Book 1: Water | 51 | The Scroll II

                                    

                                          
Zuko had three things circling his mind.
The first was his promising find of a certain necklace during the investigation of one of their earth-bending prison holds. Deep down, he was a bit happy that they got ransacked as they did. He... never agreed to this type of endeavor, enslaving others and imprisoning families. With one glance at his uncle, the soldiers that were rescued from the sea spilled what they'd been doing.
Not all of them made it though. The warden was gone, and so were some of his closest aides. The earth benders had been merciless when they overthrew the rig, though he could hardly blame them for being such after he heard about the things these officers did.
Zuko had to hold back from dropping them back into the sea to rot. Who hurts elders and children for entertainment? There's no honor in that, ever, and he was absolutely disgusted. So much so that he'd been breathing fire the entire time just thinking about it.
Though their accounts about a monstrous youth with white hair and some freakishly strong lava lady caught his attention after those reveals. Now, he knew exactly what monstrous youth was. That was a no-brainer for him. He had no clue about the woman though, but lava? He could see the scorch marks and melted metal in many areas, and dried-up masses of what Zuko could only describe as a cooled lava flow. It would seem that he had other people to look out for on his quest.
He would never admit this, but he was secretly glad that the water-tribe warrior, Ayaan, had put these men in their place. There were even a few that looked traumatized. The memory made him smirk. Serves them right. They deserved every bit of that beating.
If Ayaan hadn't, he would have done it himself. As harsh as Zuko seemed, and as many mistakes his anger caused him to make, he did not want unwarranted bloodshed.
He touched his scar. Speaking up about his opinion is what got him burned in the first place. The memory haunts him still, but even now, he does not regret what he said. His only regret was that his father thought that it was a slight at him.
'But why...'
He was his son. He wasn't just some official. So why... did he go so far to prove a point?
The thoughts that whispered the truth were ignored. He wouldn't believe them. He held on to the hope that maybe he was just that out of turn. That when he found the Avatar, he would still regain everything he lost. His honor, his title, his respect. He would get them all back.
And that was what he held on to. That was why when he got to that rig and began searching, finding that familiar necklace after a full two days of looking, he let that hope grow.
The second was his uncle turning the ship around for a stupid tile piece of his game. As much as it irritated him, this was something that he could do for his uncle. He would never admit it, but he was glad to be able to do something for him. That man had stuck with him through thick and thin. 
But that didn't subvert the anger he felt at the fact that this was impeding his search for the Avatar. He could feel it. He was getting closer. Capturing the Avatar and defeating Ayaan in a fight were his goals.
'Rivals? Tsk.'
That brought him the third thing that was on his mind: That story his Uncle had told him. Truly, what was a blessed child? Someone that spirits favor, a beloved entity in the world. All of it sounded like some farfetched fairytale to Zuko. Dragons and wolves fueled by ice and snow, the land at his beck and call?
There was no way that could be real, true, or even a slight possibility. Right?
Right...?
"No way." Zuko wouldn't believe it. "I have better things to worry about than this."