Searching (Zuko x OC)

Chapter 24

"What is that?" I asked in confusion.

"A cloak. It'll conceal your identity," she explained, moving it closer to me.

I hesitantly grabbed it from her hands and held it up. It was all black and looked about my size. I wanted to ask why she even had something like this in her collection of clothes but decided against it. I slipped it on and made sure that the hood cast a shadow over my features.

"I feel ridiculous," I huffed.

"Better than being recognized and getting Zhao's attention. Last thing you need is to have him on your tail again," she replied before walking off the ship.

I sighed and followed behind her with Uncle by my side. We docked the ship about a mile away from the town so that we didn't attract attention to us so we had to walk for a while to make it to the town. The closer we got, the louder the environment became. You could hear loud music and the excited bustling of the crowd. It reminded me of the party's held at the palace and it made me scowl.

When we reached the border of the village I grabbed my Uncle's shoulder to stop him. Sora stopped a few steps in front of us when she realized we weren't following her and made her way back.

"What's the problem?" she asked.

"I think I should split up from you guys. I just need to know where to meet you guys once I'm done questioning people," I explained.

"Why don't we meet in the courtyard?" Uncle suggested.

"Alright. I'll meet you there before it gets dark," I said before walking into the town.

I knew that if the Avatar was here at one point he would have kept a low profile, but I was willing to bet he talked to at least some of the merchants. I made my way towards the market section of the village and weaved my way through the crowds, making sure to keep my head down.

"Can I interest you in some of my masks? They'll complete your look!" one of the vendors I passed said.

"No. But you can tell me about any sighings of a band monk. He would have had an arrow on his head," I asked, still keeping my face out of view.

"I'm afraid you won't have much luck finding anyone here. Most people are wearing masks. Speaking of....are you interested?" he pitched again.

I turned and continued walking without a word. If what he said was true which, looking around at everybody, it was, I was going to have a hard time getting any information on his whereabouts. Even if he was here, he probably was in disguise.

Today was going to be a long day.

•••
Sora's POV:

Uncle and I spent most of our day enjoying the life in the city. We watched puppet shows, street performers, and browsed the market stalls. We had even tried out some festival foods along the way. Currently, Uncle was window shopping once more and I was watching him inspect some pottery.

"This is a beautiful vase. I'm sure a bouquet of fire lilies would look beautiful in it," he commented, holding the vase in front of his face.

"Don't tell Zuko you said that. If he heard you were buying flower pots for the ship he might explode," I joked as he set the vase down.