When Worlds Collide: Book Two, Earth

Chapter Fourteen

"You know... You act so tough, but it's times like these where we can see how vulnerable you really are," Katara observed. still hugging me. 

I sniffled, and stepped back. "Right, well... We have a city to get to." I turned away from them, and continued walking, although much, much less slowly than before. 

From behind us, came a gust of wind, and I turned with the others to see a giant mushroom cloud emerge. 

"What is that?" Toph asked, unable to see. 

"It's a giant... mushroom," Sokka said. "Maybe it's friendly!" 

"Let's just keep moving," Katara urged. "I hope Aang's okay." I knew she didn't want to others to hear the last part, so I pretended that I didn't either. 

We ignored Sokka's weird behavior, and kept walking. 

/////\\\\\ 

It wasn't until later that night, when Aang finally reappeared. Katara rushed to greet him, but I shied away, hiding my face, and ignoring their conversation. 

"Sam," I heard. I looked up to see Katara standing over me. "Any ideas to find Ba Sing Se?" 

"The only thing I know what to do in a desert is how to collect water. But we don't exactly have the supplies, so... I got nothing for ya." 

I went back to ignoring her, until her pulling me up yanked me from my day dreams. "We're getting out of this desert, and we're doing it together," she ordered. "Sam, get up. Everybody hold hands. We can do this." She held my hand, and I held Aang's, who held Tophs, who held Sokka's, who was prancing with Momo. "We have to." 

/////\\\\\ 

Katara dragged us all night, and only when the sun was rising, did she come to a halt. "I think we should stop here for the night," she decided. 

We groaned, and plopped to the ground. 

"Is there any more water?" Toph asked. 

"This is the last of it," Katara told us. "Everyone can have a little drink." She bended the water out of her canister, and held it in the air. 

Before anyone could stop him, Momo jumped through the water, making Katara drop it into the sand. 

"No, Momo, you've killed us all!" Sokka screamed, clutching his head. 

"No, he hasn't," Katara griped, bending the water from the sand. 

"Oh, right," Sokka sighed, grinning lopsided. "Bending." 

Once the water was back in the pouch, Katara gave it to Toph. 

Deciding I was too tired, I crawled away from the group, and laid down, going to sleep. 

Katara, I thought. How do you do it? 

/////\\\\\ 

"Sam." Someone shook my shoulder. "It's time to get up. We need to go." 

"No Mom," I complained. "Can't I skip school today?" 

Mom chuckled, and shook my shoulder harder. 

"Sam... Sam! You need to wake up!" 

I sat straight up, looking around wildly. I relaxed when I found Katara bending over me, looking at me worriedly. "Sam? Are you okay?" 

I nodded, rubbing my eyes, and yawning. "Just a dream." 

"Aang got a little water from a cloud that passed by," she told me. "But we need to save it." 

I nodded, standing up. I glanced at the young air bender, and saw how angry he looked. I decided to not stand by him for too long. 

We walked for a while, when Toph suddenly tripped over something, and fell to the ground. 

"Ow!" she yelped. "Crud! I'm so sick of not feeling where I'm going! And what idiot buried a boat in the middle of the desert?" 

"A boat?" I asked, sharing a look with Katara. We both rushed to try to unbury it at the same time. 

"Believe me, I kicked it hard enough to feel the vibrations." 

While we were undigging, Aang walked over, and put his hand on my shoulder. We looked up him, saw the determined look in his eye, and stepped back. Using air bending, he had the boat uncovered in seconds. 

"It's one of the gliders the sand benders used," Katara observed. 

I hopped on the glider, and looked at the tools. "Look! It has some kind of compass on it!" I exclaimed. "It looks like one from Zuko's ship." 

"I bet it could point us out of here," Katara said, smiling. "Aang, you can bend a breeze so we can sail it. We're gonna make it!" 

We all smiled, and climbed aboard. "Sam, you seem to know about the most about it," Katara observed, tossing me the parchment with the stars. "I'll let you handle it." 

I nodded, taking over. 

Soon, we were traveling as fast as the glider would go, thanks to Aang. After a while, I noticed something odd. 

"Katara, look at this," I called. "The compass doesn't seem to be pointing North, see?" I moved the paper so she could see, and she nodded. 

"Take it easy, little lady," Sokka said from behind us. "I'm sure that the sand benders that built this know how to get around these parts." 

I rolled my eyes, and Katara gasped. I looked where her eyes were trained, and saw a huge rock rising on the horizon.