Chapter Text
“They’re gaining on us!”
Zuko whipped his head around just long enough to glance behind them, eyes scanning the snowy landscape in an instant to assess just how royally fucked they were.
The would-be assassins were indeed closing in on them, despite his and Sokka’s best effort to shake them in the forest, the winter stripped trees and ground held little cover, and their footprints in the deep snow made it impossible to conceal their path regardless. They would have to fight their way out, outnumbered, but most likely not unmatched. Now that their opponents had lost the element of surprise, he was confident that between the two of them, he and Sokka would be able to take on their dozen or so pursuers.
The sound of Sokka drawing his sword alerted him that his companion had come to the same conclusion, so with one final deep breath, he skid to a stop in the snow and turned on the attackers, fire already crackling in the air.
Everything happened in an instant. His body in constant motion, dodging weapons and blasts of flame and dealing back in kind. Fire flashed bright against the white snow, lighting up the quickly dimming daylight as the sun began to sink beyond the horizon. Instinct and training guided his movements, trying to take out as many of the firebenders as quickly as he could. They weren’t much of a match up for him, but Sokka had little defense besides dodging against a firebender’s attack, although his boomerang took out at least one of them off to Zuko’s left.
Luckily they mostly all seemed to be focused on killing him, being the Firelord continued to have its perks.
“Come on guys! I’m sure we can work something out, just- hey! Now that was not very nice, and to think I laughed at the story you told last night over dinner.”
Sokka seemed to be holding his own just fine, the sound of metal on metal interjected with the odd quip here and there. The sound of it almost made Zuko smile, reassured by the sound of his voice.
Seven of the ten attackers were down, Sokka locked in combat with one while Zuko wore down the other two. The ground was growing slick from where the fire had begun to melt the snow and churn it into mud beneath their feet, sweat dripped from Zuko’s brow, his body thrumming with energy as he focused on finishing off the last of the assassins.
Having suspected for a while that some of his inner circle were plotting a coup, he had used Sokka’s visit as an excuse to expose the traitors, setting up the perfect opportunity for an assasination. He had planned a remote expedition to scout some land for the city he and Aang had begun to plan, allowing the suspected traitor amongst his council to select the escort group to accompany him and Sokka.
Deep in the wilderness, far away from any chance at backup, they had exposed their hand and confirmed what Zuko had suspected. Now they just needed to survive, make it back to their caravan, and travel back to the capital to arrest the councilman responsible.
The sound of Sokka letting out a yelp of pain distracted him for a moment, glancing to his companion to make sure he was alright, eyes landing on him just in time to see his sword driving into his opponents chest, a gash on his upper arm seeming to be the cause of his cry.
A blast of heat seared past his face, singing the ends of his hair as he just barely managed to dodge it, returning a stream of fire that had the other firebender scrambling.
But his moment of distraction had allowed his second opponent to get within striking range, and he turned too slow, eyes widening as he saw the blade rushing toward him. With no time to react, and no weapon to counter a sword, he could only watch the point of the blade flash toward his body as if in slow motion.
There was a blur of movement, the sound of metal striking metal, and then a sickening wet sound as blade pierced flesh.
Sokka stumbled back against Zuko, slipped to one knee, tried to rise, and crumpled down to his knees again. The world seemed to stop for a moment. Hot blood dripped onto the snow, crimson carving deep wounds into white.
Zuko let out a roar, turning onto the last two enemies with fire blazing from his mouth. He mustered all of his strength and anger and two crackling streaks of lighting shot from his hands, slamming both of their bodies against trees with a sickening crunch, dead before they even impacted.
He took a brief second, breathing hard, to survey the scattered bodies around them, taking score and assuring they were all taken care of before rushing to Sokka’s side.
“Idiot.” His voice sounded strained to his own ears, he tried to steady it as he supported Sokka’s weight by pulling his arm over his shoulders. “We have to find somewhere to lay low, we don’t know if they have backup on the way.”
Sokka made an attempt to stand, his knees wobbling as he strained to get his weight off the ground. A fresh stream of blood splattered into the snow beneath him and he let out a low hiss. “Fuck I- …Zuko just leave me here.”
“You’re delirious. Hang on.” Setting him down in the snow, Zuko quickly tore a long strip of fabric from his cape and hastily tied it around Sokka’s waist, ignoring his groan of pain as he knotted the fabric tightly. “Have to slow the bleeding, you’re going to be okay.”
Sokka chuckled weakly. “Aye aye doctor.”
“Shut up. We’re close to the mountain, there might be a cave we can hide out in for the night.” Hooking Sokka’s arm back over his shoulders, he scooped him off the ground, and turned toward the mountain, trying to ignore how fragile Sokka felt in his arms.
“No no…I can walk, ju- just gimme a minute.”
“I think we both just witnessed evidence against that claim. Don’t worry, you’re not that heavy.”
Sokka snorted, his head lolling against Zuko’s collarbone. “I’m perfectly average thank you…just not freakish beefy like some Firelord’s I know.”
Rolling his eyes slightly, Zuko shifted his hold on Sokka more securely and began trudging through the snow toward the mountain.
It wasn't too long of a trek, but each moment that slipped by had Zuko’s anxiety climbing higher and higher. Despite his makeshift bandage, Sokka was still bleeding heavily, the red fabric stained darker as his blood soaked the fabric. He couldn't feel any wetness on his hand supporting Sokka’s back which seemed to indicate that the blade had not gone all the way through which was some small comfort. At least he didn't have to worry about him bleeding out from two wounds.
Thankfully Zuko’s instincts had been correct, and after scanning the mountainside for a few moments he was able to spot a cave not too far up, tucked back into the rocks. Now the only problem would be getting Sokka up there.
“Sokka, do you think you could hang onto my neck long enough for me to get us up onto that ledge.” He nodded his head toward the spot.
Sokka squinted as he peered up at the mountain, gauging the distance. “Oh yeah, I've been doing nothing but relaxing on the trek over here so I should be right as rain for a short piggy back ride.”
It took a little bit of maneuvering, but Zuko was able to get Sokka situated with his arms around Zuko’s neck. His grip was more secure than Zuko was anticipating, which gave him a little bit of relief as he faced the side of the mountain. “Do not let go.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.” Sokka’s voice was tight with concentration as he shifted his grip slightly around Zuko’s neck as he began to climb.
It was slow going with Sokka’s added weight on his back, as well as his extra caution to make sure he wasn’t making any movements that would add any extra strain on Sokka’s grip. By the time Zuko was dragging both him and Sokka up onto the ledge it was almost completely dark out. They both lay on the rocks for a few moments, catching their breath.
“Well that was fun.” Sokka attempted a weak laugh, “I should let you carry me around all the time.”
“When we make it back to the palace I’ll just have a palanquin assigned to you to save me the trouble.”
“A penguin?”
Zuko let out an amused huff as he pushed himself up. “A palanquin, it’s those fancy covered beds that they carry us nobles around in sometimes.” He knelt down and offered his hand to Sokka to help pull him up.
“Ah yeah, get me one of those and your fastest runners,” he let out a small groan as Zuko pulled him to his feet, sliding under his arm to support him, “I’ll be the terror of the fire nation streets.”
“On second thought…”
“Aw man, you’re no fun.”
The inside of the cave was thankfully empty, save for some leaf litter and scattered rocks. Zuko gently eased Sokka down onto a pile of leaves which should be slightly more comfortable than the stone floor, then pulled off his cape to cover him as a makeshift blanket to fight off the cold while he quickly gathered some scattered branches and leaves from around the cave to start a small fire.
The inside of the cave was protected from the wind, and slightly warmer than the biting winter wind outside, but only slightly. Zuko was pretty tolerant of the cold, and Sokka being part of the Water Tribe meant he was resistant to the cold as well, but despite his heritage, he was shivering underneath Zuko’s cape.
The fire would help, it cast a warm glow inside the cave and slowly began to provide a comforting warmth. Once he was sure the fire was properly burning, Zuko knelt by Sokka’s side to properly examine him for the first time.
His stomach dropped as he pulled aside his cape, staring at the front of Sokka’s tunic which was soaked in blood. He needed to get a better look at the wound. “Sokka, I need to take a look at your wound.” He tried to keep his voice calm and neutral, not wanting to portray the rising panic in his chest.
Sokka made a small hum of acknowledgement, eyes closed. His normally rich skin was ashy and clammy, looking half a corpse already.
Taking a steadying breath, Zuko carefully untied the makeshift bandage around Sokka’s waist, then undid the clasps on the front of his tunic and peeled the soaked fabric away from his body. The wound looked clean, a vertical slit around three inches long above his left hip. From what he knew about anatomy, it shouldn’t have hit anything vital, but the issue stemmed from the fact that the wound, which should have clotted by now, was still oozing blood at an alarming rate.
“How’s it looking doc?”
Zuko swallowed hard, glancing at Sokka’s face to find his blue eyes already on him. He knew he was awful at guarding his expressions, there would be no point in trying to lie to Sokka now. “I- there’s still so much blood…I don’t know what to do, it should have stopped by now, or at least slowed down.”
Sokka’s face was pensive, his eyelids flickering slightly as he struggled to focus on staying conscious. “You have to stop the bleeding.”
“How? I don’t know if you know this but I’m not exactly a medical expert, the pressure should have stopped it by now.” He could hear the panic edging into his voice, control slipping rapidly as the reality that he might watch Sokka die in front of him began to sink in.
“Fire.”
Zuko’s racing thoughts stopped. Ice sliding down his spine. “What?”
“You can cauterize the wound with your firebending. That should stop me bleeding out for at least a little bit, hopefully long enough for us to figure a way out of this mess.”
Zuko’s heart pounded in his chest, a different kind of panic beginning to claw its way up from the depths of his mind. He didn’t know if he could do this. He had to do this, or Sokka was going to die.
Steeling himself, Zuko took Sokka’s sword and held the hilt in front of his face. “Bite on this. This is going to hurt…a lot.” Sokka’s teeth clamped into the leather, his eyes determined as he gave Zuko a little nod and braced himself.
Zuko hooked his knee over Sokka’s thighs, and held his forearm across his chest, pinning him to the cave floor so he wouldn’t move as Zuko closed the wound. He took a few steadying breaths as he held his hand over the oozing gash, a spark lighting in his palm. “Ready?” Sokka gave a grunt of confirmation, and Zuko pressed his palm into his skin.
The sound of Sokka’s scream would haunt him for the rest of his life.
He tried to shut it out, to shut it all out, as he focused on steady breaths, being as precise with the flame in his palm as he could to try and minimize the extra damage.
The smell of seared flesh filled the cave, Zuko’s stomach roiling as memories flashed like lightning in his mind. His scar burned, damaged eye streaking tears as he felt Sokka’s flesh warp beneath his fingers.
Mercifully Sokka passed out a moment later, and the cave fell eerily silent again, save for the small whimpered apologies of the Firelord as he stared down at the outline of his palm branded into Sokka’s skin.