Book of Lightning part I

No one dared to approach the fire lord's throne. The flames had gone out, causing the room to be engulfed in a deathly darkness. The figure that sat at the throne was the fire lord, Ozai. As near as anyone could tell, he was dead. Ozai wasn't the kind to make jokes like this. His war council, sitting next to a map of the world, had just witnessed the worst tragedy in recent memory. Ozai had begun spluttering and coughing, shortly after taking a sip of tea. Poison. Of that there was no doubt, but who could have done it? There was no shortage of power-hungry generals, the war council thought as they eyed each other. Each one of them could have done it. They were the Fire Lord's most trusted, yet clearly, one of them was not the most loyal. No-one dared move, lest they be marked down as the traitor. Finally, after a few minutes of side-glances by the councillors and shocked stars of the guard wondering what to do next, someone spoke. 

"Who is to be the next Fire Lord?" 

It was a pivotal question, and a concerning one. Tradition dictated that it went to the eldest sibling, Prince Zuko, but he was off. Out of the country and mixed up with rebels. In fact, it might very well have been him that poisoned Ozai's tea. Zuko was staunchly anti-imperialist, and vocally objected to the treatment of the citizens under Fire nation control. He would not be a good candidate for Fire Lord. Thankfully, Ozai, had a second child. Azula, the firebending prodigy and disciple of her father's doctrine. She had the brains, having single-handedly captured the great Ba Sing Se, a feat which the great dragon of the west, Iroh, hadn't managed to do. Then again, she was but fourteen, an age many people considered too young to rule. Iroh's name was quickly put forward to rule, but was equally as quickly rejected. He had been passed over for rule once before, by the great Azulon, and followed his nephew's ideas of anti-imperialism. After several intense minutes, where no-one was allowed to enter or leave the throne room, It was decided. Azula would be the next Fire Lord. 

"Good move Reiji." Said Azula as Reiji created a smokescreen with his fire, causing Azula to loose sight of him momentarily. "But not good enough." She launched a large wave of fire that was nearly impossible to dodge. Incredibly, Reiji managed to avoid getting hit by the fire, but Azula had prepared for this, she knew where Reiji would dodge to, and had pre-emptively launched another fire at that exact spot. It landed perfectly, and Reiji was blasted off his feet in a volley of blue flames. Despite this, he laughed. 

"You are impossible to beat, Azula." He said, lying on the training mat. He was exhausted, Azula was undoubtedly the better of the two, but he was just glad he was able to hold her off for so long. Azula sat down next to him, panting heavily. She was nearly as exhausted as he was. 

"You are certainly getting better." She said. "You should teach me how to create smoke like you do some day." 

"Ah, what's the point?" said Reiji. "You hardly need it, and it's not a very graceful art." 

"True. And i could just use a smoke bomb. It's not like they're hard to come by."

Suddenly, a messenger burst through the door, nearly throwing the door off it's hinges. Azula jumped up to her feet immediately. 

"Do you not know how to knock!" She shouted at the guard. "How dare you burst in here!"

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, m-my lady," Stammered the guard, stumbling over his lance as he did so. It fell from his hands and clattered on the ground, creating a deafening sound. The guard looked sheepish as he hastily picked up his lance. 

"Why are you here?" Said Azula, with some of the anger gone from her voice. "Did my father sned you?" 

"Uhh. No, m-my lady. The War council requests your presence." said the guard, bowing slightly. 

Azula stared at the guard for a moment, which caused the guard to quake in his boots. 

"Very well. Reiji," she said, turning back to Reiji who was still sitting on the mat. "Think on my offer. I'll see you later." 

Reiji nodded. "I'll see you around, Azula." 

Azula quickly made her way back to the war room with the guard. She had tried to stop to get changed, but the guard had said it was too urgent for formalities. Thus, when she walked into the throne room a few minutes later, she was still wearing full traditional agni kai robes. Whatever embarrassment the old men might have felt at seeing Azula in such clothes was quickly washed away by the urgency of the situation.  

"Why have you summoned me?" Azula asked. "And where is father?" she added, looking around. "He said he I would accompany him to the earth kingdom."

No-one on the war council said anything. They were all likely a bit afraid of Azula's reaction when she learned her father was dead. Eventually councillor Kaiba, a relatively new councillor who was in charge of maintaining order over the colonial provinces, spoke. 

"Well you see, your ladyship. Your father, well, he's dead."