Balance | Old Version

Chapter 89 (The Painted Lady)

Elua's POV.

Appa was floating down a river that looked disgusting. It was a brown color and was bubbling with some kind of mud, but it was obviously not naturally created.
"Hey guys, I think this river's polluted," Aang says as he jumps out of the river, covered in goop. He bends the river goop off himself, making the rest of it fly onto Katara, Toph, and I in the process. We all make noises of disgust as it hits us, Aang gives us an apologetic smile as he sends another blast of air at us, removing the goop from our clothes.
"Well, that explains why I can't catch a fish around here. Because normally my fishing skills are...off the hook!" Sokka yells as he holds up a fishing hoot. "Get it? Like a fishing hook?" He asks with a goofy smile.

"Too bad your skills aren't on the hook," Toph jokes, making us laugh while Sokka glares.
"It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food," I tell them looking down at the brown water in revulsion.
"Assuming that'll fit into Sokka's master schedule," Katara adds as Sokka unrolls a very long scroll.
"Hm...it's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today!" Sokka tells us seriously.
"Hey, maybe we can get food there," Aang says, pointing to a village up ahead of us that sits in the middle of the water. Appa takes off out of the water and relands on the grassy land beside us. Aang puts a bunch of moss over Appa, hiding him from the sight of others.

"Now you look just like a little hill with horns. Bye, buddy!" Aang says as we start to walk over to a cliffside, where we can see the village a little better.
"I don't feel anything. Where is this village?" Toph asks.
"It's in the middle of the river!" Sokka tells her and her expression quickly falls.
"Sure is!" We someone shout, we look down and see a man below us smiling. "My name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?" He asks us.
"We're, um, from the Earth Kingdom colonies," I lie, he looks fascinated by my words.
"Wow...colonials! Hop on; I'll give you a ride into town," Dock tells us happily, we all walk down the cliff and hop into his boat as he pushes off the land.

"Why do you guys live on the river?" Katara asks Dock as we sail along the water.
"Because we're a fishing town. At least that's how it was before the factory moved in," Dock states as he looks over to a Fire Nation factory that was spitting out a bunch of gunk into the river. "Army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive," He tells us as we arrive at the village and get out of the boat.
"Thanks for the ride!" Aang says as we begin to walk into the town. We look around and see most of the people here are either sick or dying or both.
"Look at this place. It's so sad," Katara says with a frown of sadness. "We have to do something to help," She states.

"No, we can't waste our time here! We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own!" Sokka tells her. He had a point but, these people did seem like they were in need of some help.
"These people are starving, but you turn your back on them!? How can you be so cold and heartless?" Katara asks him angrily.
"I'm not turning my back, I'm just being realistic! We can't go around helping every rinky-dink town we wandered into," Sokka tells her. "We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord!" He says a little too loudly.
"Shh!" I shush him as I put my hand over his mouth.

"Hey, loudmouth!" Toph says with a small glare. "Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about taking out the Fire Lord," She tells him.
"Come on, Katara, be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first," Sokka tells her in a hushed tone.
"...I guess so," Katara says reluctantly.
"Let's just get what we need and go," Aang tells her as we approach the counter of an outdoor market stall, only to see the same aged fisherman who gave us a ride into town.
"Hey, Dock. You work here too?" Sokka asks.
"I'm not Dock, I'm Xu. Dock's my brother," The man says with a goofy smile. We all look at him baffled.

"But, we just saw you," I state, raising an eyebrow in confusion. 
"You're even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is your hat," Aang tells him.
"Dock works on the docks, that's why they call him 'Dock', and I work in the shop, that's why they call me 'Xu'," 'Xu' explains to us.
"I don't get it," Aang says as he shakes his head.
"Me neither," Xu says shrugging. "What can I getcha? I'll give you a special deal. If you buy three fish, I'll throw in a clam for free," Xu says as he puts a basket in front of us, a bunch of slimy fish and clams with whatever was in the river oozing out of them. We all cringe at the sight.

"We'll just take the fish," Sokka says as he picks up two fish. "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?" He asks. Xu ducks under the desk and then pops back up with a different hat on.
"Hey, colonials. My brother says you need a lift," 'Dock' says as he starts to lead us to the boats. As we begin to walk, a very skinny little boy runs over to Katara and I.
"Can you spare some food?" He asks us, a desperate look in his eyes. Katara looks at me for an 'Okay'. I smile down at the boy and give Katara a nod.
"I wish I could spare more," Katara says as she hands him one of the fish. The boy gives her a thankful smile and then runs off. We watch as he runs over and gives the fish to a sick woman, presumably his mother.