Aang glared at Toph, stomping towards the blind earthbender. "How could you let them take Appa?! Why didn't you stop them!?" Aang demanded, his face twisting in anger.

"I couldn't!" Toph snapped defensively, standing up. "The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and—"

"—You could've come to get us. I could've saved him!" Aang interrupted, clearly upset as Katara, Azara, and Sokka shared worried looks.

"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't time for—" Toph continued to defend herself, but Aang was beyond reason at the thought of his oldest friend being kidnapped.

"—You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!" Aang screamed as Katara rushed forward and grabbed his shoulder.

"Aang, stop it. You know Toph did all she could. She saved our lives," Katara tried to reason with him, but the anger remained on Aang's face.

"Who's going to save our lives now? We'll never make it out of here," Sokka sighed, as he stared out into the desert.

"That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" Aang snapped, starting to pace, the wind picking up around him at his anger and frustration.

"We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now," Katara stated calmly, but Aang glared at the ground.

"I'm going after Appa," Aang announced coldly, opening his glider, and taking off without another word. Katara tried to run after him, but he was already gone.

"Aang, wait!" she called as Azara walked forwards and grabbed her shoulder. Katara sighed as Azara stared sadly after their friend.

"Let him go. Maybe he just needs some time to himself for a bit. But we should start walking," Azara spoke softly as Katara sighed again and nodded.

"We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se," Katara agreed as Toph and Sokka walked over to them. With a quick glance at the map, they started to walk out of the desert in a single file and headed out in the direction that Aang had taken off in. Katara led the way, Azara close behind her, with Sokka and Toph trailing behind them.

"You think if we dig out the giant owl, he'll give us a ride?" Sokka joked as they continued to trudge through the sand. As time passed, the heat was starting to get to everyone as dehydration and exhaustion set in. Sokka stopped for a moment to try and use Momo's wings as shade when Toph bumped into him.

"Can't you watch where you're . . ." Sokka snapped, before catching himself.

"No," Toph replied bluntly, her hands hanging at her sides.

"Right. Sorry."

"Come on guys, we've got to stick together," Katara reminded them, glancing back as Azara stood still, wiping some sweat off her face. Due to their earlier collision, Sokka and Toph were stuck together, their sweat acting like glue to hold them together. Sokka tried to push Toph off of him, but it was no use.

"If I sweat anymore, I don't think sticking together will be a problem," Sokka scoffed as Azara and Katara waited for them to figure themselves out.

Toph huffed before pushing Sokka off of her and onto the ground, freeing them from each other. "Katara, can I have some more water?" Toph called as Azara helped Sokka up.

"Okay, but we've got to try to conserve it," Katara sighed, pulling off her water pouch and bending four small blobs of water out of her pouch and towards Toph, Sokka, Azara, and Momo. Azara happily sucked down the water, despite its after taste. Sokka swished the water in his mouth, trying to decipher the taste, before swallowing it.

"We're drinking your bending water," he noted, trying to identify its origin before screaming in disgust. "You used this on the swamp guy! Ugh!"

"It does taste swampy," Toph agreed as Momo whined from Azara's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, it's all we have," Katara sighed, putting the cork back on the water pouch.

"I'm just glad we have some," Azara interjected, smiling, and nodding at Katara, who tiredly smiled back at the firebender.

"Not anymore! Look!" Sokka pointed out, before running towards a cactus. He examined the plant before slicing off a piece with his club.

"Sokka! Don't drink from strange plants in the desert!" Azara yelled, running over as Katara pulled Toph along with her. Ignoring her, Sokka kicked back the cactus head and drank its watery contents. Once she reached him, Azara smacked the cactus piece out of his hands.

"Hey!" he whined, but Azara shook her head at him.

"You don't even know what was in that!" she scolded him, worried for his health.

"I know that it was quenchy!" Sokka replied, easily cutting off another piece of the cactus and holding it out to Azara. "Look, there's water trapped inside these!"

"I don't know what you were taught in the Southern Water Tribe, but I was always taught to never eat or drink random plants. It could be poisonous!" Azara retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Suit yourself. It's very thirst quenching though," Sokka shrugged before his pupils dilated rapidly. Azara's eyes widened as Sokka shook his head rapidly before holding out the cactus water again. "Drink cactus juice. It'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier," he spoked as he crawled on the ground like a worm before popping back up. "It's the quenchiest!"

"It's making you crazy," Azara corrected, grabbing the cactus out of his hand, and tossing it behind her. She placed her hands on her hips as she stared at him with an unimpressed expression.

"Who lit Toph on fire?" Sokka asked, hurrying over to Toph's side. Katara was about to reply when she was cut off by Momo flying in increasingly faster circles above them before plummeting to the ground headfirst. Azara walked over and scooped up Momo into her arms, rubbing his head softly.

"Don't tell me you had some as well, Momo," she sighed as Momo stuck his tongue out of his mouth, clearly out of it.

"Can I get some of that cactus?" Toph questioned, but Katara shook her head and wrapped an arm around Toph's shoulders. "I don't think that's a good idea. Come on, we need to find Aang." As Katara led Toph away, Azara turned and grabbed Sokka's hand tugging him along.

"Come on, Mr. Cactus," she sighed, Momo still tucked into her elbow as Sokka giggled as he walked along behind her.

"How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean?" Sokka asked suddenly, causing Azara to shake her head.

"This is going to be a long walk," she muttered, keeping a tight hold on Sokka as they continued through the desert.

As they climbed over another dune, a wave of dust suddenly washed over them. Turning around, Azara covered her eyes to try and see what caused the burst of air. "What is that?" Katara asked, looking out at the desert as a mushroom cloud formed behind them.

"What? What is what?" Toph inquired, still facing forward, and sounding confused.

"It's a giant mushroom! Maybe it's friendly!" Sokka shouted, raising his arms in the air as he smiled widely at the mushroom cloud.

"Let's just keep moving. I hope Aang's okay . . ." Katara sighed, pulling Toph with her. Azara turned back to Sokka, who was waving his arms around erratically.

"Friendly mushroom! Mushy giant friend!" Sokkac called, waving his arms back and forth.

"Sokka, come on, we need to go," Azara stated, grabbing his arm, and pulling him up the rest of the dune. The sun sat behind them as they continued walking in a single file over dune after dune after dune. Everything was sore and soaked in sweat. Azara sighed as she continued to pull Sokka along, Katara keeping a similar hold on Toph.

Azara paused as a shadow passed over their heads and looked up. Spotting Aang and his glider, Azara watched Katara approach the airbender, who had landed a few paces from them, with a calm expression on her face. "I'm sorry, Aang. I know it's hard for you right now but . . . we need to focus on getting out of here," Katara spoke, placing a comforting hand on Aang's shoulder.

Aang, however, turned away and stared at the ground. "What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa. We all know it," Aang muttered dejectedly, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Come on, Aang. We can do this if we work together. Right Toph?" Katara turned to the earthbender, who shook her head.

"As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothing," Toph shrugged with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Sokka? Any ideas how to find Ba Sing Se?" Katara tried again, turning to her brother, who was laying out on the ground with a dumb smile on his face, Momo tucked into his side.

"Why don't we ask the circle birds?" Sokka suggested, pointing up at the buzzard wasps circling overhead. Azara glared up at the buzzard wasps, before glancing around at their group. Sokka was laughing as he rolled in the sand, Aang wouldn't make eye contact with anyone, and Toph looked like she was about to collapse.

Azara groaned before straightening up. "Come on, guys. We've gone too far to give up now. We're not dying in this stupid desert," Azara stated, placing her hands on her hips.

"Azara's right. We're getting out of this desert, and we're going to do it together! Aang, get up. Everybody, hold hands. We can do this. We have to," Katara announced, grabbing Aang by his staff and tugging their group along. Azara grabbed Toph's hand and held onto Aang's arm. Sokka pulled up the rear of the group, a wide smile on his face as he pulled Momo along by his tail.

The sun set further as they trudged up a large dune. Azara could feel her muscles giving out, but she still held tightly to Toph and Aang. "I think we should stop for the night," Katara decided as they reached the top of the dune, causing Aang, Sokka, and Toph to drop to the ground immediately.

"Is there any more water?" Toph called from the ground, exhaustion clear in her voice.

"This is the last of it. Everyone can have a little drink," Katara spoke, pulling out her water pouch and bending the remaining water out. However, Momo leapt forward at the sight of the water, causing the water blob to fall into the sand.

"Momo, no! You've killed us all!" Sokka screamed dramatically at the lemur, holding his head in his hands.

"No, he hasn't," Azara sighed as Katara bended the water out of the sand calmly.

"Oh, right. Bending," Sokka smiled in relief, before Katara handed out the remaining water. As they sat in silence for a moment, trying to stay awake, Azara turned to Sokka.

"Sokka, let me see the things you got from the library," Azara requested, holding out a hand.

Sokka, however, recoiled and defensively grabbed his bag. "What? I didn't steal anything! Who told you that?" Sokka paused, his eyes narrowed, before he turned to Momo. "It was you! You ratted me out!" Sokka accused, pointing a finger at Momo.

"Stop yelling at Momo! We were all there!" Azara huffed before snatching the bag away from him and looking through the scrolls he had, Katara walking over to help her.

"It doesn't matter. None of those will tell us where Appa is," Aang mumbled sadly, his knees pulled to his chest.

"No, but we can find out which way Ba Sing Se is. We can use the stars to guide us," Katara replied, pulling out a star map. "That way we can travel at night when it's cool and rest during the day." Katara and Azara stood up, ready to keep walking, but paused when they noted the state of their friends, who were all sprawled out on the ground.

"Maybe we should get some sleep and start again in a few hours," Azara suggested, causing Katara to nod and find a patch of sand to lay down on. Azara walked to find her own patch of sand in between Toph and Sokka and drifted off to sleep not long after.

A few hours passed before Azara woke up. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and leaned over to shake Sokka and Toph awake. "We should get moving. Come on, get up," Azara coaxed before standing up and dusting herself off. Toph smacked her lips as she sat up.

"Yesterday my mouth tasted like mud. Now it just tastes like sand. I never thought I'd miss the taste of mud so much," Toph sighed as Katara moved to wake up Aang.

"I'm awake. I couldn't sleep," Aang interrupted her before she could reach him.

"Well, we need to get moving if we want to get out of this sand pit," Katara sighed, before something large floated above them, blocking out the full moon. Aang smiled and called out for Appa, but upon a closer look, sighed as he realized it was just a cloud.

"It's just a cloud," Katara mumbled, before suddenly perking up. "Wait! A cloud!" She pulled out her waterskin and handed it to Aang. "Here, fly up and bend the water from that cloud into my pouch." Aang shot Katara a look before snatching the water pouch and taking off. They watched from the ground as he flew by twice, the remnants of the cloud evaporating soon after. Aang landed back on the ground and tossed the pouch over to Katara, who looked into it. "Wow . . . there's hardly any in here."

"I'm sorry, okay! It's a desert cloud. I did all I could! What's anyone else doing?! What are you doing?!" Aang snapped, pointing his staff at Katara.

"Trying to keep everyone together," Katara spoke softly, a shocked expression on her face.

"Let's just get moving. I think we need to head in this direction," Azara suggested, placing a comforting hand on Katara's shoulder before turning to grab Sokka and Toph. They walked along quietly through the desert until Toph kicked something with her foot and fell to the ground.

"Ow!"

"Toph, are you okay?" Azara asked, bending down to the earthbender's side.

"I am so sick of not feeling where I'm going!" Toph yelled out, before pointing at the thing she had tripped over. "And what idiot buried a boat in the middle of the desert?"

"A boat?" Azara replied, confused as she walked over to inspect the object.

"Believe me, I kicked it hard enough to feel plenty of vibrations," Toph scoffed, still holding her foot in pain. Azara started to clear the sand away until Aang stepped forward with his staff. Nodding at Aang, Azara stood back and pulled Toph and Sokka with her. Once everyone was in the clear, Aang swung his staff around, creating a large gust of wind, which revealed a sand sailer.

"It's one of the gliders that the sandbenders use!"

"And look! It's got some kind of compass on it!" Katara exclaimed, running aboard, and tapping the compass that was positioned at the helm of the sand sailer.

"It should be able to point us out of here," Azara suggested, sharing a small smile with Katara.

"Aang, you can bend a breeze so we can sail it. We're going to make it!" Katara shouted, smiling widely as the other hurried into the boat. Aang stood at the front, creating a ball of air, and driving the glider forward. They glided through the desert for a bit as Katara studied the star map and looked up at the sky. "The needle on this compass doesn't seem to be pointing north according to my charts."

"Then where is it pointing?" Azara wondered, standing next to Katara, and studying the star maps.

"Take it easy little ladies. I'm sure the sand folks who built this baby know how to get around here," Sokka spoke, sounding like he was still out of it. Azara and Katara shot him a look before Azara spotted something in the distance.

"That's what the compass is pointing to!" Azara yelled out, pointing ahead. "That giant rock! It must be the magnetic center of the desert."

"A rock? Yes! Let's go!" Toph cheered, looking ecstatic at the prospect of solid ground again.

"Maybe we can find some water there!" Katara added, sounding excited.

"Maybe we can find some sandbenders," Aang remarked darkly before sending another gust of wind into the sail. They arrived at the rock soon afterwards and walked up the side of the earth structure as the sun started to rise behind them.

"Ah, finally, solid ground!" Toph sighed in relief before dropping onto the ground and creating a rock angel. Azara glanced around the rock, raising an eyebrow at the vast number of caves and holes in the rock.

"What do you think all those caves are from?" Azara asked, pointing at the largest one. The rest of the group turned to look at the cave, shrugging.

"There's only one way to find out," Aang ventured, leading the way into the cave. As they walked further into the cave, Azara wrinkled her nose as she spotted the yellow gooey substance that decorated the sides of the tunnel.

"I think my head is starting to clear out the cactus juice. And look!" Sokka stuck out a hand and scooped up some of the yellow goop from the wall before bringing it to his mouth.

"Sokka, stop!" Azara called, but Sokka put the goop into his mouth, Momo eating some from his shoulder.

After a moment, they both spat out the substance, Sokka gagging loudly. "Tastes like rotten penguin meat! Aww, I feel woozy," Sokka complained, leaning back as Azara growled out in frustration.

"You've been hallucinating on cactus juice all day and then you just lick something you find stuck to the wall of a cave?!" Azara reprimanded, rubbing her temples tiredly.

"I have a natural curiosity," Sokka defended as Azara shot him a look.

"I don't think this is a normal cave. This was carved by something," Toph stated, causing Azara to spin around.

"Yeah . . . look at the shape," Aang agreed, walking forwards to examine the cave further. The listened silently for a moment before Toph turned to the group.

"There's something buzzing in here. Something that's coming for us!" Toph warned before leading the group out of the cave. Glancing behind them, Azara screamed out as she spotted the swarm of buzzard wasps coming for them. Spotting Sokka and Momo not paying attention, Azara charged forwards and tackled Sokka to the ground to dodge the buzzard wasps.

They rolled away until they landed with Sokka on his back, Azara laying on his chest. "Pull your head out of the cactus juice!" Azara huffed, sitting up as Sokka stared up at her, eyes wide. Azara scrambled up to her feet and ran back towards the buzzard wasps, which were quickly circling Katara and Toph as Sokka watched her go, a stunned expression on his face.

Azara spun on one foot, releasing a fire slash towards one, knocking it away from Katara. Running to Katara's side, as the waterbender had no water to bend in order to defend herself, Azara released a fire blast at another buzzard wasp before pulling Katara down to avoid a different buzzard wasp dive bombing them.

"I got this one!" Sokka announced, before running forward with his club and swinging at a random space of air.

"Sokka, there's nothing there!" Katara yelled out as she helped Azara stand up.

"I guess my head's not as clear as I thought," Sokka stated before Azara shot at a buzzard wasp about to attack him with a fire blast.

"You think?" she huffed, before turning to knock down another buzzard wasp. "We should leave! We're outnumbered, by a lot!"

As Azara finished speaking, a buzzard wasp swooped down and snatched a screeching Momo from the ground, before moving to fly away. "Momo! I'm not losing anyone else out here," Aang vowed, before running forward and chasing after the wasp on his glider.

"Come on, we're going down!" Katara yelled, grabbing Sokka and Toph as Azara covered them.

"Duck!" she warned, before sending a fire volley over their heads, knocking down two buzzard wasps. With Katara out of water and Toph unaware of the location of the buzzard wasps in the air, Azara found herself bearing the brunt of the defense. They hurried down the side of the rock, reaching their commandeered sand glider when they were surrounded by more buzzard wasps.

Azara released a flurry of fire blasts, Toph adding the occasional rock to shoot down the buzzard wasps. As Azara spun around to fire another shot at a buzzard wasp, pillars of sand rose from the ground and scared off the swarm of buzzard wasps. Azara covered her eyes and shielded her head from the sand until the wind blew the resulting dust away. Lowering her arm, Azara stared out at the sandbenders who surrounded them as Aang landed in front of them, glaring at the sandbenders.

"What are you doing in our land with a sandbender sailer? From the looks of it, you stole it form the Hami tribe," the leader of the sandbenders spoke, stepping forward.

"We found the sailer abandoned in the desert. We're traveling with the Avatar," Katara explained, gesturing to Aang.

"Our bison was stolen, and we have to get to Ba Sing Se," Azara added, glancing over at the sandbenders. As Azara finished speaking, a younger sandbender walked to the front of the group.

"You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailer?!" he snapped, his eyes narrowed at Azara and Katara.

"We had no intention of stealing anything," Azara spoke sharply as the older man turned to his son.

"Quiet, Ghashiun. No one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality."

"Sorry, father," Ghashiun muttered as Toph's eyes widened in recognition.

"I recognize the son's voice. He's the one that stole Appa," Toph stated, causing the group to whirl around and stare at her.

"Are you sure?" Katara asked as Toph nodded to confirm.

"I never forget a voice."

At Toph's confirmation, Aang charged towards the sandbenders with his staff raised. "You stole Appa! Where is he? What did you do to him?"

"They're lying! They're the thieves!" Ghashiun exclaimed, stepping back with a concerned look on his face. Aang growled out before smacking his staff on the ground, sending a powerful gust of air towards one of the sand sailers, causing it to explode.

"Where is my bison?" Aang demanded, his frown becoming deeper with each passing second. "You tell me where he is now!" He sent another air blast at a sand sailer, blowing up a second glider.

"What did you do?" Sha-Mo hissed at his son, who refused to meet his gaze.

"I-It wasn't me!"

"You said to put a muzzle on him!" Toph argued, pointing at Ghashiun, her tone harsh.

"You muzzled Appa?" Aang screamed, his eyes and tattoos glowing as he entered the Avatar State. With another swing of his staff, he destroyed the last intact sand sailer.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know that it belonged to the Avatar!" Ghashiun whimpered as Aang continued to glare at him.

"Tell me where Appa is!" Aang demanded, his voice echoing with those of the previous Avatars.

"I traded him! To some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now! They were going to sell him there!" The wind started to pick up as Aang's rage grew at the new information. "Please! We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!"

Azara and Sokka shared a look, before grabbing Toph and running forward. "Just get out of here!" Sokka warned as the wind picked up more.

"Run! Just run!" Azara added, holding Toph into her side as they sprinted forward. Once they were a safe distance away, Sokka wrapped him arms around Azara and Toph, burying his face into Azara's shoulder as they braced for the wind and sand. Azara tucked her head into Sokka's chest, trying to cover Toph from the sand as well as she could.

As the wind started to die down, Sokka and Azara released their respective grips and stood up. The wind slowed, the air sphere around Aang dissipating until it revealed Aang in Katara's embrace, sobbing at the realization of his bison's disappearance. 

A.N. So here's the Desert episode! The next chapter will probably be out in about a week, which will be part of The Serpent's Pass episode, which of course will include the return of our favorite Kyoshi Warrior and perhaps some drama for Sokka and Azara. Stay tuned and thanks as always for reading, voting, and commenting!