If she hadn't seemed so, well, earthly, Zuko's first guess would have been that the lady with the feline features was some kind of spirit. Maybe the guardian of this passage through the mountains, or something. Oblivious to the way he stared for a second before responding, Zuko nodded and looked in the direction of the cart she pointed at.

"Thanks." Curiousity won out and Zuko looked back to the woman. "Have you been traveling with this caravan for long?" She wasn't a spirit, and she didn't seem like either a spectral soldier, or a refugee from the citadel his convoy had started out from. She didn't seem like anyone he'd met before, and it made him temporarily forget his empty stomach.