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On the fire nation ship Wani, 97 years and 9 Months into the war.

The Wani was a small decommishened Fire nation vessel. It's type had become obsolete about 50 years ago. Currently the Home of the banished Prince Zuko. The prince had only been banished for about 6 months, but to him it felt like a lifetime.

His company at this point consisted of his crew, seconded by Lt. Jee, and his uncle Iroh. Iroh was the only tolerable person on board as far as he was concerned. The rest were unbearable as they seemed to have an odd set of expectation for the prince that didn't really fit him.

At the moment he was in his room meditating over their lack of progress. He knew he couldn't expect to find him so soon, but it was frustrating. Extremely frustrating. He loved his nation, his father, and even his little sister despite her faults. He was considering taking a break from his quest for awhile. Don't get him wrong, he certainly wanted to go home. But he knew it would not be an easy task. So he though a short brake was in order, which would allow him to clear his mind and come up with clear precise ways to find the Avatar.

Just as he was about to scrap the idea, a headache hit him. No, it was more a migraine, and it was getting worse. As it was going on he felt as though he was dreaming, as strange images passed in his vision. These included a strange monk, a pair of water tribe peasants, and what appeared to be a blind girl wearring earth kingdom garb. As the images passed they got faster and harder to tell apart, and with this the pain got more intense.

without realizing it Zuko got up, and slowly left the room. As he got part way down the hall he got one last clear image, of a grinning mouth under a dark hood. The pain that accompanied this image was so great that it could rival the receiving of his scar, and like with the scar, he blacked out.

Little did Zuko know that while his mind was uncontious, his body was not.

9 minutes earlier on deck. Iroh's POV.

It was a peaceful day, the sun was shinning bright in the sky, and the cook had agreed to make my favorite dumplings for lunch. As I sat back and enjoyed my favorite tea, jasmine, I thought the only way this could be better was if my nephew joined me. Sadly this was unlikely to happen as Zuko did not appreciate tea as I did. So few do, But that was ok, this was to good a day to get worked up about something like this. As I finished my dumplings, I began to doze off for a nap when...

" General Iroh Sir! "

This startled me back into consciousness. As my vision cleared I saw that it was my nephews 2nd in command, Lt. Jee. As I examined the man, I saw that he looked distressed. That meant it wouldn't be good, or at least he thought it wouldn't.

" What is it Lt? " I said this as I petted my beard a bit, A habit I had picked up from years of thinking and contemplation.

" Well sir, we found a boy, in the water. We pulled him out. " Jee said this with some nervousness. While it was surprising, and somewhat amusing, I felt I should put him at ease.

" That so? I guess I better greet him then. Lead the way! "

Jee saluted and turned, so I followed him. As we got neer the fishing deck I soon saw the boy. He had a fire benders hand on each shoulder, as the soldiers were suspicious.

While we were currently circling the southern earth kingdom, the boy did not look it. Looking at him, he had an earth kingdom citizens hair, water tribe eyes, and a fire nation complexion, and a face that didn't seem to fit any of the nations. He couldnt be more than a year younger than Zuko. The boy was also panting clearly exhausted. If the boys appearance was odd, then his clothes were even more unusual. The most normal articles of clothing he wore was a black pair of sandles and a black shirt. Over that he wore an odd dark green coat with a hood that appeared to close at the front, though I couldn't tell how. The by far most strange thing about his attire were his pants, which appeared to be made of a rough blue material.

Despite how oddly the boy appeared, or how some of the more experienced firebenders on board were clearly weary, I fealt the boy wasn't a threat and expressed it.

" At ease men! Even if the boy wanted to do us harm he couldn't! He is tired, and will require rest. Tell me boy what is your name? "

The boy continued to pant for a moment, then replied " Maikeru is my name, but please call me Maik. Thank you, thank you! I thought I might drown! "

The boys name was also unusual, seeing as it translated as a rhetorical question. Not particularly common around here. I decided to ask another question.

" Tell me Maikeru " I asked deciding to use his full name " How did you fall into the water and nearly drown? Surely a boy your age knows how to swim? "

He he seemed fully prepared to answer, though he did seem somewhat confused. However, before he could answer his pupils dilated and his eye sockets widened. His mouth also fell slack. With all this came something I had not felt in years, a spiritual presence. While this surprised me, it was what happened next that truly shocked me. The boy crossed his arms, grabbed the hands on his shoulders, and squeezed, squeezed so hard in-fact that the soldiers fell as soon as he let go.

Even more surprising was that the boy stopped there with his head down and did not move. However, the most shocking thing is that soon after this the helmsman screamEd down from the tower and said " LOOK OUT, PRINCE ZUKO HAS GONE MAD AND IS RAMPAGING! " This sets me into Shock even more, especially with what happened next.

End of POV! ...

After the exclamation of the helmsman, something that sent quite a few of them on edge occurred. Prince Zuko came from behind the helmsman and sent him reeling. He then jumped up onto the guard rail with a training staff in his hand. He was wearing his training vest and was bare foot. At the sight of the Prince Maikeru slipped out of his footwear and sweatshirt ( that's what it is. ) and continued to stair.

Prince Zuko then did another surprising thing, he jumped. He then used his firebending to slow his descent. While it effectively protected him, it left a dent in the deck with scorch marks around it. He then rose slowly, and just as slowly walked towards Maikeru. Once they were just about 12 feet away Zuko tossed the staff at the other boys feet. Kneeling down to grab it the odd boy never took his eyes off the Prince.

The first attack came in the blink of an eye. It came from the princes fist in the form of a huge fire ball. Maikeru however simply jumped right into it completely undeterred. It almost seemed as though he split the fire with his staff. He then went to deliver a strike to the princes head, which the Prince blocked with is forearm. He then grabbed the staff and used it to throw his opponent onto the deck. He then proceeded to send several small fire balls at the downed opponent, Maikeru however rolled on his head out of the way, did a hand stand and spring boarded off said hand over the Prince landing behind him.

Once the young man had landed he swung his staff downward knocking the Prince off his feet. Next he struck at the princes temple and heart. Following this he intended to swing at his neck but the Prince once again caught it this time using his elbow to break the staff. Now at a slight disadvantage Maikeru stepped back about 5 feet waiting for the princes next Attack, he was not disappoinTed for Zuko sent out three solid columns of Fire which only the fancy footwork employed by Maikeru could could work to evade it.

During this Prince Zuko got on his feet and began a set of moves that appeared to involve waving his arms in slow fluid circles until sparks appeared on his fingers. In response to this his opponent got into a horse stance with his arms spread apart. What happened next was both shocking and amazing. It started with Zuko firing Lightning at his opponent, and it ended with Maikeru clapping his hands together when the lighting reached him causing an explosion.

The resulting smoke clouded the deck. When it finally cleared the two boys were revealed to have moved on to hand to hand combat. While before the two had been moving at a relatively fast speed where all of their moves could be seen, now they were moving as though they had the blood of a humming birds. Currently the two as before have very distinctive and differing styles with Maik having his hands flat his palms open standing at his full height with his feet evenly spread, while the Prince was standing slightly hunched and his fists balled so tightly that one could see the bones of his knuckles. The 2 were circling each other exchanging blows narrowly missing the others head or chest either do to blocking or dodging. This went on for nearly a minute until the routine was broken by Zuko sending a kick to Maik's sternum. Maik delt with this by flipping backwards onto his hands and repeating the process 3 times. When he was finally on his feet again him and his opponent stilled.

Next it was Maik who made his move, running at Zuko until he was about 5 feet away and then falling to the deck sliding the rest of the way sending the Prince flying as he sailed under him. The Prince continued flying until he landed near the entrance to below deck. There was no pause this time as they both got to their feet and ran at each other. This ended with the two grabbing the others shoulders and attempting to wrestle the other into submission. At one point during the struggle Zuko swung so hard Maik hit the wall of the tower, and left a dent.

Finally things seamed to reach the climax when the two boys let go their right hands and reachEd for the others head. While during the fight neither had technically been conscious, in their breath contact the two awoke and experienced the worse pain of their lives, though this would be tested in the future. Then both mind and bodies left the waking world and they were both out.

Iroh's POV...

It seemed as though the world had truly stood still as we took it all in. I could scarcely belive my eyes. Then finally my shock waned and I ran to my nephew and our current charge's side. While Zuko was my first priority, Maikeru would not go ignored. I could see that both boys had been influenced by spirits, for it was the only way Zuko could perform lightning generation when I knew for a fact that he didn't even know the steps.

I soon got impatient with the crews inaction and called them over to have the boys examined. The ships doctor, Mou, thought it best to have them moved to the examination room.

After a furrow examination of the boys some of the crew suggested they move Maikeru to the brig, I disagreed saying that both were responsible and would answer questions when they woke up. At this some of the crew protested. But they soon learned there was no arguing with the Dragon of the West. Once that was settled all but Mou and Jee left. I then had Mou tell me what there injures were. According to him it was mostly bruising, though both had a few broken and cracked ribs. Maikeru had a concussion which wasn't good since he was uncontious. There was a small scratch on Zuko's head were the staff had made contact along with a bruise over his heart. Maikeru also had a fine array of bruises, most specifically on his back were he had mad contact with the wall. It also appeared that Zuko had moved ever so slightly one of the vertebra in his back, which had to be put back into place. The most interesting injury however was to Maikeru's hands, with the palms singed black and the front of his fingers being burnt. I found this interesting as the spirit had protected him from the Lightning, but not his hands.

Once this was all explained Mou had us leave as there was nothing we could do and it would be easier for him to work without distraction.

For me this was fine, as I had other things to think about. Foremost in my mind was this. Why had the spirits influenced the two to fight? Not to mention who had done it and why?

There we go with the second chapter, which I am happy with. I hope you all are two. Please enjoy and review, reviews are to the author like coal is to a locomotive. Thank you and goodnight.