Disclaimer: We don't own avatar the last airbender.
Yin and Yang: Chapter 1
ByMdalia and RebLaw
It began like most usual days had begun after they found the avatar. Katara went off to wash her face and fetch water, before starting breakfast, which Aang, the pickiest eater, went off to scavenge for.
Sokka awoke to an empty camp. He yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes, and climbed out of his tent to see if there was any breakfast yet. He almost walked right into Katara, who frowned at him. "Sorry," the warrior mumbled. "Is breakfast ready?"
"How should I know?" Katara snapped. This Sokka wasn't the Sokka she knew, the young water-bender assessed. She smiled, she finally found them. She decided to play nice, all of a sudden. "Hey, brother, have you seen Aang?"
"Nope," Sokka muttered. "I just woke up. Maybe he's gathering food?"
"Okay," Katara said in a tone that seemed far too cheery, she waved and wondered off northward. "Thanks!"
"No, problem," Sokka yawned. He started off to the stream, wondering if he was awake or if he was just dreaming about his sister being so darn weird. He sleep walked to the stream, still tired and too groggy to want to wake up, especially knowing how cranky Katara was. He was wide awake when he saw Katara filling the water jar. He wasn't sure if she was just super fast or if he was going crazy again. He decided to keep his mouth shut in case it were the latter.
- - - - - - - - - -
Aang had found a boysenberry bush- a rare find. He was busy picking the ripest of the boysenberries when Katara approached him.
"Hey Aang," Katara greeted the boy. "I think I found something about airbenders. I'm not sure, but I think it might be a sign that some survived, can you check it out?"
"Sure Katara," Aang chirped. It seemed like today was really his day, first it was a nice cloudless day when he woke up, then he found this boysenberry bush, and now he might have evidence that some of his people survived.
But all was not right, unfortunately. Aang's head hurt all of a sudden. He stumbled around dizzy from the pain, he saw what appeared to be himself looking down at himself, and his vision faded to darkness.
"Nice toss Sokka," the other Aang said, smiling malevolently.
"Wasn't anything," the teenage boy replied. "His head is huge, just like your head- an easy target for a skilled warrior like me."
- - - - - - - - - -
"You must've found him pretty quickly," Sokka commented, as he carried the water-pot back to the campsite for his sister.
"Found who quickly?" Katara asked, partially confused, partially worried that her brother might've come down with yet another hallucinating fever.
"Aang," Sokka started to explain. "You asked me where he was, nevermind."
"Maybe you dreamt that I asked just before you woke up?" Katara suggested.
"That must be it," Sokka agreed, as they returned to the campsite to find Aang setting out some boysenberries for breakfast.
"Hey guys," Aang said smiling. His eye twitched slightly, he was unnerved by acting this happy. But he knew that by acting happy and good now, it would have its rewards later.
"Oh! I love blackberries!" Katara said enthusiastically. Not many berries made it to the south pole on a regular basis.
- - - - - - - - - -
After breakfast, Aang announced. "I would like to go to a town that's just a bit south of here. I've heard that merchants from all over sell all kinds of things at the market. Perhaps I can find out some more about bending stuff."
"Aang," Katara admonished. "You know it's water bending that you're supposed to be learning now."
"I wonder if they'd be selling any good weapons," Sokka pondered out loud between stuffing his face with berries.
"I'd hope so," Aang said smiling almost too much. "I can't wait! Let's go as soon as possible!"
Sokka wondered what was up with Aang today, but he kept it to himself, like he tended to do. Aang kept on his and Katara's cases to hurry and go to that market. It was very much unlike the laid back Aang Sokka knew.
- - - - - - - - - -
It was just like Aang described it, a busy market- there were merchants many earth-kingdom lands, and even a couple from the fire nation. Aang went over and asked one of the Fire Nation merchants a question, while Katara was showing Sokka what she's like for her next birthday.
"Hey Katara," Sokka asked his sister in a hushed voice. "Is it just me or does Aang seem a little... odd?"
Katara frowned. "Not that I've really noticed. You on the other hand..."
Sokka rolled his eyes and decided he wanted to keep an eye on Aang. But, he remember Katara had their money, so he should stay close to her as well, just in case he found any weapons he needed.
- - - - - - - - - -
They came to an Earth bender's shop, where Aang was spending far too much time examining a ring, as far as Sokka was concerned. Katara was sorting through scrolls to see if any of them were on water bending. The old merchant was not very sure of what he had, all he could tell Katara for sure was that he thought they might not all be earth bending scrolls, which was more than enough to spark the girl's interest in them.
Aang looked at the ring, placing it between two of his fingers, shifting it between his fingers, almost like a magician, and then Sokka blinked, the ring was gone and Aang was whistling while looking at a decorative scroll.
Just as the trio was exiting the shop, the merchant cried that he had been robbed. Katara and Sokka went back in to see if they could help in any way. Katara told Aang to get a guard. Aang did so, after making a brief stop by a nearby alleyway.
Sokka and Katara told the guard all they had seen, and who they saw coming and going, who looked suspicious and anything they could think of to help. Sokka left out that he had seen Aang playing with the very ring that disappeared.
Aang's face paled when Katara told him that the guard wanted to speak to him. The paling was only momentary, but Katara did notice it. She wondered if Aang might be feeling ill or if perhaps Sokka might be right to suspect something was up.
"Son," the muscular guard who looked nothing like a father figure said. "A valuable ring was stolen from this shop today. Tell me everything you remember that happened in this shop earlier today."
"W-well," Aang stammered nervously, swallowing before continuing. "The shop was busy but there were people coming in and out. I didn't get a good look at most of them. I do remember someone spending a lot of time at the ring display. He had red clothes, and also looked through the scrolls."
"Can you tell me anything more about this red clothed person?" the guard asked with interest.
"Well," Aang said with more confidence. "He was taller than me, taller than Sokka, but shorter than you. He wasn't fat, but he wasn't very skinny either."
"Do you remember anything else?"
"No sir."
Aang casually strolled out of the store. He went out the back door, so he could go through the alleyway he paused at earlier and retrieve something. When he returned to the storefront Katara grabbed him immediately. "Aang, we should go now."
"Wha?" Aang said innocently as he was dragged alone out of town at a quick pace. "Leave so soon? But why?"
"You fingered a fire bender from the fire nation," Sokka said plainly. "We don't want trouble, we should leave. Tension was already high between the Fire Nation merchants and the Earth Kingdom merchants, it's even worse now."