The Blue Spirit ღ (Zuko x OC)

Chapter ⅩⅤⅠ: Old Man Gong

The troupe had travelled to a ways to a new town, stopping for supplies and rest. Nala had offered to show Ying moves she'd learned from her people, but when probed for the origin, she remained quiet. She appreciated that he seemed to understand her reluctance to speak of the past, even if he always manage to squeeze other bits of information out of her. They swayed with the grass, prancing about as the day melted in to evening. She enjoyed practising with Ying, even if she wasn't yet ready for the stage, it was a nice way to practise her dances without the risk of being caught spontaneously growing plants and causing a fuss.

"Dinner's up!" Miss Akihiko's voice rang out across the small campsite they'd fixed. The troupe seemed to come out of their select places to practise and make their ways to Li Min who was stirring two large pots of noodles at once. The troupe was served, then took their places to eat together by the fire.

"I saw very nice rehearsing today, my darlings, I'm very impressed. And Nala," Miss Akihiko said, perching herself on a log in such a way as to not dirty her raiment. "I've never seen movements such as the ones you were teaching Ying. Where did you pick those up?"

Before Nala could scramble for a false answer, Li Min spoke. "Fa, the girl doesn't have to answer that. Less talking, and more mushroom." The old woman took Miss Akihiko's bowl to scoop more mushrooms in to it. The woman had a look of disgust on her face, maintaining the grimace as she put a mushroom into her mouth. 

*✧*

That night, Nala had tried to sneak out of the caravan, but wasn't surprised to see Ying sit up and glare at her with a sardonic smirk.

"Where are you off to?" He whispered as low as possible so to not wake Qigo or Chikaro. "Out with it, no dancing." Nala rolled her eyes. He always managed to get her with that phrase. She grabs his arm to pull him outside, grabbing her Jialong mask. Once they were outside in the night air, she relented to telling him.

"Sometimes I make hits on Fire Nation soldiers. I saw some in town today, being bullies as usual. So ... I go out at night and serve them some just desserts." She states, expecting him to try to talk her out of his, but his eyes grow wide and glisten with mischief. "I take what I can give back to the people and give them a fright." Ying tried to hush a laugh as best he could.

"Impressive, Blue-Eyes. I'm in."
"What? Are you crazy? No way."
"Haven't you learned by now I don't back down to a challenge?" She huffed, exacerbated by his stubbornness. She stepped back inside to retrieve two daggers from her pack and face mask made of black cloth. She handed a dagger and the cloth mask to him.

"You need to do everything I say, got it?" Her tone turned deadly serious. "You put that on, then hold the dagger against your wrist up your sleeve like this. See? And if you're in danger you simply ..." Ying watched as Nala demonstrated flicking the knife outward and slashing the air. His hand automatically found his throat.
"And that would ..."
"If you're in danger, yes." She was matter-of-fact. She felt worried about taking him along and wanted him to know how to defend himself, though she feared she'd scare him. "But a dagger can be turned on you faster and more efficiently than a ball of fire. So do not under any circumstance let them see it until you need to use it, understood?" Ying nodded.

*✧*

Ying was almost skipping once he'd climbed off Junji the eelhound in a small town. He unloaded the score with a smile that wrapped around his head. Nala couldn't help laughing at how ridiculously happy with himself he was. The hit had been a wild success, and they'd managed to sleuth two sacks of food, a handful of copper pieces and some daggers from the soldiers who were too deep within sleep to realise they were being robbed blind. They left a sack of food in a barrel outside a door, then headed back for camp.