A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm not quite sure where this story is going as of yet, but we'll see. Hopefully it'll be interesting.

"Yuki!" Lyle whistled for her now grown owl-cat, petting the happy critter as he perched on her shoulder. "We're going on an adventure," she murmured. "Since it's going to be more than a few days, you're coming with. I hope you like prince-searching." She turned to Izumi, who was impatiently tapping her foot.

"Are we leaving yet? This place is depressing me." she motioned at the room, which consisted of faded crimson tapestries hanging on bleak stone walls. In the corner was a pot of dying fire lilies. Lyle sauntered over to the flowers and plucked one out of the container, handing it to Izumi with a dramatic sweeping motion.

"For you, Princess Growly." Izumi grumbled and pushed the flower away, a faint flush covering her cheeks. It was either anger or embarrassment; Lyle couldn't tell with this short tempered princess. Slightly rolling her eyes, Lyle shrugged her cape on over her robes and grabbed her traveling pack. "Are you going to bring anything?" She asked Izumi. The princess gave her a haughty glare and tightened her jaw.

"I expect you to have enough for the both of us. I am royalty, after all, and I should think that a wannabe-hero will be honored to provide for me."

"The only thing that I'm 'honored' to do for you is to make sure you're not the one kidnapped next. Although, now that I think about it, that might be a little too much for a poor 'wannabe-hero' to handle." Lyle locked eyes with Izumi, golden and grey blazing with a fire that could burn. "You know, if we keep up like this, Prince Kazu will be geriatric before we find him." Izumi huffed, crossing her arms.

"Fine. I have plenty of coins, so I can buy necessities for myself as we go along. Do you happen to own a spare traveling pack?" Lyle padded back over to her desk, rummaging around until she produced a medium sized bag. She tossed it over to Izumi, who fumbled a bit before catching it. With a dignified expression, the princess placed the pack on her shoulders.

"So, princess," Lyle said, walking over to Izumi. "Where to first?"

"First of all, my name is Princess Izumi. Not 'princess'. Second, how should I know? You're the investigator here."

"Well, Princess, he's your brother, so in theory, you'd be the leader." Izumi simply glared at Lyle, then spun around to face the door.

"If you tell me where to go," she said, turned away from Lyle, "I'll tell you how to get there. I have the placement of practically every stone on this planet memorized."

"Oh, really?" Lyle queried, her curiosity peaked. "And why, pray tell, is a princess a living map? I'd think that you would be spending your time practicing fight moves, or frying turtle-ducks with perfect firebending." Izumi cast her eyes downwards and took in a sharp breath.

"I was a sickly child, alright? Physical exercises were never my forte. As you can see, my firebending is certainly sub-par." She closed her eyes and concentrated, producing a tiny, flickering flame from her palm. It sputtered in vain for a few seconds, then fizzled out. Lyle stared with her mouth agape.

"The crown princess of the Fire Nation can barely even firebend? I'm sure that's illegal somewhere." Izumi didn't answer.

"Instead of devoting my time to things I was too weak to perform, I spent my days learning. Luckily, what I lacked in strength, I made up for in intelligence. In less than five years, I had already torn through all the books in the palace's vast library. "

"Huh- so that explains the human map deal!"

"Yes. Now, let's get on with this search, so I can get back home to my comfortable life." Izumi started to walk out of the door, but Lyle ran in front of her.

"Wait, where are we going?" She asked, puzzled by the princess' sudden decisiveness.

"I think it's time I pay a visit to a certain knowledgeable relative of mine. The formerly insane, currently content-"

"Sifu Azula."

"Wait, what?" Lyle grinned at Izumi's confused face and swished into the hallway.

"My feet hurt," the princess complained, trudging alongside a quickly angering Lyle.

"More of you is going to hurt if you don't stop whining," Lyle growled. "We're not even to the Ember Island ferry yet, and there's still a ways to go before we get there. So suck it up, and keep moving."

"What I'd give for a palanquin right now! My ankles aren't used to this kind of torture." Lyle gritted her teeth, trying to tune out Izumi. "If I'd known that this search would involve this monotonous walking, I would've never asked for your help."

"For the love of spirits, will you give it a rest?" Lyle said, her temper getting the best of her.

"Ah! A rest sounds brilliant!" With that, Izumi sat down on a nearby rock, looking expectantly up at a seething Lyle.

"Fine," she said, letting out an exasperated puff of air as she crouched down next to Izumi. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out her obsidian bladed knife and began turning it over in her hands.

"That's a nice knife you've got there," the princess remarked, blinking at the object. "Where's it from?"

"It's been in my family for centuries. I was told that it belonged to the Avatar long ago. Before my father died, he gave me it, making me promise that I'd keep it safe. Ever since then, I've treasured it with my life."

"Really?" Izumi said, wide-eyed.

"Nah, I got it at a bazaar a couple years back. Sure is pretty though, huh?"

"You're impossible."

"Just one of my many qualities, princess!" Lyle gave a mock bow and stood up again. "Let's get going. We'll be to the ferry in no time if we speed up a bit."

"Get going? But we've barely rested for two minutes!"

"Tsk, two minutes is far too much time. We're on a tight schedule here, you know." She started walking, leaving a muttering Izumi to scramble to her feet and follow.