Three The Painted Lady
Appa grunted miserably as he trudged down a filthy river, the travelers riding on his back with the exception of one hyperactive twelve-year-old.
Aang tapped Momo on the head. "Here Momo!" He dove under, bending his way behind the lemur.
Momo chattered, looking around, and Aang surfaced. "Here, Momo!" He dove back under, and the lemur swam to where Aang had been.
Aang surfaced suddenly, sniffing at the water. He leapt out of the river, lading on Appa's back.
"Hey, guys, I think this river is polluted." He airbent the sludge off of him, and ginned sheepishly. Four pairs of eyes were fixed on him, glaring…well, Toph wasn't looking at Aang, but she was cracking her knuckles.
"Sorry." Aang bent the sludge off of them, dropping in back in the river. Momo landed next to Sokka, and shook itself clean, covering Sokka with the sludge yet again.
Sokka gestured with his fishing pole. "Maybe that's why I can't catch anything. Normally, my fishing skills are off the hook!" He grinned, expecting a laugh, but everyone groaned.
Toph teased him. "Too bad your fishing skills aren't on the hook!" Sokka huffed at the laughter that followed Toph's comment.
"I guess we'll have to go elsewhere to get food." Toph continued. A long roll of paper rolled past her, hitting Zuko at the back of Appa's saddle. "That is, if it fits into Sokka's master schedule."
Sokka studied his schedule, then looked up. "It's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today!"
Aang pointed downriver at a small village. "Maybe we can find food there."
"That's Jang Hui." Zuko commented. "They used to export a rare kind of fish. It only lived in this river. There hasn't been any of the Long fish in markets for a while." He grimaced at the polluted river. "I guess I see why."
"Well, we can't take Appa there." Sokka told Aang. "Let's hide somewhere."
Appa grunted uncomfortably as Aang bent a layer of turf over the bison. Aang stepped back, studying his handiwork, and laughed when Momo danced up to Appa, burrowing under the dirt that now covered its much larger friend.
"Now you look just like a hill with horns! We'll be back, buddy!" Aang ran to the others, leading the way down the hill toward the river.
Zuko glanced back at the bison. "That's couldn't actually work, could it?' He asked Toph.
"Eh…you'd be surprised, Sparky." Toph retorted bluntly. "A lot of stuff has happened that saved our bacon."
"Ok…" Toph cracked her knuckles. "I don't see a village anywhere. Is this some kind of joke? Whose bright idea was this?" The gang was standing atop some cliffs that overlooked the river.
"There's a village!" Sokka explained, stunned. "But it's in the river."
"It sure is!" A voice drifted up to the gang. An eccentric man was below them, standing in a wide dugout. "Name's Dock. Who might ya'll be?"
Sokka was quick to respond. "We're from the colonies. Our friend Li promised to show us around the homeland." He gestured at Zuko.
Dock's eyes widened. "Colonials, eh?" He grinned widely. "Well, hop on! I'll give y'all a ride over."
"Why do you all live on the river?" Katara asked, finding a seat in the boat.
"Well, we're a fishin' village." Dock replied. "Used to be, at least. Then the factory came and started gunkin' up the river." He eyed Zuko. "Not that I'm complainin'. All for the Fire Nation, eh?"
"Look at how these people live!" Katara said, concerned. The gang was passing through the village. Everywhere, the sick lay scattered, groaning in misery. A foul stench rose from the water below, adding to the smell of sickness. "We should help them."
"We can't." Sokka replied. "We've got a schedule to keep, so they're on their own."
"That's cold, Sokka." Zuko declared. "These are my people, after all."
"They're sick and starving, Sokka!" Katara glared at her brother. "How can you turn your back on them?"
"I'm not!" Sokka gestured wildly. "I'm being realistic! We can't stop in every single rinky-dink town we come to! We'll be helping all of them by taking out the Fire Lord!"
Toph's hand suddenly clamped over Sokka's mouth. "Idiot! We should be quieter when talking about the Fire Lord!"
"I hate to say this, but I think Sokka's right." Aang stated. "Our mission has to come first."
Katara glanced at Zuko, who shrugged, obviously unhappy. Katara sighed. "Fine. Let's get what we need and leave."
"I'll meet you at the docks." Zuko said. He had seen something that had caused his heart to leap into his throat. He had to see if it was what he thought it was.
The gang found an open stall in the market, and Sokka snorted when he saw the vendor. "Hey, Dock, you work here too?"
The man lifted his hat, different from earlier, and scratched his head. "Dock? That's my brother. We call him that cause that's where he works. I'm Xu."
"Oh." Sokka grabbed the pouch of money. "We need to buy some food."
Xu produced a tray of truly disgusting seafood. "There's a special on! Buy three fish and I throw in a clam free!"
Everyone's face turned green, but they bought the food anyway. "Could you tell Dock we need a ride back across the river?" Aang asked.
Xu dropped below the counter, and reappeared, wearing the hat 'Dock' had been wearing.
"Hey, Colonials! M'brother tells me y'all need a ride!"
As they headed toward the docks, a small boy ran up to Katara. "Can you spare any food?" He begged.
Katara selected the best looking of the fish, and gave it to him. "I'm sorry I can't offer any more."
The boy grinned, and raced over to where a sick woman lay.
Zuko arranged the tinder and kindling, and lighted it, carefully adding wood to it until it was roaring hot. Katara and Toph were bending the dirt and sludge from the water…well, the water from the sludge, and he grimaced at what was left. "We'll have to boil this a while before its safe to use."
"You know…" Sokka was studying his schedule again. "This little detour cost us. It's gonna take some work to get back on track."
"Like what?" Toph asked, sniffing at the water disgustedly.
Sokka cleared his throat. "For starters, we'll have to wake up forty-three minutes earlier every day."
"Forty-three?" Katara scoffed.
"I rise with the sun, not before it!" Zuko called from his spot in front of the fire.
"Hey, we just lost a whole day!" Sokka replied. "We have to make that up!"
"I'm not getting up early." Toph declared with an air of finality.
Sokka frowned. "Fine. Then…let's cut out all of our eating breaks."
"No way!" Aang shook his head.
"You guys are killing me." Sokka muttered. "Fine, let's combine potty breaks and eating breaks."
There was silence, and Sokka began to smile, when Zuko spoke up. "That's just disgusting, meat-head."
"Meat-head!" Toph sniggered. "Oh, that's great! I should have thought of that!"
Aang, Toph, and Sokka bickered as supper slowly came to a boil, while both Zuko and Katara couldn't get the village out of their heads.
"Oh, no!" Aang shook Katara awake, disturbing everyone. "Katara, something's wrong with Appa!"
"What?" Katara sat up, yawning, and followed Aang over to the air bison.
Upon seeing her, Appa grunted miserably, his tongue lolling out. Katara inspected the purple on his tongue, and shook her head.
"He's sick, Aang."
"Appa's sick?' Sokka called, jack-knifing in his sleeping furs. "That's terrible!"
"I didn't know you cared about the big fur-ball that much." Toph said.
"Care?" Sokka nearly shrieked. "Of course I care! We may as well just throw the entire schedule out, now!" He saw everyone glaring at him, and laughed nervously. "And of course, because my big furry buddy is sick?"
Toph shook her head. "He must have gotten sick from being in the water."
"Can you heal him, Katara?" Aang asked hopefully.
"Not this, Aang." Katara told him. "Appa's going to need medicine."
"We can probably find the right herbs in town." Zuko suggested.
"Wow, this place sounds livelier." Toph commented, latching on to Sokka once again. Sometimes, she enjoyed playing at being helpless.
"It looks it, too." Aang commented. "Everyone seems happy, almost festive."
They approached Xu's stall. "Hey, Xu, is there a festival going on?" Sokka asked.
"Almost!" Xu grinned. "Last night, the Painted Lady visited us, bringing food and supplies!"
"The Painted who?" Toph asked.
"She's a river spirit." Zuko replied. "Really obscure. She protects those who need the river to survive."
"She's our matron spirit!" Xu declared proudly. "Now, what can I do for you kids?"
"We really need some medicines for a sick friend." Sokka replied.
"Sorry kids. All of our medicine goes to the fortress. That's why so many of us are sick." Xu replied.
"Oh." Katara smiled at Aang. "Sorry, Aang. We'll have to wait for Appa to get better on his own."
"Man." Sokka whined. "You got any more food to sell?"
Xu produced a disgusting fish, and a disgusting two-headed fish. "Which one you want?"
"The two headed one." Sokka said. He looked at the others. "What? You get more for your money that way!"
The shadowy figure knelt on the roof above to doorway, watching as light shone gently from under the closed door.
The masked figure froze. A small boy was walking along the dock, yawning sleepily.
The figure moved, and the boy froze when he felt something grab him, a gloved hand covering his mouth.
The boy stopped struggling when the door to a nearby shack opened, and the Painted Lady came from within.
She approached the two figures, a scolding look in her eyes as she looked at the blue demon that held the boy.
She knelt, and the boy began to shiver as he saw water trail from the Painted Lady's fingers.
She brushed gently at a cut on his head, and the boy felt…better, as she washed away the growing infection.
The blue demon let the boy go, and he watched as the demon took the Painted Lady's hand, guiding her away from the village's center.
He touched his head, where his wound had been. "Thank you, Painted Lady." He called softly.
She stopped, turning slightly to him, and then both of the spirits vanished into the mist.
Dock was polishing the Painted Lady figurine sitting on the stall counter when the gang approached.
"Hey, Dock!" Sokka called, playing along. "Is Xu around?"
"Let me check!" Dock replied gleefully. He ran around the counter, vanished under, and appeared as Xu.
"What can I do for you kids today?"
"We need more food. Our friend is still sick." Aang replied.
"That's too bad." Xu replied, offering a disgusting tray of clams. "Maybe the Painted Lady will visit you and heal your friend."
"Right." Sokka replied sarcastically. "Then maybe she'll cook us a snack and we'll have a sing-a-long."
Xu nodded enthusiastically. "Maybe! She visited us again last night, and heaqled most of our sick."
"So that's why everything's so festive." Toph commented.
"Yeah, well, I hope she visits every night." Sokka declared. "Otherwise, this place will go right back to the dumps."
"How can you say that?" Katara asked. "Look at how happy everyone is!"
"Please." Sokka spoke indulgently. "Without this so called spirit, these people wouldn't be able to fend for themselves. If the spirit really wanted to help, she'd use her spirit powers to blow up the factory." Sokka waved his hands. "You know…oooo-pow!"
Aang laughed. "Spirit magic doesn't work that way, Sokka. Its more like this: whooooooo!"
Both boys laughed as Katara fumed.
Aang woke up to Momo shifting as it tried to get back to sleep. He sat up, and saw two figures slip off into the darkness.
"What?" He muttered. Was that Zuko and Katara? Where are they going? He got up, and followed quietly, suspicious.
Of course, trying to watch two swiftly moving figures and stay quiet meant slow going, and he lost them at the riverbank.
Feeling oddly hurt, Aang turned, and walked back to camp.
"And just where have you two been?" Sokka's voice cut through the early morning, and both Zuko and Katara froze.
"Uh…a walk?" Zuko suggested.
Sokka dumped the grass out of Katara's sleeping bag. "I know Katara is the Painted Lady…and we know about the berries you've been feeding Appa to make it look like he was sick."
Toph stuck out her now purple tongue.
"You two have endangered our mission!" Sokka yelled. "For what? One little village? After we defeat the Fire Lord we'll have all the time in the world to do things like this." He shook his head. "We're leaving as soon as we can get packed."
Strange noises filled the air, and the gang hurried to the cliffs, watching as raced along the river on machines.
"Jet Skis." Zuko frowned.
"What?" Toph asked. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Soldiers are heading to the village." Sokka replied. "What did you two do?"
Zuko and Katara shared a nervous look. "We…we kind of destroyed their factory." Katara answered.
"You what?" Aang, Sokka and even Toph looked at the two, incredulous.
"What was I supposed to do?' Katara glared at Sokka.
"Leave!" Sokka replied, nearly shouting. "Do nothing!"
"I won't ever turn my back on people who need my help." Katara said coldly. "I'm going to help the villagers any way I can. Are you coming?" She asked Zuko, who nodded.
Aang and Toph followed shortly after, and Sokka finally raced ahead of them.
"Wait, I'm coming too!"
"He does have a heart!" Aang whispered to Toph, who frowned at him.
"Cut the sissy stuff, twinkletoes." She said, thumping him in the chest.
"I thought we could exist as neighbors peacefully." A large soldier said, pacing. His insignia marked him as a general. "But I was wrong. You steal our food, our supplies, and now…now you've destroyed our factory."
Dock popped out of the crowd. "We didn't steal anything!" He vanished, and reappeared as Xu. "Yeah, it was the Painted Lady who brought us food and healed us!"
The general laughed harshly. "Oh? And I suppose she painted the Fire Nation military insignia on your containers as well?" He punched, flames bursting from his fist to demolish a house. "This is a town of liars and traitors! We'll rid the Fire Nation of all of you!"
Two soldiers lit a flame on one of buoys, but wind from nowhere came up and blew it out.
"Light it again!" The general ordered.
They moved to obey, but froze. A thick, eerie mist was drifting across the river. "What…where is that coming from?"
"The Painted Lady is coming for you!" A little boy shouted.
An ominous thumping sounded across the water. "What is that?" A soldier cried out, terrified.
"Nothing." The general barked, but his tone betrayed his apparent confidence.
"Maybe it is her." A soldier whispered, awed.
The mist parted suddenly, revealing the Painted Lady hovering on the water. After a moment, she surged across the river, landing on the dock with the water rising all around her.
She moved her body, and the river swallowed several jet skis. As she moved slowly toward the soldiers, their nerve broke, and they raced to the remaining skis, escaping with screams of terror.
The general was left on his own. "Fine, I'll take care of you myself!" He moved to strike, but a figure came from nowhere and grabbed his fists. The general was startled to find himself staring into a demon mask.
The demon shook its head, and threw the general into the water, wind tearing the dock apart and sending it down around him.
The Painted Lady rose from the water before him. "Leave, and never return." A Jet Ski rose from the depths, and the general clambered onto it, speeding off without a look back.
The Painted Lady rose to stand by the blue demon's side, and the villagers came forward, in awe. Before they came too far, they saw the Painted Lady take the demon's hand, and the mist swallowed them.
"Why didn't she clean the river?" Someone asked, upset.
"You can't expect the spirits to do everything for you." Sokka commented, stepping out from the crowd with Aang.
"Sometimes you have to help yourself." Aang continued. "Especially since this problem we can actually solve on our own."
"But what can we do?" Dock asked.
Toph, who'd ridden over with Sokka called out in a disguised voice. "Maybe we can clean the river!"
Dock snapped his fingers. "Yeah! Let's clean up this here river! I best get my other brother." He switched hats out in the open. "Hey, I'm Bushi."
Aang glared at him. "I knew you were the same person! You just switched hats!"
Bushi frowned. "Hmm. You know who does that? My brother Dock. He's crazy."
"Well, that was fun." Zuko commented, removing his Blue Spirit mask. He stared at it, frowning before he burned it.
"What was that for?" Katara asked, removing her veil.
"I don't need that thing anymore. It keeps turning up, so I hope burning it will finally rid me of it." Zuko explained. His gaze focused past Katara and his eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" Katara turned around, and she froze.
The Painted Lady stood by the water's edge, smiling at them. A fog rose up, and she began to fade. Before the Painted Lady was gone, she spoke two words. "Thank you."
Katara and Zuko shared an awed look before smiling.