Here is chapter 10
Enjoy!
I don't know what to feel about this. I don't know if I should feel relief for finally stepping off that spirits forsaken bus, or if I should feel dread for the uncertain future.
Within minutes after the whole tragedy with Amaya and Izumi almost entering the Avatar state in the worst possible place and time, the bus finally pulls to a stop and we are allowed to disembark. I step out of the vehicle first and take in my surroundings. It's night time now and we are currently located in a large courtyard filled with desperate refugees and hardened Dai Li agents. The air is distinctly cold and wet. However, many of the refugees who are pouring out of the other buses beside us are severally under dressed for the weather. It's as if most of them were dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes they were sleeping in. Knowing how things generally work around this city, that's the most likely case.
Kumi and Izumi step off the bus behind me. The young girl's eyes are still wet with tears, and the expression on her face shows the she is in a state of total defeat. I don't really blame her. Kumi is keeping a comforting arm around the girl as she guides her towards me. Together, we join up with the stream of other refugees exiting our own bus. Several Dai Li agents are posted about and are ferrying us towards a gate on the opposite end of the courtyard. I avert my face from their gazes as we pass by them. One of the agents approaches Kumi and rips her bag off her shoulders before tossing it into a massive pile of luggage. At first, the she looks as though she is about to protest against her things being taken, but after a second, I can tell she thinks better of it and keeps walking. I'm silently thankful that I still have my boomerang hidden beneath my coat.
We approach the gate and pass through it. As we do so, a female Dai Li agent begins shouting through a megaphone at us.
"Do not support the terrorists!" I can hear her voice echoing across the courtyard. "We will support you and provide you with shelter, but do not support the terrorists!"
I roll my eyes at the agent's words. Only a lunatic would call what they are doing to this people support. I shake my head and continue through the gate and into the Lake Laogai Refugee Camp.
The three of us are immediately met with a large crowd of people amassing at the gate and observing the new flood of refugees pouring in. Many of them are holding up pictures that I can only assume are missing loved ones. Others are simply standing around as if they just came to see what's all the disturbance is.
"Welcome to paradise my friend!" a man suddenly appears in front of me with a friendly and inviting face. "I can set you up with accommodations tonight for a very low cost!"
"Get out of my way," I say to him.
"Come on! I can give you room and food at a good price if my name isn't Pao Wow!"
"Pao Wow? Really?" I stop in my tracks. "Get out of here."
"Well!" his expressions suddenly turns sour. "Good luck finding shelter on your own."
"Yeah, I'm sure we'll be desperate and helpless without you," I reply to him in the most sarcastic tone I can muster.
I turn to see my two traveling companions glancing around nervously at our surroundings. It's definitely a lot to take in, what with all the colorful, yet downtrodden, individuals walking. Under different circumstances, it would almost be fascinating to explore a camp with so many mixed cultures forced to live together.
I begin to look around for the platypus bear statue that Jin had mentioned to find. After a few seconds of scanning the plaza, my eyes catch sight of the monument. To my surprise, it's much smaller than I expected it to be, and the base of the statue itself is covered of pictures of lost people and graffiti.
"Come on, let's go," I signal to the two girls to follow me.
We navigate our way through the crowds of refugees and walk to the statue. I round the left side of it to see a thin, grey haired old man sitting against its base and chewing on what looked to be a piece of seal jerky. He looks up from his snack as he sees the three of us approaching him.
"Are you Kenji?" I ask him.
He regards us with suspicious eyes, and after several seconds, he is beginning to make me feel uncomfortable.
"Why yes, it is," he finally speaks with a crotchety voice. "You must be the folks Jin told me about."
"We were told you could help us."
He scoffs and stands to his feet. The man is short. The top of his forehead barely reaching my chin.
"Well I don't know about that. But I do have a spare room you could borrow."
"That's all I need to hear," I say.
Later…
We spent a good half hour walking down the streets following this Kenji character to whatever shit hole apartment complex he was setting us up in. At least, I'm assuming that the apartment will be a shit hole based on the state of complete disrepair this refugee camp appears to be in. Everywhere I look, there is graffiti painted on the walls and trash piled up in the streets. Some of it is burning in in these giant fire pits dug out of the ground, which is creating a massive cloud of smoke that seems to blanket the whole camp. Needless to say, the air smelled absolutely awful.
Every once in a while, I glance behind me to ensure that Izumi and Kumi are still following me. The young girl is trailing behind at a rather slow pace and Kumi is doing her best to comfort her. Meanwhile, I'm trying my hardest to not loose both them, and Kenji, in the thick crowd of people moving about.
At one point, we pass by what looks to be another burning garbage pit until I notice several people dressed in Fire Nation clothing kneeling around it with wet, teary eyes. The realization of what I was seeing hit me like a ton of bricks. It was a funeral pyre. Sitting upon the pyre itself, and clearly visible, were three bodies charred black from the fire. There isn't much these days that can surprise me, but the sight of such an open and publicly displayed funeral nearly caught me off guard. I mean, it was right in the middle of the street! I had always heard that the conditions in the Lake Laogai Refugee Camp were terrible, but to see it all first hand was deeply upsetting.
As we walk a little further, a string of large text graffitied onto the wall of a nearby building grabs my attention. The wall itself is dimly illuminated by the light from a nearby fire, but I can clearly make out a portion of it from where I'm walking past.
The uprising is near.
"Yep, thanks for reminding me," I breathe quietly to myself.
The Kyoshi Warriors seemed convinced that this "Uprising" was imminent. Based on the increased military activity we saw on our bus ride to this camp, I am beginning to believe it myself.
We really need to get out of this city.
Eventually, Kenji brings us into a dilapidated stone apartment complex that was clearly constructed using earth bending. The floor of the lobby is completely covered in trash, and there is an assortment of people sleeping under blankets and sleeping bags. Most of them look like they haven't bathed themselves once in the past decade. I sigh deeply and follow Kenji up the stairs.
"This is one of my finest establishments!" Kenji practically proclaims to the whole world with his obnoxious voice. "You folks should consider yourself lucky that Jin is such a persuasive woman."
"Persuasive huh?" I scoff at the man. "Remind me to thank her the next time I see her."
"Oh, there's no need for that!" Kenji replies. "I'm sure she will remind you herself tomorrow morning!"
"Yeah, no doubt," I say before looking back at Kumi and Izumi.
The two girls are following us up the stairs. Kumi gives me a worried look and I do my best to assure her that we are making the right decision coming to this place. Based from the look on her face though, I can tell she doesn't fully believe me. I suppose I don't really believe my own words that much either.
Izumi, however, is glancing down at the steps as she climbs. She hasn't said a single word ever since we entered this camp. After everything that's happened, I don't blame her.
"We're almost there," I say to the girl in an attempt to reassure her. "Just a little bit more."
She doesn't reply at all.
Finally, we approach a door at the end of a long and dark hallway. Kenji pulls a large ring of keys from his pockets, and after combing for the right one, he unlocks the door and gestures for us to go inside.
"Step right in and bask in the aura of true luxury!"
I stare him in the eye for a moment in disbelief before walking into the apartment to be greeted by a completely pitch-black room. I watch Kenji as he moves to the far wall and lights a lantern hanging from a rusty hook. With the room now illuminated, I can now see a single, dirty mattress lying in the center of the floor. Several of the wooden floorboards are missing and the wallpaper is peeling away from the walls.
True luxury indeed.
Izumi trudges over to the rooms solitary table and sits down. With the nearby glow of the lantern, I notice the reflection of tears streaming down her face. For a moment, the two of us lock eyes and I can see nothing but pure sorrow. It's almost too much for me to handle. Kumi moves to stand beside me as she wearily watches Kenji move about the room. I have no doubt she is missing her sword right about now.
"Now, if you need anything else, please hesitate to ask." Kanji said. "I have other business to attend to so don't come looking for me."
"Yeah, I'd rather you leave us alone as well," Kumi replies before I can say anything.
"Hmp, so be it." Kenji says. The man rolls his eyes before turning and stepping out of the room. I slide the door closed behind him and ensure that the deadbolt is secured.
"Thank the spirits," Kumi says. "I thought he would never leave."
I sigh and take another look around the room. "Well, I guess it's better than sleeping in a sketchy alleyway somewhere."
"True."
I look back to Izumi and see that she has placed her head down on the table. Based on the way she is breathing, I can tell she is silently crying to herself.
After a moment of hesitation, I decide to walk over to the table and sit down opposite from her. Izumi perks up at the sound of me seating myself and she looks up at me while wiping the tears away from her eyes. For a long while, we sit in silence. Kumi moves to sit down on the mattress and makes herself comfortable, but the young Avatar and I hardly budge. Eventually, I decided to speak first.
"I'm sorry."
Her head tilts down towards the table wordlessly, but I continue on.
"I really am. Your mother was a good person and she would have done anything to make sure you were safe. I… know that might not really help right now, but it's true."
Another silence followed and I'm not really sure what else to say. No words could ever possibly hope to heal the pain she must be experiencing right now. I know exactly what it's like…
"I'm sorry too," Izumi suddenly speaks up.
I look to her in confusion upon hearing those words come out of her mouth.
"Sorry about what?"
"It's… it's my fault this is all happening. It's my fault that my mom is gone, and that you have to be here. Even Suki was killed because of me."
"Hey," I lean forward and look her in the eyes. "None of this is on you. We all made our own choices. Your mother, Suki, Shen, Kumi, and I all decided to help you. You don't have to apologize for that."
"But… ever since I became the Avatar, everyone around me dies sooner or later. I don't want that to happen to the two of you also."
"Everyone dies at some point," I say to her. "There's nothing you can do to change that."
"Well, it's not fair!" Izumi shouted. "I never asked for any of this!"
"Neither did Aang," I replied to her. At the sound of that name, Izumi completely freezes in her seat. I even notice Kumi turning around to regard me with curious eyes.
"After he became the Avatar, he lost his entire people. Sure, he was deeply upset, but he didn't let it stop him from trying to bring balance back into the world."
"But… in the end, he failed," Izumi said.
"Yes, he did, and I was there to witness it firsthand," I say to her. "But even at the end, he never lost hope. Your mother never lost hope either."
"How can I possibly fix this world after everything that's happened? It doesn't seem possible."
"Well, I don't know, but a wise man once told me that the seeds we sow in this life are the ones we leave for the next generation," I say, remembering the words that Shen had spoken to me only several days ago. It felt as though an entire lifetime had passed by since that day.
"Don't give in to hopelessness."
Izumi lets out a quite breath and sits back in her chair. I lean back as well and gaze out the nearby window. Fires were still visible out on the street below, and I can still make out the forms of people walking around. From here, it almost looked peaceful. Almost.
"What happened to me? On the bus?" Izumi asked.
For a moment, I ponder her question, thinking of the best possible words to answer with.
"You almost entered the Avatar State," I say. "In an untrained Avatar, this Avatar State can appear in times of intense emotional, or physical stress. Um... I don't know all the details of how it actually works, but I know that it can be insanely powerful, and dangerous."
"I... I know," Izumi replied. "The power was.. really scary. I hope it never happens again."
"Well, you should try to hold it back for one more day at least," I say. "After that, then you can knock yourself out."
Izumi lets out a deep sigh and slumps into her chair. There's something else on this girl's mind, I can sense it.
"Sokka, I know my mom is probably dead," she spoke in a much more somber tone than before. "You didn't have to lie to me."
"Yeah... we were just trying to keep you calm," I say.
I look in Kumi's direction to see her listening in to our conversation. Thankfully, for whatever reason, she has elected to let me do all of the talking. I suppose I am the more qualified one when it comes to reasoning with the Avatar after all.
"You didn't need to," Izumi replied. "I was... I mean, the Avatar State felt so powerful that I... I stopped it. It was so scary that I stopped it from happening."
"You mean you actually willed yourself out of the Avatar State?" I sat up in my seat in surprise.
"Yeah... I guess so. Is that bad?"
"Hm... I don't know." I pondered on that for a moment. "It might actually be a good thing for now."
"Okay..."
After that exchange, we don't say anything else that night.
Eventually, after many hours of staring out of our window, Izumi moves to the mattress and falls asleep.
Kumi and I sit awake at the table for many more hours. I can tell that neither of us are ready for what tomorrow might have in store for us, but at the same time, I know we are both ready to end this nightmare once and for all.
Only one more obstacle lies in our path. Hopefully, the universe is done with throwing wrenches into our plans at every conceivable step.
After a long while, Kumi falls asleep on the table, practically collapsing in exhaustion. I follow suit shortly after her.
The next morning…
"Come on! Open up the door!"
The sound of that voice, combined with a loud banging noise, jolts me awake instantly. As I stagger my way out of the chair and to me feet, I notice Kumi jumping up as well, clearly ready for a fight. Izumi stirs awake from her place on the mattress and sat up groggily. It takes me more than a few seconds to realize that someone is knocking on our apartment door. Another long moment passes before I recognize the distant sounds of combat and fanatical shouting coming from outside our window.
"Dammit we don't have much time!" A familiar female voice shouts from the other side of the door.
"Who is it?" I shout.
"It's the Earth Queen!" The voice replies. "Open the door you assholes! It's Jin!"
Oh, right.
I turn back to look at my traveling companions and see that they have visibly relaxed themselves from their sudden awakening. I let out a sigh and move to unlock the door. When I turn the deadbolt and slide the door open, Jin shoves me aside and storms her way into the room.
"Spirits! How can you people sleep with the whole camp gone to shit!" Jin says as she walks over to the window and peers out of it.
"What's going on?" I ask her.
"A few hours ago, some kind of bomb blew a hole into the wall of the camp and a bunch of refuges ran out."
"Are you serious?" I reply.
"Oh no…" I hear Kumi's voice from behind me and I turn to see her moving to look out the window herself.
Jin shoots the girl an inquisitive look before turning to face me with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Oh wait, of course you're serious."
"Yes, I am," Jin says. "I also happen to know that this hole isn't about the refuges getting out, but about those damn Kyoshi Warriors getting in."
"She's right," Kumi replies, pushing away from the window. "The uprising is beginning!"
"Yeah, whatever they want to call it," Jin replies. "I also know that the Earth Kingdom is planning to blow the holy shit out of this place, but don't worry, I am here to get you guys out."
"How do you even know all this?" I ask her. Not that I am skeptical, but there is no way a bottom of the rung, drug running farmer like her could know all this information without being highly connected.
"Hey, it's what I do," she replies. I decide to not question it for now.
We spend the next several minutes gathering up what little belongings we have left while Jin impatiently paces around the apartment. All the while, the sounds of combat slowly become louder and more intense. Luckily, I still have my boomerang with me just in case we run into any trouble. Unfortunately, the Dai Li saw fit to relieve Kumi of her sword as we entered this stupid camp. If Noriko finds us here, we might actually be screwed.
I noticed that Izumi seems to be visibly shaking as we prepare ourselves to venture outside. No doubt she is nervous at the possibility of entering a full on war zone. I mean, who wouldn't be nervous? Hopefully, we can get out of here before things get out of control.
Finally, we have our things packed up and Jin leads us out the door and into the hallway.
"Now, the boat I was planning on taking you guys to got burned up in the crossfire this morning," Jin spoke as we move down the hallway. "There is another boat, but it's on the other side of town."
She then stops, halting our progression. She turns and looks at me with the most serious expression I have seen on her face thus far.
"Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. We might have to cross through some serious shit. Just stay on my ass and you guys will be okay." Jin's voice sounds confident, but I can tell it's just a front. The fear in her eyes is giving everything away. I don't dare call her out on this though, for Izumi's sake.
"Lead the way," I say to her.
She nods and turns back around.
We take another two steps down the hallway when suddenly, three people come from around the corner and block our access to the stairs. Jin stops cold in her tracks, her form going rigged. I feel a pit dread dropping into my stomach. Two of the people in our way are incredibly large men brandishing swords with corroded, worn out blades. The third man is much smaller and I recognize him instantly.
"What do we have here?" Kenji says to us with a sly voice. "A bunch of refuges trying to escape?"
"I don't have time for this Kenji!" Jin shouts to him. "Get out of our way!"
"Not a chance missy," He says with a crooked grin on his face.
"What is this?" I say to him.
I ready myself for a fight, and I can sense Kumi behind me doing the same.
"I recognized you folks the moment I laid my eyes on you," Kenji replies. "The wanted posters are only plastered all over the city. Last night, I took a closer look at them just to be sure."
"Kenji, don't do this…" I hear Jin speak.
"They said something about you being Dai Li killers. Now mind you, I'm certainly not their biggest fan, but the posters also mention a big reward. What kind of man would I be if I turned down such easy money?"
"Ugh, I should have known" I mumble quietly to myself.
Can't we just go one day without a catastrophe taking place?
"Look, whatever the Dai Li is offering, I can double it," Jin replies. "Just name your price."
"You've played me for a fool too many times young lady. I'm not interested in being swindled by you again!" Kenji shouts. "Take them now!"
At once, the two men with swords come charging at us. I reach back and draw my boomerang.
The first man reaches me and raises his sword into the air. I react quickly, pushing Jin out of the way before dodging his downward swing.
"Holy shit!" I hear her shout out. She collapses to the floor and crawls into a nearby room out of harms way.
The second man runs past us to Kumi and Izumi. I make a move to intercept him, but the first man swings his sword at me again.
"Izumi! Get down!" I can hear Kumi yelling from somewhere behind me.
I manage to parry the man's swing with my boomerang, which sends an intense pain shooting through my arms.
"Dammit," I grunt. "Can't one of you assholes use a small knife or something?"
The man shoots me a confused look. I use the opportunity to send a kick into the his groin, which causes him to double over in pain. His sword clambers to the ground beside him.
I look to see Kumi quickly disarming the sword from the second man before thrusting it back towards him. His reflexes are quick though. He just barley manages to dodge her attack.
I make a move to help her, but the first man suddenly jumps up and tackles me to the ground. The sheer weight of him knocks the wind out of me and I drop my boomerang.
He raises his hand to punch me in the face, but the adrenaline is pouring through me now. I move faster than him.
I reach over, grasp my boomerang, and swing it into the side of his head. My weapon embeds into his skull with a sickening crunch and I see his eyes rolling back into their sockets.
"Okay, get off of me!" I shout.
With a great heave, I push the man off. Before I can jump to my feet, the second man jumps over me while picking up the sword of his fallen comrade, and runs towards the stairs. In the next instant, Kumi runs past me with her stolen sword raised and a look of blind fury in her eyes.
"Damn!" I hear Kenji yell.
I look to see him drawing a knife from his belt before moving to attack Kumi from behind.
I just had to say something about small knives, didn't I?
I push that thought out of my head and quickly jump to my feet. I firmly grip onto my boomerang and rear back, ready to throw it at the old man's head.
Before I can release my weapon, Jin runs past me with a piercing shout and what looks to be a large wooden bedpost in her hand. Kenji barely has time to react before Jin savagely strikes a blow across his face with her makeshift weapon. Blood splatters across the wall, painting the rotting wood to a deep red color.
"Ahhh!" I can hear Kenji's screaming in pain as he falls to the floor. Jin continues to beat him over and over again, ignoring is cries of agony.
"Damn… you!" she shouts angrily. "You… rotten… piece… of…"
"Jin! Let's go!" I yell to her.
She lands one last blow to his gut and drops the wooden post.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Kenji yells.
I grab Jin's hand and pull her away just in time to for her to avoid the swing of the man's knife.
Is this man on cactus juice? How is he still conscious?
Kenji staggers to his feet with blood dripping down from multiple gashes on his face and his knife at the ready.
"You'll pay for this!" he grunts.
Kenji leaps forward and swings his knife at us. I immediately jump in front of Jin and move to block his attack with my boomerang. But before either of our weapons can make contact, a massive gust of wind cascades down the hallway. The full force of it collides with Kenji and tosses him into the wall. The wood crumples in an instant, wood splinters in all directions, and I move to cover Jin's body with my own. Finally, the wall collapses, and Kenji's body is flung outside. For a moment, I listen as the debris falls two stories down and collides into the pavement below with a loud smack.
"Holy shit," Jin breathes. "What was that?"
I look up to see the newly created hole in the wall were Kenji was previously standing. I then glance down to the other end of the hallway to see Izumi with her hands raised and breathing heavily. It only took me a few milliseconds to process what had just happened.
Izumi just saved our lives.
"I'm… I'm sorry…" she says before collapsing to the ground.
"Izumi!" I yell.
I jump up to my feet and to the gilr's side to see her lying unconscious.
The she had crumpled in exhaustion.
"What did I just witness!" Jin shouts to me.
"Obviously, she just used air bending to save our asses," I reply.
I reach down and pick the girl up in my arms.
"Air bending!? But… she's wearing Fire nation clothing. And... and air benders are extinct!"
"I guess the cat owl's… out of the bag," I hear Kumi speak up behind us.
The two of us turn to see her standing at the edge of the stairs breathing heavily. The corroded sword she had stolen now glistening red with blood.
"Izumi is new the Avatar," she continues unabated.
Jin's eyes suddenly goes wide at the realization. She takes a step back to recompose herself.
"Spirits… so that's why you're trying to get her out of the city."
"Yeah," I reply to her. "Now we need a boat. Can you help us?"
"We need to get out of here," she looks down to the floor and mumbles to herself almost incoherently.
"Can you help us get a boat out of here?" I repeat my question to her.
"Yes, yes of course," she answers after a brief hesitation. "But we have to go now."
"Lead the way."
Jin nods. I notice her eyes are once again filled with fear, but this time, I can sense it is also accompanied by a newfound resolve.
"Spirits help us," she breathes to herself as she walks past us and down the stairs. I share a brief glance with Kumi before looking down at Izumi in my arms. She is still out cold.
I hope she's okay.
Without another word, we both follow Jin down the stairs, through the front lobby, and out the door.
We are immediately greeted by the deafening shouts of protestors marching down the street in front of us. The three of us stop in our tracks at the sight of it. There must be thousands of them, at least!
Most of the marchers are dressed in Fire nation attire, but there are several Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom dressed people mixed in. Almost all of them are wielding swords and are raising them high into the air while chanting "down with the walls!" over and over again. Their voices are completely drowning out the sounds of combat that must be happening in other parts of the camp.
A violent, fanatical conglomeration of illegal refugees, ready to rise up and take over the city for themselves. I have seen this sight too many times before and I know, deep down inside, that it is destined to fail. No amount of ragtag guerilla forces can possibly hope to topple the might of Ba Sing Se's military. I know from experience.
"Is the White Lotus really… real?" Jin asks me as she looks on at the crowd of protesters moving past us.
"After all this, it fucking better be," I reply.
Jin seems satisfied with that answer, at least for the moment.
"Follow me," she says.
Kumi and I nod our heads and follow her into the crowd of people. Clearly, the intent is to blend in, though with all-out war nearly upon us, I would rather just leave. By nightfall, I have no doubt that this entire refugee camp will be a smoldering crater in the ground.
We just need to get out of here before that happens.
This story is quickly coming to some sort of conclusion very soon. I honestly can't wait to FINALLY finish it.