Refuges and Rumors

Aang was looking out over the sea. It had been a long day for everyone in the group. It was only a few more weeks until they had to meet at the rendezvous point that Sokka and his father Hakoda had picked. They were making good time, but the recent trip that the gang took was rather exhausting. It took hours of crossing open ocean to get to this island from the last one, and the whole time they needed to use their Airbending and Waterbending to keep Appa hidden. They had landed on the edge of a cliff on the island when they finally got here. Needless to say, everyone was a bit tired.

It was night when they arrived, so Appa had decided to lay his two-ton butt down for the night. He was already asleep, though the poor bison had to occasionally wake up to keep Momo under control. Sokka was still working on their schedule, trying to make adjustments for the recent delays they've been having. He decided they would sleep for one night to get everyone's strength up, go into the town on the island for a quick bit of supplies, and then get moving by noon tomorrow. Recently, Aang and his friends had discovered that they were being chased by a very deadly assassin, the Combusion Man as dubbed by Sokka, and thus they couldn't afford to stay in one place for too long.

Toph decided to take Appa's example and hit the hay. She was sleeping on the grass without an earth tent. Aang couldn't blame her. The hot weather of the summer would make him burn up inside them, too. Katara wasn't far behind, and after she checked up on Sokka, who kindly ignored her suggestion to get some shut-eye, she came over to check on Aang.

"Hey Aang. You doing okay?" Katara asked him in a gentle voice. Aang couldn't help but smile. No matter how long of a day it is, you can count on Katara to still have a comforting tone.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna head to bed soon."

"You do that. We have an early start tomorrow, so don't stay up too late."

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna be up for much longer."

"See you in the morning." And with that, Katara made her way to her sleeping bag. As Aang looked back, he could already see Sokka sleeping face down in the maps and schedule. Deciding to take example, Aang quickly laid down on the soft grass and began to close his eyes.

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"Well, this plan sure went off well," Toph stated sarcastically.

The "early start" didn't go off as well as planned. They had woken up later than usual, even Aang, the early-riser of the group. The previous day must've been more tasking than they thought. Sokka wanted to get to town early and get supplies, so as to avoid the late-morning rush. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. They were standing near the back of a line that stretched to the corner of the block and back, waiting to get the last materials they needed for the trip.

"Hey, I wasn't the only one who slept in late!" Sokka retorted.

"Did I say it was your fault? No, I didn't think so. I was just commenting on just how swell this idea of yours went."

"Okay, thanks Toph. Wanna say that without the sarcasm?"

Toph slapped a puzzled look on her face. "What's sarcasm?" Sokka was actually about to explain, but he picked up on that last little joke after Toph followed up with a mischievous smile.

Katara apparently wasn't in the mood for arguing this early. "Sokka, relax. So we're an hour or two late. Big deal. We'll get through the line and get back to Appa, and then we can get going."

"But now I'll have to change the schedule, AGAIN! Do you know how long I spent last night reworking it once?"

Katara was about to comment on how that may have been the reason why they were late in the first place, but Aang prevented her chance. "Shh! Guys, check that out."

Aang pointed his finger in the direction of a rather large group of people, walking down the street. Many of them were carrying as much as they could, and they had an air of desperation of fatigue about them.

"Now that's a darn shame." Aang and his friends looked to the man in front of them in line, a balding man who seemed to be in his mid-fifties. "More refuges. They've been coming in for a couple of days. Always seems like there's always more of them."

"War refugees?" Sokka asked, obviously confused by this comment. The last things the Fire Nation should have are refuges. THEY were the ones who pushed the Earth Kingdom so far back, until they eventually took the capital of Ba Sing Se itself.

"You four must be new in town. Otherwise you would've heard already"

"Yeah, we're from the colonies. We're visiting for the summer. So, heard what?" Aang asked. He was very curious about the whole deal. "I didn't think the Fire Nation would have refuges. They've been doing swell in the war."

"Guerilla attacks," the man explained. "Some enemy soldiers have been sneaking around and attacking us on the home front. Always pop up quickly for an attack, then gone by the time reinforcements arrive. And with a huge occupation force in the Earth Kingdom, a lot of the smaller villages don't even have much defense beyond local authorities."

"Well, you can hardly blame them. They've been pushed so far back, sneak attacks are about all they canmmmmphmph." Toph was making a quick retort, only to have her mouth covered by Sokka.

"Careful Toph," he whispered. "We don't want to get too much attention. If people think we symphonize with the enemy, we might have more trouble than we want." Sokka's point was proven, as they were already getting some stares from folk in line. Toph quickly knocked his hand away.

"No, she's right. It's war, that's all it comes down to. But this goes beyond that. I can understand attacking an army camp or a fortress, but those Waterbenders are just attacking civilians! Their villages don't even hold that much importance to the war!"

"Wait, wait, wait." Katara interrupted the man. "Did you say 'Waterbenders'"

"You didn't think I meant Earthbenders, did ya? Nah, your friend's right about them being too far pushed back to the east to attack so far in the west. But those Water Tribes to the north are plenty close enough to attack. They must've snuck by the border to the north and infiltrated the land. I guess they retreat to sea after each attack, so as to stay hidden."

"Are you sure they're Waterbenders?" Katara was just too confused by all of this. Not only was both Water Tribes not in a position to launch an attack of any kind, but attacking innocents was definitely not something she'd think her people would do.

"Well, unless Earthbenders can somehow make giant pillars of ICE tear buildings and folk alike to shreds, and can somehow leave the place dripping with WATER everywhere, I don't see any other possibility, do you?" The man gave a stern look towards Katara.

"I just…didn't think the Waterbenders were in a position to attack." Katara replied, trying to cover the shock she was experiencing.

"Guess that's why their sneak attacks work so well" Sokka gave a snide remark. While he didn't like the idea of civilians being attack, he liked the thought of his nation finally fighting back against the Firebenders. All he got for his comment was a death glare from Katara.

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Later, after the Aang gang had finally gotten all their supplies, they were making their way towards their camp, ready to make their way to the next stopping point. Along the way, Aang was noticing that Katara still wasn't taking this new too well.

"Katara, I know this must be very hard for you right now. I don't know what I would think if I my people started killing innocent bystanders." Aang said, trying to comfort her.

"It's okay Aang. I just wish I could see WHY they were attacking these villages. Why not do something meaningful and helpful for the war? If they're trying to get revenge, then that's just pointless!" Katara explained to Aang. She hated the whole idea of Waterbenders taking children's mothers away from them, just as the Firebenders did to her so long ago.

"Well, we can't do anything about it now." Sokka replied to his sister. "We have the invasion plan to worry about. Besides, I'm sure this won't stay up for long. They're probably just trying to get the Fire Nation riled up now so they can hit them harder later."

"Wait." Toph put up her hand to stop the group, then put it down to the ground in order to feel the vibrations moving through the earth. "Someone's coming. Just one guy, though. Everyone just act natural."

As the group stopped, they looked back behind them. It was a man in rags, with dirt across his face, most likely one of the many refuges they saw moving through the city earlier. He was running up towards the group at full speed. He was carrying a small bag in one hand, waving it at them as he ran up. On the way, he tripped over a rock and fell flat on his face.

Aang was a caring person, and he immediately ran up to the man to check if he was hurt too badly. When he reached the man, he asked, "You okay? You took kind of a nasty dive there."

The man got up on his knees and wiped the dirt off his face. He was fairly old, with a short, graying beard and a balding head. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, young man." He got up and presented the bag to Sokka, panting as he talked. "Here. When you were buying you things from that merchant earlier, he didn't give you back your change! I was running all the way over here to return it to you!"

"Umm…thanks?" Sokka shyly said to the man as he took the bag. The old man seemed to have a disappointed look on his face. "Sorry, it's not that I'm ungrateful. It's just, well, I kind of realized it earlier. It was only a few bronze pieces, so I didn't really care that much. And we were in a rush, so I didn't exactly have time to argue."

"I thought as much, but I just hate seeing these corrupted, filthy merchants taking advantage of strangers in a new place like that. I just wouldn't stand for it." The old man proudly explained to Sokka.

"Well, thanks. Good to see there still people like you around." Katara replied to him, more graciously than Sokka previously did.

"Not a problem. Name's Xia. Xia Sheng! Well, I better be getting back into town. Don't exactly have anything planned, but it's hot potato night over at the refuge camp, and I don't want to miss a bite!"

As he was beginning to go back, Aang quickly stopped him. "Wait, you're a refuge?"

A solemn look now replaced the proud one Xia wore a second earlier. "'Fraid so. The only remaining Sheng member from the village of Tiao. The third village attacked by those Waterbending guerillas."

Katara immediately pushed past Sokka and Toph and confronted the man. "Did you see these Waterbenders? Where did they attack you? How did you get away?"

Xia was a little surprised at the girl's enthusiasm. "Tiao's a small village, on the island closest to this one to the west of here. I was hiding at the time, so I never got a good look at 'em. But boy, I do remember the other stuff. My home, the place I built with my own hands, cut into ribbons by a flurry of water. Boy, it was like a storm full of swords was going down on my house. I'm lucky they never cut the box I was hiding in! My family wasn't even at the house, who knows where they are now, and…and…." By now, Xia was beginning to tear a bit in the eye.

Katara began to realize her mistake. "I'm..I'm sorry, Xia. I didn't mean to.."

"S'alright, my dear. What's done is done. Nothing left to do but to face it. I'm leavin' the other refuges tomorrow. I'm gonna see if what's left of Tiao is safe. Gotta check the homefront, you know? Heck, maybe there'll be a clue as to where they'd strike next! Boy, that'd sure make me a hero!"

"I understand, Xia. Good luck, and thanks again for returning our money." Aang said to Xia. He hated to admit it, but they were way behind schedule now. It was time to get going. Xia said his goodbyes as well, and was off on his way back to the village.

"Well, that sure was weird. But at least he was nice enough to give us back our money." Toph commented as they began walking back. Katara was more quiet than ever on their way back, and Toph was starting to get tired of it. "Katara, if you have a problem, just spit it out. It won't get fixed if you keep it bottled up."

Katara let out a deep sigh and faced Sokka. "Sokka, do we have time for one little detour?"

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it with this little delay and all, we ARE a few days ahead. What's on your mind?" Sokka asked her, only to realize a split second later exactly what she wanted.

"No, no, no, no, no! You can forget any ideas you had about Tiao right now!"