Lee

"'Son, we're both doin' what we're doin' fer the same reason. Why we risk our necks fer excitement an' fun 'steada bein' farm boys an' princes. Because what we want ain't somethin' ya c'n grab an' hold. It's somethin'...a certain somethin'...no clue what it is, but we'd dang well know when we see it...that somethin' that tells us who we are.'"

Lee is a charismatic adventurer, an enigmatic warrior-poet, a devastatingly impressive swordsman, and a dangerous fanatic. At first he promises to be a close ally but quickly becomes the bane of Hayoda and his friends.

Background
When a mysterious but kind-hearted stranger rode into Lee's sleepy Earth Kingdom town, a feisty, headstrong kid was the only one who helped him without hesitation. The moment the fugitive Fire Prince Zuko revealed himself and was kicked out of town, Lee's childhood innocence left with him. For months afterward, Lee nursed an irrational hatred towards Zuko and all things Fire Nation that occupied his every waking thought, even after Zuko helped end the war and became Fire Lord.

Matters came to a head when his brother Sen Tzu, freed from Fire Nation captivity, revealed that he'd found a sweetheart during his imprisonment and wasn't coming back. Distraught, Lee ran away from home and fled into the desert. Given up for lost, he struggled into a cave where he came across the Burning Ice Cliffs, an underground colony of living ice. The spiritual communion he feels with the ice turns his view of life completely upside down and obliterates not only his anger, but much of his sense of self, leaving the young boy a completely blank slate.

Taking his cue from both his former idols, Sen Tzu and Zuko, Lee adopted a pair of dual swords and set out to travel the world, honing his skills and searching for adventure. Over the course of his journey, he partakes in many exciting escapades that bear a striking similarity to the sorts of adventures Hayoda and his friends take part in. Such thrilling tales include, but aren't limited to:

- Foiling a gang of smugglers in Chang's Moustache Cove.

- Discovering Hu the Magnificent's Lost Treasure in the Great Swamp.

- Winning the Omashu Fencing Championship medal.

- Stealing a Colonel's hat. And the Colonel.

Lee has travelled far and wide during his time, and has seen a great many things both exhilirating and odd. In between confounding bandits and rescuing bandits, he's befriended many fellow travellers in far-off places, and more recently has worked freelance as a swordsman-for-hire. He segues effortlessly into a position of leadership in whatever organisation hires him, in no small part thanks to his skills with the blade and his gift of the gab, but he never stays for long. He has no lasting affiliation with anything except the journey.

But unbeknownst to those who believed themselves close to him, Lee harbours disturbing ambitions. Convinced he's been touched by the divine, he will not rest until everyone in the world has been claimed by the spirits as he was. No matter the cost.

Personality
On the face of things, he's not too different from the young boy Zuko meets while travelling alone in the Southern Earth Kingdom. He's still energetic, optimistic, honest, unafraid to speak his mind, and possesses a devilish sense of humour. In growing up, his unremittingly positive attitude has fostered an engaging folksy charm that delights almost everyone he comes across. Due to his expressiveness and juvenile body language, he's constantly giving the impression of a boy who never grew up. Carrying little of the impulsiveness that marked him as a child, he uses this charm to manipulate others and further his own ends.

Despite the apparent ease with which he makes friends, he rarely associates with anyone outside of work and adventuring. Indeed, he seems content to kiss the hand of every fair maiden he rescues and ride off into the sunset, to their unanimous frustration. A lifelong bachelor and habitual journeyman, his sociability and gentlemanliness do little to conceal an air of melancholy others can detect just beneath his eternally honest smile. When he makes his excuses and sneaks away from social gatherings, it's usually assumed he's off to cater to lonelier interests like writing poetry or composing a sonnet. Although it's more likely that he's dedicating his spare time furthering his plans to bring doom to thousands in an insane quest for spiritual absolution.

Style
Having had many years and a single-minded drive to master dual sword techniques, he's become very, very good at it. His travels have introduced him to many fighting styles that he's studiously incorporated into his swordsmanship, mixing and matching stances to suit his mood. He's meticulous and excellent at improvisation, but like Hayoda he also holds a deep appreciation for flair.

As an Adventurer, he takes the tropes of his profession very seriously. Recalling the swashbuckling tales of derring-do read to him by his brother Sen Tzu, he is deeply aware of the expectations that surround explorers and travellers, and aims not to disappoint. Even when the odds of an encounter are comfortably in his favour, he often intentionally sabotages himself just to inject a bit of drama and excitement into the incident.

Which is not to say he intentionally loses. He rarely does. And especially in encounters with Hayoda and the crew of the Blue Flame, he has a good instinct for realising when preliminaries are sufficiently promising that letting them run their course would be more interesting.

Relationships
Following the incident he instigates aboard the Respite of Winter's Love, Lee has drawn himself into a complex relationship with the crew of the Blue Flame, especially with Hayoda and Irah. Because of his past relationship with Zuko, Lee has special reason to seek some kind of understanding with Irah, and frequently attempts to attract her sympathy and convince her of his benevolent intentions. While Irah is usually smart enough to see through him, she is the first to admit that his charm is hard to dismiss even when he's kicking you in the face.

Lee's relationship with Hayoda is steeped in mutual admiration and one-sided unmitigated disgust. While Lee's attitude towards Irah is based in family history, his attitude to Hayoda stems from their common profession as Adventurers. He likes to think of himself as a fatherly influence on the boy, which Hayoda strongly and violently rejects. This often leads to bitter, energetic encounters between the two, as Lee acts as if their fights are a playful education in swashbuckling while Hayoda does his level best to both stay alive and stab Lee in the neck.

Ultimately, Lee represents the sort of person Hayoda could turn into if he's not careful, a perpetually infantilised outlaw seeking a return to childhood innocence through odious and damaging means. Hayoda is a smart kid who's well aware of this, which makes him hate Lee even more. Lee holds a mirror up to Hayoda and paints an unflattering picture of the boy who never grew up.

Stories

 * Such Wonders Part One, by rasputin_zero. Overlong new agey Die Hard in a canal. Lee makes his move.