AN: DON'T YELL AT ME. JUST PLEASE…DON'T YELL AT ME.

DISCLAIMER: So, even though it's been forever, I still don't own ATLA or any official ATLA characters, but my original characters, concepts and plot are mine. I don't care if it's been 100 years since I updated, don't steal my chizz.

Bleeding Blue Fire

Chapter 21

Written: June 10, 2015

Posted: June 10, 2015

Dawn called out to the sun to rise higher in the sky. The vibrant rays beat upon the warrior's back, and the unexpected heat had awoken her. She sat up slowly, stretching her limbs and noticed that her movements caused the others to stir. They were all laid out under a large tree in a forest-like are.

"Morning," she said quietly to the group. All returned her greeting except one who was still fast asleep. His rump was high in the hair and drool grazed his cheek. She rolled her eyes and gently pushed his side, making him topple over. "Wake up, Sokka."

"Huh? What?" his head popped up in eagerness, and then dropped back down as he realized he had been assaulted. "Hey, that hurt!"

"Yeah, sure it did. We need to get some food in our systems before we start moving again."

"What's the rush, Suki?" Kar Mae was now sitting up against the bark of the tree pulling her hair back into a bun. "Ry is like, the fastest creature…ever. We'll be at the North in a few weeks, no problem."

Ry smirked. "Yeah, I'm pretty awesome."

"Can Zen turn into a gigantic tiger, too?" Sokka asked, propped up on his elbows.

"No. Only certain lifebenders have the ability to transform into tsubasas."

"UM, HELLO?" Suki chimed. "I know Ry's fast, but the thing is, there's more of there's kind of a lot more like her, which are ALSO fast. And apparently, one of them happens to be my sister, so we need to move. PRONTO."

Everyone nodded at Suki's point and began to shuffle. "So where are we supposed to get food? Are we near a town or something?" Kar Mae inclined.

"We might be. Let's go look around a bit," Suki stood up and began wiping off her make up. She didn't want to wear it into town or draw any attention to them. She shed her armor until she was in nothing but her baggy pants and silk green top. Sokka looked surprised as he saw Suki without her armor. He didn't really knew she wore normal clothes under there.

Suki packed her fans in her handbag along with a few coins and began heading deeper into the forest with Kar Mae following behind her. Before they had disappeared from Ry and Sokka's sight completely, she called out to them.

"You guys try to find some berries or something while we look for a town."

Ry nodded curtly as Sokka mumbled under his breath. "Who is she to be dishing out chores…"

The forest was quite quiet aside from the chirping birds and buzzing insects. The area was heavily wooded, but the trees were very thin. It was very lucky that they had found a larger one to sleep under. The sun rays bled through the skimp mounds of leaves upon the tree tops and danced along their faces. As the two continued to roam for about 10 minutes, they found themselves in a much clearer, rockier region.

"There's more rock than trees out here for this to be a forest," Kar Mae mused, acknowledging their surroundings.

"Yeah," Suki agreed. "It's pretty – " BOOM.

Suki was interrupted by a large thundering noise. The sound made both girls jump as it echoed once more throughout the land. Kar Mae latched on to Suki, and Suki brushed her off, trying to concentrate. As the noise sounded once more, Suki began to stride towards the direction of the noise. Kar Mae looked around frantically, wondering if Suki was expecting her to follow because she damn sure wasn't. Kar Mae wasn't a fighter. She couldn't hurt a fly. Literally, she could never even catch one.

"Suki!" she whispered in a low hiss.

Suki gave her a SHUT UP look and motioned for her to come. Regretfully, Kar Mae tiptoed over to Suki's side, and kept up with the Kyoshi warrior's pace. As they neared the source of the commotion, Suki placed a lip to her fingers, motioning to Kar Mae not to make a sound. She peered around the corner of a large rock, and spotted a young man with long, dark brown hair. Kar Mae peeped around the corner, too, watching in awe. The young boy bended a fairly large boulder off of the ground, and forced it into the side of the small, rocky alley he was in.

"He's got to be from around here…stay here," Suki whispered. She then revealed herself from behind the rock and called out to him. At the sound of her voice, the boy panicked. He ran, and shifted the rocks from the top of the alley to the bottom, blocking his path. Suki followed him without a doubt, somersaulting over the toppling rocks and sprinting after him. He heard her footsteps nearing and stopped and turned to face her in an earthbending stance. Only to his surprise, the warrior had disappeared. He looked to the left, to the right, even up in the sky. She was nowhere to be found. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned on his heels to leave only to be met with a pair of striking navy eyes. As she got a good look at his face, she found him to be pretty good looking. His emerald eyes shimmered in the light of the rays, and popped drastically against his tan skin.

Before he had time to react she grabbed his wrists and cooed him.

"Hey, would you just calm down? I just want to talk. I'm traveling with my friends and we're looking for a town to buy food from. That's all," she dropped his wrists. "If you run again, I'll just follow you to where you're running to and find it myself. But if you could just give me directions, that would be nice."

The boy eyed her suspiciously. "Yeah, there is a town around here."

"Great! Could you take me and my friend to it?"

"I will, but…" he looked down with furrowed brows. "You can't say anything about what you saw me do."

Suki looked confused. "What I saw you do? You mean earthbending?" The boy cupped his large palm over Suki's mouth in an instant and her eyes lit up. She immediately reached to drag his hand away, but he was strong.

"You can't say anything about that!" he said to her sternly with a raised voice. "My town is run by the Fire Nation and if they catch anyone doing what I do….they take them away." His voice dropped, along with his hand. "They took my father away…they can't take me too. My mom needs me."

Suki sympathized with the boy. "Take me to this town."

He nodded and began off into the direction he was heading before.

"Wait. Two things, first. One, we need to go back and get the others. Two," Suki stepped up to him and calmly punched him in his shoulder. He grunted and looked at her crazily. "If you ever do that to me again, I'll hurt you." She began walking in the direction of where she had left Kar Mae as he followed, rubbing his arm.

"What's your name, kid?" She said keeping her eyes straight ahead.

"Haru. Yours?"

She looked back at him and gave him a smug smile. "I'm Suki."

That same morning, the young banished Fire Prince was wandering into a small village himself while his traveling companions still slept peacefully aboard the bison. He still found that thing to be weird, but then again, he was traveling with a person who could literally bend a person's insides. Just what the hell really exists in this world? He thought to himself. He shook away the thoughts as he neared the little town. It was a rather dull and dry-looking village. There were a few small shops starting to set up and small residences bordering the shops. Zuko continued on into the town and stopped by a man's wooden display.

"Excuse me, sir, but are there any – " Zuko stopped mid-sentence at the sound a kid's cry. He turned around to see a small, brunette boy laying on the ground as a door slammed in front of him. The boy stood up and angrily pounded on the door with closed fists.

"GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY! THAT'S ALL I HAVE!"

"Beat it, kid," a deep voice scowled from behind the door. The town seemed quite provincial, and this sight enraged Zuko. He stormed over the kid, and asked him who was in there.

"Gow," he growled. "He and his so-called soldiers just took my coins. I need those to buy eggs," he looked up at Zuko with sad, pitiful and angry eyes.

"Stand back," Zuko pushed the boy aside a bit before taking a step back and extending his leg to the door, kicking it straight off of the hinges. He looked around and locked eyes with a band of gruff men who weren't happy to see him at all.

"Just who the hell are you to be breaking doors around here, boy?" The biggest of the men rose and looked down on Zuko. He was most likely Gow.

"You taking children's money? That's low," Zuko said in a stern voice. The man chuckled heartily and slammed his mug on the table behind him.

"Ain't nobody take shit from no kid," he pointed at the small boy beside Zuko, "that little shrimp generously decided to make a donation to his town's army service."

"Army?" Zuko said, taken aback. "You all are supposed to be protecting this time and you're robbing children?"

"What's it any of your business anyway? You ain't from around here, you ain't got no say here, so I think it be best you be on your way." Gow's playful demeanor had now faded, and he was starting to get agitated. Zuko didn't budge.

"I'll be on my way when he has his money back."

The other men in room all rose at Zuko's bold words. Gow stepped forward menacingly. "You gonna make me give it back?"

"I will if I have to."

Gow chuckled again and sat back down in his chair. "You boys handle this while I finish my beverage." He waved for the other three men to proceed. One lunged toward Zuko with a raging fist. Zuko leaned to the left, dodging the blow, and grabbed the man's arm. Another man charged at him, and Zuko swung the man around that he was holding to shield himself from the attack. He then released the guy quickly, and kicked him in the gut, sending both men hurdling into the back of the small tavern. The last guy had picked up a few glasses and began chucking them at Zuko, who was avoiding them all promptly. One shattered on a table beside him, so picked up a shard of glass between his index and middle finger and sent it flying in his opponent's direction. It grazed the side of his face, and drew blood. Distracted by the small blood drops on his face, Zuko threw the guy into the pile of the other two in the back of room. Gow rose, and bended the earth below Zuko's feet in a manner that made him sink into the ground, trapping him.

"You think you're tough, huh, pretty boy?" Gow glared at Zuko. As he lifted his cup to his lips once more, Zuko reached in his pocket and withdrew a small knife. He tossed it the boy he had came in defending, and the boy instantly injected it into Gow's leg. He howled in pain as he dropped to ground, cursing.

"You little bastard, come here!" He yelled, reaching out for the boy as he ran over to Zuko, who was using all of his strength to pull his legs from the earth. Once his struggle was over he walked over to Gow who was still moving and cursing. He looked back to the boy and told him to wait outside. Without any hesitation, the boy rushed out of the tavern. Zuko stopped down to Gow's level and lit a flame from his finger. Gow's eyes widened in fear, not expecting Zuko to be a firebender.

"Who are you? What do you want!?"

"Where's the money? Not just the boy's. If you've been stealing from him, you've been stealing from everyone here. Where is it?" The flame inched closer to Gow's neck, which was starting to sweat from the oncoming heat.

"I-i-it's in the chest in the r-r-room back there."

Zuko stood up, and fetched a rather hefty brown trunk from a small room within the tavern. Before leaving, he looked Gow in the eyes and threatened him.

"I'll be back. And if I find out you and these thugs are stealing from these people again, I won't be so merciful." With that, he exited the tavern only to be surrounded by what seemed like the entire village outside. They all cheered and smiled. Zuko sat the chest on the ground where he was.

"This is the money they've stolen from you all."

They all hooped and hollered their thanks to the mysterious man who returned their funds. Zuko smiled and waved as he turned to go. He didn't want to stay for too long; he originally didn't want to draw attention but now had a whole lot of it. Before he could get real far, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt.

"Hey mister!" He turned around and saw the boy he defended from the thugs. "You uh, forgot this," the boy handed Zuko the knife he used to jab Gow.

"Nah, you keep it. Let it remind you of the day you helped save your village. You're a hero," Zuko smiled at the wide-eyed boy. He could tell the boy was full of courage and ambition.

"Really? Thanks! I'm Lee, by the way," he gave Zuko a toothy grin.

"Say, Lee, there weren't any earthbenders named Toph in that village of yours were there?"

"No…Gow was the only real bender there."

"Oh…okay," Zuko turned to leave.

"But there's a city just south of here, to the east. It's a lot bigger than here, so there will probably be more earthbenders there."

"That's actually pretty helpful," Zuko rubbed his chin. "Thanks."

"Thanks again for the knife."

"Make sure you read the inscription."

Lee peered at the writing on one side of the dagger and read aloud.

"Made in Earth Kingdom."

"The other one," Zuko called out to him; he had already started walking back.

"Never give up without a fight," Lee smiled at the words and looked up to see Zuko as nothing more but a receding figure in the distance.

Zuko remembered when his uncle gave that knife to him many years ago when he returned from the Earth Kingdom. He smiled to himself and continued back to where his friends were. Hopefully they could find Aang's teacher in this city. They didn't have time to waste with two wars on their hand. Bad enough it would take Aang a while to master the rest of the elements, and they really didn't exactly have all the time in the world. Maybe if they were just up against Ozai, a normal, yet crazy human being, things would not have to happen so quickly. However, with Zen's kind quickly populating in the hopes of forming an army that is trained to do nothing but kill, time was their most prized possession, and defenses needed to be established. The world was about to change rapidly, maybe even in the blink of an eye. There was absolutely no time to waste.

AN: I have most of the plot configured and written for the story, so I am going to be trying to throw you guys some long, juicy chapters. Bear with me, okay? 3 And I'm actually glad I took a while to update because now I am going to be tying in some LOK things with this that actually are pretty cool. :3 So enjoy! And if you don't mind, please review. Let me know what you think, honestly. (: