"What's out here?"Sokka asked.
I looked down at Aang who was holding a thin wooden flute in both hands.
"A lot, actually. There's hundreds of little..."
"Shhh."Aang interrupted, holding up a hand to silence Toph. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch."
With a determined look on his face, he raised the flute to his lips and blew one clear note, and a ground-dwelling creature popped up from a nearby hole, mimicking the sound perfectly.
An amused giggle escaped me as I watched Aang's excitement, his joy contagious. "Yeah!"he exclaimed, clearly thrilled with the situation.
"I'm putting together an orchestra."he declared, a sly smile on his face.
"Orchestra, huh? Well, la-di-da."Sokka replied as he made hand gestures.
On cue, three groundhogs popped their heads out from their burrows, their high-pitched voices harmonizing in descending notes. Momo, intrigued, leaped into one hole and emerged from the center one, attempting to catch the playful animals. There was an array of holes dotting the ground.
"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans."Sokka interjected, his tone laced with pragmatism.
Toph, her cheerful attitude shining through, chimed in with her own remark. "We did make plans."she declared. "We're all picking mini-vacations."
"There's no time for vacations."Sokka insisted, his voice firm.
"Aang and I are learning the elements as fast as we can."I asserted, my arms crossing over my chest. "We've been practicing nonstop daily with Toph and Katara. We're working hard to master our abilities."
"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?"Katara asked as she made her way towards us.
I couldn't help but kiss my teeth in annoyance as Sokka's sarcastic remark echoed through the air. "Even if we do master all the elements, what's the next step?"he asked, his voice filled with doubt. "It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation. Should we just wander aimlessly, hoping we stumble upon the Fire Lord's doorstep?"
"Sokka, Xai is basically our Fire Nation map. She was born and raised there."Aang responded making everyone look at me and I looked down at him in shock.
"Aang."I began, a hint of disbelief in my voice, "just because I was born and raised there doesn't mean I'm a walking map full of up-to-date information. I was only 10 years old the last time I was there. They've probably changed everything since then."
The air was filled with a sound of a single note from Aang's flute, and a groundhog popped up beneath Sokka, mimicking the note in a little performance.
Katara snickered, a touch of teasing in her tone. "All right, we'll finish our 'vacations,' and then we'll embark on the quest to find Sokka's intelligence."
Aang couldn't contain his laughter, clutching the map as he uncurled it.
Aang turned to Katara, his cheerful demeanor never faltering. "Your turn, Katara." he said, holding the map aloft. "Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"
"What about the Misty Palms Oasis?"Katara suggested, her eyes scanning the map. "It sounds wonderfully refreshing."
"Oh, yeah, I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring. And I usually don't use the word "pristine". It's one of nature's wonders."Aang responded before he closed the map and we all made our way to the Misty Palms Oasis, I was very excited.
