The next chapter is out hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 10: The Harsh Cruel Desert

"Water…need…water." A young boy (probably not older than 10) says panting as walks through the hot cruel desert with the sun burning over his back as his throat his dry and his body is aching from the searing heat and is fatigued beyond measure. He sways side to side trying his best to not keel over and fall onto the dusty sand. With the intense heat of the sun the sand burns on his feet with every step he takes and the walking becomes all the more unbearable. "The palace…the palace." He says while exhaustion over comes him.

His mind starts to become dreary and hazy as his eyes drift over the heated horizon. As he takes one more step he feels his leg bents as he collapses and falls on the hot dry sand. He rolls on his back as he looks up at the sky burning his body as he pants heavily. "Ba Sing Se…Ba…Sing…Se" He mumbles as he his eyes slowly close and he accepts his fate.

Different time

Zian looks over the horizon as he tries to scan the environment to see if he can get Appa's scent. The whole gang stand at the spot where the library disappeared into the sand as they also try to see if they can find their missing bison.

Aang turns towards Toph as he looks at her frustrated. "How could let them take Appa?! Why didn't you stop them?!" Aang yells at her. Toph has her back to him as she can't look at him without feeling any guilt. "I couldn't the library was sinking, you guys were still inside and…" She tries to explain as Aang interrupts her. "You could've come to get us! I could've saved him!" He yells as Toph turns to him. "I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sand benders snuck up on me and…" She says as Aang interrupts her again. "You just didn't care! You never liked Appa you wanted him gone!" He shouts.

Zian walks up to them as he looks at Aang. "Aang that's enough! Don't be angry at Toph she tried all she could, she saved our lives today." He says trying to defuse the whole situation as Aang then turns to him with the same angry look. "Well why didn't you stayed with her?! You could've helped her and none of this would've happened!" He says as Zian looks at him taken aback. "I didn't know this would happen I wanted to know what was in the library just as much as…" He says as Aang cuts him off. "And for someone who claims to love animals you don't seem to be making an effort of finding Appa!" He yells.

Zian looks at him in shock. "You think I'm not doing anything to help. I'm trying my best to find Appa's scent but the sand and heat is making it impossible for me to…" He says as Aang once again cuts him off. "Face it, neither of you care enough for Appa to find him!" He yells as Katara walks over to him. "Aang stop it, you know Toph did all she could and Zian trying his best. If it wasn't for Toph we would've died down there. She saved us." She says as Sokka at the desert with grim.

"But who is gonna save us now? We'll never make it out of here." He says feeling hope wither as Aang walks past him. "That's all any of you guys care about is yourselves. You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" He says as he kneels down on the sand. "We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now." She says. Zian crosses his arms. "And besides if we die out here then there's no one who'll be able to save Appa." He says.

Aang looks down at the sand as he looks up. "I'm going after Appa." He says as he jumps in the air and flies off. "Aang wait!" Katara exclaims as she tries to stop him as he just ignores her. Zian looks at the sky. "Whelp looks like we better start walking." He says as Katara nods. "Agree we're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se." Katara says as Zian's eyes widen. "Wait what why that place?" He asks. Toph looks at him suspiciously. "Well we have to. They're a strong kingdom and can really help us in defeating the fire nation on the solar eclipse." Katara explains as Zian shakes his head.

"I don't like this idea. I mean we can go to other kingdoms that are just as strong as Ba Sing Se." He says as Toph raises an eyebrow. "What's you problem with that place anyway. I heard you talking to the professor that he shouldn't mention that place any further." She says. Zian then suddenly starts to become nervous when she says that. "You know what? Let's continue." He says as he starts walking. Katara looks at Toph confused as Toph just shrugs and they follow him. "You think if we dig out the giant owl, he'll give us a ride?" Sokka asks as Zian rolls his eyes. "You ticked off a giant spirit owl and you want it to give you a ride? You're unbelievable." He says as Sokka follows his sister.

A while later

As Sokka, Zian, Toph and Katara walk through the desert they start to become exhausted due to the intense heat and lack of water. Zian is panting with his tongue hanging open while Sokka uses Momo to cover himself from the sun. Toph then bumps into him as he looks at her annoyed. "Can't you watch where you're…?" "No!" Toph says cutting him of as Sokka rubs the back of his neck from embarrassment. "Oh. Right. Sorry." He says as Katara stops and looks at them. "Come on guys we have to stick together." She says. "If I sweat anymore I don't think sticking together is going too much of a problem." Sokka says trying to pull himself away from Toph as she just effortlessly pushes him off.

Zian looks at the sky. "it's going to be a full moon tonight." He mumbles as Katara looks at him. "What was that Zian?" She asks tired. He shakes his head. "Nothing." He says. "Katara can I have some water?" She asks. "Ok but we gotta try to conserve it." She says as she bends the water from her gourd into her their mouths. "We're drinking your bending water?" He asks. "You used this on the swamp guys." Sokka says as he sticks his tongue out in disgust. "It does taste kind of swampy." Toph says too tired to make a disgust face.

"I'm sorry it's all we have." Katara says as she turns to Zian. "Here Zian." She says as she starts to bend the water. "Stop." He says as Katara stops bending and looks at him confused. "But you need it Zian." She says. "Not as much as you need it. Besides I'm fine I don't need it." He says clearly lying. "Ok." Katara says to him as she looks at him a bit worried. "And like you said, that's all the water we have." He says as Sokka looks over the distance as he sees something that makes him smile. "Not anymore. Look!" He says smiling as he points to something. They look and see that he is pointing to a cactus that is standing over yonder.

Zian turns to him as he sees Sokka cutting a piece of the cactus and he starts to deink the juices in it. Zian's eyes widen. "Sokka NO!" He yells as he runs over to him in a state of panic. Sokka looks at him confused. "What?" He asks. "Don't drink that!" He shouts at him. "Why not theirs water trapped inside these." He says as he shows a cup of it to him. Zian moves back a little. "It's not water in it. Do you know what it is?" He asks him.

"No" Sokka replies as he drinks some more of the strange liquid. "But it is very thirst quenching though." He adds as Zian shakes his head. "It juice from the dessert cactus that you're drinking. It isn't poisonous so don't worry, but it does have a side effect." He says.

"How do you know this?" Katara as Zian looks at her. "Let's just say I found out the hard way." He says as he looks at Sokka. "So stop drinking it!" He says as he sees Sokka eyes pupils narrow. His head shakes rapidly as he looks at Katara.

"Drink cactus juice it will quench ya." He says as he does the worms. "Nothings quenchier." He says as he stops and looks at Katara with a goofy smile. "It's so quenchiest." He says as Zian sighs. "And there starts the effect." He says. "Ok…I think you had enough." Katara says as she takes the cactus cup and throws it away. Sokka looks at Toph. "Who lid Toph on fire?" He asks. They look up and see Momo flying in circles as he dive bombs in the sand face first.

Katara looks at Zian. "So how long does the effect last?" She asks him. He shrugs. "I don't know I never really got duration for it." He says. Katara then picks Momo of from the sand. "Can I get some of that cactus?" Toph asks. Zians eyes widen. "Noooooo!" He says. "I don't think that's a good idea." Katara says as she leads Toph on and they continue walking. Noticing that Sokka isn't following she grabs his hand as she pulls him along and they walk on. "How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean?" Sokka asks still full of cactus juice. Zian shakes his head. "Oh this is going to be a looooooooong trek." He says.

A while later

They walk on for several moments when they turn to see a giant mushroom sand cloud. A gust of wind goes over them. "What is that?" Katara asks wondering, "What? What is what?" Toph asks unable to see the sand cloud. "It's a…Giant Mushroom. Maybe it's friendly?!" Sokka exclaims happily. As Zian looks at him weirdly. "Ok...I think we should keep moving." Zian says as Katara nods. "Agree. I hope Aang's ok." She says concerned. "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Zian says.

"Friendly mushroom. Mushy joyous friend." Sokka says making his whole body wiggly and jelly. Zian walks back to him as he takes Sokka's arm. "Ok that's it. No more cactus juice for you ever again." He says as he pulls Sokka away and they walk on.

As they travel for some time Zian looks as he sees the sun is setting as the heat starts to cool down and subside. Their shadows are over the ground as it reflects their fatigue and their thirst. As they walk Katara sees Aang fly over them as he lands behind them on his knees. Katara walks over to him feeling sorry. "I'm sorry Aang. I know it's hard for you but we need to focus on getting out of here." She says as she places a hand on his shoulder as he just pushes it away.

"What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa we all know it." He says all gloomy. "Come on Aang, we can do this if we work together. Right Toph?" She says as she faces Toph. "As far as I can feel we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding." Toph says as she kicks the sand. "I got nothing."

Katara then looks at Sokka. "Sokka any ideas how to find Ba Sing Se?" She asks while Sokka is lying on his back as he looks up at the sky. "Why don't we ask the circle birds?" He says as happily as he points at the sky. Katara looks up as she sees some giant flying creatures circling above them.

Katara looks at everyone as they all look like they've all given up hope. She then sighs. She then gives a face of determination as she stands up. "We're getting out of this dessert and we're gonna do it together. Aang get up, everybody hold hands. We can do this. We have to." She says as they all hold hands and they walk on into the dessert.

Several hours later

The group have travelled a while as the sun has nearly disappeared and the moon starts to rise in the sky. Katara stops as everyone is behind her all tired and worn out. "I think we should stop for the night." After Katara says that everyone, but Zian, falls on the sand with a loud thud.

"Is there any more water?" Toph asks Katara who then walks to her. "This is the last of it. Everyone can have a little drink." She says as she then bends the water ready to use it. Before she can however Momo jumps through it as it breaks Katara's bending and the water fall into the sand as it soaks the sand.

"Momo! NOOOOOO! You killed us all!" Sokka shout as he crawls to the water. "No he hasn't." Katara says as she bends the water out of the sand and into the gourd. Sokka looks at it smiling. "Oooh right, bending." He says relieved. Katara hands the gourd over to Toph as she drinks it. "I don't need any of it." Zian says with his back facing them as he looks up at the night sky. Katara looks at him concerned. "Zian you need to drink. You'll become dehydrated if you don't." She says.

"Katara I'm fine. Besides you guys need it more than I do." He says as Katara just sighs as she walks over to Sokka. "Sokka let me see the things you got from the library." She says as she reaches out for his satchel. He then quickly steps back away from her as he looks at her nervously as he holds the bag next to him. "What I didn't steal anything. Who told you that?" He asks as he looks at Momo angrily. "It was YOU! You ratted me out!" He says as Momo's ears fall flat as he looks at Sokka scared.

"Sokka I was there." She says as she takes the satchel from him and she looks at the scrolls that are in it. Aang looks at her depressed. "It doesn't matter. None of it will tell us where Appa is." He says as he lowers his head. Katara opens one scroll that has a chart of the stars. "No but we can find out which way Ba Sing Se is." She says as she analysis the chart. "We can use the stars to guide us. That way we can travel at night when it's cool and rest during the day." She says as she looks at the others who are all asleep.

Katara sighs. "Just try to get some sleep. We'll start again in a few hours." She says as she also lies down in the sand as she closes her eyes and gets some sleep.

Later

The group all lay on the sand sleeping as Momo is busy covering Sokka's entre body with sand as he moves away when he sees Katara moving towards him. "Come on get up we need to go." Katara says as Sokka sits straight up with his head down. Toph opens her mouth a couple of times as she looks forward still tired.

Zian opens his eyes as he sits up and he rubs his head and eyes as he groans. "Yesterday my mouth tasted like mud. Now it just tastes like sand. I never thought I'd miss the taste of mud so much." She says as Zian looks at her. "I just miss the felling of earth and something hard under my feet. It's just soft and dry here…l don't like it." He says as Sokka smiles goofily at him.

Katara walks over to Aang as she is about to wake him up. Before she even touches him however. "I'm a wake." He says as this surprise her. "I couldn't sleep." He says still depressed about his lost friend. "Well we need to keep moving if we wanna get out of this sand then." She says as they both look up at the sky. They look to see a strange thing floating in the sky. Aang's face lights up with joy.

"Appa!" Aang exclaims. Sokka looks at him confused. "Appa? But why would princess Yue need him? She's the moon she flies by herself." He says as he rubs Momo's tail against his face while he smiles. Zian looks at Sokka as he gestures his hand in a way to tell Sokka to be silent. "Sokka…just please." He says as they looks up.

As the thing moves over the cloud they get a better seeing of it as they see that. "It's just a cloud." Katara says regrettably as Aang lowers his head in sadness. Katara lifts her head as an idea strikes her. "Wait. A cloud." She says as she takes out her pouch and gives it to Aang. "Here fly up and bend the water from that cloud into my pouch." She says as Aang looks at her irritated. He takes the pouch roughly from her as he then flies up and heads towards the cloud.

They look up as they see the cloud disappearing as every time Aang passes through it. As the cloud is completely gone Aang throws the pouch to Katara as he lands on the sand. Katara looks at the water as her face is filled with disappointment. "Wow there hardly any in here." She says. "I'm sorry ok! It's a desert cloud I did all I could! What's anyone else doing?!" Aang yells as he points his staff at Katara. "What are you doing?!" He asks. Katara then sighs. "Trying to keep everyone together." She says as she looks at the chart.

"Let's just get moving. We need to head in this direction." She says as she starts walking and the others follow her. As they walk on for a while Toph suddenly falls. "Ow!" She exclaims in pain as she rubs her sore foot. "Crud! I am so sick of not feeling where I'm going!" She yells. "And what idiot buried a boat in the middle of the desert." She says as Katara looks at her surprised. "A boat?" She asks as she looks at a piece of wood that is stuck in the sand. "Believe me I kicked it hard enough to feel plenty of vibrations." Toph says.

Katara rubs the wood as Aang walks to her. He holds is staff as Katara looks and she backs away. Aang then swings his staff as the sand swirls around them as it creates dust around them. as the sand disappear and they can see they see it reveals a boat with a sail in the front of it. "It's one of the gliders the sand benders use." Katara says as she climbs on the glider and goes to the middle. "And look, it's got some kind if compass on it. I bet it can point us out of here." She says as she taps the compass as it jiggles a little.

She then looks at Aang. "Aang, you can bend a breeze so we can sail it. We're gonna make it." She says as they all look at Sokka who is covering Momo's body with sand as he gives them a double thumbs up and a goofy smile. Zian looks at him with a doubtful face. "Well, most of us." He says as he looks at Katara who glares at him. He puts his hands up in defence. "I mean...yeah we're finally getting out of the accursed sandbox. " He says as they all proceed to climb on the boat and Aang makes a breeze as they sail off.

Moments later

As the group go sail through the desert at an incredible speed Zian looks forward while Aang continues to blow wind at the sail. "It's actually amazing that the sand benders what they have to further their survival in this harsh wasteland." He says sounding intrigued. "Eh it's alright." Toph says sounding not so interested as Zian looks at her and rolls his eyes.

"The needle on this compass doesn't seem to be pointing north according to my charts." Katara says looking at the compass and then at her charts. Sokka is sitting behind her as he looks at her while still smiling like a goof while holding Momo's tail. "Take it easy little lady. I'm sure the sand folks who build this baby know how to get around here." He says to her as Katara just looks at him with a glare. She then looks back in front as she gasps. She sees a giant mountain that is appearing behind the sand. "That's what the compass is pointing to. That giant rock it must be the magnetic centre of the desert." She says as Toph looks at the rock with a bright smile.

"A rock? Yes let's go!" Toph exclaims. Zian also has a bright smile on his face. "Finally some earth in dusty wasteland!" He yells with excitement. "Maybe we can find some water there?" Katara says. "Or maybe we can find some sand benders?" Aang mumbles as he continues to shoot wind at the sail.

As the sun starts to rise and they make it to the giant rock they stop some ways from it as they walk to it and start to climb to the top. As they come to the top they turn as they look at the view as they see the desert stretches out for miles. "Aaah. Finally." Toph says as she falls on her back as she starts to make a crater angel. "Solid ground." She says as Zian just looks at her and smiles at seeing her happy as he is also happy to see and feel solid ground once more. The group turn around as they see a dome like cave on the top as it is covered in holes. They start to walk to the entrance as they see that almost the entire interior is covered in some strange slimy substance.

Just as Zian walks behind them into the cave his eyes suddenly grow wide as he starts to gag. "Uuugh! What's that horrific smell?!" He says almost throwing up. Sokka breaths in and out deeply. "I think my head is starting to clear out the cactus juice." He says as he looks at the slimy stuff on the wall. "And look." He says as he takes some of the stuff on he and Momo (who is sitting on his shoulder) licks it as they both immediately spit it out in disgust. "Blah! This stuff taste like rotten penguin meat." He says as he bends down and groans. "I feel woozy." He says as Momo feels the same.

Katara walks to her brother annoyed. "You've been hallucinating on cactus juice all day, and then you just lick something you find stuck to the wall of a cave?!" She says as Sokka looks at her. "I have a natural curiosity." He says as Zian rolls his eyes. "More like a natural stupidity." He says as Toph starts feeling the wall. "I don't think this is a normal cave." Toph says sounding concerned and worried. "This was…carved by something." She says as Zian starts sniffing. "She's right I can smell something else other than the digesting slime." He says as they look at the dark tunnel. "There's something buzzing." Toph says as her eyes widen. "Something that's coming for us." She says as they all quickly run out of the cave.

As they run out they can hear the buzzing grow louder. "Uh-oh" Zian says as they stop to see giant insect like creatures flying out of the cave as they fly towards them. One of the creatures flies towards Aang as he just shoots a gust of wind at it as it is send flying. Another one flies towards Zian as it tries to bite him as he dodges and grabs one of its legs as he slam it on the ground before throwing it to the side. "These things are ugly!" He says as he focuses on the others.

As the battle between the group and the creatures Aang sees one of them grab Momo as he flies off to save him. Katara looks at the rest. "Come on we're going down." She says when suddenly one of the winged beasts charges towards her. She doesn't see this as Zian does. "Look out!" He yells as he pushes her away. As he does so she falls as the beast snatches Zian instead of Katara. Katara, Sokka and Toph look to see Zian being taken away. "ZIAN!" She screams.

Zian looks at the creutures and becomes angry. "I am not going to be your dinner AGAIN!" He cries as he grabs the creature by the neck as toss himself up the winged creatures back and rides it. "Now I got you!" He yells as he tries to take control of the beast as it tries to shake him off. Zian looks at it annoyed as his eyes turn red. He retracts his hand as he slaps it on the creature. "You will obey!" He says in a deep voice. The creature suddenly calms down as it stops what it is doing and hovers in the air. As Zian releases his takes away his hand his eyes turn back as he shakes his head. "What the?" He says as he shakes the thought away.

He flies the beast back to the group. As he comes back to them he sees them surrounded by the swarm of them. He flies towards them to help when suddenly he sees giant mounts of the desert sand rising up like pillars as they either hit or scare away the creatures. Zian flies down to the rest, who are already at the bottom, as he sees mysterious people with their faces, covered with rags as they are standing in front of them. He flies down as he jumps off his ride as it flies off to the rest of its kind. Aang lands in front of them as the sand benders look at them.

One of the sand benders walks in front of the others. He, unlike the others, does not have his face covered as he looks to be of a middle aged man as he looks at the group suspiciously. "What are you doing in our land with a sand bender sailor? From the looks of it you stole it from the honey tribe." He says as Zian crosses his arms. "And what if we did? We just found buried in the sand and we were exhausted and thirsty and we're traveling together with the Avatar. It's not like anyone else was using it." He says as the father looks at them surprised.

"Zian's right, our bison was stolen and we have to get to Ba Sing Se." Katara says as a young adult boy steps forward. "You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride on a stolen sand sailor." The boy says as Zian raises an eyebrow. "We didn't say anything about you stealing Appa." He says as the boy's eyes widen. "Quiet Gash win. The boys right no one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true then we must give them hospitality." The middle aged man says. "Sorry father." Gash win says when suddenly Toph's eyes widen.

"I recognize the son's voice. He's the one that stole Appa." She says as Katara looks at her. "Are completely sure?" Zian asks her. Toph nods. "I never forget a voice." She says as Aang walk in front of them with a frustrated look. "You stole Appa! Where is he? What did you do to him?!" Aang aggressively as he points his staff at the sand benders. The son looks at him a little nervous. "They're lying. They're the thieves." He says to his fellow sand benders.

Aang grids his teeth as he lifts up his staff as swing it down. A gust of strong heads towards one of the sand bender's sailors as it crashes into it destroying it into thousands of tiny wooden pieces. After that he looks at the sand benders as he is fuelled with rage. "Where is my bison?!" He yells. Zian looks at the situation with a less concerned and more fearful expression. "Uh-oh"

"You tell me where he is NOW!" Aang shouts as he shoots another strong wind as it destroys another sailor. The father looks at his son angry. "What did you do?!" He says. The son looks at him frightened. "I-It wasn't me." he says scared. "You said to put a muzzle on him." Toph says as Aang looks at him even more outraged. "You muzzled Appa?!" He says his rage goes past his limit and his eyes and tattoos start to glow.

He swings his staff as a strong wind, one more powerful than the other two, heads straight at them. They dodge it as it goes past them and destroys yet another sailor. The son looks at him with fear now overwhelming him. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know it belonged to the Avatar." He says. "TELL ME WHERE APPA IS?!" Aang demands in a deep voice.

"I-I traded him…t-to some merchants. He's…probably in Ba Sing Se by now we were gonna sell him there." The son says as all of the sand benders become scared. "Please, we'll escort you out of the desert; we'll help however we can!" The son pleads as Zian looks at him shocked. "You idiot!" He says.

At that moment the sand starts to swirl all around him as if a sand storm approaches. Zian reacts as he runs. "Come on let's get out of here!" He yells as the others don't need to be told twice as they all run for it. Aang starts to float in the air as Katara stands behind him unfazed yet saddened as she walks to him. She grabs his arm as he looks at her frustrated as he sees the sorrowed look on her face.

She lowers him down as she holds him. The sand and the wind slowly dies down as the two of them stand there sad as heavy tears fill Aang's face as the glow fades away. Zian stands there as he watches with great sadness at knowing how Aang feels.

The next chapter is done sorry it took so long but I was busy with my tests. Anyway I want to tell you guys that for the next 4 weeks I won't be able to post due to my exams coming, I will try to work on the next chapter on my off time but there won't be any updates until then.

Anyway I hope you guys all enjoyed it and liked it. Thank you so much for reading I always appreciate you guys for reading. Thank you and I'll see you all in the next chapter. Bye.