Wandering Firebender

Seventy Two: First Line

Cindra was making her way down one of the hallways of the Fire Lord's palace when she crossed paths with Elio, who was dressed in full uniform. She smiled and waved at him as the two approached each other.

"Hey, Elio! How's it going?" She asked.

"Not too bad. I can't really talk too much right now. I'm on my way to a meeting." He said.

"Oh yeah? Is there something important going on that nobody told me about?" Cindra asked with a giggle.

"Heheh, yeah. Fire Lord Zuko wants to have an important meeting regarding relations with the Earth Kingdom. Avatar Aang and some of his friends are supposed to be there, as well as all the royal advisors." Elio explained.

"Oh wow! That does sound important! I'll let you go then. I guess I'll go see how Sri is doing." She decided.

"Yeah, good idea. I'm gonna be gone pretty much all day, so..."

"Oh man. Haha, well have fun then," Cindra said with a laugh and a wave. "See you around!" She said as she started walking off.

"Later, Cindra. Take care."

Cindra walked over to where the living quarters were and made her way to Sri's room. She knocked on the door, "Hmm? Coming..." Sri called out lazily. After a short minute, she answered the door and rubbed her eyes. Her hair was still a mess.

"Morning, Sri! Did I wake you?" She asked.

"Nah, I've been up for a bit, I just didn't feel like getting out of bed," Sri answered. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing. Elio's in an important meeting right now and he's gonna be gone all day, so it looks like we're gonna have to find something to do." She answered.

"Oh yeah? We're not supposed to be at that meeting, right?"

"Nope! So as far as I can tell, we got nothing going on today!"

"Oh yeah? You too, huh?" Another voice responded. The two of them turned to see Katara walking towards them, already awake and dressed similarly to Cindra.

"Man, you Water Tribe girls must all be early risers, huh?" Sri observed with a little chuckle.

"It doesn't feel like it's that early." Katara said with a shrug.

"You're probably just lazy," Cindra teased with a giggle. "Sri, this is Katara. She's one of the Avatar's friends from the Southern Water Tribe, my sister tribe." She introduced her to Sri.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Sri from the Earth Kingdom," She introduced herself to Katara, shaking hands with her. "I didn't even know there were two water tribes." She admitted with a chuckle.

"Haha, that's okay. It's nice to meet you, Sri. You must be one of Elio's friends too?" She guessed.

"That's right. I'm part of his crew same as her. It's no flying bison and Elio's definitely not the Avatar, but it's a good deal." Sri said with a nod.

"Alright." Katara replied with a polite smile.

"Looks like you weren't invited to the important meeting today either, huh, Katara?" Cindra presumed.

"Nah. I could've gone, but I really didn't have it in me to sit through a whole day of strategies and speeches. Besides, both Aang and my brother Sokka will be there, so I'll just ask him to get me up to speed. I'm sure that'll make him feel extra manly." She joked.

"So it's just us three? Well in that case, why don't we all hang out together?" Cindra suggested.

"Yeah! We can make a girls' day out of it!" Katara agreed.