(A/N: Does anyone know if there was an error with the site? For the past few days, my story status wasn't registering the number of hits my stories were getting. It's working again now, but I was just wondering if anyone else was having trouble or if they knew what was wrong.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 2: Animal Attacks

Zuko had never flown before. He had seen hot air balloons floating around the Fire Nation, but he never rode in one. It was quite an interesting experience, although the company could have been better. Right now he was alone with his eccentric uncle, an attractive yet very dull girl that simply "didn't hate him", an energetic and childish Airbender, and a giant man that never said a word.

Zuko ignored them as best as he could. It was easy to pretend Combustion Man and Mai weren't there, but Aang and Iroh never shut up. Not that he minded a friendly conversation, but the two of them were rather annoying.

"This will do." Said Iroh. "Take us down, my dear."

"Whatever." Mai muttered.

Coming in for a landing, Zuko helped tie down the hot air balloon. Humming happily, Iroh motioned for Zuko and Aang to follow him while Mai guarded the balloon.

"Why don't you stay here too." Iroh told Combustion Man. "We're more than capable of defending ourselves. You should watch the lady."

Combustion Man merely grunted in reply, while Mai groaned. "Oh joy." She muttered sarcastically. "Now I'll have someone to talk to."

And so their expedition through the snow began. Zuko followed without complaint, wondering just what the whole point of this little nature walk was supposed to be about. He knew his uncle knew where to find the Water Tribes, so why not just go there rather than trekking through the snow and ice?

"How are they even going to know we're here?" Aang asked.

Iroh chuckled. "I'm sure they're watching us right now."

Zuko raised an eyebrow and looked around. Watching them where? There was nowhere to hide. Sure there were some snow covered trees, large ice and rock figurations, and piles of snow, but nowhere for anyone to hide and spy on them at the same time. At least nowhere he could see.

Something moved close by. Zuko immediately got into a fighting position, ready to attack should whatever it was ended up being hostile. But it was only a group of small white bat-like monkey creatures that didn't look capable of harming anything.

"Flying Lemurs." Iroh told him. "Don't worry, they're not aggressive. Just relax, nephew. Come look over here at these cave carvings."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean cave drawings? And where not even in a cave."

Iroh just waved it off. "Ah, details. And no, I mean cave carvings look." Carved in the rocks were symbols and other shapes as if by water erosion. "The Waterbenders can use water in a way to cut through rock. They eroded these pictures into the wall."

Aang looked at the wall, just as fascinated as Iroh. "Whoa, that's amazing. I didn't know water could be used like that. How can you tell it wasn't carved by a tool?"

Iroh pointed at one of the carvings. "Well, you see, if you look here…"

Zuko rolled his eyes and turned away. He could appreciate art and history, but how a carving was made didn't exactly interest him. He casually walked away, feeling the snow crunch beneath his boots, until he almost slipped.

That's when he realized that he had found a frozen river. He pressed down on it hard, testing its strength. A grin crept up his face and he glanced over his shoulder at Iroh and Aang. They were still engrossed with the carvings.

While they were pretending to be architects, Zuko skidded onto the ice, sliding around. Growing up in the Fire Nation, he had never gotten the chance to ice skate since it was always so warm. This was actually rather fun.

And he wasn't the only one who was enjoying it. A small brown creature went sliding across his path, catching his attention. Once it stopped sliding, it turned its attention to the Fire Prince. Curious, it walked up to him, looking him up and down.

"Um… hi…" Zuko muttered, even though he knew the creature couldn't understand him. "Just what exactly are you? Uncle loves cute things like you. He'd probably want to take you home, name you something like Foo Foo Cuddlypoofs."

The creature made an adorable cooing sound and moved closer. Zuko bent down and held out his hand for the creature to smell it. The creature did so, and then gave his hand a lick. Zuko chuckled. The creature really was very cute.

A shadow fell over him and Zuko thought his uncle had caught him playing with the creature. But when an angry growl came from behind him, he knew that it wasn't his uncle casting the shadow.

Slowly turning around, Zuko was greeted by a large animal with enormous horns and long fangs. It looked like a fierce grownup version of little Foo Foo Cuddlypoofs, who had made his way over to the big one and was nuzzling its leg.

'Must be its mother.' Zuko realized. 'And mama looks very angry.'

Holding up his hands, Zuko created blades of fire. He didn't want to hurt this creature, but he would defend himself.

"Zuko, no!" Iroh cried. "That's a Saber-Tooth Moose-Lion. Don't attack, you'll only make it angry."

The Moose-Lion snarled at the prince, shaking its horns in a threatening manner.

"It's already angry!" Zuko argued.

"It thinks you were threatening its baby. The mothers are very protective of their young. Don't give it a reason to charge."

"So what do I do? Dance with it?"

Iroh didn't appreciate his nephew's sarcasm. "Just slowly back away, and don't show any signs of hostility."

Reluctantly, Zuko extinguished his fire blades and slowly backed away. The Moose-Lion watched him for a few moments before it roared loudly and charged.

'So much for no hostility.' Zuko thought.

Creating a fire whip, he ran towards the Moose-Lion. He whipped the ground in front of the angry beast. It leapt up on its hind legs, stopping its attack. Turning around, it took off with little Foo Foo Cuddlypoofs right behind it.

Zuko laughed in relief. "Yeah, that's right! Don't mess with the Fire Nation! You just run back home where you belong!"

But Zuko had made a mistake. The Moose-Lion hadn't retreated out of fear of him. It had sensed the presence of something else. And that something suddenly burst up through the ice. It was a giant eel-like dragon, its loud roar echoing across the land, and it had its yellow eyes fixed on Zuko.

"Unagi…" Iroh whispered fearfully.

So his uncle knew what it was? Then maybe he could give him some advice. "So what about this one? Run? Don't run? What?"

Iroh gave him a desperate look. "Run! Definitely run!"

Not needing to be told twice, Zuko took off. The Unagi opened its mouth and sprayed a jet of water at him. The water pressure was so strong that it tore straight through the ice, but fortunately Zuko was able to avoid it.

That didn't stop the Unagi though. It lunged at Zuko, just missing him, and breaking through the ice, where it once again moved under water. It was still after him though. Zuko could see its massive form following him under the ice. Every so often it would spray water up at him or break through the ice to try and bite him. Zuko was able to use Firebending to help him maneuver, shooting off fire like a rocket for quick movements.

But he was running down a frozen river, the walls of a canyon on either side of him, keeping him trapped as he got further and further away from his uncle and Aang. The extension of the canyon went as far as the eye could see, and he wouldn't be able to avoid the Unagi forever.

That's when he saw it. A cave in the rock wall. If he could get in there, he'd be safe from the Unagi.

He made a run for it, slipping and sliding on the ice as the Unagi swam after him beneath it. Opening its mouth, it shot another jet of water at him. It tore through the ice, missing Zuko, but knocking him off his feet. Luckily for him, when he fell, he slid across the ice, going right into the cave.

The Unagi seemed to realize that it was about to lose its prey, and made one last lunge at him. It missed, crashing into the wall, being too big to be able to fit in the cave. Snarling angrily, it went back underwater, but it didn't leave. Zuko saw it beneath the ice, waiting for him to come out.

'Great, now what?'

From the looks of it, he had two choices. He could either go back out onto the ice and resume being chased, or he could go through the cave and try and find his way out from there.

With one last look at the Unagi, he turned and went deeper into the cave.

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Up in the sky, a hot air balloon followed the frozen river. Iroh and Aang had rejoined Mai and Combustion Man, then began the search for their missing prince.

Their hearts sank when they came to the place where Zuko had escaped into the cave. It was here that the chase seemed to have stopped. Unable to see the cave entrance from where they were, they could only assume the worst.

The Unagi had gotten Zuko.

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Finding his way out of the cave was easier than he thought. His Firebending was a great help, providing him with light to find his way out. But by the time he did get out, the sun had set. Fortunately for him, he still had a ball of fire in his hand to provide him with light.

But that light didn't just allow him to see, it allowed others to see him. And remaining out of sight, someone was watching him. A young dark skinned woman glared at him angrily from her hiding spot. Her blue clothes symbolized that she was of the Water Tribe.

She knew right away that he was Fire Nation, and it wasn't his red clothes or the fire in his hand that told her this. And Fire Nation meant trouble.

Well, she wasn't about to wait and see what evil he would bring to her people. She would take him out before he got a chance to hurt anyone.

Using her Waterbending, she bended water out of her pouch. She turned it into a long deadly icicle and took aim. She would make it quick and painless. He'd be dead before he ever knew he was under attack. It would be merciful, unlike how the Fire Nation had been to her and her people.

But just as she was about to attack, something shiny caught her eye. It moved across the Firebenders's path, going by unnoticed by him. Even if he had seen it, he wouldn't realize its significance, had just saved life.

Melting the icicle, she returned the water to her pouch and settled for watching him for now. Just by reading his movements, she could tell a lot about him. But the guy was drawing far too much attention to himself. If he wasn't careful, he was going to end up as some animal's dinner.

But Zuko didn't know how things worked here. What he did know was that something was following him, and had been for a few minutes. He needed more light. Spotting a snow-covered tree nearby, he shot fire at it. The snow melted away and the tree burst into flames, lighting up the area.

Several creatures jumped off the rock wall the tree was near. Zuko felt his insides drop as he recognized them. These creatures were known as Canyon Crawlers. Not only were they aggressive, but they were carnivorous. And they greatly outnumbered him.

Zuko fled, but the giant insect-like creatures immediately gave chase. He could hear them snarling and snapping behind him. A moment later, something heavy landed on his back. One of them had pounced on him.

Rolling over, Zuko shot a stream of fire in the creature's face, causing it to retreat. Jumping to his feet, he suddenly found himself surrounded by Canyon Crawlers. There was no escaping them, and there were too many for him to fight. The realization that he was about to be dinner for these beasts hit him. But that did not mean that he was going to just roll over and die.

Creating blades of fire, he kept his eyes on the creatures, constantly spinning around to make sure none of the ones behind him were coming at him, but they just continued circling him like sharks. What were they waiting for?

"Well?" he snarled at them. "I don't have all damn night."

Almost as if in response to his remark, one of the Canyon Crawlers lunged at him. Zuko saw it coming and slashed at it with a blade of fire. While his back was turned, another one went for him. Zuko caught this one too and kicked at it, shooting fire from his foot at the same time, then moved to stab another one that was coming at him.

Another one pounced, and this time Zuko wasn't quick enough. He found himself pinned to the ground with the creature's face less than an inch from his own. Even so, he struggled, trying to free himself, though he knew it was pointless.

Then something unexpected happened. A tentacle made entirely out of water sudden wrapped around the Canyon Crawler and lifted it off him, throwing it aside. Zuko sat up just in time to see a water tribe woman rushing towards him.

Motioning towards the snow, she melted it down and formed several more water tentacles, which she began whipping at the Canyon Crawlers, who had now turned their attention to her. She struck them with her water whips to keep them back, and actual went on the attack herself, chasing them down.

The Canyon Crawlers seemed to figure out that this girl was not going to be prey, and could actually be a predator to them with the way she was attacking. Unable to even get close to her, they retreating, deciding to find another food source.

As the Canyon Crawlers fled, the Water Tribe girl turned her attention to the burning tree Zuko ignited. Muttering under her breath, she bended her water whips at the tree, extinguishing the flames. Then, with an irritated glance at Zuko, she walked over to the Canyon Crawlers that Zuko had wounded.

Getting to his feet, Zuko created more fire. There was an angry groan from the Waterbender, and she sent some water at him, putting out the flame in his hand.

"Hey, what was that for?" he demanded.

She didn't respond, but instead turned her attention to the first wounded Canyon Crawler, the one whose face he had burned. With a hand full of water, she began rubbing it over the creature's face like a lotion, and, miraculously, its skin began to heal.

As Zuko wondered why she was risking her life by helping the creature, something unexpected happened. The whole area began to glow. Zuko blinked and looked around at the glowing rock walls. He soon realized that the light from the moon was reflecting off the snow and bouncing off small crystal fragments in the rock, which illuminated everything. The fire he had been using for light had been interfering with the moon's light.

The Water Tribe girl had already finished healing the first Canyon Crawler, which had quickly scurried off, and had now turned her attention to the other three. She repeated the process of healing each one until she got to the one he had stabbed. She realized that the creature's injury was too great for her to heal.

She began muttering a prayer as she used her Waterbending a different way. Engulfing the creature's head in water, she froze it into a block of ice. A moment later, she bended the block of ice, snapping the creature's neck, giving it a quick death.

Wincing at the cracking sound of the Canyon Crwler's neck snapping, Zuko cautiously made his way over to the girl. Now that he could get a good look at her, he could see that she was very pretty. She had dark skin, much different from his pale complexion, beautiful blue eyes that were the color of the ocean. Her brown hair was braided, going down her back, except for a few strands of hair on either side of her head that were tied into loops.

"Hey." He muttered, not sure of what to say. He wasn't all that good at thank yous. "Um, I… I just wanted to say, uh, thanks, I guess. I was in real trouble back there, so, um, thank you."

The woman glanced at him, giving no indication that she even understood what he was saying. Without a word, she turned and began walking away.

Zuko's mouth dropped open in surprise. He was the prince of the Fire Nation. He had never had someone simply turn their back on him while he was talking, except for his sister.

"Hey, wait!" he cried, and went after her, but she just continued to ignore him. "Will you wait a minutes. I just wanted to thank you for killing those-"

Whack!

He had grabbed her arm to get her attention and was immediately knocked off his feet, a stinging sensation on his cheek. As quick as lightning, the girl had whirled around, bending water out of a pouch she carried, and whipped him across the face with it.

"Don't thank me!" she snapped. "Don't thank me for this! This is sad! Very sad only!"

Zuko blinked in confusion. What was sad? Did he do something wrong? Had he offended her by grabbing her arm? "Hey, I'm sorry. Whatever I did, I'm sorry?"

She just glared at him, clearly not accepting his apology. Instead, she pointed at the dead Canyon Crawler. "This is your fault. He did not need to die, and those other ones did not need to have been harmed."

Zuko's confusion increased. "My fault?" he asked, getting angry. "They attacked me? How is it my fault?"

"Your fault!" she repeated, louder this time. "You're like a child. Wandering around at night, making noise, drawing attention to yourself. They were looking for food, and you practically rang the dinner bell."

Was that why she was angry? Because he had accidentally drawn attention to himself? How was he supposed to know? Besides, it was just some mindless beast.

"Well," he growled, "if you love your Canyon Crawlers so much, then why didn't you just let them kill me?"

She stared at him for a moment, then her expression softened. "You have a strong heart. No fear." Then she became angry again. "But you're still as stupid and as ignorant as a child."

With nothing else to say, she turned her back on him. Zuko was momentarily caught off guard. She had just complimented and insulted him at the same time. And her mood swing was amusing. She actually looked pretty cute when she was angry. Someone as interesting as her he wouldn't mind getting to know a bit better.

That's when he remembered the whole reason he and his companions had come out here. They were to try to make friends with the Water Tribes, then get them to accept the Fire Nation's ways. This was a good chance to start that.

With a smirk, Zuko went after her. "Well, if I'm like a child, then why don't you teach me?"

She didn't even bother to look back at him. "The Fire Nation can't learn. They don't understand."

"Then teach me to understand."

"No one can teach you to understand."

She was being difficult. Perhaps she had a bad experience with the Fire Nations. Some of the soldiers were rather ruthless.

"I'm sure we could learn to understand each other. My uncle loves learning new things. His name's Iroh. Ever hear of him?"

Stepping on some ice, he lost his balance and began to fall. The girl suddenly whirled around and grabbed him, stopping his fall and helping him to find his balance again.

"You can't even walk right!" she snapped. "You're like a baby!"

Ok, so normal conversation wasn't working. Maybe he should try a more direct approach. "Look, I need your help."

This didn't get him any sympathy. "You shouldn't be here." she told him. "Go back to where ever it is you came from."

"I need your help." He repeated.

"No! Go back."

He was about to argue further, but her attention was suddenly diverted. She was looking at something on the ground. Looking down, Zuko saw a frog that seemed to be frozen in ice, only it was still alive, and didn't seem to be bothered by it. It wasn't alone either. Other frogs just like it were approaching, hopping around his feet. One jumped on his boot and began climbing up his leg. Frowning, Zuko shook his foot, throwing the frog off.

"No!" the girl snapped.

More frogs attempted to crawl up his leg. Zuko shook them off too.

"Stop!" the girl cried again.

As more frogs approached him, Zuko began backing away, but the girl suddenly grabbed him to keep him in place. "Don't move." She told him. "Don't… move…"

Feeling foolish, Zuko remained still and let the strange frogs crawl up his body. Some settled on his shoulders, some on his head, while the others just clung to his body.

"Uh, what are they?" he asked.

While Zuko's expression was one of confusion, hers was one of complete fascination. "Wood frogs that were brought back to life after freezing to death in the scared pond of La and Tui. They're very pure spirits."

Frogs that froze to death and then came back to life? How utterly ridiculous. "Uh, huh…"

Croaking, the ice covered frogs all jumped ff his body at once and began hopping away, leaving a completely bewildered Firebender behind. Clueless as to what was going on, he turned to the girl for help, hoping she would fill him in.

"What was that all about?"

She didn't answer. She seemed to be thinking. And, coming to a decision, she grabbed his arm. "Come."

(A/N: Zuko and Katara have met, and not on friendly terms, though that was to be expected. I must say, I had a hell of a time trying to think of a substitute for the sacred seeds. Then the frozen wood frogs came to mind and, well, there you go. More characters will be introduced next chapter, so keep a look out.)