Chapter 7

Eona
Small Earth Kingdom Inn, later that night

Glancing around the room, Eona sighed. There wasn't much to it, but it would have to do. Even with only a hammock in the corner and a small dresser, the room felt cramped. She dropped her bag next to the dresser, and then sat in the hammock, almost afraid to trust her weight to it. It held, thankfully.

Charan poked his head in from the hall. "Your room as pathetic as mine?" he asked, his tone full of mock cheer.

"Uh huh," Eona grumbled, swinging lightly in the hammock.

"Hopefully we can find this guy soon and you can go get that money from my dad, because after buying me a sword, enough food for a week, and renting these two rooms for the night, I think we're officially out," he said as he moved to lean against the wall near the hammock.

"Dang bandits," Eona grumbled.

"Just be grateful I kept my money on me and they didn't think to search us," Charan commented. "We would have been left with nothing."

"I had too much to carry in my pockets. You saw that," Eona muttered, leaning back in the hammock. It was surprisingly comfortable. She left one leg hanging out to push herself lightly, enjoying the swaying.

"Yeah, and they were all Fire Nation coins, too. What'd you do, rob daddy before you ran away?" he asked, teasing.

"Yup," Eona confirmed, not the least bit ashamed.

Charan chuckled. He fell silent, and Eona glanced at him. She was beginning to be able to guess a little about what he was thinking by his facial expressions. The one he wore now was very familiar; he was curious, but didn't want to ask questions and bother her.

She sighed, looking away. There was a part of her that was ready to just give up, and tell him what he wanted to know. He had figured so much out already, and she was beginning to learn it was very hard to keep secrets from him. Telling him would simplify things for her, a lot, but she still was unsure. After a long pause, she finally gave in. "I should probably explain a bit better, shouldn't I?" she muttered.

Clearly, she had caught him off guard by this. He was obviously used to her just blowing off his questions, refusing to tell him anything. "Well, yeah… if you want to, I mean," he stumbled, clearly unsure of how to respond to this.

She smiled a bit at his reaction, but it quickly faded. "Before I say anything, you have to know I've lied a lot by now, but I did it because I seriously thought I would be endangering myself and possibly others if I told the truth. Also, by telling you all this, I may be possibly endangering you as well… so I'm sorry for both," Eona warned.

He nodded, silently accepting this information. Part of her had expected some sort of joke, but she was grateful he was taking this seriously. She stayed silent for a minute longer, not sure where to begin. Well, might as well start at the beginning. "You've actually patched most of it together on your own, which is pretty amazing, so I'll just give you what you don't know. First, my name's not Hikari, its Eona." She paused when she saw his reaction; he seemed to recognize her name, which was weird.

"Eona…" he muttered, his eyes narrowed a fraction. "I know that name from somewhere." She realized it was suddenly very possible he had heard of her before; he was raised in an Earth Kingdom noble's home, so her name may have circled through conversation once or twice at formal meetings or at any moment when the two nations interacted. "Isn't that the name of the Fire Nation's crown princess?" He asked. She stayed silent, meeting his gaze, letting him connect the dots. He was smart; she figured it wouldn't take him long.

Suddenly his eyes widened in surprise and he exclaimed, "All this time, I've been with a princess and didn't even know it?"

She smiled slightly, "You could say that," she said softly.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Wow. Didn't expect that," he muttered. He tilted his head to one side as if contemplating something. "But now it all makes sense; I'm guessing you left because your sister took over somehow, and tried to have you killed? And since you don't like your father… I'm guessing he's in on it?"

She nodded. "Officially, I'm dead. Father wants me to return home so he can keep me locked up and away from the world, so I can't cause trouble with my sister. Problem is, she is the rightful ruler of the nation; father gave her that title lawfully, so there's nothing I could do about it. I really don't want to do anything about it, anyway."

"So you came to the Earth Kingdom, and became a bounty hunter," Charan finished.

"That's actually a pretty recent development. Your dad saw me fight off an idiot who threatened me. Apparently I impressed him, because he offered me a job. Knowing the money I had taken from home wouldn't last long, I agreed. And then we wound up here," she corrected.

He nodded again, staying silent for a minute, "So we might very well run into those bandits again pretty soon?" he asked.

"Uh huh. In fact, I'm counting on it; that's why I insisted on you buying that sword, even though we're a bit low on money," she agreed.

"Fun… and now they'll be expecting the bending, so they'll think of better ways to keep us locked up, other than flammable ropes," Charan grumbled.

"I don't intend on giving them a second try; after we complete the job for your dad, I'm heading to the South Pole. They wouldn't dare follow me there; tension between the Fire Nation and South Pole is bad enough as it is. They wouldn't risk an all-out war just to retrieve me."

"I don't know… those bandits seemed pretty ruthless. I don't think they'd care one bit what they caused, as long as your dad paid up when they delivered," Charan mused.

Eona considered this for a moment. "Maybe. Still, I'm willing to try it. Heading there would at least throw them off, and then once we're out of Earth Kingdom territory, I could bend freely; the poles have no laws against it."

Charan nodded. "I guess with some of that money from my dad we should invest in some warmer gear," he pointed out.

"You sure you want to come with me?" Eona asked, just a bit surprised he was still willing to follow her. She had expected he would stay when she left for the pole.

Charan shrugged. "Why not? It beats going to a stupid rich kid's school."

"Well, I'm pretty sure it would be safer there… as long as none of the teachers tried to kill you," Eona joked.

Charan smirked. "I'm not sure about that. I've heard some pretty crazy thinks about the teachers there. They have a killer late policy."

Eona chuckled. "If you say so."

After a moment of silence, Charan said, "Hey Eona?"

She looked back to him. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for telling me. And thanks for trusting me," he told her.

"Yeah well, just don't disappoint me," she replied, unable to resist pointing out that what she had told him was still touchy information.

"Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me," he replied, smiling softly.

She nodded, and then, after an uncertain pause, added, "Thanks for letting me tell you. It was good to actually be honest with somebody for a change."

He shrugged. "That's what friends are for, right? Besides, I've been told I'm easy to confide in." Then he pushed himself away from the wall, seeming satisfied with the conversation. "Well, I'm going to go see if my meager room offers any comfort in the way of rest. See you tomorrow."

She waved halfheartedly, and then moved to shut the door after he was gone. Alone with her thoughts, she suddenly discovered a weight she realized she hadn't been carrying had lifted from her shoulders, suddenly making her feel relieved.

Avani
Nearing a river at the base of a canyon pass, south west of the port town

Avani stared down at the darkening valley in front of her, wishing the sun had stayed just a bit longer, so she could make out more details. The group was slowly pouring out of a large canyon, and beyond was supposed to be the river they would take the rest of the way down the countryside.

Once they reached the river bank, they quickly set up camp along the shores. Most were exhausted from the long hike through the mountains, carrying three boats big enough for the group. Avani had taken a turn helping haul one of them, and knew very well just how inconvenient it had been. Despite her exhaustion, she struggled to get to sleep. She realized she was anxious for the coming days, knowing they could very well be filled with plenty of fighting. Plus, she now had to worry about being the Avatar. That wasn't something one just adjusted to.

After a long while, she finally managed to fall asleep. It felt like she had just barely dozed when someone shook her awake again. With a groan, she climbed out of her tent and glanced around. The sun hadn't risen yet, leaving the valley in the same half-lit state it had been in the night before. The boats were being slid onto the river's surface one by one. Avani helped collect supplies and place them in the boats.

Eventually, they started down the river, traveling at a quick pace. Waterbenders propelled them forward, Avani watching as the benders maneuvered the boats expertly along the winding river. There were a few groups that rotated in shifts, working completely in sink in a way Avani had never seen benders work before.

Arrkun was among them. She couldn't help but envy him a bit; he had grown up in a world where bending was allowed, even encouraged, and it showed in the way he expertly manipulated the water, unafraid to let his talent show. She caught herself watching him while he worked, no matter how hard she tried to pay attention to the rest of the benders as well.

In between two shifts, Arrkun joined Avani at the front of one of the ships. The two stood next to each other in silence. With a sigh, Arrkun leaned against the railing and said, "Well, we're on our way."

"Yeah. How long do you think it'll take us to get to open waters?" Avani asked.

"A week maybe? At this pace, it shouldn't take long," Arrkun answered. "I'm no expert though. You should ask my dad that, if you want an exact number."

Avani shrugged. After a few minutes, she asked, "So when will we stop to make camp?"

"Probably not until the morning. We decided after we got on the water that working at night would be faster. I don't know why we didn't think of it sooner. From now on though, we'll work through the night and sleep during the day," Arrkun explained.

"Great. That'll be interesting to adjust to," Avani grumbled. Arrkun chuckled.

They fell silent again for a while. "You think we're ready for this? For saving this Eona girl?" Avani asked when she couldn't stand the silence anymore.

He turned to her, one eyebrow raised. "We better be. If not, why in the world are we risking everything to save her?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder," she sighed.

He studied her silently for a minute, a questioning look in his eyes. "You okay?" he asked eventually, sounding genuinely concerned.

She forced a smile and nodded. "Just nervous. It's amazing what pressure being the avatar has put on me. It's been… hard to adjust."

"That's explainable; you've only had a couple days to adjust," Arrkun pointed out.

"Yeah. Hopefully it'll get better. I just… I hope I'll make a good avatar," Avani muttered, staring down at the water rushing by below.

Arrkun joined her against the railing, staring out at the setting sun in front of them. "The world could use a good avatar, couldn't it? Hopefully you'll be it."

"I thought that was the moment when you were supposed to say 'don't worry Avani, you'll do fine' or something else cliché," Avani joked.

"Why? There's no way I can know what's going to happen, or if things will turn out the way we want them to," Arrkun pointed out.

"I guess that's true," Avani agreed reluctantly. "A little reassurance would still have been nice though."

"Well, I can say I think you've got what it takes. Does that help?" Arrkun asked.

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, it helps a little." She said it only helped a little, but she would never admit how much it actually affected her to hear him say he had faith in her.

Glancing over his shoulder, Arrkun announced, "My shift starts up again soon." Turning to her, he added, "You'll be alright?"

"Yeah, sure," Avani replied.

He nodded, seeming satisfied, and then moved away. Avani turned back to the sunset ahead, her mind on the future.

Eona
The next morning.

"Alright, so what's the plan for tracking this guy down?" Charan asked as they exited the hotel the next morning.

Eona sighed. "My best guess would be to ask around for him. This was the last town your dad's informants saw him in. Someone should have seen him; he doesn't exactly blend in. Once we get an idea of where he is or where he's headed, we just keep looking for him until we find him, I guess…" She trailed off, realizing just how many holes there were in her plan.

As if reading her thoughts, Charan commented, "Great plan."

"I'm not too great at this, am I?" Eona said with a small chuckle. "What else are we supposed to do though?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Charan admitted.

"Asking random people it is then," Eona grumbled.

After several hours of asking, they finally came to a small, shady tavern on the edge of town. "Perfect place for a thief to hide while he's trying to sell his stolen family heirloom, right?" Charan said as they approached.

"Yeah, I guess. Let's be careful though, alright? I would rather not get in another fight," Eona cautioned.

Charan nodded, and the two entered the tavern. Glancing around, they took in the patrons. None of them matched the description of their thief. Eona pushed away her disappointment and moved toward the bar, hoping the tender had seen him. She asked about the thief, and couldn't help but get a bit excited when she saw the look of recognition on the bartender's face. "Yeah, I seen 'im. In fact, he was in here just a bit ago. 'e seemed to be heading out of town." He shrugged. "Looking for 'im for some reason?"

"Maybe. Thanks for your help. Keep this quiet, alright?" Eona told him, and then flicked a coin in his direction and hurried out.

"I think you just gave him our last bit of money," Charan grumbled as he followed her out.

"I had to make sure he'd stay quiet. That money will keep him satisfied. If he thinks its touchy information, he'll make everyone pay him to hear. I'm hoping that'll deter anyone asking into our thief."

"I guess you're right. So where to now?" Charan asked.

Eona gestured down the road, toward the nearest edge of town and open roads beyond. "He went that way, according to the bartender, so we will too. I'm hoping if we hurry we can catch up to him." Charan nodded. The two set off at a brisk pace down the road, scanning the surrounding area for any sign of their thief.

After only a few moments of walking, the sun set beyond the mountains. After a bit longer, Charan paused. "It's getting hard to see. Should we stop?" he asked.

Eona shook her head, unwilling to stop. "He might stop. This would be a good chance for us to catch up to him."

"How are we supposed to find him in the dark?" Charan questioned.

Eona paused a moment, glancing around. "I'm pretty used to the dark. I should be able to see him."

"But I can't."

"Then hope I don't miss him," Eona responded with a shrug.

Charan sighed, clearly unsatisfied by their current situation. Mimicking his sigh, Eona raised her hand and created a small flame in her palm. "There, does that help?" she asked.

Charan blinked rapidly, half from surprise and half from the sudden increase in light. The flame's light danced eerily on his face, and turned his hazel eyes slate gray. "Yeah, a bit," he muttered, watching the flames in fascination.

Eona turned away, a bit self-conscious under his gaze. She still wasn't used to him knowing she could bend, any more than he was used to her bending, and it was obvious in the way he looked at her. She continued down the road in silence, trying to ignore his not-so-subtle glances. Just when she was about to snap, she noticed the glimmer of fire deep in the trees to her left. "Look," she said, pointing to it.

"I see it. Could it be him?" Charan asked.

"Only one way to find out," Eona decided. She headed off the path, toward the distant campfire. She crept silently through the forest, reminded of the nights she would sneak from her room down to the unused courtyard to practice firebending. Charan stayed close, surprising her at how well he kept quiet. As they neared the fire, Eona doused hers, not wanting to alert anyone to their presence. Once they were close enough, she parted the bushes in front of her quietly, and peered through.

Sitting in front of a small camp fire was a lone man, digging through a pack. He pulled out a small roll, before glancing around cautiously as he ate it, almost as if he was expecting someone to appear out of nowhere. It took Eona a few minutes to discern his features in the dim light, but she was sure he had dark skin and light gray hair, just as Ilesh had described. She glanced at Charan next to her. He raised an eyebrow in question. She nodded, and then motioned for them to attack. With that, she jumped out of her hiding spot, sword drawn. The man jumped, clearly caught off guard. Charan circled around behind, his own weapon drawn. "I think you have something that belongs to me," he growled.

The man smirked. "So Ilesh's little pets caught up to me again, I take it? Good. I was just getting bored." He stood, moving with the fluid grace of a well-trained fighter, and drew a sword, holding it loosely off to one side with both hands. "You sure you want to do this, girl? I only left the last man alive so he could tell Ilesh to forget about his trinket." When Eona didn't respond, he shrugged. "Suit yourself."

He bolted forward, his sword separating to reveal it was actually two mid-swing. Eona parried, finding herself immediately on the defensive. Then Charan joined in, and the fight seemed a little more evenly balanced. Ilesh wasn't mistaking when he said this guy was a good fighter, Eona thought. She pushed herself harder, trying to get ahead of the man's attacks, but it wasn't easy. She stayed mostly on the defensive, managing only a few attacks here and there.

Just when Eona was beginning to think the man was tiring, he caught her by surprise, catching her sword between his. He yanked hard on them, causing Eona's grip to loosen on her sword. With a quick twist, he disarmed her, and then quickly attacked again. Eona dodged, trying to move closer to her sword, but he pushed her back with a few well-placed swings. Charan attacked from behind, giving her a moment to find her balance. She glanced at her sword, knowing the thief knew exactly where it was and wouldn't let her get to it again. Deciding she had no better option, she called flames to her hands.

The man glanced at her, looking surprised. He parried an attack from Charan, and, apparently deciding she was the bigger threat, turned on her. She dodged his attack, and then with a punch sent a fireball towards the man's face. There was no way he could dodge completely; it hit him on the shoulder as he slid to the side. He cried out in pain as the fire burned his flesh, and dropped the sword that hand had been holding. Gritting his teeth in pain, he barely managed to avoid Charan's next attack.

Pressing her new-found advantage, Eona continued to throw bending attacks at him. He struggled to keep up. She burnt him again a couple times, eliciting a cry of pain from him each time. There was a part of her that withered at the sound of his pain—she had felt the sting of a burn from time to time, and knew how painful it could be—but a cold clarity had come over her, focusing her attacks and forcing her to ignore what she was causing.

When she caught him on the leg, he stumbled into a tree, and Charan pressed his sword against his neck. The thief paused, breathing hard, pain written plainly across his face. After a few tense seconds, he dropped his sword, raising his good arm in defeat. "Take the heirloom. It's in the pack. Let me live."

Keeping his gaze on the thief, Charan commanded, "get the heirloom. I'll keep him here." She nodded, letting the fire on her hands die, and quickly moved to the pack.

She opened it, rummaging through the contents before pulling out a small egg-shaped object encrusted with jewels and a small insignia. "This it?"

Charan nodded after glancing her way. In the split second his gaze was turned away, the thief reacted, punching Charan hard in the stomach. Charan doubled over, coughing, his sword moving away from the man's throat. The man kicked out, knocking Charan back, and then reached for his sword. He stood again, poised to strike Charan. Eona reacted without thinking; she shot a stream of fire in his direction, high enough to avoid Charan, but dead center on the man. He screamed as the flames enveloped him, and then he slumped against the tree, falling silent.

Charan glanced up, wide eyed, at the man. "Is he… dead?" he asked, his words barely audible.

Eona grimaced at the man's appearance and turned away. "If he isn't now, I doubt he'll live long," she muttered, suddenly feeling sick. I did that, she thought, surprised at how upset she was. She knew very well how dangerous fire was, so why was the results of her actions so revolting to her? "Come on, let's get out of here."

Charan stood slowly, his gaze still fixed on the man's body. She moved to his side, wondering if he was injured. "Are you hurt?" she asked, reaching a hand out to lay it on his shoulder.

He turned to her, a weird light in his eyes. "Aren't you the least bit affected by this?" he asked softly, his tone cool.

She blinked in surprise. "Of course I am. I've never killed someone before, and it wasn't something I had planned to do, but I acted. What's done is done; there's no reason to mourn over this man."

His eyes glazed over as he stared past her for a minute. "I think I know why most fear benders now," he commented.

She pulled her hand away, shocked, and just a bit hurt. "What are you talking about?" she asked warily.

"Benders are different in many ways, but this is the reason non-benders fear you. You treat other's lives so lightly. He was a threat to you, so you removed it without a second thought. You know very well that you are powerful, and aren't afraid to use it," he explained. There was no emotion in his voice, only a calm calculation.

"So do you fear me now?" she asked bluntly.

He turned to her. "No. But I fear what you can do. I power like that should be feared. I simply understand why now."

She turned away, trying to hide the sorrow building inside her. She had hoped it would never come to this. "Fine. Leave then, if you must, but don't turn me in. Remember, I saved your life, twice."

"I still don't plan on leaving," he told her, catching her off guard.

She turned back to him. "What? Why not?"

"I said I feared your power. But I respect you as well, and am grateful for what you have done for me," he clarified. "You did what you had to. If it were me in your situation, I can't say I would have had the courage to take another's life to protect those I care about." She stared at him, wide eyed and unsure what to say. He smiled slightly. "Wow, I managed to leave you speechless. Was I too harsh? You did ask for the truth, always."

She shook herself from her stupor, contemplating his words before responding. "No. Actually, I like hearing the truth. I've lived a life of lies, and I'm tired of it. Hearing this from you helps clarify a few things. Thank you." She bowed, wanting to show just how much she appreciated his honesty.

He seemed just a bit surprised, and then returned the bow. Then, taking the heirloom from her, he muttered, "Let's get this back to my father."

Author's notes:

Charan's first encounter with how brutal fire can truly be! I think he handled it well. Hopefully he remains so understanding…

For those that have already read chapter 4 before I posted this one, I added a description of the thief that Eona and Charan go off of in this chapter.

I think updates will be about monthly now. That's what I'm shooting for.

Please, if you liked it, leave comments, suggestions, whatever! I love to hear from my readers!