The Traitor Princess

Chapter 18 - The Storm

"I don't even know how to hold it properly." She admitted quietly. Zuko furrowed his brows.

"No one taught you yet?" Eziri shook her head. Zuko stepped closer to her and adjusted her hand around the hilt. "There. That's pretty much how you hold it. I don't know much about throwing it though."

Eziri chewed the inside of her cheek as she looked down at the weapon. She looked up to her target and then back at the dagger. She took her hand off the hilt and gripped it delicately by the blade.

"What are you doing? You're going to cut yourself." Zuko protested. She ignored him and got into her stance. She had seen knife throwing once before at a Fire Days festival. It was only a few minutes, but it was enough for her to be fascinated. She pictured the memory in her head as best she could and mimicked the motions as she launched the dagger forward. The blade landed right into the wooden target, just an inch off the center. Both Eziri and Zuko stared wide-eyed for a moment.

Zuko rushed forward to grab the dagger. On his way back towards Eziri, he was interrupted by a voice at the entrance.

"What are you two doing here?!" One of the servants called. The siblings shared a panicked look and Eziri spoke up.

"I um...couldn't sleep so I came here to practice."

The servant looked at both children and rolled her eyes. She had been tasked with looking after the three siblings when the Fire Lord wasn't around. She had assumed that responsibility soon after Ursa disappeared. "You two aren't supposed to be here. Come on, off to bed." She ordered. Both Eziri and Zuko hurried out of the training area and off in the direction of their rooms.

--

Eziri is pulled from her dream when Momo jumped on top of her sleeping bag. She sat up with a start and rubbed her eyes. She missed her brother and was happy to relive a positive memory in her dreams instead of the violent ones that seemed to always haunt her in the night.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked sleepily and looked around. "Did we get captured again?"

"Yes." Eziri deadpanned. Sokka looked at her confused.

"It's nothing. I just had a bad dream." Aang murmured as he turned away from the others and curled up. "Go back to sleep."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Sokka said as he laid back down and snuggled in his sleeping bag. Eziri leaned over and flicked his head. He just swatted at her hand and snuggled deeper into the sleeping bag.

"Are you all right, Aang?" Katara asked.

"I'm okay." Aang said quietly. Eziri and Katara shared a worried glance.

"You seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately. You want to tell me about it?" Katara asked.

"I think I just need some rest."

Sokka shot back up from his sleeping bag. "You guys want to hear about my dream?" He asked excitedly. Katara shot her brother a glare and Eziri stifled a giggle. "That's okay. I didn't want to talk about it anyway." He grumpily laid back down and curled into his sleeping bag. Katara did the same. Eziri looked at Aang for a minute before shrugging and following in her friends' lead. She decided that Aang would open up about it when he was ready.

--

The next morning, Eziri woke before her friends and decided she would enjoy some alone time before they woke up. It had been a little over a week since they left The Great Divide. Her bruises had faded and her arm didn't hurt as much anymore. They stopped in a town after their trip to the canyon so Eziri could see a healer. The woman gave her some healing tea that was supposedly good for broken bones. She also wrapped Eziri's arm properly and told her to take it easy. Eziri was grateful for the healer, but she had no intention of taking it easy. She was still in bad shape, but she was starting to feel better with time.