Chapter 1

I was asleep when I heard a twig snap. It was a good thing that I was such a light sleeper. I jumped to my feet and crouched, waiting. In all that I hadn't made a sound. Years spent traveling alone had taught me much.

Movement in the air behind me and to the left. I shouted and threw a blast of fire in that direction. The assassin dodged it and the blast hit a tree, setting it on fire. There was a shout in the distance. I ignored it. A spar grazed my cheek, reopening a long-healed scar. I sucked in air and mentally kicked myself for losing concentration when it could've meant my life.

I dodged the next one easily and sent a fire blast at my masked attacker. He dodged it and it set another tree on fire. I heard movement above me. So there were two of them. They must be getting desperate. Assassins are very expensive these days.

I shot a blast straight up into the air. My blast scorched the back of the man as he drew two longswords and landed next to me. I was impressed. I hadn't heard anything as he landed, and he hadn't as much as flinched when I burned him. These weren't just assassins, they were good ones.

The swordsman charged at me. I heard other footsteps running towards us. How many were there? No, these couldn't be more trained assassins, because they weren't even trying to hide the sound of their footsteps. I dodged the swordsman as he cut at me and, using my foot as a broom, hooked his feet from under him while ducking under another spar. I rolled on the ground so the man's swords wouldn't cut me as he fell. Then I jumped to my feet and kicked another fire blast at the remaining assassin. It hit him flat in the chest and he went down, unconscious.

I turned to the other one, expecting him to be attacking me, but people were already binding him, and he was unconscious. Not knowing what to expect, I crouched into a fighting position and said "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" said the man in the front. I crouched lower, ready to fight, and studied him. He had a huge scar on his face that was definitely a burn. Wait, I had heard a story a few years ago. This could only be one person.

"Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation," I said, and his frown deepened. I noticed the short, fat, gray-haired balding man beside him and took a wild guess. "And you must be the great General Airo." I'd heard a lot about these two. Of their banishment, betrayal, and failure. They could really help me. "It's an honor," I said, bowing to them. I had to be on their good side from the start.

The famed prince's frown had deepened as I said this, but Airo seemed as relaxed as ever.

"You know us, but we still do not know who you are," he said casually.

I bowed again and said "My name is Nari Korumashi," noticing something, I added "and you're going to need more rope." While we made our introductions, the assassin they had tied up was now awake and had taken a belt knife out and was cutting away at his bindings. He broke away and ran off into the trees before anyone could do something about it.

I looked behind me, but the other one was already gone. "So you just didn't notice him get up and leave?" I asked, meaning the one that had been behind me, but the prince and his company had already gone after them. I sighed and climbed a tree, and, seeing them from the branches, I leapt from tree to tree after them. If what I'd heard about them was true, then I couldn't let them catch up to those assassins. I just couldn't.

Chapter 2

The ship landed and Zuko and his soldiers ran into the woods where they could hear something happening. A spar flashed past them, and he could see the flash of swords in a clearing ahead. He heard a thud and ran into the clearing in time to see a girl running towards a man with a mask and a handful of spars. He saw a man on the ground in front of him. The man was still clutching two swords, even though he seemed to be unconscious. He pointed toward the swordsman and the men behind him ran forward to tie him up. Zuko looked up in time to see the girl kick a blast of fire at the masked man which hit him in the chest, and he went down.

The girl swerved around to look at them. As she did, she crouched down and said "Who are you?" in a demanding voice.

A little taken aback by the bleeding scar on her cheekbone and her soft yet demanding voice, Zuko said "Who are you?" She crouched even lower and waited. He studied her. She had black hair that was pulled up into a tight bun, an open scar on her left cheekbone, was wearing earth-kingdom-like clothing, was bare-foot and bare-armed, and was covered in dirt and what looked like soot.

All of the sudden, she said "Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." He hadn't expected this, and didn't like the fact that she knew who he was. Then her gaze turned to his right. "And you must be the great General Airo. It's an honor," she said, bowing with her palms together. Zuko didn't like this either. How much did she know about them? Did she know about what had happened at the North Pole? He really hoped not.

"You know us, but we still do not know who you are." Zuko was very grateful for his uncle right then. He really did not like to think about that mission.

The girl bowed again and said "My name is Nari Korumashi … and you're going to need more rope." He looked down, and before they could do anything, the assassin they had just bound cut through the ropes and ran off into the woods. The girl looked behind herself, but that assassin was gone, too. He motioned for the others to follow him, and ran off after them. The girl started to say something, but he couldn't hear her. They had to catch those men. They had just attacke3d a member of the Fire Nation, and maybe if he could turn them in to his father, he'd be a little closer to coming home.

The men were almost out of sight. They had to go faster. He picked up his pace. Now they were getting closer, almost close enough to get them with a fire blast. He summoned his energy and was about to shoot when the girl, Nari, dropped from overhead. His blast was going straight toward her, but she put her palms together and pointed them toward the oncoming fire and pushed it aside. The fire went to both of her sides and passed, leaving her unburnt. Zuko watched as the assassins disappeared and the trees thickened.

"What did you do that for!" he yelled. "We almost had them!"

"I just did you a favor."

"And how is that!" demanded one of the soldiers, coming up to the front.

"You'll know soon enough."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" asked the soldier.

"Exactly what I said, or are you deaf?" The soldier's face reddened and he returned to his position in the back.

"What do you want, anyway?" asked Zuko.

"To save you from getting into any more trouble than you're already in."

"How would we be getting into trouble?" asked General Airo, running up beside Zuko, breathing heavily.

"You'll know soon enough," she said again, in that same strange way. What was with this girl? She was so strange.

"Who are you?" asked the banished prince.

"I am Nari Korumashi, I am a fire-bender, and, just like you-" she looked him straight in the eye "-I'm an outcast."