The DragonBorn

Chapter 23

The storm had stopped the next morning, and once everything was calm enough, the three continued on their way. However, things were quite... awkward between Zeraphina and Zuko. Since Zuko had seen and asked about the scare on her chest, she hasn't been very talkative about the entire situation. Zuko didn't try to force it out of her, since he kind of already had an answer from her back on the mountain, but he started to think back on their childhood.

He remembered that she sometimes had cuts and bruises, and whenever he would ask about them, she would just smile and brush it off saying that it was from firebending training. He didn't think much about it at the time, but now he was getting more curious.

The continued on the trail for the next couple of days with no clear plan in mind. Just as they were passing through a small clearing of the forest they entered not too long ago, the ostrich horse stepped in a dip in the ground, causing Zeraphina to be jostled just a bit and hiss in pain from her wound.

"Maybe we should make camp." Zuko suggested.

"My Prince, there's no need to worry. I'm all right." Zeraphina said.

But Zuko wasn't taking no for an answer and pulled on the reins to stop the animal from going any further. He got off the ostrich horse and then held out his hand to help Zeraphina off. She was surprised by his actions, but smiled and took his hand before carefully jumping off the animal. She hissed in slight pain, but sighed as it quickly faded.

"Zeraphina, dear, are you all right?" Iroh asked.

"I'm fine, Master Iroh. It doesn't hurt as much as before." Zeraphina answered.

All of a sudden, the ostrich horse trilled hearing something in the distance.

"What's going on with the ostrich horse?" Zeraphina wondered aloud.

Something came rustling from the bushes nearby and rushing out from the forest came several Fire Nation soldiers riding Komodo rhinos, surrounding the three in an instant.

One of the soldiers, a man with a feathered mohawk and seeming to be the leader, came right in front of them.

"Colonel Mongke, what a pleasant surprise." Iroh said in a pleasant tone.

"If you're surprised we're here, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps." Mongke said.

The soldiers quickly took their weapons out from their sides and primed themselves to attack at any time necessary.

"Master, do you know these men?" Zeraphina asked.

"Sure, of course, Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapon specialist. They are also a very capable singing group."

"We're not here to give a concert." Colonel Mongke shouted, "We're here to apprehend fugitives. And perhaps we'll take the little girl, too. She'll fetch a nice price."

Zuko growled, leaning to cover Zeraphina from their view.

"Would you life some tea first?" Iroh asked, "I'd love some. How about you, Kachi? I make you as a Jasmine man. Am I right?"

"Enough stalling! Round them up! And try not to harm the girl too much."

The soldiers didn't hesitate to rush to attack the three. Iroh quickly took care of the soldier wielding the ball and chain weapon, kicking the ball making the chain wrap around the komodo rhino's leg before slapping its behind. The animal was spooked and ran off with the soldier being dragged behind it.

The soldiers holding the bow shot a flaming arrow at Zuko, but Zeraphina pushed herself to her feet and flipped over Zuko by using his shoulders as a weight. She flipped over Zuko and grabbed the arrow before blowing out the flame and snapping the arrow in half with her grip. She then flicked a bit of fire at the bow in the man's hand, making the string snap.