The Found Adventures
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Lost Adventures, or anything else but the plots of the stories themselves, and no copyright infringement is intended. I'm simply characterbending for my own amusement and hopefully for the entertainment of the readers.
A/N: This is going to be a series of one shots of various genres and with various characters, and canon pairings. For anyone who knows about the ATLA comics, the title might seem familiar, and there's a reason for that. This is basically along the same lines as The Lost Adventures, meaning that there will be mini-stories set at all different points of the three seasons, as well as post-ATLA – different tales from between The Promise, The Search, and The Rift, and after, as well. Some will even spin off the comics themselves.
I hope everyone enjoys!
~A~
No Good Deed
~A~
"So... why are we going back to visit the Sun Warriors, Zuko?" Aang asked as he lay on his back atop Appa's head, arms folded underneath his own head.
The young Firelord looked down at his friend from his spot at the front of the saddle, and sighed. "I got a message from them. They requested that you and I meet with them."
Aang pursed his lips and looked doubtfully at him. "You didn't touch some important relic of theirs again, did you?"
"No!"
"Oh, okay. Just making sure. That does make me wonder what they might want, though. And I thought they didn't want anyone to know they still existed?"
"They still don't as far as I know," Zuko responded wryly.
"Then how did they send you a message?" he questioned dubiously, looking askance at the firebender.
"One of them showed up at the palace dressed as a Fire Nation citizen and demanded to see me," the Firelord replied. "It was the snarky one from when we were there the first time. You know," he mused, "I always thought he was rooting for us to get fried by the 'masters'."
Aang laughed. "Oh, him? You're probably right – he kinda did give off that vibe, didn't he?"
"Yeah."
"So where'd he go?"
"I don't know – after he'd passed on his demands he disappeared the same way he showed up."
"And... that would be how?"
"Quietly."
"Oh."
Silence fell then as the two lost themselves in their thoughts, both wondering just what the Warriors could need them for.
~A~
Both Aang and Zuko bowed politely when they were led to the chief, and the man indicated for them to take a seat while tea was poured out for them. Once the polite preliminaries had been dispensed with and the tea sipped, the chief broached the topic they'd come to discuss.
"You are here to see the masters. They wish to speak to you both."
The young airbender blinked several times in surprise, then glanced at his equally surprised friend. "Uh... do you have any idea what this is about?"
The chief grinned and both young men flinched, remembering seeing that grin the last time they were here – when he'd told them that because they now knew about their society, they'd have to be imprisoned there. It was the grin of a prankster – one Aang wore often... though maybe not quite as sadistically as the chief did.
"Nope." He shrugged and his grin widened, showing a lot of teeth. "But don't worry – I don't think you have anything to fear. The masters both fed recently, so they shouldn't be hungry."
The Avatar and the Firelord gulped.
~A~
Once again mounted atop Appa as the sky bison flew away from the hidden society, both young men were quiet, thinking about their visit with the masters. Needless to say, neither had expected what they'd discovered.
"It's so strange that something that you did well over a hundred years ago came back to help us in the war," Zuko said slowly. "And even more crazy... to find baby dragons! If uncle hadn't lied to Azulon about killing the last dragon, this wouldn't even be possible."
"Yeah," Aang agreed softly, his expression nostalgic and a little sad. "I can't believe that Ran is the dragon that me and Kuzon saved from those poachers all those years ago. Or that the reason that they gave me the firebending vision was because of that."
"Well," the firebender returned sardonically, trying to cheer his friend up, "you know what they say... no good deed goes unpunished."
The monk scoffed. "Yeah, and we get to tell that to your uncle, too."
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Uncle's gonna love this, you know. The fact that the newest dragon has been named after him in gratitude for the lie that saved them from extinction is going to really make his head swell."
Aang started laughing. "Yeah... now Iroh really is a dragon of the west!"