Trouble
The heat of the afternoon was beginning to hit the water as the sun hit its peak in the sky. The early summer heat along the earth kingdom western coast was bearable, Zuko learned. It was less like the suffocating humid heat of the fire nation capital and more like the comforting warmth of Ember Island.
The Prince took a deep breath in, closing his eyes, and inhaled the salty air.
He could feel the sand on his feet. The gentle breeze going through his hair. He could hear the giggling of his little sister and the soft voice of his mother.His father’s hand was light, and laid itself on his shoulder. He was happy.
He was home.
The teenager was interrupted in his daydream by Lieutenant Jee yelling
“Prince Zuko! There’s a fire navy ship up ahead, and it looks like a lot more too. I think they’re signaling for us to stop.”
The prince grumbled to himself as he had a sense for which asshole of the year would be on one of those ships.
Captain Zhao.
He wanted desperately to simply command the lieutenant to keep the ship moving forward, but he knew better then to challenge a fleet.
He groaned
“Fine. Halt the ship!”
The ship came to a rather abrupt stop as the fleet began to approach.
His uncle came outside, probably from a game of pai sho. He walked up to stand beside his nephew
“Why have we stopped Prince Zuko?”
The prince said nothing, he just lifted an arm to aggressively point a finger at the approaching fleet. Iroh stroked his beard and hummed with a smile on his face
“It’s always pleasant to share a cup of tea with some wonderful new strangers.”
Zuko ground his teeth
“They’re not strangers. We both know that Zhao is probably on there and is probably already thinking of all sorts of ways to insult my honor.”
The older man placed a comforting hand on the teenager’s shoulder
“Then do not engage. He only says such aggravating words because he wishes to get a rise out of you. You are the bigger man, my nephew. Prove it to him and then you will be the one who rises above.”
Zuko was infuriated at his uncle’s advice, slamming his fists down on the ship and growling
“How can you expect me to be patient with that bastard? He has no respect for me whatsoever, so he doesn’t deserve mine!”
Iroh reached a pleading arm out to his nephew
“Please Prince Zuko, that is not what I was saying-“
The teen turned and walked away with his fists clenched before he let his uncle finish.
Iroh sighed to himself. He was simply worried for the safety of his nephew, and he understood his rightfully placed hatred of Zhao. He only wanted for Zuko not to be harmed by the captain. Captain Zhao was a ruthless and cold-hearted man who would most definitely use Zuko’s hot-headed nature against him if the boy didn’t start being more careful around him. Even so, it was better for their own safety that they had good relations with the captain.
The prince stood with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face as the leading ship in the fleet was pulling up.
He had had many unpleasant experiences with Captain Zhao on the sea. Many a time the older man’s ship would be the one to administer the monthly inspections on Zuko’s boat. He remembered the first monthly inspection clearer then any of the others, back when he was a newly banished thirteen year old. He instinctively grazed his scar with his fingers as he recalled the memory.
The thick white bandage that had once covered his left eye had been removed just about two weeks ago, and while he hated the itchy covering, he now wished he could have kept it on.
A large ugly red scar now covered the area around his eye, stretching over his entire cheek and reaching over the side of his face to his ear. His eyebrow there was also gone, probably permanently, and his eyelid was swollen almost completely shut. He could hardly see out of the eye, no matter how hard he tried to open it wider.
The hearing in his left ear was also badly damaged, as all sound was slightly muted on that side.
Needless to say, as a young teenager, the scar was something he was greatly self-conscious about. For that reason, he spent almost the entire first week without his bandage inside his room, the only person that he saw being his uncle.
Now it was the end of the second week without the bandage, and he was walking openly on the deck of the ship and actively ignoring the stares of his fellow crewmen.
He was forcing himself to become used to the judgmental looks of those around him. This scar wasn’t going anywhere for a long time, if ever.
Then Captain Zhao’s ship turned up for a monthly inspection, and seeing that man only reminded him of his old life and everything he had left behind; His life when he had honor, his home, a face not covered by a hideous scar.
His uncle was still sleeping, and the prince did not wish to wake him, so he greeted the captain on his own. As the older man walked onto the ship, he flashed Zuko his signature perfectly-fake smile.
He bowed to the prince
“Prince Zuko, it is an honor to be in your presence again. I haven’t seen you since you left the palace crying. I do hope the sea has already toughened you up a bit.”
Zuko didn’t stop the sneer that crept onto his face as he growled in reply
“Well I’m glad to see you haven’t changed, you’re still an ass.”
Zhao merely chuckled in a way that enraged the teen
“Well I see that you’re already catching a sailor’s tongue.”
The prince huffed, barely containing his annoyance
“Just get on with whatever you’re doing.”
That same unsettling smile crept onto the captain’s face
“Of course my prince.”
He directed his men onto the ship as they inspected it, leaving the captain and prince alone.
Zuko felt his skin burn with shame as Zhao’s eyes fell on the burnt flesh of his face.
The boy simply kept his eyes on the ground of the ship, although he still could feel eyes on his scar. Then, a hand cupped his chin, and lifted his head up.
Zhao inspected the scar with morbid fascination. He spoke in an almost far-off voice
“Such a shame. You were always such a handsome boy.”
Zuko’s skin crawled, and he smacked the captain’s hand off his face as hard as he possibly could. He was clenching his teeth with so much anger he was sure he would crack a tooth or two.
Just as he was about to spit a fiery insult back at the bastard, Zhao’s crew returned from their inspection.
Zhao grinned at the furious boy
“I must take my leave now, Prince Zuko. Good luck on your hopeless search for the avatar. You’ll desperately need it.”
He bowed and returned to his own ship, leaving the prince alone in his rage.
Pure anger turned into brimming tears, and he wiped them away so he could go and wake up his uncle.
So he could fight another day.
He took his fingers off of his scar as he settled himself back into the present. He was older now, stronger and more experienced with Zhao’s verbal assassinations.
He took a steady breath in, letting a puff of fire escape his mouth as he breathed out.
A ramp from the other ship connected the two ships together, and Zuko made eye contact with the unfortunately familiar man now walking towards him.
The teen never broke the eye contact, insisting that he would not look weak in front of him. He straightened his back and forced his voice to be firm and steady as the older man made his way onto his ship
“Captain Zhao. I’m assuming you’re here for a routine inspection?”
His uncle walked up beside his nephew as Zhao stiffly bowed, a smile on his face which meant he had something insulting to say
“Actually Prince Zuko, it’s commandernow.”
The boy couldn’t help widening his eyes in shock. His uncle had a surprised expression as well.
‘The damn son of a bitch was moving up.’
He couldn’t find the words to respond, but thankfully his uncle did with a smile on his face
“Well congratulations Commander! I hope you would join us for some tea this lovely afternoon to celebrate.”
Zuko shot his uncle a fire filled glare, his teeth clenched as he hissed
“Uncle!”
Zhao ignored the prince, and smiled at the old man
“I would love to General Iroh.”
Zuko shot Zhao a hate filled glare as he walked further onto the ship, to which the commander responded with a bone-chilling grin.
The older men then walked side by side to go inside the ship, with a furious and reluctant prince following shortly behind.
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The summer of the earth kingdom was not something the two water tribe siblings were used to. The summer at the South Pole was cool and moderate compared to what felt like being cooked alive in the earth kingdom during summer.
Sokka and Katara had been traveling by a canoe that was gifted to them by their Gran Gran, so the sun beat down onto them.
Unfortunately for him, it was Sokka’s turn to row the canoe during the afternoon heat.
Sweat dripped from his forehead and it covered most of his body, causing his clothing to stick to him. He stopped rowing for a moment to wipe his brow. Meanwhile, his sister was practicing the basic movements for water bending from the waterbending scroll they had discovered about 3 months ago.
Her arms moved gracefully as she lifted a steam of water and glided it through the air before gently dropping it back into the water.
Sokka never wanted to admit it, but being a waterbender must be pretty damn cool.
He caught his breath and continued to row down the coastline, listening to nothing but the ocean move until Katara cleared her throat as she pulled out their map
“It looks like we’re gonna be coming up to a village soon—Makapu Village—I think we should stop there. I’ve read about it a bit and it sounds like a fun little place.”
Sokka rolled his eyes
“It doesn’t matter if it’s fun or not, we just need to pass on through like we always do.”
He felt his sister’s small hand on his shoulder. She had that soft look in her eyes that made him always give in. She sighed
“Sokka, I want you to know how grateful I am that you’re going with me to the North Pole, it means more to me then I let on. But please, let’s stop at this town for a bit. Tomorrow is your birthday and I want you to be able to have some fun for once. Just lighten up this once, please?”
He stopped rowing for a moment, contemplating what she said. His features softened as he replied
“Ok ok fine. But they better have some good food for me to eat!”
A large smile graced Katara’s features as she pulled him into a hug
“Oh Sokka, I promise you won’t regret it!”
He returned the hug, forgetting that he was sweating like a madman. Katara quickly picked up on this, and pulled away, her nose scrunched.
“Spirits Sokka, you really need a shower.”
He scoffed in reply
“Yeah I know. Don’t act like you smell like roses and daises all the time.”
She placed her hands on her hips, glaring at her brother as she prepared to angrily respond, but she stopped herself when she noticed his face turning serious.
“Sokka what is-“
Katara turned to see what he was looking at, and even she couldn’t fathom what exactly it was, but it was big—and it was most definitely alive. It reached its head out of the water and towered over them, its now prevalent gills glinting in the sun.
‘A sea serpent’ Katara realized.
Sokka reached for his boomerang and quickly chucked it at the creature, striking it directly on its head. It lost its balance for a moment, before screeching and going down to strike their boat.
In a flash, Sokka shoved Katara and himself out of the boat as the serpent crushed it with its mouth.
They both came back up to the surface, gasping as they got air. The creature unfortunately saw their resurgence and went directly at them to strike again.
Just when it seemed to be the end, Katara grabbed Sokka, and used her waterbending to push against the water, shooting the both of them backwards with incredible force.
The force was great enough to push them both all the way back to the beach, where they were thrown against the sand.
The sea serpent seemed to have changed its mind, as it dove back into the water, swimming back into the depths of the ocean.
The siblings laid on the sand for a moment longer, out of breath. Sokka eventually pushed himself up, crawling over to his sister
“Are you ok Katara?”
She too sat up, nodding.
“What about you?”
He itched his head before looking back at what now remained of their canoe. Just a couple planks of floating wood. Great.
He sighed deeply, before his features lightened up
“I’m fine. That was some insane waterbending though! I suppose that scroll did have some use after all.”
She giggled
“Yeah. I didn’t even know I could do that. It was just kind of in the moment.”
There was a comfortable silence for a few moments as they caught their breath, eventually standing up when they finished.
Katara broke the silence
“Well I only managed to be able to save my scroll. I’m afraid everything else was lost.”
Sokka stared at the boomerang that was somehow still in his hand. He looked back at his sister
“Do you at least remember how to get to Makapu village?”
She thought for a moment
“Yes actually. We just need to walk along the coast for about five miles and then go west for a bit. It’s hard to miss, from what I saw it was by a giant volcano.”
He stretched his legs for a moment, then popped his neck
“Well then, let’s get going.”
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