𝑴𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 2)

The Serpent's Pass

Nothing could have been better than the feeling of escaping that desert. After a few days of travel, escorted by the very terrified sandbenders, they managed to leave the scenery of sand and extreme heat. When they reached a small canyon surrounding a pond, it was impossible for any of them to pass up the idea of taking a well-deserved break in the cool water.

While Sokka and Toph sat off to the side of the pond, Toph with her feet in the water and Sokka on top of a rock, Aang floated on his back and Jade swam around casually. Jade watched as Aang stopped floating and dunked under the water, freezing a block of ice to encase his body before continuing to float. She failed to contain a laugh.

"Waterbending bomb!" All four of them looked up to see Katara jump down from the cliff above them. She flipped into a cannon ball, plunging toward the water below and laughing. "Yeah!"

Jade yelped and quickly swam closer to Aang, grabbing onto his ice block. Katara landed in the water with a huge splash, shooting both Aang and Jade right out of the pond. Aang's ice block had shattered, leaving Jade sprawled out horizontally on top of him. As she grinned sheepishly, both of them blushed as they stood up from the soaking wet ground. They along with Toph began to laugh, but Sokka wasn't so amused.

He held out the soaking wet map in his hands, carefully letting the water drip off. "Sure, 5000 year-old maps from the spirit library. Just splash some water on 'em."

Katara stepped out of the pond, wringing her hair out and smiling sheepishly. "Sorry." She raised her hands and pulled the water out of the map, leaving it good as new.

Well, as new as a 5000 year old map could look.

As Sokka hopped down from his rock and set the map he set on the ground, his friends gathered around him.

"So, did you figure out what route we're going to take?" Aang inquired.

"Okay, we just got out of the desert, so we must be around here." Sokka pointed to a blue area on the map. "And we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here." He scaled his finger across the paper to the yellow rimmed area that must have been the city. "It looks like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass." He pointed to the thin green sliver connecting the two areas.

With Toph's elbow resting on her shoulder, Jade frowned. "Serpent's Pass, huh? That sure sounds pleasant."

Toph cocked an eyebrow in Sokka's direction. "You're sure that's the best way to go?"

"It's the only way." He informed. "I mean, it's not like we have Appa to fly us there."

As Jade covered his mouth with her hand, Katara glared at him. "Shush up about Appa. Can't you at least try to be sensitive?"

They glanced over at Aang, who sat with his arms around his legs. "Katara, it's okay." He brushed off. "I know I was upset about losing Appa before, but I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse."

They watched him in surprise. Jade wasn't sure if the others had realized, but his voice was unnaturally monotone and serious, as if he was trying not to show any emotion. It was definitely a complete contrast to how he had acted in the desert.

But that still didn't mean she liked it.

"Oh...well, okay." Katara replied. "I'm glad you're doing better."

Sokka held his map and stood up. "Then to Ba Sing Se we go. No more distractions."

"Hello there, fellow refugees!" They turned to see a group of three adults, two women and one man, approaching them.