"These are the photos taken from the outside of Kyoshi's shrine, and these are the ones I took inside!" The female fire nation tourist proclaimed in a very enthusiastic manner. It's as if she is doing a show and tell at kindergarten. "It felt so great now that I finally visited the home of the Kyoshi warriors, and even get to see the artifacts used by Avatar Kyoshi herself! Eeeeekkk!" The young lady now acted in an even more avid attitude, she seemed to be even more passionate about the past Earth Avatar than Satchiko herself. Rather concerning...

It's already been a few days on the ship, and Mayumi listened to her eager expression with a tired but also content smile. She tried her best to not look uninterested out of respect. However, she is still grateful to converse with this teenager, as it's a great way to alleviate her own boredom. Not everyday one can encounter an outsiders who have shown such great interest to her homeland, and Mayumi intend to gave her the best impression of her island as possible.

There is however, a few tiny details Mayumi felt a little guilty regarding the artifacts stored within the Kyoshi shrine building. Naturally, the shrine itself is a destination of its own. The problem here is that with so many people visiting the island, there is often a fear that the artifacts used by Kyoshi might be damaged or stolen. This is especially true during the early days. Kyoshi's war fans were accidentally damaged due to someone tripping over themselves. Without a glass casing or protection, the old weapon would undoubtedly be scratched due to that unfortunate incident.

To preserve these priceless objects, replicas were made by the blacksmiths and weavers to give the impression that nothing has changed. The originals were secretly stored elsewhere for safety, this includes Kyoshi's giant pair of boots, Kimono, the headdress, and most importantly her two war fans.

The painting 'The Birth of Kyoshi' remains to be the only item without being replaced. Instead, the villagers simply just placed a glass barrier to protect it instead. Although no theft has ever occurred, it is still pragmatic to continue this method of preservation.

Knowing all of this when she was young, Mayumi decided to maintain the facade. Not even Satchiko is aware. She couldn't bring herself to abruptly destroy the cheerful mood of this tourist.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to thank you for saving me one month ago." The tourist suddenly said. This did caught Mayumi off guard, for she only expected another round of photos and stories. "It was you and your sister back there wasn't it?"

'Eh, yeah, no need to thank us since we were only doing our job, but how do you know it was us?" Mayumi replied in a kind but curious tone. "Even we sometimes find it hard to tell each other apart."

When a group of people wear the same face paint, the only way to distinguish each other is by looking at the golden headdress. Yet this girl from the Fire Nation still remembers them?

"Well, I actually work as a servant in the fire royal palace." The girl replied candidly. "I have seen many of the Kyoshi warriors guarding the palace and I learnt how to memorize the face of each and everyone of them, but not the names though."

"Oh," Mayumi said. She wanted to ask the tourist about a very specific Kyoshi warrior she knew is serving in the fire nation. But that wouldn't be useful.

Mayumi turned to Satchiko in order to check on her. The younger sister leaned on the rails without any sense of energy. She only gloomed over the horizon, staring aimlessly at the occasional birds without any interest. It's obvious that she is not used to being in an environment outside Kyoshi island. She constantly rotated two pieces of pebbles between her two hands, but even that can provide only a limited amount of entertainment.

Satchiko stopped for a bit, and placed the two peddles back into her pocket.

"I'm going for a walk," Satchiko said in a detached tone, leaving Mayumi with the tourist.

Mayumi only watched as Satchiko walked further away to who knows where, she felt that it's her responsibility to do more to reassure Satchiko's current predicament.

"So anyway, these photos are..." The Fire Nation teenager continued on with a phot of elephant koi jumping out of the waters.

...

After walking for a few minutes, Satchiko arrived to be what appeared to be the engine room. Not having anything else to do, she entered it to see the inner workings of this ship. While the workers were kind enough to invite her in, they did instructed her to not touch anything important.

The steam ship's mechanism is completely foreign to the girl who grew up in Kyoshi island. Countless metal pipes and gears moved in sync as they powered the ship that moves automatically, with steam and gas pumped into different sections of this boat. Despite the complex design of the engines, Satchiko can tell that all of this intricate engineering has a single point for energy source located at the center of this room.

A large furnace connected to a giant pipe from the ceiling is at the center of this room, with roaring flames burning endlessly as lumps of coal were thrown into the middle. Occasionally, a few fire bender crews would use their bending to further power up the furnace. When their fire were thrusted into the furnace, the flames danced even more violently.

In the entire seventeen years of her life, Satchiko never observed such a usage of fire bending. Since there are no benders permanently living in Kyoshi island, she never get that many chances to observe bending asides from past pirate raids.

She originally thought of bending as just another way to fight an opponent, until now that is. The utility of fire performed by these crew members somehow caused Satchiko to be fascinated by their actions. Never has she seen bending being applied to everyday uses.

While mesmerized with the flames, she failed to realize how hot the room became. The flames, after being induced by fire bending, raised the room temperature to a whole new level. She stopped her observation and headed straight to the door. The fire bender crew continued to work on the engines as if nothing has changed. Unlike her, they are always accustomed to high temperatures.

As Satchiko enjoyed the fresh air after she got out of the room, a hooded girl walked past her and entered the engine room. Satchiko didn't pay much attention as she is still trying to recover from the intense heat. She is indeed enlightened by the usefulness of fire bending, but she isn't very used to being near fire in a confined room.

She spent more time to went to some of the other sections of the ship. While there isn't plenty of things to do here, Satchiko does admit that even the little things can intrigue her interest. Living on Kyoshi island for her whole life does prevented her from knowing the world better, therefore she does felt that broadening her own knowledge of the world is a good thing.

When she finally returned back to Mayumi, Satchiko noticed that the ship is approaching land. A small town can be seen on the coast. While this ship's final destination is the fire nation, it does make a few stops on the way. It would only be a few more stops before they can reach Ba Sing Se itself.

While the fire nation tourist remained on the boat, Satchiko and Mayumi headed out to town. It would be a while before the ship would set sail again, and it is a good opportunity for the two sisters to take a walk around town instead of staying on the ship.

"So this is the mainland Earth Kingdom?" Satchiko asked. This is the first time the teen has ever step her foot here. Despite once being the same country, there is obvious difference in variety both in culture and people. "Those houses, the roof are made of stone!?"

The buildings in this town incorporated more stone and earth component then the wooden lodges Satchiko has accustomed to. Due to Kyoshi island not having any Earth bending residents, common buildings are often made of wooden logs, planks and hay patched roof. Clay rooftiles and bricks are often made in limited quantities, but in this town these materials are as common as air itself. The perks of having Earth benders would be efficiency of making materials out of the earth itself. This is clearly highlighted in the abundance of stone brick and clay tiles in this simple town.

Although the architecture of this town has a rather complacent and mediocre design, Satchiko still found them rather interesting. She never knew how diverse the Earth Kingdom is until she finally saw it herself.

"So, what you think?" The older sister smiled. "Refreshing isn't it?"

"It's good," Satchiko replied in an unbiased way. The change of scenery certainly affected her in a positive way. Despite the whole purpose of this journey is about her learning Earth Bending, they knew that their mother also wanted Satchiko to experience the culture of the Earth Kingdom. Not only does this cultivates Satchiko's knowledge, it may also give a higher meaning to Satchiko's Earth bending applications rather than only use it to fight the pirates.

"The world is just...so big suddenly." Satchiko said with a hint of incredulous. For someone who have been living in a secluded island for her whole life, this reaction is rather tamed. "Oh look that bird...horse...thingy!"

"Careful sister, don't get too close." Mayumi warned. "They will kick you."

It's an ostrich horse Satchiko is getting exited about. These animals are very common transport used by many people around the world. It's speed is impressive, the more superior breeds are used as war mounts. Their capability of leaping very high makes it a popular mount.

It's pleasing to Mayumi that Satchiko is rather enjoying her tour of this Earth Kingdom town. Even though they are living in a very turbulent world, it is still possible for the volatile Earth Kingdoms to display its wonders and cultural significance if one just view it with an open mind.

However, through the endless decent buildings and houses, was something that may not be as pleasing as the local culture itself. While Mayumi did anticipate Satchiko will witness this eventually, she never thought her sister has to see it on her first trip out of the island.

As they traversed through the streets of this small town, they encountered a huge crowd of people lying on the corner of a shanty street. While some of them do lean on the walls, they are only barely able to stand. All in torn peasant clothing, with punctured holes and dirt on them. These groups of people have many characteristics, the poor, the sickly, the old, the orphaned, the widowed, the disabled, and all the other sufferings a person can experience.

"What are they doing?" Satchiko asked Mayumi, the younger girl knew something inherently is not right here. "These people...they are..."

"We...we should get going." Mayumi tried to pull Satchiko away from this depressing scene, she wanted her to grasp this reality when she's ready. There are many unfortunate people like this across the world, and it would only give Satchiko a bad first impression.

"Wait Mayumi, why are we leaving?" Satchiko asked indignantly. "These people looked like they could need our help." The girl face produced a frown at this very moment. As Kyoshi warriors, they were taught from a young age to defend those who are defenseless. Such instincts naturally carries over in helping those less fortune.

Mayumi looked at Satchiko's eyes with a sympathetic expression. Although it's good that her sister has a kind heart of wanting to help these people, she knew there isn't that much they can do.

"These people belonged to the unfortunate, different events and causes have turned them into such state." Mayumi explained as general as possible, she knows how confronting all of this is can be for her young sister who has no experience of the world's realities. "Civil wars, bandits and social problems are only few of the many things that forces people into such poverty."

An amputated begger just so happens to be positioned close to the duo, it seemed that he might have heard Satchiko's statement.

He didn't have any legs, so he gathered his begging bowl and slowly crawl towards them.

"A little change please? I haven't eaten anything for days." the amputee struggled to form his words. His voice is trembling, and it's as though he is at the final stage of his life.

Satchiko doesn't know how to respond, she wanted to help but her body just froze there. Never in her life as she ever encountered such a situation. She doesn't have any money to spare.

After a moment, and without much thinking, Satchiko opened her backpack and put her hands in to draw out some objects. When she pulled out a rather peculiar item, she began to speak.

"I know you wanted some money, but I hope this ok." Satchiko said as she presented him with what appeared to be something edible. "It's dried elephant koi."

The expression of the man brightened, "Thank you so much!" He said in a gratitude tone, but he suddenly coughed right after he finished his sentence. Satchiko patted the man's frail back repeatedly in order to quell his discomfort. It did worked eventually, and it only made the man even more grateful for her help.

After exchanging more friendliness, Satchiko once again notice a mother with her little child. They appeared malnourished like the others here.

"Are you going to hand out food again?" Mayumi asked. Although she knew handing out their food would temporarily help some people, it would create trouble for themselves later on. Regardless, she couldn't bring herself to discourage Satchiko's generosity.

Satchiko pulled out an apple that was red and clean, completely opposite to the unsanitary condition of these people before them.

Right before she walked towards the mother, Mayumi asked a question that prompted her to stay back first.

"There is only so much food in both of our backpacks." Mayumi said in a frank tone. "How do you intend to make a difference? You know you can't feed all of them."

Without turning back to face her sister, Satchiko delivered a rare response that is out of her own character. "You are right, I can't make a difference, but that shouldn't stop me from making a difference for them."

The child is lying on the lap of her mother and remains motionless. The mother lift her head up to see Satchiko giving her the apple. Whatever strength the mother still has, she use it to receive the free food.

"Thank you Kuvira!" The mother cried out in a grateful voice, referring the girl of a unknown name. She might not be in her right mind considering how thin her face and body is, the malnourishment must have taken a great toll of her mentally. Without any expression, the mother then tried to open the mouth of the lifeless child. The child's mouth just wouldn't budge open, but still, the mother didn't dare to take a bite out of the fruit for herself. After about a minute, the child still didn't respond to his mother, who is now crying in response to what might be the inevitable.

Seeing this sad scene, Satchiko only stood there and watch. She can understand that the mother is more focused on the child than her. She can only imagine what life would be if she herself is living in a condition like this, now did she realize how much she has taken granted of the life she has on Kyoshi island. As much as she is now grateful to have a functioning family and a decent life, seeing others around her not having the same blessing doesn't give her any peace at all. She wanted to change it all for the better, and hoped that it never happened to these people, but she knew she is powerless.

Following Satchiko's example, Mayumi also handed out food to more people. It only took a few handouts for their backpacks to ran out of food completely. The younger sister tipped her bag upside down, not a single bit of edibles are left."

"I'm sorry, that's all we have," Satchiko said in a difficult tone. The homeless children all reacted in a dismayed tone, and slowly made their way back towards whatever hideouts they have on the streets. The thought that these children will be hungry today only give Satchiko this unknown guilt. She doesn't know exactly what this feeling is, but she doesn't like it.

She soon regrouped with Mayumi, who also reported that the same situation.

"Sister, I am sorry that you have to see all of this. I just want you to know that the world is a challenging place, and you will see more things like this." Mayumi said, which Satchiko then nodded in a low mood.

Satchiko herself only watched helplessly towards these unfortunate people. Their forsaken dignity and livelihood overshadows the town's culture. Like a painting, the more you focus on that tainted area, the more displeasing it is.

A small noise across the other side of this small street caught her attention. They both turned around and noticed a small commotion.

"Ouch!" A homeless man cried in agony, he was kicked in the face after he tried to ask if this person is willing to donate some spare coins.

"You peasant! You dirtied my clothes!" A middle aged man demeaned the begger in a terrible way. "Don't you know who I am! I am the governor of this entire state!"

The homeless person cowarded immediately. Despite the governor's higher pitched voice, the poor man still fears this figure before him due to his higher status. While the governor was bursting in anger, a man in grey suit stood besides him tried to calm him down.

"Look at this! Have Republic city ever have such low lives roaming around the streets!" The governor in his majestic robes ranted on. "The GREAT state of Yi under my grandfather never have to deal with lazy people like you! If it wasn't for my trusted aide from Republic city, more of your kind would have populated my state!"

"Now now, it's a only a small inconvenience my dear governor." The minister spoke in a very flattering tone, his grey United Republic suit only complements his style of talking "Let us not worry about this unpleasant moment and get yourself a brand new suit instead! It's only costs a few thousand coin." He suggested with a cunning smile.

Right before the two of them can enter a luxurious automobile made by future industries. Someone shouted at them.

"Hey! You can't treat him like this!" Satchiko yelled. "If you are the governor then why don't you make their lives better!"

"Sister, shhhh!" Mayumi tried desperately to not make a scene by restraining Satchiko. She very does not want to cause unwanted commotion. "Apologies, we are just passing through, um, good day!" Despite her best efforts, Satchiko and the governor continued their feud.

"Insolent girl, how dare you question my ability!" the governor responded with a brand new fury. "Under my reign the state of Yi has prospered tremendously from its mineral trade with the United Republic! Without me, these filthy commoners are nothing!"

Many onlookers begin to stop their activities and watched the duel of words between Satchiko and the governor. They are all simple people with simple backgrounds, but whenever someone challenges the upper class, it always spurred the interest of the masses. That is called free entertainment.

"Then why are they there?" Satchiko pointed at the group of unfortunate people behind her, everyone else looked towards that direction too. "If you have thousands of coins in your pockets to buy yourself a new clothing, why can't you use it to help them instead!"

"Who do you think you are! The Avatar? You are just a nobody who don't even know how the world works!" the governor said mockingly. "Those people can do anything as they pleased! They are poor, but at least they are free! A young harlot have no place to critique my perfect world!" The governor refuted eagerly. He has never been criticized at such a scale since he has inherited the state from his father. No one has ever dared to challenge him, usually they would just back down when ever he told them his strong family background and titles. "I am the governor of the state of Yi, as your superior, a scoundrel like you will respect my authority!"

"My governor, they are just youths who have yet to mature." The minister appeased. "When they became full fledged citizens of your great state, they would naturally be regretting their past impulses towards you. All citizens of Yi admire your brilliant governance just like how the greatest Avatars make their mark on history."

By comparing him to Avatars, this minister successfully emboldened the governor's confidence. But of course, it works better without other interferences.

"Well, since we are not citizens of this state, we don't have to!" Satchiko felt surprised, this time it was Mayumi who spoke up against the governor. The elder sister was initially attempting to deescalate the tension, but it looks like she is now defending her younger sibling openly. "No one calls my sister foul names! Is that clear?"

"Uh...yeah!" Satchiko improvised, she wanted to back her sister up. "If you want respect, why don't you just earn it?" She then stuck her tongue out to insult the governor. Two little youngsters making fun of a senile official, how poetic.

The governor now produced a scrowl on his face, he is clearly irritated by the words and is at a boiling point. Sensing the increasing hostility from the governor, Mayumi's instincts caused her to move her hand to her sword. The two Earth bending body guards began to display a very confrontational body language towards the two sisters. They prepared themselves in a traditional Earth bending stance.

"Guards! I want you to arrest the two! Make an example out of—" The governor's face was hit by a piece of rock just before he can complete his sentence. Mayumi checked on Satchiko, but soon realized it wasn't her bending.

"Who did that!" The governor cried, demanding to know who was the culprit who almost harmed his 'handsome' face.

It was a little street boy, he threw another pebble, this time cracking the window of the Satomobile.

Mayumi then noticed that a gathering crowd begin to chant insults towards the governor and his three followers. Their mood became more active as they expressed their own displeasure towards the governor's ruling.

"I didn't pay the heavy taxes so that you can buy fancy clothes and cars all for yourself!" A man yelled as he threw a rock at the governor's automobile window. The impact was precise, and it created a hole in the window of that seamlessly expensive car.

"My car!" The governor worried. "You two fools! What are you waiting for! Control them!" The governor commanded in hysteria. In his mind, this day cannot be any more worse, first he had his clothes ruined by a dirty begger, now a whole group of peasants are damaging his brand new car.

The two Earth bending body guards isn't sure how to respond. They were not trained in crowd control, and the people's insults doesn't give them an easier time.

Realizing the worsening of the situation, the United Republic minister hastily pushed the governor into the safety of the automobile, he entered it too and signaled the driver to escape the scene.

The automobile took off, leaving the two body guards to fend for themselves.

"I will be back with the rest of my guards! You lowlives wait!" The disgruntled governor yelled from his transport, and left unceremoniously.

As the crowd descended upon the two guards, who used their Earth bending to create a small wall for themselves. Mayumi quickly used this opportunity to grab Satchiko's hand and directed her to a different direction.

"We need to get out of here! We are not waiting for the mayor and his other men!" Mayumi said. "Back to the ship!"

The two swiftly left the scene, and Satchiko took one last glance at the mother and her child. The young Kyoshi warrior will definitely remember today, as the plight of the people would forever cement itself in her heart.

It was only when they returned back to the ship, did they received a terrible news.

The ship will not sail to Ba Sing Se