31
Kotaro sat off to the side, munching on an apple as he watched Aang get ready for his daily dose of training with Katara and Toph. Sokka was hiding around somewhere to bring a sneak attack down on Aang, as per Toph's request. As also another request from the blind earth bender, Aang used his headband as a blindfold.
"Okay, I'm ready for some training!" He said, turning around once it was tied on. He stood still, waiting for someone to make a move. He suddenly began moving along the ground, just as a pillar of earth shot up at where he had previously been. He moved again and again, avoiding more pillars from Toph. Kotaro watched the scene with raised eyebrows, surprised that Aang could avoid them so easily when blindfolded. He stood still for a second, and he easily avoided Katara's water attack towards him, and direct it back at her, and he bent up a small rock and bended it at Toph, who caught it easily.
"Good job, Twinkle Toes." She praised, "Visualize, then attack!" She shot the small boulder back at Aang, who used earth bending to make a hole in the ground for him to avoid it. The rock went sailing over his head and hit Katara in the stomach, making her fall on the ground. She glared at Toph and stood up.
"Maybe you should take your own advice, Toph." She suggested with a bite.
"What's the matter?" Toph asked as Aang moved back out of the ground, "Can't handle a little dirt, Madam Fussy Britches?"
Katara looked at her incredulously, then glared at her. She raised up her arms, making a huge wave of water come from the nearby creek, having it sail harmlessly over her and Aang, but soak Toph in it. Toph scowled when she felt the water fall over her.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Katara said, "Did I splash you, Mud Slug?" Toph clenched her fists and her teeth, and made a small platform of earth, having it take her over to where Katara was. In return, she made her own platform of ice, making it take her to Toph. Aang, unsure of what was happening, tried to defend himself that wasn't coming to him. The two platforms the girls had made collided, sending them both back off them onto the ground. Aang released himself from his defensive position.
"…Are we taking a break?" He asked, not receiving an answer from either of his teachers. Kotaro looked off to the side as he saw Sokka poke his head out of his hiding place. He let out a war cry as he ran out of it, holding up his hand as a weapon.
"HAAAAAH! SNEAK ATTACK!"
Kotaro smacked his forehead at Sokka's stupidity as Aang brought up a pillar of earth that he quickly slammed into. He turned around with a grin, removing his blindfold as he said, "Sokka, sneak attacks don't work if you yell it out loud."
His attention was turned away from where Sokka was picking himself up over to where Toph and Katara were wrestling in the mud.
"Cat fight!" Kotaro shouted in the kind of delight only a man could experience in two girls wrestling each other. He jumped down from where he had been spectating to get a closer look at where the two girls were.
"Hungry for a mud pie?" Toph asked before kicking up some mud in Katara's face. She let out a squeal of anger and stepped back, wiping the mud away from her eyes. She scowled at Toph.
"I'll give you a mud pie!" She growled. She used her water bending to take up some of the mud and threw it at Toph. She quickly fought back, solidifying the mud so it would be like a piston and shoot Katara up into the air. She fell back against a small hill, and she glared at Toph as she started running at her, ready to deliver another blow, but Aang spoke up before she could land it.
"Uh… guys?" They both stopped, "I thought we were supposed to be training me."
The two girls shared a glance before Katara straightened herself up and Toph put her fists down.
"Very well, Pupil," Katara said, "I believe we've had enough training for today." She walked through the mud, trying to get it out of her long hair as she went to go and wash herself up.
"While Katara cleans up…" Toph said, pausing to earth bend all the mud off her clothes, "Let's go have some fun!" She walked over to the boys, who smiled at the idea of having fun.
Their journey for something to do brought them to the nearby town. They had some money, which they had used to treat themselves to a nice lunch and get a small knife for Kotaro, in case something should ever happen to his bending. As they walked through the town, many messenger hawks flew over their heads, going to a small carrier's building. Apparently, the town was a huge center for the hawks, and used as a resting area.
"Look at all those messenger hawks!" Sokka said when he saw them, "You know, I've been thinking about getting one for myself. That way, I wouldn't have to talk to anyone! I could just send them messages!"
"I gotta say, I like the idea of not talking to you." Toph said. Sokka scowled at her words.
"So, guys," Aang said quickly before another fight would be started between Toph and Sokka, "What are we gonna get with our last silver piece?" He held up the piece in question.
As they walked, Toph paused, while the boys kept walking, "We can get more money." She said. The boys looked back at Toph questioningly, and she pointed down into an empty water reservoir where a small group of people had gathered, "Right there." They all looked over the edge to see it was a small gambling game. A man sat behind a small crate, moving around three shells with a small green rock underneath. Behind him, and around him, were sacks of silver pieces.
Deciding they had nothing better to do, they all headed down to where the game was taking place, moving in with the crowd as they watched a man betting his last silver piece in the game.
"You expect us to win this?" Kotaro asked her quietly, "Hardly anyone ever does. This guy's trained himself to hustle every person that comes to try it."
"Now, see," Toph began, "This is where you 'seeing' people are at a disadvantage. Everyone guesses wrong because the dealer moves the rock at the last minute, but I can feel it with my earth bending." They watched as the man playing the game pointed to one of the shells, hoping for the small pebble to be underneath, but it wasn't, and the dealer shook his head in fake sympathy. The man got up, shoulders slumped in depression. Kotaro looked after him pitifully, guessing that he had bet the last of his money in a desperate attempt to win.
The dealer's eyes traveled amongst the people who had come to watch, looking for his next victim. His eyes rested on Toph, whose milky blind eyes caught his attention and he smirked, thinking easy prey.
"You there!" He called to her, "Wanna play a friendly game?"
"How could I possibly play?" Toph asked, feigning innocence, "I'm blind." She waved her hand in front of her face to prove her point.
"You don't have to see to be lucky." The dealer replied. Toph, taking his 'bait' (Or him taking hers, if you prefer), got down on her hands and knees, pretending to feel her way around the ground, when her hands touched the shells, she sat in front of the crate, pulling out their last silver piece and placing it on the crate to bet. The dealer smirked and began the game, showing her where the pebble was, and then began to move the shells around. Toph felt him sneak two other pebbles underneath the shells, and she let the flicker of a smirk come on her face realizing that no matter what shell she chose, she would win, so she didn't really need to pay attention to what rock was where. When he was done, she pointed to the shell on the far left, and he lifted it up to reveal the pebble underneath.
"Flamio, Toph." Aang praised as the dealer tossed two silver pieces on the crate to join the one she bet.
"Wow, fancy guessing." The dealer complimented, "You are amazing at this! Would you like to make the game a little more interesting?"
"More interesting? How?" Toph asked in an innocent tone of voice.
"Well, let's say you toss in your Shinjun slave there," He pointed at Kotaro, who looked at him with wide eyes, "Then I'll put up twenty silver pieces against him, and that's more interesting." Kotaro instantly voiced his protests against it to Toph.
"I swear to the Gods above, if you bet me in this stupid game-!" He was interrupted when Toph yanked him down by his collar so he would sit beside her.
"I'll do it for forty silver pieces." She told the dealer.
"Toph!" Kotaro exclaimed loudly, unable to believe she was betting him.
"Forty silver pieces it is." The dealer said with a grin, adding the pieces. A second later the game began, and the dealer began moving around the shells in a very fast manner. Aang, Sokka, and Kotaro couldn't keep up with his fast moving hands, and didn't even notice as he slipped two of the pebbles into his sleeves, and just as he was about to slip in the third, Toph inconspicuously used her earth bending to keep it under the shell. Once it was over, the dealer looked at Toph smugly, and she pointed at the shell in the middle. "Sorry, little lady, but- GAH?!" He stopped when he saw the rock was underneath the shell.
"I won!" Toph cheered happily, quickly, she grabbed the silver pieces and Sokka yanked Kotaro up and they all dashed off as quickly as they could to avoid the dealer accusing them of cheating.
Once they were out of ear-shot of the dealer and anyone else there, Kotaro turned to Toph with a glare, "Never. Bet. Me. Again."
"Aw, lighten up, Wolfy." Toph said, she dug into the bag and pulled out a handful of the silver pieces they had won and gave them to him, "Here, does that make it better?" Kotaro still glared at her.
"It hurts that you would think of me as something to bet in a game." He said, pocketing the money, "But I'm keeping this money anyway."
After splurging a little at the market place for groceries, everyone headed back to camp. Sokka made a joke about the dealer, imitating the way he looked when he saw that the rock was still under the shell, everyone laughed at his spot-on mimicry as they approached where Katara was making dinner with the last of their food. They all put down the baskets of groceries in front of her and she looked up at them.
"Where did you guys get the money to buy all this stuff?" Katara asked, a little concerned about the means of which they got it.
"Toph got us money." Aang said, munching on an apple they had bought, "She scammed one of those guys in town that moves the shells around all sneaky-like."
"She used earth bending to win the game. Classic!" Sokka said, taking a seat beside Aang as Kotaro went over to Appa, resting by one of his paws.
"Ah. So she cheated." Katara said, giving Toph a pointed glare.
"Hey, I only cheated because he was cheating." She said, "I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?"
"I'm just saying, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing." Katara said.
"I'm with her." Kotaro said, "If you're gonna bet me in every game, count me out." Katara looked at him in shock, and then looked back at Toph.
"You bet Kotaro?!" She exclaimed, "Toph, I can't believe you! It's one thing to bet money, but to bet a friend?"
"Jeez, calm down." Toph said, "I bet him because I knew I was gonna win. If you're gonna get that worked up about it, I won't do it again."
"Toph, the last thing you should be doing while we're here is gambling!" Katara said.
"Why?" Toph asked, "Because it's fun? And you hate fun?"
"I don't hate fun!" Katara said, she reached for Momo and put him on top of her head, "See? Fun!" Momo slid off her head with a displeased growl, and with a few angry squeaks at Katara, went over to Kotaro and sat in his lap. He didn't mind.
Aang stood up, moving his headband to show his arrow tattoo on his forehead, "Katara, I'll personally make you an avatar's promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams." He bowed before her, and Katara nodded, trusting him.
"Hey, Kotaro!" The Shinjun in question looked up. On his shoulder rested a small towel and a bar of soap rested in his hands, and he looked over to see Aang and Sokka calling to him, "We're going into town with Toph again. Wanna come?"
"Uh… I was just about to go take a bath." Kotaro said, "You guys can go without me, but if you're gonna get more food, can you grab some moon peaches?"
"Sure thing!" Sokka said, "See you!" Kotaro waved goodbye to them and headed down to the stream to bathe.
When he reached the riverbank, he stripped himself of his clothes and went in. He shivered a little when he felt the cold water, but he went in anyway, grabbing the bar of soap and washing himself with it. In the small stream, he only heard the flowing of the water in the quiet of the morning. In that quiet, he was left alone with his thoughts, so his mind wandered to the one subject they had been focused on for years.
Hoshiko.
His mind had always been on her, even before they were reunited at the encampment near Ba-Sing-Se. He missed her. More than he thought he could. When they were separated after slavery, he thought it wasn't possible to miss someone more than he had. After Ba-Sing-Se, the pain he felt in his chest still remained. The hole where Hoshiko's half had been was still there. He'd managed to smile through the pain, behaving normally with Aang and the others, but he still wished she was by his side. He didn't even know what had happened to her, but he hoped that, if Kagemi really was in charge, and she really was alive, there was a chance to get Hoshiko back.
He sighed, closing his eyes. He wasn't sure if he should be hoping anymore. Even if there was the chance that she was alive, how would he get Hoshiko back? He didn't know how ni-nin worked, or how a shadow bender survived with them, but somehow, they did.
His mind began to travel back into his memories, remembering the first time he had ever had the misfortune to meet Kagemi, before she even gave herself a name.
It had been a perfectly normal day, until Hoshiko accidentally got hit in the head with a rock from a group of kids that had been trying to knock birds out of the sky with them. She had been acting strangely all week, and at first, Kotaro didn't know why, but once she got hit, he saw something change.
Hoshiko's eyes changed color, her irises and pupils becoming white and the rest of her eyes becoming a deep black. She suddenly started attacking the kids who had thrown the rock, and Kotaro tried to stop her, but she turned around with a fierce snarl and used her shadow bending against him. He was fast, and avoided the brunt of her attacks, but one of them was faster than he was, and left a scar above his eyebrow, and just underneath his eye. Had her parents not come to stop her, things would have become much worse. Afterwards, once Hoshiko was back to normal, she ran to Kotaro, seeing that he had been scarred, and she apologized to him again and again, sobbing as she spoke.
Her father explained to them the nature of a ni-nin, since he was a shadow bender as well, and was still being tormented with his own. He had said to Kotaro that, should she ever become that way again, to do whatever he could to stop her. He had never forgotten that day.
He shook his head of the memories.
"I'm depressing myself." He muttered quietly. He grabbed his towel and dried himself off before putting on his clothes, which were basically the same clothes he had always worn, just with more of a red tint to them to fit Fire Nation style.
He went back up, humming a tune as he headed back to camp, seeing that Katara was the only one there.
"Is everyone still in town?" He asked her as he put his things away.
"Yeah," She said, "I hope they didn't decide to go scamming again…"
"Well, who knows?" Kotaro asked as he lay down against the grass, letting the sun shine on him, warming him up from the cold water of the river, "We'll know when they come back." He smiled, becoming comfortable in the light of the summer sun, "I think I'll take a nap. Wake me when they come back." Katara nodded and Kotaro closed his eyes, drifting off.
He was standing in a vast realm, but where, he wasn't sure, he could only see a huge blackness. There was no sign of any land except for the fact that he was standing still. He heard the soft sound of someone crying and turned in the direction of it. In the distance, he saw someone being held up, bound by their wrists in the air by chains. He started going over to whoever it was, and as he got closer, he recognized the dark head of hair, and the ears and tail of the girl that was hanging there. It was Hoshiko, and she was in terrible pain. He could see where her wrists had been rubbed raw from the chains, making her skin redden and bleed. He ran faster, wanting to help her, to take her body away from the chains. He even called out to her to try and calm her down.
"Hang on, Hoshiko! I'm coming!" He said. He smiled once he reached the place where she was bound, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of this." She didn't respond, and Kotaro frowned worriedly. He reached up and touched her shoulder, "Hey, Hoshiko." She lifted her head, and his eyes became wide at what he saw.
"Oh, hey Kotaro." Kagemi's voiced hissed out of her, her dark eyes glaring at him while she had a maniacal smile on her face, "Long time, no see!" Kotaro stepped back from her as the chains that were supposedly keeping her bound suddenly began to disappear into the blackness.
"Where's Hoshiko?" He demanded.
"Can't you tell?" Kagemi asked, stepping to the side, showing where Hoshiko was completely bound, chains holding her in a crouched position on the ground. "There she is."
"Hoshiko!" Kotaro started to run to her, but Kagemi stopped him with her bending. She used the shadows to bind his form to the ground. He glared at her, seeing that her body was now completely covered in shadows, the only distinction of a face being the two white pupils and irises she had. She opened her mouth with a wide grin, showing rows of incredibly sharp teeth. She walked over to where Hoshiko was, reaching down and lifting her face so she could see Kotaro. Her eyes flooded with tears that spilled down her cheeks.
"Kota…" Her voice was weak, and he could barely hear her call his name. Kagemi stood up and raised her hand, a sharp strand of shadow suddenly showing up behind Hoshiko's head. Kotaro's eyes widened in fear when he saw what she was about to do.
"No! No, don't you dare! Kagemi!" He shouted, struggling in his bonds to try and get free. Kagemi only let out a maniacal laugh as she swiftly brought her hand down, bringing down the edge of the razor tipped shadow on Hoshiko's head.
"No!" Kotaro jumped awake with a shout, covered in a cold sweat and breathing harshly. He looked to the side and saw Katara was looking at him with wide eyes.
"Everyone else is here…" She said quietly, a little surprised at his reaction to being awoken. Kotaro nodded, standing up, wiping away his sweat on the back of his hand. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Katara." He said, "Just a bad dream." He went over to where Aang, Sokka, and Toph were coming back, showing him all the money they had gotten from scamming others.
The next day, everyone was relaxing, Toph, Sokka, and Aang counting up all the money they had managed to get in a single day. Kotaro was near them, looking at the sheer amount of silver pieces, along with the occasional gold and copper piece of Fire Nation currency. Katara came up to them.
"Guys, I think these scams have gone far enough." Katara said, "If you keep doing them, something bad is gonna happen."
"Could you for once stop being such a sourpuss and lighten up?" Toph asked, tossing her a silver piece.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Katara began, "You think I should be more like you? Like some wild child?" She threw the silver piece to the ground.
"Um, yeah! Maybe!" Toph said, "Maybe then you'd see how great we have it! I mean, look at us! We're travelling around the world, making easy money, having fun, with no parents to tell us what to do!" She leaned back against a rock, linking her fingers together behind her head and crossing her ankles in a relaxed position. Katara let a sly smirk come on her face.
"Ah, I see." Katara said, "You're acting like this because of your parents."
"Whatever." Toph said.
"What?" Kotaro asked, not knowing Toph's backstory.
"They were controlling over you, so you ran away," Katara said, "And now, you act like your parents don't exist! You act like you hate them, but you don't. You just feel guilty."
"I do hate them." Toph said with a scowl.
"I don't think so." Katara said, "I think you miss them, but you just don't want to deal with that. So, instead, you just act like this crazy person." Toph's face contorted into one of anger and she stood up.
"Look, I ran away to help Aang!" She said.
"You know what? It doesn't matter." Katara said, "These scams put us all at risk, and we don't need that. We've already got some third-eyed freak after us!"
"She does make a good point, Toph." Kotaro said.
"Speaking of that 'third-eyed freak,'" Sokka began, "I think I've come up with a name for him. What do you think of 'Sparky-Sparky Boom Man'?" Everyone looked at him oddly at his name choice. "…Just think about it."
"We have enough money!" Katara said, "You need to stop this!"
"I'll stop when I wanna stop and not when you tell me!" Toph shouted, she stomped her foot and used earth bending to bring up a sack of silver pieces and she stormed away, making an earth tent to give herself some privacy.
"Speaking of money, I'm off to spend some." Sokka said, getting up, "Anyone wanna come with?"
"I'm good." Aang said.
"I'll come." Kotaro said, "I could use something to do right now." He got up and followed Sokka as they went into town.
Kotaro shouldn't have been surprised that he went into town and bought a messenger hawk, but he was, a little bit. It was the prime example of the Fire Nation messenger hawk with scarlet feathers and sharp, golden eyes.
"Hawky, welcome to Team Avatar." Sokka said, speaking to it, "My name's Sokka, and I'm your new owner. Now, as such, I should warn you there's already a lemur in our group, so I don't want to see any fighting."
"You're naming it Hawky?" Kotaro asked with a snort.
"Hey, it's my messenger hawk, and I'll do what I want with it!" Sokka said, Kotaro only rolled his eyes in response.
The hawk let out a crow, and Sokka smiled, speaking to it in baby-talk, "Good widdle messenger-hawky. Who's got pretty feaders?" Kotaro let out a small gagging sound, turning his head to the side, but stopped once he saw something on the wall.
"Uh… Sokka?" He looked over at him, and Kotaro pointed to the wanted poster.
It had a crudely drawn picture of Toph at the top and below it read:
WANTED:
THE RUNAWAY
YOUNG GIRL OF TWELVE-THIRTEEN
REWARD OFFERED
CONTACT LOCAL FIRE NATION AUTHORITIES FOR ANY INFORMATION
MUST BE BROUGHT IN ALIVE
Then it went on to give her full description and her various 'crimes'.
The hawk cawed again, flapping its wings as a sign of restlessness. Sokka didn't really see it like that, though as he grabbed the poster off the wall.
"You're right, Hawky." He said, "This is bad."
The hawk only responded by relieving itself. Kotaro jumped out of the way so it wouldn't land on his shoes. "Oh, gross!"
"Kotaro, we have to tell Toph about this!" Sokka said. He turned around and started running, the hawk on his shoulder lifting up its wings at the sudden rushing wind to help keep its place on his shoulder.
"Wait up!" Kotaro shouted, running after him.
When they reached the camp, Aang and Katara were down at the river, practicing water bending. Toph was somewhere near Appa, counting up the money she had scammed from her victims over the past two days.
Sokka and Kotaro approached Toph as she organized Fire Nation gold pieces from silver and copper pieces, being able to tell the difference by weight. "Toph," She looked in his direction as he and Kotaro approached, "When we were in town, we found something that you're not gonna like." He pulled out the poster and showed it to her.
"Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper," Toph said dryly, "But I guess you're referring to what's on the sheet of paper."
"It's wanted poster of you!" Kotaro said, snatching the paper and waving it in front of her face, even though she couldn't see it. "You've been named 'the Runaway'."
Toph's face brightened, "A wanted poster?! That's so great!" She exclaimed, "The Runaway… I love my new nickname! Is there a picture of me? Does it look good?" Kotaro lifted up the poster, looking at the crudely drawn picture of Toph, then at Toph herself, then back at the poster, Sokka doing the same thing as he did.
"No. Actually, it looks really bad." Kotaro said.
"Well, yeah, actually it does look pretty good." Sokka said, at the same time that Kotaro spoke. Kotaro gave him a small glare. "What? I think this picture captures Toph's real nature!"
"Whatever! It doesn't matter!" Kotaro said, rolling up the poster and facing Toph, "You're missing the point. Maybe Katara was right. These scams are drawing too much attention to us."
"Don't be such a worrywart like Katara." Toph said, getting up from where she had been sitting and grabbing a small bag of money. She walked over to the both of them with a smile on her face, "Think of it this way," She held up the money in Sokka's face, "Now you have plenty of money to help with the invasion plan." Sokka smiled a little at the bag. Kotaro elbowed him roughly once he saw it, and the smile disappeared.
"Well, that is true." Sokka said, "I had this idea of making armor for Appa." He looked over at the sleeping bison in question.
"Sokka!" Kotaro exclaimed.
"What? I think it could seriously help with the invasion!" Sokka said.
Toph went through the bag, taking out a few gold temples (A step up from gold pieces in terms of currency) and dropping them in Sokka's hand, "Here's a little something extra so you can get a nice map of the Fire Nation." She paused in thought before saying, "You know what? Make it an atlas." She held out the entire bag to him.
"I do like expensive atlases." Sokka said, taking the bag from her.
"Of course you do." Toph said.
"I can't believe you're encouraging this!" Kotaro snapped at him, Sokka jumped at his tone. "What Toph is doing is putting us all in serious danger!"
"Why do you care so much about this anyway?" Toph asked, "If this is because I bet you on the first scam, I already said I'm-"
"That's not what this is about!" Kotaro snapped at her.
"Then what?" Toph asked. Kotaro was about to say something, but stopped, he looked away, shutting his mouth, suddenly much calmer.
"…This journey has really taken its toll." He said quietly, "I just don't want to risk losing anyone else."
"…Else?" Sokka repeated in confusion, "Who'd we-?" He stopped when he realized who Kotaro was talking about. He was afraid that if Toph continued these scams, she would get hurt, and they would lose her just like he lost Hoshiko. He looked at him sadly, understanding his pain of losing the one he loved.
"Oh, I get it." Toph said, realizing what Sokka did, "Well, if it means that much to you, Wolfy, I'll lay off the scams for a little while. We can only afford to be in town one more day anyway. I'll stop then, alright?" Kotaro eyed her.
"You swear?" He asked. Toph raised her hand up.
"I swear that once we leave, I'll never do another scam." Toph said, she put her hand down. Kotaro was hesitant, but nodded. He jumped in surprise when Toph took the poster from his hands, "Since that's settled, this little wanted poster is going to stay our little secret. 'Kay?" She tucked the poster underneath a strap of her clothing and walked away to where her things were to hide it from Katara as she and Aang came up the hill. Neither of them were aware of the conversation the two boys had just had with Toph. The only thing they saw was the bird on Sokka's shoulder.
"Sokka, tell me you didn't buy a bird." Katara said in exasperation as Sokka inconspicuously tucked away the bag of money Toph had given him.
"Not just a bird. A messenger bird!" Sokka said with a grin, "Now we can send messages all over the world! Even to Gran Gran!"
"Wow! How does it work?" Aang asked excitedly. Kotaro looked at Sokka, wondering what his answer would be.
Sokka paused, putting his hand to his chin in thought, "Uh… Never actually thought about that." He looked to the bird on his shoulder, "Hawky! Gran Gran! South Pole!" The bird was still for a minute before shaking its head back and forth rapidly, simulating the way of saying 'no'. "I think he gets it."
"You idiot." Kotaro said, "The messenger hawk needs to know the name and scent of the person you're sending the letter to. Or it just needs to know the seal of the family. Of course, with the high-end bird you bought, it probably only knows people in power in the Fire Nation. Good luck teaching it your grandmother's scent when she's not even here."
Momo hopped up on Aang's shoulder with an angry yowl, glaring at the bird. He jumped over and started chasing the bird around Sokka's head.
"Hawky! Make nice! Bad Hawky!" Sokka shouted, trying to get the two animals to calm down.
Kotaro sat down next to Aang as Katara prepared dinner for everyone. Sokka and Toph had gone off earlier, getting in some more scams before they left tomorrow afternoon. Katara used water bending to take up some of the soup and brought it over to Appa, who happily swallowed it. The sound of footsteps made Katara look up and she saw Sokka and Toph carrying sacks of money.
"Well! Look who decided to join us." Katara said, standing up from where she had been cooking. "Where were you two? Off scamming again?"
"Yes, we were." Toph said, putting the sack down.
"And I suppose you don't think what you're doing is dangerous at all?" Katara asked, going over to where she was.
"No, I don't." Toph said.
"Really?" Katara asked pointedly.
"Yes, really." Toph replied.
"Well then," Katara reached into a small back pocket of her dress, pulling out a scroll and unrolling it in front of Toph, "What's this?!"
"I don't know!" Toph said in exasperation, "I mean, seriously! What's with you people?! I'm blind!" She pulled at the bottoms of her eyelids to make her point to Katara.
"It's a wanted poster of you!" Katara said, "'The Runaway'. Is that what you're called now? Are you proud of this?"
"Where did you get that?" Toph demanded.
"It doesn't matter where I got it, the fact is-" Toph cut Katara off.
"You went through my stuff!" Toph exclaimed angrily, "You had no right!"
"Your stuff was messy, and I was just straightening up, and I happened to stumble across it." Katara said.
"That's a lie!" Toph said angrily, "You're lying, Katara!"
"Fine! It's a lie!" Katara snapped, "But you've been so out of control lately-! I knew something was up! I knew you were hiding something, and you were!" She held up the wanted poster to make her point and Toph smacked it out of her hand and started walking around her. "Don't you walk away from me while I'm talking to you!"
"Oh, really, Mom?" Toph asked mockingly, "Or what are you going to do? Send me to my room?"
"I wish I could." Katara replied.
"Well, you can't!" Toph snapped, "Because you're not my mom, and you're not their mom!" She gestured to where Sokka, Aang, and Kotaro all sat down, watching the fight between the two girls. The three shared worried glances about being pulled into the argument.
"I never said I was!" Katara said, surprised that she was saying so.
"No, but you certainly act like it." Toph said. "You think it's your job to boss everyone around, but it's not. You're just a regular kid like the rest of us. So stop acting like you can tell me what to do! I can do whatever I want!"
Katara paused for a moment, "…I don't act that way." She said softly, she turned to her brother and sharply asked, "Sokka, do I act motherly?"
"Hey, I'm staying out of this one." Sokka said, putting his arms up in a surrendering way.
"Kotaro?" Katara turned to him.
"Don't look at me." He said quickly, wanting to stay out of the argument as well. Physical girl fights were interesting to watch and get involved in. Verbal girl fights were another matter entirely.
"What do you think, Aang?" Katara turned to the last one, "Do I act like a mom?"
Aang reached up and rubbed his eye as he spoke, "Well, I-"
"Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!" Katara said, her tone mimicking a scolding mother without realizing it.
"Yes ma'am!" Aang said, quickly straightening up.
"I can't be around you right now!" Toph said, turning and walking away from the group.
"Well I can't be around you!" Katara snapped, turning and storming off in the opposite direction.
Once they were gone, the hawk on Sokka's shoulder let out a call and he turned to it, "I know, Hawky. Why can't they just get along?" Kotaro rolled his eyes.
Later on that day, after they had served themselves dinner (Katara refused to serve Toph any and she stole Kotaro's dinner to eat) Katara and Toph were still angry with each other, and sat at separate parts of their campsite, refusing to even glare in the direction of the other.
The three boys looked between the two girls, wondering when this fight would end.
Suddenly, Sokka was struck with an idea. He turned to the two boys beside him, "Hey, you guys wanna test out my messenger hawk with me? I've got an idea."
"Sure." Aang said.
"Let's hear it." Kotaro said. They leaned close to Sokka so they would be able to hear him speak.
"I'm gonna send a note to Katara, and say it's from Toph, who wants to apologize." Sokka said, "Then everyone will be friends again!" Kotaro frowned at the idea, knowing right away that it wouldn't work. Aang, being the sweet, naïve boy that he was, thought it was a good idea.
"I gotta say, Sokka," Aang complimented, "You continue to impress me with your ideas." Kotaro rolled his eyes.
"Eh, it's a gift." Sokka said with a shrug, trying to act modest.
"It won't work." He said. Sokka scowled at him.
"It can't hurt to try!" Sokka said, "And just for that," He reached down, grabbing a piece of parchment and an ink covered brush that came with his hawk purchase, he handed them to Kotaro, "You get to write the letter. You write, and I'll dictate."
"Fine." Kotaro said, taking the two items and preparing to write.
"Now, put this down," Sokka said, before clearing his throat, "Dear Katara, sorry for everything. Your friend, Toph." Kotaro did as Sokka asked and wrote down his words. When he was done, he handed the letter to Sokka, who rolled it up and stuck it in the holder and had Hawky fly over to Katara. She opened the letter, reading the short message, and then jumped up.
"I know this is from you, Sokka!" She shouted at him, "Toph can't write!" She started ripping up the letter, "Ugh! You're all driving me crazy!" She stormed off as the hawk flew back to Sokka's side.
"I can't believe we forgot Toph can't write!" Aang said.
"Yep. We're idiots." Sokka said.
"I told you it wouldn't work." Kotaro said.
"You could have said so before!" Sokka said, smacking his shoulder, Kotaro punched him in return.
"I didn't think you were stupid enough to actually do it!" He snapped at him.
"I guess plan B is we send a note to Toph, pretending it's from Katara." Aang said, looking at his two friends.
"I think we're going to run into a similar problem." Sokka said. The hawk that rested on his shoulder let out a small squawk. "Sorry, Hawky, looks like I'm gonna have to do this without your help." He held out the bird to Kotaro, who let it rest on his arm as Sokka got up and went over to Toph, "Come on, we need to talk."
Toph let out a huff of breath, sounding like she didn't want to go with him, but she got up and followed him anyway.
Toph followed Sokka to a small cliff that looked over the river they had made camp by, not knowing that, underneath the cliff, Katara was trying to calm herself down by taking a bath.
"So, let me guess," She heard Toph say, "You brought me out here to tell me your sister isn't as annoying as I make her out to be?" She saw Toph and Sokka's feet as they sat down over the edge of the small cliff.
"Nah, she's pretty much a pain." Sokka replied. Katara scowled at his words, "She's always gotta be right about everything and she gets all bossy and involved and in your business…"
"Yeah. I don't know how you can deal with it." Toph replied. Katara's scowl deepened. Is that really what they think about her? She was only trying to help them out! What with Toph acting so crazy, she had every right to find out what was going on!
"Actually, in a way, I rely on it." Sokka's words brought her out of her angry thoughts and she looked back at the dangling feet.
"I don't understand." Toph said.
"When our mom died, that was the hardest time in my life." Sokka said, "Our family was a mess. But Katara… She had so much strength. She stepped up and took on so much responsibility. She helped fill the void that was left by our mom."
"…I guess I never thought about that." Toph said softly.
"I'm gonna tell you something crazy." Sokka said, "I never told anyone this before. But… Honestly? I'm not sure I can remember what my mother looked like." Katara looked at her brother's dangling feet with wide eyes. How could he not remember their mother? "It really seems like my whole life, Katara's been the one looking out for me. She's always been the one that's… there. And now, when I try to remember my mom, Katara's is the only face I can picture." Katara felt her eyes fill up with tears and overflow. She missed her mother so much, and she didn't realize how much Sokka missed her. She didn't even think that Sokka would picture her like that, her face as their mother's.
"The truth is… Sometimes, Katara does act motherly." Toph said, "But that's not always a bad thing. She's compassionate, and kind, and… she cares about me." She heard Toph sniff a little, "Y'know… the real me. That's more than my own mom." Katara sunk into the water to just below her nose. She heard Sokka let out a yelp as Toph punched his shoulder, "Don't ever tell her I said any of this!"
"Hey, my lips are sealed." Sokka promised.
Kotaro shook his head as he helped Sokka's Hawky clean out some dirt from its feathers, looking over at where Momo was sitting in Aang's lap, looking guilty with big green eyes and drooping ears.
"How in the world did that lemur get a bird stuck in a bush?" He asked as he pulled out a twig from his wing.
"No idea." Aang said, he petted the top of the lemur's ears. Momo perked up when he saw Katara coming up the pathway over to where they were sitting. The little lemur instantly jumped up out of Aang's lap and dashed over to her as she sat down. Kotaro looked at her oddly as he noticed her strangely silent and sad behavior as she gently pet the top of his head. Aang noticed it as well and they both looked at her concernedly.
"Katara, are you okay?" Aang asked, she didn't say anything, only nodded. Aang looked at Kotaro, who shrugged.
"She says she's okay." He said, he turned his attention back to Hawky as the bird let out a small caw, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you." He reached in and picked out a small bur, "You better thank me later you stupid hawk."
They heard the sound of footsteps, and they looked up to see Sokka returning with Toph from their little talk. Katara got up from where she had been sitting a moment ago and went over to where they were.
"Hi Toph," She greeted as she came up, Toph stopped walking, but Sokka continued, giving the girls a chance to talk with a little privacy, "I wanted to-"
"Katara, stop." Toph interrupted, holding up her hand, "You don't need to apologize, I was the one being stupid. These scams are out of control, and I'm done with them." Kotaro let out a quiet sigh of relief at the earth bender's words.
"Actually, I wasn't going to apologize." Katara said, Toph looked at her oddly, "I was gonna say I wanna pull a scam with you."
"Huh?!" Kotaro, Aang, and Sokka all exclaimed at once, looking at Katara in shock.
"What?" Toph asked in surprise, "You wanna pull a scam?"
"Not just any scam." Katara said, "The ultimate scam."
"Huh?!" The boys repeated again, unable to believe what they were hearing.
Katara put her arm around Toph's shoulders, "What do you say Toph? Just me and you. One last go. You in?" Toph smiled.
"You know I'm in!" Toph said excitedly, thrilled that Katara wanted to pull a scam, "Now, what's this idea of yours?"
"The plan is simple," Katara began as she led Toph away from where the boys were still in shock. She picked up Toph's wanted poster, "This poster says you're worth a lot of money. Ten times more than you've made in all your scams! So, I'm gonna turn you in and collect the reward, then you metal bend yourself out of jail, and we're on our way!"
Toph grinned widely, "I love it! Let's do it before we leave tomorrow!" Katara smiled, glad she approved.
"Okay, if that's the case, we better get to sleep now, so we can have all the energy we need to carry all that money." Katara said, rolling up the wanted poster.
"You know Katara," Toph said, standing up, "For someone who acts like such a goody-two-shoes, you're pretty sly." Katara smiled.
"Thank you for the compliment." She said, she turned to the guys, "We're turning in a little early tonight. There's still some soup left in the pot if you get hungry." The two girls headed off to bed, completely ignoring how the boys' jaws were still practically on the floor, still in shock of Katara.
Kotaro was able to break out of it when Hawky squawked at him and pecked his head.
"Ow." He glared at the bird, who looked back at him blankly. Kotaro shook him off his arm, "You're clean, go bother Sokka." He got up and headed away from Aang and Sokka, heading to bed.
He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach, but he just couldn't.
Kotaro watched as Aang paced back and forth on their campgrounds. Earlier that morning, Katara and Toph had gone into town to pull off their scam, and they still had yet to return. Now, it was sometime around early afternoon, and they still had yet to return. Aang had asked multiple times if Kotaro was able to hear their footsteps, or smell their scent, but he kept on replying that he didn't hear or smell anything.
"Do you think that scam of theirs should be taking this long?" Aang asked as he paced.
"I was just wondering the same thing." Sokka said.
"This was a bad idea." Kotaro said, he looked to the others, "We need to go and check it out. If they've been gone for this long, something must have happened."
"Couldn't agree more." Sokka said, he stood up and turned to where Hawky had been resting comfortably on one of their baskets of supplies, near where Momo was bathing himself, "You two behave! Appa's in charge."
With that, the three boys turned and headed for town.
Once they were out of sight, Momo turned to the bird and let out a growl. Hawky squawked in return, holding up its wings intimidatingly as it glared at the lemur. Appa watched the two of them try and intimidate the other, and he let out a loud roar that shut them both up very quickly.
The three boys walked through the town, looking around for any sign of Katara and Toph. The town was strangely quiet at the moment. All the doors to all the houses were shut, as well as the windows. All the shops were closed, and no one was manning any of the stands. You could just see the tumbleweeds running around somewhere in the city.
"Where do you think they might be?" Sokka asked, looking around.
"Where do you think anyone is?" Aang asked in return. They all walked to the center of the town, where a huge statue of Fire Lord Ozai stood, fire coming out of his enclosed fists, and shooting out of his mouth as he looked towards the heavens. Kotaro's ears twitched back and forth, listening carefully for any signs of life.
Then he heard it. The single, huge, deep breath that sent chills down his spine. He looked back and saw the assassin from a few nights ago standing on one of the rooftops, ready to fire.
"Get out of the way!" He shouted, pushing Sokka and Aang back just as he fired off a blast from his mind. They hid behind the statue, which easily took the blow that was aimed for them.
"It's Sparky-Sparky Boom Man!" Aang exclaimed, pointing to him.
"You know, I'm starting to think that name doesn't quite fit!" Sokka said, his voice a little louder so he would be able to hear himself over the ringing in his ears from the explosion.
'Sparky-Sparky Boom Man' jumped down from the roof and stood up straight before firing off another explosion at where they were hiding. They all ran from him, getting out of the way as the explosion before it could get past the statue's legs to them. They ran around the corner of a building to get away from him, only to have an explosion fire off from behind, sending them flying. Aang was able to land safely on the ground from his air bending, Kotaro and Sokka got catapulted into a nearby cart, which rolled a few feet with them in it before tipping over and dumping them out when it landed on its side. The two tumbled out of it. Aang ran over and helped them up. They all stayed behind the cart in an attempt to hide from the man.
"This guy is too good!" Sokka said, "He shoots fire from his brain!"
"We should split up!" Aang said, "He can't chase us all!" They nodded and ran off different directions, Sokka and Kotaro going one way, while Aang went another. And just in time, too, because the man sent another explosion at the cart they had been hiding behind just before they ran off from it. He looked around, searching for his target, and in the corner of his eye, saw Aang running across the roof of the building next to him. He fired off another explosion that sent Aang flying through the air, straight into the statue of Fire Lord Ozai. He fell away from it, and managed to land on his feet, but fell to the ground a second later, his body unable to process being thrown into the air like that and then falling so quickly. The man walked over to him and towered over Aang, and just as he took in a deep breath, a wall of ice encased his head, and he suddenly couldn't see, or fire off at Aang.
He looked up to see Sokka and Kotaro with Toph and Katara, who were perfectly fine. Katara ran over to him the second the man had moved out of the way.
"Aang, get up!" She said, pulling him off the ground and onto his feet. Once he was, they all ran, hoping to get away from the assassin that was after them. He soon broke through Katara's ice and glared at where the five of them were fleeing. Toph, having heard him break through the ice, used her bending to lift a boulder out of the ground and shoot it off at the man. He easily smashed the rock to pieces with his mind, but a stray piece of it, a tiny little pebble from what was once a boulder, flew back and hit the third eye tattoo and his forehead. He stumbled back, letting out a groan of pain. But he was quickly on his feet, angrier than ever at the kids for touching his sacred tattoo. He took in a deep breath and tried to fire off again, only to have his efforts backfire and explode in his face, literally. He was thrown back by the force of it, and he lost his target and his friends as they ran further and further away.
"Hey! I got it!" Sokka said suddenly as they ran, "The perfect name for that guy! 'Combustion Man'!"
"Great job, Sokka." Kotaro bit out, "Now let's get out of here before Combustion Man catches us!"
"See? It fits so well!" Sokka said with a grin, glad to have come up with a name for the crazy assassin that was after them.
Once they had made it back to camp, they all hopped on Appa and flew off as quickly as they could. They all felt relief flood through them when they got up into the air and saw that he hadn't followed them.
They flew for hours, not wanting to give Combustion Man a chance to find them nearby. By the time they landed for camp, the sun had already set, and the moon was high in the sky. They had Appa land in a large crevice in the ground where they could hide from any passing travelers, and were safe for the evening.
As he climbed out of the saddle, Sokka yawned, "I'm exhausted." He turned to where Hawky rested on his arm, "Hawky, how about you, buddy?" The bird cawed in response. Sokka gently pet his belly with his finger, "Yeah, you're such a lazy little bird." He jumped out of the saddle, Aang and Kotaro following him. Katara was about to do the same, but Toph called her name.
"Katara, I need your help." She said, Katara moved to sit back in the saddle, in front of Toph, showing she was listening.
"What is it, Toph?" She asked.
Toph held out a piece of paper to her, "I need you to write some things down for me." She said, "I want to send a letter to my parents." She smiled at the water bender, who easily returned it.
"I'll be happy to help." Katara said, taking the piece of paper and getting some ink. Toph spoke out what she wanted to say, and Katara made sure to write down every word. Once the letter was finished, Katara called to Hawky and he went over to them. They stuck the letter into his holder, and they showed him the emblem of Toph's parents, showing him who he needed to deliver the letter to. The bird let out a caw when he got it down, and Katara lifted up her arm. Hawky flew off into the night sky, happy to finally be able to send a message for his new owners.
Not long after he had left, Sokka said, "Hey, where'd Hawky go?"
Tada! A new chapter!
I just wanted to take this little space here to thank all my new fans for supporting my story. I really love you guys, even if you aren't a huge crowd of fangirls!
Also, I'm skipping episode 8 of book 3 because I like the next episode much better, and it's taking forever to get to the eclipse episode. Just letting you know.