A/N: I was hoping to get this posted by Sunday evening, but that didn't happen on account of the recent tornado in Joplin, MO. My sister who just had surgery lives there, and she and her husband and kids lost their house and most of their possessions in the storm. Thankfully all my friends and family who live there are safe (I live in another town near there, and was in the tornado shelter when it hit) but the damage is absolutely horrible. Not only did they lose their house, but the preschool/church my sister works at has only the cross/steeple left of it, and the school my nieces attend was destroyed. So far there have been at least 116 people killed in this storm with several still missing and thousands are homeless or jobless as it has leveled the main road with all the businesses and it has destroyed one of only two hospitals in the entire area. Please, please keep the people of Joplin in your prayers.
I think I'm still in a state of shock over all of this, so hopefully my latest chapters are up to par with the rest of my work.
Wolf of Fire
Chapter 3
If it weren't for fear of a tiny fist colliding with his still healing ribs, Zuko would say that Toph was his hero. After months of being thoroughly humiliated by the Avatar, watching him get pummeled by a small, blind Earhtbending girl was pretty high up there on the list of "Greatest Moments of Zuko's Life" –not that that list was very long. Was he still bitter? You bet.
Sure, he was grateful that they had saved Iroh, Spirits knew he couldn't have done anything, but that didn't mean he was going to cuddle up for teatime and share Fire Nation fairytales with them around the campfire. No way in the Spirit World was that happening.
So, he settled himself down on a boulder out of harm's way in the canyon they had recently set up camp in and watched the beat down. If you could call it that. Every time Toph threw a chunk of Earth at her student, he would jump out of the way. So far, he hadn't even been able to move a pebble either. Aang's first attempt at Earthbending had shot him backwards, straight into Appa's side with a blast of air.
Sokka, who had been sitting on a nearby rock in his sleeping bag, hollered out, "Rock beats Airbender!"
Zuko couldn't help snorting at this. He had been thinking along the same lines, the Water Tribesman had just beaten him to it. Though he wouldn't have squawked it out like Sokka had.
Speaking of the Idiot, where had he run off to?
Glancing around the canyon, he saw Toph and Aang still at it with their rocks, and Iroh and Katara back at the campsite. No sign of Sokka.
Making up his mind, Zuko left his spot on the boulder and headed over to where the Waterbender sat stitching her brother's pants. He was getting tired of watching the Avatar repeat the same mistake over and over again anyway.
He didn't say anything to Katara as he passed. Her cheerfulness toward him since finding out his origins had seemed…false to the prince, and it was really getting annoying.
It wasn't hard to find Sokka's sleeping bag; the thing reeked of smelly teenage boy. Zuko didn't even need to get near it to get the scent off of it, thank Agni. Once he found the trail, he was off without a word to the other two, who were looking at him curiously.
When he finally found him, Zuko couldn't suppress the bark of laughter that escaped his mouth. Sokka was buried up to his chin in the ground with a baby moose-lion perched atop his tousled hair. His boomerang was mere inches out of reach of fingers jutting up from the hole.
"What are you doing?" Zuko asked him, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice.
"Zuko!" Sokka screeched. "Thank Yue someone finally found me. Help me out of here, would ya?"
"…You realize I don't have opposable thumbs, right?"
Sokka faltered a moment before saying, "You have teeth, don't you? Pull me out!" Then almost as an afterthought, "Just don't bite me!"
Zuko rolled his eyes and made his way over to the fallen boy. "So…who's your friend?"
"He's not my friend! He's a demon disguised as cute, tasty meat!"
"Hmm, well this 'demon' needs to move." He stepped in front of Sokka's face, nudging the moose-lion with his nose. "Get up, little one. It's time to go home."
The baby lifted its head and yawned. It took a long look at the Wolf before hopping off Sokka's head and heading back into the bushes where it came from.
The Water Tribe teen stared at him, wide-eyed. "Wow, Zuko. I never would have taken you for the 'nice to cute and cuddly creatures' kind of guy. You seem more of the 'growl and disembowel' type. And how'd you get him to listen to you? I've been trying to get him to do what I told him to for a while now…Wait, don't tell me Wolves can talk to animals too?"
Zuko stepped back so he could see him better. "No. We can understand the feelings they're trying to get across and vise-versa, but as for actually talking, no. And you've obviously never seen a full grown saber-toothed moose-lion. You don't aggravate them…ever."
"Oh, and you have?"
"…I've read about them…now hold still, or I really will bite you." He moved around to Sokka's back, clamping the back of the boy's shirt in his teeth. Zuko inwardly smiled as the fabric gathered around tan throat as he pulled, choking Sokka. Finally he let go when the boy's sputtering got annoying. He hadn't budged so much as an inch out of the hole.
"You need an Earthbender," Zuko stated, turning to leave.
"Wait! You can't just leave me here! What if Foo Foo Cuddlypoops comes back? With friends!"
"Foo Foo…? Don't worry, most predators don't like the taste of Idiot, believe me."
"Hey!" Sokka screeched. "I swear, Zuko, if you leave and I'm eaten, I will haunt you to the grave!"
Zuko sighed. "Fine. But how are you expecting anyone else to even find you out here?"
Sokka thought about it a moment. "Do you have some way to contact someone from a long distance? You seem to be able to do everything else."
"I do…but it's only for emergencies."
"This is an emergency!"
"Fine, just stop yelling. You're giving me a headache." With that, Zuko walked to the nearest canyon wall and began hopping from cliff to cliff until he was a good ways up, leaving a gaping Sokka behind. Once he was satisfied with the distance he'd traveled, Zuko threw his head back and let out a howl. The sound seemed to vibrate within the canyon, the very air around them humming.
He knew his uncle had heard it, but unfortunately, the howl also caught the attention of someone else. A loud roar came from within the trees, causing the birds, already agitated from Zuko's howl, to scatter in all directions. He looked down to see the reason he had been so wary of howling in the first place.
Coming out of the bushes was the mother moose-lion, most likely hungry, and obviously angry.
Before he could do anything, however, Aang skidded to a halt in front of the terrified teen in the ground. "Sokka! Are you okay? We heard Zuko, and Iroh said something was wrong." Seeing his predicament, the Avatar gasped, then bent down and pulled on Sokka's arms.
Sokka grunted. "Stop, stop! You're gonna pull my fingers off and I don't think the rest of me is coming! "
"Hmm… I bet I can Airbend you out of here," Aang said, scratching the back of his head. He raised his arms, then slammed them down, causing a huge gust of air to erupt from the hole that sent dust flying. When the dust cleared, Sokka was still trapped. His boomerang, which had been blown into the air, came down and hit him in the head, flattening his new Mohawk.
"Seriously Aang, I know you're new at it, but I could use a little Earthbending here. How 'bout it?"
The Avatar looked to the ground sadly. "I can't. I can't do it."
"Then go get someone who can," Zuko said from behind, causing Aang to jump. "Hurry. We don't have time for you to stare at me like that; Sokka's meat demon brought a friend."
No one got a chance to say any more as the moose-lion let out another roar, beginning her charge toward the trio. The Wolf leaped over Sokka's head and ran toward her, growling in warning. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt compelled to save him, perhaps as payment for saving Uncle, but whatever the reason, he couldn't just let him die. Even idiots didn't deserve death by moose-lion.
As he neared, the mother snapped her giant fangs at Zuko, inches from taking his head off. He leaped out of the way and landed on her back, sinking his own fangs into the tender skin behind her antlers. She roared in pain and bucked in an attempt to throw him off. Zuko tightened his grip and dug his claws into the moose-lion's sides, trying his hardest not to get thrown off.
Somewhere in the background, he heard Aang's nervous voice. "Hey there…we found your cub!" He smiled and raised the baby, who had apparently come back to pick on Sokka some more, into the air. The mother growled, rattling Zuko's bones as he clung to her. Aang put the baby on the ground, watching as it ran to its mother and passed her into the bushes, squealing. "See? We have no problem with you! We're friendly. Well…most us are…"
The moose-lion roared and shook her head. Zuko lost his grip at the sudden movement and was flung to the side, landing a short distance from the other boys. She glared at them with pure hatred in her eyes.
"Aang, this is bad! You gotta get me outta here!" Sokka yelled frantically, squirming to no avail. "Zuko, do something!"
The Wolf tensed as she charged again, preparing to clamp onto her once more. He was surprised to see her feet leave the ground as she neared them. A quick glance toward the others showed Aang had Airbended the moose-lion over them. She landed on the other side and turned back to them just as quickly with a snarl.
"This is really bad!" Sokka yelled, any bravery that he may have felt before gone. "Please, Aang! You have to Earthbend me out, there's no other way!"
Aang stomped a foot, doing an uppercut move, then aimed both hands toward the sky in a basic bending move. Sokka didn't budge. "I'm sorry, Sokka…"
"Out of the way!" Zuko yelled as the beast charged at the Water Tribe boy again. He skidded under her jaws and bit into her leg. She turned and snapped at him, but he darted underneath of her. He let out a pained growl as one of her fangs grazed his hindquarters as he rushed passed her.
The moose-lion charged toward the vulnerable Sokka again and the Avatar jumped in front of him, determination on his face. He shoved his hands forward, sending a strong gust of air at the animal, blowing her back. She slowly stood up, shaking her head from the fall. After shooting Aang and Zuko, who had limped up beside the pair, a glare, the moose-lion accepted defeat and took off into the bushes.
As the dust cleared, they heard a slow clapping coming from a nearby rock.
"I was wondering when you were going to show yourself," Zuko grumbled.
"Where's the fun in that, Fluffy?" Toph asked. "Besides, I was enjoying the show."
"What, you were there the whole time?" Aang had a look of pure surprise on his face. "And Zuko knew about it?"
"Pretty much," she confirmed. "And Fluffy's got good senses –not as good as mine but, still. Of course he noticed me."
Zuko sighed, taking the weight off of his injured leg. He had finally given up on getting Toph to stop calling him that ridiculous name; the girl was as stubborn as the element she commanded.
Aang was not pleased to hear this. Pointing an accusing finger at the Earthbender, he yelled, "Why didn't you do something? Sokka was in trouble! I was in trouble! Zuko was in trouble! You could've gotten Sokka out and helped us get away!"
"I guess it just didn't occur to me." She tossed a nut down on the rock next to her and pulled out a familiar staff from seemingly out of nowhere. Just as Toph brought it down to smash the nut, Aang caught it, glaring at the girl.
"Enough! I want my staff back!" He jerked it from her grasp, backing out of her reach.
Toph abruptly stood and hopped in front of Aang. "Do it now," she said.
"What?"
"Earthbend, Twinkletoes. You just stood your ground against a crazy beast, and even more impressive, you stood your ground against me. You've got the stuff."
"But-"
"Do it!"
Aang glanced at her, confusion clearly on his face, then stomped down and shoved his fist forward, causing a large rock to shoot off and crash into a ridge.
"You did it!" Toph exclaimed. "You're an Earthbender!"
"I hate to break up this touching moment," Zuko interrupted before the Avatar could speak. "But can someone get the Idiot out of the ground so we can go?" He winced as he shifted his leg.
"Of course!" Aang declared, walking over to Sokka, who was currently glaring daggers at the Wolf for the insult.
Toph held a hand out to stop him before he could attempt to bend. "Actually, you should probably let me do that. You're still a little new to this. You might accidentally crush him."
"Yeah, no crushing please," Sokka squeaked.
She walked up to Sokka, lifted her left foot, then stomped down. The boy popped out of the hole and Toph grabbed his hair, dragging him out as she walked away.
The Water Tribe boy lifted a weary hand as he was plopped onto the ground. "Thanks…Toph…"
Aang helped him to his feet, and together they made their way back to the campsite.
WOLF OF FIRE
Later that night, Katara was awoken by the sound of howling off in the distance. It was a beautiful, yet almost sad sound as it echoed throughout the canyon. Gazing up to the sky, she saw Yue shining fully, casting her light down on all of them below. As she remembered the story Iroh told them a couple nights ago and the tales she heard growing up, it all made sense to her. It was Zuko that was howling. A quick glace around the slumbering figures around the camp confirmed her suspicions.
As quietly as possible, Katara made her way towards the sound. She was thankful the canyon wasn't very deep as she found a path that allowed her safe access to the top of the walls surrounding it. There, sitting amongst a cluster of small boulders not too far off, was Zuko. His white fur seemed to glow in the light of the full moon. His eyes, looking like two small suns, were a huge contrast to the bluish shine of his coat.
The Waterbender tried her hardest not to be spotted, but it was to no avail. She was startled as those bright orbs were turned on her.
"I'm sorry," Zuko told her quietly. "Did I wake you?"
Katara stumbled closer, saying, "N-no…you didn't. I…It's a full moon, so I can't sleep very well anyway".
The Wolf hummed in thought. "You too, huh?" A pause, then, "You wanna sit down?"
"S-sure." She sat on a nearby boulder, fidgeting nervously. She wasn't scared of him; he had already proved that he wasn't intending to hurt them, not as long as they were helping his uncle. This wasn't why the girl was feeling nervous. It was something else entirely, and it had been eating away at her for the past week. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "I'm sorry!"
Zuko looked at her, stunned. "For what?"
"I…well, for what my people did to yours…"
"Oh…" was all he could manage to say.
"It's just that…for so long, when I imagined the face of the enemy, it was your face that I saw…at least, your human face. But when I found out about, you know, you being a Wolf, I guess it threw a huge water whip into everything I thought I knew."
Zuko cocked his head to the side in confusion. "How so?"
"I mean, for so long everything was black and white; the Fire Nation were the bad guys; everyone else was the good guys. But…you're not even Fire Nation –I know you say you are, but your not Fire Nation by blood," Katara said, cutting off his angered interruption. "It's just that, I grew up hearing stories about the Wolves from my Gran Gran. She told me how my people hunted them down and killed them into extinction. I've always thought it was such a cruel thing to do; they were trying to survive just like we were. I…I never thought I would actually have the chance to meet one; never thought that they were even still alive. The Water Tribes supposedly killed them just like the Fire Nation killed the Air Nomads. Now that I think about it, it doesn't make us much better from them, does it? Maybe…maybe they were just trying to survive too…"
"You're wrong," Zuko told her, voice firm, though he held his gaze on the moon. "My great-grandfather didn't start this war to survive. He wanted to share the greatness of the Fire Nation with the rest of the world; share in our prosperity. He may have started out with good intentions, but starting a war in the first place was the wrong way to go about it."
"So you don't like the war, Zuko?"
He glared at her. "Of course I don't. If there wasn't a war, I wouldn't have had to leave home in the first place."
"If you hate the war so much, then why try to capture Aang? Why get rid of the world's only hope for the war to end?" Katara asked.
Zuko sighed, staring back at the moon. "What choice do I have?" He asked her quietly. "My father's the leader of my pack."
A silence stretched over them after that. Katara reclined on her rock as Zuko settled down on the ground, resting his head on his paws. They sat gazing at the night sky until finally the Wolf spoke up.
"I never thanked you…for healing my leg."
"It's no problem." She paused, then, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
Zuko hummed his consent.
"Why do you howl at the full moon? I've heard stories, but they're all different. No one seems to know."
Lifting his head, Zuko answered, "It's just…something we do; we don't really think about it, it's just part of our instincts. I guess it's our way of mourning those we've lost and thanking the Moon Spirit for her part in granting us the first White One."
"White One?" This was something Katara hadn't heard about before.
"Mm, white Wolves said to be destined for greatness."
"So then you're…?"
"Yeah," he finished, laying his head back down. "I'm the third one to be born in the past five hundred years. It's why Akarra gave me to my mom. Apparently Ookami and Agni have something planned for me…at least, that's what my mothers told me."
"…I see," Katara said. She left it at that. It would still be a while until she got over her uneasiness. Having your beliefs ripped out from under you and turned upside down does that to a person. Her guilt over what her people had done to Zuko's ancestors hadn't completely left, but still, she felt better after getting that off of her chest.
And maybe, just maybe, she could get over it for good someday. Until then, she would hang onto it, and use it as motivation to keep moving forward. So that never again would a people have to suffer like that of Aang's or Zuko's. Katara of the Southern Water Tribe would fight and do her part, so that one-day, that desire became a reality. No matter what.
A/N: A big thank you to Lord Kamui for inspiring the last scene. I hope it answered your question. And don't worry, I fully intend on working in the other things you mentioned. Your questions really helped a lot on the finer details of this story. So again, thank you! :D
Reviews are loved!