Ash [Prince Zuko - Book Two]

❃Chapter Twenty Four❃

A few days had long since passed after Asake tried to escape from her ever-present (and extremely annoying) captors, and with each passing day, Asake's stomach rolled and rolled with the waves that crashed against the side of the small boat that really couldn't fit all of them and their dwindling supplies. It took everything in her willpower not to vomit every few minutes, and when she wasn't vomiting, her head spun around until she could barely concentrate on anything else. It seemed like since she wasn't on a ship for a few months, she had forgotten how to handle her seasickness, and it was plaguing her like it did back on Zuko's ship when they were banished. At least on that ship, she had medicine to help her. Now, she just had Daza and Zasai who made her stomach hurt even worse.

Today, Asake had sprawled out across the tiny boat sideways, her legs hanging over one edge while her head hung over the other. The sun beat down on her shuddering body. Even though it was sweltering outside, she shivered against the thin fabric over her body that consisted of her clothes that she stole in Ba Sing Se. Her stomach had absolutely nothing in it by now, and that made her feel terrible physically. With every wave that crashed against the sides of the boat, her head and feet got wet, causing her to remain cold at all times. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Daza asked her once again, his annoying voice breaking through the circles her mind was running. Craning her neck, she realized that him and Zasai somehow switched positions, with Daza at the front of the boat, his feet also hanging over the edge as there was no room in the floorboards since their food was there. Zasai had moved to the back of the boat to row them forward. "I don't want you to pass out because you're dehydrated."

"Maybe that would make it so much easier to get her there," Zasai muttered from the back of the ship. He prodded her backside with his foot, and she tried to glare at him. However, when she whipped her head to look at him, the sun started spinning again. She had to blink multiple times at him to stop the sun. "Hey, then you wouldn't try to run away. Right?"

Asake swallowed hard, trying to keep the bile in her stomach instead of in the ocean. Today was one of the worst days for her, it felt like. She hadn't had this much reaction to being on the boat since one of her first days on Zuko's ship. That day, she passed out because of all the exertion from vomiting, and as embarrassing as it was, Iroh had found her in her room when she didn't show up to an all-staff meeting. He helped her then. She wished he was with her now. Hopefully, he was safe in Ba Sing Se and not worrying about her.

"If my arm wasn't broken, I would jump off this ship and swim away," Asake snapped at him. 

"Maybe then I'd catch you with our fishing net. How would that feel?"

Asake groped around the bottom of the boat, trying to find anything to hit Zasai over the head with. All she found was the last bits of the head of cabbage that Daza had bought the last time they docked, which was when she had tried to run away. After that, they decided not to dock at all to keep her with them, and they would switch on and off to row them the rest of the way to their destination, wherever that was. 

"Give me that oar so I can whack you over the head with it. How would that feel, murderer?"

Zasai growled at Asake, so she flashed him a humorless grin. If she had access to her sword, she knew exactly what she would do to him -- and it wouldn't be pretty. However, her sword was slung over Zasai's shoulder, kept safe on his body. 

"You know I'm not a murderer. I'm just named after one."

"Guys, stop arguing," Daza said sharply. Asake shifted her gaze to him to find a deep frown on his face. For just a moment, he reminded her of something, like a picture of someone, but as his frown lessened, it slipped away from her mind. "We're almost to the island, and then she won't be able to run away. You can even avoid her all you want, Zasai."