Mixed Troubles - Sokka x OC

Chapter 11: Stone-Cold Stiff

Hey guys!!! As usual, new chapter! So excited! Up above is a song to listen to if you want. I don't have much to say except to enjoy and happy reading! 

Presenting........

|Stone-Cold Stiff|

Safiyah

I know I want to stop somewhere at some village, but I don't know where. Nothing has come up near my sight. And it's getting late. The moon is well up in the sky, meaning it's the end of the fourth day travelling.

I'm lazily laying my head down on Min's neck, and they groan. 

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" I ask, immediately lifting my head. But then Min groans again. 

I look up from their fur. I open my mouth in tired glee, happy that there's a familiar cluster of houses, guarded by the usual village stone wall. I can see from here that the houses are nothing fancy; they don't have the colorful pagoda roofs. They're just made of plain wood. 

But even though the village sits no more but a mile and a half away from me, I'm still just going to set camp for the night. Secretly, I am hoping someone could take me into their home. I'm starting to regret taking Akari's and Akio's offer for granted. I'm tired of camping, which is weird because I didn't mind it much when I used to camp with Sokka, Katara, and Aang. But that was fun. 

"Here Min, over there. We're stopping for the night." I pull Min's reins and direction them off the path, ending our trek over a hill we traveled. We reach a shady tree and I drop down from Min. I find a canteen of freshwater I filled days ago, and I use it to freshen up myself. I complete my usual routine of setting my tent, cooking some edible food and feeding Min. In the end, I'm in my sleeping bag, falling asleep. 

~~~~~

My trembling stops only for a few seconds so I can look at the blanking, ghost-like figures and at my father. 

In a matter of seconds, the azure lightening makes a bee-line straight at me. 

I sprung up from sleep. No, literally. In the most awkward way, I used my palms to pull myself up, like I was trying to do a push-up. In my sleep. The action woke me up and now I'm experiencing the sweating of the aftermath. 

I hold my head tight while frantically looking around my tent, like I'm gonna have some jump-scare. Finally, I catch my breath.

The dream I had was like a snippet of a memory that occasionally appears when you zone out. Except this wasn't a memory. It was a shorter, modified dream from one that I had months ago. But why is it revisiting me? 

I creep out of my tent and go outside. I get rid of any traces of sleep and then go to my food bag, which rests next to a sleeping Min. An ostrich horse's size is even more intimidating when they lay down on the floor and sleep. It's just a massive body plastered to the floor. 

I crouch down and look through my bag for more loaves of bread. What's funny is that I could never get sick of bread. Never. It's just too good; there's nothing like it. You could eat it with anything and it would just work. And I've been eating way too much of it lately, even though I've added some meat to my supplies. Sadly, I finished the last of it last night. 

I toast the bread and start popping the crunchy pieces in my mouth, and Min starts to stir awake. They let out a stretched yawn and fall back asleep. I roll my eyes and decide to wake them up when I finish my food. 

The bread pieces are gone in a matter of secondary minutes, and Min thankfully wakes up by then. I pack up everything, and by walking on foot while leading Min by their reins, we start the way to the village.