Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Sho-xai Island ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

Rain whipped across the deck of the Fire Nation ship that sailed across the sea. There was nothing to slow the wind as it barreled over the waves which also added their wrath to the attack on the lone ship in the sea.

“So Zuzu, how are you liking the weather?” Azula asked as she turned to her brother. She had a sadistic grin on her face as her hair was plastered to her pale skin. “Seems appropriate considering we just received news about father’s death.”

Zuko, her older brother by little over a year did not answer her as he looked out across the raging sea. The scar that dominated the better part of his left half of his face wrinkled deeply with his scowling expression. He kept his hands locked on the railing as the storm pitched the ship about. It was oddly appropriate to him that it should storm now of all time. This storm was not the celebration of someone’s ascension to power like his sister made it out to be.

“You do realize who is going to be on the throne when we get back, don’t you?” she said as she leaned in making sure her brother had heard her. “Zuzu?”

“Stop calling me that,” he muttered under his voice refusing to look at her. “I don’t care any more. There is nothing for me to care about any more. It was all taken from me a long time ago; I just didn’t see it until how.”

“Oh don’t talk like that,” Azula said as she tried to hold back laughing at her brother. “There will always be a place for you when we get home.”

“As what?” Zuko said as he turned to finally face her, his hands balled up in fists. “Your jester? Maybe as some puppet that will dance when ever you tug on the strings.” He turned and walked off before Azula had a chance to reply. She simply laughed at what he said before she went into the ship as well. She decided it would be best to let her brother simply brew in his misery for now rather than adding anything more to it.

After sleeping for several hours there was a loud knock at her door. She took a moment to notice that the ship no longer pitched, the storm outside must have passed already. Azula got up and wrapped a robe around her body to cover the silk gown that she wore to bed. She opened the door and came eye to eye with one of her traveling companions, a plain looking girl by the name of Mai.

“What do you want?” Azula demanded keeping her voice a low growl. “Don’t you know people are trying to sleep?”

“Yes,” Mai said. Azula noticed that she looked frightened, something rare of this dispassionate young woman. “But it’s Zuko.”

“What is my annoying brother doing now?” she demanded, her voice taking a sharper edge. She pushed out of her room and started down the hall wanting to see this for herself.

“He’s not in his bed,” Mai said. “I can’t find him anywhere on the ship actually.”

“What?” Azula said her anger still hung in her voice but it was nearly over taken by the surprise that suddenly over came her.

She stormed onto the deck to find a few crew members there, a night shift that kept the ship on its course. The sky above though beautiful in the wake of the storm did not interest her at the moment. Her rage built up inside as she shattered the peace with the orders she shouted.

“Everyone! Search the ship,” Azula shouted. “Find Zuko!” No one bothered to argue with her and dropped what they were doing to search the ship.

“Do you really think they are going to find him?” Mai asked, another emotion actually sneaking into her voice, she actually sounded worried. Azula wrote this off as something left over from the past crush Mai once had on Zuko.

“He’s probably hiding somewhere just to try and get back at me for all the cruelty he can’t seem to take,” Azula said. She crossed her arms on her chest and drummed her fingers on her arm as she waited. She stared out across the sky and considered what she was going to do to punish her brother for this. The sky was bisected by the clouds; on one side were the stars that had once been the guides for early sailors, the other half was still dark and occasionally lightning flashed in the blackness.

“What is that on the horizon?” she asked idly her eyes caught by what looked like an island sitting under the stars. “I thought there wasn’t anything out here.”

“Oh that, I’ve been looking at the maps trying to figure it out too, but it doesn’t seem to exist on paper.”

“You are sure about that?” Azula asked as she continued to stare at the island.

“Very, I spent a good hour trying to locate it, but no luck finding it on paper,” Mai said. “This area as we already know is renowned for far reaching reefs.”

“I know, not many people sail this close to them which is probably why we caught sight of that island,” Azula mused. She kept her eyes on it as they continued to move through the water. There was something about it that was keeping her attention something that she was unable to name. “Do you think there is any strategic value in setting a base there?”

“Only if a path can be found through the reefs,” Mai said. “I know little on sailing so you’d have to have it looked into by an actual expert.”

“I think that will be a project for another time,” Azula said as she walked away from the railing. “How much are you willing to wager that my uncle knows something about Zoku’s location?”

Azula took the time to get properly dressed and a decent meal in her before she went to face the old man that she kept as a prisoner. She kept him rather comfortable, possibly too comfortable but it was better right now to show good will towards him as he was still popular back in the fire kingdom and some of the generals were considering him as the next in line for the throne as he was the original heir.

“Hey Uncle, how’s it going?” she asked as she came into the cell, interrupting the tea he apparently had requested. She gave a grin as he nearly choked on it when she came in.

“Why, what a pleasant honor to see you this morning,” Iroh said as he set his cup down on the tray. Azula felt a great annoyance with him as no matter what she did he managed to stay to the pleasantries.

“I’m here not to have tea with you, Uncle,” Azula said as she kicked the cup across the cell causing it to shatter against the wall. “I’m here too talk to you about my brother. I know that he talks to you about things that he tells no one else.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Iroh said as he looked longingly at the shattered cup. He looked up at her and gave a slight sigh. “He did speak to me last night, but all he did was complain about what you have said to him.”

“What did he say exactly,” Azula said as she leaned in closer.

“Why do you have such an interest in your brother?” Iroh said as he pulled a spare cup out of a pocket in his robes. He blew into and poured himself some more tea. “You could always ask him yourself.”

“I would if he could be found,” Azula said as she started to lose her temper. First her brother goes missing and now this old man was doing everything he could to infuriate her. “Now tell me what you know or I swear I will make you regret it!”

“I have no idea what my nephew may have done,” Iroh said. He looked up at the frustrated Azula wondering if he should be afraid of her wrath. Before she could have done anything thoughtlessly one of the crew members came in through the door.

“What?” Azula shouted holding up her hand ready to strike him where he stood.

“We haven’t found your brother,” he said, fear obvious in his voice. “But we did find some food missing from the kitchen and one of the live boats gone as well.” Lightning crackled from Azula’s finger tips and there was a muffled sound from the crewman before he fell. She walked away leaving the smell of charred flesh to linger in Iroh’s cell.