What would it take for things to be quiet.
Act I
Scene I: The Flash Back.
“Papa.” A young child known as Azumi spoke out to a larger male dressed in light armor, accompanied by multiple guards and bags. Azumi himself had been dressed in his little fire nation attire as if getting ready for bed. He had snuck from his room only to find his father about to leave on some voyage. “Azumi..” The older man spoke out, face slightly scarred as if seeing battle in his life time, along side a few wrinkles due to age. He bent down to level with Azumi, giving a light sigh as if not wanting to see the child. “Where are you going, papa?" Azumi asked in his little voice, his big brown eyes looking to his father figure. "I’m going on a little voyage to a city, I have to meet some important people there.” Azumi had been holding a small blanket and wooden knife in each hand. “Can I come?!” The boy shouted out in excitement, hoping and wanting to hear a yes but was only patted on the head. “Not this time, Azumi.” This brought Azumi’s smile down to a little pout like form.
“But why..?” He asked but all the father could say was. “Because it’s late and it’s your bed time, son." Before Azumi could even speak, one of the guards behind the father, spoke "We have to go, sir.” The father looked over his shoulder and gave a nod then turned back to Azumi. “My son, I will return to you, before you know it.” Azumi was now looking towards the ground, he had heard this before a few times and sure enough his father always returned but he hated seeing him leave, honestly. “Please take me with you?” Azumi spoke as his father stood up right again. “Azumi, I can’t, please it’s your bed time.” The man spoke only to have Azumi interrupt him. “But!" This time the father shouted. "I said no! Now go to bed!" Azumi was startled by the aggressiveness and literally collapsed onto his butt and held tears at each side of his eyes. "Azumi..” His father spoke and reached down but Azumi stood up and ran off towards his room, dropping his blanket along with a few droplets of tears. He pushed through his doors with some struggle then crawled under his bed, hiding under it as he began to cry to himself. The floor was rather hard but it didn’t bother him.
Naturally the father would want to go check on his child but he had no time and decided it was best to leave for now. And thus he did, leaving the Palace to go on an voyage that Azumi didn’t really understand. All Azumi did was cry under-neath the bed until he fell asleep; poor thing cried himself to sleep. Little did each of them know, that would be the last time they’d see each other; at least for a while(hopefully.) The morning came and Azumi was still sleep under-neath his big bed, easily seen as well. One of the royal subjects came in and nearly panicked because she didn’t see him in bed but as she got closer, she saw the little boy under the bed, sound a sleep. She couldn’t help but give a smile as the boy lightly snored and drooled from the side of his mouth. She thought it was so precious that she gathered a few other servants and took a picture of the child for memories of this. Although the sound of the camera going off, slowly woke Azumi and made him groan out in dis-taste. “Good-morning, little Prince.” The eldest of the servants spoke, already knelt down to pull the boy from under the bed and into her arms. Mind you Azumi was no older than four at this time. He practically clung to her and hid his face into the crook of her neck as she began standing up to give him a bath. This lady was known as ‘Grandma Su.’
She watched over the male since the mother was honestly no where to be found. Her story would be told for a later time, for sure. Grandma Su was always there for Azumi, watching over him, bathing him, feeding him, dressing him and going with him whenever he left the Palace even though he was forever accompanied by multiple guards. “Grandma Su.” Azumi spoke out within his large tub, filled with a little bit of water that covered most of his torso; also filled with flowers and bubbles. “Yes, young master?” The graceful voice of the old woman responded whilst she had been washing Azumi’s long hair. “Is papa back?” He questioned , knowing it wasn’t even a full day since his father had been gone but something deep down wanted to have his father home right now. “Sadly, no my Prince." Grandma Su spoke with a light sigh, now drenching Azumi’s head with water to get rid of the shampoo. Azumi wanted to ask where his father went but he was afraid to find out, truly not wanting to hear of any war if there had been one going on.
About two hours or so later, Azumi was now having a meal to complete both breakfast and lunch before his training. He had been feasting on scrumptious eggs, rice,veggies and meat alike. Quite honestly though, Azumi was a bit of a pig, eating with both his fingers and utensils but whenever he did eat with his fingers, he’d be properly fixed and told to eat like a Prince should, with grace and elegance. He never really understood why he had to be so proper, all he knew was, he was respected by people much older than he was and that one day he may become ruler of Fire Nation. That right there, Ruler of Fire nation was practically the sole reason for him living; the things he heard about his ancestors, driving him to want to prove himself.
Act I
Scene II: Youth 12-14 years.
Celebration, celebration, celebration. The young Prince Azumi had multiple birthday’s and parties to add on to it. Royals and officials all around came and gathered as the young Prince aged into what they called a "man.” But did he look like one? Absolutely not, he looked like a female, a female who looked exactly like Azula..the insane Princess of many decades ago. Azumi was happy to see everyone on each birthday he had and hoped that he’d see his father or even his mother but neither one of them were around. Each year he had a birthday and his parents did show? broke his heart every time. It even got to the point that he decided not to host a party and wanted to stay in his room to sleep the entire day away; such a sad little tale. When Azumi wasn’t sad and feeling down, he was out training his hardest with Fire Bending masters, each teaching him relentlessly in multiple training terrains on and off Palace grounds.
At the age of fourteen, months after his birthday, Azumi received a letter from an unknown individual. It being delivered by a new and younger servant, one of beauty. She had replaced Grandma Su, due to her dying of an untreatable illness. “Young master, young master.” The young woman knocked on Azumi’s door then opened it, only to find Azumi standing on the balcony. “I have a letter from you.” Azumi turned and reached for the letter, nodding in thanks to the woman; dismissing her right after. “A letter?” Azumi blinked and opened the seal so he could begin reading over it. He nearly had a heart-attack as he read it; it being from his father. “My son, I haven’t seen you in years nor spoken to you in that same amount of time and I am greatly sorry. But I have found the time to write this letter to you, letting you know that you are not forgotten and that I love you, my child. I do not know when I will return but know that I am always thinking about you.” That was all that was written and Azumi fell into a fit of tears, they rolling down his cheeks though all he did was sniffle, trying to keep himself from sounding off in sadness.
He wanted to look strong and tough but he hadn’t heard or seen his dad in years and all of this was a lot to take in. He honestly was slowly forgetting about everything but this letter brought back pain and agony, mentally. Azumi tried wiping away his tears but more only began falling down his face as he slammed his hands against the railing on the balcony. The sounds of his rings hitting the metal, echoed for a brief moment. But after about twenty minutes, things were silent and Azumi was now sitting on the railing with his legs hanging off the edge. “At least he’s still alive..” He said to himself this at least making him smile slightly at the thought. Now he knew that he didn’t have to worry about such thing, now hoping he’d receive more letters in the near future. The only said part was, he had no idea how he’d write back so he just hopped and prayed his father would keep writing.
It was now late and Azumi decided to shower and hit the bed, calling it a night. The next morning, he was up and about even before the servants were awake. Everyone had been looking for him that morning but were soon brought to light by the instructors that Azumi had been ontop of the Palace, training with his fire bending. Though some feared he set the roof of the Palace on fire, others new that wouldn’t happened. The instructors themselves were actually pleased with this and saw determination within Azumi, though not knowing why nor did they question it. Azumi had been ontop of the Palace for hours, taking in multiple stances and bending his blessed white flames, across the sky around him. A fist to the left of him sent a flame, fist to the right did the same and then he brought both flames up and above his head to combine them and send a massive amount towards the sky.
Once everything was done, Azumi was then seen in the Gardens of the Palace, shirtless and sweaty to the max. He had been drenched in sweat from the hours of bending. In hand he carried a bottle of water and a towel now that he was sitting under a tree for shade, trying to relax himself for the day. He had worked hard and everyone knew he did so no one decided to bother him for now. Inhaling and exhaling, chest lifting and lowering while he downed his water, he tried cooling off the best he could; bringing down the heat within his body. “When you see me, I’ll make you proud, father.” Azumi whispered to himself now staring up to the sky but only for a moment then decide to close his eyes and completely lay under-neath the shade of the tree. Slowly but surely, he drifted off into a little sleep.
Act II
Scene I: Present day.
Age sixteen had come around and Azumi was now deemed a proper Prince to take on laws and so on, to answer and study the ways of ruling, more properly now. But at this age, who would want to study all day? Definitely not Azumi, he was so defiant half the time, he snuck out of the Palace just to be free from everything. But nevertheless he was always found and either brought back or just tagged along with the guards who saw it //alright// for him to have some freedom. At times, he’d sneak out when he was supposed to be studying and would hang out within the park alone, since he really had no friends. He thought it better at night because he could hide from both guardsmen and civilians who obviously knew him as a Prince. When he wasn’t at the park, he’d simply wandering the streets, this not really being his best idea.
The only downfall for Azumi was that he never tried disguising himself, thinking he could handle himself; forever over-estimating his own power. That in mind one day in his travels near Central City station, he came along side a building known to house the “Triple Threat Triad.” At the time, Azumi had no idea of the threat and literally thought he could handle himself either way. Passing the headquarters which held a few thugs outside of it, they spotted him and began whispering to themselves. “Isn’t that the Fire Nation, Prince?” “Yeah..yeah that is, oh this is our lucky night, fellas.” About three of those men began approaching Azumi, Azumi catching this through the sides of his eyes, wrinkling his nose at the upcoming event. The closer they got, the quicker his pace got, trying to keep space between him and the men. It eventually turned into a run as Azumi darted around through alley ways, left and right until he was completely blocked off; only having one way back but he was now surrounded. “Well well well” One of the men spoke.
“What do we have here, the girly looking Prince, all alone?” A knife was flicked instantly within the male’s hand, Azumi backing away slowly towards the wall; hitting it with his back lightly. “Tch..you punks better get out of here.” Azumi took one step forward and got into his battle ready stance, he was a bit nervous since he had never been in a physical fight with anyone other than his trainers but he wouldn’t let some punks scare him. After all, he was a Prince, Fire Nation to be exact. “Or what? There’s no way you can take all four of us.” The guys behind him began laughing. “Yeah, yeah that’s right you little punk.” Azumi then shouted at the men. “What did you just call me? Do you know who I am?!” That hot-hotheadedness immediately took over; Azumi punching his fist forward, sending a white flame towards the first male. That individual being engulfed from head to toe, screaming in pure agony while the others shouted at Azumi. One of them stomped his foot and sent a rather large piece of rock towards Azumi. It was too big and quick for him to dodge so it smashed against his body, knocking him against the wall, completely winding him. “That’s all you got, punk?” Azumi was now on his knees in front of that Earth Bender. Wait..on his knees? Azumi stared at the ground and felt anger inside of him, he was being over powered? By punks?!
This put a sour taste in his mouth and as he looked up, he blew flames from his mouth, setting the Earth Bender’s torso on fire. Forcing him to fall back, the Earth Bender’s foot coming up and knocking against Azumi’s mouth, causing him to bleed. The blood slowly oozing out as he stood himself up; now there were two more guys. “Come on..” Azumi wiped over his mouth then his ripped clothing, waving for the men to come with his free hand. They doing so but they didn’t seem like benders, they only held pipes. They came at the same time from both sides, Azumi knocking one of the pipe’s away but was hit in the side by the other one that was swung. He shouted in pain and exploded in flames, knocking both male’s back; now holding his side. But he wasn’t finished, he shot his fist to the guy on the left then the right, setting both their faces on fire before taking off in a run.
He wanted to get out of there, quickly at that. Yes he was wounded and still bleeding but the thought of being jumped again. Azumi rushed and stumbled at times, trying to get back to the Palace but the pain in his grew rapidly in his side, chest and mouth. He was bleeding badly. “The hell was in his shoe..steel?” He spat the blood and continued running though the pace much slower now, more so in a slouching formation, dragging half of his body on. By the time anything familiar came into place, Royal Guards found him and darted towards him. It was apparent that they were out looking for him, never really considering he’d be in the bad part of town. “Prince Azumi, what happened?! Who did this to you? Men, scout the area.” The head Captain demanded and took hold of Azumi and placed him over his own shoulders. “I’m fine..I just fell out of a tree.” Obviously he was lying and the Captain knew it but he didn’t question it, simply calling his men back as they head back into the Palace to get Azumi treated.
This would be a night, he’d never forget. His first fight outside the Palace, the first time he felt as if he was about to lose. Both anger, adrenaline ran through his veins now that he was being treated for his wounds, silently. Azumi knew he’d have to train even harder now, to defend himself. Now knowing how cruel the world could be, knowing he never wanted to be this injured by anyone ever again in his life time. Such bold thoughts he had but he had the will power and desire to push forth past limits and maybe even make all of this a reality. But who truly knows what the future holds for this young Prince?