Xisheng's time in the Beifong estate was wrapped up quite quickly following the battle with the Avatar. He was actually quite impressed by it: after all, Lao and his wife had walked in on a catastrophe in which only the Fire Nation infiltrators were remaining, and only to hear the news of how his daughter had been kidnapped no less.

  Naturally demands as to what happened were the first thing to come out of the patriarch's mouth, and one would think it difficult to lie your way out of such a situation: but Lao had taken practically everything Azula had told him at face value. That had included mention of the Avatar, his daughter being kidnapped against her will and Azula and company's valiant but futile effort to stop it all. Following this there had been a great degree of panic, which was understandable, but Azula had done a wonderful job of taking her deception -and her gain- to the next level.

  Not only did she convince Lao that she and her 'mercenary' band would pursue the Avatar to rescue his daughter, she had even convinced him to pay them in advance to do so. The total profit wasn't as high as it could have been, since they obviously didn't get the payment for protecting Toph with the outcome that had occurred, but it was still a significant sum.

  Granted, Earth Kingdom currency would be worthless when the Fire Nation took over the world, but until then it could prove useful. After all, with another leg of their journey in sight, provisions would probably be useful. Besides, whatever was left over could be melted down and reused for more useful things sometime in the future.

  Either way, the entire thing had gone remarkably well. The only hiccup was a sneer from one of the guards, which, from his point of view, must have been warranted. They had failed to 'protect' Toph, after all. Of course, his disdain didn't last long, since both Azula and Mai were capable of mustering some pretty fearsome glares.

  Ultimately, they tricked Lao entirely, left his estate with no one any wiser to their true identities and had plenty of money to stock up on whatever they wanted for the trip to their next destination. Naturally, Xisheng was forced to carry the hefty chest of gold they had been given, though he was fully aware that he was best suited to the task.

  At this exact moment, he and his companions were perusing the markets of Gaoling for anything they deemed useful, though Xisheng imagined they would likely get some things that weren't necessities while they were at it. They had plenty of money to spare after all, and he could see Ty Lee eyeballing plenty of products he wouldn't really call necessary.

  Depending on how inclined to shopping sprees these girls were, Xisheng figured he might have to remind them that everything still had to be carried to the Overlord somehow.

  But considering that they hadn't actually eaten much of anything today, coupled with the stamina they'd lost during the fight with the Avatar, food was in everyone's sights right now. Xisheng was certain he could hear everyone's stomachs growling, though he was equally certain neither Azula nor Mai would ever admit to it.

  Perhaps Ty Lee picked up on this as well.

  "You know, we could just find a nice restaurant to sit down at. We've hardly had a chance to do that since we got back together again!"

  Frankly Xisheng wasn't opposed to the idea, but Azula was quick to reject it.

  "While I'm fully aware that we have no hope of catching up to our quarry straightaway, I don't believe it would be prudent to waste time relaxing here when we could be moving on. We'll find food we can take with us."

  The acrobat pouted upon hearing this, no doubt a little dismayed by all of this urgency and focus on a singular goal. Xisheng imagined she would have liked to spend some time relaxing with her friends every once in awhile, considering how long they had been apart. Strangely enough, Mai took it upon herself to comfort the brunette, or maybe she was just stating a fact.

  "We can always cook something more substantial while traveling. Just find some snacks for now or something."

  These words did put a smile on Ty Lee's face, though Xisheng didn't quite muster the same reaction. Did any of them actually know how to cook? He couldn't picture any of the girls being competent in it. Besides, what were they supposed to cook with using the Overlord? The engine?

  Either way, as the group of four came to stand in the center of the Gaoling marketplace, Azula leveled her gaze at her companions. "In the interest of time, I suggest we split up and gather what we feel is needed. There's plenty of gold to go around, and we're unlikely to need it after this, so take however much you think you need to meet your purposes. As for you-"

  She focused her vision on Xisheng specifically.

  "I recommend finding a very large bag to carry all of this in."

  Xisheng resisted the urge to sigh as he opened up the chest Lao had provided so everyone could grab a share of their funds. He supposed the role of pack mule was understandable when his only other companions were all women, but Azula could have at least been a little more considerate of his exertions. At least Ty Lee had the presence of mind to do so.

  "Sorry Gohan: I'll be sure not to get a bunch of stuff to pile onto you, okay?"

  With that, everyone spread out among the place of commerce, leaving Xisheng alone as he held what was left of Lao's payment in his arms. Despite the fact that roughly half of it had been depleted, it was still pretty heavy.

  With a clear product in mind, it didn't take Xisheng long to locate the kind of carrying capacity he needed. It was a large, dark green backpack that wasn't all that dissimilar from the types of rucksacks he had carried around during regular deployment, being nearly as large as his torso in both length and width. It had sturdy enough straps to hold a significant amount of weight, so he figured it would be more than enough. Following the purchase, Xisheng had stored what was left of the gold within the bag and practically donated the chest to the shopkeeper, seeing as how it was just extra weight at this point.

  Having accomplished his one mission, Xisheng decided to make the rounds of the marketplace and see if he could find out what the girls were up to. He was kind of curious to know what they thought 'necessities' were.

  His search didn't take too terribly long: Xisheng hoped it was just because he knew the identities of the people he was looking for, and not because they really stood out this much. Granted, in his eyes they really did stand above the rest of these regular people, but that was probably due to his personal experience with them.

  Either way, it hadn't been too hard to pick Ty Lee out of the crowd as she stood in front of a stall that was selling various snacks and treats. She had apparently taken Mai's suggestion to heart.

  Xisheng didn't announce his presence right away, eager to observe one of his companions outside of interaction with either him or the others for once. And yet, even as he approached silently from behind, the girl seemed to identify his presence immediately, turning to face him as he got close.

  "Hey Gohan! I see you found a sturdy bag."

  More than a little confused as to how she had detected him, Xisheng figured there was no harm in asking.

  "Not that I was trying to sneak up on you or anything, but how did you know it was me? I didn't make any noise and you didn't see me."

  Amused by his confusion, Ty Lee grinned at him. "I can just tell. You've got this kind of... presence."

  "I'm not sure how to take that hesitation in your voice."

  "Don't worry, I meant it in a good way. It's comforting. Warm. And even if you didn't have that going for you, your aura is always so vibrant. Lots of gold, orange, red, and pink. You've got some nice spurts of blue in there too."

  Xisheng wanted to question this whole aura business since he had no clue what Ty Lee was talking about, but any follow up question was interrupted by the man running the stall.

  "Hey, if you two aren't going to buy something, get out of the way. There's other people I could be selling to."

  Frankly, Ty Lee was a little sick of people in this city rudely interrupting her in the middle of conversations with her friends, but Xisheng didn't seem bothered by it. Maybe he figured the man had a point, which was why he turned the conversation to the topic of purchases.

  "What were you thinking of buying here, Ty Lee?"

  Turning her attention back to the stall and its wide array of goodies, the brunette smiled. "I just wanted to get a treat for everyone. We all deserve one after everything that happened today!"

  Hearing her explanation, Xisheng couldn't help but smile as well. Of course her first thought was of everyone else. Honestly he wasn't surprised: Ty Lee was possibly the sweetest person to ever walk the Earth, after all.

  "What kind of treats? Do you know what the others even like?"

  Turning a mockingly offended glance his way, Ty Lee gave her reply. "What kind of friend do you take me for? Of course I do! It's just a matter of finding the right things..."

  Ty Lee turned to perusing the stock available, and Xisheng watched as she asked questions about different foods. Namely, about which things were spicy and which were the sweetest. Naturally it wasn't hard for the vendor to point out which of his products were which, so in no time at all the acrobat had several things in a bag; a spicy dumpling of some sort, a fruit of some kind covered in chocolate and a piece of bread that surely had something unique about it, though Xisheng couldn't tell what it might have been.

  Once she had acquired all of that, Ty Lee turned to him with a smile. "Your turn: what do you like, Gohan?"

  "I thought you said you knew what everyone liked?"

  Hearing this reply, the brunette pouted a little. "That's not fair, we haven't talked about your eating habits yet!"

  "Alright, but this is your only free pass. I'd like something sour, if there is anything."

  Ty Lee stuck her tongue out in distaste. "Really? I don't know how anyone enjoys stuff like that."

  "You asked."

  "I did. Hey mister, do you have anything sour?"

  With this question posed to him, the street vendor had a moment of hesitation in checking his stock. Sour was probably one of the least liked flavors, second only to bitter. Even so, he did have something, and he grabbed it to present to his customers.

  Both Ty Lee and Xisheng looked confused by the stick of green crystal in his hand, as it didn't really look edible. The look on their faces must have been pretty telling.

  "Don't worry, it's not actually a rock. It's sugar, fused with sour lemon juice. They make them in Ba Sing Se. I'll let you try a small piece if you want."

  With a shrug, Xisheng took the sample he was offered and tasted it. He was honestly surprised to get such a good tart kick out of it, but he also found that the candy made for a pleasant chewy experience. He was more impressed than he cared to admit.

  "I like it. How about three?"

  "As you will, fine sir. Just give me a moment to calculate the price of all this..."

  Considering that Lao had paid them in only gold pieces, Xisheng and Ty Lee had to deal with some math and the return of some change, but in the end they got a hold of their various treats, and at a relatively tame cost. With no reason to stick around, Xisheng roped his companion into helping him search for Azula and Mai, though the acrobat of course ensured that their search was not carried out in silence.

  "Alright Gohan, since you wanted to tease me, let's see how well you know the rest of us already. Who do you think each of these treats is for?"

  Chewing on his own candy, Xisheng furrowed his brow in consternation.

  "Well, if I were a fool, I'd say the spicy one is for our taskmaster, the sweetest treat is for you, and the comparatively plain bread is for Mai."

  Ty Lee cocked an eyebrow at him. "But you're not a fool, right?"

  "Right. I'd only make those assumptions if the only thing I had to go on was a first impression of all of you. But since I do actually know a few certain facts... I think the spicy one is for Mai. That said, I can't actually be certain about the other two. One would think you'd like sweet things, but I don't have anything to really base that on other than your personality, which is totally unrelated to preferred taste."

  With a smile, Ty Lee withdrew the loaf of bread from the bag the vendor had provided and took a hearty bite out of it. "Well, you're right on one point and wrong on the other. Truth is I don't actually like sweet things all that much. I don't mind it but it has to be kind of tame."

  Drawing some conclusions from what Ty Lee had revealed, Xisheng's expression became amused. "Wait, so if I was right on the other bit, meaning the spicy one is for Mai, that means the sweet one is for...?"

  Ty Lee couldn't help but grin.

  "Yep. She's a real sucker for anything like this: she's got a serious sweet tooth. It's so weird, isn't it?"

  "You said it. Then again, I suppose most people wouldn't assume that Mai likes spicy things, just based on a first impression."

  "Speaking of which, how'd you guess that?"

  Xisheng kept his eyes focused on the crowd around them as he answered, looking for their scattered compatriots.

  "Well, I think I've established that Mai's stony exterior conceals a fairly adventurous spirit. Or maybe she's adventurous by necessity, since that's a prerequisite to finding something she can actually enjoy. It just seems like she would enjoy something with a bit of kick to it."

  A mixed expression crossed Ty Lee's face, some sort of combination of dismay and appreciation. Because he was keeping a lookout, Xisheng didn't notice it.

  "Always so insightful..."

  Xisheng may have noticed the somewhat dour tone of her voice under normal circumstances, but at that moment, he noticed one of the people in question. He pointed her out to Ty Lee, who quickly doused her slight disgruntlement as they approached her.

  Because her back was facing them, Xisheng and Ty Lee couldn't tell what Mai was inspecting as she stood at a vendor of her own. But as they came to stand up behind her, the two weren't really surprised to learn that her attention was on knives.

  Arrayed on a platform that belonged to a burly man with hairy arms was a dozen different knives in various designs. Mai was holding a curved one in her hand as she examined it with a critical eye. For the life of him, Xisheng couldn't tell how her appraisal was going.

  The shopkeeper seemed pretty confident in the prospect of a sale, with his arms folded in assurance and a smirk on his face. Of course, his words made it pretty obvious as well.

  "You won't find better knives in Gaoling. These babies are made from the finest steel, and I've shaped them all myself. One of these could protect you against even the most ferocious beast!"

  Naturally, Mai didn't seem very impressed by any of these claims. All she did was flip the silver steel in her hand so she could see the other side.

  "So you sharpened these things, but in all of your eminent wisdom forgot to quench them? This steel isn't even hardened."

  "The hell do you mean it isn't hardened? It's metal, it's already hard, lady."

  With an expression that clearly wasn't enthused, Mai drew one of her own black knives, confusing everyone present when she slid its edge across the knife she was examining. You would think metal on metal would skate cleanly, but Mai's knife got stuck every once in awhile, like it was getting caught on something.

  "You see that? The edge of my knife is biting into yours. That's because my edge is hardened and yours isn't. You either didn't quench this at all or you did it incorrectly. You can even see where your edge has rolled."

  The alleged knife maker clearly didn't think too highly of Mai's appraisal, as evidenced by the way he slammed his hands on the table before him.

  "You expect me to believe that a girl like you knows what you're talking about when it comes to weapons!? I won't fall for some sort of slander scam!"

  With a shrug, Mai planted the 'knife' into the vendor's table, gathering up a bag of goods at her feet that her two friends hadn't noticed until now.

  "I'm not here to try and scam a shoddy hunk of metal off of you. You can keep them all: though I'm sure that one will be even more damaged when you pull it out of the table."

  Ignoring the fuming vendor, Mai turned her back on him, coming face to face with Xisheng and Ty Lee. The moment of surprise that crossed her face proved she hadn't been aware of their presence at all. But once that expression cleared, Xisheng could have sworn he saw a bit of embarrassment. Maybe Mai didn't like the idea of her friends seeing her actually get 'riled up' about something, even if her version of it was so subdued.

  "You two making a habit of eavesdropping now?"

  Ty Lee shrugged, a cheeky smile on her face. Xisheng actually gave her an answer.

  "Sorry about that. We just didn't want to interrupt you while you were in your element, so to speak. It's amusing to see you take someone down a peg with your knowledge on weapons."

  With the tiniest of smiles, Mai brushed past her two comrades, prompting them to follow her. "Did you two find everything you were looking for? I see Gohan found a bag at least."

  The group's resident brunette was on Mai's heels in no time. "Yep, and speaking of finding what we were looking for, here: this one is for you!"

  With that, Ty Lee handed Mai the spicy dumpling she had bought earlier. As usual, Mai's expressive range was a little limited, but it was obvious that she was really grateful. Than again, she made that obvious enough verbally.

  "Thank you Ty Lee. But you know you don't have to spend money on stuff like this."

  "Oh come on Mai, it's not like it's even 'my' money. Besides, I got something for all of us. Hey, did you know that Gohan guessed right away that the spicy one was for you?"

  Taking a bite out of that very treat, Mai didn't seem surprised by this information in the least. "I'm not surprised. He's sharp like that."

  Suppressing a smile of his own, Xisheng held out his arms, motioning towards the bag Mai was carrying. "Would you like me to carry that for you?"

  "Sure. Thanks."

  Ty Lee frowned a bit as she watched the only male take on another load, even though he didn't seem bothered too much by it.

  "Gohan, you don't have to carry everything just because we're girls. I feel kind of bad..."

  "It's not because of that, Ty Lee. But it is easier for me to carry heavy things than the rest of you. I just want to make things easier where I can. Speaking of which, what did you get, Mai?"

  Normally Xisheng would have expected a snarky reply, maybe something along the lines of 'just look in the bag and find out yourself', but Mai didn't go for anything like that, much to the soldier's surprise. Maybe her treat had actually put her in a good mood?

  "Just some ingredients. We were kind of running low on the stuff we brought from Omashu."

  Xisheng wanted to ask who in their party possibly knew how to cook, as he couldn't really picture any of the girls doing it and he knew he couldn't, but Mai didn't give him enough of a break in the conversation to do so.

  "By the way, what did you get to eat? Kinda curious."

  Xisheng couldn't see it since she was walking a bit behind him, but Ty Lee cocked an eyebrow at her female friend, a little surprised. Granted, it had been a few years since she and Mai had been around one another, but she couldn't recall the dark haired girl ever showing curiosity in the mundane things around her, nevermind actually admitting to it. Aside from Zuko, she never seemed to care about people's personal preferences or anything else of the sort.

  Naturally the only male in the party wasn't privy to any of this, though he did of course know Mai well enough by now to see this as a little unusual. He didn't want to be presumptuous, but he liked to think that he was interesting enough for her to actually notice from time to time.

  That being the case, he held up one of the green candies he had procured. "Some sort of special candy from Ba Sing Se. Despite being green they have a strong lemon flavor."

  Without a word in reply, Mai simply held her hand out in his general direction. The implication was blunt, but obvious. Moreover, Xisheng didn't mind sharing, as he viewed it as a learning opportunity.

  The candy he shared with his raven haired companion was swiftly consumed, prompting an expression that was unusually contemplative compared to Mai's usual state of being.

  "It's definitely chewier than it looks. Not the most sour thing I've ever tasted, but I guess it's passable for the label."

  "I'm honestly not surprised that you're into sour things too."

  The young woman cocked an eyebrow at him.

  "I'm not sure if that's supposed to be an insult or a compliment."

  "It's just an observation. It's how I guessed the spicy dumpling was yours: you seem like the kind of person that wants her food to liven up an otherwise droll existence."

  While Xisheng didn't see anything wrong with his words, he noticed a mixed expression cross Mai's features. Frankly he couldn't discern its meaning, as the look didn't seem particularly good or bad, but he had no time to investigate anyway, as Ty Lee's arm came between the two of them, outstretched in order to point towards a certain spot in the distance.

  "Hey, there's Az-I mean, well, you know. Looks like she found what she wanted too."

  Both of them following her outstretched finger, Mai and Xisheng saw that Azula was indeed ahead of them, though she was not at a specific stand or kiosk. She already had a bag in her hand, and she seemed to be merely looking around, probably for her comrades. Being an astute individual and knowing who she was looking for, she didn't miss the approach of her allies.

  Before anyone could even say a word of greeting, she practically dropped the bag she was carrying in Xisheng's grasp, forcing him to shuffle Mai's into one arm. The whole thing was quite precarious, spurring Ty Lee to action.

  "Seriously Gohan, let me take one of those..."

  "It's fine, just help me put one of them in the backpack."

  Trying to determine which bag of items would fare better bouncing around in a pack, Ty Lee peeked into them to view their contents. The first to be investigated was Azula's, and the contents sparked a confused expression from Ty Lee.

  "Bath supplies? When are we supposed to use these?"

  Surprisingly, the expression on Azula's face was almost sheepish. "Well, we could stop by a fancy bath house or some such before leaving..."

  Ty Lee's expression turned cross at this. "Hold on, you said that we didn't have time to stop and eat, but there's enough time to stop by a bath house?"

  "Come now Ty Lee, hygiene is very important, and we can eat on the move. We can't bathe, for obvious reasons."

  It was at this point Xisheng chimed in. "That's not true. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find a river out there."

  As recompense for his suggestion, both Mai and Azula leveled looks of disbelief at him. For noblewomen like them, the thought of bathing in a river must have seemed barbaric.

  Despite the fact that they didn't say anything, Xisheng felt the need to defend his statement.

  "Generally speaking, running water is actually quite clean, you know... besides, being so hypocritical would be a bit unbecoming..."

  This statement was clearly directed towards Azula, and she absolutely didn't miss it. That said, maybe she felt that Xisheng was right, because she actually conceded.

  "Very well. I find your statement to be dubious, but I suppose we'll forego my wishes for today: be grateful."

  Xisheng and Ty Lee exchanged looks of exasperation behind Azula's back, with the latter moving to store the the bag of bathing products in Xisheng's larger one for easier transport.

  As for Xisheng, he was actually surprised for some other reasons. One, he was surprised that the Princess hadn't brought such items of her own choosing from Gaoling. Two, he was somewhat impressed that Azula was willing to consider things made in the Earth Kingdom as worthy enough to use for her own body. He had half expected her to view anything less than what she was used to in the palace as beneath her.

  Either way, with the entire troop having acquired what they were looking for, there was little left to do in Gaoling. They had failed to do the one thing they had come for, but in the end, Azula at least didn't consider it a complete loss. Xisheng didn't know how that could be, considering that the entire trip had been a failure tactically speaking, but if the princess was satisfied with the outcome he saw no reason to question her on it. What was important now was their next move.

  Naturally, Xisheng didn't ask anything of the sort while they were still within Gaoling's walls. It wasn't until they were some significant distance from the main gate to the city that he dared ask for any plan the Fire Nation Princess may have had.

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  "If I may be so bold, Princess, may I ask what our next step is? After all, I feel as though we may be at an impasse."

  Leading the small column of people that was her entourage, Azula barely glanced over her shoulder at the group's lone male.

  "Is that so? Do tell."

  By now aware that Azula actually appreciated his input, so long as it was good, Xisheng didn't feel as uncomfortable with her putting him on the spot like this anymore.

  "It's just that I can't imagine the Avatar going anywhere other than Ba Sing Se at this point, seeing as how he doesn't really have any other options. That said, frankly I don't think infiltrating a city of that size would be all that difficult, but... getting beyond the Outer Ring would be nigh on impossible. Forged passports won't cut it if we want to get beyond that point, and beyond that point is almost definitely where the Avatar will be."

  Returning her gaze to the grasslands that separated Gaoling from the forest the Overlord had been hidden in, Azula gave her response to this valid line of reasoning.

  "Unfortunately, I agree with you completely. The Earth Kingdom's bureaucracy is an overall travesty, easy to take advantage of... but the inner rings of Ba Sing Se are the one place where people do their jobs properly, likely due to the fact that all the wealthy members of their society reside there. I wouldn't put infiltration down to an impossibility, but it is by far an utterly unlikely plan."

  From the third position in the column, Mai sighed.

  "I don't suppose this means we can just forget about all of this and go home?"

  From behind her, Ty Lee pointed out how contradictory this was to some earlier sentiments from the girl.

  "But Mai, going home would just mean returning to the way things were in Omashu before, right? Didn't you hate it there?"

  "OK, fair enough..."

  Ty Lee peered around Mai's body to speak to her friends in front. "Did you hear that Gohan? We're a major improvement on Mai's life."

  Mai responded to that before the young officer could answer. "One of you is, at any rate..."

  Perhaps realizing the implication of what she had said now that Xisheng was looking at her, Mai seemed to find great interest in something on the horizon. Unfortunately, Xisheng had no time to investigate the meaning of this, as Azula forcibly put the conversation back on track.

  "At any rate, I believe our best course of action would be to return to the nearest Fire Nation outpost and acquire some intelligence on the overall situation. Last I had heard before leaving the palace, a major offensive was being planned for Ba Sing Se relatively soon. To plan anything without knowing the details regarding that attack would be folly."

  A frown crossed Xisheng's face as he considered what Azula had said. He had only heard rumors while still serving in the enlisted ranks, but the way he had heard it, the next attack on Ba Sing Se would include a massive war machine that had been under construction for well over five years now. While he had no way of knowing how said war machine was going to be incorporated into an offensive, Xisheng had always felt uneasy about it. In his own humble opinion, an assault that revolved around a single unit or weapon was slated for failure.

  Moreover, the Fire Nation had a history of overestimating their newest inventions. Every time a new weapon or vehicle was invented, whether it was a tank or a battleship, some old coots that were out of touch with the battlefield assumed it would be unstoppable. They'd deploy it alone or close to it, thinking it would somehow crush the enemy with its 'technological superiority' single-handed, only for the vehicle to get destroyed because it had no support. When the Firestorm battle tank had fist been introduced, several dozen of them had been lost due to such arrogance.

  By now Fire Nation command had better adopted combined arms warfare, rarely comprising an assault force of one sole unit type, but there was no telling how overconfident the person in charge would get when they had a powerful machine that had taken years to build on their side.

  Either way, there was little else to say on that front, so the party traveled the rest of the way in silence: or at least, they did until reaching the edge of the forest, at which point Azula came to a stop. Initially, it was unclear why she did this, but the reason was made obvious when she turned towards them all, trying to conceal some level of irritability.

  "Mai, if you would..."

  Clearly implying that she had no idea how to get back to the Overlord from here, Azula suffered a few grins at her expense, but nevertheless succeeded in getting Mai to take the lead.

  The rest of the day was quite droll, in Xisheng's opinion. They had reached the Overlord the day before by noon, at which point he alone had been tasked with clearing away all of the foliage that had been used as concealment. Thankfully that had been quite easy, since most of it could be burned in relative safety. Following that, there was some discussion with Azula as to which particular base Xisheng should deliver the party to. Poring over a map she had procured from Omashu revealed that the nearest Fire Nation base was a small foothold to the east of Gaoling. Said base had been established in preparation for an assault on Gaoling years ago, but considering the lack of strategic value, such an invasion had never taken place. Nevertheless, the base was manned, and should have been informed of any upcoming military operations.

  Xisheng had rightly pointed out that this base was not the best choice if their ultimate goal was reaching Ba Sing Se, seeing as how it had not only mountains, but the entirety of the Si Wong Desert between it and the city. Even beyond the desert, Full Moon Bay was in the way as well. He personally believed that heading back in Omashu's general direction was a better choice in the long run, but ultimately Xisheng had been overruled. According to Azula, any conceivable route to Ba Sing Se would be fraught with inconvenience and trouble, and they didn't even know if it was worth it to head towards the stronghold anyway. She believed gathering more information before making their next move was more important.

  That said, Xisheng had been forced to repeat a similar process from a few days before, that being driving the Overlord through the thick forests that surrounded most of Gaoling. Like last time, the experience hadn't been particularly pleasant, especially since he had no company during the trip. None of the girls had saw fit to join him in the driver's cabin, for reasons he could only guess at.

  But while the brief journey had been boring and tiresome thus far, the evening was finally upon them, and that meant Xisheng could at least rest from the driving. And just like the state of affairs before arriving at Gaoling, evenings were generally filled with enjoyable interactions with the girls, especially since Azula had left him to his own devices for the day.

  Frankly the soldier was surprised by that:he had expected the Princess to get right back to training now that they were out of Gaoling and had the chance to do so, but perhaps she was consumed with her plots for the uncertain future. Xisheng didn't know why such things couldn't wait until they actually had some information to plan around, which Azula herself had claimed was important, but maybe he was completely wrong in his assumption anyway. Perhaps the Princess was just tired, or didn't feel like catering to his inferior skill level that day.

  Either way, the party had situated themselves readily enough once the Overlord had come to a stop at the edge of a forest clearing. Ty Lee had taken care of the Mongoose Lizards, something that had practically become expected of her at this point. Besides, maybe she felt bad about leaving them cooped up in the Overlord during the stay in Gaoling, even if they had plenty of food and water to stick it out. Neither Azula nor Mai had elected to leave the comforts of the vehicle yet, which had left Xisheng to make a campfire from which dinner could be cooked, whatever that was going to be.

  While he hadn't put much thought into before now, Xisheng really did wonder what the girls had been eating this whole time. He just couldn't imagine which one of them actually had cooking skills. His money was on Ty Lee, even though he had only seen her make rice correctly, which was no great feat. He supposed simply asking was an option, but Xisheng preferred conducting his own investigations. He had to have some fun in his life, after all. Either way, there was no harm in preparing a fire, in case he had to make some rice all by his lonesome at some point.

  Thankfully, managing a campfire was a very relaxing and effortless task for a Firebender. Short of ensuring there was enough material to maintain a fire, all one had to do was stoke the flames with their pyrokinetic abilities every once in awhile. Were it not for the need of a pot, Firebenders could have cooked without almost any tools.

  Staring at the flame he had created, encircled by stones for safety, Xisheng watched as it flickered to and fro with the occasional gust of wind. The ethereal sight may have normally intrigued him, but at the moment all it did was worry the soldier.

  Despite fire's potential for destruction, it had many weaknesses, namely in the form of the elements it faced. The flame before Xisheng was powerful enough to scorch his flesh, yet a gentle breeze was enough to control its path, potentially rendering it harmless. This flame had the power to burn down the entire forest, yet a handful of dirt could snuff it out. A bucket of water was more than enough to render all of that destructive potential worthless.

  Of course, Xisheng couldn't care less about the survival of this one particular campfire: it was the battlefield that worried him. Frankly, the soldier felt ill-prepared for fights with the Avatar's group, especially now that Toph had joined them. Granted, he had mostly dominated Katara during their fight in Gaoling, but the Waterbender had been at a great disadvantage due to the lack of ammunition available to her at the time. In a fight where a Waterbender only had the ammo they could carry on their person available, the advantage clearly went to the Firebender.

  But if she had been near even a mildly decent body of water, that advantage went out the window. Xisheng may have had more experience in battle than her, but Katara became exponentially more dangerous the more water she had available. Frankly, a fight near a river would likely result in Xisheng's demise.

  As for Toph, Xisheng was not at all confident in his ability to defeat her. In ideal circumstances, sure: if they were in a location that didn't have much earth for her to bend. But finding a natural battleground in this world that didn't have earth readily available was a serious challenge. Short of leading the Avatar and his group into a trap, there was very little chance of encountering Toph in a location without any earth, or at least without very much of it.

  Making matters worse was a particular fact that Xisheng had already realized: fire was at a huge disadvantage against earth. Dirt and stone just didn't burn. A simple earth shield that any Earthbender could make was often enough to thwart a Firebending attack. At least with water, flame could vaporize an incoming attack, but a thrown rock would often just plow right through a plume of flame.

  And then there was the Avatar: Xisheng felt that they had yet to see the full extent of his Airbending prowess, and he was not eager to do so. If that child stopped holding back and actually fought to win they would all be in serious trouble. With Airbending, it was easy to deflect all but the most massive of infernos.

  Taking all of this into consideration, Xisheng was frankly amazed at how well the war had gone for the Fire Nation over the past hundred years. If it weren't for their superior tactics and technology, and likely the incompetence of some of their enemy's governing forces, he had no doubt the war would have been over swiftly, and not in their favor. The Fire Nation's dedication to militarism, combat and technology was likely what had saved them.

  Unfortunately none of those advantages gave Xisheng a personal edge against his foes. He couldn't defeat the Avatar or his allies with war machines, siege engines or an army of disciplined troops. Granted, on paper he could defeat them with those things, but in reality there was no way to levy those assets against them. Direct confrontation in which martial skill and bending prowess won the day were the only options, and Xisheng knew already that he didn't stack up.

  Problem was, it was the very nature of his Firebending that was his weakness, not a lack of skill or dedication. That he possessed a disadvantageous element was something he couldn't change. But that didn't mean he couldn't find some way to surpass that limitation. Perhaps the key was finding a new way to use his flames, a technique that couldn't be countered so easily...

  Xisheng was startled out of his thoughts when one of the bags the group had carried out of Gaoling landed next to him with a light thud. Glancing over his shoulder to examine the perpetrator, the soldier turned officer was surprised to see Mai, who wasted no time in handing him in pot he often used to boil rice while they were on the move.

  "Set this up."

  Instead of taking the cooking apparatus immediately, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at the girl above him, many questions on his mind. Apparently though, Mai misinterpreted the look, as she reiterated her 'request' by actually making it one.

  "Set this up, please."

  Despite the fact that a request for politeness was not at all what he had intended to get across, Xisheng was too pleasantly surprised to make any comment on it, instead choosing to do what had been asked of him. Not that Mai was rude regularly, but her bluntness usually ended up seeming like she was.

  As he proceeded to do what was necessary to place the pot over the campfire, Xisheng watched as Mai began pulling various ingredients out of the bag she had brought with her. Naturally, he couldn't help but comment on this.

  "You're kidding."

  "What?"

  "You're the one who knows how to cook?"

  Mai didn't take her eyes of the task she was performing, though Xisheng noticed her movements becoming a little more rigid. He knew that likely implied she was uncomfortable with the topic, but he couldn't imagine why that would be the case.

  "It's not that unlikely."

  Certain he had made a mistake somewhere but unsure of how, Xisheng worded his response carefully.

  "I guess you have tried a bunch of things just for kicks. It's not too unlikely that cooking would be one of them, right?"

  Mai briefly looked up at him as she began to peel some sort of vegetable with one of her knives.

  "...sure."

  By her reaction and her response, Xisheng could immediately tell that his guess was not accurate. Even so, he said nothing. He got the distinct feeling that Mai wasn't too keen on talking about it.

  "I can tell you want to ask."

  Surprised by her powers of observation, Xisheng nevertheless chose to play it dumb.

  "Ask what? I already got the answer."

  Mai kept her gaze focused on what she was doing: Xisheng couldn't imagine her ever hurting herself with a blade, but prudence was probably a large part of making that happen.

  "It's the wrong answer and you know it. And I know that you know because you aren't a clueless idiot."

  "Thanks?"

  "But I also know your unhealthy obsession with learning things about people against their will. So just get it over with."

  With a wry look of amusement, Xisheng shook his head. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I knew you didn't want to talk about it and proceeded to bring it up, would that not make me a clueless idiot? Of course I'm curious, but I'm not going to get answers at the expense of your comfort."

  With the faintest of smiles, Mai responded to his statement.

  "You're too nice..."

  "Why thank-"

  "It kind of makes me sick."

  Xisheng's smile fell immediately, even though he got the feeling she was joking. Even if it was a joke, was it really necessary to make such a backhanded compliment?

  Feeling like he should pout about his mistreatment a bit, Xisheng was about to go fetch the water they would need for whatever meal dinner would be, but he didn't get a chance to get on his feet, because Mai was speaking to him again.

  "Were there things in the military you had to learn that you really didn't want to, Gohan?"

  Unsure of where this was going but interested in the end result, Xisheng thought back to his Army training.

  "Well, sure. Digging latrines is something no one really wants to be familiar with. And I wasn't too fond of learning how to skin wild game for food. There's a lot of not so glamorous skills the Army forces you to learn."

  Mai smirked, likely at his expense, but the expression fell quickly.

  "Believe it or not, there's a lot of things you 'have' to learn as the daughter of a noble. Nothing so disgusting as cutting up animals or making improvised toilets, but... there's a lot of skills you're expected to be capable in to prove you're a worthwhile member of high society, though it's more along the lines of proving you can cater to the needs of whatever lord you marry."

  As a commoner, Xisheng generally didn't consider this aspect of a noble woman's life. In retrospect, it kind of made sense: while the Fire Nation had significantly more gender equality than the other nations, it wasn't a perfect balance. Men still dominated high society, and he imagined that a woman born to a noble house was expected to become the ideal wife for some lord, in order to bring more prestige to the family or something.

  Ironically, it was a burden the common people didn't really have to deal with too much. If you were a woman in middle class or lower, at least no one expected you to specifically fulfill a certain particular niche. You could pretty much do what you wanted to and nobody would give you too much trouble for it.

  "Sorry. This type of complaining must sound ridiculous to someone who has fought on the front lines of a war."

  Caught off guard since Mai didn't seem the type to apologize for something like this (though to be fair he hadn't expected her to even initiate a conversation like this), Xisheng nevertheless managed to say his piece without hesitation.

  "I don't think it's ridiculous. Sure, I believe there's an objective scale of how bad things are: watching people die and being in harm's way is worse than being bullied. But I also think that everyone has a relative scale of how bad things are for them, and that scale is no less justifiable. Problems that are serious for you may not be serious for me, and vice versa. People can't be blamed for not understanding or caring about problems that don't concern them, no matter how serious those problems may be for someone else. But it also means that no one has a right to label the problems of someone else as 'inferior' or 'ridiculous' compared to their own... what I'm saying is, it's true that I've seen people die and risked my life on a battlefield, but that doesn't invalidate your problems or how serious they are for you, even if they aren't as objectively bad."

  There was silence between the two of them as Mai leveled an intrigued look at him, though Xisheng interpreted it incorrectly.

  "S-sorry, sometimes I stray way off-topic like that..."

  With the faint smile from before returning a little wider, Mai focused on her culinary task once more.

  "Don't apologize for it. I like how much thought you put into these kinds of things. You always think of things normal people don't even bother to consider. Or care to, I guess."

  "I thought you of all people would find such philosophy tedious."

  "Well, I don't like to waste time pondering things with no practical point, but I certainly wouldn't say that I find your intellect tedious."

  With a smirk, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at her.

  "My intellect, huh?"

  "Don't let it go to your head. Ty Lee is around too, so the bar isn't all that high."

  A shadow passed over the duo just as Mai said this, prompting Xisheng to grin sheepishly as he identified the caster. Ty Lee stood behind them, arms folded and frown in place.

  "You know, one of these days all the mean things you guys say about me will actually hurt."

  As she began cutting up another ingredient, Mai apologized, though she didn't sound all that apologetic.

  "Sorry. Didn't think you were that close."

  "Whether or not I hear it shouldn't be the determining factor!"

  Feeling a little bad about the admittedly heavy-handed teasing Ty Lee often suffered at the hands of her companions, Xisheng took it upon himself to placate her.

  "Don't worry Ty Lee: you've got a certain type of wisdom the rest of us are lacking. We've all got our strengths and weaknesses."

  Contrary to expectations, Ty Lee's pout didn't lessen upon hearing this.

  "That's sweet and all, but you didn't deny anything about what Mai implied..."

  "C'mon, none of us are stupid. We all have some knowledge that the others don't..."

  With a sigh, Ty Lee placed her hands on her hips.

  "Stop trying to make me feel better with all this practicality and just spend time with me or something."

  The acrobat cast a certain look in Mai's direction, likely questioning whether or not she was going to oppose Ty Lee's poaching of Xisheng's company. She hadn't heard much of what the two of them were talking about prior to the comment about her intelligence, but she didn't have to understand the conversation to pick up on how much Mai was opening up to Xisheng. There had been a lot of signs lately; initiating conversations of her own accord, smiling in those conversations, even complimenting him. These were all things one might consider normal in everyday interaction between people that didn't hate each other, but for Mai it was kind of unusual. Ty Lee doubted she had changed too terribly much in the years that had separated them: she had rarely cared for putting on airs with people she didn't care at least a little bit about.

  Still, maybe Ty Lee was being a little ridiculous, assuming that Mai would openly try to resist the notion she had put forth. She either didn't care that much or had no intent of making it obvious if she did. That's probably why all she did was shrug.

  "If you could bring some water from the vehicle first, I'd appreciate it."

  Xisheng was honestly a little reluctant to leave the conversation he'd been having with Mai, as he felt as though he was uncovering some new things about her. But on the other hand, he didn't want to just ignore Ty Lee. Admittedly, splitting his attention between the three girls in the group was actually a bit difficult.

  Even so, the soldier ultimately agreed with the course of action that had been set before him.

  "Alright. How much do you need?"

  "Just enough to fill the pot."

  Seeing as how there was no immediate source of water nearby, Xisheng had no choice but to get some from the Overlord's stores: naturally it was limited in quantity, but since they had just recently left Gaoling with supplies, it wasn't like the group was particularly hurting for it. That said, it didn't take Xisheng too terribly long to fetch what was required of him, which earned a brief word of gratitude from Mai. As soon as that was accomplished, Ty Lee was quick to drag the soldier away from the campfire that had been erected.

  Xisheng cast a brief glance back at the Overlord, noting with a little uncertainty that he hadn't seen Azula at all this evening. He couldn't help but wonder if she would be upset to find him absent if she finally decided that training was in order that day. Still, it wasn't like he could just lounge around outside the vehicle all day long, on the off chance that she would require his presence at some point. With that in mind, he turned his attention entirely to Ty Lee.

  "So, do you have a routine you'd like to show me?"

  Smiling at how eager Xisheng was to see her perform, Ty Lee nevertheless said what was really on her mind. Well, not what was really on her mind. She didn't want to tell Xisheng to his face that she was getting a little jealous of how much attention he had been affording Mai the past few days. In her heart, she knew that it was petty and shallow to feel that way, but it just didn't seem fair: Ty Lee was the only one that treated Xisheng well at all in the beginning. Not that she had done so in order to be rewarded, but the man could at least divvy up his attention a little better.

  That was why she had decided to grab his attention a little more often. If he wanted her to teach him a few things, she had quite a few options.

  "Actually, I was considering what you said back in Gaoling. About if I could teach you a few things? If you want, I could maybe help you get more limber?"

  Being a martial artist who had seen many battlefields, Xisheng by no means possessed an inflexible and rigid body. However, he knew he didn't hold a candle to what Ty Lee could do. Frankly, this wasn't the kind of thing that had been on his mind when he was considering what Ty Lee could teach him, but there was hardly any harm in becoming more flexible. Besides, maybe that could be a stepping stone to some acrobatic lessons? If he had Ty Lee's agility and his own Firebending, maybe he could take his combat prowess to another level?

  "That sounds great. What do you have in mind?"

  "Well, it would probably be best if we determine exactly how flexible you are first. It would be kind of silly to try and make you do anything way beyond your current means."

  Agreeing with that assessment, Xisheng ended up following Ty Lee a little ways out into the woods they were staying in, creating a little bit of privacy for them. It didn't dawn on him that this may have been intentional on her part.

  Once they had reached the area of Ty Lee's choice, she turned to him with a smile.

  "OK, so I'll go through some stretches, and you just try to copy me. That way we can see where you are right now."

  "Alright, that sounds reasonable."

  With that, the two of them began the exercise in earnest. At first, Ty Lee performed simple arm stretches and the like, seeing how far Xisheng was able to bend his limbs in general. Considering his martial background, such things were well within the soldier's capability, so it didn't take long to move on from there.

  It was after those stretches that Xisheng realized the level of composure he would actually need for this whole ordeal, because once those simple stretches were out of the way, Ty Lee moved onto ones that more often than not resulted in scandalous parts of her body being pointed in Xisheng's direction. Whether it was arching her back towards him or spreading her legs for a thigh stretch, it occurred to Xisheng that she was absolutely doing this on purpose. After all, she could have done all of these suggestive stretches while facing away from him, and judging by the pleased expression on her face as they went about this activity, it was clear that she was enjoying his reaction to all of it.

  That said, Xisheng hadn't been subjected to such direct or suggestive flirting in all of his life, and he felt extremely awkward about it. In an attempt to rectify that situation, he tried to bring up a topic that had interested him earlier that day, though his eyes never left the curves of Ty Lee's flexible body.

  "Ah, y-you know, earlier today at the market... you mentioned that I had a certain... presence? And you mentioned a lot of colors. What was all of that supposed to mean?"

  With talking hardly requiring too much focus, Ty Lee didn't interrupt her physical activity to answer this question. "I said gold, orange, red, pink, and blue, specifically. Of course you exude other colors sometimes but since I've known you those colors have been the most prominent and consistent."

  Despite the visual in front of him, this actually interested Xisheng enough to distract him from any scandalous thoughts: temporarily, at least.

  "This color business... what exactly do you mean? You bring up auras and colors a lot, but what exactly are you seeing?"

  Perhaps forgetting her own agenda for a moment, Ty Lee pondered how to describe something no one else seemed to understand. "It's kind of like... a mist. A really colorful mist that hangs around people. And it changes color based on a lot of things. Most of the time it's specific feelings at a point in time, like bright pink when people are embarrassed or really dark green for people who are jealous. But the color also depends on someone's personality as a whole. Those are the colors that are almost always present."

  "I... kind of get it, I guess. But how do you know what all the colors stand for?"

  "Well, colors can actually mean several things, depending on their shade, or how bright they are, or a bunch of other stuff. You probably figured this out already, but it's not like anyone taught me any of this: I kind of just had to figure it out as I grew up. It's probably part of why I turned out to be so social with everyone. I mean, to figure out what a bunch of different colors meant, I had to talk to people and find out how they were feeling. It's actually how I met Mai when we were kids."

  While he was interested in hearing that story, Xisheng decided it was better to stay focused on the topic at hand.

  "Well, I'm almost scared to ask, but what do the colors you mentioned for me symbolize? I mean, you said pink was embarrassment... I won't deny that I feel that a lot, but I'd hardly say it is a crucial part of my personality..."

  Perhaps amused by his concern, Ty Lee giggled at his expense, though she was quick to assuage his fears.

  "Don't worry about it Gohan. Pink can stand for embarrassment, but it also represents people who are sensitive and compassionate. Of course if it's a dark pink it usually means someone is dishonest or immature, but yours isn't like that."

  While glad to hear that his shade of pink was apparently a good thing, Xisheng couldn't help but question it as he tired to copy the way Ty Lee was bending her body.

  "So if different colors can mean different things based on something as slight as their shade, isn't it really difficult to tell how people are feeling? I mean, apparently pink can mean ten different things depending on how light or dark it is."

  "Well of course, it's not like I'm psychic or anything: I've definitely misread people's feelings before. But it's not like I rely on auras alone to tell how people are feeling. I mean, if I see the shade of pink I think symbolizes embarrassment, but the person clearly isn't embarrassed, it's got to mean something else, right? It's actually quite a bit of guesswork."

  As he watched Ty Lee move into a handstand that he definitely couldn't imitate, it occurred to Xisheng that this aura business was likely something specific to Ty Lee's interpretation of any one person, rather than some sort of absolute cosmic sign of a person's feeling or personality. After all, she was the only person who saw these auras, which could only mean one of two things.

  Either one, auras were totally real but regular people couldn't see them, and Ty Lee had some sort of transcendent quality about her that allowed her to see them. Or two, there was something 'wrong' with her. Of course, Xisheng didn't mean that in the sense that she was actually broken or something: only that something about her was off compared to your average human being. After all, not once had she struck him as a crazy hallucinating person, so he believed her when she said she saw all these colors around people.

  But if the reason she saw those colors was because something was different about her biologically, didn't that just mean that any 'aura' she saw was just a manifestation of how she viewed them? In that case, she could be completely wrong about a person's feelings or personality, just like any normal person trying to identify those things about someone.

  Ultimately, Xisheng concluded that it didn't really matter: if his assumption was right and these auras Ty Lee saw were just manifestations of how she viewed them, this was still a great opportunity to find out how she really saw him as a person. Having completely forgotten about trying to imitate Ty Lee's stretches, Xisheng decided to investigate further.

  "OK, so the pink is good: what do those other colors you see around me mean?"

  With her back turned and her hands planted firmly on the ground, Ty Lee spread her legs, shaping her body into a form very reminiscent of the letter T. While most of his focus was commanded by the arousing view, Xisheng couldn't help but wonder if the acrobat was trying to mess with him, because surely she knew he wouldn't be able to do that if he was still trying to copy her.

  If she noticed the explicit attention he was paying to her rear, Ty Lee didn't mention it as she answered his question.

  "Well, orange is something I see around people that are creative and brave... I said I saw a lot of blue with you, but in hindsight, maybe it's more of an indigo? That usually means you're intuitive, which goes really well with the gold, 'cuz that usually means someone is really wise."

  Wow, I had no idea Ty Lee thought this highly of me...

  "And the red means you're a huge pervert thinking about really naughty things while looking at my butt."

  Needless to say, this break from the praise thus far threw Xisheng for a loop.

  "H-hey, what!? Are you making that up!?"

  Glancing back at him with a smirk on her face, it was obvious that Ty Lee found his reaction amusing.

  "Nope, a clear, prominent red is a sure sign of passion, which includes the carnal side of desire. And your aura always grows a bit more crimson when you're checking out my body..."

  "N-n-now hold on, don't you think you might be misinterpreting something...?"

  Coming out of her handstand to face him directly, Ty Lee did nothing to calm Xisheng's nerves.

  "Not at all. After all, my aura gets really red when I look at your butt too."

  Utterly flustered by this new line of conversation, Xisheng had no response ready, though it turned out he didn't need one, as somebody else filled the immediate silence.

  "Is this truly how you spend your free time Lieutenant? Color me appalled."

  Feeling a slight bit of dread creeping into his being, Xisheng couldn't help but wonder how much had been overheard as he looked over his shoulder at an irate Azula, her arms crossed. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but Ty Lee beat him to it anyway, though not in a way Xisheng had been expecting.

  "Excuse me, but what exactly do you mean by that, Azula? Because it sounds like you're saying something really offensive."

  "If you find my disdain for wasting time offensive, that's hardly my problem."

  For the first time since he had been inducted into this odd group, Xisheng witnessed Ty Lee grow combative, and with Azula no less. In a few seconds the circus performer was standing but a few inches from the Fire Nation princess, a none too happy glare on her face.

  "Xisheng spending time with me is not a waste!"

  This confrontational stance from Ty Lee clearly didn't sit well with the Crown Princess, as made obvious by the very displeased expression that crossed her face. Xisheng figured it might be a good idea to try and defuse the situation.

  "Princess, the purpose of our time together was actually to train. Her acrobatics would-"

  Xisheng's defense was cut short as Azula turned her ire on him. Frankly, he had no idea what had put her in such a bad mood, since she had seemed fine earlier today.

  "Oh yes, training. That was made evident by your conversation, I assure you. Need I remind you that someone of your middling talents has no time to waste fooling around?"

  Honestly, to hear this scathing remark from the Princess wounded Xisheng, but more than that, it angered him. Azula was undoubtedly his better in almost everything relating to fighting, but he was hardly some pushover that couldn't hold his own. Where the hell did she get off on accosting him like this?

  "Middling is surely an overstatement, Princess. I-"

  "I'd daresay it's an understatement! You don't hold a candle to anyone you should be striving to surpass! Your commitment to improvement is so pathetic that you waste your time flirting with any girl that offers you the slightest attention instead of bettering your own worthless skills."

  It looked like Ty Lee was about to interject again, likely not pleased with how insignificant her investment in any of this was being considered, but before she could the voice of the only uninvolved member of the party made itself known.

  "Uh... dinner's ready."

  The three of them all glanced over to see Mai standing a little distance away, clearly confused by the hostile situation. She had directed Azula in the direction that Ty Lee and Gohan had gone when asked, but she hadn't expected the irritable look on her face to lead to something of this nature. Despite not being the most attuned to the group's overall atmosphere, she certainly hadn't detected any sort of tension that would have lead to this situation prior to now.

  Not commenting on Mai's helpful notice, Azula directed her glare back to Ty Lee.

  "I need to speak to the Lieutenant alone. Make yourself scarce."

  Clearly angry with the way she was being treated, Ty Lee nevertheless held back whatever she wanted to say. Xisheng had no idea what spurred her to hold her tongue now, considering that she had already snapped once. Maybe she was privy to something the soldier wasn't, but either way she stalked away from the situation without another word. Mai was quick to follow, not nearly curious enough to try and intervene in whatever was going on here.

  For Xisheng's part, he was none too pleased with anything that was transpiring here, least of all how Azula was treating people that were supposed to be her friends and comrades seemingly out of nowhere, but he too held his tongue. He couldn't let his personal feelings supersede his station.

  Azula watched her friends leave the area, at which point she faced Xisheng again and quickly jabbed a finger into his chest.

  "In one week, you and I are going to fight. If you fail to land a single blow on me, I will demote you and leave you under the command of the very next Fire Nation unit we encounter. That's all."

  With that, the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation turned away and walked back towards the camp, leaving a stunned Xisheng in her wake. Needless to say, she had done a stellar job of ruining what had thus far been a very good day.