A/N: Be sure and tell me what you think!

THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE TAKE A DAY OFF

"Some say the world will end in fire;
Some say in ice."
- Robert Frost

I drifted in and out of consciousness, my head swaying like we were still on the ship as the entire market undulated. Spirits, I hated going with Zuko and Iroh to restock on the ship's provisions. I honestly couldn't figure out why I even went with them anymore. All I did was wait around and fall asleep in public, which was frankly something that I could easily do on the ship. I leaned heavily onto my palm as I considered staying behind in the next port city.

I sighed. It wasn't like they needed me there anyway. The vendors usually helped them load the supplies onto the ship themselves, making me virtually useless. I thought about Zuko's comment on my lack of sleep the night before. I was getting way too obvious about it. I normally slept during the day - or at least, I had when I'd been living on my own - but, now that my days were occupied with other things, I was forced to sleep during the night time, like a normal human being. Frankly, after being more or less nocturnal for almost four years of my life, my body and mind hadn't quite adjusted to flipping it around like that.

I gazed up at the offending clouds as suffocating sheets of rain barracaded the waterproof cover of the outdoor tea shop I was waiting in. It wasn't pouring violently, the way it had been last night, but the rain was continuous. I was no weather oracle, but there was no way that the torrential downpour was going to stop any time soon. Even the animals seemed to have noticed the strange behavior of the skies, because I couldn't locate a single one walking around anywhere. The birds had stopped twittering.

Deep inside my pocket, the obscene amount of money that Zuko had given me that morning clinked loudly every time I bothered to move. Apparently, the prince had come to the conclusion lately that I could entertain myself by going out and buying something of my own while they picked up provisions. Of course, every time they came back, I returned the same amount of gold I'd started off with when they left. Normally, I was either too tired to go out shopping for useless things, or I just wasn't interested.

Still, I considered, maybe going and walking around town would keep me awake for the time being. Zuko and Iroh didn't need another reason to worry about my physical state, which was exactly what they would do if they came back and found me passed out at a table. Again. I stood up, weaving through the clusters of empty tables and chairs as the salesman watched me leave, looking deflated because I hadn't bought anything.

If I hadn't already been soaked from the walk into town, then I would have been drenched the moment I stepped out from under the tarp covering the tea shop. The rain on my face was soft, but nonstop. It was a feat trying to keep the water out of my eyes, so I had to slip quietly into a vendor's stand every couple of shops I passed. One of them happened to be a clothing stand, and I quickly bought a rain cloak.

Half the stores were closed, due to the harsh weather, but the ones that were open sold anything from carmine apples to new parts for ships. It was easy to figure out why these port cities were such popular places to stop. With so many different people coming in from all over the world, there probably wasn't anything that they didn't sell out there.

At one point, I must have strolled into a weapons shop. The walls were lined with swords, daggers, wooden katana; everything I'd ever had to fight against, and then some. I pulled my hood off from over my dripping hair, browsing the expanse of items.

"Good morning," the salesman greeted, then added, "Well, kind of." I smiled, nodding at him. "Something for your warrior?" I smirked internally. More like my inner warrior actually, but I kept that to myself.

"Yeah," I answered, bending over to examine a case of black and purple throwing knives, then straightening back up.

"Anything in particular you're looking for?" the salesman inquired, stepping from behind the counter. I bit my thumb nail, considering that. Well, I supposed it was high time I gave Zuko his dagger back. Sure, he didn't really care if I used it anymore, but to be truthful I had kind of been wanting my own.

"If you have any daggers I could look at," I replied hopefully, wondering if I was being too obvious.

"Of course," the vendor said, leading me to a crate pushed up against the other wall and removing the lid.

I stooped onto my knees to get a better look at what was inside. About seven or eight newly-polished daggers sat in order from smallest to largest inside the chest. I reached inside, pulling out a medium-sized one with a white grip. It was lightweight, and still shone, even in the cloudy light filtering in through the open tent flap. The salesman knelt down next to me as I examined the blade carefully, turning it this way and that. After a minute, I was satisfied.

"How much for this one?" I asked, holding it up for him.

"That one is fifteen gold pieces," he answered, straightening back up and helping me up as well. I frowned slightly, considering informing him that I was capable of standing up on my own, but decided against it. "Would you like it?"

"Yes," I answered, almost smiling. Normally that price would have made me pass out, but stupid Zuko had given me twenty times that amount like it was nothing. The perks of being a prince, I supposed.

The salesman wrapped my new blade up in a thick beige cloth, then placed it into an ornate box before handing it to me. As he placed it in my hands, I half-wondered how much of the high cost had been to pay for the packaging. Oh, well. I couldn't feel guilty about buying it, especially when I hadn't had to use my own money. Zuko wouldn't notice if just a little went missing.

I thanked the vendor, exiting the stand and grimacing up at the sky. Still raining. I pulled my hood back up, sticking my package as far under the cloak as it would go as I began to walk back toward the tea shop.

I only got a few feet wen, suddenly, the building to my left exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the wall. I shielded my face with my rain cloak as wood and debris flew across the road, almost knocking me over. All of a sudden, the wind seemed to whip harder, cutting across my face and blinding me. The few people who were out on the street screamed, yelling things about freak lightning and earthquakes. While the remaining villagers sprinted off, I stayed put; unable to move. This couldn't be a weather accident; there was no way.

Just moments after the first, there was another crash as the entire remaining section of the building collapsed in on itself. I coughed at the dust that flew up off the ground, despite the fact that it was still pouring mercilessly. Lightning whipped the sky above me, followed by the loudest clash of thunder I'd ever heard. Or, at least, I thought that it was thunder until the actual thunder sounded, and a shadow creature stepped out from what remained of the destroyed building.

I couldn't breathe.

I had seen shadow beings, but I had never seen anything like this one. While most of them were no more than a mass of shadow, with maybe a pair of eyes and a set of teeth thrown in there, this one had a clear, definite shape to it. In fact, it looked almost canine. It had a curved tail, feet with razor claws on them, and - if I looked closely enough - I could almost make out the blue-black, raven fur coating its body.

But that wasn't all. This shadow creature was by far the biggest I'd ever come across. For one to cause damage to something was normal, but for this one to be capable of taking down an entire building - that was insane. The thing looked around the deserted, empty street, its vermilion eyes seeming to glow in the cloudy light of the evening. I let out a breath that I'd only just realized I'd been holding. It spotted me then, clawing the dirt and crouching low to the ground.

I held my breath in again, but I might as well have been screaming. The monster raised its enormous head, then charged straight for me. I acted on reflex, bringing up a light sheild in front of my body. The shadow being stopped, but for some reason it didn't turn and run. Instead, it came up slowly and sniffed my wall of light as I slowly backed toward an alley. It couldn't get past my shadowbending - or, at least, that was what I told myself. That was all about to change, though. Instead of stalking back the way it came at the sight of my bending, the shadow creature did the thing that had only ever happened in my darkest nightmares.

It took its foot up and stepped right through my light shield.

I didn't stick around to find out what the creature planned to do next. I took off down the alleyway without another thought. For a moment, nothing happened, but then I began to hear the sound of the monster growling again. It sounded just like thunder. The rain pelted my face as I ran, stinging my eyes and soaking me to the core. I couldn't stop, though. I had to get out of there. I had to find Iroh and Zuko.

My head reeled. I had no idea what was going on. The thought of a shadow being that was able to get past my bending was pure madness. That little spark of hope and safety - the assurence that I could at least fend for myself in some way - was suddenly shattered. It was what I had relied on my entire life; the reason I hadn't gone completely insane with paranoia, trying to make sure the monsters didn't end up tearing me apart the second I fell asleep. What was that all worth, now, if I couldn't defend myself?

The odd-looking shadow being, the storms, the failure of my bending . . . It was all throwing me for a loop. There was something crazy going on here - something deeper - and I needed to get to the bottom of it before it got me first. I closed my already-useless eyes, running headlong into the windblown downpour. Spirits, where were my stupid firebenders when I was about to die? Honestly, they were always around when I didn't need them, but the minute something happened, I-

"Watch out!"

"Ooof!"

I ran straight into the cabbage cart that Zuko and Iroh were standing at, knocking it over and spilling the vegetables out into the street. The owner of the stand yelled something at me, then fell onto his knees and began sobbing into the pavement. I reoriented myself, pulling my hood back up, taking both men by the arms and practically dragging them into the nearest store. They both protested, but I yelled at them to shut up, slamming the door behind us as we entered.

Once inside, I flipped my hood back out of my face, then stooped over and began to unwrap my dagger. I was going to need it, and it wasn't exactly convenient to carry it around an expensive and heavy package.

"Kaida," Iroh began, watching my hurried attempt to undo the ties. "Is s-"

"What's the matter with you?" Zuko cut in, sounding put out. I threw the empty box off to the side, tucking my dagger into my belt loop and handing Zuko his own back mutely. He took it after a moment of hesitation, still glaring through his sable bangs at me.

"We have to leave," I answered curtly. "Now. I can explain everything later, but for-"

I was cut off as the roof caved in, and the rain met my damp face once again, threatening to drown the entire world within the hour. The saleswoman of the store we were in took off out the back door in alarm before I even got a decent look at her. The lightning flashed again, and the shadow creature appeared through the void in the ceiling. I pushed Iroh and Zuko back to the door.

"Go! We have to get back to the ship!" I yelled, frantically pulling the entrance open. The three of us ran through the now-flooded streets of the port town, and the rain had picked up so much that it was nearly impossible to see an arm's length in front of my own face.

"Kaida, what was that?" Zuko yelled through the chaos beating down all around us.

"A shadow being," I answered with as much volume as I could manage while running. "Like the ones I told you about last night." A blast of thunder nearly ruptured my eardrum, and I had to close my eyes for a split second. The city was a ghost town, now, completely devoid of both people and animals for what seemed like miles in every direction.

"I thought only shadowbenders could see them, though," he answered.

My blood turned to ice and my lungs felt frosted over. There had to be a mistake, I thought, my eyes fixed on the prince in alarm. We kept running for the ship, but it seemed so slow, now; like the torrential rains had finally managed to put the town completely under water. I was about to do something; maybe stop or ask Zuko if he was lying. I don't know. I wouldn't ever find out exactly what would have happened, because at that moment the shadow creature intercepted us.

Its charcoal form leapt out into our path, snarling and baring its silvery teeth. The monster took a step forward, and in response all three of us took a step back. I felt like a ten-year-old again; small and helpless. It was like I had been sucked back into my early childhood, when I didn't know how to bend, and the shadow beings were the monsters under my bed that nobody believed were really there. The creature growled, the sound rumbling from more than just inside of it.

"Kaida, what are you waiting for?" Zuko called over the rain and growling and thundering. "Shadowbend."

"But, I . . ." my voice faded away. Zuko was staring at me; waiting. Iroh was behind him with the same expression, except for the slight panic that was on his nephew's face, but not his own. Despite the doubt in my own mind, I managed to conjure up a sheet of light in between us and the monster. Just like last time, it simply gazed at the glowing pane for a moment, then stepped through and continued to encroach on us.

"Agni," Iroh muttered in disbelief.

My heart spasmed. He could see it, too? What was going on here? Had all the laws I had managed to compile over the years about what could and couldn't happen in my insane, little world of shadowbending just gone out the window? As it turned out, I never had time to ponder that question, because before we could get another inch away from it, the shadow being reared up on its back legs and lunged straight for my throat.

I blacked out.

A-B-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N

A/N: Read&Review!