Aang prodded the unconscious stranger on the ground with his staff. "Um, Katara? I think he's bleeding."

Katara knelt down to get a better look at his head. There was blood matted in his hair, which meant a head wound. She shifted her waterskin for better access. "I see it."

"I've never met anybody with straw for hair," Sokka warned, standing back with a hand hovering near his war club. "And with all the weird stuff that happens to us these days? Be careful."

The waterbender rolled her eyes. Then she frowned at her new patient. The blood wasn't even dry. But where was the wound? There was only a faint scar where there must have been one some years ago.

She blinked, and then that was gone too. She gasped.

"Is it that bad?" Aang asked concernedly.

"There's—no wound." Katara stood up warily. Her brother's paranoia was catching. "I don't even know if there was one to begin with."

All three jolted in surprise when the man gasped and lurched into a sitting position. Startlingly violet eyes widened as he looked between the three of them.

"Are you alright, mister?" Aang asked.

The man made a perplexed noise. He scooted back a bit, taking in Aang's clothing and airstaff.

"He's the Avatar," Katara explained slowly. Lots of people were still surprised to meet a living airbender. "Do you…need help?"

The man tilted his head. He said something—a question of some sort, but it was complete gibberish.

"I think he bumped his head a little too hard," Sokka muttered covertly.

The man tried again with a different set of nonsensical vowels and consonants. He bit his lip as if hoping for an answer.

Aang shook his head slowly as the realization dawned on him. "I don't think he understands us at all."

'This cave is much deeper and stranger than it looks from the outside.' There was a chance that he was the first human in here, despite the very obvious entrance from the outside. Which was…a bad sign, if he was very honest with himself. People do not avoid shelters without very good reasons. Iroh brightened the small flame in his palm to see better in the dark. It was oddly warm, and the streaked walls had a telltale moistness that indicated to Iroh both groundwater and young, untouched formations. It felt…alive in here. Somehow. Like he'd walked into some great beast's mouth—

He stumbled over something that he hadn't perceived on the dark floor, causing his only source of light to flutter and cast menacing shadows on the cavern walls. A few paces further and his eyes alighted upon a dead end. His rueful chuckle echoed through the darkness. Oh, the irony of being defeated by a rock that an earthbender never touched.

In hindsight, exploring a cave all alone because he'd seen it in a dream wasn't his wisest moment. Zuko was probably worrying by now. His nephew went into town for…fish hooks, wasn't it? And Iroh had simply gone for a stroll thinking he'd be back well before dark. By now Zuko was back at their encampment, and assuming the worst. If Iroh didn't find his way out soon, Zuko would try to track him down.

The last thing he wanted was for Zuko to get lost in this maze as well.

Iroh turned completely around, deciding to try and backtrack to when the path had last split into different directions. By now he was deeply regretting not thinking to mark his path coming in.

An eerie sound coming from behind froze him in place, bouncing off the walls.

"Uuuugh…"

A warm place like this could be home to any number of animals…and other things. If the spirits were kind today, that was an animal.

Then he heard a very human cough.

Iroh brightened his light further, enough so that he could better see the features of the vaulted chamber he'd wandered into. A giant slanted roof of stone crowded with jagged stalagmites hung over his head, some of which had grown over the millennia into giant yellowed columns. But that failed to fully arrest his attention at this moment.

That thing he'd tripped over earlier wasn't an uneven bit of floor at all, but rather a young man's boot.

As he approached, Iroh wondered at the wheat-colored hair, and the other strangely arranged facial features that didn't characterize any nations he knew of. Not to mention the strange clothes with alien symbols on them. The man coughed again, and cleared his throat as he struggled to sit up.

"Are you alright, young man?" Iroh bent down and helped him to his feet. He had to crane his neck to meet blue eyes. Even just barely out of his teens, this boy was tall.

The stranger wavered on his feet a bit. "Ah…" His gaze zeroed in on the orange flame hovering over Iroh's palm. "Uh?"

Iroh mentally slapped himself for his foolishness. There was no use denying that he was a firebender. And from his experience, he'd learned that most people could look past any situation in favor of scorning a familiar object of hatred.

But before Iroh could come up with anything drastic, the man simply blinked and cocked his head. He stared as if mesmerized by the fire. However relieved, Iroh frowned. Even if the lad had never seen firebending up close, surely he'd know it when he saw it?

The fair-haired stranger said something, but Iroh couldn't quite make it out. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Now it was the stranger's turn to frown. He studied Iroh for a long moment before repeating the oddly paced and foreign phrase, slower this time. Iroh shook his head to show his lack of comprehension.

The blue-eyed man tried again, this time with another line that sounded fundamentally different, and vaguely familiar, but ultimately gibberish.

Iroh shrugged apologetically. He'd never heard this language before.

The man sagged in obvious frustration. He tried one more time. "Okay, this is the only other Asian language I know really well so if you still don't understand me then—"

Iroh's eyes widened slightly. "You speak High Court?"

The man gave him the oddest look. "Uh…suuuure, whatever you want to call it."

Iroh nodded. Now they were getting somewhere. "What is your name?"

"Alfred," the young man answered. "What's yours? And where am I?"

"Alfred." Iroh did not offer his name right away. This was a stranger, after all. "That's a very interesting name. We're in a cave somewhere between Tu Zin and the Si Wong Desert."

Alfred regarded him blankly. "I'm not really from around here, so…could you be a bit more general?"

"The Earth Kingdom?" Iroh offered drily.

"Never heard of it."

Iroh paused, his brow furrowing with concern. He'd meant that in jest. "Truly? You've never heard of the Earth Kingdom?"

"Never," Alfred confirmed, his utterly lost expression lending truth to his words. "Damn, I've been turned around before, but this is a whole new level of—...uhm." He was staring at the flame again. "Okay, I gotta know how you're doing that. Doesn't it burn?"

"It doesn't burn me," Iroh said simply.

"Huh." Alfred smiled, still looking more at the flame than at Iroh himself. "That's really cool, actually. How does it work?"

"I'm using my chi to control the fire," Iroh explained further. He observed Alfred curiously for the umpteenth time, taking in that poorly disguised flare of childish excitement and wonder. "Not everyone has the gift. Are there no benders where you're from?"

"If by 'benders' you mean 'people who make fire out of nothing', then no. None." Alfred's hair whipped visibly as a warm wind blew through the dripping cavern, which was strange because there'd been no wind previously. "As much as I plan to keep picking your brains on that nifty trick of yours, this place is creepy. So—do you know the way out? And possibly where the nearest airport is?"

What in the world was an 'airport'? Iroh set that aside for later and shook his head grimly. "Alas, I am as lost as you. I came here because of an odd dream…"

He's standing in the middle of a forest he'd never seen before. He looks around, apparently not worried about the huge polar bear standing next to him. He reaches out to touch it, but it walks just out of reach and into the thick greenery ahead.

Iroh follows curiously, still unconcerned. He comes into a clearing to see the polar bear again, now standing before the moon spirit. They were deep in discussion. The ethereal woman is seemingly too engrossed in whatever the polar bear is saying to acknowledge Iroh. Despite this, she waves disinterestedly behind him. Iroh turns to see a warm cave with great teeth that hadn't been there previously. Something small glowed in the cave's dark maw. Like a spark suspended in midair.

That was when he'd woken up that morning, feeling like he needed to find something important, but not knowing exactly what it was. That was why he'd gone for a walk in the first place. To contemplate the symbolism of it all. But then when he found this cave that was so similar to the one from his dream…

Iroh wondered if it would prove possible to leave now, since he'd apparently found who he was supposed to. "I do believe I've found what I'm looking for. Come with me, and we'll find the exit together. The Spirits must have a plan for you."

"Wait, wait." Alfred raised his hands in a staying gesture. "I want a name, first."

The old firebender smiled. "My name is Iroh."

"I just don't see how it's possible," Sokka grumbled. The mission today had been: 'find nuts and berries to hold everyone over until the next town', not: 'find suspiciously bloodied strangers to murder everyone before the next town'. "Everyone speaks the common language. Everyone. In fact, I don't think other languages even exist. Well–not outside of spirit stories at least."

And they didn't even have nuts or berries to show for it. This wouldn't have happened if he'd gone foraging alone, and left the two bleeding-hearts at the camp with Toph. But noooo, Aang was boooored and here comes Katara preaching about 'needing a break in monotony'.

True, it had been a pretty boring week. For him, at least. Now that they'd found an earthbending teacher for Aang, and there were no scary ladies in giant metal machines chasing them around, it had been pretty much, 'train, move camp, train again'. Other than that, they had very little direction and still practically no information on the Fire Nation.

But boredom didn't excuse this at all!

"Look at his clothes, Sokka," Katara chastised immediately. The stranger gave her a grateful look as she gave him a warm bowl of food (before serving everyone else). "Look at his face. He's clearly lost and probably scared!"

"He's probably lying!"

"No he's not," Toph chimed in loudly, clearly tired of the ongoing argument. "I'd be able to tell if he was."

Sokka gave the earthbender a look, even knowing that she couldn't see it. "Honestly Toph, I don't think this is the kind of lie you'd be able to pick out."

"Yes I can." Toph wiggled her toes for emphasis. "It's all in his stance…and his heartbeat. He's not reacting correctly to anything you guys say."

Aang seemed to catch on to what she meant before anyone else did. "It would be hard not to react when we've been talking about him this whole time. He's just been…following us and nodding."

"Exactly," Toph nodded firmly. She was satisfied with her student's interpretation. Then her tone turned thoughtful. "But I wouldn't call him scared, either. Worried, but not scared."

Sokka gestured meaningfully. "See? Suspicious. Why isn't he scared? Wouldn't you be scared?"

"Well…" Aang considered it seriously. "You're just not very scary, Sokka."

Sokka slapped his palm to his forehead. Ladies and gentlemen, Avatar Aang: Emperor of Missing the Point Entirely.

"Let's at least get him to the next town," Katara decided for them all at once. "Someone might be looking for him."

Knowing he'd lost this battle, Sokka sighed and narrowed his eyes. "Fine. But when he tries to kill us all in our sleep, just remember that I told you this was a bad idea!"

Zuko was alert when he heard footsteps. He was on his feet when he heard two pairs of footsteps. "Who's there?"

His uncle stepped into view. There was a particular twinkle in his eye, hands clasped behind his back in such a way that said to Zuko he was up to something.

Zuko wondered if he really wanted to know what that was.

"At ease, nephew," Iroh chuckled. "It's me."

Zuko warily regarded the stranger standing behind his uncle. "With…?"

The ex-general had the newcomer step forward. "This," he introduced calmly, "is Alfred."

"And what is 'Alfred' doing here?" Zuko gritted out, already feeling his patience begin to wane. They didn't have time for any crazy schemes. They had to get away and somewhere safe.

…Not that he knew where that was, yet.

"Alfred will be accompanying us," Iroh explained, as if this were the most reasonable proposal ever conceived and not the obvious product of hunger and illness and probably cactus juice.

"No, he is not," Zuko enunciated as clearly and slowly as possible. "You know why that's a bad idea, Uncle! We—"

Iroh held up a hand, effectively cutting Zuko off. "We should continue this in a language that everyone understands."

Zuko's frown deepened. High Court? A language he'd rarely heard since his exile. It was only spoken in the Fire Nation. And even then, almost exclusively amongst nobles and very high ranking officers.

"Thanks," Alfred answered, his strange accent noticeable but overall unobtrusive. "Translation?"

"He doesn't like you," Iroh supplied. "And he thinks I'm being kooky."

Alfred shrugged. "Can't please everyone, I guess."

Iroh nodded forlornly in agreement.

"I'm still here," Zuko snapped, switching to High Court. "We still can't take him with us."

"Zuko," Iroh chided gently. "You do know what would happen if someone here in the Earth Kingdom recognized this language? It is the only language Alfred knows."

That claim alone was easily one of the most outlandish and suspicious things he'd ever heard. What was the game here, exactly? "Regrettable. But we have our own problems," Zuko snapped. He faced 'Alfred' squarely. "Listen, if you know anything about anything, then you know you don't want to be around us. So go back to wherever you came from and forget you saw anything."

"Believe me, I'd love to." Alfred spread his hands helplessly. "But I don't know how to get back to the United States from here."

Zuko didn't recognize the name. But even with his own considerable education, there were probably plenty of places he hadn't heard of. "Us neither. Sorry."

"I've never heard of this place," Iroh interjected with a smile. "And I do love hearing about new places. Stay for tea, at least."

The banished prince's forbidding stare had no effect on Alfred, who smiled brightly. "Sure thing!"

Zuko wanted to set something on fire.

Maybe I'm posting this remake too soon. It's still a work in progress (and I'm still ridiculously busy)...but I'm tired of not posting.

The old one will stay up, of course.

Later dudes. ^J^