I I pick up Ru Ru and flop down on my bed. We are going to have a full day tomorrow.
bring my dark hood up past my long black hair. Ru Ru, my red marten, hops up on my shoulders. I'm shopping around at a market near the Fire Nation Colonies. It didn't have as much to choose from as the mainland Fire Nation markets, but beggars can't be choosers. I stop by one of the fruit vendors to look at her wares. She's selling moon peaches! My stomach growls. I reach over and pick one up as I look at the merchant.
"How much are these?" I ask.
"Two copper coins." The merchant replies.
"I'll take three, please." I proceed to get my coin bag and count out the coins. I'm almost finished when I get knocked off balance by my red marten. She jumped off my shoulders and into the street!
"Ru Ru, come back here!" I yell. I grab the moon peaches and shove the coins at the merchant. Then I dash off after my little miscreant marten.
I chase her as she runs through the market, knocking over crates and tripping people up. I almost get to her before she knocks down a stand of cabbages. .
"MY CABBAGES!" The sad cabbage merchant screams and falls down on his knees with his hands on his head.
I hurry after Ru Ru as fast as I can. At the sight of the massacred cabbages I wince. "Sorry sir! Ru Ru stop!" I yell while apologizing and waving to the man.
Ru Ru stops at the docks and runs over to where men are loading supplies into a Fire Nation ship. She scurries around the crates and hops into a box full of food. A man walks up to the box, bends down, and picks it up. Oh no! I can only watch as the man carrying the box walks towards the ship while Ru Ru's tail sticks out of the box.
I bolt towards the ship and ask one of the men, "My pet ran into one of the boxes! You have to get her out!" The man ignores me and walks into the ship with most of the other men. Soon, there was only one man and one box left. I sneak into the box and shut it before the man gets there. I hear him groan as he puts the box in the storage area. I am not that heavy!
Once I hear the door close, I get out of the box and begin my search in the storage area. Frantically, I search through the boxes until I catch sight of the familiar fluffy red and brown striped tail of my Ru Ru behind a box across the row. Suddenly, the ship lurches as the anchor lifts up. Oh no, we were moving!
"Great now we're stuck, are happy now? Did you get what you wanted?" I whisper angrily to the little trouble maker. The adorable rat perks her head up at my voice and runs over to me. She squeals as she tries to climb up my leg. "Oh no you don't." I say to her. "You aren't getting off the hook that easily." Ru Ru looks up at me with her large sad eyes and quivers her lip. I grumble at the sight.
I sit down on a box and lift Ru Ru up onto my lap to start petting her red coat. "You know I can't resist that face." I frown at her. "Alright, I give up. You win." I sigh while taking my hood off and pulling my long black hair free from the fabric. It gets in Ru Ru's face and she lets out a cute sneeze.
I set Ru Ru down to start looking for a way out. A few rows of boxes away, I find a door. Excitedly, I try to open it, but it's locked. I sigh and turn to search for another way.
Half an hour later, I sit on a crate, boredly eating moon peaches while staring at the locked door. I've tried lockpicking, all the bending styles, telekinesis, and sheer force of will, but nothing has moved it. Ru Ru fell asleep about 15 minutes ago and has been lightly snoring on my lap ever since. She has been no help at all; it's like she wants to stay in the food storage area!
I hear footsteps coming towards the door and move Ru Ru off my lap in case I have to fight. The door opens. Man, it was a push door, not a pull door! I see the same man that loaded up my crate. He looks directly at me and gasps in terror. Rude!
"Mmhh, how long have you been here?" The man asks in concern.
I shrug. "About an half an hour give or take. Sorry!'
"Ok, I'm sure I'm fired now" The man says like he regrets his life choices.
Poor guy. I think as I lift my hands lift up my hands in a circle motion while making relaxed L shapes with my fingers to try to calm him down. I squint my eyes little while raising an eyebrow "Are you ok?"
He raises an eyebrow back at me."You're coming with me. The prince has to figure out what to do with you."
I shrug again. "Well, I guess I have no other choice." I say as I get up. I grab Ru Ru and hold her in my arms.
Ru Ru wakes up and scurries up on top of my shoulders. She loves to lay there. I walk with the man up to the top deck, and blinking I hold my hand in front of my face to adjust to the bright light of midday. I look around to see that we are not close to any land. Like, at all. There is only water in every direction. That sucks. I look at the deck to see this prince I'm supposed to meet. There's only a shorter old man drinking tea and a badly scarred boy with a weird haircut. We walk up to them.
The man clears his throat. "Prince Zuko."
The bad haircut boy and the older man turn around. Bad haircut is choleric as he stares at me. The old man seems pleasantly surprised and gives me a small smile. I wave my hand slightly at them and smile a little.
"Who is she?" Bad haircut asks the man.
"Well, you see Prince Zuko," Ah, so bad haircut is the Prince. "I just found her in the cargo area." The man states
'What reasons do you have coming aboard my ship?" Zuko asks as he gets even more upset.
"Mmh, I was chasing Ru Ru, and next thing I knew I was in your ship sailing away." I explain.
Zuko starts to say something, but the old man interrupts him.
"You should ask this beautiful young lady her name." The old man tells Zuko.
"Uncle!" Zuko irritatedly says under his breath while rolling his eyes.
"Well if you won't, I will." The old man announces while giving Zuko a look. "What's your name?" He asks sweetly.
"My name is Fira sir. Sorry for sneaking on the ship, I didn't mean to." I apologize.
"That's a very unique name, is this here Ru Ru? She must be quite the trouble maker for you." The old man asks.
"Yes, and you have no idea how much trouble she gets me into." I answer.
"You're fire from the Fire Nation Colonies?" Zuko says sarcastically.
I cross my arms and roll my eyes growing irritated at him. "My parents loved the Fire Nation so much that they named me Fira. Isn't that a suitable name for a fire bender?" I looked out of the corner of my eye to see the man sneaking back down the stairs. I let him go; the man didn't deserve to be reprimanded just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Zuko's uncle looks at his nephew and then moves his eyes towards Fira. Zuko crosses his arm and rolls his eyes. I just glare at both of them perplexed.
"Since we just stocked up, and it will be three months until we get back to shore, I guess you can stay with us. Only until we get back to land." Zuko states.
"Thank you, I really am thankful that you didn't make me swim back to shore." I joke.
"Would you like any Jasmine tea?" The uncle asks.
"I love Jasmine tea, its my favorite tea." I follow him over to the tea table. "Oh, what should I call you both since I'm going to be here for a while?" I wonder.
"I'm Iroh and this here is my nephew, Prince Zuko." Iroh says as we reach the table. "Please sit." He starts pouring Jasmine tea into cups.
Zuko and I sit down. Zuko glances at me, and I look back at him. He quickly looks down at his steaming cup.
"Fira, where are you from?" Iroh asks, trying to make small talk.
"The Fire Nation capital." I quickly respond. Ru Ru climbs down off of me and hops onto Zuko's lap, snuggling up to him.
"Auugghh, what is she doing?" Zuko yells in shock.
"She is cuddling with you. She won't bite you unless you don't pet her. The only reason why she's doing that is that she knows she can trust you." I explain. I don't understand why Ru Ru decided to trust him, but it's either that or he is feeling really upset and she's trying to comfort him.
Zuko stares at Ru Ru in hatred and tries to shove her off of him, but the more he tries the more she cuddles up to him. He gives into her cuteness and pets her, and she twitters softly in response. I smile at them. I knew Ru Ru's cuteness would win over eventually.
"Are you a traveler?" Iroh asks as he takes a sip of his tea.
"No... well, kind of." I say as I tap my fingers on the table in a nervous habit. "How about you guys? What are you doing?" I ask, trying to switch the conversation.
"We are on a journey to find the Avatar to restore my Honor!" Zuko shouts. "Are you on a journey?" Zuko asks.
I look down at my hands and take a deep breath. "Well, I kind of got kicked out of the Fire Nation."
"You can join the club." Iroh jokes.
I chuckle. I might as well tell them most of the story. I take off my cape revealing my scar, a lightning pattern that traces my skin from my neck all the way to my left hand. Iroh looks at me in sympathy. Zuko's expression doesn't change.
"What happened to get that pattern?" Zuko asks bluntly. Iroh gives him a look; the 'Why would you say that; didn't I raise you better than this?' look.
"I'll tell you about my scar, if you tell me about yours." I offer. I'm pretty curious how he got a scar over half his face.
"Fine, but you go first!" Zuko demands.
I raise my hands in surrender. "Fine, you don't have to be so intense." I start on my explanation. "I got into a argument with my father about how he was treating some soldiers, and he got so angry with me that he struck me with lightning and knocked me out. When I woke, he told me I was banished from the Fire Nation until I could find the Avatar and restore my family back to a place of respect in the Fire Nation." I put my hand on my scarred elbow and rub my thumb up and down across some of my scars.
Iroh looks sorry for her; angsty boy keeps a straight face.
Zuko crosses his arms. "My turn then. I disobeyed my father, and he gave me a permanent mark on my face to teach me a lesson. He commanded me to never return unless I have found the Avatar. Then he would restore my Honor." Zuko tells me.
"Ouch. I guess we both have pretty shitty fathers. Maybe they read the same 'how to be a good father' book." I joke. There's nothing to hide pain and loneliness quite like humor.
Zuko slams his fists on the table. "Don't speak of my father that way." he yells, causing Ru Ru to flinch.
Oops, looks like I made him mad. I wince and apologize. "Whoa, sorry! I didn't mean anything by it."
Zuko is still angry with me, but he drops the comment and continues with the conversation.
"How did your father ban you? Only the Fire Lord has the power to ban people." Zuko asks confused.
"He asked the Fire Lord to ban me; apparently they're best pals." I explain.
"Is your father Tavror?" Iroh asks.
"Yes, do you know him?" I answer baffled .
"Who is this Tavror guy?" Zuko asks his uncle.
Iroh shook his head. "No, I didn't know him personally, but I knew by his reputation. He's the most feared and respected High Admiral in the Fire Nation and my brother's favorite."
"Yep, that sounds like my father." I agree.
I glance at Zuko, and see him scowling. Not going to talk to him just yet. I turn toward Iroh. "Thank you for the tea. I would talk more, but it's been a long day, so I must be off to bed." I say as I get up. I take two steps before I realise that I don't know where I'm going. I turn around and point my finger towards the two at the table. "I have no idea where I am going!" I declare boldly.
"Here, come with me. I'll show you where you will be staying." Iroh says as he stands up. He puts his left hand around me and lifts up his right hand to lead me to my room.
I make a clicking sound to call Ru Ru over. She hears it and leaps off of Zuko's lap. She scurries over to me and climbs up on my shoulders. Eventually, we reach our destination. Iroh opens the door for me and gestures for me to go in.
"Here you go. This is where you will be staying. If you need anything, just tell me." Iroh offers.
"Thank you so much." I reply.
"I'll try to see if there's any spare clothes on this ship for you tomorrow." Iroh tells me.
I smile in response. He is so generous. I wave while I shut the door. When it shuts, I lean against the door and sink down to the floor. Ru Ru crawls down my shoulder and growls at me. "I know. I shouldn't have shut the door in his face." I respond to Ru Ru. She bleats at me. "I know that they're nice!" She barks. "Would you stop lecturing me!"