is it just me or do teachers get together and plan to have all their tests on the same week?

*sigh*

well finally getting to write this brightened my mood, so that's good at least haha,

enjoy~ c:

Chapter Eight:

It's nice to see old friends

"Comfortable?"

Kinri rumbled gleefully from her lounging perch atop the ostrich-horse's head, her tail curling around one of it's ears.

The beast just sighed, shaking it's head slightly so she wouldn't fall off as it continued to plod down the dusty path.

They had left the run-down building they had been staying in, and were traveling in the direction of the desert. At least that's what she'd heard the old man say. She didn't know what a desert was, but she guessed it was somewhere hot, because every day they traveled it seemed to get hotter and hotter.

Not that the heat affected her very much. It seemed that the more sun she was exposed to, the stronger and more at ease she felt.

She closed her eyes in contentment and ruffled her wings, stretching out her forelimbs. Her side no longer ached as it once did, and the ugly bruise had faded as well. Even the scrapes from chasing after her person had healed up quickly after soaking in some sunlight for awhile.

The old man started to groan and she arched her neck to peer over Zuko's shoulder to stare at the Uncle curiously.

She didn't really know how bad his wound was, all she'd ever seen was the bandages, but he hadn't looked so bothered by it before.

"Maybe we should make camp." Zuko suggested, turning in the seat to look back at the older man.

"No please, don't stop just for me." Iroh rasped, and her person turned back around.

Kinri tilted her head to the side as the old man let out several more exaggerated groans, and Zuko finally pulled back the reins with an annoyed expression.

As the two dismounted, she slid down the ostrich-horse's neck and stood curiously on it's back, watching as the old man sat down on a flat boulder.

"Do you think he's okay?" She asked, flicking her gaze over to the hybrid, but before it could answer, a distant thudding reached her ears and she stiffened, the ostrich-horse letting out a startled croak a moment later.

"What now?" Iroh grumbled, but her person had already shifted into a fighting stance.

Kinri's eyes widened as the bushes and rocks around them started to tremble from the tremors that shook the ground. She whipped her head around towards her person, and the thought of him running after the danger without her struck her.

She leaped off the hybrid's back, latching onto her person's shirt with her claws as she landed.

"Wha-Kinri?!" He reached around his back but his fingers barely brushed her wings before she crawled into the wrappings around his stomach.

The thundering sound surrounded them now, but Kinri couldn't see past the bindings she had wriggled into. She didn't really think this through, but it seemed the only way to keep her person from flinging her to safety. With a frustrated huff she worked her way through the wrapping, trying to find an opening.

.

Zuko's eyebrows were knit together in agitation as he felt the little dragon squirming around on his back where he couldn't reach her. But he had a bigger problem on his hands.

Like the five men on rhinos that had him and his uncle surrounded.

"Colonel Mongke!" Iroh exclaimed cheerfully, setting his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "What a pleasant surprise!"

The prince sent him a confused look, but his attention snapped back on the man in front of them, the one his uncle addressed as Mongke, as he started speaking.

"If you're surprised we're here, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps." The man scorned, and he and the other men began readying their weapons.

"You know these guys?" Zuko asked, fingers twitching with the urge to grab at the writhing dragon on his back but not wanting to draw attention to it.

"Sure." His uncle said smoothly, rubbing his injured shoulder. "Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapons specialist...they are also a very capable singing group."

"We're not here to give a concert," Mongke snapped, "we're here to apprehend fugitives!"

"Would you like some tea first? I'd love some." Iroh asked slyly, glancing over at a bearded rider. "What about you, Kahchi? I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?"

Kahchi only blinked, the grip on his weapon not changing.

"Enough stalling!" Mongke barked, "Round 'em up!"

The man with the bogo suddenly swung the weighted chain at Iroh, who kicked it aside, sending it to wrap around the leg of Kahchi's rhino.

Flaming arrows shot towards him and he rolled across the ground, slapping the rear of the chained rhino as he rose to his feet. The animal ran, yanking the saddle the chain was connected to along with the man seated on it after it, dragging him across the dirt while Iroh waved cheerily after them.

The whistle of an arrow made Zuko twist around just in time to chop the flaming missile out of the air, sending a concentrated blast of fire at the archer that burned a hole in the bow and snapped the string, leaving it useless.

Iroh rejoined him as Mongke suddenly came forward, shooting fireballs at the old man who deflected each one of them easily.

Zuko ran around the rhino, dodging its thick tail as he leaped onto its back. The colonel only had time to parry one of the prince's flaming kicks before Zuko spun around a second time and sent Mongke flying over the beast's side.

.

There!

Kinri popped her head out into the open, blinking at the ground that was spread out above her and the sky that loomed beneath her.

Last she checked it was supposed to be the other way around...

Her eyes fell on an upside down man who was getting to his feet a few paces away, and it took her only a few seconds to realize that she was the one who was upside down.

The man strode toward her and Zuko, the feathers on his head dirty and crumpled.

Was he part bird?

Wait, that didn't matter right now.

This man-bird is dangerous, she realized when she saw the rage ablaze in his eyes, this man-bird will hurt my person if I don't do something.

Fiery warmth spread inside her as the urge to protect her person from this unknown danger flooded through her. She growled ferociously, opening her jaws wide and shooting a stream of fire towards the man-bird.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to surprise him and give her person time to jump off the creature he was standing on and onto the ostrich horse that Iroh was already riding.

A masked man on a rhino was chasing after them, and she clutched tighter at the bindings, squeezing her eyes shut as he threw a flaming thing towards them that exploded on their right, covering them in black smoke.

When the ostrich-horse kept running, she cracked open her eyes, watching as the clouds of smoke rolled harmlessly behind them.

She relaxed, then squeaked as a hand closed around her and pulled her out of the bindings.

Kinri met her person's narrowed eyes with a nervous grin, but after a moment he sighed and her grin became a smile as she wriggled happily in his grip.

He isn't mad!

His glare returned.

Ah...

"It's nice to see old friends." The old man said, capturing her person's attention as they looked over their shoulders.

"Too bad you don't have any old friends that don't want to attack you." Zuko commented dryly, looking back at the Uncle.

"Hmm...old friends that don't want to attack me..." Iroh echoed thoughtfully with wide eyes as he rubbed his shoulder.

.

"Colonel Mongke, sir...is something wrong? You seem troubled."

The man in question was rubbing his temples, staring into the fire in the middle of their camp. He looked up at his bow-wielding subordinate with hard eyes. "Have you ever seen...is it possible…"

After a moment he sighed, shaking his head and turning his eyes back to the crackling embers.

"No, nevermind..."

The other man hesitated for a moment, then walked away in confusion, but Mongke knew the man wouldn't have believed him, or would've at least laughed at him for what he'd thought he'd seen…

A firebender who could shoot flames out of his butt.

xD

that last part could have gone either way, and well...

i thought a little humor would do nicely x3

thanks for reading~! ^-^