Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire [Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic]

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Izara was walking with Ming to clock in for their shift. They were both on the same shift today, but Ming was posted outside, whereas Izara would be inside since she was still in training. For the first week, she would be shadowing high-ranked guards to learn from them. Since most of the job was simple, they would spend their patrol discussing emergencies and the procedures followed during various situations. According to Ming, who had been working there for just over 14 months, it would take around a year for her to be fully trained. The highest-ranked guards were spread out over the day and night shifts, but the night shift guards were usually the more skilled ones because an attack at night was more likely. The afternoon shift was the one everyone started on since there was a good overlap with the day and night shifts for new guards to see a bit of everything.

The girls chatted quietly about a few work-related topics as they reported to the Captain's office. Ming went her separate way, and Izara was introduced to Luan, the second in charge and the guard she would be shadowing this week. Their post was just inside the back door since it only received traffic from the palace staff, not civilians. For the duration of her shift, Izara took special care to take in everything Luan discussed with her. Since she was used to military camps, it wasn't too far off what she had gotten used to over the last few years. In fact, it was glamorous compared to some of the backwater, middle-of-nowhere camps that she had stayed in.

Luan was around 10 years older than her and had worked at the palace since he was just a little older than Izara, so he had plenty of experience. He lived outside the palace, within the city, and had a wife and a young boy. Thankfully, he was well-spoken and gave her clear instructions and advice without being condescending. She felt lucky to have him as her first instructor. His experience working at the palace throughout Fire Lord Ozai's reign meant that he was versed in a stricter work environment. Still, it sounded like he much preferred the current atmosphere.

By the end of her shift, she was mentally exhausted, just from trying her best to take in every bit of knowledge and advice that Luan had given her. They headed back to the Captain's office, which would be empty by this hour of the night, and Luan also gave her the firebending training roster. Together, they worked out the best time for her to train and ensured it didn't conflict with her work shifts or Suki's training. She wasn't quite sure how to schedule it to avoid training with the Fire Lord, but she figured that he would only give her a few lessons on basics to get her up to a normal standard and send her on her way.

After that, she thanked Luan with a polite bow and headed back to her quarters. Ming was just going past to report in and leave for the night, and Izara waited for her to get back so they could wash up together. Out of all the people she had met so far, Ming was easily the quietest, but they seemed to be getting along well. Ming wasn't shy, but she was more inclined to listen rather than speak. It made conversation difficult sometimes, but Izara knew she would eventually get used to it. Ming appeared through the doorway and gave her a smile that Izara returned.

"How was your first shift?" Ming asked softly and walked over to get her things out of her trunk to wash up with.

"It was good. I'm working with Luan this week, and I've also sorted my firebending training time. I'm so nervous about it." Izara replied as she sorted out her things as well.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. I do understand why you might feel nervous, though. People were talking about how the Fire Lord personally selected the new guard today." Ming didn't mince her words, but Izara appreciated her candour. At least she knew what to expect.

"Ugh, I'll bet. They will be disappointed when they realise that I look like a drunk dragon moose when I firebend." Izara groaned and closed her eyes as her head rolled back, but Ming chuckled at her joke.