Book 1: Water : Prologue

Wow... this story is probably going to be really, really long... way longer then I thought it's be... o.O
So, I'm not very good at keeping characters exactly as they're supposed to be in canon, so chances are they may get a little OOC. I'm trying, but it's harder then I thought it'd be. Sorry in advance.

Still without a beta, mistakes are probable. I only own my OC's, everything else is not mine.

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Prologue: Part 3

Rhian stood on the bow of the ship, watching the water drift by below. The thought of the cool liquid made her shake and her breathing catch. She hated the thought of the waves. If she had her way, she'd never touch the stuff again. But she liked the idea of being clean too much to give it up completely. Just no swimming. Ever again. She was okay with that. But even the stress of almost drowning wasn't what was playing on her mind now. It'd been about a week now since Iroh sat her down and went over the explanation he had come up with. That she was in another world. That somehow, the Spirits, as Iroh had called them, though they'd called themselves the Keepers, had taken her from her world for some reason and dumped her here. Iroh said he had heard weirder things.

It made sense, in a way. She'd never heard of any of the history they'd been trying to teach her for the past few days, and they had never heard of anything she'd been trying to tell them. And the Keepers had said something about another world, and some stuff she needed to do.

Rhian had never been close-minded. She preferred to think of the world in terms of 'anything could happen' and apparently will. She wasn't overly bothered by the idea of travelling to a different world, or being stuck there. She didn't have anything or anyone back home anyway. Kids ran away from the orphanage all the time and some never came back. No one would look too hard for her, and so far, this had been a hell of an adventure. She'd wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere happier. And here she was. No, she wasn't regretting this, or living in denial. This place was wonderful.

A few hours after Iroh explained his theory, and given it time to sink in, Rhian had been sitting in her new room. Or the 'room that she could occupy until they got her off his ship', if you asked Zuko. Which she didn't. But he came to see her after it'd had time to sink in with him too.

"Honestly , I don't care who you are, or where you came from, as long as you don't interfere with my mission." He'd said.

"Okay." She replied with a smile. "What is your mission? So I know what I'm not to interfere with."

Glaring at her, like he knew she was mocking him, even through her impressive innocent face, he told her about the Avatar, and how he had to capture him, in order to regain his honor.

"Okay then." That shouldn't be too hard to not mess with. "But, if I'm allowed to ask, how old are you?"

He snarled at her "I'm thirteen."

"So you're the same age as me. Why do you have to 'regain' your honor in the first place. How did you 'lose' it?"

Zuko looked like he wanted to burn her alive. Turning quickly away, he stormed from the room, saying something about needing to practice his bending. That term struck a chord in her memory. Something Devi had said.

You are not a bender. That is important.

"Hey, Zuko!" She called out, scrambling after him. "What's bending?!"

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And so here she was, staring down at the water, kind of wishing it would go away, while Zuko jumped and spun and made fire with his hands and feet behind her. Now that was really, really cool. This world had martial arts forms that could control the elements. That was probably the most awesome thing Rhian had ever heard of.

She'd tried out some basic firebending forms for fun, but Devi was right, she wasn't a bender. At least not a firebender. But that was okay. She liked to watch too, because, come on. Fire from your hands and feet!

And then there was Zuko. Iroh said he needed his space and not to provoke him. He didn't seem like that bad of a guy, but something about him just got on her nerves. Plus, sometimes he was a bit of a jerk.

Like, when he'd caught her copying his bending forms, he'd shot a fire ball at her.

"Hey! What was that for!?" She yelled.

"What? I thought you were a firebender." He sneered. "You tricked me with your great bending style."

"I'm clearly not a bender, you jerk! I was just trying it out! Sorry if I offended your superior, Fire Prince sensibilities!"

"Don't try to be something you're not! Go find something else to do! I'm trying to train over here!"

"Could have fooled me, you've been practicing the same move for three hours and haven't made more then a spark! When Iroh demonstrated it, it was like a whip of fire!"

"Are you questioning my bending abilities!?"

"Oh, go jump in the ocean, hothead!"

This time, Zuko didn't bother with bending. He tackled her with an enraged yell, taking them both to the ground. Rolling them, she jabbed her elbow into his stomach. She might not be a bender, but she grew up in an orphanage with fifteen other kids. She could hold her own in a brawl.
The only rules she played by were, don't touch the face and nothing below the belt. And she'd only added the 'face' rule because, as angry as she was, she didn't want to hit Zuko's injury.

Iroh rolled his eyes at the wrestling teenagers, turning his attention to the crewman beside him. "I think it'll be good for Zuko to have someone his own age around. He could use a friend, and she seems to be a good match for him. The same hot-headed temper, she doesn't back down from a challenge, and she has a sense of humour that could maybe balance out his seriousness."

"But, isn't she getting off at the next port, General?" the crewman said, wincing slightly at the escalating battle.

"Well, not until we can find her somewhere safe to be. She's our responsibility after all, and it wouldn't be right to just dump her somewhere she wouldn't be safe or happy."

"I don't know if Prince Zuko, wants her to stay." He said, observing the way Zuko's knee aimed for Rhian's stomach, just a glancing blow as the girl managed to roll away, and leap back at him.

"Maybe I can convince them both before the time comes to say goodbye." Iroh mused. "I hope so. It's been nice, having her here." Turning back, he strode to the struggling pair and took a hold of both their collars. Rhian had been wearing some of the spare under-armour clothes from the storage bay. The armour itself didn't fit her and there was no way Zuko was giving up his clothes. Iroh pulled the teens apart, rolling his eyes at them as they still tried to maim each other.

"That's enough! Both of you!" They stopped struggling, glaring daggers at each other instead. "Prince Zuko, go practice your firebending. Rhian, come with me. It's time for your catch up lessons. If you're going to stay here, you need to know as much as you can about this world." Releasing them both, and walking away, he didn't see Rhian stick her tongue out at Zuko, or Zuko throw a fireball at her feet. With a final growl at the prince, Rhian sped off after Iroh.

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