Azula intro [open]

[blue_flame]

Who| Azula
What| Step 1 of Azula's Plan for World Legion Domination: Meet & Greet
Where| Crew Quarters
Warnings/Notes| N/A



This was certainly the most interesting that had happened to Azula for a long, long time. And naturally, she meant to make the most of it.

She looked around. She was in some sort of barracks, she'd heard them called crew quarters. While each person had a fair amount of space to themselves, more than any soldier in the Fire Nation, it was not what Azula was used to.

But still better than where she'd been before.

Of course, where she was didn't exactly matter. Azula knew to succeed her, she would have to have allies. Or at least people who thought she considered them allies. Which meant she had to leave this room and go out there.

She headed to the door, then paused. It had been so long since she was last on the outside. For a moment, she wondered if she could do it. It had been a long year in that facility and she didn't want to go back.

"I'm being ridiculous," she told herself. "I am the rightful leader of the Fire Nation and the most powerful firebender in the world. I'll have this Legion bowing before in no time."

And so she headed out, head held high, looking for people who would be useful to her.

Comments

[glazedonutholes]

You can find this blond guy looking lost in the corridor. Welcome newbie, have another lost recent arrival.

When he spots her, he instantly perks up. "Hey!" He laughs to himself. "You wouldn't happen to have a map of this place would you?"

[blue_flame]

Azula eyed the guy carefully, trying to see if she could spot anything unusual about him. But he seemed average at best.

"No," she replied, "I don't. Who are you?"

[glazedonutholes]

"Oh! Sorry about that, name's Private Donut. It's nice to meet you!"

[blue_flame]

"Private ... Donut."

Right.

"My name is Azula," she said after a moment. "It's a pleasure."

[glazedonutholes]

"Azula? I've never met an Azula before, where are you from?"

[bleventeen]

"Hey neighbor, looking good!" Comes a voice from next to Azula, not long after she's gotten out and about.

Mabel's had a few days of shadowing her brother, and now she's finally out on her own, ready to make friends with literally anyone and everyone. She's been walking down the halls, alternately giving thumbs up and waving to everyone. She's also addressing everyone as neighbor... Because they all technically live in the same neighborhood.

[blue_flame]

It was true, Azula was looking good. Certainly better than she had at the facility.

The newcomer looked a few years younger than Azula and much ... cheerier. In fact, the girl reminded Azula of Ty Lee - which wasn't exactly a point in her favour. Still, if she was here then she must have something special about it, something that could benefit Azula.

"Thank you," she said finally.

[bleventeen]

A response!! Many have been so busy that they've maybe given a nod or a confused hand gesture in return. But this... This is an invitation to friendship.

"Aw, you're welcome!" She answers, grinning and sticking her hand out to shake. "I'm Mabel! Are you new here too? I'm sort of new, but I can help out if you need it. I know the best ice cream flavors, and the best TV shows on right now..."

[blue_flame]

Mabel was definitely just like Ty Lee.

Azula ignored the offered hand. "How very impressive," she said. "My name is Azula."

[bleventeen]

Mabel just lowers her hand slowly. But, she's not deterred by that! Or by pretty much anything.

"Azula... Wow!" She exclaims. "That's so mysterious and pretty. I'm gonna guess you're probably not from the same universe I'm from." The lack of interest in TV gave it away, but y'know..

[notthatjason]

Miraculously, Jason had made it to the crew quarters. He could appreciate the way this made him feel like he was at both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood at once. On the one hand, he was apparently given his own room, but on the other he would be in closer proximity to everyone else. It was really the best of both worlds and would certainly not feel as lonely as Cabin One had.

That said, he probably wasn't going to waste much time just hanging out in his room. He'd just wanted to find it and, now that he had, it was back to exploring this place. He's coming out of his room when he noticed the girl about his own age coming down the hall. She had the air of someone who knew what they were doing or could at least fake it really well. It reminded him, in some ways, of the confidence Reyna always exuded, which really meant this girl was probably dangerous and could put you out of your misery as soon as she looked at you.

It was just the kind of person Jason tended to be around, which he wasn't sure what that said about him. If nothing else, it was a feeling that reminded him that he was far from home and could use some friends. "Hey," he called, "wait up!"

[blue_flame]

Azula's first instinct was to ignore whoever was uncouth enough to be calling out to her. But then she remembered that people here had no idea who she was. So she turned around and saw an older boy coming towards her.

"Yes?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

[notthatjason]

Jason probably should have planned a little better than just running up on someone random and shouting like that. He honestly didn't know what to say next, for a split second, but his brain quickly caught up and decides to stick with the traditional introductions. "Sorry. I just got here--I was wanting to meet new people...maybe get someone to show me around a little?"

"My name's Jason, what's yours?"

[blue_flame]

How unfortunate for him to have stopped someone who was also new. Azula gave him a good once-over and couldn't help but notice that he wasn't ... unattractive. But would he also be useful?

"My name is Azula," she told him. "Unfortunately for you, I also just go here."

[notthatjason]

"Huh. What are the chances of that?" He guessed she wouldn't be the person to show him around then, but there could be an advantage to meet someone else that was new. "Well, were you interested in figuring this place out then? Nothing says we can't figure it out on our own."

[headinjuries]

Coming in the other direction, headed back to his own room and carrying a nondescript shopping bag in his hands and a bag from a fast food restaurant with his teeth, was one Sam Alexander: high school student, Nova Corps member, failboat.

"Hey, new around here?" he asked.

Of course, in asking, the bag he was holding with his mouth slipped free, and he nearly lost his balance and the other bag trying to catch it.

Wow, Sam. Smooth.

[blue_flame]

Azula looked at the newcomer skeptically. He didn't exactly make an impressive first impression.

"Yes, I am," she told him finally. "And you are?"

[headinjuries]

Sam was quite possibly the king of bad first impressions, in costume or out of it.

(On the other hand, even if some of those first impressions were bad, some of them still managed to be pretty badass. Or at least he liked to tell himself that crashing and making a small crater in New York City because he'd traveled the entire galaxy to outrace the Phoenix Force was pretty cool, okay, and if anybody still judged him for showing up and passing out for two weeks, that was clearly their problem and not his.)

"Sam. Or Nova, when we're doing the superhero thing."

[blue_flame]

Right. Azula recalled someone mentioning special names for when they were fighting. And costumes too, for that matter. Both reminded her of Zu-Zu's stint as the Blue Spirit, pathetic as that little endeavor was.

"Alright then, Sam or Nova. And what exactly do you do?" This blunt line of questioning was working quite well so far. At this rate, she'd soon have a catalogue of special abilities which was, of course, the idea.

[headinjuries]

Wow, she sure cut straight to the chase.

"Energy stuff. Blasting things. Charging up and hitting things so hard I go right through them. Making big messes, mostly."

[bachido]

Closer to the habitation deck, a flock of birds fluttered around a corner in a great rustling swoop. The birds looped back towards the hab, where they circled a red-robed boy playing the shamisen. He was near Azula's age, perhaps a bit younger, a black beetle embroidered onto the back of his robes, a sword hanging from his belt.

Though the sword was clearly a work of great craftsmanship, and the shamisen an instrument of excellent quality, the rest of the boy's appearance was rather ragged. His robes were clean, but old - threadbare in places and still tied up, as he hadn't entirely grown into them. His ragged-cut bangs fell over one side of his face, obscuring the sight of his eyepatch. He might have been the son of a noble who'd fallen on hard times, or a very lucky peasant who'd come across - judging by the sword and shamisen - a real treasure or two.

Whatever his status, he was an excellent shamisen player. The birds swooped in time to his music, suddenly fluttering down to hover in a formation like two wings springing from the boy's back. He held a single note on the shamisen, intensifying it with his bachi, but dropped the note with a short gasp of exasperation as the birdlike wings failed to lift him.

His powers were just slightly off, here. Sure, he had the Legion's flight ring, but Kubo trusted his own powers more than a piece of jewelry from a stranger, and yet, if his powers were slightly faded here -

As he rolled his eyes, the paper birds around him unfolded to the end of his tune and fluttered neatly back into his pack, lying on the ground nearby. When he looked up and saw Azula, though, he gave her a friendly smile.

"Hello!"

He plucked a note on the shamisen, and a piece of paper folded itself into a bird again, zipping over to fly a wide loop around Azula.

[blue_flame]

Azula resisted the urge to burn the paper bird up right there and then. "Who are you?" she asked, taking in his appearance. The bangs in particularly drew her attention, reminding her of things she'd rather forget.

What a shame. You always had such beautiful hair.

It hadn't been real, she knew that now. Sometimes she wondered if her mother had ever been really there.

[bachido]

"My name is Kubo. I'm a storyteller."

The girl's lack of being impressed by his magic clued Kubo in that maybe now was not the time to run straight over and try to delight her with more snippets of his stories.

If she wasn't impressed by magic, maybe she'd been here among all these powerful people for a long time. "Are you from here? I mean . . . is this your world, or are you a visitor here too?"

[blue_flame]

A storyteller. This was the sort of person being recruited to the Legion? Perhaps they needed to reevaluate their standards.

"I just arrived," she told him. "I'm Azula, and I'm a firebender." She created a small flame that missed the paper bird by an inch - on purpose, of course.

[bachido]

"It's blue," Kubo exclaimed in surprise, blurting out the first words that came to his mind, to cover up his gut reaction to Azula nearly burning the bird. That was anger, mixed with fear - his mother had given him that paper, and he had so few things at all that even paper was a gift from her to guard closely.

The bird zipped away from Azula, and into Kubo's sleeve, as Kubo re-evaluated his initial friendly assessment of the girl.

"I've never seen magic like that before," he said, to cover his rising caution. Her calm lack of interest in his magic, and her just as calm precision with her very dangerous magic reminded him a little uncomfortably of his aunts. Surely she couldn't be that dangerous, though - she just wasn't impressed by magic, and maybe magic was just more common where she came from. That didn't make her someone to be afraid of . . . yet. "My mother's family were the only people I met before I came here who had any magic."