The Jaded Princess - A Sokka Love Story

Chapter Seventeen

The sun had seemed to take its sweet time to set that night, but Orzala did not mind in the slightest. She was not looking forward to watching Aang try to talk to this thing. A uneasiness had made a home in her stomach, and she couldn't help but feel as if things would downhill quickly. Unfortunately, most of the time her 'feelings' weren't wrong.

Plus, she just really didn't want to deal with spirits. She could handle Fire Nation, and she knew Aang could handle Fire Nation, but spirits were a whole new uncharted territory.

She rocked back and forth on her feet, trying to expel some of her anxiety as she watched Aang walk through the abandonned village. Her head shook. "Why are we back here? We should be with him." She was met with silence as the two water tribe siblings observed their friend, faces like stone.

A beat passed, and Sokka silently began to agree with the girl. Aang had already said he didn't know what he was doing, and the villagers seemed beyond ok with letting the boy sacrifice himself for their safety. "This isn't right," he muttered, shaking his head. "We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up."

"If anyone can save us, it's the avatar," the old man chimed, and Orzala's lips curled into a scowl.

"He's just a kid!"

"Orzala's right." The princess turned to him, a large, gaping smile on her face.

"Sokka, can I pretty please get that in writing?" The boy rolled his eyes, brushing off her statement as he watched Aang.

"All I'm saying is that he shouldn't have to face this alone."

The building fell silent once more as they all turned their attention back to Aang. He was shouting random things out to the spirit, but Hei Bai had yet to show his face.

"Well, ok, I guess that's settled then!" Orzala heard him shout, his voice echoing off the village homes and resonating through the silence. He finally turned his back to the forest to return to them. A wave of relief washed over her: she would be fine if she never had to meet a spirit.

"Ok, cool. No spirit today. I'm ok with that. Are you guys ok with that? Great. Can we go now?" She rose from her knees, ready to go greet Aang at the door, but Sokka's hand shot out and gripped her arm tightly. She hissed in pain, turning to tell him off, but she stopped when she saw his wide eyes fixate on something outside the window.

Her gaze trailed upwards slightly, and her blood ran turned to ice in her veins. Orzala couldn't control the violent shivers that began to shake her spine, because up ahead, lurking directly behind Aang was a large (and frankly quite scary) spirit. "Oh, spirits," she breathed, her breath leaving her for a moment as the boy spun around, facing the monster.

"You must be the Hei Bai spirit." His voice was far off, but it was so quiet around them that his words rang clear. At least, it did until the thing roared in his face. Orzala jumped, eyes focused on the large teeth that the beast bore.

"Aang, stop fraternizing with the thing and run!" Her words fell on deaf ears, however. The airbender began to chase the spirit, calling out to it in hopes of getting it to listen. She had to restrain herself from facepalming. That thing doesn't give a damn about you, Aang. It's pissed . As if to emphasize her thought, Hei Bai smashed another building, this time closer to them.

"The avatar's methods are, uh," they all ducked as debris came flying toward the window, "unusual."

"It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying," Sokka deadpanned, turning to the old man once more. "Maybe we should go help him." The man shook his head frantically.