Avatar Katara

The Swamp

Iroh held up his hat as he and Zuko leaned against their ostrich horse. People walked by them, paying the two former royals no mind.

"Spare coins for weary travelers?"

One man threw a few copper coins into the hat.

Zuko scowled. "This is humiliating. We're royalty. These people should be giving us whatever we want."

"They will, if you ask nicely."

A well-dressed woman walked by. "Spare change for a hungry old man?"

The woman chuckled and pulled out a coin. "Aww. Here you go."

"The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile." Zuko slapped his forehead as the woman giggled and walked away.

A man with broadswords stopped in front of them. "How about some entertainment for a gold piece?"

Zuko scowled. "We're not performers."

Iroh put his hat on the ground. "Not professional, anyway." He clasped his hands together and started to sing.

"It's a long long way to Ba Sing Se

But the girls in the city, they look so pretty!"

The man was displeased and whipped out one of his broadswords. "Come on! We're talking a gold piece here! Let's see some action!"

Zuko's eyes burned with anger as the man started to swing his swords at Iroh's legs. He hopped up and down while continuing his song.

"And they kiss so sweet that you've really got to meet

The girls from Ba Sing Se!"

Zuko gritted his teeth. The man laughed. "Haha! Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner. Here you go."

"Such a kind man!"

---

Rina examined an airbending scroll, looking bored. Katara read one of her waterbending scrolls, looking bored. Sokka sharpened his machete, looking bored. The swamp below them probably would have looked bored if it had a face.

"Hey, are you taking us down for a reason?" Sokka suddenly asked.

Rina didn't respond.

"Rina! What's going on?"

"Huh?" Rina asked. "I didn't notice."

"Well, are you noticing now?" Sang was almost touching the cypress trees of the swamp.

"Is something wrong?" Katara asked, and then immediately realized what was wrong. "Guys, this will sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me."

"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?"

"No, more like it's telling us to land there."

"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land."

Rina shrugged. "Bumi said that Katara will need a teacher who can wait and listen to the earth. If Katara's actually hearing the earth, do you think she should ignore it?"

"Yes!" Tikaani howled and Sang grunted nervously. "See, even Sang and Tikaani don't like it here."

"Alright. Bye, swamp." Sang ascended. That was weird, but they'd keep on flying. There, shenanigans avoided.

Wait.

A tornado was tearing through the swamp, coming towards them at a rapid pace.

"Oh no," Katara said. "This is getting better and better."