A/N: Hello, everyone and welcome to CHpater 11 of Magma! Thank you to my co-author and friend MaxGentlman 1! I don't have anything else to say this time work was really long last night!
Disclaimer: Nick owns Avatar and all recognizable characters not us.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11
The GAang sat together in the cart being pushed by Earthbenders. It was taking them from the outer wall where they had been fighting to the populated inner wall.
"I can't believe that we finally made it to Ba Sing Si in one piece!" Katara said happily .
"Hey don't jinx it! We could still be attacked by some giant exploding Fire Nation spoon! Or Find out the cities been submerged in an ocean of killer shrimp!" Sokka said seriously as they all looked at him with raised eyebrows; "Have you been hitting the cactus juice again?" Toph asked seriously from her position leaning against Kai's side.
"What, I'm just saying...weird things happen to us!" Sokka shrugged as Katara looked over to Aang who seemed a bit down than when they had defeated the drill.
"Don't worry Aang, we'll find Appa." She said.
"It's just such a big city." Aang sighed.
"He's a giant Bison! Where could they possibly hide him?" Sokka asked seriously as they entered the city and saw a vast landscape that stretched outwards as far as they could see from their window.
"Okay, so might be a bit more challenging than we previously thought." Kai said now dressed in his Earth Kingdom outfit to better blend in.
After a few minutes, the earth train came to a stop and the GAang disembarked onto the platform. From there they could see an almost 360 degree view of the inner city.
"Back in the big city... Great," Toph sighed with Momo resting on her shoulder as they walked over to a railing that overlooked the city.
"What are you talking about? It's beautiful here," Sokka said.
"It's just a bunch of walls and rules. Trust her, you'll get over the initial excitement in about three days. Four tops." Kai said.
"You both sound like you already are?" Katara asked.
"We are." They said at the same time seriously looking at her; "Keep in mind until you guys came along we had very fenced in rule filled lives. Once you get away from that, going back is...well boring." Kai added as Toph nodded.
Aang stood off to the side and blew the whistle that would usually get Appa to come to him, but nothing happened. He closed his hand around it and looked out to the city; "I'm comin for you buddy." He said as Katara stood beside him; "He's here, I can feel it." Aang said seriously.
Then from behind them someone cleared their throat and turning they all found a woman standing there stair at them all with the creepiest smile any of them had ever seen; "Hello! My name is Joo Dee, and I have been granted the honor of showing the Avatar around our city. And you all must be Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Prince Kai. A pleasure to meet you. Shall we get started?" She asked the grin never leaving her face.
Sokka smiled; "Yes, we have information about the Fire Nation Army that we need to deliver to the Earth king immediately." He said clutching his bag to himself.
Joo Dee however just smiled again; "Great! Let's begin our tour and then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it." SHe said before walking towards the carraiges and leaving Sokka in a confused rage as he quickly caught up.
"So maybe you missed what I said, we need to talk to the king about the war. It's important!" Sokka said.
"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here." She said simply her smile still firmly in place as she walked off again
"Well, that's creepy." Kai sighed as they followed the others to a large carriage so Chi could fit in.
Soon the cart took off and the group were taken through what seemed to be the poorer part of the city.
"This is the lower ring," Joo Dee said, her creepy smile still plastered across her face.
"What are those walls for?" Katara asked their tour guide.
"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls," She explained, "There are the outer walls that provide protection from the outside world, and then there are the inner walls that help maintain order. This is where all the new arrivals live, as well as all of our craftsmen and artisans. It's really quite quaint."
At those words, Katara looked out the side window and saw a couple of rough individuals, one of which was armed with a scimitar.
"You may want to watch your step though," Joo Dee tacked on, her smile faltering for a moment as she said that.
"Why do they have all these poor people blocked off in this one part of the city?" Katara asked.
"Probably to keep them away from the people that are worth stealing from." Kai said from where he, Toph and Chi were leaning against each other as had become their usual way while resting.
"This is why I never came here. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live." Aang sighed staring out the window as they went onwards coming into a much nicer looking area of the city.
"This is the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, home to the financial district, shops and restaurants and the university." Joo Dee said and Sokka perked up turning to her; "Yeah! We met a professor from the university! He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war, that is absolutely crucial for the king to hear!" He said leaning into the woman who didn't stop smiling once.
"Isn't history fascinating? Look here's one of the oldest buildings in the middle ring, the town hall." She said pointing out her window before leading the way out of the carriage as it stopped.
"Is that woman deaf? She only seems to hear every other word I say!" He sighed.
"It's called being handled Sokka." Kai sighed as He and Toph rose to follow Joo Dee; "Get used to it, and learn to do it, because it happens a lot in places like this." She added as she and Kai went out as well.
They were lead around and shown a lot of the mid ring before boarding the carriage again and head out, they were brought to another ring of the city. This one had many giant homes, with lawns of lush green grass that seemed to stretch on for miles. path ways through the grass lead to homes and here and there, they could see ponds and streams.
"This is the upper ring, home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here." She said as they were taken past another large wall they saw something. Standing in the doorway, their posture brased and ready stood three men in black robes with the Earth kingdom symbol on the front, as well as gold and green cuffs on their sleeves. On their heads the wore large black and green sun hats and they glared at them all.
Kai glared right back as Katara asked; "What's behind that wall?"
"And who are the mean looking guys in robes?" Sokka added.
"Inside is the royal palace, those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions." She said as Kai's eyes narrowed, something about the way those men carried themselves felt, wrong somehow.
"Can we see the King now?" Aang asked breaking Kai from his pondering as Chi, having noticed his tension liked his face in a worried sort of way, he smiled at her; "I'll tell you how I feel later okay?" He asked and she nodded as Joo Dee answered Aang.
"Oh no, no One doesn't just pop in on the Earth king." She said smiling even wider as they all slumped a little in their seats; "I get the feeling this place is going to give me so many headaches." Toph said clearly annoyed as she went back to leaning on Kai, who just nodded as well.
After a little while longer of riding in the carriage, they stopped and got out in front of what appeared to be a lavish, one story house made of white marble and roof tiles made from terracotta clay.
"Here we are. Your new home," Joo Dee said, her smile still present. As she said that, a man ran up to her carrying a scroll in his hands. Passing it to Joo Dee, he left as she opened it.
"More good news it seems. Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed. You should be able to see him in about a month. Much more quickly than usual."
"A month!?" Sokka exclaimed as the other member of the group had shocked faces.
"Six to eight weeks, actually," Joo Dee corrected, her smile never faltering.
They all made their way into the house which was admittedly very nice. The large living room had honey colored walls and two large doors on each wall that lead off to other rooms and halls o the house. The large living room was decorated lavishly, Katara and Toph sat on a soft green and gold rug in the center.
"Isn't this wonderful!? I think you're really going to like it here." Jood Dee said happily her smile still yet to falter again in this entire trip which wasn't helping the feeling of unease that Kai and Toph both were feeling.
"I think we'd all like it a bit more, if we didn't have to stay so long. Isn't there anyway we can see the Earth King sooner?" Sokka asked and Joo Dee turned her attention directly to him and spoke in her ever chipper tone; "The Earth king is very busy running the finest city in the world, and will see you when time permits." She said leaving Sokka moping and irritated.
"If we're gonna be here for a month, we should spend our time looking for Appa." Aang said in a serious tone that left no room for argument on the matter, not that any of them were going to.
"I'll be happy to escort you anywhere that you would like to go." Joo Dee said bowing to him, this however proved to be a little too much for Toph who spoke in a bored yet irritated voice.
"We don't need a babysitter." She growled glowering at the ever smiling woman as she stood up and walked towards the door as Joo Dee stepped in front of her.
"Oh, I won't get in the way, and to leave you alone would make me a bad host, where shall we start?" Joo Dee asked as Kai rolled his eyes.
The group started their search in a small pet shop full of a menagerie of animals, mostly flying ones. Momo was getting a snack from one of the feeding trays that were full of seeds when he was scared off by a calicrow (A cross between a calico cat and a crow) and ran back to Kai's shoulder, who, along with the others, were talking with the shop owner about Appa.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard anything about any flying bison. I didn't even know there were any left," The shop owner said.
"If anyone wanted to sell a stolen animal without anyone knowing, where would they do it?" Aang thought out loud.
"Where's the black market?! Who runs it? Come on, we know you know!" Sokka said, trying to intimidate the shop owner.
The shop owner seemed to stammer for a second as he looked straight ahead. Kai inconspicuously followed his gaze and found that he was looking at Joo Dee, who shook her head at the shop owner.
"That would be illegal," The shop owner seemed to stammer out before looking around his shop with a frown. "You all will have to leave. Your lemur is harassing my sparrowkeets." He said and they all looked over to see Momo getting pecked at for taking their food.
They left the shop and made their way over to the university where they started speaking with a student one boy about Sokka's age. They sat in the courtyard and asked questions.
"Hmm, I've never seen any sandbenders or nomads around here. You should probably ask Professor Zei, he teaches the class on desert cultures." The young man said pushing his glasses up his nose as Sokka raised an eyebrow; "Right, and which of your professors could we ask about the war with the Fire Nation?" He asked.
The boy seemed stunned; "Uhh..." He said glancing at Joo Dee, who Kai saw shake her head slightly to either side his eyes narrowed what was going on here? Sokka didn't catch her in time but the boy spoke again; "I don't know I'm not a political science student I have to get to class." He said hastily before rushing off with his books and scrolls. He dropped them scrambled to pick them up and rushed out again.
A while later they all stood in front of their new home in the city with Joo Dee in the carriage as she spoke to them; Well, I'm sorry no one has seen your Bison, why don't you all get some rest? Someone will come with dinner later." She said as she pulled away
As she did, the group spotted a house right across the street with what looked to be an old man looking through the window of his front door. Seeing that he was spotted he slid out of sight. Curious, the group walked across the street and knocked on the green door. Not a second later, the old man slid the door open and gave a small smile to the teenagers.
"You're the Avatar. I heard you were in town. My name's Pong," He said pleasantly.
"Nice to meet you, Pong," Aang said with the same level of pleasantness.
"So, Pong, what's going on in this city? Why's everybody here so scared to talk about the war?" Sokka asked firmly, making the old man nervous.
"War? Scared? What do you mean?" He asked hastily.
"I can feel you shaking," Toph said bluntly.
"Look," Pong said in a low voice that was almost a whisper, "I'm just a minor government official. I've waited a whole three years to get this house. I don't want to get into trouble."
"Trouble?" Kai asked.
"Get in trouble with who?" Katara added.
"Shhhh! Listen, you can't mention the war here. And, whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li," Pong said quickly before shutting his door and leaving the group with more questions than answers.
"So, is it just me or did that solve absolutely nothing?" Kai asked rolling his eyes as Toph nodded in agreement as they all made their way back to the house. They slept surprisingly well that night and the next day they all rose fairly early.
Katara yawned and stretched, as she headed to the front porch and took a newsletter from their mail slot, she read the front and her face split into a wide grin as she ran back into the house; "I've got it! I know how we're going to see the Earth King!" She said holding up the paper in triumph at the others who wer all lounging.
"How pretell are we going to do that?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, remember? One does not just pop in on the Earth king." She said immitating Joo Dee's voice badly from where she was laying with her head on Kai's lap.
"Simple, the kind is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear!" Katara said and they all raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, you mean Platypus-Bear?" Aang asked smiling.
"No, it just says bear."
"Certainly you mean his bet skunk bear?" Sokka asked from where he lay on the floor.
"Or his Armadillo-Bear?" Toph added.
"Gopher-Bear?" Kai asked confused.
"No, just bear..." Katara said.
"This place, is weird." Toph said honestly.
"None of that is the point, the point is that the palace will be packed, we can sneak in with the crowd!" Katara said excitedly, but Kai shook his head negative; "Having lived in a palace most of my life I can tell you that won't work." He sighed.
"What? Why not?" Katara asked.
"Well, apart form the many guards who would be examining nearly everyone, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you a mile away. You have no manners." Toph said seriously, between eating bits of an apple as Kai nodded petting Chi behind the ears.
"Excuse, me? I have no manners? You're not exactly lady fancy fingers." Katara pointed out to the blind bending master.
"Yeah, but I learned proper society behavior, and choose to leave it behind, same with Kai. You all never learned anything, and frankly it's a little too late." Toph said cassually scratching her stomach and tossing the apple core aside.
"Ah, but you two learned it! It you can teach us!" Sokka said.
"Yeah, I'm learning all four elements, how hard could manners be?" Aang asked as he got up from his seat and wrappped a curtain around him like it was some kind of fancy robe.
"Good evening, Mr. Sokka Water Tribe, Miss Katara Water Tribe, Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty. Your Momoness," He said in some ridiculous stereotypical fancy voice before Sokka did the exact same with another of the curtains.
"Avatar Aang. How you do, go on," He said in an even more ridiculous voice before they started getting into what seemed to be a bowing contest before they accidentally headbutted each other and fell to the ground.
"Katara, will probably be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as bus boys." Toph said seriously as Kai cracked up laughing a little at the other two boys antics.
"But I feel so fancy." Sokka said smiling a little; "Yeah, we know you do." Kai chuckled patting his shoulder before turning to the two girls.
"If the three of us are going to go in together we're going to need a believable cover. Something that's not too conspicuous, and very easy to believe." He said thinking hard, as Toph smirked; "Oh come on, that ones easy a spoiled rich kid and his two beautiful dates." Toph shrugged.
"Wait, hold on why can't I play the spoiled rich kid with the two beautiful dates I mean not to brag, but look at me." Sokka said flexing his muscles and going through several posses before Kai pushed him over.
"Believe us we have seen you Sokka, but to be fair I have more practice at this and besides that,do you really want to have to act like your dating your sister? Particularly when you'll have to act the part convincingly to deceive the party goers?" He asked and Katara and Sokka shuddered at the possibility looking disgusted at the thought and making the others laugh.
"Exactly, I on the other hand can do that very easily." He said smiling at Katara and Toph, Katara smirked and said teasingly; "Are you saying you have a crush on me too Fire Prince?" She asked
Toph stopped laughing and looked to Katara and said dryly; Don't flatter yourself Sugar Queen."
"And whats that supposed to mean!?" Katara demanded and Toph shrugged taking Katara's arm and leading her out the door to go and get clothes they would need for the night; "Nothing, just when he has me why would he want you?" Toph said.
"Hey are you saying he couldn't like me at all!?" Katara said glaring; "Basically, in that way yeah." She shrugged as an argument broke out between them as it usually did.
"Why are they arguing over who I like? I'm dating Toph?" Kai said turning to the other two who both shrugged as he sighed and followed the girls out and into the city.
Hours later Aang and Sokka sat playing a game of Elements; "Earth!" Aang said as Sokka put up Fire. Sokka groaned and Aang smirked before flicking him in the forehead and knocking him over as the door to the room the girls had been using opened.
In the doorway stood Toph and Katara both dressed to impress, Katara in a light green robe with Dark Green edges and a cloud pattern on her robe and a headdress on her head. Her hair was done into a neat bun on her head a pink flower off to the side. Toph mean while wore a white robe with the same dark gree trim to it. Her hair was done into two tight braids that fell down over her shoulders. SHe too wore a similar headdress, but with a large red flower in the center instead of a bun. Both had makeup on that complimented their looks, and giggled from behind fans.
"Wow, you look beautiful." Aang said blushing before Sokka reached over and flicked him in the side of the head. Katara made to speak but Toph covered her mouth; "Don't talk to the commoners Katara, rule one of society." She said simply before calling out: "Kai, you ready?"
"Yeah I think I'm good." Kai said coming out of his room; He was dressed in form fitting black pant, with black and gold boots on his feet. He had a long sleeved light Gold shirt. Over the top of that he wore black and gold toggle coat with bollowing sleeves that had a gold and green earth kingdom lining along the edge of the sleeves and shoulders. His hair he had tied into a long braid.
"So, I look alright?" He asked those who could see.
"Yeah, you clean up pretty well." Katara said actually blushing a little.
"You best stop thinking what your thinking there, Katara," Toph said sternly after feeling Katara's heart-rate pick up a bit, making Katara cough and try to calm herself.
"Riiight," Kai drawled, "You guys follow behind us a few minutes after we leave. We'll try to sneak you two in once we get inside," He told Aang and Sokka before turning to the girls, "Well ladies, let's crash a party," He said as the girls hooked their arms around his and they left the house.
-Royal Palace-
The palace seemed to be packed as all the well-to-do citizens of Ba Sing Se were lined up in front of the entrance to the palace, waiting to get inside and rub elbows with the other aristocrats of the city. It soon came to be Kai and the girls' turn as the guard before them spoke.
"Invitation please."
"I think this will cover it," Toph said as she held out the symbol of the Bei Fong family.
"No entry without an invitation," The guard said sternly.
"Listen, my family's already inside waiting for me and my dates. Do you honestly want me to tell them who kept them waiting for their son?" Kai said seriously, acting the part of his rich boy persona.
"Step out of line please, sir," The guard said, not taking Kai's threat.
"You'll be hearing from my father about this," Kai called as he and the girls stepped out of line.
"Well now what?" Katara asked.
Kai was silent for a moment before he spotted an older gentleman that was dressed in a long-sleeved light gold shirt with a black and gold toggle coat with billowing sleeves that had a gold and green Earth Kingdom lining along the edge of the sleeves and shoulders with his hair done in a long braid.
"I have an idea. Follow my lead," Kai whispered to them as he and the girls walked up to the older man.
"Excuse me, sir, can you help me? I was supposed to me my family inside the party with my dates but I forgot to bring my invite. Between the two of us, I'd lose my own head if it weren't attached to my body. So I was wondering if you could help us get inside so I could find my parents."
"I am honored, please come with me." He said and lead them past the guard who bowed to them all. They all stuck their tongues out at him as they walked past smiling.
They came into a large open room with green marble pillars rising up along the walls on either side. The room seemed to glow with a soft, relaxing light. In the center of the room was a large table filled with foods and seated at the head was a bear, who was devouring all the food in sight. \
"Hey, he's eating all the good stuff!" One man said the other man glared.
"Quiet! you don't know what I had to do to get seats this close to the bear!" The other man said.
"It's beautiful isn't it? By the way my name is Long Feng, I'm a cultural minster to the king." He said smiling pleasently.
"I'm Hwamei, and this is Shu and Dung." Katara said introducing each of them and Toph pulling a small bit of her hair in response to being called Dung.
"Now then, where is your family young man? I 'd love to meet them." Long Feng said pleasantly.
"You know, I can't see them yet, but I'm sure they'll turn up. Thank you sir for all of your help." Kai said as the three of them walked off still linked by the arms they hadn't made it very far at all when Long Feng appeared in front of them all, to their surprise; "Don't worry, as your escort it would be dishonorable to abandon young ones, without finding your family first we'll keep looking." He said leading the way into the party further.
-Outside the Party-
Meanwhile, outside, Aang, Momo, and Sokka were hiding behind a statue in front of the palace, waiting for Kai and the girls to get them inside the party.
"Where are they?" Aang asked.
"Look, I came up with a backup plan. We'll dress Momo up as a ghost, who'll then fly around the guards, creating a distraction. Then, we'll blast a hole in the wall-"
"Or we can go in with these guys," Aang suggested, pointing at the caterers who were delivering food to the party,"Toph said we might pass as busboys."
"Okay, fine. But keep that Momo ghost plan for later. I think it's a winner," Sokka said, making Aang role his eyes.
They snuck inside the party, dressed in black uniforms, Momo was under Sokka's hat his tails surving as a ponytail Sokka carried a tray of shrip puffs and Aang a water jug; "So where are the others?" Aang asked seriously.
Sokka shrugged; "Forget about them! Just concentrate on finding the king." He said batting Momo's tail out of his face; "How? I don't even know what he looks like." Aang pointed out.
"Come one it'll be easy, you know royal, flowing robe, fancy jewlery..." Sokka trailed off as they both looked around and took notice of all the people in the room.
"Sokka, that could be any guy here, except the bear." Aang pointed out sighing before Tophs voice came from the side of him; "Another shrimp puff please?" She asked in a haughty accent.
"You found us!" Aang said as Sokka lowered the tray between them and she took a puff; "I'd know your daity little footsteps anywhere Twinkle Toes." She said as the other two showed up beside her.
"Thanks for letting us in by the way." He said sarcastically.
"Sorry, but the guy who ascorted us in won't let us out of his sight." Katara said.
"What guy?" Sokka asked and turning around Kai and Katara noticed that Long Feng had gone like he had never been there at all.
When they turned back around, they found Joo Dee walking up to them hastily.
"What are you doing here? You have to leave immediately or we'll all be in terrible trouble!" She said in a small panic, her usual smile for once not on her face as she tried to push Sokka but he stopped her with the tray he was carrying.
"Not until we see the king," Sokka said firmly.
"You don't understand. You must go!" Joo Dee insisted before forcefully pushing Sokka and causing him to bump into Aang, which in turn caused him to spill the water from the jug he was carrying onto one of the female party goers.
The woman in quest gasped and then turned to them looking ready to yell and Aang ran forwards apologetically; "Sorry, no don't shout." He said before blasting her dry with a large gust of wind which messed up her hair and makeup and took off the hat hiding Aangs arrow. She gasped adn then smiled.
"Oh my! The Avatar! I had no idea, oh I didn't know the Avatar would be here." She siad getting everyones attention and basically stopping the party dead. The nervous smile slid off Joo Dee's face to be replaced with a look of horror at Aangs discovery, which Kai took careful notice of. Sure she had every right to be nervous about this, but why was she so scared?
"You keep their attention while I find the King." Sokka said and Aang nodded; "Hey everyone watch this!" He said leeping into the air and landing gracefully on the table. He then used water bending to take all the various drinks out of the glasses and cups around him and bent them into a arge multicolored dome around himself.
"That, is actually rather impressive." Kai said smirking as watched his friend for a moment, before taking note that on the edges of the room Dai Li agents were appearing.
'Well this should be interesting.' He thought
Just then, a royal procession entered the room that was followed closely by Earth Kingdom guards. Seeing this, Sokka whispered over to Aang, who was busy entertaining the bear with colored bubbled.
"Aang, it's the Earth King," He said.
Hearing this, Aang stopped playing with the bear and formed an air scooter and raced toward the end of the table, the guests moving the dishes out of the way as he came.
"Greeting, your majesty!" Aang called out.
Several guards stepped forwards to wait at the end of the table as the King was carried away again. Sokka made a move running behind the guests, he got a little closer when suddenly two Dai Li agents came out and grabbed him and took him away. Kai saw and made to move, but noticed two small rock hands reach up and grab Toph. Then two more grab Katara.
He sighed, resisting would make more of a scene and for now that was not a good idea, he took a deep breath and rather than wait to be grabbed calmly walked into the shadows and held out his hands for the Dai Li to take him too. Meanwhile Aang stopped at where the Earth King had been only for Long Feng to step out from behind the guards.
"Avatar, it is a great honor to meet you. I am Long Feng, Grand Secretaryet of Ba Sing Se and head of the Dai Li. I'd like to talk to you. Your friends will be waiting for us in the library." He said leading the way with Aang following close behind.
-Library-
The library was a very dimly lit room. Almost completely covered in shadows if it weren't for the green fire that burned behind Long Feng as he took a seat in a small chair as Aang and the group stood before him. Momo was the last to be brought in as he made a sound and scampered up to Kai and climbed onto his shoulder. With that being done, the Dai Li agents left the room and shut the door behind them, leaving the group with Long Feng.
"Why won't you let us see the Earth King?!" Sokka asked in a demanding voice, "We have information that could help defeat the Fire Nation."
"The Earth King has no time for political Squabbles and the day-to-day minutia of military activities." Long Feng said calmly.
"This could be the most important thing he's ever heard." Aang said seriously.
Long Feng nodded, but spoke in his same calm and commanding tone of voice; "What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decree's on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the cities resources, including the military." He said smiling malevolently.
"So, then the king is just a figure head." Katara said.
"He's your puppet!" Toph said outraged.
"Oh No No. His majesty is a god, an icon to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly changes of an endless war." Long Feng said.
"But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation virtually defenseless and we have inside information on them from our friend! You could lead an invasion force and..." Sokka tried but Long Feng stood up and interupted him.
"Enough! I don't want to hear your rediculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within in the walls. Constant news of an escalating war would throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic. Our economy would be ruined, out peaceful way of life, our traditions would dissapear. In silencing conflict the city remains a peaceful orderly Utopia the last one on Earth." Long Feng said smiling.
"You can't keep the truth from all these people! They need to know!" Katara said.
"I'll tell them! I'll make sure everyone knows!" Aang said stomping forwards and pointing at the older man.
"Up until now, you've been treated as out honored guests, but from now on you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the war to anyone you will be expelled from the city, or imprisoned. I understand you've been looking for your Bison, it would be quiet a shame if you were not able to complete your quest." Long Feng said and Aangs face became one of worry then anger.
"It would be yes, too bad that's a fairly empty threat." Kai said speaking for the first time since entering the room and handing Momo to Aang as he stepped up his posture just as calm as Long Feng.
"You think it can't be done Prince Kai? Just because your the Fire Nations prince doesn't make you immune here."
"I know it can be done, but I also know that it won't be. Simply put, you want your people to feel safe, orderly and happy do you really think they will if the Dai Li openly attack the Avatar, and if they all know the Fire Prince is or was not only inside the walls but so close to the Earth King...Doesn't sound very safe to me." Kai said lighting one of his hands on fire and staring across to the older man.
"You would do well to remember Long Feng that fire is something you don't play with. I don't want to cause a panic or a disruption, I simply want a compromise. All I ask for is simple immunity from most rules of the city while we search for my friends missing flying Bison. In exchange, we won't say a word about the war to anyone, but each other in the privacy of our own home here." Kai said.
"What makes you think I would give you any of that!?" He demanded.
Kai's face broke into a grin so much like his sisters that even his friends felt a chill go up their spines as he spoke in a cold calculating voice; "I KNOW, you will do this for us mostly because as of right now I hold more of the cards than you want me to, and I can cause chaos like you've never known, physically with fire, and riots, and of course politically with the right words, gossip and misinformation spread in the right places." Kai said still smiling as he folded his arms and continued.
"After all word travels to everyone if phrased the right way, and even slightly believable if the Earth King were to hear even the faintest whispers, of being unable to trust his Grand Secretariat, or that his city is in danger, he might start investigating himself...can't have a puppet that see's it's own strings can you?"
Long Feng glared at the young man who continued to smile right back at the man in question. After a moment Long Feng exhaled through his nose; "Very well, these terms are agreeable for now but we will speak again Prince Kai, and of course you will still be watched."
"I would expect nothing less, we'll see ourselves out." Kai said turning to the door but Long Feng cleared his throat; "Actually I must insist that Joo Dee show you out, for appearances sake of course." He said as the door opened and a woman walked in, dressed in the same uniform as Joo Dee, but she was not she was a few years younger, her hair was shorter, but she still wore the same smile as she spoke:
"Come with me please." She said.
"What happened to Joo Dee?" Katara asked as they all stared stunned.
"I'm Joo Dee, and I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city." The woman said leading them out as Kai and Long Feng exchaged a final glare before he followed the new woman out.
"Kai, why would you agree that we wouldn't speak about the war to others?" Sokka demanded once they were back home and Kai sighed undoing his braid.
"Because until we find Appa, this is a game we have to play by the rules, in order for things to work out in our favor we need to hope to define the rules as much as possible. Once we find Appa, then we can do things our usual way." Kai said.
"Finding Appa could take a long time and the eclipse is getting closer!" Sokka pointed out.
"I know that Sokka, which is why we need to find Appa sooner rather than later. For now though we all need to get some sleep." Kai said and the others nodded knowing that many long days were ahead of them.
A/N: So that ends chapter 11! We hope you liked it! Leave a review, fav, or follow if you want and we'll see you next time!
