painted spirits

t w o

The whispers are a song carried by the winds

Heard by everyone

Even the soldiers

The quarreling on the street corner is much too loud to ignore.

Zuko ducks his head and passes, his eyes glinting with curiosity.

Three young boys stand arguing with Fire Nation soldiers, their eyes red with anger. The soldiers are daunting, their figures tall, casting shadows; angled and sharp.

Zuko is reminded of his father, the feeling sends cold through him, but he continues to watch.

"Never touch my sister again!" A boy is yelling with such anger that even Zuko recoils; he blends in with the shadows, not liking the implications.

Fire Nation soldiers have always been bullies, even within their own domain. He's heard stories of how bad they could be in the more rural parts of the Fire Nation, farm towns and deserts further south always receive the scummiest of the soldiers. This town, in particular, is an island fairly close to the Earth Kingdom; soldiers are stationed there to keep watch and are usually deployed to the Earth Kingdom when needed.

The soldiers laugh, sharing smiles that make Zuko's skin crawl. One leans forward, extending his lines and shadows, barring teeth, "Oh yeah? And which one is your sister again?"

That earns him a round of laughter and applause. "Dai, you're too good!" They say.

The boy reacts violently to the soldiers' surprise. Zuko clenches his teeth wondering if this will be worth watching.

The boy who had yelled about his sister throws himself at the soldier, and the other two follow suit, throwing their arms in wide arches, hoping that their fists will connect with flesh. There's no talent in their punches and their footing is miserable, the first boy's fist manages to hit, but the trained soldiers' movements are coordinated and strong, all three boys land on the ground.

"Attacking a federal soldier is considered treason," The one called Dai, says. There is laughter in his voice. "I'm going to have to retain you three."

The boys cast stricken looks, the smallest and quietest one speaks up, "W-wait, y-you can't! I have to w-work for my parents tomorrow, I-if I don't I'll-"

"Don't care," The shorter soldier beside Dai says. "You should've thought of that before committing atrocities against the state."

Zuko's lips twists as he presses his back against the wall, is this a joke? Atrocities? Treason? If anything, it's these soldiers who are committing treason.

It is a joke to the soldiers, however. They are trying to hide smirks behind laughter. Zuko feels the air grow warm around him.

He turns abruptly, idly grabbing his duel swords at his side.

"Painted Lady, Painted Lady

We thank you for your stay;

Painted Lady, Painted Lady

Please don't go away

It has become something of a ritual, Zuko thinks.

First comes the black clothing. It is made of thin and stretchy fabrics, the best he could find during his trips around the world.

Next are his gloves, fully bathing himself in black.

Then he puts on his swords, which he secures tightly on his back. Both hands ghosts over the hilts, they are made of the finest metal, wielded to perfection.

Last is his mask, painted blue and haunting, when he looks at his reflection, a mocking grin smiles back.

He is no longer the denounced Prince Zuko, crown prince of the Fire Nation, he is The Blue Spirit.

Just the Blue Spirit, nothing more, nothing less.

Painted Lady, Painted Lady

Has gone far far away

Painted Lady Painted Lady,

Blue spirit has come to play.

As the Blue Spirit passes through town, the moon rises high above the village and whispers caress his sides as he slips through the night.

They talk of a Painted Lady, of red and brown and blue, who had swept through the village one night and cured all the children of their sickness.

The Blue Spirit doesn't know what to make of this Painted Lady. Is she a real spirit? Or just a human pretending to be much much more, like himself?

He continues on until he spots a flyer, with crooked characters reading 'Thanks to the spirits, thanks to the Lady." There is a small drawing below, depicting a woman of brown and red and blue.

Must be her, The Blue Spirit decides. He folds the paper and puts it in his pocket for later.

Danping is full of philanthropic spirits as of late.

Did you call him, did you call him

Lady, we want to know

Blue Spirit, Blue Spirit

Only comes when you go

Danping's jail is made out of black Fire Nation metal. In fact, it is the only building made of metal throughout the entire village. It acts as Danpinq's jail and small military base, which makes it all the more terrifying for the meek villagers.

It is daunting and sharp like rest of the fire nation. It towers over everything else in sight, casting long shadows over the earth. For a nation that worships the sun, they sure do cast it out.

The Blue Spirit had observed the perimeter of the building the day before, scouting out the number of soldiers guarding the place.

There aren't many, as Danping is not that big or important. Only one stands in front of the great metal doors. He is yawning sleepily as the Blue Spirit approaches.

He is switch with his attack; there is no need for theatrics. He swings down, disarms the guard, and ties his hands behind is back. The Blue Spirit pauses for a long moment, waiting to see if the guard is a bender, but after a few moments watching, the guard has shown to be terrified and incapacitated.

The Blue Spirit kneels beside the guard, making sure to look him in the eye. The guard's brown eyes shine with terror and the Blue Spirit nods to himself in verification. This is not one of the soldiers from earlier. He pulls the guard up and sits him against the metal wall, so at least that way he might be a little more comfortable.

The spirit nods at the guard and walks inside.

Blue Spirit, Blue Spirit,

Why did you come here?

Blue Spirit, Blue Spirit?

What business have you near?

Retrieving the children is the easiest part. The guards at the Fire nation station are lazy and overconfident. They have only left a few on patrol, most of which the Blue Spirit has simply and easily avoided.

The layout of the base is simple as well. The Blue Spirit knows the floor plans of these places well, and he follows his instincts until he reaches the holding cells.

He pulls the keys from his pocket—he had retrieved them earlier from another lazy guard, who had tried his hardest to put up a good fight—and walked towards the cell.

The young boys are all leaning against each other on the floor, shivering from the draft. Only one is awake though, and he stares with bright eyes as the Spirit approaches.

"Blue Spirit," The boy mouths, "I…I didn't think you were real."

The Spirit raises his shoulders in a shrug as he unlocks the cell.

The boy jumps up, "I heard about you from my mom," He explains, "She told me that you were rumored to help the avatar, and that you would never come to a place like this. My name is Tsai."

The Spirit shrugs again. He walks over to the boy and takes one of his swords off his back. The boy doesn't even flinch when the Spirit brings it down close to his wrists, cutting the rope that binds his hands together. The Spirit gets a good look at him, noticing that he is the one who approached the spirit about his sister.

"My younger sister," Tsai says, despite the fact that the Spirit hasn't replied. "She was sick last month. A spirit helped her too."

This is interesting to the Blue Spirit. He cocks his head to the side.

"Ayu called her the Painted Lady, maybe you know her?" The boy says, cracking a smile. "At first I didn't believe her but….this…" He stops talking and shakes his head. He turns to face the Spirit fully. "You don't talk, do you?" The boy asks.

The Blue spirit shakes his head, moving to assist the other two boys.

Tsai rubs his sore wrists, peering at the spirit with young eyes that aren't as innocent as they should be. "Before you wake my friends, can I ask you a favor?"

The spirit inclines his head.

"You must know how to fight, right?" The boy asks, his voice shaking but his round face hopeful. "Can you teach me some things?"

Slowly, so slowly that Tsai almost doesn't notice, the spirit nods, but that is all he does. He just holds up one finger, wait. And finishes cutting the rope around his friends' wrists.

When the other two boys are fully awake, they stare with confusion. The Spirit ignores this and gestures for them to follow. The base is empty, as the Spirit has already dealt with the guards and the rest of the soldiers spend their nights at bars and brothels. Still, The Spirit is cautious, he moves around with his dual swords at his sides.

When they exit the base, the Spirit gestures at the three boys to follow him. Only when he disappears into the trees, his mask glowing against the moonlight, do they follow curiously.

The Spirit has set out three pairs of sticks like faux swords. He picks up his own real swords and gestures to them, like he is saying that they will need to get a pair in the future.

For the first part, the Spirit puts the swords down. He spreads his legs shoulder width apart and goes through the basic kata, gesturing for the boys to follow his movements.

They do, watching his every move.

The Blue Spirit trains them until the sun rises, and by the time the reds and pinks of sunrise has turned to blue, the Spirit is gone.

And the boys wake from their slumber in the woods, wondering if it were all a dream.

If it weren't for the note stuck into the palm of Tsai's hands, they would've thought that they had imagined it all.

In almost perfect script the note reads:

Tsai, I will have taken care of the Fire Nation soldiers that bothered you by the time you wake up. They are alive but they will not bother you or your sisters anymore.

Keep practicing the kata I taught you. Learn more.

-The Blue Spirit

Tsai shows his friends and hurries them out of the forest. He wants to share the news with the rest of Danping—and most importantly, his sister.

Painted Lady, Painted Lady

Has come and enjoyed her stay

Blue Spirit Blue Spirit,

Is also on his way.

The Blue Spirit leaves Dai and his Fire Nation buddies bleeding behind the brothel. Their eyes are full of terror as they watch the sun rise over the head of the Blue Spirit.

They have done the worst thing a human can do: Anger a spirit so much that they appear in front of you in broad daylight.

They grovel at his feet and promise to step down from their high-ranking positions that they do not deserve.

Painted Lady, Blue Spirit

Now we must sit and pray

Painted Lady, Blue Spirit

that you will come another day.