at the topic of pairings, i've yet to sort out the others, but i've decided that Zuko and Kinri will have more of a platonic love than a romantic one.

mostly because it wouldn't make much sense for Zuko to have romantic feelings for a dragon, especially one he raised from a hatchling

and it also has a little to do with how old she was when she-

*cough*...well that was almost a spoiler x3

.

enjoy~ c:

Chapter Eleven:

Always causing trouble aren't you?

Kinri sat beside the ostrich-horse at the edge of camp, flicking her tail and sighing impatiently as her person and Iroh packed up their meager belongings.

She had tried to help at first, but after knocking over the old man's tea filled teapot-accidentally, catching the corner of a blanket on fire-also an accident, and getting under Zuko's feet too many times, her person firmly ordered her to wait by the ostrich-horse.

With another sigh, Kinri dejectedly drew a talon over the dirt.

"Stop sighing, it's your own fault for bothering the Riders." The ostrich-horse snorted above her, tossing its head haughtily.

She made a face at it, and grumbling something about 'fledgling lizards', it turned and began munching on the sparse patches of grass.

A small rustle of movement caught her attention and she peered curiously at a tree not too far away. Something with a large ears and a bushy reddish-gray tail was scurrying around the roots, stirring leaves in its wake.

The tantalizing smell of meat reached her rose and her stomach gave a plaintive rumble. She hadn't eaten yet, and whatever that creature was that was nibbling at the acorns among the tree roots, smelled absolutely mouthwatering.

She didn't know if she was actually supposed to eat something that wasn't given to her by her person, but the empty sensation in her stomach made up her mind rather quickly.

She glanced over at the ostrich-horse, but it was still busying itself with the grass, and another look informed her that Zuko and the old man had their backs to her.

Exhilaration coursed through her as she slunk away from the others, cat-like golden eyes locking on the animal's bushy tail. Instincts from some unknown source instructed her to be as silent as possible, avoiding twigs and clumps of leaves as she neared her prey.

Though when she was only a few tail-lengths away, its head shot up, and Kinri stiffened, watching breathlessly as its large round ears swiveled about its head before stopping in her direction.

With a tiny squeak, it bounded towards the tree trunk, but Kinri had already leaped after it, nearly colliding with the animal against the tree. They both fell, and she snapped at it with her fangs, though she missed by a hair's-breadth as it sprang away from her, shooting across the ground.

Heart battering against her ribs, she chased after it, sped along with a few quick flaps of her wings.

The animal was swift and agile, dodging her jaws and talons as it leaped across the hard earth and sprang off trees and rocks.

She was growing tired by the time her prey had scrambled up a tree and disappeared into the branches, leaving her on the ground beneath it breathing heavily with a stomach that was still very much empty.

The thought of climbing up the tree after it played through her mind, though the creature was already out of sight and she doubted she could find it again in all the leaves.

Maybe my person will give me some food…

She turned around and started walking back through the trees, but it wasn't long after padding around rocks and trees and squeezing through prickly bushes that she came to a conclusion.

She was lost.

Her stomach gave another painful growl and she whined softly, twisting her head around as she tried to find any kind of marker that pointed her towards the camp, though nothing popped out to her.

Another rustling stopped her in her tracks. Her heart leaped at the thought of potential prey filling her stomach, and she turned, expecting another bushy-tailed animal or maybe even her person coming to find her.

But she was met with a cloaked figure as it stepped out of the trees, staring down at her with yellow eyes as wide as her own. Then there was more movement as another person stepped out from the trees, taller than the first but just as surprised to see her.

By now something whispered at the back of her mind that she should hurry back to her person, that being seen by other people was dangerous.

But there was something about these two that told her she wasn't in danger. That they meant her no harm.

Then again, she hadn't experienced enough to truly understand the difference.

.

Something itched at Zuko's mind. An insistent feeling that something wasn't right, and that he should be aware of it.

Grimacing, he strapped his bag to the ostrich-horse and stared at the worn material for a moment before it struck him.

His eyes flicked to the empty space where he had made Kinri stay after the packing incident. The air escaped his lungs as he searched the clearing frantically with his gaze, but no sparkle of gold from her scales or scratch of her talons on the ground caught his attention.

Then his eyes fell on the tracks in the dirt, leading into the trees, and he was off, sprinting into the trees with his uncle calling worriedly after him.

There were smaller tracks within Kinri's larger claw tipped ones and he figured she must have been chasing something.

Leaves rustled overhead and he whipped his head up, looking for golden scales, though instead he met the beady black eyes and large ears of a mouse-squirrel. He narrowed his eyes, turning back to the tracks beneath his feet.

He pushed his way through some bushes, scowling at the spiny branches that clung to his clothes and poked at his skin. Though he stopped as his eyes fell on two figures with black cloaks that hid their faces from him as one of them reached towards something on the ground, the edge of a tattoo peeking out from their cloak.

A something that was very familiar, and sparkled like a thousand suns even under the filtered rays of light though the trees.

"Kinri!"

The two started at his yell, smoothly leaping away from the jet of fire he shot towards them. He tore himself out of the bushes, sliding into a firebending stance in front of Kinri

"Stay away from her!" He snarled ferociously, raising his arms in preparation for a fight.

The smaller one started towards him, fiery yellow eyes glinting angrily from the shadows of their hood, but the other stretched out an arm to stop them. They looked at each other, then back at Zuko, and then wordlessly retreated into the trees.

The prince watched after them in confusion, only sliding out of his stance when Kinri clawed up his pants and shirt to rest on his shoulder. He sent her a critical look, but not seeing any injuries he sighed in frustration, glancing one last time at the trees where the cloaked people disappeared into.

"How come every time we're separated you get into trouble?" He grunted, glaring at the little dragon hanging over his shoulder, but she wasn't listening to him, instead, staring back behind them.

Frowning, he stopped walking, watching her with sharp eyes.

Who were those people?

And why was she so interested in them?

.

"What should we do?"

The two cloaked figures watched the boy and the dragon from the shadows, amber and yellow eyes glittering in the dark.

"Let's go back for now." The taller of the two answered, "We need to report what we've found."

"What about the dragon?" The other asked, gaze locked onto the cat-like stare of the dragon as it left with the boy. "Shouldn't we keep an eye on it?"

There was a moment of silence as the taller one thought, turning their amber gaze to rest on the other.

"Can you handle this by yourself?"

White flashed in the shadows as the shorter one grinned.

"Of course."

The other nodded once, turning to face back the way they'd come from. "You know how to contact the others."

Yellow eyes glowed as the figure watched the back of the other as they walked silently through the trees and out of sight.

Once alone, the cloaked figure began following after the boy and the dragon, excitement and anticipation sending tremors through their voice. "I can't believe it...I'd imagined it, but...to think it was a dragon egg all along."

.

Zuko was quiet the whole way back to camp, and Kinri had her thoughts occupied as well.

Those people…

Why did they feel so...familiar?

But she couldn't have met them before. Zuko was the first person she'd come across when she hatched, and the Uncle not long after.

It didn't make sense.

Kinri shook her head and huffed, not liking all the doubtful thoughts clouding her mind. Zuko glanced at her, but didn't comment on her strange behavior.

"Was something the matter?" Iroh asked when they stepped back into camp, but instead of telling him about what happened, Zuko narrowed his eyes and started towards the ostrich-horse.

"We should go, we're close right?"

The old man nodded wordlessly, though his eyes were unconvinced as he mounted the hybrid behind her person.

"Always causing trouble aren't you?" The ostrich-horse snorted, black eyes glittering as it looked back at Kinri.

She puffed smoke in its direction, but it didn't have the chance to retort as Zuko urged it forward, and they were off, traveling faster than they had before.

.

It wasn't long before the faint sound of a voice reached their ears, and with a glance at Kinri, the little dragon crawled into his collar, disappearing into the fabric of his shirt. With how big she was getting, it was a tight fit and there was an obvious bump where she was, but there was no other place to hide her, and she would set their bags on fire if he tried to put her in one.

The trees opened up on their right and a small farm came into view, much like Lee's, but this one didn't have any pig hybrids announcing their presence.

It was still and quiet except for the heaving grunts of a young girl, no older than ten, who was trying to plow the tiny barren field in front of a worn wooden house. It was a strange sight. Strange if only because normally the men of the family did the outside work. In his brief moment of confusion, the ostrich-horse had slowed to a stop.

"Nephew?"

At his uncle's voice, the girl's head shot up, staring at them with steely eyes before wiping the sweat from her forehead and standing up straight.

"Can I help you?" Despite the hardness in her voice, her thin shoulders were shaking.

Zuko found himself at a loss for words, but fortunately his uncle stepped in for him.

"I apologize for our sudden appearance." Iroh said kindly, sending her a smile, but she didn't relax her defensive stance. "Is there a man of the house? It's unusual to see a young lady like yourself doing the dirty work."

The girl narrowed her eyes, but the door of the house opened behind her and a frail-looking woman stepped out, interrupting what she was about to say.

"My husband is away for the war, so we do what we can to get by." The woman answered instead, clutching the door frame tightly as if it was hard to keep standing.

"Mother! What are you doing?!" The girl rushed to her mother's side with wide eyes, slinging the frail woman's arm over her shoulder to help her stand. "You shouldn't be out of bed!"

Zuko watched their interaction with a curling feeling in his gut. Something about them reminded him of Song and her mother.

He glanced back at his uncle, who seemed to understand what he intended to do in that mere look as the two dismounted.

Immediately the girl stiffened, shooting daggers at them with her eyes as Iroh slung their pack over his shoulder and Zuko took the ostrich-horse's reins in his hand, stepping forward.

"Not a step closer!"

The words coming from the little girl's mouth resonated painfully in his chest, the same words from Lee's mother echoing in his mind as he stopped in his tracks, not ten feet from the two.

"We're headed to Ba Sing Se," he stated simply, looking down at the reins in his hand, "so we wont need this ostrich-horse anymore."

The girl's gaze was still wary as he looked back up at them, but the mother smiled softly at him. "What do we owe you for this kindness?"

"But Mother! They-" The girl started to complain, but a look from the frail woman halted whatever she would have said next.

"A gift is a gift, it doesn't need to be reciprocated." Iroh said wisely, walking up to the other side of the ostrich-horse and patting its neck.

The girl didn't know what to say at that, and she looked up at her mother, who nodded down at her. She slid out from her mother, making sure she could support herself before walking wearily towards Zuko and his Uncle.

Zuko handed her the reins and she watched him suspiciously for a moment before taking them in her hands and backed away towards her mother, the ostrich-horse at her side.

The prince turned then, walking back up the path with Iroh next to him, but stopped when the child's hushed voice spoke out behind them.

"...Thank you."

Zuko didn't look back, he merely nodded, a warm feeling that wasn't from Kinri's scales squeezing his chest as he starting walking again, Iroh smiling knowingly beside him as he waved back towards the two.

"That was very considerate of you, Nephew." His uncle commented when the farm disappeared behind them.

"We're almost to Ba Sing Se," Zuko scowled, "we wouldn't have needed it anyways."

Iroh hummed happily, eyes glittering with something akin to pride, but Zuko ignored him and sped up his pace, not wanting his uncle to see the light blush flushing his cheeks.

ooh, i wonder who those two cloaked people were *eyebrow waggle*

and blushing Zuko is da cutest Zuko ;3

thanks for reading~! ^-^