Part 7
Katara screamed as the large object fell to the floor of the clearing. The object made a large thud as it hit the floor. Katara pulled more water from the pond. She wanted to be prepared in case the object was dangerous.
As Katara cautiously got closer to the object, she realized that it looked more like a person. She let her water drop to the forest floor, and walked over the body. As Katara got closer, she realized it was Zuko. He had fallen from the canopy above.
Katara slowly turned Zuko over onto his back.
Zuko's POV
I woke to this intense jolt of pain after a sensation of falling. I slowly opened my eyes to find Katara looking at me worriedly. I only saw her for a second before my world became black again.
Katara's POV
Zuko's eyes opened for just a moment before closing again. I knew he was hurt, but I couldn't tell how hurt. I got some water from the pond, and started to look over his body to see if I could find any evident traces of injury.
His arm broken and bent in all the wrong ways, was the first thing I healed. I healed everything I saw, but I wasn't sure whether or not there were any internal injuries.
After healing what I saw, I decided to pull him near the pond so that I could look around the clearing some more, but still be able to see him.
For some reason the water fall intrigued me. It had an air of mystery around it that I felt around the valley, but it seemed more concentrated by the waterfall.
I started to walk to the waterfall when I heard a groan from Zuko. He seemed to have woken up.
I walked over to him to help him up.
"Where am I?" he asked, sitting up with a slightly dazed look in his eyes.
"We fell from the cliff by the river, and you got stuck in the trees. I didn't know it was you, so I sort of pulled at the leaves around you, and you fell..." I answered hesitantly.
"Well. I'm not hurt right now," Zuko said, realizing that he had been in a lot of pain when he had woken up in the … canopy.
"That's because I healed you," I said shyly. "Did I miss something?"
"No," he said rather quickly. "You did a good job. I'm just kinda sore." Zuko slowly got up from sitting by the pond and stretched.
Suddenly, I realized that I was just about to explore the waterfall. I had forgotten all about it with Zuko waking up, and I still hadn't gotten to look at it.
"Zuko," I said.
"Yes," he responded, turning to face me.
"I was going to look at the waterfall. You can stay here if you're not up to it."
"I can come. I'll be fine." Zuko took a couple of steps towards the waterfall, on the other side of the pond, and winced slightly.
Before I could say anything, he smiled and said, "I'm fine, Katara." I concealed my worry with a smile and turned toward the water fall.
As we walked the circumference of the pond, Zuko took in the sites of the clearing. It wasn't much, but the plant life was different than we had expected.
When we got closer to the waterfall, we could feel the energy that surrounded it. The water didn't have any special healing properties, I had already checked, so I had no idea what it could be.
When we got to the cliff wall, we noticed that the waterfall didn't run along the wall. It fell several feet from the wall, but we did notice that there was a large cave right behind the fall.
As we got closer and closer, the energy became more concentrated.
We had to stop as we came to the pond's edge. The pond continued into the cave. There were circular stepping stones that lead to the entrance of the cave from the bank we were standing on.
I took the lead before Zuko could object. I walked from stone to stone before I got the the entrance, and Zuko was right behind me. As I looked into the dark cave, I had an uneasy feeling come upon me.
Before I knew it, something with sharp claws had grabbed me by my hands and pulled me into the cave.
So i'm not going to be having internet access for quite a while, so i'm going to be posting as much as i can. comments, concerns, ideas, or anything else is appreciated
carolyne
