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Chapter One: The Spirit in the Night
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"Uncle?"
"Yes?" The pot-bellied man asked, sipping his tea calmly on his comfy pillow.
"Er...I have a strange question to ask you."
"What would that be?" Iroh murmured again, resting the steaming warm cup of his favorite brew on the table between him and his nephew.
"C-Can we stay here in the Earth nation capital?"
His uncle's aged and wise eyes widened slowly, the white-bearded man looking at him. Concentrating. The man began to rub his chin, scratching the white locks on it thoughtfully. Iroh became deeply furrowed in thought before something erupted in their shared apartment.
"Bahhhaaahahaahahhaa!" A hand over his growing stomach, the man fell off his pillow and chuckled as loud as he could, "Zuko, you cannot be serious!"
"W-what's so funny uncle?" Zuko asked, smoothening the very same dress clothes Iroh had forced onto him for his date the previous day.
Still chuckling to himself, the man returned to his pillow, after resting upon it he looked at the banished Prince, "You know I've been trying to convince you to stay here since the moment we arrived here?"
"Yes but..."
"But what else?" Iroh asked, scratching the top of his bald head, "What changed? What could have possibly changed?"
"Li!" A light voice said at their door.
"This discussion has only begun." The boy's uncle noted with a raised grey eyebrow, as he lifted himself off his pillow again and went to the door of their small house.
After opening it, a sweet green robed girl with brown hair looked at the man she ordered tea from only the day before, "Um...is Li here?"
"Li? Oh yes, of course, he is here." Iroh affirmed with a bow of the bald head, "Li, your little girlfriend is here!"
Instead of grumbling how she wasn't his girlfriend, Zuko just stood up off his pillow and walked to Jin, taking her elbow.
Seeing them walk off together, Iroh scratched his chin. 'Is it possible my young nephew has fallen for that Earth Nation girl? These thoughts need some more tea...'
Zuko and Jin left his apartment complex smiling with his arm around her elbow.
"I was surprised when you asked me to go out on a date with me again." The boy mumbled, walking into the bustling streets of Ba Sing Se an ostrich-drawn carriage rustling by, "Considering how badly the last one went."
Jin giggled making light butterflies rustle in the Prince's chest, "It was great, what are you talking about? That juggling thing with the plates, and I'll never forget how it ended..." She said referencing the fire lit fountain.
Zuko responded with an actual smile, "Hm, maybe today's will end just the same, that is if you want it to."
"I do." She responded with a nod, still standing on the street corner with him.
"Jin, I-"
"Yes?" She asked instantly, her warm brown eyes sparking up on the street corner when her head turned to him.
Zuko was forced to mumble the truth with a raised hand behind his head, scratching a few dark brown locks shyly, "I think you're...pretty..."
"Thanks, I think you're pretty too!" Jin said in an instant, before blushing and turning away, "I-I-I mean you're good looking! Not in a feminine way I-"
The teen shook his head, "Don't worry, I think I'm pretty too." He said with a sly smirk before walking onto the street with a large crowd of other Earth nation peasants.
"Hey Li, after last night, I kept thinking to myself, how did you light all those lamps by the fountain?"
"I'm a fire bender, how else?" The boy joked, shrugging.
"What?" She gasped, looking at him.
He laughed to himself a little, "Wow, you do not know what a joke is. My uncle knows a lot of them, he teaches a few to me sometimes."
"Like that one?" Jin retorted.
"No." He murmured softly, walking past a small tea shop with a man hollering from it, yelling past passing Ba Sing Se citizens.
"Come one come all, to the banana and onion drink drinking challenge! Drink twenty cups of a guru's chakra juice, and you will win a valuable Pai Sho set!"
"Hmm..." Zuko said thinking to himself, "Uncle likes Pai Sho..."
"Li!" Jin cried, "Onions and bananas?"
"Who's the bubbliest prettiest girl I know?" Zuko asked pressing a finger to her nose with a smile, "You. And if there's anything I've learned from you is to express myself more, also I owe Uncle...more than one favor."
The green robed girl shrugged, as the teen walked into the shop confidently.
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They promptly left it, and Jin was utterly blown away by the boy's determination, "L-li! You drank every single one of them!"
Zuko was still proudly holding the new Pai Sho board under his armpit, "Heh. You should get to know me when I'm really motivated."
They two teens looked upwards to the night's sky.
Jin shrugged, "It's already nighttime, you want to show me that fire lit fountain trick again?"
"Of course. That's if you close your eyes again."
They walked under the cloak of night, chatting together the whole way.
"Ah." Zuko murmured, "Seems like they left the lamps unlit again, perfect."
Jin covered her eyes again and Zuko let the tips of his fingers ignite before they flew outwards in bursts lighting each lamp perfectly.
"You can uncover your eyes now Jin."
"L-Li." She whispered out, her shining chocolate eyes seeing the lamps lit up around the fountain.
Zuko smiled as she asked her next question, "D-does this mean I can do the same trick I gave you last night?"
"No." The boy said shaking his head.
"N-no?" The incredibly sweet Earth Nation girl asked surprisedly, "Why not?"
"Because I want to do that trick Jin." He said suddenly, wrapping his arms around the green robed girl with brown hair.
Right next to the fountain, the boy kissed her deeply, Zuko letting her gasp quickly under his soft lips before accepting happily. The two felt their hearts glow quickly, their lips pausing for a moment before pressing together again heartily.
"Oh Li, thank you for this," Jin said sweetly, backing out of his kiss.
He began to look into her eyes, his blazing tiger orange eyes poring into her complacent brown ones, "Jin...I...I used to be confused, but when I'm with you, everything is so clear. So happy, I've never felt so clear about anything else in my whole life." He picked up her hands, making the girl smile, "Will you be my lover, and go on dates with me like yesterdays and today? For as long as you want to?"
Jin nodded instantly, "Definitely Li."
He smiled under her kiss, the two teens holding each other's hands as they pressed their lips to each other tightly.
After backing out from it, they both turned red and looked aside.
"I'm sorry if I made things kind of sudden there Jin, but I really felt that way."
"Of course Li."
"So...I'll see you tomorrow at my Uncle's tea shop?"
"Right!" Jin said happily, the bubbly sweet brown haired girl gripping the top of his green dress robes tightly, the same he'd worn the night before, and kissed him again.
"Bye!" She chortled, skipping away to her home with a smile.
Zuko sighed happily, his heart burning softly while looking after her.
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Zuko burst into their new home in Ba Sing Se with a huge smile and a new Pai Sho set under his arm, "Uncle! I want to speak with you!"
"Good," Iroh affirmed, laying down a steaming kettle on the table where they usually sat and drank tea together.
"I brought you this," Zuko said, extending the expensive set forwards as they both sat cross-legged on their comfy red pillows.
Iroh admired the set with a kindly old smile while sitting, "Hm...how did you get a Pai Sho game this nice?"
"I took the guru juice challenge."
He looked at his young nephew with a raised grey eyebrow, "You drank twenty cups of onion banana juice for this? W-why?"
"Because I love you, Uncle!" Zuko sparked up with a smile atop his pillow, sitting up straighter.
Iroh smacked the Pai Sho set down on the table getting curious, "All right Zuko...you're going to tell me...what has happened to you."
"I...I..." Zuko sighed, looking downwards at his green dress robes and getting an idea, looking upwards at his uncle's warm face, "Uncle...you know how you made me wear these clothes, and wear my hair a certain way to go out with Jin?"
"Yes..."
"Well, now, you didn't make me wear them today. Yesterday, I thought about Jin in my room, after I told you I liked my night with her. I don't feel like I have to be angry anymore, she makes me feel happy!"
"Hmm..." Iroh said stroking his chin, and then stopping suddenly, "Wait, what did you say?"
"T-that she makes me happy?"
"That's it!" The man said, beginning to tear up a little in wonder and happy shock, "I...I...can't believe it!" He held his arms up in the air, yelling loud enough for all of Ba Sing Se to hear, "I finally found something that makes my nephew happy!"
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Zuko would never forget the old children's tale he read in a scroll while growing up in the Fire Nation's Imperial Palace. In the ancient firebending civil war hundreds of years before, Zuko read of a legendary warrior named the Blue Spirit who defended a small village from the wrath of an entire army using nothing but two curved blades and his skills with them. Successfully and singlehandedly.
From that day forward, Zuko knew he'd have to keep that legend alive by himself. And now when he laid on his bed after a date with Jin, he took out his mask and stared at it.
It was it. He could feel it in the air. The excitement, the thrill. The night was ripe for a little midnight escapade. And for the Blue Spirit to return.
Before putting his mask on, Zuko ran his thumb over it and stared into its black eyes. He was all set, two swords at his back, athletic body covered in a black outfit. Standing on his bed, Zuko put on the Mask again.
But not before something strange something.
"What is that!?" shouted Zuko who fell on his bed away from it.
A blue horizontal rectangle had appeared in front of his face when he placed the Mask on his face.
Iroh groaned as he rolled the door to Zuko's room aside, "Mmf…what's wrong?"
His nephew stuttered, "Wh-what? Y-You, you don't see it?"
"Hm?" A grey eyebrow was raised, "Don't see what?"
"Th-th-the weird floaty thing!" stuttered Zuko.
Iroh was further confused, "What floaty thing? I think you must be tired Zuko. You should get plenty of rest before helping me at the tea shop tomorrow."
"Wait you really can't see it?" Zuko didn't get his own question answered when instead there was a similar blue rectangle floating over his uncle's head to the one that had appeared in front of his face.
It read [Iroh- Level 68 Firebender].
Iroh furrowed his grey eyebrows, dark eyes noticing the blue spirit mask that had fallen out of his nephew's hands onto his bed, "What are you doing with that thing out? Please don't tell me you're planning on running about the city wearing that."
"Uh…no uncle," Zuko murmured, "I was just trying it on."
"While wearing your swords and outfit for it." Iroh was not amused.
"Good night uncle," Zuko muttered.
Iroh spoke, "Zu-"
"Good night uncle." Zuko rolled the door aside calmly.
He placed the mask on his face and tied the leather straps around the back of his head. But not before he read the large box that had appeared in front of his face.
Name: Zuko (Alias: Li)
Class: The Gamer/Firebender
Level: 27 (17/10000 EXP)
Title: Banished Prince
Age: 16
Health Points: 650/650
Chi Points: 650/650
STR: 18 (+5)
STA: 20 (+10)
DEX: 11
INT: 17
AGI: 21 (+10)
LUK: 7
Earth Kingdom Copper Pieces: 34
Special Status: Blue Spirit Outfit (+5 to [Strength] and +10 to [Stamina] and [Agility].)
Perks: -Adept Firebender (-20% Chi Point consumption when bending fire)
-Easy on the Eyes (+20% speed Progression in female 'routes')
-Tenacious (+2 to all [Statistics] in combat)
Flaws:
-Apathetic (-10% speed progression to all 'routes')
-Hotheaded (-5% speed progression to all romantic 'routes')
Known fire techniques:
-Flame Gout (Level 13, 099/110)
-Blaze (Level 9, 007/100)
-Fire Punch (Level 29, 023/130)
-Lightning Bending (Level 2, 001/200)
Zuko squinted at it in confusion. 'What is…a Gamer?... What is this…magic? Well, I'm glad that uncle couldn't see it, probably means only I can.'
His honor unrestored, Zuko tried to put the damningly confusing floating blue rectangle out of his head and he clambered out of his window and onto the rooftops of Ba Sing Se. Sprinting across shingled bricks with small noises, Zuko panted beneath his blue Spirit Mask.
A taller rooftop came and he released a large grunt when doing a front flip onto it.
He ignored the annoying blue box that appeared.
[You have developed |Agility| skill: Front Flip (Level 11, 13/140)]
Zuko let out a sigh of relief when he swept away with his glove covered hand and the rectangle moved away. He kept running across rooftops until he heard a small commotion in an alleyway between two buildings.
"You gave what to who?" A gruff voice said.
Zuko stopped, the blue Spirit watching from above. He quickly saw two blue boxes above the green-wearing toughs.
[Dai Li Officers- Level 29 Earthbenders]
The shopkeep had a less threatening box above his head.
[Pottery Merchant- Level 0, Nonbender]
"N-nothing I swear!" The shopkeeper begged.
One of the two Dai Li officers raised a fist and a brick of hardened earth rose from near his feet. The shopkeeper raised his hands defensively and gave a squeak of fear.
"Those papers belonged to us, shopkeeper." The other one said, "Either get them back, or your debt to us will be the least of your concerns."
The other one bent the brick right into the shop keeps' stomach for good measure with a chuckle, "You know better than to cross those who are uncrossable."
Zuko grunted in frustration when he saw how quickly the two men bowed and shuffled off into the night.
'Bastards. Who were they?' Zuko wondered.
The shopkeep who was groaning on the ground from the brick that flew into him gasped when Zuko dropped down from the rooftop above to him. He started stuttering in fear when he saw the frightening blue Spirit mask and two swords on his back, "P-Please! I mean no harm."
"Neither do I." Zuko said in his scratchy voice behind his mask, "I need to know. Who were those people?"
"I-I-I can't tell you."
"I have money. I can pay you," assured Zuko.
The man kept stuttering, "N-N-No amount of money is worth death!"
"Then I'll do a favor for you. Tell me who those people were, who they're involved with, and if they're in an organization and how it functions, and I'll do anything you ask."
He had something that was on the tip of his tongue, "A group of smugglers from the outer ring threatened to break everything in my shop if they didn't get a list of the Dai Li's middle ranked members. "
"Dai Li?" hissed Zuko.
"I'd like to tell you more but I can't." The shopkeeper whispered to a blue masked Zuko in the alleyway, "Someone must've told them I hide all their papers for them in my shop. If you can get to their hideout before next week before they sell it and bring the papers back to me, I'll tell you much more about the Dai Li."
As Zuko scratched his masked chin with a gloved hand, a floating blue rectangle appeared that only he could see.
New Quest Alert!
Unraveling the Spider's Web
Description: Help a shopkeeper by getting his papers from a smuggler gang and unlock the special |Quest Route|: |Bringing down the Dai Li|!"
Quest Completion Award: +1500 EXP, +20 Earth Kingdom Copper Pieces, +200 to |Reputation| with |Shopkeeper|
Quest Failure: -4 to [Luck] Stat, -600 to |Reputation| with |Shopkeeper|
Do you accept this quest?
Yes/No
Zuko hit the |Yes| button because he assumed the rectangle could read his finger which it could and nodded to the shopkeeper, "I'll do it."
"Thank you stranger!" gasped the shopkeeper, "You are most kind. My shop is just there across the street." He pointed to it and Zuko remembered the red lantern outside its door.
"Don't mention it," muttered Zuko who climbed away up the alleyway's walls and sprinted away.
A few moments later, and Zuko had reached the very inner edge of the outer ring and was staring up at the wall dividing it with Ba Sing Se's inner ring.
He saw a coming train powered by earthbenders and acted quickly. Zuko ran as fast as he could and caught onto it before he latched onto its edges and flew into the tunnel that took him into the inner ring.
Zuko returned to running around rooftops exploring the Earth Kingdom's capital at night before he ran on top of a particularly lucky house.
"Aang, are you feeling all right?" Katara's motherly voice asked.
Zuko heard this and stopped sprinting instantly. 'I know that voice.'
Aang was sitting by the pond outside the house the Earth Kingdom had given him in the inner ring staring at his reflection sadly.
"I still haven't found Appa." muttered Aang sadly, "I…I don't feel all right…at all."
Zuko froze and stared at the back of Aang's head from his spot above the rooftop of his house, seeing his signature blue air bending tattoos and he had a blue box only Zuko could see over his head.
[Aang, the Avatar- Level 32 Airbender, Level 12 Waterbender, Level 13 Earthbender]
Zuko gasped beneath his mask, "The avatar is here in the city…" whispered the Banished Prince.
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Ladies and gentlemen, the very first Avatar the Last Airbender Gamer story ever! Jin and Zuko will be the main pairing, but there will be others with him such as Ty Lee and Mai. Important note, the second Zuko put on his Mask, it granted him the Gamer power indefinitely, if he takes it off, he still has the Gamer power.
Thank you all for reading and goodbye!