Sokka studied the map that they had brought with them in their travels, alternating between scrutinizing the landscape beneath them and pouring over the details in the map. Finally he came to his conclusion, "You have no idea where you are going, do you?" Sokka looked around at the others. Ranma was sitting at the back with Sokka on one side and Shampoo on the other. Cologne was sitting next to Katara as Katara did some mending. Aang was sitting upon Appa's head holding the reigns.
"Weeeellll, I know that it's near water..." Aang said.
Ranma looked down to see what they were flying over. "Well, judging from the view, we must be getting closer." Ranma said as he looked up. Aang turned to look at Katara, while Momo did the same from the safety of Aang's left shoulder.
"Momo, marble please!" Momo dove into Aang's shirt and pulled out a marble which he gave to Aang. Cupping his hands over the marble, Aang smiled and called out, "Hey Katara, check out this cool air bending trick.", as he lifted his hands up. The marble began to spin in mid-air as it floated in the middle of Aang's hands, not touching them. Ever eager to use his airbending, Aang grinned happily at Katara. Surprised Ranma and Shampoo look up at amazement at the floating marble, even Cologne smiled as she watched from her seat.
However, Katara was too busy working on her mending to look at Aang. Without even paying attention, she replied, "That's great, Aang."
Cologne noticed Aang’s look of dejection form hearing the off hand response of the young waterbending girl. "You didn't even look.” he said, pouting.
'So this young boy has a crush on the waterbending girl.' Cologne watch as Katara turned to watch Aang... who had by now stopped doing his trick. 'It should help him train if I use it right. If the two older teens are right, he will need to become well trained to stop this war that we have become entangled in.'
Looking from over his map Sokka lazily said “Aang, don’t you know that women need to take their time when they’re doing their sewing and stuff?” That got the attention of his sister and the two Amazons. Each held a look of annoyance and anger on their faces. Katara was about to speak up when Cologne beat her to it. "Perhaps you can explain what being female has to do with being able to sew?"
"Simple, girls are better at fixing pants than guys. And guys are better at hunting, fighting and things like that. It's the natural order of things." Sokka said, with his eyes closed and laying back, thus completely missing the reaction of the women.
Katara smiled with an evil grin. "All done with your pants! And look at what a great job I did!!" She said as she tossed the pants to Sokka, a glare on her face. They landed in a heap on his head.
"Wait!! I..I was just kidding! I can't wear these!" Sokka said as he stuck his arm through a hole in the butt of the pants. "Katara, Please!"
Shampoo turned to look at Sokka, a dark look on her eyes. Sokka was feeling a little nervous at that glare. "Perhaps you need to be taught that girls can do anything that boys can do, like beating a certain male to an inch of his life."
"You’d better apologize if you know what’s good for you. I have seen Shampoo teach that kind of lesson." Ranma said, looking a little uneasy. He still had his sexist streak that he had learnt from his father, but with the women that he had to deal with, he was learning to be more open minded.
"We're here!" Aang said excitedly as they arrived at a beach on an island.
Moments later...
The six of them stood on the sands of an island beach. Snow capped mountains rose in the distance. It was a breath taking image. "We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" Sokka asked, trying to keep everyone on task.
The rest of the group agreed with Sokka, but Cologne was trying to get a grasp on Aang from his behavior. 'He is supposed to be the most powerful person on the planet. From Katara's description, he is the incarnation of the spirit of the planet, yet he is very childlike in his behavior.' She watched him point to what looked like giant koi or ‘Elephant Koi as Aang said. Stripping, he headed to the water to ride the large fish.
The teens were interested in the fact that Aang was riding the large fish. To Cologne it looked like the windsurfing that she had seen on the television in her home universe. She noticed that Aang was trying to get the attention of Katara.
'The male displays in front of the female, trying to get her attention.' Cologne thought, Katara on the other hand headed to look after Appa. 'And is shot down.' It was then that Cologne noticed that she was being watched. They all were. She looked over at Ranma, who nodded when she looked at him. Walking over to Ranma and Shampoo she whispered discreetly.
" I take it that the two of you have noticed our admirers."
"What should we do old ghoul?" Ranma asked.
Meanwhile...
Sokka noticed a shadow beneath the waves following the Elephant Koi. Yelling out, "Aang, there's something in the water!!" The shadow moved closer to the koi that Aang was riding. The three martial artists took note as Katara came running up to her brother.
"What's wrong?" Katara asked.
"It looks like Aang is in trouble." Ranma said, before yelling Aang's name. The rest of the group started to yell and scream to Aang, but Aang didn't seem to notice as he rode the Elephant Koi only to be bucked off a moment later. Floating in the water, he turned and screamed as he noticed the giant fin heading straight towards him!
Quickly jumping out of the water Aang bent the currents of air above the water and pushed himself forward. Creating cushions of air beneath his feet he sprinted over the water towards the shore looking back only to see if his mysterious pursuer was still following. Panic seized him as he saw a fin the size of a small hut gaining on him, adrenaline pushing him faster towards the safety of the shore.
Hitting the shore at a personal best, Aang realized a slight problem with his current speed and mode of transportation. “I can’t stop!” Only after running into Sokka, knocking the Water tribesman into the air and then hitting a tree did Aang stop. The fin seeing it’s meal escape turned and headed out for deeper water.
The rest of the group headed into the tree line where they saw Aang dressing and Sokka dusting himself off.
"What was that?" Ranma asked, curious about the creature that he had just saw. Nodding silently to Cologne they knew that this would be the best time for an ambush. Their plans would soon have to be called into action.
"I don't know." Aang replied, looking at the group.
"Let's not stick around to find out, time to hit the road again." Sokka said just as the group of warriors dropped in from above.
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(Posted Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:41)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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