I began to smell something very peculiar: lilac. Extremely powerful, then I could feel my shoes getting a bit wet. The smell of lilac was overwhelming, I could hardly breathe. I looked for the prince, and saw him up against a wall, caught there by the monster. The smell of the perfume, evidently dumped by the nuns that made it and the girl and boy, had confused the badger-beast so much it was blind. It struck, and hit Zuko directly in the chest. Twice more it struck: once almost hitting the avatar, who was quick to leap away, and another striking its rider, who fell in pain on top of Uncle Iroh. Although Uncle was not hit, he took the woman in his arms and lay on the ground with her, much to his delight and her disgust.

The terrible beast began scratching at its face, and running wildly around the abbey, until it leapt over the gates and escaped into the forest. I sighed, glad to be rid of the monster once and for all, but jumped when something humongous moved in the courtyard. The flying bison was recovering, and preparing to fly away with its three passengers. I looked at Zuko and Uncle on the ground, then back to the avatar. None of them saw me, but I watched them soar off high into the sky towards the ocean.

The air was still thick with perfume, and I coughed harshly before moving to check on Zuko and Uncle Iroh. Iroh had fallen asleep with the paralyzed woman in his arms, and Zuko lay crookedly against the yellow stone wall. One or two nuns peered out from their hideouts, and I started walking briskly towards them.

"Please, sisters, my Master is hurt. Show me to your hospital," I said as calmly and confidently as possible. The looked at me for a minute and didn't move. I sighed. "Prince Zuko is the son of the Fire Lord Ozai, and paralyzed or not, you must grant us access to your hospital and all its equipment." Their eyes grew larger as I spoke, and one led me to the infirmary while two others rushed out to the courtyard to grab Zuko.

The head nurse questioned me a bit, but all I said in return was, "Thank you, sister, but I'll take care of him myself. I'm sorry I had to be so rude back there." Once Zuko was in the hospice bed, I start analyzing his body and the damages. Not anything horrific, the whiplash from the badger-beast was the only thing that worried me.

I went about treating his various wounds, from a bleeding head wound to many minor cuts and bruises, for twenty minutes or so when he suddenly woke up. He jolted up to a sitting position and his eyes raced around the hospital. "Where am I?" he shuttered, angrily.

"You're in the abbey infirmary, Master. Now, I need to see the wound on your chest from that beast before you lie down again," I comforted him. I peeled off the rest of his armor, and swiftly unbuttoned his Fire Nation attire, and removed two shirts before I got to the skin. The wound was long, and bright red, a sign of infection. I hurriedly washed it clean as possible, and began the long process of wrapping it.

Zuko was a bit dizzy and mumbled a bit to himself as I bandaged his chest. "There, Prince Zuko, you can lie down again," I said with false cheer. I lowered him down slowly onto the soft pillows. "What else hurts that I've missed?"

Before he would answer, outside the hospital I could hear one angry voice yelling at a nun. Then the woman rider burst into the infirmary, glaring at Zuko, who had lain down. I leapt to my feet, and said, "Ma'am, you cannot see Zuko now. He is ill. You have to leave." She threw me out of her way with one swing of her arm; I'm just glad she didn't have her whip on her. She stormed over to Zuko's bed. I got up quickly and ran to his side to defend him. "Stop! You must leave!" I yelled, growing more and more defensive of my Master.

She grabbed my hair, and pulled me to my knees. "Get out of my way, filth." She tossed to the side, and I banged my head on the metal hospital bed frame. All was quiet, and her legs stood solid next to the bed while she peered at Zuko's relaxed face. Her hand moved towards his chest, seeking the infected whiplash. A cold smile riddled her beautiful face. As her hand inched closer to the prince's tired body, fire burst from the bed, and she fell to the ground five feet backwards. The woman did not move.

The attack was unexpected and it startled me terribly. I stumbled to my feet and relaxed Zuko again: "Well played, Master. You had me worried."

He chuckled, painfully, "She'll never know what hit her." He held his side, and as I looked closer I could see fresh blood coming from the whiplash.

"You tore your chest open a bit delivering that blow, Prince Zuko."
"Dammit."

"Would you like me to stitch it up?"

"No! We must move on tonight, the avatar's beast is injured it won't travel far. We can catch them," he insisted, and started to sit up.

"Prince Zuko, you must lie down! I can make all the arrangements to be ready to leave tonight, but you have to stay here and rest. You don't realize how serious your wound is!" I adjusted the pillows around his body so he was comfortable.

Zuko shook his head in frustration, but lay back down and closed his eyes. "Everyone must be prepared to leave at nightfall," he requested.

"They will be, your honor," I promised, and left to find a nurse to talk about the treatment of the prince's odd wound.