Hey all!

So, it turns out my summer internship has a ton of free time. What does that mean? That means I've been working really hard on a brand new story -_-

I still feel terrible about leaving you guys all hanging on my last story. At the time, I had been completely swamped and stressed with all of my work. But now I've only got one thing on my plate, my internship, and it's not stressful at all. So I've been writing this story. I have a very detailed outline for the entire story and have already written the first few chapters (sans editing). I'm confident that I can finish and publish this story by summer's end. (Assuming you guys are interested).

Need-to-know facts about this story? It's AU. There's no such thing as the Avatar or Sozin's Comet. Also, while the genocide has occurred, some airbender still live in the world.

This story is going to have some serious Zuko!Whumpage, so be prepared.

Enjoy Chapter 1!

Anil walked along the captured Fire Nation ship, trying to ignore the pools of blood that decorated it. It wasn't large, most likely a scouting ship. But any sort of Fire Nation presence near his enclave was a threat he couldn't afford to ignore.

It had been nearly a hundred years since Firelord Sozin went on his conquest to eradicate the Air Nomads. A hundred years since he declared war against the rest of the world. The once peaceful and prosperous airbenders were now a shell of what they had once been. Their temples destroyed, they were scattered across the globe, the Fire Nation still actively hunting them down. Living in small, hidden enclaves, they had almost no contact with each other or other outsiders. They have had to change their ways in order to survive. Eating meat didn't seem so taboo when you're on the edge of starvation. The immorality of killing another person didn't seem so black and white when it's your life on the line. Anil sometimes wondered what it would have been like to live in the temples, as the old Air Nomads once did. However, such thoughts never lasted long. He had the people of his enclave to protect. He had his son, Aang, to provide for. Thinking about the past wasn't going to help him do either.

"Anil." Zenji placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded towards the other ship. "The captain of the Earth Kingdom ship wants to talk to you."

Anil turned and saw the Earth Kingdom man similarly appraising the damage they had done to the Fire Nation ship. He seemed very pleased with himself and his men. Definitely not the type of man Anil wanted to be fraternizing with, but he did owe the man thanks for coming to their rescue last minute. Thankfully, none of Anil's people were killed, just a few were wounded.

As he walked up to the other captain, the captain smiled widely and said, "Airbenders! I never thought I'd see the any in my lifetime. It's an honor to meet you." He gave a quick bow. "My name is Fong."

Anil smiled and bowed. "I am Anil. And this is my second in command, Zenji. We owe you and your men a great thanks. We would have been much worse off if you had not come. Hopefully no one in your crew was too badly hurt."

Fong shook his head sadly. "We had one casualty. A young lad named Lee." He kicked one of the bodies. "Fire Nation savages… they deserved worse."

"I am so sorry," Anil said with genuine remorse, ignoring the last comment. "If there's anything my people can do to help in repayment. We have healers if you need."

Fong shrugged off his offer. "This is the reality of war. Though if you and your crew dined with us on our ship, you would do us a great honor. None of us have ever even seen an airbender before, let alone talked to one!"

Anil had no desire to spend an evening with this man, but he knew his crew could use something to lift their spirits after this bloody affair. "The honor would be all ours."

"Excellent! We dine at sunset!"

Anil bowed again before turning to go back to the ship. He planned on getting some rest. No doubt it would be a long evening.

Zenji smiled, detecting Anil's discomfort. "You, in a party atmosphere…" she said. "This will be interesting."

"It's just a dinner," he replied.

"It's a dinner with soldiers. If you don't think there's going to be drinking, you're going to be sorely mistaken." She patted him on the back. "Try and relax tonight. Drink a little. Take a page from your son's book and try to just have a little fun. If you don't learn to relax every once and a while, these battles are just going to wear you down until there's nothing left."

Anil let out a long sigh. "Fine. I promise I'll try."

Zenji smiled. "Good."

The evening started out tame enough. They ate traditional Earth Kingdom food, which Anil found surprisingly tasty. They had a moment of silence for their fallen brother and wished a speedy recovery for the wounded from both ships. Beer was served during the meal, sake was served afterward. Everyone probably had a bit too much, including Anil. He wasn't overly fond of the feeling of disconnect that came with being inebriated. Still, he managed to have an interesting conversation with Captain Fong.

"I hear airbenders used to get blue arrow tattoos on their arms, legs, and forehead." Fong pointed to Anil's arrow-less forehead. "I take it that's not true anymore."

"We don't get the traditional tattoos anymore, no. Too noticeable. We need to be able to blend into the crowd. But we still get tattoos. A blue arrow up our spine and pointing the the bottom of our necks."

Fong stroked his beard. "A compromise between tradition and survival, eh? Admirable, to say the least."

Anil looked across the room at everyone. There didn't seem to be any women among the Earth Kingdom soldiers. Some of them were getting fresh with the women from Anil's ship, but they were quickly shut down. Anil was pretty sure Zenji even threatened one of them when they tried flirting with her.

"So where are you guys hiding out?" Fong asked. "I hear you guys are all kind of scattered."

Anil shook his head. "If I told you that, it wouldn't be hiding. Don't take it personally; we don't tell anybody. We're on the edge of extinction. I'm sure you can understand."

Fong nodded. "Haha, that I do. You guys are smart, I'll give you that much."

Zenji leaned over, clearly bored with whatever conversation she had been a part of. "What about you guys? It's rare to see Earth Kingdom ships this far South. You go much further and you'll run into the Southern Water Tribe."

"What's left of it anyway…" Anil muttered.

"We're scouting," Fong replied. "Trying to see how far the Fire Nation's reach actually is."

"Well, you won't find much down here," Zenji said. "Besides the occasional cocky crew trying to hunt us down for glory, there hasn't been much action down here since they basically decimated the Southern Water Tribe."

"It's a good thing we came down anyway," Fong said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to meet your fine men and women!"

Anil managed to smile, but for some reason, something about this man was putting him on edge. He just couldn't place his finger on it. Assuming it was the alcohol, he shook his head. He had had too many drinks, and it was hot and noisy in the dining hall. He needed a breather. "Excuse me a moment," Anil said standing up. Zenji gave him a quick look, but then slid into his spot to converse with Fong.

As Anil climbed the stairs out of the dining hall, he let out a sigh of relief as the clamor slowly died away. When he reached the main deck, it was nothing but faint rumble in the background.

There was a crescent moon, just enough light for him to make out his surroundings. Anil stood at the edge of the ship and opened up his arms, letting the cool breeze wash over him. After a few minutes, he put his arms back down and smiled, feeling much more clear headed than before.

He was about to return when he heard some yelling from the other end of the ship. It didn't sound like someone yelling in distress. It sounded angrier, like someone letting off some steam. Curious as to what was going on, he approached the source of the noise. As he got closer, the sounds of a whip and of rattling chains became audible. Anil increased his pace until he came upon a door, orange light pouring out through the edges. Anil opened the door and involuntarily froze in horror.

Two of the Earth Kingdom soldiers were standing in the middle of the small room. One of them was holding a cat-o-nines, blood dripping from steadily from it. In the corner of the room, there was a cowering, naked young man, his arms and back bloodied by the beating. He was trembling so hard that his chains continued to rattle loudly.

Immediately after Anil opened the door, the soldiers paused and turned to see the intruder. "Hey…" the one with the whip slurred. "Aren't you that airbending captain?"

Anil was speechless for a moment, his mind uncomprehending of the scene before him. "W-what is going on here!?"

"What…? This thing?" The other soldier kicked the hapless man, eliciting a startled whimper from him. "The Fire Nation killed Lee," he said bitterly. "We're just returning the favor."

"Yeah… savage monsters, the lot of them." The first soldier offered Anil the whip. "You wanna a turn? I promise it'll make you feel better."

Anil felt nauseous at the mere suggestion. "What on Earth did this boy do to deserve this!?" Slapping away the offered whip, Anil approached the young man, kneeling in front of him. His heart ached as the wretch whimpered at the proximity and tried to press himself deeper into the corner. "I'm not going to hurt you…" Anil said quietly, gently placing a hand on the young man's head.

The soldiers behind him were asking what he was doing, but Anil ignored them. All he could do was stare at the tight manacles that encased the man's wrists and ankles. After a moment, the man slowly looked up, glancing at Anil with pure confusion. Anil's vision swayed at the sight of the horrific burn scar occupying one half of his face and deep laceration scars occupying the other.

But when Anil's vision cleared and he continued to look at the man's face, one thing became very clear. This wasn't a man; this was a child.

"Hey! We're talking to you!"

A large hand grabbed Anil's shoulder and hauled him up. The soldier shoved him away towards the door, yelling, "If you're not going to use the little brat, then get out and let us enjoy ourselves!"

"This is a child!" Anil nearly screamed. "What gives you the right to torture him!?"

"Ugh, just get out!"

One of the soldiers shoved Anil with an unexpected amount of force. Anil landed hard on his back, the door slammed shut before he could get back up. Quickly getting back on his feet, Anil tried to open it again, but found that it was locked. The soldiers started to laugh on the other side as they resumed their beating. Anil banged on the door, screaming at them to stop. He tried to use his airbending, but it wasn't enough to move the metal door.

His heart pounding in his ears, his breathing labored and quick, Anile could feel a hot anger starting to surge up inside. He turned around and ran to the dining hall. There's no way Fong didn't know about this. And Anil was determined to get to the bottom of it, no matter what it took.

Upon entering the dining hall, he was hit by the wall of noise and laughter. And there was Fong, in the middle of it all. His boisterous laugh audible even above the din. Anil's expression twisted in a snarl. This was Fong's ship. A boy was being tortured on his ship and here he was: laughing.

The ambiance seemed to slowly die away, leaving behind only the echo of the whip in Anil's mind.

Anil grabbed his staff from where it rest against the wall. Zenji seemed to be the only one who noticed his return. She was barely able to express her confusion before Anil spun his staff over his head and slammed it on the ground. A sphere of air exploded from his staff, sweeping outward through the room and effectively silencing everyone.

They all stared at him in confusion. Some in fear when they recognized the rage emanating from him. Anil paid them no heed, only staring at Fong. For a moment, he said nothing, his anger too great to allow him to form words. But then, he found his voice. "What kind of animal are you?"

No one said a word. Fong seemed unfazed by the question. "Perhaps if you could specify what it is that has made you so angry," he responded calmly.

"Who is that boy?" Anil asked. There was a slight tremor in his voice, but otherwise he kept it level. "And what gives you the right to keep him chained and tortured on your ship?"

While his eyes never left Fong's face, he could see some of the others' reaction to his statement. His crew's confusion was only increased, while the Earth Kingdom soldiers only smiled or nodded in understanding. He didn't see any remorse or guilt among them.

Fong chuckled. "You can calm down, Anil. That boy is Fire Nation. Let's just say, he came from a very prominent Fire Nation family." He leaned back in his seat. "Our original goal was to use him to get some of our prisoners of war released. But the family refused. So then we had a useless hostage. Well… not completely useless. After everything the Fire Nation has done to us and our families... we decided we deserved a little payback." He gave a little shrug. "It's been good for everyone's morale."

Anil couldn't believe what he was hearing. Fong wasn't even trying to defend himself. He saw nothing wrong in what he was allowing to happen. "Well not anymore," Anil said. "I'm taking that boy with me."

Fong let out a bark of laughter. "If you need to let off some steam, you can do it on my ship."

"I am not going to beat some helpless child! I'm going to take him away from you and show him some semblance of humanity."

Fong's expression darkened. "That child, as you call him, is a monster. A savage, just like any other Fire Nation citizen. He comes from a family and a nation of monsters… so that's precisely how he deserves to be treated."

Anil saw Zenji slowly grabbing her staff, looking at Fong's back with disgust. "I'm not leaving this ship without him," Anil declared.

Fong bowed his head with a small nod. "I understand."

He suddenly took an earthbending stance and launched his stone chair at Anil. Anil leaned back and easily dodged. He swung out his staff, knocked back nearly all the Earth Kingdom soldiers with a single slice of airbending. He was about launch himself at Fong when he realized that Zenji had already taken care of him.

Fong had been pushed back against the wall, held there by the point of Zenji's staff, which was a pointed blade. "You will release that boy to us," Zenji growled.

Fong looked down at her staff. "Air Nomads don't kill unless they're threatened."

"You're thinking of the pre-war Air Nomads," Zenji explained. "We, on the other hand, have no problem killing bastards like you."

Anil, who also had his staff facing Fong, looked around and saw everyone gearing for a fight. But he saw something a bit disturbing amongst his own crew. Uncertainty. They were on guard against the Earth Kingdom soldiers, but were looking at Anil and Zenji with uncertainty. They were doubting his decision.

Knowing this was not the time to address this issue, he again addressed Fong. "You're coming with me to that room... and you're going to order those men in there to unlock his chains and hand him over to us. Once we're all back on our ship, we will go our separate ways and never see each other ever again. Understood?"

Fong didn't respond for a moment. He was weighing his options, seeing if this was all worth a fight that could very likely end up with casualties on both sides. After a minute of silence, he slowly nodded. "Understood."

Zenji kept her staff very close to Fong's neck as they slowly marched to the other side of the ship. Anil's crew kept the other soldiers separated from them, though Anil was confident that Fong's agreement would be enough to prevent the soldiers from attacking them. Even so, that didn't ease the thick tension that hung in the air.

When they arrived at the room, Anil could no longer hear the sound of the whip, but he could still hear the two men laughing inside, occasionally yelling at the boy. Fong knocked on the steel door, announcing his presence.

"Remember…" Zenji whispered to Fong, "I could remove all breathable air from your lungs in a second."

The door was opened by the man who had held the whip. In the background, Anil could see the other man holding up a chain that was wrapped around the boy's neck. The boy was weakly clawing at the chain, face purple and gasping for breath.

"Captain Fong?" the first soldier questioned.

"Let the boy go," Fong said quietly.

Clearly confused, the soldier simply replied, "What?"

"I said let him go!" Fong ordered sternly.

The other soldier dropped the chain in his hand, the boy falling bonelessly to the ground. Anil handed his staff to Zenji and rushed forward as the boy continued to gasp for breath. Anil grabbed the chain and started to unwrap it. The boy flinched and shied away from him. "Shh… it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you…"

"Captain, what's going on?" one of the soldiers asked.

Fong waited a moment before answering. "The brat will be given to Anil and his crew."

"But Captain…!"

"Silence! Don't you dare question me!"

When Anil finished unwrapping the chain, the boy sputtered and coughed, taking deep labored breaths. "Where's the key to his manacles?" Anil demanded.

Fong bitterly grabbed a ring of keys from his belt and pulled one of the keys off. He threw it carelessly in Anil's direction.

Anil grabbed the key and made quick work of the boy's restraints. By the time he threw the last one aside, he noticed that the boy was staring at him wide-eyed. He was rubbing his wrists where the manacles had been and swallowing compulsively. Anil tried to smile and make the boy feel more at ease, though he doubted it would work. He unclipped his cape, wrapped it around the emaciated body and picked him up. The boy gasped and whimpered, but with all the Earth Kingdom soldiers geared for a fight, Anil didn't have time ease the boy into this sudden change.

Maintaining his glare on Fong, Anil slowly carried the boy back on the main deck. Each step towards his ship felt like a hundred miles. He knew it was only a limited distance, so he focused on just putting each foot in front of the other. The trembling bag of bones in his arms could wait until they were on his ship and safely away from Fong's.

When they got to the ramp, Anil waited until all of his crew besides Zenji had gone across before crossing himself. Zenji followed closely behind him, keeping both staffs pointing at Fong. Anil saw that his crew immediately began preparations to sail, for which he was grateful for.

Once Zenji was on the ship and the ramp removed, Zenji yelled over, "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

If there was a response, they didn't hear it. For Anil's part, he didn't move from where he stood until he felt the familiar sway of the ship as it departed. Even then, he didn't tear his eyes from Fong's ship until it was just a speck in the distance.

Zenji stood beside him, holding his staff out to him. "Want this back?"

"Put it in my quarters," Anil said. "And tell the helmsman to take the Viperspider Route. It'll take a couple extra days to get home, but we don't want to be followed."

Zenji nodded. "Yes, sir."

As she walked off, Anil finally looked down at the cargo in his arms. The boy hadn't made a sound since Anil had first picked him up. He was still trembling violently, grasping his head with both hands. When Anil looked back up, he saw some of the crew staring at him, the question in their eyes echoing the one in his head…

Now what?

What did you guys think? Do you want me to continue? Review and let me know.