Koete ↠ Sokka

Chapter 4: The Cave - Part 2

In the forest, Charlie remained under a tree, one leg sprawled in front of her, and the other bent to prop up her elbow. She needed a breather after arguing with Sokka again. She expected Aang or Katara to show up and apologise for him with a lame excuse about being stressed and that she should forgive him. Only, Charlie knew that it wouldn't be true. At this point in the tv show, Sokka had already cleaned up a good deal of his act regarding misogyny, and his contempt towards Aang pretty much disappeared after the second episode. She knew he had no real reason to be acting the way he did, and was smart enough to conclude that it was simply her presence that was setting him off.

After hearing footsteps heading in her direction, she looked over with curiosity, but her eyes fell flat when she saw Sokka push his way past a tree branch towards her, his club in hand. "What now, Sokka? Making sure I don't pick berries wrong?" she deadpanned, letting her cheek rest against her hand.

"Well, I was coming to make sure you were okay, but you seem fine to me." Charlie raised an eyebrow at him, noticing the slight contempt in his voice. "So you can just keep sitting there, enjoying the weather under your little tree, and I'll go get the food," he said in a childishly demeaning tone. He waved his hand behind him as he strolled over to the mouth of a small cave nearby.

"You're kidding right? You're acting like an asshole," Charlie spoke up, scrambling to stand up and follow him into the dark cavern.

Sokka flung around to face her, causing a hesitation in her step. She stood under the mouth of the cave. "What did you just call me?"

"An asshole, Shark Boy. Do you know what that means?"

"Of course I know what it means!"

"Then why'd you ask?" Sokka didn't answer her question, instead turning on his heels to walk further into the cave. "Real mature," she drowned out. "I'm just trying to work out what your problem with me is."

"Don't act so innocent about it," he demanded, heading deeper into the cave. "Ever since you got here, you've been challenging every word I say! And on top of that, we've had to teach you how to do everything and you still don't get it right."

"Teach me? You haven't taught me anything, you just yell at me every time I do something wrong." Charlie walked further into the cave after him.

"Who doesn't know how to read a map? Or collect firewood?"

"I told you already, we don't do that stuff where I'm from."

"And where would that be, Charlie?" Her breath hitched. Usually, Aang or Katara would be on the side lines, mediating their arguments so they wouldn't spiral out of hand, but they weren't here this time, and Sokka continued, completely unfiltered. "You haven't actually told us anything about yourself. Sure, Aang and Katara trust you—and you've had some lucky shots with your guesses—but fortune tellers aren't real."

As if on cue, there was a rumble that echoed throughout the cave before Charlie had a chance to respond. "What was that?" Charlie asked, her voice low, looking upwards at the curved roof of the cave despairingly.

Sokka turned towards her, his face dropping when he saw Charlie in clear distress. She looked at the mouth of the cave, which now stood a good fifteen yards away from them both. Another rumble shook the ground, making Charlie crouch down in attempts to regain balance, and Sokka to stumble as dirt came loose from the ceiling, falling downwards on top of them. She heard Sokka take a sharp breath. "It's a landslide! Run!"

He wasted no more time before bolting to the opening. Charlie followed behind him with wide eyes, her heart pounding in her throat. Rocks started to pile at the entrance, the arch closing more and more with each step they took. Sokka was only a foot or so from the exit when a stalactite fell in front of him, almost scraping his nose as it pierced the earth, trapping them in. The cave went black immediately. Charlie accidentally slammed into his back as Sokka stood silently, unable to slow down in time to stop. They both hit the wall which shut them in before falling to the ground with a groan.