Wandering Prince
Avatar the Last Airbender, Zuko SI
04
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“What do you think, young master? Masterful work, isn’t it?”
“It’s pretty,” I agreed, running my fingers over the great coat. “But is it warm? Proof against the elements?”
“Very much so!” the old Earth Kingdom merchant nodded. “The outside is polar leopard hide.” That explained the white fur and the familiar pattern. He opened it to show the inside, with a different, longer fur that felt very soft to the touch. “Arctic wolf fur interior. Very warm and dries quickly if you get it wet. But the real secret,” he leaned in close, looking around as if worried someone might be spying on us, “is a lining of owl wolf leather with the down and feathers still on between them. It insulates and is virtually waterproof. Very lightweight, thin, and flexible for the warmth it provides—unlike the bulkier parkas the northerners wear. I can dye it in any color you like, but honestly, with this pattern it would be a waste.”
“Alright. How much for that plus the boots, sweater, scarf, gloves, thermals, and overalls?”
We dickered a bit on the price and I wound up trading away a small cask of the fruit wine I’d gotten as a gift from the sun warriors, but in the end I felt like I didn’t come away too bad from the deal. Frostbite was no joke and I wasn’t willing to freeze my balls off or die of hypothermia to save a few coin. With that in mind, I had even ordered some furs to put into the boat.
Chenbao wasn’t actually my first stop on my trip north—it was my last stop, in fact. The first village I’d stopped in on the Earth Kingdom’s west coast, I’d traded, done some mercenary work, and gotten enough materials to modify the boat. Then, I’d taken it away from the village and used lightning bending to do some welding. Now, my boat was a trireme style boat with three hulls. I’d removed the assembly with the mast and installed a short cabin with windows. Not glass windows, sadly, but metal slats on rods that could be opened and closed as needed.
The mast, I reinstalled on top of the cabin and used some clever rigging to get it so that I could adjust the sails from inside the cabin. I found another boat like my own that had been damaged and scrapped, but the engine seemed good. The new engine went into the cabin as well, with a length of metal welded between it and the gearing for the propeller so it would run. As for the tiller, I left the setup in the rear, but also added some cabling to be able to control it from inside.
The new furs went into the cabin, on the floor to provide some insulation against the cold, along with a pile of blankets I’d collected in the last town. After securing the hatch, I took my clothes purchases to the room in the small inn I was staying at for the night. They had a communal bathing room in the back of the inn and I was finally able to get myself a proper scrub in, discretely using my firebending to warm the water up a bit above what it was at until the room was nice and steamy and I could take some time to just sit and relax with a long soak. Eventually however, I finished up and made my way back into the inn proper for supper.
Looking around, I spotted an older, steel haired trader woman sitting at a lone Pai Sho table in the corner and made my way over with my bowl of stew and a mug of tea. “Fancy a game, old timer?”
“Pah! Sit down, young man. I will give you the lesson in manners your father failed to,” she scoffed and I laughed, pulling a chair over to set my bowl and cup on.
The woman wore a dark blue parka and, from her features, I’d place her as probably from the Northern Water Tribe. I made a mental note to ask later, as I began setting out tiles. “Well, my father wasn’t much of a man and didn’t have much use for manners, unless they benefit him. I’m sorry to say, you’ve got your work cut out for you. I’m Zuko, by the way.”
“Senna,” she answered, setting up her own pieces.
The game began and, only a few moves in, she grumbled, “An uncouth strategy for an unruly brat. Fitting.”
“Actually, my uncle taught me this one,” I chuckled. “Uncle is a gentleman and a scholar, but as he loved to tell me,” I cleared my throat and put on my best Iroh voice. “Zuuuko! Youth and enthusiasm are wonderful things to have… but they are no match for old age and treachery!”
“Rude,” the older lady smiled. “He sounds like a scamp. So,” her eyes trailed over me for a moment before going back to the board. “Fire Nation?”
“That obvious?” I sighed, and she made a quiet noise of agreement. “I left home after earning myself a little something to remember the place by,” I pulled the collar of my robe open to show a bit of the scarring left over from Ozai’s lightning. “So now, I’m wandering the world. Exploring. I guess you could call it a… spiritual journey? Pilgrimage? Walkabout? I’ve been doing a little trading to get by. I was thinking of heading north and seeing what they had to offer.”
“If you’ve got a death wish.”
I winced. “That bad, huh?”
Looking up, blue eyes met my gold as she considered it. “Can you bend?”
“Yes, actually. That’s part of why I wanted to go.”
“You’re going to have to explain that one, young man,” Senna murmured, advancing another piece and taking one of mine.
“Well, I had a little revelation. Some insight into the nature of fire,” I explained, glancing back to make sure that the only other few patrons weren’t paying attention. Bringing my left hand up to my chest, hidden from view of the rest of the room, I summoned a single candle’s worth of flame into my palm—bright green and steady.
“Put that out!” the woman hissed, and I closed my fist around it. She slapped her next tile down forcefully enough to rattle the table as she breathed out an irritated huff.
I took a moment to eat some of my strew and wash it with, using my off hand to move tiles as we played in silence for a time. Finally, Senna asked, “Why was it green?” Frowning, she muttered, “Probably better for killing.”
“The opposite, actually.” The older woman looked confused. “That’s why I wanted to head north. The water tribe have amazing healers and I’ve heard there’s one up there that’s been around a while. I’ve been playing with this since I figured it out and it heals most things, including scars. I’m not talking about just scarring over to close a wound, or cauterizing. I mean, I gutted a fish I caught, tested it, and the fish regrew. It was thoroughly dead one minute, then started flopping around on the deck the next. Jumped right in the water and swam off. It looked a little thinner after, but it was otherwise intact.”
“Well, ain’t that the damndest thing,” Senna murmured. “If that’s so, I can see why you’d want to visit old Yagoda.”
“Yagoda?”
“Agna Qel’a’s master of healing.”
I nodded at that. “Well, too bad they’d probably kill me before I made it to the gate if it’s as bad as you say. Disappointing, but understandable.”
“Hm.” Senna clicked a piece down and glared up at me. “You don’t get to be my age in this business without learning how to spot manure, and your story stinks. Not the whole thing, but enough. That sword on your hip tells me you came from money at one time, but the way you carry it and your callouses say you’re serious about it, at least. You’re well-spoken and in spite of being a brat, you’re actually polite. You eat like you’ve got all the time in the world. You’re too clean to be anything but a noble, because commoners wouldn’t care.”
I hummed, making my own move. “You’re not wrong. My father is a noble. My family has money. I studied the sword under Piandao, as many noble born young men do. And none of that matters, because I left it all behind. Saying which noble family wouldn’t matter one way or another, because I’m an exile. No one would pay to have me back, if someone tried to ransom me. My father would laugh in their faces.”
Senna nodded, studying the board for a moment longer before moving a final piece. “It’s my win.”
I looked over the board, checking for any counter, before finally smiling and nodded. “Congratulations. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go turn in early. Want to get an early start before I head north.”
Senna raised an eyebrow. “You’re still going?”
I shrugged, grinning. “Agna Qel’a isn’t the whole of ‘the north.’ There’s lots more north up there outside of the city. I’ll make land, poke around a bit, see what I can see.”
“You damn fool! It isn’t safe! There are ice shelves, crevasses that open into bottomless pits, predators that you can’t see until you’re right on top of them. There’s nothing to burn up there, except blubber or whatever you bring with you. There are entire tribes of hundreds, if not thousands, who roam the frozen wastes! Everything outside of the cities belongs to them and they don’t take kindly to strangers. Then, there are the deeply spiritual places, like the forest. Place where if you make the wrong move, you’ll find yourself suffering a fate worse than death!” Taking a breath, she leaned in and whispered, “And you, young man. Every step will feel heavier. Every breath harder to take than the last. Some firebenders just collapse and die up there. Most only lose the ability to bend. Although… it was said that a very rare few who visited, before the war, retained their ability to bend fire. Look down at that scar and tell me if you feel particularly lucky, young man.”
“Heh. You’re right. It’s absolutely a dangerous place. But that’s part of why I want to go there. If I can survive the cold and retain my bending, I’ll be better off for it. Nothing worth it is free, you know.” Standing up, I excused myself and made my way up to my room.
The next morning, I woke early, dressed in my new clothes, packed up my things, and made my way down to my boat. I raised an eyebrow at what, or rather who, I found waiting for me.
“Wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
Senna made a quiet noise of dismissal. “I’m heading home anyway. I’m getting on in years and a strapping young lad such as yourself could surely ward off any pirates if we encounter them.”
Blinking, I asked, “Is that actually a possibility?”
“It certainly is. They sail the waters between the Earth Kingdom and the North Pole and prey on unwary traders. Now, are you going to stand there flapping your gums all day, or are you going to escort an old lady home?”
Shaking my head, I tossed my bag into the bottom of the boat and undid the mooring lines, before tossing those in as well. Climbing in after them, I took a minute to spool and tie the rope off and toss my bag into the cabin, before grabbing a long bamboo pole I kept on hand for pushing off of things and shoving off from the pier. As soon as we were clear, I raised the sails and sat down at the tiller. Propping my foot on the engine, I got it warmed up and soon had us moving along.
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“Much faster than anything I’ve seen that wasn’t powered by waterbenders,” Senna commented.
“Not surprising. And they probably keep their ships going all day.”
“No,” she shook her head. “But they’re larger.”
“How long is the trip, usually?”
The old woman hummed. “Typically, three days by sea, if the winds are fair. At this rate? A day at most. Perhaps less. Is this as fast as it goes?”
“About half speed,” I shook my head. “You said there might be pirates, so I’m saving my energy. I can hold this speed all day and night if need be.” We were moving about twenty miles per hour by my estimate. I could push it faster, but I didn’t want to blow the engine.
We were quiet for a while, looking out over the water as the town faded into the background behind us. Eventually, I asked, “You said you’re a trader? You’re not bringing anything back?”
The older woman chuckled. “Not that kind of trader. I don’t move goods myself. I negotiate a few trade deals on behalf of a few shops in Agna Qel’a. Imports of metal and metal products, food, wood, coal, and other resources in exchange for things we can provide. It’s a lucrative business for anyone willing to brave waters where they might encounter either pirates or fire navy ships.”
“Mm. So, I’ve heard that in the north, they only allow men to do offensive waterbending and women are relegated to healers?”
“It’s true,” Senna agreed, before a smirk pulled at her lips. “But don’t underestimate a lady’s resourcefulness, young man.”
I laughed as she moved her arms and a stream of water leapt from one side of the boat, over the top, to splash down on the other side. “Probably good advice for everyone, not just women.”
Studying me, she asked, “And you aren’t having any trouble with your fire, despite the cold?”
“It’s getting a little harder,” I admitted. “But the key to fire is in the breath,” I parroted Iroh. “I use a breathing exercise to keep the inner flame stoked, so to speak. It’s not entirely metaphorical.”
We passed most of the day with idle chat. When lunch time came around, Senna caught us some fresh fish and I cooked them in a pan with some salt, herbs, and thinly sliced potatoes to make chips. We washed it down with tea that I heated from the seawater she bent into fresh water. Eventually, it grew dark and the temperature dropped, and the two of us retreated inside.
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I woke to the sound of a thud that reverberated through the bottom of the boat. Cracking my eyes open, I sat up to find Senna passing me my sword.
“Pirates,” she whispered, and pointed to the starboard side of the boat. “They’ve launched a boat and are rowing towards us.”
Frowning, I slipped the sword into my belt and made for the hatch. “Let’s go give them a warm welcome. You see that lever?” I pointed to a series of them mounted on the walls. “Third one, left side. Grab it and yank tit down. When everything stops spinning, pull the next one to the left.”
Senna did, and a moment later, line began spooling as weights released and the sails dropped, the geared pedal system I’d rigged for them spinning as the line wound onto its spool. Above, the arms of the mast folded down, followed by the mast itself collapsing backwards and down as Senna pulled the second lever.
I rushed out of the cabin in time to see some idiot on one of the boats jump into the air, aiming to board my boat. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the tiller and stuck my hand on the engine. It sputtered to life and I gunned it. The look on the guy’s face was priceless in the moments before he splashed down into the icy water.
“Firebender!” someone yelled, but by then it was too late.
I wheeled the boat around, aiming to drive it past their rowboat. As I passed, I whipped my arm through part of a firebending movement. What came out wasn’t particularly strong, but it did the job. A flamethrower washed over the first rowboat, setting hair, clothes, and the pitch coating the wood on fire. One boat down, I angled for the second. Someone had the bright idea to throw what looked like whaling harpoons at me, but I swerved around them and got close enough to repeat the trick a second time.
With two of their boats going up in flames and their boarding party diving overboard to douse the flames, hopping out of the fire and into the freezer, I made for the ship. Senna chose that moment to step out of the cabin. A waterbending form from her had the two flaming rowboats capsized, shattered into debris, and scattered under a jet of water.
I killed the motor as we drew alongside the pirate ship—which looked like some kind of Chinese ship, maybe, with the three big red sails. They were already turning to try to flee, but the ship was wind powered and slow, so that was pretty much pointless.
“What are you going to do?”
“How do you normally deal with pirates? Fire navy burns them alive. One of the few practices of theirs I agree with, considering pirates are usually also slavers, rapists, and murderers.”
“Agna Qel’a warriors kill them and sink their boats, after claiming anything of value,” Senna nodded. “I was worried you would go soft, when it came time to get your hands dirty.”
I shook my head. “I don’t like war or fighting for anything but sport. But leaving them alive means they can go out and keep doing what they have been. I’d be releasing more suffering into the world letting them go than I would be in killing them. So, if you’ll excuse me?”
Grabbing a mooring line and tying a quick knot in the end of it, I jumped from the boat and jet-stepped my way up to the pirate ship’s deck, where I quickly tied off the line. The fight that followed was quick and dirty as the pirates attacked—not so much a fight as a slaughter. They had nowhere to run and were fighting against a firebender—the dozen or so men left who weren’t in the water obviously felt they had nothing left to lose as they rushed me, hoping to overwhelm me.
Pulling my sword, I waited until they were nearly on top of me before closing my eyes and throwing out my hand. Everyone expected the firebender to bend fire—that was just common sense. They all kept their eyes fixed on me to see what kind of flame I was going to make and which way it would go, so they could dodge.
A blinding light flashed over the deck like a camera going off several times over the course of a second. In the dark, at less than ten feet away, they were blinded instantly by energy bending. They stumbled this way and that, clutching their eyes in pain and I went to work taking out the trash. My sword flashed, taking heads, slipping between ribs, and scoring hits on other vitals. A few of them had the good sense to try to run, but without their sight and confused, they didn’t get far before I chased them down and picked them off.
Once I had the deck cleared, I checked the captain’s cabin up top first. I found him standing just inside the door as he swung a sword at my head as I stepped inside. Grabbing his arm, I yanked the larger man back out of the cabin and kicked him several feet across the deck. He made to stand, only to slip in a puddle of one of his men’s blood and fall. I was on top of him a moment later, slashing my sword through his neck.
After another check of the captain’s cabin, I made my way belowdecks. Thankfully, the only other pirate I ran across was the cook, who actually managed to get me with a thrown meat cleaver before I got to him. The gouge he’d left on my face felt nasty, but a few moments of running green fire over it had it feeling fine.
With the ship cleared, I began the time honored tradition of looting. Checking the hold first, I found only booze, water, and food. Likewise, none of the individual pirates had anything of value in their footlockers other than coin, which I happily collected.
Eventually, I came across a room locked by a padlock. Burning through the metal of the lock, I took a look inside and whistled. Holding up a hand, I conjured a light from ki and had a thorough look around. They had a lot of weapons, pottery, rugs, and other junk it looked like they had taken from the ships they’d robbed. Aside from some expensive looking gold and silver jewelry and a bunch of loose gemstones however, nothing really stood out as particularly valuable and I had only limited space on board. I stuffed the jewelry and gems into an Earth Kingdom vase that looked to be made of jade and made my way back to the captain’s cabin, figuring that any proper captain would likely take first pick of any loot.
I wasn’t disappointed, as a proper inspection showed it to be filled with goodies. A footstep behind me had me turning, my hand going to my sword, only to find Senna stepping inside. “What have you found?”
“Just started searching the captain’s cabin. Found a sealed off room below with a bunch of stuff inside, but I didn’t personally see a point in taking anything other than this,” I hefted the vase. “Gold, silver, and gems. If you want, feel free to grab whatever you like. I’m probably just going to burn this thing behind us. Just remember, space is at a premium.”
Senna chuckled and nodded as we searched the cabin together. We found an entire chest full of gold, silver, and copper coin and agreed to split it between us. I found several maps and added those to my collection, transferring them to my journal when Senna went below to check the other room. Other than a few good, unopened bottles of alcohol that I kept to trade later, I didn’t see much of a point in taking anything else. Everything I’d taken was small and could be traded easily for some quick money. I wasn’t intending to make the boat my home forever, so eventually I’d probably wind up ditching it. Which meant that the only things should be taking with me were those that I could carry on my back.
In the end, Senna picked out a couple of rugs and some pottery for herself and together, we lowered everything down into my boat. I cut it loose and Senna used waterbending to get the boat far enough the ship, then I went belowdecks and carried their alcohol around the rest of the ship, before breaking open the casks and letting it pour everywhere. I tossed a fireball behind me and ran topside as it caught. A second fireball into the alcohol I’d spilled on the deck had that going up as well, and then I leapt off the ship, jet-stepping my way back to my boat.
Senna and I watched from the boat as I put the ship behind us and nearly topped out the engine getting us away. Timber, pitch, alcohol, and sailcloth burned brightly enough that we saw it long after we were over the horizon from the wreck. Eventually, we made our way back inside and I closed the cabin up, opening the forward viewing slits so I could see where I was going. The heat from my bending and the furs and blankets kept us warm enough, until I closed the slits, raised the mast and sails, and left it to the wind from that point on.
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“They’re here. Let me deal with them.”
I cut the engine and lowered the sails as we drifted in a path through a series of very sharp looking icebergs. We didn’t have long to wait before, sensing we weren’t going to rush headfirst into their trap, a group of six boats—each carrying a group of waterbenders and armed warriors—rushed out from behind their hiding places behind the icebergs.
A line of ice rushed at us over the water and Senna stood. She twisted, dancing a few steps in the boat, and the line of ice erupted in a splash of water and ice—a circle around my boat. “Knock it off, you damn fools!”
The waterbender boats slowed as they began looking unsure of themselves. From one of the boats, someone called, “Old Senna? That you?”
“Old? Old?! Who said that?!” the older woman demanded, and I hid a smile behind my hand.
“Yeah, that’s her,” someone else said, and several of the waterbenders laughed.
“Quiet, fools,” an older man rumbled, pointing at my boat. “That’s a Fire Nation boat. It runs on bending. And he’s a firebender. Senna, what are you doing bringing one of them here?”
The old woman scoffed. “Zuko? He’s my bodyguard. Did you see the fire last night?”
“Couldn’t miss it. It smoked all morning.”
“They attacked us in the night. Aren’t you glad I hired some protection?” Senna arched an eyebrow. “Now, are you going to let us in or are we going to stand out here all morning freezing our noses off?”
There was some quiet discussion amongst the benders and warriors, before the one who looked to be in charge nodded. “You can go in. Boy! You enter Agna Qel’a only because old Senna vouches for you. If it were up to me, you’d already be chum feeding the fish. One wrong move, one toe out of line, and that will change in an instant. Don’t cause trouble.”
“Thank you,” I nodded.
The boats spread out, four of them returning to their ambush positions while two led us towards the ice wall of the fortress city. I pulled the mast down and ran the engine. There was no point hiding what I was now. If the whole city didn’t know they had a firebender in their midst by tonight, I’d be surprised.
Curious, I quietly asked Senna, “You never did tell me how you knew Yagoda.”
“I didn’t, at that,” Senna murmured, a smile pulling at her lips. “She’s my aunt. I was a bit of a wild child and left home when they wouldn’t let me learn waterbending the way I wanted. So I went south, to our sister tribe, where I studied for a time. I’ve been traveling the world and making contacts, establishing trade routes home since.”
“Impressive. And you’re still going out at your—” I caught myself, but Senna shot me a glare.
“At my age?” she asked, and I winced. The woman rolled her eyes. “I’m only forty, boy.” Quieter, she grumbled, “Damned premature gray hair runs in the family.”
I laughed, ignoring her ire. “So, what now?”
“I’ll speak with aunt Yagoda and arrange a meeting. You’ll be staying with me while you’re here. I plan to be here between one to three months, depending on how long it takes the shipments to come in and see what we need. Some may not take kindly to a firebender walking around Agna Qel’a however, so for the first week or so you’ll mostly be sticking with me, unless you like the idea of getting killed by angry waterbenders looking for an excuse to take out their frustration at the Fire Nation on a convenient target. After that, once they’ve settled down and seen you aren’t going to roast their children alive or anything like that, you’ll be free to do as you like while you’re here, so long as you stay out of trouble. If you’re willing to wait, I could use an escort back down to Chenbao. That should give you plenty of time to do whatever it is you came here for. This ‘spiritual journey’ of yours.”
“Thanks. I’ll take you up on that,” I nodded.
We fell silent as we approached the wall and the waterbenders opened it for us. Their bending powered locks were pretty impressive, eventually raising us to the same level as the city. Then, we were through the locks and into an open canal that other, bending powered boats or boats pushed along with poles navigated.
People were staring.
I felt the weight of their gazes as I sent us cruising forward, the sound of the engine drawing more eyes as we went. “Left here,” Senna instructed, and I followed her directions down the canals. Quietly, she muttered, “Damned gawkers.”
“Yes. You’d think they’d never seen a firebender before,” I muttered.
“Don’t sass me,” Senna frowned back and I sent her a smile. “You’re not too old to take over my knee.”
“Mm, I’m more into doing it the other way around.” She turned, blue eyes narrowing into a glare at me and I grinned. “Forty isn’t old at all, you know.”
Senna blew out a breath that turned into a quiet laugh. “Clearly your mother should’ve done so more often, with that smart mouth of yours.”
“That’d be kind of difficult for her to do, seeing as she’s been done for a few years now. Ran away from our father and the politics of courtly affairs in the capital and left my sister and I to fend for ourselves in that nest of vipers. If I get the chance to ask her why she did it instead of taking us with her I will, but I’m not going to go hunting for her. I figure if she wanted to speak with me or my sister, she’d have found a way to get in contact with us by now.”
Senna sighed, her ire dropping away. She turned back towards the front. “The more I hear of your past, the angrier I get. I’m reminded that it’s not just everyone else the Fire Nation have hurt.”
“As a driving force, fire is powerful. It lights up the dark and keeps the cold at bay. The revelation I was given is that fire is the spark of life itself. But fire is dangerous. Indiscriminate. It consumes almost everything it touches, if it’s not carefully controlled. It will guide us to a bright future, one day, certainly. And I think, originally, that was Sozin’s dream. Then the comet came and he lit the fire of war, and it’s been left to spread a hundred years too long. If we aren’t careful, it will consume the dream that brought it about. Which would be a shame, because it’s a good dream,” I murmured.