….
Zuko looked at the sight of the village in front of him with foreboding. Finally he felt like his journey had come to an end and he could find the avatar. Currently he was wearing fire nation armour and a red fire nation helmet that showed his face.
He could feel it in his body, finally the time for him to fight the avatar had come. Though he would never admit it outside, he still felt nervous. Because while the Avatar might be an old man and a coward unwilling to fight the Fire Nation, he still was a master bender, likely having mastered all four elements already.
"Zuko, you should rest, we are almost there now." Iroh's wise words rang through as he sat on a stool behind the prince. He was here just in case he needed to interfere and save Zuko too. Because the man known as the Dragon of the West wasn't confident in beating the Avatar at full power, even with his lighting. But he was sure that he could save Prince Zuko, even at the cost of his life.
"No uncle, I have no need for rest. Especially on this glorious day, it will be known in the future as the day I gained my honour back and caught the Avatar." Zuko's words made the old general sigh, not in disappointment, but in sadness as Zuko could lose his way.
This nephew of his was unguided and partook in a fate predetermined by someone else. Just like Iroh had when he was younger. He too had followed his father's orders and tried to take Ba Sing Se, partaking in a fate that he hadn't chosen. It took losing his son to understand something like this.
…
As the ship broke through the iceberg and let down the front rover of it, creating a landing platform. Zuko walked ahead confidently with two firebenders by his side.
Iroh just looked at this from above and frowned once he saw a young man around Zuko's age standing calmly in the middle of the village with a spear in his hand.
The old general immediately felt something was off about the young man. He was too calm, not even a ripple was happening in his Chi with an unreadable and calm look on his face.
The ship itself seemed like a giant goliath in front of this small village, yet the young man wasn't protruded at all. This brought worry to Iroh, because calm people like this were the worst opponents for someone like Zuko, who let his emotions rule his bending.
"How may I help you fine gentlemen?" Sokka asked calmly as Zuko and his soldiers landed on the snow.
"Tell me where the Avatar is!! Where are you hiding him?!!" Zuko demanded, the young man unable to control his feelings at the moment. He was so close to completing his mission, he could feel it.
"Avatar?" Sokka raised an eyebrow questionably, "He has been gone for a hundred years. Why would he be here?"
"I know you have him!! Where is he?!!" Zuko snapped as he pulled his fist backwards and shot flame towards Sokka. But the latter only twirled his spear, which had a three pronged tip and casually guided the flames to the side, hitting the snow harmlessly.
"You done?" Asked Sokka nonchalantly.
"Agh!!" Zuko yelled in anger, getting ready to shoot a torrent of fire at Sokka, but before that could happen Iroh hand appeared in front of his nephew and dismissed the flames, scattering around till they sizzled out.
"Prince Zuko, you must stay calm in this situation. Because the better fighter is never angry." Advised Iroh, giving a side glance to Sokka and saw the young man's hidden knife. If Zuko had attacked again, who knew where that knife would be sticking in.
Zuko took a deep breath at this and calmed himself down. "Sorry uncle, I lost control there."
"Your mind is like water Prince Zuko, when it becomes agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear." Iroh's sage-like advice rings through.
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Even Sokka is taken aback by this. "You really give some good advice old man."
Iroh smiles at him. "Well, the only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself."
[Your Wisdom has increased by 1]
Sokka looked at the notification that appeared in front of him and wished he had his own uncle Iroh. His Wisdom would increase like crazy.
But he dismissed that thought and decided to go on with his plan. "Anyway, old man, and… Zuko right?"
"Prince Zuko." Corrected the banished prince.
"Okay, Zuko, so how about we talk about this calmly. I understand that you need to find the Avatar, but we have no old man who can use the four elements in this village of ours. As you can see, we barely have anything in here." Sokka pointed towards the tents and the igloo in the middle. "I have already evacuated the people, since the last time the Fire Nation came… they killed my mother and many other people."
Iroh looked at the calm young man with a pitying look. "We understand, there will be no attack on the village as long as you give us any information on the Avatar and the bright beam of light that shot out recently."
"Sokka!" That was when Katara ran in and rushed towards Sokka, she had seen the giant ship and had decided to come and make sure that her brother was okay.
"Katara?" He looked at her surprised. "Why are you here?"
"Sorry, I was just worried." She cried while burying her head on his chest.
….
-Sokka POV-
I sighed at Katara's antics and patted her head. "C'mon now sis, don't be a crybaby."
"I was worried, you idiot!" She yelled out and hugged me.
I looked at Iroh and Zuko, the former had a smile on his face while the latter seemed to start getting angry again.
But still, with Katara here, my plans just changed again. Originally I was just gonna say that I don't know anything about the Avatar, but there was an airbender that came out of the iceberg. Obviously Zuko's response to that would be predictable. But now I can't say any of that in front of Katara because her view of me would worsen. While Sokka originally was an idiot, at least he wasn't a coward. That was what my strategic play would seem in her eyes.
I looked at Iroh and tried to mention him with my eyes. But the old man just shrugged. "Want some roasted duck?" He asked me before pulling a bowl of roasted duck meat.
Ah… he totally doesn't even have the slightest idea what I was mentioning towards. Well, whatever, gotta say something before Zuko gets angrier.
"Anyway, that bright beam of light was just the Celestial Lights." I told them, but Katara's flinch was enough to show even the usually dense Zuko that I was lying.
Iroh sighed at this. "Yeah, I was sure that it was something like that. So how about we board back on the ship and keep looking around."
"No… that peasant girl is lying!" Zuko yelled out once more, getting angry and shouting fire towards us.
I tugged Katara behind me and used my spear to break the fire appart. My HP still dropped as the fire licked my fingers, but no outward injury was shown so that was good.
"And here I thought we were getting along, scar guy." I taunted Zuko, which caused him to try and shoot out even more fire.
But in such a cold climate, even as it was almost evening and the sun was around. The firebending would still be weakened by the cold, and as soon as it became night and the moon rose… well… then even Iroh will have to be careful around me.
[Exiled Prince]
Zuko (Lvl 29)
[Dragon of the West]
Iroh (Lvl ??)
Because while the old man had a high level, he was still human, he had no
Fwosh!
And was when Aang just came sliding in a dolphin, covering all of us in snow.
"Hey Sokka, hey Katara." He greeted us as he stood up and the penguin walked away.
"Hey Aang." I waved at him casually.
"You are the Avatar?" Asked Zuko, surprised at Aang's age.
"He is the Avatar?" I questioned back, seeming as surprised as Zuko.
Iroh just shrugged and went walking towards the ship while snacking down on his roasted duck. "Anyway, I will let you young people handle your own things. Call me over when you need something."
That old man… he was something else. But still, looking at Aang's ready stance to fight. I knew that he could handle Zuko with relative ease, especially if he utilized all of the snow around us. The battle wouldn't be in the prince's favour at all. On top of that Aang was still 19 Levels above the prince.
But after that battle, Iroh would have to get involved and then the only way Aang could beat the old general would be if he entered the Avatar State… that would ruin the whole village, leaving the tribe homeless and in the cold. So the decision here was pretty obvious.
So I stood next to Aang and whispered in his ear. "Go with them, that old man is dangerous. We will come and get you out. Trust me on this."
Zuko shot fire towards Aang who used airbending to change its direction and away from me and Katara. Unlike me who got hurt doing something like that, Aang did it casually.
Aang nodded and put his hands up. "Okay, I am the Avatar. I give up."
I had to hold back my laugh when Zuko's face scrunched up.
....