ATLA: Book One: Water |Makki|

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: June and Nyla

Makki |~|

Some weeks have passed since I last saw Aang and my siblings on Appa. Things have really started to settle down on Prince Zuko's ship. Prince Zuko has gotten just a bit calmer and less Avatar-hungry and Iroh has been happier than usual it seems. As of right now, Iroh invited me to some tea with him and Prince Zuko inside of Prince Zuko's chamber. Now, in my mind, I had to debate whether or not it would be worth it to have tea with Iroh if Prince Zuko was there, but I just can't say no to Iroh when his face lights up at the mention of tea. So, I joined Iroh inside Prince Zuko's chamber, where Prince Zuko sat at a small, rectangular table, and took a seat at the end and waited for Iroh to pour me a cup.

"Ahh," Iroh took a sip. "See, Prince Zuko? A moment of quiet is good for your mental well-being."

"You could definitely use some of that," I teased before taking a sip from my own cup.

Iroh poured tea into Prince Zuko's cup, but when he went to take a sip, something shook the ship, causing Prince Zuko to splash his tea all over his face. I laughed a small bit before using my water bending to remove the water from his face and clothes. Prince Zuko just angrily got up from his seat at the table and stomped onto the deck, with me and Iroh behind him.

"Get back!" a lady dressed in black yelled as she boarded the ship on a large animal. "We're after a stowaway."

"There are no stowaways on my ship," said Prince Zuko.

Ignoring Prince Zuko, the animal tore a large piece of metal off of the deck to get into the ship and stuck its head in. A man in dirty green clothing came running out of the hole before being struck by the animal's tongue, paralyzing him.

"He's paralyzed," said Prince Zuko.

"Only temporarily," said the lady in black as she picked up the stowaway. "The toxins will wear off in about an hour. But by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money."

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Prince Zuko asked her.

"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away," she said before hopping on her shirshu.

"Well, I'm impressed," said Iroh.

The lady simply whipped her shirshu and it lept off the ship and ran towards the mainland.

"Very impressed."

"...You're starting to creep me out, Iroh."

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After some thought, Prince Zuko decided that he wanted help from the lady on the shirshu. So, he followed the shirshu's tracks into town and found it sleeping outside of a noisy tavern.

I already don't like this...

Prince Zuko led the way into the tavern with me behind him and Iroh behind me.

"Out of my way!" Prince Zuko shouted, making his way towards the middle of the tavern. "Step aside, filth."

"You really need to improve your people skills," I told him.

"He means no offense," said Iroh to the people of the tavern. "I'm certain you bathe regularly."

I followed Prince Zuko up to the table in the middle of the tavern where the lady was arm-wrestling some random guy.

"I need to talk to you," Prince Zuko demanded.

"Well, if it isn't my new friends," she purred. "Angry Boy, his girlfriend, and Uncle Lazy."