Zuko rounded the bend of trees, his gray and red boots sinking into the soft, golden sand. A red sun set over the horizon; his uncle had always told him that meant someone had died recently and very close. At this point, the prince was loosing doubt his uncle still held onto his sanity. Behind him, from which he was leaving, was a campfire and a circle of drunk soldiers singing high-pitched and off-tune. He'd wanted no part of that what-so-ever, so after a quick departure exchange with his uncle, Zuko left hurriedly.
Truly hoping that Lieutenant Li was correct in his theory, Zuko was half-expecting the Avatar to stumble out of the trees. Of course, that was probably just Li's excuse for wanting to dock, so what he really found when he turned the bend was very far from what he'd expected.
Lying dead-still and curled on the beach was a girl. Her Fire Nation clothes were burned, as were her legs. There was a bloody gash on her side and quite a brutal burn on her cheek. The dampness of her hair told him that she'd been in the ocean – probably shipwrecked – and the way it was bent and crooked made him guess it was recently pulled from some sort of knot. She'd just passed out or fallen asleep.
Zuko stopped and gaped at this sight. Lying in the sand, under her palm was a bone-tooth Water Tribe knife. A small ways from her was another, more rigid figure – dead. She'd killed him. But why? What gave her the right to murder a man? He started forward again.
The girl, Kaio, shuddered and opened her eyes. All she saw was red: Red sky; red water; red, bloody memories that tried to engulf her again and vividly red… armor. Armor? It looked oddly familiar, as if it connected with those bad thoughts. She groaned and looked up at Zuko as he approached. And for the first time in the last two days, Kaio was not afraid or shocked or sad or angry. She felt nothing. Her entire body was numb. Her mind was numb. Her emotions, detached.
Crouching, Zuko looked at the burn on her cheek and winced. He knew her pain…
"What's your name?" he asked, curiosity brimming his voice.
"Kaio."
"How long have you been here?"
"A day, maybe more."
"Who's that?" Zuko pointed to the dead man.
"Jin."
"How'd you get here?" he looked out at the ocean, the sky continuing to darken overhead.
"Shipwreck."
Bingo.
"Any others around?"
She shook her head and said, "Don't know…"
"What nation are you from?"
"Fire." She winced.
"And him?"
"Water."
"How'd you get shipwrecked?"
"My fault…"
He was losing her somehow. Her eyes were drooping…
Better make this quick…
"What'd you do?"
"Got angry."
"Bender?"
"Yes. And no."
"How so?"
"I've hid it – no training…"
"Why?"
"Didn't want to be in the war. Didn't want to fight…"
Zuko frowned, deep in thought.
Kaio sighed and closed her eyes again.
"You remind me of my father when you look like that. Like I fucked up the world for not fighting for my country…"
"Why wouldn't you want to?"
"The Royal Family pisses me off, no end…"
Zuko stiffened. What a bitch!
"I see." He said shortly, looking away from her again.
"When I found out that the Prince was banished…" Kaio coughed. "I denied my heritage, how I grew up, and what I am."
"Why?"
"I saw the Fire Lord burn him – I cried. It's hard to know you're helpless."
"Then why are you out here?"
Silence.
"Kaio?" Zuko watched her, uneasy. "Oh, this is a horrible idea…"
Straightening up with a groan and sharp complaint from his thighs, the prince stepped over Kaio and went to Jin. He grabbed the man's arms and began dragging him down the beach, towards the water. He waded into the ocean and started pushing the body into the waves.
A watery grave for a man of the Water…
Zuko had dove completely under to make sure Jin was far enough into the tide before returning, sopping wet, to Kaio. Mindful of her injuries, he picked her up gingerly and draped her body over his arms. Her burned cheek rested against his shoulder with ease and he could feel her warm breath on his neck. He was oddly comfortable, but helping a girl into a pack of drunken bafoons definitely wasn't one of his top priorities. Hell, helping a girl, period, wasn't on the list.
He started back to his ship reluctantly.
hr
Kaio woke on a ship once more and, as an instinct this time, dread washed over her. But after a moment of clearing her head, she realized that the ship she was on now was a Fire Navy boat. Looking around the room, wonder set in her mind. It was a very nice and well-furbished room with steel walls adorned with long Fire nation banners. She sat on a mattress on the far side of the room, with bamboo rugs on the floor leading to an oak-wood dresser on one wall, a low meditation table with a wild mask and an even shorter seat on another. The wall at the foot of the bed she sat on was where the door so casually stood, more than likely locked.
Rubbing her temples, Kaio noted the lack of metal cuffing her wrists, but a fresh appearance of purple bruises where it used to be. Looking at the rest of her, she found her burned clothes had been removed and a strong hope that there was a woman aboard came to her. Replacing her earlier outfit was a make-shift breast-wrap and gray pants that tied off just below her knees, where white bandages were wrapped around her calves. Around her waist was another bandage for the injury on her side and on her face was a sweet-smelling ointment, no doubt for that particularly nasty burn. But she couldn't remember anything else. Nothing but a vivid image of death.
Kaio stayed completely alone for what seemed like forever, but only ended up being only a couple minutes, before the iron door slammed open and two bickering men stormed in. One was tall with a twisted scar over his left eye. The other, a short old man who appeared to be an ex-soldier gone to seed. The only thin she could see in common with them was the fact that they were both red in the face and yelling.
" – they need to leave me and my personal business alone!" the younger, haughty male was snarling.
"I understand this, but carrying a girl back to camp like that – "
"UNCLE! I don't need a lecture right now!" he stopped dead and stared at Kaio.
The old man looked at her curiously a moment before a shadow of a grin flashed across his stern face. "I'll be… outside…" he said and departed quickly.
"Hello, Kaio!" Zuko said in a would-be cheery voice, stepping forward.
"How do you know my name?" Kaio questioned slowly, lifting a blanket to her chin. Who is this psycho?
He frowned.
"You… told it to me…"
"Who are you? I've never spoken to you before in my life!" Kaio winced as she moved to get up. Her legs screamed in protest and her side doubled her over.
Zuko looked very taken aback by this, but recovered quickly.
"You spoke to me before!"
"No, I didn't."
He growled in frustration and said: "Don't tell me you don't remember!"
"I think I already have," Kaio snapped irritably. "Tell me, then, what did I say to you? What could YOU possibly know about ME?"
"You killed that man, Jin after being shipwrecked when you'd lost your temper," Zuko explained lazily. "Jin was from the Water Tribe and you are from the Fire Nation – like me. You're an illegal bender and you've never told anyone because you're afraid of going to war for you country."
"All right, smart guy, what's your name, then, huh?"
"Z…" he stopped. A shadow of a grin flashed over his face. He could have fun with this…
Kaio raised her eyebrows.
"Xen."
"Xen?" Kaio repeated daftly. "What kind of name is that?"
Oh… wow… she's really not bright…
Zuko grinned despite of himself. "A good name!"
"You're lying. I've seen you somewhere before…"
"Zuko, I –" the old man appeared again and immediately shut up upon spotting the look on Zuko's face: a contorted mix between frustration, anger, amusement and utter horror. "Did I interrupt –"
"Get OUT, Uncle!" Zuko hissed between gritted teeth, the amusement falling from his face. The man left and Zuko turned back to Kaio. "All right… I'm not Xen."
"Zuko?" Kaio repeated, horrified. "PRINCE Zuko? Please be joking…"
He shook his head and Kaio realized why she didn't recognize him. It'd been two years since she'd last seen him and he'd grown a lot since then, physically and maturely. His head was bald, all but the ponytail and the scar given to him the last day she saw him as a brutal reminder took up a good portion of his face.
"I'm not joking…. But I can't say I blame you, to be honest," Zuko said, sighing, still clearly frustrated with his uncle about giving away his little game. "I doubt my father recognizes me –" He cut off short and cast his glance away.
This didn't improve her self-esteem, though, after that mishap. Here she'd been , cocky and know-it-all when she couldn't even tell the difference from her Prince and a common war general. After a moment of slow thought, Kaio stumbled to her feet and bowed deeply.
"Prince! Please forgive me for my disrespect –" Kaio's legs shook and she stayed cocked to one side as pain erected from her wound. Worry blushes Zuko's features for a split moment, but it vanished quickly. He stepped over and forced Kaio to sit again.
"Be at peace, Kaio," Zuko said a bit softer than before. "I lied to you, not the other way around."
Kaio looked taken aback. She could think of nothing to say to that, so changed the subject.
"Did you happen to grab the knife that was by me on the beach?"
Zuko nodded and went to a drawer. After a moment of shifting through it, he brought out a long Water Tribe knife. Its blade was white, jagged, and carved from bone. The handle was black leather with a long strand tying a pale blue feather to it. Kaio frowned.
"How long ago was it?"
"What?" Zuko looked confused.
"How long have I been with you… on the ship?"
Zuko grimaced slightly, but the look vanished.
"How long?" Kaio repeated.
"Two weeks…" the prince looked away.