A/N: Just as a heads up, I have a tendency to make things a lot more serious than they are. I first posted this on a different website, but it doesn't allow me to revise my chapters or describe things past what Nickelodeon would air. I just thought it'd be cool to post a kind of "uncut" version of this on here. Please tell me what you think! I already have eight chapters written, so they should be up pretty quickly after I get the revising done and all. Enjoy!
With my hands folded atop one another, pressed against my lips, I waited. For what I was to expect I did not know, the details of this meeting were scarcely clarified.
"Just follow this map and he'll come when he thinks right." the nameless man explained. He passed a rolled piece of worn parchment into my hands with a single, crimson ribbon fastened around the midsection. When I lifted my gaze from the scroll, the second male had vanished without a sound.
Thus now I sat upon a moss inhabited boulder, anticipating this unknown man's arrival for hours. Annoyance was beginning to overtake me as I gnawed the innards of my cheek, my eyes cast in a bored glare. The full moon had already begun to peer through the gaps of the canopy overhead, upstaging the jealous and ashamed stars about her. I closed my eyes and sighed, separating my hands from each other. As a single finger impatiently tapped the vegetated rock, the fallen leaves of the forest floor began to rustle with footsteps whispering in my direction. I opened my eyes, and saw before me the nameless man, accompanied by a second male figure.
"See? I told you he'd be here." the nameless one announced proudly, the saliva coated teeth of his smile glimmering in the moonlight. The second man showed no emotion to the subject of who was victorious in their apparent argument.
"Don't be so foolish as to ridicule your master." He advised with an unchanged expression. The untitled servant heeded to his lord's words, replacing his smile with an impassive facade. The master turned his attention to me, a petite smirk taking root in the corners of his lips. "I believed you wouldn't comply with my offer." He stated.
"I considered aborting." I told him, draping my arms over my knees. I usually spoke just as normal teenagers did, though I knew how to speak when discussing a proposition.
"You will find you are wise in coming here." He told me.
"Why might that be?" I asked, rolling my eyes.
"You are Ronin, are you not?" he questioned.
"I am, though that is not my true name." I informed scornfully.
"Those around you think you unworthy of your true title," he reminded, the smile sprawling further over his flesh at the reluctant agreement on my face, "Correct?"
I bothered not to return the favor of communication, for I knew he already had knowledge of the answer. "Why did you have your servant request that I come here?" I asked, attempting to steer away from the former subject.
"I am not his servant!" the lesser man declared.
"Then why is he addressed as 'master'?" I asked, smirking with long awaited amusement.
"He is my student," The master answered, his expression returned to neutralization, "and I had him request for this meeting because I have a job for you."
"What kind of job?" I asked, interest sparking in my eyes.
The smile returned to his lips as he stepped further into the silver rays that shed over the earth. "Assassination."
The single word fell from his mouth, initiating a rapidly accelerating sense of adrenaline within my veins.
"It's been a while since I've been offered such an opportunity," a slick voice slithered throughout my mind, "hasn't it Ronin?" I tried to brush this constant, reluctantly familiar voice aside, though knew this attempt was in vein. After inhaling several deep breathes to calm myself, I returned my attention to the master. "Whom do you wish dead?"
"Firelord Zuko." He answered. "His ways are not right; we need him gone, permanently."
"What will I get in return for doing your dirty work?" I questioned.
"Fame, admiration, and a pedestal within civilization upon which you shall be perched." He replied.
Though I was intrigued by the lastly mentioned reward, I still desired more in payment for reaping a life. "What, no money?" I asked in an appalled tone.
"Oh, there will be money." He assured. "Just comply with my wishes, and you will be given a large sum of good fortune and finances."
The outline of a pleased leer took place on my lips in the form of a devious smirk. "Good. But if you ever go back on your word, I believe you know what will happen…" I threatened.
"You have no reason to become aggressive with me," He claimed, "for I always keep my word." With that, he handed me a second map, though this one seemed newly purchased. "This chart will lead you to the Firelord's temple. If you follow the route inscribed daily, you should arrive there by the third or fourth night. If you arrive earlier, await nightfall to carry out the execution swiftly and silently." As he began to retreat within the camouflage of the shrouded forest he had once appeared, he bid to me good luck.
Keep your luck, I thought after he'd gone, I make my own.