《The Ruka Wild ↠ Book 2 > A:TLA》17
Advertisement
Our ferry had just departed from the Full Moon Bay station. Being on the ferry gave me some sort of nostalgia. It feels like it's been years since I've been on Zuko's ship, but really it's only been a few months. It's crazy how time flies.
"Who would have thought after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace," Iroh says in a serious tone before putting on a straw hat and grinning at his nephew and I. "As a tourist!"
"Look around." Zuko frowned. "We're not tourists. We're refugees."
I crossed my arms, "Well if you say it like that, it doesn't sound any fun."
He gave me a side glare, "It isn't." Zuko took a sip of some soup from a bowl that a lady passed around earlier. He spit the chunky water out of his mouth. "Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food." He scowled. I gave him a sarcastic smile, "Here's a thought, don't eat it."
He rolled his eyes and continued on with his complaining. "Sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this."
From behind us, a voice agreed. "Aren't we all?" That voice...
I turned around and widened my eyes. "Jet..." I muttered. He was leaned back on a wooden pillar with his eyes closed, a smirk on his face. I quickly turned back around, hoping he wouldn't know who I was if I was turned around.
"My name's Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters: Smellerbee and Longshot."
There were more of them.
What are they doing here?
"Hey." I heard Smellerbee say. Of course, nothing came from Longshot. "Hello." Zuko said in his raspy voice.
"Here's the deal, I hear the captain's eating like a king while us refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?" Jet said. "What sort of king is he eating like?" Iroh asked. "The fat, happy kind." Jet replied.
Advertisement
"You wanna help us liberate some food?" Jet asked. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Zuko looking down at his chunky, rotten bowl of soup. I grabbed his arm to get his attention. He turned to me and waited for me to say what I wanted to say. I slowly shook my head and whispered, "We shouldn't. We can't afford to get into trouble. Plus, we don't know these guys."
It's like he completely ignored what I said. That's because he did, Ruka. Zuko threw his bowl into the sea and turned around, "I'm in."
I couldn't care less about the trouble. I don't need to be associating with Jet.
"Is she with you guys?" Smellerbee asked. I'm sure she was asking about me.
"She is." Zuko responded. They waited for me to turn around and reveal myself, but I stayed still.
"Meet here when the sun goes down. We'll start then." Jet said before I heard their footsteps fade away.
I sighed in relief before turning around.
I feel sick. The memories of my sister and brother made me feel nauseas.
"We'll get a decent meal tonight. Something we've not gotten in awhile. Why would you want to pass that up?" Zuko asked with his brow furrowed.
There was no point in defending myself. A good meal sounds great right now. "Whatever. I guess I'll help out."
"I didn't-"
"Iroh, let me see your straw hat." I said, cutting off Zuko, which earned me another glare. Iroh took off his tourist hat and I quickly grabbed it from his hands. Putting it to my mouth, I vomited into the straw hat.
Iroh and Zuko looked at me in disgust. I wiped my mouth before pointing to the hat. "I'm sorry."
Advertisement
With a forced smile, Iroh took the hat from my hands and threw it down to the water below us. "I'll get another one in Ba Sing Se."
>>>
Once the sun went down, we met up with Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. When I saw the trio start to approach us, I went behind Zuko.
"Ready?" Jet whispered. Zuko nodded and they began to hurry off. I followed behind them.
We ran up the steps that lead to the upper deck which had the Captain's private food storeroom that Jet had found earlier today.
Smellerbee and Longshot went to go do their own thing while I stayed with Zuko and Jet.
I could see Jet glancing at me every so often, which made me a little uneasy.
When we reached the storeroom, Jet, Zuko, and I quickly put our backs to the wall. Jet was on the other side of the door and I stood with Zuko on the other. He got his dual swords ready while I opened up my water skin. Using one of his hook swords, Jet unlocked the door.
Zuko pushed open the door and we looked inside. When the coast was clear, we ran in. We immediately started to gather all the food we can.
I ran to the stove and looked inside the giant pot that stood on it. Inside was a delicious looking soup with various chopped up vegetables.
With bowls next to me, I bent out the soup and evenly poured it into the bowls. I covered them before stacking them up and putting them in a bag that Zuko had given me before we left.
"Guards coming!" Smellerbee called. We all ran out of the storeroom with our full bags over our shoulders. We ran to the edge and waited for Longsahot to shoot up the line from the lower deck.
Once he did, we slid down our bags of food first. Using his hook swords, Jet slid down the line first. Zuko wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. "Hold onto me."
I did as he said and wrapped my arm around his torso. Using his dual swords, we slid down the line. When I let go of Zuko, I stumbled. While doing so, I bumped into Jet. He grabbed onto my arms to keep me from falling.
When our eyes met, I tensed up. What I thought was going to be the worst, didn't happen. He simply smiled at me before letting go of my arms and bending down to grab my bag of food. He handed it to me before grabbing his own and throwing it over his shoulder. I did the same and we ran off.
Advertisement
- In Serial20 Chapters
On the Road to Elspar (Book 1)
The year is 1329. The Huntress' War has entered its tenth year, inflaming competing nationalisms and pitting the Confederacy of Caldrein against one of the continent's superpowers, the Tenereian Union. Desperately outnumbered, the Confederacy has relied on the prowess of its famed Caldran mercenaries, with highly-trained and experienced warbands returning from foreign conflicts to the defense of their homeland, and it is on their backs that Caldrein has successfully mounted a valiant defense for a decade. But they are losing, and day by day, with all the grace of a sledgehammer, the vast Tenereian armies take one more bit of Caldran territory, one footstep at a time. Sixteen-year-old Neianne from the village of Caelon has submitted herself to Faulkren Academy, one of the centuries-old institutions established to train the next generation of Caldrein's elite soldiers of fortune, to learn the ways of wars for three years before embarking upon the defense of her country. Her dryad family once hailed from reclusive woodland communes isolated from Caldrein's complicated mainstream society, and her upbringing leaves the shy village girl unprepared to suddenly train alongside other apprentices from backgrounds as low as the dirty slums of Caldrein's cities and as high as the halls of aristocratic power. Yet the war is eroding the norms and traditions that the Caldran people have long considered part of their national mythos, and the tensions within the confederacy that have long simmered under the surface - race, class, community, identity - are slowly but surely dividing its people, and Neianne must grow and discover who she really is, even as the war that she is steadfastly training for comes to its inexorable end... On the Road to Elspar is a fantasy quest - a work of interactive fiction wherein readers get to vote on what happens next at critical junctures - that is the first entry in a story that follows Neianne of Caelon, which first began on July 20, 2016. Originally a three-part in medias res prologue to a larger story titled On the Elsparian Road, it was eventually decided that this section - which covers Neianne's three years at Faulkren Academy - become its own independent story due to length, structural, and accessibility reasons. Despite this being a reader interactive work of fiction, due to logistical and verification concerns, voting will only be counted on its thread on the forum Sufficient Velocity, where this story originally began. As such, the content here on Royal Road serves as a story-only archive. You are, of course, entirely welcome to enjoy On the Road to Elspar as a conventional work of fiction, just as you are welcome to comment, discuss, and provide critique. But if you would like to participate in the voting, then I would be honored to welcome you on Sufficient Velocity. To facilitate accessibility and to ensure the best reading experience, this story-only version of On the Road to Elspar will be updated at a periodic pace, even though further content exists, so as to not overwhelm new readers on Royal Road. If you enjoy this story, wish to binge it, and/or want to participate in voting immediately, you may of course read all additional content via the link provided above. This paragraph will be removed once the content on Royal Road catches up with what has already been posted in its original thread. Cover artwork by DreamSyndd.
8 334 - In Serial39 Chapters
Mistwalker Xyn and the Cult of Eldritch Evil
[Participant in the 2020 Royal Road Writathon Challenge] Having just graduated to adulthood, Xyn is salty about how his lackluster Awakening has resulted in his current derided status within his clan and tribe, particularly when compared to the successes of his litter-siblings. The revelation of the truth about his heritage sets in motion events leading to him traveling to human lands on a secret mission for his tribe. Cringeworthy moments and awkwardness will ensue as young Xyn (an anthropomorphic tiger-kin), raised in the sheltered life of a martial artist, navigates human society with a trusty sidekick or two picked up along the way and might just save his corner of the world while he's at it. Gore will be minimally present as needed to tell a fantasy martial arts tale. There won't be any sexual content, but mild/vague suggestive themes may occur occasionally due to the nature of Xyn's mission and his insecurities. Story should be teen appropriate. Thanks for reading! [Background for the cover art is courtesy GG-graphics via Pixabay.]
8 176 - In Serial21 Chapters
Love Against the Karaoke Heavens
If Xi was looking for love—which he isn’t—the very last place he’d think to find it is in the chatroom of his variety stream. Still, it finds him anyway, in the form of a guy shameless enough to defy the heavens. Features chatroom flamewars, silly banter, hot smut and an overabundance of misused tildes, all in a lightly sketched futuristic setting. Inspired by the author’s deep love for danmei, kpop, and internet slang. All fluff, with any angst just a seasoning to highlight the merciless sweetness. No fat anxiety included. (Complete as of 10/6/19)
8 213 - In Serial12 Chapters
The Forgotten Shield and The World Heroes (Remake).
When 10 students find themselves being transported into another world, 1 of them will find a home and new adventures in this new place while the other 9 gets themselves involved in a war. The world Heroes have been summoned, a lost "title" has come back, and a world of fantasies and adventures is waiting to be explored. This story is a remake in English of "El escudo Olvidado", you can also find this story on WattPad.https://www.wattpad.com/story/126788458-the-forgotten-shield-and-the-world-heroes-remake
8 152 - In Serial22 Chapters
The Cataclysm
A story of multiple people and their adventures across the southeast of the United States, specifically Georgia. In a world where technology has stopped working and the laws of physics have rewritten itself, the "heroes" of this story must find a way to survive what has succumbed to their world. We follow many characters and see them develop within a year of discourse, love, sorrow, and even mayhem. Ariel struggles with morality and leadership. Erik only sees his way as the best and brightest options. Luis struggles with faith. This is only a fraction of what the world has to offer.
8 141 - In Serial13 Chapters
Let's Be Gods!
Hired by a god, Piper is about to step through death's door when she gets the chance to wield cosmic power. Only thing is, gods aren't immune to Murphy's Law, and Piper ends up thrown across the cosmos. As she fights to adjust to her powers, alongside reassigning ownership of various articles, she comes to realise being a god may actually be pretty fun. --------------------------------------------------------------- Comments on writing style, typos, character impressions? Fire at will!
8 209

