Part 2!
A/N: I got really excited when I saw so many reviews. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or any of it's character.
Sokka stared up pensively at the moon as his legs slowly carried his body through the warm desert night, his machete and club hung easily accessible on his waist with Boomerang slung comfortably across his back under his pack. He surmised by the amount of time they've been walking and the slowly-shifting colors of the night sky that sunrise was only a few hours away.
Sokka had never considered himself a big fan of nature; he was a man of science. Yet he couldn't help but be entranced by the full moon's mesmerizing glow. Back home, he had never really appreciated how beautiful it truly was, but then again, he had never spent so much time simply looking at it.
The more he gazed upon it, the more deeply he thought. The more he thought, the more he came to appreciate the giant friendly rock in the sky.
It was his source of guidance; the moonlight provided sufficient visibility to make traveling during the night easy enough for Katara, Aang, and Sokka to actually see where they were walking.
It was his personal form of meditation. He could stare at it all night and just think. Let the worries and anxiety built up from the day ooze out of him as waves of pure calm rise up within him like the tides.
It was his support. Through all the chaos that went on in his life, he could always count on the moon to still be there- always there. It would never die in his youth (like his mother). It would never leave him for a war (like his father, whom he still missed very much). It would never stab him in the back and then stab him in the heart (like Suki). It would always be there, watching over him- at least he liked to imagine. It had been one of his few sources of comfort in such harsh times.
But for all the tranquility it provided, Sokka couldn't ignore the feral surges that coursed through his blood every time he looked to the moon's surface. It was as if he wanted nothing more than to howl at the full moon like he was its long-lost lover, doomed to forever call to it with no response. He reveled in his savage mind-set, letting the animal within him run wild. How could he deny it the freedom it so desired? Was it not a part of him? Was it not who he was?
He was a hunter by nature. Living in an arctic climate where vegetation couldn't thrive, it became almost genetic to have a predisposition for meat. And after his father and every other able-bodied man left for war, it was up to Sokka to provided most of the food for his village, so he quickly became proficient in his hunting skills.
He was the leader of his pack by rule. "I'm the oldest, and that makes me most experienced, so it only makes sense that I should be the head of the group. Yea, whatever you say, Capt'n Boomerang."
The moon meant so much to him. Or at least it had meant so much to him.
Ever since Toph had joined them on their travels, though, he had come to depend less and less on the moon.
With Toph's ability to feel vibrations in the ground, they no longer had to worry about stumbling into ambushes or being attacked in their sleep. She could pick off any potential hazards from a safe distance away and alert them of approaching threats.
She kept his days interesting. With almost nothing to do but walk (and walk and walk and walk), one of his only forms of amusement had been talking. Not so great an option when the only people he could previously talk to were his little sister and four personalities with a crush on her (Katara attracts the weirdest guys.). But now he could always count on Toph to keep him from going crazy with her continual banter. Sure, things had been a bit rocky during their first days (Haha, get it? Rocky? Because she's an Earthbender), but he found her to be a down-to-earth (I am on a roll! Two points for Sokka! Oh yea!) kind of person.
"Did you really just sleep through that whole fight? What? I was tired. And we were walking all day. Geez, you wouldn't last a minute on your own in the wild, pansy. …who's the half-pint, Katara? And why do I smell fresh delicious meat? Sorry Sokka, we just finished breakfast. We didn't want to wake you. Ya snooze, ya lose. And you just lost some delicious bacon. Awww, I was saving that."
The small bender quickly became someone he could rely on, a confidant sturdy as the earth she bent. He could tell her things he'd never told anyone before. How Katara has become the mother-figure in his life. How he never got to say goodbye to his mom. How he hasn't seen his dad in years. How useless he is compared to the rest of them, with no form of bending at his disposal. How he feels that he's the odd-man-out because he's the only "normal" one in the group.
This girl understood him as few people ever had. He appreciated his relationship with her, even if she did manage to crush whatever dignity or feelings of manliness he had left.
But one of his favorite things about his new friend was her eyes. Anytime he looked at her, his eyes instantly went to hers. They reminded him so much of the moon, all milky white and pretty. Not that he would ever tell that to her face (she would probably beat me to a pulp). They were eyes of his friend (best friend). Eyes that he would die to protect (not that she needs my protection). Eyes that were blind to the world (but could still see right through your lies and into your soul). Eyes that brought back those wolfish impulses in Sokka's mind. Eyes tha-
"Ow" Sokka absently rubbed his forehead where a small pebble-shaped bruise was beginning to form
"Stop staring, Meathead. It's weird."
"Sorry" he mumbled as he looked away, embarrassed to have been caught by a blind girl.
He smiled despite himself.
Yea, Toph was definitely better than the moon.
"Alright guys. I think we've walked enough for now. Let's set up camp, eat some lunch, and then we can keep moving in an hour or two."
Sokka's proposition was met with a chorus of grunts as the rest of his team behind him promptly dropped their packs- and then themselves- into the soft sandy earth.
"So, who's great idea was it to travel through this freaking desert ON FOOT?"
"Hey! You didn't have to join us. And at least we're smart enough to actually wear shoes on our feet."
"Yea? Well my foot's about to make a shoe out of your mouth if you don't shut it, Twinkletoes."
"Guys, I really don't think we should be fighting. We're just tired from walking. We'll stay for a day at an inn in the next town we pass. Where's the closest town Sokka? …Sokka? Sokka, don't drink that!"
Sokka was standing beside a desert cactus, his machete (glistening with a wet smear across the middle) tucked under his right arm and half of a spiky melon-looking fruit held in his hand like a bowl, inches away from his mouth.
"Calm down, Kat. It's just cactus juice. It's like coconut milk! But from a cactus.
"Yea, a cactus that survived nuclear radiation! You don't even know what normal cactus juice does. It could be poisonous."
"Chill out Fussy Britches. We are running low on water, and if Stupid over there wants to risk getting himself sick, let him."
"Thank you, Toph. …I guess."
With Katara half-complacent, Sokka lifted the fruit to his mouth once more and slurped the cool liquid into his dry mouth, sloshing it around a few times before swallowing it with a contented sigh.
A moment of silence passed.
"See? I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. You guys want some?"
"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME! For I am- the Gingerbread Man!"
"Stop running around! And please put some clothes on!"
"Wang Fire does not run! The ground moves for him!
"I'm serious, Sokka! Guys, I could use a little help here."
Katara turned expectantly to Aang and Toph, both of whom were sitting comfortably in recliner Earth chairs, hands folded behind their heads and a six-foot tall stone umbrella between them, shading their bodies from the rising sun.
"Meh, we're good. Besides, this is much more amusing, eh Toph?"
"Sorry Sugarqueen. Gotta go with Twinkles on this one. Your brother, your problem."
"But you encouraged him!"
Toph smiled charmingly. "Someone's observant today. Who's 'Wang Fire'?"
"Waterbenders can walk on water. Wang Fire can swim through land!"
"No clue. He's just shouting nonsense now. See, I knew that cactus juice was a bad idea."
"Wang Fire can Earthbend the air!
"Sokka, please stop running around and come here."
"Wang Fire grew his beard at the age of eighteen… seconds!"
"Sokka, I have some fresh bacon for you."
"Wang Fire counted to infinity! Twice!"
"That's it! You're going down!"
Five minutes later…
"How is he still running around?" Katara wondered aloud from her lying position in the dirt. She had given up on Sokka approximately four minutes ago when she realized that she didn't have enough water to bend with and couldn't keep up with her brother's speed and agility.
Currently, he has standing in what appeared to be an askew Earthbender stance with half of his melon on his head as a make-shift helmet and was yelling something along the lines of "I am Melon Lord!"
"That's a pathetic Earthbending stance, Snoozles. You should be ashamed!"
Sokka glared at the blind bender.
"I'm not Earthbending!" He said, shocked as if anyone could say such atrocious things to The Wang Fire. "I'm melon-bending. Duh."
Suddenly, Sokka looked up and off into the distance behind Toph and Aang, a look of extreme worry on his face. Aang, noting his friend's change in demeanor, instantly turned his head around and saw- nothing.
"Sokka, what are you-" He was abruptly cut off as he felt a hand begin to softly rub the top of his shaven head. He turned to see Sokka smiling down on him, surprising considering the fact that the tribesman had just been thirty yards away five seconds ago.
"Dude, Aang, you gotta tell me how you did that kamay-… -kama…that giant fireball thing. It was awesome!" Sokka said this as he continued to move his hand along Aang's head.
As much as Aang could hear the admiration in Sokka's voice, that didn't do anything to relieve the awkwardness he still felt sitting next to the nearly-naked warrior who was currently messaging his scalp.
Gingerly, Aang reached up to move the probing hand away from his face and let it drop to Sokka's side.
"Ohhhh. I get it." Sokka, with much more effort than it should have taken, winked to Aang. "Don't worry, buddy. Just do it one time on the moon, and we'll call it even. Deal?" Sokka's hand was thrust out to Aang for a split second before he pulled it back and looked to the floor in sheer amazement.
"Oh my gosh! We're on the moon! Katara! We're on the moon! Quick, get a messenger bird and tell dad. He needs to know before the others find us. No excuses Katara! Just do it." After his revelation, Sokka decided that the best way to express joy while on the moon was to roll around on the ground.
"Guys. I can see the air. I can see it! It's… it's… it's beautiful."
"How much longer do you think this'll last?"
"I can haz a cheeseburger?"
"Hopefully not much longer. I don't want to have to keep looking after him, making sure he doesn't eat his own foot or something."
"When did Toph turn into a guy?"
"As much as I'd love to just sit around watching Crazy make a fool of himself, we have company heading our way." Toph stood up and pointed towards the East where three distinct shapes were approaching them. As far as Toph could tell, they were "three giant freakish lizards" each being ridden by a single person.
Katara shrieked.
"WHAT? They have Mongoose Lizards now? This is bad. This is really bad."
"Hehe, mongoose. That's silly."
If Sokka wasn't delirious from his desert cocktail, he would have been mentally noting how odd it was that the radiation affected animals so differently from humans. While humans attained bending and psychological problems, animals were mutating at an incredible speed. Many even began freely cross-breeding with interesting results. He had been stung by Scorpion Bees, bitten by a two-headed fish (ironically, he had caught it for dinner), stepped on boarcupines, and made friends with a Saber-tooth Moose Lion "From henceforth, you shall be called… Foo Foo Cuddlypoofs! Yea, I thought you might like it." Although he couldn't complain when it came to the possum-chicken. That stuff was delicious.
"Heh, looks like we're gonna have us a fight. About time."
A/N: So. I am going to be bringing in a lot of the major characters (Zuko, Iroh, Azula, and others) soon, only they're going to be playing a bit different of a role. Hopefully it'll all flow smoothly. (If there's someone specific you want, let me know. I don't really have much set in stone, so I'm open to ideas.)
Yes, there will be bits of Tokka/Kataang/ maybe even some Zutara, but I'm not going to be making it a major part of the story.
I just wanted to do a bit on Sokka's interaction with the moon because I got super excited when I realized that Sokka is paralleled with a wolf a lot in the show (he's got his warrior's wolf tail, his wolf armor, he's all about the meat, etc) and then he falls in love with Yue, who becomes the moon. I haven't really seen anyone talk about it (granted, I haven't read many Sokka/Yue stories), so I figured I would give it a go. Kinda happy, kinda disappointed with how it turned out. I have wording issues.
You don't really hear much from Waterbending Aang because he just doesn't talk unless he has to. He's kinda like Hinata from Naruto if you know who that it. Quiet and shy and all.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.
Reviews are, as always, much appreciated.
Wang Fire built the hospital he was born in. Just saying.