Still no new reviews. Oh well. Sorry for the long wait. I've been rushed everywhere and have suffered some writer's block.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope, I own nothing of Avatar.

Chapter 19 - Kirin

Three days of watching his uncle shop for junk, the last two trips he had been bribed to go. Zuko grumbled as he shifted a bag filled to the brim with different kinds of tea. The smell was making his head spin and he was going to slowly kill his uncle for this torture.

Sorano hadn't been much help either. She spent most of her time working on requests or other projects such as replanting saplings in her arboretum. Every time he tried to find an excuse to not go with his uncle, she shot it down and set it on fire.

He was really tempted to push her overboard.

There was movement to his left, his scar obscuring his vision on that side slightly. He turned his head, catching sight of bright yellows and orange and two very big green eyes.

"Hey, Zuko!" Aang said, completely oblivious to the growl he received.

"Just because the stupid witch helped you, that does not mean I'm not your enemy," the teenager snarled, his temper getting the best of him.

"Zuko, control your temper," Iroh warned while looking at perfume? What was he going to do with perfume?

He fell to glaring at everything, leaning back when the stupid animal on the Avatar's head kept staring at him. "What?"

"Oh, Momo's just curious," he replied, scratching the lemur under the chin.

"Trust me, if I had any way to get you off of this rock and to the Fire Nation, I would," Zuko warned.

"Yeah, I know," Aang agreed immediately, sounding almost as if he didn't care. The lemur purred and suddenly jumped onto Zuko's shoulder, nuzzling his neck. The soft fur was disturbing to the Firebender who flinched and tried unsuccessfully to get the creature off of him.

Aang laughed and plucked the lemur off of the growling teen. "We were wondering if the witch was still around to thank her. Katara's doing great now!"

"She better be. If not, I will kill her." Zuko growled as his uncle warned him again. The entire world was against him.

Luckily, Iroh began heading back to the ship. Unfortunately, the Avatar stayed with them, following them like a lost puppy. He kept trying to make a friendly conversation but it seemed that Zuko would have none of it. Iroh joined him though and Aang forgot all about Zuko's silent stubbornness.

Zuko shoved Iroh's stuff to him and began to head straight to his room when Hoshi called out. Either the demon didn't notice the glare or did and refused to back off was to be questioned.

"Sorano's down in the furnace room. Will you take him there?" Hoshi just grinned as the Firebender glared daggers but he nodded.

Sorano was staring at the fire in the furnace when she heard footsteps. She didn't move, eyes searching the flames as the footsteps grew nearer and finally stopped behind her. The fire shrunk back slightly, huddling near the back of the furnace.

"Hello, Avatar. Hey, Zuko."

Zuko frowned at her greeting and stared at the strange fire. It felt odd, almost as though it was sick. That couldn't be though, fire wasn't alive.

Aang stared at the flames for a moment longer before bowing awkwardly. It was as though he couldn't decide who to bow to; the fire or the witch. "Thank you for your help. Katara's doing much better."

"She'll be glad we caught it in time. Any longer and she'd be dead." Her attention was focused on the fire, almost as though it was talking to her.

"We don't have any money but we'd like to repay you any way we can," he said, still staring at the flames as it shuffled nearer.

Zuko watched, almost hearing a strange hissing sound filling the room. He frowned, trying to find the noise's source. It seemed to be coming from every nook and cranny. The Avatar was tensing up as though there was a huge, powerful creature in the room with them.

"Actually, there is something you can help me with," the witch said calmly.

The fire flared brightly, shooting flames through the pipes. Aang backed away nervously, staring wide-eyed at the flames. The strange form appeared, twirling its tails and gazing at the group with white eyes. Hisses filled the room, sounding forlorn and melancholy.

"Something bad is going to happen. I need to know what."

He watched as Sorano knelt behind a bush, rope in hand. Confusion was a very evident feeling passing through the humans as he watched the two Water Tribe members also kneeling behind another bush. Zuko could feel rather than hear or see the wolf demon's family gathered around the area, each in their respective animal forms. Hoshi was somewhere with a coil of chains.

Still as a board, Aang stood in the middle of a clearing, glancing nervously around him. He still didn't properly understand what he was supposed to do. Sorano had been skimpy with details, like always. All he knew was to stand here and greet the first thing that walked up to him.

They had been sitting out here for at least two hours before Zuko heard anything. Or rather, all noise ceased to exist. The birds silenced, his breathing seemed to fade into a void. Everything became still and he couldn't remember a time when it was so peaceful.

Something moved near the entrance to the clearing, stepping forward to meet the Airbender. Aang blinked in surprise at the beast, gazing up at him.

It wasn't very tall, maybe a little smaller than Kin and a dark brown color. Strangely, it looked incredibly deer-like with a thin body and elongated neck. Thin legs supported its weight which appeared to be mostly hair as it hung off its body. Its face was blunter than a deer's with a mane than ran along its nape and two long ears twitching. A lion's tail twitched, almost floating in mid-air behind it. Scales covered its legs, the front ones ending in small, split hooves while the back ones were more like dragon's feet.

Though the most eye-catching detail was the long, single horn jutting out from its brow, curving up at the tip.

He held in his gasp as he realized he was looking upon a real, live unicorn. This wasn't a statue in the courts that flanked the entrance to a garden nor was it a story. This was an honest to Spirit, living, breathing qilin.

And that's when everything fell into place.

Sorano was first, throwing a lasso at the creature as it was entirely focused on Aang. She missed the head but managed to hook the rope around its single horn. Immediately, the unicorn reared up, hooves thrashing in the air. It turned to run but found its exit caught off by a large wolf and several others circling it.

Another rope wrapped around its back leg, holding it still for a split second as Sorano's rope slid off its horn. She reeled it back it and threw again, this time letting it slip over its head. The beast thrashed violently, whinnying and roaring, flames erupting everywhere. Zuko controlled the flames, bending them away from the witch as she struggled to hold the qilin down.

Chains fell from the forest canopy, sliding over the unicorn's head easily. Hoshi pulled, getting the welded metal to tighten before he jumped to the ground. The battle demon wrapped the chains around his forearms, muscles straining as he held the beast still.

Then, all of a sudden, it stopped and stood still, breathing hard from its struggle. Its ears twitched as it threw his head about, cutting through the ropes restraining its neck.

Sorano began to approach it, bowing carefully as Aang shook next to her.

"Was all of this really necessary, sorceress?"

The voice boomed in the clearing, as though its source was everywhere. The unicorn grunted audibly and shook his head. Well, he appeared to be male from the voice and the hair around his hind legs grew in the opposite direction and hung down.

"It was if I was going to catch you. You're the hardest one to catch, let alone see," she replied, giving him it seemed another bow.

Zuko moved to stand near her, gazing at this fantastic creature. He was much different than the unicorn statues seen around the Fire Nation court. The ones in the Fire Nation supposedly had great, dragon heads and all four feet were hoofed. This one appeared more graceful though less fierce.

"What do you want then? You did not capture me for a nice chat." He glared at her, ears twitching and eyes boring holes into her skull.

"Well, this explains why there's no doctor. But yes, I have a very important question for the Protector of Jing-Bao village. Something's supposed to happen. Something bad. I want to know what." Sorano watched the creature as he seemed to bow.

"That is not something I do often, sorceress," he replied, ears moving about him. "I also do not answer prophecies to mere mortals."

She glanced at Aang who was just staring at the qilin.

"Uh, right!" he said, moving closer and also bowing to the unicorn. "It would help me on my quest to defeat the Fire Lord -" Zuko snorted at that – "and to keep innocent people safe. Please, help us."

He shifted, one hoof rising before he stomped loudly. Everything seemed to freeze as time slowed down, leaves falling so slowly they could see every detail as it detached itself from the tree. The qilin's eyes glazed over, head drooped to where it almost touched the ground.

"The tempest will claim two, sending them on a journey to test their trust, one will begin to fall but the other shall overcome it. Terrible times remain, allies trusted, enemies made. Tread carefully on fallen ground. Keep faith in those that you trust and they will keep faith in you."

His head snapped back up and he whinnied lowly. "I gave you what you wanted. Let me go."

She nodded to Hoshi who relaxed his hold on the chains. The unicorn shook his head, throwing the chains off. His mane ruffled and his back leg moved up, scratching around his neck where the chains had been. He turned to Zuko, snorting loudly.

"If you see my Fire relatives, tell them they can come here if they want. The Fire Nation is too corrupt for them to live there."

Then he reared up, flames dancing from his breath. He took off running, the family let him pass as he disappeared into the forest. His whinny was loud and clear and then completely stopped.

Birds began to chirp and a squirrel raced by. Zuko just stared at the sudden movements around them that had been gone for so long.

The grass around them where the creature had stood wasn't harmed in any way. Even in the areas where he had thrashed and trampled, it remained as though he had never been there.

Nature remained untouched. So much power in such a small beast.

"Cryptic as ever. I hate deciphering that crap," Sorano groaned and sighed. "Well, let's head back. A couple of Fu Dogs might show up soon to punish us for meddling."

Immediately, all eyes turned to her, surprise and fear written on several faces.

"Come on, this is Earth Kingdom territory. They're very protective of a balance," she explained and started walking off.

Zuko sighed at her antics but followed anyways. Fu Dogs were very dangerous creatures.

"Come on," she pleaded.

"I said, no!" he yelled back.

"Please?"

"No! What part of it don't you understand?" he asked, growling audibly at her.

"Children, children, calm down," Hoshi tsked.

Zuko spun around, arms crossed over his chest. "I'm not sharing my room. I finally got my uncle out of it."

She gave him the huge puppy dog eyes but he snarled and she frowned. "All right then," Sorano said.

He looked back at her before he regretted it. Her hand shot out, hitting him in the forehead before he could react. Dazed, he heard her say something and briefly answered 'yes.' When he heard her laugh and his head cleared, he then figured what he had agreed to.

"You wench!"

Zuko growled lowly as he punched the pillow under his head, back facing the intruder.

"Isn't this cool, Zuko?" Aang asked excitedly, grinning widely.

Something rumbled from the Firebender's throat.

"We can do all sorts of stuff now! Like-"

The bald kid just wouldn't shut up. "Listen," Zuko snarled. "I don't care. As soon as I get my own ship, I will capture you and take to the Fire Lord. You are not my friend and you will never be a friend to me." He faced the wall, listening to the silence.

"Oh," Aang said dejectedly, head bowing somewhat. His expression read sadness as he lied down on the new bed. "Good night."

He received no answer but didn't expect one. The Avatar closed his eyes, curling up on the new bed as the ship rocked on the sea.