The Little Dragon

||78

January 30th, 2021

Zuko

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

A hawk flapped onto my windowsill waking me up. Sitting up, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Wait, a fire hawk? I swung a leg over the side of the bed before running over to the window. Could this be from who I think it is? Almost desperately, I grabbed the tiny parchment from the hawk.

I read it three times over before it settled into my head. I sat down at the desk nearby and rested my head on my hand, the parchment still in grasp. "She... she still wants to be friends with me." I knew that she had forgiven me, sort of, but I didn't think she wanted me to be friends again. Hope bloomed in the pit of my stomach, a feeling that was now long foreign to me.

The beautiful bright bird stepped onto my desk, normally it would give me one last bow before disappearing forever, but it didn't. It just stood there looking behind me as if someone was telling it to stay. Was this one of Kaida's new fire pets?

If I remember correctly, for the last few times her dragon had been delivering the messages. "Then she in on the road and busy." I sighed out the words. She was never the one to sit still, especially in pressing moments like these.

"You should be busy too." I leaped from my chair, it going flying to the floor. I braced myself on the desk as looked into the golden eyes of a red dragon. Though it was a ghost of a dragon, in a blue hue surrounding it.

"Busy?" I questioned, there was a cool fear that filled me as the dragon floated closer. Was this the dragon that raised Kaida? Was he still alive?

"Find your answers, Prince of the Fire Nation." The dragon head which was now only a few feet in front of me moved to look at the door. Footsteps can be heard in the hallway outside my door. Why were people awake this late? I looked back to see the dragon was now gone with the wind.

I didn't have any evidence but I could feel that dragon was Kaida's father. I should trust him. I rushed into the hall to investigate. As I open the door, I see a mysterious cloaked figure disappear down the hall.

As I gaze down the hall, a strong breeze blows through the drapes of the hall. Shivers snake down my spine, there was something off about tonight. Was this all some sort of dream? I shook my head, the parchment of Kaida's letter felt so real in my hands.

I start after the figure but get distracted by a scroll placed upright in the hall. "What is this doing here?" I mumbled to myself out of surprise. I bent down and pick up the scroll, unraveling it so I could begin to read. Still in a whisper tone, "you need to know the story of your great-grandfather's demise. It will reveal your own destiny."

Was this dragon sending me on a treasure hunt? What did I need to find out? With questions swimming in my head, I close the scroll. I stare down the hallway to make sure that I'm still not being followed. The drapes are still rustling eerily.

I wander back into my room and sit on the edge of my bed, the scroll in one hand and Kaida's letter in the other. "What does it mean?" I groaned frustrated after reading it for what seemed to be the fifteenth time. Annoyed, I toss the scroll aside landing it next to my bedside lantern. The light from within the lantern shines through the parchment.

It reveals a secret message on the scroll. I gasp and grabs the scroll from atop the lantern. "Of course! Of course, fire would be the answer!" I hold it up to the lantern again, "The Fire Sages keep the secret history in the Dragon Bone Catacombs."

Okay, I had my objective. I had a feeling whatever I find here I need to tell Kaida, that's probably why the hawk was staying around this long. Did Kaida work with her dad to push me into solving this? I quickly turn to leave.