I am a new writer, and this is my first fic, so don't kill me if it's bad!If there is anything that you think needs to be pointed out, let me know. R&R y'all!

Amethyst In the Night

Chapter I: New on the Crew

It had been almost two weeks since Zuko last saw that appalling sight of the Avatar and his monstrous bison, accompanied by the water tribe peasants and that stupid flying lemur. Running low on supplies, Iroh insisted upon stopping at Shiroh Nagiyan to gather supplies. And besides, upon coincidence, the avatar might be there.

Three hours later, once they docked, Zuko noticed a group of people shouting random insults, but paid it no attention. Iroh stopped at many curio stands, just browsing, and came upon a cute little teaset, which he decided to throw into the pile of stuff he bought. Zuko, thoroughly irritated by his uncle's behaviour, decided to wander off and 'get himself lost in the crowd'. Though he didn't notice it, he was walking in the direction of the group he saw earlier. He walked up to one of the people surrounding the circle and asked what all the commotion was about.

"We're planning a way to get back at those dastardly thieves that keep plaguing our dock! Numerous times, they've gotten away from the guards that protect our dock, and - " the old man broke off as he looked at Zuko. " - You! How dare you show your face here! You're a wanted man! And where's that little girl who's always in your shadow?" Zuko tried to turn and run, but the only way he could go was through the crowd and back to his uncle.

"Uncle!" Zuko yelled, panic in his voice.

"Zuko, what - " the retired firebender trailed off as he saw the massive mob of townsfolk on Zuko's heels. Zuko reached his uncle in just enough time to get surrounded, his uncle watching his back. Then Zuko noticed a 'Wanted' poster in one of the nearby store windows. The picture of the man of the two thieves did look like Zuko, but the girl, no one he had ever seen, until he looked closer. It was his sister, Zula. At that point, Zuko filled with hate for his sister, paying no attention to one of the men who launched a punch at him. It hit Zuko square in his gut, causing him to double over in pain. Then he heard a voice.

"STAY AWAY FROM THEM!" It was a girl's voice. He looked before him, then at the sky when he noticed everyone else do the same. Jumping off the roof of the store nearest the mob, Zuko saw six indistinguishable figures, each holding a staff that was pointed at both ends. They landed in a circle around the two men.

"These aren't the thieves. The boy's too old. And his company, the Dragon of the West. Why would he have General Iroh accompany him?" the girl in front of Zuko turned around and offered him a hand. "These people really didn't mean anything, though you do strike a good resemblance to one of the thieves. You okay?" There was nothing threatening in her voice, but her whole demeanor changed when a man came up to try and knock Zuko out. "Lay off the boy, Kaiku. He did nothing to you." She snarled as she returned her gaze back to Zuko, and held her hand out enthusiastically. Zuko took advantage of her offer and allowed her to help him up, still leaning forward in slight pain. Then, the man Kaiku yelled. "GET THEM ALL!" Zuko noted it was a futile attempt when all six girls, apparently the guards of the town, performed a skilled twirling maneuver with their staffs, shooting flames from not only their hands, but also the ends of their weapons. At once, the mob backed off to allow the flame to pass, but immediately continued the assault on the guards and strangers.

"Shaiya, your in our way! MOVE!" the old man yelled. The girl who helped Zuko up, apparently Shaiya was her name, took her staff and swung at the old man who, despite his age, ducked it gracefully and attempted to plant a knife in her throat. Zuko spun on his heels and tackled the man, knocking him cold for a few minutes while the onslaught continued. Another man, apparently in his early thirties, jumped at Zuko with a sword while Zuko dodged it, the sound of metal clanged as the sword hit Zuko's armor, announcing its failure to dislodge his arm from the rest of him. The girls, apparently tiring from the never-ending sea of attackers and the constant need to defend themselves, finally decided to quit sparing as many lives as possible and drew their daggers from sheaths hidden by the bottom hem of their pants. One man, the first to taste steel blade, launched at a blonde, who acted upon impulse and instinct and imbedded a huge gash in his right arm. He screamed in pain, and all fighting ceased for a silent second until the man Kaiku awoke, drew his own dagger and charged for Shaiya, yelling as many cuss words as he knew. Once he reached striking distance of Shaiya's dagger, he promptly fell to the ground, blood spewing from a deep gash in his neck that followed up to where the dagger was imbedded in his right temple. Shaiya looked very pissed.

"You messed with the wrong person for the last time, Kaiku." Shaiya turned to the onlookers who were struck with amazement that one of their beloved guardians had killed an elderly townsman. "ANYBODY who still wants to try me, come and meet your death." Shaiya yelled as she ripped her dagger from Kaiku's head and wiped it off on her own pants. The crowd began to disperse, in fear that if they lingered, they too would die. An eerie quiet set over the eight left. Iroh broke the glass-like silence.

"That was purely amazing to watch. Where did you girls learn to fight like that?"

Shaiya answered. "My father taught all six of us everything you just witnessed."

"I am impressed. Never have I seen anyone outside the fire lord's army fight with such vigorous motion and minor, yet deadly strikes. Magnificent!"

"My father used to be Fire Lord Ozai's right hand man, before an infection decided to end his time with us. Now, the jerk who took my spot, Zhao I think is his name, comes around to taunt me. God, I wish I could just cut his head off right in front of that moronic fire lord, and teach him who his right hand woman should be, making him regret ever letting Zhao take that spot." Shaiya said, putting unnecessary, yet effective emphasis on the word 'woman'. "So, what brings the Dragon of the West and the Prince of the Fire Nation to Shiroh Nagiyan?"

"We're just restocking our supplies before continuing on our way," Zuko said apologetically, a tone his uncle didn't think he had. "Didn't mean to start anything."

"No, its okay, besides you gave me the perfect opportunity to kill that idiotic old fool. He always got in my way. And thanks for tackling him, it really helped me gather my defenses." Zuko blushed a light, unnoticeable shade of pink as Shaiya said those words. "Why don't you guys stay for a little while, just a couple of days. I'm sure all that time on the sea has left you a little weary. You can stay at my place if you want." Both Zuko and Iroh fell for Shaiya's immensely powerful flirt-persuasion technique, which she used every chance she could, and both men agreed to her invitation.

That night at the Bleeding Pig pub, Shaiya and her crew managed to get slightly drunk, though their aim hadn't faltered when the bartender tossed a bunch of darts to them, urging them to see how drunk they were. A little wheel hung at the opposite end of the pub and Shaiya, followed one-by-one by her crew, managed to imbed the darts right in the center, leaving only one not split in half by the continuous thud of one slicing the previous in half around it. Then, unknown to Zuko and Iroh at the time, Shaiya's brother and two (male) cousins walked in, stood up on the bar, and began playing a few numerous instruments, of which the girls promptly got in a line and began to perform, Shaiya and the blonde who attacked one of the men in the earlier mobbing, were singing to the songs the boys played. It was then that Zuko noticed how good Shaiya looked. Fiery red hair that fell to her shoulders, soft lilac purple eyes that could turn to amethyst at any minute, though it usually happened when Shaiya was fighting. Her soft movements, accompanied by the rhythms her family brought, made her look like an angel from heaven, and all the drunks knew it. Many times that night, one or another would try to take her for his own, only to get slapped or gouged by her blade. When the pub closed later that night, Shaiya and her blonde friend, Onya, walked with the boys to Shaiya's place where Onya was staying until her parents returned from the war. Onya, too, looked good, with blonde hair down to her mid back, deep blue eyes that shone like the ocean, and equally as smooth movements as Shaiya. Together, both girls looked like perfection. The next day, nothing in particular happened. The townsfolk noticed that neither Zuko nor his uncle had stolen anything, and those that persecuted them for being thieves were constantly walking up to them apologizing. Iroh added more to his collection of interesting curios and Zuko talked with all the girls in Shaiya's group, of which they call themselves the Black Chaos Dragons. It was an effective choice for a name. Whenever there was any trouble on the dock, the townsfolk chose to yell 'Chaos Dragons! Black Chaos Dragons!' to hopefully ward off the thieves/troublemakers. No one managed to yell that when Zuko and Iroh were attacked because no one really paid attention to the rooftops where the group stood watch. Iroh and his nephew shared a room in Shaiya's house, which was huge, almost as big as the ship they sailed on. The first night there, Zuko didn't do much talking, but what else is new. The next night, after getting to know the girls, Shaiya and Onya mostly, when the four returned to Shaiya's house, and after a cup or two of tea, they all sat in front of a fire and talked.

"Zuko. Psst. Zuko" Iroh whispered in his ear as Shaiya and Onya were in a dead heat arm wrestling competition, both hissing cuss words to each other.

"What is it, uncle?"

"Invite them both on the ship with us."

"What?"

"You heard me, nephew, invite them both on the ship. They can help you capture the avatar. And they will make quite an impact on the crew."

"Fine. I don't know why I'm going to, but fine." Zuko ended his whisper-conversation with his uncle and Shaiya slammed Onya's hand to the table.

"I win again. Gimme the seven gold pieces." Shaiya claimed her victory prize from her friend, and Zuko decided now would probably be best. He even kind of agreed with his uncle for inviting the two on their ship.

"Hey, um girls. Got a question." Both girls looked at Zuko, curious as to what he might say. "Do you two want to come and…uh…join me, and my uncle?"

"Doing what, exactly?" Onya asked.

"You see, my nephew is hunting for the Avatar, and he was hoping that maybe you two would give him a hand, seeing as your both very skilled warriors, and know firebending like the back of your hand. Not to mention, we do have lots of fun, and I think you two would really enjoy it." Iroh broke in. He could tell his nephew would've had a tough time saying all that.

"Uh, we'd have to think about it first. But, don't get me wrong, sounds like fun." Shaiya answered first. "If you two wouldn't mind, we would need to talk about it with our crew, and if they didn't mind, we'd be more than happy to go. Do you have many run-ins with Zhao?"

"Every once in a while, but even that's too many. Why?" Zuko asked.

"I hate him, I hate his guts, I hate everything about him, and did you notice that he looks like a monkey in the right light!" Everyone laughed at Shaiya's answer. The next day, Shaiya and Onya brought up the topic of interest with the rest of the Black Chaos Dragons, and the four remaining Dragons were okay with being deserted by their leaders and good friends. After packing all necessities, and buying anything else that would prove useful, everyone boarded Zuko's ship and they set off that afternoon. Unknown to Zuko, or any other crew member but Iroh, the girls snuck their sujios on the ship to accompany them with their travels and troubles.