The mask, carved in the image of a bearded-cat, the lacquered white finish gleaming in the sun, was the first thing that caught her eye at the peddler's stand. It's yellow-green eyes slanted upward coyly, the mouth opened and smirking, and real fur swirled from its chin, the slight matting the only sign that it was probably an old festival mask

She didn't hesitate to grab it, lifting it cover her face and cocking her head to the side so that the eerie expression was fixed on Longshot. The mask was too big, but that made it even more amusing.

She chortled softly from behind the face; the corners of his mouth turned up at the sight of it.

"Kinda silly looking." Jet chimed in as he pushed coins around on the countertop with his finger, looking for the right amount to fork over for a crude map of the swamp they'd soon be crossing. "You sure you want to waste our coins on that?"

Smellerbee dropped it, frowning slightly, before rolling her eyes and giving a What can you do? shrug.

Jet, his transaction completed, motioned for them to get a move on. She followed, and pretended not to notice when Longshot stayed behind just long enough to slip the vendor a few bronze pieces and stash the mask in his tunic.

A/n: Cleaning out my hard drive, I found this. It's old, as in, kill-it-with-fire old, but I still like it better than anything else I wrote back then. The first in a series of Longerbee fics, because I missed them. Updated whenever I feel like it.

(Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.)