Monastery

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The princess' vessel continued on its journey.

Having visited three cities already, Azula had not found any violations of the law or corruption in all that time. Her father's will among the people was being carried out perfectly. Propaganda, checks and balances built by Azulon himself, technological advances, the constant need for labour, a decent standard of living and the inevitability of punishment. All of this prevented crime from flourishing or political support for anyone other than Ozai.

Any kind of criminality was swiftly dealt with and punished according to the offence, and governors and military officers who were inconvenient to the authorities... they seemed to simply not exist. In most cases the penalties were corrective labour. Less often it was prison or execution. It was wartime, after all. Such an excuse worked well for the harsh enforcement of the law.

Recently, not only Azula, but also I have become more aware of how life works in the Fire Nation. It had only been two and a half weeks since we left the capital. During that time, nothing interesting happened. During the inspection, all the governors behaved the same way: fawning and trying to show off to the princess that everything was fine. Zula liked that sort of thing, but not me. There was too much hypocrisy and sycophancy in their behaviour, which only fuelled the princess's arrogance.

Fortunately for the officials, neither I, nor Zula, nor the princess's subordinates sent to gather rumours and information... all of us found nothing of substance, so we could not present anything. Only to scare the little rulers with our presence. Even if that only applied to Azula, nobody saw me.

There were, of course, minor offences against the law and small abuses of power among the officials and officers of the middle and lower ranks, but these were isolated cases, not related to the higher managers. They were punished according to the letter of the law. Some of them were sent to the mines, some of them received a dozen lashes, but they did not do anything particularly terrible, so they were not executed in public. The highest officials and governors were especially pleased. All of them carefully watched the execution of the Fire Master's will, not wanting to lose their warm seats, which they earned with sweat and blood.

Yes, in this country only the throne of the Fire Lord is inherited, and even that can be taken away in a holy duel. If one has the strength to do so. Of course, the golden children of high-ranking officials had many advantages, such as better education, better teachers, better opportunities, and parental influence, but people from the lower ranks could also rise very high. And if an unworthy person took a high place, he could always be thrown off through a duel or Agni Kai. The cult of power in the Land of Fire lived and flourished, you can be right, but if your rightness is not backed up by power, you and all your words will be worth little. Of course, not everything always went exactly as I imagine it would here, but for the most part, that's how it worked.

After such inspections, our ship would be back at sea again. Like May said, sea travel is boring. And that was true. We were still sailing in the waters of the Fire Nation, so nothing interesting happened at sea. Except once we got caught in a small storm, but we got out of it without any casualties.

Azula was tense during the storm, though: she had unpleasant memories from our last conflict. When I spoke to her about it, I only got the answer that she was not angry and did not blame me for what had happened. She would have done the same in my place if she had received such power.

Soon, however, we were to arrive at the island that interested us....

- Captain," the princess said, coming to the bow of the ship.

It was early morning, the sun was just beginning to illuminate the sea. A light wind played with the girl's hair, howling in the distance.

- Princess. We are approaching our destination," the man replies instead of greeting.

Azula raises an eyebrow, giving his companion a menacing look.

- I see. You sent a man to me just to inform me of your arrival so early in the day? I suppose you have a good reason for that," she said in a stern tone that held the promise of more trouble for the captain. He flinched, fearing the anger of the princess.

- Ahem. There is a reason, Mistress. I have detected some oddities on this island," the subordinate said, overcome with fear.

- Strange? - The girl's voice changed from anger to interest.

- Yes, please, - the captain holds out binoculars to the princess, - take a look at these flying creatures.

The princess takes the instrument and looks into the distance.

There in the distance above the island could be seen several dozen white birds. I could see them perfectly well even with the naked eye, but I couldn't make out what was strange about them. Birds like birds, there was nothing unusual about them.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary, looks like Cap can't escape punishment," I decide to share my opinion, being next to Azula and looking in the same direction as her. I didn't think to defend the captain, who had taken us away from our business for the sake of the unknown this early in the day. Zula's hair wasn't even dry from her ablutions.

Except the princess didn't share my scepticism.

- What is it? - Azula asked in surprise, staring off into the distance.

- Bison, ma'am.

- I see them, why are they in the sky? - She looked away from the telescope and gave her companion a stern look that demanded answers.

- As far as I know, there were flying bison among the air nomads," the man replied tensely, choosing his words with care.

During his time on the same ship as the princess, he had learnt very well that it was better not to make her angry. There had been a few incidents with new crew members who had made a few mistakes both in uniform and on the ship. No one had died or even been fired, the lucky ones had only suffered minor bruises and burns, and Azula had only reinforced her reputation as a stern but fair commander. Not without my advice, of course. I've often had to pull her back, softening the princess's decisions, and in some places she's even done it herself, acting more gently than she did a few months ago.

- I know the story well, Captain. And it says that the nomads were exterminated a century ago, along with their animals. Is that really so? Or am I mistaken," the girl continues to press him, making him even more nervous.

- Undoubtedly it is, princess, you are right," the captain replies, covered in a light sweat.

"Stop tyrannising him, it's not his fault what's going on. By the way, I am also interested in seeing such a miracle," I decide to speak up, interested in the mystery.

- In that case, what are these flying bison doing in the territory of the Fire Nation? - Zula continues in a slightly calmer tone, listening to my words.

- I don't know that, ma'am. Let me guess: the islanders can answer all your questions.

- Hmm, thoughtful. - Wake up the crew, full alert, let me know as soon as the ship is within firing distance," Azula continued in a commanding tone, having considered the situation.

- Aye, ma'am!" the man shouted, immediately stretching out and banging his fist on his chest at the same time. He immediately went to carry out the orders of the command, accompanied by a stern look of golden eyes that glittered ominously in the morning sun.

After a while in the chambers of the princess of the people of the fire.

- What do you know about it? - The girl asked me, sitting down on the bed, when we were alone.

- Don't look at me, I'm surprised myself," I answer the girl with the truth.

Although... if you think about it a bit and remember the events of Avatar Korra, such a development becomes obvious. Aang's animal could not just take and restore the number of his species alone. Which means there were bison in the world besides him. I doubt they would have survived at the south or north pole. In the land of the earth they would have been finished off for fur or meat, in places war comes with famine. They might also have been finished off just in case or as a trophy. But they were fortunate that the neighbouring mountainous island of the Fire Country had peaceful temple servants, who eventually tamed the remnants of their species. All they had to do was fly across the ocean to find safety in this backwater. It's not without luck, though.

- You have repeatedly demonstrated astonishing knowledge, I don't believe you don't know anything about it," Azula said flatly.

It was nice that she was so sure of me. And at the same time I was somewhat offended that she already recognised me so well. Albeit a somewhat odd construction of the phrase. But she was right about one thing, I know a little more than I'm telling her. And I had demonstrated that many times before, and I was to blame for the girl's judgement of me.

- I don't know, can you imagine? - I answered the girl with a grin. - I can only say that exterminated species are not completely exterminated. It's hard to eradicate a species from the face of the world, so it's not surprising that a few survived and multiplied.

- Hmm..." Zula began to rub a lock of her hair thoughtfully.

That posture, the gestures, the look... I know it all well.

- Oh... how familiar. Are you up to something? - I move closer to the girl, catching her displeased look.

- Nothing important," she says.

- Yeah? I keep insisting.

- A stupid childhood memory. Nothing that's relevant to the situation.

- Dragons? - I think quickly of Azula's distant childhood dreams.

- Sometimes it's so annoying that you understand me without any words," she snaps back, getting out of bed and walking over to the mirror.

- Well, it's quite possible that there are still dragons in the world, and you might even be able to tame one. You just have to look in the right place," I continue with a smile as I watch Zula begin to pretend to tidy herself up in front of the mirror.

- Enough, this topic is depressing me," the girl replies unhappily, not even turning to me.

- Whatever...

It's sad that Azula's past is still hurting her in the present.

We spent the rest of the time before arrival in silence. The ship sailed quickly to the island, and soon Zula set foot on land, accompanied by her imperial cortege. The girl's paranoia in all its glory so to speak.

The city was ordinary, people behaved according to their status at the sight of the princess and her numerous guards. The kneeling crowd was familiar and did not evoke any feelings. There was no conspiracy, no attack, no traitors, nothing of the sort.... Everything was too usual and even somewhat mundane. The same houses, the same people, the same roads and the same reactions as in all the other cities of the Fire Country we had visited. Only a few flying bison stood out from the routine picture, but that seemed to be the norm for the locals. Some children were actively playing with the animals on the ground, and the bison themselves behaved very friendly and seemed quite tame from the outside. The people accompanying the princess watched all this with big eyes, and the princess herself was also surprised, but the girl could keep her face much better than her subordinates. Flying animals of such size were out of the usual picture of the world.

Azula tried to find out more about the bison from the head of the city, but he only said that these creatures had been here for a long time. Like a hundred years ago or more, they had appeared in these parts. The animals were cared for by the Fire Sages of the local temple. They had an order, signed by Sozin, to breed such useful animals. But Sozin died without finding a use for them, and Azulon and Ozai had no idea. And the sages are not very successful in increasing the population of animals. They have just over a dozen bison at the moment.

So why doesn't anyone in the capital know about bison? Simple. This island was far from the main trade routes, one could say on the very edge of the Land of Fire. That's why they were never heard of in the big land, a kind of wilderness that nobody knows anything about. All the right people seem to know about it, but such a small thing has been neglected. Perhaps they hadn't thought of the possibility of using such useful creatures, or perhaps they were afraid to take the initiative, I didn't know.

In private with Azula, we came to the conclusion that all the papers were genuine. Sozin could well have given such an order. But after his death, such documents could simply drown among hundreds of other orders, laws, regulations....

However, the governor advised us to look for more accurate information about bison in the local temple.

That's where we went immediately after a short conversation with the local ruler. While some of the subordinates were sniffing out crime and treason as usual, Zula and I and her personal retinue, which so far consisted of only Mei, went to the local Temple of Fire, which stood quite far from the city, in the foothills on a small hill.

And they were already waiting for us there...

- Greetings, Princess Azula. After receiving your letter, we have been awaiting your arrival," the older woman bowed her head at the approach of a member of the imperial family.

She was wearing the robes of the fire sages, as were the young assistants standing beside her, or in this case, novices? I was at this time somewhat tensely keeping behind Zula's back. But no one paid attention to me, as usual, and I relaxed. Fortunately, the occupants of the temple never managed to notice me. And this was an important point, because it was from this temple that they had sent a lot of information about spirits, as well as fire healing. It was to study the latter that we came here.

- In that case, you know the purpose of my visit," Azula replies coldly, looking around the group with a stern gaze and stopping at the grandmother who was speaking to her.

- Call me Shu, I am the head abbess of this temple. All the necessary literature is ready and waiting for you, your highness, - the old woman straightens up, looking into the eyes of the princess.

- My time is more valuable than gold, Shu. Don't waste it," Azula habitually tried to pressure the woman with her status, but the old woman paid no attention, remaining perfectly calm.

- Please follow me...

After that, a group of three women led the princess along with her friend to the interior of the temple.

On the way, Azula began to ask about the flying bison. Shu confirmed our thoughts and the governor's words. The bison, we could say, migrated here when the lands of the air nomads were scorched a century ago. It follows that the fertile land was also, destroyed, and bison eat a lot. After a time, those lands became green again, but the animals never returned. The local temple attendants cared for the species, believing that this was the last place in the world where such amazing animals could be found. Bison got used to people, and even allowed to fly on themselves. However, this was punishable by a fine. People could fall and crash to death, so such measures were more for safety. Parachutes had not yet been invented, unfortunately.

Driven by curiosity, I moved away from the group to study this strange place.

At first glance, it was an ordinary temple, built in the style of the Fire Nation. The corridors, walls, as well as statues and engravings, all of which I had already seen in the capital's Fire Temple. There were very few differences between the two temples. Driven by curiosity, I walked through the walls, exploring corridors, rooms, some of which were secret. I looked at the locals of the temple. Among them were not only old women from forty and above, but also quite mature women, as well as very young girls - novices of this temple, or should I say monastery? All the inhabitants of this place were women of different ages. Absolutely all of them, without any exceptions. It is quite surprising to see such a thing in a patriarchal country, but there is nothing in the world.

I also found a natural pool that was overflowing with spiritual energy and Qi. Surely this must have been some magical place worth asking around about. I had never encountered such an anomaly, such a high life energy content couldn't help but affect people. And it was in plain sight and there was no attempt to hide it. It was interesting, but I hurried to catch up with Azula, deciding to find out more about this place later....

Meanwhile, the princess had already been led to a spacious room with books, scrolls, and a large picture of two human bodies - a male and a female. This place was like a classroom or even an auditorium. All in all, a place created to pass on knowledge to the younger generations, just like the normal schools in the Fire Country. Azula and Mei sat down in the front seats, besides them, the old woman Shu, and her two young assistants were also in the room.

Perfect timing, I made it right in time for the lectures to start....