Chapter 2 - The Prince
He was lost. Simple as that. It had been a week since he parted ways with his Uncle. A week since he decided he was going to make his own way. A week since he had a proper meal. His stomach rumbled loudly as he held his hand against his concave belly. Even though spring had recently arrived, wild game was still scarce. Not that it really mattered. He had never been a remarkable hunter.
The firebender lowered his head. Some great survivor he was. Not only could the Avatar elude him constantly, but so did easy prey along the countryside. He had seen numerous others around their campfires enjoying rabbit or deer meat. His stomach rumbled at the thought.
Life was never easy for Zuko. First, it had been the political backstabbing in the Fire Nation courts, followed by the tireless quest to pursue the Avatar to regain his honor, and now it was the never ending hunger. Every day was a struggle to survive. He had no doubts in his ability to handle the assassins, the hunters, and the thugs that his Sister undoubtedly had sent after him by now, but the hunger, that was not an enemy he could stave off as readily.
Zuko's thoughts darkened. His Sister was twisted and sadistic. It had been so easy for her to lead him along, luring him onto her ship with false promises of returning home. He had nearly fallen for the bait, blinded to traps within. If not for the careless words of a simpleminded sailor and the quick actions of his Uncle, then he would most likely be buried deep within the Fire Palace dungeons right now, discarded and forgotten.
'No. Never again.' The Fire Prince swore to himself right there and then. He was never going to listen to his Sister in the future. He would not fall for her manipulations again.
"Azula always lies," he muttered to himself in a contemplative daze as his ostrich horse continued its steady pace on the well-traveled dirt trail before him. The last image he had of his Sister as he and his Uncle fled for their lives was that of her smug, confident smirk lording over him from the railing of her ship. With a slight growl, as he brushed that recollection aside, Zuko found his thoughts drifting towards the only other living family member who actually cared for him. The tranquil old man who always had a kind word and a warm cup of tea ready for him when he was feeling at his lowest.
Maybe he should not have left his Uncle so hastily. Zuko shook his head abruptly, pushing away that errant thought. He scowled. He was alone. That was his own decision. He needed to find his own way forward. There was no room to start second guessing himself now. He needed to figure things out on his own. See the world with his own eyes. Reclaim his honor.
His stolen mount snorted slightly and the reins in his hands felt heavier than before. Right, his honor. Currently, he had all the honor of a common thief. Here he was, the Fire Prince who stole a work animal from a small Earth Kingdom farm family. And why? Oh yes, all because he was tired of walking. 'They should be thankful that they were able to help me! I'm royalty! I'll make better use of this ostrich horse,' he shouted inwardly as he attempted to justify his actions to himself.
Zuko rode along in silence for a couple more minutes. The horse's hooves trotted heavily on the uneven dirt road. With every bulky step, he gripped the reins tighter and tighter. He could feel his Uncle's disapproving frown burning a hole into the back of his head. Even Zuko could see through his own weak lie. Spirits, he was pathetic. The pompous, self-absorbed royal who imposed a harsher livelihood on hard-working peasants. Zuko mentally added one more promise to his ever-growing list: to track down that family one day and pay back his debt tenfold.
That girl, he struggled to recall her name. 'Song,' bubbled up to the front of his mind eventually. Her eyes had been so sad despite the smile she had feigned while hosting him and his Uncle. They had shared what little they had and he repaid that kindness with thievery. Zuko could still hear her voice haunting his mind as the ostrich horse lumbered forward, "I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope, the Avatar has returned."
The firebender's eyes narrowed as he recalled the memory, staring blankly down the dusty path before him. "I know. I know better than anyone," he muttered lowly to himself. This Song girl had mentioned the Avatar's return and how that news had reignited hope within their small community. She had tried to spread that same hope to him, but she had no way of knowing that the Avatar did not signal the same type of hope to the Fire Prince as it did to the rest of the Earth Kingdom.
Zuko's stomach protested its emptiness once again and he sighed dejectedly. His bleak thoughts could wait. Food was his more immediate concern. The road ahead forked at the top of the hill. Pausing, Zuko looked over at the port town sprawling a short stretch down the left path. Even from this distance he could spy the Fire Nation banners hanging from the outer walls. A town meant people and people meant food stalls, but they also meant danger. Any one of them could turn him in to the Fire Nation soldiers patrolling the streets of that occupied port town for a quick reward.
He reached up with his left hand absentmindedly as he touched his scar. His face was too recognizable, too distinguishable not to be noticed by people from the Fire Nation. Or at least he figured that could be the case. Regardless, he couldn't take that chance. Even with his impromptu haircut and loss of his topknot, his face would most likely be posted on every wanted board from here to Ba Sing Se. His Sister may be cruel, but she was also ruthlessly efficient.
Twisting the reins, he steered his ostrich horse off the beaten path and dismounted. Rooting through his saddlebags, he pulled out a roll of bandages and a clean rag. Folding the rag, he used the bandage spool to secure the rag over his left eye and scar, and then wrapped the bandages across his forehead and over the left side of his face. Pulling the Earth Kingdom dagger he kept tucked away in his boot, he grimaced as he cut his right forearm slightly to draw a small amount of blood.
Quickly, Zuko smeared the blood over the outer layer of his bandages, close to where his eye should be. Satisfied, he quickly applied pressure to the small cut on his right arm and wrapped some bandages there as well. Rubbing his hands in the dirt, he added to his disguise as he dusted up the bandages to pretend the dressings had been wrapped around his head for a while now. Rinsing his hands with some water from his waterskin, he quickly secured everything back in his saddlebags and mounted his ostrich horse, turning the beast back towards the port town. He could see a ship pulling into the harbor as he drew closer.
Now, he was just another wounded soldier wandering about that people would barely pay a second glance too. As he approached the outskirts, he noticed a sign declaring the town's name to be Gangkou. The port itself was loud and packed with activity: vendors hawking their wares, wagon carts shuffling along the narrow roads, sailors calling out to dock workers as products were moved onto the seaport or crates were loaded onto ships.
Zuko could hear the armored march of firebenders and foot soldiers as they moved along the crowd in patrols of two or four, Earth Kingdom civilians giving them as wide a berth as they could. He averted his face the best he could whenever a patrol would walk by him, and fortunately, no one had the interest to so much as even look in his general direction.
Be that good fortune or coincidence, Zuko was not going to take any chances. He knew luck was never on his side. The longer he lingered, the greater his certainty that this whole food expedition was going to end in disaster. He needed to find some rations for himself quickly, some more that could last awhile in his saddlebags, and perhaps something for the ostrich horse. Though, the horse could always eat off the land if it came to that. At least he figured that's what the animal could do. He had seen the horse nibbling at the tall grass here and there.
He was nearing the heart of the docks now and he dismounted to lead his ostrich horse around easier. Suddenly, he felt a strong arm on his shoulder and he turned to face its owner. He hid a curse under his breath as he observed the pair of firebenders holding him back.
"Those wounds look fresh, friend. Run into a bit of trouble on the road?" asked the more assertive firebender as he withdrew his hand.
"Some highway men tried to take my ostrich horse. I protested," answered Zuko tensely. He was silently cursing himself for leaving his Dao broadswords secured on the horse instead of on his belt loop. It would take additional time to get to his swords now. This is what he got for wanting to diminish the chance of looking like a threat in town as best as he could.
"Interesting," commented the first firebender. "That didn't seem to work out too well for your eye."
"At least I kept the horse," returned Zuko flatly. The second firebender chuckled in response.
"I'd imagine the animal is more important on the open road. And you always have the spare eye," mused the initial firebender. "Still, if there are dangerous criminals lurking this close to town, then perhaps you could come on down to the station and give a full report."
Zuko stiffened. This was exactly the kind of scrutiny he had been trying to avoid. He could not tell if this firebender was suspecting him for something or merely performing his security job dutifully. Before the Fire Prince could give an answer, the screech of two wooden carts crashing into each other echoed throughout the street followed by a very loud, very high pitched scream of "My cabbages!"
Zuko and the Fire Nation patrol then heard a string of very angry and colorful insults traded between two irate looking merchants as both spread increasing levels of discord across the congested street. A crowd rapidly drew to watch the spectacle.
"Just what I didn't need today," grumbled the firebender in front of Zuko as he moved to restore order to the area, his partner rushing to assist and additional Fire Nation troops positioning themselves to disperse the crowd.
Zuko quickly pulled his ostrich horse closer to the docks and away from the commotion. So he had not been recognized and the soldier was merely doing his duty. Hopefully, the accident would keep the patrols busy for a while, or at least long enough for him to gather his rations and skip town.
Turning, he almost walked into a burly Earth Kingdom man dressed in nothing but a loincloth. "Watch were you're going!" he growled in frustration. The Earth Kingdom man merely looked at him with blank eyes and then back at the ground.
Just before he could fume at being ignored, Zuko realized that there were several Earth Kingdom men and women standing on the pier, each secured together with rope and dressed in rags. 'Slave market,' he realized inwardly with disgust. Even unspoken, the words left a bitter taste in his mouth. This was an obscene practice that the Fire Lord knew was going on and chose to conveniently ignore so long as the operation remained quiet enough and far from the Fire Nation homeland. All because of the large amount of profits that could be gained for the war effort.
Zuko was about to keep moving when he saw a teenaged girl meekly standing in-between two much older Earth Kingdom women. She was tan-skinned compared to the others in the line-up and easily half the age of any of them. Zuko scanned the crowd of slaves again. There were no other children or teenagers, just her. He scowled as there was a nagging feeling rising in the back of his mind that she was familiar somehow.
Another roar of amusement broke out behind him as he looked back just in time to witness one of the merchants, a cabbage merchant if the positioning of all the spilled produce littered on the ground was any indication, throw a wild haymaker into the face of another merchant who was probably the cause of the cart crash in the first place. Excellent, that would definitely occupy the town guards' time even further.
Looking back at teenaged girl in the slave line-up, he frowned. She was clearly malnourished and sicky looking. From the way her legs shivered unprovoked, he most certainly did not believe that she could stand on her own two feet under her own power much longer. The smallest breeze could probably push her over and that would be that. Somewhere a memory stirred, unbeckoned.
The Fire Prince had seen her before, twice in fact, if his recollection could be trusted. Once in the South Pole and then again at Kyoshi Village. After that, she was simply gone. He had not seen her again until today. Not that he cared. She was not his target. Just a traveling companion to the Avatar. No one of any real importance. He had always just assumed that the girl had returned home to the South Pole when she had grown to realize that traveling with the Avatar was dangerous.
The firebender shook his head slightly. No, that wasn't right. That non-bending Water Tribe boy and the Avatar had both demanded repeatedly for him to tell them where she was during his numerous encounters with them. Why would they do that if she had returned home?
Before Zuko could stop himself, he found himself standing directly in front of her. The words flowed from him freely. "Why are you here?!" he demanded with exasperation evident in his voice. He needed an answer. He needed to know why his fights with the Avatar and that non-bending boy had grown increasing violent, increasing brutal. At some point, it felt like the Water Tribesman and the airbender were hunting him instead of the other way around. Something had changed and they fought with a vigor, an aggression he had not thought them capable of.
Strong golden eyes glared into frail light blue and for one fleeting moment, Zuko thought he saw a hint of recognition in the eyes of the water peasant. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the flicker of life faded away and the girl stared back at her feet. He growled, but was interrupted before he could demand another response.
"Something catch your attention, sir?" came the mousy voice of a slave trader. He was even rubbing his grubby little hands together in anticipation of an impending sale. Zuko's frown deepened. "I see you have an eye for quality. A fresh winter rose straight from the frigid tundra of the Northern Water Tribe. She'll serve you-"
"Southern Water Tribe," corrected Zuko without thinking. Immediately, he inwardly cursed his mouth for being faster than his brain.
The slaver blinked for a moment as his sales pitch was interrupted. A wide, knowing smirk spread across his facial features. "Heh, you could even believe that she's the last southern waterbender, if that's your fantasy, friend. I don't judge." He winked lecherously.
Zuko felt his skin crawl at the filth standing in front of him. It was taking the better portion of his will power to stop himself from incinerating the man right there and then and being done with it. He looked her over again. She was smaller than he remembered, thinner too, far thinner. Her hair had been shaved off sometime ago, likely to either prevent or treat flea-lice. Right now, her hair just barely reached pass her ears. Her eyes were sunken and dark. She had been a captive for quite a while. He cursed silently again and turned away from the slave line.
He did not need this. He did not need the reminders. His heart tightened in his chest. He could hear the soft voice of his Uncle in the deepest reaches of his mind. "Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights." He grit his teeth in frustration. Leave it to his conscience to sound like his Uncle, complete with irritating proverbs about tea. Miles away from his Uncle and the Fire Prince still could not escape the ceaseless proverbs he had listened to all his life.
His inner Iroh echoed once more. This time a little more gleefully. "The only thing better than finding something you're looking for, is finding something you weren't looking for... and at a great bargain!" He mentally blinked. His Uncle had been shopping for a Pai Sho tile of all things when he had said that, but somehow this proverb applied itself to his current predicament frighteningly well. A little too frightening well for Zuko's comfort, if he was being honest. The Fire Prince shuddered, slightly unnerved.
When he did not budge however, the inner voice grew louder. "Sometimes, the best way to solve your own problems, is to help someone else." Zuko shut his eyes in a hollow attempt to ignore his own thoughts.
Unfortunately for him, this merely allowed him to easily envision the image of his Uncle rolling up his sleeves with a determined look on the man's face and speaking plainly with a disappointed tone. "Prince Zuko, surely you of all people are not about to condemn a young woman to a destiny as dismal as this?"
The scales had tipped. Zuko could picture his Uncle smile in triumph. Sternly, he spun around and demanded firmly, "How much?"
The slave trader grinned at the start of a sale. "Five thousand."
Zuko scoffed. "Now I know you're trying to cheat me. I could buy a second ostrich horse for that sum and still have enough left over for a hearty meal at the tavern." He frowned as he lifted up the girl's chin with his hand and got a good look at her face. "She has a black eye, and it looks untreated. One thousand."
Now it was the slave trader's turn to look offended as he decidedly ignored the comment about the girl's very noticeable injury. "But what use is a second horse when you could have a sweet young thing to warm your bed on these cool spring nights?"
Zuko snarled with his usual contempt. "Keep insinuating about how I should use her and I'll break your jaw."
The slaver waved him off, unconvinced. "Alright tough guy. But you try something like that here and you'll have more Fire Nation soldiers after you than you might like." He thought for a moment. "Tell you what, four thousand and I'll even throw in a second set of clothes for the... lady."
Zuko glanced at the Water Tribe girl briefly. Her current set of clothes were easily threadbare and loosely hanging onto her small frame. She shook slightly as a chilly sea breeze swept across the pier. "If you think I need to double up on an additional set of throw-away rags, then you really are dense." He pretended to give the girl a slow evaluating stare. "Two thousand. Keep your charity. I'll find her something better to wear in town."
The slaver shrugged. "Suit yourself. Seems you don't realize women's clothing can be a tad pricey. Especially for clothes that will probably just end up on the floor anyway." Zuko glared at him intensely, but the man just smirked back at him. "Fine. I'll go as low as thirty five hundred. Final offer. Gotta make sure we cover the travel costs of getting her here after all."
Zuko cursed silently to himself. He knew the slave trader was likely overpricing the trade still, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Not if he didn't want to cause a scene anyhow. And it wasn't like he could just wait around to steal the girl away later. No guarantee that someone less noble than him wouldn't buy her in the meantime, and besides, there was no way he wanted to remain in this town any longer than absolutely necessary.
Either way, he didn't have enough money to cover that price. Thinking for a moment, the Fire Prince walked back over to his ostrich horse and pulled loose a steel spear he had secured across the saddle. He had not been lying to the Fire Nation patrol earlier when he said that he had come across highwaymen. However, the actual truth of the matter was that he had not been injured. Instead, defeated the bandits and took their valuables instead of the other way around. Returning to the slave dealer, he shoved the weapon's shaft into the man's hands. "High quality steel for a man of the sea and twenty-nine hundred."
The slaver gave a couple of experimental stabs across the open pier. "Good balance. Hmm... You drive a tough bargain kid, but I like you. So, deal." He held his free hand out expectantly for the money that was quickly stashed into his loose pant pockets the second Zuko handed the bills over.
A swing of a knife and the young girl was cut from the rope and the lead was shoved into Zuko's hands. The exiled Fire Prince was now the proud owner of a Southern Water Tribe peasant. Zuko could almost hear the jeering taunts of his Sister and the condescending sneer of his Father. His fist tightened around the rope as he led her away. The slave dealer could not resist getting in one final barb. "Congratulations on your purchase, sir! It truly was a pleasure doing business with you. Tell your friends! And do enjoy yourself."
Zuko fumed silently as he walked back to the ostrich horse. He just had to buy the Water Tribe girl. He just had to increase his troubles. Another difficulty to add to his never-ending suffering. He had yet to come across another who had to face similar trials that simply seemed to be an everyday occurrence to him. Life could never be fair to him.
Stewing in his gloomy thoughts, he almost didn't hear her as they approached the ostrich horse. "Zuko..."
He spun on his heels instantly and towered over her. "Don't call me that!" he half-shouted, half-ordered.
She recoiled low as if he had hit her. Her arms raised meekly in defense as if she expected to be struck as she averted her glaze. Zuko took a step back himself in shock at her reaction. He had not meant to frighten her so much, only to stop her from revealing his true name on a public street. A very public street, full of people that seemed to be slowly growing interested in the scene of a cowering girl in front of a surly bandaged punk.
Zuko took a calming breath. Seeing the Water Tribe girl react so fearfully, it startled him. He had seen servants and attendants react to his Sister that way and for her to revel in that kind of power. However, to him, it just felt wrong. He did not want to inspire fear. He wanted to be respected, not feared.
He offered her his hand to lift her back up. "My name is Lee. Address me correctly next time," the Fire Prince stated curtly. The Water Tribe girl blinked as she stared at his outstretched hand apprehensively, uncertain of what to do. Slowly, she took his hand in hers. He lifted her back to her feet. "What is your name, girl?"
Faintly, she answered, "...Katara."
He lifted her onto the ostrich horse. Zuko frowned unhappily at just how light she was. He knew that healthy people were not that light. He took the reins of the horse as he walked alongside the animal and led the group down the road. Katara had wrapped her arms around the neck of the ostrich horse, unsure of how to ride the creature and keep from falling off otherwise.
Zuko heard a meek, "Where are you taking me?" from the girl on top of the horse. The firebender did not answer.
A couple of minutes later, he found what he was looking for, a small, out-of-the-way clinic tucked into the corner of the port town. Securing his mount to a nearby post and helping the water peasant down, he held her in his arms and carried her inside.
A bored looking middle-aged female Earth Kingdom nurse was sitting at the reception table, reading a book. "Injury or ailment?" she asked lazily without lifting her head as she heard the door open. Looking up, she frowned at the sight of Zuko. "When was the last time you bothered to change your bandages kid?"
"Not me," he grumbled sharply as he nodded to the girl in his arms. "Her."
"What does she need?" asked the nurse as she stood up.
"A check-up," he answered gruffly. At the nurse's curious look, he added, "New slave." The words left a strange, unnatural taste in his mouth.
"Oh, a responsible owner?" mused the nurse as she waved them over to the examination room. She blocked his path with her arm just before he entered the room. "Twenty for the check-up, upfront. We can discuss the additional fees based on any medicines she needs afterwards."
With a huff, Zuko gave her some of the last money notes he had and placed the Water Tribe girl into the examination chair. He stalked over to a random corner and crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall. The nurse raised an eyebrow, "You planning on a show kid?" At Zuko's uncomprehensive look, she added, "I'm going to have to remove her clothing to get a full grasp of her condition."
Zuko's eyebrows rose sharply as his arms fell to his sides and understanding dawned on him. That was not his intention in the slightest. He felt the color rise to his cheeks rapidly. "I'll be outside," he stated gruffly as he bolted back into the reception room without another word.
"Hmm, guess he didn't buy you to leer at you," muttered the nurse as she turned towards Katara. She frowned as she finally got a good look at the young Water Tribe girl and the very noticeable black eye on her face. "He didn't do this to you now, did he?"
Katara did not answer immediately. Everything was moving quickly for her ever since she had stepped off that slave barge. She had been paraded around on the wooden pier, sold, and whisked away. Her head was still spinning from being in the sunlight for the first time in months and the emptiness of her stomach was not helping matters either. She swayed slightly as she caught herself with the chair arm to remain upright.
Now that she was in a quieter building and away from the noise and intensity of the market street, everything seemed to move in slow motion and far away from her. Looking up, the nurse lady next to her seemed like she had asked her a question. Her eyes looked for Zuko and she started breath quicker in a panic when she realized he was not in the room anymore.
Her actions and non-answer seemed to be enough for the nurse. "I see. I'll alert the authorities discreetly," whispered the nurse as she gave a dark look towards the door that Zuko had made a quick exit from.
The haze in Katara's mind cleared for a moment as she looked towards the nurse. She seemed to get the impression that the Earth Kingdom lady was about to call for Fire Nation soldiers. "What?" she managed to get out. "Where's..." she struggled to recall the name he told her. "Where's... Lee?"
"Don't worry. He won't be able to hurt you anymore," assured the nurse as she lowered the back of the chair and helped Katara lay back on freshly transformed examination table.
Katara's mind slowly connected the dots as she tried to push herself back into a seated position. She needed to keep talking. It focused her mind. "No... Lee, Lee helped me. Got me away from the Fire Nation. I was a prisoner, a slave, there was a pier and a ship..."
"You still are a slave, honey," grumbled the nurse as she repositioned Katara to lay back down once more. "That boy bought you from the Fire Nation." She paused for a moment. "Though he did bring you here first it seems. You don't usually see that kind of concern from slave owners."
The nurse started to examine Katara in earnest. Each passing second only caused her frown to turn into a scowl and then into full blown rage. This Water Tribe girl in front of her was in far worse condition than she had initially thought. It had actually been a while since she had seen someone look this bad and never a girl so young.
"And the Fire Nation claims we're savages and primitive," hissed the nurse angrily as she removed Katara's minimal clothing and traced a fresh burn scar along her back. There were older burn scars as well. All this without mentioning the standard Fire Nation emblem branded into her left shoulder, the mark of a slave. And not only burn marks, there were bruises everywhere; some old and some new.
Checking the Water Tribe girl's eyes, the nurse raised two fingers in front of the girl's face and asked how many. The girl's slow and incorrect answer only continued to get frustrate the nurse even more. "You very likely have a concussion. Maybe multiple."
The nurse continued to fuss over the young patient. She remained compassionate when early attempts to provide sips of water resulted in a thrown up mess on the ground and continued to help the girl drink slowly. She checked for broken limbs and breathed easier when there were none nor were there any indications of bones incorrectly set. This continued for quite some time, but the nurse was in no hurry. The boy outside could wait for all she cared. The patient in front of her needed her full attention.