Author notes: chapter 9, going to the earth country ... Uh, sorry for the extremely long wait ... I'm done with AP exams now, and I have a load of free times. I should update quicker.
Disclaimer: don't own Avatar or Aang or Sokka or Katara or Zuko etc ... I will own any OCs, and I'll tell you who/what they are when/if I decide to use them ...
Note: (Prompted by Tsamoka's review) This is a shonen-ai (possibly yaoi) fic, and there has been and will be SokkaZuko. I'm sorry if this offends you, morally or otherwise. I know in the anime (on TV) that Sokka is NOT portrayed as 'gay', and neither is prince Zuko, but as soon as I saw them fight in the second episode, something clicked. Besides, this is a FAN fiction. FICTION. It's not a true replication of the characters on Sokka or Zuko's part, as neither of them would consider this kind of thing, however, for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of some others out there, I am bending their personalities to fit this story. I am once again sorry if this offends you.
Wow ... I don't like getting all serious like that above. Yeah... well, whatever. Read on ...
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(A/N: Hey! look, a new kind of page break ...)
Chapter 9: Impermeable
Breathe ... Deep breath in, deep breath out. Zuko felt the small fire sigh as it flared outward and then back in, flowing back and forth like the tides. Concentrating, he pulled the fire up from the candle and formed a halo in midair. The circle of fire rotated around, then detached and formed a small, dragon-like tongue of flame that dove around the air, hissing. Zuko kept his eyes shut. Sound guided him. Complete silence made it possible for him to tell where the walls were, and so he could form the tiny flickering tongue of flame in mid-air like a snake or dragon. Opening his eyes, he visually guided the tiny stream of flame back to the wick and the flame returned to a raindrop-shaped fire perched atop the candle. Zuko like the silence. With it, he could concentrate and focus and--
"Prince Zuko!"
Zuko's concentration snapped and the candle hissed up into a miniature torch and flickered into smoke.
"WHAT?"
The guard at his door blanched and backed away from the door a bit. "Uh, well, uh, your Uncle! That is, he says you should come to the deck!"
The fire prince glowered and then opened his door to reveal an empty hallway. The guard had wisely vacated the area and Zuko punched a wall. The ship groaned and Zuko stormed up to the deck. His uncle was waiting for him.
"What is it?"
The portly man pointed to the horizon. "We're just half an hour away from the Earth country. We have half an hour to think up a good reason for them to let us dock, or take a three-hour route around and follow a black market trade line to hidden shores a few hundred miles from the capital."
Zuko crossed his arms. "How are we in fuels and supplies?"
Iroh gave a shrug. "We should make our visit here as brief as possible. Our directions were to go to the four nations, fire, air, earth, and water, and then on the fifth day, set sail for an island. We have been to the fire and air nations. Our best course of action would be to stop, let the avatar put his feet on the ground, and then get headed to the water nation, which is further south. Depending on the way we ration it, we should be able to make it to the water nations with minimal supplies and plenty of fuel left ... but it is always good to be prepared for-"
"Thank you," said Zuko curtly, cutting his uncle off, "I've made my decision. We'll have to go direct to the earth country. I'll escort the two who NEED to go on land out in a smaller boat, and then we'll circle back and meet you in the second location you mentioned. If we take more than a day, come for us." Iroh nodded and then smiled.
"Your decisions are wise, Zuko," he said proudly, "and I will wait only a day." The two fire benders went below the deck, Iroh to inform the crew of their plans and Zuko to check on the 'prisoners'.
The teenage fire bender opened the door to their room and was met with a chorus of 'ssssh!' from two dark-skinned siblings. Zuko blinked and joined in watching Aang perform some kind of trick with air and marbles. Katara and Sokka clapped as Aang got the silvery marbles spinning in a circle, and Zuko's eye twitched. The monk grinned and caught the marbles, passing them on to Sokka. The older boy took a deep breath and concentrated, and one by one the marbles floated clumsily into the air. Zuko looked on in slight surprise. "That's right, a little more," Aang was encouraging, "good! That's good, Sokka! Now try spinning them!" Sokka frowned. "I don't know. The last time--"
"Come on," pleaded Katara, "you got it spinning for five seconds! Try for ten!" Sokka sighed and stared at the marbles. One by one, they moved in a slow, calculated circle. Sokka frowned, concentrating as hard as he could. Then, the marbles that had been slowly circulating sped up and Katara ducked as they flew out like bullets, five PINGs ringing out through the room. Zuko held up his hands as a marble headed his way and smacked him on the shoulder. Aang and Sokka blinked and grinned sheepishly. "Ah haha haha ... ha ... ah, sorry." Zuko glared around the room.
"I just came in here to let you two know that we can't chance staying in the earth nation long. Our ship is too conspicuous. We'll have to take a smaller boat and go into harbor under a disguise."
Katara frowned. "Aren't I coming?"
Zuko shook his head. "Can't," he said curtly, moving further back into his bunk, "we're going to set our feet down and then we're meeting my uncle at a different location."
Katara's eyes narrowed. "What's all this trouble with the earth nation?" She asked uncertainly, "I don't see why I can't go."
Zuko frowned and crossed his arms. "Listen, Katara. I'm taking Aang and Sokka out to the earth country. I'm going to make sure they don't run off. If you came along, you'd only cause problems. You have to stay here." Katara frowned. "But ..." Then she stared at Zuko. The fire prince blinked.
"W-what? What are you staring for?"
"You ... You used our names," Katara said slowly, and Aang's eyes widened. "That's right! You used our names!" Sokka grumbled and crossed his arms. "Good. After chasing us around, he finally learns who we are." Zuko refused to reply to any of the rest of their banter and shut his eyes. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes. Get your stuff together and then we'll get on board." Katara frowned and dashed out of the room. Aang looked at the door.
"I think you hurt her feelings, Zuko," he said, "I'm gonna go find her." He padded out of the room, and Sokka rose an eyebrow at the other boy.
"You're really socially challenged, y'know that, Zuko?"
"It's Prince Zuko to you," Zuko grunted in reply.
"Ah! Yes! Of course, your majesty."
"Shut up."
Fifteen minutes later, Aang had returned, saying that Katara had locked herself in a room and wasn't coming out until they came back. "It's fine by me," said Zuko with a shrug as he showed Aang and Sokka the way to the only extra vessel on board. Iroh was there to meet them. "Only three of you? Very well. Prince Zuko, we will meet you in a day at the Southern shores. Remember, earth nation warriors patrol the shorelines nowadays, and it will be difficult to dock without running into them. You and these two should wear a disguise just in case." Zuko looked at Sokka and Aang. There wasn't much suspicious about their clothing when looked at indivdually, but together they looked rather odd. Zuko supposed it would be for the best and shrugged. "Fine. What extra clothing do we have?" Iroh waved a hand at the three guards behind him who extended three different sets of clothing. Zuko picked the second outfit, Aang the first, and Sokka the third. They changed out their shirts and pants quickly as the smaller ship was lowered into the water. Iroh called out to Zuko one last time as the boat hit the waters and began to move away from the main ship. "Remember! This is the earth nation! If you fire bend, they will take you captive. Be cautious." Zuko nodded and turned away from the boat.
Aang jumped on the deck, laughing and hovering for a few seconds each time, his dark green short-sleeved shirt lifting and falling with each bound. The air pushed his ankle-length black pants up as he fell. (Aang is wearing green shirt and black pants) Sokka grabbed his wrist on the way down. "Aang, don't air bend while we're in the earth nation."
Aang frowned. "Why not?"
"And I thought you were a complete idiot," mused Zuko before Sokka could tell him, "It's because the only known air bender is the Avatar. If either of you pull any bending stunts, it's likely to draw unwanted attention. We'll dock, possibly get some food for appearance's sake, and then get out of here. The sooner we get away from the earth nation, the better."
"Why?"
Aang, Sokka, and Zuko looked around. "Huh?" Aang jogged over to the small cabin on the boat and peeked inside. Blue eyes stared up at him with a guilty grin.
"Katara! What are you doing on board?"
The female water bender came out of the cabin, not looking at her brother's surprised face or Zuko's annoyed look. "I really want to see the earth country. I won't be much trouble. Promise." Zuko crossed his arms. "There's not much of a choice now. I don't have time to go back and turn you in. You'll have to stay on the ship."
"Oh, let her come with us!" pleaded Aang with a bright smile, "If Katara can't come, then you can't make me go to the earth country."
Zuko narrowed his eyes and glowered, but didn't disagree. Aang laughed and hugged Katara, who smiled and cast her gaze to the quickly approaching land mass. The small ship was quick and lithe, and she guessed it wouldn't be long before they made land. Which brought her back to the question which had gotten her discovered. "Zuk... Prince Zuko?" asked Katara as Aang let her go, "Why were you saying that you didn't want to stay on the earth nation?" Zuko looked on ahead to the approaching island. "The earth and fire nations don't have the best relations. Leave it at that." He refused to speak with any of them for the rest of the short trip.
Sokka and Katara watched the earth nation grow closer. "Katara, we're going to get some food from a local restaurant and then we're getting out of here. I'm not one to jump to conclusions about the natives, but I think the sooner we get this trip over with, the sooner we can get Aang back on track to mastering those elements and saving the world. Remember that trip?" Katara nodded. "Yeah. I'm really looking forwards to getting back to Appa and Momo. I hope they're ok."
Sokka gave an exasperated sigh and waved his hands. "Sure, worry about the ten hundred pound flying bison, not the normal human being ..."
Katara looked over at him. "But you're not."
The dark-skinned boy frowned and looked at her. "Not what?"
"Not normal," clarified Katara with a smile, "Now, you're an earth bender. And a fire bender, and even an air bender like Aang! You're no where close to normal, Sokka." The boy gave a groan. "That's right! Man ..." Katara patted his back while he sulked, the earth nation just minutes away.
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Kumo looked up at the horizon. "Another ship's coming in," he called to the earth benders behind him. The green-clad warriors hid behind barrels on the dock as the small ship drew nearer. The thirty-year-old man sighed. Fifteen years. Fifteen years since the earth nation warriors had taken to keeping an eye on these ports. Of course, it was the most convenient spot for fire-nation spies to slip through, so he couldn't really blame them for being suspicious. As the small boat drew near, he could see the faces of two small children, chinese-looking. He tapped his foot on the dock to signal that the boat was just moments away from docking. As the craft was tied down, Kumo called out to the captain. A man about forty or so looked over the side of the ship, waving at him.
"Ahoy!" he called with a grin, "We're comin' down now!" A plank lowered from the side of the ship and the man stepped out with the two smaller children. The man was clothed in dark red with black pants that only just came past his knees. The two children at his sides were similarly garbed in red and black, but the boy's pants and the girl's skirt reached their ankles. The man met Kumo and shook his hand.
"Thanks a bunch," he said with a sigh, "I was hoping to find someone who knew the area. I need to find someone who can take me to the lord of this land. I'm from Dan-sei ..."
Before the man could say any more, three green-clad blurs shot into view and two grabbed his arms while the other took the children at his side. The man yelled and Kumo looked away as one of the earth nation warriors smacked him. "From Dan-sei, eh? That's a port in the fire nation!" The man tried to speak but was hit again. "You don't need to talk. You're going to be in prison for a while, so save your breath." They walked away as three more guards approached from the road that led into town. The guards nodded at each other as they passed.
Kumo held his head. Another innocent man and children taken captive. What was he doing? For years, he had been letting them take people from this port, thinking that they were actually looking at differences between what was a spy from the fire nation and who wasn't. Obviously, they weren't. If that man were a spy, he would've come alone with a better disguise. He sighed. "The next ship ..."
"What about the next ship?" asked an earth nation warrior. "Don't worry about it, Kumo. We'll make sure those fire nation spies don't get through your port." Kumo nodded in thanks but in his head, he finished the sentence. 'the passengers on the next ship will make it to town.'
It wasn't long before the next ship was in sight. As usual, Kumo announced it to the warriors with a tap of his foot. The earth benders hid behind barrels, just like last time. However, the people on this ship didn't look suspicious at all. Which made everyone relax a bit. None of them were wearing red; in fact, most of them were wearing green or black except the one girl on board who was wearing what looked like a traditional Southern-style water tribe dress. What looked like her older brother was garbed in a turquoise shirt and green pants that almost covered his shoes. Next to him was an excited pale-skinned boy with a broad-rimmed straw hat over his head. Then, there was a boy with a terrible scar across one side of his face, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt that was loose on his arms and green pants. When the boat hit the dock, he was the first on the wooden planks.
Kumo ran up to him. "Oh, oh, welcome! Welcome. Can I help you, sir?" The boy looked slightly surprised that someone would so quickly greet them but answered politely. "Yes, in fact you can. I'm here with a few of my cousins and we were hungry. Do you know where we can find a place to eat?"
"Yes! Why, there's a town just down the road that has a marketplace that sells wonderful ..." Kumo was cut off as one of the earth benders stepped out from behind his hiding place. The boy just rose his good eyebrow and then turned back to Kumo. "You were saying something about a market place?" he asked. Kumo smiled. "Yes. There's a ..."
"Who are you?" The man clad in green armor stepped forwards, pushing Kumo aside and glaring straight into the boy's face. "What's your name? Where are you from? It's not many people that come to this port without good reason." The three others were getting off the boat. The dark-skinned boy walked up beside the pale boy and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's this about? Is this any way to treat visitors?" The man frowned. "You're strangers here, boy, not visitors, until you tell us your names and business in this port."
"My name's Sokka. This is my sister, Katara, and my cousin, Damien, and his younger brother Sanji." Aang and Zuko glanced at each other. Brothers? Well, they both had pale skin ... The earth bender seemed to buy it and moved on to another question. "Well, why are you all here?"
"For food," said Aang (who I shall call Sanji for a short time) as Sokka's stomach gave a rumble. The dark-skinned boy put a hand to his stomach. "All right," grumbled the warrior, glowering, "where are you from?"
"Handare," said Zuko (who I shall call Damien for a while).
"It's a village on the northern side of the water country," said Katara to the guard.
The man's eyes narrowed, for a while it seemed like he was considering the validity of their answer, and then he nodded. "Well, it's good to see some real visitors!" he said grudgingly, a strained smile crossing his face, "Kumo, take these youngsters to town and see that they're fed. And keep an eye on them." The four followed the green-clad man off the dock and down the dirt road, away from the three earth benders.
"You're very lucky," Kumo said to Damien as the boy walked beside him, "earth nation warriors have been taking anyone suspicious captive. They're held in their base camp, just a walk away from my dock. I've lived here since my mother died, and some time ago these earth nation warriors have come and have taken anyone who comes in through this port captive." Damien didn't say anything. Kumo looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "Stop me if this is too personal ... but did a fire bender give you that scar?"
The entire company stopped walking. Kumo smiled. "Too personal. I apologize for my rudeness. Town's just a while along this road. I'll go back to the dock. When you come back, don't say anything about benders of any sort. Any talk of that kind will get you arrested." He smiled and turned around.
"Hey, wait!" Kumo turned around. "Hmm?" Sanji bounced back to him, tipping his straw hat back to reveal wide, curious eyes and a big smile. "What's your name? You're nice." Kumo chuckled. "Call me Kumo. I hope you'll find a safe time here, Sanji. Take care of yourself. You too, Sokka, Damien." He waved and walked off down the road, chuckling softly. "Kids ..."
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"Sokka?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you only change Aa ... Sanji and Damien's names?" asked Katara before spooning more soup into her mouth. They'd found the first restruant they could and ordered soup, noodles, and salads for all of them. Sokka looked at Damien and Sanji. "I thought that the name 'Zuko' might ring a bell. Damien is a more common name, and so I thought you wouldn't be recgonized right away as a fire bender for your name." The other teenager paused the chopsticks on the way to his mouth and looked at Sokka. The dark skinned boy was busy putting half of his salad into one side of his mouth and talking to Sanji at the same time. "And ... I didn't want ... YOU ... to get mphmested (arrested), Sangee ..." Sokka swallowed, clearing his throat and turning his attention back to his sister, "... and I didn't change our names because they're not suspicious. Are they?"
"I guess not," said Katara, scooping up the last of her soup. Sokka pushed away a clean plate as Sanji downed the last of his drink. Damien folded his napkin and stood up. "Let's get going. We've stayed long enough." They made their way through the few people that were on the streets, most smiling at the strangers as they hurried to the dirt path that would take them back to Kumo and their boat.
"That was easy!" called Aang as he tossed his straw hat in the air. Zuko caught the hat and pulled it down onto Aang's head. "Keep this on until we're out of here," he growled, "I don't want us getting caught and delayed." Aang frowned but kept the hat on his head.
"Oh, wait! I forgot something," Katara said suddenly, jumping and dashing back towards the town, "I'll be right back. Aa--Sanji, come with me, I don't remember where I left it ..." The monk shot off down towards the town with Katara and Sokka crossed his arms over his chest. The fire prince cleared his throat but was silent for a while. A minute passed before he actually spoke.
"So ..."
Sokka looked at Zuko. "Hm?"
"... who's Damien?" Sokka blinked. "Huh?" he asked thickly. Zuko's good eye narrowed. "I mean, who is Damien? Is it just a name you chose out of the blue?" Sokka nodded. "Yeah, sure, why?" Zuko's intense interest disappeared and he gave a hollow, 'ah,' and was quiet.
Ten minutes later, Zuko looked up. Sokka was ready to say something to break the silence when the look on Zuko's face stopped him. He turned and followed the prince's line of sight and frowned. Why was Aang running at them? Without Katara? The monk was shouting something and running as fast as he could without air bending.
"...ook Katara, they took Katara!"
"WHAT?"
Aang came skidding to a halt in front of them, panting and wheezing. Sokka grabbed his shoulders. "Aang, what happened!"
"She left her water canteen! And then she wanted to fill it up, so she used some water bending to get water out of a near by barrel, and then these big guys in green took her!"
"What? Why didn't you stop them!"
"I tried!" Sokka suddenly realized that there were tears rolling down the side of Aang's face. "I didn't want to use air bending because we're not supposed to, but they took her, I couldn't stop them! I couldn't save her! Katara's in trouble, and it's my fault!" Sokka took the smaller boy in his arms and Aang sobbed into his shoulder, shaking. He patted his back as Zuko thought. "Come on, Aang," said Sokka softly, "it'll be ok. Look, it's not all your fault. She probably wasn't thinking. Water bending is natural for her, like picking up a jacket before you go outside in the cold." Aang's tears were slowing down. "That's better. Now, look. We know where she is, remember?"
"And we know who can give us a more exact location," said Zuko, surprising Aang and Sokka. Aang wiped his eyes and nodded. "Kumo."
"Right. We have less than twenty four hours to get her out of there and get going to the water nation," said Zuko as Sokka stood Aang on his feet, "if they know she's a water bender, we'll have to sneak in. They won't let us see her on the premise of being related, but remember what you told that one guard, Sokka, just in case we need it. We'll find Kumo and see where they're holding your sister." Sokka looked to the amber-eyed boy with a soft smile. "Thanks, Zuko." The prince scoffed.
"It's still Prince Zuko to you," he grumbled as they started running towards the dock, ignoring the warmth rising to his face.
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end
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Well, now Katara's causing trouble, getting herself kidnapped. Hopefully, everyone else will keep their cool and we won't get earth nation peoples following them ... yeah ... uh, and we'll get to that island soon ... if we don't have to start over.
to reviewers:
thanks for keeping up with me, even though this isn't my main priority right now. It's becoming more and more important as you review and review again. For ever familiar name, I get kinda motivated all over again ... yeah ... so thanks. Please keep making me feel like I'm loved.
later
