Chapter 2: Beggar Boy

A/N I don't own A:TLA, I just want to play in the world for a while. Hope you enjoy!

Shen no longer felt the hunger that had plagued him as he wandered through the forrest, then the plains as he made his way through the Earth Kingdom. The small towns had been uniquely unhelpful when he'd passed through, and it had been nearly a week since he'd eaten anything other than a few berries he'd found growing in a nearby bush. Thankfully they'd been Bacui berries, which were not only nutritious but had healing properties, and not Maka-ole berries, which may have caused him to go blind.

Every village and settlement Shen had passed through had hurried him on his way, sometimes with the added incentive of a pitchfork or Earthbent rock. Nobody liked a beggar, and after traveling through the forrest for nearly a week to bypass the village close to the circus, that was what Shen looked like. His robe was torn and dirty and his pants were ragged from being caught on leaves.

The gnawing hunger had finally given way to a strange emptiness, an absence of feeling. He was constantly light headed, and often thought that he was just floating away from his earthly body. Every time he felt this though, a jolt of fear coursed through him, temporarily making him aware of his surroundings again. The forrest had long since petered out, and after the third village Shen had realized he'd have to get to a large town if he'd have any hope of finding a map to the nearest Air Temple.

He still had little idea of Earth Kingdom geography, but he thought he remembered Jung pointing off in the distance when they'd come through this way before and telling him that Taku, one of the great trading cities of the whole Earth Kingdom was near their path. To that end, Shen had traveled as quickly as he could, stopping in barns and fields to rest, drinking whatever water he could find, but he was dangerously close to the end of his endurance.

Cresting a hill Shen tore his eyes from the ground with an effort, and gasped. The great city, carved into the face of a mountain, rose out of the plain and almost seemed a part of the distant mountain range. Shen could see the twin Badger-Mole statues all the way from the small hill he stood on.

Shen started to run, even though he was still too far to get there before the sun went down the joy he felt at finally finding civilization was too much to contain, and he couldn't stop himself. He ran for nearly an hour, bringing himself to and then past the edge of exhaustion. Shen collapsed, still miles from Taku, and his last sight that day was of the great Badger-Moles.

The next day Shen joined a convoy of wagons that were making their way into the city. He hadn't noticed them the day before, but when he'd looked around upon waking he'd seen them moving toward the city. A long line of people in dusty and ragged clothing was marching behind them. Shen easily became one of the crowd and was ushered through the main thoroughfare into the city.

Unlike Omashu and Ba Sing Se, Taku was an open city. There was no wall to guard against thieves and daofe, but no one would think of openly attacking the city, unless they wanted to stab themselves in the foot. Taku's importance was the reason it needed no walls, it was the primary import station of the entire Earth Kingdom. Ships from all over the world stopped here to resupply and unload their cargo, and the great merchant lines all had offices or houses inside the city. This was the beating heart of the Earth Kingdom's economy, and no inside force would dare jeopardise that.

Shen stared as he entered, he'd never seen a place this big before. He'd thought the grand tent at the circus had been big, it looked like a peddler's awning in comparison to these buildings! Guards at either side of the street made Shen shrink back, but they only stopped to ask about swords or examine merchandise. It took the better part of an hour for Shen to make it through and they took one look at him and that was all. He wasn't worth their attention.

Inside the main road was a clamour of activity, and it actually made Shen relax a bit. It reminded him of opening nights, or any day of the circus an hour before the curtains went up. Shen navigated the busy streets, running between ostritch-horse carts and soldiers, and all the while he searched the signs around him. Shen couldn't read, at least not well. Jung and Mei Li had not been readers, and Jung hadn't been able to read much at all. Shen could read large letters, siguls that denoted the broad idea of what was meant to convey, but detailed symbols were pretty lines to him. This meant he could tell approximately what the advertisements were alluding to without getting any fine detail.

But the sign he was looking for leapt out as he passed off the main thoroughfare to follow the wares. It was the sign for 'Oddities,' which meant that the shop dealt in previously used goods, or things that the layperson wouldn't be interested in. It was a curio shop. Shen quickly ducked inside the curtain, brushing the dust off his robe to try to make a better impression. He had no money, but he didn't expect to need any, as long as the proprietor was an agreeable person.

The man behind the counter was thin but on the edge of losing that status. His gut hung over his sash and his sallow face was starting to bulge into a double chin, especially when he looked down. Shen marched right up to the counter, and the man, who hadn't taken his eyes off the airbender since he'd entered, rose.

"I'm here to find out where I could find a map to the nearest Airtemple," Shen said.

"You got business with the monks kid?" the man asked smiling. Something about the smile made Shen uncomfortable, it looked like the smiles on the lead marauder's face when Shen had prepared to fight. Luckily his eyes didn't have that same dead look, they were alive with bright curiosity.

"I may. Where would I find such an...object?" Shen asked, stumbling over his words as he tried to sound important.

"Well I'm not really sure. I sell maps of the Earth Kingdom, and some of the world (which are much more expensive) but for something that detailed…" the man trailed off, looking down. He looked back up a moment later and eyed Shen. "Why would some beggar boy off the street be looking for a map to an Airtemple?" he asked.

"Why do you need to know why I want it?" Shen asked. The man, instead of looking angry, smiled even wider.

"I do not have such a thing in my shop, so tell me kid why should I give money to one of my rivals? Two silver pieces and I may be able to tell you where you could find what you seek," the man said.

"Two silver pieces!? Just to tell me where I might find what I'm looking for? No wonder you stay in business if you treat all your customers this way," Shen said.

"I'll give you the information for free if you can prove you have metal on you at all," the man said, unwavering in his slightly creepy grin. Shen hugged and dug his hands in his pockets, half hoping that a piece would have magically appeared there. Apparently no spirits had taken pity on him, because there was nothing but some leaves in his pocket, and two of the scarves he used in his air juggling.

"I've got no money. I was hoping I could do some task that would be worth the price," Shen said, his ears reddening. The storekeeper looked at him for a moment and then laughed out loud, a great bellowing laugh that jiggled his belly and sent tears falling down his cheeks.

"You expected to get a map to an Airtemple by doing chores? Little beggar you're more brazen than you look, and you look very brazen in deed, coming in here with no money and expecting value for it," the man stopped laughing and his face took on a hard cast. "I'll tell you who could get you something like a map, if you do something for me."

The man left the counter and opened the curtain. He swept his head up and down the street, watching men and women flow past him as they did their shopping and tied a tasselled rope across the doorway with a sign on it. When that was done he grabbed Shen's shoulder. The young airbender tried to twist away but it was no good. The shopkeeper had a grip like iron. He pulled the boy into the back of his ship and then sat on a pillow. Shen sat across from him on the floor.

"Can you read?" the shopkeeper asked. Shen shook his head and the shopkeeper nodded. "I thought so. I want you to find a store with this symbol on it. It'll be down the way and around the corner by a bit. The man that runs the place, Ezu, is a rival of mine. He and I have been stealing these valuable marble balls from each other for the last ten years. No one so far has been rich enough to buy even one of them, so they don't move but it's a point of pride to have them. He sent a boy to steal them from me two years ago, and all my attempts have failed. If you get them back, I'll tell you where you can find your map." The shopkeeper took out a chopstick and traced a symbol in the dirt of the back room's floor. "This is his symbol. If you're not back here in…" he stepped to a shelf and pulled off a candle that was half way burned down, "two hours, or by the time this candle has burned down, even if you have the marbles, you get nothing. Understand?"

Shen nodded. The shopkeeper reached into his sleeve and pulled out sparkrocks. He banged them together and the wick caught. "You'd better hurry," the shopkeeper said, smiling again. Shen stood and backed away. The dim light from before made the shopkeeper's eyes look brown, but they were actually a deep bronze that Shen had never seen in the Earth Kingdom before.

He left the shop, almost twisting himself over the rope that hung in the doorway, and walked down the street. He walked to the other shop, which wasn't hard to find, in fact it would have been hard to miss. This street seemed to connect to the main thoroughfare again, and it was certainly nicer than the shop that he'd left. It was made of wood instead of stone, with granite columns in front and a real doorway. Over the door was the symbol the shopkeeper had made in the dirt.

Shen walked inside, trying to be casual, and almost immediately felt a hand on his shoulder.

"No beggars in here," a man in armor that bore no insignia said. He had a rough beard and glared at Shen.

"I'm no beggar, I was sent by my master to deliver a message," Shen said.

"Who's your master?" the guard asked. Shen felt sweat break out under his arms and his heart started thumping. The shopkeeper hadn't told Shen his name!

"Pao. He has a shop near here? He told me to deliver a message directly to the owner," Shen improvised wildly.

"Wu Pei isn't here, he's got a meeting with the captain of his ship. He should be back soon," the guard said, letting his grip loosen on Shen's arm, but watching him carefully.

"I don't have time to wait! Master Pao told me to be right back!" Shen said, trying to make himself cry. He thought of Jung and had to bite back a true sob, only letting a tear track down his face.

"He'll probably want the message delivered much more than he'll want you back as quickly as you can," the guard said. "Here, wait in the atrium and I'll tell you when Wu Pei is back."

"Thank you," Shen said, and he couldn't believe that had worked. The guard went back to his station and customers flowed in and out, dealing with the man at the desk. At first Shen stood in once place, putting only a half-feigned look of bewilderment on his face as he looked at all the people that passed through. While he looked at the people Shen also looked at the wares, and noticed that several were in glass cases.

One of the cases, near the head of the cashier, was a display with six lava-colored marbles in them. Shen knew he'd found his quarry and hid a grin behind a fake cough. He put his hand down and started swirling his fingers, expecting the air to respond. Only it didn't. Shen frowned, and then breathed, in and out, like Jung had taught him. Except thinking of those lessons, sitting on the first available soft piece of ground, listening to Jung's breath as it came and went, as it would never do again, made something inside Shen break.

He snarled to himself, biting his lower lip hard enough to draw a few coppery drops of blood, and focused his will. He started swirling his fingers again, and he felt the faint tickle of a breeze, but it was nowhere near what it should have been. He could feel his tenuous grip on the air, and his heart thudded. What was wrong with him? He focused, bending all his consciousness into swirl the air around his fingers. At last it truly responded, but making it move and keeping it moving were requiring almost all his attention.

Where before, calling the wind had been almost instinctual, like calling over a puppy. The air had willingly and even joyously responded to Shen's slightest movement. Now it was like an old fat hound that needed to be tugged so that it would go outside and relieve itself. Shen, when he was sure no one was watching, thrust a fist forward and a compressed jet of air flew from his fist and knocked into a mannequin that was displaying a hideous Platapus-bear stole that kept the head as part of some kind of hood.

The air knocked the mannequin into a display of jewels that spilled like multicolored ice chips all over the floor. Patrons gasped and one even slipped as she brought her slippered foot down over one of the more round pieces.

The guard hurried over, as did the cashier, and they started hurriedly picking up the pieces of jade, amethyst and crystal. Shen quickly jumped up on the counter, relying entirely on his agility because the air was just so...dead, and grabbed the marbles from the case. He didn't think anyone would notice them missing for a while, and all the patrons were watching and tittering as the two employees scrabbled around for the jewels.

Shen resumed his previous position just as the guard straightened up and instinctively scanned the store. His eyes fell on Shen for a long moment, then passed on. Shen waited until the mess was cleaned, and a few minutes had passed so that the guard and the cashier would get back into their normal routine. He walked up to the guard and pulled his sleeve like a child, even though he was only a head smaller than the man.

"Can you tell your boss that Pao got his order? I don't think I can wait any longer," Shen said.

"Sure kid, run along now," the guard said, as if talking to someone much younger. Shen put a bright smile on his face and hurried from the store. He'd never stolen anything in his life, at least nothing valuable. He'd taken one of Jung's carvings from his stand once, but he'd known Jung could have made dozens more and hadn't felt like he was stealing it. This was different, these marbles were so different from anything he'd seen before they had to be unique and valuable, and he'd just taken them from a store without permission!

For a moment Shen turned back, half sure that his legs would carry him right back inside so he could report what he'd done. 'But what would that accomplish? I wouldn't get the map, I'd spend the day in the stockade, maybe a month. I need to find my people as quickly as possible,' Shen thought.

With that he turned back the way he'd come and retraced his steps back to the curio shop. The sign was still hung on the rope, but Shen ignored it as he stepped over the rope and through the curtain. The shopkeeper was behind the counter, reading a scroll with the candle burning beside him. There was still a fair amount of wax left.

"So you decided not to go through with it after all? I must admit I'm disappointed but not surpri... " the shopkeeper said, then his eyes widened as Shen emptied the marbles from his sleeve. "You got them?" The shopkeeper asked. Shen nodded and layed them carefully on the counter.

"Well aren't you full of surprises," the shopkeeper said. "My name is Ranshao, it's nice to truly meet you." he bowed and Shen quickly bowed back.

"Where can I get the map to the nearest Airtemple?" Shen asked.

"There's maps for sale on the main thoroughfare, in Quang's Cartography, but he only sells to merchants, seamen, and those with lots of silver. A map that rare might even rate a gold piece or two," Ranshao said, looking morose. But there was something about that look that Shen didn't trust. "I could help you get the money, if you agreed to work for me. Be one of my 'errand boys.' Of course it could take you a while to earn enough to get it, but I have a feeling that few would be so generous as to match my offer," Ranshao said.

"What would I do if I was your 'errand boy?'" Shen asked.

"You'd help me pick up objects that are held by those who don't value them like I do. You'd also be responsible for certain...deliveries that need to remain confidential. I can't promise steady work, but I think that in...two to three months you'd have enough for what you seek. I can also provide food and lodging, though of course the cost would be deducted from your pay. A certain percentage of your overall earnings, taken each month. Do we have a deal?" Ranshao asked.

Shen stared into the strange amber eyes, his stomach roiling in his middle. He knew what a bad deal looked like, hadn't he lived under Mr. Liu for most of his memory? But Ranshao was right, no one would hire a boy that looked like a beggar, not for good pay, and if the shopkeeper was right than it could take him months, maybe even a year, to earn enough to pay for the map. Shen sighed and nodded.

"Good," Ranshao said, and suddenly another boy, this one around fourteen was standing behind him. "Follow Di here to the lodging house. He'll tell you the rules and get you acquainted with the others.

"C'mon new kid, let's go," Di said, his voice and eyes far older than his body. Shen followed him out the back of the shop and into the maze-like back alleys of Taku.

So this chapter and the next were supposed to be just one, but I think I hit a good narrative break here. The bad news is, you're left a little hanging as to what will happen next to Shen. The good news is, this part of the story will get more attention and be less rushed than it otherwise would have been and you'll get more material over all (assuming you want that of course :)). The next chapter is tentatively called 'The Bald Bandit' in homage to the greatest Earthbender in the world. ~LB

P.S if you could review, especially if you think it needs improvement and have a constructive criticism about the characterizations, plot, pacing, structure, etc. I'd really appreciate it. ~LB