Chapter 5: New Dangers
Quick responses to reviews:
Bay45220: Lol, thanks! I'm glad you liked it.
Ashley Barbosa: Oh yeah, trust me, I get it. I'm getting nostalgia from it, too. And as for your question, my logic behind that is that they were all so engrossed in watching the three fight that they didn't listen to everything their ears heard. Like when you're hanging out with your friends and you all of a sudden get lost in thought, and then snap out of it a little while later remembering absolutely nothing. That's basically what my excuse for logic to answer your question is, if it makes any sense. Sorry if it doesn't.
Guest: Thanks! I'm glad to hear that you're really enjoying it!
TR13 Reader: Well, I'm glad you don't think anything bad of it. As unideal as that all sounds, you seem like a great person from the conversations we've had, and sometimes that's what it takes for someone to be different in a good way. I grew up with my mom and my sister for most of my childhood, so I definitely was outnumbered. Just not quite as outnumbered as you, lol. Ah, yeah I totally get that. I try to avoid that kind of stuff as much as I can, so I usually just stick to the stories on my favorite list and, if I'm bored enough, my own stories. It looks like it, but not quite yet. I've still got a little planned before they make it to that. And not to spoil anything, but no, the three wolves are not Jet and his gang. I had something else in mind for these new wolves in town.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Jin and Aang tried to back up slowly as the wolves drew nearer, not knowing what to do as the wolves snarled at them. Judging by the looks of them, the wolves hadn't eaten anything in a while, and they knew if they didn't do something, they would end up being their next meal.
"Aang, what do we do?" Jin whispered in panic as she tried not to do anything to make the wolves jump at them before they were ready.
"Just try to stay calm," Aang whispered back to her, keeping his eyes on them as the wolves growled more at them. "If we don't make any sudden movements, maybe they won't do anything."
The wolves seemed to want to prove him wrong, however, as they finally ran out of patience and began running at them. Knowing that they had no other choice, Aang and Jin ran the other way, hoping they could make it out of the woods before the wolves finally caught up to them.
"Help!" Jin screamed loudly, hoping someone would hear her as they ran. Hunting was common around these parts, and if they happened to run into someone with a gun, it could be just what they needed to make it out of this alive.
"Just focus on getting out of here, Jin!" Aang yelled, swooping down and picking up a rock before throwing it back at their pursuers. By incredible luck, the rock actually found its target, halting the lead wolf in its tracks as the other two stopped to make sure their leader was okay.
Snarling to both of its packmates, the lead wolf took off again after their prey with his packmates right behind him. It wasn't long before the two came back into their sights, and the wolves picked up their speed.
As Aang was running, he looked behind him and saw that they were chasing him again, his eyes falling to the one on the left. This one had his eyes on him, but due to its distraction, it failed to see an upcoming tree and crashed into it.
Instead of recovering its senses and getting back to chasing them as he expected it to, the wolf shook its head wildly and seemed to grow, making Aang's eyes widen in disbelief as it transformed into a human. "What the-"
Being completely distracted by this, he didn't notice as a long root from a nearby tree came in his path, tripping him and making him go tumbling into the ground. Jin, being chased away from him by the other wolf, did not see any of this happen and continued running, leaving him on his own as the lead wolf drew closer.
Aang gulped as the lead wolf got closer to him, its horrible breath flooding his system as he prepared himself for death. The lead wolf snarled and set a paw on him, ensuring that he wouldn't be going anywhere. Not that he could, anyway, as he was pretty sure that his arm had been broken from his tumble.
Seeing the wolf lick its lips and bare its teeth, he closed his eyes and prayed that his death would be quick and waited for it to finish the job. After a few moments of trembling in fear, he became surprised as he felt the weight of the wolf get thrown off of him, and opened his eyes to see that he was still alive.
Hearing a different snarl nearby, he looked and saw a wolf with dark blue fur who had the lead wolf's neck in its jaws, flinging its prey into a nearby tree. Once the enemy wolf had recovered from this, he let out a long howl and waited as his two packmates rejoined him, creating a wall against the lone wolf who had saved him.
Despite being grateful that the blue wolf had saved his life, Aang's first instinct was to get as far away from these wolves as possible. There was only one problem with this, however, as he could not get himself up. He was in so much pain that he could barely think straight. Especially from what he had seen when they had been chased by those wolves.
Fortunately for him, a familiar voice came into his mind as he lay on the forest floor. "Aang!" Looking over his shoulder, he was relieved to see Jin come running up to him. "What happened? Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Let's talk about this later! We need to get out of here!" he barely managed to get out through his pain, watching her nod as she helped him onto his feet.
"Come on. We're not far from the end of the woods," she told him as she took his arm and put it over her shoulders, helping him to move faster so they could get out of there.
Despite knowing that he shouldn't, Aang couldn't help but look back at the fight in worry. There had been something oddly familiar about the blue wolf, and he hoped that it would survive the fight with the other wolves.
Katara snarled as she did her best not to get overwhelmed by the other wolves. She was outnumbered, yes, but these wolves clearly did not have the experience that she did. They must have been newbloods. With the exception of the pack leader, who clearly knew what he was doing as he fought.
Knowing that she wouldn't be able to take on all three of them by herself, she backed up to a nearby tree and prepared to go down fighting, but was saved from having to as she heard the sound of her pack coming to her rescue.
With her packmates rushing in, two jumped for the head wolf's lackeys and bit their throats, making them howl in pain before they fell down to the ground dead, their forms melting into shadow before the wind blew away their remains.
The lead wolf, seeing that his packmates had been so easily defeated, snarled at his rivals and wisely decided to retreat, knowing there was no way he could take on six of them at once. Once he was out of sight, the six transformed back into their human forms and looked at each other.
"Another pack?" Sokka said in disbelief, clearly not having expected this to happen. "I don't get it. This place was clean when we moved here."
"Judging by how hungry they looked, they probably were forced from their homes," Zuko mused as he thought about it before turning to Toph, Azula, and Suki. "Would you three follow his scent? See if he has any other members in his pack or where his hideout is?"
"We're on it," Suki nodded, the three transforming back into their wolf forms before following the scent trail the rival wolf had left behind.
With that taken care of, Zuko turned back to his other 'family' members. "If we're dealing with a rival pack, we may have to move."
"No, not before we get Jin and Aang to come with us!" Katara argued, making it clear that she was not going to take 'no' for an answer.
"We have no idea how many of them there are," Zuko reminded her. "We might have no choice if we're too outnumbered."
"What, are you worried about those guys?" Sokka scoffed, clearly unimpressed as he wiped the blood off of his mouth. "They went down almost too easily."
"Not the lead one," Katara muttered darkly, remembering how it had almost gotten her when she had first began fighting it. "Whoever they are, they've been doing this for a long time. If there are other members in his pack, they might be just as experienced as him."
Although Sokka still looked doubtful, Zuko had to agree. He had come across such packs before when he had first become a werewolf, and he was not eager to go into a fight in which they were clearly outmatched. "Katara's right," he finally said aloud after a few moments of thought. "We're going to have to keep an eye out for him. Once Suki and Toph get back, we'll figure out what to do." Looking around, he noticed that Aang wasn't still there, but knew that he had been by the blood that had been spilt on the ground where he had fallen. "Where did Aang go?"
"I don't know," Katara sighed as she looked over to where she had saved him, her eyes squeezing shut as she tried not to think of the wound that had caused him to bleed like that. At least he was alive. "Last I saw, Jin came back to help him and they got away."
"Good," Zuko nodded as he looked back in the direction their foe had run off too. "Let's go back to the house and check on them." The three nodding in agreement, they morphed back into wolves and ran home, knowing that they had some things to take care of.
The two ran until they finally reached the end of the woods, being relieved once they had reached the foster family's backyard. Sure, they knew the wolves could follow them out here, but at least they were far away from them.
"So what happened, Aang?" Jin asked as she noticed that Aang was holding onto his arm with clear pain on his face. "Did you break something?"
"I tripped on a branch and I tumbled," he explained as he tried his best not to move his arm much. "I'm pretty sure I broke my arm."
"Come on. Let's get you a seat," Jin told him as she helped him move over to the nearest seat, helping him to sit down on the porch before knocking on the sliding glass door. After a few moments of waiting, Jeong Jeong came to it and opened it up.
"Hello? Can I help you?" he asked in confusion, wondering why someone was knocking on his backdoor instead of his front door.
"Sir, can you call an ambulance?" she asked quickly as she gestured to the young man sitting behind her. "We were in the woods and we got attacked by some wolves and he thinks he broke his arm."
Taking all of this in at once, Jeong Jeong nodded and grabbed his phone, quickly dialing 911 as he asked. "What's your name, miss?"
"I'm Jin," she told him with a polite smile, being more worried for Aang's sake than meeting Zuko's foster parent this way. "I've been dating your foster son, Zuko."
"Ah, so you're Jin," Jeong Jeong smiled, but stopped as he saw Aang wince in pain. "Hold on, son. We'll get you patched up as soon as possible." Before Aang could say anything back, the operator on the line finally picked up and Jeong Jeong walked away to give them the information they needed.
Knowing this might take a few minutes, Jin made her way back over to Aang and checked up on him. "Aang, are you okay?"
"As okay as anyone with a broken arm can be," he smiled through the pain, wincing as he accidentally moved it a little. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at her and gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you for coming back for me, Jin."
"Of course," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm sorry that we got separated. I thought you were still with me." Before anything else could be said, Jeong Jeong came back with what appeared to be a makeshift cast.
"Here, son. This should help ease your pain until they can give you a real one," he told him as he helped put it on. Once he was sure it was snug and holding his arm in place, he let go and watched as Aang's pain seemed to lessen, making Aang give him a grateful smile.
"Thank you, sir. I really appreciate your help."
"No problem," Jeong Jeong replied easily as he sat down. "So, who are you? And what exactly happened?"
Thinking back to all that had happened, but wincing in pain as he accidentally moved his arm again, he listened as Jin decided to jump in for him. "His name is Aang. He's dating your foster daughter Katara." Jeong Jeong's eyes widened in realization, but nodded as he motioned for her to continue. "He heard that Katara and Zuko had gotten into a fight at school and came to check up on her. I came to see Zuko and we both saw that you guys were trying to get things settled. While we waited, we decided to go on a walk in the woods and got attacked by a small pack of wolves."
Jeong Jeong's eyes widened as he heard this. "You did?" he couldn't help but ask in surprise, to which Jin nodded. Looking at Aang's injury, he then asked. "Is that from the wolves?"
"No," he managed to get out through gritted teeth as he did his best to deal with the pain. "I tripped over a tree root when we were running and fell. I must have landed the wrong way."
Nodding in understanding, Jeong Jeong couldn't help but wonder if it would have been better for Katara if the wolves had scratched Aang. Then at least he would become one of them without her having to risk asking him to join them. But, knowing that there was no point in questioning this now, he noticed the three pack members sneaking around the building and kept the two distracted.
Thanks to his efforts, it wasn't long before the three came downstairs fully clothed and made their way out to them. "Aang!" Katara gasped as she saw him in pain, running over to him and squeezing him tightly, though she made sure to keep it short as she saw that his arm was in a cast. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I don't really know," he told her honestly as he tried not to show how much pain he was in. "I came here to see you, but I saw that you guys were still fighting, so I decided to go for a walk in the woods. Jin was waiting for Zuko, so she came with me. We got attacked by wolves, and I tripped on a tree root while we were running. I was about to die, but then another wolf saved me. Then Jin came back and helped me get out of there." He decided to leave out the part where he had seen one of the wolves who had attacked him turn into a human. As real as it had seemed, he still wasn't sure if his mind had just imagined that or not, and he doubted anyone would believe him if he told them.
Growling a little as she thought of what those wolves had done to him, she forced herself to calm down and rested a hand on his face. "Well, I'm glad you made it out of there and that you're okay." Turning to Jeong Jeong, she then asked. "Did you call for an ambulance?"
"Yes. They should be here any moment now," he promised, his words ringing true as the sound of sirens came from not too far away. Seeing that he had been right, he stood up and helped Aang to stand up. "Come. Let's get you to the hospital."
"I'm going with him," Katara told him, earning a raised brow from Jeong Jeong, but he could see by the look on her face that this was non-negotiable. Nodding his agreement, he guided Aang through the house with Katara helping him on the other side, the others following them and watching as they helped Aang into the ambulance. Once he and Katara were in, the driver shut the two doors and retook their seat, driving away towards the nearest hospital.
"This isn't good, Zuko," Sokka spoke after a few moments of silence. "If there's another pack in town now, we're going to have some serious trouble."
"I know," Zuko reluctantly admitted, his mind already weighing out their options. Normally, he would want to fight for his home, but they could always relocate if they were too badly outnumbered. His job first and foremost was to ensure that their pack survived, even if that meant they would have to move again. There was only one problem with this, however. He wasn't ready to leave yet without Jin.
Taking a deep breath, he collected his thoughts and turned back to his friend. "Let's go see if Suki and the others are back. We need to know what we're dealing with before we make any decisions." Sokka nodded his agreement and went back into the house, the two of them making it to their backyard just as the three other girls came into view and morphed back to their human forms. "Well? What are we dealing with?"
"We followed the leader back to his base," Suki began as a look of worry took over her face. "We took out two of his pack, but he's got eight more there, him not being included."
Zuko frowned as he pondered over this, not liking what he was hearing, but knowing that they had survived against worse odds. "That's not great, but it's not as bad as it could be. Especially if there's any youngbloods," he mused aloud as he thought about it. Stopping from his pacing for a moment, he turned to those who were around him. "Well, what do you all think?"
"You're our leader," Suki pointed out with a look of confusion. "Why are you asking us?"
"Because this decision affects all of us," he told her as he looked out past the woods, just in case the leader had decided to come back with the rest of his pack. "We can either leave and find a new home or stay and defend our territory. Leaving would mean that we would all survive, but if we fight and win, we can make sure that no other pack will mess with us again." He paused and looked at them all again. "I already know what Katara is going to want to do, so what about the rest of you? We'll leave it to a vote."
"Toph?" he asked, having a feeling what her decision would be, but wanting to make sure anyway.
Snorting a little, Toph grinned and cracked her knuckles. "You already know what I'm going to say, and I say we kick some werewolf butt and make sure every other pack in the world knows not to mess with us!"
Nodding, not being surprised at all by her answer, he then turned to Suki. "For once, I agree with Toph," Suki spoke as she stood up straighter with a determined look on her face. "This town is the closest thing to a home I've ever had. I want to fight for it or go down trying."
Seeing that she had casted her vote, he then turned to Sokka, who simply shrugged as he leaned back against the wall next to the sliding glass door. "Hey, I like this place and all, but all that really matters is that we stick together. As long as we do that, I'm good with whatever." A grin spread across his face as he thought of something. "Though, I really wouldn't mind too much if we showed these new guys who's really in charge around here."
Being satisfied with this answer, Zuko finally turned to Azula, who gave him a questioning look, as if she thought the answer to be obvious. "Do you even need to ask, Zuzu?" she tutted at him as she smiled, her eyes glowing yellow while her fangs came out for a brief moment. "I'm eager to send these vermin scurrying back where they belong."
"Okay," Zuko said after a few moments of silence, turning to Jeong Jeong as he remembered the old man who traveled with him. "What do you think?"
"I think that it doesn't matter what I think," Jeong Jeong told him as he put a hand on his shoulder. "This is your pack. I'm just here to help give you all a cover to appear normal to the others around you."
"But it affects you, too," Zuko argued, making Jeong Jeong laugh as he shrugged.
"Only if you decide to move," the older man assured him, making Zuko look down in thought. "I'm fine with moving away if we need to, but this is your home. If you wish to fight for it, fight for it!"
After a few more moments of silence, and after looking at each of his packmates, Zuko finally nodded. "Alright. We fight for this place." And for Jin, he added in his own mind, knowing full well that he would be the only one fighting for her.
"Yeah!" they all shouted in agreement in their own ways, making Zuko smile as he saw that they all really wanted this. It was nice to know that he had their full support on this.
"Now that this matter has been settled," Jeong Jeong began as he opened the door and gestured for them to come inside. "Let us get something to eat and make a plan." They all quickly filed inside, knowing that it was dinner time and that they were all very hungry.
So hungry, in fact, that they didn't even notice the pair of yellow eyes coming from the edge of the woods, nor did they hear the snarl that came from it as it quickly retreated into darkness.
A few days later, Jin and Zuko found themselves driving to the nearby hospital to go see Aang. Fortunately for them, it was just on the outside of town, meaning that they wouldn't have a very long drive to go see their friend.
"I hope Aang's doing okay," Jin thought aloud worriedly, finding that she was already becoming good friends with the young man who had gotten badly injured. "I can't imagine breaking my arm like that."
"At least it wasn't worse," Zuko tried to make her feel better. "I once broke my neck."
"You what?!" Jin almost shrieked in surprise, making Zuko swerve a little at this sudden outburst.
"Relax," Zuko chuckled a little as he kept his eyes on the road. "I'm alive, aren't I?"
"I guess," Jin muttered, though he could tell that she still wasn't very happy. Turning to him, she gave him a serious look and almost commanded. "Just make sure that it doesn't happen again. I don't need my boyfriend to go dying on me."
Zuko couldn't help but smile a little as he heard this, seeing just how much she cared about him. If he kept this up, maybe she really would agree to join their pack. Deciding to set this thought aside for the moment, he replied. "I'll try my best."
Before long, the two had finally made it to the hospital and found the room where Aang was currently staying, seeing that Katara was at his side as he laid down. "Hey guys," he greeted them with a smile as they came in. "Thanks for coming."
"No problem," Jin smiled as Zuko closed the door behind her, taking the two remaining seats in the room across from the couple as Aang watched them. "So, are you feeling any better?"
"Well, I'm not in as much pain as I was a few days ago, so that's got to be an improvement, right?" he joked, making the girls laugh as Zuko cracked a small smile. "Everything still the same at school?"
"Aang," Katara couldn't help but laugh as shook her head at her boyfriend. "You've only been gone three days."
Aang just laughed and grinned as he gave her a shrug in reply. "Hey, three days is a long time in guy years. If I didn't see you for three days, it'd feel like I haven't seen you in a decade," he couldn't help but grin as he saw Katara playfully roll her eyes, her smile betraying her attempt to look annoyed as she enjoyed his joke. Especially since it sounded like he was already developing strong feelings for her.
"You're full of it, you know that?" she laughed as she kissed his cheek, making his grin grow any more if such a thing was possible.
"Aww, you guys are so cute!" Jin couldn't help but gush as she saw the two of them, her smile unwavering as she turned to Zuko. "Don't you think so, Zuko?"
"Uh… yeah…" Zuko awkwardly laughed, not liking being put in this position. He was not a fan of getting involved in people's personal lives, let alone calling his foster sister's relationship 'cute'. "Super cute." Laughing as she saw the discomfort on his face, Jin decided that it was her turn to be the one who gave their boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, making him blush as he couldn't keep the smile off his face from this.
Smiling as she saw this, she watched as Jin then turned back to the others. "So, when do they think that you're going to get out of here, Aang?" she asked curiously.
"Actually," Katara decided to answer for him as she spoke before Aang could answer. "The doctors just cleared him to go home today. They said that as long as he doesn't do anything in gym class, he should be okay to go to school."
"That's great!" Jin smiled, being happy to hear that her new friend was recovering quickly.
"Yeah, it is," Aang agreed with a smile, his smile slipping a bit as he remembered something. Taking on a nervous look, he turned to his girlfriend and asked. "Hey Katara, could you do me a favor and get me some water?"
"Um… yeah," she put on a smile, though she couldn't keep the look of apprehension off her face as she wondered why Aang seemed to be trying to get rid of her for a few moments. Deciding that this was just nothing, she gave him a kiss on his head and walked out the door saying. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Aang."
"Okay!" he called after her, his attention going to Zuko next as his face grew serious. "Zuko, I do need water, but I'm a little worried. The last time Katara got me water, she almost got into a fight with a nurse who tried to not let her see me. Could you-"
"Go make sure she doesn't get in another fight?" Zuko supplied for him, watching as Aang nodded. "Yeah, I can do that." He stood up and decided to give Jin a kiss on the cheek back, making Jin blush as she watched him walk out the door before disappearing out of sight.
After waiting a few moments to make sure that they were out of earshot, Aang quickly looked at Jin as she gave him a puzzled look, seeing that his face was full of fear. "Aang, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"I saw something," he began, his voice showing just as much worry as his face as he shook his head. "Something that I probably shouldn't have."
"What?"
Being silent for a moment, Aang finally spoke in a rush of words. "When we were being chased by those wolves, one of them that was chasing me crashed into a tree. At first I was happy about that, but then I saw it…" He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "I saw it transform into a human."
Jin's jaw dropped, a look of disbelief on her face as she responded. "What?!"
"I know, I know, I probably sound crazy," Aang sighed as he buried his face in his hands. "But I know what I saw! It definitely was a wolf that turned into a human."
Although Jin didn't want to make Aang feel like he was crazy, she couldn't help but ask. "Are you sure you didn't just imagine it? I've heard that some people have delusions when they think they're about to die."
"That's what I thought at first," Aang agreed with another sigh as he looked down at his broken arm. "But I know what I saw. I didn't imagine it, and I'm not crazy."
After a few moments of silence, Jin finally broke it and said. "Assuming that you're right, and this wolf really did turn into a human, why would you tell me about it? Why not Katara?"
"For a couple of reasons, actually," Aang told her as he checked the door, making sure that their significant others weren't about to walk in. "I didn't want to scare her, or make her think I was crazy or anything. Also," he paused as he checked the door again. "I could feel the same sort of darkness coming from them that I felt from the wolves that attacked us." Seeing that Jin had taken on another look of confusion, Aang decided to explain. "When I first met Katara and her family, I could tell that there was something off about them. I didn't know what it was." He laughed bitterly. "I still don't know what exactly it is, but after seeing what I saw in the woods, I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with what I saw."
"Wait a second," Jin put her hand up to make him hold his thoughts for the moment. "So, you think that they might be something… not human?"
"I don't know," he admitted as he looked down at his hands. "What I do know is that I felt the same darkness come from them that I felt from the wolves who attacked us. I don't know what that means exactly, but I wanted to talk about this with someone who I didn't feel this darkness with." He decided not to bring up the memory of him seeing Katara's eyes flash yellow on the night he had first seen her, knowing that Jin likely already thought that he was a lunatic without something else to add to it.
Taking a few moments to take this all in, Jin shook her head wildly and finally replied. "Well, if you really did see what you think you saw, it's definitely something we need to look into." She looked at the bracelet that Zuko had given her, a sad smile as she saw the Z+J on it as she held it close. "Even if there is something… unnatural about them, I don't think that they're evil or anything."
"I don't either. At least, I hope not," Aang agreed as he looked down at the single flower Katara had gotten for him, holding it to his heart as he hoped that they were both right. "Especially because I think I might lo-"
He stopped as he heard footsteps coming down the hall, putting a finger to his lips as he saw Katara come walking into the room with the cup of water in her hands while Zuko retook his seat next to Jin. "Here you go, Aang."
"Thanks, Katara," he gave her a grateful smile as she gave him the cup and took a sip, letting out a fake refreshed sigh as he set it down. "That was just what I needed."
"Good," Katara smiled warmly at him, running her fingers through his hair as she watched his eyes close in bliss from this. "And you're very welcome."
Zuko discreetly gave him the 'okay' hand sign, showing that Katara had not gotten into a fight. Giving him a subtle thumbs up and a grateful smile, he let his eyes close again as Katara continued to run her fingers through his hair. "Well, do you think you'll be ready to go soon?" Katara asked gently, seeing that he was enjoying this and not wanting to disturb him if she didn't have to.
"My dad has to come sign me out of the hospital after he gets off work," he told her without moving an inch as he enjoyed her little massage. "But once he does, I'll be ready to go."
"Well, thanks for coming to check on me, guys," Aang said after a few moments of silence, even if he didn't want to do anything to make Katara stop what she was doing.
"No problem," Jin nodded as she stood up, gesturing for Zuko to get up as well before turning back to them. "We should probably get going. See you later, guys!" She gave them a smile and a wave before making her way out with Zuko right behind her, making Aang and Katara share a look of confusion as they had noticed that she had left rather quickly. But, knowing there wasn't much they could do about it, Katara got on the bed and snuggled with him, making him smile as he buried his face in her hair and enjoyed her presence.
Jin felt a little bad about this, but what Aang had told her was raising questions in her mind. Questions that she wanted answered. And right now, she was going to see if she couldn't get some answers. "I'm glad to see Aang's doing better," Zuko felt the need to speak as he noticed that she had fallen silent on their walk back to the car. In the short time they had been dating, she had never been this quiet.
"Me too," she agreed distractedly, hoping that she wasn't being too obvious with her unease as she wondered if she really knew who her boyfriend was. "So, Aang mentioned something pretty crazy when Katara went to get him some water earlier."
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, but not knowing where she was going with this, Zuko replied. "Yeah? What did he tell you?"
Laughing nervously for a moment, she considered making something up to avoid the subject, but then forced herself to focus. She needed to see what his reaction would be. "He said that he saw one of the wolves that were chasing us hit a tree, and that it turned into a human," she finally got out, gauging his reaction to what she had said.
For a split second, she had been certain that she had seen a look of complete and utter surprise on his face, but couldn't help but doubt it as his face quickly took on a look of amusement. "He did? Wow, he must have hit his head hard when he fell," was all he could think to say, hoping that she wouldn't call his bluff.
Though she noticed that he seemed to be hiding something, she had no real evidence that the surprise on his face hadn't been her imagination, and shrugged as they made it to the car. "He swore up and down that he didn't imagine it. And honestly, Zuko, I kind of believe him. Those wolves didn't seem like normal animals. The way they attacked us was almost… human."
Laughing slightly, even though Jin could tell that this laugh was more nervous than the other one, he put on a look of doubt. "Jin, Aang had a pretty hard fall. He broke his arm and probably thought that he was going to die. Don't you think that it could have just been his fear getting to him?"
Looking at him for a few moments, she finally let out a sigh and slowly nodded, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. For the moment, at least. He had never given her any reason not to trust him, and although he and his family weren't exactly the most normal people, she didn't have enough evidence to do otherwise.
Being relieved as he saw this, he held himself back from letting out a sigh of relief and gave her a small smile. "Come on. Let's go hang out for a little while. You'll feel better once you get some fresh air," he told her as he started up the car and started driving away.
Although Jin wanted to believe him, she still couldn't help but think about what Aang had said. There was very clearly something off with their family, even if she still liked Zuko a great deal. And with how panicked and confused Aang had been, it was clear that he truly believed in what he had seen. Besides, people who thought they were going to die usually had their lives flash before them, not having hallucinations of things that wouldn't make any sense unless they had been poisoned. Not to mention that there had been a certain intelligence to the wolves who had attacked them. She had seen many intelligent animals over the course of her life, but nothing quite like what she had seen in those woods.
Looking at her boyfriend as he continued driving, she couldn't help but wonder… Was he really who she thought he was?