The Wolf - I am sorry that I haven't written anything in a long time and I am also sorry that this chapter is a little short. I have been doing a lot of work, exams, and trying to make sure that I don't forget anything else. I am going to be trying to write more and finish this story quickly. I am hope that you enjoy the chapter and I am going to try and post the next chapter soon. Please enjoy and leave comments!
Once inside of the forest Zuko had no idea where he was going. The part of him driven by honor wanted him to go back and be a man of his word. The bitter angst driven part of him only cared about leaving that awful castle and return to his Uncle. Going home would have been easy except for three "little" problems. The first was that the forest seemed to be moving and changing, making Shingi and him wander in endless circles. The second was the blizzard starting to come down and even his inner fire couldn't break through it. Find Shingi was no longer listening to what he said because the armadillo wolves were chasing them. Zuko knew his inner fire wouldn't be able to keep him from freezing and the wolves from attacking them.
"Shingi calm down," Zuko yelled over the roar of the wind. He was panting at this point and knew if something didn't change soon, there would be no tomorrow. Zuko tried to hold on for dear life as Shingi bucked, but felt the bitter kiss of the snow. Getting up Zuko realized that they were completely surrounded with no hope of escape. He kept moving around knocking any wolf that jumped out at him with a quick flame, but they were getting bolder. The attacks seemed to be strategic to wear him down, none of the larger wolves would come forward only the smaller weaker ones. Zuko was only his last leg by the time he saw the largest of the wolves step forward. There was a wicked sort of smile on its face and Zuko knew that this was what the wolf had been waiting for.
The wolf readied to attack and Zuko knew that if it landed its hit that it was going to be a painful. He watched in horror as it jumped straight for Shingi's throat and right before it could sink his teeth into his neck a shard of ice slammed into its side knocking it out of the air. Zuko's eyes flashed to where to shard had come from to see the Beast had come to help him. He could see her water bend and attack the armadillo wolves to draw their attention away from him. Zuko was shocked at all of the things that he expected it was not for the monster that had held him captive would be the one to protect him. Zuko watched as she fought bravely to defend him but could see that she wouldn't hold out for long. It was then that he decided to jump in and fight with the little strength that he had left.
It didn't take long for the armadillo wolves to limp away and return to where ever they had come from. "Thank you," Zuko said turning to the Beast. He noticed that she seemed to be swaying on her feet and fell before a word could even leave her mouth. 'I can escape! No one could blame him for leaving her there,' he turned back to Shingi but stopped before he got on. It wasn't right to leave her there and he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Turning to the Beast he gentle picked her up and held on to her as he rode Shingi back to the castle.
"Someone help! The Painted Lady is hurt and needs help!" Zuko yelled as he carried her to a side room. There he put her into an armchair and pushed it closer to a fireplace. He lit the fireplace quickly took a look over her to see if there were any wounds that he needed to take care of immediately. He was grateful to see that there was no massive wounds and only light scratches over her arms. Zuko still had no idea why she had saved him but he had to admit that it changed things between him.