The touch of his skin to the moist surface of the beach made Sokka wake from his daze, realising that he had finally made landfall; lifting his head he looked upon a long stretch of sand that went on for as far as his eyes could see, with trees backing behind it, fading into a dark green haze. Sokka rolled onto his back, relieved he hadn't ended up drowned at the bottom of Eastern Sea, but didn't like his outcome any more this way; he wasn't being nursed back to health by his fellow warriors, but alone, dirty and hungry on some Earth Kingdom beach. He could only hope that he was near some civilisation that wasn't full of Fire Nation soldiers so he could at least try and get himself out of this shit-show of a situation. Sokka saw more debris to his side, noticing the lost helmet of a firebending guard; he thought to himself that he was lucky he didn't wash up next to a dead firebender, never less a live one.
Sokka pulled himself up and started crawling up the beach away from the wet sand to the dry and flowing sand dunes of the beach; he immediately realised that his remaining armour was of little use, and discarded his chestguard, armguards and shinguard, placing them beside him in the sand. Looking in his belt he had little of use for this situation, except for a few pieces of seal jerky, and they were all soggy from the swimming he had to endure to reach this beach. He pulled his boomerang out from it's holster on his back and smiled at his reflection in it, happy that he at least had his trusty boomerang for this journey; looking back to the beach he noticed that his spear was lying down a few metres from where he washed up, next to the metal crate he had been floating on.
"At least I might be able to kill something to eat; that's gotta count for something!" he proclaimed to himself.
Sokka stood up and decided it would be best to at least try and find some food, or fresh water, as it was still morning and he had a full day of looking for some civilisation that he could take refuge in.
He realised after the adrenaline of the heat of battle and the fear of drowning, his entire body was pretty sore from the beating he had gotten from that firebending woman he faced on the ship; he winced as he tried to move his jaw again, amazed that he had even been able to speak at this point. Sokka walked a short distance across the sand to reach the tree-line, which fell into a seemingly endless forest, sparse enough for him to be able to navigate but not dense enough to determine it's massive size from his view.
"Well shit. At least I have a sense of direction, got that one thing going for me at the moment." Sokka bluntly commented, making himself chuckle at his own poorly timed humour.
Sokka looked up at the sky to get his bearings, noticing that it was only early morning at the sun was behind him, going out toward the water, which allowed him to pin down where he had washed up within the Bay itself. If the sun was eastward, then he obviously had washed up on the west coast of the Bay, meaning he was somewhere between Ba Sing Se and the south coast of the Earth Kingdom, which would certainly have a different foliage to this forest; it was humid and full of ferns and bushes, clearly hotter than most places he had visited on his journey to the Earth Kingdom. Sokka for one didn't enjoy the hot weather too much, but could tolerate it none the less, his clothing that he wore under his armour being light and not overbearing in such climate.
Sokka returned to the beach and grabbed his shinguards and armguards, putting them on and hoping that anything that tried to kill him out in the forest wouldn't be smart enough to go for his chest. He left his chestguard in the sand, hoping maybe to somehow get it back, but it he thought of it being a burden outside of battle. He turned back toward the forest and slowly made his way into the dense foliage, scanning the ground for any tracks, unable to discern anything that he could describe as human footprints, which was both a blessing and a curse; no shipwreck survivors seemed to be around, but not any natives either. The local people would likely take better to a Water Tribesman like himself calling for refuge over some elite firebending soldiers who'd try and raid their village if given the chance. On the ground he could see the small footprints of what seemed to be rodent-like animals, something Sokka thought he could easily catch and eat for his breakfast, if given the chance to find one prancing in the forest.
Trained for ice and snow, hunting dangerous animals on the ice and docile fish in the water, Sokka wasn't adapted to hunt such creatures with ease, but with experience and skill came adaptability, and he counted on that to at least try and find food. Sokka held the spear as a temporary walking stick, as his legs and feet still hurt from the fighting and swimming that he had to endure last night, and knew he had to quickly manoeuvre it if he wanted any hope of catching some food.
Sokka soon came across a grassy clearing in the forest, bordered by a large cliff-face that seemed to block off any westward travel. He looked upon the clearing and noticed there was a few puddles of rainwater; it seemed moderately safe to drink, so he decided to go with it and take a sip with his hands. The water refreshed him and washed the dried salt and sand from his face, making him feel somewhat cleaner.
Immediately realising that he would need clean water to ensure he didn't get sick while by himself, he took it upon himself to walk back to the beach, trudging along with his spear as a walking stick again; he made sure to follow his own footprints and check for any new animal ones. Although it took him longer to get back there, he was where he needed to be; Sokka grabbed the metal chest he had floated on to the beach and dragged it back through the forest by rope, slightly to large to carry with ease. Now he had an idea for getting fresh water, but it would take a bit of work, and with luck he might find food along the way.
The day was young, but the Princess wasn't any closer to getting home; sitting on the beach, solemnly considering her options for survival; she knew that Earth Kingdom villages remained around this region that she had been shipwrecked in, but was unsure where they were located. Knowing certainly that Ba Sing Se was to the north, that was the direction she ought to head if she ever hope to get back home alive; she knew earthbending rebels, or worse could be in store for her if she simply showed up in a Earth Kingdom village at random, especially not without her guards, who she was certain were having a mental breakdown, possibly believing the Princess had died on their watch. She wouldn't blame her own men for the outcome of the battle though, that was the doings of the Water Tribe savages she most valiantly tried to deal with; their young leader, who she remembered his name to be Sokka, had been a thorn in her side, purposefully distracting her with a duel to stop her from escaping with her men. Who at that time probably should have tackled the bastard or something; she had fallen into his trap, and decided it should be best to avoid tact savages like him again.
Azula had come to the conclusion that she had failed at her own game of manipulation and tact, and dearly paid the price for it; so as such she would now have to wander through Earth Kingdom wilderness with little hope of rescue, she decided it would be a better idea to find something to eat and get back to some semblance of civilisation. Her armour had already been shed when she fell overboard, and was forced to swim back to the surface, lest she drown at sea; she had been trying her hardest to get into position to fire at the enemy ships, to at least get some even outcomes for the battle, but being flung off when the entire ship decided to careen sideways; she didn't even get a chance to burn them with her fire blasts dissipating in the rain. So now she remained with little physical defense from wild animals or whatever else gloomy lived in the forest she was about to enter.
As she stood up she felt a sharp pain in her right ankle, which she had struck into the deck hard after the ship went under; the pain was quite severe and she already knew this would slow her down for the meantime. Azula paced herself slowly into the forest, noticing that there was little to no visibility a hundred metres in front of her; she considered climbing a tree to get a better view of the area, but she feared that with her ankle as it was she could just as easily fall off and get herself hurt even further.
"Why did it have to be the ankle of all things?" she asked out, jokingly even toward whatever spirits there might be. She knew spirits were usually associated with forests like this, and though maybe it could actually respond; perhaps give her some directions to the closest village. The thought of it made her chuckle; she would survive the forest with her pure strength and wits, as she always did.
After a few minutes she came across a small stream, which seemed to flow quickly enough for her to find it drinkable; the Princess grabbed a mouthful with her hand and gulped it down, fearing the taste; although it tasted quite disgusting to her, it interested her more than having to drink sea-water again. Along the stream she saw the tracks of animals and thought if she could try and hunt them. She filled her hand with a ring of fire, thinking that she could perhaps carefully cook the animals alive and not burn them to a crisp; her fire was powerful and though she had learned to moderate it, she had no skill in cooking, never mind doing so with firebending.
Azula noticed a slight tinge of smoke in the air, attuned to the smell of fire from all her bending training, glad that she hadn't noticed the smell of burning human flesh, which she had, disgustingly enough, a fine nose for at this point. It smelt like a wood fire, perhaps a fireplace or campsite. Maybe someone had survived the shipwreck, or it was some Earth Kingdom travellers in the forest; she could only hope it was one of her guards or the likes, someone who she could simply order around; Azula joked at her own thought pattern, immediately thinking of the pampering a possible encounter could give her. The Princess followed the stream towards the smell of smoke, eventually diverting back into the forest toward it; she pushed leaves and branches out of the way in an attempt to try and get a better look at the upcoming fire, but couldn't see much but the smoke stack and what seemed to be a grassy clearing.
Azula sneaked up behind a large boulder in the clearing, still unable to see whoever was making the fire; she could distinctively hear the sound of boiling water from where she could see the smoke; she had a true traveller in her midsts, someone who was knowledgeable in surviving, perhaps she could get them to help her. Or she could hold them to ransom for their water. Which would still get her what she wanted, and as such she decided on intimidation over people-pleasing, which she certainly wasn't in the mood for; standing up from her hiding position she moved into a firebending stance and shouted at the figure who had their back turned from her.
"Hands up or you're going to get burnt to a crisp! I'll be needing that water." she demanded, with as much gusto as she could muster given her circumstances; then she heard a voice- his damned voice.
"So you do want a rematch after all?"
Sokka turned around at looked at the woman he fought last night. She looked worse for wear and if it came down to it he could probably run away from her if she really did try to burn him to a crisp; but Sokka was tired, and preferred a diplomatic route if anything to get him out of his constant feuding with the powerful firebender.
"Okay, maybe not a rematch, how about a friendly argument instead?" he asked her.
Although his voice might have been in a joking tone, he was certainly preferring an argument over a battle with her again; last time they properly fought he got knocked out cold along with the rest of his squad.
"Argue? Pfft- you'll lose either way!" she proclaimed, shooting a fireball directly at his head, which Sokka dodged with relative ease.
"C'mon, I need my water more than I need to fight you!" he argued, trying to see reason with the already aggravated Princess.
"Not going to happen! That water's mine now savage!" she shouted, running towards his metal chest, which at this point was filled with the boiling water Sokka needed dearly; she made it a few steps before her foot twisted almost unnaturally and she fell straight on her face, falling into a muddy puddle; before she even had a chance to complain verbally he could see her struggling to keep her rage and frustration in.
"Argh! I'm going to make you pay for that!" she screamed, shooting a wave of fire at Sokka, who stood now some distance away, learning his lesson from the corridor. He was able to duck from the fire, but in the process fell in the mud himself.
"Well that's just grand, now we're both covered in mud; is that what you wanted?" Sokka complained, pointing to her clothes, which were formerly red, but now with a mix of brown and orange splattered across.
"I will never surrender to the likes of you!" she proclaimed near dramatically.
"C'mon I wasn't even asking for a truce, I was just asking if you wouldn't kindly steal my water." he asked her, trying to make a smile that didn't seem sarcastic or mocking.
"Urgh... I'll get you somehow." she told him, pulling herself out of the mud, before pointing her fist at him as if to firebend a blast.
"Hey put that down; arguments involve words not fists." he demanded of her, throwing down his own weapons in an attempt to appease her.
She lowered her fist slightly, staring the warrior down with mixed feelings; Azula didn't even consider that she could trust the likes of him, seeing that he was trying to probably capture her back in the corridor of the ship, and he blatantly tricked her into not escaping when they fought a second time.
"How about you stop being a devious bastard and spill the truth, before I beat it out of you?" she demanded.
Sokka looked at her confusedly, unsure what she meant by the 'truth'.
"The truth of what exactly? Why I'm boiling water? To survive and not get dehydrated, that is." he explained simply, hoping that she wasn't being any more stringent about her idea of 'the truth'.
"That's now. Back last night- the ship; why did you attack my vessel?" she demanded once more, somewhat more specifically to Sokka's liking. He jested at her.
"Don't you mean daddy's ship?" which further frustrated Azula.
"I'll have you know that was my personal transport and it was extremely expensive; you're lucky I don't need any kind of insurance."
"Wait... So someone else will get you a new ship?" he asked, somewhat confused by her explanations.
"Yes, the Fire Lord himself wouldn't want his own daughter going around the world on her own two feet." she jested at him, as if to flaunt her position of power;
Sokka simply reeled back and fell to the ground in shock.
"So you're telling me you're the Princess of the Fire Nation?!" he asked her, his voice cracking.
"Ugh... You peasants are blind aren't you; the royal ornamental headpiece, the blue fire? Don't people know who I am?" she asked him, somewhat offended that he didn't even know who she was.
"I'd heard of a Fire Nation Princess, but I had no idea you were her and we were attacking you." he explained, confusing Azula somewhat.
"So you're telling me that you had no idea that the person you had been trying to take captive and destroy the ship of was the Fire Nation Princess? I thought you were leading that attack?" she questioned.
"U-uh... Nope lady, that ain't me; I'm just a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe doing his job." he bluntly responded, making her chuckle.
"You humour me with you lack of knowledge; are all warriors as dim witted as you?" she asked him, her implication of his idiocy making the warrior blush.
"Hey! I'm not stupid; I was one of the people planning the attack that successfully sunk your ship, even if that wasn't the real intent in the first place."
"And what did you plan to do? Capture me and hold me for ransom, without even knowing who I was to begin with?" she questioned, "You're pretty dumb if that's the case." making Sokka further frustrated with her breaking down of his planning and strategies he had worked so hard to make.
"Well 'Princess' I don't think I'll even consider sharing my water if you're going to cut down my self-image." he responded, making her laugh at him.
"I'm still taking that water, I just want to shove it down your throat you're a worthless strategist before so." she added, mocking and intimidating him at the same time.
"You're the one tripping in mud; I think I can walk away and I won't expect you to be following quickly." he stated, smirking at her in view of his apparent 'victory'.
"I doubt you can walk away if you're on fire!" she shouted, throwing a volley of flames at him.
Sokka knew well enough he'd have to fall down, so he skid forward and pulled himself to the metal chest, ready to grab it and run away.
"Isn't that a little too hot to walk away with?" she commented, smirking at him despite still being immobile in the mud; Sokka realised instantly his water was still boiling, and he'd have little luck running away with a very hot metal box.
Sokka considered his options, he could run away and lower the chance of getting his face burnt off, or he could stay and wait for the water to cool down, and have a chance of getting water or getting his face burnt off. He decided that the water was far too precious for a petty feud with a woman who he practically should have considered his worst possible enemy.
"Fine then woman; I'll try and reason with you not to burn my face off." he responded, sour in defeat.
"See... Now you can do my bidding until I see that you have fulfilled the debt, and you'll be safe from my devious plans to burn you alive." she declared, looking at him with the same devious smirk as before, trying her hardest to achieve dominance in their battle of words.
"Yeah... Okay, I'm not doing that. I'm trying to get out of this forest alive and not your personal servant; 'savages' don't like control, let me tell you that one right away." Sokka proclaimed, standing back up above her, although his height gave him no power of intimidation over the confident Princess.
"Trust me, by the end of all this you'll begging to serve me; I seek to inspire action, via fear, gratification, whatever means your fancy." she commented, snarkily smirking at Sokka, making him blush in frustration.
"I'm not helping the ash-makers, and certainly not helping you, unless you've got some plan or idea to get me out of this forest." he proclaimed, before turning his head away and crossing his arms.
"How about you use your proclaimed ingenuity and tact to plan a way out and I might help you get food from time to time." she asked, not sounding sincere or caring in any sense.
"And yeah, by getting food, do you mean burning down the forest? That's the kind of shit the Fire Nation pulls all the time." he scoffed, not willing to look at her, not giving his enemy the power to even pull a face at him.
"I can hunt the animals with precision, something it seems you lack, if anything comes from my experience with your spear-throwing." she commented, making Sokka turn his head and scowl in anger.
"I am an experienced and trained hunter! I can find food with ease! I practically fed my village for three whole years; I'm not taking hunting advice from you."
She laughed at him, "There's a difference between finding an animal and killing it."
He turned his head back away from her and continued to scowl. He didn't trust the woman not one bit, he didn't even know her name; all he knew is that she was certainly intimidating, a smart-ass and one hell of a bender, who also happened to be Princess of the Fire Nation. Even if she kept calling him stupid, she wouldn't be here if it wasn't for his ploys; it made him realise that she was probably just fronting him with all that intimidation, trying to make him to her bidding by making him feel like he didn't have a choice. After standing there for a few minutes silently, he turned his head back and replied.
"I have a choice; I don't want to trust you, but if I give you some water, can you at least not kill me right now?" he asked, making her chuckle at him.
"I'm not one for murder honestly, but I am dehydrated and you have the only clean water I have seen today, so I guess I'm okay to share, even if it's with a savage like you." Sokka laughed and smiled at her somewhat genuinely.
"Well that's a start; I feel like this is the start of a productive relationship." he stated, pulling out his hand to give her a handshake.
The Princess reached out and grabbed his hand, resisting the irritation to burn it and get away with his water.
"My name's Azula by the way, I'm assuming you're Sokka." she curtly stated, as if to be polite, but shocking Sokka with her knowledge.
"Wait- how do you even know my name? I didn't say it." he stood back, somewhat confused.
"Your friends cried out your name when I gave you a beating last night, I assumed that they were talking about you and not the oaf that I knocked out in two seconds flat." she replied, smirking at him again.
"Huh... I don't know whether to take you calling him an oaf as a compliment on my fighting skills or an insult against my people." he commented, making her laugh at him.
"You'll just have to figure that one out on your own." she chuckled, looking down to the metal chest of water, "I think the water is going to be cool enough to drink now."
"Let me test that..." he interrupted, dipping his finger into the water before quickly responding, "Yep, it's fine."
"You just placed your finger, which has been in the mud and spirits knows where else, in your just purified drinking water." she stated in shock, unable to grasp his lack of cleanliness.
"Not just for drinking, but cleaning too!" he commented, pointing his finger up as if specifying the factuality of his statement.
"Yes, and I would love to to be dehydrated or ill in a days time because you want to clean your hair with that water." she sarcastically commented, pulling the water towards herself with her hands. "I'll take responsibility for the water if you're going to act like a foolish child with it!"
"Hey come on! I'll make more if needed." he declared, attempting to persuade her of the cleaning use of the purified water.
"No, you can clean yourself in a river; that's the first rule of this deal now, no use of the water for anything but sustenance." Sokka looked at her with a face of contempt.
"Are you serious? You're making rules when we're trying to survive in the middle of nowhere; is this what you're like with everything?" She laughed at him and grinned deviously.
"Uh why yes. That is exactly how I am, and this case will be no different from any other."
"Well I'm going to find something to eat, I'm assuming you'll tag along, seeing how 'precise' your firebending is." he mocked, making her look at him with frustration.
"I will show the animals my fire, unless you'd like it; your choice savage." Sokka looked at her with contempt before giving up on frustrating himself, stopping his mouth from blabbering further.
The two walked away from the grassy opening and back into the forest, Sokka leading silently, as he liked to when hunting; studying the tracks he noticed that a hoofed animal had come through, stepping where he had dragged the metal chest through earlier.
"Aha! These are fresh." he proclaimed quietly, trying to make sure Azula wouldn't decide to start mocking him again.
Sokka signalled Azula to be quiet, before he started to follow the trail of hooves; crouching in the bushes, he noticed the animal had left droppings, fresh like the recent hoof marks.
"We have to be getting close, if we're lucky it's going to be sleeping." he chuckled to himself.
Continuing to follow the tracks, the two ended up at a small stream, the same that Azula had drunk from earlier; Sokka glanced down the creek and saw a hog sipping from the stream. Azula quickly stepped in front of him, holding out a dagger formed of fire, she smirked at him and made him lower his spear with her other hand.
"Savage. I'll handle this." she mocked, trying to make him sound more incompetent that he actually was, and Sokka cringed at the feeling of being emasculated at hunting.
"Come on! You've never done this before." he argued, making her hush him.
"Shut it, this is just like chasing weak non-benders like yourself; except animals are less dull than you." he jested, before moving toward the hog.
Sokka grumbled, unable to make a response before she slithered away to try and kill the animal; Azula made sure she was hidden from view before aiming a precise shot of fire at the animal's head, sure that she wasn't planning to eat that, even if it was cooked. The precise blast jabbed the hog in the head and made it squeal as it's face burned. The hog caught sight of Azula and careened away from her, rushing through the stream to calm it's burns before going toward the forest again. Sokka stood up behind her and grumbled.
"Now look what you did! It's just going to run away."
Sokka jumped up and ran toward where he last saw the hog and javelined his spear into the forest, hoping to get a lucky hit this time; but he heard simply a thump and no squeal, denying him the food he most certainly needed. Sprinting across the stream he followed what he presumed was the grunting sounds of the hog, following it into the forest.
"Where are you, you little runt." he called out.
Then he heard another squeal, turning around and going toward it. He noticed he had lost Azula, and hoped she just stayed where she was instead of trying to find the hog as well. He reached a ledge, where it seemed the hog had fallen down, where he could notice blood on the ground. Sokka jumped down the ledge and then heard it's cries again. Sokka pulled out the bone dagger, hoping to catch it by surprise, when he realised upon seeing the hog that it had broken it's forelegs and was barely able to get away.
"Well at least you can't get away from me now."
He stood over it, and decided to be quick with it; unlike fish and other 'dumb' animals, he felt a bit guilty killing the small beast, but he had to do it anyway. He had learnt well enough from his father than the plants in these lands could very well be poisonous, so this really was the best option. Looking at it's body he noticed burn marks, meaning Azula's fire attack had actually worked but only enough to cause superficial wounds on the creatures head. Sokka stabbed the animal in it's chest before tying a rope around it's hind-legs and throwing the body over his back. Disgusted as he was, the thought of all the tasty meat he would get from the animal made him feel better than he rather would.
Sokka made his way up the ledge and back towards the stream, which he could easily direct himself to with the sounds of water. When he arrived he immediately noticed that Azula was simply sitting waiting for him to return with the animal.
"Ah I see my progress into making you my personal servant has progressed: now you retrieve my food for me." she jested, as if she had done all the work in hunting it down.
"Excuse me, the hog was still alive last time you saw it; I was the one who had to chase after it. What about you?" he questioned, making Azula pull a frown.
"It's not my fault my ankle is not working how it should; I can barely walk as it is." she defended herself, pointing to her uncovered foot, which was clearly red and swollen from the walking she had already done.
"Okay maybe you shouldn't claim your hunting prowess when you're nearly incapable of walking." he argued, trying to point out that he had done most of the work at this point.
"Fine; you'll have to carry me." she demanded, smirking at him again.
"As much as I'd like to, that's a definite no from me; I'm carrying our food, remember?" he remarked, his sarcasm clearly frustrating her.
"Excuse me? Are you just going to make me walk back to your makeshift campsite then?" she questioned, trying to make him feel guilty for his inaction.
"That's right Princess; it's not happening, just follow me and get back alive. I don't want to some how get blamed for your death." he remarked, before turning into the forest back the way they had came.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?!" she shouted out at him, Sokka making no response other than to wave his hand in dismissal.
Returning to his campfire, Sokka decided to prepare the meat while Azula hopped back to camp. He cut the hog open and removed most of its organs before cutting off the parts that he found to be most useful, such as the ribs, legs and back meat; the process of butchering was a little less disgusting for Sokka than actually having to kill the poor animal itself. By the time he had laid the meat over the fire, Azula had finally made her way back to the clearing, sweating and frustrated by Sokka's nonchalant dismissal of her injuries.
"I was about to set you on fire for leaving me back there, but then I smelt the meat; you can cook?" she asked him, making Sokka chuckle.
"Not really, I'm just making sure I don't get food poisoning, which is worse than any burnt meat for me."
"Oh so you're saying you're fine with eating burnt meat when you specifically argued against firebending under the account that I'd burn the flesh of the animal- hypocrite!" she declared, making Sokka squirm at realising his flawed argument.
"Okay whatever, you win that one." Sokka yielded, making Azula smirk at him again in victory.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Azula commented.
"It actually smells pretty good; although I'm unsure if that's just the desperation and starvation making me lose all sense."
"Can you go a minute without making fun of me?!" Sokka shouted, falling on his back, trying to ignore her constant remarks about his incompetency.
"Oh but it's so fun; you're reacting just like my brother would, and that makes it even better." she laughed.
Sokka decided to ignore her for the moment, so he pulled the well-done meat from the fire, and took a quick bite from it, relishing in the flavour and texture of his favourite kind of food. Azula tried the same, but squirmed at her first bite, still doubting it could be any good; her grimacing disappeared as she took another bite, and turned to Sokka.
"I'm no savage, but I will, while under duress, eat your savage food." making Sokka laugh at her and offer her more meat.
"C'mon you don't have to constantly make fun of me; just say that you like it." he asked her, making her turn her face away and raise her chin in contempt.
"I will not give you gratification until you grovel, peasant."
"Fine; I hope this sharing of a meal will decrease your chances of trying to set me on fire." he remarked, making Azula laugh at him again.
The two of them continued to eat the meat Sokka had prepared, and soon enough it was gone bar a few scraps, leaving Sokka filled and glad that he hadn't starved in this damned forest. He turned away from the campfire and decided to walk back to the beach, maybe look for anything that had washed ashore with them; even just to get a short break from the Princess, who was simply ecstatic having no reason to continue walking around, although she wouldn't say so herself. He thought to himself that he was going crazy actually communicating with and helping the Princess, who was practically his biggest enemy bar the Fire Lord himself; she was the daughter of who most thought to be the most evil person that walked the Earth, yet he was able to actually find a situation where he wasn't going to try and fight her for some idea of honour or righteous justice against her nation. Whatever the case, he was at least glad he was actually alive and she wasn't going to just kill him on the spot, which he feared she could do at any moment. Did he trust her? No, he probably never could; but could he bargain with her to save his own arse? Hopefully.