"Is something wrong officer?" Iroh asked calmly.
The captain noticed that he was in the presence of General Iroh and he bowed his head in respect, "Forgive me sir, but this girl has stolen a great amount of gold from me."
Alex was in shock, "I did no such thing!" she said, livid with anger.
He glared at her, "I'm willing to fight you on your word."
She didn't even bat an eye, "Deal."
Luke grabbed her shoulder but she shrugged him off, "I can handle this."
A large circle was made around her and the man, mostly by onlookers. Luke, Iroh, and the hidden Zuko were in the inside of the ring, watching. Luke looked worried.
The captain leered at her, "As it is obvious that you cannot be a Firebender, I will allow you to posses a weapon of choice." He said, even though he knew she did not have any weapons.
Luke noticed a sword at the waist of a man near him and drew it, throwing it to Alex, "She'll return this in a minute. Alex, catch!"
She caught it easily in one hand, even though she had never held a sword before, much less fought with one. But once it touched her skin odd memories came back where she was fighting with a teacher.
The man grinned, "I'll start then, shall I?"
To her surprise he threw a large fireball at her.
Shocked, she raised the weapon and brought the sword down on top of the flame, causing it to go askew.
For a great amount of time this went on, and Iroh noticed that she never once tired, although the battle was fierce.
But it was the final blow that astounded not only him, but every person who watched, even hooded Zuko.
As another stream of fire came her way she angled the sword just right in the path of the flame. It reflected back and struck the man upside the head, causing him to double over in pain. He was not marked but he was gasping from the pain of the heat.
She handed the weapon back to the man she had "borrowed" it from, "Thank you sir,"
The crowd dispersed and Iroh turned to her, "No proof eh? I think I saw enough right now to fully convince me that you are capable of handling such a task. Welcome to the crew."
She gasped. "I can never repay you enough Iroh. But where is the rest of the crew."
He smiled, "On the ship, waiting."
Zuko looked at his uncle sharply but Iroh smiled. He had been hiding the fact that he had a full crew and a ship waiting from his nephew. He had wanted to locate a few more people who would better suit them for battle than the crew. He had known Zuko would have argued with him if he had told them, so he had kept it a secret.
Luke smiled, "great, let's go. Right Alex?"
She smiled nervously, "Uh yeah, let's go."
As she walked by Zuko with Luke she looked at him for a brief moment and smiled, locking her eyes with his.
Now there was no doubt in his mind that she knew.
Josh and Tina reached a small town near the middle of the Earth Kingdom; the large mountain loomed over them as they entered the gates after first traversing over a large ditch that had been placed near the entrance.
People smiled at them as they walked through, and an odd man wearing bright red shoes approached them.
"Ah, Aunt Wu told us you would be coming," he showed them into a large building with a round door.
Josh automatically turned to Tina for answers, "Aunt Wu?"
Tina grinned, "She's a fortune teller, good one too. She might be able to tell us where the others are."
A strange girl with very frizzy hair smiled at them when they walked in, "Hello, I'm—"
"Meng," Tina said politely, "May we speak to Aunt Wu please?"
Meng stared at her for a moment, her mouth dry, before she stood up straight and said, "I'm sorry, only one person may see Aunt Wu at a time." She looked away from the frightening girl and turned to Josh, "You may go in,"
Josh looked at Tina quickly, not really sure what he was supposed to ask. But before he could ask Tina what it was he was supposed to ask, he was whisked away into a back room, where an unusual looking woman was sitting cross-legged on the floor, meditating with her eyes shut.
"Welcome Josh, please, sit." She said without even opening her eyes.
'Too bad Kyle isn't here,' he thought with a smile as he sat down across from her, 'he's bent on the fact that there's no such thing as psychics.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him, "Well dear, what is it you want to know?"
A million thoughts raced through his mind. Where are my friends? How do we get home? How do we get to the North Pole? Am I an earthbender? Does Alex like me…?
He blinked. He couldn't believe he had just thought that. Why had he thought that? He didn't like Alex that way…right?
But right now he had bigger things to worry about. He thought about asking how many questions he could ask, but then the answer might be one…and he would have already asked one.
He started to ask where his friends were, but stopped. Didn't he already know? Kyle was in the water tribe no doubt…and Alex…
He froze; he just realized that for some reason he had thought she was not here. But there was no doubt that she was. But where was she? Was it more important to know that?
She seemed to know what he was thinking, "You can ask all the questions you like. Your mind is full of them, and I can ease those troubles."
He hesitated, "Where are the rest of my friends?"
She inhaled deeply and thought for a moment, "Your friend Kyle is in the Northern Water Tribe with the Avatar. At the moment he is with him. Your friend Alex…" she cast a quick smile at him and he looked away uncomfortably, "Your friend Alex is in a Fire Nation port. She has just been offered a job by—"
"What?" he asked, astonished, "She's in the Fire Nation?"
She sighed, "Yes she is,"
"How do we meet up with her?" he asked eagerly.
She sighed again, "I was about to tell you that. Now where was I…? Oh yes, she has been offered a job on a vessel that will eventually get her to the North Pole. Your best bet is to meet her there, and stay until she arrives."
She looked at him, "I sense there is something else on your mind; do you wish to share?"
It was true, he had been thinking about that thought, the one with Alex. How did he really feel about her? He thought about asking but didn't.
Instead he asked, "Where is…" he blanked out. Damn. What was the Prince's name? Oh yes, he could just ask that…
"Where is the Prince of the Fire nation?" he asked.
She smiled, "Oh yes, Prince Zuko. I saw him not to long ago. He dropped in for a visit. He's dead." She lied to him. She had been sent a message by the Spirit Alenexian, the Fire Spirit. If anyone was to ask this question she was to reply that the Prince was dead. And Aunt Wu didn't argue with the Spirits, they gave her power after all.
Josh stood, "Thank you for your wisdom,"
"Well?" Tina asked when he came out.
For a moment he almost told her where both of their friends were. But he realized that the news of her friend being in the Fire Nation – and most likely then a fire citizen – might cause her to distress. She had told him many times on their recent travels that she despised the Fire Nation and all who were children of it.
Yeah, maybe she was better off not knowing, for now at least.
"Kyle is in the North Pole. We should go there as soon as possible, he's found the avatar. Not that he knows who the Avatar is of course."
Tina grinned, "Great. Let's get going then. See you Meng!" she waved cheerfully.
Meng watched the strange girl and the handsome boy leave before muttering, "Floozy."
(AN: right now we are going to temporarily abandon Kyle for a while, don't worry, he's safe and sound. For a while we are going to focus solely on Alex and Luke and the crew. They have a lot more going on right now. So for the next few chapters expect to see very little of Josh, Tina, and Kyle.) lol
