Chapter 40: Storm Desert

It didn't surprise Ash much to realize he had awoken and was in Peacebender territory. Of course, one of the Peacebenders probably wanted to give him some warnings before they traveled to the Earth Kingdom and through Storm Desert; by the way Kabu had described it, it wasn't going to be a walk through the field.
Ash looked around, and then, to his surprise, Feather appeared.
"Feather!" he exclaimed, running up to her. "Feather, I am so sorry. Your death was my fault. If I hadn't used the Firebenders to fight the deer, you'd still be alive and with us right now. I--" Feather interrupted him when she raised her wing to indicate for him to stop.
"Ash, don't be sorry," Feather said, "it was my time to die."
"But you could've still been alive!" Ash protested.
"...And I'd still be without my mate and family, too," Feather nodded.
Ash fell silent. "Oh...Um, what have you been doing here?"
"When I first arrived," Feather began, "Cloudsky was waiting for me, and I had never felt more happier in my life to see him. And I knew I was free from torture, sicknesses, and sadness forever since I had found Peacebender territory. My mother and father were also here. So was my sister and my little brother who died at birth, as well as Firetalon's sister...who he had killed himself when they were born."
"Firetalon killed his sibling?" Ash said in disbelief.
"On accident," Feather said quickly, "he had been slashing his talons around and ended up cutting her. I felt that was some kind of sign, but Cloudsky thought him innocent...her name was Razor. I only just named her before Firetalon got to her."
"Well, at least you get to see her now. Anyway, is there anything you need to tell me?" Ash asked.
"Yes," Feather nodded. "Storm Desert is a perilous place. Animals have been known to die there from starvation, thirst, getting lost, sandstorms, being bitten by venomous snakes, and more."
"But...why are you having us go through Storm Desert, then? If that's the case, we're as good as dead!" Ash protested.
"You will lose some animals. But the rest of you will continue and get to the Earth Kingdom. It's at the end of the desert. It's surrounded by the only foliage in the desert, and holds water and food, so you must get there quickly. Just continue going north. It will be very hard recruiting the Earth Kingdom. They've been under the Firebenders' control for much too long," Feather explained, "some have grew...loyal to them. Others have just lost hope of ever leaving. All the Firebenders will be working there now, because the Earth Kingdom is the strongest and most populated place in the land, and the Firebenders don't want to lose them."
"And then wh--" Ash began, but the world disappeared around him.

Later in the morning, Ash was standing above everyone on a rock, and the Benders were walking up to him for a meeting he had just called. Rusty was standing by Ash's side, chest puffed out, every once and a while throwing glares at Dust, who just glared back. Ugh, I wish those two could be friends again, Ash thought. Eclipse and Nightgale were on his other side, Nightgale watching a butterfly. The sun was up in the sky, not a cloud seen anywhere.
"Okay," Ash began, "the desert will be very difficult to go through, and even then it will be even more difficult to get into the Earth Kingdom, as it is very closely guarded by Firebenders. The desert will be a hard journey to go through. We may even lose some animals. There's little water, little food, and it's easy to get lost. Just do not lose hope and we'll get through. We just need to keep going north."
"Hey!" came a voice.
Ash looked over everyone, and they all turned around. Tiggerpaka was running to them, on all fours. He halted in front of everyone and stood on two legs as usual. He gave a smug look. "I hear you are going on a perilous trek through the mighty desert! Well, you will need a brave, daring explorer like me, so I decided to help - and it's not a responsibility I take lightly!"
Rusty rolled his eyes. Ash looked at Tiggerpaka, "Er...you can come, too...?"
"Thank you," Tiggerpaka nodded, "with my brilliance, nothing shall stand in my--I mean, our way!"
"Right," Rusty snorted.
"Let's set off," Ash nodded. He jumped down from the rock. "Same form as usual! Me, Rusty, Eclipse and Nightgale at front, everyone else behind. Tiggerpaka, Tiggerkat, Ember and Moonlight at the very back of everyone."
"Hmm! I believe I need to be up front!" Tiggerpaka insisted.
Ash ignored him and began walking north, just as Feather told him. It was still cold, and they were still on cold grass, but if they kept moving they'd eventually reach the Storm Desert. Ash looked up at the sky, hoping that some rain would come while they were in the desert. Rain... Ash then realized something with a jolt: without any water, the Waterbenders could not do any Bending. Oh crap...
Ash looked behind him. Nearby, Akumu was smiling at Flare as he talked to her. Slice was walking closely alongside Miguel. Rainbow was walking, with Patch, asleep on her back, probably still wiped out from all the travelling they were doing. Streak and Nzuri were bounding alongside Rainbow, but Ash noticed Streak kept glancing at Cinder, who happened to be busy talking to Comet.
Ash turned to look ahead. The soft grass was still below them. Was it just Ash, or did it seem to be getting hotter? The sun seemed to be beating down on him, and Ash wondered just how long it was before they reached Storm Desert. It couldn't be long now. Who was going to die?
"Ash?" Eclipse's voice made Ash jerk back to reality. "Ash, what's wrong? You seem worried."
Ash sighed, "I'm getting paranoid, Eclipse, about the desert."
"Well, Ash, you're not going to die, you're supposed to...defeat Ironfang," Eclipse added the last part in a whisper. She then rose her voice up, "and me and Rusty won't die, either...so..."
"But everyone else," Ash said, "they're in danger."
"Trust in Lifebreeze," Eclipse said reassuringly.
After a while, Ash noticed it was definitely getting hotter. There was still grass below them, but the grass wasn't cold anymore, and Ash could feel the sun's rays beating down on his back. I wish I didn't have such a heavy coat, he thought regretfully.
Soon, the grass stopped. Ash froze as he set his paw in some sand. Everyone behind him stopped, and so did those beside him. They all looked at Ash..
"Ash, what's up?" Raoul asked.
Ash looked ahead. There was sand, sand, sand...as far as the eye could see. The sun seemed bigger. No water anywhere, and there didn't seem to be a single living soul anywhere nearby except for The Bending Tower animals. There was a big hill of sand in front of them.
"We're here," Ash breathed.

Author's Note:
Updated the Facebook Benders page. And be sure to check out the other pages, I'd love for you guys to write chapters on the Write a Chapter page,  sometimes the stories are funny. xD
And check out my new stories if you haven't already! >:U