The hut was dimly lit by the sunset through the thick canvas acting as a door.
Katara had been dozing on and off, as her hands were tightly bound behind her back. When she tried to reposition herself the ropes rubbed against her raw wrists and she winced.
She looked up to see if Zuko had returned yet. She was sweating excessively and desperately wished to change out of the soaked clothes.
The door was painfully vacant and Katara just noticed how thirsty she was, and how hunger gripped her when her stomach growled impatiently.
She dropped her head on the ground and just stared emptily at the doorway, waiting.
After twenty minutes, Katara's ears perked when she heard footsteps coming towards the hut. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the look of satisfaction on Zuko's face of her curled up on the ground, sweating and miserable, weak, helpless.
She heard the canvas rustle as Zuko stepped into the hut, she was sure it was him for he entered briskly, no pause. He sat down a bag near the entrance and stopped for a moment. Katara's heart quickened, terrified what he would do next.
She heard him walk over softly to her and she felt his hands on her. She bit back a gasp and resisted jerking herself away from. His hands lifted her up, supporting her back and scooting her to the wall of the hut.
Katara thought of the sweat beading down her face and wondered if he would unbind her hands, she could use that against him. She had bended with her sweat before.
But, as if he read her mind, he dried her with a small rag, ridding the sweat off of her. She inwardly cursed and awaited anxiously to see what he would do next.
He untied her hands and she yearned to strike out at him, but with a shock she realized her arms were too weak. She had been lying on the ground for a whole day it felt like, and she hadn't had any nourishment. Zuko must've noticed her arm twitch, because he chuckled softly.
"I knew you were awake." he said and she opened her eyes.
"How long do you plan to keep me here?" Katara asked weakly, no emotion in her face. She only stared, wishing he would just let her go.
Zuko's face was impassive. "You know the answer. Do you want food?" he asked sitting on the ground a few feet back from her. Inwardly Katara was surprised. He was actually planning on feeding her. She concealed a smirk. What was he thinking? Allowing her to gain strength?
"What did you do to it?" she demanded, eyeing the bad in the corner suspiciously.
"Nothing," he said simply. "The Avatar won't want you dead. I need you to keep your strength up, unless any unpleasant visitors appear." he reasoned.
"What unpleasant visitors do you know?" Katara couldn't imagine Prince Zuko having any enemies who could be considered legitimate threats.
Zuko's face was bitter. "My sister, for one." he answered. Katara nodded in comprehension. Azula was definitely somone to consider a threat.
Katara stared at the bag of food. "Oh, fine. Yes I would like food." she said grudgingly. She did not want to accept anything from him except her freedom.
Zuko began preparing the food which turned out to be a freshly baked loaf of bread and some large berries along with a water sack.
"I can't stay long, so once I leave, I'll have to bind you up again." Zuko said handing Katara the water bag.
"What, where are you going?" she demanded rubbing her wrists.
Zuko looked up from packing the bag. "I'm meeting someone," he said sharply. Katara blinked.
"Who?" she said, wondering who he could possibly be meeting with. Maybe his uncle? No, his uncle would've been closer with him if he had been traveling with him.
"It's no one of your concern," he spat sharply and Katara knew in an instant who he was meeting— but it was absurd.
"You're meeting a girl!" she said in disbelief. "While I'm stuck in this tiny shack tied up, you're going on a date. You're unbelievable." she said bitingly.
"It is not a date!" he said vehemently. "She may have valuable information." he said, though there was a catch in his breath and he didn't keep eye contact with Katara.
"Liar. She caught you off guard and you don't want to blow your cover. Does she know you already have a girl tied up waiting for you to come home? I bet she would love to hear that story," Katara said angrily. Zuko jerked around towards her and glared down at her.
"Listen!" he said crouching down and facing her. "I know girls get a little antsy when they're just sitting in a small hut doing nothing, but I would appreciate it if you would keep your mouth shut and cooperate. I won't hesitate on dumping you in a totally dark room where you'll have nothing but your own thoughts to haunt you." he threatened into her ear.
Her heart quickened when his body leaned over her. She gritted her teeth. "Let me go," she whispered. He pulled back and looked down at her, his eyes empty.
"No," he said and she let out an anguished cry of frustration and with all her strength that appeared out of nowhere she was able to throw her body at him, her shoulder bruising the side of his mouth. He collapsed on the ground and he groaned in pain. He caught her by the waist as she tried to roll out of the hut.
"Are you really going to make me have to bind you up? I thought you were the smart one in the group." he said and he threw her over his shoulder and stuffed her in a small bag that looked like a sleeping bag. He slid her in with ease and tightened the straps.
She felt as if she was in a thick, tightly woven cocoon. She squirmed, but that seemed make the bag tighter.
"I wouldn't advise that," Zuko said. "It gets tighter every movement you make. I wouldn't try to escape." he said and Katara glowered at him furiously.
"Zuko! When I get out of this you are so dead! You are making me mad, I'm not even kidding, I don't even know when you'll be back you could be taken or killed and I would be stuck in this rotten device for the rest of my miserable life!" Katara shouted angrily.
"That won't happen," he said calmly, shouldered the pack, and left.
Katara felt as if an organ inside of her might explode. What was his deal? He did that just so he could she her freak out, and she couldn't do a darn thing.
As Katara fumed, imagining all of the lovely awful things she could do to Zuko if she wasn't tied up— she heard a rustling from outside of the canvas.
A figure entered the tent.
Zuko set off for the bar, his thoughts on Jaida. Maybe she did know something regarding the whereabouts of the Avatar.
He would have to find out. He arrived at the bar fifteen minutes earlier than was scheduled, he didn't care he wanted some time to think.
He hadn't really planned on his next move when the Avatar showed up. There was also another thing he hadn't factored into his plan. The Avatar's new friendly aliens. Zuko didn't appreciate the new firepower the aliens brought with them, it was deadly and weakened his odds at finally capturing the Avatar for good.
He figured he would just threaten Katara's life and demand Aang come alone. That would keep them at bay, if only for a few minutes. He was glad his uncle wasn't there, he would highly disapprove of Zuko's lack of thought in his abrupt latest plan. But on the other hand Zuko sorely missed him. Zuko wouldn't deny it wasn't lonely traveling solo, it was miserable.
But he wouldn't be traveling much for long, he would soon see his uncle. After he captured the Avatar, he would find his uncle and they wouldn't have to be refugees any longer.
Zuko stared off, holding onto the lingering thought when someone scooted out a bar chair abruptly. Zuko jerked his head over and he was blinded by Jaida's beauty, literally. He squinted at her as he tried to take her in.
She had dressed up for the occasion and he regretted not changing his sand coated clothes also mixed with sweat— what had he been thinking? Zuko ordered himself to calm down, it wasn't as if he truly intended to impress her. He only wanted information from her. That was his excuse for floundering and allowing himself to be forced on the date, he blamed her beauty.
She wore a tight fitting black jumpsuit with a silver belt around her waist. She had high heeled boots and her luscious black hair cascaded over her shoulders. Zuko assumed she was at least trying to impress him. He felt extremely inadequate sitting next to her.
"You clean up well," he noted politely. She flashed a smile at him.
"Wish I could say the same, you don't own anything nicer than that?" She demanded plucking Zuko's muddy sleeve. He backed away a little bit.
"Not really, I travel. I don't focus on fashion styles." he said trying to keep the resentment out of his voice. This is what annoyed him about girls. The fact that they only focused on the material items such as clothes. They also thought that the quality of someone's clothes defined who they were, and Zuko thought that was completely ludicrous.
He didn't want to end the date so soon, and the only thing that was keeping him from ditching her was the information about the Avatar. No, he would have to wait much longer if he was going to get anything good. He realized with a sudden pang that that meant he would have to submit to going along with her pretentious flirting.
"Oh don't worry, we'll get you something real fancy. Then we can go out to eat," Jaida said swiftly, pulling his arm and walking out of the bar.
"Why do I need to look fancy? There's nowhere fancy to eat and—" he stopped himself, suddenly remembering what his mother had told him along time ago when the one time he questioned her about the method of dating girls. Not that he had ever considered doing it frequently.
"Don't you ever let a girl know how you really feel about the date. If you make it look like you don't really care about the date, you'll lose her faster than a flame blowing out. Don't do it." she said and so Zuko kept his mouth shut.
He had almost said, "and it's just a date." he had a feeling that wouldn't bode well for him.
Jaida laughed. "But we are going someplace fancy,"
Zuko looked around. "We're in the middle of nowhere, where are you going to find someplace to—" he stopped as they halted in front of a carriage.
She smiled at him and the door opened, a little man holding the door open for them. "It's out of town, far away from this dusty desert." she said and she began to enter the carriage. Zuko reached out for her, almost like a reflex.
"Wait, I can't go this far out — " he said, but she cocked her head.
"That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?" she then leaned forward and gave him a lingering kiss. She drew back and smiled as he stared at her stunned. "Do you really want to stay?"
Zuko inwardly kicked himself for not refusing, but he really needed to get a lead on the Avatar, mostly on his weakness and to find out what his plans were.
"Fine," he gasped out and Jaida clasped her hand with his and they entered the carriage. Zuko stared out of the window as the door slammed shut, and they rode off.
What was he doing? he thought as the bar became more distant, and then faded away.
Aang hated the fact that Katara was with Zuko right now. He had no idea what he would be doing to her, if he would torture her or what.
He walked with Toph behind the two aliens, Ronan and Dr. Beckett. They were walking through what looked like a sandy ghost town, except every now and then there would be a rustling from inside the small huts, indicating a family was hiding from the outsiders.
"How much longer do we have to search this place? We have no idea where Katara and Zuko could be, or if they are even here anymore." Toph demanded, scuffing her feet as she walked.
"I'm a tracker, I know what I'm doing." Ronon answered gruffly back.
"How can you track him?" Aang asked curiously. Ronon didn't give any indication that he had heard him, so Aang returned to staring at his feet as he walked.
"I know what it looks like when people try to run. It's distinct from everyone else." he said after a moment. Aang looked up.
"Are we close?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager. Ronon flicked a glance at Aang, and then continued looking forward.
"I would think so," he said and Aang felt happiness swell inside him, like a balloon.
"Well do you think she could be in any of these huts?" Aang said and he stopped walking. He ran over to one of the huts and air bended himself up onto the roof. "Should we look in all of these huts?"
Ronon, Dr. Beckett, and Toph stopped walking and stared up at him. "Twinkle Toes, get down from there. You're scaring the people who live inside that hut," Toph said and Aang looked confused. He jumped off the hut and landed softly onto the ground. He turned around to see the door open with a terrified looking family inside, looking at him as if he was the strangest thing to walk these dusty grounds.
"Sorry!" he said and he hurriedly walked back to the group. Ronon returned walking along with Dr. Beckett.
"Do you have any estimation of how long until we find the girl, Ronon?" Dr. Beckett said in his thick accent. Aang wasn't familiar with it.
"Five minutes," Ronon said slowing his pace suddenly. Toph looked up in the sky and Aang looked at Ronon.
"Five minutes?" he said, shocked. Toph looked back at Aang.
"We should get inside somewhere. I don't want to be out here in the dark with Sand Raiders. They're really annoying." Toph said.
"How about that one?" Ronon asked, pointing to a hut on the very end of the row.
"We can't invade someone's home, Ronon, it'd be inconsiderate!" Dr. Beckett said, looking at Ronon sternly.
"Not if no one lives there and if a girl has been kept hostage inside the hut. I'd say it'd be inconsiderate not to go and free her." Ronon said and he started walked and Aang ran to keep up with him. They both made it to the hut long before Toph and Dr. Beckett caught up with them.
Toph heard a shout of relief, and recognizing Aang's voice, she quickly hurried into the hut.
Katara was on the floor, tightly bound in what looked like a sleeping bag. Her hair was sticking to her pale face from the sweat and she looked miserable. But the look on her face was pure joy as Aang hugged her.
"You found me!" she shrieked in a raspy tone. Aang looked at the sleeping bag, and then turned to Ronon.
"It's really tight on her, I don't see anything to make it lose. Do you have a knife or—" Aang began but the Doctor cut in.
"Aye son, let me cut her loose." Dr. Beckett said, fishing out a long silver knife from his bag.
"Doc, I have one right here," Ronon said flipping a knife out.
Dr. Beckett winced at the sight of the knife in Ronon's hand. "Aye, but I'd feel much safer if experienced hands were working it." he said and he ignored Ronon's look of protest and bent down near Katara and began cutting the tightly bound bag.
After a couple of minutes, the bag was severed and Katara sat up and Dr. Beckett cut the rest of the bindings. After he cut the cords around her wrists and ankles, he examined the raw skin that had been rubbed away.
He looked up at her. "I'll get you something for the pain, dear." he said and she nodded thankfully to him.
"How did you find me so fast?" Katara asked after awhile.
"That was fast?" Ronon asked, who had taken a seat near the opposite wall of Katara.
"Well usually it takes a least two days before…oh whatever. Are we leaving?" Katara asked and Ronon shook his head.
"There are Sand Raiders out there, we wouldn't make it very far." Toph said sitting next to Katara and giving her a drink out of the water skin they brought with them.
"Where are the others? Where's Sokka?" Katara looked at Ronon and Dr. Beckett.
"He went with Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, and Teyla to begin the negotiations in the North Pole, with the…" Dr. Beckett thought for a second.
"The Northern Water Tribe?" Katara said and Beckett nodded.
"Right, yes lassie. We planned to rendezvous back at the broken down puddle jumper. Am I correct, Ronon?" Dr. Beckett asked, now bringing over some medicine and applying it to Katara's wounds.
"Pretty much," Ronon affirmed. Dr. Beckett wrapped Katara's wrists and ankles.
"Now we need nourishment for the poor lass, Aang, would you bring me my pack by the door?" Dr. Beckett pointed towards the entrance of the door and Aang retrieved the pack.
Dr. Beckett produced five protein bars and Ronon gave him a curious look.
"I thought we ran out of protein bars," Ronon said and Beckett shrugged.
"Rodney begged me not to let Col. Sheppard know I had more left. He really wanted some meat." Beckett said and he began handing out the bars, and finally he gave one to Katara, he helped her open it.
Once everyone was fed, Dr. Beckett ordered everyone try to get some sleep, they would leave early in the morning. Ronon said he would take first watch and agreed with Toph that they would switch. Dr. Beckett didn't allow this and took Toph's place instead, and a begrudging Toph went to go sleep.
"Zuko might come back at any moment," Katara said, a bit worried to Aang as they settled to go to sleep. Aang patted her arm.
"Ronon knows how to defend us, he won't let him hurt you." Aang said and he and Katara locked eyes for a moment. "Neither will I."
"Hey, lovebirds, I'm sleeping in between you." Toph said abruptly and they both broke eye contact to look at Toph.
"Why?" they both said. Toph laughed.
"Because I don't trust you two. Now scoot over Aang," Toph said and Aang reluctantly scooted away from Katara and Toph wriggled in between them.
"Goodnight!" Toph said cheerily. "Goodnight," replied Katara and Aang.
It was a couple of hours before all three kids were asleep, and Ronon looked at a sleeping Dr. Beckett, propped up against the wall.
In just a few minutes he would have to wake him to switch watches. Ronon looked back at the three sleeping teens, and he was amused by Toph the most.
She had her short little arms and legs sprawled out everywhere, causing Aang and Katara to roll away from her and sleep as far as possible from her.
Ronon looked back to his knife he was inspecting and his thoughts wandered to how Sheppard and the rest of them were doing. He hoped they were as successful as they had been, finding Katara at last.
Ronon wondered what kind of teenager would tie up a girl just to capture a boy. A very powerful boy, but still, it would at least spare his honor by leaving the girl alone.
Maybe he was desperate to get back into his kingdom. He heard Aang and Katara telling them about how he had been banished for speaking out of term to the Fire Lord.
The Fire Nation didn't seem very pleasant, Ronon thought, and he couldn't wait to capture the boy who had caused this girl to suffer being kidnapped.
Ronon stabbed his knife into the dirt ground and he turned to Dr. Beckett to wake him up. Beckett's gun was pointing to the ceiling and Ronon carefully woke him, trying not to startle him into shooting the gun and collapsing the roof in.
Ronon's hand was barely an inch away from Beckett's shoulder when he heard the almost silent footsteps just outside. Ronon froze and he quickly retrieved his knife.
He heard someone stirring from behind him and he knew it would be Toph, she was the most sensitive out of all of them. Sure enough when he glanced behind him he saw the little figure of her popping up. He shushed her silently, putting a finger to his lips. She only stared at him and didn't move, he assumed she understood.
He turned back and slowly rose, and the canvas opened, Ronon heard a high-pitched shriek zoom past him and he grimaced, jumping back quickly. He blinked and rubbed the sand out of his eyes.
There was a head poking out of the sandy ground, sand littered what looked like a boy's head. Toph stared down at the head, her chest rising and falling. She looked up at Ronon and he only stared.
"He was going to singe your face to a crisp. You're welcome," she said curtly and kicked sand in the boy's eyes. He shouted angrily and shook his head, sand spraying everywhere.
Katara and Aang and Dr. Beckett were just waking up, looking around dazed. Katara got up from her bed and looked at the head, her eyes instantly darkened and she scooted back as far as possible. Aang instantly put himself in front of her protectively and he glowered at the head.
"Who is that?" Dr. Beckett asked, examining the boy's head. Toph gripped the boy's head, bended the sand down and the boy rose, exposing his true height. He looked to be seventeen, somewhere around in that age group.
Ronon got a good look at his face. His black bangs covered his forehead, but not totally obscuring the alarming burn mark that covered half of his face. He looked miserable and angry.
Toph held the teenage boy tight and said, "Ronon, Dr. Beckett, meet Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."
Ronon had pictured the Fire Prince more stocky build, but at the moment he looked skinny and underfed. The dark scar covering half of his face twitched as Zuko scowled.
He gave an angry shout and raised his fist. Ronon was briefly surprised to see the fist was on fire. Before Zuko could strike out a Toph there was a click and the Fire Prince froze. He looked towards the hut entrance behind him and there was Ronon's gun pointed directly into his face.
"I wouldn't touch her if I were you," he grunted threateningly Zuko looked at the gun, then at Ronon. His lip was curled into a snarl. His finger twitched on the trigger and Zuko slowly lowered his fist.
"Put the gun down, Ronon." Dr. Beckett advised, putting out his hands cautiously.
"Not until Scar Face swears off on the fire bending." Ronon said harshly. Zuko jerked his head at Ronon and glared angrily.
"I don't have to do anything you say," Zuko said advancing towards Ronon. Ronon pushed the gun at Zuko's chest and again aimed at his face.
"You sure about that?" he said.
"How do I know you're bluffing and that stupid device does nothing?" Zuko demanded.
Ronon grinned. "You wanna bet?" he asked, as if pleased him to see Zuko make such a daring statement.
"Ronon, put the gun down, he's no use to us if he's dead!" Dr. Beckett said now standing up. Zuko grinned as Ronon calculated this information.
"Quit smirking or I'll just shoot you now." Ronon snapped. Zuko shrugged.
"Fine," he said and he lowered the gun. "But I will shoot you if you attempt to harm any of us."
"What do you want from me? You've got the girl back, now release me!" he said angrily, ripping himself from Toph's grip. She allowed him to wrench away as Ronon wasn't letting move more than an inch.
"Hold it, Prince, we've got a couple of questions before we let you go." Dr. Beckett said quickly.
"We're letting him go?" Ronon said, looking at Dr. Beckett.
"What do you wish to kill him? Honestly, Ronon, if he hasn't done much then kidnapping I say let him starve in the desert. But shouldn't we at least try and get some answers from him?" Dr. Beckett asked. Ronon shrugged and stepped back.
"He's all yours," Ronon said and he leaned on the wall.
"Wait!" Toph said and she restrained him with heavy sand, wrapping him tightly, compacting the sand around his body so he could not move. "Alright, go ahead." Toph said and Beckett nodded.
Dr. Beckett looked wary of approaching the fire Prince but he did so anyway.
"Prince Zuko, is it?" he said, his voice cracking at the first syllable. The boy looked at him with dead eyes.
"Yes." he said, his voice emotionless.
"Why did you take away Katara?" he asked, Beckett's voice gaining strength as he continue to speak.
Zuko's eyes glanced over at Katara who was sitting on the ground next to Aang, backed away in the shadows. She looked at him with fierce eyes, but her face was fearful.
He looked back at Beckett. "It is no business of yours. Release me."
Beckett nodded. "Look, son, we already know why you took her." he said and Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Never mind that, did you destroy an engine out on our ship?"
Zuko looked up. "What?" he said. Beckett stared at the boy's blank expression.
"Did you blow up our engine on our ship back where you took the girl?" Ronon asked abruptly, stepping alongside Beckett and staring at Zuko intently.
Zuko's brow furrowed. "No, I didn't even know you brought a ship." he said.
Dr. Beckett froze and Ronon continued to stare at Zuko.
"What? Look, just let me go, you have no more reason to keep me here. I'll stay away from the Avatar and his friends for now, just let me be!" he said, his voice rising to a shout.
"Toph, let him go." Dr Beckett said softly. Toph looked surprised, and she looked to Ronon for approval. Ronon didn't move. "Toph, please." Dr. Beckett said and Toph only continued to stare at Ronon, waiting for a response. Finally Ronon gave a slight nod, and Toph bashed away the sand. It dissipated, only leaving sandy particle remains on Zuko's clothing. He fled at once, sliding through the canvas doors and vanished from sight.
"I hope that wasn't a mistake," Dr. Beckett sighed. Ronon looked at Beckett.
"You do realize there is a Wraith skulking around Ba Sing Se, don't you?" Ronon asked and Dr. Beckett tilted his head forward, as if Ronon had done something wrong.
"There's a what?" Katara said alarmed.
"Wait...those monster things you talked about?" Toph said, stopping dead.
"Yeah," Ronon said gripping his gun. The veins in his neck were strained; any mention of the wraith brought back vivid unpleasant memories that Ronon wouldn't hesistate to forget, not that he hadn't tried.
"The same monsters that suck the life out of you?" Katara asked in a hushed voice. Ronon nodded and Katara paled. Ronon doubted the people of this planet had any troubles worse than the fire nation, he suspected the very description of the Wraith terrified the three of them. Ronon didn't blame them, he knew Teyla had nightmares constantly, as did many other members living at Atlantis.
"We brought one to your world by accident. And now it's probably hunting." Ronon said, deadly serious. It was silent after Ronon spoke and Aang cleared his throat.
"Wait, we left at Ba Sing Se." Katara said, cocking her head. Ronon nodded. "It's hunting the people of Ba Sing Se?" she asked, looking up at Ronon, horrified.
"Yes. It will hunt by night at first, and try to sneak its way into the city. Then it will search every home for any living creature it can get its engery-sucking hands on.
"Shouldn't we go after it?" Aang asked, looking from Beckett to Ronon. Katara looked amazed at Aang, as if she was surprised he was so brave.
"It's almost daylight, we should get a few more hours rest before we return to Ba Sing Se." Beckett said, checking the outside, the sky was stark black.
"What about Sheppard and the rest of them?" Ronon asked.
Beckett was tying up the canvas and making a makeshift bed from his pack. "They best be happy they won't have to deal with the creatures. You can kill him quick though, if its only one?" Dr. Beckett said, flattening a thin sleeping bag down.
Ronon shrugged. "Sure, easy." he said.
"Then rest up, all of you. We need to make it back to the rendezvous tomorrow with Colonel Sheppard after we kill the bugger." Dr. Beckett said and Ronon looked at him.
"Colonel Sheppard didn't give us an exact time when they would be back," Ronon reminded Beckett.
Beckett shook his head. "No, he didn't tell you. He managed to mention it to me when he was departing, he decided it would be safer to have a set time. Now, I mean it everyone get some sleep!" Dr. Beckett said not unkindly, but in a stern voice.
Aang, Katara, and Toph all resumed to their beds. After everyone settled in, Ronon and Dr. Beckett were very conscious of the kids whispering. After almost five minutes of hushed whispers Beckett said, "Kids, sleep." and they fell silent. Ronon smirked and Beckett settled himself down. He looked at the gun by Ronon's feet.
"Your turn for watch." Ronon said and he shoved the gun towards Beckett and he took the gun, not looking pleased that he wouldn't get another few hours of sleep. Ronon turned on his side and closed his eyes, listening to the dry wind blowing around outside.
Intermingled with the sound of the wind was Aang, Katara, Toph, and Beckett all settling into their beds. Ronon wished they wouldn't be so loud with every move they made, it irritated Ronon and distracted him from falling asleep.
Finally he managed to fall asleep, if only for a few hours.