𝖑𝖔𝖙𝖚𝖘 𝖙𝖊𝖆 - 𝖆𝖙𝖑𝖆

1.3

[1.3]

The Chase

The air was warm and filled with little birds.

After picking some flower seeds from their last stop, Ren let them fall all over her hair, making the birds sit on her head and eat at the seeds, making the girl laugh like a small child as it tickled. She jumped off Appa, as she found out the sky bison was called, and landed on the soft fur that the animal was shedding.

She was quite tired after their trip, and the twilight hue casted by the sun as it set didn't help her sleepy form. The girl placed her hand over her mouth as she yawned, muttering a small sorry once her mouth was closed again. Katara started coughing as Appa sneezed and shed more fur, but Sokka saw the white shedding as an opportunity to have fun. He put it all over his head, making a wig, making Ren laugh from besides the young water bender. Aang joined too, with Appa's shedding around his face like a beard.

"I'm just glad we finally have another girl in the group because you two are disgusting," stated Katara bluntly.

But Toph only walked in between the boys and raised her hands, revealing her hairy armpits filled with Appa's white fur. Ren started laughing like she never did before at the sight of her new friends and sister having fun, and Katara followed too. The young girl brough a hand to her head and let the small bird that was picking on the seeds from her hair jump in her finger before bringing it down and starting to pet it.

The sun continued to set, and the five started setting camp. Ren was in her small corner, arranging the small cover she had stuffed in her bag on the ground. She didn't want to sleep in a tent, too excited to watch the stars before falling asleep. Ren saw Katara approach her sister, who was chilling on the ground, but she didn't go towards them, thinking they were just bonding up.

With a smile, the young girl sat on her cover and glanced up at the sky, where the stars finally started to appear. A few minutes passed and Katara walked to her tent, which was only a few feet away from Ren. The girl looked at the Beifong sister confused at her smile and asked, "what got you so happy?"

Ren only looked at Katara for a second before directing her eyes back to the sky. "my parents never let me stargaze before," she said, her excitement radiating off her like she was a child, "I leaned all constellations from a book. Now I finally have time to really observe them."

The waterbender smiled warmly at the girl. "I'll let you do your thing then," she said before entering her tent, leaving Ren in silence.

The girl didn't fall asleep. She gazed at the stars for a long time. Sometimes, she would bring her hands up, tracing with her index finger the constellation she recognized. However, when Toph started moving in her makeshift earth tent, the girl frowned and propped herself on her elbows.

"there's something coming towards us!" shouted the girl, making Ren's eyes widen.

"What is it?" asked Aang as Ren took the katana she placed by her cover.

"It feels like an avalanche, but also not like an avalanche," explained Toph, only confusing the group more.

"Your powers of perception are frightening," muttered Sokka with a sleepy yawn.

"Should we leave?" asked Katara, making both Ren and Aang nod.

"better safe than sorry."

The five quickly brough down their campsite and jumped in Appa's saddle. Ren's childish happiness had disappeared, replaced with a dryness and grumpiness that Aang, Katara and Sokka didn't experience before. The fact that she didn't even get one drop of sleep didn't help, and she felt herself become irritated more and more.