I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender
Chapter 11
Zuko returned to the base with his uncle and Mi-Dved on their seventh day, just as they planned. He got a hero's welcome as the men and women of the army surrounded him, it seemed like they thought he returned from another bandit hunt. To be fair, the swamp monster's mask did grant them some attention, the thing was the size of a full-grown man.
Mi-Dved also didn't miss the opportunity to go in detail about their fight with the monster, Zuko had to admit that the earth bender had talent for dramatic storytelling. But maybe it was just the experience of having heard the announcers in the fighting tournaments he had in Amora.
Anyway, it soon became an entire party when they got to the mass hole. Sai suggested putting the mask on full display at the center of the wall for everyone to see and Zuko agreed. Now alcohol flew as Mi-Dved's tales became more and more outlandish, and the people bought it. His last successful missions and battles opened the minds of the soldiers to outlandish tales.
He presented them with the hellhound, claiming it to be exotic creature from the spirit world thar he found in the swamp, which was partly true. He still processed the information that Sai gave him about the hellhound.
Apparently, hellhounds are neither from this world nor the spirit world, but from a completely different dimension. As the overlords played more and more with higher powers, they thinned the rift between neighboring realms of existence. The spirit world, that is unstable as is, quickly became a hotspot of otherworldly interest. Even the human world wasn't spared, as a verity of abominations began calling this world home.
When Zuko asked Sai why in Agni's name the overlords thought it was a good idea, Sai told him that most of their (and by proxy, his) knowledge came from foreign dimensions, and that the knowledge and resources helped the people very much.
Hellhounds were dog-like creatures of varying sizes, shapes and skills. Chief among them was the famous (according to Sai, Zuko never heard of it) three headed dog Cerberus, a monstrous creature the size of a mountain that relentlessly guarded the entire to the underworld. From what Sai shared with him, the underworld is a spirit word dedicated for the judgement of the souls of mortals, from the best of the best to the worst of the worst. Sai outright refused to share anything else besides the fact thar it was ruled with an iron fist by a being of immense power, Sai didn't even tell its name from fear of getting its attention.
Zuko decided to drop the subject, he was relieved when Sai said that his soul wouldn't go there when he dies. As for the hellhound cub he found, it without a doubt will be a fitting royal companion. This breed is very intelligent and extremely loyal, with a sharp nose second only to a Shirshu and the ability to grow to impressive size, there was no place of doubt about the significance of such creature.
He decided to retire a bit early, he told the soldiers that he still had reports to do, as well as to put the puppy (he still needed to find a name for it) to sleep. The others nodded in understanding and bid him farewell.
When Zuko entered his room at the port, he wrote two letters. One for Labon, informing him about the possible manpower he may get as well as asking the status of the factory. He gave clear instructions about the villagers, they are there to live their lives and support the workers with the usual day-to-day products, not to slave for the factory. He wrote that the propaganda results for the both of them would far suppress the cost of the villagers, that will be returned as well in duo time.
The second letter was informing commander Zhao about the villagers that may come and about letting them go to the island without harassment. He appealed to the man's ambitions by writing how good it would look on his records. Zuko (Sai) even suggested a new way for Zhao to get the reorganization he so rightfully deserves. Zuko suggested that the navy could once every few days take a convey of civilian ships from one side of the territory to the other side of the sea strip, that way the navy would patrol the ships, as well as get money from the fee of the convey.
He thought about writing a letter to his father, but decided against it for now, he was still too confused about the vision he had and didn't want to upset his father about it.
As he finished his letters, a knock on the door was heard.
"Your highness, may I come in?"
Zuko heard lieutenant Jee's voice from across the door, it seemed that his crew had arrived now as well.
"Yes, come in."
"Thank you, sir. Sorry for the interruption, but we have found some interesting transmissions from our raids."
"Think nothing of it, what did you get?"
Lieutenant Jee pulled a few strips of skin out of his pocket and showed them to Zuko.
"Those are encrypted messages, if you wrap them around a special pole, you will be able to read them. To summarize, the de facto pirate leaders of the reign are the 'Black Koi' pirates. They are a relatively small force but have monopoly on the elephant-koi business."
The lieutenant then explained about that particular group and their operations. It seems that they as well were getting orders from a source in the mainland (this Mi-Sha person, if Zuko had to guess). The lieutenant also told Zuko about the "most valuable product" of the group.
"This… is certainly interesting… Tell me Lieutenant Jee, what do you think is the best course of action?"
The man took a few seconds to reply.
"That's… a hard question, your highness. Maybe we should console your uncle about it?"
Zuko made a sour look.
"Uncle and I aren't on speaking terms right now, something about a disagreement about the state I left a man who assaulted me during the mission at the swamp. But don't mind that, I asked about your opinion, not my uncle's."
"Well… I don't think that a frontal assault is the right answer. Kyoshi island is a natural ground, its waters are as well. A frontal attack like that, besides the fact that we will have to fight the Kyoshi warriors before we could reach the pirates, will have political consequences. Quite frankly, as much as I think we as a fighting force improved, I don't want to test us against the Kyoshi warriors."
"I see, a fine assessment, and I see your points. So what would you have us do?"
"Hmm… the pirates must be dealt with, as long as they have a place to rest and regroup, they will continue to be a nuisance. The Kyoshi warriors must hate them as much as we do, if we just give them the details about the rotes and hiding places, they will take care of it."
"You're not wrong, but they didn't take care of it until now, why would they do it after we give them the details?"
"As I understand it, the Black Koi are able to have hold by avoiding the warriors. Even the kidnapping operations are a joint venture between all the pirates in the region. What more concerning me is how they were able to avoid detection up until now, and how detailed their information on the Kyoshi patrols and defenses."
"You suspect corruption?"
"I don't know, I'm just saying it's highly possible according to evidence. While I don't think it's the Kyoshi warriors themselves, I think that someone close is the source of the leak."
"Hmm…"
Zuko privately had a conversation with Sai.
'What do you think we should do?'
"Public display will tip the pirates off, the information must be given secretly, and to the eyes of the head of the Kyoshi warriors alone. I know little of this Kyoshi, so I can't judge the warriors. What I suggest is…"
"If we go to with the ship, the pirates may suspect something and hide even farther. Fortunately for us, it seems that Mi-Dved's sister may be on this island as well. We'll use this opportunity to send a small force to the island, when the Kyoshi warriors intercept us, we'll claim to look after Jasmine. If we show them the strips in the process, then all the better."
"A good idea, but who will we send?"
"Mi-Dved and I will go alone… actually, we'll take the hellhound as well, his sense of smell would prove useful."
Jee looked conflicted.
"You're highness… Are you sure it's the best decision? Not to question your judgement, but maybe it would be better if more people came with you? Maybe prince Iroh?"
Zuko subconsciously clenched his fists. He did notice, however, that the lieutenant didn't question his participation in the operation.
"As I said earlier, uncle and I aren't on speaking terms right now. Besides, it would look to suspicious for an old man to be with us with the cover I had in mind. I also have a more fitting mission for uncle in mind."
Lieutenant Jee was silently waiting for an explanation.
"I plan to introduce myself as a junior bounty hunter on a mission from above. I met Mi-Dved on my way and rescued him from a thought spot, he in return joined me on my endeavor and we saved each other's life. From there, we used the hound's sense of smell to find Mi-Dved's lost sister."
"I also had a mission to investigate the piracy in the region, therefore explaining the secret messages. As long as neither of us mentions that I'm the prince of the fire nation, then no one has any reason to suspect otherwise. All in all, this isn't even a lie from a certain point of view."
"You're right, your highness, please accept my apologies for doubting you."
Zuko waived him off.
"Think nothing of it, it's better that you have a good head on your shoulders."
He noticed the shocked look his lieutenant had for a friction of a second. Did he really change that much in the last month?
"You have no idea, your highness. And for the better to, if I say so myself."
'Thank you, Sai… It means a lot. And it wouldn't be possible without you.'
And he meant it. Without Sai to guide him, he was sure that he would have continued to be a desperate and angry mess for the rest of his life or until he found the Avatar.
"Think nothing of it, that it why I'm here. You better return to your conversation however."
'Right.'
"While I'm away, you have another mission. A village was destroyed on my way back. I promised them a place to live and work on the island we pacified; you remember the one. Your job is to make sure that they, if they decide to come, have as smooth sailing as possible. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir!"
The lieutenant saluted.
"There is another aspect for your mission. When you get to the island, you are to check if everything is up to standard. You know how some merchants like to cut off a few corners."
Zuko than pulled a little notebook from his shelf and gave it to the older man.
"Everything I want from the construction is written here, follow it and make sure that the points are met. Uncle will help you there."
"Very well, your highness. Anything else?"
Zuko thought for a moment.
"Food."
"On your way, can you buy some ingredients on this list? We will need some animal food for our new member."
Zuko pointed to the now sleeping hellhound cub on the pillow of his bed.
He had to admit that it was very cute.
"As you wish, your highness. If this is all, I'll be on my way."
"Have a nice trip!"
After the lieutenant left, Zuko continued his conversation with Sai.
'Are you sure we should send uncle away like that?'
"We don't have much of a choice. Excluding the fact that unlike you, who's only distinguished sign a scar that can be easily explained by various different reasons on your line of work, your uncle is a famous war general that would be easily recognized. You saw how he stood outright against you, the both of you would have been."
"You can't have him questioning and blocking your every action, he needs to be away for you to grow. Just like with your fire bending, when you stopped listening to your uncle, and followed my lead, you had a tremendous growth. The same applies here."
Zuko couldn't argue with that, he indeed learnt so much after he left his uncle's teachings.
"Besides, we have another important matter to attend to. What's going to be the hellhound's name?"
Zuko paused, he really didn't know what to say.
'What did you have in mind?'
"It's your dog, I can only help decide. Give me a few names you had in mind, and we will decide."
'What about fire? Or flame? You know, because we are fire nation, and you said that hellhounds can spit fire.'
"Not bad, I understand the reasoning. But I can also assume that many other pets named like that for the same reasons. We want our hellhound to be unique, after all."
'Point… What about fighter or survivor? Those ones match him well. By the way, to what translates the name of this three headed apex hound?'
"Spots, Cerberus translates to spots. Yes, the single most feared and powerful hound in all of existence is named spots, apparently, he had spots when he was a cub."
'...'
Zuko didn't really have anything to say.
"To the first part, I think those are good ideas. Pick whichever you like."
'Hmm… I thing I will choose Xing, a short of Xìngcún zhě, survivor. It means luck and fortune as well, so it can't be so bad.'
"Seems a good name as any, I approve."
"There you go, Xing. Good boy."
Zuko affectional rubbed the newly named Xing's belly. The puppy moved his tail and right leg in his sleep.
Zuko and Mi-Dved were preparing a boat to reach Kyoshi Island. Right now, they were on Zuko's ship, just far enough to not be noticed by either the Kyoshi warriors or by the pirates near the island.
"You seem nervous."
Zuko commented.
"Can you blame me? The last (and only) time I sailed in sea with a small boat, I ended losing my sister, nearly drown and enslaved."
Zuko supposed he could blame the big guy, he himself had problems with fire after the duel, and he was a fire bender!
He put an arm on the bigger teen's shoulder.
"There are no storms in the horizon, you will be with me all the way. It's not like there is some sea monster waiting for us here. Besides, look at Xing, he has as much reason to fear deep water as you do, but you don't see him being a quitter."
Zuko pointed at the puppy, who was running from one side of the boat to the other while shaking its tail.
"And you had to just jinxed it, your highness, congratulations."
Mi-Dved snorted with humor.
"Can't really call myself a man if a little puppy is braver than me, can I?"
"I suppose you can't. Anyway, ladies first~"
Zuko gave an exaggerated bow towards the ship.
"Prick."
Mi-Dved said as he stepped to the ship.
Zuko stepped as well and signaled a sign to the bridge, they were dropped to the sea afterwards. They began sailing with Xing on the helm, shifting its nose as if he smelled something.
"It seems our little hellhound found our target, his nose will point us to the right direction."
He told Mi-Dved the happy news.
"That's great!"
The earth bender seemed to paddle with renewed vigor at the news. As they closed on the island, they noticed the complete lack of any other vassal. It was strange, Zuko thought that by now they should have encountered at least one fishing boat.
As he was about to ask Sai, Xing suddenly began to growl at the water. Sai spoke to him at the same moment.
"Go to the back and use fire bending through the legs to jet the boat to the beach as fast as you can!"
'But wouldn't it draw unwanted –'
"Now!"
Zuko immediately did as Sai said and told Mi-Dved to hold Xing at the front. The earth bender looked confused but did so quickly as he heard the urgency in Zuko's voice.
And good thing that he did, because a few seconds after he started jetting the place where the boat had been completely swallowed by the jaws of a giant-
"Unagi!"
Suki yelled as she pointed at the rising form of the massive eel. The creature had a mouth big enough to swallow a small ship and a body long enough to tower well above the mountains of the island. No matter how many times she saw it, this was always a magnificent sight to behold.
The rest of the group looked as well, at least until Suki got a painful flick from behind on her head. Courtesy of her superior and her metal fan.
"OW!"
"Be louder, will you? I don't think the other side of the island heard you yet."
"Sorry ma'am…"
Suki rubbed her head, a pole or a fan didn't feel so different if they both were made of metal.
"Listen up, girls. We are going to have some uninvited guests, make haste to the beach and form up ambush formation six."
"YES Ma'am !"
They went quickly to the target place. Suki noticed on her way that indeed, the Unagi was chasing a boat that was moving by… fire? This is going to be interesting...
"Move left."
Zuko did as Sai told him and barely escaped a stream of water being shot from the monster's mouth.
"This thing can shoot water now?!"
His earth bending friend shouted in panic. The poor thing must be traumatized for life, every time Mi-Dved is on a boat something seems to happen. It would be a pain to get him on one back, Zuko thought to himself.
At least as much as he allowed himself to lose focus from the gargantuan thing that was chasing them, how big is this thing?!
"Around four hundred to six hundred feet if my calculations are correct ."
'I wasn't asking! How does a thing so big exist?!'
"Probably eating the elephant-koi. It was on our debrief on the island, don't you remember?"
'It's one thing to read! I never thought it would be this big!'
"And yet, you still had to tempt fate, didn't you?"
'I'm sorry, ok?!'
"You should apologize to poor Mi-Dved, it would be a miracle if he could ever look at a boat without flinching. Move right."
Zuko again escaped the shot by the hair.
"I do sense some remnants of Rava on the thing. If I had to guess, Kyoshi most likely raised the thing to be some sort of a guardian for the island in case of invasion. Not the best choice, if I may say, creatures like this are usually cowardly by nature and would run from anything their size or more."
'I don't think there is anything that size! Maybe an emperor class battleship...'
"True, and it was most likely her calculation. But until it reached this size it was a burden, it's all I'm saying. You're almost in the shallow water."
Zuko put the last of his strengths in one blast of fire to gain distance from the monstrosity eager to eat them. He could see the creature grow smaller and smaller, its loud enraged roars were painful to hear. It tried shooting water at them, but the distance was too great.
As Zuko sighed in relief as they escaped the imminent danger, Sai, however, reminded him of another thing.
"We'll crash at the beach at this speed, tell your friend to use his axes as anchors."
"Mi-Dved! Tie the ropes to your axes and throw them as anchors!"
The earth bender snapped out of his shock and followed orders as Zuko tied the other end of the ropes to the end of the boat. He could feel how the vessel began to lose speed until it completely stopped, when Zuko looked down he saw that they were twenty feet or so in the sand.
To his side, Zuko saw that Mi-Dved was holding for dear life at the sides of the boat. Miraculously, Xing was still at the head of the boat with tongue out and a very happy expression on his face.
"Alright, let's get out."
As Zuko told the order, the puppy immediately jumped out to the sand. The boat broke right then and there, making Zuko and Mi-Dved fall right on their butts.
After a few groaning, the boys stood up on shaky feet.
"Argh… let's hope no one saw this…"
His heavy weighted friend said.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that."
At the same moment, Xing growled at the trees.
"Five hostiles, all hiding in the trees in a semicircle to prepare for an ambush. Winning chance at your state is 4.83%, I suggest a diplomatic approach. It's time to use your princely charms, your royal highness."
'Prick.'
He patted Xing on the head to calm the hellhound down. The puppy immediately stopped growing and started playing in the sand, letting out a bark here and there as it chased its tail.
"I'm Zuko! This is my friend, Mi-Dved! We came here to seek an audience with the Kyoshi warriors, we mean no harm!"
He waited for their response. After a minute of silence, he tried a different approach.
"Look, I know you're here! There are five of you!"
Zuko then continued to list each Kyoshi warrior's hiding place, as well as the pose she was in.
After he finished, five women jumped out of the trees into the sand. Each of them wore a green kimono with a light leather armor on it. The woman at the front was clearly the one in charge, if the semicircle tiara on her head wasn't enough of a sign, that her commanding presence was.
She put both her hands to her sides and began to speak.
"Very well, you have our attention. You may want to get your friend there to lower his axes, not really gives you the 'mean no harm' look."
She pointed with her fan towards Mi-Dved, who held his axes on both hands. The weapons were coated with wet send, undoubtedly, he earth bended them back to his hands from the bottom of the shallow waters. He was in a battle pose and ready to fight.
"What are you doing?! Put those things down!"
Once the earth bender did as he was told, Zuko faced the head warrior again.
"I'm very sorry for him. He is just on edge, you see, he had some very bad experience with boats. This little misadventure here didn't help."
"Aha."
The head warrior stayed unimpressed.
"Anyway, we are looking for someone. We think she may be here."
"Oh?"
The woman raised an eyebrow.
"And what makes you say that?"
Zuko pointed towards Xing in return, the puppy in question was now on his back in a begging pose near an auburn haired Kyoshi warrior that was struggling to keep herself from playing with the cub.
"Xing here, while little, has a very big nose. He smelled remnants of Jasmine, Mi-Dved's sister, and pointed us here."
Zuko decided to not talk about the swamp vision. He didn't know how spiritual the Kyoshi warriors were, and quite frankly he wanted to forget about that cursed place as fast as possible.
"There are signs of reorganization on the warriors, they obviously know of Jasmine. We are on the right track."
Zuko didn't notice anything, but he trusted Sai. The thing was able to gather information much better than any mortal could.
"And what does she look like?"
The head warrior continued faking ignorance. So we're playing this game, huh…
"Mi-Dved, would you like the honor?"
The earth bender began to describe in detail how his sister looks like. When Mi-Dved got to the part where he said that his sister was "moderately developed for her age" even he noticed the grumbling and downcast glances if the younger Kyoshi warriors. He could swear that he saw a red taint behind their makeup.
They were probably a bit shy about his friend's indecent words, he'll have to talk about it with Mi-Dved later.
He then heard the auburn-haired girl mumble "moderately, yeah right…" under her breath. He decided to ignore it, as well as excepting that he will never understand women.
"I see, we'll look around for someone that matches your description. If you could go with us to a safer place, we would gladly appreciate it."
Zuko looked behind the woman at the three warriors preparing a sack each, their purpose was clear.
"Play with them for now, they are only paranoid. Not for a bad reason as well."
"Ha… very well, I only ask for us to be treated with dignity. Also, I'm afraid that I came here for another less happy reason. my bag there are some things for your eyes alone, I will explain everything once we are in a secured area."
"I see…"
The woman snapped her fingers, and another girl loaded his bag in her.
"Xing is also afraid from closed places, can you please not put him in a sack?"
The woman looked at the auburn-haired girl who was now hugging Xing with both her hands with a raised eyebrow.
"I promise to hold him tight
"I promise to hold him tight!"
The puppy barked happily in response, its tail shaking from side to side.
The leader begrudgingly sighed.
"Fine, but if it escapes you're on laundry duty for a month."
"Yes ma'am!"
"Woof!"
"As for you- "
The Kyoshi leader now faced the two males.
"Weapons on the ground! Helmet as well!"
"Good luck."
The two Immediately dropped their respective armament. Zuko made a show of hesitation for two seconds but put the dark helm down.
The gasps weren't late to come, and didn't disappoint as well. The leading warrior, for her credit, merely raised her eyebrows for a second before returning to her business mask.
He was quickly being put on a sack and his vision became black.
In the province of the Beifong territories, a group of, now homeless, people walked toward the fire nation occupied port. Those were a part of the people of the village that was destroyed by bandits a few days ago, one of them was the same woman that owned the inn.
She remembered the debate that the village people had. Should they try to rebuild the village or go elsewhere? Where could they go, to other villages? Or maybe take a risk and go south and accept the offer of the fire nation spies?
They had a very loud and spirited debate that nearly escalated to violence, but in the end they decided that each would go on his way. Families torn apart, tears flown like rain, but in the end the people were separated by the places they chose to go.
She, together with her husband, chose to go south. As inn owners, they had more knowledge about the state of the land then most, travelers were loose with their tongues before bed. The less said about the drunk, the better.
They noticed the degradation of the security in the region, after the attack on their village they were sure that the small villages were no longer safe. If they stayed in one of the neighbor villages they would be subjecting themselves and their children to the mercy of outlaws.
Another important factor was that with their inn gone, they had no way to earn money. They would have hard time finding a work of decent wage as refugees. The spies at least promised them to work in the same occupation they had before.
It was a hard decision, even as non benders the earth was an important part of them, but ultimately the future of their children decided for them. Whatever one can say about the fire nation, they had power and stability, enough to take on alone the rest the world. And if their children could integrate themselves… then why should they care about the color of the flag over their heads?
Finally, they arrived at the gate of the port. They had a welcoming party, five men in fire nation armor rode to them upon huge beasts. The lizard rhino hybrids must have been the infamous Komodo-rhinos that the fire nation military used as heavy cavalry. With the size and the horns… she had to admit that those creatures were more combat ready than the common ostrich-horse, especially if the rumors of their poisonous bite were true.
"Halt!"
The villagers immediately stopped at the commanding voice of the leading soldier.
"State your business!"
Her husband showed the soldiers the message from the spy and slowly walked towards the leader. She could see his legs shaking as he neared the horned salivating beast that looked at him in the eyes. Her husband, bless his soul, nearly fainted when the thing snorted.
Al last, he raised the piece of piper to the leading soldier, who took it and began to read.
"Private! Go back to base and seek the old dragon, tell him that the people he's expecting may have arrived."
"Yes sir!"
One of the last riders in the v formation broke off and went to the port.
"You will be staying in the shade until your identities will be verified, the man in charge will be here in ten to twenty minutes."
With little choice, they waited.
After some time, Suki and the girls went back to the village with their prisoners. They were a strange duo, to say the least, but far from the unpleasant raiders she had the misfortune to encounter (and the fortune to kick their butt). And the little puppy was just the cutest thing! ~
And the little puppy was just the cutest thing! ~
It really took all of her willpower to not cuddle the puppy then and there.
Back to track, the two prisoners were uncharacteristically quiet. She heard their story, and while suspicious (as any Kyoshi warrior should be in front of strangers), their story did align with what Jasmine told them.
Come to think of it, this Mi-Dved guy should have really clued them in. The guy was bigger, by both height and mass, then almost anyone she knew, and he looked to be only a few years older than her.
Jasmine wasn't kidding about his strength as well. While he may have acted a bit slow, to be fair she didn't think she would have been much better if she had such a close call with the Unagi, he was immensely strong.
Poor Jie drawn the short strew and had to be the one taking care of the weapon of the prisoners. She could barely level those things off the ground and more often than not, she just dragged them across the ground with clenched teeth. A part guilty of her found the entire thing a bit funny.
In the end, her superior decided that they should have shifts when it looked like Jie was about to pass out. Luckily for her, they couldn't let go of this cute, adorable little puppy, so she was saved from taking turns with the axes. To think he uses them as one handed…
Before long, they came to the village. Superior ordered them to tie the prisoners to the chairs it the storage, guard outside the door and be ready to be called back when needed.
And like any group of well-trained teenage girls, they immediately began complaining and gossiping.
"By Kyoshi, my hands are killing me!"
"I know, right! What do they feed them in the mainland?"
"I swear, I think I grew two fingers shorter…"
"Now, now, girls, it's unbecoming of a Kyoshi warrior to complain like that. It wasn't that hard."
Suki couldn't help but comment with a mischievous smile as she sat cross-legged with Xing between her legs.
"Oh shut up, you. You got the easy job, cuddling the fluffy pet of that freak."
Jie answered her back.
"Hey, it wasn't very nice Jie. It's not his fault that he has… complications…"
One of the other girls answered back.
"Yeah, don't be mean."
"I'm telling you girls, his evil is plain as the scar on his face!"
Suki was confused by the talk.
"Girls, what are you talking about? And Jie, what do you mean by scar? I didn't see anything."
The other girls looked at her strangely.
"Suki… there is a huge burn scar on the left side of his head… you can't miss it, believe me, I tried."
"What, really?! But I didn't see anything!"
"Wait, you were on his right side, so you didn't see it. Talk about lucky."
"Is it this bad?"
Suki wondered.
"Yes."
All the other girls said as one.
"I wonder how that happened, what do you think, girls?"
"Fire bender?"
"Obviously, maybe domestic abuse?"
"No, no, no, he acted like someone who saw combat, and a powerful fire bend if how he escaped from the Unagi is any indication. I say it's a battle scar!"
"He said his name is Zuko, do you think he's the prince? I heard he had a scar on his face."
"No way, as if a prince, banished or not, would come here. It's a natural island."
"Exactly! Maybe he's planning to conquer it for his father!"
"Girls, girls, let's calm down. I don't think he's anything that special. I say we let sister superior to take care of it."
Suki tried to calm the girls down.
"I'm sure she would tell us everything once she's finished."
"Boo, your no fan suki!"
"Yeah, gossip is half of the fun!"
"Bark!"
The young women looked down on the little animal. Xing was now with his belly up begging for attention.
"What is it, anyway? Never saw something like that."
"Who cares! It's adorable!"
With that, the girls began to give the cub the attention it deserves. The more they petted, the cuter its actions were.
Suddenly, it stood up and looked at a point on the trees.
The warriors immediately went to battle position, they trusted the animal instincts enough to treat it as a warning system.
From the trees appeared an elderly man, and the Kyoshi warriors dropped their guard.
"Oygi! How are you?"
"As good as always, Suki. Are the prisoners secured inside?"
"Yes, sir. Here, let me get you in."
Suki opened the door for the elderly man.
"Thank you."
Oygi said as he entered and closed the door behind him.
Zuko heard the door opened and he could hear a new pair of steps.
"Mister mayor, welcome."
Zuko heard the woman say.
"Ah, Lyn! So those are the spies you caught?"
He could actually sense the woman, Lyn, put her hand on her face in frustration.
"No names, we talked about this… Anyway, yes, those are the outsiders we apprehended today. Peacefully, may I add."
"Bah! Obviously, a disguise. Kyoshi island stayed put of this war so far, and it wouldn't be dragged into in now! So tell us who sent you before we throw you both back to the Unagi!"
"Oygi, that's enough! They surrendered willingly! They are looking for this one's sister. They claim that her name is Jasmine."
"Really? Is she a part of the spy network as well?"
Zuko decided that enough was enough.
"Excuse me, can Mi-Dved just tell his part of the story? It will make things easier."
"Fine, let's hear what he has to say. If he lies, then we throw them to the Unagi."
Lyn pulled the bags off their heads gently.
"Please ignore him, you can continue."
And Mi-Dved told them his and Jasmine's story. About Amora and how they escaped, about the storm that separated them, about how he was found and enslaved by pirates. He continued to tell them about how he met Zuko and their adventures together.
At Zuko's insistence from before the mission, Mi-Dved painted Zuko as a specialist soldier instead of a prince. They didn't need the political mess that his presence may cause, Zuko was also sure that if they knew who he was, then they would throw him to the Unagi without a second thought.
After Mi-Dved finished his story about the swamp and the vision, as well as adding Xing's excellent smell, the two islanders looked at each other for a minute until they both sighed.
"Girls! Bring Jasmine here please!"
Zuko heard "Yes ma'am!" from outside the door.
After a few minutes the door opened to reveal a very pretty young woman proximally his age. Mi-Dved didn't lie when he said that his sister attractive, but he may have glossed over some… things in her description.
Luckily, Zuko was spared from the embarrassment of being caught looking when the siblings cried each other's name and Jasmine ran toward her sibling.
Zuko couldn't help but smile at the scene.
In a relatively big room, a man was writing on a strip of skin that was warped around a pole. When he finished, he opened the cage next to him and gave the tied strip to the monkey-parrot inside. The animal then flew wordlessly to its target to give the warning that two strangers had been sighted and apprehended by the warriors. Farther updates will be given.
AN
And this is the end of chapter 11
Zuko's reputation grows once more and it wouldn't have any consequences! No sir, none at all!
A little more lore about the overlords and their misadventures, As well as the origin of hellhounds in the Avatar world. And as Zuko grow as an overlord the rifts of reality may or may not grow thinner again...
Zuko now has another reason to go to Kyoshi island besides finding Jasmine and he will find himself in no lack of excitement. Iroh once again is pushed aside, how long until the bound is broken? Can the two still mend?
I Hope you like, or at list approve, the name I chose for the puppy. I had to think and search very hard for it, but in the end I'm glad at the result. Xing is a short for survivor in mandarin, as well as luck (according to google translate), which I think is a good connection to Zuko's "lucky to be born".
For all who interested, yes, indeed Cerberus is translated to spots in Greek mythology.
Mi-Dved is forever scared by boat travel... I'm going to have fun with it...
By the way, can someone tell me the cannon size of the Unagi? I tried searching, but didn't really find something.
And I hope you liked the interaction with the Kyoshi warriors. one thing that I didn't understand is why aren't there Kyoshi warriors older than Suki? Is it that they retire after getting married or something? it still doesn't make sense. now I understand that it was needed cannon wise, but I will give in the story some (if dark) explanation about it. Feel free to write in the reviews what you think.
Xing is the loveable and lucky son of a literal she-dog that gets all the ladies without even trying.
I hope you liked the reunion of the Amora siblings, we of course will have them farther interacting in the next character. All in all, I plan for the kyoshi arc to be full of drama.
Now for the reviews:
deniswanheda:
Thank you! it was hard to write Zuko's vision (like, very hard). I'm glad you noticed that detail about Toph, she's still a rebel and a fighter no matter what the situation is. I took your suggestion into consideration, I had in mind a different name entirely for the hound, but it's a part because of you that I changed the name to what it is. Hope you aren't to disappointed.
Sewrtyuiop:
Thank you! it's always good to see a new name!
Don't worry, there is no connection to the game, so no familarity is needed.
You actually gave me an idea with this...
and we'll have to wait and see, I guess.
Anyway, be sure to write what you think about the chapter and the story. Don't be afraid to share what you think could and should happen.