Survivor <Nadai Island, The Sea>

[sho]

Sho’s humiliation deepened with the first boy’s comment; he had reacted like a coward, and it was bad enough that Zuko had seen it, but now he had an audience. However, the red hue that had dusted his cheeks lightened when the first young man spoke again; apparently he wasn’t the only one who had been beaten to a pathetic pulp, so he probably had a decent reason to be timid and afraid. Though, the fact that the small group wouldn’t stop laughing at him wasn’t a blessing to his ego, even if he tried to put on a smile, though it was a rather sheepish one at that.

The young servant was thankful to discover, however, that he was not the only one being picked on. The group had attempted what he never would have dared – commenting on the prince’s horrid disfigurement. Sho was curious what Zuko’s reaction would be, and Sho was very thankful to find that the prince’s strategy was to simply brush it off; he was anxious to get away from those who had witnessed his cowardice – especially the women. It was one thing to make a fool of himself in front of a crowd, but to act like an idiot in front of a lady was a thousand times worse.

Just as he was about to turn around to make a hasty retreat, however, Zuko was stopped. With this, Sho sighed. Hurting, embarrassed, and drowsy, he was not in the best mood, and the delay irritated him. However, never one to speak out, Sho decided Zuko would probably conjure up some sensible reply and simply observed the ground, soaking in the laughter with a frown and a flush. Yet, the young man still found himself glancing up to the young woman who was in front of him, somewhat relieved that she seemed as embarrassed as he. But why?

The two looked up to catch each other’s gaze at precisely the same moment. The young woman smiled in a shy kind of way, while Sho had quickly flicked his focus elsewhere, slightly more flustered.

“Hey. My friends kind of have dates tonight, so. I was kind of wondering if you would want to do something tonight…With me?” Her request was quiet, but the chucking and chatter had stopped completely so that her last sentence was said in complete silence. Sho’s expression was instantly confused, and the other young adults of the group irrupted into hoots and whistles.

“Ti-en!” howled one boy.

The young woman was obviously humiliated, while Sho had subconsciously cringed away, his cheeks as cherry as ever. He was instantly shy – unsure on what to say and how to react for a few moments.

“I… er… uh…” Sho began uncertainly, instantly hating himself for sounding so foolish. “I... We’re just about to leave the island, actually. We… have a ship to catch.”

With this, Sho glanced at Zuko in the midst of his embarrassment, his eyes pleading for the prince to make instant haste.

[zuko]

At the point when the young woman had asked Sho on a surprising date, Zuko had seemed to have enough. At first, his face seemed just as surprised as Sho's had been, but then his face scowled slightly at the hollers that the other boys were giving, and to Zuko, it was becoming agitating. They needed to leave - Zuko and Sho that is - but having the pleasure of these people leaving was just as needed.

Although, as Zuko's gaze fell back to Sho, noticing the blush in the servant's cheeks, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this, inwardly smirking on the inside. Before he could say something to perhaps wedge their way around this situation, Zuko was interrupted by one of the boys.

"Aw, c'mon, you're not just gonna reject her like that, are you?" Another boy spoke up after this one: "A ship? Where in the world do you have to go at this time of night?" The boy seemed to be asking Sho the question, but raised a questioning look in Zuko's direction.

Zuko remained calm, even though giving information to these peasants was out of the question.

"None of your business," Zuko replied cooly, taking Sho's arm again, wanting a great deal to leave. He did not have (or enjoy) the time for this; his face hardened a bit more..."Move."

The prince's glare was right upon the young man in front of him, the one blocking his way in the narrow street. However, the boy did not budge, and neither did the smirk on his face.

[sho]

Sho felt a sudden rush of anxiousness as Zuko and the other boy had a slight confrontation, for the young servant had a feeling that if things continued as such, the prince’s slight annoyance would boil into rather steamy aggression. And he was attached at the arm! Sho wasn’t sure if the other boy would back off at that point, but nonetheless, he didn’t wish to get caught in the middle of such a clash, or get a nasty burn on his shoulder, for he was still a little drowsy from his mugging, a little blushing from his humiliation, and just really in desperate need of the comfort of his bed.

Doubtful that the prince would react with much politeness to the boy’s stubbornness, Sho decided, for the sake of time, he should step up.

“Please, we just need to get back.” Sho said, stepping up a little in front of Zuko and facing the other young man with pleading eyes. “I just feel really cruddy right now; I need sleep desperately.” With this, Sho gingerly touched the side of his numbing face and winced slightly.

[zuko]

Zuko had only watched Sho confront the boy and was anxious to see what would happen. At first, the young man did nothing: just stood with his arms crossed, as if waiting for a better excuse. Zuko was ready to shove his way past the boy at this point, but before he thought he would have the chance, one of the girls spoke up - the one who had asked Sho for the date.

"Just let them pass, Shang. Let's go..." the girl said quietly, but loud enough to get the boy's attention. She continued to stay still, averting her eyes away from Sho in a hopeless attempt to lessen her state of embarrassment.

The one called Shang merely scoffed at the girl's words, but surprisingly stepped aside. "I was just kidding," he said, half-chuckling at his words. Zuko did not give a second glance at the boy and tugged Sho past the group of teens to escape the pressure of staying any longer. What a stupid waste of time that was.

"Don't get mugged!" one of the boys shouted behind them, and the last thing Zuko could hear was faint laughter as he stepped into the street lanterns once more.

The prince was set in a state of silence, completely agitated and tired. The only thing he said to Sho was a small and deep "we're almost there", before silencing himself once again. How degrading that was; to be judged and teased like some little kid. And by mere commoners. He should have done something; should have tried to put those people in their place or done something. Then again, doing so would have seemed childish; he was nothing but a child sometimes.

Zuko watched the ground for a moment as he thought this, his eyes filled with a sense of frustration and...embarresment? Before he wanted to keep thinking this any longer, Zuko looked up and noticed that they were getting close to the docks - it was just ahead.

[sho]

Sho walked away quietly and gratefully. Spirits bless that girl back there who helped them leave! Though… the very thought of the blushing girl made him feel kind of guilty. It embarrassed her terribly that he had rejected her, and Sho would have felt the very same way (or perhaps worse) in terms of the embarrassment of rejection. And how shocked Sho was that he had to reject her! He’d never been asked to accompany a woman anywhere, and the very thought was kind of… encouraging. He suddenly felt better, mentally anyway. Physically, he was still exhausted and numb.

Because of this, Sho was immensely relieved to see the form of the ship in the near distance. He could just picture his cot, feeling its small comforts, and falling so swiftly asleep on it…

Soon, Sho, accompanied by the prince, climbed his way upon deck, stumbling slightly as he struggled with the slope in his dazed state. He didn’t care. He was on the ship and soon he would be in his bed. However, as soon as his beaten presence was noticed, he was quickly bombarded with startled and curious questions.

“Where’s the supplies?”
“What happened?”
“To your face?”
“You all alright?”

Sho simply met the many inquiries with a blank gaze, for he was too tired to really care to answer.

[zuko]

Zuko had soon followed up behind Sho and was expectedly blocked by many of the crew members who had a raging curiousity as to what happened. Zuko grabbed Sho's shoulder and shoved him through the crowd, relentlessy telling them to get back to their stations. Zuko did not want to answer any questions, just as he as sure Sho did not want to either. As strange as it sounded, Zuko was actually glad to be back on this ship (despite the nagging crew members bothering him.)

The prince pushed Sho forward a little more toward lower deck, finally escaping the commotion, and then let him go. He was getting very tired of having to look after this servant and now it seemed as if it showed on his face. Yet...Zuko still nearly pityed the boy and staring at his beaten face did not help ease that feeling.

He turned around and tiredly headed back to his room, only giving Sho a simple and low "Get to bed" order as he walked away. Zuko was itching to get out of his armor and rest; he did not care about what was happening up on deck, but he knew that he was going to be called upon sooner or later.

A few minutes had passed before Zuko gave an order to move the ship; more supplies were undesired for at the moment. Who knew how much longer he was going to be kept from finding the Avatar? He was going to find him sooner or later, preferably sooner. The only problem: he did not have a good lead much less than a lead at all. So, he ordered west - somewhere where it might be populated with islands and other people that the avatar could be headed to; just somewhere.

Without ordering anymore things or wanting to care, Zuko silently stepped into his cabin, shutting the door and leaning against it quietly. He looked around at his room: it was dark and all too familiar. This isn't going to be permanent... he told himself, as if it was a reason to stop staring blankly at the Fire Nation drapery hanging on his wall, obsering it's black and red colors as it looked back at him mockingly. I'll get it all back...

[sho]

Sho winced as Zuko grabbed his shoulder and thrust him forward – not because it hurt him physically, but because the harsh gesture seemed like it was preformed with some kind of heated dislike which only added to Sho’s inner humiliation. He was beaten, weak, and obviously a burden to the crew and the prince especially. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t worth the lowest amount of respect a servant could receive.

Fortunately, the prince’s forceful orders were a blessing to obey. Bed – the very place seemed like a haven to him after today. Hurriedly, Sho rushed off to his cot, not even chancing to find some ice for fear he would run into a questioning comrade. If there was one thing he did not want to do this evening, it was to confess to the embarrassing event.

As Sho slumped onto his bed, he heaved a great sigh – an act that perfectly expressed his emotions and pain that had coursed throughout him. But instead of reviewing the humiliation, the horrible mental stress that he had been put through, Sho decided to focus on his physical pain; it was so much easier to deal with.

Gingerly, Sho rested his head on the cot, closing his eyes lightly, trying to block out the dull throb. How long would it hurt? It would probably feel better when he got something cold on it. Or after he had rested a little bit. However, while Sho covered himself with his blanket and prepared to drift off into a hopefully peaceful slumber, he soon found he had trouble going to sleep. He groaned at the dreadful irony, and at the terrible mental stress that was keeping him awake.

For several minutes he struggled with this, and finally gave up, simply staring at the wall as his cheek throbbed dully. However, after a while, Sho heard approaching footsteps, which caused him to shut his eyes tightly – if he was asleep, they wouldn’t bother him. Finally, after many moments of listening to the shuffles and murmurs of his fellow crewmen, Sho finally drifted off into slumber.

[zuko]

He had woken up early this morning, his boots lightly stomping up the metal corridor, his pace set faster than most times. Zuko didn’t know why, but when he woke up this morning, he realized that he had given an order to go east…no, he didn’t want to go east; he wanted to go west for some reason. He had no idea why he had this feeling that he was going the wrong way, but he did. The ship wasn’t moving yet, so it was Zuko’s chance to quickly make it to upper deck, then take another flight up and reach the navigational quarters before the captain changed the course. The prince was just going to go with what he felt was right, whether it be right or not. Rarely did he ever stay on a single thought for long if he knew he was correct (even if that wasn’t the case) and rarely did he seldom take advice if he was set on something, especially when it came to finding the Avatar.

Bursting through the door, Zuko’s eyes wandered around the metal room but saw no captain. Oh, wait. No, there was the captain, but he was just fast asleep in a chair, slumped so far down in the seat that Zuko was sure the chair would slip from underneath him at any moment. Strolling up to the sleeping man, Zuko folded his arms over his chest and shook his head slightly, his eyes narrowed firmly in place. Idly, Zuko poked the man’s leg with his foot at first to see if he really would slip out of the chair, but, sadly, to no avail. Instead, the captain yawned but did not bother to open his eyes and wake up, his snoring slowly returning afterward. Zuko was slowly becoming annoyed…There was a pause, and then:

“Captain!” Zuko barked loudly, watching half-amusedly as the captain burst to life and, quite surprisingly, did not fall out of the chair, but instead quickly pulled himself up and blinked at the prince, his eyes wide. Zuko raised his one eyebrow at the man slightly before replying rather flatly. “Move the ship northwest. We’re heading to the Earth Kingdom mainland; I want to see if there are any rumors of the Avatar there.” There was another pause, the captain still in shock from being awoken so suddenly, and obviously forgetting that he fell asleep in his chair. Zuko sighed deeply. “Now,” he replied again, his voice somewhat deeper.

The captain suddenly stood, bowing before rushing off to find the helmsman, and gratefully, it wasn’t long before the ship gave a sudden lunge forward. Again, the captain made his way back up, Zuko standing over a nearby map, his hands pressed against it in thought. ‘I’ll find a way…’ he said silently, feeling the ship turn west in the direction he had ordered. It wasn’t long before his crew had felt it too and began to emerge from their sleep as well.