Dangerous Ground
Chapter 12
A wave of cold washed over my body and I shuddered. Opening one eye, I noticed that the fire had died in the fireplace sometime during the night, with it went all warmth and light, except for a spare amount provided by the few embers that still glowed. I turned over groggily and found myself facing Zuko. I tried to remember what had happened last night.
Right, we'd been talking about flower gardens and his mother, and then I'd gotten very tired. Escape attempts can do that to a person. I'd rested my head on my arms for just a second...
I must have fallen asleep then. I smiled to myself. Here I finally had a nice bed to sleep on and yet I was still lying on the floor next to Zuko. I rubbed my hands over my shoulders, feeling the cold creep into my clothing. Well, as long as I was here...
I scooted closer to Zuko and wrapped my arms around his body, once again surprised at the heat that poured off of him. I snuggled against him, enjoying the warmth and sighing into his clothes. I'd never enjoyed being warm this much in my entire life.
"Rise and shine, beauties." I blinked groggily. How could it be time to get up? It was still dark! That's when I remembered that we were in a cell with no window. Come to think of it, a cell with no cracks, vents, or seams in the walls whatsoever.
"Teikei's gathering the men. He wants you with us for the morning ceremony." The guard looked down at me and smiled peculiarly. "Perhaps from now on I should knock first?" He grinned. I felt embarrassment burn like fire in my cheeks. I bended the last few drops of water out of the basin and sent them spinning into the guard's face with a satisfying stinging sound.
"Owch!" The guard grabbed the side of his face and rubbed furiously. "I'll be back in two minutes, be ready by then or I'll drag you out myself!" The guard slammed the door closed.
"Yeah? I'd like to see you try!" I shouted after him. Still huffing I turned to face Zuko, who was staring at me with a smirk dancing on the edges of his lips.
"What? What are you smirking about now?" I snapped.
"Just noticing that you've got a bit of a temper yourself." He cocked his head at me teasingly, egging me on.
I returned a cool stare. I was perfectly in control. I'd never lost my temper a day in my life. Well, maybe a few times. But certainly not as often as Zuko. No, we were nothing alike in that respect.
I busied myself in brushing my hair.
We were brought to the breakfast ceremony unbound, much to my relief. At least five hundred men were crowded around the long tables that filled the dining room. Teikei stood at the head of the room, watching the men with a fatherly eye. After everyone had gotten settled, Teikei spoke, his voice filling the room as it echoed off the high walls and ceiling.
"Welcome everyone. I trust you've all had a good night's rest?" A murmur of agreement rose from the crowd.
"Well, everyone except those who had to sleep in a room adjacent to Okani's. I think if he snored just a little bit louder he'd probably alert the Fire Nation to our presence all the way back in the Fire Lands." The room erupted in laughter. A man, he must have been Okani, stood up and bowed, smiling and reddening at the good-natured ribbing.
"As I'm sure many of you have heard, we have guests with us today." Teikei continued, sweeping a hand to where Zuko and I sat. Crimson covered my cheeks as five hundred faces turned to look at me. I ducked and hoped to hide my face behind my braids. Zuko, on the other hand, stiffened and lifted his face defiantly.
"I know that you will treat them with the respect and honor that we treat all guests." Teikei said. His face was relaxed but his voice betrayed a gentle warning that got the message across to all the men: we were under his protection.
"Now, let us bow in a prayer of thanks for this food." Teikei began praying, and I bent my head. It wasn't uncommon for the Water Tribes to pray thanks for the food, but it must have been a foreign notion to Zuko, who sat unyieldingly straight beside me.
"Bow your head." I whispered to him, thinking that maybe he'd not head Teikei's instructions.
"Why? What have I to be thankful for?"
"The food."
"Phft. This is hardly enough to make up for-"
The prayer ended before Zuko could finish. I wondered what he was going to say, but pushed the thought to the back of my mind as the food was passed around.
Mmm, a lovely, earthy smell rose from the bowls passed under my nose. The hardy scent of tarragon and rosemary greeted me, rising from the warm rolls that I placed on my plate. They had a thick crust and a chewy, hardy texture. It was far from the food I'd grown up with, but it was filling and warmed my insides. I glanced over at Zuko, who had barely touched his food. Spoiled brat I thought to myself as I devoured another roll.
"Our guests are going to do a bit of work today." Teikei said to the group of men who had gathered together in a medium-sized room.
"As payment for destroying our dungeon cell, Zuko will now take turns fighting each one of you. This will help you greatly in the battlefield, as it will give you experience in fighting against the strategies specific to Fire Nation warriors."
"I'm not fighting!" Zuko shouted. "I refuse to help you train these stupid-"
"Fine. You don't have to fight. I mean, I can understand that you'd be scared facing Earthbenders twice your size..." Teikei said, a mischievous twinkle lighting his eyes.
"I'm not afraid!" Zuko growled, fire glowing in his fingertips.
"Then fight!" Teikei pushed the first recruit forward, who immediately threw up a rolling wave of earth under Zuko. Rising to the bait, Zuko fought back. The two went at each other for no more than thirty seconds before the fight was over and the man thrown to the ground. Zuko stood over him, a victorious smirk on his face.
The next recruit was sent in, and he fared no better, lasting only twenty seconds. I watched from the sidelines, enjoying the show. That is, until I heard Teikei's voice behind me. "I haven't forgotten about you, Katara. Here: would you mind patching all these socks while you sit here?" He dumped a basket into my lap of holey, sweat-stained socks.
"Eckk!" I gagged at the smell.
"What? They've been washed." Teikei pretended to pout.
"I'd rather fight, like Zuko."
"I'm afraid that will be a waste of your time. My men don't need to know how to fight against waterbendes." Teikei said, handing me a needle and a spool of thread. "Enjoy yourself." He left me alone with the socks as he went to inspect the fighters, calling out suggestions and encouragement to the recruits as they needed it.
Zuko was merciless. He fought with savage efficiency for almost five straight hours. None of the earthbenders were able to touch him, despite an impressive array of Earthbending techniques. But now Zuko was beginning to tire. It was because of this that one of the earthbenders managed to place a sweeping kick behind Zuko's knees, toppling him to the ground.
The emotions that crossed the soldier's face were comical. First, there was elation at having been the first soldier to land a kick, then there was fear at realizing he was the first soldier to land a kick, and finally there was outright terror as Zuko leapt up and raised an fire-engulfed fist over poor soldier's horrified face.
"Stop, Zuko!" Teikei shouted, seeing that the situation was going to get out of control. But Zuko was not one to take orders. He pushed his hand forward, sending a funnel of fire at the trembling soldier.
SPLASH! A huge wave of water crashed over Zuko, extinguishing the flames before they could leave his palms.
What the? Did I do that? I glanced around. How could I? I didn't even know there was water nearby. That's when I noticed Teikei standing next to Zuko with a large bucket in his hand.
"And that concludes today's lesson, young men, which is: Never make a firebender angry unless you have a bucket of water handy." He jiggled the bucket above his head, earning laughter, nervous and otherwise, from the small troop. But the person who laughed the hardest was undoubtably me.
"What do you think is so funny?" Zuko was hovering over me, water steaming from his face and clothing. I tried to stop my laughter long enough to speak.
"Oh, nothing, your highness, just..." And then I dissolved into another fit of giggles.
"Well, I'm glad I could be your amusement today. You must really enjoy watching it, since it's the only excitement you'll see while you spend your pathetic existence doing the only thing waterbenders are any good at: darning socks!"
"I can fight as well as you can!" I shouted, leaping from beneath the smelly pile.
"You're right. That smell would knock an enemy down a mile away."
"You're no bed of roses yourself. You smell like smoke and ashes."
"That's because I'm a firebender. It works that way. Although I guess not in your case. If you're a waterbender you should smell clean, shouldn't you?"
"You try mending socks all day and see if you don't smell, too!"
"I don't have to! I have something useful to do."
"Socks are useful!"
"Yeah? Try attacking me with a sock and then tell my how useful they are."
"I'll attack you with my bare hands and you can tell me how useful I am."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Lead the way!" I glared at the firebender, who motioned with his hand to the center of the ring. The troop, which had just been sliding out the door, now turned and watched in amazement as I took up a fighting stance opposite Zuko. He waited, letting me make the first move.
I gathered the water Teikei had spilt from the bucket and formed it into a whip, striking it out at the Prince's face. An aggressive move, but I wanted to intimidate him.
It didn't work.
Zuko blocked the whip and sent a stream of fire at my ankles, causing me to jump back and stumble over my own feet. He smirked. Rage flickered inside of me. I reformed the whip and sent it cracking several times at his body, but he blocked each one easily with his wrist. He sent a fiery retaliation at me, which I ducked. I smelled the faint smell of singed hair. That was close.
But I'd been watching him fight all day, and had gotten to know some of his patterns. I got into the rhythm of the dance, whipping water at him and dodging his attacks. It was thrilling, exhilarating... terrifying. But I showed no fear. I would not back down.
I threw a waterball at his stomach, hoping to wind him, but he jumped and performed a perfect flip in the air, landing inches from me. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them to my sides.
"Do you yield?" He offered.
I answered him with a sharp knee-kick to his stomach. He doubled over and I made my escape. Before he could recover I sent the waterwhip curling around his ankles, yanking his footing out from under him. But he simply sent a wave of fire curling in my direction with his foot. He was up and sending showers of sparks at me. I tried to gather the water, but it was taking too long. There was no ready supply of my element, unlike Zuko.
But then he stopped. He waited as I gathered the moisture and formed it into a whip. I was shocked at his small act of mercy. That is, until he gave me that infuriating smirk of his, his eyes mocking me, taunting me "weak weak weak."
"Augh!" I struck out at his head, my frustrations getting the better of me. He blocked and moved in, grabbing my wrist and sweeping me down in an intricate pattern of footwork that had been so fast I'd not even had a chance to follow it with my eyes.
"Umph." I grunted as I landed on my back in the dirt, slightly winded. I felt a weight on my stomach and looked up to see that Zuko had straddled me. I felt fire light my cheeks. It did not go unnoticed by Zuko.
"Uncomfortable? Then don't challenge me." He warned. I wriggled under him, but his grip was vice-like. He had won, and he knew it.
That's when it happened again. A volt of electricity, stronger than any of the other times, hit me. I shuddered as it sent tingles up my spine. I felt Zuko tighten his grip on me. Did he feel it too, or was he just worried I'd try to escape? When I opened my eyes I found his staring down at me, blazing with intensity. I was lost in their golden light, trapped and spinning but, for some reason, not wanting to get away. I felt his breath warm on my cheek, his chest rising and falling just inches above me, his bare wrists pressed against mine, our pulses pounding together.
"Ahem" Teikei let out an embarrassed little cough. Zuko pushed himself off me and walked out of the room, a guard running to catch up with him to ensure he wouldn't try to escape. I was still on the floor, panting. It was from the fight. That was all. It was a tough fight, and I was winded. That was all.
I was still convincing myself of this as I was led back to my room.
Yay, fluff! Hopefully not too much or too little. Thank you, beloved readers, once again for your kind reviews. If not for you, this story would not have half of its enthusiasm. I hope I did not disappoint. There's no cliffhanger ending to this one, as I like to usually leave you with, but know that exciting, character building, and fluffy things are coming...