The DragonBorn

Chapter 4

The next morning came faster than the girl, Zeraphina, wanted it to come. As the dawning sun rose in the sky, she too rose from her slumber greeting her oldest friend, the sun. Zeraphina happily got dressed and ran out to the deck in order to greet the sun more personally.

She bowed at the fiery sphere in the sky, breathing in the cold air of the South Pole. She stood there for what felt like hours, until someone shouted her name.

"Zeraphina." The voice said. Zeraphina turned around and saw Zuko still wearing his evening clothes. She smiled at him and bowed.

"My Prince." She said, "Isn't it an amazing morning? Look, the sun is so bright today and not a single cloud in the sky."

Zuko huffed and rubbed his hands up and down his arms, "It would be better if we weren't in this cold."

"Oh, come on, my prince, where's your sense of fun?"

"I don't need fun."

Zeraphina huffed, "I know, all you need is the Avatar. I get it. But at least enjoy the sun for a little while with me, won't you? After all, without the sun, we firebenders don't have power."

Zuko sighed and turned away, heading up to the observation deck to watch for any signs of the Avatar. Zeraphina decided to follow him, just to make sure that he didn't get into any trouble on his ship. They walked up the stairs to the observation deck and Zuko immediately went to his telescope. A couple of the soldiers watched as Zuko scanned the area, when all of a sudden, a signal flare lit up the bright sky even further.

Zeraphina felt her heart jump at the sight of it, knowing that it was a Fire Navy flare, but the Fire Nation hadn't come to the South Pole since the Waterbender hunts years ago. Never a day went by that she prayed that her vision would come to pass, that a single waterbender lived in the South Pole.

"The last airbender." Zuko said lowly watching something in the distance, "Quite agile for his old age." He turned to one of the soldiers, "Wake my Uncle. Tell him... I've found the Avatar. And his hiding place."

Zuko looked back at Zeraphina, who stood by his side, "This is it, Zeraphina. We're finally gonna go back home."

Zeraphina could only nod in agreement, but on the inside she didn't want him to go down this path. Zuko left the deck so that he could prepare, Zeraphina following him before heading to her room to prepare herself for the fight that may come. She opened her closet and brought out armor specially made for her just in case she needed to fight. It consisted of a breastplate colored a deep red with black lining with the traditional shoulder pads that all soldiers wore. She wore black pants and pointed black boots and a gold belt around her waist. The only large difference between her uniform and the other soldiers on the ship, was the hood she wore along with a cloth mask and a domino mask that kept her face hidden from others.

After braiding her hair and placing it in a tight bun, she covered herself with her hood and left her room to meet Zuko for the landing. She stood on the deck of the ship, waiting for the ship to dock. Soon, they came to a snow wall, a single boy standing on its ledge, and without warning to anyone, the ship crashed straight through it. Zeraphina could hear the screams of women and children from beyond the wall, a pain echoing through her chest in guilt for what the prince was about to do.

The ship stopped almost immediately after the snow wall was destroyed.

"Let's go." Zuko ordered Zeraphina and several of his soldiers to follow. They went down to the ramp and exited the ship, seeing nothing but women and children in the village they had just crashed into. There was only one boy there, and he looked no older than Zuko or Seraphina. He was dressed in traditional water tribe warrior clothing and face paint, wielding a club in his hand as a weapon.