Sight ↣ A:TLA

15

Thalia (1)

We got to the rock at sunrise. It didn't take too long to climb to the top, but when we did, the view was all the same.

Sand just miles and miles long. Not a sign of life in sight.

"Ah, finally!" Toph grinned while falling onto her back. She made an angel with her arms and legs into the ground. "Solid ground."

Behind us was a cave. We all walked into it, looking around. On the walls of the cave, a thick, sappy consistency dripped down. It looked like honey.

"I think my head is starting to clear out the cactus juice." Sokka said. "And look!" He grabbed a fistful of the sap and put it in his mouth, along with Momo.

He smiled at me before him and Momo began coughing it out. "Tastes like rotten penguin meat!"

Sokka grabbed my arm and leaned down. He looked sick. "Oh, 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 scolded him. I patted his back slowly.

"I have a natural curiosity." Sokka defended. I sighed, "Maybe just leave food out of it until we know what it is."

"I don't think this is a normal cave." Toph interjected, her hand on the wall. "This was carved by something."

We all looked up and made out the details of it.

"Yeah, look at the shape." Aang said.

"There's something buzzing in here. Something that's coming for us!" Toph grabbed my hand and we all ran outside. Behind us, you could hear the buzzing start getting louder and louder.

Wasps flew out of the holes of the cave, each one coming straight for us. They circled around us, not giving us any opportunity to sneak passed them.

I slowly reached in for my knives and got in a stance.

Toph tried her best to hit the wasps, but since they were in the air, it was harder for her. Sokka had grabbed me and put me behind him.

"I got this one! Stay back!" Sokka ran for one and started to attack it with his club. He was yelling while he was swinging over and over.

"Hey-Sokka!" I pulled on his ponytail to snap him out of it. "There's nothing there, Sokka!"

He stopped and looked around. "Huh? I guess my head's not as clear as I thought."

"Awe, my hero." I sarcastically said.

"We have to get out of here!" Katara said. "I'm completely out of water to bend!"

Looking around, I saw Momo crouched down in fear. When one of the wasps began to get closer to him, I widened my eyes.

"Get away from him!" I sent one of my knives to it, but I missed. I tried to stop it from reaching Momo by jumping and grabbing onto him, but that just made the wasp cling to me also.

"Ahhh!"

The wasp was flying away from everyone else, making me panic even more. I could hear Sokka calling after me.

I started to kick and punch the wasp, but it wouldn't budge. "It's okay, Momo!" I started to swing my body left and right to slow it down and I think it was working.

Then showing up underneath us was Aang on his glider. I had never been more relieved.

Aang swiftly turned on his back, making a gust a wind hit us. Slowly but surely, Momo and I slipped out of the wasp's grasp. But then I was just plummeting to the ground.

"Catch me!" My scream for help went on for a long period of time until I landed on the back of Aang's glider.

When he landed on the ground, I fell on my back. I perched myself up on my elbows and watched Aang, with a groan, shoot a sharp gust of wind to the wasp with his glider. In seconds, the wasp was dead to the ground. 

"Thanks, Aang." I said once I was on my feet.

He simply just turned and started to make his way back to the others. Momo and I looked at each other for a moment before trailing behind him.

In the distance, we saw sand blast up from the ground, making the wasps fly back to the top of the rock. Aang and I were now running to the trio.

When we reached them, we saw sand benders circling around the others. Several of the same boats we rode on to get here were around us too.

Aang used his bending to jump in between the groups. I stayed behind some, not wanting to run passed the benders.

"What are you doing in our land with a sand bender's sailor? From the looks of it, you stole it from one of our tribes." A man who might have been the leader accused.

The bender next to the leader snapped his head at me. He walked over and grabbed me tightly by my arms, pulling me against him.

"Watch your hands!" Sokka stepped forward, his face more than serious.

"Let her go!" Toph warned.

"No, listen. We found the sailor abandoned in the desert. We're traveling with the Avatar. Our bison was stolen and we have to get to Ba Sing Se." Katara explained to them gently.

"You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailor?!" The man gripped me harder. I could sense Sokka and Toph growing impatient.

"Quiet, Ghashiun! No one accused our people of anything! If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality!" The leader said. "Now let the girl go!"

"Sorry, father." Ghashiun shoved me forward with a frown. I rubbed my arms while making my to my group. I looked behind my shoulder and sent him a nasty look.

Suddenly, Aang stormed over to them angrier than ever. "You stole Appa! Where is he?! What did you do to him?!"

"Wait, what's going?" I asked Toph.

"The guy that grabbed you is the one who stole Appa." She answered. "I know it from his voice."

"They're lying! They're the thieves!" Ghashiun yelled, his voice laced with panic.

Aang sent a strong wave of wind to one of the sailors, destroying it in seconds. Its pieces flew everywhere.

"Where is my bison?! You tell me where he is now!" With another blast, Aang destroyed another sailor.

"What did you do?" The leader asked his son.

Ghashiun shook his head, "It- it wasn't me!"

Toph pointed an accusing finger at him. "You said to put a muzzle on him!"

"You muzzled Appa?!" In seconds, every tattoo on Aang's body glowed a bright white, including his eyes.

He began to destroy another sailor - this blow stronger than the last ones.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know it belonged to the Avatar!" Ghashiun finally confessed.

"Tell me where Appa is!" Aang's voice wasn't the same. It was as if different voices gathered together to form one.

"I traded him to some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now. They were going to sell him there." The sand benders began to back up in fear. "Please! We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!"

A tornado began to form around Aang. I used my arm to cover myself from the sand, "What's happening to him?!"

Sokka simply just placed his arm over my shoulder and guided me away. "Just get out of here!"

With my free hand, I grabbed Toph and ran away from Aang.

"Run!" Sokka warned the benders.

Huge amounts of sand formed around us. I crouched down, hugging Toph. Over my body was Sokka. "Stay down!" He yelled.

Moments went by before the sand storm began to cease. Slowly, we all began to stand up. After making sure the other was okay, we turned to Aang.

He was in Katara's arms as his arrows went back to normal.