Inner Fire - ATLA fanfic

Bato of the Water Tribe

"Hey, look!" Aang grinned, picking up something from the forest floor

"Cool, a sword made from a whale's tooth!" Zira exclaimed 

"Let me see that" Sokka insisted, taking the sword from Aang. 

Sokka inspected the sword for a moment before his eyes widened. 

"This is a Water Tribe weapon. See if you can find anything else" He instructed the other two. 

The trio started searching through bushes and around the trees for anything out of the ordinary when Katara caught up with them. 

"Did someone lose something?" She asked, confused as to why they were searching 

"No, we found something" Aang replied 

Sokka then found an arrow covered by a pile of leaves and picked it up, inspecting the tip. 

"It's burned" He then noticed scratch and burn marks on a tree " There was a battle. Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders. The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill" 

Sokka ran off with the others quickly following behind him. He followed the tracks until they made it down the shoreline and vanished. 

"So then what happened?" Aang asked 

"I don't know, the trail ends here" Sokka explained with sagged shoulders. 

"Wait! Look!" Zira pointed to a boat abandoned by the shore. 

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka and Katara rushed over to the vessel and began inspecting it. 

"Is this dad's boat?" Katara wondered as Aang and Zira caught up to them. 

"No, but it's from his fleet" Sokka answered with a smile " Dad was here" 

*

Iroh happily sipped his tea as he, Zuko and Shai sat in Zuko's chambers. 

"See, Prince Zuko? A moment of quiet is good for your mental well-being" Iroh told his nephew, pouring him a cup of tea. As Zuko went to take a sip, the ship suddenly jolted, make the tea go all over Zuko.

Shai laughed as the fire prince growled and wiped the hot beverage from his face before getting up and storming out. 

Shai and Iroh soon followed him out onto the deck where they found a young woman riding a beast called a shirshu. 

"Get back! We're after a stowaway" The woman announced

"There are no stowaway's on my ship" Zuko glared 

The shirshu then proceeded to tear off part of the deck and throw it at the fire prince and his crew. They all quickly ducked out the way as to not be hit. The creature growled for a minute as it searched underneath the deck before finally a man appeared and tried to run from the woman and her shirshu. The creature's tonged lashed out of its mouth, sticking the man on the neck. The man fell to the deck limply. 

"He's paralyzed" Shai gasped in amazement.

"Only temporarily" The woman explained, hauling the man into her saddle " 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?" Zuko demanded 

"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away" The woman explained getting into her saddle again.