Within Shadows (Zuko x Reader)

Chapter 6

You gazed at the Forrest around you and the tall trees decorated with deep red leaves. You smiled as you looked around and took in a large breath of fresh air. "All these colors remind me of home..." You trailed with a soft smile on your face. You were now dressed in clothing that wasn't any sort of Fire Nation clothing. Just in case you all stumbled on a village that didn't accept anyone from Fire Nation. However, you did keep your Fire Nation attire tucked away in Appa's saddle just for safe keeping. Right now though, you all were allowing Appa to rest and Aang looked around with a worried expression.

"Hey... Where's Momo?" He asked you all. You shrugged as well as Sokka and Katara. You heard said lemurs cries echo through the woods and you all got up and followed the sound of Momo's noises which then lead to a few hanging cages. You could see Momo's white paw sticking out of the cage and Aang was quick to fly up and bounce from tree to tree. "Hang in there Momo!" He exclaimed.

"Wow... Its really interesting seeing an Airbender in action..." You muttered to yourself as Aang lowered the cage and Sokka and Katara were quick to pry it open and to have Momo jump out with berries. He climbed up you and sat on your shoulder while he casually ate one of the berries. Sokka let out an annoyed groan while you just laughed.

"Alright, you two next." Aang spoke at the two monkeys that were in the other two cages. He flew up but Sokka rolled his eyes and threw his boomerang to cut the ropes. "Oh. That works." You approached one of the traps and frowned as you ran your hand along the metal of it. Momo jumping off your shoulder to keep himself away from the trap and made a retreat to Appa.

"These are Fire Nation traps..." You trailed.

"If that's the case, we better pack up camp and get moving. I'm not down to deal with any Fire Nation." Sokka spoke as he turned to look at you all. You cleared your throat and Sokka immediately got fluster. "I- uh- e-except for you (Y/n). You're okay." He stuttered. You just laughed and waved him off.

"I'm just messing with you Sokka. Besides if I got caught out here, it wouldn't be too pretty for me either. But I might not be as regonizable with this outfit." You chuckled and made way over to all the camp stuff that was put down and helped them begin packing everything. Though Sokka stopped Aang from putting anything on Appa.

"Nuh uh. No flying this time." He said, taking a bed roll from Aangs hands.

"Huh? Why not?" Aang asked with a puzzled look.

"Actually, Sokka has a pretty solid idea here. The reason why Zuko and I would always find you and caught on your trail was because of this big fluffy guy." You paused and went over to hug one of Appa's legs and pat the fur. "So, if we walk this time, I doubt Zuko would be able to find you and he'd actually loose his trail on you guys." You finished and pushed off Appa after one last stroke of his fur.

"Exactly. He's way too noticable." Sokka agreed with you.

"What? Appa's not that noticable." You deadpanned at Kataras words.

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him." Sokka shot back at Katara. Appa let out a groan or a yawn of some sort in response.

"Sokkas just jealous because he doesn't have an arrow on his head." Aang joked with the Bison and ruffled the fur on his head.

"I know you all want to fly but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk."

"Who made you the boss?" Katara asked with her hands on her hips. You raised a brow at her words.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader." You snorted at Sokkas words and Katara just chuckled.