Chapter 3

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     Azula peeks out through the bushes to find a crippled, tiny body lying against a rock near the edge of a creek. Just her luck, the blood running down the body just happens to be flowing downstream, disturbingly close to her shelter. "Monkey feathers! What a surprise.... a dead corpse polluting my only chance of survival along with a cruel joke of what I'll end up to be soon enough..." Almost forgetting the fact that a human being might dead, Azula begins to creep slowly towards the sight. Not long after, a burly middle-aged man covered in dried blood smacks her across the face, leaving a shocked Azula seething on the ground.
     "What are you doing here? I thought I killed all the trespassers who enter the Forgetful Valley!" shouted the man. Azula, bruised and now very mad, stands up and gets into a fighting stance. "Just because I haven't fought anybody in a few months doesn't mean I've forgotten my practice. After all, I'm still royalty and a prodigy."  "You filthy peasant! How dare you show the sister of the Fire Lord such disrespect? I will not stand for your incompetence and disgrace!" The man gives out an animalistic growl before Azula sends a scorching torrent of fire at his abdomen. In a split second, his face contorts in shock and pain as his singed, lifeless body falls to the ground. Azula gives out a grunt, and holding her cheek, checks if he's dead (she confirms it) and unconsciously rushes towards the original body. As she nears it, Azula realizes the body is one of a younger-looking girl with dark brown hair. Her whole body is injured, and it looks like she's dead. A rare feeling of sorrow shoots through Azula as fast as it came. "I might as well leave her for dead, seeing as I'm no healer and I'm stuck in this place. But, she does look Fire Nation..." As Azula was about to wipe the girl's face free of dirt to get a better look, but the girl shoots her eyes open and screams. Azula jumps back, startled. "Be quiet! You don't want to attract anything that's actually going to kill you, do you?" The girl stops her yelling and looks up in agony to see Azula's tired, bruised face and instantly grins. "You saved me! You saved me from the evil man!" Confused, Azula realizes that the girl was looking at the man she just fought. "That man was the one who hurt this girl."
     "Yes, well I suppose I did save you. But, if you want me to completely do that, I need to know your wounds. Maybe I can bandage them." As soon as the words came out, Azula questioned herself. "I thought I planned to help her, not take her with me! Ugh!"  "Yes please! And my arm really hurts and I don't know why there's blood everywhere, please be careful!" The girl whispers. "I don't want to kill you, you know? So obviously, I'll be careful." The little girl raises her eyebrows at the sassiness, but as Azula picks her up, she closes her eyes and feels a sudden comfort in the stranger's arms.
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    Sorry for the lack of updating! I thought since its been a while, I'd make this chapter a bit longer. I hope you liked the surprise! Thanks for reading!

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