Heimat | Aang

TWELVE

"Appa? Appa!"

Tapeesa watched with hardly concealed concern as Aang rushed forward, to the jungle, his emotions portrayed on his face as clear as day. He looked around at the front of the jungle, he called out for Appa a few more times, and when there was no response, he got in the jungle. Tapeesa rushed to follow after him.

She tried her best to keep sight of him in the jungle and to look around for any signs of Appa. She remained quiet as Aang searched, his voice echoing in the jungle, mindful of the area around them that got darker and darker the deeper they went. Aang kept looking, calling out his sky bison's name until all at once, he stopped. He sat down on a root, his back turned to Tapeesa and stayed quiet. She watched him carefully, eyes clouded over in worry. His shoulders shook. Tapeesa rushed to his side.

"Aang," she murmured as she came to a stop in front of him and kneeled to his height. He rushed to wipe his tears away and hesitantly, she reached forward and placed a hand on his knee in an effort to comfort him. She didn't know what to do to make him feel better. Aang glanced up as he wiped his eyes, sent her a wobbling smile as he took in the concern evident on her face.

"I'm sorry," he croaked as he looked away yet again. "I've lost Appa before. He was taken from me during the war. It took me weeks to find him again. And now he's not here and-"

"I'm sure he's safe," she cut him off softly, "there weren't any footsteps on our way to the camp. He probably drifted off."

"He usually doesn't," he muttered with a shake of his head. "He has our supplies too."

"We'll find him," she assured him, "we will. But we can't continue now. The sun is setting. The jungle is going to get darker and more dangerous. We need to return to the edge of the jungle. We can look for Appa tomorrow when it won't be as dark."

He hesitated, his eyes remained glued on his lap as he thought. He should have never left Appa on his own a second time. He should have picked a safer place for them to camp at. But now it was too late. Appa was gone, they had no supplies and the night was starting. They needed to leave the jungle if they wanted to ever have a chance to find Appa.

"Fine," he allowed in the end as he looked up to meet her gaze. "Let's get out of here."

As Tapeesa nodded and stood up, he couldn't help but wish Appa had drifted off on his own and had returned to their camp by now.

They walked through the jungle in silence. Contrary to what Aang believed considering the time they had spent in the woods looking, they hadn't gotten too far away from the edge. In a couple of minutes, Tapeesa had led them to the edge of the forest. Stars had started to appear in the night sky and as they got out, she took a moment to look up, using them as a means of navigation. He didn't say a word, didn't attempt to help her—his knowledge of the stars was pretty much non-existent—and a short while later, she had found the way they should go. She briefly glanced at him before she nodded to their right and walked in that direction. Aang had no choice but to follow her.

They traced the edge of the forest until they reached the place they had initially set camp at. Appa wasn't there. With a deep sigh, Aang headed to a rock nearby and sat down as Tapeesa moved around, gathering wood for them to use for their fire. He only watched her as she readied their camp and turned to him only when it was time to light the fire. Aang lit the fire with a small sigh. After a moment's consideration, Tapeesa sat down beside him.

"I lost Appa about ten years ago, during the war. Katara, Sokka, Toph and I along with a researcher were looking for the sunk library of Wan Shi Tong, the all-knowing spirit. That library had infinite information, you could find anything you wished for there. We wanted to find something that would give us an advantage against the Fire Nation.