I've had a few comments/messages asking me when I was going to post again, and I really do appreciate that you care enough to ask. Originally this chapter was supposed to be the first half of a longer chapter, but since writing with every family member around the house all day is hard and takes forever, I thought I'd have pity on my poor, patient readers and flesh out this half-chapter into something I could post. Fair warning: the next chapter is probably going to be on the shorter side, too. But rest assured, this story is far from being abandoned. Chapters may take longer to get out, but I haven't put nearly two years of work into this just to drop it in the home stretch.
More Than Blood Can Stand
Chapter 29: Pai Sho
The sun was high over Chin Village when Zuko walked into town. That meant fewer shadows to hide in. He had a hood over his head as a small attempt at disguise, but he had seen the wanted posters along the road. If anyone got too close a look at him, he would be recognized.
As he walked, he tried to come up with a plan. But his mind was too muddled, his emotions in too much turmoil. It was hard to focus on one thought, with the hurt from Mai and Uncle's deception and the pain of Hinata's death dominating his thoughts. Every time he tried to refocus on finding the Order of the White Lotus, a sharp pang went through him as he remembered why he needed to find them.
He shook his head and tried to force those thoughts from his mind.
The most likely place to find a game of Pai Sho, he knew, was in a tavern. He had walked past one not too long ago, on the edge of town.
He sighed, turned around, and retraced his steps until he was standing in the doorway. The place was - there was no other word for it - seedy. The windows were shuttered, so the lighting inside was dim, but the candlelight was bright enough that he could tell every surface was grimy. He shuddered at the thought of sitting in these chairs, but steeled himself as he walked over to the Pai Sho table against the left wall. Two men were sitting at the table in the middle of a game. He cleared his throat, and they looked his way.
He didn't know what to say, so he decided to get directly to the point. "Have either of you heard of the Order of the White Lotus?"
The larger, burlier of the men shook his head. "Chin Village is too small for Pai Sho clubs."
The other man, a wiry man with a long fu manchu moustache, frowned, then reluctantly motioned to the chair beside him. "If you want a game, I guess you could join after this round."
Zuko grimaced. This is not the way he had envisioned things going. But since he had no other ideas, he sat down and examined the board.
The game was obviously a casual one. The burly man was winning, though from the looks of it this game wasn't ending anytime soon; there was more conversation than Pai Sho going on at this table.
"Are you going to the square this afternoon?" Wiry said to Burly.
"No, I have a delivery then. But I told my wife not to go. That thing's going to turn into a riot."
He hummed in agreement. "Still, somebody has to go and show support for that poor kid."
"Yeah, but my wife's pregnant. I don't want her getting mixed up in that, you know?" Burly shook his head. "Too dangerous."
Zuko's curiosity couldn't take any more. "What's too dangerous?"
The men turned as one, surprised expressions on their faces, as if they'd forgotten he was there.
"Nothing you need to worry about, stranger," Burly said.
"Sorry," Zuko muttered. "Didn't mean to pry."
He was getting nowhere here. These men weren't ever going to tell him anything. If he wanted to find Uncle, he needed to look somewhere else. He stood up. "Hey, do you know of any other Pai Sho hotspots in the town? I don't want to mess up your game."
"Chin the Great Inn," both men said at the same time.
"On the south side of the town square," Burly grunted. "Can't miss it."
Zuko gave a perfunctory bow and headed out the door, glad to be free of that grungy, inhospitable place. He kicked a cloud of dust up from the road. What had he been thinking, coming right out and asking about a secret society? That had been a terrible decision. He would have to do better at the inn.
It was easy enough to locate the rundown building on the edge of the town square. There were shingles missing from the roof and the faded sign hung crooked over the door, but otherwise the place looked respectable enough.
He walked through the door and had to blink to let his eyes adjust to the dim room. There were about a dozen patrons milling around, some drinking at the bar and others eating lunch at one of the many tables. Towards the back corner, he spotted a Pai Sho board. Three men were sitting at it, setting up a new game.
They looked up as he approached, and the thickset middle-aged man in dirty work clothes said, "What do you want?"
Zuko pulled his hood further down his face and tossed a few coins onto the board. "I want in."
The men shrugged at each other and made room for him to sit down. Zuko reached under the board to the compartment where extra sets of tiles were usually stored and pulled out a bag. He fingered the tiles hesitantly. He wasn't worried about the game - Uncle had made sure he was a formidable Pai Sho player - but his goal here wasn't to win the game. He was looking for the Order of the White Lotus. How could he subtly convey his interest so that only a member would recognize it?
He was too impatient for all this subtlety.
The man sitting next to him gave him an appraising look, lingering for a moment on his still-raised hood, and smirked. "What's your name, kid?"
For a moment he panicked. He should have known this was coming, should have prepared an alias in advance. What was with him today?
The smirk on the man's face grew wider, and he elbowed the man next to him, the heavyset one who had spoken first. "Think maybe the kid doesn't have a name?"
At their laughter, Zuko felt his face flush. "Of course I do! The name's, uh, Lee."
"Sure it is," the big man grinned. "Well, 'Lee', I'm Bolin and these two are Cheng and Duyi."
Cheng waved his hand over the board. "You seem awfully young. You know how to play?"
"Of course I know how to play," he snapped, before realizing that this was probably the perfect opportunity to fish for White Lotus clues. "Actually," he said in a much calmer tone, pulling out the lotus tile, "I have an unusual strategy. With the lotus tile. Because it's, uh, more important than people think it is."
"You're going to lose all your coins if you base your strategy on the lotus tile," Cheng grinned.
But Duyi was fingering his wispy beard thoughtfully. "Let's see this strategy of yours."
The panic in him flared up again. This had been such a bad idea. He had no clue what Uncle's strategy was. What should he do with the tile? He hesitated for a moment with his hand over the board. Then, because he had nothing better to do with it, he put the tile in the very center of the board.
Cheng and Bolin roared with laughter, and even Duyi smiled.
"I'm afraid these two ruffians don't appreciate your genius," he said gently, handing the tile back to Zuko. "Why don't you try a more traditional opening?"
He flushed. Fine. So either none of these men were White Lotus members, or he had messed it up so badly that none of them understood what he was fishing for. But Uncle hadn't spent all those hours teaching him Pai Sho for nothing. If he couldn't find Uncle here, at least he could win some money off of these peasants. He rifled through the bag again and pulled out a chrysanthemum tile. He placed it on the left edge of the board.
"The chrysanthemum gambit." Bolin whistled. "Bold move."
Duyi bowed out after the first game, which Zuko won with ease, saying that he had somewhere else to be. Bolin and Cheng, however, wanted to win back their money. Zuko considered trying to find somewhere else to play, but just as he was about to leave, an ancient old man came up to the table and asked to join. Zuko settled back into his chair. As long as there were new people to play with, he would keep fumbling around fishing for White Lotus information.
Three games and four new opponents later, Zuko gathered up all his winnings and with a bow walked out the door. He had learned nothing, and he had gotten no new leads for where to find more Pai Sho. He may as well go back to the rendezvous point and continue on with Aang and everyone, even if it meant Mai would be there.
He had just turned into the alley and slipped into the shadows when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Wait!"
He turned around to see Duyi round the corner. The older man panted and put his hand on the wall next to him, obviously not used to running.
"What do you want?" he asked tightly. "I thought you had things to do."
"Actually, I was waiting for you to leave so I could talk to you about your white lotus strategy."
"Oh."
Duyi smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "To tell the truth, I sometimes employ a similar strategy. The white lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets." He stared intensely at Zuko, as if this was supposed to mean something to him.
It didn't.
"Uh, right," he mumbled, just because he felt he had to say something. But he was beginning to suspect that perhaps Duyi knew more than he had suspected.
The older man waited a moment for him to say something else, then frowned and tightened the hand on his shoulder. "Why did you open with the white lotus, Lee? What were you trying to accomplish?"
Because subtlety had never been his strong point, especially not when he was thinking with his emotions, he opened his mouth and said the first thing that came to his mind. "I'm looking for my uncle. I have information that he's hiding with the Order of the White Lotus."
Duyi took a calm step back, and his face took on a careful curiosity. "Order of the White Lotus? Sounds like some sort of Pai Sho club. Are you a member?"
"No, but my uncle is, and it is imperative that I find him as soon as possible."
"I'm sorry," he said firmly, "but I cannot help you."
Zuko let out a frustrated growl and pounded his fist against the wall. "You are a member, aren't you? Why can't you help me?"
"I'm sorry."
He really did look sorry, but this did nothing to soothe Zuko's anger. His hands were growing warm, and if he didn't control himself soon, he knew they would begin to steam. Not the best way to keep from drawing attention to himself. He pulled off his hood to help cool off.
"Look," he said with false control. "My uncle is the key to defeating Ozai and freeing the world of this war."
Duyi's eyes widened in what was either alarm or recognition, but rather than analyze it, Zuko forged ahead.
"You don't have to tell me anything about this group. I will keep your secret. I just want to talk to him. I know he'll want to see me, if you tell him I'm here."
Duyi studied him long and hard, and for a moment Zuko thought he'd finally got through. At last he shook his head. "Your uncle left Chin Village yesterday, Prince Zuko, and none of us were told where he went." He ignored Zuko's slack jaw and turned around to leave the alley. "It's not safe for you here. It would be best if you moved on."
"Wait..." For a moment he was too shocked to move. How had he known? Then as Duyi disappeared around the corner, he was galvanized into action. He threw his hood back up, took off after him, and rounded the corner calling out, "At least tell me which direction…"
But he trailed off as he realized that Duyi was nowhere to be seen.
He searched in the general area, but in vain. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. Finally he slunk back into an alley and sat down against the side of the building.
What now? If he didn't set out right away, he would be too far behind to ever catch up, and that was assuming he correctly guessed which direction to take.
He kicked himself, not for the first time, for leaving Mai in the forest. If he'd just done what she had suggested, they would have gotten to the village in time to meet up with Uncle.
But there was no sense in dwelling on the past. He closed his eyes and pictured a map of the southwestern Earth Kingdom. What roads led out of Chin Village? Which one would he choose if he were a Fire Lord trying to lay low?
He had to smile wryly at that thought; thanks to Uncle's little deception, it was all too easy to put himself in that mindset.
There were only two good options: head northeast to one of the small, isolated villages on the outskirts of the Si Wong Desert, or head south across the straight to Kyoshi Island.
He had just made up his mind that he would try Kyoshi Island first, when a clamour from out in the square broke into his thoughts. Many voices, some angry, some distressed, rose in volume until he couldn't distinguish one from the other. This must be the riot the men in the tavern had mentioned.
"Silence!" roared a voice, accompanied by the hissing sound of fire, and the crowd quieted. All but one voice.
"Let her go!" a woman sobbed. "She's just a child!"
Curiosity peaked, Zuko climbed up the side of the building. Hiding in the shadows of the eaves, he made his way across the buildings until he was as close as he could get without being spotted.
The crowd was massed around a platform in the center of the square. A group of seven Fire Nation soldiers guarded the platform, and two others stood on it, flanking a young girl.
It was the young girl he and Mai had seen the night they'd taken the rice. What was she doing here? She didn't live in Chin Village, she lived east of Gaoling, several days' journey at least.
His heart rate doubled as one of the soldiers began reading the sentence.
"For harboring and abetting the Blue Spirit and conspiring against the Fire Nation to incite rebellion, the punishment is ten lashes with a fire whip."
He sucked air in through his teeth. No, he couldn't let that happen, not when it was his fault. He couldn't. He pulled the Blue Spirit mask out of his pack and slipped it on, then silently unsheathed his swords. He crept to the edge of the roof and carefully gauged the distance to the platform.
"Let this be a lesson to you all," the soldier continued, "that treason against the Fire Lord will not be permitted."
Zuko leapt behind the soldier and crossed his swords in front of the man's neck.
"Let her go."