Open Your Mind

Chapter Forty-Four

Zuko tossed and turned in his bed in a fitful attempt at sleep. Finally, he opened his eyes and got up, grabbing his cloak from the hook as he passed it on his way out of his room. He quietly snuck out of the palace and began the long trek towards the prison that was located inside a hollow volcanic crater northwest of the capital city.

The Fire Nation prince stopped at the base of the stairs that led into the prison and looked up, focusing intently on of the many darkened windows.

"Who's there?" The guard that had been patrolling one of the prison's balconies called out loudly when he spotted Zuko.

Without saying a word, the scarred prince turned and walked away, the guard resuming his patrol behind him.

A large cloud sped across the sky at an abnormal speed, heading straight towards several islands. Suddenly a soft sneeze followed by a round of giggles came from the cloud as it began to descend from the sky and towards one of the islands.

"I think I see a cave below." Aang called out from inside the cloud as it hovered above one of the islands.

"Shh!" Sokka hissed in a commanding tone from inside the cloud as it moved closer to the ground, "Keep quiet! And stop giggling Xia!"

"Sorry!" Xiaodan stage-whispered as she and Aang Airbended the cloud surrounding them and Appa away after the sky bison had landed, "The cloud was making me sneeze!"

Sokka grumbled as he jumped to the ground and sneakily moved over to a rock, pressing his back against it warily as he briefly surveyed the area then he crossed his arms and looked at the four other teens as they jumped out of Appa's saddle.

"Great job with the cloud camo, but next time, let's disguise ourselves as the kind of clouds that knows how to keep its mouth shut!" Sokka griped in annoyance then he went back to reconnoitering, peering over the side of the rock cautiously.

"Yeah," Toph drawled sarcastically as she crossed her arms over her chest, "We wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in."

"Hey, we're in enemy territory." Sokka retorted as he looked back at the other four and he pointed at the four toucan-puffins perched on the rock he was hiding behind, "Those are enemy birds."

One of the toucan-puffins jumped onto Sokka's head and screeched loudly, causing the other four to laugh at his annoyed expression.

"C'mon, let's go check out the cave." Xiaodan said as she began walking towards the cave Aang had spotted, Katara, Aang, and Toph following after her while Sokka continued moved at a slower pace behind them.

Suddenly Sokka leapt over Xiaodan's head and dived towards the ground, shooting up into a crouch a moment later as he looked around suspiciously. The white-haired girl blinked and scratched her head, sharing a bemused look with Katara and Aang as Sokka ran into the cave ahead of them.

"Your brother is really weird, Katara." The white-haired girl commented in amusement as she and the other three followed the paranoid Water Tribe boy.

"Tell me something I don't know." Katara sighed with an exasperated shake of her head.

"Well, this is it." Sokka said as the other four came to a stop in front of him. "This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave after cave after cave..."

Xiaodan covered her mouth with a hand to hide the smile that was slowing spreading across her face as Sokka's head drooped lower and lower each time he said the word 'cave'.

"Sokka, we don't need to become cave people." Katara stated in mild exasperation, "What we need is some new clothes."

"Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out." Aang agreed with a grin, "If we get Fire Nation disguises, we would be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."