Seagull hawks and fish swam and flew by the ship on the open ocean of the Fire Nation. Rin was observing the vast expanse of water around her. The world seemed so small on the Fire Nation, practically the whole world to her was the Fire Nation, but now she was on a fantastic journey. It almost seemed like yesterday that she was asked by a Fire Sage to save the world, but well actually... That all really did happen yesterday. Rin had no idea what she was doing, she just jumped headlong into this enormous task, a firebender betraying her own nation?! It was crazy! What would people think of her? Her friends, her classmates, even that guy who sells cabbage on the side of the street. What would they all think of her? Rin put her head in her hands she gave a soft pout "I should just jump into the water and drown" she thought to herself. The idea seemed more and more likely as she stared at the surface, it's dark blue translucent color shined, but deep down it carried a dark and evil longing. "Rin..." She heard her name and jolted backward, she looked around to see if anyone was behind her, sailors, mechanics and firebenders were too far away for her to be able to hear them call her name. She looked back at the surface "Roku?" She whispered but nothing, not a response came back to her. She sighed and walked back to the center of the ship.
There Zang, Meili, Shin and the Fire Sage were chewing on some chowder soup, she sat in their circle and waved a hand, Zang looked up and gave her a nod. "Want some?" The Fire Sage was handing her a bowl "Yeah sure." She cautiously took it, grabbed the spoon and took a bite. It's taste was smooth, it gave her a warm feeling inside, she smiled and thanked the Sage. He nodded back, "Now that we know each other better, you can call me Kuime." "Kuime..." She spoke his name low, and blinked "I don't really know you well but can you tell us more about yourself?" Zang looked up at him "And these Fire Sages? All we know is that you help the Avatar master Fire... Right?"
Kuime smiled, "I trained all my life to be a Fire Sage, my father, Kaja, trained Avatar Roku how to master his firebending even more then he knew, he also trained him how to master the Avatar state. Avatar Roku was impatient, so he waited for the summer solstice, but in doing so it caught Roku in a trance and he was stuck in the Avatar state." Zang elbowed Rin "Sounds like some other person who is impatient as well..." Rin ignored her brothers comment and kept listening "My father then came to the Avatars aid and got him out of the trance, but afterward the Temple was in ruins and as punishment, Roku had to rebuild the whole temple." Kuime laughed "It was a good thing Roku could Earth bend!" No one else laughed but him, which made the air seem awkward. Meili crossed her arms, obviously a little annoyed "What does this story have to do with anything with us? She isn't the Avatar, so it's not like she can bend all the elements and stuff." Kuime, rubbed the back of his head "Well, no she isn't but she is something else, at least it's just a hypothesis..." Everyone looked at him for answers "She probably is..."
Suddenly the whole ship shook, it rocked back and forth violently. Rin jumped up, with everyone else, "What was that?!" Zang ran over to the side of the ship, a big gaping hole in the side of the ship was torn up, something hard had hit it. "It looks like a giant burning rock plowed through the ship." Kuime looked around, "What could have made... Oh!" He pointed at something in the distance. Another Fire Nation ship was seen in the distance, "It seems to have come from there..." "Why would it hit us?" Shin came slowly from behind, Rin thought the same, the Fire Nation or even the Fire Lord had no idea about this journey. The repair crew from the top of the ship started going below deck to somehow fix the ship, as this was going on the other navy ship started coming closer toward there's. Rin felt a tight pit in her stomach, they couldn't make it look like they were doing something terrible, they had to look normal. As if on cue, Kuime calmed them down "You kids need to look normal, don't mess up or the Fire Nation will find out about what we're doing and this journey will be over before it even starts." They all nodded their heads, this was the one chance not to screw things up.
The Fire Navy ship came side by side with theirs, a man in a much more suited uniform came up to the Sage, he bowed and Kuime bowed back "We're terribly sorry, our ship was testing out the newest machinery of the Fire Nation, it's a catapult, that throws flaming rocks at our enemies, we were trying it out but it seemed to have met the side of your ship, if there's anything we can do to fix it, it would be a great honor for us." He bowed again, representing his apologies. Kuime smiled and waved a hand, "No, no, there's no need, we're alright, it was a simple mistake." Rin, who was behind the Sage, cocked her head over to the side and stared at the catapult, she knew the Fire Nation was making new machinery but nothing like this, it was destructive and completely made a gaping hole in the side of the ship! She shivered as she imagined what it could do to innocent people, villages and Nations. "Like what you see?" One of the guards standing next to the captain smiled, "Uh... Y-yeah..." She quickly tried to stop the conversation but he kept insisting to keep going "I must say it's quite odd that you guys are out here, what brings you all to the seas of the Fire Nation, where are you headed?" Rin bit her lip, they were speaking too much, "We... We're going to go aid some of the forces we have over in the Earth Kingdom, you see their low on man power, so we're aiding." The man raised his brow but then smiled "Well, that's great! Go kick some butt down in the Earth Kingdom!" Rin gave a fake smile, hopefully that warded him off.
Captain and his men soon went back to their ship, and sailed away. After some distance, the solider who had just spoken to Rin, tapped the Captains shoulder. "Sir... I have something disturbing to tell you..." The Captain sighed, "What is it now private?" "Um those people we just met... Their lying about their destination..." The Captain gave a huge sigh and turned to look at him, "What information do you have to back that up?" The solider fidgeted "Well, sir, the girl I just spoke to said that they are on their way to aid the soliders we have in the Earth Kingdom. But weeks ago the Fire Lord, stopped sending soldiers from the main land to the Fire Nation..." The Captain frowned "Is that all the information you have?" "No sir, that girl I was speaking to... She's Rin... The new Captain to the Royal Guard..." The Captain turned around and yelled at the man who was at the wheel "Take us to the Fire Nation, we need to speak with the Fire Lord!"
Rin sneezed, she rubbed her nose and sighed. "I have a feeling someone is talking about me..." Zang slapped her on the back for the hundredth time, "That's just a rumor." Meili and Shin came up next to them "I hope those soldiers from the other ship didn't notice we weren't on their side." Zang wrapped his arm around Meili to comfort her "Yeah I hope as well too." Rin walked over to Kuime, he had a frown on his face and seemed to be in a trance " Kuime?" He came to and chuckled "Sorry... We almost got caught there... Phew!" He wiped some sweat off his brow.
Rin fidgeted, she was nervous about this journey but sort of excited about it. If they got caught or captured they might have to be executed... "Rin!" Kuime shouted, he motioned for her to come over to where he was, he was looking at something off in the distance, everyone else joined him. She squinted her eyes at what he was staring at "Wow..." She heard Meili say. Off in the distance she could see a volcanic island, the side of the volcano had a temple on it. Rin opened her mouth "Is that..." Kuime nodded "Yes that is Crescent Island where the Fire Sages temple is, there you will find everything you need to know about Roku and the Fire Nation, as well about who you are." He smiled the brightest he could "Who I am?" Rin asked, Kuime nodded silently. Out of nowhere her brother smacked her on the back, and placed his hand on her head, Rin sighed and swiped it "I know, your a lion turtle in the form of a girl!" He started to laugh, Rin didn't find the joke helping and sighed. Meili and Shin came behind them "I think Zang is right, I think you are a lion turtle." She laughed at her little joke as her brother spoke to all of them "Well, I know for a fact that this is going to take forever..." Rin gave a smile. Everything seemed to be fine with them around her, she was happy to have them along, even though some people were more annoying then others but hey, she needed as much help as she could get. But Rin still wondered what the Sage meant by "who" she was. Who was she? Or is she something different then she thought? The answer was right in front of her, the Fire Temple held the answer.
A short chubby man in his mid-fifties started running down the hallway of the Fire Lords palace. His breathing was becoming a gasp for air every step he took to get deeper inside the palace, he stopped at a giant door, the fire insignia engraved on its brass fronts. The man took a moment to catch his breath before daring to go inside. The throne room was dimmed so low no one could see their feet, the only light that gleamed was the fire that appeared before the Fire Lord. Two teenage boys of about seventeen years were standing before the Fire Lord, they both turned around to face the man that just came running before in, one of the boys who was standing frowned, his face was stern but had a look that could catch any girls attention, his jet black hair seemed to shine in the fires light, he had bangs on the right and left side of his face, they reached all the way down to the bottom of his cheeks, his hair was fairly long just passed the shoulders but no longer than that "Look at that fat fool, he can't run faster than a snail and look he's already exhausted!" The Fire Lord gave a little sigh "Don't mock the man, Ozai." Ozai rolled his eyes and turned around so his father couldn't see him doing it "Sorry father..." The man kept gasping for breath and almost seemed to faint, the other boy walked over to the poor man and brought him up so he could stand straight "Are you alright?" The boys hair wasn't like the other boys, the color seemed to be a mixture of brown and black, his hair was sorta spikey, his bangs seemed to fall forward on his forehead but no longer to cover his eyes, it was kept short and clean. The man smiled up at him "Thank you prince Iroh." Iroh smiled and let the man go to stand on his own before making sure he could stand. "What is it now Commander? Can't you see I'm talking to my sons about something important?" The man bit his lip "Well you see sir it's about... Um your Royal Captain... Um Rin?" The commander seemed to whisper her name in a most frightened way. "Ah! Excellent we were discussing that! Yes she wonderful isn't she? A most prized girl, you see I know the person who taught her, he's one of the most powerful firebenders in the nation. Ahhh yes... She's like a daughter to me, if only she was my daughter, but no matter, she would make a wonderful step-daughter." All glances seemed to go to Ozai, he smiled boldly "Father, winning a girls heart is difficult in this era, especially Rin, she's not one for love like the other girls." Iroh gave a sigh "Trust me Ozai, I think you have a chance of winning anyone's heart, you already have all the Fire Nation girls at your feet." Ozai smirked, his brother obviously didn't know anything about popularity in the nation. "The youngest always win the ladies Iroh, you better get one before your age starts expiring." Iroh frowned at his brothers comment. The Fire Lord silenced both of them and motioned to the Commander to keep speaking. "Now tell us about Rin, has she decided to start her duties today, so early?" The man frowned "Well no my Lord... Quite the opposite... Well... Rin was last seen on a Fire Navy ship with a couple of soliders and men, along with three others that were about her age as well as a Fire Sage, ... Some say they think she's on her way to the Sages Temple on Crescent island..." The Fire Lord became outraged, his anger could be seen from the fire that emitted in front of him, it grew ten feet tall due to his rage. "What?! What is the meaning of this?! Where did you get this information!?" The commander seemed to have shrunk due to his fright "Well not long ago another Navy ship was testing out the new catapult machine and had struck their ship, they went over to apologize for ruining the ship when one of the soldiers had spoken with the girl, she gave him false information about their destination, saying that you had sent them to the Earth Kingdom. The soldier soon then realize who she was and departed." He gave a giant gulp and stayed silent till the Fire Lord spoke "I see... Well, we just need to bring her here and ask her some questions then..." Ozai then raised his hand "Father let me go and get her, please allow me to bring with me soldiers and men with me as well." He bowed in front of his father. Azulon nodded at his sons request "Alright you have my permission, but take your brother along with you as well." Ozai frowned at his father but tried to look content "O-ok..." Iroh bowed in front of his father "He will bring her back father." They both then arose from their bowing and walked outside of their fathers throne room. Ozai spoke to his brother "I shall command my crew without your interference, this is my mission, your just here for the ride..." His brother gave a sigh "We have to work together, that's why father put me with you." "Yes I know and that's perfectly fine, but I'm commanding and capturing her, and while I'm capturing her don't get in the way." Tension was in the air as Ozai spoke, Iroh always knew his brother wanted power, after all since Iroh was first in line as Fire Lord his brother was obsessed with controlling people and this was just another mission his brother wanted to control. The Fire Lord and the Commander stood in the room as they silently watched the brother leave the room. "Now what will I do with you? Is there anything else you want to discuss with me?" The man fidgeted in place "Yes..." The Fire Lord sighed, he hated when his own people fidgeted "What is it?" "Well you see there are rumors going around that Rin is... She's uhhhh..." "What? What is she?" Sweat dropped from the mans brow as he opened his mouth to tell the Fire Lord.