Chapter 12: Left Behind

Any Lower Ring citizen may apply to relocate to the Middle Ring. After filing the requisite forms (forms 65D, 73-78, and 99S which can be found at the Dai Li Reorganization Center in the Bur-Guan district), a Dai Li Magistrate will review the case within 2 to 6 months. The review shall consider a citizen's monetary affairs, employment history, criminal status, and social standing.

-Dai Li ordinance #271

Day 27 of the Siege of Ba Sing Se…

"You're short on payment, kid. Diahu ain't gonna be thrilled about that." The smoking man drawled out as he blew a puff from his tobacco roll right at Lee's face.

His jaw tightened with annoyance as he waved the smoke away, his eyes beginning to water at the irritant. "I told you that I am not light, I have all the money. Just not with me… in this exact moment.

"You trying to be funny, kid?"

"No, I swear. I had to ditch the payment from tonight, I came across a couple of Dai Li agents in the Middle Ring. I had hard enough time convincing them not to take me in for questioning, what do you think they'd do if they caught me with a sack of that much money?"

In a split second, Lee was hoisted up by his collar and slammed against the brick wall. The smoking man's stare bore holes through him, and Lee couldn't be sure if the smoke emanating from his nose was from his fury or his smoking. "You ditched an entire shipments worth of money cause you got scared? Do you even got a half a brain rattling in that head of yours?"

Lee steeled his nerves, a month ago this intimidation would have worked on him, but he had been through far too much in his short time at the job. Besides, he knew that he held all the cards. "I didn't lose the money, I know exactly where it is. I can go grab it in a couple days once the Dai Li have stopped patrolling that area."

The smoking man didn't release his grip on Lee; it only tightened. "Today."

"What? It's already after midnight!"

The smoking man dropped Lee unexpectedly before turning to walk out of the alley. "I come back here once, right after sunset. The money had better be here."

The threat was clear. Lee rubbed at his neck where his collar had been constricted before setting off; with a deadline like that he couldn't waste much time. Especially since he had to make a quick stop before going to the Middle Ring again.

It was another half hour before Lee arrived in Jin's neighborhood. There was a terrace two buildings over that conveniently allowed him to reach the roof. After that it was just two small jumps and he was right outside Jin's bedroom window.

Despite being on the strictest of timelines, Lee was not about to upset Jin further by not checking in with her after a job, as he had promised. He lifted the unlocked window just enough to slip inside.

"Hey." Jin called out softly from her bed.

Lee smiled, she always stayed up no matter how much he tried to convince her not to. "Hey."

Jin shifted to sit up in her bed and patted the spot next to her. "Come sit, how'd it go tonight?"

Lee's weary legs won out despite him promising to himself to make this a short stop. He settled onto the bed with a dull thud. The relief to be off his feet proved to be too much as he took it a step further and laid his back fully down. "It was… exhausting. And it isn't over yet."

Jin chewed at her lip as she gave him a curious gaze before she too leaned back to meet eye to eye. "What does that mean?"

Lee yawned loudly before responding. "It's… nothing. Don't…" His thoughts ended as he drifted to sleep.

As always, the warmth of sunset awoke Lee. His eyes cracked open slowly, desperately trying to grip to the last few moments of rest. He was fully awake a moment later though, suddenly under the realization he was not in familiar confines of his bedroom. Before his mind could fully catch up with him, Lee was on his feet and rushed for the door… before promptly tripping over the still sleeping Jin on the floor.

"Ow!" Jin grumbled with all the annoyance of someone who had just been woken up rather roughly. "What are you doing Lee?"

He didn't even spare her a look, his eyes scanning the room before diving to his neatly put away boots, something he couldn't remember doing. Puffing with frustration, he struggled with the knots as seemingly all knowledge of how to put on boots had suddenly escaped him. Then the pillow being tossed at his face halted all progress whatsoever.

"Quit fooling around, Jin!" He whisper-yelled at her, some part of his brain still wise enough to remember just how early in the morning it was.

Jin crossed her arms and marched right over to him before swatting away his hands and getting to work tying his boots; the process becoming too much of a bother to just stand and watch. "Do you mind telling me just what you think you're doing?"

Lee stared intently at the top of her head before realization finally dawned upon him. "I messed up, I ran an errand for you know who and I had to ditch the money to avoid the Dai Li. Now there's a sack of about a hundred gold pieces hidden in some Middle Ring alley."

Jin finished with his boots and met his gaze. "You hid it well?" He nodded in response and she looked at the ceiling in thought for a second before continuing. "Then let's go get it."

He somehow knew she would say that.

The southern gate leading into the Middle Ring, Duocaw Gate, was just opening as Jin and Lee approached it a few minutes past sunrise. Although it was under a mile away from Jin's house, its imposing structure deterred her and most other Lower Ring citizens from ever approaching. Twin towers rose from above the wall, which no doubt housed several Dai Li agents, their windows darkened by heavy curtains to prevent anyone from peering into them.

Although travel into the Upper Ring was infamously difficult, getting into the Middle Ring was no small feat either. The appeal for a day pass could took almost six weeks to be completed, assuming you would even be approved at all.

According to Lee though, they wouldn't be worrying about that today. A block away from the gate he led her down a dead end alley. A sad looking dried up well rose from the ground, and Lee wasted no time before removing the wood plank blocking the entrance.

"We have to go inside." He explained to Jin who was wearing a puzzled expression. She took his offered hand before squeaking in protest as Lee lifted her up to the rim of the well and in one smooth motion lifted her above it before unceremoniously letting go. A scream was forming at the back of her throat, but by the time she went to exhale her backside had already found the ground a mere few feet from the top of the well.

A thoroughly pleased looking Lee landed behind her, a mischievous smile forming on his mouth.

"You could have warned me…" Jin huffed out as she brushed the dirt from her clothes.

"Where's the fun in that?" Lee called out behind him as he began crawling through a small tunnel leading further underground.

With his back turned, Lee failed to see Jin sticking her tongue out at him before resigning herself to getting even dirtier and crawling after him. While the bottom of the well may have been spacious enough for them to stand in, this tunnel was small enough that they had to form a single file line and go in on their hands and knees.

"I hope you know what you are doing." Jin said angrily after Lee had accidentally kicked up some dirt in her face. The sunlight from the well was quickly beginning to diminish and with Lee blocking her view, Jin had no idea as to where they were going.

"I use this all the time." He replied, sounding rather proud of the fact.

This did little to calm Jin's nerves, and she was just about to voice her concerns once more when suddenly a light could be seen ahead of them. A soft, almost other world like glow could be seen beyond Lee's body as he crawled out the last of the tunnel and stood back up. He offered his hand to help her back up which she graciously took.

They had traded one tunnel for another, although this new tunnel was palace sized compared to their last nightmare. The glow was originating from several green and blue crystals, some of which were bigger than either of them. Before Jin could fully appreciate them though, Lee was already tugging at her wrist to continue onward.

"These crystals are incredible… what is this place?" She asked in wonder as her eyes scanned the walls as they hurried through the tunnels.

Clearly of one mind, Lee barely even registered what Jin was talking about. "Huh… oh right. I don't know what this place is, but Diahu gave me an old map with all these underground paths that lead all over Ba Sing Se."

The idea of a criminal organization having possession of these maps made her stomach turn. "Are you sure it's safe down here?"

"Of course I am." Lee answered back as they came to a fork in the path, with him choosing to go left. "Now let me concentrate, it's hard to remember where to go sometimes."

Jin couldn't help but groan.

All told they took three wrong turns and at each dead-end Jin wondered aloud how Lee managed to make any deliveries. He in turn would retort that he was normally great at navigating the maze of tunnels, he was just a bit frazzled thinking about the missing gold. Even Jin couldn't argue with that.

The exit from the underground tunnels came in the form of a manmade staircase at what would have been a dead end otherwise. At the top of the stairs was a heavy stone door that opened to a rather plain looking basement with dirt floors. They didn't linger there for long, Lee led her out the basement through a decrepit set of shutter doors leading to an alley.

"It's one district over from here." Lee answered her unasked question as they began walking down the stone paved road.

Jin had been to the Middle Ring a few times in her life, and yet the wide-open streets, uniform brick houses, and the rich assortment of shops and restaurants always gave her fits of jealousy. Her family was well enough off that a few years back her parents applied to move to the Middle Ring. The application process was so arduous that Jin heard her parents questioning their choice for over two weeks.

Once it had been submitted, they didn't hear anything for almost three months before finally receiving a brief letter from the "Dai Li Reorganization Department." Her family had been denied their move due to a lack of "social credit." No further explanation, no opportunity for an appeal, just the ever cryptic Dai Li controlling another aspect of the city. Her father had explained to Jin, who had gotten rather excited about the idea of moving, that it was all about who you know.

Of course, now she was happy the move had fell through, she never would've met Lee or his legendary painter of a father Rui if they were in the Middle Ring. Still, there was no denying just how much happier and… well cleaner all the citizens looked here compared to those on the other side of the wall just a half mile away. Jin frowned; it all seemed a bit unfair when walking the streets. It was hard to imagine the Upper Ring was even nice than this.

After around fifteen minutes of walking, Lee led her down an alley between two modest single-story homes. There were two empty crates stacked atop one another and Jin was just about to chastise him for choosing such an obvious hiding spot when he suddenly began shimmying up a bit of stone protruding from the wall which acted as a guiding path for water coming off the house's gutters.

Lee proved rather adept at climbing as he hoisted himself onto the roof before flipping up a loose tile. He retrieved the small bag of money and was back on the ground in no time.

"That wasn't too bad." He said with a triumphant smile.

Not wanting to press their luck, Jin turned to head back to the tunnels. Only this time, two Dai Li agents were blocking their path out of the alley.

The Spirits have a sick sense of humor, Jin thought glumly.