Chapter 7
The music wrapped its self around the drunken crew as they danced the can- can. It was a glorious night to be out dancing and singing on their Music Night. The moon was out and the weather was just right.
The song that one of the members was singing ended, causing the crew to boo. He slowly walked back into the crowd that he came from and they all waited for another member to be coxed to sing again.
"General Iroh!" said the crewmember. He leaned on Iroh's shoulder and waved a beer around. His breath was coated with a thick layer of alcohol and he waved around as though he was about to pass out.
" Yes? What would you like?" Iroh asked. He wasn't as drunk as the others and knew all of what was going on around him.
"SING!" He yelled into the General's ear, causing him to jump.
" That's perfectly ok. I don't want to really. Plus I have nothing to sing." Iroh said, trying to wing himself out of this.
"SING, SING, SING!" The member chanted. Others followed in the shouting. Soon the whole deck was shouting for Iroh to sing.
" FINE, I'LL SING IF YOU ALL SHUT UP! You're giving me a head ache." Iroh said as he walked to the middle of the crowd, rubbing his temples.
" What am I to sing, now that I am singing?" He asked, closing his eyes.
"We got you covered." One member shouted who was close to the band.
The member whispered something into the band member's ear. The man just smiled and nodded and then told the others of what they would be playing. He then counted off and they began to play.
Iroh suddenly opened his eyes. Oh shit! He thought to himself.
" NO! I AM NOT SINGING THAT!" He yelled into the crowd of laughing drunks.
" You have to now that you got the band playing Iroh!" they yelled. " NOW SING!"
"Wait, I need a lady friend for this, then, and since we obviously don't have a female, which this song requires, I can't possibly find a way to sing this." Iroh fiddled with the words.
" Excuse me?" A sweet voice said in the crowd.
A person made their way through the crowd towards Iroh. The crewmembers stepped aside to let the new comer through. The person walked right up to Iroh.
"I'll help you sing." The person said.
Iroh just nodded no. " I need a female, Sir."
" Well that's lucky for you." The person, who was wearing a grungy hat, took it off, to revile long peppered hair. " Your wish has been granted."
" And who are you?" Iroh said bewildered to find a girl on the ship.
" My name is Katamali." The lady said in a pissed off voice.
"Well how did you get on my ship?"
" I just walked aboard. I wanted to see what all the commotion was about. You can hear it all the way from town."
"Well… Damn." He said, seeing no way now of getting out of singing. " Fine I'll sing. Lets get this over with. And then I'll deal with you." Now pointing to Katamali.
" Ok." Was her only response.
The crew shouted YHAYS at them. The band started up again. Iroh hated this song but knew that he must sing it. He looked at the crew as they came in at their queue.
"Mpha Mphaaa Mpha Mphaaaa." They repeated over and over in rhythm.
Now was Iroh's part, the Part he dreaded.
"What you gona do with all that junk, all that junk inside that trunk?"
"I'm get, get, get, get you drunk, get you drunk off my hump. My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump. My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely little lumps." Katamali came in afterwards. On the part of "lovely little lumps" Katamali brought her hands up to cover her breast, causing the crowd to roar.
She has quite a lovely voice. Iroh thought as he sang his part and listened to her's.
They continued through the song until it was finally over. The crew all hollered and whistled at the two.
Iroh walked through the crowd of people, occasionally stepping over a member who had passed out due to too much beer or from laughing too hard during the song.
He quickly went to his room. Now he knew that he couldn't be pestered any more to sing another idiotic song. When he reached his room and was turning around to close the door he saw someone behind him.
" You said that you were going to deal with me after the song." The 70 or so year old women said.
"Oh yes. Please come in." Iroh said rubbing his temples again.
Katamali walked into the room. She saw that it had one double bed in the middle, a place to make tea, and a fire nation flag hanging on the wall.
" Do you have a wife? Why didn't she sing with you?"
"Um… no. Well yes, but she died a few years ago." Iroh said to the sudden question.
" Oh I'm so sorry. My husband left me for a younger slut just last year." Katamali said, putting emphasis on the word Slut.
" I'm sorry too. Oh and by the way you sing beautifully. Now so um, yes down to work…. Um, you have no reason to be on this ship Miss. I am sorry but you will have to leave." Iroh said trying to be serious.
"What is your name?" Katamali asked.
" General Iroh, but I am retired so just call me Iroh."
"Well Iroh, I need to tell you something that might not please you. But first we must get off this ship and go to my house." She looked through the small porthole window that was near the flag. : Yes we must go NOW!"
She grabbed Iroh's hand and ran out of the room, dragging him with her. She ran through the halls that they had just come from a few moments before. Iroh began to loose his breath but knew that when a woman was in a hurry and insisted that you follow, that you follow with no questions asked.
He followed her onto the deck. She suddenly came to a sudden stop behind a crate and put her hand in front of his face to make his stop. He crouched down next to her. He opened his mouth to say something, but just as she had read his mind, she put a finger on his lips and pointed to the crowd of drunks. He nodded and closed his mouth.
The crowd cheered as the band began to play 'Baby Got Back'. Iroh hated this song as well. He heard in amazement, as Lt. Jee began to sing the stupid song.
Well apparently you don't know people until you get them really drunk. Iroh smiled at his thought.
He then noticed that his companion was no longer with him. He looked around for her. He found her crouched behind another crate a few 50 feet away. He soon followed and crouched down, mimicking her motions.
She looked over at the edge of the ship, finding the stairs that led down to the ground. She quickly glanced behind her to be sure that Iroh was still there. When she saw that the tired, huffing old man was there next to her, she turned back around. She then thought out a plan.
They would run. That's all they could do. She looked again at Iroh and then back at the stairs. She knew that they were doomed if they got caught. She glanced over at the crowd. No one was looking. It was now or never.
She grabbed behind her for Iroh's hand, which she quickly found. She stood up slightly and then thrust herself and Iroh forward. They were like a cat that was ready to pounce on a bird and is running forward to catch it's preyed.
Iroh didn't know why they had to be so secretive. He watched Katamali carefully. He saw her in a way that he hadn't when they were singing. She now had a look of pure beauty. Her hair hung in strands around her face, framing it. He caught glances of her golden eyes. They were a wonderful color of gold.
They ran for the stairs as quietly as possible. Katamali kept looking over at the crowd even as they ran. Suddenly a voice caught her attention.
"HEY!" yelled one of the drunken crewmembers.
She froze and held her breath. She looked over to where the voice had come from in the crowd. All she saw was a man trying to break free of the others who were pushing him up to sing the next song. She let out the breath that she held.
" We must hurry." She whispered into Iroh's ear.
He nodded and they hurried off of the ship.
They were soon running along a dirt road. Iroh was being more pulled now. They sharply turned a corner to an ally. Katamali ran faster, although Iroh didn't know why. Suddenly she opened a hidden door in a wall. She pushed him in. she closed the door behind them, leaving them in darkness.
Katamali made a fist in the dark and a flame shot out, lighting a torch. This lit the room up to an amazing amount of color. Iroh waited for his eyes to adjust to the light and then looked around.
Her house consisted of two rooms and one bathroom that branched off the main room. In the room they were in now, the main room, he saw a kitchenette and an armchair that sat next to a fireplace and table. The room consisted of blues, reds, greens, and purples.
He quickly glanced into the next room and saw a double bed with a nightstand next to it.
Katamali cleared her throat to get his attention again. He turned around to face her and to show that she had his full attention. She smiled at him.
What a sweet smile. So heavenly. Iroh thought.
" Oh yes… sorry for my rudeness. Why am I here again?" Iroh said, shaking his thoughts away.
" You're here so that you won't get hurt."
" How would I get hurt my lady?"
" Ok so you think that I was on that ship for that brief time that we sang. Please. I was on there all night, talking to all your crewmembers. They are not pleasant drunk."
"And how so?"
" Ok for one, they were planning on killing you tonight. They said something about how you are too kind, your tea is an overload of cargo, you are a waste of food, and that they would be better off without you. They planned on killing you after you finished singing and had gone off to bed. They said that they would then dump your body into the sea and sail off." Katamali said this while scanning Iroh's face for signs that he was getting all of this.
" Oh and they said something about leaving the kid on the island to die. I don't know whom they could be talking about. I mean what kid in their…" Katamali was cut off.
"Zuko!" Iroh burst out.
"Oh ok then. Well I don't want for you to get hurt so you'll be staying here. At least until your ship has gone." Katamali said, with still not a clue as to who Zuko was.
" But I have to go get Zuko! He'll die if I don't get him and I told him that I would be back in a few days…" Iroh faded off.
" It's going to be ok. I own my husband's old ship that he used to fish with, and we will use that to go pick up Zuko when your boat leaves. Is that ok with you?"
Iroh pondered a moment at this new plan. He then nodded and replied a "yes".
"Good. Now tomorrow we'll go over to the harbor and see if the ship left. Until then, you need to get some sleep or your hang over will be worse than it is now."
He again nodded and looked around for a place to sleep.
"Oh yes you need a bed. Um… Well… hey we're friends right? Just sleep in my bed with me. Nothing will happen. Promise." She said this blushing.
Iroh was tired and didn't feel like fighting with the woman now. He walked over to the bed in the next room and crawled under the covers. The bed was warm and felt good under his aching body. He quickly fell asleep before Katamali could even get in the bed with him.
"Iroh wake up." An angle-like voice commanded him out of his slumber. He smelled eggs. They smelt good and unfamiliar to him. He suddenly sat up, remembering the night's events. He quickly got out of the bed and shuffled over to the kitchenette, where Katamali was making the breakfast.
"Would you like your eggs sunny-side up or scrambled?" she asked in a motherly tone.
"Um… scrambled?" Iroh said. He hadn't had a good home cooked breakfast in a while.
"Ok. After Breakfast we will check on your ship." She replied, making his order.
He nodded, remembering his ship.
Katamali soon served the breakfast and they both rushed through it. They ate quickly and quietly, but not messily.
After about a few minutes they were both finished and got up at the same time. They both walked towards each other but tried to go the opposite ways, causing them selves to bump into each other. They ignored it and walked on. Some they were both going out the door in a single file line.
They walked through the market, straight to the harbor. They crouched down behind a crate. They now had a clear view of where the ship was last night. It no longer was there, so both of them felt that it was safe to stand up in clear view.
Katamali looked around until she found a crewmember from another boat close by.
" Excuse me, sir…" she said walking up to him.
" Yes?" the man replied.
" Do you know of what happened to the ship that was here last night?" She asked.
" Um… Yeah. In fact, the ship left this morning around sixish. Why do you need to know?" The man responded with a suspicious look in his eyes.
Iroh saw this look and walked over to the two.
" Why are you giving this woman that look my kind sir?" He said before Katamali could answer the man's question.
The man only looked at Iroh and then answered him.
" The ship went this morning and was followed close behind, but far enough away for them not to notice us, as for this is an Earth kingdom town and the ship was from the Fire Nation and we wanted to be sure that they were not going off to get other ships to attack us. Well we followed them out into the ocean. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a thick fog came, making us loose sight of the ship. As soon as the fog came though, it was gone, and the ship was not there anymore."
Iroh and Katamali looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking. What if we were on that ship?
The man broke the silence, causing them to look at him again.
" We came back and looked on the map at the area in which the ship disappeared and we found out that many other ships had also vanished in that area. The other kingdoms call this the Bermuda Triangle."
" Thank you sir, that will be all." Iroh said and bowed at the man who bowed back.
Katamali and Iroh then began to walk back to the house.
I hope that y'all liked my singing thing! Well Please Review!
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