Azula's Redemption (An ATLA story)

The Masters of Fire (Chapter 14)

Zuko and The Chief took some time to catch up and reconnect, which made the probably 30-minute journey into a near 2-hour one. By the time they made it to the top, the moon was fully out and Azula was already waiting.

"Took you two long enough," she said annoyed, "Well what now?"

"Now," Chief said stepping to the Princess, "You will be faced by the masters Ran and Shaw." He began, "They will be the ones to determine whether you're deserving or not." He continued as he reached Azula, "But I will say, with a track record like yours, you run the risk of them killing you instead." He informed the girl.

"Well if that happens, then so be it," Azula said only loud enough for The Chief to hear, hinting no fear or any emotions whatsoever.

"Well if you're sure." He said a bit taken aback but what he just heard, "And now, let the ceremony commence!" He shouted taking a bit of the Eternal Flame from the girl and begins by passing it down the two rows that went along to the base of the stairs. "Chanters!" He exclaimed and all the men started chanting, and beating the drums. (Y'know like is the show lmao)

Azula began walking up the steep set of stairs. Once she reached the chanting halted with the drums keeping a steady temp.

"Those who wish to meet masters Ran and Shaw will now present their fire!" He proclaimed over the drumming. As she reached the middle of the platform, she noticed two extremely large caverns which left a visibly confused look on the face of the Princess.

'Well, I'm up here, now what?' She questioned herself while analyzing the surroundings once more. 'The Chief did say to present my fire, I guess I'll just present a part to both sides.' She thought as the others looked on from below. But just as she presented her fire, both flames were blown out and the platform she was standing on began shaking. 'Wh-what the hell is happening? An earthquake? No, not likely, no one down below seems to be panicked or worried.' She cautiously thought as she looked into the caverns, 'Wait could it be the masters? But if everything is shaking so violently, then that means the masters must be-' Just before she can finish her thought, the masters of fire Ran and Shaw flew out of their caves and began circling the platform Azula was standing on. Seeing who these masters were caused Azula to slightly smirk to herself, 'I should've figured Uncle, well played old man.'

Meanwhile down on the ground, Zuko stands next to The Chief watching the spectacle. Previously he had been in his sister's position, so seeing it from this view brought a whole new perspective to what he and Aang had gone through.

'Oh wow! This is truly amazing to see, I wonder what Aang and I looked like doing the dance with th-' He cut off his own thoughts dawning a face of horror, 'Oh crap I forgot to tell her about the da-'

"Don't worry about the dance Zuko, I can tell she already knows it." The Chief said as if reading the Firelord's thoughts, never taking his eyes off the Masters flying overhead.

"Are you sure? How can you tell?" Zuko asked nervously, drawing his eyes back to the awe-inducing spectacle up above.

"Because your sister is incredibly strong, stronger than you even, no offense."

"None taken, she's a prodigy, our father began training and perfecting her skills ever since she was 4 or 5, she's always been a step ahead of me."

"No, that's not fully what I meant." He replied leaving Zuko slightly confused, "What I meant is as strong as she is, she nor any fire bender before has ever reached full potential, you know what I'm referring to, you've seen it as well as the Avatar." He explained to the young Firelord, "Azula, in particular, is special in the sense of she has her patented blue flames" He began, "But have you ever considered other variations?" The Chief inquired to the Firelord.