Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire [Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic]

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Izara woke later, the cloth hood still covering her face. She felt groggy and sore, smelt the blood from her shoulder, and shifted slightly to try and feel if her clothes were still wet from the blood. They weren't, so she must have been out for some time. She mentally scanned her body, seeing if she'd had any other wounds inflicted aside from her stab wound. Thankfully, she was in pretty good shape aside from that. The dizziness had faded, but she knew she would struggle if she tried to get up and walk. Her wrists were bound behind the seat she was on, so she wouldn't be getting far anyway. Clearly, they hadn't expected to take any prisoners since they hadn't put her in shackles. The rope was heavy and thick; they'd smell the smoke if she burned her way through it. They probably also expected it was improbable for anyone to try and get away while in the middle of their camp. 

The rustle of a cloth tent door opening grabbed her attention. She recognised the voice as the man who had captured her.

"You're awake, I see." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice. 

Izara felt a hand pull the hood off her and squinted at the sudden brightness. Slowly, her eyes focused, and she saw the Supremacist who had grabbed her before and looked at him with a bored expression. He had sat down on a chair about two metres from her and stared back at her before laughing. He seemed pleased with himself, and she rolled her eyes. He would never have caught her if she didn't let him. Zuko would have struck lightning through him if she had given him the okay, which would have ended it.

"I take it you are fairly important for the Fire Lord himself to try to stop you from being captured." He spoke, and she simply stared back at him quietly, blinking slowly. "So, who are you then, hmm? You can't be a general. I know all the generals, and you do not match their descriptions."

Not rising to his terrible attempt at provocation, she turned her head away to look around in the tent, getting a feel for her surroundings. There wasn't anything else in the tent besides a small table and three chairs. She was sitting on one, he was on the second, and a third was empty at the table. Although it had been a long time since she'd done this, muscle memory and instincts did the work, immediately absorbing every piece of information that might help her with any possible sabotage and her eventual escape. 

"Woman." He hissed to get her attention, and she glanced at him briefly before looking at the floor. "Answer me, bitch!"

Instead of giving in, she ignored him and tilted her neck to either side as if she was stretching, but she was trying to get him to lose his temper. If he was easily angered, that would only serve her purpose. When she was ready to get out and attempt escape, it would make it easier to get away if he was closer to her. Then she could decide if she wanted to stab him in the shoulder in retaliation for her wound or just slit his throat. De

The back of his hand landed squarely along her cheek, and she felt the sting as her head snapped to the right from the force. Just trying to push his buttons more, she began to smirk and looked back up at him before laughing right to his face. He hit her again, and she just laughed louder still. He growled and stomped out of the tent, and she heard him cursing loudly as he walked away.

She hissed at the combined pain from either side of her face and shoulder, then sighed in annoyance. Though she couldn't be sure, it seemed to be late in the afternoon, judging from the amount of light she saw from outside before the tent door swung shut on his way out. She wondered idly whether it was the same day, knowing she had been taken away around two hours after sunrise. If it was, it meant that the camp she was currently at had to be at least four hours of travel time away. Unless they had travelled for a full day while she was unconscious. To keep her out for that long, they would have to drug her, and she didn't feel any aftereffects.