Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA or any of the characters in it. Anything recognizable belongs to nickelodeon.
"She lied to you. She was protecting the last waterbender," Katara said as she realized what her mother had done for her. The old man was shocked.
"What? Who?" he asked in earnest. Katara's eyes snapped open and she glared at him for a moment.
"Me!" she yelled. She took a fighting stance and stopped all the raindrops in mid-air. Yan Rah looked around in horror as he realized how terrible this situation really was. Katara then created a dome around them and rain glanced off the sides and top of the new obstruction.
Katara gathered her strength and bended the droplets into tiny ice daggers. She then sent them all at Yan Rah at once. He cowered in fear like she knew he would. When he felt no piercing impact upon his skin, he uncovered his face to see the daggers hovering right above him. Hundreds of weapons aimed at his face and body only inches away.
She then realized she couldn't do it. Katara couldn't kill him. She let the bended water hang in the air for a few moments longer and then released it. The water splashed down on the man, soaking him to his skin. He got up on his knees and started to speak.
"I did a bad thing," he said. "I know I did. So why don't you take my mother? That would be fair." He seemed like he almost wanted her to. Like he wanted his mother killed. However, Katara wasn't even listening.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the man. Then she said with as much venom in her voice as she could muster, "I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing. But now that I see you, I think I understand." She walked forward and continued on. "There's just nothing inside you, nothing at all. You're pathetic and sad and empty."
"Please, spare me," he begged. He was practically bowing to her. Then he started to sob.
"But as much as I hate you," Katara said, "I just can't do it." Her eyes started to tear. Yan Rah almost smirked, but said nothing.
As Katara turned to start walking with Zuko shortly behind her, though, he lunged at her. He had somehow taken out a small knife while they were talking. It was nothing big, just an average-sized pocket-knife. Oh, but it did some damage.
Yan Rah leaped and cut Katara on the thigh. He then jumped up and ran. He ran as far away as he could. Zuko tried to run after him and incapacitate him, but the old man knew where to run. He was gone before Zuko had a chance.
Zuko ran back to where he had left Katara. She was lying on the ground holding her left leg. Her face was twisted in pain as she gritted her teeth. Zuko could tell she was badly injured.
"Katara," he said. "Katara, let me see." Her grip on her leg lessened slightly. He took this as a cue to remove her hands. He slowly lifted her fingers out of the way and looked at the cut. The knife had left a long gash in the fabric of her clothing. Along the edges of the opening, there were growing pools of sticky, crimson blood. Zuko could tell the cut was fairly deep. He knew she wouldn't be able to make it all the way back to camp, even on Appa. He didn't even know if she could make it anywhere at the moment.
Katara inhaled sharply and started to groan. "Zuko," she said in between gasps. "I can't move my leg." He realized how badly she was injured and he started thinking of what he could do to help the current situation. The first thing they needed was to get out of this rain.
He looked around quickly for some sort of shelter. He found it about a hundred feet away. There was a small clump of trees with intertwining branches and some rocks around them. It looked like the perfect dry spot.
Zuko looked down at Katara. "Hold on to me and don't let go," he said. He bent down on one knee and slid his hands under her. One arm went under her knees and the other around her back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her over to the covered area and gently laid her down.
Then, knowing the bleeding needed to be stopped, Zuko took off his traveling cloak. He ripped the bottom of the cloak off in a long strip. He tied it high on her thigh, trying not to blush as his hands were forced into risqué places. The cloth acted like a tourniquet and helped to slow the flow of blood to the wound.
"Katara," said Zuko. "I'm going to put pressure on the cut, okay? You need to hold still. I need to stop the bleeding." He took out his spare tunic from his pack and wadded it up. He placed it on the cut and started to press. Katara gasped and started to squirm. "Easy," he said. "Just hold still. You'll be alright. I've got you."
Zuko noticed the blood stopping after a minute or two, but kept the pressure on until he knew for sure that the bleeding had ceased. After that, he removed the cloth from the wound and looked at it a bit closer. He could tell that the cut wasn't that deep. It was more than a surface wound, however. If they were in the city, he would've normally taken her to the healers to get it sewn together. As it was, though, they weren't anywhere close to a town, and there was no way Katara was going to be able to go anywhere like this.