Once they realized their food supply contains two nuts and a leechy bar, Aang and his loyal friends were off to the market in Akindo city. As they passed a fish stand, most of the gang-members plugged their noses in disgust, but Sokka was drawn to the stand as if by a magnet.

"Look, Katara, they have shell-trouts!" he said, eyes wide with delight.

"What's a shell-trout?" asked Aang, his face twitching. Sokka didn't notice, too excited about his find.

"Dad managed to catch one of these and Mom cooked it for us, remember? It was the best-tasting fish I ever had in my entire life …"

"I remember." Katara smiled. "And I think I can cook it for all of us. But don't worry, Aang, we'll find something delicious for you, too."

Aang smiled broadly.

Sokka held the fish by its stomach and brought it closer to his face, so they had eye-contact. He said in an educated voice, "The key to evaluating the quality of the fish is in its face. By the glassiness of the eyes, it's possible to – " Suddenly, a black ink-like liquid burst from the fish's mouth. Sokka let go of the fish in alarm and frantically wiped his face with his other hand.

"What was that?" he demanded, shock visible on the parts of his face not stained black .

Aang and Katara tried to stifle their laughter out of kindness, but Toph just burst out laughing. "The fish must be alive. I bet the fish-merchant preserves them somehow."

The merchant stopped stacking fish as he noticed Sokka. "Oh, I see you have a good eye."

"Not anymore," Sokka mumbled bitterly.

"Would you like to use it for medicinal, ceremonial or decorative purposes?" the man continued.

"We were going to eat it." Sokka explained this as if he were talking to a child, surprised the merchant didn't just take that for granted. The merchant was equally stunned.

"You wanted to eat a poisonous bass?"

"Poisonous bass? Isn't that a shell-trout?"

"Of course not!" The merchant indicated the fish's fin. "The poisonous bass has two blue stripes around this area, while the shell-trout only has one. See?"

"No," said Sokka, squinting his eyes to no avail.

"Oh, than it's already taking effect," said the merchant casually, noticing the patches of ink still on Sokka's face.

"What is?"

"The bass's venom usually causes temporary blindness if it gets into the eyes. There shouldn't be any permanent damage, but by the amount you got hit with I'd say you'll be blind about a week."

"What?!" Flump!

"Better be more careful next time," advised the merchant, and resumed his duties, leaving Sokka laying on the floor, twitching.