Chapter 2 – Remnants of Reality

Beta read by Levi Ackermanlet

When Zuko woke up, he awoke screaming in agony. It felt like his very blood was boiling away, scorching all the muscles and tendons from his feet to his head. It was one of the worst pains he had felt in his life. It almost felt like when-

Zuko rolled off his back and clambered to his feet. The…whatever-it-was was letting up. It was becoming more and more manageable by the second. He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds as his body continued to scream at him, then he slowly exhaled. Steam seemed to billow from his mouth as his body cooled down. He was still painfully hot however, and it wasn't until he'd repeated the action several times that he began to feel normal again.

'What…what just happened to me…?'

He'd been sleeping, dreamlessly like usual. When he'd begun to see something. A light. An impossibly bright, and hot light. It was like staring into the sun, and his eyes winced in memory of the strange uncomfortableness he'd felt. It felt…wrong. Like he hadn't deserved the honour of looking at just whatever that thing had been.

"It was a bad dream. Just a bad dream."

Saying it aloud didn't help. Now he just felt embarrassed, he probably woke uncle up too with his-

"UNCLE!?"

His eyes darted around, searching for any clue as to where he was. He was in the middle of a small grassy clearing, with tall trees surrounding him in every direction. It was some kind of forest, but there were no forests of this kind anywhere near where they were in the Earth Kingdom. His pack of supplies was gone, to which Zuko's brain practically screamed thieves. But if it were thieves, why did they dump him in some far away forest? His hand fell to his side, feeling the familiar leather grips on his Dao swords. He didn't know what kind of foolish thief had left him his swords, but he would make them regret giving him any kind of advantage once he found them.

The bigger, and most immediate problem would be finding his uncle. Someone had moved him away, but then left him. Some kind of kidnapping? Perhaps they'd been recognised, but could only take one of them. They must have wagered that the Dragon of the West would fetch a higher price than the banished prince.

'…they were probably right.'

Before Zuko could even scold himself for such a thought, there was a rustling amongst the bushes at the edge of the clearing. His blades were up and ready. If they thought he wasn't a bender, it would give him an advantage should it come to a fight.

"Oh, my head."

"Uncle!?"

The portly old man himself stepped out into the open, one hand gently massaging his forehead while the other was clasped around their bags.

"Prince Zuko? I had thought perhaps I was merely dreaming…"

The scarred teenager sheathed his swords and breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes still scanned the area for onlookers even as he spoke however.

"No, you're not. Somebody moved us. I don't know where, but they must still be around here somewhere."

"Oh? I must admit, I don't recognise this forest, but it must be very far from our cave."

"So someone must have moved us then right?"

"…"

His uncle was looking around in thought. Zuko ignored him with a frown and continued to scan the clearing. There was nothing in sight save for a strange looking black bird, which Zuko could swear was looking right at him.

"We should perhaps leave anyway prince Zuko. This area does not look…safe."

Zuko nodded and began to turn towards where his uncle had randomly chosen to walk when he froze. Just beyond the bushes in the forest, there was a set of red eyes staring back at him. Not natural animal ones to be sure, and complete with some kind of plate that was as white as bone surrounding it. Slowly, he inched his hand towards the grip of his swords. The eyes darted towards him, and a giant black body leapt out into the clearing. Zuko dove to the side as he swung his swords out, a spurt of crimson liquid shooting into the air. He rolled into a crouched stance as he landed, the beast crashing onto the ground behind him.

Zuko turned to face whatever predator had tried to kill him, and halted in his tracks. It was like some sort of spirit monster that would be seen in the plays at Ember Island. Black fur covered its body, while bone white spikes protruded from around its head area.

"It…kind of looks like a bear-wolf. Or a really deformed polar bear dog."

Iroh said nothing, studying the beast for some time. He flinched away as the corpse began to smoke. Little wisps at first, but it quickly began to build until it seemed like the entire carcass was burning.

"How strange, I have never known such an animal to-"

"Uncle, look!"

Zuko pointed towards one of its smoking tusks which had shrank. No, not shrank Iroh mentally corrected, evaporated. Its body was evaporating before their very eyes, its body disappearing and drifting away with the wind.

"Is…is it some kind of spirit?"

"I am not sure… I suggest prince Zuko, we do not stay."

"Right, we should-"

Another one of the same beasts leapt out from the forest, almost catching Zuko as he leapt away in surprise. It turned as soon as it landed, and was met by a blast of fire to the face. Uncle stood tall and defiant before it, the air around his fingertips radiating with the heat.

"Whatever you are, we have no quarrel with you. Leave us, or be destroyed."

It growled in defiance, but made no move. The growl continued, echoing around them as more and more stepped into the clearing. Zuko split his swords and put his back against his Uncle's.

"They're not listening."

"Very well."

With a slight roar of his own, Iroh let a fire blast loose from his hand towards his opponent. It charged towards him, but quickly fell as the fireball tore through its vulnerable eye-socket, and into its brain.

The others charged, and Zuko let loose with slashes of flame through his swords. Their skull like face masks protected them somewhat, but the intense heat and burns to their bodies made them falter in their charge, allowing for Zuko to close in and finish them with a slice towards their necks. Whichever didn't fall straight away, were quickly finished off by either Zuko's second sword, or by Iroh's precision fire blasts.

The initial group that had surrounded them were swiftly killed, but others joined them. Pouring from the forest like a wave of black nightmares, their white faces and red eye's never failing to remind them of their inherent wrongness. But every beast that charged towards them quickly met its end from a sword striking into its flesh, chopping off limbs and heads, or an agonising burst of flame that burnt its way through their body.

With so many targets however, each one that came to strike pushed them closer and closer towards the edge of the clearing. If they were pushed into the forest, where they wouldn't see them until they were already upon them. Iroh was the closest to the trees when they attacked from behind, a strange black boar-wolf charging with its tusks right into his back.

Iroh went down with a shout of pain, his injury from Azula's fire strike flaring in agony, and making him clutch his shoulder as he lay on the floor. One of the beasts leapt to finish off its prey and received a sword into its neck for its trouble. Zuko stood protectively over his wounded uncle, eye's darting everywhere as he saw the beasts close in.

He flipped over, standing on his hands and spinning around. Flames launched from his feet knocked away anything foolish enough to get near. When he finished, he wasted none of the meagre time he'd bought himself, and began crafting his fire whips. He flung them around himself in an arc, flames strong enough and hot enough ripping through the trees, ground, and beasts without discrimination. One of the leapt high and he flung both of his whips down, searing it in half with a gruesome vengeance.

Zuko readied himself to fight again, when he paused. The few remaining beasts were hesitating, not in fear, but in… There, stepping powerfully out from the forest was another black monster. Unlike the others, this one had an immense number of spikes jutting from its body.

'An alpha.'

It stared at him, almost as if it were sizing him up. A low growl rumbled from its throat as it began to stalk towards him. Zuko refused to move from his stance over his uncle. It continued to grow closer, its sharp claws tearing up the earth with every step.

It leapt towards him, forcing Zuko to dive roll underneath it. He sliced upwards with his swords as it went over him, however the blades hit nothing but bone and bounced off. Zuko rolled to his feet and thrust his arm out, whipping out a blast of fire towards the beast. It charged towards him, the fire blast breaking apart over its bone covered head. Undeterred, it barraged into him, and smacked him aside and into a tree.

It didn't wait as he scrambled to his feet, sprinting towards him intent on gutting him with its razor sharp claws. He rolled out of the way as it swiped through the tree he'd been against, but it caught him again with its second attack, and sent him sprawling towards his uncle. As he landed, his head smacked down hard onto a rock, the world blurring and fading away.

The alpha stalked over towards the unconscious prince, eager to feast on its prey.

Lighting tore cracked through the air, striking the alpha and sent it flailing into a heap on the ground. Its body sizzled and smoked, the burnt smell of its flesh fading away with its body.

"Try to kill my nephew will you."

The other creatures gazed over at the old man. Iroh was shaking on his feet, his energy almost completely drained, yet his fingertips were poised and ready to finish off any who dared move towards him. The beasts looked to one another questioningly. One by one they began to back away, warning growls emanating from their throats as they disappeared into the woods.

Iroh panted, as the physical exertion continued to take its toll on him. The scratches across his back were deep and painful, but he refused to fall until his unconscious nephew was safe.

His ears twitched as a twig snapped in the forest. A figure stepped into the clearing, his hands held up in a mock surrender.

"Don't worry old timer, I'm just here to help. My name's Qrow."