. “Even Zhao tried for secrecy. This is insane.”
“It’s really something else.” Aang nodded in agreement. “If she’s threatening civilians we need to take her out now and not let her methods escalate.” This was even worse than the last stunt the Blue Boss and Green Grunt pulled with their Truth Stone. At least that one wasn’t directly threatening civilians and focused more on disrupting the peace. This was blatant blackmail.
Aang felt the by now familiar tingle go up from his feet to his head as he called his element forth to transform him into the Avatar of Air. His friends also called for their elements and together they headed off to stop this new threat.
--
Zuko had to admit that the human realm wasn’t completely horrible to look at. It was full of vibrant colors that were scarce in the realm of the Kin. It especially helped that the apartment he and Jet were hiding in was high up and not only allowed for easy access to the rooftops of the surrounding buildings but also had a clear view of the city.
“Zuko?” A sudden voice snapped Zuko’s attention away from the view and Zuko turned to face his companion and new roommate. “You okay there?”
“Yes?” Zuko drew out the response hesitantly, uncertain as to why Jet would ask such a question now. “Why do you ask?”
Jet looked surprisingly unwilling to speak up and Zuko encouraged the other with a dark glare. If the other was trying to spare his feelings for any reason, he wasn’t going to stand for it.
“Azula is your sister,” Jet started. “And she is undoubtedly reporting back to the First General. I just wanted to make sure you’re sure you want to oppose the General. You’ve been very reluctant to do so before.”
“I’m sick and tired of being indecisive,” Zuko said with conviction. “I’ve always been balancing the line between what I knew was right and what I thought the General would want.” Zuko thought back to the moment when he’d made his decision, in a mere instant. “The moment I saw Aang’s face on that monitor I knew I had to protect him. I’ve never been more certain of anything.”
“Okay.” Jet nodded and clapped his hands once. “So, what’s next? Joining ‘Team Avatar’?”
Raising a brow at the title Jet used, Zuko replied: “With Azula practically breathing down my neck I would just be risking Aang further and bringing attention to him. I can’t let Azula know his true identity.”
“Well, that puts a damper on things,” Jet mused as he brought a hand to his chin in a thoughtful gesture.
“But I don’t think Azula can track you like she can me,” Zuko added. “If you wanted to, you could warn the Avatar of Water about her.”
“What?” Jet flinched, caught off-guard by the insinuation in the words. “What makes you think she would listen to me?” He released a nervous laugh.
Zuko merely gave Jet a deadpan look and the other Kin gave a sheepish smile. “Right.”
The growing light-hearted mood was abruptly shattered when Zuko felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew exactly what caused that reaction, although the source of it wasn’t anywhere near his vicinity.
“Do you feel that?” Jet asked just then, confirming Zuko’s own similar wonderings. “That’s a huge gathering of magic.”
“It’s Azula.” They were by now both aware of the fact. Zuko was immediately up from his seat by the window. “We need to get out there.”
“I’ll follow your lead,” Jet assured him as they both quickly geared up. Zuko saw from the corner of his eye how Jet hesitated putting his mask on, pausing to stare at the green object.
“You can leave it behind,” Zuko said, all the while strapping his own blue one in place. He knew Jet was going to question the action and spoke: “I want Azula to know exactly who she is facing; she is sure to recognize it faster than my face.”
Jet smirked briefly before placing his own mask over his face. “Then we might as well match.”
Zuko opened the window and, fully equipped, the Kin left together, making their way across the rooftops towards the source of the energy they were both feeling. All the while a sensation of foreboding brewed in Zuko’s chest. He had a bad feeling about this all.
The instant Zuko and Jet arrived at the scene, the situation was revealed to be just as bad as Zuko had expected. Azula was solidly wiping the floor with the Avatars, her combined power and viciousness making her a tough opponent to them. There was little chance of the Avatars getting out of this on their own. But simply adding Zuko and Jet into their ranks wouldn’t increase their chances much, what with Zuko’s dwindled magical powers. He would need something else.
Zuko glanced around the battle field. He needed to find the otter. He primed all of his senses on locating a small creature with a spiritual presence far too large for its physical size. And he found it, scattering around out of the immediate vicinity of the battle, trying to avoid the fires Azula’s attack frenzy had lit all over the area.
“There,” Zuko signalled to Jet, who nodded and leaped off their vantage point with Zuko hot on his heels. Jet quickly caught up with the animal-but-not-really and grabbed it by the back of its neck, pinching the skin between his fingers as he hauled the otter out of the range of fire and lifted it to be on eye-level with the two Kin.
“You, familiar,” Zuko addressed the creature, only to get indignant screeching in response. Apparently the thing didn’t like being called a familiar and that he had a name and it was Sokka thankyouverymuch.
“Very well, Sokka,” Zuka conceded. “Zhao’s armband, I know you have it. What did you do with it?”
“Why would I give it to you?” the otter snapped angrily. “You’re our enemy.”
“I don’t have time to explain.” Zuko did note the use of the word ‘give’ rather than ‘tell’; the otter most likely had access to the artefact even from here. “All you need to know is that I want Azula taken down as much, if even not more than you do. Besides,” Zuko shot a meaningful glance towards the battlefield, “it doesn’t look like the Avatars can win this one on their own.”
Sokka hesitated; he wasn’t denying the request yet. Zuko pressed on a little further. “You can’t get the band to any of the Avatars through all of this fire, and I actually know how to use it.”
“Alright!” Sokka shouted, not having many options and hating it. “Alright. I’ll give it to you.”
There was a shimmer of magic and the golden armband appeared in front of Zuko, who accepted it readily. It wouldn’t only help him save Aang; it would temporarily restore his magic to him. With this the flames would obey him once more.
Zuko slipped the armband on and instantly felt a rush of heat within. It was working just as he had hoped, regardless of all of his fears to the contrary. He was ready to move out.
“You with me?”
“Of course.” The answer unexpectedly didn’t come from Jet, but from the otter still in the Kin’s grasp. “I want to know what you’ll do with that thing.”
“Fair enough.” The fire roared and reared within him; it was a sensation he could easily get drunk on after not experiencing it in so long. “But stick to Jet. It’s safer that way.”
“So that’s his name!” Sokka cheerer while Jet spluttered in indignation over being assigned pet sitting duty. Trusting that his companion would follow him with no hesitation regardless, Zuko rushed out of the nook they had been shielded in during their exchange.
He was most likely rusty after being separated from his element for so long. He would need to catch Azula off-guard and work quickly to get the Avatars away from here. It should be possible; there was no way Azula would expect him to be able to throw flames at her.
The Avatar of Water was holding the line against Azula. Her water attacks, while effective against Azula’s fire, could only weaken Azula’s attacks, keeping her on the defensive. The Avatar of Air, Aang, was trying to support the Avatar of Earth, who had clearly gotten too close to Azula and had ended up on the wrong end of one of the Kin’s attacks.
“Azula, stop!” Zuko knew Azula would never take any orders from him, but he needed to catch her attention before she roasted the Avatars.
Thankfully, the woman did pause, as did the Avatar of Water (foolish girl, you could get her now!) and they both turned to face Zuko with surprised expressions.
“Zu-chan!” Azula was all false cheer for her brother once more. “I was wondering where you disappeared off to.” The tone was so falsely sweet that it dripped with steel-concealing honey. “You haven’t decided to turn against your family have you?” She was trying to rile Zuko up, thinking he was still ready to blindly follow the First General.
“Actually,” Zuko spoke out. “That’s exactly what I have decided.” He wasn’t sure which startled Azula more, his response or the fireball he threw her way at the following moment. The woman moved out of the attack’s way, furthering her distance from the Avatars in the process, and Zuko saw his chance. A sweep of his arm had a wall of fire rising between Azula and her quarry and Zuko dashed closer to the trio.
“Oh wow, you actually did help them!” The shout signalled that Jet, along with Sokka, was still right behind him, keeping his distance to a few steps as he always had. It was a comforting constant in this chaotic situation.
“You need to get out of here.” Zuko watched as Sokka leaped past him to clamber on to Water’s shoulder. “Azula will recover soon and then she’ll resume attacking.”
“What are you saying?” The Avatar of Water frowned in confusion. “That you’ll cover our escape? Why would you even-?”
“Aang.” Zuko focused on the one person who could potentially listen to him. “You need to run. Now.”
Aang was gaping. Finally the Avatar of Air recovered enough to whisper: “How do you know my name?”
He hadn’t received the gift. This was not the time to focus on that but Zuko couldn’t help but be bothered by the fact that Aang had either not tried to visit him in his absence or had not opened the gift Zuko had left for him.
“Just go!” Zuko’s tone was probably harsher than he had intended it, but he needed to get these Avatars moving. He could already feel Azula pulling away his control of the wall of fire even as his magic was strong enough to make his body tingle with it.
“Best do as he says,” Sokka said and the Avatars finally started to make their retreat. This allowed Zuko to completely focus on rebuffing Azula’s attempts to wrench the firewall away from Zuko’s control. She would most likely send the entire thing sweeping over them all if she managed that, and Zuko wasn’t about to allow it to happen.
Zuko’s single-minded focus on his magic didn’t stop him from hearing the Avatar of Water speak a few soft words to Jet. “Be careful,” she said and Zuko was determined to get Jet out of this alive so that he could see the girl again. He pushed with all his might, drawing out all the magic he could find within him, and made the firewall’s ends fold, making the wall envelop Azula and press in.
“Ruby Grasp.” He barely managed to whisper the magic words but they worked, the cage of fire not allowing Azula any escape. While Fire Magic would most likely not ever be enough to severely injure Azula, the attack would have weaken her, which was proven when the fire faded away to reveal Azula slumped down on her knees on the ground.
“She’ll be up in moments.” Zuko was breathing heavily from the exertion but still managed to inform Jet of this fact. “Run.”
“No way,” was Jet’s instant response. Zuko felt an arm go around his waist, pulling his swaying body against Jet’s for support. “You’re in no shape to keep fighting and I promised to help you. Nature Snare!”
It wasn’t a technique Zuko had seen his companion use before, and Zuko marvelled at the skilful weaving of magic in the snake of water for it to trap Azula so effectively. It would take her a while to get out of that.
“Nice work,” he commented.
“Thanks.” Jet’s response was curt, the other already casting another spell. This one had little to do with Jet’s affinity with the woodlands and was more inert Phoenix Kin magic. A pocket of shadows swallowed the pair up whole and spat them out a safe distance away from the battlefield.
Zuko tried to stand up on his own, but only ended up tipping over. Jet’s reflexes were thankfully quick enough for the other Kin to catch him and throw his almost entirely limp arm around Jet’s shoulders for additional support.
“I should have let you fall of your face, just to teach you a lesson about this pride of yours,” Jet grumbled.
“Sorry.” Zuko chuckled softly while Jet practically carried him towards their lodgings. The shadows could only carry them so far, so they’d need to be a bit closer if Jet wanted to teleport them right inside the apartment, away from prying eyes.
“It’ll take Azula a while to recover from all of that,” Jet spoke, choosing to change the subject. “In addition to the physical injuries, her pride is pretty bruised now too.”
“It’ll make her angrier, that’s for sure.” Zuko was finding it hard to concentrate on both speaking and moving his legs forward; he hadn’t realized that last bit of magic had taken so much out of him. “She’ll come after both us and the Avatars more viciously next time.”
“We’ll be ready for her,” Jet assured him and stopped. “Here we go. Hang on.” There was another cold rush and the two were inside their apartment, safe and sound. “Now, let’s get you to bed; you’re a mess.”
“No arguments here.” Zuko tried for another brief chuckle, but a violent stab of pain went through his chest at the minor disruption. “Ah!” He went completely limp and fell to the floor, dragging Jet halfway down with him.
“Zuko? Zuko!” Jet was screaming his name in panic. The Kin tore Zuko’s mask off and a moment later there was a touch of skin against his cheek, Jet trying to sense what was wrong. “Come on, talk to me, where does it hurt?”
Zuko tried to speak, he honestly did, but the pain in his chest was too great. He could barely breathe and he would have been clutching his shirt, showing Jet what was wrong, if only his hands would move.
There were hands opening the folds of his top now and as Zuko struggled to simply keep breathing he was keenly aware how much they were shaking. “Come on, Zuko, don’t die on me. I still need to get you back to Aang in one piece.”
Another almost-laugh meant another searing jab of pain. It was startling, how alike he and Jet thought sometimes.
Jet’s hands felt cold as ice as they pressed against Zuko’s skin, the other’s magical senses trying to find the cause for Zuko’s condition. Those jabbing fingers became the only point that wasn’t on fire as the pain and flames inside Zuko spread, taking over his entire body, eating away the oxygen in his lungs, his very breath of life. He was burning so hotly he now he didn’t think he’d ever felt anything like it even when he’d still held his own magic within him. He was on fire.
He was gone.