Light (Zuko x OC) ATLA Fanfic

Chapter 14 - Better Place

Hikari POV

Zuko, Ro, and I ride through the dry land; a comfortable silence edged between us as the sun shines down. It's been a while since Zuko, and I ate, but I saved some of my food for emergencies. With nothing to hunt out here and no berries insight, finding food became difficult. 

Hearing Zuko's stomach growl, I go in my bag, taking out the rest of the meat I saved. 

"Here."

Before he could reject, his stomach growled again; I give him a warm smile. "I know your hungry, eat before you faint from hunger."

Looking down at it, he takes it, mumbling a small thank you. As he eats the meat, I lean against his back, pushing my own hunger down. As we continue, the world around me grows uneven, but I stay focused on the sound of Zuko's heartbeat to even out my thoughts.

"There's a town up ahead; we can rest there."

Finally making it there I get off our ostrich horse, walking over to the man. "Could I get some water, a bag of feed, and something hit to eat."

Showing the man our last five copper pieces with only two silvers left, he looks down at it. "That's only enough for some water and feed, not enough for a hot meal."

I nod, "We'll take it."

Taking the money, he goes to the back to collect what we need.

"Hey! You throwing eggs at us, stranger?"

Zuko and I continue to look forward, staying calm Zuko answers honestly, "No."

"You see who did throw it?"

He turns his head, "No."

Putting his hand on the handle of his sword, one of his lackeys speaks up. "That your favorite word, "No"?"

"Egg had to come from somewhere."

I finally speak up, "Maybe a chicken flew over."

One of them laughs but quickly stops; the salesman brings out a bag of feed and two things of water. The man from before grabs our stuff, "Thanks for your contribut-"

He doesn't finish his sentence as I kick him, making him drop our belongings I quickly catch them before it falls. Putting them back on the counter, I glare at the man from under my hood, "I advise you not to push my buttons."

"Yeah? And what are you going to-"

Glaring at him, he looks at me straight in the eyes, fears present on his face. He covers it up quickly, "Tch, let's go. You better leave town, the penalty for staying is steeper than you can afford, strangers. Especially for you."

He says, looking at me before walking off, then they walk off. 

The shopkeeper speaks up as they walk away, "Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the fire nation. But they're just a bunch of thugs."

I give the man a small smile, "I can see that, but their ways won't last long. There a day of truth will come soon. Thank you for your time."

He nods, "Anytime."

We take our stuff and get back on the ostrich horse; a kid pops out as we ride away slowly. "Thanks for not rating me out!"

While Zuko ignores him, I give the kid a small smile and nod. Seeing that he didn't get a reaction from Zuko, he walks over to us once again. "I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. Come one, I owe you."

He pulls the horses' rope, leading us to his house. Finally, making it to his small farm, we walk next to the little boy. With the sound of pigs loud and clear he looks up at us, "No one can ever sneak up on us."