69 Azula
Azula stood there, halfway into her lightning generating pose as she turned her head towards the railing of the ship, her golden eyes sharpened as she asked herself…. How did this person appear here without anyone knowing?
"Long black hair covering the right eye, fair skin, and considering where we are.... you must be the so-called Ghost" said the stoic Princess, not displaying even a single emotion in her eyes
"Oh, so you heard of me?" Madara asked with a smirk
"I've read about you. Debuted eight years ago, stealing from small Fire Nation camps, with many soldiers dying by your hands, and one year later… Besieged by a battalion of two hundred firebenders in the swamps near Gao Ling, you killed more than half and escaped alive, earned the title of Greedy Ghost first, then Red Eyed Ghost and many others… Labeled as the worst criminal of the Fire Nation until the news of the Avatar spread…" She said with an emotionless tone as if she was reciting a written document by memory alone. "You disappeared for many years to who knows where, then suddenly bought this land from the previous owner and now run a gambling resort with a net worth that makes nobles jealous."
"Impressive…" Said Madara while standing up from the railing and approaching the main deck.
"I thought the same… But looking at you right now… You don't seem like much" said Azula as she followed his steps towards the main deck, she knew this would be a showdown between both of them.
Looking to the sides, Madara could see that all the soldiers were being beaten by Iroh and Zuko easily, Azula would be their only challenge here.
With a snarky grin Madara answered the Fire Princess "You also look like a bitter disappointment to me…"
That managed to finally break Azula's mask by a smidge, as her left eye twitched slightly before she reigned her emotions and took her stance, in her eyes Madara in front of her was also a prodigy if the documents she saw had any truth in them, and today she will prove herself to be the superior one.
Seeing Madara with his nonchalant posture, she decided to strike first.
She punched a massive pillar of blue flames towards Madara, the heat was abnormal and even Zuko could see that she was giving her all here.
Madara kept his grin and simply leaned backwards in a near inhuman angle, letting the column of flames pass right over him, but he made sure to extend the tip of his kiseru towards the blue fire.
"Hmmmm, this does taste better…" Said Madara after recovering his stance and taking a puff "It's minty… with a touch of…. delusions of grandeur… not bad!"
Azula's frown grew, the anger slowly distorting her beautiful visage, as she started blasting fire from all her limbs non-stop, while Madara simply dodged every single one of them with an easygoing smirk, the Uchiha didn't even try to approach her during the whole fight.
Seeing the absurd acrobatic maneuvers that Madara was employing to dodge her fire, Azula couldn't help but frown even further, the corner of her mouth opened a little to display her clenched teeth.
"It seems that you only know how to dodge" Taunted the teen Princess while performing a fiery spinning kick aimed at Madara's torso, which he simply jumped over with ease;
"Nah, it's you that only knows how to miss…"
"Grr..." She doubled her output; she would hit this man and prove that she was the superior prodigy!
Zuko's mouth was gaping at what he was watching, his monstrous sister was fighting with all her might against his Teacher, to the point that even he himself wouldn't be able to endure the potency of those blue flames, but his Teacher… he… he was treating the monster Azula like a child…
Dodging another fire blast from Azula, Madara nodded;
"Good, adaptation… improvisation… but your weakness is not in your technique…"
"I have no weakness!" Shouted Azula while blasting fire with her two fists simultaneously; aiming towards the flanks of her enemy
Once she saw Madara crouching to dodge both blasts, she grinned. Lightning started dancing on her fingers as she quickly did circular movements with her hands "Let's see you dodge this!"
Pointing two fingers towards her foe, a mighty lightning bolt erupted, for a fraction of a second the world seemed to go black and white, and before one could blink a loud explosion engulfed Madara's location.
Watching from the sides, Zuko clenched his fist "..Teacher…" he mumbled, but a hand on his shoulder took his attention;
"Mr. Uchiha will be fine, we should escape while we have the chance, your Teacher is giving us a precious opportunity, let's not waste it" said the wise old General.
"… But…" he looked between the explosion and his uncle before frowning "Fine… but if he is hurt… we come back, Uncle"
"Of course." Said the smiling old General as he and his nephew sneakily jumped from the ship
Back at the deck of the ship, Azula grinned at the sight in front of her, the explosion that mixed both lightning and fire;
"As expected, you're not much," she said with a victorious grin.
"That was dangerous... huh…" Her golden eyes went wide as Madara's voice came from behind her, the bored tone of his voice irked her like no other.
Not taking any chances she lifted her foot to do a high kick with her firebending, her aim was for the kill with this kick… but the kick was easily blocked by Madara's own stretched leg, but what made her eye go wide was not Madara's sudden red eyes... no… It was the fact that… no fire came out!
She was a prodigy; she wouldn't commit such an amateurish mistake like forgetting to bend in a fight;
Clenching her teeth harder she went for another kick, spinning towards the other side, which Madara easily blocked with his knee… and once again… no fire…
"How?!" She couldn't help but ask, this should be impossible!
"Very presumptuous of you to think that Fire and Lightning are your allies when in my presence"
What followed was what looked like a synchronized dance of kicks from both sides, Azula was becoming more and more shocked, her current inability to bend fire aside, every move she did Madara would replicate perfectly, even fighting techniques that were exclusive to her and her family.
Kick meeting kick, Madara never once let go of his kiseru or moved his relaxed hand that was still hanging from his kimono, he was enjoying this.
"Come on… Stop trying to hit me and hit me…" he couldn't help but say with a healthy dose of snark.
Azula was starting to breathe harder…. It didn't matter how unexpected her strike was, Madara was always ready and mirrored her like he was her own shadow, which unnerved the teen girl.
Over ten minutes of pure martial combat already passed and Azula could feel her shins aching due to Madara's blocks. What annoyed her is that Madara never struck her… he only blocked and parried!
'How dare he take me lightly!'
Her own lapse of concentration worked against her as suddenly she felt the tip of his kiseru pressing against her neck, while Madara's voice once again echoed from behind her
"And you are dead, Girly…"
Beads of sweat covered Azula's forehead as she breathed haggardly, this was the most intense physical fight she ever had, and she used to train with her father!
"What are you?" She asked with a narrowed gaze at her opponent while reining in her emotions, although her trembling eyes couldn't be hidden.
"Madara Uchiha"
"That doesn't explain anything…"
"No, that explains everything."
As the teen girl kept staring at the man, he slowly distanced himself from her with an ever-present smirk on his lips. She couldn't help but say;
"As I thought, once a criminal... always a criminal; a traitor shielding traitors"
"I resent that, I never betrayed anyone… and it was you who struck first and let them run away while being completely focused on me"
Silence remained for a dozen or so seconds, she kept scanning the surroundings and noticed that Madara was right, Zuko and Iroh had long left. Then, Madara decided that he had enough;
"Well, that was an interesting impromptu lesson, good luck to you and your… ventures…" Said Madara while turning away, walking like he didn't even care about her trying to strike his back
"Lesson?" Azula raised her eyebrow, not understanding what he meant.
"Would you rather call it a defeat?" Madara asked without even turning back, but she could feel his grin growing wider.
Her fists clenched so hard that the skin on the back of her hands turned pale white, she wouldn't dignify him with an answer!
"You will answer for your crimes when I report you to the Fire Lord" She said with deep anger and frustration in her voice;
"Really?" Said Madara while turning his head towards the girl. "Then perhaps I SHOULD join the Avatar, huh?"
Her heart stopped for a fraction of a second right there, if that happened… things would go against her Lord Father's plans, and it would be her fault.
"What do you want?"
"You and your people keep away from my land and my business, and I will keep my distance from the tattooed kid"
"We have a deal" She said after much inner struggle, as this was the first time in her whole life that she had to compromise, she was not enjoying this;
Nodding sagely Madara then concluded "Now, I would be grateful if you told Daddy Dearest that it seems that many mercenaries and even Earth Kingdom nobles do not respect his rule, since they dared to attack this place not long ago, I already sent him a letter a while ago but it would be great if his favorite child could help my case"
She was about to retort when Madara interrupted her… again…
"I shall take my leave first, good luck with the repairs… they might take a while" he sarcastically spoke as he jumped on top of the railing and leaned backwards, simply falling from the boat.
Those words seemed to bring Azula back to the present situation, making her look towards her vessel and see flames consuming many parts of the deck and most had already spread towards the interior.
The few soldiers that were not knocked out were just watching her with incredulous eyes, she didn't like that one bit.
"Wake everyone up, I want the ship fixed by tonight, we have to return to the Fire Nation as soon as possible!"
"Y-Your Highness… what about the G-ghost?" Asked one scared soldier
"He will have his due…" Her eyes narrowed dangerously as both her fists and teeth clenched in frustration and even … unwillingness…
For the first time in her life Azula felt that she was just a regular person… the Monster was the one that completely demolished her with ease…
Looking towards her hands, and finally seeing the blue flame sparking on her palm she finally let out a sigh of relief, whatever Madara did that interrupted her bending… even if temporarily… truly scared her
