Disclamer – I do not own any of the people, places, or concepts from Avatar the Last Airbender. I do, however, own this derivative work.
Author's Note – This is actually a teaser fic; the first scene in a much longer fic I'm working on. Feedback (read, criticism) is welcome, even encouraged, with specifics if you have them. Enjoy.
edit: fixed the name of Iroh's tea shop. thank you, reviewer!
oOo
"Lamb chops. Leg of lamb. Pickled lamb hoof." Zuko lowered his voice and growled threateningly, "Lambskin rug."
A koalasheep hustled uneasily out of Zuko's way, and his face showed fleeting triumph. Iroh rolled his eyes. His nephew the Fire Lord, sheep intimidator.
One of the koalasheep bumped into Iroh's leg, and he glanced down with some annoyance. The creatures were irritatingly friendly and clingy, and it made it difficult for Iroh and Zuko to travel anywhere on this island. The little koalasheep by his leg looked up at him and maaed. "Wool coat," he muttered.
"Uncle, this is crazy," Zuko was looking a little frantic. "We've been stuck in this meadow for an hour. An hour, fighting our way through these stupid -" he kicked a koalasheep, who let out an surprised bleat "-stupid sheep!"
"Don't kick the sheep, Zuko," Iroh said.
Zuko powered forward, trying to force his way through the flock and to his goal, the black cliffs jutting from the island's center. "If we can just get up on those rocks, maybe we can see a house or something."
Iroh followed his nephew, not voicing his doubt that any such buildings existed. The island's only harbor was surrounded entirely by steep black cliffs, and he suspected that the hint Zuko had received about inhabitants had been only a cruel joke. He had tried to convince Zuko, but the young man was determined to search there.
"Aang and the others stayed there," Zuko had said. "Maybe she found a way up there, too."
"Aang has a flying bison."
"We have air balloons."
"We didn't have them then."
"Uncle, you don't have to come, okay? I can do this myself. Besides, you haven't been to the Jasmine Dragon in months."
"My tea shop is fine. Ping runs it well enough while I'm gone."
"Ping's tea is terrible."
"Helping you with this is more important to me than tea."
That impressed Zuko enough to silence him. But he still went to the island.
Iroh had followed, of course. He couldn't let Zuko go alone.
"That's it. That is it. I'm done with this." The end of Zuko's cloak was clenched firmly in the steadily chewing jaws of a koalasheep. Iroh hoped for a moment that Zuko meant to return to the airship, but that was not Zuko's intention.
The Fire Lord took a firm stance, a deep breath, and blasted a ball of fire directly over the heads of the koalasheep. They bleated in panic and leaped away. The one eating his cloak tried to run, was jerked to a stop by the mouthful of cloak, and belatedly opened its mouth to let it go before scrambling away.
Iroh's skin flushed with the hot backdraft from Zuko's fireblast. He watched the sheep fleeing over the hills and shook his head. "That was not very kind."
"Well, it got them out of the way." Zuko's step was lighter as he strode across the meadow towards the black rocks. "Besides, I didn't actually hurt them. And maybe now they'll leave us-"
A black shadow flickered across the ground, passing over the two men. Iroh's gut clenched. He looked up.
An enormous creature circled them from above. Sunlight gleamed off of the crimson scales, slate gray talons snapped open and ready for attack. The dragon's eyes fixed on his with malevolent intent. Smoke curled from its open mouth. Iroh's chest tightened and he reached for breath that wasn't there. He felt a hand on his shoulder, yanking him from the spot right before a stream of flame hit it.
Iroh stumbled and caught himself. He stared at the place he'd just been standing, shock and horror trembling through his muscles. What the hell was a dragon doing here?
Zuko recovered first, and began yelling up at the dragon. "Stop, please! We aren't your enemy!" He ducked and narrowly avoided the gleaming talons. "Don't do this! Please listen to us!"
The dragon flew high and turned around for another pass. Zuko clenched a hand in his uncle's tunic. "I don't think it's going to listen, uncle."
Iroh stared hard, not at the dragon, but at the grass where the dragon had sent the fiery blast. His brow furrowed in thought. He grabbed Zuko's arm.
"Shoot it, now."
"What? It's a dragon. We can't shoot a dragon!"
Iroh didn't waste time explaining. He planted his foot firmly and shot a beam of fire at the approaching dragon. The dragon's snout was glowing with its own burning fire, and it hurled a flaming ball directly at Iroh and Zuko.
There was no time to run. Iroh set his jaw and watched the fireball coming closer and closer. It hit him the same time that his beam hit the dragon. He felt nothing; light shimmered around him and was gone.
The dragon disappeared.
Relief swept over Iroh with a rush of feeling returning to suddenly relaxed limbs. He let his breath out in a huff. Zuko gaped.
"What… What just happened?"
Iroh glanced warily around them. "Someone is playing a trick on us."
A rock hit Zuko in the temple. He yelped in surprise and slapped a hand to the injured spot. Another pebble smacked his hand; he cursed and covered his head with his forearm.
Iroh saw another rock fly towards his nephew, and reached out to catch it, ignoring the sting. He saw someone duck down behind a rocky outcropping.
"Stop that," he called. "There's no need for this. Come out and talk."
His answer was a rock aimed unerringly at his own head. He caught that one as well, and laughed. "Are we going to play catch all day? Surely you have something better to –" He barely caught the next one. "Better to do. Really, there can't be any call for this hostility."
There was a pause and a silence from the rocks. Then, "He flamed my sheep!"
Zuko flushed and said, "I didn't know they belonged to anyone. I'm sorry. I mean, it's not like I actually hit them or anything -" He ducked another projectile. "Hey, I said I'm sorry!"
"Fine, you're sorry. Now go away!"
"We can't go away. We're looking for someone."
"Yeah, well, I'm the only one on this island. So whoever you're looking for, they aren't – hey!"
Iroh had snuck around behind their attacker while her attention was on Zuko and grabbed her arm. He pulled the young woman into the open. She struggled for a moment before settling on glaring at him.
Iroh smiled. "I don't normally like to trick nice young women, but seeing as how you tricked us first, I will make an exception this time. And you must tell me sometime how you made such a convincing dragon."
Zuko advanced on them, scowling. "How did she make a dragon at all?"
"I used firebending, you koala-brain," she retorted.
Zuko was too startled to be angry at the insult. "Firebending? You can't firebend something like that."
Iroh was still restraining the young woman. "If I let you go, will you refrain from throwing things at us until we can talk? I think Fire Lord Zuko is tired of getting hit." He dropped the title with purpose, and was gratified when the woman stiffened.
"F…Fire Lord?"
Iroh let her go, and her face showed growing dismay as she stared at Zuko.
"You're lying," she said weakly.
Iroh settled his hands into his sleeves. "I assure you, I'm not."
"Why would the Fire Lord come to my island and flame my sheep?" she asked Iroh.
"He's standing right here," Zuko said, irritated. She flushed, in anger or embarrassment, Iroh couldn't tell.
"We came in search of someone," Iroh said. "A lady. Her name is Ursa."
What color had been in the woman's cheeks drained, and she looked a bit ill now. "Oh. Oh, dear."
Her strong reaction surprised Iroh, who had been expecting nothing of the sort, and he felt a sudden surge of optimism. Was it possible? Could Zuko's mother have found her way in banishment to this remote little place, in spite of its unclimbable cliffs and location inside the Fire Nation borders?
Zuko had not missed the effect of the name on her either. "Do you know her? Have you – has she been here?" His eyes were wide and hopeful, and Iroh's optimism fell, crushed under the weight of concern for his nephew. His unease grew as he watched the girl's eyes shift nervously.
"We… we need to talk, I suppose. Not here though." She drew herself up, surreptitiously dropping the handful of stones she had still been clutching. "Will you come to my home? I have some things I can tell you about Ursa." She blushed. "I mean, if you can forgive me for being so, ah, unfriendly."
"Of course," Iroh said.
He would remember the nervous eyes, though.