Chapter 3: Olive Branch
She shouldn't have allowed her temper to get out of hand the way she did. She had started the name calling the night before, and she did throw the first punch. She kicked a rock as she walked down a road towards yet another town.
"This place is driving me crazy." she mumbled to herself. "Towns are less than a mile apart unlike the Earth kingdom."
"Talkin' to yourself young miss?" a man chuckled.
She turned quickly to find an old man leaning on a cane. "I was just saying that the towns around here are a lot closer than I'm used to." she replied.
"I take it you're from the colonies?" she nodded. "Well, this is the town of Cinder. The reason the towns are so close in this area, is because they're renegade towns. Many of the people were forced out of the capitol city when the war started. The towns are dangerous at night though. Especially for a lady such as yourself."
She blushed. "I'll be fine sir. Thank you."
She had an uneasy feeling as she walked toward the inn. Maybe she should have kept Zuko around. As she passed by some of the wanted posters she stopped. There was a picture of her, along with Aang, Sokka, and Toph. Making sure her hair was covering her face she stopped in a small shop.
"Hello dear." a woman in powder-white make-up called. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm visiting the royal palace in a few days and sadly, I'm out of my powders." she lied. "My husband is a nephew of Lady Ursa. I had no idea what I had married into. I'm just a commoner..."
The woman locked the door and shut the shutters. "Princess Katara, you need not lie."
It was then Katara saw the white lotus in the woman's hair. "Princess? I'm just a peasant."
"Before you were born, the south pole was a mighty kingdom. Your father's father was the king...well, chief. Which makes you a princess, even if the great kingdom is a mere village now." The woman said handing her a scroll. "Now, I'll fix you up. And, I have a feeling you'll be needing a few extra things."
Katara watched as the woman dug around her shelves. "You look like someone I know."
"You may have met my sister, Aunt Wu." she replied.
Katara nodded as the woman handed her new clothes to wear. "Yes, are you a fortune teller as well?"
"Not exactly." she smiled. "Go change and then I'll fix up your hair and makeup."
The tension in the air was high once Aang and Toph returned. If it wasn't for Toph's ability to tell if someone was lying, Ty Lee would have been dead. Once everything was cleared up, they got along great.
"Aang, when we get to the temple you'll be able to start your fire bending training." Ty Lee coaxed. "Won't that be great?"
Aang, still unsure about the girl, only nodded. Sokka seemed to be the only one to warm up to the girl. Toph, though she knew Ty Lee wasn't lying, seemed uneasy around her.
Zuko only saw Katara during the days in Cinder City. Even though he got a room across from her, he never saw her out at night. But, tonight he thought he'd go out to a fire tournament. All kinds of men fought to see who was the strongest. No one knew who anyone was because they wore masks. He needed to get out the pent up energy he had. The girl was driving him nuts. No matter how much he tried to please her, he only managed to make her mad or run off.
Truthfully, it had only been two days since they'd split up. The first time he saw her walk out of the salon, he had to do a double take. Her skin was alabaster white compared to her natural caramel color, and she had expensive robes on. At first he had mistaken her for a noble.
He slipped out into the night and headed to the make shift arena set up for the fights. He looked at the lists and found the sword fighters. Surprised at how many men were signed up under this category. He heard the bells ring and watched the announcer step into the ring.
"Ladies and gentlemen." he smirked at the few lady spectators. "Tonight is our third fire fight of the month. As you know, anyone in the tournament is offered the reward of twenty thousand gold pieces, or a shot at to beat the champion. All identities are kept secret due to the masks so as to keep this tournament in secrecy. First up, we have Macho Man..." he snickered. "And Violent Violet."
Zuko stood back and watched the first six rounds. So far, he'd found one that would even match him. He laughed as the Crimson Flare dropped yet another opponent. He'd gone up against two so far, along with the Crimson Flare. It looked as though he and the Flare terminated everyone but themselves.
"Next up, Blue Spirit and Crimson Flare." the announcer called. "Last one standing gets a shot at the champ or to take home twenty thousand gold pieces."
He faced the Crimson Flare. He was shorter, and slimmer than he looked from far away. But Zuko knew not to underestimate this man. Size was nothing compared to the ruthlessness he'd seen the man use. They walked to the center of the stage to exchange formalities and listen to the rules, again.
"You are very talented." Zuko commented. The crimson only bowed his head in acknowledgment.
The fight was difficult. The Crimson would mimic every move he made, and the same way around. This was the longest round yet, and the crowd was going crazy. It ended in a draw. Both of them ending with a sword to their opponent's throat.
"Well," the announcer blinked. "That's a first. You both have the option of fighting the champ, or splitting the reward."
Zuko glanced to the Crimson. "Reward." he grabbed the bag and grabbed his opponent's hand. "Nice fight."
He fully intended to have the boy follow him. He took off out of the arena only glancing back to see the Crimson chasing him. He smirked behind the mask as he ran into the inn.
"If a crimson mask comes in send them to my room." He called as he ran past the innkeeper, who nodded in confusion.
He slammed the door to his room shut and hid the reward money. He walked across the hall to Katara's room to listen for any movement, but found none. He sighed and turned back to his room.
As he sat on his bed readjusting his mask, the door flew open. The Crimson Flare was furious. He crossed his arms as he slammed the door shut.
Zuko took off his mask. "Before you scream, there is a girl across the hall sleeping. And if I remember she's cranky when she doesn't get her sleep."
The red mask was pulled off. "Fine. Just give me my half, and I'll leave."
Zuko pulled the money out and started counting. "You fight well."He glanced up at the boy. "You look familiar. Have we met?"
"You can't be serious." the other boy scoffed. "And thank you for the compliment, your highness."
Zuko jerked his gaze up to the boy. "K-Katara?"
She smirked at him. "Of course Princess. Who did you think it was? I knew you've been following me. So, I stayed in my room during the days and did a little moon lighting." she winked. "And as for the swords... all I did was mimic whoever I was fighting. I suppose it throws them off a bit. But not you."
He shook his head and shoved the money back in the bag. "We're not splitting up again. I don't want to be the one telling your brother and the avatar you ran off and got yourself killed. And even if you don't get killed, you're brother will kill me for letting you cut your hair."
Her eyes narrowed as she reached up and ripped the wig off. "And again I say, fuck you princess. Keep your money. I'll get my own."
She turned to leave, but Zuko was blocking the door. "No. If we split up again who knows what could happen. If we stick together, maybe we can cause a little havoc."
She stopped with her hand on the door knob. "Deal." she smirked over her shoulder.