Flameheart | Zuko

TWENTY-NINE

It had been a few days since Homura had left the small village by the shore she had deemed to be too close to the Fire Nation for her to stay at permanently, all the while heading to the east, deeper and deeper in the Earth Kingdom. The ostrich horse she had stolen from Master Wu had proven to be incredibly useful as after just a few days, she approached a town.

It was a town in a valley surrounded by thick forest, and she tied her ostrich horse on a tree nearby so as to not lose it as she got down and looked at the town from afar. She knew she would most likely find all the supplies she needed there, the issue was that she didn't have any money left after she had spent some of it on her way to get some food from a small village she had passed by about two days ago. It didn't take her long to realise that this time as well, she would resort to stealing.

Homura let out a small sigh as she turned to look at her ostrich horse briefly. The forest was mainly quiet but from not too far away, she could hear running water. She looked at her animal closely and without much hesitation, she untied it and started leading it to the direction she could hear the water. A short while later, she had reached a small river.

She tied the ostrich horse around a tree beside the river to allow it to drink water as she walked a few steps away and leaned down, lowering herself to her knees by the river. She stayed there for a long time as she looked in the river even though the mass of water was always changing, not allowing her to catch a glimpse of her reflection. She didn't know how she looked at the moment, but part of her knew she wasn't looking her best. She stole a look at her ostrich horse and then pulled herself up and followed the river against the current.

She walked for a few minutes, almost half an hour, before the river got wider, the water seemed to be running slower, and Homura stopped, finding what she had been wishing for. She took a look around and then, reassured no one was anywhere near, she took off her sword and hid it under a bush before she moved to the shore. One by one, she discarded her articles of clothing before setting her hair loose, and quickly, she got in the water.

She shivered as the cold water touched her skin, goosebumps rising as she submerged in the water. It had been some days since she had had a bath and the sensation was almost a relief at this point. She resurfaced a while later, her long hair flowing with the water all around her like tentacles, slowly moving with the current. A while later, she left the river and got back to the shore, got dressed lightly, retrieved her sword and took the route back to where she had left her ostrich horse. Once she was back, she started looking around for any wood she could use to start a fire. Half an hour later, she was finally dry and she had created a small fire with the rocks around the shore. She stayed by it to warm herself up from her bath as she put on her clothes from before - the only clothes she had taken with her, something she now realised had been a wrong move - and headed to a small rock by the side of the river.

She sat down on the rock as she looked in the roaring fire, preparing herself for what she was about to do once darkness set in for good. With a small sigh, she gathered her hair in one hand behind her and with the other took out her sword. She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she raised her sword to the back of her head, the blade briefly touching her. She paused for a moment, almost hesitant. And then she cut half of her hair off.

It was time to start afresh.

Her dark hair that had been easily reaching her waist a few minutes ago now hardly passed her chest. Homura placed her hand holding her cut hair in the water but hesitated to open it. Her eyes screwed shut and she let out a staggering breath as she realised there was no going back anymore. She took in a deep breath, then exhaled. She opened her palm at once, letting the current of the river take her hair away from her. She examined her sword for any stray hair and convinced she had missed nothing, she seathed it once more and looked up at the sky.