Spark [Prince Zuko - Book One]

❃Chapter Two❃

"Again."

Prince Zuko shot two simultaneous blasts of fire toward the two guards that stood in front of him. His form was sloppy because he wasn't holding himself correctly on his feet. Asake knew a thing or two about fighting because her father trained her on how to use a sword. She patted the sword at her hip, thankful that she was able to bring it with her. Two blasts of fire sailed right over her head, not even close to the mark. She ducked as he dodged a blast from one of the guards, backflipping behind them. Iroh sighed and stood up, stepping beside her.

"No! Power in firebending comes from the breath. Not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire." Iroh released a controlled plume of flame that burst in front of Zuko's face but did not hit him. Prince Zuko didn't even flinch as the fire nearly touched his face. Asake flinched as the blast from the fire blew back a few wisps of her dark hair that had fallen out of her tight bun. "Get it right this time."

"Enough. I've been drilling this sequence all day," Zuko said angrily. His hands clenched into fists again. He looked like a little boy who wasn't getting his way with anything. Asake coughed to cover up her laughter. "Teach me the next set. I'm more than ready."

"No, you are impatient. You have yet to master your basics. Drill it again!"

Zuko didn't say anything. He growled at the two guards before blasting one of the men backward with a quick burst of fire. He faced Iroh and Asake with anger written all over his face. The smell of singed hair floated over to Asake through the cool breeze. She glanced up at the peaceful blue sky and stifled a sigh. Prince Zuko had a habit of injuring his crew when he was angry, and that was generally all the time.

"The sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender. He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements." Prince Zuko turned his glare to Asake when she rolled her eyes. He must have seen her do that. She didn't care, though. He was acting like a privileged little princeling, which he was, but that didn't mean that he had to act like he was so much better than everyone else. "I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him. You will teach me the advanced set!"

Iroh sighed. He pressed a hand to his forehead for a split second before forcing a smile on his face. "Very well. But first I must finish my roast duck." Asake hid a giggle behind her hand as Iroh sat back down and started chowing down on his roast duck.

Zuko growled in impatience. He looked like he was about to blast Iroh's table out from under him, so Asake said, "Why don't you try practicing on me while Iroh eats his roast duck?"

"You can't firebend," Zuko said, shaking his head. Her mouth twitched, but she ignored what she really wanted to say. She wouldn't ever tell anyone about her secret because it was the thing she hated most about herself. "It won't work."

"Come on," Asake said, frowning. Something tugged at her heart, but she brushed it away. She gripped the handle of her sword, lifting an eyebrow. "I'm the co-general of this ship. I think I know how to fight. Or are you scared?"

His lips jumped into a thin smile. She knew she got him there. He was one of the most competitive people she knew. "You're on," Zuko said, stepping into his firebending stance.

He shot a quick blast at Asake, and she jumped out of the way, feeling the heat blow past her left arm. She shivered when she flashed back to when his father burned her. Shaking her head, she quickly pulled out the sword that was situated on her hip in a sheath and grinned. This was what she was good at.

Asake swiped at Zuko with her sword, but he ducked out of the way before she could slice his ear off. "What are you, a coward?" she asked.

Zuko's lip curled back into a growl. She moved forward, slicing at Zuko with her sword. Since they were too close together for him to firebend, he knocked Asake's sword out of her hand. It clattered to a stop a couple of feet away from them. She gasped slightly but narrowed her eyes at him. He threw a punch at her, but she crouched, launching herself at him. The two of them went tumbling down to the deck of the ship, and she landed on top of him. She pinned his shoulders on the deck of the ship, climbing up onto his stomach to claim victory. He stared up at her, his chest heaving.