My life has not been easy. I've been without a family since I was six. That was when they were all killed, and I was branded as a traitor and exile, and left to die like a dog. Metal spikes were embedded in my back, patterned as a lily, the symbol of my family. It's meant to be a symbol of highest dishonor, to be born into the life that I have.

Fire Lord Ozai branded me himself, for his own, grasping ambitions. He is determined to never let me forget what I am. Because I am the heiress of the house that was exiled for treason. A trussed up charge that Fire Lord Sozin invented a hundred years ago when he conquered the world. His act unified the Fire Nation, combining the east and west into one.

Like the king of Ba Sing Se, and the king of Omashu, both in the Earth Kingdom. There were once two families who ruled the Fire Nation, one on the mainland, one in the eastern islands. Now there is only one. The royals of the east were killed, for the most part, and the rest, exiled. And every time that a child is born in our family, the Fire Lord comes and brands us.

And now, I'm the only one left, the last princess of the eastern royals. The metal in my back proves that. And even more than that, it conveys a death sentence upon me. If I were normal, and branded this way, it wouldn't matter. But this kind of brand is used because every single member of my family has a special gift. The gift of golden fire. I am a firebender.

So, after my family is massacred by the Fire Lord's men, I run. And I don't stop running. I spend years running around the Earth Kingdom, never staying in one place long enough for anyone to really get to know me. I'm cautious and careful, not at all like the free-spirited child I used to be. I'm fifteen now, and I'm no longer the weak little girl that I used to be.

My travels take me to many different places, and of course, I always hide the fact that I'm a bender. I'm an experienced fighter, so I have no problem with ruffians, but if anyone figured out that I happen to be a firebender, things would quickly get out of hand.


To my utter dismay, when I get to the southern coast of the Earth Kingdom, I run into exactly the kind of trouble that I've been trying to avoid. There is a Fire Navy ship, and there are people on board. So I try to sneak away as quietly as possible, looking for another part of the coast to make camp.

No such luck, as a patrol of soldiers find me on their way back to the ship. "Hey, who are you girl? What are you doing out here?"

My hands twitch, and I look for the best possible escape route. But since I stay silent, they get suspicious. "Are you a runaway, or maybe just looking to have a little adventure? If you are, we can help with that."

The soldiers leer at me, so I glare right back at them, and then bolt. I strike at each of them, tripping them and sending them on a one-way face-plant trip to the ground. My cloak flaps in the breeze, and the hood barely stays over my hair. But my escape is cut short when a boy, barely older than I am, steps out of the trees that line the coast and stares at me.

"Who are you?" His tone is stern and firm, and immediately, I know that he's the one in charge of the soldiers. He has a pompous air of command about him.

I just glare at him. "Well wouldn't you like to know? But I won't tell you so move aside and I'll be on my way. I have no reason to hurt you, yet, so why don't we just part ways here and you go on and forget that you ever saw me?"

My attitude only seems to make him more determined. "No, you'll tell me who you are, and then you'll go on your way."

My hand twitches once, and then I make a break for it and sprint right past him. But he's fast, I'll give him credit for that, and he catches my wrist just as I turn to kick him in the head. He manages to catch my foot as well, which means that he's well trained, and probably a bender, like me. My hood tumbles around my shoulders and his eyes widen as he gets a good look at me.

Damn it all, of all the people I had to run into, why did it have to be a firebender? Why couldn't it just be some normal pirates or raiders, or even just sailors? I have to have the worst luck in all of recorded history.

I jump up and kick at him with my other leg, forcing him to let go of me and block the strike, and that gives me an opening to run. But I don't get far as his soldiers surround me. I bite my lip and curse my bad luck. "Damn it all. Why the hell do I have to run into Fire Nation troops here?"

The boy's eyes narrow. "So, you're not fond of firebenders. You act suspiciously. And what kind of girl goes off on an adventure all by herself? You're even younger than me."

I just keep glaring at him. "What kind of girl am I?" Then I smirk. "One that's way too much for you to handle."

I crouch to the ground, brace myself on my hands and spin around, sweeping all of their feet out from under them with flashes of gold fire. And with that accomplished, I start running, faster than ever, trying to outpace them and get into a good hiding spot before they can give chase.

"Capture her!" And at the boy's order, I hear a dozen pairs of feet stomping after me.

"Ah shit, this is going to get messy." I turn around and see them coming at me, fast. I haven't slept in a couple of days, so I'm hardly in my best condition for fighting, but I'll have to make do. So I blast them with a huge golden fireball and hope that it deters them from advancing on me.

But it doesn't, and they just keep coming at me again and again, forcing me to expend a lot more energy that I was hoping to. And finally, when my energy is running out, the boy approaches me. "Will you surrender now? Or do you want me to hurt you?"

I glare at him. "Go to hell, I won't surrender to the likes of you." I note the large scar that flares out around his left eye, obviously the product of some horrible firebender duel. His hair is mostly shaved, except for one patch on top of his head that's pulled back in a ponytail. All in all, he looks like he should be in a gang, not the military.

He glares right back. "I'll get answers out of you one way or another."

I barely notice in time that a soldier has gotten behind me, and as I spin around to deal with him, the boy creeps up on me and smacks me hard in the back of the neck, knocking me out in one smooth movement.


I wake up, chained up in a ship. I blink my eyes until my vision clears, then I take a look around and try to assess my situation. I'm locked up, and judging by the rocking, I'm on a ship, his ship, probably. So I'm confined, trapped, and probably going to be interrogated.

And right on cue, the boy comes in, frowning and glaring. That makes me smile. "You know, if you keep making that face, it'll get stuck that way. Or is it already stuck? That would explain why you haven't changed your expression even once."

His expression goes even colder, strange for a firebender. "Who are you? And why did you attack my men?"

I roll my eyes. "I'm a girl, traveling, and I attacked them because they went after me first. I don't whore myself out like a girl on the streets, I have more dignity and self-respect than that. Obviously, your men thought otherwise. So, I punished them for their insolence. And you got involved."

His glare doesn't leave his face. "Well, that explains the attack, but not who you are. Now talk. What is a rogue firebender doing traveling around the Earth Kingdom?"

I stick my tongue out at him. "How about, no? A girl has to have her secrets, and my identity happens to be one of them." Then I raise an eyebrow. "Though knowing who my captor is would be nice. That way, I can know how bad the trouble is going to be when I escape."

His glare still stays put. "I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."

And my earlier smile vanishes completely from my face. "I see. And if you captured me by coincidence, then fate sure has a funny way of making things play out."

The air around me thickens, and I glare harshly at him. And without even a warning, everything in the room explodes. Golden fire races around and the chains holding me shatter. I drop to the floor, grab my things, and then sprint out of the room before Zuko can manage to get up.

I race out onto the deck and see that we're already sailing. Well crap, that's just perfect, now what do I do? I look around for a means of escape, but see nothing. I guess this means that I'll have to swim until I find something solid. I would rather die by drowning than stay on this ship.

It seems that I will have to resort to those lengths, because Zuko has followed me up onto the deck, along with a contingent of his soldiers. There is a storm brewing overhead, so my escape is really starting to look iffy.

"Give up! There is nowhere for you to run!" His eyes are hard and glow with an angry fire. But I'll not be giving him the satisfaction of keeping hold of me.

"Bite me." I growl at him, the run to the edge of the ship and jump over the side, diving into the water and swimming as far as I can before coming back up for air.

Once I have a good distance from the ship, I continue swimming, until I find that the water is becoming terribly cold. I start shivering in the water, until I see a piece of ice floating by me. Ice? I must be in the southern seas. How far did that damned ship travel?

I pull myself up onto the piece of ice, and I dry myself off by radiating heat from my body. I keep myself warm by drawing on my inner fire, despite not having a lot of energy to spare. But because of the effort, I do the worst possible thing to do when you're cold. I lie down and go to sleep.