Avatar, The Storm Book 2: Blood Drifts

Chapter 1 It's a Long, Long Way to Ba Sing Se

Zuko opened his eyes blearily, but didn't sit up. He didn't know what had woken him up, but he wasn't exactly ready to deal with it yet. After the whole incident with Vad and the Rough Rhinos about a week ago, they had all returned to the palace. And Zuko hadn't been able to sleep well since. His nights were plagued with mostly memories, but there was the occasional run of the mill nightmare that would have him waking up in the middle of the night, bathed in sweat. But tonight was strange, he couldn't remember anything. Zuko rolled over and pushed himself up on his elbows, looking around his dark room. Something felt off.

"Hello?" He called. "Is someone there?" Nothing. He squinted, trying to get his eyes to adjust. That's when he saw movement. Zuko tried sitting up, but found he was suddenly unable to move. "Who's there?!" He demanded, his eyes focused on the moving figure. In a blink of an eye, the figure went from the far corner of the room to right in front of him. Zuko found himself looking into the soulless black eyes of what appeared to be a man. He gagged at the smell of rotting corpse coming off the thing, it's white bloodstained mask unmistakable. "You.... Y-you're the Shadow Bender..... Ascian...."

"I see you know who I am." Ascian's voice sent a chill down Zuko's spine. The Shadow Bender placed his hand on Zuko's head. He tried to jolt away but he couldn't move. It was like he'd been paralyzed. Zuko took a deep breath and exhaled with as much force he could, attempting to blast him off, but nothing happened. Ascian chuckled. "It won't work. Your powerless here, against me."

"What do you want from me?!"

"Nothing yet. But soon. Soon you will belong to me. It is important for the Firelord to reach his full potential, and your father was the closest. You have thus far been a disgrace to your bloodline, working with the Avatar to end this war your great grandfather worked so hard to start." Ascian touched Zuko's scar, Zuko flinching, clearly terrified. "Soon you will understand. Soon you will see the truth to my words. And soon you will gladly join me and you will be welcomed." That was when he really woke up. Zuko let out a shout and sat up abruptly, practically rolling out of his bed and sending a blast of fire around his room, lighting it up for a brief moment before the fire disappeared. He glanced around, his entire body trembling. He was alone again. Until a guard burst through the door, having heard his shout.

"Firelord Zuko, are you alright?" He asked. Zuko nodded but remained silent, not trusting his voice. The guard nodded back, but wasn't so sure, but he still exited the room, feeling it wasn't his place to pry.

Not much else had changed over the past week, with the others that is. No one had gone home yet, each finding they actually liked it in the Fire Nation. It basically started with Toph asking Zuko if she could hang around a while instead of having to go home to her parents, which Zuko had said yes to without needing much convincing. And, well, slowly, the rest of the group had decided to stick around as well. Even Toril had moved into the palace, only unlike the others it was a little more permeant. She had spent the past week exploring the palace and the capital, and practicing her lightning bending, which she had actually gotten a slight handle on it. Toril had even grown quite close to the others and was getting used to life as part of the royal family. Although she was still, well, Toril. First meeting she sat in on with Zuko, she had interrupted one of the generals midsentence and started bereding the guy for the most random things, to Zuko's hidden amusement. Yeah, Toril had pretty much warmed up to the group, although they all still would have their minor altercations, as friends do. But even though they had only known her for a week, it felt like Toril had been there since the beginning. The morning after this story began, Toril and Aang were both sitting at a Pai Sho table, playing each other. Toril moved a piece and grinned, clearly satisfied with herself.