We were still walking long after midnight, the moon hanging high above us.
Still no sign of Appa and no end to the desert.
"Are you sure we're heading the right way?" I asked hoarsely, my throat dry from the need to conserve water.
Katara glanced down at the map in her hands before lifting it toward the sky, comparing the constellations drawn on the parchment to the stars high in the sky.
"I'm sure," she said. "Come on, we just have to keep moving."
Sokka and Toph groaned at the thought of more walking.
I, meanwhile, stole a glance at Aang.
He simply walked ahead, lifelessly putting one foot in front of the other.
I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face.
All of my supplies had been strapped to Appa's saddle.
Even if we somehow reached Ba Sing Se, we'd have no identification, no passports I'd bought in advance to enter into the city, and—worst of all—no money to bribe a few palms if things went south.
All I had left was my wallet, a few silver coins, and pockets full of sand.
We trudged onward in silence as I silently thought of what to do.
Suddenly, Toph yelped as she stumbled into the sand.
"Ow!"
I immediately moved to help her up as she grabbed her foot.
"Crud, I am so sick of not feeling where I'm going!"
She glared toward a piece of wood jutting from the sand.
"And what idiot would bury a boat in the middle of a desert?"
...
"A boat?" Sokka echoed as I kneeled to inspect the piece of wood.
"Believe me," Toph said, clicking her tongue as she rubbed her foot. "I kicked it hard enough to feel the vibrations. It's definitely some kind of boat with a sail attached at the front."
Katara knelt beside me, brushing away more sand with her hands.
"... This could be our way out. Aang—"
Before she could finish, he was already standing behind her, his staff clutched tightly in both hands.
For the first time since Appa's capture, there was a spark in his eyes.
"Stand back."
We did.
Aang drew a deep breath.
Then, with a roar that carried every ounce of grief, frustration, and desperation bottled inside him, he swept his staff forward. A colossal gust exploded into existence, ripping the sand from the ground and hurling it skyward in a towering cyclone.
The buried sand yacht tore free, rising into the air before crashing down onto the desert with a heavy thud.
Sokka quickly scrambled aboard, rushing to inspect the sail.
"It's one of the sand gliders the Sand Benders were using back in the Misty Palms Oasis," he called.
At the same time, Katara climbed onto the deck and checked the compass fixed to the helm.
"And there's a compass! It's pointing somewhere!"
"This could be our way out of the desert!" Sokka cheered, grabbing Momo and pulling the poor lemur into a spine-crushing hug.
Katara glances at Aang. "Aang, you can Bend a tailwind to sail it. We're going to make it!"
============================================
"Easy... be as gentle as you can. Yeah, just like that."
I watched as Aang adjusted the flow of air behind the sand glider, a steady tailwind catching the sail and sending us racing across the desert toward wherever the compass was pointing.
At the speed we were moving... I'd estimate we were traveling somewhere around sixty to seventy miles per hour.
For a boat sailing across sand, that was pretty fast.
"The needle on this compass doesn't seem to be pointing north according to the charts," Katara said, double-checking her scroll.
It didn't take long for us to figure out what it was pointing toward.
A second later—
"That's a huge rock!" Sokka shouted, pointing ahead.
"The compass is leading to it. It must be the magnetic center of the desert!"
Toph perked up right away.
"A rock? Yes! Finally! No more sand—just me and rock!"
"Maybe we can find water there?" Katara added hopefully.
"... Maybe we can find Sand Benders," Aang muttered darkly, increasing the tailwind.
The skiff surged forward, accelerating straight toward the massive rock formation in the distance.
============================================
Toph leapt off the sand glider and landed on the rock almost instantly.
"Ah... finally! Solid ground!"
She immediately dropped onto her back, running her hands across the surface with a satisfied grin.
... Just this once, I'll let her ruin her clothes.
She spread her arms and legs, making a rock angel in pure bliss.
A moment later, she was back on her feet and following the group as we moved into one of the large openings ahead.
We entered the caves with caution.
I raised a small flame above my palm, illuminating the narrow tunnel.
The walls were coated in a thick yellow goo that smelled absolutely awful.
Sokka, of course, immediately dipped a finger into it.
Before anyone could stop him, he tasted it. Momo leaned in eagerly too, hoping to finally eat something after a full day of desert walking.
They both spat it out almost instantly.
"Ptew—!" Sokka gagged. "Tastes like rotten penguin meat! I'm gonna hurl..."
"What—You nearly drank hallucination cactus juice earlier if it weren't for Renji calling it out, and now you're licking something stuck to the wall of a cave?!" Katara snapped.
"I-I have natural curiosity," Sokka said weakly, offering no further defense.
I reached out and dipped a finger into the yellow goo, testing its texture.
"... I recognize this," I muttered, narrowing my eyes. "Where have I read this before?"
"This isn't a normal cave, guys. It was carved by something."
Aang nodded, eyes scanning the walls.
"Yeah... look at the shape."
Toph suddenly stiffened.
Her hand shot out as she focused.
"... There's something buzzing in here," she said. Her head snapped toward us. "Something's coming!"
Buzzing?
Oh.
"Guys—we need to go. NOW!"
We turned and bolted out of the cave.
As we ran, I looked back at Toph.
"Bend the holes—seal them shut!" I shouted, eyes locked on the entrances. "We're dealing with buzzard wasps!"
"Buzzard what?"
"That goo you were eating." I turned to him and Momo, giving them a grim smile. "It's partially digested corpse matter produced by the female wasps."
"..."
Sokka and Momo immediately leaned over and retched.
Both Earth Benders promptly got to work, syncing their movements as they sealed off the cave entrances.
A moment later, a violent flurry of buzzing erupted from within the sealed cavern.
"T-That's a lot of them," Katara said, instinctively stepping back. "I don't have enough water to fight them all."
"And they fly, so I can't see them," Toph added bluntly as she shifted into a combat stance.
"We're getting on the sand glider! Aang and Renji, shoot them down! I'll stay with Katara and Toph to handle anything that gets through. Katara, help Toph aim while we get down the steps!"
Sokka gave his orders just as the walls began to crack.
I pulled my injured arm out of the makeshift sling and clenched my fist.
Testing it, I tried channeling Chi into my arm. A spark of fire burst from my knuckles.
I winced—but it held.
At least it doesn't hurt as badly anymore.
I raised both fists and settled into a stance.
"They're breaking out!" Toph shouted as she Bent fragments of stone from the ground into floating ammunition.
The cave walls finally gave way.
A swarm of wasp-like monsters burst through, flooding into the open air as they lunged straight toward us.
============================================
Fighting with only one arm capable of shooting down bugs was proving to be quite the task.
"Go, go, go!"
The three moved down the steps as Aang and I covered their backs, firing pressurized air and bursts of flame into the swarm behind us.
Every time we took one down, three more seemed to replace it. They seemed endless.
Just as we reached the sand glider, completely surrounded by buzzard wasps in the air—
Pillars of sand suddenly erupted into the sky, slamming into the swarm in a single sweeping motion. The wasps dropped like flies, while the rest scattered back toward their caves.
As the wind carried the dust away, I frowned with a raised guard.
Several Sand Benders had appeared on their own sand gliders.
"What are you doing in our land with a Sand Bender sailer?" One of them asked aggressively as he stepped forward. "From the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami tribe!"
"We found the sailer abandoned in the desert." Katara raised her hands. "We're traveling with the Avatar."
She gestures at Aang. The man's eyes widen a bit at this information. "Our bison was stolen, and we have to get to Ba Sing Se."
Abruptly, a young man takes a step forward.
"You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailer?!"
My eyes locked onto the young man's face as the man reprimands him. He looks familiar...!
"Quiet, Ghashiun!" the older man snapped. "No one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we must show them hospitality."
The young man lowered his head. "Sorry, father."
Toph leaned slightly toward us and whispered.
"I recognize his voice. He's the one who stole Appa."
Katara turned sharply.
"Are you sure?"
"I never forget a voice."
The moment the words landed, Aang's grip tightened on his staff. Charging forward, he thrust his staff toward the man's throat.
"You stole Appa!" he shouted. "Where is he?! What did you do to him?!"
Ghashiun stumbled back, pointing at them. "They're lying! They're the thieves!"
Aang's expression twisted with rage.
With a sharp growl, he slammed his staff into the ground.
A blast of wind erupted outward, tearing through the sand and obliterating one of the Sand Benders' sailer.
"Where is my bison?!" he roared. "You tell me where he is—NOW!"
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NEXT UPDATE: 24 July, Friday
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