A/N Just a short one today. But have an idea where it's going next two chapters (which may also be short, but we'll see how it goes).
As soon as he hears the word "lunch", he tumbles (more or less literally) out of the tree he's in and bolts back to the Firebenders.
He nearly bowls Cinderman over as he comes flying off of a sidepath.
Ignoring the guy's "Watch it!" he sprints for the saddlebags and starts digging haphazardly through them.
Behind him, Hua is trying unsuccessfully to stifle her laughter.
A hand lands firmly on his arm and pulls him away from the rhino.
"I said, "we're stopping for lunch". I did not say "lunch is ready". Go sit down where I can see you and wait."
Lee groans and stomps over to a stump and plops himself on it.
Cinders helps Hua down and helps her over to a soft patch of moss to sit on. He untacks the rhino and sends her into a deep pool of water for a drink and bath, then sets up a fire and opens the saddlebags.
"Lee, your tea survived. And your photos. They were under a rock nearby where you were. Hua found them." He says, without looking away from his task.
Lee swallows a lump in his throat.
"Can I see?" He asks, suddenly afraid that "survived" didn't mean "undamaged".
"Yes. In a minute. I have to start the soup cooking first, and I don't want you going through our saddlebags."
"Ok." Lee fidgets around as "a minute" seems to stretch into several.
"How are you doing, Lee?" Hua asks.
He glances over at her. Her face is red and her hair is loose in it's braid with pieces of it sticking to her neck and cheeks. She actually looks kind of sick...
"I'm fine." He decides to answer.
"Are you hurt anywhere? We were worried about you last night." She shifts over to make room for him on the moss.
"I'm fine." He says again, although he knows his arms and legs are pretty bruised.
He decides sitting with her would still feel weird and wrong after her lying to him in the village. He remains where he is.
"Here's your stuff. What's left anyway. Afraid your clothes never showed up. You'll just have to borrow some of mine until we get to Gao Ling." Cinders says, handing him a small bag.
Inside, his pictures, scrolls, and tea are indeed safe and dry, looking no worse the wear for their impromptu adventure. He'd had no idea his little bag was waterproof.
He hadn't expected to see any of this again.
"Thanks." He says, swallowing that lump again.
"Sure."
Lee savors the warm autumn afternoon. Each gust of wind brings a shower of brilliant leaves down around them. The sky above is a deep blue with a few fluffy clouds making their way across.
The forest is alive with birdsong and crickets and the chatter of the river nearby.
Some tigerfrogs are leaping across the otherwise still pool of water in front of him.
He takes a deep breath of the clean air, and feels almost like he could fly.
Remembering where that got him last time, he refrains from chasing a bird overhead. But it's tempting. Oh so tempting...
"Lee? Lunch. Come eat." Cinderman holds out a bowl for him and he rushes to grab it. He ends up missing and knocking the bowl to the ground instead, spilling that precious food.
Silence.
Slowly, he glances around towards Cinderman, wondering if he'll be deprived of lunch as well.
Another bowl, already filled, hovers near his face.
"Uh, thanks." He mumbles sheepishly.
"Just eat." The annoyance in the guy's tone doesn't stop Lee from quickly wolfing down the whole bowl and holding it out for another serving.
A deep sigh from the older boy as it's filled again and handed back.
He is refused a third serving however.
"But I'm still hungry!" He whines.
"You'll get dinner in a few more hours. Hua and I still need second helpings. I have some jerky you can have." A small bag is shoved towards him. "Eat two pieces every hour, and chew slowly. It'll last until dinner."
Lee pouts as he takes it.
He spots another squirrelrabbit and starts in it's direction.
"Don't even think about it." Cinder's voice stops him.
He glares over his shoulder. Cinder points to a blanket on another patch of soft moss.
"Take a nap. You'll need one after last night. We can't have you falling asleep halfway. I may need you to scout ahead later. There'll be some difficult terrain."
With some surprise at being told his help might be needed, he does as he's told and lies down on the moss patch, burrowing under the blanket and watching the tree canopy above him wave lazily in the breeze.
He starts to feel as though he's in the trees, rocking gently back and forth. It doesn't take long for his eyes to get heavy and he's rocked to sleep.
~o0o~
When he wakes up, the sun has started it's descent in the sky. They still have some hours of daylight, but he doubts they'll make it into Gao Ling by days' end.
The fire is out and the saddlebags are packed, but the rhino is snoozing in a patch of sun just off the trail and Hua is napping on her moss patch.
He hops and looks around, not seeing Cinderman anywhere.
He walks along the trail a ways, loving how the trees seem to form a twisting tunnel into the unknown as the river runs eagerly towards it beside him. After a bit though, he heads back to their lunch spot, not wanting to wander too far from the food.
His stomach growls at the thought, reminding him that dinner is still a long time away. He fishes a jerky stick out and starts to chew it and it's enough to fool his stomach after a moment.
"Lee! There you are." Cinderman says. He comes over and takes Lee's jerky bag and propels him towards the pool of water. "Come on. I'm going to show you something."
Cinders wades into the pool and starts swimming around. Like it's easy.
"See how I keep my legs straight out as I kick? It helps displace more water. It keeps you floating and moving at the same time." He says.
He reaches out for Lee's hand.
Lee backs away as though he's been struck.
"I almost drowned! Twice!" He protests, crossing his arms. "I'm not getting in that water."
The guy rolls his eyes and sighs deeply, muttering to himself. Then he looks towards Lee again.
"I'll be right here. I won't let you drown." Cinderman motions for him to get in again.
"It's freezing. I'll freeze!" Lee dips a toe in the water and shivers to prove his point.
"It's warmer in the pool than in the river. The sun's had all day to warm it up." He swims closer then stands up. The water reaches his waist. "It's shallow by the shore. After where I'm standing, it drops off quick. Just don't go past me, and you'll be fine. I'm right here to pull you out if anything goes wrong."
"I'm supposed to trust my life to an Ashmaker like you? A lying Ashmaker who left me alone in a village that wanted to hold me prisoner?!"
"Seeing as I've pulled you out of the water twice now, I'd say I can be trusted to do that much. And this time, I'm already here, instead of running to get you after you've already started drowning." He walks over, picks Lee up and sets him down in the shallows.
A firm hand on his shoulder stops him from marching right back out.
"Are you ready to learn?" Cinderman asks.
Grudgingly, Lee nods.
"Sit down first. Get used to the feeling of the water up to your neck before trying to swim. It's a bit chilly until you get used to it, so sit down slowly."
Lee kneels, then lowers himself in slowly from there.
The cold bites his skin and seems to squeeze the air from his lungs as it creeps up his back.
"Deep breaths. You're alright." The hand squeezes his shoulder and despite himself, he finds it reassuring.
Soon, the water is up to his neck and he's fully sitting down. He runs a hand over the bottom and feels a cloud of silt tickle his wrist. Some pebbles are mixed in and fall into the spaces between his fingers. He likes the feeling, so he does it again.
"Okay, I'm to hold on to your back and stomach. Just start kicking and paddling, and I'll give you pointers."
He finds himself in a horizontal position with a hand lightly on his back and one holding him up under his belly. As he kicks, he feels himself lift a bit off the support of the hand.
"Great! Now, put out your hands and hold on to that branch there."
Cinderman moves him to where a branch is growing over the water. He grabs hold of it and keeps kicking.
"Keep your legs straight. It's harder, but you'll get farther."
The hand is lighter and lighter on his stomach until it isn't there at all. Lee glances behind him.
Zuko is standing a few arms' lengths away from him, watching him with an approving look on his face.
Lee can't help the grin spreading across his. He's swimming! He's really swimming!
Cautiously, he lets the branch go with one hand. He feels a bit more lift as he adds some paddling to his kicks.
He lets go with the other one and finds himself slowly moving closer to the bank. He figures out how to turn himself around and starts heading deeper into the water.
Zuko starts moving out to where the water meets his waist.
"Don't go past me, Lee." He reminds him.
Lee turns to swim parallel to the invisible line.
He feels the eddies made by his hands flowing past his sides. The leaves above them whisper in the breeze, and he paddles and kicks harder. He feels like he's flying high above the pool, and imagines himself soaring in the clouds.
He smiles wider and a laugh bubbles up through him.
"Keep practicing, and you'll be a pro in no time." Zuko tells him.
He could swear he saw an actual smile directed his way. Maybe Cinderman doesn't hate him yet after all.
After a few minutes, they go back up to lunch site and Zuko heats up a blanket for him to dry off with.
Soon, they are on their way again, and Hua is teaching him a song from her old village. She looks a little bit less sick now, although still not well.
"Are you alright? You've been sort of looking sick for the last day or so." He finally asks, kicking a rock and looking up at her.
"Zuko calls it "fire fever". It's because I'm still learning to master the basics of Firebending. Unlike the other elements, the extra heat for Fire is always present in the bender's body. I haven't learned how to control that yet, and my body isn't used to it. So, it keeps overheating." She mops her brow as she speaks and looks a little green under the red skin.
"That doesn't sound good. How long does it last?" He wonders if he should get Cinderman's attention so he can deal with the situation, because the green is starting to overtake the red.
"I don't know. Zuko says it's different for everyone. I just have to drink lots of water and focus on my breathing. Sleep well and not get too angry, sad, happy, or scared." She takes a small, slow sip of water from her waterskin.
"So being a Firebender means you can't feel anything without burning to death?" It seems unthinkable that she couldn't laugh, cry, or feel irritated without being in danger. Lee doesn't know how he'd go suppressing all his emotions for fear of dying of a fever.
"At first. Not forever." She offers a small smile.
Mom would have called it "keeping her chin up".
Feeling sick himself at the memory of burned buildings and bodies, Lee stops talking to her altogether for a while.
"Zuko, I know we've only been going a few hours, but I think I need a rest." Hua calls a few minutes later.
One glance backwards, and Cinders has her off the rhino and in the grass with a damp cloth over her head.
"I'll make tea." He says, taking some wood out of a saddle bag. He clears away dry grass and lights a fire.
Lee notices a tickle in his throat and coughs a little to get rid of it.
He can smell the cool scent of strong mint tea in the air within a few minutes. He peeks over the older boy's shoulder at the little pot and wonders if there's enough for him too.
"Don't even think about it." Ashes mutters under his breath. He probably doesn't mean for Lee to hear it, because in short order a small cup finds it's way into his hands.
Lee gulps it down, burning his mouth. The tickle in his throat is gone, but now his nose is running. He decides it's due to the tea. It's pretty strong tea.
The fire is doused in a few minutes and Cinderman helps Hua back onto the rhino.
"Lee, why don't you run ahead and find us a good spot for the night? We're looking for something flat, sheltered from the wind if possible. It would help if there were some small rocks nearby to use for heat later when it gets cold." He says.
Finally! I get to do something useful. And fun!
As eager as he is, however, his limbs seem weighted with lead. He runs a few steps ahead, then slows to a walk. He doesn't glance back to see if Cinderman has noticed, but tries to get a little spring in his walk even if he can't run.
He trips over a rock in the way. And another one. The sniffle is working it's way into a sneeze.
Maybe more than one.
"Lee?"
The sneezing fit has him on the ground gasping for air, not getting a full breath before another sneeze works it's way in.
"He's sick from being in the river last night." He can distantly hear Hua saying.
"Watch him. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
Lee lays himself flat on his back, despite how awful it makes his nose and the back of his throat feel. He feels like he's roasting over a fire and all shivery at the same time. His stomach boiled uncomfortably, but feels utterly empty and sucked flat to his spine.
Make it stop! He's not sure if he says it aloud or not. But it's a repeating thought in his head regardless.
Speaking of his head, it's starting to pound harder than the team of Earthbenders building the Avatar Shrine back in Chin Village.
He sees Hua off to the side and thinks she's trying to speak to him. He can't hear her past the roaring in his ears.
She needs to stay on the rhino! Cinderman will be back soon!
He tries to get up to help her get back on the giant creature, but the movement makes black spots dance in the center of his vision and it's going dark at the edges.
He falls back down. He knows this because he can see the ground next to his chin, but he can't feel anything on the ground itself.
Instead of a great weight in his limbs, he now feels so light he might float away. But not a good floating feeling.
Am I dying?!
Dimly, he's aware of Hua flopping down beside him. He tries to reach for her but he can't get his arms to move.
"Hua?! Lee!" Cinderman's shout is muted almost to a whisper.
The bright afternoon world goes dark, and the last thing he can hear is Cinderman shouting.