Wow, sorry it took me so long to update. But now that I've got some time off school, I should be able to get a couple more chapters up pretty quickly.

I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Still.

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Chapter 6

Zana had never known true hunger before. Her father's servants had always provided her with food from day to day, and once she had left she always had enough money to buy her own. But now that she had neither, she longer for what she had once perceived as an empty stomach. It had only taken a day for the hunger to surprise her by turning into pain.

On that first day, Zana had wandered aimlessly, heedless of the tree branches that clung to her face and hair, tearing at her robes. By chance or by fate, she came across a clearing, empty of everything but the signs of a recently abandoned camp. A fire pit had already been dug, the ashes within having turned cold long ago. Unused wood was still piled next to it, ready to use. The scaly remains of skinned fish were piled a ways off from this, rotting and gathering insects. The green of the field was marred by the occasional ostrichhorse dropping, which she was careful to avoid as she inspected the area. Lying solitary and alone by the fire pit was a small wooden disc, a white flower painted carefully on both of its faces. Zana recognized it immediately as a white lotus pai-sho tile. She pocketed the disc, reminded sadly of her uncle. He always started with that tile.

When she lay down by the fire pit, she couldn't understand how odd it was that there was no kindling to be seen, merely large logs. Had she any previous knowledge, Zana would have realized that only a firebender could start a flame without kindling and a spark stone. But she knew nothing about starting fires, and not only did the connection go unmade, but she didn't question when a fire started there in the night as she slept.

For the next two days, Zana remained in that clearing, leaving its borders only when her lethargy was overcome by restlessness or hunger. Food was sparse, most of the berries eaten by wildlife long ago. She gathered what she could; fruits and nuts that had for whatever reason remained untouched. She had no way to capture any of the small animals that called the forest home, and even if she had, she doubted she'd have the willpower or even the ability to kill them. Her unforgiving surroundings made her become hungrier by the day, until, on the third day, desperation pushed her farther and farther from the clearing until she discovered a bush whose berries were oddly undisturbed. Without thought, Zana fell upon them, staining her mouth and hands red with their juices as she ate with more fervor than any time before. That night she returned to the field sated, and slept soundlessly, unaware as the berries' poison began its work against her mind.

On the fourth day, the poison saved her life.

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It was an unusually slow day already; it was nearly noon and no one had come to them yet for help. A young earth kingdom healer sat in an open windowsill, one leg pulled up in front of her chest. As a gentle breeze tossed her long brown braid around playfully, her hands moved slowly up and down her shin without any cognizance. The rough, hard burn scraping against her palms startled her, and she pulled her hands away quickly. It wasn't the presence of the scar that startled her but...she never paid undue attention to it. It wasn't hurting; it wasn't doing anything unusual at all. It was exactly the way it had always been since it had healed. There was no reason at all for her to pay it any heed.

With a sigh, she slumped forward in the sill, resting her chin on her knee, losing herself to her thoughts. As the wind caressed her face, the image of another pierced through her musings. A scarred face, lean and untrusting. Its piercing yellow eyes dart back and forth as its bearer unhitches a steed that is not his.

"Oh, Lee," she sighed, her voice heavy with sorrow. "Why did you do it? We could have helped you..."

"Song?" her mother's voice jolted her out of her reveries.

Face burning with embarrassment, Song spluttered out a hasty "Yes?" in response.

The old woman shook her head with a sigh. Her daughter was acting strangely, and she had been ever since their only ostrichhorse had been stolen. Song had raised the animal since it was just a coltling. Pushing the thoughts away, she focused on the reason she had come to her daughter in the first place. "Song, we're almost out of these. Could you run out and get some more?"

Song slid out of the windowsill and on to the floor with a smile. "No problem," she said as she took the small list from her mother's hand. Walking out the front door, she grabbed a small wooden basket and tucked it under her arm. She paused for a moment out on the simple porch, remembering. Remembering the shock, and almost guilt, that had shown on his every feature when she had shown him her scar. Shaking her head, she walked down the forest path she had wandered down every week for as long as she could remember. Closing her eyes, Song let her feet carry her along the route that they knew so well.

After no more than a few minutes, she arrived at her destination and opened her eyes to begin. What she saw was not at all expected, and it nearly made her drop the basket. There wasn't a single berry left on the bush. Song couldn't believe it, those berries were poisonous untreated, and the animals knew well enough not to touch them. Frantically, she checked her surroundings, suddenly unsure of the correctness of her location. But the tall, sturdy maplefir that she used as a marker was only a few yards away; this was the spot. Again, she looked down at the bush, afraid she was losing her mind, but it remained the same; robbed of its fruit.

This time, however, Song caught sight of two grooves in the soft earth beside the bush, with less distinguished foot prints leading up to and away from them. She groaned inwardly: only a human would be stupid enough to eat those berries, and these prints definitely weren't from a platypusbear. The trail was fresh, no more than a day old. Not enough time for the poison to be fatal, but just long enough to damage someone's mind. The realization dawned on her slowly, but once it did, it filled her with an icy fear. Someone, somewhere close, was dying.

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So there's that. Review if you're awesome.