Bounty Hunters: Chapter 1
Title: Bounty Hunters
Rating: PG-13 here, NC-17 in later chapters
Chapter 1: Hunting
Beta Reader: storybender (thank you<3)
Summary: AU Desperate for a quick means of paying for care to help with his Uncle's failing health Zuko takes to Bounty Hunting. More details will be revealed along the way. Jetko/Slash
Disclaimer: I don’t own Avatar. I also have NO experience writing slash. I love altering the universe of my favorite show.<3
Zuko poured some water into his basin, systematically washing his face, teeth, and hands as he always had after his evening meal, since early childhood. Of course, things were rather different now. Instead of a gilded porcelain sink, he had only a worn, wooden basin, complete with a fresh coat of dirt on the bottom from where he'd set it on the ground. There were no young servants to offer him fluffy towels or glasses of water, only a half-drunk bounty hunter scoffing at his apparently futile attempts to stay clean in the dark woods. He stubbornly ignored her mocking and finished up, blotting a ragged, but clean towel against his face. It wasn't soft and fragrant like the ones he remembered, but did its job just as well. When he finished, the water was set aside, to be dumped on the ashes of the campfire the next morning. Throwing it out now would be wasteful.
The campfire, which burned brightly only a few hours ago, crackling happily as it ate the drippings of their roasted meat, already seemed to be slumbering. It had died down to glowing coals, flames only attempting to lick the remains of charred branches when he stirred it with a long, crooked branch. When he reached out to feel its heat, the warmth and strength still remained. As he glanced up, a set of glazed-over brown eyes caught his own. Before his new partner could speak, Zuko broke the tension. "It's late. We should get some sleep."
Zuko stood and moved back to the log where he'd dumped his bundle of belongings. As he carefully unrolled the sleeping pad his Uncle had packed, a note slipped out. He picked up the scrap of parchment, kneeling down on the mat, bending a small flame above his free palm to use as a torch to read the message. He wasn't surprised to find that the note was a series of over-protective concerns that he should be sleeping near the fire, keeping a close eye on Jun (that wasn't going to be a problem), and insisting that if the job became too dangerous he should return early. Zuko sighed and tucked the parchment away. They needed the money. He couldn't keep stealing from locals. That had been dangerous. Zuko was far too impatient and impetuous to be content scraping by with jobs hauling crates, catching fish, or working in mines. Not to mention that none of those jobs had been much safer.
It only took a few minutes to prepare his mat and stow away the rest of his things. He kept his dual swords just beside his sleeping pad, in case he needed to reach them quickly. Stubbornly fighting back yawns before they could escape, he curled up beneath a light blanket to fight off the night's chill. As soon as he was paid, he could buy proper, comfortable sleeping gear.
When he rolled over, he found that the bounty hunter had fallen into a drunken sleep against the side of her shirshu. With a soft laugh, Zuko closed his eyes and fell asleep.
_____________
When Zuko woke, it was still dark. He felt a strange warmth that didn't relate to his patched blanket or the soft glow of the fire that lit his vision even while his eyes remained closed. A sudden movement and weight shocked his eyes open. The source of the warmth, movement, and weight was the drunken bounty hunter on her knees, leaned over his body with a hand pressed against his chest. She didn't seem to notice that he was awake now and before he could protest, her already lowered head dipped lower to nip at his neck. He bit back a groan as her bite sent shivers through his body. As disgusted as the young Prince was sure he'd been with Jun, his defiant body still reacted to her touch.
When her mouth gave up with small bites and began to suck at the delicate skin of his throat, he was no longer able to hold back a groan. This seemed to encourage her touch. A pale hand slipped beneath his robes and undershirt, the surprisingly soft skin slid down his chest. Zuko let his eyes fall closed once more, blocking out the image of the lush woman hovering over him. His breathing grew slow and drawn out as her hand moved down his stomach, making his growing arousal twitch with anticipation. He hardly noticed as her mouth left his neck, until it was forced back down on his lips, her sour whiskey breath poisoning his pleasant delusion. Zuko reached up, forcing the woman off of himself with a grunt of effort.
"You're drunk! Go pass out somewhere else," he hissed, shoving her with enough effort to break her balance. Zuko sat up, shoving his blanket back and hopping to his feet. He stalked off into the woods, needing some peace...and privacy.
Zuko returned a couple of hours later to find Jun asleep, this time on her own thick sleeping mat. Hopefully that meant she was out for the night and done harassing him. His bed was as he left it, the tattered blanket strewn halfway across the ground. He scowled deeply at the ragged and now dirty cloth as he picked it up and shook the dirt off. Once he was satisfied that his bed was clean enough, he laid back down and pulled the thin cover over himself. It was late and quiet now, making it easy to fall back to sleep.
_______________
The next morning came far too quickly for Zuko's taste. He was exhausted from the short night and they still had a long way to travel, despite the swiftness of Jun's pet. His one relief was that his partner didn't mention what had happened the previous night. Zuko wasn't sure if she'd blacked it out or if she was embarrassed. He still was. Sitting behind her in the saddle was distracting for a while after what had happened, but the as the ride wore on, his attention was drawn to the changing countryside, the lower hills and taller trees. His mind wandered, remembering the last time he'd been in this part of the Earth Kingdom in a futile pursuit of the Avatar. He'd been carrying the water tribe girl's necklace....which was when he'd met Jun in the first place. Life had a funny of way of circling back around on him. It was the same with this mission and the charismatic young man he'd fought alongside once before.
When they reached the town, Nyla began to spin wildly, the large animal's mole-like nose whipping around for another scent. After so many years at sea, the motion didn't bother Zuko. This wasn't his first bounty with Jun and he knew that Nyla's movements meant they were close. Despite his own impulsive nature, Zuko was tempted to suggest they dismount and scout the area to find out just what they were up against. This bounty was not someone to be trifled with, especially if he wasn't alone. Of course, Jun's method's almost assured them of taking their target off guard, but it also gave them no notion of what they'd be up against, and no way to turn back and regroup. Zuko tried to tell himself that wouldn't be necessary, despite his Uncle's frequent warnings about the dangers of his impetuousness.
His mind froze as Jun cracked her whip and Nyla rushed to close the distance between themselves and their bounty. The blur of trees, the scent of campfire, then a fast approaching, small building were all he could comprehend at this pace. A shack, Zuko noted, just before lowering his eyes for protection as they crashed through the front wall.
His eyes popped back open a moment later, to the sound of a young girl's raspy, surprised yelp. He quickly took in the scene. The boy in a peasant hat had been stampeded and knocked against the back wall, and looked unconscious. The strange young girl with the face paint was going for Nyla, drawing swords, and Jun was on it. That left the other man, who drew his twin hooks swords just as Zuko hopped off, drawing his own twin blades to intervene.
It may have been unintentional, but he had to hand it to Jun, taking one of them out on the way in made this fight far easier. He knew these people. They worked seamlessly as a team, but tear them apart...and they were manageable, at least. The fury in Jet's eyes and his fierce strikes were nothing like he remembered from their last face-off. Zuko took it that this extreme anger was on Longshot's behalf. Though blocking and dodging Jet's wild swings was unusually exhausting, his opponent was sloppier than usual.
Zuko was pushed back toward Nyla wishing he had more room to work, but taking this fight outside might give Jet a chance to escape. He held his ground, blocking any serious thoughts his enemy might have about escaping, along with the actual hole in the wall. Metal clashed repeatedly for a few moments, then Zuko took to dodging again as his thinner blades were battered by hook swords. He could see Jet's temper boiling over at his inability to strike his attacker, and he knew it was time. Zuko leaned left, dodging a downward swing and simultaneously slid both swords to his left hand. Just as Jet drew back for another round, Zuko's right arm punched forward, lighting the room with a blast of fire he'd been unable to use in Ba Sing Se. He could see the flash in Jet's eyes as his element struck home, knocking his opponent flat on his back.
Just as Jet pushed himself back up, hook swords still clenched tightly in hand, Zuko forced him back down with a more severe kick, that clearly winded the older boy. He wasted no time in forcibly disarming his opponent; a far more difficult task than anticipated, since Jet seemed to have a death grip on his weapons. By the time he pried the second away, Jet had recovered enough to throw Zuko off. He stumbled back, but recovered his footing just as Jet took a flying leap at his throat, tan hands stretched to finish the job.
_________________
Author's Note: I am easily side tracked. I have chapter 2 nearly finished, but it's been sitting that way for months. Any encouragement in finishing this would be helpful.
Rating: PG-13 here, NC-17 in later chapters
Chapter 1: Hunting
Beta Reader: storybender (thank you<3)
Summary: AU Desperate for a quick means of paying for care to help with his Uncle's failing health Zuko takes to Bounty Hunting. More details will be revealed along the way. Jetko/Slash
Disclaimer: I don’t own Avatar. I also have NO experience writing slash. I love altering the universe of my favorite show.<3
Zuko poured some water into his basin, systematically washing his face, teeth, and hands as he always had after his evening meal, since early childhood. Of course, things were rather different now. Instead of a gilded porcelain sink, he had only a worn, wooden basin, complete with a fresh coat of dirt on the bottom from where he'd set it on the ground. There were no young servants to offer him fluffy towels or glasses of water, only a half-drunk bounty hunter scoffing at his apparently futile attempts to stay clean in the dark woods. He stubbornly ignored her mocking and finished up, blotting a ragged, but clean towel against his face. It wasn't soft and fragrant like the ones he remembered, but did its job just as well. When he finished, the water was set aside, to be dumped on the ashes of the campfire the next morning. Throwing it out now would be wasteful.
The campfire, which burned brightly only a few hours ago, crackling happily as it ate the drippings of their roasted meat, already seemed to be slumbering. It had died down to glowing coals, flames only attempting to lick the remains of charred branches when he stirred it with a long, crooked branch. When he reached out to feel its heat, the warmth and strength still remained. As he glanced up, a set of glazed-over brown eyes caught his own. Before his new partner could speak, Zuko broke the tension. "It's late. We should get some sleep."
Zuko stood and moved back to the log where he'd dumped his bundle of belongings. As he carefully unrolled the sleeping pad his Uncle had packed, a note slipped out. He picked up the scrap of parchment, kneeling down on the mat, bending a small flame above his free palm to use as a torch to read the message. He wasn't surprised to find that the note was a series of over-protective concerns that he should be sleeping near the fire, keeping a close eye on Jun (that wasn't going to be a problem), and insisting that if the job became too dangerous he should return early. Zuko sighed and tucked the parchment away. They needed the money. He couldn't keep stealing from locals. That had been dangerous. Zuko was far too impatient and impetuous to be content scraping by with jobs hauling crates, catching fish, or working in mines. Not to mention that none of those jobs had been much safer.
It only took a few minutes to prepare his mat and stow away the rest of his things. He kept his dual swords just beside his sleeping pad, in case he needed to reach them quickly. Stubbornly fighting back yawns before they could escape, he curled up beneath a light blanket to fight off the night's chill. As soon as he was paid, he could buy proper, comfortable sleeping gear.
When he rolled over, he found that the bounty hunter had fallen into a drunken sleep against the side of her shirshu. With a soft laugh, Zuko closed his eyes and fell asleep.
_____________
When Zuko woke, it was still dark. He felt a strange warmth that didn't relate to his patched blanket or the soft glow of the fire that lit his vision even while his eyes remained closed. A sudden movement and weight shocked his eyes open. The source of the warmth, movement, and weight was the drunken bounty hunter on her knees, leaned over his body with a hand pressed against his chest. She didn't seem to notice that he was awake now and before he could protest, her already lowered head dipped lower to nip at his neck. He bit back a groan as her bite sent shivers through his body. As disgusted as the young Prince was sure he'd been with Jun, his defiant body still reacted to her touch.
When her mouth gave up with small bites and began to suck at the delicate skin of his throat, he was no longer able to hold back a groan. This seemed to encourage her touch. A pale hand slipped beneath his robes and undershirt, the surprisingly soft skin slid down his chest. Zuko let his eyes fall closed once more, blocking out the image of the lush woman hovering over him. His breathing grew slow and drawn out as her hand moved down his stomach, making his growing arousal twitch with anticipation. He hardly noticed as her mouth left his neck, until it was forced back down on his lips, her sour whiskey breath poisoning his pleasant delusion. Zuko reached up, forcing the woman off of himself with a grunt of effort.
"You're drunk! Go pass out somewhere else," he hissed, shoving her with enough effort to break her balance. Zuko sat up, shoving his blanket back and hopping to his feet. He stalked off into the woods, needing some peace...and privacy.
Zuko returned a couple of hours later to find Jun asleep, this time on her own thick sleeping mat. Hopefully that meant she was out for the night and done harassing him. His bed was as he left it, the tattered blanket strewn halfway across the ground. He scowled deeply at the ragged and now dirty cloth as he picked it up and shook the dirt off. Once he was satisfied that his bed was clean enough, he laid back down and pulled the thin cover over himself. It was late and quiet now, making it easy to fall back to sleep.
_______________
The next morning came far too quickly for Zuko's taste. He was exhausted from the short night and they still had a long way to travel, despite the swiftness of Jun's pet. His one relief was that his partner didn't mention what had happened the previous night. Zuko wasn't sure if she'd blacked it out or if she was embarrassed. He still was. Sitting behind her in the saddle was distracting for a while after what had happened, but the as the ride wore on, his attention was drawn to the changing countryside, the lower hills and taller trees. His mind wandered, remembering the last time he'd been in this part of the Earth Kingdom in a futile pursuit of the Avatar. He'd been carrying the water tribe girl's necklace....which was when he'd met Jun in the first place. Life had a funny of way of circling back around on him. It was the same with this mission and the charismatic young man he'd fought alongside once before.
When they reached the town, Nyla began to spin wildly, the large animal's mole-like nose whipping around for another scent. After so many years at sea, the motion didn't bother Zuko. This wasn't his first bounty with Jun and he knew that Nyla's movements meant they were close. Despite his own impulsive nature, Zuko was tempted to suggest they dismount and scout the area to find out just what they were up against. This bounty was not someone to be trifled with, especially if he wasn't alone. Of course, Jun's method's almost assured them of taking their target off guard, but it also gave them no notion of what they'd be up against, and no way to turn back and regroup. Zuko tried to tell himself that wouldn't be necessary, despite his Uncle's frequent warnings about the dangers of his impetuousness.
His mind froze as Jun cracked her whip and Nyla rushed to close the distance between themselves and their bounty. The blur of trees, the scent of campfire, then a fast approaching, small building were all he could comprehend at this pace. A shack, Zuko noted, just before lowering his eyes for protection as they crashed through the front wall.
His eyes popped back open a moment later, to the sound of a young girl's raspy, surprised yelp. He quickly took in the scene. The boy in a peasant hat had been stampeded and knocked against the back wall, and looked unconscious. The strange young girl with the face paint was going for Nyla, drawing swords, and Jun was on it. That left the other man, who drew his twin hooks swords just as Zuko hopped off, drawing his own twin blades to intervene.
It may have been unintentional, but he had to hand it to Jun, taking one of them out on the way in made this fight far easier. He knew these people. They worked seamlessly as a team, but tear them apart...and they were manageable, at least. The fury in Jet's eyes and his fierce strikes were nothing like he remembered from their last face-off. Zuko took it that this extreme anger was on Longshot's behalf. Though blocking and dodging Jet's wild swings was unusually exhausting, his opponent was sloppier than usual.
Zuko was pushed back toward Nyla wishing he had more room to work, but taking this fight outside might give Jet a chance to escape. He held his ground, blocking any serious thoughts his enemy might have about escaping, along with the actual hole in the wall. Metal clashed repeatedly for a few moments, then Zuko took to dodging again as his thinner blades were battered by hook swords. He could see Jet's temper boiling over at his inability to strike his attacker, and he knew it was time. Zuko leaned left, dodging a downward swing and simultaneously slid both swords to his left hand. Just as Jet drew back for another round, Zuko's right arm punched forward, lighting the room with a blast of fire he'd been unable to use in Ba Sing Se. He could see the flash in Jet's eyes as his element struck home, knocking his opponent flat on his back.
Just as Jet pushed himself back up, hook swords still clenched tightly in hand, Zuko forced him back down with a more severe kick, that clearly winded the older boy. He wasted no time in forcibly disarming his opponent; a far more difficult task than anticipated, since Jet seemed to have a death grip on his weapons. By the time he pried the second away, Jet had recovered enough to throw Zuko off. He stumbled back, but recovered his footing just as Jet took a flying leap at his throat, tan hands stretched to finish the job.
_________________
Author's Note: I am easily side tracked. I have chapter 2 nearly finished, but it's been sitting that way for months. Any encouragement in finishing this would be helpful.