BOIL

1st January 2010

AUTHOR'S NOTES

AU (Alternate Universe), Azula and Katara meet, what the princess desires she must possess and dominate. Femmeslash (implied at least)!

'THIS' means someone is thinking- their thoughts.

Horizontal lines are page breaks.

-X- are small time skips.

DISCLAIMER; I don't own Avatar: Last Airbender/ Legend of Aang, or any of the characters or ideas involved. This is non profit.

Boil

–verb (used without object)

1/ To change from a liquid to a gaseous state, producing bubbles of gas that rise to the surface of the liquid, agitating it as they rise.

2/ To reach or be brought to the boiling point: When the water boils, add the meat and cabbage.

3/ To be in an agitated or violent state, i.e. The sea boiled in the storm.

4/ To be deeply stirred or upset. contain, or be contained in, a liquid that boils, i.e. The kettle is boiling. The vegetables are boiling.

In the icy seas of the South pole...

An amazing abundance of marine life swam through arctic waters seemingly oblivious both to the cold and to the small gathering of metal monsters that had invaded their territory. A Battlegroup of the feared Fire Nation Navy- cut through the seas; the Grey Dragon (1) class battleship in the middle, a work of art even amongst the pioneering designs of the world's greatest navy. Two Inferno (2) class battlecruisers flanked the middle vessel, all three behemoths dwarfed the eight small- yet very deadly- Punisher (3) class escort ships surrounding them.

The command ship of this small fleet was the Cold Fire, the first of its kind (members of the royal family always got the best ships first-even as more were built the Cold Fire would be continuously upgraded to keep it ahead of its sister ships) Grey Dragon class battleship. This silver and gold menace represented the pinnacle of the Fire Nation's superior technology and imagination. At three hundred meters long and with a crew of fifteen hundred it was an absolute monster, beaten in sheer size only by the Phoenix (4) - the flagship commanded by the Fire Lord and the gargantuan Empire (5) class carriers some originally thought were too large to even float.

For bragging rights the ships designer made it larger than the ship it was destined to replace; the Outrage (5) class vessel used by Admirals and other brass for over thirty years now. The Cold Fire was more than simply big though- it was a floating arsenal; armed with dozens of trebuchets, impalers and ballistas- and not simply from vertical bays on the front of the ship like the pitiful Ember (6) class frigate ex- crown prince Zuko was chugging around in, but jutting from the sides of the ship for massive broadside strikes. Add to this the newest of the propulsion bureau's engines, multi-layered steel armoured hull and this battleship alone could fight a small war and win... or so the vessels commander had been assured.

And speaking of the vessels commander...

Standing atop the Gothic command tower of the giant Battleship stood three figures; two sinister masked individuals in almost demonic looking garb stood in ominous silence, in front of them, a teenaged girl stared out at the frozen tundra. No expression was on her beautiful face, but like most of her people her golden eyes looked upon this treacherous landscape in contempt wondering how anyone could live- let alone fight and die for this barbaric place.

This young woman wasn't tall or muscular, she wasn't covered in battle scars or carrying razor sharp weapons, yet she radiated terrible power as she coldly looked down at various soldiers manning weapons emplacements or on roving patrol. She looked down at them like they were ants.

Maybe they were.

A hatch unsealed and opened behind her, twin guards readying themselves. A tall, average looking man in scientific garb stepped out then bowed to the fire princess visibly trembling.

"Princess Azula. We are ready to launch the Rain of fire. We await your command." The scientist reported barely keeping a quiver of fear out his voice, when dealing with Azula, Aono was always glad the customary bow saved him from looking the princess in the eyes- she scared the hell out of him.

The princess didn't deign to look at the frightened scientist. "Excellent. Let's see if you can redeem yourself and leave exile with your latest creation." A sadistic smirk appeared and her eyes seemed to flash...

Upon being dismissed Aono gulped, then continued praying to Agni... Kami... or whoever was on the Fire Nations approved faith list. War ministry specialist Aono was once the top scientist for the Fire Nation weapons design bureau located on the industrialised (and warm) Fire pit island. He was wealthy, had access to as many concubines as he wanted, was respected by subordinates and his superiors respected (or at least valued) his brilliance at engineering.

Then it all went wrong...

The failure of his last invention- a new type of engine for naval warships (specifically a Stalker (7) class fast attack ship) cost him his reputation and got him sent to an isolated Fire navy port near the Agni-forsaken South Pole as punishment (a lot of fire nation brass were quite embarrassed when the warship the engine was installed in sank on its test voyage) - he had spent every day of the past year in this frozen backwater seeking some devastating invention to regain his position in the Fire Nation weapons design bureau.

After a year of shame in the snow he had finally come up with such a weapon; what he was calling a cluster bomb; an explosive weapon launched from a ship or tank that in mid air would eject smaller sub munitions; a cluster of bomblets each capable of killing enemy soldiers, destroying lightly armoured vehicles and penetrate some bending defences. Aono hoped this brilliant advancement in munitions would regain the war ministries favour and get him as far away from this frozen wasteland as possible...

The Raven-Eagle eyed lookouts aboard the lead Punisher Unit 127 (8) spotted their test target first.

A Water tribe village.

Azula studied with distaste the primitive dwellings that looked like they were erected by hand from snow, renewing the princesses' confusion towards the water tribes and their primitive backwards ways.

Ty Lee and Mai weren't at her side- they were back in the fire nation attending to their own business- though Azula would never admit it their presence was missed.

The villagers had to have noticed the fleet approaching- it was of no consequence, it was unlikely there were any waterbenders left after the campaigns of the Southern Raiders, and even if there were- a few waterbenders and savages with whale bone clubs were no threat to Naval warships, their crews and Azula's personal guard detail of elite firebenders.

Part of Azula actually wished there would be a battle- it would be a relief after all the boredom she had received since she came down from the high of being named the legitimate heir to the Fire nation throne.

They approached within weapons range of the village. The twisted teenager was fascinated at what the weapon would do to the primitive settlement, the fire prodigies twisted imagination began wondering if the people in the village would be killed instantly- reduced to unrecognisable corpses for the scavengers... or would they survive the initial explosions burnt and horribly scarred... in which case it would be the princesses' duty to kill them and end their suffering.

'It would be the humane thing to do.' She almost giggled at the thought.

Under Aono's supervision the Rain of fire was loaded into a specially modified catapult.

Barely able to control her excitement, Princess Azula gave the command. "Fire."

The catapult fired perfectly, launching the terrible weapon into the sky.

Azula followed the weapon with her keen eyes eager to see its deadly result on the primitive dwellings in its path. Soon however she realised something was wrong- she was told the weapon would split into a dozen bombs in mid flight, and it hadn't.

The weapon fell to the ground- or snow with a thump... and nothing.

Azula's angry gaze turned to Aono, who was sweating profusely, which shouldn't be possible in this temperature.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"T-the weapon... seems to have... m-malfunctioned, princess." Aono quivered out. He could see his hopes of escaping this snowy hell going up in flames- worse, if he angered princess Azula he'd be going up in flames!

"I can repair the malfunction... we must retrieve it first." He stammered...

Heading full speed at the ice bank the water village rested on, the massive prow of the flagship sliced through the ice and snow like a sword through tissue paper- only a whole lot louder. After a few metres of crashing through the large ice flow the Cold fire collided with the wall of the village- and ploughed through it reaching a stop nearly a hundred meters into the ice floe without the massive vessels passengers feeling even a bump.

HIIIISSSSSS!

Like the worlds most biggest and most evil rattlesnake the great armoured warship emitted a terrible sound chilling all who heard it. Hatches along the side of the vessel opened and brought rampways crashing into the icy ground below. Steam leaked from the hatches as frigid air collided with warm air from the militaristic yet luxurious craft.

Imperial firebenders- terrifying in their demonic armour stepped out followed by something more terrifying; an annoyed Princess Azula.

"HYYAAAAA!"

A high pitched scream drew the attention of one of the elite firebenders to a scrawny teenager covered in ugly warpaint charging at them wielding some kind of club. Not wanting to waste chi on such a fool the nearest firebender neutralised him with a powerful kick to the sternum. The foolish teenager folded like a paper fan and collapsed silent.

Azula scanned the area seemingly disinterested. A small group of villagers stood fearfully. 'Are they too foolish to run or do they truly have no where to go?' The princess wondered.

"Get the device." She ordered a group of men. They bowed and hurried to their task. Azula looked back to the frightened villagers wondering if any of them were of any use. She had to strain to prevent sighing or rolling her eyes at the disgraceful collection of human garbage standing before her; infants, moron teenagers and old women who looked like they could barely walk... she stopped as she saw something- a girl about her age in several layers of blue with a weird, unflattering hairstyle stood next to an old crone who looked about 50 years too old to withstand this climate.

"What do you want? We have nothing of value and are no threat to you." The girl stated without her body or voice trembling despite the situation she was in. Azula was impressed- it wasn't everyday a lowly peasant with no military or soldiers demanded answers from a fire nation commander. And no one other than her father demanded anything from her...

Azula took a closer look at the aggressive girl; even through the layers of animal fur the assertive peasant was clearly attractive, her skin, characteristic of the water tribes was an exotic darker colour than most found in the fire nation, her eyes were a beautiful cerulean, she did however lose points for her bizarre and unflattering braid in her brunette locks. 'She can't think that style looks good can she?' The princess wondered staring amused at the offending hair style.

The water tribe girl continued glaring at the fire princess as the other arctic natives shrank in terror and uncertainty.

Several soldiers returned reporting they had destroyed the cluster bomb (it was decided too dangerous to carry explosive ordnance through the snow and ice of a potentially hostile village), upon hearing about the failed weapon Azula felt her temper rise; her assigned aide Jay saw this and took a step back frightful, if Mei and Tai Lee were here they wouldn't budge aware of Azula's bad... worse side.

Like all master firebenders Azula didn't let her anger control her, her mind was unclouded and full of dark plans...

She gestured to her soldiers. "Take them."

Swarms of red rushed at the hapless villagers, the elite firebenders easily disabling them and chaining them up.

"Sokka!" The girl cried as the fool who so laughingly attacked Azula earlier was beaten down as he feebly tried to fight back.

Suddenly the soldiers pounding on the fool were dispatched by... an elastic puddle of water?

Azula traced the weird water back to the girl who caught her eye earlier. She stood in a basic waterbending stance, holding a puddle of water in mid air and a look of defiance in her eyes.

While there was no change in her demeanour Azula was impressed; to look so defiant against these odds meant this girl was an excellent bender, incredibly brave, or really out of touch with reality.

Several firebenders released their civilian targets and surrounded the water maiden, the villagers took this chance to run away, Azula didn't care, the waterbender was the only thing that mattered now.

"You're a waterbender? I though the Southern raiders caught or killed them all..."

Katara growled, obviously the princess hit a nerve.

"You're quite the oddity..." She mused, Katara snarled not liking the way the opposite element female was looking at her. But Katara had an idea to save her people...

"Let my people go... and i'll surrender... and do what ever you want." 'This Fire... person obviously wants me for something...'

"Unchain the civilians and let them go." Azula casually ordered her warriors, no one dared challenge the princesses' orders.

Katara looked confused (that her plan seemed to be working) and wary of betrayal.

"Let him go too." The girl demanded pointing at the bloody wreck left of the boy who had attacked unsuccessfully. Twice.

Now the princess was annoyed. "I don't think so." She jabbed a bomb of blue flame at the girls legs, obviously she had never seen blue fire before as she froze in her tracks. The blue bomb exploded in front of the stunned waterbender knocking her flying and unconscious. Two soldiers ran to shackle her in chi binding chains and check she was alive (Azula knew she was- she had full control of her powers unlike her idiot brother). Several other firebenders covered them.

'You should have quit while you were ahead.' Azula thought amused and slightly annoyed by the water wenches stubborn behaviour.

With nothing left to gain Azula ordered her forces back onto the Cold Fire, Aono claimed to have a second cluster bomb at his workshop back in port. She would give the so far disappointing inventor another chance at his weapon. Azula would... occupy herself with her new prisoners in the meantime...

Katara woke with a start as cold water hit her face, blinking through discomfort Azula's devious smiling face appeared before her.

"Wh- where am i?" The waterbender spluttered, blinking the freezing cold water out of her eyes. Her head bolted upwards as she realised she was chained to the ceiling by her wrists, she attempted to force her hands to compel the water dripping down her face to attack the Fire Nation witch, but with the tight manacles that cut off circulation Katara's hands barely moved.

As Azula stepped away to deposit the water bucket somewhere out of the way, the water maiden's cerulean eyes darted around to discern where she was; a room made from nothing she had ever seen before- a shiny yet faded substance, in every part of the room were things whose function and purpose she couldn't imagine; in front of her was a desk with a ornate throne-like chair behind it, on the wall above it was a taste of Azula's favourite toys; a cat o' nine tails with the Fire Nation emblem on it, a bull-whip with red strands, a wooden cane (made from wood from the infamously tough Wulong forest), a blood-red riding crop, a large red rubber strap, a large paddle with a dragon design upon it... not that Katara understood what she was looking at.

To Katara's left was a couple of large cupboards, one open showing yet more BDSM instruments along with several more lethal devices including knives and actual torture devices such as thumbscrews and razor sharp spikes.

Twisting in her restraints in rising panic Katara saw to the right of her was an arsenal of restraint equipment; gags- bit, solid ball, holed ball and ring, there was a spiked solid steel spreader bar, a box of simple clothes pegs, metal clamps, several sets of manacles (some plain, some rather detailed in design) and finally a length of thick coiled rope.

Further on beyond the restraints was another two open cupboards, the first containing blindfolds, hoods and plugs for the subjects ears and nostrils. In the second cupboard Katara's eyes froze and focused on what looked like an ice pick except with a blunted end ignoring its thicker neighbouring pointed objects...

Noticing Katara's frightened scan of the room the returning Azula grabbed her and spun her around in her chains to see what was behind her in the other half of the horrifying room...

There was a large 'X' on the wall made of polished steel, a securely fastened down wooden whipping post (made from wood from the royal forest), a strange and complicated looking bench, a gynaecological exam table Azula bought from the royal families personal doctor with yet another cupboard next to it containing actual medical equipment Azula also bought from Doctor Lee. Next to the table stood a large iron rack and a set of stocks.

"Do you like my playroom?" She asked deadpan- as though asking a totally normal question like 'Do you think this shirt looks good on me?'

Katara could only gape in horror, feeling far more afraid than any time in her life- even the day the fire nation attacked and took her mother away.

"..."

Unable to form words the blue eyed girl desperately struggled in the chains that secured her to the metal ceiling- it was all she could do to not break down and surrender to the horror of this situation.

Katara froze in fear as Azula stepped up to her with a wicked sharp, long ceremonial dagger.

"What is your name?" She demanded.

"K-Katara..." She gulped out not being able to take her eyes off the demonic looking dagger.

Azula drove the blade into Katara's thick blue clothing- the folded steel shredded the thick animal fur amazingly easily.

"Your life as you knew it has ended. From this moment forth you have no name except that which i deign to give you, no rights unless i grant them to you, no opinions or thoughts of your own... you are simply... my slave." She ended the declaration with a ferocious smile.

Quickly stripping her of all clothing except her boots which held strips from what used to be her pants Princess Azula left the dungeon leaving Katara of the Southern water tribe hanging helpless from the ceiling completely naked...

End part one...

NOTES

Ship types

(1) Grey dragon- battleship class vessel. Equipped with the latest in defence technologies and crewed by the top naval officers and engineers in the navy. This is not the 'Royal Barge' that Azula travelled on in and . This is a totally different ship due to the fact that i don't believe Azula would travel on a vessel not capable of extreme combat- the vessel Azula used in canon seemed neither heavily armed or armoured, on top of that the conning tower (where the bridge and Azula's quarters presumably were) looked quite fragile.

(2) Inferno- battlecruiser class vessel, faster and more maneuverable than battleships but with less armor and firepower.

(3) Punisher- identified with numbers not names- like U-boats, designed like MTB's (Motor Torpedo Boat). Capable of laying mines (originally designed for it to deny sea to water tribe breakaways from north)- not recommended as the mines tend to detonate prematurely- everything else worked fine so they became escort ships.

(4) Phoenix- a unique vessel reserved only for the Fire Lord, very little is known about this ship as every aspect of its design is classified under punishment of death. What is known is that it is armed with the most advanced technology available to the Fire Nation.

(5) Empire class battleship- mentioned by Azula in 'The beach', it is never definitively pointed out, it is said to be a warship capable of carrying thousands of soldiers.

(6) Outrage class cruiser-used as flagships by admirals and command ships during massive naval battles. This is my take on the flagship Zhao commanded during the siege of the North. The vessel possesses a very ornate bow resembling a dragon and is twice the length of a standard cruiser.

(7) Ember class frigate- my take on the tiny, antiquated ship Zuko travelled around in Book one.

(8) Stalker- vessel designed for long- range tactical missions, weapons include catapults, harpoons, rapid- fire crossbow launchers.

(9) Punishers haven't got names- they are identified by hull numbers only like WW2 U-boats.

Weapons list

Impaler- Original weapon for this fic, standard issue on all Fire Navy warships. A smaller, more practical version of the ballista. Basically a giant metal crossbow attached to naval vessels (think of the as the fire nation equivalent to broadside cannons or guns), fires heavy five foot long arrows. Mostly used against enemy ships (a) fire an arrow with a rope attached to pull ships in for boarding (b) fire a hollow arrow filled with blasting jelly, light a fuse attached to the arrow- arrow pierces enemy ship hull, explodes blasting gaping hole in the side of the ship.

Trebuchet- Artillery used to hurl projectiles (most commonly rocks, often flaming) great distances. Basically a huge catapult capable of throwing many tonnes of weight.

Catapult- Same thing as trebuchets except smaller- the idea being less size makes them harder to hit, quicker to build and a ship can carry many more of them. Because of their size these weapons do not have the same lifting capacity or throwing distance as the trebuchets.

Rain of fire- a prototype weapon- a wind up mechanism is activated, launched at a target via catapult (it is relatively lightweight), when the timer device winds down the device breaks open and ejects over a dozen small explosives that detonate on impact. The idea behind his weapon is to wreak destruction over a wide area- it is not very accurate.

Other notes

Azula's quarters are divided into three large rooms; (1) her living area- bed, dresser, table, etc (2) training area- where she does katas, tests new moves, meditates, etc (3) dungeon- place where she keeps slaves and prisoners- has done this since she was 14. This room is separated from the rest of the ship by a hatch with a key lock and a secondary jail cell bar door.

Katara and Azula are both 18 years old in this fic.

Katara's bending skills- i don't buy Katara going from barely literate in the bending arts to being an Avatar level master who can stomp waterbending masters with decades of experience within the space of 6 months to a year- my take is that Katara has learned waterbending from the Southern water tribe, but only defensive arts and healing as her tribe is pacifistic.