Thayet dodged the fire and turned to watch it stream by her, melting the snow for several feet. Her eyes fell upon a small child trembling as his mother held him. "I have to lure him away. I can't let him do this to these people," she thought to her self. She began to slowly walk in a circle, away from the villagers and towards Zuko's ship. He shot another fireball that she easily dodged, not noticing her movements.
He had a curious look in his eye and yelled in annoyance, "you can't be the avatar. You can't be older than I am and the avatar is said to be over a hundred years old." She decided to use his disbelief to the best of her advantage. She had the perfect plan to save the villagers.
"I don't have to be the avatar to beat you," she taunted. Uncle Iroh chuckled, knowing what that would do to his nephew. Within the crowd, Sokka laughed at the joke while Katara nervously chewed her nails, hoping only for the best for her new friend.
Thayet's plan worked. Zuko began furiously hurling fire at her that she ducked and dodged, being careful not to use her airbending. She wasn't about to let him know she truly was the avatar, at least not until she was far away from the village she was attempting to save. For that matter, she wasn't even going to fight. She simply ducked and dodged, waiting for the perfect moment.
An agonizing wail escaped from a small child, a steaming hole burned in the snow in front of her. Thay couldn't take it anymore. The last ball that Zuko shot at her she let knick her arm and feigned being knocked over. She underestimated his power. Her arm was bleeding fiercely, not what she intended. However, her training told her how to meditate and block out the pain. She lay on the ground, waiting for what she predicted would happen next.
Everything worked out perfectly, except for her now completely drenched arm. Zuko went and kneeled by her. He glared at her with triumph in his eyes. He believed he had won.
"You dare to challenge the prince of the Fire Nation? You shall pay for your insolence," he growled. He stood up. "Guards!" Three men jogged up and bowed their heads to the prince. Zuko turned back to Thayet. "I'm a fair man. I think I'll give you a choice. Tell me where the avatar is and I will consider letting you free, or I burn this village down in looking for him."
She smirked inwardly at the 'him'. "I already told you," she replied evenly, "I'm the avatar." Zuko's eyebrow visibly twitched in annoyance. He said to the guards without looking at them, "we don't have time to search the village. We will take her instead. Lock her up gentlemen. We set sail now." The men scrambled to do his bidding. They produced ropes and bound her arms behind her back.
"Please," Thayet spoke up innocently, "at least allow me my staff." She nodded in its direction. Zuko smirked at her as he walked up to get it. They walked onto the ship and the doors were closed but not before a faint, "don't worry Thay, we'll help you," was issued from Katara's mouth. Only Thayet heard it.
Thayet was led to an empty cabin and shoved inside. The door was locked behind her. She took a moment to look inside. There was a plain bed with generous blankets. A single chest of drawers stood in the corner and a tiny window showed Thayet the quickly fading village of Iraynu. She sighed as she plopped on the bed. Her thoughts quickly went to her arm as a bullet of pain raced through it. Her entire sleeve was bloodied and the pain was too horrible to block out anymore. She leaned down and pulled a dagger out of her boot with ease even though her hands were tied. She began to saw at the ropes. Once that was done, she threw the ropes in a corner of the room and got to work on her arm. She lifted the dagger again and cut off her entire sleeve considering that being soaking in blood made it useless anyway. She got a close look at the gash and saw just how deep it really was. She sighed as the pain overtook her, causing her to grit her teeth. She had no resources. She looked around the room and noticed a lit candle sitting atop the drawers. She grimaced knowing what it was she had to do.
A loud shout from the room followed by the continuous recitations of many colorful words caused the guards to alert the prince. He walked quickly though the many halls of his ship followed by the one guard trying to keep up. He arrived at the door greeted with a loud "SHIT!". He pushed open the door and saw his prisoner sitting Indian style on the ground, a candle in front of her and a red hot dagger pressed against her bloody arm as she panted heavily. She looked up at him, breaking her concentration. He watched wide eyed with a hint of concern as she gasped, dropping the dagger with a loud clank and falling backwards.
Aang cried. He cried and cried for what seemed like hours. Finally he was interrupted by Sokka and Katara who burst into his hut. He looked up at them with sad, blood shot eyes. "Thayet," he whimpered pathetically. Katara helped him to stand up and threw a coat on him. She helped him outside stopping only after he asked what was going on.
"We're going to save Thay," she stated simply. He stopped crying, a bit relieved that he wouldn't be going after her alone. It was quickly replaced by concern. "You can't go! You'll be hurt, or worse, killed!" he blurted. "She risked her life for our village. If not for our friendship, we must do it for the rest of the world. We all need her now to end the war and getting killed right after returning on a fire nation ship is not going to do any good to any of us." Aang was quiet after that. Appa had his saddle on and was contentedly munching on grains as the three children walked in. The bison moaned, knowing that his rest was about to end. Sokka tossed three big bags on the animals back that Aang had not noticed before. "Clothes, food, and supplies," he explained. After everything was packed on Appa's back, Katara and Sokka worked together to open the huge, heavy doors that sealed shut the large stable. Finally it was open and Appa lazily walked out. He stood waiting for his passengers to hop on.
Aang hopped on and Katara was about to follow when Yoru walked out from behind the hut. The two kids felt ashamed at having almost left without saying goodbye. For all they knew, the elder would not let them go at all. She surprised them all, giving them all hugs and a sack of the ten gold coins Zuko had paid up earlier. Good luck, spirits' speed, and stay safe my young friends. The siblings somehow managed to climb the giant monster and were off, waving at Yoru until neither could see the other.
Thayet's eyes fluttered open as she realized that someone was touching her arm. She shot up and instantly regretted it. She moaned as black spots filled her vision. She shook her head clear of it and looked upon a short and elderly man who was binding her injured arm. He realized she was awake and talked as he worked. "My name is Iroh. It was very smart of you to burn out the infection in your arm. However what was not smart was letting Zuko win that fight.
Thayet was lost. The man seemed kind enough, but that last remark knocked her head over heels. "What are you talking about? He beat me and now I am a prisoner," she defended herself ashamed at having to lie.
The man smiled at her with kind eyes, warming her heart. She had no reason to trust this man and yet she knew she could. "I…he…and you…How did you know?" she stammered.
Before she could stop him he pulled back the blankets revealing bare feet. He carefully pulled back the cloth of her pants to reveal the ankle markings. He winked at her. She stared back at the old man, instantly liking him. They were interrupted by loud stomping and the door to her room swinging open. Zuko stood there, his face still showing a tiny trace of concern as he looked upon the girl. It turned to annoyance as she stared plainly back at him. Those green eyes bore into him like nothing ever did. He had to look away and instead faced Iroh. "Well, Uncle?" he said as if expecting something.
Thayet couldn't hold her tounge. "Uncle? You two are related?" she slapped her good hand over her mouth realizing what she had said. Iroh chuckled and simply said to Zuko, "she will be fine nephew. She needs to eat something though as I fear she hasn't eaten in a few days at least."
She uncovered her mouth as curiosity got the better of her. "How long have I been out?"
Zuko replied, "four days".
"Shit!" she scrambled out of bed. Finally the reality hit her that she was a prisoner on a fire nation ship. "Where are we?"
"In the middle of the ocean. There is nowhere you can go," Zuko sneered at her. He had seemed nice enough at first but after realizing this, he tried to cover it up with nastiness. "So don't try to escape." With that he wheeled around and walked out the door, closing it behind him. She turned back to Iroh who tried to explain. "He is really a good man. Just has a bad temper and a terribly high ego. She brushed the situation off. "So what's for lunch?"
Aang, Sokka, and Katara had been traveling for days with no sign of the ship. They were beginning to lose hope when Aang spotted a miniscule dot on the horizon. "There it is!" he yelled excited. Everyone turned to look at it as Aang guided Appa towards it.
Lunch was terrible. The food was delicious but soon Zuko and Thayet were in a fight. Somehow they had managed to get into a debate about who was the better fighter. Zuko claimed he had beat her once before, and Thayet stated simply she could beat him, injured arm and all. "I let you win," she taunted. She already had another plan formulating in her mind. Zuko lost it then and there. "Then I challenge you to a fight." She smiled at this. "Name the time and the place."
"How is right now?" he had a slight smile on his face. He looked forward to a duel. He didn't intend to hurt her, just scare her. He realized with horror that he was almost happy for this. It had been a long while since anyone his age had challenged him to a (relatively) friendly duel. He shoved this away, making himself believe he just wanted to threaten her.
They walked out to the bare expanse of ship that was Zuko's training area. Instantly, Thayet began to stretch, thinking at the same time. She mentally checked herself. Her arm was much better. It was healing fast thanks to Iroh. She turned around to see him smiling, excited to see the outcome of this scrimmage. He walked up to the two teens and stated, "go to your own sides and wait for my signal before you start the fight. There will be no weapons allowed, however bending is accepted." He looked at Thayet as he said this and winked at her. Zuko missed it. The two walked to their sides and eased into the fight stance awaiting Iroh's command. "GO!"