(1) Augmentum | Zuko

Chapter Nine

Zuko taps the heel of his shoe against the leg of his chair in annoyance and maybe slight boredom. Sitting in a tent with his uncle isn't exactly what he thinks of being fun. Iroh is less bothered by the situation. He is rather happy to sit there and drink his tea. Zuko clenches his jaw and slumps back, folding his arms over his chest. The tent flaps open as Zhao walks in. Zuko sits up straight and schools his expression.

"My search party is ready," Zhao informs them. "Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go," Zhao tells Zuko who clenches his jaw before he looks at the commander.

"Why? Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you?" He asks with a small mocking smirk. Zhao laughs though.

"You? Stop me? Impossible" Zhao mocks a little.

"Don't underestimate me, Zhao" Zuko warns. "I will capture the Avatar and the girl before you" Iroh stands to stop Zuko from doing something he might just regret, plus Iroh happens to know exactly who that girl is.

"Prince Zuko, that's enough!"

"You can't compete with me," Zhao tells Zuko. "I have hundreds of warships under my command, and you... you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you"

"You're wrong. Once I deliver the Avatar to my father he will welcome me home with honour and restore my rightful place on the throne" Zuko points out.

"If your father really wanted you home, he'd have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar, but in his eyes, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation" Zhao pushes Zuko's buttons, and it is clear from the twitch in Zuko's jaw that it is getting to him.

"That's not true"

"You have the scar to prove it." With a cry of indignation, Zuko launches himself to his feet, bringing his face within inches of Zhao's, chest heaving.

"Maybe you'd like one to match!" He snaps.

"Is that a challenge?" Zhao asks him.

"An agni kai. At sunset" Zuko challenges him with no waver in his stance.

"Very well. It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle will do" Zhao turns and walks back out of the tent, leaving Zuko and Iroh where they stand.

"Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you duelled a master?" Iroh asks his nephew, Zuko clenches his hands at his side.

"I will never forget" He argues. Feeling his face under his scar twitch in recognition of the memory.

.......

The lemur that Aang has been chasing runs along the ground, bouncing from pillar to pillar. He drops down again and seems to relax, but Aang suddenly pounces him and misses. The lemur runs through a curtain made of decaying tent material or drapery.

"Hey! Come back!" Aang follows the lemur to the other side of the curtain. "Come on out, little lemur. That hungry guy won't bother you anymore." Aang approaches another drape, parts it, and walks through. He draws a sharp breath, startled at what he sees. Fire-Bender uniforms and skeletons covering the floor of a decaying building. "Fire-benders? They were here?" At the back of the grotto lies the skeletal remains of an air-bender monk, bathed in the sunlight coming from above, who had apparently fallen in combat fighting against great odds. Aang notices a medallion around the monk's neck. "Gyatso..." He falls to his knees, devastated. Behind him, Sokka pulls back the curtain.

"Hey Aang, you find my dinner yet?" He sees Aang, head in his hands, crying. "Aang, I wasn't really going to eat the lemur, okay?" He then sees the skeleton and does a double-take. "Oh, man... come on, Aang, everything will be all right. Let's get out of here" Sokka puts his hand on Aang's shoulder as the arrow on Aang's head begins to glow incandescent blue. His eyes are glowing brightly in an angry expression as he lifts his head. Sokka gasps as he looks on in alarm.

........

Walking together, following Aang and Sokka's path, Rana and Katara travel side by side. Rana suddenly stops, her eyes turning purple as she gets a psychic read from Aang. Katara notes her distraction and turns to walk back to her.

"What is it?" Katara asks. Rana looks up onto the next level where Aang and Sokka are.

"Aang" She whispers and then pounces upwards onto the next level with ease. Katara hurries up the stairs after her.

..........

A whirlwind begins to form around Aang, air swirling fast around the bones lying on the ground, his hands balled into fists and his eyes and arrow glowing, the wind picking up terrible speed around him.

"Aang! Come on, snap out of it!" Sokka pleads with him. A light blue sphere of energy surrounds Aang and begins to expand, knocking Sokka back out of the building. "Aaahhh!" The energy sphere expands to the point where it blows most of the building apart, sending smoke and debris high into the air. Sokka lands outside the building. Rana and Katara join Sokka behind some rubble, shielding their faces from the wind.

"What happened?"

"He found out fire-benders killed Gyatso" Sokka answers Katara.

"Oh no, it's his avatar spirit! He must have triggered it! I'm gonna try and calm him down"

"No" Rana stops her. "He could hurt you...Let me do it" She and Katara share a look before Katara nods. Sokka is hanging onto the rubble, trying not to get blown away.

"Well, do it before he blows us off the mountain!" He tells her. Rana lets out a breath and nods. She lowly approaches Aang, struggling against the wind, as Aang and his energy sphere slowly rise into the air.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle yells in alarm, poking his head around to watch Rana.