The Firebender

I Look Cool, But Really Disrespectful...Perfect.

T/W: Lots of violence and some gore. Read at your own discretion!

They gave me twenty minutes in this armory to get myself ready--without supervision, I might add--and the result was extremely  worth the anxiety induced adrenaline rush that filled my veins from the point Azula left the room until I was finished. Being the absolute genius  that I am, I took the gray underclothes of one of the uniforms, the black spaulders from another uniform that fit nicely on my shoulders, and a pair of black boots from another. 

Basically, I looked amazing, and had absolutely no Fire Nation colors or insignia anywhere on my body. Azula was going to hate it. Flipping my hair down, I smoothed it out the best I could with my fingers, raking through weeks of tangled and ratted mess with no comb and bunched half of it into my hand towards the top of my head. I braided the tail until I reached the bottom and tied the black ribbon I'd found around it tightly before finally deciding I was done. 

"Please step onto the designated circle." A voice sounded, seemingly from nowhere, and I rolled my neck around once before putting both feet in the center of the circle. This was going to be interesting. 

With a jolt, the circle began lifting upwards, towards the ceiling, where a hole slid open to reveal the blue sky which, realizing now, I hadn't seen in a few weeks now. Squinting my eyes as they grew accustomed to the light, I glanced around as soon as my head cleared the earth, my stomach dropping at the sheer size of the Royal Arena. The sound of cheering fans filled my ears and I had to take a moment to absorb the scenery. Waves of crimson and gold rippled through the crowd and enormous banners depicting the Fire Nation insignia fluttered in the wind at different ends of the stadium. I realized suddenly that in front of me, at the top of the stadium, sat three very important people, all with their eyes fixed on me. 

A single hand raised from where it was on its throne and the stadium fell into an eerie silence. Firelord Ozai stood up, and I did not bow. I just stared at him, eyebrow raised and crossed my arms. 

"Today, my daughter Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, introduces her Champion. An exiled whelp--"

Seriously? Whelp?

"Who committed treason against the crown at age fifteen." A chorus of boos sounded as he finished, and I just glared up at Ozai tiredly. "Anything to say before you fight, Champion?" 

Azula narrowed her eyes at me, a clear threat, and one that I ignored blatantly.

"What?" I asked, leaning forward sightly, cupping my hand to my ear. 

Ozai looked at Zuko hesitantly, and he shrugged. "I said," he repeated his question in a raised voice. "Do you have anything to say before we introduce your competitor?"

I made a face of confusion an leaned forward further. "What?" 

Ozai did not  look amused.

"Oh," I started, "I think your soldiers damaged my hearing when they blew up my family home with my little brother inside."