Chapter 09

A Chance Encounter

They sped their way under the half moon for several hours. Thanks to the added speed provided by Zhuang's firebending, they made good time, and were soon deep into the uncharted wilds of the mountains. After a while they finally stopped to make camp. Due to their inability to pack heavily, they didn't have the supplies to set up a proper camp. All they had were a couple of sleeping mats, which were given to Zhuang and Akkil. The earthbenders created their soft beds from the ground, and after a quick bite from their limited food supplies they settled down. Zhuang once again stayed up for first watch, but there was little need. With no fire lit and a large distance of rocky, mountainous terrain between them and Omashu, there was little chance of being found.

They rose with the sun on the following morning. While the rest of them were busy packing up their meager supplies, Fei Yen spent some time looking back south toward Omashu. "I'm sure your parents made it out of the city ok," Zhuang said, walking up to stand by her. She merely nodded weakly, still clearly worried. "Cheng said he's going to try and sent a message down that way when we get to Republic City."

"It's going to be a while before any messenger gets to Gumi and back, Zhuang. We won't know if they're ok for a while. And with the Earth Army there now and..." Fei Yen didn't finish. Zhuang put his arm around her for a moment. Then Cheng announced it was time to go. They rocketed off again, completely west this time to reach the flat lands near the coast.

"We'll make better time once we get out of these mountains," Cheng said as they were rushing uphill. Everyone seemed to hope so. The more distance they could put between them and Omashu, the more relieved all of them would feel.

Several days had passed since their escape. They were now clear of the mountains, traveling northward by foot since all the benders were in varying stages of exhaustion from their consistent efforts over the last few days. It was raining, so they were taking shelter under a thick group of trees, staying warm as best they could with a fire Zhuang had lit after Akkil had gone out to collect firewood. The Water Tribe warrior was gone now, hunting for food while the others rested. Without his weapons, hunting would be difficult, but with a small knife borrowed from Cheng and years of experience he'd figure it out.

"It will still take us several days to get to Republic City," Cheng said, answering Tu's question.

"How long will we be there?" Tu asked.

"Depends. I expect to be there at least two weeks now given what's happened in Omashu," Cheng said. "They've really hit us hard there, and that was more or less our center of operations for most of the southern Earth Kingdom. Beyond that, it really depends on how long it takes to get an answer from the Water Tribe. I may send you back with someone else depending on how much of a blow our loss in Omashu really was."

"Do you really think it will take that long for you to get everything back together?" Akkil asked, throwing down a couple of turkey ducks. Everyone frowned a bit at the sight of the birds, but didn't say anything in complaint. They would have to eat what they could get until they got to a village.

"I don't know," Cheng replied. "It will certainly take a while. At the very least the other two nerve centers of our movement will make moves on their own in retaliation. I just hope they don't do anything too bold."

"I see," Akkil said, setting the birds down and getting ready to prepare them for cooking.

"Do you think word has gotten far about this?" Zhuang asked.

"Oh, very," Cheng said, thinking. "It's probably been broadcast on every Shovision and Tongscreen in Ba Sing Se. They've probably heard about it in Republic City by now, and news will travel by newspaper and other means throughout the rest of the Earth Kingdom within a week or so. There's probably a rumor going around that I'm dead or captured."

"What would happen if you were captured or... er, dead?" Tu asked.

"Someone else would fill my role after a while. Keep in mind we're a loose coalition, not a tightly run organization. What happens with our people in Republic City, Ba Sing Se, and other northern hot spots is more or less completely out of my hands. Everyone who joins the Sons of Earth does so out of a desire for freedom, and they do as they need when they need to."

Cheng sighed. "About the only thing we'll do as a single organization is declare our war soon and amass some miles southwest of Ba Sing Se. If they choose to deny us, we'll have to attack the city."

There was a startled laugh. "Attack Ba Sing Se? Are you crazy?" Fei Yen asked. "The walls of that city are impenetrable. Even during the Hundred Year War the only way the city would fall was from the inside."

"Oh, I'm aware," Cheng responded. "We already have people on the inside. When the time is right, they will cause their fair share of damage, dividing the attention of the army. I know it's a longshot, but with the help of the Southern Water Tribe we do have a chance."

"Zhuang, could you get a fire going?" Akkil asked suddenly as he set down his last defeathered turkey duck. The fire had died during their conversation. "I'm about finished over here."

"Sure," the firebender said, moving to grab some of the firewood he had gathered earlier.

They spent a little more time discussing matters as the food cooked, and as they ate the rain stopped, so after eating they pressed on, walking for the rest of the day.

That night they had a roaring fire going. They were in a small clearing in the forest, many miles from any nearby settlement. The likelihood of any patrol finding them way out here was nonexistent, so Cheng was uncharacteristically throwing caution to the wind. With the night cold and wet from the day's rain (and the slow oncoming of winter) and them in one of the remotest parts of the western Earth Kingdom, the war seemed a distant concern.

They were all sitting on logs around the fire, each holding a stick with a small bit of turkey duck meat that were leftover from lunch, slowly cooking their morsels to perfection as they talked of this and that. It was a relaxing evening.

"So how did you two meet, anyway?" Fei Yen asked Akkil.

Akkil thought for a moment, but it was Cheng that started the answer. "I was a wandering spirit when I was younger, and I was making it a mission of sorts to see the world." He sighed. "I was traveling south, having spent a few days at the Southern Air Temple before taking a boat to a small Water Tribe village. It was there I met Akkil."

"He didn't have his scars, then," Akkil said, taking up the story. "I was about to take my nephews out on a hunting trip, and this foreigner asked if he could come along." After a small laugh, he continued, "I almost whopped him in the head with my boomerang. It was a ridiculous request. But he persisted. Somehow, he talked me into delaying the trip so he could learn how to use my people's hunting gear." Cheng laughed, apparently remembering well what Akkil was about to tell next.

"He fumbled with our spears for days, and I thought he would never learn how to use the jaw blade properly," he said, chuckling a little.

"To be fair, the weapon I had ever handled before then was a Jian sword, and even then I wasn't really trained," Cheng said. "I did master their hunting gear eventually, and I ultimately killed an arctic hippo for them."

Akkil nodded. "We spent a lot of time together after that, but he ultimate wanted to leave and head east, visiting the Air Temple in that direction. Eventually I decided to go with him, and that was that."

"How long ago was this?" Tu asked.

They looked at each other a minute, thinking. "Twelve years now?" Cheng asked Akkil.

"Something like that," the tall dark man responded.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. It was about a year after our little misadventure in that Air Temple that trouble started coming from the northern Earth Kingdom," Cheng said, satisfied that he had his personal timeline right. "I settled in Omashu and slowly the Sons of-"

"Greetings, strangers," a voice called. "May I come into the light and share your fire?"

They all tensed, looking in the direction the voice came from. "You may, stranger. Slowly," Cheng called.

Slowly the stranger came into the light, and they all immediately relaxed. He was wearing the orange and yellow robes of a monk, and the arrow tattoos on his head and hands revealed him to be an airbender. The staff he was absentmindedly twirling around was another clue. "Greetings," he said, bowing slightly to each of them. "I am Palden." He looked to be only a few years older than Zhuang and Tu, meaning he was likely in his early twenties.

Cheng introduced everyone, though he used a false name for himself. "...and I'm Haneul."

"I am pleased to meet all of you," Palden responded. He sat himself down on the ground, then reached into his robe and got out a small apple.

"Would you like some of this?" Akkil asked, carefully tearing off a small piece of his cooked meat to hand to the airbender.

"I don't eat meat," he responded. Akkil seemed a little put off by this, but then decided to eat the meat himself. Everyone was momentarily busy with their small meals, and for a while they were silent.

Tu was beginning to find the silence uncomfortable, and decided to try talking to the airbender. "So... what brings you around here?"

Taking a bite out of his apple, Palden chewed it for half a minute before swallowing. "I'm going to Republic City."

"Where are you coming from?" Tu persisted.

"The Southern Air Temple." Sensing more questions, Palden just decided to tell his story. "I was spending some time there to help the new Air Acolytes settle in, and I spent a month there with a friend I wasn't expecting to be there. I'm now on my way back to Republic City to help a couple of young benders earn their arrows."

While it wasn't as long as Tu wanted, that brief account of recent history regarding Palden's life did answer all the questions Tu could think of off hand. Fei Yen, however, had question. "'Earn their arrows?' What does that mean?"

Palden, after taking another bite of his apple, proceed to tell about the significance of the arrows airbenders had, how young benders could earn them, and started moving on to a general explanation of the lifestyle of his people. Questions arose regarding where Air Acolytes fit into the monk order, and before they knew it the fire was getting low.

Zhuang got up to get some more firewood, leaving the others to continue talking to the monk.

"So, about these Air Acolytes... can just anyone join the order?" Tu asked.

Palden thought a moment. "Well, yes. Anyone who has the desire to can choose to become part of the order. Head Monk Rohan, before he passed, altered them somewhat. While no one is forced to stay once they choose to seek the spiritual lifestyle, Rohan created a sort of 'temporary' measure, during which time if someone decides the lifestyle is not to their liking they can leave easily and trouble free. Most non-airbending monks on Air Temple Island are new and still in their 'trial.' After that passes most are moved to one of our four traditional temples."

"Could I join? Is it ok for benders of other elements to become an Air Nomad?"

"It's... possible, although it rarely happens."

"Why do you move the monks?" Akkil asked.

"For more seclusion. It's something else Rohan decided, to help them better seek enlightenment and to help our people resettle our traditional lands. Some then choose to wander the world afterward, much like my people did long ago." Palden bowed his head slightly.

They gave him a moment of silence. Nobody wanted to just immediately move on to another topic now that Palden was thinking of the genocide his people had suffered only a few generations ago. During this Zhuang came back with more firewood, placed a couple of logs onto their dying fire, and gave it a boost with his bending.

Palden looked up when Zhuang did that. "It's getting late," the firebender said. Everyone else seemed to look around then, as if only just now noticing. They began to settle down for the night when Akkil asked Palden when he was going to call his sky bison.

Palden sighed. "She died a couple of years ago."

Everyone shared their condolences, which Palden accepted gratefully. With that everyone settled in for the night, whether through earthbended bedding, a sleeping bag, or, in the case of the airbender, removing parts of his robes and using them as a makeshift pillow. Zhuang had first watch again, but there seemed to be no need. Neither man nor beast disturbed the travelers again that night.