Flow [Sokka - Book Two]

⚝Chapter Eight⚝

Konno had always been an early riser. Whenever the sun had peeked through her window back home, she would wake up and get a start on the day. She mostly based her days around the sun, and she would go to bed when it got dark. However, she usually wouldn't fall asleep until a few hours after sundown. It seemed like the rest of the group had the same ideas. They just didn't wake up as early as she did.

Sitting up, she glanced around at the group. They all were still in the stages of sleep. Katara laid next to her, curled up in her sleeping bag. Her dark hair spilled out around her, almost mixing with Konno's hair. Aang slept on Appa, while Sokka slept off to the side, farther down from the two girls. 

Birds chirped around them, and a sweet breeze blew the leaves on the branches above her. The sunlight burned orange as it beat down on them. It had risen slowly an hour ago, and she had been awake since. Her mind wouldn't stop whirring as she thought about staying with the group. She hadn't really asked if she could travel with them. She just assumed that they would allow her to go along with them. However, she felt awkward to just stay there without saying anything. Besides, she still had places to go for Navrek. He had wanted to go to many different places, and she wanted to honor that.

Konno thought about the tornado that brought them to her. Did Yue really do that? Or did she just assume it was Yue without taking the time to really think about it? Yue didn't have that ability to induce a tornado. Right? She couldn't have sent them with that tornado. Konno refused to believe that.

Momo caught her eye as he tiptoed over to Sokka's sleeping body. He looked so peaceful and handsome in the soft sunlight. His mouth hung slightly open every time he took in a breath, and Momo reached his hand into his mouth.

"What are you doing in my mouth?" Sokka said with a start, spitting and startled. He sat up and glanced at Momo. Konno diverted her gaze so he wouldn't know she was looking at him. "Momo, you need to be a little more sensitive to my boundaries."

Konno hated how her heart seemed to have a race whenever she looked at Sokka. Her old feelings for him had somehow returned, and now a small part of her kept thinking that Yue was out of the way and she could start to pursue him. However, she felt like she was cheating on Navrek because she was still technically - in her mind - engaged to him. And she felt bad because Sokka had spent most of his time chasing after Yue, not her. He probably didn't feel the same way she did about him anyway.

Suddenly, galloping sounds echoed through the area. Konno looked around, trying to find whatever was making that noise. She noticed that Aang woke up and was sitting on Appa, looking around as well. A loud thud alerted her that someone had found them. 

Konno let out a gasp when she saw the war rhinoceros. She had read about those animals before but had never actually seen them in real life. A man was on top of the rhino. "Guys!" Konno said, hopping up. "Get up! We have company!"

Katara woke up with a start. She crawled out of her sleeping bag just as another Fire Nation soldier emerged from the bush. He wore a nose ring and a short sleeve uniform. "Give up!" he shouted. "You're completely surrounded!"

Four rhinos circled them. Konno suddenly wished she hadn't joined them. So far, they had been attacked by two different groups of people in about three days. If she stayed with them for longer, she was afraid that they would get into more trouble than they already were in. 

Her eyes widened when she saw a Fire Nation archer with three flaming arrows on his bow. He let the arrows loose, and they pinned Sokka's sleeping bag to the ground. However, she didn't have time to help him. She ran up Appa's tail to safety. 

"Come on, come on, come on!" Sokka yelled at Katara.

However, Katara stopped running. She glanced at a tree stump behind her and yelled, "My scrolls!"