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Sasuke!

Light From the Shadows Chapter 20

Sasuke

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In Sasuke's last chapter, Zuko gave him a pendant that had belonged to his brother after a fight between them, what happens next? WillSasuke go after his first lead on his brother? Or will he stay with Zuko?

…

"Where did you find this?" His voice was low and angry.

"Come to my quarters, I don't want anyone else overhearing this." Zuko whispered.

Sasuke nodded and the two entered his room. Zuko shut the door behind them and they took a seat by the fire. Sasuke took a deep breath, he had forgotten to breathe for a moment, it did nothing to quell is emotional state.

"Tell me everything, Zuko. Don't leave one damn thing out."

He was being irrationally angry, but Sasuke didn't care. There was something that had belonged to his brother lying in his shaking hand. For the first time in over ten years, their, no his, first lead in finding the bastard. At that very moment, he was fuming. A plume of steam erupted from his nose.

"All right. The night Zhao's men came and told us we had to report everything on the Avatar?"

"Mm."

"I left the ship the night before to check out Zhao's fortress. While there I saw him with another officer discussing the Yu Yen Archers. They were demonstrating and I swear I think I saw your brother with them. He has long hair right? And, wow your eyes are exactly the same, but something is different about his. They were cold…" Zuko shivered unconsciously.

"Why didn't you—No never mind, just continue."

"That was when Zhao got the promotion notice, and he ordered the other officer to let him use the Archers to find the Avatar. Once I heard that, I knew for certain he would find the Avatar within days. It felt like we were fighting a brick wall. I know I should have told you, but I wanted to be absolutely sure I was correct."

Sasuke made a waving motion, as if to say, … and?

"I went back during music night. I guess you could say I just really didn't feel up to it that evening." He sighed before continuing, "Anyway. I got into the fortress and everything was tense, like a nervous excitement. Something had happened. All of the troops were gathered in a courtyard and it looked like Zhao was about to make a big announcement. I knew exactly what had happened."

"He captured the Avatar."

Zuko nodded.

"I wasn't going to let Zhao take the credit, steal everything my life had been about for the last two years. So I went to bust him out."

"What!?" Sasuke looked away from the fire and incredulously at Zuko.

"You mean, you actually broke him out and let him go just so you could capture him?"

The boy flushed and chuckled nervously next to him, "Hehe…. Yeah… that's where it gets weird."

"All right, I'll shut up, keep going."

"Okay, so I'm in the fortress, and at one point I overhead Zhao's voice, and who was he talking to? The Avatar! So I wait until he leaves and took out the guards to the room. I cut his shackles and we left the fortress. The alarm was raised and they started chasing us. It was crazy! At any moment my disguise could have been compromised and I would have been in deeeep shit!"

At this point he was grinning, being a 16-year-old boy, the thrill of the fight was exhilarating for him. Sasuke couldn't help a slight smile that crept onto his face.

"Aye, Zuko! I didn't know you had the guts to do something like that!"

"Hmph! So, we're escaping. We got about halfway up the rope I had used to get into the facility, before we were found. They sliced the rope and we fell to the ground. The Avatar blew away the surrounding troops and we made it through the first gate before the rest of the doors were shut. We managed to get to the top of the wall, where several soldiers were waiting for us. We fought them off, but just then the units on the ground had pulled out bamboo ladders to get to us. The Avatar blew them all off and picked up the ladders. They were relatively light, and he handed me one of the three. We used them sort of like stilts, he had me jump onto his back to get across. We almost got to the last wall, but a soldier below lit the last ladder on fire and we had to drop. Zhao approached, and I saw he had one of the Yu Yen with him. It was the same one from before, and if I'm correct, your brother. A skirmish broke out and there was close fighting between all of us. I went after the Yu Yen, but he was quick to extend the distance between us. Not before that necklace fell off, though. I picked it up and found the Avatar again. He was fighting several soldiers around him. Our situation did not look good. Then Zhao came up and he says 'the avatar must be captured alive' blah blah blah, and so I took that opportunity to take him hostage. If they wanted him alive, they would let me go with him."

Zuko grinned, "It worked."

"They opened the gates and we almost got away, but Zhao brought out your brother. Wow he has some accuracy! He struck my mask disguise and I was out like a light. I thought for sure when I came to that I'd be the prisoner in Zhao's fortress. Or worse, dead."

Next to Sasuke, Zuko frowned, perhaps conflicted on what happened next.

"I woke up with the Avatar. He was telling me about how he had been great friends with someone from the Fire Nation 100 years ago. He… he asked if we might have been friends if we had lived back then. I… I didn't know how to respond to that. All I could think was 'he's right in front of me, why am I not moving to capture him'… and after he ran away… I felt like I had done something wrong."

They were quiet for a few moments.

"Why?" He asked, barely above a whisper.

"It seems you have a conscience, Zuko. Something your father wouldn't know anything about."

Zuko sighed.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to go back to such a horrible family? Your sister is insane and your father... well we know exactly the kind of person he is."

"I could ask you the same question."

Sasuke looked at the amulet in his hand. The symbol of his family. Of happier times, carefree and innocent. He wondered what was going through Itachi's mind. He had so many questions. But there was only one important one. Why?

Why did you do it?

Why did you spare me?

Why?

He got up and left the prince's chamber.

"I've... got to think about some things. I'll see you later."

Sasuke holed himself up in his room, losing track of time and eventually falling into a restless sleep, his mind refusing to calm down. He awoke to the screech of ripping metal. Someone's attacking the ship! He scrabbled into his clothes and threw open the door to his room. Sasuke was met with a view of a giant rodent and its beautiful, yet slightly terrifying, master.

He frowned, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Stowaway."

Sasuke didn't miss her avoidance of his first question, his brow furrowed, "Stowaway? There's no stowaways..."

The monster ripped a hole in the wall through to the cargo hold of the ship. Sasuke grimaced at the sound, every screech meant large sums of money for repair. It sniffed around and jumped in. They smashed through a few barrels and a man was actually curled up behind the last one. Zuko came stomping down the hallway after the two, presumably angry at the amount of damage they were causing to the ship.

The woman threw a body over the back of the giant rodent.

"What's wrong with him?" Zuko said incredulously.

"Paralyzed. 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."

"How did you find him on the ship?" Sasuke leaned against his door and asked the woman.

The woman pet her rodent as she strapped the unconscious body to her saddle, "My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away."

Iroh looked down through a gaping hole in the deck, stroking his beard, "Well, I'm impressed!"

She smirked at the old man and cracked her whip. The shirshu bolted off the ship and down the dock. Iroh watched her go.

"Very impressed." he muttered to himself.

The three migrated to the surprisingly undamaged command deck to discuss their plans.

"So we have a turning point here," Sasuke began. "Zuko found a clue on my brother, and I want to go after it."

Iroh sipped on a cup of tea, "You have two options here. You can one, go after your brother right this second, and you might find him. But you might get caught, killed or lose his trail before you get anywhere. But there is a second option."

Sasuke looked up from the Pai Sho table they were sitting at, waiting for Iroh's second option.

"Your second option is to stay with us just for a little while longer before leaving. I know, I know, every moment is another you aren't out there looking for him, but hear me out," the older gentleman put out a palm in a placating motion, "that woman that was just here? She said that shirshu could smell something a continent away. The way I see it, if you stick around, we could find both the Avatar and Itachi."

"I'm listening."

"Zuko and I will get her to come with us after the Avatar, and bargain for two deals from her. We'll go capture the Avatar and return with the shirshu woman after. Once we've returned, you'll be able to leave and find Itachi. It might take a few days, but how far could Itachi go in a few days?"

"I'll go with that. But I'd like to stay on the ship while you two go after the Avatar. I'll gather my things while you're out, so I can be prepared to leave immediately upon your return."

"Good thinking," Iroh smiled at him, "Zuko and I will go find her and sort out a deal."

Zuko and Iroh left the ship. Sasuke hopped through the shirshu's hole in the deck and walked to his chamber. It was time to start packing his bags. The excitement rolled through him, and nervous flutters filled his stomach. Too many things could go wrong from here.

...

Sasuke watched as the shirshu lady-June, you idiot- as JUNE left with Zuko and Iroh the next morning. Zuko held out the necklace he had found of Katara's and let Nyla sniff it. An incredibly simple system, and they were off in an instant.

All of his personal items had been packed the previous night. It helped to travel lightly, and Sasuke wasn't the materialistic type anyway. There wasn't anything to do, so he walked into the tiny port town they had anchored at. His goal was to find a fishing pole, to maybe catch himself something for dinner that night.

A few hours later and Sasuke found himself snoozing at the pole, having absolutely no luck. He packed up the pole and decided a nap on the deck would be just the thing.

...

After three days he started to wonder what was going on. Had they found the Avatar? What was taking them so long if they had? His skin was getting a tan from lying out in the sun for hours on end. There wasn't anyone but an already bored crew to keep him company so he spent the time doing exercises and keeping his firebending forms up to snuff. He knew Itachi would not be a simply won-over opponent. Sasuke suggested a game of pai sho to one of the crew, but their spirits had been broken competing with Iroh.

...

Day five and he actually started worrying. The boredom had set in and he was itching to get out. While out looking for a pole, Sasuke had found a small lagoon on shore, full of interesting wildlife. He decided it was a decent enough venture and it would end the monotony of the ship.

...

Sasuke made a friend while on his hike. A small fox python accompanied him back to the ship. The creature was an interesting reptile, being completely covered in fur as well as extremely fine scales. Its head was that of the fox, except with the snake's eyes and fangs. It had four very small legs, which allowed it to walk on land if it so chose. The creature was quite enamored with him, and took to draping itself on his shoulders. It slightly frightened him to have the fox python's fangs so close to his neck, but he grew used to it. Sasuke named her Lisanthius, and she seemed happy with it.

...

The next day the group returned. Sasuke had been drying out meat from small animals to take on the road for Lisanthius. Their gait was not telling of victory. Instead of the bounding hunter the shirshu had left as, it was now a limping, dejected creature. Sasuke frowned. What happened? His bags were already on the deck of the ship and ready to go. After all there were only two of them. The three came aboard and just sat in silence for a moment.

"Are you guys... okay?" Sasuke asked.

Zuko ran his hands down his face, there were dark bags under his eyes and he looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"We lost him. Again. And the necklace," he sighed. "This is bullshit! He was right there! Again!" Zuko clenched his fists and Sasuke could feel the frustration just oozing from his every fibre.

Iroh just seemed tired next to him, stretching out his joints. June on the other hand didn't seem to be as bothered by the outcome, if anything she was just out a bit of money.

Sasuke looked to her, "Before we head out, you should rest, recuperate before we even think about going after Itachi."

She scoffed. "Nyla won't be much use in her present state anyway."

He frowned, "Why?"

"The Avatar was holing up in a perfumery. You can probably deduce what happened. The poor thing is suffering from sensory overload and it will be some time before she is back to 100%."

Sasuke nodded.

Iroh stretched and groaned at the loosening of his muscles.

"UUuuugggh! Now that we are back at the ship, who's up for music night tonight? To give Sasuke and June a proper send-off."

No one was in the mood to argue, thus everyone was wrangled into music night.

...

A fire barrel was rolled to the largest open and undamaged part of the upper deck, and the cook went all out for Sasuke's last night on the ship. There was roasted duck, fish, soups, everything you could think of. He was truly grateful for the wonderful meal, as it was probably the last he would enjoy for some time. For the first time in a long time, he decided to try and play an instrument again. A drum was handed to him and they started into a slow tune. Lieutenant Jee played a lute-like instrument Sasuke couldn't remember the name of, and Zuko actually caved and played the Tsungi horn. He insisted it would only be for one song, but Sasuke knew better.

Iroh sang and a couple of the crew members danced to the music.

"Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter and spring, summer and fall. Four seasons, four loves. Four seasons, four loves."

This would be the only song any of them played that night. Just before the last line ended, several masked soldiers boarded the ship, led by Admiral Zhao. Sasuke stopped playing as did the rest of the group.

Zhao walked up to Zuko, purposely coming too close.

"I'm taking your crew."

"What!?"

"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole."

"Who are you taking?"

"Everyone."

Iroh put an arm over his face in woe, "Even the cook!?"

The man nodded, before looking back to Zuko, "Sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar. But I can't have you getting in my way again."

Zuko stormed off below deck, Zhao following him. Sasuke wandered close enough to the hole to catch their conversation but remain unseen.

"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko."

"I'm not. They're antiques. Just decorative."

"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit?"

"Just rumors. I don't think he is real."

"He's real all right. He's a criminal, an enemy of the Fire Nation. But I have a feeling that justice will catch up with him soon."

Zhao emerged from the hole and approached Iroh.

"General Iroh, the offer to join my mission stands if you wish to join me."

Zhao left the ship, along with his men, Zuko's men, and all of their personal affects. The ship would soon be a barren and desolate place.

"Good luck!" One of their crew shouted back towards them. He glanced around the deck and didn't see June anywhere. She was probably at the tavern making some money off the locals. Sasuke scoffed and went below to check his chamber one last time. He left the door open. Next to his cabin was Zuko's. He was probably contemplating what to do. He was stranded in the middle of nowhere without a crew and a heavily damaged ship and no money to repair it. The situation was pretty bleak. Iroh peeked into his cabin.

"It's a lovely night for a walk. Why don't you join me?" Sasuke nodded and they stopped to ask Zuko the same.

"Zuko?"

There was no response.

"The crew wanted me to wish you safe travels."

"Good riddance to those traitors."

"It's a wonderful night for a walk and the cool air might clear your head. Why don't you join us?" Iroh sighed at the lack of response from his nephew. "Or, just stay in your room and sit in the dark. Whatever makes you happy."

They left Zuko to his brooding and left on their walk, Iroh humming the song they didn't quite get to finish that night. They didn't even make it to the shore before an explosion shook the entire dock. Sasuke didn't want to look. If he didn't look, maybe the ship would still be intact and he wouldn't have to think about whether or not Zuko would make it out alive. As it was he did turn, and saw the ship on fire. He didn't realize it, but his feet started moving, running to the ship. Iroh tried to catch his shirt sleeve and stop him, but the fabric slipped through his fingers and Sasuke was flying down the dock.

Why am I running to a burning ship after this asshole?

Because no one deserves to die like this, asshole.

He hauled himself onto the crumbling deck and found the hole made by the shirshu. The smoke was thick and Sasuke covered his mouth with a sleeve. The coughing was instantaneous. He may be a firebender, but smoke in the lungs was something he did not enjoy.

"Zuko!"

Beams splintered a fell around him, blocking off the hole to the storage hold and most of the private quarters. One beam in particular blocked off Zuko's. Sasuke kicked at the wood, hoping it would give, but there was no luck.

"Zuko? Zuko!"

A figure jumped down into the hallway with him, "Sasuke! We have to get out of here!"

Thank god.It was they got to the upper deck, the flames had consumed even more of the ship and it was starting to sink. There were massive holes in the deck, and the whole rig was on the verge of collapse. Just before they got to a jumping point a loud squak stopped them. On the opposing railing was a green parrot. It croaked a second time then took off. Sasuke looked to Zuko, and they both knew what the bird meant. Sasuke hauled himself up to the railing and stood on it. He bent to offer Zuko a hand up, but a second explosion blew up the rest of the main deck and he fell into the ship. Sasuke reached after him but he lost grip of the railing as a third bomb went off. His head his hit something hard, and everything went black.

...

The next thing Sasuke knew, he was being jostled from side to side, like a pack of flour on the back of a horse. He tried to open his eyes but the light cause a spearing pain to flash in his head. He groaned. A light hiss whispered in his ear. Oh good, Lissy made it.

"Good morning, sunshine. It's about time you woke up."

Sasuke tried to sit up, but a surprisingly strong, small hand forced him back down.

"Stay where you're at, pretty boy. You took a nasty hit to the head, but you should be fine."

"Zuko."

"He's fine. He and Iroh are fine. Don't worry about them, they have their own shit to deal with. Now. Give me whatever scent you're trying to trace and we'll see how my shirshu is doing. No guarantees, but it has been a few days since the incident."

Sasuke groaned and fumbled with his pocket, but he couldn't get the pendant out of his pocket.

"Ugh. It's in my left pocket, can't get out."

The same hand from before dug in his pocket and pulled out Itachi's necklace. She waved it in front of the shirshu for a minute or two, letting it get familiar with the scent. To his surprise, the animal seemed fine and started moving right away. Not as fast as it had left with Zuko and Iroh, but it was to be expected. Sasuke let himself be lulled back to sleep with the rocking of the animal.

A few hours later, they stopped and Sasuke slid down from the huge mammal. Lissy slithered up his leg and pulled herself up to his shoulder. She nuzzled against his face, asking for a treat. He pulled a piece of dried lizard out of his pocket and flipped it into the air for her. She hissed in appreciation before wrapping herself around his shoulders and settling.

Sasuke turned to the shirshu and noticed that his bags were strapped to the creature.

"What? I thought everything went up with the ship!?"

June was bent over a nearby stream, filling up waterskins with its bubbling contents. She spoke, but didn't stop what she was doing, "You're lucky, pretty boy. I decided to take your bags to my shirshu when I went into town. Just one less thing for us to do before we left the next morning."

"Thank you."

"Don't sweat it."

She capped the last waterskin and hopped back into the saddle. The shirshu had sniffed back out the trail. Sasuke put a foot into the straps and pulled himself up into the saddle behind her. Sitting this way put them quite close together and for a moment, Sasuke let himself get distracted by that small fact. He was jostled from the thought as their mount started moving. Sasuke didn't know where to hold on, the shirshu was quite swift even at its slower pace.

Before he could decide to do anything about it, June took his hand and placed it on her hip.

"Hold on, pretty boy, we wouldn't want you falling off before you can pay me."

Sasuke blushed and held onto her waist. Her body felt solid and muscular under his hands, yet soft at the same time. His mind took a lewd turn and the burning in his cheeks grew. Sasuke was glad he was sitting in the back, and that she was unable to see how she was affecting him. Eventually the novelty of their proximity wore off and he could relax.

They passed by Zhao's fortress where Zuko had last seen his brother. Sasuke thought they should search the fort, but June said Nyla smelled a more recent trail leaving the area. He nodded and they followed the animal's instinct.

So he left the fort. Was he with the other archers or alone? We could be in trouble if we are trying to follow the yu yen archers.

"Can your shirshu tell if Itachi is alone? Are we following a group of people?"

"From the trail and tracks left behind, it seems to be just one person."

"Huh."

"Tell me what to expect, don't like going into a battle I don't know anything about."

"Well first things first, Itachi is my brother."

"Firebender?"

"Yes."

"Greaaat."

"I also have not seen or heard a DAMN THING from him since he killed the rest of our clan. I'm not sure if he's insane and I can't believe the Fire Lord would let him stick around in his army."

"Does the Fire Lord come off as the kind of man who would throw away a soldier willing to kill his entire family?"

"The question is, why am I alive then?"

"The Fire Lord is a cruel man. There are many ulterior motives in his book of lies. There's probably more to it than you realize."

They were silent for a while longer, letting the shirshu lead the way. The group periodically stopped to let the creature rest and stretch their legs. Sasuke and June were currently resting at an expertly stamped out campsite his brother had been at recently. Sasuke kicked around the dirt from what might have been a fire while June and her shirshu took a lazy mid-afternoon nap. It seemed out of place for the bounty hunter to do so, but perhaps she was just taking advantage while they were already stopped.

Sasuke absently rubbed the ceramic fan in his pocket. The outside was still smooth with glaze, even after having been rubbed and touched for years. Again he wondered at Itachi's motive for the murders. The good memories from before the massacre burned in his mind. They told him that Itachi was the perfect older brother, kind and gentle, mature and always willing to teach him new things. He was Sasuke's idol. How could you go from being the kindest person I know, to be a mass murderer? What happened to you, Itachi?

An hour or so later, Sasuke decided they should keep moving. He shook June lightly to wake her.

"Aye… wanna get going?"

"No. I just want to sleep." She rose anyway and dusted off any dust that may have collected on her clothes, "But we don't get paid to sleep, so I suppose we best keep going for a little while longer."

They both climbed into the saddle. Lissy perched herself on Sasuke's shoulders and they were off.

…

Sasuke wondered how far Itachi could run in a day. If he was even running. You still don't know if he's deserted or just on a mission. What are you even going to say to him? 'Stop, brother! Why did you kill everyone?' Like that's going to go over well.

He sighed and was tempted to lean his head on June's back. They had been following his brother's trail for days and were getting nowhere. The shirshu had found the Avatar in just a few days, so what was taking them so long to find Itachi?

You have child Avatar riding a sky bison on one hand and an elite Fire Nation assassin on the other. You do the math.

At this rate, Itachi could outrun them forever.

"So." He began one afternoon, "Where does one get a shirshu?" This would be the umpteenth time he had asked her.

"Like I'm going to tell you, pretty boy, so stop asking."

"C'mon… not like I'm going to say anything."

June glanced over her shoulder at him, and was silent for a few minutes.

"If you must know… they're actually raised on a farm in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. They're some relation to the legendary moles that taught the first Earthbenders. At least that's what the elders used to say in my village. Very few baby shirshu are born each year, meaning less beast masters like me. Once the master and the shirshu are old enough, they can leave the village or stay. I chose to leave. I wanted to see the world."

She was silent for a moment before continuing, "But that wasn't in the cards. I soon ran out of money, and no one wants a giant shirshu and some girl. I begged on the streets for a while. Was in a gang. They thought my shirshu was great, but treated him more like a party trick than anything. Eventually a wanted poster was put up for our gang boss. I took him out. They offered me the gig, but I decided going after wanted men was more fun. And here I am. The pay is good and the work isn't so bad. At least I get to travel every corner of the world."

"That sounds like an excellent way to live life."

"You're not as dumb as you look, pretty boy."

It's Sasuke.

"What was your favorite job so far?"

"Hmm…" she mulled it over for a few seconds before answering, "I suppose it would have to be the guy undercover as a woman in the middle of a Ba Sing Se teahouse. He was posing as the owner's wife. It was a horrible disguise. Easily the most entertaining job I've ever taken and the tea was good. Pay was even better."

"Is that all you care about? Money?"

"Spoken like a truly spoiled rich boy." She scoffed at him.

Sasuke could swear she was rolling her eyes.

"I might have been born into a wealthy clan, yes, but after the massacre, that all changed. I am not a rich person, nor was I spoiled. At least, not after."

"If you understand what it is to live in squalor, then you can understand why I jump at any chance of success."

…

Just one week later, something horrible had happened. The world went black and the moon turned red. Sasuke couldn't help but stare, entranced at the blood red glow. Something very bad had been done, and Sasuke was sure it had been Zhao. There was nothing he could do about it, however, so they camped for the night and hoped the nightmare would pass before any real damage could be done to their world.

June lit a fire for their camp and Sasuke tried to sleep, yet all he succeeded in was nightmare fueled blips. He saw the eerie red moon, which then morphed into Itachi's eyes, boring into his own. Everything burst into a million crows that were sizzled away by invisible flames. Laughing echoed in his head before the pictures changed to Itachi murdering each one of his relatives, the disturbing chuckle growing louder with each slice of his knife. Just before Itachi could rip open their parents' necks, Sasuke woke up.

Sometimes he hated sleeping.

He laid awake on his bedroll for another hour or two before finding the elusive blackness once again.

…

Cold, sharp metal.

It was the first thing Sasuke felt when he was shaken awake. The day was just starting and the sky was back to its normal hues of orange and blue in the morning's sunset. He didn't dare move a muscle, the metal was pressed to his throat.

"Why are you following me, little brother?"

Thanks for reading!

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