A/N: Huthegelluthego! (That would be Jibberish, everyone. Did you know that there was an actual language called Jibberish? Because I didn't) Anyhoo, thanks soooooo much to the ONE PERSON who actually commented on my last chapter. Enjoy!
-B
Disclaimer: Zzzzz . . . say wha?
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"Where are you going, General?" he asked in confusion. I stopped and turned to look over my shoulder.
"I am going to see if I can't find an old friend of mine."
HOW I GOT CHAINED TO A BED
"When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly."
-Patrick Overton
Kaida was out cold the minute her head hit the pillow. I sat completely still as the guards she placed over herself disappeared, not wanting to wake her back up. I had thought she looked tired earlier and the way she currently looked just confirmed that suspicion. The purple-gray rings under her eyes contrasted vividly against the light skin of her face.
I started to stand up, glad to finally have a moment where I wasn't being watched, but as I did, my wrist jerked to a halt, snagging me back down to the floor beside the bed. I looked down in confusion.
"Can't be serious," I muttered quietly, glaring down at my now slightly bruised arm.
Somehow, in a way that was simply beyond me, Kaida had managed to chain me to the bed, after she had so endearingly shoved me off of it, without my noticing. She hadn't even given me chance to decide that I wanted to try and escape again! I scowled at how long it had taken me to even realize what she'd done. I should have expected it, though, I realized, shaking my head. Kaida wasn't some innocent little girl, although she could certainly fake it if she wanted to. She was a clever, street-smart thief, and a good one at that.
I sighed, leaning back against the bed frame. I obviously wasn't going to be getting out of there for a while.
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"If I were holding the heir to the throne hostage . . ." I murmured to myself, scanning over the busy marketplace and rubbing my chin. Whoever had kidnapped my tempermental nephew obviously expected to use him for ransom. They wanted something that only a fire nation noble could provide them with.
I walked idly around the market, weaving in between the colorful local stands and produce vendors. I did not hurry myself through the labyrinth of shops, wanting to observe and learn as much from watching the people of the town as I could. Watching and listening was the most valuable way to riddle out useful information, though not many realized it.
I absently entered a quaint tea shop, which usually proved to attract quite the knowledgeable group of people, and as I was inclined toward such places anyway. It was small but neat and well kept, with a serene yet friendly atmosphere about it. I took a seat toward the back of the room at a round, wooden table, silently observing the scene. A young girl with light hair and an apron drifted over to where I sat.
"Is there anything I can get you?" she asked, her voice as light and innocent as her thin tresses. I smiled warmly.
"Ginseng, please."
She nodded once, then turned and started back behind the counter in the front. I took the opportunity to survey the shop more closely. It was very nearly empty, with the exception of a few guests and the young hostess. A couple spoke quietly in the upper-left corner, unconsciously leaning toward one another; probably not the best people to ask, I concluded. I would leave them to each other, for now. Then there was a jet-haired man writing mutely on a sheet of parchment. He seemed to be very absorbed in whatever he was working on, so I promptly decided not to disturb him either. A cup of tea was set down in front of me, the humid steam coming off of it winding and spiraling into the air. I inhaled deeply.
"Why, thank you, miss . . ." I trailed off, turning my gaze up to the fair-haired girl, who appeared to be the shop's sole hostess and waitress at the same time.
"Hinatea," she informed me, looking down at her feet timidly. "Your welcome."
"Miss Hinatea," I said, my voice open and friendly. "Would you mind if I asked you a question? Don't worry, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." The young girl's eyes were slightly confused, but she agreed nonetheless.
"I was wondering," I started, "If you had noticed any unfamiliar faces around here in the past day or so." Hinatea looked up at an angle, as though thinking back through her memory.
"Oh," she said, seeming to remember somebody in particular. Her voice was like the soft cooing of a dove as she told me what she could. "There was a girl who came by here yesterday. She had short, black hair and green eyes and she didn't carry anything with her. Does that help at all?"
"Yes," I assured her. "Thank you very much." Hinatea nodded her head again, then drifted off to tend to another customer. It was exactly as I had thought. I smiled at the coincidence of it all while idly sipping my tea. Fate worked in mysterious ways and this particular instance very much proved it.
Small world, I told myself thoughtfully.
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Knock, knock.
I raised my face off of the pillow and glared at the offending door with all the acidity that I could manage being half asleep. My onyx hair stuck out wildly at odd angles, evidence that my sleep had not been a peaceful one. I glowered at the door a few moments longer, then closed my eyes, letting my face fall back on to the soft cushion.
There was another, more persistent knock.
"Go away, nobody's home," I called, the pillow muffling the words so that they were nearly impossible to understand.
Another knock. I groaned.
"You're going to have to get that," Zuko said dryly, giving me a put-off look from down on the floor. "Because I can't stand up."
"Quiet, hostage," I muttered, propping myself up and letting my feet dangle in front of his face. "It's your own fault." The young prince leaned as far away as the chains would allow, his nose wrinkling in disgust. Oh, they don't smell that bad, I thought to myself.
I stood up reluctantly and walked to the door, dreading whoever was on the other side of it and also quite put-out with them for insistently waking me up. I took a deep breath, then pulled the door open to see the old innkeeper smiling at me with annoying warmth that only made me want to slam the door back in her face without even a pleasant 'hello' before proceeding to do so. I exhaled, fighting the overpowering urge to listen to what my cleverly evil instincts were telling me.
"Would you two be interested in dinner, dearie?" she asked innocently.
"Oh, no, thank you," I insisted before Zuko could object, my voice a little more urgent than I had originally meant to let on.
"Are you sure?" she checked pointlessly, sounding a bit disappointed about my hurried refusal.
"Yes," I assured the old woman in the doorway. "In fact, I think it's about time we left." I held my breath, poised and ready to argue in case she tried to stop me from leaving. To my surprise, though, she did not.
"Alright," she said, sounding a little unsure, but apparently not enough to disagree with me. I shut the door the minute the old woman was out of sight and earshot, muttering to myself about crazy, yet sweet, old ladies trying to turn their guests into mindless slaves.
"Alright, Mr. High-and-mighty," I said, turning on Zuko and resting my hands on my hips. "We're leaving, and when I find a new cave, you're sleeping outside. And you'll be tied to a tree like the trapped animal you are."
The young prince looked up at me as if he expected nothing less and did not respond to my threat, instead taking slow, deep breaths and closing his eyes. My lip quirked up as I looked back at him, sorely tempted to leave the next lucky guests a whiny, little spitfire welcome gift. But I needed him for ransom. I sighed as I leaned down to unlock Zuko. It was so impossible to find a cooperative hostage these days.
"Hold still," I told the young prince irritably, trying to get the key into the slot on his chain's padlock. He kept pulling back on it.
"You're about to sit on top of me," he complained, leaning away again as far as he was able. I looked up toward the heavens. What a baby.
"Oh, for the love of - quit moving, princess!" I pinned Zuko down, shoving his face into the floor with vigor and attempting to unlock him at the same time. He struggled to throw me off, definitely not making the already-difficult task any easier.
"Hey, get off of me, Kaida!" Zuko demanded, his voice shooting up an octave. He tried to flip over so that I wasn't sitting on top of his back, but I just elbowed him in the face and leaned down so he couldn't move. "Would you just let me take it off myself?"
"No!" I shouted, slapping him across the back of the head. There was a nervous call from outside in the hallway.
"Er, is everything alright in there?"
"Everything's peachy," I replied, my voice sugary-sweet compared to the previous shouts and threats directed at prince hot-head. Finally, the padlock unhitched, causing Zuko to roll across the floor and out from under me. I stood up, unconcerned.
"Hmph, that was completely unnecessary," I told him coolly, crossing my arms. He gave me a disbelieving stare, still sitting on the floor and making no move to get up.
"I was going to say the same thing," Zuko replied, scowling at me, as usual.
I waited dully as he stood, noticing, for the first time as he did, that he was taller than me. It wasn't by much, but the height difference was enough that I had to raise my chin to scowl back. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but there was something undeniably annoying in the fact that I had to look up at him. I didn't like it. It gave him the upper hand when it came to intimidation.
I crossed my arms, glowering up at the young prince. We had somewhat of a glare-down then, neither of us keen on looking away. We were both just as stubborn; just as reluctant to show any amount of weakness, lest the other find out about it and expose them. The door creaked open as we glared daggers at each other.
"Oh, am I interrupting . . . ?" The innkeeper trailed off, taking in our hostile body language toward one another. Immediately, the two of us broke apart, as if it could somehow erase her memory if we acted like we hadn't been arguing.
"No," I assured her, my voice untroubled. "We were just leaving."
She nodded, turning with a wary glance and leading us to the door up front. After a stressed thank you, we walked out into the quiet village, only to stop once we were free and wonder what the heck we were going to do next.
"So, what now, genius?" Zuko said snidely. I reached up and put my arms behind my head, letting the sarcasm slide for the moment.
"Now," I said, fully rested from my nap. "We find a new place to hold you prisoner."
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A/N: Read&Review puhleazzze!