Title: Woodland Enemies
Characters: Sokka, Katara
Word Count: 621
Rating: G
Summary: Katara and Sokka run into a less than friendly woodland creature.
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"It's mocking me again, Katara," Sokka tells his younger sister as she searches for any edible food on the forest floor.
The young waterbender sighs then steels herself to explain, yet again, to her brother that there was no way the squirrel in one of the nearby trees could have any kind of ill thoughts towards him. "Sokka, it's just a squirrel, it can't mock you. Now stop being paranoid and help me out so we can eat soon."
"But I'm telling the truth," Sokka insists, "You just have look at it to know it's evil, with its beady little eyes and twitchy nose."
"Did you eat another one of those mushrooms again?" the younger sibling asks crossly, "'Cause you know we don't want another incident like last time."
"What do you take me for sis, an idiot?" Sokka snaps back, glaring at Katara.
"Well with you claiming that a woodland rodent is laughing at you, it's kinda hard not too," she tells him, still angry that he won't let the subject drop and do something actually productive.
Sokka crosses his arms and testily tells her, "Look, I'm just telling you how it is. And ever since we came out here looking for nuts and berries that flea-bidden bag of fur has been making fun of me. He even shook his tail directly at me.
"Hey, you don't think that maybe he could be a specially trained squirrel from the Fire Nation, do you?" the youth says thoughtfully, looking over to the squirrel to glare at it.
Finally getting up to glare at her brother at eye level, Katara snaps, "It's just a dumb squirrel, Sokka! There's no way it could- ow!" she stops her rant as she's pelted in the head by a nut. "Did it just throw a nut at me?"
"It did," Sokka answers a bit surprised.
Katara looks at the woodland creature with venomous in her eyes. "That was completely uncalled for you little pipsquick."
The squirrel answers with chatter that sounds a lot like laughter then Katara steps forward in front of her brother and uncorks her waterskin. Sokka quickly backs away to give his sister the room she needs to use the water whip bending technique. The small rodent ends up being too quick and dodges the attack to jump onto another branch, where it proceeds to shake its rear at the two siblings.
"Not that again," Sokka growls.
"Don't worry, Sokka, I'll make sure to hit this time," Katara says with determination.
"Fine, but if you don't, it's my turn to take the flea bag down," he says readying his own weapon.
Later when night has already set in, the two Water Tribe children return to camp, looking ragged and disgruntled. Aang doesn't seem to notice and greets them, "It's about time you're back guys. I hope you collected lots of food, I'm so hungry."
"There is no food," Katara informs the young airbender. "The squirrels took it."
Aang looks at his friends, clearly confused by their behavior. He then asks, as they both dispiritedly sit down around the small campfire, "What does a squirrel have to do with not getting any food?"
"There was a squirrel mocking us," Katara explains, "We chased it until we couldn't see it anymore. Then we returned where we left the food and it was gone, and there were tiny little rodent footprints all around where it was."
"I told you they were evil," Sokka comments, scowling at the surrounding trees.
The avatar looks back and forth between the two siblings, worried that they just might be losing it. After some thought he asks, "You guys didn't eat any those mushrooms Sokka ate that one time did you?"