Spark [Prince Zuko - Book One]

❃Chapter Four❃

Asake walked next to Prince Zuko as they stepped down the gangplank. A small tribe of people stood in front of them. Most of the people there were old and wrinkled. There were some children there, but they were hiding behind the old ones. A few women huddled together, and one held a baby close to her chest. Where are the adult men? Asake searched the crowd, her eyes skipping over the elders, women, and children. Her heart constricted in her chest at the sight.

Suddenly, the Watertribe boy from earlier came running at Zuko. Asake noticed that he was the oldest boy there. He yelled a battle cry while raising a weapon over his head. Before Asake could do anything to protect the banished prince, Zuko casually and expertly kicked the weapon out of his hand and then kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ice. The boy's head got stuck in the snow, but Asake wasn't looking at him. She watched as the Watertribe village shrink back in fear.

"Where are you hiding him?" Zuko yelled, and Asake turned to look at him. She couldn't be feeling sorry for the people who were hiding her only way home. Zuko looked around and then suddenly snatched an older woman from the tribe. The girl that was standing next to the old woman had a surprised look on her face. The blue-eyed girl looked absolutely terrified. "He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?"

No one answered the Prince, so he shoved the older woman back into the scared tribe. Asake could clearly see the frustration painted on Zuko's face underneath his helmet, and he cried out angrily, launching a gout of flame over the villager's heads. Asake's heart beat quicker as they cowered in fear. She was about to whisper something to Zuko when the same Watertribe boy from earlier charged at her this time, his broken weapon in his hands. She grabbed the handle of her sword and knocked the weapon out of the boy's hands. Then, she kicked at the back of his knees, and he crashed into the snow.

Asake focused her gaze on the tribe in front of her, her sword shaking in her hand. Suddenly, she was pushed down into the icy snow, flakes soaking into her skin. Prince Zuko turned back around just as the boy charged at him. Didn't this guy realize that he didn't have a chance against them? Asake scrambled to her feet just as Zuko reached over for her sword, ripping it from her hands. He used the butt of her sword and slammed it against the boy's chest. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. She looked at Zuko as he held the sword out.

She grabbed her sword and called out, "We just need the location of the Avatar, and then we'll leave you alone."

And then Asake cried out as something pierced her side. A warm feeling settled in between her metal chest plate, right where she tied it together. Prince Zuko stalked forward and grabbed the spear shaft from the boy. A drop of blood dripped from the spear onto the white snow, staining it a deep red. It must've been hers. She touched her side and winced again. The slice on her side didn't feel deep at all, but it still was very painful.

Prince Zuko hit the boy on the forehead with the spear shaft several times before breaking it in half and dropping the pieces to the ground. He glanced her way. His eyes found the wound on her side, and a look of anger appeared on his face. He looked back at the boy on the ground, fire flashing across his palms.

Out of the corner of Asake's eye, she saw something glint in the bright sunlight and fly their way. It slammed Zuko in the back of the head, knocking his helmet off kilter. Asake's eyes grew wide as Zuko spit fire out of his hands, staring at the Watertribe boy furiously. She was afraid that Zuko was going to kill him.

Another thing glinted in the distance, and before she could question it, she grabbed Zuko by the arm and pulled him over. A bald boy with arrows on his head slid on a penguin in front of the Watertribe boy and girl, who she assumed were siblings. The tribe started cheering as the boy banked, spraying the kids with snow. The crowd stopped cheering but immediately started again as the penguin dumped the bald boy onto the snow. It waddled away as the boy said, "Hey Katara. Hey Sokka."