Chap. 3

Money Changes Everything

"Hey let's try that place." Fuego suggested, pointing to a large inn to the right.

"Oh goody, another inn we can get refused by." Sokka muttered, though he moved to check it out. The group had already been by at least five different inns, and each one had said the same thing; full up. Granted it wasn't easy to find a place with room for fourteen people and a lemur, but Sokka was starting to think that they should start preparing to sleep on the ground; well, at least until they could find a way to get to the Royal Palace and tell the King the information about the eclipse.

At least I'm probably doing better then Katara. Sokka thought as he walked over to the inn. His sister was not traveling with them at the moment, thanks to Aang. After gaining entrance to the city, Aang had instantly stated that he was going to the marketplace to find Appa. The others had protested, on grounds ranging from not having anything to trade for the bison, to not actually knowing where the marketplace was. But Aang had simply turned and begun walking, Momo following him. Katara had volunteered to accompany him, to help him cover ground (and to keep him from destroying anything). Oscuridad and Trueno had also agreed to come along, telling the others to find an inn for the night and contact them using the weapon-stones when they had.

"You know I may not be able to see this place, but I'm not sure staying here is a good idea." Toph said.

"Thus far, I'd agree with you." Bosque said, as the squirrel gave the inn a grimace. The building was actually quite large, but the outside looked like it hadn't been washed in years. Plus, there appeared to be a discernable stench coming from it.

"Can't we find someplace else?" Aire muttered, placing his hand over his beak.

"We have to try it out." Agua said. Moving up to the door, the cat raised his hand to knock, only to have it rammed in his face before he could put his hand down. As Luz moved to help her brother, the others watched as what seemed to be a wave of people angrily moving out the door.

"And stay out, you welchers!" came an angry voice from behind them. A large, corpulent man, dressed in green and brown, followed the people out, angrily shaking his fist.

"I'm guessing you're the innkeeper?" Luz asked, as the man turned at the sound of her voice.

"Yeah, my name's Jouku. Sorry about that, I had to toss out some people who seemed to think I'm running a poor house."

"Looked like a lot of them." Said Desierto, as the others came.

"A couple of families, fourteen in all, took my two biggest rooms, then don't pay a cent for three weeks." Jouku muttered angrily.

"Is anyone else thinking 'dues ex machina?'" Fuego asked. The Knights, who actually knew what that term nodded, but Sokka pressed on to more immediate concerns.

"How much for the rooms? We're about the same number and we need a place to stay." Sokka asked.

"About fifty gold pieces for the week."

"What!" Sokka cried out. "We don't have that kind of money!"

"Then I guess you won't get a room." Jouku said, as he spat on his hands and wiped them clean. "Pity, I could really use the money."

"Yeah I can tell." Toph said.

"And how's that, little blind miss?" the innkeep asked sarcastically.

"I'm guessing you haven't had enough to buy soap in a while. Whoooo!" Toph replied, waving her hand in front of her face for emphasis.

Jouku's face turned an ugly red at that. "Why you little…." He sputtered, as he began to reach for Toph's neck.

"Hold on!" Hierro said, positioning himself between the innkeep and the girl. "Look, we've been traveling through the desert for the last couple of days and we're all a bit frayed." The spider explained, trying to calm Jouku. "I'm sure she didn't mean it."

"I don't care! No one insults me like that, especially some weak little blind brat!" the innkeep shot back.

Toph's face instantly turned the same shade of dark red at the comment, and she began to bring up her arms in an Earthbending stance. But before she could finish it, Tierra clasped her arms together and forced them down. "Let it go." He whispered, as Hierro continued to talk to Jouku.

"If you'll just calm down, I can make all of us happy." The spider explained.

"Yeah? How's that?"

"We want rooms. You want money."

"Don't try it!" Jouku spat. "I know you don't have a cent, so don't even bother…"

But Hierro merely reached in his tunic, and pulled out a small leather sack. Dropping it into the innkeep's hand, he said, "There should be fifty gold pieces in there, plus an additional twenty for your troubles." The spider said.

Eyes gleaming, Jouku opened the sack and peered inside. As the light reflected off the gold danced on his face, he grinned with glee. Shutting the sack, he said, "My apologies good sirs and ladies. Please, allow me to escort you to your rooms."

"Glad to hear it." The spider said, as the innkeep began to walk to the inn, the group following.

"Here we are." Iroh said, as he and Zuko reached the mission steps. "I wonder if they'll have soup today."

"Why should it make a difference?" Zuko asked, with almost no emotion in his voice.

"It usually comes with some bread. Plus, it's the only thing they make with meat in it." Iroh answered, as he and Zuko entered the misson.

"C'mon tell me." Sokka asked, for at least the hundredth time as the group continued to unpack. Contrary to the inn's outer appearance, the inside was rather clean and spacious. The walls were solid rock, and perhaps due to that and the fact the inn fell in the shadows of it's surrounding buildings, the temperature was quite cool. The rooms the groups had been given were spacious and looked as though they could fit twenty. There were some comfortable beds and chairs, as well as other random pieces of furniture. However, Hierro had not been able to enjoy it, because Sokka continually kept asking him where the money had come from.

"Have you been holding out on us?" Sokka asked, as Hierro tried to unpack. "You have haven't you? You've probably been off eating fancy meats while we've eaten nuts! I would have liked fancy meats! I would have liked them a whole lot better then those hard gray nuts that broke my teeth!"

"Those were rocks." Hierro answered calmly.

"It doesn't matter!"

"Look if I show you, will you please shut up?" Hierro answered, finally losing his patience.

Sokka nodded his agreement. With a creaking noise, the spider released his four extra arms from their hiding place under his cloak. For a moment, he stretched them out, and then held out his middle right arm in front of Sokka.

"Take a look." He said.

Leaning forward, Sokka looked deep into the palm, though he was somewhat confused as to what this meant. "What is this, some kind of kiddie magic trick?" he asked after his three seconds of patience were up.

"Magic, yes. Kiddie, no." Hierro said, as something began to happen. The skin in the center of the palm began to move around, shifting and rising in a circular pattern. As Sokka watched in amazement, the skin suddenly broke and reformed underneath a gold coin that rose up from the opening.

"Holy…., you can make gold!" Sokka cried in amazement, as he grabbed the coin and looked it over to make sure it was real.

"Gold, silver, steel, any kind of metal, in any kind of shape." Hierro said as he put his arm down, while simultaneously crossing his upper arms. "It is my element after all."

"Hey wait a minute." Sokka said, as his brain came to a startling conclusion. "If you can make money, why didn't you do it before?"

"You didn't ask." Hierro said simply, as he turned back to his unpacking.

"Sokka, just accept it and shut up." Toph muttered, as Sokka began to open his mouth to ask something else. Sokka muttered something, but he did as asked.

"Thank you, Sister." Iroh said, as the nun poured soup into his bowl, and handed him a piece of bread. Zuko followed, though he merely nodded his thanks. Quietly, the two of them moved over to a table and began to eat. Although in Zuko's case, it was more like bringing the spoon into the soup, then spilling it back into the bowl.

"It's not bad this time." Iroh said, as he took a chunk out of his bread. "They've put in some new herbs. You should try it." But Zuko's silence remained.

"Zuko, you haven't eaten anything for two days, and even that wasn't very much." Iroh said, putting down his spoon and hunk of bread. "I know this isn't much, but you need to keep your strength up."

"Why?" Zuko asked quietly, slowly turning to face his uncle.

"Because you need to survive." Iroh replied, though he feared nothing he could say would help this time. "You have the rest of your life…"

"To beg!" Zuko snarled. "To spend begging for scraps from strangers, and being fed by pitying eyes? If that's all I left to live for, then maybe Azula should capture me and end my life!" With that, Zuko angrily rose from the table and stomped his way out of the mission. Iroh stared at his nephew's exit for a moment, then sighed and turned back to his meal. Zuko had put on these outbursts before since the two had been exiled, and each time he had returned, apologetic and tired. Iroh expected no less this time, but he wondered if they would ever end. Because if they didn't soon, Iroh was afraid Zuko would try something even more dangerous then the lightning defense to regain his pride; something that would end in his death.