Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar The Last Air bender or Disney's The Lion King. This fanfiction is based off of the Disney movie mixed with little bits of Broadway's The Lion King. I just called this fanfiction The Fire King because all of the characters from Avatar will still be human and still have their bending abilities; they'll just follow along with the characters' story from the Lion King. They lyrics used throughout are not mine; they are from the movie and the Broadway show. If something doesn't make sense while you are reading, message me and I will do my best to explain. Also, I realize that a different author had started to write their own Avatar/Lion King crossover. However I did not know that until after I had started writing this fanfiction. I hope no one is upset with me and I never tried to take anything from the other author; there story is written how they wanted it to be.
Chapter 11: Iroh is Dead, Zuko is gone
After Iroh had fell Zuko made his way down the cliff to find him. Dust from the stampede was left over so he would find himself coughing every now and then. The dust was also stinging against the burn over his eye. Zuko placed his hand over his eye to keep the dust away, but touching the fresh burn aggravated it even more. The most he could handle was keeping his eye open enough just to see where he was going. Zuko did his best though to ignore the pain; finding his father was more important to him.
"Dad!" he called out. "Dad where are you?" For a split second he heard some rustling. "Dad?" he called out hopefully. Unfortunately it was only a small komodo – rhino that was hurrying to catch up with its' parents.
This was what led Zuko to seeing a figure lying near the broken tree branch.
Ever so slowly, Zuko made his way to the figure. He didn't want to believe it, but there was his Uncle Iroh lying there on his back, unmoving. His eyes were closed and there was no indication that he was breathing. Zuko's heart started to freeze. Carefully he kneeled down by him and started to shake his arm. "Uncle Iroh?" He didn't respond. "Uncle Iroh we need to go home. Mom will be worried." Zuko pulled on the sleeve of his robe when nothing happened. "Dad let's go!"
By now Zuko was scared and upset. His Uncle Iroh, the man that had practically been his father, was gone. Standing up he looked around him frantically as best as he could. "Help! Somebody! …Anybody!" At this point Zuko started to cry. "Help…" he whispered to no one in particular. Then he slowly walked back to Iroh and wrapped his arms around his waist as his tears continuously streamed down his face.
He never even heard when someone was approaching them.
"Zuko" the person called his attention. Hearing his name he turned to see Zhao standing there with disappointment written on his face. "What have you done?"
Immediately Zuko stood up and tried to explain what happened. "The komodo – rhinos…he tried to save me. It was an accident…I never meant for any of this to happen."
"Of course not. Come here," he held his arms out and hugged Zuko. "Now no one ever means for anything like this to happen. But the Fire Lord is dead" Zuko looked back up at this remark, "…and if weren't for you he would still be alive." A few more tears escaped Zuko's right eye; not many tears could escape his left one. "What will your mother think?"
Zuko sniffed. "What am I going to do?"
"First let's get that eye wrapped up." Taking a scrap piece of cloth he wrapped it loosely around his eye and noticed that it extended to his ear. Inwardly he smirked.
"Now what?" Zuko asked.
Zhao's face became very serious. "Runaway Zuko." Zuko started to back away from him. "Runaway and never return." With one last look at his Uncle Iroh Zuko slowly turned until he sprinted away. Once he was out of sight Zhao smirked as he felt the three Freedom Fighters' presence behind him. Remaining with his back to him he said, "Kill him."
…
Zuko ran as fast as his legs would let him. Unfortunately he was still tired from running away from the rampaging komodo – rhinos. Plus it didn't help that this time he had to be extra careful not to run into anything and possibly hurt himself worse. When he reached a dead end with a huge cliff towering over him he stopped to catch his breath. Then he felt like he was being watched.
Turning around he saw the three Freedom Fighters from yesterday stalking towards him. Smellerbee spoke first. "Well what do you know? We found our little fire bending friend."
Poor Zuko knew he was exhausted and in no condition to fight back. He had to figure out some way to leave and not get himself killed in the process. "Nowhere to run this time" Jet taunted as Longshot drew out his bow and arrow as silent as ever.
As fast as he could he shot a fire ball big enough to distract the three teenagers and to give him cover long enough to get a head start. With his new found adrenaline rush Zuko sprinted away and climbed through the narrow path to get up the cliff; just barely missing Jet's left hook sword from cutting his ankle. At the top of the cliff Zuko screeched to a halt when he realized just how far down it was to the ground. Looking back he could just make out the Freedom Fighters less than a mile away from where he was standing. Sucking in a deep breath, Zuko braced himself and started sliding down the cliff; for it went down at an angle. He definitely knew he would have some nasty bruises when this was over.
Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot all followed him down the slope aided by their weapons. They didn't see what waited for them down at the bottom like Zuko did.
Zuko saw a good mile's worth of thorn bushes. Thinking quickly he used his fire bending so he would land safely and get rid of the thorns in his path without burning everything around him in the process. This way he was able to maneuver without getting poked and away from his scarred eye thanks to the wrapping; since that was all it was good for. It wasn't very effective in any other aspect of trying to heal his eye before it scarred any worse than it already did.
While Zuko was nearing the end of the 'maze' Jet saw the thorn bushes. He screeched to a halt by driving his hook swords firmly into the ground to stop himself. He sighed with relief when he stopped, but then Smellerbee and Longshot rammed into him. Jet didn't go all the way down, but his left leg did reach some thorns. To which he gave a resounding yelp of pain. Smellerbee laughed out loud while Longshot chuckled inaudibly.
As Jet picked the thorns out of his leg Smellerbee saw Zuko's retreating figure far off in the distance. "Hey, there he goes!"
"So go get him!" Jet remarked snidely.
"I'm not going in there! Unless you want me to come out like you almost did!" Jet grumbled to himself. None of them really wanted to go after him. "Well he's not going to survive out there. But, if he did survive and ever came back then we would kill him."
Jet smirked. "You here that?" he shouted. "You ever come back…we'll kill ya!" Then they walked away. But Zuko had still heard Jet's warning. Pushing himself more he ran nonstop until the first stars shown in the night sky. By this time he was in front of a small stream with fresh water. He drank as much as he could. Then he got a good look at his reflection. His makeshift bandage was almost falling off so he fixed it as best as he could. There were scratch marks all over his hands. His clothes were all torn up and dirty. Overall, he certainly didn't look like 'Prince Zuko.' He also knew that he would no longer be Prince Zuko and he would no longer be Zuko of the Fire Nation. Unsheathing the pearl dagger he was given, he carefully cut off his ponytail – the symbol of his status as prince – and let it flow downstream. I am no longer Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, I am only Zuko he thought to himself. After confirming this in his head he got back up and continued on his journey.
…
While this was happening, the people in the Fire Nation immediately knew something was wrong. The flame Iroh had provided at his coronation had gone out without any warning in the middle of the day. Automatically, the people knew the only reason that would happen was if their Fire Lord had died suddenly and this was the Spirits way of informing them. No one wanted to believe this, so they waited for word.
It was not until night had fallen that Zhao returned with Iroh's body to be cremated – as was the custom in the Fire Nation. Everyone was devastated. Hakoda, with a huge bump on the back of his head, felt guilty for not being able to help. Kya comforted him while they both comforted their children.
But as bad as their reaction was, it was nothing compared to Lady Ursa's.
As soon as Ursa saw Zhao she demanded to know what had happened. Naturally Zhao lied, saying that it happened too fast and all he saw was Iroh fall when he was trying to save Zuko from the stampede. "And Zuko? Where is my son?!"
Zhao lowered his gaze and filled his voice with remorse. "I'm so sorry Ursa. Our young Zuko is lost to us as well."
Ursa collapsed into Hakoda and Kya's arms as she cried out, "No! Not my son! Please no!"
Everyone was affected by Lady Ursa's outburst. Zhao chose this time to speak. "Fire Lord Iroh's death is a terrible tragedy. But to lose Zuko…who had barely begun to live. For me – as an adopted member of the royal family – this is all a deep, personal loss." There was not one person who was not crying. Kya and Hakoda continued to comfort Ursa. At their parents' feet, Sokka was shedding tears as he tried to console a very distraught Katara. He hugged her tightly as she cried and held the firelily meant for Zuko close to her chest. "So it is with a heavy heart, that I assume the throne as Fire Lord."
It was then that the Freedom Fighters and the rest of the rebels appeared. Everyone was startled while Katara and Sokka prepared themselves to fight. "Do not fear. They are our allies now." Zhao continued to speak as he approached the top of the steps for his coronation. "This is the dawning of a new era for a great and glorious future." Then he shot his flame at the holder to represent he was Fire Lord. His flame was clearly not strong like Iroh's had been. This worried everyone, but they could not argue now so they bowed to him with somber faces.
No one seemed to notice young Sokka raise his head just enough to glare at Zhao with a look saying, 'I'll be keeping my eye on you.'
…
At Ember Island, word has passed to Bumi – who was once again on his mini summer vacation. Bumi was devastated to hear that his friend had passed on so early in his life. The same went for how he felt about Zuko. He decided to cut his vacation short and return home to Omashu. Before he left he went over to the statue of Zuko he had made when he had been born. Wiping away a tear he crumbled the statue to little bits of rubble with a clench of his fist. Oh Zuko he lamented sadly and walked away.
Ok, so I have a feeling most of you don't like me right now because of how much sadness there was in this chapter. Believe me, I did not like writing this chapter for that reason. To make it up to you I'm going to post two chapters next week. Please review, I would love feedback. Until next time.
