Dragon of the West

Chapter 1- Brothers

*this was originally posted on fanfiction.net so any time related things i mention in my author's notes are likely long ago and possibly irrelevent. but maybe not, idk, you'll see.*

Hello and thank you for reading! This is my first fanfiction and I hope you like it! I am going to try and create stories that would fit into the existing canon, so I will try not to contradict anything that happened in the show Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. I also won't do anything like add myself in or anything like that. I hope you like it!

-Darthlane

Chapter 1

50 Years After Genocide

Ozai grinned maliciously as he swung his fist at his brother. Iroh dodged the blow by the slightest of margins. "Don't get cocky, little brother." Iroh said. "As powerful as you have become, I am still stronger."

Ozai growled as he struck again. Still his brother avoided the attacks. Iroh dodged with the grace of one of the revered dragons. No movement by either brother was wasted; even the slightest of twitches was a part of tiny battles that would impact the overall duel. It was obvious that they were both masters of the martial arts.

Iroh switched with impossible speed from defense to offense, and attacked his brother with ferocity unbecoming of him. Ozai was helpless against the assault and was knocked down with a series of mighty blows. Iroh stood over him, fist directed at Ozai's throat in a perfect example of the final strike.

Iroh's face was a stone. Not a single shred of sympathy could be found for his brother. But it didn't hold. A smile emerged onto Iroh's face, erasing the malice from before. "I win again, Ozai. Looks like you still have a lot of work to do." He helped is brother up from the Palace courtyard. "Maybe you should spend some more time training instead of playing those simple games with your friends."

A frown crossed Ozai's face. "What are you talking about Iroh? Flame tag is much more than a game. Of course you wouldn't know; you spend all day playing Pai Sho and watching clouds. You don't even try to talk to people anymore. Do you even have any friends?"

Iroh was approaching fifteen years of age he was already quite tall and was handsome enough already that several suitors had approached him. It also didn't hurt with the ladies that he was the Prince of the Fire Nation. Despite the attention he received from just about everyone, he was very solitary and carefree. This often angered his grandfather Sozin, who had a reputation as a strict military genius. His father Azulon didn't mind as much, but he still didn't approve and had let Iroh know on several occasions. He had even threatened to send Iroh to the war front to learn respect for his father's wishes. Iroh hoped they were just threats. He didn't know if he wanted to fight people for a living.

Ozai was still young and therefore not quite as tall as Iroh. At nine years old he was only beginning to develop his firebending but he was already far ahead of where he should be at that age. His talent was often compared to his grandfather, his father, and his older brother. But unlike Iroh he had impressed their father and grandfather with his determination and ambition to become powerful. They hadn't said as much, but Iroh knew they considered Ozai to be an even better version of him. A true prodigy.

"Can we go again?" Ozai asked enthusiastically. "I know I can beat you this time!" He was bursting with energy, wanting to fight with the true passion of a firebender.

Iroh laughed. "Of course, Ozai. Let's try again. But" In all honesty he didn't want to practice fighting, but it was a good way to spend time with his brother and maybe even learn some new things himself. Time spent bettering yourself is never wasted.