Daughter of the Moon - Book 1: Water

Chapter 25: The Moon Spirit

- Elara -

I shivered as I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, trying my best to keep warm. Even though Zuko and I had successfully escaped the Spirit Oasis without being spotted, we had been unlucky enough to find ourselves caught in the middle of a blizzard. We stumbled upon a cave that offered some protection from the wind and snow, but that did nothing against the biting chill.

Zuko had make a pitiful fire in the back of the cave to keep us warm, but I found myself unconsciously inching away from it. The images that Tui had shown me were still fresh in my mind, and I figured my anger would be enough to keep me warm. I was dead wrong, of course, and I could feel the iciness if the North Pole seemingly seeping into my very bones.

I tried to distract myself from my predicament by watching over Aang, though that didn't seem to help too much. Nothing had changed since we had collected him, the Airbender staying comatose even while Zuko tossed him around like a rag doll to tie him up. Aang's tattoos were still glowing with the energy of the Avatar State, and as I studied the boy, I began to worry that moving his body would interfere with whatever he was trying to do. My only hope for him was that he was a smart kid. He would figure it out.

The first change I saw in the young Airbender occurred when he breathed deeply, drawing the attention of everyone in the silent cave.

"Guess we'll be here a while," Zuko said as he sat across from me, and I nodded in agreement, doing my best to keep my teeth from chattering. Unfortunately, it seemed that my attempts were rather futile, and the prince somehow sensed that something was wrong almost immediately.

"Elara, why are you sitting so far from the fire?" he asked with a twinge of annoyance. "You're going to freeze."

"I'm f-fine," I replied weakly, doing a crap job at selling it.

"You're lying," Zuko said as he stood up from his seat only to walk over and kneel down in front of me.

He lit a flame in his hands, and I subconsciously flinched as he raised it closer to me. Zuko studied my face in the dim light and frowned. "You're afraid of the fire—even more than normal. You have to ignore your fear if you want to get out of here alive."

"I d-don't know what you're t-talking about," I stuttered as I secretly relished in the warmth coming from the small flame. "It's j-just cold."

Zuko growled as he leaned back, taking the warmth with him. I looked down at my feet and refused to speak. "Fine. If you're going to play that game..."

With a flick of his wrist, Zuko extinguished the flame in his hand and the small fire he had created in the cave, causing the temperature to drop several degrees almost instantly.

"Hey! I was using t-that!" I chattered in protest as darkness filled the room.

"No you weren't," Zuko ranted as he glared daggers at me. "If you want it back, you have to tell me what happened"

"Nothing happened!" I grunted as I turned away from him.

"Was it that water tribe filth? Did she hurt you?"

"Katara did nothing!" I huffed in disbelief at Zuko's radical accusation. "She's my friend—and she's a waterbender, so that doesn't even make sense!"

Zuko's nostrils flared. "Then why are you acting like this?!"

"Because!" I choked as I fought back tears, although I wasn't too sure why I was crying. Was it because of anger? Frustration? Pain? I wasn't sure. So much was happening, both in person and in my mind, I just didn't know how to handle it.