Zakura1

Okay, it totally messed up my out of story introduction last time because I put a bunch of weird symbols and stuff, and it made them disappear. So this time it's just words. :-)
Now it's time for chapter one, definitely longer than the introductory chapter. Enjoy!

It was morning at the encampment of the three friends, the type of morning that made you want to stay asleep, under and sort of covers you had, and soak in the little warmth.

But that wasn't a luxury they were allowed this time. Not this morning.

"Aang, can you grab those two pots over there?" Katara called as she frantically untied a rope that bound one end of their tent up. Light soot had been falling for the past ten minutes.

It was nothing compared to the soot that fell when her and her brothers' village had been burned down, but the little flecks every now and then let them know that the fire nation was hot on their trail, and it was time to move.

"Sokka, pack up the tent." She ordered once she had finished with the knot.
Sokka almost retorted, but decided against it. Now was not the time. Normally his sisters' bossy command would have irritated him, but there was a time to whine, and a time to be serious. Just because he did one more often than the other, didn't mean he wasn't capable of doing the second.

"Okay let's go."

Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulder and gave a strange chirruping noise. Sokka, Aang, and Katara each climbed onto Appa and the giant bison set off into the air after a "yip yip" from the avatar.

"That was close." Aang breathed. He fell down and let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't relax yet," Katara warned. "Just because we got out of there doesn't mean we're safe. They could still catch up with us soon."

"I know." The young boy shifted his weight, making sure not to squash Momo, who was still on his shoulder.

"So were either of you considering breakfast this morning?" Sokka grunted, in front and holding the reigns to Appa. "Because it is very early, and we just rushed out of there…"

"I don't think there's any time for food," Said his sister. "We have to keep going to avoid the fire nation."

Sokka gave a small whine of sorts. Katara and Aang ignored him, and proceeded to play a game of menko together to pass the time.

"I thought I said there was to be no fried rice on this ship!"

A sharp voice reverberated through the kitchen walls and the three men standing side by side cringed all at once.

"Apologies, Prince Zuko, we thought it would be acceptable since it was flavored with ginseng, instead of soy sauce."

"I don't care what it's cooked in - if it's fried, then that makes it fried rice! You three will report to my office directly after the men on board eat. I will not be doing so this morning."

The sixteen year-old prince turned, his hands clenched into fists, and stalked out of the kitchen to the higher deck of the ship.

The main cook stared at the doorway, looking confused. They would allow the men to eat the rice, and never cook it again… but no one had any idea why fried rice could irritate Prince Zuko so much. He was a mystery unto himself.

Back in his cabin, Prince Zuko pressed his fist to his forehead. The stupid cooks… they knew full well he had banned fried rice. They should not question him, or find loopholes in his orders. He had his own reasons.

A slightly blurry picture of a young boy eating fried rice at a table with his family floated past his eyes, which were closed so tight it made colors swirl in the darkness.

The little boy laughed at something his mother said, and the father had his arm around her.

"Prince Zuko, the men are ready to begin the journey update this morning, if it pleases you, sir."

He stood up that very moment and stared at the door solidly. "Yes," He said, opening it. "I am ready for them; we will reconvene in the meeting room right now."

"All I'm saying is we should send a scout party to the inland road and have them trace the avatar, if he is indeed in there. That's what our reports are saying."

"But the problem is we're not entirely sure where the avatar is inland, so we might be sending a scouting troop out in vain."

"I agree with Captain Haru, it might be a waste."

"What is there to waste? They will catch up with us by the time we get to Berok City, and it will have not been in vain."

"Then if we find the avatar while the troop is gone, we will be twenty men short."

"It is simply twenty men. They are not relevant to catching the avatar. He is a child."

"He is not to be underestimated." Prince Zuko said, his undertoned voice bringing the arguing chiefs and captains' focus to the center of the table.

"He may appear young, but he has the power of all the previous avatars, and is a powerful bender. Even if he is a mere child… we cannot underestimate him. He has certainly found out that we are close to him and is probably now fleeing. We must never lose our drive and slack off. I would expect nothing less from my highest of positions on this boat. We will continue to pursue him, and we will still send out a smaller troop. However, not twenty, but ten."

There was silence. Many of the men sitting at the table disagreed with Prince Zuko on many things, they thought him barely old enough or mature enough in military decisions to take charge of a small fleet, and they thought there could be many better suited men of rank to replace him.

But since he was a Prince, he received… special privileges.

"Yes Prince Zuko." They murmured their compliance.

"Good. Then I will choose the nine other men to accompany me in the troop this afternoon, and we will leave by dusk. Haru, alert the captain of the ship to change its course toward land so it can allow my team to exit the ship and continue on foot through the forest."

The men's attitudes brightened slightly. The Prince was getting off the boat; this was good. No longer would they be under his adolescent reign.

"You are dismissed, gentleman." Zuko got up and left the room.

The men all exchanged glances. With him gone, away off the boat, they would be free to command as they wanted. No more listening to sixteen year-olds.

Who knew, maybe he would die on his little side excursion to catch up with the avatar faster.

Perhaps eaten by a wild bear, or killed in a tragic hunting accident. Maybe even tumble off a waterfall.

"Aang, I think we've gone far enough." Katara said to him, as Sokka yawned in the front.

"We can go back down to the ground now, we've gotten far enough ahead."

"Are you sure?' Aang asked, the air circle he had been playing with in his hands vanishing.

Katara smiled. "Yes. Sokka take Appa down, I think we're all tired of being up here, especially when it's so cold."

She didn't know why, but the weather had been very bitter lately. It nipped at their noses all afternoon. She wouldn't have been surprised to see snow eventually, even though there still hadn't been any.

That didn't stop the frost from coming though. One time, Sokka had woken up and his ponytail had been frozen to the bark of a tree.

It had been funny to watch Aang use his weak, inexperienced firebending skills to try and get it off. And when he almost set fire to Sokka's hair, he settled for chipping it off with a knife.

Sokka had complained the rest of the day about the drips of ice water that slid down his back every ten minutes.

Katara smiled again, this time to herself, and she made sure not to mention it to either of the boys. According to her brother it never happened.

"Ahh, nice to stretch your legs for a bit." Said Sokka, bending his back so far that he looked like an upside down L. It gave a tiny crick sound.

"I wonder if there are any towns close." Katara wondered aloud. "Our food supplies are running a little low.

"Well, maybe we can keep going and find out." Sokka yawned, nodding his head towards the north east through the forest. "Let's go. Appa, fly overhead of us. Yip yip."

They walked for another hour or so, stopping every now and then so Aang could admire a butterfly, or so Sokka could eat a mushroom. Katara mainly kept quiet and enjoyed the nature around her. It was beautiful to travel through forests. It gave her time to think, and enjoy just being alive. Her thoughts drifted a lot to her mother, and her grandmother, and her missing family. How much she missed them and her family.

Then she focused on the two boys in front of her and thought about her new family. Her current family.

The one she had been given in life for the moment. There was no use in arguing about it, so her 'glass-was-half-full' mindset kept Katara the way she was.

"I see the town! We don't know what it's called." Aang stated after he had jumped up and shouted. "Are we sure it's safe to go in?"

"Well we don't really have much of a choice, do we," said Sokka, who had finished his last mushroom and still had a stomachache from lack of food.

"I guess you're right." Aang replied. "Well let's try and stay together."

When they reached the city walls they were stopped by two guards standing at the giant wooden gates.

"By the orders of Governor Lopa, all incomers are to be questioned and held from entering the city if they appear to be suspicious or give off the impression of holding intentions of performing mischief in the town."

"If I may ask," Katara said, making sure to keep her voice polite. They needed to get in the gates for food. "What is the name of the town?"

The guard's eyes dragged themselves over Katara's body, then he looked back at the three of them as a group.

"This is the town of Ichinomiya."

"Ichi-no-whatsit?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well however difficult the name is to pronounce, we have to get in there."

Katara smacked her hand to her forehead. This was no time for Sokka's stomach to take control of him.

"Are you challenging me, troublemaker?" The guard growled, taking a step forward. Aang looked uneasily at his long, threatening looking weapon, and gulped.

"What he means is," Katara said quickly, stepping in front of her brother. "Troublemakers? Do we look like troublemakers to you, sir?"

The guard stared at them with a look that most blatantly said 'yes'.

"We only come in for food, sir, and if you catch us in any trouble, by all means you can arrest us and put us in prison."
Aang made a choking sound beside her.

She smiled sweetly at the guards, who continued to stare suspiciously, but opened the gates for them to pass.

"Phew," Sokka said once they had walked in. "I thought those fatheaded scumbags would never let us in."

Unfortunately, they had not been far enough for the guards not to hear his remark, and before they knew it, the three of them were running down the dusty streets to avoid the guards, who were chasing them angrily.

"Why did you HAVE to say that!" Katara yelled at Sokka as they sped down a right, and then a left.

"I thought they couldn't hear me!" He retorted. "We had been far enough away!"
"Apparently not!"

"We just have to hurry!" Aang interrupted; he kept blowing wind down the path behind them to distract the guards, who had a temper just as fiery as ever and were not letting up.
He looked behind his shoulder and his eyes widened. "Guys! Bad news – THEY'RE FIREBENDERS!"

Katara's breath caught in her throat. That was bad. Worse than just a couple of angry guards, but two angry firebenders chasing the avatar and his friends was the worst news they could've come across in this town.

They came skidding up to a three way street and stopped. With a glance behind themselves, all three of them said, "This way!" and each ran a completely different path.

"Hurry!" Katara called as she sprinted into a shop, but suddenly she realized there was no breathing behind her. They were gone!
"Oh no…" She moaned. This was just perfect. Here she was stuck in a clothing shop while her brother and the avatar ran around town trying to hide from firebenders. She hid behind some earthbender robes and tried to calm herself.

"Katara? Sokka?" Aang said confusedly once he had realized he was alone. He too had jumped into a shop and was now hiding behind a dresser full of toys. "How am I going to find them?"

Sokka panted himself to a tiny market stall full of raw fish. His mouth watered as he ducked behind it, avoiding the guards, but also drooling at the food as he did so.

"Are you looking for something?" The elderly woman tending the fish stall asked.

She had solid silver hair pulled into a tight bun, gleaming blue eyes, and clothing on to match the color of her eyes.

Sokka noted that she almost looked like a fish herself.

"Oh, no," Sokka said, stretching himself up. "Just, you know, looking for some fish to eat." He checked to see if the guards were near – they weren't.

There was a pause.

"Well are you going to buy some, or waste my air? The fish is for sale you know."

"Eh, there's a little problem with that," He replied. "I kind of… don't really have any money. I would pay you back!" He added hastily as the woman raised her eyebrow. "My sister has the money she's just off trying to find our friend Aang. We got separated."

"Oh that's sad." She said, tone suggesting she didn't think it was sad at all. "But I have news for you buster, people in this town work for their food! If you want some of my fish you have to earn it!"

"How!" Sokka asked incredulously. "What do you want me to do?"
A smelly rag hit him in the face. "You can start by gutting these trout."

Jopo grunted. It was about time someone came into his shop. As if weapons and dynamite weren't important to people in Ichinomiya.

All the same. He would make sure the people buying whatever he sold were responsible enough looking to handle his goods.

Unless they had a decent amount of money that would sway his judgment a tad.

"Can I help you sir," He called to the stranger in red and black armor that had walked in.

His eyes were still glued to the paper down in front of him, but he could tell this person meant business.

Most of the time he got dilly-dalliers, or pesky kids who had no intention of buying weapons whatsoever, they just wanted to look at the cool blades and dangerous things.

"Yes. I am looking for dynamite, and nets. Do you have either of those things in stock?"
The voice Jopo heard was low, slightly raspy, and serious. It also had a trace of youth in it.

The storekeeper was very perceptive, and wise. He'd learned to be so over the years. Unlike young ones, who always thought they knew better when they never did.

"I have both of those things. How many of each are you interested in?" He finally looked up to see the boy standing in front of him. And yes, a boy.

A child… no older than sixteen. He was darkly featured, with his brown hair pulled back in a red ribbon, and a large scar painted across his left eye. It covered most of his face.

Jopo wondered whether he'd gotten the scar from dealing with dynamite, or explosives before. The old earthbender had never seen such a scar.

"Are you sure you want to buy some more? Looks like you've already had some bad experiences with things that have to do with fire."

An ugly look slid onto the boys face. He looked up at Jopo, his eyes narrowed. "Firstly, my own experiences are none of your business. You should not speak of things you know nothing of."

He took a step closer towards the counter.

"Secondly, I know what I'm doing, and it's the right of the customer to make their own decisions."

"And it is also the right of the owner to refuse service to pesky customers." Jopo said simply.

"Pesky?" The boy said, his voice raised. "I am a prince!"

"Then you are a pesky prince."

"Thirdly," The prince continued coldly. "There is nothing wrong with fire."

"Agreed. In the right hands, there is nothing wrong with fire. Now run along…"

The boys' nostrils flared. "I came here to purchase something."

Jopo would not be spoken to this way from someone under a fourth of his age.

"And you did not. Now you have the right to leave. Get out of my shop."

"I just gutted this one!"

"You didn't do it right!"

"How did I not do it right? Its guts are gone!"

"You took too much meat off with it. Look at all that waste. You wasted all that money! My money!"
"But you're not even paying me!"

"I was with food! But I suppose someone is now going to go hungry!"
Sokka let out a frustrated groan and threw the fish guts into the waste basket.

"Sokka! There you are!" Aang's voice drifted towards the teenage boy.
"Aang! Is Katara with you?"

"No… I don't know where she is."

"Is your friend here to work as well?" The lady crooned, folding her arms.
"No he isn't, I wouldn't encourage him too. But Aang," he said, turning back to his friend. "We have to find Katara. She has all our money."

Aang frowned. "That's not the only reason we have to find he-"

"Yes I know, I know," Sokka interrupted.

Suddenly, a large cloud of fire and smoke exploded above a shop around fifty yards away. People screamed and ran away, but Aang and Sokka looked up, startled.

"What was that?"

"Someone with a temper entered Jopo's weapon shop."

"His weapon –" Sokka began.

"Wait… how would you know that?" Aang asked her.

She simply smiled mysteriously and went back to chopping Sokka's improperly gutted fish into pieces.

Prince Zuko stormed out of the shop, (which was now smoking,) his hands curled up into fists. He had shown the crusty storekeeper just how 'pesky' he was when it came to fire, and how he had his own endless supply of it.

At least the old man would not be selling dynamite anymore.

He had to decide whether to go back and join his team, which was waiting for him on the outskirts of the town (he knew the guards up front would never allow him in with a troop of twenty men,) or continue looking for the avatar in this Godforsaken town.

For a split second he almost took the path leading out, but his determination not to miss any signs of the avatar led him down another path full of clothing shops.

Perhaps after being on the road so long they would need to replace the little bit of pathetic clothing they had. They were peasants, after all.

Well, the two accompanying the young boy were.

He stepped into a promising shop. It was quite large. Since this was an earthbending town most of the clothes inside were green and brown.

If the three were hiding they would not be difficult to spot. Two of them wore blue, and the avatar wore orange.

Zuko stepped slowly down row after row, hands folded behind his back. His boots made clunking sounds with every step.

Katara's heart jumped. Those steps were daunting. They sounded serious, and an awful lot like…

Prince Zuko.