King Bumi was… interesting company. He was… well, he was completely mad, not that that bothered Kyuri or Sangilak much. In fact, they had found him amusing. Right up until he tried to seal Katara, Sokka, and Kyuri inside genamite.

Tried being the operative word.

Sangilak was quite well-versed in gemology, and he wasn't stupid. He knew that the stuff was pure rock candy. Imagine the king's shock when Kyuri had proceeded to bite her ring off, then to the same to the others, before turning and leveling her sword at him. That had put a considerable crimp in his plans.

Actually, he had seemed to be just as amused as they were when they first met him. Kyuri was glad Aang had someone from his past who was still alive, but King Bumi had long ago lost his marbles. Or, if Aang was to be believed, he had never had them.

Once that rather annoying debacle was over they went off into the Earth Kingdom, pushing farther north towards the North Pole.

"Oh great, Sokka's back!" Aang grinned as Sokka returned with a pouch dangling limply in his hand. "Come on Sokka, what have you got for dinner?"

"Well, this time we have options!" Sokka said cheerfully. He reached into the bag and pulled out a nut. "First, round nuts!" he placed it on the ground and pulled out a slightly shriveled nut. "Then, oval nuts." He placed that with the other and pulled out a lumpy mass. "And the piece de resistance, some rock-shaped nuts! They may just be rocks though," he mused, before shrugging and casually tossing it over his shoulder.

"What else ya got?" Katara deadpanned. Sighing, Kyuri rose to her feet and made for Sangilak, who was curled tightly in a ray of sunlight. His scales shone so brightly he was almost painful to look at.

"Where are you going, Kyuri?" Aang asked.

"Hunting," she said, swinging onto Sangilak's back. "Sang can't live on nuts. He needs meat, and we need food. I'll bring back whatever game we find."

"What about Appa?" Aang protested. "These nuts aren't even a snack for him!"

"I'm not sure what sky bison eat. You're on your own." With that, Kyuri shot into the air and off over the trees, gone in a blink.

"Why's she like that?" Aang asked. "I mean, one minute she's fine and the next she's all… brr!"

Sokka and Katara both looked down at the ground. "It was the same night our mother died," Sokka began.

"Only, Kyuri lost both of her parents," Katara explained. "We thought she died to when we found her parent's bodies in their hut and a trail of blood leading out into the snow. We never found her though. We though the blizzard covered her."

"But really, Sangilak found her," Aang realized.

While Aang was filled in on Kyuri's life, she herself soared overhead with Sangilak. They had to go fairly far away. Many animals were still hiding in fear from when Sangilak and Appa flew over earlier that day.

"Down below and to the left. A pair of hogs in the brush."

Sangilak ducked low and Kyuri slid easily from his back into the top of a tree, quickly scaling down below the canopy. She ducked under a branch and looked down. Sure enough, two hogs were rooting at the base of the tree. Slowly, Kyuri reached into her belt and pulled out two decently, sized knives. Pulling one back in each hand, she steadied herself by looping her legs around the branch. Taking a deep breath and aiming, she hurled both blade and sent them spinning towards the two animals, throwing the entirety of her body into it so that she ended up dangling by her legs. Hogs had notoriously thick skin after all.

Her aim was true. She caught one directly in the eye. It dropped to the ground with a squeal and died with one final spasm. The other one, however, caught the blade in its chest. It dropped, squealing in pain and rage as blood filtered into its punctured lungs. Kyuri offered up a small curse in the Water Tribe's language and dropped to the ground, drawing her knife and quickly ending the animal's life. She offered a small prayer of thanks and apology to the second boar.

Like many of the Water Tribe, she believed that the spirits punished those who let animals suffer. In the tundra, animals were not simply food, they were respected as being individual creatures, and to let one suffer was the same as letting a comrade in arms suffer on the field of battle instead of mercy-killing him. While they were used as food, it was always only to survive. Everyone in the tundra, human or otherwise, had to do what they could to survive, and it was an understanding all things there shared.

Removing and cleaning her lives took no time at all. Sangilak landed in a clearing a few yards away to wait for Kyuri. She appeared dragging the two carcasses behind her. She was strong, but not enough to carry two of the stocky animals. She drew some cord from one of the bags over Sangilak's shoulders and tied the hogs rear feet together with either end before slinging them over his back between a set of spikes.

"Good hunting?"

"The best. You were right. These two have a lot of meat on them."

Kyuri mounted and they took off, flying back to the campsite. But even as they landed Kyuri knew the other had gone, and in a hurry it appeared. There was an arrow scraped into the dirt, pointing off to the east. Kyuri looked up and saw a plethora of broken sticks and disturbed pebbles. They had gone that way alright, and in a hurry. But why?

Kyuri went back to Sangilak and swung on again.

"Trouble?"

"Maybe."

"Then let's go. Into the sky?"

"To win or die."

They rose into the air and sheared through the air in a perfectly straight path, thanks to Sangilak's own inner bearings. Within minutes Sangilak spoke.

"I smell smoke and people. There's a village up ahead."

"That must be where they are," Kyuri mused. "Though why did they take off so fast?"

"We don't know they're in the village."

"You're right. But they might be, and they might be prisoners. You stay in the trees. I'll go into town. I'll call if things get rough. If not, I'll return by nightfall to tell you what I've found out."

Kyuri was honestly a bit hurt, and that annoyed her. They'd all basically invited themselves along to help Aang on his mission. Katara was the only one he'd legitimately asked to join him. He had every right to leave her behind, but still, she was mildly hurt that Katara or Sokka hadn't even protested. Especially seeing as the only reason she was gone was to get food for them all to share. She could have easily snared some small game for herself and left the hogs for Sangilak.

"Hmm, Kyuri. Are these feelings?"

"Hush Sangilak. I'm not in the mood."

"I know. Which is precisely why I'm so pleased. You're displaying a mood besides annoyed or focused."

Kyuri let out a huff of air as Sangilak landed in the trees outside the village and Kyuri hopped off. She cut the hogs loose and threw them to Sangilak. She couldn't very well tote them to the village and they'd be covered in flies if she left them waiting. He munched happily, bones cracking with sharp pops as his powerful jaws devoured them. While he ate, Kyuri reposition her swords from her shoulders. She preferred to keep them over her shoulders simply for the fact that her father had just been teaching her to fire a bow when he had died. It was the only reference for weaponry she had, and drawing a sword was remarkably like collecting an arrow. It pleased her to give this little homage to her father.

Now though, she had them at her hips. Digging in the packs, she pulled out a long cape and whirled it over her shoulders, tying the string under her chin and pulling the sides so they covered her weapons. She flipped up the hood and patting her sash, containing her other little piece of her life before. Under the fabric was a small wooden carving her father had given her, telling the spirit of the animal would watch over her and be her guide. It was a polar bear, carved from the bone of one, the symbol of fortitude and strength among their people. It was the only thing she had managed to grab when she frantically fled the hut that night, bleeding and crying.

Shaking her head, Kyuri hitched her cloak tighter around her and moved towards the town. She slipped easily in the village gate with the rush of people coming to market, moving along the sides of the roads, diving into alleyways occasionally, and looking for signs that they others had been here.

"Have you seen three kids come into town?" Kyuri finally asked of a man selling straw hats.

"Buy a hat and I'll tell you," he bargained, eyes narrowing unattractively. "Otherwise, buzz off little girl."

His tune changed remarkably when he felt the tip of a knife brush against certain sensitive areas.

"I suggest you tell me," she said, her voice low and her head down. "I am just a little girl after all, not one for knives. My hand might just slip." She pressed closer threateningly.

"They went in the store across the street," he said, gaping at her sheer audacity. He sucked his stomach in, willing himself farther away from her. The knife vanished and she nodded once.

"Many thanks," she said, turning to the store the man had mentioned and striding across the street. Behind her, he collapsed against his cart, rubbing his forehead and muttering.

Kyuri reached the door just in time to slam into the chest plate of the exiting Fire Nation soldier.

"Whoa there, who's this?" he demanded, grabbing her arm in a vise-grip, but one that was poorly placed. Kyuri physically shook, trying to restrain herself from punching him as he shoved back the hood of her clock and looked her up and down appreciatively. "Well well. A little skunk bear."

"Excuse me sir," Kyuri mumbled. "My mother's expecting me home in a few minutes with the shopping."

"Wouldn't want to keep your mother waiting, would we?" he said with a lewd grin. "Or would we?" once again, his gaze raked down her.

"We wouldn't," Kyuri said, raising her head and staring at him thunderously, a snarl crawling across her face. She ripped out of his grip and stood aside for him to pass. "She gets so upset when I'm late."

The man threw back his head and laughed. "Feisty, eh? Interesting. Maybe I'll pay you and your mother a visit, eh?"

"I wouldn't advise it," Kyuri said after him, narrowing her eyes as he left. She swept into the shop to find Katara, Sokka, and Aang standing there with a young boy and an older woman. She glared at each of the three individually. "I don't appreciate being left behind."

"We're sorry," Katara apologized. "But… we wanted to get our own food. You and Sangilak don't have to provide for us all the time, it's not fair. We thought we'd come into town and get some food and have a nice dinner prepared when you got back."

Kyuri felt bad for being annoyed earlier. They were just trying to show appreciation, to ease her workload a bit, and she had been angry and being left out. It was a strange thought. It hadn't even occurred to her they would do something like that, and she did appreciate the thought, even if the plan hadn't actually come to fruition. But that still left one question.

"How did you know the village here?" Kyuri asked, Just as Sokka asked, "Where's Sangilak?"

"In the forest," Kyuri said.

"We saw Haru Earthbending in the forest and followed him when he ran off. We thought he might be headed for a village. But why did you run off?" Katara asked the young boy.

"Earthbending is forbidden," the old woman hissed, presumably this Haru's mother. "It's brought nothing but trouble to this village. He must never use his abilities!"

"How can you say that?" Katara demanded. "That's like… Like asking me and Kyuri not to Waterbend. It's part of who we are! Haru can use his talents to help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't already?"

"They can take Haru away!" the old woman snapped. "Like they took his father away!"

Arrangements were made for their group to stay with Haru's family. Aang voted to stay with Appa in the barn, but Kyuri turned down the offer of shelter in favor of sleeping with Sangilak in the woods. She crept out over the wall that night and sprinted through the darkness into the woods. She found Sangilak, curled up by a pond and snapping absently at some mouse koi.

"You shouldn't taunt them," she said. Sangilak perked up, his long neck uncoiling and snaking towards her. He nuzzled against her side. Kyuri scratched in the divot under his jaw and his head hit the ground, purring contentedly. She let a small smile through and fell next to him, quickly sharing the events of the village with him in a flurry of images and conversations.

"See? They do care."

"I know," Kyuri sighed.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to admit you cared about them too."

"That's what Yoshio thought too."

Sangilak paused. "She didn't take my advice. I knew that man was no good…"

"But her feelings got her sucked into something horrible. You cannot trust the Fire Nation."

"They are not all liars, Kyuri. They are simply… ruled by liars."

"Yoshio's life and death was a tragedy," Kyuri said aloud. "But I won't let myself fall into the same traps she did. Only the deepest of trust will persuade me into friendship which is why I am alone, and happy to be so."

"Happy for now. But what happens when you wish to marry? Don't you want to have children?"

"Why should I need to marry to have children?" Kyuri reasoned. "Dragons take mates during the season and then the mothers go off on their own to raise their children. Why can't I do the same? If it works for the dragons why can't it work for a Dragora?"

"Close as the two may be, they are not the same. Get some sleep. We'll be moving on in the morning I'd imagine."

Kyuri took his advice and curled up against his leg, pulling the cloak around her. Sangilak once more pulled his wing over her in a tent and she drifted off.

The next morning, Sangilak woke to the Avatar circling overhead on his glider, yelling.

"Kyuri, Kyuri! Are you in there? Hello?"

Sangilak pulled his wing back and Aang dove forwards on his glider, dropping next to Kyuri. He reached out and shook her shoulder, only to find himself on the ground with a knee on his chest, a hand on his throat, and a knife in his face.

"Aang," Kyuri blinked, slipping off of him. She took one look at his worried face and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Haru got arrested because Katara convinced him to Earthbend this old guy out of trouble last night and the man turned him in. He was arrested last night. But Katara has a plan!"

"Tell me as we go," Kyuri said, swinging onto Sangilak. They both took off, Aang on his glider and Kyuri on Sang. As they flew towards the mines outside the town, Aang explained Katara's plan. If she was arrested for Earthbending, they'd find out where they take the prisoners. The vents in the mines provided them the means to pull of fake Earthbending with no more than a well-positioned rock and some wind from Aang.

Kyuri dropped onto the ledge and Sangilak soared down into the trees below to hide. Aang took his position and dragged Kyuri behind a rock with him to wait.

"Here they come!" Sokka called as the sound of footsteps was heard. Kyuri pressed against the back of the rock and listened. Looking out was only asking to get caught.

"Get out of my way, pipsqueak!" Sokka yelled.

"How dare you call me pipsqueak, you… giant-eared cretin!"

"What did you call me?"

"A giant-eared cretin. Look at those things! Do herds of animals use them for shade?"

"You better back off!"

"I will not back off. I bet elephants get together and make fun of your ears!"

"That's it, you're going down!"

"I'll show you who's boss Earthbending style!"

Kyuri waited for the guards reaction, but there was none, she turned to Aang and saw him batting at a butterfly with bursts of air. One hand darted out and snatched the insect out of the air while the other smacked him in the shoulder. She looked pointedly at the grate and Aang jumped up hastily, sending a gust into the vent system.

"That lemur is Earthbending!"

Kyuri blinked and risked a glace out, only to see Momo standing behind the grate with his arms raised. She could have smacked the soldier.

"No you idiot it's the girl!" Sokka said in disbelief.

"Oh, right," the guard said, moving forwards to grab her. Sokka seized her shoulders.

"I'll hold her!" he proclaimed before hissing into her ear. Katara's hands were shackled behind her back and she was led away by the trio of soldiers. Aang and Kyuri emerged from behind the rock, watching her go.

"Did it work?"

"Flawlessly. Aside from idiotic guards."

"You can't have everything."

"I suppose not."

They tracked Katara out over the ocean. She had been given a sackcloth dress, placed on a boat, and chugged out to sea. The Fire Nation soldiers below had no idea they were being followed by an air bison and a dragon hidden by the clouds above.

"Wow," Sokka blinked as he saw the structure in front of them. It was a complex really, a network of docks all around a huge building sitting in the middle of the ocean on struts several feet thick. Red lights streamed from windows. There were several open tiers. Judging by the people outside wearing sackcloth robes similar to Katara's they were used as exercise for the prisoners and for feeding.

The boat pulled up to a makeshift dock next to the ship and a line of prisoners was escorted off, Katara among them.

"We'll come back at night," Sokka said. "We can get Katara and Haru out then, under cover of darkness. I gave her twelve hours to find them."

They went back to shore to wait. Sangilak and Appa were strong, but they'd been moving nonstop and flying in circled would be tiring and boring for them, particularly Sangilak, and they couldn't risk being spotted. They took shelter in a small sea cave and waited. The waiting was the worst. Aang sat next to his glider, tracing shapes in the dirt with a finger before obliterating them with a sweep of the hand. Sokka would pace, only to sit down and fidget nervously. A few minutes later he'd get up and repeat the process. Kyuri spent the time checking and cleaning her weapons, repositioning her swords to their preferred spot.

"We'd better head out," Sokka said as the sun finally slipped below the horizon and it was truly night.

Everyone mounted up and the soared out of the cave. Aang went high to stay out of sight, but Sangilak blended in well with the water of the ocean. He kept low, sea spray flicking up from the tips of his wings and refreshing Kyuri.

They pulled up along the side of a dock and Aang, the smallest and without a doubt the stealthiest, slipped on board to find Katara. Sokka and Kyuri waited anxiously for him. Finally he reappeared with Katara by his side, but no one else.

"Your twelve hours is up," Sokka said. "Where's Haru?"

"Come on," Aang said, slipping over the railing and onto Appa.

"I- I can't," Katara said.

"Katara, we don't have much time," Sokka stressed, holding out his hands. "There are guards everywhere."

"I can't go," Katara said, closing her eyes and lowering her face. "I won't abandon these people."

Sokka scrambled onto the boat next to her, squatting down to present less of a target. Aang and Kyuri followed suit.

"What do you mean you aren't going?" Sokka demanded.

"I can't leave these people to suffer!"

"Maybe she's right," Aang admitted. "What do you say Sokka?"

"I say you're both crazy! Kyuri, back me up on this."

"Allies are useful," Kyuri said slowly. "If we free these people they will become our allies. One never knows if we will need to call on them again. And Katara's right. These people have been here long enough. They have done nothing to deserve this."

"Last chance to go," Sokka warned.

"No!" Katara insisted.

"I hate when you get like this," he humphed, but he ducked as the lighthouse shone over them for a moment. "Come on, we'd better find a place to hide."

They scampered off, keeping low. They ended up behind a pile of cargo, nestled in between the crates.

"We don't have much time before morning," Sokka warned. "We need sleep and a plan."

"I wish I knew how to make a hurricane," Aang pouted. Everyone stared at him. "The Warden would run away and he could steal his keys."

"Aang, if you can't do it, don't suggest it," Kyuri advised.

'I tried to talk the Earthbenders into revolting, but they wouldn't. If only there was a way to help them help themselves."

Kyuri's eyes caught on the smoke stacks. Smoke. Black smoke. She shuddered. She'd seen that smoke before, when the ships came. Her eyes widened. The coal-burning ships.

"Coal," she whispered, eyes glinting. "It's bendable."

"So?" Sokka blinked. "There's none here?"

Kyuri smirked and pointed. "Isn't there?"

They turned to see the smokestacks. The others beamed.

"Kyuri you're brilliant!" Katara praised.

The night was spent figuring out the inner workings of the ship. The coal would be at the base of the stack, obviously. But the question was how to get it on deck. They all went out scouting for a solution. It was Katara who discovered the ventilation system. It took no time at all for Sokka to modify their old plan that got Katara arrested. Aang was sent down to close off all the vents but one. He positioned himself at the top of the stacks and waited for the signal while the others clustered around the vent, waiting for the prisoners to be brought out for the day. Kyuri took the time to redo her flaking face paint. There was no way she was exposing her true face to a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers.

"There are the intruders!"

And it was a good thing she had. Soldiers burst from the doors, followed by curious prisoners. In a single wave they were surrounded.

"Give up!" called one soldier, leveling a spear at them. "You're outnumbered!"

"Not a chance," Sokka said, pulling his boomerang. Katara took a bending stance while Kyuri drew her blades with a sibilant hiss, blood singing as she locked eyes with each soldier individually. Several showed signs of surprise or even fear when they saw her face.

"No Katara!" protested a man who stood next to Haru. Judging by a few similar features, he was probably Haru's missing father. "You can't win this!"

"Listen to him girl," advised an elderly man, stepping forwards. Definitely the warden. "You're one mistake away from dying where you stand."

"Is she?" Kyuri said as the deck under them began to rock. With an almighty screech of tearing metal, the grate was blasted off and coal shot into the air in a sooty fountain, spilling across the deck. Aang followed it out, covered in coal dust and coughing.

"Come on Earthbenders, now is your chance to fight back!" Katara said, picking up a piece of coal and raising it. "Your fate is in your own hands!"

The response was not wheat she expected. There was no rush for the coal, no cry of mutiny, no rebellion. The people backed away as if in fear. They looked at the coal as if they'd never seen such a thing before. Kyuri recognized the signs. Their spirits had been broken. It would take more than a few pretty words to make them fight. Normally she highly disapproved of fighting with your rage, as it led to mistakes, but so long as it got them fighting… Because if they didn't, they were in some trouble.

"Don't bother Katara," Kyuri said, moving to stand next to her on the pile of coal. "To think, we were willing to risk our lives to help them find their freedom, but they're too weak to seize it even when it sits right in front of them, waiting." She emphasized the word, knowing it was the one word that most assuredly did not apply to Earthbenders in general. "I suppose we've wasted our time here."

She turned to step down when something zipped behind her head. She smirked, nodding. She had them.

The sound of fists heating up could be heard and she jumped into action, swinging her swords and methodically taking away the pike of the soldiers and leaving them with only their bending. She was a tornado, her arms thrown wide. She spun, kicking her legs high. Her sword would chop through a haft and then she would leap over it, rotating in for a slice at the next one. It was so considerate of them to all stay in a line like that…

The Earthbenders were out of practice, but it was clear that some of them had once been soldiers. Those had formed ranks and were moving in tandem, sending massive waves of coal sweeping across the deck, knocking down soldiers and throwing them overboard. Others were flinging coal at high velocity at weak points: heads, stomachs, and chests.

Haru and his father formed a clump of coal into a huge mass of rock, solid and unyielding, before flinging it at the wall behind the soldiers. The soldiers ducked and fired on it, trying to destroy the missile, but they merely added momentum and set it on fire. The rock tore through the wall, leaving a gaping hole as metal panels ripped free. On the other side was the docks, and a boat rested there.

"To the ship!" Tyro roared, and everyone who wasn't locked in a heated battle made a break for it.

"Don't let them escape!" the Warden roared.

"Throw me some coal!" Aang called, twirling his hands and making a cyclone. Katara and Sokka dumped coal into it. The coal shot out, nailing the Warden and his two bodyguards.

"Katara!" Kyuri shouted when she saw a soldier sneak up behind her, palms pulled back and ablaze. She lunged, seizing Katara's neck and forcing her to the ground. The two rolled, Kyuri's stomach scraping painfully across a jag of metal raised by the fighting and loosening her sash a bit. She yelped and jumped to her feet, sheathing her sword and raising her arms.

That soldier had aimed at Katara, and he had aimed to kill. Katara was not going to be scarred by a Fire Nation soldier like she had been.

The water rose to Kyuri's command with a roar that mirrored her own, a giant wave of sparkling water, and coiled inside that water was a dragon. The water crashed across the deck of the ship and the dragon burst free, seemingly part of the ocean itself, sweeping soldiers up in its jaws and claws and hurling them overboard before diving back underwater itself.

It was over in a second, but it left the ship frozen for a moment, gaping.

It was over soon after that. The Earthbenders subdued and restrained or dumped overboard most of the guards and the others surrendered and let them leave. They loaded up three boats and chugged off across the sea towards the land in the distance. Appa sat low in the water carrying Aang and Sokka while Katara rode with Haru and Tyro, his father. Kyuri finished off the procession. Sangilak rested in the water like a giant snake, his wings folded tightly against his sides. He cut through the water in a bizarre, side-winding motion.

On the boats, Kyuri could hear the Earthbenders mumbling on the deck, pointing at her and whispering subtly.

"Do you hear what they call you? The Water Spirit, the Great Dragon Caller."

Kyuri snorted. "Really?"

"That was quite an impressive technique we pulled off. Maximum shock effect if I do say so myself."

Kyuri slapped at his shoulder. "Stop preening," she ordered. "If I had none you were going to pull a stunt like that I wouldn't have made that wave. It's done nothing for your ego."

"What ego?" Sangilak asked innocently.

"You know very well, you proud peacock. You're getting entirely too big for your skins."

"I am a dragon. I am expected to be large."

"You know very well that's not what I mean," she said with a humph of air. She winced, pressing a hand to her sore stomach. Her eyes widened and she pressed harder, ignoring the pain in her frantic search. She thrust her hands into her sash, digging all around, frantic for the feel of carved bone. Her fingers brushed only the metal of her knives.

"What's wrong?" came Sangilak's tense voice.

"My father's carving," Kyuri said brokenly. "It's… gone."

"Oh no," Sangilak said soothingly. "No. Oh Kyuri, I'm so sorry. If you want, we can go back. It's not too far, we'd be quick."

"No," Kyuri said sharply. She wasn't going to allow the loss of a trinket to make her this upset. It wasn't important, it wasn't important… Her eyes turned to ice and she stared intensely straight ahead. "No, don't bother."

"Kyuri…?"

"It's just a carving!" she snapped aloud. "Just a stupid carving!"

Under her, she could feel Sangilak's muscles flinch in surprise.

"Kyuri.…" The tone was sad and worrying.

"No," she hurled across the mental link before swiftly locking her mind against him. Sangilak jerked in surprise under her. Kyuri hadn't totally closed herself away in years, not like this. She was remarkably good at closing herself off and shoving anyone away whenever they got too close or she felt vulnerable. It was a skill she was shockingly, staggeringly good at, but even she couldn't cut off the small, sad "No…" that wobbled brokenly through.

Back on the ship, Prince Zuko stood staring at the carnage. Behind him, his men were dragging soldiers out of the water and setting the remaining ships to right. He was walking across the deck, looking for any clues to where the Avatar might be headed next.

His foot caught a small ridge of metal and he stumbled a bit. He turned to glare hatefully at the jag but his eye caught something blue poking from under a lump of coal. He bent down and slapped the earth away before picking up a blue ribbon, a carved stone dangling beneath it. He knew this necklace. The Water Tribe girl wore it. Not the Dragora, the other one.

He would have walked away and left it at that, had his amber eyes not caught another unfamiliar color: white. Nearly everything was black, dusted with coal. The little figure of bone stood out starkly against the darkness. He picked it up and turned it over, running his fingers over the ridges. It was a polar bear, quite skillfully carved. Who knew which one this belonged too? Probably the boy. It looked like some sort of totem.

He tied the necklace securely around his wrist. He had no idea how valuable it was to its owner and there was no way he was losing any chance of possible leverage over her. The carving was the same. He tucked it into his pocket, running his fingers over it. It was a surprisingly soothing action. Some of the sharper edges had been worn away, a sign that whoever owned it probably did the same thing, and frequently.

Zuko yanked his hand out of his pocket, snarling. He was nothing like them.

So, a bit short, but still full of stuff. More of Kyuri's walls and Zuko being angsty Zuko. Who doesn't love angsty Zuko? The fight scene was fun. I know it's been a while. I've been down longer than I thought from my tonsilectomy and I just didn't have it in me to write, but I've gotten my wind back and now I'm ready to do some serious writing! Chapters will be posted sporadically on this story as I get inspiration. I can't promise a schedule like with the Avatar Amaya series. This year has been kind of crazy.

By the way, I'm still open to pictures of Kyuri. I haven't gotten a single submission! *pouts* Like I said, the best picture will be the image for this entire series. Any medium works, just do it and PM me the link or leave it in a review. If that doesn't work, let me know and we'll try to work something else out.