The Little Dragon

||26

Friday's June, 26th

Kaida

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

I screamed as the vines kept dragging me through the water. I tried to use my bending but it kept getting smothered. Then I got hit in the head with a branch. That's it, screw this swamp! I put my knuckles together and unleashed my fire, setting everything on fire, causing the water around me to turn into steam, the vine shriveling up.

When I climbed back onto a tree, I noticed I have been pulled a far ways away. Though I felt the gAang getting pulled in opposite directions. I sighed deeply as I dried myself off before making my way towards the first person. I jumped between the large roots of the forest. "Why do I always end up on my own." I shook my head sadly.

"I get abandoned by Zuko, left on my own at Kyoshi Island, save a village about to be flooded, sure Sokka was there, but does he actually help?" Well he helps a little bit, I couldn't have done it by myself, "then have to be in hiding at the Water Tribe because I'm a Fire Bender, then split up from Zuko due to a wave, then just recently split up in a cave my myself!" I threw my hands up in the air.

"And it goes even further back! My own birth mother left me alone right after birth! Then Baba had to leave me!" I felt steam forming around me. "Why do I always end up alone!" I shouted into the swamp.

"You aren't alone." I heard Zuko's voice from behind me. I turned my head my eyes wide. I rubbed my eyes and he was still there. Maybe this was something like the Cave of Two Lovers.

I put my hands on my hips. "Yeah? Do you see anyone else?" I splayed a hand to my surroundings. Even if he was a fragment of my imagination. He then smiled a soft one that I haven't seen in a long time. He raised his hand and pointed a finger to something behind me. I turned on my heels and see my dragon coming back to me, a letter clutched in his hands.

"What?" I said shocked. "You sent me a letter?" I gasped turning back at Zuko, only to see that he wasn't there. My eyes widen even more. "I swear he was there." I shook my head and held out my hand and let my dragon snake around my arm. I grabbed the letter and opened it enough to see who it was from.

Zuko. From Zuko. I looked back to where Zuko was standing, I smiled softly, maybe I wasn't alone after all. I looked down at my arm, after all, my Baba had never left me. I shook my head and my thoughts left with it.

"I need to find my friends." I looked at my Dragon. It was odd that it hasn't shriveled up yet. I felt something pulling at my fire, like there was a leak, it must have been him. "What's your name?" I scratched his head. I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a pet like him.

His red and orange head tilted to the side, he didn't understand me. "You will be Hyo." I patted his head walking towards my friends again. "How did Zuko look, Hyo." The baby dragon tilted his head again. I laughed, "you have no idea what I'm saying."

I looked up at the rising sun as I set off to find my friends.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

"There you are!" Aang shouted as the three stood up from where they were sitting. They were all wet, but it looked like they met up before I had.

"What do you think you're doing! I've been looking all over for you!" Sokka scolded me jumping down from the tree into the water to meet me. "And what is that!" He pointed at Hyo.

"Sorry." I apologized, "I had this strange encounter with an old friend." I didn't say Zuko because they would think I'm obsessed with him. Which I'm not.

"You too? I was chasing some girl." Aang said leaning up and touching Hyo on his head, who purred.

"What girl?" Katara said looking at Aang.

"I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress." Aang said looking at Katara with a silly smile.

"Well, there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations!" Sokka said sarcastically as he started to walk into the forest, and I followed after him. We were probably off on the search for Appa and Momo.

After a while Katara paused from walking next to me, I stopped and looked at her confused. Then she started to speak, "I thought I saw Mom." I frown, she always had a soft spot for her mother. I put a hand on her shoulder, but Sokka spoke before me.

"Look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here." He said, though there was a tinge of sadness in his voice. Did everyone see something?

"You saw something too?" I asked with a brow raised. I picked up my maroon dress and tie it over my knee. The letter crinkled on my belt. I wanted to write back to him right now, but all my stuff is with Appa.

"I thought I saw Yue. But, that doesn't prove anything." He turned back to look at us for just a moment. "Look, I think about her all the time, and Katara saw Mom, someone she misses a lot." That was true, I do think of Zuko a lot. Maybe we just manifested the people we missed.

"What about me? I didn't know the girl I saw. And all our visions led us right here." Well, that conspiracy went out the window. I looked at Aang as he scanned the area.

"Okay... so where's here?" Katara displayed a hand out to where we are.

"I don't know, the middle of the swamp?" I said with a shrug, I didn't understand why it was so important. What was important was finding Appa and Momo and getting out of here. Wow. Sokka was really rubbing off on me.

"Yeah, the center..." Aang said and we all looked up to see the largest tree the world has ever seen.

"Oh my..." I raised a hand to my mouth as I took in the sight. "It's huge."

"It's the heart of the swamp, it's been calling us here," A smile appeared on his lips, "knew it."

Sokka cut in, his frustration not going unnoticed, "It's just a tree. It can't call anyone! For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here."

"Oh yeah?" I said feeling the heat of the person before. I turned on my feet.

"Yeah!" Said Sokka, sure of himself.

"Then what's that?" I pointed in the direction of the humans and at that moment a huge swamp monster, seemingly made of vines bursts from the water behind the log.
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

--