atla one shots

32 - magic AU

So, this is going to be an Au. The characters can still use their elements, but they can use others. They just specialize in a certain elements and so they are their own little group, outcasts in the magic community. This is the group trying to get Zuko to join, because we all know that even if Zuko wants to join, he won't for fear that he'll infect them.

3rd pov

Zuko knew he was one of the few magicians to specialize, but there really was no point for this group of children - all younger then him, and one of them blind! - to be following him around - stalking him, honestly - in order for him to join them. He was not the strongest fire specialist, and he most certainly wasn't the nicest one, he'd been with his Uncle not so long ago, before they'd been forced apart by the magic council. Zuko's father is the head of the council and his sister was the successor. A time ago, this would've upset Zuko, but he had long since given up on ever being anything other than a stranger in his father's eyes.

Anyway, back to the point - the stalkers. They were five kids, three girls and two boys. The younger boy was some kind of air specialist, if the fact that he casually floated more often then walked was anything, while the other boy appeared to dislike magic - Zuko is assuming he doesn't have any - and uses a boomerang and some weirdly colored sword. The youngest girl - also the blind one - appears to be an earth specialist, while one of the older girls seems to be a water specialist. The other girl doesn't look to have any magic, and uses a combination of hand - to - hand  and fans. Really sharp, scary fucking fans, that are painful when pressed against vulnerable bits of skin not covered in clothes.

They followed Zuko, who was always moving, as was the order of the magic council, from the age he was banished from his family by his father at the age of 13 years old. Zuko pulls his hood further up as glances back, spotting the group looking for him, before ducking into a nearby alley. He knew that his ability to disappear was to his advantage, especially since the earth specialist had complained he walked and moved light enough that she couldn't sense him.  He knew, from the moment his father banished him, that he was going to end up avoiding other magicians.

His father and sister had always told him - after mother's death, that is - that his magic felt and looked dirty. He didn't want to infect and hurt others with his magic, so he avoided them, and when he couldn't, he didn't use magic, he used his swords. There was only so much he could do to avoid the group however, especially when he was starving, thirsty and sleepless. There was honestly not much chance he was going to escape this time, and he was resigned to reeling his magic in so that it wouldn't touch or brush against the others when they found him.

He leans against the wall of the alley, panting and clutching over his chest, ignoring the grumbles from his stomach, the parched-ness of his throat and how heavy his eyes felt, but he knew when he was fighting a losing battle. There was the sound of footsteps and he was already mostly collapsed on the ground, having lost the battle. 

"Hey, guys, his stomach is rumbling pretty bad. I don't think he's eaten the last few days. We should let him get some rest, and while he's doing that..." 

Zuko fades into sleep before he hears the rest of the sentence. The group look to each other, before Sokka rolls his eyes and marches forward, picking up the guy they had been following, trying to convince him to join their group. He seemed as outcast as them, but no approach they had used had gotten through to him. He always escaped too, and they never saw his magic, but the few times it brushed against theirs, before he clamped down on it, it was like a soft blanket, heated by a fire place, something comforting and protective. They all wanted to know why they hadn't seen his magic, and why he seemed afraid of it.

They were staying at a hotel, and so that is where Sokka carries the guy to, gently setting him on one of the spare beds and then made sure he was comfortable and secured, before heading out to get some food. What? He was hungry, ok?