A/N: So just a quick note, this takes place following an alternate ending to the episode "Zuko Alone". The earthbenders that Zuko defeated before were victorious this time around, taking him back to their leader in the headquarters of the White Fang. Don't worry, if you have any confusion I promise that all you need to know will be figured out throughout your reading experience. And if you still have questions after this you're free to send me a DM.

Zuko's head was slumped down in front of his chest, a bag loosely over his head and his hands tied behind his back as the earthbenders dragged him along throughout the wasteland and desert. He sat in the back of a wagon that they had tossed him onto before leaving the town that he failed to protect. It was still hard for him to accept what had happened once he began firebending in the fight with them. Somehow it seemed like they knew ways to counter him in ways that pure battle and war wouldn't teach… almost as if they trained with a firebender themselves.

Those were some of his earlier thoughts along this journey, now his mind was simply on wherever these men were taking him. The location had to be somewhere that they didn't want him knowing the direct path to, since he had this filthy bag on his head. Whatever sack this was must have been older than the clothes he wore, carrying a stinch that he really didn't know the origin of. Why would he? He was just a banished prince who was only just recently being thrust into the world around him in ways he never thought he would.

Of course this was the fate that was put upon him once he left his uncle, the only person who cared enough to guide him after his banishment. Now he knew that he was a fool for thinking that he was truly better off on his own and not with his one and only mentor. If he did make it out of this, and he certainly wouldn't not make it out of this without a fight, he would be sure to make it back to Iroh. Whether or not he would take Zuko back in was another thought for a different time, now was the time to focus on what would come next.

The answer to those thoughts wouldn't take long to come, as the wagon came to an abrupt stop. Zuko fell back, his head crash landing onto the wood of the wagon behind him as he let out a low grunt to signal the quick pain that shot through his body. That moment would soon be forgotten as he was pulled with a heavy amount of force from the wagon, not being able to catch his fall as he hit the sand below in a state of dishevelment. Spitting the awful taste of dust from his mouth he shook his head, the sack falling from his face as his eyes were nearly sealed shut by the sunlight beaming down on him.

"Hey! no one told you to take that off." There was very little time to respond as a large hand yanked him up from the sand and up onto his knees, a large fist quickly connecting with his right cheek as he crashed back down into the sand. If his head wasn't killing him before it certainly felt awful now. With his vision blurry he did his best to look at his attacker, a large earthbender from before who was reaching down for Zuko with the look of intent to do more damage.

"Aye! You really think the boss wants us beating him up even more?" Both he and the large earthbender looked over to the voice that reached out to them, it coming from the man that seemed to be leading this group that attacked the village. His vision was finally becoming clear under the intense heat of the sun, so he was able to confirm this with a second look.

"He took the sack off of his head," The large man defended himself, motioning over to Zuko was still on the ground as he attempted to register all that was happening, "I was just-"

"You were just what? We're already here." The supposed leader swayed his arm around them, which finally brought the prince's attention to the place that he had been brought to. There were a combination of tents and houses built from bricks that were made from mud, the usual setup for a small town in this area. One of the key differences about this place was the size of it though, there seemed to be enough makeshift homes around them to house an army big enough to do some serious damage. All of this made him wonder what kind of 'boss' these two were rambling about.

"Now get him up so we can get him in to see the boss." Of course as soon as he starts thinking about the 'boss' in question the order is given to take him to the man or woman him/herself, after his run ins with his sister he knew better than to think any cruel leader would be a man.

"Well you heard him, up and easy." The large man grabbed Zuko by the arm, lifting him up to his feet with an expected level of ease. It wasn't hard to define this one as the dumb muscle of the group that brought him here. He did feel his strength returning to him, the sun certainly helping with that but attempting an escape at their stronghold all on his own with no real knowledge of the land was likely a very stupid idea.

"I can walk on my own." If anything though, he would at least like to be able to walk himself to wherever he was being taken, ripping his arm from the large man to send that message.

"I don't ever want to touch someone like you, so trust me," the large man effortlessly grabbed ahold of the prince a second time, this time his grip being much stronger and feeling much more restrictive, "that's not why I'm doing this."

As much as he would love to incinerate this man where he stood for treating him as he has so far, Zuko simply grunted as he was escorted throughout the village. There were a surprising number of families here, likely being dragged along by men like the ones he already had the pleasure of meeting. What surprised him even more though was how peaceful this area was in comparison to the other village. This was likely a false sense of prosperity that was being held up by raiding and harassing other villages like the one he was staying at, the thought only angering him.

His eyes fell on what looked like a mother and son playing with a ball as they tossed it back and forth, laughing occasionally. It wasn't hard for him to relate this to his own childhood where he would do something similar with Ursa, back before everything changed. Back when he too lived a life thinking that everything going on in the world was fine and that everyone prospered. Of course it didn't take long for those ideals to be shook from him by his father but it was still a nice time of his life while it lasted. Now he was on the other side of that, longing to be back in a more simpler time.

So… at the end of the day this place wasn't too different from the place he once called home.

…

The darkness of the tent was always an inviting place to someone like Adam, that being the reason he chose the low amount of lighting that kept his quarters visible to himself and to those who might enter. There weren't many decorations as this wasn't his own living space, rather it was just the place where he delegated his business with his followers or where he would meet with the rare visitor. So there was only a table and a set of chairs in the room, his chair being the only one that looked any different than a regular wooden one. It being a ceremonial Fire Nation chair that he and a group he took with him found once while out in a village close to a sea.

That's where he currently sat, his sword drawn as he lazily leaned back and looked over the red blade. Never before had he held a weapon like this, one that he felt so connected to every moment that he held onto it. Taking life with this weapon came as a second nature to him now which was likely a mixture of his exposure to killing and the fact that committing that act just felt so seamless with the sword. This has practically become all his life has become, taking lives with this sword everytime that he entered a battlefield then returning here until the next time he could strike.

For most people this would not be satisfying all on its own and it wasn't really satisfying for him either, but that was life. He learned a while ago that life wasn't a fun time where everyone got their own, no, every single life was driven by something that pushed them to a life they didn't expect to have. Adam would love to be a simple farmer in his old colony but that was never the path that was meant for him. His path was now before him and regardless of what his own desires were, revenge was what drove him now.

"Sir, we came across a bit of a surprise." He was pulled from his thoughts, slipping his sword back into its sheath as he turned his attention to the flaps of the tent where his men awaited permission to enter.

"Surprise?" Adam asked out into the air, unless they found enough money to get them some real resources to build more permanent homes or food actually worth eating he couldn't say that he was interested. Even he, the leader of this place, didn't have special access to such luxuries since they were still trying to just recruit more people into their cause.

"Yeah, more like a big surprise." Sanrock entered the tent, holding one of the flaps to the tent open as his larger companion Soccik entered dragging a disgruntled young man with him. As they entered the flap was dropped, the young man being forced to his knees as he seemed ready to protest but chose not too for whatever reason.

The two that brought him here remained silent, forcing their leader to sigh and move to his feet as he made his way over to the young man to get a good look at him. His mask seemed to take up the attention of the man, his eyes observing Adam quite intently. "I only see a defeated young man."

"He's-"

"I'm Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." Zuko broke his silence, a clear level of anger and resilience on his tone as he continued to look up at the leader of this group.

Soccik stepped forward ready to lay into the prince for the interruption. "I swear you need to be ta-"

"Zuko… you're a banished prince now. Aren't you?" Adam had become far more interested in the young man now that he knew who he was, wondering if he had a death wish to be this deep in the Earth Kingdom alone.

"Well?" Tilting his head he looked at the Prince's left eye, the scar being something that certainly struck a place even in someone such as himself.

"Yes." He already knew that the answer was yes before Zuko ever confirmed it, but he didn't know why. After all it wasn't like something like banishment just happened everyday, especially when the banished were once high regarded royalty. As far as he knew that was something that would only ever be used on traitors of the Fire Nation or anyone that the Fire Lord just simply didn't want around anymore.

It wasn't likely that the Fire Lord's own son would betray him, even if there was the possible opening for it. There just wasn't any logic too that since it would likely leave this young man in a far worse situation than simply being the prince could offer him. So whatever it was that did lead to his banishment had to be something more simple than that for him to just be casted away. Needless to say, his mere presence was enough to drive Adam to become curious.

"Leave us." Without another word the Sanrock and Soccik left the tent, leaving the two of them behind for whatever their leader had planned. He turned his back to Zuko and walked over to the far side of the tent so to give himself some time to think. Along with his action he also hoped that the silence would draw some kind of response from the other man in the room. Going off of his response would make it easier for him to make a judgement on this situation.

"Your mask… you're not an earthbender are you?"

Immediately Adam turned back to face him again, it wasn't often that others knew about the mask before meeting him. "We're both away from our homeland."

"Only because I'm not allowed to be, I'm not a traitor like you."

"No," He stepped closer to the Prince, "you're just a castaway."

The movement seemed to put Zuko on edge, his shoulders raised as he got to his feet. "Why did you want to speak with me alone?"

"I'm a firebender, like you. So I'm going to give you the opportunity to explain yourself to me." Slowly, Adam made his way over to the table in the center of the room, taking a seat in his own unique chair before motioning for the other to also sit. In all his years he had never met another firebender who seemed to be as driven by anger as this one was, outside of himself. Yes, firebending did play off of one's emotions so there were hate led firebenders before in his own life but none like this. None were so motivated by that emotion once they were alone, they usually were scared instead. "Why did my men bring you here?"

There was clear hesitation on the other young man's face as he looked to the table, but after he seemed to be lost to his own thoughts for another few moments he sat opposite of Adam at the table. "I was defending that helpless village, there's no reason to attack or harass them. They have no warriors and hardly any supplies!"

Sure, his reason for doing this was noble but he sounded like one of their own and not like that of his actual own. "Better question. Why were you, Prince Zuko, defending those of the Earth Kingdom?"

"I…" The question hit it's mark as the young man's head dipped, his eyes glancing down as he remained quiet. He couldn't blame Zuko for not knowing exactly how to answer him, the decision was made out of emotions and that much was clear. "I usually wouldn't bat an eye at such a situation. But they were kind to me, cared for me, so I returned the favor."

"Did they know who you were?" It made sense, for the most part that those from the Earth Kingdom would be nice to someone, even an outsider. However Adam knew from his own experiences that the same treatment was not given to anyone who came from the Fire Nation. The one taboo of the Earth Kingdom was that they didn't treat outsiders they didn't favor well, instead they treated them like animals.

"No, not initially."

"They didn't take the news well?" At this point he didn't have to ask anymore questions, the somber tone and gaze of Zuko told him all he really needed to know. But what he didn't know was the other young man's perspective on all of this. Again, situations like this where Fire Nation royalty found itself in his tent were far beyond rare so this was all very new to him. On that same notion, he couldn't help but to sympathize with the specific person that sat across from him now.

"No, they were upset… why are you asking me so many questions?" Confidence returned to the Prince faster than one would ever think it to be possible, he was clearly becoming irritated with the number of questions. Luckily for him, Adam was able to form his thoughts more clearly with the answers he already had. Both he and this young man were firebenders, and they both were marked with the past while trying to push through whatever present they found themselves in… and they hardly knew what their futures held.

"I understand your situation better than you know. If I let you leave, and promise to leave that one village alone, you won't mention this to anyone." The leader of this makeshift village placed his elbows on the table, feeling a tired state coming over him as he rested his head against his folded hands propped up off the table. On the other side Zuko seemed to be thinking over his options for what seemed like an eternity.

Then finally, he stood from the table and gave a closed eye nod."Understood."

"Good, let Sanrock know that I'm letting you take one of our animals for travel." Adam leaned back in seat, happy that this odd occasion was coming to its end. As fun was it was that he got to meet someone associated with his past he had to admit that he wasn't a fan of the edge that this added to his day. Things like this brought uncertainty to his mind and with uncertainty came a level of fear. That fear wouldn't be left unchecked though, he would make sure of that.

"Oh, and Zuko, I do this because of the fact that we both share a common heritage. I cannot promise this same kindness if we meet again." The Prince stopped one last time long enough to acknowledge what had been said before stepping out of the tent. This left the redhead alone again in his tent, so he did what he would usually do when he was alone and pulled his sword from its sheath. Before he would sharpen his blades whenever he found time like this but ever since he came into the possession of this one there was no need to. Little did he know just how much he would need that sword for what the future would bring his way.