The Fire Within - an atla fanfic (Zuko x OC)

Caught in a Landslide

I felt myself being jabbed in the arm, and fluttered my eyes open in confusion. I was met by several scruffy-looking men dressed in some type of armor that looked complety alien. Mainly out of fear, I closed my eyes again and tensed all my muscles.

I listened as the men began commenting on my appearance. "What a strange looking girl.." One of them spoke. "I've never seen someone with that hair. And the clothing is quite odd."

"They are ones to talk." I thought in annoyance.

"There is no place for this girl on this ship, leave her back where she was." A younger, yet somehow raspy voice spoke. I opened my eyes again in curiousity and looked around. I found the previous speaker, who somewhat looked my age, but the odd ponytail haircut and angered expression made him appear much older. He turned his head slightly and I saw a large scar covering a large portion of his face. It looked old, but suited him well from the first impression he had given me.
  
"But Prince Zuko, she was in the ocean." One of the crewmembers replied.

"And?" The so-called prince answered, looking quite indifferent to the idea of throwing me overboard.

"Prince Zuko, I do not think it would be wise too leave her back at the ocean." An old man chimed in. "Perhaps she may know useful information about the avatar."

I cleared my throat cautiously and felt as every pair of eyes looked at me. "Can someone tell me where we are? And who you are?" I asked shyly.

Zuko did not seem too fond of what I said and stepped closer to me. "Listen here, peasant, make one wrong move, and I'll throw you off the ship!"

I put my hands up in surrender and looked around in disbelief. The crewmates all watched me in understanding. I'm sure they had been there.

"You are lucky I am taking pity on someone in your state." Prince Zuko continued while examining my condition. I kept my eyes wide, clearly still startled by everything. "Take her to a cell,"  he ordered as he stood back up and walked off smugly.

I felt two guards grab me, one for each arm, and they whisked me down a flight of stairs from the deck of the ship. I struggled to walk with my wonky ice skates and my drawstring bag barely hanging from one of my arms. We arrived at a cell, as requested, and I looked in it skeptically. This was not humane in the slightest. They lightly shoved me in and I fell on the ground due to my nearly numb legs.

I peered back up at the guards and tightened my lips, my uneasiness flying through the roof. "Could I please get a change of clothes?" I asked quietly, desperate to get out of the cold.

"No." One of the guards replied before closing my door and leaving me to shiver. I listened for their footsteps to go away and quickly went to the cell door, trying my best to pry it open. Unfortunately, things were not convenient enough for the door to be unlocked. I sat back on the ground and looked around a cell, which consisted of some dust, a little cot, and some more dust.

"I need to get out of these." I mumbled to myself as I looked down at my clothes which were still dripping wet. I pulled off my ice skates and sat down on the stiff bed, pulling my knees to my chest. There was nothing for me to change into, and I definitely couldn't go butt-naked in here. I sat there, shivering for what felt like forever. I tried to reach for my drawstring bag on the ground to entertain myself but could barely move my fingers.

I snapped my head up as I heard a gentle knock on the cell. "Yes?" I said somewhat shyly. The old man who had told to prince to let me stay walked in with a small smile on his face. I watched him distrustfully.

He sat a bundle of clothes next to me and gave me another smile. "Here are some clothes and a blanket. I will be back soon with something for you to eat."