❃ Rough Rhinos ❃
Zuko slowly got up from the soggy ground and made his way back to the ostrich horse. The beast had been sheltered during his episode, but even so it looked like the rain had gotten to it. It trilled happily when the young Prince untied its reins, ready to get away from the storm. Zuko's fingers struggled to move and bend like they usually did, due to the frigid cold that had invaded them. His fire breathing technique was the only thing holding the teenager back from hypothermia. He really needed to go back to his uncle.
Uncle must have been worried, Zuko thought to himself. He got on the ostrich horse and rode back down the mountain. As soon as he reached the valley, he noticed that the storm had been very localised, for the valley had barely been hit by any rain at all. The burnt down buildings nearby reminded him of the wound his uncle had been given by his sister. How would the old man have survived if he hadn't come back down the mountain? The worn down teen suddenly realised how stupid he'd been for seeking his own lightning like that (not that he would ever admit that out loud).
When Zuko finally arrived at their make-shift home, he noticed that the remnant of a fire was still crackling softly. He jumped off of the ostrich horse and tied it to its post. The beast squawked in appreciation of being back home, but Zuko cringed at the loud sound.
"Shh! Stay quiet. Uncle's already asleep." He shushed and walked over to the shack.
Inside, his uncle and Keya were resting peacefully in their respective corners. The glowing embers that the boy had noticed earlier were partially covered by a small pot. Curious (and rather hungry), he lifted the lid of the pot to take a look at the contents. A delicious smell wafted from the broth inside. His stomach grumbled and he clutched it with his free hand.
Zuko quietly grabbed a brown bowl and scooped some of the broth up. He brought the bowl to his lips and chugged the whole thing back in one go. Once done, he cleaned it up and got ready to sleep.
As he got his blanket, he saw that the only spot to sleep was between his uncle and the Earth Kingdom girl. He sighed and just plopped down, too tired to complain. Now that the broth had settled in his stomach and stilled his hunger, and the blanket warmed up his exhausted body, Zuko quickly found himself falling asleep.
In the state between the living world and dreamland, a thought occurred to him. His outburst to Keya had been unfair to the girl. His uncle was right, she couldn't have known. Why was he so angry when she'd told him? 'Who would ever bend a direct attack at their own nephew, their own family?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?'
Was this what most people thought? Was his experience not normal? Zuko's sleep-drunk mind was too tired to fully process what that might have meant about his upbringing. However, one thing had become very clear to him: He shouldn't have yelled at the girl.
He sighed. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even. In the last moments of his wakefulness, Zuko breathed out an apology.
"I'm sorry for my anger, Keya. You didn't deserve it."
Soon after having spoken, he fell asleep. Beside him lay a startled Keya. Her eyes went wide when she heard it, but quickly relaxed again when she heard the boy's breathing even out. She had been awake ever since she heard the ostrich horse squawk. The girl had been too afraid to open her eyes - let alone speak to the guy. She felt his body heat radiate off of him as he had laid down beside her, a talent he received by being a firebender. She couldn't deny that she felt a lot warmer with him in the shack. Her shabby blanket wasn't exactly made for cold desert nights, after all.
With that said, his apology had come rather out of the blue. Had he even meant it? Surely he wouldn't even remember it after waking up tomorrow. The words had tumbled out of his mouth like a sleepy thought rather than a conscious apology. But perhaps that made the whole thing more genuine. Zuko didn't exactly seem like the type to apologise so publicly. Not in the sense that he wasn't a nice guy, but more so because he often didn't seem to recognise his bad behaviours. The Fire Lord must have had a hand in that, Keya thought to herself.
"You're forgiven..." She just mumbled and went back to sleep, not caring whether the boy had heard it or not.
The shack stayed quiet after that. The only sounds that could be heard were that of a random cat-owl hooting every now and again, and uncle Iroh's obnoxious snoring. Soon enough, dawn broke out over the valley.
The next morning, Keya and Iroh made quick work of packing up. Zuko looked so exhausted from his previous escapade that they had let him sleep in. Once everything was ready, they woke him up and got ready to leave. Zuko wasn't happy about being left to sleep, so the young man heavily insisted that he would be the one to steer the ostrich horse. Iroh and Keya relented, of course. The former was wounded and the latter had no experience with ostrich horses.
And so the trio took off. Zuko sat at the front, holding the reins and steering the ostrich horse. Iroh sat behind him. At first, he had tried to get Keya to sit in the middle. However, both her and her teenage counterpart felt too awkward and argued against the plan.
"You're still hurt, Iroh. Perhaps it would be better if you sat in the middle... for safety and health purposes." Keya gently patted the space behind Zuko on the ostrich horse. Said boy hurriedly agreed with her.
"Yes! Uncle, Keya is right. Come, sit!"
Iroh looked at the two suspiciously. What had happened to the foul mood they used to have between them? Had his plan worked that well? He simply shrugged and got on. At least they were getting along. Keya promptly jumped up behind him, now fully recovered from her fever.
A few hours later, the group was travelling through a rocky canion. They had just left the shed behind them as they steadily entered the last woodland area before the desert. Some trees still littered the area, accompanied by dry bushes and small mammals. The rest of the road was deserted. So far they hadn't even come across any other travellers!
The trio were seated comfortably on the ostrich horse (they really had to give it a name). The constant jostling was no problem for the two teens, but Iroh groaned and grunted in pain from his spot in the middle.
"Are you okay, Iroh?" Keya asked him worriedly, but the old man shook his head.
"No need to worry about me, dear. I'm alright." He said. Keya nodded in response, rather unconvinced but not comfortable enough with him just yet to go against his authority.
Instead, she decided to study Kanak's map from her spot at the back. She was trying to take some extra notes and make updates to it, so that she could send it back to her brothers once she reached Ba Sing Se. For now, she followed the map with her finger to their next destination. They were right on their way to a place called the 'Misty Palms Oasis'. It was still on track to Ba Sing Se -thankfully- but she would probably have to figure out sooner rather than later how she was going to cross the Si Wong desert on her own. After that, she would have to cross a so-called 'serpent's pass'. That did not sound very promising... Hopefully the actual pass wasn't as bad as the name itself.
"Oof, ai, ouch." Iroh groaned and grumbled again. The girl behind him stayed quiet, but his nephew had finally had enough. He pulled on the reins and halted the ostrich horse.
"Maybe we should make camp." Zuko suggested grumpily. Keya hummed in response, agreeing with the boy without looking up from her map.
"No please," Iroh gasped dramatically, "don't stop just for me!"
Zuko sighed and made the ostrich horse continue walking, but Iroh's moans of pain only increased. Keya patted the old man's back in comfort -still without looking up. Zuko scoffed and groaned in annoyance. He halted the ostrich horse and jumped off. He held the beast's reins. Iroh also jumped off and made his way over to an elevated part of the canion. He used it as a seat. Keya slid off as well. She slipped her map back into her rucksack.
"Are you alright, Iroh? Should I get you something to drink?" She offered and got out her water pouch.
Just then, the ostrich horse trilled and looked around in alarm. Immediately, Zuko jumped into a defensive stance. Keya grasped her chest in fright. Were they being attacked? She quickly reached for her father's army dagger.
"What now?" Grumbled Iroh. The man seemed rather unfazed by their potentially dangerous situation. If the glimpse of power that she had witnessed the day prior was anything to go by, Keya could see why a man like Iroh wasn't scared of much.
The sound of multiple hooves filled the area. Five menacing men arrived to surround the wary trio.
The first had a red helmet completely covering his face. His outfit was black with red belts and matching weapons attached. Three other men accompanied his left flank. One had purple warrior paint delicately painted over his eyes and eyebrows with a top-knot and dark red armour, a bow was slung onto his back. Another man wore a similarly dark red outfit, but his face was uncovered -save for his braided, brown beard. The third was a dark skinned man with a thick braid flowing from the top of his head. He looked like he could have Earth Kingdom blood flowing through his veins. Perhaps he was from one of the many Fire Nation colonies.
Finally, the fifth man stomped over to the three travellers and their ostrich horse. His outfit resembled a typical Fire Nation soldier's outfit, but with the sleeves cut off. His ears were pierced by two golden hoop earrings and his septum was pierced by a smaller, but matching hoop. His head was mostly shaven, save for a small patch of hair that was tied together at the top. His top knot was hidden by three brown feathers. These men were soldiers. Fire Nation soldiers. Keya gulped and trembled as she took a step back.
Iroh stood up from his make-shift seat. "Colonel Mongke," He welcomed, "what a pleasant surprise." In the meantime, he subtly put his hand on Zuko's shoulder to hold the boy back. Zuko just scowled menacingly.
"If you're surprised that we're here, then the 'Dragon of the West' has lost a few steps." The Mongke man replied. He punctuated his sentence by clanging his sharp weapons together. The other three riders took this as their signs to harness their weapons as well. The bearded man grabbed a spear, the painted man a bow and arrow with the tips ablaze, and the braided man spun a chain with a metal ball attached. What kind of guys was Iroh hanging out with?
"You know these guys?" Zuko asked. Apparently he and Keya had shared the same thought.
"Sure," Iroh answered casually, "Colonel Mongke and the 'Rough Rhinos' are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapon's specialist. They are also a very capable singing group!" He added, much to Keya's surprise. She stifled a nervous laugh.
"We're not here to give a concert! We're here to apprehend fugitives!" Colonel Mongke yelled. The tips of his ears glowed a soft pink from embarrassment, indicating that Iroh had spoken the truth.
"Would you like some tea first? I'd love some." Iroh rubbed his shoulder calmly. "How 'bout you, Kachi? I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?" He motioned to the helmet guy.
"Enough stalling! Round 'em up!" Colonel Mongke yelled impatiently and the rough rhinos started their attacks.
Mister braid threw his ball at Iroh, who kicked it away. The ball ended up chaining one of the komodo rhino's large claws. The old man was surprisingly nimble as he ducked and rolled away from the painted man's fiery arrows. He quickly slapped the komodo rhino's butt that had previously been captured by the ball, making the beast run off with his rider -mister beard- still on its back. As the first komodo rhino ran off, the long chain attached to its leg pulled mister braid off of his own komodo rhino, ready to be dragged across the valley for a good while.
The painted man shot a few fiery arrows at Zuko, who promptly deflected them and sent his own fire back at him. Zuko's attack damaged the man's bow, leaving a clean hole in the middle. Keya just stood frozen next to their ostrich horse, hoping none of the men would see her as she tried to get her breathing under control. This was not the time to freak out and cause a breezy scene!
Finally, the leader of the group, Colonel Mongke, sent balls of fire at Iroh. The man deflected them with some strain. His wound was still working against him. Mongke also sent balls to Zuko and Keya, but the former jumped in front of her and defended the two of them. Then, Zuko made his way forward to the komodo rhino, avoiding the beast's large tail as it swung at him. He jumped on the beast's back and -with a very fancy twirling move- sent Colonel Mongke flying off of his own komodo rhino in a fiery attack. The flames passed over the area and Keya ducked with more air swirling around her than natural. Flying hog monkeys! She needed to calm down!
All the fire and action brought up unwelcome memories. The young girl struggled to breathe despite her best efforts. She groaned and grasped her chest, leaning on her feathered friend for support. Iroh quickly noticed her situation. He grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the ostrich horse. Keya clung to Iroh's tunic with all her might, her fingers turning white from strain. The two of them raced from the scene, but not before Zuko managed to jump on the back as well. The boy landed right behind Keya and he held onto her waist as they fled. His warm hands felt like an anchor to the girl, a physical sensation that she could hold onto as she tried to come back down from her panicked state.
The last man, mister helmet, chased after them from a distance. With great accuracy, the soldier threw a bomb to the fugitives. Keya screamed as the bomb exploded in front of them. Zuko's hand quickly silenced her, folding over her mouth with great ease. His other arm now fully circled her waist in order to not fall off. Both teens were too busy with their escape to bother with their interaction. Thankfully, the ostrich horse had managed to avoid the blast for the most part and ran on, leaving the dark smoke behind. Their enemies were left behind for now.
"It's nice to see old friends." Iroh commented. Zuko looked back at the scene and subtly put his hands back down from Keya's waist with a dark blush on his face.
"Too bad you have any old friends that don't want to attack you." He scolded his uncle.
"Hmm..." Iroh thought out loud. "Old friends that don't want to attack me..."
❃
A/N: So... what did you think about this chapter?? I'm living for Zuko and Keya starting to open up a little bit. Buttt then again, common enemies can really bring two people closer together <3