Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. Characters outside the tv show of are my creations, so they belong to me.

A/N: Hello, and welcome to my first fanfic! I hope I impressed~


A week had fully gone by before the world was spread of news that the Avatar had returned. There was joy, there was anger, and there were people wondering how the Avatar's return worked in their favor. Even now, they had to wonder what would become of their lives now that the Avatar had decided to show his face again. After a hundred years had gone by, and the Avatar before him had failed to stop Sozin, what is to be expected? Was hope a child's dream? Maybe. All anyone could do was wait to see what the Avatar would do.

Unless he was stopped that is.

But before that, what was happening at this very moment would shift focus from him. Now, at this very moment, the weather was gloomy and rainy. There was a steady grey curtain of clouds covering the skies as water poured heavily. The darkness and rain had obstructed the view, making everything cold and unwelcoming.

In the middle of the rain, not bothering to find shelter and shield for cover, was a person wearing a blue hooded-cape, which offered some protection from the overwhelming elements. Occassionaly, a petite hand would wipe the rain off their face, squinting to see as they remained focus on their destination.

The road was heavy, making it harder for them to track whom they were looking for. It was difficult for the Armadillo Lion, who couldn't see in the water and had to slow down crossing the small streams and pools that were continuously expanding from the rain. "I need to catch him by nightfall. Otherwise, I might lose him for good."

Looking over their shoulder, they looked at the lion that slowly made its way back to their side. The hand slowly reached to stroke its head, boney fingers combing through the wet fur to dampen its agitated mood. "I know you hate the rain, Xun." The words didn't seem to lessen the animal's frustration, but it did relax it some and made him nuzzled his head into their owner's hand.

Looking to their left, they had seen a homely tavern. Their eyes squinted in suspicion, wondering if that was where their target had went. They couldn't stay out in the rain too long, so what better place to go was in one of these open places? Their stride was slow, Xun following behind them until they had reached the doors. Their hand went out to halt the animal, which immediately knew he couldn't follow them inside.

With a growl of indignation, they rested beside the door to wait for their own, while they had went outside the busy and chattering place. Glasses were clinking, laughter as loud and hearty, and arguments ranging from playful to anger. In the corner of the establishment was a Fire Nation soldier but what was odd about him was the fact that the skull plate of their helmet was down, which meant they were trying to conceal their identity.

It was him. The one that the hooded mercenary was looking for.

Pulling out a knife from their sleeve, they made a slow approach to the soldier. Once they were close enough, they held the sharp blade to their throat. "You're coming with me."

Knowingly caught, they quickly evaded the knife before fleeing out the door. With a sigh of frustration, and a small rub to their right temple, they quickly went after him. The man changed his course to the left, heading through the forest. The mercenary followed in pursuit, wet branches slapping them in the face, but not stopping.

Xun was behind them before sliding beneath his owners legs and into the designed saddle. Grabbing the reigns, they allowed the cat to follow after him. Unable to not feel frustrated from the chase, they waited until the distance had shorten before pulling an arrow from the quiver and setting the attack.

With squinted eyes, trying to see through the rain, they had pulled the string back as their finger remained pointed to the man's back. "You're mine." The arrow cut through the air, breaking the wind and piercing into the back of the man's shoulder. He went down, screaming and writhing, as his captor walked over with unrushed steps. "If you hadn't run then you wouldn't be in this predicament Zhangsun."

The man immediately grabbed the arrow, wincing and growling as he attempted to pull it out. "What do you want?!"

"Its not about what I want." They retorted, eyes fixated but unseen from the shadow of their hood. "You're coming with me." Grabbing the back of his collar, the mercenary turned around and dragged the man from out of the forest.

"What's in this arrow? Why can't I move?!" He yelled, "I demand to know what's wrong with my body!"

With a smirk, his captor looked over his shoulder. "Just a small dosage of herbs. Something to keep you still since you like to runaway. You're smarter than that, Zhangsun~"

His body was unable to move, but his bronze eyes had done all the fighting for him, even though the emotions flickering across those orbs did not help him.

"You're going to drag me through this mud?" As if he hadn't questioned them enough, he kept pouring them out. "Haven't I lost any dignity I already had when you captured me?"

Silence befell them for several minutes until he received an answer. "If I were you, I would shut my mouth. You know, my father always told me that I was a little too lenient—too nice for his tastes at times—so if you want, I can do more than paralyze you."

The answer was enough to silence him, for good. The Armadillo-Lion had strutted alongside its owner, a trot to his step; seemingly pleased that they would soon be getting out of this rain and into a place where it could find comfort.

It didn't take long before they reach the harbor. Rows and rows of ships were docked, but the most notable one was the large, metal ship. The steel of it looked to be dusted black, but the tints of red of the windows and the Fire Nation flag of red banners with black flame insignia waved.

Zhangsun had fell asleep during their travel, but no matter. They had arrived at their destination and so there was no use in worrying whether he was awake or not just yet. The metal gangplank had lowered when the soldiers on deck had seen the familiar people.

With a short ( albeit tired ) stride, they made their way up and into the ship. Immediately, soldiers had rushed towards them in efforts to relieve the mercenary of their troubles, but they were silenced by the sight of her hand. Instead, they walked down the corridor and towards the meeting chamber where the Commander of the ship remained by his desk.

"Here." Tossing the man in the middle of the room, the mercenary lowered themselves to their knees to properly kneel as the Armadillo-lion had sat and remained at their side.

Brown hair was pulled into a neat and firm topknot, his odd characteristic that made him stood out were his prominent side burns. Other than that, he was a tall man with a muscular build; top heavy and strong, which made his presence quite intimidating. His eyes were a dull shade of amber and seem to scrutinize and seize all opportunities of everything before him.

His mouth, while thing, was hardly expressive. He could force a smile, a scary one, but he preferred to either smirk or frown. And at this very moment, he found himself smirking. "You did not disappoint."

"I would not return empty handed." The reply kept the expression on his face, his hands pressed to the desk as he lifted his lower half from the chair before walking around the desk. His arms were behind him, his stance authoritative and making the captor feel small.

"I'm glad you know better." said Zhao as he used his feet to turn Zhangsun over on his back but at the same time, driving the arrow deeper into the man's shoulder.

That was enough to wake him, his teeth clenching and hunching himself over while trying to deal with his flesh getting further pierced. His eyes immediately then looked above him, at Zhao, and suddenly the pain literally meant nothing.

The man, who realized the effect of the arrow had worn off, immediately got himself to his knees to prostrate himself at the Commander's feet. "C-Commander Zhao!"

"Hello Zhangsun, it has been quite some time since we had last seen one another." There was something quite frightening in the Commander's voice, mainly from the way he was leering at the man most likely that would make anyone's mouth dry.

The mercenary watched the scene unfold before them hood over their head and mouth a thin, tight line. "Please, please have mercy on me!"

"Mercy?" With a raised thick and high arched brow, Zhao's head tilted back in mocked amazement, "That isn't up to me. That is up to the Fire Lord, I'm afraid, isn't that right?" He shifted his gaze to the mercenary, who had given a silent nod. "So, your pleas of mercy should be saved for when you are in chains and brought to him."

"Please! I'll do anything, please!" Zhangsun's desperate wails bounced off the steel walls. Zhao looking somewhat satisfied yet annoyed. "Please, spare me, Commander Zhao."

The talented firebender closed his eyes, seemingly in thought. "There's nothing you can offer me that pays as much as the Fire Lord's gratitude and possibility of a rank. Unless, of course, you know something about the Avatar."

"The Avatar?" echoed the prisoner, his eyes frantically looking at the floor as he tried to come up with a quick solution. "I-I…" He stuttered, both Zhao and the mercenary waitings for him to spill whatever was at the tip of his tongue, "Well…"

"I see. You know nothing and that means you are of no use to me." Turning away from him, showing his large back, he yelled "Soldiers! Takes him to the cells."

Without a second to waste, Fire Nation naval soldiers had flooded the room and grabbed Zhangsun from off the floor. The man kicked and screamed, still begging for mercy as if he had no pride. Soon enough, the room was filled with silence as the flickering flames illuminated the Commander's face.

"Have you found any word of the Avatar?" Due to no one else in the room besides the mercenary, it was obvious the question was meant for them.

"No, I haven't heard a thing." Shifting, placing weight on the right leg due to the left falling asleep, they kept their head tilted up to gaze upon Zhao. "It seems most people only know that he has returned."

Zhao's shoulders relaxed some. "That doesn't concern me. After that run-in with Prince Zuko the other day, I need all the information I can of where the Avatar is going."

"Prince...Zuko?" The surprise in their voice was quite clear, "What is that loser doing around here?"

Zhao began to walk towards his desk, pulling back the chair to sit down and rest his arms atop of it with his hands making a bridge and tucked under his chin. "You may remove your hood, Izanami."

A hue of pink danced across their cheekbones until finally, they had pulled the blue hood and revealed their face. Their large, light grey eyes were now revealed to him. "Apologies."

Sitting before Zhao, this young mercenary, was Izanami; a child he adopted upon his travels. Izanami was parentless when he found her and dangerous enough to beat the other children when he promised that group of kids clothes and warmth for whoever won. Although it was just a way to pass the time, he was amazed at her fearlessness; the desire to win burning into those eyes of hers. Right then, at that moment, he knew he could shape her into a formidable soldier.

Due to her not being a Fire Nation native, he had settled into making her an assassin for him. Her front was to be a mercenary, taking money from any Fire Nation citizen or noble that required her services but doing his own mission and sharing the wealth amongst the both of him ( him getting the higher cut that is ). He hasn't found any reason to be disappointed in her just yet either, but he wonders if she could go toe-to-toe with a certain royal brat.

"He beat me in an Agni Kai." Izanami's body stiffened, eyes widened by his words. "All because he showed mercy. I've never fought anyone who didn't have the intention to harm, but I've should've known since he has a weak heart."

She knew that his words obviously meant that his pride was blown to pieces. And for a moment, she wondered how the Fire Nation prince looked when he beat her adopted father. It had been years since she last saw him. The desire to see him was next to nothing. Izanami never understood the girls amongst her fascination with him, he was just a brooding boy with a handsome face. You could find that anywhere in the Fire Nation. The only difference was he was a prince. A crown prince; or he was those years ago.

Unsure of what to say that wouldn't insult him, her eyes looked down to the floor before gazing up at him, now fully okay with her thought. "You want me to deal with him?"

Closing his eyes, shielding his cold eyes from the world, he had given her a stern nod. "Chasing the Avatar will not be easy, but if I have you fending off Prince Zuko while I grab the boy then that would be a more sufficient feat."

Using one knee to kneel and her left hand over her heart, she bowed her head towards him. "If that is what you need of me then I shall do it."

"You may go to your cabin. We have a long day ahead of us." His hand waved towards the door, which she had gone to her feet and given another bow. As she turned around to open the door, he spoke again. "We cannot kill him. Just harm him enough where he is able to be taken back to the Fire Lord."

Izanami looked over her shoulder, her eyes staring down at the floor. "I won't hurt him too much."

"That's what I like to hear." Leaving the cabin with Xun at her side,, she closed the metal door behind her and let out a long sigh. Kicking the air, she ruffled her hair with her fingers.

"When the hell am I ever going to get a break?!" She whined, her head tilted back as her feet continued to kick out of frustration. Even though he told her to rest, she would rather go to the kitchen and get something to eat.

"I'm hungry, Xun. Aren't you?" She asked the feline, who rubbed his head against her calves in response. With a small smile, she walked down the corridors eager to get a tasty snack without Zhao's permission.