Katara's flushed body was covered in small goosebumps as she rose to the surface of the water for air, paddling her arms and legs against the gloriously deep water in the moonlight. The soft patter of rain could be heard as it hit the water, ripples commencing from every direction of the waterbender. Keeping her head and neck above the surface, she tossed her hair over one shoulder before diving down once more. Spreading her legs, she dove further, surprised at the murky depth of the cold liquid. Oxygen escaped her lips, bubbling upward in large globules of ghostly foam. With a last kick of her legs, her fingers met the bottom of the river, which was just mud. Allowing her fingertips to splay through the wet slop, she picked up a handful before releasing it, opening her eyes in order to be able to see it float to the bottom.
The brown clay floated about the water, dancing mischievously before her eyes, then met the bottommost of the waterway. She permitted more air out of her lungs before she began to paddle back up for air. When she broke the surface, she began to gulp in the life sustaining chemical, which was only a playful breeze. Thrusting her body forward, she trusted her instincts to carry her to the riverbank, as her eyes were terribly blurred from the amount of water they'd collected on her last descent into the water.
Crystalline droplets of water clung to her face and undone hair, more were being added on by the second, for the rain was coming down fast and hard. Curling her fingers around the old roots of a willow which had just managed to break the soil's surface, she pulled herself onto the riverside. Curling her bare arms around her even more so bare chest, she attempted to shield herself from the biting winds. Pausing to rub her hands against one another, she blinked wetness out of her eyes. The friction of her palms being adjoined with the other made the numb go away, as she'd just supplied the circulation they'd been so desperately wanting. Bathing in the light of Yue, Katara silently cursed herself for not wearing her underthings at least. The underclothing piled near her side were the only things clean, so she'd really had no choice.
Waterbending! she mentally slapped herself for not thinking of that before. Reaching out her hands, she spread her fingers and began to 'pull' the water from her hair. Her tan digits formed their own little dance, seemingly crystallized droplets of water forming a small circle of water in the air. When she was satisfied with her work, the waterbender casually flicked her wrist, sending the water flying into the bushes.
"Hey!" someone growled as soon as the water sloshed down against their form.
In a frantic jump, she scrambled for her clothing. She violently tugged on her underclothing, hoping that the person, whom the voice belonged to, had not seen her nude. Slipping her tunic over her head, still in a frenetic state, she whipped her head around, looking for a source of the offending noise. She stepped into her blue wool pants, shaking them out as she did so. She fell backward, pulling her boots on. In short time, she was up and searching for the man who'd she'd hit with her small glob of water.
The low grumbling of thunder could be heard. Seconds later, the forest, which had been shrouded in darkness, lit up with the flash of lightning. Katara yelped, mental images of Aang, her Aang, being stricken by an electricity, courtesy of Princess Azula. She stepped through a thicket, slightly shaking from very unpleasant memories, from just the other day. She and her friends had been on the run since then, attempting to gather forces to rid themselves of Azula and her cronies, the newest of her group...
"Zuko!" Katara felt herself stunned, staring down at the firebender, who was laying on the ground. Her shock was replaced by anger as she summoned a wave of water from the river. She unconsciously bent her spine into the correct posture, her arms into the accurate positioning.
A surprisingly large wave swept over him where he lay, sprawled out on the ground, his back connecting him to the forest floor. A soft gasp escaped his lips as the water froze, the water wench still in a defensive posture. She was ready to run if he decided to fight back, which was basically the inevitable. Her knees slightly bent, she hunched her shoulders, ready to pounce. Willing her muscles to relax, she spoke.
"Why aren't you fighting?" she demanded, her voice squeakier than she had hoped it to be. The Prince only stared down at the ice that had curled around his body in the shape of a wave. His face had grown pink from the cold, but his features were distorted and fuzzy in the rain.
"This is cold..." he murmured, unable to heat himself up. He suddenly felt tired, ignoring her next words.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you!" she hissed, forming a spear-shaped dagger from ice. It was held in the air between them, perfectly aimed at his scarred eye. He only blinked away sleep, holding back a yawn. He'd never been this cold in his life, and he never wanted it to happen again.
"Well?" she expected him to free himself of his prison any second now. She could just imagine the steam rise from his body as he firebended his way out of this one. She tensed her muscles; there was no way he was getting out of this one. Not when he sided with his sadistic sister. No way.
Melting the dagger, she lashed out at his ivory cheek with a perfectly formed waterwhip. It struck his cheek before splashing against his mop of shaggy black hair. A light line of blood formed against his cheek, and he seemed to finally be paying attention to her.
"As I was saying," she sounded quite angry with him. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you!"
As if the gods were supporting her point, lightning flashed, the sky brightening for a split second.
"Go ahead." he looked away from her, his amber gaze locked on the rotting base of a recently deceased willow. She stared at him incredulously before closing her slightly ajar jaw.
"You hurt Aang. Bastard." Oh how she wished that she could curse him with every bad word she knew... Every word suited better for drunken sailors, than she, just a fourteen year old girl. She would save that for later. When he was begging for his goddamn life, that is.
"Azula did it, not me," he claimed in his gravelly voice, curling his lip in contempt. "If you don't kill me, they will."
"What are you playing at? How stupid do you think I am? Liar." She would have rolled her eyes, but she didn't want to take her eyes off of him, fearing he might use this to his advantage. How naive did he think she was?
"I deserve to die." he exhaled lowly. "I'm but scum. My father hates me, my mother ran away. My uncle? He used to favor me, but I betrayed him. The Avatar? I almost got him killed, assuming he is still alive. You and your friends should just come out here and kill me together."
"Ha!" she barked out a few more peals of laughter. "Right. As soon as we get back, you'll be gone and there'll be a hoard of soldiers in your place. We aren't idiots, you know. We can see through this little trap of yours."
"If I could bend, I would've been out of this fucking ice already." How he hated her element at times.
"What do you mean, if you could bend?" she tried to hide her curiosity, but she was doing fairly poor at doing so.
"The acrobat-" he was cut off by a flash of lightning. Katara, obviously flustered, had a hard time of paying attention to his words. "My sister's friend. She can block your chi and leave you-" Katara cut him off, having had it done to her before.
"Leave you immobile." she finished, shaking her head in disgust. "I know Ty Lee can do that, but you aren't going to fool me. I don't care what you say. I'm just going to wait right here until you get sick of your ice chamber and decide to end your charades. Knowing you, you won't last another five minutes in there."
She smiled at her cunning logic, readying more water for an attack. Zuko only closed his eyes, shivering at each raindrop which connected with face, which was barely visible in the dim moonlight.