I looked out over the glittering blue ocean, lost in thought. Where could the Avatar be? We had gone a couple weeks with no leads and it had begun to worry me; someone else hadn't caught them, had they? A cold rock fell in my stomach. What if someone had? Then I couldn't return home. I would either have to wander the world for a lifetime or find some other way to prove to my father that I was a worthy son. But what else there?
The Black Wolf, a little voice spoke in the back of my mind.
A pang of guilt shot my chest and I halted the thoughts before they went any further; I was sure that my father would love to see Deathblow and try and control her, but I wanted to keep her a secret. Something my Uncle and I shared. Our secret. Plus, my father's cruelty would no doubt emerge to beat Deathblow into submission.
A commotion severed my thoughts. "Hey! You're not supposed to be-,"Crash. Oh, no. Deathblow was on deck. I closed my eyes. She was a disaster on deck; I was positive she could sink the ship in five minutes flat.
Claws skittered on the iron floor. "Zuko!" Paws hit my back. I fell. My eyes opened to see a pair of golden eyes earnestly staring into mine.
"Uncle needs to go shore!"
My eyes narrowed in suspicion. "For what?" Last time we had gone ashore for him was because he wanted to attend a festival… It ended in disaster. I don't know how, but Uncle managed to get about twelve guards chasing him and yelling at him to drop his lute. I had to stop them. To this day, I don't know what he did.
"I don't know, but he said it's urgent!" The ship veered sharply. Deathblow fell off me and slid on her back to the other side of the ship along with several other alarmed crewmembers.
Grabbing the railing, I saved myself from a similar fate. I looked out over the railing to see where we were going and decide whether or not I needed to go yell at someone. Yep. We were heading for shore. "Uncle!" I cried. Then I stormed to the control room.
"Why are we going to shore?" I shouted, spewing fire this way and that, heating up the room to an uncomfortable temperature. The captain cowered from my anger.
"Nephew!" Uncle answered. He looked heartbroken. "I lost a game piece!"
I nearly exploded. "What?" I growled through gritted teeth. Suddenly all of us were thrown off our feet as the ship stopped in its tracks. We had hit something.
"S-sir!" The captain stammered. He was pointing out the window and looked like he could have wet himself. I leaped to my shoes and looked to where he was pointing. Oh, no. Our ship had hit another Fire Nation ship. A very familiar one.
It didn't take me two seconds to charge onto the deck and cast a raging fire ball towards the end of the ship. The fire dissipated. "Deathblow, hide." The smoke from the fireball was still thick enough to obscure everything. Deathblow looked at me with confused eyes. She turned and fled.
"Zuzu, you should know better than to fight with your sister. We're older than that." The owner of the voice stepped through the grey smoke. My sister, Azula. I hated her guts. She smirked at the anger flowing off of me in waves. "No luck with the Avatar yet, brother?"
Two other women flanked either side of her. One was bouncing around happily, her ponytails jerking around like happy bird-monkeys chasing a fly. The other looked in pain; she wouldn't look directly at me. They were Tai Lee and Mai, my sister's best "friends," if she could actually consider anyone a friend.
"I've been tracking him," I growled.
"Zuzu, do calm down! I'm not going to hurt you or take anything," she drawled. Tai Lee was looking at the guards with a smile plastered to her face. "Well, there is actually something that I'd ask my dear uncle and brother to do for me, but I don't know if you know where it is." Her eyes roamed the deck. " I'm sure you've heard the rumors, Zuzu." Her entire face was coiled into an expression of sly evil as her eyes came to rest on me. "Supposedly there's a Black Wolf running around. Have you heard anything, brother?"
I knew it. "I've heard. But I haven't believed them. The Black Wolf is a myth." There was no way Deathblow would ever fall into Azula's hands. Ever.
Her gaze didn't leave me. "Mai, Tai Lee, search the ship." The pair went off, Tai Lee doing front flips and back flips, Mai creeping along with her knives drawn. I opened my mouth to protest. "Do you have something to hide, Zuzu?" I shut my mouth and glared at her, willing her to explode into a ball of flames. She had me trapped. I could only hope that Deathblow eluded Mai and Tai Lee.
No such luck. A shrill scream sounded, one that chilled everyone to the bone. A roar answered it. Mai appeared first, looking just as alarmed and concerned as Azula; they both might have been expressionless, cold-hearted people, but not even they could deny the power in the roar. "Tai Lee?" Mai shouted.
I didn't know what to do. Deathblow wouldn't kill Tai Lee, would she? My mind started racing. Oh, crap. There was a mythical, bloodthirsty creature on ship, unsupervised and mischievous.
Tai Lee came running, screaming and crying back to Azula and Mai, whom she hid behind and quivered. Mai took a step back. "We should go, Azula," she cautioned. But Azula wouldn't listen.
"If you two are that cowardly, go back to my ship. I have no use for cowards." Azula fixed her gaze on me. "Show me the Black Wolf, brother."
I met her gaze full-on with a glare. "No." Azula stepped forward. I copied her movement, mentally preparing myself for a duel. "The Black Wolf isn't available right now. You can come back later, Azula, and maybe it'll be calmed down. Right now it's angry. And you know the stories; when it's angry there is no running away because it will track you down and kill you."
I could see the doubt in Azula's eyes. It was so unlike her. Myths of the Black Wolf struck fear even in the heart of the heartless.
My words were instantly cast aside as Deathblow crept to the bow of the ship in her large form, snarling like a saber-lion. The prospect of a fight glittered in my sister's eyes. Oh, no. She wasn't the type to ever back down from a fight. She always thought she could win.
"Deathblow, what did I tell you to do?" I whispered angrily once she had crept close enough forward.
The response I received was "I don't like them." I wanted to punch something in exasperation. No one liked Azula, but that didn't mean that she should be fought with. She was a scary individual, raised by a father that expected no less than the best in every single subject; and she hadn't backed down from the challenge.
Deathblow scraped her claws menacingly across the iron, creating a teeth-grinding screech. No words were exchanged. There were no rituals or warnings. Deathblow and Azula leaped at each other, Azula spouting blue lightning from her hands and Deathblow streaking towards her with claws outstretched and teeth bared.
It happened so fast. They met, Deathblow narrowly avoiding blue to the eyes. Azula dodged a hefty paw. Deathblow snapped at Azula's leg and was punished with a blue flash to the shoulder; the wolf yelped and sprang away. Another blue splash hit her ear. Then her paw. Then her face.
Azula beat her back to the railing. "Submit, wolf!" Her eyes were wild, no intelligence was held within. Just madness. Deathblow had no chance.
"NO!" I screamed, and a furious flame separated the two. Running to Deathblow, I thought I was surely going to reach her in time before Azula shot another lightning bolt. But I didn't. Lightning shot out and whipped Deathblow's stomach. The Black Wolf fell.
Azula turned to me and shot me. Pain flashed white-hot through my vision; I blacked out.
"Zuko!" A voice called to me through the darkness. I didn't know where it was coming from, and I didn't really care; everytime I tried to answer it my head felt like it was about to split open. Then I shot up into a sitting position.
"Deathblow? Where's Deathblow?" I demanded. My vision was blurred but I could just make out Uncle sitting next to me. Why wasn't Deathblow there? She should have been right next to me, like a loyal dog. He reached out a hand.
"Relax, nephew," he soothed and tried to push me back down.
"No," I protested. "Where is she?" Apparently that was all too much for me at the moment, because I blacked out again, entirely unaware of where I was and what was happening. All I knew was that Deathblow was not there. So I concluded that that meant she was with Azula. And that wasn't good news.
Sorry this wasn't very long. But I hope it made up for at least half the time it took me to update. Thanks for reading! :D
