Chapter 18- Fast Learner And Pirates

Morning arrives, and you watched as Aang was pacing around on Appa's saddle, breathing heavily.
"Would you sit down? If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off. What's bugging you anyway?" Sokka asked as he was leading Appa.
"It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives," He said in slight panic.

"Well, let's see. You pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer," Sokka said sarcastically.
"I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole. What am I gonna do?" He said a little scared.

"Air boy, you need to take a deep breath and calm down." You told him as you pulled him down to sit. He did what he was told and calmed down.
"Hey! If you want, I can try to teach you some of the stuff I know," Katara suggested with a smile.
"Really?" He asked hopefully.

"We'll need to find a good source of water first." She said, looking off the saddle to look for water.
"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in." Sokka said with an amused smile, making you snort at his suggestion.

"Hey, over there!"

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"Nice puddle," The water tribe boy deadpan as you all stood in front of a waterfall. Appa then jumped into the water, almost causing Twig and Momo to fall into the water.
"Yeah! Don't start without me, boy!" Aang shouted excitedly as he got into his underwear, about to jump in too.

"Remember the reason we're here," Katara said with her arms crossed. You laughed at the scene in front of you as you took off your shoes and rolled your pants up to stick your legs in the water.
"Great. So what am I supposed to do?" You heard Sokka asked.

"You could, clean the gunk out of Appa's toes." Appa said, giving him a branch with leaves.
"So, while you guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?" Sokka asked a little salty.

You sighed and got your legs out of the water.
"Come on Boomerang, let's do it together," You smiled grabbing his hand. He said nothing as you walked over to Appa, holding the branch.

"You do front, I do back," You told him as you climbed on top of the bison. You two began to clean his paws, scrubbing hard.
"Yeah, don't get too happy. You've got to do me next," Sokka grumbled as you snorted.

Suddenly, a huge wave hits you and Sokka, making you fall in the water.
"What happened?" You said as you combed on top of Appa.
"That's enough practicing for today," Katara said, but you can hear anger in her voice, making you wonder what happened.

"I'll say! You just "practiced" our supplies down the river." Sokka groaned as you saw the supplies float down the river.
"That's a bummer," You shrugged laying on Appa's back.
"Sorry, I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff," Aang said with a smile.

"My life was hard enough when you were just an airbender." He sighed as he sunk back into the water.

"Maybe there's a village nearby,"

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You four walked through the streets of a village you found as Twig chirped at you. You noticed armed men staring down at you four, making you look away and push your friends away from the men.
"We've got exactly three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi gave us. Let's spend it wisely." Sokka told you as you leaned against a wall.

"Uh, make that two copper pieces, Sokka. I couldn't say no to this whistle!" Aang happily said holding a bison shaped bison.
"Aww, cute," You smiled, making Aang blush a little. He blew it, but nothing came out.
"It doesn't even work," Sokka deadpanned and blew it too, making Momo and Twig squeak in discomfort.

"See? Even Momo and Twig thinks it's a piece of junk," He shrugged and gave it back to the Avatar.
"No offense Aang, but I'll hold the money from now on," Katara said as Aang sadly gave the bad to her. You patted him on the back as you kept walking again.

You and the gaang walked near a dock with people outside their ships.
"Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by!" A man yelled, and walked up to you.
"Oh! You there, I can see from your clothing that you're world-traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?" He asked with a wink.

"Sure! What are curios?" Aang said while tilting his head.
"I'm not entirely sure. But we got 'em!" The man smiled as he led the way into his ship. You looked at the others, shrugged, and walked with them.

You looked around at the man's collectibles, with strange and weird items.
"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur. That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering." A man said with a iguana parrot on his shoulder.

"Momo' s not for sale," Aang said sternly, walking away.
"How about you young lady? That Tiger Monkey is great for tricks, and for meat," He grinned. Twig hissed at the man as you shook your head.
"Over my dead body," You growled, walking over to Katara, who was holding a scroll.

"Look at this. It's a waterbending scroll!" She said with excitement.
"Check out those movements," You commented, pointing at the drawings on it.
"Where did you get a waterbending scroll?" Aang asked the merchant.
"Let's just say I got it up North, at a most reasonable price, free." He said as he slammed his hand against the scroll, putting it back.

"Wait a minute ... Sea loving traders, with suspiciously acquired merchandise, and pet reptile birds? You guys are pirates!" Sokka realized and yelled.
"We prefer to think of ourselves as 'high risk traders.'," The pirate grinned.
"So, how much for the, uh, traded scroll?" Katara asked holding the coins.

"I've already got a buyer, a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom. Unless of course, you kids have two hundred gold pieces on you right now." The pirate leader said setting his elbow on the desk. You winced at the mention of the price and shook your head.

"Welp, that's that," You shrugged, then Aang huddled with you guys.
"I know how to deal with these guys, Katara. Pirates love to haggle. Watch and learn." Aang grinned as Katara gave him the coins.
"Let's say to the price of, one copper piece!" Aang gave him the coins, but the pirate laughed.

"The price is two hundred gold pieces. I don't haggle on items this rare." The pirate said.
"Okay, two copper pieces!" Aang said, still with confidence.
"It's not as amusing the second time, boy!" The pirate growled.

"Aang, can we get out of here? I feel like we're getting weird looks," Katara said while holding her arms.
"No use Air boy, I tried haggling with pirates before. They're so stubborn," You told the boy as you glared at the pirate leader.

"Aye, we be casting off now," You all left eh ship in a hurry as Twig nuzzled against your face.
"What was that Katara?" Aang asked a little confused.
"Yeah, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection." Sokka whined.

"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here." Katara said looking at the ship. You noticed her movements and strange behavior, making you realize something.
'No way. Did water girl... stole the scroll?!' Just then, there was a shout.

"Hey you! Get back here!"