"I think this water is polluted." Aang jumped back onto Appa from the brown river.
"Looks like we'll need to go somewhere else for food." Katara smoothed out her hair.
"Assuming it fits into Sokka's master schedule." I glanced at the long scroll Sokka pulled out.
"Hmmm it's doable. But that means only two bathroom breaks today." Sokka nodded.
"Maybe we can get food there." We all looked in the direction Aang pointed in.
We hid Appa somewhere nearby before heading to the village.
"I don't feel anything, where is this village?" Toph asked.
"In the river." I sighed, seeing the state of the water was sad. "Looks like its a fishing village."
"Sure is!" We all looked down at a small pier, there was a man. "Name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?" he asked us.
"We're from the Earth Kingdom Colonies." Katara replied to him.
"Colonials! Wow. Hope on, I'll give you a ride into town." he smiled at us.
"So, what happened here?" I asked, looking at the sludge that was clinging to the bottom portion of his bamboo staff.
"We used to be a fishing village, before the factory moved in." He looked to his left, and we saw the factory up on the hill. "The army makes their metal there, started a few years ago and dumped with gunk in our river. Now our village is struggling to survive."
When we got to the village, it was a sorry sight to see. "Look at this place." Katara looked at the villagers as we walked past. "It's so sad... We have to help." I glanced at Katara.
"We can't waste our time here. We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on." Sokka shot down the idea. "These people are on their own."
"These people are starving, but you would turn your back on them?" Katara stopped Sokka. "How can you be so cold and heartless?" she asked him.
"I'm not. I'm being realistic. We can't be helping every depressing town we run into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the fire lord." Sokka spoke a little too loudly.
"Hey loudmouth." Toph covered Sokka's mouth, "Maybe we should be a little quieter when talking about taking out the fire lord." She said to him.
"Even if we wanted to help, how do you propose we do that?" I asked Katara. "Destroy the factory? Clean the water? Buy them food?" I pointed to the water. "Those don't solve the issue. This is a fishing village that can't fish. Any fish they catch could be either dead or poisonous."
"Exactly!" Sokka looked at Katara again, "be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first."
"I guess so." Katara looked downcast.
"Let's get what we need and go." Aang said and took the lead in going to the market.
We got our fish, which even then didn't look too pleasant. "I rather starve.." I sighed as we made our way back to the pier. Looking back at Katara who was talking to a little boy, I waited for her to catch up.
That night, Toph and Aang used their bending to give us clean water to drink and cook with.
"For starters, we need to wake up 43 minutes earlier everyday." Sokka pointed to a portion of his map.
"Can't we just wake up a few hours earlier for a day instead of 43 everyday?" I asked, sitting down by the fire.
"If we want to stay on time and stay on schedule, staying in top condition, we have to be consistent and wake up early." Sokka told us.
"I'm not waking up early." Toph leaned back.
"Or, we could cut all of our eating breaks." Sokka offered an alternative, of course everyone disagreed.
"Ok, how about we take food breaks and potty breaks at the same time. It might be gross, but its efficient." Sokka looked again at the schedule.
"I'll stick with my own plan of a few hours, thanks." I shrugged. "Or if we don't want to wake up early, we can stay up later." I looked at everyone, who didn't seem to like those ideas either.
"Either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning." Sokka picked up his schedule and left.
The next morning, Appa didn't seem to be feeling well. "His tongue is purple, can you heal him?" Aang looked at Katara and I.
"He must've gotten sick from being in the polluted water." Toph leaned against Appa.
"It looks like he needs medicine. They might have the right herbs in town." Katara suggested.
"In that town, I doubt it." I pet Appa. "I'll stay here, make sure he doesn't get worse." I let the others know as they left.
After a few days, Toph, Sokka and I woke up to Katara and Aang both gone. "Guess they went to get the factory. Bad idea." I sighed, stretching as I walked over to Toph and Sokka.
"Hey, gotta talk to you real quick." I stood next to Sokka, but he seemed too annoyed to listen at the moment.
"A morning walk huh?" Sokka asked Katara and Aang. "I know your the painted lady. Sneaking out at night, and lying about Appa, feeding him berries!" Sokka pointed to Toph and Momo holding the bag of berries. "Katara, you put our entire mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now." Sokka told them. "And how long did you know about this?" He questioned Aang who ran off after revealing he just found out last night. "And you?" Sokka asked me.
"After about the second time." I shrugged. "Before you get upset." I held up my hand. "If they really destroyed the factory, the village is in danger." Sokka frowned at this information.
"Are you sure?" he asked me.
"80% positive." I nodded and he nodded.
We were able to get to the shore, but the soldiers were already there. "Remember to stay hidden." I looked at Aang who nodded, making sure his headband was tight.
Katara and I got working on the mist, while Aang did his best to stop the soldiers from blowing up the village. Surrounding the village in mist, Toph and Appa worked together to make some unsettling noises using the echoes of the cave. Katara stepped onto the water, making ice beneath her feet. Looking at Aang we nodded, he went over to help Katara while I continued manipulating the mist, revealing "The Painted Lady."
The two of them charged ahead, towards the village. "Ok, let's hope this goes well." I thought, stepping onto the water, ice below my feet, as I worked to swirl the mist, but still hide Toph, Sokka and I.
I saw Katara get the last scare on the factory guy and I sighed, stepping onto the boat that Sokka managed to get. We got to the town, and everyone was cheering.
The town eventually found out Katara was lying to them, and were upset with her for lying to them. The discourse quickly died down, and we stayed to help clean the river.
"How far behind are we now?" I teased Sokka as we finally left the fishing village.
"Ugh." He fell back onto the saddle, the schedule covering his face. His reaction made everyone laugh as we headed to our next destination.
YOU ARE READING
Zuko x Reader
FanfictionI was abandoned by my parents, and taken in by Empress Ursa. Raised by maids until I was three, taken by Ozai for my water bending, tortured, interrogated and then put in his "Guardians." However... Everything changed during the Agni Kai.. ~~ I ow...
