The night seemed like a damp cloth stretched over the southern waters. Dark, thick, motionless. Only the hum of insects and the towers of smoke climbing from small coastal villages broke the stillness.
Ren Yin walked at the front of the group with a light, almost carefree step, though his eyes analyzed every shadow as if he could disarm it with a thought. Azula advanced behind him, rigid, expectant, her patience as thin as the invisible edge of the lightning she could always summon. Mai and Ty Lee brought up the rear, each with their own silent reading of the tense air.
They had advanced for hours, avoiding the main routes. The objective didn't require combat… only rumors placed with surgical precision.
Ren Yin stopped at the entrance of a small port, where a few taverns spilled yellowish light onto the stone path. Voices, laughter, and arguments could be heard. Perfect.
—"Here," he said in a soft voice that made Azula frown. She always suspected when the boy started to enjoy himself too much.
—"What's the plan this time?" Azula asked, crossing her arms.
He smiled like someone about to show a card no one expected.
—"You don't need force when you have the right words, spoken into the right ears. We're going to make sure the entire southern coast believes the Avatar is on Kyoshi Island… before Zuko's ships know it."
Ty Lee blinked.
—"And how will we manage that without… well, being recognized?"
Ren Yin tilted his head.
—"Oh, they'll recognize us. Just not for who we really are."
They entered the tavern like a cold draft of air. The patrons looked at them—young, strange, armed—but not with enough interest to connect them with Fire Nation royalty. Azula hid her hair under a dark cloak; Yin had blackened his forehead with soot to look like a charcoal-burner traveler; Mai and Ty Lee looked like simple mercenaries.
And Ren Yin knew exactly how to use that.
He approached a table where two fishermen were arguing about trade routes. He leaned toward them with the naturalness of someone bringing bad news and wanting to share it before being devoured by guilt.
—"Excuse me…" his voice trembled slightly. "Reconnaissance ships are coming from the north. They say the Avatar was seen on Kyoshi Island. That he's been hiding there for days."
The fishermen stared at him with wide eyes. A word barely whispered in the right place always made more noise than thunder.
—"Who told you that?" one asked, distrustfully.
Yin lowered his gaze with a perfect mix of anguish and conviction.
—"My brother works for the tracking squads. They say if the Avatar stays there… there will soon be more warships heading for the island. I wouldn't want to be in that place when it happens."
A spark of fear ran between the tables. Someone abandoned their mug. Someone ran out. Another began to murmur to their companion.
Azula crossed her arms and smiled slightly, like a snake licking its fang.
—"Not bad," she murmured, approaching Yin. "Although I would have made them cry. Or scream."
—"Sometimes silent fear travels farther," he replied.
They continued planting the same seed in taverns, on docks, in markets, at rest stations. Each time altering the nuance of the rumor, each time adding subtle details: that the Avatar had destroyed a scouting party; that the Kyoshi Warriors were protecting him; that he was planning an attack.
The rumor didn't travel… it multiplied like fire in dry grass.
Finally, in a larger port, they heard what Ren Yin was waiting for. Two merchants were arguing in an alarmed tone near a fire.
—"They say Zuko already knows! That he's setting sail tonight!"
—"Then it's only a matter of hours before the island is engulfed in flames…"
Azula raised an eyebrow, satisfied.
—"There you have it. Your little game has already had an effect."
Ren Yin watched the flames reflected in a puddle at his feet.
—"Now we just have to walk toward the storm. The prince will do the rest without anyone having to ask him to."
Mai looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
—"You look too calm for someone who just turned an entire island into a target."
Yin smiled, small and opaque.
—"Calm is necessary when watching the pieces move. And each one is placing itself exactly where we need it."
Ty Lee swallowed.
—"Aren't you worried about Zuko? What if he finds out that…?"
—"Zuko will see what he wants to see," Yin interrupted. "A trail of the Avatar. An opportunity to regain his honor. His need guides him more than any order. There's no need to manipulate him directly."
Azula walked to the front, her dark cloak stirred by the wind.
—"Then the time has come. If the Avatar is really there, we will hunt him. And if he isn't… the island will learn not to protect ghosts."
Ren Yin closed his eyes for a second and inhaled the scent of salt, smoke, and anticipation. The trap was set. And the storm was heading toward Kyoshi Island.
The air inside Zuko's cabin was thick, heavy with the metallic smell of lamp oil and the gentle sway of the ship. He was leaning over a map, his gaze lost and his fingers tense, holding the edges of the parchment. The current route wasn't taking him anywhere… not where he really wanted to go. Finding him was almost impossible. He had no clues, no allies. He only had one certainty: Ren was alive.
And no matter how much Ozai tried to deny his existence, Zuko knew his brother was not someone who could be erased so easily.
A sharp knock on the door.
—"My Prince, it's urgent," Lieutenant Jee's voice sounded tense, as if he were measuring every word.
Zuko took a deep breath, straightening his back before ordering:
—"Enter."
Jee opened the door and advanced with a rolled parchment, still warm from the recent wax seal.
—"It just arrived from a northern coastal village. Messengers, rumors… we don't know. But it has spread fast."
Zuko looked up, frowning.
—"What rumor?"
Jee hesitated. That was enough for something inside Zuko to tense like a string ready to snap.
—"They say… the Avatar was seen on Kyoshi Island."
The silence swallowed the entire cabin. Zuko didn't blink, or breathe. He just let the phrase sink into his mind like a stone in black waters.
The Avatar. Kyoshi. Ren.
The union of those three ideas struck him like lightning. Something was wrong. The Avatar appearing like this, so soon, so far away… and right in a place no one pays attention to. Yet, what made his pulse race the most was something else: if the Avatar was there, if the Fire Nation found out, then Ozai would act. He could send troops. Or worse: he could send Azula. And if Azula went… Ren would be nearby.
The parchment trembled slightly in the prince's hands, though he didn't notice. His inner fire crackled like a candle about to go out of control.
Zuko took a step back, trying to order the storm inside his head. If Ren is behind this… If he pulled the strings for this news to reach me… Then he wants me to go.
For the first time in two years, he felt a clear direction. A route. A purpose that didn't depend on Ozai, or honor, or an imposed mission. He wasn't hunting the Avatar for the throne or for an approval he no longer sought. He was doing it because every clue could bring him closer to Ren's whereabouts. And if he found him… they could escape together. They could bring down the monster that had destroyed them both.
—"Prepare to set sail immediately," he ordered without raising his voice, but with a firmness that chilled Jee. "Set a course for Kyoshi Island."
Jee looked at him, perplexed.
—"Even if it's just a rumor?"
Zuko looked at him with his eyes burning with a determination he had never shown in front of his crew.
—"That rumor is enough."
When Jee left, Zuko approached the window. The cold wind hit his scarred skin, but he didn't flinch. Somewhere, beyond the horizon, was his brother. His only real family. His only possible ally against Ozai.
Zuko rested his hand on the wooden frame, tensing his fingers.
—"Ren… please, let this not be another false lead."
But deep down, something told him it wasn't. This time, the call was real. And Zuko answered.
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