Chapter IV: Isolation
Sokka sneezed. "Ungh…" he groaned, shivering in his sleeping bag. Suki pressed her hand against his forehead, and said, "Your fever still hasn't gone down, Sokka. We need to do something before it gets any worse." She stood up. "I need to go out. I'm taking Space Sword with me. I'll be right back." She reached over, grabbing a small strip of cloth and a heavy parka; she tied the strip over her nose and mouth, and pulled the parka on over her head. She grabbed Space Sword as well, and put up her hood before leaving the tent. She didn't have to go far; with Space Sword, she cut a large chunk out of the ice that had accumulated near the entrance of the cave, and returned to the tent. Once inside, she removed her parka, wrapped the ice chunk in a piece of cloth, and placed it on Sokka's forehead. He let out a relieved sigh. "Oh… that feels a lot better."
"You should try and get some rest, Sokka. It'll help your fever go down." Sokka must have been too tired to protest, since he closed his eyes, and his breathing slowed to a steady pace. He was asleep, with Suki watching over him.
It had been two weeks since the two had begun their survival training at the South Pole. Master Pakku had dropped them on a coast dozens of miles from the Southern Water Tribe with little more than a large tent, two parkas, some firewood, a pair of spark rocks, and a few days' worth of food. They were completely alone; their survival over the next two months would depend entirely upon their own skills. Fortunately, the two were able to find a cave within walking distance of the ocean and set up camp there. Every day, Sokka would go to the beach to fish, while Suki would head out across the tundra, searching for anything that could be used to light their campfire. The weather had been overcast, but without any signs of a storm. Suki had been fortunate enough to find a ship buried in the ice- it would provide plenty of fuel for their fire. And Sokka had been able to catch plenty of fish as well; with all the ice, preserving them posed little difficulty, and their supply would last for quite some time.
In short, things had been going perfectly.
But all of that had changed two days prior. A sudden blizzard had come on, but Sokka, against Suki's protests, had gone out on his usual routine to fish. He returned early after the storm worsened, in very bad shape. The next morning, Sokka had come down with a fever- again, despite Suki's protests, he had attempted to go out fishing. He never made it outside the cave- he collapsed, weak and on the verge of unconsciousness, just inside the entrance. Suki carried him back to the tent and placed him in his sleeping bag; he slept for the entire day, Suki watching over him. He'd awoken that morning, but he'd been too weak to climb out of his sleeping bag. The blizzard had let up slightly, but was still going strong- it would be a while before it let up entirely. All she could do now was wait by Sokka's side and hope he got better.
Suki was snapped out of her dozing when she heard somebody… laughing? It was Sokka, chuckling to himself in his sleeping bag. "What's so funny?" she asked.
"You know… you know what I love most about Appa? His sense of humor." He made a poor imitation of one of the sky bison's grunts and laughed to himself. "Hahaha, classic Appa."
Suki moved herself closer to where Sokka was laying. "Is that right?" This couldn't be good. Sokka was delirious, which meant that his condition could only be worsening. She hurried out of the tent, grabbing Space Sword, not even bothering to put on her parka. She rushed to the cave entrance, cut out a large chunk of ice, and rushed back to Sokka. As before, she wrapped the chunk of ice in cloth and placed it on Sokka's forehead. He let out a deep sigh and said to her, "Thank you. You know… you're really, um… nice."
"Thank you, Sokka."
"Hey, my name's not Sokka! It's… um… oh yeah, it is Sokka."
"Well, I'm glad we have that settled." Suki figured that somehow, she had to get him to rest; maybe, if they kept talking, it would help to lull him to sleep. The perfect opportunity presented itself when Sokka asked, "Can you tell me a story, Sato?"
"It's Suki. But yeah, I can tell you a story. What story do you want to hear?"
"Well, can you tell me about Choy?"
"Do you mean Chao?"
"Yeah, him."
"Okay. Do you remember when Chao and I first met?"
"Yeah! You and Chao were… okay, I don't remember."
Suki sighed. She made herself comfortable, and began to tell her story.
"Alright, everybody line up!" The Water Tribe warriors quickly formed a line, standing shoulder to shoulder; after Suki's display the day before, nobody was willing to do anything that might be interpreted as disrespect. Once the warriors were in position, Suki then said, "Okay, as I told all you before, I'll be pairing each of you with a Kyoshi Warrior. And I'll remind you right now: if I hear that any of you are giving my girls any problems, you'll be dealing with me." She looked back over her shoulder and called to the Kyoshi Warriors behind her, "Ai, can you come over here?" The one named Ai did as Suki asked, and stood next to her commander; Suki stared hard at the line of Water Tribe warrior for several long moments,, before pointing to one and saying, "You. You and Ai will be paired up."
Suki continued, calling out each Kyoshi Warrior one at a time and pairing them with one of the Water Tribe trainees, until everyone had been paired off. "Okay, now all of you, head inside. I'll be right inside so we can begin today's training." The others filed into the dojo as Suki watched them. Eventually, Sokka asked, "So, you think you'll be having any more problems?"
Suki looked back at him. "I don't think so. Now we should get inside; you have to watch these guys too, you know."
"Of course. But I knew--" Sokka suddenly stopped when he felt something tug his leg. He looked down; a small boy holding onto his leg. He was short, barely reaching up to Sokka's waist, and couldn't possibly have been any older than seven years old. "Huh, I guess we overlooked this one." He looked over at Suki. "Are there any other Kyoshi Warriors we can pair him with?"
"No, everyone's taken… except me. I guess that means I'll train him"
"Okay then, you heard Suki, she'll train you." The boy continued to cling to Sokka's leg. "Come on, let go of me, kid." Sokka tried to push the boy off of his leg.
Suki approached the two. "Let me handle this Sokka." She bent down on one knee, to be eye-to-eye with the boy. "Hey. What's your name?" The boy peeked out from behind Sokka's leg for a moment before hiding himself behind it.
"Come on, tell me your name." He buried his face in Sokka's pant leg.
"If I tell you my name, will you tell me yours? My name is Suki." At this, the boy peeked out at Suki for a moment before hiding his face again. He mumbled something.
"What? What did you say?" The boy said a little louder, in a muffled voice, "…Chao."
"Okay then Chao, why don't you let go of Sokka and come over here?" Chao didn't budge. Suki reached out to Chao, but he immediately drew back. "Come on, I won't hurt you." Still, he wouldn't budge, and stared fearfully at Suki from behind Sokka's leg. She gave him a warm smile, but still, Chao remained firmly attached to Sokka. "You don't have to be afraid, Chao." She brought her sleeve up to her face, and wiped off her war paint. "See? Nothing to be afraid of." She held out her hand again and smiled encouragingly at Chao. Finally, he pulled his face away from Sokka's leg.
Chao hadn't known this girl for very long. But the way she smiled at him, the way she held out her arm encouragingly to him, helped put him at ease. Slowly, Chao began to reach for the strange girl with the kind smile. His hand wrapped around her fingers; he looked, amazed at how much larger it was compared to his own.
"There. Was that so hard?" the girl asked. Chao shook his head. Suki tugged his hand. "Come on Chao. We should get inside." Slowly, he let go of Sokka, and replied in a small voice "…o-okay…" before Suki led him to the dojo, Sokka following them.
Suki stopped her story and looked down at Sokka; he'd rolled onto his side, his back turned toward her, fast asleep. She reached down and pressed her hand against his forehead. His fever had gone down… a little. But not enough for him to be up and about. Quietly, she pulled her sleeping bag over to where she was sitting and climbed inside, positioning herself right next to Sokka. She knew she should be staying awake, to watch over Sokka in case his condition worsened, but she hadn't slept in nearly two days. At least this way, she would be right there if Sokka needed her. So, she settled next to him, and fell into a deep sleep.
Suki awoke some time later. She was sure it was the next morning, but without actually going outside the cave, it was impossible to be sure. She sat up and reached over to feel Sokka's forehead. Almost at once, she noticed his fever had gone down considerably- there was still a trace of it, but he wasn't burning up as he had been the day before. Sokka groaned in his sleep, trying to shake Suki's hand off, and mumbled, "Just give me a few more minutes, Katara."
"Good morning to you too, Sokka," Suki replied. "So, how are you feeling?"
He sat up slowly. "Actually, I feel a lot better." He then said in a low voice, "And I didn't have to suck on any frogs, either."
"What was that?"
"Uh… nothing."
"Well, I think you should take it easy for a little while. You were really sick yesterday."
"If you say so." Sokka paused for a few moments before saying, "It sounds like the blizzard's still going." Suki had grown accustomed to the howling winds of the blizzard outside the cave, but Sokka's mention of it suddenly brought her attention to it. Suki asked, "How long do you think it will last?"
"I'm not sure. But since it's technically summer here in the South Pole, it should be over a few days- a week at the most."
"Hey Sokka?"
"What is it Suki?"
"What do you think the others are doing right now?"
"Who knows? Maybe they're caught in a snowstorm too." He added mentally, Toph, you had better be watching those two.
Suki must have already figured out what Sokka was thinking, because she said, "Sokka, don't look so worried. Aang and Katara… well, they're very mature for their age. And I think both will want to take this slowly."
"Suki… Katara's my sister. You wouldn't understand what I'm going through unless you had a younger sibling."
"Sokka, you're acting like this is the worst thing that could've ever happened to her. Aang isn't like Jet, you know."
He sighed. "…I know." He looked over at her. "Wait, how do you know about Jet?"
"Well, when someone tells me a story, I actually listen to them, unlike certain people I could name."
"It just… them, doing… you know…"
"Have you ever thought she might feel the same way whenever she thinks about you and me?"
Sokka was silent for several moments before replying, "Alright, alright. But if ever catch Aang doing… you know… I'll kick his ass."
Suki did her very best to stifle a laugh. "I'm sure you will."
Five days after it had started, the blizzard finally died down enough for the two to venture outside the cave. The storm's end was a blessing- they had begun to run dangerously low on firewood. Had the storm continued for any longer, they would either have had to risk freezing to death to find more, or wait in the cave for the inevitable. Sokka and Suki resumed their established routine- Sokka would fish, while Suki gathered firewood, occasionally switching duties to break up the monotony of their assignment. Hours began to melt into days, then weeks. Every day, the sun would stay out just a little bit longer; after a few weeks, it simply circled around in the sky, touching the horizon but never actually setting. Sokka lost count of how long they were there somewhere around the halfway mark, resolving that he and Suki would know their assignment was over when Master Pakku came back to find them.
One day, a few days into the second month, Suki asked Sokka, "Is this what it's like to live in the South Pole? How can you live like this? Don't you ever get bored?"
Sokka replied, "Believe it or not, this is the good part of the year. Six months from now, in summer, the sun never comes up. But it isn't nearly as bad as this. It's a lot easier when there're other people there to divide up the work. And you're usually so focused on just trying to survive that you don't have time to be bored."
"It seems like it would be hard living in a place like this."
"It isn't that bad. You get used to it eventually. And things have gotten a lot easier since the war ended."
There was a brief pause. "Sokka?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think our next assignment will be?"
"I don't know. But I hope it's something better than this." He paused briefly. "Aw, I shouldn't have said that! Now, we'll get stuck doing something dumb."
"Lighten up, Sokka. You wouldn't believe what I had to go though when I first joined up with the Kyoshi Warriors. And don't ask me about it- let's just say I did some things I'm not proud of."
The days passed. On some days the sky was clear, on others it was overcast; on some days strong winds blew, on others no winds blew at all; but Sokka and Suki never encountered another storm during the rest of their mission at the South Pole. Sokka and Suki would arise each morning like clockwork to carry out their agreed assignments. They had long since lost count of the days since they'd arrived, so it came as quite a surprise when one morning, the two left their tent to find Master Pakku waiting for them.
"Sokka, I see you and Suki are still in one piece," he said.
"More or less," Sokka replied. "So, does that mean our assignment is over?"
"Indeed. But that isn't the only reason why I'm here. You two have been given a new assignment."
"What is it?" Suki asked.
"It seems that since the war ended, travelers passing through the Foggy Swamp have been going missing. We want you two to go out there and find out why." He pulled a scroll from the inside of his parka and handed it to Sokka. "All the information you need regarding this assignment is in that scroll." Pakku turned toward the entrance of the cave. "But you'll have time to read that later. We need to be going now. Grand Master Iroh wants you two to resolve this situation as soon as possible."
