Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, I recently got a review from a Guest, who requested that I please make the chapters longer. I appreciate your comment, whoever you are, and I hope that the reason you asked for this is because you enjoy the story so much that you want more of it. I do apologize to all of you for the seemingly erratic lengths of the chapters. I know sometimes I'll have a chapter that is 1,000+ words, and the next chapter will only be 300 or so. The reason for this is because I follow the storyline very closely, and sometimes Zuko will not be in an episode as much as he was in the last episode, and so I have less to work with. Also, I feel that continuing a chapter just for length - and not content - will interrupt the flow of the story. I've learned through trial and error that if I feel like the chapter should end, then the chapter should end. Also, (again), I am actually already done with the first Book in the series, and so, even if I wanted to lengthen the chapters, it would require me to go back and rewrite a lot of pages. But worry not. I actually have taken your comment about chapter length to heart, and am trying to lengthen the chapters in the second Book as much as I deem fit. I am adding more detail to things if I can, etc. Anyways! Sorry that this A.N. is so long! Just trying to let people know that I do listen to your feedback! Enjoy the chapter! - Fira
Thirty-eight
It had been hours since they had all begun their journey on the back of the shirshu, and Maya was definitely feeling the pain. She had never ridden on an animal for this long, and her muscles ached from being jostled by the creature's constant movement. They'd been up all night, and now she was exhausted. Despite the jostling, she found herself falling asleep…
Suddenly, Maya jumped awake. She had just heard Zuko's voice in front of her, and felt him yank on her arm. "W… what?" she asked, sleepily.
"Maya, be careful!" he shouted again. "You almost fell off!"
"Oh… Sorry…" Maya yawned, shaking her head to try and stay awake. "Just tired."
"What, do you think I'm not?" he said over his shoulder.
Maya didn't respond. She had a feeling that if she did, she'd end up getting into another pointless argument with Zuko. Instead, she looked around, wondering where they were now. She felt the incline of the trail, and looked around Zuko to see that they were going up a mountain. Suddenly, she had the urge to grab Zuko tighter, for fear of falling off the shirshu.
Eventually, they made it to the top, where, Maya saw, there was some sort of a temple. Standing next the door was an old woman. Sitting beside her was a fat, white-haired cat. When the shirshu approached her, the old woman said, "Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?"
Zuko looked down at her. "We're looking for a girl."
"It's not Miyuki, is it?" the old woman asked. She looked down at the cat. "Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?"
"Ugh!" Zuko said. "I don't have time for this! Come on!"
With a crack of Joon's whip, they were off once again.
It was around mid-morning before they stopped again. At some point, Uncle had produced food from a pouch on the shirshu's saddle and they had all eaten a little. The only problem was that now Maya really had to pee. Luckily, a few minutes later, they stumbled into a small Earth Kingdom village. Everyone who had been standing around screamed and scattered as the shirshu continued running, following the scent of Katara's necklace.
The only person in the village who remained calm at the sight of the giant rat-fox and its passengers was an old woman with brown hair streaked with grey that was tied up in a bun. She had a knowing smile on her face, as if nothing in the world could frighten her. The shirshu went right up to her and began sniffing around. It stayed in this one spot for a while, and Joon said, "The girl must have spent a lot of time here."
"That's great," Maya piped up. "I have to pee!"
"What?" Zuko exclaimed, sounding disgusted.
"Oh. Ah…" Uncle said. He looked down at the old woman standing there and said, "Dear lady, is there a place where this young girl can use the restroom?"
"Of course," the woman replied. "Inside my shop." She looked at Maya. "Come on, then."
Quickly, Maya hopped off the shirshu and ran inside at full speed. A few minutes later, she came out again, sighing with relief.
"Hey," Joon said to her. "You missed it. Angry Boy here made a new friend."
"Would you shut up?" Zuko shouted at her.
"What?" Maya said.
Joon laughed. "Your boyfriend almost got paralyzed by Nyla."
"He's not my boyfriend," Maya replied as she climbed onto the shirshu's back. "Are you okay, Zuko?"
"I'm fine!"
With a crack of the whip, the rat-fox took off again.
A little while later, the group came across another small village, full of only women. Maya looked around at the strange clothing they were all wearing and thought, This must be some sort of a retreat for women. Maybe an abbey? All the women looked old, and, at the moment, they all wore the same frightened expression on their faces.
The shirshu went around sniffing for a moment, and then looked up in the direction of the forest.
"We're getting close," Joon said, snapping her whip again.
"Good," Maya muttered. "Then I can get off this damned thing."
A few minutes later, the shirshu hopped down onto the forest path. In front of it were two people. Maya recognized them as Katara and her brother. Aang, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.
"So, is this your girlfriend, then?" Joon asked, as the rat-fox zeroed in on Katara. "No wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you."
Zuko ignored her and got off the shirshu, confronting Katara. "Where is the Avatar?"
"We split up," the boy replied. "He's long gone."
"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko said quietly, getting in his face.
The boy – Sokka, Maya thought his name was – backed up a bit and grabbed Katara's hand. "Pretty stupid," he said. "Run!" Suddenly, they both took off, in the direction of the abbey that Maya and the others had just come from. But before they could take more than three steps, the shirshu's tongue shot out and paralyzed them both. Maya flinched when she heard their bodies slam into the ground.
"What do we do now?" Zuko complained.
Maya sighed.
Joon urged the shirshu forwards, and it began sniffing at the bags on Sokka's and Katara's shoulders. "It's seeking a different scent," she said. "Perhaps something that the Avatar held."
The shirshu's nose pushed a scroll out of the bag, and it leaned down and sniffed it. Suddenly it looked up and went rigid. "It's got the Avatar's scent!" Joon said. "Get on and let's go."
"We'll have to bring them with us," Zuko said, pointing at Katara and Sokka.
Maya looked at them, and then down at the saddle, and then at Zuko, and said, "How? There's barely enough room for the four of us without them!"
"We'll have to figure it out," he replied.
It ended up being that Katara and Sokka were thrown onto the very back of the shirshu, stomach-down, with Maya squeezed between them and Zuko. For some reason, being this close to him was making her blush, and she could feel her whole face burning. She wasn't sure what was causing this sort of a reaction out of her. It was just Zuko. She tried to give him a little space by not holding onto him, but he only sighed.
"Maya, if you don't hold on, then you're really going to fall off, and there's no time to come and get you if you do."
Reluctantly, she wrapped her arms around his waist, and they were off.