Embers: Chapter Six
Sep. 19th, 2025 07:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
masterghandalfThis is a repost from Das_Sporking2; previous installments of this sporking may be found here.
Warning: This chapter contains violence, deaths and mention of pedophilia.
MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Vathara’s Embers! Last time, Zuko and Iroh discussed lightning redirection and fire-healing, while Toph got to show how Vathara thinks she’s so much more enlightened thanthose stupid peons her friends. Today, we have a fight scene as Zuko and Iroh encounter some bandits on the road, which I like… and some more detail on worldbuilding and backstory elements, which I don’t (I also apologize if this one’s a bit rough; this week’s been hectic for me). Joining us today will be Zuko and Rangi.
Chapter 6
A/N: Warning, violence.
Rangi: Violence, I can deal with. But I’ve been reading up on the Fire Nation of your time since I was last here, and I just have one thing I’d like to ask. *beat* WHY!?
Zuko: *sighs, buries his face in his hands* Apparently Great-Grandfather Sozin was a busy man… and we all ended up paying the price for it.
Rangi: Okay, but still… WHY!?
I'm starting to not like roads, Zuko thought darkly, touching the side of Asahi's neck to keep her quiet. The sounds from up around that blind corner were… not good.
On the one hand, roads meant people.
Rangi: But no roads means slogging overland through the wilderness, desperately hoping you’re going the right way and haven’t completely turned yourself around without realizing it and that whatever means you’re using of navigating still work, so… tradeoff.
Asahi needed grain to stay her best, and while he might be getting better at hunting, people couldn't live by meat alone. And letting Uncle try to gather wild plants was not happening.
Zuko: …okay, that’s fair.
Roads meant towns, farms, trading posts. Places they could trade skills or just willingness to work for a few meals or coin.
On the other hand… roads meant people. With all their lovely habits.
Rangi: No need to remind me of people’s “lovely” habits – I met Xu Ping An, after all. *beat* Wait. Xu was a firebending prodigy who never shut up about how he was a superior being above the common laws of morality and society… Vathara would probably have liked him! *muttering* What am I getting into…
"Three at least," Iroh estimated quietly, as they snuck closer. "No more than seven, or we would hear more. They waited around the corner for their victims - a light wagon, hmm…."
Smart place for an ambush. A blind, sharp turn, as the road bent around a tall outcrop of dust-brown stone. Brush crept up on the road's other side, making flight that direction a difficult choice, in those first critical moments of surprise. Zuko did not want to go around that corner. Not if there were any chance one of the attackers had enough sense to keep watch.
"Mommy!"
"Go!" Iroh dropped back, already plotting his own assault. "Find the child!"
MG: You know what? I really like this part – especially how it conveys that Zuko and Iroh drop their planning and reflexively spring into action when they realize a child is in danger, which I think makes perfect sense for both of their characters. It’s a nice little beat, both for them, and for setting up the action scene to come.
Sort out who're the bad guys later, Zuko knew, urging Asahi into a sprint.
Zuko: …I’d assume the people threatening the little kid were the bad guys? Or am I supposed to just be throwing myself into the middle of a situation without even stopping to think about what I was getting into?
They rounded the bend, and she skipped sideways, dodging the lump in the road-
The body.
Earth Kingdom brown, splotched with red from an arrow driven all the way through. And never mind, it wasn't moving, worry about it later. The handful of people around the wagon with its stolid draft ostrich-horse were moving, and he had his dao out and separated before the spearman could even register there was a new fighter-
Bandits. Spearman. Two with swords, holding an older woman. One in the wagon, on the girl.
Rangi: Oh. There are the “bad guys” you were talking about. That was easy.
Meaning snatch, grab, and ride wouldn't work. And Asahi wasn't combat-trained. One of many reasons he hadn't taken her near Azula.
Zuko launched himself from her back instead, trusting the hen's truly rotten temper toward strangers to keep her out of grasping hands. The first whirling strike bisected the bandit's spear before it could come to bear.
The second took his head.
Zuko: Actually, I’d like to point out that decapitating someone with a single strike like that (yes, it was the second strike, but the first was to the spear) is possible, but really difficult. There’s actually a lot of bone and muscle in the neck! *looking awkward* Sometimes you just pick these things up, okay?
Swordsmen. Letting the woman go, now, going for steel, but Zuko wasn't worried about them. Not as much as he was about the bow and quiver laid in grabbing range against the side of the wagon. Probably by the bastard just rising to his feet in the back, surprised at the sudden shouting.
Green and tan wriggled away, still shrieking.
So small. She's just a little girl-
The distraction almost cost him. Zuko dodged the first wild swing, and parried the next few with a flourish of what appeared to be completely unnecessary footwork. Letting them drive him away from the wagon, and their probable leader.
And smirked, as the pair suddenly realized that impressive bow had been kicked far too many yards away.
Zuko: …I guess I just got really lucky that none of these guys are earthbenders, huh?
"Zhen!" The bruised woman bolted around them, heading for the shrieks with desperate determination.
"Back off, woman!" Steel flashed, as the disarmed archer grabbed for the struggling girl. "You, boy! Put the swords down."
And have you cut her throat anyway? Zuko glared back. "No."
Rangi: You know, I get why you’re doing it – I wouldn’t trust that guy to show mercy either – but even so, that’s a pretty big gamble you’re taking with a child’s life.
The woman froze in place, face flashing between fear and hate. "You can't! My baby-!"
"Let her go," Zuko said grimly. "Now."
"Are you deaf?" the bandit snorted. "Put them down, or the girl-"
Bloodied fletching sprouted from his throat.
"A bit high." Iroh's voice carried across the battlefield as the incredulous bandit choked on his own blood. "It would seem I am badly out of practice."
Zuko: …you know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Uncle use a bow. Did we ever establish he could do that, or that he was even near the bow?
The swordsmen hesitated, looking at Zuko. Looking past him.
Zuko waited, knees bent, blades out and ready. Smirking, to hide the uncertainty of, Uncle only had that one shot….
They bolted.
"Let them go!" Iroh ordered, before he could leap after them. "We may still be able to save this man."
"Heng!" Zhen in her arms, the woman glanced back toward the fallen man, torn.
"Get your supplies!" Zuko ordered, shaking off his blades before he sheathed them. He jumped into the wagon, and hauled the dead weight out. "We need to move!"
Terrified, she jumped. And started grabbing what had been scattered onto the road; bundles of roots, dried plants, and what looked like odder things. Some of them looked familiar, he just couldn't think from where.
Rangi: Traveling apothecary of some sort? That’s what it sounds like to me.
Whistling for Asahi, Zuko helped Uncle manhandle the unconscious merchant across her back, then down again into the wagon bed. Stooped, and tossed the quiver in as well.
They're going to be back.
"Can you drive, Madam?" Uncle asked with courteous haste as he climbed into the back. "Asahi will follow, and I need to help my nephew with your husband."
"He's bleeding so bad…." Pale, she grabbed the harness reins and snapped them, one arm still wrapped around Zhen.
"Mommy! They're hurting Daddy!"
"Hush, little one! Don't look back."
"But they're bad-"
"Zhen, quiet!"
Rangi: *sighs* Poor kid. I guess no matter what else has changed in the world, daofei are still daofei.*
*The outlaw subculture endemic to the Earth Kingdom in Kyoshi and Rangi’s time – MG
It probably did look like they were hurting him, Zuko knew, wincing as Iroh's knife cut free the bloodstained inner robe. Shoulder wounds weren't good at the best of times, and Uncle hadn't had time to be gentle yanking that arrow out.
Too much blood. No way is just a bandage going to be enough.
Uncle grimaced, obviously reaching the same conclusion. "We cannot risk it," he murmured regretfully. Raised his voice. "How far is the next town, Madam-"
"Hot water," Zuko said abruptly.
"Lee, what-?"
"Hot water, Uncle. For clean bandages!"
"Ah!" Iroh went to work, bracing a pot against the jouncing of the road, lighting a few precious pieces of coal inside it, and tucked his teapot atop the flames. "Will this work?" he murmured warily.
"I have to try." It works with rocks. It works with my own fire. Water can't be that different.
I won't let it be.
MG: And so, it’s time to strap in, everyone, because we’re about to get the next evolution in Zuko’s abilities!
Soak one of their bandages in boiling water. Press it into the wound, with the same circular flow he used on fire. Pick up the bits of fire still singing through steaming cloth, and guide them into the dance. Dive into the worst knots, and soften them, and hold, until Uncle could pass him another cloth.
It was like trying to climb sheer rock with his fingertips. But he'd done that, too.
Soak and melt and hold. Soak and melt and hold….
And somehow the sun had slipped a handspan across the sky, and Uncle was shaking him. "Lee. Lee! Stop. Stop now."
Zuko blinked, looking at red, raw flesh. Still gouged. Still not whole. "But-"
"Enough," Uncle said flatly. "He will live." Iroh gently shoved him down, onto canvas covering fragrant roots, away from drying blood. "Rest."
But they could be back-
He was out before he hit the canvas.
MG: Hmmm; I’m of two minds on this bit. On the one hand, I do appreciate how Vathara is conveying both Zuko’s exhaustion and how overwhelmed he is, and how he’s barely conscious of just what he’s doing here… but at the same time, considering how important this is going to turn out to be, it would have been nice to have a bit more detail about just what it’s like for Zuko to try channeling his power through hot water for the first time.
"Is your son going to be all right?"
Iroh lifted his hand from Zuko's pulse; strong and steady, if a bit fast. "Lee is my nephew." He smiled slightly. "And he will be. Master-?"
MG: Hmmm; part of me thinks that considering Iroh and Zuko’s backstories – Iroh was a father who lost his son in battle; Zuko is a son whose father doesn’t want him, and it’s this wound in both their lives that played a crucial role in how they became so close to each other – I’d think having his nephew mistaken for his son would provoke more of an emotional reaction from Iroh. Not necessarily something he’d let strangers see, mind, but something Iroh himself would feel. *shrugs* Maybe it’s just me, but I’d think Vathara could have done something more with this.
"Heng Mu." The merchant grimaced as the road jarred his bandaged shoulder. "Dyes and spices. This is my wife, Nuan, and our daughter Zhen-"
"You get away from Daddy right now!"
"Zhen, that's enough," Nuan ordered. Looked over her shoulder for just a moment of heartsick gratitude. "Thank you, sir. Spirits bless the both of you. Even if-" She swallowed hard, and turned back to the road.
"Your mother's right, Zhen," Heng stated. "They were helping us. Even if I don't know exactly what you did…?" He left the question hanging, green eyes curious despite the pain.
"They hurt you! And the ugly one, with the swords, he-" The young girl shivered, hiding her face in her mother's arm.
"We'll talk about it later." He gave Iroh a hard look, and lowered his voice. "Just what did my daughter see?"
Rangi: I think she was a little kid who was already badly shaken, saw something she didn’t understand and jumped to the wrong conclusion, more or less. Can’t really blame her, poor girl.
"More than enough," Iroh said firmly, matching his low quiet. "She will have nightmares, I think. Treat her kindly. She will not forget, but time will reassure her that you all live."
Heng frowned toward Zuko. "My daughter usually doesn't call anyone ugly."
Zuko: *sighs, rubbing his scar* Trust me, I’ve heard that and worse before.
Iroh sighed. "It is likely she saw him dispose of the spearman." He shrugged. "My nephew does not enjoy defending himself with such force. Even so, he is good at it. Fortunately for all of us."
"Dispose of- He's a boy!"
"A pity, that the war does not care." Iroh raised an inquiring brow.
MG: And one would think that these people would be more familiar with that, considering their nation has been at war for a century. But something tells me this is, deliberately or subconsciously, another bit of “the Fire Nation is just more jaded about violence than everybody else, and the author considers that a mostly positive thing.”
"Will it be far to the next town? It is good to have company on the road, but I would like to know how likely it may be that the two who fled will try their luck again."
"Two?" Heng said uneasily. "I thought there were four."
"There were," Iroh agreed mildly.
Heng stared at him. Opened his mouth-
Shut it again, paler than blood loss could account for. "Oma and Shu. You're F-"
Rangi: *arching her eyebrow* You really want to finish that sentence? *she sighs* Not that I blame them, really, considering what my people have apparently been getting up to since I died (seriously, why?) but I wonder what gave them away now, exactly? Just being really good at killing people?
MG: Interestingly, while nobody from the Earth Kingdom uses Oma and Shu’s name as a curse in the show… the novels do use their names in this way. Just an interesting point of comparison.
"Please." Iroh met his gaze, knowing what he saw. We can hide our bending, but we can never hide our eyes.
Zuko: That’s funny, because nobody really noticed my eyes when I was actually traveling in disguise through the Earth Kingdom…
"The arrow was within a finger of your heart. If Lee had not healed you, you would never have woken."
"Healed?" Heng said, dazed. Looked at Zuko. And the bandages. And the teapot.
Blinked, and looked back at Iroh with mingled shock and amazement. "How did a waterbender get born in the Fire Nation?"
Zuko: *spluttering* A what!?
MG: Oh, poor Zuko… Iroh’s just making things up for the moment, but just wait until we get to that next powerup Vathara is going to be giving you, which is going to be soon. Didn’t I mention there were two-element benders in this fic? *grins evilly*
Zuko: *groans and facepalms*
"Ah." Iroh leaned back, smiling genially. "That, is a very long story…."
"That's the bow, all right," the Earth Kingdom Guard said grimly, gripping it in one gloved hand. "Cut-Horse Meng.
Rangi: Eh. As far as daofei names go, not one of the better ones I’ve heard.
We'll have to send a patrol out for the body. Good riddance, if it is him." The man's mustache wrinkled in distaste. "You might want to light some incense to Guan Yin. If those healers hadn't come along when they did… that filth has a record when it comes to little girls."
MG: …huh. I’d actually forgotten that Guanyin (the fic’ll usually write it as one word rather than two) gets referenced this early. So, for a bit more context, Guanyin is of course a real-world bodhisattva associated primarily with compassion who is highly revered in China in particular. Guanyin in this fic does not appear to be a bodhisattva but is instead a spirit, and the particular patron spirit of the Earth Kingdom the way that the Moon and Ocean are for the Water Tribes, or Agni in fanon is for the Fire Nation. Vathara will later establish Tengri as the guardian spirit of the Air Nomads. And, okay, coming from a religious studies background, I have mixed feelings about this. Obviously, with the exception of the Water Tribes revering the Moon and Ocean spirits, none of this is canon. As we’ve already been over, the Fire Nation uses the word “Agni” for their formal duels, the Agni Kai, but there’s no indication they actually worship the Vedic god Agni in the show itself. And neither Guanyin nor Tengri’s presence have any basis in canon; Vathara added them all on her own.
Now, I’ll be honest with you – I dislike the use of real-world deities in a fantasy setting (unless you’re literally implying they’re the same entities that exist across multiple worlds, which is rare but I have seen it, but I don’t think is what Embers is doing). I just find it immersion-breaking. IE, I generally enjoyed Miles Cameron’s The Red Knight books when I read them a while back – think “King Arthur meets the Black Company, and Mordred is the hero,” which is a bizarre combination that somehow works – but it bugged me a lot that he just flat-out ported Christianity into his fantasy world without even bothering to change the names. Cameron explained why he did it – the series is heavily concerned with knighthood as an institution, which Cameron, iirc an actual medievalist IRL, considered inseparable from the Church and its related culture – but I still prefer Tad Williams’ approach in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, where the Mother Church is clearly an expy of the medieval Catholic Church, but with enough of the names and terminology tweaked that I’m not left wondering how a real-world institution ended up dimension-hopping into a fantasy realm. Maybe it’s just a me thing, but it does bug me.
Anyway, fic!Guanyin feels like she gets most of her Buddhist elements sanded off to become a generic “earth mother” type spirit, though she doesn’t get a lot of focus overall; Tengri is of course from Tengrism, a traditional central Eurasian steppe religion (as we’ll later see, Vathara rather freely mixes Mongolian influences into her version of the Air Nomads – it should go without saying that while, IRL, there are some noteworthy historical connections between Tibet and Mongolia, they are not the same, do not have the same culture or indigenous traditions, while I’m not an expert in Tengrism it has not as far as I can tell traditionally been much practiced in Tibet and Vathara’s use and mixing of elements from both cultures has significant issues… but again, more on that later when we get the fic’s take on the “true” history of the Air Nomads). Basically, I just find Vathara’s use of real-world deities like this to be sloppy and distracting at best – maybe if she’d followed from Agni and used Vedic deities exclusively I wouldn’t mind it as much, but that’s not what the fic goes for. And it must be noted that the Water Tribes are the only nation left revering fictional spirits, which considering how much the author dislikes them overall is certainly… a choice. Maybe all of this doesn’t bug other people… but it bugs me, and I felt like I had to say may piece.
"I was already planning to, but…." Heng swallowed dryly. "Yes. I'm very glad they found us."
"Why can't lowlifes like that go off and die fighting the Fire Nation, that's what I'd like to know," the guard grumbled. "Animals deserve animals."
MG: Well, I guess we’re not supposed to like him, clearly!
Zuko: And just from my experience, I’d guess at least some bandits were probably deserters, so… there’s your answer.
"Is there anything else you need to know today?" Heng asked humbly. "My wife and daughter are… well, I'm sure you can imagine. We were going to be staying in town to sell for a few days anyway, even before this." He lifted a hand, not quite touching his bandaged shoulder. "I don't think I'll be up to the road for a while."
"Mu's Dyes and Spices, right?" The guard looked a bit less grim. "My wife's been looking for a good fast jade green, whatever that means. I don't suppose you'd have any advice?"
Three sales and some frank advice on cheap fabric tricks later, Heng finally escaped into the twilight, ducking into the inn stable to check on Sand. And their - rescuers. Odd as that thought was. "He's still asleep?"
"Asleep again," Mushi corrected, patting the black hen curled protectively next to his nephew. "He woke enough for dinner. Thank you for sending Madam Nuan with it. I would prefer not to leave Lee alone among strangers. Sometimes, it seems he attracts bad luck."
"Is that how he got that scar?"
Rangi: At least in my day, most people in the Fire Nation didn’t mind dueling scars at all, or even thought they were attractive. I had to remind Kyoshi of that at the Fire Lord’s party, when she was feeling self-conscious about the burn scars on her hands – at least half the fancy lords and ladies at that party had scars on them somewhere, from one Agni Kai or another.
Zuko: …yeah, well, in my case it’s less about the scar than it is about who gave it to me, and how.
Rangi: …right. I forgot that part.
Mushi's gaze rested on him, calm as a saber-moose lion stalking its prey.
Sokka: *from just out of sight* Yeah, I’ve seen that, and I’d not call it very calm!
Heng raised a hand to fend off… he didn't know what. Mushi couldn't be a firebender. He'd used a bow, hadn't he? Everybody knew firebenders were too proud of their element to use steel.
MG: Because of course, we mustn’t forget that Zuko is special for his willingness to use swords.
"I just want to understand," he said honestly. "You said it was a long story, and then you just say it's probably from his mother. I can understand why you're hiding, and that you don't want my wife to know-"
"I was more concerned with your daughter."
"Zhen?" Heng said in disbelief. "Why?"
"We frightened her, and she nearly lost you," Mushi said frankly. "If she knew something that would bring trouble to us - and she is young, she would not realize the consequences would be far worse - well. It is better not to take the chance."
"Oh." He hadn't even thought of that. Zhen was eleven. She'd never really want to hurt anyone.
But she was scared.
Rangi: And she might go blabbing to someone without thinking of the consequences. Kids do that sometimes.
"I'll talk to her," Heng stated. "But she's not here now. And - a waterbender?"
Mushi sighed, and shrugged. "His mother could heal. I knew, but I said nothing. I knew my brother's temper. And she was a wonderful person. Kind, strong, and honorable. I thought she would temper my brother. Give him a balance he lacked." He shook his head. "Something went wrong. I am still uncertain of what. I was… away. When I returned - I should have taken Lee and left, then." Gold eyes met his squarely. "My brother is a firebender. A strong one. To think his son was simply powerless was disappointment enough. To discover the truth-" He winced, and sighed.
MG: I actually do kind of like how Iroh very carefully tells the literal truth here while clearly phrasing it in such a way as to give the wrong impression. Admittedly, Iroh in canon had no qualms with lying about his and Zuko’s identities – right, Lee and Mushi? – but just in terms of keeping his story straight here, sticking to the truth as much as he can might be smart.
Heng swallowed, eyes drawn to the ridges of scar under dark hair. "Are you saying, his father…."
"Lee does not speak of it." Sadness shadowed Mushi's face, mixed with a cold, terrible anger. "He knows a score of firebending forms; they are useful for defense, even for one who cannot bend. But not one of water. He could not heal himself. When he was well enough to move, I took him. We have not returned to the Fire Nation since."
Spirits, what a nightmare. And yet - something didn't ring right. "So why were you lost?" Heng said cautiously. "You don't seem like the kind of man who ends up not knowing where he is."
"I do not? Ah." Mushi rubbed at his left shoulder ruefully. "Unfortunately, my nephew is not an only child."
Heng had to lean on a stall door. "I don't really want to know, do I?"
"Let us just say, we misjudged the tides of war," Mushi said dryly. "We were recognized, and fled. With only what you see. Though I am grateful even for that. Still, we did not escape unscathed." He regarded Heng soberly. "Yours is the second mortal wound Lee has healed in a week."
No wonder they were jumpy. Well, besides the obvious. "He needs a teacher."
MG: Mmm-hmmm. And Zuko is going to get a healing teacher in the Ba Sing Se arc, and let’s just say I do not think she gives a good first impression, for various reasons… but that’s still a couple of chapters away.
"Hiding in the Earth Kingdom is difficult enough," Mushi observed. "I do not think we could pass at the North Pole."
"Who said anything about the poles?" Heng chuckled, thinking of the odd dyestuffs that came out of the Foggy Swamp. And the even odder people who traded them. Oh, the women were graceful enough, neatly dressed as any Earth Kingdom villager, if exotically different. But the men, especially if they were on a hunting trip… Augh, my eyes! Heng thought ruefully.
MG: *groans* Get used to this part. The Foggy Swamp Tribe are basically the butt-monkeys of the Embers!verse. They don’t do anything particularly terrible, or even get much focus at all… but basically every time they get brought up it’s going to be with a joke about how much they suck. To be fair, it’s not like they got the most dignified portrayal in canon either, but they were only in a couple of episodes, proved to be friendly sorts when the initial misunderstanding with the Gaang was cleared up, and Huu at least got to be both a powerful master waterbender with some cool and unique techniques and an enlightened sage who gave Aang some good and useful advice. But Vathara doesn’t like the Water Tribes in general, so… butt of the joke it is.
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 6
"Ice isn't the only water in the world."
"That is true," Mushi allowed. "But the ports are never safe."
And they'd never fit in at the swamps, Heng knew, after a moment more to think about it. They might look the part, except for the eyes - but that accent would be a dead giveaway. Accent on dead. "There's still one port that is."
Mushi straightened. "The inland sea of Ba Sing Se."
Heng nodded. "I don't know for sure, but I've heard there are healing waterbenders there. I know some people travel to the city, if they can, if ordinary healers can't handle their sickness."
MG: …and this is where aforementioned teacher is going to come in.
"Hmm." Mushi stroked his beard thoughtfully.
Heng winced, suddenly remembering a problem. "But you need documents to get into the city, and-"
"Do not worry, Master Mu. There are ways." Mushi was considering the problem with the same abstract air he'd seen in the most skilled Pai Sho players. "What else do you know of the waterbenders?"
"They like blue?" Heng said uncertainly. "I've never been to Ba Sing Se."
*all sporkers sigh loudly*
"But you know those who have?" Mushi inquired.
"Well…."
Mushi smiled. "Well, indeed. Tell me of someone who has been there, and what they said of what they found."
"Did you mean it?"
Just back from seeing Heng off to his family, Iroh sighed. I should have known better than to expect him to sleep while I talked to strangers.
Zuko: Pretty impressive for me to know Uncle was talking to strangers, if I was asleep…
"If we can find a waterbender who heals, perhaps we can-"
"About… Father."
Oh. "I did," Iroh said quietly, entering the stall to look his nephew in the eye. "Your mother was a ray of sunshine in the midst of clouds. Her presence eased the heart; her smile was the rainbow. Even the coldest soul, I believed, must warm and thaw to her."
Zuko: *wistfully* Yeah… I guess she was, at that… *he slumps down; after a moment, Rangi puts a comforting arm around his shoulders*
"But he didn't." Gold eyes closed, still weary.
"No," Iroh sighed. "She was sunshine in the falling rain, and then she was gone… like the tales of the dragon-wife…."
Rangi: The what wife, now?
MG: Oh, boy… here we go…
The Ultimate Firebenders: 5
"Uncle?"
I am tired, Iroh thought ruefully. I should never have said that. "Only an old man's wandering thoughts, nephew. Sometimes, when the world seems coldest, the old stories give us hope."
"Maybe." Zuko gave him another skeptical look, before settling back into the straw. "But she wasn't a dragon, Uncle. I think somebody would have noticed if I came out of an egg."
MG: *carefully* Ursa is not a dragon, no… but I am not exaggerating when I say there were dragons in her family tree in the fic’s universe… and elsewhere in the Fire royal family tree, for that matter.
Rangi: …you know, when the Fire Sages talk about firebenders as the children of dragons, my mother always taught me that was a metaphor. And since she is a master firebender, former headmistress of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and Fire Lord Zoryu’s own firebending master, I’m pretty sure she knew what she was talking about.
MG: …in Embers!verse, there connection between firebenders and dragons is very much not a metaphor. It’s very, very literal. And intimate.
Zuko: …I did not get out of bed for this this morning.
The Ultimate Firebenders: 6
He took a breath, let it sigh out in a whisper. "Besides. Everybody knows dragon-children were special."
And you, who can heal, are not? But Iroh kept quiet, letting his nephew sink back into restless sleep. Zuko was in no mood to hear comfort. He had saved a life today, yes - but he had also taken one. And that never became easier. Not for any soul who still claimed a heart.
MG: Eeesh. On the one hand, this is like… half a good Zuko and Iroh moment. On the other hand, something about how Iroh’s instinctive response to his nephew not thinking he’s special enough is to bring up the non-canon healing powers Vathara gave him instead of literally anything else about Zuko rubs me the wrong way, like it’s implying canon!Zuko, who couldn’t heal, wasn’t special enough. Maybe I’m reading too much into things, but it still bugs me.
Prince Stuko: 12
The Ultimate Firebenders: 7
He could still feel the bow's grip in his grasp, see the spray of blood as the arrow sank home. It'd been years, but he'd never quite forgotten the archery lessons that were part of every Fire Nation noble's training.
Well, almost every noble's. His nephew was a rare exception. Archery was not easily practiced on board a ship. And even before his exile, Zuko had never taken to the bow.
MG: Not sure if this is a clever bit of worldbuilding – and fits with the Japan theming Vathara gives the Fire Nation, considering that IIRC real-life samurai were originally archers before becoming more stereotypically associated with swordsmanship later in their history, and were still expected to be skilled with the bow – or an obvious patch for why Zuko, who is the Fire noble we see by far the most of in canon, never shows any particular aptitude for the bow.
Dragons have always hated archers.
MG: And this could be a reference to the Fire Nation/Air Nomad war from a thousand years ago the fic is eventually going to introduce and then not shut up about, though I’m not 100% sure on that. It does, however, feel like a start of something the fic is going to be doing a lot and that irritates me, where basically all of Zuko’s personality traits are tied back to one or another of the ways Vathara has made him *special*.
Ridiculous thought. Truly. Zuko was correct. Someone would have noticed if Prince Ozai's firstborn had-
"Like trying to hatch a stone," Ursa's voice echoed in memory.
An old legend. Hidden, like those stories the Fire Nation never spoke of to outsiders: that the gold eyes many feared as inhuman truly were. For it was said the first firebenders had been no mere mortals learning from dragons, but a dragon's own children….
Zuko *groans and facepalms*
MG: And yes, we’re not going to get it all laid out clearly until later, but for the time being, stick a pin in this because – it’s true. In Embers!verse, firebenders really are descended from shapeshifting dragons, and some of them have much closer dragon heritage than others. This is clearly a bit of author appeal on Vathara’s part, and hey, I get it. I went through a period of being obsessed with dragons in middle school to high school and even though I’m no longer that into them, they’re still one of my favorite fictional creatures. I can’t really blame someone else for liking them that much, too. I do take issue with a lot of elements of how Vathara executes this, and think that for an Avatar: The Last Airbender fic, especially a serious and gritty one, it’s a… bizarre choice. And it’s very hard to miss that Vathara gives her favorite nation, and nobody else, supernatural heritage (the Water Tribes have something that’s supposedly equivalent going on, but it gets a lot less focus and IMO doesn’t really balance things out, and isn’t properly introduced until very late in the fic). And when you add in that said favorite nation are the villains of the original show who are actively trying to conquer the rest of the world and preach a doctrine of superiority for themselves and their element, to have them actually have superhuman heritage (I think “being a dragon” counts as superhuman)… yeah, that makes me uncomfortable, a bit. But again, more on this element as it gets further developed later…
The Real Victims: 1 (introducing this counter here, because the idea that the other Nations would hate the Fire Nation if they knew they weren’t wholly human is going to get a lot of play before we’re through…)
The Superior Element: 6
The Ultimate Firebenders: 8
The Avatar has returned, after a century of silence. Powers are stirring. Spirits are moving.
Still. His Zuko? Lady Ursa had never been unfaithful. He would stake his soul on that. Zuko was his brother's son.
Zuko: I mean, I’ve had enough sycophants tell me how much I look like Dad did when he was my age, except for *brushes the edge of his scar lightly* I don’t think there was much doubt. And I think Dad would’ve loved an excuse to say I wasn’t really his son, and give the throne to Azula without any more fuss. *
*MG’s Note: Yes, I know the comics touched on this idea a bit.
But whose daughter was she?
He hadn't recalled it before, but Lady Kotone's relations with her husband had been rumored to be… odd….
Rangi: *snorts* Well, if your husband’s a fifty-foot dragon, that would complicate things… did she use a stepladder, or…?
Zuko: *clearly mortified* Can we not talk about this?
MG: Kotone and her husband (who we’ll be meeting later, trust me) being the fic’s take on Ursa’s parents, for those who haven’t figured it out.
No. Impossible, Iroh decided, making his own nest in straw to seek sleep.
And yet….
Spirits. If you stacked the deck against my nephew before he was even born, we need to have a very long talk.
MG: *sighs* Long story short – yes they did, more-or-less. And we’ve only just scratched the surface of how.
A turtle-duckling crying in the reeds, blood and the knife coming down-
Zuko woke with a strangled gasp in the gray darkness, straw rustling through his fingers. No pond. No blood. No little girl's life riding on his desperate guess at the right thing to do.
Nightmare. You knew you'd have them.
Close to dawn. No point in trying to go back to sleep. Zuko crept out of his bedding, drawing his dao to check them.
MG: Hey, at least we’re not doing “one PTSD nightmare and then the person is magically well” like Newcomb did?
Clean. Uncle's work.
Uncle had helped him clean his blades the first time, too. Water and oil and a shoulder to lean against until the shaking stopped, when the fire of battle finally guttered out and a scared fourteen-year-old remembered exactly how close some of the blades had come.
Stupid. I should have listened to Uncle.
But he'd been fourteen and full of himself and angry - and he'd just wanted to get away from the ship. From the quest, the stupid, useless quest, no one had seen the Avatar in a hundred years and he just couldn't take it anymore-!
I just wanted to go home.
Zuko: Yeah, I remember that feeling, all too well…
Potentially Triggering Material to Follow
But he couldn't. All he could do was leave the ship and leave the armor, just dress in quiet black and leave the Fire Nation behind.
He'd taken the dao, though. He wasn't that stupid. Firebend, and he might as well fly a banner saying idiot prince here. And the point was to be alone.
A port's back streets were no place to be alone.
He couldn't remember everything that had happened. Uncle said that was common, in your first real fight. He'd just felt something wasn't right-
I should have paid attention.
Heard the coarse laughs, smelled cheap wine, felt the ropes-
They thought I was a kid. Ten, maybe twelve. He'd put on height since then, but it still looked like he'd never be a match for his father… and why in the world had the spirits made men in other nations so damn big?
Rangi: What, are we supposed to be unusually small? I never noticed that. *beat* Okay, I’m a lot shorter than Kyoshi, but she’s a statistical outlier and should not be counted!
MG: We also have a reference here to spirits “making” people a certain size, and, like… there’s no evidence in canon the spirits created the world, or humanity? At most certain spirits, like the Moon and Ocean, directly compose parts of the world. And in Korra even Raava, one of the eldest and most powerful of all spirits, speaks deferentially to the lion-turtles and calls them “Ancient One,” implying that they are even older and more powerful than she is. And even as far back as we go in the timeline – Wan and Raava’s day, as seen in the flashbacks in “Beginnings” – the world already seems pretty ancient by that point. I don’t think we ever get any sort of canonical origin for humanity in the Avatarverse. *beat* Of course, Vathara is going to give her own backstory for the Avatarverse, and we’re eventually going to get humanity’s true origins in Embers, though not fully confirmed until a throwaway line in the epilogue (remember I mentioned this fic is only sort of a crossover?) and it doesn’t have anything to do with spirits… maybe I’m reading too much into it, but the phrasing just jumped out at me, is all.
They thought I was a kid. Spirits, that's sick.
MG: So… yeah. Fair warning – this whole sequence is supposed to be a flashback to the first time Zuko killed someone. And… it’s a gang who were trying to kidnap him to sell him to a pedophile. Yes, really. I mentioned back in chapter three I didn’t care for how Vathara handled the rape and murder of Ping, but it at least felt like she was trying to engage with it and not just use it for cheap shock value. This, though… this really does feel like she was saying “look at my fic, Embers isn’t for kids, it’s got Zuko killing pedophiles, isn’t that serious and edgy?” It really does feel completely gratuitous and unnecessary; I think the scene would’ve played out just as well if the gang just had Zuko pinged for a rich kid and were trying to take him hostage for ransom, and then he panicked and killed them while escaping. The way it is just feels like edge for the sake of edge, and detracts from the point of the flashback, which is “The first time Zuko killed.”
One-Hook Bai; that'd been the name he'd heard, in the midst of the roaring and the stink and the painful twist of his left wrist as he misjudged a blow and it skidded off ribs. He'd dealt with a thousand petty palace intrigues before his exile, he knew to remember names-
-And then he'd had just enough brains left to say screw pride, and start setting bastards on fire.
When it was over, some had run, two were melting in pools of flame….
Rangi: *stunned* How hot did you get that fire, anyway?
Zuko: *shrugs* This never actually happened to me… for which I’m very glad…
And one was rattling out his life on top of a shaking teenager, blood bubbling black in the starlight from a half-cut throat.
*all sporkers are visibly squicked*
Never wanted to do that. Never.
But he had, and he couldn't undo it. Like stepping off a cliff. Bending his first flame. He'd closed a door he'd never even realized was open, and locked himself on the other side.
Uncle had found him back on the ship, cleaning up. An unfamiliar, grim-faced Uncle, jaw set and hands hard as he looked over scrapes, bruises, and one knife-gash to the cheek Zuko couldn't even remember getting. Iroh had helped him clean up, taken his stumbling report - then hugged him within an inch of his life. And stayed with him, all that awful, numb day, and through the first night of nightmares.
MG: And here we have a good Iroh moment. Gross as I find the surrounding context – here we have both Iroh the protective papa wolf (papa dragon?) and Iroh the loving uncle. More of this, please!
Then yelled at him, once the retired general was certain his nephew was back in touch with reality.
Worked, Zuko thought wryly. I never did anything that stupid again.
Not just because of Uncle. Because… he'd asked, and listened, and found out about Bai's - preferences. And anybody who would turn over anyone to that was just sick-
But killing was awful and horrible and he hated it. And being good at it didn't change that.
Rangi: *sadly* No, it doesn’t. I’m no Air Nomad – I do believe that sometimes killing is necessary. But that’s not the same thing as saying it’s good. Mother made sure to drum the difference into my head – I think more people could stand to learn it.
There wasn't another way. Not this time.
Didn't help. Not today. Tomorrow, maybe.
Just keep going. Uncle needs you.
MG: And I also like how Zuko has to work through things, knows what he did was justified, still feels guilt over it, and forces himself to keep going anyway. It’s a nice moment, and one that feels real.
Potentially Triggering Content Ends Here
Iroh didn't have nightmares; not that he knew of, anyway. But he did get… sad. And clung even more tightly to his tea than usual.
Dyes and spices. Maybe Heng Mu has some ginseng? I could ask. I think. It couldn't hurt-
Zuko: Better than letting him try to turn whatever weird plant he’s found this time into tea, at least…
Footsteps. Heavy, and not trying to be quiet. Zuko faded into the shadows by Asahi.
"Hard to believe Cut-Horse Meng got taken out by an old refugee."
Two Earth Kingdom guards. Looked a lot more polished than the bullies he'd run into in Li's village. Good sign, in that they were probably professional enough to actually guard the town instead of terrorize it. Bad, in that if they saw him, they might know what they were looking at.
Zuko: Maybe if they recognize Uncle? But seriously, Vathara, you can’t always tell who’s Fire Nation just by looking at them!
Stay hidden.
"He picked the wrong refugee." A third guard near the door, with some kind of insignia on the brim of his uniform hat. Probably the leader, by his stance. "I saw him talking to the Mu family last night. He may act harmless, but if that man wasn't a soldier a few decades back, I'm an airbender."
MG: And I mean, they’re obviously right in this case, but considering how long the war’s going on, I’d say you could say that about any old man and have pretty good odds of it being true.
"Always thought your head was up in the clouds, Sergeant."
"Funny, Bao. Very funny." The sergeant watched his men saddle up their ostrich-horses and nodded as they checked their gear. "Stay sharp. Word has it Red Ling didn't like Meng either, but he won't take losing two of his gang well. Especially to a boy…." The sergeant stepped over to Asahi's stall. "Odd. I could have sworn the innkeeper said they were both here-"
Asahi snapped at him.
"Better count your fingers," the other guard said dryly. "That's a Yonaguni hen."
"Yonaguni?" The sergeant frowned, absently checking. "Sounds almost Fire Nation."
MG: …yes, Zuko’s new ostrich-horse is of a Fire Nation breed. The authorial favoritism, the symbolism, or both are thick here.
"Probably did come from the occupied territories," his subordinate shrugged, leading his mount to the stable doors. "Give me a good, solid Feng any day. Just look at her! Too small for a real man, and that temper… they may be tough as steel, but it's just not worth it."
Rangi: …what is it with people thinking everyone and everything from the Fire Nation is small this chapter, anyway? *is not at all insecure about her height compared to Kyoshi, why are you asking?*
"Hmm." Still frowning, the sergeant followed them all out.
Zuko waited a moment, then patted Asahi on the neck. "Idiots. Don't listen to them." We need to get out of here.
Thinking of what they needed to get on the road, he ticked off tasks in his head. Asahi fed and tended, supplies packed, Uncle breakfasted….
Okay. There ought to be time for one more small errand. Assuming Heng Mu didn't just slam the door in his face.
"Where has that boy gone?" Iroh muttered under his breath, holding Asahi's reins in the early morning. It wasn't like Zuko to disappear….
Zuko: Except for all the times I snuck out to be the Blue Spirit…
Well. That wasn't quite accurate, given some of his nephew's… adventures.
Zuko: *snorts*
But it was certainly not like Zuko to hurry them both into readiness to travel, then disappear.
A few more minutes, and I had best start asking questions.
No; there was his nephew, at last. Looking a bit stunned, which was never a good sign. Carrying a tied bundle, and walking with… Heng Mu? Well, well. "How are you faring, Master Mu?"
"Better than yesterday," the merchant admitted, still moving stiffly. "Moving on?"
"It seems wise," Iroh said graciously.
"Be careful," Heng said seriously. "Sergeant Ying said those four we ran into were part of a larger gang. I don't know what the kingdom's coming to; there's never been bandits on these roads before."
Rangi: Trust me, in my time? There were bandits. So many bandits.
MG: Yes, well, Vathara has a different take on your world’s history (in her defense, she was writing long before your books came out), and we’re going to be hearing so much about it before we’re through. And to be fair, Heng probably means “in his lifetime,” not “centuries ago.”
"Lee told me," Iroh nodded. "We will be wary."
"That's good." Heng winked at his nephew's bundle. "Don't want you to have to use that all in one place."
Iroh raised a curious brow.
"Dyes, spices - and medicines, though that's more Nuan's specialty than mine," Heng said, smiling. "It's not much, but I hope it'll help keep you on your feet until Lee can find a teacher."
Ah. No wonder his nephew was in shock. "You are very kind," Iroh bowed.
"Thanks," Zuko got out, still dazed with disbelief.
"You two make my head hurt," Heng said honestly. "But I hope you find what you're looking for." He brightened. "And maybe the war will be over soon. They say the Avatar has returned!"
…And the morning was going so well, Iroh lamented.
"So I've heard," Zuko ground out.
Zuko: At least Vathara didn’t write me as blowing up at the man for bringing it up? That’s better than nothing?
Heng took a step back. "I don't understand. It's good news. The best we've had in a century. Why…?" One hand waved, helpless.
Why, indeed. Iroh racked his brain, trying to come up with something.
MG: To be fair, there were plenty of people in the Earth Kingdom who resented the Avatar for having been gone so long and letting things get in such a state in the first place – remember the old man in “The Storm?” And Zuko’s at best moderately annoyed, by his standards – I wouldn’t think covering for this would be too hard?
"The Avatar's supposed to keep a balance between the four nations," Zuko said, low and cold and angry. "Airbenders in the Nomads. Firebenders in the Fire Nation. Earthbenders in the Earth Kingdom. Waterbenders in the Water Tribes." The searing gaze swept them both. "What happens when someone's born who doesn't fit?"
MG: *groans loudly* Oh, boy. And here we have our first official discussion of one of Vathara’s recurring ideas – what “balance between the nations” means, interpreted in the worst way possible. Basically, that the Avatars going back to at least Kyoshi have practiced a sort of apartheid between the nations, forcibly keeping them separate and preventing any mixing between peoples, cultures or elements. The justification for this seems to be… exactly one thing from canon, Roku’s line to Sozin about how the four nations are meant to be separate, completely shorn of its original context where Roku was rebuking Sozin for wanting to conquer his neighbors (in-universe, the reason the Avatars turned this way apparently has to do with some of the myth-arc stuff regarding spirits and yaoren going on in the background that we’ve not gotten to yet). But in any case, its main purpose seems to be to make the Avatars look worse, and Zuko look better for finding a “better” way, and we’ll be coming back to this a lot as the fic goes on.
Rangi: But… but Kyoshi herself had an Air Nomad mother and an Earth Kingdom father! She and I are… together… and I’m Fire Nation! How does that make sense?
MG: Well, again, Vathara didn’t know about any of that when writing this fic – and trust me, her take on Kyoshi is a big part of why I wanted you and eventually Kyoshi as sporkers for this thing.
Rangi: …great.
Heng started to speak, and stopped. Shook his head, green eyes wide. "I don't know."
"An interesting argument, nephew," Iroh said quietly a few minutes later, as they made their way out of town. "I must admit, I did not think you would be interested in adding to our story." And he'd sounded perfectly sincere when he said it. Which was odd. Zuko was a horrible liar.
"I was thinking about the airbenders." Zuko kept his gaze straight ahead, flicking a glance toward the little travelers' shrine some way down the road. "If someone like that was born into the Fire Nation…."
"Yes?" Iroh asked cautiously.
"What would we do, Uncle? They'd be our people. Fire Nation. I don't care what the spirits say!" Fists clenched, but there was no trace of flames. "What kind of balance would take people away from their homes? From the people they care about?"
Rangi: What is he even on about? Didn’t the Fire Nation for some reason try to destroy the Air Nomads in your time? Wouldn’t an airbender born in the Fire Nation be in danger from the Fire Nation?
Zuko: …yeah, this is not me at this point. I have no idea.
MG: And yes, as it happens, there are (multiple groups of) airbenders living in the Fire Nation in this fic… though we’re still a long ways off from that (I know, I know, I’m saying that a lot, but this fic is long and takes a while to get going) so stick a pin in it for later.
"You do not know the Avatar would do any such thing, nephew," Iroh said firmly.
"Do you know he wouldn't? Does anybody know?" Zuko's eyes narrowed. "The Avatar keeps the four elements balanced. The Avatar keeps the four nations separate. People whose grandparents were Earth Kingdom are in the Fire Nation now!
Rangi: I can assure you, people from one nation ended up in other nations hundreds of years ago, too. And Avatar Kyoshi was fine with it!
What happens to them, Uncle? What happens to my people, if the Avatar returns?"
Zuko: Well, the big thing Dad and the war council were worried about was that if the Avatar returns we would lose the war. And I think that’s what Sozin was worried about too. Not about suddenly losing some of our own people who the people running the Fire Nation would’ve been just as happy to see gone. Seriously, where is Vathara getting this?
MG: *sighs, rubs their forehead* Roku. As best as I can tell, one line of Roku’s.
"…I do not know," Iroh admitted at last. "I am glad you spoke of this, nephew. I will think on the question." He frowned, troubled. "I will think on it, very carefully." He nodded toward the shrine off the side of the road, little statues under a rough-hewn alcove of rock to keep rain off inked strips of paper. "Perhaps a few moments to pray?"
Zuko's jaw tightened, and Iroh braced for the explosion-
"Why not."
Er, what?
Zuko: *shrugs* It’s one way to avoid an uncomfortable conversation?
Iroh kept his smile mild and thoughtful as he made bows to those honored in the shrine, no matter how startled he felt. To draw attention to his nephew's behavior would be to force Zuko to justify it. And if it did not fit the mold of a loyal exile bent on capturing the Avatar - well. His nephew's reaction would not be helpful.
For every step forward, a step back, it seems, Iroh thought ruefully. He does not try to be contrary, I think. Only stubborn. Push, and he pushes back. Pull, and he fights to escape-
MG: Considering what’s about to happen, I suspect the “push and pull” dichotomy is entirely deliberate on Vathara’s part here.
There, tucked into a crevice in the rock. A rough circle of blue stone, carved so its shadows suggested yin and yang.
Tui and La. Moon and Ocean. Push and Pull.
Do you remember us, Yue? We tried to help, and we failed - and perhaps we have no right to ask your aid now. But you of all spirits should remember what it is to be human, and to love your people.
Sokka: *from out of sight* Yes she does! Thank you for asking!
I can fight Zuko's love for his father. I will fight it. He is fighting it, though he does not yet know he does. Every moment he leaves his quest to help another, every time he struggles to think instead of chase after his honor - he is fighting, Yue. He is fighting so hard.
I can fight Ozai's hold. But how can I fight his love for his people? We are what we are; the royal blood of the Fire Nation. As you were, of the Northern Water Tribe. Those within our nation's borders are in our care, no matter what element they were born to.
Rangi: Yeah, yeah, and I come from a noble clan, too. But Iroh of all people ought to know better than to associate royal blood with an actual sense of justice and responsibility, considering what he had for a brother…
Divine Right to Rule: 7
My nephew has been betrayed too deeply, and too well. He cannot trust the Avatar will be merciful. And I know too much of spirits to believe all will be well. Zuko may be right. The Fire Nation has taken so much from the world. The balance may require that we give it back. Even if it breaks our hearts.
MG: Urrgh. This line… this line bugs me. On the one hand, it does contain an acknowledgement that the Fire Nation is the party at fault for the war, which I do appreciate… but it also comes with the implication that the Fire Nation giving up its conquered territories and peoples will be a sacrifice that will break their hearts and this is a deep tragedy instead of, you know, the absolute bare minimum they can do in granting independence to people they conquered by force to begin with. Especially in the context of this fic… not only does it feel like it’s romanticizing Fire Nation rule, it’s definitely doing something that I think Embers is guilty of throughout, in that it’s placing the sympathetic POV firmly over the Fire Nation and examining things through the lens of how they affect the Fire Nation first and foremost, and just making the Fire Nation the main character of the world in general. Maybe from another fic I’d take it as just an unfortunate wording and/or Iroh’s own perspective and let it slide (though I think Iroh, at this point in his life, wouldn’t be so careless)… but it’s Embers, and this is part of a pattern, so I can’t.
The Real Victims: 3
But if there is any way… if there is any way… help us, Yue. Help us see a way to help our people.
Help us, or I go no further. I will not betray my nephew for the Avatar.
Zuko: Funny how Uncle actually seemed to think helping me and, eventually, helping Aang wasn’t really in conflict at all – I was the one who had trouble seeing that!
Not the most reverent end to a prayer, perhaps. But there came a time when a man simply had to say, enough.
He had lost his father, his wife, his son. He had lost brother and niece as well, though they yet lived. If the spirits' balance required Zuko as well - no. No. Not while he yet breathed. Not while one scrap of his soul even existed-
Zuko: …does Uncle think that the spirits are going to require me as a sacrifice or something? Or that Aang is going to have to kill me to restore the balance? Because I don’t think either of those are true!
Rough stone glimmered with blue.
So. Iroh sighed, straightening. I have been heard. What the answer may be, though- He blinked, and looked again. "Prince Zuko!"
"It's information, Uncle." Zuko's face was set, as he tucked the prayer-slip he'd been reading back into place. "We can't ask too many questions without risking our disguise. There are bandits around here. I want to know what else people have met on this road. Or think they might." Zuko brushed off his hands. "If they wanted the prayers to be private, they would have burned them."
MG: While that does make sense for the Fire Nation, I’m also reminded of The Stormlight Archive, where in Vorinism, the most common religion in the setting, prayers are traditionally written and then burned, symbolically “killing” them and sending them to the Almighty, the Vorin deity, to be read. Hmmm; come to think, Vorinism is an extremely militaristic religion and preaches a form of divine right for the ruling classes… Vathara would probably like it.
In the Fire Nation that would have been true, yes, but - ah, never mind. "What did you find?"
"No plagues. A few rock-falls; we should keep an eye on overhangs. And somebody has a vicious sense of humor." Zuko glanced at a slip near the last he'd put back.
Brows up and interested, Iroh dipped his head to read. Hmm, some kind of malediction on Red Ling, a plea to set two evils against each other….
Reading the last lines, he took a deliberate step back, and turned away. "We should go."
Perhaps they could move fast enough. Perhaps they did not fit the spirits' requirements. Good as they both were, they were hardly a long-range Fire Nation raiding party-
And three hours down the road, he knew it didn't matter.
MG: Not really sure we’ve ever seen spirits work in this sort of roundabout way in canon (usually, when spirits want something done they just sort of… do it themselves), though I’m not sure if this is meant to be literal or more of a coincidence.
"I hear you killed two of my men…."
By the time Sergeant Ying and his men got to the ambush site, the bodies had almost stopped smoldering.
"Spirits," someone muttered. "Fire Nation? Here?"
MG: I can certainly appreciate a good “smash cut to the aftermath of battle” – even Batman: Odyssey had that fun moment in the penultimate issue where Batman and Robin raced upstairs to save Alfred and Ra’s from Sensei’s assassins, only to find that Ra’s and Alfred won effortlessly in the time it took them to get there – but in this case, I’m pretty sure the only reason it exists is to show off how awesome Zuko and Iroh are.
"Look for a trail," the sergeant ordered. Oma and Shu, so many dead. "That many firebenders should have left tracks."
The men looked dubious, and who could blame them? But they split off, two pairs of two, leading their mounts as they looked for the characteristic scuffs of armored feet.
Sergeant Ying stayed behind with old Gui, watching the elderly veteran walk among the bodies. And cursed the war. Gui ought to be carving wooden necklace chains for grandchildren, not keeping up with the young men and wounded veterans who made up most of the home guard. "Let's not take more time than we need," Ying said aloud. "I hear raiding parties don't stick around after a slaughter like this, but I don't want to risk our being outnumbered…." A scrap of cloth caught his eye, seared and crumbling, but one edge still blatantly scarlet.
A red bandanna. A group of armed men, their weapons now twisted metal. Mismatched arms; this was no army patrol.
"Red Ling's gang," Gui said with grim satisfaction. Nodded toward one of the blackened skulls. "I recognize the teeth on that one."
Rangi: That’s… nice. What sort of teeth are that memorable?
The teeth of a man who'd tried to take advantage of Gui's widowed daughter, before the veteran had driven him off with a sword and a bluff. Gui had wasted no time afterward, either, bringing the shattered family into town to work in the inn, before joining up with the guard himself. Bringing decades of experience… and a grudge. Ying could put up with the one, for the sake of the other.
Red Ling's men. Well. That was one piece of good luck for the day, then.
A drift of wind blew corpse smoke over them, and Sergeant Ying fought to breathe. "I've never- have you seen anything like this before?"
"I have," Gui said gravely. "At the siege of Ba Sing Se." He stepped back from the bodies, and motioned Ying to join him. "I think they were standing… here."
Ying moved there, and frowned. "That doesn't make sense. Why come so close?" Red Ling's body was barely ten yards away. Why come within range of firebenders when he had archers among his men?
Zuko: Well, clearly he didn’t realize we were firebenders. I think, it’s not like we saw the fight.
"Do I look like a fortune-teller?" Gui hmphed. "The scorch marks make a pattern. Put that together with the bodies, and those," he waved a hand, indicating Red Ling and a sweep of five men about him, "went down in one blow."
"One blow?"
"Hmm. A mass fireball, it looks like. Not something most common firebenders learn."
"One blow?" the sergeant repeated, incredulous. Six men dead, in one fireblast?
"They're grouped together, Sergeant. Which means they had no chance to run. Yes, I think so." Gui shaded his eyes, looking up at surrounding cliff walls. "Ah. There are the archers." A snort. "I should say, were."
Seared wood, scattered in pieces down the slopes. Each bow had been seared through as if cut by a flaming knife. Ying measured the distance with his eyes, and swore.
A firebender's fire died, the further it got from him, the Army always said. Get far enough away, and you'd be safe.
"That's over a hundred feet! No firebender can do that-"
"No common soldier, no," Gui said dryly. Frowned, old eyes sweeping the scene. "Only imperial firebenders are that precise."
MG: Yes, this is a Star Wars reference, as confirmed in the next chapter’s AN. But, because of the context, it’s also a point.
Prince Stuko: 13 (because Zuko can’t just be a skilled firebender, he has to be an unbelievably amazing firebender)
For a moment, Sergeant Ying devoutly hoped rumor was right, and Fire Nation raiders did strike and move on. Because he desperately wanted men capable of doing this to be anywhere but here.
"One blast while they still had surprise," Gui said thoughtfully. "Archers next. And then… hmm. They separated, to take out the stragglers; there, and there." He shook his head. "It was probably over before most of them knew they were dead."
Chilling thought. As was what he wasn't finding on the ground. "Why aren't there tracks?" Ying demanded. "If a troop went through here, they should have left some sign."
"Oh, this wasn't a troop," Gui shrugged.
The sergeant eyed him, taken aback. "More? Spirits, if we're outnumbered, warn a man!"
"No, not more." Gui smiled darkly. "Four, I'd guess."
"Four?" Ying sputtered. "Four firebenders did this?"
"Or less," Gui agreed. "Feel any better?"
Rangi: I think my mother would’ve been hard-pressed to pull that off, and she’s the most powerful firebender I know! Or she was before, you know… the poisoning… No offense to your uncle.
Zuko: None taken. But yeah, it really does seem like Vathara wrote this scene to have the Earth Kingdom soldiers be all appropriately awed by me and Uncle, doesn’t it? *shakes his head*
Prince Stuko: 14
"No," Sergeant Ying gritted out. Raised an eyebrow, as his scouts came wandering back. "What did you find?"
"Nothing, sir," Chen, the oldest of the four said uneasily. "No boot prints, no komodo-rhino tracks, no scorch marks where somebody blew off steam. It's like they just… disappeared."
Like spirits, Ying could hear in the silence.
Well. If no one else was going to say it, he certainly wasn't. "Let's get back," he said frankly. "We've got a report to make."
Zuko: Like spirits or two men who didn’t want to be followed hiding our tracks… but I guess that’s just not impressive enough.
MG: And, in any case, that’s the end of the chapter – on to the AN!
A/N: On why I decided Zuko has experience in lethal self-defense…. First, "The Blue Spirit". Even vastly outnumbered, Zuko never hesitates. Second… one thing that's struck me about the series is that compared to several firebenders (hi there Zhao, Aang), Zuko is careful with his fire. Hell on meditation candles, yes, but he doesn't set things on fire by accident. Even when he fights Katara as the last thing in his way at the Spirit Oasis, he does not burn her. In fact, if you look at the havoc the Gaang has caused throughout the series, Zuko's a lot more careful than a lot of benders. ("The Earth King." Whoof.)
And in real life, "careful" is what you see from martial artists who know they can really hurt someone.
Given Zuko often needs to be hit over the head with the obvious, and was exiled outside the Fire Nation (to areas where, surprise! People don't like firebenders), the odds of him having gotten into a deadly fight are depressingly high.
Top that off with his uncle being General Iroh, whom the Avatar creators avow was "very good at what he did". Zuko is a crown prince of the Fire Nation, specifically trained to rule and conquer more of the world. He may hate killing. He may go to great lengths to avoid it. But he's definitely been trained that it is an acceptable option.
He's not Aang.
MG: Yeah, I don’t really disagree with any of this. I have no trouble believing Zuko has killed (was this really in doubt?) I think he’s generally aware of the destructive power of firebending and tries to avoid too much collateral damage (with some exceptions – ie, Toph’s feet that one time) and he’s absolutely trained in a culture and tradition where taking a life would be considered acceptable under some circumstances (or, if we’re talking the Fire Nation under Azulon and Ozai in general, too many circumstances). Could’ve done without the random swipes at the Gaang, though.
Reverence for life is fine, upstanding, and idealistic. But when all's said and done, count which nations are still standing.
(Though, Gyatso? Wow.)
MG: …or the whiff (or more) of victim-blaming here, that the Air Nomads were somehow unworthy because they refused to kill (and later chapters will indeed indicate that the Air Nomads apparently weakened themselves badly and cut themselves off from some of their powers by embracing pacifism – or rather, in Embers!verse, having it forced on them and I’m not making that up), especially in light of the fic’s overall Fire Nation favoritism. Yuck. As for Gyatso… considering the position he was found in, I always figured that in a moment of final desperation he bent all the air out of the room, suffocating himself and the Fire Nation soldiers in there with him. I don’t think that’s a particularly uncommon interpretation, either.
Anyway, this chapter… is very mixed to me. We have some good fight scenes, some good Zuko and Iroh moments and some good depiction of Zuko’s internal conflicts and the emotional fallout from battle and killing, which is more than a lot of authors give *glares at Greenwood*. But… we also have some of Vathara’s questionable worldbuilding, weird Avatar takes and Fire Nation-centrism rearing their heads in ways that can make parts of this chapter really, really uncomfortable to read, and serve to highlight a lot of further issues that will continue to develop as we move deeper into the fic, and the random bit of Zuko getting attacked by pedophiles in his backstory. And, of course, this is where the dragon stuff gets laid out properly for the first time, and it’s going to keep growing in importance until it eats up the whole fic, so we’ve got that to look forward to; Iroh's prayer is also going to end up setting some very important things in motion. Anyway, next time, Zuko and Iroh meet a recurring minor character for the fic, reach the outskirts of Ba Sing Se, and have to make a sacrifice. We’ll see you then! Our counts stand at:
Beware the Sugar Queen: 5
The Blind Bandit Wins Again: 8
The Deadly Depths: 1
Detached from Reality: 6
Divine Right to Rule: 7
Elemental Determinism: 3
He Has Much to Learn: 8
Prince Stuko: 14
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 6
Stations of the Canon: 12
The Superior Element: 6
The Ultimate Firebenders: 8
Warning: This chapter contains violence, deaths and mention of pedophilia.
MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Vathara’s Embers! Last time, Zuko and Iroh discussed lightning redirection and fire-healing, while Toph got to show how Vathara thinks she’s so much more enlightened than
Chapter 6
A/N: Warning, violence.
Rangi: Violence, I can deal with. But I’ve been reading up on the Fire Nation of your time since I was last here, and I just have one thing I’d like to ask. *beat* WHY!?
Zuko: *sighs, buries his face in his hands* Apparently Great-Grandfather Sozin was a busy man… and we all ended up paying the price for it.
Rangi: Okay, but still… WHY!?
I'm starting to not like roads, Zuko thought darkly, touching the side of Asahi's neck to keep her quiet. The sounds from up around that blind corner were… not good.
On the one hand, roads meant people.
Rangi: But no roads means slogging overland through the wilderness, desperately hoping you’re going the right way and haven’t completely turned yourself around without realizing it and that whatever means you’re using of navigating still work, so… tradeoff.
Asahi needed grain to stay her best, and while he might be getting better at hunting, people couldn't live by meat alone. And letting Uncle try to gather wild plants was not happening.
Zuko: …okay, that’s fair.
Roads meant towns, farms, trading posts. Places they could trade skills or just willingness to work for a few meals or coin.
On the other hand… roads meant people. With all their lovely habits.
Rangi: No need to remind me of people’s “lovely” habits – I met Xu Ping An, after all. *beat* Wait. Xu was a firebending prodigy who never shut up about how he was a superior being above the common laws of morality and society… Vathara would probably have liked him! *muttering* What am I getting into…
"Three at least," Iroh estimated quietly, as they snuck closer. "No more than seven, or we would hear more. They waited around the corner for their victims - a light wagon, hmm…."
Smart place for an ambush. A blind, sharp turn, as the road bent around a tall outcrop of dust-brown stone. Brush crept up on the road's other side, making flight that direction a difficult choice, in those first critical moments of surprise. Zuko did not want to go around that corner. Not if there were any chance one of the attackers had enough sense to keep watch.
"Mommy!"
"Go!" Iroh dropped back, already plotting his own assault. "Find the child!"
MG: You know what? I really like this part – especially how it conveys that Zuko and Iroh drop their planning and reflexively spring into action when they realize a child is in danger, which I think makes perfect sense for both of their characters. It’s a nice little beat, both for them, and for setting up the action scene to come.
Sort out who're the bad guys later, Zuko knew, urging Asahi into a sprint.
Zuko: …I’d assume the people threatening the little kid were the bad guys? Or am I supposed to just be throwing myself into the middle of a situation without even stopping to think about what I was getting into?
They rounded the bend, and she skipped sideways, dodging the lump in the road-
The body.
Earth Kingdom brown, splotched with red from an arrow driven all the way through. And never mind, it wasn't moving, worry about it later. The handful of people around the wagon with its stolid draft ostrich-horse were moving, and he had his dao out and separated before the spearman could even register there was a new fighter-
Bandits. Spearman. Two with swords, holding an older woman. One in the wagon, on the girl.
Rangi: Oh. There are the “bad guys” you were talking about. That was easy.
Meaning snatch, grab, and ride wouldn't work. And Asahi wasn't combat-trained. One of many reasons he hadn't taken her near Azula.
Zuko launched himself from her back instead, trusting the hen's truly rotten temper toward strangers to keep her out of grasping hands. The first whirling strike bisected the bandit's spear before it could come to bear.
The second took his head.
Zuko: Actually, I’d like to point out that decapitating someone with a single strike like that (yes, it was the second strike, but the first was to the spear) is possible, but really difficult. There’s actually a lot of bone and muscle in the neck! *looking awkward* Sometimes you just pick these things up, okay?
Swordsmen. Letting the woman go, now, going for steel, but Zuko wasn't worried about them. Not as much as he was about the bow and quiver laid in grabbing range against the side of the wagon. Probably by the bastard just rising to his feet in the back, surprised at the sudden shouting.
Green and tan wriggled away, still shrieking.
So small. She's just a little girl-
The distraction almost cost him. Zuko dodged the first wild swing, and parried the next few with a flourish of what appeared to be completely unnecessary footwork. Letting them drive him away from the wagon, and their probable leader.
And smirked, as the pair suddenly realized that impressive bow had been kicked far too many yards away.
Zuko: …I guess I just got really lucky that none of these guys are earthbenders, huh?
"Zhen!" The bruised woman bolted around them, heading for the shrieks with desperate determination.
"Back off, woman!" Steel flashed, as the disarmed archer grabbed for the struggling girl. "You, boy! Put the swords down."
And have you cut her throat anyway? Zuko glared back. "No."
Rangi: You know, I get why you’re doing it – I wouldn’t trust that guy to show mercy either – but even so, that’s a pretty big gamble you’re taking with a child’s life.
The woman froze in place, face flashing between fear and hate. "You can't! My baby-!"
"Let her go," Zuko said grimly. "Now."
"Are you deaf?" the bandit snorted. "Put them down, or the girl-"
Bloodied fletching sprouted from his throat.
"A bit high." Iroh's voice carried across the battlefield as the incredulous bandit choked on his own blood. "It would seem I am badly out of practice."
Zuko: …you know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Uncle use a bow. Did we ever establish he could do that, or that he was even near the bow?
The swordsmen hesitated, looking at Zuko. Looking past him.
Zuko waited, knees bent, blades out and ready. Smirking, to hide the uncertainty of, Uncle only had that one shot….
They bolted.
"Let them go!" Iroh ordered, before he could leap after them. "We may still be able to save this man."
"Heng!" Zhen in her arms, the woman glanced back toward the fallen man, torn.
"Get your supplies!" Zuko ordered, shaking off his blades before he sheathed them. He jumped into the wagon, and hauled the dead weight out. "We need to move!"
Terrified, she jumped. And started grabbing what had been scattered onto the road; bundles of roots, dried plants, and what looked like odder things. Some of them looked familiar, he just couldn't think from where.
Rangi: Traveling apothecary of some sort? That’s what it sounds like to me.
Whistling for Asahi, Zuko helped Uncle manhandle the unconscious merchant across her back, then down again into the wagon bed. Stooped, and tossed the quiver in as well.
They're going to be back.
"Can you drive, Madam?" Uncle asked with courteous haste as he climbed into the back. "Asahi will follow, and I need to help my nephew with your husband."
"He's bleeding so bad…." Pale, she grabbed the harness reins and snapped them, one arm still wrapped around Zhen.
"Mommy! They're hurting Daddy!"
"Hush, little one! Don't look back."
"But they're bad-"
"Zhen, quiet!"
Rangi: *sighs* Poor kid. I guess no matter what else has changed in the world, daofei are still daofei.*
*The outlaw subculture endemic to the Earth Kingdom in Kyoshi and Rangi’s time – MG
It probably did look like they were hurting him, Zuko knew, wincing as Iroh's knife cut free the bloodstained inner robe. Shoulder wounds weren't good at the best of times, and Uncle hadn't had time to be gentle yanking that arrow out.
Too much blood. No way is just a bandage going to be enough.
Uncle grimaced, obviously reaching the same conclusion. "We cannot risk it," he murmured regretfully. Raised his voice. "How far is the next town, Madam-"
"Hot water," Zuko said abruptly.
"Lee, what-?"
"Hot water, Uncle. For clean bandages!"
"Ah!" Iroh went to work, bracing a pot against the jouncing of the road, lighting a few precious pieces of coal inside it, and tucked his teapot atop the flames. "Will this work?" he murmured warily.
"I have to try." It works with rocks. It works with my own fire. Water can't be that different.
I won't let it be.
MG: And so, it’s time to strap in, everyone, because we’re about to get the next evolution in Zuko’s abilities!
Soak one of their bandages in boiling water. Press it into the wound, with the same circular flow he used on fire. Pick up the bits of fire still singing through steaming cloth, and guide them into the dance. Dive into the worst knots, and soften them, and hold, until Uncle could pass him another cloth.
It was like trying to climb sheer rock with his fingertips. But he'd done that, too.
Soak and melt and hold. Soak and melt and hold….
And somehow the sun had slipped a handspan across the sky, and Uncle was shaking him. "Lee. Lee! Stop. Stop now."
Zuko blinked, looking at red, raw flesh. Still gouged. Still not whole. "But-"
"Enough," Uncle said flatly. "He will live." Iroh gently shoved him down, onto canvas covering fragrant roots, away from drying blood. "Rest."
But they could be back-
He was out before he hit the canvas.
MG: Hmmm; I’m of two minds on this bit. On the one hand, I do appreciate how Vathara is conveying both Zuko’s exhaustion and how overwhelmed he is, and how he’s barely conscious of just what he’s doing here… but at the same time, considering how important this is going to turn out to be, it would have been nice to have a bit more detail about just what it’s like for Zuko to try channeling his power through hot water for the first time.
"Is your son going to be all right?"
Iroh lifted his hand from Zuko's pulse; strong and steady, if a bit fast. "Lee is my nephew." He smiled slightly. "And he will be. Master-?"
MG: Hmmm; part of me thinks that considering Iroh and Zuko’s backstories – Iroh was a father who lost his son in battle; Zuko is a son whose father doesn’t want him, and it’s this wound in both their lives that played a crucial role in how they became so close to each other – I’d think having his nephew mistaken for his son would provoke more of an emotional reaction from Iroh. Not necessarily something he’d let strangers see, mind, but something Iroh himself would feel. *shrugs* Maybe it’s just me, but I’d think Vathara could have done something more with this.
"Heng Mu." The merchant grimaced as the road jarred his bandaged shoulder. "Dyes and spices. This is my wife, Nuan, and our daughter Zhen-"
"You get away from Daddy right now!"
"Zhen, that's enough," Nuan ordered. Looked over her shoulder for just a moment of heartsick gratitude. "Thank you, sir. Spirits bless the both of you. Even if-" She swallowed hard, and turned back to the road.
"Your mother's right, Zhen," Heng stated. "They were helping us. Even if I don't know exactly what you did…?" He left the question hanging, green eyes curious despite the pain.
"They hurt you! And the ugly one, with the swords, he-" The young girl shivered, hiding her face in her mother's arm.
"We'll talk about it later." He gave Iroh a hard look, and lowered his voice. "Just what did my daughter see?"
Rangi: I think she was a little kid who was already badly shaken, saw something she didn’t understand and jumped to the wrong conclusion, more or less. Can’t really blame her, poor girl.
"More than enough," Iroh said firmly, matching his low quiet. "She will have nightmares, I think. Treat her kindly. She will not forget, but time will reassure her that you all live."
Heng frowned toward Zuko. "My daughter usually doesn't call anyone ugly."
Zuko: *sighs, rubbing his scar* Trust me, I’ve heard that and worse before.
Iroh sighed. "It is likely she saw him dispose of the spearman." He shrugged. "My nephew does not enjoy defending himself with such force. Even so, he is good at it. Fortunately for all of us."
"Dispose of- He's a boy!"
"A pity, that the war does not care." Iroh raised an inquiring brow.
MG: And one would think that these people would be more familiar with that, considering their nation has been at war for a century. But something tells me this is, deliberately or subconsciously, another bit of “the Fire Nation is just more jaded about violence than everybody else, and the author considers that a mostly positive thing.”
"Will it be far to the next town? It is good to have company on the road, but I would like to know how likely it may be that the two who fled will try their luck again."
"Two?" Heng said uneasily. "I thought there were four."
"There were," Iroh agreed mildly.
Heng stared at him. Opened his mouth-
Shut it again, paler than blood loss could account for. "Oma and Shu. You're F-"
Rangi: *arching her eyebrow* You really want to finish that sentence? *she sighs* Not that I blame them, really, considering what my people have apparently been getting up to since I died (seriously, why?) but I wonder what gave them away now, exactly? Just being really good at killing people?
MG: Interestingly, while nobody from the Earth Kingdom uses Oma and Shu’s name as a curse in the show… the novels do use their names in this way. Just an interesting point of comparison.
"Please." Iroh met his gaze, knowing what he saw. We can hide our bending, but we can never hide our eyes.
Zuko: That’s funny, because nobody really noticed my eyes when I was actually traveling in disguise through the Earth Kingdom…
"The arrow was within a finger of your heart. If Lee had not healed you, you would never have woken."
"Healed?" Heng said, dazed. Looked at Zuko. And the bandages. And the teapot.
Blinked, and looked back at Iroh with mingled shock and amazement. "How did a waterbender get born in the Fire Nation?"
Zuko: *spluttering* A what!?
MG: Oh, poor Zuko… Iroh’s just making things up for the moment, but just wait until we get to that next powerup Vathara is going to be giving you, which is going to be soon. Didn’t I mention there were two-element benders in this fic? *grins evilly*
Zuko: *groans and facepalms*
"Ah." Iroh leaned back, smiling genially. "That, is a very long story…."
"That's the bow, all right," the Earth Kingdom Guard said grimly, gripping it in one gloved hand. "Cut-Horse Meng.
Rangi: Eh. As far as daofei names go, not one of the better ones I’ve heard.
We'll have to send a patrol out for the body. Good riddance, if it is him." The man's mustache wrinkled in distaste. "You might want to light some incense to Guan Yin. If those healers hadn't come along when they did… that filth has a record when it comes to little girls."
MG: …huh. I’d actually forgotten that Guanyin (the fic’ll usually write it as one word rather than two) gets referenced this early. So, for a bit more context, Guanyin is of course a real-world bodhisattva associated primarily with compassion who is highly revered in China in particular. Guanyin in this fic does not appear to be a bodhisattva but is instead a spirit, and the particular patron spirit of the Earth Kingdom the way that the Moon and Ocean are for the Water Tribes, or Agni in fanon is for the Fire Nation. Vathara will later establish Tengri as the guardian spirit of the Air Nomads. And, okay, coming from a religious studies background, I have mixed feelings about this. Obviously, with the exception of the Water Tribes revering the Moon and Ocean spirits, none of this is canon. As we’ve already been over, the Fire Nation uses the word “Agni” for their formal duels, the Agni Kai, but there’s no indication they actually worship the Vedic god Agni in the show itself. And neither Guanyin nor Tengri’s presence have any basis in canon; Vathara added them all on her own.
Now, I’ll be honest with you – I dislike the use of real-world deities in a fantasy setting (unless you’re literally implying they’re the same entities that exist across multiple worlds, which is rare but I have seen it, but I don’t think is what Embers is doing). I just find it immersion-breaking. IE, I generally enjoyed Miles Cameron’s The Red Knight books when I read them a while back – think “King Arthur meets the Black Company, and Mordred is the hero,” which is a bizarre combination that somehow works – but it bugged me a lot that he just flat-out ported Christianity into his fantasy world without even bothering to change the names. Cameron explained why he did it – the series is heavily concerned with knighthood as an institution, which Cameron, iirc an actual medievalist IRL, considered inseparable from the Church and its related culture – but I still prefer Tad Williams’ approach in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, where the Mother Church is clearly an expy of the medieval Catholic Church, but with enough of the names and terminology tweaked that I’m not left wondering how a real-world institution ended up dimension-hopping into a fantasy realm. Maybe it’s just a me thing, but it does bug me.
Anyway, fic!Guanyin feels like she gets most of her Buddhist elements sanded off to become a generic “earth mother” type spirit, though she doesn’t get a lot of focus overall; Tengri is of course from Tengrism, a traditional central Eurasian steppe religion (as we’ll later see, Vathara rather freely mixes Mongolian influences into her version of the Air Nomads – it should go without saying that while, IRL, there are some noteworthy historical connections between Tibet and Mongolia, they are not the same, do not have the same culture or indigenous traditions, while I’m not an expert in Tengrism it has not as far as I can tell traditionally been much practiced in Tibet and Vathara’s use and mixing of elements from both cultures has significant issues… but again, more on that later when we get the fic’s take on the “true” history of the Air Nomads). Basically, I just find Vathara’s use of real-world deities like this to be sloppy and distracting at best – maybe if she’d followed from Agni and used Vedic deities exclusively I wouldn’t mind it as much, but that’s not what the fic goes for. And it must be noted that the Water Tribes are the only nation left revering fictional spirits, which considering how much the author dislikes them overall is certainly… a choice. Maybe all of this doesn’t bug other people… but it bugs me, and I felt like I had to say may piece.
"I was already planning to, but…." Heng swallowed dryly. "Yes. I'm very glad they found us."
"Why can't lowlifes like that go off and die fighting the Fire Nation, that's what I'd like to know," the guard grumbled. "Animals deserve animals."
MG: Well, I guess we’re not supposed to like him, clearly!
Zuko: And just from my experience, I’d guess at least some bandits were probably deserters, so… there’s your answer.
"Is there anything else you need to know today?" Heng asked humbly. "My wife and daughter are… well, I'm sure you can imagine. We were going to be staying in town to sell for a few days anyway, even before this." He lifted a hand, not quite touching his bandaged shoulder. "I don't think I'll be up to the road for a while."
"Mu's Dyes and Spices, right?" The guard looked a bit less grim. "My wife's been looking for a good fast jade green, whatever that means. I don't suppose you'd have any advice?"
Three sales and some frank advice on cheap fabric tricks later, Heng finally escaped into the twilight, ducking into the inn stable to check on Sand. And their - rescuers. Odd as that thought was. "He's still asleep?"
"Asleep again," Mushi corrected, patting the black hen curled protectively next to his nephew. "He woke enough for dinner. Thank you for sending Madam Nuan with it. I would prefer not to leave Lee alone among strangers. Sometimes, it seems he attracts bad luck."
"Is that how he got that scar?"
Rangi: At least in my day, most people in the Fire Nation didn’t mind dueling scars at all, or even thought they were attractive. I had to remind Kyoshi of that at the Fire Lord’s party, when she was feeling self-conscious about the burn scars on her hands – at least half the fancy lords and ladies at that party had scars on them somewhere, from one Agni Kai or another.
Zuko: …yeah, well, in my case it’s less about the scar than it is about who gave it to me, and how.
Rangi: …right. I forgot that part.
Mushi's gaze rested on him, calm as a saber-moose lion stalking its prey.
Sokka: *from just out of sight* Yeah, I’ve seen that, and I’d not call it very calm!
Heng raised a hand to fend off… he didn't know what. Mushi couldn't be a firebender. He'd used a bow, hadn't he? Everybody knew firebenders were too proud of their element to use steel.
MG: Because of course, we mustn’t forget that Zuko is special for his willingness to use swords.
"I just want to understand," he said honestly. "You said it was a long story, and then you just say it's probably from his mother. I can understand why you're hiding, and that you don't want my wife to know-"
"I was more concerned with your daughter."
"Zhen?" Heng said in disbelief. "Why?"
"We frightened her, and she nearly lost you," Mushi said frankly. "If she knew something that would bring trouble to us - and she is young, she would not realize the consequences would be far worse - well. It is better not to take the chance."
"Oh." He hadn't even thought of that. Zhen was eleven. She'd never really want to hurt anyone.
But she was scared.
Rangi: And she might go blabbing to someone without thinking of the consequences. Kids do that sometimes.
"I'll talk to her," Heng stated. "But she's not here now. And - a waterbender?"
Mushi sighed, and shrugged. "His mother could heal. I knew, but I said nothing. I knew my brother's temper. And she was a wonderful person. Kind, strong, and honorable. I thought she would temper my brother. Give him a balance he lacked." He shook his head. "Something went wrong. I am still uncertain of what. I was… away. When I returned - I should have taken Lee and left, then." Gold eyes met his squarely. "My brother is a firebender. A strong one. To think his son was simply powerless was disappointment enough. To discover the truth-" He winced, and sighed.
MG: I actually do kind of like how Iroh very carefully tells the literal truth here while clearly phrasing it in such a way as to give the wrong impression. Admittedly, Iroh in canon had no qualms with lying about his and Zuko’s identities – right, Lee and Mushi? – but just in terms of keeping his story straight here, sticking to the truth as much as he can might be smart.
Heng swallowed, eyes drawn to the ridges of scar under dark hair. "Are you saying, his father…."
"Lee does not speak of it." Sadness shadowed Mushi's face, mixed with a cold, terrible anger. "He knows a score of firebending forms; they are useful for defense, even for one who cannot bend. But not one of water. He could not heal himself. When he was well enough to move, I took him. We have not returned to the Fire Nation since."
Spirits, what a nightmare. And yet - something didn't ring right. "So why were you lost?" Heng said cautiously. "You don't seem like the kind of man who ends up not knowing where he is."
"I do not? Ah." Mushi rubbed at his left shoulder ruefully. "Unfortunately, my nephew is not an only child."
Heng had to lean on a stall door. "I don't really want to know, do I?"
"Let us just say, we misjudged the tides of war," Mushi said dryly. "We were recognized, and fled. With only what you see. Though I am grateful even for that. Still, we did not escape unscathed." He regarded Heng soberly. "Yours is the second mortal wound Lee has healed in a week."
No wonder they were jumpy. Well, besides the obvious. "He needs a teacher."
MG: Mmm-hmmm. And Zuko is going to get a healing teacher in the Ba Sing Se arc, and let’s just say I do not think she gives a good first impression, for various reasons… but that’s still a couple of chapters away.
"Hiding in the Earth Kingdom is difficult enough," Mushi observed. "I do not think we could pass at the North Pole."
"Who said anything about the poles?" Heng chuckled, thinking of the odd dyestuffs that came out of the Foggy Swamp. And the even odder people who traded them. Oh, the women were graceful enough, neatly dressed as any Earth Kingdom villager, if exotically different. But the men, especially if they were on a hunting trip… Augh, my eyes! Heng thought ruefully.
MG: *groans* Get used to this part. The Foggy Swamp Tribe are basically the butt-monkeys of the Embers!verse. They don’t do anything particularly terrible, or even get much focus at all… but basically every time they get brought up it’s going to be with a joke about how much they suck. To be fair, it’s not like they got the most dignified portrayal in canon either, but they were only in a couple of episodes, proved to be friendly sorts when the initial misunderstanding with the Gaang was cleared up, and Huu at least got to be both a powerful master waterbender with some cool and unique techniques and an enlightened sage who gave Aang some good and useful advice. But Vathara doesn’t like the Water Tribes in general, so… butt of the joke it is.
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 6
"Ice isn't the only water in the world."
"That is true," Mushi allowed. "But the ports are never safe."
And they'd never fit in at the swamps, Heng knew, after a moment more to think about it. They might look the part, except for the eyes - but that accent would be a dead giveaway. Accent on dead. "There's still one port that is."
Mushi straightened. "The inland sea of Ba Sing Se."
Heng nodded. "I don't know for sure, but I've heard there are healing waterbenders there. I know some people travel to the city, if they can, if ordinary healers can't handle their sickness."
MG: …and this is where aforementioned teacher is going to come in.
"Hmm." Mushi stroked his beard thoughtfully.
Heng winced, suddenly remembering a problem. "But you need documents to get into the city, and-"
"Do not worry, Master Mu. There are ways." Mushi was considering the problem with the same abstract air he'd seen in the most skilled Pai Sho players. "What else do you know of the waterbenders?"
"They like blue?" Heng said uncertainly. "I've never been to Ba Sing Se."
*all sporkers sigh loudly*
"But you know those who have?" Mushi inquired.
"Well…."
Mushi smiled. "Well, indeed. Tell me of someone who has been there, and what they said of what they found."
"Did you mean it?"
Just back from seeing Heng off to his family, Iroh sighed. I should have known better than to expect him to sleep while I talked to strangers.
Zuko: Pretty impressive for me to know Uncle was talking to strangers, if I was asleep…
"If we can find a waterbender who heals, perhaps we can-"
"About… Father."
Oh. "I did," Iroh said quietly, entering the stall to look his nephew in the eye. "Your mother was a ray of sunshine in the midst of clouds. Her presence eased the heart; her smile was the rainbow. Even the coldest soul, I believed, must warm and thaw to her."
Zuko: *wistfully* Yeah… I guess she was, at that… *he slumps down; after a moment, Rangi puts a comforting arm around his shoulders*
"But he didn't." Gold eyes closed, still weary.
"No," Iroh sighed. "She was sunshine in the falling rain, and then she was gone… like the tales of the dragon-wife…."
Rangi: The what wife, now?
MG: Oh, boy… here we go…
The Ultimate Firebenders: 5
"Uncle?"
I am tired, Iroh thought ruefully. I should never have said that. "Only an old man's wandering thoughts, nephew. Sometimes, when the world seems coldest, the old stories give us hope."
"Maybe." Zuko gave him another skeptical look, before settling back into the straw. "But she wasn't a dragon, Uncle. I think somebody would have noticed if I came out of an egg."
MG: *carefully* Ursa is not a dragon, no… but I am not exaggerating when I say there were dragons in her family tree in the fic’s universe… and elsewhere in the Fire royal family tree, for that matter.
Rangi: …you know, when the Fire Sages talk about firebenders as the children of dragons, my mother always taught me that was a metaphor. And since she is a master firebender, former headmistress of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and Fire Lord Zoryu’s own firebending master, I’m pretty sure she knew what she was talking about.
MG: …in Embers!verse, there connection between firebenders and dragons is very much not a metaphor. It’s very, very literal. And intimate.
Zuko: …I did not get out of bed for this this morning.
The Ultimate Firebenders: 6
He took a breath, let it sigh out in a whisper. "Besides. Everybody knows dragon-children were special."
And you, who can heal, are not? But Iroh kept quiet, letting his nephew sink back into restless sleep. Zuko was in no mood to hear comfort. He had saved a life today, yes - but he had also taken one. And that never became easier. Not for any soul who still claimed a heart.
MG: Eeesh. On the one hand, this is like… half a good Zuko and Iroh moment. On the other hand, something about how Iroh’s instinctive response to his nephew not thinking he’s special enough is to bring up the non-canon healing powers Vathara gave him instead of literally anything else about Zuko rubs me the wrong way, like it’s implying canon!Zuko, who couldn’t heal, wasn’t special enough. Maybe I’m reading too much into things, but it still bugs me.
Prince Stuko: 12
The Ultimate Firebenders: 7
He could still feel the bow's grip in his grasp, see the spray of blood as the arrow sank home. It'd been years, but he'd never quite forgotten the archery lessons that were part of every Fire Nation noble's training.
Well, almost every noble's. His nephew was a rare exception. Archery was not easily practiced on board a ship. And even before his exile, Zuko had never taken to the bow.
MG: Not sure if this is a clever bit of worldbuilding – and fits with the Japan theming Vathara gives the Fire Nation, considering that IIRC real-life samurai were originally archers before becoming more stereotypically associated with swordsmanship later in their history, and were still expected to be skilled with the bow – or an obvious patch for why Zuko, who is the Fire noble we see by far the most of in canon, never shows any particular aptitude for the bow.
Dragons have always hated archers.
MG: And this could be a reference to the Fire Nation/Air Nomad war from a thousand years ago the fic is eventually going to introduce and then not shut up about, though I’m not 100% sure on that. It does, however, feel like a start of something the fic is going to be doing a lot and that irritates me, where basically all of Zuko’s personality traits are tied back to one or another of the ways Vathara has made him *special*.
Ridiculous thought. Truly. Zuko was correct. Someone would have noticed if Prince Ozai's firstborn had-
"Like trying to hatch a stone," Ursa's voice echoed in memory.
An old legend. Hidden, like those stories the Fire Nation never spoke of to outsiders: that the gold eyes many feared as inhuman truly were. For it was said the first firebenders had been no mere mortals learning from dragons, but a dragon's own children….
Zuko *groans and facepalms*
MG: And yes, we’re not going to get it all laid out clearly until later, but for the time being, stick a pin in this because – it’s true. In Embers!verse, firebenders really are descended from shapeshifting dragons, and some of them have much closer dragon heritage than others. This is clearly a bit of author appeal on Vathara’s part, and hey, I get it. I went through a period of being obsessed with dragons in middle school to high school and even though I’m no longer that into them, they’re still one of my favorite fictional creatures. I can’t really blame someone else for liking them that much, too. I do take issue with a lot of elements of how Vathara executes this, and think that for an Avatar: The Last Airbender fic, especially a serious and gritty one, it’s a… bizarre choice. And it’s very hard to miss that Vathara gives her favorite nation, and nobody else, supernatural heritage (the Water Tribes have something that’s supposedly equivalent going on, but it gets a lot less focus and IMO doesn’t really balance things out, and isn’t properly introduced until very late in the fic). And when you add in that said favorite nation are the villains of the original show who are actively trying to conquer the rest of the world and preach a doctrine of superiority for themselves and their element, to have them actually have superhuman heritage (I think “being a dragon” counts as superhuman)… yeah, that makes me uncomfortable, a bit. But again, more on this element as it gets further developed later…
The Real Victims: 1 (introducing this counter here, because the idea that the other Nations would hate the Fire Nation if they knew they weren’t wholly human is going to get a lot of play before we’re through…)
The Superior Element: 6
The Ultimate Firebenders: 8
The Avatar has returned, after a century of silence. Powers are stirring. Spirits are moving.
Still. His Zuko? Lady Ursa had never been unfaithful. He would stake his soul on that. Zuko was his brother's son.
Zuko: I mean, I’ve had enough sycophants tell me how much I look like Dad did when he was my age, except for *brushes the edge of his scar lightly* I don’t think there was much doubt. And I think Dad would’ve loved an excuse to say I wasn’t really his son, and give the throne to Azula without any more fuss. *
*MG’s Note: Yes, I know the comics touched on this idea a bit.
But whose daughter was she?
He hadn't recalled it before, but Lady Kotone's relations with her husband had been rumored to be… odd….
Rangi: *snorts* Well, if your husband’s a fifty-foot dragon, that would complicate things… did she use a stepladder, or…?
Zuko: *clearly mortified* Can we not talk about this?
MG: Kotone and her husband (who we’ll be meeting later, trust me) being the fic’s take on Ursa’s parents, for those who haven’t figured it out.
No. Impossible, Iroh decided, making his own nest in straw to seek sleep.
And yet….
Spirits. If you stacked the deck against my nephew before he was even born, we need to have a very long talk.
MG: *sighs* Long story short – yes they did, more-or-less. And we’ve only just scratched the surface of how.
A turtle-duckling crying in the reeds, blood and the knife coming down-
Zuko woke with a strangled gasp in the gray darkness, straw rustling through his fingers. No pond. No blood. No little girl's life riding on his desperate guess at the right thing to do.
Nightmare. You knew you'd have them.
Close to dawn. No point in trying to go back to sleep. Zuko crept out of his bedding, drawing his dao to check them.
MG: Hey, at least we’re not doing “one PTSD nightmare and then the person is magically well” like Newcomb did?
Clean. Uncle's work.
Uncle had helped him clean his blades the first time, too. Water and oil and a shoulder to lean against until the shaking stopped, when the fire of battle finally guttered out and a scared fourteen-year-old remembered exactly how close some of the blades had come.
Stupid. I should have listened to Uncle.
But he'd been fourteen and full of himself and angry - and he'd just wanted to get away from the ship. From the quest, the stupid, useless quest, no one had seen the Avatar in a hundred years and he just couldn't take it anymore-!
I just wanted to go home.
Zuko: Yeah, I remember that feeling, all too well…
Potentially Triggering Material to Follow
But he couldn't. All he could do was leave the ship and leave the armor, just dress in quiet black and leave the Fire Nation behind.
He'd taken the dao, though. He wasn't that stupid. Firebend, and he might as well fly a banner saying idiot prince here. And the point was to be alone.
A port's back streets were no place to be alone.
He couldn't remember everything that had happened. Uncle said that was common, in your first real fight. He'd just felt something wasn't right-
I should have paid attention.
Heard the coarse laughs, smelled cheap wine, felt the ropes-
They thought I was a kid. Ten, maybe twelve. He'd put on height since then, but it still looked like he'd never be a match for his father… and why in the world had the spirits made men in other nations so damn big?
Rangi: What, are we supposed to be unusually small? I never noticed that. *beat* Okay, I’m a lot shorter than Kyoshi, but she’s a statistical outlier and should not be counted!
MG: We also have a reference here to spirits “making” people a certain size, and, like… there’s no evidence in canon the spirits created the world, or humanity? At most certain spirits, like the Moon and Ocean, directly compose parts of the world. And in Korra even Raava, one of the eldest and most powerful of all spirits, speaks deferentially to the lion-turtles and calls them “Ancient One,” implying that they are even older and more powerful than she is. And even as far back as we go in the timeline – Wan and Raava’s day, as seen in the flashbacks in “Beginnings” – the world already seems pretty ancient by that point. I don’t think we ever get any sort of canonical origin for humanity in the Avatarverse. *beat* Of course, Vathara is going to give her own backstory for the Avatarverse, and we’re eventually going to get humanity’s true origins in Embers, though not fully confirmed until a throwaway line in the epilogue (remember I mentioned this fic is only sort of a crossover?) and it doesn’t have anything to do with spirits… maybe I’m reading too much into it, but the phrasing just jumped out at me, is all.
They thought I was a kid. Spirits, that's sick.
MG: So… yeah. Fair warning – this whole sequence is supposed to be a flashback to the first time Zuko killed someone. And… it’s a gang who were trying to kidnap him to sell him to a pedophile. Yes, really. I mentioned back in chapter three I didn’t care for how Vathara handled the rape and murder of Ping, but it at least felt like she was trying to engage with it and not just use it for cheap shock value. This, though… this really does feel like she was saying “look at my fic, Embers isn’t for kids, it’s got Zuko killing pedophiles, isn’t that serious and edgy?” It really does feel completely gratuitous and unnecessary; I think the scene would’ve played out just as well if the gang just had Zuko pinged for a rich kid and were trying to take him hostage for ransom, and then he panicked and killed them while escaping. The way it is just feels like edge for the sake of edge, and detracts from the point of the flashback, which is “The first time Zuko killed.”
One-Hook Bai; that'd been the name he'd heard, in the midst of the roaring and the stink and the painful twist of his left wrist as he misjudged a blow and it skidded off ribs. He'd dealt with a thousand petty palace intrigues before his exile, he knew to remember names-
-And then he'd had just enough brains left to say screw pride, and start setting bastards on fire.
When it was over, some had run, two were melting in pools of flame….
Rangi: *stunned* How hot did you get that fire, anyway?
Zuko: *shrugs* This never actually happened to me… for which I’m very glad…
And one was rattling out his life on top of a shaking teenager, blood bubbling black in the starlight from a half-cut throat.
*all sporkers are visibly squicked*
Never wanted to do that. Never.
But he had, and he couldn't undo it. Like stepping off a cliff. Bending his first flame. He'd closed a door he'd never even realized was open, and locked himself on the other side.
Uncle had found him back on the ship, cleaning up. An unfamiliar, grim-faced Uncle, jaw set and hands hard as he looked over scrapes, bruises, and one knife-gash to the cheek Zuko couldn't even remember getting. Iroh had helped him clean up, taken his stumbling report - then hugged him within an inch of his life. And stayed with him, all that awful, numb day, and through the first night of nightmares.
MG: And here we have a good Iroh moment. Gross as I find the surrounding context – here we have both Iroh the protective papa wolf (papa dragon?) and Iroh the loving uncle. More of this, please!
Then yelled at him, once the retired general was certain his nephew was back in touch with reality.
Worked, Zuko thought wryly. I never did anything that stupid again.
Not just because of Uncle. Because… he'd asked, and listened, and found out about Bai's - preferences. And anybody who would turn over anyone to that was just sick-
But killing was awful and horrible and he hated it. And being good at it didn't change that.
Rangi: *sadly* No, it doesn’t. I’m no Air Nomad – I do believe that sometimes killing is necessary. But that’s not the same thing as saying it’s good. Mother made sure to drum the difference into my head – I think more people could stand to learn it.
There wasn't another way. Not this time.
Didn't help. Not today. Tomorrow, maybe.
Just keep going. Uncle needs you.
MG: And I also like how Zuko has to work through things, knows what he did was justified, still feels guilt over it, and forces himself to keep going anyway. It’s a nice moment, and one that feels real.
Potentially Triggering Content Ends Here
Iroh didn't have nightmares; not that he knew of, anyway. But he did get… sad. And clung even more tightly to his tea than usual.
Dyes and spices. Maybe Heng Mu has some ginseng? I could ask. I think. It couldn't hurt-
Zuko: Better than letting him try to turn whatever weird plant he’s found this time into tea, at least…
Footsteps. Heavy, and not trying to be quiet. Zuko faded into the shadows by Asahi.
"Hard to believe Cut-Horse Meng got taken out by an old refugee."
Two Earth Kingdom guards. Looked a lot more polished than the bullies he'd run into in Li's village. Good sign, in that they were probably professional enough to actually guard the town instead of terrorize it. Bad, in that if they saw him, they might know what they were looking at.
Zuko: Maybe if they recognize Uncle? But seriously, Vathara, you can’t always tell who’s Fire Nation just by looking at them!
Stay hidden.
"He picked the wrong refugee." A third guard near the door, with some kind of insignia on the brim of his uniform hat. Probably the leader, by his stance. "I saw him talking to the Mu family last night. He may act harmless, but if that man wasn't a soldier a few decades back, I'm an airbender."
MG: And I mean, they’re obviously right in this case, but considering how long the war’s going on, I’d say you could say that about any old man and have pretty good odds of it being true.
"Always thought your head was up in the clouds, Sergeant."
"Funny, Bao. Very funny." The sergeant watched his men saddle up their ostrich-horses and nodded as they checked their gear. "Stay sharp. Word has it Red Ling didn't like Meng either, but he won't take losing two of his gang well. Especially to a boy…." The sergeant stepped over to Asahi's stall. "Odd. I could have sworn the innkeeper said they were both here-"
Asahi snapped at him.
"Better count your fingers," the other guard said dryly. "That's a Yonaguni hen."
"Yonaguni?" The sergeant frowned, absently checking. "Sounds almost Fire Nation."
MG: …yes, Zuko’s new ostrich-horse is of a Fire Nation breed. The authorial favoritism, the symbolism, or both are thick here.
"Probably did come from the occupied territories," his subordinate shrugged, leading his mount to the stable doors. "Give me a good, solid Feng any day. Just look at her! Too small for a real man, and that temper… they may be tough as steel, but it's just not worth it."
Rangi: …what is it with people thinking everyone and everything from the Fire Nation is small this chapter, anyway? *is not at all insecure about her height compared to Kyoshi, why are you asking?*
"Hmm." Still frowning, the sergeant followed them all out.
Zuko waited a moment, then patted Asahi on the neck. "Idiots. Don't listen to them." We need to get out of here.
Thinking of what they needed to get on the road, he ticked off tasks in his head. Asahi fed and tended, supplies packed, Uncle breakfasted….
Okay. There ought to be time for one more small errand. Assuming Heng Mu didn't just slam the door in his face.
"Where has that boy gone?" Iroh muttered under his breath, holding Asahi's reins in the early morning. It wasn't like Zuko to disappear….
Zuko: Except for all the times I snuck out to be the Blue Spirit…
Well. That wasn't quite accurate, given some of his nephew's… adventures.
Zuko: *snorts*
But it was certainly not like Zuko to hurry them both into readiness to travel, then disappear.
A few more minutes, and I had best start asking questions.
No; there was his nephew, at last. Looking a bit stunned, which was never a good sign. Carrying a tied bundle, and walking with… Heng Mu? Well, well. "How are you faring, Master Mu?"
"Better than yesterday," the merchant admitted, still moving stiffly. "Moving on?"
"It seems wise," Iroh said graciously.
"Be careful," Heng said seriously. "Sergeant Ying said those four we ran into were part of a larger gang. I don't know what the kingdom's coming to; there's never been bandits on these roads before."
Rangi: Trust me, in my time? There were bandits. So many bandits.
MG: Yes, well, Vathara has a different take on your world’s history (in her defense, she was writing long before your books came out), and we’re going to be hearing so much about it before we’re through. And to be fair, Heng probably means “in his lifetime,” not “centuries ago.”
"Lee told me," Iroh nodded. "We will be wary."
"That's good." Heng winked at his nephew's bundle. "Don't want you to have to use that all in one place."
Iroh raised a curious brow.
"Dyes, spices - and medicines, though that's more Nuan's specialty than mine," Heng said, smiling. "It's not much, but I hope it'll help keep you on your feet until Lee can find a teacher."
Ah. No wonder his nephew was in shock. "You are very kind," Iroh bowed.
"Thanks," Zuko got out, still dazed with disbelief.
"You two make my head hurt," Heng said honestly. "But I hope you find what you're looking for." He brightened. "And maybe the war will be over soon. They say the Avatar has returned!"
…And the morning was going so well, Iroh lamented.
"So I've heard," Zuko ground out.
Zuko: At least Vathara didn’t write me as blowing up at the man for bringing it up? That’s better than nothing?
Heng took a step back. "I don't understand. It's good news. The best we've had in a century. Why…?" One hand waved, helpless.
Why, indeed. Iroh racked his brain, trying to come up with something.
MG: To be fair, there were plenty of people in the Earth Kingdom who resented the Avatar for having been gone so long and letting things get in such a state in the first place – remember the old man in “The Storm?” And Zuko’s at best moderately annoyed, by his standards – I wouldn’t think covering for this would be too hard?
"The Avatar's supposed to keep a balance between the four nations," Zuko said, low and cold and angry. "Airbenders in the Nomads. Firebenders in the Fire Nation. Earthbenders in the Earth Kingdom. Waterbenders in the Water Tribes." The searing gaze swept them both. "What happens when someone's born who doesn't fit?"
MG: *groans loudly* Oh, boy. And here we have our first official discussion of one of Vathara’s recurring ideas – what “balance between the nations” means, interpreted in the worst way possible. Basically, that the Avatars going back to at least Kyoshi have practiced a sort of apartheid between the nations, forcibly keeping them separate and preventing any mixing between peoples, cultures or elements. The justification for this seems to be… exactly one thing from canon, Roku’s line to Sozin about how the four nations are meant to be separate, completely shorn of its original context where Roku was rebuking Sozin for wanting to conquer his neighbors (in-universe, the reason the Avatars turned this way apparently has to do with some of the myth-arc stuff regarding spirits and yaoren going on in the background that we’ve not gotten to yet). But in any case, its main purpose seems to be to make the Avatars look worse, and Zuko look better for finding a “better” way, and we’ll be coming back to this a lot as the fic goes on.
Rangi: But… but Kyoshi herself had an Air Nomad mother and an Earth Kingdom father! She and I are… together… and I’m Fire Nation! How does that make sense?
MG: Well, again, Vathara didn’t know about any of that when writing this fic – and trust me, her take on Kyoshi is a big part of why I wanted you and eventually Kyoshi as sporkers for this thing.
Rangi: …great.
Heng started to speak, and stopped. Shook his head, green eyes wide. "I don't know."
"An interesting argument, nephew," Iroh said quietly a few minutes later, as they made their way out of town. "I must admit, I did not think you would be interested in adding to our story." And he'd sounded perfectly sincere when he said it. Which was odd. Zuko was a horrible liar.
"I was thinking about the airbenders." Zuko kept his gaze straight ahead, flicking a glance toward the little travelers' shrine some way down the road. "If someone like that was born into the Fire Nation…."
"Yes?" Iroh asked cautiously.
"What would we do, Uncle? They'd be our people. Fire Nation. I don't care what the spirits say!" Fists clenched, but there was no trace of flames. "What kind of balance would take people away from their homes? From the people they care about?"
Rangi: What is he even on about? Didn’t the Fire Nation for some reason try to destroy the Air Nomads in your time? Wouldn’t an airbender born in the Fire Nation be in danger from the Fire Nation?
Zuko: …yeah, this is not me at this point. I have no idea.
MG: And yes, as it happens, there are (multiple groups of) airbenders living in the Fire Nation in this fic… though we’re still a long ways off from that (I know, I know, I’m saying that a lot, but this fic is long and takes a while to get going) so stick a pin in it for later.
"You do not know the Avatar would do any such thing, nephew," Iroh said firmly.
"Do you know he wouldn't? Does anybody know?" Zuko's eyes narrowed. "The Avatar keeps the four elements balanced. The Avatar keeps the four nations separate. People whose grandparents were Earth Kingdom are in the Fire Nation now!
Rangi: I can assure you, people from one nation ended up in other nations hundreds of years ago, too. And Avatar Kyoshi was fine with it!
What happens to them, Uncle? What happens to my people, if the Avatar returns?"
Zuko: Well, the big thing Dad and the war council were worried about was that if the Avatar returns we would lose the war. And I think that’s what Sozin was worried about too. Not about suddenly losing some of our own people who the people running the Fire Nation would’ve been just as happy to see gone. Seriously, where is Vathara getting this?
MG: *sighs, rubs their forehead* Roku. As best as I can tell, one line of Roku’s.
"…I do not know," Iroh admitted at last. "I am glad you spoke of this, nephew. I will think on the question." He frowned, troubled. "I will think on it, very carefully." He nodded toward the shrine off the side of the road, little statues under a rough-hewn alcove of rock to keep rain off inked strips of paper. "Perhaps a few moments to pray?"
Zuko's jaw tightened, and Iroh braced for the explosion-
"Why not."
Er, what?
Zuko: *shrugs* It’s one way to avoid an uncomfortable conversation?
Iroh kept his smile mild and thoughtful as he made bows to those honored in the shrine, no matter how startled he felt. To draw attention to his nephew's behavior would be to force Zuko to justify it. And if it did not fit the mold of a loyal exile bent on capturing the Avatar - well. His nephew's reaction would not be helpful.
For every step forward, a step back, it seems, Iroh thought ruefully. He does not try to be contrary, I think. Only stubborn. Push, and he pushes back. Pull, and he fights to escape-
MG: Considering what’s about to happen, I suspect the “push and pull” dichotomy is entirely deliberate on Vathara’s part here.
There, tucked into a crevice in the rock. A rough circle of blue stone, carved so its shadows suggested yin and yang.
Tui and La. Moon and Ocean. Push and Pull.
Do you remember us, Yue? We tried to help, and we failed - and perhaps we have no right to ask your aid now. But you of all spirits should remember what it is to be human, and to love your people.
Sokka: *from out of sight* Yes she does! Thank you for asking!
I can fight Zuko's love for his father. I will fight it. He is fighting it, though he does not yet know he does. Every moment he leaves his quest to help another, every time he struggles to think instead of chase after his honor - he is fighting, Yue. He is fighting so hard.
I can fight Ozai's hold. But how can I fight his love for his people? We are what we are; the royal blood of the Fire Nation. As you were, of the Northern Water Tribe. Those within our nation's borders are in our care, no matter what element they were born to.
Rangi: Yeah, yeah, and I come from a noble clan, too. But Iroh of all people ought to know better than to associate royal blood with an actual sense of justice and responsibility, considering what he had for a brother…
Divine Right to Rule: 7
My nephew has been betrayed too deeply, and too well. He cannot trust the Avatar will be merciful. And I know too much of spirits to believe all will be well. Zuko may be right. The Fire Nation has taken so much from the world. The balance may require that we give it back. Even if it breaks our hearts.
MG: Urrgh. This line… this line bugs me. On the one hand, it does contain an acknowledgement that the Fire Nation is the party at fault for the war, which I do appreciate… but it also comes with the implication that the Fire Nation giving up its conquered territories and peoples will be a sacrifice that will break their hearts and this is a deep tragedy instead of, you know, the absolute bare minimum they can do in granting independence to people they conquered by force to begin with. Especially in the context of this fic… not only does it feel like it’s romanticizing Fire Nation rule, it’s definitely doing something that I think Embers is guilty of throughout, in that it’s placing the sympathetic POV firmly over the Fire Nation and examining things through the lens of how they affect the Fire Nation first and foremost, and just making the Fire Nation the main character of the world in general. Maybe from another fic I’d take it as just an unfortunate wording and/or Iroh’s own perspective and let it slide (though I think Iroh, at this point in his life, wouldn’t be so careless)… but it’s Embers, and this is part of a pattern, so I can’t.
The Real Victims: 3
But if there is any way… if there is any way… help us, Yue. Help us see a way to help our people.
Help us, or I go no further. I will not betray my nephew for the Avatar.
Zuko: Funny how Uncle actually seemed to think helping me and, eventually, helping Aang wasn’t really in conflict at all – I was the one who had trouble seeing that!
Not the most reverent end to a prayer, perhaps. But there came a time when a man simply had to say, enough.
He had lost his father, his wife, his son. He had lost brother and niece as well, though they yet lived. If the spirits' balance required Zuko as well - no. No. Not while he yet breathed. Not while one scrap of his soul even existed-
Zuko: …does Uncle think that the spirits are going to require me as a sacrifice or something? Or that Aang is going to have to kill me to restore the balance? Because I don’t think either of those are true!
Rough stone glimmered with blue.
So. Iroh sighed, straightening. I have been heard. What the answer may be, though- He blinked, and looked again. "Prince Zuko!"
"It's information, Uncle." Zuko's face was set, as he tucked the prayer-slip he'd been reading back into place. "We can't ask too many questions without risking our disguise. There are bandits around here. I want to know what else people have met on this road. Or think they might." Zuko brushed off his hands. "If they wanted the prayers to be private, they would have burned them."
MG: While that does make sense for the Fire Nation, I’m also reminded of The Stormlight Archive, where in Vorinism, the most common religion in the setting, prayers are traditionally written and then burned, symbolically “killing” them and sending them to the Almighty, the Vorin deity, to be read. Hmmm; come to think, Vorinism is an extremely militaristic religion and preaches a form of divine right for the ruling classes… Vathara would probably like it.
In the Fire Nation that would have been true, yes, but - ah, never mind. "What did you find?"
"No plagues. A few rock-falls; we should keep an eye on overhangs. And somebody has a vicious sense of humor." Zuko glanced at a slip near the last he'd put back.
Brows up and interested, Iroh dipped his head to read. Hmm, some kind of malediction on Red Ling, a plea to set two evils against each other….
Reading the last lines, he took a deliberate step back, and turned away. "We should go."
Perhaps they could move fast enough. Perhaps they did not fit the spirits' requirements. Good as they both were, they were hardly a long-range Fire Nation raiding party-
And three hours down the road, he knew it didn't matter.
MG: Not really sure we’ve ever seen spirits work in this sort of roundabout way in canon (usually, when spirits want something done they just sort of… do it themselves), though I’m not sure if this is meant to be literal or more of a coincidence.
"I hear you killed two of my men…."
By the time Sergeant Ying and his men got to the ambush site, the bodies had almost stopped smoldering.
"Spirits," someone muttered. "Fire Nation? Here?"
MG: I can certainly appreciate a good “smash cut to the aftermath of battle” – even Batman: Odyssey had that fun moment in the penultimate issue where Batman and Robin raced upstairs to save Alfred and Ra’s from Sensei’s assassins, only to find that Ra’s and Alfred won effortlessly in the time it took them to get there – but in this case, I’m pretty sure the only reason it exists is to show off how awesome Zuko and Iroh are.
"Look for a trail," the sergeant ordered. Oma and Shu, so many dead. "That many firebenders should have left tracks."
The men looked dubious, and who could blame them? But they split off, two pairs of two, leading their mounts as they looked for the characteristic scuffs of armored feet.
Sergeant Ying stayed behind with old Gui, watching the elderly veteran walk among the bodies. And cursed the war. Gui ought to be carving wooden necklace chains for grandchildren, not keeping up with the young men and wounded veterans who made up most of the home guard. "Let's not take more time than we need," Ying said aloud. "I hear raiding parties don't stick around after a slaughter like this, but I don't want to risk our being outnumbered…." A scrap of cloth caught his eye, seared and crumbling, but one edge still blatantly scarlet.
A red bandanna. A group of armed men, their weapons now twisted metal. Mismatched arms; this was no army patrol.
"Red Ling's gang," Gui said with grim satisfaction. Nodded toward one of the blackened skulls. "I recognize the teeth on that one."
Rangi: That’s… nice. What sort of teeth are that memorable?
The teeth of a man who'd tried to take advantage of Gui's widowed daughter, before the veteran had driven him off with a sword and a bluff. Gui had wasted no time afterward, either, bringing the shattered family into town to work in the inn, before joining up with the guard himself. Bringing decades of experience… and a grudge. Ying could put up with the one, for the sake of the other.
Red Ling's men. Well. That was one piece of good luck for the day, then.
A drift of wind blew corpse smoke over them, and Sergeant Ying fought to breathe. "I've never- have you seen anything like this before?"
"I have," Gui said gravely. "At the siege of Ba Sing Se." He stepped back from the bodies, and motioned Ying to join him. "I think they were standing… here."
Ying moved there, and frowned. "That doesn't make sense. Why come so close?" Red Ling's body was barely ten yards away. Why come within range of firebenders when he had archers among his men?
Zuko: Well, clearly he didn’t realize we were firebenders. I think, it’s not like we saw the fight.
"Do I look like a fortune-teller?" Gui hmphed. "The scorch marks make a pattern. Put that together with the bodies, and those," he waved a hand, indicating Red Ling and a sweep of five men about him, "went down in one blow."
"One blow?"
"Hmm. A mass fireball, it looks like. Not something most common firebenders learn."
"One blow?" the sergeant repeated, incredulous. Six men dead, in one fireblast?
"They're grouped together, Sergeant. Which means they had no chance to run. Yes, I think so." Gui shaded his eyes, looking up at surrounding cliff walls. "Ah. There are the archers." A snort. "I should say, were."
Seared wood, scattered in pieces down the slopes. Each bow had been seared through as if cut by a flaming knife. Ying measured the distance with his eyes, and swore.
A firebender's fire died, the further it got from him, the Army always said. Get far enough away, and you'd be safe.
"That's over a hundred feet! No firebender can do that-"
"No common soldier, no," Gui said dryly. Frowned, old eyes sweeping the scene. "Only imperial firebenders are that precise."
MG: Yes, this is a Star Wars reference, as confirmed in the next chapter’s AN. But, because of the context, it’s also a point.
Prince Stuko: 13 (because Zuko can’t just be a skilled firebender, he has to be an unbelievably amazing firebender)
For a moment, Sergeant Ying devoutly hoped rumor was right, and Fire Nation raiders did strike and move on. Because he desperately wanted men capable of doing this to be anywhere but here.
"One blast while they still had surprise," Gui said thoughtfully. "Archers next. And then… hmm. They separated, to take out the stragglers; there, and there." He shook his head. "It was probably over before most of them knew they were dead."
Chilling thought. As was what he wasn't finding on the ground. "Why aren't there tracks?" Ying demanded. "If a troop went through here, they should have left some sign."
"Oh, this wasn't a troop," Gui shrugged.
The sergeant eyed him, taken aback. "More? Spirits, if we're outnumbered, warn a man!"
"No, not more." Gui smiled darkly. "Four, I'd guess."
"Four?" Ying sputtered. "Four firebenders did this?"
"Or less," Gui agreed. "Feel any better?"
Rangi: I think my mother would’ve been hard-pressed to pull that off, and she’s the most powerful firebender I know! Or she was before, you know… the poisoning… No offense to your uncle.
Zuko: None taken. But yeah, it really does seem like Vathara wrote this scene to have the Earth Kingdom soldiers be all appropriately awed by me and Uncle, doesn’t it? *shakes his head*
Prince Stuko: 14
"No," Sergeant Ying gritted out. Raised an eyebrow, as his scouts came wandering back. "What did you find?"
"Nothing, sir," Chen, the oldest of the four said uneasily. "No boot prints, no komodo-rhino tracks, no scorch marks where somebody blew off steam. It's like they just… disappeared."
Like spirits, Ying could hear in the silence.
Well. If no one else was going to say it, he certainly wasn't. "Let's get back," he said frankly. "We've got a report to make."
Zuko: Like spirits or two men who didn’t want to be followed hiding our tracks… but I guess that’s just not impressive enough.
MG: And, in any case, that’s the end of the chapter – on to the AN!
A/N: On why I decided Zuko has experience in lethal self-defense…. First, "The Blue Spirit". Even vastly outnumbered, Zuko never hesitates. Second… one thing that's struck me about the series is that compared to several firebenders (hi there Zhao, Aang), Zuko is careful with his fire. Hell on meditation candles, yes, but he doesn't set things on fire by accident. Even when he fights Katara as the last thing in his way at the Spirit Oasis, he does not burn her. In fact, if you look at the havoc the Gaang has caused throughout the series, Zuko's a lot more careful than a lot of benders. ("The Earth King." Whoof.)
And in real life, "careful" is what you see from martial artists who know they can really hurt someone.
Given Zuko often needs to be hit over the head with the obvious, and was exiled outside the Fire Nation (to areas where, surprise! People don't like firebenders), the odds of him having gotten into a deadly fight are depressingly high.
Top that off with his uncle being General Iroh, whom the Avatar creators avow was "very good at what he did". Zuko is a crown prince of the Fire Nation, specifically trained to rule and conquer more of the world. He may hate killing. He may go to great lengths to avoid it. But he's definitely been trained that it is an acceptable option.
He's not Aang.
MG: Yeah, I don’t really disagree with any of this. I have no trouble believing Zuko has killed (was this really in doubt?) I think he’s generally aware of the destructive power of firebending and tries to avoid too much collateral damage (with some exceptions – ie, Toph’s feet that one time) and he’s absolutely trained in a culture and tradition where taking a life would be considered acceptable under some circumstances (or, if we’re talking the Fire Nation under Azulon and Ozai in general, too many circumstances). Could’ve done without the random swipes at the Gaang, though.
Reverence for life is fine, upstanding, and idealistic. But when all's said and done, count which nations are still standing.
(Though, Gyatso? Wow.)
MG: …or the whiff (or more) of victim-blaming here, that the Air Nomads were somehow unworthy because they refused to kill (and later chapters will indeed indicate that the Air Nomads apparently weakened themselves badly and cut themselves off from some of their powers by embracing pacifism – or rather, in Embers!verse, having it forced on them and I’m not making that up), especially in light of the fic’s overall Fire Nation favoritism. Yuck. As for Gyatso… considering the position he was found in, I always figured that in a moment of final desperation he bent all the air out of the room, suffocating himself and the Fire Nation soldiers in there with him. I don’t think that’s a particularly uncommon interpretation, either.
Anyway, this chapter… is very mixed to me. We have some good fight scenes, some good Zuko and Iroh moments and some good depiction of Zuko’s internal conflicts and the emotional fallout from battle and killing, which is more than a lot of authors give *glares at Greenwood*. But… we also have some of Vathara’s questionable worldbuilding, weird Avatar takes and Fire Nation-centrism rearing their heads in ways that can make parts of this chapter really, really uncomfortable to read, and serve to highlight a lot of further issues that will continue to develop as we move deeper into the fic, and the random bit of Zuko getting attacked by pedophiles in his backstory. And, of course, this is where the dragon stuff gets laid out properly for the first time, and it’s going to keep growing in importance until it eats up the whole fic, so we’ve got that to look forward to; Iroh's prayer is also going to end up setting some very important things in motion. Anyway, next time, Zuko and Iroh meet a recurring minor character for the fic, reach the outskirts of Ba Sing Se, and have to make a sacrifice. We’ll see you then! Our counts stand at:
Beware the Sugar Queen: 5
The Blind Bandit Wins Again: 8
The Deadly Depths: 1
Detached from Reality: 6
Divine Right to Rule: 7
Elemental Determinism: 3
He Has Much to Learn: 8
Prince Stuko: 14
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 6
Stations of the Canon: 12
The Superior Element: 6
The Ultimate Firebenders: 8
Eureka moment
Date: 2025-09-24 06:54 am (UTC)Every time military characters appear in her stories, she can't bear to depict them as anything other honorable and compassionate, even when they're on the side carrying out ruthless slaughters of civilians(that's their *leaders'* fault, not theirs; holy XXXX she genuinely BELIEVES "Just Following Orders" is a legitimate defense) - while anyone *not* fighting for a strict, hierarchical chain of command is depicted as naive at absolute best(QED Captain America in "Thrower of the Dart"), and usually a deranged maniac QED Jet. It's telling that Ping's attackers - and similar war crimes - are only referred to, never shown.
In fact, any and every rebel and/or guerilla figure in her works is shown as inherently mentally *damaged* in one way or another QED Katara.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-17 07:35 pm (UTC)Yeeeeeah, for all that I like a lot of this fic, it's abundantly clear that Vathara has a very firm view on "appropriate violence". Mainly, that you just need to get used to it, because pacifism is idiocy. Which she spells out pretty explicitly in later author's notes.
Zuko's opinions on normalized violence aren't just his point of view from being raised in a conquering culture and spending years going back and forth during a war, they're the natural way of the world.
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I actually do kind of like how Iroh very carefully tells the literal truth here while clearly phrasing it in such a way as to give the wrong impression.
I always liked technical truths. They feel more clever than outright lying, and they can be impressive when worded well. And maybe I grew up on too many stories of faeries and elves, but they just appeal to me.
And much like Zuko in this fic, I don't really find it easy or comfortable to straight up lie, and sometimes can get annoyed by them. Though definitely not to his extent.
Though I don't think much of the perspective that intentionally misleading truths are always just fine and lies are always bad though, which some people have. Intentional deception is intentional deception even using technical truths.
I'm looking at you, Richard Feynman and your "well I confessed to stealing the door so I was telloing the truth and people were unreasonable about considering me lying, despite the fact that I intentionally said it in a sarcastic way to imply my words were ironic".
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a joke about how much they suck.
I mean for me it came across as more that they have a terrible reputation and people look down on them?
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Not sure if this is a clever bit of worldbuilding – and fits with the Japan theming Vathara gives the Fire Nation, considering that IIRC real-life samurai were originally archers before becoming more stereotypically associated with swordsmanship later in their history, and were still expected to be skilled with the bow
Oh Vathara loves the idea of "the way of horse and bow" as I believe another of her fics put it.
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where basically all of Zuko’s personality traits are tied back to one or another of the ways Vathara has made him *special*.
Yeah. Sometimes a particular line in Embers will set my teeth on edge with implying this or that personality trait isn't because Zuko is himself, or the way he was raised, but because of some elemental spiritual connection, or the fricking dragon blood.
I don't mind the dragon thing! But I don't like the way it warps gravity around it and twists Zuko away from himself, or warps existing details about Zuko to be about the dragon thing.
Not interested in girls yet and busy with the war around him? Dragon thing.
Hates lies? Can't be Azula trauma. Has to be the dragon thing.
Wants to protect his people? Dragon thing.
When I talk about "Mary Sue-ness" in characters, this warping is what I think of. When a character -- or in this case a heritage -- twists existing details around itself until all gravity is centered on that character/heritage.
I like parts of the dragon thing!
...I do not like that part of the dragon thing.
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We also have a reference here to spirits “making” people a certain size
I don't know if that part was supposed to be literal.
I think the size thing is Vathara's love of Japan again and implying that Fire Nation people are typically smaller in stature like Japanese people are.
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The way it is just feels like edge for the sake of edge
Feels to me like what she was going for was making sure Zuko's first kill was completely and unquestionably justified. Of course the person he killed deserved it!
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Basically, that the Avatars going back to at least Kyoshi have practiced a sort of apartheid between the nations, forcibly keeping them separate and preventing any mixing between peoples, cultures or elements.
See and I like this premise personally. Not that I think Vathara did the best job with it, but I like that she tried to make history messy with very few real good guys and lots of people taking turns being the bad guys.
...just wish it came with less of a dose of victim blaming and excusing the people *currently* warring and conquering.
Honestly the whole loyalty system is a chain around the stories neck, it makes it so much harder to have conscientious objectors and deserters. Vathara manages to cram some in anyway but...
I dunno I think embers has some good foundation under this, you just gotta tear down a couple walls, treat the mold, replace these windows...
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Not really sure we’ve ever seen spirits work in this sort of roundabout way in canon (usually, when spirits want something done they just sort of… do it themselves), though I’m not sure if this is meant to be literal or more of a coincidence.
See part of the trouble I have the spirits in this fic is it's so hard to tell.
Like, they clearly have some control over luck and fate? But also how much does that negate human choice? If I'm at a crossroads and the spirits want me to go left to meet someone, how do they accomplish that without overiding my mind?
Distract me with a flower or rock that makes me want to walk towards it? Spook an animal into scaring me away from the right? And in that case the problem of choice now moves to the animal...
Maybe I have too much of a metaphysically null understanding to appreciate a spirits-driven world?