When Worlds Collide: Book Two, Earth

Chapter Thirteen

We were standing in the middle of a desert, watching Aang, who was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. 

"What's out here?" Sokka asked, looking confused. 

"A lot actually," Toph said, kneeling down, and putting her hand to the earth. "There are hundreds of little-" 

"Shh," Aang interrupted her. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch." The boy pulled out a piece of wood, almost like one of those recorders I used to have. He played a note, and a little groundhog popped out of a hole, and copied the sound. Aang laughed in glee, and played another note, getting the same result. "I'm putting an orchestra together!" 

"An orchestra, huh?" Sokka said. "Well, la, dee da." 

Three little groundhogs popped out of the ground, copying Sokka. I laughed as Momo tried to catch the little animals, but they ducked back into their holes. Aang played more notes, and more groundhogs would pop out, singing. 

Sokka put his finger in Aangs instrument, stopping him from making any more music. "This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans." Sokka stood up straight, looking at all of us. 

"We did make plans," Toph said. "We're all picking mini vacations." 

"There's no time for vacations," Sokka huffed. 

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can," Aang defended himself. "I practice hard every day with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off." 

"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?" Katara asked. 

"Besides," I smirked. "If anyone's behind on lessons, it's you Sokka. Aang and Katara can at least sound out the letters." 

Sokka glared, and stuck out his tongue. "I'm a slow learner, okay?" he whined. "Besides, even if you do master all four elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation! Do we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house? Knock, knock. Hello, Fire Lord? Are you home? I don't think so! We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war." 

We all were paying attention to his words, but as soon as Sokka was done speaking, Aang tooted on his recorder thing, and a groundhog sang the short note, causing Katara to chuckle. 

"Alright," she said. "We'll finish our vacations, and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence." 

Aang and I chuckled, amused by Sokka's upset look. 

"Your turn, Sam!" Aang chirped. "Where do you want to go?" 

"Me?" I asked, then shook my head. "This entire place is my vacation. I'm set for the rest of my life." 

Aang smiled, and turned to Katara. "Where would you like to go?" 

Katara studied the map, a strange look on her face. "How about the Misty Palm Oasis? That sounds refreshing." 

"Misty Palm Oasis?" I asked. "It sounds like a spa. You have good taste." I looped my arm in hers, grinning. 

"I've been there!" Aang exclaimed. "It's a pristine natural ice spring... and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders." He glanced at me. "And it's not a spa... whatever that is." 

I laughed. "Darn. I could really use a massage right now." 

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"It must've... changed ownerships... since I was here," Aang sheepishly said. He started walking, and we followed. 

"Well, you did get something right," I told him. "It's definitely not a spa." 

We passed under the wooden sign, and it instantly fell, breaking in half. We jumped, and spun around to see the carnage. 

"I guess it could be one of nature's wonders," I thought aloud. "How could a huge ice spring turn into this?" I looked at the small clump of ice in the middle of some shops, and saw a dog of some sort licking at it. 

We entered one of the shops, and saw it was a small juice bar, you could call it. We watched the man at the counter make a tasty looking drink with mangoes, and Sokka looked at it yearnfully. 

"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." He pushed through us, and ran to the counter.