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 Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:49 am
 Looking around in silence Shoji remained on edge, the fire bending and performances made him a little uncomfortable but he had little choice but to ignore it until the main of the festivities began and everyone was gathered in one place leaving the information he was after open for the taking. Seeing all the joy and excitment around him made him sneer angrilly behind his mask, the fire nation had torn the world apart and now they had simply been forgiven and were celebrating. Clenching his fists to stop himself from lashing out he kept walking in silence putting little effort into giving himself a positive disposition so he'd avoid standing out. Only one person knew his face out here and behind his mask he was perfectly safe. Even if she did cross his path he doubted he'd stand out in these crowds.
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:51 pm
Kallan gently gripped Jezabel's arm, berating herself for being an idiot. The poor thing was terrified of fire, and she'd just been forced into the middle of it.
"It's alright. It's over now, no need to worry anymore." As the two bodyguards shoved their way through the crowd to her, she grimaced. Hopefully, the Kyoshi warrior wouldn't flip out even further and attack anyone. There was no telling what her reaction to armed guards would be.
Fortunately, the girl didn't do anything more than just stand there, shaking. The bodyguards flanked them, glaring at curious passerby. Kallan decided that the best thing to do would be to carry on and draw the girl's attention to something other than her fears. She scanned the surrounding area and spotted a row of booths featuring different games.
"Come on, then. I bet you can't beat me at catching goldfish." Kallan set off through the crowd, keeping a firm hand on Jezabel's arm as she went. It was easy to find goldfish-catching booth, and Kallan paid for the paper nets used to catch them.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:29 pm
Jezabel Star
Earth Nations Fire Bender Her brown eyes locked on the hand around her wrist, her mind started moving faster then she could process. She was being pulled away form soldiers, her hand went to her fan, she wasn't weak any more she could fight, she could protect her mother and father. However Kallan's voice calmed her much like Mitsua, the women who found her, had done. Her hand released the fan and she followed Kallan practically clinging to the back of the woman's Kimono. It would seem strange to most people that a girl of her age was acting like a young child, but her mind had reverted back to when her parents died. It was not until they were at the goldfish stand did she come back to her senses when a paper net was placed in her hand. Her eyes focused on the guards first then Kallan then the stand. The stand was amazing, and there was no fire, her eyes turned to the net in her hand and she watched a kids tried to catch goldfish with the net. "I'm sorry, I...Have a bad memory of fire." She said as she looked at the water and the goldfish with a soft sad smile. Something pained her head as she saw a young child just learning how to walk with her mother at the booth. It was like a memory one of those distant feelings like it happened along time ago. She blinked and looked up and the two were gone. She dipped the paper net in to the water and waited until a fish swam over the net and she picked it up carefully getting it out of the water and almost in the bucket when the net fell apart getting he a little wet.
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:14 am
≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
Azula was feeling a lot happier than she'd had in a long time, even disguised as a personal bodyguard to General Vahm. Standing next to the general in a military uniform with the masked helmet elite soldiers wore enabled her to watch the crowds without being noticed. It was like watching an ant farm. She grinned wolfishly at the comparison.
On their way to the capital city, General Vahm had described his plan. At the festival, he would use the confusion of the crowds to surround the palace with his own troops. Once he was sure of control, they would storm the palace and take Zuko prisoner. Another group of soldiers would be marching throughout the city at the same time, terrorizing citizens. They would offer Zuko the option of surrender in order to stop the soldiers from wreaking any more havoc. Then they would force Zuko to abdicate and Azula would be able to ascend the throne as Firelord once more.
When they'd arrived, they'd been delighted to learn that an assassin had already invaded the palace. With all the extra guards and military milling around the palace looking for the intruder, it'd be that much easier to get General Vahm's troops into place without arousing the suspicion of anyone.
General Vahm made a rude noise suddenly and took off through the crowd. Azula and the rest of the escort had to hurry to keep up as he headed for a goldfish-catching booth where two young women guarded by two soldiers were trying to catch goldfish. Azula would have never guessed the general to be partial to children's games, but soon realized his true purpose.
"Fancy meeting you here, Adviser Kallan. I never knew you so enjoyed playing these children's games."
His tone was very interesting to Azula. It was one part sarcastic politeness and one part contempt. There also seemed to be a bit of loathing in there, too. Apparently, this young woman had gotten on General Vahm's bad side. Adviser Kallan's reaction was equally fascinating. She didn't even look up as she concentrated on getting the little paper net underneath a particularly large goldfish to herd it up to the surface. It was as if the general was beneath her notice, which was rather unusual since Azula didn't recognize her to be one of the many nobles that lived in the city or in the surrounding countryside.
"Yes, imagine that, general. Did you wish to join us?"
Azula almost broke out laughing as the general's face grew red. Yes, this young woman was extremely vexing to him. The only thing that she didn't understand was why the general went out of his way to pester Kallan. It was as if he was trying to get the young woman to acknowledge his superiority or something, which she clearly was never going to do.
Her mind finally processed what the title "Adviser" meant. This young woman that angered General Vahm was an adviser to her traitorous brother. She scrutinized her more closely and noticed the water that the fish were in was acting strangely. There were far more ripples than were warranted by the movements of the fish and the disturbances of the two women's hands in the water. Her face contorted with fury under the mask. One of the women was a waterbender! A waterbender, in the capital city! Her brother had reached new lows, allowing waterbenders to invade the stronghold and crown jewel of the Fire Nation and sanctuary for firebenders.
General Vahm was still red, but smiled grimly. "No, thank you. I merely wished to give festival greetings to the Firelord's adviser. I hope you enjoy your goldfish catching." He strode away before Azula could unleash her fire on the two women in rage.
≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:35 pm
 Zuko waited until Kallan had been at the game stand for a while before he had started his approach. Unfortunately, a group of people had decided to get there before him. He casually had engaged himself in standing in line for one of the Fire Nation's delicacies. He paid close attention with his ears as the leader of the group spoke. He recognised the voice almost immediately, and got suspicious of what General Vahm was doing here, and pestering Kallan.
It occured to him that the General knew exactly where all his guards were going to be because he had attended that military meeting he had held with the rest of the generals. He frowned under his mask as he pondered the possibilities that the General may be leading some kind of coup against him. In any case, he was most relieved when the group had departed, though something still felt out of place as they continued to walk away from Kallan and the other girl.
The masked youth snapped to attention as the man at the stand asked him what he would like. He swiftly ordered, the mask hiding his true voice quite well, and gave the man the money plus a little tip as he recieved what he had ordered. He looked at the sweet and sour beef on a stick he had ordered and licked his lips slightly before he tipped the mask up just slightly so he could nibble at it while he walked.
Zuko's scar remained hidden as he walked over to Kallan and stood beside her. He recieved his paper and proceeded to try to catch a goldfish with one hand as the other continued to hold his snack. "I think we may have to keep a close eye on the General," he said in a hushed tone, and since his mask wasn't covering his mouth any longer, he couldn't hide his voice as well, and certainly not from Kallan.
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:40 pm
Jezabel Star
Earth Nations Fire Bender Jezabel was having fun here, that was until a General approached them. She made quick work of hiding her fans from view as she tryed to catch another fish. She was being very careful so careful it seemed that her mind was no where near the conversation that the General and the adviser were having. Yet she heard every word, every tone. When he turned his back on them she stuck out her tongue. "I don't like him." She muttered mostly to her self marking both his name and the way he looked in the back of her mind. When another person started talking to her while at the stand the young fire bender turned her head slightly to look at the person. She said nothing until a guard came close, that was when she looked at the guard and said in a rather pathetic voice. "Can you help me?" She knew by the look on Kallan's face that the man was important. She played the only card she had in her hand, and it worked. The guard leaned over and started to teach her how to catch the fish right. the earth nation girl smiled as she was helped listening and following the guards advice. Useing the paper net to slowly heard a tiny goldfish to the top of the water then trying to get it out.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:54 am
Kallan was rather relieved when the general left. Why he felt the need to bother her was incomprehensible, but as long as he wasn't physically touching her, she would be able to handle it. She smiled at Jezabel's comment, but didn't say anything as she turned her focus back to the goldfish. Truth be told, she was actually pretty terrible at this game.
Another person that was wearing a white and gold mask joined them, standing rather close to Kallan. When he spoke, she instantly recognized Lord Zuko's voice and was a bit surprised. She recovered quickly, though and nodded pleasantly.
"He always bears watching. You can trust that I'll be vigilant." She didn't really want to think about the general tonight, it being a festival and all. But if her lord insisted, it was her job and duty. Changing subjects, she asked, "And are you enjoying the festival, uh...", pausing as she wondered what to call Zuko. He was obviously in disguise, and it would be bad form to ruin it by calling him his real name.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:18 pm
Zuko smiled slightly under his mask as she paused when asking him how he was enjoying the festival. "Cheng," he provided for her as he continued on to say, "And the festival is rather spectacular..." He paused for a moment as he chewed on his snack and still tried to net the tiny fish with his paper net.
After a moment he ceased trying and set the net to the side as he looked over at Kallan, sliding his mask down a bit as he did so. "I'll send a few messengers to our vigilant eyes," he said, refering to sending hawks to the spies to inform them of his suspicions. "For now there's no real need for more precautions... but if the situation gets interesting we may have to improvize," he said after another small pause, and continued on in a slightly more subtle tone, "We should set up a safe place to meet if things go arwy."
He didn't trust the General, but he couldn't just imprison him without any evidence against him thus far unless he was going to be like his father, and he just wasn't willing to do such a thing. Ordering him to be executed was out of the question as well. The young firelord waited for Kallan's responses as he lifted his mask slightly once again to eat the rest of his ginger beef.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:47 am
((eep! Sorry for disappearing. I've just been far behind on my studies in combination with, partly due to, and partly causing much emotional stress, and I haven't had time time to relax in the least. Daily headaches and heartaches have destroyed what little of my college life I used to actually be able to call "healthy". I think I'm still waiting for a post from Friend of a Vampire, but in the meantime, I probably won't have time to participate until this weekend.))
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:04 am
((No problem-o, Kaito. You can actually just sit back and relax, because I'm going to move on to my big awesome plot development within the next 3-4 posts. Thanks for letting me know!))
Kallan pondered for a moment, wondering where could be a 'safe' place to meet. Finally, an idea hit her. From her recollection of city maps, she recalled a tunnel that ran from under the palace to outside the city walls. It ended on an old riverbed about a mile outside of the city. The entrance was conveniently located in the throne room.
"Well, Cheng, I work in the palace. Perhaps we could agree to meet at the throne room doors? They just got worked on recently." She managed to get a fish just above her net, but then it darted away, punching a hole through it. She sighed with frustration and stood up.
"I do believe it's time for us to return to the palace for the festivities. Jezabel, are you ready to go?"
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:42 pm
Glancing around Shoji paused in silence as an armed pressession passed making its way determendly towards the palace. Watching silently beneath his mask he recognised Vahm, one of the generals that had been in full support of the of Ozai's rule. Resisting the urge to lift his mask enough to spit at the toad as he passed Shoji tried to keep his focus, if someone as questionable as Vahm was headed to the palace then maybe it was time he resumed his search. Attempting to stick to the crowds the sand bender followed attempting to avoid notice, generals didn't see those lower than them and he doubted the guards were aware enough to catch on. Entering the palace would be easy but he didn't want to lose sight of the general so he'd have to be quick and descreat, if there was anyone he had to suspect it was Vahm and he intended to get the proof he needed now.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:40 pm
Jezabel Star
Earth Nations Fire Bender The Earth nation girl stopped playing around when Kallan stood up and tapped in to her training for all of two seconds. Her net moved quickly and softly as she chased the catfish up out of the water making it jump in to the bucket all by itself. the guard stared at her for a few seconds as she stood up and smiled at Kallan. "Yes," She said as she smiled at Kallan, her two fans stayed hidden extremely well, lest anyone recognize the mark of the Kyoshi warriors. She followed the adviser while she scanned the crowd for anyone suspicious. or any fire benders that were getting close.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 11:07 am
They were soon back at the palace and in one of the main inner courtyards. Nobles mingled freely, reinforcing old alliances and forging new ones. Palace intrigues never slept, even during festivals. Kallan made her way towards King Bumi and presented Jezabel to him.
"You seemed to have lost one of your group, Your Majesty."
King Bumi laughed and snorted. "Oh, I knew where she was the whole time." He winked at her and beckoned to Jezabel. "Come! There's this roasted cow pig that smells delicious! We must find it and try it!" Kallan bowed as he left, smiling to herself at his strange mannerisms.
She scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of General Vahm. He didn't seem to have arrived yet, which she found rather odd. Adjusting her half-mask, she glanced towards the dais where Zuko would stand upon his arrival.
Her blood ran cold. General Vahm was standing there, smirking at the crowd. He was accompanied by an elite guard. Everyone else noticed at the same time and murmurs began racing through them. Kallan began moving toward the dais, then stopped to think. The elite guard would most definitely be firebenders of the highest caliber. There was no way she could take them on at her skill level. Plus, she was rather reluctant to reveal her waterbending abilities to all the nobles here. While Zuko may accept her, that did not mean the nobles would.
General Vahm let the crowd mutter restlessly over his impudence, then cut over the noise with a bull roar.
"Great families of the Fire Nation. I come to you with accusations of treachery!"
The crowd fell silent, everyone wondering what the general was speaking of. Almost every pair of eyes was fixated on him. Kallan scanned the room instead and noticed with dismay that guards were taking up positions near the doors. She began to discreetly make her way towards one of them. Things did not look like they were going well. On the dais, General Vahm was continuing his speech.
"Treachery! Treachery from your own Firelord!" There were gasps around the room and people began to mutter, but General Vahm did not stop. "All of you remember the Agni Kai he fought against his sister, Azula, for the throne. I have recently learned a dark secret, one that he has kept hidden from you for fear that you would not submit to his rule. He knew that you would see that he was not the rightful Firelord and that you would reject his rule!" People were beginning to look concerned now. Some looked angry.
"Our so-called 'Firelord' did not duel honorably. He lost the Agni Kai for the throne! He had been defeated by Azula, the greatest firebender this nation has seen since Firelord Sozin. But do not simply take my word for it. Hear it from Azula's own lips."
The crowd gasped as one of the guards stepped forward and removed her mask to reveal Azula. She stepped forward and spoke.
"General Vahm speaks the truth. I defeated Zuko in that Agni Kai, and behaved as any honorable firebender would. I even showed him mercy. He is, after all, my only brother. But... but...." Here, she began to cry, shoulders shaking. Kallan thought that if this was a set-up, then the former Princess of the Fire Nation was one hell of an actress. General Vahm gripped her shoulders in a seemingly supportive manner while Azula gathered herself together. Exhaling sharply, she continued.
"My brother revealed the true nature of his traitorous heart. He brought a waterbender, who, upon his defeat, proceeded to attack me with deadly force. She was an assassin, meant to insure his ascension to the throne. I fought against her for my very life, but her tricks and treachery brought me to my knees. I was chained and sent away to an island to be a prisoner. You were told it was for my health, no doubt. My traitorous brother probably said that I was mentally unstable, didn't he?"
At this point, General Vahm spoke again. Zuko had arrived and was staring in horror to one side of the dais.
"No need to say more of the unspeakable cruelty this false Firelord put you through, my Princess. I think everyone here understands your plight." Azula nodded and let the general take center stage again.
"Honorable citizens of the Fire Nation, I will tell you the reason why Azula was kept alive. It was the only sensible tactic that Zuko could use in order to keep your trust. He based his rule on the concept of 'trust' and 'peace'. He knew that if he had his sister killed, it would make every word he said a lie. So he told you that she was crazy. He told you that she was in a mental institute 'until she regained her health'." He pointed to Azula and roared, "Does she look at all like someone who's mentally unstable?"
A chorus of negatives rose from the crowd and Kallan's heart sank. General Vahm was doing a great job of destroying months of work. His rage and his claims of treachery were sweeping away the fragile bonds of trust Zuko had begun building with the nobles. She could see even now anger on the faces of some. They had not forgotten how Zuko had been considered a traitor to the Fire Nation until recently.
"Your Firelord is a traitor to his own nation! He speaks of peace with the other nations, but the truth is that there can be no peace! There will never be peace until the Fire Nation rules all! We alone carry the flames that will light the path towards peace! We alone have the strength to bring prosperity to the world!" General Vahm spun, leveling an accusatory finger at Zuko. "You will step down from your throne, traitor! And you will be judged!"
This was met by a roar of approval from the onlooking crowd of nobles. Kallan stood now by a door and watched helplessly as Zuko was seized by the rest of the guards and dragged onto the middle of the dais. They forced him to his knees in front of Azula. She heard shouts of "Justice!", "Death to the false Firelord!", and "Kill him, the traitor!". Her eyes stung with tears at how quickly they were swayed by General Vahm's words. They were unthinking sheep that couldn't see the wolves right in front of them.
Azula stepped forward, holding her hands up for silence. "My friends, I do not wish to kill my brother, traitorous as he may be. We will delay his judgment until after the festival's end. Then... then I shall take my place as your rightful Firelord and guide this nation to victory!" She smiled hugely, tears streaming down her face as the crowd roared approval. Zuko was taken away by the guards and nobles rushed to speak to their returned princess. Kallan used the moment to escape the courtyard and walked briskly down the halls. She dashed away tears from her eyes.
This is no time to be a crybaby. You just witnessed a coup, Kallan. You need to warn your people and find Zuko, then get out of the palace. Her mind, normally turned toward mundane palace matters, raced now with ideas and strategies. Her first priority would be to warn those that may still be loyal to Zuko to leave the Fire Nation. Perhaps the Earth Nation would shelter them as political refugees. Next was to find Zuko and leave herself. He was probably being taken down to the dungeons and the cold cells.
She turned down a hallway and was faced with a group of servants, all of whom looked frightened. One of them stepped forward and grabbed her sleeve urgently.
"Mistress Kallan, is it true? Is Firelord Zuko really dead?"
Kallan shook her head fiercely. "Not unless his guards murdered him on the way to the dungeons. Listen, all of you. You've worked very hard for me and for the Firelord. Do not believe what General Vahm and Azula say! Firelord Zuko is not a traitor. He is an honorable man, and anything to the contrary is a lie. Has he not treated you all fairly?"
The servants nodded vigorously, looking relieved to hear that Zuko was still alive. Kallan stepped towards them and they surrounded her, wordlessly accepting her as one of their own. She whispered fiercely, "I'm warning you now, you should gather up your families and leave the Fire Nation. Stay loyal to Zuko and warn those who are also loyal to him to flee. And wherever you go, defend our Firelord. If you can convince even one person that he is not guilty of treachery, that is a victory. I don't expect you to defend him loudly from the rooftops, but rather secretly. Let the whispers of his innocence float through the taverns and your homes. Azula is the false Firelord, not Zuko."
The servants all nodded. Kallan nodded and said, "Now go. I have to see if I can get the Firelord out of here. Remember, we're no longer safe in this palace. You remember what happened the last time Azula was in charge here?" The servants went pale and nodded, hurrying away. Kallan knew that her last statement would convince most, if not all the staff. They knew that Azula was crazy. Many of them witnessed it themselves.
She went to her office and began scribbling notes. They warned the spies of the latest developments in the capital and assured them of Zuko's innocence. Then they were sent out by messenger hawks.
Kallan paused at her desk and gripped the back of her chair until her knuckles went white. She knew she had to somehow get Zuko out of the guards' clutches, but how? Yes, she was a waterbender, but they would be elite firebenders.
There was a knock on her office door. Kallan tensed up, wondering who it was. The door opened gently to reveal General Iroh. He looked at her sadly.
"Will you help me save my nephew?"
She nodded fiercely. He tossed something to her and she snatched it out of the air. Looking at it, she saw it was a water skin from the Northern Water Tribe that could be slung across one's back.
"You'll need that, then. Fill it, and hurry. There is not much time."
Kallan nodded again and reached her hands out, calling the water from the various vases of flower arrangements scattered around the room. Several tendrils of water flew through the air and into the water skin, which she capped and swung over a shoulder. Privately, she was glad that her dress wasn't the usual cumbersome layers of robes. Right now, it would only slow her down.
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:31 pm
Watching in silence Shoji felt his anger grow, he had no love for Zuko but compared to his sister he was by far the best option possible. The sound of them talking about invasions and resuming the old rule with Azula as fireloard was bad enough but as soon as he heard them mask it behind morality he was filled with rage. Crushing his mask in his hand he stood up from his vantage point, he'd hoped crossing the rooftops would help him get through to the palace without notice but there was no way he could stand this for a second. Lifting his hands he inhaled deeply the slates that made up the rooftops around him shaking themselves free quietly before raising into the air. With the crowds attention on Azula and the night sky masking them Shoji was able to streach himself to his limits supporting a storm of slates before releasing them in a full force volly towards the dais. Spinning away he dropped down into the street behind the building, however the attack went he wasn't dumb enough to wait where he'd been and provide an easy target. Exhaling heavily Shoji closed his eyes having pushed himself to throw so much weight with such pressision, he was far from done but it was useless to attack without an advantage.
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:26 pm
 Tally stumbled when the earth started moving beneath their feet. She dropped to her knees and let her eyes dart around as they flew through town and to the strange station. When they finally stopped she jumped off and ran to the cart gleefully. "Fire Nation?" She asked dumbly taking the scroll, hiding the slight panic that came with the realization, "The festival is in the fire Nation Capitol?" They were already leaving. Even if she was going to let her nerves keep her from adventure(which she would never do) it was too late. They were leaving and as much as she was reluctant to trust the fire nation and felt like she was being kidnapped a festival had to be fun.
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