The moon hung suspended right in the middle of a starless sky late one night in a vast desert. Hot wind sent rippling waves of sand across the endless stretch of land. Ozai sat on his komodo rhino while Azula paced back and forth impatiently.

"What is taking so long?" she whined as her feet drug along in the heavy sand. "If we aren't back at the palace before sunrise, they'll suspect something is up."

"Patience." Ozai scolded his daughter. "I'm sure Jun will come along any moment now."

As he spoke, a shadowy form appeared in the distance. It was Jun; she was approaching them on her shirshu. As she neared, Ozai frowned at her."

"You are late." he snapped in a growling tone.

"Sorry." Jun offered a dry apology, not even putting in the least amount of effort to sound like she meant it.

"You have it then?"

"Yep, although I had to paralyze a few souls and slit a few throats to get it." Jun reached into her pocket and revealed half of a gold medallion of a scarab.

Excitement sparked in Ozai's eyes and he eagerly reached out to seize his prize, but Jun held it back.

"Not so fast." The bounty hunter smiled slyly. "Aren't your forgetting the deal? The treasure?"

Ozai frowned, and then nodded to Azula, who then shot a bolt of lightning from her fingers which zapped Jun's hand, causing her to drop her half of the medallion.

"Ouch!" Jun whimpered and grasped her injured hand, then gasped as she realized she had dropped the medallion half. Before she made any motion to pick it back up, Azula had already snatched it up from the ground and given it to her father, a saucy smirk planted on her lips.

"What about our deal?" snapped Jun angrily. "All those riches you promised me? How do I even know you aren't breaking your promise?"

"Trust me my good bandit, you will get what is coming to you." said Ozai as he joined the half of the medallion with his half. Upon being put together, the medallion began to glow brightly and unfolded its wings, suddenly taking flight right out of the palm of Ozai's hand.

"Quick! We must follow it!" Ozai snapped the reins on his komodo rhino and took after the bright beam of light. Azula hopped onto her own komodo rhino and followed her father, Jun not too far behind on her shirshu.

The medallion continued flying until it came upon a large dune. Promptly, it broke into two pieces and dove right into the gritty sand, and all that remained were two glowing points of light.

Suddenly, the dune began to rise, and slowly shaped into a large beast's head with big, glowing eyes.

Ozai slid off his mount with the gleeful look of a child in his eyes. "At last! After all these years, I finally have found it! The Cave of Wonders!"

"By the spirit." breathed Jun as she dismounted her pet, marveling at the sight before her.

"Now remember this." Ozai spoke to the bounty hunter who had crossed her arms. "Only you may enter, but touch nothing, and I repeat, nothing, but the lamp! And when you give me the lamp, I promise, all the treasures that lie within will be yours for the taking."

Jun nodded, and slowly made her way towards the beast's mouth.

"Now I wonder where you dug this desperate character up?" jeered Azula in a whisper to her father. Ozai only smiled and looked back to Jun, who had reached the reached the front of the cave.

"Who dares to disturb my slumber?" bellowed the sandy creature in a deep, menacing tone. So loud, that the pressure of the wind from his voice nearly knocked Jun over.

"It is I Jun…a humble bounty hunter." Jun replied, her voice a bit shaky.

The glowing eyes on the cave looked the shivering bounty hunter over. "Proceed." he said. "But remember this, only one may enter. One who is worthy. A diamond…in the rough!"

Jun hesitated for a moment, and looked back at Azula and Ozai as she wanted their permission.

"Go on!" they both hissed.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Jun put one foot on the first step of the cave. When the only sound that met her was the crunch of sand, she breathed a sigh of relief and continued as she was convinced it was safe.

A loud roar from the beast suddenly sounded and the cave began to shake. Jun panicked, and turned around to flee for the entranceway. But she was too late. Sand came crashing down upon her, burying her completely as the beast's mouth clamped shut.

Ozai and Azula shielded their eyes as sand flew everywhere. When they made sure it was safe again, they looked and were astonished to see that the cave was gone, and the dune had sunk back into place. Jun was gone. All that was left was the two halves of the medallion.

"No! Not again! This was the third time!" Azula dropped to her knees and clawed at the sand furiously. "We are never going to get a hold of that stupid lamp, Father!"

"Do not despair Azula." Ozai picked his daughter up by the collar of her robe and placed her on her feet. "Jun was obviously not as worthy as we had hoped her to be."

"That's what you said last time." said Azula pouting. "That's not a shock!"

"I think we are just going to have to find another diamond in the rough." said Ozai, stroking his short beard thoughtfully.

"But where?"

"That, we'll figure out when we get back to the palace." said Ozai, remounting his komodo rhino. "Come now Azula."

And with a snap of the reins, the man and his daughter rode off into the dark night.