Chapter 2 – Making Sense of Chaos
Zuko clutched at his chest, trying to control his breathing. His heart was beating a million miles a minute and he just couldn't seem to get enough air in into his lungs; it was making him lightheaded.
"Breathe more slowly Zuko, in… and out… in… and out. That's it, nice and slow…" Iroh knelt by his side and laid a comforting hand on his back.
Zuko did as he was bid with conscious effort. Eventually his swimming vision came back into sharper focus, and he was able to look up.
"Uncle, what was that?" he asked in bewilderment. He scrutinized the girl lying on the floor not five feet from him.
Iroh didn't answer until Zuko looked at him with wide eyes, prompting a reply.
"You were hyperventilating," he replied in a measured tone.
"That is not what I meant," snapped Zuko sourly, shaking Iroh's hand off his back. He knew his uncle understood perfectly well what he meant, and was prevaricating. Iroh sighed.
"We'll discuss this… just not in front of the crew," he finally conceded, indicating to the men behind them with a nod.
Zuko looked to his men, and the faces that stared back at him were shocked and fearful. The room was wrecked; scorch marks everywhere, broken tables and chairs. Thankfully, no one seemed to be seriously injured.
Iroh offered Zuko a hand to help him up, but Zuko ignored it and stood tall and straight on his own.
"Start cleaning up this mess," he ordered, "And someone take the prisoner back to her cell," the men shifted uneasily at that command.
He sighed, "On second thought, just clean up the mess, I'll take the girl myself," he amended. After all, if you wanted something done properly…
He approached the girl, but found that he couldn't bring himself to touch her. He shuddered in revulsion, remembering the otherworldly rhythm that had thrummed through his body as those creatures had all but suffocated him…
"Zuko, are you sure?" his uncle was concerned. His uncle thought he was afraid. It was that more than anything else that made him steel his spine and lift the limp form from the ground. He let out an even breath when nothing happened.
Zuko was never one to shirk his duties. He carried her onto the ship; he would deal with the repercussions. He would show no fear or weakness, his honour demanded it.
Iroh accompanied him, hovering protectively a half-step behind him, as if he was afraid the girl would wake up at any moment and try to claw Zuko's heart from his very chest.
"Now tell me uncle, what in Agni's name was that?" asked Zuko impatiently once they were out of earshot.
The girl clasped against his chest was anything but intimidating, she wasn't even heavy, yet she had torn through him and his men like they were nothing, only to be stopped by a bucket of water.
There was silence for a beat as Iroh considered.
"It was a spirit… The girl has been possessed. As a bender she draws strength from her element, strength enough to hold the spirit at bay, at least for a little while."
"How did you know pouring water on her would snap her out of it?" asked Zuko curiously.
"I didn't," replied Iroh grimly, "We must leave water near her," he continued.
As much as he was loath to give a captive free access to their element, Zuko privately agreed.
Uncle held the door open for him, and Zuko placed the girl on the slightly smoking cot in the corner. The whole room was quite badly scorched, and Zuko wondered what exactly Jin and Ma Tun done to it when he left.
"Nephew, the lock is broken." Zuko sighed heavily. Why was his crew so useless?
"Let me see…" it was cracked and burnt to a crisp. Someone needed to have words with Jin about his firebending.
"We can just chain it shut for now. I'll stay here with her if you go get a chain and the water-"
"You go uncle, I'll say," said Zuko. He was not weak. He did not need to be coddled.
Iroh frowned, but left without comment.
Zuko took the opportunity to scrutinise girl closely. Lying unconscious, curled on her side, she looked impossibly young and fragile. Her eyelashes were long, brushing against her check. She had small hands and spare wrists that looked like he could snap them with is bare hands if he wanted to.
When she was awake, and in her right mind, the only thing about her that Zuko registered was that she was an obstacle to what he wanted – the avatar.
It bothered him that she looked so… so small and weak.
Iroh wasn't gone a minute before the girl started stirring. Zuko immediately took up a defensive position, one clenched fist by his face, an open palm facing forward. He kept his stance loose.
The girl groaned in pain and clutched at her head with a shaking hand.
She looked up and their eyes met. Zuko sighed in relief; her eyes were blue once more. Nonetheless, he didn't relax his stance.
"Z-Zuko?" her voice was small and afraid.
"That's Prince Zuko to you, don't move peasant or else Iwill attack," he snapped.
She took a deep breath, seeming to fortify herself, before slipping off the futon and getting to her feet shakily. Her knees trembled; it was obvious that keeping upright was taxing her greatly.
"Are you deaf?! I said don't move!" snarled Zuko. She ignored his words and took a shaky step towards him.
"Zuko, I'm d-dangerous. The thing i-inside me… it'll be b-back," she stuttered. To Zuko's horror, her eyes were filling with tears
"I'm warning you! Stop moving!" he yelled, igniting his fist.
"Y-you have to k-kill me," the tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks.
Zuko's fiery fist went out abruptly. He dropped his defensive stance unconsciously.
"What?" he said faintly.
"P-please. I d-don't want to h-hurt anyone…" she looked at him imploringly with impossibly blue eyes.
"Well, I don't want to hurt you!" he retorted angrily. They both started at the vehemence of his statement, so incongruous with how he had behaved towards her previously.
"No one is going to kill you," he declaring, forcing his tone to be even, "And I won't allow you to hurt anyone," he barked it like an order.
"I-I've already hurt p-people, please Zuko," she begged. Her strength failed her and she half collapsed, half sat heavily, back down on futon.
At that moment, Iroh re-entered the room carrying a bucket full to the brim with water, and the chain.
"Now now, we aren't going to kill you," said Iroh firmly, "We may be able to exorcise the spirit that has possessed you, but first my nephew and I need to clean up the mess it made-"
"You could get rid of it!?" exclaimed the girl and Zuko simultaneously. Zuko cleared his throat.
"I mean, yes, we could get rid of it, but first you need to answer some questions," amended Zuko, crossing his arms pompously.
"Now tell me, where is the Avatar?" The girl had the spirit and audacity to roll her eyes.
"I don't know! Even if I did I wouldn't tell you," her voice sounded stronger when she was being defiant.
"Where did you last see him? Where was he heading!?"
Iroh elbowed him, "Nephew, don't you think we should be dealing with the larger issue first?"
"What are you talking about Uncle? Restoring my honour is the largest issue!"
"I left them because this thing inside me wants Aang," confided the girl, barely above a whisper. She hugged her knees to her chest, staring off into space bleakly. Zuko and Iroh shared a glance.
"The spirit wants the Avatar?" asked Zuko.
"It wants to destroy him," she clarified, "So if you ever want to catch him, you have to keep me as far away as possible."
"First Zhao, now this spirit... There is always something or someone getting in my way," muttered Zuko wearily.
"Oh no… it…it's coming back" moaned the girl.
Iroh and Zuko watched in fascination as the girl's eyes slowly clouded over until they were entirely black once more.
"Well, I thought she'd never leave," said the spirit dramatically, getting to her feet gracefully. The way she stood reminded Zuko of his sister, confident and lethally poised.
Zuko raised his hands in front of him, ready to defend. It took all his willpower to keep them steady.
"Now, now. I thought you just told my gracious host that you wouldn't kill us?" she cackled mockingly.
"Bring back the peasant!" demanded Zuko.
"Give me your heart and I might," she retorted.
She laughed that horrible inhuman laugh once more, until Iroh snatched up the bucket of water threw it in the her face.
Just like last time the effect with instantaneous; she keeled over limply.
"You secure her Uncle, I'm going to clean up her mess. Inform me when she wakes back up as herself," said Zuko, before marching away, back to the mess hall. He didn't want to see her tears, her weak trembling limbs, or hear her beg him again to end her life. Most of all, he didn't want to see those chilling black eyes.
Setting the ship right after the girl's rampage took them the better part of the next three hours. The medic was unconscious for more than half of that time, so Zuko found himself helping the Helmsman splint Jee's broken arm, and clicking Jin's dislocated shoulder into place.
"Jin, what the hell did you do to the lock in the brig?" Zuko demanded.
"Sorry sir, those smoky spirits tricked me!"
"Keep your arm straight."
"Sorry si-OWWW."
Fortunately, for everyone, the cook only had a mild concussion and was able to prepare dinner as usual. Unfortunately, even though they had cleared up the mess, their tables and chairs were still all broken.
Since it was a clear evening, Iroh made the suggestion that the men to take their meals up on deck. It was supposed to be music night, so that's where everyone would end up anyway.
Zuko retreated to his room to eat in solitude.
He was just contemplating seeking out his Uncle to ask for more information about exorcising the spirit, when there was a knock on the door and the man himself entered.
"Uncle! Good, I was just about to find you to ask about…" he trailed off as another man stepped into the room on his heels.
General Zhao. Zuko glared at him.
"I'm taking your crew," declared Zhao, with no preamble.
"WHAT?" Zuko sprang to his feet.
"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole."
"Uncle, is that true?" he asked.
"I'm afraid it is. He's taking everyone, even the cook!"
"I'm sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar, but I can't have you getting in my way again."
Zuko didn't realise that he'd lunged at Zhao until he felt Iroh holding him back.
Then he noticed what Zhao was examining, and ice slid down his spine; his dual dao swords mounted on the wall.
Zhao lifted one sword from its perch, and Zuko held his breath in anticipation.
"I didn't know you were skilled in broad swords Prince Zuko…" remarked Zhao casually, giving the sword a swing with very poor form. Zuko resisted the urge to snatch it out of Zhao's hands.
"I'm not. They're antiques, purely decorative," he said instead.
"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit Iroh?" asked Zhao conversationally, examining the blade closely.
Zuko barely heard the rest of their exchange; his thoughts were racing.
Zhao knew. Well, maybe he didn't know, but he would certainly suspect.
He would have to be a fool not to, and as much as Zuko disliked Zhao, he could acknowledge that the man was no fool.
He clenched his fists tightly, ready to fight if Zhao challenged him, but Zhao simply handed his sword back to Iroh.
"General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands."
Zhao marched away without looking back.
"Why did you tell him you have no skill with broadswords?" asked Iroh suspiciously.
"You know father only made me take lessons because my bending is so poor, it isn't a skill to be proud of." The half-truth worked, and the suspicion melted off Iroh's face and morphed into concern.
"Zuko, your bending is hardly poor-"
"Save it Uncle," said Zuko with no real heat, "I'm losing my crew, but I still have the Avatar's waterbender. I want you to tell me how to exorcise her. She's a danger and a liability to anyone who comes across her. I can't let that spirit destroy the Avatar." Before I catch him at least...
"Do you remember the fire dance the fire sages perform on the winter solstice?"
"Of course."
It was a complicated and flashy firebending form, which required a lot of precision and raw physical strength. Iroh has taught it to him when they first set out to sea as a training exercise, but Zuko had never actually performed it perfectly. It was impractical, many of the moves not easily applicable in a real battle situation. The last time Zuko saw the form, before he was banished, he remembered thinking that it looked more like a dance than firebending.
"Do you remember why they perform it?" asked Iroh
"The solstice marks a decrease in the separation between two worlds, the line between mortal and spirit worlds becomes blurred. As such, it becomes easier to interact with spirits. There are many spirits that wish to do humans harm, and on the solstice, they could conceivably cross over to our world to wreak havoc. The form the fire sages perform is protection from this," recited Zuko dutifully.
Iroh beamed proudly.
"Well done nephew, I'm impressed you remembered my lesson."
"Of course I remember; you made me learn that form for weeks and weeks straight! How could I forget?"
It was very frustrating at the time, but in hindsight Zuko realized that Iroh was probably just trying to keep him occupied and not dwelling on… unpleasant memories. The first year of his banishment was tough.
'"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner anywhere.' Isn't it fortuitous that you have already learned the form you need to accomplish your goal? A treasure indeed."
Zuko squinted at Iroh for a moment.
"…So by performing that form, we can get rid of the spirit?" he interpreted.
"Yes! At least, I think it's worth a shot. We should do it at night-time when the waterbender will be strongest to help fight the spirit off, and we should put some additional protective measures in place."
"Like what?"
"Burning some herbs like sage and white lotus petals, they repel spirits. We will also need an object of some sort to symbolise a gateway to the spirit world. This will need to be destroyed at the end of the ceremony to prevent the spirit coming back. I will collect what we need."
"Good, we'll do it tonight once the crew is gone… Oh no, Uncle, the crew! What if they tell Zhao!?" cried Zuko.
Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"He will interrogate them you know, it will be impossible to conceal what happened. He will take her."
The thought filled Zuko with dread. If she asked Zhao to kill her, he would do it. Or worse, he would let her go in the hope that she would find and destroy the avatar for him.
"He won't take her if we make it look like she's already escaped…" said Zuko, a plan slowly forming.
Please review if you're intrigued, feel free to ask questions if you have any If you have any ideas of where you think this is going, I'd love to hear (read?) them! Also, sorry for any typos, that's on me.