Some people hope for a new beginning, a second chance

Others only wish to recover what they have lost

The ship docked at port a day later, around noon.

My dad sighed: "Well, I guess it's a new beginning for us. I'll miss our old house, but maybe we'll  find an even better one here!"

My fingers were clamped firmly around my throwing star. 

Take care, Scorps

I had read it over and over, so many times, yet I still couldn't get over it. Every time I wanted to put it away so it'd be safe, I'd remember that it was my last piece of Slate and the years we had spent together. So I clamped my fingers around it tightly, ignoring the sharp spikes digging into my palm.

-third person POV -

~Flashback~

Slate and (Y/n) were walking in the forest, aiming for the warm pond that was home to a family of turtleducks. 

Suddenly (Y/n) squealed and jumped onto a rock.

"What is it?! A mouse!?", a much younger Slate looked around nervously.

"SLATE WATCH OUT,IT'S A SCORPION!!!!!!"  ten-year-old (Y/n) screamed, afraid for her friend. 

Scorpions were the most common cause of people dying on  Thaeros' Fury.

Slate jumped up with a yell, clambering onto the nearest branch, where he stayed, clinging to the tree like a koala.

"Wow, I really didn't see that one! I'm sooo lucky you're here, otherwise I'd be long gone by now!"

"I know." (Y/n) shrugged.

"Hey!"

Slate tried to shove (Y/n) playfully, which backfired and sent Slate crashing down to the ground.

Suddenly he remembered the scorpion and crouched down, eyeing the ground warily.

"Oh, look!" (Y/n) sounded delighted as she turned to Slate. He looked up.

"Look how cute is is! Awwwwww!" 

Slate spun around and promptly let out a high-pitched shriek.

"(Y/N)!!! PUT THAT DOWN IMMEDIATELY!!! THAT'S A SCORPICAT!!! THEY'RE SUPER DANGEROUS!"

(Y/n) pouted. I mean seriously it was so frigging cute

"Please? Are you sure I can't keep it? It's not hurting me or anything..."

Slate sighed. Why did (Y/N) always have to pick the most irresponsible path?

"Seriously?You can be so stupid sometimes (N/N)."

(Y/n) grinned: "I like that nickname. And in honour of your great nicknames I'm going to call my Scorpicat Sulfur!"

"What does that have to do with my nicknames?"

"Nothing. Just proving that I'm better at giving nicknames than you~"

(Y/n) grinned cheekily and stuck her tongue out at him, putting the Scorpicat down again.

"Oh, you're so gonna pay for that, (Y/N)!"

~Flashback end~

(Y/n) smiled at the memory. Something twitched in her bag.

She thought nothing of it and followed her dad towards their new home.

She took a deep breath. Her eleven-year old mind was overloaded with information.

A new beginning, eh? Maybe it won't be so bad..

As the sun bore on, (Y/n) was starting to wonder if her dad had any idea where they were going. He was an amazing dad, cook and blacksmith, but (Y/N) had her fair share of doubts of whether he even knew where they were going.

"Uh, dad? I don't think we're in the right place here. See the outskirts of the relay palace? They probably don't want us in there."

The blacksmith chuckled : " Just you wait, (Y/n)."

(Y/n) looked around wide eyed as the palace guards escorted them into the throne room.

Her father bowed respectively and gave (Y/n) a look, motioning for her to do the same.

"Ah, blacksmith Shatizan, I see you have considered my offer. How pleasing. It truly would've been such a shame if your pretty little daughter were to accidentally  not come out of the woods one day.. Now, run along, child, your father and I have some important things to discuss."

He dismissed the child with a flick of his wrist.

She looked at her dad uncertainly, eyes alight with confusion.

"Go on, (Y/n). You can play with the prince and princess, they're in the courtyard."

(Y/n) gave a little nod and made her way out of the throne room quickly.

Shatizan was right, there was a child in the courtyard. He had a high ponytail and was doing some weird stances. (Y/n) raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.After a while, he noticed her looking at him and jumped three feet into the air.

"Hey! What are you doing here?! Do I need to call the guards? Who even Are you?"

(Y/n) lent against the tree,  blowing a strand of hair out of her face. Having hair was very irritating. : " Dad says that  I'm apparently going to live here or something, so, no, you don't have to call your 'cronies' to throw me out. I'm (Y/n)."

A short flash of pride crossed her face as she shot a glance in the direction of her dad, hoping to get a word of praise for using the word 'cronies' correctly.

"Oh.", a look of superiority took over the boy's face as he puffed himself up.

"You must be the daughter of that blacksmith. I'm prince Zuko, by the way."

(Y/n) snorted. Her dad wasn't just 'that blacksmith', he was the BEST blacksmith..  : "Nobody asked, your majesty."

Zuko's face flared red with embarrassment and he huffed : " Pff. Peasants always are so annoying." The young prince crossed his arms and turned his back to her.

(Y/n) glared at him as she shot back a response: "Well, at least I'm not jumping up and down like a monkey with constipation."

"It's not weird! It's a rare and very cool skill called Firebending! And it happens to be that I'm a Firebender.", he shot back, turning around again as a flare of anger overtook him.

"Well, I bet you can't play tag as well as I can."

"I bet I'm  even better than you!"

"Yeah? I challenge you to a game of tag!"

"Fine, but only if you're the tagger."

"I'm great at being the tagger. Three"

"Two"

"One"

Zuko sprinted off through the courtyard. He had the advantage of knowing the place. Already sure of victory, the young prince puffed out his chest proudly. That girl'd have to apologise to him! Little did he know that (Y/n) was only a short distance away from him, neither that she had spent two years of running around unfamiliar forest ground with Slate. She was gaining on him fast. Only a couple more steps- 

(Y/n) leaped forward, tackling Zuko and catching him off guard. He looked at her wide eyed.

"Wow, you must be really fast! Nobody has been able to beat me in tag before!"

(Y/n) grinned : "Thanks, prince Zuko!Now, can you show me your firebending? It sounds pretty cool."

Zuko looked happy that she had asked him to demonstrate his new moves. They played together all day, mostly tag, and since princess Azula was on an excursion with her friends, nobody interrupted.

At dusk, when the sun was setting, Shatizan emerged  from the throne room, looking exhausted. the black circles under his eyes seemed even more prominent than usual, his expression weary. Yet he smiled when he saw (Y/n) and Zuko playing tag for the -how manyeth?- time.

"(Y/n), we have to go now. You can play with Zuko again tomorrow. Then you can meet his sister, princess Azula and her friends as well." 

"Really? Do I have to go?"

"Yes, little ember. Tomorrow is a new day."

(Y/n) helped Zuko up. "Bye Zuko, see you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow as well, (Y/n) I bet I'll be faster than you next time!"

"Faster than me? Neverrrrrrrrr....", was the last thing he heard of her as she followed her dad to her new home.

-Spirezz