fire & lightning

chapter seventeen

       "Hey, you guys picked a great campsite. The grass is so soft." Toph admitted as she stomped around.

"That's not grass, Appa is shedding." I corrected her.

"It's gross." Katara gagged.

"It's not gross! It's just a part of spring." Aang retorted, petting Momo. "Plus, Appa gets a new coat."

"Ah, the beauty of spring." Sokka let out a sarcastic comment.

Appa sneezed, his fur flying all over the place, making Katara cough as she accidentally inhaled some bits.

"Appa, stop!"

"It's not that bad, Katara. It makes a great wig!" Sokka molded Appa's sheddings onto his head, shaping it like a hat.

"And a great beard!" Aang joined in on the fun, making fake facial hair out of the fur. I laughed at them, being entertained by the new costumes.

"I'm just glad we have two other girls in the group because you two, are disgusting." Katara brushed all the fur off of her dress.

"Excuse me, does anyone have a razor?" Toph came up from behind Aang and Sokka. "Because, I have some hairy pits!" She lifted her arms up, revealing all of Appa's fur in her armpits.

Katara finally gave in and chuckled, finding it funny.

"It's late, we should set up camp." I suggested, taking my things from Appa's saddle.

Katara fetched some water for everyone's thirst, Aang and Sokka were setting up the tents, Momo was gathering some berries from a nearby bush, and I was assigned to brush Appa a bit before we all went to bed, not that i minded. However, Toph was laying around and watching everyone do their tasks. By the look on Katara's face, she wasn't happy with the eartbender.

"Toph, usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work." Katara approached her. I stopped grooming Appa to watch the scene.

"Don't worry about me, i'm good to go." Toph simply replied as she chewed on a piece of wheat.

"Actually, what i'm trying to say is, some of us might fetch water, while someone else sets up the fire pit. Even Momo does his fair share." Momo flew towards Katara and dropped some berries into her hand.

"Katara, i'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, i've got my own food, and look," Toph built shelter around herself by eartbending. "My tent is already set up."

"Well, great for you, but we need to finish-."

"I don't understand, what's the problem here?" Toph interrupted.

"Whatever, never mind." Katara walked away from Toph and approached me, where I was still by Appa.

"You saw that?" She questioned.

"I did."

"I don't believe it, why won't she help us out?" Katara complained.

"Hey, she's new around here. I'm sure she just needs time to herself for a while. Things will change." I calmed Katara, giving her some advice.

"You're right, maybe I should apologize." Katara left me alone with Appa and walked up to Toph again.

"Toph, I'm sorry about earlier. I think we're all just a little tired and getting on each other's nerves." Katara apologized, hoping to clear things out with Toph.

"Yeah, you seem pretty tired." Toph took a sip of her water.

"I meant all of us." Katara barked, unhappy with Toph once again. I could understand where she was coming from, but I didn't want anyone to fight.