Bah! I'm struggling with having twists and living up to my name, but keeping them realistic.
I have to avoid this becoming a soap-opera. :)
And just to warn you, I didn't proof-check this or anything because I'm leaving for the weekend in fifteen minutes and HAD to get this up before I left.
Don't eat me alive with spelling errors, or simple wording mistakes that have to do with the story please. I would have hoped that by now my fans had grown fond enough of me to realize everyone's human. :-)
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"AIIIIIII!"
Sokka threw the blankets off him and screamed.
"What's going on?"
Beat slept soundly in the corner, but Aang woke up that instant.
"AHHHHH!" After dancing around his blankets, the flap of the door swooshed, and Sokka was out.
"Sokka, what's wron-" Aang's eyes widened.
"BEAR! GET OUT OF THERE! COME ON!"
Bear rolled over and yawned. He was a sound sleeper. So sound, he didn't realize that even if Sokka and Aang had flown out of the hut, he was not alone inside it.
"BEAR! GETOUTNOW!" Came the calling of both boys voices at scrambled times. "They'll eat you!
Bear's eyes squinted open a little. Why weren't they quiet? It was too early in the morning for games.
"I'm going to kill y-…" His voice broke off, when he saw that he was face-to-face with a yellow-eyed, dark-furred creature… hissing at him.
Bear let out a howl loud enough to wake the whole forest, and clambered as fast as he could up to his feet.
But there was another one by the door!
Sokka and Aang got nervous when it went quiet inside the hut.
"Is he okay?" Aang whispered.
"I think they got him…" Sokka replied.
"NO!" yelled Aang, running forward.
Suddenly they heard a sharp whine, and a stream of rock blasted out of the flap, taking Aang and the animal, (formerly inside the hut) with it.
Bear jumped out, brushing himself all over.
"The other one's still in there." He said, looking a little wild; Sokka heard a growling noise come from the hut. "Rooting through our blankets. I think he may be looking for another one of us to eat."
Aang yelled, causing both of them to whirl around towards the noise.
The furry creature that had been propelled from the tent had attached itself to his head, and was clinging to the monk.
"Get it off, get it off!" He danced around, trying to pull the animal away without being bitten.
Finally, Katara had had enough.
What were those boys doing? She'd been having a good dream.
"I'm going to kill whoever's making that – Aang!" She dropped the wooden spoon she'd been holding above her head as she dashed out of her hut.
"Oh no!"
Rushing forward and snatching a canteen, Katara bended the water inside, and soon the creature was on the ground, limping away.
"Do you guys always need someone watching you?" She sighed, turning to Bear and Sokka.
"What did you want me to do – bend rocks onto his head?" Bear said back, raising his arms. "That would've killed the animal alright… and him!"
"It's called a stick." Katara said, marching over to the side wall of her hut and picking one off the ground. "Whack! Off goes Mr.Fuzzy."
"And in goes the stick, through the skull Mr.Fuzzy was attached to." Bear raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah! Forgive him for not knowing where every stick in the encampment is!" Sokka put in.
Katara rubbed her face and realized her hair was out of its braid.
"You guys are just… babies..." She said in a breath, finally waking up. "But we're a little cranky. I'll make us breakfast, then we can have decent conversations."
And so she did. Soon eggs and seasoned wheat were sizzling on her fire stove.
Though outside, Sokka couldn't resist cooking his much need meat, so salmon was added to the menu.
After breakfast, Katara Bear and Aang had a meeting, and all decided that it was high time for training.
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Before he knew it, it had been a long morning already…
Aang could've gone down for a ten hour nap by lunchtime.
His two bending masters were working him much harder than he thought they would, considering it was two elements he was trying to learn at the same time.
He kept mixing up the energy-seeping, slow movements of waterbending, to the scaly, rigid, granite-like movements of bending earth.
So confused was the twelve year-old, that when Katara asked him to bend a strong waterfall over the cliff, he sent a steady stream of pebbles off instead.
"Alright Aang," Katara sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We can take a break now. I guess it is a lot to handle."
"No!" Aang replied quickly, "You know how important it is for me to learn all the elements by the end of the summer! We just have to… to…"
"Try harder?" She said, shaking her head.
"No, just –" Aang bit his lip and thought for a second. "Maybe we could try teaching me one element at a time, instead of both together. That way it'd be less confusing."
"That sounds much better." Katara replied.
She saw Bear approach them holding a big boulder above him, a quizzical look on his face.
"We're going to either teach him waterbending or earthbending first." She explained.
The confusion dropped, and he nodded. "Okay. I can see how that would be easier. Then which one first?"
"Um…" Aang looked from one to the other, clearly not wanting to offend.
"We don't know how long Bear will be with us," Katara said. "So why don't you take advantage of his skills while he's here?"
Bear smiled. "Even though I doubt I'll be going anywhere, anytime soon."
"And I'll always be with you," Smiled Katara, looking at Aang. "So Bear should teach you earthbending first."
Even though his shoulders sagged in disappointment at losing his waterbending teacher temporarily, Aang's face brightened. "This is going to be way easier! I think I'll learn faster than I ever have before!"
"No time for happiness," Bear said, mock-serious. "Time only for hard work!"
Aang straightened up and saluted. "Where do we begin?"
"I think we can try wandering off a bit, this lake area is only good for the easiest earthbending, but you need more of a challenge. So we're going to go down there, Katara," He said, pointing to the land below the waterfall.
"You'll be able to see us, okay?"
Katara nodded, but soon realized that Bear was grinning at her. He was teasing!
"You don't have to stay somewhere I'll be able to see you," She said quickly. "I'm not your mother or anything…"
Bear flashed her a smile that she liked much better than the previous one.
"I'm just playing. But yeah, that's still where we're going to be."
"Oh, okay!" Katara said, waving goodbye to them and going back to their encampment.
Sokka was sitting Indian-style beside the fire, twisted up with leather pieces, apparently trying to make himself a fishing spear.
"Come on…" He muttered through a strap he held, one end in his mouth, the other between his toes.
Katara looked around the encampment slowly.
What was she supposed to do now?
She was no longer teaching Aang waterbending, at least not for awhile, so what next?
She found herself unneeded at that moment, and it was to say the least, a dumb feeling.
The encampment was looking a little shabby… she could tidy it up.
Or she could practice her own waterbending! Yeah!
Who was she kidding. Being honest with herself, Katara knew she was bored.
So she decided to 'keep busy': the always-antidote to boredom.
For the next forty-five minutes, Katara cleaned around Sokka, tidied, organized, and spruced up around Sokka, and put her hand on her hip, and tapped her foot around Sokka when he refused to move.
"I'm right here. And you can do whatever you're doing, just like you've been doing, and go around me." He said solidly, folding his arms.
"Sokka, you're being useless!" She shouted.
"Is there anything you actually need me to do?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Well… no." She replied. But after a moment, she spoke again, ignoring the groan from Sokka. "Actually yes. You can use those skills of yours to make me a broom."
"Skills? Skills hate me." He said, scowling at the abandoned leather straps and wood he'd been trying to turn into a spear.
"So kiss and make up, because I have to sweep away the leaves."
"You don't actually have to." Her brother retorted, getting up anyways. "You just don't have anything to do."
He was right, but she didn't have to convince him anymore, because he trudged off into the forest, mumbling.
Katara sort of wandered around aimlessly for a bit, but she didn't think Sokka would be back anytime soon, so she made herself a snack and sat down in the sun to watch Aang and Bear practice.
They were far enough down the hill that she couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but she could see them both fine.
Bear was shouting something encouraging at Aang, who was chewing his lip and focusing straight ahead while suspending a boulder above himself.
He continued to hold it still; it looked like Bear was trying to either teach him to hold the rock steady, or teach him patience… and it looked like extremely hard work.
Aang's arms wobbled, he tried to keep it up, but no longer would his body stay focused, and he threw the rock down, panting.
Bear shook his head. Katara saw him sweep the boulder above himself, saying something.
He had the body of a young earthbender… extremely toned, slightly harsh features.
He'd obviously been in the rays of the sun often; there wasn't a pale spot on his body. It was all smooth, and baked by the sun, for a tan, creamy complexion.
This characteristic made his hair seem almost contrary to the color of his skin, for it was a light brown blonde, kissed by the sun itself, and hugged by the wind, to give it its everlasting messiness.
While his arms were raised, he lectured Aang, moving back and forth to make an unknown point. Katara continued to study him.
His shoulders were a broad half-circle, the line from them narrowing down through his legs. This tone came from the very thing he was doing at the moment – bending all that heavy earth around him.
His face was harsh and soft at the same time. Katara wondered how that was possible, but when she looked closer she realized that his face was soft, but there was strength behind his sparkling forest eyes.
Katara stopped and looked closer at those eyes…
They had joy in life, a look that laughed in the face of danger, but cautiously… and amidst the spark, there was an emotion she couldn't identify.
Even as he was teaching Aang, that hidden emotion remained, as if it were there permanently.
Come to think of it, he did always have that look in his eyes. She then pondered whether there was something Bear was hiding. Whether it was her job to figure it out or not.
So contradicting was he. Katara got the idea that Bear was someone who never did the same thing twice… never got boring.
She'd finished her food – Katara stood up and went into her hut. For the first time that day she remembered Prince Zuko was still in the woods. Wasn't he?
She couldn't imagine him leaving, he had too much determination.
Determination practically oozed from every part of Zuko – especially his eyes.
So what was he going to do?
"Okay here," Sokka said, interrupting her thoughts. An arm stuffed itself through the doorway. It held a mismatched, scraggly-looking broom.
Katara doubted it had taken him longer than two minutes.
"I was actually going to make it better, but then I got sidetracked trying to fish like Bear, and by the time I'd finished I realized you would probably want your broom, so I hurried up, and –"
" - It's fine Sokka," she said. While her brother had gabbled on, she'd figured out what she wanted to do next.
"Would you mind helping me with something?"
"Depends on what it is," He said, stretching.
"I need to practice my waterbending, a certain move,"
"Oh no." He said warily. "I've heard that before. And right after, something bad happens to me."
"But Sokka," She continued. "Something bad is always happening to you."
Sokka couldn't argue. "Good point. I still don't trust you though."
"It's a small waterbending move I have to practice," Katara said, sticking out her bottom lip in mock-pleading. She sometimes did this to her brother to annoy him into doing something. "And I need someone to practice with…"
"You mean you need someone to practice on…" Sokka grumbled. "A guinea pig to test with…"
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Minutes later, he sighed and raised his arms in the air hopelessly. "Why do I continue to let you do this to me?"
"Just hold still." She ordered, breathing through her nose and concentrating on the water beside him. "Pretend you're attacking me."
Sokka slowly charged after her half-heartedly, growling with as much enthusiasm as a dead log would have.
She raised her eyebrow. "Can't you do better than that?"
"Hey, I didn't even volunteer!"
"Just run at me!"
So Sokka did. As he was running, Katara spun around, pulled her arms forward, clapping her hands together, and a giant v-shaped blast of water opened up from the lake, flying into the air and freezing directly over his body, trapping him mid-run under a tee-pee-looking ice block.
"Very nice." Sokka stated tonelessly, pressing his back against the top to try and break free. She bended it back into water and it fell off him.
"Now I'm freezing!" He shivered, clutching his arms. "Funny how that always happens when you practice with me!"
Katara put her hand to her mouth and suppressed a laugh – Sokka's ponytail had frozen solid again.
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That night, Bear and Aang didn't come back until ten minutes after Katara and Sokka had already eaten dinner.
Thankfully, Katara had been smart and left them out some food before she went to bed, so when they came into camp they had a lukewarm meal waiting.
"Finally," Aang said wearily, shoving a couple seasoned wheats into his mouth and flopping down onto one of the log benches they'd rolled in when they first made the encampment. "That was the hardest day of training I've ever had."
"You did excellent."
"Thanks." The avatar smiled in return, ready to fall asleep right there.
"Seriously, I've never seen someone with so much raw talent." Bear continued, placing his hands together and staring at the fire. "You really work hard at this. You're passionate."
"I have to be," Aang said slowly. "I have to learn so much by the end of the summer… I have to do this. It's my job. I'm the avatar, and I have to restore peace."
"Peace." Bear repeated, almost laughing under his breath. "Never lived in it, in all my nineteen years of life. Never experienced that… and I dream of it all the time. Sometimes you really just have to put your fantasies aside though, and focus on the task at hand, like you're doing."
"Sometimes I really wish this wasn't happening to me…" Aang confessed, staring straight at the sky. "I'm only twelve years old still."
"You may be twelve, but you are strong in so many ways." Said Bear. "I've already seen it so much, and I've been with you what, five days?"
Aang laughed a little and ate another piece of wheat. "I'm really glad you found us, Bear. Or actually Master Bear!"
"No, just, Bear…" He replied, an odd expression on his face. "Time for bed though, tomorrow you're going to pull rock from the earth. An especially difficult thing to do in earthbending."
"Okay," Aang replied with a sigh, trudging into the hut. "Goodnight, Bear."
"Good night Aang."
The avatar was long asleep by the time Bartholomew returned to the hut, and even then, he didn't fall asleep, but chose to lay there and run around in his memories.
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General Iroh was having difficulty. Where was his favorite mug?
Ginseng tea was not the same without that mug, all other teas he could stand in different cups, but not his favorite.
He bent over, looking under the sink in the kitchen; his large belly nearly brushed the surface of the floor.
"Need assistance, General Iroh?" Said a voice from behind him. One of the cabin boys who helped in the kitchen with the main cooks was looking at him quizzically.
"I seem to have misplaced my favorite tea cup," The elderly man explained, tapping his chin with a finger. "I had used it yesterday, but that was only for orange pekoe, and the tea tasted terrible in that cup. I will only use it for ginseng from now on… if I find it, that is!"
He grinned at the boy, who raised his eyebrow and nodded a little strangely. "Well I can help you find it, I'm on break…"
"What is your name, young one?" Iroh asked him, continuing to walk around the kitchen, absentmindedly searching.
"Shoushin." The boy replied.
"Yes, Shoushin, I think I will require your, assistance. Why don't you try checking my nephews' room? I may have left it in there when I was worrying about him."
"Worrying about him?" Shoushin asked. "You don't seem worried…"
Uncle Iroh sighed. "One never shows the anguish they feel inside, if one does not wish others to see it."
He turned around and faced the boy. "I know my nephew will be safe, for he is very dedicated and strong, but that does not help my worrying for my family. And Zuko is like a son to me. I will continue to fear for him… just in case."
Then, just like that, the solemn expression his face once vanished, and he ushered Shoushin to the stairs brightly. "Now let us see if we can find that mug."