Year of the Dragon [ Second Gen ]

Ren and Shi nodded. How long until they get to the palace? To be honest with himself, Ren wasn't looking forward to it. He was in rags, he was a thief, he had a filthy, skinny pet that most probably wouldn't be welcomed, and there are other strangers following the prince of the fire nation. Honestly, there isn't much to look forward to , besides the food. One glance behind him and he could see Shi was thinking the same thing. Their eyes met for a brief second.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking?" said his eyes.

"Of course, thief," replied the other.

Jie yawned and accidentally poked Ren's back with his claws, causing him to jump forward with a surprised, "Ow!". Shi giggled, but shut up when she saw Ren's glare.

Raizo glanced back curiously, but Ren seemed to be fine, so he pushed on. They reached the edge of the city fairly quickly from the hospital; but from there, they faced the trek up the side of the mountain, towards the Royal Caldera City. He looked back at the others apologetically. "Sorry about this. Next time I guess I should bring the palanquin, just in case."

He was trying to make a joke, but felt like a fool as soon as he said it. Why on earth was he trying to make jokes about the royal family's wealth when he was being accompanied by orphaned servants and a thief? Idiot. The trek up the side of the volcano took longer than the walk from the hospital to the base, and it was growing colder as they went higher; Raizo had no trouble with the hike at all, but he worried about the others.

When they finally reached the gate of the Capital's crater, Raizo could only imagine how relieved they must have felt, if this was how relieved he was.

"Prince Raizo!"

Oh, the guards, how fortuitous. They clearly couldn't believe what they were seeing. But before they could express any one of the number of concerns they undoubtedly had at the moment, Raizo strode up to them and preempted all of it.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Thank you for the fine job you're doing. My friends and I need an escort back to the palace. Immediately, if you wouldn't mind."

The guards glanced at each other, and one clearly seemed to be about to question the situation anyway; until Raizo narrowed his eyes very slightly, and any indication of contention vanished. Both guards nodded and bowed respectfully. "We'll have one for you momentarily, sir." And one of them jogged off to fetch a coach.

Ren gave a faint chuckle at the joke, but it really wasn't all that funny. When he and Shi had reached the top, they witnessed the power of the Prince. It was colder now, and Shi readjusted the scarf on her shoulders, while Ren hugged Jie, so as to warm the cub. Looking down at the Kiki, Shi wondered if she was alright.

"Wow," Ren murmured as a guard trotted off. "Never knew someone my age can order them around. Hope they won't mind me," he added lightly.

Raizo didn't answer; after all, it was pretty much their job to obey him when he had his princely moments. He just didn't want to say so out loud. He was hyper-conscious of the way everything about his life sounded to these people.

It only took a few moments before the first guard returned with more -- six new guards balancing the royal palanquin between them. They brought it around in front of Raizo, and set it on the ground, while one of them promptly moved to grab the curtain and pull it back, showing the cushioned, red velvet-lined interior. Then they all turned to look, not at their prince, but at the three behind him, and the looks on their faces wasn't exactly welcoming.

Raizo ignored them. He gestured with a small smile for the others to step inside. "Let's go. It'll be nice to get a ride."

Kiki was happy, she was getting to go somewere. She stepped into it.

Ren and Shi knew they weren't welcomed. They exchanged glances, almost daring each other to go first. Finally, Shi stepped in after Kiki, sitting next to the girl. She looked from Raizo to Ren, and back again, wondering which one would sit next to her.

Ren looked sheepishly at Raizo. "After you," he said. Catching the looks from the guards, he added, "Your Royal Highness." He smirked at the guards.

Amused, Raizo climbed in after Shi and took the seat next to her, waiting for Ren to hop inside. With the palanquin, it wouldn't take them any time at all to get to the palace, and they'll be comfortable and warm until then. Raizo didn't realize until he sat down on the cushion just how tired he was after the events of the day.

Ren, holding Jie carefully, went in after Raizo. He pressed the warm lump of fur tightly against him, then decided that the cub would want to see the view, so he loosened his grip and allowed the cub to poke his head out. Jie squealed excitedly. The guards... Didn't look too comfortable. The thief held in his laugh.

Shi looked at her side of the view over Kiki's head. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, but then again, she had never been so far from home before. "So this is where you live," she murmured. "Interesting place."

The palanquin bounced its way through Caldera City and in minutes Raizo heard the familiar groan of the royal gates opening to accommodate the transport. Since the prince is inside, they wouldn't be stopped by any of the palace guards checking on the passengers and their belongings. Raizo knew that there would be questions and suspicion later on. But for now, he just wanted to get home.

"Thanks," Raizo said to Shi, still amused. "It's better in daylight." When the palanquin stopped and settled on the ground, he hopped out first to make sure that no one would hassle the others before he had the chance to explain them to his parents.

Only to find his mother standing in the doorway, arms folded in her sleeves and one eyebrow blandly raised at Raizo.

"...Mother!"

"Oh, it's time to get off," Ren said and hopped off. Bad move. Jie, in his arms, began to squeal, then fell silent. Ren slowly inched back to the palanquin, hoping he wasn't noticed, which wasn't very likely. Shi had no idea what was happening, so when she edged over to the open seats to get off, she caught a glimpse of the Fire Lady and quickly withdrew, panting and sweating.

Wha-What the...! I... I almost died! Shi thought.

Mai's attention went, first to the raggedy boy who jumped out of the palanquin, then to the girl who disappeared back in, and finally back to Raizo. As far as the rest of her expression, she looked like she could not have cared less. But her eyebrow quirked just the slightest bit more.

"I'm not going to say this explains a few things," she said with indifference.

Raizo swallowed. He still wasn't quite sure how his mother was going to take this, or even what she was thinking right then. His explanation came out in a rush, more than he intended to tell either of his parents, from when he first ditched the guards to the scene outside the hospital. "--so I invited them back here, just for tonight. Their animals are well-behaved and they won't cause any trouble. I'll make sure everything is taken care of and that there aren't any problems, I promise."

Mai sighed, rolling her eyes. "Picking up strays again, Raizo? Didn't we go through this with the pygmy puma?" She wasn't really expecting an answer; with another, lingering glance at Ren and the palanquin, she finally focused on her son with a small, utterly fond smile. "Well, it's on your head, then." Her arms slid out of the sleeves of her robe, revealing a folded-up robe for Raizo himself inside. She opened it up and held it out for him to slide his arms into, which he did, feeling relieved, and beaming at his mother in gratitude. "Come on. Bring your friends inside and get cleaned up before your father sees."

"Too late," came the voice that Raizo was absolutely dreading.

He looked over his mother's shoulder with wide eyes, to see Zuko striding toward them, accompanied by one of the guards from the royal gate, and Ursula. Oh, hell. Raizo tightened his hands into fists, tensing himself in preparation for the coming punishment. Ursula was already trying to see just what her brother had brought home with him.

Mai shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, I tried." She glided out of the way and back into the palace.

Kiki's eyebrow rased. She took the hood off her head, and flipped out her hair to show.

Ren felt nervous. Very nervous. He was almost shaking. Fire Lady Mai's appearance stunned him, but Fire Lord Zuko and the Princess Ursula? He was about to faint! The ladies' appearances were very... uh, exquisite. And beautiful. Jie knew the danger here, and he stayed silent, shifting his eyes from person to person. Shi thought that they had already seen her. Might as well just show herself. To make a good impression, she slowly slid out daintily, one foot after another. Before she showed her top half. she readjusted her scarf one last time and stepped out. She seemed genuinely surprised. Never had she seen the royal family up close, and she expected great beauty and power from them. Actually, they seemed pretty... scary. Especially, Fire Lord Zuko.

Unlike Mai, Zuko didn't seem all that concerned with the sudden presence of strange ragamuffins in his palace. Raizo was expecting this. He knew that his father would likely be much more understanding about taking in strays for the night than his mother, ironically; Zuko's ire would almost entirely be a result of Raizo sneaking off alone. This didn't make Raizo feel better. "Father--" he started, but Zuko interrupted him.

"I think you and I should talk," Zuko said, his tone completely calm, without leaving a single ounce of room for argument. His attention remained entirely on Raizo. The newcomers could have sprouted wings and flown in circles over his head right then, and he probably still wouldn't have looked up.

Raizo knew he couldn't argue. He tightened his jaw against the sinking feeling in his stomach, and nodded. Without another word, Zuko turned and headed inside, and Raizo followed him, unable to even cast an apologetic look back at Ren, Shi, and Kiki. And just as he passed through the doors, he heard Ursula's voice pipe up entirely too enthusiastically behind him.

"Well! Welcome to the royal palace of the Fire Nation. Don't worry -- any friend of Zoey's is a friend of mine, and I'll make sure you feel right at home until he comes back!"

Damn it.

Ren couldn't help it. He snorted with laughter. "Z-zoey?" he stammered before he could compose himself. "I-I'm sorry..." he chuckled. Jie looked worriedly at his friend. Finally, he was able to get himself under control. He bowed low. "Thank you for welcoming us," he began. "I hope we aren't a burden to you." He didn't dare look up, but once the word 'Zoey' popped up again, he had trouble keeping his laughter down. Shi had covered her mouth with a sleeve when she heard Raizo's nickname, and she did the same as Ren, though she didn't speak. Her laughter was silent, so she didn't have to hold it in, though she knew her shaking shoulders were quite noticeable.

Ursula put her hands on her hips, smirking like she'd just done exactly what she'd hoped to do.

"Oh, believe me, it's no trouble at all. It's not every day that we get visitors here who aren't stuffy old diplomats or stiff-backed soldiers. You're a treat for us, you know."

It was hard to tell if she was being sarcastic. She dismissed the guards with a nonchalant wave of her hand, and then gestured for the three of them to follow her inside the palace. "I'll show you to your rooms; I'll assume you're all taking separate guest rooms, and that no one's thinking about climbing into bed with dear Zoey tonight. He kicks."

Ren was starting to like this girl. She had a sense of humor, at least. And hopefully, she doesn't steal platypus bear pets, like the last woman she met (not girl). He snickered at her comment and composed himself before following the Princess. "He kicks? No wonder. I though I saw him twitching before," he said in a low voice, so as not to cause disturbance. Shi was still trying to calm herself.

"Separate rooms would be fine," Shi said pleasantly.

Ursula looked Ren over with an arched eyebrow rather unabashedly, finally smirking with approval. "So you noticed? He's very twitchy, about everything, really. So much on his mind, poor little Zoey." She looked back over her shoulder at Shi and Kiki, observing in a way that was deceptively casual, before focusing on Ren again. "By the way. You'd have to be a complete fool to not know who I am, but I'd say I'm perfectly justified in not knowing you, so you should probably do the chivalrous thing and introduce yourself."

Ren rolled his eyes, but grinned a little. "Your Royal Highness," he began in what he believed was a gentleman's voice. "I am Ren-just Ren," he said, implying that he had a surname, but instead said his own again.

"And I am Shi, a dancer of a wealthy landlord," Shi said softly. She had thought that royal families were overly proud of themselves, reserved, and quick to judge. But then, like Raizo, they weren't. She was glad for that.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Just Ren," Ursula answered with a slight, almost teasing bow. She looked back towards Shi again, with interest. "You're a dancer? You'll have to teach me some of your moves while you're here."

Ren was enjoying this girl more and more. He didn't say anything more, but Jie wanted to do some sniffing before relaxing. he successfully jumped out of Ren's arms and landed on the floor with a thud. He made his way to Ursula, his behind waddling, his claws clicking on the ground. Ren began to sweat and he quickly picked up his cub again.

Shi nodded. "If you wish," she said. It would be fun to share some of her knowledge to the royal family. She thought it was contributing. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

Kiki started to get bored, and played with her hair.

Ursula's attention was promptly caught by the impetuous cub. She stopped mid-stride, and bent down just enough to peer right at Jie in Ren's arms. "What is that?"

Kiki's eyebrow shot up as she stared at Ursela. "A platapus bear cub." Kiki firmly said in a low voice.

Ren was starting to panic now. What if he had to dump Jie out of the palace? He'd go with him, of course. But what if they wanted him? He suddenly seemed very cold and a small shiver ran down his back, though it wasn't visible. Jie stared right back at Ursula and opened his mouth in a small yawn. Then he curled up in his arms, seemingly bored.

"Er... what she said," Ren said quickly, glancing gratefully at Kiki for a moment. Shi, too, was rather anxious about the princess' reaction. She wondered what would happen next. Hopefully, they wouldn't be thrown out.