Stratus | Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Chapter Twelve | Blue Arrows

They reached the rock in almost no time. It was tall above the earth and had many circular tunnels carved into it, which Kumo assumed were definitely hand-made, or well, bender-made. Whatever they were, they weren't natural.  Sokka was becoming more normal, and Aang was still a raging ball of anger, while the females were more relieved to be on something other then sand, especially Toph.

"I reckon these lead to sandbenders." Kumo murmured, standing in the mouth of a large, gaping tunnel, Aang and Sokka only a few steps behind her. "Cause these sure as hell aren't natural. But, I guess they could be made by sand worms."

"Sand worms?" Sokka questioned, furrowing his eyebrows as he examined the size of the hole. " They this big?"

"Oh yeah." Kumo nodded in some form of awe, pushing her black headband further up, keeping a few strands out her face. She reached out a tentative hand, feeling the honey-like substance that coated the walls. "Okay, maybe not sand worms, some kind of animal."   

Sokka, who watched her touch it to guarantee it was relatively safe, grabbed a handful off the wall, giving it a once over, before licking it. Kumo shook her head, listening to Katara lecture him as they moved further into the tunnels, Aang now taking the lead. 

"Wait," Toph called out, staring down at her feet. "Theres something buzzing in here, something thats coming for us."

Kumo glanced down the tunnel and then towards the walls, cursing loudly. She wondered how she could be so stupid.

"It's a Buzzard Wasp nest!" Spinning around, she snatched Aang's collar and Toph before legging it out of the tunnel, leaving Katara to deal with Sokka, which she did quickly. Buzzard wasps began to pour out of the holes, Aang desperately fighting them off while Kumo drew her knife, propelling herself into the air. Before she knew it, Aang was gone again, off to get Momo, and she was left defending the other three. "Get back on the boat."

The three stumbled down the pathway, Toph occasionally managing to hit one, however, it slowed them down more, and as they stalled, more and more Buzzard Wasps began to appear. 

"Katara, just get to the boat." Kumo called leaping off the rock, bringing with her a wind that slammed the nearest Buzzard Wasps into the ground. After landing on the sand, she shrieked as the ground around her exploded in a dark mass of sand. Rolling, she landing by a rock, shadowed to the newcomers. A crowd of sandbenders. 

Aang chose this time to return (making Kumo want to slam her head onto a rock). 

"What're you doing on our land, with a sandbender's sail?" The leader stepped forward, unmasking his face as he glowered at the four. "It looks to me that you stole it from the Hami Tribe." 

"We found the sailer abandoned in the desert." Katara, nominating herself as spokesperson, stepped forward. Kumo was beginning to grow fond of Katara. She was sometimes the only reasonable person there, but she still favoured Toph. Aang may have previously been her favourite, but now, he was just reminding her of the characteristics in Zuko that she hated. "We're travelling with the avatar."

The leader's eyes widened.

"Our bison was stolen and we have to get to Ba Sing Se." 

"You dare accuse our people of theft, when you ride around in a sailer!" Kumo rolled her eyes. This was a second bender, one she recognised vaguely.

"Quite, Gashuin!" The leader rasped. "No one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality." 

"Sorry, father." Toph stepped back slightly, frowning. There was a slight pause before Kumo rose from her crouched position, back cracking and hackles raising as she did.

"I recognise the son's voice, he's the one that stole Appa." Kumo leapt forward, standing beside Toph, hands resting on the hilts of her blades. 

"She's right." Kumo growled lowly, narrowing her eyes. "He's the bastard that buried me alive."

"Are you sure?" Katara muttered, glancing over to the two defensive benders. 

"I never forget a voice." Muttering lowly, Toph moved into a more defensive stance.

"And he's wearing the same clothes." Kumo glanced back, only to cringe at the current flowing around Aang. Couldn't she just have a break? Without warning, Aang leapt forward, slamming his staff down.

"You stole Appa. What did you do to him? Where did you take him?"

"They're lying, they're the thieves."

"Where is my bison?" Aang's wind slammed into a sand-sailer, smashing it to splinters. Kumo hummed under her breath, eyeing the leader, before leaning towards Katara and Toph.

"The father is telling the truth," she murmured, keeping her eyes trained on Aang and Gashuin, "the boy is lying."

"You tell me where he is now!" Aang roared, stomping his foot into the ground, destroying another sand-sailer. 

"It wasn't me." Gashuin cried, turning to his father.

"What did you do?" His father began to back away, astounded by the powerful current. 

"You said to put a muzzle on him!" Toph yelled indignantly.

"You put a muzzle on Appa?" Aang snarled, and Kumo watched in horror as the blue arrow on the back of his head began to glow, along with the ones on his hands, and his eyes. Kumo cursed mentally, wondering when she'd finally be around someone who didn't have some kind of issue. All she wanted was to read the scrolls she got from Wan Shi Tong and find a life in Ba Sing Se. A violent current began to circle around Aang, and he swung his staff again, destroying the last of the sand-sailers. "Tell me where he is."

"I'm sorry, if I had known he belonged to you, I wouldn't have taken him," Gashuin cried, shielding his head. "I traded him to some merchants, he's probably in Ba Sing Se by now, they were gonna sell him there. Please we'll escort you out of the desert, we'll help you in anyway we can!"

Sokka yelped, watching the air around Aang pick up speed and weave itself into a ball around him, kicking up sand to form a gigantic dust cloud. He took Toph's hand and dashed forward, towards the sandbenders. Kumo contemplated doing the same herself, feeling her blood itch as the boundaries between the spirit realm and the one they were currently in blur and become undefined.

"Everyone's so emotional." She muttered under her breath, glancing over to Katara who approached the colossal ball of wind, taking Aang's hand in her own and pulling him back towards the ground, wrapping her arms around him. 

Kumo watched in interest as the wind began to subside.

"Well, that's new."