Avatar; The Royal Firebender.

The Blue Spirit

Zuko sits at the edge of his bed, his arms resting on his knees and his fingers are interlaced together pursed against his lips. He sits here in deep thought, recalling the day's events. Behind him on the bed, Jin lays fast asleep naked aside from the blanket that covers her. The room is heavy with the smell of sweat, it's warmed by the afterglow of their lay together. Hours prior, they had spent the day creating posters and fliers at the printing press. Aang's naivety had made him believe that they would find Appa that same day, but Zuko knew better. The question that's keeping him up so late still echoes in his mind, threatening to escape his lips if he doesn't find an answer soon. "Why was the Dai Li involved? I didn't see anyone leave the bazaar to get a guard or one of those agents... How did they know exactly where we'd be?" His thoughts echo in his mind like a hive of angry vulture wasps.

Across from him, he sees his dual swords sitting on the top of the wardrobe and even now he can hear Aang's subtle cries from the other room. Realizing sleep is out of the picture for tonight, he quietly gets out of bed and covers up Jin with the blankets once more. He walks over to the wardrobe and silently opens it, opening a secret compartment in the lowest drawer and pulling out a black box with its contents. He sets it on the foot stool on the opposite side of the room before opening the small wooden box. As the lid lifts away, the smiling visage of the blue demon mask looks up at him. He removes the mask from the box before pulling out the pitch black robes from beneath it. He dresses himself in the black robes before pulling up the hood of the shirt. It sits flush with his skin only exposing his face, and with one last look at Jin he lifts the mask over his face and ties it in place. He silently hides the box once again before grabbing his swords and sheathing them around his back. He glides along the ground, across the rug then out the window as silent as the air in the night.

He creeps across the back porch over to where Aang's room is before opening the window and stepping inside. On the bed, Katara lays awake gently rubbing Aang's head as the young airbender curls up tightly around her. Even in the darkness Zuko can still see the tears that stain Aang's face. The airbender lays with his head against Katara's chest, listening to her heart, taking in her warmth and comfort when he so desperately needs it. She sees the masked form of Zuko, looking up at him through sad and tired eyes. He merely nods to her before picking up the glider staff and leaves as quickly as he appeared. He silently walks over to where Appa would sleep in the stables before clicking the release for the glider. The fans spread out to their full length and Zuko throws it up in the air before jumping to catch the glider disappearing into the night.

The streets of the lower districts are only privy to sneaky thieves and street thugs this late at night. A small worn street sign reads "Peddler's Hollow." at the corner of the roads leading into the slums. Three men sit in the mouth of an alley, their chairs just blocks of stone made from bending. In front of them sits a small wooden table with playing cards and coins strewn across it. At the corner of the alley hangs a small lantern basking a few meager feet in its red light. "C'mon... spider snake eyes!" The grovely voice of one of the men says as he rolls a set of six sided dice onto the table. The two cubes roll out into a set of regular snake eyes causing him to scoff and another man to take the pot before he's made fun of. As he collects the few meager coins, a harsh chill washes over the alleyway. A wind that's far too cold for spring, it silences the flickering flame burning in the lantern leaving the alley only illuminated by the starlight and the waning moon. A dense fog crawls along the ground as the air seems to get colder and colder, only accented by the dead silence.

The man who had won the few coins takes a swig of a jug of rice wine before noticing the lantern had gone out. Staggering he stands and meanders over to the small lantern before striking a match to reignite it. As the match burns to life, the winds pick up again and snuffs it out. Cursing he stands back up and staggers, he squints his one remaining eye into the darkness and for a moment seems to make out a figure that's standing in the center of the street. "What the hell are you looking at Ro?" One of the men behind him asks, his bald and scarred head creating almost as much light as the lantern once did. "Who's there?" The man in the street, named Ro, calls out into the darkness. An uncomfortable pause of more silence washes over them as the fog continues to crawl along the ground. The only answer is a single clink of porcelain as the sake jug they had been drinking out of suddenly shatters.