#zkmythicalcreaturesweek

[perfectlypanda]

Zutara Mythical Creatures Week Day 3: Hunter/ Monster

Gotta catch 'em all!

To be honest, my knowledge of Pokemon is largely limited to that one magical summer where everyone was running around outside playing Pokemon Go!

I started this as a Halloween idea, but almost gave up on it because art is hard. Then I noticed the @zkmythicalcreaturesweek prompt hunter/ monster, and went "Pokemon stands for pocket monster. Pokemon trainers are basically monster hunters. Right? Perfect. Better keep working."

♥ Please do not repost. If you like it and want to show people, share a link to this page instead. Thank you!

[pineapple-frenzy]

vampire!zutara please!!!!!!! i love ur art so much

Thank you anon!! 💕

I'm gonna take this opportunity to put them in fancy clothes akflsksksb

[starartist]

Living Statues🐍

In this poignant moment, Katara, her eyes brimming with sorrow, tenderly embraces Zuko, who stands transformed into a lifeless statue. A fateful curse had once gripped her, bestowing upon her powers reminiscent of the mythical Medusa. In a cruel twist of fate, her cursed gaze inadvertently turned Zuko into stone. Their love, now frozen in time, serves as a powerful testament to the enduring bonds that even the harshest of circumstances cannot shatter.

@starartist - visit for more Zutara🌙

For: @zkmythicalcreaturesweek ✨️

[zkmythicalcreaturesweek]

2023 ZKMC Prompts

October 22nd - October 28th

Like last year, we have two prompts per day. The first is a monster/creature prompt and the second is a vibe/style prompt. You can use just one or both!

Thank you to everyone who voted! Prompts also listed below the cut.

Day 1: Magic Mirror --- Ancient

Day 2: Vampires and/or Werewolves --- Revenge

Day 3: Hunter/Monster --- Cure

Day 4: Angels & Demons --- Constellations

Day 5: Living Statues --- Sleep

Day 6: Talking Objects --- Asian Folklore

Day 7: Soul Eaters --- Disguise

[the-badger-mole]

Magic Mirror Part 2

After a while, Zuko gave up calling for help. Some time after that, he quit pacing and thought. He couldn't get out the way he came in. That didn't mean there was no other way out. Zuko held his hand out and called up a flame, and sighed with relief when fire licked his fingertips. The darkness wasn't dispelled far, but he could now see a few feet ahead of him, and he realized that he was standing on a dark marble floor. He followed it cautiously, wary of what might be waiting outside his bubble of light. After a while of walking, his fire glinted off of something. He paused and stared the circular hole. His fire was reflecting back at him. Hesitating just a moment, he put it out and found himself looking out into a darkened room. A room he recognized. He was in one of the empty bedrooms in the summer palace. His father's if he recalled correctly. Zuko surged forward, pressing on the glass, but it didn't budge. He was in the summer palace, or at least in the mirrors. That was something. Zuko picked up running along the corridor again, stopping an looking out of different mirrors in the hallways, the bathrooms, the foyer. Finally, he came upon an occupied room.

Katara sat in the library, relishing in a rare moment alone. She'd found an old romance novel and was idly skimming it when the door opened. Zuko watched in horror as he walked in. What would this doppelganger do to her? He beat his fist on the glass and screamed Katara's name. He needed to get out of this prison! How could he make himself heard?

"Katara!" Zuko screamed. She frowned, and started to turn. She had heard him! Zuko doubled his efforts, screaming and banging his fists on the glass until he was certain it would break. But the other Zuko slipped between Katara and the mirror, and smooth as a serpent, sat down beside her. He sat down right beside her. Katara's attention was drawn away from looking for the source of the sound and was now nervously focused on the boy beside her.

The mirror creature was murmuring something to her. Zuko pressed himself against the glass, trying to hear what was going on, but the sounds were muffled and both Katara and the creature were speaking too low. Zuko watched in growing horror as the Mirror Zuko leaned closer to Katara and began playing idly with the end of her hair. Katara's face had gone red, and her eyes were wide with surprise, but she made no attempts to move away. Not even a few moments later when he got even closer, until their noses were almost touching. Katara's eyes fluttered, her lids lowering until they were almost shut. Zuko stopped breathing as the mirror creature leaned in to close the last little bit of space...

Katara's eyes flew wide open and she gasped. A moment later, the door of the library burst open, and suddenly Katara was on her feet with the sofa between her and the boy still leaning forward for a kiss. Sokka rushed in, shouting excitedly about his success in mastering a sword fighting technique. He wanted to show them in the courtyard, and asked Zuko to spar with him to show it off. Katara nearly ran after her brother, casting one last pondering glance at Zuko. The mirror creature waited until they were gone before his pleasant smile twisted into a dark scowl.

Zuko banged on the glass of his prison again, shouting for the creature's attention. At first, Zuko thought it couldn't hear him, but then it smirked, turning it's head slightly in Zuko's direction, but not looking directly at him.

"I can see why you like her," it said, it's voice muffled as if it were speaking through a closed window. "I think I will, too."

"You stay away from her!" Zuko shouted, pummeling the glass again. "You stay away from all of them!" The creature just chuckled and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Zuko ran down the dark corridor, frantically looking through mirrors for a glimpse of his friends. They must have been outside, because he couldn't find them in any of the rooms. His throat was growing sore from screaming for anyone who could hear him, and his body was sore from sprinting the hall and beating on the glass. He slumped against a wall, allowing exhaustion to catch up with him. Despair, he thought, would come any minute, but to his distant surprise, it hadn't. After all, this was par for the course for him. Perhaps he never considered his fate might be exactly this- trapped in some horrible mirror world while he watched his doppelganger take his place among his new friends, and make moves on the girl he...- it was still not surprising to him that just when he thought his life had taken a turn for the better, something terrible would happen. At least he wouldn't have to wait long for death, he reasoned. He was already hungry and thirsty. He figured dehydration would kill him a few days. He just hoped he would have a chance to warn his friends about the imposter before he went.

"You won't die here."

Adrenaline surged through Zuko's body like a bolt of his sister's lightning. Every hair on his body was standing on end, and he instinctively fell into a defensive crouch, facing the direction the voice had come from. At first, he saw nothing, but he expansive darkness, but then he noticed a figure- tall and pale- approaching him from the pitch dark. He was glowing, Zuko realized with a start. The man had long white hair and a carefully sculpted beard. His hair had been pulled into a top knot with a small flame securing it. Through the shrouding of ethereal light, Zuko recognized that he wore the formal robes of Fire Nation nobility.

"It is so good to meet you, my grandson," the man said smiling. "I am Avatar Roku." Zuko gasped and stumbled backwards. He saw the resemblance now. Roku had the same nose as his granddaughter Ursa. The same mouth. The same slant to his eyes. The features Zuko had inherited. He could only gape at the older man- no, the spirit.

"A-am I dead?" he asked. Roku chuckled and shook his head.

"Thankfully, no," he said. "And you won't die here. It'll be uncomfortable for you, but you're essentially immortal here, although you'll still feel hunger and thirst and such. But none of that matters, because we are going to get you out of here."

"What is this place?" Zuko asked.

"You're in..." Roku paused and looked around thoughtfully. "Let's call it an annex of the spirit world. You see mirrors can serve as a sort of gateway, if you know how to use them. "

"How do I get out?" Zuko "I'm not even sure how I got in!"

"You got caught by a lesser spirit," Roku explained. "Some of them are nasty buggers, but mostly harmless. Unfortunately, your grandfather, Azulon was attempting to recruit spirits to fight for him, and foolishly didn't see to it that all the portals he tried to open were sealed."

"Of course," Zuko groaned, rolling his eyes. "It's not enough that I pay for my own sins, I still have to deal with my family's, too?"

"That is, unfortunately, what comes with the territory," Roku sighed sadly. "You will one day be the Fire Lord, and it will be your duty to make amends for the sins of your forebearers. But compared to untangling the mess of the spirit world, that'll be a cake-walk. Especially, if you keep the right people by your sides." Zuko stared at Roku, mystified.

"Are you sure you're related to me on my mother's side?" he asked. "Because you sound just like my uncle." Roku chuckled and shook his head.

"I know of your uncle Iroh, and I respect him a great deal," he said. "I'd be happy to claim him as a grandson, but no. The only connection I have to that side of your family was my friendship with your great-great-grandfather. Now, to get you out of here."

Zuko was waiting once night fell and everyone began to turn in for the night. Roku had gone some time ago, wishing his grandson luck, and Zuko was alone. Finally, the door to the bedroom swung open and Katara entered. He waited until she had shut the door and lit her lamp to begin banging on the mirror and shouting her name. This time, Katara heard him immediately. She looked over at the mirror in confusion and gasped.

"Zuko?" Her mouth hung open in shock.

"Please! Don't freak out," Zuko begged her. Katara stood rooted to the spot, gaping at him. She looked over her shoulder, towards where she had just said good night to her friends, Zuko among them. Then back towards her mirror in confusion.

"What?" she whispered, taking a cautious step forward. Zuko slumped against the glass in relief.

"It's me Katara," Zuko told her.

"Zuko?" She got closer, inspecting the mirror. She looked behind it to see if there was a door or something she hadn't noticed before, but the mirror was attached to the dressing table, leaving a gap of several inches between the back of the mirror and the wall. She moved in front of the mirror and frowned when she saw her reflection in front of Zuko. "How are you doing this?"

"I'm trapped!" Zuko told her. "That-that thing out there, it isn't me. I was in the woods, and there was this huge mirror, and when I looked into it, that thing grabbed me and trapped me in here. You have to believe me! That isn't me out there!" Katara stared at him for a long moment before shutting her eyes and taking a deep, shaky breath.

"I believe you," she said. Zuko hadn't been expecting that. He had planned a whole list of proof of what he was saying, but it all flew out of his head.

"You do?"

"I knew something was off when he came back," Katara explained. "He was acting weird, and he didn't know where the dining room was. And then later he almost...I saw him close up and I realized his scar was on the wrong side."

"What?" Zuko gasped. He hadn't noticed. He hadn't even paid attention to that.

"I thought I was crazy," Katara said. "No one else said anything, so I thought maybe I was wrong, but..." Her eyes swept over his face and she nodded slightly. "I was right."

"Thank Agni," Zuko sighed. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against the glass. His throat closed around a sob and he thought for a moment he would weep with relief.

"How do we get you out?" Katara asked, pulling Zuko's focus back.

"He needs to look in a mirror," Zuko explained quickly. "He's part of this world- the spirit world- so any mirror will do to bring him back in." Zuko was glad when Roku told him that although the spirit needed Zuko to look in that specific mirror in the woods, he didn't need the spirit to go back there. He didn't think he could guide any of his friends to the right spot, let alone trick a spirit who had no inclination to go back there.

"I don't know how to get him to look, though," Zuko said. "He purposely avoided looking in the one in the library.

"Y-you were in the library?" Katara's face went suddenly red, and then Zuko's face flushed, too.

"I-I was just looking for a way out," he said. "I wasn't spying." Katara dropped her gaze and shifted on her feet.

"It's..." she huffed and shook her head. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. I have an idea. Just wait here for me. Don't move, okay?"

"Alright," Zuko said. Then Katara grabbed one of the tarps that had been covering the furniture when they arrived, and threw it over the dressing table. Zuko was plunged into darkness. His pulse quickened, but he swallowed hard and forced himself not to panic. He could trust Katara.

A few minutes later, he heard the door open again. There were low voices and some giggling that sounded like Katara.

"We have to be quiet," Katara was saying. "If my brother catches you in here, he'll kill you."

"Oh?" Zuko heard his doppelganger chuckle. "Don't worry, love, I can keep a secret." They stopped talking for a long, uncomfortable stretch. Zuko tried to peer through the tarp, but it was too thick. He heard footsteps stumbling across the room.

"No," Katara said sharply. "Not the bed. We're not quite there yet."

"Whatever the lady wishes," the mirror creature purred. There was another stretch of quiet. The footsteps stumbled closer and Zuko heard them bump against the dressing table. Then suddenly the tarp fell away and Zuko saw himself and Katara locked in a passionate embrace for a split second before the mirror creature glanced up and found himself staring into Zuko's scowling face. He only had moments to act. Zuko felt the moment he connected with the spirit, and he reached through the mirror- now as liquid as when he was pulled through- and grabbed the creature's throat with both hands. Then the yanked him forward and pulled him through.

On this side of the mirror, the creature no longer looked like him. It was a small, shadowy figure cowering before Zuko. Remembering Roku's instructions, Zuko didn't hesitate. He called up a ball of fire a hot as he could manage and incinerated the creature. It wasn't dead, Roku had warned him, but it would be a long while before it would be able to pull itself together. That done, Zuko launched himself at the glass, landing in a heap at Katara's feet. She reached down and hauled him to his feet, studying his face carefully.

"It's you, right?" she said.

"It's me," Zuko assured her. Katara still looked dubious.

"What did I offer you in the caverns beneath Ba Sing Se?" she asked. Zuko winced, remembering that day.

"To heal my scar with the spirit water," he replied. Katara melted in relief.

"I mentioned that day to the mirror thing," she said. "And he had no idea what I was talking about. He thought we'd had some kind of tryst. I figured it was as good a reason as any to get him into my room."

"Smart," Zuko mumbled. He looked down at his feet, trying to let go of the sudden pang of anger in his stomach.

"I'm glad you're okay," Katara said, hugging Zuko. He relaxed into her embrace. But gradually, as the fear from his ordeal receded, a new realization dawned on him. Katara hadn't known the mirror creature had taken his place in the library, and she hadn't been opposed to a kiss from him. That thought chased away what lingered of his jealousy, and hope sprang up in it's place. Maybe, he chuckled to himself, the mirror creature had done him a favor after all.

The next day, he would take his friends and destroy his grandfather's spirit portal. Then he would find the pond he'd been looking for and take Katara there. It would be the perfect spot to confess his feelings.

Part 1

@zkmythicalcreaturesweek

Prompt Day 3: Cure

[sokkastyles]

Here's a short fic to kick off @zkmythicalcreaturesweek! I've got a couple of longer fics in progress which may or may not be done on time, but in the meantime have this little thing. Sorta turned the prompt sideways a bit.

Day 1: Magic Mirror/Ancient

Katara sees the face of the boy peering down, through the clear circle of the moon's eye, down into the bottom of the lake. She is waiting there. The boy used to come here with his mother at night, and she would whisper to him secret things by the light of the moon, dipping her long nails into the water of Katara's lake.

Zuko stares at the mirrored moon in the water every night. Every night since mother left, looking for something to look back at him. Secretly, he makes his way to the lake, and stares into the dark water, with the moon's reflection bright in the center, making ripples outward across the black, still surface.

Then the boy's mother was banished as a witch, her secret knowledge gone with her. Now the boy comes here alone, but he does not know how to speak to the water as his mother did. Katara stares up at him wordlessly, her voice silenced by the glassy surface that separates them.

The boy weeps, sometimes, when he thinks he is alone. He cries out for his mother. Katara reaches for him, but her fingers cannot breach the surface. He must reach for her willingly, like his mother often did. He doesn't know this. He doesn't know how.

When Zuko is thirteen, he speaks out in a war meeting and fights an agni kai. His father stands over him, dark and terrible, and the hand reaches for him, burning. And Zuko burns.

Under the light of the moon, the boy drags his burned body to the surface of the lake, unwrapping the tight bandages from his face and letting them fall on the shore, feeling the cool night air sting the raw, exposed flesh. He doesn't know whether the wetness on his face is from the wound or if he is crying. His face burns, and the surface of the lake is dark, and cool. The moon's face smiles brightly from its black center.

Zuko reaches his hands into the surface of the lake, down into the cool darkness, cupping the water between fingers pressed together, and bringing his face close to the water.

So close that Katara's hands meet his, she grasps his wrists, pulls herself up high enough to cradle his cheek, his burned face.

Then she pulls him down, down into the cool water, his burned body pressed into her, his warmth spreading through her cold limbs.

They will be safe down here, Zuko will be safe. Eventually, he will be cold like her, and he will never burn again.

[umweiss]

For @zkmythicalcreaturesweek day 6: Asian folklore -- inspired by the Chinese tragic romance, the Butterfly Lovers.

I'm not sure if this submission counts, but in the end (spoilers), they both turn into butterflies, which is mythical-esque...

My tablet and software have been acting up lately 🥲 so less art

[sooz-again]

For @zkmythicalcreaturesweek: Magic Mirror

[stardust948]

There's a rumor going around Republic City's high school that a vampire is in the midst. Most believe it's the emo new kid from the Fire Nation. They couldn't be further from the truth.

ZKMC 2023 prompt

Day 2: Vampire and/or werewolf

@zkmythicalcreaturesweek

(Katara doesn't always have blood eyes and fangs. She shifted just to spook Chan. Afterall, who's gonna believe him over the most popular girl in school?)

[badlucksav]

Trick or treat! 🧡💜

Hello friend! I spent entirely too long trying to decide what little treat I could give you. So here’s a little drabble for my Living Statues idea I’d had for @zkmythicalcreaturesweek I never got around to writing:

***

The statue was a gift from the Southern Water Tribe for his father, placed out in the garden by the turtleduck pond. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, carved from some unfamiliar black stone that must have been native to the arctic south. Whom ever had carved it took their time to put in the fine details: the lines of the statue’s palms and each eyelash were carved delicately into the stone’s smooth surface.

It was of a young woman with flowing hair and round eyes that seemed to follow you wherever you went. Most of the Fire Nation court marveled over it for the first few weeks after its arrival (it had been on display during one of his father’s lavish parties to be admired), but for Zuko there was something about it he didn’t quite like, although he couldn’t place his finger on it.

Zuko was neither superstitious nor silly, but sometimes he felt as though somehow that statue was alive, that in the darkest hours of the night the girl would step off of her stone pedestal and creep through the empty halls of the palace, her stone feet scraping lightly as her round eyes roved, looking for him.

It was foolish and stupid, and Azula would have surely made fun of him if he had ever dared to voice that irrational fear. That’s what it was—irrational. Statues didn’t move. But it did not stop Zuko from hurrying away from that statue when the last traces of twilight fled the sky, his heart thundering in his chest as his skin prickled, fearful that one of those cold stone hands would wrap around his shoulder as he fled.

No, it wasn’t rational at all. Yet Zuko could not quite convince himself that the statue wasn’t some alive creature, waiting, biding its time, searching for the perfect moment to creep through the palace and murder him in his sleep.

***

Come trick or treat in my ask box!

[neva-borne]

Katara's spent the last year tracking down and systematically killing the men who attacked her and forever changed her life. She's hidden her true self from the world beneath long sleeves and the shadows of alleyways. She hasn't had a proper human interaction since she set off on her journey to seek revenge. And then she makes it to Ba Sing Se, and she's nearly killed when she makes a crucial mistake on a hunt. Now at the mercy of the man who saved her, Katara has to work through the aftermath of her attack that she's been avoiding since it happened, and try to trust and and care for someone other than herself. All she wanted was revenge, but Zuko's unexpected appearance in her life throws her for a loop, and she's not sure what she wants, or deserves, anymore.

My entry for @zkmythicalcreaturesweek day 2: Vampires and/or Werewolves // Revenge

Rated E

[perfectlypanda]

Zutara Mythical Creatures Week Day 3: Merfolk ​

Tried a new coloring technique. Not sure how I feel about it, but it was fun to experiment. This actually isn’t the first time I’ve done ZK mermaids - I made one back when I first started and was still doing image manipulations. I don’t much care for all of the manips I made, but I do have a soft spot for that one.

♥ Please do not repost. If you like it and want to show people, share a link to this page instead. Thank you! 

( @zkmythicalcreaturesweek )

[starartist]

Angels & Demons

Is it possible that such an unexpected transformation occurred – the fallen angel Zuko, notorious for his immense anger, discovering love and happiness in the angelic presence of Katara, renowned for her boundless kindness and joy✨️? What transpired was the story of the ex-demon Zuko, who, through his profound love for Katara, renounced his tumultuous past and illuminated the world with the timeless truth that love knows no bounds.❤️‍🔥

@starartist - visit profile for more Zutara🌙

This is a drawing intended for:

@zkmythicalcreaturesweek 🔥

[zkmythicalcreaturesweek]

2023 Prompt Voting

Hey all, prompt voting for this year's event is now OPEN!

Voting will CLOSE at 1159pm EST October 1st so we have time to release the selected prompts before the event begins!

Please vote and spread the word!

[the-badger-mole]

Magic Mirror

There were certain things one got used to travelling with the Avatar. Supernatural happenings were surprisingly rare, but memorable. This was what Sokka told Zuko during his first days with the group. Zuko heard him, believed him, even. He processed this new information and thought he had come to terms with it, but now, he was staring out at the world from the other side of a glass prison, and he didn't know how to escape.

"This place is beautiful," Katara said, looking the thick trees and brush leading down to the beach. Zuko's mouth twisted ruefully as he surveyed the landscape. These had once been well cultivated gardens, abundant with fruit and flowers and medicinal herbs. Now it seemed the wild nature of the grounds had reasserted itself, and he struggled to see beauty in the tangled mess. But, he reflected, he and Katara had only been on good terms for a few days. It would behoove him to stay there.

"I guess," he mumbled in reply. "It used to look a lot nicer. But there aren't any gardeners anymore."

"Not everything has to be in order to be beautiful." Katara shrugged. She reached up into the low branches of a nearby tree and plucked a ripe mangonut. "We can't just go and pick food from trees at home. The wilderness is beautiful there, too, but it's not nearly as giving." Zuko cast another dubious gaze, but this time his eyes lingered on the crawling vines of yellow summer melon and the medicinal silver wort growing in the shade of the mangonut tree. Spoils like this would've been heavenly in his days on the run with his uncle. From that angle, he could see how the mess that had once been one of his favorite gardens was beautiful.

"I'm going to get started on dinner," Katara announced a few moments later. "Any requests?"

"Whatever is fine with me," Zuko said. Katara turned and went inside, calling to her other friends that dinner would be ready within an hour.

Zuko lingered at the edge of the trees. There was a small pond with a waterfall dropping into it. He remembered swimming in it as a child, preferring the clear, cool water to the crashing briny waves of the ocean some days. He would tell Katara about it later. She would appreciate it more than anyone else there. First, though, Zuko would have to remember where it was. When he'd gone before, his cousin, Lu Ten had always led the way. He thought he remembered roughly the direction, though.

After half an hour of walking, Zuko had still not found the pond. He didn't remember the grounds of the summer palace being quite this extensive. Was he even still on the grounds, he wondered. The vegetation was growing thicker around him. He had to pull out a sword and cut a path for himself. If he didn't find the pond in the next ten minutes, he told himself, he would turn back. As it was, he would be late for dinner regardless, but he was loathe to give up.

He was about to make good on turning back when something caught his eye just a few yards ahead. Something was glinting between the trees up ahead. It wasn't the pond, he was certain, but he couldn't think of what else it could be. He pushed through the trees and found himself in a small clearing. This wasn't here before, he thought. Then he spotted what had caught his attention in the first place.

The mirror was large and ornate. There was no way one person could have carried it alone, even back when there were actually paths through the forest. It towered above the leaf littered ground, and the frame was solid tea-oak. What was strangest of all, though, was the condition it was in. The polished wood gleamed, as if a fresh coat of lacquer had been applied that day. The glass was clear, and unbroken and clean. Zuko and the others had been in the summer palace for nearly two weeks at this point, and Zuko was certain that if anyone else had been on the grounds, they would've noticed by then. Then again, the grounds were also much bigger than he recalled. But who would've done so much work upkeeping this mirror when they could've been squatting in the palace?

Zuko stepped forward to inspect the mirror. He pushed at it, but it was just as heavy as he thought it would be. Too heavy to be standing without a wall to support it, in fact. He bent low and inspected the base. The mirror was held in place by equally heavy looking feet that the mirror slotted into, but strangely, the wooden feet seemed to be stuck in the ground. As if they had been carved there. As if they had grown there. Frowning, Zuko circled the mirror, looking for what he wasn't sure, but he ran his hand along the edges and the back as high as he could reach (the mirror stood a good three feet taller than him). There was nothing unusual about the mirror though, except for it being in the woods. He went around to the front of it and looked at the glass. There was nothing unusual there either. Until he looked at his reflection.

The Zuko in the glass was grinning at him in the most unsettling way. Zuko, gasped and tried to stumble back, but the mirror Zuko's hand shot out through the glass and grabbed Zuko's arm. Instead of shattering, the glass rippled as if it were made of liquid. Then Zuko felt himself falling forward. He passed through something cold. When he looked up, he was in some nebulous dark space. The forest was gone. Then he heard the sound of knuckles on glass and he spun around. The mirror Zuko peered in at him from the forest where the mirror stood. His malicious grin widened and he waved good bye before disappearing from view. Zuko rushed forward, ready to break through the glass and stop whatever that...that thing was. He slammed into the pane and ricocheted off of it. Zuko stared up at the glass in disbelief. Cautiously, he stood up and pressed his hands against the now unyielding glass.

"Hey!" he shouted. He scanned the clearing as far as he could see looking for the thing that looked like him. "Hey! Let me out!"

For @zkmythicalcreaturesweek

Day 1: Magic Mirror

Part 2

[sokkastyles]

Soooo, life happened and I didn't get as much writing done as I wanted to get done. I don't have a finished fic to bring today but I do have a short sneak peek at what I've been working on for @zkmythicalcreaturesweek Day 2: Werewolves and Vampires. I plan to post the actual finished fic eventually.

Sort of loosely based on the videogame The Quarry.

As the evening grew long and cool, Katara followed Zuko up the hill, pausing when she spotted a patch of purple fireweed and kneeling down to snap off the stems, to use later. If she were with a group of campers, then she might have stopped to use this as a teaching moment, to talk about the old ways of her tribe, to discuss the plant’s uses and to thank the earth for its blessings. Fireweed meant life was returning to a place. When the flowers went to seed, it meant summer was finally over. They still had some time, yet.

Zuko stopped and turned to watch her.

"You know, I always envied the way everything was so sacred to you. I don't have that."

"Yeah, you do," she said, thinking of the way he looked during his xiaolin classes with the kids. How happy, like he'd forgotten the rest of the world existed. “The kids love you. That. That’s sacred. And you love them, too. And this place. That’s why you keep coming here.”

"Nah," Zuko shook his head. "I just had to get the fuck away from my dad's house. That's what those summers meant to me. Like an escape." He punctuated the last word by breaking an overhanging branch that obscured the path ahead and tossed it several yards into the trees.

Katara thought about the summer he didn't get away.

It was the summer after sixth grade, when the girls’ and boys’ cabins came together at dinner on the first night. Zuko was nowhere to be seen for the first time since she'd started coming here every summer since she’d been eight. She'd been glad, then, that she didn't have to deal with Zuko trying to compete with her in sparring and fencing and canoeing that summer. All summer free of his arrogant bragging and volatile temper.

Then the next summer he'd returned, more arrogant and angry than ever, with that scar on his face.

Katara looked away from him. "It's getting dark."

She wasn't sure when her feelings towards Zuko had started to change, when he'd stopped being competition, stopped being that bratty kid, and started being something else.

Neither of them were kids anymore, and seeing Zuko with the campers this morning had made that clear, too. Zuko was one of the rocks here at camp, one of the best councilors she'd ever met. He cared about the kids, and this place, no matter what he said.

She wondered, as she followed his retreating back down the path towards camp, if her feelings had something to do with guilt about that summer. She didn't know the details about the scar that covered most of the left side of his face, but she did know Zuko was telling the truth when he said his home life had been bad. That situation had gotten better, at least. Was it his uncle that he and his sister lived with now? She couldn’t really remember, and that was when she realized that she didn’t really know Zuko, not as well as she should.

Part of her still felt responsible for how much she had hated him when they were kids. Even though it didn't matter. Even though Zuko had clearly forgotten.

Ahead of her on the path, Zuko froze, his body poised perfectly still. "Did you hear that?" He said, almost like a whisper.

Katara could hear the faint rustling of branches as a light breeze tousled Zuko’s hair. The sounds of crickets, heralds for the coming night. Nothing else.

"N-" But then she did hear it. A long, low howl, somewhere in the distance.