(I just want to thank my reviewers. You have no idea how much your words mean to me. And I'm happy that all of you like it. Please keep the reviews coming for they give me a reason to keep this going. So I guess that I'll get on with the fic. And I'm sorry about this being a day late. My computer didn't want to work, so i couldn't get this chapter up on time.)
Retired general, Iroh slowly walked into the 'hut' that he and his nephew would be sharing for as long as the storm kept them there. And, from what he could tell, they would be there for a while. He paused just inside of the bark flap serving as a door when his eyes came to rest on the empty room.
He was not surprised that his nephew had vanished while he and Zhao had been 'fighting' but in this storm he really wished that the young prince would just sit still. After the weather was better he wouldn't care what the hotheaded boy did; they weren't going anywhere any time soon any way.
He didn't know where that thought came from but it was there and he trusted it. It had been with him when he had been younger, a real general fighting with his men to win the war for his brother. The feeling had always told him when something bad was going to happen, forewarned him about the attacks that would have killed all of his fire benders.
Sighing heavily he moved to his seat as one of the men that served on his nephews ship came in. The man bowed in respect to him before bowing his head in 'shame'. He said nothing even as another man came in bringing Iroh his tea.
"What is it," he asked after taking a small sip, careful so as not to burn his tongue.
"Prince Zuko took his leave while we were training," the man said his voice calm and level, a tone he had never really used since joining this ship. Prince Zukos temper had often given him reason to hold his tongue.
"As is all to clear to me," the old man said mostly to himself. He took another sip as he thought about where the boy would have gone. The hills would not be an all too logical place, one there being too many and the other that they were far to out in the open.
"What will you have us do?" the solder said after a lengthy pause. He glanced at the man that had brought the tea only to get a small glare; neither of the men liked each other all that much.
"Go to your huts and get some rest. We will find my nephew in the morning," Iroh said before once again letting his mind wander to all of the hiding places on this small bit of land.
"Yes Sir," they both said before bowing once more and leaving the 'hut' to their own.
The retired general let go of his stiff, proper, posture. He had been on pins and needles all day, first with his nephew being so upset at them having lost the Avatars trail and then with Commander Zhao. What old man really needed that kind of stress day in day out?
Bringing the cup of tea to his lips once more he thought back on the conversation he had had with the prince.
"There is a cave. I don't know how big, I didn't get close enough to find that out. But I'm sure it's a cave." The prince had said.
"He always did have trouble sitting still," Iroh said to himself with a faint smile, one full of sadness and worry. He knew that Zuko could take care of himself but that was under normal conditions. If the storm flooded that cave he wasn't sure if any fire bender could survive in there.
"Lets just hope that the cave will keep him safe," he added before placing his empty cup down and moving to the 'bed that had been made from leaves left on the beach.
Commander Zhao grinned as he moved away from the door of the old mans hut. He watched silently as the two men that had left a few moments before finally entered their own huts. Oh how this was going to be a good night.
It almost made up for him having to deal with those two arrogant fools that thought that they would get the Avatar before him. He blinked as a few of his most loyal and trustworthy men stepped out of the shadows. All looked at him, waiting for instructions on what to do.
"The prince has gone to a cave. Find it and scare him out," he said softly so as not to alert the old general as to their actions.
"Yes Commander," the man closest to him said bowing slightly in respect before all of them started out to the hills at a run. None of them paused, or looked back, they never questioned orders. That was why he liked them, why they where still with him after all of these years.
Smirking to himself Zhao went to the hut that had been given to him to wait out a few hours. He wasn't sure if they would find the prince, wasn't really worried either. He knew that the boy would come back when the rain started.
Though it was doubtful he would make it if lightning started flashing across the sky. That had always been one of the prince's weaknesses. Glancing behind himself Zhao saw the first rain drop hit a print he had made in the soft sand.
A shiver of delight raced through him as thoughts of the princes final defeat ran through his head. Storming into the hut he sat down on one of the chairs that had been brought off of his ship for his use. He raised a hand already ablaze with fire as he let a dry laugh escape his lips. He would get even with the prince even if it killed him.
Of that all could be certain. And if it meant having to kill the old general then he would lie to the fire lord. He was far better at that art then the fire lord's own family. None of them had ever had a chance to practice.
He got to his feet and opened the trunk he had brought down on his own. It wasn't that he felt he had to do something to keep his men from saying he was lazy, oh that was not for him to worry about. But the fact that his most important possessions where kept in there had made it a necessity in case the ship went down.
The sharp rocks on the cove's arms worried him slightly. If the storm turned out worse then they thought, some or all the ships could be lost. But the chances of that happening where far below that which he normally worried about.
Pushing a few lose papers out of the way he pulled two books out of the trunk before flipping the lid closed with a snap that caused him to jump. He never did like the hinges on it; they never did slow the lid down.
Silently curing the trunk he went back to his seat opening the book with a red leather cover. Flipping through the pages of years gone by he stopped at the entry he had made the day before. He glared at the facts that his first mate had put down. The true facts.
If any one where to look at his logbook and then look at the prince's they would most definitely question why he was following the boy. And he couldn't afford to waist time answering them. He needed the Avatar if he wanted to move up.
Pulling a charcoal pencil out of the binding of the book he started to change the locations in the past few days. He erased the true facts after memorizing them. As much as he hated the fact that the true ones could and would cost him everything he knew better then to let them go.
After he was finished with them he took one last look at the logbook and closed it, slipping the pencil back into the binding. He placed it down on his lap before picking up the other one. Its shiny black covers glinted even in the minor light of the candles in the room.
Slowly thumbing through the pages he tried to remember the first time he had recorded his true thoughts. But the idea seemed to keep the answer just out of reach. He knew how silly it would look to others if they found out he had a journal, but it did help. At the very least it unloaded the mass of emotion that he kept bottled up inside day after day.
It was his safe place for insulting every one in the fire nation. The things he wrote in there about the fire lord would get him killed if he dared to breathe them aloud. And the comments he had made about the war, about how pointless it was, had shocked even him. But they where there, written in his own hand.
"Just my luck," he muttered as he brought the pencil he used for this book out, only to find it a stub that would do him no good ever again.
He pulled the one out of the logbook and started to write about his idea for the day. He didn't know how long it took for him to record his day, never really did, but when he was done the rain was pounding away at the beach outside and lightning was lighting up the sky, making it look like day.
Closing the book with a snap, he moved to put both it and the logbook back in the trunk. He found his feet only to have his left leg threaten to give out underneath him. He glared down at the sleeping limb before the feeling started to slowly return to it.
With a slight groan he went to the trunk and hid the two books under the lose papers before turning to face the door. And what he saw there made his blood run cold. The door stood open and several of Zukos men stood there grinning for all they where worth.
"What do you think you are doing?" he snapped at them, trying to hide how shocked and scared he was at finding them there.
The men didn't say a word as the turned and vanished into the finally dark night. They didn't seem to care that they were soaked to the bone from the storm. And for fire benders that was an even greater shock to the commander then simply finding them there.
He opened his mouth to call them all kinds of stupid before remembering that he had a job to do, and his own men were more then likely waiting for him just over the hill. Closing his mouth he pulled on his armor while steadily walking out of his hut and up, over the hill.
The men standing there, waiting where smirking up at him as he approached them. All of them were covered from head to toe with mud, but their joy was far clearer. As they moved forward to bow to him once more they froze when lightning lit the sky, giving Zhao an imposing silhouette.
"Commander, the cave in on the north shore of the island. Near a second cove," the closest man said with a slightly hesitant tone. He wasn't sure of what he was saying himself.
"Good," commander Zhao said already moving along the valley between the hills. "Is he in there?" he asked as a second thought.
"Yes Sir," the men replied as they fell in behind him moving to the cave that the prince was taking shelter in. All of them held a malicious smirk that would have scared even the commander had he turned to see them at his back.
Zuko jumped as once again thunder filled the cave, covering all other sounds. Including the sounds of his own footsteps as he moved deeper into the tunnels. His golden eyes grew wide as he tried to force his mind off of the time when he had first gained his fear of thunder.
Swallowing hard he took the next right fork. He didn't know how many he had taken after the first one but knew he could retrace his steps if need be. Yet the storm waiting for him outside the gapping hole behind the fall was all the reason he needed to stay inside.
Stopping he turned to glare at the air behind him. He could have sworn that there had been some one or thing behind him, but in the flickering light of his flame there was noting hidden. Facing the right way again he started out a little faster before he slowed himself down out of anger at his stupid nerves.
He was the prince of the fire nation. He was destined to capture the Avatar and become the best fire bender in the world. And those things would never happen if he started acting like a little kid out on their own for the first time.
Slowing his legs to the slow walk of a casual boy he started to once again truly look for some kind of evidence of someone having been in there in the past few days. And if the front of the cave was any indication there was no way that someone had used the cave as a hiding place. Not in his life time anyway.
He stopped at the next fork in the tunnel wondering how many of them there where in the cave. And how many he had yet to pass. Studying the chamber he was in he saw that for the first time, the cave was not made of just any old rock, but a fine garnet that his father had always loved.
"Great another reason for Zhao to tell him about this island," he muttered darkly to himself knowing full well that the cave would be found and the stone mined for his fathers chambers.
Letting out an angry grunt he let his legs give out under him. He had been awake for the past few days with very little sleep. Dreams of the times he had had the Avatar and had lost him, ones about the day he got the scar, and others about being banished even after capturing the Avatar haunted his dream, forcing him to stay awake until he just about passed out to keep them at bay.
He looked up at the 'ceiling' only to get hit in the forehead by a drop of water. Launching a flame up over his head he moved to the left as bits of rock came tumbling down. Closing his eyes as he leaned heavily against the stone wall he kept the pile of rocks to his right as he lay down, placing his head on his arm.
He tried remembering what it was that bothered him about this cave but his mind was already half way into the realms of sleep for him to think in a consistent line. And as the peaceful slumber he had searched for all that past week clamed him a faint, smile played upon his lips as he let the memories he had of his mother and father when he was little took his mind to a far safer place.
Zuko awoke with a groan as he started to move muscles stiff from a nap on the cold hard ground. A questioning look came over his face as he tried to figure out what he was doing on ground when he should have been in his bed on the ship.
Slowly the hours before his nap came back to him along with the fact that the chamber should have been dark without him holding any flame. Casting his gaze around to see where the light was coming from he found only a small fire on the other side of the chamber.
The wood crackled softly, as the fire destroyed it, yet the sound was far from comforting. He hadn't known that there was any wood in the cave. And he didn't remember starting it.
"Hello?" he called softly as his mind started to run with all of the things that could have happened after he fell asleep. Yet as he sat there straining to hear even the slightest sound he couldn't pick up anything that was out of the ordinary.
Rising to his feet he dusted the dirt off of his clothing before stretching his body to wake it up again, in case of a fight to be had. After several minutes of nothing happening he started to think that maybe he had created the fire before going to sleep, it made sense in his mind. Yet he also knew that if he had been able to think that up he wouldn't have gone to sleep.
Turning to the rock pile he had created before falling asleep he started down that tunnel knowing that he could be out of the cave by sunlight. That is if he was able to find his way back.
Blinking in the murky light he once again created flame over his palm, while calling himself all kinds of stupid for falling asleep where the enemy might have been. That would have been the easiest ways for him to get himself killed and prove his father, and every other idiot in the fire nation, right. That he was just a little boy that had no idea what he was doing and would never be able to live up to his fathers legacy.
He let his legs flex into a slow jog to get him to the forks quicker. As the garnet walls passed him by he started to wonder why someone would start a fire for him. Or maybe it hadn't been for him. He let his long legs do their jobs until he finally reached the first fork in the tunnels.
Thinking for a moment he picked the path that should lead him to the opening before jogging again. His breath felt hot in the air, as he let it out. Or maybe it was that the air felt dry to him, dryer then it had been before.
He passed three more forks, praying that he was picking the right tunnels before stopping to take a slight breath. He knew that he could go for hours without taking a true break but why push himself when there was no need? He knew he would get out, and until then he could walk the rest of the way for all that it mattered.
"What the…?" he asked as a scuttling sound reached his ears. Turning to face it he raised his hand, shining the fire to fill the chamber he was standing in only to find a small rat that dashed away from him as son as he was spotted.
Softly laughing at his nerves he let his feet guide him to the next chamber, and the one after that. His laughter died away after a little bit of nothing happening. He wasn't a happy person to start with and it had surprised him that he could laugh at his own foolishness.
He heard the sound of rats several more times before he came to the twelfth fork. Only the next sound that reached his ears wasn't as easy to laugh off. No not this sound for there was no way that he was wrong about this one.
Letting the fire die above his palm he moved to the edge of the tunnel praying that they wouldn't come that way. The sound of boots marching away from him along with the angry grumbling of men that had lost their target prompted him into a run as once again the flame came back to light his way.
The forks and turns passed him in a blur as he made a mad dash for what he thought to be the opening to the cave. But every time he found just another fork. And every time he heard the sound of men coming closer and closer to him as he ran.
"He went that way," cried a voice from behind him as he finally burst into the same chamber he had spent the night in. The fire was still glowing on the far side, and the pile of rocks flew in all directions as he slid to a stop.
"He's right up here."
"Don't let him get away."
Zuko looked around for a place to hide, knowing full well that there where to many for him to fight on his own even if he could think straight. Taking a shuddering breath he found no place to hide and heard more shouts of the men coming closer, All the while time was slipping by,
Glancing up he saw some roots that looked strong enough to hold him if he could just grab hold of them. Jumping and reaching up he grabbed one and used his strength to get his legs out of the way as a light came bouncing down the tunnel and into his chamber.