Hobbes was restless. Here it was, the middle of the night, and he was still wide awake. Finding out that Gaan and Zhu were here in the city had put them all on edge. Calvin, for instance, had started practicing firebending in the kitchen. He couldn't make especially large fire blasts, (for obvious reasons) but, despite the risk, he was determined that he would be able to defeat them the next time they met. Susie put on a brave face, but Hobbes could tell she was nervous - jumping at sudden noises and frantically looking around every now and then. As for Hobbes himself, he had taken to exploring the outer ring - trying to sniff out where the Fire Nation men had taken up residence. But so far, his daily excursions had been fruitless.

It had been days since the incident and there hadn't been any sightings of the former soldiers since - not even a hint that they were aware the earthlings were in the same city. Despite this, Hobbes couldn't help but worry. Worry that the moment they got complacent would be the moment the fate would throw the ex-soldiers right into their path again.

Hobbes looked across the room - Calvin and Susie were asleep, at least. Would that he could join them. He took a glance up to the window and the stars twinkling down… maybe some fresh air would put his mind at ease. With a silence only cats could achieve, Hobbes slipped out of the room, leaving the sleeping humans behind.

He stepped out of the apartment and for a moment, just stood still as the gentle night breeze blew through his coat.

Hobbes looked up to the sky, to the multitude of stars twinkling down at him. He found the sight of those twinkling lights to be oddly soothing - as if telling him that whatever may happen, things would be alright.

The minutes silently marched past as the tiger gazed contemplatively at the heavenly lights.

Then, just as he was feeling he was ready to head back inside, Hobbes noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly, he spotted something flying right overhead. It was still high up, but descending quickly. Curious, he decided to follow this… whatever it was. Perhaps he might even get a decent look at it.

It's not easy following something that can fly when one is earthbound. But Hobbes was up to the challenge. He bounded through the streets and over obstacles, trying to keep up with the the flying creature. As the creature got closer to the ground, Hobbes could make out it's form better. It didn't look like any creature he had ever seen before - even with all the freakish beasts that populated this world. From the underside, it looked an awful lot like some gigantic flying manatee, but then it had some furry legs, or something dangling beneath it.

Finally, the beast swooped down low, coming in for a landing. Hobbes quickly dashed along, he turned 'round the corner and found… nothing. Just an empty alleyway that came to a dead end.

Hobbes was perplexed; he had sworn the thing had come down here. He sniffed around and sure enough, there was an odor wafting about - something pungent and musky. And as he circled around the alley, he saw something in the mud. Padding over, he found it was a huge, three toed footprint - big enough that he could fit all four of his own paws in at once with room to spare.

So the creature had definitely been here... But then, where did it go? It was far too big to have escaped. And the animals of this world couldn't just vanish!... Could they?

Ah well, the night was wearing on and Hobbes was tired. Such puzzles could wait 'till daylight.

The day was hot and buggy. Not a single breeze stirred the air as Hobbes stalked through the dingy streets and alleyways.

The people of the outer ring stopped and stared when he passed. Many looked at him with scorn and apprehension. Hobbes grumbled, irritably. Despite the fact that he had never made any threatening gestures, the people always acted as if he were about to pounce at any moment. He supposed he couldn't really blame them; after all, he was a big animal, with all sorts of pointy bits attached to him. On Earth, people had lived in awe and fear of tigers for centuries - why should this world be any different? Okay, this world did have people that could manipulate the natural world to disastrous effect, as well as several creatures that regularly grew to the size of elephants - and bigger… Actually, now that he thought about it, Hobbes was relatively puny. Still, he could take on any human who might challenge him… well, any non-bender human. And even with a bender, he could probably get a hit or two in...

At least the people never got in his way. He honestly wasn't sure what he'd do if presented with a confrontation.

He hadn't really given much thought about what he would do once he had found where Gaan and Zhu were staying. When he no longer had to go out and search every day, what would he do? How would he fill his days? He couldn't just hold up in the apartment all day, he'd go stir-crazy. On Earth, he had a spacious backyard that led into a dense forest he could romp through to his heart's content. Here, he only had the cruddy streets to walk about and the people who treated him with suspicion whenever he passed by.

He could only hope that by the time he had found his quarry, the people would realize he posed no threat to them.

He passed by a house where a small child was playing with a little ball. When the child saw Hobbes, her face opened into a delighted smile. Without even an inkling of fear, the girl excitedly raced toward the big cat, giggling happily all the while. "Kitty!" she cried, excitedly. But before she could reach him, the girl's mother appeared and hoisted her off the ground. With her daughter held tightly in her arms, she stepped back toward the house, all while giving Hobbes a scathing glare.

Hobbes, in turn, stared right back into the woman's eyes. Not a look of anger or spite, but rather of disappointment. That little girl's enthusiasm had managed to lift his spirits - yet, her mother could only see him as some savage beast she needed to protect her child from.

Oh well, Hobbes supposed that was human nature. With a rueful twitch of the ear, he turned and continued on his journey.

After a couple more hours in the humid heat, Hobbes' search brought him past an open lot between houses where a small group of boys were using earthbending to play ball. Hobbes was about to press onward when there was a sound of something breaking followed by a loud exclamation of "HEY!"

That yell gave Hobbes pause - could it be…

He snuck over to the wall and strained to listen. "When I'm through with you kids, the window won't be the only thing that's broken!" The voice bellowed.

That yell sent four young boys and… one old man… running from the scene as fast as their legs could carry them.

With the lot empty, Hobbes crept in under the broken window. He was sure about what he heard, but he wanted to be absolutely certain.

"P'HAH, hooligans…" No doubt about it, that was Gaan's voice. "Little brats oughta find some other place to play!"

"Ghaw, I just swept this floor!"... And there was Zhu.

Hobbes was elated, he had actually done it! Now he could show his human friends where the former soldiers were living, and they could sort out how to proceed from here.

Hobbes was panting as he trudged back to the apartment. Minutes turned to hours as he made his way through the sprawling labyrinth of gray stone and muddy streets.

The distance between the Fire Nation men's house and theirs was staggering. With a distance like this, Hobbes figured the odds of them running into each other again were pretty slim. Maybe it would be possible for them to stay, after all. Hobbes… really wasn't sure how to feel about that. Sure, it was nice to have a proper house to live in, and the security Ba Sing Se provided, but even if he could move around freely, the city was just so stifling. True, life on the road had it's own set of problems, but it was out in the great outdoors, out in the wilds where tigers were meant to be.

Of course, he would go along with whatever decision Calvin and Susie made. After all, their group consisted two humans and only one tiger. And of course, his friends had found work here - nothing glamorous or special, but it was fulfilling. Naturally, Hobbes wanted his human friends to be happy, but… There were times he felt as if he had faded into the background. He tried to be helpful in whatever capacity he could, yet he couldn't help feeling that he didn't leave much of an impact on things.

Hobbes was jolted from his musings when he heard a sudden crash.

"Watch where you're going, ya little punk!" a voice in the distance yelled.

"I - I'm sorry! I-i-it was just an accident!" A second, lighter voice pleaded.

Hobbes looked and saw a small, scrawny boy sitting in the grimy street. Standing over him were three larger boys, looking down on him with haughty, disdainful expressions.

"A likely story!" the first boy quipped, seizing the smaller boy by the shirt and yanking him up. Glancing at his flunkies, he went on. "Y'know what I think, guys? I think we oughta teach this runt a lesson about stayin' outta people's way!" The other two heartily agreed, smiling with perverse glee and cracking their knuckles.

The sight made Hobbes bare his teeth in a snarl. One quick pounce and those thugs would be singing a different tune - NO! Wait, he needed to be smarter about this. If he straight out attacked these cretens, it would undoubtedly lead to some unfortunate repercussions. And besides, they did have him outnumbered.

Then again, bullies usually picked on smaller kids because they were afraid to take on someone their own size. And maybe, just maybe the sight of a large predator would be enough to scare them off.

So he prowled forward, his padded paws silent against the ground. When the bullies were just about to throw the first punch, Hobbes announced his presence with a low, guttural growl. The bullies spun around in surprise. And when they saw what was behind them, they gasped and stumbled backward before turning and running away as fast as they could go.

Hobbes granted himself a moment to bask in the pride of his accomplishment.

Then he heard the loud, blood curdling roar.

Coming from… right behind him...

He turned around and flinched. There, standing in the middle of the alley, was a platypus-bear. A freaking platypus-bear wandering around in the middle of the city! Hobbes didn't know what it was doing there, and he didn't care to find out. He bolted in the direction the humans had fled, his tail bristled behind him.

But as he ran out into the open street, he found the platypus-bear wasn't the only newcomer on the scene.

A flock of little lizardy-snake things were flittering about people's heads, flopping along the side of the street was what looked like a sea lion wearing a turtles shell, and there was an animal that looked like a kangaroo, but with the long, floppy ears of a rabbit happily munching away at a cart full of lettuce… or it might've been cabbage… he never could tell the difference.

The streets were filled with pandemonium as the human's lives were disrupted by the rampaging animals. All around were people running and shrieking, attempting to get away as beasts of all shapes and sizes went gallivanting haphazardly through the neighborhood.

In the midst of the commotion, Hobbes suddenly heard a tiny voice calling out. He looked to see a little girl - the very same little girl he had encountered earlier that day - out in the middle of the street, calling for her mother. And behind the girl, far off in the distance, but covering a lot of ground quickly, was an enormous creature - like an elephant with the head of a baboon. The beast came trampling down the street, showing no inclination of stopping - or even slowing; and the girl stayed out in the street, right in the middle of the creature's path, completely oblivious to the impending danger.

It was then that she felt the earth trembling beneath her feet. She turned and screamed when she saw the behemoth barreling toward her. With no time to move, she watched in terror as one massive foot rose up and surely would squash her flat. Then, just before the foot came down, she felt herself being pushed and went rolling and tumbling to the other side of the street. When rolling had stopped, she felt a pair of strong, furry arms wrapped protectively around her. Looking above her, she saw a large striped head that was breathing heavily in deep gusts. Despite the danger she had just narrowly avoided, she let out a light giggle as she hugged the big furry animal that had saved her. "Kitty…" she cooed.

After the thudding of the giant beast had passed, she heard a voice calling her name. "Mama!" she called. Sure enough, just down the way was her mother, looking frantic and worried. It was then that the big animal released his hold on her, allowing her to go toddling back to her mother who scooped her up in a tight embrace. With tears in her eyes, her mother asked her if she was alright. She answered "Uh-huh. Kitty saved me." The woman looked with grateful eyes to where her daughter had pointed, ready to admit that she might have been hasty in pulling her daughter away from him before…

But the tiger was gone.

Hobbes winced as he stalked through the alleyway. He had banged his shoulder up real good when he snatched the little girl from out of the elephant-monkey thing's path. He'd be feeling that for a good long while, now. But he could worry about that later. Right now, he needed to get back to the apartment - hopefully avoiding the unfolding chaos in the process.

As he pulled himself onto the street, something odd crossed his path. It looked sort of like a big wheel, rolling past the market stalls. But then, it unfolded - revealing a shaggy, catlike creature with a jointed, keratin-formed shell along it's back.

Seeing the beast, Hobbes decided returning to the apartment could wait a little longer. This creature was, at least part feline… Perhaps he could get some answers out of him.

Hobbes carefully approached the tiger-dillo as he was chewing on a slab of meat he had grabbed from a nearby stall. [Hey there! 'Scuse me.] he called.

Upon hearing him, the tiger-dillo turned to glare at Hobbes with a threatening growl. [What're YOU lookin' at?!]

[Whoa, whoa, whoa, settle down. I'm not looking for a fight, here.] said Hobbes. The tiger-dillo seemed to relax, but kept a wary eye on him. Hobbes continued. [I was just wondering what all this commotion's all about. Where did you all come from and why're you running amok through the streets?]

[Dunno...] the tiger-dillo answered. [Used ta be, we were stuck in these small spaces, surrounded by walls of stone and thick, hard sticks. Used ta be, we'd spend our days layin' 'round 'til the human brought us our food, while a buncha other humans wandered around gawkin' at us.

[After a while, the other humans quit comin'. An' when they quit comin' we started gettin' less food!... Then, all of a sudden, the human who feeds us opened up spaces in the walls an' just… let us out…]

Hobbes contemplated the tiger-dillo's story. It was obvious he lacked the understanding of the human world Hobbes possessed, but as he thought about it, certain things started to make sense… small, enclosed spaces, humans watching them all day, a person who brought them food, walls made of thick hard sticks… or perhaps, iron bars! So, these were zoo animals! And the zookeeper, for whatever reason, had unlocked the cages and let the beasts roam free. But why? Had they suffered a psychotic break, or something?!

Hobbes left the tiger-dillo to enjoy what was likely his first decent meal in a long while.

He continued down the streets, keeping close to the walls so as to avoid any confrontations with marauding beasts of panicking humans. He passed a market stall that had been overrun by a trio of hog-monkeys, when he heard a voice call out over the riotous din.

"Hobbes!"

The tiger turned to see Calvin racing down the street, occasionally ducking or jumping over obstacles that suddenly appeared. He finally caught up to Hobbes and took a moment to catch his breath. "... I don't suppose you have any idea what this is all about?" he said, gesturing to the hooting hog-monkeys and the menagerie of other beasts running loose.

Hobbes had an idea, of course, but he couldn't very well explain it. So he simply stared at Calvin with a reprimanding sort of look.

Calvin sighed, wiping his brow. "Yeah. Sorry, buddy… don't know why I asked.

"Calvin!"

The boy and tiger turned to see Susie heading their way. "Calvin! There you are. Why'd you run off like -" she stopped abruptly when she saw the monkeys hollering and bounding around the stall. She stared at the scene through narrowed eyes with her hands on her hips.

Calvin stared back at her, noting her exasperated posture and the accusing glare in her eyes. "I had NOTHING to do with THIS!" he declared, pointing at the mischievous simians.

"Oh, calm down, Calvin!" she said. "I know even you couldn't pull something like this off!

"But the question is, where did these animals come from? And what are they doing in the city?"

"That's two questions."

Susie clipped Calvin on the shoulder. "Really, wise guy? You're really gonna be like that, now!"

The two humans began arguing back and forth, but Hobbes couldn't make out what they were saying. Out of nowhere, a high-pitched, ear-splitting shriek assaulted his ears, forcing him to drop to the ground and smash his paws over his head to drown out the horrible noise.

He wasn't the only one afflicted. The hog-monkeys started screaming in panic and made a mad dash out of the stall - startling the arguing humans. Soon, every animal that had been previously running loose in the city was stampeding forth in a frenzied rush.

Calvin and Susie gaped in awe as the mass conglomeration of beasts went thundering past, kicking up huge clouds of dust in their wake. And when they had passed, the two humans couldn't help but gape blankly ahead, confounded by what they had just seen.

Finally, after a long stretch of silence, Susie said "... Was that… Aang?"

They stepped out from behind the stall to get a better look, and sure enough, the figure of the young airbender on his glider was flying over the thunderous stampede - apparently, somehow leading the animals away.

In a trice, the earthings dashed off, following the retreating creatures. "C'mon, Hobbes!" Calvin called back. Hobbes, his ears still ringing, got to his feet and followed after his friends on wobbling legs.

Aang led the animals through a pair of massive doors into a vast, open grassy field. Once all the animals had passed the doors, he used his earthbending to cast up a great big wall to keep the animals from going any further. Then, he cast up smaller walls to separate the different species from each other. With a little more bending, pits were formed, mounds were built up, and in a matter of minutes, all of the animals were enclosed in nice, clean, spacious exhibits that resembled their natural habitats.

Aang was happy with the job he had done, the zookeeper was happy, but most importantly, the animals were happy. The young avatar wiped the sweat off his brow, taking in his work with a wide smile.

"Aang!"

He turned to the crowd of people that had followed out of curiosity. He grinned when he saw a group of familiar faces amongst the crowd. "Lu-Si! Jet! Nice to see you guys again!"

"That was amazing!" Susie cried as they ran up to meet him, a generous smile on her face. "The way you rounded up all those wild animals… I'm just… astounded!"

"Thanks." the avatar gave a timid smile. "I've always had a way with animals."

"Yeah, it's real impressive an' all. But what I wanna know is what were these animals doing loose in the city, in the first place?!" said Calvin.

Aang's timid smile was suddenly replaced by an embarrassed one. "Well,... I, uh… sort of… let them out."

Susie, her wide smile frozen on her face, let out a confounded "Huh?"

Aang then went into an explanation. "See, they were all stuck in these dirty, smelly cages that were way too small for them! The zookeeper didn't have enough money to keep them fed and clean, and the Dai Li wouldn't give him any money because people stopped visiting - and the people stopped visiting because the zoo was so smelly and dirty."

"So… you decided to relocate them… all at once?" Susie questioned.

"Well…" Aang said, with a sheepish expression. "It worked, didn't it?"

"... And really, it's not like you could've done better." Calvin remarked as the three earthlings left the newly formed zoo behind.

"It was still irresponsible!" Susie stubbornly refuted. "I mean, you saw the damage those animals caused, running loose like that! The Avatar's supposed to keep people safe, not go around wreaking havoc!"

Calvin shrugged. "Still, ya gotta admit, it's better for the animals, this way."

Hobbes looked back toward the zoo. Was it really better for them, though? Having humans gawking at them day in and day out? True, they had more space and cleaner living conditions, now; but the fact that their cages looked more natural didn't change the fact that they were still cages. He let out a terse chuff. Hobbes had never held zoos in high regard. Animals deserved to live free in the wild - not be put on display for human entertainment.

"... They'd never do it like that on Earth." Susie was saying. "The animals would be sedated and loaded into trucks or some other kinda vehicle, and transported that way! None of this running through the streets business!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Calvin moaned, but then abruptly stopped and gave a ponderous "Huh."

"What is it?" Susie asked.

Calvin cocked his head to the side. "S'just… I wonder if this is how the Running of the Bulls got started…"

Susie looked at him with a flat, bewildered expression. She opened her mouth to reply, but in that moment, actually considered the idea. Her gaze floated off in the distance as she made her own thoughtful "Huh."

"Oh well,..." Calvin sighed. "It's been one exciting day, but I think we oughta head home, now."

Home.

It was then that Hobbes remembered what he needed to tell his human companions. He chuffed loudly and frantically gestured with his front paws to get their attention.

Seeing the tiger's erratic behavior, Calvin bent over and placed his hands on his knees. "What's that, boy? Little Timmy fell down the well?" he said in a patronizing voice.

Hobbes grumbled at the sarcasm, irritably digging his claws into the ground. When he felt his claws sink into the soft earth, he got an idea. He reached out his claw and began dragging it through the dust and dirt - moving with purpose and pattern.

Calvin's sarcastic smile melted away as he watched what his friend was doing.

Susie, curious about what was happening, came over to see what was going on. When she reached the boys, she looked down to see letters scratched into the ground that read:

FOWND GON AND ZEW

Susie gasped when she read the words. "Hobbes, you know where Gaan and Zhu are living?"

The tiger nodded proudly in response.

"Oh Hobbes, that's great! Isn't that great, Calvin?"

"Uh-huh, yeah, sure…" Calvin mumbled, offhandedly. He was still focusing intently on the writing in the dirt.

"Um,... So, if we find out where they are, we can factor that into whether we should stay or go…" Susie added.

"Yeah, I know…" said Calvin, still fixated on the letters in the ground.

"Okaaay… So, what's the problem?..."

Calvin finally looked up at his companions. "It's just… I can't believe it took us this long to think of writing as a means of communicating with Hobbes!"

Susie and Hobbes both thought about that for a moment, their eyes wide. They then both simultaneously slapped their hands to their foreheads.

"So, that's the place?" Calvin asked, looking at the lot from across the street. Hobbes nodded, fervently.

"Man, that was a long walk." Susie groaned, breathing heavily. Indeed, the walk had taken the better part of two hours. Already, the sun was sinking toward the western horizon, bathing the world in warm golden-red hues.

With the knowledge of where their enemies had made their home, the earthling trio decided to make their way back to their own apartment. They had another long walk ahead of them and night would surely fall before they made it back.

The walk home was slow and tedious. Neither Calvin nor Susie really felt the need to speak on what they had learned - both feeling the best recourse would be to sleep on it before making any sort of decision.

Just as they had returned to their own neighborhood, a sudden crashing sound in the distance caught Hobbes' attention. Calvin and Susie turned to see what had held the big cat up. Noticing this, Hobbes motioned them to go on. He figured it wouldn't be anything terribly threatening, but he was still curious.

He crept through the dark alleyway, ears pricked and muscles coiled - ready to spring at a moments notice. Off in the distance, he heard more crashing and scuffling - clearly, something was having an altercation.

Suddenly, from behind a building, a white blur came streaking toward him. The thing managed to stop before colliding with Hobbes; and for a brief moment, he saw a white furry creature with a long tail, big ears and bat-like wings flapping frantically. The creature then zipped behind him, hiding between the tiger's back legs.

Looking back at the little beast, Hobbes realized he had seen it before. [Hey, aren't you the Avatar's monkey?]

[Please.] the frightened creature pleaded. [Please, don't let them get me!]

Hobbes didn't have long to wonder who they were. From out of the shadows, there stepped three vicious black cats, snarling and hissing - clearly looking to make a meal out of the monkey.

But when the saw the tiger, they came to an abrupt halt.

Hobbes glared down at the fiendish cats. And they glared right back at him.

Finally, the foremost cat stepped forward. [Give us the monkey!] he demanded.

Hobbes gave a dirissive chuff. [That's not how we ask for things.]

[Who's asking?!] the lead cat demanded. [We saw the monkey first! It's our prey! You can't just take it!]

[I haven't taken anything.] Hobbes countered. [But if you want him so badly, it looks like you'll have to go through me, first…. So ask yourselves this: Just how badly do you want him?]

In response, one of the other cats charged toward the quivering primate, yowling furiously.

Hobbes effortlessly swatted him away - sending him rolling and thumping back toward his comrades.

[Would anyone else like to have a go?] Hobbes asked, staring them down, with ears back and teeth bared.

The lead cat stared back as fiercely as he could… but quickly wilted under the bigger cat's scowl.

[Aw, let's go.] he said, turning back toward the alley they had come from. [It's probably gamey, anyway…]

When the cats had left, the little monkey creature crept out from his hiding place. [Thanks.] he chirped. [I was sure I was a goner.]

[Don't worry about it.] Hobbes replied. [Now, forgive the intrusion, but you are the Avatar's monkey, aren't you?]

[Yes. I'm Momo.] he replied.

[Ah. So, what are you doing flying around at night without him? Wouldn't it be safer if you stuck with him?]

The little lemur's face took on a forlorn expression. [Ah,... the thing is, I'm looking for my big friend. He's been missing for a long time, now and I… I've just got a feeling - deep in my gut - that he's nearby…]

[This friend of yours, is he another bat-monkey… thing?] asked Hobbes.

[No, he's a sky bison.] Momo answered while stroking his arm. It was then that Hobbes noticed something dangling off the appendage - a bundle of white fur loosely tied around the lemur's forepaw.

Hearing the words sky bison, Hobbes was reminded of something. [Say, would this sky bison happen to have six legs and a long, flat tail?]

[You've seen him?!] Momo's ears jolted up in surprise. [When?!]

[Just last night.] Hobbes answered, turning down the street. [C'mon, I'll show you.]

It took a while for Hobbes to navigate through the maze of streets and alleys. But in time, he came to the lot where the great beast had come to land - and subsequently, disappeared.

He brought Momo to the footprint in the mud. And when the lemur saw it, he swooped down and landed in the print. He took a tentative sniff, followed by a joyful chirp. [It's him! He was here!... he was here!] He then turned his gaze back to Hobbes, his eyes full of gratitude. [Thank you…] he breathed.

Hobbes gave a sombre nod.

Momo then curled up in the middle of the huge print, absently stroking the fur wrapped around his paw.

And Hobbes, his heart pulsing with compassion, laid down in the dirt beside the little monkey, keeping vigil through the night.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Sorry I couldn't get this out sooner, but I spent both Christmas and New Year's out of state. But here it is, now. So please, let me know what you think.