Wolf of Fire

Prologue

"Prince Ozai?" asked a timid servant as she approached the clearly upset man brooding in the palace garden.

"Well?" he growled, his patience long spent. It had been over a day ago that he was told to wait outside of the special chambers that his wife currently occupied.

The girl fidgeted nervously under the prince's intense gaze. "There were a few difficulties, but both the baby and Princess Ursa are doing fine. You may go see them now if you wish."

Ozai didn't even wait for her to lead the way. Within minutes, he was opening the door to the birthing room, his eyes falling on the tired form of Ursa. In her arms was a small bundle, in which he could clearly see a tuft of jet-black hair. He cautiously made his way over to her bedside. Peering at the small face of the babe, he asked, "Is it…? Are you…?"

The princess looked up at him and smiled. Ozai saw a flash of something in her eyes, but it vanished before he could place it. "He," she said, "he and I are both fine."

Taking a closer look at the boy, the prince noticed some things he thought seemed a bit odd. He definitely had the newborn look about him, but he seemed…almost too large, as if he were a few days older. But that was impossible. Maybe he was just a large baby? The servant did say there had been some difficulties…

The other oddity was his eyes. They looked almost too gold to be human. As their eyes made contact, a chill ran down Ozai's spine. His irises looked like two pure gold nuggets lit by Agni's glory. Hopefully this was a sign he would be a strong Firebender someday. The thought made the man smirk. His son would grow to be a powerful man, not a weakling like that nephew of his.

"Have you chosen a name for him?" he asked. He reached out a hand to place it on his son's small head, but as soon as his fingers brushed up against hair, Ursa's hand shot out and clutched his. She offered no explanation for this, merely laced their fingers together and smiled at him again.

"I have thought of a name, but I wanted to discuss it with you first, my love." At Ozai's raised eyebrow, she continued. "I think the name 'Zuko' fits him well."

"You want to call our son a name meaning 'Ancestor's Robber'"?

Ursa giggled, brushing her thumb along her husband's knuckles. "There are two ways of writing 'Zuko'. There is that one, and there is one that means 'Resurrected Rule'. I know he is meant for great things. I think that if ever the time comes that he must lead his people, they will follow him, and together they will change this world for the better."

Ozai smiled. "As appealing as that sounds for my son, I am curious. How exactly do you know all this?"

"Mother's just know these things." She turned her tender gaze back to the now sleeping child. "This boy has been touched by Agni, I can feel it."

"Zuko it is, then," the prince said. With that, he gave his wife a kiss on the head, then made his way out of the room to let her rest.

It never even crossed his mind that he hadn't been offered to hold his new son.

WOLF OF FIRE

Barely a minute had past when Ursa saw the bundle in her arms change. Where there once were chubby cheeks and a small stubby nose was now a short muzzle with a black, wet nose on the end. The pale skin and black hair were replaced with soft, snow-white fur and two tiny pointed ears jutted from within. A paw now stuck in the air, where little fingers had once appeared to be clutching their mother's own finger.

Except, they weren't. For the simple face that Ursa wasn't the mother. Zuko was not her real child. Her baby, the true blood of Sozin's lineage, had not survived. He had been stillborn.

To say she had been devastated would have been an understatement. It had been a difficult pregnancy to begin with; she had done everything she could to ensure both she and her baby pulled through. But in the end, it hadn't been enough. Her midwife, Naomi, said he had apparently had a weak heart, and the strains of labor had been too much on him.

That was when she appeared. A Water Tribe slave by the name of Akarra, who had been captured and forced to work in the palace years ago, when she was a mere teenager. She was not a bender, so no one saw her as any sort of threat, yet no one had detected her presence upon entering the room. Akarra was a stunning woman; tan skin, long flowing brown hair, and the bluest eyes Ursa had ever seen.

Neither the princess nor her midwife knew how she found out, but somehow Akarra knew of the fate of the Fire Nation's newest prince. Then, from beneath her flowing robes, she produced a small, white animal. Despite all protests, she seemed to glide over to the body of the lifeless child and pulled back the sheet, revealing his face. The woman hummed to herself, seemingly making up her mind about something before covering the baby up again and turning to the other two occupants of the room.

"Never before in the history of my people has something such as this occurred," Akarra told them. Her voice was almost contradictory. It was quiet and gentle, but it also carried an edge to it, as if it were the low growling of a fierce predator. She looked down at the creature in her arms. "It is said that when a White One is born, the Spirits awaken, become more active, and change is imminent for the People of Ookami."

"Ookami?" Ursa asked, confused. "I've never heard of anything like that."

The look in Akarra's eyes could only be described as heartbroken. "No. You wouldn't have. They are said to have died out hundreds of years ago; we live now only as myths and bedtime stories for Water Tribe children."

Before the princess could ask any more, the tiny creature changed. She had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her. Akarra was now holding a human baby; or to be more specific, her baby. Only it wasn't. Ursa could still clearly see his body underneath the sheet nearby. "What…? How…?"

"This little one was born to me three days ago. No one knew I was carrying him. As of yet, he is still nameless. My people have a strong connection with the Spirits, and I have not been given their blessing to name him. It is not my right." Bowing her head, the Water Tribe woman extended her arms, holding the baby out for Ursa to take. "Lady Ursa, by the request of Ookami; of Tui and of La; and of your own element's Spirit, Agni, I offer my child to you. Raise him to be the strong leader his destiny claims him to be."

"W-wait a minute," Ursa stuttered. "You're…giving me your baby?" Akarra nodded. "But why? How can you just…give him away like that? …And how…how is it that that animal is now m-my baby's double? And how was that animal you're child?" Her head was really starting to hurt. Naomi came up and put a reassuring hand on the princess' shoulder. She seemed to be too stunned to do much more, let alone speak.

Akarra sighed. Moving forward, she placed the baby in Ursa's arms, forcing her to hold him before backing away from the bed. Ursa looked warily at the bundle against her chest. It looked…so much like her son. But she could tell, could feel that it wasn't; it wasn't even human. It was like some sort of illusion. Her eyes told her that she was holding a human infant, but touching him, she could telling he was anything but. She could feel his soft fur through the blanket, the slight wagging of a tiny tail, and the occasional twitch of one of four feet as the baby…whatever he was dreamed.

A gasp sounded next to her and she looked up at her midwife. Ursa's breath caught in her throat as she saw just what it was that made the woman gasp. Standing a few feet away from the bed was a large animal. Its fur was black as coal, and its eyes were like staring into the depths of the ocean itself. She started as she heard a voice; Akarra's to be precise, coming from its direction.

"This is the true form of the People of Ookami." Though the creature's mouth did not move, it was obvious it, she, was the one speaking.

"Dear Agni," breathed the older woman. "What in Spirit's name are you?"

"I am a Wolf." At their confused looks, she continued. "Hundreds of years ago, my people were considered a threat to the people of the Water Tribes. We both hunted the same caribou-elks and they feared we would take it all and leave them with none. So, they began to hunt us. It became a sport among them," Akarra spat, venom in her voice. "Young men wouldn't be allowed to call themselves warriors until they brought home one of our corpses; they held competitions to see who was the strongest by trying to kill more of us than their friends; and merchants sold our pelts for profit, all so they could make their lives easier or more enjoyable while our young were orphaned and our pack began to dwindle.

"For many moons we prayed to Ookami, the Spirit of the Wolf, to help us survive. Then one night when the moon was full, and La shone down brightly upon our small pack, a White One was born, and with it, we were blessed with our ability to hide in plain sight. It was a skill he was born with, and he soon taught the rest of us how to hide as well. Afterwards, we moved to the Water Tribe cities, and blended in with their people. We let them believe we had gone extinct, so they would never again start with their pointless slaughter."

"This hiding," Ursa asked, "it has something to do with why you looked human before…and why he looks human now?" She motioned towards the child.

"That is correct," Akarra told her. "That one is not yet old enough to hold the spell on his own, so I am casting it for him, and I will continue to do so until he is old enough to learn it for himself. Though I will not be able to cast it constantly; neither will he. Eventually our spirits grow tired and hiding becomes physically painful. We must rest in our true forms. The effect is even stronger for White Ones, who represent the pride of the Wolves. But I will cast it whenever it is needed, I promise you that."

"…Why are you doing all of this?"

The wolf shimmered, and the woman stood before her once more, a sad look in her eyes. "It is not without reluctance that I give him to you, but for whatever reason, I have been asked to give this White One to you; to raise as your own, and teach him your ways. As such, he will be a strange Wolf, that is for certain, but he has already been touched by Agni. The Spirit of the Sun shines brightly in his eyes.

"As a White One, he is destined for greatness. As a prince, his chances for success will be all the better. That's not to say he will not have a difficult time getting there, but the Spirits have assured me his actions, the decisions he makes, will change the world. He will live as the first ever…Wolf of Fire."

Disclaimer: I'm only gonna put this on this chapter, because it's obvious in all the others. I don't own any of this! All characters belong to Bryke and Nickelodeon. The only thing I claim as my own is the plot…to a certain extent…

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