The Commander's Daughter (Zuko X OC)

Chapter 26 ~ Girlfriend

Zuko let his feet hit the ground with a soft thud, they had finally found them, or at least two of them. He expected them to be more suprised but the scowls written all over their faces let him know that they weren't.   

"So this is your girlfriend?" June mused, eyeing the darker skinned female. She was cute, the boy had good taste. "No wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you." Zuko rolled his eyes but didn't let her words effect him, he had to be focused. Karina flinched at June's phrasing, an uncomfortable feeling panging in her chest.

 "Where is he? Where's the Avatar?" Katara gritted her teeth, her muscles tightenting as if preparing for a fight but it was Sokka that replied. 

"We split up! He's long gone." He spat defiantly. This time Zuko was the one to grit his teeth, the muscles in his jaw clenching and uncleching. Fire bit at his fingertips threatening to burst, did they think he was a fool? Blinking slowly he pushed the flames down. He had to remain calm.

" How stupid do you think I am?"  A breif smile flashed across Sokka's face. 

"Pretty stupid." The smirk fell quickly, as he grabbed his sisters arm, feeling her flinch slightly at the sudden contact, "Run!" For a moment he felt a little releived, maybe they would all be too stunned by the sudden rushing away that they wouldn't catch them. A smile starts to spread on his face before he feels Katara go limp in his arm, turning to face her he felt a wetness breifly brush his back before his whole body froze. 

Okay, this was new. 

"Don't hurt them!" Karina called quickly dismounting the Shirsu and rushed over to their sides. Even though they were paralized their eyes could still move, Katara narrowed her eyes into a glare wishing she could tell the worried girl to get away from them. The figure of Zuko appeared at Karina's side, she turned to look up at him worry etched into her features, he didn't know why she was so worried but resting a hand on her shoulder seemed to reassure her a little. 

"What are we supposed to do now?" Zuko turned to face June, if they were paralyzed then they couldn't tell him where the Avatar was. The older woman rolled her eyes and studied her pet, he seemed to be picking up a new scent.

"It's seeking a different scent – perhaps something that the Avatar held."

The beast walked forward, sniffing the paralyzed pair, his nose catches something and it rolls out of Sokka's pocket, it's covered in a new scent, a strong one. The scent went out into the forrest. Grabbing the paralyzed pair, and putting them on the back of the beast, they all prepared to follow the new scent. 

Zuko gently slipped his hand into Karina's giving a reassuring squeeze.

***

Karina hadn't bust through many gates in her lifetime, but she had to say she liked the experiece. They all dismounted the Shirshu, allowing the beast to follow the scent through the building. It's sniffing seemed to go round in circles, the giant creature just following the same patern over and over. 

"What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!" Zuko seemed to verbalise Karina's thoughts as the beast continued its pattern eventually looking up in the air. Zuko opened his mouth as if to complain again but whatever he was going to say never came to be as Aang glid down towards the beasts face, dodging its attempts to snap at him causing the beast to fall flat on its back.  

"Aang!" Katara's eyes widened, so she could talk again, this was good. The Bald monk sent her a breif smile, trying his best to be reassuring. 

Grunting June cracked her whip on the  ground, ordering the Shirshu up from its position. It followed obediently roaring, as if telling it's master it was ready. Jumping onto its back, June pushed forward charging at the small monk.