ATLA, In A Darker World

The Fire Navy Cruiser sailed out to deeper waters. Although still on the southern seas near the edge of the southern earth kingdom, it was now miles away from shore.

Now, there were only two options for a regular human to get to land. One, a ship. Two, waterbending.

As for trying to swim to the coast? Drowning was definitely a sure bet.

Smoke was expelled into the sky from the top of the ship's tower mast, generated from the coal consumed to power the cruiser's engines.

And in the dinning room somewhere halfway up that tower .....

A servant walked in, holding a plate of freshly cooked and seasoned fish and placed it on the table. Zuko gave a slight nod, expressing his satisfaction.

"That will be all".

The servant immediately took a bow, turned around and walked out of the room as soon as his job was done.

In the fire nation, rank and hierarchy were taken seriously. So although Zuko's banishment had greatly impacted his status, it did nothing to change his overall mindset.

The crew of the ship basically dined in the Mess Hall, while Iroh and Zuko ate separately. The former did it so he could spend more time with his nephew, while the latter felt it was beneath him to associate himself with members of staff like his uncle did.

He was the one in charge of this ship. And as Prince of the Fire Nation, it was beneath him to eat the same thing the rest of the crew did.

So with an expressionless face, Zuko picked up his cutleries, facing his evening meal. The fish was just part of a delectable array of dishes specially prepared by the Head Chef.

A cook brought on by Iroh himself and was the jolly uncle's favorite member of the crew. During the initial year of his banishment, Zuko agreed that bringing that cook was one of the best decisions his uncle had ever made for him till date.

Even back in the palace, the cuisine the family dined on daily wasn't necessarily much better than this.

Fried Bangus Fish, boiled Sea clams, delicious silverskim fish with garnish applied, and of course, his uncle's personal favorite, Roasted Komodo Chicken.

If there was anything this ex-crown prince ever looked forward to apart from capturing the avatar during his long days away from home, it was dinner.

And with how well his uncle got along with the rest of the crew, Zuko was almost certain that the only reason Iroh joined him here instead of going to the mess hall was because of this.

Dinner began and though expressionless, the crown prince ate with relish. That was until he turned his attention to the jolly fat man sitting across.

"Uncle ….". Zuko called out confused.

".... Huh? What is it, prince Zuko? .....".

"You're not eating".

The prince uttered with a puzzled face. This was the first time ever that his uncle wasn't stuffing his face with Komodo Chicken.

While at the same time, eyeing him warily to make sure he didn't steal a piece from his bowl without his knowledge.

Instead, his face sported a solemn expression while he read a ... Scroll?

Zuko took a look and was surprised. Wasn't this the same scroll he showed his uncle some time ago? Why was he still with it?

"Oh!" Iroh nodded. "I guess I'm not exactly in the mood for dinner right now". The old man replied, his voice clearly not as easygoing.

"But it's dinner time….". Zuko said without stopping his actions. ".... And you're always in the mood when it's dinner time".

"...". Iroh didn't respond. Zuko frowned.

"Is it because of the prisoner?"

The old man nodded.

"What?" Receiving his affirmation, Zuko was a little alarmed. "Did you find anything wrong?"

"Not exactly ….". Looking over the scroll for the third time, Iroh shook his head. The details here were enough to surprise the old man a little. After all, a captain at the age of seventeen wasn't something easily achievable.

Even within a special department.

His son, Lu Ten, had received a good deal of promotions while he was still alive. And if that were all, Iroh certainly wouldn't pay much attention to a common rebel.

What truly surprised him was how exactly had this young man managed to escape Capital Prison and escape this far without being captured.

Were the security guards guarding the criminals nowadays so lax?

That and .....

".... Although his information is rather peculiar, it loses the initial surprise".

"Then?" Iroh was right about this. Zuko felt the same.

"I can't shake the feeling that something is ..... Off about him".

"What?" The prince was dumbfounded at first. He had seen the contents of the scroll, but unlike others, he cared very little.

What did it matter if someone two years older than him used to have the rank of a captain in the army?

In the Fire Nation's long history, it wasn't rare. Such information had nothing to do with him and wouldn't help him in any way on his quest to capture the Avatar, so why bother?

Seeing his uncle always so idle suddenly take an interest in such a matter, Zuko originally thought he had noticed something.

Turns out, it was just a feeling.

Realizing this, the scarred prince had his face darken greatly.

"Another one of your hunches. What good could those do?"

"Do not neglect instinct, prince Zuko....". Iroh rebutted. "A man's gut is his best advisor".

"Whatever". The tone in which he replied indicated that he wasn't taking it seriously.

"Whether your gut is right or not, the prisoner is already in the prison hold. No one's getting him out until we get to the next fire Nation Outpost".

Iroh furrowed his eyebrows, put the scroll aside and began to eat.

"The report says he managed to escape the Capital and evaded capture for so long. Yet, you speak so lightly of him. What if he escapes?"

"Hmph! He's already been captured. What makes you think he can escape?"

"The Avatar escaped. What makes you think he can't?"

Those words made Zuko's eyebrows narrow. He opened his mouth and uttered in an elevated voice with clear emphasis.

"He's not the avatar".

Then he turned to his food and murmured. "Not even a bender, either".

"You are underestimating an opponent again .....".

"He's a prisoner, not an opponent".

Zuko dropped his cutleries and stood up, leaving the half-eaten meal fish meal behind.

"I'm full. If something's bothering you, do something about it". Then he walked away.

Seeing his nephew heading towards the door, Iroh raised his eyebrows.

"Where are you going, Nephew?"

"I'm going to bed. No disturbances".

The curtains were pulled aside as Zuko walked out. Iroh gazed at the door he passed through for a few seconds before turning to the Komodo Chicken again .....

The night's dinner was uneventful. As the ship sailed the waters, Iroh walked down the tower and appeared on the deck. At this time, he should be sleeping peacefully in bed without a care.

He was very much capable of such. After all, when Zuko discovered the avatar in the North Pole and Aang was taken to the cells, barely three minutes passed before Aang escaped and opened Iroh's room while searching for his staff.

And what do you know. The old guy was literally dozing off in bed. After the Avatar was finally discovered, he just went to bed that easily?

Answer ..... Yep. Tonight was different, though.

Thud! Thud!

Calm footsteps resounded as the old man walked towards his destination.

Within his mind, the image of the eighteen-year-old boy in shackles couldn't help but replay in his mind over and over.

"I'm a fan of your Legendary deeds"

'Strange ... A strange young man …'. Iroh's eyebrows couldn't help but furrow.

Although he usually acted like … In Zuko's words, A Jolly Old Fool, the retired general of the Fire Nation was anything but such.

After the death of his only son, he had gone on a journey throughout the world. That also included a spiritual adventure in which he ventured into the spirit realm searching for Lu Ten.

He never found him, as the spirit realm wasn't the realm of the dead. Nevertheless, he did attain something else entirely.

A spiritual sensitivity far greater than what ordinary people could master. This was shown in the original timeline.

On the winter solstice, Aang in the Spirit state was taken by Avatar Roku's dragon to receive Roku's message.

Iroh who had been captured by earthbenders at that time was able to see their spirits fly over him and the Earthbending group while the others didn't notice something was amiss.

His time in the Spirit realm led him into encounters against spirits. Even if he wasn't sure of exactly what he felt, the Dragon Of The West would never mistake a disturbance on the spiritual level.

- Until your foreign soul adapts, you will come off as odd to normal people and even more so to those spiritually sensitive -

And so, it was with that feeling that the old man walked towards the Prison hold in an attempt to discover what exactly his gut was pointing to.

Something was wrong with that young man, something Iroh couldn't ignore.

Walking towards the stairs, Iroh saw an Imperial Firebender coming from the direction of the Prison Hold.

"Sir ….". A distorted voice sounded from the helmet as the man uttered with a slight bow and continued on his way.

Iroh gave a light nod. Imperial Firebenders were tasked with protecting the royal family. Unlike the rest of the crew, they were much stricter and more rigid with rules and traditions.

'Do shift changes occur so fast nowadays?' The old man wondered. How long had it been since they set sail? A shift change was already in motion.

His steps didn't stop in the slightest as he moved forward and walked down the stairs. The dim red lamp lights fell into his gaze as he advanced past the metal walls and floors.

When he was no longer far from the final door, Iroh stopped in confusion.

'There are no guards here. So …. Isn't this a shift change?'

He turned his head from one point to another, looking around. Logically speaking, the previous guard had left. There should be another one here to take his place during the exchange of shifts.

Or was he wrong?

His eyes squinted as he stood facing the door.

"Is anyone there?"

"..". As you could possibly imagine, there was no response.

'Aye …'. The Dragon of the West thought inwardly as he took a few steps closer. The closer he got, the clearer he was that something had gone wrong here.

Less than three feet away, a sound came into his ears. Coming from the other side of the iron door, it was muffled and low, but it could still be heard.

At first, Iroh thought it was someone struggling. The sound of a person who had been tied up and was calling out for help.

But that thought was overturned as the sound grew clearly.

Sizzling ... A sizzling sound emerged from behind the door, causing Iroh's face to change drastically.

'Trap!'.

And so, the old man turned around, large amounts of blazing flames blasting from underneath of his legs.

The propulsion from the flames granted him an immediate retreat, quickly pushing him from one end of the prison hold to the other where the stairs were.

As for the sizzling sound? Anyone who could look through to the other side of the door would see the body of the Imperial Firebender, stripped of his uniform and laying motionless on the floor alongside almost half of Zuko's inventory of black powder connected to a lit fuse.

It had been more than an hour since the ship set out after Luca's capture. He didn't spend that time doing nothing.

The fuse burned out from one end to the other and then...

Boom!

Iroh had just emerged from the staircase when a large explosion erupted from Luca's cell at the center in all directions. The Prison Hold was destroyed, the staircase leading to the deck was destroyed, the frontal area of the deck was also destroyed.

The explosion was followed up with a large shockwave, sending metal bits flying in all directions.

Iroh who was close to the explosion bore the brunt of it as his body suffered the aftermath first hand.

The shockwave knocked him off his feet, sending him flying off the side of the cruiser.

Bang! The huge explosion immediately stirred the ship alongside all those within it.

Zuko laying half naked was shaken awake with the ship's tremor and thrown off his comfy bed.

"Ahh. … What was that?"

He uttered grimly and picked himself from the floor.

"Ugh!"

Iroh let out a muffled groan as The Dragon Of The West was knocked overboard before he could even react.

The evening was calm, but Zuko's ship was already in chaos.

All available personnel immediately made their way to the deck, while those off shift duties were similarly awakened by the ruckus and made their way in that direction.

"What the hell is happening here …?" Zuko dressed in an ordinary white shirt and black sleeping pants emerged from the tower.

Seeing the fire burning on the deck, his face fell, and he roared at the nearest officer he could find.

Conveniently, that person was the Captain of the ship, Lieutenant Jee. (In the army, the commander of a ship is called Captain regardless of their rank. The Lieutenant is the ship's captain, but his rank remains one of a lieutenant)

"There's been an explosion. The prison hold has been destroyed, and .....".

"I can see that with my own eyes. What I want to know is why".

"We …. We don't know what happened, sir. The whole thing occurred so sudden ….".

Boom!

Another miniature explosion came up again.

The ship and everyone on it shook unsteadily.

"Captain, it's not good". At that moment, the crew engineer ran over with an anxious face.

"What is it?"

"The hull's been damaged. We're taking in water .....".

"What?"

"What?" Zuko and Jee both had their expressions changed drastically.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Get your men over and quench those flames fast".

"I ….". Captain Jee felt slightly displeased. After all, no one would like being yelled at all the time.

" ... Yes sir". In the end, he held back, clearly knowing his place. "Good….". Zuko turned to the engineer.

"How bad is it?"

"No idea, my prince. I won't be able to gauge the severity until I examine it".

"Then find out quickly. I don't care what you do or how you do it, this ship must not sink".

Zuko was arrogant and hot-tempered but he was very self-conscious. As a banished prince, he had lost a lot of his entitlements.

If this ship sank, the cost would be unimaginable. There was no way he would be able to find another ship to continue his search for the Avatar. Unless his uncle could pull some strings .....

"Help!" It happened then. A pained voice fell into his ears, causing Zuko to turn his head in that direction.

That voice? Why did it sound like his uncle? Hold on ..... Where was his uncle?

Zuko took a look around, only to discover that Iroh wasn't on the deck.

"Uncle?"

"Zuko". The scarred prince rushed to the side of the cruiser, his eyes widening when he saw Iroh hanging on to the ship's cruiser with one hand.

"Uncle!" Zuko yelled in alarm before turning to call the crew members. "Man overboard".

Soldiers rushed over, all putting effort to pull the heavy chain upward as Iroh clung on.

As the retired general was brought back on deck, everyone gasped and Zuko's pupils shrank.

"Ha ..... Ha…. Ha…". The old man sat on the floor, grasping his right arm that now had a metal shard embedded into it. (It hurts me to write this)

It wasn't the only one.

Small pieces of metal could be seen on several parts of his body. The old man's robes had numerous bloodstains.

"Uncle …. Are you ok?"

".... I'm fine prince Zuko". Iroh said with a solemn face as he spat out blood. "My old bones have been through worse. It will take more than this to ruin my retirement".

"What happened?"

"I told you not to underestimate your enemy. Now the consequences have befallen us all".

Zuko frowned.

"What does this have to do with him?"

"History repeats itself my nephew. As just like the Avatar, your prisoner has escaped yet again".

Iroh said, turning his gaze into the distance.

"Impossible!" Zuko immediately denied.

"Really? Then did you authorize a riverboat departure I saw from the side of the cruiser?"

"What?"

The prince let out another loud exclamation. Following which, he rushed towards the back end of the ship only to see the hangar door open wide.

Then, he turned his gaze to the distance. Sure enough, a steam powered riverboat could be seen moving in the opposite direction a considerable distance away.

"Damn!" Iroh hardly ever said anything he really wanted to hear. And Zuko hated it the most when he was right about things like this.

"Ready the riverboats! Prepare to go after him".

Currently, he cared not about the situation of his ship or if his actions would delay his quest to capture the avatar.

All he wanted now was to catch this bastard who blew up his cruiser.

Several seconds later …

"Sir, the other two riverboats have been sabotaged". A soldier reported to him the situation. Zuko's dark face, if possible, grew darker.

"Get the catapult".

A few more moments passed .....

"Sir, the catapult has also …. been .....". The man's voice fell lower and lower, seeing the prince's furious expression.

"Argggggghg!" Eventually, he couldn't hold it in. A large blast of fire was released from his fists, shooting into the distance.

It ultimately fell on the sea surface, causing a large splash and dissipating.

This action had no real purpose other than to vent Zuko's extreme anger at the moment. After all, the boat was already too far away for even the catapults to reach.

"This isn't over! You hear me? I will find you …. You basta.....".

Meanwhile, Luca who had taken off the Imperial Firebender helmet and was steering the riverboat suddenly sneezed.

"Damn. Who's ranting behind my back?"

...

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