The posters were marked with the sigil of the Fire Nation Navy, leaving no mystery as to who had spread these bounty posters around. Damn it! Zuko slunk back away until he was well hidden behind the tent.
With a feature as noticeable as his scar he'd draw attention from anyone looking to make a quick few coins wherever he went. How was he supposed to get around undetected?
...
With a frustrated grunt he slammed his fist into the wall of the tent, but was surprised to feel something wooden clanking together on the other side. The flap at the back of the tent swung open from the force of his punch, giving him a peak at what lay inside.
Masks.
It was fairly common for masks to be sold at festivals, and any one of them would serve to hide the scar of his face. Thankfully whichever salesman was selling them was too occupied to have noticed his punch. Carefully Zuko peeled open the tent flaps again, taking a quick look at what masks were available. Immediately one in particular jumped out at him.
Love Amongst the Dragons had never been the most popular play in the Fire Nation, but was old enough to be considered something of a classic: a pantomime that parents were expected to take their children to see at least once.
To Zuko it was a play that held a certain sentimental significance: his mother had adored it, and had taken him and Azula to see it every year without fail up until her disappearance.
He'd never really enjoyed the play, but there was one character he'd always found to be quite cool: The Blue Spirit, a mischievous trickster spirit whose antics humbled both heroes and villains alike. His mother had bought him a Blue Spirit mask one year, and he'd kept it with him even during his exile as a memento of better times.
It was that mask that he'd worn back when he'd rescued The Avatar from Zhao's fortress, though it had been left back on his ship when he'd been forced to flee the North Pole on a raft.
And a copy of that same mask stared back at him now, the sinister grin and wide eyes fixed across its face boring into him.
Zuko had never been fond of spirits, but this felt like a sign. When he'd worn the mask of the Blue Spirit the first time he'd felt invincible. Prince Zuko was a failure who had been banished by his father, but the Blue Spirit was a master swordsman who could vanish into the shadows without a trace.
There was a liberating sensation that had come with putting on the mask, knowing that he could define himself by his actions rather than the mistakes of his past.
As a disguise went, The Blue Spirit was a bad idea. Although it wasn't as big as his real one, Zhao had put a bounty on The Blue Spirit's head after the incident at the fortress. If he took up that old persona once again he would attract attention from the very people he was trying to avoid.
But then again The Blue Spirit had been able to sneak into the heart of a fully-manned fortress without being caught. The Blue Spirit had been able to hold The Avatar at sword point. The Blue Spirit had been more successful than Zuko ever had been. Perhaps, as The Blue Spirit, he could finally do what Zuko could not?
Capture The Avatar once and for all.
Nobody was watching. All he had to do was reach out and take it, and The Blue Spirit would live again.
...
Iroh just didn't make any sense.
One moment he was fending off the combined might of Tanya, Azula and a team of elite palace guards with the strength of a rampaging dragon. A storm of fire raged around him as he reflected any and every attack coming his way, lashing out with blasts of his own whenever anyone gave him the slightest opening.
Yet the moment Zuko was out of sight he'd suddenly stopped, raising both hands and kneeling down in the universal gesture of surrender.
He'd soon after been dogpiled by every soldier left to spare and wrapped up in so many chains that he looked like an avante garde fashion statement, yet even then his peacefully neutral expression never wavered.
Just to be certain, Tanya kept her eyes fixed firmly on him as he was dragged away into the brig of the ship, before twisting around to find the soldiers she'd left waiting in the trees to catch Zuko. The moment she spotted a flash of red armour among the trees her glare redoubled.
"Report! Where is Zuko!" She snapped.
"I-… Apologies admiral, there's been no sight of him!" The soldier hurriedly replied. "We've been scouring for a mile around, but he's disappeared!"
"He's escaped!" Tanya hissed incredulously. How?! She'd been so meticulous with her planning, but somehow Zuko had found a way to slip through the net! "Keep searching! Turn over every tree if you have to! I don't care what it takes, find me Zuko!"
"Yes admiral!" The soldier replied, snapping a quick salute before hurrying away. Tanya wrestled with the urge to bite her thumbnail in frustration. The Firelord would be furious when he found out that she'd let Zuko slip through her fingers just like The Avatar had.
Yet he'd only get angrier if she tried to lie or make excuses for herself. Realising that she had no choice but to face the music, Tanya stormed back to the ship. The moment she got there she sought out Azula, still waiting on the top deck, and threw herself into a low bow at the princess's feet.
"I am so, so sorry your highness." She exclaimed, her head dipped so low towards the floor that it exposed the nape of her neck. "I have failed you. Zuko has managed to escape."
Azula pursed her lips in annoyance. "Escaped? Tanya, you assured me that there was no chance of his escaping your formation. Aren't you supposed to be a military genius?"
"I don't know how he did it." Tanya replied solemnly. "I beg you, your highness, please forgive me."
Azula studied her with a cold, critical eye. "The Fire Nation does not forgive failures, admiral." She eventually stated. Then she huffed and turned away. "But the hunt is not over yet. Not by a long shot. Follow my orders to the letter, and there will be chances for you to redeem yourself.
Once again, Tanya thanked her lucky stars that she'd been able to befriend someone like Azula. There weren't many superiors who'd let such a blunder go without some sort of consequence, even if Azula's reprimand made it clear that this was a one time deal.
"Go and ensure that Iroh is properly confined below, then begin making preparations to set sail." Azula continued, giving her a dismissive wave of her hand. "I need to go and plan our next move."
"Yes, your highness." Tanya answered, standing back up and giving Azula a respectful salute before marching off. She made a beeline straight to the lower decks, quickly reaching the brig where prisoners were detained. The jangle of keys alerted her that Iroh had just finished being locked in his cell by the time she arrived.
"Dismissed." She called out sharply to the guards, chasing them away with a glare until she and Iroh were alone. The moment they were, she slowly paced forwards until she was standing right in front of the cell door, staring through the bars down at the elderly man sitting on the floor.
Iroh didn't have the look of a defeated man. Even sat on the cold, dusty floor, he seemed as serene and peaceful as a monk in meditation. He raised his eyes to look at her as she approached, and smiled.
"Zuko isn't with you? Good. He has escaped then."
Tanya frowned. "It's only a matter of time until we hunt him down."
"Don't be so sure. He is more resourceful than you may think."
Tanya huffed derisively. Silence lingered between them, but Tanya made no move to say anything or leave. After a few seconds Iroh raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"You have a question?"
"I-…" To her great shame Tanya found herself stuttering, the words she wanted to say strangely hard to force out as she warred with an inner reluctance to bring the topic up at all. "You could have killed me."
Iroh nodded sagely. "I could."
"But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?" It just didn't make sense. Tanya didn't think she was being arrogant to say that she was one of the biggest threats to Zuko. Killing her would have done a lot to keep him safe.
Iroh let out a heavy sigh, seeming to almost visibly deflate for a second. "If I'm being honest, to my great shame I considered it. Just for a second I was prepared to end your life. You have caused me more pain than I think you realise.
Two of the wisest, dearest friends I have ever known, men who were there for me during the darkest hours of my life, lie dead by your hand. There was a moment where I reasoned that slaying you was the only sure way to prevent you from doing the same to Zuko."
"Then why didn't you?"
Iroh looked at her more intensely. "Because when I look at you, do you know what I see? A powerful young firebender, with an incredible talent for the arts of war and the favour of the Firelord, devoting themself to the belief that a victory for the Fire Nation will benefit the world. It is a story I know all too well." Iroh shifted, sitting just a little taller so that he was almost eye level with Tanya.
"I've been in your shoes. Once I was the great hero of our nation. Once I could have conquered a city that others said was impossible. Once I would have slain too wise, powerful masters who stood between me and what I thought was my destiny. Yet I turned away from that path.
I realised the mistakes I would have been making before it was too late, and became a better man for it." He fixed Tanya with a stern, yet strangely pitying gaze.
"In you, I see a reflection on how my life would have been if I had made the wrong choices.
I understand the reasons why you did what you have done, and I cannot help but sympathise. I do not believe that it is too late to help you realise the perils of the path you walk before the time comes for you to pay a terrible price, as I once did."
A fierce scowl crossed Tanya's face. "Don't act like you know me. I've lived through things you'd never believe. Challenged foes you'd cower before. We aren't the same."
To her surprise Iroh replied with a smirk, his eyes twinkling with mirth, as if he was in on a secret joke. "You'd be surprised."
With a frustrated growl Tanya turned and stormed away, slamming the door behind her and leaving Iroh alone in the dark. He waited, listening carefully until the echoes of her footsteps faded into the distance, and then rolled over onto his stomach and placed the palms of his hands against the floor.
"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." He muttered to himself, then with a light grunt of exertion pushed himself up into a press-up. "One… two… three…"
...
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