"Nothing! There is nothing within this whole temple to hunt! Absolutely nothing! At this rate, we're going to have to eat Momo."
Angry cheeps could be heard from behind Aang. Momo wasn't very happy about Sokka's comment.
"Don't worry little buddy, we won't eat you. There wouldn't be enough for everyone."
Cheep! And with that the lemur flew off.
Laughter. "Are you sure there's nothing here? Maybe it's just your horrible hunting skills. Either that or your scent is scaring all the possible food away, or for that matter killing it."
"What's your deal Zuko? Is the scarred prince mad that he hasn't had one of his big gourmet meals since he left his palace? Or are you just jealous that Sokka is a better hunter than you are? At least he's trying. What have you done in the past few days besides "practice" your dragon dance and yell at Aang for getting his bending forms wrong? Trust me; I'm his earthbending master, that isn't the way to do it."
Sokka gazed at Toph, surprised and thankful all the same. Not to mention he was blushing. Had she just defended him?
Zuko gave them both a rude glance, then walked away.
"Uh, thanks?"
"Don't mention it Snoozles. And don't get used to it either. It's always fun to piss Zuser off anyway." Toph smiled, facing the general direction of Sokka. One of the disadvantages to being blind: she didn't know if she was ever looking at his face. But with her honed senses, she could tell that he was still wielding his hunting tools, and decided that she needed something to do today.
"Come on, let's go."
"Where?"
"Hunting, you do need help. Oh, but…take a bath first. Zuko was right about the smell."
And with that she walked off, leaving Sokka more confused then ever.
Later that day the couple found a few animals worth hunting. Or rather, Toph found them. It was Sokka's job to kill though, for the world's great earthbender, she hated that. The first creature they came across was a young mooselion cub, of which Sokka refused to kill. Toph only shrugged, thinking of the mooselion mother that had almost beaten Soka and Aang to a pulp. The next to be found was a baby badgermole, and before Sokka could even think about going after it, Toph swiftly bended him behind her. Sokka, surprised, only starred while Toph picked the small, trembling creature up. The badgermole was the size of the earthbender's fist, if anything smaller, and while frightened of Sokka, the tiny creature calmed down and rested in the girl's palm. Toph smiled, and as quietly as she could created a tunnel in the earth, laying the badgermole at its foot, and the furball squeaked in thanks, and ran inside. Toph smiled, a rarity to Sokka's eyes, and then she looked up at him, sensing his stare.
"Don't you give me that look, Dunderhead. You wouldn't kill the mooselion, and I didn't ask. Your turn. Just keep walking, a sense something…that way." She pointed towards the rising pathway of a cliff, leading towards the top of a hill.
"You've GOT to be kidding me," Sokka said, starring up at would could be a mile long hike.
Toph didn't answer, but grabbed Sokka's hand and continued walking. Sokka was complaining too much to notice the red in her cheeks, which matched his own.
"There has to be something down here, I mean do we really--"
"All that's down here a mooselion cubs and baby badgermoles. You want meat don't you?"
Sokka only groaned. As usual, his earthbender friend was right. What a surprise.
The path, solely made of marble, continued upward, and after a while of silence, Sokka opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to ask Toph about the badgermole, he had never seen her treat anything with such care. Before he could release a sound, Toph covered Sokka's mouth with the hand that wasn't dragging him foreword by his sleeve.
"The rocks here are very unstable," she whispered. Sokka nodded. "No loud sounds, no quick movements." To this he could only nod again, but he wanted to know why they were even going up this way if it wasn't safe.