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chapter xvii

Word Count: 3, 433 words

CHAPTER XVII: 不作不死

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A few days passed after, they were headed there way to a nearby earth kingdom village to find a master to teach Aang and Natsuko which they most certainly had no luck finding yet. The Avatar expressed his visions about a flying boar and a girl he had never met and was hoping that she had to do with the earthbending training he needs.

"You should get it, you deserve something nice."

It would've been better and faster to find a master if they didn't realize how they spent at least an hour with the dilemma Sokka got himself into. He saw a bag in a tradition of the Earth Kingdom colors, green and yellow and the coin shaped symbols that is seen literally everywhere. Even if Katara is persuading him to buy it while the two airbenders were ready to leave after a minute with the bag, "It might get lost just like how you almost lost your boomerang."

"You're right." she loved antagonizing in Sokka's life, "And it's too expensive, I shouldn't."

"Then don't." they got up to leave and Natsuko told Sokka, "You know, the color makes you stand out more."

"I'll take it." Natsuko laughed and stopped herself while Aang and Katara looked at her.

"Psst, psst." a scrawny looking man went up to them as if he was trying to sell something not kid friendly and illegal to them, "You kids like earthbending? You like, throwing rocks?"

He handed them a flyer to Master Yu Dao's earthbending academy with a coupon attached to the back and the first lesson is for free, "Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for."

"Too bad it's only for one person, you take it boy." Natsuko gave Aang a smile who was confused with her decision, "Aren't you supposed to be the one to see if he's the master for me?"

"I'm not the one who needs to learn all elements right now, boy. You be the judge yourself."

And right on cue, Sokka came into the conversation with the bag, "You know, Sokka, green is not your color."

Sokka's jaw dropped, "Green brings out my eyes."

The two girls just shrugged and head towards the academy while Natsuko has been psst by another person who looked at her funnily, "You interested in brawls? Maybe make some money just by walking with that pretty smile of yours?"

She just stared at the man who tried to sling an arm around her, "Touch me again and you won't have an arm to touch with."

What's with all these scrawny looking men trying to talk and give them deals about most probably illegal stuff? They were (physically) underaged, not stupid.

He easily retracted and held both of his hands but had a smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes and ran for Katara and Sokka, who had Aang dressed in a uniform and enrolled him for a free lesson and was definitely not interested in what the man had to offer. After a while, Aang got out of the academy, shaking his head in the thought of the teacher who just told Aang that if he paid for the whole year in advance he would let him skip a level, "Eh, he's not the one."

"I think the boulder's gonna win back the belt at Earth Rumble 6."

"He's gonna fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ."

Aang was listening to the two teenagers talk about where the place was, who responded with a witty joke that only Sokka appreciated before Katara went to apprehend them, in a way a girl talks to other boys, "What was I thinking? I don't need a new bag. Why'd you let me buy this?"