Thank you My Silver Wound for reviewing! You're welcome as well! I really think the easiest person to keep in-character is Iroh. I don't really know why.

First off: I am not that great at fight scenes. So sue me. Second off: I think Zuko's a little OOC but that's okay, he's supposed to be.

Also Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is depressing at the end. That's all I'm saying.

Disclaimer: I own my demons, my sorceress, and the ship, as well as a few plants. Zuko is not mine nor is Uncle Iroh. :p

Chapter 8 – Ihen

"Well, this is as close as we can get," Hoshi said, holding up a very large leather-bound book that had to be as old as dirt. "A book on exorcisms."

Zuko sighed, holding the large wheel steady. Since Hoshi was the only one who could really read the writing, he had disappeared into the sorceress' room to find the book. The demon made this look too easy. This wheel was hard to keep in one position.

The demon sat on the deck and flipped to the first page. Immediately his eyes widened and he paled considerably which had to be hard since his skin was a dark tan.

"What?" the prince asked.

Hoshi snapped the book shut, blinking in surprise. "It's one of them graphic ones," he moaned. "That was a horrible picture."

After a good hour, the demon was no closer in finding any kind of exorcism that involved the certain hints Sorano had given them then Zuko was to becoming a Waterbender. He sighed loudly and looked like he was about to bang his head on the metal deck. Hoshi handed him the book and rubbed his face. "Just look for a picture that has some of the clues."

The Firebender took the book and nearly fell face first on the deck. This thing had to weigh over thirty pounds! Though it wasn't too heavy for him, it had surprised him a great deal.

Glaring at the demon's grin, he sat on the deck and started flipping through pages. After a few very gruesome pictures that showed what happened if an exorcism went wrong, he closed the book to get his composure back.

"Horrible, ain't it?" Hoshi asked with a small smile.

"Where did she get this book?" The prince stared at it, almost horrified that someone would sell such a thing.

"I think she got that from a pawn shop or other. Maybe a band of pirates," he mused.

Zuko went back to flipping pages, trying to not focus too long on the graphic pictures. He sighed, leaning back slightly as he turned another page.

"This is getting us nowhere," he said after a while.

"And we still have, what? Two thousand pages to go?" Hoshi asked, frowning.

"I actually think you are close on that," Zuko mumbled, wincing at the giant section still left.

"I could use some practice," the demon mumbled, rubbing his face.

"Practice?" Zuko asked, gazing at him.

"I am a pureblood battle demon," Hoshi said with a small smirk. "I need a good brawl every now and then."

Zuko was intrigued. He had not practiced for five days and was becoming restless. Maybe this would help calm him some. "I could practice with you."

The demon smiled widely and nodded. "Nezu!" The demon appeared out of nowhere besides Zuko, giving Hoshi a salute. "Steer the ship for a bit."

Nezu moved fast and took the wheel, holding it easily. Zuko would've frowned but watched as the larger demon took his hat off, placing it safely under the wheel.

Both fighters stood on the lower deck, watching the other. Hoshi bowed as well as Zuko and both took a fighting stance. The Firebender inhaled sharply as the demon moved quickly, a punch nearly striking his face. He backed away with a jump and intended to kick the demon but missed.

Hoshi landed a kick to the prince's side and even if it was a practice match, it still stung. Zuko had to go defensive as the demon never let up. Even if he could throw a kick or a punch, it was hard to find a vulnerable spot on the demon. It changed with every movement. First his stomach would be open but as soon as Zuko noticed that it would be defended and his chest would be open. As soon as Zuko found that weak spot, it would be covered and another one would appear.

The demon was a master. He was honestly outmatched.

Grunting, the Firebender defended himself from the various attacks from the demon. Hoshi had landed several blows to the human, each one threatening to leave a small bruise. Zuko slid out of the way, trying to escape the storm as the demon's fist grazed his cheek. He kicked to distract Hoshi while he moved to find a more offensive approach.

He never expected to actually hit the demon.

Zuko would've froze if his training hadn't been so fine tuned. He backed away, trying to find a weak spot in Hoshi's defenses.

Hoshi's entire demeanor changed in an instant. His eyes unfocused slightly while they turned from bright gold to a dark amber. He shook once over and went rigid. When he looked up, grinning cruelly, Zuko backed away even farther.

Whatever had happened to the demon, it had put him on an instinctive and primal level. And Zuko could admit that it had hit him harder than any of Hoshi's hits.

It terrified him.

"Hoshi?" Nezu called from the upper deck, looking concerned. The rat demon squeaked in surprise at the demon's look and began screaming for Ookami. He kicked the wheel in and raced down to the hatch, yelling for the wolf demon.

Squeaking, he dashed across the lower deck, attempting to deflect the demon as he charged at Zuko. He was, unfortunately, knocked easily to the side.

Nezu looked up just as Hoshi moved too fast to be seen. He grimaced as the large fist sunk into the Firebender's stomach and sent him flying into the railing. The human was sprawled on the deck, unmoving and Nezu expected the worst. But he heard the gasping breaths of Zuko and prayed Ookami would get his furry butt moving.

However, Hoshi was moving towards the human, the strange primal look still on his face. The human wasn't dead yet. He grinned, his eyes glittering as the powerful feeling washed over him.

Something hit him from the side and he roared, glaring at the tall figure. Ookami snarled, baring his fangs. The wolf demon forgot everything about fighting and tackled the demon. Hoshi did not go down without a fight though and Ookami swore he now had a black eye. The wolf demon felt his back hit the deck and the demon above hit him with enough force to break a human's neck. Snarling, Ookami flipped their positions, grabbing the front of the battle demon's shirt in his hands.

"Snap…outta…it!" he roared, each word punctuating by slamming the demon's head into the deck. "Fight it, Hoshi!"

With a final slam, the demon gasped, his eyes swirling back to the brilliant gold. His body shook all over as he stared around blankly. "What?" he asked hoarsely, gazing around.

His eyes fell on the gasping form of Zuko who had not moved the entire time.

"No," he muttered, his face going pale. Ookami stood and moved over to where Nezu was trying to help the Firebender. His entire body convulsed as he scrambled to his feet and ran.

Zuko forced himself to wake up. His stomach hurt like he had been charged by a Komodo Rhino. He stared up at the mess area's ceiling and heard sighs of relief beside him. Ookami's face appeared in his vision, the relief painted on him.

"You gave us quite a scare, Zuko," he said. He pulled the Firebender to a sitting position on the couch and sighed again. "Don't ever practice with him if you know what's good for you."

"What happened?" Zuko asked, rubbing his head.

"You challenged a pureblood battle demon is what," the demon cried. "You're outta your mind doing that! He could've killed you with a simple punch!"

"What?" he asked. He supposed the hit to the railing had messed with his head.

Ookami sighed and sat back in one of the many chairs. "Zuko, battle demons live on fights. They take their fights as seriously as they can. The only way to beat a battle demon is to knock them out or kill them and that's is no easy feat. He would've killed you if Nezu and I didn't intervene."

"But why?" he questioned, confused at this development.

"Zuko," Ookami sighed. "As soon as you hit him, he went back to his roots. He became a battle demon through and through once again. He forgot you were human and thought you were a demon. Demons can take his hits, humans can't. That's why demons have taken up the compact to never let battle demons mate with each other. They become vicious in battle and won't stop until the creature is dead."

"Where is he?" Zuko asked, staring around the room.

"After he snapped outta his bloodthrist, he ran off to his room. He doesn't like to kill but he can't help it at times." The wolf demon ran a clawed hand through his hair. "He blames himself for what happened. We can't get him out."

"But I accepted it!" Zuko cried out, almost glaring. "It's as much as my fault as it is his!"

Ookami held up his hand and gave the Firebender a smile. "Go tell him that. He won't listen to me anymore."

Hesitating, Zuko stood in front of the demon's door. He had no idea what he was doing really. Finally, he knocked, hoping that something else besides being turned away would happen.

"Go 'way."

He had guessed that would happened.

"Hoshi," Zuko said through the door. "I know you blame yourself."

There was a long pause. "I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself."

Zuko sighed. "It is not all your fault. I am arrogant and cocky and thought I could take on a seven hundred year old battle demon."

A strange shuffling sound echoed through the wood and the door opened, revealing a ragged looking Hoshi. He opened the door wider, letting Zuko inside. The human immediately strode inside before the demon changed his mind.

This room was a bit larger than Zuko's though it had some clutter. A pair of ornamental staffs were nailed to the wall next to two broadswords. A large tapestry with a dragon hung on the wall next to a shelf full of books, scrolls, and a couple of daggers. The bed itself looked like it could use new sheets and seemed to be as old as the demon himself.

"Look, Zuko, I know Ookami set you up for this, but it's my fault I got out of control. I shouldn't have agreed to practicing with you. Sorano warned me." Hoshi collapsed on the bed, rubbing his face. "I could've killed you and let her down."

Zuko sighed. "She could not have possibly warned you specifically like this."

"Yes she did. She knows me as well as I know myself. She also knew that you would need to practice sometime. I could hear it in her voice that she didn't want me to fight but I thought I could control myself." He sighed heavily. "I couldn't though and you would've been dead like the other five."

He stared at the demon. Hoshi gazed down at his hands. "I grew up in a circus where I was passed off as a fighter. The first few times I was too inexperienced to do anything but then I kept practicing. I ended up killing the first man when I was a hundred. The people were outraged and, before I knew it, another man was dead at my hands. I ran away then and became a loner."

His face saddened. "I tried to give up being a fighter but it's in my blood. I had to keep fighting. I couldn't stop. I killed another man a few hundred years later. I had just been fighting demons but I couldn't stop then and when I managed to snap out of it I found that there was another one dead.

"I isolated myself to see if that would work. It didn't work though, I nearly went insane doing it. When I came back, I had not fought in years and suddenly I had killed again. I ran off again but after another hundred years, I ran into the priest who banished me."

Hoshi shook for a moment. "I let Sorano down though. The sorceress had managed to keep me from fighting but it made me a lil' insane. The fight with the Fire Nation helped but, about fifteen years ago, I got in a bar fight and killed the man. Sorano managed to keep me safe until we got away but she looked disappointed in me. I could tell. I've managed to keep myself down by sparring with Ookami but he's not much of a challenge."

The demon suddenly stood and Zuko backed away as he snarled. "Why can't I control this?" he yelled, his fist suddenly sinking into the wall. The wall groaned as he continued his abuse of it until Zuko, finally snapping out of his shock, grabbed his fist.

"Stop it! You are acting like a child," he growled. He glared at Hoshi as he let go of his fist. "It is in your blood that you become the demon inside and only by your blood. Your mind is stronger than that, I know. Now stop acting childish and get yourself together."

The demon looked like he would deck Zuko but then sagged in defeat. "Thank you," he mumbled.

"Thank my uncle. I have heard that enough times to remember it by heart," the Firebender said with a small smile.

The demon chuckled and nodded. "I'm going to go take care of the ship."

Zuko let out the small breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He gave the battle demon a pat on the shoulder and walked out of the room with him.

Maybe this ship was changing him.