Returning to some semblance of peace after a near-death encounter was always a bit of an odd thing. When close to death, you considered all sorts of deep existential questions, and often convinced yourself that you would radically alter the course of your life if you lived, generally to avoid regrets or something of that nature. But once you actually survived the situation, and your life was no longer on the line, you kind of forgot about that and settled back into your old ways. It was like those people who constantly promised to live a new year differently, but never actually did.
At any rate, it was a bit weird going back to relatively calm sailing on the open ocean after the occupants of the Fire Nation ship had almost been sunk to the bottom of it. But, so it was. The last few days had seen nothing even remotely close to danger following the encounter with the Earth Kingdom Navy vessel. Even Xisheng's personal life had mostly gone back to normal: his odd situation with Ty Lee was willfully ignored, as per the usual. That was easy to do, since they had talked about it a fair deal a few days ago. Needless to say, Xisheng was far from fully appraised of the situation, but he at least somewhat understood Ty Lee's current position on the matter of their relationship with a bit more clarity than before. He wasn't truly content with it, but he was happy to accept his small victories and not push his luck too hard.
As for he and Mai, they had mostly returned to their usual form, what with the introspective conversations, witty sarcasm, and contentedness in being alone with each other. But even though there was a veneer of the old normalcy present once again, Xisheng could tell that some elements of their prior situation still remained: every once in a while, he would notice Mai's expression grow a little awkward when they were talking. She'd get a little quieter and often focus on some far off point, though she never went fully silent or expressed discomfort in any other way. It was obvious that whatever problem had been bothering her a few days ago was not fully forgotten. But it was also obvious that the young woman was trying to push past the issue and not allow it to interfere with their friendship. For now, Xisheng could only hope that his own behavior was helping her overcome her qualms, whatever they may have been. He had some suspicions, of course, but for now he didn't know how to confirm them or even what he would do about it if they were confirmed. It wasn't the same as Ty Lee, who was likely to actually talk to him if he put her on the spot. Mai wasn't the type of person to react to that approach very well.
As for Azula, things were mostly the same as usual, but not entirely. Xisheng had underestimated just how excited she had truly been about their combined Firebending technique on the day of their naval skirmish. She had grown extremely invested in furthering his abilities afterward. Not that she hadn't been invested before, but prior to that fight, the Princess had seen fit to take a more hands-off approach to his advancement: she had provided him with the building blocks and left it to him to actually make something out of it.
Now though, Azula was so eager for him to master the technique that she had been giving very direct and involved tutelage for several hours a day since the skirmish. Needless to say, she pushed Xisheng harder than he likely would have on his own. But at the same time, her direct involvement really did make a big difference. Though it had only been a few days, Xisheng had greatly improved his ability to compress Firebending. He was not far off at all from the benchmark Azula had set for him at the beginning.
Of course, it wasn't like he was actually nearing her level just because of that. The young ruler-to-be made that very clear as she appraised her student on the rear deck of their small vessel, calmly sailing over the waves.
"Frankly, I'd say that using two hands to achieve a goal I set with one is cheating, but... well, I'd be a fool for criticizing the effective use of everything you have at your disposal. Good job, Xisheng, I'm impressed."
Honestly, Xisheng wondered if Azula was even capable of offering a pure compliment that wasn't backhanded in any regard at all. But ultimately, he didn't mind too much. He was too pleased by the very compact sphere of flame held between his two hands: an orange sphere that only slightly flickered in resistance, and sported the slightest of yellow tinges. It was indeed a far cry from Azula's compressed Firebending, but this was a monumental leap in ability considering that he had only recently started training in this technique.
Of course, as Azula rightly pointed out, it did take both of his hands to achieve this result, which was a bit misleading since Azula could achieve the same with just one. Xisheng's wounded arm, bashed by Toph some time ago, was not fully healed, technically. But it was nearly there. Xisheng practically had his full range of motion back, even if using that full range was still quite uncomfortable and even painful at the worst. Even so, it had healed enough by this point that Xisheng could freely use both arms, and compressing his Firebending with both hands made it a lot easier to achieve better results. After all, the ability to split the strain between two limbs significantly lessened the difficulty.
"Thank you, Princess. It's all thanks to you."
The young girl smirked. "Considering that you only even thought to try this technique because of me, yes, that is mostly true. Still, even the best teacher can't turn a hopeless case into a success. Even if you have to use two hands to achieve it, mastering compression to this degree in such a short time is very admirable. Your natural talent and drive to improve are both a large part of that."
Xisheng smiled. Humility still wasn't Azula's strong suit, but she really had become more generous with her praise and support lately. She always worded things in a pretty factual manner, but there was a time when you'd really have to drag any sort of genuine compliment out of her.
"Maybe so, but your focused tutelage these past few days really helped more than any amount of motivation or effort could have. Your explanation of chi management and accumulation really altered how well I was tackling the problem. Honestly, I feel kind of bad that I learn so much from you but never have any knowledge to offer in return..."
Azula's expression grew slightly sheepish for a moment. Honestly, she'd be lying if she said she hadn't learned anything from Xisheng since the beginning of their relationship. Even if it hadn't been in the form of a lesson, he had taught her many things simply by merit of how he carried himself: how to be a better leader, what it was like for those cogs and gears that made up the Fire Nation machine, the consequences and victories that could be the results of a leader's decisions, and the value of honest loyalty from those that served her.
She was not one for humility, but in the confines and safety of her own mind, Azula was willing to admit that she had learned more about leadership from Xisheng, someone who had never even been in such a position prior to their meeting, than her father, the sovereign of an entire nation. A big part of her hated to admit that: Azula truly admired her father and his resolve, ruthlessness, and tenacity. But his lessons on governance had extended little further than imparting some notion of 'be so strong and ruthless that your followers are too fearful to defy you'.
And to his credit, no one had openly defied Ozai and his rule, other than Zuko in that notorious war meeting. In the past, Azula would have considered that more than sufficient, but Xisheng's lessons, intended or not, had changed her perspective on the matter. People often hated things they were afraid of. And when you hated someone, you would often look for opportunities to cause them harm, however slight and inconsequential. Who could say how many servants had spread a nasty rumor? How many officers had sown subtle dissent? How many soldiers would abandon their duties if it came down to their life or their lord?
There was no telling how many malcontents and conspirators Ozai's policy of fearful obedience had created. Whether or not they had done anything so far, their mere existence posed a potential threat to the Royal Family and the government as a whole. Maybe they were too scared to try anything, or maybe they were busy plotting. Maybe they had plots in motion at this moment, and they just hadn't made themselves known yet. Either way, Azula now truly believed that her father's policy on leadership and rule had glaring flaws, though she would likely never share this sentiment with him.
She attributed this shift in perspective to Xisheng's influence, though she supposed it wasn't like he had actually been trying to 'teach' her anything, save one or two times. Azula wasn't sure if she should actually tell the man all of this: it might not be a good idea to tell a low-ranking officer that his actions were turning the political perspective of the Crown Princess against the political policies of the Fire Lord. She trusted him, but that didn't seem like a prudent decision. Still, she had to say something.
"At the very least, you've taught me how valuable the unwavering loyalty of a truly dedicated man and soldier is. I want to be glad for that, but I digress: I imagine the high expectations for my subordinates that you've instilled in me will be constantly met with disappointment in the future."
Xisheng couldn't help but chuckle. "That might be a little unfair to the rest of the rank and file, Princess. I've always been considered overly idealistic and invested by my comrades. People who join the military for a higher purpose are an exception, not the norm."
A little intrigued by this line of conversation, Azula folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow at her partner. "Is that so? Do tell, what else compels one to enter a life such as yours? According to you, your military career has been rife with stress, danger, and occasionally appalling living conditions. That seems like a lot to go into willingly if you lack some noble motivation."
Still attributing some of his focus to the sphere of yellow-orange flame in his hands, Xisheng shrugged. "Well, I'd be remiss to not mention the obvious: not everyone joined willingly. I don't know how this stacks up to the actual average across the board, but the last time we received new recruits on the EK battle line before the North Pole invasion, a little more than half of them had been drafted. There are plenty of people that didn't want to be soldiers and never would have become one if the government hadn't made them."
Azula wasn't sure what to say to that. "Fair enough, I suppose..."
"As for the rest of them, it could be a number of things. But it's usually the inherent benefits of joining the military. Worldwide travel with a bill footed by the government, the respect and prestige you'll have when you return home as a victorious warrior... but for a lot of people, it's just that being a soldier pays pretty well compared to a lot of other viable careers."
This time, Azula scoffed. "Money? Really? How does that make such 'soldiers' any different from mere mercenaries?"
Xisheng offered one of those looks that mildly irritated Azula. The 'you poor ignorant soul' kind of look. She knew he wasn't actually looking down on her, but the thought of someone pitying her lack of knowledge was still a source of agitation. That said, Azula didn't say anything, since she had already asked Xisheng a question and he was about to answer.
"Not to sound accusatory, Princess, but money is a very fair motivator for those who aren't a member of the Royal Family of a powerful nation. Unfortunately, living isn't free for the common masses. Paying rent to a landlord, buying land and paying for the construction of a home, food, clothes, medicine, tools you need for your trade, common amenities... people have to buy these things, and they need money to do it. If you don't make enough money, your quality of living, and that of your family, is in jeopardy. A lot of people do things they don't really want to do just to make enough money to live. That includes soldiers, many of whom enlist so they can make a hefty wage that can be sent back home to support their families."
Once again, Azula found herself unsure of what to say. She sometimes hated how easily Xisheng did that to her. Not that it mattered, since the man wasn't done talking.
"As for what separates soldiers who enlist primarily for the money from mercenaries... well, most soldiers still have loyalty and love for their country. They just want to make good wages while serving it. After all, if money was well and truly the only motivator for those men and women, why not just actually become mercenaries? There's no need to fight for the Fire Nation, submit to regimented subordinate life, or obey the orders of hapless superiors if profit is all you want. You could have much more independence and probably even more money as a mercenary. So, most soldiers do still want to contribute to their homeland, even if that isn't the sole reason they enlist."
Now sensing that he was done with his spiel, Azula breathed a sigh after pondering his words. "Xisheng, doesn't it tire you to constantly consider every perspective and every angle for every person in this wretched world? I never thought that I of all people would say this, but you truly do think too much about everything."
This time, Xisheng was the one who looked a little sheepish. "Well, that's what mind-numbing boredom on the front-lines will do to you... you have to find some way to entertain yourself out there or you'll go crazy. Guess I just chose to become excruciatingly philosophical. I was often told that I talk too much..."
"It's not that, Xisheng. I just don't know how all of this thinking about relatively menial things at every hour of the day doesn't drain you. I'm not sure we've ever discussed something that you didn't have a very lengthy opinion on. I like to dwell on things of import to me, but I honestly believe I could ask you a question about absolutely anything, and you'd have enough thoughts on the matter to write a small book. It sounds exhausting."
Not really sure if Azula was complimenting him, debasing him, or both, Xisheng tried to deny the girl's claims. "Come now, that's an exaggeration..."
Azula cocked an eyebrow at him. "Stop me when I mention something you have nothing to say about at all: economics, the spirits, human nature, colors, social strata, equipment production, political theory, morality, the animal kingdom, anatomy, gender equality, physics, language-"
Xisheng couldn't help but cut the Princess short. "OK, OK, I get it! Yeah, you might have a point..."
"Indeed. Some of those things aren't even important. What could you possibly have to discuss at length about them?"
"Come on, Azula: you aren't the slightest bit curious why everyone in the world speaks the same language even though we have distinctly different cultures? Or how color names are totally arbitrary and you could teach a kid all the wrong names and his idea of 'red' would be 'blue' for everyone else? Why did the Moon spirit take the form of a fish? Is there a physical manifestation of a Sun spirit somewhere? How many people have to agree that something is morally right or wrong before it becomes accepted ethics? And-"
His young conversation partner cut Xisheng short with a raised hand. "Enough, Xisheng. I stand corrected. No, I really don't think about any of that, nor do I care to. Life is too short to dwell on things that have no effect on me, in my opinion."
Even though he had been stopped, Xisheng muttered something under his breath. "Well, some of that has an effect on you, technically..."
Maybe Azula didn't hear him, or she just didn't think it was worth calling out. Either way, she continued with her own piece. "Still... I suppose someone has to think so hard about literally everything. Perhaps you can become a prestigious philosopher one day. So long as you can keep your focus when it counts. Now, I think it's about time you got rid of that fireball in your hands. Your fingers are quivering."
Glancing down at his hands, Xisheng realized that Azula was right. He had been forcefully compressing his bending over the past several minutes of conversation, hardly noticing the strain while engrossed in their talk. Now that he was paying attention again, the soldier couldn't ignore the slight shaking of his fingertips as the exertion continued to press him.
Knowing full well that Azula would rather see the destructive power his bending rather than him allowing it to dissipate, Xisheng stepped up to the railing of the ship and launched the compressed fireball out to sea. It wasn't quite as impressive as Azula's demonstrations, no doubt due to the fact that the bending wasn't as focused as her own. The lance of flame was a little less concentrated and didn't cut through the air quite as cleanly, but it was still a relatively narrow spear of orange and yellow fire that blasted water and steam several feet into the air upon impact. Not too shabby for a technique he had only learned a short time ago.
Azula apparently felt the same way, based on her appraisal. "Not bad, not bad at all... a far cry from our results against that Earth Kingdom ship, but to be fair, half of that was me. Either way, I think it's safe to say that your level of control over powerful chi is close to where it needs to be for... well, for the other things I am thinking of teaching you."
Naturally, Xisheng was excited to hear this. Technically, Azula had yet to actually identify this powerful skill she had in mind to teach him. But he couldn't imagine what else it could be besides lightning. To think, he would become one of the few Firebenders in the entire world, heck, in all of history, to possess such a powerful and legendary skill. He could scarcely imagine it. Maybe his excitement was evident on his face, because Azula commented on it immediately.
"Now, don't get too ahead of yourself, Xisheng. There's more to this technique than being able to control and focus large amounts of chi. This is merely a precursor capability you must possess in order to even dream of the using the ultimate Firebending technique. That said... I can't imagine that you won't have what it takes. Take pride in that: I'm not easily impressed."
Truly feeling the weight of such praise and acknowledgment, Xisheng earnestly thanked Azula for her faith in him. "I appreciate your confidence in me, Azula. I will do everything in my power to meet your expectations."
At this, even the Crown Princess couldn't help but smile a bit. "I know you will. That's a large part of my assurance. That said, we can't start right away. It will have to wait until we are on land once again."
Xisheng merely cocked an eyebrow at this, which was question enough in and of itself. Azula clearly picked up on the implication of his gesture, because she explained things to him immediately.
"What I have to teach is one of the most closely guarded secrets in all of Firebending. Simply put, I will not speak of the intricacies of this technique while those I do not trust implicitly are in earshot. There is nowhere to go on this ship to ensure that there are no eavesdroppers at any point in time. It will have to wait until we can be certain that we are alone to practice."
Admittedly, Xisheng was a little disappointed that he would have to wait even longer after his hopes had been gotten up, but at the same time, he understood Azula's reasoning here. Besides, he was a little happy about what she had said about implicit trust and who was included in that fold.
"I understand, Princess. But until then...?"
"Until then, keep practicing your compressed Firebending. The greater degree of control you can muster, and over a greater amount of chi, the better prepared you will be for mastering lightning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to consult with the captain and see just how long we'll have to wait before making landfall."
Announcing her exit, Azula offered a slight wave along with it before taking her leave. Xisheng merely waved back, doing his best to rein in his excitement. It wouldn't do to waste all of that energy being giddy if it was going to be several more days before he was able to do anything with it.
---
The last few days of sailing to their destination were excruciatingly slow. They trudged by at a snail's pace, thanks to many factors. Aside from the typical monotony of traveling by sea, Xisheng's routine every day was practically identical. All it involved was sleeping, eating, and training. He'd wake up and eat whatever was being served to the rest of the crew, because even if Mai would tolerate cooking something in the later hours of the day, she was certainly not willing to get up early and do the same for breakfast.
Admittedly, going back to typical military rations after eating anything made personally by someone was kind of debilitating. Though he knew it was nowhere near the same as a married couple, Xisheng couldn't help but feel much happier eating something he knew was made with him in mind to some extent.
After that, he would assess the current situation on the ship, which was always the same: nothing out of the ordinary, with everything proceeding as planned. The only plus here was that Ty Lee would always be on the deck somewhere, going through some stretches in the light of the morning sun. Naturally, Xisheng took some time each morning to talk with her, but nothing of particular note was discussed on any of those days. Her wound was healing nicely, to the point that it hardly bothered her any longer. She always asked how his training was going and what he was writing about, but that was about it. Still, even though the conversations were merely casual exchanges, they were nice. The whole point of being comfortable with someone was that you didn't have to make every interaction something particularly deep or meaningful.
From then until lunch, Xisheng would continue training his compressed Firebending technique. For hours at a time, he would simply stand or sit around, and commit his time to trying to squeeze that sphere of flame smaller and smaller. With such focused commitment, he had made some more progress, being a mere hair's breadth from Azula benchmark. But at the same time, he'd discovered new problems with the whole thing.
It was difficult for him to focus so intently on just this one thing, especially when he had to do it everyday and the progress was so painstakingly minimal compared to his investments in time and effort. You had to focus so intently, with such dedication to the one singular goal, and Xisheng... wasn't really good at that. At all. Sure, he could focus on an important task, in a manner of speaking. But his focus always encompassed a dozen aspects of the situation at hand.
For instance, when they had fought Aang and his friends in Gaoling: his focus had been on the fight, but it had really been on many different aspects of it. What would the Avatar do next? Would Toph intervene? How were his allies faring? What would happen to the war effort if they won? What would happen to them if they lost? Should he strike high or feint low? All of this and more had constantly been on his mind while they were fighting.
This wide scope of awareness and forethought was helpful in many ways, particularly when it come to strategic planning and long-term prediction, but it was detrimental when you really needed precise, nigh unflinching focus on one singular thing. For instance, this compressed Firebending training. He needed to focus on one thing and one thing alone: the process of condensing his bending to a particular level. Everything else was irrelevant to his training.
But everything else still occurred to him anyway. Was there a better method to achieve the result he wanted? What if he couldn't do any better than this? Would Azula be disappointed in him? It wasn't just doubts either. Tactical applications, the value of this technique compared to others, how it could be applied to other aspects of his skill-set, how it could synergize with the abilities of his allies... even though he knew these tangential thoughts were impairing his progress, Xisheng couldn't prevent them from arising, nor could he completely stop himself from entertaining them. He just wasn't built that way. He was a thinker. He thought about everything, all the time, and he couldn't help himself.
Perhaps Azula had been right about this aspect of him being a liability as well as a boon.
While he certainly wasn't able to train with maximum efficiency due to this reality, it wasn't like Xisheng wasn't progressing at all, so at least he avoided the despair that an absolute skill plateau would have caused him. When lunch rolled around, he took a break and partook in it, then allowed his body to rest from its fairly intense chi exertions by getting more chi blocking tutelage from Ty Lee. Mostly theoretical aspects of the skill, considering their limited training space.
Azula would inquire about his Firebending progress and focus on direct tutelage for a few hours, then Xisheng spent what was left of the evening writing in his newly minted journal until dinner, after which he spoke to Mai for a time if she felt like talking, or retired for the night if she didn't.
All in all, the days were hardly bad by any stretch: but with an eagerness to finally get to land, not only for a change of pace but also to potentially learn one of the most legendary Firebending techniques of all time, Xisheng was utterly exasperated with how slow they passed. Heck, by the fourth day, he was mindlessly staring out to sea in the early hours of the morning, having stopped near the ship railing before even getting to the spot on the deck Ty Lee was usually doing her thing.
He wasn't really staring at anything. Just the great beyond, as the encompassing feeling of dreadful boredom and lacking motivation encompassed him from seemingly nowhere. Perhaps he had just been keeping it contained over the past few days. Damn, was this what Mai felt like when she was bored? No wonder she was willing to try almost anything to get a break from it.
For a moment, Xisheng pondered whether or not he really wanted to repeat the same routine again today. Obviously, the answer was no, but ultimately, that didn't mean he wouldn't. A big part of discipline was pushing yourself to do things you didn't want to just because you knew you needed to. Still, it was difficult to muster up the motivation...
Before he could possibly talk himself out of the whole ordeal, Xisheng's thoughts were interrupted by a clanging bell echoing through the communication pipes. For a moment, he was worried about its meaning, but it wasn't as urgent of a tempo compared to how the bell was used when something was actually wrong. This seemed more like something that was just used to get the crew's attention.
"Attention all crew, land ahead! Prepare to bring the vessel to shore."
Some other instructions were mentioned after this, but Xisheng didn't hear them. He was too busy getting excited over the news itself.
"Thank you, finally!"
"Tell me about it!"
Apparently, the soldier was so happy that he hadn't even noticed that he'd said that aloud. He did, however, recognize the voice of Ty Lee, who was walking up to the front of the ship where he was standing. Maybe she was coming up here to try and see the supposed land they were approaching. Either way, she continued her sentiment without pause.
"I can't wait to be off of this thing! I mean, it wasn't all bad with the captain's medicine, but I'll be much happier with solid ground underneath me again."
Xisheng smiled in understanding. "Sounds like something an Earthbender would say as opposed to the two of us. But I don't disagree. You don't realize how small a ship like this really is until it's all you have to look at for a week or two."
Now standing beside him near the ship's front railing, Ty Lee leaned over it a bit to peer out to sea. "That's way too true. But you know, I don't really see anything out there..."
Xisheng followed the girl's hazel gaze out to sea, noting that he also couldn't see anything that resembled land. "Well, the guys on the bridge have telescopes. I'm sure it will be a bit before we can see what they're seeing. But as long as someone sees it, that's good enough for me."
While she'd been happy for a moment, Ty Lee's face fell for some reason not long after Xisheng said this. "Yeah..."
Naturally, the soldier in question didn't miss this. "Something wrong? I can't imagine what part of finally landing would make you feel bad."
His comrade's expression grew a little sad. "Well, it's just that getting back on land means getting on track to more fighting, right? Other than that scary run-in with the enemy ship, this voyage was peaceful and relaxing, if a little boring. I kind of liked knowing that there wasn't much fighting to expect while we were riding this thing."
He hadn't thought of it that way yet, but Xisheng supposed that Ty Lee had a point. The encounter with the Earth Kingdom Navy had been a totally unexpected development. Aside from that, they had spent most of this leg of the trip feeling at ease and not expecting to engage with any danger. Something about that was kind of nice. Once they were on land again, they would surely be wasting little time in proceeding towards Ba Sing Se, which was expected to be one of the fiercest battles the war had seen in years.
Sure, they were technically riding this boat to move towards Ba Sing Se in the first place, but since it was just a transition period between ground travel, it had been easy to compartmentalize and ignore that aspect of the journey. That would be hard to do once they were on the ground again, since they would inevitably lay eyes on the giant walls of Ba Sing Se eventually.
"I get what you mean. But don't worry about it too much, Ty Lee. There's no way you'll be expected to fight at Ba Sing Se. That's a job that will be left up to soldiers like me."
While he thought this would be reassuring, Ty Lee's expression made it clear that it didn't ease her nerves at all. "Exactly. I don't feel better knowing that you're going to be in danger even if I'm safe."
Even now, Xisheng wondered how such sentiments slipped by his awareness sometimes. Of course it made sense that his friends would worry about him fighting a major battle. That only made sense. Maybe he always overlooked that because he took his participation in combat as a given. That was his job, after all.
"Well... maybe it won't be directly on the frontlines. Unless she relinquishes me to another commander, I'll still be answering directly to Azula at Ba Sing Se, and I doubt she'll be leading a charge right on the frontlines. Though I also doubt she'll sit back and choose not to participate at all..."
"I hope she does. A Princess should command from the rear, right? At least then we'll all be safe..."
Noticing the wishful look on her face, Xisheng refrained from saying what he was thinking. He didn't just doubt that Azula would sit out of the fight, he knew that she wouldn't. She just wasn't that type of person. They would fight in the battle, it was just a matter of how. Still, maybe it was possible she would leave Mai and Ty Lee out of it. They weren't soldiers, or any form of representative of the Fire Nation military. It would make sense to leave them out of an official engagement.
Xisheng's silence must not have been lost on Ty Lee, as she clearly picked up on his deeper thoughts, to some extent. While it could only have been a guess, she did a good job at nailing what he was thinking about. "Well, that's probably wishful thinking since we're talking about Azula. But I guess it'll be better if we get to fight together as a group. At least then I can protect you."
Ty Lee gave him a beaming smile at this, which caught Xisheng off guard. He hadn't expected her to carry such a sentiment, at least not specifically in regard to him. He couldn't help but smile back. "Hold on now, it would be even better if you didn't have to protect me. Hopefully I can take care of myself."
His partner cocked an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you the one who always talks about how no one person can be ready for everything on the battlefield?"
"Well, yes... but still, that doesn't mean I can't try to ensure none of you have to risk yourself to cover me."
"I guess that's fair... even so, you always protect us in fights so well. I'd like to be able to return the favor to you one of these days..."
While the sentiment was sweet, Xisheng couldn't help but frown at its mention. Prior to now, most of their combats had been fairly tame. Sure, Katara had actually gone for a killing blow in their most recent conflict, but that was about the only time their fighting had escalated to that level during their journey. At Ba Sing Se, it would be a full-blown military operation. Soldiers fighting soldiers, doing their best to kill each other at every opportunity. If there was a moment when Xisheng was in danger and needed to be protected... it was likely that protection would necessitate killing his attacker. Frankly, he didn't think Ty Lee was ready for that kind of thing. And if she somehow managed to bring herself to do it in the heat of the moment... he didn't even want to think about what that would do to her.
But he certainly wasn't going to say any of this to her. These concerns were valid, but there was no point in burdening Ty Lee with these thoughts long before they would be relevant. It would be far better to end this on a good note as they moved towards the next leg of their journey.
"I'll be glad to have you at my side regardless. I'll do my best to protect you too."
Ty Lee smiled at him, clearly happy to know he trusted her. Xisheng smiled back, doing his best to hide his dire thoughts for the near future.
---
Though they hadn't been able to see the shore when it was first announced that they were near it, it only took about an hour to make landfall after said announcement. The place they landed was nothing special: the foot of some cliffs that led up to the edge of a forest, with nothing of note present in the vicinity. Quite frankly, it seemed like they had decided to land at the very first point they had been able to lay eyes on.
Then again, Xisheng wasn't particularly surprised by this. For one, he certainly hadn't expected a Fire Nation base to be out here, as it was far too deep in EK territory. Secondly, there wasn't much of actual value out here as far as cities were concerned, and that meant few landmarks were marked on maps either. Oddly enough, the land to the Southeast of Ba Sing Se was mostly uninhabited, save for scattered, small villages. Maybe that made sense, since the Earth Kingdom hadn't been in much of a position to expand over the past hundred years or so.
Point being, they were far away from any other signs of civilization, which raised an important question: where were they going to go from here, and how? Certainly, the nearest Fire Nation base had to be several days of travel away, and that was if they had a vehicle like the Overlord available to them. Needless to say, the small boat that had ferried them here had been unable to bring along anything of that size. There just wasn't any cargo space for something like that.
That said, if they had to walk to the nearest Fire Nation outpost, which was probably quite far to the west of Ba Sing Se, they'd be on the road for weeks, if not months. Surely that wasn't the plan. At the moment, Xisheng didn't know how they were going to tackle this problem, but he was fairly confident Azula or someone in this outfit had a plan to get around it. After all, surely the Princess had considered this problem long before they had ever set sail in the first place.
Still, he was curious to know what the exact solution would be. Right now, the crew of the small tug was just finishing up with camp: after some time at sea, no one was going to frown on the chance to sleep on solid ground for as long as they had to be here. Considering the crew was only about fifteen men, said camp consisted of little more than a few tents and a patch of dirt carved away to make space for a campfire, but anything felt pretty good after sleeping on a rocking boat.
Placing down a crate of some food that he had helped carry to their new campsite, Xisheng glanced around to see where everyone was, or more specifically, where Azula was. He figured the best thing to do was just ask her about their next step. Thankfully, with a small camp and a small number of people around, it wasn't particularly hard to do that: off to the side, away from the bustling hands of the rest of the crew, Azula stood talking with the Captain, along with another of the men, who was currently tending to a large red-feathered bird of some sort. Xisheng wasted no time in moving towards them, so it didn't take long to pick up on their discussion.
"Do you know how long this is going to take?"
That question was asked by Azula, directly to the crew member with the large bird, which looked like some sort of hawk. Xisheng recognized it as one of the common messenger birds often used by the Fire Nation military, but off the top of his head, he didn't actually know what species it was. The man in question looked a little nervous to have the Princess speaking directly to him, but to his credit, he kept it together pretty well.
"I'm afraid I can't say with exact certainty, Princess. There are many factors that could impact the time frame in question, such as weather and hunting for food, but... I estimate it should only take about three or four days."
"In its entirety, or just to get there?"
Perhaps seeing a followup question as a sign of unhappiness, the sailor balked a little, but he ultimately reclaimed his nerve. "T-that's just for the bird to reach its destination, your Highness. I can't speak for how quickly the unit it reaches will respond..."
Azula looked a little miffed to hear that, but seemingly understood that the person in front of her couldn't be held accountable for what other people somewhere far away did or didn't do. She noticed Xisheng approaching them before she could respond directly to the statement made by the sailor.
"Ah, Lieutenant. I assume you are here to be appraised of the situation?"
"Yes, Princess."
The young girl motioned at the red-feathered bird not far from her. Said creature was remarkably well-mannered and quiet, though that was to be expected of any animal trained for military use.
"Well, as you can see, there's nothing of note around here, and as I'm sure you know, we are quite far to the southeast of Ba Sing Se. Wherever the nearest Fire Nation outpost is, it is undoubtedly somewhere to the west of Ba Sing Se, quite some distance from us. Needless to say, walking is not an option. Fortunately, we have a means of long-distance communication with us, since this problem was fairly easily to predict from the outset of this journey."
Xisheng glanced at the bird the sailor next to the Captain was holding as Azula continued. "This creature will make its way to the nearest possible Fire Nation outpost, relay our message, then guide a detachment with suitable transport back to our location. At least, that is how I believe this works."
Azula glanced at the sailor with the bird again, though the Captain spoke for him this time. "That is correct, your Highness. Not to worry, the hawks of the Fire Nation are some of the best trained messenger birds in the world. We'll have transport for you and your allies in no time."
Honestly, Xisheng was curious to know how that all worked. How did the bird know to fly west? What was stopping it from going east, or even straight north to Ba Sing Se? And even if Azula and company didn't move from this very spot, would it really be able to fly several dozen miles away, then fly back to this exact destination? That sounded kind of crazy.
Then again, he didn't know what these birds were capable of or what their training was like. There were some pretty amazing animals out there: you had mountable reptiles that could run over water, buffalo that could fly, and according to one story he had heard, some sort of shrew thing that could allegedly track a scent anywhere around the world. It wasn't too far-fetched to think that a bird had really good navigational ability.
"Sounds quite impressive. I suppose that means we'll be staying out here for at least a week?"
"So it would seem. Admittedly, I'd prefer to be on my way sooner than that, but I understand that there's nothing to be done about it. You and I will have some things to attend to during that time, but for today, you may relax. There is little for any of us to do other than wait."
Since he had been given express permission to do so, Xisheng bowed before turning to take his leave. Admittedly, it was a little weird to be ordered to relax right after landing, but he supposed Azula had a point in saying there was nothing else to do. Setting up camp for such a small contingent of people was already over and done with. Considering they were practically in the middle of nowhere, there was effectively no need for a patrol either. It would be prudent to have a sentry just in case, but that job would probably fall to someone else.
As for training with lightning... well, originally Xisheng had assumed that Azula wouldn't do that until their group had separated from the ship crew. But now that they were going to be with them for some time still, perhaps the Princess didn't want to wait so long. They'd probably just remove themselves significantly from the camp to train when that time came. Xisheng couldn't imagine what else Azula could have meant when she said they would have some things to attend to. It made sense anyway: Azula wasn't one to let an entire week go by without anything meaningful being achieved.
As for relaxing for the rest of the evening, that wasn't terribly hard to do: with everyone happy to be on land again, the crew broke out 'the good stuff' though it didn't really mean much more than a keg of barely passable alcohol and some rations that weren't the kind intended to last for six months. A far cry from a truly great meal, but it probably seemed great for the average enlisted trooper.
Someone started a campfire, and crates, suitable stumps, or simply clean patches of grass became everyone's seats. The light revelry began soon after, since there was almost no concern of being seen or heard out here. Even though that was the case, Xisheng didn't partake in any of the drinking: for one, he didn't see the appeal in it, himself. He preferred to remain in full control of his mental and physical faculties at all times. Two, he had seen what became of a drunk man when he got ambushed. Surviving a surprise attack was hard enough when you weren't wasted. You were either doomed yourself or putting a great burden on your allies if you weren't even in full control of yourself when an attack happened.
Sure, Xisheng highly doubted that they would face any danger out here in the wilderness, but that was what he had thought about the open ocean as well, and they had almost been killed out there. He'd prefer to play it safe. As for everyone else, the young soldier admitted that he was pretty curious about what they would do. Mai and Ty Lee were technically allowed to drink if they wanted to, by the most common Fire Nation laws. Azula technically couldn't, but she was the Crown Princess. It wasn't like anyone could stop her if she wanted to do it. That said, Xisheng couldn't imagine that either Mai or Azula would be able to stomach the cheap swill being passed around right now. Ty Lee, maybe, but that was only because Xisheng had no clue what she may have actually gotten up to in her circus days.
So far though, he hadn't seen any of the girls drinking. Ty Lee had been persuaded to put on a little bit of an acrobatics show by the eager crew: something she seemed to be having a lot of fun with, if the smile illuminated by the campfire were any indication. Ordinarily, Xisheng would be a little concerned about a young girl putting on a physical performance for a crew full of slightly intoxicated men with little female interaction. Not to say that all soldiers were degenerates, but he knew how taxing it could be on one's restraint when you ended up stationed at a base with no women for months on end. There were women in the military now, but Xisheng hadn't seen any at the outpost before they left.
But he trusted these guys, for the most part. Aside from the fact that their cheering and clapping and weirdly innocent praise for Ty Lee's performance didn't put off any bad vibes, Ty Lee herself seemed to trust them. By the way she'd talked during the sailing trip, she thought well of the crew. Based on a few things he'd heard in passing from the crew members themselves, it seemed they saw Ty Lee in a sisterly way more than anything else. Or maybe like a mascot. Either way, Ty Lee was a good judge of character most of the time, so Xisheng wasn't worried if she wasn't.
Besides, it wasn't like anyone could get away with much considering the situation. If Ty Lee didn't drop an assailant herself, said assailant would have to worry about her friends that would almost definitely be within thirty feet of her for most of this camping trip.
As for the other girls, it was difficult to pick Azula out in the darkness that had fallen over the wilderness, but a quick glance at the tents made it seem like she had retreated to the one she had claimed for herself. At least, her empty boots outside the entrance indicated as much.
Xisheng couldn't find similar signs of Mai hiding out in one of the tents, but he couldn't spot her anywhere around the campfire either. Well, that was no great surprise: she probably wasn't the type to care for all of the hooping and hollering going on right now. Still, after making a few glances around the immediate area, he was just slightly worried about her location. It was quite dark away from the fire, and unless someone had lit a torch for her, which he hadn't seen happen, it wasn't too far-fetched to imagine that she had tripped out in the dark somewhere. And with all this noise going on, they probably wouldn't hear her calling for help.
OK, so maybe that was all a bit paranoid and extreme, but Xisheng was thinking about it now, and it wasn't like he had anything better to do. So he rose from the dry stump he was sitting on, which caught Ty Lee's eye in the middle of one of her handstands. Answering her quizzical expression with a gesture of his own, Xisheng made it obvious that he was just walking away for a bit. The brunette seemed to get his message readily enough, as she simply smiled and waved as he made his exit: he wasn't sure if the chorus of cheers from the crew was them teasing her over that direct interaction, or just them being impressed that she didn't even need that second hand to hold herself up.
Leaving those sounds behind, it quickly grew quite dark for Xisheng, with the cloak of night before him and the firelight some way behind his back. He had half a mind to light a flame of his own to see, but on second thought, he elected not to. A firelight would illuminate his immediate surroundings, but make it very hard to see beyond that. He'd be better off waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark: there were enough stars in the sky, along with a half moon, to illuminate the wilderness well enough.
After standing around for a minute or two, Xisheng was able to see in the dark much better, though it didn't initially help him with his search. He didn't see Mai anywhere in the immediate vicinity, at least not in the direction of the forest. He couldn't imagine that she would have wandered so far as to not be able to see the light of the camp, since Xisheng knew for certain that she wasn't that reckless. Still, he supposed she could have been reclining against a tree at an angle that was impossible for him to see.
Before committing to searching the forest, the young soldier perused the opposite direction, which mostly involved the cliffs that overlooked the ocean. It was grassy enough at the top of them, and there were a few rocks suitable for reclining against, so it wasn't totally out of the question that she would be around there...
Wondering how long it would be reasonable to search before becoming legitimately worried, Xisheng was not initially met with success as he searched in this direction with a sweeping gaze. However, upon a return inspection, he fared better: one would think that Mai's extremely dark hair would make it difficult to see her in the dark, but oddly enough, it was quite the opposite. The blackness actually stood out against the background, an inky dark spot that broke up the consistency of the sky and stars beyond. Maybe the relatively brightly lit sea helped with that.
Either way, Xisheng took a moment to wonder if he should bother the girl considering that she had clearly elected to be alone in the first place. But ultimately, he decided there was no harm in approaching. If she expressed a desire to be alone, he'd stop harrying her immediately.
With that thought in mind, the young Firebender approached quietly, not because he was trying to, but because the soft grass under his feet muffled his footsteps. It only took a few moments to come up behind Mai, who was reclining against an outcropping of rock and gazing out towards the ocean.
"I see our sailing trip has awakened you to the beauty of the open ocean, Mai."
Xisheng was a little worried that his sudden appearance would startle Mai, but she seemed perfectly calm as she glanced over her shoulder at him. Perhaps she had heard him coming, or she just wasn't prone to jump. Whichever the case, she replied to him immediately.
"You say that like it's terribly hard to see the open ocean in the Fire Nation. I have seen it before, you know. Honestly, the view is hardly any different here than it is anywhere else."
Turning her gaze back to said ocean, Mai smiled just slightly. "Still, I guess I didn't bother to just sit and stare at it for very long before. I'll admit, it has some charm once you stop to appreciate it. Particularly at night."
Following her gaze out to sea, Xisheng took note of the view. The water was quite clear, but in the darkness it was easy to see the bright reflections of the moon and stars, distorted only by the rhythmic passing of waves, the light sloshing of which could be heard even from up here. Indeed, it was even more amazing at night.
"I can't disagree with you there. For all of the drawbacks of being a solely island nation, I've always appreciated the Fire Nation's shores. Nice views, relaxing sounds, ocean-scented breezes: it's a nice plus. Kind of weird that a bunch of Firebenders have such a close societal relationship with water..."
Mai didn't say anything back to this immediately, prompting Xisheng to recall his earlier concern. "Anyway, I didn't mean to bother you, if you want to be alone. I just wanted to make sure you were alright out here. I'll return to the others, then..."
Xisheng didn't even get very far in turning around before Mai stopped him. "You don't have to leave if you don't want to. I mean, I did kind of want to be alone, but mostly just because everyone is so loud over there. I don't mind company, if it's you."
Admittedly quite happy to hear this, Xisheng took a seat next to Mai. The outcropping of rock she was leaning against was big enough for both of them, but that was fine. He had spent plenty of time in his life sitting without back support.
"High praise: I'm starting to wonder if anyone else receives such privilege from you."
The girl next to him picked up on his jesting tone without issue. "Probably not. I don't really consider you a person in that sense."
Needless to say, this exact phrasing threw Xisheng off, though he didn't immediately jump to conclusions since he figured Mai would extrapolate. Still, he did offer the young woman a confused expression, which didn't go unnoticed. Mai grimaced slightly upon acknowledging how her words had sounded.
"Yeah, I guess that probably sounds incredibly harsh... I don't really mean it in a bad way. I'm not quite sure how to put this, since I've never really had to explain it before... does dealing with people ever exhaust you, Gohan?"
Xisheng pondered his answer for a moment. "There's certainly people that exasperate me when I have to deal with them. But 'exhaust'? I don't know. Depends on what exactly you mean by that."
Mai glanced up at the stars as she internally questioned how to explain something that sometimes felt unique to her. At the very least, no one had ever expressed a similar sentiment to her directly.
"Well... I don't know, imagine it like the Overlord's engine. Throughout the day, being around people and interacting with them, it's kind of like putting coal in the engine. It's draining. And limited. If you keep shoveling coal in there, eventually you run out, and the engine doesn't burn anymore. I've got some coal every day, but when it runs out, I don't want to be around people anymore. I need time to myself, time to 'stock up' on more coal before I can tolerate being around others again. Pretty much everyone takes some coal to be around: strangers, my parents, Ty Lee and Azula... it's just a matter of how much they take."
Admittedly, Xisheng didn't really understand this line of reasoning, at least not as far as sympathy was concerned. Sure, he understood what Mai was saying: many introverted people needed time to themselves away from others on a regular basis in order to function normally. But he wasn't such a person himself. He liked having time to himself, but he didn't strictly require it. So, he understood the sentiment, he just couldn't sympathize with it personally. He didn't get to comment on this though, since Mai had to finish her thought.
"Then there's you... being around you doesn't seem to take any 'coal'. You don't even bother me when I'm already at the point where I don't want to be around anyone else. That's what I meant when I said you don't really count as a person in that sense. Unlike literally everyone else, I don't mind having you around at any time: it doesn't feel any different from being alone. I never really acknowledged it before, but that really does make you..."
Perhaps realizing where she was going with this before she actually spoke, Mai petered off, a somewhat bashful look on her face. Still, the word 'special' wasn't hard to pick up on even in the silence. Truly, now that she thought about it, Mai admitted that the whole thing was quite unique. Obviously her parents had always been the type of people to drain her, what with all of their demands on how she should act. She got along with Ty Lee and Azula, but even then, there was enough personality friction in some spots to make them a drain as well: just not a terribly taxing one. Even back when she and Zuko had been close, there had come a point every day when she'd prefer to be away from him for a time. He would occasionally get too loud, too ardently fervent about some lofty ideal, or just a little too whiny about life's travails. She hadn't held it against him, but he had fallen into the category of 'draining' just like everyone else, even if it hadn't been very severe.
What was it about Gohan that set him apart from all of those people? Apart from literally everyone else she had interacted with throughout life? Well, maybe it wasn't that hard to figure out: he understood her. He knew what got on her nerves and was always mindful to avoid those things. He never pressured her into anything, no matter how minor. He didn't try and force her to express herself if she didn't want to, didn't try and force her to have opinions about any particular thing, didn't try to force her to care about stuff that was only important to him. Granted, there were other people in her life who had never done those things, but those people had always expressed some sort of disappointment in her for failure to do them on her own.
Gohan not only didn't pressure her into anything, but it also wasn't a matter of him just pretending he was unbothered. He well and truly was perfectly accepting of how Mai was. He was fine with the way she acted, spoke, and thought at all times. Even if he didn't agree with something she said or did, he never actually condemned it on its own merits. There was never some backhanded remark about her being grim, or some passive aggressive comment about never smiling, or an accusatory assertion that she wasn't feminine enough. Everyone else in her life had, at least once, asserted that she would be 'better' if she changed in some way, but Gohan never did. Mai felt that he was perfectly content with her as she was, that he never looked at her and thought she was inferior to some 'better future self'. And thus, she was perfectly content around him.
It seemed that he really was quite special.
Perhaps misunderstanding the silence, or perhaps just feeling that it would be better to avoid a long silence at all, Xisheng spoke up. "Well, I'll admit, it sounds a lot better when you word it like that. I'm glad I manage to not tick you off even when everyone else does."
Admittedly, Xisheng somewhat doubted the absolute validity of Mai's words. After all, not very long ago at all she had been going to great lengths to avoid him. But then again, it was possible that this and that weren't the same. Maybe her motivations for avoiding him back then were wholly separate from this. Maybe, odd though it was to believe, the problem really had been her, and not him. Well, everyone needed some time to themselves to work things out occasionally. Either way, Xisheng wasn't going to express such thoughts. No need to ruin a good thing.
"And can I just say how amusing it is that the Overlord left such an impact on you, to the extent that you'd even turn to it for an analogy? And here I thought you didn't miss it at all."
Admittedly glad for a lighthearted diversion from their previous topic, Mai rolled her eyes. "It was a fitting analogy, alright? Don't look too far into it. It was still a bitch to sit in that chair."
"Come on, wouldn't you want to drive it just one more time? Maybe shoot some harpoons at a boulder for old times' sake?"
"Yeah, yeah... maybe just one more time."
For better or for worse, the rest of the night was spent with little focus on matters of intense import. Perhaps that wasn't a great use of anyone's time, but at the very least, it was relaxing, and no one was displeased with carrying on as they always did. Even so, there was no denying that new thoughts had taken root in a few minds, to be pondered in perpetuity, or until they would one day no longer be needed.