Chapter 41: Water Problems

"You know what? You'll never make it! Don't even try."
Ash turned to see Cumulus snarling, Dust and River now guarding him. Cumulus didn't seem fond of the idea of going through Storm Desert against his will. Dust growled at him, "Well, we won't get anywhere with you holding us up, so stop your complaining."
Normally, Rusty would say something like "burn!", but all he did was look at Dust taunting Cumulus with a blank expression. Those to have got to become friends again, Ash thought, why are they fighting because I almost died? He shook his head and they continued walking through the Storm Desert. They had only been walking for about two minutes and hadn't gotten very far into the desert. Ash felt like the area was getting hotter, but it could possibly be that he was just really worried. How long away is the Earth Kingdom? Ash wondered.
"This desert is boring," Streak muttered.
"Well, duh, the place is empty," snorted Nzuri.
"How much longer?" Patch asked.
"Sweetie, we aren't even halfway there," responded Rainbow.
"Aw!" Patch whined.
They kept walking, and Ash was sure it was getting hotter by now. He could feel his tongue drying up from thirst, but didn't complain, figuring it'd make him look weak if the leader was the first to complain about not getting anything to drink. He looked around, hoping to see any signs of water. But all there was was sand as far as the eye could see.
The group approached a hill, and Ash began trekking up it. It was very steep, and Ash found it hard to place his paws in the sand, which kept sliding. He latched his claws in, but that didn't help much either. He ended up having to jump up the hill, and so did everyone else, making them more hot from using energy to jump up the hill. When they finally got to the top, there was a valley below. Ash looked ahead; there was still sand everywhere, and no signs of life at all.
"Where's the Earth Kingdom?" Patch asked.
"Far, far off," Rainbow replied.
Ash skidded down the hill of sand, followed by everyone else. They got to the bottom of the hill and continued walking. Ash looked up at the sky. Still no clouds. Would any of them die from thirst? If so, who would? Would any of them go crazy, or get lost? Ash pushed these thoughts away, trying to keep calm and not let pressure get to him, figuring it'd make him even more hot.
"Eclipse, what happens if someone gets injured or falls ill?" asked Nightgale, "there aren't any herbs, and we didn't bring any, either."
"That's why we need to get to the Earth Kingdom quickly," Eclipse nodded.
Suddenly, a howl came up. Ash turned around. He saw Mkia had collapsed onto the ground. He rushed over to her. Please don't let her be dead. I don't want to have lost her already! He approached Mkia, and Comet walked up to her and took his paw and rolled Mkia over. Her limp body moved easily. Comet put his ear on where Mkia's heart would be. "She's still alive," he confirmed, "must've been knocked out from the heat, I suppose."
Nightgale looked at him. "Wow, you're like a healer!" she beamed.
Comet shrugged, "I don't think I could be one, though."
"You should," Nightgale smiled sheepishly.
Mkia then began to stir, and she looked at Comet. "Wh-What happened?"
"You fainted," Comet nodded, "are you thirsty?"
Mkia nodded quickly, "Y-Yeah, I am."
"But there's no water around here," Streak commented.
"Really? I never would've guessed!" Nzuri snorted. Streak swiped her ear with his paw.
"Then let's find some water," Rusty shrugged.
"It's not that simple, Rusty," growled Dust.
Rusty narrowed his eyes. "I didn't ask you."
"No one told me not to give my opinion," Dust snapped.
"Stop it, you two. This fight of yours is ridiculous," Diamond glared.
Tiggerkat then walked forward with a stick. She was waving around strangely, and examining it. Everyone backed up, forming a circle around her absentmindedly. Ash could hear murmurs and whispers going through the crowd.
"I think she's finally lost it."
"Who'd know the difference?"
"What's she doing this time?"
"Where'd she get the stick?"
Ash watched Tiggerkat, head titled to one side. Tiggerkat pointed the stick at the ground. She then dug where the stick pointed, and kept digging and digging. What in the name of Lifebreeze is she doing? Ash thought. He kept watching, and Tiggerkat then stopped digging; there was water in there.
"Water!" gasped Mkia, wide-eyed.
Everyone rushed forward.
"Tiggerkat, how'd you do this?" Light asked, cocking her head.
To Ash's surprise, though, Tiggerkat looked annoyed. "This stupid stick is worthless! It didn't tell me where Reese Cups were like I thought it would! Instead it only showed me where some stupid water was! Who cares about water?!" she then took the stick and started slamming it into the ground, breaking it.
Everyone exchanged looks. But then everyone just shrugged.
"How do we share this water?" asked Rusty.
"We fight for it!" Lily exclaimed.
"No, we can't fight among ourselves," Darner said.
Ash then had an idea. He moved his paw up in the air, and the water moved up with it. It was a giant water ball. He then moved his paws apart on the ground, and the water stretched out. It was a lot of water Tiggerkat had found; enough for everyone to drink.
"That's a lot of water!" gasped Twig.
"Let's drink it!" Moonlight grinned.

Author's Note:
NightgaleXComet or CometXMkia? Hmm...
Well, be sure to check out the new pages. :P
And I linked some new story blogs.