The Highest Bidder
Chapter Twenty-Nine: June
It was morning, a pretty day for any traveler, and Iroh and Zuko were in the galley, enjoying a cup of hot tea. I resumed my post on the main deck, where I was bending my meteorite bear balls into a glide disc.
This is the same sled that the Avatar and his friends know about since I use it as a secondary form of transportation. It's not too different from a levitating platform, except that I control it with my mind. I guess it should suffice it to say that extenuated use of my disc also hurts my head.
As I molded the space earth into a sheet of black, slick tar, I was preoccupied. When I looked up from my work, I was startled when a massive, hideous monster flew up onto the foredeck. The soldiers behind me stood back in surprise. Mounted on the beast's back was a young, dark-haired woman.
This lady, of course, is June, the bounty hunter.
The monster she was mounted on was a cross between a mole and an anteater; it had no eyes, but a sensitive nose, and it was as large as the Avatar's flying bison. The bounty hunter looked at me then to the rest of the crew,
"Get back! We're after a stowaway."
Zuko appeared behind me; he was angry.
"There are no stowaways on my ship!"
Aside from Zuko's claim, the monster proceeded to rip out a chunk of the deck plating and hurled it aft. The plate of metal was dodged by Zuko, Iroh, and the rest of the crew; Zuko's expression hardened. Then to my surprise, a frail man dressed in Earth Kingdom citizen clothes climbed out of the hole and crawled onto the foredeck. As he started to make a run for it, the monster quickly whipped the back of the man's neck with a long tongue. He fell instantly onto the deck, conscious but motionless.
"He's paralyzed." Zuko said, slightly stunned.
June stepped toward me, and hoisted the man over her shoulder. She gave me a weird smirk and looked at Prince Zuko.
"Only temporarily. The toxins'll wear off in about an hour. But by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money." June said, striding back to her pet beast.
"But how did you find him on my ship?" asked Zuko.
"My Shirshu can smell a rat a continent away," said June proudly. "Oh, and the girl that's with you…" she indicated me with the black whip that she held in her flawless hand. "She looks a bit like her wanted poster. You might want to dye her hair or something, or else I'm coming after her for the bounty on her head."
Zuko and Iroh gave me a strange look. I wasn't surprised to know that there was a price on my corpse, but I was a bit confused as to what she was talking about.
"What wanted poster?" I questioned.
June pulled out a scroll of parchment and tossed to me with nary a worry or care.
I looked at the picture. The talented sketch artist that had drawn the picture of the Avatar drew this one with just as much depth as the last; however, he seemed to have forgotten that my looks would have matured in the last…six years.
"This looks like I'm a prepubescent girl," I muttered, staring at the picture.
"Hey," said June carelessly, "I just know that if I were you, I'd be changing a few things."
"So why don't you just arrest me now?" I retorted with interest. "I mean, you have me now."
"What, do you think I'm stupid or something?" said June sardonically as she mounted her Shirshu. "I know a few things about you; I've done my research. Besides, I'm still working with my first payload."
I looked at her oddly.
"Who has your loyalty, I wonder?"
"My loyalty goes to the highest bidder," said June with a slight smirk. "So you can take that and put in your pocket. Come on, Nyla! Hah!"
She cracked her whip and the Shirshu bolted off the ship and down the dock. Iroh came up from behind me to look after the retreating monster,
"I'm impressed."
His eyes lingered a while longer, which led me to believe that his interests were more in the rider than the beast.
"Very impressed," he added, stroking his chin.
Zuko gave him an annoyed look.
I looked back at the parchment, observing the wanted poster. On the outside, I developed sort of a front of calm and collection; however, deep down in the pit of my stomach, I was concerned about how many people actually wanted the money that hovered over my head. My concerns about my bounty weren't too deep, owing to the fact that even Zhao had me in his clutches and he let me go. So obviously, the Fire Lord didn't want me as bad as the Avatar; in this case, it was a relief.
June struck me as a person whose loyalty weren't only paid in money. There were favors that could be considered debt. I hadn't been well-read on the ways of the world, but a debt to be paid didn't always have to be in copper and gold pieces. In Zuko's eyes, apparently, that was his train of thought as well. I considered the parchment with admirable scrutiny. The sketch artist was quite talented, and I did admire artwork. General Iroh, too, was anticipating the next time we saw June; though I really didn't have to try hard to notice.
Red perched on my shoulder, squawking loudly for the last five minutes. His feathers were ruffled, and he looked like he was throwing a temper tantrum. I felt it just as plainly, for his sharp talons dug into my shoulder painfully. I winced in his grip, though I felt no consideration to swat off my dear friend. Sometimes, animals just bite harder or hold on tighter when you do that. And since my feathery friend was a bit of a hot head himself, I decided to let him scream all he wanted, as long he didn't draw blood.
"Will you shut that thing up?" said Zuko, clasping his hands over his ears, shouting over penetrate able squeals of Red. "He's giving me a headache!"
"He's just a little upset from June's visit," I said, though I admitted inwardly that I was starting to feel a little numb. I raised my hands to Red and lightly plucked him off my shoulder.
"Hey," I said to him, "Hey, it's okay. The mean Shirshu is gone now. Hey. HEY!"
Red silenced after I raised my voice at him. His feet hung limply as I held his body in my hands. He cocked his head to the side as if he had no idea why I screamed at him. The plumes from his head raised and lowered like a cat's fur when he gets angry.
"You want to tone it down a bit?" I said sweetly to Red. "You're starting to irritate Zuko; and if I have to deal with him, so do you."
Red cooed a sign of submission.
Zuko looked at me sternly.
"Is the only way that you can shut him up is by insulting me while I'm standing right here?"
I shrugged. Red grabbed my wrist in his feet and balanced himself on my hand.
"He doesn't seem to like you just yet," I muttered. Red squawked agreeably at Prince Zuko, flapping his wings aggressively. "Hey, you don't have to be so confrontational either, pet."
"Come on, Uncle," Zuko said, heading for shore, "we're going to find her."
"To do what?" I called after him as Iroh walked with him, a bounce in his step.
"Her Shirshu could track a stowaway; so it can track the Avatar."
"So what, you're just going to barge into a seedy bar and demand payment?" I retorted, folding my across my chest. "Isn't that a bit too easy? Did you and I see the same woman?"
"Look," said Zuko, turning to me, "if you think there's going to be an issue, why don't you just come with me then?"
"Why is it that when you ask me to come along, it always sounds like you really don't want me to go?" I muttered rhetorically. Red flew off my hand and stayed by the ship.
General Iroh, Zuko, and I walked off the ship and stepped onto the shore.
June was more than just looks and a fancy whip. The way that I discovered this was that when we came upon a rough, wrestling bar, I took the hint when a man dressed in rags was flown out of the window. He landed in a heap beside our feet. Zuko led the way inside, though it wasn't hard to push through the crowd: Zuko did the pushing.
We entered a tavern that was filled to capacity with revelers. In the center of the room, I spotted the pretty bounty hunter arm-wrestling with a beefy man. The man was actually getting his ass kicked; he was sweating profusely to best June, but she didn't even appear to be trying. She wore the same smirk on her face as the one that she had given me on the ship. Zuko forced his way through the crowd,
"Out of my way! Step aside, filth!"
Iroh covered the rear, politely crossing through the threshold while keeping me close to Zuko's back. The travelers who were shoved out of the way frowned in my wake as I followed the pushy Prince. Iroh smiled at the people, attempting to smoothly recover his nephew's rudeness,
"He means no offense! I'm sure you bathe regularly."
We arrived at the table. The beefy man glanced in our general direction, but he continued to grunt and struggle against June's grip. Her voice was relaxed and easy, absent of the voice of the struggle.
"I need to talk to you," said Zuko.
"Well," drawled June, glancing at us, "if it isn't my new friends, Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy." She looked at me swiftly, "And a walking pocket of gold."
Iroh laughed heartily for a moment; June ended the contest with one swift movement. Her black hair fell down to the table like a silky curtain, and she pushed it out of her face. The crowd erupted and a lot of money changed hands; most of it ended in a big pile in front of June. Along with money, an exchange of challenges went around the room like a forest fire. One push in the entire tavern would create mass bar brawl.
"Your beast trashed my ship," Zuko said moodily.
"A very cute beast, by the way," I added affectionately.
"You have to pay me back," finished Zuko without missing a beat.
June raked in the pile of coins,
"Aww, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money" To the rambunctious crowd, she called, "Drinks on me!"
"Ah," I said blatantly, "a few tempers mixed with alcohol. Now if that isn't a beautiful combination, I don't know what is."
Zuko grabbed her hand that had raised a cup to her lips,
"Money isn't what I had in mind."
She pulled her hand out of his grip and gave him a frown.
"Well, exactly where did you want to talk about this business deal? I can't exactly push through all those challengers."
"I think," I said, "that you could; but you don't want to."
June smiled at me sarcastically,
"Well, aren't you just a peach."
Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to contain his fueling temper. I set a hand on his shoulder and sat down in front of June.
"I have an idea," I said.
"I'm listening."
"Actually, you just have to watch." I said, smirking.
June's eyebrow rose with an intrigued look. I turned to where the loser from June's match was arguing with a companion who no doubt bet against him. I gestured a push with the palm of my hand; he was sent forward into the floor. For June and me, we both knew that I had done it. However, to the beefy loser and to the rest of the tavern, it looked like someone had purposely shoved him.
As I had expected, the loser and his companion ganged up on an innocent pair of homey neighbors; then it stemmed from there:
One huge massive bar brawl.
June looked at me,
"I like you. Come on."
I smiled innocently at Zuko and Iroh, who were looking at me with dumbfounded gazes. As June, Iroh, Zuko, and I filed out of the door, I waved my hand; and it closed behind us.
June strode up to her Shirshu, which uttered a noise that was between a growl and purr. She patted its head.
"Nyla," she said in a sudden loving voice, "who's my snuffly wuffly…?
The Shirshu greeted her master with cuddling gesture in June's direction. I was startled when Nyla's long, red tongue lashed out of an apparent attempt to show June some love; June dodged out of the way and closed her pet's mouth,
"Whoa! Careful there!"
She turned to look at Zuko and leaned against the side of her great beast.
Zuko pulled Katara's Water Tribe necklace from the inside of his sleeve and presented it to June,
"I need you to find someone."
June scoffed,
"What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you?"
"It's not the girl I'm after," said Zuko seriously. "It's the bald monk she's traveling with."
"Whatever you say."
"If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for."
"Heh! Forget it." She turned to climb into her saddle.
Iroh offered a better price to her work,
"Plus we'll pay your weight in gold."
June climbed down and stepped toward him with a devious smirk on her face.
"Make it your weight, and we've got a deal."
"You got it," laughed Iroh.
"Get on!"
June grabbed the necklace and stepped to Nyla's side; Iroh climbed on first, then me, then Zuko. Nyla sniffed the necklace extensively, and she tracked the scent in the air. Then she growled in confirmation. June pulled herself onto her saddle.
Nyla took off a remarkable speed. We traveled quickly, faster than I thought the beast could run. We came upon the base of a hill in an old, decrepit town square. An elderly woman crouched near the ground to harvest some plants. A white, fluffy cat tensed and hissed as we approached. The herbalist rose to her feet, unafraid, looked at us.
This was the same herbalist that I had told Zuko about when we heard that the Avatar had been captured by Zhao.
"Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?"
"We're looking for someone." Zuko said.
The old woman glanced down at her cat,
"I hope it's not Miyuki. Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?"
"The Avatar's been through here," said June, "Let's keep moving."
She cracked her whip and Nyla took off in a jerking movement. It was about another half hour before June's Shirshu entered Makapu Village, sniffing literally all over the town. Upon seeing us, the people screamed and fled, taking cover inside the various houses and market places. We came upon a woman who didn't flee.
This woman was Aunt Wu, the fortune teller. She looked serene, if not entirely pleased. Nyla halted and continued to sniff the ground.
Although I started to grow fond of Nyla (I mean, any animal who sniffs the ground is cute), Zuko's patience was starting wear down.
"Why are we stopping?" snapped Zuko.
"Because the girl must have spent a lot of time here," said June apathetically.
"We don't have time for this."
Zuko grabbed the necklace out of June's hand and slid off the Shirshu in a steady motion. June and Iroh watched him as he strode out in front of Nyla and showed her the necklace again. He narrowly avoided getting zapped by her tongue.
"Hey, watch it!"
Iroh laughed.
June chuckled,
"Oh, look, she likes you."
Aunt Wu looked up at Iroh.
"Care to hear your fortune, handsome?"
Iroh responded with a smile,
"At my age, there is really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery."
Zuko grunted in growing frustration. He climbed up Nyla's back and sat behind me. His hands wrapped around my waist; and Nyla took off again. About twenty minutes later, we arrived in an abbey, which consisted of stone and no vegetation; a group of sisters dressed in white robes from head to toe looked to us as Nyla bombarded through the doors. I started to feel nauseous from the jerking stop and go.
"I…I'm just going to…climb down…" I panted quietly, slowly making my way down Nyla's furry coat. "When you find the Avatar…just come get me…"
"Are you all right, Mura?" asked Iroh cautiously.
"Yep…Yep…" I assured him. "But apparently I can't ride a Shirshu without wanting to vomit. Give my best to the Water Tribe siblings," I said weakly, waving them off.
"We're getting close," said June to Iroh and Zuko. "See ya later, Mura."
They bounded out of the gate up followed a road.
The abbey sisters looked at me fearfully. I simply sat down to calm my sickened stomach. They didn't approach me or bother me, but they continued to make their perfume.
It wasn't long after they left that Zuko, Iroh, and June came back on Nyla, though when they returned, they came back with two extras. Katara and Sokka were on the back of the saddle, but no Avatar. Seeing the Shirshu, the abbey sisters ran away screaming in all directions.
Nyla began walking around, sniffing.
"What's it doing?" said Zuko. "It's just going in a circle!"
Nyla's nose pointed up to the sky. I looked up to see Aang flying on his glider; he flew over the Shirshu, who jumped up to snap at him. Nyla missed, and she sent her riders onto the floor of the courtyard. The Shirshu fell flat on her back.
Katara and Sokka had been paralyzed by Nyla's tongue, and they were sent to the floor like a couple of flopping fish. June jumped up and whipped the ground; Nyla roared and got up. June jumped onto its back. They charged after Aang. As Aang was almost Shirshu food, the loyal flying bison charged from the right and plowed straight into Nyla's side, sending June flying into the air.
Zuko and Aang stood in front of each other in a classic stand-off. Iroh took my arm and casually pulled me out of the way as if to lead me to an interesting landmark.
"This Prince Zuko's fight," he said. And he turned to an array of abandoned bottles of perfume with interest.
"General, I can't just stand and do nothing."
"Zuko wants to capture the Avatar alone. If he needs your help, he will ask for it."
I turned to see Zuko and Aang trade fiery and windy blows at each other, and they either missed or were blocked. They fired volleys simultaneously and were blown backwards onto the roofs behind them. June and her pet were knocked unconscious. Iroh strayed from my side to pat June's face. She woke up and rose to her feet. Iroh strode casually beside me and gave me a guilty smile.
From the other side of the abbey, Sokka and Katara were pulled away from the fray by a couple of sisters.
June and her Shirshu charged Appa.
Zuko charged Aang on the spine of a single roof; his blast missed as the Avatar flipped over Zuko's head to land behind him. They exchanged blows; Aang knocked Zuko off the roof. Aang was instantly replaced as June and her Shirshu jumped onto the roof and tried to pursue him. Appa in turn used his tail to create a gal that blew off tiles off the roof as the Shirshu passed.
Iroh tugged the sleeve of the robe under my Fire Nation armor, pulling my attention from the brawl. He held a bottle of perfume in his hand,
"What do you think about this one?"
I looked at him, incredulous, but I was quite entertained by his nonchalant attitude.
"General Iroh, your nephew is in a fight, and you're—"
He interrupted me by spotting my wrist with the perfume and placed my hand in front of my face.
"Wow," I said, amused. "This is good."
He looked from side to side, and he tucked the bottle that he sampled into his robe, a mischievous smile planted on his face.
Aang and Zuko dueled again, though they had made their way down from the roof and now covered well separated them. They traded volleys. Aang called to Zuko, noticing the necklace wrapped around Zuko's hand,
"You've got something I want!"
They traded volleys again; Zuko destroyed the well's covering. They danced on the lip of the well, neither one able to gain a decisive advantage over the other. Aang kept trying to grab for the necklace, but failed. Zuko lunged after Aang, and he missed. As Zuko lunged, Aang slipped his foot through the loop of the necklace, caught it, and disappeared down the well. Zuko fired a huge torrent of flame after him in frustration. Not a minute later, Zuko was launched into the air over a huge jet of water; the Avatar landed on the ground, and Zuko joined it in a heap, landing hard. Zuko staggered to his feet, his anger anew. He pursued the Avatar, but Appa advanced threateningly, forcing him back. Before Appa could strike at him, June's Shirshu lashed at the heels of Appa's feet with her tongue. After battling the neurotoxins, Appa keeled over, ultimately paralyzed.
From the side of the wall, Sokka and Katara gained feeling back. Realizing that my fellow comrades were now outnumbered, I raced over to them to even the odds. Sokka pulled out his boomerang and machete; Katara bended the water from the two troughs on either side of me. I pulled the belt from my waist, and the bear balls retreated from being a slinky band to solidifying into seven metal bullets. I wielded them separately at the two Water Tribe peasants.
Sokka dodged them; Katara's Waterbending shocked me as two cold waves washed over me like a Tsunami. I fell to the ground, sopping wet, but otherwise unscathed. Sokka came at me with warrior cry; from around him, the seven bullets materialized into a meteorite sword. It flung in front of me as he struck, and the cling of metal on whale tooth sounded in the abbey.
"What the—?"
Sokka uttered incredulity as he battled with an invisible swordsman. Katara created a water whip and smacked me with it in the face. My concentration suffered, and I reeled in momentary agony. My sword fell apart into seven shards as if it was glass.
As Katara advanced toward me, a blast of fire scoured the air above me. I looked over my shoulder to see Zuko's hand outstretched in my direction, where it was obviously he who had sent the blow. Sokka stepped back and stood behind Katara, but whatever was going to happen didn't, for Aang shot a blast of wind into Zuko's back. Sokka and Katara retreated back to the abbey sisters.
Aang was forced back against a wall, dodging Zuko's fire blasts and the Shirshu's tongue. I turned to see Katara bending a mess of perfume into a huge sheet; his moved over us in a shadow.
"Oh, great," I muttered moodily.
Then Katara dropped it.
Nyla shook her head from the liquid, but turned around to see her target; however, the perfume bombarded her senses to tell who was who. She lashed out her tongue and it whipped Zuko in the chest, followed by June. Iroh sent himself forward and caught the bounty hunter in his arms. The Shirshu rampaged over the abbey, and eventually climbed over one of the buildings, fleeing the area.
I rushed to Zuko, who was paralyzed from the shoulders, down.
"Zuko, are you okay?"
I looked up to see Aang, Katara, and Sokka mount the saddle on Appa, and they took off. Iroh lay flat on the ground. A paralyzed June was draped across his chest, his arm around her.
"Uncle?" Zuko said, turning his head. "I didn't see you get hit with the tongue."
Iroh glanced at his nephew and put a finger to his lips,
"Shh."
June's eyes opened, and she wore a look that showed that was clearly displeased.
I sighed, knowing that I would have to transfer Iroh and Zuko back to the ship on my own.