A/N: I own nothing. Yaaay.
The dirt path stretched well beyond Azula's sight. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Sudhir could feel Avani squirm beneath the calm of the forest on their right and the open plains to their left.
"What's at Ba Sing Se?" The older girl asked. Perhaps Avani could spark something in her blank mind. The question excited the young girl.
"A really pretty city! It has huuuuge-" Avani stretched her arm out, "-walls to keep the really mean Benders out. And... Uh... Pretty gardens, lots of people... Oh and lots of yummy food." Sudhir smiled at the thought of freshly cooked food. Saliva started to fill both of the mouths as they dreamed of warm food. Neither of them talked for a time though this time it was a comfortable silence.
Critters could be heard talking between themselves and scampering around. The air was crisp with a hint of cool weather. The pack bit into the woman's shoulder since she had been a princess she was not used to carrying anything upon her back. Avani was too small to carry the pack after Sudhir had filled it with her surviving armor.
"Why lookie here, guys." A gruff voice chuckled from ahead and to their right. A burly man roughly six feet tall leaned against a gnarled oak. Next to him sitting on the grass was a gangly man inspecting a short sword. Blocking the path was an obese man. Sir Butterball had an annoyingly glossy head which reflected the sunlight spectacularly. The last member of the roughly dressed group was another older muscular man stretching on the side watching the wind dance through the grasslands.
All eyes turned upon the two of them. Avani let go of Azula's hand to dart behind her in an attempt to hide from the scary men's gazes. They had found the scary people. Chubsters chuckled as Avani hid, "Now, now. We'll let you pass if you pay our toll."
"Toll?" Ruby lips frowned at such a word. These men were nothing more than worthless miscreants. From searching the bag earlier Sudhir was fairly certain that they had no coins. Unless somehow Ava had stashed some away in the countless folds of her oversized clothes.
"Yeah. You pay us and we let you walk by." Lord of the Lard aggressively stepped forward.
I can take them.
"Ava, please go hide in those bushes." Azula carefully pointed to some bushes slightly behind her and to the right. If the brutes decided to use little Ava against her they would have to work for it. Avani refused to move terrified to let go of the woman. Sudhir carefully worked her hand between Avani's hand and her ratty clothes. "It will be alright, Ava." Sudhir patted Ava's head before the kid scampered away to the bushes.
Tawny eyes focused on her enemy and the heavy pack crashed to the ground. Burly removed himself from the tree and Twig rose from the ground. The older man, Azula nicknamed him The Elder, remained on the side evaluating her.
Wait.
Lord of the Large cocked his head uncertain of what Sudhir was doing, "The toll's four silverish pieces."
What warrior starts a fight without a weapon? Though... I could just take theirs.
"I'm not paying the toll. Lord Lard." Though Azula had forgotten herself, he body did not forget the dance of combat.
Lord Lard growled, "You little bitch." Fat warbled as the Lord of the Lard attempted to close the distance between them. Sudhir did the work for the slow moving Lord by closing the gap herself. Powerful legs sent the woman high into the air for a heavy hitting spinning kick. The Lord of Lard's jaw gracefully greeted the warrior's right heel. Rolls of fat undulated as the Lord stumbled into Elder's way.
Both feet were planted upon the dirt as Twig and Burly rushed her. Twig recklessly waved his chipped sword around as Burly roared some hardly thought out insults. The blade was in good enough condition that as it moved harmlessly passed the woman she saw her reflection.
Her face was black and blue in a couple of places, bloody scabs peppered across her face, and her lovely chocolate hair a flowing mess.
With the softness of a fresh flower petal Sudhir grabbed Twig's hand holding the sorry excuse for a sword. Burly threw a poorly calculated punch towards the daring woman. Twig was quickly stripped of his name and replaced with a new one, Meat Shield. Brave Meat Shield took Burly's punch squarely to the side of his face. Down the lightweight of a man went willingly surrendering his sword.
Burly watched as the roughed up girl did several cartwheels away from him, Elder, and Lord of Lard.
Perhaps they had stuck their foot into a fire.
Burly hesitated while Lord of Lard launched another aggressive and slow offensive. Arms as thick as the tree Burly had leaned upon soared through the air impacting only the air. Burly was next on the list and he did not stand a chance. He shuffled backwards quickly avoiding Lord Lard's arbitrary swings that were completely useless against the woman who could probably take on a pissed off Dolphin Piranha.
Burly raised his hands up to express his intent to surrender as the woman closed the gap and Lord Lard lurched behind her. Azula did not read far into his movement and instead use him as a springboard to dodge another arm wrapped in fat. Yes, Lord Lard was quite strong, yet he did not have the strength to stop his own momentum. The momentum of his weight accepted Burly's surrender by sending him into a bed of dirt.
"Curse the spirits! KILL HER." Elder roared as he attempted to enter the fight. Most lords are in fact greedy, but none could match the greed generated by the Lord of the Lard. The Lord of Lard bellowed a new battle cry causing an improvement in his movement speed.
Azula was still too fast for Lord Lard to catch. Sliding past the enraged boar-q-pine with a handful of dirt meant for Elder's eyes.
Elder yelled as the dirt touched his eyes removing his ability to dodge Lord Lard's anger fueled blows. A brown brow raised in awe as the revered Elder flew across the ground sending untold amounts of grass and dirt up his nose.
Lord Lard roared again earning a deep frown from Sudhir as she swung the sword in an attempt to evaluate it's worth.
Worthless. The chipped sword was promptly discarded. As if the dull blade could cut through the miles of fat on the roaring boar-q-pine. A sigh escape the ruby lips as the dullard launched another blind charge.
Fate decided to end the fight for the tired warrior. Lord of the Lard had forgotten about his companion formally known as Twig, now known as Meat Shield. Surprise, then devastation, and finally dirt covered the Lord's face. Sudhir silently thanked the spirits and of course, the brave, selfless, valiant Meat Shield.
Lord Lard quickly ate more dirt as Azula twisted his arm until his shoulder was dislocated. It took longer than expected due to the fat surrounding the joint. Through a mouth filled with dirt Lord lard cried for his mother. A resounding Hrmph was her replied to the sobbing boy clutching his dislocated shoulder.
The reborn fighter assessed her work. Bruises, dislocated joints, and burning humiliation were the prizes awarded to these so-called men.
The prizes awarded to the Princess were the chipped blade and the removal of the toll.
"Come here, Ava." Azula cooed towards the patch of bushes and trees Avani had hidden in. Barley poked tween the leaves before Avani clamored out of the bushes.
"Wooow!" Avani's jaw dropped as she stood there staring at the scary men writhing in pain wishing they would be consumed by the dirt path.
"Ava, let's go." Sudhir reminded the young child. Avani quickly broke her gaze from the wastes of space and trotted over to Sudhir. "Ack, look at you. Twigs and leaves everywhere. We must find you a bath." With finesse the Princess pulled all of the plant matter she could find from the flaxen hair. Satisfied with her work she proceeded to attempt to calm the storm of hair without a brush. Her attempts were in vain.
One of the pulverized boy struggled to his feet catching the winner's gaze.
"Ah, right. I forgot to ask." Sudhir strode over. Each step increasing the volume of fear within the men. "May I have your money?"
The coin was promptly surrendered and the two continued their way.
"Sudhir?" Avani looked up.
"Hmm?" Sudhir turned her ocher eyes down.
"Can you teach me how to do that?"
"After we find an inn." Avani bounced up and down clutching Azula's hand. Ruby lips curved into a wide smile.
"I can give you five silver pieces." Soot, steel, and sweat saturated the blacksmith including the entire shop. The grim reached out towards the main street.
"Please good sir, could you offer some more?" Sudhir calmly asked the blacksmith enshrouded in soot and the pulsating flame of the forage. Narrow eyes evaluated the two girls. The chocolate hair girl was obviously trying her best to take care of her younger barley haired sister. Whom stared at the rippling muscles with saucer wide eyes.
"Next time. Try not to steal from the Fire Nation. They'll burn your faces off." The man huffed handing Azula six silver coins. Gratefully she took the coins and noticed the blacksmith's muttering about being able to finally meet the quota early.
The Princess found what she had been scouring the streets for.
A BATH HOUSE.
With gusto, Sudhir picked Avani up who was busy watching colorful people trudge by. The lowest scum to polished Fire Nation patrols. Sudhir could not care about anything until she had cleaned herself of the wilderness and six days of walking.
An old hag guarded the entrance of the bathhouse as if she was a truly immortal guard. She must be a hundred years old! Azula smiled warmly at the old hag while doing her best to hold a squirming Avani under her arm.
"I wanna watch the dancers." Whined the contorting child.
One silver was sacrificed in exchange for a private bath, hot meal, and a bed for the night.
"Ack. The water's cold. This is unacceptable." Azula stared at the jug of water they were supposed to use to clean most of the filth off before the main bath. Without thinking Sudhir reached in, flinching from the cold, and promptly heated the water.
"Wooow! You're a bender?" Avani asked looking into the just of the heated water.
"Yes...?" Avani failed to notice the uncertainty in Azula's voice.
I don't remember being a bender. Yet I have heated the water. STOP. I can ponder this later. Now, I must focus on bathing.
Avani was the first to be scrubbed.
"Ava! Stop squirming." She wiggled, giggled, and her mane was finally tamed. Azula playfully threw Avani into the main bath and proceeded to clean herself. Traveling in the sun had tanned her skin where it had been exposed. This left strong tan lines upon her body. The Princess entered the main bath with an energetic Avani swimming around. She deeply enjoyed the warmth and Avani's giggles. The meal was hot and delicious. Azula ate properly while the miniature human scarfed the food down.
Sigh. I will have to teach her proper manners. Not tonight.
Avani nearly feel asleep three fourths of the way through her meal. The Princess tried hard not to burst out laughing alerting the child to her situation. With some assistance Avani finished her meal and the two of them quickly fell asleep in the clean, warm, fluffy bed.
Thanks for reading again!