The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

Chapter 61 [~|~] The Chase

Azara leaned down to hand Sokka some supplies as Toph jumped off Appa's back and onto the fur-covered ground. "Hey, you guys picked a great campsite. The grass is so soft," Toph praised, wriggling her toes in Appa's white fur, causing Azara and Sokka to pause.

"That's not grass. Appa's shedding," Sokka replied, as Katara wrinkled her nose in digust.

"Oh, gross!"

"That's not gross, it's just part of spring! You know, rebirth, flowers blooming and Appa gets a new coat," Aang corrected causing Azara to chuckle as she handed down another bag.

"Ah, the beauty of spring," Katara sighed sarcastically before Appa sneezed, releasing more white fur into the air. "Stop! Appa, stop! Ugh!" Katara waved her arms in the air as Appa's fur coated all of them.

"It's not that bad, Katara! It makes a great wig!" Sokka pointed out, turning around with a tall white wig atop his head, causing Azara to chuckle lightly.

"And a great beard!" Aang added, walking over with Appa's fur covering his chin. Katara stared at her brother and Aang with an unimpressed expression on her face.

"I'm just glad we have another girl in the group, because you two are disgusting," Katara stated as Sokka and Aang laughed at each other. Toph walked in between the two of them, her arms behind her back.

"Excuse me, does anyone have a razor? Because I've got some hairy pits!" Toph announced, holding her arms up to show Appa's fur tucked into her sleeves. Sokka, Aang, and Toph laughed before Aang sneezed, his airbending throwing him back into Appa's side. He dropped to the ground with more white fur covering his entire backside. Azara and Katara joined in laughing as the group enjoyed the moment of peace.

The sun started to set when they decided to formally make camp. Azara smiled up at Sokka as he handed her a pile of sticks and moved to prepare the fire for the night. Stacking the twigs and larger branches, Azara crouched down and lit the fire with a small flame from her fingertip. After the flame caught, Azara stood up and moved the pot of water over the flame to start preparing dinner.

After handing Azara some food to add to the water to make a soup, Katara glanced over at Toph, who was leaning back on a rock with her arms tucked under her head and a piece of grass in her mouth. Walking over, Katara smiled lightly at Toph. "So Toph, usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work," Katara spoke gently, her arms at her sides.

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

"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. Even Momo does his fair share," Katara continued as Momo jumped up onto her shoulder and dropped some nuts into her hand. Katara smiled and held out her hand to show Toph that everyone had a role.

"Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, I've already collected my own food, and look, my tent's all set up," Toph listed, bending a rock tent around herself as she sat up.

"Well, that's great for you, but we still need to finish—"

"—I don't understand what's the problem here!" Toph snapped, causing Azara to glance up at the two of them with concern.

"Never mind," Katara huffed, walking back over to Azara, who was stirring the bubbling pot slowly.

"Everything alright?" Azara asked cautiously as Katara took over handling dinner.