Merry Christmas everyone! I know I was meant to post earlier, but I didn't have time and life's kinda a mess at the moment, but this is my Christmas present to you all. I hope you have a really wonderful day, filled with blessings, happiness and good health. Keep well everyone!
Meanwhile:
Katara's POV:
"Great. Out of all the people I could've been stuck with, it had to be you." I growl whole pointing at the firebender kneeling on the ground.
"You're not such a breath of fresh air yourself." Zuko grumbles as he taps the ground again with his knuckles, looking for what I don't know.
"Like you know what a breath of fresh air is." I retort as I cross my arms over my chest. The man glances at me before snorting.
"More than you know." He mutters under his breath. I glare at him before turning on my heels and making my way to the opposite side of the wall to inspect for any signs of a way out of here.
I exhale heavily when I find that the entire wall is made of nothing but stones. With a groan, I'm about to bash my forehead against the hard surface until a flicker of red light catches my eye. Blinking, I pull back and gawk at the writing that definitely hadn't been there before.
"Find common ground or your screams will be your last sound."
I gulp.
"What are you staring at?" The firebender asks from a couple of metres behind me. I move to one side to allow him to read.
"Have a look for yourself." I say, gesturing to the passage. Slowly, the scarred man rises to his feet and crosses the room to stand beside me as his eyes flicker from side to side as he reads the sentence. He glances at me.
"Well, that's just perfect." He voices blandly. I glower at him.
"You think this is funny?! We're here because of you! If anything happens to my brother or Aang or Toph then so help me -" I start to threaten, but the man cuts me off.
"You'll what? Attack the only person you have left in this forsaken room? Go ahead. I'd like to see how far that gets you." Zuko taunts as he mimics my crossed arms. I clench my teeth.
"Fine. What do we do then?" I grit out, prompting the firebender to quirk an eyebrow.
"I thought someone as smart as you would be able to work it out. We follow the riddle obviously." Zuko explains slowly as if I were dumb and it takes all my restraint not to punch him here and now.
"If you think we'll find any common ground then we might as well start screaming now." I mutter as I turn to face the taller student.
Before the firebender has a chance to speak, the room shakes violently and starts splitting underneath my feet. Hastily, I jump back and watch as my half of the room erupts in flames around me. Darting my eyes ahead, I find Zuko's half of the room is slowly starting to fill with water.
"What is this?!" I holler as I step back from the approaching heat.
"I think, if we don't find something in common soon, I'm going to be a drowned cat and you're going to be barbequed." Zuko shouts over the rushing water.
I furrow my eyebrows and with one quick motion, bend the water from his boxed-up side to put out the fire around me. I almost smile at the sound of the dying flames, but to my shock the fire sudden re-ignites hotter than before, nearly burning me.
"What the-?!" I express in shock.
"Perfect. Just perfect. I'm going to die in your element and you're going to die in mine. Could that be any more poetic?" The firebender complains as he tries to shift his feet, but I can see that the water has already reached his knees.
"Would you stop being so condescending and horrible all the time?! Is it so hard for you to actually be nice for a change?" I shout while finding myself slowly backing up to a wall to avoid the nearing fire.
"I'm sorry, but nice isn't in my vocab." Zuko hisses. I'm about to fire back a quip when I suddenly recall what that snake said.
"Is…is it true that your father gave you that scar?" I ask cautiously, making the man grow tense.
"What's it to you?!" He snaps with harsh eyes, but it doesn't deter me. If anything, it makes me feel sympathetic.
"Why would he do that?" I ask instead, prompting a scowl from the scarred boy.
"Because my Dad is a terrible person. Happy now?" My lips part at the venom in his voice and I almost feel guilty for giving him such a hard time.
"What about your Mum?" I question, wondering if the man's entire family is twisted. Zuko's face screws up with something I can't quite read before he jerks his head to the side.
"She's gone." He mutters, his face tight with sadness and for the first time I find myself able to feel something other than anger towards the firebender.
"Gone, as in...?" I trail off, but he shakes his head.
"She left. Haven't seen her in years." The man corrects. Instinctively I raise a hand, wanting to say something reassuring, but I forget about the flames as it licks at my arm, making me hiss in pain.
"Try not to die, I can't solve the riddle by myself." Zuko retorts, ripping away any sympathy I was beginning to feel for him.
"Nice to know how much you care." I return blandly. He shrugs.
"Right. Don't die otherwise who else will be a pain in my side? That any better?" Zuko offers dryly with a hint of a smirk on his face. I blink in surprise and subconsciously find my lips twitching into a half smile.
"Not really." I say as I step back again, but to my dismay I feel my back colliding into the stone wall. And the flames are inches away from burning me alive. I look over to Zuko to find that his situation isn't any better. The water is now up to his shoulders and if we don't try and get along, we're done for. I frown at the sudden thought. 'Wait. Common ground. We both don't have mums.' I swallow at the realisation.
"Do you miss her?" I question quietly, surprising the man.
"Huh?" He murmurs in confusion.
"Your mum, do you miss her?" I clarify. The firebender eyes me wearily, as if expecting the question to be a trap. When he sees no indication of such, his shoulders sags a little.
"Every day. She wasn't like the rest of us. She was a good person and the best Mum. I just wish I knew where to find her." I feel my heart thudding at Zuko's tortured confession.
"I miss mine too." I whisper. A flash of something akin to guilt crosses his amber eyes as he watches me. "She was everything to me and now she's gone." I echo tightly as tears prick the backs of my eyes. One of the flames licks at my leg and I have to bite my lip to hold off a scream.
"Aang told me. I'm...I'm really sorry." The firebender mumbles, as he stretches his neck up to avoid the rising water from entering his mouth.
"I'm sorry about yours." I voice. As soon as those words leave my mouth the flames vanish and the water disappears. I fall to my knees in relief, wiping at my sweaty forehead.
"So that's our common ground. Our Mums." Zuko voices to himself with a head shake as he bends a ball of fire around his body to dry himself off. I watch him in thought before getting to my feet.
"Yeah, I guess." I mumble as I kick at the ground. "I'm... I'm sorry for giving you a hard time. You obviously have a lot on your plate and I shouldn't have judged you so harshly." I apologise with a sigh. The firebender scrutinises me for a moment before shrugging.
"You are very judgemental, but I get it." The older student says, making me frown.
"What does that mean?" I quip back with a hand on my hip, prompting the scarred man to smirk.
"People tend to be protective and jealous of those they like." Zuko utters nonchalantly. My jaws slacken as heat rushes to my face.
"W-what?!" The word comes out more as a squeak than the demanding tone I was going for.
"Aang. You're very protective of him and you get jealous whenever you see me with him, like I'm going to steal him away or something. It's pretty obvious." The firebender says with another shrug. My lips move wordlessly for a moment before exploding.
"I'm not jealous! I was worried about him hanging around with someone who bullies people. That's a normal response!" I deny vehemently, but the man's eyes shine with a knowing look.
"Sure, completely normal. Also, completely normal to look on the verge of threatening me for him." He says smugly. I blink twice.
"I have never!" I argue.
"You sure looked like you would a couple of times." Zuko points out. I cross my arms.
"Oh yeah and what do you think I would've said? Hm?" I ask, playing along, but the man simply waves his hand.
"Oh, I don't know. Something like 'if you harm one hair on his head, you don't have to worry about finding a new target, because you'll be it.' Something like that." Zuko says casually, but I can see how much he's enjoying his teasing. I sniff and point my nose up in the air.
"Well, if that's your impression of me then you should be careful. I'm a woman of my word." I mumble, but instead of the frustrated expression I was hoping to see, the man actually smiles.
"I'll keep that in mind." He voices. I furrow my eyebrows at him, confused at this seemingly lighter side of the firebender.
"Did you know your sister came to apologise to me?" I say randomly, curious to see his reaction. He almost does a double take before shaking his head.
"Wow didn't thought she had it in her." Zuko voices to himself, making me frown.
"You knew?" I query with a raised eyebrow. He shrugs.
"I asked her to." He answers nonchalantly. My jaw slackens as I stare at him.
"Why would you do that?" I ask in disbelief. Again, he shrugs.
"Isn't that the right thing to do?" The scarred man throws back, rendering me speechless.
"I-well, yes, but..." I trail off, unsure how to continue without sounding blatantly rude.
"It must be a surprise that I'm not as horrible as you thought I was." Zuko taunts blandly. I widen my eyes.
"No! No, I didn't mean that, I just..." I sigh before continuing. "...you and your sister are a lot more complicated than I initially realised." I admit in embarrassment.
"Welcome to the real world." Zuko voices dryly, as his eyes sweep to gaze at something over my head. I purse my lips at that.
"What are you suggest-" I start, but I'm cut off by the older student.
"It changed." The firebender states with a frown. I blink at him.
"What's changed?" I echo back, turning my head around at Zuko's pointed finger to a wall behind me.
"The riddle." He answers as I start skim reading through the newly written passage:
"New friendships formed, only to be broken when dug a little deeper."
Just as I read the passage, the wall opens into a new entrance. I flicker my eyes up to the firebender who shrugs.
"Don't ask me, we're hardly friends." Zuko voices bluntly. I purse my lips at him, wondering if all this actually meant nothing to him.
"Of course." I express dryly, catching the man's attention as he quirks an eyebrow at me.
"Unless you think this changes things?" He asks. I snort and push past him towards the opening.
"As if." I mutter as I go through the darkened corridor, ignoring the sigh from behind me. I don't get far through the darkness when the ground disappears underneath me. A scream rips through my throat as I find myself falling.
"Katara!" I hear the firebender yell, but his echo slowly fades as I fall further down. Until I finally hit another hard ground.
"Ouch." I mumble as I push myself onto my knees and rub my cheek. 'This place is a dumb death trap.' I complain silently.
"Katara?" I blink at the familiar voice and turn my head to the side to find Aang standing a few paces back and gazing at me with a tilted head. "Are you alright?" He asks as he makes his way over to me and offers his hand. I give him a half smile.
"As alright as someone can be when trapped in a crazy game." I say dryly as I take his hand. He pulls me up with surprising ease for a child of his stature and scans me from top to bottom. His eyes narrowing at my singed trouser.
"What happened?" He asks, nodding his head to the burn. I slip my hand out of his and glance down at the burn.
"Was in a room surrounded by fire. That snake has one twisted sense of humour." I mumble, making the boy frown.
"Was anyone with you?" Aang asks as a note of concern enters his grey orbs. I bite the inside of my cheek.
"I was stuck with your friend. Ironically, we had a riddle that told us to find common ground." I answer bluntly. The airbender frowns at my tone, but he doesn't seem willing to press as he purses his lips.
"We had a riddle too. What common ground did you find with Zuko?" The boy asks curiously. I spin away from him to stare at the ground.
"Our Mums apparently." I mutter. Silence rings across the relatively small room before the boy exhales heavily.
"Why are you angry at me?" Aang finally asks, his voice weary. I don't turn.
"What makes you think that?" I question rigidly.
"Other than your abrupt attitude? You aren't looking at me." The airbender whispers. I chew my lip and turn around to face him.
"You keep hiding things from me. You keep punishing yourself. And you keep putting me at a distance. How can I not be mad?" I accuse, but the boy simply shakes his head.
"What are you talking about? I'm not-" Aang protests, but I grab his wrist, cutting him off as I roughly push up his sleeve to be greeted to a new bandage on his arm. The one I caught a brief glimpse of when the air stirred around him as the snake riled him up.
"This is what I'm talking about! You hurt yourself again and didn't even tell me. And what's worse is that this isn't the only thing you're hiding." I yell, prompting the child genius to snatch his arm out of my grip.
His mouth opens, only to close it a moment later as his eyes look like they're skim reading something. I frown and twist around to find another dumb riddle:
"Give up the dark secret that will break a friendship or let the one you love pay the price."
Immediately, my eyes snap towards Aang's white face as he stares at the wall. Before I can open my mouth, a pair of chackles clip around my ankles from the ground. Suddenly, the stones of the floor starts moving and I'm forced backwards until I reach the wall.
"Katara!" Aang yells as he runs towards me, but before he can reach me a thick stone wall erupts from the ground, keeping us apart, save for for a small opening mid-way in said wall.
A loud whirring sound has me looking to my side to find a large blade attached to the other end of the wall that I'm chackled. And it's moving. I clench my jaws and start bending the water from the air, but as soon as I do so a bolt of electricity runs through me, making me drop the water as I gasp in pain.
"What the heck is this?!" I hiss.
"Spirits! Katara are you-" The boy starts asking until I cut him off.
"Fine, fine. Just wasn't expecting to be electrocuted." I mumble.
"You can't bend again." I frown at Aang's warning and stare at his half-hidden face.
"What, why?" I ask in confusion, acutely aware of the sawing sound coming nearer.
"There's a water detector linked to an electric clock. If it senses any increases in water density in the room it will give you a shock." The airbender explains as worry enters his eyes.
"Perfect. Just perfect." I curse under my breath.
"Maybe I can tear this wall down." I hear the boy mutter to himself, making me quirk an eyebrow at him.
"I know airbending is strong, but I don't think air will be able to take that down. Only an earthbender can do that." I point out.
The airbender chews his lip as he stares at the stone wall. A moment later, his face disappears from the small opening and a few seconds later, a huge gust of air hits the wall. But other than a small tremble, it does nothing. Another gust follows. Then another. But no avail.
"Aang this isn't going to work!" I yell over the rushing wind.
"Then what else can I do?!" The airbender hollers.
"The riddle is there for a reason." I remind dryly as the boy's face re-appears in the small opening.
"Why does it have to be me?" He mutters with a scrunched-up nose. I purse my lips at him.
"Well, I don't have any dark secrets." I remind, only for the child genius to stare at me.
"So, wanting revenge on your mother's killer doesn't count?" I inhale sharply at his words, having forgotten that the snake revealed that.
"That's justice, not some dark secret." I retort.
"And what type of revenge did you have in mind?" He asks, his gaze steady. My lips part, before I frown at him.
"There's a huge blade coming to chop me in half and we're not even trying to solve the riddle." I divert, but the boy is too smart for that.
"Katara, answer the question." The airbender orders. My gaze flickers to the ground.
"A life for a life." I state firmly, eliciting a sharp intake from the boy.
"You want to kill him? Katara, you can't!" Aang protests. My eyes flicker up to glare at him.
"I can and I will! Monsters can't be left to go free." I argue.
"He'll be put in prison." The airbender stresses, but it only makes me snort.
"Prison until he gets out on patrol a few years later. Besides, other than a grimy camera shot we don't have any concrete evidence against him. No gun, no fingerprints, nothing! We have to take it in our own hands." I explain firmly, only for the boy to gape at me.
"If you kill him, then you're no better than he is!" Aang argues. I narrow my eyes at him, forgetting about the nearing blade.
"This is completely different. He killed innocent people. He... he's not innocent!" I snap, angry that the boy doesn't see it like I do. But perhaps that's why I never told him to start with.
"Katara, murder isn't the answer!" Aang shouts. I clench my jaws together.
"He killed Gyatso and all those children! Who knows, maybe he was also the one who killed your parents. How can you not feel angry about that?!" I yell. A range of emotions flicker through his young face as he watches me sternly.
"I know who killed my parents and it wasn't him. But that doesn't mean I'm not angry about it all. I just choose to cope with it in a better way." The airbender voices gravely, but I snort at him in disbelief, not realising that the blade has stopped in its tracks.
"Oh, so cutting yourself is a better way?!" I retort sourly. The boy's jaws throbs as the wall that was separating us drops.
"I knew you wouldn't understand." He mutters. I clench my hands just as the chackles around my ankles come loose.
"I've been understanding this entire time, but what you're doing isn't right. You need help." I stress as I cross the distance between us, only for the boy to step back, his eyes flashing into that scary white that I witnessed last week.
"That's what everyone says! I was told I needed help after I lost my parents, then again when the orphanage was burnt down, then again when I didn't want to leave my room. Why does no one see that that's not what I want?!" The usually quiet airbender yells.
My lips part in shock as I stare at him. I take a cautious step towards him, but he just gives me his back.
"Come on, the dumb door is open." He mutters and starts walking towards it. My arm snaps out to grab his wrist and pull him back.
"Wait. So, what is it that you want?" I ask quietly with furrowed eyebrows. Grey orbs flicker to meet my blue ones, but for once they swirl with a degree of darkness I've never seen before in them.
"To punish myself." The reply is so quiet that I wonder if I misheard him. I don't get the chance to ask again as he slips his hand out of my grip and makes his way to the door. My gaze glances up at the new passage written above the door:
"The innocence of the friend you knew is nothing but an illusion."
I swallow, wondering if that could apply to more than just Aang. I follow the airbender out, knowing that we're going to be separated by this crazy game despite feeling anything but ready to part ways. So, when I step one foot into the darkness, I have the urge to open my mouth and say something before it's too late.
"Aang, I care about you." I blurt which perhaps is still vague in itself, but at least it's something. The boy glances behind him.
"I know you do." Is all he says as he disappears from sight as he falls through the ground to the next room in this weird maze-like library. "But you shouldn't." His echo from far below bounces off the walls and it just makes my gut swirl with twisted feelings. Closing my eyes, I take a step forward and let the darkness shroud me.
I almost sigh in relief when I find that my next room partner is Sokka.
"Thank the spirits." I voice as Sokka rushes over to me to take me by the shoulders.
"Are you ok? I was really worried." He queries as he scans me from head to toe. My breathing catches at his familiar brotherly care and I can't help but throw my arms around him.
"This place is dumb." I mutter.
"Agreed. Although I can't lie, this is some crazy amazing levels of engineering. I mean, have you seen-" At Sokka's ramble, I pull back and quickly interrupt him before he gives me the whole load-down of the entire structural integrity of the building.
"Sokka, I don't think you should be this fascinated over a place that's trying to kill us." I point out. The man opens his mouth to argue, only to snap them closed a second later.
"Yeah, good point. Alright, what's the riddle this time?" He asks, turning around to look at all four walls. I glance around, but the walls are all strangely blank.
"Weird, I can't find any." I mutter with a frown, prompting the ponytailed man to cross his arms.
"Just when we thought we were getting the hang of this place." Sokka complains before he turns to face me.
"So, who have you been paired with so far? I'm guessing we have to be partners with everyone before this dumb thing ends." My brother asks. I cross my arms over my chest as Aang's words run havoc in my mind.
"Ironically I started with Zuko who...I may have judged too harshly. And then...Aang." I mumble as I kick at the ground. My brother's features are steady as he gazes at me.
"I was going to ask what happened with Mr Hot-tempered, but you look more upset about Aang, so...?" I cringe at the question and avoid the man's eyes.
"We had an argument." I mumble, only for the engineering student to snort.
"Oh, is that all? You guys have one of those every few weeks." Sokka waves off with a hand, making me glare at the man.
"This isn't funny." I grit out, but my brother simply quirks an eyebrow at me.
"Neither is telling a pacifist that you want to kill our mother's killer." Sokka fires back, making me freeze. I stare at him.
"What? You knew?! Wait, Aang's a what?" I echo back, feeling both confused and exposed.
"Apparently it's some Air Nomad belief. And Katara, I'm your brother - I know what your 'I'm going to kill him eyes' look like. Partly because I'm on the receiving end of them half the time." Sokka mutters under his breath. I narrow my eyes at him.
"This isn't a joke Sokka. He can't get away with all that he's done." I argue.
"That isn't your call. Aang's right, justice is better than revenge." My brother voices firmly. I glare at him.
"Aang's just a 16-year-old boy that's been hurt too many times to do anything about it." I bite back. My brother stares at me in disbelief.
"That 16-year-old boy, has more wisdom and maturity than most adults. Why must you always be so rash with everything?!" Sokka snaps while throwing his hands up in the air. I press my lips tightly together as I glower at my brother.
"It has been months, but the police are no closer in finding the man and gang behind all this. Aang knows but refuses to tell us and we know that any evidence we do have is fickle at best. All we have is a snapshot of a man leaving the hospital. There's no pictures of him with the gun. He killed any witnesses; no fingerprints were found at the scene and they don't even have the murder weapon. Other than a picture, what ties him to the crime? He could walk out free and we can't do anything about it." I explain angrily.
Sokka takes a step towards me and rests a hand on my shoulder.
"Then we find the evidence. It's enough Aang knows who's behind this. Things can still be done the right way." My brother urges, but I shrug his hand off.
"Aang doesn't want to tell us anything. He's protecting a murderer." I spit, making the man furrow his eyebrows at me.
"I thought you weren't mad about that anymore?" Sokka queries in confusion. I sigh heavily as I rub my eye.
"I am still mad, but I...I can't take it out on him." I mumble, feeling annoyed at the whole situation.
"Why not? You've never held back from arguing with him on other things." Sokka reminds. I run a hand through my hair, knowing I can't tell him something as private as Aang's cutting.
"Because I don't want to push him over the edge." I admit begrudgingly, but that only serves to confuse the man more as he shakes his head.
"What are you talking about?" He asks.
"You'll have to ask him." I utter. Before my brother can question me further, the floor beneath us shakes and I find that my feet won't move. When I look down, I realise why. Quick sand.
"I swear this place is getting more and more ridiculous!" Sokka whines as he grabs his knee to try and pull his leg out, only to sink further.
"Stop struggling, you're going to make it worse!" I order.
"Well, what else do we do? There's no riddle this time!" My brother shouts.
My eyes dart around the walls, hoping for some riddle that will magically appear, but no. I bite the inside of my cheek when Sokka suddenly tugs at my sleeve and points up at the ceiling. I gaze up and catch sight of the blue writing:
"Mend the unspoken wound."
"Great, this riddle doesn't even make sense! What does unspoken wound mean?!" My brother groans, but my gaze remains fixed on those words, shocked. 'How does this snake know so much about us? Surely a spirit can't know all this?' I wonder silently, feeling slightly disturbed at the thought.
"Katara?" My brother probes, shaking me out of my thoughts. I bite the inside of my cheek as he stares at me with furrowed eyebrows. I avert my eyes. "Do you know what this means?" He asks after a beat of silence.
"I...the unspoken wound refers to...well, us." I mumble, but the man only appears more confused.
"Wait, there's a so-called wound between us? When?! Why?" Sokka interrogates in disbelief. I chew my lip and continue to avoid his gaze.
"Why didn't you tell me that Aang was involved with our Mum's murder?" I ask quietly. A sharp intake of breath greets my ears as the engineering student scratches his head.
"Oh. Right. That. That hurt you?" The non-bender asks in embarrassment. I bite my lip hard as I finally make eye contact.
"It isn't just that. Its everything. You...you don't notice how much Mum's death is affecting me." I say as tears fill my eyes. "I...I was hoping you'd figure it out without me having to say anything, but you haven't. You're my brother and I thought you'd understand, but you've just gone back to your usual uni life, while I've just stayed frozen. Unable to get past the fact that we lost her." I choke out as my throat tightens. Sokka's face crumples and he lowers his head slightly.
"Oh spirits Katara, I...I didn't realise. I thought..." He fumbles until I cut him off.
"You thought I was getting over it? Sokka, she was our Mother. My world shattered the moment you told me what happened. And those pieces, they're still on the ground. I haven't been sleeping, I'm barely able to keep up a passing grade and I'm on the edge of lashing out at anyone." The words tumble out of my mouth, despite how much I want them to stay zipped up in my larynx. Sokka's lips move wordlessly for several moments before they thin out into a straight line.
"Katara, Mum's death doesn't mean we stop living. She wouldn't want us to be like this. She wouldn't want you to seek revenge for her." He stresses, but it does nothing to soothe my feelings.
"Is that why you didn't tell me? You were worried I'd want revenge on Aang?" I retort, making the man's eyes widen.
"No! Well, not exactly. I was worried if you knew then you'd let your heart continue getting in the way of what's reasonable." Sokka tries to explain, but the look on my face is proof enough that he's doing a very bad job of it.
"So, you're saying my heart is unreasonable?!" I bite, feeling wounded. Instantly, my brother grabs my hands and gives them a squeeze.
"Of course not. I admire your compassion Katara, I always have. But as much as it is your strength, it's also your weakness. I don't want you doing anything that you can't come back from." The engineering student urges earnestly as he gazes at me in concern. I chew my lip at his words.
"Sokka, I can't promise you anything." I finally say. I hear the man click his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
"Ok fine, arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. But I want you to at least talk to me more when things are bothering you. Please?" At my brother's plea, I can't help but nod my head in agreement.
"Good." He breathes out.
"What about Dad?" I ask, making the man blink.
"What about him?" Sokka queries in confusion.
"When are we going to talk to him about everything?" I clarify and watch as the man rubs the back of his neck.
"What about after I finish my exams next week? We have a week off before lectures re-start." The older student suggests.
"Sounds like a plan." I agree with a nod. "So, do you think he knew all about Aang when we introduced him during the holidays?" I ask suddenly, making the man exhale through his nostrils.
"I think so. Who knew Dad could act so well, huh?" Sokka jokes weakly, but it falls flat. My lips barely twitch at the attempted humour.
"Yeah, who knew." I mumble. A nudge to my side has me looking up to find Sokka pointing at the ground.
"The quick sand is gone." He remarks.
"That was easier than the other ones. It didn't feel as urgent." I note as I move my slightly numb feet.
"Maybe the snake was running out of ideas for this death trap." My brother suggests. I roll my eyes at him.
"Aren't spirits meant to be all knowing and everything?" I remind, only for my brother to snort.
"And aren't spirits meant to be only in stories?" Sokka retorts. I shake my head at him before glancing at the ceiling, curious on what the second riddle will say.
"Blood & love is deeper than any disagreement. It takes time to realise that. Some too soon and some too late."
I frown at those words, 'what does it mean too late?' I wonder to myself.
"Come on, Katara! We've only got a couple more rooms before we've been paired up with everyone." Sokka yells from his position by the newly opened doorway. I shake my head fondly and run over to him. 'Maybe I shouldn't try and carry the weight of our family on my shoulders.'
A/N: So, I took a few elements from the show here, like the Crystal catacombs & the Southern raiders, so hope you liked those callbacks. Wasn't too pleased with this chapter tbh, felt it could've been better, but eh felt that this was enough fiddling for me. I quite like the next chapter, it's back in Aang's POV and he's stuck with Toph which is always fun XD I'm currently working on chpt 44, so hopefully it won't take too long to do.
I think I won't give any more predictions on when updates will be, simply bc I don't think I'll be able to stick with them for the time being, so I'll be sporadic, I'll try my best to not be too long and if I am, I'll let you know in advance, but yeah weekly updates won't be much of a thing for the time being, but might be able to squeeze one more update before the holidays end. Anyway, wishing you all a Holy Christmas! :)
25/12/21