A gentle breeze flushed through the trees, whispering in Rei's ear. The sun beamed on her back, filling her with a sense of warmth and safety. She wasn't sure why she felt so secure here, standing on the edge of a grand precipice, but strangely it felt like home. Rei took a deep breath of mountainous air and expelled a sigh of satisfaction. Pondering more about it, Rei couldn't actually remember what she was doing, or how she got there. She stared into the large chasm, was filled with white fog, masking the true depth of the large divide.

A sudden low squawk to her left shook Rei from her thoughts. A large black bird perched itself on a dead tree branch, and cocked its head to the side as it stared intently at Rei. The bird's blood red eyes bore into her own as it twitches its head, unblinking. The two observed one another, not making a sound. Rei has never seen a crow with red eyes before, which made her both curious and a little wary of the bird that stared back at her. There was a glimmer of intelligence hidden behind those pools of red, as the avian stretched out its dark wings. It lets out another "Caw" before it launches off the branch and dives into the precipice below, disappearing in a puff of fog.

Rei...

Rei heard a distorted group of voices ring in her mind. She turned to see the source of the voices, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. Rei shivered at the low moans towards her, now feeling the noticeable drop in temperature around her. Her breath hung in the air in a puff of mist, shocked in place by the sudden cold. She gazed down into the foggy abyss and saw the mist swirl.

From the chasm itself, a low ghostly moan filled the fog. Rei froze in place, her heart pounding, as all around her, the fog writhed and twisted. The fog darkened, resembling black smoke, and started to assume humanoid shapes, all moaning and clawing at one another. The vaporous humanoids grew in size and began to merge into a pulsing mound. Black tendrils of smoke became grasping vines that stretched out towards Rei, becoming corporeal as they wrapped around Rei's legs, anchoring her into place. Rei let out a panicked gasp, and clawed at the tendrils to no avail. Her hands seemed to pass right through the grasping smoke and yet it appeared to hold her down. Her heartbeat grew quicker and panic started to sink into her breath. The taste of smoke stuck to her tongue with her increased breathing, making her cough and gag. She looked up from her smokey shackles and was horrified by what she saw.

The smoke swirled up to enormous size, towering over Rei. The smaller writhing shapes still clawed at the lower portion of the body, mouths agape in anger and agony, wailing as they shift. The smoke built on top of itself to make out the general outline of a terrifying human figure. Clouds of smoke were arranged to form a torso, shoulders, arms and head. The smoke entity stretched out its bloated arms, letting out a haunting moan. The smoking giant regarded Rei with its two blazing eyes, emitting a low growl and raising its right arm to point at her.

Wisps of smoke launched from the figure's arm in her direction, which stretched into hollow, wailing faces. Their clawed ethereal hands extended out to her, ready to rip and tear. The smoke hit the cliff's edge in a cushioned thump and rose up, each smoky figure clawing at one another to sink their gaping maws into Rei. Rei flailed her arms around erratically in attempts to swat away the figures, but her arms passed through each figure harmlessly and did nothing to stop their advance. The ghostly figures raked their claws across her form, tearing clothing and the flesh underneath. She cried out in pain, her eyes stinging in the presence of the hazardous vapors and blurring her vision. She coughed and hacked, each breath she took feeling as if she's swallowed a red-hot iron rod. Through the whirling of smoke and clawing of flesh, Rei heard a distant, but clear voice ring in her head. It was an unfamiliar, feminine voice.

Beware of those you trust, who would not hesitate to rip you apart for their own gain.

The ghostly smoke echoed the voice's warning, repeatedly whispering: Beware...Beware...Beware. Rei continued to thrash against the tornado of smoke enclosing her vision. Just moments before her entire vision is obscured, she could see within the small gaps in the smoky forms another humanoid form. She couldn't recognize who the form belonged to, but could notice a sole blue streak in its light hair. Smoke then encapsulated her field of vision, and the world faded to black in a whirlwind of ghostly moans.

...

Rei awoke shaking and out of breath. Her sheets were twisted around her legs, presumably from thrashing around throughout the night. Her heart pounded in her chest, as if wanting to beat its way out of her ribcage. Her body was covered in cold sweat, making her skin stick to the sheets underneath her. She instinctively started coughing, still tasting the foul smoke in her lungs. She forced herself to take deep breaths, willing the coughing to cease. I should just give up sleeping entirely, Rei thought grumpily.

Rei has been plagued with constant nightmares ever since the night of the raid on her village. Every night since then, dark images played on repeat in her mind, transforming her innocent dreamland into a chaotic hell. And Sora hasn't been any help in that regard, though it was the medium through which she contacted Rei in the first place. Although she gained a full night's rest, Rei felt mentally exhausted. She rubbed her eyes and lifted herself from her small cot, heading towards the wash basin. She cupped her hands and began to wash her face and hands with the water, albeit gingerly just in case her palms didn't heal as much as she had hoped. Her palms no longer throbbed or stung with the contact of water, so they were probably in the last stages of healing. She made a mental note to keep Iroh's words of wisdom in mind the next time she airbends which, if things go awry, might be today. She gently towel-dried her face and hands, turning to put on a new change of clothes. There was another pair of identical clothes in Fire Nation colors on the trunk at the foot of her cot, but she hesitated in putting them on.

They were approaching Kyoshi Island, a reclusive land of reclusive people. Avatar Kyoshi made the island her home, hence its name, and thus all of its population revered her in one way or another. The most devoted, disciplined and most agile young women of the population formed the ranks of the famed Kyoshi Warriors, who were known for their prowess with martial weapons and using their enemies' strengths against them. Pondering about their impending arrival, Rei imagined that the Kyoshi Warriors wouldn't react very well to a stranger arriving on their island in Fire Nation clothing. Rei opened the trunk and retrieved her clean Earth Kingdom clothes. One of the crew members must have cleaned them when she was performing her duties on the ship. Whoever was responsible, Rei was grateful to have her normal clothes back in order. She silently thanked her past self for managing to drag her old clothes with her when she snuck onto Zuko's ship. It was nice to have just a sliver of her old life with her on this intense journey. She slipped off her Fire Nation clothing and pulled her Earth Kingdom clothes over her form. The mixture of shades of green and brown made her feel safe, and made her think of home. She grabbed a fistful of her shirt and brought it to her nose to smell. The clothes smelled of soap and not much else to her disappointment. She was used to the smell of damp earth and leaves clinging to her clothing, though she should remember that these smells would've been washed away.

Lee's clothing always smelled like the damp forest floor, along with her father. The two of them would always be out in the forest, or out working in the mines. Every evening they would return home from a long day of work, smelling like moss and dirt. Lee first showed his apt for earthbending around the age of 10, so Rei's father took the lead in instructing him. Rei recalled that it took Lee a while to even make the smallest of rocks move. Earthbending is a difficult power to master, since its principles were based on primal determination, strength and decisiveness. There couldn't be any hesitation in an earthbender's movements or else the earth wouldn't respond to their call. Earthbenders also had to be grounded at all times, unmoveable like the earth around them. From what Lee could explain to her, earthbenders have to be able to withstand many attacks as they wait, listen and attack at the right moment. This was the principle of neutral jing, the utmost important aspect of earthbending. The whole idea of jing kinda confused Rei when she was younger, still does in fact, but she just accepted the fact that her father and Lee held this practice at their cores. Rei wondered what kind of practices Air Nomads held close to their hearts. A pledge of pacifism came to mind, but not too much was known about them considering most of them are presumed dead. Well if they were all pacifists then no wonder they're all dead, Rei thought. Most of the information associated with the Air Nomads was probably lost along with them. She pondered that perhaps the supposed Avatar boy would be the only connection left in this world to the ancient Air Nomad practices.

Rei shook away her ocean of thoughts and snapped back to the task at hand: escaping the ship. She had been contemplating exactly how she would be escaping for the past little while. It seemed like just yesterday when she was formulating a plan to escape from Zhao's encampment. She chuckled at the sudden realization that she's escaped one hot pan to jump right into another, as it were. There are quite a few ideas that are swimming in her head on possible escape routes. She thought about taking the simplest route and jumping overboard once they were close enough to the island, but flashes of all the grisly Unagi-related deaths made that idea inadequate. Plus, a huge serpent monster needs equally large meals so who knows what else lives in Kyoshi's Bay. She also considered making a run for it when Zuko and his men land on the island, but she would imagine that she would be kept under a watchful eye during that time. It could be a good last-resort plan if anything went awry. Rei recalled that while exploring the ship she did discover a docking area with a small Fire Nation vessel that would be seaworthy, but she didn't know the first thing about sailing anything. But it was the only feasible idea she had at the moment, so it was as good an idea as any.

Rei remembers the cautionary words Iroh shared not too long ago. With you escaping from a fire nation encampment, Zhao's encampment no less, he will see that as an insult and send out warrants for your capture. That is entirely possible. But with the news of the real Avatar returning after 100 years, Zhao must have bigger fish to fry than her, right? The deep longing to be reunited with her family has been gnawing at her ever since she first stepped foot out of Terra.

Rei gazed at herself in the mirror above the wash basin, and gently pulled the ribbon holding her hair in a messy, overnight ponytail. She was so exhausted the previous night that she forgot to let her hair down, which resulted in an unkempt puffball of knots. She grimaced as she tried to brush out the knots as best as she could. She took some small sections of hair and tied it up in her traditional half-up half-down hairstyle with her green ribbon. She also braided a front section of hair on her right. She pulled a few stay strands down to exhibit her own personal flare, determination glimmering in her eyes. Seeing her own familiar figure in the mirror made her feel normal again, before she was an airbender, before Terra burned. Her heart quivered at the thought of all that she's lost thus far on her journey, but mentally shook herself into the present. She didn't have anything worth taking with her other than what she has on so she was ready to go.

Rei slowly opened her room's heavy metal door, and peeked into the hallway. The halls were dimly lit by various oil lamps, emitting a slight reddish hue through the corridors. She look up and down the horizontal hallway around her but couldn't see anyone walking around. She quietly slipped out of the room and started heading to the bowels of the ship towards the docking area. Rei didn't want to run into Pho-Jin or Iroh, either one of them would probably ask what she's doing skulking about. Zuko would probably be too busy running about and getting prepared for his upcoming raid to be bothered with whatever she's doing.

The air around her was still, quiet except for her lonely footsteps clanking against the metal floor as she continued forward. As Rei tiptoed down the halls, she couldn't help but think of the time she spent aboard Zhao's ship. The thought-driven comparison between the two ships made the hairs on the back of Rei's neck stand on edge. Though this ship was on a significantly smaller scale, the walls of metal still retained a hollowing coldness as she went deeper down below. The cold reminded her of the chamber she was interrogated in, the drips of frigid water, the creaks and groans of the vessel. Rei's hand instinctively raised to cup where the neck burn used to be, thinking of the man who gave it to her. Just thinking of Zhao made Rei's skin crawl. She would rather jump into a pit of Boar-Q-Pines than see Zhao again. The more she thought about it, the more driven she felt to get the hell out of there. At the back of her mind, she wondered if this ship also had prison cells. She shuddered and pressed onwards, passing a few landings that marked the beginnings of new levels. One...Two...Three...Four...Five landings she passed until she met the final landing which marked the bottom floor.

When Rei reached the foot of the stairs, she was met with a long, wide hallway. The staircase ended in the middle of the hall, leaving Rei with the choice of going left or right. To the left, there stood a metal door about 50 feet away. There was a slight draft of warmth emitting from the left which already influenced Rei's preferences on where to go. To the right, there stood a large doorway past several cells that dotted the walls. Rei pondered for a moment and decided to go right, thinking that the left probably led to a boiler room or something of the like. She stepped down the serpentine corridor, now wary of the creeping feeling of being watched crawling up her neck. As she passed the cells on to her sides, she jumped at a sudden deep, grunt to her left. When her eyes darted to the source of her surprise, a hulking kimono rhino stared back at her with dark eyes. The large beast nudged its horns against the cell door as deep, guttural noises of other caged Kimono rhinos sounded in the adjacent cells. Rei tried her best to stay in the middle of the hall in avoidance of the caged rhinos and continued down.

Past the Kimono rhino cells, the corridor opened up into a large room. The room was rectangular in shape, with a smaller vessel dominating the majority of the space. It resembled a miniature version of a Fire Nation patrolling ship, with a central square cabin at the rear and pointed appendages at the bow. Back at it again with every edge sharpened to a point, Rei mused. No wonder His Edginess was so angsty, surrounded by pointy things and dark red and black. To the far left from the doorway stood a large triangular gate with various overhead chains and gears. A lone lever stood at the right side of the gate, presumably the key to unlatching it. Rei tiptoed towards the small ship while she looked around, making sure that no one else would catch her unawares.

The side of the small ship was about 10-15 feet above the ground. A ladder was in view that allowed Rei to reach the top without any problem. Rei climbed up over the side of the escape vessel, sliding over onto the deck rather ungracefully with a dull thud. She wiped herself off as she rose from the deck. She gazed along the small vessel, noting that there was nothing of great importance that caught her eye on the main deck. There was no steering mechanism to be seen, so Rei had to assume that all of the necessary equipment for sailing would be inside the main cabin. Come to think of it, Rei questioned whether or not she would actually be able to sail this vessel on her own. She had absolutely no experience in mechanical sailing, nor any sailing to begin with. Her village was situated about two day's travel away from the oceans so she never had the need to familiarize herself with sea-faring techniques. Only the identification of certain medicinal and poisonous plants, and how to orient herself in the woods were essential to know growing up. Pondering more about sailing, Rei grasped the door's knob to the main cabin and turned. However, when she entered, she bumped right into another figure.

"Ack!" Rei cried, tumbling to the ground.

Rei landed right on her butt with a muffled thump. The only sound of surprise that the figure let out as a reaction was a brisk grunt. She looked up to the mysterious figure that knocked her over, and found herself locked in eye contact with Hawke. Hawke was slightly crouched into a defensive position. His familiar yet stormy blue eyes held back his surprise, but also kept a guarded aggression at the ready behind a wall of silence. Rei threw her arms up in surrender.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't know anyone else was here…" Rei apologized.

Hawke stopped for a moment, and relaxed his defensive stance. He leaned down and offered a calloused hand to help her up. Rei took his hand gratefully and was pulled right up facing him. Being this close to him, Rei noticed that Hawke's eyes weren't just a dark blue. His eyes held back a grayish hue, like gathering clouds ahead of a stormy sea. Looking into his eyes, Rei could almost hear the crashing of ocean waves, see the foam gathering from its churning waters. A girl could drown in those blue eyes, and it wouldn't be the worst way to go. He probably had all the ladies chasing him in his youth. By those eyes one might mistake him for being a younger man but the lines of stress on a face beaten by salty winds unveiled his true experience and age. Hawke crossed his arms across his chest, shieving a dagger at his side that Rei didn't initially notice being there, and gave her a questioning glance. Shit, Rei cursed, gotta come up with some lame-ass excuse for being here.

"What?" Rei replied to the inaudible question, also crossing her arms across her chest. "I, uh, was bored, and wanted to... explore."

Hawke raised one black eyebrow in question, tapping his index finger on his arm. His face stayed neutral, but his eyebrow raise gave the impression of him asking, Really? He still stood in the doorway of the small vessel, blocking passage into the main cabin. Damn it, why did she feel as if she was being silently interrogated by his eyes? Rei's eyes peered just over Hawke's shoulder in curiosity to see what lay beyond his form. The cabin was dark, lit only by weak candlelight. It was hard to make out any detail with the dim light, but Rei did manage to see some crumpled blankets tossed haphazardly in the corner. Rei looked back to Hawke.

"Where you sleeping in there?" Rei questioned, quirking her head slightly to the side.

Hawke answered with a meer shrug. Rei tried to get a reading from him, staring at him intently, but alas the stormy seas in his eyes surrendered no information. Wow, when Kugo said he liked being alone he wasn't kidding, Rei thought. The silence from Hawke made Rei a little bit uncomfortable, it made her feel as if she was just talking to herself.

"It seems kinda lonely, doesn't it?" Rei asked. "Why don't you just sleep in the barracks? Seems more comfortable."

Hawke answered with a long stare. He finally sighs while rubbing a hand over his dark triangular goatee, and shakes his head dismissively. He reached behind and swiftly locked the door behind him, shutting Rei's possible escape route. He stepped forward, brushing past Rei and vaulted off the side of the ship. He landed on the ground with cat-like grace, barely making a sound upon impact much to Rei's surprise. He was quite light on his toes for a full grown man. Hawke stretched upwards from his landing position and waited below expectantly. Rei sighed, but didn't fight the obvious signs to leave as she gingerly climbed down the ladder. Hawke followed at her side as they approached the exit, but staying a pace or two behind her to make his escorting role apparent. Rei stayed silent alongside her companion, her mind swayed elsewhere thinking about alternate escape routes. Cross that docked ship off her list of ideas. She revisited the other plans of escape she had earlier on in the day. Jumping in the water is still a no-go. Go in there and risk messing with the Unagi? Uh, no thank you. Ugh, perhaps she'll just run for it when the time comes.

The duo exited the docking room and started to pass through the Kimono Rhino holding cells. At the end of the hall, Rei could see another figure with a medium sized sack feeding the rhinos. As the duo approached, the figure looked up and beamed a toothy, Stitches-esque grin. Stitches raised his hand in a two-fingered salute in greeting and set the sac of what appeared to be grains to the side.

"Heya Hawke!" Stitches smiled. "I was just on my way to wake you up, but I guess this one already beat me to it!"

Stitches's eyes shifted towards Rei, with a twinkle of mischief illuminating his boyish features. He grinned from ear to ear, exposing a cracked incisor which presumably was yet another tribute to his nickname. His brown eyes were scintillated with life and excitement that seemed to flood from his eyes and seep into the rest of his features. But when his gaze was steered towards Hawk, those glowing orbs of brown possessed something seemingly hidden behind a glass wall, something lacing the eyes that made the playfulness in the mahogany brown colors matte. Was it sadness? Concern? Something else? Rei couldn't tell.

"It's a little early to be exploring, isn't it?" Stitches gleamed mischievously.

Rei groaned, now knowing that she probably won't get another chance to sneak off on her own. "Yes, I just… couldn't sleep any longer is all."

Stitches's expression hardened for a moment. "Well you should stay away from this area. With the arrival onto Kyoshi and all, this place will be jammed with people and rhinos. And after being in cages so long, these rhinos want to stretch out and whip their heads around.

Stitches turned around and took his left arm out of his sleeve. He exposed a small portion of his back, with bore a long, jagged scar that extended up to his shoulder. The scar curve slightly towards his spine and extended downwards until it disappears underneath Stitches's clothing. Rei winced at the possible pain Stitches had to endure to receive a scar such as this one. Though as she continued her examination of the scar, she saw that there were other markings that dotted his landscape of flesh. Notably, there seemed to be creeping tendrils of faded pink radiating from the covered side of his back. It reminded Rei somewhat of a spider's web, with long silky trails of flesh with rifts of tightened skin. Rei wondered if Hawke could see this other scar as well but Hawke kept silent, not forming an audible opinion one way or another.

Stitches peaked his head over his shoulder. "This is what happens when you're not too careful near the rhinos."

"Fuck, that must've been painful." Rei gasped.

Stitches slipped his arm back into his sleeve, the silky pinkish tendrils slipping back behind a wall of cloth and out of view. "It hurt like hell, I can tell ya. But it's just another one to add to the collection."

Stitches leaned down and picked up the bag of grain once more. He turned to start filling the troughs for the Kimono rhinos nearest to him, who immediately started scarfing down the food before them. "Besides, I learned my lesson: Never turn your back on a Kimono rhino!"

Hawke grunted in agreement, his first contribution to the conversation at hand. A man of few words through and through, Rei pondered. Her eyes wavered to Stitches's back, still curious as to the origins of the other scars that he left hidden underneath his clothing. She thought of pressing for more information ot sate her hunger for knowledge, but then decided to keep her business to herself. Hell, if she asked too many questions, maybe the others would ask her more in turn. For the time being, they seemed to not really care as much about her origins. Kugo was the only one to come to mind about backstory inquiries, but her answers seemed to satisfy his knowledge for the time being anyhow.

"How's your cheek, by the way?" Rei inquired, remembering the whip in the face Stitches received from an unforeseen guitar string.

"Oh that's nothing compared to what this rhino did to my back." Stitches replied, tapping on the cell door to his right. The rhino behind the door looked up at the disturbance to its meal, pods of grain dotting its maw. The creature's dark eyes scanned the trio, stopping on Stitches who waved gingerly to the beast, then went back to eating with a huff. Stitches turned and began filling the other troughs.

"Oi, you should get suited up for spearheading in the landing, Hawke." Stitches said over his shoulder whilst feeding the other rhinos. "You'll be behind me, apparently we'll be landing directly on the Western coast of the island instead of using the landing vessel. Something to do with the whole Unagi nonsense."

Hawk grunted in response. He crossed his arms across his chest and inclined his head down to Rei. Stitches looked back and, seeming to just remember Rei's presence, visibly jolted at his own non-perceptiveness.

"Oh! And Fumbles, you should probably go back to the main deck. Maybe Pho-Jin could find you something to do or something?"

Rei groaned. "Can I get a new nickname, please? I'm not that clumsy."

Stitches chuckled. "Well I guess you'll have to do something a lil' more noteworthy to be nicknamed over, then!"

Rei groaned in protest but did not press any further into the conversation. She gave Hawke a pitiful damsel-like look but Hawke merely shrugged and gestured for Rei to continue walking towards the stairs. Rei waved her goodbyes to Stitches and continued up ahead of Hawke back to the main deck. Her's and Hawke's footsteps echoed in the cold metallic corridor as they proceeded their way upwards. The rest of the ship was finally awaking by the number of guards and crew members walking about. As she and Hawke passed each floor's platform, more and more crew members were seen bustling around and trying to get ready for the busy day ahead. Many of them were dressed up in their battle gear, donning their skull masks under their helmets and armor. The sight of the skull masks made Rei quite uneasy, reminiscent of the soldiers under Zhao's command. She unconsciously held herself a little tighter, glancing nervously at the other crew members as they passed. She looked down at the steps, deep in thought over what her next moves should be. She realized that maybe she was overthinking this whole "escape" thing anyways. She wasn't necessarily a prisoner on this ship either. She wasn't confined to a cell unlike Zhao's ship; she participated in music night last night and she performed the duties that are asked of her. Her mindset has been stuck in "escape" mode ever since she was forcibly taken from her village, so stuck in fact that she didn't realize that there could be a more logical solution to her situation.

Hawke stopped at the 3rd floor down from the ground level. Several crew members brushed past with spears in hand, so presumably this was the armory. A large figure bumped into Rei from the side, which turned out to be Kugo. She expected to see the same jovial individual she saw last night but something was off about him today. The friendly demeanor around him seemed to have vanished, having been replaced with icy determination. He bore no smile on his bushy face, but a stern scowl that warned others to keep out of his way. Rei's eyes met his for a moment and within those two orbs of darkest brown, they yielded no animosity.

"Bloody watch where yer goin'!" Kugo bellowed, heading across the threshold.

Rei was stunned for a moment,not even sure that Kugo recognized her, then turned to Hawke. "What was that about?"

Hawke shrugged once again. Hell, is that the only thing this guy can do?

Rei scoffed, watching Kugo waddle his way out of sight. "Is this what he's like right before a fight, then?"

Shrug.

Ugh…

Hawke made gestured with his hands towards the ground floor, indicating for Rei to keep going. She took a long exhale, bubbling her lips together like a young child, nodded in acceptance. Before she moved towards the next staircase, she put one hand on her hip and the other in a faux nagging manner like a mother pestering her kid.

"Alright. Now play nice with the other kids, and don't run with your spears."

Hawke watched for a moment, a slight upward curl creeping at the corner of his lips, before shaking his head and disappearing inside the armory.

Back on her own, Rei climbed the stairs at a somewhat faster pace. Now that she's realized her folly in trying to sneak her way off of the ship, Rei decided that it would be best to try to find Iroh, or even Zuko. Iroh did say when she was first discovered that she would be with them at least until the next port so perhaps he would be willing to just let her be on her way. When the opportunity presents itself, Rei would be telling them she's leaving, not asking for permission. She's leaving this ship and she's leaving now! She couldn't think of any reason why they would want her to stay on the ship anyway. Zuko would be more than willing to be rid of her, that's for certain. Miraculously, her airbending hasn't gotten her into any trouble as of yet despite the occupational hand wounds. She hasn't practiced her airbending since she got those burns a couple of days ago, and being in the presence of other elemental benders, her power ached to be let out. It was like an insatiable addiction that demanded to be fed, no matter how much Rei didn't want to. She didn't want to push her luck in that department, so the sooner she can leave, the better.

Rei stopped once she reached the ground floor, albeit puffing a bit from the exercise. Rei supported herself on the wall for a brief moment to catch her breath. Hell, if I can't make it up a bunch of stairs without losing my breath, then I'm in some deep shit later on, She scoffed to herself. The ground floor held the main housing units for the general crew members as well as the mess hall. The higher ranking crew members, such as Pho-Jin and the captain, as well as the Royal family members had their own quarters on the upper levels of the tower-esque building. Rei's stomach growled at the thought of the mess hall. Realizing that it was about breakfast time, she decided to proceed towards the source of food.

The mess hall was unusually quiet. The majority men that would usually be seated at the tables were absent, possibly getting ready for the day ahead. Only a few stragglers dotted the benches, groggily munching on bread and fruits. There was no hot meal presented, just a few large bowls of various fruits and juices as well as a few loaves of bread. Rei quickly scanned the crowd, but alas there was no sign of the kind old man nor his cranky nephew. Rei sighed, and proceeded towards the display of food. Perhaps Iroh was up in the private eating quarters she was in before, quietly sipping tea. Whatever the case, Rei stomach was in demand of food. Amongst the bowls of food lay some fruit that Rei had never seen before. There was a fruit that resembled a mix between an apple and an onion, with rough red skin. Another resembled no fruit she's ever seen before: a fleshy, pink exterior with overlapping green tips. It kinda creeped her out a bit. Thankfully, there was the familiar sight of apples to sate her appetite. She grabbed an apple and a couple of bread rolls and sat down by herself.

After a hurried breakfast, Rei brushed off the few crumbs that fell onto her clothing and traversed towards the staircase once more. She groaned at the sight of the stairs, but sucked it up and began climbing. The cooking staff held a place of honor on the first upper level, followed by the superior officers quarters on the second floor, and the Royal quarters on the third. The steering mechanics are presumably what occupies the fourth floor from what Rei could comprehend, but she's never been that far up anyways so she wouldn't know for sure. She didn't pass as many people as she did in the lower levels, though there was probably only a dozen or so people that occupy these living quarters. She approached the 3rd floor, and padded along the corridor towards the private eating quarters. She slowly creaked the sliding doors open and peered inside. There sat Iroh, exactly how she pictured he would be: quietly sipping tea. He had his eyes closed and an expression of pure peace of mind. She was kind of jealous of his expression of ease. Rei took a step inside.

"Excuse me, Iroh? Do you have a moment?" Rei asked, while stepping inside sheepishly.

Iroh opened his eyes and turned his head towards her. He bore a calm smile and replied: "Of course, Rei. Please, sit, and have some tea."

Rei smiled timidly and walked over to the table. She sat down on one of the soft cushions as Iroh took out another teacup and started to pour her some tea. Iroh pushed over the cup with a smile and Rei smiled back as she gratefully takes the cup. The tea was milky-bluish in color, which peaked Rei's curiosity. The steam that slowly rose up to her nose smelled of blue skies and mountain trails. Rei took a small sip, giving her a taste of blueberries and mountain flowers with a hint of earth. It felt like her tongue was flying amidst the mountain faces East of her village, but the earthy taste also kept her grounded. She moaned in satisfaction, making Iroh chuckle.

"This tea was a gift from a friendly trader," Iroh explained. "Called it… Oh let's see, I believe he called it 'Blue Skies tea'. It is made with blueberry root and butterfly pea, giving it the blue color and slight earthy taste."

Rei took another sip of tea. "There's some mountain flowers in here too, isn't there?"

"Ah you are correct," Iroh beamed. "There is a small amount of Bergenia flowers, only a few dried petals. These flowers grow only on the high peaks of the mountains, so it is possibly dangerous to acquire if you are not careful."

Iroh closed his eyes and took another deep sip of tea. "Apparently, it was a specialty of the airbenders long ago."

The mention of airbenders took Rei by surprise, and instantly a sip of tea went down the wrong pipe. She hacked, trying to contain her coughs but to no avail. She hacked continuously for a few moments until the fit had passed, then took in a sharp gasp of breath.

"Are you alright?" Concerned, Iroh looked at her but she waved it off, holding her hand up to her mouth.

"Sorry," She starts, expelling another cough. She waves her hand up and down by her throat. "Just went down wrong."

Iroh reached inside his robes and handed her a red handkerchief. Rei took it gratefully and wiped the spewed trails of tea off the corners of her mouth. She handed it back to Iroh, who tucked it back beneath his robes. Rei took the time to catch her breath and took one more sip of tea to clear her throat. Finally, she placed her teacup on the table and turned to face Iroh.

"I'm leaving!" Rei announced, albeit slightly gargling and perhaps a little too loudly. "Uh...I mean…When we reach Kyoshi, I'll just... hop on off and be on my way." Rei quickly recuperated.

Iroh smiled. "I had a sneaking suspicion you were going to say that, mostly by your earth kingdom colors." Iroh pointed out.

Rei fumbled the bottom of her shirt in her hands. "Yeah, figured it would be appropriate."

Iroh finished the last of his tea in a satisfying slurp. He put his teacup down and folded his hands in his lap. "Well I wish you a safe journey in the times ahead, Rei."

"So I can leave...Just like that?" Rei questioned. Apparently she was overthinking her escape plans.

Iroh chuckled. "Just like that. You are not a prisoner here, more like an unexpected guest, so we would not keep you here if you did not wish it."

Rei looked down to the table, swimming in her thoughts. She pondered all the acts of kindness that Iroh made for her, and yet wondered what were his intentions behind them. She looked up and steered her gaze directly at Iroh. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Do you want me to be… mean to you?" Iroh asked, raising an eyebrow over his teacup.

"No, that's not what I meant." Rei cupped the teacup on the table in her hands. She thought for a moment before continuing. "I'm a stowaway, perfectly deserving of being thrown overboard, but you not only let me stay, but gave me tea and fed me and gave me a room. But why? What do you have to gain?"

"You think I'm being nice to you because I have something to gain?"

Rei shrugged with uncertainty. "I just never expected this type of treatment from a fire nation crew, especially after what I experienced with Zhao. I just don't know why you're wasting your hospitality on me."

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." Iroh replied, looking into her eyes. "A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward."

Rei could see the warmth emanating from within which, even from a firebender, made her feel safe. She let out a weak laugh, looking down into her empty teacup. "You're probably the only one in the world who views kindness this way."

In a time of war, kindness is either a luxury that is seldom present or often hidden within the recesses of oppression. Kindness from such an unexpected source took Rei by surprise, right from the beginning. She saw two sides of the same coin; the cruelty of Zhao and the gentle kindness of Iroh. This left her confused, feeling both safe and uncertain in the wake of her situation. She knew better than to blindly trust a gentle smile, but it made her feel warm and secure nonetheless.

"I can see that you have seen suffering in your life," Iroh began slowly. "An unfortunate effect of war. War can bring out the worst in people, but also the best if you look hard enough. It is good to make friends, wherever you go, for you never know when you'll be in need of one."

Iroh flashed her a reassuring smile and slowly began the long process of standing up. "Now then, why don't you join me in watching one last training session?" He asked, extending a hand towards her.

Rei shrugged and graciously accepted his hand. Wow, Hawke really rubbed off on her this morning. "Well, it's not like I have anything else to do until we get there."

Iroh and Rei walked side-by-side down the long corridors and to the ground floor, all while upholding a friendly conversation. As they passed through the upper floor, Rei craned her head slightly to see if Zuko was present in his quarters. The door was sealed shut so she couldn't tell one way or another. He was probably outside waiting for Iroh impatiently. But as Iroh strolled alongside her, the duo were taking their sweet time going down the staircase. Iroh had this carefree air about him, making him seem serene and calm at all times. Rei was somewhat jealous.

Iroh and Rei made their way to the main deck where, sure enough, an irritated Zuko stood with his arms crossed. Zuko tapped his foot in annoyance as the two approached. He donned his usual dark red and black armor, though it seemed to gleam a little more proudly in the rising sunlight. His golden eyes showed a glint of determination for the day ahead. Behind him stood a line of about half a dozen soldiers, all with skull masks covering their faces. Rei's eyes darted to the soldiers, wary of their intimidating presence.

"When you said training at sunrise, I assumed you would be here at sunrise, Uncle," Zuko eyed Rei walking beside Iroh. "...Instead of chatting with the stowaway."

"Rei. My name is Rei, Ponyboy." Rei muttered, crossing her arms.

"Stop calling me that." Zuko huffed in annoyance.

"Do not fret, dear nephew, the day is still young." Iroh began, stifling a yawn. He stretched his arms over his head, cracking his back to his satisfaction before continuing. "Now then, we shall resume where we left off yesterday, though we will take the time to review your martial training. The Kyoshi warriors you will face on the island are known for their martial prowess, so we must prepare you for this."

"The only thing that matters to me is capturing the Avatar." Zuko scowled. "Fighting little girls doesn't concern me."

Rei noticeably bristled at the young prince's words. "Yeah, wouldn't it be funny if a 'little girl' put you out on your ass." Rei scoffed.

Zuko's eyes flashed as he steered his fiery gaze in Rei's direction. "Is that a warning or a challenge?"

"Prince Zuko," Iroh warned, before Rei had a chance to respond. "There is confidence, and there's recklessness. Do not confuse the two in fighting these warriors."

Zuko sighed. "Let's just get on with it then, we're wasting daylight."

"That's the spirit, nephew!" Iroh beamed. He motioned for the training soldiers to approach. "Now remember, you are focusing on deterring martial attacks."

The skull-masked soldiers took their places, surrounding the prince in a large circle. Zuko didn't move an inch from his starting position; he just watched the soldiers move into position with a side-eyed glance. His frown deepened as he gazed at his opponents. Finally, after moments of waiting, Zuko whipped his clenched fists about in a circular fashion and let out a stream of flames. Some of his opponents took a few steps back, while others tried to bend the fire with outstretched hands to their advantage. About three of the soldiers weaved the fire around their forms and straight back to Zuko, while the others tried to close in their ranks surrounding the boy. Zuko ducked down into a crouch just in time to get out of the way of the roaring fire strikes. Zuko took this opportunity to try another circular flame attack, replicating the same move that Iroh showed him the day before. Zuko extended his right leg and swept it in a flame-struck ring. The unexpected assault to their lower halves left the soldiers unprepared, and were thrown backwards by Zuko's forceful sweep. One-by-one, Zuko targeted his opponents with precise flame punches. As soon as one would fall, Zuko would dart to the next one quickly and efficiently. It really was quite impressive. He had the speed of a flying hogmonkey.

Rei looked down to her hands, clenching and unclenching them into fists. Being so close to bending, it made her insides itch with excitement and longing. Her body yearned to show its true bending prowess, she could tell. She thought about her own bending, what it would take to be able to efficiently defend herself without just blowing one stream of air like the first time. She flexed her hands, feeling them heat up in the, huh, heat of the moment. Rei clenched her hands, closing her eyes in a huff to try to supress the urge to bend. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to watch the training today.

"REI!" A voice rang out.

Rei looked up and saw a bright ball of flames coursing its way towards her. Her eyes widened, and she gasped in surprise. She whipped her hands up towards her face to shield herself with a frightened yelp. As Rei's hands raised up, a gust of wind blew suddenly in front of her, steering the path of the fireball up and to the side. The fireball flew over Iroh's head, who ducked his head down in surprise, and up towards the far edge of the housing tower. A passing soldier on the second floor balcony, unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time, took the majority of the blow and fell over the railing. Fortunately for him, the now flaming soldier fell directly into a barrel of water with a sizzling hiss.

Rei looked down to her hands, then to the sea of confused faces that whipped in her direction.

"Oh shit…"