The soft dusk light filtered in through the canopies above Katara, falling in little slivers across the forest floor. As she scavenged for food, the light kept hitting her in the eyes and blinding her for a second. She cursed under her breath when the light hit her eyes yet again. She screwed her eyes shut quickly, moving a step to the side. The leaves and sticks softly crunched under her feet, a little too loud for her liking.
She slowly opened her eyes, relief flooding through her body when she saw that the sun was lower in the sky. She hadn't realized how fast the sun sank in the sky back home, but here in the Games, it really went fast. On one hand, it was awful when the sun went down because everything was scarier in the dark. On the other hand, though, it was a blessing because you didn't have to watch your every move since everything was so dark. Right now, it was a blessing because the sun was hurting Katara's eyes and she was getting annoyed.
Katara bent down, picking at some moss on a random rock on the forest floor. Her pockets were full of lichen and moss, and there were a lot back at the tree as well. She needed to get more now, though, since Aang had joined her. He was a vegetarian anyway, so he wouldn't eat any meat she would get. Not that she would get any. She didn't want to kill another animal ever again. Maybe she wouldn't eat meat anymore because she saw first hand how terrible it was to kill animals.
She hoped that Aang would get better soon, but he was still ill. He acted like he was better, but Katara knew better. His eyes were glazed over and had a faraway look in them; his skin was paler than what she remembered it being back at the Capital; plus, he had hardly moved from his spot on the ground in the tree. She was worried about him, but she wasn't sure what she could do for him. She allowed him to drink most of the water from her pouch, but she had to stop by the river she had swam in a few days back to fill it back up.
Katara started her trek back to the tree, her head bent low. She didn't want to look around her in case there were people trailing her. She would rather be killed without knowing who did it than see the person who was killing her.
A loud crunch to the right made Katara stop moving. There was a curse in the air, and Katara dropped to the ground, her heart racing. Who was out here in the forest? She figured that Azula and her gang would have moved on after they couldn't find Aang and Katara, but that didn't mean that they were gone. But there were others that could be out there, and that was scary.
Soft footfalls sounded in the air, but they were getting quieter. She was glad about that. Katara eased herself forward, peering through a break in the underbrush. She couldn't see anyone, though the dark was partly the reason why. When she thought it was okay to move, she shot up from the ground and hurried through the forest. She watched her step and tried not to step on branches and leaves, but that was hard since she was in a forest.
Her tree came into view, and she quickened her pace. Sliding into the tree, she quickly said, "I think we have to move."
Aang was sitting up, holding her water pouch in his hands. He looked slightly better, which was a great thing. A frown appeared on his face when he said, "Why?"
"I heard someone while I was looking for food." She snatched her water pouch out of his hands, slinging it across her back. She grabbed at his hands, but her dodged her attempts. "Come on, Aang! We have to go!"
"Why can't we hide here?"
"Because it's not safe," Katara said, crossing her arms over her chest. She cocked an eyebrow, saying, "I really feel like we should leave. It isn't safe staying in one spot for too long."
"Are you sure you heard someone out in the woods?"
"Yes. They cursed and then stomped off."
Aang stared at Katara, his grey eyes cloudy. He bit his lower lip, and she could see the anxiety written across his face. She felt the same anxiety he displayed coursing through her veins, pulling her deeper into the depths of despair. But when Aang grabbed her hand, pulling himself into a standing position, the anxiety slowly slipped away. Something about him made her feel better.
"Let's do it," he said, taking his hand away from hers. He gave her a quick smile. "I trust you, Katara."
"Okay," she said, nodding.
Katara peered out of the tree, looking both ways before easing herself out. She stopped for a second so that Aang could join her before falling into a brisk walk. She knew which way she wanted to go, so she whispered, "We're going to the wintery part of the arena. I'm sure there won't be much people there since it's a harsh climate to survive in."
"What makes you think we can survive there, then?"
"Sokka and I did," she said, shrugging. "We can find a cave and then stay there for a while before moving again."
"Okay." He sounded unsure of her plan, but he didn't say anything else.
Katara led him through the forest, stopping every once in a while to make sure that there wasn't anyone around. At one point, there was a loud rustling near them, but it was only a bunny hopping through the underbrush. She nearly screamed when she saw the creamy white bunny, but Aang placed a comforting hand on her arm, making her fall silent. In the distance, Katara could see the moonlight glinting off of the metal cornucopia. The last time she had been there, Azula and her friends were there, but she was sure they weren't there now.
"Do you want to stop by the cornucopia to see if there's anything there we can take?" Katara whispered, stepping out of the forest. She glanced all around, making sure that no one was around, before walking toward the cornucopia without a response from Aang.
"Well, you're already heading that way, so sure," he said, falling into step with her. She looked over at him to see his chest rising and falling quickly, his breath sounding labored. He caught her eye and said, "What are you looking at?"
"You don't look so good," she said, furrowing her eyebrows. She placed a hand on his forehead, sighing when she felt how hot it was. "You're running a fever, Aang."
"I'm fine," he said, rolling his eyes. He plucked her hand off of his head, continuing on forward. She frowned at his back but followed him anyway. "But we can stop for a little bit at the cornucopia."
"Okay."
Katara stepped onto the grassy area, immediately feeling better. She spotted a small river near the snow, and the water around her was reminding her of her conversation with her mother and grandmother. A smile appeared on her face. This was what she needed: a good reminder of what she was fighting for. Now, she wasn't just fighting for herself and Sokka. She had to fight for the boy next to her as well, no matter what.
The made it to the cornucopia, and Aang dropped to the ground, leaning against the metal. He took a couple of deep breaths, saying, "You can look around. I'll just sit here."
"Okay," she said.
She was worried about him and didn't want to leave him alone, but she turned away from him and let her eyes slide across the things in the cornucopia. Most of the things that she had seen on the first day were gone, and there wasn't hardly anything in there. She took a couple of steps forward, squinting hard to see the little amount of things in there. The moonlight didn't shine into the cornucopia, making it hard to see. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness before looking more.
To Katara's right, there were a couple of open boxes. She bent down and searched through them, feeling disappointed when she didn't see anything in them. Standing back up, she spotted a lone stick on the ground next to the boxes. She picked it up and moved it around, frowning. What was this weird stick thing?
"That's a staff that can turn into a glider," a voice right next to her said. Katara jumped and brandished the stick. Aang was standing next to her, his hands raised up into the air. "I'm sorry for scaring you."
"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that," she snapped, letting out a sigh. "How are you so silent?"
"The monks taught me how to walk quietly," he said, shrugging. He reached out for the stick, so she handed it to him. He hit it on the ground and wings popped out of the sides. "It allows the user to fly in the air for a period of time."
"Can anyone use it?"
Aang had a grin on his face when he said, "No. Only airbenders can use it." He hit it against the ground again, and the wings disappeared. He had a smug look on his face. "I'm the only airbender in this competition."
"Good," she said, laughing. "I'm glad that we came here, Aang. However, since you are sick, I think you should use it as a walking stick."
"Rude."
"Not rude, smart."
Spinning around, Katara spotted a couple more boxes on the other side of the cornucopia. She walked over there and crouched down, rifling through them. Most of the things were gone, but she was happy to see a backpack under one of the boxes. She grabbed it and her smile grew when she opened the backpack. There were packets of dried meat in there as well as a bag of berries. There were other stuff in there, but she wasn't focused on it. She was glad that she found this backpack.
Katara looked around a little longer before heading back to Aang. He was sitting where she left him, holding the glider in his hands. "Are you ready to leave?" she asked him.
"Yeah," he said, using the glider to help himself up. He gave her a quick smile, saying, "I hope the clothes that I'm wearing will keep me warm."
Katara looked up and down his body. Aang was wearing a red and black outfit with a piece of fabric tied around his head. She reached out and felt the fabric, frowning. "Hopefully the cave will shelter us from the cold. Your clothes aren't very heavy."
"Great," he said, rolling his eyes. "If I don't die from those berries, I'll surely die from hypothermia."
"No, you won't. I'll make sure you're okay."
Aang and Katara walked out of the cornucopia, both glancing around them to see if there were anyone around. They've been lucky so far, but that doesn't mean that their luck would continue.
Before they crossed into the snow, Katara bent down and filled her water pouch up with the water from the river. That was going to be her bending water, and if they needed to drink it, she would make a fire and boil it to make sure all of the bad things were out of it.
The coldness seeped into Katara's bones, but she pushed it from her mind. She didn't want to think about it or else she would get colder. Aang was silent as they walked forward through the snow, so she looked over at him. His skin was paler than before, which was a bad sign. Maybe she shouldn't have brought him here to the cold. He could go into shock and die. Before she could say anything, the boy literally disappeared from her sight.
Katara's breath came out in puffs as she spun around in circles, looking for Aang. She was looking at him and then he was gone. What in the world could have happened to him? Was she hallucinating? Was he not even there the whole time?
"Katara!" he called out, making her let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't hallucinating, which was a good thing. "Katara, I fell into a hole!"
"Where?"
"Right there!"
Katara let out a strangled noise, saying, "Right where, Aang? I can't see anything besides the freaking snow!"
A hand popped up out of the snow, so Katara took a couple steps forward. There was an average size hole in the ground that she hadn't seen before. Aang was standing at the bottom, a grin on his face. "It's kind of toasty in here, though it's very dark."
Katara dropped into the hole, setting her water pouch and the backpack on the ground. The wall near the hole was angled so that they could walk out if they needed to. She looked around the cave but couldn't hardly see anything in the dark. "Well, we can stay here since it's so sheltered."
"Aren't you glad I found it?" Aang said, grinning. "It was only because I fell, but that was a good thing, I guess."
"Yeah," she said, laughing. "Good job."
"Thanks."
The two of them sat down on the hard ground, and Katara said, "Why don't you go to sleep? I'll keep watch."
She knew that Aang wanted to argue, but he reluctantly said, "Okay. Wake me up if you need anything."
She heard him lay down. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and she trained her eyes on the entrance to the cave. She wanted to make sure that no one would come in on them. She doubted that anyone would find this cave, but she wanted to be prepared.