Resonant Spirits: Confrontation
Title: Resonant Spirits, Chapter Seven
Fandom: The Rabbithole (Fray/A:TLA)
Characters: Loo, Hana and Iroh Fray, General Iroh, Princess Azula
Word Count: 2,111
Rating: PG for violence
Author's notes:Previous Chapters:
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six
It would go down in history as one of the greatest victories ever known. It would be talked about for years, maybe even generations to come. Iroh was so pleased with himself he literally radiated heat.
Hana had let him have his way.
The argument had been this: the object wasn't victory or surrender for either side, it was peace. And by opposing the aggressor, they could only hope to prolong the war. Iroh claimed that they could save as many lives from the Fire Palace as on the front lines. He'd even said something about the Slayer being a leader. Louise had just watched, fascinated. Sometimes her brother's brain actually scared her.
So this was how it worked. Iroh led the way. He was the son and the heir, not to mention the tall one. He walked straight and confident, and probably could pass for a prince to anyone except the sister who had cleaned his blankets every morning in secret in the days following their father's death.
Then the girls, proving that, for all their differences, they could still look like twins even in their oversized borrowed robes. Louise may have had the most outlandish features, but she bore Prince Zuko's dao like the expert she was and her hair was at least used to the ponytail style that Hana's was trying to escape. The smaller twin had even consented to pack her stakes ("I'm going to get them plated in steel or something. That way the technique is the same.") away in her bag, and carried just a dagger under her robe, the same as her brother.
Behind them, their uncle. As unhappy about the situation as Hana herself, he still hadn't protested. And it warmed Louise to know he was there. The footfalls were too heavy, too slow, and his shadow at her feet was too short and round to really be the uncle she wanted. But if Iroh was right and they were really never going home, it was a comfort to know someone was watching her back.
The attempt at looking royal was probably ruined when Iroh looked over his shoulder at them as they approached the huge warship, and whispered, "You think they'll let me see the boiler room?"
The soldiers worried Louise more than they should. The linear formations, the face concealed helmets, the silence. Discipline like this was non-existent where they had grown up. The only rule was 'stay alive'. She suspected that her life would have a lot of soldiers in it from now on, and the thought didn't comfort her. Neither did the way they closed behind her family as they walked down the pier.
Azula waited for them on the deck of the ship, looking just like Hana had at that age. Although Louise was sure if she ever saw her sister smile quite that coldly she'd burn it off her face. It was a good act, that sweet smile. If it wasn't in her sister's face, she wouldn't notice that there was nothing behind it.
"Nephew!" the princess cried in delight, raising her hands before bowing deeply. "Uncle, nieces, I'm so glad you decided to return."
Louise had to nudge Hana to make her bow with the others, warily. There were a lot of soldiers. But she was watching her aunt.
One of the soldiers - actually, sailors, Louise corrected herself, which makes him the captain, led the four up the gangplank.
"Are we ready to depart, your Highness?"
" Set our course for home, Captain."
Home. Louise's hand tightened around the hilt of her swords. She missed home. Things were simple there.
The Captain turned around and shouted over their heads. "You heard the princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners ho..."
He stopped himself as soon as he realised his mistake. But the word bit deeply into Louise's ear, and Iroh in front of them stiffened. They had been prisoners their entire life. They weren't going to be now.
Behind them, there was a splash, and Louise saw a soldier fall into the water, thrown by her uncle. From then everything happened fast. Soldiers closed in on all sides and Iroh slipped into a ready stance. Hana disappeared, leaping vertically up and somersaulting over the guards to land on the ship in front of her aunt.
"Clear the way!" Louise told Iroh, throwing a fireball at the first of the flanking soldiers to recover from the shock of seeing the leap. "I'll get Tiny!"
Iroh elbowed one guard heavily over the side of the plank and Louise put her head down to run under flames being thrown at her. The guards closed in on the men and she charged through to the ship, ignoring the chaos behind her.
Hana and Azula were alone on the deck, Hana poised in what looked more like a boxing stance than a firebending one. Azula had her back to them both, standing by the rails As Louise landed on the steel deck, she turned around, looking at them with undisguised contempt in her smirk.
"You know your father was an exiled disgrace," she said, casually. "Why would my father even want to look on his miserable bastards, except to lock them up where no one could find out about them?"
Louise blinked. "That's the worst insult you've got? Bastard? Our mother..."
"...was a spirit woman," Hana filled in quickly, stepping forward. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
Azula paused, just long enough for the sounds of the fight down below reach them. Louise didn't turn, but it sounded like her brother and great uncle were cutting swathes.
"Spirits can be eliminated," she said. "And so can people."
Hana said nothing, throwing a kick at the princess. Azula smirked and tried to step to the side, but Louise was pleased to see she'd underestimated her niece. Hana's boot (they'd consented to Fire Nation robes, but there was something about a good solid steel-toed Eden boot that all three of them had clung to stubbornly) connected with the princess' hip, sending her flying across the deck. Taken by surprise, she nevertheless managed to roll, leaping to her feet and laughing.
Within a beat, she pushed an intense fireball at Hana, forcing her back under the pressure. Then she stood, finally in a fighting stance, yellow flames dancing in her hands.
"Can't you even bend? You're worse than your father."
Louise didn't even bother to look to her twin before launching herself forward, fireblades flashing at the knuckles at her fist. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hana force out flames herself, but then she stopped thinking in a whirl of sweeping kicks and arches of hot fire.
When the girls were children, everyone had that Hana would be a great bender. The heat just seemed to flow through her; she was graceful and fast and could do things with fire that had filled Louise with... well, bitter jealousy at the time. Louise was competent , and her father said she was talented, but it didn't feel as natural to her, and she had begun to think she'd never be as good as Hana.
Then their mother died.
Hana said she didn't remember anything about it. She didn't remember sneaking out of the tent with Louise when their father was downstairs with a council, and Iroh was asleep. She didn't remember creeping to the edge of the roof to see where their hero of a mother would pass on her patrol. She didn't remember the plan to call out to her and wave and weren't they brave for being out so late and wouldn't she be proud of them? Hana did remember the sirens. Or she said she did. But the sirens went off a lot at around that time, and she could have been remembering anything. She certainly didn't remember watching the first thing land behind Melaka. Louise ran back to the tent instantly, throwing her head under the blankets and telling herself she was just there to comfort Iroh should he wake; she never found out what Hana saw when she stayed behind or even how long she stayed for, because Hana didn't tell her. All she knew was that Hana was in the tent bundled up against her when they heard Plourr calling Zuko's name from street level. Later they said that if that section had been unmanned, or watched by anyone else on their own, the whole complex would have been lost.
After that, Hana's bending stopped. She never told anyone what she saw, and Louise never told anyone she'd been there to see it. But she was there to hold her sister when the nightmares kept coming, and she heard Dad telling Uncle Sokka how worried he was that she didn't seem to be handling it well. And she just hadn't wanted to worry anyone. After all, hadn't each of them on separate occasions held her when she cried, and brushed her hair out of her eyes and told her that they knew how hard it was to lose a mother, and it never stopped hurting, but they promised, they both promised it would get easier, and it would get better. But Hana never got better at bending. And she never talked about her memories of her mother.
For all that, though, Hana's technique was superlative. She picked up movements instantly, even though the fire was weaker. So she learned to fight without fire. Louise had to work hard both at blade work, for which she had a natural talent, and bending, for which she had less; but Hana could master any style within hours - helped, of course, by her rapidly developing strength and speed.
And now, on the deck of this huge warship, Louise was finding it hard to keep up. Hana and Azula were very evenly matched - worryingly so, given Hana's special situation.
Azula's skill with bending was beyond anything Louise had ever seen, and where she was herself gasping for breath, sweat was pouring down her skin,. the others were barely panting. Louise dodged many flames, but her bending was doing nothing compared to Hana's close combat.
Azula flipped back from a kick that would have been a lot more powerful if the fireball reinforcing it hadn't fizzed out. The effort was beginning to show on Azula and Hana, but Louise was hurting from the exertion. She was slowing down, and she could feel it, and yet they still weren't getting anywhere.
"Hana! Luyi!" That was Uncle Iroh from the gangplank.
"We hafta get moving!" That, higher and even more urgent, was his younger namesake.
Louise checked over her shoulder quickly and nodded. "Tiny..."
Hana was still fighting, though. Azula blocked one of Hana's punches, close enough so their matching faces were almost touching, then she lifted her other hand, in which she held a fireball so intense that the flame was glowing blue.
Louise saw what was going to happen about two seconds before it did, and her heart and stomach churned together, the world seeming to slow. The princess brought her hand back and smirked briefly before the flame rushed forward, hissing like Sokka's blowtorch, right into Hana's face.
The scream that tore through the air, Louise realised, was her own, not her sister's. She threw herself forward as Hana collapsed to the deck, but Azula spun around to face her, blocking all attacks without effort. She looked almost bored threw Louise to the ground, and drew her hands to herself to gather power. Rolling away, Louise just had time to realise she wouldn't mind going the same way as her sister, before she saw that the energy gathering around Azula wasn't fire, but crackling, barely visible electricity. Iroh was with Hana, helping her up, but Louise couldn't see her face. At least, she reflected, struggling to her feet, if she kept Azula distracted, they could probably escape.
But the expected shock never came. The mounted tension in the air froze when Uncle Iroh appeared out in the corner of Louise's vision, closing his hand over Azula's. Face devoid of expression, he appeared to draw the electricity into himself, then pointed his fingers out at a cliff, firing lightning like a blaster pistol. Huge cracks appeared in the rock, and boulders crumbled into the harbour.
Azula was so shocked that she wasn't able to prevent her uncle from kicking her into the ocean. Then the same hand that had wrecked devastation on the cliff was on Louise's shoulder, pressing her to run. She did so, following her brother, who was already sprinting away, Hana in his arms.
Fandom: The Rabbithole (Fray/A:TLA)
Characters: Loo, Hana and Iroh Fray, General Iroh, Princess Azula
Word Count: 2,111
Rating: PG for violence
Author's notes:Previous Chapters:
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six
It would go down in history as one of the greatest victories ever known. It would be talked about for years, maybe even generations to come. Iroh was so pleased with himself he literally radiated heat.
Hana had let him have his way.
The argument had been this: the object wasn't victory or surrender for either side, it was peace. And by opposing the aggressor, they could only hope to prolong the war. Iroh claimed that they could save as many lives from the Fire Palace as on the front lines. He'd even said something about the Slayer being a leader. Louise had just watched, fascinated. Sometimes her brother's brain actually scared her.
So this was how it worked. Iroh led the way. He was the son and the heir, not to mention the tall one. He walked straight and confident, and probably could pass for a prince to anyone except the sister who had cleaned his blankets every morning in secret in the days following their father's death.
Then the girls, proving that, for all their differences, they could still look like twins even in their oversized borrowed robes. Louise may have had the most outlandish features, but she bore Prince Zuko's dao like the expert she was and her hair was at least used to the ponytail style that Hana's was trying to escape. The smaller twin had even consented to pack her stakes ("I'm going to get them plated in steel or something. That way the technique is the same.") away in her bag, and carried just a dagger under her robe, the same as her brother.
Behind them, their uncle. As unhappy about the situation as Hana herself, he still hadn't protested. And it warmed Louise to know he was there. The footfalls were too heavy, too slow, and his shadow at her feet was too short and round to really be the uncle she wanted. But if Iroh was right and they were really never going home, it was a comfort to know someone was watching her back.
The attempt at looking royal was probably ruined when Iroh looked over his shoulder at them as they approached the huge warship, and whispered, "You think they'll let me see the boiler room?"
The soldiers worried Louise more than they should. The linear formations, the face concealed helmets, the silence. Discipline like this was non-existent where they had grown up. The only rule was 'stay alive'. She suspected that her life would have a lot of soldiers in it from now on, and the thought didn't comfort her. Neither did the way they closed behind her family as they walked down the pier.
Azula waited for them on the deck of the ship, looking just like Hana had at that age. Although Louise was sure if she ever saw her sister smile quite that coldly she'd burn it off her face. It was a good act, that sweet smile. If it wasn't in her sister's face, she wouldn't notice that there was nothing behind it.
"Nephew!" the princess cried in delight, raising her hands before bowing deeply. "Uncle, nieces, I'm so glad you decided to return."
Louise had to nudge Hana to make her bow with the others, warily. There were a lot of soldiers. But she was watching her aunt.
One of the soldiers - actually, sailors, Louise corrected herself, which makes him the captain, led the four up the gangplank.
"Are we ready to depart, your Highness?"
" Set our course for home, Captain."
Home. Louise's hand tightened around the hilt of her swords. She missed home. Things were simple there.
The Captain turned around and shouted over their heads. "You heard the princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners ho..."
He stopped himself as soon as he realised his mistake. But the word bit deeply into Louise's ear, and Iroh in front of them stiffened. They had been prisoners their entire life. They weren't going to be now.
Behind them, there was a splash, and Louise saw a soldier fall into the water, thrown by her uncle. From then everything happened fast. Soldiers closed in on all sides and Iroh slipped into a ready stance. Hana disappeared, leaping vertically up and somersaulting over the guards to land on the ship in front of her aunt.
"Clear the way!" Louise told Iroh, throwing a fireball at the first of the flanking soldiers to recover from the shock of seeing the leap. "I'll get Tiny!"
Iroh elbowed one guard heavily over the side of the plank and Louise put her head down to run under flames being thrown at her. The guards closed in on the men and she charged through to the ship, ignoring the chaos behind her.
Hana and Azula were alone on the deck, Hana poised in what looked more like a boxing stance than a firebending one. Azula had her back to them both, standing by the rails As Louise landed on the steel deck, she turned around, looking at them with undisguised contempt in her smirk.
"You know your father was an exiled disgrace," she said, casually. "Why would my father even want to look on his miserable bastards, except to lock them up where no one could find out about them?"
Louise blinked. "That's the worst insult you've got? Bastard? Our mother..."
"...was a spirit woman," Hana filled in quickly, stepping forward. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
Azula paused, just long enough for the sounds of the fight down below reach them. Louise didn't turn, but it sounded like her brother and great uncle were cutting swathes.
"Spirits can be eliminated," she said. "And so can people."
Hana said nothing, throwing a kick at the princess. Azula smirked and tried to step to the side, but Louise was pleased to see she'd underestimated her niece. Hana's boot (they'd consented to Fire Nation robes, but there was something about a good solid steel-toed Eden boot that all three of them had clung to stubbornly) connected with the princess' hip, sending her flying across the deck. Taken by surprise, she nevertheless managed to roll, leaping to her feet and laughing.
Within a beat, she pushed an intense fireball at Hana, forcing her back under the pressure. Then she stood, finally in a fighting stance, yellow flames dancing in her hands.
"Can't you even bend? You're worse than your father."
Louise didn't even bother to look to her twin before launching herself forward, fireblades flashing at the knuckles at her fist. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hana force out flames herself, but then she stopped thinking in a whirl of sweeping kicks and arches of hot fire.
When the girls were children, everyone had that Hana would be a great bender. The heat just seemed to flow through her; she was graceful and fast and could do things with fire that had filled Louise with... well, bitter jealousy at the time. Louise was competent , and her father said she was talented, but it didn't feel as natural to her, and she had begun to think she'd never be as good as Hana.
Then their mother died.
Hana said she didn't remember anything about it. She didn't remember sneaking out of the tent with Louise when their father was downstairs with a council, and Iroh was asleep. She didn't remember creeping to the edge of the roof to see where their hero of a mother would pass on her patrol. She didn't remember the plan to call out to her and wave and weren't they brave for being out so late and wouldn't she be proud of them? Hana did remember the sirens. Or she said she did. But the sirens went off a lot at around that time, and she could have been remembering anything. She certainly didn't remember watching the first thing land behind Melaka. Louise ran back to the tent instantly, throwing her head under the blankets and telling herself she was just there to comfort Iroh should he wake; she never found out what Hana saw when she stayed behind or even how long she stayed for, because Hana didn't tell her. All she knew was that Hana was in the tent bundled up against her when they heard Plourr calling Zuko's name from street level. Later they said that if that section had been unmanned, or watched by anyone else on their own, the whole complex would have been lost.
After that, Hana's bending stopped. She never told anyone what she saw, and Louise never told anyone she'd been there to see it. But she was there to hold her sister when the nightmares kept coming, and she heard Dad telling Uncle Sokka how worried he was that she didn't seem to be handling it well. And she just hadn't wanted to worry anyone. After all, hadn't each of them on separate occasions held her when she cried, and brushed her hair out of her eyes and told her that they knew how hard it was to lose a mother, and it never stopped hurting, but they promised, they both promised it would get easier, and it would get better. But Hana never got better at bending. And she never talked about her memories of her mother.
For all that, though, Hana's technique was superlative. She picked up movements instantly, even though the fire was weaker. So she learned to fight without fire. Louise had to work hard both at blade work, for which she had a natural talent, and bending, for which she had less; but Hana could master any style within hours - helped, of course, by her rapidly developing strength and speed.
And now, on the deck of this huge warship, Louise was finding it hard to keep up. Hana and Azula were very evenly matched - worryingly so, given Hana's special situation.
Azula's skill with bending was beyond anything Louise had ever seen, and where she was herself gasping for breath, sweat was pouring down her skin,. the others were barely panting. Louise dodged many flames, but her bending was doing nothing compared to Hana's close combat.
Azula flipped back from a kick that would have been a lot more powerful if the fireball reinforcing it hadn't fizzed out. The effort was beginning to show on Azula and Hana, but Louise was hurting from the exertion. She was slowing down, and she could feel it, and yet they still weren't getting anywhere.
"Hana! Luyi!" That was Uncle Iroh from the gangplank.
"We hafta get moving!" That, higher and even more urgent, was his younger namesake.
Louise checked over her shoulder quickly and nodded. "Tiny..."
Hana was still fighting, though. Azula blocked one of Hana's punches, close enough so their matching faces were almost touching, then she lifted her other hand, in which she held a fireball so intense that the flame was glowing blue.
Louise saw what was going to happen about two seconds before it did, and her heart and stomach churned together, the world seeming to slow. The princess brought her hand back and smirked briefly before the flame rushed forward, hissing like Sokka's blowtorch, right into Hana's face.
The scream that tore through the air, Louise realised, was her own, not her sister's. She threw herself forward as Hana collapsed to the deck, but Azula spun around to face her, blocking all attacks without effort. She looked almost bored threw Louise to the ground, and drew her hands to herself to gather power. Rolling away, Louise just had time to realise she wouldn't mind going the same way as her sister, before she saw that the energy gathering around Azula wasn't fire, but crackling, barely visible electricity. Iroh was with Hana, helping her up, but Louise couldn't see her face. At least, she reflected, struggling to her feet, if she kept Azula distracted, they could probably escape.
But the expected shock never came. The mounted tension in the air froze when Uncle Iroh appeared out in the corner of Louise's vision, closing his hand over Azula's. Face devoid of expression, he appeared to draw the electricity into himself, then pointed his fingers out at a cliff, firing lightning like a blaster pistol. Huge cracks appeared in the rock, and boulders crumbled into the harbour.
Azula was so shocked that she wasn't able to prevent her uncle from kicking her into the ocean. Then the same hand that had wrecked devastation on the cliff was on Louise's shoulder, pressing her to run. She did so, following her brother, who was already sprinting away, Hana in his arms.