Sorry for this being such a short, rather uneventful chapter. ^^; But more are on the way!
Chapter Nine
Ba Sing Se
"Welcome to the great city of Ba Sing Se!" Aang announced, a large smile on his face as he moved his hand in flourish, motioning towards the distance. At first, nothing could be seen. But as Appa cleared through the clouds, I felt my jaw drop. The city of Ba Sing Se spread out before us, appearing as if it could go on for days. Different colored rooftops, mostly green, dotted the houses, and up in the air the people on the streets looked like ants.
"Wow." Katara murmured, drawing in a sharp intake of breath. I nodded, awestruck. I have never seen something so spectacular in my life.
"Eh, seen nothing once, seen nothing ever." Toph retorted from behind us. She was sprawled out, her feet over the edge of Appa, her eyes half-closed as the wind tousled with her hair. I giggled, turning my attention back to the city below us.
Sokka, on the other hand, looked just as amazed as the rest of us, but he quickly regained his composure. "Yeah, it's grand and all. But how are we going to get in?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Aang.
Aang, on the other hand, frowned. "Um…well…" He scratched his head, his eyes narrowed in thought. After a few minutes, his eyes lit up, "We'll disguise ourselves as Earth Kingdom refugees. It'll be easy!" He exclaimed, his happy-go-lucky smile returning as he leaned back against Appa's saddle.
"What about Appa, though?" I pointed out, petting the flying bison. He let out an appreciative grumble. We couldn't just leave him behind. And plus, Appa was just recovering from the whole pirate incident.
Sokka rolled his eyes, "It'll be fine. We'll find a place for you, won't we buddy?" He cooed, patting Appa, who let out a low roar. Sokka jumped in surprise, chuckling awkwardly.
"Okay. Now that the plan is set, let's go." Aang beamed, hopping up to Appa's reins. Giving a quick flick, we descended to the ground below.
After scouting the large area about two miles from the wall of Ba Sing Se for somewhere to hide our large, flying, fluffy bison, we finally found a dark, secluded cave. It took time to usher Appa in. He didn't like dark places. Or caves. Or being alone. But Aang cooed and coaxed him, the bison finally let out an annoyed roar and lumbered into the dark cave. Katara and I found berries and lots of grass for him to eat, along with tons of water.
"From here, you couldn't even tell that an oversized bison was hiding in that cave!" Sokka exclaimed, crossing his arms in triumph as everyone admired our work. And he was right. No one would stumbled across Appa. Aang was worried though, and after checking from every angle that no one would see him, we finally began the trek to Ba Sing Se.
It took only a few minutes for Sokka to stop and let out a tired sigh, bending over and grabbing his knees. "Ugh…now…I wish…we had…Appa." He panted, wiping the sweat off his face. Katara laughed, nudging her elder brother on. After a few more minutes, Sokka sighed, "I'm hungry."
Toph rolled her eyes, walking along side of me. "You're always hungry, Sokka." She scoffed.
"Am not!"
"Am too!"
"Guys. Stop arguing." Katara huffed, glaring at the two. After a few seconds, she added, "But you are always hungry."
I giggled as Sokka narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms again, this time in anger. "Bah!" He muttered under his breath, stomping a few yards ahead of us. I felt a gust of wind to my left and glanced that way to see Aang land swiftly next to me, all smiles.
"We're close to the wall!" He exclaimed happily, laughing as Momo landed on his head. Aang reached up, petting the small creature lovingly.
"Thank the Spirits!" Sokka yelled, waving his hands around crazily. Then he stopped, shooting a glance at Aang, "How close?"
Aang shrugged. Now, Momo was on his shoulders, sniffing his ear. "Maybe another ten minutes?"
Sokka's shoulder's slumped. "Oh."
Ten minutes later, just as Aang predicted, we arrived at the great wall of Ba Sing Se. After getting pass, and into the city, we stared in awe at how big Ba Sing Se was from the ground up. The buildings loomed over us, casting shadows down, the market place was hustling, and people were everywhere.
Aang had to put a hood up to hide his arrow tattoos, because apparently he was a wanted fugitive. I felt bad for him. He hated covering up his tattoos, and when Katara awkwardly advised him to do so, he sighed and glowered before obliging.
"So…um, where to first?" Sokka asked, but he was eying a meat stand nearby. Before anyone could reply, he held up a hand, "Let's get some food." I nodded. I was starving, and so was everyone else.
After eating all the delicacies we could afford, we rested down in one of the many public squares. I sat down on an empty bench, wincing as my sore back hit the wood chair. I exhaled as softly as I could, closing my eyes as the pain faded. Infected? Really? I cursed. I wasn't going to bring it up. As far as anyone knew, I felt fine. And I did. Until I moved or breathed.
Aang sat down beside me, looking up in the tree above us before adverting his eyes to me, "What do you want to do next, Vinca?" He inquired, smiling goofily at me.
I titled my head, absent-mindedly running fingers through my hair, gently pulling through the knots. "Hm…" I wonder aloud. "I really don't know." I admitted sheepishly, adding a shrug. I poked him, "What do you want to do?"
He steadily drew in air, his eyebrows coming together in thought. "Oh, I know-" He began to announce, but suddenly the ground began to rumble furiously under us. I gasped, clutching the bench as the rumbling continued. However, just as quickly as it began, it stopped. And when it did, I realized how hard my heart was beating.
"What was that?" I asked no one in particular, breathless. I released the bench from my clutches, glancing around. Aang was wide-eyed, along with Katara and Sokka. I'm pretty sure I looked the same. Toph was the only one unfazed.
"Dunno. Earthquake, I guess." She seemed distracted now, both her hands on the ground, her sightless eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean, 'I guess'?" Sokka ventured, turning his attention toward the earthbender.
Toph merely shrugged, "I said that I don't know." She snapped, but sighed, "Earthquakes are natural. This didn't feel…well, natural." She shrugged again, biting her lower lip, "I don't know." She repeated evenly.
Katara let out a tiny sigh, "It's probably nothing. We are in the Earth Kingdom capitol, aren't we? Earthbenders are all around." She pointed out. I breathed in quietly, letting myself relax, yet the stabbing pain in my back prohibited it to be done. Katara seemed to see my discomfort and shot me a look full of sympathy, "Vinca, we better go get bandages for that stab wound." She noted, "And another healing session."
Aang looked up sharply, "I though you said it was alright?" He blinked at me.
I backtracked quickly, nodding, "It is…alright." I smile slightly, glancing at Katara and hoping she would follow along, "It'll just take a few more days until it's better." My eyes rested back on Aang. He seemed worried, and after a few seconds he nodded slowly.
"Yeah." Said Katara rather bitterly, staring at me with narrowed eyes, "We better go, Vinca. There's a medicine stall down the street." I smiled awkwardly, waving a goodbye to everyone. Once getting out of earshot, the Waterbender turned on me. "What were you thinking?" She exclaimed, her cyan eyes wide as she stared at me in disbelief. "Lying to Aang? How could you?"
I put my hands up involuntarily, letting out a small breath, calming myself. I expected this, didn't I? "I know, I shouldn't have." I looked down at the brick ground, feeling guilt weight down my heart. I drew my foot across the ground, dirt collecting on my shoe.
"That's right. You shouldn't have." She spat, red rising to her cheeks in anger. She whirled around, her head facing away from me as she muttered under her breath.
I stopped, which caused her to stop as well. "I know. It's wrong." I told her, holding her burning gaze, "But you don't understand, Katara. He was beating himself up over nothing. " I looked down again, feeling melancholy at the depressing thought. "Aang was furious with himself because he thought he let me get hurt. It was my fault though. And when I finally got him to just forget about it, he asked how I was," I explained quietly, "And I said I was fine." My voice cracked, and I smiled, "But I guess I'm not. It hurts. Every time I move."
Katara was quiet as she stood across from me, her hands perched on her hips. People buzzed around us, sometimes accidentally running into us and cursing aloud. After a few minutes, I heard her sigh, her hands dropping. "I understand. Believe me, I do." She murmured, shaking her head. "Aang…he is very…emotional." She smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her olive-skinned ear. "He cares about you, Vinca. A lot."
I shrugged, my eyes wandering back to my dusty shoes, feeling a blush creep onto my cheeks. "I care about him, too." I whispered, staring at the numerous cracks in the ground. "So…you won't tell him?
The Waterbender let out a tiny chuckle, grabbing my arm gently, tugging me along, "About how bad you're cut is?" She inquired, and I nodded. She let out another sigh, puckering her lips. "I'll keep quiet. But…"Her eyes traveled to my back, "It's infected, Vinca. We'll have to get medince…maybe even visit a real, professional healer." She nodded, considering this idea, "Yes." Katara smiled, leading me over to the medince stall, which two people stood, looking at the medince displayed, "But if the wound get's bad, I'm telling him."
I returned the smile, comforted. Katara was definitely my friend. A very good friend, actually. "Thank you, Katara." I replied honestly, hugging her. Even though it hurt, I felt it was right. She hugged back, laughing.
"Okay. Let's see…" She narrowed her eyes, examining the medince. After a few minutes, she exhaled, looking at me, "Truth be told, I have no idea what these are used for." She whispered, and we both giggled quietly. She turned to the man behind the counter, "Sir," Katara cleared her throat, getting the man's attention. The man running the stall glanced over. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with dark brown hair and eyes to match.
He had a small, forced smile on his chapped lips, "Yes, girl?"
Katara raised an eyebrow, "Where is the nearest healer?"
The vender let out an annoyed sigh, pointed across the street. "Over there, girl." He muttered. We both turned, and blushed at our unobservant eyes. "Go away, girl. You're scaring away customers, girl." He said quietly.
I sighed, and Katara looked like he was about to smack the man's face. The fact that he used the word 'girl' at the end of every sentence made me feel the same, and how he was so…dull, and rude. "Let's go." I said, pulling my friend away.
"How rude!" Katara exclaimed, shooting a glance over her shoulder. I laughed, stumbling into the healer's door, which was open. We both quieted down as we came face to face with yet another man, this one looking much more kinder.
The healer, I assumed, was an elderly fellow with thinning grey hair, a pair of small glassed perched on the bridge of his nose, blue eyes behind them. Wrinkles crusted into his facial features, and he smiled warmly at us. He reminded me vaguely of grandma, the way the wrinkles seemed to etch a story out onto his face.
"Hello, ladies. Welcome!" He greeted, his smile softening as he placed down a few papers on a nearby desk. "I am Lon Fi, a waterbender from the Nothern Water Tribe. Who are you two ladies?" He exclaimed.
Katara seemed genially interested. "Really? A waterbender? So am I!" She gasped, all smiles as she eagerly shook the outstretched man's hand. "I'm Katara."
I smiled, "Vinca." I shook his hand. It was large, twice the size of mine, and worn.
"How interesting." He nodded, "Do you possess the art of healing, young Katara?" Lon Fi inquired.
She nodded, though frowned. "Yes, I do. I came here because Vinca has an infection…she got stabbed." Her frowned deepened.
Lon Fi frowned as well, "Oh? I'm sure you could heal it, little waterbender." He nodded encouragingly.
Katara looked down, "I don't know…"
"Well, why don't we try?"
About an hour or two later, I have been encased in the cool glory called healing a total of ten times until the infection had totally been drawn out. It still hurt, but definately not as much. Both Katara and Lon Fi took turns doing it, and Katara was instructed to do it again tomorrow, and as needed. We left, leaving 5 bronze coins even though he insisted no payment was necessary.
"Where were you guys?" Sokka exclaimed as soon as we reached the park, "It's been two hours."
Katara shrugged, settling next to her brother. It was getting late. "Just browsing." She glanced at me. I smiled in appreciation. Sokka sighed, muttering the word 'girls' under his breath.
Aang chuckled, "Well, we got an room at an inn."
Katara glanced up, biting her lower lip, "How much did it cost? We can't spend too much…" She trailed off.
Toph had a large, slightly scary smile on her face, "I did a little gambling."
"Toph!" She exclaimed, though she was smiling as well, "I thought you promised not to do that anymore?"
"Well, you do like a warm bed at night, don't you?"
That's it for chapter nine! And by the way, sorry if I kind of made Lon Fi sound like a pedophile. I wasn't going for that, believe me. I just didn't know if he sounded like that or not. Anyway, reviews are always welcome! (;