Tale Of Two Avatars

The Desert

Each of us stood in a different corner, looking out at the vast desert and still trying to find Appa. Aang eventually gives up, whipping back to look at Toph angrily. "How could you let them take Appa?! ‌ Why didn't you stop them‌?!"

"I couldn't! The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and-" 

Aang cuts Toph off, approaching her in exasperation, "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 time for-" Aang cuts Toph off again in rage.

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

I put myself between Toph and Aang, putting a hand on Aang's shoulder consolingly. "Aang, stop it, you're being slightly unfair here. 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 lamented.

"That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" Aang shouted furiously.

"We do care, Aang," I argued, looking at him sadly. "Just try calming down and once you're calm, maybe we'll be able to devise a plan to find Appa."

"I'm going after Appa," Aang replied coldly. 

"Then I'm coming with you," I said firmly, taking my staff from my back. "You're in no condition to fly alone right now."

Before Aang could protest, I persist with my argument, "We need to stick together, we bring balance to each other and right now, you're in desperate need of it."

"Suzume's right, Aang," Katara concurred. "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

Aang only nods slightly in response, deploying his glider and taking off without waiting for me to do so. I quickly change my staff into a glider, taking off and flying after Aang. I eventually manage to catch up with him, scouring the area beneath us but still seeing no signs of Appa. 

"Appa! Appa!" Aang called, taking out his sky bison whistle and blowing on it but it proved to be futile. He glides down and I follow suit, both of us landing on a dune. "Appa!"

I feel the sadness emerging from him in waves, sensing the absolute shift in mood within him, the optimistic and determined airbender had now given up all forms of hope as he stared at the vast desert landscape in front of us. 

"No," Tears begin building up in his eyes. "No!" He slams his staff against the sand in unadulterated anger while summoning a large gust of wind, causing a large plume of sand to be sent up in the air.

I slam my fists together, encasing us in an air ball which blows the cloud of sand away. As the cloud cleared and the dust began to settle, I embraced Aang tightly, recognising that he needed all the support he could get.

"I'm so sorry about Appa, Aang and I promise you, we will all try our very hardest to get him back. I know how bad you feel, how sad you feel, and all the emotions you're currently experiencing and I, we just want to help you get out of this emotional hole you've dug up."

Aang breaks away from the hug sadly. "I don't know if we'll ever be able to find Appa." 

"Let's just keep searching in case we find him," I encouraged. With that, we take off with our gliders again, searching for Appa until the sky overhead turned dark. Having still been unsuccessful in our attempt and without muttering a word, we turn back, scanning the area until we found Toph, Katara and Sokka.

We land behind them, closing our gliders and changing them back to their original staff. Aang falls to the ground on his knees in sorrow and one sad shake of my head to the group was all I needed to convey what had happened.