I would like to thank everyone for all of the reviews, and I would like to thank snarkhunter for giving me a verbal slap to the face and helping me to remember that holding a story hostage is not only bad manners, but extremely low. Thanks guys!
Anyways, here's the fifth chapter, I hope you guys like it. Please continue to review.
Chapter Five
The Hunt
In three weeks, it would be August 23rd- the three year anniversary of Sozin's Comet, the end of the war, and Zuko's ascent to the throne. Katara heard stories everywhere she went- happy mothers and wives thanking Agni for bringing their soldiers home, veterans describing where they had been during the Fall of Ozai, and shop owners advertising specials in honor of the date.
She hated it.
Everything was just another sharp reminder of everything she'd lost. She was a war hero to some, and a traitorous villain to others. This time of year, she should be celebrating with her brother and his wife, and all their friends. Instead, she was racing around the city, going back in time to unravel the present.
She was walking along the street in Fool's City, looking for the library she'd been to so long ago to research the Blue Spirit. Her purpose was different today, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it would be harder to find this information.
She looked up from beneath her hood, spotting the distinctive pillars that decorated the front of the library. She walked in the doors, taking in the musty scent of the old books and going to the front counter. There was a wizened old woman behind the desk, reading glasses perched precariously on the very edge of her nose.
"I was wondering if you had any recent books of Fire Nation history, or newspapers," she asked quietly, and the woman squinted.
"You're gonna have to talk louder dearie, I've been around a long time and my ears aren't what they used to be!" she shouted, and Katara flinched back, surprised by the old hag's screechy voice.
"I want to look up some recent-" she started, and the old lady interrupted.
"Good Spirits, young woman, take that damn hood off and speak up!" Katara resisted the urge to throttle the little old lady, gripping the counter and shoving her face right next to the librarian's ear.
"I NEED INFORMATION ABOUT FIRE LORD ZUKO!" she bellowed, and the lady cracked a smile.
"Now we're getting somewhere! Follow me, and for Agni's sake take off the hood, you look like a hoodlum and I don't allow that riffraff into my library!" She walked around the desk and grabbed Katara's wrist with a surprisingly firm hand, pulling her down an aisle.
Finally they made it to a small section with new scrolls stacked haphazardly along the shelves. The lady stood on a stool, grabbed a couple and threw them at Katara- she ducked to avoid getting knocked out, and again the woman gave her the evil eye.
"Not too coordinated, are you? You must have some Earth Kingdom blood in you somewheres, I hear those rock benders are clunkier than my digestive system!" She cackled and wheezed, bent over as Katara stepped back with a look of disgust. The librarian got down from her stool, pinched her swiftly on the cheek and wished her luck with her research, hobbling back to the front desk.
She watched her go, then turned and muttered to herself, "Old bat."
"What did you say?" the woman shouted, and Katara sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Nothing!" she shouted back, and shook her head in derision. Crazy old people.
She sat down on a rickety chair and pulled a scroll open, losing herself in her task. There wasn't an author specified on the paper, but it had been written only a year ago, about the Fall of Ozai. It was entitled "The Phoenix: A Final Fall" and there was a drawing of Ozai as the Phoenix King on the day of Sozin's Comet. She stared into the eyes of the man she hated, seeing Zuko's features hardened into a cruel face, and wondered what he'd look like now if he was still alive. She would never know.
She skipped through the events of the day, already knowing exactly what had happened. She saw her name in one section, and blushed, moving on quickly after noticing that the author described her as 'a warrior princess full of grace, beauty and a fierce temperament'.
Finally, she made it past the events of that day, and scoured the print, stopping every time she saw Zuko's name. Most of it was about the peace councils he had kept, although there was a small section about him and Mai- she tried (and failed) not to smile when she read that he 'stiffly proposed to the Lady Mai, who in turn, stiffly accepted the proposal and showed no delight, as was characteristic for the noblewoman'.
She unrolled the scroll a bit more, and found the words staring up at her. Her breath caught in her throat- finally, after so much time not knowing. She brought her face closer to the paper, mouthing the words as she read them.
"On April 16th, Fire Lord Zuko died on a return passage from an unknown location in the Earth Kingdom. It is believed that his ship was stranded on a reef, and that he perished whilst making sure that his fellow seamen made it safely onto the life rafts."
She froze. She read the words again.
It is believed.
It is believed.
It is believed.
Before she knew what she was doing, she threw the scroll against the wall with an outraged cry, standing up and sweeping the rest of the documents off the small table. This couldn't be happening- all she had was an uncertain idea of how he'd died, once again, no one was sure. Disappointment tasted metallic, and she swallowed it down.
She was fed up, and turned to leave the library just as the old hag from the front counter came barreling down the aisle. "What do you think you're doing, you brat? Pick up those scrolls, and don't bother coming back if all you're going to do is disrespect the-"
Katara walked right past her, rage pushing her forward. No one knew what had happened to Zuko or his crew, except he'd died to save them. That was all the information she could find. It was useless, and now she didn't even have a lead, nowhere to go for any information at all. It was just stupid to think she'd be able to-
She stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide open but unseeing. Something pinged in the back of her mind, and the world narrowed until all she could feel was the space behind her. She revolved and walked to the wall, ignoring the woman as she picked up the wrinkled scroll.
"He perished whilst making sure his fellow seamen made it safely onto the life rafts…"
She looked towards the woman, color rising in her face as she felt her body burn with anticipation. "I need a list of the people Fire Lord Zuko took with him into the Earth Kingdom on his last trip."
The lady snorted. "Hell no! You come in here searching for something that should be ignored, and throwing my knowledge around like some uncivilized spoiled cow! Animals belong on the street, not in a house of learning! Get out, and don't come back if-"
"Listen, you old witch, I don't care what you think or what you say- you're going to help me figure this out of it's that last thing you do! I'm so damn tired of people pretending like everything is okay. Look around you! What do you see, prosperity and joy? No! There are people suffering, and if you truly care for 'learning and knowledge' like you say you do, you'll help me!"
Katara closed her mouth, realizing too late that she was screaming in the old woman's face. For a moment, she thought the hag was having a heart attack- her eyes bugged out and she opened and closed her mouth like a dying fish. But then she narrowed her eyes, looking her over. A wry smile spread her lips open, revealing crooked teeth. She coughed out a chuckle.
"Finally, you're speaking up. Stay here."
"What?" Did I miss something? she wondered, and the librarian snorted again and walked away. Minutes later she was back with a huge stack of papers, which she slammed down on the table.
"These are the lists of every member of the Royal navy from the last five years. Your guys will belong to the Fifty-Third Regimen, part of the Dragon Fleet. Good luck finding one that's still alive!" The woman marched back to her desk with a knowing look, and Katara sighed, flipping through the first couple of pages and being shocked by the amount of information that was recorded about everyone.
Name: Li Torko
Age: 60 (now deceased)
Bender: Fire
Height/Weight: 6'1" 240
Years of Service: 35
Ships and Positions: Thirteenth Battalion, Agni's Thorn, 15 years. Stern master. Ten year long tours in Earth Kingdom, ranging from Omashu (most recent) to Kakai Tan. Forty-Second Battalion, Third Regimen. The Sea Serpent, 6 years. Stern master. Four years between raiding ships and Earth Kingdom cities.
Family: Wife, 58, lives in Azulania (formerly known as Whale Tail Island). Two sons, 34 and 23, fisherman and blacksmith.
Current Whereabouts: Deceased
Two hours later, she had her list. There were thirty four men on the paper she held, six of them deceased and eleven of them in prison for war crimes. At the top of the page was Captain Ju Huan, listed as an active member of the Navy, and living only minutes away from where she stood now.
The sky was just beginning to darken when she found herself in a shady little apartment building much like her own, staring at a roughly hewn door and gathering her thoughts before she raised her hand and knocked twice. The moon was round and heavy in the sky, and she had her pouches of water tucked under the cloak she wore. She'd decided to leave her mother's necklace on, the pendant tucked inside her clothing for safe keeping and the replaced by a long leather strand.
There wasn't an answer, and she knocked two more times before she heard a window open to her right. "He's not home," a woman shouted, and Katara went over, being careful to keep her face hidden.
"Where would I find him, then?" she asked, trying to make her voice lower in case she had to come back.
"Try the nearest bar, see if he's gotten kicked out yet. Whatever business you have with him, you might want to get to it before he drinks himself to death." The window shut, and she sighed, walking away from the building and following her ears to a large crowded bar. There were shouts from inside, but at nineteen years old, she was still too young to enter. She'd have to wait for him outside.
Katara moved some crates around and crouched behind them, leaning against the wall and once more looking at the caricature she'd found in the Navy files. Ju Huan was older, with puffy eyes and a crooked nose, but no other distinguishing features. The notes said he was six feet tall and around two hundred pounds- she hoped he wouldn't be violent, because she stood at exactly five feet six inches, and he had about seventy five pounds on her.
It was dark and humid by the time she was jolted into attention by the bar doors swinging open. A man landed hard on the ground as people laughed from within, and she ducked between crates, watching as he picked himself up. He was tall, but looked too skinny. Then, he squinted up at the lantern, mumbling something under his breath, and she recognized the asymmetrical features.
She followed him silently as he stumbled down the street, waiting until they were further away from the lights and noise. He didn't seem to know where he was going, and she felt a certain pity for the man who behaved like a lost child.
It reminded her of when she and Zuko had gone after the Southern Raiders, except this man was much less of a challenge, and the wrath in her body wasn't directed at him- yet.
He fell to his knees, and she leapt from behind the fence she'd been trailing, her arms outstretched to take her fall. He reacted surprisingly fast, kicking out at her with a startled yell and blasting the night with fire just as she rolled out of the way. She pulled the water out of her pouch and wrapped it around his wrists, flinging him to the ground and pinning him there with ice. He yelled again, but she was upon him, her hand on his mouth.
"I won't hurt you unless you force me to," she said, somewhat shocked by the dark tone of her voice. It was sinister, but something inside her told her that this way, he'd listen closer. "I need information from you. If you don't give it to me tonight, I will continue to hunt you down until you do. Am I clear?"
He nodded, his eyes already leaking tears, and she backed off, melting the water from him and letting him sit up. She opened her mouth, but he bolted in a drunken flee, not even making it three steps before water caught him by the ankles and pulled him up against the wall, freezing him there.
"What do you want?" he gasped, and she got right to the point, not knowing how much longer she could do this. Every lesson she'd ever learned told her to help the man home, heal his wounds and nurture him back to health- but the world she lived in didn't allow that. She couldn't.
"How did Fire Lord Zuko die?" she asked, and watched the color drain from his face. His eyes slid to the left of her as he struggled to keep her in focus. He shook his head.
"I don't know." Katara bit her lip, then tried a different track.
"What were you doing when the boat sank?" she asked, and he looked at her quizzically.
"What boat?" he asked. She told him the name of the ship Zuko had travelled on, and he frowned. "That ship never sank. We made it into harbor safely, I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Then how did Zuko die?" she yelled, losing her patience and stepping towards him.
"You're a friend of Azula's, aren't you?" he muttered, and she nodded, thinking the intimidation factor would give her an edge. He hung his head, his shoulders shaking, and she stepped forward curiously. His head snapped up, and he roared in fury, pressing forward until the ice shattered, his hands around her throat. "Murderer!" he screamed, and she kicked him in the stomach, rolling away and whipping him, panic slowing the seconds and giving her time to respond.
"Wait!" she said, and once again froze him to the ground. "I'm not, okay, I just said that because I thought it might get answers! I'm sorry. I don't know what else to do." Ju Huan stared at her suspiciously, then hunched over and threw up, moaning as she recoiled.
"You need to tell me everything you know," she ordered, then frowned as an idea blossomed in the back of her mind. "Or maybe you could get into the palace somehow and get the information I need- say you're making a report or something."
He snorted. "I haven't been in the palace in years. You don't know, do you?" She shook her head, baffled by his bitter tone. "The crew was fired as soon as we made it back to the Fire Nation, for unlawful conduct. Some of us were thrown in jail for war crimes, even though the war had been over for months. None of us understood it, so a couple went to the palace and tried to see our commanding officer. We were banned."
"What about Zuko?" she asked, and he shook his head with a grimace.
"I don't know anything about that, lady, I don't remember! Don't even bother looking for the rest of the crew, either- I've tried to find them, they're all gone. Neighbors don't know anything, they left their kids and wives behind." He met Katara's horrified gaze, and said evenly, "I doubt that anyone but me is still alive."
She thought back to the seventeen crew members who were either imprisoned or dead, and felt a shiver skitter up her spine. "Why would they be dead?" she whispered. He looked at her for a long time, and when he spoke again, his voice was unbearably tired.
"Lady, if you keep digging around like this, you might as well be digging your own grave while you're at it. Leave. This. Alone."
"I can't," she spat harshly, then strode forward and gripped his hair, melting the ice and swirling water around his neck. She hated this, but knew it had to be done. He sputtered, but didn't struggle as she cut off his air supply, and his eyes rolled back into his head.
She watched as he keeled over onto the ground, moaning quietly. She knelt down by his ear. "This is a dream, Ju Huan. By the time you wake up tomorrow, you won't remember me, or what we talked about. This is a dream," she repeated, and saw him finally lose consciousness. She stood up, looking down at a ruined man with tears gathering in her eyes.
"Why don't you remember Zuko?" she asked him, and only the howling wind answered her.
Here's another thing- on the off chance someone reading this likes drawing, or is really good at art or whatever, if you are inspired by this and draw something or whatever, let me know and I'll post the link to your art in an Author's Note. Please review! Thanks for reading.
-Aleina