Chapter 7 - Surprised?
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"Rise and shine!" Hitomi shouted up at the top bunk. Yukino rolled over and moaned, quickly hiding herself under the blankets. "Its a beautiful day out! Time to go go go!" She hopped up and yanked the covers off of Yukino.
"I demand you to go away…" Yukino mumbled, quickly grabbing the covers and heaved them over her head.
"I don't think so. You see, when your at home, your in charge, when its time for you to get dressed, I'm in charge." Hitomi grinned. "And since neither of us are at home, your not the boss of me!" She grabbed the blankets and pulled them off the bed. Hitomi quickly ran over to the window and pulled the curtains open, letting the bright sun light fill the room.
"What the-!" Yukino shot up and looked around the room. Their room mate had already left to go and eat, leaving the two alone to wake up and get dressed. "For a second there, I thought I was home." She sighed, looking to see Hitomi's bright smiling face staring directly at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Oh… no reason." She placed her finger on the bed bunk, rubbing it with a grin on her face. "I just thought you should know that if you don't get up, Prince Zuko is going to burn your butt." She laughed.
"Oh my gosh! ARGH!" Yukino looked around, and panicked. "He wanted to see me and a few other men today! I'm late!" She hopped off the bed, and quickly ran over to where her clothes were. She rapidly bandaged up her chest and grabbed her underclothes.
"Let me help you." Hitomi smiled, grabbing the chest plate armor and slid it on her.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier!" Yukino slid on her heavy pants, almost falling over.
"I didn't know until a few minutes ago when one of the guys knocked on the door to see what you were doing." Hitomi pulled back the panicking girls hair and quickly did it up in a pony tail.
"This is so… Stupid!" Yukino ran out the door after tying her boots up.
"Have a nice day and be a good boy!" Hitomi smiled, waving a goodbye for now. "Now then… where can I find some tea around this joint…?" She grinned.
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Yukino ran down the hallways, going from sharp turns, to avoiding the men walking by. She had memorized the entire ship by now, and basically knew where everything was.
"I'm here! Sorry I'm late!" She slid into the room where the prince and three other men were sitting. They all turned and stared at her, especially Zuko, who was giving her more of a glare then a friendly look.
"About time you showed up!" He yelled at her angrily.
"Next time don't make it so early!" She snapped back.
"Shut up and sit down!" Zuko demanded. Yukino sighed and sat down next to Yusuke, who was also invited to the little seminar. "Where's Hito?" He looked around, "Hmph... his loss…"
"Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted." He shot a glare at her, who just sat there and ignored him. "You four are my top soldiers, and one other who's not present. You've got the moves, the strategy, and the brains, besides one of you." Yukino was about to attack him, but held back.
"Tatsu." Prince Zuko looked at a red headed man on the end of the row. He stood and stared at the prince. "You're skills with fire bending is far greater then anyone else I've seen on this ship." Iroh came into the room, carrying red ribbons with small silver medallions hanging off of them. "Take this-" The old general handed him the medallion. "And be on the my elite team."
"Thank you." Tatsu bowed and sat back down, inspecting his new pride and joy.
"Yura." A man stood up and stared at Zuko. He was quite tall for someone of his age. He looked to be about eighteen years of age. He was good looking as well, with shining black hair that hung off his head, and golden eyes. "I have been watching you, as well as other men on your archery."
Yukino blushed when she first laid eyes on Yura. 'He's kind of cute.' She thought. 'Note to self, don't fall for him or I will suffer the consequences. Ah! What am I thinking! I can't fall for guys! I have a strong mission to go forth with. Guys are the last thing on my mind.' She looked away. 'But… argh! Why me? He's cute! Wait… he's fire nation, think of bad thoughts when I see him.'
"My family has been skilled in archery for years, so I take on that skill as well." Yura spoke. Iroh handed him the medallion, and smiled.
'Uhg! Such a nice voice too! The agony!' She sniffed.
"You will do." Zuko said and turned to stare at the man next to him.
"Yusuke of the Hisashi fire clan. A noble clan with great skills." The young prince grinned. "I'm very pleased that you joined us."
'The Hisashi fire clan?' Yukino thought in her head. She turned and stared at him for a moment. 'I've heard of them before. Just five of them took out an entire earth kingdom village in less then a day!' She turned away when he noticed her looking at him. 'I better watch my back around him now that I know what he's capable of. Especially since he's my room mate…' She cried in her head. 'damn it…'
"When I heard that the Prince of the Fire nation was going on this journey, due to his punishment, I decided to go." Yusuke said. "I figured I may be of some use."
"Oh yes you are!" Iroh spoke aloud. "Its very rare to have someone of the Hisashi fire clan join us on such a long journey." He smiled greatly.
"It is an honor." Yusuke bowed when Iroh handed him the medallion.
Prince Zuko sighed when he looked at Yukino. She stared off into space, after hearing the information about the three men. "Hey fire peasant." He glared at her when she didn't respond. "Are you even paying attention?" He stomped over to her and stared down.
"I have a name you know…" Yukino gazed up at him.
"So? You should be thankful that I'm even considering this. If it weren't for my uncle, you wouldn't be here right now." He snapped in a stern voice.
"Big woop." Yukino stood up and stared at the prince. "I would prefer if you would stop with the name calling. Your showing your lack of maturity towards your men." She sighed, crossing her arms.
"Your really getting on my nerves." Zuko growled.
"Prince Zuko, just ignore him and get on with it, I would very much like to have some tea now." Iroh interrupted them.
"Fine… Yuki, you're skills in Martial arts are good." Prince Zuko mumbled.
"Just good?" Yukino protested.
"Fine! Their great! I haven't seen anyone use martial arts from different nations before." He looked away with anger. "Now take the stupid medallion." He gestured Iroh to give her the medal.
"Thank you." Yukino took the silver medallion and inspected it. It had a nice carving of the fire nation symbol on it and shined beautifully.
"Someone go find Hito and make it fast." Prince Zuko demanded.
'Hito? Hitomi? Nah… it couldn't be. Why would Hitomi be here? It must be some other soldier on board.' She calculated.
"No need, I'm right here." A soft but husky voice spread throughout the room. Yukino turned around and gasped when she saw Hitomi leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed and the slightest grin spread on her lips.
"Where have you been?" Prince Zuko looked over her with annoyance.
"Oh you know, around. I was actually looking for tea and then I remembered I was also invited here, so I figured I might as well." She laughed.
"So the shy one of Yuki's friends actually isn't shy. What a surprise…" He said.
"Looks like it." She stuck her tongue out and entered the room.
"Hito, my uncle and I have noticed you swing around that small kitana of yours. At first we thought that you had no idea what you were doing until you began to practice with some of the men, and even managed to slice off the armor of one of them." Zuko looked at Tatsu who just looked away in embarrassment. "Impressive…"
"Don't let the red hair and green eyes full you. I am strong." She smirked. Iroh walked over to her and handed her the last medallion.
"You five are now apart of my elite team who will assist me in capturing the avatar whenever we go out on a hunt. With your skills combined, we will be able to capture him with no trouble." Prince Zuko grinned. "Nothing will stop me now." He headed out the door in a good mood for once.
"Yusuke! We would have never expected you to be a member of the Hisashi fire clan!" Tatsu broke the silence among the five.
"Why do you say that?" Yusuke looked up at the Yura and Tatsu who were crowding around him.
"Well because… you never do anything. Your always wondering around, doing your duty and then reading. You've done nothing to show yourself that you belong to that clan."
"Why would I need to? There's no reason for me to show off." Yusuke grinned.
'Boys…' Yukino sighed and looked over at Hitomi who was staring directly at her. 'How am I going to deal with her now?' She got up and walked over to where Hitomi was standing. She stopped and shot a glare at her and walked out the door.
"She'll understand." Hitomi mumbled under her breathe and walked out the door and headed off into a different direction.
Yukino stepped into her room and hopped up on to her bed. "Why would Hitomi not tell me? I don't understand!" She flopped back and laid on the bed, closing her eyes, she drifted off into a slumber. Nap time for the princess.
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Tsubaki, Yukino's aunt, sat peacefully at her tea table, drinking a cup of soothing tea to calm her nerves.
"My lady." A servant approached the old woman.
"Yes?"
"The people are beginning to question as to why they have not heard or seen Princess Yukino in a while. What should we tell them?" The young girl asked.
"No one will know that our Princess is missing. If this information leeks out, it will spread across the nations and we will fall to pieces." Tsubaki sipped her tea. "If anyone questions, Princess Yukino is very sick with a disease that is unknown and is unable to leave bed."
"Yes my lady." The girl bowed and left Tsubaki to herself.
"How could you leave your nation like this Yukino? You can't do it by yourself…" She sighed.
"Shes not really sick, is she?" The shadows in a corner of the room spoke viciously.
"Who's there!" Tsubaki stood up and looked over at the shadows with green eyes glaring deeply at her.
"Where is she?" The old king of the Earth Kingdom stepped forward.
"You!" Tsubaki got in a fighting stance. "What are you doing here!"
"Oh nothing, just wondering where my bride is and why shes not where she belongs. I've come to take her, even if it means I have to kill." One of his men came into the room holding the girl from before hostage.
"Where is she? If you don't tell me, this girls life is mine." He pulled out a dagger.
"My lady! No!" The girl screamed.
"Quiet you!" The man that was holding her, slapped her across the face.
"Stop this!" Tsubaki yelled. "I don't know how you got in here but you are not welcomed here! Princess Yukino is not your bride, she refused your proposal."
"I will soon rule this nation so you might as well get used to it." The old man laughed. "Now then, if you value this life, you will take me where your Princess is." He held the dagger to the girls throat.
Tsubaki dropped to her knees, angered that she couldn't do anything. "I don't know where she is." She began. "She ran off to catch a boat that was leaving for an earth kingdom port. She plans on going to the center of the fire nation and kill Ozai herself. That's all I know. She didn't give me anymore details." She sighed.
"Good enough. I'll find her and take her as mine." He snapped his fingers and the man that was holding the girl pushed her away. "Lets move." He walked out of the door, slamming it shut behind him.
"My lady! Are you all right?" The girl crawled over to Tsubaki. She sat there with tears in her eyes.
"Please Yukino, wherever you are right now, be safe. You've got so much more coming after you." She prayed as the young girl comforted her.
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Yukino woke up with sweat dripping off her face. "Aunt Tsubaki!" She shouted out and looked around to notice that she was alone on the fire nation ship of the prince. "I had such a strange dream that… aunt Tsubaki was praying for my safety." The slightest laugh escaped her mouth. "I must be paranoid. It was just a dream." She slid off the blankets that she had worked her way under them while she was asleep. "Looks like Hitomi hasn't come back." She sighed and hopped off her bed onto the floor. She opened the door and headed out to explore the ship but soon found herself pushing the doors open to the food court.
"It must be dinner time…" She mumbled as she watched men sit and eat, talking about war plans or their life. Yukino frowned when she didn't see Hitomi and slowly made her way over to the lunch line.
"Fried fish sticks and seal jerky…" She examined the food before her as the cook handed her a plate with the meal on it. "If only I was back at home… then I could eat whatever I wanted." She said to herself.
"Why are you talking to yourself?" Yusuke stood next to her, after he had grabbed his plate. "People will start to wonder you know."
"Mind your own business." Yukino turned and began to walk away.
"Well aren't we a bit rude." He followed after her with a grin on his face. Yukino stopped to a halt and turned around to face him directly in the eye.
"What do you want? Can you not see that I want to be alone?" She glared.
"Your eyes have a nice shade of blue. Throughout my life, I've never seen such an ocean blue like those." He smirked. "The men here are either green, gold, brown or red. Whats your secret?" She glared deep into his golden eyes.
"I don't have a secret." She broke away and turned around. "My mother was of water tribe and my father was of fire nation. I inherited my mothers eyes, but I inherited a majority of my fathers traits." She lied.
"If you say so…" He walked up behind her and bent down to her ear. "I know your hiding something and I'm going to find out." He laughed somewhat and walked away, leaving her to stand in the middle of the court room in shock.
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"Hito." Yukino walked up behind Hitomi who was talking to a group of guys. "We need to talk." She grabbed her by the collar and began to drag her off.
"Hey! Wait!" Hitomi complained. "I'll catch up with you guys later!" She yelled back at the group and lost sight of them with the two turned a corner.
"Alright, spill it. Whats with the secret you never told me about." Yukino pinned her against the wall.
"What? My swordsmanship?" Hitomi question.
"Yeah, that. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know. Probably because I wasn't sure if you would have approved. I am supposed to live as a palace servant, not a warrior." She looked away. "I grew up practicing day after day in secret, ever since my parents passed away on that day." She sighed. "I never told anyone, until we came on to this journey when I thought now would be a perfect time to let my skills out."
"So that's what it was? Because your job is to live as my servant?" Yukino froze. "You idiot."
"What!" Hitomi glared at her.
"My best friend once told me she wasn't going to let me risk my life by myself so she followed me. What she did was much worse then hiding the fact that she had an ability with swords." She sighed.
"At least I'm not the idiot who plans on killing a lord." Hitomi smiled.
"It's a good thing we're best friends…" Yukino clung to her and smiled as well. "Listen, I've got a huge problem on my hands now…" She began to talk serious.
"What?"
"Yusuke is on to me."
"What!"
"He knows I'm hiding something, and I don't know what to do." Yukino stepped away.
"Well that's no surprise since he's from the Hisashi fire clan… this is a problem." Hitomi looked at Yukino.
"I'm not sure what he's on to though…" Yukino looked down at her chest. "Do my breasts stick out?" She questioned, touching her torso. "Or maybe its my voice…" She cleared her throat and began to hum in a deep voice. "But, he asked me about my eyes."
"Your eyes…?" Hitomi leaned in and looked at Yukino's eyes. "Maybe he was on to the fact that there're different then everyone's else. They are of water tribe, so maybe he's getting the impression that your not fire nation?"
"I told him that my mother was of water tribe and my father was of fire nation. I don't know… but I'm going to deal with this."
"Hito!" A man yelled from down the hallway. "Its your turn to patrol the deck." He pointed up.
"Alright." She shouted back. "Listen, I'll catch up with you later. Just don't do anything stupid."
"Stupid? What are you getting at?" Yukino gave her a dirty look when Hitomi began to run off. "I'll get you later!"
"See yea!" Hitomi waved and ran off to patrol, leaving her behind alone. Yukino sighed and turned around. She turned a corner and ran right into someone and fell to the ground.
"Ow…" She mumbled, looking up to see Prince Zuko standing over her. "Why is it that whenever I run into you, literally, I'm the one on the ground?"
"Because your weak, that's why." He grinned, happy that he felt superior over her.
"If I'm weak, then why don't I have any scars…?" She looked at his face and froze when his fists turned into flames. "Wait now-"
"You have anything else to say about me!" Zuko bent down with anger in his eyes.
"I was just kidding Mr. Short tempered!" She crawled back and quickly jumped up to her feet. He was about to hit her when Iroh had approached them, and cut in between the two.
"I turn my back for five minutes, and your already after him Prince Zuko." The old man sighed. "Anyways, I told the helm to make a stop at a near by port."
"Why? We don't have time for that!" Zuko stepped back in frustration.
"Then I guess we don't eat. The cook has reported that we are running low of food, and since there's a port, now would be the time to do so." Iroh stated.
"Fine…" The young prince mumbled. "Maybe we can find some information about the avatar." He turned away and began to walk off.
"Why is he always so mad…?" Yukino asked the old man. He looked up at her and frowned.
"He wasn't always like that, his life is very difficult right now." He looked down with sadness.
"So he takes his anger out on the people surrounding him. How sad." She shook her head. "If he treated his people better, they would give him more respect."
"Actually, its only you that treats him that way." Iroh said.
"Oh… well, he is always angry though. Maybe we could do something for him?" She asked.
"Like a party!" The old man jumped. "Gather up young girls for the men and him, and me of course, and have a huge party!" He said, getting excited at the idea.
"Um, sure? I was going to say anger management, but that may work." Yukino smiled somewhat.
"Bah! Anger management is for saps! Tomorrow, we have a party! I must go make an announcement to the men!" He yelled and began to skip away with joy.
"What a crazy old man." She beamed, and walked off the way the old man ran off to.
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End of Chapter 7
Bwahahah! I love it! My chapters are beginning to get longer and longer. Lol…
At first for this chapter, I wasn't sure what to do. I had writers block, yet my fingers just typed, and this is what the outcome is. I can hardly wait to start chapter 8, now that I have an idea!
Review please! I love to see how I'm doing, or if anyone has any ideas!
Also, um, I'm actually an artist, so I've been drawing my characters. See my profile to check out my deviantart.
Oh yeah, I've been having issues with the little Ruler thing, so i had to do the "-----" thing... . yeah...