𝑴𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 2)

The Chase*

After a long day of flying away from the Beifong Estate, they landed in a ravine to unpack and set up camp. Hopping out of Appa's saddle, Toph smiled.

"Hey, you guys picked a great campsite." She wiggled her toes in the mat of Appa's shedded white fur. "The grass is so soft."

"That's not grass." Sokka grimaced. "Appa's shedding."

Katara raised her foot when she realized she was standing in it, too. "Oh, gross!"

"That's not gross." Aang protested. A bluebird landed on his head while a yellow butterfly flew close to him. "It's just a part of spring! You know, rebirth, flowers blooming, and Appa gets a new coat."

"Ah, the beauty of spring."

Appa sneezed. Another mat of loose fur flew off his form. Jade was torn between grimacing and giggling when it fluttered down to settle in her hair and stick to her clothes. Either way, she wasn't nearly as disgusted as Katara, who waved her arms.

"Stop! Appa, stop! Ugh!"

Jade plucked the clumps of fur from her clothes. "It'd be grosser if it got in your mouth, instead."

Katara frowned at her. "Why would you even say something like that?"

She shrugged.

"It's not that bad, Katara!" Sokka fashioned himself a tall wig from the white fur. "It makes a great wig!"

"And a great beard." Aang had stuck the fur around his mouth. Pointing at each other, the two of them laughed.

Brushing the fur from her dress, Katara just deadpanned at them. "I'm just glad we have another girl in the group because you two are disgusting."

Toph stepped up between the boys. "Excuse me, does anyone have a razor?" She raised her arms to show them all the fur sticking out of her armpits. "Because I've got some hairy pits!"

The three of them burst into laughter, only for Aang to sneeze when his beard tickled his nose. He crashed into Appa's leg before falling straight to the ground. They all laughed again as more fur stuck to his back.

Jade giggled. "Are you o -- "

Stepping forward was a mistake. When she slipped in the loose fur on the ground, she squealed and fell backward. More fur flew up to flutter down around her.

She blinked at her friends, then burst into laughter along with them. Katara finally smiled and giggled at their antics.

~㊏~

The sun had already begun setting when they started getting ready for the night. Miko helped Jade unroll their sleeping bags, but when her friends glanced up and behind her, Jade turned to glance over her shoulder. She found Toph lying on the ground with her arms behind her head and a piece of grass in her mouth.

Katara walked over to her. "So, Toph, usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work."

Toph shrugged. "Hey, don't worry about me. I'm good to go."

"...Well, actually what I'm trying to say is, some of us might fetch water, while someone else might set up the fire pit or put up the tent." She smiled as Momo flew over to drop some nuts into her hand. "Even Momo and Miko do their fair share."

Miko barked at the mention of her name. Jade patted her head with a smile.

"Katara, I'm fine." Toph brushed her off. "I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, I've already collected my own food, and look." She bent two slabs of earth over her head to form a tent. "My tent's all sent up."