Chapter Two
The Guides
In the years since the destruction of the old Earth Kingdom capital, a new and vastly different world had developed.
As the death toll had risen and the anger of the people with it, the White Lotus had reluctantly taken to power, forcing order back into the chaos that the world had threatened to dissolve into.
To the west, the Fire Nation islands had all but been destroyed.
Survivors of the Fire Nation had fled to Republic City, hoping to find refuge in the neutral territory.
As the first boats of refugees had neared the city, hearts lifting at the thought of seeing Avatar Aang standing guard over the city, an empty skyline had greeted them.
The city had been levelled by the force of the destruction of the spirit portal.
In time the Firebenders who were amongst those who had survived the roiling earthquakes that had torn their home apart had found a place to settle and begin a new life.
It was only when the new generation of Firebenders had been born that a devastating reality was met: they could not create fire – they could control it, yes, but they had lost the ability to produce it from within.
To the North and South, the surviving Waterbenders had returned to their tribes and closed ranks.
But the destruction of the spirit portals at the poles had had unintended effects on them too: the Waterbenders had lost their ability to heal.
At the four corners of the world, only the Airbenders laboured on, seemingly unaffected, attempting to help the White Lotus restore the world's balance.
By the time ten years would pass since Fagan's attack, all Air Temples would be destroyed by those unhappy with the White Lotus' rule.
Whispered rumours said that the rebels were Earthbenders that had survived the destruction of Ba Sing Se. Displaced and angry they had turned on the White Lotus and without an Avatar to bring to justice, attacking the Avatar's once prestigious guard of fighters needed to suffice.
But beyond the anger that the loss of Ba Sing Se had created within the Earthbenders, another loss stoked their fury and pushed them to lash out in fear: they were unable to bend the Earth.
They could Metalbend and even the rare Lavabender was born, but the ability to bend the Earth that they walked upon had been lost.
As the acts of rebellion changed and became more and more violent, the White Lotus changed too.
The White Lotus as it had taken to power under the leadership of the Imran, Avatar Fagan's closest friend and advisor, was no more.
In an effort to keep track of rebel leaders they began to monitor the Earthbender population, tracking and tagging each one they found: a simple E tattooed on the back of the left hand.
Soon the White Lotus, now based at a new world capital city called The Main, officially dropped their name and adopted a new, sweeping title: the Council.
When the dissent reached the other three nations, the Council began tagging and tracking them too.
With an elite fighting force called the Enforcers, they dealt swiftly with bender unrest.
The Main, situated between what was once Ba Sing Se and Republic City, became hostile towards benders and their displeasure was enacted by the Enforcers.
While The Main grew in prosperity and the Council grew in power, the benders and their allies outside of the new capital lived in poverty.
As the years passed and the bender population shrunk into near extinction, the elders in the bender communities – those with long memories who recalled the stories that their parents told them many years ago – quietly met.
They were too old and too weary of the world around them to do much more than clasp hands and pray to the spirits that watched over them, asking in weak, shaking voices: Where is the Avatar?
Where is the conflict? Where is the violence? Where is the war? For the past 300 years The Main has kept the world safe, bringing peace in times of unrest and progress in times of prosperity.
Evie read the last line of the pamphlet in her hand and crumpled it with a snort, tossing the ball over her shoulder and onto the train tracks.
She shook her head, her chin-length braids swinging softly around her face.
"No, I didn't say that," her friend Jo hissed in a whisper next to her. "Listen to what I'm saying."
"I can't listen if I don't understand," the reply was in a loud, theatrical whisper. "Is it the money? Because I'll pay right now if it is."
Jo groaned softly and covered her face with her hands, her white ponytail bobbing angrily behind her head.
"Evie," she said in a muffled voice from behind her fingers. "Help me. Just help me."
Evie reached up and patted Jo's head.
"Mr Holden," she said addressing the round-faced man that stood before Jo in a whisper. The man's eyes darted from the faded F tattooed on the back of Jo's left hand to Evie's face. "It's not the money. It's the fact that where we're going is very dangerous and we have to do extensive planning to ensure the safety of the people we take. This planning is done with an exact number of people in mind and if you decide to bring an extra person along then it endangers us all. You have to trust us. For all our safety."
Holden's watery blue eyes darted from Evie's face down to her left hand where a large W was on display, and back up to her face.
"I do trust you, Miss Ellis," he said nervously. "And you too, Miss Tan. I was just hoping that Lila could accompany us to make the journey easier on my wife. I've heard that the area between the Outer Wall and the Inner Wall is quite vast and for her to carry a heavy pack all by herself will be very taxing."
Jo emerged from behind her fingers to give Holden an appalled look. With her heavy-lidded dark eyes and small, nimble body, Jo's Northern Region heritage was clear.
Next to her, tall, chubby and brown-skinned, Evie's bright green eyes marked her as from the South Region where the biggest Waterbender settlements could be found.
"The journey between the walls will take less than a day of walking," said Evie gently. "The only thing your wife will be required to carry is food and water for the trip. Jo and I will carry all the other equipment."
Holden nodded and turned to the slight woman that stood next to him. With her ebony skin, wide, dark eyes and full lips she looked like a perfectly created doll.
Her dark hair was cut short and the uniform she wore was neatly pressed.
"Lila," said Holden, looking unhappy. "I'm afraid you can't come with us. I'm sorry."
Lila glanced at Evie, a flash of amusement crossing her face.
"It's quite all right, Sir," she said. "I understand."
"Mr Holden," said Evie. "Why don't you take Mrs Holden's pack from Lila and take the time to check that it's not too heavy. Take out any unnecessary items and if there's anything you want either Jo or I to keep on your wife's behalf during the trip then you can give it to us."
Holden nodded glumly and took the large backpack off of Lila's back. He walked slowly to the edge of the platform where a tall woman with straight blond hair hanging around her shoulders stood. As soon as Holden got into earshot she began to whisper furiously at him, her finger jabbing him sharply in the chest.
"Yikes," said Jo, watching the couple. She turned to Evie and sighed. "This is going to be a long trip, isn't it?"
Evie nodded. "Something tells me that the next two days will be the longest of our lives."
Jo stuck her hands into the pocket of her baggy cargo pants and nodded towards the other end of the platform where two stony-faced men stood watching the Holdens argue.
"I should go check on those other two just to make sure there aren't any more household staff members lurking around."
Evie nodded. "Good idea."
The Holdens, as well as the dower pair standing off to one side were Evie and Jo's clients: rich, bored people from The Main who were looking for a thrill; and what better thrill than to defy the Council and to sneak into the ruins of Be Sing Se.
Their four clients – and the countless clients before them – had paid Jo and Evie to sneak them past the heavily guarded Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se and to the Inner Wall, where they would climb atop it and marvel at the forbidden area below.
The Holdens were easy to read, Jo thought: rich, older man with a young, bored, and pretty wife he was desperate to keep entertained. Annabel Holden's decision to marry the portly, blustering George would have been big news in The Main, where she would have been one of the most eligible bachelorettes, thought Jo with an amused grin.
The two men she was making her way towards were harder to read. They were both tall; one with pale skin, brown hair and cold blue eyes; the other with warm brown skin, dreadlocks pulled back from his face in a tail, and a similarly cold expression on his face.
Porter and Khan - that was how they had introduced themselves to Jo and Evie. With their stony expressions and mono-syllable answers, it was difficult to figure out their reasons for making the trip to Ba Sing Se. Jo made a note watch them closely; it wouldn't be the first time that clients tried to take advantage of them in the isolation of Ba Sing Se, but if anything should happen on this trip they would be ready.
"I know it will be dangerous, but it's easy money selling tragedy," Jo had told Evie when they had first thought of conducting the tours. "And you know how morbidly fascinated Mainers are with benders. They hate us and fear us, but they're unendingly curious about us. What better way to fuel their hate and give them a superiority boost than to take them to the site where one of us messed up so badly millions of people died?"
It had been a dubious argument, Evie knew, but they had been young and desperate, and the money they earned over the years had not only fed them, but countless others in the small village in the Western Region where they lived too.
"Miss Ellis?" a timid voice said lightly.
Evie jumped, her mind snapping back to the present.
"Yes," she said, shaking her head. "Sorry, Lila."
"It's ok," Lila said, smiling up at Evie. "I can see that you have a lot on your mind. I was just wondering if this means that I can return to The Main or do you require me to stay here and wait for your return?"
Evie blinked. When the Holdens had first appeared at the meeting spot – a seldom-used train station close to what had been Gaipan settlement - nearly an hour ago, their doll-like housekeeper's appearance had surprised everyone.
"I need her to carry my bag," Mrs Holden had explained shortly.
At that moment Jo had shot Evie a significant look.
Why is she in uniform? The look had conveyed the confused question to Evie, along with a strong inclination of immediate dislike for the couple.
"You should go back to The Main," Evie said to Lila. "It's not safe for you to wait here and if the Enforcers come around and catch you then they'll all but catch us all."
"We're going to leave in a few minutes," Evie continued. "Not long after we're gone a man with long, dark hair will arrive in a white car. He'll take you back to The Main."
"Thank you," said Lila.
Evie gave her a small smile. "You're welcome. You should wait outside; everything is going to happen quite quickly once the train comes."
Lila nodded and glanced at the Holdens, who were still in the middle of a heated argument, this time with the contents of Mrs Holden's pack on the ground around them.
Lila muttered something under her breath and hurried off the platform.
"Evie!" Jo hissed from behind her. "Five minutes!"
"Five minutes?" Holden repeated, looking up from the pile of items at his feet in alarm.
"Don't worry, Mr Holden," said Evie, supressing a sigh. "Let me help you."
Five minutes later, after a heated argument with both Holdens over the need to pack a bulky and heavy portable toilet, Evie, Jo, the Holdens and the two sour-faced men in expensive equipment crouched behind some prickly bushes near the platform. A faint rumble reached their ears as the train drew closer.
"I don't understand why we've been whispering all this time when the train is only here now," said Mrs Holden coldly.
"Because there are Enforcers everywhere and if they had heard us we'd have been dead," Evie explained patiently.
"Tell me again," said Khan in a drawling voice. "Why we are in this bush."
"The Main sends aid – food, water and medical equipment - to the four regions," Jo replied absently, watching the train approach. "The Enforcers are meant to stop at a number of different stations in the regions and distribute the aid evenly."
"They hardly ever do, though," said Evie.
"They usually take the aid to the other Enforcers guarding the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se," said Jo with a nod. "From there, if you're brave enough, you can go buy what you need from them."
"Tragic," said Mrs Holden in a bored voice. "But that doesn't explain why we're in this bush."
"The Main doesn't check that the aid gets delivered correctly," said Evie. "They only check that the trains stopped at the required stations for enough time to unload the goods."
"So?" said Mrs Holden, grimacing at the deafening clamour as the train pulled into the station.
"So that means we have ten minutes to get onto that train," said Jo, scanning their surroundings and rising to her feet slowly.
"Follow me," she murmured, darting around the bush and towards the train. "And keep low!"
"You heard the woman," said Evie, urging their four clients off their feet. "Last chance to turn back."
Mrs Holden snorted and shot after Jo. "As if!"
"Honey, wait," Holden whispered in dismay after his wife's back.
"Come on, Mr Holden," said Evie, helping him to his feet. She waited for Khan and Porter dart after Mrs Holden before prodding him forward.
"This is going to be fun, Mr Holden," Evie told him with a smile. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
"Yes," Holden replied, a tired look on his face. "Fun."
From where she stood in the shadows of a large tree, Lila watched the train pull out of the station and slowly disappear behind a bend in the tracks. She checked her watch; the train would make two more fake stops before changing course to Ba Sing Se and dropping the aid off at the Outer Wall.
The journey would take about three hours, with an extra hour added for once they reached the wall.
They would need to sneak off the train and around the vast Enforcer encampment that surrounded the small tunnel that was the only opening in the entire Outer Wall.
From there they would travel about half an hour along the western side of the Outer Wall until they reached a point where Jo and Evie had said they would find a secret way through the Wall and into the waste land.
"Lila," a small voice whispered in her ear. "Lila, you're not with them."
"No," said Lila. "The plan changed a bit."
"It doesn't matter," the voice replied. "I saw them. I recognized them. That was them. It will happen."
"I'm confident you're right," said Lila. She turned and made her way back to the station, spotting a white dot moving towards her in the distance.
"They looked different from the last time I saw them," the voice observed.
Lila smiled. "Humans change," she reminded it softly. "We're always growing and always changing."
"Yes," it said. "But it was on the inside that they looked different, not the outside."