She wasn't anything like what he expected.
As Howl and Yumi sat in the living room discussing Seina's avatar training, Rohan had snuck away to a side room to give them some privacy. He sat, peering out of the window onto the deserted street below, thinking about how much had changed in such a short period of time.
He was the last airbender. He was teaming up with an untrained Avatar in a city completely oppressed by Equalists. And for what purpose? He still wasn't quite so sure.
"So...you're an airbender?" The quiet voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned around. She stood in the doorway, a small smile on her lips. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't scare me." Rohan's voice came out more petulant than he would have liked. "And yes, I am. Why?"
She raised and lowered a shoulder, moving further into the room to take a seat across from him. "I've never met one before, I thought they were all dead."
Rohan frowned, not used to hearing the information he had only learned two days ago tossed around so casually. "Apparently not all of them."
She gave him an assessing look. "If you don't mind me asking, who are your parents? Were you related to Avatar Aang?"
Of course she would be interested in his relation to a previous Avatar. He nodded. "I'm his grandson. My father was killed in the original battle for Republic City."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It happened a long time ago."
An awkward silence descended on them, and he turned to look out of the window once more. "Do you think your mother will let you come train with us?"
She shrugged. "It doesn't matter what she says, I am going to come train with you. If I'm..the avatar...then I can't just sit around waiting for something to happen." She stumbled over the word as if it were foreign. She stuck out her tongue. "It all seems so surreal."
"Tell me about it."
They fell into a more companionable silence, listening to the exchange of words from the other room. Yumi's voice raised and lowered with her emotions, while Howl's remained the same level-comforting and pleading at the same time.
"Where is your father?" Rohan asked before he could stop himself. He hurriedly looked up to make sure he hadn't offended her or upset her in any way, and was relieved to see that she was smiling.
"He's traveling," she said, with fondness in her voice. "He has family in the Fire Nation, so he spends some time over on one of the colonies to bring back wares for the store." Her eyes lowered and her voice took on a more somber tone. "I worry what will happen now that I won't be here to help out."
"She is not going and that's final!"
Seina's head snapped up. "Mother," she growled. "I am going, there's no way I can stay in Ba Sing Se if I'm the Avatar. I'll put us all in danger."
From the other room, Yumi turned around to face her daughter. "But Seina, if something were to happen to you..."
"I have to, mom," the younger girl interrupted. "I can't stay here, you know I can't."
The older woman hung her head in defeat, rubbing a hand tiredly along her brow. "You always were too stubborn for your own good," she mumbled, turning back to the table. "Very well," she said to the White Lotus sentry. "You take good care of her, and you make sure she sends a telegram every now and again so I know she's okay."
"Thank you. I know how hard this must be for you..."
"No, you don't." Her sharp words cut him off, and her hands gripped the table. "You go tonight, before I can change my mind." She stood up slowly, her eyes landing on her daughter. "Seina, my dear..."
Rohan watched the girl across from him stand up and walk into her mothers arms. "I know, mom. I love you, and I'll be safe. I promise." She sniffed, burying her head into her mother's shoulder. "Tell dad bye for me, okay?"
"I will." Seina pulled back from the embrace, and her mother looked at her with obvious pride in her eyes. Rohan looked down, reminded uncomfortably of his own goodbye to his mother only two days prior.
"I always knew you were destined for great things." There was a twinkle in the older lady's eyes now. "Go, bring balance to the world." She looked out of the window, at a large black and red flag looming ominously outside on the street. "It sure needs you."
The two teenagers and the White Lotus guard left two hours later, carrying two small bags of clothes and supplies. They kept their heads down on the now completely darkened street, careful to avoid the attention of any Equalist guards stationed on the walls.
Being out after dark was not specifically forbidden by the new Equalist government, but it was an uncommon activity that often drew unwanted attention. Most citizens with business after hours would use a sanctioned Satomobile, not skulk around the sidewalks on foot.
Howl had left their Satomobile van parked in a quiet alleyway a few blocks away from the shop. They kept to the shadows, edging around the roads close to the tightly packed buildings. Howl led the way, with Rohan and Seina following closely behind. Rohan could hear his heart beating in his ears.
When they reached the alleyway, Howl held out a hand to stop them. He peered around the corner, and Rohan saw the muscles in his back stiffen. Rohan put a hand carefully on the building next to him and leaned around the White Lotus guard to see what was going on.
When he got a clear view of the alley, he gasped in shock and anger. Three masked Equalist guards were ransacking their van, slashing open bags of grain and throwing boxes of herbs everywhere. The van's doors were all wrenched open, and the trunk looked like it had a crowbar taken to it.
"What is it?" Seina whispered from behind him.
"Equalists," Howl responded, ushering both teenagers back away from the alley. "We have to move, we can't use the van to leave. We'll have to find another way out of the city."
As they frantically retraced their steps away from the Equalists, Rohan cast an angry glance back at the alleyway. "How did they find us?"
"The van isn't an officially sanctioned Satomobile," Howl responded in a low voice. "It's difficult for the White Lotus to obtain vehicles, since most of us are officially registered as dead. Some of our satomobiles are stolen, others are scavenged from Future Industry lots before they are shipped out. Since the Equalists keep a list of registered license plates, it's easy for them to spot ones that are not officially distributed."
Rohan hadn't thought about how hard it must be for the White Lotus members to get a Satomobile. He knew that they only shipped them to official Equalist approved businesses and citizens in good standing.
"Citizens in good standing" seemed to mean more and more "never had benders in your family" these days.
"Then how are we going to get out of here?" Rohan wasn't used to the larger city, and he was starting to panic at the thought of being trapped on the inside of the sparking fences.
"I know how we can get out," Seina replied, startling both her companions. She gave them a lopsided smile, which gave her the appearance of being at ease even though Rohan was sure she should be terrified. "Come on!"
She led them a few blocks further out of the lower ring, bringing them uncomfortably close to the wall and its accompanying Equalist guards. She turned them down an unmarked alley, bringing them out of the packed streets into-
"A menagerie?" Rohan asked, surprised and confused at the expanse of green extending out from the heavily populated city. Large enclosures and locked stables lined the sides of the field, which stretched out beyond the lower ring into the city outskirts.
"The official Ba Sing Se menagerie," she corrected, leading them to a set of stables on the left. "King Kuei commissioned the menagerie after his beloved bear died, hoping to bring joy to all of the citizens of Ba Sing Se."
"I'm surprised the Equalists didn't condemn it," Rohan replied. The three of them stopped at the stables, and she held out a hand to silence them.
She pulled out a pin from her pocket, squinting at a complicated looking lock one of the stables. She knelt down in front of the door, carefully inserting the pin into the lock and moving her hand slowly back and forth. Rohan heard the soft click of the lock popping open, and he stood silently with the White Lotus sentry as they watched her disappear into the stable.
This enclosure was large, and had barbed wire circling around the top of the fence. Rohan briefly wondered what sort of huge, dangerous creature was hiding behind that door. Badger moles? Catgators?
He was not, however, expecting the animal she brought out of the heavily locked cage.
"A shirshu." His voice came out flat and emotionless. Of course, it couldn't be something useful, like an ostrich horse or even an armadillo-lion, which would at least give them some fighting power against the Equalists. "How do you expect us to escape the city with a shirshu?"
Seina glared at him as she patted the creatures rough skinned back. "I'll have you know that Vera is an incredible traveler, and she can carry more than five times as much weight as one ostrich horse."
Rohan choked in disbelief. "You want us to ride that thing? Out of the city? Are you kidding me?"
She put a hand on her hip and glared at him. "Do you have any better ideas? Given your lack of planning I think this is our best option!"
Rohan opened his mouth to retort but Howl stepped in front of him before the words left his mouth. "The avatar is right. This is our best option. We cannot afford to stay here until sunrise, now that the Equalists have found our van. They will be looking for us." He looked at the creature. "How, exactly, do you expect us to ride that?"
"With this," Seina smiled and lifted up a saddle, which was little more than a glorified blanket. She secured it around the Shirshu's back and hopped on with practised ease.
Howl motioned for Rohan to climb up first, so he carefully put his foot in the saddle and lifted himself behind Seina on the Shirshu. He felt the rumbling of the creature's breath beneath his legs and suppressed a shudder. Howl climbed on the saddle behind them, Seina said something under her breath that he couldn't quite catch, and suddenly they were off.
Rohan immediately put his hands down on the saddle next to steady himself as the Shirshu climbed to a steady run. He felt the wind rushing past his face and was suddenly glad that Seina hadn't brought out an ostrich horse. He watched his surroundings as the menagerie faded away into a large field, with the fence around the city limits looming far in the distance.
"You know," Howl yelled up from the back of the saddle. "There aren't many documented instances of humans bonding with Shirshus. I can only think of one."
"Ah, you mean the bounty hunter," Seina replied. Rohan was glad that she kept facing forwards, even as she directed her words behind her. "I'm sure the legendary June had a much tougher time taming her Shirshu than I did." She patted the creatures gigantic hide. "Vera is a city animal; she couldn't survive in the wild since she doesn't have the poisonous, numbing bite that most Shirshu's have."
"She still looks dangerous enough," Rohan muttered.
"She's tough, and she can still track better than any other animal in the Earth Kingdom," was the reply.
"What did the Equalists think when you bonded with her?" Howl asked.
"They didn't know," she said. "I worked at the menagerie as a part time caretaker around my shop duties. Vera is usually confined to her pen, so they didn't see as she started to get more accustomed to me."
Howl let out a thoughtful hum. "Odd that you would chose a Shirshu for a spirit animal. I don't think I've heard of that happening before."
"A spirit animal?"
"All avatars have a spirit animal," he responded. "An animal guide they've bonded with, associated with their primary element. Kyoshi had an armadillo-lion, and the earth avatar before her had a badger mole."
She shrugged again. "Suits me. Hold on, here's the fence!"
Rohan tensed as the sparking fence came closer and closer. The shirshu leapt and his stomach sank uncomfortably. As the creature landed, all three passengers were thrown up to the front of the saddle. Rohan drew himself up, but was still pressed up against the back of the avatar. He blushed at the close contact and he could feel her rumbling laugh.
Rohan chanced a glance behind them and saw the fence disappearing into the distance. The towers of Equalist guards remained dark, and he hoped that meant that they weren't spotted.
"Where to?" Seina yelled, pulling up the reins and guiding the giant creature slightly to the right.
"We head east," Howl responded. "Our compound should be a short ride from here. With luck we will make it to by sunrise."