The Stranger

Edit: Crap. Guest review telling me this chapter was a bunch of… glitches… . But thanks for telling me, 'cause it was nice to know.

Something's wrong with me. I keep making references to a movie that I'm sure at least half of my readers haven't seen. It's a shame, really. It's a good movie.

Sorry for the wait on the update. My family just moved to a new house, and I haven't been able to get access to wi-fi. Bleh. And then when we did get access to wi-fi, I didn't have any inspiration.

Disclaimer: Anyway, I don't own anything but Tora. And the little OC's that come in every so often.

All characters you recognize belong to Nickelodeon.

And Princess Mononoke and all other Studio Ghibli films I reference in this story belong to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Obviously.

A young woman flipped through her scrolls, scanning the paper for something. A grin suddenly spread across her face when she spotted something on a map of the world. She chuckled to herself as she tapped a small speck on the map. "Oh, this is gonna be fun. One boy wants herbs for sick friend. Poor dear. I'll give 'im a map. Another boy wants the Avatar. I'll give 'im a mask. That man," She said 'man' with an air of disgust, as she curled her lips into a sneer. "Wants both the Avatar and to upstage that boy. I don't like 'im. Too greedy. And one girl," She paused, closing her eyes. "Wants to be reunited with her friends. She's a strong one, she is. Oh, yes," She laughed again. "I'll give her THAT mask." Silence, but the old woman reacted as if she had heard someone speaking to her. "Yes, THAT mask. Oh, and those other things. Yes, those other things. And I'll give 'em all to her in person! Yes, in person." The woman chuckled again. "This is gonna be fun."

A wolf, with gleaming white fur and yellow eyes, laying at her feet gave a soft growl. "Oh, hush up, Nanu. This will all work out eventually. I promise."

~~Water~~

"Why do girls always waste so much time looking at clothes?" Ryuu grumbled under his breath.

"And they're not even nice clothes!" Katsu agreed, looking very irritated.

I rolled my eyes, before looking away from the dress and toward the soldiers. "This information might come in very hand for you later in life, boys. Girls like getting fancy stuff." We were standing in the middle of a village, getting some odd looks from the people passing us by. It did look very weird. Two men in Fire Nation armour – complete with the skull masks – and a girl who looked like she was someone from any other backwater Earth Kingdom village wearing a Fire Nation tunic. Katsu and Ryuu were both holding two boxes of tea leaves each. I had promised Iroh that I would get him some tea. After we had gotten the tea, we were free to roam around and do whatever. And right now, the "whatever" we were doing was me looking at some clothes from a rundown looking stall, while they stood around looking bored. Not that anyone could tell from behind their masks.

"But they're not fancy!" Katsu exclaimed.

It was true. The clothes I was looking at weren't fancy at all. It was a simple outfit that consisted of a very dark purple – so dark it almost looked black – tattered looking sleeveless dress, with an equally tattered off-white sleeveless shirt over it. It was hanging on a wooden – and very old looking – mannequin.

"It's nice looking." I protested. "And I like it."

"Like it?"

I jumped when I heard a woman's voice appear out of nowhere. Turning, I saw a young woman grinning at me. Her hair was short and brown, barely reaching her shoulders and filled with tangles and knots. She was wearing a long, dark green tunic, with no sleeves, but a dark blue long sleeved shirt underneath, long black pants, and a white belt tied around her waist. In her hands she was carrying a broom, and she was sweeping at the ground furiously. I found it a little odd, given the fact that we were standing on a dirt road, so sweeping was kind of pointless.

"Yeah… I like it." I said awkwardly.

"Well, it's half off! Special sale for today only!" The woman said cheerfully, grinning. "And I'll include the accessories for no more than three silver coins!"

"Accessories?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow. The woman nodded.

"Oh, wait, where'd I put them?" She muttered, disappearing into the back of her stall.

"Can we go now?" Katsu whispered in my ear, sounding distressed. "I've read a horror story about this once."

"I FOUND 'EM!" The woman shrieked as she came back out of her stall, making me jump again. Katsu just let out a girly screech, making Ryuu bust out laughing. "Here you go, pretty jewelry for a pretty lady!" She held up the accessories for me to see.

In the woman's right hand was a necklace of real wolf fangs – at least they looked like real wolf fangs, and I'm pretty sure they were – and black beads. It went in a pattern. Fang, bead, fang, bead, fang, bead, and so on.

In the woman's left hand was a pair of earrings. They were pretty much the most beautiful earrings I had ever seen. They were large circular disks, flashing in the sunlight. They were bright white, and looking at them, I got the feeling that they were made out of shells rather than… whatever earrings were usually made of.

"They're lovely." I murmured, reaching out one hand to take them.

"You can have the whole ensemble for only ten silvers!" She exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

I turned to Katsu and Ryuu, holding out my hand. "Have we got any money left?"

"You're gonna spend money on that?" Katsu demanded in amazement, gesturing to the clothes and the accessories.

The look I gave him could have curdled milk.

"Got it." He mumbled, pulling out a small pouch and tossing it to me, nearly falling over under the weight of the boxes on one arm. I smiled at him, before turning back to the woman.

"Here you go." I said, opening the pouch and dumping the coins into her hand. Not even two seconds after that happened, she threw the clothes in my face, and then threw the necklace around my neck and stuffed the earrings into my hand.

"Thank you for your purchase!" She said cheerfully. Then, as we were walking off, she frowned. "Oh, wait; there was one other thing…"

"What'd you say?" I asked, turning back around.

She flapped her hand. "Oh, I'm sure I'll remember eventually. And when I do, I'll be sure to find ya!" She waved us off. "I'll be seeing you soon, Tora!"

"How'd you know my name?" I asked, turning around.

"Oh, word gets around. See you soon!" She waved again, before she went back to her sweeping.

"Okay… that was creepy…" Ryuu mumbled to himself.

"It wasn't so bad!" I protested, fingering one of the wolf fangs on the necklace. "I got some nice stuff."

"What about me?" Katsu wailed. "I lost the last of my bet winnings!"

~~Water~~

I stared, slightly open mouthed, at the belongings on my bed. Katsu, Ryuu, and I had just returned from the market, and had given Iroh his tea (which he enjoyed very much) so I had been able to return to my room and put away the things I had gotten in the village. Imagine my confusion when I walked in and found things I had never seen before on my bed.

There was a mask that looked a lot like Moro's mask. Only this one would cover a person's entire face, with a white line where the edge of Moro's mask would have been. The eye holes were a lot more circular, with small black scar looking triangles sticking out of either end of both of the eyeholes. At the bottom of the mask, underneath the bottom white line, was a mouth hole. White fur hung off the back of the mask, and I knew that if I wore the mask, then nobody would be able to see my hair or my face. Sticking out of the fur was a pair of black and red wolf-like ears. Along with the fur was a cloak – not a normal cloak, though. This one was designed to hang from my shoulders, not from around my neck from a clasp. It didn't have any hood, and it reached my knees. The entire thing was made out of white wolf fur, and it would blend in perfectly with my mask's fur.

The things that really caught my attention were the wrapped packages. One was long and thin – more flat than thin, actually. As soon as I had seen it, I knew what it was. And when I had unwrapped it, I saw I had been right. It was a sword – a beautifully crafted sword, the blade covered by a plain black scabbard. It wasn't the sword that was beautiful, actually, but it was the craftsmanship. Whoever had made it could rival my father's talent for sword-making. It didn't look like any normal sword – or at least, what people usually think whenever they hear the word "sword". The hilt was simple, with a flat sort-of-cylinder-shape that looked like it was made out of wood, and painted red. There was also a metal ring around the end of the hilt, so whoever was using the sword could hang the sword from his or her fingers and hold something else in the same hand. The blade was shining silver, one part of the tip of the blade slanting down to another point.

There was also a knife. At first, I thought it had also been a sword, because it had a long scabbard that was made for a sword more than a knife. It had obviously been made by the same person as whoever had made the sword. The craftsmanship was the exact same. The knife was long – about eleven or ten inches – with a hilt that looked like it was made of wood, and painted red. The base of the knife had two small red triangles pointing up to the tip of the blade.

As I stared at the things on my bed, something caught my eye. It was a piece of brown paper. I picked it up, and saw some words scribbled onto the paper.

I remembered what I forgot! You forgot these! Don't worry, no extra charge! Just be sure no one sees you wearing the mask. I suspect that you'll put all of these things to good use!

Oh, and by the way – don't tell anyone where you got sword and the knife! And be sure to watch out for the person wearing the Blue Spirit mask!

Don't put these things too waste. You hear me? -Or my plans will be ruined-*

~ Woman from the clothing stall.

I stared at the note for a long time, before stuffing it into my pocket. How the hell had she found me? I don't remember mentioning anything to her at all. Especially nothing about where I was currently living. And she had gotten here before us! How had that happened? Iroh would have noticed something and mentioned it. Anybody would have mentioned it. And I honestly doubt she had managed to get onto the ship without anyone seeing. There was only one way on the ship and one way off the ship. And I think Iroh – or anybody, really – would have seen an old woman and mentioned it to us.

I picked up the sword and the knife. They felt right in my hand. The sword wasn't as comfortable as my sword was to me, but the combo of the knife and the sword would be good in a pinch. If I managed to keep both the sword and the knife, and if I got my real sword back… I smiled to myself.

Well, enough standing around. I had to practice with them, get used to their feel.

I paused. I bought the clothes for a reason, I should wear them.

A few minutes later, I was dressed in the dark purple dress and the off-white shirt. They were surprisingly comfortable. Just because, I put on the necklace and the earrings. I liked the way they hung off my neck and ears, except they made a faint rattling noise whenever I moved. But it was okay. I had pulled a black cloth belt around my waist, and attached both the sword and the knife scabbards to it, so I wouldn't have to keep holding the weapons. The sword was on my left, and the knife was on my right.

I was standing on the deck of the ship, while Iroh sat playing Pai Sho with Lieutenant Jee. Every so often, their eyes would flicker toward me briefly, before looking back down at the game board.

"Where'd you get the swords again?" Ryuu asked, watching me. Katsu was standing next to him, looking oddly eager.

"I told you, I found them under my bed." I said for what felt like the hundredth time. I had decided to trust the woman who had wrote the letter, and hadn't told anyone where I got the weapons. It was actually kind of surprising that no one thought I was lying yet.

"And we're here because…?" Katsu asked, shifting his weight onto his right foot.

"You're both going to help me practice." I explained for what felt like the billionth time. "I haven't used my sword in days," I intentionally stress the last word. "And if I get too out of practice, I'll start to get rusty." That was true, but I wasn't telling the whole truth. I did want to practice, so I could do something other than play Pai Sho with Iroh or the guys, and so I wouldn't start getting rusty. But I also wanted to practice so that, if I didn't join my friends by the time they reached the North Pole, I would fight my way out of Zuko's ship and find them.

"I don't think I'd be the best person to help you practice, but okay…" Ryuu mumbled to himself, he and Katsu both pulling out their swords. They had never used them, as far as I had seen, but they told me they were excellent swordsmen, almost as good as Prince Zuko was. I put my hands on the opposite hilts of both my weapons – my right hand on the hilt of the sword, and my left hand on the hilt of the knife.

"Remember, all's fair – no rules. You're allowed to use firebending, I'm not, and we only stop if one of us is seriously injured." I said. Both males nodded in agreement.

They both came at me with their swords pointing directly at me. I instantly unsheathed both my weapons, holding the sword in my right hand and the knife in my left, and crisscrossed the blades of both the knife and the sword, holding them above my head. Then, as Katsu and Ryuu's swords came down on me, I uncrossed the weapons and blocked the soldier's swords, so all of the blades together made a square. Then, using all my strength, I pushed back against them. It caught them off guard, so they were knocked off their feet. Then, as they got back on their feet, looking a little more wary than before, they spread apart and came at me from different angles. I held up my sword to block Katsu, and used the knife to block Ryuu. The knife was well built, so the hilt, even though it was wooden, didn't break under the weight of the full grown man.

Then, taking both of them by surprise, I suddenly pulled my blades back and jumped out of the way, making both men stumbling into each other and knocking their heads against the others. As they untangled themselves from each other, cursing under their breath, I stifled a laugh.

"What are you doing?!"

I groaned, before turning around and smiling hugely. "Hi, Zuko!"

"I said, what are you doing?" The prince asked again, glaring at me.

"Practicing." I said, showing him my new weapons. I was expecting him to demand to know where I had gotten them. I was expecting him to get angry and try to take them from me. I was expecting him to order me to never use the weapons on his ship again, just like he ordered me to never bend on his ship unless it was an emergency.

What I was not expecting, however, was for him to take the sword from me and started holding it delicately, like he was weighing it. "Do you even know how to use this?" He asked, eying me.

"Do you even know who you're talking to?" I demanded, planting my hands on my hips, after re-sheathing the knife.

"All I did was ask you a question. Do you know how to use this?"

"Yes, I do."

Then he asked me another question I hadn't been expecting. "Who taught you?"

I shrugged, still feeling a little confused. "My dad."

Then, Zuko did something I had not been expecting at all. Even if Fire Lord Ozai had suddenly appeared on the ship and expressed his undying love for Iroh, and then started kissing Aang, which would cause Iroh to burst into tears and drown himself in tea (Don't laugh, I actually had a dream like that once) I wouldn't have been as shocked as I was right then, when Zuko did the exact thing that, as said before, I had not been expecting at all.

Zuko smiled.

That's right. He smiled. At me. And more importantly, he smiled! AT ME!

He has a nice smile. I thought briefly. Then, as soon as I thought it, I internally punched whoever had taken over my thoughts and made me think that.

"Let's see if he taught you well." Zuko said, tossing the sword back into my hand. I caught it easily in my left hand.

Then what he had said sank in. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me." Zuko crossed his arms. "I want to fight you."

I stared at him blankly. "Really?"

"Scared?" He smirked at me.

"You wish."

"Then what's keeping you?" Zuko demanded. "We'll fight to see who's better. And no using the knife, it seems cowardly."

"If I was cowardly, I wouldn't be in a sword fight to begin with." I said. "Where's your sword, anyway?"

Zuko smirked, before he turned around. "I'll go get them."

"What are you planning, exactly?" Iroh called to me from where he was playing. "Zuko is a great swordsman - he needs to practice a little more often than he does, but he is very good at it."

I grinned. "I don't care if this sounds arrogant - he's going up against the daughter of the greatest sword master in the Fire Nation." Never mind that my dad wasn't from the Fire Nation. "If I don't beat him, it will at least be a tie."

Not exactly my best chapter... but I'm still trying to get back in the mood. So bear with me for a while, okay?

So, yeah... Tora and Zuko are going to have a swordfight in the next chapter. Awesome!

I would have tried to finish the episode in this whole chapter, but I couldn't find the energy. It would have gotten really long if I had. And as much as you guys may want long chapters, they can get a little bothersome at times. So... yeah.

Next chapter contains scenes from the actual episode.

Thumbs up for you if you caught the reference! If you didn't... you are a poor, depraved person.