❝ the pirates and the peasants ❞
· • -- ٠ ♛ ٠ -- • ·
There's not much to do for 'fun' around this ship, unless you find your joy in punching fires at guards for training. Yet the guards aren't on Nari's level; the fairest fight would be Zuko or Iroh, and to fight the latter would be rude.
So Nari spars with Zuko.
For him, it's training, for Nari, it's blowing off some steam. They mirror each other in deep horse stances, palms facing each other openly as one waits for the other to make a move. The ship is still, the air between them is humid with a salty tinge, and the casual sound of the ship plowing through ocean waves swims in Nari's ears.
Zuko is a viable opponent; he shows no expression other than focus. Surely he's developed a plan for each of her potential movements, whether she steps left or right, whether she kicks an arch or punches a fire bomb. So, the unpredictable is her only adjustable move— or she could hit him with some lightning or white fire, but she has to be absolutely raging for that to happen, mind set on nothing but her abilities. That was a strange occurrence, Nari bets, I doubt I'll have that much power ever again.
At least she can say she did it, right?
Though it isn't her finest accomplishment.
Nari cocks a smile towards Zuko— she doesn't normally smile when readying herself to bend, nor does she tilt her head to the side. Her bubble braid falls over her left, lowered shoulder as her eyebrows lift.
The slightest relaxation hinges at Zuko's achilles, and as swift as a swallow's flight, Nari swings her heel in a horizontal arch parallel to the deck. Fire swooshes straight to his legs.
He jumps over it, an easy task seeing as Nari's flames were sharp and thin. When his feet meet the floor, he strikes up a leg to kick fire from his soles, one step after the other.
Nari flexes her arms in front of her in an 'X', using her flames as a shield when Zuko's spiral after her.
Both of their fires extinguish when the ship tilts, sending them sliding into the guard walls which barricade over the edge.
Nari thuds against the solid wall, side hitting first though her arms had been extended to cushion the crash.
Her pinched brows look to Zuko, aghast with the suspicion that they've hit something— open seas surround them. That proves her thoughts futile. "What was that?"
Zuko's eyes narrow upwards, a threatening glare hitting the control room with glass shards. "Somebody has changed our course." He rasps, pushing off the stern rail before stomping his foot down. "I'm going to find out why." Just before taking his leave, Zuko's shoulders tighten against his non-armored attire.
Nari chuckles to herself. "Someone's gonna get it," She sings to herself, a smile stuck on her face as she watches the oh-so-angry, angst-filled teen disappear behind closed doors— the last thing she saw of him was his sorry excuse for a ponytail.
Since the winter solstice and the time between, Nari has felt more... solid, so to speak. There's more of a grip on her anger, and while it constantly flickers in the back of her mind like a small flame, she's been able to see over the burning orange. Only her flame was never orange in her head— whatever rage hits, that Fire is white. That may be what keeps a hold on her anger to where she didn't lash out on Zhao, because Nari knows well that if she wasn't reminded of her grave situation, she might've snapped again. And she could thank that; maybe it keeps her at bay while a momentary peace has been placed over the past week or so.
Like pieces of a puzzle, practically. But Nari doesn't know the finished image— that'll be something she can guess as she goes. Albeit, the free time on her hands right now could hang up a few quick guesses.
Seeing Tayiko again after capturing the Avatar with Zuko— however that looks; being so highly regarded that her parents shed more respect and positive attention to her; maybe just capturing the avatar and sending things back to normal...
Nari wonders what that looks like.
While Zuko demands an explanation to the sudden change of direction, Nari remains on the deck, hands still gripped against the outer rim of the ship. Along with her, and awkwardly so, is another guard.
He, too, has crashed against the side-wall.
Nari nods in his direction. A quick, up and down motion that strikes up the guts for greeting. "Hey," she chimes, still rested.
The guard looks rather baffled, but he engages nonetheless. "Hey."
"How's it going?"
He nods, shoulders slightly raised. "Good, good," the guard lightly gestures her way, "how 'bout you?"
"I'm doin' good..." Nari replies, forcing a smile as if, magically, it can hide the thick awkwardness between her and the guard. She glances up to the perfectly clear sky, and decides that between the flawless azure tone and the warmth against her skin, a conversation can be furthered. Not that it needs to be, though. "... Weather turned out nice,"
"Oh, yeah."
Thankfully, Zuko storms out from the door, pointing to her. "Go talk to uncle!"
Nari pushes off the wall before vividly displaying her confusion. "First of all, he's not my uncle," Though Nari can catch the habit of why Zuko slipped up (and the underlying and tangible understanding of his anger), she takes the opportunity to call him out, "and second, what's the problem?"
Zuko slaps a steaming palm to his forehead. "He changed our route for a stupid lotus tile."
Nari shrugs, having found that this was no immediate concern-- she wants to collect the avatar just as much as her friend, she even holds the same haste, yet Iroh doesn't ask much from his nephew (besides begging the boy to think things through). He deserves his lotus tile, or whatever changing the course over such entails. "Just let him be. Who knows, knowing our luck, we'll run into the avatar and his side-kicks at port."
♛
After moments which consisted of simply waiting for the ship to dock— something of a forty-five minute gap, Nari believes— Zuko storms into her room. His stomps radiate such a sound she could hear him from down the hall. She'd previously changed from her training gear to the clothes she normally wore, which forces her into an strange sitting potion on the floor; as mentioned, the skirt paired with her attire was a pain in the rear to straighten out.
She looks up from her book of poetry, hushed. Since a majority of her books tracked back to the Fire Nation, she's familiar with them, and if she's not familiar with them, she knows of their author. Rai, as Nari remembers, would sing some of the poems from tunes which she claimed dated back to Nari's grandmother's-- or Rai's mother's-- childhood. A few of those melodies have crept their way into this book, so as Nari reads, she naturally hums them as well.
Zuko points behind him. "Put your poetry away," He demands hastily, fury in his voice though it's much more tamed than it had been half an hour ago, "We're leaving."
Nari folds her book and sets it to the side, pushing off from the ground before dusting herself off-- she much rather would've sat on her bed, it's far more clean than the rusty metal flooring of the ship. "You could loosen up a bit, you know?" She starts, earning a glare from Zuko. "I'm just saying."
"Didn't you kill someone?" The prince replies, a bold voice adding to the twisted smirk of confusion on his face.
Nari growls, what was a straight face now shifting to one of sluggish vexation as her shoulders sag. "I liked it better when you were a grump-ass solely fixated on finding the avatar." Her voice lingers with a grumble. "Bring angry Zuko back."
Nari knows that the boy is only trying to lighten his attitude-- or something around that-- but his plan fell through the moment he called her out on the one thing she tried to hide from him. And by spirits, she will not address such further.
Joking around was not Zuko's best talent. On the very contrary, it has to be his worse. The only funny bone in his body is his humerus— he's been a walking board of seriousness for the past three years, and therefore his jesting skills are far from fruitful. They're as rusty as the metal of this ship.
Speaking of so, the ship has pulled to the docks. Greeted by the short and smiling old man who's the very reason for this escapade, they head through the seaside shops.
The trip, thus far, yields as uneventful— or so, it seems useless. While Nari and Zuko find their hands empty of any base trinkets and Iroh lacks his lotus tile. He does, however, have guards in tow with arms filled to the brim with junk.
They stop, temporarily, while Iroh checks a stand with a pai sho board brightly displayed out front. Nari rests against the wooden post, eyes scanning the area around her.
There's a friendly looking fruit stand— not that they'd need any— and what looks to be a girl and her brother, identical in age and many features. Near to it and at the fruit stands left, there stands a deeper, darker looking shop. She takes note to avoid it before Iroh buys something cursed.
The sky has faded to a burning orange, dusted with white clouds as the sun dips closer to the horizon. This supposed 'short trip' has brought Zuko's short temper to an edge, and as he stands next to her a radiating heat is practically felt from his anger.
This anger starts to boil over as, alike to the dozen other merchandisers, Iroh returns to the teens empty handed. "I've checked all the shops on this pier," He pouts, "not a lotus tile in the entire market place."
Nari isn't surprised by such disappointing news— if Pai Sho is a game, then to have one spare game piece up for sell seems highly unlikely. It might be best for Iroh to buy a new set all together. And, reasonably, he'd have spare pieces in case he misplaces one again.
Zuko holds a stern and still expression on his face, as solid as the posture he holds. Arms crossed. Back straight. The whole 'i'm pissed' deal. "It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone." Zuko turns, snarls at his uncle, then resumes his tight demeanor.
"Quite the contrary," Iroh smiles widely, "I always say that the only thing better than finding what you are looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!" As the man beams even greater— something Nari thought to be impossible—, the two teens look to each other.
Zuko's face has never fallen flatter, eyebrow lowered down extra far as they deepen his permanent scowl. "He's never said that." The prince grumbles, turning his attention to the three soldiers marching past them with miscellaneous goodies in filled arms. "You bought a sungi horn?" He exclaims upon spotting the last soldier's items.
Nari stifles a laugh with the back of her hand while Iroh expresses his need for the instrument: music night on the ship.
They make their way back towards the beloved ship, or at least, they had a steady path, until Iroh lunges forward and points to something of a ostentatious pirates boat. "Oh, this place looks promising!" He cheers, hopeful to find the very small tile he's been searching all afternoon for. The boat he's addressing is cheesy, with dusty red flags sprawling against the wind like fish fins, and adorned in knock-off decor lining the exterior. The girl doubts anything in there is authentic, and poor old Iroh will fall for the pirating scoundrels like a kid trying to walk.
And speaking of kids, Nari thinks, Iroh is like a kid in a candy shop, now. He'll probably blow holes right through his pockets before we can make it back to our ship.
The teenagers follow Iroh into the pirate ship, highly aggravated with mirrored facial expressions and shifted stances. Nari folds her hands against her hips, eyes processing the useless junk stacked into shelves with a lack of organization. She scrunches her nose, leaning towards Zuko. While his attention is caught both on a monkey and his uncles estranged fondness towards it, he still listens to what she has to say. "This place smells like must and rotted wood," Nari points out, still searching the junked ship, "I-"
Before anything else could even attempt to leave her lips, Nari's eyes widen against the sight of an upmost proprietary thing: a whip. Honeyed eyes sparkle as her mouth falls agape, pure awe upon the weapon. She grasps Zuko by the collar of his army-like attire, pulling him to where his eyes will meet the very thing she wishes for.
"What am I looking at?" He deadpans.
With a forced and exaggerated jab of her index finger, Nari huffs. Her winged eyes are trapped upon the whip as she virtually drools over it, but her voice is flatter than a crisp marble floor. "Look where I'm pointing, Prince Oblivious." Nari will admit, the nickname is feeble. With time, she'll come up with a more demeaning one, but right now her priorities don't lay withing such a subject. "I need it."
Zuko steps back, his forefinger and thumb pressing against the bridge of his head while he shakes his head, disappointed. "Nari, no." He snubs, pulling her away from the weapon before her slippery hands could take hold of it.
Nari's strength out powers Zuko's, however. Especially when it regards something she desperately wants— the weapon will enhance her fighting abilities. "Nari, yes," She switches his words, yanking herself free of his grasp. "I'm getting that whip."
At this point, with the whip in her clutches and with Iroh adoring a monkey so intently, there's too much for Zuko to say no to. It's incredibly doubtful that Zuko could rebuff both parties for their desired item and receive no backlash from such, but Zuko doesn't give up. "You're not getting that whip— we came her for a lotus tile, and only that." He, like a parent having to yank a toy from a toddlers hand, is quick and merciless, and Nari despises that.
While the whole 'never give up' part of Zuko remains the same-- it can be seen in both his demanding drive for the avatar and in sparring sessions with anyone--, he's changed a bit on the 'kindness' front. The boy has grown blunt, rude, and unforgiving, much contrary to his old self. But, perhaps, that is the kind of thing that happens to someone when their father disowns them and burns off half their face.
Nari is lucky to have dodged that last bullet.
And this realization of her thinking (the whole 'Zuko is different than he used to be', part) flips on a switch within her mind: she can use their youth as an advantage. As a kid it was obvious that Nari was quite rebellious and disobedient, and her reactions to certain things were not... ideal.
There was a time when Nari was at the royal palace with Azula, playing tag. She skimmed the rules, cheated, in a way. The prince, at any given time in which Nari would be playing tag with Azula and bypass the rules, would laugh at his sister for falling for such foolery. Then Azula would mock both the kids for being rude, and Nari would be sure to let Zuko know he owed her— tricking his little sister was seldom done by anyone else (everyone knew Azula was ruthless, and still is), but Nari was daring and, at times, could put Azula in her place (which, ultimately, was wrong to do since Azula is royally above her).
Long story short, Zuko owed Nari for both making him laugh and scamming his sister. She still hasn't gotten her favor back.
She smirks, tinted lips curling upwards maliciously. "Remember that one time..." Nari twists the leathery rope in her palms, "...when we were kids-"
The prince spares no emotion. "No."
She glares at him narrowly, venom spilling from her tear ducts as they leak a deathly look into her eyes. "Yes," She corrects, "you do."
From being dared to recall an event which could be many different occasions, Zuko sighs. His relaxed posture places some ease into the room, but the tension flees to his voice. "You're going to have to be more specific." Zuko huffs.
Nari places a laughing scoff before her words. "Oh, whenever I'd play tag with Azula and hide-"
"You hid a lot."
"Whatever," Nari passes his interruption as a simple annoyance, and moves on. "My point is, you still kinda owe me, and we both know I could beat you in a sparring match."
It's Zuko's turn to laugh, now. He rests an elbow against one of the shelves, pulling the whip from her hands-- this earns him a very well deserved scowl from the girl. "If you can beat me in a fire bending sparring match, then you don't need any weapons." His words are dull as he sets the whip aside, as if he's made up his mind.
Oh, Nari internally growls at the insolent prince, I'll get that whip...
And, to her own manifested thoughts, when Zuko turns his attention back to his uncle, Nari stealthy tucks the whip under her belt. Seeing as it's a simple, thick black band with golden rims, the whip successfully goes into hiding. It helps, too, that the very pirates who presumably stole this whip begin to argue about something behind her.
She pricks her ears up— having already scored the whip, she rewards herself by scoring some spare drama, as well. Who knows, it could be useful one day.
"-We lost the water tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with."
Nari's eyes widen, shoulders tensing as she glances over her shoulder: the avatar! Oh, this drama is useful, indeed.
It seems that Zuko has picked up on the valuable conversation, as well— a scowl covers his face as he raises his jaw, heavily interested. "This monk," the prince stalks forward, determined, "did he have an arrow on his head?"
Either out of shock or pure enjoyment, Iroh hold the monkey he's found close to his head, teeth flashing as he imitates the creature with a loud and jarring "Ee-ee!"
♛
With cooperation from the pirates, Zuko has gathered a team of ragged men and Fire Nation soldiers, as well as the smaller boat from within his ship. Nari finds this whole process tedious, believing that she and Zuko would be much better off gathering information from the pirates and acting upon that— a small team is more likely to be successful. Traveling in such a large pack comes with it's downsides, like being noisy or easily seen.
And while, yes, the set has spent months rivaling the avatar and his blue barbarians, she still holds that belief to the highest veracity. Nari and Zuko weren't aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the trio, they didn't know the fighting styles and fighting preferences of them either. So, they couldn't defeat the team easily. Now, however, Nari knows some disadvantages of each fighter, and their chances of capturing the avatar have grown a slight amount.
And, if Zuko could use his head more, they'd be successful already— there's his disadvantage...
And the Avatar himself won't stoop low enough to hurt anyone, plus that Sokka boy can't bend. As far his sister goes, she's too impatient in her skills. That's as much as she can gather on the set.
And it's become apparent— much to prove her 'big group vs small group' ideology— that the pirates, or at least their leader, have grown impatient, too. He looks out from his ship at Zuko's side, reptile bird perched up on his shoulder, which remains tense and tightened. He's mad at Katara for stealing the scroll, understandably, so his priorities and experience towards such are different.
This explains his incorrect assumption. "Shouldn't we stop to search the woods?" The pirate-in-charge asks with a deep grumble.
Zuko remains calm— to the best of his abilities— keeping an open eye to the water. "We don't need to stop. They stole a water bending scroll, right?" He pauses, waits for a nod from the captain, and continues. "Then they'll be on the water."
As the sky melts from orange to purple, golden-lined clouds mixing in the murky clash of colors, it paints a shadowed darkness upon the shore. Black silhouettes of trees mix together, and Nari searches attentively down the river banks. Zuko's got a very valid point, something of which Nari applauds him for; he's used his head, that, or he's grown tired of the long process that is chasing down the avatar.
Come the blue haze of night fall, along with a sliver of silver light given from the crescent moon, searching becomes a tad bit harder. It has been said, however, whenever one sense goes out, the other four must jump up to make up for the missing one— in this case, it's hearing. There are pitiful shouts and exasperated yells coming from down the river bank, belonging to a certain water bender.
"Huh," Nari hums, a twisted smile on her lips, "maybe if she wasn't so whiny, she wouldn't get captured all the time." This earning the slightest lift of Zuko's lips, the small hint of a well timed joke. The ships pull up against the sand with a jarring screech.
As previously done, Nari and Zuko stealthily creep into Katara's area, the covering of bushes protecting them from her sight while she's distracted.
Katara whips around when a ship sounds out upon the shore, straight into the body of a rather buff pirate who grasps her by the arms. She cries against his grip, a pitchy "Let go of me!" seeping out in the form of strangled words. As she spins water up from the river beside her, splashing it against the pirates face, she runs straight into Nari.
The older girl holds her hands on her hips with a smirk, lowly muttering a cavernous "Hi there," just to spite Katara, who she easily towers over. Nari is quick to giver her a shove in Zuko's direction. It knocks the water bender's body and mind of balance, being tousled around from enemy to enemy like that. As Katara stumbles into Zuko's vicinity, he curls his hands against her wrists.
Zuko barely reacts, save for a scratchy and strange grumble. "I'll save you from the pirates," he looks down upon Katara in what is interpreted as a demeaning scowl. Something within the boy must've thought this was cool, creative, even.
It is not.
Nari cringes, scrunching up her face with a blink. She poses with an uneven stance, elbow cupped in one hand while the other one flicks out. "Uh, what was that?" She questions, brows furrowed with a look of disgust towards Zuko.
The boy blinks in return, unsure of what Nari means. "What was what?"
Nari shifts her voice to something even more scratchy and grizzly than it already is, although she raises it an pitch. She clears her throat, a hand held to it: "'I'll save you from the pirates'." She mimics, trying to cover her laughter despite how absolutely terrible and cringy Zuko's minuscule catch phrase was.
And Katara doesn't seem amused, either. She squirms against the grasp Zuko has on her, but ultimately gives up knowing the two can easily take her down again.
Katara is tied against a tree with little to no fight left in her, and the large crowd which Zuko gathered has busted in two— the pirates, and the Fire Nation crew. Nari, Zuko, and Iroh all stand flanked at each others sides, while Katara wiggles in front of them.
"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother." Zuko proposes, voice close to a demanding yell. With his power-filled words, he leans forward slightly, yet Katara doesn't flinch.
She doesn't trust his promise, but Nari does. Zuko is normally good at both keeping his word, and not wasting time harming people. Their sole target is the avatar, as Nari and Zuko care more for getting back to their old lives than fooling around with water tribe scum.
And the water tribe scum pushes against the tree, throwing her torso forward as she spits, "Go jump in the river!" Her face twists into a gnarly, attempting-to-intimidate frown as she yells to the prince.
Nari simply giggles, hands sparkling at her sides before covering her heart, an exaggeration of how 'fearful' she is of the girl. "Ooh," She sings, "how scary!" Nari can't fight the creeping smirk which was supposed to be an obviously false look of terror. "Seriously, Katara, work on your threats."
Katara sticks a tongue out at Nari, which is quickly mirrored by the fire bender.
Zuko breaks up the petty fight between the girls via a continuously maddening look— he's visibly annoyed with the pointless bickering, yet to Nari, it's fun. He stalks forward to keep her from egging on their hostage any further, preaching his point. "Try to understand," He starts, grated voice rasping upon the quiet night, "I need to capture him to restore something I've lost: my honor." Nari hears a bell ringing in her head— this is the third time Zuko has mentioned his honor to the avatar's gang, and somewhere around the tenth time she's heard it from him in the last three months. "Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you've lost?" Walking a slow circle around the girl, Zuko holds the water tribe necklace, shimmering blue against the moon's light, up to Katara's neck.
He's rather close to her, as well, and adding to the whole 'savior' stunt he pulled minutes ago, it's kind of over the top regarding the fire benders' true mission.
Katara doesn't seem to notice, or at least she won't show it. The only thing she cares about is that azure pendant stretched out before her eyes. "My mother's necklace," She breathlessly exclaims. "How did you get that?"
Zuko waves it in her face as he walks away— a rather petty act. "I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering." He presses, loosely referencing the pirates around them, albeit Katara probably knows exactly why their there. "Tell me where he is." Zuko demands, returning to Nari and Iroh's side.
Katara barely spares anything. "No." She huffs.
The captain of the pirates now steps up— he's grown restless and impatient towards the meandering and swiveled path of having to talk things over. "Enough with this necklace garbage," He growls, stepping up from his misfit-filled group. "You promised the scroll."
Zuko pulls the scroll from behind his back, holding one hand under it with his palm faced up. Just before igniting a blazing red fire from his hand, he moves the scroll backwards. This smart, quick move keeps the scroll from catching fire, but to the pirates view, he's holding the parchment right over an open flame. "I wonder how much this is worth," the prince draws, a quizzical single brow raised.
The pirate captain leaps forward with a defending cry.
"A lot, apparently," Zuko figures with a smirk. "Now, if you help me find what I want, and everyone goes home happy-" Nari relaxes a tension which she never realized had built up, sighing. Everyone will go home happy if this goes as planned, she thinks, paying no mind to the twisted faces around her. She resurfaces her thoughts to the present, paying mind once again to Zuko's rambling. "Search the woods for the boy and meet back here, Nari, you go with them."
Nari does not protest against Zuko's demands. She gets his point; if the pesky pirates try anything, Nari can stop them. She can keep a sharp eye on them, splitting the work with Zuko.
So she obliges.
And, after a very short time, the sun rises. This makes it easier to search for the Avatar, and only to aid in their search, a familiar and rather loud voice spoils their position.
One of the pirates sling a bola at Sokka's wrists while the boy cluelessly expresses his disdain towards Katara, and he forfeits his words with an "Ahh!".
Nari's eyes dart to the Avatar, sleepily adjusting to the very surprising attack. Nari punches a blast of fire towards the kid before stepping behind the tree to dodge whatever he punches back. Yet, nothing comes— she doubts she's actually struck him on such a whim, and much to her correct thinking, she didn't. The avatar is caught up in a net, which was tossed by two spear throwers.
He's down, and the burly pirate who shot him makes it obvious that he'll handle the avatar-- as much as Nari wishes to fight that, she understands that the pirate is here for the scroll and the scroll only. There is no need to waste energy when no fight is needed.
The pirates drag Aang against the ground, past the beloved camp site which once yielded security, while Nari makes sure to linger behind her. It's her personal way of stomping any chance of any funny business.
When the group is nearly out of ear shot regarding the remaining member of the avatar's band and their place of stay, a grumble erupts from silence.
"Oh, what? I'm not good enough to kidnap?" The irritating Sokka shouts. To such, Nari grips the net thrower from a pirates back, aims, and fires, dragging Sokka from his camp site as well.
Though the ostentatious boy irks her, Nari figures it's better to have Sokka tied up than allowing him the freedom to fight back.
♛
The pirates, in their small group, face the fire bending set. Not one happy look seems to be spared, despite having the avatar hostage. The other two water tribe scums remain tied up against a tree, slouched and tiresome.
Zuko and Nari stand at the front of the flanked Fire Nation soldiers, the former with his hands crossed solidly, and the latter with her hands on her hips, as always. "Nice work," Zuko rewards, though his voice is flatter than untouched water. He twists the roll in his hand, ready for the trade while stalking over to the pirates.
Katara speaks up, the very image of self-righteousness, before Zuko can make his trade. Her face sinks for her struggling and trapped friends, pity and blame striking her tone like lightning. "Aang, this is all my fault." She glances down.
Aang rebuts the idea that her capture lead to his, though all the clues add up to it. He holds that same sorrowful look as Katara, while Sokka continues to struggle against ropes. "No, Katara, it isn't." He eases, trying to steal the blame from her.
"Yeah," Iroh raises a very doubtful brow to Katara. "It kinda is."
Zuko stomps on any potential apologies. "Give me the boy," He demands, the scroll tightening between his finger tips.
Neither party yields.
They just need the avatar, then they're good to go.
The pirate across them snarls, a burly stance tensing with demand. "You give us the scroll," he snarls against Zuko's request.
Nari grumbles as she senses Zuko's anger raise. She, too, grows vexed by the irritable individual-- what use does a fire bender have for a water bending scroll, after all? And, while she holds a pointless opinion this way, the blue-clad Sokka holds another opposing opinion. "You're really gonna hand over the avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" He questions, the incredulity of his words seeping from his lips like a busted pipe.
As Zuko juts out a finger to the pirates, yelling, to quote "Don't listen to him, he's trying to turn us against each other!", Nari impatiently taps her foot.
It's a simple trade: a stolen scroll and a useless avatar. Why pause with hesitation when everyone can get what they need, here?
Something must've happened between Nari's traveling thoughts and Zuko's yelling towards the pirates, as he now points at Sokka with a hasty and irritated voice, which scratches against a yell. "Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" He booms, solid stance unwavering despite the nearly tangible vexation of the prince.
Nari steps up slightly. With a lean and a hand placed at the side of her mouth to shield her words from anyone but Zuko, she clears her throat. "It's cooler to say blue barbarians. Has a better ring," She advises, one eyebrow raised to the boy.
Zuko now corrects himself, just the smallest quirk of an appeased smile. "Fine," He mutters, re-pointing to Sokka. "Shut your mouth, you... blue barbarians!"
Nari scratches the back of her neck with a twisted expression on her face-- Zuko really butchered that name, and it did not sound good coming from him. It's apparent, now, that they should leave the name calling to Nari.
After everyone seems to recover from whatever stunt Zuko just tried to pull, the young avatar himself sides with Zuko. "Yeah, Sokka," He mutters, and if it weren't for the quiet around each group, this would've never been heard. "You really should shut your mouth."
Nari scoffs while the idiotic Sokka continues.
"I'm just saying," He muses, swaying sides from one pirate to another, "it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the fire lord would pay for the Avatar-- you guys would be set for life!" He expresses, easily capturing the attention of those avaricious pirates.
They all seem to agree with the wagering Sokka, their captain catching on. "Keep the scroll," He demands, "We can buy one hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid." And, with such a victorious statement, all the pirates head off back to their boat.
Not, however, without a growl and a fire-kick from Zuko: "You'll regret breaking a deal with me," He rasps, eyes narrowed with a cavernous snarl before jutting out his heel towards the pirates. His kick is backed by two other benders, and with the promise of an upcoming fight, Nari snaps into a run for the avatar.
Only, she soon finds herself within a cloud of murky and thick smoke.
A tattooed arm outstretches from the fog with a sword as it darts straight for Nari, who leans back to dodge it until a blunt force hits her back. Thanks to her thick waist belt, the two swords-- on of which being a short sword whilst the other is a dao sword-- she misinterprets a stabbing for a punch, and spins her torso to the right, dropping her shoulder while skimming past both swords. She breaks into a clouded grey abyss, puffs being the only movement of which she can see, and out of fast thinking she yanks her whip out in front of her in many different directions.
To her left, and to her right, the whip slashes across someone, but straight ahead is clear, so that's exactly where Nari sprints.
She makes it out of the fog in enough time to see Zuko, the captain of the pirates, and Iroh in between them. The oldest holds one hand at the pirates wrist and the other against Zuko's ponytail, pulling each away from the fight. Both aggressors turn with an irritated huff as Nari runs to her fellow fire benders. "Are you two so busy fighting that that you cannot see your own ship has set sail?"
"We have no time for you proverbs, uncle!" Zuko rushes, snapping around to face Iroh with his fist thrashing down to his sides.
Iroh points knowledgeably. "It's no proverb," He states, eyes floating to where a pirate ship drifts down the river.
"Bleeding hog monkeys!" The pirate himself snaps his eyes wide, cursing before sprinting after his ship.
Zuko finds this so incredibly hilarious that he actually laughs at the pirates misfortune, a hand over his stomach while it's opposite points after the running pirate, mouth open wide with a titled head. It takes their own boat cutting through the river to yank him from his comical moment, and with a cracked and whiny voice, Zuko yells, "Hey! That's my boat!"
Nari and Zuko alike run down the river bank, despite knowing well they'll never be able to catch up with a engine powered boat.
They're traveling feet have brought them to a waterfalls edge, Nari's palms digging into her knees as she catches her breath. Just as she does so, their boat plummets over the edge.
Zuko cries after it with a lunge forward, "My boat!" he wails, yet no compassion or emotion is give to him besides the laughter of Iroh.
"Prince Zuko," He breathlessly chuckles. "You're really going to get a kick out of this: the lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"
Zuko grows furious at his uncle, huffing out increasingly vigorous breaths before stealing the tile as chunking it over the ledge with a grunt.
What a waste of time... well, except for Nari's new whip.
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published in june 2021 | 6,400 | written by peri
i'm officially a collage cheerleader , which is fun ig , however the schedule is sooooo heavy i doubt my ability to publish ( about twice ) every week as i have been , with exceptions to this chapter , at least . i cannot confirm an exact schedule for updating , i'll have to get in the groove of practices and such !
me , editing my writing which was written 3 - 4 months ago the day after receiving a concussion :
anyways this chapter was supposed to be more of a fun filler , the last two chapters were full of anger and i kinda wanted to break that up . there are happier scenes ahead , I promise :)