Our pace was slow and plodding and our ostriches, the most common form of transportation among the Earth kingdom, were growing tired under the desert heat. Zuko stayed in front of Uncle and I, sharing an ostrich, pretending to know where he was going. I noticed Uncle, in front of me, starting to slouch and lean a little bit to one side.
I asked, "Are you feeling alright, Uncle?"
He moaned. "Actually, I could use some rest. Zuko, I mean Li, can we stop for a moment?"
Zuko growled, but jumped off of his mount as well. I took both animals and led them into a thicket to graze while the men rested on the sand. They peacefully munched away, and I leaned against a rock to steady myself. I looked around for any sign of other people, or towns, but nothing seemed close by.
Suddenly, I heard yelling in my master's direction. I turned quickly to look, and saw them surrounded by five men, each on a fierce-looking rhinoceros. They must be Fire Nation soldiers, I thought, recognizing their beasts and the black and red of the uniforms. I could barely hear them talking, but without warning, a fight broke out. Uncle was suddenly in top form, and easily took out three of the riders and their rhinos. Zuko sprung all over the place, and took care of the other two riders, for a moment. Three started to get up on their rhinoceroses, and I knew I had to move. I hopped on an ostrich, and raced over to the prince and Uncle. Zuko hopped on one, and Uncle crawled up behind me, and we raced off away from the danger.
"Who were they?" I yelled to Uncle.
"Old friends," he replied without question. Soon we were over the next sand dune and out of sight to our enemies. We arrived an hour later, after nonstop galloping, to a small, dusty town. Uncle said this was the right place, and we tied our rides to the hitching post, and went inside the only open place in the whole village, a saloon. All but one table was filled, and Uncle sat down at it to save it for us. Zuko ordered something for the three of us, paid for it, and we sat down.
Exhausted and weary from travel, we were at risk. Outside the saloon were Fire Nation wanted posters, posters of Zuko and Uncle. We were on edge, too tired to even talk. A spark came into Uncle's eyes as he scanned the room; a Pi Sho playing table with an old man sitting, waiting at one end of it. Uncle rose from his seat, much to Zuko's dismay, and approached the man to play the game.
"Li, Sing, come watch. You might learn something," Uncle invited us.
Zuko groaned. "Uncle, I've seen you play this dumb game a thousand times."
"Nonsense," replied Uncle, laying his first piece, the white lotus flower, in the center of the board. At this point, two suspicious men entered the saloon: one in his twenties, and big for his age, and the other not too much younger than Uncle. They wore Earth Kingdom uniforms, and sat on a bench facing our game, eyes glued to Uncle and Zuko.
I whispered to Zuko what I had observed, but he ignored me. The game was over quickly, and I was amazed at what I saw: the pieces on the board had been strategically placed so a lotus flower was outlined on the large, hexagonal table. I smiled a bit, and looked over to see Zuko hardly paying attention.
Uncle's opponent stood up and bowed to him. "Congratulations, member of the Order of the White Lotus. We have been awaiting you." Uncle stood and bowed in return, but couldn't say a word before the two mysterious men ran up to him and Zuko, pointing their swords at their necks.
"Don't move! We have you! The Fire Lord will be very happy to have you two in his hands again," the younger one yelled triumphantly.
Uncle's opponent exclaimed, "These two are criminals! They have a huge bounty over their heads! Think of all the gold!" The bounty hunters' worst fear was realized: all the other men in the saloon rose to their feet and encircled us, craving the gold. Growing angry, the hunters turned and began to fight off their competition. The old man, who was helping us from the beginning, grabbed us, and snuck the three of us out a back door through the evening dark and we ran to a small shop.
Once inside, we all breathed, thinking we were safe. As I inhaled, a pleasant scent filled my lungs: flowers and pollen. I looked around to find we were in a lovely flower shop, filled with desert beauties. The old man led us to the back behind several four-foot-tall trees. Behind it was a stone door with a slot for eyes to look out. He knocked four times. Grey eyes looked out at us in suspicion. "Who goes there?"
"One who has grown the fruit and tasted its mystery," said Uncle, confidently. The door opened and the two men walked it. Zuko and I tried to follow but Uncle stopped us, "Members only." Zuko rolled his eyes, and leaned against the door when it closed. I sighed, and slowly walked around the shop, sampling the aromas of the pretty buds. All sorts of colors and sizes and textures filled the shop. I wanted to learn what all of them were; I'd never been interested in gardening, but this was truly art.
Eventually, though, I grew tired of looking at the same things over again, and sat down on the floor near to the unmoving prince. "What are they doing in there?" he asked, bored out of his mind. I just shrugged, and looked towards the front door, afraid someone might burst in to discover us. I looked around the store for anything more comfortable than the hard floor. It was also growing steadily chilly, something we didn't exactly expect from a desert, being first time desert travelers.
I snooped around under desks and such, until I found two blankets and a cushion. I gave the cushion and a blanket to Zuko, and wrapped the second blanket around myself.
"How are we going to get to Ba Sing Se now?" the prince asked, obviously tired of waiting for his uncle.
"Perhaps that's what they're talking about now," I suggested. "What else could they be taking so long to discuss?"
"Probably tea or something," he said.
I smiled a little, knowing it was true. Zuko rose to his feet and walked to a window, staring out at the moon. The moon was bright that night; it shone on Zuko's face, and cast shadows behind him. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the clay wall. It took me a while, but I slept, after trying various positions and ending up on my side, back against the wall.
We woke near each other the next morning by Uncle's persistent nagging to get up; we were leaving. My stomach was roaring, but I pushed myself upward and stretched before following the old man to yet another hidden door. Our ostriches were outside, tied to a different post than before. Our instructions were to leave immediately and travel as fast as we can towards Ba Sing Se, where we would pretend to be refugees from nations that were attacked by the Fire nation. No one would suspect us out in the open.
We peered around, thanked the man, and ran out to our ostriches. I hopped on with Zuko this time, and he spurred the animal away from the town. Already we were behind Uncle, who had obviously gotten a much better night's sleep. It was still dark outside, and fortunately, Uncle knew where he was going. I yawned and gently leaned my head against the back of Zuko's neck, hoping he wouldn't get angry, although I had a feeling he was as tired as me. My heavy eyelids enjoyed the break they were granted as I rested for a few minutes at a time while we ran across the desert.