30. The Avatar's Dragon
Zuko took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the iceberg. He had carefully placed his long, curvy body around the peak, front legs gripping one side while hind legs gripped the other, dividing his weight as evenly as he could, so as not to accidentally topple the thing over. These precautions appeared to be unnecessary, however. Despite Zuko's increased body mass, the enormous floating chunk of ice didn't so much as sway under his weight.
Uncle had told the Prince years ago, when they'd been searching the South Pole for the Avatar for the first time, that the part of an iceberg one could see above water was only a fraction of its true mass. From a sailor's perspective, this meant keeping a respectful distance to the deceptively calm looking floaters. Although Fire Nation ships were built to endure direct hits with ice sheets, even they weren't unbreakable, and no one really wanted to risk a shipwreck in the Arctic.
After all his years spent at sea, Zuko was confident he could navigate in the type of treacherous waters Earth Kingdom ships wouldn't think to enter, but flying and landing in such an environment was a new challenge.
Zuko had been flying three days now, and after he'd left the last patches of solid land behind him yesterday afternoon, the landscape had changed drastically. Since there was nothing else to land on, within his considerable line of sight, than icebergs or the icy water itself, Zuko had eventually figured he'd have to take his chances. So far, things had gone fine, though. No unintended dips.
From what Zuko had gathered, despite their fiery reputation, dragons were good swimmers. It made sense, considering they were natural inhabitants of an archipelago. Zuko was a great swimmer in his human form, able to hold his breath unbelievably long if he needed to. So, the reason he was reluctant to land on water wasn't that he disliked water, in any of his forms. No, it was more to do with how cold the ocean was.
Unlike an air bison, Zuko did not have a thick fur and enough body fat to protect him from these kind of water temperatures for long. The air, cold as it was, was more bearable: large animals could maintain body heat better than small ones, after all.
Still, this was far from an ideal environment, even for his tough dragon exterior. Having a long, skinny frame meant Zuko had much more skin exposed to the chilling wind than most animals his size, and he had to maintain a higher body temperature in the first place. His dark skin absorbed heat from the sun well, but did nothing in the way of camouflage.
Oh, come on, you can do this. Zuko thought, and shook his form a little to shake away some fluffy snow that had fallen on his back. Roku's spirit animal was a dragon, and Roku spent four years in this climate studying waterbending. Pleasant or not, dragons can survive here.
There was one feature dragons had, though, that Zuko found extremely useful here: big claws. Even before embarking on this journey, he had presumed they would come in handy when hanging on to slippery slopes, but it turned out they were also useful for other things, most noticeable fishing.
It had taken Zuko a while to figure out how to catch fish mid-flight, but he had been determined and well-motivated, and had eventually gotten the hang of it. Turned out his instincts did most of the work for him if he just let them. He was still no expert, but, thankfully, no one was handing out points for style.
Zuko hadn't been dragon long enough to start hunting on the previous times, but before he had left Earth Kingdom, Uncle had insisted he take good care of himself and keep up his strength. Zuko had brought some supplies with him, but they were for emergencies. In the same magical way that the transformation didn't destroy his clothes, the supplies had magically disappeared when he transformed, but would return when he turned back to human. Zuko couldn't access the supplies without shapeshifting, though, so that really was more of a back-up plan.
Iroh had suggested fishing as a less disgusting alternative to raw meat. In all honesty, though, while Human Zuko found raw meat unappetizing, Dragon Zuko probably wouldn't have minded it in the least. Still, fish was more available here, anyway.
Uncle had originally wanted Zuko to stay at Shara's house until he was fully recovered, but they had soon agreed that neither of them could wait that long. Zuko wouldn't probably be fully recovered before the invasion reached the Northern Water Tribe, and Uncle had to contact Zhao even sooner, before the invasion fleet left the Earth Kingdom.
So, they had compromised. Zuko had stayed until he was well enough to move around with ease, while Uncle looked up as many maps and scrolls as he could find on the North. Zuko had spent a few days practicing being a dragon before Uncle had been satisfied he could fly all the way to the Northern Water Tribe. Then Iroh had sent word to Zhao, as late as he dared without risking getting left behind, informing the Admiral of his desire to participate.
Zhao, having heard of Uncle's 'misfortune', apparently suspecting nothing, had arrived the next morning, on his flagship, to personally welcome Iroh on board. To Zhao's credit, he might be an annoying, assassination-attempting prick, but he wasn't completely brainless. Even Zhao could recognize Uncle's worth as a strategist.
Or maybe Zhao just wanted someone high ranking to explain his ambitious plans to. Or, quite possibly, he just wanted the Dragon of the West there to witness how he achieved his 'ultimate triumph', something Uncle had failed to do at Ba Sing Se. One way or another, Iroh was now in a position to keep an eye on the Admiral.
That night, Zuko had began his journey to the North, preferring to fly under the cover of darkness while traveling past somewhat populated areas. After the first night, though, Zuko had concluded that the odds of someone seeing him this far north were next to non-existent, and had been more straightforward in his travels since. Stopping to rest, not to hide, but only when he needed to.
Zuko looked up. The wind had been strong the whole morning but was now quieting down. It had began to snow: small, fluffy snowflakes were appearing in steadily increasing numbers.
It was time Zuko continued his flight. Although the iceberg appeared stagnant, it was merely an illusion caused by the lack of anything steady to compare it to. In reality, Zuko knew the sea currents were steadily moving the icebergs south, taking him further away from his destination. It wasn't a good idea to linger.
Zuko used the sun to confirm his bearings. Even through the thick clouds and falling snow, Zuko could always tell, without a shadow of doubt, where his source of power was in relation to himself. A very handy skill while traveling long distances through an ever-changing landscape of snow, water and ice, with no noticeable landmarks to navigate by.
After Zuko was convinced he knew which way he needed to go, he opened his wings, stretched them for a while, and took to air again. Zuko wasn't exactly sure how far he still had to go, but he hoped he was closing in on his destination. Time was running out, and besides, he sincerely hoped there wasn't an even colder climate he had yet to reach.
ooo
Sokka steadied his footing and reoriented himself. Not a moment too soon: his opponent's next assault was quickly upon him. Sokka rolled to the side to evade the on-coming spear. Still crouching, he swung his own spear in a wide arc at the other warrior's feet, attempting to trip him, but the other young man had time to scramble backwards and just out of his reach.
Not wasting any time, Sokka sprang into motion and centered a new strike, hoping to catch his opponent out of balance. The hasty attack backfired, when Yoki ducked to the side with ease, and grabbed hold of Sokka's spear. Yoki pulled at the spear, and that movement combined with Sokka's own momentum caused the Southener to fall head first to the icy ground.
A pain shut through Sokka's right shoulder as he landed ungracefully, but he couldn't let it slow him down now, or he'd be sure to loose.
Unarmed, Sokka improvised. He turned around to get to his heels again, and in the same motion he grabbed a handful of fresh snow from the ground. Not having the time to assess Yoki's position, Sokka threw the snow in his attacker's general direction.
Sokka was in luck. Sure of his victory, Yoki had made a dash straight toward Sokka. The snow hit him right in the face. Yoki stopped for a moment, but a moment was all Sokka needed. He, in turn, grabbed hold off Yoki's spear, and kicked the other boy in the abdomen, causing him to fall down. Sokka hurled the spear around and placed it on Yoki's throat.
"That's enough", Head Warrior Kinos cut in. Sokka relaxed and offered a hand to Yoki to help him up.
The Head Warrior walked over to were the two had been sparring: "Well done, Sokka. I must say your weapon of choice was a bit... unorthodox. For a non bender, that is. But you also showcased impressive coolheadedness, and the ability to plan ahead even under pressure. Everyone here could learn from your example."
Sokka felt himself swell with pride. He had spent majority of his time in the warrior training loosing fights. As much as he had tried to train his skills in the South, with no one to teach him, he was far behind his peers in most things. It was nice, for a change, to excel.
"But he cheated!" Someone whispered loudly.
Kinos turned to address all the young warrior trainees gathered in the training yard: "When you are in real combat, the important thing is to defeat your opponent any means necessary. In the heat of battle, your basic attacks are your greatest assets, but one must also be prepared to act if they fail. As those of you who have been to our annual hunting trips know fighting in the practice ring and fighting a real opponent are two very different things."
Turning back to Sokka, the trainer added: "But, it is similarly two different things to fight beasts, and to fight human combatants, which I'm sure Sokka here has experienced first-hand."
Sokka's face spread into a wide grin.
Laughing, Kinos added: "Not that fighting the Fire Nation can really be counted as fighting people."
This earned a ruckus of laughter from the group, but Sokka's smile faded.
Come to think of it, Sokka shouldn't have felt uncomfortable. He had grown up hearing similar statements.
"Fire Nation people aren't even people." "Firebenders are monster." "People of fire have no soul." That sort of things.
And it was true that the Fire Nation was the enemy, and of course Sokka wouldn't hesitate to fight them off to keep his family and tribe safe.
And still. Something about the joke made Sokka feel uneasy.
The Fire Nation were the bad guys, but they were stillhuman, right? At least the people Sokka had seen at the Fire Festival had looked a lot like ordinary people.
And not even all the soldiers, creepy guys with skull masks aside, were totally bad. Jeong Jeong, for one. He had been a grumpy, unhelpful old man, but also an ally.
And then there was Ari, the archer Sokka and Ilya had rescued. She had been a warrior, and even kind of cool. On the wrong side, no doubt, but not inhuman. In a lot of ways, she was just like the Water Tribe warriors (well, if the Tribes had girl warriors).
Hell, even Zuko, the Prince of the Fire Nation, who should have, by all means, been evil incarnated, sort of wasn't. Was Zuko an enemy? Definitely. To be attacked on sight? No doubt about it. Evil? Probably. A really messed up kid trying to win his father's love?
And isn't that a distinctly human reason to do things?
Sokka sighed and shook his head. He couldn't believe he was inertly defending Zuko, of all people. The same guy who had busted their village, chased Aang across the world, kidnapped him and Katara, and, well, sort of defended an Earth Kingdom village from Zhao. Yeah, that had been pretty decent of him.
Okay, when did things stop making sense? When did everything become so... complicated?
"Look! In the sky!" Someone shouted, breaking Sokka from his thoughts.
Sokka gazed up and, sure enough, something was approaching. Approaching fast, and coming straight at them.
Everyone launched for their weapons, struggling to find their respective spears and machetes. Sokka already had a spear in hand, but he immediately went for his boomerang, his strongest weapon, which he had left on the side while practicing fighting with spear.
Turning to face the sky again, Sokka had to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. What on earth could be attacking them from the sky? he had barely time to wonder, when the being landed on the very yard they were standing on, some distance from them.
"WAIT!" Sokka shouted. "Don't attack! It's a friendly!"
Sokka strode forward to put himself between the Northern Warriors and the familiar, black dragon. The other warriors still looked ready to launch an assault, so Sokka turned to address them. "He's a friend. A friendly dragon. The Avatar's dragon!"
It was a stretch to call their half-wild part-time allyAang's, and Sokka knew it, but he had to get it through to their sister tribe that they shouldn't attack the dragon, and he couldn't really think of any better, simpler reason why not. The people of the North did not like any strangers, let alone scary, fire-breathing strangers. Even when he, Katara and Aang had arrived, the Tribe's policy had been to ambush first, ask questions later. Sokka didn't want to see how well a dragon would take to that kind of treatment.
Sokka could have claimed it was his dragon, but that seemed unlikely. Where would a Water Tribe boy have gotten a dragon? No, it made more sense to say it belonged to Aang. The Air Nomad was famous for owning unique, supposedly extinct pets. What was a dragon on top of an air bison and a flying lemur? Also, there was more authority in saying it was the Avatar's dragon. Different rules applied to the Avatar.
To Sokka's relief, his words had the desired effect: the warriors stopped for a moment. They were still wary to say the least, some of them even furious, but also confused.
"Are you sure?" Head Warrior Kinos asked, dead-serious, not for a moment reverting his gaze from the predator looming near. Nor did he lessen his hold on his spear.
"Yes!" Sokka hurried to assure. "I'm sure! It's Aang's dragon. It's friendly and on our side. It has saved me and the Avatar loads of times. It even rescued Aang from a heavily guarded Fire Nation fortress. And it save an Earth Kingdom village from a volcano. So you do not need to worry about it, and you do not need to attack it."
And it's even true! They had to listen to him.
"The Avatar didn't mention a dragon earlier", Kinos sounded dubious, but he also signaled for the rest of the warriors to hold back.
"Um, well I'm sure we must have told someone about it", Sokka struggled.
"Why didn't it come with the rest of you?" Kinos demanded to know.
"Uh", Sokka really didn't feel like explaining that they had absolutely no say on the dragon's comings and goings. In stead, as he eyed the thankfully still placid dragon behind him, it occurred to him to wonder whyhad the dragon followed them here. Then he noticed that the creature had one of it's whiskers lifted.
"Actually, the dragon has come here to tell me something. I'll know more once I, um, communicate with it. Just... don't attack, all right? I know what I'm doing."
Sokka and Kinos' eyes met for a split second, and the older man nodded almost imperceptibly.
That was all Sokka needed. He turned to face the black dragon, and started walking toward it.
"Hi, there", he greeted, suddenly painfully aware that the creature very much understood speech. Well, at least it hadn't thrown a hissy fit over being called Aang's, so maybe it was going to play along.
"Good to see you're feeling better. We've been pretty worried for you."
The dragon nodded its head in a greeting. Yep, definitely a freakishly smart animal.
"So, you've come here to tell me something...?" Sokka gestured toward the whisker. The dragon nodded again, and lifted the whisker even closer to Sokka, stopping a few inches from his forehead.
Mind link things creeped Sokka out, but this was probably really important. Also, he'd be damned if he'd let himself look like a coward in front of all his peers. So Sokka took one more step, and lifted his hand to touch the end of the whisker.
His mind was flooded with images. There were Fire Nation ships. Lots of them. So many of them they filled the whole horizon. And there was Zhao, signaling for the fleet to start moving.
Sokka's mind snapped back to here and now.
"Oh hell", he murmured, and then looked the dragon in the eye: "They're coming here, aren't they?"
Another nod.
Sokka turned to face the warriors: "Um, the dragon has just told me that the Fire Nation is sending an invasion fleet here. A really big invasion fleet, led by Admiral Zhao."
The warriors looked stunned, their expressions varying from dumbfounded to utter disbelief.
"Yeah, we're really sorry for bringing so much trouble on you guys, but I guess we all knew the Fire Nation was going to do something, and I suppose knowing is better than not knowing..." Sokka rubbed the back of his head. He was definitely babbling again.
"How?" the Head Warrior asked. After seeing the lost look on Sokka's face, he clarified: "How did the dragon tell you that?"
"Oh, right. Well, dragons can show people images through a mind link of sorts. And read minds. It's how they communicate, or something."
Now it was Kinos' turn to look like he couldn't understand a word Sokka was saying.
"Yeah, I know, sounds kinda unbelievable and creepy, but it's actually pretty useful. And I'm not making this up. The dragon can really talk through a mind connection. It's a fire thing. Some human fire benders can do it, too."
"Firebenders... can read minds?" the Head Warrior stammered.
"Well, yeah", Sokka struggled to explain himself properly, "This Fire Sage guy we met said it was their element's special talent, kinda like water bending healing is for us. And it's real. Ask anyone. Hell, ask Katara: she had a fire bender interrogate her by reading her mind this one time."
"Dragon!"
Before Sokka had time to do anything, Aang flew to the yard, closed his glider, landed at the dragon's feet, and hugged the creature.
Okay, that wasn't the way Sokka would've acted around a predator with huge claws, but at least Aang's reaction was selling Sokka's lie that it was his dragon.
Hell, for all Sokka knew, the airbender might actually consider the dragon his. Since the Air Nomads didn't own anything, but in practice they kind of did, Aang had a pretty screwed up understanding of the concept of ownership. He didn't think he should have any earthly attachments, but he still considered things 'his glider', 'his Appa', and so on. So, maybe Aang would call the black dragon his by now.
The dragon actually snorted, and Sokka could have sworn it rolled its eyes, but it didn't shake Aang off or do anything aggressive, so that was a bonus.
"We were so worried about you when you just left like that!" Aang exclaimed, taking some distance to look the dragon in the eye.
Now the beast definitely rolled its eyes, but also nudged Aang playfully with his snout, in a friendly gesture. Aang laughed a little.
Sokka seriously hoped the dragon would want to stay and would be allowed to stay. He was already picturing some of the possibilities having your own dragon produced.
All the warriors will be so impressed. Not to mention the ladies. Maybe I could ask Yue to go for a dragon ride with me? Just 'cause she's engaged to a jerk doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? Sokka thought, hopeful.
Granted, Sokka could also take Yue for a ride on Appa, but a dragon would somehow be even more cool. Appa was reliable, like a bulky, long-distance cargo ship, but a dragon had to be the speed boat of flying things.
Suddenly, a huge slide made of ice formed itself over the roof tops. On it came Master Pakku, and, right on his heels, Katara.
Sokka was aware that the dragon had been a bit nervous earlier, despite how it tried to play it cool. Just little tell-tale signs (and at what point had Sokka learned to read those?). But, now, upon seeing the impressive feat of waterbending, the dragon tensed visibly.
"It's okay", Sokka hurried to say, lifting his hands in a placating gesture, earning a dubious look from the dragon. "That's just Master Pakku, Aang and Katara's new waterbending master. He's... well he's an uptight chauvinist, but other than that he's okay. Mostly harmless."
Katara snorted disapprovingly at her brother's description.
Boy, those two bonded fast, Sokka thought. Just a few days ago, Katara would had used far harsher terms to describe the chauvinist water bending master, but now that Pakku had accepted her as a student and even taken a liking to her, they were all apparently supposed to just forget his earlier behavior. Sokka rolled his eyes at his sister. Whatever.
"What is the meaning of this?" Pakku asked, his tone pricklier than usual.
"Master Pakku! This is my friend the dragon", Aang provided easily.
"Yep", Sokka cut in, "He isn't here to hurt anyone so don't attack him. He just came to warn us about an on-coming Fire Nation attack."
Pakku's piercing gaze landed on Sokka. "Really? And, remind me, how do you know a dragon?"
"It's been following us for a while", Katara answered seriously. "We were worried at first, but it has been really helpful to us since."
She turned to face his brother: "But what did you say about an attack?"
Sokka nodded. "Oh yeah. A massive invasion fleet heading north, with Zhao in charge."
Suddenly, Master Pakku took a step forward, and bowed his head in a formal greeting. Everyone, including the dragon, stared, but eventually the dragon responded with a graceful bow of his own.
"I am Master Pakku. It is an honor", the old, usually never this courteous man, introduced himself. "May I inquire your name?"
ooo
This was unexpected.
Thus far, things had gone as well as could be hoped for. Not only the foolish airbender, but also his little more sensible Water Tribe friend Sokka, had vouched for Zuko.
And, as he had expected, everyone presumed Zuko was an animal, a pet. A potentially dangerous animal, maybe even a smart animal, but animal, nonetheless. That foolish presumption was something Zuko had intended to use to his advantage.
But now, Master Pakku was greeting him like a bending master would another, and expecting him to introduce himself. Which was... alarming.
Zuko couldn't help but wonder if the master had realized he wasn't a real dragon, but surely Pakku would not be making casual conversation if he had. A far likelier option was that Pakku somehow knew what some firebenders did: dragons had to be treated with respect. Perhaps the man had travelled.
In any case, Zuko hadn't anticipated the question. The Avatar's lot hadn't asked Zuko for a name, not even when they realized he could 'speak'. But somehow Pakku knew there was more to Zuko than met the eye, and the old man was expecting an answer, one Zuko couldn't afford to give. Well, not truthfully, anyway.
Zuko tried to quickly think of a good name for a dragon. What names did he know? There were Tuli and Ran and Shaw. Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin had had dragons, the name's of which he had surely been told but couldn't remember now. There were lots of dragons in legends and plays, like the Love among Dragons, which Zuko had seen enough many times to remember by heart, but he couldn't pick the name of a known dragon and risk causing misunderstandings.
Toph had called him 'Flicker', but that was a silly name. Even if the Northerners bought it, Flicker didn't exactly strike fear into people's hearts or even demand respect.
Eventually, Zuko settled on a simple name with a fitting meaning. He didn't particularly want to connect his mind to Pakku's, and he also wanted to convey the message to all present, so Zuko reached his whisker down and started drawing characters on the fresh snow.
Since the Water Tribe already knew Zuko was smart, he might as well demonstrate that he understood just not speech, but could read and write as well.
This was the first time Zuko tried to write while in his dragon form. It required concentration, and his 'hand writing' wasn't as neat as he would have liked it to be, but he supposed it would do.
"Nice to meet you, Kulo." Pakku replied after reading the characters.
"I didn't know he had a name", Aang voiced out loud what all three children must be thinking judging by the look of them,
Pakku actually rolled his eyes. "And why does this not surprise me?" he commented, more to Aang than to Zuko.
Then the waterbending master turned his attention back to Zuko. "When will this invasion fleet get here?"
Zuko didn't know an exact date, there were so many variables in sailing, but, presuming Zhao would move the fleet at its top speed, Zuko would give it a few weeks. However, even though he felt sympathy towards the Water Tribe for their faith, Zuko did not want to give the enemy more details than was necessary to gain their trust.
Telling about the invasion had been nothing short of treason as it was. Although Zuko had learned years ago that sometimes what was treason did not go hand in hand with what was wrong, he still felt a bit guilty. But, like Sokka had said, the Tribe had already suspected an attack was on the way.
Still, these people would use everything Zuko told them to fight his countrymen more efficiently. He wouldn't tell them any more if he could help it.
If only the Avatar hadn't come here, then maybe the battle could have been avoided, Zuko thought, even though he already knew it wasn't that simple.
Zhao had been planing this invasion far longer than the Admiral had known the Avatar was going to reach the Northern Tribe. The Avatar's arrival had undoubtedly sped up the plans, but a battle would have been inevitable, regardless.
Zuko had wondered if he should try to convince the Avatar to leave (or possibly kidnap him again), but that wouldn't prevent the invasion. Having come this far, even if Zhao heard the Avatar had escaped, he wouldn't hesitate to conquer the Northern Water Tribe just to be sure.
Zuko shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't a particularly graceful or helpful a gesture, but he hoped it would suffice.
Pakku nodded and turned to face the humans on the plaza: "Chief Arnook must be told of this at once. Master Kinos, would you send your students home, and then see to it that the Council is called to a meeting?"
The oldest of the soldiers nodded and started giving orders to the youngsters around him.
Pakku turned back to Zuko: "Thank you for bringing this information to us. If you would be so kind and wait here while we discuss this matter."
Zuko nodded and curled on the ground to emphasize he wasn't going anywhere, once again earning baffled looks from Team Avatar.
Good, Zuko thought to himself, it wouldn't hurt for those kids to learn just how much further one can get with good manners and by showing respect to all living things. Though, in all fairness, I only learned that lesson a short while ago myself, so maybe I don't get to say.
Lying down while surrounded by enemies, especially by waterbenders, made Zuko nervous, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. If he wanted to stick around, and after the long flight, he really did, he had to first earn these people's trust. This was where Zuko could be of most use, and it would be a real shame if he was turned away so soon. All in all, now was no time to let his suspicions or pride get the better of him.
The ground was cold, and far from comfortable, but Zuko wasn't big on complaining. Also, he very much doubted there were many more comfortable spots closeby. The city was, after all, built on and of nothing but ice, at least, as far Zuko could tell.
Despite Iroh's constant remainders that the city was a powerful stronghold, Zuko had expected to find something equivalent to the villages on the South Pole, so the actual settlement had impressed Zuko greatly. The Northern city was nothing like the worn-down igloos he'd seen in the South. The city made of ice was quite beautiful, even if Zuko still couldn't quite figure out why anyone would want live on ice in the first place.
Zuko kept a casual look out for the Avatar and the waterbenders. Master Pakku naturally worried him more, but Katara, too, appeared to have advanced in her studies greatly in the little time she'd spent studying under a master. If she kept up that pace, she'd be a master herself in a few years, and although Zuko tried to keep an open mind, he couldn't help resenting the girl just a little for her Azula-level of giftedness.
To some people, everything just came easy.
Pakku was talking to Team Avatar. "Avatar Aang, Sokka. It would probably be for the best if you joined the Council on our next meeting."
A hurt, angry look crossed Katara's face at her not-so-subtle exclusion from the meeting, but then Pakku turned to her, and made a very deliberate gesture toward Zuko. "Katara, would you be so kind as to stay here to keep our new guest company?"
Right, Zuko got it the same time Katara did, if the look of dawning realization on her face was anything to go by. It's not that she isn't allowed into the secret meeting, it's just that I am a suspicious creep they don't want to leave without a babysitter.
Katara bowed to her master, stating that it would be an honor.
A logical choice for a babysitter / guard, really, Zuko thought to himself.
The dragon and Katara had met before, and he clearly accepted her presence. She was also visibly the least trusting of the bunch towards Zuko, and, quite possible, the one with best changes of matching him in a fight.
Not that Zuko thought it was likely that Katara could take him on, no matter how rapidly she had improved. She wouldn't be able to defeat him as a human, let alone as a dragon.
Still, it would be interesting to put that theory to a test. Zuko found himself briefly wondering how Katara felt about friendly sparring matches, but now was probably a terrible time to ask. Perhaps after the locals had had more time adjust to the presence of a dragon in their midst.
"Um, it's good to see you again, Kulo", Katara greeted him, making a show of addressing him by 'his 'name'. "You mind if I stay and keep you company while the others talk things over?"
Zuko huffed, showcasing it didn't matter to him whether she stayed or left. All through the conversation, he'd been making an effort to act nice and cooperative, but this level of friendliness wasn't natural to him, and had started to wear on him. Also, Zuko didn't want to be viewed as someone completely tame. He'd rather keep everyone on their toes. It was more honest, all things considered.
You shouldn't trust me so easily, Zuko thought almost wistfully.
Besides, what was the point of trying to befriend someone who, if she knew Zuko's true identity, wouldn't hesitate to dice him with ice at the first opportunity?
()()()
A/N
I don't know any Chinese, so when I pick names for OCs, I either pick random names that I think sound good, or use appropriate sounding Finnish words and names. I use Finnish because its my mother tongue, there is no thematical reason or connection to the Avatar world. The words I use mean things in Finnish, but the meanings are usually random, since the sound of the word is more important. Not always, though.
In case anyone was wondering, in Finnish, 'kulo' roughly translates to 'fire burning ground' or 'burnt ground', but in a positive sense of the words. Kulo means either the burning itself, or the ashy, fertile ground created by the fire. Burnt ground is good for new growth, and kulotus (burning the ground) was a farming style used in some parts of Finland before the 20th century. It was done on purpose to keep the soil fertile.
I picked the name as Zuko's alias because Kulo sounds a bit like Zuko, and sort of refers to his ashy color. Zuko's been burned, but instead of being damaged goods, he is stronger for it.
Some others you might be interested to know:
tuli = fire
kurita (Zuko's mindreading teacher)= to discipline
aamu (one of Zuko's sisters) = morning; also used as a woman's name
kinos (the water tribe warrior trainer) = snow bank
On a completely different topic, in case you're waiting for an update on my other fic, Last Resort, the next chapter is more or less written, so it should be up in a few days.