Time and Time Again

Chapter 12: Inhale

Zuko screamed out his fury as the little waterbending peasant flew into the darkness of the forest. He sunk to his knees and pounded his fists into the sand. He was lost, abandoned on some strange island. There wasn't a soul to be found nor a ship to be seen. He wasn't entirely sure how long he had been on the island, he had woken up only a few minutes before the filthy peasant. He had woken up slowly at first, thinking he was still asleep on his ship. Once he realized that he was lying on sand, he had snapped awake. After looking around quickly and realizing that he had absolutely no clue where he was, he saw the peasant lying down on the sand further down the shore. Zuko knew the girl had little control over her waterbending, which was very dangerous. He remembered her being furious with him while they spoke on the deck of the ship. A bender with little control over his or her bending could have easily accidental summoned a great wave such as the one that had swept them out into the sea. Zuko walked towards the girl as she rolled onto her back. As he got closer to her, he could see a smile spread across her face. That smile was what fully convinced him that this was her doing. In an attempt to escape the ship, she had risked the lives of Zuko, Uncle Iroh, and every other member aboard his ship. Now that she was free, she was happy. She was happy even though her happiness meant Zuko's despair. If he couldn't find a way back to his ship, he might never be able to find the avatar and restore his honor. He could never go home. He could never face his father.

With every step Zuko took, his rage built inside him. The rage threatened to burn through his skin. Then, he would truly look like a monster. He stood over the girl, ready to give her a scar similar to his. He had hesitated, knowing it was cowardly to attack a person without warning. So he had waited. Waited for her to wake up. What a mistake.

Now he cursed his own stupidity. He should have struck while she had been lying down. He should have melted that stupid grin off her stupid face. Now she was gone and he was alone with his anger. He had no food nor any weapons. He had no fresh water to drink. He needed to find shelter. With one big sigh, Zuko slowly stood up. He wiped the sand off of his body and clothes. He was a prince and not just any prince, he was Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. He would be dignified, even if there was no one to witness it.

Zuko entered the forest.

Katara collapsed onto a nearby tree. She had run until she could no longer stand. She had no idea how far or how long it had been, all she knew was that there was at least some distance between her and the prince, and that was enough. Gasping for air, she looked around at her surroundings. She seemed to be in a forest. Trees went in every direction, giving the forest a dark and sinister feel to it. Her eyes flicked around, looking for any sort of land mark. All she could see was trees. Wait, there! Behind a particularly large tree who's trunk seemed to split into three trees, was a cave. Groaning, Katara pushed herself up into a standing position. Using the trees as support, she slowly stumbled over to the little opening in a rock. It wasn't much, just two large rocks that met at the top. There was barely enough space for Katara to stand in, but three people could easily lie side by side on the floor. The cave seemed to go back a good fifteen feet. Too tired to check for creatures that might already be occupying the cave, Katara collapsed onto the floor and simply fell asleep.

After some time, Katara finally woke up. She wasn't sure if she had napped for hours or minutes, but she felt recharged. Not completely, but close enough. She stretched into a sitting position. Blinking slowly, Katara crawled slowly out of her little cave. The woods surrounding her lodging looked indistinguishable. She had no clue which direction she had come before she passed out. She didn't know where the shore was and even worse, she had no clue where that bastard Zuko was.

Panic hit her as her eyes scanned the woods, searching for a hint of the angry prince. Surely he still blamed her for this tragedy. Katara felt like an animal. She wasn't sure whether or not she should leave her little cave in search for help or stay and have less of a chance of running into the prince. Which way would she go if she were to search for help? She had no clue which direction the beach was nor did she have any idea where Zuko might be lurking. What if she couldn't find help? Would she be able to find her way back to the cave? But she couldn't stay in the cave forever. She needed food and water.

Stressed, Katara took a step out of her little hide-away. Aside from the tree beside the cave, there was no distinguishable feature that would help her to find her way.

Katara sighed heavily. She knew that even if she were to somehow find some food, it would be worthless if she couldn't find water soon. She slid into a meditation pose and closed her eyes. With a deep breath, she sent out her bending, feeling for a body of water. With each breath, she let her bending reach out further and further until she finally felt the rhythmic breathing of a stream. With a happy sigh, Katara stood up and took a step out of her little cave. Luckily, she had felt that the stream was relatively nearby, only about thirty feet to the right of her cave.

She quickly set out, happy that she had at least covered one of her essentials.