Chapter 1: Dirty, But Not Smiling
If you have recently relocated to a new district, please familiarize yourself with any specific laws, curfews, banned substances, pre-approved public gathering locations, and accepted literature for that district. Failure to adhere to a district's specific regulations may result in a monetary fine, seizure of property, and/or arrest.
-Dai Li Ordinance #128
Lee's perpetually worsening nightmare reached what he thought would be a crescendo when the thick book his father had brought in slammed on to the table. When dropped from an adult's arms the book caused the table to squeak out ominously, Lee bet it could probably kill a man if dropped from a great enough height.
"The Dai Li's Guide to the Lower Ring." Lee read the neatly printed letter on the hardcover before turning to address his father. "They can't seriously expect us to read all this wenshu, can they?"
"Language, Lee!" His father admonished his before pulling the book over to himself. With the slightest shake of his fingers, he began leafing through it. "Oh dear…" He muttered to himself as Lee bounced up and down next to him trying to read over his shoulder.
"What's it say? What's it say?"
His father turned to him; his lips set in a tight line. "It says… it says that any young boys must listen to their father when they tell them to go out and enjoy the rest of their Huotian."
"Ha….ha…" Lee drawled out sardonically. "We still have some boxes to unpack."
His father looked over in the corner where the last of their belongings remained. "That's one box, Lee." He sighed deeply before continuing. "And it is my supplies, we won't be needing those for a while…"
Lee placed a comforting hand over his father's and squeezed tightly. "You going to be ok, Dad?"
Waving away his son's concern, he smiled and banished the painful memory to a deep corner of his mind. "Of course. Now go, you have school tomorrow and you need to enjoy yourself before the weekend is through. We passed by a park on our way in, I'm certain I saw some children playing there."
The mention of his new school brought Lee back to reality. Back to the soul crushing knowledge that after today he could no longer pretend that his father would reveal that this was some elaborate joke and they could go back to their old life.
"Ok, fine." He finally grumbled out after his father looked at him expectantly.
With agility surprising of one his age, his father practically shoved Lee out the door and shut it behind him. "I am locking this door and will not be unlocking it unless you return covered in dirt and smiling."
"That's not fair!" Lee complained to the wooden door, it's blue paint long overdue for a new coat.
"I'll be here reading all the new exciting rules of our new district until you get back!" The voice of his father called out as he walked away from the entrance.
Ok, that may actually be worse than the park, Lee thought to himself before turning down the street.
Only a couple hours from dusk, the waning sunlight made these narrow streets look even smaller and more confusing. He was lucky that he remembered the park was on the same street as their new home, for he doubted he could have found it otherwise.
After passing one rundown building after another, Lee arrived on the outskirts for what constituted as a park in the Lower Ring. The entire field, which was made up of more weeds than grass, could probably fit in their old house.
Grand Crystals Park, he read the unsurprisingly faded sign to himself. There was certainly nothing grand about it in Lee's eyes, there weren't any crystals around either, but he guessed it could technically be considered a park. That is, if the only qualification for being a park was an empty lot they hadn't managed to build a shantytown over yet.
Despite his own misgivings, this didn't stop a group of six boys he guessed to be his age kicking around a ball. They didn't even seem to mind when they kicked up so much dust that they had to keel over coughing. Knowing his father wouldn't let him until after sunset anyway, Lee decided he'd at least try to have some fun.
"Can I play?" If he knew how much the innocent question would doom him, he would've made a mad dash for the Upper Ring, Dai Li be damned.
Their game came to a halt as all the boys examined the intruder. After a few seconds of inspection, one of the boys whispered into the ear of another, who then began sauntering over to Lee with a toothy grin.
"You're the new kid, huh?" The boy circled around him as if he were a lion vulture that had just spotted a dying hog monkey.
"Um, I guess so." Lee replied as his eyes scanned the faces of the other boys, who were still waiting for their de facto leader to make the first move. Part of the extensive education Lee had received in his young life was all about how to avoid bad situations like the one he had suddenly found himself in. "Anyway, you guys already have even team so I should go."
"Not so fast." The other boy was quick. He had grabbed Lee's shoulder just as he spun on his heels. "Is it true that you used to live in the Upper Ring?"
The boy's dirt caked nails dug into Lee's shoulders and he gulped as he realized how trapped he was. Not able to find his voice, Lee just nodded once.
"So are the rumors true about your father then?" The boy asked much to the delight of the others who could barely contain their giggling before the punchline arrived.
Lee was no coward, if this is how this whole thing was going to go then he would at least get a few good licks in. Besides, nobody talked badly about his father.
The boy gripping his shoulder never saw the fist before it collided with his noise. His grip on Lee ceased as he brought both his palms to his face, the blood seeping through his fingers. There was no time for celebration though, as the other boys rushed to defend their leader.
Lee landed a knee to the groin of the first one that was far too eager and approached before the rest of his allies. He spun low to avoid the ill-advised right hook of the next before tripping him with a leg sweep.
There was just no fighting against a numbers advantage that big though. The three boys left rushed him at once and all Lee could do was protect his face as they dove on top of him. In the pileup he took many an elbow, kick, slap, and punch but luckily the boys had no idea what they were doing and missed their marks. Three against one hurt no matter what though.
Finally, after wrestling his slippery limbs into their respective grips, the others held Lee down as their leader stood over him with a bloodied smile. Even an amateur could aim a kick to the ribs of a held down opponent, and the boy was not going to stop at one.
Satisfied after a few more kicks that had Lee seeing dazzling lights in his vision, the leader spit a goblet of blood onto his cheek before speaking. "I heard they kicked your father out of the Upper Ring after they found out your mother was a dira-fu! She opened her legs and your dumb-as-wenshu father actually believed she loved him."
The humiliating laughter almost hurt as much as the throbbing pain in his side. The boy pinning Lee's legs under his weight decided to chime in as well. "Look at his hair too! Stuck up like a firebender's!"
Lee had always worn his jet-black hair tied tightly at the crown of his head, but he did so to emulate his father. He couldn't help but notice all the other boys kept their hair down and messy.
"Get off me!" His arms both pinned, Lee could only use his mouth in retaliation.
"Not until we get some payback." The boy with the bloody and crooked nose said. "I'll take the nose, but I think my friend here owes you a knee to a very special area." He gestured to the boy that was still keeled over, his face as bright as a tomato.
The sun disappeared from view as the boy's head eclipsed it. Blood from his nose dripped onto Lee's forehead, although he was much more concerned about the cocked back fist.
"Get off of him!" The distinctly female command seemed to freeze time.
AN: Thanks so much for reading the first chapter of my first story, I hope you enjoyed enough to stick around. You probably have a lot of questions about how a young Zu…Lee ended up in Ba Sing Se and you shall get those answers in due time.
Word Origins:
Wenshu = adapted and combined the Chinese word for literature and a curse word. In context of the story it's a curse word for the more offensive version of "crap".
Huotian = adapted and combined Chinese words for fire and day. In context of the story, it is the word I am using for Sunday.
Dira-fu = adapted and combined Chinese word for enemy and slut. In context of the story it means "Fire Nation slut".