The Traitor Princess

Chapter 20 - The Fortuneteller

The group was settled by the bank of a river. Eziri sat on a boulder tossing small fireballs into the water. The area was well secluded by the forest so she wasn't worried about anyone seeing her bending.

Sokka had been quieter than normal since he recovered from his illness. Well, he wasn't actually quieter than normal. He was quieter towards Eziri. It felt like he was avoiding her and she had no idea why. In fact, it was really starting to get on her nerves. But she didn't voice her annoyance. She tried to write it off as coincidence.

"Look!" Katara shouted.

Sokka looked up from his spot by the river to see a fish leap into the air and land back in the water. "He is taunting us!" Sokka complained. Sokka grabbed his fishing pole and tried to cast the pole into the water. "Hey, where's the fishing line?" He looked over at Eziri suspiciously but she just rolled her eyes and went back to her fire-throwing.

What is with him lately? Why is he being so weird towards me? Eziri ran through all their interactions for the past couple days and she couldn't think of anything she'd done to upset Sokka. Feeling defeated, she hopped off her rock and started wading into the water. She walked in so the water was up to her hips and dropped down to let the water move up to her shoulders.

She sat there with her eyes closed, basking in the sunlight. She always liked swimming and it felt good to be back in the water. Her little moment of peace was interrupted by Sokka's loud splashing as he ran into the river. She stood up, startled, and rolled her eyes when she saw who was causing the commotion.

"So, how do I look?" Katara asked. Her hand was on a new necklace--one that Eziri saw Aang working on earlier in the morning. Eziri peeked over to see Aang's reaction and smiled to herself when she noticed how lovestruck he looked.

"You mean, all of you or just your neck? I mean, because they both look great!"

Smooth, Aang. Eziri thought to herself.

"Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love!" Sokka taunted from the water. He held up the fish and it started wriggling out of his grasp. Before it could hit the water, Eziri pulled out one of her knives and launched it at the fish. It landed in the water with a loud splash. Sokka stared wide-eyed at Eziri for a moment. Eziri sent him a wink and started making her way out of the water. He looked as though he was going to say something, but Katara spoke before he could.

"Stop teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend. A sweet, little guy! Just like Momo."

Ouch. Eziri thought. She saw Aang cringe a bit and made her way over to him.

"Thanks." Aang murmured. Eziri patted his back reassuringly.

"Maybe next time, buddy." She whispered to him. Aang shrugged.

Sokka emerged from the river, holding the fish and Eziri's knife. He handed Eziri her knife and stuck the fish in his food bag. They all heard a loud noise in the distance and turned their attention to the woods.

Aang rushed forward to see what the commotion was. "Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!"

Eziri flipped the knife in her hand and took off after Aang. She saw him standing by a man calmly dodging the platypus bear.

"Well, hello there!" The man greeted as he dodged another swing from the animal.

"Make noise! He'll run off!"

"No, play dead! He'll lose interest!"

"Remind me why we're standing here? Shouldn't we be running?" Eziri asked nervously to no one in particular.