Chapter 12

Bending Over Backwards

Smack! Smack! Smack!

A painful thumping across my back was what brought me around. I regained consciousness to find myself lying on my side on a riverbank as someone slammed a palm against me with unnecessary force. I coughed violently and a stream of water wrenched itself from my lungs. I took a gasping breath.

"Stop, stop!" I wheezed through my tight, burning throat.

The thumping subsided at last and I rolled onto my back and turned to look over at a sopping-wet Torrin. His hair was dripping into his eyes, which were red and concerned. Catching my eye, his expression dissolved into that impossibly wide grin and he chuckled a little.

"You are a mad genius, Ira."

Rolling my eyes, I turned my head to gaze up at the cloudless sky and brought my knees up to lie comfortably on the blessed solid ground. Beside me, I heard the rustle of movement and wet clothes as Torrin got up from the ground. I opened an eye to peer at him, praying he wouldn't make me get up just yet.

He was hopping from foot to foot and shaking himself off like a wet dog. He glanced down at me. "You know, this would be a great opportunity for some fire bending to help us warm up and dry off…"

I grimaced. "Uhhhh, about that…"

He laughed and plopped back down next to me. I propped myself onto my elbows and looked at the ground in discomfort. "Oh come on," he said, "don't tell me you aren't a fire bender. I saw the war room. I showed you mine…" he said, leaning down to force my eyes to meet his and waggling his eyebrows.

Again, I rolled my eyes and pushed myself into an upright position to shove at his shoulder. He just laughed and looked at me expectantly.

"Technically, I am a fire bender," I began.

"Great! Then let's do this."

I sighed. "It's not exactly… It's just that I… So look, technically I can bend, but it's not really my strong suit so…" As I blathered on and on, Torrin's eyebrows travelled further up his face.

"Are you telling me you can fire bend, or you can't?"

I tried to keep my face composed despite the horrible shame twisting in my stomach, like I usually did in these situations at the palace. "Both?" I offered.

He just blinked at me blankly. "Well that's not very helpful."

I recoiled from the statement and struggled to my feet. I brushed off the excess water and dirt coating my pants and tunic. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. It's not like I just saved our lives from a bounty hunter or anything. I'll get right to work on improving my fire bending skills just so you won't get the sniffles—" I snapped at him bitterly.

Torrin jumped up and waved his hands in front of himself defensively. "Whoa there, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry if I touched a nerve there, I was just thinking… nevermind."

I turned my attention to squeezing the water from my hair, ignoring him.

He coughed uncomfortably. "So, um, do you think we lost the shirshu?"

I shrugged and squinted back at the river. "I doubt it, the water probably didn't wash away that much of our scent, and she can just track us along the river. We should get moving before she catches up."

He huffed. "Too bad we lost so many of our supplies. All we've got are our packs now; all the food and stuff we got at the market is long gone. And all of our scrolls and everything are soaking wet. We'll have to find somewhere to dry them out when we get far enough away."

Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief at hearing that my pack wasn't lost to the current. If my pack was intact, so was all the money I'd hidden in there. Of course, Izumi had trained me to be prepared for anything, so I always kept a few coins hidden on me just in case, alongside Father's knife. I patted my waist to reassure myself that it was still there. Thank heavens…

"Well, lets move on, I guess," Torrin said with renewed vigor. "We can dry off as we walk! Who needs fire bending, right?" He looked over at me with a light smile, hoping to make amends. I couldn't help but give him a little smile back.

. . .

"This is it. This is where I die. Torrin… please… tell my story…" I wheezed as I collapsed onto the ground.

"Ira. We've been walking for twenty minutes."

"Nononono, we've been walking for at least a few hours."

"Mmm nope, I'm pretty sure it's only been twenty minutes."

"But it's all been uphilllll..."

"For twenty minutes."

I groaned and fell forward onto my knees. I wasn't trained for rock-climbing, and clambering up the incline of this evil hill with wet clothes and hair and heavy pack felt impossible after only twenty minutes. Meanwhile, Torrin was just trucking along, helped by the subtle nudge of the earth beneath his feet (cheater) and his impossibly long legs.

Needless to say, I was struggling to keep up.

I glanced up at him and squinted against the glare of the sun. It was the first time I'd looked at him since we'd begun the uphill climb, and I was surprised to see him frowning. Instantly, I stood up.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He flashed a fake smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. "Nothing, you good to keep going?"

I put my hands on my hips and stared him down. "Torrin, something is wrong. Now spill."

He grimaced. "The bounty hunter may have clipped me with her whip…" he admitted in a nonchalant tone.

My eyebrows rose so I, I feared they may fly off of my forehead. "That's right! I forgot I saw the whip…" I rushed forward and tugged at his tunic. "Let me see." I demanded.

Torrin grabbed my hands and smirked down at me. "My, my, someone's feeling awfully forward today…" he murmured. My face burned and I looked down at my trapped hands before yanking them away and turning my back, folding my arms defensively.

"Fine, then you take off your shirt yourself. We need to make sure it's not going to get infected, and you can't see it so you have to show me."

"Excuses, excuses…" he muttered, but the sound of wet fabric told me he had obeyed. I turned back around.

His back was marred by an angry red line cutting diagonally across his skin from his right shoulder to just past his spine above his left hip. It didn't look like it was bleeding anymore, but the skin around it was slightly red. I raised my hand and held it above the injury to gage the temperature like my mother had shown me. It was radiating heat. Not a good sign.

"Uh, we should probably get you some sort of salve or something for your back," I said in a falsely light tone. "Go ahead and put your shirt back on and let's get back to a village."

He grinned. "Sure, I'll put it back on and we can get back to getting something for my back." He slipped his tunic over his head.

I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "You're impossible."

He winked. "Right back-atcha!"

I ignored him and began marching back up the hill, ignoring the burning in my thighs.

"Hey, Ira?" He called and I turned back to look at Torrin, who hadn't yet moved from his spot and was sliding a strap of his pack over his good shoulder.

I raised an eyebrow expectantly.

His grin grew wider. "Thanks for having my back."