#local earthbender turned firebender completely oblivious to the degree of which 'firebending using his feet' is such a zuko thing

[discordiansamba]

he goes back to yu dao in the evening.

given how much druk sticks out, shun's decided it's best if he travels at night. before that, he grabs another meal and then cleans himself up at the local bathhouse. there's a scar on his chest that he hadn't noticed before- and he grimaces. it's not hard to figure out what that one's from.

he ends up buying a change of clothes. the shops here sell both the red of the fire nation and the green of the earth kingdom, but he ends up going with the reds. every inch of him looks fire nation now- he figures he'll stick out more if he tries to look earth kingdom. he settles on a red and gold tunic that feels a little ostentatious- but hey. he has a prince's face now.

at least the new boots don't make his feet sweat like the ones he'd bought in ba sing se. firebenders run too hot for fur-lined boots, he discovers- and there's no way he can go barefoot with prince zuko's feet. there's barely any calluses. pathetic.

he's just about to leave the city when he hears something shatter behind him.

shun frowns, glancing over his shoulder. a man with the most impressive sideburns he's ever seen is staring at him like he's a ghost.

"...prince zuko?"

...oh. uh. fuck.

"you've got the wrong person," is what he says before realizing that's a mistake. right. his voice isn't his own anymore.

understandably, the man does not believe him. he closes the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye, grabbing his wrist. he tries to wrench free, but the man's not having it.

(lieutenant jee, something in the back of his mind informs him. whoever that is.)

"let me go!" he protests.

(oma and shu, his voice has never gone that high pitched before.)

"not a chance," jee says, "-I don't know how you're alive, but I'm taking you back to your uncle."

nope. no thanks. he does not want to go back to iroh with this face. it would destroy the old man if he found out he wasn't actually his nephew. he didn't want to do that to him.

(well. sort of. he had been his nephew, but it wasn't the same.)

he tries to pull his arm free, but jee has a strong grip. he doesn't think prince zuko is weak, but he's pretty sure he has the stronger arms. he grits his teeth, tries to tell himself not to firebend, and just immediately says 'fuck it'.

his hands are occupied. he uses his feet instead.

jee backs off, and shun doesn't waste any time. he's on his feet and on the roofs of yu dao before anyone can stop him. the only person who had ever been able to catch him up here was aang, and the avatar wasn't here. he scrambles across them, avoiding the guards at the gates who have no idea what's going on but try and capture him anyways.

he makes it back to druk, and hastily packs his supplies. screw waiting until nightfall. he was getting out of here now.