章節 1: Chapter 1: The Nightmare
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*cackle* *cackle*
The unsettling sound of lightning forming at her fingertips made him shudder with fear, while the creeping feeling of despair overcame him, like an animal trapped in a dark room with an executioner. His closed eyelids prevented him from seeing the maniacal grin she wore on her face.
But the worst was yet to come. The pain of electricity coursing through every fibre of his being tore his mind apart, the cells of his body heated to intense temperatures and the smell of burning filled his nose and took over a large part of his mind. But despite the pain, fear and shock of his sister's unexpected attack, one feeling overshadowed it all...
Anger...
Anger filled his mind and kept him from crying out in pain. Anger saved him from the mad embrace of insanity. Anger at his attacker. Anger at the mastermind of his inevitable demise. But...
What he was truly angry at... was himself. His lack of power. His lack of will. And so with his last breath, he let out a roar, that startled not Azula, but even the surrounding wildlife out of their nightly rest. But...
Death never came. And the usual commotions of the forest were unusually quiet. Zuko slowly opened his eyes and was amazed by his surrounded, He was no longer in the forest where he had lived for 3 years. He was in a metallic room. His room. His... old room?
Zuko stood up and surveyed his surroundings. It seemed he was in his old room, back on the ship.
'How was that possible?' he asked himself before noticing something unfamiliar in the mirror.
Unexpectedly, his mind began to scream in protest the abrupt change in his position. It seemed as if the sudden jumping up caused his mind to fall into a daze. But as his gaze slowly returned to the mirror, his eyes widened in surprise. His face had changed, for better or worse, he had become younger. Much younger. Almost 10 years younger than his former self... Just as he was about to take a closer look at himself...
A sudden knock on the door startled him out of his daze as he jumped into the corner of the room to hide from any intruders.
"Prince Zuko, are you all right?" A voice came through the door, calming him a little. When he realised he was in no danger. They must have heard his somewhat loud cry of pain
"I am fine," he replied to the guard he saw standing outside as he opened his door. Suddenly he remembered something. "Where is my uncle?" He asked calmly, which was in stark contrast to his inner feelings of nervousness and hope.
It had been many years since he had seen his uncle, and although he had resigned himself to the fact that Iroh had passed away, hope suddenly sprouted in him. His earlier life had been full of anger, some of which he had unintentionally directed at his uncle. It was only later, after he had met Aang and Toph, that he realised how he had acted, and it is fair to say that he regretted things... horribly. There was no way he would behave like that again. The man had been there for him all his life, and even when Zuko had yelled at him or acted like a rowdy brat, he stood beside him and supported him in everything he did.
"Your uncle is asleep in his room, Prince Zuko." The guard replied as politely as he could while tilting his head slightly. When Zuko saw this, he hastily hid his confusion at the guard's behaviour with a blank look before coming to a realisation. Old Zuko usually berated the guards for the smallest of problems. It had become a habit for the guards to wisely avoid the hot-tempered teenager or reply as politely as possible. It had been a while since Zuko had been addressed politely, since his second banishment in his previous life, so he chose the quieter route and just nodded to the guard before dismissing him.
The guard was surprised at the prince's lackadaisical behaviour, but decided to leave before the teenager got angry.
After making sure the guard was really out of sight, Zuko left his room without putting on his usual formal clothes. It had been a very long time since he had entered the ship, so he decided to take a detour and memorise the layout, just in case. It took less than a candle to reach his uncle's room. Although he had not asked the guard before why his uncle was asleep, once he reached the deck of the ship he realised it was night.
'Duh,' he grumbled inwardly. 'There were not many people standing guard. Besides, it's completely quiet on the ship.
It was only when he reached his uncle's room, did he realised that it had not been a long time for him, but only for Zuko. He sighed deeply before deciding to talk to him in the morning and left.
Moments later, the door opened and a large man with a big belly looked out of the door in both directions.
"Hm, I thought there was someone at the door." Iroh muttered before yawning loudly. "Must have been the guards," he reflected before nodding at his own wisdom and going straight back to his room to sleep.
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Zuko, on the other hand, could not sleep at all. He was too excited at the prospect of altering any regrets from his former life. Realising that there was no point in trying to sleep any more, Zuko sat down at his desk, took out a quill and some paper and began to write down in cryptic language some of the things from his past life. A small part were items he had heard about or had actually acquired during his many years of travel. Another part was about people he had to meet or places he wanted to visit. After writing down the important things, Zuko paused before writing down a single name.
"Ty Lee"
He was not sure what to do. On one hand he knew she had a slight crush on him, on the other hand he was torn. Using his memories, he felt like he was manipulating her into falling in love with him. He racked his brains before deciding to act without planning and see what would happen next.
Nonetheless, he would help her in any way he could. After all, she was the one who had helped him mourn his uncle's death. And when the Gaang left him behind, she was the one who stayed behind to support him. But even though she had stood by him through all his troubles and worries, he still wanted to chase after Mai, his ex. The girl he knew he would never have a relationship with, but chased after anyway.
He heaved a deep sigh and decided to bury the subject deep in his mind. He had too much to do and too little time to think about what if.
After glancing outside and realising that it was not yet morning, Zuko decided to go outside to practise some of his past stances, onto the deck of the ship. It was the only place he had enough space, although he did pick not to fire bend, just in case. After grabbing his two sabres and stepping onto the deck, Zuko took his first stance.
The art he chose to practise at that moment was one he had created in his last years of adventuring. The art itself did not look very complicated at first glance, but the intricacies were there. Each posture stimulated most, if not all, of his muscles to function. Previously, the old Zuko's rather brutal techniques had only managed to stimulate and group the muscles responsible for strength. His agility, on the other hand, was below average, as was his endurance.
As the sun rose over the cold water of the eastern side of the continent, Zuko had only managed to perfectly executed 8 of the 33 stances before he almost fell over after a wave of dizziness, his sabres shakily holding him upright. After looking at his trembling hands, he wisely decided to sit down and think about his current state.
He sat there contemplating which exercises to continue before realising that his body had already reached its limits. This showed the differences between the bodies. The former Zuko was able to do all 33 postures in less than 20 minutes without breaking a sweat, but this body almost gave up after only managed to complete less than half of the required stances.
"Pathetic" he muttered to himself. "And I called myself a fire prince." He shook his head in disappointment before walking over to the edge of the steel ship. He started down at his reflection. Before deciding to do something rather audacious. He grabbed one of his sabres, before cut his bun clean off his head and threw it into the sea.
Not many people would understand what he had done and the impact it had. By cutting off his bun, he showed a lack of respect for authority. In the aristocratic culture, it was tantamount to treason. Yet he did not care. He would not return to the Fire Nation. Not until he had collected most, if not all, of the items he wanted with him.
"That may not have been a wise decision, Prince Zuko." A stern voice spoke behind him, but the prince did not look back. He knew who was behind him. It took him a moment to collect himself and not show any emotion before he replied, "Yes, Uncle. I know." He spoke softly. Unexpectedly, a grin formed on his scarred face before he let out a small chuckle, "I think it's time to change." The words that came out of his mouth deeply surprised his uncle.
"What of your honour, what of the Avatar? ", Iroh asked, curious about his nephew's somewhat sudden change.
"The Avatar can do as he pleases, as for my honour..." He paused, thinking about his next words. "Well, we should save that for later..."
"After all..."
"Honour is not an object one can chase..."
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Hey guys, here it is. The new version. Hopefully it can last longer than the previous one. Enjoy...
Proof Reader : Joanjudo
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Cya in two days,
Karito out...
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