Yeah, turns out center is poem format.
Chapter 6 was original going to be this loooong 20 page thing on Word...but it proved to be such an impossible task! I bow before those authors who manage long chapter on this website. I also have a DeviantArt now! :D Yayz! I'm still things24 so yeah... at least DA makes my 5-6 page chapters not look puny...lol. But then again I can't really draw...
Things :D
Chapter 6
There was screeching as a messenger hawk soared through the night sky. On closer inspection you would see another large bird chasing the hawk. The bird was a falcon hawk* and it belonged to a man watching the chase from a cliff. The falcon captured the hawk with the ribbon attached to the message compartment. The hawk struggled and screeched but the falcon had a tight grip. The hawk was delivered to the predator's master and the man took the message and threw it away. The hawk staggered but managed to fly back the way it assumed it came. The man had an eye on his forehead and it known to us all as Combustion Man.
OoO
Aang sat at the campfire helplessly as the group ate in silence. Momo chattered noisily at Sokka, trying to get his food. Sokka just waved him away without a word. Momo scolded Sokka for lack of attention and flew on top of Appa's head. Suddenly there was impatient tapping on Aang's shoulder. Oh! He feed Toph more food, murmuring an apology. Even though the burns were healing she couldn't use her hands for things such was holding chopsticks; although that wasn't a problem with Sokka, who simply ate with his hands. Speaking of which, the sulking warrior suddenly shot up from his sitting position.
"Where's Hawky?" he asked. Silence.
"I'm sorry Sokka," Katara began, with a mock tone of an apology, "Toph wanted to send a letter to her parents before we left for the "thing" that we did that got her to meet and bring that lying, good for nothing Prince to us!" she spat. Toph immediately jumped up.
"Oh excuuuse me! Miss, 'I will never ever abandon people who need me!'" she said, using an over exaggerated voice to imitate Katara. Katara stood up as well.
"Stop it Toph! That was different!" she growled, moving towards Toph. Aang looked at Sokka for help, but he already had his mouth full of food trying to ignore the situation.
"I don't see what's so different just because he's a prince! I'll have you know that he's an ex-prince now. Combustion Man didn't just see him as someone who got in the way, he was WANTED!" Toph shouted, stomping her foot.
"So what? Maybe he deserved to get captured!" Katara retorted.
"No one deserves to get captured by the Fire Nation and you know it!"
"There are exceptions to every rule!"
"Oh now we're talking about rules again?"
"Everyone STOP!" Aang shouted, air bending the girls to separate. He had tears threatening to fall out, "We are a team! We need to work together even through the toughest disagreement." Both girls crossed their arms and refused to look at each other, "Katara, you need to stop letting your emotions control your actions towards others," Katara hrmphed but listened, "And Toph…." The earth bender lifted her head upon hearing her name, "I'm sorry but…Zuko did burn you. I don't think we should look for him anymore…" Toph stood silent for a moment, but slowly nodded her head. Aang sighed, relieved that the argument was over, but the tension still hung in the air.
"I'm…sorry…Katara," Toph said. Her voice was cracked and they knew she was hiding her tears. Katara softened at the apology and looked at Toph with understanding.
"I'm sorry too," she said, embracing Toph in a hug. Toph accepted it. Aang joined in on the hug and so did Sokka, who decided to stop eating. Appa groaned wanting to join and the group moved their group hug to the bison's fluffy head, with Momo going on Aang's shoulder.
OoO
Zuko trudged through the forest, trying to get his bearings. I still don't think things through, he thought. He had no idea where he was, but he was somewhere in the Fire Nation. Great, just great. His stomach growled, he had already eaten his bread. He stopped and looked back to where he came. He shook his head; they were probably long gone. Before he took another step he heard voices.
"I heard that there's another town not too far from here," one said. Zuko almost gasped, and desperately looked for the best hiding spot. He settled with climbing a tree, hopefully these people wouldn't look up. The tree was low enough that he could climb it without hurting his arm too much.
"Really? That's good, I want to get out of this forest quickly," another said.
"You don't really believe those town folk do you Shing? It's a bunch of hogmonkey crap," the first voice said in disbelief. Zuko looked down and two men were coming through the trees. They had matching topknots and armor. Patrol soldiers, Zuko thought, non-benders.
"Well…I guess, lets just make sure we get out before the next full moon. You how suppositious I am Chen," Shing warned.
"Loosen up. Lets take a break I'm hungry," Chen said, wiping his brow. He decided to rest underneath the very tree that Zuko was hiding in.Zuko carefully adjusted his footing to a more stable position. He stared down at the now laughing men hungrily. They had taken out their food and were eating it very…slowly… Damn, it's like they're doing it on purpose… Zuko thought. He tightened his grip on the tree trunk; he usually didn't stay in a tree for this long. Sneaking around the forest wasn't like sneaking around in a city. He looked up and saw birds flying near.
"Hey! Look! Our next meal!" the first guy pointed. The second one took out an arrow and tried to shoot down a bird. He muttered a curse when the bird dodged it. To Zuko's horror, a messenger hawk landed in his tree. It was obviously untrained and lost.
"Shoo! Go away!" he whispered to it. Instead it squawked. Shit…
"Hey there's one in the tree!" one of them said. Stupid bird… Zuko carefully peered through the leaves down where the men where searching for the bird. He concentrated on the grass near one man's foot. With a flick of his wrist the fire shot out on the grass.
"Ahh!" Shing cried, jumping away. He then tried to stamp it out. It's not going to be that easy, Zuko thought, giving the small fire more juice.
"What the hell is going on?" Chen shouted, forcing his comrade to move away.
"How should I know?"
"Let's get outta here!" he suggested. Shing nodded and they packed up their belongings and ran away. Zuko took a deep breath and the fire went out.
"That was a close one," he muttered. The bird squawked again and Zuko glared at it.
"Shut up!" he growled. He grabbed the branch and dangled with his uninjured arm. He swung back and force and then let go. He landed into a crouch and noticed that a small bag was left behind. He opened it and was pleased to see some spicy jerky and rice cakes. He took a piece of jerky and packed the rest in his shoulder bag.
"SQUAWK!"
Zuko stopped and turned around. The hawk was still in the tree and it was looking at him. No…not at him, at the jerky in his hand. Before he could react, the bird swooped down and took it from his fingers.
"Hey! Get back here!" Zuko yelled at the bird. It ignored him and flew through the forest. Zuko was too hungry to register how foolish chasing the bird would be, or remembering that he had more in his bag. After running through the forest and losing sight of the bird he gave up, the sun was setting and it was getting dark. He face palmed in frustration and embarrassment over his stupidity.
"Poor thing. You're so hungry you chased a bird," a gentle, but raspy voice said. Zuko swung around to face an elderly woman with a basket, smiling at him. He backed away from her.
"Um…" he said, not sure how to address the woman. She began to creep him out smiling at him like that.
"Come, I have an inn in town. You can rest and eat. A young man like you shouldn't be out here alone," she said. She beckoned for him to follow and walked to a path that Zuko didn't notice before. She's just an old woman, but I should be cautious she's really suspicous, Zuko thought as he followed her.
"My my, it's getting dark. Are you a fire bender?" she asked, not turning around to face Zuko. His splinted arm brushed the hilt of his sword.
"No m'am," he lied.
"No, I will not allow such formalities. I am Hamma," she said, finally turning towards Zuko.
"I'm Lee," Zuko said automatically.
"Lee? Well that's a very common name…" she laughed, "No matter, here we are!" She brought them to a building with three stories. A single lantern glowed above a door. They walked through a garden of sorts and arrived at the stoop.
"This is my back entrance, the town is just down the hill out front," Hamma explained opening the door to a hallway. Zuko hesitated, but entered the inn. She led him to a dining room and told him sit down.
"Would you like some food dear? I have some leftovers," she asked. Zuko shook his head but Hamma went to the other room and brought out a plate of food anyways. She sat next to him on his right and waited expectantly for him to eat. Zuko poked the food with the chopsticks, grimacing when blood oozed out of the piece of meat. He looked back at Hamma who was smiling at him. He quickly put the food in his mouth and found that it wasn't so bad for leftovers.
"So Lee, where are you headed?" Hamma asked after he took a few bites. Zuko swallowed before answering.
"I…um" he cleared his throat, "I'm going to the…next town! To…visit someone…" he added lamely. He shoved more food in his mouth nervously. He stole a glance at Hamma, who was still smiling at him.
"Oh? Whom are you visiting?" she said gently, as if she believed his awful lie.
"Um…my…Uncle! …..Mushi…." he said. He stopped eating, memories of Ba Sing Se filled his mind and he felt a pang in his heart. Hamma either took no notice of his change of mood, or ignored it.
"That must be sweet. Is he a nice man?" she asked. Zuko put his chopsticks down with a dreamlike expression on his face.
"Yeah…he's…he's great guy…" he answered sadly, his voice cracking towards the end. He coughed quickly to cover it. He pushed his plate away, no longer hungry.
"I should get going tomorrow…" he told her.
"Oh that's isn't a good idea child," she began mysteriously. Zuko almost scowled at the word "child" but asked the important question,
"Why?"
"It takes three days through the forest to get to the next town. There's a full moon coming up," she stopped and looked at Zuko for his reaction.
"And?"
"And," an ominous aura filled the room, "during a full moon…people go into the forest…and they don't – come – out!" she said, putting empathizes "out", slamming her hands on the table. Zuko stared at her with a skeptical expression.
"But don't worry! If you stay here you'll be safe and sound!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and wearing a creepy grin. Zuko had a hard time refraining from backing away. Creepy… he thought, obliviously disturbed by Hamma's actions.
"Are you finished? I'll take you to your room now," she said, getting up.
OoO
Sokka couldn't sleep. Although the girls had made up and Toph wasn't mad at him anymore there was still a problem, Zuko was still out there. If he isn't a traitor he can go back to his palace and tell the Fire Lord where they were. If he was a traitor (Sokka hated the fact that Toph might be right) someone like Combustion Man would try to capture him and ask questions. Most likely were they were, again. Zuko would have no reason not to tell someone where the group was, look at how he was treated. Sokka felt a slight wave of guilt as he remembered the fire bender's condition when Katara healed him on Appa. He certainly didn't want to wake up to find some person that he thought was allies with the only source of hope in the world yelling at him. Sokka sighed, maybe they did let their emotions cloud their judgment. Sokka's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the familiar shrieking of a messenger hawk.
"Hawky?" he asked, yawning from being awake. He sat up and was knocked down by a bird.
"Hawky!" Sokka cried, waking everyone up.
"Sokka, why are you making noise?" Katara asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Hawky's back!" he exclaimed. Hawky nudged Sokka, "Ohhhh! And he brought jerky!" Sokka drooled, grabbing and eating the mysterious food.
"Hey! I want some!" Toph said, extending her hand.
"Sowry…" Sokka said, mouthful of hard to chew spicy jerky. Toph huffed in disappointment and went back to her earth tent. Aang yawned.
"Ok…we ha-ah-vee Hawky back…." He slurred, falling asleep again.
"Sokka go to sleep…" Katara ordered, laying back down on her sleeping mat.
"Sure…" Sokka said, finally being able to rest, until Hawky and Momo started fighting on top of him again. "ACK! Stop fighting! Bad Momo! Bad Hawky! OW!"
Everyone groaned knowing they wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night.
OoO
Moonlight shown on the inn. It illuminated though a single open window, landing on a figure sitting cross-legged in the middle of a queen sized bed. Zuko stared at the moon; memories of the North Pole flashed though his mind. All this talk about the full moon and people disappearing brought the image of the Avatar as the water spirit destroying the Fire Nation fleet. A quick thought wished it would snow; it was so damn hot in the room. Agni, it must be the hottest night in the whole frickin Nation! Zuko's clothes lay sprawled on the floor, leaving him with only his under shorts on.
"Ug!" Zuko plopped on the bed and put an arm over his eyes. He couldn't help but think of his situation right now. One, he is a traitor therefore he is a fugitive in his own country. Two, the Avatar is alive and plans to invade the capitol on the eclipse. Three, his father knows about the invasion. Four. He just blew his chance at gaining the Avatar's trust and warning them about it. Five, he has no idea where he is and his left arm is injured.
The next morning Zuko rose with the sun, slipped on his clothes and trudged downstairs. When he entered the kitchen the smell of tea hit his nose. He turned to see Hamma at the stove with a teapot.
"Oh, you're up! Just in time for morning tea!" Hamma exclaimed, taking the pot and pouring the tea into two cups. Zuko sighed and sat down with her at the small kitchen table. He took a sip of tea and found that it wasn't as good as Uncle's but it was still pretty good.
"Lee, may I ask you something?" Hamma said after a few moments of morning silence. Zuko hesitated, unsure of her motivation. Does she suspect something? He nodded after giving it some thought; he had to act casual. He took a sip of tea.
"I'm very old and I don't get many travelers that stay very long. My hands aren't like they used to be when I was young. Would you be kind enough to do some chores for me?" Zuko almost choked on his tea, but composed himself. He swallowed slowly and put the cup down.
"Yes…I would be happy to assist you…I…I don't have anything to pay you with for letting me stay…" Zuko said politely.
"Oh hush now! I invited you!" she said. She got up and ruffled Zuko's hair before placing the pot and cups near the sink to be cleaned. Zuko rubbed his head and scowled, Jeez…she wants me to do chores and then treats me like a child…
After breakfast and for the rest of the morning Hamma asked Zuko the chop wood (he discovered that she must have put pain relievers in his tea for his arm), clean mice poop from under the stove (Zuko now despises mice), fix a window (he hit his thumb with the hammer again), get eggs from the pickens (the rooster-hawk would not stop pecking him), and dust the high furniture on a chair (he had never sneezed so much in his life). Hamma smiled at an exhausted and irritated Zuko with his head and arms down on the table. She placed a bowl of noodles in front of him. He looked up to stare at it, only to put his head down again.
"I'm not hungry…" came the muffled response.
"It's lunchtime. If you don't eat you'll get hungry later," Hamma replied. Zuko groaned, not caring if it seemed impolite. Hamma shook her head and chuckled.
"Believe it or not you are still young. It's unhealthy to skip a meal at your age."
"You don't know how old I am," he grumbled in defiance.
"I know that you are younger that 19, but older than 15," she said, "Although people may think you are much older with that scar of yours." Zuko's head snapped up.
"What?" he whispered, unconsciously touching the scar.
"I said that people would think you are older with it, that's all," she repeated.
"Oh…" he said, putting his hand down. His stomach growled, disagreeing with his earlier statement; he had no choice but to eat. He didn't notice Hamma staring at him.
"Lee…" she started.
"Hm?" he was in the middle of slurping noodles and was sure he looked ridiculous. **
"What happened to your arm there?"
"M-meye arhm?" he repeated with a mouth full of noodles. He tensed at forgetting his manners, but remembered that Hamma wasn't his mother… Quick! Think of something! He took his time swallowing the noodles. Hamma waited patiently as Zuko came up with a cover story.
"I…" he began, fiddling with the chopsticks.
"Yes?" Hamma asked, leaning in to hear.
"I fell." He said bluntly, avoiding her gaze.
"Oh! Well I'm glad it to hear wasn't a horrible experience," she said calmly, with a slight undertone that suggested something else. He looked at her trying to figure out what she meant, but she just smiled at him sweetly. The rest of the bowl was finished in awkward silence.
"It looks like you're done there," Hamma started. I don't like that tone…Zuko thought thinking back to the cause of his exhaustion that morning. Zuko jumped suddenly, startled when Hamma appeared next to him.
"I need some red cabbages for tomorrow. Would you mind buying some for me at the market? I have more things to do around the house and don't have time to get them," Hamma told him. Zuko inwardly groaned but nodded anyways. "Thank you dear," she said, patting his shoulder and taking his bowl to the sink before exiting. She left a small pouch of money in front of him. He sighed, picked up the pouch and headed towards town.
* I think in the pop ups it says it was a falcon hawk, but it looked more like a vulture to me...
** Replace Iroh with Zuko and viola!
Well then I'm going away on the 28th to Spain with no internet for two and a half weeks. So expect my Ty Zula week drabbles late ( I fail at weeks) my Zutara week stuff later and possibly Taang week...but i didn't even hear about it until like today so I don't know about that...