The Legend of Percy: Book 2 - Through Grief

3. Searching the Lake (A Very Stray Princess)

A/N: **TW** Mentions and descriptions of an example of an anxiety attack. Not explicit or intense.(Bracketed by *AA*)

Azula sat on her throne in the bridge. The ship, with a tank train held below, was completely and hauntingly silent. The usual bantering and bickering of her two friends to distract her from the many voices threatening to overcome her absent.

They'd left in the early hours of the morning after her talk with her father, brother and friends. That had been days ago now, and the relentlessness of travel and the voices meant she was, once again, extremely fatigued.

She was having the previously unknown feeling of thinking that she could've been nicer to Ty Lee. The princess had never felt like that. Usually, her standard fear she created in her friends barely caused her any ill feelings whatsoever.

This time, she felt terrible. And the voices in her head were letting her have it.

She deserves to fear you. She's hiding things from you. She's just trying to be your friend. Is she not your friend?

The traitorously soft and delicate voice, siding with Ty Lee, was beginning to win out. And it was just making the pounding in her head that much worse. Luckily, the ship stopping at the south end of the West Lake gave her something to distract herself with. They were positioned just east of the Great Divide, close enough for a few days journey scouring the shoreline in between there and the Serpent's Pass. Azula remembered the little Kyoshi Warrior girl saying something about meeting Percy there, and it was the only real lead she had.

"I'll be travelling alone, with a mongoose dragon. You will wait here. If I am needed, you will either send a messenger hawk, or fire a cannon high into the air over the lake."

The captain, and most of the crew surrounding her, paused.

"Do you really think that wise, Princess?"

She could feel him shaking as he asked that. Thankfully, it wasn't the same idiotic captain she'd had previously, but she didn't like him questioning her decision and her intelligence.

"Would you like to repeat that, captain? Because I've heard that if you do, there's a lake monster that will readily swallow you whole."

Leaving the threat hanging in the air, she made for the tank train housing her ride. The soldiers surrounding it parted ways, quickly and satisfactorily. Her mongoose lizard seemed happy to leave the cell it was in, and she leapt up onto her saddle.

"Open the ramp, I shall return soon."

She gestured nonchalantly for them to do so. As the ramp clanked to the floor, she kicked her steed into motion and began to search the surroundings of the lake. Tied to the back of it were a set of supplies, tent and food, fit for any royal.

Azula began methodically making her way around the nooks and crannies of the lake. Something in her gut was telling her that he or a clue to his whereabouts could be found there, and she was following it without a second thought. By the time she'd made it around halfway to the pass, by her estimation, the sun was beginning to set.

Not wanting to potentially fight a waterbender at night, with the moon on his side and by a huge lake, she decided it was best to stop for the day.

The princess set about making herself a campsite. That turned out to be much harder than she'd initially expected.

Stupid tent, with the stupid pegs. This is why you need to bring servants with you. It's not royal to do it yourself.

The deep voice seemed to be feeding off her anger quite comfortably.