The Chase: Chapter 9
Title: The Chase
Characters: Katara/Zuko
Rating: M
Summary: It didn't matter how much information Ozai was not willing to give up about Ursa, Zuko would find other ways. Three years later, he hoped that finally, maybe, this time, his search could end.
[at ff.net]
-----
Long watched as Zuko and Katara made their way over the shady spot that Inara showed them. He threw himself behind the trunk of the tree when Zuko looked his way, and waited for thirty counts before chancing another look. He knew Fei and half a dozen others were watching from different angles, so he wasn't worried about missing anything. They'd been crouched in position, waiting silently since the sun had gone down, and it looked like they were finally going to see some action.
Zuko and Katara had moved on, pushing closer to the door the Phoenix Brigade propped open earlier. When Katara pulled Zuko back, slipping inside the door easier than he ever could, Long let out an owl cat hoot. It was the signal that everything was supposed to begin. The Phoenix Brigade continued their impromptu celebration. An offering to the spirits before the sacrifice came, they'd called it. Long wondered from what cesspool Ozai drug these creatures. He also wished Chem would be a lot less paranoid and distrustful and just be open about things. He'd discussed it with Inara several times, but they'd been unable to convince Chem that partnering with the Fire Lord and Ambassador Katara would be the best course of action. Sure, they could have talked to the gathered on their own, but many of them saw Chem as their leader, and had pledged their loyalty to Chem and Chem's vision. They would see Long and Inara as upstarts, trying to ruin what they were working for.
The owl cat call was being echoed all the way back to their base camp. The archers would be in place, waiting in case they needed to back up the Fire Lord and the ambassador. Long pulled his own bow and arrow from where he'd stashed it in the branches above him. The archers in the trees were to take out as many of the Phoenix Brigade soldiers hanging around outside once the fighting started. They would go inside only if things were starting to look bad; inside belonged to the two master benders. The owl cat hoot was getting fainter and fainter. Soon, the silent horde would move.
Long sighed. Chem's fanaticism toward the Lady Ursa would get people killed. He wondered if she even knew that Chem had raised an army under her name. As far as he knew, the two hadn't talked in close to two years, and it had only been a year ago that the army had been gathered. The majority of these people weren't loyal to her at all, and Chem was their only vague connection to the woman. If they found her alive in that prison, it would be a miracle, and then he'd really get to see what she thought of Chem's actions.
Chem admitted that he was a little scared when the owl cat hoot reached camp. As always, there was the possibility that she would not be there, that he would barge in, and all the effort to find her would be wasted. The roots of Ozai's supporters ran deep, and they seemed to be everywhere. This was another testament to the weakness of the new Fire Lord.
This wasn't the time for reminiscing. This was the time for him to be a strong leader, and he turned to the rag tag group of soldiers and benders and people who just happened to know which end of the sword to use. Being commander of an army was a skill he learned through trial and error, and he would never say he was a great tactical mind, but he managed to get the job done. He'd come a long way, and felt largely confident in his ability to make others see the rightness of his position-that he'd gathered such a large army had to speak to his skill.
"They may have skill on their side," he said, raising his voice to them in imitation of a motivational speech, "but we have numbers. These men are vile brutes with only destruction on their minds. But we also have our cunning, and we will use all of our tools to reach our desired end. This includes our most powerful weapon-Fire Lord Zuko. Inara assures me that he means to find his mother, but I would not doubt that he would turn on us given the chance. Treat him with caution, and stay out of his way if it is at all possible. We must not attack the Fire Lord and Master Waterbender Katara. Our main goal is to free the Fire Lady Queen Mother Ursa."
They wouldn't risk a cheer, but Chem could see the nods of approval bob through their ranks. He took in a shaking breath. This was the closest to war he'd ever gotten, and it was still much too close. His strength was behind the palace walls, pushing and pulling secrets. He folded his hands behind his back as he nodded to the commander, and let the semi-professionals take over.
He wouldn't abandon them, and as they began to march past, he fell in with the last of them, helping to bring up the rear. He wished Sun could have been there to see it. They'd both served Ursa as princess-Chem as Ursa's secretary, and Sun as the head of her personal maids. Sun would have been good company, and together they could speak fondly about the old days. They could think on how beautiful Ursa had been on her wedding day, how she'd won over so many people set on disliking her, and how she dealt with those still determined to hurt her. But the old days were old and gone, and he was the only one left from Ursa's house, back when she was just Lady Ursa and travelling from Kirachu to the capitol to meet her husband for the first time.
Gone. Banished. Executed. Suicide. They'd all fallen away, petals dropping from the center of the dying flower that was, back then, Princess Ursa. The universe is imperfect, he knew, but it was unfair the way so much was heaped on such a kind hearted woman. Her best friend, Na, had made a special trip to the capitol to proclaim loyalty to Ozai over Ursa, but that hadn't stopped Ozai's fiends from harassing her until she had no choice but to vanish, too. Beautiful Kirachu had been devastated by the loss of two of its major governing families, and Ozai moved in, stripping it of the last of its uniqueness, and so very little of the life he had known remained. There was no place that he could call home, and the anger welled up inside him. The Fire Nation was still at war; it was warring with itself, and he would see peace, and this army and the noose around that Fire Lord's neck would be the first step to seeing things set straight.
He looked at the column spreading out in front of him. There were easily one hundred, one hundred fifty of them. They'd come from all over, and they were ready at his command. Chem smiled to himself. Wouldn't Ursa be surprised at all the support she had. They had swords on their backs and at their hips, knives and staffs, and their bending at the ready. He was most proud of the benders-fire benders come to take back the Fire Nation for the people from the hands of a corrupt government. They stalked through the forest, disappearing when they entered shadow, their existence only confirmed by the light of the moon.
Chem hung back. Mixed with the fear was the excitement of seeing her again. He knew in his heart that she had to be here, locked in a forested dungeon, but the eyes he sent to spy were determined to tell him otherwise. The Phoenix Brigade was too lax they said, like they were on vacation, taking it easy before this next woman was brought it. But it had been one of Ursa's closest allies that brought him the information. She would not lie to him. He knew it. She would not lie to him, Chem, who had been so faithful to her since the moment he was assigned to her household. Chem, who had carried her secrets around the palace, helped her in her plans to keep Ozai away from the throne and thus preserve a few more lives. She had no one, and would not turn her back on him. Ursa was too kind, her heart too big for such a thing. The only explanation was that they were keeping her somewhere even further out of sight, possibly a secret room where they weren't concerned about her escaping. Perhaps she was the only prisoner there, which was why they could be outside drinking. She was not a fighter; she only knew her poisons and without those, she was defenseless.
He sighed as they neared the prison compound. She'd remained strong through it all, taking her punishment when there was no escape, and never losing hope that things might be different one day. She had more strength and courage than he, and for that, he had no problem bending his knee whenever it was required. Now, though, there was no need for the bending of knees. Others would bow to her because he had come to give her strength. He was hers to command, and he commanded the army. He would not have her remain defenseless.
The commander ahead was signaling to everyone to stop and spread out. As Chem had planned, they were going to surround the prison and enter in waves, overwhelming their enemies. This order was carried out in near silence, what little noise they made mostly was swallowed by the forest. Fei came down from a tree and trotted over to greet him, bowing before speaking.
"They've entered at the rear of the building, sir. Everything is going smoothly. The Phoenix guys are also enjoying some spirits."
"Hard liquor?" Chem asked. He watched the men and women spreading out, fading into the shadows better in smaller groups. Their faces were set with grim determination that would have made a seasoned commander proud.
"Yes, sir. We don't question their motives. We just take advantage of the situation."
"We are poised to do this immediately, yes?"
"Of course, sir. The archers are already in place."
Chem patted Fei's shoulder. "Good. Now do me one last favor."
"Sure."
"Stay away from Inara and Long. I do not want their ideas to infect you. There may be a time when they are no longer welcome among us."
Fei looked confused for a moment. Fei was too good for Chem to lose to Inara and Long's inane babble. He would not have them spreading dissention, and all it would take would be some well placed words to convince people that Inara and Long had changed sides. They would do the hard work of weeding out the backstabbing ingrates who would turn their noses up at Chem and tell him he's overreacting. He knew what he saw, knew what he heard, knew what he felt in his gut. No one knew the pain the Lady Mother felt when she saw her children in Ba Sing Se. No one but him because he'd been there since the beginning. Whatever claim they may feel they have to Ursa was nothing compared to his.
If they decided they would support the Fire Lord in his conquest of the nations, then nothing would be able to save them. Former Fire Lord Azulon had said it himself: there was more than one way to conquer a nation, and he'd done it with Ren Island in the Earth Kingdom. Force people into a treaty that manages to benefit you more than them, make them afraid of you, station your armies on their shores, and who can tell the difference between 'treaty' and 'takeover'?
Fei nodded, trotting off to the front of the column, and began speaking with the captain. While Chem was watching Fei and the captain, an arrow shot out from the trees, and thudded into the back of a soldier who was heading in the back door of the compound. The Phoenix Brigade man dropped dead to the ground.
That first dead body seemed to wake everyone up, and the Phoenix Brigade soldiers relaxing about the courtyard came to life a little wobbly. Chem's soldiers began moving faster, moving into position as the archers in the trees readied their bows and arrows. Someone noticed the dead body and sounded the alarm.
All hell broke loose.
------
A/N: Sorry that this one was mostly exposition. I hadn't realized that until I went to upload it. Hope it's not too overbearing, but I needed to get a lot of this in here. Next chapter everything goes down, and I will apologize in advance for my bad action scene writing.
Characters: Katara/Zuko
Rating: M
Summary: It didn't matter how much information Ozai was not willing to give up about Ursa, Zuko would find other ways. Three years later, he hoped that finally, maybe, this time, his search could end.
[at ff.net]
-----
Long watched as Zuko and Katara made their way over the shady spot that Inara showed them. He threw himself behind the trunk of the tree when Zuko looked his way, and waited for thirty counts before chancing another look. He knew Fei and half a dozen others were watching from different angles, so he wasn't worried about missing anything. They'd been crouched in position, waiting silently since the sun had gone down, and it looked like they were finally going to see some action.
Zuko and Katara had moved on, pushing closer to the door the Phoenix Brigade propped open earlier. When Katara pulled Zuko back, slipping inside the door easier than he ever could, Long let out an owl cat hoot. It was the signal that everything was supposed to begin. The Phoenix Brigade continued their impromptu celebration. An offering to the spirits before the sacrifice came, they'd called it. Long wondered from what cesspool Ozai drug these creatures. He also wished Chem would be a lot less paranoid and distrustful and just be open about things. He'd discussed it with Inara several times, but they'd been unable to convince Chem that partnering with the Fire Lord and Ambassador Katara would be the best course of action. Sure, they could have talked to the gathered on their own, but many of them saw Chem as their leader, and had pledged their loyalty to Chem and Chem's vision. They would see Long and Inara as upstarts, trying to ruin what they were working for.
The owl cat call was being echoed all the way back to their base camp. The archers would be in place, waiting in case they needed to back up the Fire Lord and the ambassador. Long pulled his own bow and arrow from where he'd stashed it in the branches above him. The archers in the trees were to take out as many of the Phoenix Brigade soldiers hanging around outside once the fighting started. They would go inside only if things were starting to look bad; inside belonged to the two master benders. The owl cat hoot was getting fainter and fainter. Soon, the silent horde would move.
Long sighed. Chem's fanaticism toward the Lady Ursa would get people killed. He wondered if she even knew that Chem had raised an army under her name. As far as he knew, the two hadn't talked in close to two years, and it had only been a year ago that the army had been gathered. The majority of these people weren't loyal to her at all, and Chem was their only vague connection to the woman. If they found her alive in that prison, it would be a miracle, and then he'd really get to see what she thought of Chem's actions.
Chem admitted that he was a little scared when the owl cat hoot reached camp. As always, there was the possibility that she would not be there, that he would barge in, and all the effort to find her would be wasted. The roots of Ozai's supporters ran deep, and they seemed to be everywhere. This was another testament to the weakness of the new Fire Lord.
This wasn't the time for reminiscing. This was the time for him to be a strong leader, and he turned to the rag tag group of soldiers and benders and people who just happened to know which end of the sword to use. Being commander of an army was a skill he learned through trial and error, and he would never say he was a great tactical mind, but he managed to get the job done. He'd come a long way, and felt largely confident in his ability to make others see the rightness of his position-that he'd gathered such a large army had to speak to his skill.
"They may have skill on their side," he said, raising his voice to them in imitation of a motivational speech, "but we have numbers. These men are vile brutes with only destruction on their minds. But we also have our cunning, and we will use all of our tools to reach our desired end. This includes our most powerful weapon-Fire Lord Zuko. Inara assures me that he means to find his mother, but I would not doubt that he would turn on us given the chance. Treat him with caution, and stay out of his way if it is at all possible. We must not attack the Fire Lord and Master Waterbender Katara. Our main goal is to free the Fire Lady Queen Mother Ursa."
They wouldn't risk a cheer, but Chem could see the nods of approval bob through their ranks. He took in a shaking breath. This was the closest to war he'd ever gotten, and it was still much too close. His strength was behind the palace walls, pushing and pulling secrets. He folded his hands behind his back as he nodded to the commander, and let the semi-professionals take over.
He wouldn't abandon them, and as they began to march past, he fell in with the last of them, helping to bring up the rear. He wished Sun could have been there to see it. They'd both served Ursa as princess-Chem as Ursa's secretary, and Sun as the head of her personal maids. Sun would have been good company, and together they could speak fondly about the old days. They could think on how beautiful Ursa had been on her wedding day, how she'd won over so many people set on disliking her, and how she dealt with those still determined to hurt her. But the old days were old and gone, and he was the only one left from Ursa's house, back when she was just Lady Ursa and travelling from Kirachu to the capitol to meet her husband for the first time.
Gone. Banished. Executed. Suicide. They'd all fallen away, petals dropping from the center of the dying flower that was, back then, Princess Ursa. The universe is imperfect, he knew, but it was unfair the way so much was heaped on such a kind hearted woman. Her best friend, Na, had made a special trip to the capitol to proclaim loyalty to Ozai over Ursa, but that hadn't stopped Ozai's fiends from harassing her until she had no choice but to vanish, too. Beautiful Kirachu had been devastated by the loss of two of its major governing families, and Ozai moved in, stripping it of the last of its uniqueness, and so very little of the life he had known remained. There was no place that he could call home, and the anger welled up inside him. The Fire Nation was still at war; it was warring with itself, and he would see peace, and this army and the noose around that Fire Lord's neck would be the first step to seeing things set straight.
He looked at the column spreading out in front of him. There were easily one hundred, one hundred fifty of them. They'd come from all over, and they were ready at his command. Chem smiled to himself. Wouldn't Ursa be surprised at all the support she had. They had swords on their backs and at their hips, knives and staffs, and their bending at the ready. He was most proud of the benders-fire benders come to take back the Fire Nation for the people from the hands of a corrupt government. They stalked through the forest, disappearing when they entered shadow, their existence only confirmed by the light of the moon.
Chem hung back. Mixed with the fear was the excitement of seeing her again. He knew in his heart that she had to be here, locked in a forested dungeon, but the eyes he sent to spy were determined to tell him otherwise. The Phoenix Brigade was too lax they said, like they were on vacation, taking it easy before this next woman was brought it. But it had been one of Ursa's closest allies that brought him the information. She would not lie to him. He knew it. She would not lie to him, Chem, who had been so faithful to her since the moment he was assigned to her household. Chem, who had carried her secrets around the palace, helped her in her plans to keep Ozai away from the throne and thus preserve a few more lives. She had no one, and would not turn her back on him. Ursa was too kind, her heart too big for such a thing. The only explanation was that they were keeping her somewhere even further out of sight, possibly a secret room where they weren't concerned about her escaping. Perhaps she was the only prisoner there, which was why they could be outside drinking. She was not a fighter; she only knew her poisons and without those, she was defenseless.
He sighed as they neared the prison compound. She'd remained strong through it all, taking her punishment when there was no escape, and never losing hope that things might be different one day. She had more strength and courage than he, and for that, he had no problem bending his knee whenever it was required. Now, though, there was no need for the bending of knees. Others would bow to her because he had come to give her strength. He was hers to command, and he commanded the army. He would not have her remain defenseless.
The commander ahead was signaling to everyone to stop and spread out. As Chem had planned, they were going to surround the prison and enter in waves, overwhelming their enemies. This order was carried out in near silence, what little noise they made mostly was swallowed by the forest. Fei came down from a tree and trotted over to greet him, bowing before speaking.
"They've entered at the rear of the building, sir. Everything is going smoothly. The Phoenix guys are also enjoying some spirits."
"Hard liquor?" Chem asked. He watched the men and women spreading out, fading into the shadows better in smaller groups. Their faces were set with grim determination that would have made a seasoned commander proud.
"Yes, sir. We don't question their motives. We just take advantage of the situation."
"We are poised to do this immediately, yes?"
"Of course, sir. The archers are already in place."
Chem patted Fei's shoulder. "Good. Now do me one last favor."
"Sure."
"Stay away from Inara and Long. I do not want their ideas to infect you. There may be a time when they are no longer welcome among us."
Fei looked confused for a moment. Fei was too good for Chem to lose to Inara and Long's inane babble. He would not have them spreading dissention, and all it would take would be some well placed words to convince people that Inara and Long had changed sides. They would do the hard work of weeding out the backstabbing ingrates who would turn their noses up at Chem and tell him he's overreacting. He knew what he saw, knew what he heard, knew what he felt in his gut. No one knew the pain the Lady Mother felt when she saw her children in Ba Sing Se. No one but him because he'd been there since the beginning. Whatever claim they may feel they have to Ursa was nothing compared to his.
If they decided they would support the Fire Lord in his conquest of the nations, then nothing would be able to save them. Former Fire Lord Azulon had said it himself: there was more than one way to conquer a nation, and he'd done it with Ren Island in the Earth Kingdom. Force people into a treaty that manages to benefit you more than them, make them afraid of you, station your armies on their shores, and who can tell the difference between 'treaty' and 'takeover'?
Fei nodded, trotting off to the front of the column, and began speaking with the captain. While Chem was watching Fei and the captain, an arrow shot out from the trees, and thudded into the back of a soldier who was heading in the back door of the compound. The Phoenix Brigade man dropped dead to the ground.
That first dead body seemed to wake everyone up, and the Phoenix Brigade soldiers relaxing about the courtyard came to life a little wobbly. Chem's soldiers began moving faster, moving into position as the archers in the trees readied their bows and arrows. Someone noticed the dead body and sounded the alarm.
All hell broke loose.
------
A/N: Sorry that this one was mostly exposition. I hadn't realized that until I went to upload it. Hope it's not too overbearing, but I needed to get a lot of this in here. Next chapter everything goes down, and I will apologize in advance for my bad action scene writing.