Chapter 13: Meeting Master
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A young beautiful girl was walking along the road amongst the green fields. Her rich clothes along with her armour were in black and red colours with golden embroidery. The girl's black hair was arranged in a practical hair knot hairstyle. This hairstyle was a loop of curls intercepted by a narrow golden ring. The ring was decorated with tongues of flame.
It was the most popular hairstyle of the Fire Nation. In its small details, one could easily guess the social status of the wearer of the hairstyle. It was possible to determine this by the value and sophistication of the ring. Such a choice spoke of the practical character of the person. The hairstyle did not block the view of the eye, it was perfectly used both for battle and for ordinary life. Only two curls on the sides of the face dangled from the comb-tight mop of hair.
"I was pleasantly surprised by your restrained behaviour with that woman and her child," the spirit spoke to Azula, once they were out of the city and walking along the path the kind man had indicated.
- You think I'm a monster? - The princess replied with fake calmness, trying to look indifferent to the topic. Which naturally was far from the case, but Azula was good at lying and playing with her own voice to convince anyone of anything.
- Kurlyk? - The hawk still didn't understand anything and thought they were communicating with him.
"No, not at all. Just a silly girl that doesn't know what she wants and has had the misfortune to be brought up. To be honest, I feared you would destroy that mother's life because of a momentary whim. She was so kind and kind. She gave us such detailed directions that we didn't even get lost in the city. It would have been sad if something had happened to her because of your will," the spirit began to reason calmly.
- 'You don't have to pretend like you know me,' Azula said, letting a slight irritation show in her own voice.
"I do, I know you better than you know yourself. And I'm sorry about the 'stupid', I meant it differently and didn't mean to hurt you or belittle your brilliance at all," remorse now slipped into her interlocutor's voice.
- And how do you know me? Spiritual knowledge from the spirit world again? - but instead of any answer, or the usual evasion of the question with a translation of the subject, the spirit, asked her bluntly.
"What do you want, Azula?"
- Don't you get it yet? I thought better of you.
"What do you want, Azula?" the spirit repeated calmly, ignoring the unsatisfying answer.
- 'Power, I was born for this!
"You were born to die, like all men. Kings, emperors, kings, farmers, merchants, beggars. They will all die, from old age, disease, arrow, sword, poison... it will inevitably happen after a little while," the spirit replied with irritation. He didn't like this kind of answer from his interlocutor.
- Are you just bringing this up for no reason, or do you want to suggest something? - Azula changed the subject, guessing the reason for the spirit's words.
"Of course, I can offer you one of the ways of immortality," - calmly explains the interlocutor, but the next words of the princess knocked him out of the rut.
- 'Not interested,' she replied indifferently, shocking her interlocutor.
"Oh! Hm... I see. Of course, you are young, full of vigour, but in time all this will pass, we will come back to this topic, albeit not soon," - after not much silence, confidently answered the spirit.
- Not interested, I'm not so cowardly to run away from the inevitable future," the girl replied firmly.
"Wow. Well, I'm impressed, but can you do it again in your old age? When the youth starts to leave your body and your skills with reactions start to rust and deteriorate? Anyway, back to the old topic. What do you want?" - This is the third time the spirit has asked the same question.
- I've already answered you. Power, I want to be the first ever Fire Mistress! I want to rule the world! The whole world!
- Kurlyk? - came the voice of the hawk pretending to be part of the girl's armour. He was tensed by such a strange mistress, but he was trained, and held firm most of the time.
"And how? Will you become happy having achieved this? You're already a princess, your brother has been removed from the succession and banished from the country in disgrace. You are the heiress, the first person in the country after the Fire Lord. I think you've achieved a lot of power, and... how? Are you happy? Are you happy with what you have? Do you feel needed? Loved? Are there people who understand you? What have you gone through for such success, such a reputation, how much have you sacrificed for such power? Has your power filled the void in your heart? I don't think so," the spirit continued until the princess interrupted him.
- Stop talking as if you've known me all my life! - Azula was starting to get angry, she didn't like the spirit's tone or the topic he brought up.
- Kurlyk! Curlew! - The bird was frightened by the loud voice and flew into the sky.
- Come back!" the girl shouted after it, but the bird did not think of returning to its frightful and abnormal mistress, rising higher and higher.
"Why do you so often belittle servants? Spewing your accumulated stress on your subordinates? Constantly having to restrain your own emotions. To behave in a manner befitting an heiress. To fulfil other people's expectations. Tolerate constraints. You don't even know of any other way to relieve stress besides sparring. And you dare call that power? If you have power, why do you have to do so many things not of your own free will, but to fulfil other people's expectations? And if you really want more power, but you're not happy with what you have, aren't you lying to me? To yourself? To others?" - The spirit continued to press on the girl, causing her to feel more and more feelings. Angry and aggressive feelings.
- The manor is coming into view, we should stop talking about silly things," Azula threw shortly, making it clear that she would no longer continue this silly conversation.
"There's no need to say that to me. Just think about what I said. Power won't make you happy, you realise that yourself. Just... Just think about what you'll do when you achieve your goals, what you'll experience when you become a Fire Mistress. I'll tell you what, loneliness, the exact same loneliness that you're experiencing right now and have experienced throughout your life!" - The spirit left the last word to himself.
The princess stood for a while, waiting for the dragonhawk to return. The short time of waiting was combined with thought processes, but what the girl was thinking, the spirit could only guess. After waiting for the feathered one to land, she continued on her way as if nothing had happened.
Azula silently continued walking along the road that led through the vast meadows straight to the master's estate. The girl's mood was lousy. The spirit had always had a knack for irritation, but now it had reached a new level. She just wanted to vent her anger and irritation somewhere. Except she had to hold back. She didn't even take in his words, fully convinced she was right.
The manor itself wasn't that far from the city, on one of the cliffs. It took only about an hour to walk a little more than half a dozen kilometres and see it. A large white stone castle surrounded by a high wall was situated right among the cliffs and plains. The manor looked harmonious, it was perfectly visible that it was taken care of and maintained in the best way. Every detail of it blended in perfectly with its surroundings, whether it was the colour of the stone or the red slate.
"Harmonious. Piandao has a sense of taste. I like it," the spirit shared his opinion as Azula stepped towards the small gate to the castle.
As Azula approached the huge red and gold coloured gate, she examined it carefully. Red doors, gilded faceting, and a golden circle in the centre of the entrance. It bore the image of a white lotus flower. The handles were made in the shape of golden skull lion muzzles.
"What kind of demon muzzles are these? They look like very hairy ones they are," ignoring the spirit's comments, Azula took hold of the ring and knocked.
- Knock, knock, knock.
"So, proceeding according to plan? Try to be more humble and kind," the spirit said cheerfully as it watched the girl's actions.
About a minute passed, but no one opened the gate. Azula knocked again.
- Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.
"Maybe the man watching the gate has stepped away somewhere?" - suggested the interlocutor, meanwhile more than ten minutes had passed, such neglect greatly disliked by the imperial person.
Starting to knock again, she did not stop, as if venting her accumulated anger.
- Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!...!
"Perhaps no one's home?" - another idiotic suggestion from the spirit was ignored, Azula didn't even take her mind off her action continuing to drum on the door. She was angry and hated to waste her time.
"Maybe we should climb over the walls?" - The spirit offered a clever thought, Azula even stopped, pondering his suggestion while figuring out the height of the walls. Suddenly there was a creaking sound that made the girl turn her attention to the gate opening.
- What can I do for you? - A man with a large potbelly and a balding head adorned with sparse grey hair opened the huge gate doors with ease. His face expressed a great peace of mind and disregard for everything. He was absolutely unwavering and calm. His bored look glanced at the girl, but the man was unimpressed and showed no emotion.
- I came to speak to Master," Azula instantly pulled herself together and spoke to the man as calmly and confidently as possible, wanting to hide her true emotions.
- Do you know that Master doesn't accept new students? Do you think he will accept you? - The man who opened the gate rubbed his fingers together and held out his hand, clearly hinting at something. Except the girl didn't quite understand what was wanted of her. She had never encountered such directness and impudence in her life before.
"It's a bribe! How banal and direct. Amazing arrogance. Give a gold coin, and if he gets greedy, kick him in the balls, it's as simple as that," unlike the princess who had never given such a direct bribe to anyone and only suspected what was wanted from her, the spirit immediately understood.
Azula looked at the man's indifferent face after the outstretched hand in which he hinted to put the money. She wanted to take out all her anger on him, but she needed to follow the plan and keep her cool. She could do that best, so she reached for the wallet that hung on her belt. Taking one gold piece out of it, she placed it in the stranger's hand. The man looked at the shiny coin with an indifferent gaze. Weighing the coin in his hand, he showed the trick of disappearing money.
Sighing heavily, lowering his gaze, it was as if he wanted to say, "Is that all?" and only after sighing a little, he replied.
- Okay. You can talk to him," After letting him inside, the man closes the gate and starts showing the way silently and nonchalantly.
His face full of boredom spoke volumes. Who knows how many potential students he had escorted to the master like that? Azula only knew for sure that Master Piandao was no longer taking apprentices, but there must have been many who had tried to apply to be his apprentice. The girl continued to follow the old man, inspecting the castle from the inside. It was harmonious, the sculptures of skull lions were appropriate, and the many images of white lotus on the decorations brought to mind certain thoughts. This flower was special to Master Piandao, Azula quickly realised that, but why knew not or even guessed.
"And the inside of this place is even better than the outside. I wouldn't mind living in a place like this, except for the constant fields..... I'd probably get bored of such pictures quickly," the spirit remembered to comment on everything Azula herself saw.
Walking around the castle, the princess managed to notice the stables, the blacksmith's shop, many other rooms and a few other castle inhabitants, as well as seeing a whole garden of stones from the windows. After wandering the corridors of the lonely fortress for a while, an old servant led her to the large doors of one of the rooms. Opening the doors, he graciously allowed Azula to step through.
Inside the room, there wasn't much in the way of frills. A couple of rugs and candle lamps. The room was more like a small hall, with a huge window in the wall that overlooked a beautiful landscape of sky and green cliffs. Opposite the window was a low, wide table, at which sat a younger man, in richer clothes of black with gold embroidery. He had black hair gathered in a knotted hairstyle and a small beard. He paid no attention to those who had come. Continuing to wield his brush, the man was transferring the beauty of nature onto a canvas of paper. Next to the man lay a sword hidden in a gilded scabbard.
A true master never parted with his weapon.
- Master," the princess instantly recognised the stranger as the man she was looking for.
- My name is Tai Li. I want to become your apprentice," Azula spoke in a respectful voice, bowing her head to the master and introducing herself by the name of her childhood friend. Only Piandao didn't even break away from his work, continuing to paint the picture.
- A girl, and even Li...'' the master said thoughtfully, as if tasting Azula's fake name.
- There have been many like you before you on this very spot. Young men, young women, many had the name Lee. Let me guess, you travelled hundreds of miles from your little village, where you were the best among warriors and often defeated soldiers. Now you're here. Do you think you are worthy to learn the art of swordsmanship from me? - The master spoke, continuing to work with his brush uninterruptedly. Azula decided to look up, involuntarily peering at the drawing of the painting.
"Wow, what a landscape. The man has talent, I wish I could paint as well. But let's not talk about that, focus on our plan, and you can supplement the plan with praise for his talents," the spirit noted the beauty of the art being created before the girl's eyes. The painting was not ready yet, but the picture outside the window breathed with life and was absolutely identical to nature.
- No, I came here on a ship, and my journey was easy and short, - answered Azula, playing uncertainty and trying with all her might to portray sincerity and uncertainty.
- Well done," the master replied dryly as he continued to draw.
"It's a good time to confess, try to follow our plan, it's not like they thought of it for nothing," the spirit prompted.
- 'Ah... also... I've never once held a sword in my hands,' Tai Li admitted honestly, in a timid and unsure voice, lowering her gaze.
- Hm?! You're not doing a very good job of establishing yourself. You want to be an apprentice, and I'm a swordsmanship teacher," the master was surprised that he even interrupted his drawing work to look at the girl.
His calm gaze of dark eyes went over the girl with a slight interest, noting the smallest details of her appearance, eyes, hair, facial features, figure, beautiful armour, rich clothes, quality boots, precious hair ring. Everything said in Tai Li that she was from a wealthy family that didn't need money.
The master continued to stare at the girl in silence, giving no hint of recognising the princess of the country in her.
- I wish to learn from you whatever you see fit to impart to me. I have never seen such a beautiful painting before, and I would not refuse such a talent... - Tai Li continues to speak sincerely, not falsifying her words at all.
- Where I come from, I am considered a master of fire and hand-to-hand combat, but I'm still not sure I'm strong enough to stand up for myself, I have no experience in real combat, and even sparring with you will be a very useful lesson," Tai Li finished, keeping her head down and showing the uncertainty of her position.
- Hmm... curious. Well, let's see what you can do, Tai Li," the master takes the sword lying next to him, heading towards the exit. The girl looks up, noticing that Piandao had managed to finish the painting during their conversation.
- Follow me Tai Li, let's spar in the hall of stones.
- Yes, Master...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone