parallel lines

chapter vi

Word Count: 2,885 words

Chapter VI: 一寸先は闇

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It was an overstatement when Natsuko has told herself she's been lacking at training, she wasn't well versed with the art of bending and a person who relied on muscle memory couldn't do so much. Her kindness to the creatures of great power was also the reason of her downfall.

Shackles were bounding her hands to the small of her back, a scenario she experienced more than once in her 4 years in the human world, in all fairness the spirit world was much more hospitable as no one would care of whoever did it and every other creature had significance and a place to be. Natsuko was all over the place, having travelled the different nations with the only means of unsafe passage to wherever she is brought to for the price of no currency to pay.

It would've been great if she had taken some sort of means of travel with her, although her staff was better left with Aang as her airbending skills were not that great, she still had a lot to learn before she could save herself.

A loud bang to metal cut off her preoccupying thoughts and her eyes widened to see whatever had happened to the place. It was a bit odd to see her chained but on a room with a rather comfortable bed, maybe the reason why she slept better than sleeping on the ground. The door to the room opened and saw a soldier opening up before making way to another soldier.

He took her by the collars of her dress shirt and looked at her purple orbs with his amber ones, "Tell me who you are and why you could airbend."

It wasn't a question, far from it, and she can sense he was an impatient man. He looked a lot younger than he acts to be, his face sparked an interest in her but she wasn't really fond of his hair but it wasn't like she'll be trapped inside their ship for long, "Excuse me, sir, but I think you're confused. There are no more airbenders."

His eyes twitched and took off, Natsuko could hear him outside talking with something about the lines of "I knew that you were playing tricks with me, I do not need another cheapskate in my ship, much less a woman". She pretended not to hear what he was practically spatting all over the damned ship.

She felt better when an old man instead showed up and removed the rope binding her hands behind her, offering her tea on the deck of the ship, "Prince Zuko, that is no way to treat your guests."

"That guest is my prisoner." Natsuko was led outside and saw nothing but a huge body of water they were threading across, "Please sit, child, may I ask your name?"

"My name is Natsuko, sir, may I ask yours?" Natsuko was polite to people who shown her kindness especially if they haven't known each other, she felt safe when she was around him despite his appearance, expect the unexpected she supposed, "My name is Iroh, summer child, but you can call me Uncle as well."

"She is not allowed to walk around boundless, what if she attacks us?" Prince Zuko, who she assumed to be the nephew of Iroh, was still unconvinced at her significance in hie ship, fate brought them together for some reason, "Prince Zuko, what you're looking for is the Avatar, not this young girl."

The Prince looked at her with a part of him still finding a reason as to why she was here, Natsuko wasn't apart of the whole plan he had when he was set out to find the Avatar, and he did find him, now he just had to capture it. All he wanted is to gather why she would be the great bait to work for his hand. He heard a soft clearing of a throat and realized that he had been staring at her all this time which made her uncomfortable, especially with glaring eyes that were thankfully more bearable than the man she regrets to cross paths with a long time ago.