The Hunter and his Princess (Kouzai, Nyla)

Morohito patrolled the streets of Ember Island, his hand resting gently on his sword.  He meant not to draw it, only to show he was not afraid to, and was readily prepared to if need be.  He knew--hoped truly--he wouldn't have to.  Using his sword was not something Morohito was guaranteed to do every day.  Ember Island was small, and there weren't always a lot of criminals.  He'd get the ones that showed up, but other than that, everyone knew him, and knew what he did and who he was.  They were the good people.  Those who loved the peace Morohito and his family, as well as his companions in the Island's patrol force, upheld.

This made Morohito, that at least these people, chose not to defile the peace and goodness that Ember Island seemed to represent.  All men are born innocent after all; it is the paths they choose in life that allow them to fall to evil, and even then, no one is truly, fully, evil.  Sometimes they can be saved.  But converting criminals was the job of priests, and law men higher up on the chain than Morohito.  Morohito's only concern was the capture of criminals, and sometimes the execution of them.  Simple decapitation.  Their face is covered, their bodies held onto by guards, their top halves stripped as to not soil their burial clothes with blood.  Then, their heads washed by the prison caretakers and displayed before Erolass--who hated the job--before being buried with the body in the prison yard.

Morohito sighed, stopping by a fruit vendor for some food.  He placed the appropriate payment of coins on the table, and grabbed two apples and a mango.  He loved mango.  He would save that for later.  Morohito always saved the things he loved to eat for last.  The apples he would devour once his rounds were finished and--and then he saw her.  A pretty girl.  Not just any pretty girl.  Many of those pass by every second.  No, this was a really pretty girl.  A girl that made Morohito's ego come out.  He checked his hair in a nearby water barrel, and then gave one of his relaxed smiles.  Removing his hand from his blade he broke from his guard cell and walked towards the girl.  Leaning up against a nearby wall, Morohito winked at the girl.  "How do you do today?" he said, cockily as ever.  Like a rooster going after a hen.  The hunt was on.

It had been officially one week since Nyla's father had forced her to leave Shu Jing village and Ace. After weeks of non-stop training, her father's thugs finally caught on. She had defended herself pretty well but she simply gave up when her father decided to duel. She hated the man truly but at the end of the day it didn't really matter. He was her father and Nyla simply couldn't hurt him, even if he was willing to do the opposite to her. After these events, Nyla was forced to leave Shu Jing to, as her father would put it, rehabilitate her mind and re-think her position.

A splash in the sea and a stay at the flashiest hotels could never give her was Ace did. Nyla felt truly happy when she bended. For the first time she didn't feel defenseless or weak, she felt alive! All for it to be stripped away from her again, by the one man who ruled her life entirely.

"Where do you think you're going?" One of her Father's guards said to her as she approached the door.

Nyla scoffed. "I'm going out for a walk, I'll be by the market." She annoyingly replied. Without a second word, Nyla left her luxury hotel. She wore a fine red dress and golden strapped slippers. She wore her hair up high in a ponytail and her lips were stained in red lipstick.

She made her way through the streets and towards the markets. Not long did she spot the fruit vendor and lit up. She could always go for some strawberries. She grabbed a handful and paid the man accordingly.

As she picked the strawberries from her bag, her mind drifted off to Ace. She wondered if he had gotten away from her father's thugs and she hoped he was okay.

Interrupting her thoughts was a very tall man, his armor and weapon said plenty about him and it was obvious this man was either nobility, very rich or a guard with a very high rank. Whichever way, Nyla was not in a good mood and she didn't need anyone bothering her.

"I was doing fine a few seconds ago, actually." She snapped at the man.

Tch. This girl was a fire cracker, there was no doubt about it. Snapping at him after only the first line, that was rare. But Morohito wasn't letting his hooks out of her just yet. What kind of fisherman lets the fish go after the first tug on the rod? He had tempted the fish, now he needed to set the hook and reel her in. Like the hunter chasing the deer, now was the time to strike. "No need to get snippy there, beautiful," said Morohito calmly, "I meant no offense, you see." Thank the Gods Morohito was royal, and thus had speech classes to help him make anything he said sound classy.

"Would you allow me to buy you anything from this market as compensation for troubling you?" asked Morohito with a bow. He was always very formal with women. He found it helped woo them for a bit. Long enough for him to distract them with gifts. Girls liked gifts right? Oh well, gifts never hurt anyone. "Point to anything single thing in any single stall, and it shall be yours," said Morohito humbly. He just hoped she wouldn't point to anything too expensive. While he would pay for it gladly anyway, it would be a bit harder to justify to his uncle, the Regent Lord, why such a large purchase was made for something so trivial as a passing woman Morohito had met in the streets.

Something about this girl...it made Morohito excited. It made his heart race in his chest, and he felt nervous--a little bit at least--when speaking to her. It was hard to describe. It wasn't love, but perhaps a deep infatuation? Regardless, whatever it was, Morohito didn't mind. If it got him together with this pretty woman, Morohito was find with it. Besides, he had just reached the age of majority. He was 20. By the laws of the Empire and of the Spirits and Gods above, he was a man. An adult, fully grown. Though he was sixth in line to the throne, and his position would slip with every passing minute as Izanagi prepared to take the throne and find a suitor and future Empress, Morohito would need to find someone to be his wife and start a family with soon enough as well.

He wasn't as cultured as his cousin Hideyoro, though he didn't mind the occasional festival or history lesson. He wasn't as politically minded as Izanagi, though he wasn't entirely ignorant to politics. He wasn't as handsome or successful with women as Raijin, though Morohito wasn't that bad with them either. Morohito wasn't as outspoken as his brother, though he wasn't quiet either. And he definitely wasn't as politically important as Konoe, the head of the revived House of Ezofuji-no-Amaterasu, the first in a long line of Nine Tails Jinchuriki, and the Head General of the Imperial Army.

And while Morohito didn't have all those things his cousins or brother did, Morohito was definitely unique, just like each of them. He had his looks, he had his mind, he had his political role, and he had his position in life, with which he was happy. Not to mention, he had his sense of justice, and Morohito couldn't ask for more. Okay well, maybe a pretty girl to love him and a few kids, but that was secondary to justice for him--Morohito looked at the girl he was attempting to woo--well, sometimes...definitely not this time though.

Nyla perked a perfectly primped eyebrow as the man continued. It would be the first time Nyla lay her gray eyes on him. For a short moment she felt a great amount of intimidation. The man seemed to have been towering before her and she had only just now noticed how muscular he was. She didn't let his sheepish grin or his smooth words fool her. He could easily have his way with her if it were truly his intentions. She was cautious and she was careful, and she sincerely hoped this man wasn't out for her.

Although she tried to be calm and collected, when the man offered to gift her with anything she wanted from the stalls, she felt instantly offended. It reminded her completely about her father and how he always wanted to buy her forgiveness just just he send her away on vacation to this island so she would reconsider. If this man thought he could buy his way into her pants, he had something else coming to him!

Nyla quickly thought up a plan to teach this man a well deserved lesson. "Really? Anything I want?" Nyla's face fakely lit up, she smiled a bit over-excitedly. She rushed up towards the the artisan stall that had glass pottery and small wooden statues. She browsed around until she picked out a beautiful dragon, made out of wood and stone. "Oh can I have this one?" She waited for both men to haggle before Nyla tiptoed her way out of the markets dragging the man along with him, the wooden dragon clasped on her free hand.

"Oh, this is beautiful!" She faked a squeal. "So, now that you've spent plenty of pieces on me, I am officially yours." She flashed him a pearly smile and approached him, a look of sultry on her face. "I've got just one question for you." Nyla nearly whispered as she approached him even further, she traced a finger in his chin.

"What kind of woman do you think I am?" Nyla finally exclaimed, taking a few steps back. She had initially been in a very nasty mood and although this man had nothing to do with it, his actions set Nyla's fuse off. "Do you think you can just buy your way into a person's heart?" Nyla's hands ignited with fire, the wooden statue on her hand started to burn.

"Your gifts won't change the fact that you're and uncharming, uncultured--"

"Is there a problem here, Prince Morohito? Is miss Maaka, bothering you?" One of Nyla's father's guards asked.

Prince? Nyla suddenly felt a cold sweat overcome her, her fire disappeared. She had just lashed out at Prince Morohito, Vermilion Emperor's youngest son.

She was in for it now. Her father was going to raise hell once he found out she got herself thrown in jail because she decided to take a stand. "I-I-- I didn't know you were--" Nyla fearfully said.

At first all seemed to go well.  The girl seemed to take Morohito's kind, and somewhat generous offer of buying her anything she wanted.  Truthfully, it was intended to be a selfless act, at first, but if he could stand to gain from it Morohito would not turn it down.  A little extra benefit was always good.  But of course, Morohito soon learned that this girl was toying with him, playing him like a violin and pretending to accept his gift just long enough for her to gather her rage and.  Yup, she yelled at him and caused a big scene.

This caused an official looking guy to run over and ask if he was all right, and if this girl here, Miss Maaka, was bugging him.  Well, she was having fun with him, why can't Morohito have fun with her in return?  "Of course she is," sniffed Morohito, "I merely offered this girl some harmless small talk, and offered to generously get her something from the market for her trouble and her time.  And here I am finding myself affronted by insults and her anger."  Morohito placed his hands on his hips, one of them resting on his sword.

"If she were not the daughter of a noble, I would exercise my right to kiri-sute gomen," continued Morohito further.  Military personnel, specifically those of high rank, and from noble or royal backgrounds, have the right to strike down commoners and lower ranking soldiers for perceived insults or damages to their honour.  For a soldier of the Empire, a warrior, their honour and reputation were everything.  If you honour was threatened, you were threatened and you had the right to act on it and defend yourself and your honour.  Kiri-sute gomen ensured that the military, of all ranks and positions, had the right to maintain their honour.

"But I am being merciful to my father, and not making him jump through political hoops in order to soothe the family of a murdered noble girl," continued Morohito, looking down at this advisor man.  Now he was really going to let this girl have it.  "However I will make certain that my father, Emperor Eldunar, hears about her rudeness," he said viciously, faking his anger, "And HE may choose the proper punishment for this girl and her family.  Do not forger the shame of the Takeru Clan under Fire Lord Nara."

The ancient Takeru Clan had once taken part in a massive rebellion that started the Fire Nation Civil war.  Prince Kyohiko attempted to take his brother's throne, his brother being Fire Lord Nara, then Crown Prince Nara.  Nara took the throne anyway, but many nobles, who felt that the younger Kyohiko would be easier to control if he became Fire Lord.  And so the Fire Nation was split into two.  Half of the court supported Kyohiko, the other half, Fire Lord Nara.  The nation was split down the middle.  Kyohiko made his base of operations on Ember Island, while Nara ruled from the ancestral seat of the monarchy in the capital.  The war itself was also nicknamed the Nakyo War, a combination of Nara and Kyohiko.

After 28 years of war, and countless tragedies and losses on both sides, the war ended with the Battle of Dan-no-ura, fought at the mouth of the U shaped bay that dipped into the Fire Nation from its outer edges to the capital.  A naval battle.  It was final conflict in the war, that made it a decisive win for Nara.  In a last ditch attempt to win the throne and take the capital, Kyohiko and his supporters sailed from Kyoshi Island, where they were forced to retreat to after being pushed from Ember Island and offered diplomatic immunity and protection in the Earth Kingdom.

Kyohiko and many of his supporting generals were killed during or after the battle.  And the Takeru Clan, like many of the noble houses that supported Kyohiko were destroyed and ended by Fire Lord Nara.  Their men over the age of 10 slaughtered.  Their elderly men and women killed, as to destroy the core of the clan's traditions and culture and history.  Their youth under the age of 10 were castrated, so they could never reproduce.  Any infant that was under the age of 3 was killed as well.  And their women and girls were raped by the generals who supported Fire Lord Nara, afterwards being sold into slavery and prostitution across the Fire Nation, and some even being made personal concubines to noble lords and Fire Lord Nara himself.

It was a horrible bloody affair, and is one of the most written about wars in Fire Nation history, with some of its most famous literature--from books, to poems, to plays and even songs--being based on some form of the war.  The outcome was tragic for the winners, with brothers turning on brothers in order to assure that something like this would not happen again in other noble houses, where brothers would be turned against each other in power struggles.  It was as sad as it was poetic.  Fire Lord Nara would spend the next--and last--three years of his reign with his son and heir Corwn Prince Ogimachi, future Fire Lord Ogimachi, doing most of the work while Nara spent his time as a recluse on Ember Island.

"In the mean time, I order that her father be notified of this and she be brought home immediately," said Morohito, "In the mean time I am ordering her to be put under house arrest inside of my family's Palace on Ember Island, until someone from her house, or her father himself, can come and retrieve her and reprimand her for her indiscretions in front of an honoured member of the Royal Family, and an esteemed soldier and guard."  There, that should be the beginning of the greatest ruse pulled in history.  He was going to scare the day lights out of her, and maybe by the end of this she'd be so grateful for him not killing her that she'd actually do whatever he asked.  Morohito repressed a smile, and thought of the possibilities.