Categories > Cartoons > Avatar: The Last Airbender > Trapped in a Golden Bedlam
((Kettles: Chappie 2. yes, I realize that I'm going to load this story down with chapters really quick, and that no one really wants to sit through so many chapters at once, but I hope you all will stick with me. I still have 3 chapters to upload before I start writing anything new.
Disclaimer: dude, I don't even own a car.))
By the time Katara recovered her senses and shame, the group was far into the second layer of defenses in the fantastical wall, which was a labyrinth. The confines were close and musty, with air that seemed to have been bereft of circulation for quite some time. As the waterbender blindly felt along for her bearings, she realized that she was conjoined by hand to another. A foolish desire zipped through her mind. 'Aang?' But when she felt the weather-beaten skin and numerous calluses she knew it to be her brother.
...But if she was clasping hands with her brother, then that would mean that....
'Aang is holding onto Toph's hand.' Her heart gave a painful start at this revelation, but she decided this time not to submit to her envy. Instead, she opened her mouth, and gulped down the muggiest, thickest breath of air that she had ever experienced, sending her into a coughing fit.
"Katara," came Sokka's concerned voice as his grip tightened somewhat. "You alright?"
"Yeah," the waterbender wheezed out, beating around at the musty air in the darkness. "Just this stale air. Went down the wrong tube." They all then slid into an awkward quiet, each taking more careful notice of the constricting atmosphere.
"It is pretty bad," said Toph suddenly. Katara found an unbidden scowl flit along her features at her voice. Before she could stop herself, the words "Good, choke on it then" became etched into the black around her, dripping with venom. Then karma got its revenge when she stubbed her toe on a rock.
"You okay?" the water tribe warrior inquired upon having his arm nearly jerked out of his socket ((lol, Sokka, socket....i'll shut up now)) by a hopping and cursing sister.
"Stupid rocks," Katara growled. The team moved onward then, and Katara couldn't help but wonder if Toph had set that up for her....
Everyone eventually lost track of how long they were in the maze, or even the number of turns they had crossed, but never once did they run head first into a slab of sandstone, thanks to Toph's directional skills; somehow the arabesque of rock informed the earthbender of the right turns to take.
Sokka exclaimed once about how he couldn't see his hand in front of him, which Toph retorted with "that must be awful for you". After about an hour or so (again, no one really could tell), everyone but Toph would wince in response to each step taken; their shoes were rubbing the skin on their feet raw.
Sokka and Katara kept themselves awake by conducting silent thumb wars. Much to Sokka's chagrin, his sister bested him nearly every time, and with each loss he would sigh loudly in exasperation. Aang always answered this defeated sound with "Don't worry, Sokka, I'm sure we're almost there, right, Toph?" And at this the earthbender merely grumbled "left, left, right, straight...".
After the waterbender's fifty-sixth win, and her sexist brother's newest snarl of irritation, the line of travelers all bumped and collided into one another, and fell prostrated into the cruel ground.
"Damnit, Toph!" Sokka screeched.
"It wasn't me," she snapped. "I told Twinkle Toes there that I was stopping! It's not my fault he can't dig his heels in."
"Hey, she's right," the monk began softly, or at least too softly for the present volume, "it's my fau- -"
"Why do you have to bring Aang into this?" Katara said. "He probably just couldn't hear you."
"He could definitely hear me," the Earth Kingdom girl spat back. "He was maybe a foot from me."
The Avatar, at this time ignoring the argument, sniffed at the air. A fresh breeze played through his entire body, rejuvenating the airbender, and he then began to sprint towards the smell, laughter trailing behind him.
"Aang?" Sokka called. "Where are you going?"
"To the exit," Toph stated in the middle of threatening Katara. "That was why I stopped: to tell you guys that we're at the end." Both of the water children then scrambled feverishly to their feet, and ran pell mell after their friend. "Wait!" Toph shouted after them. Walking as slow as she pleased, she opened her mouth again. "Be careful! It's very---" Shouts of agony reached the blind earthbender's ears, and she sighed. "...bright outside."
The monk and the two water tribe children writhed against the brilliance, with Sokka writhing on the ground, Katara streaming back into the darkness, and Aang swaggering backwards, his forearms thrown over his eyes. Once in the now gentle warmth of the sun, Toph filled her lungs and released the carbon dioxide in a steady stream. "Ah, fresh air," she grinned and stepped over Sokka's suddenly limp form. Both Katara and Aang had become adjusted to the drastic change by now. As quickly as their eyes could handle, the two let their gazes travel over Sokka, who groaned in the dirt, to Toph's feet, to the ground beyond, and then to the village before them.
In one unified and splendid drop of their jaws, the air and waterbenders gaped at what met their senses.
"Wow," the Avatar whispered, as if his words could break the image before him.
"Yeah," Katara whispered back, just as fearful.
Before them stretched a golden village, literally. Houses rose, apartment style, for three stories, each embellished with scenes in gold and painted glass, and linked by thin staircases. A carpet of rich green, peppered with splashes of different colored flowers, poured from the sides of each establishment and over the terrain, stopping just short of the group's feet. Distantly, they could make out a towering water fountain, which was a giant statue of a woman, her arms outstretched and crystal water rivulets twisting in the air before dropping into a glittering basin. Her dress flared out from under her bosom; the entire piece was a three-dimensional mosaic masterpiece.
As the travelers ogled at the sight (even Toph could sense its splendor), citizens began to wander towards them, slipping from doorways and abandoning tasks. Though the elders and adults shuffled forward hesitantly, the children rushed the visitors, singing and skipping. Sokka stumbled to his feet, still squinting, and some of the tribe children pointed at his contorted face, mimicking him and laughing. The warrior huffed and began to finger his metal boomerang absently, not with an intent to be threatening, but still this simple expression of annoyance sent a ripple of dissent through the swelling crowd. Instantly the water boy sheathed his weapon, and the crowd lapsed into their murmurings.
"Hi, uh," began Aang, whom had his innocent smile plastered from ear to ear. "I'm Aang. This is Katara, Sokka, and Toph." He gestured to each in turn, and then looked onto the rumbling crowd and rowdy band of youth, as if his simple introduction was enough. "Um...." He began again, scratching his ear, "we've been traveling for some time, and have run out of supplies...." Toph pushed him aside.
"I'm Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling, and this is Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple. We have been on a long journey and have decided to stop here. We implore your city to host us for a night or two." Throughout this, the earthbender rocked from heel to toe, arms locked behind her back, almost as if she had this statement memorized for such purposes. Katara looked to her brother, who shrugged. Apparently they were of too little consequence to mention.
The crowd was inflamed with words. The children, who had frozen in palpable curiosity when they heard the term "Avatar", all seemed to leap onto Aang in one smooth motion. Some wanted to rub his arrows to see if they were painted on or not, and some requested that he propel them into the air with his Avatar skills. A man bound from the center of the crowd, and landed straight on his face. With what dignity he could salvage, he rose gently to his feet, brushed the dirt off of his emerald robes, and strode forward towards the Avatar.
Katara watched her brother in her peripherals as he cocked his head to the side and analyzed the man. But in this instance she didn't feel compelled to berate him, but rather gawk at him herself. He was unorthodox looking, to say the least: he had thin, wiry limbs, a sallow sheen to his complexion, and folds over folds of wrinkles. So severely hunched was his back that the sleeves of his robes would snag frequently under his feet as he struggled his way forward. As for his face... well, possibly the best description of his visage is that at one point someone heisted the head of a dusty old tomcat and settled it loosely atop this man's shoulders.
"Avatar Aang," he croaked out, sounding as if the words were working through a layer of dirt, "I am Bai Ping, mayor of Midori, and we are so pleased to have you grace our humble village." The waterbender knew that her brother's eyebrows must have quirked at the term "humble"; this city could just possibly swallow their own little tribe. "We would absolutely love to house and supply you for however long you need." With this Bai Ping bowed as far as his back would allow him, which was, in Katara's mind, a challenging feat from the get-go.
"Thank you so much, sir," Aang attempted to return the gesture, despite the mass of children clinging to each of his limbs. "It would mean a lot to us."
"Oh, you all, shoo, shoo," the mayor waved off the young Midorians genially, "or else our Avatar Aang will be flattened, and what good will that do him?"
"It will make him more aerodynamic!" called out one of the swarm. The rest of Aang's body ornaments began to quake in laughter.
"Back to your parents, all of you." Bai Ping ordered, planting his tiny fists on his hips. At this, a score of giggling, chattering kids scampered away from the newcomers and were instantly absorbed by the crowd. "Now, Avatar Aang, Miss Bei Fong, and...."
"Katara," the water bender said.
"And Sokka," the warrior added.
"Ah yes, good, good," Bai Ping wrung his hands and simpered, "Now, please know that you may ask anything of me in your stay, anything at all, and this village will gladly supply it to our, no, the world's, heroes." Sokka's chest visibly puffed at the words, and Aang's puerile face alit.
"Well, Mr. Mayor," the monk said, "we do have one thing to request of you."
"Already? Bah, whatever it is, it is fine."
"Well, you see, we had to leave two of our friends behind outside the walls, and we were wondering if you wouldn't mind them coming in."
"Who are we to turn away a friend of the Avatar's?"
"Heh," Aang donned a breezy grin, "Well, you see, one of them is my giant flying bison, Appa, and the other is Momo, our lemur."
Bai Ping stood in meditative thought for a moment, casting a glance behind him into his village. "Of course. There is room."
*************
While the Avatar and a few Midorians ventured out to guide the bison and lemur into the town, and subsequently find a housing area for them ("There is no room!" anguished one groom out of Aang's earshot), Toph, Katara, and Sokka were led to an indescribably elaborate apartment building. They were shown up to their own separate compartments (Katara gave a wry smile when she came to notice that Toph and Aang would be in rooms next to each other, while her and Sokka would stay a level down), during which Bai Ping explained some bits about their village.
Throughout the tale, Katara began to drift in and out of consciousness, but she was able to catch the gist of it. Basically, the Earth Kingdom town of Midori was siphoned off into a city-state from the rest of the Earth Kingdom for geographical reasons. From there he explained how one of the former Avatars, the earthbender Midori, for whom the city was named, had fortified the town and made it prosperous. It was in her image that the magnificent fountain was crafted.
"But sir," Katara said, during one of her attentive moments, "is it true that your city's impressive wall was given to you by a witch?" For some reason, her own question made a surge of adrenalin pump through her veins.
"Oh yes, you've heard the story, everyone has. I suppose the rest of the world must thirst for such romances during such times as these. Ah, but yes, a hermit woman stumbled upon our city some years back. We eventually came to an agreement that our citizens would send food up to her cottage every month, along with other such effects, and in return she built us our wall and maze." He stopped at this and gained an enigmatic glint to his eye. "Strange woman. No one ever got a good look at her, and she somehow built the wall when we weren't looking. Strange woman....
"But no matter, you all have arrived on the eve of a very special day!" The mayor stopped in front of the group, whirling about to face them. "Tomorrow evening is to be the Festival of Carnations!" He threw his arms out wide in bravado, and watched his guests expectantly, waiting for their shrieks of joy. But the response never came, and instead the siblings smiled politely, their eyes clogged with questions.
Just as Katara was about to ask about the festival, Sokka suddenly hurdled sideways into his sister, onto her foot no less. "Ow," Katara hissed, glaring daggers at her brother, "What was that for?!"
"D-d-demons," Sokka's face blanched, and he pointed at Toph.
The waterbender herself felt an encroaching sense of doom then: the normally caustic little girl was...was... blushing?! Yes! She was shifting from foot to foot, her misty eyes roughly assuming a dreamy glint, and the ends of her lips crooked upwards in what Katara could only assume to be a smile.
This phenomenon destroyed all the words gathering on Katara's tongue, and so she scrambled to retrieve them. "Um, Mr. Bai Ping," she began after several attempts, still eyeing Toph warily, "What exactly is the Festival of Carnations?"
"By terra! You haven't heard of the Festival of Carnations, and yet you know the story of the Wallflower Witch?" Bai Ping slapped his hand to his forehead.
"No sir," Katara continued, "Actually, Toph was the one who told us the story of the... Wallflower Witch."
"Well then this is a glorious day indeed! The Festival of Carnations is a festival of truth and love. It recognizes Avatar Midori's founding of this village, and planting the first bed of carnations. On this night, vendors will be selling different colored carnations. You can buy the color flower of your choosing, each with its own purpose: the light red ones represent admiration and hope for love, the dark red for deep love and affection-oh, you get the idea! But either way you buy the flower that symbolizes whatever you're aiming for, and present it to a loved one, or a crush, or whatever.
"And for those without such circumstances, our most skilled gardeners have concocted a special batch of flowers. They are a soft yellow, and represent friendship or family," the decrepit man did a brief dance of enthusiasm then. "It truly is the highlight of our year. Ah, but you all must be eager for sleep, and food, and I will not spoil your slumber with excitement. Go, sleep, eat, our women will awake you in the morning." At this, Bai Ping scuttled past the trio and down the staircase. Toph, still visibly bouncy, wished them both a good night as she raced to her own staircase, taking the steps two at a time.
By the time Katara was able to drag herself out of her clothes and pile them neatly with her waterskin and other things, she noticed the sun to be lounging in her window frame, playing through the silk curtains hypnotically. Her stomach gave a cavernous bellow, and she remembered that they had yet to have dinner. 'I wonder how Sokka's doing,' she mused, and then was convinced that she could hear his stomach through the walls.
Grinning to herself, she climbed onto her impossibly soft bed, embroidered with flowers and mountains (obviously in a flaxen thread) and collapsed before she even reached the pillows. As her eyelids closed over themselves, she caught sight of a platter piled high with breads, cheeses, and fruits.
'Maybe I should eat something,' she considered weakly, before slamming out of consciousness. The trip to this village had been trying for her, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Needless to say, she welcomed this opportunity.
Dusk slowly washed over the land, filtering through the windowsill and bathing the earthbender in a coral glow. Meanwhile, sounds of a vicious gorging drifted through the walls from Sokka's room.
((Thanks for reading, and please review!))
Disclaimer: dude, I don't even own a car.))
By the time Katara recovered her senses and shame, the group was far into the second layer of defenses in the fantastical wall, which was a labyrinth. The confines were close and musty, with air that seemed to have been bereft of circulation for quite some time. As the waterbender blindly felt along for her bearings, she realized that she was conjoined by hand to another. A foolish desire zipped through her mind. 'Aang?' But when she felt the weather-beaten skin and numerous calluses she knew it to be her brother.
...But if she was clasping hands with her brother, then that would mean that....
'Aang is holding onto Toph's hand.' Her heart gave a painful start at this revelation, but she decided this time not to submit to her envy. Instead, she opened her mouth, and gulped down the muggiest, thickest breath of air that she had ever experienced, sending her into a coughing fit.
"Katara," came Sokka's concerned voice as his grip tightened somewhat. "You alright?"
"Yeah," the waterbender wheezed out, beating around at the musty air in the darkness. "Just this stale air. Went down the wrong tube." They all then slid into an awkward quiet, each taking more careful notice of the constricting atmosphere.
"It is pretty bad," said Toph suddenly. Katara found an unbidden scowl flit along her features at her voice. Before she could stop herself, the words "Good, choke on it then" became etched into the black around her, dripping with venom. Then karma got its revenge when she stubbed her toe on a rock.
"You okay?" the water tribe warrior inquired upon having his arm nearly jerked out of his socket ((lol, Sokka, socket....i'll shut up now)) by a hopping and cursing sister.
"Stupid rocks," Katara growled. The team moved onward then, and Katara couldn't help but wonder if Toph had set that up for her....
Everyone eventually lost track of how long they were in the maze, or even the number of turns they had crossed, but never once did they run head first into a slab of sandstone, thanks to Toph's directional skills; somehow the arabesque of rock informed the earthbender of the right turns to take.
Sokka exclaimed once about how he couldn't see his hand in front of him, which Toph retorted with "that must be awful for you". After about an hour or so (again, no one really could tell), everyone but Toph would wince in response to each step taken; their shoes were rubbing the skin on their feet raw.
Sokka and Katara kept themselves awake by conducting silent thumb wars. Much to Sokka's chagrin, his sister bested him nearly every time, and with each loss he would sigh loudly in exasperation. Aang always answered this defeated sound with "Don't worry, Sokka, I'm sure we're almost there, right, Toph?" And at this the earthbender merely grumbled "left, left, right, straight...".
After the waterbender's fifty-sixth win, and her sexist brother's newest snarl of irritation, the line of travelers all bumped and collided into one another, and fell prostrated into the cruel ground.
"Damnit, Toph!" Sokka screeched.
"It wasn't me," she snapped. "I told Twinkle Toes there that I was stopping! It's not my fault he can't dig his heels in."
"Hey, she's right," the monk began softly, or at least too softly for the present volume, "it's my fau- -"
"Why do you have to bring Aang into this?" Katara said. "He probably just couldn't hear you."
"He could definitely hear me," the Earth Kingdom girl spat back. "He was maybe a foot from me."
The Avatar, at this time ignoring the argument, sniffed at the air. A fresh breeze played through his entire body, rejuvenating the airbender, and he then began to sprint towards the smell, laughter trailing behind him.
"Aang?" Sokka called. "Where are you going?"
"To the exit," Toph stated in the middle of threatening Katara. "That was why I stopped: to tell you guys that we're at the end." Both of the water children then scrambled feverishly to their feet, and ran pell mell after their friend. "Wait!" Toph shouted after them. Walking as slow as she pleased, she opened her mouth again. "Be careful! It's very---" Shouts of agony reached the blind earthbender's ears, and she sighed. "...bright outside."
The monk and the two water tribe children writhed against the brilliance, with Sokka writhing on the ground, Katara streaming back into the darkness, and Aang swaggering backwards, his forearms thrown over his eyes. Once in the now gentle warmth of the sun, Toph filled her lungs and released the carbon dioxide in a steady stream. "Ah, fresh air," she grinned and stepped over Sokka's suddenly limp form. Both Katara and Aang had become adjusted to the drastic change by now. As quickly as their eyes could handle, the two let their gazes travel over Sokka, who groaned in the dirt, to Toph's feet, to the ground beyond, and then to the village before them.
In one unified and splendid drop of their jaws, the air and waterbenders gaped at what met their senses.
"Wow," the Avatar whispered, as if his words could break the image before him.
"Yeah," Katara whispered back, just as fearful.
Before them stretched a golden village, literally. Houses rose, apartment style, for three stories, each embellished with scenes in gold and painted glass, and linked by thin staircases. A carpet of rich green, peppered with splashes of different colored flowers, poured from the sides of each establishment and over the terrain, stopping just short of the group's feet. Distantly, they could make out a towering water fountain, which was a giant statue of a woman, her arms outstretched and crystal water rivulets twisting in the air before dropping into a glittering basin. Her dress flared out from under her bosom; the entire piece was a three-dimensional mosaic masterpiece.
As the travelers ogled at the sight (even Toph could sense its splendor), citizens began to wander towards them, slipping from doorways and abandoning tasks. Though the elders and adults shuffled forward hesitantly, the children rushed the visitors, singing and skipping. Sokka stumbled to his feet, still squinting, and some of the tribe children pointed at his contorted face, mimicking him and laughing. The warrior huffed and began to finger his metal boomerang absently, not with an intent to be threatening, but still this simple expression of annoyance sent a ripple of dissent through the swelling crowd. Instantly the water boy sheathed his weapon, and the crowd lapsed into their murmurings.
"Hi, uh," began Aang, whom had his innocent smile plastered from ear to ear. "I'm Aang. This is Katara, Sokka, and Toph." He gestured to each in turn, and then looked onto the rumbling crowd and rowdy band of youth, as if his simple introduction was enough. "Um...." He began again, scratching his ear, "we've been traveling for some time, and have run out of supplies...." Toph pushed him aside.
"I'm Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling, and this is Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple. We have been on a long journey and have decided to stop here. We implore your city to host us for a night or two." Throughout this, the earthbender rocked from heel to toe, arms locked behind her back, almost as if she had this statement memorized for such purposes. Katara looked to her brother, who shrugged. Apparently they were of too little consequence to mention.
The crowd was inflamed with words. The children, who had frozen in palpable curiosity when they heard the term "Avatar", all seemed to leap onto Aang in one smooth motion. Some wanted to rub his arrows to see if they were painted on or not, and some requested that he propel them into the air with his Avatar skills. A man bound from the center of the crowd, and landed straight on his face. With what dignity he could salvage, he rose gently to his feet, brushed the dirt off of his emerald robes, and strode forward towards the Avatar.
Katara watched her brother in her peripherals as he cocked his head to the side and analyzed the man. But in this instance she didn't feel compelled to berate him, but rather gawk at him herself. He was unorthodox looking, to say the least: he had thin, wiry limbs, a sallow sheen to his complexion, and folds over folds of wrinkles. So severely hunched was his back that the sleeves of his robes would snag frequently under his feet as he struggled his way forward. As for his face... well, possibly the best description of his visage is that at one point someone heisted the head of a dusty old tomcat and settled it loosely atop this man's shoulders.
"Avatar Aang," he croaked out, sounding as if the words were working through a layer of dirt, "I am Bai Ping, mayor of Midori, and we are so pleased to have you grace our humble village." The waterbender knew that her brother's eyebrows must have quirked at the term "humble"; this city could just possibly swallow their own little tribe. "We would absolutely love to house and supply you for however long you need." With this Bai Ping bowed as far as his back would allow him, which was, in Katara's mind, a challenging feat from the get-go.
"Thank you so much, sir," Aang attempted to return the gesture, despite the mass of children clinging to each of his limbs. "It would mean a lot to us."
"Oh, you all, shoo, shoo," the mayor waved off the young Midorians genially, "or else our Avatar Aang will be flattened, and what good will that do him?"
"It will make him more aerodynamic!" called out one of the swarm. The rest of Aang's body ornaments began to quake in laughter.
"Back to your parents, all of you." Bai Ping ordered, planting his tiny fists on his hips. At this, a score of giggling, chattering kids scampered away from the newcomers and were instantly absorbed by the crowd. "Now, Avatar Aang, Miss Bei Fong, and...."
"Katara," the water bender said.
"And Sokka," the warrior added.
"Ah yes, good, good," Bai Ping wrung his hands and simpered, "Now, please know that you may ask anything of me in your stay, anything at all, and this village will gladly supply it to our, no, the world's, heroes." Sokka's chest visibly puffed at the words, and Aang's puerile face alit.
"Well, Mr. Mayor," the monk said, "we do have one thing to request of you."
"Already? Bah, whatever it is, it is fine."
"Well, you see, we had to leave two of our friends behind outside the walls, and we were wondering if you wouldn't mind them coming in."
"Who are we to turn away a friend of the Avatar's?"
"Heh," Aang donned a breezy grin, "Well, you see, one of them is my giant flying bison, Appa, and the other is Momo, our lemur."
Bai Ping stood in meditative thought for a moment, casting a glance behind him into his village. "Of course. There is room."
*************
While the Avatar and a few Midorians ventured out to guide the bison and lemur into the town, and subsequently find a housing area for them ("There is no room!" anguished one groom out of Aang's earshot), Toph, Katara, and Sokka were led to an indescribably elaborate apartment building. They were shown up to their own separate compartments (Katara gave a wry smile when she came to notice that Toph and Aang would be in rooms next to each other, while her and Sokka would stay a level down), during which Bai Ping explained some bits about their village.
Throughout the tale, Katara began to drift in and out of consciousness, but she was able to catch the gist of it. Basically, the Earth Kingdom town of Midori was siphoned off into a city-state from the rest of the Earth Kingdom for geographical reasons. From there he explained how one of the former Avatars, the earthbender Midori, for whom the city was named, had fortified the town and made it prosperous. It was in her image that the magnificent fountain was crafted.
"But sir," Katara said, during one of her attentive moments, "is it true that your city's impressive wall was given to you by a witch?" For some reason, her own question made a surge of adrenalin pump through her veins.
"Oh yes, you've heard the story, everyone has. I suppose the rest of the world must thirst for such romances during such times as these. Ah, but yes, a hermit woman stumbled upon our city some years back. We eventually came to an agreement that our citizens would send food up to her cottage every month, along with other such effects, and in return she built us our wall and maze." He stopped at this and gained an enigmatic glint to his eye. "Strange woman. No one ever got a good look at her, and she somehow built the wall when we weren't looking. Strange woman....
"But no matter, you all have arrived on the eve of a very special day!" The mayor stopped in front of the group, whirling about to face them. "Tomorrow evening is to be the Festival of Carnations!" He threw his arms out wide in bravado, and watched his guests expectantly, waiting for their shrieks of joy. But the response never came, and instead the siblings smiled politely, their eyes clogged with questions.
Just as Katara was about to ask about the festival, Sokka suddenly hurdled sideways into his sister, onto her foot no less. "Ow," Katara hissed, glaring daggers at her brother, "What was that for?!"
"D-d-demons," Sokka's face blanched, and he pointed at Toph.
The waterbender herself felt an encroaching sense of doom then: the normally caustic little girl was...was... blushing?! Yes! She was shifting from foot to foot, her misty eyes roughly assuming a dreamy glint, and the ends of her lips crooked upwards in what Katara could only assume to be a smile.
This phenomenon destroyed all the words gathering on Katara's tongue, and so she scrambled to retrieve them. "Um, Mr. Bai Ping," she began after several attempts, still eyeing Toph warily, "What exactly is the Festival of Carnations?"
"By terra! You haven't heard of the Festival of Carnations, and yet you know the story of the Wallflower Witch?" Bai Ping slapped his hand to his forehead.
"No sir," Katara continued, "Actually, Toph was the one who told us the story of the... Wallflower Witch."
"Well then this is a glorious day indeed! The Festival of Carnations is a festival of truth and love. It recognizes Avatar Midori's founding of this village, and planting the first bed of carnations. On this night, vendors will be selling different colored carnations. You can buy the color flower of your choosing, each with its own purpose: the light red ones represent admiration and hope for love, the dark red for deep love and affection-oh, you get the idea! But either way you buy the flower that symbolizes whatever you're aiming for, and present it to a loved one, or a crush, or whatever.
"And for those without such circumstances, our most skilled gardeners have concocted a special batch of flowers. They are a soft yellow, and represent friendship or family," the decrepit man did a brief dance of enthusiasm then. "It truly is the highlight of our year. Ah, but you all must be eager for sleep, and food, and I will not spoil your slumber with excitement. Go, sleep, eat, our women will awake you in the morning." At this, Bai Ping scuttled past the trio and down the staircase. Toph, still visibly bouncy, wished them both a good night as she raced to her own staircase, taking the steps two at a time.
By the time Katara was able to drag herself out of her clothes and pile them neatly with her waterskin and other things, she noticed the sun to be lounging in her window frame, playing through the silk curtains hypnotically. Her stomach gave a cavernous bellow, and she remembered that they had yet to have dinner. 'I wonder how Sokka's doing,' she mused, and then was convinced that she could hear his stomach through the walls.
Grinning to herself, she climbed onto her impossibly soft bed, embroidered with flowers and mountains (obviously in a flaxen thread) and collapsed before she even reached the pillows. As her eyelids closed over themselves, she caught sight of a platter piled high with breads, cheeses, and fruits.
'Maybe I should eat something,' she considered weakly, before slamming out of consciousness. The trip to this village had been trying for her, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Needless to say, she welcomed this opportunity.
Dusk slowly washed over the land, filtering through the windowsill and bathing the earthbender in a coral glow. Meanwhile, sounds of a vicious gorging drifted through the walls from Sokka's room.
((Thanks for reading, and please review!))
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