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Sitting by the river, you waited for a fish to swim by. The group was running low on money so you had to resort to hunting and gathering. As you sat patiently, a fish finally dre close enough to catch. Tossing your net into the water, a noise at the treeline caught your attention and you tripped. The next thing you knew, you were sitting in the river, completely soaked.
“Guys,” you complained, “maybe have some more respect for people trying to fish?"
Toph laughed, “Hey, you won’t need to worry about that. We got plenty of food at the market!”
Katara glanced at her quizzically, “What do you mean? We didn’t have enough money for a full meal.”
Aang beamed, “It was awesome! She scammed that guy with the moving cups.”
Looking over at you, Katara sighed. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”
After thinking about it for a moment, you realized. “Wait, do you mean the guy who moves the rock under some cups and you guess which one it’s under?”
“That’s the one,” Sokka chuckled. “You should have seen the look on his face when we won!
Your brow furrowed in worry, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We’re on the run, in the Fire Nation, in case you forgot. What if someone catches on?”
“Exactly! It just isn’t safe,” Katara agreed. She turned to face Aang, “And you’re the Avatar! Shouldn’t you try to do things more, I don’t know, honestly?”
“Relax Katara,” he answered, “it was just the one time. Besides, he was scamming people anyway, so he wasn’t honest either.
“Right,” exclaimed Sokka. “We scammed a scammer, and got enough money to pay for dinner. So let’s just drop it.”
“Fne,” you sighed, “but don’t do it again.”
“You have my word,” Aang answered, shaking your hand. “Avatar’s honor.”
It wasn’t until a few days later that you realized “Avatar’s honor” didn’t mean anything. Walking down the street in the market, you came across a wanted poster. Gasping in shock you tore it off the wall. This was bad, very bad.
Running back towards camp, your mind raced. What if the Fire Nation found this? Shaking your head, you tried to clear the thoughts. All you had to do was hope you arrived back and alerted the others in time.
Your lungs burned and your legs were aching by the time you finally made it back to camp. Toph was near the edge of the clearing practicing her earthbending. Striding over to her, you unfurled the paper and asked breathlessly, “ What is this?”
“Is this a trick question? I’m guessing it’s a piece of paper.”
“Oh, sorry,” you said quickly. “It’s a wanted poster, of you! I thought you said you were done scamming!”
“Aang said he was done scamming, Sokka and I never agreed to anything. But that’s awesome! Do I look good?”
You glanced at the paper and back at her, “I guess so? But that’s not what’s important right now! The Fire Nation could have found us. This is too dangerous, you have to stop.”
“Why should I? It’s making us enough money to actually live, not just get by. Besides, when can spend the money on weapons to use against the Fire Nation. Wouldn’t you like some new daggers?”
“Well,” you sighed, “I suppose some new daggers would be nice.”
“Exactly! Here, take this,” she said, handing you a sack full of coins. “Keep the change.”
For a second you considered telling Katara, but then changed your mind. It wasn’t like you’d get in trouble, and the odds of firebenders finding you just based off a poster were slim. So instead you walked back to the marketplace, in search of some new blades.
Wandering through the carts, you finally saw a small storefront advertising weaponry. Once you selected your items, you purchased them and went on your way. Things seemed to be looking up. However, as you returned to camp, you could hear Katara yelling about something.
“The Runaway? Is that what they call you? Don’t tell me you’re proud of this!”
“Did you go through my stuff?” Toph answered, looking enraged. Katara tried to deny it, but got caught in her lie. Shaking her head, Toph exclaimed “You aren’t my mom, and you aren’t their mom, so stop acting like it!” With that she stormed off, leaving a path of upturned rocks in her wake.
Katara turned to face you, “Can you please talk to her? She might listen to you.”
“I doubt it,” you said, shaking your head, “but I’ll give it a try. Sokka, will you come with me? She might listen if we’re both there.”
He nodded, “It’s worth a shot. Let’s go.”
You found Toph sitting by the cliff ledge, arms crossed. “I know why you’re here. You’re going to try and tell me that Katara isn’t as bad as I made her seem.”
Sitting next to her, you smiled, “No,” you admitted, “she can be a pain. But I rely on that. After I joined the team, Katara was always the one reminding me to take care of myself,” you admitted. “I would always try to push myself harder when training, and never took breaks. She really cares.”
Sokka nodded, “When our mother died, Katara was the one who stepped up and took on all the responsibilities. I’ve never told anyone this, but I barely remember what my mom looked like. It really seems like my whole life, Katara's been the one looking out for me. She's always been the one that's there. And now, when I try to remember my mom, Katara's is the only face I can picture.”
Toph glanced down, “The truth is sometimes Katara does act motherly, but that's not always a bad thing. She's compassionate and kind, and she actually cares about me. You know, the real me. That's more than my own mom.” She glared at you both, punching your arm, “Don't ever tell her I said any of this!”
“My lips are sealed,” you laughed. Returning to camp, Katara greeted you at the edge of the woods.
“Hey Toph, so I wanted to-”
She cut her off, “You don’t need to apologize. I was being stupid, I’m done with scams.”
“Oh,” Katara answered, “I wasn’t going to apologize, I was going to say I want to pull a scam with you. The ultimate scam.”
Toph looked excited, “What? Really? You know I’m in!” As they went over the details, you began to grow nervous. This was really risky.
When they left, you began to pace around. You knew Toph could handle a fight but this was still dangerous. After they had been gone for quite some time, you glanced over to Aang and Sokka. “Should this scam be taking so long?”
“I was just about to ask that,” Aang replied. “We should check it out.”
Arriving in town, the streets were empty. “Where is everyone,” Sokka whispered. At that moment, a beam of light shot over your head.
“Oh no,” Aang exclaimed, “it’s Sparky-Sparky-Boom Man!”
“I’m starting to think that name doesn’t quite fit,” Sokka yelled as you took off.
As he chased you through the town, you kept your eye out for Toph and Katara, but they were nowhere to be seen. You grew increasingly worried as you made your way towards the large statue of Ozai in the center of town. Taking out one of your new daggers, you sliced him in the ankle, slowing him down and Aang kicked up a cloud of dust.
The smoke cleared and looking over, you saw Aang getting cornered by the assassin, and you called out to him. But before you could say anything, a block of ice was forming around the man’s head. Smiling, you saw Katara and Toph emerging from the shadows.
Taking off again, the others followed closely behind. You didn’t even need to look back to know he had escaped his ice prison. Before you could even process what was happening, Toph launched a boulder at him, which was promptly blown up with a blast. However, a shard of rock propelled forward, hitting him in his third eye.
He tries to fire again, but instead the explosion backfires, sending him careening into a nearby wall. As your group runs off, Sokka exclaims, “I got it, the perfect name for him! Combustion Man!"
Toph shook her head, “Great job Sokka, now let’s go before Combustion Man catches us!”
Arriving back at camp, you collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. Toph sat next to, looking equally tired.
“Are you alright?”
She nodded, “I am now. I should have listened to you and Katra from the start, I’m sorry.”
“Hey it’s alright,” you said, giving her a hug. “But just promise me one thing?”
“What is it?”
“ No more stupid stunts, please. ”
“I promise that I will try my best,” she said with a laugh.