Yeah edits! Silent Jee, edited (for the most part) and back in action!

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Chapter 1: Silent Jee

It was dark, he was tired, he was hungry, but he wasn't going to stop. As soon as he and his uncle were out of trouble, he would, but not right now. His uncle had fallen asleep on the back of the ostrich-horse they were riding. He felt his uncle's gray beard against his back. This discomfort did not make the ride any more enjoyable, but he looked pass it, and out onto the horizon. He seemed dizzy from lack of water, but he was able to see it, to see the view.

They were coming up to a bustling city, filled with people of all ages. Children played tag, and their parents stood by and laughed. He shook his shoulder to wake his uncle. With a snort, his uncle woke up. "Zuko," he said to the boy, "We must find shelter."

"Yes, Uncle," Zuko replied. He pulled over the ostrich-horse, and they went into a tavern. The tavern was an inn, and they hoped to stay there for the night. Zuko and his uncle walked in to see it filled with men and women drinking, gambling, and fighting. Zuko walked by in disgust, "peasants," he said under his breath. He and his uncle made their way to the clerk. She was an old woman with a smile across her face. She looked a lot like his uncle, with their large, annoying smiles. His uncle walked up to the woman and asked how much the room would cost. She told him, and he said they would stay. "What are your names?" She asked. Zuko looked around, and listened to his uncle's response, "My name is Jo, and this is my nephew, Lee."

"Nephew, oh he's so handsome, he looks a lot like you," she told him. Zuko rolled his eyes; this was going to be a long night. He took the bags up to the room; the woman had told him the number before he left. He opened the door, and lay down on the bed looking at the ceiling. It had been a long time since he could do this. For a long time, he and his uncle, whose name was Iroh, not Jo, slept on the ground. They were running away from the fire nation. He ran his fingers through his short black hair, and closed is golden eyes.

At first glance, Zuko looked to be a sixteen-year-old who had suffered from the war, the war among the four nations. He had a scar left from a burn on his left eye, giving him a tough look to add onto his very strong appearance. On the inside, however, he held a story not many people could believe even if they tried to comprehend. He was the son of the person continuing the war, Fire Lord Ozai. People wouldn't believe this for his current appearance, not the muscles, but the civilian earth nation clothes. According to his father, and everyone else in the Fire Nation, he was an embarrassment. It seemed he had lacked what others thought he needed: vengeance. Before his mother disappeared, and his father banished him, Zuko felt that some things the Fire Nation did were inhuman. He tried to look tough to everyone, but inside, he was caring, even if he didn't like to show it.

He was banished because of this trait, which some would think he received from his mother and uncle. He had told not only a general, but also his father, that a battle plan to use new soldiers as bait, was uncalled for and cruel. He was to face the man he had insulted, his father, in an "Agni Kai," or fire-bending duel. When he realized his opponent, he pleaded for forgiveness. Instead, he was given his forever-lasting burn, and even longer lasting banishment.

Zuko sat up, off the bed, and looked into a mirror on the left wall of the room. The rest of the room was so unlike the place he had slept before, on a fire nation ship. The room seemed so much more inviting compared to the iron shell he used to call his home. The floor was a beautiful hard wood, in the middle it was covered by a green rug with golden flowers embroidered on the edges. On top of the rug were two beds, just as alluring. The blankets resembled the same design, and the pillows were a green silk, with golden trim. The walls were not green, nor gold, but an aged white, covered in drawings and writings. Pictures of cherry blossom trees and tiger-cat lilies circled all around the room. Zuko read a spot on the wall that said, "Only those who try survive." The words were next to a drawing of a man and woman in each other's arms under the trees. The works of art and craftsmanship couldn't help but grab the attention of the troubled boy.

The door of the room opened, and Zuko turned to see his uncle enter. "The room is nice," he told his nephew. He too sat on one of the beds, and took off his boots. Zuko looked back at the mirror, and then back at his uncle. Iroh lay down, and began to talk to Zuko. Zuko listen as he got undressed for a much-needed night of rest. When Iroh had fallen asleep, though Zuko knew he should join him, he continued to look around the room, and let his mind wander. The thoughts of what would happen the next day, whether Iroh thought they should stay for a few days, or they should head out in the morning, kept clouding his restless mind. A few hours later, he fell asleep, still knowing that he would most likely be woken up soon anyway.

Zuko turned over in his sleep and let out a slight moan of annoyance. The sun peeked through a window over his bed, and he began to open his eyes, little by little. The sun shined making his golden eyes seem brighter as he moved himself out of the comfort of the inn bed. He rubbed his neck, then his bare shoulders, trying to wake the rest of his body up. He stood up, and made his way to his clothes. Once he put them on, he walked down to the first floor of the inn: the tavern. It was deserted, and once it came to mind, Zuko realized that his uncle was no where to be found. He began to franticly look around the inn for any sign of Iroh, or anyone for that matter.

He lifted up a tablecloth over one of the many tables. That was the last one, and there was still no one to be seen. He looked outside, to breathe a sign of relief. There sat Iroh, with the clerk from the night before, on the step to the entrance. Zuko went to join them, when he was surprised by a grim welcome from the two. Zuko sat next to his uncle, and questioned the situation.

"They came," the woman said. She fixed her apron, and looked in Zuko's eyes. "The soldiers."

At fist Zuko jumped to the conclusion of fire nation soldiers, but the woman finished he sentence, the outcome, was very surprising. "The soldiers that 'protect' us," she said sarcastically. Iroh placed his hand over hers, and she explained. "They were sent here the beginning of last year. They were told to protect us from the fire nation. Instead, the men work on their own free will. They use their orders to justify what they do, but we know it's wrong. They take away people who they suspect are spies, or pirates, or thieves. Last night, they came through, again. They took my son. They told me that that they 'witnessed' him stealing from the inn. I told them that I owned the inn, but they pushed me away and continued to bring him to the prison."

She began to cry onto Iroh shoulder, and Iroh looked to Zuko, whose expression showed a mixture of anger, and sorrow. The woman explained that they had accused her husband of piracy the year before, and he was hung. Her son, Kyo, was all she had left. Iroh brought her into the inn, and came out alone, and sat next to Zuko. "I want to get him back," Zuko told him. Iroh and the boy looked out to the road before them, and Zuko explained that he would try to release the boy that night. Iroh forbid the idea, and reminded him that, he was wanted for something. If he were to get caught, the boy could be killed, and just as all the woman had was her son, Zuko was all that Iroh now had. Iroh had lost his only son in the war. Zuko remembered the day he and his family received word that his older cousin had been killed. He agreed to not go through with his plan, and the two spent the day helping the inn owner.

That night, Zuko climbed out of the room through the window over his bed. Zuko may have agreed not to go through with his original plan, but he had another one up his sleeves. He was going to get caught on purpose, and then the two would escape together. He walked down the empty street in front of the inn. It had been closed that day, because of the prior night's events. The teenager made is way down the road, and stopped at the end. 'There they are,' he thought as a group of men dressed in armor walked by. Zuko started to walk with the men, and looked at a fruit cart that had been closed up for the night. He ran through the men, and up to the cart. He went to take off a sheet of cloth that had been thrown over it to prevent it being wet from rain, when one of the men grabbed his arm. He acted with residence, as to fool the men, while they pulled them away.

When they had brought him to their destination, they brought him up a flight of stairs, and into a room filled with cells, which were filled with dirty men, obviously prisoners. Zuko looked through the cells as he was pushed by. One man opened the last cell, and Zuko was pushed in. He lay on the hard rock floor as he heard the men laugh and leave. When the door shut, the room filled with talk. Zuko lifted himself off the floor only seconds before he was pulled into a conversation, literally. A large muscular man reached his arm out, and wrapped it around Zuko's waist as he brushed himself off, and then the man pulled him next to him, and asked why he was here. Zuko ignored the man, and the men around him, and began to look for Kyo. The boy was easily spotted on the other side of the cell, for he got his looks from his mother. They shared curly brown hair, and dark skin, making their bright green eyes shine without flaw. Zuko walked over, and just to make sure, questioned the boy. Just as he thought, the boy was Kyo. They were of about the same age, so Zuko didn't fear the boy having trouble keeping up.

Zuko looked around, and tried to find a way out of the cells. His eyes spotted a crack on a lower part of a wall near them, and noticed that if beaten enough, it would create a hole big enough for the boys to fit through, but there was a slight problem: the stone. The stone was a type that took years to start to show any sign of aging, it was no wonder why the establishers of the prison chose it. The problem was that, once the rock was broken, it couldn't be made bigger. They would have to hope that it would break big enough the first time, or else it would fail. Kyo was slightly smaller that Zuko, so for both of them to escape, they would need to make the hole big enough for Zuko. The boys looked around their cell for rocks to use in their plan. When they found one, Zuko threw the rock as hard as he could at the spot. The sound of the colliding rocks silenced the other men, and when the dust cleared, a hole was revealed. Kyo crawled through, without any problems, but just as the boys feared, it wasn't big enough for Zuko.

Before the break out, Zuko had explained everything to Kyo, so from the outside, Kyo announced to his savior that he would tell his uncle what happened. Zuko wasn't happy about the idea, but it was only choice. The other men in the cell that could fit through the hole also left, but that wasn't many. The guards came to the noise, but they were too late to stop the others, and they knew the hole was too small for the rest of them, so they didn't worry. They left once more, and Zuko and the others began to talk again.

When the burly man asked Zuko what had happened for the second time, Zuko responded with an explanation. Morning came, and the men ate their meals, and talked. There wasn't much else to do. With the men that left, there was more space, so men that could find big enough rocks used them as weights. Zuko sat on the side, tossing a small rock back and forth between his hands. "Sorry 'bout your uncle," a man said to him. The man was lacking teeth and proper education. It seemed that the soldiers did catch some men that belonged in prison, but of those slim men, they weren't as bad as others.

'Cough, cough.'

Zuko turned to the sound. It was from a cell behind him. He looked in to see only on person sitting on a bench, looking out a barred window. Zuko glared, and thought of how odd the situation was. "Hello?" he asked to the man. No response. "Hello?" He said a little more stern. Still no response. Zuko felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up. Another man, this on was one that was caught with no cause, looked back down at him. Zuko had spoken to this one the night before. His name was Saburo. He had said that he was in here for supposedly being a spy. He told Zuko that he had a wife and daughter outside the prison, his daughter was going to turn six soon, and his wife was pregnant with their second child.

Saburo sat next to Zuko and told him, "Don't bother with that one," gesturing to the man in the other cell, "He's been here about three weeks, and hasn't said a word. In fact as far as the others know, he hasn't even moved."

Zuko looked back at the cell and asked, "Why is he alone? How do they know he isn't dead?"

Saburo laughed. "He isn't dead, and they know that because the day they brought him in, he came in with another man. The next morning, the other man was slaughtered. The next day, the put another man in there…"

"Let me guess," Zuko cut him off, "He was killed, too."

"Yep. They don't want to put anyone else in there, because they want to kill us themselves. They don't want all of us to get killed by that guy." He pointed to the man again, "Since he won't talk, we don't know his name, so the guards and everyone refer to him as 'Silent Jee.' Don't bother trying to talk to him though. It's a waste of breath." Saburo left to talk to some other men, but Zuko kept his eye on "Silent Jee." A man that doesn't move or speak? Zuko was intrigued by the thought, but he, like some of the other men, was scared of the man. That night, Zuko tried to sleep on the hard floor. He had almost succeeded, when the large man from the day before moved and hit Zuko in the head. Zuko woke up, and heard a noise.

Clink, clink, clink.

Zuko turned to the Silent Jee's cell. To Zuko's surprise from Saburo's story, the solitary prisoner was throwing stones at the bars on his window. "Hey," Zuko tried to yell in a whisper. He yelled again, and this time, the man looked at him. It was dark in the cell, but Zuko could see the blue of the man's eyes glare at him through the bars of their cells. "What's your name?" Zuko asked. Jee looked out the window, and went back to throwing his rocks. "What's your name?" Zuko repeated his question, growing sterner, just as he had earlier. Jee continued to ignore him. At last, Zuko gave up, and went to sleep. Three days. Zuko stayed in the cell for three days. Everyday a couple men were taken out of their cells, and hanged. Three nights. Three nights, Zuko tried to talk to Jee, and failed. On the fourth day, the man Zuko was most comfortable with was hung at noon. Saburo hanged for his "crimes," leaving behind a daughter, a wife, and an unborn child. That night, Zuko sat in the corner next to Jee's cell. He didn't bother Jee though. He was too caught up in the death of Saburo.

Clink, clink, clink.

Dowink!

"Ow." Zuko said as he rubbed his head. He looked over to Jee. He was throwing his rocks again, and hit Zuko. Once again, through the dark, he could see the glare of Jee's blue eyes. Zuko stood up, and asked, "What was that for?"

Dowink!

"Ow," Zuko rubbed his head, and glared back at Jee. His eyes widened as Jee walked up to him. For such a deadly man, he was awfully short. He glared up to Zuko, and pulled him down to his level. Jee wasn't very short, but he was a few inches shorter than Zuko. "I heard about your uncle," Jee said in a voice that was higher than most men, he seemed to be young. His left eye widened and stared at Zuko. His eye was frightening. It was blue, on the bottom, the rest was red. "I can get you out, for a price," Jee stated. Zuko looked into his eye. 'What price?' He thought

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