when your throne is elsewhere || OPEN
Nightfall— with it came a silence that the young Fire Lord rarely had the chance to partake in. He was far too used to the clamor and dull roar of life, harsh upon his ears and even worse upon his mind. Upon his arrival to Tancho earlier that afternoon, Zuko had stormed haughtily from his quarters and had not returned since, hoping to catch at least a glimpse of those he had come all this way for. Lacking fortune, however, he had made no progress. He had not yet bothered to don the academy’s uniform, either— opting to wear his familiar robes and carry his twin blades until he was absolutely forced to remove them, he was hard-pressed to part with anything from home.
The moon had never meant much to him, a bender who drew power from the sun, but upon finding friendship in a girl who drew hers from the silvery sphere that adorned the night sky, he had small hopes that he would find someone underneath its glow. Even if it wasn’t her— it could be anyone of consequence to him, if only it would prove that his efforts were not meaningless and his time here would not be wasted.Â
Impatient as he could possibly become, Zuko found himself pacing irritably at the edge of the darkened courtyard, along the side of the boy's dorms. With a troubled, scintillating gaze, he shuffled about in an incredibly awkward manner, unable to rid himself of the anxious feeling that quaked within his palms and caused his darkened brow to crease in ever-growing frustration. He hadn't the faintest idea what he was truly searching for out in the dark, but as it was his first night upon the grounds of the foreign campus, a restlessness had overtaken him entirely.Â
Just as he had settled upon the cool grass to mull over his thoughts in a more peaceful manner, footsteps jarred him out of his distracted haze. He had little reason to care if he were caught outside at night-- although holding a position of his own, adhering to higher authority had never quite suited him. Keeping still, he addressed the stranger that approached him as his back was turned. Still as mistrusting as ever, even as different as he'd become.Â
"Who's there?" he demanded, a biting tone filling his voice.Â
