Wow, all sorts of adventures today. My brother caught a bull snake up on the mountain. We haven't measured it yet, but we're thinking it's a little over five feet long. It's awesome. I love snakes. I had it wrapped around my neck and it started getting fresh with me. It tried going down my shirt and then started licking my ear...the perv. Then it went under the couch and I was the one that had to go after it. It got itself all tangled up in the springs, so I had to untangle it as the stoopid thing was hissing at me. Plus the couch weighs a lot so I was in constant fear that the three people lifting it would suddenly drop it on my head. Let's see, what else? I decorated my dad's deer heads. I usually dress them up as Santa's reindeer for christmas, but I decided to give them a halloween makeover this year. So far I've only given them fangs and I made evil eyes for them out of acrylic. They're pretty freaky looking. We're trying to see how long it takes for my dad to notice. If he doesn't noticeby the end of this week (which is extremely likely) then I'm just going topoint it out to him.
Elf of Rohan: Yay! It's your first review to my story and you're a winner!how's that for a welcome? You're prize is a lifetime supply of gummy peaches. Unfortunately you only have five seconds to eat them. Open wide because I am lobbing them at you from this side of the comp. screen.
Darklight4ever: Sorry, you were to late forthe prize. As a consolation, here's a sandwich. Yay for weird things indeed.
Elenea Galad: I dont think hell would have much of an effect on him, he being a firebender and all. But that's a mean thing to do anyways. Shame on you! JK
O-dragon: Don't worry girlfriend. I know you'll find someone out there. There's someone for everyone. I'm hoping I'll find one too. Being married to a fictional character ain't all it's cracked up to be. Moldyeel guts? Eeew.
Sesshomaru's woman: You're a sneaky little devil, ain't ya? I know this next episode isn't going to be all about Zuko, neither will the next one, butI'm pretty sure the one after that is going to be an episode all about Zuko pre-agnikai. I useAgni instead of God because Agni is the name of theHindugod of fire. Or at least I think it is. everyone says it is so I've just been using it. Hee hee. When I first saw Bato's name I thought it said Bano and it made me laugh. I went to Mexico a while back and as far as I could tell, Bano meant 'toilet'.But Idon't know for sure, I took french, not spanish. I'm sorry your parents are making you go camping. But don't worry.Nickelodeon willprobably show reruns of the new episode until we get sick of it. Don't get caught being sneaky and thanx for review.
Plutobaby494: He's always planning something, the twit.
Petitio Principii: I don't think any kind of therapy could help that sleaze.
Zukoscute2: I'll do what I can to make Zhao stop scaring you. (Slaps Zhao upside the head. "Knock it off!")
FangonForest: I updated today just for you bud!
Randomwriter88:Don't be gettin' ahead of me now!
Titan09: Dinkleberry ain't mine. It's a really common name'round here. I checked outsome of
Booter Freaks stuff. It was hilarious. Iespecially liked the blue spirit one with Zhao. Those were some great spoofs, I'll have totry and remember them. Kokopelli? the little flute guys? Sounds cool. Are you saying youdon't know me? I think anybody who's read to this point knows me as well or better than myclosest friends! Will yoooou be my friend? Sorry, just felt like being creepy.Go ahead and rip Zhao's head off! I'll standandwatch whilst laughingmaniacally.
Lovergal1227: Nope, he's not. I'm doing something different this time.
Evangline Angel: Random fangirlyness is fun, don't apologize. And feel free to use the storm thing.
Angel: I'm putting the rest of the verses to the crazy song at the bottom of this chapter so you can sing them to your dog as well!
Athenera: I have nothing against black fingernails. In fact, that's what color mine are right now. But it's kinda weird when they turn black due to electricution. I was wondering if you have a story out yet? If you put in the idea you gave me I can't wait to read it!
Angeltread: Yay for wickedness!
Well, for this chapter I comandeered my brother's Japanese/English dictionary, so I gave a few things better names than I have before (most of the Oc names were just stolen from a computer game manual). But he has now taken it back so I guess I'm back to scrounging after this chapter.
Katie laid on her bed as the ship's physician looked over her. She noticed that he seemed a bit edgy and couldn't say she blamed him. The crew had relocated all of Katie and Zuko's possessions into a new room that still had a door in tact.
"Well, It seems you've sustained no physical damage other than a few burns." The man said giving her hand a gentle pat. "What you are feeling now is just exhaustion and a few after affects of…last night's circumstances. All you need is rest."
"Thank you, Ishi." Katie said. The man took this (quite gratefully) as a word of dismissal. He gathered up his tools and scurried out of the room. Katie glared down at her body. She all of a sudden felt like a werewolf: Unable to control the effects on her caused by a celestial body that turned her into a deadly force. Except her bane wasn't the full moon. She heaved a sigh and tried to wriggle into a more comfortable position, but she felt like every part of her weighed double. There was a soft knock on the door and she called out permission to enter. Zuko opened the door a crack and peeked in, trying but failing to hide a self-satisfied grin on his face.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like a big steamy pile of crap." She said, giving him a glare for looking so happy.
"Let's see what we can do about that. I got you a present." He stepped all the way into the room, a large black sack was cradled in his arms. And the sack was moving.
"What is that?" Katie asked warily. His grin broadened and he put the bundle down on her lap. There was a deep grunt as the thing inside struggled to get free.
"You have to open it." Zuko said. Katie lifted her hand cautiously and pulled up the top of the sack. She leaned forward and peered inside. Staring back at her was the cutest, fuzziest face she had ever seen.
"Oh my." A weird little creature climbed out of the bag and climbed up on her chest. It began sniffing her face and licked her nose affectionately. "What is it?" She asked between pleased giggles. She thought it looked a lot like a ferret only it was the size of a dachshund and had a shorter snout. It was also a dull red color. This made her think of a red panda, but this thing had the hands and tail of a lemur or monkey.
"It's a Kokishin." He said scratching its ears. "They're very rare, but there was a man selling them in the city."
"It's adorable!" She said as the thing nuzzled her hair. Since coming here she hadn't had a pet of her own other than a rhino named Precious that she would ride around every weekend. She realized now that it had been killing her. If she had the choice Katie would almost rather be around animals than humans.
"The merchant assured me it was his friendliest one. His name is Rado."
"The merchant?" Katie asked trying to stop the thing from crawling on top of her head, but in her exhausted state she really couldn't put up much of a fight.
"No, the Kokishin's name is Rado." Zuko said pulling the thing off her head. "It means 'lard'" he placed Rado in her arms.
"Ahh, the name suites him well." Katie said hugging the squishy animal close. It was happy for the attention. It wiggled until it was comfortable and fell asleep on her chest within seconds. "Thank you Zee."
"So you're happy now?"
"Yup, you did good." She said grabbing his shirt and pulling him close enough to kiss.
"I have to run. I'll come down and check on you a little later, okay?" Zuko said giving a second kiss.
"Alright. See you." Katie said waving him away. After he left she stared down at the fluffy bundle in her arms. She just couldn't get over how adorable the thing was. Rado was like a living teddy bear. His fur was as soft as chinchilla and he was just the cuddliest thing she had ever seen. "Where have you been all my life?" She asked hugging him tightly. It seemed like the only sounds he made were deep little grunts or a sort of low purring. She shifted Rado over to the spot on the bed beside her and curled up next to him. He woke up immediately and crawled over to her. He laid back down only when he was touching her and fell asleep just as quickly as before. Katie smiled and joined him.
Zuko finally made it back to their room around sunset. Katie was curled up, still fast asleep. He smiled and sat on the bed to take off his boots. Katie woke up and turned her head so she could see him.
"I'm sorry Zuko. But I've fallen in love with someone else." She said sadly. Zuko turned and frowned at her.
"Excuse me?"
"He's just more snuggly than you are." Katie said with a sigh and nodded down at Rado who was still in her arms.
"We'll see about that." Zuko said with a grin and crawled under the covers. He spooned up behind her and rubbed his nose affectionately against the skin on her neck. He hadn't shaved in a few days so Katie squirmed and tried to shove his face away.
"Sorry, you aren't squishy enough." She said sadly to Zuko.
"Since when is squishyness a factor in being snuggly?" Zuko asked with a frown. Katie couldn't keep down her laughter; that was a sentence she had never expected to hear from the powerful firelord.
"It just is." Katie said hugging Rado a little tighter. Zuko let out an annoyed grunt.
"Well, he may be snugglier, but can he do this?" Zuko pulled Rado from Katie's arms and tossed him lightly so he landed unharmed a few feet away. Katie let out a little cry of protest but Zuko already shifted so that he was now on her other side, facing her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and rolled so that she was now lying on top of him. "Or this?" He placed a hand behind her neck and pulled her down so that he could kiss her tenderly. Katie pressed her mouth harder against his in response and he let his tongue sneak past her lips. They had completely pulled themselves away from reality when a wet nose pressed up against the side of their mouths and sniffed curiously. Katie couldn't help but pull away and start laughing. Rado immediately took the opportunity to climb between them to lay down on Zuko's neck.
"You're just asking for it." He said as a mock threat to the fuzzy critter. Katie shifted herself off of Zuko's chest and laid her head on his shoulder.
"He's so cute." She said kissing Rado's nose. Zuko let out a grunt and stroked Rado's soft back. "Are all Koki-whatevers like this one?"
"Yeah, they all feel like they have to be the center of attention." He said affectionately. "My uncle gave me one when I was little. Her name was Kakitateru."
"Oh, that's sweet."
"Yes, until Zula got a hold of her." Zuko said sadly. "Kaki was just like this one. I'd forgotten how much I missed her until that night I spent with you in the cave, when you started snuggling."
"I wasn't snuggling! I was sharing body warmth! You're the one that started trying to make out!" Katie said indignantly.
"You didn't seem to mind." Zuko said giving her a sly grin. Katie opened her mouth to say something but nothing came to mind. So she frowned, removed Rado from Zuko's neck and rolled so that her back was to him.
"Rado is still snugglier."
Zuko was the first to wake up the next morning. Katie woke up as he climbed out of bed and began changing into clean clothes. She always got an evil little pleasure while watching him dress. She could just never get tired of looking at his deeply defined muscles. He wandered around the room half naked looking for a clean shirt. He turned around so that he was facing Katie and she let out a little gasp of shock. There was a scorch mark in the center of Zuko's chest that was roughly the size of a grapefruit. Zuko glanced over at her curiously.
"What happened to your chest?" Katie asked. Zuko looked down and noticed the burn for the first time. He thought back to the other night when Katie had blasted him at the ceiling. He touched the burn carefully, but it didn't hurt at all.
"It's nothing." He said with a shrug and found the shirt he was looking for.
"I did it, didn't I?" Katie asked. Zuko pulled the shirt over his head and gave her a nonchalant smile.
"Don't even worry about it. I didn't even notice it until you said anything." He leaned down and kissed her softly. "I'm heading up on deck. Feel free to join me once you feel up to it." He gave Rado a little scratch on the ears and turned to leave the room.
"Wait! What do these things eat?" Katie said giving her chubby pet a little poke in the gut. Zuko paused at the door and smiled at her.
"Kokishin's are pretty much the animal embodiment of my uncle. They eat anything." He left the room. Katie glanced back down at Rado. The dozy animal had finally woken up and it seemed to experience a sudden burst of energy. Katie sat up, somewhat surprised that she felt completely normal, and couldn't help but give in to Rado's antics. She spent the entire morning playing hide and seek with the little guy until she realized that she was starving. She changed into something not tattered and charred and went up to the mess hall with Rado perched on her shoulder like a fur boa. There were very few men in the mess hall when she got there and they immediately cleared out. She couldn't tell if this was because of the other night or because it wasn't proper for common folk to dine with royalty. Whichever it was made her feel sad and a bit lonely. She had looked forward to this trip thinking it would be the same as her first few months with Zuko, but she just couldn't forge the friendship with these men that she had with Zuko's crew. A cook set a plate down in front of her and immediately left the room for her to dine in peace. Katie sighed and began eating. Anything on the plate she didn't like she handed down to Rado. Zuko was right, Kokishin's eat anything. As a test she held out her napkin and it took quite a bit of effort to wrestle it away from him before he snarfed that down too. After breakfast, Katie went up on deck to get some fresh air. She could see Zuko through the window to the helm room. He was sitting at a small table, his brow furrowed as he sifted through some papers. Rado suddenly leapt from his place on her shoulder and scampered off. She watched him and saw a gray blur disappear behind a crate. It was a nasty ship rat. So apparently the animal had a purpose other than being cute. She was surprised at how fast he could move. Katie followed after to make sure he didn't get underfoot of the crew.
Rado chased the rat to a balcony that was pretty much abandoned; it was too narrow to use while carrying loads. Katie followed on and watched as he finally caught his prey. She turned away though when he began eating the rat. She looked out over the water. She really loved the ocean. She looked down into it's black depths trying to imagine the miles of nothing but water between her and solid ground. She mildly wondered if there were whales below the ship. Katie scanned the horizon, trying to ignore the icky smacky noises coming from behind her, when she noticed a ship. It looked firenation, it was some sort of a steel rig. But it didn't look anything like the military vessels. In fact it just looked like someone had nailed a bunch of steel to a pirate ship. She watched it for a while and noticed that it was drifting closer and closer to their ship. An uneasy feeling came over her. The ship was coming towards them too quickly. She grabbed Rado and hurried up to the helm room.
"Hey Zuko, there's a ship coming towards us." She said jabbing a thumb over her shoulder.
"What?" Zuko stood up and walked over to the window that looked out over the east side. The other ship was extremely close now and showed no signs of slowing down. Zuko cursed under his breath. "Where's the watchman!" He demanded to no one in particular. He reached down and grabbed a spyglass from the desk. He had an uneasy feeling as to who was commanding that ship. Sure enough, Zhao was standing proudly at the hull of the ship. Zuko cussed himself out in his head. He hadn't paid Zhao any attention at the port. Zhao had been un-honorably disbanded from the military because of crimes against the crown almost immediately after Zuko became lord. Zuko hadn't heard anything from his old opponent since then and had figured he'd just taken a settled life. Zuko had assumed too much. He put the spyglass down and began barking out orders to prepare any catapults on the ship. Katie took up the spyglass and looked out at the ship barreling towards them. It was really thickly built, perhaps for the very purpose of acting as a ram. She could tell that Zhao meant to plow right into their ship
"Stay up here Katie!" Zuko said before running out the door, yelling more orders out to the crew. Katie pressed her nose up to the glass and watched the proceedings below. A ball of tar was loaded into the first catapult and lit. They took careful aim and let it fly. It hit the very front of the ship and caused it to slow down. Katie put the spyglass back to her eye and saw that the happy smirk was gone from Zhao's face. He had obviously thought there wouldn't be any resistance. She tried to read his lips as he yelled to the men on his ship. Then Katie realized that not all of them were men. A young woman stepped up to stand beside Zhao. Katie didn't need the spyglass to see the woman's yellow, snake-like eyes. It was Zula.
Zhao changed heart at the last minute and commanded the crew to pull up alongside Zuko's ship. He actually preferred it this way.
"Zuko is mine, Zhao." Zula murmured from his left. Zhao gave her a sidelong glance and smirked at her.
"Finders keepers Zula. You can have the girl." He said.
"I will have them both. If you do anything to get in my way I swear I'll…"
"You forget your place woman." Zhao growled.
"And you forget who you're dealing with."
The enemy ship drifted up beside their own. Zhao's men leapt the gap easily while Zuko's stood ready for the attack. Two seconds after the fighting began the first blood was spilt. Katie felt her body go numb as she watched the battle below. She tried to keep Zuko in sight, but it was nearly impossible. The deck was now swarming with men. Swords clashed and fire blasted from every direction. But the proximity was too close to bend without the risk of scorching comrades so it was soon abandoned. Katie turned and glanced around the room desperately for some means to protect herself if the need arose. She knew that on Zuko's old ship there were stores of weapons all over the ship as a precaution. She also knew that one had been in the helm room. She only wished that this ship had that feature as well. There were several doors on one wall, she ran over and checked these. The first one was just a storage closet but she nearly burst with relief when she opened the second and saw the glinting of weaponry. There was no armor, which made her a little uncomfortable, but she would just have to cope. She found two swords which she strapped to her back, then grabbed a dagger and slipped it in her boot. There at the very back of the closet was a dozen bows and a stack of quivers filled with arrows. She grabbed as many quivers as she could and a bow and ran back to the window. She lifted her foot and incinerated the glass with a powerful fire burst. Katie notched an arrow and pulled back the string. The bow had more resistance than she was used to so she wouldn't have as long to take aim. She sighted the nearest enemy which was on the balcony just below her and fired. Most of Zhao's men weren't wearing armor of any kind, so Katie picked them off as best she could, praying that she didn't accidentally hit one of her people. Someone must have been listening because every arrow hit its target. The battle began to spread to different decks. Enemies were now out of Katie's range completely. All she could do was watch helplessly. Zhao's men were good, they seemed to be an equal match to Zuko's. But the biggest problem was the Zuko was outnumbered.Katie paced the room like a caged animal. She wished she could be down there helping. She didn't even know what was keeping her in the helm room in the first place. Was it just because Zuko told her? She felt like a coward.
Zhao swiped with his blade and the man in front of him let out a scream of agony as the heated steel cut almost completely through his thigh. The man dropped to the ground and began to writhe. Zhao stepped over him and started looking for his next victim. He spotted him. Zuko was in plain sight fighting away three men at once with his bare hands. It was really a bit disconcerting to watch, but Zhao hadn't been through as much as he had to just chicken out now. He reached into the folds of his black cloak and pulled out a dagger. He touched the blade and it began to glow red. He held it loosely and flicked it almost casually. It flew through the air with surprising speed, straight at Zuko's unarmored chest.
Katie bit her lip until it began to bleed. She couldn't tell which side was winning. She felt a fluttery feeling in her stomach and she just couldn't sit still. She ran her fingers through her hair and began pulling at it. The pain actually felt good. Adrenaline began racing through her body. She wanted to be down there. She wanted to be fighting and killing. She wanted to be moving. The helmsman watched her cautiously from his place. He was trying to keep the ship steady, but it was getting more difficult as the water became choppier and the clouds began to darken.
Katie's hands started to itch.
Bow down to my evilness! Bwahahahaa!
Kay, the craAzy song made a lot of you happy, so I'm gonna write down the rest of the verses and then there's another crazy song that I love that I'm writing down for ya'll as well.
(singing) Once there was a little cat and all she ate was yarn! When her little kittens came they all had sweaters on!
Once there was a little dog and all she ate were cans! When her little puppies came they were driving in trans ams!
Once there was a little fox and all she ate were pegs! When her little foxes came they all had wooden legs!
Those are the verses, now for the next song which is called "I'm a Nut!"
(singing) I'm a little acorn round, lyin' on the cold, cold ground. Everybody steps on me, that is why I'm cracked you see. I'm a nut, in a rut, I'm a nut! (clap clap)
Called myself up on the phone, just to see if I was home. Asked myself out for a date, picked myself up at half past 8. I'm a nut, in a rut, I'm a nut!
Took myself out to the show, sat me down on the second row. Put my arms around my waist, got so fresh I slapped my face. I'm a nut, in a rut, I'm a nut!
I can sing and I can dance, I were ruffles on my oops boys take another guess! I wear ruffles on my dress. I'm a nut, in a rut, I'm a nut! (clap clap)
I love crazy songs. That's it. They're kinda dumb. I learned them at camp, so...enough said, right? Please review, you know you wanna!