Zuko made his way over to the guardrail, legs shaking under him, with the vague idea that he was going over to survey the damage. He could feel the skin of his scar, trying to stretch wide around his eye. It seamed like the only thing he could feel, like the rest of him, body and mind, had gone numb. He couldn't feel the ship deck under his feet, or the bruises forming on his arms and chest.
"Lower the gangplank," Lieutenant Jee commanded behind him. "Whoever bent that windstorm must be close by. "Get the rhinos."
As they darted off to gather armor and lower the gangplank, the crew cast anxious glances at the prince, wondering why he wasn't the one barking orders, why he was just standing there.
Two forms were moving closer to them across the pitted, hilly ice.
Zuko released a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding. "Soldiers!" he shouted, pointing. "There.
Zuko's heart thundered in his chest. As the crew wrestled with the gangplank, bent and twisted by the impact, he grabbed the guardrail and launched himself over.
"Prince Zuko!" His uncle was leaning over the side of the ship as fast as his legs could carry him there. "What are you doing?"
Zuko pulled off his gloves and clung to the side of the ship like a monkey-spider, nails clutching at the rivets. Scampering down to the ice, he didn't answer.
From below, he could see the wide, jagged gash the impact had made in the ship's hull. Zuko ripped his eyes away from it and put his gloves back on, slinking through the ice dunes. As he drew closer to the people he had seen from the ship and his uncle's voice faded into the distance, he could hear the voices of the two bouncing amongst the ice. He followed them.
"I managed to get us to shore didn't I?" a girl's voice justified irritably.
Zuko hid behind the ice slope, keeping his breathing low. His dream the night before must have been prophetic; it must have foretold this meeting, with this, the new young Water Tribe Avatar.
"Well, it's good to know your freaky magic water got us out of this mess," the other voice shot back. "After it got us into it in the first place!"
Their footsteps crunched on the snow as they climbed the ice hill, over Zuko's head. "You're the one who doesn't know your right from your..." the girl's voice trailed off as she caught sight of the ship.
Without thinking, Zuko lunged up at her, knocking her flat on her back.
"Get off my sister!" the other voice, the boy's voice yelled. He had a boomerang in one hand, which he brandished menacingly at the Fire Prince, the sharp edge glinting in the summer sun.
Squirming, the girl got her foot between herself and Zuko, and kicked him off her. "Fire Nation," she hissed.
Meeting Sokka and Katara, Part 2/3
"Lower the gangplank," Lieutenant Jee commanded behind him. "Whoever bent that windstorm must be close by. "Get the rhinos."
As they darted off to gather armor and lower the gangplank, the crew cast anxious glances at the prince, wondering why he wasn't the one barking orders, why he was just standing there.
Two forms were moving closer to them across the pitted, hilly ice.
Zuko released a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding. "Soldiers!" he shouted, pointing. "There.
Zuko's heart thundered in his chest. As the crew wrestled with the gangplank, bent and twisted by the impact, he grabbed the guardrail and launched himself over.
"Prince Zuko!" His uncle was leaning over the side of the ship as fast as his legs could carry him there. "What are you doing?"
Zuko pulled off his gloves and clung to the side of the ship like a monkey-spider, nails clutching at the rivets. Scampering down to the ice, he didn't answer.
From below, he could see the wide, jagged gash the impact had made in the ship's hull. Zuko ripped his eyes away from it and put his gloves back on, slinking through the ice dunes. As he drew closer to the people he had seen from the ship and his uncle's voice faded into the distance, he could hear the voices of the two bouncing amongst the ice. He followed them.
"I managed to get us to shore didn't I?" a girl's voice justified irritably.
Zuko hid behind the ice slope, keeping his breathing low. His dream the night before must have been prophetic; it must have foretold this meeting, with this, the new young Water Tribe Avatar.
"Well, it's good to know your freaky magic water got us out of this mess," the other voice shot back. "After it got us into it in the first place!"
Their footsteps crunched on the snow as they climbed the ice hill, over Zuko's head. "You're the one who doesn't know your right from your..." the girl's voice trailed off as she caught sight of the ship.
Without thinking, Zuko lunged up at her, knocking her flat on her back.
"Get off my sister!" the other voice, the boy's voice yelled. He had a boomerang in one hand, which he brandished menacingly at the Fire Prince, the sharp edge glinting in the summer sun.
Squirming, the girl got her foot between herself and Zuko, and kicked him off her. "Fire Nation," she hissed.