Wandering Prince

Avatar the Last Airbender, Zuko SI

15

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Mai hummed, considering what she’d been told as June leaned back in her seat, sipping at her drink. So, Ty Lee was right. Zuko is likely here for the spirit. The question is, would he be crazy enough to go out hunting for it in the forest at night?

Before she could come to an answer, the door to the small bar opened and, a moment later, quick and quiet footsteps rushed up to her side. “Mai!”

“Hm? Who’s your friend?” June arched an eyebrow, looking Ty Lee over with a curious gaze.

“Ty Lee. Did you find something?”

“I know where Zuzu is! He went out into the forest!” the acrobat grinned.

June blinked. “Zuko?” Mai acted instantly and the mercenary bounty hunter looked down, suddenly finding something sharp poking at her inner thigh, where the light armor on her legs didn’t cover. “Well, that’s just rude.”

Mai leaned forward, applying a little bit of pressure. Beside her, the normally upbeat Ty Lee had tensed and grown serious. “How do you know that name?”

June snorted quietly, before tossing back the last of her glass and pouring a refill from the bottle. “Threats aren’t going to work on me, girly. But you know what will? Cold, hard money. I’m a mercenary. I can be bought.”

The girls exchanged a quick look before Mai pulled out her coin purse and flipped a gold coin onto the table. June looked at it, then back to Mai, expectantly. Frowning, Mai added another, and another. It was at five coins and Mai seriously considering poking a hole in the woman when June swept the coins up and spoke. “I was hired to track a couple of people, one of whom was a guy named Zuko. The trail led here.”

“So, you were with those water tribe guys,” Ty Lee asked, and June nodded.

“Yep.”

“What do you know?” Mai demanded.

June hummed. “Just what I’ve been told, and what I’ve observed firsthand. They’re a northern water tribe war band, led by a guy named Hahn. He’s kind of a clown, but they’re competent and dangerous enough. At least four of ‘em are benders. As for who they’re chasing, according to them, some minor Fire Nation noble went up north and kidnapped their princess, and they’re trying to get her back. I got the impression it’s a lot more complicated than that.”

“No kidding! Zuzu didn’t kidnap princess Yue. It would be more accurate to say they eloped!” Ty Lee grinned.

“They’re not married yet,” Mai growled quietly, glaring at her friend briefly, before shifting her attention back to June. “You tracked them. Where are they?”

June smiled and sipped her drink as her eyes cut over to the coin purse. Mai made a frustrated noise and pulled out more coins. Once more, June waited for five coins before sweeping them into her own purse. “There’s a trail into the forest to the north of town, several hours of hiking out. They’re camping in a clearing with a big statue and a bunch of smaller ones. The trail runs right into it. Can’t miss them.” She took a sip as Mai removed her foot, then added, “Oh, and you might want to hurry. I got here first, but Hahn and his goons won’t be far behind.”

“Alright! Let’s go!” Ty Lee grinned, pulling at Mai’s hand.

Mai twisted her hand out of Ty Lee’s grasp and considered the mercenary and what she knew of Zuko. If we confront him, there’s a chance that he could give us the slip. But we know where he’s going. Back to his boat. So, why not cut off that avenue of escape?

“How much to hire you for guard duty?” Mai demanded and June grinned.

“Now we’re talking. Who, what, or where am I guarding? What duration? Is combat expected?”

“A full day, starting now. Here, on the beach. Zuko’s boat. No combat expected, but maybe possible if this Hahn guy tries to torch it. Definitely possible if Zuko shows up first. You don’t have to fight them, just stall. Get him to talk and he’ll stall himself. If he shows up before us, just keep him busy until we get there.”

“He’s a firebender. He’s not going to try to torch me or Nyla, is he?” June asked, and Mai and Ty Lee shook their head.

“No way! Zuzu wouldn’t burn a pet! And he won’t fight unless you start it, or you give him a reason to!” Ty Lee defended their friend.

“Fifty.”

Mai winced. “That’s a lot.”

“Short term mission. Low danger but at least some expected. Two gold an hour for twenty-four hours plus convenience fee,” June explained.

Narrowing her eyes, Mai countered, “Twenty-six. You get the rest if you have to fight.”

“Thirty-five. Take it or leave it, rich girl. But if you leave it, I’ll sit there on the beach and watch as lover boy takes off and leaves you behind. Again,” the mercenary leered.

Making a quiet noise of frustration, Mai counted out the coin and tucked her purse away. June stood and followed them outside, before pointing towards the northern gate. “Better hurry.”

Mai and Ty Lee took off running, leaving the older woman behind. As they crossed the open area between the village and the tree line, Ty Lee glanced towards the beach, then quietly called, “Mai! Those water tribe guys are here!”

“Run faster!” Mai grunted as they hit the trail.

Unfortunately, while their stamina was good, they couldn’t run forever—especially not through the forest and in the dark. They had to slow down when the canopy grew too thick to see by the moonlight. They stopped to make themselves a couple of torches and took the opportunity the total darkness provided to catch their breath, knowing that the water tribesmen would have to slow down as well. Still, a jog was better than a walk, and Mai felt like they were making good time, even if the irrational part of her mind worried that Zuko would be gone again by the time they got to the clearing.

It was some time later when they caught sight of something on the trail ahead of them and Ty Lee reached out and grabbed her sleeve. Quietly, Mai hissed, “What?”

“You really can’t see it,” Ty Lee shook her head. “Come on. Slowly.”

Seeing as her usually silly friend was unusually serious, Mai fell silent and did as she was told. As they advanced, the figure became clearer in the torch light, eventually resolving into a large panda shuffling along down the path. Mai sighed. “It’s just a panda—”

“No, it’s not,” Ty Lee shook her head. “Be quiet and do what I do.”

Frowning, Mai shut her mouth and followed as Ty Lee led them to the right side of the road. The panda’s head shifted, one ear flicking as it glanced at them over its shoulder, before plodding a few steps over to the left side. When they drew even with it, Ty Lee turned and bowed. Mai raised an eyebrow, only to have to force herself not to respond when Ty Lee grabbed her shoulder and forced her into a bow alongside her—the other girl’s grip like iron on her shoulder, even as her arm trembled.

The panda paused in its shuffling gait and, to Mai’s surprise, nodded its head, before turning away and continuing on. Ty Lee pulled at her shoulder and hurried her down the path at a fast walk. Mai held her tongue until Ty Lee let go and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh wow, I thought we were gonna die~!” the girl whimpered, her breaths coming in short pants.

Mai eyed her friend skeptically. “You’re saying that was a spirit? It looked like a panda.”

“It was definitely a spirit!” Ty Lee shook her head. “A strong one, too.”

Mai had some doubts, but she couldn’t readily disprove it. And it was kind of weird that it nodded back to them.

Shaking her head, Mai picked up her pace a bit. “Come on. It shouldn’t be much further.”

Finally, they came to a clearing. Off to one side, the remains of a camp fire sat in front of a tent, coals glowing in the dark. What drew the eye most was the ice formation around the tent—a series of spikes sticking up from the ground that looked razor sharp.

“Sooo… How do we want to do this?” Ty Lee wondered. “We never talked about that.”

Mai sighed, before marching across the clearing. Picking up a rock off the ground, she tossed it at the tent, where it hit the material with an audible thump. There was a quiet sound of shuffling from inside and she called, “Zuko.”

A groan sounded from inside the tent, then the flap opened and the familiar form of their friend stepped out—shirtless and wearing only a set of the under-things Mai knew he preferred. “Mai? Ty Lee? What the f—” He sighed, reaching up and palming his face.

“Hi Zuzu~!” Ty Lee chirped.

“Hey, Ty Lee,” he grunted, before shooting an annoyed look at Mai. “Do you have any idea what time it is? This couldn’t have waited until morning?”

Mai narrowed her eyes. “Sure. We’ll just come back after the water tribe ambush.”

The tent flap opened again and a head of loose, bright silver hair poked out. “The what?”

“Oh, some guys from the water tribe have been following you! I think their leader’s name is… Ham?”

“Hahn,” Mai rolled her eyes.

“Riiight! Him!” Ty Lee nodded.

Zuko cast a look at the girl with her head poking out, before turning back to them. “Stay there. We’ll get dressed.”

Mai nodded as Zuko ducked back into the tent.

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“Are those your friends?”I sighed, pulling on my clothes and mostly ignoring Yue as she did the same. This wasn’t the time to get distracted, no matter how nice the view was. “Yeah.”

“I see,” Yue murmured, and for a moment I wanted to ask what she thought she saw, but it could wait.

“How the hell did Hahn track us down?”

“Well,” Yue hemmed, “the water tribe are good trackers. We kind of have to be, to get anything other than fish in the north. And they’re warriors, so they’re the best we have.”

I turned and sent her an incredulous look. “We didn’t leave any tracks to follow. Someone must have spotted us.”

“Maybe,” Yue shrugged. “Let’s ask your friends. Maybe they know.”

I conceded the point as I finished tying everything into place and adjusting my sword where I wanted it, in case this got messy. With that, Yue and I stepped out of the tent and Yue waved her hand, shifting the ice around us into water and sending that into the nearby stream. We joined Mai and Ty Lee at the camp fire, all of us keeping an eye on both the trail coming from town and the woods surrounding the clearing, in case they got cute and circled around.

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“Alright, tell us what’s going on.”

Mai nodded. “We intercepted a mercenary in the nearby town and got the story out of her. Hahn paid her to track you here. She led him right to you.”

Frowning, I thought on what I knew before asking, “Sexy older lady, wears a lot of black leather? Rides a big shirshu?”

“How did you know?!” Ty Lee asked, grinning.

Mai’s eyes unfocused for a moment as she quietly admitted, “She was sexy. Maybe I should invest in some leather…”

“Lucky guess,” I grumbled. Though I suppose, if anything in this world would be able to track us by scent despite being in the air, it’d be a shirshu. Well, if she’s not here, we don’t have to worry about fighting it.

“How any men did he bring?” Yue asked.

“Eight others. I think half of them are benders,” Ty Lee supplied.

“A full war band,” the princess murmured.

I thought back to my time in the north for a moment. “Sounds like the same assclowns who were hanging out with him.”

Yue covered a smile at the description, but nodded. “Yes. Units are formed during training and aren’t often disbanded or changed unless a member dies. Those nine will be with each other for the next ten to twenty years.”

“So, how do you want to deal with them? Counter-ambush?” Mai asked, and I shook my head.

“Just wait for them. If they see us awake, I don’t think Hahn’s going to be able to contain himself. He’s kind of an idiot like that. After that,” I glanced at Yue, “I suppose we’ll see.”

My fiancee frowned minutely, but nodded. “I would prefer we just send them home.”

Mai met my eyes and raised an eyebrow, tawny eyes briefly glancing at Yue. That look spoke volumes, but I shook my head. “So~,” Ty Lee grinned, “if we’re just waiting up for them to get here… What have you been up to and how did this,” she gestured at Yue, “happen?”

“How indeed,” Mai murmured, eyes narrowing minutely at me. Those usually warm eyes, a few shades off from my own gold, felt particularly hot at the moment.

That was the thing most people failed to understand about Mai. She wasn’t the cold type. Far from it. She just kept it all inside. She may seem cold and aloof to outsiders, but I’d had years to study the creature that was Mai in her natural habitat and I knew her better than anyone.

She is pissed. I’m going to have to do some sweet talking if I don’t want her trying to tie me up and drag me back.

“Well, you see, it all started when I got lost in a storm. I was already out to sea by the time I realized it was coming…”

I kept my eyes on the path from the forest as I spoke, waiting and listening for any sign of Hahn as the others, despite paying rapt attention, likewise kept an eye out for trouble.

“…And that was when I spotted a Fire Nation cruiser coming for the island, so I took off.”

“We knew that was you!” Ty Lee laughed.

“But a lion turtle? You really expect us to believe—”

We all jumped as the night was rent by roar, followed by a high, womanly scream from nearby—and then the screams of men… Then silence, as even the sounds of the forest fell off. I summoned fire to my hands as Yue pulled a streamer of water from the creek to surround us.

Mai cast a glance at me before nodding towards the trail. “Zuko, go check it out.”

“Why me?!” I hissed.

“You’re a man, aren’t you?!”

“That’s sexist! Equal rights, equal frights. You go check it out!”

“You’ve got your own light!”

“Fuck that, I’m not getting ganked by something nasty in the dark.” I shook my head and put out my flame, before creating a sphere of bright chi and tossing it towards the trail. We tensed as a figure loomed large in the darkness…

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They were so close Hahn could taste it. Soon enough, he’d have Zuko’s head in a bag, and then Yue… Well, he wasn’t going to wait. No, better to claim her on the spot. Teach her her place and keep anyone else from getting any ideas about going after her.

One of the men signaled for his attention and, when Hahn looked over, quietly said, “I smell smoke. We’re getting close.”

Hahn nodded as he and the others started getting ready, checking their weapons and water for the benders of the group. They slowed down to a crawl and soon enough, Hahn could hear voices through the trees. His jaw clenched as he recognized the tones of Zuko’s voice, but not the words he was saying.

“They’re awake. Should we wait?” one of the men asked, and Hahn shook his head.

“Let’s get closer and observe first.”

They moved up the trail and eventually, ahead of them, the trees opened up into a clearing. With the more sparse trees and thinning of the canopy, some light made it through from the moon and stars, and they could even make out the very faint red glow of warm coals. Through the trees, they could see the shapes of four people sitting around the remains of a camp fire.

Perfect. Their night vision will be ruined and they’re distracted. We’ll get a bit closer and plan out how we’ll attack. We may need to circle around. Or not… Send two of the men to circle around, wait for them to get into position, then have the main force step out and draw their attention. Zuko runs his fucking mouth, so he’ll be easy to distract while the others slip up from behind.

That was when something on the path ahead caught Hahn’s eye. Moonlight splashed off the large, lumbering form of a bear. It was black and white, and not a breed he was familiar with, but it was definitely a bear—though much smaller than the polar bears they had up north.

He would have ignored it and let it continue on its way, but there was just one problem with that…

It’s heading right for the camp. It’ll alert them. As an afterthought, the idea of bringing back an exotic black and white bearskin rug was kind of appealing and would definitely be something to brag about.

Making a snap decision, Hahn drew his sword. He rushed forward, the others close behind, moving as silently as he could. Hefting his sword, Hahn aimed for the animal’s head. He’d only get one shot at putting it down silently, so he had to make it count.

Something must have given him away however, as the animal’s ears flicked and its head abruptly turned. Hahn swung down with all his strength, but the bear moved and instead of hitting its skull, the whale bone blade landed in the thick fat and fur around its neck—drawing blood, but only working to infuriate the animal.

The bear reared back and stood up.

And up.

And up.

The group froze as the ‘bear’ swelled in size, its form changing into some grotesque, four armed monstrosity with a mouth that looked like it could swallow them whole. That mouth opened and it roared. Someone screamed—definitely not Hahn, if he survived to tell the tale. It was—

The monster swiped its claws and everything went black.

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Mai was the first to recognize it as she sighed and the tension drained from her body. “Oh. It’s just the spirit bear.”

The black and white form of a panda lumbered into camp and I grinned, even as Ty Lee tensed and Yue looked unsure. They looked even more unsure when its plodding gait took it straight towards us.

“Uhh, maybe we should leave,” Ty Lee murmured, backing away slowly.

Looking at the bear, I followed its gaze and chuckled, before reaching out and grabbing Yue. “Don’t bother. He’s just coming to say hello.”

“Eh?!” the princess blurted, confused but not resisting as I pulled her towards it. “Zuko?”

“It’s Hei Bai, the local spirit. He’s harmless. Friendly, even. Well, that is, unless you piss him off,” I explained, as seeing the bear jogged my memories of what I’d actually seen in the show. “I saw some bamboo nearby. Ty Lee, could you bring us some?”

“…Alright, Zuzu,” the acrobat murmured, and I heard her move to do so.

The bear came to a stop and plopped down on its ass as we got close, then inclined its head in a bow. We stopped a few feet from it and Yue quickly returned the gesture. “Um, hello?”

The bear chuffed and shifted forward, before thumping Yue’s hand with his head. She hesitantly reached out and petted the big animal’s head. Hei Bai’s eyes closed and Yue, seeing he seemed to enjoy it, grew more sure of herself and more enthusiastic as she scratched the spirit’s head. Ty Lee approached with a small bundle of bamboo, then quickly backed off after handing it to me. I offered one of the sprigs to the bear and he happily took one and began chewing.

“Yeah, he’s a good boy. Come on, Ty Lee. Mai. Don’t be shy.”

“I’m good!” Ty Lee squeaked, shaking her head.

Mai considered, before shrugging and moving up to take one of the sprigs and feed the bear herself. “This wasn’t how I was expecting tonight to end.”

“Could be worse,” I shrugged, handing her the bundle of sprigs. “Here. I’m going to go check out that noise. I’ll be back.”

I conjured another sphere of chi and Hei Bai’s eyes snapped open. The spirit studied me and I held its gaze for a few moments, before heading towards the forest trail, feeling the bear watching the whole time. Apparently, that little trick had caught its attention.

Moving onto the trail, I walked down it a ways, following our tracks and those of the bear as I went, until I found what I was looking for. More tracks—a group of nine other people, who had been following the trail. A place where bear tracks shifted into something enormous. The fading stench of human urine and fecal matter, but no actual sign. A few drops of blood splattered on the ground.

“The hell happened here?” I muttered, crouching and studying the blood and where it lay, right where the set of bear tracks shifted into monster tracks. “Did… did those idiots attack it?”

Standing, I inspected the woods to either side of the trail. I found neither hide nor hair of what I suspected to be Hahn and his men. No bodies. No blood. Just a bit more bamboo than I remembered there being on the sides of the trail.

Didn’t the bear send people to the spirit world when it got pissy? I mused, thinking back to the show I only vaguely remembered. Is that what it did here? I don’t think it even eats meat.

Shaking my head, I headed back to camp, extinguishing the floating lights once I made it into the clearing. The others turned to look as I approached and Mai asked, “Well? What was it?”

“Pretty sure that scream was Hahn and his boys.” Moving closer to Hei Bai, I studied the spirit for a few moments before finding what I was looking for, where the fur transitioned from white to black. I carefully poked it and the bear grunted. I pulled my hand away, covered in blood. “They attacked him alright.”

“Oh no, that’s bad,” Ty Lee whispered. “What happened?”

“Pretty sure they got… spirited away.” The response was instant as Mai reflexively smacked my arm and glared. “Ow. Help. Abuse.”

“You deserved it,” she grumbled, as Yue giggled.

Looking up at me, she asked, “Could you get the spirit water?”

“Sure,” I nodded, and headed to the tent. It only took a moment to search Yue’s pack, and I came back with the metal jug she kept in the bag—with the second one being in the boat.

Yue opened it up and pulled a small streamer of glowing water out. Hei Bai turned his head and offered his neck/shoulder where the blow had struck. We watched as Yue quickly knitted the skin back together, the glowing water sinking into the spirit before disappearing entirely. “There! All better!”

The bear chuffed and bumped Yue’s leg with his head again, before standing and plodding off, towards the tree line. Chuckling, I pulled her into a side on hug. “I think you made a friend.”

“I did,” she nodded, beaming a happy smile. “I bet I can make two more.”

Shaking my head, I pulled her towards the tent. “How about we save it for in the morning? It’s late—”

Yue pouted up at me. “Why don’t you go to bed? I need to talk to Mai!”

“If you say so. Turn in when you’re finished. We’ve got an early start.”

“Mm!” Yue nodded.

I sent a look towards Mai, who glared at me. “We should be okay to just turn in. Don’t think we have anything to worry about. Pretty sure Hei Bai’s hanging around nearby somewhere.”

“Are you just saying that so you can run away the moment we’re asleep?”

I laughed. “No, Mai. I promise we’re not going to run away from you in the middle of the night.”

She eyed me skeptically, before speaking the part I’d left unspoken. “You’ll wait until the morning to do it.”

Grinning, I shrugged. “You know me too well.”

“Promise not to run off at all,” my friend demanded.

“Ah, fine, fine. Go on, enjoy your girl talk. I’m going to catch some sleep.”

I left them to it, starting to undo my belt as I made my way to the tent. Ty Lee wished me a good night before joining the others, probably to gossip. I finished undressing and dropped back onto my bed roll, climbing into the extra large sleeping bag Yue had sewn together and was out in moments.

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I carefully disentangled myself from Yue drooling on my arm and crept silently out of my sleeping bag just as the first rays of sun started to lighten the clearing. After taking a few moments to get dressed, I slipped outside and stretched, then took a few minutes to take care of the usual morning necessities. Not seeing any sign of Mai or Ty Lee aside from their tent, and Ty Lee’s snoring sounding more like a bear, I pulled out my knife and grinned as I got to work.

It was a few moments of work to carve a quick release stake and plant it in the ground, then bend a nearby sapling over and put tension on it as I tied it off. It was as I was securing the bottom of the tent to the sapling with ropes that someone fake coughed quietly behind me.

“Ahem.”

I sighed and turned to find Mai standing there, hands crossed under her breasts as she glared at me. Giving the trap up as a bad job, I let the tree go with a whoosh that startled Ty Lee out of her snoring. Standing, I dusted my hands off and made my way over to Mai.

Her glare intensified as I rested my hands on her hips. “Anyone ever tell you you’re sexiest when you’re angry. Because you are.”

A faint blush dusted Mai’s cheeks, but her expression didn’t change. “Stop running from me.”

“I’m not running from you,” I countered.

“Then you’ll come back with us?”

“Mm, no,” I shook my head.

“Why not?”

I blinked, before sending her a look that questioned her intelligence, or sanity. “Because I don’t want the old man to finish the job. Give me some time and I’ll be back to boot his ass out of my chair.”

“Azula wants you to return now.”

Sighing, I shook my head. “Things are going too well for me to come back any time soon. I’m making connections. Inroads with the other nations,” I gestured at my tent, where I could faintly hear Yue stirring. “I’ve advanced my bending further in the last few months than I have in years. I just need time.”

Mai took a deep breath in and let it out in a huff, before turning her head away. Her arms uncrossed and she stepped closer, wrapping them around my waist and dropping her chin on my shoulder. Quietly, she asked, “Do you love her?”

“We’re working on it,” I admitted.

Nodding once, she was silent for a few moments before saying, “Yue told us what she intends. I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I.”

“Shut up,” Mai demanded, digging her chin into my shoulder. I shut up and after a moment, she continued. “I don’t like it, but I’ll go along with it. But you can’t neglect me.” I felt her finger nails dig into my back. “I don’t even know where I stand with you.”

I gave her a squeeze and pulled back. A flash of disappointment crossed her face, before I cupped her face and leaned in, pressing my lips to Mai’s in a kiss. A quiet sound escaped her throat and her hands tightened on me, as her mouth opened and her tongue darted out.

We broke the kiss and Mai sighed, resting her head against my chest. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Mai.”

“Aww, it’s so cute~!”

Mai growled quietly and turned a glare on where Ty Lee and Yue were watching with amused looks. Leaning forward, I pecked her cheek, then let go. “Alright, let’s break camp and head back to town. Where did you two leave your ship? We’ll give you a ride.”

“You say that like you think we’re not coming with you, Zuzu,” Ty Lee turned an amused look on me.

I shook my head. “You’re not. You’re going back to Azula.”

“Huh? Why would we go back without you?” the girl asked.

“Because I need you to spin a tale for me. Something that will keep Ozai off my back. Give me a few minutes and I’ll explain along the way.”

“You mean give you five minutes to make up the plan on the spot?” Mai asked knowingly, and I sent her an amused look.

“Maybe. Does it matter if I planned it out months ago or just now, as long as it works?”

The three girls exchanged looks before Ty Lee answered, “It definitely does!”

“Absolutely,” Yue agreed.

“Ganging up on me already,” I grumbled, hiding a smile as I moved to gather our things.

Soon enough, we were on the road back to Senlin village and I began laying out what I had in mind. “So, you’ll go back and tell Azula I refuse to return from my voluntary self-exile until I can restore my lost honor and my worth in our father’s eyes by hunting down the Avatar…”