When I wake up, it is quite late, compared to the two people that rise with the sun. Zuko isn't holding me anymore and is near Iroh, hovering over a pot on the fire. They are cooking breakfast. I sit up, stretching slowly. Nobody is really talking, and Zuko's clothes are no longer hanging near the fire.
Iroh gives me a knowing glance, as if he witnessed Zuko holding me warm last night. I swallow the lump in my throat and feel heat rise to my cheeks. I finger the cloth around my arm but don't unwind it, knowing Zuko has caught on to my anxious behaviors.
We've spent too much time together.
"We should get moving today," Zuko says gruffly. "The storm has passed over us."
"We're near the Si Wong Desert," I say, nodding out in the direction of the sand, northwest of us. "Do we have any idea of where we're heading, or are we just wandering?" I point this question at Iroh, who hid from me that we were actually following Zuko this whole time.
Zuko shrugs, also looking to Iroh for guidance on this manner. After a long pause, in which Iroh strokes the fire a little, he finally answers, "Well, we should definitely move away from here, since Azula is aware of our general location. So, let's just follow the desert for now."
"Then?"
"From there, we can look at our options."
We eat breakfast and pack up our meager belongings into a saddlebag, which we strap onto the ostrich horse. I pet him lightly, stroking his fur. The action takes me back to Kala, my sky bison, and I am panged again by my Iroh's question from last night. What are our choices here? Azula, or the Earth Kingdom? Would Zuko be okay with a simple life, never bending fire again?
I could do it. I could go back to painting, or telling fortunes. Iroh could do it. Own a tea shop, making biscuits and new tea flavors.
But where would Zuko fit in? A rough piece, jagged and not quite fitting in? Angry and abrasive, but good at heart? I think about this as we head west, through a rough passage in the mountains. Where would Zuko be happy? Could he be happy, without Aang and his supposed honor?
I want Zuko to be happy, but it's so hard when he is so stubborn and focused on one goal, even when it isn't even in sight anymore. What could make Zuko happy? Can I make him happy?
I lean my face against Iroh's uninjured shoulder, closing my eyes to think about the prospect. He's kissed me, and don't relationships make people happy? No, we couldn't date now, on the run, worried about survival. But some time, somewhere along the line, could we?
What makes me happy?
Iroh groans in front of me, pulling me out of my reverie. We have been traveling for the better part of the day, only stopping to let the ostrich horse rest. The desert is on our left, and Iroh holds his arm in pain. He gags a lot, and Zuko says, "Maybe we should make camp?"
"No, please, don't stop just for me," Iroh replies. But he keeps moaning, being completely dramatic while doing it.
"Well, then, please stop for the sake of our sanity, Zuko," I groan from the back. Zuko pulls the reins of the ostrich horse up, and we stop. Iroh falls to the ground, sitting on a rock nearby. He continues to groan.
Almost as soon as we've stopped, dismounted, and started to tie the ostrich horse up near some bushes to eat, the ostrich horse gives out a concerned noise. Something near us has spooked him, and I grab my bo. Zuko stands with his back to me, hands out in preparation for an attack.
Iroh, clearly annoyed, says, "Oh, what now?"
From the trees around us, five men on kimono rhinos arrive, all looking like they're ready for a fight. Well, they're about to get one.
Iroh stands up behind us, saying, "Colonel Mongke! What a pleasant surprise!" Iroh puts his hands on Zuko and I's shoulders, but neither of us relax. They have us surrounded.
"If you're surprised we're here, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps," the supposed Colonel Mongke says. All of them prepare their weapons.
"You know these guys?" Zuko asks, surprised as they pull their weapons on us. Well, not completely surprised since we armed ourselves first.
"Sure. Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapon specialist. They are also a very capable singing group."
"Oh, then let's invite them to music night!" I say, not lowering my staff.
"We're not here to give a concert. We're here to apprehend fugitives!"
Iroh rubs his bad shoulder, saying, "Would you like some tea first? I'd love some. How about you, Kahchi? I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?"
"Enough stalling!" Mongke yells. "Rough 'em up!"
The fighting commences, the three of us in a circle facing the five men surrounding us. The man directly behind Iroh lets loose a weapon on a chain, and Iroh easily kicks it aside. It wraps itself around one of the kimono rhino's legs. Then, arrows are fired at us. We all roll away from each other to avoid the flaming arrows, making me unable to keep track of the movements of Iroh and Zuko.
One of the men that Iroh dispatched with the weapon on the chain comes back to me, having fallen off the komodo rhino that is dragging his comrade around. It is one with the Guan Dao, which is essentially just a blade on a long pole, with the end nearest to the ground turning into a deadly point. It looks heavy, but the Rough Rhino swings it around with ease.
Unlucky for him, I am well versed in the area of polearmed melee, having trained with the monks on the intricate usages of the bo allowed by the temple. The Rough Rhino swings at my chest with the bladed edge of the weapon. I roll underneath his arch and jump up close to him, too close for him to properly swing the Guan Dao.
A lot of vulnerabilities come into polearms, one of them being not great in close range. The user of the weapon needs to be either really good at keeping opponents at bay, or also skilled in hand-to-hand. Something tells me that this Rough Rhino has neither of those skills.
I use my upward momentum from jumping up to bring my foot up and kick the Rhino square in the jaw. He falls easily, and I didn't even use my bo, which is disappointing.
Iroh shouts indistinctly in my direction, and he is mounting the ostrich horse. I rush up to him and climb on behind him in one fluid motion, the ostrich horse already moving underneath us. We near Zuko standing atop a komodo rhino, and I put my arm out for him to grab.
It is a little crowded on top of the ostrich horse, and I'm not used to being squished in the middle between the two benders, so it is incredibly hot. To add to the heat, one of the Rhinos throws a smoke bomb in front of us, causing a thick dark cloud to disrupt our view. However, we barrel through, trusting the path to be clear.
As we emerge, Iroh says, "It's nice to see old friends."
"Too bad you don't have any old friends that don't want to attack you," Zuko quips.
Iroh rubs his shoulder in thought. I wonder if he agitated it while fighting. I'll need to make a salve to help with the tension, though the closer we get to the desert it will be harder to find the correct ingredients.
"Hmm. . . old friends that don't want to attack me?" Iroh thinks.
Maybe Iroh's friends will give the old man some soothing salve.
Well, his friends did have some soothing salve, but Iroh had to go through a rigorous game of Pai Sho in order for us to get it. Plus, Zuko had to spend the entire time in the oasis complaining about the selfishness of the majority of people, even though he is wrong about that.
It is nearing night, but the sun is still overbearingly hot overhead when we arrive in the oasis. Iroh points us into a tavern, where it is incredibly cooler than it is outside. We enjoy a refreshing ice cold drink, kept in ice cups. Iroh enjoys it while eyeing the people around us.
Zuko doesn't touch his tea and is angrily looking at Iroh and I people watching. Iroh seems to be looking for something in particular, but I am enjoying just watching the sandbenders talk, a couple of men arm wrestling in the corner, and an angry looking man staring pointedly at Zuko's scar.
"No one here is going to help us. These people just look like filthy wanderers," Zuko says after almost a hour of nothing happening.
"So do we," Iroh points out. Granted, Zuko's clothes did get a nice wash in the thunderstorm the night before. Otherwise, we are covered in dirt and sand from the desert, not to mention the sweat of the training Iroh put us through.
Iroh points at something behind Zuko. "Ah, this is interesting. I think I found our friend." He is looking at a Pai Sho table, with just one old man sitting patiently, waiting for an opponent to play.
Iroh hasn't played Pai Sho in weeks, not since we left that resort spa that the Fire Nation runs. Is he craving the thrill of the gamble? The feeling of the tiles? Or just the lovely conversation between two Pai Sho players?
Me? I never got into the game myself. I had the eye for the pretty tiles, but the rules always seemed to allude me. There were a few monks at the temples who loved a good game though.
"You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?" Zuko asks, incredulous.
"I don't think this is a gamble," Iroh says, standing up.
We walk over to the table, and I glance at the angry man I saw earlier. I thought his eyes were only on Zuko's scar, but he is angrily glaring at all three of us. He isn't wearing a full shirt, just one that covers his nipples and a brown belt around his waist. A stately man sits behind him, urging him to sit down.
Other people stare at him, and I grab Zuko's wrist as discreetly as I can, nodding in their general direction. Zuko nods.
"May I have this game?" Iroh asks when we arrive at the table.
The man gestures for Iroh to sit and says, "The guest has the first to move." Out of nowhere, Iroh places his first tile, a lotus tile, on the center of the board. "I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways." The man cups his hands forward.
"Those who do can always find a find." Iroh mimics the hand cupping that the other man did.
"Then let us play."
I feel like I'm looking in on a secret conversation, with code words being used left and right. Apparently, Zuko doesn't catch onto this, but sits down on the third stool around the table. I stay standing, watching as Iroh and his Pai Sho opponent methodically place down tiles. They aren't really playing the game, more so making a picture out of their individual tiles.
When they are done, it is in the shape of a lotus flower. The man says, "Welcome, brother. The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."
Zuko, having grown more enraged the longer the game went on, says, "What are you old gasbags talking about?"
"I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game," Iroh says, rolling a tile across his fingers.
The man I had clocked as suspicious earlier stands up in anger, yelling, "I'm not waiting all night for these geezers to finish yapping!" He storms over to the Pai Sho table, with the stately man walking behind him. "It's over! You three fugitives are coming with me!"
I grab my bo, sensing a fight. Iroh and Zuko stand up behind me. But the Pai Sho opponent moves in front of the three of us, between us and the angry guy. "I knew it! You three are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads!" Yep, definitely going to be fight.
"I thought you said he would help!" Zuko says to Iroh.
Iroh places a hand on the one of mine that is clutching my bo, and puts his other hand on Zuko's shoulder. "He is. Just watch."
"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that gold?"
Everyone in the bar stands up, clearly enticed by the mention of money. "Gold?" one of them asks.
The nicely dressed man starts to back away. "Uh, maybe we shouldn't. . ." Is it the crowd that bothers him? Or the large amount of weapons surrounding him - and us?
Quickly, a fight ensues. Both of the men that were after us are earthbenders, and they begin to tear apart the bar. The man that Iroh played Pai Sho with ushers us out the door and into the cool night air.