Chapter 8:

The Trail of Tears

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

The two Kintaro brothers spent the night at the far eastern hotel in Omashu known as Peking Shi. Eria and Kyong had moved on back towards Kotai only once Keito's car was towed back to the nearest lot. They insisted on paying for a full tank of gas before Keito admitted that he was planning on selling the car in Omashu, regardless. There selfless generosity only made the sickening feeling of shame grow by the passing day they spent gathering some extra supplies in preparation for another long trip.

"So—uh—where are we going now?" Reia asked with the utmost caution. The last time he had dared this question he was put through an extensive guilt trip.

"Since we had some time to recuperate without the thought of Dad being forthwith on our tails, I was thinking we should take one last stop at Seedy Merchant's pier up north. There's a train station ten minutes in walking distance we should take."

"Wait, I thought you said the plan was to avoid direct contact?" Reiatsu questioned.

"Ugh—you want me to say it?" Keito barked at his younger brother. "Fine! You were right; I was wrong. Our best chance of being unnoticed is by keeping our heads down and blending into the crowd. If we end up in another dire situation like two days ago, we'll at least be able to act for ourselves rather than be left to the mercy of chance."

Reia nodded, relieved by this notion.

"Since we are going at things from another angle, I figured it'd be best if you start using these." Keito dug into his bag before tossing a small, white box into Reia's lap.

"Contact lenses?" he asked, bemused.

"Colored contact lenses," Keito corrected. "I also think you should dye your hair. Then we shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"Absolutely not." Reia said, now looking at the box as if learning its content was dirt from the ground.

"Reia—"

"No! I'm willing to do a lot of things… but this?!" he argued, repulsed. "Do you just want me to abdicate my entire life altogether? I'm sorry Keito, this is crossing the line."

"For the spirits' sake, Reia, it's only your appearance! You above all people should know how easy it is to spot you amongst a crowd." Keito sighed, weary. "What's the big deal about it anyway? I thought this would be the easiest transition for you! I mean, you won't even notice for yourself the difference!"

"This—my hair and eyes—this is the last thing I have left to share with Murasaki…" Reia cursed under his breath, noticing his eyes were watering against his wim. "I—I'm sorry Keito. I know it's pathetic, and I know you must take me for a complete weakling, but I—but I can't do it!"

Keito casted a sorrowful gaze at his brother. "From the several days I've spent in this endeavor, I've learned you're a blatant wise guy with little to no patience, and you're certainly a lot of other things Reia, but you are not weak." Initially, Reia had mistaken it for pity but when his brother's face broke into an amiable smile, it clearly revealed his misjudgment. "With this, I think it's quite the contrary. The weak do not stand up for what they believe in and fight for it, especially when it makes them look like a fool in the eyes of others.

"Though you're stubbornness is a real pain in my neck! If you won't change your appearance, then how will we hide in plain daylight? I—I just don't see a way around it, Reia." Keito looked away at the window of their cramped, two-bed room.

"Well I only have to hide my face in Adryan, right?" Reia answered, slowly. "I mean—as distinct as my features may be, no one would care to know that that makes me the avatar. Zeke wouldn't want other countries to find me would he?"

"Of course not!" Keito exclaimed. "Reia, you're right! If he couldn't contain you in Adryan, he would want you to be just as invisible as we want to be! The Avatar under the control of the URN or Beijia would be cataclysmic for the morale of the military; even if you personally did nothing to help with the other Earth Kingdoms. The war would be as good as lost if that were to happen—nothing could salvaged, even by the king!"

He was suddenly animate with new-found excitement, pacing around the room with another branch of thoughts growing from Reia's stem. "Ok—okay so we have to leave Adryan, that's plain enough," Keito stopped, looking at his brother for a brief period. "but where to, specifically? Do we still head north to seedy merchant's pier?"

"Hm…" Reia considered, glancing out the window, at the vacant lot. "I would say yes, we should get through there and into the Fire Nation. Maybe one of Murasaki's sibling could take us in!" He suddenly felt anxious excitement at the thought. I always wanted to visit the Fire Nation!

"No." Keito frowned, crushing Reia's happiness with his flat tone. "We can't risk that. If we were to openly stay in the royal house of the Fire Nation than it could cause another branch of conflicts in this war. We shouldn't go to the Fire Nation in general now that I think about it. Since they are neutral with Adryan, it wouldn't be out of father's grasp to send a few troops into the nation to look for us.

"No, we need a different place. Somewhere where he couldn't do anything if we were discovered. We should go to the URN!" Keito finished, somehow satisfied with this insane decision.

Reia stared at his brother in disbelief. You're joking… Right? Right?! Keito couldn't possible be content with such an idiotic decision. Though as the silence lingered on, it made Reiatsu finally grasp words to retort.

"So in order to avoid fighting, you want to go headfirst into a hostile nation? Makes perfect sense to me," Reia scoffed.

"No, we aren't going in 'headfirst'… It's called immigrating!" Keito said, exasperated.

Great! Now we can break international laws as well! Reiatsu uttered a hushed sigh. "And how exactly would we sneak into a bordered up country? Isn't the URN's southern border heavily restricting immigration because of the war?"

"More than that—they've completely cut off immigration through the south," Keito corrected. "It's a contested war zone, Reia," he added, noticing his brother's shock. "That doesn't matter though, nothing but barricades are placed there to intimidate each other. The Mo Ce Stream is too narrow for anything practical to break out so don't worry."

"Don't worry?" Reia baffled. "Keito, this is madness! How do you expect us to go through a—a war zone and make it to the other side completely undetected?"

Keito failed to respond for several moments. He thought aloud, incoherently, on the question for a while. Reiatsu attempted to keep up with the quick, fragmented mumbling, but soon found he had given up altogether. He laid on the bed, looking at the ceiling until Keito decided to rejoin the land of the living. . "We won't go through the war zone," his brother started slowly, "we'll go under it."

"Under it?" Reia asked. He pushed himself up to a sitting position on the mattress, completely lost. "Okay, now you just sound crazy."

"I'll bend a tunnel underground, below the river." Keito explained.

"And how exactly would you keep track of when we could go up?" Reia frowned, unconvinced. "There isn't exactly a 'Welcome to the United Republic of Nations' sign that greets us a hundred kilometers underground once we've passed the sea."

"We'll have to rely on my seismic sense," Keito concluded, abruptly.

"Keito, water causes seismic distortion… We'll still be taking a huge gamble," Reiatsu spoke quietly. "If you mistake the distorted figure for more rock and strike water whatsoever—"

"We're dead, I know that." Keito tensed his the muscles in his face. "But I wager our chances are much better at this than any other futile attempt at leaving Adryan. I doubt Father doesn't have every dock in the kingdom under surveillance by now."

As much as Reiatsu hated to admit it, Keito was right. They didn't have anyone to go to fabricate a fraudulent passport, and the odds of being able to hide within Kotai were even less than Keito's desperate plan. To Reia's dismay, there were no other options to consider.

"I do hope you know what you're doing," he let out gauntly. "Drowning is by far the last way I want to die."

"That's the spirit." Keito jested with a soft sigh.

After exiting Peking Shi, the entire journey, overall, took about three and a half hours. Reia kept his eyes to the floor and his mouth shut once they were in public. He had fastened a green, thin cloak that covered pretty much all his skin but a thin crevice in the center of his narrow face. Keito had bought the cloak intentionally two sizes larger than necessary for this reason during his shopping spree in Omashu.

Through the entire two hour train ride, Reia felt more self-conscious sitting scrunched between Keito and an old, plump woman than he all the combined anxiety he felt in the public of Kotai. I fled home completely innocent—what am I now as I leave Adryan?

His wandering eyes glanced at his brother who was in a peaceful doze. Did you sleep at all last night? Reia had stayed up as long as he could, waiting for Keito to come back from his several hours of errands. He had passed out around midnight still without any sign of Keito. By the next morning he had sold the car as well as bought an assortment of things.

It's astonishing… Reia considered, studying Keito's serene face under new light. Now that I think of it, I've never seen him so loose—so placidly at ease before, and it was because of all this mayhem and distress that let me see this softer side of him.

Reia felt a pang of guilt clench his stomach seeing his brother drooped down in relaxation. I bet he's in a much better place in his head than where he'll wake up to, with me—no—because of me.

He stared back down at the floor of the car for the rest of the trip, not looking up until Keito had woken from the scuffle and tapped his shoulder lightly to get up after the general mass of the passengers had already gotten off.

"You can act normal now, you know?" Keito said after several minutes of walking. "No one will notice as long as your hoods still up—the train was just particularly crowded was all."

"Oh—okay." Reia snapped out of his gloomy haze. He straightened his head to see the beautiful plaza of Seedy Merchant's pier. The floor was a shining, creamy assortment of bricks with a few patches of crimson blocks organized in a neat pattern that portrayed a blank, khaki disk of earth that had a large, square hole in the center; it was the emblem of the Earthen Empire.

"Are you all right?" Keito asked, lowering his head to eye level of his brother.

"Er—yeah, I'm fine, thanks," Reiatsu uttered, massaging his upper jawbone out of impulse. For a moment, he thought his lagging mind was caused by the long travel; however, after staring into the murky, dark blue sky for a couple moments, he could tell that wasn't it. "This might sound crazy, but I—uh—I think I can feel someone's presence in this pier."

"What do you mean—like a sixth sense?" Keito dropped his tone, casting a far more wary gaze around the moving crowd that surrounded them. "Well? Is—is he following us? Can you tell?" He made a subtle stretch of his arms, ready to strike at the drop of a hat.

"No—I wouldn't say it's like that," Reiatsu said, squinting his eyes in concentration.

"Reia—your eyes," a strange, polyphonic voice emitted to his right with a strained calm composure. Keito's back suddenly blocked Reia's view of the ongoing crowd in front of him.

It was the strangest sensation of Reia's life; everything felt dreamlike and slightly slowed down, as if he was watching a slideshow of his own experience; however all the motion lagged behind in a strange mist not unlike that of what a scent would look like if it could be seen. The strange and uncontrolled episode only lasted for as long as three seconds, but with the amount of detail that filled Avatar Reiatsu's head, it felt much more like a greater half of a day.

"Reia? Reia? Are you all right?" His brother's voice slowly etched through the dream-like hearing. Reia fell to his knees, breathing deeply. "Don't do that—at least not out here!" Keito whispered, vehemently, grabbing Reia's shoulder and supporting him back up to his feet.

"I—what?"

"Your red marks! They were glowing along with your eyes!" Keito fussed. "Someone could've seen if I didn't cover you up! Someone still might've seen regardless for all I know!"

"I didn't do it!" Reia hissed back at him. "It just sorta happened; I don't know how to explain it, but that's not important right now! There's an airbender near us. I can—I can feel it."

"An—an airbender?!" Keito led him out into a small alley, completely cut off from any potential wandering eyes. "How do you know? What did you do?!" He demanded, clutching Reia's small, thin shoulders, stiffly holding him up against the wall.

"I didn't 'do' anything. I thought I already told you that!"

"Fine. So where is this airbender?" Keito exclaimed with a new-found excitement. "Just think of how much easier things would be if he joined us!"

"I'm—I'm trying. Give me a minute." Though the sensation Reia so desperately tried to cling on to and resurrect was slowly deteriorating to his dismay. No! Where are you?!

It felt like the entire relapse was nothing more than memory when a flash of green, uncut grass grasped at a mossy, stone walkway entered his mind for a fraction of a second before he was brought back to Keito looking at him, intently against a small building. "Whoever it is, they are off to the side of the pier. I think it was further up north."

Without wasting another second, Keito grabbed Reia's hand and lurched him back into the crowd, walking as fast as he could in the body of people. They went further inside the market before Reia resisted Keito's bone-crushing leash. "No! This way!" He insisted, veering away from the crowd and off towards the far right. There! Those are the same mountains! She can't be too—

A small figure was kneeling on the ground, cloaked in a dark brown cloak much like Reia's green. As they came towards the bundled figure, they noticed it was sobbing. The sounds of the sobs made it plain and clear: this was a young girl.

"Dad—daddy?" she quivered, hearing the intruding footsteps. She turned around, slowly, before screaming, noticing her error. As fast as lightning, the small girl grabbed a wooden staff that Reia had failed to notice until just now. However, her heels had only parted the ground for a millisecond before a cone of earth wrapped her to the ground in a prison. Reiatsu looked towards his side to see that Keito had cut off her escape with far superior reflexes than his own.

"So you're the airbender?" Keito asked, slightly put off. "What's your name, kid?"

"Aer—Aerika." The girl trembled with gold eyes that shined with nothing short of pure terror. Her hood had fallen back down to her shoulder from the sudden movement to reveal a mat of messy, brown hair.

"What are you doing, brother? She's just a young girl! Let her go!" Reia suddenly snapping out of his daze, mortified.

"Do you know how rare it is to just come across an airbender? I can't just let your only opportunity to learn airbending fly away."

"I will not have her teach me as a slave! Please… Keito…" He pleaded.

Keito stared at Aerika with a blank face of stone for a long pause. It ended with a sigh and, to Reia's relief, Keito gave in. He stomped the floor and the cage of earth sank back into the ground.

"Er—sorry about that…" Reia said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Reiatsu and I'm the Avatar so he—wait! Don't go!" But it was too late, the mysterious young airbender flew off in the blink of an eye. The staff she was carrying had retractable pieces completely foreign to Reiatsu. It was like several small red sails were attached to the staff.

Reia's face heated up, feeling Keito's piercing glare burn right through him. His brother didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

Sweat trickled down the side of Ryung Jae's forehead as he stood amongst a the travelers of Seedy Merchant's Pier, exposed. It was the first time he had been around anyone except Ecko and his three children during the whole trip south, after it happened. He unconsciously shook his head, unwilling to bring the memory back to the surface. To Ryung's surprise it was far more arduous to do nothing—to allow his mind to wander—than it was for him to fly vigorously for three days straight after Yuna had—No, I can't afford to think about it… I need to keep my head straight and get to the Southern Air Temple as soon as Ecko has rested enough.

He hid his arrows with a plain, leather hat and a brown trenchcoat that hung down to his ankles. It was lucky for him that it was in the coldest month of April so far, with a terrible storm that stopped and started whenever it pleased, otherwise his outfit would certainly attract a few suspicious eyes.

"Hiroshi, Kimahri, come now! We need to get back to mommy!" the man in front of him called to his two children who were skipping around the longer legs of bystanders. Their carefree nature eased the tension Ryung felt in his every muscle.

The counter opened up to him and he automatically walked up to meet it, feeling significantly better about keeping moving.

"Good day, sir!" The merchant said, beaming. "What can I do you for today?"

"Yes, can I have a whole bag's worth of—hm let's see—tomato, pepper, and basil seeds? Also, if you have any onion plants, I'd gladly take them off your hands," Ryung said, scanning through the window as he ordered. It's not much, but I think it'll do for now. I sure hope the wild garden is still strong on the island…

Ryung had visited the Southern Air Temple annually many years back. However, the tradition cut off after Jinora had passed away. It was the only other place in the world he had been when out of Republic City.

"That's a small load to be trading," the man remarked, swiftly filling an individual bag with each of the various seeds. "where you trading it off to?"

"I'm planting a farm in—just outside Ekta," Ryung lied. It was the only place that he honestly knew of in Adryan.

The merchant grimaced. "Ah, Ekta is not a friendly city for the up-and-coming businesses." It sounded like he was talking from personal experience. "But fear not, for there's always room for the talented! Here you are, then! Good luck, my friend!"

It wasn't long before Ryung had managed his way back into the crooked room he was given during the worst of the storm last night. It took a lot of convincing for him to even take a stop, but the cold had become too dangerous to ignore. The risk was negligible in this crowded pier when compared to the peril of hypothermia.

"Are you three up?" Ryung called as he closed the wooden door. It creaked on it's way back to the it's place in the doorway.

Lavanya yawned, tangling her already bedraggled sheets into an even worse knot. "This isn't fair!" She grumbled. "It's only been a few hours!" She stuffed her head in the ragged pillow, covering her entire body into a cocoon. "I'm going back to sleep…"

"I'm sorry, Lavanya. We need to get going soon—bright and early. As soon as we get the temple you can sleep in," Ryung insisted, grabbing all the scattered clothes that were scattered on the floor and folding them sloppily in his rush. They still felt clammy from yesterday's fiasco, but Ryung had missed his chance to dry them out in the air while they slept. I don't even remember hitting the bed last night I was so exhausted.

"Dad, come on!" his daughter complained, now completely hidden under the beige covers.

"Lavanya! I'm serious!" Ryung said with astringent impatience. "Get changed! We need to get going as soon as possible!"

"Why are you being so mean?!" Lavanya cried back, sullen. She broke free from the covers, keeping her eyes burning at her father as if he was the most evil thing she ever set eyes upon. "Where's mommy, anyway—why are we leaving without her?"

"I—" Ryung caught something in his throat. Yuna…This is all my fault… "Look, sweetheart," he tried again, "Mommy's….busy. We're—er—moving from Republic City. You always say that the Island was boring. She'll—she'll join us soon." He turned away, unable to take his daughter's beautiful face any longer. He was on the verge of tears by the end of his explanation. How long before I have to come clean about it?

"Wait a minute," Ryung froze. He surveyed the rest of the room, only seeing Kalden sleeping quietly on the one side of his own tidy bed and Lavanya, who was laying on the floor, fully clothed. "Where's Aerika? Did she—did she go outside?!" He flustered, abashed.

"I dunno," his daughter murmured.

Despite it being obvious that she wasn't here, Ryung Jae continued to search frantically in the most obscure places. His heart and breath were taxing his chest of all the small pool of energy he had restored in the couple hours of sleep he had throughout the last three days.

"Gah!" He finally submitted after the redundant search. Aerika had gone off all on her own during the night. Best case scenario: she had wandered off to the wilderness, where no one could notice her. Worst…?

Ryung shuddered, turning his head towards the alarmed face of Lavanya. There's no other way…Time is against me… He decided, grimly. "I want you to listen to me very carefully." he stressed to his daughter. "Ecko is right on the edge of the forest up North. It's literally right up the road that faces out from the doorway—over there." He pointed through the window pane of the door. "I need you to follow that trail until you arrive back to the place that she's at. Do you remember where that is?"

Lavanya's neck was so strained that she could only muster a stiff nod.

"Stay to the side of the road, even if no cars are coming and do not talk to any strangers! Also, hold Kalden Very. Gently. Do you understand? I want you to keep a hold of him until I come back with your sister, okay? Get Kalden and yourself on Ecko's back and do not leave it under any circumstance. You'll be safer on her back than anywhere else in the world, Lavanya. Can you do that for me?"

"I—I think so." Lavanya shriveled from her father's severe tone.

"Good. I'm counting on you to do exactly what I said. Above all, be careful." Why am I allowing a seven year old to do something like this on her own? This may be even worse of an idea than bringing her further into the pier.

In the end, he had drawn the simple conclusion that he just needed to find Aerika as soon as possible. If he found her quick enough, his other children couldn't possibly get into too much trouble. It was a simple enough plan and sound, but it was nothing but luck could allow it to work. And I haven't had luck with me so far…

He decided it was best to look through the populous area first. Aerika would be in the greatest peril in the congested roads. If she was out in the woods, Ryung would have more to fear of her starving or being killed by some wildlife she came across if she wandered deep enough into the forest. Both of those things took a lot more time than exposure from her behavior.

A part of him hoped he would find his daughter in the dense market, but another fought audaciously against the hope. Not finding her in these areas was arguably a better scenario than locating her. She could be kidnapped or—or even worse…

To further rouse his ambivalence, there was no sign of her in the main plaza, the West market, or the East market. "Great… where next?" What if I missed her? I can't be very thorough if I haven't ask anyone. Is it too risky?!

Ryung never made up his mind, for a large, demented bird caught his heavy eyes with an interest that was even unclear to himself. After watching it for several, uninterrupted moments, the bird grew bigger and bigger as it neared towards the ground. Details unveiled themselves as it descended. Ryung gasped, horror-struck. There were thin, red sails behind the figure that now was clearly not a bird. No—it can't be!

"DADDY!" Aerika cried out before she landed right in front of him with a large gust of wind behind her. Her face was a total mess and her face shined with the tears that ran down her face.
"AERIKA, NO!" Ryung shouted, dismayed. She was not listening, however. At the sight of Ryung, she had become reckless and ran straight into his waist, squeezing the lower ribs that her short, frail hands could reach.

"That girl right there—she's an airbender!" a woman shrieked, cowering under her hands as she fell plummeted to the floor, trembling violently. A second's pause filled with confusion lingered in Ryung's mind as he and his daughter broke apart. No, don't do this… he thought, desperately. She's only ten, can't you all see that?

He couldn't speak his mind, however. Whether out of fear, shock, or even malice, he couldn't say—the words just kept in his throat.

A roar of flames that came from the crowd broke Ryung to action and he formed an adept air shield in the blink of an eye.

"The man! He's an airbender, too!" a different voice roared. It was unmistakably a grown man's voice, and by the sounds of it, a stout one at that. Ecko, I need you. Ryung pleaded, hoping against all hope, his bison could hear him in his distress.

Seeing another wave of fire, now backed up with countless boulders, come from the "brave" men who stood up against them, Ryung grabbed his daughter's staff out of her hands with superb agility. He put his own body completely in front of Aerika and slashed away at each projectile that met him face-to-face.

"Follow me!" he said after the barrage had caused a dust cloud large enough to give the pair of them some cover. He grabbed Aerika's shaking hand and led her down the closest alley he could find. He ran as fast as he could while still keeping hold of his daughter.

A man had landed right in front of them, stopping the two airbenders in their tracks. Ryung no longer held back. With a pulse of his hand, he blasted a abridged gust of wind straight into the man's torso. He was repelled approximately six meters and collapsed into wooden crates. They snapped from the impact with a croak and spit the wine that was inside all across the grey pavement.

He continued to sprint from the raging crowd behind him. Aerika was being half-dragged as they went. She had skipped several steps, trying to get back on her feet. Ryung Jae, however, was too nervous to slow down. He couldn't even face her at the moment, he was too frightened by the angry mob that chased after them.

Ryung swiped feverishly at a few of the outdoor stalls of foods, pottery, and other unknown stores that he past down the streets. As intended, it made a huge mess of that temporarily distracted the wiser pursuers while the more foolish continued through it, slipping on the scattered items and falling onto the ground.

Ryung Jae's heart leapt at the most beautiful sound he could've heard at this point in time: the triumphant, yet ruffled roar of a flying bison. He cocked his head in the sky, glossing over the sight, but nothing but the dark-blue and grey clouds hung above him. There was no great white beast within his sight.

"HEY! You!" several guards bellowed in front of him, hurrying down to meet him. He stopped, abruptly, and turned to the other side. The mass of people were still on his tail. There were no more cheap tricks or alleys that he could make his escape in. Great…now what? He was cornered.

Another thunderous growl resonated. It was now right above his head and, sure enough, there was the wonderful white beast, circling just above him. He pushed the trigger on the staff and the maroon sails shot out instantaneously.

"AERIKA! GRAB MY WAIST" Ryung hollered. He felt Aerika clasp onto his lower ribs after some difficulty jumping high enough on his back. He shot up into the air just as the guards desperately shot out cables in their general direction. Thankfully, the soldiers were still too far away for any effective attempts at apprehending the slippery airbenders.

After a few moments of a gushed breeze, Ryung landed lightly onto the bison's back. "Ecko! Yip-Yip!" The wind picked up again and the people down below were blocked by the surrounding buildings. They soon saw the pier itself slowly fade into the void of the horizon. Somehow, they had managed to escape everything, unscathed.

"Aerika! Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Ryung Jae called through the howling wind, studying his daughter's frightened face for the first time.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" she sobbed, hugging the edges of his broad back. "I—I didn't mean for this to—"

"It's okay. It's okay, Aerika." Ryung appeased her with a soothing stroke of her hair. Her voice allayed all the worries he had bottled up inside of him. "Everything is going to be all right." His eyes lingered around to see Lavanya and Kalden sitting scrunched up against one another in a small blanket. Lavanya had a drowsy, though relieved expression, but Kalden had miraculously fallen asleep through the mayhem that had unfolded underneath him.

Ryung exhaled a tense breath as he held Aerika's tiny body in his shaking arms.

Tears swelled in his eyes and dripped down his cheek, then fell to Aerika's fragile back, continuing their path until they met Ryung's spread fingers.

Many hours they all laid in Ecko's saddle, scrunched up together in the wide stretch of her back. Ryung could feel his two daughters' steady, tranquil breathing against his body as they leaned their heads on his chest and shoulder. He grimaced. I'm a terrible father. How could I ever subject my children to something like this? I'm so sorry, Yuna.

For the first time through their entire journey he felt confident enough to think of his wife again—even if it was out of shame. He looked out into the oncoming view for the hundredth time that day to see the faint shadow of a white temple with a subtle, blue roof. It was the nostalgic temple that Ryung had left as a child all those years ago…

If only Yuna could've seen this. She was always fascinated by ancient artifacts. Something as magnificent as this would've given her a field day. The sentiment replaced his grief with pure rage. This is all Charisma's fault. Ryung scowled at the failing sun, sinking below the horizon. One day I'll find her again—and this time, I won't hesitate. I'll kill her for what she's done to my family.

"Nilak" 尼罗河

"We're taking that?!" Taige's jaw dropped at the sight before her eyes.

The "boat" Nilak and her were leaving on easily had the bulk of an ocean liner. It was primarily covered in a greyish black that was outlined with both railings and rivets of navy blue.

"Yes," Karcsi carved an eerie grin at the pair of them. There was something about the councilman that set Nilak on edge. I'm being so prejudice; why must I be so rude behind his back?

"Oho! There's my two favorite people in the whole wide world!" Annovi exclaimed behind them. They all turned around at the same time to see him exiting an extravagant, silver convertible. He closed the door and quickly walked up to meet them.

"'Two favorite people in the world'?" Karcsi said mockingly in his habitual monotone. "You are a true breaker of hearts, Anno."

Anno chuckled as he was hugging Taige. "Oh Karcsi, you never cease to surprise me with what words come from your mouth!" He extended a rough hand onto one of Karcsi's bony shoulder blades and pulled him closer to the hug.

Karcsi seemed lost in this partial three-man group hug and he kept as much distance as Annovi's thick, tan arms would allow. "You should really loosen up, my friend!" Anno patted his back amicably.

There was no reply. Karcsi kept his body tense and awkwardly loose during the entire ordeal. The head councilman seemed to notice his efforts were in vain and decided to ignore the foreign behavior.

"Why exactly are we taking such an excessively large ship? Isn't it just me and Nilak that are going?" Taige asked, still in awe of the towering vessel.

"It's a war ship—Oh don't worry, though!" Anno reassured, noticing the pair's identical faces of pure terror. "It's just a scouting ship of the Northern Water Tribe. Anyway, it was the quickest and safest ship we could get back to these docks that was neither occupied nor in a scrap yard for repairs or renovation. Er—what is this baby called again, Karcsi?"

"Aurora. Her captain is Ulva Meeres, I believe."

"Aurora!" Anno exclaimed, once again on the balls of his feet. "Oh I do like that name! Now where was I?

"Ah, yes—that's right. Since Aurora is such a hefty ship, it requires a considerable sized crew. There are about two hundred on board, but the ship was to be relocated to Beijia, regardless, so do not fret! You're not being a major nuisance or anything. Quite the contrary! They're—er…"

"The ship was to be relocated to Beijia regardless," Karcsi finished for Anno. "It is quite fortunate that our destinations are so convenient with one another."

"So I guess—" Taige started.

Aurora blew its deafening horn and completely drowned out her voice. The sound matched that of a thousand blaring trombones that filled the otherwise barren docks.

"The ship is embarking in five minutes!" Anno gasped, unable to believe the time his pocket watch displayed. "You guys should get settled in before it sets sail!"

He eagerly half-led, half-shoved them towards gangplank that was completely congested with a mass of people chaotically funneling into the single-filed line of security.

"All righty then," Anno sighed, looking at Nilak and Taige with a slight hint of regret. "here are your tickets." He stuffed them into Nilak's hand and took several steps back.

"I'm—well—I'll—I'm gonna miss you guys," he said mournfully. His brown eyes were glistening with the tears that swelled in them. "Take care you two, all right?"

Nilak nodded but Taige was too busy holding back her own tears. He shook both of their hands firmly before leaving them to join the pack of people.

"Nilak, Taige," a soft voice called behind them. Karcsi was coming up to them, to both of their surprise.

"Yes?" Taige said as he approached.

"Be careful out there," he crucially warned them. "We only know what the surface of Beijia's distrust is. They may have far deeper roots than we've anticipated, so keep a watchful eye. I'm hoping it won't come to it, but if things get too dangerous, or if you feel threatened, get out of there. Don't stick your neck out too far for the sake of Republic City. Promise me you'll acknowledge when it's a lost cause and flee immediately."

"I—I promise," Taige stuttered, caught off guard by his somber warning.

'I promise.' Nilak motioned with his hands. He knew Karcsi couldn't understand, but it was simple enough for him to guess. The pale councilman grinned almost warmly at Nilak for making the promise for himself.

"Thank you. I hope this doesn't amount to anything, but caution is never a bad exercise. Watch over your backs—as well as one another's." He stared at them for a second before turning around and going off into the crowded roads of Republic City.

After a tedious wait through the disordered line, they had gotten onto the main deck of Aurora with little space to breathe in let alone move around. 'I thought only the crew were on board,' Nilak motioned, skeptical.

Taige didn't seem to notice his observation, since they were cramped on all sides by the clearly overpopulated main deck. Nilak couldn't really blame her. His hands were forced to press against his chest in an almost concealed manner because of the crowd. It was better that they got below deck and then figured things out.

As if reading his thoughts, she grabbed his hand and led them forward. Nilak's face burned up at her touch, not anticipating her straightforward gesture. They went down the first flight of stairs they encountered during their blind wandering. The noise deadened a great deal once they had descended.

"Are you okay?" Taige asked, concerned. "Your face is really red! Do you feel all right?"

'Is it?' Nilak fingered with jittery hands. 'I feel fine.' He smiled in an attempt to hide the anxiety that was pulsing through his entire body. You're a total idiot…

"Let me see." His sad excuse for a cover up seemed to fulfill Taige's criteria to his amazement. "Crap, our cabins are in completely different sections…"

'Really?' Nilak tried his best not to look disappointed. If there was one thing that he was looking forward to in this trip, it was the amount of time he could spend with Taige. 'How far off?'

"Well…" She grabbed the map they were given after passing through security. "Yours is A-93 and I'm—er—C-51. Oh well! I guess we can really do anything about that; do you want me to find your room or is it all right if I go straight to mine?"

'I'm good, thanks. I'll meet you in the A-F dining hall in a couple hours then? Once I've settled in I'd really like to get some lunch.'

"Sure! See you then. Bye, Nilak!" Taige called, waving as she went further into the narrow hallway. She bumped into someone while she was looking away. "Oops! Sorry, sir!"

Nilak took a deep breath, hoping that the worst of this hectic morning was behind him. He flipped open the folded map again and looked at it while holding his ticket in the opposite hand. Now where do I go?

He must've overestimated his independability. He had followed the same path that he saw Taige go off to, hoping that he could salvage his mistake, but he only became gradually more lost and confused.

She must've known where we were; why didn't I ask her when I had the chance? How am I possibly going to get help now? He embarrassment swell inside him from his pitiful sense of direction. Each hallway was quite familiar if not identical to all the previous ones. He still didn't see a sign or any form of indication that would help him navigate with the map. What did I expecting? A map on one of these walls complete with a "You are here" sticker? This is a warship not a cruise…

After almost forty-five minutes of wandering, he knew there was no way he could do this on his own. Why did I have to be so proud? Nilak plumped his butt on the fence-like floor. It made a shrill noise from the sudden change of weight. I'm more hopeless on my own than a small child…

I'm going to have to find someone… he thought, shameful. How on earth am I going to explain everything? He looked around him, hoping someone would pass by and he could just muster an incredibly lost expression to explain it all. He knew it wouldn't be that simple and surrendered the pity act.

First door I see, I'll go in. He got up and continued on straight or at least his straight. There was no real way to tell which direction it corresponded to along the ship. Regardless, it didn't take long before he found a bulkhead hatch to his right and put his entire body's strength into opening the thick, adamant steel. The sight behind it made his chest tighten with remorse and apprehension.

At least twenty people were seated in front of their own monitor, telegraph, radio, conning or even a sonar screen. In the middle of all the tech was a meter in diameter helm. Great! I found the control room…

Some of the workers had glanced at him for a moment before returning back to their jobs. Nilak could see from the large window that they were already sailing far off in the ocean. Er—maybe I'll try the next door…

"Who are you?" A tall, robust woman walked towards him. Her dark-amber hair was tied back in a tight bun above her tan, pretty face that seemed mismatched with the rest of her body. She had the broadest shoulders Nilak had ever seen on a woman as well as a muscular torso that was outlined with her tight, black thermal shirt. Over the shirt, she had a thick, black, wool coat that covered from her collarbone all the way down to her knees. The fur on the inside had a somewhat mesmerizing blend of every shade of brown Nilak had ever known and more. To top off her bizarre, yet alluring outfit, she wore a general service cap with a small chain that hung down on the side of her face to brush the tip of her shoulder. "Sir, who are you?" She repeated with suspicious, grey eyes.

"Captain, you have a message from Central Command," a worker called from behind.

Capt—captain?! Nilak gaped at her as if she transformed into an entirely new person.

"Not now, Xing, can't you see I'm busy?" she called back, without breaking eye contact with Nilak.

He pinched a small layer of skin on the surface of his throat, hoping against all hope that the Captain could take his meaning.

"What's wrong with you; can't you speak?" she asked. Her powerful expression slackened slightly to Nilak's relief. He shook his head vigorously.

"Ah." The Captain opened her mouth. "I see… You're the silent one aren't you? Yeah, Karcsi told me about you and your partner. It's nice to meet you, Councilman, but why exactly have you come to the bridge? Is there something I can do for you?"

He pulled out the pencil in his right pocket and wrote , ironically, on the map. [I'm sorry, I got lost on the ship and accidentally wound up here.]

"That's all right—Aurora can be quite a maze for a foreigner," she said strangely detached. "Bao?"

"Yes, Captain." A young man with a goatee got up from his chair and sat in a seat so grand that it could only be the Captain's chair.

"If you would follow me, Councilman." The woman led the way, not even asking what his ticket info was. Nilak trailed behind, awestruck by her the aura of dominance she so absentmindedly initiated.

"My name's Ulva Meeres, by the way," she said after cutting through a corner. Nilak was astonished by how fast her pace was considering her leisurely manner.

"Captain!"

"Captain—"

"Cap'n…"

They had encountered some of the excessive number of crew members. They all abruptly stopped at the sight of Ulva Meeres and many saluted her as they passed. Nilak ascertained he was fascinated by this mysterious Captain.

"A-93, right?" she asked, looking at him for the first time since they left the bridge.

He nodded after double checking the ticket that was clenched his sweaty hand.

She opened one of the several cabin doors and held the door for Nilak to go ahead. It was a lot nicer than Nilak had anticipated, considering his disastrous experience of the ship so far. There was an enormous window up against most of the wall of the room. Vintage, yet brandished furniture was neatly placed along the hardwood floor. There was even some rugging in the dining room next to a circular carpet in small, handsome kitchen. Admittedly, it was at least three times as large as his own apartment in Republic City and six times as luxurious.

[Thank you very much for your hospitality] he scribbled on the notepad with a grateful bow.

"Don't mention it," Ulva replied, though her face was as stiff as stone. "There are two pairs of keys for your room inside the safe over there; the combination is on your ticket. Enjoy your stay on Aurora, Councilman.'

A sting of guilt arose after she had shut the door on Ulva way out. Nilak wasn't really that comfortable in such an extravagant and excessive living space. It was why he still hadn't left his run-down apartment in Republic City, despite having enough money to easily live in a fairly expensive home. He didn't really care for these kinds about having these kinds of things.

It's only for a few days…