War of Change | Book 3

5: What You Deserve

Art: Purple Landscape by Allrich Art

The fever dream that was the last two days finally came to an abrupt end. The party Aang had thrown was raided by the headmaster from the school. We managed to escape, but it was narrow. Still, I think I had to agree with Toph that Aang had actually done some good back there.

Due to our hasty departure from the large city, we hadn't had the chance to collect many provisions. We found ourselves on a neighboring island dragging through a large river in hopes of catching some fish. It didn't look like we'd be so fortunate. The water was all but pure sludge.

Aang, Katara, and Toph talked us into going to a nearby village in search of food. For once, I was more inclined to side with Sokka. I doubted that we'd find any food worth eating in that place, considering it was made up of planks in the middle of the polluted river. We likely would be better off just going hungry for a day. The others weren't too keen on that idea.

With Toph's additional say, Sokka and I were easily outvoted.

It wasn't long before my bad feeling gained some ground. I could see my sister's face shifting the longer we stayed in the village. The more we learned, the more troubled she looked. It seemed that the pollution was coming from a nearby factory that the army was using to make their metal, all of the excesses pushed into the water.

I wasn't heartless. It angered me to see this happening too. It seemed like a bitter joke made by the universe to see the Fire Nation actively destroying what was once a magnificent waterway. I knew how the river felt. It deserved justice, but we didn't have time for that right now.

To my gratitude, I wasn't the only one seeing ideas forming in Katara's eyes. Sokka played the bad guy for me and attempted to talk our sister down. We thought it had worked. The next morning, however, we woke up to find that Appa was sick, which meant we weren't going anywhere soon.

We returned to the village for food and possibly some medicine for Appa to find that some things had changed. The people seemed more spirited. Kids were laughing and playing. Men and women smiled and walked with lighter steps. According to one of the locals, they'd been visited by a spirit who had brought food.

I was new to the whole idea of being part-spirit, but I just wasn't buying it for some reason. Nothing felt different in that way. No strange tingles or odd temperature changes. It seemed that people were just in better moods. I kept these suspicions to myself.

The next day, nothing changed. Appa was still sick, and the town was so happy it was erecting statues of the spirit, which they called the Painted Lady. Apparently, she had healed most of their sick in the night.

Once again, I kept my suspicions to myself. However, that night I slept a little less easy.

When I awoke, the sun had not yet reached into the sky. I stretched up out of bed and tied my hair back into the low tail I had traded for the Fire Nation top-knot. My first thoughts went to starting a fire or looking around to see if there were any land animals we could eat instead of the toxic sludge in the water. However, my sisterly senses were putting me on edge.

Usually, I tried to let my siblings sleep in, but I had the overwhelming urge to check on my sister this day.  I couldn't say I was surprised when I found her sleeping bag filled with moss and dried grass.

I kicked Sokka awake. He looked up at me through groggy eyes. His face shifted to glare when he realized who had woken him before he tried to turn over and tell me to go away. I kicked him with my toe again. "Katara is gone!"