The DragonBorn

Chapter 35

After parting ways from the Water Tribe fleet, the group headed further into the Fire Nation trying to find a place to lay low until the day of the Solar Eclipse. For the time being, they were traveling through the sky in a cloud disguise, provided by Aang and Katara using their bending. Zeraphina even added some of her heat to the cloud to make it more believable as the water turned into steam.

"I think I see a cave below." Aang said as they descended.

"Shh... keep quiet." Sokka shushed.

The cloud quickly disappeared and everyone got off of Appa.

"Great job with the cloud camo, but next time... Let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud who knows how to keep its mouth shut." Sokka said.

"Yeah, we wouldn't hant a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in." Toph shot back.

"Hey, we're in enemy territory." Sokka pointed out, "Those are enemy birds."

Zeraphina sighed, "Sokka, as smart as the people in the Fire Nation are, they can't train birds like that." She said as a bird landed on Sokka's head and squawked.

Everyone chuckled at the action and walked over to the cave they found, Sokka crashing into the dirt as he tried to make sure that the area was clear.

"Well, this is it." He declared, "This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave.... after cave, after cave...."

"Sokka, we don't need to become cave people." Katara stated, "What we need is some new clothes."

"Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out." Aang pointed out, "If we get Fire Nation disguises, we'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."

"And if we're in the Fire Nation, perhaps I could find useful information about the army's movements." Zeraphina added.

"You can find that out?" Sokka asked and Zeraphina nodded.

"It all depends on the source. I may have been locked in a room for most of my life, but finding information is one of my specialties."

Everyone was stunned how freely she was speaking, since most of their interactions with the DragonBorn weren't as casual like now.

"Plus, they have real food out there." Toph said, sitting on the ground against some rocks, "Does anyone wanna sit in the dirt and eat cave-hoppers?"

She struck the wall of the cave and rattled it so hard that cave-hoppers rushed out away from the danger. Momo dived for the bug and began eating it vigorously.

"Looks like we got outvoted, sport." Sokka said sadly then smiled at the group, "Let's get some new clothes."

The group left Appa nearby in the cave and searched for some kind of place to get clothes. Luckily, there was a house with clothes drying on the clothing lines, and there were plenty of options to choose from. Zeraphina however was nervous about getting Fire Nation based clothing, as it would remind her of her captivity in the hateful Nation. But it had to be done.

"I don't know about this." Aang said uneasy, "These clothes belong to someone."

"I call the silk robe." Katara shouted and rushed to the clothing lines, grabbing a beautiful red silk robe.

"But if it's essential to our survival... Then I call the suit."

Everyone rushed to grab an outfit for each of them. Zeraphina looked around carefully for something that would not only be practical, but also help hide her DragonBorn features.

She took a red crop top with a high neckline and dark brown trim to hide her DragonBorn mark and the Fire Nation brand underneath it. Then she took a pair of red pants that would be tucked into a pair of tall brown and gold boots. Finally, she wrapped a piece of brown cloth around her waist with the Fire Nation symbol embroidered with gold in the center.