Ok so ik i said that this chapter would be a long one, and it was supposed to be but i have decided to split this part into two, this one is unfortunately the shorter part. But its a good cliff hanger :) thanks for reading guys! :)
*a few hours later*
Few words were exchanged between the three as they set up a place to camp for the night in the middle of the woods. The sun was setting by the time Amaya had made the nights meal and all sat around a fire quietly lost in their own thoughts.
Not being able to take the silence much longer Iroh turned to the young cloaked girl beside him and asked politely "So were you headed to a certain place in particular this morning Amaya? We aren't keeping you from visiting family or anything, are we?"
Amaya tucked a stray strand of white hair behind her ear as she looked down to the ground then up at the older man. "No, I wasn't going anywhere in particular. I was….never mind you would think I was crazy" she laughed quickly looking back to the dirt in front of her. Smiling kindly Iroh chuckled a little "trust me my dear, when you get to my age the only thing that you find crazy is yourself"
Lifting her blue eyes slightly Amaya giggled and leaned on the palm of her hand.
Suddenly Iroh's face lit up as he continued "Well if you're heading nowhere in particular why don't you join us for a while?! At least until you find what you're looking for" As the words left his mouth Iroh couldn't help but glance at his nephew, looking for a reaction to his offer for the girl to join them but he was clearly too lost in his own thoughts to bother paying attention to their conversation.
Amaya smiled and placed her bowl on the floor "Thank you Iroh, but what I am looking for may take a while to find and… I would be a bother on you two"
Taking a sip out of his soup bowl Iroh laughed "When you can cook like this, you are never a bother in my book" he said earning a small chuckle from the girl and persisting "Well what are you looking for my dear? My nephew and I are now in need of some where to go as well, and having company along is never unpleasant when searching for something"
Chewing on her lip she contemplated, pulling the cloak draped over her shoulders closer to her and let out a sigh "Well…to tell you the truth I am actually looking …for the.. Avatar" At this Zuko's head snapped up "What? Why?!"
Slightly startled by his sudden outburst Amaya jumped as her head snapped in his direction, his golden eyes narrowing into her blue ones obviously curious about what she had just said. Amaya looked from Iroh to Zuko several times, the crackling of the fire in front of them the only sound that could be heard. Finally Amaya looked to the sky, the sun was almost completely down and soon the moonlight would grace the night and she wouldn't have any control on the affects if had on her.
Taking a heavy breath Amaya closed her eyes and sighed deeply "Well I guess I would have to explain this later anyway"
Swallowing hard she opened her eyes to see that both men's gold eyes were set on her with a confused look on both their faces. "Well you see I need to find the Avatar because I am lost, and he is the only living connection with my home" at this Iroh and Zuko eyed each other with curious looks before she continued "You see I am not exactly from…. here"
Confused Iroh put his empty bowl on the ground and asked "Are you from the northern water tribe?" Chewing on her lip Amaya shook her head "Well Yes and No, although I am a water bender and my origins are considered to be Northern Water Tribe… that is not where I am from… it's a bit more complicated than that"
Zuko Raised an eyebrow as Iroh stroked his beard in thought. Playing absent mindedly with a strand of hair Amaya continued on "You see my home has only been walked by one living creature, the Avatar himself" Looking back up she noticed the sky had gone dark and the moon was now out, 'it's now or never' she thought to herself as she reached up to the hood of her cloak and pulled it down letting the garment slide off her shoulders and onto the ground reveling the pale skin on her arms.
Both men were utterly confused at the girls action, Iroh opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly silenced when a glowing light caught his eye. On the girls skin a pattern of light blue swirling tattoos started to appear and made their way down both her arms, across her collar bone, up her neck and framed the temples and forehead of her face.
Brining her blue eyes up to meet the men's gold ones she smiled lightly "You see… I am the spirit of the Northern Star"
Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, i will have the next part up asap! :)