Wandering Firebender

Twenty Six: Gentle Stone

Elio slowed his ostrich horse to a stop within the woods half a day's journey away from where he had clashed with Azula. He dismounted the animal and tied it to the nearest tree, removing his things and taking a little time to feed it.

"I think we've finally put enough distance to get some rest." He said to it, stroking its neck soothingly. It chirped in response and simply sat down, laying its head on the ground.

Elio turned and crouched down to open up his pack and begin pitching his tent. But then he heard a rustling in the bushes. He quickly turned and raised his fists, ready to shoot a fire blast...

But it was just the wind.

"You're getting paranoid now." He said to himself, shaking his head and turning back to his pack. He opened it up and started to unpack.

Something scampered across the grass nearby. Elio quickly turned and shot an arcing fire shot towards the noise. The nearby brush caught on fire, showing that whatever had passed was gone now. He looked around in different hiding spots but found nothing. He quickly put the fire out before it spread too much.

"Jeez... You know what? I'm just gonna...lay against this tree." He decided. He closed his pack up again and sat on the ground with his back against the tree, right next to his ostrich horse. It glanced at him and cooed before laying its head back down again.

Elio took in a few breaths to calm himself again, resting a hand atop the head of his ostrich horse. It flinched at first before relaxing into his touch. He looked around cautiously before closing his eyes. He could feel the cold seeping within his eyelids, making closing them uncomfortable.

He forced himself to keep his eyes closed, so he could slowly drift to sleep...

Something was touching his leg!

Elio quickly opened his eyes and threw a fire punch forward. A nocturnal bird that had perched itself on his leg shrieked from the flames and flew away. The shriek of the bird woke up his ostrich horse too. It quickly raised its head up.

Elio grunted from the shock as well as his sleepiness. He brushed his nappy hair back out of his eyes, "This isn't gonna work." He said with a shake of his head before getting up to his feet.

Elio proceeded to untie his ostrich horse from the tree and urge it to stand. It chirped irritably as he put his pack back on its saddle. He mounted it again, "Come on, let's go." He said to it, urging it to go.

He rode it out of the woods and back onto the trail. It was nighttime now. No one was on the road. Elio rubbed his eyes to stay awake and quietly talked to his ostrich horse to help keep himself awake.

"I guess now that we're traveling together, I should give you a name, huh? What would be a good name for an ostrich horse...? How about La? Can I call you La?" He asked.

It didn't respond.

"Yeah, I'mma go with La." He decided with a nod.

Elio's ride continued in relative silence. He ran into no travelers along the way, and no attacks came his way either. So as he continued his ride, he continued to tiredly ramble to his ostrich horse, venting his idle thoughts.

"...I don't know whether or not I should believe what she said. I know when we talked before, she said that we were a lot alike and part of me believes that she might've been willing to pardon me if I had joined her. Perhaps any other man in the Fire Nation would have agreed to it. Perhaps I'm a fool that I didn't." He sighed.

La grunted quietly as it continued trekking down the path.

"You know, La, you're a good listener..." Elio yawned tiredly, leaning forward and resting his head on its neck. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep again and slipped off the saddle, landing on his arm.