All Roads Lead To Shukumei
Foxflame: Hello again dear readers!. Hope you enjoyed the prologue, but now on to the real deal, if you catch my drift.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the creations from Avatar: The Last Air bender!
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Chapter 1: All Roads Lead to Shukumei
"The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want"
Ben Stein
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Sokka pulled and pulled with all his might at the onion stuck in the ground. "Grr…you stupid…why I oughta…." He mumbled with every tug and twist.
"I will get you, you stupid vegetable! You…:tug: …will..:tug….be…:tug:..in my soup…ARGGGGGGGGHHH!" with a loud thump Sokka fell back on his be hind, clutching the long stalks of the onion.
Aang flew down from the sky as he leaped from his position in water to stand in front of Sokka. "Hey Sokka…you think that will be enough for all of us?" he giggled as he poked the miniscule bulb hanging off the green stems.
Steaming, Sokka jumped on Aang. "You little worm! Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean you could have for seen that onion! It was tougher then it looks ok?"
" Ha Ha ok Sokka next time, why don't you leave the deadly onion picking to me"
"You!" cried Sokka as he made for another lunge, but Aang was floating just out of his reach, yawing with every attempt Sokka threw at him.
Katara, who was up to her knees in the lake folded her arms across her chest as she watched the two continue their ridiculous argument. "Hey guys, why not take that rage out on a little practice?" she called, but it fell on deaf ears as Sokka launched another leap in the air as Aang floated only centimeters out of his reach.
Katara sighed and returned to her water bending. Ever since the battle with the Fire Lord, she has been obsessed with taking her training to the next level. It was Katara who fought the evil Azula, and although she did with much difficulty, she managed to defeat that wicked princess.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began to lift a large ball of water in the air. Shifting her weight to her back leg, she twisted her wrists and she made the water ball into a flat plate, and froze it. She lifted herself upon it and began floating her ice plate across the water at top notch speeds, flinging icicles at an unknown target.
She surfed the calm lake exterior with grace and concentration, making her turn just as a flying Sokka came into her path and she became submerged under water. "AH!" she cried as she collided with her brother and the stinging water.
Sokka stuck his head above the water and said "Just you wait Aang! Once I get out of here…" but his words were cut off as Aang sent a tidal wave over him, sailing Sokka to the muddy shores.
Katara surfaced, annoyed. She never seemed to get any work done around those two. She walked onto the shore and wrung out her hair as Aang continued his boyish laughter. "Come on Katara! Lets go bob sledding with Sokka as the sled!"
She did not answer, but walked past the boys to her bag. It has been a week since Aang won the battle, using all four elements he learned over the summer to defeat the Fire Lord. She was happy for Aang; he fulfilled his destiny, and all ended well.
'But what about my destiny?' she found herself wondering for a while now.
She always pondered where she would go after the Fire Lord was put down, and she always came to the conclusion life would take her where it was destined to. But now the time has arrived, and she was in the same place she was before.
The water bender sighed as she sat down on the soft green grass, poking the fire with along stick. She stared into the flames, as though hoping they would give her an answer to her emptiness.
She needed to get out.
She knew this fact for a long time. The time has come for her to leave this group and set out on a quest of her own. She spent so long trying to help Aang succeed, but now she needed to bloom.
There is a reason she is the only water bender left in her tribe; she's meant to do something with herself, right? How can she, when all she does is follow one such as Aang with a large destiny of his own?
Katara was shuffling through her bag and came across the water scroll, which she "acquired" such a long time ago. Folded along with it was a map of all the kingdoms and towns, marked with a little dot to let the team remember where they had visited. She unrolled this map and stared down at it, observing how far and wide they have traveled together.
Giggling like mad, Aang sat down next to Katara. "What you looking at?" he asked, out of breath.
"Just wondering where we will go next, that's all. I've always wanted to visit the Hanging Gardens in the Earth Kingdom…"
"Sorry Katara, it will have to wait. I've been called to the Water kingdom here to help solve a civil war, and here to an Earth Kingdom village to help suppress the uprisings against the innocent Fire benders" he dictated as he pointed all the areas across the map.
She sighed. Once again not doing what she wanted in life to follow Aang's. Don't get her wrong, she loved him like a brother, but she felt she needed to blaze her own trail.
" Hey Aang, what's this town called?" She pointed to a marked spot on the map right in the middle of all the kingdoms.
"You don't know? Why that's Shukumei! It's the city where everyone goes to find themselves, says the legends. You can find anything in that city- from shops to dojos!" chimed in Toph, who appeared out of nowhere.
"Back so soon from gathering food?" asked Katara.
"Yea. I knew Sokka would have a hard time with the task, so I took it upon myself." Toph scoffed sarcastically.
Aang giggled "Well you were right. Sokka almost was defeated by the evil onions"
"But I wasn't!" he cried from the other side of the shore where he was drying out his clothes.
Toph shook her head in shame and continued with her explanation to Katara. "Shukumei is the city where things happen for everyone. That's why every year, there is a new admittance of people. But the doors only open once a year. There is a road that all the hopefuls travel upon. Its right…..here…" she felt around on the map and placed her finger at a small point labeled "Road to Shukumei"
"How do you do that Toph!" Aang asked his blind friend. She simply smiled and chose not to answer.
"The place…where people meet their destiny…" muttered Katara to herself. She stared at the road, following its winding path to the end stop at Shukumei city.
"Hey Toph, when do these doors open?"
"Actually, the road is opened for the travelers in about 2 days. Why, are you thinking of traveling that road yourself, Katara?" ask Toph suspiciously.
"No! No! not at all. I was just wondering, that's all." She shook her head nervously.
Toph and Aang began a discussion as Katara resumed her tracing of the road's path. "No…not at all…" she whispered to herself. "…never…"
That night, curled in her sleeping bag, Katara watched as the last embers of the day's fire burnt out.
Clutched in her hand was the map. She was only half a day's walk from the entrance to the Road to Shukumei. She could go there...who knows what she would find… maybe even a teacher for water bending…
She shook her head and turned over in her sleeping bag. She couldn't go…could she?
What about Aang and Sokka…they need me.
But what about what I need?
I won't go for a long time right? Maybe just to visit for a little…but they would never let me go.
Sokka would kill me.
But maybe if I leave without them knowing, and explain in a letter or something…
No! Katara, your going crazy. You cant just up and leave!
Why not?
Why not…
Katara sat up slowly. The sun was about to rise soon. ' If I am going to do this…I got to do it now.'
Fighting all sense of rationalism, she quietly packed her things. It was time to fulfill her own destiny, and maybe the city of destiny could help her do it. She flung her back pack over her shoulder, and placed a rock on the letter she wrote for her friends, explaining her inner turmoil and her need to be on her own.
Upon looking at the map, she realized she could take the river all the way down to the road. So Katara fashioned herself a large floating ice plate and settled her things on them. But before she could push herself away from shore, she heard someone ask her:
"Your leaving, Katara?"
It was Aang.
She stared at the sleepy boys eyes, who looked right back at her. Tears stung at her eyes, but she nodded her head yes. "I…I need to Aang…I…" she whispered.
"I understand. I wish you didn't have to go though, Katara." He was so grown up for such a young boy.
" I am going to miss you"
She smiled a sad smile, and replied "I am going to miss you too, Aang."
He watched as her silhouette floated away into the rising sun, leaving him with an empty hole in his heart.
"Be careful, Katara. I hope you find what you're looking for"
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"Did you hear? Prince Zuko renounced his title! He no longer wants to rule that horrid nation!"
"Good ridden I say; he's probably as rotten as that father of his"
"Zuko? No longer Fire Lord?"
"That boy will never be man enough to run an entire nation"
These mutterings continued through out the entire town, and all Prince Zuko could do to stop himself from burning every last one of them to a crisp was bite the inside of his cheek and keep his head down.
Sighing with agitation , he seated himself at a stand for shiskababs with his straw hat bent low over his face. "What can I get for you, sir?" ask the chipper hostess
"One chicken-kabab " he muttered, as he glared at the headlines taped around the entire stand. "Fire Lord Defeated By Avatar!"
"Fire Nation Now At Our Mercy!"
What caught his attention was the huge picture of himself, when he was bald with his ponytail, being attacked and cowering from the Avatar.
He snorted in anger just as his meal arrived. Taking his rage out on his plate, he took a huge bite from the meat. No one seemed to care that he helped to destroy his father…something that is still haunting him.
' How could I have done it?' he wonders time and time again, before he is brutally brought back to the fight, where his father almost killed him once again, before he realized that that man was no father to him, and therefore his honor in the fight was not being tested.
He always had some type of love for his father; the type an abused dog has for its master. The will to please him, as to finally be acknowledged for more then hatred.
He took another angry bite from his chicken, and sipped his tea. Tea always made him think of his loving Uncle, who sacrificed so much to make sure his nephew was kept alive and safe. How Zuko missed him…
But he was right in leaving him in his position as Fire Lord. He could not assume the throne…not now.
His father died before he even accepted Zuko back into his family, so to him, he technically was not the heir after all. The only way to do so…well if he knew, he would not be wandering from town to town trying to figure it out.
"Ah, that poor prince Zuko" stated the hostess. " Kicked out by his own nation, and shunned by the rest. I wonder what has become of that young boy"
" Me too" answered Zuko.
"So what brings you here to our small village?" Zuko hated these pointless conversations; he much rather keep to himself. However the shop keep was staring at him so intently he answered "Just passing through"
" Well since you're here, you simply must watch the grand opening of The Road!"
He looked up from his plate and asked "The Road?"
"Of course! The Road to Shukumei! Haven't you ever heard of it?"
Zuko shook his head no, not enjoying the condescending tone the man was giving him.
"Shukumei is the city that never sleeps…there's always something going on there. It is said to hold everyone's destinies! That's why the opening of the gate is such a monumental thing…it signifies the beginning of new lives to the travelers who are trying to make it to the city. Everybody always wants a new beginning, wouldn't you agree?"
Zuko just sipped his tea.
"When can I watch this grand unveiling?" asked the Prince, now wondering if that was the path for him. The man said everyone was entitled for a new life, right? Then why not him?
"Why, tomorrow afternoon! at the edge of town there is a giant wall with the Shukumei in sigma engraved on it. The Earth benders will lower the wall as soon as the clock strikes 12, and close it at midnight tomorrow"
Zuko threw down a coin and thanked the man, before sulking away.
"Shukumei…." He said to himself. Maybe this was his opportunity to finally set out and find himself the strength he needs to govern his nation. Perhaps there is a teacher there who would be willing to take him on, teach him to master his past and prepare for his future.
There had to be.
He couldn't wander alone for much longer. He needed a destination, a goal to achieve. All those years in exile he was driven by his goal to capture the Avatar. Little did he know he would be fighting along side him in the end.
Zuko made his way to the cheap Inn he had been staying at for a week now. With a soft thump he fell upon his mattress and stared at the dust flying around his room.
His hands traveled to his head full of spiky hair, and then down to his scar. The burnt flesh was bumpy and rough, and burning with the horrid memories of his past. He needed to get out of this inn, and find his way in the world.
Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation has made up his mind.
He would go to Shukumei tomorrow.
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Well, now we know why our young lovers are leaving their mundane lives! Next chapter will be coming out very soon, seeing as how I already did it
Hope your enjoying this so far, I know I am excited to get to the fun part…!
Reviews would be lovely 3