Chapter 14

I’m SO sorry for the long absence of updates. I never meant to allow this to happen! I know this is short, but their adventures in Sinai are going to span over several chapters, I’m not sure how many yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, why would I be writing a fanfic about it? I mean, seriously.

Chapter 14

Sinai, Part 1

Daine woke the next morning to a still camp. Looking around, she momentarily wondered where Charanth was when she only saw Kayda. Then she remembered the previous night’s trip. All the animals except Kayda had stayed behind with Aang, Toph, and Iroh.

Kayda had brought them down in a small clearing not far from the main road into Sinai. The road was just over the hill a short distance away, so they’d have to be quiet. Which meant waking Kasia and Sokka up last.

Getting up, she went over to Katara, who was sound asleep between her brother and Zuko. “Katara,” she said quietly, shaking the waterbender’s shoulder. “Time to get up. We need to get moving.”

Stretching, Katara’s hand hit her brother on the head and Daine thought for a second that Sokka would wake up, but he merely grunted and rolled back over.

“I thought he was going to wake up,” Daine commented as Katara climbed out of her sleeping bag.

Katara laughed. “No such luck. Toph could have run him over with a boulder and he still wouldn’t wake.” She sat down on top of her sleeping bag. “Zuko, wake up,” she said, pushing against his shoulder. “We need to get moving.”

He opened one eye slowly, a half-smile appearing on his face when he saw Katara. “Firebender, remember? I rise with the sun.”

Hearing this, Daine laughed. “Not all firebenders. Kasia doesn’t wake up until the sun is high.”

“Really? That’s unusual,” Zuko said, standing up. “Maybe it’s because there’s not as much Fire Nation blood in her as most firebenders.”

“Maybe,” Daine replied, shrugging. “I just know I don’t want to be the one to wake her up.”

“Have Numair wake her up,” Zuko suggested, looking over at where Kasia slept in between Leon and Numair. “She seems to like him well enough.”

“Good idea.” Going over to where Numair was sleeping, she nudged him on the shoulder with her foot. “Numair, wake up.”

He rolled away from her, mumbling under his breath.

“Numair, wake up!” Daine continued, leaning down and prodding him in the stomach. “I need you to wake up Kasia.”

“Fine, fine, I’m up,” he grumbled. As Daine turned to wake Lessa, he gently pressed against the firebender princess’s shoulder. “Kasia, wake up.”

She said nothing, just buried herself deeper in the covers.

“Kasia, time to get up,” he repeated, pushing her harder.

“No. Keep aggravating me, you die.”

“Kasia, that’s not nice.”

“Leon, I don’t care. Go away.”

“I’m not Leon.”

Opening her eyes, she saw Numair. “Fine, I won’t kill you.”

“You still have to get up. We need to get moving.”

Sighing, she crawled out of her sleeping bag. “Fine, I’m up.”

“Okay,” she started as she sat down where the others were sitting. “I suggest we travel the city in pairs. Who’s with who?”

“Sokka and I are traveling together,” Leon said.

“Oh, good,” Lessa laughed. “You two together will burn the city down.”

“We will not!” Sokka snapped.

“Sure you won’t,” she answered, snorting. “Numair, do you want to go with me?”

Looking over at the young waterbender in surprise, he said, “Actually, I wanted to go with Kasia. Since she agreed to teach me how to use Dual Dao Broadswords, I’m going to have to buy some. I need someone who actually knows which ones are good and which aren’t.”

Seeing her sister’s disappointed face, Daine said, “Lessa, I’ll go with you.”

“Okay,” she replied. “That leaves Katara and Zuko together.”

“What!” Sokka exclaimed, standing up.

“No so loud!” Kasia snapped. “Do you really want the Fire Nation to know we’re here?”

“There’s no way my sister is going into the city alone with that!” he continued, completely ignoring Kasia. “If you think-” he was cut off abruptly as a snake of water froze over his mouth.

“Sokka, be quiet” Katara said, unfreezing the water. “First of all, I’m not defenseless, I can protect myself better than you can. Master Waterbender, remember? Second, Zuko is not the bad guy anymore! Accept that. And third, it’s my choice who I’m with while in Sinai or anyplace else.”

Sokka stared at his sister in surprise. Then he turned to glare at Zuko. “Fine, Scarface, you can go with her, but if anything happens to her, you won’t live to see your father.”

“And you’re going to be the one to kill me?” Zuko retorted.

“It’s not like I couldn’t!”

“Oh, of course, Mr. All-Powerful,” Zuko answered sarcastically.

“Enough!” Kasia snapped. “If I’m going to be up this early, I am most certainly NOT going to listen to you two.” Going over to Kayda, she climbed into the dragon’s saddle. She returned with a small bad over her shoulder, and a full coin purse in her hand. Throwing it to Numair, she said, “Let’s go. If anyone needs help just call out for Kayda, mentally or verbally. She’ll hear you, but get out on your own if you can. I don’t want her exposed unless necessary. There’s no need to meet back here until dark considering we can’t safely leave until then anyways. And stay together.”

“Yes, Master,” Lessa responded sarcastically.

“Hey, one of us has to set some rules around here,” she replied as she and Numair disappeared into the wood. Kayda, make sure to listen for us and stay here unless you’re needed.

Of course. Be careful, you don’t have me to watch out for you.

She laughed, causing Numair to look over at her curiously. I’ll be fine Kay.

“So what are we going to do all day?” Numair asked.

“First, we’re going to find you a decent Fire Nation outfit. My brother’s is horrible. No fashion sense at all. At some point, we’ll get your swords. That could take awhile, since I don’t know where to go to find good swords.”

“Where’s all the money from?” he inquired, pointing to the coin purse that not resided in his pocked.

“Osha family treasury. I made sure to bring plenty of money, most of it in Fire Nation currency.”

The reached the road and followed it the short distance to the city gates. Since it was early, only a short line of people waited to get through the gates. Soon they made it into the city. Fire Nation soldiers were everywhere, going in and out of shops, patrolling the streets. Looking around, Kasia saw very few men older than her who weren’t in Fire Nation uniform. It seemed that all male youth joined Ozai’s army or navy.

“Let’s go,” Kasia said, grabbing Numair’s hand and pulling him through the city streets as she looked at the shops lining the roads. Finally, after she found her way into the richer part of the city, she found what she was looking for. The store’s sign read Tieanra’s Tailors. Opening the glass door, she went inside, Numair behind.

Inside were all sorts of clothing styles, men and women’s alike. Suddenly a lady appeared from between the clothing displays. “Hello, welcome to Tieanra’s Tailors. I’m Tieanra. How may I help you?”

“I need new clothes,” Numair answered as Kasia studied the shop owner. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun, small streaks of gray starting to appear. Her eyes were the typical Fire Nation amber, which made Kasia hope that Numair’s eyes wouldn’t be noticed.

“Of course,” Tieanra replied. “Feel free to look around. The changing rooms are right over there,” she continued, pointing across the shop to two doors. “And if you need anything fitted, please let me know.”

“We will, thank you,” Kasia replied, grabbing Numair’s arm and leading him away from Tieanra. As he started looking through the clothes, she said, “I feel so stupid.”

“Why?” Numair asked, picking up a part of loose black pants, almost identical to the brown ones of his Water Tribe attire.

“Your eyes!” Kasia exclaimed. “I didn’t think about them and if someone pays close enough attention and notices them, we’re in trouble!”

“Yes, I know,” Numair replied, going over to the changing room, pants in hand. “But what could we have done about it? I’ll just have to be careful and make sure no one notices.” Tilting his head, he kissed her on the cheek, said, “Don’t worry,” and disappeared into the changing room, leaving Kasia staring at the swinging door in shock.

AN 1: I know it’s short, and I apologize for that. I had originally planned on this chapter being long by about a 1,000 words, but this seemed like a good ending point.

AN 2: Question. Do you want me to write about each pair’s day in Sinai? Give me your opinion, I’d like to know.

AN 3: Question 2. Is anyone actually interested in this story? Since Season III’s came out, I haven’t been as interested in writing it, but if you guys still want to read it, I’ll continue to write it.

The Dragon Kasia