Purple Flame

12

The next day, under the hot sun, Zuko and I reach a small, poor town where the buildings are mostly made of wood and seem to be poorly constructed. We come upon four men dressed in green, gambling.

"Come on, spidersnake eyes!" He rolls a pair of dice. "Ha! Ha! Yeah!"Two of the other men turn around and punch him in the stomach once each. He grunts with each punch.
Zuko continues to lead the ostrich horse through town and passes the soldiers. Their leader, Gow, glares at us and Zuko glares back. Zuko stops, gets off of his ostrich horse and turns to a merchant at a store.

"Could I get some water, a bag of feed and something hot to eat?" I looked at Zuko as holds out his hand. In it are two coins. I frowned and touched my stomach. I knew we had more money but I also knew we'd be on the road for awhile.

"Not enough here for a hot meal. I can get you two bags of feed." I sighed quietly as Zuko looks down, disappointed. He notices that the four Earth Kingdom men are watching him.

"Ow!" The Earth Kingdom soldier turn around, looking angry. They only see Zuko and I behind them, so they stand up indignantly.

"Hey! You throwing eggs at us, stranger?" I got down and felt Zuko's hand wrap around my waist.

"No."

"You see who did throw it?" Zuko finally looks in their directions.

"No."

"That your favorite word, no?"

"Egg had to come from somewhere."

"Maybe a chicken flew over." The Earth Kingdom soldier laughs, and Gow glares at him. At that moment, the store owner returns with out feed bags for the ostrich horse. Gow goes to the counter and grabs both bags before he can take them.

"Thanks for your contribution. The army appreciates your support." He throws the bags to one of his fellow soldiers.

"Give it back!" I said clenching my fists.

"You better leave town. Penalty for stayin's a lot steeper than you can afford, stranger. Trust me." He pats his hammer at his side menacingly.

"Hai." Zuko said. I frowned and looked at the soldiers as they turn and leave with the bags.

"Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation. But they're just a bunch of thugs." Zuko walks toward his ostrich horse. As he is about to re-mount, one of the little boys from earlier pops up from behind the animal.

"Thanks for not ratting me out!"

"Be lucky kid." I said softly as Zuko ignores the boy, gets on his steed. He holds his hand out to me, pulling me in front of him before we start riding away. The boy casts him an annoyed look before brightening then comes up from behind and grabs the reins.

"I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. Come on, I owe you!" He leads the way, pulling along the animal.

We soon arrive on a dirt road at the farm among mountains in the countryside. A little wooden farmhouse with a roof that needs re-shingling. Several different types of hybrid pigs spotted in enclosures. I clutched my stomach slightly as both our stomachs growled.

"No one can ever sneak up on us." The kid said.

"No kidding." Lee takes the ostrich horse away. A man approaches Zuko. A woman peers out from behind the farmhouse.

"You a friend of Lee's?" Lee comes running out of the barn excitedly and grabs his father's arm.

"This guy just stood up to the soldiers! By the end, he practically had them running away!" The woman from earlier comes forward to join her husband and son, wiping her hands on a rag.