The Trouble With Tag-a-longs... (KrissKrass & SeverusX)

[KrissKrass]

All things must come to an end. It was something that Tora has read in a book once. Sometime during her early schooling years before she was taken out of school to work in the fields. She can't tell you what book because she doesn't remember, the name escapes her even now. Tora wheels the old cart back towards her home. It's mostly empty at this point, a good day for a sale. Tora is happy. A good sale day means more food on the table, means that her brother can continue going to school.


And that made Tora happy. Her house isn't but right outside of her little village, Tora comes up the forest path from the city that's about two hours away. And that's when she sees it. Smoke. It's not normal smoke. Tora knows what normal smoke is--normal smoke is what comes from the chimney as her mother cooks dinner or her father burns fire wood. This is plumes of billowing gray smoke that make Tora drop her cart and dash towards her home.


Outside there's more than a few dozen people. Buckets of water are being thrown at the fire and Tora's eyes widen. Her home. It's up in flames. "No!" She runs towards the house, only to be grabbed at the last possible second.


"Tora!" She looks up, it's the man who owns the meat shop. His eyes have relief in them, but Tora wonders frantically how he can be relieved in this situation. "Thank goodness!"


"Where are my parents? My brother?" Tora yells at the man, trying to fight her way out of his grip. He's stronger and it proves harder to do.


"They're..." He trails. Tears blur Tora's vision, she can't help but sag in the man's arms. Maybe if she was a little faster, she could've... what could she have done? A fire-bender? They were illegal in this country. Her family would've been killed or thrown in prison. But that would've been better than... this.


After the fire's been extinguished and the rescue crew has come and gone, the butcher leans against the tree, watching Tora as she stares blankly at her home. What would she do now?


--


Appa landed in a rather small Earth Kingdom town. It was just a faint little blip on their map and honestly, Sokka didn't want to be here. They had things to do. Stuff to accomplish. A war to finish! Grumbling, the water-tribe boy slid down the side of the furry beast as Aang patted Appa on the cheek. "We'll bring ya back somethin', boy!" Aang says cheerily as Toph smacks him on the back, walking past him.


"Toph, you don't have to be so rough." Katara glares at the girl, knowing she can't see it. Toph only turns slightly, sticking out her tongue in Katara's general direction. Katara scoffs and the group makes their way towards the little town. There isn't much in it, just a few shops and stalls with nothing of value to the group, but one particular thing strikes their fancy. A restaurant. It's only a few yards from where they stand but the smell coming from it is enough to draw their attention.


Katara's stomach rumbles. "Real food!" Aang cheers, "Oh, all we've been eating is berries in the woods!" Without waiting, Sokka and Aang run towards the resturant, Katara yelling after them.


The inside of the restaurant leaves much to be desired. Katara thinks it's tacky, Toph can't see it, Aang says it has character and Sokka just wants to eat already. It doesn't take long before they're seated at a table and browsing the menu.


@SeverusX

 

[Artificial Sugar]

Hoizu absolutely hated mornings. She would sleep all day if she could, since she stayed up all night, but Miyu had other plans. Miyu was the woman who Hoizu lived with and worked for currently. She'd been good friends with Hoizu's parents, and had been happy to take Hoizu in. The key words were "had been". Miyu had soon realized that Hoizu wasn't a delightful person. In fact, the only reason Hoizu hadn't been fired and thrown out was because of the guilt Miyu felt over not being there to help Hoizu's parents. Any time Miyu mentioned firing her or anything, all Hoizu had to do was say something along the lines of "What would my parents think, Miyu?" With a sad puppydog face, and the argument was over before it even began.


As the morning light came in through Hoizu's window, she sighed angrily and turned away, only to be blinded by the window on the other side of the room. After Hoizu had burned down her curtains not once, or even twice, but three times, Miyu had simply told her that curtains were banned from her room. It also helped her get up in the mornings, but not happily. Hoizu was always grumpy when she woke up early, and it didn't help to be woken up by sunlight. She didn't particularly hate sunshine or anything- she wasn't, like, a weirdo. But she didn't appreciate it being in her eyes as soon as she opened them.


Sighing, Hoizu sat up in bed, crossing her arms and letting out a frustrated groan. "Sunlight is the worst thing ever." She mumbled to herself as she stood, stretching, feeling far too tired for comfort. She knew that Miyu was probably already already up and chipper as ever. She'd probably even make herself breakfast. She refused to cook for Hoizu, though, stating that she was old enough to cook for herself. Hoizu generally just lit things on fire and ate them, even if they were a little charred. It was something to eat, better than anything cold. As a Fire Bender, she didn't really care about burning things. Like her curtains.


Grumbling as she made her way to her bathroom, Hoizu stripped and turned on the hot water after lighting the coals under the bath with a quick impatient wave of her hand. Stepping into the hot water, Hoizu glared at the wall, feeling like if she glared enough it might just make her feel better. After washing her hair and body quickly, she got out and let the tub drain before drying off. Drying her hair just enough to make sure it wasn't dripping, Hoizu brushed it with her fingers. It was short enough that it didn't really need to be brushed, and she didn't really care much either. "Ugh." She stuck her tongue out at the mirror as she left, slipping into her sandles on the way downstairs.


"Miyuuu!" Hoizu called out loudly as she stomped down the stairs. Miyu popped her head out, wearing her work uniform. "Ugh, Hoizu! Why don't you ever wear the uniform?" She asked, voice weary. Hoizu shrugged, yawning loudly as she made her way towards Miyu, who handed her an apron. "At least wear this?" She asked, smiling, hopeful. Hoizu looked at the apron and smiled, grabbing it and throwing it to the side. "Nah." She said, walking past Miyu and into the shop, which was already beginning to fill with customers.


Spotting a group of people enter, Hoizu was planning on ignoring them, honestly, but Miyu came up behind her and gave her a little push, handing her a pen and paper. Hoizu sighed and walked over to them, hand on her hip. "Follow me." She said, voice bored as she led them to a table in the corner. Taking out the paper and pen, Hoizu looked at the group, bored, before she noticed a tan boy with large blue eyes. Laughing loudly, she pointed at him. "Yo, what's up with your hair?" She asked, clutching her sides as she laughed.

​

Jet had been planning this for a while now. He wanted to steal some food and a few coins to get himself and Longshot through the next few weeks. They were leaving town, so he figured why not take something on the way out? They'd been planning it for more than a week, and had learned of the shop and all it's workers, as well as all the entrances and exits. Smellerbee wasn't with them anymore, but they were on their way to find her. She'd been missing for about a month now, but they were following what they thought might be her trail.


Crouched outside of the shop, Jet watched the workers inside until it began to grow dark, and they all left one by one. Only one worker remained, and she was the laziest of the group. She usually stayed at the counter, not bothering to check on anything else. Turning as he heard someone approach, Jet nodded to Longshot. Standing, Jet began to sneak around the back, quiet as he opened the side door. Entering the building, he made his way to the pantry area and opened the sack he had with him, stuffing food inside.


Hearing a loud thump, he knew that Longshot had begun his distraction so that Jet could get into the money kept at the counter. As he heard the woman stomping through the store, Jet snuck into the front room, relieved to see that she was gone. Moving quickly, Jet found the cash box and took it all, dumping it into the bag. Slipping back to the pantry and out the side door, he ran around the building down an alley, and to the gate of the town. Long Shot came into view soon after, and Jet let out a laugh.


For the next few hours, they traveled quietly, stopping once to eat before continuing on. When they reached the next town, they decided to stay for a night, and found a small inn to rent a room at. A fire had occurred there recently, as they passed a burnt down home. Jet wondered if it was Fire Benders. Shaking his head, he hurried on, not wanting to get involved. He couldn't afford to.

 

[KrissKrass]

It was when the butcher's wife had arrived with blankets did Tora actually move. She approached her burnt home and looked inside. The door had been singed off and disintegrated into dust. The walls were nothing more than burnt remains and all in all, it was a wreck of crap. Tora only continued onward as the butcher and his wife watched. They didn't make a move to join her, nor did they say anything. Tora touched the half-walls as she walked around. Their house wasn't much. Just a little three room thing. They were lucky enough to have even gotten something like that. There were bodies--singed remains of them wrapped in white sheets to be taken at a later time, yes, but still bodies. Two long ones and--wait. Tora paused. Only two bodies?


"Butcher!" Tora whipped around, running through her 'house' and out towards him. "There...." He raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to finish speaking, "There's only two bodies! Where's my brother?" The butcher and his wife exchange glances.


"I hadn't seen him today. I assumed he was home but then..." He strokes his chin, "Where has he gone?"


"That means..." Despite the situation, Tora's eyes and voice swell with hope, "That means there's a possibility.... that he's alive! My brother! He could be alive!"


"Yes, that's true." The wife speaks, "But dear, don't you--"


"And if he's alive and he's not here..." Tora turns, pacing, "That means... something happened to him." She paces a little longer before she stops, startling the wife. "That means I have to go find him!"


"What?! Tora, no, you can't." The wife shakes her head vigorously. "Your parents just died--"


"But my brother might still be alive!" Tora tells her, "Don't you see? If my brother's alive! If he's alive, then there will be two of us! And I can prove that this wasn't just a random fire! I need to leave, immediately!" The butcher and his wife exchanged looks, knowing that Tora was set on this already. And they knew that they wouldn't be able to stop her.


"I... I'll prepare you a bag." The wife replied. Tora looked back at her home, picturing it just as it was that morning. The difference was shocking and it hurt, but Tora couldn't let that hurt keep her from maybe finding her brother.


--


They'd been seated for a while. The place was semi-packed and every time they tried to hail a waitress, all they received was a "someone will be with you soon!" and were once again pushed back because they were a younger group and it seemed as if they didn't have much money--which wasn't true! They had money, Toph was loaded and she brought some of that with her. Now they had money, enough to cover this meal and anything extra should they need it. "This is so... ugh!" Katara crossed her arms, a heavy pout on her lips as Aang began playing with the menu, making it rise slightly with air. "We've been here at least twenty minutes and--Aang, don't do that--nobody's even brought us glasses of water!" She seethed, tapping her fingers against the table.


"It's busy in here, Katara." Aang tried to calm her down, though largely it wasn't working. Katara still silently fumed and Aang had decided not to mess with that, because he'd rather her blow up at someone that wasn't him. "What're you guys gonna get?" He decided to change the topic, though he already knew what Toph and Sokka would be getting. They'd blow right past anything with leaves or greens in it-well, Sokka did, Toph just demanded to be read the 'Meat Section' of the menu.


It was then in that moment that their waitress finally showed up. She talked to Sokka first. And it hadn't even been to take their order. It was to laugh at his hair. Toph began laughing, only because she was mean-spirited and even though she probably couldn't get the joke (see: Toph's blind), she laughed anyway. That's just the type of girl she was. Katara frowned at the girl's words and Aang only shrugged, chuckling slightly before Sokka made an attempt to answer, "I'll have you know this hairstyle is really popular in the water-tribe!" He tells her. He can't bring himself to use sarcasm, because she's cute and something in Sokka tells him he's gotta be a little nicer and play along with her jokes.


So, instead of getting really angry, he just lets his statement hang in the air and lets her continue laughing.

 

[Artificial Sugar]

Hoizu managed to stop laughing, finally. As she wiped tears from her eyes, she took a breath and looked around at the odd group. "Well, that's cool.." She replied, trailing off, a smirk on her face. She didn't really know what to say, because honestly, it was a little funky, his hairstyle. She didn't think to bother him with anymore comments, though, and she brought her pen and paper up, ready to take their order. She'd just seen Miyu give her the stink eye from the counter. She needed to get to work, quickly.


"So, what's everyone having?" She asked, a forced smile on her face. She didn't like working out with the people. She preferred to be in the kitchen, cooking, or outside, hunting for the restaurant's meat. Anything but working as a waitress, honestly. Hoizu didn't have much of a filter, and it often got her in trouble with Miyu, because she insulted a lot of the customers. It wasn't like she didn't try. She tried a lot, but she just couldn't stop herself, it seemed. After everyone looked at the menu for a moment, the pale skinned boy answered.


"I'll have your fruit bowl, please!" He called out cheerfully, and Hoizu nodded, writing it down. Looking up, she waited for everyone else's answers.

​

Jet had rented their room, and Longshot had decided to rest. Jet decided he wanted to go out and explore the town a little. He was feeling pretty restless, though he wasn't sure why. As he walked around the town, his mind began to wander to the fire he'd seen earlier, and he wondered what had happened. It wasn't his business, and he knew he shouldn't get involved, but something told him he needed to go back to the scene and look around. So, that's what he did. Making his way back to the burnt house, he saw that the girl was still there. Listening in, he heard her say something about her missing brother.


Jet was looking for someone too, someone who had been taken by the Fire Nation. If the state of her home was any indication, her brother was probably taken by them too. Knowing that Longshot wouldn't like it, Jet took a chance anyway. Walking up to the girl, he approached softly, not wanting to startle her. "Hey, uh, I heard you talking just now. I'm Jet. I'm looking for someone too. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to, come along with me? I can help you find your brother." He told her, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.


He didn't know if she would accept, or try to punch him, but he figured he'd better try, at least.

 

[KrissKrass]

The butcher and his wife had left by the time Tora was approached by another. She turned so swiftly, she almost got whiplash. Standing there was a boy she’d never seen before and she was glad for the mostly inky cover of darkness, which hid the blush on her tan cheeks. “Looking for someone?” She repeated back to him, thinking on this.


Of course, if Tora was alone, that meant she was free to Firebend whenever and wherever she wanted—as long as there were no people around. But on the other hand… Tora hardly knew anything of the landscape outside of these two villages she travelled back and forth between. She’d strayed from the path once or twice as a child and always somehow ended up in a tree, screaming her head off as she was attacked by animals. Luckily she was a bender.


Plus, Tora wasn’t exactly the most… directionally sound person either. If the walkway between the two villages wasn’t so clear, Tora would end up lost each time. And just looking at the boy told her he was a traveler. And he said he was lookin for someone, which meant… “Something like this has happened before—to you?” She asks. She might’ve been quick to go save her brother, but that didn’t mean she needed to be trusting of every person she came across. That just wasn’t her style.


--


Sokka ordered some meat-on-meat-on-meat sandwich and Toph seconded it while Katara had something with leaves and meat. Their orders were relatively simple and if one looked at the four, they would have been able to tell what they all got. Sokka and Toph seemed to be carnivores while Katara was balanced and Aang never ate meat. After their orders were taken and the girl had gone to place them, Sokka sighed. Aang rose an eyebrow. “Aren’t you excited, Sokka? Real food!” Aang cheered, lightly punching him on the arm.


“It’s not that,” Sokka sighed, thumping his head on the table. “Is my haircut really that bad?!” He whined. Katara rolled her eyes as Toph sighed, mumbling something similar to ‘here we go…’ Sokka lifted his head up, fake sniffles, “I mean, I really try, ya know?” Aang pats Sokka’s arm and nods—he knows. “Why do all the cute girls not like it? I don’t understand!”


“Oh calm down, it’s not like we’ll ever see her again after this.” Katara, the voice of reason, spoke. Sokka rolled his eyes at her words. She just didn’t understand. “Your haircut is fine anyway.”