𝑴𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 2)

Bitter Work

Jade squealed as she darted awake to the feeling of the ground rumbling beneath her. Upon hearing the sound of shattering rocks, she looked over to see that Toph had burst through her stone tent, standing tall where she had spent the night on the ground away from them. She set her hands on her hips.

"Good morning, earthbending student!"

Standing next to a curled up Sokka's sleeping bag, Aang smiled and bowed. "Good morning, Sifu Toph."

"Hey," Katara sat up in her own sleeping bag. "You never call me Sifu Katara."

"Well, if you think I should..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Sokka, still bundled up in his sleeping bag, sat up and began grumbling incoherently. He glared up at them.

"Sorry, Snoozles," Toph smiled, lowering her voice to a whisper. "We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can."

Too tired to catch on, Jade yawned and laid back down. "In that case, I'm going back to sleep."

She shut her eyes. The next thing she knew, however, Sokka was screaming in terror somewhere above. Jade opened her eyes and looked up to see a growing shape directly above where she laid. When her brain started working again, her eyes widened in realization. The girl shrieked and scrambled out of her sleeping bag, stumbling and falling flat on her face but still managing to get out of the way, just as Sokka's screaming form came falling down right where she had just been.

She lifted her head and looked over her shoulder to see Sokka hop onto his feet, still grumbling incomprehensibly as he glared at Aang, then at Toph, before finally hopping away in his sleeping bag.

Jade groaned and sat up, crossing her legs. She watched as Aang eagerly ran up to Toph.

"So, what move are you going to teach me first?" He began gesturing widely. "Rock-a-lanche? The Trembler? Oh, maybe I could learn to make a whirlpool out of land!"

She held out a hand to stop him. "Let's start with 'move a rock.'"

Aang clapped and nodded as she walked away. "Sounds good. Sounds good."

~

Sitting next to Katara with Miko in her lap, Jade watched as Aang and Toph stood before two large boulders.

"The key to earthbending is your stance." Toph instructed. "You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element." Aang awkwardly copied her squatting stance. She shoved him, forcing him to stumble to the side. "If you're going to move it, you've got to be like a rock yourself."

"Like a rock," He rubbed his side, nodding. "Got it."

"Good." Toph stood up, clenching her fists. "Now, the actual motion of this one is pretty simple."

They watched her strike one of the boulders, shooting it into a nearby stone wall. She then stood straight and turned back to Aang.

"Okay, you ready to give it a try?"

"I'm ready." He copied her stance, narrowing his eyes in determination. He punched at the rock the way Toph had, but instead of shooting the boulder forward, Aang himself was sent sliding backwards. He crashed into a sleeping Appa's back, falling flat on his face.

Curled up in his sleeping bag nearby, Sokka chuckled. "Rock beats Airbender!"

Cringing, Jade ran up to the Avatar and helped him to stand up. "Well, I think you...Were close to almost having it." He glanced at her with a dull stare. She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe."

Aang sighed. "Thanks."

He rubbed the back of his neck as the two of them made their way back over to the rock. Katara joined them, looking from the rock to Aang in confusion.