Chapter 30:
A cart moved across its track which moved over plains, paddocks and farm land below. It was pushed by two earth benders and consisted of four carts. Katara, Aang and Freya sat on one side of the cart as Sokka and Toph sat on the other. Katara was rubbing her shoulders and Sokka looked bored as a few other refugees joined them in the carts.
"Look, the inner wall. " Katara patted Aang's shoulder as she caught a glimpse of it and they all turned to have a look. The inner wall was just as big, thick and as grand as the outer wall and the cart headed straight for a small hole within it.
"I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece." Katara grinned
"Well it was bound to happen, we might hit our problems but we are rather resourceful at getting through them." Freya smiled
"Hey don't jinx it!" Sokka snapped "We could still be attacked by some giant, exploding Fire Nation spoon. Or find out the city's been submerged in an ocean full of killer shrimp."
"You been hitting the cactus juice again?" Toph asked as she stroked Momo who was sitting in her lap.
"I'm just sayin', weird stuff happens to us." Sokka confessed
"We can't really argue with him there." Freya believed with a sigh. A man suddenly walked forwards with a whole cob of corn in his mouth and he slumped down between Sokka and Toph who stared at him confused as he chewed on the vegetable.
Freya, Katara and Aang stared out the window as the wall approached before Aang frowned and lowered his gaze. The girls noticed and Katara smiled.
"Don't worry Aang, we'll find Appa." she assured
"It's such a big city." Aang sighed
"Where's that confidence from yesterday?" Freya questioned confused. Sokka jumped over to them.
"He's a giant bison. Where could someone possibly hide him?" The boy leaned on the seat and looked out the window as they entered the wall. Light shone through the tunnel and soon a giant city sat before them. Houses littered almost every inch of the ground and the rail car moved off in different directions of the city. The roofs were all dull green and another wall sat stretching on ahead of them in which more buildings could be seen. "Oh." Sokka realised.
They stared around, the walls joined many of the houses and trees grew through the gaps of the buildings. In the centre was a station and the carts came to a stop within it where the five disembarked and stared at all the buildings surprised.
"There's so many… they've really crammed a lot of people in here since the last time I came." Freya believed frowning.
"Back in the city. Great." Toph sighed as they looked out from the station.
"What's the problem? It's amazing!" Sokka thought.
"Just a bunch of walls and rules. You wait; you'll get sick of it in a couple of days." Toph believed as Momo dozed on her shoulder.
"Not all of us are as rebellious as you are," Freya said and they all looked at her "But I did have a little trouble the last time I was here. Though I was younger. And considering we've been by ourselves and away from adults for how long…?"
Aang was staring down at the bison whistle which he held in his hand. He rose it and blew on it, the silent noise hopefully carrying out over the houses.
"I'm comin' for you buddy." Katara walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's here. I can feel it."
"And we're gonna find him." Freya agreed and she smiled at the avatar.
The cart began to move from behind them and Sokka and Toph turned to see a women with black hair, pale grin dress and a creepy large grin on her face facing them from the other side of the track. She walked over to them and the three other benders turned to face her as she approached.
"Hello, my name is Joo Dee. I have been given the great honour of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka, Katara, Freya, and Toph. Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?" She asked, her voice was very cheery and she held her hands behind her back as she spoke. Freya rose an eyebrow at her as Sokka smiled and reached for his bag.
"Yes. We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King immediately."
"Great, let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it." Joo Dee completely ignored Sokka's statement and turned to walk away as Sokka looked irritated and confused.
He ran after her, dragging his bag and Joo Dee stopped to smile at him.
"Augh! Maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the King about the war, it's important." he confessed
"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here." she responded and they looked at her surprised.
"Okay, something's wrong." Freya believed.
Joo Dee lead them out of the station and down to a cart that was being pulled by an Ostrich horse. They were guided through the streets of the little houses and shops, the walls looking like they'd once been white but were now dirty and slightly stained. Some of the houses didn't look very happy or well looked after and Freya had a feeling this was where all the refugees were first sent when they arrived at Ba Sing Se.
"This is the lower ring." Joo Dee explained.
"What's that wall for?" Katara asked as she pointed
"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls. There are the ones outside protecting us, and the one's inside that help maintain order. This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsman and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively." Joo Dee believed.
"Basically the poor get put here and the wealthy closer to the palace." Freya said and Aang and Katara looked out the window with her. There were two people talking who glared instantly at the cart as one held a rather large sword in his hands.
"You do want to watch your step though." Katara looked at the man worried.
"Why do they have all these poor people blocked off in one part of the city?"
"This is why I never came here before. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live." Aang said as he looked around out the window.
"Yeah separating the less fortunate from the more fortunate. They don't get much of a chance to move up to the upper ring." Freya agreed "It really hasn't changed."
They moved through the lower ring and towards one of the large walls where they were let through to the next part of the city.
"This is the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, home to the financial district, shops and restaurants and the university." Joo Dee explained. They immediately passed over a bridge with a river and the houses were already much nicer. The roofs were a bright green, the white walls were well maintained and gold ran over the tops of tiles. There was more space, less tents and less buildings.
"Yeah, we met a Professor from Ba Sing Se University. He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war that is absolutely crucial for the King to hear!" Sokka snapped at Joo Dee
"Isn't history fascinating? Look, here's one of the oldest buildings in the middle ring, Town Hall." she changed the topic and pointed out the window as she grinned. She got up as the cart stopped and walked out.
"Okay, she's dodging everything about the war. Why?" Freya asked as they stared off after her surprised.
"Yeah, is that woman deaf? She only seems to hear every other word I say." Sokka said
"It's called "being handled". Get used to it." Toph explained and the others looked annoyed.
"Look the faster we have this tour and see the house they've apparently given us, the faster she can run out of things to dodge the topic with. Let's hurry up with it and see what happens at the end." Freya said
"We can't wait for that!" Sokka snapped at the older girl.
"Well the more you press, the longer it'll take anyway apparently." Freya believed and Sokka hung his head annoyed.
The five did as they were told and they followed Joo Dee around to look at historical places. Eventually they moved to the next wall and through to the next section of the city. Here the houses had red roofs, several stories, several buildings, courtyards, gardens and there were several lakes that gave the scenery a lovely look as hills and trees grew amongst the buildings.
"The Upper Ring is home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here." Joo Dee explained, still smiling.
"Think her cheeks ever get sore?" Freya whispered to Aang and Toph who chuckled.
The cart continued and they eventually reached a magnificent red wall in which a golden rooftop sat beyond. Green archways sat guarded opposite them and the Earth Kingdom symbol was on the red wall in green and gold.
"What's inside that wall?" Katara asked
"And who are the mean looking guys in robes?" Sokka wondered as he pointed to the soldiers wearing all black with green symbols on their chests, yellow on their cuffs and collars and green tuffs from the tops of their black hats.
"Inside is the Royal Palace. Those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions." Joo Dee explained
"Can we see the King now?" Aang wondered
"Oh, no! One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King." Joo Dee said as though it was obvious. Aang hung his head as Toph was slumped beside him and the water tribe members stared at the women.
Eventually the carriage came to another stop and Joo Dee walked out of the cart. There was a house before them, it had a porch, a golden orange roof, steps to the front door which was brown with gold and seemed rather large.
"Here we are. Your new home." Joo Dee stood at the foot of the steps as the five turned to look at it. A man in black and green suddenly ran up to Joo Dee and she took a scroll from the man who then left. "More good news, your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about a month. Much more quickly than usual." Joo Dee read.
"A month!" Sokka asked stunned as they looked surprised
"Six to eight weeks, actually." she corrected.
"I'm gonna burn her." Freya decided and Katara grabbed her arm as she stepped forwards.
The girl huffed.
Joo Dee moved forwards and the five were escorted inside. There was a green mat and chairs in the centre as lanterns hung from the celling and a few rooms off the middle one. A set of stairs sat towards the back and a raised platform was lined with windows and curtains.
"Isn't it nice? I think you will really enjoy it here." Joo Dee smiled
"I think we'd enjoy it more if we weren't staying so long. Can't we see the King any sooner?" Sokka questioned
"The Earth King is very busy running the finest city in the world, but he will see you as soon as time permits."
"Time permits." Freya mumbled before she sighed
"If we are going to be here for a month, we should spend our time looking for Appa." Aang decided
"We can't be here for a month, the Fire Nation wont stop just because we're inside the wall." Freya believed
"We don't have much of a choice." Aang believed and Freya groaned.
"I'll be happy to escort you anywhere you would like to go." Joo Dee smiled
"No thanks." Freya immediately declined as Toph got to her feet.
"We don't need a babysitter." Toph agreed but Joo Dee moved to standing in the girl's way.
"Oh, I won't get in the way. And to leave you alone would make me a bad host."
"You're already a bad host." Freya believed
"Where shall we start?" Joo Dee wondered and Toph turned away from the girl.
"How about we start by splitting up?" Freya whispered to Aang "She can't watch us all." Aang looked at the girl and then to the grinning women.
"We'd better cooperate is we want to see the King. We can't jeopardise that." Freya slumped
"Of course."
"Told you you'd get sick of the rules." Toph muttered
"And I agreed with you." Freya nodded.
Joo Dee followed them as they moved through the town to find shop owners who may have heard rumours or whispers. They started in the Lower district where they found a pet store owner. Momo jumped down to start eating the pet food before an Owl Cat screeched down and chased the lemur off.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard anything about a flying bison. I didn't even know there were any." The shop keeper admitted.
"There's one." Freya admitted
"If someone wanted to sell a stolen animal without anyone knowing, where would they go?" Aang wondered
"Where's the black market? Who runs it? Come on, you know!" Sokka snapped, leaning at the man and pointing at his face.
"Uh…" the man looked over at Joo Dee who shook her head slowly as she still smiled. "That would be illegal. You'll have to leave now. Your lemur is harassing my sparrowkeets."
The lemur continued to eat the birds food despite them scratching and bitting at his head.
They left the shop and then moved off towards other stores, including heading to the middle ring and to the university. Sokka moved off to a student sitting with his books and questioned him next.
"Hmm, I've never seen any sandbenders or nomads around here. You should ask Professor Zei, he teaches the class on dessert cultures." he confessed
"I guess you haven't noticed that he's gone then." Freya said, her arms crossed
"Right. And which of your professors could we ask about the war with the Fire Nation?"
"Uh," Joo Dee again shook her head as she leaned forwards and Sokka glanced at her as Freya noticed. The women smiled at Sokka who turned back to the student. "I don't know. I'm not a political science student. I have to get to class." he got up with all his scrolls before falling over and dropping them. The group watched as he quickly gathered his belongings and ran off.
Joo Dee waved happily.
After several more of the same answers and no good information to lead them in any direction the group returned to their house. The grinning women stopped as they got out of the carriage and she did not.
"Well, I'm sorry no one has seen your bison. Why don't you go get some rest? Someone will be over with dinner later." Joo Dee finally left the house as the carriage moved away and left the five standing at the foot of their steps.
"She annoys me. She annoys me so much it makes my fire burn hotter." Freya admitted
"You're fire's already white hot how can it get any hotter?" Aang asked
"Emotions hold a strong connection." Freya confessed. "Everyone we talked to I swear they looked at her and I saw her shake her head a few times. No one will speak to us if she's around."
Sokka however had noticed something across the road from their house and quickly Katara and Aang noticed too, causing Freya to look.
Across the road through their neighbours door was a man peeking at them. He moved out the way as they noticed him.
"Hey, come with me." Sokka whispered.
They moved across the street and Sokka knocked on the door. The man appeared, opened it and grinned brightly at them.
"You're the Avatar. I heard you were in town. I'm Pao." he introduced
"Nice to meet you Pao." Aang smiled as Momo sat on his shoulder.
"So Pao, what's goin' on with this city? Why is everyone here so scared to talk about the war?" Sokka asked.
Immediately the old man's eyes shifted left and right.
"War? Scared? What do you mean?" he asked
"I can feel you shaking." Toph admitted
"Look, I'm just a minor government official. I've waited 3 years to get this house. I don't want to get into trouble." he looked around again nervously.
"Get in trouble with who?" Katara questioned
"Shh, listen, you can't mention the war here, and whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li." And he shut his door on them.
"Okay so those creepy guys that Joo Dee said were "agents" and "the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se", "guardians of all our traditions", they're basically soldiers and nab people who don'f follow their rules." Freya said as they glanced at one another.
The five headed back to the house and closed the door.
"So we can't mention the war, we can't ask about anything upsetting like black markets and if we do we'll be arrested." Sokka summed up
"If we can't ask about illegal things how can we find a bison who was stolen and sold illegally?" Freya asked "How can we do anything with her watching us? No one will talk with her around."
"It's amazing how scared everyone is in here." Katara believed
"Even those down in the lower ring who really have nothing to loose too." Sokka added
"That's a bit harsh Sokka." Freya said "They're safe here, isn't that enough?"
"That's what's important, they came here for refuge and safety from the Fire Nation, if pretending the war doesn't exist is the price for that I don't think it's that high to give."
"It's not for them, but we need to stop this war, it's part of your job." Sokka said pointing to Aang "How do we do that when we can't even mention it?"
"We'll figure something out, I'm sure one women can't keep track of all five of us. Like Sokka said, weird things happen to us." Freya said
"Well I say we do as she says and gets some rest for now, we'll try to look for Appa again tomorrow." Katara said.
"Like it'll be any better." Freya mumbled.
Everyone agreed though and they lazed around the house until dinner was brought to them before they all decided to head off to bed.