300 word drabble: Ten Thousand Things

Written for avatar_500 for prompt #1: element.

Summary: People cross into and out of their elements all the time.


Ten Thousand Things

Playing another note on his reed flute, Aang grinned around the mouthpiece as another prairie dog popped out of its hole and echoed the note.  “I’m putting an orchestra together!”  He looked up at his friends.

“Orchestra, huh?” Sokka muttered.  “Well la dee da.”  But it didn’t matter, because Aang was in his element.

Toph crossed her arms.  “I say you guys go ahead without me.”

Katara rounded on her.  “You got something against libraries?”

“I’ve held books before, and I gotta tell you, they don’t exactly do it for me,” she sneered.  She didn’t like being out of her element.

~*~

“So, you like flyin’?” Toph drawled.  Appa scratched his ear.  Toph was out of her element anyway.

~*~

“I have an authentic waterbending scroll.” Katara smiled eagerly.

“Oh…” Wan Shi Tong murmured covetously.  “These illustrations are quite stylish.”  As he swept his wing over the scroll and it vanished into his collection, Katara bowed to him, still smiling.  She was in her element.

~*~

The water tribe boy dangled from the rope.  “Professor, let’s go!”

Zei picked his head up from the scroll in his hands, disregarding the sand pouring down around him.  He was in his element.

~*~

“Your waterbending won’t do you much good here,” the knowledge spirit sneered.  “I’ve studied Northern Water Style, Southern Water Style, even Foggy Swamp Style.”  He raised his head and opened his beak.

Sokka waited to let go of Aang and the glider until he was right above Wan Shi Tong.  The book in his fist crashed hard into the knowledge spirit’s head.  “That’s called Sokka style,” he crowed, beating the air with his fist.  “Learn it!”  As he ran, he was in his element.

~*~

Wan Shi Tong drifted out of consciousness, his knowledge flitting away from him.  He was out of his element.