The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 2: Water, Chapter 15: The Siege of the North, Part 1

"How much longer are we gonna have to do this, uncle?" Zuko sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow as he sat down in the cramped tunnel they had managed to hollow out of the ice. His head was starting to throb again, and he could feel his body beginning to grow weak.

"Patience, nephew," Iroh replied as he continued to melt the ice in front of them "I'm sure it won't be too much longer..."

"But it's been hours, and we've barely gotten anywhere," Zuko groaned. "We don't even know where we're going, or how much more ice we need to melt through..."

"Where in Tui's name are the prisoners?" an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed from behind them.

Zuko felt a spike of panic and immediately whipped around. Thankfully, there was nobody else in the tunnel; it seemed the voices were carrying from the room they had escaped from.

"I– they were right here, I swear! There's no way they could have escaped!" another voice replied, this one familiar to him—it sounded like the same person who had interrogated them earlier.

"We must let your father know immediately so we can conduct a search of the estate," the unfamiliar voice said.

"No!" the familiar voice quickly interjected. "I can do it. There's no need to tell my father about any of this. Don't breathe a word to anyone, got it?"

The unfamiliar voice was quiet for a moment. "Alright," they replied, sounding reluctant.

"Uncle," he hissed, turning back around. "If they find the tunnel, we're done for!"

Iroh nodded and decreased the intensity of the fire in his palms until it was just a small flame in his right hand, just enough so they could both still see. Zuko watched as his uncle's eyes darted back and forth, presumably attempting to think of a plan of action. Suddenly, he seemed to notice something below them, and leaned down with his ear facing the ground, as if listening for something.

"What is it?" Zuko asked.

"Look! I found something under the polar bear skin rug!" the unfamiliar voice suddenly exclaimed behind him.

Iroh's gaze darted up to look over Zuko's shoulder, and he sighed heavily. "This won't be pleasant, but it seems to be our only option. Brace yourself, Zuko."

Suddenly, Iroh placed both of his palms on the ground and began to warm the ice below them.

"Uncle, what are you–"

"There you are, ash makers!"

Zuko craned his neck to see their masked captor had landed onto the wet tunnel floor, this time with a jawbone dagger in hand. "You really thought you could tunnel your way out of here? You don't even know where you're going!"

Zuko hated that they were absolutely right. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly, steam emanating from it as he prepared to build up what little energy he had left for a firebending attack. It would be difficult in such close quarters, but he didn't have any other way of defending himself and his uncle.

Suddenly, he heard a loud crack from directly below him, and before he could process what was happening, he fell through the floor, landing with a splash into dark, freezing, and rapidly moving water.

"Uncle!" Zuko gasped as he attempted to keep his head afloat. He had no idea where he was, as it was too dark for him to see much of anything. "Uncle, where are you?!"

Am I going to die here? Zuko thought as the piercing cold of the water began to numb his body, his head pounding painfully. Aang's face suddenly flashed in his mind. Am I going to die without ever seeing him again?