Zuko stared for a moment before turning back to his uncle, he had half a mind to leave the girl but new his uncle wouldn't stand for that.
"The poor girl! What is she doing all the way out here? Surly she lives in a village somewhere." Said Iroh. Zuko walked over to were the girl was and grabbed the bag that was on the ground next to her. "It looks like she was running away." He said after peering in the bag.
"Well she can't be trusted. We should just keep moving!" Zuko said harshly dropping the bag and turning to his uncle. "Zuko we can not just leave her here!" Cried Iroh moving over to the girl. He felt her pulse. "Well she is still alive."
Unexpectedly the girl let out a loud grown causing them both to jump. Slowly she sat up lifting a hand to her head her eyes not yet open. She rubbed her temple with her fingers before opening her eyes, and when she did she let out a small scream at seeing the two people standing next to her.
Iroh silenced her placing a hand on her shoulder. "It is all right, we are not going to harm you." He said softly not wanting to startle the girl, who was obviously very disoriented.
"But…you're from the earth kingdom, I can tell by your clothing!" She said scooting back a way's. "Your not soldiers are you?" She said timidly her back pressed against a tree, but then that when she truly caught sight of Zuko. She tilted her head to the side as her eye's drifted over his scar.
Zuko turned away noticing her giving him a peculiar look. "Uncle she is obviously fine. Now lets go!" He hissed, but Iroh ignored him.
"What is your name?" He asked holding out a helping hand to her. She hesitantly took it "Ryoko" she responded quickly, still not feeling safe with these two people.
"Uncle!" Zuko cried finally. "We need to go!" Ryoko stared at him her eye's widening. "Yes but if we do, Miss Ryoko will come with us, for her own safety. A girl should not walk alone" He said giving her a friendly smile.
Zuko was about to disagree but new he could not win this argument. "Fine, now lets go!" he said walking off into the forest. Iroh shrugged and went the same way, reluctantly followed by Ryoko. "I didn't catch your name." She said.
"I am I…I mean I am Tie, and this is…Shang" he said quickly not knowing weather he could trust them or not. Ryoko, who was now gaining a little more confidence around these new people looked at 'Shang' "Had anyone ever told you that you look a bit like Prince Zuko?" she asked.
Zuko balled his hands into a fist already getting annoyed by this girl. "Yes, yes they have" he said closing his eyes for a moment.
Ryoko shut up one she herd his tone of voice. "oh" was all she said before falling back behind Iroh. The walked through the cold forest for quite a long time before night finally fell, and by then they had almost reached another small village on the other side.
"Uncle I'm worried, we should have seen them by now" Said Zuko quietly so Ryoko would hear. "I know Zuko but we will have to stop at some point" he said before turning back to were Ryoko was sitting on the ground in front of a pile of sticks she had just gotten. She held up her hands and a fire burst into flame.
"So you are a fire bender?" Said Iroh sitting cross-legged in front of the fire. "Yeah, so was my father…" she trailed off as the thought of her father entered her mind. "He's in the war" she said slowly her eyes glazed and not looking at them.
Iroh gave her a peculiar look. "Uh, and your mother?" he asked. Ryoko looked over at them sadly. "She disappeared when I was five. I don't know what happened to her." Iroh sighed, "That seems to happen a lot."
Zuko glanced over at them but quickly looked away. Ryoko stared off into the fire. "So how did Earth Kingdom fugitives find their way over to the Fire Nation?" she asked slowly, a tone of suspicion in her voice.
The two looked at each other. Sadly their glance lasted to long and Ryoko new whatever they were going to say next would be a lie, or at least part of one. "Your not…from the Earth kingdom are you?"
The two looked at her, eyes wide. "Uh well…" "You see its…" "We were there but…" They were not very convincing. Iroh sighed, defeated. "No, I am General Iroh…and this is Prince Zuko."
Ryoko stared at them, shocked. She had known they weren't from the earth kingdom, but she hadn't expected that. "wow…" Was all she could manage to say, but now it was Zuko and Iroh's turn to be shocked at what she said next.
"Wait so you guy's know the Fire Lord, I've been wondering…why did he start the war?" The two just stared at her, it was obvious she wasn't a fan.
"He had his reason's," said Zuko stubbornly giving her a glare before looking away.
"So you don't know either." She said just a stubborn as Zuko.