Anhayla (15 years old)

It was nighttime and I had just come back from a failed mission of finding something to eat in the nearby woods. I had no money to buy anything from a village plus was too tired to try and steal. I collapsed on the little bed I made earlier that day.

"Great, going to bed hungry….again." I muttered aloud. I was silent for a minute but the sound of voices caused me to get up. They were a few feet away but I could hear them very well.

"Spread out men. I want this place searched thoroughly before we go back on the ship." I heard a rather young male voice command.

"Zuko, I don't think it's wise to be out here searching around in the dark. Perhaps you should wait till morning when everyone can see." I heard an older male say.

"No, we search now and no one is going back on that ship until I have a full report."

The older man started to yarn, "Well, I'm tired and hungry. I'm going back on the ship. I advise you to do the same." I heard him say. I ran over to get a closer look and saw a young man dressed in Fire Nation uniform. He had a bald head except for the long hair in the middle that was pulled tightly into a ponytail. He also had a scar on his left eye. He turned angrily to the older man as he began walking away.

"Fine, go back on the ship then! This time try not to eat all the food before I get there." He yelled.

The older man simply put his arm up nonchalantly, "No promises." He laughed. A light smile came to my lips, I was about to pounce on the young boy as soon as the older one was out of sight but another person came into the picture.

"Prince Zuko, we don't see anything yet but it is hard trying to look in the dark. Our fire bending can only illuminate so much." The solider said.

"Keep searching for now," he said plainly before sending him off. I almost yelled for joy, he was a prince! That meant he had to have money. I watched for a while as the young prince used his fire bending to search for something. Once I was close enough, I jumped on him, knocking him down. He quickly shot back up, shooting fire in my direction, which I quickly deflected. I charged at him and he expected me to punch him so he shot more fire at me. I slid in between his legs and came up behind him and quickly searched his body; looking for his money sack. Once I got it, I pushed him down; he landed on his face so I laughed a little.

"Thanks." I said. I started to run off but this guy was quicker than I thought. He grabbed my feet and I fell but landed on my hands. I flipped over on my back and kicked him in the face. Once I could no longer feel his grip around my ankle, I propelled my self up and flipped over onto my feet. "You should have stayed down." I said. We rolled around for a few moments before someone separated us. It was the older man I saw earlier. Two soldiers quickly grabbed me and pinned my arms behind my back. The other lit torches so they could what was going on. Once my face was in the light, the young man I fought became enraged.

"What? You were a girl the whole time?" He shouted.

"I'm a girl all the time." I said.

"Zuko, you were fighting a girl? You could have seriously hurt her." The older man said.

"Uncle, she attacked me! Besides I couldn't see that she was a girl."

"Hmmm…. I guess you should have got back on the ship like I advised."

"Whatever Uncle!"

"What do you want us to do with her sir?" one of soldiers asked.

"Bind her and throw her in the ocean." The young prince said.

"Absolutely not." The old man objected. He then walked closer to me. "Young lady, mind if I ask you what you're doing out here so late?"

"Where else am I supposed to be?" I asked sarcastically.

"With your family. Where are they?" he asked.

"I have no family, I have no home. It's just me." I said.

"You poor thing. You must be hungry, am I right?" he asked.

I looked at him puzzled, "Uh…. yes?" I said unsure.

"Well then, you should come back on the ship for a hot meal." He said with a smile.

The younger boy caught an attitude again, "Hell no! That filthy thing isn't setting foot on my ship!" he protested.

"You heard the girl, she's all alone. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just left her out here to fend for herself."

"She's seems to be doing just fine by herself, obviously." He said pointing to the busted lip I gave him. I smiled a little.

The older man ignored the younger boy and introduced himself. "My name is Iroh and the cranky one behind me is my nephew Zuko. What's your name young lady?"

"Anhayla."

"Anhayla, not a name you hear everyday. Anyway, would you like to come eat with us on the ship? I'm sure Zuko won't mind."

"I would mind!" Zuko shot back.

I thought about it for a second and decided that I was way too hungry to refuse. "Could you please tell these losers to let me go?"

"Of course." He directed his statement to the two soldiers beside me, "You heard the lady." With that, I was released. Iroh then held out his hand, "Right this way young lady."

I grabbed his hand and he led me off towards a path that led to big ship. Zuko fumed behind us. Once we were on the ship, we went below deck and into a room filled with food. My stomach growled at the sight of it. Before Iroh could turn around and invite me to sit down, I was seated at the head of the table about to dig in.

"You don't waste time do you?" Iroh laughed.

"That's my seat!" Zuko yelled.

"Don't be rude Zuko, just sit somewhere else. It is a rather large table."

They both sat down and watched shocked and probably amazed at how much food I stuffed down my throat. My hands moved everywhere, grabbing anything that looked good to me. I would have eaten the table it weren't edible. Once finished, I bleached loudly and leaned back on my arms. I then noticed them staring.

"Uh, what are you staring at?" I asked.

"When was the last time you ate?" Iroh asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "2 days ago I guess."

"I don't think I've ever seen a girl eat like that. You were a pig." Zuko said.

"And now I'm a full pig." I said standing up. "Thank you very much Iroh for the food."

Iroh stood as well. "You can't leave now. You should stay with us, you said yourself that you were alone. Perhaps you should travel with us."

"No, no, no! That's where I draw the line Uncle. You don't know anything about this girl and now you're inviting her to travel with us?" Zuko asks angrily.

I laughed out loud, "Man, if it makes you this angry then maybe I will stay."

"Get off my ship!" he shouted.

"I'd love to stay Iroh." I said. His face quickly lightened as he motioned for me to follow him. As we walked out Zuko shot out some fire in annoyance. He showed me to a spare bedroom.

"It's not much but I'm sure it'll be comfortable. Also, if you'd like to take a bath, the bathroom is down the hall. We don't have any female clothes but I'm sure I can find you a clean pair of pants and a shirt."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked a little upset.

"I'm not trying to deceive you if that's what you're thinking. I am merely helping you." He said sincerely.

"Last people that tried to help me ended up dead." I said bluntly. I turned away from him, "Are you sure you want to help me now?"

"I'm sure" he said, completely ignoring what I said.

I turned to face him and caught him staring once again but this time he looked as though he was trying to figure something out.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing." He said and then yawned. "Well, I'm heading off to bed. I'll see you in the morning." With that said, he walked out of the room. I peered out into the hallway when I didn't hear his footsteps anymore. It was long and not very wide. I went in search of the bathroom and decided to take a bath. It had been at least a week since my last one. I stayed in the tub for as long as I could. Once the water started to get cold, I blew steam from my mouth to heat it up again. I was in heaven. I wrapped my self in a towel I found hanging on the rack and then stood in front of the mirror. My wet black hung down in front of me. I gently pushed it aside to stare at my face. it was very brown and for once, very clean. My grey eyes sparkled for some reason. After being in the bathroom for what seemed like forever, I walked back to my room and found the pants and shirt that Iroh left for me. They were a little loose but I didn't really expect it to fit me well. The pants were black and the shirt was a burgundy button up. I laid down on the bed and instantly fell asleep.