Sure, no hard feelings!

And she goes to the bunkhouse for the night.

The bunkhouse contains approximately 100% fewer nighttime cat spirit monsters than the woods.

Marvelous.

She sleeps through the night and gets bunkhouse breakfast and goes crate-hauling.

The second day is much the same as the first, except if she gets there early enough, she can start on fish instead of miscellaneous cargo.

Sure, why not, change of pace.

The day's catch goes to the market, and then it's back to the crates.

She would be super bored if Page wasn't doing language tutoring and audiobooks and music.

Towards the end of the day, one of the iron-sided steamships limps into port. The deck is smoking in several places and it's listing to one side.

"Water Tribe bastards," says a worker, and spits.

"What's the war about?" Tarinda wonders.

"Payback," someone else growls. "World's been kicking the Fire Nation long enough. We're kicking back."

"Gosh, what'd they do?"

"What, you been living under a rock for the past five hundred years?"

"I'm just from super far away. I haven't heard anything."

This prompts an impromptu crowdsouced public lecture on history. None of it is terribly clear, and it's often self-contradictory. Apparently at some point the Avatar made a decision that hobbled the Fire Nation economy or destroyed part of their culture and the other countries took advantage. Or something like that.

"The Avatar?"

You know, the reincarnating spirit that's supposed to keep the world in balance? That can bend all four elements? That one. Anyway, they nailed him good at the start of the war when they took out the Air Temples. Haven't seen any sign of him since.

Gosh, okay. He didn't reincarnate this time?

If he did, he's hiding, heh heh heh.

The dockmaster yells at everyone to get back to work.

Crates crates crates!

Does she want to go out drinking again?

Sure, why not.

There's a group of uniformed strangers in the bar tonight, drinking heavily. Probably sailors from the ship.

She doesn't make it look like she's eavesdropping but she super is.

"-their boats could move like that. I thought we got all the southern benders, anyway."

"We did."

"Damn that Hakoda."

"I'll drink to that. Ought to go go and burn the rest of those snow-rats off their icebergs."

"Hear Ozai might give the order soon."

"Yeah? I'll look forward to that."

"Not me. If I never see the Pole again it'll be too soon."

"Man wasn't born for that weather."

She drinks her mediocre beer and mulls.