Chapter Eight.

The dull colorless walls radiated a cold which pressed in on her, snuffing the heat she was able to must while at the same time pulled it out of her and diluted it. She felt like a candle burning down.

The Water Tribe boy had gone out and returned once before leaving. He had brought a meager amount of food but indicated there might be more where he'd found it. He said something about the pantry being partially accessable and that he intended to open it up more and perhaps connect it to this end. He suggested they move their camp deeper into the ship where it might be warmer. She refused, saying she wasn't going through such an ordeal for a "might be."

But there had been another reason. Being deeper in the ship meant they were staying for a long time, and now every time she slept, which was often, she dreamed of it. The heat, the pulsing, it was all vivid and nagging. The dreams seemed to go on for eternity but she could barely recall them on waking.

This would have been bearable but the mountain plagued her conscious thoughts as well. It was all she could think about for any length of time and it made her want to pull at her hair.

Somehow she knew her salvation was at the mountain. She had heard many stories of powerful firebenders communing with volcanoes and she had always thought it silly spiritualist nonsense, but she had never been one to deny there was a spirit world. -I did bring down the Avatar after all,- she thought. -Perhaps the spirits respect me for it.-

Thinking of the Avatar she remembered where she was and who she was with. She should be plying the Water Tribe boy for information about what had happened to the Avatar, not making awkward conversation with him. He was a fool if he thought she was his prisoner. If anything he was hers unless the bison came back with his friends or the Northern Water Tribe discovered flight in the next week or so.

Which was how long they would last if the boy didn't find them a decent source of food. Nutrition had not been her favorite subject at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls but wilderness survival had, and she'd paid rapt attention to her teacher. Even knowing she deserved only the best in life, the idea of being able to go without had been intriguing. She'd learned that in ideal conditions, with access to water, a human could go many weeks without eating. With a broken leg and having to battle sub-zero temperatures she estimated she had about a week. A week and half if she stuck to these measly rations. She might not die within that time, but she would have deteriorated to the point where chewing or digestion would be impossible even if there was food.

Her eyes were now closed as keeping them open was an effort. She decided she was being generous with her estimate. She decided to pull back her heat bending to just her clothes and the blanket she was under and to forget about trying to warm the air around her. The walls radiated cold like they enjoyed it and she had placed more cloth between her and the back wall to keep it from draining her warmth.

She imagined the rocks within the mountain would be just the opposite and would glow with heat pulled from the molten seas roiling beneath them. If she could only get there perhaps they could reach the other side somehow to that ice flow where perhaps the Water Tribe boy could kill a tiger-seal or something. If her leg could have time to heal and she could bend easily again, rescue or escape would come shortly. She started to think about how to tell the boy how to build a proper sled, finding her thoughts came easier when they were about ways to reach the mountain.

When Sokka returned he carried items in a makeshift sling pouch. He sat down in his usual spot and emptied the pouch before resting his back and head against the wall. Azula looked at the meager pile of rations and forced thoughts of the mountain from her mind as best she could. "Well?" she asked.

He sighed and didn't speak for nearly a minute. When she asked again, he spoke, slowly. "That's it for the food," he said.

"The food you've been able to reach," she said. "You'll have to continue your efforts, otherwise..."

"No, I mean that's it for food. I found what had to be the food supply hold and I found nearly everything burnt and blown to a crisp. There are piles of useless garbage everywhere else in the ship that didn't burn up, but the food somehow did."

She smiled a little at the bitterness in his voice but she felt some of it, too. She looked over the pile of food and guessed that on starvation rations it would last them a week, then the real starving would begin. -One week of food, one week without, and that's the end,- she thought, knowing it would be as long as that before anyone decided to come looking for them.

They sat in silence for a long time. Azula thought she might have gone to sleep her thoughts and dreams being the same it was hard to say. The lamp had burned down and neither made a move to refill the oil or adjust the wick. She heard the boy sigh several times, each one deeper than the last. When they stopped altogether she let a wry smile cross her face. -If he thinks I'm going to be the first one to suggest eating the crew, he's wrong. And he certainly doesn't have the guts.-

And that was her chance. "Alright," she said, now knowing once she reached the mountain the maddening thoughts would stop one way or another. "We'll starve before another airship comes and your buffalo has made it clear he's not showing up any sooner. We have to leave on our own."

"And go where? Oh, let me guess, the mountain! And by 'on our own' of course you mean me dragging you."

Azula thought she could almost see his blue eyes and white teeth glowing in the dark. "If that flow on the other side open you could get food from there," she said.

"Yeah, after I drag you to the mountain, then climb it, I'm sure I'll have no trouble catching...whatever."

"Well then if we're going to stay here we need to eat, and if there's nothing to eat..."

She trailed off but he didn't take the bait. It was early still. There was normal food left. Once it had been gone for a few days then it would be all he would think about. She found herself somewhat looking forward to having cannibalism on the brain as it would distract her from the image of the mountain floating before her.

"Where are you going?" she asked as he got up to leave. The blanket was flapping from the wind outside which blew in when he pulled it aside.

"To take one more look around and see if I can guess how far off that stupid mountain of yours is. Unless we want to hang around and eat firebender jerky I don't see another option but to leave before our food runs out."

She almost laughed. A few of the men had been jerks, hadn't they? Wasn't the Water Tribe boy known for his sense of humor? She hadn't seen much of it so far and was glad to learn her spies were at least somewhat accurate. "Don't be long, I might get hungry and eat your share," she said.

"And I might decide I want my firebender steaks fresh," he said as he left.

She laughed loudly, making her leg twitch and throb. There was something that took her mind off the mountain, pain. She let it throb for a few minutes before she could no longer stand it and tried to fall back asleep.

To be continued...