Sorry about the long wait :)
disclaimer - I own nothing!
Katara went to the arena in high spirits the following morning. She was nearly late but that didn't dampen her good mood. In her hand was her father's club and strapped to her waist was her waterskin though she had a feeling she wouldn't need either of them because safely tucked in her robe was the smoked eel Zuko was so afraid of. When she went home the day before she cut open the eel and rubbed its insides along the club but kept the remains. The eel's smell was disgusting but thankfully the body odor of over half of the recruits (thankfully not including Sokka) and the arena's smell covered it completely.
"Today you're facing the tongue lasher." Bato paused when he heard groans from the recruits, including Katara. The Tongue Lasher was pretty hard to beat especially with its tongue that paralyzes its victims with even a gentle lick. The venom was only temporary but it was rare for the victims to live through it when the dragon would immediately feast on them. Hopefully today would be one of those rare times. "I'm pairing you up in twos for this. There will be a time outside the arena where you might face a Tongue Lasher alone but for now for everyone's safety you'll be in pairs."
Immediately Sokka and Katara paired up as did The Duke and Pipsqueak, leaving Jet and Hahn to reluctantly be partners. Bato opened the cage door and Katara slowly slipped her hand in her robe to get the eel. When the door was opened all the way the teens saw nothing but the darkness inside the cage and they couldn't hear anything. Katara was beginning to wonder if there was even a dragon inside the cage at all when something large and pink shot out of the cage and was jumping around the arena, not staying still long enough for any of the teens to attack when the dragon was close enough. Katara heard a yell and saw Hahn fall to the ground. When he didn't get back up she knew that he was hit by the tongue. Finally the dragon stopped and the teens had a better look at it; the pink dragon was a bit bigger than Zuko in his dragon form, its body long and flexible with light brown horns on its head. It's wing were light pink and translucent, they looked so delicate on such a fierce looking dragon. Its grey eyes glared at the teens, it's fangs bared in a snarl. The dragon crouched down and prowled around the arena like a tiger, its eyes never leaving them. Katara could tell that the dragon wasn't just looking at them, the dragon was looking for something, like a weak spot. The dragon stopped in front of Sokka and Katara and glared at the siblings. The waterbender could swear the dragon's gaze softened slightly when it was looking at Sokka. Suddenly it opened its mouth and a long pink tongue shot out of its mouth and before Sokka could dodge its tongue jabbed his chest and he fell to the ground.
"Sokka!" Katara uncorked her waterskin and bended out enough water to make a waterwhip and hit the dragon. It roared in pain when the whip hit its face and glared at Katara who glared back.
"Katara be careful!" Bato called out but Katara could barely hear him. Since her brother was now paralyzed the tongue lasher would see him as easy prey and eat him. She couldn't let that happen.
The dragon's tongue shot out of its mouth but Katara hit it with a waterwhip before it could hit her. The dragon screeched loudly and glared at her again. It hunched down and Katara knew it was about to pounce so to keep it from hurting the other recruits or Sokka she ran to the cage so that the dragon could follow her. She froze some water over her fingers, creating ice claws, and threw them at the dragon. One of the claws pierced the dragon's delicate wings and it roared louder than before.
"Katara stop!" Jet yelled. "You're just making it even madder!"
"Come on..." She muttered to the dragon. "Come get me..."
The dragon hunched its shoulders, fangs bared, growling, and its tail wagging, and ran towards Katara. Bato and Sokka told Katara to move out of the way but she quickly swung the club at the dragon. It jerked its head, and Katara missed, an easy dodge. But when the eel's scent reached into the dragon's nostrils it immediately stopped and looked around the arena, almost scared. Katara ran around the dragon so she was behind it, still swinging the club so the dragon could still smell the eel. The Tongue Lasher smelled the eel's innards on the club and started backing into its cage. Katara kept menacingly swinging her club around above her head, yelling at it. "Back! Back I say, foul beast!" She said in a commanding tone. The dragon shook its head in fear, still smelling the eel on the club, and turned tail and ran back inside its cage. Katara ran after it, pulling the eel out of her robe and tossing it into the cage. "Now you think about what you've done." She said to the cowering dragon as she closed the cell door and locked it. She turned around and saw everyone, including Bato, looking at her in shock.
"Hey Zuko. I brought you some eel free dinner!"
"Lovely." Zuko muttered in a less than enthusiastic tone. Katara tossed him the bag of food which he immediately went through, feeling starved. As he chewed on some of the jerky she brought he noticed that she was in a more cheery mood than usual. "So what are you so happy about?" His eyes widened when he thought it was another crazy scheme of hers and he glared at her. "Whatever it is I'm not doing it."
"Relax, I'm not doing anything to you today." She sat down in front of him, that big smile still on her face. "I just went through a very succesful day of dragon training."
Zuko dropped the jerky he was holding and looked at her in surprise. "Wait I thought you didn't want to kill dragons!"
"I don't."
"Then what...?"
Katara snagged a jerky from the bag and took a bite. "Thanks to that little fact about the eel I was able to get that Tongue Lasher back into its pen without hurting it."
Zuko eyes widened when she said this. Why did I tell her about the eel? She's still in dragon training! She could use this to hurt the others!
Not noticing is reaction; Katara tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully. "I just need to know other weaknesses..." She looked at Zuko expectantly.
He gave her a deadpanned look. "So...you want me to tell you a dragon's weaknesses?"
"Please?"
"Okay here's one...Piss off." He got to his feet and stalked off, leaving the bag of food with her. He wasn't feeling so hungry anymore.
"Oh come on Zuko!" Katara followed him, keeping her distance in case he lashed out on her. "The information you give me can really help a lot! And I'm not talking about myself, this will help the dragons!"
Zuko suddenly stopped, as did Katara. "Help the dragons?" He muttered. No one can help us...
"Don't you understand? In training the recruits hurt the dragons. I want to stop that." He turned around and glared. "If you really want to help, then why don't you just set them free?"
She lowered her head, feeling guilty. "I would but I don't want to get caught. How would I be able to explain to my dad all this? He won't believe me if I tell him about you."
"And how would you explain you knowing our weaknesses? Then what's to stop others from using them against the other dragons?"
"I didn't make it so obvious with that eel today," She assured him, "And I won't be with the other weaknesses. No one will even know. The guys were totally shocked that I was able to get that Tongue Lasher in its cage."
He crossed his arms, still glaring. "I still don't trust you completely."
She crossed her arms too and raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, then I guess I'll just stand by and let the boys hurt the dragons from now on. Besides, why don't you trust me? I've given you food, healed you, I'm helping you get your flight back, and I've visited you every single day."
He turned away from her and paced, thinking this over. She's right...if I don't tell her ways to take down a dragon without hurting them or killing them then the other recruits will hurt them...But what if she uses these weaknesses on me? Then again I can just not tell her that it won't work on me while I'm human... He sighed and marched up to Katara and grabbed her wrist in a vice like grip. She tensed up and this. "You betray me...and you'll be the next meal...GOT IT!"
"Got it." She pulled her wrist out of Zuko's grip and rubbed it. "You know, I think you're more likely to become the death of me."
"At least I'd be trying." Ignoring the glare she was giving him he asked, "So...you want to take a dragon down without hurting it?" She nodded. "We have certain spots that if you touch it right we'll immediately fall asleep."
"Really? Where is this spot?"
"Depends on the dragon, but all are around our faces." He air drew a circle around his face and head area.
"Huh..." She went over to him and gently touched his neck and the side of his head. When he didn't fall asleep she looked at him annoyed.
Damn it now I HAVE to tell her... "Okay, fine, it doesn't work unless I'm a dragon." He pushed her hands away. "Stop that."
"Then could you change into a dragon so that I can try it out?"
He let out a fake laugh. "Ha ha ha ha no."
"Fine. What are the other weaknesses?"
When Zuko didn't say anything Katara was worried that he was done telling her weaknesses or that he had changed his mind. Before she could ask he muttered, "we like firelillys..."
Katara stared at him, surprised. It was impossible to believe, a fierce man eating dragon likes firelillies? "Seriously?..."
"Seriously. They have a smooth, calming effect and," A goofy smile formed on his face. "Just make us feel sooo relaxed..."
She laughed at the smile on his face, she couldn't help it. It was a nice change from the scowl he always had on his face. Zuko dropped the smile and looked at her with his eyebrow raised.
"What?"
She cleared her throat, trying to stop laughing. "Nothing. So what other weaknesses do dragons have?"
"Well If you find some childish ones they're attracted to shiny objects or light. I don't get it personally."
"I think that's kinda cute."
"Well that's enough. I think that should help you plenty."
"Yeah, it did." She grabbed her notebook and quickly wrote down what Zuko told her so she wouldn't forget. "Thanks Zuko. I really appreciate it."
The Dragon watched her scribble in her book. He looked down almost sheepishly and kicked a loose stone. Spirits know that he didn't like asking the human for anything, but he's wanted to get off the ground all day. He looked up and asked her.
"You want to go flying again? It feels pretty good to get off the ground." He then glared at her, annoyed. "But I don't want it to hurt getting back on the ground this time."
Katara rolled her eyes. "How about actually landing on the ground before you complain Zuko?" She went to his cave to grab the saddle and tail fin.
"I'm not the one who screwed up." He muttered before turning into a dragon.
She put the saddle on his back and he stood up so she could strap it. "Lay on me again and I'm giving you eel for breakfast." She laid underneath him and buckled the saddle. As she was getting back up she looked at his neck. Couldn't hurt to test it if he was telling the truth... She reached out to touch his neck and face but he snapped at her, almost biting her fingers off. Taking the hint, she pulled away and went to his tail to strap the fake fin on. He kept it still as she did this. She got onto the saddle and held on tight. "Alright, let's do this."
Zuko spread his wings and lunged into the air. Holding onto the saddle as tight as she could, she looked over her shoulder at the fake fin to make sure it matched the real one. I should really make a cheat sheet...
Zukofan: Can't wait for you guys to see Katara using this knowledge on the dragons! ^_^
ZStar: And I can't wait until Katara and Zuko are better at flying
Zukofan: yeah and wait till you see a certain dragon smell a certain flower ^_^
ZStar: Oh man they are going to love that!
Zukofan: Oh yeah! ^_^ And they'll love the epic flying
ZStar: Yep and hopefully they don't have have to use lakes as the brakes… Holy crap that rhymed ^_^
Zukofan: YAAAAAY ^_^
ZStar: Read and review people!
Zukofan: DO IT!
Achmed: Or I KILL you!
ZStar: Holy crap what did you come from?
Achmed: From Jeff Dunham' suitcase you ass-*bleep*!
Zukofan: OMG I"M A FAN OF YOUR WORK! *grabs Achmed and hugs him*
Achmed: You bitch get off me or I kill you… Unless… You one of my virgins?
Zukofan: Nope! :P
Achmed: What!? You a virgin for another suicide bomber? Is he better looking than me?!
ZStar: Dude my butt looks better than you
Achmed: Then why don't you come and show me so I can shove some dynamite up there!
Zukofan: And I prefer someone who isn't so...boney...and pale...and actually has skin...
Achmed: Screw you bitch, You should've seen me when I did have skin I was soooooooooo sexy. In fact here's my theme song: I am too sexy for this bomb, too sexy for this bomb.
Zukofan: Not as sexy as Zuko ^_^
ZStar: ... Okay this is the most random thing in the world… Review if this made you laugh!
Zukofan: :P