𝑭𝑳𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 3)

The Painted Lady

Tis' unreasonably long but we're going wit it my dudes

Wrinkling her nose, Jade glanced around at the murky water surrounding them. She felt bad enough that Appa had to swim through it, but she didn't understand how Aang wasn't feeling the same disgust that she was. He was choosing to swim underneath the surface of the dirty, thick brown sludge, popping his head up every once in a while to call to the lemur flying around above their heads.

"Momo!"

When Momo flew in Aang's direction, the Avatar ducked back down under the water -- if it could even be called water. That left Momo to look around in confusion. Grinning, Aang popped up behind him again

"Oh, Momo!" He ducked once more as Momo turned and flew in that direction. Then he resurfaced, about to call out once more when Momo landed on his shoulder. Aang laughed and rubbed Momo's head. "You found me, buddy."

The lemur flew up to settle in Jade's lap with Miko. Aang used his airbending to join his friends in the saddle. He stood and watched as the greenish-brown sludge dripped off of him and onto the saddle.

"Hey guys, I think this river's polluted."

Jade tilted her head. "Whatever would give you that idea?"

After sticking his tongue out at her, he slammed one fist against his palm and blew all the sludge off of him with a gust of air. He ended up transferring it from himself to his friends. Jade shouldn't have been surprised; it wasn't the first time that he has accidentally soaked or dirtied his friends in an attempt to clean himself.

The four of them yelped. With her face and hair covered in sludge, Toph stuck her tongue out to taste it. She ended up coughing and spitting. Aang used another gust of air to rid them of the sludge as well.

Trying to smooth down her now frizzy hair, Jade smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"Well, that explains why I can't catch a fish around here." With a fishing pole in his hands, Sokka smiled from the back of Appa's saddle. "Because normally my fishing skills are...off the hook!" He held up the empty fishing hook as Aang sat down next to Jade. Everyone stared blankly. "Get it? Like a fishing hook?"

"Too bad your skills aren't on the hook." Toph smirked. The four of them burst into laughter, but Sokka only scowled.

Katara turned to the river. "It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food." She turned back to watch as her brother rolled out a scroll that stretched over nearly the entire saddle. "Assuming that'll fit into Sokka's master schedule."

He eyed the scroll, humming in thought. "It's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today!"

Aang stood up and pointed ahead. "Hey, maybe we can get some food there." They followed his gaze to a small village in the middle of the river.

~

The campsite they chose was on an area of land not too far from the village. With his saddle removed, Appa lowered himself on the ground. Aang jumped over and covered him with a blanket of grass. The only hitch was the fact that his horns poked right through.

"Now you look just like a little hill with horns." The Avatar smiled. "Bye, buddy!"

Appa growled. Momo and Miko poked their heads out from under their own smaller blankets of grass close by. Aang jogged up to join the rest of the group as they walked over to a cliff overlooking the village. The village itself seemed to be set up on docks in the very middle of the polluted river.

"I don't feel anything." Toph stated. "Where is this village?"

"It's in the middle of the river!" Sokka pointed.