I burn. I destroy. I tear asunder.

Eh. We have nothing to prove.

He zigzagged, evading a rapid-fire flurry of fire fists and kicks, showing off by just barely swaying out of the way, occasionally jumping over low strikes. After a solid half minute, he blocked a high roundhouse kick with his forearm, grabbed the foot, put his own foot against his opponent's chest, and tumbled backward, catapulting him across the deck.

The other passengers applauded, and Zuko afforded himself a little smile. On one level, he often felt like a rubbish fighter, having lost to his father, sister, uncle, the Avatar, and even Katara; so it was nice to be reminded that they were all masters and savants, and he could thrash rank and file opponents without any trouble. His opponent lay there stunned for a moment, then slowly got to his feet.

"Whoa," he said. He was a man of about twenty, a bit shorter but heavier-set than Zuko, all brawny muscle. "How'd you get so good?"

"Practice," Zuko said. "You kept over-committing. Keep your balance, and you can recover faster and be harder to dodge."

"Thanks, man," the guy said. "Are you sure you're okay?" he added, of Zuko's scar, which had got redder and angrier and had started throbbing on and off.

"It's nothing."

When you think about it, it's useful. Pain focuses us, makes us sharp. It reminds us who and what we really are.

The ship was pulling into harbour at a small town to refuel before continuing on to Caldera. They didn't have to go that far, and it would have been too risky: colonials might not think too hard about royalty, but the people of the capital city would, there was too much risk of someone recognising Zuko.

He turned and spotted Katara, who was talking to a sailor, or rather being talked at, judging by her body language. She caught Zuko's eye and mouthed Get over here now.

He had half a mind to pretend to have misread it as Bring me some apples and let her stew for a bit, but they were leaving presently anyway, so he approached. "Problem?" he asked.

The sailor was brawny and rather larger than Zuko, and not at all intimidated. "We were just talking," he said.

"Were you at 'goodbye'?"

"What if we weren't?" asked the sailor, and he took a step forward.

Zuko reached forward toward the sailor's throat; the sailor raised his own arm to block, and Zuko clasped hands. They both squeezed. In terms of raw muscle, the sailor was stronger, but Zuko was an almost-master firebender: he pushed a dash of chi into his tendons, and the sailor grunted. He was stubborn, though, so Zuko shifted his posture and forced him to his knees.

"Agh! Okay! I give!"

"I was looking for 'goodbye', and 'I'm sorry'," Zuko said, holding tight.

"I'm sorry! Goodbye!"

Zuko released him and walked off with Katara, down the boarding ramp.

"I can't believe I let myself get talked into going to visit a place with all the most obnoxious Fire Nationals when I wouldn't be able to smack them for talking to me like that," Katara said.

"What did he say?"

Katara just frowned.

"Whatever it was, he said it because he knows you're an easy mark. A skinny non-bender foreign girl who doesn't say no to anything? Why would you expect him to hold back?"

"Common decency?"

"Dominance games are part of Fire Nation culture. Get used to it. The next time someone talks like that to you, tell me, and I'll beat some manners into him. You're obviously under my protection, so when they disrespect you, they disrespect me."

"Aren't we trying not to attract attention?"

"If I don't answer, it makes me look weak, and that just invites more trouble."

"This is a terrible way of doing things."

"Do I come over and tell you your people's culture is stupid?"

"Frequently."

"So you'd think you'd know the pecking order by now."

Katara rolled her eyes.

Not counting the crewmen heading down the boarding ramp to get more coal, they were the only ones getting off the ship. As they walked along the pier into town, a frantic young woman accosted them. She moved at a waddle: she was at least six months pregnant.

"Excuse me," she said, making a beeline for Zuko. "Excuse me, sir! Do you know, is there a Fire Sage on that ship? Please tell me there is!"

"There isn't," he said bluntly.

Katara gave a little head shake: Sifu Charmbender strikes again.

"Uh," said the woman. "D-do you know if there will be one soon? We requested one, months ago, but still haven't got a response …"

"They're busy, divining for the war," Zuko said. He frowned. "Or, they were. The Avatar destroyed the Fire Temple. I don't know if any of them made it out."

"What?!" she asked, her face completely crumpling. "Are you sure?"

"No, I think they got out," Katara said, giving Zuko a Look. "After all, Zhao did, and they were with him. Why do you need a Fire Sage?"

"The spirits are angry. They've been taking people from the town. Um, my name's Pimchan. It's been going on for years – we asked for help, but no-one's come, and it's only got worse – my husband, he went out, it was a month ago, and –"

Katara was peering at Zuko very intently.

"I'm not a Sage," he said, "but I've been training to hunt down malevolent spirits for the past three years. Particularly persistent malevolent spirits." Katara rolled her eyes. "I'll handle it."

"Oh – th-thank you –"

He brushed this off. "Walk and talk. I need a map of the town, marked with times and places. What do you know about the disappearances?"

Pimchan swallowed, trying to maintain her composure. "They always come by night," she said. "We don't see them, but we know they're there. It's hard to keep track of who they take, this is a crossroads town, we don't know who comes and goes, there's travellers and rice paddies …"

"Kemurikage," Zuko said decisively. "That's fine. Get me that map, and I'll get him back. Nikat, find us an inn to stay at."

"You don't think I should come with you?" Katara asked, in a tone of I am absolutely coming with you.

please

Don't be feeble. This is a job for a Fire Prince. What are we if we can't sort it out on our own? We've got this.

"I can take care of it on my own," he said.

"Excuse us for one moment, please," Katara told Pimchan, beaming at her and dragging Zuko off to one side before lowering her voice. "Why are you being an ass about this?"

"You'll just get in the way."

She growled. "I was almost impressed that you wanted to help someone other than yourself for a change, so why do you have to go and ruin it being stupid? Two people are stronger than one! And if they're anything like Hei Bai, we're going to need it."

"I know what I'm doing," he said, not caring who or what Hei Bai was.

She rolled her eyes so hard he felt it as much as saw it. "You're the one who told me spirits are dangerous! That is an exact quote! And you trained to fight a human, and in case you forgot, you've never actually beaten him."

"Look," he said. "The kemurikage are Fire Nation spirits. They used to haunt the archipelago, until they were quelled by the first Fire Lord. The position isn't just martial and political, he's a spiritual leader too. So if they meet the descendant of that Fire Lord, they might back down at my command. If they meet a bender of their opposite element, they might go into a frenzy and attack."

"I can stay in the back while you're talking. I'm not letting you gamble your life on this being the first time ever that you haven't got into a fight. You need someone to watch your back. And to heal the head injury we both know you've got coming."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not weak," he said. "These are my people, this is my problem, and I will handle it."

"Yes, and I love what a contrast this is to you wanting to run away at Agna Qel'a, or the Northern Air Temple –"

"Those were different! Those were completely unnecessary fights for people who don't matter!"

"Everyone matters, Zuko!" she hissed. "I know you feel responsible for these ones in particular, and we'll help them! We will do it!"

"I don't need your help, peasant!"

She took a step back, actually hurt.

"… You know what?" she said. "Fine. Have fun."

He felt a thrill at getting through her defences. It lasted roughly zero seconds, then was replaced by a dull nothingness.

why are you doing this

Shut up.

she just wants to help

I said SHUT UP!

They walked back over to Pimchan.

"I'm going to go find somewhere to spend the night," Katara said, not looking at anyone. "I'll see you around."

"See you," Zuko said. She walked off.

"… Are you two …?" Pimchan asked.

"Are we what?" he asked dangerously.

"Um," Pimchan said. "Sorry, sir, it's none of my business."

"You're right, it's not."

She led him to a town square and into a medical clinic, where a heavyset old doctor was tying a splint around a worker's wrist. He looked up at Pimchan, then at Zuko, fixing on his scar. Zuko didn't blink, although it was throbbing again, almost like it had when he'd first got it.

"Give me a minute," grunted the doctor.

"Right. I'm sorry, sir," she said to Zuko, "– I didn't catch your name?"

"Lieutenant Lee."

The doctor's eyes flicked to him again.

Zuko looked around the office. Doctors tended to also be mayors or other respected members of the community. It helped that all the decent ones served in the war as officers, so they generally knew how to maintain order and discipline. There was a cork board with ads on one wall, notes about missing cats, people, and an upcoming festival. There were too many missing people.

"There," the doctor told his patient, who thanked him and left the clinic. "Hello, Pimchan. I'm Doctor Masaru." He bowed to Zuko.

"Lieutenant Lee," Zuko said, returning the bow.

"The Lieutenant says he can get Somchair back," said Pimchan. "He needs to know about the disappearances."

Masaru nodded slowly. "About time." He pulled out a stack of papers, including a map. "We don't know exactly when it started. People go missing in every village, and we have a lot of travellers and rice farm labourers that nobody counts properly. Here are confirmed dates and locations. We're probably missing some, and some of these are probably coincidence." He stuck tacks in the map, cross-referencing a spreadsheet. "While you're looking through those, let me take a look at that scar. Looks like an old burn, newly inflamed?"

"Just these past few days," Zuko said, scanning the spreadsheet.

"Any discharge? Tenderness? Do you have any allergies, or have you been splashed with chemicals?"

"No, yes, no, no. Have there been any confirmed sightings of the kemurikage?"

"Kemurikage," Masaru repeated. "Did Pimchan say that?"

"No, sir," Pimchan said.

"It fits," Zuko said.

"Those were said to target children," Masaru said.

"That was because of what Lord Toz did," Zuko argued. "If someone else angered them some other way, their pattern would change."

"Hmm," said Masaru, noncommittal. "Nothing confirmed. People have talked about shadows, odd-looking strangers or animals, that sort of thing; nothing that couldn't be a trick of the eyes. Let me." He reached forward and tapped Zuko's scar a few times. "Any pain?"

"Some," he said, not flinching. As long as it wasn't incapacitating, pain only made him stronger.

"No fluid build-up under the skin. It's not bacterial. Have you been under more stress lately? Your posture looks tense."

please help me

"It can't be that," Zuko said. "I'm less stressed than ever. I feel great." He checked the elevation markings. "This part is the hill outside, right?"

"Correct."

"These pins are clustered around the outskirts of town. If you keep track of everyone in the town, but there are farmers or travellers you don't know about outside, there would be more disappearances further out. The real centre would be here, around the hill."

"Makes sense," Masaru said.

"And even if I'm wrong, I'll have a good vantage to see where they actually are. I'm going to investigate."

"Alone?" Masaru asked.

We're strong. We don't need help.

Zuko frowned. "The best-case scenario is that I can talk them down. That'll be easier if I'm alone. And if it comes to a fight, I'm tougher than I look."

"Understood," Masaru said. "Scars sometimes get inflamed on their own. Come back tomorrow and I'll look again."


Masaru loaned Zuko a goat hound to ride up the hill, which was thickly wooded. The sun was dipping below the horizon by the time he reached the summit, painting the sky purple-red, leaving the moon to shine brightly. He tied up the goat hound to graze.

This is more like it. Just you, me, and the hunt. Sniff around, Prince.

He spiralled down the hill, picking his way around the trees and down the occasional patch of scree. He listened to the call of birds, let his mind wander, find patterns he couldn't describe with words, feel out what might have been the chi of the land.

This way.

It was subtle, a stretch of plant life just a bit too dead, but not because it had been trampled underfoot by animals. He followed it down, around, and to a sheer cliff in the mountain, with a heavy metal door.

This doesn't match kemurikage. Unless someone else made this, and that's what offended them? … Who cares. It offends me too.

He did a short run-up, chambered his chi and foot, and kicked the door off its hinges, revealing a dark tunnel. A rancid stink came out. At the same moment, his body clenched, like a seizure. His back arched.

no no what

BURN, you idiot!

He forced more chi through his body, dropped, and kicked wide angle fire behind him. The seizure ended with a hiss of steam: behind him, an old Water Tribe woman had blocked it with a blob of water.

He took a breath and walked toward her. "Nice trick," he said. His body sang with pain, hyperextension and something else.

Invigorating.

Voices called out from the tunnel. "Hello? Is someone there? Help us!"

He ignored them. Keep your head in the game. "Don't try it again."

She tilted her head. "I'm impressed," she said. "I've never had anyone fight against my bloodbending and win before."

Bloodbending. As in, blood inside my body?

how do we defend that

We don't. We DESTROY.

"You've never fought a Prince before," he said, and launched a flying fire kick at her.

She blocked, stepping backward and to the side, letting his momentum bleed away. She made a weird tugging motion, and he felt his body fold up against his will with a renewed wave of pain.

We TEAR ASUNDER.

He pushed through it, punching fire at her; she pulled him to one side, he fought it and over-corrected, and she pushed him wide the other way. He elbowed her, but his balance was off, and it just sent her stumbling back without damage.

Harder!

He kept attacking, and her weird hold caught at his leg, sending him sprawling. On the ground, his arm reached for his swords; he grabbed it with his other arm, but then that locked up too, the fingers bending backward. Everything was agony.

No! We CONSUME!

He opened his mouth and breathed fire at her: a tricky move that sometimes caught people off guard because of how rare it was. She'd obviously fought enough firebenders, though, and blocked it, stepping back and out of range. This time, his diaphragm locked up. His hand pulled his swords from their sheath; he fought back enough to make one fall out to the ground, but his fingers stayed wrapped around the other's hilt.

"A Prince is perfect," the old woman said. "I could tell you what your father's responsible for … but I don't think you deserve to know."

No! TAKE BURN it cant end like this

keep

FIGHTING

He pushed more chi into his arm, and the fingers came under his control for a moment, long enough to drop the second sword. Then he gave out and fell to the ground.

Pathetic. You came so far, and then you just give up. What was the point of any of this?

The old woman pulled a stream of water from the surrounding trees, then sharpened them into razored ice shards. They launched forward at Zuko –


"I'm afraid for Azula," his mother said. "Your father … I need you to protect her. From him."

"… Mom?" Zuko asked, barely awake.


– and splashed apart to cold water and rained on him. Katara had arrived.

"Hama, what are you doing?!" she said, moving forward and around to cover him. "I told you, he's a friend!"

"No, Katara," Hama said, "he's not."

She pulled more water up to throw at him; Katara pulled it away.

"His family has brought nothing but destruction to our people, our home! How can you not see that!"

"He can change! I can change him!"

"Not any more," Hama said, pulling at Zuko's body. He blacked out.

He came to moments later. Katara was kneeling, choking herself with one hand. The other scrabbled at it. Then her eyes widened; she mimicked Hama's clawed hand shape, and her grip was released.

"Ooh, well done," Hama said. "It's your blood too."

"Yeah," Katara said, her voice shaking. "It is." And she reached out to Hama.

Hama flinched and convulsed, then mirrored Katara's gesture, and her body relaxed. "A stalemate," she said. "I control my body better than you can, you control your body better than I can. But it doesn't matter, he's already dying. You know I'm right. He will only bring you pain and suffering! It's all he can do!"

"He is pretty good at that," Katara said, and she dashed at Hama.

Hama whipped water at her, but Katara didn't even bother counterattacking, she just pushed it away from her body, slid between the main thrusts, and kept running. When she closed, she seized Hama's wrist, tussled for a moment, then moved like Zuko had taught her months ago at the North Pole, and forced Hama to her knees. Then she kneed Hama in the face, putting her hips into it. She went down and out.

Katara turned back to Zuko, swaying. She was pale where she wasn't bruised. She came over and knelt over him.

"No," she breathed. She bent water to slice open his yoroi and throw it aside, then pulled more water out and held it over his chest, then stomach, thighs, and neck, unsure which she should prioritise. "Oh, that witch – come on, Zuko! You're supposed to be unstoppable!"

And yet here we are.

"Please! You can do this. Just give me a minute, that's all I need!"

A figure came barrelling out of the woods, hit Katara from the side, and sent her sprawling, winded. It was a young Fire Nation man. Katara pulled at her water; the man got her in a chokehold, twisted her around, and pushed her face into the dirt, and her water splashed to ground. She tugged at his arm, but he was much bigger and stronger than her and clearly knew how to grapple. He locked her arm behind her back.

"Doctor Masaru!" he shouted.

More men and women filtered out of the trees, including the doctor. He took the scene in at a glance and beelined for Zuko.

"Kesuma, Chitose, get the old woman," he ordered. "Arms behind her back, I don't care if she's unconscious. Everyone else, the cave." He examined Zuko, then rounded on Katara, all cold fury, a soldier. "What did you do to him. Kenji, let her breathe."

The boy holding her loosened his grip, and she sucked air. "Nothing! I was healing him! You have to let me finish!"

"He doesn't look healed to me," snapped Kenji.

"What happened to him," Masaru growled.

"It was her!" Katara said, trying to point to Hama, but the boy had her in a complete lock. "It – it's called bloodbending! I don't understand how it hurt him so much!"

Masaru blinked. "Bloodbending. That'd cause pressure fluctuations. Rises would cause purpura, drops haemolysis. Internal bleeding and haemolytic anaemia. I can't treat this. Kenji, let her go."

"Doctor?" Kenji said.

"Now!" Masaru snapped, and Kenji jumped away from Katara like he was burned. She scurried over to Zuko and resumed healing him. Masaru watched her closely.

Kenji came over and searched through Zuko's yoroi. His eyes widened, holding a passport open.

"Doctor Masaru," he said, "this is –"

"Urusai, baka!" Masaru barked, so harshly that even Katara jumped, and he snatched the passport and yoroi from Kenji's hands. "I know who he is, he's the nephew of an old war buddy. I wouldn't be here without him, and neither would Rei. If you shout his name out loud, it'll be the last stupid thing you ever do. Get back down to the town and tell them we need vehicles, everything they can get up here. If everyone inside is half as bad as him, they're going to need ambulances. Go!" Kenji scampered off.

"Ugghuh," Zuko said.

Katara gasped, then slapped him, hard. He barely felt it. "You idiot," she hissed, and she wiped at her eyes. "I told you you needed help. Why couldn't you listen?"

"Didn't … think …"

She got back to healing. "That is the last time you use that catchphrase. If you ever do anything like this again, I will – you are infuriating!"

"… How …"

"How'd we know how to find you?" Masaru asked. "We could see you bending from the town. You put on a show. I figured you needed backup, rounded up a posse. Looks like your partner got here first."

A young woman poked her head out of where the door had stood. "Doctor, we've found the missing people, but they're in a bad way. They're weak and sick, we need you!"

"On it," he said, standing. "I'm going to have to send a report to the capital in the morning. They'll want to congratulate Lieutenant Lee, but he looks like the modest type. Get him and the water girl on the first cart out of here, then take my fishing boat to wherever they need. No questions asked, and don't say a word of this to anyone." He pulled his hairpin out and gave it to her, letting his long hair fall down his shoulders.

"Ah – yessir," she bowed, accepting it.

"And, thank you," he added to Zuko. "We won't forget this." He turned and entered the tunnel.

10