NOTICE: "In Good Company" is the sequal to the story "Lurking in the Shadows". Please read the origional first so you understand what's going on! --Lynnia
Well here it is! The promised sequal! I'm really excited to see this story going as far as it has and to see ti extended into a sequal! Thanks to everyone who supported the first part of this story and I hope you come back for this one!
In Good Company
Chapter 1: Setting Camp
The breeze flew along in the chill morning air, giving Katara even more reason to pull her cloak tighter around her. The last few days had been near to un-bearably cold for the time of year and she'd taken to wearing it most of the time, especially when they were flying. I hope the weather gets better soon, she prayed silently.
Sokka looked over from his position at the back of Appa's saddle and smirked. He wasn't wearing any more than usual, still sleeve-less and without any extra over-shirt. She could see that he had platypus-duck bumps all over his arms from the last shift in wind but he didn't show any signs of it bothering him.
"It's only a little cold, Katara. Real men don't make a fuss over a little breeze." He made a point of it by flexing his muscles and lying back with his arms behind his head. Katara snorted at his childish behavior. Sokka was always such a show-off.
"Well then, I suppose it's good that I'm not a man." Before Sokka had the chance to retort, Aang's head popped up from below the saddle.
"Appa's getting tired, I think we should land for today," he pointed out politely.
"Aang," Sokka reasoned, "it's not even midday yet," he observed, gesturing at the sun. "We should get more ground covered before we stop."
"But Sokka, we've been flying all night. We've not landed since yesterday." Katara argued. Sokka looked between them and hung his head in resignation.
"Alright, alright, just don't come crying to me when we've got a bunch of crazy firebenders making camp next to us." Katara grinned. Two on one always got her and Aang what they wanted. Besides, she could tell Sokka was just as eager as them to get out of the cool air that came with flying in the clouds.
Not but and hour later they were on dry land unpacking their things. They'd found a nice spot along a small river at the edge of a forest. Somehow it reminded her of another place they'd stopped before. Thinking about it suddenly made her remember Zuko. She ignored it and decided to finish setting up camp before worrying about him. The bedrolls were soon unpacked and all of the bags were laid out. They hadn't seen the fire-navy since the incident five days ago at the caves. Although they did see a little trouble in their visit to Omashu, Sokka had pronounced the area Fire Nation-free after a check of the nearby area and permitted Katara to start a fire. No, that was wrong; he'd ordered her to start the fire while he was out hunting for food.
Katara sighed and began to start a fire. How convenient it would be to have a firebender who could just light it in seconds. With the fire safely lit and firebender free, Katara wandered over to her pack and pulled out a familiar note. She read it once more and wondered where the one who wrote it was. He'd implied that he was still following them, and she didn't doubt that for a second, but she hadn't seen him or heard word of him since their detour through the cursed labyrinth. With them flying like they did there was little chance of him catching up with them again, especially if he really didn't have his ships like he said. She heaved another sigh and returned it to her pack, thankful that the boys gave her enough privacy to not go looking through her things. There would be trouble if either one had found it.
Aang looked over from unsaddling Appa with a worried glance. "Is everything okay, Katara?" He asked. Katara rewarded his kindness with a genuine smile.
"Of course, Aang." She replied. A thought struck her. "Aang, we need some food for Appa, do you think you could help me gather some branches?" Aang nodded happily and finished his work.
Katara hollered up into the trees. "Aang, I think we have enough! Besides we'd better get back before Sokka does or he'll not be happy to find his knife missing!" Aang hollered in agreement and crashed to the ground from the nearest treetop.
"You can see everything from up there," he informed her happily. Katara smiled and gathered up half of the dead branches that they'd collected while Aang bundled the rest in his arms after tucking Sokka's knife safely into his belt. Being the Avatar, Aang was strongly in synch with nature and had insisted that they only cut branches that were weak and dying so that it wouldn't hurt the tree. They also found a good many of them already on the ground, these finds made the young airbender the happiest.
Upon the return to camp, Katara was glad to see that Sokka was still gone and returned his knife with a giggle. He'd carelessly left it behind when he left to hunt or had just been arrogant enough to take only his boomerang since Katara noticed that his machete was also in his bag. Truly, Katara thought it could be either and chuckled to herself. What a bonehead.
An hour later Sokka returned with a possum-chicken in hand and his gathering pack was stuffed with an assortment of wild fruits. Katara and Aang wandered down to the riverside while Sokka skinned and cooked the animal; neither of them had ever had the stomach to watch. The two spent a couple minutes splashing in the water while Sokka prepared the food and came back running when he called them. Aang dug into the bag of fruits while Katara did the same and nibbled on a small portion of meat. Sokka didn't touch the fruit.
With full stomachs, Katara and Aang ventured back to the river for a waterbending lesson and left Sokka to feed Appa.
"We haven't seen much of the Fire Navy for a while now," Katara commented while letting the water flow in a gentle circle between her and her pupil. They often preformed this same exercise before moving on to anything new, it was calming and allowed both of them to relax. "Aren't you a little worried? Most of the time we can't shake them." Aang thought it over for a minute.
"Well, it is a little unusual but it doesn't bother me. We might as well enjoy it and let come what may." Katara nodded. That was so like Aang, willing to accept the unchangeable. After a short lesson the sun began to set and the two returned to the camp to find Sokka polishing his boomerang, nothing out of the ordinary. Appa was lying on his back making a strange sound that might have been the equivalent of purring and Momo was pillaging the remains of the fruit from Sokka's bag. Not long after the fire was put out and the three companions were sleeping soundly.
Katara slept dreamlessly in the cool evening air and turned quietly in her sleep. Somewhere in the middle of the night she awoke with a start. She wasn't sure what the cause was. She hadn't been dreaming but something had awoken her. There was a strange feeling in the air. It was like feeling liquid tension filling her lungs. Not quite uneasy but it felt almost tangible. It was familiar.
Suddenly she looked to her hand. In it was something she hadn't remembered falling asleep with. It was a small piece of parchment. Without looking, she knew who it was from. She hesitated to open it. Taking a deep breath, she unrolled it anyway. It only contained three words.
by the river
Oooh! Exciting, right? I know that I'm excited! I'm happy to say that I think this chapter is pretty in character for everyone! I'm happy with the way it's started out and I hope it's a sign that it will be able to fill the shoes of the first part with over 1600 hits and 30 reviews! Thanks to everyone, I'll have more to say at the end of next chapter when I've caught the flow. Oh! By the way, I am aware that the title is the same as the title of the last chapter of "Lurking In the Shadows" I just think it's going to fit this one well!
--Lynnia
