Eight: Pirates! Part I

When Zuko woke up there was a sword point brushing his nose.

He looked down the length of it to see a young man grinning at him. There were four other men behind the one holding the sword; all of them smiling satisfactorily.

"Arrgh," said the stranger, brown eyes laughing.

Zuko swallowed nervously, and he said, "Mind moving the pointy end away from my face?"

"Why?" asked the young man, obviously enjoying this. "It's not like I can make it any worse than it already is, Prince Zuko."

Ouch, Zuko thought silently, and tried to keep himself from blowing anything up at this insult to his already-damaged ego.

"Are you threatening me?" asked Zuko angrily. "What do you want?" He shifted ever so slightly to the right to cover Katara, who was still inside the shelter; the sword followed him. Hopefully these rogues hadn't discovered the Water bender's presence yet. She was still sleeping, as far as Zuko could tell.

"Don't bother," the stranger said carelessly. "I already know she's back there."

"Who are you?" Zuko demanded.

"Arrgh," the brown-eyed man repeated. "Can't you tell I'm a pirate? I would have expected more brains from the famous Prince of the Fire Nation, however dishonorable you are rumored to be."

Zuko stared at him. He didn't look very… threatening. Except for the part about the sword in the face. But that was only uncomfortable.

"We have nothing of value," Zuko said, stalling for time. "Nothing you would want."

The pirate cocked his head to the side, waving a bit with his sword. "Move over. Let me see the girl."

"I said, we haven't got—"

The sword flicked faster than his eye could follow and all of a sudden there was blood dripping from a shallow cut in his cheek. "I said move."

Zuko swallowed. Nothing he could do. If he firebended, then the pirate would react and spear him through on reflex; better play it safe first and do what he said.

"Wake her up," said the pirate, enjoying himself.

Zuko scooted to the side, one hand resting on Katara's foot. "Wake up," he said, shaking her. "Wake up."

Katara opened her eyes and screamed, an ear-splitting shriek that made all the men in the clearing wince.

"Shut her up!" yelled the pirate, covering his ears. "Shut her up!"

Zuko took this chance that Katara had given him and slammed two fireballs into the stomachs of the men in front of him; he moved fast, getting to his feet and turning around to blast the leader—

Who was holding his sword to Katara's throat.

"Stop with the fire," said the pirate, in a conversational tone, "or she gets it."

Zuko dropped his fists. Katara glared at him silently. You messed it up, she mouthed to him.

Not my fault! he mouthed back.

"If you're done communicating through secret lip signals," said the pirate, "then maybe we can get on to discussing the terms of our pending agreement."

"Agreement?" Zuko said out loud, breaking eye contact with Katara. "What agreement?"

"The one where I get whatever I want, and you do whatever I say," answered the pirate.

"Sounds fair," Katara gritted through her teeth.

"Come calmly with us back to our ship," the pirate said to Zuko. "Or I'll slice her throat open." Katara was held back against the chest of the pirate, her head forced upwards by the sword beneath her throat. It made Zuko twitchy just to see her in that position. One wrong slip and…

Zuko shrugged, putting on an 'I-don't-give-a-damn' look. "No," he said.

Katara's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "What?" she hissed.

"I don't care what you do to her," Zuko said, kicking dirt with his foot. "She doesn't matter to me."

The pirate's eyebrows lifted. "Oh, really?"

"When I get my hands on you—" Katara screeched, lunging forward, and stopping before she cut her own throat open.

"Really," Zuko answered, shrugging his shoulders again carelessly. "She doesn't mean a thing to me."

"You wouldn't mind if I sliced her head from her neck?" asked the pirate curiously.

"Nah," Zuko flicked an imaginary piece of dust from his sleeve.

"You wouldn't mind if I took her and did something... indececent with her?"

"Not particularly," Zuko drawled. Katara's eyes bugged out. He tried to keep his fist from trembling.

"Get him," the pirate ordered his minions.

The men leapt for him, but Zuko fended them off with fire blasts, backing away into the forest. Katara stared, horrified, as he turned and dashed away, leaving her alone in the clearing with a pack of pirate men.

"Well, girlie," said the pirate behind her. "I guess it's just you and us, now."

----

"Who are you?" the pirate asked her, tying her to a spear stuck in the sand on the beach. She glared at him. "What are you doing on a deserted island with the Prince of the Fire Nation?"

"I'm his babysitter," she snapped back.

The pirate laughed.

"It's the truth," she said. "I feed him, I clean up after him, I get him cold water to drink, I—"

"Sleep with him?"

"No!" she yelled, straining against her bonds. "You disgusting jerk!"

The pirate laughed again, and one of his sailors came up behind him with a plate of some food. Their ship was beached on the sand, not too far off. A campfire was being set up, near Katara's position. Obviously they were planning on staying until they captured Zuko again.

"It's the answer that makes the most sense," said the pirate thoughtfully, spearing piece of meat and stuffing his mouth. "He took you here because you're his secret lover, and he doesn't want anybody to find out about your forbidden love!" The pirate winked at her. "Isn't that right?"

Katara stared at him. "That's the most messed-up thing I've heard in awhile," she said disdainfully.

The pirate shrugged. "He'll be back for you, don't worry."

"I'm not," Katara snapped. "I don't need him."

Before the pirate could answer, one of his sailors came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey boss," he grunted, "Where should we put the cargo?"

Katara and 'the boss' both glanced over at the pile of crates that was slowly building on the beach, recently offloaded from the pirate ship.

"What pirates always do," the leader said, sighing with a 'duh' note in his voice. "We bury our treasure!"

----

Zuko watched Katara and the pirate from behind the trees. They seemed to be talking- or, rather, the pirate leader was doing the talking, and Katara was snapping and glaring at him. Good for her.

As far as Zuko could tell, the pirate hadn't tried anything... funny with Katara yet. They were obviously using her as bait to lure him back out onto the beach.

Zuko needed a plan.

----

"What do you want him for?" Katara asked the pirate.

"Money," the pirate shrugged. "Important guy like him will fetch a nice, heavy ransom. He's been missing awhile. His people, namely the Dragon of the West, are desperate to find him."

Katara wondered if Aang and Sokka were still searching for her, the way Zuko's uncle was searching for him. She changed the subject.

"What's in those crates over there?" she asked.

"Treasure," the pirate answered easily.

"Gold?" she peered through the dimming light at the stack of boxes and barrels. "Gold and jewels?"

"Something better," the pirate grinned, using his sword to pry open the crate nearest him. Katara watched interestedly.

The pirate reached in and pulled out... a bottle.

"Rum!" he said triumphantly, pumping the bottle into the air, amber contents inside sloshing. "The only thing a real man needs," he proclaimed, before adding, "besides food and women, of course."

Katara sputtered. "You're no pirates! You're just... you're just thieves and smugglers!"

The thief/smuggler frowned. "Hey. I can do pirate-y things. Burning and pillaging and ravishing and all that."

Katara raised one eyebrow.

"I could if I tried!"

She sighed and settled as comfortably into the sand as her bonds would allow for. Zuko you ass, she thought silently. Defeated by rum-smuggling thieves. Some Fire Prince you are.

The fake pirate took a swig from his bottle. "Want some?"

She made a disgusted face.

"Don't like rum? I've got beer, and ale, and vodka, and some pretty good wine, liquor-"

"Cocktails?"

"-no cocktails, but I could try to cook up some of my own-"

"I was kidding," Katara sighed.

----

"I need to pee," said Katara.

The pirate was picking his teeth with the point of his knife. She kept hoping he'd slip and accidentally ram the thing through the back of hi throat.

"So pee," he answered her, playing along.

"Not here!" she was aghast.

He rolled his eyes before circling around her and cutting her ropes loose. "Don't try anything funny," he warned her.

She stood up, rubbing her wrists and trying to get her knees to work again. Katara stepped into the forest, the pirate following close behind. "You're not coming with me, are you?" she said, trying to stall for time. Come on, Zuko. This is your chance.

"And risk having you escape back into the arms of your true love?" the pirate snorted. "You think I'm stupid?"

Katara muttered, "Fine. But turn around."

"If I don't hear the right noises, pissing and all that, I'm turning around and I don't care if you're not ready-"

"Okay, okay," Katara snapped. The pirate was much smarter than Zuko had been. The same trick wouldn't work on him. So she had to do it, gritting her teeth as her cheeks flushed. The pirate chuckled.

"Shut up," she glared at his back.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, the call of nature," he answered.

She retied her robe and stood back up. "I'm decent," she said tightly.

"Let's go," the pirate wasted no time in getting them back to the beach. The sailors were lounging around next to the ship, bright lights illuminating loud laughter and some music.

"Actually," Katara said, as they neared the campfire, "I think I'll have some of that rum you offered me earlier."

The pirate grinned. "Knock yourself out," he said, indicating the half-full bottle in the sand with his chin.

She bent down to pick it up from the sand; the pirate stooped to pick up the rope with which to tie her hands again.

Katara's hand tightened on the neck of the bottle, and she whirled up and around, aiming for his head-

He slammed her down onto the sand, landing on top of her with a knife held to her throat. She shrieked, the bottle rolling away from her hand. She could feel the ice-cold metal against her vein.

"I've been good," the pirate whispered in her ear. His weight was crushing her. "I've played the fool with you. Joking, laughing. I really am a pretty nice guy, don't you think?"

Katara concentrated on breathing evenly.

The knife pressed closer. "Don't you think?"

"Yes," she managed through trembling lips.

"I can be nice," he continued. "But you won't stop me from getting what I want. I love making friends and smiling at pretty girls, but I love my money more. Smuggling alcohol makes a neat profit, but I. Need. More." he breathed, and she felt her cheek burn.

"I need that Prince of yours, and you're going to help me get him, understand?"

Katara tried not to cry.

"Understand?"

She was about to nod, but stopped herself. It would have been suicide. "Yes," she managed to squeak out again.

The knife slid lovingly across her throat, and then down to her collarbone.

"Now we wait," he crooned softly.

----

Zuko decided to wait out the pirates; they had to leave eventually once they ran out of food, and when they did, Zuko would get Katara back. If they tried to take her with them, then he'd fight them while they were weak from hunger!

He was so smart, he surprised even himself sometimes!

He sat down to wait out the night.

Then Zuko heard a female scream from the beach and he whirled around, peering through the leaves. What he saw made his eyes widen in horror.

That pirate bastard!

What was he doing—what was he doing on top of Katara!

Zuko saw her struggle briefly, then still when the pirate held some silvery metal to her neck. A knife.

He was going to… the pirate was going to dishonor her!

This created an interesting dilemma. Zuko wanted to keep with his original plan, but obviously Katara was in some sort of danger. There were two options.

Zuko could sit here and do nothing (the easy option)... or he could run out there, risking his life and freedom, and attempt to rescue her from the pirates, like those handsome, honorable heroes in fairy tales always did (the hard option).

It would benefit me to rescue her, Zuko thought to himself. If I don't, she'll probably get mad at me later and refuse to feed me again.

Alright. Decision made.

Letting out a cry of rage, Zuko burst from the foliage, flaming fists raised to attack.

----

"He's coming," the pirate whispered, sounding delighted. "He's coming. He's seen us."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Katara could see the other pirate sailors grinning in anticipation and moving to intercept Zuko.

Taking a chance and risking her neck (literally), Katara opened her mouth and screamed, "Zuko! The crates! Get the crates!"

The pirate above her gave her a confused look.

Zuko was utterly confused. Crates? Then he saw them piled on the beach, next to a hole the sailors were digging. The boxes were obviously full of some sort of precious treasure, what with the way the sailors leaned against them, muttering to each other. Some of them had even fallen asleep on the crates, probably to protect them all the better.

Ah. Now he understood. If Zuko tried to destroy the treasure, then the pirates' attention would be fixated on that disaster, while he and Katara escaped!

Katara was so smart, she surprised even him sometimes!

Turning around, Zuko let off an impressive blast of fire from his hands towards the towering crates.

He was completely unprepared for what happened next.

----

BOOM!

The entire beach lit up in a maelstrom of light, heat, and flying wood.

Zuko screamed before hitting the sand. He hoped no one had heard him.

Katara and the pirate leader were both blown back by the force of the blast; he landed a few feet away from her, and when her head stopped ringing and the world stopped spinning, Katara realized she was free.

Getting shakily to her feet, she stumbled over to where Zuko lay face down in the sand. She rolled him over roughly, slapping his face and yelling, "Zuko! Zuko are you alright?" She checked him for cuts from sharp, broken glass. No blood. She checked him for bruises caused by wood planks from the blasted crates. No bruises.

"What's wrong with you?" she cried, bending over to peer anxiously into his face. "Get up!" Katara pounded his chest with her fists. "Don't die! You can't die!" She felt like screaming. She hadn't expected the blast to be so big. What if she'd killed him indirectly? What if he died because of her? Katara slapped him in frustration. "Get up, you numbskull!"

"If you stop hitting me," he coughed, "I might be able to survive just a little longer."

"You're alive!" she shrieked, lunging for him. "You're alive, you're alive, you're alive, you're alive alive alive-"

In the middle of her tirade she kissed him on the cheek.

He was still frozen when she yanked on his arm to pull him up from the sand.

"Get up," she said urgently. "We gotta hide before the pirates recover."

The aforementioned pirates were groaning on the beach, trying to regain their sense of balance and reorient themselves. The pirate leader, stumbling up, saw his beloved 'treasure' in a heap of burning wreckage, and let out a scream of anger. He whirled, and his eyes fixated on Zuko and Katara.

"Get them!" he yelled shrilly, pointing his sword wildly in their direction. "Get them!"

"Let's go," said Zuko, and grasping Katara's hand, yanked her into the forest after him.

A/N: I promised myself this would be a story with SHORT chapters but this one ended up being quite long. It was longer originally, but then I decided to split the Pirate Sequence into two parts. Yes, yes, many references to Pirates of the Caribbean, rum and all that. I've never personally blown up a gigantic pile of alcohol, so I have no idea how that goes. Maybe one of you should try it, report back to me on the results, and then I'll fix any discrepancies I've written in.

Thank yous to: amurderofcrows, who suggested the pirate idea. eviltallestjac, for Katara-captured-by-pirates-rescued-by-Zuko. Rashaka and manarunigha's ideas are not forgotten; this is only Part I of the pirate sequence.

Some clinging/embracing/kissing/petting is on the way. Hopefully.

Yay for Q & A time!

Fireus Princeius, Benderus Waterus, and Avatarus! You been feeling okay? -Queen of the Leos
Waah! XD If you count staying up late to write this crap, I guess so! (It's 1am where I am!)

Seriously, for someone that learned English as a second language, you curse like a high-schooler in the US -shieldmaidenofeorlingas
I am a high-schooler in the US.