I planned for this to be a weekly release, or at the very least as quickly as I can get these chapters out. This chapter just happened to be finished sooner than I expected (ironically longer too) so there really isn't any point in holding it until Friday. Enjoy!

Book 1: Responsibility

Chapter 2: Welcome Aboard

Zeren held his bags and stared into his relatively empty room for one last time in a while. The only things that remained were obvious furniture essentials such as his bed, desk, and other things. It was happening a few years earlier than he originally intended, but he was moving out. At the very least, he wasn't alone.

"Let's go, Zeren," His mom commanded. "Our escorts will be at the docks soon. We don't wanna be the ones to keep them waiting."

"Yeah, I know," Zeren answered. He turned off his light, leaving the empty room in pitch black darkness as he closed the door. No sound could be clearer. You could hear all the gears turning within the knob as if there were no other sound on the planet. As his mom locked the door to their house they walked and talked.

They didn't really discuss the avatar stuff. That was behind them. They just talked about stuff that randomly peaked their curiosity. "Have you ever been to the Fire Nation mom?"

"I've only ever been to Ember Island," She said. "I used to go there for vacation when I was young." She caught what she said and corrected herself. "Well, younger than you." Zeren looked at her. He didn't understand why she thought she was old. She looked nothing like that. When Zeren thought about it, he never asked her about her age. It was a given that she looked younger than most mothers, but he remembered something that she told him to remember. "Never ask a woman about their age." It was most likely why the question never came up.

"Why didn't we ever go to Ember Island?" Zeren asked curiously.

"It got boring. When you go to a place every time you get tired of it before too long," She explained.

"Not me! I've never even been there!" Zeren yelled, snapping at his mom. She laughed and calmed his mind by agreeing to go there sometime during his training. She patted on his head, visibly still a bit taller than him, which made Zeren feel like a kid.

He slapped her hand off of his head but she put it right back as if she were a fly that's sole purpose for life was to bother him. The slapping and shifting sounds as they fought for control began to drown the city life out and many people began to look on the weirdly adorable display.

When they got to the docks, a Fire Nation ship had already been sitting there with two people standing in front. A man and a girl, one about Zeren's height and age and the other about his mom's height and a bit younger. Zeren and his mom walked up to the two. Zeren rubbed his head in pain and his mom rubbed her hand that had been smacked countless times on the way there.

"Are you Avatar Zeren?" The taller man asked. Zeren stopped rubbing his head despite the pulsing feeling.

"Y-Yeah. I guess you can say that."

"Avatar Zeren" was a title that he would not get used to anytime soon. Though he knew that he would need to. The taller one bowed to him respectfully.

"It is truly a pleasure to finally meet you Avatar Zeren."

"Just 'Zeren' is fine," Zeren intervened before the introduction could be finished. He may have been the avatar by title, but he was far from the real deal.

"My name is Omin. The shorter one is Shouno," Shouno bowed after the introductions were given. Omin was tall but fit. His hair was kept in a ponytail and he was light skinned with golden eyes, wearing clothing suited for a Avatar escort assignment. Shouno had pale skin but a beautifully, vibrant face, enough to make Zeren's heart beat a bit faster. Her hair was black and cut in a shaggy, bob style with her bangs hanging just over her eyebrows. Her eyes were an amber color that pierced through anything she looked at with a captivating effect and a small beauty mark underneath her right eye.

She wore gray, short-sleeved coveralls that barely showed her figure with a fire nation insignia on the back and wore black boots with pointed tips. Not clothes you'd typically expect, but it looked stylish to the eye nonetheless, and her slender arms were completely covered in white bandages.

"It's a pleasure, Zeren," Shouno said with a warm kindness that took Zeren by surprise. He avoided her eyes, but didn't make it obvious. Instead he looked at the bridge of her slender nose. They bowed back with the same respect that was showed to them.

"Is this your sister?" Omin asked, honestly a bit curious.

"Oh! N-No, this is my-"

"Oh my!" His mom gushed with positive emotion, dancing from side to side. She quickly grabbed Omin and wrapped herself around his arm. "You sure do know how to sweep a lady off her feet!" She continued with her delusions, further embarrassing Zeren and making Omin uncomfortable. Shouno looked on, not even attempting to help Omin.

Zeren pried her off of him while saying, "S-Sorry! This is my mother, On Ju!"

"Your mother?" Omin asked, obviously confused. "But she looks so young..." He added fuel to her fire and she nearly broke free of Zeren's grasp. He earthbended her feet to the ground so she wouldn't be able to move until she calmed down.

"Sorry, but she gets really excited when people compliment her on how young she looks. I've seen her do this to men and women alike, actually." That comment caused Shouno's eye to twitch.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, we should get going. We have a full two day trip ahead of us," Shouno informed them.

"Two days? The Counselors told me you'd be here by the morning. Why two days all of a sudden?"

"We were already out at sea when they told you that." Zeren started to sulk. Being out at sea for two days isn't something very appealing to hear. Especially when there's not much of anything to really do. "Don't worry. It'll pass before you know it," Shouno tried to ease his mind, but it had little effect.

Omin took their things and led them onto the big, metal ship. A lot had changed since the days of the Hundred Year War, as well as the ships. Zeren had seen models of them from back then in the Republic City Museum, but these looked very different. More "luxurious" than anything else really. But it may be because it's not an army ship. This is just a regular escort after all.

When Zeren got to the center of the boat, he had looked around and noticed plenty of scratches on the boat's surface. "I think this boat needs to be refurbished a bit. It's filled with scratches."

"Nah, that's just some scars from a run-in we had with pirates," Shouno clarified, making a poor first impression of the escort assignment.

"Excuse me?" Zeren hoped he had heard that wrong. An escort assignment that had been butchered before it could even take place. He had it in his mind to collect his bags and get right off the ship. Despite being a capable fighter, he wanted nothing to do with pirates. And why pirates? In this day and age?

"Don't worry," Shouno winked. "We got rid of them real quick," She said. "I may not look it, but I'm really strong, y'know," She added, showing plenty of confidence in her strength. Borderline cockiness in fact.

"You're a bender?" He asked her.

"Firebender, yeah," She said, pushing her hair behind her right ear. It was little gestures like that that made Zeren's heart skip beats. He had no trouble talking to girls, but their feminine charm always got to him. "One of the best in the Fire Nation. Second only to my master." Omin came out of nowhere, palming Shouno's head as if it were nothing and ruffling up her hair. "Hey!" She tried to shake Omin's hand off, to no avail.

"Sorry. This one tends to be full of herself a lot," Omin excused.

"Are you a bender too?"

"No, but I'm a capable fighter. My uncle made sure I learned how to fight at a young age." They walked and talked.

"Same with my mom." Zeren told them.

"Really? She's a bender too?"

"I'm an earthbender. I taught Zeren everything he knows."

Omin was about to send a compliment her way without realizing it. He caught himself before saying anything. The last thing he wanted was an episode like earlier to happen again. "That's great," He said and left it at that. He wanted to tell her how it's weird seeing her as an earthbender when she had such a delicate looking face, but it's just how he is as an individual.

They separated into two pairs. Shouno with On Ju and Omin with Zeren. They escorted them to their rooms, where they could get comfortable for a while. Shouno opened the door for On Ju's room. It was dimly lit with candles and had Fire Nation decorations set all over the place. Antiques and all. It was nice, but the lighting didn't really catch On Ju's eye much.

"Don't you have a brighter lit room?" She asked, turning to Shouno uncomfortably.

Shouno had her hand on her hip and leaned against the wall with her other hand saying, "No, sorry. These are as bright as it gets." On Ju wasn't afraid of the dark or anything, but in the day time, especially not even breaking midday yet, being in a room where the light is so dim, might as well have no candles at all. "Don't worry Miss. There's no need to stay in this room all day. We have lots of fun activities to do while we're out at sea anyway," She said.

Frankly, that sounded like a stretch to On Ju. What kind of activities could be done by four people out at sea for two days? If there were such activities, then she'd never seen them before. At least not on a smaller escort ship as opposed to a ferry.

On the other side of the hall, Omin opened the door for Zeren, who asked the same questions about the lighting in the room only to receive the same answers. Zeren placed his bags on the bed. He never planned to unpack or anything. There was no need to.

"Alright, thanks anyway," He said, coming back out of the room.

"Your mother and Shouno should already be back on the deck of the ship. Do you wanna go join them? Or do you want to come with me to meet the Captain?" Omin asked, giving Zeren options.

"I'll meet the captain. It's no trouble."

At the same time, Shouno and On Ju were talking back on the deck. Just idle talk and getting to know each other. "How old are you Shouno?"

"I'm fifteen," She answered energetically.

"Fifteen, eh? You seem pretty gutsy for a beautiful girl your age."

Shouno started doing stunts on the edge of the deck without care or worry. The stunts she was doing kind of worried On Ju, but they weren't out at sea yet, and it looked like she did this on the regular by how athletic she was. Doing handstands on the edge, jumping from one hand to the next. It was like a personal circus act.

"Haha! Don't make me blush, Miss," She said, handling her compliment a bit awkwardly. She was obviously a bit of a tomboy. That's what On Ju had realized way before this interaction.

"Don't bother with the 'Miss' treatment. It makes me feel old!" There wasn't much of a gap between them in relationship, but being called "Miss" made it feel like there was one. She didn't like that.

"So what should I call you?" Shouno asked, resting on her shoulders and kicking her legs while maintaining a handstand.

"Just stick with On Ju. Okay?"

"Okay, On Ju it is then!" She happily accepted. On Ju smiled back at her and nodded her head. They were friends now. The gap had been completely closed. On Ju had always been good at making friends and it would appear that Shouno was the same way. Both of them were too endearing to leave alone. "By the way, On Ju. How old are you?" On Ju cringed and when looked at Shouno's big evil grin. Perhaps she wasn't so innocent after all.

On Ju had asked first, but she didn't exactly anticipate the question being asked to her. "D-Do I have to?" She started to sweat and Shouno saw this but didn't understand why. Or at least appeared not to.

Shouno's face became blank with confusion. "Huh? Why not? Trust is a two way thing On Ju. I told you mine, so it's only fair that you tell me yours, right?" She obviously had a point and On Ju couldn't fight it. Her lips were sealed shut, but her logic caused them to quiver out the number.

"Thirffyyffytwfof" She said, muffling out the number, looking down. Shouno jumped toward her from the edge of the deck and squatted in front of her to level with her face. She cupped her ear with her hand and came within breathing distance of her face.

"Haaa? I couldn't hear you," She made known, apparently teasing her.

"I said thirty-two," She responded. Her voice was still muffled, but the actions that Shouno took to hear clearly made it much more easier to understand. Though she didn't appear shocked at all. Shouno took a few steps back and stood up. On Ju looked up at her, expecting criticism.

"Mhm. Just as I expected." She said, nodding her head with her arms folded. On Ju avoided looking at her face, but before she realized it, Shouno was already back down to her level, grabbing both of her hands and crying comically, catching On Ju off guard. Though she had been crying in a funny and ugly way, she looked at her with nothing but admiration. "You are so strong! You're my hero!" Shouno sobbed out in a very ugly way.

On Ju didn't know what to make of the compliment, so she just took it. "T-Thanks?" She said, watching the tears and snot run. It was about to fall all over her clothes that she wore specifically for the escort. "Um, Sh-Shouno!" Shouno ignored all calls and started hugging On Ju. "Oh! Oh gosh I can feel all the juice stirring and mixing on my clothes!" She complained. Her complaints got more and more detailed, but the sobbing continued.

On Ju was quite the crazy nut, but she could never handle crazy and Shouno was obviously her match. It was the start of a beautiful friendship built on love and respect.

On the other side, Omin knocked the door to the front of the ship where all the directions were handled. They were allowed to enter and there sat an elderly man with a athletic build reading a Fire Nation newspaper. "This is the captain of this ship. His name is Lu," Omin introduced with his hand in his direction.

Zeren walked up to Lu and bowed. "My name is Zeren. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lu," Zeren said. He'd never been good around people so that robotic introduction was all he could do to catch Lu's attention. Lu put down the newspaper and inspected Zeren.

"So you're the avatar, eh?"

"Ye-Yeah. Seems that way, ha...haha," Zeren tried to laugh off Lu's attitude, but then Lu wrapped his arm around Zeren's neck and began to laugh outrageously.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Perk up Kid!" He insisted, nearly breaking Zeren's neck in the process.

"Lu! Take it easy!" Omin ordered, but Lu failed to listen.

"Listen Kid, yer the freakin' avatar. I know yer abit new to this, but when ye introduce yerself, have some confidence! Pop yer chest out and be a man! No need to bow to me!" Lu released his firm grip of Zeren's neck, causing him to inhale and exhale to regain blood flow. "Now, try again Kid."

Following his command, Zeren tried a different approach to his introduction. "Nice to meet you, Lu. My name is Zeren," He said while sticking his hand out for a handshake. The introduction sounded flawless to him.

"Nah, Kid. Still too weak!" Lu countered, shaking Zeren's hand with a firm, tight grip. A grip that Zeren couldn't seem to match as he could feel his knuckles buckle in his hand from the tight squeeze. "Again!"

"My name's Zeren! Nice to meet you!" Zeren forced, while sticking out his hand while flexing every muscle in that right arm. His hand had been completely stiff and it trembled a bit. He wasn't scared, but he was flexing so hard to appear more manly that it gave that effect.

"That's too much! Ye won be findin' yerself any fine woman with THAT forced behavior," He told him. "Calm yerself and talk t'me as if yer proud to be alive." Zeren took a deep breath and tried one more time.

"The name's..." He paused for a second. He knew what Lu was trying to do and it wasn't gonna work over night, but he had to take the first steps at some point. He did it again. "The name's Avatar Zeren. I look forward to working with you from now on, Lu," He said, calmly and with discipline. He held out his hand calmly in the form of a fist. Lu smiled and gave him a fist bump.

"Nice t'meet ye, Avatar Zeren. And welcome aboard," He answered. Zeren smiled back. "Nd, that's Cap't Lu to ye," He jokingly corrected. After the long and awkward introductions were out of the way, they talked for a while. No longer than two minutes. After that, Omin told them that they were ready to set out and Lu made the preparations to get to sailing. Omin and Zeren left the room and Lu to do his thing.

"How'd you like him?" Omin asked, curious about his first impressions.

"He's...interesting," Zeren replied. He couldn't really find the word to describe him.

"Sorry. He's definitely a good man, but he can be overbearing most times," Omin tried to excuse his actions.

"Nah, it's fine. He has a weird way of showing it, but he was trying to help me out a bit. He's like that old, senile, but wise uncle that we all need," Zeren made the comparison.

"Funny you should say that, actually," Omin said, scratching his face.

"Why, whaddyu mean?"

"Lu is Shouno's uncle," Omin said, gut punching Zeren.

"You serious!"

"Yup. He's looked after her for so long." He said. "It's part of the reason she's such a tomboy."

"Wow. I dunno why that surprised me. Everyone has a story, huh?" Zeren thought out loud as he looked back at Lu's door, walking away from it.

"Well, you can't exist without a story, right?"

"I see your point," He answered.

Zeren and Omin joined On Ju and Shouno back on the deck as the ship finally set sail for the Fire Nation.