~Bato of the Water Tribe (Part 1)~
Ryuu POV
Three weeks after the headache, and we - Zuko took some convincing - decided to take a day off. My walking had come on leaps and bounds; literally, but I was exhausted from constant practice, so Iroh allowed me a break from duties to just regain energy.
Well, that was the plan.
Iroh, Zuko and I were sat in a triangle, sipping tea and generally trying to relax. Zuko quickly got itchy feet but was refused the option to go and work. It was making his concussion worse if anything. It kept coming back in painful spurts, which had led Iroh to force Zuko into this tea-drinking-cult.
"Ahhh. Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well-being."
He brought the cup up to his lips, but before he could drink, a sudden jolt sent the liquid flying. Unfortunately, it landed on Zuko's head. Unfortunately, it made me explode into laughter. The Prince shook himself and wiped his ponytail off of his face. He was dripping with tea.
"At least you smell nice, Princess! "
He grunted at me and stood up suddenly, knocking my tea over me. He pointed and let out a single exclamation of laughter. Iroh ran his hand over his beard, contemplating our childish actions. Another jolt and Zuko ran to the door, quickly followed by Iroh and me.
"What in the name of The Blue Spirit-"
The ship pitched to the left- I mean starboard. In the narrow corridor, Zuko fell against me, and I in turn, fell against a wall. The compromising position made my flush hard. Zuko pretended not to be effected. Iroh smiled. The ship rocked back to normal, sending us flying again. This time onto the floor and a further comprising position.
"S-sorry..." I bought my hands to my face.
Zuko shot to his feet, helped me up and we went to the deck as quickly as we could. Iroh was smiling at us all the way. When we got to the deck, the biggest mole-creature was clumsily trying to board. Some Firebending soldiers were poised to attack, but 'made a tactical retreat '.
"Get back! We're after a stowaway!"
I hid behind Zuko, thinking she meant me. In her hand she held a mean looking whip as mean looking as the beast. In fact, she was more terrifying than the creature she rode on. Zuko was appalled:
"There are no stowaways on my ship."
I sighed and peeked over Zuko's shoulder. He ignored me. Honestly, I was glad I was not a stow away because I did not want to be her prisoner. The beast ripped some metal plating off of the deck to reveal a storage area, and a man in Earth Kingdom dress.
He scrambled out and ran for his life, but was quickly stopped by a flick of the monster's tounge. He fell to the floor: paralysed. Zuko stated the obvious. The woman slid off of her monster-thing and heafted the man onto her shoulder. When she saw me peeking over Zuko's shoulder, she sent a suspicious smile my way.
"Only temporarily. The toxins will wear off in about an hour. But by then, he'll be in jail and I'll have my money."
"Bounty hunter," I pressed myself against Zuko, hoping to further protect myself from her. Zuko ignored this action, but Iroh raised an eyebrow.
"But how did you find him on my ship?" He raised a pointed hand at the hunter. She monted her monster and patted it affectionately.
"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away."
I audibly gave a cry of fear. Zuko, again, ignored me, acting like it was a usual occurrence. The hunter didn't. She tossed her head, making her hair fly in the breeze. She cracked her whip and the monster leapt off of the ship, making it rock as a consequence.
"I'm impressed. Very impressed. "
The Prince and I looked at Iroh with a shared look of disgust. At that point, Zuko stepped forward to far and I fell over flat onto my face. Zuko gazed down at me.
"What were you doing? "
"Terrified," I got to my feet, "Hiding."
"You're under my protection."
He set his jaw and looked after the hunter. He had a plan in mind. I didn't like the plan at all if it involved the shirshu. Or her. Nope. Definitely not.
...
Zuko made me come along. He made me. If it wasn't for him, I would've stayed in the nice, safe ship. But noooo. Nooo. Freaking Zuko.
We'd tracked the woman down to a local tavern. After rambling through the woods a noisy tavern was hard to miss. Zuko had fury painted on his face as he kicked, literally kicked, the door open. He barged through the tavern, me behind him, Iroh behind me.
"Out of my way! Step aside, filth!"
A man leered at us, I pointed at him, "Uh- Zuko?"
"He means no offense! I'm certain you bathe regularly!" Iroh defended his nephew.
We reached the centre of the tavern, fully surrounded by rogues and bad looking people. The woman was defeating a ridiculously muscular man at arm wrestling. Zuko balled his fists and stared her down.
"I need to talk to you!"
She looked amused as Iroh and I caught up.
"Well, if it isn't my new friends: Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy. Oh, and who could forget Angry's little girlfriend?"
Iroh laughed at the comment. Zuko became red faced, with either embarrassment or fury. I just assumed my position behind Zuko.
"What?! She's not my-"
The lady rolled her eyes, "Are you sure? Although she does look to good for you."
She defeated her opponent in the arm wrestle. Iroh smiled creepily. I was even more petrified. A shower of money came her way.
"Your beast trashed my ship. You have to pay me back!"
The lady took a short outtake of breath, which sounded like a laugh.
"Well, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money," She turned to the crowd, "Drinks on me!"
Zuko became furious, he caught her wrist and snarled, "Money isn't what I had in mind."
She broke free of Zuko and marched to the door. We followed and Zuko drew a Water Tribe betrothed necklace from his armour. I stared at it, he had never shown it to me before. Had he got a girlfriend?
"I need you to find someone. "
The lady turned around as we reached the door. She scanned Zuko but pushed through the door and marched to her shirshu.
"What, your ex-girlfriend ran away?"
Zuko stomped the earth, "It's not the girl I'm after, it's the bald monk she's traveling with."
For some reason, that made me sigh with relief. I stepped out from behind Zuko and stood there, still terrified of the woman. She raised her brow.
"If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for."
She scoffed and began to mount her shirshu, "Forget it."
Iroh went to the last resort, "Plus, we'll pay your weight in gold."
I could practically see the ladies ears prick up. She backed off of her beast and stepped towards Iroh. She poked his stomach and grinned.
"Make it your wieght and we have a deal."
Iroh beamed at her, "You got it!"
Zuko went to protest, but I shook my head. He got the message. The lady snatched the necklace from Zuko and left her Shirshu sniff it. It raised its nose and waited until the lady and Iroh had gotten on until it raced off. Zuko and I mounted our kimono rhino that we had bought and raced after her.
...
We stopped by a herbalist and her cat, who she asked if he'd got trouble again. (Again?).
Then we briefly stopped infront of a fortune tellers place, where the reader flirted with Iroh. It was not the most pleasant experience. But she did look at me and smiled. I don't know what she saw, but it must've involved Zuko, as she made a quick gesture with her fan ( putting the closed fan to her heart) when she glanced between us.
Zuko told me to ignore her. I didn't.
After being nearly eaten by the shirshu, Zuko sat firmly back on the kimono rhino. I giggled at him. The reader put the handle of her fan to her lips while pointing at Zuko. He grunted and pulled the rhino away. I thanked her for whatever she was trying to say. Zuko grumbled to himself.
The shirshu led us through a woods before the lady called back, "We're getting close."
...
Zuko curved his mouth into a smile. We had reached an abbey. It probably meant one of two things: the Avatar was wounded or one of his friends was. The Mother Superior bravely stepped infront of us. She held up her hands and warded us away.
"Where is he?!" Zuko snapped.
She didn't answer. The hunter then turned to the Superior. She leaned forward in her saddle. The Superior stayed very still.
"Well? Answer me!"
He was about to leap of to shoot a warning shot at her, but I gripped firmly onto his armour.
"Don't. It's not worth it."
Grudgingly, he listened. The Superior sighed in relief. The Shirshu turned its head and scampered away. As we passed the Superior, I apologised as quickly as I could. She let her arms fall and backed up. She did know where the Avatar was, but I wasn't prepared to let Zuko hurt a nun.
...
We rumbled through Forrest recklessly. Eventually, we burst out onto a path with two kids. The girl stared up in awe. The boy grabbed the girl. They were obviously siblings and the Avatar's companions. The hunter smirked.
"So this is your girlfriend. No wonder she left, she's way too pretty for you."
That made me jealous. Zuko shifted his wieght in the saddle and I kept my arms around his waist. But then, when he touched my arm as a signal to let go, I did. I didn't want to.
Zuko leapt off and leaned over them, "Where is he? The Avatar?"
The boy hissed through his teeth, "We split up. He's long gone by now."
"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko snapped.
"Pretty Stupid. Run, Katara!"
They didn't get far. The shirshu paralysed them within seconds. The sun was going down by now, but Zuko was determined.
"What do we do now? "
The Shirshu creeped forward. It sniffed at the boy's pack, revealing a map. Then, suddenly, it leaped foward towards the Abbey again.
