CHAPTER 18

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We started walking for another few miles. As we climbed up a hill of sand we heard a loud boom and turned to see sand flying at us.

"What is that?" Katara asked when it settled down.

"What? What is what?" Toph asked.

"It's a giant mushroom!" Sokka announced really happy. "Maybe it's friendly! "

"Let's just keep moving!" Katara said and we continued to walk.

"Friendly mushroom!" Sokka screamed. "Mushy gaint friend!"

I grabbed his hand once again. The walk was still dreadful but the sun was setting so it was somewhat cooling down. Soon enough Aang came back with no luck finding Appa.

Katara tried to get Aang to come with us but he was still upset about Appa. "Come on Aang, we can do this if we work together, right Toph?"

"As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding." Toph replied kicking the sad. "I got nothing."

"Mirai?" I looked at her.

"We don't even know where we are." I replied feeling bad. "Sorry, Katara."

"Sokka?" She looked at her brother who was lying in the sand with Momo. "Any ideas how to find Ba Sing Se?"

"Why don't we ask the circle birds?" Sokka asked and we looked up and the gaint vulture-wasps.

"We're getting out of this desert and we're going to do this together!" Katara said. "Aang, get up, everybody hold hands. We can do this."

We held hands as she led the way and well I was basically dragging Sokka to follow us. I looked back at him and he looked at me with a goofy grin.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He chuckled his eyes barely open. "It's hot."

"It's the desert." I replied and then he fell the others looked back at us. "Don't worry, I got him." I placed his arm over my shoulder and realized he was much lighter than I expected.

"You're so smart." Sokka rambled, I could feel his eyes on me. "Oh and pretty!"

I looked at him and if I wasn't already red I would be blushing so much more. He's not himself. I looked at him again and he smiled, honestly he probably won't remember any of this.

"I really like you." Sokka mumbled happily.

Since he won't remember this and everyone else was more ahead. "I like you too, Sokka." I admitted but then sighed. "But I would never really admit it unless you were under this cactus juice."

"Momo, did you hear that! She likes me too!" Sokka told the lemure and I sighed pulling them both. "Thanks, Mirai."

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We continued walking and finally let go of each other. When Katara said we could stop walking we all gave into the exhaustion and laid on the sand, I sat down.

"Is there anymore water?" Toph asked.

Katara was going to give us the last of the water but Momo crashed through it. Sokka freaked out but Katara got it back and we drank it but it now tasted of sand.
Katara and I looked at the sheet of paper that had the constellations. We decided to walk in the night when it's cooler and rest in the morning. The others tried to sleep and we let them for a few hours.
I tried to sleep but I couldn't. It was nearly impossible and honestly I was in no mood to be laying in the sand. I hated this, I thought about my whole life flashing before my eyes just by being buried in the sand. I wasn't afraid of all the other near death experiences but I fear the sand with my whole life now.
I was glad that we started to wake the others, I really just wanted to get out of here.

"Appa!" Aang called and we looked up at the cloud in the sky.

"Appa? Why would princess Yue need him?" Sokka asked. "She's the moon."

I had forgotten about the two other girls that had to have a close relationship to Sokka. One a warrior and one a princess.
Wow, way to be out of his league.

"It's just a cloud." Katara said and sent Aang up to get water. It was only a little and when she pointed it out Aang blew up at her.

I sighed. "Let's go, if we want to make it anywhere we have to start moving."

As we were walking Toph tripped over something and yelled out of annoyance. She found a boat, a sandbender boat. Aang unburied it and we got on using it and the compass. We started sailing on the glider following the compass.

"The needle on the compass isn't pointing North." I said as I looked at the constellation sheet and at the compass.

"Take it easy, pretty lady." Sokka said in a calm voice. "I'm sure the sandbender folks who built this baby, know how to get around here."

"How long do you think until the juice wears off?" I asked Katara but she gasped.

"That's what the compass is pointing too!" We looked at the rock ahead. "That giant rock, it must be the magnetic center of the desert."

That made Toph happy. We got onto the rock just as the sun was starting to rise. There were holes and we walked in. I used my fire for our light source.

"I think my heads starting to clear up of the cactus juice." Sokka said then he ate the goo from the walls and gave some to Momo but they both spit it out. "Tastes like rotten penguin meat!"
   He swayed lightly. "Oooh I feel woozy."

"After hallucinating on juice! You still go on and eat things you know nothing about?!" I scolded him.

"I have a natual curiosity." He said.

"More like an unnatural curiosity." I told him.

Why was he like this?

Toph pointed out that there was something buzzing and coming towards us so we ran out and those vulture-wasps came out behind us and we started fighting them. I hit two of them down and was ready to hit another one but it took Momo and since I didn't want to hurt the lemure I stopped.
Aang went after it and we started walking down the mountain. Toph and I were the only ones doing anything because Katara didn't have any water left over. The sand shot up and I gripped onto Sokka slamming my eyes shut. I would have prefered holding onto Toph since she would most likely be the one to get us out but he was closer. I hesitated opening them and sighed to see we were okay.

"Sorry." I whispered as we looked at the sandbenders surrounding us.

"What are you doing in our land with a sandbender sailer?" An older man asked. "From the looks of it you stole it from the Hami Tribe."

"We found the sailer abandoned in the desert." Katara told him. "We're traveling with the Avatar. Our bison was stolen and we have to get to Ba Sing Se."

"You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand-sailer?!" The younger man asked.

"Quiet Gashuin, no one accused our people of anything!" The older one said. "If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality!"

"Sorry, father." The younger one replied.

"I recognize the son's voice," Toph said. "He's the one that stole, Appa."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked.

"I never forget a voice." Toph said.

Aang accused the man who denied it and called us the thieves, Aang destroyed a sailer and asked where Appa was. Toph told us that they muzzled Appa and that's when Aang's arrows and eyes started glowing.
This was the first time I've ever seen him like that, it happened on Crescent Island but I never really saw it.
Gashuin told Aang that he traded Appa to some merchants and that he was probably already in Ba Sing Se. The man tried to apologize and honestly it just seemed like it was making Aang more mad.

"Just get out of here!" Sokka told the man and pulled Toph and I as we started running.
We looked over as Katara grabbed onto Aang and she got him to calm down.

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Edited; 11/28/20
Re-edited- 7/23/21

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