Sorry for the not so fast update, I was out forever yesterday...Here's the new chapter!
"No Katara...it's a flip, you take your right arm and flip it across the other -"
"I was doing that Aang, the trouble's at the end - the water isn't spinning around my wrist the way yours is, its got something to do with the direction of the wind -"
"Come on Katara, there isn't any wind -"
"There's a gust of wind every time I try to -"
Katara stopped in mid sentence and flashed a knowing glare at the Avatar. Aang smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head as Momo leapt gracefully onto his shoulder. The lemur stared around innocently and then jumped over to the water bender's shoulder, who was glaring a silent accusation at the young boy. Aang sweat dropped and stepped back, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hey, it wasn't me, I swear...really! Come on Katara, you believe me, right?"
"Hardly," grinned Katara reluctantly. Aang gave one of his enormous, cheek-stretching smiles and flopped down into the soft snow beside the icy waters. A gray mist seeped from his lips as he exhaled, still unaccustomed to the bitter temperatures, and he shivered slightly as Katara sat down beside him. She was completely unmoved by the freezing climate, but she immediately noticed the slight blue tinge in Aang's skin - a hue that matched the air bender tattoos on his head - and draped her coat over him, which she herself had little use for. Aang smiled in appreciation and the two took a few moments to gaze, numbed by awe, into the cold, shimmering darkness of the northern ocean.
Aang stirred where he sat as Momo nuzzled his side for warmth. Stirred from his daydreams, he turned back to Katara, who was watching the waves with the faintest smile on her lips.
"So...Katara," started Aang awkwardly, attempting to sound smooth and unconcerned. "You and...Zuko. Yeah...Sokka told me you two were pretty close -"
Katara blushed furiously and looked away as the Avatar continued his casual reference to the Prince and her's relationship, how Sokka had told him Zuko liked her, how Iroh made jokes about their marriage...
"I mean, I don't mind - Zuko's a great guy! You know, once he stopped hunting me and everything...a lot better than Jet, anyway," he added with a quirky little grin that made Katara laugh. "...and Sokka doesn't seem to mind, and Zuko saved me from Uncle Iroh a lot more than a few times -"
"It's ok Aang, I'll tell you," said Katara, smiling as the boy stumbled on in his friendly attempt. Aang relaxed a little, letting his shoulders fall, but Katara could tell he was anxious. She took in a large breathe and stared out into the water.
"While we were on the island, Zuko...he let me in on things that most people would never know. I really did hate him at first," whispered Katara, reliving the fierce, sometimes dangerous arguments that she and Zuko shared. "But after we cooled off...I don't know. We just...fell in love, somehow."
"Love?" said the air bender suddenly. Momo picked up a few nuts at Aang's feet and Katara looked at the Avatar, blushing deeply again. Aang stared, dumbfounded, for the span of three seconds. Then he burst out into a sudden, loud, explosive laugh.
"You - you love Zuko? No way, you're kidding -" Katara shook her head, anxious for Aang's reaction. She had not yet told him the other part...the proposal, the marriage...Aang studied his friend's face carefully, but he could pick up no usual hints of a lie. He raised an eyebrow very slowly as his laughter died away.
"So...you love him?" he said uncertainly, searching her eyes like she was pulling a practical joke. Katara gave a quiet, blushing nod. Aang whistled.
"Oh...ok. Well, Sokka knows, right? Yeah, and he's ok with it...I'm alright with it too! Don't look at me like that!" he stuttered quickly, seeing a crestfallen look come over Katara's features. "Just - sorry, I kne there was something going on - Iroh was always joking about priests -" He stopped abruptly as Momo nuzzled against his shirt and stared at the water bender.
"Are you two getting married?"
Katara's blush went so red she soon resembled a ripe tomato.
Zhao skidded down the slope, his armored knee tearing roughly through fresh snow as flakes began to fall through the air. He landed, crouched in listening position, his shoulders hunched forward as he bent close to the ground. There were hardly any tremors in the earth, hardly a movement or a sound. The frozen wasteland was silent as the brooding night sky, hanging perilously above the demon's head. Motionless as the proud, colossal glaciers that tore through the horizon like ghostly giants.
Zhao was the spark to a bomb, and he knew it. He knew his place, his own terrible and glorious destiny, the way he crept forth to begin battle the way the insecurities of men crept from their filthy holes, clawing silently their master's minds until they were broken into a willing slave. All men were slaves to their own faults, their own fears and dreads and inner demons. Only two types of men stood strong in the world; the man without fault, and the man who became his demon. There was no man on earth without fault, no man who did not have a wrath stirring inside him. But Zhao had become what other hid; he had become the demon. And such a man had nothing to lose, no terms of rules or treaty, no reason or mercy. Such a man was the most dangerous thing on earth. A man who was demon, a man whose humanity had long been stripped away.
He pressed his ear to the side of the nearest house and listened carefully. There was no sound from inside, no movement. The home was either vacated or the family was lost to deep sleep. Zhao was calculating whether to dispatch them or not when he saw a pair of shadows walking down the deserted street.
He fell into the darkness beside the building - a darkness that mirrored his own perversity, his own twisted, bloodthirsty soul - and glared at the two oncoming men with his teeth barred, straining against himself like a dog aching to tear the flesh off a steak.
But when they came into full sight, Zhao froze. He felt an anger rise in him an smoke escaped, momentarily, from his clenched fist. He silenced the raging fire inside him and glared hatefully at the pair, his teeth grinding horribly.
"...said their was a priest further North, in that larger building. What do you think, Zuko? Perhaps it can be arranged much sooner than we thought..."
Zhao's growling paused. A priest? For the rat? What need would he have of a priest - a priest in the Northern wild lands of a Water Tribe, for that matter - and why wasn't Zhao springing from the shadows and tearing the stupid kid's throat out - ?
Someone called the Prince's name and Zhao refrained from quenching his bloodlust. He saw that stupid rat of a Prince break into a smile and rush forth, embracing a young girl. Beside her, a smaller boy, bald-headed and carrying a large stick, stood by and watched silently. Zhao's fury re-boosted.
The Avatar.
The treacherous, disgusting, infuriating filth! Zhao's fists began to shake again, pouring smoke that was indiscernible in the shadows, and let both hands fall to the snowy earth before they light of flame was seen. He clawed his fingers through the snow, so deep that they cut along the earth and stained the ground with crimson. He raised on hand to his mouth and licked the blood away, still flaming with rage at the sight of the ever-elusive air bender boy.
But even in the extremity of his fury, Zhao noticed it. The way the Prince's face shone with happiness when he gazed at the stupid girl, the way she laughed joyfully when he said something, the way Iroh shook his head and re-stated that they would need to find a priest very soon. The way his eyes softened when he looked at her. The weakness the young Prince let slip through his gaze.
Zhao's mind was quick and terrible. Her tan visage was matching of the deep skin tone of Water Tribe, the pattern sown into her coat the exact print of a water bender. The priest's store would do, for now...and he would need to find a girl...
He crept from the shadows, still glaring hatefully at both Prince and Avatar as the continued towards the docks. He still had an irresistible, demonic need to spring forth and devour them in flame, but decided flatly against it...for now.
Why kill something that is of so much use?
"Sir, a messenger has arrived from the battle, we captured a few less than ten earth benders -"
"The rest," hissed Zhao, letting his arms ignite into terrifying flame, "The rest. Did you kill them?"
The guard faltered a little, unsure of where the conversation was headed, fearing for the well being of his mortal body. The flank of troops behind him shifted uncertainly and fire began to ride up Zhao's shoulders in impatience.
"Ye...yes, yes. We killed them..."
"Good," snarled Zhao. A sinister smile lit up his chapped lips and he glared at them all. The bitter weather had taken a dramatic tole on the once healthy, thriving Admiral; his eyes were bloodshot, no longer flaming with pride, but with terror, desperation, thirst...his skin was pale and dry, riddled with bruises and gashes compliments of the harsh tundra, his lips chapped and raw from the unmerciful winds. He moved in a disjointed fashion, always prepared for a stab in the back, and attack, a mutiny. Fire was nearly always at his hands, and it illuminated his white complexion in such a way that the devil himself could hardly look more terrifying.
"Bring them to me...but save the strongest one and bind him."
The soldiers shuffled away to retrieve the prisoners, and the guard relaxed considerably. The strongest earth bender - a muscled man with long, dark hair - shouted something nasty at the Admiral but he pointedly ignored it. Seven others were thrown at his feet - six were men, but among them was a single female earth bender.
Zhao studied her closely. She was the same height, though that feautrewould not matter in time...and her skin tone was relatively the same. A few modifications, and she would be perfect. In the meantime, he gestured for the furthest prisoner to be thrown at his feet.
He grinned down at the cowering man, his hands already broken he was unable to bend. Zhao let out a great, booming laugh and all the soldiers flinched.
"Now I will show you the true terror of Fire Nation," he hissed. His whole body burst into flame, a demon among mortals, and he stepped forward as the man began to scream.