The 3rd Fire Nation Betrayer
CHAPTER 8! WOOT! Ok, so anyway, I hope you enjoy!
!R&R!
Azula stood there in the middle of the forest, her arms crossed. "Come on Zuzu! There's no hiding anymore!" Azula yelled, looking around for any sign of movement. She stood there, listening to a sound.
"Which way now?" Ty Lee asked Mai. They were riding their mongoose dragons for a while now. "It's been at least ten minutes, and by how fast these things run, we've probably traveled to the other part of the country!"
"Ty Lee… You are exaggerating… Come on; let's just keep going… Hey, I wonder if these mongoose dragons can sniff out Azula," Mai said, taking out a handkerchief that used to belong to Azula. She let the mongoose dragon sniff it and it quickly continued running. Ty Lee's mongoose soon followed. After about five minutes, the two girls reached Azula's mongoose dragon. "She's somewhere near here. We just have to look…" Mai and Ty Lee got off their rides and walked towards the forest.
"Azula!" Ty Lee yelled. She spotted her friend and ran towards her. They hugged. "Princess Azula, I have missed you!" Ty Lee said happily.
"Where's the Avatar? Did you find him or his stupid bison?" Azula asked.
"We saw their bison, but they went southern, over sea, and probably to the South Pole. We didn't want to risk you missing out, and our mongoose dragons drowning, so we wanted to come back and tell you the news," Mai said, looking around. "Why are you here?"
"I know Zuko's here somewhere," Azula said, still looking through the trees.
"Well then, why are we standing around? Let's look!" Ty Lee said gleefully. The small group ventured out.
Zuko heard almost every word the girls said. He started to run through the forest with his ostrich horse in the opposite direction and away from his danger zone. He finally got into the clearing and sat on his ostrich horse. The two ventured towards a crowded area far away from the forest.
"They will be staying in there for a while," Zuko said quietly, talking about the forest. He smiled slightly, thinking about what he would do in the earth nation village. 'You know, I have been to too many earth nation villages lately,' Zuko thought, glaring at the village. The closer he got, the more worried he was. What would he do once he got there, and what if Azula found him there? Those were the top two questions on his mind. He sighed, trying to calm down. 'I'll be fine…' Zuko thought.
Naomi looked around excitingly. "I said, what now?"
"Huh, oh… Uh, we should really get back to Gran-Gran now. I'm starving here!" Sokka yelled, walking up a hill.
"You are always hungry Sokka. Fine, let's go." Katara said, helping Toph walk through the snow.
"You better not bump into anything! This snow is just like the sand. It's hard to see anything!" Toph yelled through a big gust of wind. Naomi fell onto her back at the strong blast and giggled.
"You couldn't see anything to begin with," She said. Toph hung her head.
"Naomi, that was mean," Katara said sternly, looking back at her.
"Well, she can't! I don't get what she does anyway," Naomi said, getting up and following everybody.
"I can see with vibrations. Duh!" Toph said, turning to face Naomi.
"Please! Just stop arguing!" Aang yelled, sticking his staff into the ground. "I now have a headache!"
"Aang, just cool it," Sokka said, at the top of the hill. "Hurry! I'm starving!"
"We know Sokka," Katara said, annoyed. Naomi giggled. She enjoyed seeing Sokka angry.
"What are you laughing at?" Sokka yelled impatiently while waiting on the top of the hill. Aang, Naomi, Toph, and Katara finally reached Sokka. They all raced down the hill and towards the camping area.
"Hey, how long will we stay here?" Toph asked, stumbling slightly.
"Only for today. We'll leave after we eat probably." Katara said, grabbing Toph's hand again. The group walked into a tent where Gran-Gran just finished her cooking.
"It's all done kids, you can now eat. There's vegetarian stuff if you want, Aang. Don't give me that look, Sokka. You don't have to eat vegetarian junk if you don't want to!" Gran-Gran said sternly. She never was the happiest person in the world. Everybody ate hungrily, especially Sokka, who ate with great gusto.
"Uh, Sokka, you're going to get a stomach ache if you eat like that," Naomi said quietly.
"And how would you know that?" Sokka asked snootily. Naomi gave him a weird look.
"I'm good with health things. I hear it from people and read every scroll I can find that has something about health. If you live all by yourself, you really need to know what to do. I know which herbs to use for certain sicknesses and-"
"Blah blah blah…" Sokka said, flipping his hand back and forth. He continued to eat as if nothing happened. After a few minutes of silence, everybody finished.
"That went cold quickly," Naomi said, staring into the empty bowls with glazed eyes. The smell of meat was getting to her, so she was tired. "Can we go soon? I'm sorry, it's great here and all, and I like the cold and all, but I'm not used to it," Naomi said, stretching her arms.
"True… Thanks for the food Gran-Gran, but we better get headed for another place. I need to learn fire bending, and I don't think Naomi can teach me here… Things will melt," Aang said, grinning.
"What? Katara, Aang, Sokka, could I talk to you? In private?" Gran-Gran glared at Toph and Naomi, who quickly went outside. Aang grimaced a little, noticing his mistake. Never talk about fire in front of people, especially water benders. Aang, Katara, and Sokka, who just stood up, sat down again on the warm floor. "Now, what is this about fire bending? Is there something you all haven't told me?"
"Well, yes… Naomi's a fire bender, but-" Katara started.
"I don't understand! You are putting yourselves and the whole village in danger!" Gran-Gran yelled.
"No, you don't understand!" Aang argued. He didn't like arguing, especially in front of his best friends' grandmother.
"I think I do. I want her out! You are putting yourselves in a lot of danger!"
"Then, how else will I learn all of the elements? Will I just have to try again and burn Katara?" Aang yelled. Katara gazed into space, remembering that incident.
"I don't know," Gran-Gran said, irritated. "You just won't ok, I'm doing this for your own safety. Who knows what that girl will do to you? She's with the fire lord and against us!"
"No she isn't Gran-Gran! She's just fine, and that girl is very nice. She ran away from the fire nation. There's a lot for Naomi's story, you just have to give her a chance! Listen, if Naomi goes against us, we'll get rid of her, ok?" Katara said, upset. "I promise. Just please, give her a chance!"
"Just go. I'll send you a letter soon. Goodbye," Gran-Gran said, not looking at the three kids. Katara, Aang, and Sokka walked outside to see Naomi and Toph as bummed as they were.
"We heard everything. They need thicker material," Toph said quietly.
"Oh… Well, sorry Naomi… Come on, we have to go now," Aang said, leading the way towards Appa, who was under a shaded area. Everybody hopped on after saying goodbye to everybody. Appa flew over the horizon and over the ocean, headed towards the large piece of land they were on earlier that day. Naomi winced quietly.
"You alright Naomi?" Sokka asked.
"Yah… It's just my whole body hurts…" Naomi said, shaking a little bit. Katara glared at Sokka.
"I think it's the frost bites… You really need me to heal those Naomi!" Katara said, grabbing Naomi's mitten-covered hand. She took off the mitten, revealing Naomi's hand with a couple medium-sized reddish-purple marks. Naomi shrieked, half out of pain, half out of shock. She pulled her hand back and stared at it.
"I thought you said it wasn't that bad!" Sokka yelled.
"I didn't think it was! I don't know what happened… It didn't hurt when we were in the freezing cold! I didn't get to see my hands or anything…" Naomi sighed. "I think my temple area's injured too," Naomi said, touching the pain right next to her left eye.
"Yup… I bet you did. Knowing what Sokka can do to people makes you hope his next victim isn't you," Toph smirked.
"I did not hurt her! It was the stupid water's fault!" Sokka yelled at Toph. "Maybe I should choose my next victim. It'll be Toph Be Fong. I'll just throw you off of Appa and let you splatter on the ground where you belong!"
"Sokka you idiot! I can probably throw you off five times faster than you can throw me off!" Toph cracked her knuckles.
"Come on Toph, Sokka. Nobody's going to be splattered on the ground. And even if you could throw Sokka off and make us happy-" Aang started.
"What? But I thought you loved me… I'm the glue that holds us together! I'm the-"
"Sokka just shut your trap!" Toph yelled. Naomi groaned, reaching into her bag to grab her catbunny and an herb she had. Naomi pulled out both, putting her catbunny on her lap. She looked around.
"Does anybody have a thing of water?" Naomi asked.
"I do, but do you want it in a cup?" Katara asked, grabbing her gourd of water hanging on the side of her waist.
"Yah, but… It doesn't matter… Well, yes it does," Naomi said.
"Here, take this," Aang said, handing Naomi a small, stone bowl-shaped cup. He handed it to Naomi who poured water in it. Naomi made a tiny ball of fire in the palm of her hand and heated up the water, almost making it steam. She extinguished the fire and put the herb in the water. Naomi blew on the water, stirring it with her finger a few times. All eyes were on Naomi, (all but Toph) wondering what the heck she was doing. Naomi then set the cup on Appa's saddle and took off her other mitten and pushed up her sleeves, revealing a few more frostbites. Naomi poured the hot water onto her hands and lower arms.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Sokka asked, staring at Naomi's arms.
"Yah… A lot, but it's either my life, or a little pain," Naomi said quietly. "Or, something like that."
"Ok, uh, hey, Katara, Sokka? Why is your grandmother so crabby?" Toph asked.
"I don't know really. She's just lonely I guess…" Katara said.
"And old," Sokka added.
"Sokka!" Katara said sternly.
"What? The truth hurts Katara. Just like your glare."
"Ugh!" Katara slapped her brother lightly on the shoulder. "You can't say that to a girl Sokka, that's just not right."
"Whatever," Sokka said, looking at the upcoming ground. "Hey, Aang, when will we land? My legs are falling asleep."
"Soon Sokka… Just be patient… I don't really know where we are going to land anyway," Aang replied.
"I hope it's not another earth nation place. I'm tired of those!" Toph whined.
"I think it will have to be. We paid a visit to the water nation, the fire nation is definitely not on our list, and the air temples are deserted, so all we have left is the earth nation." Aang said sounding bored.
"The fire nation isn't too bad… Although, the only safe places are the deserted ones, and you can't find those easily," Naomi stated.
"Of course the fire nation is bad! It's evil I tell you!" Sokka yelled.
"Sokka, just shush!" Katara said.
"I think we should go there!" Aang pointed to an earth village. The one Zuko entered. "Naomi, so you don't have to worry about your other shirt with the fire nation symbol thing, just wear that, except without the jacket." Naomi was ahead of Aang. She had taken off her coat a minute ago.
"Ok, well here we go again. More earth nation…" Toph muttered.
"Toph, it's better than ice or metal right?" Sokka asked talking about the water and fire nation places.
"Whatever," Toph glared at Sokka. Appa quickly landed and the five kids jumped off, walking into the village. Naomi looked around with a bored expression on her face.
"So, what are we going to do here?" Naomi asked Aang. "There's nothing exciting."
"Of course there is!" Aang said, looking around desperately for something. "Hey, there's a tea shop," Aang pointed at a small building.
"Yay, hot leaf juice…" Sokka said quietly.
"Oh Sokka, tea's good for you. It may not be meat, but it's way healthier," Katara said, dragging her brother inside. The teashop was an old, dusty, cramped place filled with small tables and a counter with who knows what behind it. They all walked in.
"This place is… Nice," Naomi said quietly, looking around. She wiped her finger against a table, getting a thing of dust on the tip. "And dirty. If the place is dirty, the tea is dirty… I don't like it here."
"Come on. Let's just get a drink," Aang said. He ordered five cups of tea and motioned for the group to sit down at a table that was relatively clean. After a minute of silence, Sokka spoke up.
"Don't you think it's weird that Azula, Zuko, and all of them always know where we are?"
"Appa isn't shedding anymore, is he?" Toph asked, looking into nothingness.
"I don't think so. It's too late in the year for him to shed," Aang said, grinning.
"How much does Appa shed?" Naomi asked, taking the teacups from the waiter and putting them in front of everybody, who waited for them to cool down.
"Enough to make me think it was grass," Toph grinned, reminiscing.
"Wow. I understand though, because Appa's a big flying bison," Naomi took a sip of her tea, but quickly put it on the table, almost dropping it. She winced quietly.
"What?" Katara asked, drinking her tea as if it wasn't almost boiling temperature.
"It's really hot!" Naomi stated, shutting her eyes to help the pain on her tongue.
"It's not hot at all," Katara finished her cup of tea.
"I thought fire benders were supposed to love the intense heat," Toph said, sipping her tea.
"Well, then I must not be a fire bender according to you're thoughts," Naomi said, blowing on her drink. Sokka took a sip of his tea and paused, staring into the handle-less cup.
"You know? Hot leaf juice isn't that bad."
"See Sokka? I told you it was good!" Katara said, grinning.
"I hate it when she's right," Sokka whispered in Aang's ear.
"Well then you must hate life, 'cause she's always right," Aang whispered back. He laughed and Sokka glared at his sister.
Once everybody was done with their tea, they paid and walked out into the village.
"Where to now?" Aang asked, looking around.
"How about over there?" Katara said.
"But I don't want to sit down anymore!" Sokka whined.
"It's only one of those fighting arena things like the one Toph was in," Katara said.
"I can barely see a thing in those when I'm not on the stage!" Toph protested.
"Even if you could Toph, I don't think you want to go in there. Look," Naomi pointed to a young man who looked strangely familiar.
"Oh great," Katara mumbled.
Ok, I'm trying to do a cliff-hanging ending… You will just have to wait and junk… Merry Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and all of those other things you might do.((well, that is for the people who read this before the new year) Thanks for reading and please
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