Stand Behind Me

10 AG

"Prince Azulon."

The young prince opened his left eye slightly. The servants all knew how badly he hated to be interrupted during his meditation.

"This had better be urgent." He tried his best to make his ten-year-old voice as deep as possible.

The servant shot to the floor in a bow, his chest still heaving from apparent running. "My Prince, I must deeply apologize for-"

"Stop. You also know that I can't stand talking to people who won't show me their eyes." The servant rose slowly, still not used to such a strange command from royalty. "Thank you Azek. Continue please."

Azek flinched at being called by his own name, another strange quirk of Azulon. He knew everyone's names who roamed the palace. "Forgive me once more for forgetting. I only intruded because there is a War Council session tomorrow."

Azulon's eyes narrowed. "I know that. That still does not excuse you interrupting me."

Azek resisted the urge to lower his head again. "Forgive me once more my Prince. But… Fire Lord Sozin has not returned from his search yet this year."

He shot up immediately. "Why was I not informed of this earlier?"

"Forgive me, normally Fire Lord Sozin sends us a message with his intent to attend his yearly meeting only a few days prior to his arrival. The council members have grown worried that he will not be able to attend this year. They told me to inquire what you believe they should do if he were unable to attend."

Azulon's palms began to heat as he thought of his father. "You can tell me the truth Azek. The War Council knows that my father is too busy on his foolish search to care about the war."

The servant couldn't hold his head up this time. "The War Council would never dare insult the great Fire Lord Sozin."

"Not in front of me they wouldn't."

Azek was clearly at a loss for words as he stammered.

"Just go. Tell them that I will attend the session in my father's place."

"Of course my Prince." He left quickly before Azulon could order him to say anything treacherous.

Azulon adjusted the heavy spiked shoulder plate once more as he worked his way to the War Council chambers. He would guess that most people his age would find his position to be straight out of a nightmare. After all, he was about to walk into a room full of people four times his age and experience who would all be looking up to him for advice.

Azulon was not like most people his age though. In fact, he prided himself on it.

He pushed through the red curtain and assumed his position at the head of the giant world map. Twelve regally armored men had been kneeling from their position since he entered.

The young prince blew out a final nervous breath. "Stop." Twelve heads all raised to look at him slowly with confusion. "We have come here to discuss the war, not grovel at my feet."

"O-of course Prince Azulon." Grand Admiral Zhen spoke from his left. "Forgive us."

Azulon groaned. "Unnecessary apologizing counts as groveling. Just pretend I am my father and conduct the meeting as you normally would." Despite his years of studying, he did have to admit that these War Council sessions were quite unknown to him. They were about the one thing his father had not permitted him to attend.

After a few whispers of uncertainty that Azulon chose to ignore, Supreme General Itazi rose to his feet. "Prince Azulon. The war goes well. I have assembled a majority of the available forces in Yu Dao. When winter relents we will be marching on the Earth Kingdom stronghold Taku."

Azulon folded his hands beneath his chin as he stared at the clay figurines that represented the armies of his nation. His lips formed a slight frown over the number of troops in the north-western Earth Kingdom. "Very good Supreme General Itazi."

The man bowed briefly before sitting. Grand Admiral Zhen stood up in his place. "Prince Azulon. We have a fleet of twelve Kuruza Cruisers patrolling the Mo Ce Sea. The other twenty cruisers are running supplies between the homeland and the colonies."

"Thank you Grand Admiral Zhen." The older man bowed before retaking his position. Azulon stared intently at the clay ships and other figurines; the story that they told was heard loud and clear and he didn't like it.

"My fellow hotmen." The rather low brow name he had given them had all of them looking around the room. He rose before speaking again. "I apologize; did the peasant word I use offend any of you?" Their looks grew even more frantic. "If you want to stop being referred to as peasants than all of you better stop forming idiotic strategies."

Supreme General Itazi was the first one brave enough to speak; just another thing Azulon made a mental note of. "P-prince Azulon… I am afraid we do not understand."

Azulon's eyes remained unwavering. "No, it is me who does not understand. I do not understand how all of you have managed to conquer only a fraction of the Earth Kingdom after ten long years at war." Nobody was brave enough to meet his challenge this time. "Perhaps I need to help you hotmen out. How long do these meetings usually last with my father?"

This time it was Zhen who spoke. "Under normal circumstances, we keep Fire Lord Sozin informed on all the activity within both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire-"

"I asked how long."

Zhen gulped. "T-the meeting would normally last a few minutes. Fire Lord Sozin is a very busy man."

"Do not spare me your true feelings."

"Prince Azulon, I speak only the truth."

"And I know the truth." He began slowly working his way behind his advisors. "The truth is that my father is wasting the rest of his life searching for an already dead Avatar instead of focusing on the war. Now speak to me freely, why have we been unable to progress further across the Earth Kingdom? From what I understand, guarding such a vast land would require troops that not even such a large nation could possess."

Supreme General Itazi met his eyes as he made his way back to the head of the table. "We are truly able to speak freely Prince Azulon?"

"My word is my honor."

"At the start of the war, Fire Lord Sozin dedicated nearly all of the army's budget and troops towards the construction of fake Air Nation sanctuaries in the Pavana Mountains."

The young grit his teeth over yet another thing he had never heard of. "What is the purpose of these sanctuaries?"

"They were built to lure in any airbenders that escaped our attack of the temples. A squad of troops guards each one night and day."

"How successful have they been?"

"Successful?"

Azulon sighed loudly as he closed his eyes. "How many airbenders have these sanctuaries lured in?"

Itazi looked across the table for help before returning his gaze to the prince. "Less than thirty. None in the past five years. Many of the original hundred sanctuaries have been destroyed and we have been forced to rebuild them in other locations."

"How were they destroyed? You said there were troops stationed there." Azulon was liking these fake sanctuaries less and less.

Itazi's whole face paled. "We are unsure. The troops at all of them were killed before we even heard of any of the attacks."

"Of course they were. I'm assuming my father only ordered you to rebuild the sanctuaries rather than look into the attacks?"

"Uh…"

Azulon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, what happened to the airbenders we did lure in then?"

"Fire Lord Sozin told us to capture them and hand them over to War Minister Kuraz." He could at least say this with confidence.

"I have not had the pleasure of meeting War Minister Kuraz. Why is he not at this meeting?"

Itazi's head lowered. "War Minister Kuraz is very busy overseeing the construction of new colonies on Ember Island."

Azulon could only roll his eyes. "I imagine Ember Island suits his needs quite well." The advisors did not understand once more so he continued. "Do you know what War Minister Kuraz is doing with the airbenders?"

Itazi broke out in a sweat as he could only shake his head.

"Very well." Azulon rose to his feet to walk around the table again. "Treasurer Zokane, please begin reallocating all of the army budget back into the actual army. Supreme General Itazi, inform all the troops manning the sanctuaries to regroup with your forces in Yu Dao; we are abandoning the sanctuaries. Grand Admiral Zhen, I need you to halt the supply chain of those twenty cruisers and move them up the Jishu River in order to siege Taku from the east. We will pay merchant sailors to use their ships in order to make up for the loss."

The whispers of confusion had turned into fully raised voices of confusion across the table. Grand Admiral Zhen rose to speak on all of their behalf. "Prince Azulon, to comply with any of these orders would be in direct conflict with previous orders from Fire Lord Sozin."

"Gentlemen." His pacing had brought him back to the head of the table as he spent a moment looking into each of their eyes. "I realize what I ask of you is treasonous even to think of, but I ask you to think of what my orders will accomplish. I know that a majority of you have at least one son serving in the army or navy. Every day that this war drags on is another day that you will not see them. Follow me and I will lead the Fire Nation to a swift and decisive victory."

Murmurs shot around the table once more as they realized any hope of another painless war meeting flew out the window when Azulon stepped foot in the room.

The young prince knew they needed more assurance. "Gentlemen, I swear upon my honor that if you follow my orders over my father's then it will not be any of you who incurs his wrath. If my foolish father ever does find out about the changes then I will accept full responsibility for them. If you stand behind me, then I will be your gracious leader through every victory and and every defeat. Especially the defeats."

Each advisor looked at each other once more with the same expression; absolute disbelief that they were so willing to throw away their lives behind the promise of a ten-year-old boy who spoke well beyond his years.

Surprisingly, it was the lowest ranking advisor, the leader of the Royal Procession, Zin Lee, who rose to his feet. "We stand behind you, Prince Azulon."

"I assure you that your confidence is not misplaced gentlemen. Zin Lee, will you please bring in some servants? This meeting will be running quite long and I am desperate for refreshments."

"O-of course, Prince Azulon." The young man hurried out the curtain to comply with another order that went against another Fire Nation custom; no servants inside the War Council's chambers.

The eleven advisors left quickly realized it would not be the last of Azulon breaking custom.

AN: Thank you so much for reading my first chapter of my new story. Now, if you aren't terribly familiar with Azulon; he is basically the reason the Fire Nation was in position to win the Hundred Year War. There is a reason why Azula was named after him after all.

I do plan on adding on to this story, but it won't follow any chronological storyline. It's more so going to be a series of interconnected one shots.

Lots of word origin/pronunciation this time around: Zhen = Chinese name meaning greatly astonished (pretty perfect for the War Council I think), Kuruza (Kuh-roo-zuh) = Japanese word for cruiser, Zokane = Adapted from Japanese word for money, Pavana (puh-vah-nuh) = Sanskrit word for wind, Jishu (Gee-shu) = Chinese word for technology

All other names were made up based off of common Fire Nation naming conventions. Also, the year is AG or After Genocide so it's been ten years since the airbenders were attacked. Thanks again and hope you enjoyed.