The Girl With Golden Hair

Chapter 9: The Fortune Teller and The Bounty Hunter

Days on end we searched for the Avatar, it eventually lead us to a Earth Kingdom village situated at the base of a volcano. It appeared as through the volcano had erupted only a few days ago, oxidized lava had filled trenches protecting the village from the lava flow. "Look Zuko! They have a fortune teller! Do you want a reading?"

He looked down at me from his Komodo rhino, "No, that stuff is phony."

"Don't be such a Debbie downer Zuko! Besides you could get information from her on the Avatar's whereabouts!"

"A Debbie downer? What?" Zuko shook his head, "Fine, but only for information on the Avatar."

Inside the small shop, we sat on pillows, waiting for our readings. A little girl with pigtails that stuck straight up walked out, "Aunt Wu will see you now." She bowed to me, and then led me to the reading room.

I sat down across from an older lady, with gray hair and green eyes. Between us was a fire, and Aunt Wu had a bowl of bones next to her seat, "Welcome Ayaka, I am glad that you asked for a reading today." She throws handful of bones in the fire, and we watched as they cracked and broke apart. Aunt Wu hummed, "I see you aren't from around you and you find yourself on a very difficult journey, alongside a hotheaded, stubborn dark haired man."

"Yeah you can say that again."

"Very handsome too, he will break your heart in the coming weeks, but he will repair it, and your relationship will be stronger than no other. I see twins in your shared future."

"What? Maybe you are phony."

The women was taken aback, but then chuckled, "Sometimes we cannot see what the future holds when we are clouded by present day perceptions.

"Whatever you say." I walked out and the little girl took Zuko to the back to meet Aunt Wu.

After twenty minute Zuko comes out pink face. And dragged me out of the shop, "I told you she was a phony."

"I'm actually going to have to agree with you on this one. Did you get information on the Avatar?"

"Oh, yeah, he was here and was heading north of here.
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We had docked at a port north of the village we had previously stopped at. In the haul, Iroh, Zuko and I sat and sipped on tea. "See Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental wellbeing."

Just as Zuko went to sip his tea, the entire ship jerked around, spilling all over Zuko. Making a noise of frustration Zuko shot out of his seat and stomped up to the deck. On the deck was a woman riding a anteater looking creature. I stopped Zuko for a brief second and used my waterbending to get the tea out of his clothes, "Thank you," He said to me before turning to the woman, her hair draped down her back in black cascading locks, covering her many visible tattoos. She looked so cool.

"Get back!" She yelled to us, "We're after a stowaway!"

With as much ferocity, Zuko replied, "There are no stowaways on my ship!" The creature the lady was riding ripped into the haul using its fearsome claws, and tracked a scent to a barrel that in knocked over. The lid fell off, exposing an old man with leathered skin in Earth Kingdom attire. He tried to run but was hit by the creature's long flexible tongue and fell to the ground, "He's paralyzed" Zuko's eyes went wide.

The lady spoke, "Only temporarily," She threw the man over the back of her shirshu, as Iroh told me, "The toxins will wear off in an hour. But by then, he'll be in jail, and I'll have my money."