honey [azula]

the chase

.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

it's okay, you can laugh. it's funny.

❉ ╤╤╤╤ ✿ ╤╤╤╤ ❉

AIRI was quiet for much of the day, desperately trying to keep her promise to herself—though that, in turn, had opened another moral dilemma for her to silently battle about in her head. She could not let herself be distracted by Azula. As heir to the throne, Azula would eventually be married off to some stuffy but powerful Fire Nation general to ensure that Fire Lord Sozin's bloodline continued. Even if Azula wanted what Airi wanted, she would never be more than a secret to be kept, a mistress in the shadows.

At the same time, if she was not here for Azula, why was she here? For loyalty to a country that had done nothing but keep her trapped? For the Fire Lord, who she had see burn his son and ruin his family? For her parents, who she would never be able to impress? No, if Airi was still here, it was for Azula and Azula alone. But she supposed that even if she was going to keep herself from distractions, she could still be there for Azula without being there because of Azula. Whatever stupid feelings Airi had, Azula needed her help.

And so, Airi had no choice but to oblige.

They stopped near a river and left the war machines. Large clumps of white fur clung to the rocks. Azula reached forward, taking some in her hands and inspecting it. It had to be from the Avatar's flying bison—nothing else in this part of the world would shed that much white fur.

"Great," Mai droned, stepping forward to see what Azula was looking at. "Wads of wet fur."

"Hmmm ... they're not wads, they're more like bundles, or bunches?" Ty Lee said. She paused, scratching her head in thought. "It's got an "uh" sound..."

"Clumps?"Mai asked dryly.

Ty Lee practically bounced with excitement, clapping her hands together. "Clumps," she said. "They're clumps!" She wrapped Mai up in a tight hug.

Airi watched on with amusement for a moment before her eyes followed the trail of white fur. "The trail leads this way," she pointed out quietly, pointing down the river.

Azula stood, her gaze following Airi's finger before turning back straight ahead. A path of trees had been completely broken. Airi frowned—that was also definitely from the sky bison. But unless there were two bison, one of them was a trap. "The avatar's trying to give us the slip," Azula determined, still staring out at the trees. "Ty Lee, Mai, head this direction and keep an eye out for the bison. Airi, you and I are going to follow this trail."

All three girls nodded obediently. They all left the river and quickly returned to the war machines to get the mongoose lizards. It would be faster and easier to travel on them than in the clunky tanks. However, there were only three of them.

"Airi, you ride with me," Azula instructed. Mai and Ty Lee took the other two mongoose lizards and scampered off across the river, following the broken treetops. Somewhat reluctantly, Airi climbed onto the lizard behind Azula, wrapping her arms around the princess' waist to keep her from falling off. Azula paused at the river bank for a moment, watching Mai and Ty Lee before she jerked the reins left and the two firebenders followed the fur trail in silence.

After a few minutes, they came across an old abandoned town. Airi put two and two together and figured out where they were. The Princess, however, had not spent the entire morning reading maps.