As I Fall: LOK

Chapter Two

The palace was unlike anything Haitana had ever seen in her life.

Walls of intricate carvings towered high in the air, and shades of red and gold overtook every corner of the frivolous estate. She almost couldn't help but widen her eyes as large as possible, to take in every inch of the beauty of it all. It was like art— like she was walking through a painting hung in a museum.

She almost, admittedly, found it hard to believe that only one family had lived here— in this wondrous palace. Growing up on the zoological land, Haitana was accustomed to her small tent, not echoing hallways and gigantic paintings. It was an overbearing feeling that had taken the girl, one that made her feel out of place, ostracized.

Every once and a while, someone who worked in the palace would shoot her a confused, judgmental glance— one that didn't go unnoticed by Haitana.

She made haste to keep up with the swift steps of Lord Masaru, who seemed like he had walked a mile in only five minutes. Finally, when the doors had opened, sunlight had peaked through; a brightness that Haitana had learned to thrive in. The sun seemed to shine a little too bright on this otherwise grievous day.

Revealing a courtyard, true to nature and expansive in size, Haitana found her composure drop. It was prepossessing, and alluring, and she found herself wanting to observe all the creatures that had made home there. She refrained, however, when she noticed the expecting gaze of a new face— an intimidating person.

In the middle of the courtyard, sitting on a meditation cushion beside a small table, stacked with papers and littered with expensive tea china, was none other than the Fire-Lord herself.

"Ah, there you are," Lord Masaru said lovingly to Fire-Lord Izumi, who's eyebrows were raised with anticipation. "I have made a new friend. This is Lady Haitana of the Fire Nation Animal Observatory," he informed.

Feeling uncomfortable with the attention thrust on her, Haitana gave an unsure bow— slightly faltering in the presence of royalty. Her nerves seemed to ease, at least a smidge, when Izumi had given a warm smile. "Of course," she quipped. "You must be Master Elian's daughter; he is always boasting about his bright, young girl. What can we assist you with?"

Before she could begin her poor excuse of an explanation, Lord Masaru took a few steps toward the grass of the courtyard, stepping up to inform of her predicament. Following sheepishly, both nodded for her to sit with them around the small table.

"Well," Masaru cleared his throat from across the young girl, who shrunk under their intimidating stares. "It seems Lady Haitana's eel-hound has been poisoned. She was rushing into town to meet with a toxicologist when there was a little bit of an accident."

Haitana flushed at this, running her hand along the back of her neck sheepishly at her mistake. "I really am sorry about—"

"Oh please," Masaru almost pleaded. "It was an honest mistake. I'm positive it wasn't your intention to crash into the car—"

Lord Masaru was brought to an abrupt stop by a voice from behind Haitana— one that did not seem as welcoming. "Crash into the car!?" He asked wildly. "Someone crashed into your car and you invite her here for tea; what is wrong with you?"

Whipping around at the sudden voice, the girl almost shrunk as she noticed who was standing behind her. He was tall, especially towering over sitting form, and his gaze was hard. Eyes of warm lamplight, like halos of sun, stared daggers at her— almost as if he were disgusted with her very being. She couldn't believe it, it was—

"Iroh," Fire-Lord Izumi almost warned, shaking her head at the boy. "It was an accident. Of course she didn't mean to."

Haitana nodded rapidly at this, turning back to the Fire-Lord and her husband with hesitancy. "It was," she whispered. "A terribly, stupid accident. I—"

Before she could dare continue, the boy standing behind her still scoffed, unbelieving. "An accident? Right I'm sure it's an accident that you tried to make your way into the palace, and..." he drifted off, but it was clear he had some hesitancy about her existence and presence here among his family.

"I invited her," Lord Masaru disagreed, giving a stern glare to the boy, so he wouldn't be so foolish in the presence of a guest. Whatever his hostility was, it was clear to Haitana that it wasn't unwarranted. Perhaps something had happened recently, and Iroh thought she might be behind it.

Fire-Lord Izumi poured a steaming tea-kettle over a cup, waving for her son to join them. Begrudgingly, he sat beside the girl, but almost observed her every movement, looking to see a misstep. He took several glances at her large bag, eying it intently, and like he found what he was looking for, it started clamoring.

"I knew it," he jumped up. "She's staging an attack on the palace," Iroh pointed a finger in the direction of her moving bag, and in spite of herself she let out a giggle. "You're laughing? You think this is funny?"

Not able to find the words to explain herself, she reached into the bag, pulling out a frog squirrel and holding him up for the three to see. "No attack," she laughed out. "It's just Siso, my pet frog squirrel."

"Well, I'll be," Lord Masaru said in amazement. "How did you get one of those here? I thought they had only existed in the Earth Kingdom."

Iroh was embarrassed about his spurt of desperation in proving the ill intentions of the girl, and in return sat back down with his arms crossed. He couldn't help but feel weird about this strange girl, something in his gut didn't feel right. His intuition was trying to tell him something, but it didn't seem like danger was the right answer. So what was he feeling?

"They do," Haitana agreed, putting Siso on her shoulder. "I rescued him from hunters two years ago in the foggy swamp. He's a great companion and has a good eye for danger. So I keep him around."

Sending out a jolly laugh, the man gave an amused look to his wife. "I can't believe this," he said to her in bewilderment.

"Yeah, me neither," Iroh muttered, still crossing his arms with distaste.

An older woman, maybe about sixty or seventy approached the group of royalty and their guest before bowing, and Haitana knew she wasn't bowing to her but something about it made her feel odd. Like she were somewhere she shouldn't be. "Please, excuse me for interrupting, but the toxicology report is in," she pronounced, and everyone grew silent.

"It seems your eel-hound has suffered from an ingestion of metal mercury. It likely caused significant internal damage, and hallucinations that spanned out over two weeks before taking her life. When testing, I found remains of tea in the solution; it was likely put into a drink given to the animal."

"Tea?" Haitana questioned confused. "But we don't feed eel-hounds tea..." she drifted away from her words for a moment before she realized— Mercury poison. This wasn't meant for her eel-hound, this was meant for her.

She grabbed her head in disbelief, and the three looked to her worriedly. "Are you alright?" Izumi asked her, concerned at the girl who was grappling with her emotions.

"Y-yes," Haitana barely spit out. "It wasn't meant for Wika to drink, it was supposed to be for me. And I know exactly who did it."