Dawn of a New Prince (Star Wars/Avatar Crossover)

Toph snorted, and a mischievous grin came to her face. "Why should we even tell him what we're doing? Just say we're going on a walk. That's pretty much the truth, just not all of it."

"That's true," Sokka told her with a laugh, "He really should learn to lie... And might you add that I love your mischievous mind?"

He grinned as he headed for where they ate supper the night before, thinking that Aang might be eating or talking with that Fire Nation old man, pulling Toph along.

(Aang is awake, possibly talking with Iroh)

(Ah. Okay. Editing.)

She laughed, but the closer they drew to Aang she coached herself into a more solemn expression. She did not want to give anything away, after all. That would ruin everything!

Though hearing Twinkle Toes blow a gasket about their eating meat would be amusing...

As they entered the room, Sokka saw Aang talking with Iroh while the Guru sat a little ways away, happily drinking onion and banana juice. Sokka grimaced. It went without saying that he refused it last night during dinner.

"Hey, Aang. Me and Toph are going for a walk," he told him, glad that Toph hadn't taught him how to detect lies, at least, not yet. The kid soaked waterbending up like a sponge and he was doing great with earthbending once he learned to man up a little.

"We won't go far," Toph added, with the practiced ease of someone used to putting on an act. "We just want a chance to stretch our legs a little."

"Ah, young love," Pathik commented, sipping on his juice. He looked over at Iroh, "Forgive me for not having tea. I haven't drunk it myself in over 50 years."

Sokka blushed and scowled. Damn that old man for turning the tables on them when they were just going out to hunt.

Toph blushed, too, but she controlled her scowl somewhat. She pulled on Sokka's arm. "Don't mind him. He's so old, he's probably senile or something. Let's just go on our walk."

And by that she meant hunt.

Iroh

"It is no problem," Iroh responded, rummaging in his pack. "I thought ahead." He pulled out a pot and some tea leaves. "I never travel without my own stock."

((Mind slowing things down a bit while I'm gone? I don't want to have to read a few pages of pointless filler when I log on again tomorrow. I don't have much time right now to make a full post, so nothing of real significance will be happening tonight. Perhaps tomorrow, when we arrive at our destination.))

(Ah, sorry Magus. I guess I need to goto bed anyway.)

"Good idea," Pathik said, grinning a little when he recognized the tea leaves, "Is that jasmine? That's my favorite."

He frowned at Toph's commented, "Why do you young people equate age with senility? When I was younger, we respected the eldery."

Sokka smiled a little and followed Toph out of there.

"Let's," he agreed.

Mara

Mara did not answer Zareal, this time choosing to concentrate on flying her ship. A few minutes later Jade spotted the wreckage of Vader's Star Destroyer and quickly landed near it. After cutting off the engines, Mara reached over to a panel and slid open a secret compartment. From it, she withdrew a spare lightsaber.

"We'd better prepare for a fight, Jedi. Those still alive likely heard us coming, and will be coming over here soon. After being stranded here for so long, they're likely willing to fight us over stealing my ship."

Zareal

"Of course, Emperor's Hand, none of them will take this ship while we still live," Zareal said. She had an extra saber, which was good for the moment, but how many weapons or traps could she have hidden? And how long could they remain allied, when her teachings were directly his opposite? And after they defeated Vader, he was not sure what he would do then. Surely she would want to either take him in or kill him.

Iroh

"Let's get brewing, then," Iroh said, happy to find a fellow tea lover out here. He began preparing the pot and getting water to boil.

"I suppose I can put off my meditations off a little more," Pathik noted, eying the tea appreciatively.

"Let's leave them to their tea-making, then," said Toph. "We have, uh... a walk to get to."

She tugged Sokka after her as she left the two elders and Aang in the chamber.

"Yeah," Sokka agreed, following Toph out of the room and down out of the temple. As soon as they were out of earshot, Sokka grimaced.

"What is it with old people and tea?" he asked her.

"Don't knock tea," she said, chuckling. "It's actually pretty good." They followed a path leading towards the wilderness just below the temple. "So... where do we start? I've never been hunting before."

"If I teach you, will you call me Sifu Sokka?" he asked her with a grin, "I always wanted to be called that."

Without waiting for her to respond, he scanned the ground, "First we try to find any recent signs of an animal and try to track it. If that doesn't work, we find a spot an animal is sure to appear and wait."

"Okay. What kinds of place would that be?" said Toph. She was fascinated by this lesson, if it could be called such. "A watering hole, maybe? Animals have to get a drink once in a while, right?"

"Exactly! Why didn't I think of that?" Sokka asked himself after finding no tracks on the ground.

"Do you since any watering holes nearby?" he asked her, "We have to get close, but not close enough to be noticed. And we need to stay downwind so they won't smell us."

She paused, concentrating on their surroundings. She tried listening for running water as well.

"I think there's something in that direction. I'm hearing... a river, maybe?" she said, while pointing off to the side.

"Very good, Pupil Toph," Sokka told her, clearly enjoying his role as a teacher. He grabbed her hand and guided her through some foliage before stopping before the walked into the open.

"Now we just need to wait for something juicy to get a drink of water," Sokka whispered, gripping his boomerang eagerly. What could he say? He loved meet. Not even torture by Vader and spiritual lessons from a century old guru could change that.

She nodded and crouched beside him. Toph set her hand on the ground and waited, her senses heightened.

Some time had passed when she nudged Sokka with an elbow.

"I feel something coming this way."

"What? Where?" he asked with a grin. As he saw it approach the water his grin widened when he saw it was a deer-pig.

"Okay, we just have to kill it," he said, stretching and throwing his boomerang at it.