A/N: Thank you guys for sticking with this story. The positive reviews and PMs have really helped keep me going these last few days. My overall health is very poor due to an accident I had a few years ago and I was in a lot of pain this week. Again, thank you all!

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More pirate fun...enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. It belongs to Nickelodeon and its respectful owners.

(Day 1, 1437 hours; Shingu)

It may have taken a while but Katara was happy that they had finally found the medicinal store. The fact that Shyu was accompanying her hardly could dampen her mood right now.

As soon as she stepped through the door, Katara was enveloped in the heavy scent of drying herbs. To her right, there was a long wall filled with jars of different unrefined herbs. To her, left an elderly man sat on a tall stool behind the counter. He was a relatively short man with a long beard. He was wearing an olive green robe. The apparent shopkeeper was in the process of grinding some herbs with a mortar and pestle. Behind the merchant was a wall filled with row after row of labeled wooden draws.

"Welcome, feel free to look around and I'll be with you two in just a moment" greeted the shopkeeper.

"Thank you," replied Katara. She began to browse over the unusual items contained within. From enormous mushrooms to pig-deer antlers, the oversized jars contained a little bit off everything. There were even turtle duck shells.

Katara noticed that Shyu was staring at one jar in particular. It was winged-snakes suspended in an amber liquid. I wasn't just one jar like that, it was several. Gross. "You know..." began Shyu, "I have been to a few healing huts in my day, but I have never seen anything like this before. How is this even medicinal?" His face looked a bit pale.

The elderly shopkeeper began chuckling. Shyu looked abashed for a moment. Katara realized that Shyu hadn't meant to speak out loud.

"My apologies. I meant no disrespect," Shyu bowed to the man but he kept his hands firmly at his side.

"That is quite alright, son." The shopkeeper smiled at the two. "I'm guessing you've never dunk winged-snake wine before."

"People drink that?!" exclaimed Katara.

"Of course, it is good for healing skin ailments. By your clothes, I see that you aren't from around here miss." The shopkeeper made a sweeping motion with his right hand. "This is a trading village and we have many sailors make port here from all over the world. We are similar to Kyoshi in that we are trying to stay out of the war the best we can so members of both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom will trade here. Earth Kingdom vessels from as far south as Whale Tail Island and Kyoshi Island will make their way here. However, we also will receive ships from the Eastern Earth Kingdom on occasion." The man began to stroke his long beard. "I have found most sailors to be too hardheaded for their own good and stay on board their ship for too long." The old man shook his head. "They end up eating too few fruits and that causes sores all over the body, but even after eating fruits they do not allow themselves time for their skin to heal hence the abundance of winged-snake wine." The old man heaved a sigh. "The best thing that I can do is load them up with a few cases of snake-wine, dried limes, and give them a stern warning."

Katara had learned a bit about healing from GranGran, but this was interesting. She had grown up surrounded with the illness that comes from poor diet. The polar winters can make it difficult to find fresh vegetation. Her father and the other men used to make an annual voyage up to Kyoshi Island at the start of winter for greener vegetables. As much as she wished that she could, Katara knew that she couldn't live off of stewed sea prunes forever.

"Anyway, what can I do for you and your...granddaughter?" he trailed off in question.

"Oh, we not kin, just acquaintances and a part of the same traveling group of refugees. We are headed north around the Great Divide and then East to Ba Sing Se," replied Shyu.

Katara had never heard of these places, but she kept a smile on her face. She that Shyu knew what he was talking about.

The merchant grew somber. "Safe travels to you, friend."

"We are looking to stock up on some medical supplies."

"Understandable."

"I see where your friend's arm is bandaged. The gauze is pretty thick."

"Yes, I had an unfortunate cooking accident and burned my arm. I was hoping to get some replacement."

"...and some ginger root," injected Katara. At Shyu's puzzled look she added, "My brother looks like he has been having a headache since yesterday, but he is too stubborn to say anything while in the company of...others." Katara grew uncomfortable at the reference to Zuko. She hated how he seemed to haunt even her thoughts.

"Well, that certainly won't be a problem." Katara snapped from her thoughts. She must have zoned out for a moment. The old man moved behind the counter and opened two of the drawers along the wall. From one, he retrieved a small porcelain jar and from the other, he retrieved a handful of roots. The old man set the small jar on the counter proceeded to weigh the root on a balancing scale. Once he was satisfied with the amount, he placed the contents into a paper sack. "That will be two silver pieces and two copper ones."

"Wow. That is a lot more than I thought it would be."

"Because of all the wounded soldiers across the earth kingdom, quality materials to make a proper cream are becoming scarce."

"I see," replied Katara as she handed the money to the merchant. The merchant handed her the paper parcel with a smile.

Katara placed the package in the bag over her shoulder and turned to Shyu. They started to walk towards the front entrance.

"Alright let's..." A loud crash echoed from the top of the roof.

Katara never got a chance to finish what she was going to say because an assailant broke through the back door. He began running through the shop right towards them!

The assailant slashed out his long sword and slashed it in a horizontal stroke. "Out of my way!" cried the attacked.

Shyu dropped below the sword and spun low to the floor. He hooks the front of the man's right ankle with his left. The resulting impact left to attacker landing heavily on his side. Shyu punched down towards the man's head, but the attacker just rolled out of the way. Katara and Shyu tensed when they heard a scream from outside. It sounded like Zuko. Wait, was that Sokka too? This is not good. Sokka and Aang might be in danger!

The swordsman clearly intended to join whatever commotion was going on outside. Judging from the way he broke down the apothecary's door and tried to slash them without a second thought led Katara to only one conclusion. He was not someone that would only cause Aang and her brother even more through. They needed to take this guy down and quickly.

Katara looked around the shop for some water and saw a full bucket by the back door. Se rooted her legs right forward and left behind at an angle, one hand towards the bucket and the other towards the man on the ground. With all the grace of a dancer, Katara spun her body to the right and brought her hands together. She sent the stream of water towards the attacker's hands and feet. The many unfortunately jumped to his feet and out of Katara's grasp. The water splashed against the wall of jars and knocked a few to the ground.

"My herbs!" cried the shopkeeper.

"Sorry," Katara replied. Focusing back on the fight, she saw Shyu being forced back. He wasn't firebending at the man. She quickly bends the remaining water back into an orb and waited. She only had one shot at this.

Shyu grabbed a jar of the winged-snake wine and tossed it towards the swordsman. The swordsman's immediate, instinctive reaction allowed for him to cut through the jar in one swing. Fortunately, Shyu's move paid off. The contents of the jar momentarily blinded the attacker. The distraction allowed for Shyu to tackle the man to the floor and knock away his sword. Shyu pinned the man's wrists for just a moment.

Shyu looked over to Katara and shout "Now!"

Katara didn't waste a moment and froze the majority swordsman's left arm to the floor so he couldn't move. The swordsman began to struggle again. He was going to break free!

"Miss!" cried the shopkeeper from behind Katara. He held another bucket of water. Katara bent the water from the new bucket to encase the swordsman's right ankle and froze it to the floor. Then, she moved on to his right arm and left leg. He was completely restrained.

She did it!

"Hey! Let me go!" shouted the attacker. He continued to struggle from his place on the floor.

"You just attack us and expect us to let you go? No way!" replied Katara. For the second time that afternoon, her conversation was interrupted as a miniature whirlwind blew into the apothecary.

(Day 1, 1443 hours; Shingu)

Aang was having trouble with his rooftop fight. He was glad that he was able to distract most of the ambushers while Sokka and Zuko got away. Still, it didn't make his situation any better. There were so many people pointing weapons at him at the same time! Sure, he was fast, but these guys were good. They knew how to work together. Each time he tried to mount his glider and take flight, another guy slashed at him!

His main strategy was to annoy the attackers until they got sloppy. So far...it was working. He had redirected the weighted whip of his first attacker towards two of his other opponents enough times that the guy was hanging back. He was now facing the guy with a spear and the guy with the sickles. The guy with the spear would use long ranged attacks to break Aang's defense and allow of the man with the sickles to attempt close range strikes. After a minute of dodging, Aang saw an opening.

The guy with the spear took a downward slash. The close ranged weaponists had not lunged in too close yet.

Aang jumped onto the spearman's right shoulder and lept off the building. Aang took flight towards the top of the mail station. The moment he touched down he heard a whistling sound cutting through the air. Aang immediately jumped to the side. The weighted whip crashed down. As Aang rolled back to his feet he saw that the four ambushers had lept into the street below and were rushing to the building he was standing on. Aang whirled his staff around his body and opened the tail. With a wide sweeping motion, he blasted all four attackers back. Each one hit the wood and adobe walls of the apothecary, knocking them out.

Seeing the ambushers down, Aang rushed into the apothecary. "Katara! Shyu! We have a problem" he called.

The first thing that Aang noticed was that another person was in the shop and restrained with ice.

Katara ran over to him and threw her arms around him "Aang! Are you alright? Is Sokka okay?"

"We were attacked by these guys outside. Sokka's okay, but Zuko's hurt. He was shot with an arrow."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Shyu.

"What?! Where are they?" asked Katara.

"I don't know. After Zuko was hurt, Sokka helped him get away, but one of these guys followed them. They might still be in trouble."

"Alright" replied Shyu. "We should spread out over the town and look for them. Aang how badly was Zuko wounded?"

"I don't know. The arrow hit his arm, but I didn't see everything."

"If Zuko was injured, where would Sokka likely go?" asked Shyu.

"Back to camp," replied Katara. "He would most likely hide with Zuko for a while and then try to go back to camp."

"Okay. Avatar Aang, I have heard airbenders can run as fast as the wind. Do you think that you could catch up to them?"

"Yeah, I'll try."

"Excellent. Did you see which way they went?"

"Left, towards the harbor."

"Good, go ahead after them. We'll catch up."

Aang nodded. As soon as he left the shop, the world blurred a bit as he raced from street to street. Aang scanned down the side streets. Left. Right. Left. Right. No sign of them yet. As Aang turned a final time and the entrance came into view.

There they are!

Aang saw Sokka catch his Boomerang, but he swordsman was about to strike Sokka! Aang sped up as much as he could even though he knew he wouldn't make it in time. Zuko, of all people, stopped the attack.

No sooner had Sokka asked where he was did Aang arrive and blast the swordsman backwards. Instead of a wood and adobe wall, his swordsman collided with the stone pillar to the right of the main gate. He was instantly knocked out too.

"Nice timing buddy. Thanks for the save" said Sokka. He was smiling with visible relief.

"Aang rubbed the back of his head and blushed." He was happy Sokka was okay. Aang's eyes widen a bit as he realized that he had forgotten about Zuko for a moment. The noticed that the prince was leaning heavily onto his left leg and he was slightly trembling.

"Your arm!" exclaimed Aang.

"Don't remind me. I'm trying to block it out. Ugh." Zuko winced.

"Katara and Shyu should be here in a minute or two. I kind of ran ahead of them." After a pause, Aang continued, "let me help you. You can sit in the shade until they get here."

"I don't want your help!"

"You may not want my help, but I still do want to help you."

Zuko took on a furious expression. "This is all your fault!" he shouted.

"What?! How?" asked Aang. Aang was confused. He didn't do anything.

"Yes! If it wasn't for you, I would be back on my ship by now."

"Hang on." Interrupted Sokka. "You can't just go blaming other people for your problems."

Zuko recoiled as if he was stuck. "My problems?!" Zuko shifted into a threatening stance. "It's not my..." He cut himself off from moving his left arm when he shifted his stance. Zuko began to curl into himself as he gripped his arm just below his injury.

Aang had to admit that he was morbidly impressed. Zuko was as white as a sheet, but Aang could also see that Zuko was not going to cooperate.

"Look Angry Jerk. You're hurt and angry. We can see that. You may not want help. You may not like us. But, right now, you need us. Come on."

Zuko stood still for a moment and then looked away. Zuko's lips were pressed into a thin line. To Aang's astonishment, Zuko nodded.

Sokka heaved a heavy sigh. "Now was that so hard?"

Zuko 's eyes narrowed at the remark "I..." Zuko's eyes started to roll back into his head.

"Hey he's going to..." began Aang

Sokka saw what was happening and grabbed Zuko's shirt collar before he hit the ground.

"Hey, a little help? This guy's heavier than he looks!"

Aang nodded and moved to Zuko's left and gently hooked Zuko's injured arm over his shoulders. Together, they dragged to unconscious teen to the shady area just outside the gate.

Once they lowered Zuko into a sitting position. Aang and Sokka both dropped heavily to the ground.

"Remind me again why we're dealing with his royal jerkiness," commented Sokka. However, there was no bite to the statement that Aang would have expected. He realized that something must have happened earlier. Now, Sokka just sounded sad.

Aang said nothing. Instead, he looked up at the clouds. He loved to look at them lazily rolling through the sky whenever things were gloomy. It is such a shame that they cannot offer any cheery advice to him or his friend.

All that was left to do was wait for Katara and Shyu to arrive.

A/N (Part 2)

Reflections:

Snake Wine: The Earth Kingdom is based on Ancient China, so I did a bit of research into Traditional Chinese Apothecaries. They have all kinds of unusual medicines in many different varieties. I realized that Katara and Shyu might experience some culture shock when entering one of these establishments. Many of the herbs and animals used would be unavailable in the Southern Water Tribe. I imagine that Shyu has also not spent but so much time in healing huts like this.

When I found out about Snake Wine, I couldn't resist adding that to the story. Scurvy is a skin disease that was common in sailors for centuries who have a Vitamin C deficiency, meaning they are not eating enough fresh fruits. Snake wine is used to cure skin disease, hence why the shopkeeper had so many bottles in stock.

Katara and Shyu's fight: The pirate's plan to rush out into the street through the apothecary's front door didn't last long, but no plan lasts long in battle.

I know that this chapter was a bit shorter than the other, but I felt like it was a good place to wrap up the chapter. The GAang has one problem solved, but they now have a dozen more to deal with.

I have been wondering if everyone in the story so far seems to be in-character or if they are a bit OOC. Any thoughts on this?

On a side note, I now have four days off this week for the holidays! I hope to have at least two more chapters up by the 4th, so stay tuned.

Until Next Time,

NinjaGhost1752