One
Maya slowly opened her eyes, looking around blearily as her vision slowly cleared. Everything in her body hurt, and she was exhausted and felt nauseous. There was a crowd of faces surrounding her, blotting out the sky. Slowly, she focused on one face. It was the face of an old man with a large stomach.
"I am glad you are awake, Miss. We were afraid that you were dead." He smiled at her.
Confused, Maya focused on the next face. It was a boy's face. A teenager, maybe around the same age as her. He had hardly any hair, and what he did have was put up into a ridiculous-looking ponytail. His skin was pale, and his face did not look friendly. That was when she noticed. His face. Covering the left side of it, wrapping around to part of his ear, was an old burn mark. It was obvious and ugly, and she wondered if he could still see out of his left eye. Looking at this boy's scar reminded her of her father, and the muscles in her jaw clenched in anger.
Realizing she was staring, she quickly looked away, and swallowed. It did no good to remember her father now. He was long gone, and he would never hurt her again. The old man brought her out of her thoughts by offering her his hand. She took it and he pulled her up. Immediately, she wished she had stayed on the ground, and managed to get to the railing of the ship before vomiting.
After a few moments, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and turned around. Most of the crew had awkward looks on their faces, like they were disgusted, but at the same time they felt bad, and were trying not to show the fact that they were disgusted. The boy, though… he made no effort to hide his disgust. He gave her a look and then stalked off down below, yelling to the crew as he went, "Back to work!"
All of the men left to go back to their jobs. All except for the old man who had helped her up. At this time, he walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't let my nephew upset you. He has a short temper. Just be glad you made it to the edge before you threw up, otherwise he might have thrown you back into the water."
Maya looked up into his face worriedly, and then when he threw his head back and laughed, she realized he had been joking. With a sigh of relief, she let him lead her below decks.
"Come with me, Miss. Let's get you something to eat." He paused. "Let's get me something to eat, while we're at it. I'm starving."
"Maya," she said quietly. It was the first thing she had said since being rescued.
"I'm guessing that is your name?"
She nodded.
"Well, Maya, my name is Iroh, but you can call me Uncle."
"Okay… Uncle." Maya smiled, and then looked around, feeling claustrophobic in the small confines of the hallway below decks. It was creepy down here. The metal hallway was lit with odd lights that gave off an eerie red glow. Subconsciously, she moved closer to Uncle.
"It's okay," he said. "Even I found it a bit spooky down here for a while. Come with me. The kitchen is this way."
A little while later, Maya and Uncle Iroh were sitting on cushions at a small wooden table. Maya shoved noodles into her mouth with her chopsticks so fast that she choked a little and had to stop eating to cough. Uncle peered at her over his bowl. He had never seen anyone eat with more enthusiasm than him.
"What were you doing on a piece of driftwood in the ocean, anyways?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking."
Slowly, Maya put her bowl down on the table. She thought for a little while, and then said, "I had been hired by a man who was the captain of a merchant ship, to work as a crewmember. We were taking cargo to some distant Earth Kingdom city that was near the southern border, when we were attacked by pirates. They came aboard the ship, and while everyone else was fighting, I managed to escape on a lifeboat. I drifted for a few days, and then I was hit by a storm, and the next thing I remember is waking up on your ship."
Uncle sat and stroked his beard for a moment. "That is quite an adventure."
Maya picked up her bowl and continued slurping noodles. If he asked her any more questions about her past, she was afraid she would have to lie. She didn't want to talk about why she had offered herself as a crewmember in the first place. She didn't want to talk about the year she'd had, struggling to get by on her own, a sixteen-year-old girl with Water Tribe and Fire Nation blood in her veins, wandering around the Earth Kingdom as a refugee. She didn't want to remember the reason she had run away from home. But the scars on her arms, legs, and stomach would always be a constant reminder. She wondered about where the boy had gotten his scar.
Later that night, Maya lay on the cot that had been given to her. It was lumpy and thin, but that was okay. She was just glad she was alive. And the crew didn't seem so bad. Mostly they ignored her. That was just fine with her. At least she had Uncle. He seemed nice. Smiling, she rolled over and went to sleep.
Author's Note: Hey, guys, meaning, 'Hey people who actually took the time to look at my story because you guys are awesome.' Anyways, due to the fact that this is my first story ever, I am not going to post anymore chapters until I get at least one review, because secretly I have no self-confidence. I would really appreciate some constructive criticism, although you probably won't notice the changes until way later in the story because I have a lot more chapters already written. I'm just waiting for a review to post anymore on here. So... R&R, please!
Much appreciated,
-Fira
