Koete ↠ Sokka

Chapter 4: The Cave - Part 1

They'd only been flying north for half a day when the bickering started. It began from a passing comment by Charlie about needing to use the bathroom but quickly escalated once Sokka had said, "Why don't you use your psychic powers to find one?"

Katara and Aang groaned in unison. Aang, sitting on Appa's neck, threw himself back so he was lying flat, while Katara flopped over the front of his saddle to share a look with the airbender.

"It's fortune telling, Sokka, not a compass."

"If you're so all-knowing, you should have a better idea of where you're going."

"Are you seriously bringing up my inability to read a map right now?"

"It just seems a little suspicious that you tried to lead us in the wrong direction."

"How was I supposed to know I was holding it wrong?"

"The writing was upside down!"

"Well, excuse me for not knowing how to read Chinese."

"Who doesn't know how to read?"

"Lots of people, probably!"

A loud grumble from below silenced them, and from the sound of it, it was Appa's way of telling them to 'shut up'. As if he could understand the bison, Aang turned from his position at the reigns to look at Sokka and Charlie, who sat opposite of each other at the back of Appa's saddle.

"Appa's right, you guys," he began, catching the attention of the two older teens. "We should land for a while, we've been flying too long and it's making everyone act weird."

Katara, still leaning over the front of the saddle, muttered, "Yeah, no kidding," from the corner of her mouth.

They flew down to a clearing in the forest where the trees weren't as tall or thick. They all started unbraiding Appa's fur from the loops in his saddle before Aang used his airbending to lift it off.

The four took some time to stretch out their muscles before Aang, Katara and Sokka raced to the waterside for a quick bath. Charlie stayed on the shore, a light shudder in her breath as the soft waves of the lake brushed against the dirt. Momo flew from behind and perched on her shoulder, sending a sympathetic purr in her direction as he nudged his head against hers.

"Hey, what can I do to start setting up camp?" Charlie called out to the three, cupping a hand over her mouth.

"Can you go find some firewood?" Aang replied with a smile on his face. Charlie nodded and gave the airbender a thumb up before disappearing behind the forest line with Momo. Her shoulders sagged slightly with a sigh of relief as she put distance between the water and herself.

When Charlie was far enough away, Aang shifted in the water to face Katara. "I wonder why Charlie didn't get in the water with us," he said, watching Katara practice her waterbending. With open palms, she brought her right hand into a slow middle block, and pulled her left back by her side. A small tendril of water raised from beside her, moving forward as she twisted her wrist, facing her palm away from her body.

"Maybe she just didn't need to bathe?" Katara responded, letting the water fall back into the lake. Sokka looked back at the forest's edge where the girl disappeared in contemplative thought for a moment before pushing his legs off the lake's floor to float on his back, limbs sprawled out lazily.

Charlie wandered around the forest, being careful not to stray too far away from the campsite. She could still hear the three laughing as they splashed each other in the lake, and Sokka's comedic shout after a significantly louder slosh of water.