The Burning Truth-Peace

Part 21~Leaf

The king moved to sit at the table, looking over the large table of food.  He waved for the others to come over and sit down. Isu shrugged, hopping over to the table and sitting in front of her chosen plate. 

Katara took a seat beside Isu with Iroh on the other side of her. Hachi, Suko and Sokka took the opposite side of the table, each sharing a mixture of relief and confusion. 

"The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts," the king announced, grabbing a chicken leg from his plate, "so I hope you like your chicken with no skin."

Isu shook her head politely. "Thanks but I don't eat meat."

The king blinked before shrugging and turning to Hachi. "How about you, do you like meat?"

Hachi gulped, backing away from the crazy king. "No. Not particularly."

The king seemed shocked, looking at the group as if asking if they were all like this. Sokka grinned, grabbing his food. "I like it!"

Katara glanced at Isu, whispering under her breath. "Is it just me, or is this guy's crown a little crooked?" 

Isu snickered but the king paid no attention to it. "So tell me little gay ones, where are you from?" 

Isu and Hachi choked as the king shifted his prying eyes from Hachi to Isu. Hachi cleared his throat, ignoring the burning heat in his cheeks. "We're... not..."

"Right, and I'm not the king. Now, where do you come from?"

Isu shook her head, cutting her food. "We're from Kyoshi Island."

The king nodded, a smirk on his face. "Oh, Kyoshi island, eh? I heard that place was rocking."

A long silence followed the king's statement before Sokka snickered. The others turned to Sokka, giving him a disapproving look.

"What? It was pretty funny."

The king stretched out, yawning. "Well, all these good jokes are making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay." 

The king pulled himself up, leaning on his chair. Isu watched with a strange expression, not trusting this man at all. Within a second, the king threw a chicken leg at her. She threw up her hands, catching the leg in an airball. 

The king chuckled, gesturing to Isu. "There's an Airbender in our presence and I have a feeling he's not the only one." The king turned to Hachi, an expecting look in his eyes. Hachi fidgeted, pulling at his hair. "Now what do you have to say for yourselves."

"Fine, you catch us." Isu crossed her arms agitatedly. "I'm an Airbender, as is he. Doing our Airbending things. Everything checks out, not a Firebender insight so can we go?"

The king raised his eyebrow, looking at Zuko. "Not a fire bender insight? Only the fire prince and his general." The king stared at Iroh and Zuko who gulped. 

"We come in peace."

The guards spun their spears around, blocking the exit. 

Katara jumped up. "You can't keep it here! Let us leave!"

The king walked to his plate, questioningly picking up a leaf. "Lettuce leaf?" He bit into the leaf, chewing slowly. 

Sokka held a hand over his mouth. "We're in serious trouble. This guy is nuts."

"Tomorrow, the Firebender prince will face three deadly challenges. But for now, the guards will show you to your chamber."

The guard turned to the king. "My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber."

The king turned to face the guard. "The newly refurbished chamber."

The king's statement did not help the guard. "Wait, which one are we talking about?"

Sighing, the king rubbed his forehead. "The one that used to be the bad chamber until the recent refurbishing that is. Of course, we've been calling it the new chamber but we really should number them. Uh, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!"

~~~

The wall cracked, splitting open and allowing us the group inside. Shoving the group into the room, the guards closed the door and left them alone. 

"Well, that could have gone better." Isu looked around, raising her eyebrow at the cell. 

Katara looked around in confusion. "This is a prison cell? But it's so nice."

Hachi shrugged his shoulders. "He did say it was newly refurbished."

"Nice or not, we're prisoners," Sokka pointed out. 

Zuko leaned against the back wall, running a hand through his hair. "I wonder what these challenges are going to be."

"We are not sticking around to find out," Hachi snapped, before sighing. "There has to be some way out of here."

"I mean there are air vents." Isu pointed to the small hole at the top of the wall. 

"I doubt we will fit through that," Iroh stated with a small sigh. "Too many cakes."

Huffing, Isu slid down the back wall. "This would be easier if we had friends on the outside."

Sokka didn't say anything as he flopped down on the bed. "Do you have a way to contact the bison?"

Isu and Hachi shared a look, both patting their pockets before Isu cursed. "I left my whistle behind."

Shaking his head, Hachi sighed. "Me too."

"So much for that plan," Sokka grumbled. 

Katara sat down on one of the beds, pulling her knees to her chest. "Well, no point arguing about it now. Get some rest." 

Slowly everyone took their places. Zuko sat beside Hachi, smiling as Hachi kept a fearful grip on his sleeve. It was clear Hachi was afraid for Zuko. 

Zuko gave the smallest smile back, leaning into Hachi's side carefully. 

"Isu? I thought I told you to get some rest." Katara tapped Isu's shoulder, giving her a confused expression. 

It took a few seconds before Isu sighed. "This isn't going to end well."

"What makes you say that?"

Sighing, Isu hugged her stomach. "There are two outcomes. Zuko doesn't use his powers to their full ability and ends up dying or he uses his full ability and is revealed as the avatar leading to him being killed."

"You seem to have a very negative view right now. Trust Zuko, he won't let us down."

"I hope so." Isu smiled, following Katara back to their beds. Sending a final look to Hachi, Isu closed her eyes. "I really hope so."