Part: One- The Lutdeo
Chapter: Four- A Death
Author: Fritters-4-Psi
Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the Koertan, Risha, and somethings to be mentioned in later chapters
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There was what seemed like thousands of tracks leading away from the clearing. Sokka had easily found the clearing where the Koertan had been born. When he arrived there, he saw thousands of hoof prints, but no mother Koertan and her calf. The Koertan Risha had been riding would have had to carry extra weight, so the prints would have a more defined imprint on the soil. The ground in the clearing showed no signs of Risha's Koertan.
He looked at the opening of the clearing and saw some tracks that might be the ones he was looking for. Sokka decided that guess was as good as any, so he followed the tracks. For an hour he followed these tracks before anything happened. Toward the end of that hour, he was saw one of those dogs. The dog caught Sokka's scent and ran, hopping he hadn't been spotted. Sokka followed the dog.
For fifteen minutes, the chase went on. The dog had slowly gained a lead of ten yards. The dog disappeared from view and Sokka followed the footprints slowly. After a few minutes, he saw the dog sitting in contentment, vigilantly watching something. Sokka looked in the direction that the dog was looking in. He saw Risha approaching a Koertan with a knife. The Koertan saw Risha, too, but wasn't running. "Hey! I thought you weren't supposed to kill the Koertan," Sokka stated.
Both Risha and the Koertan looked startled. The deer-like creature bounded off deeper into the forest. "Hey, kid. What are you doing out here?" she asked.
"I'm not a kid," Sokka said defensively, "I'm fifteen and a warrior."
With a sigh, Risha explained, "I'm not calling you kid because you are a kid. It's just a name I use. A term of endearment, I suppose. Now answer. What are you doing out here? People don't normally hang around Koertan Forest."
"Well, you see, I'm traveling with my sister and a friend. We've been traveling for quite a while. There hasn't been that much of a chance for a meal that was half way decent. Yesterday, I came out here to get some meat. We haven't had a lot of meat in out diets. For our friend, that's okay, but he's a vegetarian," Sokka said.
"Then I don't know why you came back out here. It's a penalty of death if you kill a Koertan. Those are the only creatures in this forest that you might eat," Risha said with a glare, "You knew that. Why are you traveling?"
"We brought a friend to a Northern Water Tribe. We're on our way to Omashu to see King Bumi," Sokka said.
Risha looked at Sokka. Immediately, she saw that he was far too thin. The day before, he had said he was from the Southern Water Tribe. They must have been traveling for a long time, and still had a long time ahead. She took pity on him. "I tell you what, kid. I'll kill you one of the Koertan. That way, if anyone finds out, I can say I was culling the herd of the sick. Just follow me and then you can help me carry it to your camp," Risha offered.
Sokka shrugged. Normally, he would have argued that he could hunt for himself. But he figured that Risha had a good point about someone finding out that a Koertan was killed during a restricted time. That and he was feeling lazy. Risha went in the direction the Koertan had went. Quietly, Sokka followed her.
As it turns out, the Koertan had been just outside the clearing. The Koertan saw Risha, lowered its head, and pawed at the ground. Risha mimicked what the Koertan had done the best she could. Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but Risha motioned for him to be quiet. With a grim face, Risha took out her knife. "I'm sorry," she said to the Koertan.
She ran the knife across the creature's throat and it fell to the ground. Risha looked down and kneeled by the Koertan. Sadly, she began stroking its sleek neck. "No matter how many times I kill one of these creatures, it never gets any easier," she said quietly.
Sokka walked to where Risha was kneeling. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm sorry," he said.
"Being sorry won't do anything," Risha said almost angrily, "Let's tie these ropes around it and drag him to your camp."
"Okay, but before we do that, I want to know something," Sokka said, "Yesterday, when you were 'helping' the Koertan. What were you doing?"
"I will tell you, but not right now. There will be a time when I tell you," she said
Risha grabbed a coil of rope that was attached to her belt. When she was done, a loop of rope was around the Koertan's barrel and tied on the rope were two long pieces with loops on the end. She grabbed one of the two long rope pieces and Sokka grabbed the other. Slowly, they began dragging the Koertan through the forest.
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