The Legend of Arin

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: NIGHTMARES

THEY REACHED THE RENDEZVOUS point for the invasion forces ahead of schedule and decided to camp out there, waiting for Hakoda and the rest of the Southern Water tribe men.

They reached it four days ahead so they could finally relax after the past few hectic weeks.

"Wait, four days?! The invasion's in four days?" Aang shot up with urgency.

"Yeah, Aang. But it's a little bit away, we can relax for a bit right now." Arin tried to ease his worry as she laid down her sleeping bag.

"Arin's got the right idea, Aang. We're here, we're ready. The best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest." Katara let down her hair and laid down on her own sleeping bag.

"I guess," Aang murmured nervously. Everyone went to sleep relatively fast, Arin sparing Aang a worrisome glance before she drifted to sleep.

That morning, Arin woke up and saw her brother far off fighting a tree for... whatever reason.

"Aang, have you slept?" Arin asked, stretching as she neared him. She turned back and saw everyone waking up as well from the noise of the tree bark.

"Only been up a couple hours." He continued punching the tree, abruptly moving to surround it. "I got a lot more skills to refine if I'm gonna fight Ozai."

"Aang, I don't want you to overexert yourself." She stressed worriedly. Aang panted, punching the tree before a shiver went through his body, falling onto his back. He lay there for a moment before all the trees leaves and branches fell on top of him. She stared at him, the rest of the group peeking behind her.

She moved to brush the leaves off him and help him to his feet, the boy moving her hands away from him as he wiggled slightly.

"You don't get it, do you? My form is bad, I'm sloppy, and I still don't know any fire bending. Not even the basics." Arin watched her brother's eye twitch as he began to circle and she sighed, pushing his hand down.

"That's okay, Aang, the eclipse will block all fire bending anyway. You don't need to know any. Plus, it's a stupid element." Sokka stated from his spot, looking at his map.

"Okay, well, I still have to work on everything else." He chopped the air. "I better spend the whole day training." Aang went to bow at Katara, Sokka, and Arin before hopping on an air scooter and heading off.

Arin pinched her nose bridge and went off to wash up.

NIGHT CAME QUICKLY and Aang returned to the campsite with tired eyes, not having slept in almost 48 hours. He yawned and fell to the ground with a thud. He bid goodnight to everyone, still trying to prolong his rest before Toph yelled at him to just go to sleep.

It hadn't been more than two hours before Arin woke up, Aang's light footsteps on the grass waking her. She watched Aang walk off and sighed once more. It seemed Katara woke up as well, looking at Arin with a concerned look.

The airbender shrugged and Katara stood up, heading over to Aang. Arin went back to sleep, hoping Katara would get through to her brother.

As the sun rose, Arin woke up early, something in her stomach making her feel uneasy in her sleep. She was brushing through her hair when Aang shot awake.

"Sokka, get up, I need to know what day it is!" Aang shook the bot awake.

"What? Who's talking?!" Sokka shot up, his sword in hand. As he stood up, he hit his head on a rock directly in the middle of his forehead.

"Relax, it's still two days before the invasion," Toph grumbled, waking up as well.

"Sokka, you've got to get up and drill your rock climbing exercises." Aang tugged on his leg, trying to get the boy to stand up.