Chapter Five

A Minor Setback

Katara came running out of the forest and sat down on a rock. She was flustered, blushing, and confused. Why did she kiss Khundes!? She hardly knew him! What the heck was I thinking, she thought to herself. "Katara?" came Aang's voice from behind her.

"Oh hey Aang, whats up?" she asked, pretending nothing happened.

"Are you ok? You seem... flustered... is everything ok? Where's Khundes?" Aang asked.

"I'm fine and Khundes is..." Katara saw him walking out of the forest and turned bright red. "He's right there," she said turning back around to hide her face.

"Hey Khundes! I learned something on the way back!" Aang said excitedly.

"Ok, show me," Khundes said, looking at Katara, then to Aang.

Aang made three balls of fire appear and started to juggle them. "See! Isn't this cool?"

Khundes chuckled. "Yeah, that is pretty cool." He looked back over at Katara, then walked over to Toph and Sokka and helped them load Appa's saddle.

Aang stopped juggling the fireballs and looked back at Katara. She was sitting there with her knees pulled to her chest and her chin resting between her knees. Aang walked over to her and sat down beside her. "Katara, I know something is wrong, what is it?" he asked.

Katara looked at Aang and sighed. "Aang I-"

"Look out!" Sokka yelled. Aang looked over to see a rather large fireball heading towards them.

"What? Whats going on?!" Toph yelled.

"Fireball! Toph, move!" Sokka yelled to her.

"Where? I can't see where its coming from!" Toph yelled. The next thing she knew she was on the ground a few feet from a large ball of fire sitting in the spot she was standing.

"Are you ok?" Khundes asked. He was sitting next to her on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah... what happened?" Toph asked.

"Well, Khundes got you out of the way just before the fireball hit," Katara said.

"Yeah if it had been a second later you'd probably be dead," Aang said.

Toph turned to Khundes. "Guess I owe you one Khundes..." Toph said, stood up, and walked to the base of a tree and sat down.

Khundes looked at Toph then stood and walked over to her. "Never known someone to be depressed about being alive," he said with a smirk. When she didn't say anything his smirk faded. He stood there in silence for a moment then sat down next to her. "I can't imagine being blind. It must be hard," he said.

"I've been blind all my life but I've still been able to take care of myself all this time. I didn't know where to run because I I didn't know which direction the fireball was coming from," Toph sighed.

"How do you know where to go in the first place? I don't understand," Khundes said.

"I see with earthbending. I feel the vibrations in the earth and that's how I'm able to see and why I can bend metal," Toph told him.

"I get it. You know... you've taken something that a normal person would suffer as and see it as a weakness. You've turned that weakness into your greatest strength. You are the most unique person I've ever met. I envy you," Khundes said.

Toph looked at Khundes. "Why?"

"Well come on... Being able to bend earth without being able to see? That's awesome!" Khundes said.

Toph chuckled. "Yeah it is pretty cool."

"Come on. Lets go see what that thing is," Khundes said. He and Toph walked back over to the ball of fire. "Any idea what it is?" Khundes asked.

"Nope," Aang said.

"Wait... Katara put the fire out," Khundes said, hoping with every fiber of himself that it wasn't what he thought it was. Katara pulled open her water pouch, pulled out some water, and put out the flames. Khundes' fears were confirmed.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"Its a projectile that the Fire Nation use and fire from the catapults on their ships," Khundes said.

"But don't they normally... you know... explode?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, but occasionally theres one that doesn't," Khundes said.

"What were they trying to do?" Aang asked.

"I don't know. Are you sure you weren't followed by a Fire Nation ship?" Khundes asked.

"We couldn't have been. I was flying last night," Sokka said.

"That would explain it," Toph said.

"Thanks for your confidence..." Sokka said.

"No problem!" Toph said.

"Hey guys... We have a problem," came Aang's voice.

They all looked around but didn't see Aang.

"I'm up here!" Aang said.

They looked up and saw Aang at the top of a tree. "What do you see Aang?" Katara asked.

"Six Fire Nation ships," Aang said.