Zuko had been meditating in his room for the last hour and half, trying to calm his mind. A row of four candles were placed in front of the Prince, where he used their warmth to enter a light meditative trance. It was barely over a day since he won the right to hunt the Avatar from Zhao and they had been trying to track the young bender and his flying bison since. Iroh had suggested that Zuko calms his nerves in preparation for any contact with the enemy and Zuko had reluctantly agreed. Before he knew it Iroh had opened the door to his room, peeking through while Zuko opened his eyes.
"The only reason you should be interrupting me, is if you have news about the Avatar." Zuko spoke calmly, breathing slowly.
"Well, there is news, Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset." Iroh said awkwardly, revealing a scroll he had kept in his sleeve.
"Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader. Now, whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it." Zuko replied.
"Okay then." Iroh thought hopefully, "We have no idea where he is."
"What!?" In seconds the flames from the candle reached the ceiling, fuelled by the prince's rage.
"You really should open a window in here." Iroh joked awkwardly.
"Give me the map!" Zuko walked towards his uncle and snatched the scroll from his hands.
"Well, there have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down." Iroh tried to explain as Zuko scanned over the map.
"How am I going to find him, Uncle?" Zuko looked at his uncle asking almost desperately, "He is clearly a master of evasive manoeuvring."
"I suppose so…"Iroh said, finding it hard to believe the 12 year old boy was anything but lost.
Zuko's crew continued to sail, stopping in at every other port they could find. Unfortunately reports were mixed and quite conflicting, saying the Avatar was anywhere from Ba Sing Se to Ember Island. Of course these destinations would be almost impossible to reach without the Fire Nation having seen them, so Zuko doubted it all. At one particular port where the guards were busy resupplying the food stores word was going round that the Avatar was staying at Kyoshi Island. Of course the men serving aboard Zuko's ship understood that the young prince was after the Avatar, even if they didn't know why but the rumour quickly made its way to Zuko who was in the process of eating his lunch.
"The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?" Zuko exclaimed.
"That sounds reliable," Iroh stated, "The islands very close this port too."
Zuko got up, about to leave the room when he paused, thinking that he needed a better plan of attack then simply rushing in with the rhino's.
"What do you know about Kyoshi Island?" Zuko asked his uncle.
"Kyoshi Island?" Uncle asked surprised, "Not much. All I know is that it was created by Avatar Kyoshi herself, but the details elude me."
Zuko sat back down in thought as Iroh perked up with a thought he just remembered.
"Oh, the island is home to a group of warriors known as the Kyoshi Warriors, they were trained by that Avatar herself."
"Are the men Earthbenders?" Zuko asked cautiously.
"No, there are no men in the Kyoshi warriors, only female. But from what I heard they use hand to hand combat and fans when dealing with foes," Iroh replied, eying the fish that was untouched on the table.
Zuko looked at his uncle incredulously, unable to comprehend how an entire squad of warrior's men or female would not utilise benders. Iroh understood the confusion on his nephews face and sighed softly.
"Just because they don't use their native element doesn't mean they aren't worthy adversaries. Take the Yun Yun Archers for instance, they possess no bending capabilities but are feared as the deadliest archers in our Nation."
Zuko nodded, his impression of the Kyoshi Warriors increasing.
"In that case Uncle, ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time." Zuko said as he got up and walked out of the room.
"Are you going to finish that?" Iroh asked, pointing to the fish on the table.
Immediately Zuko wanted to snatch the plate away, his stomach telling him that he could do with a good meal but his mind was too busy thinking of a plan to capture the Avatar. Without really thinking he nodded and left the room, leaving a delighted Iroh to savor the fish he was about to devour.
----------------------------------------
Tadashi breathed in the air of the seas as the small ship sailed into the southern waters of the Earth Kingdom. To blend in with the Earth Kingdom, Tadashi had ordered the construction of a ship that closely resembled ones that Pirates used. Its sails were green and red, its body lines of wood with metal furnishings's. It was the ultimate combination of Fire Nation engineering and the perfect disguise. It just had one major flaw.
It was dreadfully slow.
Compared to most Earth Nation ships it was fast, even able to keep up with Water Tribe boats pushed by their fellow benders, but compared to the steam power of the Fire Nation it couldn't compare. Built with a flat bottom, flat bow and high stern this ship was designed to sail on any sort of seas, its three masts were tall and proud, it carried 8 Broadside cannons with 6 specially crafted cannons on each side for Firebenders to use. Its range wasn't as great as the standard Fire Nation naval trebuchets but it was good enough for their intentions, not to mention they didn't plan on fighting any Fire Nation ships in these waters.
"It's getting cold out here." A female voice said, her tone somewhere between affectionate and business-like.
Tadashi turned to face the nineteen year old captain, who looked calmly out towards the ocean. Since pirates were usually not aligned to any one nation they wore whatever colours they pleased, which gave Tadashi's crew some leeway into their uniform. Aki wore some faded red clothing, mixed in between a dark blue breastplate and arm guards with matching leggings. As the 'Captain' of the ship she also wore a green and blue hat which looked rather obnoxious in the eyes of fishing boats that passed by wearily. Tadashi was grateful that Aki was more than able to wear the colours of other nations without feeling at ease, it made convincing the others a much easier job.
"Yes it is." Tadashi confirmed.
The boy was similarly dressed to Aki, wearing a mixture of red and blue garments which blended well with the light armour he wore underneath. A light sword was also strapped to his side, to help keep up appearances whilst others could see him.
"What do you think about the rumours of the Avatar being on Kyoshi Island?" Aki asked.
In truth, the ship was originally on a course for Whale Tail Island, where they had planned on updating their info and resupply at the Fire Nation outpost but after passing a prison rig the crew intercepted a message from one of their spies, with new details about the Avatar. During that time Tadashi had been impressed by an alternate report about Zuko's duel with Zhao. It seemed like the commander had been suffering more embarrassment by the children of the Fire Nation royal family, even though it was likely that the Fire Lord would promote the man again. Tadashi had already sent reports stating that the man was greedy, power-hungry and egotistical but Ozai only cared about battle results and Zhao had displayed an impressive record for someone with his position and mentality.
It seemed that Tadashi would only be able to get rid of that man by catching him doing something extremely foolish. Of course he intended on doing that, ever since that day he hated him. He knew it was petty to hate someone for calling him weak but he couldn't help it, that man didn't know the amount of time he had spent practicing out of sight, where no one would see him mess up. No one had expected anything from him so to be called useless by the likes of Zhao was unacceptable.
Tadashi grimaced as he cleared his mind, thinking ahead to what a confrontation with the Avatar might bring.
"From what we've learnt the Avatar is just a boy, 12 years of age and is travelling with two water tribe siblings. Of the three one is a non-bender, the other is an amateur waterbender and the Avatar himself has only mastered air bending."
Aki just cleared her throat softly, acknowledging Tadashi's report.
"I don't know about you but when I was that age-"
"You set up an intelligence force for the Fire Nation?" Aki cut off Tadashi with a sly grin.
Tadashi gave Aki an awkward stare before chuckling.
"Fair enough, but any normal boy at that age would just go off exploring."
"Even during a war?" Aki asked.
"Yes, this war isn't meant for children, even if it does end up affecting them."
"You're only 14 yourself…" Aki mumbled quietly.
"And you're 19, having entered the military when you were 15. You were about to finish a 2 and a half year training program before being transferred to me. Although I have to admit I was lucky when I got you."
Aki managed to hold her gasp but couldn't help blushing as she shuffled about slightly, it wasn't every day a prince of the Fire Nation complimented you, even if he was 5 years younger than you. Tadashi having only just realised how affectionate his words sounded suddenly stumbled back in surprise, waving his hands in the air and coming up with excuses the way a normal teenage would. For Aki it was a welcome change to the strict training regime she had been unfortunate enough to go through before meeting Tadashi.
"Why did you leave Naoko behind?" Aki asked after a while.
"For the same reason I mentioned before…" Tadashi said in a bored tone.
Although the young director had explained it before, Naoko was the second in charge of operations at headquarters. Over the two years she had been on that island the former servant had quickly shown her sharp mind and caring attitude would greatly compliment Hideki and his more disciplined outlook on things.
"Aren't you afraid those two will do something behind your back?" Aki asked quietly.
"What? No!" Tadashi retorted. "Although I wouldn't be against such developments."
"Ahh, I see." Aki simply said. "So there's nothing between you two then?"
Tadashi chocked slightly, gaining a raised eyebrow from Aki but simply waved her off with a frown.
"She's more like my best friend, someone you can tell secrets to. Nothing more than that." He simply stated.
"You know there are people closer than friends that you can share secrets with….."
"Would you be jealous if she was here?" Tadashi asked playfully.
"Not a chance, I have a thing for older men."
"Oh, how about that warden from the rig?"
This time is was Aki's turn to suddenly move about in shock. She grimaced, making a face as if she had been told to eat dung. Tadashi laughed at the face she made, attempting to stifle his chuckles as Aki scowled.
"I'm sorry but that's just rude! My tastes are way better than that." She argued, "Not only was he rude, but the whole time we were there he gave me this lecherous gaze, even after he found out we were Military Intelligence."
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
"That certainly is true…." Tadashi agreed, having found the atmosphere both awkward and creepy.
The two remained quiet for a while, letting the breeze take away all remnants of their banter as their thoughts went back to the Fire Nation. It was already noon and the ship was two hours away from Whale Tail Island and four hours from Kyoshi Island.
"What do you think of Admiral Chan?" Aki asked out of the blue.
Admiral Chan was a man who had been in that position longer than Tadashi had been alive. One of the few that Ozai still trusted to stay loyal to the Fire Lord throughout the war. If was recently found out that another Admiral by the name of Liang had been framed, the culprit having sabotages many Fire Nation ships with Liang's faked seal of approval. Admiral Chan was the one that caught this man, having chastised Liang for not organising himself properly and allowing such a slip-up to occur. Of course in the political world it was clear that there were underlying forces at play but for the majority Admiral Chan had gained more standing with the Fire Lord than any of the other Admirals. It was also for this same reason that commander Zhao had been rising up the ranks so quickly, even more likely that the man had a part in this plot for power but so far Tadashi had found no evidence.
"I don't trust him." Tadashi simply stated.
"I agree," Aki said, "He's clearly plotting something, perhaps trying to get Admiral Liang out of the picture."
"Sure, but what could he possibly do?" Tadashi asked aloud.
"Remember Jeong Jeong?"
"Oh, you mean the first high-ranking man to desert the Fire Nation?" Tadashi confirmed.
Aki nodded, for those in Military Intelligence it was obvious that they'd know someone like him, who had run away from the Fire Nation and had been declared a traitor. The man himself was reportedly operating in the North Western Earth Kingdom, in fact he had been seen by one of Tadashi's associates but kept the news quiet.
"You think Zhao would claim Liang is a deserter too?"
"Perhaps," Aki spoke, "But the records of the time he deserted are strangely missing, I couldn't tell you much even as we are now."
Tadashi sighed, trying to not let the situation trouble him. Although his division in the Fire Nation was gaining more influence there were still those that held some sort of disdain for Tadashi, not always because they disagreed with him but due to his age and royal blood too. It was no mystery that the nobles and royal family were treated as separate factions, the ones that supported the Fire Lord were given more power and the others pushed as far out of the capital as possible. Right now with the war going on there was little opportunity to fight within the country, yet both sides of the system were looking for reasons to take away power from the other. Tadashi was by birth part of the royal faction, but there were times when he couldn't help but agree with the nobles, even noting that most incidents were because of the royal faction.
This included the deserter, Jeong Jeong. Out of the three current Admirals, two were of the royal faction and the other noble. The second man, in charge of the southern fleet, mainly remained neutral during all these secret conflicts but he was still a royalist.
"I don't understand how the Fire Nation has time for all these conflicts…" Tadashi grimaced, staring up into the air.
"Sir, if you ask me," Aki said quite formally, "you shouldn't have to concern yourself with things like that, it will only take a toll on your mind."
Tadashi froze slightly. Aki only ever used that tone when in the presence of other Fire Nation officials. It was then that he noticed a Fire Nation ship hailing them, most likely having just departed Whale Tail Island. It was just Aki's way of subtly warning him.
"You're probably right" Tadashi agreed after a moment, stretching his arms as he prepared to greet the crew of the approaching boat.
----------------------------------------
"I want the Avatar alive." Zuko ordered his men as they walked off his ships loading ramp.
Zuko, in his defence had thought out his plan for longer than a minute. He intended to use the two other Komodo Rhino's with him as observation points, their additional height and menacing look enough to scare off any villager who thought they'd be brave enough to fend them off. A squad of 6 men were sent, wearing the standard Naval mask which did its job in looking intimidating as they marched up the island. Zuko didn't realise but he had already been seen. Not only did Katara, who had been hiding an unconscious Unagi riding Aang, see the scarred prince but a Kyoshi Warrior that went by the name of Ikki warned the others, telling the town chief Oyaji before darting back towards the Kyoshi training ground to get Suki. By the time Zuko and his troops had reached the main street of the village it was mostly deserted, which unnerved the boy slightly.
"Come out, Avatar!" he shouted, glimpsing the silhouettes of hiding villagers. "You can't hide from me forever."
There was no sound, no movement, nothing. In frustration Zuko growled and ordered the troops to spread out and find the boy. Whilst this happened several figures moved from housetop to housetop, a blur of greenness. Before anyone knew it there was a confrontation and Zuko found himself glared at by the water tribe boy Sokka. What he didn't expect was that another blur of green would attack from the side, succeeding in knocking Zuko off of his rhino. In a fit of rage Zuko retaliated, using his fire to push back the warrior, Sokka and anyone who came near him. With Suki slammed against a wooden pole in pain, Sokka on the ground in a compromised position thank to Zuko and no one else in sight the Fire Nation prince called out in a taunt.
"Nice try, Avatar! But these girls can't save you."
He had wanted to call them 'little' girls but his uncle's worlds had crossed his mind at the last second. Fortunately for him his taunt didn't go unchallenged as Aang approached, shouting to gain Zuko's attention whilst holding his staff in an offensive position.
"Finally, you won't win this time!" Zuko shouted as he threw his first rounds of fire in Aangs direction.
The young Avatar was more than prepared as he moved out of the way of the projectiles and used his staff to counter the fire with air. Within moments the volley of air and fire continued, growing with every second. Blasts of fire would hit houses, destroy carts, shops and had started burning everything down. Zuko could faintly smell the sensation of burnt flesh but he ignored it as he focused on the Avatar who decided it was time to avoid the Prince completely. In the few moments that Zuko had lost Aang the boy had reunited with his friends and climbed on their flying bison.
"Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!" Zuko ordered, glad that his men instantly reacted for once.
That however was the last bit of hope he felt that day as a great sea serpent appeared from the ocean, spurting out water far stronger than any water bending team could accomplish. Zuko and his troops were soaked, every part of their bodies covered with sea water, the light sensation of salt stinging wounds that were just beginning to heal. Zuko, expectantly, was furious but silently made his way back to his ship followed by the men who didn't have to wait for the order. The Kyoshi Warriors had regrouped and were ready to fight again, but since the Avatar had left it would have been a waste of time to fight a pointless battle.
By the time Tadashi and his crew reached Kyoshi Island it was well into the afternoon, approaching the evening where sailing wasn't always the best course of action. The young director was well beyond angered that the man in charge of the communications centre at Whale Tale Island wanted to take the time to ensure that Tadashi was who he said he was, going through many pointless formalities in the process.
"I can't believe we missed it!" Tadashi grimaced, noticing the faint plumes of smoke in the air.
When the ship had reached shore there were met by a squad of Kyoshi Warriors that didn't look happy. It was obvious that tensions were still high amongst those on the island but Tadashi still approached with a fake smile.
"A mighty welcome to you all, to be approached by a troop of Kyoshi Warriors is nothing but a sight to behold." Tadashi spouted the nonsensical line, gaining a glare from the warriors and a look of amusement from Aki.
"Who are you and what do you want?" One of the warriors asked, this was when Aki stepped up.
"We are a group of travelling mercenaries who do more trading then fighting." Aki simple stated, going along with her role well. "My name is Captain Aki and I can see you've been in a spot of trouble yourself."
"I don't trust you, we've just been attacked by Fire Nation and then Pirates appear, not to mention you have Fire Nation eyes."
"Aye, that's true." Tadashi agreed, "We came to talk with those metal heads, usually they carry valuable material that's sold for many a gold piece in these times."
The person leading the Kyoshi warriors in place of Suki relaxed slightly. It was true that pirates usually stole from the Fire Nation over any other nation. Today wouldn't be the first time that the villagers of Kyoshi Island had to deal with the lot, although the last group were rather loud and obnoxious.
"So what do you want?"
"We have wares to sell, information to gather and we need a place to dock for the night. Since you're in a spot of trouble we don't mind lending a hand, we have two Earthbenders who could help some and the crew are awfully good at repair work, just look at our ship!" Aki said rather boastfully.
The Kyoshi warriors were somewhat impressed and found their story believable. No earthbender would be found with the Fire Nation under any circumstances, especially with how dire the war was becoming. Kyoshi having been a neutral location for so long didn't repel Fire Nation visitors even though they were wary with each occasional visit. Unfortunately for them Tadashi was more charming than he let on, quickly getting along with Suki and some of the other kyoshi warriors as he told them stories about their raids on Fire Nation generals, using the information he knew of real events to create these false stories. Because the island didn't know too much about these sort of things but word had spread around that the Fire Nation was being hit within it made his stories all the more believable and amazing.
Aki had been by Tadashi's side the whole time, listening in on any conversation especially on those about the Avatar and his recent stay. Within one night the warriors had decided to actively help those that needed them in the war. They told their plans in brief to Tadashi and Captain Aki who shared the occasional smirk as they mentally planned their next steps, even offering to ferry the Kyoshi Warriors to their next destination as a way to follow the Avatar and Zuko's trail easily.
The same day that the Kyoshi warriors left the island a report made its way to the Fire Lord, reporting that a group of female warriors had declared themselves Fire Nation enemies. The report also included another tale of Zhao's idiocy and the presence of the Avatar, stating that all troops should be aware of his presence but to allow Zuko and Zhao to compete for his capture whilst Tadashi followed. This specific part surprised Ozai, he couldn't help but admit that using Zuko or Zhao to capitalise on their failure was a sound way to achieve ones goals as the second in line for the throne. He decided to allow it, only because it was of no cost to him and it amused him more than he imagined.