Chapter 4

Zuko composed himself, making sure he was as immaculate as he could be, despite his rising anxiety. He tapped his head, pulling himself out of one of the many possible scenarios his mind had made of his plan failing spectacularly. Zuko took a deep breath, lessening the pressure his inner anxiety had put on his chest. Zuko checked his outfit a third time, as a way of keeping his mind off of his inner stress and anxiety.

As his ship arrived in the bay, Zuko felt his stomach twist, turn, and generally feel unpleasant. He forced himself to recall that this was, indeed, necessary. There was no "better" step, as it was either going on a futile search for the Avatar for years on end, or this one risky maneuver to allow him to escape his father's clutches forever. Zuko then reminded himself again that it was highly likely that his father would begin tracing all of his activities soon, and so now was the best time for the transfer, as the firelord would have not gotten around to setting up the infrastructure for tracing him.

As Zuko steered the boat into the port, he told himself that there was no going back. For there wasn't, it was now or never. He took one last deep breath and travelled down to the docks. He jumped down to the docks from the deck of the ship, which drew a few startled glances. "Note to self: when trying to stay unnoticed, do not perform feats of agility, strength, or other acts of incredible activity," he thought as he threw a dark cloak over himself, staring out at the docks.

Thankfully, while he had chosen the smaller city, the city was large enough that his ship did not dwarf the rest of the ships docked at the port. It was also unlikely to draw much attention, as a plethora of ships (about fiftyish by Zuko's mental count) were docked in the harbor. It was a new moon, and so there was next to no light out in the docks other than the light provided by the torches. This suited Zuko's purposes, as Zuko was able to essentially vanish into the dark with his dark cloak.

Zuko stopped in his tracks, his face turning as pale as the currently non-visible moon and his eyes opening wide. He had forgotten to figure out one thing – how he was going to find who he was going to sell the boat to. His mind swirled, thinking of schemes of how to sell the boat and how to do it quickly. He clutched his forehead, straightening his posture and forcing himself to think coherently instead of having his cognitive power stretched thin thinking of thousands of possibilities, their outcomes, and their effects on him.

Zuko, after a minute of deep thinking, decided to sell it to a merchant. Though most merchants did not bother with random backwater colonies, he knew that this colony had a small vein of iron ore. Most of the larger merchants would not bother with an iron vein this small, but several small-time merchants saw it as an opportunity to expand their profits. And if there was something that these merchants needed, it would probably be boats. Labor wasn't a problem, most of the colonists or conquered villagers were willing to work for Fire Nation employers, seeing as they received preferential treatment from the local governments (such as not being extorted), and neither was regulation, as the colonial governments tried to attract as much prosperity as they could by providing a highly deregulated environment. Shipping may be the only issue these merchants would come across, either needing more ships to carry more product back to the mainland or needing protection from the frequent pirate raids on merchant ships. Zuko's ship solved both problems, and so Zuko's plan was back on track.

Zuko gathered information from others at the docks, gathering a list of the merchants in the city, burying the important questions under layers of trite, such as the amount of boats that came in and out each day, the local weather patterns, and climate of the local area and its effect on sailing. After collecting information from twenty different individuals, he had a list of merchants capable of buying his boat. Zuko arranged their names in sequential order of affluence and began formulating his sales pitch for each of them.

Zuko wrapped himself deeper in his cloak, pretending to appear cold, even though in reality he was using his firebending to keep himself warm. He had to appear normal in order to not start any local gossip. Though the chances of his father finding out about this through the local gossip of a small colony was non-existent, Zuko knew not to underestimate his father when it came to keeping tabs on him. He wasn't keeping tabs on him because he cared, though, he kept tabs because he wanted to make sure that Zuko wasn't actively being an embarrassment to the royal family. It was also possible that Ozai wasn't keeping any tabs on Zuko whatsoever, but Zuko knew never to assume what Ozai would do.

Reaching the office of the most affluent merchant, Zuko was surprised to see it open so late. Zuko opened the door, walking into the entrance room. Walking up to the secretary, he requested if he could have a meeting with the merchant. The secretary looked up at him, seeing only a cloaked figure, and responded with, "I'm sorry, he's such a busy man and has his schedule completely filled; I'm sure I could fit you in in a few months." She smiled sweetly; her fake smile betrayed by the questioning look in her eye.

"Oh, I'm sure he's not that busy," Zuko said, pulling a small bribe out of the folds of his cloak and putting it on the table in front of the secretary. Mentally, he winced at the thought of losing money, but reminded himself that he needed to "gift" this money in order to sell the boat for a far larger sum than that which he put on the secretary's desk.

"On second thought, I may be able to squeeze you in sooner," she said with a smirk. She waved her arm, dismissing Zuko to sit down in the entrance room. She walked off, most likely to inform the merchant that he had had a meeting that "accidentally" had not been transcribed onto his schedule.

Zuko waited, planning his sales pitch. He first thought about not telling the merchant upfront about his intentions to sell the boat but decided instead to be direct about his intention to sell the boat. Most merchants as affluent as this one often had no time for those who were indirect and wasted their time.

The secretary came back, informing Zuko that the merchant was ready to see him now. Zuko smiled as he stood up, and after thanking the secretary, he walked towards the merchant's office.