Chapter 2-
The air was scorching and heavy around them as they browsed the village market. Katara was gathering sacks and baskets of assorted groceries while Sokka and Aang looked at various knick-knacks that they could never afford courtesy of their high prices. After a while, Katara walked over to the two, staggering beneath the weight of the groceries she had purchased.
"Can you two help me with these supplies?" Katara asked, irritated.
"And why would we help carry supplies?" Sokka questioned with a grin. Katara's brow furrowed in annoyed response as she shoved some of the sacks at Aang and Sokka, who exchanged confused expressions.
"Come on, guys—I'm being serious!"
"What's the big hurry Katara? It should be okay for us to stay here a while," Aang commented.
"We need to hurry up so we can get out of here. You know, before Zukko catches up to us?" she replied, aggravated.
"But we haven't seen Prince Zukko since we got the Waterbending Scroll,"Sokka protested.
"Did you forget we wasted three days with Jet?" Katara pointed out. The name she spoke left a bitter flavor in her mouth.
"No, but think about it. That means Zukko's far behind."
"It also means that he's had time to catch up. If we stay here tonight, we'll see Fire Nation ships on that horizon by daybreak. I rest my case." Katara turned away and headed in the direction of Appa.
"But we've been flying for about four days since we left Jet," Sokka attempted in vain.
"Yeah, and we had to take the long way around to get supplies, andthat took the afternoon sowe spent the night, and then you decided to sleep in. I rest my case."
"But Katara, I think that Ap—" Aang stared, but Katara cut him short.
"I rest my case. We're not staying. We can't take that chance."
"But—" Aang began in protest, but instead sighed in defeat. "Alright."
The three walked toward Appa in silence. Once reaching the camp, Katara set the supplies on the ground, as did Aang and Sokka. Then the boys walked around to the other side of Appa. Sokka began packing away the tent while Aang bended the water out of a pail and extinguished the dying embers that remained from the campfire from the night before.
"I don't see why we can't stay. I mean, we got here in the middle of the night, and then she couldn't let us sleep in," Sokka commented in a low voice.
"Well, she does have a point—we do need to keep as far away from Zukko as possible," Aang replied.
"And it's her fault we stayed three days with Jet anyway," Sokka continued.
"Sokka, don't keep holding that against her—that wasn't her fault. She had no way of knowing what Jet was planning."
"Yeah, I know. My word isn't enough—she can't just trust my judgment for once," he said, his voice agitated and disheartened.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, sometimes she gets so caught up in things, she treats me like, well…" Sokka's voice trailed off as he looked up to the sky, as if some word that would finish his sentence was written in the fluffy disarray of clouds above.
"Like a Firebender?" Aang suggested. Sokka looked at Aang, the inevitable question written on his face like the words of a book entwined in his curious brow. But before either of them could speak, Katara yelled to them from the other side of Appa.
"I'm all done packing the supplies," she yelled. "Are you two almost done packing up camp?"
"Uhh," Sokka and Aang looked at each other before shouting nervous assurances in response. They both grabbed the sleeping bags and hastily rolled them before the unavoidable task of tying them together. Katara walked around Appa, watching them attempt to quickly tie the bags. Upon seeing this, she rolled her eyes and spoke.
"You know, you could've told me you weren't done—it's not like I would've killed you for it," she said. Sokka and Aang jumped from fright and guilt before turning to face her with innocent smiles.
"Well, we are almost done," Sokka pointed out, as he finished knotting the thin rope that held the sloppy roll together while Aang tried to tie his string. For a moment, he simply fingered the stubborn string frustratedly before finally succeeding to tie it. Sokka and Aang carried their bags to Appa while Katara scooped up the tent that wasn't rolled and tied nearly as clumsily as the sleeping bags, but was nonetheless sloppy. Katara couldn't help but to laugh to herself at the awkward packing.
After the tent and the sleeping bags were secured and everything was put as neatly away as possible, they left the little island they had stayed the night on. But just before they flew above the clouds, Katara could've sworn she saw a Fire Nation ship nestled far away upon the horizon.
Author's Note: I know, purely plotless—or seemingly purely plotless. Don't worry; I'm getting there! Just be patient! And the whole thing where Aang says "Like a Firebender?" was supposed to play off of The Blue Spirit, but since this takes place before that, life sucks. But I decided it'll play off of whatever you want it to. Oh, and school started the August 25th, so I don't know how much more I'll be able to write…I'm going to try to keep updating, but I'm not making any promises. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Chapter 2! Look for Chapter 3 soon! Let me know if you have any ideas for a chapter title! And does anyone happen to know what Jet's weapons are called? We (me and my friends) have just been calling them the "claw-things" but if anyone knows the actual name of them, it'd be great if you could let me know! Thanks!