Chapter Text
Legend said that in a tower on a remote island in the Fire Nation, a princess was waiting for a hero. Any young man from the other nations who managed to free her from her tower would get to marry her and create an alliance with the powerful Fire Nation royal family. But only if they managed to defeat the dragon that was guarding her.
It made for a good legend to tell around a fire, or to pass the time on the road. But it was more than just a story. It was a military strategy.
Fire Lord Ozai had come up with the idea not out of love for his daughter or out of a desperation to find something to do for the gigantic dragon he had on his hands. The whole thing was a plan to weaken the other nations. If all the big powerful families in the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe sent their young, strong sons or best benders to be eaten by a dragon. It would be a lot easier for the Fire Nation to take control of the world. Even powerful benders were no match for the force of nature that was Druk, and with every bender the dragon defeated, the odds of future resistance against the Fire Nation dwindled just a bit more.
There were a few small problems with the situation. The biggest one was the Fire Nation princess herself. While Princess Azula agreed with the plan and had no issue sacrificing her potential suitors to dragon fire, she did have an issue with the notion of being stuck in a tower as bait. She had better things to do.
So Azula did what all good leaders did.
She delegated.
That was how Mai found herself stuck in a tower guarded by a dragon. And she hated every moment of it.
The tower was a nice prison, but a prison nonetheless. Mai wasn't unfamiliar with the concept. There were books and scrolls to read, many with pictures to look at. There was also a basket of needlework she had given a dismissive scowl before taking all the needles out of it in case she could use them for something. Thankfully, she did have her knives. Target practice was Mai's favorite pastime in her tower. She had worked her way through four straw dummies so far, and the fifth one was a few well-placed knives away from suffering the same fate. She would have to ask for more of them next time supplies came.
While Mai was good at following orders, this assignment was testing her patience like nothing else. There were only two things that were stopping her from abandoning her post and making a run for it. One was the dragon, as Mai would fare no better against the creature than any of the unfortunate suitors did. The other was the wrath of Azula, which was perhaps the only thing scarier than facing a dragon.
So Mai looked for ways to make the time pass. She read a lot, she practiced throwing her knives until her fingers bled, she even tried to write her own story. Which she quickly gave up when she realized the prose was absolutely terrible. She had burned the evidence, just in case. Sometimes she just stared out of the window for hours, watching the distant ocean and ships passing by. Other times she stared down at Druk, who spent most of his time wrapped around the base of the tower like a scarf. Mai talked to him, though she had no illusion that the dragon understood her. Still, it was the only creature that must be just as bored as she was. The only one who shared her unfortunate fate.
Occasionally, someone tried to rescue her. Mai tried very hard not to look forward to these moments, as that made her feel like an awful person. Maybe she was. It wasn't like the gruesome deaths of random young men was something that normally entertained her, but her options for entertainment were very limited. At first, she tried to shout a warning as they approached. But no one ever listened to her. In their defense, they were usually too busy being defeated by a dragon.
Another thing Mai did to pass the time was sleep, a lot. She had always liked to sleep in, and the tower at least had a comfortable bed.
So at first, when she woke up to the lazy beams of late morning sunshine, nothing seemed to be amiss. She had half a mind to close her eyes again and try to sleep a bit more, it would at least pass the time. But then she realized something was off.
Druk was a big creature, even when he was being quiet, he was always making some sort of noise. Mai had gotten used to the sound of his slow and steady breathing, the occasional grumble or growl, the constant vague smell of smoke drifting in through her window.
But as Mai slowly sat up in her bed, she realized the smell was gone. And it was quiet. Quieter than it had been in years.
Her heart jumped, she flew from the bed and towards the window. Her long hair streaming out into the wind as she leaned forward to look below. Nothing. No Druk. No dragon. No barrier.
She could leave.
Mai froze in indecision. It was possible that Druk was only gone temporarily to hunt some food. Though the dragon had been well-trained and kept well-fed. He hadn't left the tower since Mai had been locked up here. The furthest he went was into a cave underneath the tower, but even there she could hear him and usually see his tail peeking out. She scanned the horizon while her mind raced.
Yes, she could leave. But then what? The Fire Lord would find out, and she would be in trouble. Her parents, her brother… and what would she do, go on the run? Could she? Would she?
Ugh. When Druk had been there, she'd had at least the illusion of having no choice.
Agitated, Mai paced around as she pinned up her hair and put on her clothes, carefully making sure all her knives were in place under the fabric.
For no reason, I'm not leaving.
Of course she wasn't leaving. She moved over to the door, her hand hovering over the doorknob uncertainly. She couldn't. She had to. She couldn't.
With a groan of self loathing, Mai backed away from the door and sat down on the bed with a metallic clunk as her knives shifted.
She really was just going to stay here like a prisoner.
Mai shot up again, ready to let that fifth straw dummy really feel her wrath, when a sudden nearby noise made her stumble in shock. Her head whipped around to the window behind her, the one that was usually closed.
She watched as it was kicked open from the outside by a brown boot. Soon followed by a blue-clad leg and the rest of a person, holding onto a sturdy rope as he climbed in through her window.
He landed on the floor with a small grunt, then brushed himself off. Mai took in his appearance. The man was clearly from the Water Tribe, a warrior. She had seen a few of them from afar, but they had never made it very close to the tower.
Had they all had such blue eyes?
The man grinned. "Morning, princess. Let's go." Without waiting for a response, he grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the window.
Mai hadn't meant to stab the stranger. She really hadn't. Apparently, it was just how she reacted in a crisis. She hadn't stabbed him hard, or anywhere all that vital. So all in all, she thought he was overreacting a little.
She watched impassively as the muscled Water Tribe warrior jumped around, waving his bleeding hand in the air. "What'd you do that for?"
Mai crossed her arms. "You grabbed me."
The man grimaced, examining his hand. "I'm saving you. What kind of princess has a knife?"
Mai had approximately twenty knives on her person right now, but she decided not to mention that. "Let me look," she said, reaching out for him.
Mai had plenty of practice bandaging wounds, usually her own, and she was glad to see she had only nicked his hand. The wound didn't take long to bind.
The warrior looked it over, then nodded. "Right, thanks. Now let's go." He had learned from the interaction and didn't reach for her again, but he did beckon rather impatiently to the window.
Mai blinked. None of her instructions had told her what to do if someone actually managed to get into her tower. The truth was on the tip of her tongue, if he knew she wasn't a princess he would probably leave.
But then he would leave without her.
Not giving herself any more time to think, Mai nodded. She glanced around the room to see if there was anything she would need. But the man was looking out of the window anxiously. "We have to go now."
Well, she had her knives. She silently mourned the fruit tart she had been saving for later as she reached over and took the man's hand. He pulled her along out of the window, urging her to grab the rope. "Down, but not too fast. You'll hurt yourself."
Mai was familiar with rope burn, so she tried her best not to descend too quickly. She set her feet against the outside of the tower and made her way down. She was urged along by the Water Tribe man, as he seemed in quite a hurry. Finally, she snapped.
"What's with the rush?!"
Something had caught his attention, he looked into the distance. Being higher on the rope, he had a better view than she had. He gulped. "Dragon."
Mai yelped in alarm. "You didn't KILL it?!"
Rope burns be damned, she let herself slide down the last bit of the way. She regretted the decision immediately as she felt her hands burn, but she didn't think there would be any blisters. She dropped onto the ground and looked around wildly. No sign of Druk, but she could hear him coming.
The man landed next to her, drawing a strange looking weapon. "This way." He said, grabbing her sleeve and pulling her along to the side. "I have a boat waiting, we just have to run."
Mai could see Druk now, coming up behind some of the rocky terrain, returning to his duty. She saw the moment he spotted them. Their eyes meeting.
She wondered, not for the first time, if dragons weren't more intelligent than anyone gave them credit for.
Druk roared and rose up, his wings spreading out.
Mai ran as fast as she could, which was apparently faster than her rescuer. She made it to the boat first and jumped into it, only to realize she had no idea how to make it move. Whirling around, she saw that Druk was quickly advancing, focusing on the Water Tribe warrior. The dragon swooped down, opening its mouth to roast him.
Her arm moved before she could think. A flash of metal as the knife left her hand. Mai couldn't help a small pang of sympathy as it found its target: the thin membrane of Druk's left wing. The knife tore through it and the dragon howled.
The distraction gave the Water Tribe man enough time to reach the boat. He worked with a trained efficiency to unfold the sail and get the boat moving. But Druk was quickly recovering from the shock of having a rip in his wing. The shock would probably turn to anger at any time now.
"Please tell me you're a waterbender." Mai muttered.
"Sorry to disappoint," the man said, right as he managed to secure the sail and the boat started moving.
As they picked up speed, Mai wondered if Druk would come after them. He hadn't left the island while he was guarding her. But had he been trained to follow if she got away? As the boat gained speed, she watched the dragon land on the rocky beach and roar at them. But he didn't take flight. Mai mouthed a quiet apology to the dragon, who had only been doing his job.
Mai didn't quite believe they were safe until the dragon and the tower were a small speck in the distance. She had been staring unblinkingly, clinging onto the side of the boat despite her burning hands. When she finally tore her gaze away from the place that had been her prison, Mai found herself being watched.
Her rescuer had the boat under control without the need of bending, that much was clear. He was watching Mai appraisingly. "Do all princesses in the Fire Nation learn how to fight like that?"
Mai thought of Azula. "Better, usually," she said, "I suppose I should thank you."
The man shrugged. "I could say the same. I would have been a tasty snack for the dragon. I didn't think it'd be that big." He adjusted a rope, then sat down. "I'm Sokka, by the way. Of the Southern Water Tribe."
"Mai," she said automatically, only to immediately realize that was a mistake. The princess's name wasn't a secret. It also wasn't Mai. "To my friends," she added casually. "It's a nickname."
Sokka considered her for a moment. He was probably trying to make sense of how 'Mai' could be a nickname for 'Azula'. But after a beat, he shrugged and muttered something about the Fire Nation being weird. Mai filed it away. Maybe she could hide any future slip-ups as weird cultural Fire Nation quirks.
Mai glanced back one more time as Sokka sailed on. "How did you do it?" she asked.
"Hm?" he asked distractedly. He had gotten a map from somewhere and was studying it.
"The dragon, where did it go?"
"Oh, food," Sokka said casually. "I figured, that would work on me. So I got some of the smelliest tiger seal blubber and hippo cow meat and piled it on the beach on the other side of the island. With the direction of the wind this morning, it would blow the scent right at the dragon. I had thought it would take him a bit longer to eat it all, though."
"So you didn't even try to fight it?"
Sokka turned to her, an incredulous look on his face. "It's a dragon."
Mai nodded. That about summed it up.