Shadows and Embers

The Chase

"Azula," she called, entering a royal apartment a couple of halls away from the one Soza had claimed.

She ran her eyes over the numerous three-tongued flames haphazardly draped across the room. A voice carried from beyond a wooden sliding door.

"In here!"

Soza followed the sound into what appeared to be a large training room that the servants clearly hadn’t reached yet. The décor was still in various shades of green, with the Earth Kingdom sigil draped across the wall furthest from her. The floor consisted of wooden floorboards, gleaming with varnish and polish. On one side of the room was a large sparring platform, seemingly raised directly out of the earth. It stood slightly elevated above the surrounding wooden flooring, essentially a bare stone slab.

Azula was on the other side of the room, which contained an assortment of training equipment. She stood near the sandbags, going through katas in perfect form. When she saw Soza approach, she stopped and walked over to a nearby rag and water flask.

"I think these were the king's quarters," she said, taking a sip.

Soza chuckled at that. "Not really what I was expecting from dirt people. Seems I took that term a little too literally."

Azula sighed, put the flask down, and exchanged it for the rag, dabbing at her forehead with a light smile at her sister.

Despite her open smile, Soza noticed the tense set of her shoulders and the stiffness of her posture. Inhaling deeply, she began, "I thought we should discuss today..." Soza picked at the skin around her nails.

"Yeah, about that. Zuko was here. He's actually a big part of the reason the Avatar got away."

Soza raised her eyebrows and listened as Azula recounted what had happened.

"I heard what happened with you, though. Ty Lee said you hesitated?"

Soza sent her sister a sharp look. When had she spoken to Ty Lee?

"I didn’t want to burn the street down."

Azula looked amused at this and approached Soza, pulling her hands apart to stop her fiddling with them.

"Why are you so nervous?"

Azula tugged her towards the sparring platform. "You need to relax. It’s been a while since we sparred. You’ve been slacking lately. I’m sure beating you won’t even be a challenge anymore."

Letting go of her hand, Azula forewent the steps and jumped onto the platform, looking towards Soza expectantly.

This had been a routine of sorts between the two. Since they’d started sparring (at around six years of age), they’d kept score. If you asked her, the score was 1,685–1,683 in her favour. However, Azula would swear to Sozin it was 1,692–1,685 to her.

"You make it seem like you’ve got a great record beating me," Soza scoffed. "If I’m not mistaken—which I’m not—I’m winning by two matches."

She moved to shed the warmer layer of her robes, leaving her in a thin, long-sleeved shirt and her cinched training hakama. "And even the times you do beat me, it’s because you’ve cheated."

Azula feigned offence as Soza ascended the steps onto the raised platform and took a position, the traditional four paces away from Azula.

Both adopted offensive stances and began circling, watching each other closely. Tentatively, Soza sent out a jab of blue fire, testing how Azula intended to fight. The move was readily dispersed, countered by an arcing kick of equally blue flame directed at her chest.