hey yall im back again with another chapter. its not as long as id like it to be but that should change as the story progresses. enjoy!

The Frozen Flames

Chapter 10: Wasted time

Ever since the Agni Kai, 'And the shocking revelation of my moral code,' I've been joining the prince in most of his journeys as a body guard. It's not the most exciting job, but it puts me in the best position to gain the trust I need. The downside, however, is that I have to help him capture the avatar, should the opportunity present itself. I might be able to get away with sabotaging him if he gets too close, but there's actually been no need of that. There's been no new sightings, no fresh information, nothing telling of where the avatar could possible be hiding or heading to next. Im not happy about it, but I'm really impressed with the prince, because dispute that, he's not showing any irritation at the lack of information or any anger at his failure to catch him and I can't understand how he does it. I've only been helping him for a week now and I'm slowly going insane. It's dead end after dead end followed up by false information and fake reports. I should be happy that the avatar is well versed in hiding but it makes my job a thousand times more boring.

That leads us up to now. The prince got a report about an airbender in a mining town near our temporary outpost. It could be just another false lead but the prince is dead set on going there, not that I blame him for it. It's the whole reason for his quest, and I know the feeling well. Honestly, I'm torn. Im still searching for the culprit. I've not given up on my quest and I'm not planning to, but the longer I spend on this ship, the more I hope that it isn't the prince.

Despite what happened at Kiyoshi, he doesn't seem like someone who would do something like that. I heard the reports from the other soldiers. The buildings were set alight, that is true, but no one except the warriors fighting were harmed. Anyone who stood down was left alone and even protected from stray flames. That is nothing like what happened to my home. My home was a massacre. No one was spared. There was death everywhere I turned and red stained snow peeking from behind the broken homes. And now that I've been on this ship, now that I've seen how it's run, I don't think that it was him. I cant see him or his men doing anything like that. I'm not sure those soldiers even came from this ship.

And now that I'm thinking about it, they actually couldn't have. There were two soldiers frozen by my house and three on the way there. That alone would have been five empty places on the roster in addition to any of the ones I missed. I've been trailing this ship for a long time and never once did they stop to change crew members. In as ship this size, its crucial to have a full roster at all times, especially for what the prince needs them for. But when I snuck aboard the ship, there were no empty places on that roster when there should have been at least five. That's it, that's the proof I've been looking for, the proof ive been hoping to find. Prince Zuko Is innocent. Well of the massacre anyway.

He wasn't the one, and the six months spent tracking him down and planning this out were for nothing.

So now what do I do? 'What can I do?'

Do I leave? 'I'd honestly rather not.'

Do I go back home to search for more clues? ' literally anything but that. I can't go back there, not now.'

I said that I'd make Zhao my prey, so do I do that? I could, but I'd have to leave. 'I left once...'

No I won't leave, as much as I'm starting to like him, I need to make sure the prince doesn't get too close to the avatar. While I'm sure the avatar wouldn't be hurt by the prince, I don't want to think about what would happen once they got him back to the firenation.

So that's it then, that's my new mission. A search and retrieve with high stakes. I can do that, with the amount of false reports, it won't be to hard. And I can put it to the test today. The prince said to be ready for his call. I'm not sure what or when that will be, but we'll cross that ravine when we get there.

For now I just have to wait. I can wait, I'm good at it, sometimes, when I'm in the mood. Occasionally? Ok so I'm not that good at waiting but I'm trying, there's not much else I can do to pass the time. I could detail my map, or go eat some more roast duck, or I could go outside. I should go outside. I've not seen Yoru since I snuck Aboard the ship. 'I wonder how he's doing.' He's not gonna like me defending the prince on this one though. Speaking of the prince, if I'm still playing the role of the trusted soldier, then he needs to know that I'm heading out.

There's only one problem. I've not sought out the prince once during the entirety of my mission and after failing like that in the Agni Kai, I'd really rather not. I said I could handle myself and then I went and got myself burned. I failed as a warrior in front of the chief, and it's eating at me. So no, I don't want to talk to the prince unless I have to, but I can talk to his uncle instead.

'That's good, Crisis averted, I can handle the general, we've talked before.'

It won't be nearly as bad as talking to the prince would be.

'I'm safe. For a minute there I thought I'd have to face him after my failure.'

'I'll just go in, tell him where I going, and head out.'

It'll be easy right? Right.

The end! well there you go. zuko is innocent. hope you enjoyed, see yall next time! and MERRY (slightly early) CHRISTMAS!