New chapter! The groups finally meet! Please check out my new fanfic called The Fire Garden. Read and Review! Enjoy my loyal readers!
Zuko ran swiftly and consistently. He knew Azula would be furious when she finds out that he left. The fire prince worried that his uncle would have to suffer the consequences that we intended for Zuko. He mentally promised himself that his honor would not be fulfilled until he returned and rescued Iroh. But for now, he had to find Ashayna.
The soft underbrush of the grass and leaves crunched rhythmically under his feet as the prince thought – an action of his that never had positive consequences.
According to Ashayna's letter – or little did he know, Azula's letter that was made to seem like Ashayna's – she wanted him to find her, to rescue her from helping the Avatar. The letter was puzzling, but Zuko knew that if he did not help her, he would never know what happened to her; he would never forgive himself for losing her again.
The letter was folded neatly into the pocket next to the left side of his chest. He felt the bulge of the instructions as he ran.
The first instruction Ashayna had written for him had been, "Run towards our favorite star." This was an easy one for Zuko who remembered when he and Ashayna would spend nights up on the palace roof, watching the stars and naming them. They had decided that their favorite one had been "Pandisius," the star of the west.
Zuko ran west, looking for his new instruction. "Cross the bridge closest to your memories." The boy did not know what he was looking for, but he trusted Ashayna.
The soft underbrush of the grass and leaves crunched rhythmically under her feet as Ashayna tried to keep her breathing quiet. A fireball zoomed overhead and Ashayna continued to run, at a crouch, away from Samuel. Even when she was young, everyone said that Ashayna was a better runner than a fire bender.
She heard Samuel laugh. "How is this practicing fire bending?" she heard him puff as he tried to talk while he ran after her. "Stand up and fight you sissy." Ashayna laughed and complied, standing up for a second to release fire from her fingertips. The fire strands flew like pieces of string, ready to hit the victim with lots of stings of fire. Samuel ducked them yet by the time he stood up again, Ashayna was crouched over and running again.
They continued to run, farther into the forest.
Sokka and Toph landed hurriedly before slipping off Appa and running into the cave. The Earth King attempted to mirror the teen's nimbleness but only succeeded in falling off Appa. No one seemed to care about him though.
Aang and Katara were about to eat when their two friends came running into the cave. "Look Sokka, you came just in time for food!" exclaimed Aang.
"No time," he huffed, bending over to catch his breath.
"What's wrong Sokka? You never turn down food?" asked his concerned sister.
"What Snoozles is trying to say, if he could catch his breath, is that we saw fire benders in the forest. A couple fire benders generally leads to hundreds. We both believe that we need to get our tooshies out of here before we get burned to a crisp," Toph explained eloquently, as always.
Aang and Katara looked at each other. Aang nodded his head. "Yes, we've been here long enough. It is not safe anymore. Lets go."
The gAang started to clean up their campsite but was disturbed by a ball of fire flying through the camp where it landed in the small pond with a hiss.
"Fire benders!" screamed Katara.
Ashayna was about to shoot another attack at Samuel when she found herself stumbling into a clearing. The girl laughed at her clumsiness before hearing someone else scream. Surprised, Ashayna stood up quickly and looked at the clearing she had just stumbled into.
It was a giant clearing with a small pond and a cave, leading into the mouth of a hill. Not only that, but there was a giant fuzzy animal, a bear, an old person, and four teenagers who looked ready to murder her. She felt a hot hand up against her neck.
"Gotcha!" yelled an excited Sam before he too realized the situation he was in. The two groups of teenagers stared at each other. One's gaze filled with hatred, the other filled with surprise.
Before Ashayna and Sam opened their mouths, they were bombarded with attacks of earth, water, and air. The two created a firewall to protect them. Neither knew what possessed the four teens they had just interrupted to attack them. Sam and Ashayna just knew they wanted to get out of there and back to their ostrich horses.
They turned to run away but were blocked by an air nomad who flew over them and stood as if daring them to try to leave. The firewall was put out by the water bender and now the pair was trapped, surrounded by the four crazy kids.
Sokka, one of those "four crazy kids," called out, "Don't get close to them Katara. Aang, keep a close watch to see if anymore fire benders are coming. Toph… I think the food is burning, go check it."
Toph rolled her eyes but did not move. Ashayna and Samuel looked at each other in shock. With the air nomad facing them, and the three others surrounding them, they could not do much defensively. Even if Shay and Sam could get away, they would not; Ashayna knew where she was now.
"Avatar…" Ashayna started to walk towards the air nomad with the blue tattoos. A boomerang cut right in front of her face and she halted.
"NO CLOSER!" shouted Sokka as the boomerang landed neatly in his hand. Aang, however, seemed to drop his defensive expression.
Ashayna stopped, although annoyed at the hostility. "Avatar, I am a friend. I've been sent by the spirit of Avatar Roku to teach you fire bending." The young girl swooped into a low bow and Samuel reluctantly followed suit. When the rose, both girls and the avatar had dropped their fighting positions and were looking at the pair questioningly. The eldest boy, Shay was not sure what his name was, was still ready to fight.
"Don't listen to her, Aang! It's just a trap."
"Shut it Sokka, I think we should at least see what they have got to say…I'm Aang"
"I'm Shay and this is Samuel," Ashayna introduced, still feeling a little hesitant after being attacked by the people she was supposed to be helping. And yet, the avatar beamed at her; his face looked trusting. Ashayna smiled back.
"This is Katara, Toph, and Sokka!" the boy introduced his friends. Katara and Toph acknowledged the new teens. Sokka stood sulkily, off in the distance.
"If I may interrupt! I think the food is burning!" intruded the Earth King. Katara cried out and ran back to the cave. Toph muttered, "mindless sugar queen," and walked back to help Katara.
"You can tell us the rest of your story at dinner. Lets eat," invited Aang. Ashayna and Samuel accepted and started to walk with the Avatar.
Ashayna looked at her feet as she walked. She had a lot of explaining to do tonight in order to get this group to trust her and Samuel. She looked over her shoulder, back at the eldest boy, who walked behind them glaring. She had more than a lot of explaining to do.