Earth Kingdom Chronicles Collection

by The Tale of Aang; Azula; Toph; Sokka; Zuko; Katara (retail) (epub)

“Dance!” he shouted.

  Now he’s swiping the swords at Uncle’s feet. Uncle is dancing to stay out of the way. I would blast this guy with Firebending in a heartbeat if it wouldn’t blow our cover.

  “Ha! Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner,” the man said, laughing. Then he tossed the gold coin into our basket.

  I’m totally humiliated, but Uncle doesn’t seem the least bit embarrassed.

  “Such a kind man,” Uncle said.

  I can’t take this anymore. Maybe I can’t stop the humiliation in the middle of a crowded market, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do anything about it.

  That night I put on a blue mask to hide my identity. Moving quickly across the rooftops, I looked down into a dimly lit alley and spotted the man who had forced Uncle to dance.

  Perfect!

  Down I dropped, taking the arrogant fool by surprise. I knocked him down and he dropped his swords. I snatched them up quickly and flashed them in front of the man’s face. He scrambled to his feet and dashed away. Now I have a disguise—and two excellent weapons! Hmm … that gives me an idea.

  If those who have plenty won’t give me what I want, I’ll simply take it—or rather, my alter ego, the Blue Spirit, will take it!

  There’s someone carrying baskets of food. Those baskets look like they belong to me. I’ll just swoop down on these foolish peasants. If my mask doesn’t scare them, my swords will!

  There! I have freed the food from the grasp of these peasants, and it is now mine. I feel better already. But I can’t let Uncle know I’m doing this. He’ll go on about right and wrong and I’ll never hear the end of it.

  I hid the mask and swords in the trees, then delivered my bounty.

  “Here!” I said, tossing the food to Uncle.

  “Where did you get this?” he asked suspiciously.

  I knew he would give me a hard time. “What does it matter where they came from?” When have you ever questioned free food, old man?

  Over the next few days I brought many treasures to Uncle at our hideout in the woods. Food, blankets, gold, jewels, all liberated from their former owners by the Blue Spirit.

  I like taking what I want without asking permission.

  “Zuko, I think we should talk,” Uncle said when I had returned with a large sack of gold and food and a new teapot for him. “I know we’ve had some difficult times lately. We’ve had to struggle to get by. But it’s nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honor in poverty.”

  Honor? How can he speak of honor? Has he forgotten so soon? “There is no honor for me without the Avatar.”

  “Zuko, even if you did capture the Avatar, I’m not so sure it would solve our problems. Not now.”

  Hard as it is for me to acknowledge this, I know that he is right. With Father now having placed his trust in Azula, even getting my hands on the Avatar might not be enough to satisfy him. “Then there is no hope at all.”

  Uncle leaped up and grabbed me by the shoulders. “No, Zuko! You must never give in to despair, to your darkest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give to yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.”

  Words. Just words. They mean nothing to me. Uncle can’t possibly know how I feel. In fact, I can’t see a good reason to continue traveling with him. I have lingered too long in his shadow. He slows me down. Him and his tea and his food and his comforts. No, it’s for the best. I must do what is good for me.

  “Uncle, I’ve thought a lot about what you said and it’s helped me realize something. We no longer have anything to gain by traveling together. I need to find my own way.” There, I said it. I feel better already, like a burden has been lifted. He’s not saying a word. He’s just looking away. Very well. I’ll just go.

  “Wait!” Uncle cried.

  What? Now that he sees me leaving, is he going to try to talk me out of going? No. He’s just giving me the ostrich-horse. Well, it will be easier than walking. I’ll take it.

  Thank you, Uncle. Good-bye.

  I’ve always had to struggle, always had to fight, from the time I was a boy. It’s made me strong, made me who I am. That’s why I know I will survive, here, alone.

  I rode the ostrich-horse into a small Earth Kingdom village. My stomach was grumbling and I felt light-headed, but I had to focus. I had to find food in this village.

  “Could I get some water, a bag of feed for the ostrich-horse, and something hot to eat?” I asked a merchant as I held out my only two coins.

  “Not enough here for a hot meal,” the merchant said. “I could give you two bags of feed.”

  If animal feed is what I must eat to survive, then that is what I’ll do. I nodded and handed him the coins.

  I saw a little boy throw an egg at a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers, then run away. The soldiers approached me.

  “You throwing eggs at us, stranger?”

  “No.”

  “You see who did throw it?”

  “No,” I lied. Why should I get that kid into trouble? I like his spirit.

  The soldiers grabbed my two bags of feed. “The army appreciates your support,” one of them said. “Now you better leave town, stranger.” Then the soldiers left.

  I could destroy them all with one fire blast. But I must keep my identity hidden here in the Earth Kingdom. So, I’ll leave this village—just as hungry as when I arrived.

  “Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation,” the merchant said. “But they’re just a bunch of thugs.”

  Then the kid who threw the egg showed up. “Thanks for not ratting me out,” he said. “I’ll take you to my house and feed your ostrich-horse for you.”

  Hmm … those thugs did take the feed, and without the ostrich-horse I would be forced to walk in this hot, dry land. Very well. I’ll allow him to feed my beast.

  The boy led me to his family’s farm. There I learned that the boy’s name was Lee, and that Lee’s older brother, Sen Su, was a soldier fighting in the war.

  “Would you like to stay for supper?” Lee’s mother asked.

  I couldn’t stay with this Earth Kingdom family, sit at their table, and accept their food like a friend. I am their enemy. Once the beast is fed, it’d be better for me to leave. “I should be moving on.”

  “My husband could use some help on the barn,” Lee’s mother said. “Why don’t you two work for a while, and then we’ll eat?”

  She must have sensed that I didn’t want to accept her charity. I would do the work, then eat her food.

  As I worked with Lee’s father repairing the barn’s roof, the boy peppered me with questions. “Where are you from? Where are you going? So how’d you get that scar?”

  I wish the boy would just leave me alone.

  “Lee, it’s not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about,” his father finally said. “A man’s past is his own business.”

  My past? My past is filled with humiliations at the hands of Azula that now seem like a prelude to what she has done to me in the present.

  My mind raced back to my days growing up in the Fire Lord’s palace, and to my mother, the only one who ever truly loved me, no matter what. I remember Azula manipulating Mom into forcing me to play with her, then Azula teasing me because her friend Mai liked me. And even worse: Azula always spoke of how Dad would make a better Fire Lord, even though Iroh was older and next in line for the throne.

  Dwelling on the past will do me no good. I’d better concentrate on fixing this barn roof.

  That night, after the first real meal I’d had in days, I slept soundly in the barn—but not so soundly that I didn’t hear Lee sneak in and take my swords. He is a curious boy. I’ll let him have his fun.

  When I awoke I found Lee outside, swinging the swords wildly. “You’re holding them all wrong,” I said. If he’s going to learn, he should learn correctly. I took the swords from him.

  “These are dual swords—two halves of a single weapon. Don’t think of them as separate, because
they are not.” I gave them back to Lee and guided him through some simple exercises. It’s nice to be respected, if only by a child. I wonder what he would think if he found out who I really am.

  The next day a few Earth Kingdom soldiers came riding onto the farm.

  “What do you want?” Lee’s father asked.

  “Just thought someone ought to tell you—your son’s battalion got captured,” one of the soldiers said. Then he turned to his comrades. “You boys hear what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?”

  “Dressed them up in Fire Nation uniforms and put them on the front lines—unarmed.”

  I can’t believe the Fire Nation would treat prisoners of war that way. It is shameful, lacking all honor.

  “What’s going to happen to Sen Su?” Lee’s mother asked as the soldiers rode away.

  The same thing that happens to so many soldiers, whoever they fight for. I remember my cousin Lu Ten, Uncle Iroh’s son, and the day my mother told me that he had died during Uncle’s attempt to take the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se. He was not much older than I was, and suddenly he was gone. Certainly, Uncle has never been the same since.

  “I’m going to the front to find Sen Su and bring him back,” Lee’s father said, snapping my thoughts back to the present.

  “When my dad goes, will you stay?” Lee asked me.

  “No, I need to move on.” I have to go. I can’t get involved with this family any deeper than I already am. Still, they did show me kindness. I know—I can repay them with a gift. “Here, I want you to have this.”

  I handed Lee a pearl-handled dagger that Uncle had sent me from Ba Sing Se, when the war was going well, all those years ago. Before it all went bad for him and he lost his son and his will to fight.

  Lee read the inscription that had inspired me when I first saw it. “Never give up without a fight.”

  As I rode away from the farm I remembered the time my mother told me and Azula that our grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, had requested an audience with our father—and all of us.

  Once again Azula had made a fool out of me. I stumbled trying to show Grandfather new Firebending moves I’d been practicing, and Azula just laughed.

  “I failed,” I said as I lay sprawled on the floor at the Fire Lord’s feet.

  “No,” my mother said, rushing to my side as she always did. “I loved watching you. That’s who you are, Zuko—someone who keeps fighting even though it’s hard.”

  She is right. Nobody ever knew me like she did. I do keep fighting. It’s all I know how to do.

  Just like Azula keeps lying to me. It’s what she does. She did it on board her ship and she did it when we were kids. She told me that Father was going to severely punish me. That Grandfather was going to discipline Father for suggesting that he, rather than Iroh, become the next Fire Lord. She lies. She always lies.

  What’s that sound? Someone’s approaching. It’s a cart carrying Lee’s mother. Something’s very wrong!

  “You have to help. It’s Lee. The soldiers came back after my husband left, demanding food. Lee pulled a knife on them. I don’t even know where he got it. They told me that if Lee was old enough to fight, he was old enough to join the army. They took him away!”

  Even when I try to do the right thing, it goes bad. If I hadn’t given him the dagger …

  “I’ll get your son back,” I said. It’s the least I could do.

  I rode into the town square. And I see Lee, tied up next to those thugs. “Let the kid go,” I said firmly.

  “I told you he’d come!” Lee shouted at his captors.

  “Who do you think you are, telling us what to do?” the leader asked threateningly.

  Thugs. Punks. They’re all the same. I’ve seem them my whole life. All talk and bluster, with nothing to back it up. Well, it’s time someone put them in their place.

  “It doesn’t matter who I am. But I know who you are. You’re not soldiers, you’re bullies, freeloaders abusing your power. Mostly over women and kids. You don’t want Lee in your army. You’re sick cowards messing with a family who’s already lost one son to the war.”

  That got them! Here they come with their feeble attacks. I’ll just whip out my swords and put on a few moves, and—there, there they go, running away like the cowards they are. That took even less ef—

  “Look out! Behind you!” Lee suddenly shouted.

  I turned, just as their leader Earthbended boulders toward me. I couldn’t stop them all, and I quickly fell down.

  “Get up!” Lee called out. I have to get up. I have to or all is lost … lost … like the way I lost my mother. My head is spinning, but I can see the past as if it were happening right now, right here.

  Mom, slipping into my room at night. I could tell something was wrong.

  “Listen, Zuko, my love,” she said. She was all dressed up for travel. But where was she going? “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to protect you. Remember this, Zuko, no matter how things may seem to change—never forget who you are!”

  I never saw her again. I still have no idea what happened. But I never forgot her last words to me: “Never forget who you are!”

  Never forget. Who am I? I am Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, and I am finished hiding, lying, and pretending!

  I blasted the soldiers with a burst of Firebending, then rose to my feet. Everyone’s staring at me, including the soldier who’s sprawled out on the ground.

  “Who are you?” he asked, looking stunned.

  No more lying. “My name is Zuko, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne.”

  “Liar!” shouted an old man in the crowd. “I’ve heard of you. You’re not a prince, you’re an outcast. His own father disowned him!”

  No! This was not what I was expecting. These people should respect me. I’m a hero. I just saved them from these thugs. I turned to Lee. He would understand.

  “Not a step closer!” Lee’s mother shouted at me.

  I can see the hatred in her eyes. Then I remembered my dagger, which the soldier had taken. I retrieved it and gave it back to Lee.

  “It’s yours,” I said. But he yelled, “No! I hate you!”

  There’s nothing left to do now but leave. I feel so ashamed of who I am, and so weak and small and filled with dishonor.

  I feel so utterly alone.

  Chapter 3

  I can’t go on like this, wandering from town to town with no purpose, no plan. The time has come to take action. I know what I need to do. I must find Azula and defeat her. I am the older child. I am the rightful heir to the throne of the Fire Nation, and I must restore my lost pride and honor. She now stands in my way, and I have to defeat her to put myself back on the right track.

  I picked up her trail on board a combination tank and train, capable of traveling anywhere in this rugged nation. The tank-train sends up thick clouds of smoke, and it makes deep rutted tracks in the ground, so it’s easy to follow.

  After a while, she and her two friends—Mai and Ty Lee—left the tank-train and started riding mongoose-dragons. Then they split up, with Mai and Ty Lee heading in one direction and Azula riding off in another.

  I followed Azula, staying a safe distance away on my ostrich-horse, but always keeping her in sight. Once she is out of the way I can resume my search for the Avatar and complete my quest.

  My sister has arrived in a deserted town—or so it first appeared. To my amazement, there, sitting in the middle of what must have once been the town’s main street, was the Avatar!

  Of course. Azula has been tracking the Avatar in an attempt to succeed where I have failed. Well, she has led me to the prize that is rightfully mine. But first I will take care of her. Then I will capture the Avatar and bring him home to Father.

  Azula and the Avatar stood, facing off in the street.

  “Do you really want to fight me?” she asked the Avatar.

  It was time to make my appearance. Stepping out from the shado
ws, I said, “Yes, I really do.”

  “Zuko!” the Avatar cried.

  “I was wondering when you’d show up, Zu-Zu,” Azula said.

  “Zu-Zu?” the Avatar repeated with a giggle.

  She mocks me. That has not changed. But this time I will not let her win. “Back off, Azula. He’s mine!”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she countered.

  I stood ready, shifting my gaze from Azula to the Avatar. Who will make the first move? Should I? Is she more interested in capturing the Avatar, or in battling me and risking his escape?

  She’s attacking … me!

  Azula unleashed a Firebending attack that knocked me down. Then she turned her attention to the Avatar. Leaping to my feet, I joined the fight and a three-way battle raged.

  Oomph!—she has struck me. I’m going down. No! Not again. She is just too powerful. I’m on the ground, and I can’t move. Everything’s going dark.

  My eyes opened slowly. I see a familiar face. “Uncle!” Why is he here? How did he find me?

  “Get up,” he said before reaching down and helping me to my feet. Uncle came after me. Even though I walked out on him, he never gave up on me. I wanted to say more to him, but right now we had something more important to take care of.

  Uncle and I faced Azula. Beside us stood the Avatar and his friends.

  “Well, look at this,” Azula said as we backed her against the wall of an abandoned building. “Enemies and traitors, all working together. I know when I’m beaten. A princess surrenders with honor.”

  She bowed, but as she raised her head, she suddenly struck, sending a blue Firebending blast right at Uncle!

  Noooo!

  I unleashed a stream of fire right at Azula. The Avatar and his friends also threw bending attacks at her. When the smoke cleared, Azula was nowhere to be seen.

  I can’t believe Azula attacked Uncle, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Uncle is a strong man, though, and he was breathing—but he seemed to be in a lot of pain. I cradled his head in my hands to try to keep him comfortable.

  Oh, Uncle, how has it come to this? Azula has humiliated me again; and now you, who came to help me, are fighting for your life. Everything’s gone bad.