Percy Jackson and that kid in the iceberg

I agree that Zuko is a snotty little brat. It isn't hard. (Leo)

"Why aren't the repairs finished yet?"

Leo took a deep breath. Do not sass royalty, he reminded himself. It'll just get you in trouble. Stay out of trouble for once.

"The avatar did a lot of damage," he explained to a fuming Zuko. "They aren't finished yet because I can't finish them. Not until we land and get more supplies."

"We can't afford to land!" The prince shouted.

"Okay. Then we'll just continue to float around in pointless circles while the ship slowly sinks. That's fine with me."

Darn. He sassed royalty again.

Steam literally blew out of Zuko's nose. He was really quite funny when he was mad.

"How dare you speak to me like that, you filthy cabin boy? If I say we don't stop, we don't stop. Understand?"

"Completely."

He glared at Leo, who smiled back. He was trying for a submissive look, he really was.

"And stop smirking!" He shouted, finally turning away. Leo could hear him call to the helmsman. "We're stopping for repairs."

Leo let out a laugh he didn't know he was holding. Luckily, Zuko didn't seem to hear him.

"Come on, Tyson," he called. "We're heading to port."

—————

Leo and Tyson were buying supplies when they came nosing around. Three soldiers, all with nice, shiny uniforms and ugly swaggers that said they were serving someone important.

"I saw your ship," one of them said. "Quite a mess."

Zuko had told them all not to breathe a word about the Avatar, but he never offered another explanation for what had happened to their ship. Leo had to come up with the best lie he could.

"Oh yeah," he shook his head. "We're going to be working for days to get in straightened up."

"What happened?"

"Whalesnake crashed right into it."

"Really?" the man said with a nasty smirk. "What I heard from the prince was that you crashed into an earth kingdom ship."

Leo snorted. "I bet you did. Bit embarrassing for his royal highness to admit to driving straight into a Whalesnake's territory."

"Snotty little brat, isn't he?" the man sneered.

Leo couldn't disagree with that and nodded. "You have no idea. Imagine, I'm under him. I have to do everything he says."

The men laughed sympathetically.

"I don't know," one said, looking around. "I don't want it repeated, but Zhao's a massive pain in the neck."

Leo felt himself stiffen. So they were working for mister sideburns? Good thing he was wary to start with.

"I don't know Lee," the first man said. "I actually like Zhao."

"You would," Lee grumbled.

"That's a lot of damage for whalesnake to make," the first man pressed on.

Leo shrugged. At that moment, Tyson came up, carrying supplies.

"What's this?" The third man, a guy with a pointy beard, looked at Tyson with disgust.

Leo ignored him. "Got all of it, Tyson?"

"Yup?"

"Hey ugly," the first guy said. "Did the whalesnake damage your face as well as your ship, or were you born a freak?"

Leo gritted his teeth.

Tyson turned to the men in confusion. "I have never seen a whalesnake."

The men traded looks, and the jerky one sneered. "Is that so? What story were you selling us, greasy?"

"Come on Tyson," Leo said, turning to go.

"Hey, we're over you. Don't you know not to turn your back on your betters boy?"

"I'm sorry," Leo said. "I'm from the colonies. Our customers are a bit different. We fart in the direction of our betters."

Leo saw the slap coming and ducked. The first man barreled towards him, furious. Leo sidestepped again, and the man slipped. Tyson laughed as he fell hard.

"You little-" the man sputtered.

The other one came at him. Leo ducked one punch but got another in the stomach. Moaning, he doubled over and almost fell. Tyson let out a roar of outrage and scooped up the man that had hit Leo, throwing him practically across the street. The other guy, the original jerk, was up by now. He kicked Leo in the chest and he hit the ground. The guy laughed, kicking Leo in the ribs. Tyson rounded on him, punched him in the head, and the guy crumbled.

Moaning, Leo got up. He looked at the third soldier, Lee, who was watching everything.

"Entertained?" Leo grumbled.

"Hey, I'm not stupid enough to mess with someone bigger than me." Lee replied.

"Leo, Leo!"

Leo turned to see Ella running up toward them.

"Ella, what are you doing?"

"Ella come to help, yes. Ella want to help. Help capture the avatar, no. Help Leo and nice Tyson, yes."

Lee's eyes went wide. "The avatar huh?"

Leo winced. "It's okay, really Ella. You should be on the ship."

"Avatar," Ella murmured. "Avatar Roku of the fire nation. Gone, long gone. Avatar of air nomads-"

"Ella don't," Tyson said. "It's supposed to be a secret."

Lee let out a low whistle. "Avatar? Really? He actually found him? Oh, Zhao's going to have a fit."

"But you don't like Zhao's, right?" Leo said desperately. "He doesn't need to know."

"Sorry kid," Lee shrugged. "A job's a job."

Leo watched him leave with a sinking feeling in his stomach. If Zuko found out they would all be in trouble.

"Ella's sorry," Ella said softly.

"It's okay," Leo said. "Let's get fixing the ship."