Chap. 4

In the Market…

"Well, the others know where we are." Agua said, as the glow from his stone dissipated. Placing his trident down, the cat turned to the others and asked, "How we doing on unpacking?"

"We're just about done." Luz answered, as she stowed her pack into a corner of the room. "It'll still be a bit cramped tonight, but it'll be nice to sleep on something soft."

"Speak for yourself." Toph said, from her spot on the floor. "I actually like sleeping on the ground."

"You also like covering yourself with rock and pretending you're some kind of earth demon." Sokka said back.

"What's wrong with that? Would you rather I play with dolls?" Toph retorted.

"No, but afterwards your skin's brown enough to make look you like you belong to the Water-Tribes." Sokka answered with a laugh.

"So the people of the Water-Tribe are brown-skinned?" Toph asked in confusion.

"Huh?" Sokka said, equally confused at the obvious question.

"Sokka, she's blind. She has a little problem with skin color." Tierra said from the chair by the door.

"Oh….. right." Sokka said. Turning back to Agua, he asked, "Are they having any luck finding Appa?"

"Sadly no." Agua replied. "Katara said they found the marketplace, but it's much bigger then they thought. It's actually difficult to find a ten ton, six legged bison in that huge a space with that many traders."

"Maybe the merchant that took him got delayed on the way here." Hierro suggested.

"It's possible, but I think we'd better go and help. The sooner we find Appa, the sooner Aang will calm down." Sokka said as he got to his feet. "Did they give directions?"

"Yeah. It's a bit of a walk though." Agua answered. "We just crossed a desert, how bad can it be?" Toph asked, as she got up and followed Sokka to the door.

"Besides, I need some stuff there." Fuego said. "Now that we can actually get some herbs and stuff, I can make this great soup I know for dinner."

"It's so reassuring to know we crossed a desert for a soup recipe." Tierra replied sarcastically, as the group exited the house.

Zuko stumbled his way through the marketplace, his mind full of thoughts. Part of him was angry that he had spoken so harshly to his uncle. Iroh had done nothing but support him since the two of them had left the Fire Nation all those years ago. But since they had arrived in the city, Zuko had become sullen and depressed, ready to snap at anything, including his uncle. But it wasn't Iroh's fault they were here, and Zuko hated the childish thinking that had caused him to yell at him. Zuko was a Prince of the Fire Nation; he could survive anything, including indignities such as these.

But that thinking only re-ignited the childish mindset Zuko was trying to extinguish. Why should a Prince have to suffer such indignities? For a life destined for the gutters? To live bereft of his true honor and dignity? Stop it. Zuko thought angrily to himself. I need time to plan what I'm going to do. Azula is still after me, and this is the only place in the world where I have time to figure out how to regain Father's……

But before Zuko could finish that thought, pain suddenly ripped through his stomach. Groaning, Zuko leaned onto a nearby wall and held his stomach as the world flashed before his eyes. But after a moment, the spell faded, as the others before it had. Sweating, Zuko waited for his eyes to clear, then began to walk again. He'd been having these spells for the last few days; truthfully, Zuko had never eaten the food from the mission, though he'd kept it and the spells hidden from Iroh. His pride simply kept him from being able to eat, despite his hunger and knowledge that it was foolish. And since they had not been able to gain much money from begging, Zuko had had precious little else to eat. Still, the prince pressed on, moving forward by the strength of his will alone.

"Are you done yet?" Toph asked for the sixth time, as Fuego examined the spices on the stand.

"Almost." The red man replied, as he looked over a few more spices. Toph sighed her impatience as the others muttered theirs. Since leaving the inn, the group had located the marketplace after about half-an-hour and had been searching for Appa for at least that much time. But then, Fuego had noticed an herb stand, filled with all kinds of exotic spices from around the world. His chef's interest aroused, he had been examining them for twenty minutes, while the others stewed.

"How good can a bunch of stupid spices and herbs be?" Toph muttered, as her very limited patience started to reach the breaking point.

"Trust me, you won't be sorry tonight when you're eating my soup." Fuego replied, as he continued to browse.

"Fue, all due respect, how close are you to getting what you need?" Hierro asked.

"Oh, I got that already. I'm just checking out some other stuff."

At that, there was a collective moan, and Sokka said, "That's it, I'm walking!"

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Agua said. "But some of us are gonna have to stay behind to help Fuego look when he finishes. And since that's always a long wait whose turn is it this time?"

"Hey, I did it with Aire last time." Bosque quickly stated, pulling up his hands in protest.

"OK then, that means it's Hierro and Trueno's turn." Agua said. "But the old ram's not here so…. Tierra stays too."

"Aw man, why me!" Tierra moaned.

"Because you noticed this place. Besides, he's your best friend, remember?"

"Aw no fair. How come the humans don't have to help?" Tierra muttered, though he made sure no one but the Knights heard him. However, seeing Sokka immediately freak out at the notion of remaining behind, Agua said, "Look, we'll settle this in a fair and equal manner." The cat paused, as everyone looked to him for the answer he was suggesting. After a few moments, he finally said, very quickly, "Toph's the newest one, so she stays."

"WHAT!" Toph cried out. But Sokka just nodded and said, "That is truly a fair and just system. Now let's go." He said, as he began to walk away, dragging a few Knights with him.

"HEY, STOP! THIS ISN'T FAIR! GET BACK HERE!" Toph yelled out as the other, unassigned Knights began to move out. Within seconds, Toph lost their footsteps in the massive vibrations of the crowd, and with them, any chance of leaving.

"This sucks." Toph muttered, as she angrily leaned back against the wall.

"Could be worse." Tierra said.

"Oh yeah, how?"

"I don't know, it's just one of those things you say in moments like this."

"I should earthbend you to the moon right now." Toph growled.

"Wouldn't work on me. Besides, I've already been." The dog answered.

Before Toph could ask a single question about that, Fuego said, "Thanks again for the herbs. I'm sure they'll work great."

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Toph asked, not daring to hope.

"Oh yes it does." Hierro said with glee. "Thank you God!"

"What are you guys so happy about?" Feugo asked, as he walked over to Toph and the Knights, a bag of spices in his hand. "And where'd the others go?"

"They wanted to cover some more ground. Come on, we can catch up." Hierro said, knowing that telling Fuego the truth would do no good.

"Sounds good to me." Fuego said, as he started to walk forward. But as he did, a stray hand in the crowd suddenly came out, and knocked the bag of spices out of his hand.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Fuego snapped, as he bent down to pick up the bag. But as he said those words, the figure the hand belonged to suddenly stopped. Slowly, it stepped out of the crowd and turned to face the group. Hierro and Tierra's eyes widened at the sight of the figure, and even Toph could sense tension in the air. Fuego stopped picking up his herbs and stared in amazement. Finally, he spoke the name on all their minds; "Zuko?"

The banished prince was equally shocked to see the Knights in the city. Slowly, he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get even one word out, there was a growl and then Tierra leapt through the air and slammed into Zuko knocking him into a nearby stand.

"Tierra, NO! Bad dog!" Fuego yelled, as he raced towards the stand.

"Dammit, why does he always attack first?" Hierro muttered as he followed, Toph trailing behind.

Meanwhile, Tierra and Zuko were struggling around in the remains of the stand, much to the delight of the growing crowd. Finally, the two of them managed to separate and get to their feet.

"What was that for!" Zuko cried out in anger. "I wasn't going to attack you!"

"Given your reputation, I doubt it." Tierra answered. "But if I've changed your mind…."

At that, Zuko instantly fell into an attack stance. Tierra followed, and after a second, the two of them leapt forward. But before they could meet, both of them felt a strong hand wrap around their collars, and with a cry of "KNOCK IT OFF!" they were both hurled back into the walls of the market. Zuko's head snapped back onto the wall, and he fell to the ground instantly. Tierra landed better, but when he looked up, Hierro grabbed his collar again and yelled into his face, "What were you thinking? We do not need this kind of attention right now! And he didn't even attack us!"

"Oh come on, you think he wouldn't?" Tierra asked in shock.

"We won't know now, will we?" Hierro said, "God, why must you always attack first, ask questions later?"

"I don't…." Tierra began, but then he paused as he saw Fuego checking on Zuko on the other side. "I think you might have done it for me." The dog finished. Hierro turned, and saw Zuko lying on the ground, unconscious, as Fuego and Toph looked him over (well, Fuego anyway). Swearing under his breath, Hierro dropped Tierra and moved over to the unconscious.

"He's still breathing ok, and his heart's pumping right." Toph said, her hand on the ground as she 'read' Zuko's vitals. Hearing the others approach, she and Fuego looked up, and the red man asked, "What the hell did you do?"

"I don't know. I didn't throw him that hard. He shouldn't be unconscious." The spider said.

"Well something's wrong with him then, because there's no reason he should be unconscious. Dammit Tierra, why?" Fuego said angrily.

"Gee, maybe the times he's tried to kill us?" the dog replied.

Sighing, the red man said, "It doesn't matter. He didn't throw the first punch. Besides, there must be a reason he's here, and if he was awake, we could learn what it was."

"Actually I could tell you." Said a voice from behind them. "Perhaps over a hot cup of jade tea?"