This isn't like me at all. Not at all. A series, not a one-shot. No surrealism. Other characters.
That settles it. Nanowrimo drove me insane.
This is supposed to be an episode snugly fit between the Puppet Master and Nightmares and Daydreams. The end of the chapter is where the commercial break would be.
I don't own Avatar. I don't make any money from this fan fiction. If I did I would give it to starving kids in Africa. So if you sue me, you're suing starving kids in Africa. Have that on your conscience.
WEIJI
Chapter 1
Aang threw a pebble into the air. Momo lunged at it, but Aang twitched his wrist and changed its trajectory. Momo's small fingers wrapped around thin air, and the confused lemur twirled around to see the pebble once again in the hand of the laughing monk. Momo angrily took a pebble on the ground and threw, making Aang yelp when it collided with his forehead.
"I wish you'd help with the tent a little," sighed Katara. She was struggling hammering the stakes into the ground.
Aang rolled on his back and groaned. "But it's been such a long day," he complained. "Can't I have some rest after walking all day? It's not like we can fly through the Fire Nation, right?"
Katara sighed.
"Hey, Sweetness," Toph called over from her self-made rocky perch, picking her toes. "How come when I don't help with the tent I get the sugar treatment, but when he doesn't, you don't give a bison's burp about it?"
"I'm too tired to argue," said Katara. "Walking all day really wears you out." Her stomach gurgled uncomfortably.
"Maybe it's time for dinner," said Aang.
"I think you're right," said Katara. She called over to Sokka, seated diligently by the river. "Hey, Sokka! How's the fishing going?"
"Splendid-full," Sokka called back. "It's going great."
"Yeah," taunted Toph. "If you're a fish!"
"Hey, I'll have you know I caught two fish already!" retorted Sokka.
"Great!" said Katara, walking over. "Let me see!"
She peered into the bucket.
"There has to be some mistake," she groaned, clutching her stomach. "Those can't be any bigger than that pebble Aang was playing with."
"I know!" exclaimed Sokka proudly. "And the good news is I'm just getting warmed up!"
"No, you're not," said Katara. "We're going to have to get food from somewhere else."
"We could eat six-legs here," joked Toph, her index finger hard at work in her ear.
"Ha ha," said Sokka sarcastically.
"Seriously, Toph," grumbled Aang. "Don't joke like that. There's no way we would ever eat Appa."
"It looks like we need to find a market," said Katara.
"Right," said Toph. "And it's not like we're running low on cash." she spun a gold piece on the rock next to her and used another to scratch her armpit. "The Runaway can always spot you guys."
"But a big one's about to bite!" insisted Sokka. "We can be eating in a few minutes!"
"I wasn't going to eat fish anyway, Sokka," said Aang, airbending himself to his feet.
"Hey, boomerang guy, read this map for us," ordered Toph.
Sokka stared after her for a moment, trying to think of a great comeback. Uncharacteristically, he found nothing good to say, so he threw the fishing rod to the ground and grumbled something about how if they didn't his fishing skills then Aang could just make another necklace with the fishing line. Aang seriously considered retrieving the line for this purpose. Ever since Katara had taken off her mother's necklace for her Fire Nation disguise Aang thought her neck looked unusually bare. But he decided that he liked seeing more of her skin, so he left the fishing rod and joined the others. Besides, if Katara really wanted a necklace made of fishing line she would have kept the one Aang made for her the first time.
"Oh, well," said Sokka, standing up. "We're way too far from the nearest town. It looks like I'm going to have to fish for our dinner."
"Relax, Sokka," said a weary Katara. "We haven't even opened the map yet."
"Oh, yeah," he grumbled, sitting on the floor and watching Katara unfold the map of the Fire Nation. "We're here," he pointed to a spot on the map. "And the nearest town is right here." He pointed to another spot.
"Wow, that's, like, right next to us!" said Aang excitedly.
"It's called Weiji," read Katara.
"Sounds good enough for me," said Toph, rising to her feet. "Look's like you don't need Twinkle Toes's help with the tent after all, Sunshine."
"Not yet," said Katara, glancing at Aang.
The walk to town was not far. In fact, it could possibly even have been described as pleasant, except for Sokka grumbling about how his fishing skills weren't appreciated enough. The brilliant sunset looking over a small valley town was one of the prettiest things Aang had seen in the Fire Nation, even back before he was frozen.
The town was filled with artists. Sculptors, mainly. There was a large art fair and countless booths erected in the center of town, the shadows of the various marble and stone monuments imposing themselves majestically on the surface of the earth. The reddening sunset sky projected itself on the artworks. Aang stopped at one piece that looked eerily similar to that of Oma and Shu that he and Katara saw in the cave, the evening sun lighting the stone with the same color his torch had.
Ah, good memories.
"Come on, Aang," said Katara, dragging him by his arm through the fair. "I know you like the sculpture, but we've got to find some food."
"How could you tell I liked it so much?" asked Aang, not realizing how long he had been parked in front of it.
"You were smiling," she said. "You do that when you don't realize it quite a lot."
Aang smiled and realized it this time. More good memories. He blushed.
"My, aren't you two a lovely couple," one of the art merchants said to Aang and Katara. "I could easily make a sculpture of you two for only fifty gold pieces, custom made, from me, Anon Omis, the world famous sculptor."
Aang's blush got even more intense and he had to turn away from Katara to hide it. The idea was… nice.
"I'm sorry," said Katara, not embarrassed at all. "But we don't have the money."
"Yes, we do," Toph reminded her. "Remember? The Runaway?" She jingled her purse, drawing Anon's eyes.
"If you could tell us where we could find a food vendor," Katara said, "that would be greatly appreciated."
Aang sighed.
"Well," said Anon, "here in Weiji we've got two food sellers. One is a man who recently arrived here and sells nothing but cabbages, but I'd stick away from him if I were you. Crazy stories, that one tells. I think he lost his mind. You should go to Kyp if you're looking for foodstuffs. He's a couple stores down that way." Anon pointed.
"Thank you, Anon," said Katara. Aang bowed respectfully.
"He's the one with the big beard and big hair," Anon called after them as they turned to go. "And give my offer a thought once you've filled your bellies, all right?"
Kyp certainly had a big beard and big hair. They made his head look twice as big as it really was. Otherwise he was surprisingly frail, but his hair had a domineering attitude. It was almost scary to approach him. Katara didn't seem to care, though. She was like that.
"Are you Kyp?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a surprisingly soft and nasally voice. It made Aang want to laugh, but then he was afraid that Kyp's hair would attack him. "Are you here to buy some food?"
"Yes, please."
"Do you have any fish?" asked Toph with a wide grin.
Sokka gritted his teeth and gestured at her wildly with his hands, looking for something worthwhile to yell at her. This was what his insults sounded like: "Flabber funger foodle mister crumpet mudpie you!" And, of course, Toph couldn't see the gestures, but she sure could feel him stomping on the ground.
"Sorry, no fish today," said Kyp.
"Well, we'll take whatever meat you have."
"And some vegetables, please," said Aang.
"Hold on a moment," said Kyp, ducking below the counter and procuring the food. Sokka stopped being so angry when he set his eyes on the meat. His mouth watered.
"This town is so… artistic," commented Aang as Katara paid for the food and Toph scratched her side.
"Yes, it is," said Kyp meekly. "Weiji has been the home of the best sculptors of the world for generations."
"It shows," complimented Katara. "There's some great art here."
"I'm glad you like it," said Kyp, his hands behind his back. "If you've got some time during your travels you should stick around."
"Thank you," said Katara, used to making excuses not to spend nights in Fire Nation villages. "But we have to keep moving."
There was a loud roar from the nearby hilltop, and Aang turned to see a group of four familiar Fire Nation soldiers atop menacing rhinos. Katara and Sokka immediately looked for cover, finding it behind the sculptures. Toph took a fighting stance, but Aang pushed her arms back to her side.
The Rough Rhinos pranced into the town, the rhinos' tails whipping about this way and that. One crashed into the sculpture that looked like Oma and Shu, shattering it to pieces. Aang winced.
"I am Colonel Monkai," shouted the leader of the group, a man with a neatly trimmed beard and a nose ring, "leader of the Rough Rhinos, and I am here under the orders of Fireloard Ozai to wipe this miserable village off the face of the earth."
Colonel Monkai sent a fireball from his fingertips and the roofs of the houses on his left were set ablaze, the same color as the evening sky.
"What?" shouted Anon who was cowering in the corner of his booth. "Why are you doing this?"
"This town is filled with Earth Kingdom hideaways," growled Colonel Monkai. "Many of whom are earthbenders."
"That's absurd!" shouted Anon, his voice shaking. "We're all faithful Fire Nation citizens!"
"He's right!" shouted one of the other vendors.
"We're all Fire Nation!"
Colonel Monkai grinned. "Is that so?" he mused. "But Fire Lord Ozai was so sure that you're all imposters."
He thrust his arm to his right. The houses on both sides were now lit up and sending smoke into the air. Now it was Toph who had to restrain Aang. Colonel Monkai gazed around the town square, showing his teeth through a crooked grin.
"We'll see if there are no earth benders in this village."
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Mmm. Cliffhanger.
I have a plan for the rest of the story, but I'm willing to take suggestions, as always. I'll finish it even if you hate it, so feel free to let your feelings be felt.
I spelled Monkai wrong, didn't I?
I'm bad at names, so I stole them from other places. One of the characters uses one of my other pen names. Kyp is the name of a quasi-famous musician who I think would be a great earthbender. And Weiji is the name of a song I like. If you can prove you know where any of these names come from, especially the name of the town, I will do something very nice for you. Promise.
-samtana