Chapter Two. :D
That Evening.
The night sky was a cool blanket over the treetops, touched with tiny little pinpricks of light. Sokka lay back in the grass, closing his eyes for just a second, trying to relax. His arms ached from hauling wood, but the night seemed so peaceful. Blades of grass swayed with a light, warm breeze, scratching his skin.
He sighed, seeming at last to calm down.
"DINNER!"
His
peace of mind was shattered as he dragged himself up. He slogged to
the campfire and plunking himself down along with the rest of the
crew, except Katara, who had been moved to the campfire hours ago—she
was getting in the way of making a tent. Zuko had a black eye, which,
juxtaposed with his scar, made him look like some strange panda.
Sokka snorted. "What happened to you?"
Zuko turned away from him, boring holes into the ground with his swollen, scarred eyes, muttering "…Got stabbed in the eye with a tent pole."
Toph chuckled as Aang came in with a big smile on his face.
"Hi guys!" He trilled happily. The avatar seemed thoroughly pleased with himself, his gray eyes glittering as he spooned a noodley concoction from the main pot into small blue bowls, handing them to each of the gang. Zuko eyed it carefully, slightly worried the food would bite him. It was a soggy bowl of noodles, with tiny seeds stuck to them. In the bowl were also what looked like pieces of grass and a strange kind of mushroom.
"Um,
Aang?"
"Yeah, Zuko?" He replied happily, slurping up his
noodles like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Aang, are the noodles supposed to be gray?"
Aang slowly stopped his slurping until he had stopped completely, long gray noodles stretching from his bowl to his mouth like the strings of a harp.
"I dunno." He said, finally.
"AH!" Sokka yelped, in a mini-panic. He was picking his soggy gray noodles aside with great relish, what looked like terror in his eyes.
"What is it, Sokka?" Aang asked innocently.
"Where's the meat?!" He shrieked in disbelief. "Aang, what did you do?!" Sokka dropped his bowl, letting the noodles crawl out onto the soil. In one swift move, he leapt over to Aang, taking him by the collar and shaking him back and forth. "How am I supposed to eat,man! I always—I only eat meat! It's the natural order!AANG, YOU'RE MESSING WITH THE NATURAL ORDER!"
"Sorry Sokka, guess I forgot," Aang said, his slender shoulders being lurched to and fro. "I'm a vegetarian. I don't really know how to cook meat…besides, I'd have to kill a cute little rabbit or something."
Sokka let go, smacking his forehead and holding his head in his hands.
"Hey! Twinkletoes! Am I tasting something wrong or did you put grass in here? Raw grass?"
Aang's previous cheer had melted now into a sort of sheepish admittance.
"Uh, yeah…" He rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic smile. "I thought it adds… texture?"
"And what are tuta hua mushrooms doing in here?" Toph questioned warily, her clear blue eyes snapping onto the airbender, who shifted, clearly uncomfortable. He obviously had no idea what a tuta ha mushroom was.
"Tutti fruitti mushrooms? What? I just found them on the forest floor and thought they smelled good." He said softly.
Toph laughed.
"Tuta hua mushrooms are basically psychedelic drugs. They're used by addicts and musicians to get delusional." She said primly, putting her bowl down.
"AHAHAHAH! HAHA!" They crew turned to see Zuko, rolling around in the dirt on his side. "Wooohooohooheeee! IIIIII'M A MONKEY! MONKEY MONKEY MONKKKKKKAY! Huh, huh, huh!" He sat up, facing Aang as if seeing him for the first time. His mouth was twisted into a stupid smile, his eyes glittering through the swollen tissue surrounding them. He jabbed a finger at the confused and frightened avatar. "FFFFFAT! FAT FAT FAT FAT! You fat-fat-fatty-fat walrus! PORKTASTIC BALD GUY! AND YOU!" He said, swiveling to Katara, who by now had resigned herself to eating cold, nasty-looking noodles and feeling thoroughly miserable. "YOUUUUU TALK TOO MUCH!" He shakily brought himself to his feet, striking a girlish pose. "LOOKIT ME, I'M KAMARA—I MEAN, KUH…KUHSARA? KAT..KATARA! LOOOOOOOOKIT me! AHAHA HA HA HA--" Toph interrupted hislittle trip by lobbing a rock at his head. He was out cold in the next minute, a tremendous bump forming on his head.
"Heh Aa'g?" Katara asked slowly, as if each thing she said was a tremendous effort to get out. "Ha'b you ebbur cook'd befoh?"
Aang cocked his head, waiting until he translated Katara's speech from Congestinese to Common Speak.
"Oh,"
He said after a second, chuckling a little nervously. "Uh, no. This
was, ah…this was my first time."
Sokka smacked his head again.
"Oh great! A virgin in the kitchen!"
Toph
interjected. "I think we all agree that Aang is officially banned
from cooking for the rest of his life. Agreed?"
"Agreed!"
The crew chorused. Aang dug his toe around in the dirt, looking up at
the clear night sky sprinkled with stars.
"Right
then! Sokka, tomorrow you
cook." She said as if it was final.
"What? Why me?" Sokka
asked, spreading his arms like 'what did I do?'.
"Because Sparky's out cold, Katara will get snot in the food, and Aang can't cook." Toph said coldly. Katara managed a little snuffle, which might have been a giggle. Nobody could be sure.
"But
I—" Sokka protested, but silenced himself. The firelight gave
Toph an eerie glow, shadows dancing across her small face weirdly and
those awkward, rolling eyes were creeping him out again.
"Auuugh.Fine. Wait!" He said, looking up at the little titan.
"What about you?"
"Me?" She said with a little laugh. "Of
course not!"
