Accidental Avatar

Elsewhere...

So, Iroh and I were sitting down to a nice cup of tea, right? Oh, Zuko was there too, but he was grumpy. As usual. So we won't mention him.

"See Prince Zuko?" Iroh said calmly as he gently set down his cup. "A moment of quiet is good for your mental wellbeing."

There's a sudden jerk of the ship, and I quickly waterbend the hot tea away from him, knowing with his temper that would just start another round of angry firebending practice. He growls angrily and slams down his cup. I waterbend the tea into the cup carefully and sigh in relief. Zuko stomps out to go check on what was happening. I follow at a more or less safe distance.

Oh, it's that chick with the giant mole beast thing! "Get back!" She yells out. "I'm after a stowaway."

"There are no stowaways on my ship." Zuko pronounces loudly.

"Hey, Koko, how's about letting her search without ripping your ship apart?" I ask, coming up next to Iroh.

The giant mole beast thing rips the deck off and tosses the pieces around. We all duck, Zuko pulling me down with an arm around my neck. "Woah, close one," I mutter, coming back to my feet. We watch as some random guy in green jumps out of the hole and tries to run away, the big as monster thing whipping him with its tongue, causing him to fall down frozen. "Cool..." I murmur.

"He's paralyzed..." Zuko breathes, obviously surprised.

"Only temporarily. The toxins will wear off in about an hour." Damn girl, you are strong! She lifted that guy like he was nothing, tossing him over her shoulder casually. "But by then, he'll be in jail, and I'll have my money."

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko questions. I can see the cogs turning in his brain right now.

"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away." She says proudly, patting the creature on its shoulder. She then clambers up onto its back and settles into the saddle, making sure her quarry was secured and not going to fall off before she could collect her bounty. To be honest, I was a little jealous. She looked dang fine up there.

"Well, I'm impressed," Iroh said, sounding every bit impressed as I was.

"With what? Her beasty or her looks?" I quip cheekily, earning a hearty laugh from Iroh. She whips it, and it jumps away, charging off to hand in her bounty.

"Very impressed..." Iroh repeats, stroking his beard. Zuko gives him an unimpressed look, and I mimic Iroh, pretending to stroke a beard.

"Indeed..." I say, using the same tone. Zuko blinks at us in disbelief before throwing his hands up with a grunt and wandering off to deal with the damage to his ship.