Zuko's wife

Zuko Alone

Zuko's POV

The sky was partly cloudy. I pasted dead tree dominates the right side of me as I rode on an ostrich horse. I was wearing a round, coolie type hat, I feel sullen.

I rode the ostrich horse over a rope suspension bridge. The ostrich horse had put a foot through one of the planks and almost lost its balance. I acted quickly to right the animal and continue crossing the bridge.

Later, I stopped my mount mid stride as I smelt something. I looked around to find two people in Earth Kingdom clothing around a campfire. I saw the food they were cooking and clutches my stomach. I hadn't eaten in so long. I need food to survive. I moved my hand to the hilt of my two broadswords, then looked again at the two people by the campfire, the man approached his pregnant wife who was reclined against a tree. He rubbed her belly and smiled at her. I released my grip and lowered my eyes in resignation and moved forward on my mount. I couldn't steal from them. I miss Sky. I wonder how our baby is doing. Oh, Agni I left her alone with just Uncle to protector her from men less kind than me that could hurt them no matter if she was pregnant or not for food. I hope she isn't as hungry as me.

I rode across a field. I was almost asleep in the saddle. I tried to take a drink from my water skin. It was empty. The landscape was a grassy field strewn with huge, circular shaped stones with squares cut from the middle. Many were embedded in the earth.

My eyes had grown heavy, but I fought back asleep. My eyesight was blurry. I continued to fight back sleep, jerking myself awake a few times. I had a momentary vision of a beautiful woman with dark hair wearing barely visible Fire Nation clothing, but I woke with a start.

I soon see a village in the distance. I hope I have enough money to get more supplies. I rode into the village and saw several Earth Kingdom soldiers playing some type of game. One of the soldier's was shaking a pair of dice to through in front of them. "Come on, spider snake eyes..." one solider said. Three of the soldiers squatted on the ground at around the dice. Another, who seems to be their lead, stands behind them wearing a slightly different uniform than the others. The soldier in the middle is shaking the dice then through them and rolled two fives. The man with the different uniform scowled, as the roller had put his hands over his head in triumph. Soldier exclaimed, "Yeah!" His two compatriots that were squatting next to him began to hit him.

I rode up to a stall near the men. The soldier standing up; his eyes followed the sound of the arriving ostrich horse and he turned slightly towards me. I got off my mount and asked the merchant at a stall, "Could I get some water, a bag of feed, and something hot to eat?" I offered him a few coins once I finished. The merchant looked at my coins and said, "Not enough here for a hot meal. I can get you two bags of feed." I looked down in despair as the merchant went to get the feed, the gambling soldiers behind me were looking at me. The soldiers turned back to their game as I looked to the side of the stall at the sound of some laughter. A few kids peeked from around the corner of the stall.

A kid handed his friend an egg, who through it at the gambling soldiers. It hit a soldier on the head and the kids ran off. The soldiers got up and looked over and see me with my back to them. The street was otherwise empty. "Hey!" shouted the leader solider as he and his friends approached me from behind, "You throwing eggs at us, stranger?" I answered simply with, "No." The leader continued to question me, "You see who did throw it?" I answered again as I turned around to face them, "No." As I put my hand on my sword hilt. The leader looked side to side.

One of the other soldiers then asked, "That's your favourite word, no?" The leader then asked me, "Egg had to come from somewhere." I turned back to the stall and said, "Maybe a chicken flew over." One of the soldiers started to laugh but a look from their leader silenced him. The merchant then appeared and dropped my two bags of feed on the counter. The leader then swooped in and grabbed them and said, "Thanks for your contribution. The army appreciates your support." He then throughs them to one of his men. They began to leave but the leader stopped and turn towards me to say, "You better leave town. Penalty for staying is a lot steeper than you can afford, stranger... Trust me." He then taps the war hammers that were hanging from his belt. Then left with his men.