WOW!!! How many weeks or months did it take me to upload just this part 1?! Once again readers I'm so sorry for the long delay. I was totally occupied with school and now that its Christmas break I was busy with the holiday activities. Anyways here it is. You can see that I was in such a hurry with this and its short…that's why I put it into two parts…yeah. And I was totally lost with some parts and I know the ideas are dull.
BTW, the season finale was not pleasing to me and I expected something big, rather than Zuko switching sides but the plot was awesome! Can't wait for Book Fire! Whooohooo! Enjoy the chap and…pain but before that this fic wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you guys so…
REVIEW RESPONSES:
sokka: Yes I will use your poem in one of the later chapters. Thanks for always being my big bro Sokka…glad you thought it was good.
almostinsane Really? Well thanks for always reading and reviewing this fic when you have the chance. God bless dude!
candicethelovely123: Sad? I agree yet it fun to write. I'll get in touch with you more often and we still have to tackle exams after break…aaaaah! Ingat rin tol!
Kiysta I told you writing takes almost a century for me to work on. I like your writing and your ideas are more original than mine. Yeah, I really paid a lot of attention to chap 10 because it was sad and depressing to write. I love those things! Kisaki? Popular…that would take a while and I wish the show had her…haha in mah dreams! Thanks dude for the support and emailing me always…sorry if I wasn't active for a while. You rock! God bless!
Shirobara: I must be emo! Yap Suoh's a doctor…sorry for the mix up…you should have explained him with better details but its too late mein friend (my friend) See you in school after break…ew school but I love you guys for that!
Iceis: It's ok dude…thanks for reading as always. Miss you loads and until now thanks for the drawings!!! And oh Domnos makes an appearance again! You rock dudette!
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POV: After letting go of my identity that night I realized how much easier it was for me to actually enjoy myself in this ship… my home, with this people…my family. I decided to cast away and never again return to the past because it just made me miserable. I felt so at home and confident in coming out of my shell. I feel so accepted here for being just a…firebender and nothing else. My job as a tea bearer was worthwhile because I enjoyed mingling with Uncle Iroh and Zuko. Not only that, I was promoted to eat with them in all the meals but I tried not to eat too much during dinner so that I could also hang with the crew. Zuko would always invite me when he had his training sessions and taught me a lot new moves that my brother had never done before. I noticed that he hardly talked about the avatar and it wasn't a big deal anymore. The word wasn't even mentioned in the entire ship for days and everyone was happy…I was happy! But I guess it all ended that day…I thought that I could run away from being a fire fox but it was the fox that had been running after me all along…
POV: I remember having a dream that night and it was…different. Something I had never experienced before. I saw my Kuya and Tito in their fox form and they called me to join them. For some reason, I actually understood what they were saying. We were having fun running and chasing each other in the forests where I grew up in. Everything felt so real to me like as if I was back in my real home. After a while, we stopped to get something to eat…I wasn't sure what I was eating though but I ate a lot. The last thing I remembered was chewing on something that I couldn't explain...
Kisaki woke up gasping and spat out what she found was splinters from her mouth. She felt that there were still remains left in her tongue and teeth. "Ew!" she started scraping off the splinters and nearly choked from screaming. Her loud shriek made her cover her ears and she noticed that the surroundings looked different now. She rotated her eyes to a different direction and somehow felt vibrations in the air. Every movement she made gave her a different view of the things around her. Her heavy breathing was clearly heard together with her throbbing heart beats. "This is just a dream!" she shook her head and went under the covers. Darkness surrounded her but there were odd sounds that resided in her ears. Her nose started sniffing the smell of food that was nearby and she wanted to vomit by the smell of it.
She pulled the blanket off and saw that there were food stains all over her dobuk dress and the smell was very strong. "What happened here?" she tried wiping the mess off but she smeared it all the more. The red-head wiped the heavy sweat from her brow and stroked her bloody red hair with her nails and it somehow pricked her scalp. She nearly screamed by the pain she had given herself. She drew her hand back and noticed that her nails had grown nearly a centimeter long. "Wha…what's wrong with me?" she threw off her dress and was beginning to get frustrated by what was happening. She wasn't aware that time had passed by and her ears somehow sensed footsteps tapping against the metal floor passing through the corridors of the dorms and approaching nearby.
The man stopped in front of her door and Kisaki could swear that he was about to lift the handle so she charged and pushed the door shut. "Wait I'm changing! Can't I get any privacy around here!" she barked like a dog and it startled the messenger.
He hadn't even placed his hand on the handle and immediately he stopped on his tracks when he heard the cranky girl's reaction. "My apologies Miss Kisaki but you are needed in the kitchen immediately."
His tone of his voice sounded clearer than usual and she noticed too that hers sounded different. It was like every word that was spoken gave her a second delay of actually understanding each one proficiently. "Give me a sec…and tell the general that I'll be late." She knew apparently that it was Iroh if she was called on duty to the kitchen.
"Yes Miss Kisaki. I will tell him that." The messenger left and his footsteps ringed in her ears.
She knew there had to be an explanation to this. Maybe it was the pressure from being far away from land that allowed her ears to act up like that and so she thought. First thing's first, she had to find a way to wash her dobuk meaning she couldn't go outside and present herself in her black silk top and bottoms because it wasn't appropriate and formal. How she wish to have firebending armor of her own but they were just too heavy for her to carry on her petite body. It was a good thing she had the white robe Uncle Iroh had provided for her and thought of washing her dobuk sometime later.
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In the kitchen…
"What do you think it was?" one of the men examined the torn-up food sacks that revealed claw marks on the bottom of each.
"I'll bet my butt it was a rat…a huge fellow!" the chef circled his hands to give them an idea.
"Looks more like a mutt did it?"
"I don't think so."
"I doubt it."
"Well whatever it was boys it couldn't have gotten too far." Domnos was still trying to figure out the situation and was really worried.
"I am very disappointed about this!" Iroh scolded each one of them.
"I am sorry to say, sir that our food supply has been infested…well not all but mostly it was the vegetables." The chef gave out the report.
"I am not worried about the food..." Iroh shook his head. "What about the tea?"
"Unfortunately most of the sacks had holes in them too so…"
"You mean my tea has been infested with rat venom!" the old man wanted to faint.
"But sir, it was only the bottom layer of the sacks. Hardly any damage at all."
"I don't care! We must buy tea! There is no way I'm drinking any of that substance! There must be a port nearby where we can buy Jasmine and Ginseng and the rest of my ocha!"
"But that would take days to reach our next stop." Domnos declared.
"Then find an island where we can just gather wild tea leaves or any sort!" Iroh was desperate.
"But sir…"
"No buts! I want this ship anchored by tonight in any costal area found it this wretched sea!" he made his words clear.
Kisaki just kept her mouth shut the whole time and couldn't decide whether to rejoice because she wouldn't be serving for a while. She was bothered by the smell around the place, the same smell that was found on her when she woke up. There was a sick feeling in her stomach and it seemed that she had been around this place earlier but had no memory whatsoever.
Zuko arrived and couldn't stand the commotion from the rest of the crew members who tried to keep it secretly from him. "So what did I miss?" he said grumpily and folded his muscular arms. The place was starting to irritate him and seeing the mess just ruined his day.
"Oh Prince Zuko…heheh what brings you here?" the cadet bit his lip and gave him a fake smile.
"I demand for someone to explain to me what has been going on the whole time and why I wasn't informed about this!" he gave everyone a dirty glare.
"You see sir, we didn't want this to upset you and…" one of them bravely spoke.
"Enough!" he turned to the innocent looking child. "Kisaki, mind telling me what happened here?" he set his hands on his hips and looked at her for a straight answer.
"Well you see I…I…just arrived and I found out that our food supply…" she was interrupted by Iroh who kept ranting about his tea problem. "And the tea was also infected by a rat or some kind of creature from what I heard."
Zuko just rolled his amber eyes and faced the chef. " Chef, anymore rations left on this ship?"
"It was only the vegetables that were touched and I guess we have enough to last for a few more days before we reach a port with a market." He notified.
"Or an island for my tea." His uncle folded the sleeves of his kimono. "The rodent should be terminated from this ship before anything else happens."
"General, we assure you that this will not happen again." Domnos guaranteed the both of them.
Zuko walked over to a distance and a piece of wood sticking out from one of the sacks of the tea leaves caught his attention. He scooped up the object and screamed at the top of his lungs. "Enough is enough! There will be no sleep at all unless this…this monster is found and scorched to its death!"
It was like the men and Kisaki had turned blue with frightened wide eyes. They could tell that he wasn't joking and it meant extra work for all of them.
"What's that you got there, my boy?" Iroh asked his nephew who's back still faced them all.
In his hands was the precious blue spirit mask that looked like it had been chewed on for too long. The splinters proved it and the blue paint had started to fade off. He tucked in his shirt and stormed passed everyone. "Not a soul will rest until we find that rat!" he roared and left with a cloud storm trailing behind him.
"My apologies for my nephew's actions." Iroh just chuckled. "Kisaki, do inform our captain that will be changing course for any uncharted land."
"Yes, Uncle Iroh." She scurried off with guilt in her red glassy eyes. She somehow felt responsible for all this. She didn't know why or how tough. "This is going to be a long day." She thought.
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In the dining room…
"Uncle why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" the boy with the scar tore a piece of his bread and chewed on it like crazy.
"Well…I…uh…" his uncle didn't know how to explain it.
"Sorry I'm late!" the door slammed open.
"What took you so long?" Zuko took a sip of water and smiled at the girl's entrance.
"I had to um…attend to some business with the crew, your highness." she lied and slowly closed the door. "I'm very sorry about the tea Uncle Iroh but I was able to make use of the extra leaves from last night's share." She set the teapot in an angle and poured the warm liquid into their cups.
"Why thank you, my dear." The old man lit up for once.
"No problem." She grinned and took a seat beside them.
Both took a sip of their tea and had different expressions. You could tell that Iroh didn't look content with his and didn't want to be rude so he swallowed it instead of secretly spluttering it back to his cup. Zuko on the other hand seemed to be enjoying his and actually drank it.
"It's not bad, not bad at all." The prince raised an eyebrow and stared at his uncle.
The tea bearer just forced a smile and kept silent. It was glorious yet embarrassing at the same time.
"It's somewhat different but still savoring for the soul." Iroh coughed.
"You look famished. Have some rice with whatever your gonna eat." The prince set a bowl of rice for her.
"That's odd." From a while back Kisaki felt very bloated when she woke up but for some reason her appetite rose again. Her nose and eyes were preoccupied by the smell of mouth watering dishes. Her hands picked up the chopsticks that she had mastered in days and grabbed whatever was in front of her. In hasty movements, she began to consume them in mere seconds.
"You have quiet an appetite for a girl." Zuko couldn't help but comment on what he just saw. He was glad that she knew how to use chopsticks instead of using her hands this time.
Kisaki paused and turned to him. "Um…thanks." She frowned and returned to her merriment and there was no stop to this. The two firebenders gave each other odd and disgusted looks. She devoured everything like a komodo rhino when they were given their share of their food during feeding time.
"My dear, do you realize that you've been eating my chasi?" Iroh spoke for once.
Her red eyes were now as big as saucers after hearing this. She released her grip and let the chopsticks hit the ground that left a dull echo around the quiet room. "That's pork isn't it?" her pale lips trembled.
They both nodded in return to her discontentment. "Yes, yes it is."
"I…I…just ate…" she looked like she was ready to puke.
"Are you okay, my dear?" Iroh felt her forehead and found it warm. "My, you are pretty warm."
"No I'm not!" she denied. "I…I…I'm fine, thank you."
"I think it was the chasi?" Zuko gave his theory.
She felt her stomach acting up and had to get out fast. "May I be excused?" Kisaki rose from her seat.
"Why of course you may."
"Thank you and I'm so sorry for leaving early…I've got work…you know business to do." She blushed and left the room with her stomach growling like crazy.
"I tell you Uncle there is something she won't tell us." Zuko had a worried and skeptical look written on his pale face.
"I see your point and I think she was trying to poison us with that tea." Iroh joked.
"Well she should do it more often." The prince thought to himself and stood up.
"Where are you going Prince Zuko?"
"I'm going to see if she's alright."
"Since when were you concern more than I was?"
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POV: I couldn't understand what was happening to me. I can't believe I ate flesh…it was disgusting. It was like my diet changed and so did my appetite. I couldn't stand the feeling though of eating meat…I felt like a beast back there but…but…I didn't feel to good after…ugh!
It was an awful feeling and she had to bring everything out. She couldn't stand the warm fluid being discharged from her mouth between the seconds. The girl took long deep breathes after each vomit that fell to the sea and the strong essence of salt water made her puke all the more. Her hands were trembling from gripping the railings too long and she wanted to collapse right after. It was a good thing that no soul was in sight and didn't want to make this a big deal. She noticed that there were bits of vegetables that she didn't remember eating. "It's impossible…it can't be…" just the thought of it made her gag and turn green. After one last session of throwing up she fell on her knees and was beginning to feel unconscious but strangely, there was some part of her that restored her sickness.
"You lied to me." A voice took over her surroundings and knew who it was.
"What do you mean your majesty?" she wiped her mouth and immediately stood up.
"You said that you had business to attend to." He looked at the frail child.
"I…I…was…it's just…" she stuttered.
"You don't have to lie to us if you're not feeling well." You could tell that he was concerned.
POV: At first I knew he was right but something caught up with me…
"Are you kidding…I feel…I feel fine." She felt refreshed and energy rising. Color began to form in her pale face and a smile appeared.
Zuko couldn't deny it because she looked like she was in good shape. "Are you sure?" he examined her to see what had made her rejuvenate like that or was she just faking it.
"Hey can we train now? Please!" she beamed and started jumping in excitement which startled the prince at first.
"But I thought…"
"I said I'm fine! Never felt so good in my whole life!" she performed cartwheels and skipped around like the little girl she was and the poor prince couldn't explain what was going on.
"Very well then." He tried to maintain a straight face yet worry grew on him and he knew from the beginning that something was not right.
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"Prince Zuko I thought you brought her to rest?" Iroh nudged his nephew on the shoulder. "She didn't look too well earlier."
"I thought so to." He folded his arms and watched his new firebending student stretch from a distance.
"What did you do to her?" his uncle raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, I did nothing." He shook his head. "For a moment she looked like she was ready to collapse when I saw her but now…it must have been a scare."
"Hey what are you waiting for! You promise to teach me how to deal with four opponents, remember?" she called from afar and was full of energy.
"Yes, we will proceed to that in a moment!" he replied.
"Well then, go on and don't keep her waiting." Iroh just chuckled but you could tell that he too could sense something was not right with the child.
Zuko was able to gather three other men who were willing to act as the opponents of Kisaki. He thought of himself to be a good teacher and saw Kisaki as his keen student. She was able to master his famous hook kick in one of the sessions they had a few days ago. He saw that she had potential and the spirit of fighter and he made sure to stick to the basics but seeing her as a fast learner he had other plans.
"Kisaki, I want you to pay attention and listen clearly to my instructions." He saw that she was ready for the complicated execution.
"I'm listening." She nodded.
"You will be positioned in the center while your opponents and I will be circling around you making sure that you're cornered. Now, I want you to block and absorb the first few strikes and when I see that you have done it correctly with the timing and balance, then I will allow you to use the hook kick as your offensive back-up."
"Really! Cause I've been working on it…do you wanna see it?"
"Yes, but remember that it is only use for crucial attacks but the important thing is that you work on your defense." He smirked.
"Yes, your majesty." She bowed at him and to the men as a sign of respect.
"Are you ready?"
"Affirmative." She positioned herself in a ready stance and stood in the middle of the four watching their every move. She felt so confident and focused on what she was needed to do.
The first blow was shot from behind and somehow it felt like the world stopped rotating and by using her left hand she was able to grasp and extinguish the fire from behind. Then one after the other she blocked more of the strikes being released at her and she saw everything in slow motion so she was able to perform twice as fast.
Zuko was speechless witnessing her performance. She was very snappy after each movement and could easily sense the next attack. Although it had amazed him, he was still quite skeptical about it. He gave the men a signal which wasn't very obvious and they nodded their heads in return.
Kisaki just stood there waiting for something to happen. She noticed that they were all ready to throw a blow at her but something told her to stay at halt yet alert. They faced her direction making sure that the prince was ready to make his move from behind. Their hands glowed with flames and made their fake releases, expecting her to flinch and protect herself but she just stood there with her fists raised up. Zuko immediately threw a flaming dagger after seeing them perform their fake act and ironically the fiery red-head just about-faced and used her bending to vanish his fiery attack, a few seconds before it hit her.
Again, he was speechless and couldn't understand why it looked predictable for her. He was convinced with her defensive side and seeing that she accomplished her task, he gave a sign that she was ready to do the offense.
A smirk grew on her face, and explosions burst at their directions until most of them were overloaded by her small yet powerful flames. She found the right moment and did a perfect hook kick startling them to draw back as the flames circled around her and fell to sides.
Kisaki was tired and thrilled after doing that but after a while she felt cramps in both of her legs and overhead voices that were slow and the words very sluggish. She shook her head to get out of that trance but she couldn't escape from it for some reason. The men were still up and about and ready to attack her once more and simultaneously hurled heavy flames at her direction.
She didn't have the time to think or anything and something or someone took over her will. Even with her legs wobbling from the cramps, she leaped high into the air and did a back flip with the flames missing her by inches. She saw everything happened in slow motion and landed lightly on all her limbs pressing against the metal ground.
Iroh nearly chocked from his tea after what he had just saw. The men were frozen with confusion and one of them fainted from the sight. Zuko was the only who noticed after that she was in pain and ran to her side. Her arms were trembling and her legs very stiff from the cramps. Tears welled in her red eyes and she bit her lip to endure the pain she was receiving. He picked her up in his strong arms and demanded for the doctor to figure out what was happening to her. Her surroundings were starting to fade and so were the voices that sounded so muffled.
POV: What's happening to me…Tito, Kuya is it my time?
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OK I'm done and oh yeah MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Part 2 will come soon…you might have to wait again. Thanks again for reading and don't forget to review! I love reviews from you guys! Thanks and God bless you all!