silver soul | avatar, the last air bender

chapter fifteen

Naia felt the back of her throat burn. Appa was stolen. She turned around slowly in a circle, seeing if she could see him in the far distance. There was nothing within miles of them. If Appa was missing, how would they get out of the desert?

The breeze started to pick up, kicking up sand everywhere. Naia waited and Aang processed the new information. He stared off in the distance, probably in denial that Appa was gone. Suddenly, he turned around to face Toph. It's the most angry Naia's ever seen Aang before. Usually he was passive and more of a mediator, but now he looked like he as fuming.

"How could you let them take Appa?" He hollered. "Why didn't you stop them?!"

"I couldn't!" Toph argued back. Her voice was slightly shaky. "The library was sinking and you guys were still inside—"

Aang angrily stalked towards Toph. "You could've come to get us. I could've saved him!"

"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't any time to—" Toph started.

"You just didn't care!" Aang yelled. "You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!"

Aang was clearly very upset with Appa being gone, which is why he wasn't being the most logical. A lot of the time the group forgot Toph was blind because of how able she was. However, she can't see anything when the sand is loose and shifty. Naia realized she had to make a choice: save the group, or save Appa. She was the only reason why all of them were still alive. Naia started to walk towards Aang, along with Katara.

"Aang, stop it. You know Toph did all she could," Katara put her arm around his shoulder. "She saved our lives."

"Who's gonna save our lives now?" Sokka asked, staring off in the distance. "We'll never make it out of here."

"That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves!" Aang stalked away from the group. He went and sat down further away. "You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!"

"Of course we're concerned Aang," Katara said, her voice calm and understanding. "But we can't argue right now. Right now, our task is getting out of this desert alive."

"I'm going after Appa," Aang said darkly before opening his glider and flying off. As much as Naia was upset at him, she understood exactly how he felt. Anytime she's upset, she tends to push people away rather than let them help her.

"Aang wait!" Katara called after him. They all watched as he flew away. Katara turned her head to face the group. "We better start walking. We're the only people in the world right now who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se."

Naia took in a deep breath and followed Katara's lead with walking. Toph interlocked her arm with Naia's and the two walked on. She almost forgot Toph couldn't see, and that must have been terrifying for her. However, was terrified Naia the most was dying of heatstroke before they could reach Ba Sing Se. She wanted to give up, but she knew she couldn't. She wanted to cry, but she knew she had to be strong for the group. Naia reminded herself that she needed to survive for the fate of the world, and if she ever wanted to avenge her sister's death. For Yue, she thought.

After a half a day for trekking through the desert, Naia basically had sweat through her entire clothes. She took her braid and twisted it into a bun. Toph clung by her side for most of the day, but a few times she ventured by herself. Naia felt her cheeks start to sunburn, along with her forearms. She wanted more than anything to chug water, but she knew she had to ration it.

"Katara, can I have some water?" Toph asked softly. The group stopped walking and Katara sighed.

"Okay, but we have to conserve it," Katara said. She opened her water skin and bender the water into Toph, Sokka, and Momo's mouths. As they swallowed, Sokka made a face. "We're drinking your bending water? You used this on the swamp guy!" He complained.