7. The Moon Protects Her Allies
There was no doubt – the darker skin tone, the blue clothing - the man was of Water Tribe origin. His bearing and the machete on his side told Zuko that he was most probably a Water Tribe warrior. He was surrounded by men in dark brown or green clothes, some of them also wielding weapons of various kinds. Zuko guessed them to be part of the Earth Kingdom rebels. All of them were carrying large backpacks, one of the men even led an emu donkey, heavily loaded, probably with supplies.
So the Earth Kingdom really was supplying the Water Tribe bandits, just as one of Zhao's navy communication letters had suspected. The small fleet of the Water Tribe was famous for making surprise attacks on Fire Nation ships all around the South Seas. Zuko's ship has been lucky enough to not encounter them. The stories of the horribly smelling naval mines were almost notorious in the Fire Nation navy, and especially the area around the outpost on Whaletail Island, which was the main control center of the Fire Nation over the southern Air Nomad territory, was heavily mined. It went to the point that Zuko frequently heard the drunk sailors or soldiers starting to call the Whaletail Island the Stink Island. Zuko realized he should not be surprised to stumble on the Tribes men here - the Whaletail Island wasn't that far away.
The group was already disappearing into the woods, so Zuko had to decide whether to follow them or not. It took only a second that Zuko judged it would be a waste to let go of such a rare source of information. This was a one-time occasion. The Southern Water Tribe was no longer important enough for the Fire Nation and they lost their attention completely several years ago. Zuko wasn't sure why. Their isolation and inconspicuousness provided with good opportunity for hiding information… or even the Avatar. Realizing this, Zuko put the South Pole on the list of places to visit in the future. But for now, he had to hurry to not lose the suspicious group from his sight.
The group was moving through the forest quickly, even without proper lights what indicated, that they knew the forest around the town well enough to be confident in the dark. Zuko, however, had to keep a distance so that they wouldn't hear him, but he also couldn't let them too far ahead to not lose them.
The trailing was difficult in the forest environment. It happened more times that he nearly tripped over the tree roots because he couldn't see them in the dark. One time he almost cursed, but he managed to control himself. After that, he tried to push out all other thoughts, and only focus on the lights ahead him. He also attempted to listen, but the group stayed mostly quiet. At least that Zuko appreciated.
After a longer time of tracking, Zuko was starting to get annoyed. How long is it going to take to arrive to the destination? When he started to get worried how long it would take also to return and for his crew to not notice his absence, the man in front of the group signaled for halt. Zuko hid behind a tree waiting for what is to come.
The Water Tribe man went ahead, probably to signal or report their arrival. Before Zuko could decide if he should also wait or go after the man, the group started to move as well.
When the trees became sparser allowing to see more than just a two meters ahead, Zuko realized that he was led to a small bay, the beach being only few meters away. He had to look for a new hiding place to be able to watch the two groups of men meeting on the rocky beach.
He went around them in a safe distance and found a rock big enough to hide him. However, the distance was too big to hear any bit of the conversation the men were heatedly engaging in.
Zuko looked around the rocky beach, but there wasn't a big enough boulder to hide him closer to the group. He had to curse the men for choosing such an unreachable place. He would not be able to sneak closer without them noticing, especially not in the strong moonlight that bathed the bay in light.
But only a little later did Zuko realize that the unusually strong light also hid something what he didn't notice at the first glance. In the shade of the huge cliffs, there was the whole fleet of the Water Tribe sailing ships. Zuko couldn't understand how he could not notice about ten ships anchored in the small bay. Did the moonlight play tricks on him? The moon spirit really seemed to be on the side of the Water Tribe.
The thoughts about spirits pushed out more important concerns. Zuko observed the ships. They were hidden in dark and looked lifeless. The group on the beach looked quite large, what meant that most of the men from the ships were on land. For Zuko, this opened a good chance of repeating the action from over a week ago. Even if this time, he would have to get wet.
Moving in the shadows of the trees, he approached a darker place of the beach and quickly and soundlessly dived into the cruelly cold water. He raised his own body temperature to not get into a shock and proceed to swim in the direction of the ships without disturbing the water too much, only emerging his head to make quick inhales. But with limited oxygen, his bending was also limited. Therefore the water seemed to be cooler and cooler by the time.
His last strokes were painful and sloppy. He made it to the first ship and he had to make a break to calm his breathing. At least the shade of the cliff was dark enough that it would be impossible to notice him. But he could not stay too long. The water was so cold that it felt like it was biting into his skin, the clothes were pulling him down and he would not risk to use the Dragon Breath - that would compromise him in an instant.
He swam again, still soundlessly, looking for the command ship in the small fleet. All of the ships looked the same in size and shape, until he noticed that one of them had a bigger flag attached to its mast with what looked like it could have the Water Tribe insignia on it, but because of the calm, he could not be sure. Still, this was his only lead on the command ship, so he chose to climb it.
Before he would climb the railing, he checked the deck. It was empty, just as he expected. To not leave any tracks behind, Zuko steamed the water out of his clothes and only then climbed on board. Even if there wasn't anybody on the deck, he quickly hid behind some barrels that were left there. Besides the barrels, there were only some big ball thingies, for which he couldn't guess their purpose. There was no door, since the sailing ships didn't have any floors above the decks as the Fire Nation usually had, so he assumed he must look for a trap door of sorts.
Sneaking out of his hiding place, he looked for a handle and there it was, in the back part of the ship. The stairs led into a darkness and when he closed the door above him, it was so dark that he had to stop and think, if he should light a fire or not. In the end, he decided not to use his bending. He promised himself earlier that in this outfit he would only use it as a last resort. Instead, he walked down, really slowly, and as an assurance he put one of his hands on the sword on his back.
Moving slower than he would like, he could only extend his hand as a blind man and hope to walk into a door. After few more steps, his hand bumped into a wooden plank. He started to search for a handle in hope that he found a door. His fingers did find their target and he slowly opened the door. Zuko walked into the room with a hand on one of his dao, but soon he could lower his guard.
The room was lit with a single lantern exposing it as the common sleeping cabin of the Water Tribe men. There were empty sleeping nets and sleeping beds made of furs of some polar animals all around the room. What caught Zuko's eye was a heavy looking fur hung on one side of the room. Zuko pushed it aside and a small make-shift office was revealed. The big pile of papers made Zuko internally exult.
Even if there wasn't any information on the Avatar, he could find some useful piece of information on the Water Tribe militia, maybe even on the Earth Kingdom military. Maybe, it could win him some favors in his Father's eyes.
He had to take the lantern from its post to look into the papers. The first piece of paper that caught his eye was that of a sketch of something circular. After closer examination, he realized it was a design sketch for the ball things on the deck. The title on the sketch said "Stink'n Sink". Zuko couldn't help but wonder about the inventors sense of humor. But he had to admit, the title did sell the purpose of the Water Tribe naval mines. Was the smell really that bad? The description did say skunk fish. Zuko could no longer wonder about his lieutenant's decision for which he was degraded. He made sure to remember that upon leaving, he won't go near those mines.
Then he noticed another paper. It had the Earth Kingdom insignia on its top, what could only mean official communication. And indeed, it was a communication directly from Ba Sing Se generals. Zuko's heart nearly jumped out from its place. The letter asked the Water Tribe chief-in-command to set out a camp in the Eastern Sea, to help to guard the city. So the fleet was probably loading the last supplies before relocating to the Chameleon Bay. The task now would be to find a way to use this piece of information.
Zuko moved closer to the table and kicked into some rumpled pieces of paper. He looked down. There were several of them lying around his feet as if someone couldn't find the right words for a letter and threw them around in frustration. Zuko took the one closest to him.
Dear Katara and Sokka,
I hope you are all well and that you don't trouble your Gran Gran too much with your bickering. Your Father is…
He didn't get any further as a blade suddenly settled on his neck.
"That is private," a male voice came from close behind.
How could he not notice? Zuko immediately dropped the letter on the floor and tried to reach for his sword.
"Uh-uh," the blade on his neck dangerously dig into his skin, so he stopped his attempt to draw at least one of the double blades.
"I will put those away first, with your hands where I can see them."
Zuko put his hands in the air, while gnashing his teeth in frustration. He felt how the swords on his back were pulled out of their sheets one by one and where thrown across the room, somewhere into the dark.
"Now move! To the right!" the man commanded and loosened the pressure of the blade on his neck. Zuko was still too shocked to not obey the instruction and moved as he was told. The man led him towards a door on the right wall he hadn't noticed before. He could only guess that he wanted to lock him in there and wait until the others come back, so that they could question him. And that would be the better option.
Zuko purposely moved slowly. He prepared himself to somehow get out of the man's grip before it would be too late. He already started to consider firebending, when in the quiet of the room, he heard the man's footsteps. They were uneven, as if he was limping. And Zuko took the chance.
He kicked backwards, where he guessed the man's leg was and truly – the Water Tribe man cursed out loud and staggered. Zuko pushed the blade away from his neck and ran for the entrance door and up the stairs. But just as he would make the last steps onto the moonlit deck, he felt a blow to his head. The last thing he saw before passing out was the tall man that he followed through the forest with a strange curved weapon in his hand.
A dull ache in his head was the first thing he sensed when his consciousness was slowly coming back. Only after a few instants, the last memory came back to him. With a shock he tried to get up, only to find out that his arms and legs are bound. And what was even worse, he was bound by metal cuffs, both on his arms and legs. How did they realize that he is a firebender? What else did they know? His mask was missing, as well as his dao blades.
After a few moments of panicking, he finally calmed down to assess the situation he was in. Looking around, he could guess that he was in a storage room. It very well could be the room, which the man from earlier tried to lead him in. For the time being, he was alone with only a small candle giving him a dim light.
The worst realization just came, when he felt the floor slightly tilting from side to side. The ship was out of the quiet bay and on the sea. Why did they even take him? They could just kill him on the spot? Zuko really started to worry that they knew of his identity.
How much time did pass by while he was out? Was it still night? Will his Uncle realize that he's gone? Will he come look for him? Zuko hasn't felt so helpless in a very long time, if not ever. He just got caught by Water Tribe savages. If someone would come to know that the Fire Nation prince was caught by some peasant warriors, then he would never be allowed to get back home. The shame he would bring on the royal family would be unbearable. He did not allow himself to imagine his sister's scornful expression or the disgust that would most likely appear on his father's. No! He must get out of this situation before anyone comes to know.
But how?
They were most likely headed to the east, probably Ba Sing Se and if they knew who he was (what Zuko really hoped they did not), they could be heading straight to the Earth King. What would they do with him? They couldn't possibly use him as a bargaining chip. If his Father would come to know that his son was foolish enough to get caught so easily, then it would be the Fire Lord himself, who would order to get rid of him. They could only threw him into a dungeon and let him rot. With such a disgrace, he could never return home, not even if he would be allowed.
Zuko gathered his strength to pull himself up into a sitting position and examined the cabin. However, the room was only filled with barrels and furs, with nothing that would help him out of this position. Even, if he would be able to get out of the cuffs and knock-out the men on the ship, he was still trapped in the middle of the sea. There was simply no way out in the moment. He could only wait for an opportunity to open up.
Feeling more and more miserable by every passing moment, he realized that the situation could get even worse, when his stomach started to growl and on top of everything, the burn mark on his shoulder started to itch and sting as well. Where they after all near shore? Where there spirits nearby? Does the burn really work?
Just when his stomach growled especially loudly and Zuko even considered calling out for those Water Tribe peasants to bring at least some food, the door finally opened.
Three men walked inside the cabin, locking the door behind them. One of the three was the tall man who knocked him out with the strange curved weapon attached to his hip. The other had his leg bandaged, so it must have been the one that caught him while reading the letter. The third man he hasn't met yet.
The expressions on their faces were completely unreadable for Zuko and he attempted for the same. He determined himself that they are not going to get anything out of him. However, the small space, the three hostile looking strangers and the fact that he couldn't move made Zuko feel extremely uncomfortable. He tried to shift and straighten up as well as he could, but gave up when he realized that his attempts must look quite pitiful at best.
After a moment of silence, the man with the injured leg and most beads in his hair took out his blue mask and threw it in front of him.
"So, all of us were wondering, since when does the Fire Nation employ boys for spying on enemies? Do they think we would take pity on you?" asked the beaded hair man with a hint of anger in his voice.
"I am not a boy," growled Zuko back, already breaking his promise to stay quiet, the irritation and the discomfort getting the better of him. Only a second later he realized that the men don't know who he is after all.
"Maybe not, but you're neither a man. But what made us even more curious and were hoping that you could tell us… why is it that a firebender uses swords instead of his bending? Especially against non-benders like us? You could have been of the ship right now, safely back to report to your commander."
Zuko was speechless. He put so much effort in not using his bending. He did not use it in front of anybody when he wore his mask. "How…How did you know…"
"How did we know you're a firebender? That is here, thanks to Batoʼs observation skills." He pointed to the tall man.
"How did you get on the ship without a boat or a float? The only way was to swim. But the water, especially in this time of the year, is barely above the freezing level. Even if you would be that hardy, your clothes were completely dry just minutes coming out of the water."
So he must have been in the room the whole time, thought Zuko. He would never think that far as the tall man. It made him angry at himself for not being smart enough. Azula would surely think of it. But on the other hand, she would never lower herself to a spying mission. She would just barge in and take what she wants. Maybe he should start learning from her.
"So back to the question. Why were you hiding your bending, to the point of being caught?"
This time Zuko stayed quiet.
"And what's up with the nice mask?"
Only those wear masks who need to hide their faces," spoke the third man. "And yours is quite recognizable."
Zuko gritted his teeth. These men were too smart. They were connecting together all the right points. The silence was getting longer and longer.
"I get it. You don't want to talk. I wouldn't expect anything different. But we did not even come to the important questions. Even though we figured out much on our own. You came here alone. We've searched the ships and set out as quickly as we can, so that no one would learn our location, and so that you do not run sooner than we would want to. You trailed Bato most probably from Leng Wan, the nearest town."
"From the local men, I heard that a small Fire Nation ship stopped in the town," continued the tall man. "And they don't get those here very often in the recent times."
Zukoʼs heart started to beat quickly and the burn mark pulsed in the same rythm.
"Are you working for someone from that ship?" the third man asked straightly. Zuko wanted to stay silent again, but it felt like his silence answered the question in itself. It was getting really hard not to say something, but he knew he wasn't a good liar.
"Why are you here? Why is the Fire Nation interested in the Southern Water Tribe?" asked the beaded-hair man with all seriousness in his voice. "You already took everything away from us! I know you consider us to be nothing more than just mere pirates, so why are you still spying on us?!" The man was getting angrier and made a few steps towards Zuko.
He squatted down to look Zuko straight in the eyes. "Tell me, do you work for the Southern Raiders?" The man's voice was low and held an unspoken threat. Zuko moved back unwillingly, just to find a wooden wall to lean on.
"I do not. I would never work under those pirates."
Zuko recognized that the man holds some kind of grudge against the Southern Raiders and it would be probably dangerous for him, if the man thought that he's working for them. So he made an effort to assure him that he really does not work for them. In all of Fire Nation Navy, the Southern Raiders were considered only something above common pirates. Their reputation was infamous for brutality and dishonor. Zuko would never voluntarily work with them, and if he would have to, then only with great dislike.
The man in front of him was judging his answer for a moment.
"Hakoda, sooner or later, we'll know the answer. The falcon pigeon I sent back to the Earth Kingdom militia should soon return with the answer. Their men will find out who is in the port of Leng Wan in no time," said the man with the strange curved weapon.
Zuko had to gulp dryly. They were going to find out.
The men were on their leave, when Zuko stopped them: "Wait! What are you going to do with me?"
Their leader turned back, again with an unreadable expression.
"We don't hold prisoners on our ships. That is what the Earth Kingdom officials are here for." With that he left the room along with the other two.
Zukoʼs heart sank lower if it was even possible. The answer they gave him told him that they were heading to the closest free Earth Kingdom city that could take him into custody. What was even worse, they would most likely get to know his identity before that would happen. He did not dare to guess what would happen to him, if he would to fall into the hands of Earth Kingdom officials, who would knew that he's the banished prince of the Fire Nation.
It meant that he would have to come up with an idea how to get out of this situation. As soon as they will approach the shore, he would have to get off the ship, otherwise there will be bad consequences.
Zuko ignored his growling stomach and dry throat to try to come up with a plan, or look around the room, if there was anything that would help him. Only if the pain in his shoulder wouldn't distract him. And the stupid grin on the mask, which was thrown in front of him, looked like it was mocking him.
"The reply is taking longer than I thought," Bato was searching for any sign of the falcon pigeon, but without a result.
The sun was going down already and it only hardly passed four in the afternoon. But it was the day of the Winter Solstice after all. Hakoda and his men were, of course, used to even less light during the day, so it did not bother them that much.
One thing, that did bothered Hakoda, was the teenager on the second deck, who he couldn't figure out how to deal with him. The other thing were the gathering clouds on the horizon.
"Bato, let the falcon pigeon be. I think we should prepare for a storm."
Bato looked the other way. "The trouble likes to come in double."
"Kalluq, give signal to the rest of the ships! The others, prepare the ship for a storm!" Hakoda gave the orders to the crew and they followed the command immediately.
"Hakoda, the storm will make us dance. You know, the boy…"
"I know, we'll have to unbind him."
"I was going to say that we should tie him to the mast, but if you say so," Bato was smiling, so he knew he only meant it as a joke, but it actually made him feel worse.
The guilt was already overwhelming when he had to handcuff down an unconscious teenager who was of around the age of his own son. And this teenager was already a professional spy, not speaking of the scar on his face. In contrast with his earlier words, he did take pity on the boy. The war was ruining lives on both sides of the front. But as Bato had warned him, the boy was a firebender and a spy on his ship, looking through his mail - the drafts of the letter he wanted to send to his children.
The first thing that came to his mind when he caught the strange man with a strange mask looking through his private letters, was that maybe the Fire Nation was still looking for waterbenders in the South. For what other reason would the Fire Nation send out a spy to some Water Tribe "pirates"?
He knew it was the protectiveness over his children that made him act so harshly against the boy before. Hakoda didn't dare to think what it would mean, if the Fire Nation would get to know of his daughter. Not one of his men did mention her water-bending abilities ever since they left home- he specifically asked them not to. And he himself made sure not to mention in any letter, not even the drafts the boy was looking through. Still he couldn't help but to be paranoid, when he saw the private letters (he never got to send) in the hands of a weird looking stranger.
Now, he was glad that the injured leg was of some use and made him stay on the ship the last night and to eventually catch the spy personally. Well, almost personally.
"…shouldn't have gone this way. The men from the militia warned us. The restless spirits are angry at the trespassers of this passage, especially during the solstice. The storm is surely…"
"What did they warn you about Siku?"
The two men folding the sail got stumped when they realized that the chief is listening. "It's just… we were warned about this passage north of Kyoshi… many storms seem to occur in these waters. They said that…"
"It was just a superstitious blabbering, Hakoda," intervened Bato.
"The spirits are not something to be taken lightly, especially the angry and restless," opposed Siku.
"So what did they exactly said? The men from the militia?" Hakoda wanted to get to the end of it.
Siku put down the sail and with a slight embarrassment looked on his chief. "Sir, they said, that this passage is not to be crossed, especially during the solstice periods. The waters here are said to be inhabited by restless spirits and when disturbed by the living, they tend to show their anger. Usually in a form of a thunderstorm. They said that in the last years, nobody was brave enough to sail through the passage because of the powerful storms."
"That's it?" Hakoda couldn't believe that this spirit talk got the men dismayed. "Tell me... anybody," Hakoda looked around on the rest of the listening men present on the deck, "is this the first storm we are facing?"
"No," came the quiet or uttered answer from all around.
"That's right! Storm is a storm and we cannot hide from it in the middle of the sea, whether it be the angry spirits who sent it or Tui and La themselves! We are expected in the Eastern Sea and we are already falling behind. We will not change course and we cannot allow ourselves to be surprised by some storm. Now get back to work!"
All the men around resumed their work in a second. Bato exchanged with him an amused look, but in reality he did not feel amusement. The men were getting discouraged in the worst time. He couldn't allow some spirit talk to get into his men's heads.
He was about to join the crew in the preparations, when Arrluk who was charged with looking after their prisoner ran up from the second deck.
"Sir, the spy – something… something is wrong with him!"
