AN: This is a one-shot for an A:TLA shapeshifter!AU that was created on tumblr for a few friends. Hope y'all enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Characters etc. are property of Bryke and Nickelodeon, not me.

"Zuko." Aang's voice was uncharacteristically hard. The prince stopped, closing his eyes, knowing what was coming next. "Something happened to the other dragons in the last hundred years. Something you're not telling me." There it was. Zuko sighed minutely, feeling the familiar stirrings of grief and regret roiling in his stomach.

"My great-grandfather Sozin happened."

The torches were burning low in their braziers by the time the visitor stopped outside the freezer doors. The two guards bowed hastily as he approached, but he paid them no heed as he ventured inside, the doors opening with a heavy creak. The visitor paused, sniffing the chilled air distastefully, before stepping inside, his eyes drawn to the figure huddled in the middle of the icy floor.

His accompanying guards winced slightly, afraid of another angry outburst.

Their master had become increasingly erratic with each passing day, paranoia and exhaustion beginning to take its toll as the war raged on, more severe and far longer than expected. There was also another thing eating away at him slowly. Unease and mutterings of rebellion had starting slithering their way through the general populace, with rumours that the wild dragons were unhappy with the current Fire Lord's reign and the state of the world. This had lead to more unsavoury things, whisperings that had the misfortune of reaching the Fire Lord's ears, ranging from rumours that the elder dragons had deemed him unworthy of learning the sacred art of the Sun and the dance, to things as trivial as that he had rejected the advances of a very persistent wild dragoness. There were even mutterings that he wasn't the true heir to the throne, hence why the dragons were becoming uneasy and wilder. More feral and less rational. Those rumours, however, had been quickly shut down when Sozin demonstrated the true power of his lineage, tearing through the skies on wings of fire and fury.

He stopped, staring down at the pile of rags huddled in front of him. Yes, he was a god compared to the likes of these, he thought. It was almost cruel of Agni to have them share this gift, this power, with each other, yet deny one the true meaning of it. His lineage were the only ones who understood and thus deserved it. The others, including this one, had grown fat and lazy with their power and the current state of affairs, preferring to heal and help the weak and sick, and use their flames for dances and other useless affairs. No. Fire was the element of power and therefore, needed to be exercised as such. He smiled cruelly as the figure raised its head slightly, alerted to the presence of others in the room. The guards started forward, moving to protect the Fire Lord from the prisoner, but he waved them back.

"Leave us," he commanded, motioning them towards the door. They glanced at each other, uncertain.

"But sir," one stammered out. "Forgive us, but it would be unwise to-."

"You doubt my strength?" their master whispered, dangerously low. He turned around to face them with eyes of burning gold, shining through the gloom of the dungeon at them. Eyes that belonged to a creature far more powerful than any mere guard.

They gulped. "No sir." Bowing their heads, they exited quickly through the door, nearly tripping over each other in their haste.

"My my, how nice it is to see men so concerned for their lord," a voice hissed, dripping with honeyed sarcasm. Sozin growled as the figure before him raised its head, lank black locks falling away from a pale, drawn face as golden eyes regarded the door inquisitively. She blinked, smiling despite her filthy conditions. "Such loyalty, ah! It warms my heart." She smiled up at the Fire Lord, her grin growing wider. "And Sozin, how nice of you to join me! I was beginning to worry you'd forgotten our little tea date." A crack sounded through dungeon. The girl gasped despite herself, the red mark from Sozin's hand quickly deepening to purple.

"You will treat your Fire Lord with the proper respect, or I'll have your tongue cut out," he snarled, moving away from her. He struggled to regain control, focusing on his breathing. A few choice words and the dragoness already had him fuming. No, she couldn't have any real power over him. She was but a low-born worm compared to him and the purity of his lineage. He clenched his fists, his breathing settling back into a calm, rhythmic pattern, before he turned around to face her.

She was still smiling pleasantly, looking as if Sozin had just asked her about the weather and not just hit her. Underneath the cheery mask though, her eyes were glittering with triumph and Sozin suppressed a growl. She knew. She was doing this on purpose. He imagined he could even see the gears turning in her head, analyzing the situation from every possible angle, filing away things that made him tick and counting every slight against her, for later reference. He should have been better prepared. He knew this was how she won, how she'd managed to avoid capture up till now. More slippery than an eel and twice as cunning as a viper-fox was the old saying about her thunder, her family. He needed to work fast before she struck again, before they could all strike.

"Where are the rest," he growled out, making it sound more like a demand than a question.

The girl made a great show of looking around her, down at her shackled limbs, up at the ceiling. Finally, she turned back to him.

"Well, I seem to be all here. Nothing missing, surprisingly. You really should promote those guards, they're honestly very nice boys."

"Where are the rest of your thunder," he hissed out, cutting her off before she could start making more infuriating comments.

She shrugged. "Back safe and snug in their caves, I suppose. There's a lot of us, too much for one cave."

"And where would these caves be located?"

The girl made a face. "Why would I tell you that? You know it's rude to give out contact details without asking the owner's permission."

Sozin rumbled deep in his throat, fire licking underneath his skin and at the back of his throat. The beast was begging now, itching to burst free and put this cub back in her place, and he nearly did it. But no, he had to hold on, regain control, prove he was better than these feral low-born scum. No doubt she would have given in to her baser instincts had she not been imprisoned. Such lack of control disgusted him. The time would come when he could burn her and the rest of her traitor clan to ashes and dust. But not today, it would seem.

The girl's eyes widened as Sozin's claws gripped her around her throat, pinning her to the floor. The cruel black talons scratched her lightly on her collarbone, a thin trail of blood trickling down. She gasped, sputtering as Sozin's claws tightened.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You will tell me where that thunder of yours is. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but one day, you will crack and I'll be there, ready and waiting." He let go of her, not bothering to wait for a reply as she sat there, gasping and trying to get her breath back.

"My Lord." He paused at the change in her tone. Slowly he turned, eyes widening at the sight of her bowing deeply to him. His surprise quickly gave way to the familiar contempt. Had she really given up so easily? He was disappointed; he was hoping one descended from a thunder that was nearly as old as his would have put up more of a fight.

"You may speak," he said, gesturing for her to continue. She raised her head from the floor, staring at him directly with burning gold eyes. A sudden bolt of inexplicable fear shot through him, nearly forcing him to cower and submit to her. It was almost as if she were stripping him away, burning through all the layers and walls built around his innermost self, the titles of Fire Lord, prince, dragon, all falling away to ashes and dust. She was gazing into his deepest soul, and judging from her look, she didn't like what she saw one bit.

She blinked and the fire died away from her eyes, her expression resuming its lazy contempt. The strange sensation burned out, leaving him almost as quickly as it had come. Before he could demand what she had done to him, she whispered, "You asked for the location of my thunder."

He blinked, brushing away the last of the uneasiness. "Yes, I did. Are you going to tell me where they are now?"

She nodded, almost meekly. It wasn't until he was leaning in, letting her reach up to whisper in his ear that he realized how close he was to her. She blinked, her long eyelashes brushing her cheek, before leaning up to whisper in his ear.

"They're all right here."

A sudden scream pierced the night, quickly fading into an animal's howl, before being cut off. Another scream sounded, followed by the unmistakable howling roar of a dragon on the warpath. Sozin leapt away from her, the chi engulfing him, giving rise to a powerful muscled serpentine body, shimmering with blue-black scales, the colour of a summer's night sky. Huge spiny wings tore free from his back and his jaws cracked, elongating into a snarling whiskered muzzle, fangs bared at the ragged figure, whose cackling echoed eerily around the freezing chamber.

"Did you really think that my thunder would be so cruel as to leave me behind as a toy for you? Really? You may think us barbarians, animals compared to the purity of your lineage and family, but we would never, ever forget one of our own." She paused, her eyes glittering venomously. "Not like what you did to Roku."

Sozin screamed at her words, indigo flames roaring out of his maw, but a sudden crash from the roof made both of them look up. Tiles shattered, brick and wood splintering as a huge crimson beast smashed through the awnings, landing in a threatening crouch in front of the girl. Its muzzle wrinkled as it snarled at Sozin, mane bristling outwards as it wrapped its tail protectively around her; it was a male, judging from the size of its horns and mane. The Fire Lord was momentarily taken aback by how big it was; it could have easily destroyed a carriage with one snap of its jaws. Its horns and tusks were huge as well, a testament to its age and power. The red male snarled again, the sound rumbling through the ground like a miniature earthquake. Sozin shook himself and snarled back a challenge. He was the Fire Lord; he could easily take any feral worm, no matter how big they were. The red dragon's gaze narrowed, its growl fading. Without taking its eyes off Sozin, it leaned down to nudge the girl away. She pushed angrily at its muzzle, shaking her head and whispering something. Their eyes met for a long moment, before the red dragon leaned down, allowing her to scramble onto its head. She sat nestled between its horns, glaring at Sozin. And then, as if on a silent cue, the two beasts sprang.

They smashed together, screaming a challenge, the ancient rivalry between two males in the presence of a female boiling to the surface as their jaws clashed, claws tearing at each other. Sozin was easily pushed back by the bigger male, who used the impact to push himself up, leathery wings snapping open as he soared out of the ruins. The Fire Lord screamed at the sight of his prize escaping, indigo flames roaring out of his maw. The girl leapt from the dragon's head, deflecting the flames neatly with practiced ease, before the dragon's body looped, bringing her back to safety. All in perfect sync.

The red male ascended rapidly, breaking through the grey clouds of the night, before throwing his head back and letting out a long, eerie wail. The unearthly sound shivered through the night, raising the spines on Sozin's neck. He knew what it meant: all dragons did. It was a call to war. More wails sounded in the distance and a second howl joined the first, the girl atop the dragon's head adding her song as the night came alive with the eerie music. From where he hovered, Sozin could see citizens in the city below gazing up at the beasts with frightened eyes, at the unearthly sounds the normally benevolent creatures were making. Sozin himself descended slowly, shifting back as the wailing went on and on. The palace guard quickly surrounded him, attempting to shield him from the enemy dragons, though Sozin knew that they would do no good should the red monster decide to attack again. He didn't though. The war cry came to an end as the dragon's massive jaws closed. With a last final glance down at Sozin, the red male took off, silently slithering away across the sky. He scowled, but his expression quickly changed to one of shock as more dragons crept across the sky, following the massive red male. Black, green, white, dragons of every colour shimmered across the sky, the moonlight bouncing off their scales and revealing blood-stained jaws and claws, scorched manes and torn wings. Sozin hurried away, his guard following him obediently. Dread pooled in his stomach at the thought of what the wild thunder had left behind for him, but he knew what this meant. It was unmistakable now.

War.

The wind blew through black locks, making the lone girl sigh contentedly after months of being locked away in her icy prison. The red dragon pricked his ears at the sound. She smiled, laying her cheek down on the comforting warmth of crimson scales and the dragon rumbled an affectionate purr in reply. She wrapped a finger in his mane, stroking the furlike feathers that made it up. A thought occurred to her, one she didn't like, but she knew she had to ask him anyways.

"Say, why did it take you so long to find me, Ran?"