CHANGE | CHAPTER TWENTY
𝐊orra barged into the cockpit of the airship after she pried the door open with metalbending, surprising the airmen inside. The co-pilot tried to break into a run but was knocked against the steering wheel by an air blast that came from none other than the fiery airbender, causing the airship to lose control. Cloud sent a sheepish smile at her friends who shook their heads at her, but nonetheless, the trio continued attacking to get ahold of the airship.
"Mayday! Mayday! The Avatar has escaped," The captain frantically spoke into the airship's radio." We're going down in quadrant four of the Si Wong Desert!"
The co-pilot regained consciousness and charged at Korra, only to be knocked towards the captain by another air blast. Asami ran up to the steering wheel. However, it turned out Cloud and Korra might've gone a little over-aggressive than usual. The controls were busted and when she picked up the radio phone which had broken into two, Cloud grimaced.
"Sorry, but it's not my fault this airship's a hunk of junk," Korra said frustratedly.
"No, I took part in it, too," Cloud sighed.
Asami grabbed onto the controls. "Hang on to something!"
"Holy━" Cloud yelped, and the last thing she knew the airship crashed into a sand dune.
One thing for sure, she didn't want to ride an airship ever again even if she had to fight someone. For once, she wanted to experience a calm ride where there wasn't any fight and chaos. Monkey feathers! She must've hit her head hard to make her think about not wanting to be in a fight again. She and her two friends climbed out of the airship from the roof, the blazing sun shining on them with open arms.
"Well, they say any landing you could walk away from is a good landing," Asami mused. Then she stared at the vastness of the desert. "But, given our location, I'm not so sure about that."
"You're the engineer. What do you think? Can we get flying again?"
"It doesn't look good. Even if you metalbend the propellers back into shape, we have to dig this whole thing out of the sand."
"A glider sounds really nice to have right now," Cloud retorted, slightly grumbling from annoyance.
The trio turned towards the entrance on the roof as the crew climbed out of the airship. Korra furrowed her brows. "Is everyone all right?"
"Like you care."
"What the heck happened?"
"She said her friend needed help, then they knocked me out!"
"More dangerous than being stranded in the desert?"
Cloud ignored their bickering and turned around to face the endless horizon. She couldn't even see at least one cactus. She read somewhere that it produces water of some sort if squeezed enough. Truthfully, she wasn't so sure if she read on the non-poisonous page of the herbology book she picked up.
"Don't worry, Kong. I've radioed Ba Sing Se before we went down," The Captain said as he climbed out of the airship. "We just need to sit tight. Somebody will be here to rescue us."
"I'm not waiting around for that. We need to get out of here now."
"If we all work together, we might be able to get the ship up and running."
"Not likely. I just tunneled out the engine room. It's like a sandbox in there."
"This ship isn't going anywhere. And neither are you. You're prisoners and it's our duty to transport you to the Earth Queen."
"I don't know about you guys, but I heard some pretty scary things about the desert." Cloud shivered at the thought of flesh-eating gigantic slugs that lay underneath the soil. However, none of them believed her and continued to argue with each other about who was leaving and who was not.
"Wait, did that sand dune just move?"
"I told you!" Cloud exclaimed as she inched closer to her friends, her eyes nervously darting around the desert. Goosebumps rose over her skin. She felt so naked without her glider.
"It was probably just a mirage. The desert will play tricks on you."
However, this time, Cloud caught sight of a sand dune moving across them. "Man, that's no mirage!"
Seeing the moving sand dune, the ship crew was convinced after a little argument and ended up agreeing with them to rebuild and fix the airship. Cloud went down to the engine room to clear out the sand with her airbending. As soon as she finished, she walked back outside the ship onto the roof as Kong tried to start the engine. It worked and the propellers started spinning.
Much to their disappointment, their cheerfulness ended when a sand shark jumped from beneath the surface and grabbed the airship, snapping it in two.
For the umpteenth time, Cloud was close to her death, but thankfully, she had been at the other end of the airship and jumped off as soon as it appeared out of nowhere. She landed in front of her friends and the airship crew as the sand shark released the airship and dropped it on the sand, the airship sinking under.
"That's no spirit!" Korra exclaimed. Everyone stood up when the dust subsided. Cloud was shocked but nonetheless, she was safe. Meanwhile, Kong was still at the helms, unharmed although paralyzed with fear. "I think it's gone now."
"I hate sand," Cloud grumbled, staring at what was left of the Earth Kingdom airship━which was nothing but scraps of metal.
She didn't know how the heck she would survive without Asami. She was practically the one holding the group together like glue even though the airmen weren't their allies at first. Asami was a good person, but she was even better as an inventor.
Cloud didn't know why Mako broke up with her. The girl was practically perfect. However, she wasn't one to judge. Besides, she was sure Asami deserved somebody who understands her better. Sometimes, some people just don't click as easily as others. Maybe they weren't meant to be together.
She placed her hands over her waist as she stood in Si Wong desert, stranded with her two friends and four airmen. She watched as Arik welded the finishing touches to their sand-sailer. One of Asami's brilliant ideas.
"She ain't pretty, but I think she'll do the job," Asami commented, staring at the sand sailer made out of airship scraps.
Korra noticed the approaching sand shark's dorsal fin behind them. "No time for a test run. Let's move!"
Never again. Cloud heaved out a deep breath as she jumped off the sand-sailer at the same time it broke apart as if it wanted to do that a long time ago. She couldn't blame the poor invention. Almost getting eaten by a sand shark? She would break down, too. Fortunately, they escaped from the gigantic sand monster and reached Misty Palms Oasis. (She immediately thought of the two brothers they left).
"Thanks, Asami," The captain said, which surprised them a little, but nonetheless, the trio smiled. "You got a good head on your shoulders."
"I'm sorry for getting us stranded out there," Korra apologized. "I didn't mean for that to happen."
"Yeah, sorry for knocking you out Arik." Cloud stepped up and smiled apologetically at the airmen who smiled in response, as if telling her it was fine.
"You know, whatever the conflict between you and the queen is, I'm sure it's above my pay grade. You've got a tough job. Good luck, Avatar," The captain said genuinely before shaking Korra's hand with his hooked right hand, and then sending her a salute. He then looked at the airbender next to her, sending her another one. "Captain."
"Captain," Cloud smirked and sent him a formal salute before he walked back toward his crew.
"Captain, have we been in the desert for too long?" Arik questioned. "Or is that really a dragon over there?"
Everybody followed his gaze to see that there was indeed a red dragon on the ground next to a palm tree, while the two camels tied to it avoided the dragon, shivering in fear. Cloud grinned at the sight of the familiar fire-breathing dragon, her chest bubbling with excitement. "Druk!"
After watching the airship crew leave, the trio went to a cantina (Naga even found them and pounced on Korra, licking her owner as a sign of affection), and saw Lin, Tonraq, and Zuko at the far end. A smile took upon her face at the sight of the older benders that she admired. They were strong leaders, and young Cloud always wanted to be just like them.
While Korra hugged his father, Cloud went straight toward the old firebender and tackled him into a hug, the latter chuckling at the young airbender's antics. He wasn't the most affectionate person in the world, but Lord Zuko accepts every little thing now and then. Besides, it was Cloud. It was hard not to.
She could still remember those times when she would visit Fire Nation with Iroh II and meet the greatest firebender she'd ever know. She might sound like a huge fangirl, but if it was Fire Lord Zuko━she didn't care. The old man was a precious gem despite the hardships he faced when he was her age. Besides. she always loved it when he told her stories about his time with the old team Avatar.
For a moment, Cloud thought of Aang. She missed her grandfather. She was only a toddler when he passed away. However, she was still glad that she heard a lot of stories about them, even though she couldn't remember meeting her grandfather. Sometimes, you don't have to actually see to believe. Because if you truly believe something then you will have no problem imagining it in your mind.