Book 2: Earth

Chapter 9- The Hunt

Streams of flame scythed through the forest violently, blasting wooden chunks off nearby trees and spraying ashen leaves onto the forest floor. Before the branches even fell, a masked figure ran past the debris, chased by another half dozen men, all riding Mongoose dragon mounts.

"Stop! In the name of the Phoenix Lord!" A royal marine guard shouted furiously, just as he shot another burst of flame towards his target.

Zuko had no intention of complying with the man, who obviously had orders to bring him in dead or alive. More blasts of fire landed around him, and he felt the familiar heat of the flames brushing uncomfortably close as the shots narrowly missed him. The Prince was quicker however, and he spun around just in time for the next shots, deflecting the blasts harmlessly to graze a nearby tree instead. Deciding he had had enough, he turned to face his pursuers, calmly unsheathing two hook swords, daring the marines to come at him.

Far from being discouraged, the royal marines continued the charge, aiming to run down their prey where he stood. However, Zuko was ready.

As the first Mongoose dragon charged, he rolled to his side, using his hook blade to catch the Marine's foot in his stirrups, he pulled him off his saddle, causing him to scream as the Mongoose dragon dragged him through the trees beyond.

Even as the first marine vanished into the foliage, the Zuko instinctively lifted his second blade above his head, and it rang against metal as the second Marine lashed out with a sword. Caught off guard by the unexpected parry, the second marine reeled his mongoose dragon to stop, and that gave Zuko all the time he needed. Not giving the Marine a chance to recover, he shot a burst of flame at the mongoose dragon's face, searing it's eyes shut and causing the animal to throw about in a wild panic, throwing the rest of the Marine charge into confusion and panic, several marines falling unceremoniously off their saddles.

Having thrown his pursuers into a state of confusion, he turned and ran, not stopping as he abandoned the road for the thick trees. After what seemed like an eternity, Zuko crouched low behind the trunk of a fallen tree, his legs burning with fire from the exertion. He would have to catch his breath, in case he needed to fight again.

In hindsight, it had not been the brightest of his ideas to rescue those water tribe prisoners and divert Chan's attention to him. It was a reckless and impulsive plan, and it reminded him of his younger days. There was no guarantee but he had hoped that it would pay off.

Still, Zuko thought, the longer those two water tribe prisoners were out there, the bigger the chance that the Avatar and her search party would be out in the open. and vulnerable.

That was the first part of the plan, the second part relied entirely on the resistance, and even that part was sketchy, considering his past reputation in the Earth Kingdom. That was why he had to go as the Blue Spirit, not as Prince Zuko. That part of his life was gone forever, he thought wistfully. There was nothing left for him but to atone for his past mistakes; and that started and ended with rescuing this new Avatar.

But first, he had to escape Admiral Chan's Marines.

Zuko snuck a peek over the log, and was treated to the sight of a squadron of heavily armored marines and their ferocious mongoose dragon mounts. Leading them, adorned in the ceremonial gold trimmed uniform of an admiral, was Chan.

"I know you're here traitor!" Chan's authoritative voice shouted out through the trees. "Make this easier for yourself and give up now, and I'll promise you a swift end!"

That voice, and the memories it triggered, made Zuko grip the sword handles tighter. But he pushed his desire for revenge down with a cold resolve; that would be for another day.