Open Your Eyes | Book 2

7: Bad Influence

Art: Canyon by Stephanie Cost

We decided not to stay in the crumbling house any longer now that Iroh was awake. Once he'd gotten up enough strength, we began to travel again. It was slow. There was only one ostrich-horse between the three of us. Zuko attempted to walk the whole time, letting me and his injured uncle ride the ostrich. It was a losing battle to get him to switch places with me but I managed to talk him into resting often or I simply walked with him.

By the time the sun was setting again, we had only gotten a few miles away from our old camp. We had, at the very least, traveled far enough to near another small village. This one was in the valley hugging the river and appeared to hold some life. We decided to make camp outside its limits, knowing it would likely not have any sort of boarding for us.

The next morning, I woke up before sunrise and decided to let the boys sleep in. In the meantime, I explored the village below. One traveler was always more welcomed than a whole group after all - I had learned that lesson while traveling with the others.

Most people weren't awake yet. The rooster-pigs were not even crowing yet. I came across a house with some clothes hanging out on a line to dry off. Zuko's words about finding me Earth Kingdom clothes came to mind. I managed to find something that would work. It wasn't anything fancy. Some loose brown pants and a matching short-sleeved top. The top was a little too big causing some of my white chest wrappings to be visible. I tried to tighten it all up by wrapping a dark green belt around my waist, as well as a leather belt I found at a different house that I could clip my water pouch onto. I even found some sandals so I wouldn't have to wear my hot boots anymore. Before long, I was your average Earth Kingdom girl.

There were a few other things I picked up along the way, one of which I was extremely excited to show the guys. I couldn't even hold it in as I approached our camp again. "Iroh, Zuko, I brought you guys something."

They turned towards my voice. Zuko instantly fell into a defensive position as he glared at me. "Who are you? How do you-" He stopped. His narrowed eyes slowly opened as his mouth became slack-jawed. He straightened out of his stance. "Kida?"

It took me a second to understand why he was so surprised until I remembered I had changed again. It likely was a little strange to see but he'd seen me in Earth Kingdom clothes before. I'd been on his ship in a Kyoshi uniform for the longest.

Nevertheless, his reaction delighted me. I spun in the clothes, feeling the way the pants fluttered in the wind. "Like?" I pulled on the sleeve which had fallen off my shoulder once again. "You said I needed a new look."

"Uh, you're hair?" he asked.

My lips screwed to the side and I glanced up as I flicked a strand of my loose bangs out of my face. I still wasn't used to it being so short on the side but it would grow back eventually. The rest of the length was pulled back at the nape of my neck, nothing complicated just something to keep it out of my face. It was definitely something he'd never seen before; I always had at least one braid in my hair. "Yeah, it'll take some getting used to."

Iroh chuckled as he walked up behind Zuko to put a hand on his shoulder. "I think what he means to say is that you look lovely."