Azula: Dragon Tales

Bonding with a Dragon

"What about Heilong," Azula's voice rang out in the clearing, exasperation clear in her tone. The cause of her frustration shook her head, the face noodles whipping back and forth, almost hitting Azula as she sat on a stump in front of the picky dragon.

Yes that was correct. It was a her.

It had been about one week since feeding the blasted lizard, whose name still alluded her, despite her best efforts. Really how difficult could it be to name something? Very, as she was finding out recently.

Her journey to figuring out a name had started with finding out his gender. Not a particulary difficult challenge, though it had ended with her learning an important.

Do not sneak up on a dragon, and if you do, do not tug their tail. Her prodigious mind made sure not to repeat that mistake after the tail smacked her face.

She'd never admit that particular blunder to anybody.

After the gender of the dragon had been discovered Azula had given her first shot at a name.

"Nobu," Azula stated with pride. The name was noble, strong, and meant trust, something that was going both ways with this relationship. She thought it fit perfectly.

The pointed snort she recieved ended that thought quickly.

From there it had been name after name. She had consulted dictionaries, history scrolls, and dragon names of time pass. So far, none had stuck. She had found a rather picky dragon it would seem.

"Ughhh," Azula groaned, something she was not accustomed to doing. Groaning wasn't ladylike, as her tutors and mother would say, but she was long past the point of decorum. This dragon had a way of dragging such attitudes away from her. "What was wrong with that one? Matter of fact, what was wrong with the last ten!?"

The dragon gave her an unimpressed look, before laying her head down, ignoring any further attempts at names. Azula sighed, recognizing the futility of continuing. She was getting tired of this as well.

"Whatever," Azula stood, moving towards the basket of food she had placed down earlier and removing the lid, allowing the dragon access to happily eat her food. Azula allowed a small smile to spread across her face, the earlier exasperation fading.

The dragon was always happy to eat, and while the trip with the basket were tedious, it was getting easier. So far there had been no reports of missing food, and sneaking out remained as easy as ever, even with the basket weighing her down. She really ought to be more concerned about the inattenivness of the guards.

As she sat back down she saw another fish drop near her feet, causing her to grimace even as she set about cooking the food. This too, loathe as she was to admit it, had become common. She stil found herself lacking the ability to refuse the dragon's terrible gaze even after this long. She was beginning to fear she'd never become immune to it.

At the very least the fish was slightly more edible than the first. She was improving it would seem, and she didn't know how to feel about that.

Not long after she stood up, gave the dragon one last pat on her snout and headed off.

She'd think of a name soon.

Line Break

Something was different about Azula, Mai mused to herself silently, staring at the girl from the corner of her eyes.

It had been a little over a week since the apology and Mai could see clear differences already. In the months leading up to now, Azula had almost always been tense, even when around her and Ty Lee. She hadn't allowed herself to relax, and signs of stress could be seen clearly, at least by Mai's observant eyes.