"Eloh?"
Orzala felt her world stop in that moment. One name was all it took. Her breathing became erratic as her heart pounded in her chest. Her terrified green eyes remained locked on the man, whose eyes darted back and forth between her and the prince.
Only one thought rang in her mind.
He knows. The words were a mantra in her head, echoing and bouncing around with no sign of stopping. He knows, I'm dead.
He knows who I am and I'm dead. Her gaze snapped to the side, sliding over Sokka to see if he had heard anything. He hadn't. His glare was focused on Katara. She turned back to the old man slowly, narrowing her eyes.
"How do you know my mother?" She hissed quietly, and his golden eyes widened a fraction.
"Eloh had a daughter?" The man's voice was small, and Orzala nearly flinched at the pain it held. His eyes drifted over her face, and she shifted uncomfortably as he smiled sadly. "You have her eyes. And you have his nose."
Her blood ran cold at the words. "You know my father?" His smile fell immediately, and Orzala watched the blood flee from his old face. He shook his head quickly, spinning on his heel and walking away from her. The princess's face fell, and a slight disappointment flooded her chest.
The old man came to a stop beside Katara, and he refused to glance at the princess. A scowl curled on her lips. "Aang, this is all my fault!" Katara called, apologetic.
"No, Katara, it isn't."
"Yeah, it kind of is," the old man stated from beside her, and Orzala nodded along.
"The old man's not wrong."
"Give me the boy!" Zuko snarled, cutting off their conversation. But the pirates weren't having any of it.
"You give us the scroll! Then you can have the boy, and his friends."
"Are you really going to trade the avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" Zuko's eyes bulged as Sokka spoke, and he shook his head quickly his head.
"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other!" The pirates paused, their calculating gazes drifting toward Aang. Orzala swore she could see money signs pop up in their eyes. The princess smirked slightly at the prince.
"Your friend is the avatar?" The captain asked, eyebrow quirked as he looked toward Aang.
"Sure is! And I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than some fancy scroll," Sokka taunted, flashing Orzala a wink as he moved next to her. Her smirk widened into a smile. Zuko, however, was not as pleased.
"Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" Orzala's dangerous gaze snapped to the prince as he exploded, a scowl pulling at her lips once more.
"Don't talk to him that way, you pompous prick!" Aang grabbed her shirt with his bound hands, pulling her back and shooting her a fearful look.
"No, he's kind of right. Sokka really should shut his mouth." Orzala facepalmed. Even with all his 'infinite wisdom,' as Katara called it, the boy really could be thick sometimes. She shrugged him off, leaning into the pirates with a smirk.
"He's right, ya know? It's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Firelord would pay for the avatar!" The surrounding pirates began to smile wickedly. "You guys would be set for life."
"Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid." Zuko glowered at them, and his soldiers quickly fell in line beside him.
"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" Orzala looked over her shoulder just in time to see fire blasts heading their way. She jumped up, gasping as the flames licked the ground right under her feet. Her jade eyes flickered to Sokka, worry surging in her chest until she realized he was fine. The princess rushed toward her fallen friends, using the commotion around them as a cover.
"Are you alright?" She asked, falling to her knees beside them, but her only answer was a battle cry. Her gaze snapped to the soldiers heading straight for them, and her breath caught in her throat. A group of pirates quickly jumped to their defense, and the air around them became thick with smoke from their smoke bombs.
Orzala's lungs felt heavy as she attempted to breathe through the stuff, and a bout of coughs tore from her throat. "Orzala?!" The girl whipped around, eyes straining to see through the gray air.
"Sokka? Where are you?"
"I'm right here, follow my voice." She frowned, taking a hesitant step in the direction she thought she had heard him.
"Keep talking, I have no idea where I'm going."
"Uhhhh, what do you want me to say?"
"I don't know. You never shut up. Why is it so hard to think of something now?"
"Hey! I take offense to that."
"Sokka, you take offense to everything!"
"Because you always say offensive things!" The girl let out a snort, eyes locking on a shadowed, hunched figure up ahead.
"Found you," she breathed, and she saw the figure turn to her. She smiled as he stepped out of the smoke, and he returned the favor. That was, until a knife went flying over his head. A screech left the princess's lips as she narrowly dodged the blade. She set her her jaw, running toward the weapon that was now embedded in the ground and using it to cut the ropes that bound her wrists together.
Once free, she whipped the blade out of the ground, taking a moment to admire the weapon and its gold hilt. "Hm," she mused, lips quirking up into a small smile as she tested the feel of the blade in her fingers, "guess this is mine now." She approached Sokka, reaching for his bound wrists and cutting the rope carefully. As soon as his hands were free, he grabbed her own, pulling them up and examining the rope burns that marred her pale skin. A frustrated growl escaped him.
Orzala only let out a small chuckle, pulling away from his grasp and shaking her head. "I've had worse, water boy. You know that."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it," he grumbled, rubbing the ache away from his own wrists. "Aang, are you there! I found Orzala!"
"I'm over here! Follow my voice!" The avatar called, sounding far off. Orzala frowned.
"Where?! We can't find you!"
"I'm right here!" He called, louder this time. A beat passed. "Nevermind, I'll find you!" The princess let out a huff before pulling Sokka closer to her and calling out to Aang once more.
"Don't worry, I got this!" She gave them no time to question her words, wrapping her arm around Sokka's torso and throwing another arm up quickly. She winced when Sokka's scream filled the air, turning to glare at him as they were propelled upwards. "Chill out, you big baby." She released him once they were high enough that they were above the smoke, bending several more rocks so they had something of a staircase to walk down and out of the smoke.
"Run!" Aang's cry filled the air, and she watched as he catapulted himself out of the smoke and toward the pirate ship ahead of them. They wasted no time to follow, and their faces lit up as they saw Katara by the ship. "Katara! You're ok!"
"Help me get this boat back in the water so we can get out of here!" The four of them struggled to push the large ship, hope fading when it didn't budge.
"We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship."
"A team of rhinos, or two waterbenders." They turned to Aang, who was smiling at Katara. She sent him a sheepish nod, and they went to work, pulling and pushing the tide until the boat was afloat. "Everybody in!"
The group quickly boarded the ship, attempting to make it down the river and out of sight before they were caught. But as they looked back behind them, Orzala groaned. The pirates had commandeered Zuko's boat and were already hot on their trail. "Why can't something just go right for once!"
"Sokka, can't you make this thing go any faster?"
"I don't know how! This thing wasn't built by the Water Tribe!" Orzala's gaze flitted to the ship beside them, and she scowled at the pirates who were swinging over. She lifted the blade from earlier, eyeing it skeptically before she shrugged.
"Might as well try it out. What better practice than fighting pirates?"
She jumped as a thump sounded next to her, hurriedly readying her blade and facing her opponent. The pirate only laughed, falling into stance and placing his large blade against her own. The princess's eyes widened. "En garde, little girl."
Orzala was saved, however, when a wave overtook the boat, washing the man away from her. She whirled around, gaze locking on Aang. The airbender sent her a smile before moving on. The girl shook her head. Now that that was handled, her wild eyes searched the ship for Sokka, and they darkened when she found him.
Her feet beat heavily against the deck as she ran, flying up the steps and toward the boy- and the pirates who held him. Before she could change her mind, she began attacking the larger man, feet and fists flying faster than he could process. It had little to no effect on him, though, and he turned to glare at her dangerously.
She let out a nervous laugh, but it caught in her throat as the pirate threw a fist back at her. She narrowly dodged the blow, eyes bulging as she looked at the man's hand. "Ok, that was close. You could hurt someone like that." The man growled, dropping Sokka to follow her as she darted away. She ignored the concern that shot through her as the boy let out a shriek of pain.
The princess darted around a corner, casting a quick glance behind her to make sure she was being followed. A smirk crawled to her lips, and she quickly ducked out of sight as the pirate came into view. The man looked around wildly, and his anger was visible. Orzala shrunk back as he grew closer, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself. He came to stop beside her, oblivious to her presence.
Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she stood, shifting her weight between her feet, and just as the man turned to her- his black eyes widening when they locked with her own- she shot forward. The princess's foot connected harshly with his chest, and in his surprise, he stumbled back. Right over the rail and off the ship.
A shocked laugh tore from her throat. "Yes! Ok, did anyone see that?!" She called, pumping her fists into the air in excitement. Her celebration was cut short by a screech, and she frowned. "Oh," she mumbled, grimacing. "Right. I'm supposed to be saving Sokka. Again." She huffed, running in the direction of the commotion.
She didn't know what she expected when she rounded the corner, but she wasn't expecting to see Sokka on the ground, unmoving. A pang shot through her heart as she ran to him, dropping to a crouch beside him and resting a hand on his cheek. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern, but a relieved sigh left her as he grimaced. His eyes fluttered open, and Orzala's breath left her momentarily as his icy gaze met her own. She forced a smile to her lips. He did the same.
"Are you ok?" She asked, wrapping a slender hand around his arm and pulling him to sit up. He let out a pained groan, but nodded, leaning against her heavily as he stood. The boy peered down at her, and Orzala was taken back by the intensity of his stare. Her eyebrow shot up as he lifted a hand to her cheek, tilting her head up so she would meet his gaze.
"Orzala-"
"Aang, look!" His sister's cry cut him off, and Sokka huffed as he looked in the direction that she was pointing.
"Oh, spirits," he heard Orzala breathe, and he squeezed her arm lightly. A shing of a sword reached the boy's ears, and his head snapped to the side to see one last pirate. It was the pirate they had met back at the market, and his sword was pointed directly at Aang. The airbender was oblivious to the danger, apparently, because instead of defending himself, he pulled out his bison whistle and blew into the broken contraption.
Sokka was quick to move as the pirate recovered from the initial shock, and the boy swiftly disarmed him, sending him off the boat with a kick to the head. He turned to Aang, exasperated. "Are you out of your mind!? This is no time for flute practice!"
The airbender ignored him, though, rushing to Katara and staring at the waterfall that awaited them. Katara set her jaw, facing Aang. "We can stop the boat! Together, Aang! Push and pull the water!" As the two benders fought against the current, Orzala joined them, wide eyes focused on the sight ahead. "It's working! It's slowing down!" The boat began to turn, stopping right before they toppled over the edge. "We're doing it!"
Before they could be relieved, a dark figure moved in the corner of Sokka's eye. He turned, a gasp leaving him as he noticed the Fire Nation ship heading straight for them. "We have another problem!"
The ship plowed into them roughly, turning the pirate ship on it's side and pushing it toward the edge. Orzala gripped Sokka's arm tightly as they fell toward the edge, eyes snapping shut as they began to freefall. The princess braced herself for the icy embrace of the water below, but it never came. Instead, she collided with a hard surface, and she opened her eyes to find herself on Appa's saddle. A crazed laugh left her lips, and she smiled over to the others.
"I knew a bison whistle would come in handy!" Aang exclaimed. "Thanks, Appa."
"Yeah," Sokka drawled, slouching back against the saddle. "We owe you one." The creature growled beneath them, and Orzala sighed. She slumped against Sokka, head resting gently on his shoulder. She had yet to let go of his arm, but he didn't mind.
"Aang, I still owe you an apology," Katara piped up, wringing her hands in shame. She refused to meet the boy's eyes. "You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I go to competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry."
"That's ok, Katara."
"Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway?" Sokka sent Orzala a smirk, and she cocked an eyebrow as he reached into his shirt. The three kids' eyes widened as they saw the scroll. He waved it around proudly.
"The scroll!" Katara exclaimed, reaching for the parchment, but Sokka quickly pulled it away. He shot her a look.
"First, what did you learn?"
"Stealing is wrong," she conceded, snatching the scroll happily from her brother. She smirked over at him. "Unless it's from pirates!" Orzala and Aang bust into laughter, but Sokka only frowned.
"Good one, Katara!"
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Author's note
Hey guys! So this chapter has been revised. I reread it and I didn't think that Orzala had been portrayed really well, so here we are: better and longer than before! Thanks as always for your support! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Love,Liz