A/N: I'm sorry again for my big tardiness in updating, it's just it's been harder for me to write lately but like I've kept saying, I will not give up. Anyway, a couple questions; is warrioress a word? (xD) And, what are your opinions on my whole plot/story? Cause I really want to do a good job and not mess up on any major points or things so constructive critic is very much appreciated. :)

Song: "PRAYER OF A REFUGEE" by Rise Against

Why?: This. Song. Is. Freakin. Awesome. XD But seriously, it's a very good song and matches.

Chapter Ten: Powerful Shadows

Suki arrived at the Fire Nation capital so exhausted that she could barely carry her bag, yet her eagerness to see Sokka and all the others is what kept her moving.

She thought it would be professional to see Zuko first, after all, as destiny turned out she worked to protect the Fire Lord now, and he should know the latest about the rebellions against him. Yet Suki couldn't put off seeing her boyfriend first and embracing him in their tight-armed hug and then the kiss...her feet danced over the rail of the docking air ship as she swiftly leapt off without the slightest effort.

After walking past the docks, into town, she rented an ostrich-horse that took her to the outskirts of town where she knew Sokka to be. But when she arrived there was no loving goofy boyfriend to greet her. She furrowed her brow and tried the door, which was locked. Knowing Sokka, though, she went to the back end of the house and found that door unlocked. She rolled her eyes as she slipped inside and looked around,

"Sokka?"

No answer, no note.

She checked his room and found his traveling bag and some of his clothes gone. The young warrioress drummed her fingertips on the kitchen counter and thought. It was obvious Sokka had left but to where and why did it have to be now? From the looks and smells of it, he hadn't been gone long.

Oh well, Suki sighed, I'll just have to find him.

An eerie sensation overcame the girl just before she turned around to find someone else had joined her.

The former Princess of the Fire Nation sat and watched like a hawk the way the man that went by the name, Dr. Izo, slept. He was so vulnerable and well...weak. She could have snapped his form in two if she so desired but had a feeling The Shadow would not be pleased if she did that. Not that she was looking to please anyone, let alone that mysterious man.

Dr. Izo turned and mumbled something in his sleep, then he slowly started to open his eyes...

"Wha...AAAHHHH!"

He sat up and jumped as far away as possible. Waking up to see two crazy golden eyes staring murder at him did not top as the doctor's favorite ways to get up.

Mai walked out of her tent, entirely dressed and armed, eating something in the form of a bar that looked excessively chewy and distasteful. Mai threw a bar of the same substance to both Azula and Izo, mumbling one word between bites.

"Breakfast."

Azula stared at the bar, sniffed it, and without a pause threw it into the fire pit. Izo was hungry but decided to save his until he was starving...or dying.

"Well, alright then. I see your both ready to start. The Master Shadow has prepared ostrich-horses for our trip along with another fellow...companion."

The girls looked up at the same time. Uncanny how similar their expressions were at the moment.

"A...companion?"

Azula voiced, Izo nodded. "Yes." He refused to say anything further, and miraculously the girls didn't persist. Or perhaps it wasn't so miraculous after all...

"Come, come. We don't have time to dwindle."

With some effort, Izo took a leading air and simply put out the fire and marched towards a random direction in the old dirt path. Mai gave a slight questioning glance towards Azula, who returned the look with an even more murderous glare.

"What are you looking at Traitorous Bitch?"

Mai shrugged before turning her face away, "Nothing. I'm looking at nothing."

She followed Dr. Izo before Azula had the chance to reply. The Fire Nation Princess narrowed her eyes and felt a twisting coil grow tighter within her.

You just wait Mai...you will all see I have not lost all my power. You will all see...

"Iroh!"

Suki rested her hand against her heart in an exasperated motion. The least person she expected to see in this moment, especially all the way in Sokka's cabin...

"What are you..."

"Hush."

The stern command in the former General's voice was very unusual. Suki was startled at first, but then she quickly understood as she recognized his expression. It was an expression she herself had made several times before, an expression of absolute alertness when there was something suspicious or dangerous going on.

Once again she swept her eyes over the small room, but there was nothing out of the norm for her...

"DUCK!"

She didn't have to be told twice. Suki hit the floor before she could think and felt a body collide with her back at almost the exact same time and speed. There was also a rush of heat that could only come from fire and Suki knew Iroh was attacking whatever that had come to attack them first so that was enough reason for her to do the same.

She leapt up and planned to round house kick whoever it was Iroh was throwing flames at, but she was flabbergasted when she saw...no one. Iroh seemed to be battling with a ghost and Suki stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

"No child! Run! Don't...oof."

Iroh doubled over in pain but didn't stop bending. Suki didn't know what to do, she had never tried defeating something that wasn't...there. Before she could react, something seemed to pin-point press an exact area of her body that weakened her entire system. It was something so familiar, then Suki realized it was the exact same thing that Ty Lee did only this couldn't be Ty Lee...

Iroh threw a fire strike that almost hit Suki's head, but it whizzed past her and seemed to vanish into thin air. He didn't wait for the invisible reaction and grabbed the Water Tribe's girlfriend, helping her outside. They dove into some bushes and waited...and waited...and waited.

Suki opened her mouth to start to say something, Iroh put a hand over it, warning her with his eyes.

They waited a few more minutes, then the General slowly stuck his head out until he decided it was safe enough to come out and sit on the grass. Suki shook her head in disbelief before she could finally speak,

"Iroh...what was that?"

The elder Fire-bender stared up into the young woman's face with an almost fearful look in his eyes.

"That," Iroh took a breath and gazed at Sokka's shabby country cabin, "was a Shadow Minion."

Footsteps. Slow and steady against dirt paths and moist grass.

Zuko could hear thunder clap in the distance while angry gray storm clouds gathered. He almost wished it would rain so the drops from the sky could come hide the drops falling from his eyes.

He sniffed and wiped the tears away for the 50th time; but who was counting. He had truly lost his mother now and Zuko would have to accept that and mourn but he wouldn't fall apart...not yet anyway. He was still very much in danger and in the public eye. If anything, he would strive harder to survive. For two women in his life had risked too much and gone too far for him to fail them now.

Thinking of one of those two women, Katara, the love he now strove to live for, sent another avalanche of emotions Zuko refused to deal with at this moment.

At least despite all these sentiments, the former Prince felt some sort of calm in the fact that now he knew...he didn't have to spend the rest of his life wondering what had become of her. Now he only had to spend the rest of his life wondering what he could have done differently.

A flash of lightening both interrupted and reminded the Fire Lord he couldn't keep aimlessly walking. He had to find a direct path, a purpose. His people needed him, and somewhere out there, Katara needed him too. If that wasn't true he knew for a fact he needed her.

A girl on an ostrich-horse came galloping past, although she slowed down and practically came to a stop when she saw Zuko.

"Hey, what are you doing on the side of the road while a storm is coming?"

Zuko looked up at the girl's face and instantly saw black hair and golden eyes so similar to a pair he had known...

"Nothing. Leave me alone."

The girl's face showed slight hurt and Zuko sharply reminded himself he couldn't go back to his surly "back-off" attitude. After all, it was no one's fault except most probably his own for what had happened.

"I'm sorry...I'm just..."

He closed his eyes for one brief second to recover himself, when he opened them he was able to look the girl in the eye without cracking.

"I'm a bit...lost. Could you tell me where the nearest Fire Nation town is?"

"Sure, I'm headin' back home myself. I don't normally do this with strangers but..." Suddenly, she leaned down and stared at Zuko's scar, "Hey...I know you! Oh my Spirits! You're...forgive me, my Lord."

She bowed her head and avoided eye contact. Zuko internally sighed. At least this one seemed to be on his side, but he still didn't like feeling above others. The Fire-bender almost smiled remembering how he used to demand such meek respect, but sobered up instantly, also remembering his situation.

"No, don't, please. I just want...I need to go back to the Palace."

"Here," the girl quickly lowered down and offered the reigns, "take my ostrich-horse and I can lead you."

"No, no! I meant..." Zuko was starting to crack again and he didn't want to do it in front of this girl. "Just tell me where the nearest town is and I'll find my way."

The girl, who looking at her more closely now, was older than Zuko initially thought. But that was of no importance. She gave him a quizzical face,

"It's a few more miles on the right side when you come to a fork on the road. But my Lord, I insist you take my animal for a more comfortable journey."

Zuko shook his head and glanced at the rumbling skies. "No, thank you. I'll be fine."

He offered a weak smile and kept walking. The girl stayed where she was, staring at the Fire Lord's retreating figure. She cocked her head and thought for a moment before taking a piece of paper from her saddlebag and wrote something down on it, she then set it under a rock by the side of the road and sprinkled some sort of powder over the rock. After she completed these strange rituals, she went back on her animal and was gone before the dust had time to settle.

Two hours later...

An all too familiar carriage comes creaking down this same dirt path. Throughout this time the rain clouds have yet to decide whether they will pour down their held-in wrath, or prolong it till a more appropriate moment. It meant little to the shadowed carriage for it was intent on nothing or no one stopping it.

The man inside of it, if he could be called anything near a man, was staring out the half-closed window with a purpose in his dark amber eyes. When he saw something glitter off the side of the road, he made the carriage stop and rushed outside before the ostrich-horses could properly stop.

The glittering object in question was a rock, and underneath such a rock was a folded piece of parchment which The Shadow read with interest.

He crumbled the paper and smiled evilly to himself, staring down the path where the worst of the storm clouds gathered.

"So...the heir of the Sun is heading to my domain." The Shadow's creepy smile turned sickening with all sorts of vile thoughts passing through such a head.

"He will have no where to run this time."