A/N: Hi there! I'm a first time writer and this is my first fanfiction, and also I am not a native speaker so my English's got its issues but please be patient with me :) I hope you like my story.

And since everybody writes a disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender or any of its characters!

1. Journey from the Southern Air Temple

Eight men edged carefully through a narrow, weather-beaten, path of unsteady rocks. Every step could be their last as the pathway was in the middle of a steep slope looking over a deep valley. Even the weather was not on the side of the eight men in red uniforms. It was deteriorating by the minute. Although for the moment it was only drizzling, the rocky pathway was quickly becoming slippery anyway. Furthermore, the temperatures were only slightly above freezing and the cold was only intensified by a strong wind blowing from the south.

The group was moving slowly. They looked exhausted, moving their legs only with great effort. Their progress was further hampered as one of them could walk only with the support of two others. One of the two men supporting the injured comrade ran from the back of the group to the leader.

"Commander, sir, I'm afraid that we should probably take a break. The men want to warm up a bit and Riun... Riun's leg is getting worse." The young man or rather a boy with what looked like a constant frown and an outstanding scar on the left side of his face looked back and examined the group following him.

"We are not stopping. By dark, we have to get off these rocks." He said nothing more and started to move forward again. The men exchanged sullen looks. Two of them again supported the injured and tried to keep up with the pace set by their commander.

However, after a few minutes, the group started to fall behind their leader again. The young man didn't even seem to notice. When it was almost dark and the young commander was almost out of sight because of the thickening fog falling, the group decided to stop.

"Commander! Commander!" The men were shouting on their young leader but he didn't stop, at least he wasn't coming back from the fog. That was when one of the angrier looking men ran forward.

"Hey! Your Highness! We are making a break for the night! We will not continue!" Suddenly red flames flared through the fog. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared. The young commander emerged from the shadows; the moist air was changing around his hands into steam. His yellow eyes were gleaming dangerously and the scar around the left one seemed to stretch out changing the left side of his face into a frightening grimace.

"Your Highness…commander!" The older man corrected himself after seeing the dangerous sparks in the eyes of his leader, although it looked like he was pleased with the effect of calling him mockingly by his old title. The oldest man of the group stepped out seeing that the situation required a gentler approach.

"Sir, we have to stop! Riun is getting worse by each minute. I fixed his leg the best I could, but in these conditions…"

"Second lieutenant Ming, I fully trust in your medical skills and I believe that Private Riun will withstand two more hours of walking until we get into the forest…"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I believe he will not. He has a high fever and the men are hardly able to keep on carrying him." He was trying to say everything very emphatically to make his young hotheaded leader understand the situation. Finally, the young man looked to the back of the group where the other men were supporting their extremely pale comrade who was visibly trembling and didn't look like he could understand what is going on around him. The rest of the men didn't look that much better either. He looked like he saw the real situation for the first time. But the frown on his face didn't go away.

The group looked angry and annoyance was quite transparent on their faces. "Commander, we simply have to stay for the night, wait for the next sunrise." Ming sounded almost like he was scolding a child rather than talking to his commander. The commander, on the other hand, looked like his blood would boil right out of him. But before he could blow out the other men joined right in:

"This mission is ridiculous!"

"We need a break!"

"We're all tired!"

"We're staying even if your highness wants to go..!" The protests of the men were louder and louder while the face of the young commander darker.

"How dare you?" he growled with a low voice. "Don't you understand what this is about? There is nothing more important than finding the Avatar! Nothing!" The man whose protests were the loudest stood in front of the young commander and contemptuously looked down on him.

"The Avatar is long dead, he left this pitiful world. And Your Highness with your ridiculous mission is the laughing stock of the whole Fire Nation!" The young man gave out almost an animalistic roar. He took a fighting stance but the older man just snorted.

"Enough!" Ming promptly stepped between them. "Kalun! That was enough!" He looked strictly at the tall man but he didn't move an inch, so he turned to the other hothead. "Prince Zuko, with all respect, we have to think about the current situation and come up with a plan." But the commander hadn't moved either until he suddenly dropped the stance.

For a while nobody said anything and there was a tense atmosphere. Their commander turned away from them and went few steps away. "We are staying for the night. Ming, take care of the injured. We head out with the first light." The whole group sighed with relief and although the conditions were not exactly suitable they set up a small camp. They seated the soldier with the broken leg near the camp fire which they would not have been able to make if they weren't firebenders.

Ming carefully checked on the condition of the injured. It seemed Riun had gotten really sick. Ming was actually surprised that during the challenging expedition only one of the men got injured. What else could be expected from a climb to the Southern Air Temple? It was the most inaccessible Air Temple out of the four and to go there just two weeks before the winter solstice just a few hundreds of kilometers from the Southern Pole was equal to a suicide. But that didn't stop Prince Zuko in contrast with the rest of the crew. Despite all the odds, he headed out on the journey to the Southern Air Temple with six other firebenders as well as Ming himself, on a journey which ended with empty halls and gardens.

It was for a longer while now that the crew was not exactly excited about the dangerous missions the prince decided to undertake and the only thing keeping them from disobedience was the prince's uncle – General Iroh. The respect he held, opposed to his nephew, and the cheerful nature he possessed had prevented many quarrels between the crew and its commander. But this latest expedition seemed to have changed the status quo. During the descent, the youngest of the crew (besides their commander) broke his leg when a rock loosened from underneath his foot. Ming tried his best to fix it still. But the young man was exhausted, his leg kept swelling and as well as the other firebenders he suffered from a shortage of chi energy from the lack of sunshine. Only a few hours of sunlight took its toll on the whole crew. Of course, Prince Zuko was the one who seemed to be the least affected by the lack of sun energy. It was probably his hot temper that kept him supplied with the necessary energy. Riun on the other hand was not so lucky. If they don't get to their ship by tomorrow, Ming was afraid for the worst.

"Kalun, Shin, all of you! Give me all the superfluous clothing you have and don't need. We have to keep Riun as warm as possible." Everybody listened and started to look through their bags and put off their cloaks. Then Ming gave Riun some of the remaining water to drink and they laid him the most comfortable way possible and covered from the weather. After that, all of them laid down to rest around the fire.

Ming looked around the campsite. Their commander stayed on the watch. The boy was sitting the furthest from the campfire wrapped in his cloak watching into the darkness. The flames of anger and wounded pride were still flickering in his eyes. This kind of silence was very characteristic in the prince's relationship with the crew. Commands and angry outbursts were the only words they received from their short-tempered commander. He usually spent the time in his cabin or training. Interaction with his men occurred only on expeditions and during sparring. Ming guessed or probably hoped that this was the sixteen-year-old boy's idea of adult behavior. But the rest of the crew saw it more like the acts of a spoiled self-important prince and they held little to no respect for the boy. They respected the boy's uncle, General Iroh, much more, who was always trying to drill a somewhat more cordial approach into his nephew.

Ming tried not to blame him. Boys of his age were definitely not suited to be in commanding position. However, his title and lineage had put him into the current position and the crew was under his command whether they wanted it or not. Ming was, unlike the others, quite forgiving towards the young prince and tried his best to settle the conflicts between the two sides if the general was not in sight. He even tried to advise the boy although not so openly as his uncle. Besides, he knew him at least somewhat better than the rest of men.

"Commander," Ming approached him with caution. The prince didn't seem to react, but he didn't send him away either, so Ming took it as a clue and sat down. "Soldier Riun is not in the best state. I'm afraid that if we don't get to the ship by tomorrow, in this weather and conditions he wouldn't last very long." His commander still didn't react. "The men are also exhausted, the lack of food and sunshine is weakening them and if our pace will be even slower then we won't be able to make it to the ship in less than three or four days." Prince Zuko's face started to look even grimmer if it was even possible but he still didn't say a word.

Ming sighed quietly. He lost his patience. "Sir, I demand you wake me up at midnight to replace you on the watching duty." He didn't even wait if the boy would react or not and left to lie down to the others.

The ground was uncomfortable and wet. First, he thought he wouldn't be able to fall asleep but the exhaustion overwhelmed him sooner than he thought. But just before he would lose consciousness he noticed that his commander looked over on Riun sweating in all the cloaks the men borrowed him and Ming caught a glimpse of something in his eyes. Was it curiosity, fear or maybe guilt?

"Lieutenant Ming, wake up!" Somebody caught his shoulder and shook him a little. He was awake in a second. He could see the stone face of his commander hovering over him. "Yes, sir. I'll replace you immediately!" responded Ming, his voice still hoarse from sleeping. He didn't expect to fall in such a deep sleep. The exertion must have taken its toll on him as well, even though he was not a firebender.

He stood up to show that he was ready and awake. "You don't have to. I expect there will be light by half an hour. I wanted to tell you my plan for today." Ming's brain slowly took in what the prince just told him. But he told him to wake him up at midnight!

The prince stood before him looking fresh as ever. He was up probably the whole night and it wasn't showing at all. "I will go ahead of the group now. I'm leaving you to lead the others. If I go alone I can get to the ship a lot faster. From there I can send you fresh enforcements and supplies." He made a pause and while looking on his feet he continued. "I realize that the expedition is taking too long and that all of you are exhausted but I trust you can at least make it to the woods."

Ming looked confusedly on his commander, making sense of the words he just heard. "But, sir, I don't think this is the best idea. You haven't slept and you shouldn't go alo…"

"Second Lieutenant Ming! I order you to lead the group to the woods. Then make a campfire to signalize your station, so the rescue group can easily find you. Stay there until they find you." Prince Zuko then took his pack and in the next moment, he was gone. Ming couldn't even respond.

He didn't like the prince's plan a single bit. It was dangerous to wander in such a difficult terrain alone not mention how exhausted the boy could have been. Taking into the account the weather Ming started to worry. But on the other hand, the prince looked the least tired from the group and they really needed to get Riun down from the mountains and for that they definitely needed help.

"Hey, Ming!" Ming almost jumped when somebody interrupted his thoughts. "Where did he go?" Kalun stood next to him. He looked with him into the same direction where the prince disappeared just a minute ago.

"He left to bring help."

"Alone? Did he go crazy?"

"I think he will make it." Kalun didn't look convinced but didn't say anything.

The sun truly came up in a half an hour and by the time they were all ready to head out. Their pace was indeed slower than the day before. They had to take turns in carrying Riun what made them even slower. After three hours they finally made to the low conifers and slowly to the tall pines. "We will stop here!" said Ming when the forest turned denser.

"I don't know if we should stop because I'm not sure if I'll be able to stand up again," Shin stated hardly catching his breath.

"We have to stop to make the campfire. Otherwise, they won't be able to find us."

"If they come," said somebody and others murmured in agreement. "

If you think that you can take Riun down by sunset then we can keep going. If no, then start to look around for some wood to build the campfire!" Nobody said anything against and so they built a small camp. The fire they made from wet wood made big smoke which made their position clearly visible.

In the next hour or so, the atmosphere in the small camp was quite tense. Ming knew that the men didn't have such faith in the prince's abilities. Actually, they didn't have an opportunity to witness them. Not that Ming had such an opportunity but he had a much better image of what they might be. He trusted the young commander and his abilities much more than the rest of the group.

After two hours of waiting the men started to be really nervous. They already started to make new plans, choosing among themselves the less tired ones who could probably carry Riun down the next day, when voices calling their names came from the forest. All of them jumped up and tried to navigate the rescuers towards them by shouting. Ming smiled with relief when he saw the familiar pale face with the large scar.

Iroh was worried for the last several days. Zuko and the group should have got back two days ago. He has already ordered to build a small camp which served as a station for the patrol groups which he sent out to the nearby forests. For now, he was sitting before his own tent and had just realized that he hasn't noticed when his tea got cold.

He tried so hard to warn Zuko about the climb to the Southern Air Temple. It was too dangerous without a flying bison. The whole Luo Ji archipelago was typical for its high mountains. Although the islands were not big by extent but a journey across them could get quite lengthy. But his nephew remained stubborn and Iroh couldn't do anything about it except studying maps and searching for the safest passage. They tried to find the same one the Fire Nation soldiers used one hundred years ago. Finally, they found a route between two mountains but it was still a rocky, high-placed terrain. And in this season the journey would be all the more challenging.

Iroh was feeling very restless. He didn't like that he was not going to be by Zuko's side when he meets another great disappointment all over again, not speaking about the not overly delighted soldiers. And on top of all the things, the weather was getting worse. Iroh caught himself watching the heavy clouds shielding the view on the mountain slopes in hopes he will catch a glimpse of red color. All that time he was holding a cup of cold tea and barely conversed with the passing men.

"General Iroh!" Lieutenant Jee pulled him out of his gloomy thoughts. "If you deem it necessary we can send the patrols deeper into the woods."

Iroh sighed. It looked like that already everybody noticed how worried he was but he really didn't know what to do next. If somebody would be so strong-minded to get back and see through this mission it would be Zuko but what if this expedition was beyond his abilities or his soldiers. He wouldn't know. "Lieutenant, there are only two hours of light left. We shouldn't send soldiers deeper if we don't know where to look for. We should think about this option tomorrow. But thank you for your concern, lieutenant." He hoped he convinced Jee about his pretend sureness.

"As you say, general. But sir.."

Jee didn't even finish his sentence when a group of men came out from the trees. They were going straight to the small camp. Iroh stood up and ran towards them when he recognized the smaller stature of his young nephew among the soldiers. He felt so relieved he almost laughed out loud. Only when he came closer he noticed the group around his nephew is not the one he left with. It was one of the patrol groups. When Zuko noticed him coming he scowled and looked away. Iroh knew that look. It was that angry scowl he used the last two years to hide any feelings which would show on the outside.

"Prince Zuko! What on…?"

His nephew didn't let him finish. "Uncle, I need men and supplies immediately. We need to take them to the woods. One of the soldiers, Riun, broke his leg and we couldn't take him down. We have to bring a stretcher too." Iroh understood. He turned to Jee who was following just behind him.

"Lieutenant Jee, gather five men and prepare some easily transportable food and supplies." Jee nodded in agreement.

"We are leaving in a half an hour!" Zuko added.

"You are leaving? Prince Zuko, I don't think it is reasonable to go back. You are surely exhausted. You should take rest, gather some energy."

"Gather some energy? For what? Searching the Avatar? Hardly!" His nephew didn't even look on him when he spoke and went away with Jee.

Iroh sighed. He knew that his nephew is in the mood when he wouldn't listen to anything he would say.

The group was ready in twenty minutes and Zuko was leading them back to the forest. Iroh could only hope that they will come back unharmed. "It looks like the young prince likes to do everything the hard way." Jee was again standing by his side. Iroh didn't answer.

"We should ready the ship so we can leave as soon as they get back." Jee nodded and went to the riverboats so he can return the ship. Iroh decided to stay in the camp until he gets to see his nephew back from the woods again. He thought about Zuko's reaction. Did he start to realize the futility of this mission? Did he give up? The crew would probably like it but what would it mean for his young confused nephew?