He was worried about her. Ever since he'd gotten back to find that woman gone and Katara in a heap; she hadn't really been there. It was like she was a machine, each step was mechanic, and not by her own will. What bothered him the most though was what she'd said; she'd thought that if she answered his questions she would lose him.
He wanted so much to reach out and pull her into a hug, refusing to ever let her go; but he knew that he couldn't. However much he loved her, their mission had to be above their own personal comfort right now.
They were approaching the top of the mountain and the terrain had changed drastically. His surroundings no longer reminded him of something he'd read in a scary scroll, but more of what the forest was like surrounding the hidden city. The forest further up the mountain was full of green and light. Occasionally they would pass through a ravine with massive rock formations on either side.
He and Katara were walking through one of these ravines when she suggested they stop to eat. They needed to keep up their strength, after all.
"We should be able to reach the top before sundown," he said while putting down his bags.
"We don't need to go all the way up," she replied. It was one of the first things she'd said to him all day, "There should be some sort of cave near the top. We just need to find it and my friend should be able to take us from there."
This aspect of the plan puzzled Zuko, "How exactly is your friend going to get us to the Fire Nation in the next week? It would take us a month to get there no matter what kind of short cuts they know."
Katara smiled slightly, "This is a special friend. He has," she paused as if searching for the right words, "different methods of getting around."
Zuko couldn't help the sudden flare of jealousy in his chest at hearing the affection in Katara's voice. There was only one man Zuko was aware of that had captured her heart; and that had clearly ended in flames. But what if there had been more that he was simply unaware of?
He forced these feelings down, however, when he noticed Katara staring intently at the wall behind him. He looked over his shoulder and it took him a moment to see what she was looking at.
There were carvings in the wall. At first Katara thought they may be scratches from some kind of animal, but the closer she looked the more they looked man-made. Zuko must have seen her looking because he stood to get a closure look at the foreign writing. She stood and went to his side, tracing the writing with her fingers and pulling away little bits of moss and vines that were covering bits of the writing.
"What do you think it says?" She asked quietly. She caught him toss her a nervous glance before answering.
He pointed to the highest bit of markings, "That says 'The Path of the Dragonborn."
"How can you read that?" Katara asked, slightly impressed.
"I learned it," he paused, seeming unsure of himself, "when I was growing up. I thought it was a dead language."
"Guess not," she replied coldly. It was clear to her that he was avoiding the truth. She wondered to herself how often he might have done that before. Could her affection towards him have blindsided her instincts? "What else does it say?"
Zuko hesitated, giving the writing a once over, "Not much that we don't already know 'This is the path to be walked by the Dragonborn and Daughter of Ice. It is the Dragonborn whom is set apart to both save and end this world according to the prophesy guarded by the mistresses of the flame. Vivant et draco nativitatis.' Long live the Dragonborn." He finished solemnly.
"That last bit, I recognize that language," she replied, confused on why they would mix the languages.
"Most people would. It's common in some parts of the world. Probably a good way to spread the legend," he muttered the last part.
"Yeah I guess that makes sense," She said continuing to finger the symbols. They stood there for a few minutes looking at the marking while the nibbled at their food and water when she asked suddenly, "What about the mistresses of the flame? I haven't ever heard of them either."
Zuko was silent for several moments but Katara didn't interrupt his thoughts. When he did speak it was quiet, "I think the archer was one of them. Same as the woman we saw this morning."
"I guess the woman by the fire is realistic," she said quietly feeling a wave of fresh guilt wash over her, "but what makes you suspect the archer? If the prophesy that she helped to guard said you're suppose to save the world why would she try to kill you?"
"I think their order may have been corrupted," he said thoughtfully, "I interrogated her several times and she seemed like she wasn't on the side of the so-called 'masters' she served under."
"Wait," Katara cut in, "When on earth did you interrogate her? I didn't know about this." She said glaring at him quizzically and placing her hands on her hips.
"I-uh-I had a few questions of my own that needed answering. I didn't want to bother you with them," he stammered, the explanation rushing from his mouth.
"And what did she have to say?"
"There are worse ways to lose a lover than death."
The archer's words echoed in Zuko's mind. Surely Katara wouldn't expect him to tell her if she knew.
"Nothing we don't already know."
He hated lying to her, but there was no reason in worrying her with something they couldn't change. But what if he could change it?
They packed their bags back up and continued up the mountain. The air between them was icy and Zuko was growing in curiosity in what the woman by the fire had said to Katara to stimulate the sudden mistrust. One thing was for sure though, if this house stayed divided, there was no way that they'd be able to fight the coming battle.
They made their way further up the mountain and once Katara had decided they were high enough they began searching for the cave. They were high enough that Zuko could see almost the entire forest of Terrorem. It would have been so simple for the Fire Nation to infiltrate the city if they'd taken air balloon up to this point and gone through the back door to the city.
They began making their way around the tip of the apex when there was no cave to be found on the side they were on. At first he didn't see it, and if it weren't for the ledge of rock above it. There were fines and clumps of moss covering the entrance giving it the appearance of the ground surrounding it.
Once Zuko pointed out the cave entrance to her, Katara was suddenly very nervous. She didn't even know how long it'd been since she'd seen him. She couldn't even be sure he was still alive; and without him, their mission would fail.
Katara took a shaky breath, shrugged her backpack off her shoulders, and stood in the mouth of the cave. She pulled a piece of folded cloth from in between the folds of her tunic and unwrapped it carefully. From the corner of her eye she saw Zuko toss her a confused look but ignored him. She felt the tears threatening to brim her eyes as she put the ivory whistle to her lips. She blew it several times. Nothing.
She felt her hope plummeting deeper than it had ever been. He was their only chance and now they had failed before they had even started. He had probably died not long after Aang. Katara sunk to her knees and let the silent tears stream down her face. She should have never let him leave in the first place, she should have taken care of him like Aang would have wanted her to.
She heard Zuko suddenly stumble and string an arrow, maybe two, "Katara, behind you."
She smiled as she felt a gust of wind blow heavily on her back, and heard a deep groan that brought back the happiest of memories. She stood and turned to see a friend she hadn't ever imagined finding.
"Hey, Appa," she said loving placing a hand on his arrow, "Good to see ya, buddy."
Hey guys! NO! I'm not dead. There's this evil thing called sophomore year that completely stole my life...so yeah, I guess- in a way- I was dead;p
But ya! It's summer and I'm back! :) I really genuinely wanna get back into my writing and all my 2 friends have kinda gone MIA in the literal sense so ya'll are all I got!
Random note: I'm suddenly very obsessed with Supernatural. I've watched 5 seasons in 3 weeks. That is not normal. I'm personally a Sammy girl. How about the rest of you?
So there's another chapter for you precious (non-douchy) Angels! (Hehe supernatural joke)
Review cuz you're glad I'm not dead^-^
Kmsitterley