The scouts reported a village nearby after we'd spent some time trying to pick up the Avatar's trail, so that's where Zuko went, determined not to lose track of the Avatar. To me it looked like this village had seen better days, as some of the buildings were falling apart like someone or something had taken large chunks out of them entirely. Zuko pushed forward to the building at the furthest side of the village, dismounting from the komodo-rhino and leaving me with the reins as he approached the door which opened to reveal an older man.
"Having trouble sleeping?" I couldn't really see the old man's face much, especially when Zuko pushed him back through the doorway with his voice lowering into a threatening tone of interrogation. "Seen the Avatar lately?"
"N-no, no I have never seen the Avatar…" The reply came in a trembling response as I looked around, a little bored and tired from the long day.
"You're lying. Now tell me, where is the Avatar?" Lighting his fist with fire, the old guy gulped before exhaling in defeat, admitting that the Avatar had been in the village recently pacifying an angry forest spirit but had left just a short while ago. "Where was he headed? Tell me everything." Well, at least we knew where the Avatar was going now. Only problem was, he was headed to the Fire Nation, somewhere Zuko wasn't allowed to go. Apparently the Avatar was headed to the Sage's Tower in order to commune with Avatar Roku on the solstice, along with a bunch of spirit stuff which I didn't really understand.
I ended up falling asleep on the way back, resting my head against Zuko's shoulder like a pillow until we'd returned to the ship. "Wake up. We're back, you need to wake up and get off this thing." Zuko shook me awake, much to my annoyance so I groaned and obligingly slid down off the komodo-rhino. "Go get some rest. As for the rest of you, set a course for the Fire Nation! Crescent Isle! We must catch up to the Avatar before we lose him." Great, more chasing and pursuing.
"You look exhausted, little Kayo, and I am rather tired too. We should go and sleep to recover our strength." Iroh said to me tenderly, patting my shoulder as I sleepily rubbed my eyes, humming in agreement. There was very little else I could do, and even in the morning the ship was being made to go at full speed which put a strain on the engines, so I went down to the engine room in order to help out there. Keeping the ship running smoothly was paramount if we wanted to maintain our pace, anything going wrong now would put us dead in the water and then we'd lose the Avatar, which would mean a very angry prince on our cases.
With an oil cloth slung over my shoulder I wiped the sweat from my brow as I shovelled coal into the furnace, helping out in whatever way I could until the chief mechanic, Fu Yin, suggested I took a break. "But I want to help."
"You've helped plenty little lady, this old girl has never been cleaner or smarter looking thanks to you. I'll take it from here, you just take it easy for a while." Fu Yin assured me so I followed his advice and grabbed a drink of cool, refreshing water, cleaned up my face then joined Iroh and Zuko out on deck just as I was towelling my face dry.
"Sailing into Fire Nation waters. Of all the foolish things you have done in your sixteen years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish." Iroh was saying as I arrived, seeing that the ship indeed was moving pretty quickly as we followed the Avatar's heading.
"I have no choice, uncle." Zuko responded as he looked through his spyglass, keeping his eye trained on the skies in order to keep a look out for the flying bison which was still too far out of sight for the naked eye.
"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?! What if you're caught?" That was a very good point. If Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation, then didn't that mean him sailing back into Fire Nation waters, signified a breach of his exile? Turns out he really is as stubborn and reckless as they come.
"I'm chasing the Avatar. My father will understand why I'm returning home."
"You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type." I glanced at Iroh worriedly, lowering my voice so that Zuko wouldn't hear me.
"The Fire Lord wouldn't punish his only son just for sailing back into Fire Nation waters, would he? That would be way too harsh."
"Again, you give my brother too much credit." Iroh sighed worriedly, pressing his eyes closed as the strain of stress and fretfulness caused him a headache. "Fire Lord Ozai banished his only son and has not permitted him home in two years. If Zuko defies his order, it is likely that my brother will punish Zuko with the full weight of his anger." Slightly horrified, I gulped nervously. If Zuko gets caught…they wouldn't arrest me too, right?
"There they are!" Without warning, Zuko yelled and pointed up to the sky where he'd spotted the bison. "Helmsman, full steam ahead! Raise the catapult!"
"Guess we're going to the Fire Nation." I murmured sardonically, folding my arms as the ship was pushed to its absolute limits. From below deck a catapult was pulled up and readied to fire at the Avatar, intending to knock them out of the sky. I wonder if we do end up capturing the Avatar, if Zuko would consider letting me keep the flying bison as a pet. Who wouldn't want a gigantic fluff monster like that? I kept close to Iroh in order to be out of everybody's way, watching as a projectile of questionable smells was loaded into the catapult's cup.
"Really, Prince Zuko. Couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" Iroh complained as he held his nose and fanned his face whilst I just held my breath. Ignoring his uncle's complaints, Zuko set the projectile on fire, causing it to blaze brightly before raising his arm into the air, signalling for his men to get ready.
"On my mark." Is it wrong that I kind of hoped that Zuko missed? That bison looked so cute, I didn't want it to get singed or burned at all. I'll keep those thoughts to myself, but Zuko really needs to analyse the situation. There's no way we'd be able to hit them before they crossed over into Fire Nation waters, then he'd be screwed. "Fire!" The catapult was launched at the Avatar and his bison, flying through the air in a blazing arc before the bison dodged and it fell into the ocean uselessly. Phew. Good move fluff monster. "A blockade!"
"You're kidding, right?" Turns out, Zuko was not kidding. I mean come on, it's Zuko. I'm pretty sure that kid has never cracked a joke in his life. Sure enough there was a rather imposing looking blockade of Fire Nation war ships in front of us, cutting off the entrance to the Fire Nation waters. "You're not seriously going to try and get through that, are you?"
"Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters. Turn back now and they cannot arrest you." Iroh advised Zuko wisely, knowing it was better to retreat and live rather than get blown to pieces by that blockade. I have a sinking feeling that we were going to end up at the bottom of the ocean today. Now that we were closer I could see the bison more clearly, the Avatar directing his beast directly for the blockade without wavering. Was that kid crazy? Am I the only one worried about being sunk by those war ships right now?
"He's not turning around."
"Please Prince Zuko, if the Fire Nation captures you there is nothing I can do. Do not follow the Avatar." Ignoring his uncle's wishes, Zuko apologised for being unable to waver from his course.
"I'm sorry, uncle." Well, looks like we're all going to die. I knew I should have jumped ship when I had the chance weeks ago. I'd rather take my chances in enemy Earth Kingdom territory than face this blockade right now. "Run the blockade!"
"Prince Zuko! I know it's not my place to speak, but I really think you should listen…" I tried to persuade Zuko that this was just crazy and he was going to accomplish nothing but get himself, his uncle, his entire crew and me killed. I liked living, and I'd prefer to still be breathing by the end of today if possible.
"If you know it's not your place not to speak, then don't speak!" Cut off and shut down instantly, I clamped my mouth shut and looked worriedly at Iroh who nodded his head in understanding, placing his arm around my shoulder to draw me in closer as a bombardment of fireballs began to descend from the skies, launched from the numerous catapults on the war ships in front of us. Get ready and brace yourself, Kayo, this is going to be a rough ride. Within minutes the ship was being thrown about upon the raging waves which rose up as the fireballs struck the water, causing everyone to struggle to maintain their balance.
I got thrown away from Iroh as both of us lost our footing and I crashed against the side of the ship, however when a fireball struck our tail and I could almost feel the damage as the ship shuddered from the impact. The force flung me forwards and I cried out in alarm, seeing a blazing ball of fire heading straight towards us so with unsteady footing, I spun around on the spot and thrust my hands upwards, pulling the water from the ocean in order to catch the projectile and swallow it. Stumbling as another fireball hit the water to our starboard bow, I was thrown forwards however this time instead of falling, Zuko caught hold of me and pulled me into him, anchoring me against him and I closed my eyes quickly, terrified that we were going to burn or drown to death.
Every shake and tremor was like a flash of fear that powered through me, making me cling onto Zuko even tighter without even thinking about it until I heard the chief engineer, Fu Yin, call out to him. "Prince Zuko, the engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!"
"Do not stop this ship." Daring to open my eyes, I could see the heavy plumes of black smoke coming from our rear, meaning that we'd sustained some pretty heavy damage. The hull of the ship might have been compromised, if we take on water then we're no better than a sinking fish.
"I'll take a look and see if I can help."
"Be careful." Zuko said as he let me go, allowing me to precariously hurry over to Fu Yin as best I could with the following bombardment that hammered against us before we both rushed down to the engine room. I quickly doused the fires before they could cause irreparable damage or explosions, water bending to swiftly quench the flames then ran towards the back of the ship where we were already taking on water. It was up to my ankles and rising, a large scrape down the side of the ship showing where a fireball had struck just above sea level, but with the waves being tossed and churned about, it was causing water to flow in.
Pulling the water at my feet, I pushed it back out of the breach then sealed it up with an ice wall, hoping it would hold as Fu Yin shouted to me. "Great job Kayo! If water had gotten to the furnace, we'd be sitting turtle-ducks." Relieved that we wouldn't sink due to a breach at the very least, I helped to quickly make all the repairs we could on the go, though with the heat from the furnace, it was near impossible to do everything since most of the metal work was too hot to touch even with gloves on.
"What's happening? Did we go through the blockade?" Realising that everything had gone eerily quiet, I looked up at the ceiling to try and make sense of things.
"Beats me. So long as we're not sinking and we're still moving, that's enough for me. You better get up there missy and tell that suicidal prince that the engine room needs repairing, as does the hull and we're pouring out smoke. Can't do anything more until we either come to a full halt or we dock somewhere." Nodding my head, I put down the tools I had been working with in order to head up onto the command deck where Zuko was grasping the rails with a rather strained expression.
"What's he up to, uncle? Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?"
"Because he wants to follow you. He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after. The Avatar." All this for one little kid. This seems like way too much effort to me. Why doesn't Zuko just accept his banishment and live a life of luxury in a colony or something?
"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do."
"About that, if I might cut in?" I requested meekly, not wanting to interrupt but having no choice. "We've done all we can by means of repairs so the ship will continue going, just not at full speed. We'd be better off reducing speed to make sure we don't kill the engines, and the smoke we're pouring out is from the catalyst. It's badly ruptured, so it'll need repairing soon and if we're slowing down, you won't have that smokescreen for long." I reported, listing off everything I needed to cover. "There's a breach in the hull, but I've sealed it up for now. It'll hold until we can get it properly repaired."
"Good. We'll manage for now. Get the skiff prepared, I'm leaving immediately." Zuko instructed, sending one of his men to carry out his order whilst he made for his quarters in order to prepare himself.
"You have done well, little Kayo. Although my nephew does not say it clearly, he appreciates all you do to help."
"Well, I'm on this ship too so I'd prefer it not to sink." Chuckling at my dry sense of humour, Iroh went to see his nephew off whilst I continued to help in the engine room, using all the spare metal we had in order to properly seal up the breach in the hull as our fire benders soldered it on, allowing me to dismiss the ice and turn it back into water, releasing it into the ocean as I put out any other fires around the ship.
After Commander Zhao stopped following us, there was little else we could do except wait for Zuko to return, though when Iroh saw great plumes of fire rising from a nearby island, which I could only guess was where Zuko had followed the Avatar, he ordered the ship to turn around and go back in order to retrieve our prince. Thankfully he was unhurt, though he was still lacking one Avatar, so I guess we were going to continue following the kid and his fluffy bison. Oh great joy.