The morning wasn't a time Sokka expected to spend doing much but sleeping, as the sun rose he clearly remained shuffling on the cold stone tiles, despite the fact that he was outside he was determined on remaining in the same position he was at the moment; it didn't take him long to realise that Azula didn't approve of his inaction during the early hours of day, as she grew more frustrated, shuffling around and glaring at him as he lay in an attempt to prolong his sleep, a hard task without any actual bedding. The darkness of the room was suddenly broken by the campfire suddenly rising up in blue flames, from embers that Sokka could barely see at the moment, making him shriek and cover his eyes in frustration.
"Time to get off your lazy arse savage!" Azula commanded, in a tone as if she was directing one of her guards.
"Really, did you have to blind me with the fire?! You could have just asked me to get up!" he shouted in anguish, covering his eyes as he turned away from the fireplace.
"Yes. Because I doubt you were going to get up anytime soon otherwise, and I'd rather not have to physically harm you to just get you off your arse."
"U-uh well thank you, Princess; I see that you're now- uh- seeing my usefulness, and have decided to not burn me to a crisp." Sokka mumbled, a smile returning to his tired face upon realising the possible good-will he had built.
"Just because you're useful doesn't mean I won't burn you to a crisp- my patience is just larger than my appetite for violence, that's all." she remarked casually.
"The world is a harsh place, it could use with some more niceness, y'know." Sokka mumbled, as he slowly dragged himself up to the fireplace, where he decided to recook the meat they had cooked yesterday, as to ensure that he wouldn't get sick from eating it.
Azula smiled upon her handy-work, knowing now that Sokka was being productive, she wouldn't fear that they'd starve to death just because he wanted a longer sleep; she knew next to nothing about cooking or food preparation and assumed that the savage, having the need to make food himself on a regular basis, would at least stop them from getting food poisoning or whatever other horrors await the unprepared cook.
Sokka realised she hadn't been doing anything herself and his face scrunched up into a frown, "Hey! You can't demand I get out bed while you sit around and do nothing."
She raised her hand and lit a small dance of flames around her fingers, making Sokka gulp in fear, "Yes savage, I need you to do the cooking. Feeling emasculated yet?"
"U-uh... I'm unsure." he murmured before turning back quickly to the fireplace, trying to ignore her comments.
"What do you mean unsure?" she questioned him.
"Well yes, I'm doing the cooking- but at least I'm actually doing something."
"Excuse me, but my foot isn't going to get much better if I walk around and do pretty much anything." she grumbled at him, her frown making him tense up again.
"Okay- okay, I'll stop complaining..." Sokka mumbled back, conceding once again to the Princess.
Sokka puttered away at the campfire, quickly re-cooking the hog meat and eating his portion, before walking over to Azula, who was sitting by the door, looking outside; he was unsure whether she was keeping watch or just trying to keep herself calm looking out the forest.
"Hey, so do you want some?" Sokka asked, making the Princess turn her head and look upon the brazened hog-meat he had offered, before sighing.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt... I presume?"
"Hey! My cooking is not that bad. Remember we're avoiding food poisoning?"
"Yes, yes." she dismissed, grabbing the meat from his hands and quickly retreating to the ground, sitting away from him again as she ate.
Noticing that Sokka remained nearby, she quipped back, "A little privacy. Go find yourself something better to do than oogle at me."
"U-uh... Yeah I'll do that" Sokka grumbled, confused by her remarks and seeking something more than an argument that degraded his self image- again.
"We need to find some more food if we're going to keep walking, so I'll go look for tracks; I could set up some traps." Sokka remarked, looking out the crooked doorway to see the abandoned village and forest beyond.
"Well the savage proves his use again. I hope your plans are actually going to get us food and not have you walk around the forest all day."
"Hey! I can hunt. You saw first hand yesterday!" he argued, making her dismiss his comments again.
"Well the traps aren't going to make themselves! Go on." she commanded, making him further frustrated.
"You've really got to learn how to ask nicely" he mumbled as he walked out of the house and down toward the stream.
"Excuse me?!" he could hear her call out, but pretended she hadn't said anything, knowing full well she wouldn't be willing to move much further than to get a drink of water with her food in the condition it was.
"Taking the easy way out. Running away!" she shouted again, although she was actually unsure if he heard her this time, and decided to retreat back to the fireplace; she had proved her argument once again: he had a profound liking to cowardice, she believed, as if anyone would simply walk away from an argument without any due end.
Azula guessed that the climate or conditions were getting to his mood; yesterday she knew he would have been more than willing to shout her down if she made him look like a fool. The Princess knew she would get the support and admiration of the savage, and if they 'enjoyed' a few more days surviving in this hell-hole perhaps he would take to her in a better light. Azula didn't necessarily want to force him to follow her- she'd rather he chose servitude than have it thrust upon him- but if they were going to survive, let alone give him an opportunity to get back to his people, she knew he would have to eventually.
Sokka slowly made his way into the forest, cutting trees with his bone dagger as he went along to try and keep a set path; unlike the beach and the grass clearing which were quite distinct, once he was out of sight of the mining village, he was unsure if he'd be able to find his way back. Looking at the ground he checked for tracks, and was unable to find anything too recent, he did however find droppings of an animal- he didn't know what it was, not having much clue to what the normal wildlife of an Earth Kingdom forest was- he just hoped there'd be something out there small and stupid enough to get snared in a trap he could design with the means available, which Sokka admitted, was not bountiful in the slightest. He was amazed that he'd been able to even hunt the hog yesterday, probably more luck than skill on his behalf, although he refused to admit that to Azula; he was a skilled all-round hunter, probably one of the best, however that was back in the icy tundra of the South, not in this nearly alien land of pure green. Sokka thought back to the rope he had for the metal crate he had used for their water supply; perhaps it could be used to make a snare trap.
He trudged further into the green-blur of trees and bushes, finally finding some droppings, though by the least kind method, stepping on them. Examining the droppings, Sokka found than the droppings were of a relatively small animal, smaller than the hog he had killed; there must be more of these animals, and they'd probably go to the nearby stream to drink, which he could still hear nearby, although it was currently out of sight. He decided that he'd set a trap near the stream, closest to the droppings, and that he would leave some berries or something else he could find in the forest and leave them for the animal to eat; personally he'd prefer just be eating the berries, but he feared they could be poisonous- perhaps this catch could prove whether or not that was the case.
Sokka made his way back along the stream, where he eventually reached the village again, distinctively standing out of the normally green forest with its stone architecture, not surprising for a settlement in the Earth Kingdom; Azula was sitting by the stream, probably waiting for him to get back, so she could frustrate him again with her constant commands and complaints about his inadequacies.
She glanced over at him, and didn't even try to smirk at him, her foot laying in the stream, probably trying cool it down, "So... Did you actually find anything?" her voice sounding actually concerned, at least from the scale of sarcasm and mockery Sokka had observed in the past two days.
"U-uh I found some droppings-" he started, but she immediately interrupted.
"And? What is edible about animal droppings?" she mocked, Sokka immediately disappointed by her mirage of concern for his ventures.
"Argh- no! I found them nearby the stream, where I think some small animals might go to drink. I think we can get another animal in a similar way to the hog, but his time I have a planned trap."
"A trap? I hope it's better than the one your people set for me, although I'm starting consider that they may have succeeded."
"What makes you say that?" he questioned her, his voice clearly showing disbelief.
"Did you get all respectful of my abilities all of a sudden, or are you gasping in horror because you thought your plan was brilliant?"
"The first one, actually." he conceded, "I thought you were the almighty-blue-fiery-Fire-Nation-Princess, not someone who could be defeated so simply by my 'savage' kind." he mocked, the eloquence of his title for her making Azula break down laughing.
"Oh yes- that is true, but I don't think the plan was to defeat me."
"Really? Then what were the Southern Water Tribe's finest warriors doing by trying to capture you?" he questioned, his sarcasm masking a genuine desire to find out what she had theorised.
"To get me right here- in the middle of nowhere." she simply stated, making Sokka chuckle.
"No I'm pretty sure we were getting paid for you, so I don't think the Chief would just as easily let you drown if it was essentially a bounty hunt."
"Aha! The savage breaks the truth; so you were getting paid! By whom?" she shouted, almost in glee that Sokka had finally cracked and given her the information she desired.
"U-uh; I seriously don't know- that's my dad's business."
"Ah what I disappointment, I should have captured your father and he and mine could have had tea over discussing his dealings." Azula joked, making Sokka laugh as well before replying.
"Yeah- your men were trying to do that exact thing, but of course, we're here and my father is spirits-know-where away from this place."
"Okay- I sidelined your entire 'plan' just to get intelligence- what are you exactly going to do to get these mysterious animals?"
"I'll need some berries or something to get them in the trap, which will hook it by a rope and leave it hanging for me to take back right here, hopefully for our dinner." he explained, the Princess nodding at his plan.
"Well I see no obvious holes in your plan... So I'd best leave you to your savage workings while I wait around for the day to pass by, and my foot to perhaps actually heal somewhat."
"Thanks." Sokka grumbled, aggravated by her dismissals of his hard-work, and her own laziness; but he felt he shouldn't press the issue.
Sokka went into their current 'residence' of sorts and took as much water as he could to drink, before heading out with the bare essentials- the rope he needed for the trap, his knife for killing the animal when he caught it, and of course his trusty boomerang for protection. He acknowledged Azula before he left, thinking of something for her to do while he was gone.
"U-uh, would you mind getting some water from the stream and boiling it, so we can have some more water." he requested, making her raise her eyebrow questioningly.
"I hope you're not going to use this water for cleaning you hair; the stream is good enough you know." she jested at him, making Sokka twitch his eyebrows in silent frustration before turning around and waving off her claims.
"Please- just do it for your own sake." he asked in desperation, hearing a sigh of approval from the Princess, who got up from the stream and started to slowly hop her way back to the house, quietly mumbling in approval, "Thank you."
Sokka walked northward this time, back toward the abandoned mine, looking around for the berries and other plants he had seen the previous day while walking through the forest. After a few minutes trudging uphill he made his way to the abandoned mine, which as expected, was silent as ever, ominously standing as a gaping hole in the otherwise bland escarpment; his instincts told him the mine was dangerous, and he heeded their advice, turning right around and heading another way, pulling out his bone knife again as to mark the trees as he had earlier. He looked on the ground and checked for more animal tracks and noticed a few sets that were running away from the stream, which Sokka presumed headed either to a food source of the animals he was hunting, or their own den, which would be just as useful in setting his trap; glad to have experience on his side, Sokka made his way through the bushes and saplings that covered the forest floor toward what he presumed was a sloping hillside. Along the hillside he saw various burrows, but not any food, and Sokka guessed this was where the animals slept; he realised that it was still early in the day and figured they might not have eaten yet, so he plotted a course back toward the stream, pacing as quickly as he could given the thick foliage.
Finally arriving at the stream a few minutes later, he checked around for anything he could use as bait, but found nothing, once again. He thought that if the animal burrowed it would be smaller and than most might look for food that is closer to the ground that most, so guessed that small shrubs could be what it ate from; Sokka grabbed some of these shrubs and cut them up with his bone knife, laying them near the stream where he sought to plant his trap. Sokka quickly set up a snare trap by tying his rope to a smaller tree's branch before making a noose to place over the bait. He then tied the rope to a stick which he stabbed in the ground in the noose, ensuring that the rope would release and tie what ever animal lay within if the stick was disturbed. Sokka, though proud of his quick trap building, realised he now had to wait out an animal to befall it, and as such crossed the stream and decided to rest himself on the branch of a larger tree, above ground so he might have a chance at napping; Azula had already ruined his sleep and he was certain whatever predators roamed about this forest would likely do so to if he was to sleep on the forest-floor.
After sitting around for a few minutes on the tree branch he decided to start quietly playing with his bone knife, knowing that it's properties in detecting sounds were pretty interesting, as well as useful; he hadn't found much use for it of late, as being near the stream would drown out any sounds that might intrigue him. He would stab it in to the tree and lay his head at the end of the knife, waiting until he heard something interesting. Soon enough he had just fallen asleep on the tree branch, unaware of his surroundings or situation anymore; he was glad to get some rest at least, the tree itself was actually more comfortable in his eyes than a cold stone floor.
Soon enough Sokka heard a loud thump and a screech, immediately waking him from his daze, raising his head to see a small animal caught in the trap. Jumping from the tree he raced to examine his catch and was surprised simply by how small it was; nothing comparable to the hog he had caught, despite that itself being a runt. Sokka was happy nonetheless that his trap had worked, and quickly quietened the animal by stabbing it. He again didn't really like killing such animals that were actually comparable in their emotion to people, he even compared the screech it had made to the screams of men he had heard in battle when injured. Suddenly out of nowhere he heard a human voice, and it wasn't Azula's; gruff and somewhat old sounding.
"What was that?! Something to eat maybe?" he heard the voice call out.
"Ergh- shut it Yang! We're just a few minutes away from the stash and hideout; once we get there we can go look for food." another voice spoke, more angry and frustrated than the last.
Sokka immediately scrambled away from his trap, ripping down the rope as quickly as he could before racing into the trees, trying to avoid being seen by who he assumed were not the kindest of folk. Soon enough, as Sokka peered back, six men appeared out of the greenery, glancing around for the animal they had heard. They were all donning what Sokka guessed was the outings of Earth Kingdom soldiers, although they were cloaked and covered for camouflage in the forest; he knew well enough the Earth Kingdom's armies were practically disbanded by this point- the Comet had taken care of that- and he knew no soldiers would have a hideout in an area with practically no Fire Nation presence- deserters, he presumed, unless they had stolen the uniforms from dead soldiers, which would probably be worse. It soon came to Sokka the seriousness of this situation; these men weren't just passing through, they were going to camp at the same village they had set up their camp at, and he presumed they wouldn't take kindly to outsiders, especially a firebender, if they were deserters from the army like he expected. What they would do to avenge their comrades- Sokka knew all too well the hate men carried towards the Fire Nation, especially when their villages had been destroyed, their families torn apart by war. Sokka decided to hook the animal over his shoulder with the noose tied to its feet still, and pulled out his trusty boomerang; he knew it would come in handy, but this was probably the worst situation it could be used for.
Azula sat by the fire, waiting for the water to boil over the flames; she had already tried to speed up the fire with her bending, but she decided it would be best to preserve her energy instead to heal. She glanced over at her foot and was relieved to see that the swelling had faded mostly, but she knew that the injury would likely have to be healed by a physician properly once they reached civilisation. The little food they could already gather wouldn't be enough to get her foot to just heal- Azula was glad that Sokka had at least figured to get this crate for their water purification, so she could be certain she wouldn't be getting ill from it- as long as he didn't try to clean his hair with it. She could hear the pattering of feet in the distance, signalling to her that Sokka would be returning in a moment.
Hearing footsteps from outside relieved Azula, knowing that Sokka would be back with some kind of food; she knew well enough already he was stubborn as a mule- having tried to defeat a firebending prodigy twice in combat, despite being clearly outmatched- and he wouldn't come back until he had hunted some food down. She was clearly proved wrong when she heard an unfamiliar voice in the distance.
"Alright boys, we're back; time to set up camp. Huang! You go check out the mine, see if anyone's been playing with the loot." a man commanded, his voices strength showing his sense of confidence.
"Somebody's 'home', it seems." she mumbled to herself, realising that somebody had been using this village as a campsite; that explained why their current abode had a prepared fireplace and was much cleaner than the rest of the houses- somebody had actually been using it- and they were back.
She crouched, moving herself against the wall, trying to use the element of surprise against the incoming intruders, although she probably should have been considered the intruder herself- what was she to care what some Earth Kingdom peasants thought they owned though- they were probably bandits or some other miscreants who were plundering for their 'loot'. The incoming footsteps became louder, and then then stopped, and she could see the shadow of a man peering into the room, Azula luckily being covered by the thick door frame.
"Someone's here guys! Just real recent-" he called out before suddenly being knocked off his feet by Sokka's club, which Azula used as effectively as could be expected; hopping over to the man she kicked a short blast of blue fire into his revealed face, making the man scream in cowardice.
The rest of bandits, as Azula saw them, prepared their weapons and called out to her, trying to intimidate "You're outnumbered kid; don't make this harder than it has to be."
"Kid? I'm far more than that!" she called out, smirking deviously as she did, although no one was there to see it.
Azula immediately stood in a basic firebending stance and sidestepped to the doorway, revealing herself for a short moment while she shot a volley of fire blasts at the intruders, quickly counting their numbers- four left that she could see- one of them had been sent to the mine, and she didn't doubt he'd be back soon.
One of the men commanded the others, "Get her boys! We could use taking this one alive!" making Azula shudder in disgust- so they weren't just thieves, they were probably rapists too.
Two of the men, who she presumed were non-benders, raced toward the buildings two out-facing window holes, and swung themselves in. The two men were both armed with swords and had a multitude of knives on them as well- she ought to take note of that; Azula held Sokka's club in one hand and charged a ball of fire in the other, poised to strike the two men. One of them was more eager to take Azula down, racing at her with his blade and ready to swipe at her- too eager that he forgot his footing, letting Azula quickly strike his feet with a short blast of fire making him trip over them and fall flat on his face, while the other one prepared to throw one of his knives at the Princess. The blade quickly flew past her, but Azula was easy to dodge- enough knife-throwing from Mai had made her practically impervious to the small projectiles; he still swung his sword at her, the blade facing inward to block a potential fire-blast, which equipped him better than his friend when Azula struck him square in the chest with a blast of fire. Azula was just ready to beat the man silly with a barrage of flames but was interrupted by a brick striking her on the left side of her ribs and flinging her across the floor- so one of them was a dirt-thrower; the leader, an earthbender, raised another brick with his bending and prepared to throw it at the Princess' head, but she was quick enough to barrel roll out of the way.
"Is that all you've got?" she smirked, quickly grabbing Sokka's club once more, which she had previously discarded- and using it to smash the next brick to pieces as it aimed for her head; it would take more than simple earthbending to defeat the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation.
She used the club once more to strike at the still conscious knife-thrower, who had tried to leap at her with his sword again, deflecting him to the side, but unable to get him unconscious- perhaps she didn't have the brute strength that the savage used to defeat his enemies with his blunt tool. The man furiously slashed his sword at her, barely missing her forearm, before she punched him in the head with a fire blast, knocking him into the wall; she looked out and saw the leader and the other swordsman she had quickly dispatched of, preparing to attack her simultaneously, while the fourth man was no where to be seen. She knew well enough from strategy books that if you didn't know where your enemy could be hiding you were as good as dead- she disregarded him from her thoughts and prepared two fire daggers for her enemies: one for each head.
"Come on girly, give it up!" the leader shouted at her, believing he had some power of intimidation over her- he was a tough, brutish looking man, who she guessed was the kind of man who would bully peasants for a living- not a real leader like herself.
Azula dashed up toward the two men, sidestepping a rock the earthbender had thrown toward her, before slashing the swordsman's blade and face with her fire dagger, forcing him to stagger back and realise the fruitlessness of the battle- she had just cut his sword in half with her firebending. The earthbender pulled out a hammer- a usual weapon for earthbending soldiers- and directed a blast through the ground to her feet, forcing her to somersault away and try and regain her footing. The earthbenders movements followed her own, forcing Azula to simply jump her way through the window to dodge the wave of stone tiles, her ankle dislocating as she landed, making her whelp in pain; he was going to pay for that one.
She decided that she had enough of the earthbenders silly attacks and raised her arms in motion to make a lightning-strike at her enemy, who stood at the doorway, prepared to break the ground underneath her; before she could even move her chi energies in place, she was struck in the side of the head with the blunt end of a spear, knocking her down to the ground. The fourth man had appeared and quickly reversed his spears position as to prepare a stabbing motion, which Azula tried to stop by grabbing the end of the spear at setting it on fire, but he was still able to thrust it at her head, making her flinch back. The earthbender still made his move, which destabilised the ground beneath them in an attempt to trap Azula, which she was able to avoid by kicking the other man in the chest- moving them both out of the earthbenders line of fire.
Azula grabbed the spearman by the neck and threw his head into the wall of the nearby building, before rolling out of the earthbenders line of attack once more. The man stared viciously and angrily at her, but also with pride- he still thought he could beat her, of all people. As Azula prepared a kata to strike the man, he was able to hammer the earth below them, causing Azula to be flung off her feet and broke her stance, leaving her vulnerable to the mans attacks. He and the swordsman stood in stance, and raced toward her, now able to deflect her desperate attempts at blasting fire at her, before the earthbender used a wave of stone and brick to cover Azula to stop her from bending, making her whelp in fear and pain. In the face of her first real potential defeat, she smirked none the less at the men, who believed that victory was certain- she couldn't escape from them now, let alone run away.
"Why are you so happy? Did you want to lose girl?" their leader chuckled, genuinely amused by her reaction.
"You've made one key mistake-" she responded, her voice cold and calculating now, "you thought I was alone."
Sokka raced through the foliage of the woods, trying to stay away from the stream; he could hear the deserters trudging through the stream, the water splashing giving him a good idea of their location. Getting close enough to the village, he strung the animal up on a tree which he marked with his bone knife; he couldn't run into a potential fight with a carcass over his shoulder- no matter how much he knew he needed the meat to feed himself and Azula. Peering from behind a thick tree-trunk he looked out toward the stream, where he could hear the splashing in the distance; he could hear the muffled speaking of the men, but Sokka knew well enough that he should rather stay away than try and pay attention to their conversation. As Sokka made his way toward the village itself, crouching by some bushes, the conversation became clearer.
"Alright boys, we're back; time to set up camp. Huang! You go check out the mine, see if anyone's been playing with the loot." a voice commanded, Sokka assuming it to belong to their leader.
Sokka looked out over the bush and saw who he presumed to be Huang, walking away from the village; he knew well enough that interrogation was a quick way to information, and it would be easy enough for him to capture only one of six men. As he walked back into the brush he glanced to check if he could notice any signs of Azula- he saw none; hopefully Azula was hiding and she wouldn't get into too much trouble; she couldn't reasonably take them all on- some of them could be earthbenders. Sokka quickly paced himself up the hillside toward the mine, where he knew that Huang was planning to check their loot; he looked out over the bushes and couldn't see him, but his footsteps by the stream were still quite audible, even at this distance. Within a few moments Sokka arrived at the clearing where the mine was located, and stayed himself between a rock and a bush to cover himself from any potential onlookers; Huang took a few moments more to show up, having run himself up the hill. The deserter looked around for signs of human activity and spotted Sokka's tracks from earlier in the day- Sokka should have known better than to cover them up. Huang glanced out into the shrubbery with a face of fear, and quickly dismissed the potential of an onlooker, arrogantly thinking as Sokka might have himself in the situation; Sokka wouldn't wait to take the opportunity, as soon as Huang's back turned, Sokka threw his trusty boomerang right into the side of his head, knocking him out cold.
"Aha- gotcha!" Sokka shouted in glee, realising he had just got himself a potential captive.
He prepared the rope he had from his trap and strung the noose around the mans feet before tying it quickly to a tree branch- he knew it wouldn't hold the man long, but as long as he was disoriented, Sokka could intimidate him. However he was interrupted by what he thought to be distant shouts, the sound muffled by the ambience of the forest; Azula had done what she did best, beat up enemies of the Fire Nation.
Sokka sighed audibly in frustration before glancing at Huang's unconscious body, "All I wanted was some spirit-damned intel from you bastards, but she just haaaaaaaad to complicate it."
Running down through the forest toward the stream, Sokka's mind rushed with the potential scenarios that could have unravelled at the village: Azula could have been captured; she could have beaten the entire group out cold; she could have ran off and they were chasing her down- there was a lot of potentials, and not enough solid facts. Glancing out along the stream, he saw none of the deserters running about, meaning that they weren't heading to the mine, he'd at least have the element of surprise. Sokka run as fast as he could, but realised that he was already weakened enough from a lack of food and not really having hydrated himself enough- he was in no shape for a real fight, so he hoped that his boomerang would do most of the work. The sounds of fighting became more clear as he got closer to the village, and the sound of crashing and thumps proved one of his theories- the deserters had at least one earthbender, and Sokka knew that any bender would be better than none against Azula of all people. He finally made his way to the village, where he could at the moment see none of the men- he guessed they were probably along the 'street', or looking in the houses. He crouched behind the wall of the closest house, and tried to eavesdrop on the current fight, but all he heard was audible grunts and sounds of pain from both Azula and the men; but then of all things, he heard laughing- Azula's laughing.
"Why are you so happy? Did you want to lose girl?" one of the men laughed, probably unknowing of the Princesses intentions, not so dissimilar to Sokka himself.
"You've made one key mistake-" he could hear her reply, her voice with the cunning he most certainly had come to disdain, "you thought I was alone."
That was Sokka's not-so-subtle order to attack, which led him to quickly roll out into view, checking the deserters form with a glance- two men seemed to be standing at the moment, meaning Azula had already beaten up three others. He shouted out at the men, as to draw their attention away from Azula, before his boomerang swung out of his hand and hit one of the men in the head, his body being flung to the ground like he had done to Huang a minute earlier, although his shouting made it clear that he was still conscious, and in great pain because of it. The other man, who had been holding a sword over Azula, grinned at the firebender deviously before trying to strike her, but Azula quickly swung her feet with a firebending move to blast the man in the face, forcing him to fall to his back. Sokka raced toward Azula and the two men, pulling out his dagger, and decided to go for the swordsman, who he could tell from his actions in the few moments he had seen him, was incompetent but capable of staying conscious in a fight- unlike the other men he saw scattered through the village. The swordsman held his blade to guard from Azula's fire blasts and Sokka's blade swipes, but was unable to hold his ground- Sokka's dagger slicing his hand and forcing him to drop the sword, leaving Azula to simply uppercut him with a fire-charged fist, flinging him into a wall, this time clearly knocked out.
"Well I see you got to work with these guys- I missed out on a serious show of firebending prowess, did I?" Sokka introduced, his tone clearly showing mocking her abilities, as he saw her knocked to the ground at the mercy of the enemy just before he joined the fight.
"It's not my fault my foot doesn't work right now! Shut your mouth savage, you could have at least helped."
"I did actually, I was about to take one of them captive, but I heard the fight all the way from the mine- I knew you'd got into something like this." Sokka explained.
"What good would a captive do when we're trying to survive in this damned forest?" Azula questioned, her tone harsh and aggravated.
"U-uh well we could use some directions; we still have no idea where the closest village is." he replied, Azula's anger calmed for the moment.
"We should get the hell out of this village; get your crap, and we leave- I don't want to deal with what happens when these assholes wake up." Azula stated bluntly, her serious, condescending tone replaced by one of genuine fear and concern.
"Fair enough- I got some meat by the way, hung it up over that way before these guys showed up and interrupted by hunting session."
"Really- you're actually competent at setting traps, that's one-" Azula jested, interrupted by a grunt and shaking of the ground.
The two turned to the earthbender, angry and now reeling back into consciousness, pulling his hammer out to fight them.
"Aw, c'mon man!" Sokka complained before realising he didn't have his boomerang at hand to knock the man out, "Shit!"
The earthbender grinned with evil happiness, he would have a chance to kill the bastards who had beaten up his crew; he threw his hammer to the side to get Azula off her feet, forcing her to back up and prepare her attack again- a firebender worked best with offense, and he sought to take advantage of a weak stance. Sokka was lighter on his feet and jumped to the side, and threw his dagger in desperation- a weak imitation of his boomerang's graceful flight, missing the man by a wide margin; the earthbender responded by flinging a brick from one of the buildings right at Sokka, striking him in the chest, his arms guarding against most of the hit. Sokka was flung to the ground, writhing in pain from the blunt strength of the injury, while Azula turned to face her opponent once again, taking a quick stance before sending a blast at the man's head, which he was able to dodge by leaping forward toward Sokka; he immediately regretted it as Sokka climbed to his feet with his dagger at hand. The earthbender swung his hammer at Sokka and Azula, the weapon striking Sokka's dagger away while he was trying to hit the man, and Azula thought quick to even the odds- she kicked up Sokka's boomerang with her good foot and grabbed it with her hand. He saw her movements and held his arm out as the earthbender readied another attack; Sokka kicked the earthbender in the knee, forcing him to drop his weapon to the ground as Azula threw the boomerang into his hand. Without a second thought- his survival instincts driving- Sokka cut the man's throat clean open with the boomerang's sharp edge, the earthbender's eyes in utter fear as he felt the blood come down his chest
"Fucking spirits!" Sokka shouted in realisation, turning away as the man clinged at his throat, trying to hold the blood back, before falling to the ground without a whimper.
Sokka fell to his knees, as Azula heaved in relief from the outcome of their fight, "What did I just do..."
"You killed someone; first time?" Azula replied, not caring if his statement was rhetorical.
"Blooded- that's what they call it down south." Sokka explained, covering his eyes as to hide the corpse from his view.
"Huh- you beat me to it." Azula said in realisation, making Sokka uncover his eyes and look at her in confusion.
"You've never done it? You of all people?" his voice in disbelief; she was the lethal Princess Azula, not someone who would just beat up people with firebending but kill with it.
"I'm one of the threaten first, kill if I have to types, really." she blatantly described, making Sokka reel back.
"Well that's fucking done- I say we get out." he affirmed, pulling himself off the ground.
"Exactly." Azula said with a sigh of relief, picking herself up and checking if the other men were getting close to consciousness.
"Sorry but it seems you won't be able to interrogate anyone today." she sighed at him, and Sokka was unable to tell whether she was making a joke on his behalf or genuinely disappointed.
"I'll get the meat, you get what's here, meet me downstream." he ordered, and Azula herself was surprised he was so willing to command.
"Not getting uppity after your blooding, are we Sokka?" she jested, and his face turned almost to laugh, but kept it's seriousness.
"We don't have long, I hope you're ready to walk."
"Run- I'll run." she stated, as if to one-up him.
The Princess was shocked as Sokka was about the turn of events, but she was willing to cover that with unwanted jests and mockery. Fear was all they had now, and it would drive them to do anything, even kill people; and Azula had even admitted that she wasn't the killing type, ruining another aspect of her image to the savage. It was now time for them to survive together, because that was the only way they'd get out alive.