Since my body was a little too "curvy" for the uniform, I had to stay in the supply room for the ENTIRE trip... Talk about boring. I was nervous as hell at first just being in the same vicinity as Zhao, but my nerves wore away seeing that no one ever went in this supply room because it was for emergency supplies only. I had food and water here, but... going to the bathroom was a pain. I had to sneak out in the wee hours of the night into an empty room in the cabin to go to the bathroom. Since I didn't want to risk getting caught, it was only once a day, too. Zuko came by every so often to check up on me and talk for a little, but for most of the day I was just by myself there, sleeping on the boxes of supplies. Right now I was... Yep, you guessed it, sleeping. I shook and rolled on the floor, behind the boxes when I heard the door open.
"Get out, quick. We're leaving. They've stopped the attack for now." I heard Zuko's voice say.
I got up and rubbed my head. I don't even remember falling asleep. I was trying to figure out how I slept through the wonderful sound of the catapults firing fireballs and the ship shaking... I shook my head and then got up, exiting the room. I followed Zuko as quietly as possible to a life boat. As we walked up to it, I heard the door open. Iroh emerged.
"You're fishing for an octopus, my nephew. You need a tightly woven net, or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape." Iroh said.
"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle." Zuko replied.
Iroh walked up to the two of us.
"I'm sorry, I just nag you because... Well... Ever since I lost my son..." Iroh trailed off.
I put a hand on his shoulder.
"Iroh..." I said, massaging it a little, sympathetically.
"Uncle, you don't have to say it..." Zuko said.
"I think of you as my own." Iroh said.
Zuko turned around and his face softened. "I know, Uncle..."
He bowed his head with his hands together. "We'll meet again."
Iroh ran up to him and hugged him tightly. Zuko was a little surprised, but he let Iroh hold him for a second before walking towards the lifeboat.
"After I have the Avatar." He said.
I half smiled at Iroh and gave him a quick hug before walking in the boat, where Zuko was already waiting, holding both of the ropes for the pulleys.
"Remember your breath of fire. It could save your life out there!" Iroh said to Zuko as he lowered the boat.
"I will." Zuko replied.
"And put your hood up! Keep your ears warm!" Iroh called.
"I'll be fine!" Zuko said as he lowered the boat down into the water.
I untied the knots from one end of it as Zuko did the other and then sat down. I put up my hood and raised my collar over my nose and mouth before I grabbed an ore. Zuko did the same and then we paddled to a spot outside of the large ice walls of the Northern Water Tribe. Zuko was looking at the walls, trying to figure out how to get in them. They were well guarded and it was almost a full moon, which meant there was no way possible we could take any of those guards if they were water benders. I looked behind the glacier we were hiding behind to see a bunch of turtle seals diving into a hole. I tapped Zuko and pointed to it. Two of the three turtle seals jumped into the hole. We followed them towards it.
"Where are they going? They're coming up for air somewhere." Zuko said.
"How long can you hold your breath for?" I asked.
"A minute and a half, tops..." Zuko answered.
"I thought so." I said.
I slowly walked up to the remaining turtle seal and went on my knees in front of it. It remained standing where it was and rubbed its head against my arm. Animals were attracted to Shamans. Life Shamans called on them while they were still alive, while Death Shamans called them up from the Spirit World when they were dead... Unfortunately for them, the animals couldn't differentiate between the two kinds of Shamans.
"Sorry, buddy..." I said.
I took the turtle seal's head in my hands and locked eyes with it. My eyes and the tattoos on my face glowed purple as did the turtle seal's. I opened my mouth slowly and took a deep breath in. The blue soul of the animal came out through it's mouth as it barked a little and traveled into my body through my mouth as I inhaled. The animal dropped to the floor I stopped glowing. I got up as I felt the tingle on my arm as a turtle seal tattoo appeared on it. Zuko was staring at the water, pondering what to do when I walked up to him.
"Open your mouth a little bit." I said.
He stood up straight and looked at me.
"What are you-" Before he could finish his sentence, I lowered his mask, took his face in my hands and pressed my lips against his, my mouth open a little as his was.
My tattoos on my face glowed once again as did both of our eyes as I transferred the the energy and power of turtle seal between both of us. As I did so, the tattoo on my arm that had just appeared faded away. I parted from Zuko and giggled a little bit, pulling up his collar when I saw his cheeks were bright red. I walked towards the hole of ice again.
"You could've said something besides 'Open your mouth a little bit'!" Zuko said.
I laughed. "Don't lie, you liked it. And you should be thanking me, now you can hold your breath for about... Hm, maybe ten minutes instead of one now?"
I looked at the lifeless turtle seal.
"Thank you, turtle seal." I said before diving into the hole.
The water was absolutely freezing. I looked to see Zuko next to me a couple seconds later. I nodded to him and both of us swam, looking for an opening. I was looking to the right and he was looking to the left. Even though we could hold our breaths for ten minutes, thanks to the wonderful turtle seal, didn't mean that our bodies would last ten minutes in that water... Can't absorb fat or skin when you take the soul out of an animal...
Finally, after a good eight minutes, I saw an opening up above. I pulled on Zuko's sleeve and pointed to it. He pushed me through it first and then came out himself. Both of us were gasping for air and freezing. I curled up in a little ball, shivering. I felt something warm against my back. I turned my head to see Zuko blowing fire. I turned around once my back was dry and he dried off my front. He dried off himself and then got up.
"Be quiet!" He yelled at the barking turtle seals.
I laughed a little, following him as he pushed through them. On the other side of the cave we were in, there was a waterfall that came out of another opening.
"Do you wanna risk that?" I asked.
"Its the only other opening around." Zuko replied.
I sighed before we started out trek once again. We went to the base of the waterfall and he pushed me up it first. As if the waterfall wasn't the hard part, the "opening" was actually about a 30 foot canal. Both of us slipped a couple of times, but we made it out to the end, where we seemed to drift to the surface of the cave. We both gasped for air when we reached the top.
We swam through another opening a few yards away from the mouth of the canal we crawled through and eventually came up to a source of light, coming from the moon. I banged on it, trying to break it, but I couldn't. I was starting to lose consciousness since we had to swim for quite a while before we came across this source of light. I let out my breath and then started coughing as water flooded my lungs. Zuko emerged, catching my abdomen on his right shoulder, and put his hands on the thick ice. His hands turned red and he melted the ice just enough to push us through. He tossed me on land and then pulled himself up. I gasped for air on all fours, coughing up water. Zuko was still in the little hole he had just made, so I pulled him out of it. Both of us took a look at our surroundings. We appeared to be in a tunnel... right in the city. Both of us laid back in the tunnel, taking in some more deep breaths.
We were sneaking around the city, in search of the Avatar or his friends. All of a sudden, I sensed a change in the aura of the area we were in.
"Zuko, wait!" I whispered.
He stopped. "What is it?"
I looked around and spotted a small door.
"In there." I said.
"What makes you think they're in there?" Zuko asked.
"Its peaceful there... It seems more tranquil... I don't know why, I just have a feeling that they're in there. It seems in tuned with the spirits." I answered.
Zuko walked towards the door and opened it. The environment there was like a completely different world. It was warm and there was no snow, only grass and bamboo. There was a bridge across a calm and slow flowing river to a patch of land that had a pond in the middle of it and an arc. We heard the two voices of girls. One of them sounded like the voice of Katara, the girl that traveled with Aang.
"No, he's my friend. I'm perfectly capable of protecting him." she said.
"Well, aren't you a big girl now?" Zuko said as we crossed the bridge.
"No..." Katara said, looking at us.
"Yes. Hand him over and I won't have to hurt you." Zuko said.
I looked at Aang; His arrow and eyes were glowing as he sat facing a pond with two koi in it... He was in the spirit world... I looked at the koi and realized that they were spirits. My attention turned to Katara, who was ready to water bend. The full moon was giving her power, and she was already a powerful bender normally. I looked at Zuko and he nodded. Both of us charged for Katara.
Katara held her ground pretty good against both of us. As Zuko distracted her, I went to grab Aang. Just as my hand touched his collar, I was blown back against a wall of ice with a blast of water that hardened into ice. Zuko was also pinned against the wall next to me. He was out cold. I closed my eyes and got ready to use summon a spirit animal to get us out of the ice, but just before I did the sun rose. Zuko's eyes shot open and he exhaled. The heat from his body and the air he let out melted the ice on both of us and we landed on the ground. He ran for Katara and blasted fire at her. She tried to block it with water, but it was too strong. She was sent flying and slammed against the arc. Katara groaned and opened her eyes as the smoke cleared.
"You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun." Zuko said to Katara right before she fell unconscious.
Zuko put Aang on his back and we took our leave.