Princess of the Fire Nation

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Lian stretched in relief as she climbed of Appa, relieved to finally be back on land. While she was grateful for the flying bison who always made their journeys so much easier, Lian preferred to keep her feet on the ground. Lian was grateful she wasn't an airbender, being in the sky for too long made her sick – not that she would ever admit it.

The group all jump off Appa except Aang who passed the sleeping bags down for the saddle to Sokka. Lian walked over to the middle of their makeshift campsite, preparing to light a fire.

"Hey, you guys picked a great campsite. The grass is so soft" says Toph, Lian looked down to see Toph standing on white fur. Understandably, Toph wasn't a fan of shoes; explaining that being barefoot helped her see.

"That's not grass. Appa's shedding" corrects Sokka.

"Oh, gross!" says Katara, looking around at all the fur on the floor.

"That's not gross; it's just a part of spring" defends Aang, "You know, rebirth, flowers blooming, and Appa gets a new coat!"

"It's not that bad, Katara" adds Sokka, scoping up some fur and attaching it to his head. "It makes a great wig!"

Aang drops down from Appa before collecting some fur and arranging it on his face. "And a great beard!" he says laughing.

"I'm just glad the girls outnumber the boys now because you two are disgusting," says Katara unamused. Lian holds back a laugh, having actually found it amusing.

"Excuse me, does anyone have a razor..." says Toph lifting her arms to reveal a mass of white fur under her armpits "...because I've got some hairy pits!"

They all laugh except Katara who looks on in disgust before finally releasing a small chuckle. After that excitement, Lian continues creating a fire while Sokka and Aang set up the tents.

"So, Toph, usually when setting up camp we try to divide up the work" says Katara, walking over to the newcomer.

"Hey, don't worry about me, I'm good to go" cuts off Toph.

"Well, actually, what I'm trying to say is, uh, some of us might fetch water while someone else might set up the fire pit or put up the tent. Even Momo does his fair share."

"Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, I've already collected my own food, and look, my tent's all set up" cuts in Toph again before earthbending a stone tent.

Starting to get annoyed, Katara continues, "Well, that's great for you, but we still need to finish..."

"I don't understand. What's the problem here?" says an irritated Toph. Katara just sighs and walks away. Lian looked around, realising she was the only one who seemed to have noticed the conversation. Both Aang and Sokka looked to be in their own worlds as they set up the tents.

Once the fire and tents were sorted and water and food had been collected, Lian sat next to the fire staring at it intently. To others, fire was unpredictable and dangerous but she only saw warmth and energy. As she stares at the fire, Lian notices Katara slowly getting up and walking over to Toph who was sitting next to her stone tent.

"Hey Toph, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I think we're all just a little tired and getting on each other's nerves."

"Yeah, you do seem pretty tired" Lian's eyes widen knowing the Toph's reply would only make Katara angry so she dramatically got up and released an exaggerated yawn.

"Well I'm tired" stretches Lian "We should all try to get some sleep."

The boys nod in agreement and the group all move to their respectively tents to get some sleep expect Aang who preferred to sleep in the open next to Appa.