OK!! I am now back in business. School has been killer and i hve had no time what so ever to type. AND well, i had the worst case of writers block ever. well, now that my explination is over, please read! hope you like!
Chapter Twenty-one: The Desert Wasteland
Sakura snorted as the group entered a bunch of trees. They were walking along. Iroh had completely recovered from his lightning blast.
Sakura stopped and pointed to the setting sun. "We should stop now." Iroh nodded as Zuko sighed. They set up camp quickly and went to sleep. Sakura however, couldn't sleep.
The next morning, Zuko was up early. Sakura heard him get up. She had only had about four hours of sleep. Zuko must have still been half asleep, because he tripped over Sakura, causing her to screech.
"Oh, sorry Sakura. Didn't know you were awake." Sakura got up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. "Whatever. It's ok." She said angrily. Iroh sat up behind them. "Whatz goin on?" he asked in a sleepy voice. Zuko shook his head. "Just get ready to go." Sakura walked off to find a place where she could wash up.
Surprisingly, Sakura found a small stream. She bended what water she could into a small bottle, just in case. She then washed up quickly. Running back to the campsite, she tripped. She got up to find her knee was bleeding.
"What did I trip on?" she asked herself as she looked around. Behind her, she saw a piece of metal sticking out of the ground. She tried to pick it up, but it was sharp and she ended up cutting herself instead. Sakura snorted and dug in the ground around the sharp object. Finally, she was able to get it free. It was the head of a spear.
Sakura walked back into camp still bleeding from her knee and hand. "Hey look what I tripped over! I think it's the head of a spear. It's extremely sharp." Zuko turned to see Sakura with blood dripping from her hand and knee. Seeing this, Iroh grabbed some cloth and ran over to bandage her wounds.
"Ouch! That stings you know!" She yelled at Iroh, who was washing out the wound on her knee with water. Zuko took the spearhead away from Sakura and began to wash out the wound on her hand. "I'm fine you two! I can bandage my own wounds. Now look at the spear I found!" She demanded. Iroh ignored her as he wrapped the cloth around Sakura's knee. Zuko also ignored her as he began to wrap another cloth around Sakura's hand.
Sakura jerked her newly bandaged hand away from Zuko. "I'm fine damn it! Now look at the spear I found!" Iroh's eyes widened when Sakura cussed but he said nothing. Zuko sighed and picked up the spear. He looked at it for all of two seconds and then handed it to Sakura. "Yeah, nice spear." He said sarcastically. Iroh took it away from Sakura and examined it.
"It looks like a fishing spear." He observed. Sakura took it away and stared at it. "I don't know. It could come in handy, so I'm going to keep it."
"Ok let's get a move on then." Zuko said changing the subject. Sakura snorted. "Fine." She hopped onto the Ostrich camel with all of her stuff and started drumming her fingers. "What's taking you so long?" she asked jokingly. Zuko shook his head.
"Shut up. We're coming." Zuko handed Sakura the little turtle duck that had been running around in circles. "Tell your duck to shut up too." He said climbing onto the ostrich horse. Sakura gave him a dirty look. Then she looked down at the small duck. His eyes looked back up with her and she felt sad.
"OH! Zuko you shut up. He's just a small turtle duck. He doesn't know better." Zuko shook his head. "Sure he doesn't" Iroh climbed onto the ostrich horse, causing them to be smashed together. "Stop you're fighting you two. Let's just go." Zuko urged the ostrich horse onward and they were off.
A few hours went by and Iroh started making dramatic noises.
"Oh! Ouch. UHHHH." He went on. Sakura giggled quietly.
"Uncle, do you want me to stop?" Zuko asked impatiently.
"No, go on. Don't worry about your poor old uncle." Iroh went on to make more groaning noises. Zuko sighed angrily and stopped the ostrich camel.
"Finally, I thought you would never stop." Iroh said sitting on a rock. He began to rub the bottom of his feet. Zuko just shook his head.
Sakura had wandered towards the edge of the small area. She heard a noise that sounded like stomping feet. She backed up and got into a battle ready stance.
"Heads up." As she said this, five men on Fire Nation rhinos surrounded the small group.
"Oh! Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos! What are you doing here?"
"We're here to catch some fugitives." The man named Mongke said. Iroh nodded. The five men suddenly attacked. Zuko jumped out of the way as Sakura ran in for a fire strike. It didn't work as the men reflected it back at her. The fight went on. Sakura quickly jumped on the ostrich camel and grabbed Zuko's arm. He in turn grabbed Iroh and pulled him up onto the animal. The five men began to chase them.
"I'm not going to stand for this." Sakura said in a determined voice. She slid off the ostrich horse while it was still running. With her staff in hand, she advanced at the five men. She could hear Zuko yelling at her but she didn't care. She took a deep breath. The seconds seemed to slow as she let out a powerful fire blast that sent the five men and their rhinos flying backwards. They gave up and rode in the opposite direction. Sakura ran to catch up with Zuko and Iroh.
"I don't a repeat of that." Iroh said in a relieved tone. Zuko sighed.
"Do you have any friends who don't want to kill us?" he said sarcastically. He wasn't expecting his uncle to answer that.
"Hmmmm maybe." Iroh said softly. He pointed in a direction and Zuko nodded.
It was a little while before they spotted a town out towards the beginning of the desert.
"Sakura, you should go ahead of us. Just in case. I don't think that the Fire Nation wants you. This town if filled with rough men that will do almost anything for money. If they find out that we are wanted men, well they'll try to catch us for the bounty. Just go make sure that everything is safe for us." Iroh told Sakura. She nodded and hopped off the ostrich horse. She took only her staff with her and set off toward the village. She was to send up a tiny spark of fire when the coast was clear. She had to do it carefully though.
The sun was beginning to set when Sakura reached the town. She looked around. In the center of town, she saw wanted posters. Iroh and Zuko were on one. The pictures were old though, and Sakura was hoping no one would notice. In fact, no body really noticed that she had even entered the town. No one looked at her. No one acted as though she was even there. This, she thought, could work to her advantage.
Sakura ran towards the edge of town. On her way, she almost ran into two men. One was big and tough looking. The other looked more civilized.
"I'm sorry sir." She said quickly and ran away. She got out of sight and sent up a small spark. It made a popping noise but no one seemed to notice. Soon Zuko, Iroh, Aya and Quackers joined her.
"They have wanted posters up, but I don't think the people in this town will notice you. I walked around for about an hour and no one even noticed that I was there. So, we should be free to roam around."
Iroh and Zuko nodded. Iroh then took the lead. They tied the ostrich camel up and went inside a building. As Sakura saw the interior, she was reminded of a bar. The two men from earlier had followed them in and Sakura was suspicious. Iroh was smiling.
"I think we just found our friend." He said softly. He headed towards a man sitting at a game table. Sakura had come to learn that this game was called Pai Sho.
"May I play you?" Iroh asked the man, who quickly nodded.
"Uncle, we have no time to play Pai Sho!" Zuko said but he was ignored. Iroh put down a special tile on the board.
"Ah the Lotus tile. Not many people play like that anymore." The man said. Iroh smiled.
"It is an unappreciated tile." He looked at Zuko who shrugged. Sakura and Zuko sat down on small stools. Sakura figured that it might take a while before Iroh was done, knowing him.
Within a few minutes, Zuko asked, "What are you old gas bags doing?" Sakura looked up from staring at the floor. She saw that Iroh and the man were playing in a very fast manner. Suddenly, they both stopped and looked up at each other.
"What on earth?" Sakura asked as she saw the Pai Sho board. The tiles were in a pattern that resembled a flower. Iroh stood up as a man tried to push his way over.
"You two! You're coming with us." He said pointing. Sakura realized that this was the man she had run into earlier. The room was suddenly quiet as the people around stared at the man. Suddenly, the Pai Sho man stood up.
"These men are wanted by the Fire Nation! That's the only reason you want to take them!" Sakura froze. Zuko looked at Iroh who was smiling slyly. Men all around were starting to come after them. But they all ended up getting into a fight.
"This way!" The Pai Sho man yelled. Iroh and Zuko followed but Sakura stayed behind.
"Please Sakura! Come on!" Iroh yelled.
"I'll be there in a second." She shouted back. She waited until Iroh and Zuko had left then she turned to the fighting men.
"Oh please." She said rolling her eyes. A man grabbed her arm and her first instinct was to attack. She stomped down on the ground and he was sent flying. This shocked everyone but she didn't care. She ran. She saw Zuko and Iroh running head and she followed. Aya was soon overhead. The bird landed on Sakura's shoulder just as she ran inside a shop.
The shop was filled with flowers and exotic plants of all kinds. The three men were talking now, but Sakura didn't really care.
"It is a honor to have such a high ranking member of The Order of the White Lotus here." The Pai Sho man was saying. Iroh said something and then Zuko cut in.
"How is playing Pai Sho supposed to help us? It's just a stupid flower." Iroh and the man continued talking. Sakura was now bent over a pretty white flower. It smelled awfully good. She sneezed and it moved slightly.
"I see that you have taken a liking to that flower young lady. You may have it if you so wish." The Pai Sho man said right before disappearing behind a door. Zuko tried to follow Iroh and the man, but the door was slammed in his face.
"Sorry Zuko. Member's only." Iroh told him through a small window. The window was closed and Zuko snorted. He leaned up against a beam and crossed his arms. Then, he bent over and smelled a flower, but pulled back in disgust. Sakura giggled.
"What?" he asked in anger. Sakura shrugged. Zuko sighed and closed his eyes. Aya cocked her head and hopped down onto the floor. She hopped around on the floor, her talons making loud clicking noises. Sakura laughed. Aya looked like a rabbit or a kangaroo. Quackers now peeped his head out of Sakura's pocket. Seeing Aya, he hopped down on the floor and began to follow her.
"You guys are funny." Sakura said softly. Aya had stopped hopping about now. Sakura sighed and sat on the floor. As she sat there, she twiddled the white flower in her fingers.
"I wonder what this flower is called. That man never told me." She said quietly. She didn't want to wake Zuko. Knowing how he could get, she didn't want to bother him.
Time seemed to pass slowly and soon Sakura was asleep. When she opened her eyes, everything was the same. Aya was perched on Sakura's shoulder and Quackers was sitting in her lap. Both birds were asleep. Sakura picked up Quackers slowly and carried him over to where Zuko was standing. The door opened and Zuko was suddenly alert.
"What's going on?" He asked. Iroh walked out side and Zuko lowered his arms.
"We're going to Ba Sing Se. And we're doing so in plain sight." Zuko looked confused. A boy not too much older than Zuko ran inside the store and handed Iroh three slips of paper.
"Here are the passports for our new friends. There are two men outside looking for them though."
"Thank you boy." Iroh said and the boy stepped off to the side. Iroh put a passport in his pocket, handed one to Zuko, and gave the last one to Sakura. Sakura looked down at her passport and became confused.
"Lewellyn?" She asked, Iroh nodded.
"Faye Ann didn't sound like a good name for you. So you're Lewellyn now. I hope you don't mind."
"No I don't mind at all. I like it!" She said smiling. The three men where now looking out the door.
"I wonder." The Pai Sho man said. He pulled out a wagon and put two empty pots on it.
"Climb in!" He said to Iroh and Zuko. The two didn't hesitate. Sakura felt her heart sink.
"What about me?" she asked.
"Young lady, you aren't wanted by these two men. You can follow me. If any one asks, you're my new assistant." The Pai Sho man said. Sakura nodded but another question pained her.
"What about our Ostrich camel?" She said. Iroh frowned.
"He's tied up out front. Don't worry; my men will take good care of him. He'll be fine." Was the answer.
"He's in good hands young lady. My family and I will take good care of him." A man stepped up and said. Sakura nodded.
"Let's go then." She said picking up her bag. Aya squeaked in protest but was ignored. Quackers was put into Sakura's pocket. Zuko and Iroh were covered with flowers and were pulled out the door. Sakura followed closely. The streets outside were busy.
Sakura was soon lost within the large crowds. She yelled in despair as she tried to find the man hiding Zuko and Iroh. She couldn't find them. She was lost, separated by her own carelessness. But worst of all, she was afraid.
I have had this chapter done for like almost a week. Fanfiction just wouldn't let me load it! oh well. Next chapy comming soon!!