I'm back with chapter 4! As I said in the last chapter you find out why the gang left Katara on this page(and believe me it's a very stupid reason!). This is going to be one of my favorites! IT'S LONG! Well, I hate to leave you hangin' so HEAR WE GO!
Disclaimer: Me sadly don't own Avatar, so don't think that I do please.
Chapter 4
Three Days Earlier
"How can you two be so ignorant and stupid?" Aang shouted as he flew Appa over the rising sand dunes.
"Come on Twinkle Toes! We were just having some fun!" Toph shouted as she leaned back on Appa's saddle.
"Yeah, you were the one who told us to loosen up a bit and have fun with life! We were just doing what you said!" Sokka mocked as he sharpened his machete.
"Besides I'm sure Sugar Queen is doing just fine! I mean we were only gone…what two maybe three hours? Not to mention, she was in a very safe cave, filled with water!" Toph smiled.
"I'm sure she's fine, Aang. SO! What are the stakes here?" Sokka turned to Toph, his eyes gleamed with interest.
Toph grinned mischievously, "Well, if Katara is still in the cave safe and sound then I get clean up duty for the next two weeks and you get the money, but if she's outside the cave going completely out of her mind. Then you get to wash Appa for two weeks and I get the money."
"I still can't believe you two bet money on Katara's safety that's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" Aang shouted as the cave came into sight.
"There's the cave! I hope your ready to get your hands dirty Toph! Cause your sure going to be doing a lot of it!" Sokka laughed as Aang landed Appa on the hot desert sand. Aang immediately ran for the caves entrance.
"Well, I don't see her outside, so that means I win the bet!" Sokka thrust his hands triumphantly in the air as he and Toph slid off Appa's back.
Toph stomped her foot, "Dang it! I thought for sure she'd be outside-. "Toph stopped in mid-sentence, she glanced at the ground. "Uh, Sokka is there something on my foot?"
Sokka's looked down at Toph's bear foot and almost immediately felt like passing out, his triumphant grin faded faster than it appeared. "Top…Toph. That's bl…that's blo…"
"What? What is it?" Toph asked impatiently.
"Blood…"
Present Time (Back with Katara)
Katara felt fear rising in her heart as the boys surrounded her.
"So, men?" said the one holding the dagger to Katara's neck (his name was Toku), "who wants to go first."
"I will." Said the boy pinning Katara to the wall. "I think it's only fair since I was the one who caught her." Katara was suddenly flung to the ground, her head smacked against the hard ground. Her vision blurred slightly. She slapped the boy as he leaned close to her face. The boy smirked and slapped her back ten fold. "I them feisty."
Katara screamed, "SOME BODY, HELP ME!" but it did her no good, for her mouth was muffled as the boy planted his lips on hers. Tears fell down her face as the boy licked his tongue across her lips then up to her cheek. All the while his hands grabbed at her waist. "No one can here you cutie." He cackled, but just as he leaned back down for another kiss…
A loud, sickening crunch rang through the alleyway as the boy on Katara suddenly went sailing through the air, smashing head first into a wall. Katara laid on the ground in shock, her body too stunned to move. It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice did she look up.
"Let the girl go." the voice hissed in a very deadly tone.
Katara sat up, her vision blurred slightly. She blinked to clear her eyes, but she gasped at who she saw when they finally did.
Zuko stood only feet from her. His eyes burned with such hatred that it made Katara's spine shiver.
The tall boy (Tuko) with the dagger laughed, "What makes you think we'll listen to you? I know a least a hundred ways to get a man on his knees begging for mercy and I can do it all with one dagger."
"Yeah, what makes you think you can take us down. You're just one man" The fat boy smirked (his name was Takuya) as he and his counterpart walked closer to the prince.
Zuko glared at the two boys. "Call it a hunch." He snarled as he suddenly whipped out two broadswords, plowing their hilts into the fat boys stomach.
The boy gasped for air as he fell backwards almost rolling over Katara, who quickly stood to her feet.
The tall boy gave a loud battle cry as he lunged at Zuko, his dagger raised over his head. Zuko crossed his swords just as the dagger reached his face, catching it just in time, and slicing the daggers blade in the process. The boy gasped as Zuko powerfully swung his leg upward, kicking him square in the groin (OUCH!) The tall boy went cross eyed and fell to his knees
The fat boy rose to his feet and desperately tried to attack, but Zuko was too quick for him. Zuko had dodged the attack, grabbed the boy's head, and slammed it hard into the stone ground all in one fluid like motion.
But Zuko was to busy fighting that he didn't notice that the boy that had been raping Katara (the one that had smashed into the wall earlier) had gotten to his feet and was now standing behind him. Two long straight swords held tightly in his hands.
The boy gave a furious battle cry as he ran one of his blades right through Zuko's outstretched arm.
The boy laughed evilly, "How are you going to beat me, Teijo the Master of Sword Battle, with just one good arm?" He cackled as pulled his now blood soaked sword out of Zuko's arm and slashed it across the poor prince's chest.
Katara watched in horror as Teijo (as he said his name was) swung kicked Zuko's head into the wall, knocking him unconsciously to the ground.
For reasons unknown even to herself, Katara felt a sudden spark of anger flush through her body (maybe it was because the guy that had saved her life twice in the past three days was getting the crap beat out of him or something else, she didn't know). But it was in this moment of anger that Katara noticed a tiny puddle of water in the back of the alley. Her mouth curved into a soft smirk as she flicked her wrist, bending just enough water in her hand to form a small but sharp icicle.
She turned her head back to Teijo, who looked at her as he through Zuko into a barrel.
"Now where were we." He smiled maliciously at the girl. Katara frowned at him, and quickly got into a unique battle stance, so that one of her arms remained behind her back (she had to make sure that her icicle was to be unnoticed). Teijo laughed loudly.
"Now look here pretty face, I don't want to kill you too, so why don't you just let me have a little fun and you can leave." The boy crooned as stepped closer and closer to the girl.
Katara felt rage flush through her, "First of all!" she shouted, "I'm not some doped up, crack head's 'toy' you can just play with! Secondly I know you won't let me leave here, so don't talk to me like I'm stupid and if you call one more stupid nick-name like hot stuff again I'll…" Her voice faded slightly.
"You'll do what sweet cheeks." Teijo smirked in amusement, hardly able think that a girl could take him.
Katara snarled, "Do this!" the icicle she was holding suddenly flew out from behind her back and ran right through the boy's right shoulder.
Teijo shrieked in pain as he tried to pull the jagged piece of ice out of his shoulder bone. He stared up at Katara in shock, "You just shot me!" he cried in disbelief.
Katara snarled, "I warned you. Oh! And one more thing, you didn't kill Zuko." She said as she walked up to her rapist so that she was only inches from his face.
Teijo growled, "And why do you think that wench?"
Katara smirked as she looked over his wounded shoulder, "Because he's standing right behind you."
Teijo eyes widened as he turned around in time to see a powerful fireball slam into his chest sending sprawled across the hard pavement. He groaned as he slowly lifted his head off the ground, he gaped at the fiery prince, as he saw his hands were lit with hot red flames. "You're a firebender!" Teijo stuttered as he slowly began to back up. "You're one of those filthy murderers!"
Zuko's eyes flashed a dangerous burning gold; he bared his teeth as a small flame erupted from his mouth. Teijo squeaked as he jumped to his feet and took off down the alleyway.
Katara laughed silently as the boy tripped over the alley's loose rocks and barrels and disappear around the corner. She turned back to Zuko, their eyes locked, and there was a long silence between them.
"Uh…thanks." Katara finally decided to break to emptiness that filled her ears.
Zuko nodded his head and grunted in acknowledgement to her gratefulness, suddenly a voice rang through the air, "FIREBENDER IN THE ALLEY! FIREBENDER IN LIJIANG!"
Katara jumped as Zuko suddenly grabbed her forearm, "We need to go." He growled.
Katara glared at him, "Why?" trying to pull from his grasp.
A spear suddenly buzzed by them coming dangerously close to Katara's left leg. Katara screamed as they both turned to see hundreds of people standing at the alley entrance, torches, swords, and rocks in hand.
"That's why." Zuko mumbled.
"There he is! That's the firebender!" Teijo suddenly emerged from the crowd, "and that waterbender is with him too. She's the one who stabbed me!"
"Let's get 'em!" they crowd roared and all at once they charged straight for the two teenagers.
"Oh, crap! Let's move come on!" Zuko shouted. He and Katara both turned in unison and ran out the alleys back corner, the crowd not far behind. As Katara's feet left the pavement she noticed that the temperature had suddenly dropped and that the ground had become suddenly very slick and bumpy…wait…slick and bumpy!
Katara screamed as her feet nearly slid out from under her. She looked down in horror to see that she and Zuko had run right into the town's Slum Way. Garage, mud, glass, crap, dead animals, and other discarded junk covered the ground like snow in a blizzard.
Katara tried her best to pick her feet up through the degusting mush, but it was impossible. She looked over at Zuko to see that he was having the same problem. It was hard enough to keep your balance in ankle-deep mud, let alone try to run in it.
The two of them knew they wouldn't get far if they kept up this strategy, the crowd seemed to get louder with each grueling, slimy step. Wet slop went flying up Katara's legs, arms, and face as the Slum Way seem to thicken.
'Wait! Wet slop!' an idea suddenly rang through Katara's mind. 'If this stuff is wet then that means there's…'
"Water." Katara mumbled. Thinking quickly she raised her arms (while she's still running I might add), bending up a large wall of filthy muck water. But hey! It was water. With all the energy she had she froze the giant brown water wall and flung it over her head.
Frightened cries suddenly rang through the air as the frozen wall of sewage water smacked into the pursuing crowd, knocking them backwards into the Slum Ways' floors.
Katara didn't stop to look back at the damage, but just the thought of those evil people getting a mouth full a crap brought a smile to her lips. But Zuko must have seen the collision, because when Katara looked back over at him, it looked like he was trying his hardest to stifle a laugh, but he remained silent.
After a few minuets of running the two were far out of the town and deep into the expanding desert wilderness, dry trees and plants surrounded them. It wasn't until they reached a small river that they finally stopped, Katara collapsed onto the hard, sandy ground, her heart pounding against her chest. She had never felt more exhausted in her life, sweat poured down her face, her legs felt like melted jello, her chest burned like it was on fire!
'I don't think I'll ever move again. OW! Oh man it even hurts to think, okay it's obvious now. We're gonna die in this burning hot desert wasteland-'
'Oh will you shut the heck up! You are such a drama queen. We're not going to die, we're by a river you dunce! Now Katara get your lazy butt off the ground and get some water before this dodo knocks our brain out!' her mind shouted at her in annoyance.
Katara groaned as she pulled herself off the ground, walk tiredly over to the small river, and bended some of the water into her mouth. The water was salty and scratched her throat as it went down, but it was cold and was better than nothing. She kneeled down to take several more sips.
It wasn't until she heard a soft groan that Katara looked up from her drinking. Zuko sat a few yards away from her, clutching his injured arm. Katara grimaced as she saw blood leak through his fingers. She stared at him for moment. His eyes were open and his face was straight, but even Katara could see the pain that was forming inside him, the wound on his chest was bleeding too, just not as profusely. Either way it looked like it hurt like heck.
Katara sighed; slowly she stood to feet and walked up to the injured prince. "Hey." She whispered.
Zuko looked up at her in surprise, "Hey." he mumbled as he tried desperately to stop his arm from bleeding (he was failing miserably).
"May I sit here?" Katara asked politely.
Zuko rolled his eyes, "Go ahead. I don't care." He grumbled.
Katara glared at him as she sat down; carefully making sure there was enough space between them. Neither said anything.
"Why did you help me?" Katara asked so suddenly it made Zuko jump. This question had been nagging at the back of her mind since Zuko had first appeared to her aid in the alleyway.
Zuko looked at the girl as if he were studying her, his eyes narrowed slightly, "No woman should ever be treated in that manner," he said finally. "No matter who they might be." He added part in a scoff.
Katara rolled her eyes, "You didn't have to, you know," she said softly.
Zuko smirked, "Yeah, well…I didn't have to save you from the desert either did I? But, I did anyway and that's all that matters." he suddenly gave a low groan; he clutched his arm tighter, his eyes watered slightly.
"What wrong?" Katara looked at him with slightly concerned eyes.
"It nothing," Zuko groaned as blood seeped harder through his fingers.
"Ptht! Yeah, right, let me see." She leaned into to look at his arm, but Zuko quickly backed away.
"I don't need some no-name water tribe peasant's help." He growled pulling his injured arm to his chest.
Katara gave Zuko an icy glare, "Look I let you help me when I was hurt, now stop being a stubborn idiot and let me see!" she snarled.
Zuko eyes narrowed, and Katara could tell that he seriously hated being told what to do, but either way he held out his arm for Katara to take. She pulled up his sleeve to inspect the wound. It was deep and infected, but it didn't look like it broke the bone, which was good. This wouldn't be too hard to heal. Katara flicked her wrist; a small stream of water came flying out of the river and into her hand. Very gently she placed against the abrasion. Zuko flinched as the sudden touch of cold liquid, covered his arm.
"Why are you acting like you care?" Zuko asked as the stinging sensation tore at his wound.
Katara shrugged, "Call it a returned favor." She said finally removing the water from his arm (much to his relief), "You save my life, I save yours, and we're even." Katara ripped a piece of clothing off her shirt and tied around what was left of the cut. "Now this may still sting a little, but it's better than bleeding to death."
It was then Katara noticed that Zuko's expression had changed. A playful smirk now spread across his face, his eyes were sparkling mischievously. "What?" Katara asked uncertainly.
Zuko rubbed his chin, "You just said that you'd return me favor for saving your life right?"
Katara nodded slowly, "Yeah, so?"
Zuko's smirk widened, giving him a very cocky look, "Well, I saved your life twice."
Katara's eyes widened, "Oh, well I didn't mean…what I meant to say… Oh! You can't be serious!"
Zuko crossed his arm and shrugged, "You said you'd return me a favor for saving your life so that mean's you are now in my debt."
Katara could have screamed in frustration, if it wasn't for her being dead tried she would slapped that cocky smile right off his face. But she knew he was right, as much as she hated to admit it. She owed him.
"So what'd ya say peasant?" Zuko asked impatiently.
Katara sighed in defeat, "Fine, I'm in your debt and I owe you. But you do know that means I have to travel with you untill that time comes." She added with smirk of her own.
Zuko grimaced at the thought, "Then this is going to be a living nightmare."
Ah! Finally the REALLY story starts! Sorry this chapter took so long to write. Hope you liked it!
Yes, Katara will be traveling with Zuko now, only until she repays her debt…or so she thinks!
Yes the gang left her on a bet! How stupid! You know she'll be ticked when she finds out! Next chapter might be longer… or shorter I don't know either way I hope you like it!