~The Swamp~
Ryuu POV
I've had worse.
But somehow this felt the worst of it. It was humiliating and wrong. Zuko had met my eyes and we exchanged a quick body language conversation, so that Iroh wouldn't know. We had to do something. Right, the lead up:
The town we had stopped in was a few mile from Song's village. We had been travelling all night and were obviously exhausted. The Ostrich Horse had collapsed so he, ourselves, decided to take a break. Iroh and Zuko leant infront of the Ostrich, me leaning over it. Some kind people would throw us coins. Zuko was quick to anger as a passer chucked a couple of bronze coins.
"This is humiliating! We're royalty! These people should be giving us whatever we want. Well, not Ryuu. She's not royalty..."
I scoffed, "Thanks Princess- oh wait. You're not a freaking Prince anymore! So that nickname isn't valid. What about Zuzu? Hmmm?"
He scowled at me but Iroh shook his head. Thank spirits Iroh was there.
"People will give you things, if you ask nicely. Spare change for a hungry old man?"
A peasant woman passed and tossed Iroh a coin. He put his hand to his heart and started flirting with her. Zuko and I both made disgusted expressions. The lady gave Iroh a silver coin.
"See?"
"Hmmm. What about him?" I raised a brow at Zuko, "I bet you my leg that you could flirt with him and we will be miraculously restored to our rightful places. "
Zuko scowled, "Oh, ha ha."
The man, who carried dual swords, stopped before us. He drew a shiny gold piece from his money pouch and a sly grin spread across his face.
"How about some entertainment in exchange for ... a gold piece?"
I'd dealt with the kinds of him before. They never give money out of kindness but of cruelty and self-gain. Zuko snapped.
"We're not performers."
Iroh saw the gold and beamed, "Not professional anyway. It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty!"
I clapped my hands over my ears. Zuko just sat there - void of visible emotion. The broadsword guy drew both his swords. Zuko now showed emotion; he sat bolt upright and stared sharply up at the man. I went to grab my Ji, but, with a flick of his fingers, Zuko stopped me.
"Come on, we're talking a gold piece here! Let's see some action! Dance!"
He slashed at Iroh's feet, making him jig about as he sang. I dug my nails into my palms in an attempt at not trying to kill him. Zuko was doing much the same. When the man got bored, he tossed the gold coin into the air. I caught it.
"Ha, ha! Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner! Here ya go!"
He left - but Zuko and I then exchanged the silent conversation. We formulated a plan that would make sure Broadswords would definitely never do anything like that again. Iroh dramatically wiped his eyes.
"What a nice man!"
...
"Are you sure you want to come?"
Zuko tied the new Blue Spirit mask behind his head. I nodded and drew a line of mud from my forehead to tip of my nose. Then, I tied my half-hyanna mask across my mouth and bottom of my nose. Checking the sit of the second hand red hanfu that I pulled over to disguise myself further.
Zuko, now The Blue Spirit, stood before me in the alley.
Quickly pulling my scraggly hair into a top-knot, Zuko made an impressed sound. He drew up his mask and - like when I was first on his ship - he looked me up and down before plainly saying:
"Suits you."
He pulled the mask down and leapt onto a crate, then onto a roof. I followed him after grabbing my Ji. We tracked the Broadswords guy to an alley - he was easy to track as he had just been ejected from a tavern after fighting. He turned down the alley on his way home. I tripped on my hanfu sleeves. A roof tile dislodged and nearly hit him. He flattened himself against a wall.
"Who's there?"
Zuko jumped down to block one exit; me the other. We slowly advanced. The man drew his swords. He put one either way - at both of us. I raised my Ji in response. Zuko: his fists.
"Stop. I know how to use these."
Zuko grabbed one wrist, me the other but not before he managed to jab at my right thigh. I kicked the mans knees out with my prosthetic leg, make it hurt more for humiliating Iroh. He toppled over, dropping the swords. Zuko took them up and swung them in silver arcs. Then he ripped the sheath off of the man's back. I held my Ji to the mans throat as he turned over onto his back - whimpering.
"I'll give you all my money, just leave me alone."
I held out my other hand and the man passed me his bulging bag of money. Zuko nodded and we leapt onto a crate then onto the roofs again. The man leapt to his feet and stumbled against a wall. His once proud face now etched with fear.
...
Zuko POV
It was a good thing I had Broadswords. I had missed my ones after they were destroyed in the explosion. And my mother's mask. This new one didn't feel right, but it served its purpose well.
As Ryuu and I slid back down into the alley closest to where uncle slept, I heard Ryuu hiss in pain.
She collapsed onto the hard alley floor and clasped her hands around her thigh. Instantly, I sheathed my swords. If she had been hurt then it would be a lot harder to go anywhere. Something twinged in the pit of my stomach. Ryuu looked so weak.
Whenever I had looked at her, she put on a strong front. Unaffected by things that should've hurt. She never showed pain. She always smiled. But now, seeing her reduced to hissing in pain, it hurt me too. Why I felt her pain, no one knows, but I did.
"Ryuu?"
She twitched her eyes up at me. As she took her fingers away from her thigh, they were tipped with red. I unclipped her mask. Her face was twisted into a grimmace.
"Can I- can I look?"
Slowly, she pulled away her dress, up to her middle thigh. The wound she had sustained wasn't life threatening - I sighed, relieved - but it did look painful. When I carefully traced the wound with my finger, she drew in an elongated breath.
"Cut the hem off," she instructed through gritted teeth, "use it as a bandage. "
Drawing a sword, I held a bit of her dress out so I didn't accidentally cut Ryuu and sliced it off. It was like a hand through air. Using the length of red material, I gingerly wrapped it around the wound. She pressed her lips so hard together they drained of colour.
"There. How is it?"
Ryuu stared into my eyes. Her swirling pools of mercury grey made my heart flip - I hated the feeling. They - her eyes - were even more dazzling in the late moon light.
"I'll survive. "
She went to wipe the mud off of her face, but soon realised her fingers were daubed in blood. I raised my thumb to her forehead and gently wiped away the mud. She closed her eyes and her lips curved up into a slight smile.
I shot back to my feet. What was wrong with me?
"Come on. Let's get back to Uncle before he wakes."
She pushed her back against the wall and slid up it, "We need to change first, remember?"
I pulled off my top over my head and threw on the tunic I had stored behind a crate. Ryuu watched me do this. Well, she couldn't really not as I stripped of my top right infront of her. I didn't care for her surprised squeal (although I did chuckle). She managed to cover her eyes before I pulled off my leggings and then on with my trousers.
Acting the gentleman I should, I turned away as she changed cautiously. She did look very pretty in her dress, but back in her old clothes, she looked like the Ryuu I lov- knew. Like the Ryuu I knew.
She packed her dress and mask into a satchel, along with the money. I hugged my mask close to my chest, thinking of my mother, hanging onto my good memories. Then I stuffed the Blue Spirit into the bag alongside the Hong Mu Shi (What? Ryuu also deserved an alter ego name).
I held out my arm and Ryuu took it. She was cautious about walking, but she managed. She is strong. Very strong...
We reached our makeshift camp. It was indignant and the epitome of squalor, but I felt my body draining of energy by the second. Uncle was loudly snoring. So much so, that the blanket on his chest bounced everytime he breathed out. Ryuu bit her lip to prevent her musical laughter slipping out.
The night was cold. It was spring so I was used to this kind of dramatic change in climate at night. It always was like this in spring back home. Ryuu didn't seem to be standing up to the weather well. Through her clothes, she shivered. Earth Kingdom girl as she was, she had lived in Omashu and - as she had explained one night on the ship- every night was muggy.
Sighing in exasperation, I couldn't let her freeze to death. It wasn't that cold but she made it out to be.
"Sit here," I pulled her down next to me. We sat the other side of the Ostrich Horse from Uncle but his snoring was loud. Too loud. I lay with my back on the Ostrich. Ryuu sat next to me. She somehow managed to fall asleep.
During her rest, her head lolled onto my shoulder. I sighed as she shivered. She was still cold. I wrapped my arms around her as gently as I could and pulled her closer. She curled up against me, her face squished into my neck. Whenever she exhaled, it tickled.
My exhaustion got the better of me. I fell asleep soon after that.
