masterghandalf

MG’S NOTE: Very sorry for the post going up later than normal; holiday delays!

This is a repost from Das_Sporking2; previous installments of this sporking may be found here.



MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Vathara’s Embers! Last time, Jet showed up again, Zuko sparred with the Dai Li, fought a spirit, and we got some of Vathara’s favorite topic, bashing of the Ocean Spirit’s actions at the Siege of the North, yaaaay. Today, we get more of Shirong making friends with Zuko and Iroh… but first, it’s time to see Toph again for the first time in a while, and for the first time see Vathara’s take on her POV (the rest of the Gaang will have to wait a bit longer)! As such, joining us today will be Toph herself, along with Zuko! But first, we have a brief AN.

A/N: NaNoWriMo eats your soul. I have a limited number of chapters worked out and beta'd at the moment, so I'm posting them slowly. That way, you'll have at least one new chapter for each week of the write-til-you-drop time!

MG: *shrugs* This was more than a decade ago now, so it doesn’t’ really affect us, but good on Vathara for figuring out how to keep to her schedule, at least?

Yes, Zuko knows darn well the Fire Navy was Up To No Good at the North Pole.

MG: Could’ve fooled us…

Technically, Min was perfectly correct about the Water Tribe defending themselves.

MG: …that “technically” is doing a lot of work there, Vathara. The Fire Nation attacked the Northern Water Tribe, intended to sack and conquer their city as part of their broader war of imperialism, and Zhao meant to kill one of their deities. They were defending themselves, no “technically” about it.

However. Zuko loves his people very much. And displacing your anger onto someone else is a very human reaction when you yourself feel horribly guilty. Which Zuko does. After all, if it weren't for one masked marauder getting in the way of Zhao's plans, Aang never would have gotten to the North Pole, would he?

MG: Which would make for a perfectly valid excuse. Except that Shirong, who wasn’t there, is presented as being horrified by Aang’s actions and instinctively sides with Zuko on this. Other characters who weren’t there will almost always instinctively side with Zuko on this if we’re meant to like them. Iroh, who was there, watched Koizilla form and didn’t seem to have a problem with it, after directly attacking Zhao himself for killing the Moon Spirit, will also end up siding with Zuko on this. As we’ll later learn, Koizilla was supposedly a very spiritually dangerous thing that never should have happened at all and had disastrous consequences for everyone when it did. So, uh… the author doth protest too much, methinks. You can’t really claim a character’s perspective is unreliable when everyone else, and the narrative itself agrees with that character!

And for everybody who wants to see the Gaang... we're getting there.

MG: Yep; like I said, Toph this time, the rest a few chapters down the line.

Chapter Sixteen

Never. Letting Katara. Drag me out for girl stuff. Again.

Still smarting from those horrible girls the other day, Toph stalked down into the better end of the Outer Ring,

Toph: Hey, Katara and I ended up dumping those girls into a river and, can’t lie, that felt pretty good.

MG: Something I’ve also got to note here is that, in canon, Toph initially didn’t want to join Katara for the girls’ day out, but ended up having fun in spite of herself and she and Katara got to bond a bit. In Embers, nope, Toph just hated it the whole way through. Because spirits forbid Katara could’ve had a good idea, right?

Beware the Sugar Queen: 7

on the hunt for truth in a city built on lies.

MG: …okay, that’s a pretty good line. A pity Vathara is increasingly obviously fond of a lot of the people doing the lying…

And hoped she'd know it when she felt it.

"I'm looking for stonework," she'd told the Joo Dee currently watching over them when she left. "Buildings, carvings, fountains… I'll know it when I feel it," she said impatiently when the creepy smiling woman tried to interrupt. "The Avatar's got to have the best earthbending training. I can't just sit back and teach Aang everything I know. I've got to keep looking. See if there's a technique I don't know."

Toph: Okay, sure, studying interesting stonework, good for earthbending, I get that. What I don’t get is why I’d think the Dai Li are going to be happy to let me go poking around all the stonework in their big perfect city where I might run into a whole bunch of things they don’t want me to know.

All of which was true. None of which had kept the woman and her Dai Li friends from following anyway. Which suited Toph just fine.

I am the greatest earthbender in the world. We'll see who out-stubborns who.

Toph: I mean, I am the greatest earthbender in the world but that’s just more reason to the Dai Li to not let me wander around their city.

So here she was, hours later, walking down into the cool of a stone-carver's establishment. Reaching out with her bending, Toph felt marble, agates, quartz… and jade. All right!

"Can we help you, Miss?"

"You may," Toph nodded to the owner, and held up one of the ornaments she and Katara had used to crash that awful party. It'd been tricky, getting straight answers at moments she'd be pretty sure she wouldn't be overheard. "I'd like to talk with Luli."

MG: Okay, so yes, Toph looking for interesting stonework for earthbending training makes sense; Toph using that as a cover to try and sus out some of Ba Sing Se’s secrets also makes sense (with the caveats noted above). But when it leads Toph directly to some of Vathara’s OCs out of literally every stone caver in the capital of the Earth Kingdom (Luli, if you’ll recall, is Huojin’s wife) that has to raise my eyebrow a little. Maybe if it was another author from a fic I was less critical of I’d let it slide, and maybe I’m being too hard on Vathara here, but even so, this feels a little… contrived to me.

"It doesn't look as though it needs repair… are you looking for a match?"

"I'm looking for a carver," Toph said impatiently. "She did something interesting with the flaw in this jade, and I want to pick her brains."

"There's no flaw in that jade-"

"There's no flaw you can see," Toph said pointedly. "Believe me, I can feel it. But she made the piece work with it. I want to know how." She drew up her best highborn manners, and folded her arms. "You'll both be paid for your time."

"…Right this way, ma'am."

Toph: So Vathara has me hating spending time with Katara, but casually slipping into the fancy manners I ran away from home to get away from? *remembers the rest of the fic* Okay, that actually make’s sense.

Eel's-bed apartment design, Toph recognized, following the owner through the shop, into his family's living quarters, and out into a garden full of kids giggling and studying lessons between patches of green-smelling things. Her feet told her walls ahead formed the mirror image of the building she'd just left; the garden was the center of a whole block, with shops fronting the streets and dwellings sandwiched safely between.

MG: I do like the attention Vathara pays to Toph’s senses and her sightless perception of the world, I have to say.

Scared people. I don't like this city. At all.

Zuko: …yeah, and Vathara’s having me get all buddy-buddy with some of the people responsible for that, so I’m kind of getting mixed messages here!

Katara and Sokka and Aang might need the break, after being chased across half the planet. She hadn't been, and she'd joined up with their wild bunch for adventure. Tromping across new patches of ground. Bending rocks she'd never felt before against real bad guys, not just opponents in the ring. And yes, even marching blind and thirsty across deserts, not knowing if she'd make it out alive. Her parents had bundled her up like a blind china doll, and she wanted out.

Toph: Yeah, all that’s true, and I also wanted to teach Aang earthbending so we could beat the Fire Lord and save the world… and because him and Sugar Queen and Snoozles were the first real friends I ever had. But I bet Vathara doesn’t like that, because I guess she likes me and doesn’t like them? And trust me, it wasn’t exactly a break when we were in Ba Sing Se.

And what had Aang done? Dropped them into a city under siege, a city where nobody would listen to them.

Zuko: Ba Sing Se wasn’t under siege, though? The last time it was besieged was when Uncle did it, and that was over for years by this point. Azula and War Minister Qin tried to take the city with the Drill, and failed, but that was an assault, not a siege. Not the same thing. And people were still able to get in and out.

And now he was just waiting, hoping to find Appa and get the Earth King to actually read his petition, when you didn't need eyes to see that Long Feng was the guy in charge and he didn't want a damn thing to do with any invasion plans.

Toph: …yeah. We knew that. Because Long Feng made it real clear what was going on and who was really calling the shots, and that it wasn’t the king. We weren’t just sitting around waiting for the Earth King to notice us, we were sitting around because Long Feng had Appa and was holding him hostage for Aang’s, and our, good behavior. And when we finally did get a lead on Appa, we busted him out (okay, someone else did the actual busting out part *she nods at Zuko* but you know what I mean) and as soon as he was safe we broke into the palace to tell the king the truth and knock Long Feng out of power! What, did Vathara think that even after Long Feng took us aside and monologued at us and threatened Appa and replaced Joo Dee with a different woman who also said she was Joo Dee that we just thought everything was normal and dandy? Come on!!

He Has Much to Learn: 22

Avatar or not, Aang was an airbender. He'd do just about anything rather than hit a problem head-on.

Toph: Okay, that’s fair enough, but it’s also not what was going on here! And you know what we did the moment we had Appa back? We hit the palace dead on! Ring any bells?

He Has Much to Learn: 23

And I don't know what's the best thing to do yet, Toph admitted to herself, placing feet precisely on gravel. I could bust some heads, but if the others aren't right behind me, what's that going to solve? And Aang's not going anywhere without Appa.

Toph: Because the big furball is his oldest friend, the only person or creature he has left from the Southern Air Temple (Momo doesn’t count, Aang only found him after he got out of the iceberg, Sokka filled me in on that one) and, oh yeah, the only way we had of traveling around the world in a reasonable time. He was kind of important.

There had to be a way out of this. She just had to figure out who to bury in rocks to find it.

Toph: I mean, I knew who I wanted to bury – Long Feng. And a bunch of other Dai Li guys too, but mostly him. It was getting ourselves lined up to do that that was the problem.

"Luli!" the owner said brightly, as they approached an oasis of relatively calm youngsters. And shade, Toph recognized, feeling the sudden coolness in the air. "This young lady would like to ask you questions about stone-carving." From the shift of his feet, he was gleefully rubbing fingers together to indicate coins.

Idiot. I'm blind, not a moron.

Zuko: And is it really that surprising that a merchant is hoping to make some money? Isn’t that what they do?

"I am Toph Bei Fong, of the Bei Fong family," Toph said with her best society attitude, coupled with the practical touch of one merchant dealing with another.

MG: You know, there was some discussion in the comments on my earlier readthrough about whether it made sense for the Beifongs to be merchants or not; there’s a throwaway line in the Kyoshi novels, iirc, that suggests they first made their fortune as bankers, but I don’t think there’s much indication of what they do in the present beyond “being very wealthy” (some of the comments suggested that they’re probably primarily landowners, which considering the sorts of social and economic dynamics the Earth Kingdom seems to have, I think makes sense). In any case I kind of feel like dealing with small-scale, big-city shopkeepers directly is probably below their pay grade, though that’s admittedly a nitpick.

"I have specific questions in regard to the carving on this piece." She held up the hairpin. "I think this will take at least a half an hour of your time."

Toph felt the owner's face fall, as the busybody realized he couldn't be away from the storefront that long. Hid a smirk, as he stuttered something meant to be obsequiously polite and hurried off. Waited until his footsteps thumped away, and grinned at Luli. "Is he always that bad?"

Luli giggled, and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Sometimes? He's worse." She whistled, and four sets of younger feet scampered in from various parts of the garden. "Toph Bei Fong, these are my daughters, Lim and Daiyu…."

"Hi," from someone about her age, and "Eep!" from a girl a few years younger-

"Are you blind?"

Much younger. Sounded like a little boy, though Toph wasn't quite sure.

"Jinhai!" An older girl's voice; probably about Katara's age. "Please forgive my little brother, Lady Bei Fong. We keep trying to teach him manners but it hasn't stuck yet."

Toph: Great, just what I always wanted, more people “Lady Beifong”-ing me. And yes, if anybody hasn’t realized it yet, I’m really blind… but don’t think you can sneak up on me, because I’ve got some tricks of my own.

Which sounded like a Katara kind of thing to say. But there was something else in her voice that made the earthbender prick up her ears. Something she'd heard before, somewhere…. "Hey, at least he knows the truth when he sees it." Toph stuck out a hand. "Toph."

"Suyin." The girl shook hands with a good grip, not the flimsy little flutter upper-class Ba Sing Se approved of.

Zuko: Let me guess, that’s because I’ve been teaching her, right? *sighs* Even when I’m not actually around, Vathara can’t help but kiss my butt…

"Don't let us bother you, we're just visiting."

"Aww," Jinhai muttered.

Sounded like there was a story there. But it also sounded like even Jinhai was wary enough not to tell it to a complete stranger. Toph smirked a little, and turned toward Luli. "You're not a bender. This was carved. So how'd you find the flaw?"

"Well… first, that's Apple Mountain jade," Luli said practically, as kids scattered again. "It has wonderful color, but a lot of it does have flaws. Usually, right in the heart of the best green in it…."

Sitting down on a raised stool of stone, Toph listened to an expert talk rock. This was the kind of thing she needed to teach Aang. You couldn't just learn the moves and think you knew everything. You had to study your element. Poke at it. Play with it. Listen to it. And listen to people who knew what they were doing. Benders or not.

Toph: Sure, all that’s good points. Twinkletoes told me himself old Bumi told him he needed to find someone who waits and listens to the earth, and that’s how he found me. I still think it’s kind of weird I just happened to run into someone Zuko knows. Does Vathara know how big Ba Sing Se is?

"…So instead of carving the flaw out to give a large piece with an awkward hole, I tapped a cut to extend the flaw, and let it cleave," Luli finished practically. "The color left wasn't the best, but I like how I was able to carve it into sun-dappled leaves…." Her voice trailed off.

"I can feel that," Toph said plainly. "I can feel the stone's different, anyway." She touched the spiraling vine-shape. "There are different kinds of earth. One of them is more here, and less over here."

Luli's fingers touched hers, and the jade. "This is dark green." A fraction left. "This is lighter, shading to almost amber here. And over here is dark again - wait. Come over here." She moved into the sun, and held a leafy stalk that smelled like mint still. "Feel the leaf. Where it's warm, that's sun; that's a bright green. Where it's cooler, that's darker. Where you feel it dried - that's brown."

MG: Okay, I’ll admit – this is another bit I do like. Vathara, whatever her other issues, can still turn in some legitimately good passages when she wants to.

Toph traced her fingers over mint, remembering long hours spent in her family's estate gardens. She knew what plants felt like. But what they looked like…. You're blind, her mother would always say. And, I'm sorry.

No one had ever tried to show her something before. To let her see, the way they saw.

MG: On the one hand, this is a really good moment, and I really like how the connection between Luli and Toph and how Luli handles the explanation in a way that makes sense to Toph here, and Toph’s gratitude in return – good stuff! On the other hand, considering this is one of Vathara’s OCs connecting with Toph in a way we’re clearly supposed to believe literally no one ever has before… I’ve kind of got to side-eye it a bit. Not hugely – it’s not a serious problem – but a little. Like Vathara is talking up her own character at the expense of everyone else Toph knows

"So you can feel different kinds of earth inside stone?" Luli was almost bouncing in place as she held the mint. "Professor Tingzhe would love to trade notes with you. Tingzhe Wen; he's an earthbending archaeologist at Ba Sing Se University? He's Jinhai and Suyin's father; I have them today because Meixiang's mixed up in some kind of paperwork over Jia and Min's classes, honestly I don't know how they ever get things done over there, she must have explained the kids really didn't know Bai a dozen times-"

"I'm not so sure that'd be a great idea," Toph admitted. "I got here on my own, but I bet I'd pick up a Joo Dee if I tried to hit the university again."

Toph: …if I’m not being watched right now the Dai Li aren’t nearly as good at this as they’re supposed to be!

Luli's heart speeded up. "You're… visiting the city, then."

Toph lowered her voice. "Yeah. Don't think I'm being watched right now-"

Toph: *facepalms*

"You are." Almost a whisper. "Jinhai's being watched."

Toph: Oh, Jinhai’s being watched! I’m the Avatar’s earthbending teacher, but Jinhai’s being watched! Riiight.

The kid? Why? "Are you in trouble? I could help-"

"I live with trouble." Toph could hear Luli's grin, despite her fear. "My husband's in the City Guard."

A massive yawn split the air from Luli's apartment. "Do I hear somebody slandering my good name?"

"Just telling the truth," Luli chuckled. "Toph likes the truth. Toph? This is my husband, Huojin."

Solid footsteps onto gravel; the sway of a nod. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Toph."

And she could hear it again in his voice, like she had in Suyin's and Jinhai's. Like she'd heard in at least half the kids through the garden. "You're-"

Toph bit her lip before she could say it. Huojin. Fire metal. The name was Earth Kingdom, but the meaning, and that accent…
.
You're Fire Nation.

MG: Huh. You know, if anyone could hear an audible difference in someone’s voice depending on which nation they’re from it would be Toph, but we have absolutely no indication in the show that Fire Nation characters have any sort of easily identifiable accent. Admittedly, part of this is because the voice actors across all nations have a variety of different accents (and, frankly, the Tolkien fan in me runs with the assumption that the characters aren’t actually speaking English, it’s just rendered as English – or whatever language the show’s been dubbed into, if that’s how you’re watching it – for our benefit, so we probably aren’t hearing the characters’ “actual” accents). Even so, literally nobody gives any indication that even a very observant person could tell who is or isn’t Fire Nation just from how their voice sounds, or else Zuko and Iroh in Book Two, or the Gaang infiltrating the Fire Nation in Book Three, would have had much bigger problems. Maybe it’s a reference to the not-entirely-human heritage Vathara gives the Fire Nation for this fic… but that raises its own problems, honestly.

Elemental Determinism: 42 (apparently even kids raised in Ba Sing Se have this “Fire Nation sound”)

"You don't sound like other people I've met in the city," she said instead.

"My parents were refugees," Huojin said matter-of-factly. "We came when I was six." He shook his head. "Still shows, huh? Imagine that."

"Strange place to come for a visit on your own," Huojin mused. "This city's not a good place for a kid alone. I got lucky; Healer Amaya took me in after my parents were gone."

Zuko: *snorts* Trust me, you did not get lucky with that one.

He shifted his weight, obviously eyeing her. "You do have people to go to, don't you?"

"I'm fine," Toph scowled. "I can look after myself."

MG: …honestly, defensiveness about her ability to take care of herself is perfectly in-character for Toph.

"Just asking. You looked worried, that's all. And trust me, even in the Guard, it's good to have people you can ask for backup."

Toph smiled ruefully. "You sound like Uncle." In more ways than one. "I'm okay. I just need to think about something."

"Rocks?" Luli said wryly. "Or someone with a rock-hard head?"

"Hey!" Huojin protested. "I resemble that remark."

Toph giggled.

Toph: Eh, heard it before. Not giving Sokka a run for his money any time soon, at least.

"You're as stubborn as the Wall, and we both know it," Luli said affectionately. "So now that you're up, sleepyhead… are you going out for tea before work? Or should I go pump Mushi for details?"

"You know," Huojin said dubiously, "it's actually possible for Lee to go a few days without a disaster."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Who's Lee?" Toph asked, curious.

"A walking disaster area," Luli said brightly. "Poor kid!"

Zuko: I’m not that bad… am I?

MG: And of course, not only does Toph run into people Zuko knows, they immediately start talking about Zuko in front of her. Small world, huh?

"Luli," Huojin groaned.

"He's a waterbender," the carver went on. "Amaya's apprentice. He's really a nice young man…."

Toph: *snorts loudly*

"But if trouble were lightning, somebody dumped that kid on a mountain top in a thunderstorm hog-monkey-tied in copper wire," Huojin said ruefully. "So! Do I need to terrorize our little angels into finishing their lessons, or have they taken after their mother and been responsible?"

MG: …after that scene with Zuko and Jinhai a few chapters ago, Vathara has lost the right to even joke about terrorizing children into finishing their lessons.

"They're as responsible as you are, love."

"Oh spirits, not that. We're all doomed." A quick hug, and Huojin charged into the bushes. "Okay! Who's got their books in order?"

Toph listened to childish yells wistfully. She didn't mind being an only child. Honest. But sometimes….

Toph: …okay, okay, I know “lonely rich kid” is a cliché, but it’s also true. I was lonely. Remember what I said about Aang, Sokka and Katara being my first real friends? Wasn’t kidding!

"You know, if you get done thinking, and you do need help, we're right here," Luli offered. "That's what the Guard's for. And my husband's got one of the biggest hearts in it. And the hardest head," she chuckled. "But sometimes, that's just what you need."

Toph: …yeah, from what we saw of Ba Sing Se, I’m not too impressed with the Guard. And the Dai Li are above them, which is a whole ‘nother problem. So sorry, think I’ll pass.

Determination. Yeah, that was the Fire Nation all over.

Elemental Determinism: 43

"You're right," Toph said thoughtfully. "Sometimes it is." Rising, she bowed politely. "Thanks. That really helped."

Accounts settled, Toph headed back toward the Upper Ring, scuffing her feet over stones as she thought about elements, and Long Feng, and being stuck in a city that felt more and more like a sitting target.

Zuko: …so, is there any reason it feels more like a target now than it did when Azula and the War Minister were trying to drill through the wall a few weeks ago?

Aang's an airbender. He tries to skate around problems. He won't take Long Feng head-on. Katara, Sokka - they're water. He thinks up a plan, she comes at the bad guys sideways. Only Long Feng's already got the angles covered, so that won't work either. And me? I may be the greatest earthbender ever, but there's an awful lot of Dai Li.

We need to do what none of us really knows how to do. We need to attack.

…We need fire.

Toph: The four of us. Assault on the palace. Ring any bells? That was an attack. And we didn’t have any firebenders with us then, unless Twinkletoes counts! I’m starting to think Vathara really didn’t get why we were sitting around waiting to attack the Dai Li.

Zuko: *muttering* Starting?

Elemental Determinism: 44

The Superior Element: 43

Uncle. Spirits, she'd give a lot to have Uncle here right now. Heck, she'd take Sparky; Zuko might be hair-trigger and cranky, but he sure as mountains knew how to go after something bigger and badder than he was. He'd snuck into the North Pole. The Earth King's palace couldn't be that much harder.

Zuko: I thought you wanted fire because you thought you needed it to attack head on. Now you want my help sneaking in somewhere? Make up your mind, Toph!

Toph: Hey, different Toph, remember? I never even met this Luli person!

Keep dreaming, Toph. Uncle's the Dragon of the West, remember? The whole army's probably got pulverize on sight orders for him. No way is he in Ba Sing Se.

Zuko: I guess that’s irony? Kind of laying it on thick, aren’t you? And you were just thinking about how good at sneaking around I am?

Too bad. Still. If Huojin was Fire Nation, and those other kids also sounded like his kids….

Maybe we can find some fire here after all.

MG: Spoilers, the Gaang will not be recruiting any of Zuko’s new Fire Nation refugee friends, or their kids, to help break into the Earth King’s palace. Or for anything else, really. They will be meeting some of them before too long, though. So we have that to look forward to… for a given value of “look forward to…”

Something to think about. After she pounded Aang into the ground with another lesson.

Toph: *shrugs* It’s what I do.

The Blind Bandit Wins Again: 12 (giving several points for the whole scene presenting Toph as the only member of the Gaang who clearly understands their predicament in Ba Sing Se)

-

Another boring night, Shirong thought, perched in the shadow of a cistern atop a specific roof.

Zuko: *blankly* As opposed to a cistern that just sort of wanders around from roof to roof? Huh?

Huddled a bit in his uniform, as an evening breeze blew off the lakes. Not that there's anything wrong with boring. Considering the alternative.

Not knowing where the spirit was, that was the problem. Everyone was jumpy. Search as they might, the kamuiy remained stubbornly out of sight. Though they had found evidence of the creature. Damn it.

It took imagination and unpleasant experience to recognize the fish-eaten lumps of flesh washed up on Lake Laogai's shores. For those with that experience… the tattered livers were both threat, and raging incitement to break skulls.

Toph: Soooo…. Does it eat livers (and then… spits them out? I don’t know, spirits are weird), or eat everything but livers?

This thing is eating people, Shirong thought darkly, fingering the whistle he had to summon reinforcements. Right over our heads.

Zuko: Yeah, right over the heads of where you brainwash and torture people… sorry this thing is violating the sanctity of Lake Laogai or whatever, but I really, really can’t feel sorry for you.

There were a lot of angry Dai Li watching the lakeshore tonight.

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 27 (for more of the Dai Li being noble monster hunters)

Not that it has to come up there; not if it's going through the underground waterways, Shirong scowled. Spirits, let it stay arrogant. Let it think it can keep taunting us. If it's learned to travel through artesian water, it could go anywhere-

Toph: Oh no, if only you had the great bridge between humans and spirits right here and the city and weren’t keeping him in the dark about all of this, maybe he could help you with this! *beat* Nah, that’d just be crazy talk!

Earthen tiles trembled in his senses, as a familiar weight climbed the wall and crouched on the roof. "Are you keeping an eye on the neighborhood, or just me?"

Shirong eyed Lee, taken aback. "Ah, well…."

Zuko: Look, if you’re so lost in thought you let me sneak up on you like that, you’re not a very good Dai Li agent, are you?

"Because if it's just me, Uncle and I are about to unroll the maps. And he made tea."

"Unroll the maps?" Shirong echoed, confused.

"You want to help pick out interesting spots or not?"

Zuko: Or maybe I could let this elite agent of the Earth Kingdom who reports directly to people I do not want getting more involved in my business than they already are into our apartment and show him what we’re planning! That’ll totally end well! *facepalms*

"Interesting how?" There was something decidedly askew about the world tonight. People just didn't walk up to Dai Li!

Toph: Yeah, and there’s a reason for that, and it’s not because you’re just so shy and sensitive! I met Joo Dee; I met Jet! I went to the base at Lake Laogai! I heard all about how you people wrapped the Earth King around your fingers and kept him from knowing… basically everything about everything… so you could run the whole kingdom. I know what you do to people, and you’re part of it, Shirong! So yeah, I don’t know what’s going on here, why you’re doing what you’re doing, why Zuko’s doing what he’s doing, but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be stupid!

"Come on inside. Uncle thinks you might like trying a little ginseng in your oolong."

Bemused, Shirong followed Lee down.

Zuko: Okay, okay, we all know Uncle is wild about tea, but saying that to a Dai Li agent as someone who he already thinks is probably a spy… wow, that sounds like it could be either a code or a threat, doesn’t it?

And yes, Mushi's blend of tea was tasty.

Toph: …how has nobody poisoned this guy yet. Come on.

Odd. So very odd. "How did you know I was there?" Recalling what had been up on the roof, Shirong added, "The cistern?"

"I'm not that good with water," Lee said dryly. "Somebody had to be out there. I just looked."

Zuko: Well, at least I’m not being given yet another weirdly advanced waterbending technique?

"I am a bit too old to be climbing onto roofs," Mushi smiled, unrolling a map of the world across the table.

Toph: But we all know he could do it if he wanted to. I’ve heard all about what it’s like when Uncle goes into the action; not a lot I’d put past him being able to do.

Sure you are, Shirong thought sardonically. Granted, Mushi looked like he'd carried a bit more weight a few months back, but given what he'd seen from Lee? If the man wanted to be up on a roof, he'd be there.

Toph: See? Even the Dai Li guy who accepts tea from people he thinks might be spies gets it!

So they hit a bad spot a few months back. I wonder what- Oh.

If Lee had seen the Avatar destroy the Fire Navy's invasion fleet - yes, two surviving colonials would have been in a bad spot. The only surprise would be that they'd lived to get out of it.

Details. I want details.

Zuko: Oh, now he remembers he’s supposed to be gathering intel on us!

But he couldn't risk asking. If Lee didn't trust him enough to tell him about the Avatar - then Lee didn't trust him enough. Yet.

Toph: But he still trusts Iroh to serve him tea? Noticing the problem here?

Keep your eyes open, and be patient.

Just being invited in was a step forward. If a slightly daunting one. How many people in Ba Sing Se would willingly have a Dai Li in for tea?

MG: Honestly, this just makes me think of a bit early in the first Black Company book. The titular Company are mercenaries working for the Lady (think “female Sauron” and you get the general idea) and they specifically work for Soulcatcher, one of the Lady’s Taken (think the Ringwraiths). They spend much of the early part of the first book foiling plots from the Limper, another Taken and Soulcatcher’s main rival. Partway through, Limper bursts into the Company’s hideout to deal with them in person. Croaker (the Company’s chief medic and chronicler, and the main POV character) is so stunned and terrified to be confronted by the centuries-old undead wizard with a grudge that he does literally the first thing he thinks of – pours some tea and offers Limper some. Limper, in turn, is so shocked by the mundane offer of hospitality (he doesn’t get that sort of thing often, for obvious reasons) he’s completely thrown off his game and sits down and drinks it. Of course, the scene in question is played for very dark comedy and never loses the underlying sense of tension and menace. This scene… doesn’t do that.

It's kind of nice.

Zuko: *grating* It’s not like there’s very good reasons people hate the Dai Li or anything…

MG: Now I’m also put in mind of a bit from one of the Dragonlance prequel novels, where the ancient evil wizard Fistandantilus sarcastically wonders why every time he shows up unexpectedly somewhere people always ask him something like “who are you and what do you want?” instead of inquiring about how he’s been or asking if he’d like some wine. The person he’s talking to is very nonplussed.

And it was an excellent opportunity to gauge the pair of them. You could tell a lot about people from what was in their apartment. And wasn't.

Toph: Ugh, I don’t know who’s being dumber here – Zuko and Uncle for inviting Shirong in, or Shirong for accepting it.

Bare in here, aside from Mushi's bonsai. I know they're not making a lot, but most people would spend a little on dressing up the place.

No wall hangings. No whimsical little lanterns or fine clothes in sight. But if those weren't two stocked travel packs tucked discreetly away in Lee's sleeping alcove, he'd eat his hat.

And the map. Not an expensive map; Shirong had seen bigger and fancier in noble houses of the Upper Ring. But from what he knew, it was an accurate map. Those weren't cheap.

Zuko: *flatly* People who might need to travel in a hurry splurged for accurate map but not a fancy one. What a surprise.

Scraping by, and they've put their resources into being able to run again.

Meaning Lee wasn't paranoid. Something bad had happened to them… and they believed it could happen again.

Toph: …didn’t you just figure that out?

Which led Shirong right back to the North Pole, and his unsuspecting city, and what in the world was he supposed to do if the haima-jiao latched onto the Avatar…?

Toph: I don’t know, let him handle it? Isn’t that one of the things the Avatar exists for in the first place? Whatever this thing is, I doubt it’s powerful enough to possess him. And let’s be honest, it doesn’t sound like you guys are doing a very good job of it. What have you got to lose by letting us take a crack at it?

Some of the notes on the map's transparent overlay finally sank in, and Shirong tried not to let his eyebrows climb. Little corrections, what ports needed dredging, whose forces had been sighted where and when…

Zuko: Why have we let him in here to see all of this? He could run off to Long Feng to have us arrested any time if he suspects something fishy is going on, and he’s got plenty of reason to! Then again, he apparently let me into the Dai Li’s secret library last time, so I guess everyone is just sharing secrets all around today!

. "Have you been all these places?"

"Quite a few," Mushi said generously. Tapped Kyoshi Island's main bay. "The Unagi, here, might be a match for your lake's serpent. It feeds on young elephant koi… and the occasional unwary swimmer."

"I've always heard those people were crazy," Shirong muttered.

Toph: Hey, Suki’s not so bad!

"Why?" Lee pounced. "Because they teach girls to fight?"

Toph: …okay, at least Zuko’s not sexist, but why was that the first place his mind went? I guess it might be because they teach girls to fight in the Fire Nation too, but Zuko barely seemed to realize other places don’t always do that earlier, so…. Who knows!

"Because they thought they could stay out of the war," Shirong said levelly. "Being out of the way only helps so long.

Zuko: I think they mostly thought being a tiny island backwater, the war would just blow over them. Which yeah, wasn’t smart in the long term *under his breath* sorry about that *in his normal voice* but it worked for a hundred years, so maybe they were onto something.

And they don't have walls to protect them." The North Pole did - no. Don't ask. Yet. "So… what makes a spot interesting?"

Toph: …way to make it obvious you’re digging for information. Least subtle Dai Li ever; Joo Dee was way better at this stuff, and she was brainwashed, so that’s saying something.

"Ah." Mushi inclined his head. "That, is a matter of some debate." He touched a large island to the southeast. "The Eastern Air Temple."

For a moment, Shirong couldn't believe his ears. "You want to visit an Air Temple? No one can get up there!"

Toph: Hello? Air Nomad genocide ringing any bells? Clearly, people did get up there!

"Says the earthbender," Lee smirked. "You can. If you really want to." He flipped through a stack of handwritten notes. "I don't know. It's close, but you have to get through Chameleon Bay, and there's going to be fleets fighting there. If they aren't already. And it's east. People would have to come a long way."

"An argument against much of the east coast," Mushi observed. "I also recall that the forests are not such as we would find convenient, and the rainfall patterns are different from both here and the west. Which would be an unnecessary hindrance." His finger moved south and west, back onto the main continent. "Gaoling."

Toph: Hey, that’s home! *beat* Wait a minute, is Iroh looking for a place to build their new colony? Because there’s already lots of people living there - it’s not a big big city like Ba Sing Se or even Omashu, but it’s pretty good sized. And some people there are very rich and well-connected, like, I don’t know, my parents. So, if you guys want to move in there and set up a whole new colony there… good luck!

"Better spot," Lee nodded, tracing the coast from Chameleon Bay west. "We'd still have to get through the bay, and it's a longer trip the first time, but we'd only have to pass through these coastal waters once. It's almost as far from strategic as you can get. That would help." He frowned. "But it's been quiet, so there are a lot of people there. Which could make it tricky."

"Still, a possible spot," Mushi noted. "Kyoshi Island."

"Too small," Lee stated. Eyed his uncle. "And I think they'd remember us."

MG: …yeah, there’s no unfortunate implications about plopping a colony down on a small island you personally already invaded once, why would you think that?

"Very possible," Mushi acknowledged, a gleam of pure mischief in green eyes.

"It wasn't my fault!"

Mushi raised a gray brow.

"I- but he- but they didn't…." Words failed Lee, and he buried his head in his hands, groaning.

Zuko: …yeah, it kind of was. Sure, Aang was there, and I only went there to come after him… but it was still my idea to march into town with a unit of rhino riders and set everything on fire. That’s definitely on me.

"What happened to you on Kyoshi Island?" Shirong asked warily.

"To me? Nothing." Mushi smiled. "But my nephew happened to them. Let us say, both sides… disagreed."

Zuko: …yeah, I don’t think Uncle would joke about something like that.

"And you're still in one piece?" Shirong eyed Lee. "I've heard their warriors aren't pushovers."

"They're not." Lee lifted his head, still looking a bit sheepish. "They're good." He looked aside, thoughtful.

Mushi cleared his throat. "No."

"But I could-"

"I do not think so."

"But they'd be really-"

"Skilled as they are, they have made their stance in this war clear," Mushi stated. "It would take extraordinary delicacy of manner to persuade them to even consider our plea, and when it comes to diplomacy…."

Zuko: And I tried to burn down their village. Why should I expect them to want to work for me, or with me, or whatever I’m thinking here after that?

"Subtle, you're not," Shirong added dryly. Considered the locations they'd mentioned, and frowned. They're not just looking for someplace to visit. What are they looking for?

Toph: Dude, you’ve got more than enough to get them hauled off to the palace or Lake Laogai for a real interrogation. You know they’re up to something; even if you like them, isn’t arresting people conspiring against the state and all kind of part of your job?

"The Southern Air Temple," Mushi suggested.

"No." Lee shuddered.

MG: *flatly* Yeah, building your colony literally on top of your great-grandfather’s genocide – that sends a really good message!

"I agree," Mushi admitted. Glanced at Shirong. "It was unpleasant to visit before, but now that we know you are vulnerable to some spirits… I do not know what Fire Lord Sozin's commanders were thinking, to leave so many without funeral pyres. The risk of staying beyond nightfall would be far too great."

MG: So, yeah, here we have a brief taste of something I mentioned earlier that’s going to be important later on – that the unhallowed dead can leave behind actively dangerous spirits in the Embers!verse. We’ll be hearing a lot more on that, trust me. But while I still don’t think Vathara does a great job of integrating the concept as a whole into her overall worldbuilding… I actually can see a reason why Sozin’s men would’ve left unburned or unburied dead around the Air Temples specifically. If you want to keep a place from ever being resettled again, ensuring it’s infested with murderous ghosts isn’t really a bad way to go about that… which doesn’t explain why there’s no sign of any of this in canon (unless it’s just “the Gaang were there during the day”) or why the Northern, Eastern and Western Temples are all still perfectly habitable.

Shirong studied the map anew, dredging up old history lessons. What little citizens were officially taught about the war focused on the Fire Nation's attacks on the Earth Kingdom. But it started here. In the Air Temples. "It's been a hundred years…."

"In some rooms, the bones still lie as thick as scythed wheat," Mushi said gravely. "It is not pleasant to consider you have kin among those who carried out such attacks."

Zuko: I think the thought of everyone who died is a bit more important, actually…

Out of the corner of his eye, Shirong watched Lee, trying to catch flickers of emotion on that scarred face. Anger, guilt, sorrow… determination.

He thinks what the Fire Nation did is wrong. And he wants to do something about it.

MG: A pity that the fic’s author is going to end up making her extreme distaste for the Air Nomads very, very clear over the course of the story…

What, exactly, Lee thought he might do, Shirong had no idea. Lee was just a teenager.

Then again, the Avatar's barely more than a child. These two got into Ba Sing Se. Whatever they're planning, I wouldn't want to bet against them. "I'm still trying to grasp what you consider interesting."

Toph: Yeah, well, I’m still trying to grasp why any of you people thought having this conversation was a good idea…

Mushi's smile held amusement, and challenge. "The Western Air Temple."

"Upside-down would take some getting used to," Lee reflected.

Toph: I thought it was pretty neat! There’s some interesting stonework!

"It's well placed, but I'm not sure we want to be somewhere you can rappel down into. But maybe." He touched the map. "We'd be going west through the lakes. That might be safer."

"And that route leads to other possibilities," Mushi acknowledged. "Taku."

"Pohuai Stronghold," Lee countered.

Zuko: Yeah, let’s just take over a major army base full of some of the best archers in the world, that’ll go great. *beat* Wait a minute… we’re just listing off a bunch of places I’ve been while hunting Aang, whether or not they work, aren’t we? *facepalm*

"Yes… though I believe someone illustrated that was not the most secure of fortresses," Mushi chuckled.

Shirong stared. Mushi smiled back. And Lee tried to look anywhere else.

He broke into Pohuai Stronghold?

Zuko: *muffled* And now we’re heavily hinting to the Dai Li agent that I’m the Blue Spirit. Why. Why are we having this conversation?

And he was still alive to tell about it. Unbelievable. "Mushi," Shirong asked bluntly, "what have you been teaching this boy?"

Toph: And what I want to know is, why are you so cool with it?

"Everything he would learn," Mushi said with great satisfaction. "Though some of the credit is not mine. The arts of stealth were never my specialty."

Prince Stuko: 65

Lee, Shirong noted wryly, was blushing. "You knew?" the waterbender muttered.

"I lost no little sleep worrying," Mushi answered quietly. "But I knew you would not have attempted it if you were not certain you could." He regarded Lee with quiet pride. "I rely on you to do what you believe is right. And I trust that you will do so with care, and proper planning."

Zuko: Which aren’t always things I’ve been known for, I get it.

Compliment and gentle rebuke in one, Shirong judged, seeing Lee's ears go red. On the one hand, he was tempted to tell Mushi to ease up; the boy was only sixteen. On the other….

If he's taking Pohuai Stronghold level risks, I'm amazed Mushi hasn't locked him in a room to calm down.

No wonder Mushi wanted Lee working himself into the ground. Spirits only knew what kind of trouble he'd find if he didn't.

Toph: And he’s in your city, so why are you acting like it’s none of your business?

"So… next was Gaipan?" Lee managed.

Zuko: Well, it’s not somewhere I’ve visited, at least? It’s still where Jet’s group were supposed to be from, I think…

"Fire Nation territory, for the last several years," Shirong pointed out.

"And apparently prone to floods," Mushi mused. "An upland near there might have promise, but…." He shrugged, and let his finger trace around the mountainous coast, almost to the very northernmost tip of the continent. "And then, there is here."

Zuko: …that sounds new. Near the Northern Air Temple, I think, but otherwise… new.

"Chilly," Shirong observed dryly. You got clear of the North Pole once. Why would you come that close again? Even if there is a stretch of ocean between.

"Not as much as you think," Lee said seriously. "It snows up there, and the winter nights are dark… but high as it is, the mountain tops are warm." He frowned, and nodded. "At least as warm as Ba Sing Se."

Shirong glanced at Mushi, startled. "How is that possible?"

"Fortuitous currents of air, it would seem," the older man informed him. "Though I also suspect this mountain, here, may be volcanic." He tapped the map just slightly west. "The natural gas underneath the range can be a hazard if one delves too deep in the earth… but that itself could be an asset, properly applied."

MG: …this is all foreshadowing for something very, very important, beyond just Zuko’s colony, if you’re curious. I’d honestly forgotten that the first mention of that volcano was this offhanded…

Toph: Okay, now I’m curious, and kind of worried.

"Not the Temple." Lee smiled wryly. "Next door."

"It was cultivated once, and could be again," Mushi agreed. "Yet it would be far enough from the current occupants to not impose."

"Wait, wait, wait." Shirong held up halting hands. "Temple? There's an Air Temple in the Earth Kingdom? And it's inhabited? The Fire Nation-"

Toph: How do you not know where the Northern Air Temple is? It wasn’t a secret! And the Dai Li are supposed to know stuff.

"Left no survivors," Mushi cut him off. "Those who dwell there today, are from a village destroyed a decade past by flood. They are of earth. Though living that high has made them… a bit odd."

Toph: Hey, I met the Mechanist eventually. Pretty sure that guy was always “a bit odd.” There’s a reason he and Sokka got along so well.

"Crazy as an airbender," Lee muttered. "I'm keeping my feet on the ground."

"Likely wise," Mushi chuckled.

Detached from Reality: 11

Shirong looked at the map. And them. And Lee's extensive, exhaustive notes. And sat back, stunned. "You're not planning a visit."

Zuko: No, what gave you that idea? *beat* And again, why are we telling you this, and why aren’t you making plans to report about it?

"Agent Shirong," Mushi said, quiet and serious. "As a guardian of this city… what would happen if Ba Sing Se fell?"

Toph: I mean, Uncle is the Dragon of the West; pretty sure he’s thought about it. But I guess it kind of matters – are we talking “falling” to a major invasion, or “falling” like what actually happened, with Azula taking over the government and surrendering the city without a fight? It’s a bit different!

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 28 (giving another point for the Dai Li being described as protectors)

Shirong felt chill. "It won't."

Mushi inclined his head. "But if it did?"

"We'll fight to the last man standing. You know that." Shirong half-rose from his chair, angry. "If you know something-"

"It's not like that!" Lee was on his feet, hands out and empty between them. "It's not. Just - Shirong, listen." His voice dropped. "You don't know what's out there."

"Or more accurately, who," Mushi said gravely. "For the first time since the Siege of Ba Sing Se, a descendant of Sozin's line has taken to the battlefield in war."

Toph: Trust me, lots of things are scary about Azula – I still don’t know how she can lie to me and get away with it! – but her being royal is pretty low on the list.

Divine Right to Rule: 40

Shirong swallowed hard. Sank back into his chair, legs suddenly nerveless. "I thought - rumor said the crown prince was exiled…."

"Prince Zuko was, indeed," Mushi said levelly. "Princess Azula was not."

Slow breaths, Shirong told himself, trying to keep the world from graying out. One of the royal family on the battlefield. The last time that had happened….

MG: Honestly… I kind of find it hard to believe the Dai Li didn’t know Azula was there? I mean, the Drill was hardly a secret, and neither was Azula’s presence and I’m sure the Earth Kingdom had intelligence on the Fire Nation’s movements. If they took any prisoners at all from the Drill – and the thing was full of soldiers and crew, I’d say there’s a good chance they did – any of them could have told them Azula was there. And even if all they got was “a teenage girl VIP showed up and had enough clout that the War Minister deferred to her,” I think that narrows it down enough to figure out who that must have been. And Shirong’s not some common mook – he’s a Dai Li agent, and high enough in their ranks to report to Long Feng personally. I think he’d know. And that’s setting aside the whole “Sozin’s whole bloodline are just awesome by dint of birth” drum that Vathara keeps banging for the whole fic.

Zuko: …okay, yeah, the royal family does tend to produce powerful firebenders. We’ve also got access to all the best knowledge and training in the world. That counts for a lot. Saying we’re special just because we’re royalty sounds a lot like what Dad and Azula were always on about – too much for comfort, in my book.

MG: Well, there may be an actual reason why Sozin’s bloodline is unusually powerful in Embers!verse that almost certainly wasn’t the case in canon…

Zuko: Oh, great…

Divine Right to Rule: 42

Keep it together. You've got to tell Quan. "If she's the younger heir, she can't be more than a child."

"Don't," Lee said harshly. "Don't ever make that mistake. It'll be the last one you make."

Toph: I mean, the way he treated us, the way he handled Azula – I think underestimating kids was a problem Long Feng had in general. But I’m not sure that’s what Vathara’s getting at here…

"She is fourteen, true," Mushi said, equally grim. "But she is a firebending prodigy, and a tactical genius. I believe even the Dragon of the West would pause, if he faced her on the field."

Zuko: Well, I guess that’s a nice way for Uncle to say “last time we met she nearly killed me?”

He swept a hand over the map. "So. I ask you, as guardian of your city and a loyal citizen of the Earth Kingdom. What hope do your people have, if Ba Sing Se falls?"

"I hope it doesn't," Lee said quietly. "I hope you can stand her off. But if things go wrong… and damn it, around me things always go wrong… Shirong, if she takes you, you're Earth Kingdom. You're just dead. If she gets us…."

Azula: *sticks her head in* Oh, please. I’m not stupid. I don’t just kill people I can use. That would be a waste.

"I see." And he did. Horribly enough.

They're afraid. These two aren't even afraid of Dai Li - and they're afraid.

Zuko: Maybe we’re not afraid of the Dai Li because you’ve been acting like our buddy and turning a blind eye to everything weird we’ve been doing…

"You're going to run," Shirong said bleakly. "Again."

"I'm not running," Lee said grimly. "I'm tired of running." He took a breath. "But sometimes you have to make a strategic retreat."

Toph: Which sounds a lot like what you call running when you don’t want to admit you’re running…

Call it what you want. They were planning to run.

Toph: See, he gets it!

Why had he expected any better? Spies didn't stand and fight-

Zuko: *exploding* You still think we’re spies and you’ve just wandered into our apartment and you’ve let us tell you all about our secret plans and you’ve not done anything about it!? What is your problem, man!

MG: …you’re the author’s favorite, and he’s a favorite, so of course he has to like you. That’s about the shape of it.

Zuko: *groans audibly*

Wait, Shirong told himself, through the haze of outrage and disappointment. Think. What are they looking at? Resources, rain, how cold it is, how many people are there, how to get past those fighting the war…. "What do you mean by hope?"

Toph: Okay, I take it back. He’s only getting it now. I’m pretty sure those early bits where he sounded like he was getting it were just lucky guesses.

Mushi saw the dawning wonder in his face, and smiled. "The only hope that matters. The hope to live, to fight another day."

"…You're planning a resistance outpost." It was incredible. Impossible. They were refugees. Fire Nation colonials, no less. They had no money, no resources, no authority-

And none of that would make a difference, if Ba Sing Se fell, Shirong realized. It'd be chaos, panic; blood in the streets. If they meant to get people out - all they'd have to know is where to find supplies to commandeer, how to talk people into seizing them, and how to get people to listen to them long enough to evacuate.

Like he was listening, right now.

Zuko: And not doing anything. Seriously, I guess as long as we’re spilling our guts Shirong probably should just sit here and listen, but he really ought to be planning to go run to Long Feng as soon as we’re done and tell him this. People making secret plans behind the Dai Li’s back and trying to set up a power center outside their control is something they really ought to be worried about.

Lee's been all over the city working with Amaya. He's found allies in the university, the Guard - even the palace. He knows how to find us. And who knows what contacts Mushi's made in that teashop.

Spirits… I think they could do this.

Try, at least. Succeed? It still seemed unreal.

Toph: And why are you worried about whether or not they can succeed at it and more worried that they’re doing it at all? Okay, okay, I know that we keep hitting on this, but… come on! Shirong is one of the worst possible people Zuko and Iroh could be telling! It’s like, I don’t know, if the first night I went out as the Blind Bandit to fight in the Earth Rumbles, I stopped by Dad’s room first, sat him down, and walked him through everything I was planning to do, and still acted shocked when he tried to stop me! Just… wow. Everyone here is so dumb.

"I guess it might work for that," Lee said, after sharing a glance with his uncle. "But that wasn't exactly… the Fire Nation's not going to destroy Ba Sing Se. It's too big. Too valuable. Unless she's having a really bad day…."

Azula: *sticking her head back in* I’m glad you think so highly of my ability to destroy things brother, but no matter how bad a day I’m having, there’s a limit to how much of Ba Sing Se I could actually wreck before calming down. The city is, as you noted, big.

He took a breath. "What we're looking at is, if that happens, some people shouldn't be here. Me. Uncle. Professor Tingzhe and his family; anybody who knows something about the catacombs under the city. Healer Amaya. And anyone else we can get out who'd poke a hole into any plans to hold the city." He hesitated, and looked Shirong straight in the eye. "Your families."

Shirong smiled wryly, the offer bittersweet. Would that I had one.

Zuko: So, he doesn’t have a family and his loyalty to the city isn’t divided. I’m starting to think that’s the only Dai Li-like thing about this guy.

Toph: Well, he’s at least helped people with the brainwashing, does that count?

Zuko: …almost forgot about that. But now we’re giving him details? If he really was acting like a Dai Li agent, all these people would’ve been disappeared by the next morning. *beat* They’re welcome to Amaya, though. They all deserve each other.

But it was a valid point. If Ba Sing Se ever fell - it wouldn't do at all, to have Dai Li families in enemy hands.

MG: Which is one reason why a group like the Dai Li probably would avoid having families in the first place. Fewer points of leverage.

"I still think it's impossible."

"That may be," Mushi acknowledged. "But we would rather prepare for a disaster that will never come, than be cast adrift in the typhoon." He gestured to the map. "So what do you think we should consider?"
It was impossible. It should have seemed ridiculous.

But if there was one thing he'd learned studying Lee, it was that despite his masquerade as an Earth Kingdom refugee, the young waterbender didn't have a deceptive bone in his body.

Zuko: …we’ve already been talking about how good at sneaking around I am and that I’m living in disguise. Make up your mind, Vathara!

And here were two people with a map, who'd been places he'd never see.

"…Tell me about the Air Temples."

Toph: They’re bit, they’re up in the mountains, they used to raise bison there. *beat* Really cool architecture. You want more than that, ask Aang.

Hours later, Shirong was back on a rooftop. Thinking.

Learn your enemy's nature, and half the battle is won.

Zuko: Which is why he’s going to go report all this to Long Feng, right? *beat* Right?

Not that the Avatar was his enemy. Spirits, no.

Toph: …which is why they captured Twinkeltoes’ bison and held him hostage to keep us from getting in their business. Sure they’re not his enemies.

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 29

But a threat to Ba Sing Se - yes. That he might very well be.

And while Lee hadn't breathed one word about the Avatar, he'd been almost talkative when it came to the Temples. The sorrow of the Southern, the peacefulness of the Eastern, the head-hurting upside-down architecture of the Western.

"How does it even stay standing?" Shirong had asked, disbelieving.

"No clue," Lee had muttered, shaking his head as if to blot out memory. "Maybe they found a bunch of insane earthbenders to hook it into the cliff top."

"And paid with many barrels of cactus juice," Mushi had added wryly.

Toph: *remembers Sokka’s antics on said cactus juice* Pass. Well, I was there, and I don’t know how they did it, but I sure know it worked. That was some good, solid rock over there.

Though when it came to the Northern, Lee had been a lot more picky with his details. Shirong couldn't blame him. Mention in the colonies that you'd seen anyone gliding, and you'd probably find yourself being wrung dry by Fire Nation interrogators, all the while knowing you were responsible for unleashing rabid firebenders on innocent people.

Zuko: Huh; kind of amazed Vathara’s actually admitting that part. Though it’s not exactly like people talked about what was going on at the Northern Temple. Dad and War Minister Qin wanted to keep the Mechanist as a resource for themselves.

They've literally been around the world. How? Why?

Toph: And, more importantly, why have they been telling you about it? I mean, Shirong’s probably got more than enough intel to put together who the two of you really are by now, if he actually bothered to.

It'd make sense, if they'd been spying for the Fire Nation. But if that were the case, there shouldn't be a Northern Air Temple anymore.

Zuko: Well, the monks who originally lived there are dead – because of Sozin – and the Mechanist worked for us, so… why?

On the other hand, if they hadn't visited there until after Mushi had decided his nephew's injury merited an unannounced retirement - why go there?

North, a lot of ocean, and difficult terrain, Shirong reflected. Not a bad place to break your trail if you were worried about Fire Nation pursuit.

Which seemed to fit what he'd seen of them. Lee tried to hide it, but the healer moved like he was expecting an ambush. Always.

But that doesn't make sense. If no one knew he was a waterbender, why chase them? They're just two colonials.

Toph: *snorts* And if you think that after the conversation you just had, I’ve got a great big fancy bridge over the Great Divide to sell you. And you should probably turn in your Dai Li badge and go do something with your life that doesn’t require so much thinking. Like maybe digging really big rocks out of a quarry.

Or were they? Mushi seemed to know things about everywhere in the world. What else was hidden behind wise eyes?

Zuko: Quite a lot. It kind of goes with the whole “wise” part. But I hope you like tea and pai sho, if you want much luck at digging it out of him…

Questions upon questions. Though if they'd been enough places to see the war's horrors firsthand…. Well, it explained why Lee was as determined to learn healing as he must have been to learn swords. There was nothing worse than having someone die on you and knowing you could have done something. If only you'd known how.

Zuko: *quietly* Yeah, he’s not wrong there…

Healer or not, Lee was still a fighter, none too subtly prying for details on the haima-jiao whenever they'd paused to brainstorm.

Toph: And of course we skipped that part, ‘cause I guess we had to have so much of everyone spilling their guts and Shirong just sitting there and never once thinking “maybe I should report this?”

Given it was the young man's neck on the line, Shirong had obliged. Though he'd left out exactly how angry his fellow Dai Li were. An agent was always cool, calm, and inhuman. Ask anyone.

Zuko: Yeah, because that’s how the Dai Li actually are…

"Lake Laogai," Mushi had mused. "If it is lairing there, and not in truly sunless waters below the earth - either there is more salt in the lake, or there are other reasons such a creature is more… comfortable."

Lee had looked alarmed. "Did something happen there?"

"I'll look into it," Shirong had answered. And knew no one was fooled.

Toph: Oh, wow? Bad stuff is happening below Lake Laogai, because that’s where all the torturing and brainwashing happens! That the Dai Li are doing! And the Dai Li are supposed to be spirit hunters, and they’re the ones actually attracting the evil spirit to the city… and let me guess, they’re not going to learn anything from this, are they?

Bad, yes. Something that would upset the spirits more than usual? Difficult to say. They'd been mindbending Joo Dees and troublemakers for decades.

Toph: …can I beat him up now? Pretty please? And wow, Vathara admits how evil they are and still expects us to like them. Or some of them. That sure says something.

Imprisoning or executing those the Grand Secretariat deemed necessary, shaping Ba Sing Se as it must be; why should the spirits decide now was any worse than times past?

Before, we didn't have the Avatar's bison.

He'd attended more than a few of Tingzhe's lectures on Chin the Conqueror, trying to gage if the professor were alluding to the current war in ways that might be too dangerous. What the man had said about Chin, Kyoshi, and badger-moles had made him interested enough to look up the Dai Li's own records of Avatars. Which implied the bison… might not be just a bison.

Avatars have animal guides. Kyoshi didn't meet hers until after she defeated Chin, but… she had a badger-mole. Roku had a dragon.

The Avatar was being kept from his bison. The spirits might be very upset, indeed.

MG: Honestly, canon never really explains what the Avatar’s animal guide actually does. It’s clearly a thing; we know Avatars almost always have animal companions, per Korra going all the way back to Wan, but we don’t really know if that means anything more than “the Avatar tends to like animals and bond with them” (and Wan met Mula before he even was the Avatar). Now, I think when this fic was written it was generally assumed the animal guide had to be an animal associated with the Avatar’s native element, since Aang had Appa (a sky bison) and Roku had Fang (a dragon). But it doesn’t seem to always be the case; Wan was a firebender, but Mula was a cat-deer, an animal that didn’t seem to be associated with any particular element. Kyoshi’s animal companion was actually a Knowledge Seeker (ie, a spirit fox) though we only see her meet the fox late in The Shadow of Kyoshi and iirc it’s not until the Roku books that we had confirmation it stuck around as her animal guide. So, this is an area we really don’t know much about other than “Avatars have animals.” OTOH, the explanation Vathara does come up with, as pointed out in some of my readthrough’s comments, doesn’t seem to actually hold up. Unfortunately, it’s also going to end up being load-bearing for key parts of the plot.

Enough to unleash a man-eater on our city? Our people are innocent!

But the Dai Li served the people. And the Dai Li were not.

Toph: Maybe you all ought to have thought about that before you did all that evil stuff in the name of “peace” and “order” then, huh?

Oma and Shu. That can't be it. Long Feng wouldn't order the bison kept if it put our people at risk. He wouldn't!

When had he stopped being sure?

Mind on the job, Shirong told himself grimly, looking about in the night. First, keep the water-kamuiy from grabbing any more waterbenders. Second, find the damned thing and arrange for a spirit-roast. Third, work on his recruits.

Zuko: Fourth, tell Long Feng that we’re planning to build a new colony outside the city and take a bunch of its citizens there. In fact, make that first. Because I think he’ll really want to know.

At least that last seemed to be going well.

Toph: *snorts* Only because you just sit there and listen happily to everything they say without stopping to think that maybe you should do something about it. *beat* Hey, I wonder what was in that tea…

Once they'd talked out the map, Lee had shyly shown him one of the latest scroll's moves; a flex of fingers that turned water into lethal claws of ice. Useful in and of itself; deadly daggers were no small asset, and when those claws could be thrown - yes, a Dai Li knew how handy that could be.

But Lee had surprised him yet again.

"How do the gloves work?"

From anyone else, Shirong would have laughed. A waterbender whose first training had been in firebending forms, and he thought he could figure out how to shape ice like rock?

Toph: Yeah, I’d laugh too. Aang was already an airbender and a waterbender when I started teaching him… and we all know how the first day of that went!

Prince Stuko: 66

But he'd never seen a waterbender create a move like Lee had. A net strong enough to drag a malicious kamuiy off its prey; to trap it, even if only for a minute.

It couldn't hurt to try.

Zuko: “Skill at one kind of move equals skill at some other, completely different move.” Because that makes sense. Also, studying another element to adapt it to your own is a really difficult and advanced thing to do. Uncle did it when he studied waterbending and adapted its ideas to firebending to create his lightning redirection technique… but I don’t think I could do it, certainly not with earth to water, when I’ve only been a waterbender at all for a few weeks.

Well, now we know many ways it won't work, Shirong thought wryly. I'm sure he'll be at it again tomorrow. And again, and again, until he gets something to work.

Zuko: *sighs* At least I didn’t get it on the first try?

From a purely practical point of view, that was useful in itself. A waterbender practicing might draw their prey into the open.

I hope he survives.

He'd hate to lose any recruit. Lee more than most. The young man had talent, drive, the pure will needed not to give up….

Toph: Also, he’s got plans that’ll undermine your boss’s control of the city. Don’t forget that part!

And they had me in for tea, Shirong admitted, recalling the warmth, the friendly looks, their honest respect for his opinion. I could get used to that-

Oh. Oh, spirits.

Rueful admiration in his gaze, Shirong eyed a dark window below. Mushi, you are a sly, conniving, wonderful old man.

Toph: …what, did he just figure out that Iroh actually did drug the tea, and he’s still too high to care about it?

A lost pygmy puma, abandoned to live by its wits.

MG: I really am starting to think you all in the comments are right. Vathara really does like this animal a lot.

That's how he'd thought of Lee, that first day with the bear. An impression that had only strengthened with the first waterbending scroll, and how fast the young healer had blossomed under Amaya's teaching.

Toph: Pygmy pumas – known for their advanced waterbending!

But if that were true of Lee, how much more was it true of himself?

I'm not alone. I trust my friends. And I can always take the uniform off, and….

Zuko: Okay, maybe Amaya brainwashed him between scenes and it wasn’t actually the tea. Because this isn’t sounding anything like I’d imagine a Dai Li agent would sound! We’re not even his friends – we’re his mission. He’s supposed to recruit us; that’s what he’s scouting us out for, remember? Pretty sure if he got too attached, Long Feng would pull him off it and put someone else on it! And clearly, he’s too attached, because otherwise he’d have a giant report on everything we talked about tonight!

There. That was the sticking point. If he wanted something beyond the Dai Li, he had to hide what he was. Who he was.

Toph: Yeah, there’s a solution to that. Don’t be so evil you can’t go out in public without showing your face. Fixed!

With those two, he didn't have to hide anything.

I think someone just tried to recruit me.

Zuko: Someone who would’ve turned us in at any time, if he was actually doing his job – I don’t think that was very smart!

Well, well, well.

That man, Shirong thought wryly, has the guts of a first-class cat burglar.

Toph: Pretty sure cat burglars (just cat? I knew Ba Sing Se was weird!) know to stay away from the Dai Li, actually.

And was it wrong for him to feel delighted, instead of offended? Puzzles, the pair of them; an intricate web of honest mysteries Mushi had all but invited him to unravel.

Toph: But he’s not going to do it, because I guess that spirit sucked his brains out and he forgot what the Dai Li do with people.

Let's play. Shirong smiled, plotting out exactly what he'd search for once his shift was over. Pohuai Stronghold, hmm?

He could hardly wait.

Zuko: I mean, it sounds like we basically told him everything but our real names, and I think he’s got enough to figure that out on his own, so… probably not much of a game, is it?

MG: And in any case, the chapter is now over with! Thank you both for your help; now, we have the AN! Good news – it’s short!

-

A/N: Written in part because, given what we know Sozin and Iroh did in canon (and I'd bet Azulon was no slouch), the reaction of any sane person to somebody out of that family taking the field should not be the Gaang's, "oh, look, crazy ladies with blue fire". More like, "Aaauuugh! Sephiroth! Run away! Run away!"

MG: I mean… how is that different from what the Gaang did? They basically survived their first encounter with Azula by luck (and Bumi turning out to be able to bend with just his face free). They spent their second encounter with Azula actually running from her because they knew they couldn’t beat her head on (it was a pretty memorable episode! One that Embers actually adapted parts of!) and then were clearly not expecting her to show up at the Drill (which they kind of had to stop before it broke into Ba Sing Se, and which was also their first clear win against Azula). They knew what they were up against, and how scary she was (and didn’t actually know she was royalty until near the end of “The Chase”). So, this seems less like complaining about what the Gaang actually did, and more that they didn’t respect and fear the power of Sozin’s bloodline enough, gag.

Anyway, this chapter is neatly divided into two parts. The first part clearly suffers from the fact that Vathara thinks Toph is the only smart person in the Gaang and writes her that way, and also felt the need to have her randomly meet some of her OCs, but it had some decent parts to it. The second half… woof. Why did Shirong accept Zuko’s invitation for tea? Why did Zuko and Iroh even invite him in? Why did they proceed to spill more than enough information about their plans to him to get themselves arrested… and why did it not even seem to occur to him that he should do that? I am just… absolutely baffled by this sequence of events or why Vathara thought it was a good idea (beyond “my cool OC needs to befriend my favorite characters from the show, and this is how I’m doing it”) and I’m not sure what else to say that we haven’t already beaten into the earth. Sigh. Anyway, next time… spirit fight. We’ll see you then! Our counts stand at:

Beware the Sugar Queen: 7

The Blind Bandit Wins Again: 12

The Deadly Depths: 23

Detached from Reality: 11

Divine Right to Rule: 43

Elemental Determinism: 44

He Has Much to Learn: 23

Prince Stuko: 67

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 30 (adding another point for how oddly accommodating Shirong is being…)

The Real Victims: 26

Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 22

Stations of the Canon: 26 (a few points for every location Zuko and Iroh discuss being somewhere from the show, plus one that’s going to be important in the fic later)

The Superior Element: 43

True Guardians of Balance: 1

The Ultimate Firebenders: 19