If there was ever to be one thing that were true, it would be that Umeko was not meant to exist. Umeko was an Air-Bender, born a century after the extinction of the Air Nomads and courtesy to the Fire Nation...The same Nation Umeko was born into, an...
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So, the Avatar was not at the Southern Air Temple. And Umeko got her ear ruined by Prince Zuko as he spent the last 4 hours searching the place and found na-da. She apologized and the dark haired teen never felt more relief in her life until General Iroh backed her up, saying she was but only trying to help.
Now, Umeko was trailing behind General Iroh and Prince Zuko as they looked around a port of a Fire Nation station pole. The streets were filled with all kinds of people, eating, walking and talking and other things that people do. Umeko was here as a sort of guard for Prince Zuko, as it was asked and advised by General Iroh that she stay close in case of an emergency. Umeko had no problems with it, but Prince Zuko certainly shared his delight.
"Zuko!" General Iroh called out for his nephew as the elderly man looked over a market place food stand. "You must try this! It's got..uh, what's it got?"
"Quailpole egg." The man running the market informed. The casualness of the man was a sign that he did not know who was in front of him, as he would probably be giving 5 free to-gos to The Dragon of the West if he knew what General Iroh looked like.
"Quailpole egg!" But clearly, General Iroh didn't care who knew him and who didn't. Sometimes Umeko couldn't understand the man, as standing in front of her was the rightful heir to the throne before the unfortunate passing of his only son that lead him to go on with other life paths.
"Very good for uh...?" Prince Zuko kind of just stood there as his Uncle tried to get him to enjoy himself.
"Vitality?" The man leaned in, as if stunned to know that General Iroh didn't know what he was so excited about. But vitality wasn't exactly a straight answer, as it really just meant 'to live'. But hey, food was food and if Umeko wasn't doing her job, she would be gobbling up every inch of the plate the Quailpole eggs were on.
"Vitality!" General Iroh repeated while Prince Zuko rolled his eyes.
Prince Zuko marched forward, so Umeko stayed close to him and General Iroh as they moved to a more private area of the port, but everyone was moving everywhere, so privacy wasn't so common in the wide open space of a market.
"What are we doing here, uncle?" Prince Zuko sighed as his ponytail swished behind him.
General Iroh glanced to the side. "This port houses the headquarters of the regional Fire Nation commander. It is a hub of local information. If anything unusual were to happen within the vicinity, it would be reported here."
"Have you lost your mind!?" Well, there was one thing Umeko would never say to a royal. But royals could probably say that to other royals, so Umeko was really just witnessing another family feud.
"You wanna ask a Fire Nation commander if they've seen the Avatar? If word gets out, then everyone in the world will be looking for him! I could lose everything." And Umeko learnt a second piece of information to keep her mouth shut with all things to do about the Avatar.
