Chapter Nine.
"So then I said to Toph, 'Sure, some bugs are tasty, but you have to admit it's a lot of work to find the right ingredient to cook 'em with.' She kept trying to tell me bugs were only good fresh, then Katara chimed in with 'bugs are disgusting no matter how they're cooked,' and so I had to tell her they're an excellent source of meat in many parts of the world, and...hey! Wake up!"
Sokka tapped Azula hard in the ribs with his foot as the balloon started to descend. He was standing up, leaning against the basket wall. When she didn't stir, he poked her harder. Her eyelids unfurled, and she stared straight up into the balloon with weary hatred. Her chest expanded, her lips pursed, and when her mouth opened a jet of light blue fire shot out and upward for a few seconds.
He almost felt bad for her and would if he didn't also have to remain awake in order to keep her from falling asleep. It had been two days since they had taken to the sky, and if Sokka remembered correctly, he had been flying over the Southern Sea on Appa's back for only a little less time than that. The bison was faster and more direct, and he guessed that if the wind was on their side, it would be another day and a half before the balloon was floating within sight of the sea to the north.
She sent up another plume of fire, this time with her hands, and held it for a long time before letting them fall to the basket's floor. Her eyes closed, and her face relaxed.
"Hey, don't fall asleep," he said.
"A few minutes," she said as she yawned. "Won't hurt."
He tilted his head up to watch the balloon. They had to remain high in order to keep with the fast east/north wind. Any lower, and they would be traveling longer at an even slower speed. The only problem was that, at the height needed for optimal wind speed, the air was cold, and the balloon cooled faster, demanding near-constant attention.
Sokka looked over the balloon's edge and saw the ground was a mottled sheet of rocks and ice. It looked like the top of a cream-pie cake, and while his mouth watered at the thought, it also considered the danger of a damaged basket or worse, torn balloon canvass.
There were dark rings under Azula's eyes, and she seemed to have lost the ability to moan in pain. As for him, his body also seemed to have forgotten how to ache as a general mercy, but he thought once he got some rest, the deficit would likely be paid. He saw the balloon was descending again, and he let it dip what had to be a few thousand feet before waking Azula with a hard kick. "
Go easy on it," he said. "We'll hang out at this altitude for a bit, and you try to sleep as much as you can in between heats, got it?"
She didn't answer and only sent up one plume of fire from a crooked armed before letting it flop back onto her stomach.
"Little more," he urged, and she complied with a groan. "That should do it for a bit."
"We're going to have to land," she said, throwing the words out of her mouth.
"Shh," he said. "Nap time, remember?"
"Ugh..."
He continued his vigil and his story about the Great Bug Debate, which was now more to keep himself awake than Azula, who seemed to have no trouble ignoring him. Sokka kept looking up at the balloon and saw that it was taking less time to deflate as the air cooled slower. He could see the ground in more detail, although there wasn't much to see beyond sharp hillocks of snow and ice. The cold air that had whipped at the back of his head and kept him alert seemed warm now by comparison, although it was still freezing. He noted with approval that the sun seemed to be back to its normal setting at night pattern, indicating how far north they had already come. He kept looking to the horizon, hoping to see a long line of gray water, but he knew it would be some time before that was to be expected. He now wished he had brought something to hold wood in while it burned, that way Azula could rest for a time, but there was nothing he could do now.
Sokka kept telling himself that his biggest problems now would be mere inconveniences. If he had to land the balloon, they could raise it again, and if it tore beyond repair, he could make another sled and drag Azula north to the sea. He reasoned he would only be half dead by the time they got there. As for now, sleep deprivation seemed preferable to near death from cold, exhaustion, and blob monsters.
He patted Hoplo's journal and wondered what he would do with it. It was clear the blobs had rested under the mountain for eons without bothering anyone who didn't come asking for it, so he felt no danger by leaving them there for the time being. Azula seemed disinclined to speak of them, which either meant she wanted to forget about it all, or more likely come back for revenge. Sokka wondered what secrets that ancient city might hold. Was there possibly a library there, like the one Wan Shi Tong had kicked them out of? He didn't like the idea of the Fire Nation getting hold of something such as that, but reminded himself that one way or another the war would end this year.
"Hey," he said when the balloon needed inflating.
He had to kneel by Azula and shake her awake. She had been asleep long enough for her eyes to flutter behind their lids, and watching her wake was like seeing someone pull themselves up out of a muck pit.
"I'm forcing a landing," she said groggily, conjuring a jet of fire. "Royal decree." Her head rolled to the side when she was done, and he hoped she would forget about her decision the next time she woke.
-I guess if we went down slow enough,- he thought, looking over the edge. "Alright, alright, wake up. Up!" he said, shaking her.
She came to life again, dim and angry. "I'll burn you," she said. "You'll go up like a candle."
Sokka did not think she was capable of burning anything at this point. "We're landing, but I need you to help control our speed. I'm going to let some air out near the top and see how it goes," he said.
He pulled on the cord and was happy to see it worked. The opening at the balloon's top slid away, and the basket began to drop faster than he had expected. "Alright, give it a little heat," he said, tugging on the string that closed the opening. The balloon shifted, and the cord didn't move. The hole would not close.
"Close it," Azula said, sounding more alert as she produced fire. "Oh look, another one of your mistakes."
She sent up more fire to keep the balloon aloft, but Sokka had to swat at her arms to make her stop as the balloon started to smolder. They were dropping fast now and from a height well above the tree-tops, had there been any trees bellow. All Sokka could think about was how sharp the small ravines of ice and bits of protruding rock looked from thousands of feet above.
He was screaming, and Azula was cradling her leg in anticipation when they hit. Sokka was sent to the floor of the basket and the air was forced from his lungs. He heard Azula make a sound like her rear end had been sent up into her chest, and then he saw nothing as the balloon came down over them.
His head spun with dizziness while he fought to pull air into his abused lungs. His thoughts were of the whipping wind and the balloon billowing over the sharp ice and rocks. He ignored Azula's pained moans and cries as he climbed out of the basket and untangled himself from the canvass, being careful not to rip it.
Sokka ran to the top of the balloon and gathered it up, forcing what air was left out as he did a sloppy folding job. He learned that he'd given the ground too much credit and the canvass not enough. There were no tears he could see, and when folded, the balloon draped over the basket, creating a makeshift roof. He climbed back into the basket and sat down. It had been getting dark, and he closed his eyes.
"Is it damaged?" Azula asked, her voice shaking in pain.
"No," he said. "We're good to sleep."
She moaned and went still. He heard her trying to sleep, but it seemed as though the shock of the landing had put her in lasting agony.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"No," she said. "Leave me alone."
He nearly did as she asked but something stirred him to move next to her. "Are you hurt?"
"I don't know," she said, forcing her voice to not crack. "Nothing feels broken...nothing new."
"Lie flat," he said, arranging their cloth supplied to form a pillow for her. She shifted her position to the one he suggested, groaning as she did so. When she was on her back with her arms to her sides, he looked at her leg and saw it was no worse than before. "Sorry, that's all I can do."
"It's not serious, it just hurt. Sleep now."
"We'll freeze," he said.
"Ugh. Do what you must."
He undid his big coat and laid next to her, using the coat as a blanket. He could feel her warmth through her clothing and tried his best to press against her without it feeling strange. It did anyway, and he did his best to ignore it and fall asleep.
To be continued...
