Gaang POV:

Sokka poked at the strange being on the ground before him with his war club. "What...what is it?"

"A person, obviously," Katara responded sharply, swatting the weapon away as she knelt before the fallen teenager.

"Never seen a person with straw colored hair," Sokka shot back. "Be careful."

The waterbender rolled her eyes as she drew water from the water pouch on her hip, and checked for wounds. She noticed a nasty cut on his hand, probably from when he'd fallen. The water glowed as she prepared to heal it, and she nearly dropped it with a gasp as she watched the wound close itself before she could even touch it.

"Is something wrong?" Aang asked, bounding over and joining her on the ground with a concerned expression.

"The...his hand..." Katara managed, still shocked by what she'd seen.

Aang studied the limb in question closely. "...What about it? I don't see anything wrong with it."

Katara shook herself and lead the water back into it's container. "It's just...nothing. Maybe I'm seeing things."

The man's eyes burst open, revealing startlingly violet irises. Katara helped him up. He looked up at her face, and then looked around. Katara released him when he sat up completely.

"Are you alright?" Aang inquired concernedly.

The man said nothing, but regarded the airbender curiously, taking in the boy's clothing, tattoos, and airstaff.

"He's the Avatar," Katara explained patiently. "Do you need help, sir?"

The man tilted his head slightly, causing the odd curl in his hair to bounce. He said something-a question of some sort, but it was complete gibberish.

"I think he bumped his head a little too hard," Sokka muttered covertly.

The man tried again with a different set of nonsensical vowels and consonants. He bit his lip as if waiting, or hoping, for an answer.

Aang shook his head slowly. "No...I don't think he understands us at all."

Iroh's POV:

'This cave, is much deeper than it looks,' Iroh decided silently, brightening the small flame in his palm so as to see better in the dark. 'It's probably large enough to be classified as an actual cave system-' He stumbled over a rock he hadn't percieved on the ground, causing his only source of light to flutter and cast menacing shadows on the cavern walls. 'Exploring a cave I've never been to...because I'd seen something like it in a dream. Not my wisest decision.' He straightened with a rueful chuckle that echoed throughout the place. 'It seems that my hindsight is clearest after making an uncharacteristically youthful mistake.' A few paces further, and his eyes alighting upon an unfortunately familiar sight.

A dead end, equally as hopless as the last.

'Oh, the irony of being defeated by a rock that an earthbender never touched,' Iroh thought bemusedly. He glanced back the way he'd come. A mournfully cold wind whistled by, coming from Agni-knows-where.

Zuko would be worrying about him by now. It'd been a few hours since they'd seen each other. His nephew went into town for...fishhooks, wasn't it? Iroh'd gone for a stroll...and now here he was. Zuko was probably back at their encampment, and wondering where he was. If Iroh can't fid his way out soon, his nephew might come and find him.

'The last thing I want, is for Zuko to get lost in this maze as well.'

He turned on his heel, deciding to try and backtrack to when the path had last split into different directions.

'Perhaps I should be more wary when it comes to odd visions-this lapse of judgement is hardly acceptable for someone such as myself! For all I know, it could been a malicious spirit trying to lure me into it's lair and-' His private scolding was interrupted by an eerie sound that rang in his ears and echoed off the stone walls.

"Uuuugh..."

Iroh stopped in his tracks, and listened intently. That was most certainly not the wind. He continued down the passage cautiously, braced for anything that might come his way.

It wasn't long before he came into a large vaulted chamber that he hadn't seen before. Giant stalagmites hung over his head, some having been formed into yellowed columns after hundreds of years. The only other passages appeared to be a narrow crevasse across the room that dropped to unknown inky blackness, or along the path of an underground river to his left-which had it's own plethora of dangers to consider.

But none of this concerned Iroh at the moment. He was more concerned with the vague outline of a person laying on the ground in the center of the room.

Iroh approached cautiously. The light in his hand revealed oddly wheat-colored hair, and strange clothing that pointed to none of the four nations. A young man, just barely out of his teenage years. The man groaned again, indicating that he was awake. Iroh helped him sit up, noting the tear in his white shirt and dried blood...along with the lack of any apparent wound. "Are you alright?"

The stranger seemed about to say something, but choked off in surprise when his blue eyes set upon the orange flame resting in Iroh's palm. "Ah...uh..."

Iroh mentally slapped himself for his foolishness. He'd been found out as a firbender. And from his experience, he'd learned that people tended to look past their situation and focus upon the object of their hate in a crisis, without asking for clarification first.

The man, however, had other ideas. He blinked and coked his head slightly, staring as if mesmerized by the flame for a moment. Iroh frowned lightly. Even if the boy'd never seen firebending in action before, surely he knew it when he saw it?

The fair-haired stranger said something, but Iroh couldn't quite make it out. He must've misheard. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Now it was the stranger's turn to frown. He studied Iroh for a full minute before repeating the oddly paced and foreign phrase, slower this time. Iroh shook his head to show his lack of comprehension. "I'm afraid that I don't understand you."

The blue-eyed man tried again, and this time it sounded a little more...familiar, in it's overall tone and use of vowels. But it was still gibberish.

Iroh shrugged apologetically. He wondered where these languages were even spoken...and how did this stranger come to learn them all?

The man sagged in apparent frustration and exhaled what was probably a curse. He tried one more time. "Please tell me you understand me now. Or else it'll only make my life harder from here."

Iroh's eyes widened slightly. "You speak High Court?"

The man gave Iroh the oddest look. "Uh...sure, whatever you call it."

Iroh filed this away for later. He needed basic information first. "What is your name?"

The young man climbed to his feet and rolled his shoulders. It struck Iroh just how tall this person was for his apparent age. His broad frame was accented by a slightly more than moderate amount of muscle, suggesting at least average physical activity. "My name's Alfred," he said casually. "What's your name? And where am I?"

"Alfred..." Iroh mused. "What an odd name...To answer your question, we are in a cave somewhere between Tu Zin and the Si Wong Desert."

Alfred regarded Iroh blankly. "Um...I'm not really from around here so...could you be a bit more general?"

"Well," Iroh said, "I could state the obvious and tell you that we're in the Earth Kingdom, but..." The young man's utterly lost expression told all. "...but you don't know where that is either, do you?"

"Not a clue," Alfred confirmed, his voice betraying confusion and the slightest tint of worry. "But I figure that I'm a bit far from home."

Iroh stroked his beard contemplatively. "Hmmm...You can't be Earth Kingdom, since you don't know what that is. And the only other peoples that are quite as tall as yourself would be the Foggy Swamp. You accent holds a bit of their pronunciation as well. And I've heard the natives of that area tend to be rather...localized, in their knowledge of the world surrounding them. Though I've never met one that only spoke High Court..."

Alfred shook his head. "Never heard of any Foggy Swamp..." He trailed off and looked at the flame in Iroh's hand again. "Hey, how're you doin' that? It doesn't look like it's burning you."

"Firebending," Iroh explained patiently. "I'm using my chi to control the fire."

Alfred's eyes brightened, and his aura became that of childish excitement. "That...is super cool."

Iroh smiled at this. Though he regarded him curiously. "You've never heard of firebending?"

"No, that's something straight out of a fairy tale, where I come from. If we did have it..." The young man sobered suddenly, his blue eyes aging far beyond his years. He quietly finished his sentence in his native tongue. Though Iroh had his suspicions as to what was being said. Alfred apparently knew human nature all too well for his youth.

An eerie wind blew through the cavern, causing the light to flicker and cast menacing shadows over rough stone. Alfred looked around, his mood suddenly back to neutral. "Oooookay, then. Do you happen to know the way out?"

"Iroh shook his head grimly. "Alas, I am as lost as you. I came here because of an odd vision..."

Iroh is sitting under a tree, in a forest he'd never seen before. He looks around, apparently unconcerned with huge polar bear sleeping next to him. He reaches out to pet it. It wakes up with a soft groan and looks towards the thick greenery ahead with odd, swirling purple eyes.

Iroh gets up, and approaches the brush curiously, still unconcerned. Something glitters on the ground, partially obscured by the leaves. He reaches to pick it up, and finds himself falling forward into a dark hole in the ground. He lands in a meadow full of red, white, and blue flowers he couldn't identify. He walks for a while, and comes over a hill. He sees the moon spirit, accompanied by a couple he could not recognize clad in greens and browns with leaf patterns that looked almost real.

The moon spirit said nothing, but pointed, beckoning Iroh to look behind him. There was a cave, rather insignificant in appearance as caves go. But the older firebender felt something was in there. Something important...

Iroh studied Alfred. Could it be? "...Though I think I've found what I'm looking for."

"And what is that?" Alfred inquired warily.

"Come with me," Iroh said in response. "The spirits apparently have a plan for you. And it apparently involves me, and possibly my nephew."

"Wait, wait." Alfred raised his hands in a staying gesture. "You haven't even told me your name. I can't go trusting random mor-ah, people without a name, at least."

The ex-general caught the slip in words. He wondered what Alfred was hiding. But that could come later. "My name, is Iroh."

Gaang POV:

"How is that even possible?!" Sokka exclaimed. "There is one language. That everyone speaks! How does a guy go through life with a completely different one?!"

The stranger regarded Sokka's yelling with a worried expression, as if wondering what he did to offend. Katara silenced her brother with an icy glare. "Can't you see he's just confused?" she hissed. "Look at his clothes-look at his features! He's obviously lost!"

"Not our problem," Sokka stated flatly. "We can't pick up every lost person on the road we see. Four people riding on Appa's back is enough! Remember Toph? Who's probably wondering where we are by now?"

"We can't just leave him here!" Katara snapped.

"I'm sure he can find his own way," Sokka reassured dismissively. "He had to have gotten here somehow."

Aang looked at the man again. "Well...let's at least get him to the next town. Someone might be looking for him."

Sokka narrowed his eyes and regarded the man for a full minute. "...Fine...Don't come crying to me when he turns out to be some psycho-crazy-person and tries to kill us all in our sleep!" He stomped off grumpily, presumably back towards the camp.

"Don't mind him," Katara said soothingly. "He's just stressed out with the War and everything."

The man looked at her uncomprehendingly, but smiled shyly regardless.

Aang stood up, and offered his hand to the stranger. "Come on, we'll-"

The man gripped his hand, and Aang was flooded with visions of expansive blue lakes, sprawling green forests, frozen tundras, cities of metal, wood, and stone. A diverse population with their own unique culture and patterned history, along with every little sensation and human emotion happening all at once.

Aang stumbled back. Katara caught him. "What happened?!" she asked frantically. Her expression became a frozen glare as she looked in the stranger's direction. "Did her hurt you?"

The man scrambled to his feet and stepped back, his hands up in a pacifying gesture.

"No..." Aang managed, straightening and taking deep breaths. "I just..." He trailed off and looked into the man's incredibly aged, endless violet eyes...so similar to the eyes of someone else he'd met...a long time ago. Aang suddenly felt...small in his presence. "This guy's important. Really important."

"How so?" Katara asked, regarding the stranger warily.

"He's very-..." Aang cut him self off and shook his head. "I can't explain it. Not really."

Katara was silent for a moment more before finally saying, "Well...I believe you, I guess. You are the Avatar...this might have something to do with that."

Aang smiled gratefully. The man shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat, signifying that he was still there, after all.

"Let's get him back to camp," Aang said. "Maybe we can figure out his name, tonight."

Katara nodded in agreement. She cautiously offered a hand to him. The man was equally hesitant in grasping it.

Their hands touched, and nothing happened. THe waterbender raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

Zuko POV:

Zuko was alert when he heard footsteps. He was on his feet when he noted two pairs of footsteps. "Who's there?"

His uncle stepped into view, his hands clasped behind his back in a way that suggested he was up to something.

Zuko wondered if he really wanted to know what that was.

"At ease, nephew," Iroh chuckled. "It's me."

Zuko warily regarded the stranger standing behind his uncle. "With...?"

The ex-general had the newcomer step forward. "This," he said calmly, "is Alfred."

"And what is Alfred doing here?" Zuko gritter out, already feeling his patience begin to wane. They didn't have time for any crazy schemes. They had to get away and get somewhere safe.

...Not that he knew where that was, yet.

"Alfred will be accompanying us," Iroh answered, as if this was the most reasonable proposal ever conceived.

"No. He. Is. Not," Zuko enunciated as clearly and slowly as possible. "You know we can't be doing things like this, Uncle! We-"

Iroh held up a staying hand, effectively cutting Zuko off. He turned to Alfred and said, "Did you catch all of that?"

Zuko's frown deepened. High Court? Only Fire Nation nobles knew-

"Nope," Alfred answered, his strange accent easily noticeable but overall unobtrusive. "Translation, please?"

"He doesn't like you," Iroh supplied. "And he thinks I'm being kooky."

Alfred shrugged. "Can't please everyone, I guess."

Iroh nodded forlornly in agreement.

"I'm still here," Zuko snapped, switching to High Court. "And we still can't take him with us."

"And why not?" Iroh asked curiously. "It's not as if he can go anywhere else, seeing as how the language he speaks is completely foreign to most of the world. How would he function?"

"Not our problem," Zuko answered. "Alfred, go home."

"Okay then," Alfred said. He looked around. "How does one get to Washington D.C. from here? Or Virginia? Or the United States in general?"

"I've never heard of any of those places," Zuko responded shortly. "Maybe if you ask around in the next town-"

"As a matter of fact, neither have I," Iroh interjected with a smile. "I'd love to hear about these places...stay for tea, at least."

Alfred met Zuko's forbidding gaze without even blinking. He smirked, almost imperceptibly. "I'd be honored."

Zuko wanted to set something on fire.

Aaaaand, here we go! A new story! The first few chapters are always hardest for me. It gets easier to write as the story progresses, I find. I also have almost NO clue as to where this is going. Let's find out together, shall we?

You don't have to favorite or follow if you don't want to...but at least review? Or you know, if you DO like where this is going...review and stalk this story? Either way, please review.

Later dudes. ^J^