Fire and the Sickle • Zuko

I. iii - New Faces

MIZUKI SURVEYED THE SCENE BEFORE HER, the boy that she saw in her vision with Ainu had blue arrow markings on his hands and head. As her eyes followed the boy, she began to feel a rising sense of familiarity that of which she couldn't pinpoint. All Mizuki knew was her past. The stories that her mother used to tell her when she dreamed of a bigger world. She heard tales of nomadic people that wore blue markings just like the ones before her.

Her eyes widened slightly throughout her deliberations. Mizuki kept her hand on her sailboat mast as she began to board a secluded ice island. She secured her boat in a hidden spot, away from where the boy and his bison were. Mizuki peered around the ice barrier that kept her shielded and she saw two others that went along with him. She noticed the water tribe attire that they wore, therefore she concluded they were staying in the Southern Water Tribe.

Would it be best to stay hidden?

No, I should just introduce myself and state my intentions.

But I don't even know who he is, and what his importance is in trying to defeat the Fire Lord.

Mizuki's thoughts were running rampant as she stayed behind the ice wall. If anything was certain, it was the fact that she was an energy bender in a water tribe. Only the multitude of outcomes that Mizuki could imagine if she showed herself would be bad. Energy bending is a lot like fire bending in ways. It manipulates the energy around without drawing its power from a source. Mizuki feared that the tribe would determine her intentions to be ill, and possibly sell her out to the Fire Nation themselves. She just hoped that they would be reasonable enough to lend her safe passage for the time being.

The dry air that nipped at her nose reminded her of the current setting she was at. She placed her hands together in front of her face and blew warm air to heat herself up.

Why is it so difficult to meet others?

-

Aang and Katara had spent their time laughing giddily ever since their penguin sledding race and they begun to walk towards an abandoned ship.

Meanwhile, Mizuki gathered her makeshift tent and attempted to fold the tarp. The icy weather was something that she was still not used to, even with her traveling experience. Mizuki stood up and placed her hands on her hips - a sigh escaped her lips. Her eyes searched the horizon, where more ice and sleet blanketed the grounds. She noticed a line of smoke erupting into the air.

A fire nation signal.

Mizuki threw her gear into the sail boat and hopped in. She began sailing. Mizuki holstered her swords in their sheaths on her back and tied her hair back into a braid. There was a large black ship that anchored itself on an ice bank - near the edge of a small Southern Water Tribe village. Whatever intentions the Fire Nation warship bad, they were not good - and Mizuki knew that deep down.

There was a crowd of water tribe members and Fire Nation soldiers gathered around a young monk with arrow markings and a boy with a scar. Forcefully, yet also willingly, the boy with the scar pushed the young monk up the ramp and onto the ship. Mizuki needed to speak with the kid with the blue arrow.

Mizuki grabbed her bag with her gear and threw it over her shoulder and hopped out of the sail boat. She quickly and carefully put the rudder down flat so it would not be visible from a distance. She knew that if she followed the ship in her sailboat, she would be spotted and likely thrown in jail - or worse, executed at the mercy, or lack thereof, of the Fire Lord. Her existence could not be revealed just yet- or at least not in that manner.

She skipped across some small icebergs that scattered across the water, nearing the black Fire Nation ship. Mizuki took one last glance at the Water Tribe Villagers. They wore grim faces- this occurrence had happened before. Mizuki looked up at the ship's side, eyeing the height. She adjusted her bag, checked if it was secure, then placed a palm on the side of the ship.