BOOK TWO: EARTH
CHAPTER 11: THE DESERT
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Desolation - often the term synonymous with other terms of barrenness, isolation, bleakness, emptiness, dereliction, devastation, anguish and despair. The desert seems to be one of the places where one can feel these emotions to the full depth.
Team Avatar looks in every direction over the vast ocean of sand for Appa. A little sandstorm began to blow all around them accusing their view. Unable to see where Appa could have vanished they turn to the world oldest scapegoat: blame.
"How could you let them take Appa?! Why didn't you stop them ?!" Aang turned around to Toph enraged.
"I couldn't! The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and-" Toph tried to defend her actions but Aang didn't want to hear it.
"You could've come to get us. I could've saved him!"Aang interrupts Toph as he walks over to her.
Toph turns to face him slightly, though she was blind, she couldn't face him while he is enraged. "I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't time for –"
"You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him GONE!" Aang Snaps at Toph harshly.
Aang looks extremely furious at Toph as Katara walks over to him. She puts her hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down. Toph just felt miserable by all this and Aang wasn't helping her feel better. "Aang, stop it. You know Toph did all she could. She saved our lives."
"Who's going to save our lives now? We'll never make it out of here." Sokka, who is still looking out into the desert.
"Then we're gonna have to hoof it. The wind covered the Sandbenders tracks; they couldn't have taken anywhere, so the trial has gone cold from the start. I hate to say this but we have to leave Appa behind."
"We can't leave Appa!" Aang shouted.
"He's gone! We have to focus on the here and now!" Dante shouted back while walking toward him.
"That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" Aang walked off.
"We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now." Katara said.
Aang crouches on the ground and tights his grip on his staff. "I'm going after Appa." He said in a cold, hard tone.
Aang flies off, Katara calls after him, running to the place he took off but it was hopeless. The rest of the group who stand by the large crater created by the disappeared library. Katara, who is still looked in the direction Aang, took off at.
Katara sighed in giving up. "We'd better start walking. We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se."
The group starts walking in the same direction as Aang took off to, with Katara leading the way, followed by Dante, V, Sokka with Toph closes the ranks.
"You think if we dig out the giant owl, he'll give us a ride?" Sokka asked with a sudden idea.
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Elsewhere Zuko and Iroh riding on their ostrich horse. Iroh fake-moans in pretend pain at every step the ostrich horse takes, clasping his left arm.
"Maybe we should make camp." said Zuko.
"No please, don't stop just for me!" replied Iroh. Iroh then theatrically lets out several more groans of pain to the style of the world's smallest violin playing: Woe Always Me.
Zuko pull at the reins, annoyed by the performance displayed by his uncle. As they dismount, the ostrich horse is alarmed by something. Zuko immediately takes on a firebending form, ready to defend himself.
"What now?" Iroh asked annoyed that he won't rest anytime soon.
The Rough Rhinos ride through the thicket at both sides of the road Zuko and Iroh were traveling on. Mongke's rhino steps the ground forcefully breaking the surface. Mongke is shown, pulling back the reigns. Zuko keeps up his defensive position, looking at the men that surrounded them. Iroh's face clears up as he stands up and places a hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"Colonel Mongke! What a pleasant surprise!" Iroh greeted his old friends.
"If you're surprised we're here, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps." Mongke clashed his bladed bracers together sharpening rest of the Rough Rhinos prepare themselves for battle, each readying their own weapon of expertise. Ogodei with ball and chains, Kahchiwith Guan Dao blade,Vachir with flaming arrows, Yeh-Lu with explosives and Mongke with Firebending.
"You know these guys?" Zuko asked in surprise.
"Sure. Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapon specialist. They are also a very capable singing group."
"We're not here to give a concert. We're here to apprehend fugitives!" Mongke stated.
"Would you like some tea first? I'd love some. How about you, Kahchi? I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?"
"Enough stalling! Round 'em up!" Mongke ordered.
Ogodei swings his ball and chain at Iroh, who kicks it away. The chain wraps itself around the leg of a nearby standing Rhino. Iroh tumbles over the ground, dodging two fire blasts. He rises back up and hits the Rhino in the rear, making it dash away, yanking Ogodei off his rhino and dragging him along. Iroh waves goodbye as he watches them go. Vachir lit an arrow and fires it at Zuko, who quickly reacts by knocking the arrow away and releasing a fire blast, burning a hole in the surprised Vachir's bow.
Mongke joins the fight by directing some fire blasts at Iroh. Iroh deflects each and every one of them. As Mongke is busy with Iroh, Zuko runs up and jumps on the back of the Rhino. With two spinning fire kicks, he sends Colonel Mongke flying.
Iroh runs up to the ostrich horse, jumps on and rides toward Zuko, who awaits him, standing on the Rhino of Colonel Mongke. As he jumps on, another Rough Rhino immediately starts the pursuit. Yeh-Lu throws a grenade at the fleeing ostrich horse. It explodes right in front of it, but Iroh and Zuko ride through the explosion's smoke.
"It's nice to see old friends." smiled Iroh.
"Too bad you don't have any old friends that don't want to attack you." Zuko said with irony.
Grasping his shoulder again as he racks his brain in search of an answer. "Hmmm ... Old friends that don't want to attack me ..."
There is one friend who won't attack Iroh and that is Dante. Iroh pondered more on whom else is a friend doesn't want to attack him.
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Back to the desert the remaining members of team avatar continued on. All exhausted and dehydrated, still wandering through the desert. Dante wipes the sweat from his forehead. V hair became damp as a mop as it clings to the sides of his face. Sokka stops to take Momo off his back and use his wings to create some shade, causing Toph to crash into him.
"Can't you watch where you're ..." Sokka said annoyed. His eyes widen in comprehension as he sees who bumped into him.
"No." Toph said.
"Right. Sorry." Sokka apologized.
"Come on guys, we've got to stick together." Katara turns around to encourage the others.
Sokka's clothes stick to Toph. He tries to free himself by pushing her away. "If I sweat anymore, I don't think sticking together will be a problem."
Irritated, Toph places her hand on Sokka's face and pushes him to the ground, freeing them both. "Katara, can I have some more water?" she asked.
"Okay, but we've got to try to conserve it."
Katara bends three small blobs of water out of her pouch and into the mouths of Sokka, Toph and Momo. Sokka circulates the water in his mouth before swallowing it. Sokka then he points to his mouth. "We're drinking your bending water." He tries to define the taste of the water, smacking his lips. Then he exclaims disgust. "You used this on the swamp guy! Urch!"
"It does taste swampy." Toph says in dry tone.
Momo lets out a sad cry in protest of the water's flavor, after also smacking his lips. Katara sadly puts the cork back on her water sack. "I'm sorry, it's all we have."
"Not anymore! Look!"
Katara looks in the direction Sokka's pointing. He walks over to the cactus and cuts off a piece with his machete. He happily drinks the fluid that's inside while Momo crawls over to him.
"Sokka, wait! You shouldn't be eating strange plants!" She drags Toph along on her arm as she along with Dante and V runs toward Sokka. He and Momo are quenching their thirst with plenty of cactus juice. He cuts open another part of the cactus, excitedly offering its content to Katara who is giving him a skeptic looking. "There's water trapped inside these!" he offered.
"I don't know ..." Katara backed away from Sokka and the cactus.
"Suit yourself. It's very thirst quenching though."Sokka gives Katara a big smile like a true salesman.
Then his pupils in his eyes dilates rapidly. He tries to shake off the feeling by rapidly shaking his head. He starts to trip in a matter that was very ...
"Drink cactus juice. It'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier." He crawls over the ground as a caterpillar before jumping back to the front, pushing his face toward everyone with a big smile. "It's the quenchiest!"
Dante blinked for moment trying to process what he just saw. Katara gives Sokka a very weird look. "Okay, I think you've had enough." She grabs his cactus juice and pours it away.
"Who lit Toph on fire?" Sokka as he walked over to Toph.
Katara wants to react on Sokka's comment, but is distracted by a sound in the sky. She looks up to see Momo flying around in circles, increasing his speed, before plummeting into the ground, head first. Katara picks up and cradles the unconscious animal.
"Can I get some of that cactus?" Toph asked upon hearing Sokka's 'positive' review of the stuff.
Dante wrapping his arm around Toph's shoulders. "I don't think that's a good idea." he says.
"Come on, we need to find Aang." Katara says.
Dante leads Toph away. Sokka stays behind, staring blankly at the sky until Katara retraces her steps and pulls Sokka along by his arms. "How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean? Sokkain awe at what he thinks is around him though in a way he may not be so out of it.
Elsewhere in the endless desert Aang flies over the sands in search of Appa. He blows his bison glides down and lands on a dune. "Appa! Aaappppaaa!"
While he stares across the horizon, it begins to dawn on him that he is not going to find his friend out here. The tears well up in his eyes. "No ... NO!"
Overcome by anger, he slams his staff on the ground, creating a large mushroom-shaped cloud of sand. Dust that was kicked up by Aang's blow washes over the rest of Team Avatar as they climb over another dune.
"What is that?" Katara asks.
"What? What is what?" Toph asked.
"It's a giant mushroom! Maybe it's friendly!" Sokka said in joyful awe.
Dante raises his hand to cover his eyes from sunlight to see what it is in the distance. "I've seen something like this before a long time ago. But I would have seen a flash first."
"So you don't know?" asked Toph.
"Nope." Dante replied.
"Let's just keep moving. I hope Aang's okay ..." Katara says.
As everyone else walks away, Sokka starts to worship the mushroom by waving his arms up and down, back and forth. "Friendly mushroom! Mushy giant friend!"
V walks over and hits Sokka on the head with his cane and drags him by the foot.
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Back at the village with the Misty Palms Oasis at the border of the desert Master Yu and Xin Fu were on the trial of Toph. Having tracked her to this place they began to ask around nicely.
"Yeah, a little barefoot blind girl and her friends passed through here a few days ago." A man said.
"Did they give you any indication where they were headed ?" Yu asked politely.
"Maybe you could give me a little incentive ?" The man makes the money sign with his fingers.
"You suggesting I break your fingers ?" Xin Fu growled.
The man quickly hides his hand behind his back and points with the other one toward the desert. "They went in the desert! Too bad there's almost no chance they survived."
"That's okay, 'cause she's wanted dead or alive." Xin Fu grinned.
The man quietly backs away from Xin Fu and Yu. "No she's not! I'm certain her father wants her alive." Yu reminds his partner on the hunt.
"Hey, look ... Fire Nation wanted posters!" Yu follows Xin Fu's lead and examines the wanted posters. A poster of Zuko and Iroh is surrounded by posters of Aang, the Blue Spirit, Jeong Jeong and Chey
"So?" asked Yu.
"So, look who's here." Xin Fu points out.
Yu looks over and sees Zuko and Iroh walking toward the tavern.
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It is nearly twilight and Team Avatar is still walking in a single file through the desert. A shadow passes over their heads and Aang lands behind them, kicking up a small cloud of sand. As the sand clears, Aang is still walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He pulls away.
"I'm sorry, Aang. I know it's hard for you right now but ... we need to focus on getting out of here."
"What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa. We all know it."
"Come on, Aang. We can do this if we work together. Right Toph?" Katara turned for encouragement.
Toph kicked at the sand. "As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothin'."
Katara turns to Dante. "Dante, you have any ideas?"
Dante looks out at the horizon. "Nada."
Katara then turns to V. "V, what say you?"
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand and a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour." V quoted William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence.
Katara turned to her brother for help. "Sokka? Any ideas how to find Ba Sing Se?"
Sokka and Momo lie side by side on their backs, arms and legs stretched out. Sokka smiles blissfully. "Why don't we ask the circle birds?"
Katara directs her gaze to the sky and sees four buzzard wasps circling above their heads. She looks at every other member in the team. Aang still sits down sulking and Toph staggers a bit. Sokka sniggers a bit while Momo lazily claws at the buzzard wasps.
Katara grabs her head in annoyance. "Ugh ... We're getting out of this desert, and we're going to do it together! Aang, get up. Everybody, hold hands. We can do this. We have to." She takes one more look at the buzzard wasps in the sky before pulling Aang along by his staff. Aang holds on to V's hand who holds Dante's hand that holds Toph's hand and she holds on to Sokka's in turn. A big grinning Sokka pulls Momo along by his tail, who lazily tries to fly in the other direction.
The sun is setting as they all stagger up a large dune, with Katara still in the lead. "I think we should stop for the night." said Katara looking at a nice place in the dunes. The rest of the group sighs and falls down of exhaustion.
"Is there any more water?" Toph asked.
"This is the last of it. Everyone can have a little drink." Katara said.
Sokka crawls toward Katara with Momo riding on his back when she begins to bend the water out of her pouch. Momo leaps forward at the water, causing it to fall in the sand.
"MOMO, NO! YOU'VE KILLED US ALL!"Sokka Theatrically panics, grabbing his head in despair.
"No, he hasn't."
"Oh, right. Bending." said Sokka relieved that he doesn't have to die soon.
Katara calmly holds her hand over the moist spot of sand and begins to bend the water back into her pouch, before giving it to Toph to drink.
"Sokka, let me see the things you got from the library." asked Katara.
Offended Sokka immediately backs away and defensively grabs his back full of scrolls.
"What?! I didn't steal anything! Who told you that?" Sokka then points an accusing finger at Momo. "IT WAS YOU! YOU RATTED ME OUT YOU BASTARD!" Momo began to cry at the accusation.
"Sokka, I was there." Katara calmly remind him. Katara takes the bag from Sokka and start to examine the scrolls.
"It doesn't matter. None of those will tell us where Appa is." said Aang sadly.
"No, but we can find out which way Ba Sing Se is. 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 turns around and sighs at the sight of the rest of the group. They are all lying there, exhausted from the long walk and their grief for the loss of Appa. Just try to get some sleep. "We'll start again in a few hours."
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The night came at Misty Palms Oasis. Zuko and Iroh sitting at a table inside the tavern.
"No one here is going to help us. These people just look like filthy wanderers." Zuko grumped.
"So do we." said Iroh, reminding him that that looks aren't everything when one is trying to escape. But a scruffy look is sometimes key. "Ah, this is interesting. I think I found our friend."
Iroh pointing at something behind Zuko. Zuko turns around to see old man sitting at a PaiSho table.
"You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?" Zuko looks at his uncle skeptically.
"I don't think this is a gamble." Iroh reassures him.
Xin Fu and Yu, who are sitting on a bench at the other side of the tavern. Xin Fu jumps up with the intention to grab them, but Yu places a hand on his shoulder to restrain him. Reminding him that patience is a virtue.
Zuko and Iroh walk toward the PaiSho table.
"May I have this game?" Iroh asked politely.
"The guest has the first move." Gesturing Iroh to sit down.
Iroh takes a seat and looks over the Pai Sho pieces takes one and places the lotus tile in the center of the board. "I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways." The old says cupping his hands toward Iroh.
Iroh returns the gesture. "Those who do can always find a friend."
"Then let us play." The old man states.
The old man places a tile on the board, quickly followed by a tile placed by Iroh. Seemingly without even looking at what the other person is doing, the two man quickly place their tiles on the board. Zuko sits down and watches intently as the two man place one tile after the other. When they are done, their tiles form the shape of a lotus flower like those seen in the palaces and temples about in the Earth Kingdom. But in this instance the lotus flower is the symbol of an underground order that does not exist except for those who already know that they do.
The old man smiles in satisfaction. "Welcome, brother. The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."
Zuko rolled his eyes. "What are you old gasbags talking about?"
Iroh rolls a tile over his knuckles and clutches it. "I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game."
"I'm not waiting all night for these geezers to finish yapping!" said Xin Fu planning to sit any longer and marched over to the Pai Sho table, followed by Yu. "It's over! You two fugitives are coming with me!"
Before it came crashing down around them the old man Quickly places himself before Iroh and Zuko, preventing Xin Fu and Yu from reaching them. "I knew it! You two are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads!"
"I thought you said he would help!" Zuko hissed at Iroh.
Iroh smiles and Places a hand on Zuko's shoulder to reassure him. "He is. Just watch."
"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that gold?" The old man said to Yu and Xin Fu loudly.
Suddenly the bar got really quickly. All the patrons turned around and cast their attention to the fugitives and the men trying arrest them. Every person in the bar looks up when they hear the word 'gold'. Some of them stand up, pulling a knife, ready to attack. The thing about a place that is a retched gathering of scum and villainy, like a bar, is that it also a place where the world's most infamous anti-heroes congregate: The Bounty Hunters.
As he moves toward Zuko and Iroh, two men jump in front of him to block his path. With a reverse roundhouse kick, the earthbender bends a rock from the ground and easily pushes them out of his way.
Yu readies himself for battle. He sinks the first person to charge him into the ground. Meanwhile Xin Fu kicks two sandbenders away while he is lifting another one up in the air and holding a fourth one back with his other hand. After he kicks another sandbender away, he twists his waist, sending the two men he is holding flying. One of them crashes into the wall behind the bar.
When there is no one left to fight, Xin Fu and Yu realize that their prey has escaped during the chaos. Xin Fu growls in frustration and slams his two fists on the ground, erecting a giant pillar of earth under a downed sandbender, shooting him out of the window and against a palm tree.
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Back in the desert Katara continue to chart a course in the start using the scrolls from the library. Dante came over to see how she was doing.
"Have you plotted our course, Katara?" Dante asked.
"Well … at what I have to work with. If we follow this constellation which is … right up there, we should be able to get out of this desert hopefully."
Dante looked up to the constellation that hung in the sky. He squinted and cocked his head to the side the constellation looked a … familiar.
"Orion."
"What?"
"The constellation you're looking at is Orion the Hunter."
"Hmmm … that not what it's called here."
"Oh … well I just heard it from a tribe … somewhere." Dante cleared his throat to change the subject. Dante noted to himself that Orion facing the opposite direction. This world was on the other side of constellation. "I'm worried about Aang." He siad
"I am too. But we need to stick together. It is the only way we can escape this desert and find Appa."
"Yeah, that's the thing …"
"What the thing?"
Dante looked over to Aang and the rest to make sure they are asleep. "Alright. V told me that it would be best if Aang get over Appa before we leave the desert."
Katara looked up from reading the scrolls. "You know that getting over friend or a pet that suddenly became lost is not easy. I'm sorry that you're so perfect that you can get over losing a loved one, but people can't get over it so easily."
Dante was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "I'm not perfect. I just haven't seen him like this, like ever. But I think we can find a way to get out of this desert and find Appa. Am I right, Team Leader?" Dante nudged her arm with his fist; Katara smiled and nudged him back. She will do her best. Dante went back over to rest and lay back on the sand and looked at the stars while rolling a white lotus Pai Sho tile over his knuckles and clutches it.
Hours later Momo is patting the sand up Sokka while he is sleeping. He jumps away as Katara approaches Sokka to wake him up. "Come on, get up. We need to go." Sokka drowsily sits up and smiles like a drunken idiot. Toph also sits straight up, smacking her lips. "Yesterday my mouth tasted like mud. Now it just tastes like sand. I never thought I'd miss the taste of mud so much."
Katara goes to Aang to wake him up, but he interrupts her before she can touch him. "I'm awake. I couldn't sleep."
"Well, we need to get moving if we want to get out of this sand pit."
Aang and Katara spot something large in the sky. He quickly sits up at a large, bison shaped object floating by the bright, full moon. Aang's expression brightens up in an instant. "Appa."
"Appa ? But why would Princess Yue need him ? She's the moon! She flies by herself!" Sokka grabs Momo's tail, using it to rub his cheek like a freak.
Dante walked over Sokka and grabbed him by his shirt. "First off she is not the moon, she's the moon-spirit, dipshit. Second whenever you are around me you will not evoke the name of Princess Yue." Dante said. He apparently don't like the new Sokka's personality
"Why not I love her and she's loves me." Sokka head hung down his back as if it just decided to stop working properly.
"Whatever." Dante released Sokka he dropped to the ground.
The floating object reveals that it is just a small desert cloud. "It's just a cloud … Wait! A cloud! Here, fly up and bend the water from that cloud into my pouch." Katara said offering the pouch to Aang. Aang gives Katara an angry look before snatching the offered water pouch out of her hands. The group gazes at him as he quickly passes two times over the cloud. The few remains of the cloud evaporate. He throws the pouch at Katara when he lands and she looks inside.
"Wow ... there's hardly any in here." Katara said disappointed that there could have been more.
Aang lashes out "I'm sorry, okay! It's a desert cloud; I did all I could! What's anyone else doing?! What are you doing ?!" Aang asked angrily a while pointing his staff at Katara.
She returns his attack with a shocked look on her face. For once in the time she knew him Aang attitude was getting on her nerves and only could it tolerated for so long. "Trying to keep everyone together. Let's just get moving. We need to head this direction."
Katara looks at her charts once more to double check and leads the group in the direction she chosen. They are walking silently through the desert, until Toph trips and falls flat on her face. Aang Dante, V and Katara are looking at Toph, while Sokka and Momo just stand there, staring blankly to the sky. Toph sits up and rubs her right foot. "Ow! Crap! I am so sick of not feeling where I'm going! And what idiot buried a boat in the middle of the desert ?"
"A boat ?" Katara asked in surprise runs over to inspect the rocklike object.
"Believe me, I kicked it hard enough to feel plenty of vibrations." Toph added.
Sokka turns around, swinging like a string puppet, to see what Katara is so excited about. Katara begins to rub of the sand of the object that appears to be made of wood. Aang steps forward, suggestively holding up his staff. As soon as Katara backs away, Aang swings his staff around, creating a mighty gust of wind, revealing a boat of some sort. Katara crawls aboard and examines it. "It's one of the gliders the sandbenders use! And look! It's got some kind of compass on it!I bet it can point us out of here! Aang, you can bend a breeze so we can sail it. We're going to make it!"
Sokka laughing childishly while burying Momo in the sand, he's game.
::
Back at the village Zuko and Iroh follow the PaiSho player into a flower shop. His name is fung who is honor to meet Iroh.
"It is an honor to welcome such a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus. Being a Grand Master, you must know so many secrets." Fung praised Iroh.
"Now that you played PaiSho, are you going to do some flower arranging, or is someone in this club going to offer some real help ?" Zuko was annoyed by the fact there wasn't anything spectacular about this Order of the White Lotus.
Iroh apologized for Zuko. "You must forgive my nephew. He is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts."
The PaiSho player leads Iroh toward a door with a peephole in it. He knocks two times. A man slides open the small window in the door and peeks through.
"Who knocks at the guarded gate ?" The man asked.
"One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries." Iroh responded.
Iroh smiles as the door opens to let him and the PaiSho player through. When Zuko attempts to follow them, the door slams shut in front of him. He looks at the door with a pout when Iroh opens the small window.
"I'm afraid it's members only. Wait out here." Iroh assured him.
Zuko, annoyed, frowns and crosses his arms as he rests against a nearby table. He leans over to sniff the plant on the table. For a dinky flower shop the flowers smelled nice.
::
Back in the desert the sand-sailer Team Avatar found is making great speed; Katara navigates it through the desert, while Aang's driving it forward using strong gusts of wind.
"The needle on this compass doesn't seem to be pointing north according to my charts."Katara places her charts over the compass. Sokka sits beside her, dangling his legs over the edge and holding Momo by the tail, who tries glides in the opposite direction.
"Take it easy little lady. I'm sure the sand folks who built this baby know how to get around here." Sokka said dreamily.
"I wonder how weird will get if he tries marijuana." Griffon asked Dante.
"Super wired that for sure." Dante commented.
Dante leaned back against the gliders railing and looked over to and saw a watch appeared to be claw deep marks on the embedded to it. He also found some of the walkway. He guessed that what it was most likely was responsible for the sand-sailer to be stranded and buried by the sands of the desert.
Katara she focuses her attention back toward the horizon in front of her, she gasps is comprehension when she sees a giant rock in the distance. "That's what the compass is pointing to! That giant rock! It must be the magnetic center of the desert."
"A rock ?! Yes! Let's go!" Toph cheers ecstatically.
"Maybe we can find some water there!" Katara said hopefully.
"Maybe we can find some sandbenders." Aang comments darkly.
Aang continues to send gusts of wind into the sails of the glider, directing it toward the rock faster. The glider parked at the base of the rock. The sun's finally rises when team Avatar reaches the top.
"Ahhh ... Finally! Solid ground!" Toph sighs happily lets herself drop flat on her back, moving her arms and legs back and forth, creating a rock angel.
After she is done, the group starts to explore the caves that decorate the top of the rock. They enter a round tunnel. The cave's surface is covered with a yellow, gooey substance.
Sokka breathes deeply as his high finally came to an end and he was able to clear and focused. "I think my head is starting to clear out the cactus juice. And look!" Sokka dips his hand in the yellow goo and tastes it, sharing his find with Momo. They both spit it out and Sokka is disgusted by what he just tasted. "Tastes like rotten penguin meat! Awww, I feel woozy."
"You've been hallucinating on cactus juice all day and then you just lick something you find stuck to the wall of a cave ?!" Katara asked irritated.
"I have a natural curiosity." Sokka states.
"I don't think this is a normal cave. This was carved by something." Toph sensed the shape of the cave.
"Yeah ... look at the shape." Aang noticed it was octagon.
Toph shifted her feet and sensed something deep within. "There's something buzzing in here. Something that's coming for us!"
Dante readied Rebellion with a tight grip. One of Dante's pet peeves was that he didn't like the buzzing of the Buzzard wasps. Regular wasps are fine but the sound their wings make are like giant annoying buzz-saws.
The group runs out of the cave, back into the open. Toph and Aang scream as the first buzzard wasp emerges. Aang pulls Toph down as it flies over their heads. More wasps exited the cave and the hive as more buzzard wasps swarm out and surround the group. These are the hives guards charged with defending the hive from invaders
Aang blasts the first wasp to come near them away with a strong air current. A second wasp lands on a nearby rock. The moment it touches it, Toph turns around to send the wasp flying again, shooting up the rock from underneath it. A third went into a dive And Dante blast it with fire cause it to scream in agony. Another buzzard wasp flies between Sokka and Toph. She hears it fly behind her so she lifts the rock beside her and throws it in the general direction of the sound. The giant rock lands only inches apart from Sokka.
"What are you doing? That rock almost crushed me!" Sokka shouted.
" Sorry, I can't tell where they are in the air!" Toph replied.
A loud buzzing signals the passing of another wasp. Sokka readies his machete and runs after it. "I got this one." He ferociously swings his weapon back and forth hacking it to death. Or so he thinks.
"Sokka, there's nothing there!" Katara called out.
He lowers his machete, looking around in search for his imagined foe. "I guess my head's not as clear as I thought."
"We have to get out of here! I'm completely out of water to bend!" Katara urged.
V summons all his familiars to plow the road of any Wasps that will get in their way. Griffon laughed and fires his lighting at the wasps before engaging them in an aerial dogfight. Shadows slices and whips his tail and claws to any wasps that came too close. And nightmare fired short lasers up in the air and brought some down.
Seeking out a prey a buzzard wasp swoops in from the sky and snatches up a screeching Momo as it flies away from the hive and the benders. "Momo! I'm not losing anyone else out here." Aang said with anger, he takes off on his glider in hot pursuit of Momo and the wasp.
Katara and Sokka watch him go but quickly made descent along a narrow ledge. Katara leads Toph by hand and stops when she sees an incoming target. "Toph, shoot a rock right there. Fire!"
Katara places Toph in the right direction. Toph kicks up some rocks and shoots them forward. The incoming buzzard wasp is shot down, taking several blows to the head. Sokka cheers, swinging his machete in the air. "Yeah! You got it! She got it, right ? He asked wanting to know if it was a hallucination.
"Yes. Now let's move." Katara confirms.
Dante jumps of the ledge to spearing a buzzard wasp in the torso. With a jerk he severs it in have and plummets down to the base of the rock with two more wasps in pursuit.
Aang chased the buzzard wasp that took Momo. A grave expression casts shadows on his face. He dives, emerging again straight underneath the wasp. As he turns, he directs a strong gust of wind at the wasp with a kick of his leg. The gust forces the wasp to release Momo out of its clutches. Momo tumbles down, but quickly regains control and begins to soar next to Aang. Aang looks from Momo toward the rising sun at the horizon. With an angry glare, he notices that the wasp is getting away. Aang glides down, flying close to the ground. Using the speed of his descent, he closes his glider and swings his staff down. A powerful wall of air splits the sand, racing toward the escaping wasp. The animal is hit in mid air, knocking it to the ground with its head cut clean from it body. With a dark glare, Aang just stares at the downed wasp before walking back in the direction of the giant rock. Momo follows him quickly, frightened by this merciless outburst of power.
Back to the giant rock the buzzard wasps circle around the rest, who've reached the sand-sailer at the base by now. Katara looks over Toph's shoulder, acting as her eyes. "On your left!" Toph reacts immediately and shoots a rock at her left. The buzzard wasp takes the rock full in the chest, shrieking on impact before tumbling down.
Dante slices and dices many wasps that came at him, he looked over to one that was struggling to get up and fly away. Dante ran over and gave it the final blow. The buzzard continued to scream and Dante sink the blade into its gut more before seizing it neck and crushing it throat with a sickening crunch and a death rattle emanating the Buzzard wasp's mouth.
With a satisfied grin he lifted his head to see many more wasps hovering in the air. Suddenly, gigantic pillars of sand rise from the ground and scare off the swarm. Katara, Sokka and Toph lower their arms they had lifted to shield their heads from the sand. As the wind blows the dust away several sandbenders are revealed. Dante returns to Katara, Sokka and Toph. Not before long Aang lands in front ready to face the sandbenders.
::
Back at the flower shop in the desert village Zuko had fell asleep as he wait for them to finish. At time he caught what they were talking about by listening with his ear at the door. After a while he decided to sleep until they returned. When morning came he Is startled by the squeaking of the door and instinctively takes on a defensive stance. Iroh steps through with good news.
"What's going on? Is the club meeting over ?" Zuko asked.
"Everything is taken care of. We're heading to Ba Sing Se." Iroh and Fung bow to each other in respect.
"Ba Sing Se? Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom capital ?" Zuko asked if going into the lion's den was a good idea.
"The city is filled with refugees. No one will notice two more." Fung replied.
Iroh happily shrugs his shoulders. "We can hide in plain sight there. And it's the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation. Even I couldn't break through to the city."
A bell signals that someone has entered the shop. A young man approaches the group, holding up some papers. "I have the passports for our guests, but there are two men out on the street looking for them."
They look outside to Xin Fu and Yu are holding up a wanted poster that depicts Iroh and Zuko to man walking by.
::
At base of the giant rock, where the leader of the sandbenders confronts Team Avatar. The sandbenders are a peaceful tribe of people and skilled earthbenders. Some do not trust them for reasons such as being cutthroats and thieves. This was of courses just scary campfire story. They only hunt and trade with those who are kind. But they will defend themselves when threatened or right a wrong that was done.
The leader of this tribe was named Sha-Mo who asked the big question concerning the stranger presence. "What are you doing in our land with a sandbendersailer? From the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami tribe."
"We found the sailer abandoned in the desert. We're traveling with the Avatar." Katara gestured to Aang. Sha-Mo's eyes widen a bit at this information. The savior was before them at it was an honor.
"How did you get out here without glider?"Sha-Mo asked.
"Our bison was stolen and we have to get to Ba Sing Se." Katara answered.
A young man to the right of the leader takes a step forward and aggressively addresses Katara. "You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailer ?!"
Sha-Mo turns to his son to silence his outburst. "Quiet, Ghashiun. No one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality."
"Sorry, father." Ghashiun apologizes.
Toph's misty, green eye, narrowing as she hears the young man's voice. "I recognize the son's voice. He's the one that stole Appa."
"Are you sure? " Katara asked.
"I never forget a voice."
Aang's tunic flutters around him as he charges forward, threateningly brandishing his staff toward Ghashiun. "You stole Appa! Where is he? What did you do to him?"
Ghashiun cowers back. "They're lying! They're the thieves!"
With an angry frown and a growl of frustration, Aang smacks his staff on the ground, obliterating one of the sandbender's sailers with a powerful blade of air. "Where is my bison ?" Aang demand enraged.
::
Back at the flower shop, a man exits the door, pulling two big flowerpots on a wooden wagon. After he leaves, Xin Fu and Yu walk toward the door. Xin Fu slams the door open with such ferocity that an overhanging plant comes crashing down. He shoves Zuko's and Iroh's wanted poster under the nose of the florist. "Hey you, where are these men ? I got a tip that they're in your shop."
"As you can see, no one is here but us." The florist replies calmly.
"We know all about your secret back room. Kick it down." Yu says to Xin Fu.
"Hey! That room is for flowers only!" the florist exclaims.
Xin Fu charges the door like a mad bull and knocks it down along with the surrounding wall, with one mighty kick. Yu enters inside to find it empty as the man said. Yu then looked down and picks up a white lotus tile in the center of the room.
"Some unlucky soul has an incomplete PaiSho set." said Yu who shows it to Xin Fu, who angrily knocks it out of his hands. "GAAHH! Let's go back to finding the girl."
Yu has a great respect for the game of PaiSho and all who play the game.
As for Zuko and Iroh they hide the two large pots being pulled on the wagon over some dunes. If all goes to according to place they will be home free in Ba Sing Se before they know it.
::
Back at the desert rock Ghashiun wasn't going to get away scot-free.
"You tell me where he is now!" Aang order. To emphasize said order Aang sends a strong blast of air toward another sailer. The sandbenders watch in shock as it blows up.
"What did you do ?" Sha-Mo demand Ghashiun to tell the truth.
"I-It wasn't me!" Ghashiun persisted in being in the right.
"You said to put a muzzle on him!" Toph added.
"You MUZZLED Appa ?" Aang began enraged even more.
Aang's eyes and tattoos start to glow as he enters the Avatar State. With a swing of his staff, he destroys the last of the sandbender's sailers.
"You are in for it now, asshole!" Dante clapped his hands. He was going to enjoy want happens next.
Ghashiun finally admits his mistake. "I'm sorry! I didn't know that it belonged to the Avatar!"
"Tell me where Appa is!" Aang demanded with the voices of all the Avatars overlapping and speaking in multiple tongues.
"I traded him! To some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now! They were going to sell him there! Please! We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!"
It was no use. The wind around Avatar Aang starts the swirl, as his anger is reaching its peak. Dante V along Sokka who pulls Toph along with him starts to make a break for it, running away from their enraged friend.
"Just get out of here! Run!" Sokka urged.
Aang drops his staff. The wind around him forms a fast moving sphere, knocking up sand high into the sky. As everyone runs away, Katara stays put, staring sadly at the ground. The sandstorm engulfs her and Aang completely, obscuring them from the sight of the others.
Aang's air sphere slowly lifts him up in the air, his teeth clenched and his hands cramped with rage. Katara grabs his right arm, preventing him from rising any further. The terrible face of an outraged Avatar looks down upon her, only to be met by Katara's sincere, sad expression. She pulls him back to the ground and presses him close against her chest. Sokka and Toph lower their arms as the wind becomes less violent. Tears are streaming down the Avatar's glowing eyes. Katara tries her best to hold on as her own tears well up. The air sphere slowly dissolves away as Aang leaves the Avatar state. His rage subsides to make room for pure, heartbreaking sadness.
With the help of the Sandbenders in the remaining Sandsailer they were off to their destination.
Dante sat near the railing and looked out across the sandy horizon. Toph came over and took a seat next to Dante wanting to ask him a question.
"Do you think we will find Appa?" she asked.
"Believe we will." Dante replied back while to taking his eyes off the horizon.
"I been meaning to ask you … that guy Hozan. Did you mange to find him?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"On the way to the forward command base …"
::
THEN
The forward base was an Earth Kingdom town they captured that was the last one strategic value. Now that the Fire Army has subdued it there is nothing standing in the way of them and Ba Sing Se. the Sabertooth Tiger tank rolled in the ruin streets of the town. Rubble littered the streets, smoke rose in the air and Fire was burning away of what remained of someone buildings. The deep sound artillery fire and explosions could be heard as Dante opened the top hatch of the turret and stood up to get view of everything around him. This place has seen some heavy action; through this was town was the last to capture on the road to Ba Sing Se the Earth Army put up a good fight.
They passed a Fire nation tank that was badly damaged and on fire due to the front being crushed by a giant boulder. Dante thought this could have happened to their tank also, regardless if it was a prototype. The Earth soldiers were trained well in putting their tanks out of commission.
Dante heard someone in the rubble and quickly turned to see if it was the enemy. It wasn't any Earth soldiers planning an ambush but a couple of civilians searching in the rubble scavenging; when they saw the tank they quickly bolted into the shadows.
A young man was kneeling at the road side with a dead young woman in his arms. His face was buried in her neck crying bitterly as rocked her lifeless form back and forth. The man heard the tank approaching and looked up at the Dante who was standing half way out of the tank turret hatch. The man gave Dante a piecing glare of hate. Dante knew there were going to casualties on both sides in a war; it's not easy to seeing civilians getting caught in the crossfire.
Then further down the street them past a grim sight of men hanging by a rope from the windows if buildings charred while others were still on fire. Dante has seen this type of punishment before. It was a reminder to the Fire troops follow orders or they will be harsh consequences. A reminder of not to be a deserter.
As they entered a square Dante sees who has been doing this grim work. Two soldiers were firebending at the dead man who was hanging from a tree. The officer, who was watching their progress, was noticed the tank and going past and saluted his fellow comrades. The officer was an in dress in the crimson armor and robes of the Fire Nation Royal Guard tasked with protecting the Royal Family as well as well as keeping the national pride strong in this war. Unforchantly they have gained a reputation of fanaticism to the Fire Lord. There were the elite of the elite as well as snobbiest of the snobs. Anyone where dared questioned them were imprisoned or killed. Often they would do this publicly. Dante hated them.
Lu Ten suddenly pushed the break as he saw something hanging above on the bridge in front of them. Dante looked up at and saw what man Lu Ten stop. At first he couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it. But his eyes weren't deceiving him, not this time. Tobi came through the secondary turret hatch and saw who was hanging from the bridge.
"Hozan? That damn idiot. " said Tobi upon seeing Hozan lifeless body swaying silently in the wind.
"Shut up!" Dante snapped at Tobi. "He did his duty, as requested."
Tobi flinch a little as he saw Dante's eyes faintly glowing crimson. But he scoffed at that notion. "His duty? If he did his duty h e would have came back to the tank. No, he was a traitor."
"He was one of us." Lu Ten sadly reminded Tobi from inside the tank. The silent mercenary were looking out of the view port he too felt remorse for his comrade Hozan.
"Drive on to headquarters." Dante ordered having enough of this area of town.
As the Tank past underneath Dante gave one last look to Hozan; Hozan's eyes were closed and his face did look as if he suffered in anyway. He looked as if he was … asleep.
As they moved on a bright flash and emanated behind the tank. Dante refused to look behind him. He knew what happened given that the entire area had burning corpses of Fire Nation soldiers who were caught deserting.
::
NOW
Looking back at that incident Dante told Toph there was nothing could do. But he wished he tried. Toph gave Dante a reassuring punch in the arm. He chuckled as they enjoyed the rest high-speed travel while it lasted. Appa was somewhere they just had to look for him, though they pray he is their journey out of the desert wasn't going to an easy one, but that is another story for another day.