The Traitor Princess

Chapter 17 - The Great Divide

In the morning, the four friends packed up their belongings--well, except for Eziri. Sokka once again refused to allow her to help. When everything was tucked safely in the saddle, they took off towards the canyon. They flew a short distance and landed right in front of the Great Divide.

Eziri and Katara stared in awe while Sokka seemed unimpressed.

"Okay, I've seen enough." He said as he started walking back towards Appa. Eziri plopped herself down near the edge of the canyon and tuned her friends out. She figured Sokka and Katara would return to their bickering and she didn't really feel like listening to that. She knew they would just grab her attention when it was time to leave. In the meantime, she just wanted to enjoy her moment of peace.

Eziri fiddled with the bracelet around her wrist as she zoned out looking at the canyon. She had no idea how much time had passed when Aang came up and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay with that plan?" He asked.

"Huh?" Eziri turned around and saw two large groups of people. When the hell did they get here? She thought to herself.

"Sokka, Katara and I are going to escort the Zhangs and the Gan Jin through the canyon. I told them you'd fly their sick and elderly over on Appa."

"Sure! Wait..what?" She asked. Eziri was still pretty out of it. She hadn't been paying attention to the entire conversation going on behind her. Aang sighed and slapped his forehead.

"You're going to fly some people to the other side of the canyon and then we'lll meet you there in a day or so."

"Oh...uh...ok." Eziri agreed hesitantly. Aang helped her up and they both walked back over to the bison. He caught her up on what she missed while she was daydreaming at the edge of the canyon.

--

As all the sick and elderly were settling in on the saddle, Eziri started to climb up to Appa's head. Aang saw her struggling a bit and sent a gust of air underneath her. She smiled gratefully at him when she landed right in front of the reins.

Her three friends walked over to say their goodbyes.

"Are you sure you're ok on your own?" Sokka asked. Eziri just rolled her eyes.

"Yes. I'm not the one traveling through a giant canyon with no food." She joked.

"Ugh don't remind me," Sokka whined, earning a chuckle from the fire bender.

"Are you sure you guys will be ok? That canyon doesn't exactly look easy to cross." Eziri brought her attention back to the magnificent canyon beside them. Although the sight was beautiful, she did not envy her friends' journey.

"Don't worry, this is all in a days' work for the Avatar." Aang said cheerfully. "I give you my Avatar promise that we'll be ok." Eziri just laughed at his antics.

"Alright, I'm gonna hold you to that. Take care of these two for me, yeah?" Eziri asked Aang. He smiled and bowed. Sokka was about to protest but Eziri cut him off. "See you guys in a couple days. Stay safe." Eziri gave her friends one final wave before leading the bison into the sky and over the canyon.

Any other day, Eziri would have complained about being coddled because of her injuries. However, Eziri was happy to fly on Appa. For starters, she didn't have to trek through that canyon. Although she would never admit it, Eziri was still pretty exhausted and in pain from her injuries. She had no doubt that trip would've been miserable.

Besides the obvious, her separate journey meant she had a day or two without Sokka's constant hovering and nagging. She was looking forward to training and taking care of herself without someone telling her not to. Plus, it turns out the sick and elderly from the other tribes weren't bad company. They definitely were a little hostile towards each other, but they were all kind to Eziri.