"What's wrong with these people?" asked Jet. "None of them knows what's going on. They won't even listen to us. How can they be so willing to be blind?"
Long Shot shrugged.
"Walls and secrets my butt, these people are still human, and they should be able to grasp the concept of a simple threat."
Smellerbee sighed, and then spoke. "If it's as easy as this to trick someone, then I guess it'd be easy to control them. There are those who aren't fooled, just scared. Looks like you were right about the Dai Li's closeness to the fire nation. Two days with no results is a bit discouraging."
Long Shot tipped his head so that Jet could see his eyes.
"That's a good idea, but how many other angles do you see?" asked Jet. "We can't trick them ourselves, we're having enough trouble telling them the truth. And we obviously can't do it ourselves. They utterly outnumber us."
Another glance from the silent archer cause Jet to think. "Well, that'd be difficult. Really difficult. But we might be able to figure something out. I'll have to think about that. But right now I'm tired, and I'm thirsty." he stopped walking and looked up at the sign of the Jasmine Dragon. "You two up for some tea?"
Iroh smiled as he saw the three now familiar faces entering his tea shop. "What can I get you?" he asked. Zuko came up behind his uncle, and a small smile reached his lips as he saw the guests.
"Some tea is all I'm afraid." Jet answered. "I'd like some blackberry if you have any."
Smellerbee gave her order. "Litchi tea, if you don't mind."
Long Shot nodded.
"Ok." said Uncle. "Blackberry, litchi and chai it is then."
Zuko's face reflected confusion. "What?" he asked. "He didn't say anything."
"Yes he did, you just didn't hear it." said Iroh. Zuko rolled his eyes.
When he had a break, Zuko came to sit with the three of them. He sat down next to Long Shot and leaned against the wall. "Hey, how's it going?" he asked. He had become a great deal more comfortable with the freedom fighters since the incident.
"Maybe you can help us." said Jet. "We've got a problem. I've been thinking about what you said regarding the Dai Li. It seems to me that they exhibit many of the flaws and evils I tried to fight against when I fought the fire nation. We've decided to try and bring them down so that the city will be free to see the war around it. But we need to assemble an organization to do so, and we can't find anyone who will even say that the Dai Li are anything but honorable. Obviously their view of honor is very different from ours."
"I see." Zuko said. "And do you have any ideas on how to change that?"
"Well, Long Shot suggested that we could force the Dai Li to behave dishonorably in public, and we were trying to come up with an idea for how to do that."
"Ah." Zuko leaned forward. "Well, obviously your first problem is figuring out what the commoners would view as unfavorable, and then you'll have to find something that you can make them do."
Jet stared at the table. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at that kind of thing." he said.
"Well, villagers hate a lot of things." Zuko thought for a bit. "Taxes being a prime example. Abuse, murder, theft, rape, misuse of power. And of course they're always whispering of prophesy."
"How would that help us?"
"Well, maybe most of them really don't feel any enmity toward the Dai Li, but there will always be those who do. What you really need is a way to draw out those ones. If you start a rumor about a prophesy regarding the downfall of the Dai Li, then the true colors of whomever hears it will be shown in his reaction. And, it might make the Dai Li anxious, which would cause them to tighten their hold on the populace, losing more allies in the process."
"Lee, that's brilliant!"
"Thanks, but if you try that method, don't let it be your only plan. You need a backup idea, just in case. Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
"You're right." Jet sucked on his wheat stem. "But I'm not much good at these things. What kind of prophesy would get people's attention?"
Zuko stood. "Tell them that it has long been foretold," he said, "that The Blue Spirit would bring low the Dai Li and free Ba Sing Se. That should do the trick. The Blue spirit is a myth and a legend, making him the perfect subject for prophesy."
The next morning, three men stood talking at a restaurant bar called Mina's Chickengoose. One of the men was Jet.
"I heard that a Dai Li agent was killed a few nights ago." said one who was not Jet.
"Really?" he asked. "I thought the Dai Li were all but invincible."
"Yea, found his body in an alley. Marks looked like broadswords."
"Interesting." Jet wore a long flowing blue robe and a rice hat on his head. He had foregone the wheat today, to help disguise himself. "I have to wonder…"
"Wonder about what?" asked the man.
"Oh, nothing really. It's just that several years ago my grandfather told me a story about a prophesy, back when I was still young and easily influenced. He said that One day the Dai Li would be overcome by The Blue Spirit, and that the city would be free and peace would be restored."
The other men looked at each other, their expressions betraying temporary horror.
"It's not safe to talk like that." said one. "Your grandfather must have been a brave man to say such things."
Jet smiled. "He died years ago, far from here at the hands of the fire nation."
The men checked about themselves to be certain that no one was near enough to hear them.
"Do you know who made this prophesy?"
"Unfortunately my grandfather would be the one to ask about that, and as I said, he's dead."
"Things are already pretty peaceful. The Dai Li are peacekeepers, not peace offenders."
"So you say, and so they say. But what do your eyes tell you? What does your heart really say? You have seen the way they treat people here. They may keep peace, but a bad peace is even worse than war."
"But there is no war in Ba Sing Se."
"One has to wonder how well the Dai Li would fare if there was one."
The three became quiet as some citizens walked behind them. Jet's smile returned, broader this time. He knew that elsewhere in the city, Long Shot and Smellerbee were doing similar things, and he knew that the men he had spoken to were thinking.
Three days later, the freedom fighters met back at the Jasmine Dragon. They sat and sipped their tea, discussing their progress until Zuko came to join them.
"Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite freedom fighters." said Zuko. "How is stuff going?"
"Pretty well actually." Jet set his tea cup down on the table. "We've done nothing but spread rumors for the last three days. At first people were cold and unresponsive, but then we met some who were hopeful, and said the Dai Li were a thorn in the side of this city, and seemed almost certain to tell their closest friends. The news is sweeping over the city, in hushed voices, and as you say it is bringing true colors to the light on every side. Some people have even reported seeing The Blue Spirit. Even some who never thought about it before have come to view the Dai Li as they are simply because of this prophesy. You're a genius, Lee. It's working just as you said it would. Soon we can start recruiting, and planning strategies. And none of it would have happened if not for you."
Zuko smiled. "I've heard rumors that The Blue Spirit is about. And I've been helping spread the rumor too, though not here. It'd be bad for business."
"Awesome. Glad to have your help." said Jet.
"So what are you going to do now?" asked Zuko.
"Look for people again I guess. I think we'll find some this time."
Two days later, the three slumped into the tea shop again, and ordered their usuals.
"What's the matter?" asked Zuko, as he brought their orders.
"All the people we told have been mind wiped." said Jet. "We're essentially right back where we started. And worse yet…" he pulled a piece of paper from a bag on his belt and spread it on the table. On it were two pictures of him. It was well drawn; whoever the artist was had some real talent, as well as real cheek. The pictures depicted him from different angles, and both included his normal stalk of wheat.
"You look good." said Zuko, sarcastically.
"Thanks, obviously they really want me bad."
Zuko's eyes read the print at the bottom. "Reward: The Whisperer, two hundred gold coins, for crimes against the earth kingdom." He looked up. "I wondered why you didn't wear the wheat today."
"Yea, we've got problems, obviously. We may have to do this on our own, or at least look elsewhere." Jet looked up at Zuko's golden eyes, preparing to judge a reaction. "Our friend The Blue Spirit has been busy again."
"Really?"
"He's killed several guards now. It appears someone who heard our rumor didn't get caught, and has been putting on the mask almost every night for a while now. Dai Li are dropping like flies, and he's got an impressive reward on his head too. Eight hundred. Four times what they'll give for me."
Zuko smiled. "Sounds to me like you're not entirely alone." he said, and returned to his work.