2. The Journey

Hia-Pao had gone through a week full of commotion, ever since an envoy from the king of Omashu had delivered his message. All families with children under the age of two had to travel to Omashu, where the young children would undergo a test in order to find out who was the new Avatar. The news of Avatar Kalak's death didn't cause much unrest, many of Hia-Pao's villagers hadn't known of Avatar Kalak anyway. The fact that chief Ling now had to leave for Omashu, since his son was not even a year old, caused most of the distress. Ling was still in council with some of the village elders to see what would be the most appropriate action to take. Little Ling had to be brought to Omashu, not doing so would offend the king and with him the Earth King. Situations like this used to be easy to solve, whenever Ling, or his late father, had to leave on business outside of Hia-Pao, old lady Ma would take his place, not only because she was the eldest, but also because she was considered to be the wisest of all villagers. This time it was different, lady Ma had passed away two months earlier, eighty-eight years old. A long time she had fought against a perilous disease, a fight she eventually lost, not because she wasn't willing, but simply because she was physically unable to go on any longer. Lady Ma's infirmary had been taken over by her daughter, Fa, who had helped her mother ever since she had gotten sick.

All the villagers gathered in front of Chon's house, the place where the meeting took place. Chon and his family had to go to Omashu too, just like Sui, his wife Ilu and their child Kukuh. Chon, Ling, lady Fa and a few others walked onto the small porch in front of Chon's house.

"Fellow villagers, friends," Ling spoke, "after due deliberation, we, as the village's elders, have decided that it would be best if I stayed in Hia-Pao. Chon and Li will travel with my wife to Omashu and I've heard that Ilu and Sui will travel with them as well, so I can stay here and take care of the village, without having to feel anxious about my wife's well-being."

Many of the people who had gathered around the house nodded in approval, some whispered amongst each other, while another group started to leave to go about their daily work. Ling left as well, going back home, where his wife was readying herself to embark on the journey to Omashu. Chon wanted to leave before noon, hoping to get to Gaoling in three days. He had heard from the envoy that brought the message, that a group would start their journey from Gaoling in four days and Chon wished to join that group. The larger the travelling company, the safer one would get to Omashu.

It was one hour after noon, everyone had said their farewells, when the group left through the most western passage. In front of the group, seated on his ostrich horse, rode Chon, wearing his most beautiful robes. His hair was pinned up in a top-knot, decorated with a small green metal ring, with golden motives, at the base. Chon's family had been one of the founding families of Hia-Pao and one of the most respected families of the region; even in Gaoling people talked about Chon's family with reverence. Chon's father used to be known throughout the entire kingdom, not because of his wealth, but because of his long mustache. Yes, Chon's late father had the longest mustache of the Earth Kingdom and was only surpassed by the air nomads in length. Behind Chon, in a wooden cart pulled by a pair of mule moose, Li and Pingping rested with their children. Mule moose were the main beasts of burden in the region around Hia-Pao, whereas the rest of the Earth Kingdom usually preferred ostrich horses. With their moose-like legs, which could vary in length, could wade easier through the deep streams in the region, whenever a bridge had been destroyed for some reason. Their antlers, attached to the head which was for the most part resembling that of a moose, with the exception of the snout, could clear away thick branches fallen from trees after storms, and sometimes even some sizeable boulders. The rest of the body resembled that of a donkey, short manes on the neck and a small tail, along with a strong back fit to lift, and transport, a heavy load. In the end of the row, guiding a borrowed ostrich horse, walked Sui; his wife Ilu was holding their son Kukuh, sitting on the animal's back. Sui and Ilu didn't have such a rich family history in Hia-Pao as Chon or the chief did, instead they were amongst the more poor of the village. Only three other families were poorer, but since those families included Ling the Hermit and the immigrant family, it didn't make that much of a difference. Sui was in his early thirties, his wife, six years younger, was twenty-five. Neither of them were ever considered to be among the more good-looking people of Hia-Pao; rather, they were generally thought of as possessing rather plain appearances. Nevertheless, their child had been praised as the most beautiful of the three newborns, as little as that meant, it was a nice compliment.

The group had reached their first stopover point slightly before sundown. It was a clearing within the dense forest, along the small path the group was following. Chon sometimes used this place if he had been held up earlier on his way, but usually he skipped this station. However, now that he was travelling with a large group, travelling at a slower pace, this was the best place to spend the night. Chon tied the reins of his ostrich horse to one of the trees around him, after which he guided the mule moose, and with them the cart, into the center of the clearing. He waited for the women, and their infants, to step out of the cart before detaching the cart from the mule moose. He tied their reins to trees as well, as a precaution. The two beasts were very loyal, but if something were to scare them this night, they couldn't just simply run off. It had happened before, and although it isn't that much of an attack on his assets, Chon preferred to cherish his possessions to the point he was right-out miserly. In that perspective, he was the exact opposite of his wife, a caring and generous woman. Li was born the only daughter of the richest villager at the time, the wealth Chon now possessed was partly due to that inheritance. Chon had married Li for the riches she could offer, there used to be no love in their marriage, but that changed when Li had gotten pregnant. Chon turned out to be a loving man, even if it only had relation to his family. Sui was trying to light a small fire, Ilu leaned back against a rock. She was still a bit weak, which worried Li greatly. She didn't know Ilu as well as she knew Pingping, who was her best friend, but, because they were now travelling with each other, Li thought it would be better if everyone got along with one another. She sat down next to Ilu, who was singing a lullaby to her son, who seemed to dozed off. Ilu noticed and stopped singing.

"How are you?" Li asked.

"I'm alright, my back is just a little bit sore."

"Well, it was a long trip," Li agreed as she sensed that is what Ilu meant. "We still need to go a long way."

Sui had gotten the fire started in the meantime, earning him an approving nod from Chon, who had rolled out Pingping, Li's and his own sleeping bag. Sui judged it would be best if he'd do the same, Ilu seemed very tired.

"Well, I'll be glad when arrive at Gaoling and get some rest," Ilu said, smiling faintly.

"Look," Li pointed to the right of Ilu, where Sui had just finished preparing Ilu's sleeping bag. "Why don't you get some sleep before we go ahead with the journey, you really look like you need it."

Ilu nodded, being too tired to answer. Li helped her get up and walked her to her sleeping bag. Sui took over from there, helping her down and tucking her in. She immediately fell asleep. Pingping seemed to have fallen asleep as well, while Chon and Sui were deciding who would take the first watch. Li left the two to their bickering, she thought about how she could help Ilu. The next morning, she would give Ilu her place in the cart; she could ride on her husband's ostrich horse. Chon is enough of a man to be able to walk to Gaoling.

"If Sui can do it, he can too," she muttered.

Li got what she wanted, although Chon had protested, Li had nagged until Chon finally gave in. She and Pingping had switched places, as ostrich horses weren't that comfortable if it was the first time you would ride on them. The way to Gaoling hadn't been without obstacles, a bridge had rotten, although that was easily resolved. Being an earth bender, Chon made them a bridge wide and strong enough to carry the group and cart over the stream, but, since Chon never really trained his earth bending, the bridge collapsed only seconds after crossing it. The greater challenge was to cope with the little children, who woke up one after another, keeping nearly everyone awake with their cries. Only Ilu slept through the entire ordeal, either because she was too tired, or because she was just a sound sleeper. Now the group stood before a small wooden gate, it had no doors nor walls around it. They could see, at the end of the road, in between many green trees and some rock columns, the brown roof tiles shine in the morning sun. The citizens of Gaoling didn't act particularly welcoming to the group, even Chon's presence had no effect to how people treated them. Many of the town's inhabitants, with the exception of the shopkeepers who were profiting greatly from the circumstances, were tired of all the travelers coming through. One could easily understand why, they were not used to the crowdedness. The inns and unoccupied house were all full of travelers, all of them having Omashu as final destination, that most of the newcomers resorted to living on the streets. The streets, in turn, had gotten so crowded that it was hard for the common man to get from his house to his work, or any other destination he had in mind. When Chon had last visited Gaoling, the smell of fresh air and nature was dominant, now he could only smell sweat and feces. The stench was unsettling to say the least, and, since the larger group would start their journey to Omashu the next day, they had to stay for the night, something which none of the five seemed to fancy. Even the little one started to feel uncomfortable, little Ling started to cry, Sen thrashed about and Kukuh, well Kukuh was the only one oblivious to all what was happening around him, he was sleeping as sound as his mother did during the past few nights.

"Well, it seems we were not the only ones with the idea to go to Omashu from here…" Chon noted.

"What now?" Sui asked. After a short silence, he added: "We can't stay on the streets, I mean… I don't wish to spend the night swimming in the dung of all these other people."

"Watch your words dear," Ilu hissed, frowning angrily.

"What? I didn't say something bad now, did I?" Sui half apologetically asked.

"Not yet, but you were going to," Ilu responded pedantically, poking Sui's chest with her index finger.

"But…" Sui was interrupted by Chon, who shouted from the other side of the street. He urged them to come along, impatiently waving at them, while Li and Pingping were taking the ostrich horse, mule moose and cart through a slightly less crowded side street. It effectively stopped the argument between man and wife before it had truly started. The two, Ilu still carrying little Kukuh and Sui holding the borrowed ostrich horse at the reins, quickly crossed the street, running after their three companions. However, after they had walked through the side street, Chon, Li and Pingping were nowhere to be seen.

The entire evening, Sui and Ilu had searched for their fellow villagers, but without success, they were nowhere to be found. Sui had suggested to make camp outside the village, about half a mile from where they had entered the village earlier that day. Sui wondered why no one else had decided to do the same, he and his wife seemed to be the only ones around. That was until a group of four passed by. They too had Omashu as destination and sought shelter in Gaoling. Sui warned them about the crowdedness in Gaoling, whereupon the leader of the group, Chu, asked if it was alright if they stayed with him and Ilu. Sui was reluctant at first, but Ilu persuaded him, suggesting that company would be nice now that they had lost Chon and the rest. Chu introduced himself and his friend. First of there was Ying, Chu's wife, who had travelled with Chu from a mining town east of Gaoling. On their way they had met Suma, a raven haired young woman, and her husband, Mong, a short sturdy miner, who had pushed a small wooden carriage the entire way. Ilu peeked into the carriage, where she saw three children. Mong told Ilu who they were, namely Moku and Nuna, who were Mong and Suma's son and daughter, and Sheng who was Chu and Ying's son. Mong wondered aloud why Sui and Ilu were travelling alone, pointing out the dangers of doing so. Ilu then told how she and Sui had lost their companions in the crowded streets of Gaoling, upon which Chu said that they could come along if they wanted. They didn't have to overthink it and immediately, and eagerly, agreed. That night, the newly formed group didn't bother sleeping. Even if they would have wanted to, it was made impossible by the noises coming from both Gaoling and the forest around it. Instead, everyone tried to get to know each other more. Ilu found out that Suma and Mong were much younger than she had initially thought. While looking in her twenties, Suma was only seventeen years old, like her husband Mong, who looked like he was reaching is thirties. Ilu reasoned that it was the hardship of being a miner that had put its mark on Mong. The two were both runaways, who married at the age of sixteen, only a few days after they were deemed adults. Ilu was shocked to find out that Mong had been a miner since the age of five and that his father died in a collapsing mine shaft in front of his eyes. In that perspective, Suma's life had been a breeze. She was constantly being ignored by her parents who obstructed her plans of marriage to Mong when she told her parents about it. Chu was a miner as well, although it didn't seem to have affected him that much. Chu explained it was because of his function as supervisor. Sure, he had to do some of the hard work, but most of the time he got off easy. The mine's owner wasn't too happy with Chu leaving, stating that he was worthless if he wasn't around, and so he fired him.

"Once we get to Omashu, we'll never leave the city again," Chu said. "Avatar Kalak gave us a free ticket into the city."

"Chu, where are your manners?!" Ying scolded. "The Avatar died an horrific death, you shouldn't talk about the dead in such ways."

"Horrific death?"

"You don't know Sui? There are some merchants who claim that Kalak was murdered by some thugs at the South Pole." Suma told the oblivious Sui.

"I thought the Avatar had died of old age…" Ilu said, suspicious of the truth in Suma's word.

"Well that's not what I've heard," Chu said, mixing into the conversation. "What I've heard is that he went on a hunting trip or something and fell down a deep chasm, where he got attacked and eaten by wild polar dogs."

"According to officials this is what happened, if we need to believe the chief of the Southern Water Tribe." Ying added.

"Well, I trust my gut over some hotshot from the South Pole," Chu stated firmly, pounding his chest with a clenched fist.

"A hotshot from the South Pole, wouldn't that be more of a… coldshot!" Mong joked, laughing heartily. It took some time before it dawned on him that he was the only one laughing.

"Just don't," Chu advised.

The men spent the rest of the night arguing about what they thought had happened, with Suma sometimes mixing into the conversation. Ying held an eye on the carriage, which now contained Kukuh as well. Ilu pondered on what she had heard about Avatar Kalak, like Ying, she was starting to feel uncomfortable about the chance that her son could be the new Avatar. On the other hand, all mothers would feel this way, no one wants her son or daughter to be a future name on the list of assassins. Only one thing was sure, she missed the peace and quiet of Hia-Pao already.

Taku, the seat of the great trade king Yong-Shi, the capital of the Hu-Xin provinces and north-western part of the Earth Kingdom. Taku, partly built on a central mountain and steep mountainsides, was almost surrounded by the protective natural walls of stone and earth. Only the eastern side of the city sported a low wall, connected to the mountains to enclose the city, which had a large opening in it as some sort of gateway. It functioned as the only entrance to the city, therefore the walls were highly decorated with all kinds of carvings explaining the city's history. On both sides of the opening, the walls were much thicker, but lower, in order to bear ornate badgermole statues. The avenue leading from the entrance to the center of the city contained many more of these statues, at nearly every intersection, one or two badgermole statues could be found in varying sizes. They didn't only serve as decoration, they impressed all the city's visitors, passing merchants and foreign dignitaries. The badgermole statues at the entrance used to serve the city by attracting attention. If a merchant was travelling by boat, he could easily overlook Taku, because the city would, at some times of the year, mix in with the environment around it. The city was full of trees and plants, hanging from the rooftops or planted next to the roads, giving the city the looks of a regular, for that certain region, mountain. However, nowadays Taku possessed a large harbor at the river banks, outside the city, rendering the statues function useless. For over more than a few centuries, Taku had been the main trading hub of the Earth Kingdom and was therefore its richest city and a great contributor to the Earth King's chests. Along the long avenue, the shrewd traders of Taku had built shops and inns to accommodate the many people passing through. The current situation had been very fortunate for the shop- and innkeepers, who's income had tripled ever since the first families with newborn children had entered the city. They usually stayed for a day or two, only to leave empty-handed afterwards after having heard their child was in fact not the Avatar. Whereas usually guards would question everyone who wanted to enter the city, the sheer amount of people wanting to enter the city made that impossible. The king had allowed everyone free passage for the time being in order to deal with the obstruction at the entrance. The crowds and free passage combined made an excellent situation for a shady person, in search for answers to his questions.

Right around the entrance's corner, at the start of the avenue, in a, for that part of the city, small building, Wei had his inn. Wei's inn was particularly popular among the lower class of Taku, but also among those from the middle or upper class who had to work out some shady deals. For that reason, Pen had dressed himself as if he was part of the lower class, wearing a hood to cover his face. No one would ever recognize him as the proper middle class citizen he is, dressed like this. He sat down at a table in the farthest corner of the room, shaking his robes back and forth, trying to get rid of all the raindrops that had attached to his clothes. He looked at the candle on his table, saw the small flame dancing around, smelled the strong scent of alcohol and wet wood around him, and made a slight gesture at the innkeeper to order a drink.

"What would it be?" Wei inquired.

"Two barley-honey beers," Pen mumbled, raising two fingers to ensure the innkeeper would bring both.

"Served cold?"

"Sure…"

"With or without mango?"

"How much more would it cost?"

"Two bronze pieces," Wei answered.

"No mangos."

Pen paid up front, as was Wei's policy. Wei walked back to the counter, located on the other side of the room, near the door. As Wei was readying Pen's order, the door opened letting a gust of cold wind flow through the room. Another cloaked man entered, soaked by the rain. He, unlike Pen did, removed his cloak, walked towards Pen with the wet piece of cloth still in his hands and hang it over the chair opposite of Pen. Next, he sat down on that chair and wringed his wet hairs.

"You know," Pen whispered to him, "men in the Earth Kingdom don't wear their hair like that…"

"Well, at the moment this will have to do," the man said, running his hand through his hair. Pen now saw that the sides of his head were shaven, meaning that even if he would try getting the common Earth Kingdom haircut, it would either look disastrous or it wouldn't even be possible. "Do you have what I asked for?"

Pen looked around, making sure no one was listening in on what he was going to say. When he deemed the coast was clear, he whispered: "I've got all the information you need…" He paused, waiting for Wei to put down the two pints in his hands and to leave them be.

"Here you go," Wei said warmly. "Enjoy!" As Wei walked away, Pen continued what he was saying.

"Yesterday, we received a message from the Earth King and I was chosen to deliver it to king Yong-Shi. He didn't send me away, so I heard every word…" he paused again as some lowlife drunk waltzed by.

"Yes?"

"The Earth King confirms the rumors that the Avatar is not to be found in, or the area around, Ba Sing Se. Combine that with the fact that the search here in Taku is nearing its end without any success…"

"Omashu?"

"Omashu."

"Well," the man smiled, "it seems I'm done here."

"So, you will go to Omashu?" Pen asked.

"Not immediately," the man answered. "First I'll visit chief Ghanak, resupply and rest a little," he told. "Why?" he suspiciously added.

"No reason, just curious."

"Curiosity is what brought you in this situation," the man said, his tone suddenly changed from friendly to somewhat hostile.

"I know, I know, but I've learned," Pen tried to reassure. "Like I promised, I will be discreet about this ordeal."

"That a boy," the man responded. He seemed to relax a bit, enjoying his beverage. Pen couldn't help but notice the scar on his rescuer's jaw. Pen thought he didn't look that friendly, but still that guy had saved him from a sure death, some gratitude and respect is in place. "What will you do now?" he asked.

"I don't know yet," Pen answered in honesty. "If people find out what I did, I'll go to Ba Sing Se, if not… I think I'll stay."

"Anyway Pen," the man said, standing up from his chair. "It was a pleasure, but it's time for me to go. Take care and keep your mouth shut," his whisper turned into a hiss with those last words.

"Sure, I'll be as silent as a grave," Pen responded.

"Just beware, or you'll end up in one of them," the man joked, or at least, that is what Pen thought he was doing. At least Pen was happy the man would now leave him alone, he didn't like being around that guy one bit. He was so intimidating, like something or someone was continuously urging him to be faster, better and whatnot. Pen finished his drink and got up, he thanked the innkeeper for his hospitality and went for the door. He hesitated, there was a chance that his rescuer would kill him now that he had served his purpose. Pen figured that he had to leave the inn at some moment, so he took the gamble and stepped outside, into the rain. Nothing happened, as Pen actually had expected. He ran down the avenue, nearly slipping over the wet tiles, slippery as they were. He turned right, into a dark side street, right again and one time to the left. He reached the stairs leading to the district he lived in and still would live for the coming years. He was still alive, nearly home. He carefully climbed the stairs, every step was even more slippery than the preceding one. Pen looked down, thinking he heard something, but there was nothing to be seen. The streets were empty, for as far Pen could see through the rain. The only thing he could clearly see were the dark gray clouds and sometimes a flash of lightning far to the west. The thunder stayed out, only the sound of rain drops hitting the ground and roofs could be heard. Pen crossed the large square bordering his house and opened his front door.

Everything was dark inside, so the first thing Pen did after storing his cloak in a box of reed, was trying to light the candles in his home. He inched towards his kitchen, where he kept a flint stone his fire steel. He found the drawer in which the stuff he was searching for was and opened it, leaning with his other hand on the countertop. He suddenly felt a stinging pain in his hand, like something was piercing it. He quickly withdrew his hand, smelling it; it was the smell of blood. Feelings of anxiety overwhelmed Pen, who now quickly grabbed the things he needed and rushed towards the fireplace. He stumbled over a chair on his way, falling to the ground with great force. He couldn't stay down, he had to light his fire, so he could see what had happened to him. After striking the steel numerous times, it had heated up sufficiently to light the fire place. Slowly, light began to fill Pen's house, shedding light upon what happened in the kitchen. It wasn't as bad as Pen had thought, he had merely pushed his hand onto a pushpin and his hand wasn't even bleeding that bad. He guessed the anxiety may have had him overreact.

A large train of people slowly progressed over hills and mountains, through grasslands and forests, over rivers and ravines, reaching the marshlands, the Central Water Tribe. The journey had been without much ado, as the large group travelled the safest route towards Omashu and the sheer size of the group scared off anyone who would have bad intensions. Chief Ghanak of the Central Water Tribe had offered shelter and a chance for resupplying. Passing through the Central Water Tribe wouldn't only mean a safe haven, but also a shortcut of more than a thousand miles. The travelers were met by small groups of water tribe soldiers on spiked salamanders, the mounts the Central Water Tribe preferred to use as ostrich horses don't fare well in marshy environment. The large group was divided in smaller ones, which were all led to different villages where they would rest for a week, before continuing the journey.

Sui and Ilu had been separated from their companions once again, this time not by accident, but when the soldiers had divided the groups. They had been moved to a village close to the northern border with the Earth Kingdom with twenty other families. They now shared a house with another family, a man with his eight children. Peng was his name, his wife had died giving birth to his youngest daughter, who was his reason for travelling towards Omashu. Now that his wife had died, he was hoping for his daughter to be the Avatar, so that he and his family would move up the social ladder. This sounded selfish at first, but after a while Ilu started to understand why Peng thought that way. The forty-two year old thought he would only be able to take care of his daughters if his youngest turned out to be the one. He loved his children, but at the moment he loved Lin, his youngest, most, putting all his hope in what she could be. Ever at her father's side was Ting, Peng's eldest, who Ilu had befriended. She was in her early twenties, but wasn't as bright as the average person would be. In fact, many believed, including her father, that she had some form of mental disease. She was regarded as an outcast in her village, but her father loved her nonetheless, even though he knew she would never find someone who would marry her. She was not only intellectually challenged, but she wasn't the prettiest around either. Nevertheless, she was one of the most caring persons Ilu had ever met. Whenever her father would fail in raising his children, she would take over, filling the gap her mother left. If people would have something on their mind, they could always talk to Ting, who would comfort them if needed. Asking her for advice, however, wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. Ilu had not only grown close to Ting, but also to Saka. Saka, only a year older than Ilu, was the perfect example of a Central Water Tribe citizen. Her father came from the North Pole, while her mother had lived in the Eastern Water Tribe for the most of her life. Both of them had moved to the Central Water Tribe at some point, where they met and married. Saka was Ting's opposite on the area of appearance, she was a beauty to behold with long lush hair and a sun browned skin. Her deep blue eyes could ensnare any man she wanted, but she had a rather dislikeable character, often throwing tantrums over the smallest things. However, like Ting, she could be very caring, the thing is that she rarely cared. Only if you would get really close to her, she could be a fun person to be around, even with her tantrums. The three of them, Ilu, Ting and Saka would spend their free time together, searching for sales at the marketplace, or watching Sui work at one of the many sites set up in advance, as was ordered by Ghanak, to keep the men busy and to compensate for the shelter given to them. They would have to dig in the mud to find phoenix frog eggs, a delicacy in both the Central and Western Water Tribe. Phoenix frogs would dig themselves in, deep in the mud, where they would lay their eggs and die. From their remains, the eggs would get their nutrition, only to rise in great numbers from their mother's grave. In order to compensate for their fast breeding, since the spiked salamanders, the phoenix frog's natural foe, where held elsewhere, the people from the Central Water Tribe started to dig the eggs up and eat them, growing to like the food in the process.

The week passed too fast for Ilu's liking, who felt like she was at home. Although she had rather stayed, all travelers were requested to leave their temporary houses and gather just outside of the village where Sui and Ilu had stayed. There, chief Ghanak himself bid the large crowd farewell and wished them all the best for the remainder of the journey. It was now a matter of following the coastline, until the Kolau Mountains could be seen. After that it would be the simple case of journeying through the mountains and entering the city, visiting the place where the tests would be done and start the journey back to home. The train of people started moving again, slow in pace, with their eyes set on Omashu. Sui and Ilu had met up again with Mong and Suma, who seemed to have lost sight of Chu, Ying and little Sheng. Ilu introduced them to Peng and his family and together they continued the remainder of the journey, nearly in front of the train. They were nearing the equator, it was getting hotter, the need for water increased. Chief Ghanak knew that would happen, so he had given everyone plenty of water to take with them. Everyone was eager to get to Omashu, the pace increased every passing day. Sometimes, parts of the group would continue to walk, even if it was past sundown. The large train started to fragmentize, chances of thugs assaulting people increased. Sui, Mong and Peng's families had decided to stick with the schedule of resting after sundown, but because Mong had acquired two ostrich horses on the way, he borrowed them from a family member living near the Central Water Tribe, they were able to gain on the front group day after day, until they eventually joined with the front group. By that time, the Kolau Mountains could be seen on the horizon. From that moment forth, they too travelled after sundown, for about four days, when finally they arrived at the feet of the mountains.

"From now on it will be a day, maybe two days of climbing," Sui stated.

"I can't believe we've gotten so far," Suma added.

Ilu didn't say much, for the past few days she hadn't gotten any real sleep. She was having dreams, nightmares, a vision maybe. She had visions before, back in Hia-Pao, for example when chief Ling's father died, she had dreamt about it a few nights before. Or when lady Ma fell down the cliff, into the Xiao Shan, Ilu had dreamt about it a week before. Now she had dreamt about a war, but she couldn't remember between which nations, or villages, this war was. What she had seen is the faces of dying people, she knew none of them. She had also dreamt about the new Avatar, whose silhouette she saw as the Avatar battled against many foes. She had not seen, however, who the Avatar was, or, whether he was a man or a woman. She had hoped the next Avatar would be a woman, not only because it was about time a woman took over, there had been three men in a row up until now, but also because she hoped that Peng's daughter would be the one. The dreams continued to occur following the two next nights, her last dream was the most intense. She saw a man, barging through the door of a house, piercing a man, who looked scarily like chief Ling, through his heart. Through the door opening, she could see a sea of flames. She heard the cries of children, the screams of women and the sound of men drowning in their own blood. She smelled burning wood, blood and after everything suddenly became quiet, she smelled rotting corpses and saw skeletons dancing around a small bonfire. They started to sing, what they sang, Ilu couldn't remember, but what she remembered from the end of her dream is what some of the skeletons were doing. They were throwing children and teenagers into the fire, clapping to the sound of their cries. That is when Ilu woke up, afraid, horrified by what she had seen. She didn't talk about it with anyone, she was too scared to tell and as long as no one asked, she didn't have to remember that horrible dream. She suppressed the memories of her dream and acted cheerful, eventually forgetting what she had dreamt over the course of the day. The day had begun depressingly, but ended joyfully.

"Look there!"

"We've made it!"

"Omashu."

"Ugh," Dung sighed. Small sunrays shone on his face, effectively waking him up. Dung knew what it meant, within five minutes he would hear a knock on his door, after which he had to get out of bed. He chuckled, it was like he was still living with his mother. He noticed it was unusually hot for the time of the year, whereas not so long ago, it had been quite cold for the time of the year.

"Temperatures are all messed up this year," he grumbled. He got out of bed, stretched his arms and yawned. He was still tired, he had been for ten days straight. There was no particular reason for him being tired, there were no sudden changes for the past month, there was no noise outside his house, he just couldn't sleep all night long. He had tried acupuncture, thinking it was stress, but it hadn't helped. He had tried herbal teas and soups, warm baths, a special diet and evening exercises, still it didn't work. Dung washed his face, picked his clothes and put them on, tied his hair into a top-knot and put on his shoes. At the moment he was done preparing for the day, two short knocks sounded on his door. He opened the door immediately, startling his assistant, Min. Min was only twelve years old, an orphan, whom Dung had taken in. He took care of her and in return, she helped him in his shop. Dung was a simple shopkeeper, although he called himself the best shopkeeper of Omashu. His shop was, naturally, the best shop of Omashu as well; Min begged to differ.

"You are up early, sir," she said, cheerful as always.

"Yes, yes, have you readied my breakfast?" It was a question he actually didn't need to ask, of course she had made his breakfast, she always did so before waking him up. And still, he would ask every morning if she really had done it again, always getting the same answer.

"Of course sir, otherwise I wouldn't have knocked on the door, would I?"

It was all so predictable to Dung, he knew that the next thing she would ask is how he slept, like she would every day.

"How did you sleep?"

"Great," Dung said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Min was oblivious to Dung's sarcasm, saying she was happy that Dung had finally been able to sleep well. Dung couldn't get angry at her, especially when she was smiling as much as she was doing at that moment. "You can go now, but be back before the shop opens," he said, shooing Min away. He could enjoy his breakfast in complete silence, it seemed that no one had woken up yet. This is how Dung liked his mornings best, eating his breakfast in complete silence. Somehow, the silence changed his mood, as if it had a motivating effect on him. He was ready to sell as much as he could to new visitors and to those who were going back home. For the past month, Dung too had profited from the search for the new Avatar, who had not been found yet, if you would believe the king and his clique. Dung didn't trust royalty, as he saw it, kings and lords would only lie to the people to get what they want, whether that be taxes or support for one of their wars.

"What am I babbling," Dung wondered aloud, "we haven't had a war in centuries." The last conflict he could remember was the civil war in the Fire Nation and the fall of the Council of Fire Sages.

"Hey, whad'ya know, I actually remembered some of the history lessons."

After finishing breakfast, Dung readied the shop so he could open it. He cleaned some parts of the counter he deemed filthy, swept the floor and filled some the baskets that had gone empty with products from his storage. The storage was getting empty, luckily, a new delivery was due the next day. Dung pushed the wooden screen blocking the entrance up with a wooden pole, putting it in a hole outside of his shop. He placed another pole in the ground supporting the other side of the wooden screen, effectively creating an overhang where he could stall more baskets and crates with merchandise. On the street, he could see Min play with a stray cat, soon she would have to go back inside to clear the table and do the dishes, only to help him in the shop afterwards. She never complained about it, probably because she knew she was lucky, lucky to have someone looking out for her. Many orphans would love to be in Min's position, which she realized. The city was getting more lively, people started to go onto the streets, going to work or to the shops to buy their breakfast; Min knew that was her cue to get to work. She ran towards the door and went inside. Dung could hear her being busy from his place behind the counter, Min would soon take over and Dung would walk around in the store, making sure no one took something with him without paying. Dung was lucky to have a store at an intersection of different guard routes, there was always someone nearby to help if someone would steal something.

After a few minutes Min showed her smiling little face inside the shop. She took Dung's place behind the counter, cheerfully greeting every customer, calculating the price of their purchases. Min was great at calculations, whereas Dung had a lot of trouble with ciphers higher than ten. Dung noticed the guards were opening the gates.

"Min, new customers, the guards are opening the gates!" he yelled through the store.

"Okay," it sounded from behind the counter. Min was busy grabbing some products from the lowest shelf for one of the customers. "Here you go sir, that will be ten copper pieces… Thank you… Have a nice day! Good morning miss, how can I help you?" Dung smiled, there were a lot of customers for the time of the day. Usually, most people would come during the end of the morning and just after noon, but it was already crowded early in the morning. That could mean a day of great profit, or a very boring afternoon.

The first new visitors entered the city, most of the looked exhausted, like they had travelled from the farthest corners of the kingdom to get to Omashu. Dung didn't really care, they were potential clients, so it was time for some advertisement.

"Quality wares for low prices at Dung's!" he yelled through the street. "Come shop at Omashu's best shop!" Some guards looked at Dung, portraying the very meaning of irritation. They knew Dung, he would continue yelling until there woudln't be any new guests entering the city, he had done so for the past month. Too bad for them, new people wouldn't stop coming in until the gates would be closed.

"This is going to be another long day," a guard sighed.

"Hey, Dung, shut up will ya?" Seng, a worker at the Omashu Delivery System, who often had to work at the stop near Dung's shop, shouted. "No one is going to visit your shop and you'll only annoy the guards this way!"

"Ignore him Dung, he is just an idiot, you know that," Dung whispered to himself. "Food, drink and household products for a bargain!"A man dressed in a black cloak, wearing some sort of fur boots walked up to Dung.

"Do you sell water tribe products?" he asked, taking off his hood.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I sell water tribe necklaces and I might have some phoenix frog eggs in store, but I'm afraid that's all," Dung answered. "Look around and if you're interested in anything you can pay at the counter." The man nodded and started browsing through Dung's wares. After a few moments he had found what he wanted, grabbed a bag from his belt and filled it with the eggs Dung had mentioned earlier. He walked towards the counter, patiently waiting in the line.

"Good morning sir, how can I help you?"

"Got me a bag of eggs," the man answered.

"Okay, was that all?" Min asked. The man stared at her, emptily. "Sir?"

"No…" he hesitantly said, he pointed to one of the necklaces on the counter. "One of those please." Min reached her arm out to give the man the necklace he wanted, but he refused to take it. "I'll buy it for you, consider it a gift."

"Okay…" Min said, overcome by the stranger's kindness. "That'll be two silver pieces for the eggs and fifteen copper pieces for the necklace."

"Here are the copper pieces," the man said, laying down fifteen copper coins on the counter. "I'd like to see if it suits you."

"The necklace?" Min asked. The man nodded, waiting patiently for Min to put the necklace on. "How does it look?"

"It looks absolutely," the man paused. He looked around, seeing an open path leading to the gates he yelled: "Great!" and started running as fast as he could. Min was frozen to the ground, but Dung had seen everything and acted.

"Thief!" he yelled. "Guards, get him!" He pointed frantically at the man who was getting closer to the gate. The guards were too slow, the thief dived through their arms. "You are doing this on purpose!" Dung shouted angrily at the guards, thinking the guards were using the opportunity to get back at him for yelling across the street for the past month. The guards were wise enough to ignore Dung and started to chase the thief. The thief laughed, looking over his shoulders to see how far the guards were behind, but because he was looking behind him, he couldn't see the cart in front of him. With a dull blow the thief ran into the cart, bringing its pusher out of balance. The poor man fell on his back and his cart started to roll down the narrow pass, eventually crashing into the depth of the ravine around the city.

"My cabbages!" the man cried loudly, tears came to his eyes.

"My eggs!" Dung screamed subsequently.

"He must pay for this!" they both said in unison at the captain of the guard, who had walked out of his office near the gate.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses. He will be brought before the king within a matter of time, he will get what he deserves."

"Beheading!" the cabbage merchant suggested.

"Quartering!" Dung blurted out. The merchants looked at one another.

"Throw him off this very cliff like he did to our products!" they yelled in unison.

"Calm down and get back to work, the king will take care of this!" the captain said sternly.

"My work is down that cliff!" the cabbage merchant protested. "I can't just…"

"Get new cabbages!" the captain barked. Escorting the thief with a few other guards towards the palace.

Dung gave Min the rest of the day off, she was still shocked by what had happened that she made to many mistakes. Dung deemed it better to let her get back to her senses before allowing her to work again. What Dung had feared didn't turn out to be that bad, even though it was calmer than usual, he still had a few customers every hour. The ordeal with the thief had given him some publicity, as most of the new people had visited his store. How did he know they were among the newcomers? Dung wasn't great with numbers, but he had a perfect memory when it came to faces. For instance, the thief had a small scar on his right jaw, his second customer this day was a man from three blocks away and the fifth newcomer to buy something at his story, what happened a month ago, was a young woman with her hair in such an abstract figure that it was hard to forget her obnoxious demanding attitude. Dung's eyes drifted towards the gate, a new group came in; among them were three men, four women and at least four little girls. Dung tried his luck again: "Quality merchandize for reasonable prices!" It seemed to work, the women chatted amongst each other, nodded, chatted some more until one of the women entered the store and started browsing through his goods.

"Are you here to let you child be tested ma'am?" Dung asked.

"Yes, me and my husband have come from one of the most southern villages to let our son get tested here," she replied, grabbing a few mangos.

"Southern village… are you from Gaoling?"

"No, Hia-Pao, you probably never heard of it."

"Hia-Pao… Hia-Pao, where have I heard that name before…" he wondered out loud, he did that a lot. "Oh, of course! Another customer said he was from Hia-Pao… ehr… I believe his was Kong?"

"Chon was here?!"

"I don't know who Chon is ma'am, but he might as well have been here. This is, of course, Omashu's best shop."

"No, I mean, the man you meant… his name is Chon," the woman tried to explain.

"Ma'am, I almost never forget a face, nor do I forget names. I have never met a certain Chon this day," Dung replied a-matter-of-factly.

"Never mind," the woman said, she sounded frustrated; Dung couldn't figure out why the woman was frustrated, guessing it had to be because of the long journey. "This will be all." The woman paid what she had to pay and walked off.

"Have a nice day ma'am, enjoy Omashu!" Dung waved from behind the counter, but the woman didn't respond. "Pff, travelers…" he huffed, welcoming his next customer with genuine enthusiasm.