The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

Chapter 17 [~|~] The Waterbending Scroll

Azara sighed as she placed her chin on her arm, starting to drift off as Aang paced in front of her. The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her. Since their run in with Zhao during the Winter Solstice, her nightmares had returned with a vengeance. "Would you sit down? If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off. What's bugging you anyway?" Sokka asked Aang as the airbender continued to pace.

"It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives," Aang explained looking more anxious by the minute.

"Well, let's see. You pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer," Sokka joked sarcastically as Aang continued to pace around the saddle.

"I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole. What am I going to do?" Aang cried as Katara pulled him down.

"Calm down, it's going to be okay. If you want, I can try to teach you some of the stuff I know," Katara offered, causing Aang to perk up.

"You'd do that?"

"We'll need a good source of water first," Katara nodded, looking over Appa's side.

"There must be a clearing down there somewhere," Azara yawned, starting to nod off silently, before shaking herself away.

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in," Sokka commented sarcastically, turning around from his position on Appa's head. After flying for a few more minutes, Aang pointed out a waterfall and stream with a clearing surrounding it. "Nice puddle," Sokka huffed as Azara grabbed her sleeping bag from their supplies, sliding down next to them.

Appa took the opportunity to jump into the river, knocking Momo into the water. "Yeah! Don't start without me, boy!" Aang called, moving to join Appa when Katara intervened.

"Remember the reason we're here," Katara stated, causing Aang to sheepishly pull his clothes back on.

"You guys have fun with that, I think I'm going to try and catch up on some sleep," Azara spoke, walking over to some trees for shade. Setting up her mat, Azara laid down and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep only a few moments later, the toll of the last few days finally catching up with her.

After Aang accidentally waterbended their supplies off Appa's back and down the river, Sokka, Katara, and Aang gathered on the shore to discuss their next plan of action. "There must be a market somewhere around here," Katara suggested, pulling out the coins that they saved.

"Should we wake Azara?" Aang asked, looking over at Azara sleeping in the shade.

"No, let her be. She hasn't been sleeping well lately," Sokka replied as Aang and Katara nodded in agreement. Azara was typically a quiet sleeper, but there was more than one time recently when she had accidently woken up someone with a scream or whimper in the middle of the night. Every time she apologized profusely but refused to talk about the nightmares.

"Is it safe to leave her all by herself when she's sleeping?" Katara questioned as Appa crawled up onto the shore, shaking out his wet fur.

"Appa will watch her. Won't you boy?" Aang smiled, turning to the flying bison. Appa grunted in affirmation, laying down on the ground to show he wouldn't leave this spot.

"I'll leave a note, just in case," Katara stated, scribbling a quick note on a piece of paper, and sticking it to Appa's horn. The three walked off down the river in search of a town as Azara started to fidget in her sleep.