It was so still in the world, so peaceful on that boat. But still, he felt so sick to his stomach. He felt like throwing up all the food he had eaten that day onto the boat but nothing came up. Not even the moon could comfort him, it just reminded him he had failed someone else just like her.
He should have been with them, sure he was a nonbender and couldn't fight like them but that thought of being able to stop it was driving him crazy. What if he had been there? Could he have taken the hit for him? Would he have actually died there? Would they have succeeded and gotten rid of Azula?
His thoughts were interrupted by that presence standing behind him. He knew who was standing there and honestly he didn't want to talk to him.
" Sokka, I got you some food. " He spoke as soft as he could, Sokka still isn't used to how he could be so quiet. Zuko bent down sitting down on the cold dirty deck. He held the steaming bowl of soup. Definitely had been heated up with his firebending.
Even though Sokka wanted to protest against the food, his stomach growling answered his question. Carefully taking the soup he started to eat as Zuko sat with him. They both sat in solemn silence, mourning under the moonlight.
Zuko sighed quietly and looked over, " I've been thinking- " he cut himself off
" Yes ? " Sokka asked holding the spoon to his mouth blowing it off to cool it down.
" We are both dead to the world. " Zuko spoke, " We don't have anyone anymore. I think that we shouldn't be alone though, after we get off this boat instead of separating we should team up. "
Well he wasn't expecting that, pulling the spoon out of his mouth gave Zuko the most bewildered look. " Wait, team up ? "
" Well of course ! " Zuko shouted but flinched hearing how loud he was, " Even though we both know we where never friends it would be foolish for any of us to travel alone, I barely made it traveling alone. "
Zuko did have a point, traveling alone especially during times of war was a foolish idea. Still, teaming up with mister firecracker was so funny to him. Sokka let out a snort that Zuko immediately heard. Zuko sat up ready to defend himself, " What is it? I'm not wrong! Think- "
" I know I know ! " Sokka raised his hands, finally a smile graced his face, " Just teaming up with you just seems crazy. " Sokka let his joy drop for a minute growing serious, " But I agree, teaming up raises our chances of survival. "
Zuko sighed in relief at Sokka finally agreeing, they both turned to the lake waters that reflected the moonlight glow. Zuko glanced at Sokka, slowly raising a hand he carefully took Sokka's shoulder so awkwardly. He just hoped he was actually being comforting instead of annoying, " You need to try and rest, it's gonna be a long day for us tomorrow."
Sokka nodded as Zuko pulled his hand away. Standing up, Zuko walked back to his own cot that was still close to Sokka and got in, turning his back to him.
Sokka didn't go to bed until an hour later, he just sat on the floor of that boat staring at the moon, the silent prayer for safety to a past lover. Eventually he went to bed, Zuko was right, the couple of days coming would be long.
—--
They hit the shore by the sunrise, both of them were still drained from yesterday but they couldn't rest. They had to get away from Full Moon Bay before he got overturned by Fire Nation soldiers. Many pathways were opened for Zuko and Sokka to take. Sokka had suggested they head to the nearest town.
Problem was, they didn't have a map nor any idea of where to head.
Well it must be that Jin sensed their troubles. Because before they could part from her family she stopped them. In her hand she held a bag outward to them.
Zuko was caught off guard as Sokka gracefully took the bag and curiously looked through it brightening up at the map and few spare money.
" Why are you giving us this? " Zuko asked as he couldn't get it, she was running like them, she needed as much as she had.
" I noticed you two had nothing, I couldn't let you guys travel like that. " Jin admitted as she gave him a soft smile, " It took a lot of time to convince my father to give up a bit but it's ok."
As much as Zuko wanted to argue for her to take it back, Sokka held that bag close and spoke for him " Thank you so much Jin ! " By the way Sokka held that bag, Zuko knew it would be impossible to not accept the handout.
Jin parted, she gave the two of them a hug and one last goodbye. She walked south with her family, Zuko and Sokka turned west and followed the other refugees on the roads.
While they walked, Sokka held the bag looking in it, " O yes ! A map ! " He shouted as he carefully put the bag on himself while unrolling the map. Zuko carefully looked over the water tribe warrior shoulder to find their location.
Sokka mumble trying to keep the map open while pointing there path. He eventually turned to Zuko, shoving the map in his hands " Hold it open for me ! "
" Wha- I'm not your map holder ! " Zuko protested but still held the map open for Sokka as he pointed at their location and carefully tried to map a pathway. Sokka pulled his hand away and turned to the direction they would be heading.
" Look, I'm gonna be honest, I'm unsure what we need to do or where to go. But still we need to head to the nearest settlement where we can get a small job. " Sokka admitted as he took the map and rolled it back up, " There are a few coins in that bag but it won't be enough to last us, only enough for a first meal. "
Zuko nodded, Sokka was right. They really didn't have anything. That thought made Zuko sick, he hated the struggle of being an Earth Kingdom refugee, to face that struggle again made his head hurt, he just hoped he wouldn't have to resort back into stealing.
Sokka sighed as he stretched, " For now we follow the crowds, until we can find our own pathway, are you ok with that plan ? "
Zuko nodded as he stepped up, " I am. " He mumbled and walked.
They walked.
They walked.
They walked.
The- that's it, all they did was walk. None of them exchanged words with each other.
Zuko didn't know what to say to Sokka. Sokka had just lost the Avatar, even though he didn't know them, he knew that those four were close. He knew how it was to lose family, but he could never form such comforting words. Besides, who is he to try and comfort him? He was someone who hunted the Avatar, he was a foe to them for the longest.
Sokka really didn't know how to feel anymore, that grief and shock is still fresh in his mind. He had made theories about it, slowly falling into that stage of denial. Katara had that healing spirity water, she could have healed him without the crazy princess seeing. Besides that, he was traveling with someone who for the longest he wanted to give a good punch to. Someone whose hair used to suck and his shouts used to make your ears bleed.
The silence was awkward and lasted until afternoon, the groups they trailed behind stopped to make camps. So they took that as a sign to stop and rest. Making a camp a little farther from the other refugees with them.
Sokka groaned as Zuko glanced up at him. Sokka kicked at the sand under his feet, " I forgot how much I took for granted the sleeping bags, I miss my sleeping bag. "
Zuko rolled his eyes a bit, though he did agree. He would love to have a sleeping bag.
" Hello boys. " Both Sokka and Zuko looked up to see an Earth Nation Woman standing there. She looked to be about in her late thirties, she held a huge backpack that made her look small, seriously how strong was this woman ? " I couldn't help but hear your struggle, and I've got a proposal. I've got one extra sleeping bag to give away but honestly I am horrible at hunting. If you two can please hunt me some food I'll give it to you for free. "
Sokka immediately shot up, raising his arms " We will do it ! "
" Great ! Thank you so much. " She smiled as she moved sitting down, " I'll even throw in some more stuff ! "
Zuko didn't really want to hunt for her, besides he didn't know about Sokka but he couldn't hunt. When he and his uncle had to hunt for food they didn't do that well. Maybe Sokka could hunt, he surely hoped so.
Carefully looking through the bag, Sokka was able to find a dagger from the bag that Jin gave them. Sokka took Zuko's shoulder heading to the direction of the forest pulling him in. The forest off the walking path was thick, the branches low to the ground making them have to duck or push them back.
Zuko sighed as he followed Sokka, " Not to burst the bubble of joy, but how do we know we can trust her ? How do we know this isn't a trick to get free food from us ? How do we know we will be able to find anything to eat ? "
" If you don't quiet down a bit the animals will be scared off. " Sokka turned to him, putting his hand up to shush Zuko, Zuko grabbed his hand and pulled it down. " When hunting, what matters is silence. You must disappear into the silence to be able to successfully catch your prey. "
Zuko just followed Sokka's lead, carefully making it through the thick branches until they eventually came across a small lake. In the lake where Turtle-Ducks, they peacefully swam followed by their young.
Sokka smiled wide, " Score, if we can just catch two- " he was stopped from stepping out. Zuko held his arm in a tight grip, he looked over to him completely confused. " Wait what's wrong ? Do you see something else out there ? " He asked
" No… just can we please hunt for another animal ? Leave them alone ? " Zuko asked.
Sokka sighed and motioned to the animal, " Look they are easier to catch, we don't have enough supplies to fish nor hunt for bigger animals. "
" But it's a Turtle-duck, they are small and aren't animals for eating ! " Zuko argued.
Sokka paused for a moment before letting out a loud laugh, he leaned forward holding his stomach. Zuko glared at Sokka, his face turning red from embarrassment, " Stop laughing ! "
Sokka continued to laugh at Zuko, he sat back up rubbing some tears out of his eyes, " Sorry just seeing you defend little turtle ducks, completely a shock. " He let out a snort as Zuko glared more. He could have sworn he saw smoke from his face pouring off. Sokka finally got composed before sitting up, " But no, as much as I hate eating cute animals, that's the way life goes. Besides it's not like some more animal is gon- "
Sokka stopped talking, he could feel something behind him. It let out a quiet squeal, the noise right on his neck breathing down his back. Zuko could only stare, his eyes wide and his skin pale, he reached forward taking Sokka's arm ready to run.
Sokka slowly turned, standing behind him was a huge Boar-q-pine. The huge boar covered in spikes staring them down. Out of fear, Sokka took the dagger and stabbed into the Boar-q-pine face. The Boar-q-pine let out a loud painful growling noise, its spikes on its back flared up. Even though it was stabbed it wasn't going down without a fight. Throwing its head up it quickly rolled forward ready to attack them with its spikes. Zuko dodged out of the way, he held Sokka's arm so Sokka got pulled with him.
Barely able to dodge that first roll the two of them stood up and bolted back to the pathway they were camping at. The branches hit their face, cutting up their shirts and the bottom of their pants. They ran right into a fallen log, and thicker branches that they couldn't run straight through.
Both of them panting, trying to catch their breaths, the Boar-q-pine right behind them, still growling. Out of desperation to not get their bodies covered in the long spikes, Zuko stepped forward throwing his fist out. A blast of fire hit the target head on in the back, letting out a loud squeal of pain as the Boar-q-pine turned running. It ran headfirst right into the trunk of the tree behind it, the dagger that had been in its head was pushed deeper in the head, that was the fatal blow. It fell right after hitting that tree.
Zuko panted heavily as he leaned forward holding his knees trying to process what had just happened.
Sokka was as well, but he threw his hands up in victory " We did it. " He sighed " I'm sticking to fishing from now on. "
Zuko stepped forward carefully checking if the animal was dead, he noticed the dagger in the head. Carefully grabbing the hilt of the dagger he pulled it out. Blood covered the dagger, it dropped right off. Zuko had to look away feeling sick to his stomach, o he hated hunting so much.
Sokka stepped forward, carefully patting Zuko's back sympathetically as he carefully walked to the Boar-q-pine, " You think you're ok enough to carry this guy back? I'll hold the front legs. " He asked since he noticed how ill he got from the dead animal's blood.
Zuko eventually nodded after a couple of seconds, walking forward he grabbed the back legs and walked with Sokka back to camp. It took some time but they were able to get to the camp. They got to their area where the woman was still sitting and dropped the Boar-q-pine in front of her.
She sat up straight, eyes wide and clearly in shock. " O I wasn't expecting you to come with that. " She admitted as she stood up wiping the dirt off her hands.
The three of them stood around the corpse, she looked up at them, she clearly hadn't been expecting them to bring back such a big animal. She spoke up, " Do you two know how to prepare a Boar-q-pine for cooking? "
She was met with silence.
" It's ok, I know a bit. " She assured them before glancing back at a few others, " Look there's another man traveling here, he is a butcher and he can help. If you are ok with sharing this food with a few others I feel like he could help. "
Sokka looked down at the Boar-q-pine, they wouldn't be able to eat all of the big thing so sharing it with another family wouldn't hurt. He shrugged, nodding, " Yea sure but I do want that extra sleeping bag. "
" Don't worry I've got it, and a few extra things. " She smiled and carefully dug in her big bag. She threw over the sleeping bag to Sokka and threw an extra blanket to Zuko. She eventually dropped her bag to get the Butcher and his family. Zuko carefully sat at the fire pit he made. He knew they would need a fire so he secretly lit it. Sokka noticed and made sure to shield Zuko as he made the fire.
The butcher and his family came over, the butcher thanked the boys with a hard pat to the shoulders and a hearty laugh. He eventually went to work on the Boar-q-pine, with the woman's help they were able to remove the spikes piling them up in the distance before working on the rest of the Boar-q-pine. Zuko really didn't wanna watch the rest so he moved to sit, Sokka went to help but the Butcher told him to rest.
Eventually the two boys sat across the fire silence still following, Sokka glanced over the flames looking at Zuko. He looked so different from how he had first met him. Less scary, less creepy, maybe it was the hair that complimented him more. Probably that, Zuko had the ugliest hair. But now, Zuko ran a stick in the sand, his eyes like gold in the flames.
The silence would probably kill them both.
" So, Turtle Ducks ? " Sokka spoke up
" Really ? " Zuko mumble looking up at Sokka, not impressed.
" Hey ! At least I'm trying to socialize, I need to know at least a bit about you. " Sokka pointed at Zuko as Zuko sighed.
Zuko glanced down at continuing to draw in the dirt, random symbols he had seen from his Uncle drawings. " Well, when I lived in the palace, we had a small pond in the gardens. In the pond we had a few turtle ducks, my mother had loved him and she wanted to have a few so she was able to get permission."
Sokka didn't miss the past tense on the mother part, he sighed before speaking up. " Ok I get it to be honest, when I was a kid I loved Tiger Seal Jerky. Would try to eat it every day, until one day I went hunting with my dad and saw a baby Tiger Seal. " Zuko looked up listening closely, " When I saw the baby I thought "Awe it's so cute I can't do it" and I scared them away. "
Sokka sighed and smiled softly, " My dad was upset but he didn't stay upset for long. He patted my back and explained the circle of life and all that. Then he took me home and we tried hunting the next week. "
" Did you catch anything that week ? " Zuko asked curiously
" Yep I caught a Tiger Seal bigger than me and you ! And I took it down with my boomerang ! " Sokka smiled wide
Zuko scoffed, smiling slightly " The boomerang ? "
" Of course, I mean I have hit you a couple of times with it too ! " Sokka laughed as Zuko grumbled about that.
The laughs slowly quieted down as the Butcher came over with a pot to cook the food. They let him even move over to give him some space. His daughter stood beside her father, she hid behind him staring at Zuko's face. Zuko noticed and glanced over to her as she looked away hiding behind her father. The Butcher didn't notice, he was focused on cooking.
Zuko looked away from the girl and looked back at Sokka. Sokka shrugged before leaning back and continued talking with Zuko, they talked about random things Sokka could think about. Zuko added in a few things.
The smell of the food covered the camp, eventually the man took out small plates before putting some food on them and passing them around. Sokka took his plate happily before immediately eating his food. Zuko did the same.
The Butcher sat with his daughter and the woman around the fire with them. The Butcher looked up at them, " You know you two did great hunting that Boar-q-pine, I'm surprised you two got out without any quills in your body ! "
" O it was nothing, we did it with no trouble. " Sokka smiled as Zuko silently kept the truth under wraps.
" Still thank you both, you two are pretty young? No family ? " The woman asked, worried.
" O we've been traveling together. '' Zuko quickly spoke, the lie coming easy.
" O really, well if the two of you want you can travel with us ? " She said
" No it's ok ma'am we got a destination in mind. " Sokka admitted as she sighed, accepting that.
They continue to eat before giving the plates back and turning in for bed. Sokka laid the sleeping bag down carefully as Zuko looked around for a soft land to lay his head on. Sokka noticed as he felt kinda bad, he slowly sat up and glanced around for something for Zuko to use as a pillow. Eventually his eyes landed on the bag they had. He felt it, it wasn't hard due to the extra clothing in it.
" Hey Zuko, I know this might not help but here ! " He threw the bag.
Zuko barely caught it, he held it up and mumbled thank you before laying down and wrapping the blanket around himself.
Sokka sighed before laying down and trying to fall asleep. Due to staying up all last night he had no trouble this night.
He soon dozed off without a problem.
Thankfully the Moon was watching over them, peaceful rest came for all of them. By morning they got up and continued the walk, leaving the dead fires and the leftovers of the Boar-q-pine. Zuko did pick up a few quills to use later but took everything else.
They walked, the fork in the road separating the woman and butcher from Zuko and Sokka.
As they continued west they eventually got to a small town.
A town that would bring new change.
Well the newest chapter has been added.
To the readers, the vote for no ocs and Zuko and Sokka being alone won ! Also I've been having trouble due to losing all notes but it's ok.
To all readers, I'm thinking of renaming the fanfiction but am unsure what to rename it yet. So if this name changes don't be surprised.
The notes for the story are still being worked on, more specifically I'm looking really into Japanese lore and culture, which I honestly don't know if I'm looking in the wrong place but I was able to find something still debating on using it. I would hate to get anything wrong.
Anyway if you can leave a review on how I can approve. I love reviews and try to respond to most of them.
Extra Note
Random Headcannon \/
When Zuko was a child, Ozai probably ordered Turtle Duck soup and didn't tell Zuko what it was until he was done eating it. Zuko most definitely cried himself to sleep that night.
