The Highest Bidder
Chapter Twenty Six: A Generous Gift
The storm had given Prince Zuko and I further insight to the other's…concerns? I'm not sure exactly what happened during the storm, but apparently, it drew Zuko closer to me. I suppose it was the fact that I divulged to him the entirety of my life from the moment my father had been commended to the point where I actually did steal from his dad. My actions were as parted as my judgment: it was a wrong path that was wrought with good intentions, and although I had hoped to give my mom a piece of sanity, my wrongs turned out to steer her into poverty. However, despite my efforts that day, Prince Zuko knew all about what happened—at least, from my side anyway. I didn't ask him to tell me what happened during the Agni Kai with Fire Lord Ozai. Even though Iroh gave me the short story, I could only imagine the details.
The storm had also brought the whole crew to a more understanding lining; Lt. Jee and Prince Zuko were still prince and ranked officer, but they didn't fight as much as they did before. The crew had learned of what happened to Zuko, and it seemed that they felt a more 'will' to help him. They didn't think that he was some spoiled palace brat who was on a vanity project; he needed the Avatar to be able to return home. And, apparently, when Iroh told the crew what happened to Zuko, he had told them my story as well. Lt. Jee, especially, behaved more…well…I wouldn't say caring, but I know that it's quite odd for a Lieutenant to address a superior officer by her first name and pat her on the shoulder for simple sake. Even if it was inappropriate during formal ranking, I thought it was sweet.
The crew—and Zuko—simply understood that although I was a fugitive in the eyes of the Fire Lord, I was a helpful Commander aboard Prince Zuko's ship. My loyalty, despite what it may have looked like, was to Prince Zuko; and as long as it seemed that way, General Iroh and Prince Zuko wouldn't let other Firebenders harm me.
Zhao might have realized this after speaking to me for the first time since I saw him when I left the Fire Nation. I only say this because why would any middle-aged man take sudden interest in a sixteen-year-old girl if he didn't plan on using her against the Fire Lord's son in a chance that he (Zhao) might catch the Avatar? I'm just saying: it's seems a bit odd that he would chase me four years, and he suddenly learns that I'm working under Prince Zuko, that suddenly he wants me on his team. I mean, what would you assume?
Well, during the storm, we had to get the ship to safety, so under Prince Zuko's orders; Lt. Jee took the helm and pulled the Navy ship to a nearby shore. The helmsman that had fallen during the storm had to seek minor medical care for a few burns from the lightning strike, and he had pulled some muscles. The crew collected supplies from the land, though General Iroh eventually had to come ashore in order to separate the poison plants from the medicinal ones. By the time we were back on the water, we had lost the Avatar's trail.
Prince Zuko and Lt. Jee were observing the world map: Zuko looked over the lieutenant's shoulder. General Iroh challenged three other crewmen to a game of Pai Sho. Although the men were poor game players, Iroh was a graceful winner; he mainly played for the sport of competition, and he took interest in the men. They seriously were improving, but General Iroh was quite intelligent (and he still is) at these sort of activities, and the men were losing…dramatically.
I busied myself at Iroh's side, and—a bit out of boredom—I pulled my hair up into a pin. Iroh absent-mindedly handed me a cup of tea and smiled broadly before turning to his opponents.
"We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm," reported Lt. Jee. "Right now, we're currently at the northwest extremity of the Earth Kingdom and near the eastern most extremity of the northern air nomad lands."
I volunteered my in-put wistfully,
"The Avatar's headed for the North Pole."
"Yes," said Lt. Jee, "but he can't make the trip in a day. He has to settle some time."
"You'd be surprised how much ground a flying bison can cover," I said, rising to my feet, holding the cup of tea in my hand. "The Avatar's a bit too young to understand the geography of the world because he's been gone for a hundred years, but that Water Tribe boy seems to be a beginning warrior. If he isn't, his sister seems to know a few things."
"The girl?" said Lt. Jee. "She's a peasant."
"She's a Waterbender," I emphasized, "and she needs a master too. Don't neglect the other nations so quickly, Lieutenant. The Waterbenders are as powerful as the rest of us; you'd be surprised what they can do, especially during the full moon."
"Commander Mura is right," agreed Iroh from behind me. "Every nation has strength and weakness."
Lt. Jee turned away from Iroh and stepped toward me. He smiled,
"So what's your weakness?"
I indicated my head and said coolly,
"Migraines." I shrugged.
Lt. Jee smirked and returned to the map.
"But," he said to Zuko, "If we continue heading northeast—"
An enormous shadow blocked the light that shined in through the windows of our ship. The Lieutenant cut himself off as he and Zuko, the crewman, Iroh, and I turned to look out the window of the chamber to see a Fire Navy ship—a massive hulking thing—pass us to starboard in the opposite direction. Everyone stared at it. I strode away from the door to stand beside Prince Zuko to glance out and up onto the main deck of the visitor.
I frowned, displeased.
"Looks like our neighborhood commander is gracing us with his presence…" I muttered.
"What do they want?" said Zuko.
Iroh rubbed his hands together hopefully,
"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho!"
Zuko frowned,
"Knowing Zhao, it may not be so sporting."
Zuko's ship rested alongside the much larger, double-smoke stack Fire Nation vessel. Through the doors, three Fire Nation soldiers that didn't belong to our crew entered. The two that came in last wore face helmets; the one who didn't was a herald, who held out the wanted poster of the innocent drawing of Avatar Aang.
"Well," I said, striding toward them, "my compliments to your sketch artist."
The herald frowned at me slightly.
"I wonder if he could give me a caricature of me riding a flying bison."
The Herald spoke as if I hadn't said anything,
"The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."
Iroh made a move on the Pai Sho board, providing a congratulatory tone,
"Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him!"
Iroh's opponent looked chagrined at the move, and he slapped his face. Iroh smiled sweetly. Zuko folded his arms across his chest.
"I've got nothing to report to Zhao." Zuko said sullenly. "Now get off my ship and let us pass."
"Admiral Zhao isn't letting any ships in or out of this area."
Zuko swung a hand in the air with a swift temper,
"Off my ship!" he said angrily.
I stepped in front of Zuko and held a hand,
"I'll take that poster."
The Herald placed it in my hand; and his two guards turned on their heels and left the chamber without another word. As they left, Iroh smiled.
"Excellent!" he leaned forward and gathered all the chips on the table. "I take the pot! But you're all improving. I'm certain you will win if we…play again."
Zuko looked out over the waves as Iroh and the men began another game, resetting the board. I observed the wanted poster of Avatar Aang.
"Seriously, who draws these?" I said playfully. "This is very good."
Zhao's ship sailed away from us, and despite whether or not he was going to allow Zuko's ship to come into the harbor, it wouldn't have mattered. We were the only boat on the water. I sat up on the main deck with Red to keep me company. Zuko had come up to the deck with me. He was exasperated, and he practiced Firebending on the foredeck in front of me. I watched him for an hour.
I didn't have to ask Zuko if he was irritated. I could tell it on his face by now; and I understood. My pet messenger hawk tooted impatiently on the table in front of me. He was growing weary of being on the same territory. I looked at him with some compassion, stroked his feathery wing with a finger and asked him,
"Why don't you go hunting for a while? Go on."
He tooted cheerfully and took flight off my arm.
I was simply there to keep Zuko as company. Even when we didn't speak, it was like it was a comfortable silence.
I think that even then, when I was with him on his ship, Zuko knew that I was only there to support him during his quest. Even now, as I write, I consider him to be a very good friend; and, dare I say it, he was a very kind boyfriend. However, sometimes, I couldn't have both. That's why he is married to Mai, but, as I usually do, I'll cross that bridge when it comes.
Iroh appeared on deck, his arms folded in the robes of his sleeves. In the gloomy skies and the sultry, gray clouds, I considered that the weather matched Zuko's feelings perfectly.
"Is everything okay?" asked Iroh. "It's been almost an hour, and you haven't given the men an order."
"I don't care what they do."
"Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar before Zhao."
Zuko's eyes showed desperation and fear, things that I wasn't used to seeing. I felt at a loss for him. There are things in life that I had no control over; and this was one of them.
Zuko turned away to look out at the miserable sea.
"How, Uncle? How am I supposed to catch him? With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar. My honor, my throne, my country…I'm about to lose them all."
I rose to my feet.
"Prince Zuko, you have something that Admiral Zhao does not. You have patience," I encouraged. "Zhao is a ruthless man; he has no self-control. You've seen him during your duel."
Zuko looked over his shoulder at me.
"You outwitted him before, Zuko," I said, smiling. "You can do it again."
"That was a match," said Zuko. "My honor didn't hinge on beating Zhao."
"And look how easily you brought him down," I retorted. "And I think you're underestimating the Avatar again."
"Why do you say that?" said Zuko hopelessly.
"You've seen the Avatar," I said, pulling out the wanted poster. "Does this kid look like the master of all elements? Zhao is a man of raw power. He even sounds like he's arrogant. He thinks he's better than everyone in the Fire Nation, of the whole world: but clearly, he's not. You proved him wrong once. And the Avatar will prove him wrong about this too."
"What makes you so confident about that?" asked Zuko, turning to face me entirely.
"Zuko, you don't see what I see. Admiral Zhao sees an innocent Airbender," I said patiently, nudging a finger into the parchment. "But you've seen how clever the Avatar is. He's quick on his feet; he knows about Zhao. He wouldn't let a man like Zhao take him captive."
"How could you possibly know that?" said Zuko. I could tell that I was getting to him; though I wasn't exactly inspiring his self-esteem.
"I study people," I said simply. "And I've talked to the Water Tribe girl. And, uh, oh, I've seen the Avatar do some crazy stuff. He doesn't think with muscle like Zhao. He thinks with his noggin. And if you would just think things through, "I said with a smile, approaching him, "you could escape Zhao's traps too."
Zuko still held a melancholy look. I sighed. So I wrapped my arms around his neck and embraced him. He was surprised, but he didn't let go.
"Maybe if you don't think like a Firebender, you can find a way of setting the Avatar free from Zhao's clutches." I whispered. I kissed him shortly on the lips and left to sit back at the table.
Zuko sighed, dejected, and turned to look out on the sea.
A few miles away, there was Zhao's fortress; it was a checkpoint from the Earth Kingdom to the Northern Air Temple. This was how the Fire Nation kept tabs on the people of the entire world. Privacy apparently didn't mean anything back then. Anyway, the fortress was only that much of a distance from us. Since Zhao wasn't letting anyone in or out of the area—until he had the Avatar—it was sort of…crucial…for us to stay under the admiral's radar.
Lt. Jee pulled the ship ashore.
"This sucks."
Zuko sat in his quarters. He looked at me with most ill-tempered expression that I had ever seen cross his handsome features. For a moment, I thought he was going to hiss at me; but that was all he said while I stood beside his bed.
"Honestly, Prince Zuko," I began gently, "if you had any sort of fun in you, you would come to at least one music night. Your uncle said that it's fun."
"No."
"You must hate fun," I teased.
He looked at me sourly.
"Oh, lighten up, Zuko," I said with a smile. "It could be worse. Zhao could have the Avatar right—"
As quick as lightning, Zuko zipped across the length of his bed and shoved a hand over my mouth. His neat movement startled me, and I was I caught off balance, knocked off my feet, and landed on his mattress. He kept his hand over my mouth, and shushed me with a finger on his lips.
"What are you trying to do, Mura? Jinx it?"
I mumbled my retort.
He took his hand off my face.
"What?"
"I said, 'At least I got you to uncross your arms'."
He frowned.
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Not everything," I said, sitting up. "But not every day has to consist of you being grumpy. I know that you really want to find the Avatar, but not even he is always working. You know how I know that?"
"No. How?" he said with an obvious tone of disinterest.
I said it anyway,
"Because the Avatar really had no reason to spend so much time on Kyoshi Island. Obviously, he was there for his fan girls. No pun intended; but he doesn't have a set schedule, evidently. There was no teacher for him on the island, and it must have been taken a few days for us to get to the island. So he's not in a big rush."
"Well, I am."
"No kidding." I slid off the bed. "Well, I suppose that I'll be going to your uncle's music night. It really is fun, Zuko. If you try not to have fun all the time, you might find yourself having some on accident."
He gave me a look.
"Well, sleep well, sir," I said.
I blew him a kiss and walked out of the room.
Not an hour later, my messenger hawk returned, but he didn't come empty-handed. Iroh, Lt. Jee, and the rest of the musicians stopped playing their instruments as Red perched on my arm. He carried a package in his feet, and a letter was encased in the tube that strapped on his back.
"Where exactly did you send him?" asked Iroh curiously.
"I told him to go hunting; I don't know where he went," I replied, just as stunned as the rest of them. I relieved Red of his burden and pulled the letter out of his cap. Red flew off my arm to perch comfortably on Iroh's shoulder. The package that came with Red was rather long and slender. The letter was rather short, written in a slanted writing, all caps.
I read it swiftly and frowned, and turned to Iroh.
"It's from Admiral Zhao." I told him.
"Oh?" said Iroh, who sounded intrigued.
"Mhm."
As I spoke, Zuko emerged from the chambers and saw me with the letter and the package. I glanced at him in slight dismay. Iroh reported to his nephew about the courier, though it didn't take much to incense Zuko. He crossed the deck to approach me.
"What's this about?" said Zuko, already annoyed.
"Admiral Zhao sends his apologies for interrupting your quest for the Avatar," I said summarily, handing Zuko the letter. "He also informs you that the package that he has sent with my messenger bird is related to, I quote 'your newfound friend's abilities', and he would like to tell you that your quest for the Avatar is at a sudden stop."
Zuko, Iroh, and the crew stared at me in shock.
"What?" Zuko's voice was dangerously low.
I nodded sadly.
"He and his newly appointed band of archers captured the Avatar. He was not too far from his fortress; he was by the frog swamp, a few feet from the herbalist. You know, the woman who heals Fire Nation troops passing through the—"
"Agh!" Zuko growled, "I know where it is!"
He swiped the letter from my hand furiously and ripped it to shreds.
I glanced at Iroh for some moral support, but he offered none.
Zuko indicated the package.
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure," I said awkwardly, feeling uneasy. "Quite frankly, I don't really want anything that comes from his fortress, especially from him."
"Well, open it."
I sighed unhappily.
"And what if it's a bomb?" I muttered.
"So it's just gonna sit there?" Zuko said irritably.
Despite my hesitation to open a parcel from a total stranger that I didn't trust, I reluctantly approached the long package. I didn't touch it, for I feared that my touch would activate it, if it was a bomb. I used my mind to tear the brown paper that was wrapped tightly around my present.
To my slight surprise, I saw that it was not exactly what I had in mind. It had been in the shape of a sword, but as I looked at it with some surprise, the object was actually a bunch of things pulled together.
"What…is that?" said Zuko, a bit taken aback.
From underneath the slick pieces of rather slippery goo, another letter was attached.
I snatched the letter.
I chuckled distastefully and the rest of Zhao's letter,
"'P.S. Commander Mura, these objects are meteorite bear balls. Because you are now a Fire Nation soldier, I think it should be appropriate that you should have a field advantage if ever Prince Zuko decides to betray you like he has done to his nation. Try them out. If you are as clever as the Fire Nation Prince and General Iroh say you are, you've no need for further instruction on how to use your new toys.'"
I turned to Zuko, who apparently lost interest in the note and had retreated back to his chamber in a foul mood. I was pretty sure that he had left when Zhao mentioned that he was a traitor to his fatherland.
I have to admit to the jury that as much as I loathed the late Admiral Zhao, I have to say this letter was quite flattering. If anything, this proved that he did realize how powerful I was, though I was certain—at that point in time—that he had given me something that he could use against me if I tried to fight him. Now I can freely tell you this: No, it wasn't a trick on his behalf. It was, I realized, a very gracious gift.
I looked at the note in still surprise.
The meteorite bear balls were not in the shape of balls at all. They were slices of what looked like shards of glass, but when I touched them to take the note; they were as gooey as vulture bee honey. I simply assumed that Zhao meant my mind abilities.
In a short while, I realized that the meteorite was actually a substance that could bend to my mind at will; it wasn't earth, which was hard to combust or manipulate. And it wasn't like water, which was harder to bend than earth. I could shift the meteorite goo into any shapes that I wanted, and when I exploded them, the pieces blew apart, but they reconnected when I ordered them to do so.
"That's quite a generous gift," said Iroh; his tone expressed some surprise.
"It is," I muttered. I shifted the goo to become sort of like a waistband and attached it to my armor like it was a belt. "But now I'm wondering if he gave it to me because he truly thinks that Zuko will betray me, or does he think that I'll join him."
Iroh shrugged.
"Think of it as another promotional gift," said Iroh. "Did you want to join us for music night?"
I nodded happily.
Lt. Jee took the banjo and started the harmony beautifully; his fingers were nimble against the strings, and he didn't miss the beat. Iroh blew through the Tsungi horn. A fellow crewman, the helmsman who hadn't injured himself during the storm, took my hand, and he danced with me on the deck of the ship.
I started off the chorus,
"Winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Four seasons, four loves.
Four seasons, four loves."
The helmsman twirled me on the spot, and he started on the verse,
"We dance to falling snow,
To the leaves that start to grow.
We dance to the heat,
And the falling, red leaves."
The helmsman and Lt. Jee switched spots, and Lt. Jee danced with me while I sung the chorus,
"Winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Four seasons, four loves.
Four seasons, four loves."
Yes. Music night was exhilarating, and the crew had wonderful singing voices. However, I felt a bit…guilty…for accepting Zhao's present; and I wasn't sure how Zuko took my acceptance. I knew he was the jealous type, and I thought for sure that he knew that I didn't like Zhao…in any way…whatsoever. But I supposed that any type of flattery was like flirting. So I excused myself from the crew and went to Zuko's quarters. He was standing in front of the display on the wall of his antique broad swords, a dual set.