❃ The Three Refugees ❃
After days of riding the ostrich horse nonstop, the three of them finally made it to the next village on Kanak's map. Apparently, this place was known for its large ice glacier that provided a natural source of fresh water and ice to the hot desert oasis. It was one of the few villages that existed on the outskirts of the large Si Wong desert, meaning that it was probably filled with different travellers like themselves.
"Misty Palms Oasis." Iroh announced enthusiastically.
Keya scratched her cheek and took a look around the place. Wary villagers stood on various shady corners, watching their every move as they entered the town. The town itself was more of a hamlet, only littered with a couple of small, sandy hutts. Their flat rooftops were supported by round, wooden beams that stuck out of the walls. Other than that, the Earth Kingdom girl could spot a small pub and a poster board. All the buildings surrounded a stone pond with a bright shard of ice inside. A few desert fox dogs licked the ice glacier happily. They were so cute! Keya slid off of the ostrich horse's back. She walked over to the fox dogs and tried to pet them.
One of the fox dogs in particular looked rather adorable. Its tawny eyes focused on her as she approached it with her hand stretched out.
"Hi there, little buddy!" She cooed, but before she could pet him, a warm hand grabbed her arm.
"Are you stupid? Don't pet wild animals, Keya. Do you want to get your hand bitten off?" Zuko scolded her as he let go of her arm. The fox dog took this as its cue to run off. Its admirer looked at it sadly as it fled.
"Now look what you did," Keya pouted, "you scared it off."
Zuko crossed his arms and pinched the bridge of his nose with a frustrated groan. "I was trying to- Ugh, never mind. We need to look around and figure out a new plan if we want to avoid getting hunted down again."
Iroh nodded and stroked his beard in thought while Keya tried to touch the ice glacier. She had one foot in the pond already when she slipped and fell on her backside with a yelp.
"Eek! This is so cold!" She complained with another pout. Keya's high walls had started coming down a bit after having travelled with the two men for a while. She couldn't help but let some of her true personality slip out. Especially when there were cute animals and interesting objects involved.
Zuko stomped over to her and held his hand out stubbornly. "It's an ice glacier! Of course it's going to be cold! Can't you stand still and stay out of trouble for once?" He scolded, but helped her up anyway. Keya looked up at him sheepishly and got out of the pond. She stood in front of him now.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I've never seen an ice glacier before. Does it always look like this?"
Her confession shocked the well-travelled boy. Zuko had already seen both the North- and the Southpole, so the sight of ice was quite boring to him. "Oh." The word tumbled out from between his thin lips. "Yes, it usually looks like that... but much bigger."
He watched as her grey eyes became wide with marvel. She looked at him like she wanted him to tell her more, so he did (to his own surprise). "I-I happened to visit the Northpole a while ago. That whole place is covered in glaciers as tall as mountains."
Keya's teeth peaked from behind her wide grin. "Really? How was it? Did you happen to visit the Northern Water Tribe? My father was from there. I always wanted to see where he came from, but I couldn't just leave home of course. Mother used to say that we'd go one day, but we've yet to visit it. So far, this is the most ice I've ever seen in my life."
Zuko awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as Keya rambled on about her family. He didn't know she could talk so much, but it didn't bother him as much as he had expected. The young Prince was more worried about how he could answer her questions without revealing his true motives -not knowing that his uncle had already revealed most of them to her.
"I was only there for a little while, but they don't take so kindly to strangers. From what I can remember it's... cold?" He shrugged. Thankfully, Keya knew him well enough by now to not push him any further. Instead she just hummed in response. The girl suddenly twisted her body and tried to get a good look at her soaked backside. She frowned.
"Does it look like I peed myself? That would be so embarrassing."
A rough laugh escaped Zuko's chest. The boy tried to cover it up as a cough, but his female counterpart caught on immediately. She punched his shoulder softly and wagged her finger at him. "Hey, you! This is no laughing matter, does it look that bad?"
Zuko eyed the wet spot on the bottom of her cloak and backside for a moment, before realising what he was looking at. How inappropriate! The Prince blushed and looked up at the sky. "It's just wet, no one will notice." He mumbled softly. His mother would have scolded him if she was here.
Keya tried to get a good look one more time before she gave up with a sigh. "Fine." She grumbled. "If you say so, but you had better not be lying, friend, or you'll find Earth Kingdom girls are not to be messed with."
The short girl's warning left the Fire Nation Prince rather unimpressed. "Sure." He rolled his eyes. He knew that she would probably tremble and cry if they ever got into an actual fight. She was just a peasant after all, and one with a fear of firebenders no less. It had taken her days to even start talking to him normally after she found out that he was a firebender himself, and now she thought that she was tough enough to take him on? What a joke. What could she do against the Fire Nation Prince? Bat her big eyes and disarm him?
"What are the two of you gossiping about?" Iroh suddenly appeared between them and the two teens jumped apart. They hadn't even realised how close they were standing to one another.
"Nothing!" They exclaimed in unison. Iroh just quirked a bushy brow and put a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Alright then, let's go inside! I happen to know someone around here who I think can help us." He patted the two teens once and headed off to a local pub. Zuko and Keya followed him.
The pub was very suspicious. Dangerous looking strangers sat in different corners with sharp weapons strapped to their bodies and mugs of alcoholic beverages clasped in their strong hands. Some were invested in cautious conversations, while others simply drank and arm-wrestled one another. The whole place reeked of testosterone and sweat. Keya pinched her nose in disgust.
"How quaint." The airbender commented dryly.
Zuko scoffed and scanned the place for any danger. "The state of this place doesn't matter. We're not here to have a vacation."
"Yeah, I know. If only, right?" She laughed to herself, but was met with silence. Tough crowd. Keya looked around again as Iroh led them to a stone booth in a dark corner. The three of them sat down with their female companion squashed in the middle. Zuko scowled and crossed his arms.
"No one here is going to help us. These people just look like filthy wanderers."
"So do we." Iroh smiled. Keya had to remind herself that the boy's upbringing probably caused his nasty attitude. But even then, could he try to not be so snobby?
Iroh suddenly looked behind Zuko and pointed subtly to an old man across the room. "Ah, this is interesting. I think I've found our friend." The 'friend' he was pointing to was waiting peacefully at a Pai Sho table. It looked like he was waiting for a partner, but he made no moves to find one himself.
The sight reminded Keya of how her little brother Kanak would often spend his days playing Pai Sho by her mother's bedside. The woman was too weak to do anything else around the house, so educating Kanak was one of the few ways she would fulfil her role as mother to her children. Keya quickly shoved the memory back down. This was no time to ponder her upbringing.
"You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?" Zuko asked incredulously with another eyeroll.
"I don't think this is a gamble." Iroh answered vaguely and made his way over to the man. Zuko stood up to follow him, but turned back to Keya with a nod.
"Come on." He said and motioned his hand for her to go with him. Keya said nothing but stood up and went with him. The two made their way over to Iroh and his new friend.
"May I have this game?" Their companion asked the stranger.
"The guest has the first move." Was the stranger's reply. He held out his arm over the Pai Sho table and Iroh sat down. Iroh pulled a round, wooden coin out of his wide sleeve (how long he'd had it there for was anyone's guess) and set it down right in the middle. From her view, Keya could see a small lotus painted on it delicately. It was very pretty, but the boy beside her looked unimpressed.
"I see you favour the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways." The stranger commented in a tone that matched Iroh's in sageliness. Keya sat down next to them to observe their game. She only knew a few techniques from watching her brother play, but was interested nonetheless. After all, one's Pai Sho technique was said to reflect one's personality. She was curious to see what Iroh would do.
The retired general bowed respectfully with his hands together. "Those who do can always find a friend."
Zuko scanned their surroundings again, making sure nobody was watching them too intently. After he found no threats, he sat down next to Keya so that he could keep his back to the wall.
"Then let us play."
As the two men started playing, Keya and Zuko observed them. Zuko looked on with confusion and annoyance, but Keya was entranced by their mirrored plays. Neither man ever stopped to ponder a move or think of a plan like she was used to seeing. Were they just that good or was something else going on? Their placements ended in the shape of a lotus and Keya felt the need to clap, but Zuko stopped her from doing so with a single scowl in her direction before she could even start.
"Welcome, brother." The stranger spoke. "The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."
What?
"What are you old gasbags talking about?" Zuko groaned, apparently thinking the same thing as the girl beside him. Keya snorted at his creative choice of words.
"Zuko, that's rude." She whispered, but the Prince just scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game." There was a mischievous glint in Iroh's eyes. This was the man he had been seeking.
From the corner of the pub, an intimidating man interrupted their conversation. He stood up. His tall frame and broad shoulders were clad in green clothing with the sleeves torn off in typical Earth Bender fashion (sleeves were always 'too restricting' according to her oldest brother Hun). The man's chest puffed up intimidatingly as he spoke.
"I'm not waiting all night for these geezers to stop yapping. It's over! You three fugitives are coming with me!"
Keya looked at Iroh's 'geezer' friend in surprise. This guy was a wanted man? He looked rather harmless. Then again, so did Iroh and he was far from harmless. When she looked back at the intimidating man, she suddenly noticed that he was looking at her, of all people. Then it hit her.
"Wait a minute, did you mean me? Since when am I a fugitive?" Keya asked. Had her actions against those tax collectors really been that bad?
Apparently her actions had indeed been that bad, for lo and behold, the man held out a scroll with her face on it! Or... what was supposed to be her face... It looked more like a rough sketch if she was being honest. They probably didn't have a good reference image since her family was always too poor to get their portraits taken. Still, she felt mildly offended by the bad sketch. My nose doesn't look like that! Right...?
Zuko looked at Keya with surprise. Sure, he knew that she was fleeing from the Fire Nation, but what could a girl like her have done to get her face put on a 'wanted' poster? This unexpected information put made him see her in a whole new light. She was hiding something. But then again, so was he.
"I knew it!" Their new friend accused with a shrill cry. "You three are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads!"
At the sound of the word 'bounty', the whole pub grew quiet. All eyes were on them. Keya glanced around nervously. Oh-oh.
"I thought you said he would help!" Zuko hissed to his uncle.
"He is, just watch." Iroh put his hand on Zuko's shoulder calmly. Keya's eyes found the man's drawing of her again and she scowled. Was that really what she looked like to others? How embarrassing...
"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that gold?" Their friend taunted loudly.
This time a couple of other men stood up. Mumbles slowly filled the space. "Gold?" Someone let out greedily. Everyone in the pub raised their weapons menacingly. The air was thick with tension.
The bounty hunter's well-dressed partner approached him and hesitated. "Uh, maybe we shouldn't..."
But the muscular man (who kind of resembled the 'boulder' - an infamous earthbending fighter that her brothers were big fans of, now that Keya got a good look at him) simply smirked and approached them, ready to fight. Two men jumped in front of him, but the boulder look-a-like just kicked them away with a grunt.
His partner got into an earthbending stance and buried another guy up to his neck in sand. In the meantime, the boulder look-alike had moved onto new enemies. He held two local sand benders in each hand and kicked his other attackers away with his right foot. Keya wished that she could do something like that. Men were being thrown and kicked left and right, fighting both the two earth benders and one another.
Amidst all the chaos, Zuko grabbed Keya's hand and slipped away after Iroh and their new friend. The old man -not Iroh, the other one- hurriedly led them through the dark alleyways to one of the many neglected buildings of the town. He opened the thick, wooden door carefully and frantically motioned for them to go inside.
❃
A/N: Do you like Zuko and Keya's banter? Keya never misses an opportunity to talk about her family and Zuko seems to tolerate her presence after his episode on the mountain brought some sense to him... what do you think?