Chap. 5

Dangerous Mercy

At the sound of that voice, the group turned to view it's source. Except for Toph, whose face broke out in a smile at the sound of it. As she turned in the direction of the voice, her senses focused on the sound of a strong heartbeat and healthy breathing. They also focused on the scent of tealeaves, though it was buried underneath the scent of grime and dirt. But it made no difference, as the young Earthbender leapt at the form of Iroh and gave the old man a strong hug.

"You're alive!" Toph cried, as Iroh gasped under the strength of her grasp. "I thought you were dying back there… it's so good to know I was wrong."

"Um Toph," Fuego said. "if you don't let him breathe, you won't be wrong."

"Oh, sorry!" Toph said instantly, as she released Iroh. The former general took a deep breath of air, and between inhales, said, "I'm happy to see you as well my dear."

"I'm glad to see you haven't left the world either, General." Fuego said, as he walked over and offered him his hand.

Iroh took it, but whispered, "I don't think calling me that is appropriate here." The red man looked around and realized that the crowd was still staring at them. For a second, he wondered how he was going to get rid of them. Then Hierro, in a stroke of genius, yelled as he pointed to the back end of the market, "Hey, there's free stuff over there!"

Almost instantly, the crowd began a mad dash in the direction that Hierro had pointed to, far away from the group. When the coast was clear, Iroh looked at the spider and said, "Simple but effective. Well done."

"Thanks." Hierro said, as Tierra came up to the front.

"Now that we're alone," the dog said. "if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to hear what has been going on with you and your nephew since we last saw you."

"What's with the politeness?" Toph asked. "I figured you'd try to charge him too. Not that I'd let you."

"Simple." Tierra replied, as he pointed at Iroh. "Him I trust to be sane. Him," as he shifted his finger to Zuko, "I don't."

"Tierra, you are the last person to judge sanity." Hierro said. "But we've got bigger things to worry about." Turning back to Iroh, the spider asked, "What's wrong with Zuko?"

Iroh sighed then, and said, "I'm afraid it's his own pride. Zuko and I have facing…. Hard times lately. Food has not been easy to gather, and what we have enjoyed has been handouts. You know how prideful Zuko is. He refused to eat the food we gathered; he thought I didn't notice. He's started having spells, though he tried to hide that to. About an hour ago, we were eating at the mission, and he became upset. He stormed out, and after I began to worry, I followed him. Then he ran into you."

The Knights were silent then, until Fuego asked, "What sort of hard times?"

"Zuko and I are wanted criminals of the Fire Nation." Iroh said simply.

"That is hard." The red man agreed. Looking down at Zuko, he asked, "How long has it been since he ate?"

"Close to a week."

Fuego was silent a moment, then said, "Come with us. We can give you shelter, and a good meal." He would have continued, but then Fuego felt a hand grasp his shoulder. "Excuse us a moment." He said, as Hierro drew him over.

"Fue, what are you doing?" the spider whispered, as Toph and Tierra came over.

"Being merciful. Is that wrong?" the red man asked.

"Fue, I can understand your motives, but is this really the best thing right now?" Hierro asked. "Aang is on edge because of Appa, we're all terrified of making him angry, and you want to bring his worst enemy home with you?"

"Zuko's not our enemy anymore." Fuego argued. "And we help him, he might become our ally."
"Oh grow up." Tierra said. "You want to help him because you have that crazy idea that Zuko could redeem his homeland. We all respect him Fue, but Zuko is beyond redemption for himself or anyone. He only cares about regaining his honor and his father's respect."

"And how do you know that?" Fuego snapped. "You want to give up on him because you just see an enemy. Don't you realize the chance we're throwing away? Aang is going to have to learn firebending, Appa or not, and I can't teach him. If we give Iroh and Zuko help, maybe they'll train him, hmm?"

"And can we trust them enough to believe that they won't capture Aang and take him to the Fire Nation instead?" Tierra shot back.

"Look at them! They're wearing filthy rags, and they cut their hair! Do you honestly think they can go back now?" Fuego snapped back.

The argument would have continued further, but then both Toph and Hierro cried, "ENOUGH!" Both Knights stopped then, as Hierro began to speak.

"Look, I'm not sure this is a great idea, and I know Oscuridad and the others won't like it, but I think Fuego has a point. We do need a Firebender, and I don't think Iroh and Zuko are in a position to refuse our hospitality. Now Tierra's right too; this could be a trick. But I think the Knights of the Elements, two bending Masters, a Water Tribe Warrior, and the Avatar can take out a couple of Firebenders."

"Besides, I trust Iroh, and that's enough for me." Toph said defiantly.

Fuego smiled, as Tierra began to mutter under his breath. Turning back to Iroh, the red man asked, "You still want that meal?"

"Are you all agreed on it?" Iroh asked, as he'd had a pretty good idea of what they'd been discussing.

"Three to one, majority rules." Fuego said. "Let's get the boy and go."

Iroh nodded, and moved over to Zuko's unconscious body. He and Fuego picked him up and began to carry him in the direction of the inn, as the others led the way.

"Here we are." Hierro said a half-an-hour later, as the group returned to the inn. Iroh took one look at it and said, "Well, it certainly looks better then the open street."

"It's better inside, trust me." Fuego said, as he and Iroh lugged Zuko to the door. Toph held it open, and they entered, laying Zuko down on the couch.

"Very nice." Iroh said, as he finally took a look around. "How much did you pay to stay here?"

"A lot and yet nothing at all." Hierro replied mysteriously, as he stretched out his extra arms.

"I'll take your word for it." Iroh said, with a puzzled look on his face. "I don't suppose you have any tea?"

"Not sure." Fuego replied. "But I think I bought some ginseng at the stand. Believe me, you'd prefer that to our usual method of getting tea."

"And what is that?" Iroh asked.

"Bosque grows it himself. The problem is, it's kind of hard to eat something that comes from a seed grown out of a person's arm, even if he does plant it and make it grow."

Iroh grimaced, as the image of the Forest Knight doing just that played out in his mind.

"Believe me, it creeps us out too." Hierro said. "Now Fue, why don't you make Iroh's tea and that soup you talked about, while we take care of Zuko and Iroh tells us exactly what happened to land him in this situation."

The red man nodded, and moved over to the fire-pit to begin cooking. As the red man unloaded pots and ingredients, Hierro turned his attention to the form of Zuko. Looking over the unconscious boy, he suddenly said, "Tierra, toss me the waterskin."

"You think a drink is going to help him?" the dog asked.

"No, but it might help until Fuego gets some food ready." The spider replied.

Shaking his head, Tierra tossed Hierro one of the extra waterkskins the group had been carrying around. The spider caught it in his upper left hand, and by the time he'd turned to Zuko, his middle and lower arms had already opened it and positioned it for Zuko to drink.

"I'm with Tierra on this one.' Toph said, as Hierro went to work. "I don't think Zuko needs water that badly."

"Oh ye of little faith." Hierro said, as he placed the waterskin behind Zuko's lips. "A person can survive a week without food. But they'll only last a few days without water. This'll help him for a bit." Indeed, it seemed to do good almost instantly, as Zuko started, then begin to eagerly drink the water, even reaching up and taking it from Hierro's hand. The prince drank deeply, as if he had never had water before. It was at least four minutes before he put it down, and realized where he was.

"Morning sunshine." Hierro said, as Zuko turned to face the spider. Tierra's hand slowly gripped his hammer, preparing for an attack. But Zuko merely shook his head, and tried to rise.

"Easy Prince. You've had a bad spell." Iroh said, as he gently pushed his nephew back down. "The Knights took us in."

"And.. you.. think that's ok?" Zuko whispered. "They are… our enemies still."

"Maybe, maybe not." Hierro replied. "Your uncle tells us we have something in common now; the Fire Nation doesn't seem too highly of either of us."

At Zuko's head whipped over to Iroh, and despite his weakened state, Zuko yelled, "How could you tell them that! How can you reveal our humiliation?"

But Iroh merely narrowed his eyes at the outburst and replied, "They would have found out regardless of me. And they did bring us here and offer us food. I would hope your pride has not diminished your sense of respect."

Zuko's face became down cast at that, but he still said, "Uncle, they attacked me."

"No, he attacked you." Hierro said, pointing over at Tierra. "And he's not going to do it again, is he?" the spider finished, glaring at the dog. Tierra muttered an angry response, but nodded his agreement.

"Now then, we've got some time before Fuego finishes the food." The spider said. "So why don't you two tell us exactly what happened to put you two into this predicament?"

Zuko looked over at the Knights, but then put his head back down, unable to speak the words. Iroh however could. Clearing his throat, the old general began the tale.

"It began after the attack on the North Pole. You remember that I stood against Zhao's plan to kill the Moon Spirit." The group nodded, and Iroh continued. "Apparently, word reached my brother, and he deemed me a traitor. But since Zuko and I left the North Pole separate from the Fire Nation, we had no idea of what had happened. Eventually, we reached a small refuge and were able to rest following our harrowing journey. Zuko was eager to leave, and resume his search for the Avatar. But that ended one day, when we found someone waiting for us at the refuge; Zuko's sister Azula."

"Hold on a sec." Tierra said, interrupting Iroh. "This girl, does she have long black hair, gold eyes, long fingernails, and have the ability to create lightning?"

"Your suspicions are correct, Groundquake." Iroh said. "Azula is the girl we encountered in that town."

"Then she's the one who struck you down." Toph said. At that, Zuko turned, and noticing the girl for the first time, asked, "Who is this?"

"The name's Toph. I'm Aang's Earthbending teacher." Toph answered putting her arms across her chest defiantly.

"You can bend without sight?" Zuko asked.

Toph's face darkened as she started to get angry, but then Zuko said, "Most impressive."

At that, Toph's anger broke, as both she and the Knights looked at Zuko in surprise. The prince merely shrugged, and motioned for Iroh to continue.

Taking his cue, Iroh said, "Anyway, at the time, Azula said that the Fire Lord wanted us home, and that he had forgiven Zuko. Knowing my brother and my niece, I was suspicious, but Zuko was too eager to go home to listen. So I accompanied him to the ship. But a slip by the captain proved my suspicions correct. Zuko and I fought our way out, and ever since, we've been on the run."

"I should have figured it before." Fuego said from the fire pit, as Iroh finished his story. "I knew the girl at the town looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. You were lucky to escape her Iroh."

"Why? Is this princess good?" Toph asked.

"She's a Master." Zuko answered suddenly. "She was a prodigy as a child, and my father always favored her. He said she was born lucky, while I was lucky to be born."

"And because of that, she's obsessed with making her father happy." Fuego added, as he poured the prepared tea into a small tin cup. "She's also inherited her father's cruelty and ambition. The bitch is crazy, plain and simple." Moving over to the group, the red man handed Iroh his tea. "Thank you." The general said, as he sipped the tea with great pleasure.

"So that's why you came here." Hierro said, as he put the pieces together. "This is the only place where Azula can't get to you. But you can't mean to stay here forever."

"No, we don't." Zuko answered. "But…. I don't know what to do anymore. My home has forsaken me. My father thinks I'm a failure, and my honor is gone. My throne is gone. And I don't know how to reclaim any of it."

There was quiet in the room a moment, then Fuego spoke. "We might be able to help Zuko."

"How? You don't want to trust me remember?"

"At first no. But I think that now things might be different. You haven't been following us since the North Pole. The one time you did find us, you fought with us. I'm gonna go a limb and guess that even finding the Avatar won't get you home now."

Zuko nodded, and the spider continued. "Zuko, maybe we don't have to fight anymore. Maybe we have the same cause now."

But Zuko shook his head. "We may be similar now, but we don't have the same cause."

"Zuko, he may be right." Iroh said. The old general would have continued, but then he sniffed the air, as a delicious aroma filled it. The others also turned their noises to the smell.

"Ahh, soup's on!" Fuego said, as he extinguished the fire pit. Taking a large spoon and a few bowls from the packs, Fuego poured the soup into the bowls, and began to pass them around. Everyone quickly took one, their discussion forgotten in the delicious aroma of the soup. Fuego passed around some spoons, and the group began to eat eagerly. Zuko paused a moment, as if he was wondering whether the food was safe. But after seeing Toph and his uncle eat with relish, Zuko relented to his empty stomach and took a spoonful. True to his word, Fuego had created an amazing soup, but to the starving Zuko it was a royal feast, prepared by the greatest chefs in the world. He dug in eagerly; letting the rich flavor of herbs, vegetables, and Sokka's seal jerky, flow down his throat.

The reaction was unanimous for everyone, and so strong that they all failed to hear the footsteps leading up to the door, failed to hear the voices arguing. But when the door opened, revealing Aang and the others, who stopped arguing and gaped in shock at the sight of Zuko and Iroh, Hierro realized that the fireworks where truly about to begin.