Chapter 14: The Outer Wall
The group of the five individuals wandered single-file through the hole, feeling the momentary absence of the sun's rays as they walked into the shadows. Accelerator, leading the front of the group, stepped out from the darkness of the cave and entered the inside of the wall; looking around, he realized that he stood on a cobble-stone road that seemed to curve and follow the interior surface of the wall. On either side of the road were green patches of grass with thin blades that gently flowed in the wind. Further away from the wall stood tall trees that were irregularly distributed along the ground. Accelerator was a little bit surprised; there were no buildings around whatsoever, instead, there was a massive expanse of open green land that seemed to span for miles.
"It's clear," the esper stated, gesturing for the rest of the group to follow his lead.
Azula quickly came out from within the cave, closely followed by a nervous General Sung who was being forced from behind by Mai and Ty Lee.
Taking a look around, the Fire Nation princess seemed to be just as surprised at the lack of buildings as Accelerator was. Turning around, she grabbed the general by his neck-collar and pulled him closer to her in anger.
"Where is the Earth King?" she demanded, "there is nothing here but open land. You were supposed to take us to the city of Ba Sing Se."
"I-I did!" protested the terrified general, "This was just the outer wall. The Earth King's palace is located within the inner walls."
"There are different walls?" Accelerator questioned.
"Y-yes," the man confirmed as Azula removed her grip on his collar, "Ba Sing Se is divided into two main sections: the inner wall and the outer wall. The outer wall merely contains land that is used for farming, while the inner wall contains the actual city. In order to get to the inner wall, you have to move through the farmland or take a train."
"A train? Well, that's definitely out of the question," Mai stated with a sigh.
"How long would it take to get there on foot without using a train?" Accelerator asked.
"Perhaps just a few hours," the general informed.
Ty Lee let out a loud groan in protest, "I don't wanna walk for hours!" she whined.
"Are there any alternatives?" Accelerator said.
"Well, like I said before, the trains can take you into the city in about 30 minutes," the general stated.
"I see," the esper returned.
"Hmmm. Perhaps there is a way we can possibly take the train," Azula said in thought.
"Ok, what is it?" Accelerator questioned, looking over at the Fire princess.
Azula pointed over at a lone, small cottage that was positioned about 50 yards away from them or so; around the cottage were rows of vegetables that had been neatly organized for future harvest. A thin string that was tied to the side of the house and stretched over to a vertical pole, held several articles of clothing that hung out in the open. The clothes were drying, Accelerator noted, taking in how neatly they had been placed on the string.
"You want us to steal someone's clothes?" the unimpressed esper whispered to a wickedly smiling Azula.
"Why not?" she returned as she started to walk over to the small cottage, "besides, we need it more than they do."
Looking over at Mai and Ty Lee, who both shrugged at him, the white-haired esper lowered his head and let out a long sigh. Following Azula, the rest of the group walked over to the cottage and inspected the clothes; much of the material was coarse and rough, indicative of someone who probably couldn't afford finer wear. Most, if not all, of them were each varying degrees of green; some were a dark, emerald green, while others were a light, lime green.
"It seems there are enough clothes for all of us," Azula noted, first taking her own share of the garments.
The rest of the members followed suit, grabbing at the clothing and outfits that best met their individual needs.
"Wait, where are we supposed to change?" Accelerator questioned.
"Right here, of course," Azula answered as she removed her shoulder pads, "where else are we supposed to change? We don't exactly have the privilege of privacy out here in the open."
The esper said nothing in response, but he knew that she was correct; there was nothing at all around them except for the cottage they were at, and they weren't about to go inside. Mai and Ty Lee followed Azula's lead, proceeding to remove their own articles of clothing. So, giving in to the situation, Accelerator grabbed at the bottom of his shirt and hastily removed it.
"Ummm, i'll just be over here," the general said awkwardly as he stumbled his way behind the corner of the cottage.
"You better make sure he doesn't get away," Azula warned Accelerator.
"We're surrounded by several square miles of open land," the esper stated, "what's he gonna do - run?"
"You'd be surprised by what weaklings will do out of fear," she quipped.
Accelerator opened his mouth to respond but immediately went silent upon seeing Azula's half-naked figure; she wore underwear beneath the baggy clothes that tightly gripped at her body. Her legs were toned and somewhat muscular, leading down to her graceful calves; her waist was quite slender to and even evidence of abs shone beneath her pale skin. Accelerator was used to witnessing her in loose clothes, so seeing her in this state was somewhat shocking.
"What are you doing?" Azula said, breaking Accelerator from his silent stare.
"What?" he asked, hoping she hadn't noticed his momentary gaze.
"Why are you just standing there?" she asked, "hurry up and get dressed."
"Yeah, yeah," he answered dismissively as he continued to change.
It didn't seem like she noticed. That made sense though; after all, Accelerator was quite good at hiding his own thoughts and emotions, so his stare could've simply been interpreted as 'being deep in thought'. He could feel the cheeks on his face heat up, but he was convinced it was just due to the brightness of the sun.
Several minutes later, after everyone had fully gotten dressed, Accelerator walked around the corner of the cottage to see a surprised General Sung looking up at him.
"Come on," he said down to the man, "we're leaving."
After standing up, the man followed Accelerator back to the group.
"Now, where is the train station located?" Azula asked.
The man pointed in the distance to a thin bridge-like structure that hovered over the green landscape; a small object moved on top of it.
"Those, over there, are the train tracks," Sung stated, "It's the only accepted way 'in' or 'out' of Ba Sing Se. The station is located at the beginning of the track."
"I see. Then we shall make our way to the station," Azula said as the made her way there, followed closely by the rest of the group.
Meanwhile…
Aang and the rest of the gang quietly sat on several benches that had been laid out in rows; they had recently reached the station after taking a slight detour due to Sokka's unwillingness to ask for directions. The four of them had been waiting for about 20 minutes or so, although the trains were scheduled to arrive every half-an-hour. The train station itself was basically a large, stone platform that overlooked the expanse of the fields of the inner wall; two different tracks were positioned on either side of the platform to allow for people to exit or embark the trains, and they spanned over the grounds of the lush, green fields beneath.
All four of the teens waited while they preoccupied themselves with their own forms of entertainment; Aang giggled to himself as he watched Momo play with a lonely bug on the floor. Toph was busy bending a small pebble up into the air and then back down in sequence; Sokka was interested in the contents of a few scrolls he had in his bag, taking in the information that graced the paper. Katara rested her head in her hands, obviously bored out of her mind.
"Ugh, how much longer?" Toph groaned, catching the pebble in her hand once more.
"I'm sure the train will be here soon," Sokka replied without taking his eyes off of the scrolls.
Toph let out an irritated moan as she slunk back into the bench.
On other areas of the platform, various people were waiting for the train to arrive as well; some of them sat in benches while others leaned against columns. There weren't a whole lot of people on the platform, but over the last few minutes, some additional people began to show up to the station.
Upon glancing up, Katara spotted something approaching the station in the distance.
"Hey, I think the train's coming," she stated as she stood up, now free of boredom.
"Finally!" Toph exclaimed, dropping the pebble to the ground.
As the moving vehicle began to near the platform, the group prepared for its arrival; Sokka rolled up the scrolls he was reading and stuffed them in his bag, although he knew he would probably continue reading them on the train.
The vehicle slowed its speed as it neared the vicinity of the platform, eventually coming to a complete stop. The side doors of the train slid open, allowing everyone on the platform to walk into it; the train was basically a cart that had been placed directly onto the tracks. It didn't exactly have an engine, instead, two uniformed earth benders stood behind it, clinging to the back.
"Please board the train calmly and peacefully," one of the men yelled, "we will be disembarking very shortly. Thank you."
"Welp, time to go, Momo," Aang said as he picked up the lemur from the ground and placed it on his shoulders.
The four of them headed for the train, following the workers' orders as they calmly entered the vehicle.
Back with Accelerator and Azula…
The group had finally made it to the base of the train station, although they still had to climb the flight of stairs that actually led up to it. Walking in a single-file line, the five members made their way up the stairs, griping a steel bar alongside to help them up.
"What exactly is your plan," Accelerator suddenly said, causing Azula to look back.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Our goal is to get to the Earth King. But then what?" he continued as he stared up at her.
Turning her attention back to the stairs, the Fire princess answered, "We have been given a rare chance that no one in the Fire Nation has ever been given before. We were able to infiltrate the 'impenetrable' wall of Ba Sing Se – we need to take advantage of that."
"Ok, how are we supposed to do that?" the esper shot back, "are you thinking of killing the Earth King?"
"Perhaps," Azula said, "…perhaps not. Simply killing the Earth King would lead to a violent outbreak, and we would probably be caught in the crossfire; furthermore, I do not seek the Earth King's death – I seek his political power."
"Tch! Man, I really hate politics," Accelerator responded as he scratched the back of his head.
Azula let out a giggle at the boy's statement.
"Indeed," she resumed, "politics can become quite messy and complicated, but they are necessary to –"
Her words suddenly stopped along with her body as she remained still; the five of them had nearly gotten to the top of the platform, but Azula stood, frozen on the steps as she stared at something ahead of her.
"What is it?" Accelerator asked upon seeing her face.
"Interesting," Azula said as a smile began to grace her face, "it seems luck is beginning to turn in our favor."
Walking up the stairs further, Accelerator's eyes widened.
There, entering the train in front of them was the avatar.
End of Chapter 14
Author's Note: Howdy doody, my dudes. I hope you all are doing well. This chapter was a pretty chill one; there weren't a lot of intense scenes in this, but I tried to add a few moments between Azula and Accelerator to add more to their relationship. I'm going to do more with the two of them soon, but this is what I have for now. Anyway, if you guys liked this chap- you know what, I'm not even gonna finish that sentence, cuz you already know what to do.
P.S – please comment.