13
Hoshiko looked up at the morning sky. Three days after the incident with Azula, three days of Katara and Aang apologizing to Toph, and three days of walking around with a splint on her leg. According to Katara, she should be able to walk perfectly fine by today, so she could take it off. She still had some pain when she moved, but it was tiny, little twinges here and there, nothing huge. It was one of these pains that had woken her up, actually. An annoying little throb in her calf that just wouldn't stop, it didn't hurt a lot, it just stung, like a paper cut or something.
When she noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aang had gotten up as well. He jumped up into the air happily. She wasn't surprised about his enthusiasm, after all today was the day he would first begin earth bending training.
"Today's the day!" He said happily, but quietly. He landed over by Sokka, who was a few feet away from her, "Can you believe it? After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earth bending! And this place… It's perfect! Don't you think?" He looked over at the sleepy Sokka who was still curled up in his sleeping bag. The place they had landed and made camp for the night was in the middle of a large canyon, with huge earthen walls surrounding every part of them as far as they could see. Aang looked over at his friend in the sleeping bag, "Sokka?" At the mention of his name, Sokka turned to him and groaned tiredly, "Oh, you're still sleeping huh?" Sokka groaned again and curled himself up even more into the sleeping bag. "Sorry!" Aang whispered.
Everyone awoke when they heard rumbling and looked to see Toph's earth tent get blown to bits, a happy and energetic Toph standing where it once was.
"Good morning, earth bending student!" She greeted loudly. She walked over to where everyone was starting to wake up. Aang bowed to her the way a student bows to a master.
"Good morning, Sifu Toph." He greeted.
"Hey, you never call me Sifu Katara." Katara said sleepily as she rose from her sleeping bag.
"Well, if you think I should…" Aang began, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Sokka let out an incoherent noise as he jumped up, still in his sleeping bag and glared at the two benders who had woken him up.
"Sorry, Snoozles," Toph teased, "We'll try to do our earth bending as quietly as we can." In the next moment, Toph banged her heel against the ground, making a piece of rock jut up under Sokka and send him flying up ten feet in the air, screaming the entire way. When he crashed back down to earth, he jumped up onto his feet, still incased in his sleeping bag and hopped over to Aang and Toph, grumbling and muttering things about noises and not being able to sleep into their faces before hopping away. Hoshiko couldn't help herself as she guffawed at the spectacle, clutching at her sides, bending over in laughter. As he hopped past her, Sokka stuck out his tongue, but she didn't care as she kept laughing.
"So what move are you going to teach me first?" Aang asked excitedly, coming over to Toph, "'Rockalanche'?" He brought down his fist as he imitated a wrestling move he had seen, "'The Trembler'?" He imitated another move, "Oh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land!" Toph stopped his spinning by sticking her arm out.
"Let's start with 'Move a Rock'." Toph said, before she walked away.
"Sounds good! Sounds good!" Aang agreed as he followed Toph. Hoshiko held her arms out to Katara, who was still standing there.
"Hey, a little help, please?" She asked, Katara walked over and helped pull her out of the sleeping bag and onto her feet. Hoshiko limped after Toph and Aang, "Come on, I don't wanna miss this!" Katara nodded, coming after her and helping her walk towards where the training was going to take place. Once they were there, they saw only Aang by himself.
"Where's Toph?" Katara asked, Aang shrugged.
"I think she went to get some rocks to earth bend." He said.
"A good time to eat breakfast, then." Hoshiko said, "Katara, can you set me down over there?" She pointed to an elevated rock and Katara walked her over to the spot and set her there. She left for a moment and came back with some different fruits for them to eat. Everyone munched on the food until they heard two continuous thumping noises. They looked to see Toph bending two boulders at once, one smaller than the other. She put the smaller one in front of Aang and the bigger one in front of herself. Then, she walked around it and began the lesson.
"The key to earth bending is your stance." Toph said, getting into her horse stance, "You've gotta be steady and strong." Aang mimicked her stance, "Rock is a stubborn element. If you're going to move it," On 'move' she pushed him and made him lose his footing a bit, "You've gotta be like a rock yourself."
"Like a rock." Aang repeated, rubbing the spot she pushed, "Got it."
"Good." Toph said, turning to the side, "Now the actual motion of this one is pretty simple." She stepped forward and put her fist out, bending the rock so it went flying and crashed into the wall of the canyon around them. "Okay, you ready to give it a try?"
Aang got in his horse stance, "I'm ready." He narrowed his eyes determinedly at the stone and did the same as Toph did, only instead of the rock moving, he moved, flying backward and crashing into the back of a sleeping Appa.
"Rock beats air bender!" Sokka laughed from his new napping spot. Aang came back and looked over at Katara, who had come closer to the two of them.
"I don't understand what went wrong." Katara said, "He did it exactly the way you did."
"Maybe there's another way." Aang said, before walking towards the boulder in a fighting stance, "What if I came at the boulder from a different angle?"
"No." Toph said, reaching out and grabbing the back of his shirt, "That's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an air bender." She knocked on Aang's skull, "There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickety-trick that's gonna move that rock." On 'move' she pushed Aang over again, "You've got to face it head on. And when I say 'head on', I mean like this!" She ran over to the boulder and smashed it with her skull. Aang flinched back in surprise. Then his shoulders slumped when he realized he wouldn't be able to get this right as quickly as he hoped.
As Toph walked away, Katara went after her. Although Aang couldn't hear what she was saying, Hoshiko could. "I've been training Aang for a while, now." Katara said to her, "He really responds well to a positive teaching experience. Lots of encouragement and praise. Kind words. If he's doing something wrong, maybe a gentle nudge in the right direction."
"Thanks, Katara." Toph said, "A gentle nudge… I'll try that." Toph kept walking off and Katara walked back to Aang, who quickly followed his earth bending teacher. Katara walked over to Hoshiko and took her off the rock.
"Come on, let me heal your leg some more." She said, Hoshiko nodded, not having much of a choice. They walked over to Appa and Katara set her down beside the bison. She unwrapped the splint and bandages and pulled out her water, the liquid glowing as it surrounded her leg. She moved over different parts of her leg and pulled away, Hoshiko feeling no pain in her leg at all. "It's completely healed. Try walking around a little." Hoshiko stood up and put a little weight on her leg, she took a few steps and felt no pain in her leg as she moved, not even the annoying twinge was there. She smiled.
"No pain." She said happily, "I think I'm good." Katara smiled and stood up.
"Good." She said, "But, just be careful. It just came out of the bandages, but it can still get hurt."
"I know." Hoshiko said, "I'll be careful." She walked away from the water bender, and passed by Sokka with a disgruntled look on his face. Hoshiko quirked an eyebrow at his grumpy demeanor, "What's your problem?"
"Toph took my hunting club." Sokka grumbled, pouting like a small child. Hoshiko rolled her eyes.
"Oh, no!" She cooed sarcastically, "Now you'll have to use your boomerang, or your machete to hunt." Sokka instantly brightened up at that.
"Oh yeah." He said, he walked over to his bag and rummaged through it, picking up his machete, "Well, I'm gonna go get something to eat. See you later."
"Whatever." Hoshiko dismissed, waving goodbye as he went in the opposite direction she was going. She went to a nearby river and washed her face in its cool waters. When she finished she looked at her reflection and for a moment, thought she saw Kagemi trying to sneak up on her, for everything she saw in the reflection was an inky black. She jumped back in shock and looked behind her. She didn't see anyone and let out a sigh of relief. When she looked back at her reflection in the water, she saw herself again, and touched her own cheek to see her reflection do the same. She sighed again and leaned back on her arms.
Recently, she'd been having more conversations with Kagemi in her dreams. Every time she would tempt her to let her take over, but Hoshiko knew that if that were to happen, innocent lives would be taken. She knew Kagemi well, as much as she hated to admit it. She knew she would take out anyone just because they were Fire Nation, or because they made her angry. She pulled her knees up and rested her arms on them and rested her head against her arms. She was so tired of it. She was tired of having to meet with Kagemi every night. She was tired of waking in a cold sweat because she dreamt that Kagemi had killed her. She was so tired of it all. She knew the only way to end this was to either defeat her when she had taken over, something very few shadow benders ever accomplished, or to die. Now, she knew that the chances of her dying by someone else's hand were very slim, because she was a very good fighter, and had a strong will to live. But if she took her own life…
She shook her head to clear her mind of such dark thoughts. That's stupid. She thought to herself, I have no real reason to die. Just because I want Kagemi to leave me alone doesn't mean I should cut my own throat. Besides, she put her hand over her heart, I have someone waiting for me. If I were to die, what would he do? She smiled a little to herself, looking up at the bright, blue sky. I wonder how much he's changed. She laughed to herself, "He was pretty stuck up when I knew him."
Kotaro let out a sneeze as he walked with some refugees to half moon bay. One of the refugees looked over at him.
"You okay there, man?" He asked, "Don't want you getting sick on us now." Kotaro shook his head and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"I'm fine." He said with a smile, "There's just some pretty girls out there chatting about me right now~!" The man rolled his eyes with a laugh and kept walking.
Hoshiko shook her head, remembering how timid she used to be when she was a kid. "He's changed." She said to herself, "For better or for worse, he's changed." She got up and walked back to camp, feeling her memories resurface in her mind as she walked.
"Hoshiko!" Hoshiko's mother, Hikari, called from the door of their home, "Come inside! It's almost sunset!"
"Yes Mama!" A six year old Hoshiko called.
Her friend, a five year old Xana, pouted, "Aw, you gotta go home now?" Hoshiko nodded.
"Don't worry, Xana." She said, "We can play tomorrow if you wanna." Xana instantly brightened up and wrapped her friend in a tight hug.
"Okay!" She chirped happily, when she pulled away, she said, "Don't forget, though. I can only play for two more days before I hafta go back home to Si Wong."
"Okay." Hoshiko said, she released herself from her reptilian friend's hold, "Bye-bye!" She dashed back to the house.
"Bye!" Xana called, running over to where her visiting family was staying. Hoshiko ran inside the front door and looked up at her mother happily as she shut the door behind her. She went up to the dinner table, where her father was already sitting, and jumped in his lap. He was a big man, with shaggy dark hair and two black cat ears coming off the top of his head, his tail was short and stubby when compared to his wife's, whose was long and skinny. Her father, Akira, gave a start but laughed when he saw it was her and took her in his arms and squeezed her. Hikari looked upon the scene with a smile. Hikari was a tall, lovely young woman with long black hair. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as her daughter's, while her husband's were a stunning green. Her ears seemed elongated and thinner when compared to others, but she didn't mind.
"Daddy!" Hoshiko giggled, "That's too tight!" She squirmed around in his arms while he held her to his chest. He laughed and let her go, but she burrowed into his lap.
"Oh? I thought you wanted to get out." Her father teased playfully, Hoshiko shook her head.
"No, I just don' wanna be squisheded." She said with a smile.
"It's 'squished' honey." Hikari corrected as she walked over to the table, holding out two bowls of soup. "Not 'squisheded.'" Hoshiko nodded and squirmed out of her father's lap and into her seat in between them.
"Yes, Mama." Hoshiko replied, smiling at her. Hikari put bowls down in front of them and in front of herself and they began to eat.
"Oh by the way," Hikari began, "Did you hear about that new Polaris family that's coming here?"
"Yes, I did." Akira said, "From up north, right?" Hikari nodded, "I heard they have a little boy, too."
"It's exciting!" Hikari exclaimed, "I want to go and visit them tomorrow."
"But they just moved in today!" Akira said with a laugh, "They'll be exhausted!"
"In this weather?" Hikari said, "Please, warm weather to Polaris types makes them so jumpy. They'll be more than willing to spare a few words. And besides," She looked down at Hoshiko who was taking a spoonful of the soup in her mouth, "I think Hoshiko would be a nice friend for their little boy." Hoshiko choked on the spoonful she had taken in. Her father patted her back to help her get it down.
"But, Mama, I don't wanna go!" Hoshiko whined, "I don't like boys! They're always so mean to me!"
"Now, now, this boy is different, dear." Hikari comforted, "I'm sure he'll like you." Hoshiko didn't feel very comforted by her mother's words
…
"Good morning neighbors!" Hikari greeted happily the next day. Akira stood beside her, and holding onto her father's hand was Hoshiko, looking up at the Polaris wolf Shinjun woman who had answered the door. She had long white hair in a ponytail that reached down to her waist. She had an elegant wolf tail hanging out her back and a pair of sparkling ice-eyes. A pair of white wolf ears stood on her head.
"Good morning." She greeted back, "It's nice to meet so many of our new neighbors in such a short amount of time." She laughed a little behind her hand, "I can't tell you how many visits my son and I have received in the past hour alone." Hikari laughed, speaking the same language that only work-at-home mothers seemed to understand. The woman's gaze moved to Hoshiko and she smiled, leaning down on her knees to be eye-level with her, "And what's your name, sweetie?" Hoshiko blushed from the attention and hid behind her father, still holding his hand.
Hikari laughed, "That's our daughter, Hoshiko. She's a bit shy." The woman laughed with her. Akira nudged his daughter forward.
"Honey, come up and say hello to Mrs. Rakurai." Hoshiko inched forward and looked down shyly, not meeting her eyes.
"Hello Missus Rakurai…" She mumbled. The woman giggled and looked back at her mother.
"Oh, she's adorable!" She cooed, "I only wish my little boy could be so cute."
"Where is he, by the by?" Hikari asked, leaning her head to look around the Rakurai house without going inside.
"In his room, probably." She replied, "He was never very happy with change. He locks himself up every time we move." She turned her head and called, "Kota, dear! Come and meet our neighbors!" A door slammed shut and a little boy came into view. He had a little mop of white hair hanging over his silvery grey eyes, a pair of large wolf ears on his head, and a little tail peeking its way out of his clothes. He blew some of his hair out of his eye and looked at Hoshiko. She shied away from him, hiding behind her father again, grasping at his pant leg. She peeked out at the boy from behind Akira, and shrunk away when he stuck out his tongue at her. He gave a yelp when his mother lightly slapped his backside and glared up at her.
"Be nice." She chided. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, turning away from her stubbornly. "This is my son, Kotaro. He's the only one living with me at the moment. The rest of his brothers are off with his father, traveling around the world. Kota here's my youngest."
"Oh, well it's very nice to meet you Kotaro." Hikari cooed, kneeling down to his eye-level, "How old are you?"
"Six an' three quarters." Kotaro answered proudly.
"My! Aren't you a big boy?" She cooed again, "Say, Kotaro, do you want to play with Hoshiko while we talk to your Mom?"
"No." Kotaro answered stiffly, he got another light slap from his mother.
"Yes." She answered for him, "He'd love to."
"But Mom…!" Kotaro whined, "She's a girl!" She gave him a harsh stare that he folded under, "Fine…"
"Mama, no!" Hoshiko hissed to her mother, "He looks mean!" Hikari shushed her.
"Now, Hoshi, you and Kotaro play outside while we have a nice chat with Mrs. Rakurai." Hikari said, "You'll have fun, I'm sure." The two parents walked inside, leaving the both of them outside to play. Hoshiko looked uneasily at the wolf Shinjun and he glared at her. He stuck out his tongue again and walked away from her.
"Hey…!" Hoshiko ran after him, "Don't leave without me!" Kotaro saw her coming after him and he began to run, "Hey!" Hoshiko ran faster to catch up with him, but Kotaro was faster still. Hoshiko saw he was headed for the forest outside where their tribe had been placed and she skidded to a stop. "Wait! I'm not a'sposed to go in there!" Kotaro acted as if he didn't hear her and kept running. Hoshiko looked around nervously to see if anyone saw her breaking the rules and she ran in after him, "Please wait, Kotaro!" Kotaro ran through bushes, past trees, and around brambles to avoid the tag-a-long he'd been stuck with, but she kept up with him, no matter how fast he went.
So he decided to try a different tactic, he jumped up and into a tree and began jumping from branch to branch. Hoshiko tried to keep up with him, but she had always been too afraid to climb trees on her own. She kept trying to keep up with him, but he was just too fast in the trees. Finally, after she had run much more than she was used to, she stopped and tried to slow down. She tripped over a tree branch and scraped her knee. When she got up, she saw Kotaro was still way ahead of her, and some pain was coming from the scrape. Being only six years old, this was too much for her to handle, so she plopped down on her bottom and began to cry.
The sound of her sobs reached Kotaro's ears from far away, and he looked to see her sitting there, crying. Feeling guilty for leaving her behind, he jumped down from the tree and ran over to her. She kept crying as he got closer.
"W-What's the matter?" He asked her, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run away." He got down and tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks with his fingers, but she pushed them away. "Hey! I'm just trying to help!" Hoshiko calmed herself a little and looked up at Kotaro, sniffling as tears kept coming out. "Why're you cryin'?"
"My knee." She whimpered. Kotaro looked down at it, "I hurt it. And I'm in the middle of the forest, an' my mommy's not here, an' my daddy's not here, an' you tried to run away, an' now we're lost an'… an'… an'… I want my Mama!!" She got more hysterical as she spoke, beginning to sob again. Kotaro tried the only way he could to get her to stop crying.
"D-Don't… It's okay." He held his hand to her and she looked at it, sniffling, "W-We're not lost. We just gotta go back the way we came, an' we'll be home. I'll take you back to your mommy, okay?" Hoshiko nodded and took his hand and he helped her up. She held his hand and kept crying as he led them through the forest. Eventually, her cries died down to little sniffles. When the sky began to darken, though, they both became scared.
Sunset was approaching, and they were both worried about what kind of creatures might be lurking in the woods.
"D-Do you think there are platypus bears here?" Kotaro asked fearfully, looking up at the trees.
"I don't know." Hoshiko said, "But Xana's sister told me her cousin's best friend's brother went in here and got bit by a wolf bat." They both shuddered, "I don't like wolf bats. They're scary…"
"Yeah…" Kotaro said, "I don't like them either. They bite really hard, my brother told me so." Hoshiko grasped his hand more tightly with hers, and he didn't pull away, instead he held onto her tightly, both out of the fear he felt, and because he wanted to look after her. They kept walking through the trees, neither one of them stopping for rest out of fear of the forest and what it may harbor. Finally, they heard voices calling out, and saw lights in the distance. They recognized the voices right away and ran towards them.
"Kotaro!" His mother cried when he ran into her arms, "Oh, thank heavens! I was so worried!"
"Hoshiko!" Hikari cried, taking her child into her arms, "Are you alright, sweetie? You're not hurt, are you?"
"I have a boo-boo." She said, pointing to the scrape on her knee. Immediately, her mother kissed it.
"Better?" Hoshiko nodded and hugged her mother around her neck, "Oh, Hoshiko, we were so afraid we'd lost you!"
Akira pulled Hoshiko's face away from her mother and kissed her cheeks and forehead, "Don't run off like that again! You had us scared to death!" He pulled her halfway out of Hikari's arms and they both held her close. Hoshiko looked over at Kotaro to see his mother had him in the same grip both her parents had. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Neither of them hated each other now.
Hoshiko smiled a little to herself, the first day she had ever met him. It was one of the fondest memories she had. She passed by Toph and Aang as they were training, and saw Katara was there, too.
"This time we're going to try something a little different." Toph said to Aang, "Instead of moving a rock, you're going to stop a rock." She whirled to him, "Get in your horse stance!" Aang obeyed and got in the proper position. Hoshiko walked up next to Katara to see how this part of the training worked. "I'm going to roll that boulder down at you." She pointed up a nearby cliff to where a boulder waited at the top of a trail made by earth bending that led straight to where Aang stood. The three of them gaped at the boulder, this sort of thing to be done this early in training was practically suicide! "If you have the attitude of an earth bender, you'll stay in your stance and stop the rock." She stood beside him and demonstrated the movement he needed to do, "Like this."
"Sorry, Toph," Katara said suddenly, "But are you sure this is really the best way to teach Aang earth bending?"
"I'm glad you said something." Toph said, "Actually, there is a better way." She reached down and grabbed Aang's sash from his waist and tied it around his head to use it as a blindfold, "This way, you'll really have to sense the vibrations of the boulder to stop it." Hoshiko could not believe her eyes, the first idea of rolling a boulder at you was just dumb, now it was suicide. Toph gave Katara a thumbs-up, "Thank you, Katara."
"Yeah, thanks Katara!" Aang said harshly. Katara smiled sheepishly and stepped back. Toph jumped up onto the top of the cliff using earth bending and went behind the boulder. She pushed it over and it began to roll down the trail she made heading straight for Aang. Aang trembled in his stance. Katara covered her eyes, not wanting to see what happened, but peeked her eye through her fingers. Toph stood at the top of the cliff, waiting to see Aang move the boulder. Hoshiko couldn't pull her eyes away from it, no matter how badly she wanted to. When the boulder came within five feet of Aang, he jumped up using air bending and out of the boulder's way. The boulder kept rolling and ended up crashing into a wall of stone twenty feet behind him.
Toph jumped down from the cliff and ran over at Aang, she got up in his face as he took of the blindfold, glaring at him.
"I guess I just panicked," Aang explained to her, "I don't know what to say."
"There's nothing to say!" Toph retorted, "You blew it! You had a perfect stance and perfect form. But when it came right down to it, you didn't have the guts!" She punched his shoulder and he fell to the ground in a sitting position.
"I know," He said quietly, "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, you are sorry!" Toph said, getting in his face again, "If you're not tough enough to stop the rock, then you could at least give it the pleasure of smooshing you instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp!" Hoshiko flinched, that was harsh, even for her. "Now, do you have what it takes to face that rock like an earth bender?" Aang looked down at the ground.
"No," He said sadly, "I don't think I do." Toph moved away from him and stood up straight, crossing her arms over her chest, obviously displeased with his response. Katara walked over to Aang and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Aang, it's no big deal." She said, trying to comfort him, "You'll take a break and try earth bending again when you're ready. Besides, you still have a lot of water bending to work on! Okay?" Aang looked up at her.
"Yeah, that sounds good." He got up and followed Katara as they went towards the nearby river Hoshiko had just come from.
"Yeah, whatever. Go splash around until you feel better." Toph said, dismissing the two with a wave. Hoshiko looked after the two as they left, then ran after Toph.
"Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Hoshiko asked her.
"Ah, he's been babied through training, he needs some tough love." Toph said dismissively.
"But Aang isn't used to that!" Hoshiko said, "Look, I've only known Aang for about a month or so, and that's not a very long time to get to know someone. But I do know this: Aang is just a kid. Granted a very powerful kid, but still, he's not used to tough love. He's not used to strict training either."
"Look, he took me with him so I could teach him earth bending." Toph said, "Rock is a stubborn element, he's gotta toughen up or he'll never master it."
"Okay, okay, I get where you're coming from." Hoshiko said, "But you really should take Katara's advice and lighten up on him. You train like a drill sergeant, and I have nothing against that, but Aang's not a soldier. He's a kid."
"So am I!" Toph argued.
"I know, I'm just saying!" Hoshiko almost shouted, she took a breath and calmed herself, "All I'm saying is, Aang just needs some time to get this down, and you need to be patient, okay?"
"You sound like a mom." Toph said, Hoshiko scowled.
"I'm going to take that as a 'yes'." She said, she walked away from the earth bender, "Bye." She walked over to the bison and petted his big head. He grunted once, seeming to start a conversation in his animalistic tongue. "I only wish humans were as easy to deal with as animals." She scratched his nose a little before walking up next to him and curling up in the crook of his front leg. She leaned back and looked up at the sky, looking up at the clouds as they glided over her head in a way so utterly relaxing. She felt her eyelids become heavy, and she suddenly felt an unexplainable drowsiness. She allowed herself to be immersed in it, falling to sleep.
Hoshiko, Xana, and Kotaro laid on their backs in the tall grass of a field, looking up at the clouds as they passed over their heads.
"You know, you don't see clouds like this in Si Wong." The eleven year old Xana said idly.
"We know." The twelve year old Kotaro groaned, "You see a lot of things here that you don't see in Si Wong. You've told us that a million times." Xana put her weight on her elbows and glared at him.
"Well, excuse me for taking in the foreign culture!" She snapped, slapping his forehead with her clawed hand.
"Ow!" Kotaro jumped and glared at the reptilian blonde, "You'll pay for that, you little lizard!" He growled before tackling her. Hoshiko jumped up and watched as the two of them rolled down the hill. She ran after them and found the both of them struggling with each other in the dirt.
"Guys! Enough!" The twelve year old Hoshiko said, grabbing on the backs of the collars of both their clothes and yanking them apart, "Come on! Xana, does every day I hang out with Kota have to turn into a fight?" She pouted grumpily at Hoshiko.
"It's not my fault you became the hanbun tamashi of a total jerk!" She retorted. Hoshiko and Kotaro rolled their eyes, "You even call him Kota now!"
"So what?" Hoshiko asked, "Look, I just like hanging out with him, and if you two would get along, that would make your visits here a lot better, Xana!" The two in question shared a glance with one another for one second, then turned away, crossing their arms over their chests. Hoshiko let out an exhausted sigh, "Come on, you guys…"
"It would be a lot easier to get along with her if she wasn't so annoying!" Kotaro said, sending a pointed glare at Xana.
"I'm just trying to cheer you up!" She retorted, "Ever since you heard about your brothers dying in the war, you've been so freaking depressing!"
"I am not!" Kotaro snapped, he turned to Hoshiko, "Hoshi, do I depress you?"
"You call her Hoshi now?" Xana demanded furiously, "That's my nickname for her!"
"You don't depress me." Hoshiko said, ignoring Xana's comment, "But you have been acting pretty depressed, lately. I was getting kind of worried, to tell the truth…" Kotaro groaned and turned away.
"You know, you gotta learn to trust me if we're gonna be married someday." He said, Hoshiko blushed furiously.
"D-Don't say stuff like that so bluntly!" She almost squealed it out, her voice getting higher with her rising embarrassment, "Besides, we're not even old enough to get married yet…"
"We will be!" Kotaro declared, "And when we are, you're gonna be my wife. We already bound ourselves together for all eternity, it's not like we have a whole lot of choices." Xana pointed to her mouth and made a gagging sound.
"Man, you two are mushy." Xana said, "But if you're gonna get married, I just got one condition."
"What's that?" Hoshiko asked.
"You gotta make me your maid of honor at your wedding!" Xana squealed, grabbing Hoshiko's hands in hers. Hoshiko smiled.
"Okay, but you have to promise not to pick fights with each other until then." She said, Xana held out a clawed hand for a handshake.
"Deal!"
Hoshiko was awoken by the sound of rustling and looked to see Toph going through Aang's things, his staff resting on her shoulder. Hoshiko lifted herself up to get a better look at the earth bender.
"Toph, what are you doing?" She asked.
"Messing with Aang." She replied calmly, "Doesn't he have some nuts in here?" Hoshiko looked over at Aang's bag.
"Yeah…" She responded unsurely, "What are you planning to do?"
"Just show him what he needs to do to be an earth bender." She said, "It's just a gentle nudge. Don't worry about it." She grinned when she pulled a small sack out of the bag, a picture of Aang's face painted on it in ink. She got up and walked away, Hoshiko got up after her, wondering what exactly this method was.
She followed her to where they saw Aang was meditating. She plopped down a few feet away from him, Hoshiko stood off to the side, watching.
"Aang, I found these nuts in your bag." Toph said, holding them up, "I figured you wouldn't mind, and besides, even if you did, you're too much of a pushover to do anything about it." Aang looked over at her with a glare.
"As a matter of fact, I don't mind." He said, "I'm happy to share anything I have."
"You know, I'm really glad you feel that way," Toph said, picking up and twirling Aang's staff, "Because I also have this great new nutcracker." Aang looked over and grimaced when he saw his staff in her hands. Toph lifted it up high and brought down the end of it on a nut, making the shell crack open with a CRACK!
"Actually, I'd prefer if you didn't-"
CRUNCH!
"That's an antique, hand-crafted by the monks-"
CRACK!
"It's a delicate instrument!" Toph picked up the nuts and began to eat them.
"It's not the only delicate instrument around here." She said, she stood up and walked away, banging the staff against the stone walls of the canyon and boulders near her as she did. Hoshiko watched her leave, but didn't bother to go after her. She didn't think it was her place to scold her for something like this, especially since it had to do with training for an element she could never master. She looked back at Aang to see him glaring stiffly at Toph but returned to his meditating position, trying to get back to what he was doing.
"Hey, guys!" Katara called to the two of them as she got closer, "Have you seen-"
"Meditating here!" Aang interrupted irritably.
"It's important." Katara said, "It's almost sundown and Sokka's not back yet." Hoshiko looked around her, she hadn't seen Sokka since he went hunting for something to eat, but she hadn't noticed his absence until now, "I think we should look for him."
Aang looked over at her worriedly, then jumped up, "We'll find him faster if we split up." He said, "Hoshiko, you go and tell Toph what we're doing then head north. Katara you go east and I'll head west. Toph will go south." Hoshiko nodded and the three of them split up. She went back to camp and found Toph sitting there, still eating Aang's nuts.
"Hey." She greeted, "What's up?"
"Toph, Sokka's gone missing." Hoshiko said, "Everyone's split up to go look for him. I'm going to head north, so you should probably go-"
"Why bother looking? He's just over that hill." Toph said, thumbing over the rock wall behind her. Hoshiko looked up at the wall, then down at Toph.
"You knew he was there the whole time?" She said, "Why didn't you say anything?" Toph shrugged.
"I didn't really think it was important." She said, "The idiot went and got himself stuck in the ground, and nobody seemed to be doing anything about it, so…"
"Toph, we can't see with vibrations like you can, you have to realize that next time." Hoshiko said, "Come on, let's go get him." Toph shrugged and got up after her, still carrying the nuts and staff. They went around the wall, and when they reached the other side, they felt a sudden gust of wind that nearly blew them back. When it had passed, they looked to see Aang had attempted to air bend Sokka out of a crevice in the ground.
"Oh, good, Aang's already here." Hoshiko said, she went up to go and help him, but Toph grabbed the back of her shirt to stop her.
"Wait." She said, Hoshiko looked back at her in confusion only to see Toph put her finger over her mouth and give her a quiet "Shhhh…" She motioned for Hoshiko to follow her and she did so, still confused as to why. As they got closer, they heard some of Aang and Sokka's conversation.
"…Well, if you can't earth bend me outta here, go get Toph." Sokka said.
"I can't do that, either." Aang said.
"You can't? Why not?" Sokka asked.
"It would just be really… uncomfortable." Aang said.
"Uncomfortable! Well, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable." Sokka said sarcastically.
"Thanks, Sokka." Aang said, obviously not catching the hint. He sat down next to the crevice, both of them unaware of Toph and Hoshiko watching them from seven feet away, "This whole earth bending thing really has me confused. There's so much pressure. Everyone expects me to get it right away! It puts me in a really awkward position."
"Awkward position… I think I know the feeling." Sokka said, using that same tone of sarcasm as before.
"If I try, I fail!" Aang continued, still not getting the hint, "But if I don't try, I'm never gonna get it. I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place."
"Hmm. How 'bout that?" Sokka said, Hoshiko looked up in surprise when she saw an adorable little creature walk up beside Sokka, "Aang this is my friend Foo-foo-cuddly-poops. Foo-foo-cuddly-poops, Aang." Aang looked down at the creature and smiled.
"Aw!" he picked it up, "What a cute name for a little baby saber tooth moose lion cub!" Hoshiko almost choked on her own spit, what did he just say?
"Really? He looks nothing like a saber tooth moose lion." Sokka said, looking up at the creature in Aang's arms.
"It's hard to tell before their giant teeth and horns grow in." Aang explained, he looked into the marble eyes of the cub, "Whatcha doing out here, little guy? Did you lose your momma?" At that moment, a growl was heard. Everyone looked to see a fully grown saber tooth moose lion had come, and was looking at the little cub in Aang's grasp. Aang gulped nervously. Hoshiko went to help, but Toph held her back.
"Hey there…" Aang greeted the moose lion nervously, "We… found your cub." The cub let out a little squeaky call and the moose lion roared. Aang quickly put the cub on the ground and it ran towards its mother. "See? We have no problem with you. We're friendly." The lion let out another roar and Sokka flinched.
"Aang, this is bad, you gotta get me outta here!" Sokka told him. The moose lion started charging towards them, and Sokka let out a scream. Before it got too close, Aang used air bending to lift it safely above Sokka's head. It skidded to a stop in front of them and let out a roar, "This is really bad!" Sokka said, almost hysterical as he looked at Aang, "Please, Aang! You have to earth bend me out! There's no other way!" Aang grimaced but gave it a try. He did a number of different earth bending moves, but none of it did anything. Aang looked and saw that the moose lion was preparing to charge again.
"Oh, no!" Aang whispered to himself, he jumped up onto a high stone using air bending, "Woo-oo! Look at me!" He called, trying to get the creature's attention. The moose lion ignored him and charged for Sokka. Again, Aang knocked it away from his friend using air bending.
"Please don't leave me again." Sokka asked meekly.
"I won't." Aang promised. When the moose lion charge again, Aang stood his ground, and once it was close enough, he knocked it back with air bending. Once this was done, it seemed the moose lion had had enough, and it went through the bushes and left them alone. At this point, Toph made her presence known by clapping slowly in applause. Hoshiko didn't know why she was doing it, but didn't ask about it.
"What are you guys doing here?" Sokka asked once he saw them. Hoshiko shrugged.
"Just enjoying the show." Toph said.
"What?" Aang gasped, "You were there the whole time?"
"Pretty much." Toph replied nonchalantly.
"Why didn't you do something?" Aang demanded, "Sokka was in trouble! I was in trouble! You could've gotten him out and helped us get away!" Toph shrugged, not seeming to care.
"Guess it just didn't occur to me." She said. She took one of the nuts from Aang's bag and tossed it on the ground, she reached behind her and pulled out Aang's staff, ready to crack open the nut with it. Before it ever touched the ground, Aang seemed to have had it with Toph and stopped it before it hit the ground.
"Enough!" He said in a commanding voice, "I want my staff back!" Toph grinned at the sudden order and released the staff, jumping onto the ground in front of Aang.
"Do it now!" She told him.
"What?" Aang demanded.
"Earth bend, Twinkle Toes." Toph said, as if it were obvious, "You just stood your ground against a crazy beast. And even more impressive, you stood your ground against me. You've got stuff."
"But-"
"Do it!" Toph commanded, Aang stared at her for a second before turning to a small boulder and using the earth bending move she had shown him before. The rock flew back and shattered against the side of the canyon. Aang's face broke out into a huge smile, "You did it! You're an earth bender!"
"I can't believe it!" Aang exclaimed, he jumped up in the air happily, "I'm an earth bender! I'm an earth bender!" He landed beside Hoshiko and hugged her tightly, "I'm an earth bender!" Hoshiko laughed and pulled out of his grasp.
"I know, I know, I saw." She laughed.
"Aww, this is really a wonderful, touching moment." Sokka said from his place in the ground, "So, could you get me outta here so I can give you all a big, snuggly hug?" Hoshiko wrinkled her nose at the suggestion in disgust, hoping he wasn't serious.
"No problem, Sokka!" Aang said, walking over to him.
"Actually, you better let me do that." Toph stopped him, "You're still a little new to this. You might accidentally crush him."
"Yeah, no crushing, please." Sokka asked. Toph walked up in front of him and stomped her foot on the ground, making him pop up, then she grabbed his hair (Which had been undone from his ponytail) and pulled him out. Sokka landed on the ground with an "Oof!" When he tried to stand, he was a little wobbly, so Hoshiko let him lean on her shoulder, putting his arm around her other shoulder. She followed Aang and Toph as they went back to the campsite. Hoshiko looked over at him and couldn't resist a grin at how unkempt he looked. When he looked at her, she looked away, but she still had a grin on her face.
"You know, Hoshiko," Sokka began, "I had a lot of time to think while I was in there."
"Yeah? So?" Hoshiko asked.
"I thought a little bit about my friends and stuff." He said, "And… I know I probably don't say this enough, but…"
"Oh, no." Hoshiko muttered, Please don't turn into one of those sappy apologies. Please, please, please, please!
"You're a good friend." Sokka said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a hug. Hoshiko froze and pushed him off towards Aang with a scowl.
"Don't do that again." She ordered. Aang shouldered his friend without a word as they kept walking back to camp. Hoshiko looked away from him, put she knew he was just frowning sadly at her. She sighed and looked at him to see he was right, he looked a little like a wounded puppy. She let out another sigh and looked away again, "You're a good friend, too, Sokka." She said, a small blush blooming across her cheeks. Sokka smiled and looked at the path in front of him as they neared the campsite. Katara was already there, and smiled when she saw the three of them coming back with her brother.
She ran over to them, "You found him!" She said happily, taking her brother into a tight hug.
"The whole time I was in that hole," Sokka began, looking at his sister, "Not knowing if I would live, or die… It makes a man think about what's really important. I realized-"
"Hey, Katara! Look what I can do!" Aang said, catching her attention as he bent a rock in half. Sokka looked over at him and Hoshiko giggled at the anticlimactic interruption to his little speech.
"You did it! I knew you would!" Katara called to him, she turned to Toph and whispered, "You tried the positive re-enforcement, didn't you?"
"Yup." Toph whispered back, "It worked wonders." Everyone heard a loud grunt and looked over at the giant bison that had come closer to them.
"Appa! Appa!" Aang ran over to him, "I can earth bend now! The key is being completely rooted. Physically and mentally unmovable!" As if giving the young air bender congratulations, Appa licked him. Aang didn't expect it, so he fell over from the sudden show of affection. Everyone laughed at the spectacle, and so did Aang.
My 13th chapter! Yayness!
I really would like more reviews for these chapters. I only got the one last time, and I GREATLY appreciate it (Thank you Dontgotanaccount), but I really, really, really, really, REALLY want some more.
Pretty pretty please?