Freedom

Chapter 34: The Black Lake

The murky water swirled beneath them as Appa swam through the black lake.

Katara had seen algae filled water in her days traveling, the Swamp being some of the worst. But even the ocean paled in comparison to the opacity of the water beneath them.

She pulled a few droplets towards her, lifting them into the air. She could have easily been convinced it was a mud pit and contained little to no water entirely. But even mud had the graininess of earth mixed with the dampness of water. Both things were recognizable.

But this water was barely recognizable as water at all. It's blackness encased the water, making it thicker and harder to distinguish. The substance was like a mask, blurred behind it.

Aang swam through the water underneath, the tar-like substance sticking to his skin like glue. Momo bounced on his head, knowing better then to touch the unidentifiable liquid.

"Aang you should get out of there..." Katara suggested, grimacing at his grime covered skin.

Aang airbended onto Appa, his body still shock with muck from the river, "I think this river is polluted" he airbended the grime off, covering his friends with it in the process.

They all looked at him and themselves with disgust. Even Toph didn't like the way the sticky tar felt on her feet. He chuckled nervously, "Whoops sorry" he sent a gust of wind towards them, blowing the grime off them as well.

"Well that explains why I can't catch a fish around here" Sokka said, "Cause normally my fishing skills are off the hook!" he held up a fishing hook, smiling his big goofy grin, "Get it? Like a fishing hook?" he added, when no one laughed.

Toph added her rebuttal, "Too bad your skills aren't on the hook" this caused everyone except for Sokka to let out a chuckle.

Zuko smiled slightly, before looking out into the water. He had seen things like this before in his travels. He knew there was only one thing that caused this type of pollution. He bit his tongue hard to keep himself from getting angry. These were the things the Fire Nation should have been fighting to fix, not raging wars on helpless towns.

Katara glanced over at Zuko, noticing his face change. He looked down at the river as if it were the culprit to all of his problems. She frowned, trying to catch his attention but he avoided her eye, possibly on purpose. She sighed then looked back at the river, "It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food" she looked over at Sokka with an eyebrow raised, "Assuming that will fit into Sokka's master schedule" she added.

Sokka looked down his nose at a long scroll. He hummed, thinking, "It's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today" the group groaned in irritation. Sokka help up his hands in surrender, "Look I don't make the rules, we've lost a lot of time as is... if we don't hurry along, we'll never make it in time"

Zuko came to reality and frowned, confused, "Make it where?" he asked but Aang talked over him, "Hey! Maybe we can get food there"

The group looked to where Aang was pointing. Just coming over the horizon was a small village, floating atop the muck filled lake. As they approached, they could see how it was held up by wooden stilts and connected by ramps, leading from one hut to another.

Sokka looked around, steering Appa towards the river bed, "Let's find somewhere close by to set up camp... and then we'll walk over"

The gang left Appa outside the town under a bed of grass in case someone came across him. Katara looked at Zuko as they walked towards the village. He faced forward, confidently, but Katara saw how his feet wavered nervously.