Katara detached the waterskin tied to her hip and handed it to me. "Here," she said, "have a sip."

I accepted the waterskin with a small smile and took a swig. The water went down the wrong pipe, and I lurched forward and coughed. Katara lightly patted my back until the coughs settled. I took another, more cautious sip, and handed the waterskin back to Katara. She took my arm and helped me stand.

I looked between my friends. Toph, Sokka, and Aang all looked in different directions of the desert. A warm wind had picked up, coating our clothes and skin with sand. The sun bore down on my head, neck, and shoulders.

"We should get moving," Katara said.

"Where do we even start?" Sokka said. "We don't have a map."

"Is that all you care about?" Aang said.

"Um… yes?" Sokka gestured to the dunes. "Dying of thirst is not how I want to go."

"That's not what I meant!" Aang whirled around, gripping his staff tightly. "I'm talking about Appa! You're all standing around while he's being taken further and further away from here!"

"There wasn't anything we could've done! The library was sinking, and you guys were still trapped inside!" Toph said.

"There was something you could've done; you could've saved Appa!"

"We tried, Aang," I said. "There were too many of them. They outnumbered us."

Aang's knuckles turned white. Katara reached out and placed her hands over his.

"We won't be able to save Appa if we die in this desert. We need to think of a plan after we get out of here," she said.

Aang stepped away from her touch. "I can't sit and do nothing." Aang turned his back to us. "I'm going after Appa."

"Aang-"

Aang pounded the end of his staff against the sand, and the wings unfolded. He took off into the air, kicking up a small cloud of sand. Katara flinched and brushed the excess off her clothes with a sigh.

"Come on," she said to the rest of us.

She walked ahead. Toph ambled behind. I watched their backs, and I looked to Sokka. Our eyes met briefly. Memories of the library, still fresh in my mind, caused me to look away. I was too exhausted to be angry or offended. Momo landed on my shoulder and chattered curiously in my ear. I patted his tiny shoulder and followed Katara and Toph.

"Do we have any water?" Toph said.

Katara placed a hand on her waterskin. "It's about halfway full. Ashe, do you have any…?"

I shook my head. "I lost it all from the ambush." I raised my good arm and swirled it above my head. After a few circles, I brought my hand to my face. Thin streams of water clung to my skin. "It would take some time to gather from the air, but I'll do what I can." I tilted my head back and let the water trickle into my parched mouth.

"Thank you. Don't push yourself. In the meantime…" Katara extracted a small portion of water from her waterskin.

Toph opened her mouth, and the water entered it. She swallowed and sighed. She smacked her lips together. "This water tastes kind of… funny…"

"Can I have some?" Sokka said. Katara nodded and bended another portion of water to him. Sokka swallowed, and his face contorted. "Ugh, gross, this is the same water you used when we fought that swamp guy!"

"I'm sorry, that's all the water I have," Katara said. "Now, we need to try and conserve it, or else we'll run out before we even a mile into walking."

Sokka sighed and looked out into the distance. A wide grin filled his face "Prepare to take back those words! Look over there!"

We followed his pointed finger to a large, green cactus. Sokka scurried past us, pulled out his machete, and sliced at the top of the cactus. He grabbed the piece and drank hungrily.

"Look! There's water in the cactus!" he said. He held one out to Katara.

"Can I have some?" Toph said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Katara said. She turned to Sokka and placed her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't be drinking water from there. How do you know it's safe?" Katara said.

"It looks like water, and it tastes like water," Sokka said, gulping down another slice of cactus juice. He set one down for Momo to lap from. "Want some, Ashe?"

"I agree with Katara. Who knows what possible side effects this water could have?" I deadpanned.

"Fine, then. More for me."

Sokka consumed a third cup of water. After finishing it, he froze in his stance and slowly lowered his arms back to his side. He jerked around and faced us. As he turned, he lost his balance and almost fell on his face.

"…Sokka?" Katara said.

Sokka squinted at his sister. His eyes were heavily dilated. "Has your skin always been this green?"

"...What?"

Sokka's eyes grew wide. "You're one of them, aren't you?! A member of the Seaweed People!"

Katara stared blankly at Sokka. She grabbed the empty cactus slice in his hand and tossed it aside. "That's enough cactus water."

Sokka looked around, his face smitten with awe. "Are we in space?" He pointed at Momo, who stumbled drunkenly to my side and collapsed at my feet. "A shooting star! Make a wish, and it'll come true!"

Katara sighed and took Toph's and Sokka's hands. "Come on. We need to keep moving."

I bent down and scooped Momo into my arm. His eyes flew around, as if he could see things that us sober folks couldn't. His pupils almost consumed his irises. I patted his head gently, and he closed his eyes and uttered a strange purr. I sighed and followed the others.

The hot desert sun crawled across the cloudless sky, beating against our backs relentlessly. Every few minutes, I gathered as much water from the air as my tired arms would allow me and tucked it into my waterskin. There came a point during our trek when I stopped sweating, and my body just felt dry and hot. With each step, my body grew increasingly wearier.

At last, the sun started to sink below the horizon. The dimming light stretched over the sand dunes, giving it many different shades of orange; the more further away, the darker the orange. The sky above us was black, despite the sun still being out. Not a single star had appeared. The temperature started to fall, and my heaving lungs and burning skin were grateful for the cooler air.

A shadow flew over us. Katara and I looked up and saw Aang descend to the ground, his back turned to us.

"Aang!" Katara jogged over to him. She stopped directly behind him, pausing for a few moments. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Aang. We will find Appa. I promise. I know it's hard right now, but we have to keep moving-"

"What's the point?" Aang said, bowing his head. "We all know we can't survive in this desert without Appa."

"I'm… starting to agree with Aang," Toph said. She kicked at the ground, and a lump of sand jumped from one spot to another. "As far as I can feel, we're in a giant sand bowl with no way out."

Katara clenched her fists. "Enough with this attitude, everyone! We're going to get out of this desert, and we're going to do it together!" She looked towards the horizon. The sun had left, and only a hint of orange light remained in its wake. "We're all tired from the long travel. Let's rest for a few hours. Once our energy is back up, we'll keep going again."

"I'm sure Sokka stole some maps from the library," I said.

"Who told you that?!" Sokka said, his face suddenly inches from mine.

"I was there. I watched you steal them."

Sokka sat back. "Oh." A grin curled on his lips, and he giggled.

"Can I see those maps?" Katara said.

Sokka shook his arms, and his bag slid off his shoulders. "Here ya go."

Katara took the bag and sifted through the scrolls stuffed inside. She pulled out a map and a star chart. She looked up at the sky. "Ashe, can you help me with this?"

I climbed to my feet. I set Momo, still cradled in my arms, on Sokka's chest. The two stared up at the sky with child-like wonder. By the time I walked over and sat down next to Katara, their snores filled the air.

"First, we should find the North Star," Katara said. She pointed to the end of a tail of stars connected to a trapezoid. "It's at the end of this group called the Little Dipper."

I looked up at the sky. The stars had awoken at last, and a blanket decorated the blackness. "Oh," I pointed at a spot in the sky, "there it is."

"Then north is that way. Thanks." Katara placed a finger on the map and traced it carefully across the paper. As I watched, she stopped and glanced at me. "Did Sokka say something that upset you? Back at the library?"

I looked at Katara, then back at the map. "It's fine. Sokka being Sokka, that's all. I don't even remember what he said."

"All right…" Katara studied my tired face. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll wake you up in a few hours."

I nodded and laid back on the ground. I rolled over, my back facing her. I untied my water skins and laid the one with water beside me. I used the empty one as a pillow. Patting it a few times to make it comfortable, I rested my head on it. The air was cool, but Katara's warmth soothed my back. I closed my eyes.


"Ashe," Katara whispered, "time to wake up. We need to get moving again."

My eyes were sealed shut with sand. I rubbed them clean and opened them. I sat up slowly. I winced and rubbed the crick in the side of my neck. Katara offered a hand. My legs trembled like jello as I stood.

"Did you manage to get any water?" she said.

I crouched and picked up my waterskins. My muscles screamed. I popped the lid off the full one and peered inside. "It's almost half full."

A relieved smile filled Katara's face. "Thank goodness. There's only a few drops left in mine. Thank you."

I nodded, sealed the waterskin close, and tied them back on my waist. Katara stirred the others, and we gathered our things and headed out.

My body protested. The nighttime and cooler temperature were good enough motivation to take one more step. We trekked silently, neither of us even looking at each other. I focused on Katara, who walked at the head of the group. The baby hairs on the back of her neck were stiff and curly from sweating. Her braid bobbed lightly against her back with each trudging step.

"Ow!" Toph hissed, followed by a faint thud in the sand. We turned and saw her facedown in the sand. She sat up with a frustrated wince and gripped her foot. A piece of curved wood jutted a foot out of the sand. "That's it! If I take one more step in this stupid desert, I'm going to scream! Who the heck leaves their boat lying out in the middle of nowhere?!"

"A boat?" Katara perked up. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I kicked it hard enough to tell what it is. Any harder, and I would have uprooted it."

Katara crouched and ran a hand along the smooth wood. Aang walked over, gripping his staff.

"Stand back," he said stoically. Katara obeyed. Aang swung his staff, yanking the sand from the ground. It cleared in a few seconds, revealing the boat in its entirety.

"It's one of the sandbender's boats!" Katara said. She hopped on and climbed to the top. "It appears to be undamaged. We can use this to travel! Aang, you can use your airbending on the sail to make the boat move. See, everyone? We're saved!"

We climbed on the boat. Aang used a gust of wind to clean out the sand sitting inside the sail. Katara stood at the top of the boat, hovering over a post with a compass at the top. She tapped it. She unrolled the star chart.

"This compass isn't pointing north," Katara said. "Maybe something's wrong with it?"

"Nothing to fret about, Princess Gumdrop," Sokka said dreamily at Katara's feet. "You gotta have faith in your servants. I'm sure they know how to fly this giant cookie."

His machete was in his hand, and he twisted his wrist lazily. His head tilted side to side, following the motion of the weapon. Katara snatched it from his grip and tucked it on her side. Sokka pouted and folded his arms, muttering a low "humph." Katara rolled her eyes and gave Aang a nod. Aang thrust his hands out, and a column of wind struck the sail. The boat lurched forward, speeding over the sandy plains. We hit a dune, and we caught air for several seconds. The boat smacked against the ground. I pressed my back against the post to avoid flying off the vehicle.

We rode for several minutes. In a fraction of the time, we covered more of the desert than we did during our travel yesterday. Katara peered up from the map.

"Look up ahead!" she said. We looked and saw a giant rock in the distance. "So that's what the compass is pointing towards. That rock must be the magnetic center of the desert."

"Did you say rock?!" Toph said, quickly jumping from sitting to kneeling. A bright smile filled her face. "Let's go there!"

Katara nodded. "We can use the elevation to our advantage. There might also be something there, like water."

"Or sandbenders," Aang mumbled, quiet enough to go unheard by Katara. The hatred in his voice sent a chill down my spine.

The sun started to rise by the time we reached the rock, breaking apart the dark sky. We hopped off the boat and climbed up the inclined path that wound along the side of the rock. Near the top, I noticed a cluster of caves carved into the rock. As soon as we reached the top, Toph sighed and flopped onto the ground.

"Oh, earth. How I've missed you so," she said. She kissed the dirt.

Katara examined the map and scanned the horizon. Even from this vantage point, there was nothing but sand as far as the eye could see. Sokka stared into the distance as well, taking deep, slow breaths.

"What's inside there?" I said. I walked to the edge of one of the caves and peered inside, but I could only see a few feet inside.

"Let's find out," Sokka said.

A glob of mysterious, yellow substance oozed from the ceiling and plopped on the ground, a few feet in front of us. I shuddered.

"I'm not taking any suggestions from you," I said.

"I'm fine, now. I think my head's finally clearing up," Sokka said.

"And yet, that doesn't assure me."

Toph stood and joined us. She took one step inside, planting her feet against the ground. She rested her hand against the wall. "This cave doesn't feel like it was made naturally. Something carved it this way."

"Look at the shape of it," Aang said. Looking past the gooey, yellow substance, I noticed the cave was carved hexagonally. "The wind didn't do that."

"There's also… something buzzing deep within…" Toph straightened and jumped out the cave. "And it's coming towards us!"

A buzzard wasp broke out of the darkness with a screech. Sokka cried out and fell on his butt; the buzzard wasp zoomed over him. Sokka yelped and reached for his machete, only to remember it was no longer at his side. He leaped to his feet.

"Give me that!" Sokka yanked his weapon from Katara's side. The blade cut the rope, and Katara's waterskin hit the ground. The top popped off, and the last of her water spilled on the rock.

"Sokka!" Katara cried. "That was the last of my water!"

"Let this be a lesson to never take my stuff!"

A buzzard wasp lunged at Katara and Sokka. Aang swung his staff, and a gust of wind smacked into the buzzard wasp. It slammed against the side of the hive. A few moments later, more buzzard wasps emerged from the caves. We hurried away from the cave entrances.

"We need to get out of here! We're in no shape to fight these things!" I said. A buzzard swooped down. I gasped and lost my balance. One foot slid off the edge of the rock. Toph pivoted her foot and jutted out her fingers. The rock extended, rose into a wall, and caught me. "Thanks."

"Ashe is right," Katara said.

A buzzard wasp snatched Momo in its arms and took off.

"Momo!" Aang cried. He sprinted to the edge of the rock and leaped off. He extended the wings of his staff and flew after the wasp.

"Come on, let's get moving! We'll meet Aang at the boat," Katara said. She placed her hands on Toph's shoulders and led her down the path. Sokka and I followed close behind.

The swarm followed us down the side of the rock, their hisses filling the air. One tried to get close, and I pulled water from my waterskin and whipped its wing. The wasp screeched and stumbled in the air, crashing into another one. They both fell.

"Throw a rock on your left," Katara said, hiding behind Toph. Toph stomped her foot against the ground, breaking a rock from the ground, and launched it at a buzzard. It smacked into its torso and knocked it out of the sky.

We continued to move down the inclined path. The swarm hovered above us, and they slowly lowered to the ground, inching closer and closer.

Thick, large columns of sand erupted from the ground like geysers, consuming some of the wasps while others barely escaped. Those that were missed scurried back up to the top to hide inside their hive once again.

"Wow! I didn't know you could do that!" Sokka said to Toph.

"I didn't," Toph said. "They did."

My eyes were already scanning the clan of sandbenders that parked several feet from the rock. They climbed off their gliders and stared at us from afar. Aang returned and landed in front of us. Momo flew to our side. Nearly every sandbender concealed their entire bodies with their robes; some left their eyes uncovered, but some had masks over them. One man stood in front of the rest, his head uncovered. The top of his head was bald. Around the back, connecting to his sideburns and beard, the hair was dark brown. Another man, much younger with long hair tied back in a ponytail, stood next to him.

"What are you doing with a sand glider from the Hami Tribe?" he barked.

"We found it abandoned in the desert," Katara said.

The younger man let out a mocking laugh. "Right! And I'm a professional Pai Sho player!"

Toph tensed beside me.

"We're telling the truth. Our bison was stolen by sandbenders, and we've been stranded in this desert. We're traveling with the Avatar, and we're on our way to Ba Sing Se."

"Accusing our people of a heinous act?! Enough of your lies! Tell us the truth, or we'll force it out of you!" the younger man said.

"Quiet, Gashwin!" the older man said. Gashwin stood down.

Slowly, Toph raised her arm and pointed at Gashwin. "You," she said. "I recognize your voice."

"What are you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life," Gashwin said.

"You might not remember hearing him, Ashe, because you were unconscious, but I do." Toph said. She narrowed her cloudy eyes. "You're the one who stole Appa."

"They're lying!" Gashwin said.

A column of air rushed past us, violently whipping my hair against my tender shoulder. It slammed into a glider, destroying it on impact. Aang stomped past us, his knuckles white from gripping his staff so tightly.

"Where is my bison?!" he said. He swung his staff again, destroying another glider. The wind ripped off the robes and masks decorating some of the sandbenders' faces.

"Gashwin, what did you do?" the older man said.

"I-It wasn't me!" Gashwin said.

"Yes, it was!" Toph said. "It was your voice that ordered Appa to be muzzled and tied."

"You… what?!" Aang growled.

His eyes and his tattoos glowed white. He slammed his staff against the ground. Geysers of sand, like the ones from earlier, erupted once more, sending sandbenders into the air and consuming the remainder of the gliders. Only ours was left.

"Tell me where he is!" Aang said. His voice overlapped with a dozen others, making it low and frightening, almost demonic.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know he belonged to the Avatar!" Gashwin said. "I traded him with some merchants. T-They're going to Ba Sing Se to sell it."

The ground rumbled. The air began to sweep underneath our feet, picking up our clothes.

"Let's move!" Sokka said, grabbing Toph's arm and pulling her away. We scurried away as a ball of air expanded around Aang. He started to lift into the air, a scene I remembered vividly from back at the Southern Air Temple.

"Katara!" I called as she remained within the air bubble. A thick cloud of sand swirled in the air, completely overwhelming my vision. I squinted and shielded my face to keep the grit out of my eyes. As the sand cloud expanded, my vision cleared slightly. I peered through and into the center of the storm, where Katara had pulled Aang into her arms, bringing him back to the ground, and held on tightly.

All at once, the storm dissipated. The air cleared. From here, I could hear Aang's quiet, whispered sobs.

His repeated phrase, "I'm sorry," hung in the air. His apologies directed to more than one being- to the friend at his side, to the friends watching from afar, and to the family he had lost.