Katara was exhausted after the march, but relieved to be in relative safety; the place that the earthbenders had chosen wasn't the nicest looking abode, but it certainly felt safe. It was far enough away from the Outer and Inner Walls of Ba Sing Se that no military patrols seemed to come anywhere nearby, and the place was completely abandoned, meaning that no civilians would likely visit either. The farmlands of the Agrarian Zone that surrounded Ba Sing Se were massive and sprawling, taking up so much land that you could call it a province in and of itself, though there didn't seem to be all that many people living out in the area. There were a large number of farmhouses, but no actual villages, unlike outside the walls.
They had set up inside one of those farmhouses, and the accompanying buildings, which had all been damaged in by fire. The craters that pitted the fields told her that it had been damaged during fighting, presumably between Azula's loyalists and the Dai Li. Though they were encamped within the farm, most of them were staying underground for safety, in a small dugout that the earthbenders had created. Though it was made of dirt, they took their preparations seriously, and with their gear and equipment, it felt like a fine campsite. Appa even had his own little spot to sleep in, while the rest of them had their sleeping rolls set out in a room, which could be easily guarded and monitored by Azula's personal guard. The other fighters, along with the warriors from her tribe, were set out in different areas, with some of them camping out in the farmhouse proper, where they could keep watch of anyone or anything that came near their new hideout.
She knew the setup was just temporary, before they would go to enter the city itself, though that wouldn't happen for at least a day or two. They had to link up with other groups that had made their way through the walls, as well as make contact with the forces at the base to learn what had happened there. It was still unknown if Jet's plan had worked, and if they had been able to hold onto control of the port. It was still going to be useful in the case of reinforcements and resupplies they could receive from both the Fire Nation Colonies and the Northern Water Tribe.
Katara didn't have all that much to do, and just decided to take a nap, only to be woken a few hours later by a meal. The whole group had gotten together to cook up some rations, and though she had found the food palatable, it wasn't all that good. She was holding it to her own standards, and hers were higher than the fighters they were staying with. They spent the time talking about their experiences on the march, Toph explaining quite proudly how she had beaten up some Dai Li agents quite badly, and had utterly destroyed a fortification and artillery battery on the walls. Aang had explained the things he had seen, some of which sounded quite unsavoury; the airship had proven its use again, though the sights were not for the faint of heart.
After the meal, it was already late afternoon, and she decided to take a watch up in the farmhouse, and had been sitting there for quite a while, deciding to spend the time carving a stray piece of wood into something. She decided to make it into a doll, trying to carve, to the best of her abilities, a Water Tribe woman. It wasn't meant to be herself, though she inevitably did take some inspiration from her own appearance. She was about half way through carving it when her attention was drawn by somebody coming up the stairs to join her; she was surprised to see that it was her brother.
"Hey." he addressed her, "What you got there?" he gestured to the doll she had carved, and she turned away in embarrassment.
"Oh, it's a- uh, a doll." she explained, "I was bored looking out at the horizon so I started carving it."
"Huh, that's pretty neat." he complimented her work, sitting himself down beside her, "Azula sent me to find you... but I guess I can just sit here for a bit."
"She wants to go inside the city already?" she guessed, and Sokka shrugged.
"Not just yet. There's a message we've already received from one of the other Coalition groups. They're encamped a bit east of here, but close enough that our scout could find them." he explained, "They almost killed each other... but they sent the scout back, all in one piece."
"That's good to hear." she commented with a smile, preferring that none of them killed each other out of pure paranoia, "Did they find anything out?"
"Not really. They've just been looking out for any movements by the military. All they saw was some farmers planting crops... so, nothing out of the ordinary."
"That's just what they want you to think. They're hiding under the fields, watching our every move." she joked, and Sokka made an awkward laugh.
"Uh... yeah, totally." he agreed with her sarcastically, though he did seem a bit worried by the idea; her brother turned around, so he was looking at her rather than out the window, "How are you feeling?" he asked her, "I know I'm usually not the one asking, but I- I've been pretty stressed out. You can't be feeling much better."
"No, I'm not." she agreed with the sentiment, "I know the danger we're putting ourselves in, but... I don't know if it will be worth it."
"I think it will." he argued, raising a finger, "The more of the world we have behind us, the better a chance we'll have of beating Ozai. Brute force and numbers shouldn't be underestimated." he argued, crossing his arms, "That's what kept the Earth Kingdom going for a century against the Fire Nation."
"And it's why our tribe barely exists anymore." she acknowledged, before sighing, "Maybe it might have been smarter to just move to the Earth Kingdom instead of trying to live in the ice... it's not really that useful when there are no waterbenders." she noted an alternative to all the fighting their tribe had done, and Sokka cringed.
"I feel like that might have caused more problems in the long term." he admitted, "And the ice was the reason the Fire Nation didn't conquer our tribe. The Earth Kingdom might be bigger, but the people don't seem any safer. Only now they might be with the Fire Nation ripping itself apart."
"It didn't stop the Southern Raiders." she acknowledged, before scowling, "We need to do something about them."
"We will." he reassured her, "Dad told me that the warriors that remained were building up defences and moving some of the villagers inland for safety. I know it's not ideal, but that will have to do until we can actually fight them."
"Then we should make sure Azula gets control of the Eastern Fleet." she decided, "With that, she'll have more than enough ships to spare to destroy them." she argued with a clenched fist; the thought of what their people had endured, and what they had personally, that drove her to fight when pure ideals were not enough.
In Ba Sing Se, with the Dai Li looming over every move they made, she had to think of it; that was what pushed her forward, and she imagined her brother felt the same, though he also had the added drive of wanting Azula to be as powerful and respected as possible, so she could become Fire Lord.
"So, you must be afraid as well." she observed, and Sokka laughed.
"Certainly." he nodded, "I was never more relieved than when we finally left this place the first time." he acknowledged, before shaking his head, "I trust Jet to keep us safe more than Azula. He's had to deal with the Dai Li a lot longer than she did." he added, and Katara hummed.
"You want to put our fate in his hands? Even after the things he's said?"
"What he's said and what he's done are two different things. He and his friends saved my sorry butt... and I still haven't really returned the favour. Maybe this is it. Actually helping the Earth Kingdom instead of being Azula's... servant." he admitted, before sighing, "I'm not that any more, if that's what you were thinking. It's an equal partnership."
"What happened with Zhao says otherwise." Katara warned him, recalling how she had treated him then; Sokka had been in a pretty terrible mood after that, and it was probably the main reason he had treated Pakku so harshly- he needed some out for his justified anger towards Azula.
"That was because she was afraid for my safety... which she was right to be. I think that was her being reckless, not her thinking she's better than me." he explained, before scrunching his lips, "She won't do that again."
"She's too afraid of losing you." Katara argued, before grimacing, "I mean, I know she cares. Maybe a little too much."
"I feel the same sometimes, but that's just how it is. That's our duty to each other. We have to watch each other's backs." he argued, pointing at Katara's forehead, "Like how you would save me, and I'd save you."
"I would." she agreed with his way of thinking, "But... uh, back to the whole North Pole thing. Did you- well, I feel you were mad the whole time." she explained what she thought about his mood at the time, "I was more concerned about getting my waterbending training that I wasn't thinking about how you were- uh, taking it out on Pakku."
Her brother let out a bellow of a laugh, and slapped his leg, "Argh, you're right. I feel like I might have been a little too harsh on Pakku. Just a bit." he emphasised that he didn't really regret his actions.
"Well, I'm glad you did what you did." she made her own feelings clear.
"You're my little sister. I can't let anyone treat you badly... especially when it's unjustified."
"So... what if Azula does?"
"I'll tell her to be more polite, and for you to stop nagging her about being heroic and virtuous."
"I mean, I'm sure she'd like to hear about how she's the ideal leader." she argued, and Sokka shook his head.
"That's not what you said to her." he retorted, and she shrugged.
"I think she should be the good guy." Katara made her case, "I don't care if she doesn't want to be... she's doing it anyways."
"Azula doesn't handle that kind of praise well." he admitted something she was already well aware of by that point, "I think it has something to do with her parents... how they praised her... or didn't."
"Yeah, you could say that about most of her issues." she quietly conceded; as much as she had endured through her own childhood, Katara could never say her parents didn't love her and do everything they could for her.
In the end, her mother had done something no person ought to have to do; at the time, she had not understood it, but now she had to live up to it. She knew that probably wasn't her mother's intent, but that was the effect it had on her; she had to do the right thing, and use her abilities for good.
Azula had never had such love or sacrifice from her parents; from the sounds of things, her mother had done some sacrifice, but it wasn't for Azula, but instead her elder brother, who was the eye of Ozai's ire. Katara didn't know that much, but her guess was that all of those disputes, between Azula and her brother, were really just some extension of a spat between their parents. Given what her father was like, she had to side with her mother, despite Azula's own opinions of her.
"As much as I wish she had had a better childhood, I don't think she would have sided with us if she had." she admitted, and Sokka cringed; he didn't verbally agree with her, but the pained look he made told her that he thought she was right.
"Y-yeah..." he mumbled, "But I meant what I said. I'll keep you safe, Katara."
"Don't do anything stupid because of that promise, please." she requested, "I've heard about Yu Dao enough times to know you're definitely capable of it."
"I saved Azula's sorry butt that night... attacking the Fire Lord was stupid, but what other choice did I have?" he asked, and she shrugged.
"Could you have persuaded him?"
"Persuasion doesn't work with people who can't be reasoned with." he corrected her, before shaking his head, "I wish I could have persuaded her to just talk it out with him, but he didn't seem to want to do it either."
"The headpiece of the Fire Lord seems to make people do foolish things." she observed, before grimacing, "Will it change her?"
"Peace is all we want." Sokka argued, rising back up to his feet, "You know that. If she really was only concerned about the throne, we would have gone to the capital already to kill Ozai."
"Right." she nodded, finding that point to be clear evidence of her changing her ways; she had the means, by Appa, and the drive to do so, but it wasn't going to happen, because Azula wanted to end the war, not simply become Fire Lord.
Maybe it was more for Sokka's sake than her own, because she knew how much the South had endured because of her nation. In any case, they were going to change the world, and she could not complain; even if they did not all agree with the methods chosen, they all wanted the same thing in the end: Aang, Azula, Sokka, and herself.
She got back up, and gestured to the staircase, "Then let's go talk about the next move." she decided to give up her watch, knowing that Azula would likely get impatient; more so than her, there was Toph, who never seemed to like sitting around when she could otherwise be doing something.
She and Sokka made their way over, before pacing down the stairs; on the lower floor of the house, a few of the Earth Kingdom fighters were sitting around by the hearth, keeping watch from down there. They gestured a few waves to her, and one of them got up to go take her spot. Katara then stepped through the door, out into the muddy grounds that surrounded the dilapidated farmhouse.
There was nobody standing outside, but she could see light emanating dimly from one of the barns; they paced over to it, and opened the doors, revealing the earthen staircase that led down into their newly established hideout. She made her way down, and saw her father, Bato, Jet, and Azula seated at a table, looking over some maps of Ba Sing Se.
"Ah, Katara, you're back." her father noticed her presence, and gestured for her to sit with them, "We're just going over our next move." he explained, and she and Sokka sat themselves down at the table.
"Took you long enough." Toph commented, leaning on a wall nearby; Aang and Ty Lee weren't in the room, but she guessed they were probably just resting or playing some game while they were waiting for a decision to be made.
"Hey, we were just talking." Sokka defended them, and Azula raised a hand.
"Enough, let's just get down to business." she reminded them of what they were there to do, "Captain Renshu, I'll let you take the floor." she addressed the Captain, who pulled out a larger map, placing it over the others that were on the table.
"We are here." he pointed out their location, just south of the walls, due north-northwest of the centre of the city, "Each party of earthbenders was directed to breach the walls here, here, and here." he indicated where the other groups had entered the city, which were all to east of their position, "The scouts met friendlies here." he pointed to a position not very far from their current one, "We have agreed to meet at the Inner Walls, here, and dig through, at night. The time of departure is yet to be decided, but we intend to breach the Inner Walls before sunrise tomorrow."
"How far of a walk is that?" Hakoda asked him, and Renshu raised his chin up.
"A few hours at least. We'll have to leave at nightfall, maybe a little earlier." he explained, "We should avoid the bridges that the defenders use to transport their troops, as they would be expecting sabotage in those locations. There is one a little west of our current position. I believe that leaves us vulnerable, and is why I think we should leave as soon as possible. We cannot be certain the enemy has not deduced our intent to breach the city... and they can attack us very quickly."
"Why do we not take the bridge itself?" Bato asked, "I recall that they are used by civilians as well as the military."
"If it is as it was under Fire Nation rule, they will require permission and check everyone who takes such vehicles. Even if we could fool a few people into thinking we are soldiers, we lack papers. That might be an alternative path for our allies once they arrive, assuming we can provide them with documents." he explained what he thought, and Azula nodded.
"That was my thought as well. However, it may become harder as the enemy grows more paranoid of our presence."
"Well, they might believe we're fleeing now, if the plan is working." Sokka reminded them, "Are we expecting a messenger hawk?" he asked them, and Azula shook her head.
"We have yet to establish a safe channel of communication. There are a few earthbenders there who I expect to travel as a forward party to inform us of whatever transpires there... assuming they are not captured." Azula clarified what she understood would happen, "If my understanding of the army's pace is accurate, then they must have already faced our trap. The waterbenders will likely move to follow us through the walls once they have an opening."
"They'll need earthbenders." Toph reminded them, "So, what's to say they won't be waiting until some reinforcements arrive from the mountains. They'll be days, at least, and that's the closest of them."
"The village you found, they had spare fighters to send, didn't they?" Azula asked, and the earthbender nodded.
"Yes, but they'll take a while to get here. Not to mention, the Dai Li have forward parties moving away from the walls. They'll have to be cautious."
"We weren't even that close, and they attacked us." Katara reminded them of what she and Aang had faced.
"Well, you did have a sky-bison." Jet pointed out, "If they're travelling by foot, they should be able to sneak by a little easier."
"Jet." Azula spoke his name, "It is my understanding that you can provide us with contacts and potential places to establish ourselves." she explained what he would be able to provide the Coalition.
"Yes, I can." he nodded, "There's a few friends the Freedom Fighters made while we were living in the Lower Ring. They will be more than willing to help us deal with the Dai Li, now that they're the ones running things." he clarified with a smirk, "There's a few good places I can think we could hide. The Dai Li uses tunnels under the city to traverse in secret, so we'll need to avoid those... but I think you already knew that."
"Intimately." Sokka stressed, before placing his hands together, "So, where can we hide that the Dai Li might not already be hiding themselves?"
"They probably aren't hiding now that they hold power, but the best place I know of is a former school. The Fire Nation government shut it down, as it was directly funded by the Earth Kingdom military. Meant to train public servants and soldiers for the war... and I don't expect they would have opened it up again."
"What if... undesirable elements are inhabiting it now?" Azula asked, and Jet laughed.
"Well, we can always have a little turf war. I'm more than familiar with that issue too. I'm sure we can play muscle for some local business owners. They'd be more than happy to see a gang or two expelled. The Dai Li and Fire Nation never really cared about that stuff, not down in the Lower Ring anyway." he explained what they could do, and Katara leaned forward.
"Won't that get their attention? I mean, if it's sudden, somebody will notice the change." she asked, and Azula hummed.
"Bribing guards to look the other way might work, assuming we make them think we are just criminals." she argued, "That would be dispreferred, if only for the danger it poses."
"I agree." Hakoda spoke his mind, before turning to Bato, "Perhaps you have an idea, Bato."
"Uh... well, when I was in the city, I was mostly just moving from place to place." he admitted, "That's probably not going to work for us." he conceded, before scrunching his lips, "However... the conflict between Azula's loyalists and the Dai Li must have caused some damage. Maybe the more ruined areas might be a safer place to set ourselves up."
"Workers would be out fixing things." Jet argued, "I think that might work too, if we can keep their attention away."
"Perhaps multiple hideouts will do. We play the part of labourers, and hide by just working. We can get legitimate residences to use." Bato suggested, and Azula tapped her fingers on the earthen table.
"That will take too long. I would like to be cautious, but the moment the Dai Li catches onto our plans, that is the moment we have to start acting.
"I'd prefer to delay that as long as possible." Renshu gave his own opinion, before pointing to the centre of the map, where the former palace lay, "I say we use the information we already have and strike as soon as we can. Cut the snake's head off. Force any remaining traitors to join our side and recruit the Fire Nation soldiers to our cause."
"I feel that is a gamble." Hakoda gave his own opinion, "If enough people remain loyal to the Dai Li, then we'll have a massive fight on our hands... a fight I don't think we can win." he admitted, "Even with the waterbenders, even with more reinforcements."
"Then we need to turn them against each other." Sokka spoke up, referring to Azula's plan that she had already enacted by Ty Lee's hands, "The Fire Nation forces might already be at each other's throats for all we know. The Dai Li are the next obvious target... this Governing Council that rules the city, if we can turn its members against each other, then we won't need to conquer the palace."
"That would be the most ideal outcome." Azula gave her own opinion, "But I am unsure how to achieve it. The Dai Li seems to be a disciplined organisation... but opportunists must exist."
"There's something better than an opportunist." Toph spoke up, stepping over to the table, before slapping Jet on the back, "A true patriot." she argued, her slap indicating that she thought Jet fit that descriptor.
"I- well, I am a patriot." he argued for himself, "So... you want to turn the patriots against the Governing Council, because they're working with the Fire Nation."
"Well, I don't think they'd believe that." Toph conceded, "The Dai Li seems to have thoroughly puppeteered the remaining Fire Nation forces to their will. They aren't going around trying to serve their nation in any sense... they're protecting what, 'peace'?" she asked rhetorically, and Azula snickered.
"Peace lasts only as long as people believe in it, and I doubt many people believe it will last in a divided city like Ba Sing Se." she acknowledged, before resting her chin on the tips of her fingers, which were placed together as she pondered Toph's suggestion, "But you are right. If the more patriotically minded members of the Dai Li, who joined believing they were there to serve the Earth Kingdom, think that the Governing Council is compromising with Ozai, then they'll... Well, do something. I can't say they'll succeed, but they will certainly cause problems that we can abuse."
"Ozai's grasp out here isn't very strong, I'd say." Hakoda gave his own view, "I think they'd be hard pressed to believe he was trying to infiltrate the Dai Li or make them his own agents."
"If the Dai Li is more concerned about controlling the city than trying to actually rule and serve the Earth Kingdom, then what would they conclude?" Azula asked the table rhetorically.
Toph clapped her hands, "They'll think the Governing Council is not good enough. I think what we've already done will cause a lot of discord among their ranks."
"Maybe some of the officers will actually think we're a better option." Sokka admitted, "Major Hui is probably the exception... probably."
"I think he fears the Dai Li more than he thinks I will win... but that means we'd have to reveal our strength before the rest even try to side with us." she explained her thoughts on the matter, before raising a finger, "So we must gather all our strength before we begin."
"Or, force them to." Jet argued, before sighing, "I'm unsure what motivates a Fire Nation soldier, if I'm honest. But you would know." he gestured to her; the would-be Fire Lord looked at her hands, and narrowed her eyes.
"Even my father, as heartless as he is, would never claim he wasn't acting in the interests of his people. To protect them from all harm that could come to them." she explained a kind of ideal that drove her father, and by extension, Katara assumed, the soldiers who fought for their nation, "The soldiers in the city can't do anything to help their countrymen across the continent or back in the homeland, but if their people in Ba Sing Se are endangered, they must act. Even somebody like Hui would, I imagine."
"So... the Dai Li have to attack the colonists... or at least, threaten them." Hakoda observed what she was saying, "I imagine they already are aware that's a bad idea."
"I think there's two birds with one stone here." Toph argued, "The patriots hate the Fire Nation, and probably hate the colonists. If they can be persuaded to act outside the commands of the Governing Council... then they'll try to right the 'wrong' the Dai Li has already made."
"And then, the colonists will react." Renshu stated the obvious, "And who else could lead an uprising but her highness."
"Not as myself." she admitted, "I need to gain the support of the Lower Ring, who certainly won't like me favouring the colonists, even if I am duty-bound as Fire Lord to do so. I will need to be careful, but we've already had an abundance of caution... this is just one more issue."
"If you cannot do it, then I can, your highness." Renshu spoke up, and she looked at him, seeming suspicious, or even dismissive.
"You are a guard, Captain. I trust you to command troops and keep my head on my body, but... this is something wholly political."
"Ty Lee." Katara decided on a candidate, "She's the best person for the job. People love her." she argued, and raised a finger, "And she's Fire Nation. No way they'll mistake her for anything else."
"She'll need some dirt on the Dai Li to earn any of the colonists' trust, but I'm sure that won't be an issue." Azula acknowledged, before rising back to her feet, "Well, that settles it. Jet, I am trusting you to find us a suitable location for our new base of operations. I would tell you to go ahead in advance, but we will need to enter while it is dark."
"I would take the Freedom Fighters to the Inner Walls so we reach them just after twilight. I think we could get in, if I can find a suitable entrance."
"Suitable being... what, exactly?" she asked him, and the Freedom Fighter smirked.
"Oh, you know, an old smuggling tunnel. Heaps of those exist... There used to be heaps of tariffs to prevent the Lower Ring commoners from getting cheap food directly from the Agrarian Zone. So, they'd smuggle things through. Usually the more expensive stuff. Herbs, spices... weapons." he explained, and Sokka almost laughed at that.
"Weapons, really? So, that's how you planned to rise against the Fire Nation." he observed, and Jet nodded.
"That was the plan, until her majesty here forced us to stop our plans... for your 'peace'." he reminded them what had happened, "Though I understand why, I still think we should have done it. We could have already had our victory."
"And the Dai Li would have undermined it at every turn, if you really were successful." Azula warned him, not sounding agitated by his accusations; she reminded her more of Gran-Gran chiding her or Sokka, "They already had their grip on the colonial government. What's to say your plots weren't infested with their agents?"
"I couldn't be sure, but we tried to avoid them as much as we could. They prefer to consort with the nobles, after all. The kinds of people who are safe and secure enough to tolerate all the repression." he argued, before sighing, "But you're right. I can't be sure they weren't fooling us. Prodding us into doing something that might have really just given them power... which they now definitely have."
"I'm glad we're in agreement." Azula made her feelings clear, "Now, I think we need to prepare ourselves. Take the time you need... If the Freedom Fighters want to take a tunnel into the city, they may, but I prefer the safety of numbers."
"We'll decide quickly." Jet assured her, "Let me just go speak with my friends."
He left the room, and went off to find the others; Katara was left there awkwardly looking at the map while Azula whispered something to Sokka. Her brother nodded, before standing up and following her to another room. Katara rose up to her feet as well, wondering where Aang and Ty Lee were.
"Are you alright, Katara?" her father addressed her, and she nodded curtly.
"I'm fine, Dad. I just want to find Aang. I guess... uh, we could do some waterbending practice." she explained her reasoning, and Toph gestured over to her.
"I'll come along." she decided for herself, and Katara raised a brow, wondering if she might go with Jet to aid with entering the city; she was less thinking because of her earthbending skill, but more because the two of them seemed to hang around each other- he was actually somebody she might call a friend, beyond the small group she was stuck with.
"Are you going to go with the Freedom Fighters?" she asked, and Toph shrugged.
"Only if they ask. I'd prefer to rest a little longer." she explained her intentions, before the two of them made their way out of the room, back towards the staircase.
They made their way up, and Katara made sight of Momo inside the barn, with some nuts in his little hands; she waved hello to the flying lemur, who chittered before scampering away.
She took the lead, and stepped over to the entrance of the barn, before calling out, "Aang?" she asked out, unsure where he was.
She knew that he wanted to go outside and look around, but she was unsure if that meant he'd wander off; she certainly hoped not, and knew he was aware of the danger they faced at that moment. Toph stepped behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, a smirk on her lips; Katara forgot that she could probably sense him the entire time, assuming he wasn't in the air. Her face told her that he wasn't, and that he must have been nearby.
"Why hasn't he responded, then?" she questioned her, and Toph shrugged her shoulders.
"I'd prefer you to figure that out yourself." she gave a vague response, and Katara rolled her eyes; she would play along, if only for her own entertainment.
She stepped away from Toph, and out of the barn, before she began pacing around it; that was when she ran into Jianren, who was accompanied by a few earthbenders.
"Ah, Toph, Katara." he addressed them, "We just finished checking the perimeter. There are no patrols in our vicinity, thank the spirits."
"Not even at the bridge?" Toph asked, and he nodded.
"No, not there. I could see a few... uh, trains, I guess you could call them, going across while we were near. They must be trying to repair the damage we did."
"I doubt they'll do much." the earthbender argued, before gesturing to their left, "Wait, is that it again?"
"What again?" Katara asked, though after a few moments she realised what she was referring to; a few moments later, she saw the airship rise up above the walls, and a few explosives were dropped, and she could see some boulders being tossed at it.
From such a distance they looked tiny, but as she knew how large the airship was, she realised they were massive; they missed the craft, and she noticed some earthbending being done in response, boulders being dropped from the airship itself, shattering parts of the wall.
"Wow." she gasped out, impressed and concerned by the nearby fighting, "So... the distraction is still working. If the airship's still flying after all this time, then they must have fuel."
"Actually, it refuels from the ships." Jianren clarified, "That's... uh, what I heard the Fire Lord say."
"That makes sense." Katara nodded, knowing that the base was under immense pressure from the enemy army; even if they had fuel stored there for the airship, it would be a dangerous move to try and refuel when they were probably facing barrages of boulders even worse than what she just saw come off the walls, "Have you seen Aang?" she asked Jianren, who glanced behind himself momentarily.
"Uh... no, not since I left." he answered her question, though not with a very helpful response; she nodded, stepped past him, and continued her search.
Toph let out a snicker, but followed after her anyway; Katara was a bit frustrated, but decided to just continue along with her game. She could not see Aang around any side of the barn, but she did notice some random debris on the ground, which looked like the result of earthbending, creating and breaking off some small stone pillars.
"You weren't training out here, were you?" she asked the earthbender, who shook her head.
Her gaze turned up, and she couldn't see Aang on the roof; she expected he might have heard her from up there, so she wasn't surprised that he wasn't there. Katara paced out into the trees that surrounded the barn, and cut it off from the neighbouring farmland; she stepped through the thick branches, forced to weave around like she was climbing through a mess of rope or something of the sort. Once she was through, she finally made sight of him. Aang was in the field, sitting down meditating. He had his disguise on, so nobody would spot his arrows or anything else that would make him seem like anything other than a peasant boy. The only reason she recognised him was because she knew what his clothes looked like, and could see the ends of his black hair peeking out beneath the hat he was wearing.
He must have heard their footsteps, and got up from his meditative pose; he had a smile on his face, and waved at them, "Oh, hey guys. Did anything happen?"
"The important people were making important decisions." Toph explained, Katara not missing the implication that Aang was unimportant, or had made a mistake by not being there; he cringed, and scratched the back of his scalp.
"Heh, I guess I probably shouldn't have meditated for so long." he conceded, and the Water Tribe girl stepped forward.
"It isn't an issue. I mean, you are the Avatar, but you're a kid. You don't have to be worried about all these complicated plans if you don't want to be." she argued, and Toph shook her head.
"I think Sugar Queen's confusing being a child with being ignorant." she gave her own opinion, making Katara clench her fists; usually Toph wasn't so annoying, but now she was targeting her for her opinions.
"Hey, half the reason I'm here is to explain what's going on!" she retorted, "We were talking about how we're going to get into the city, and where we'll stay there." she clarified for Aang's sake, and he nodded.
"Okay, so, when are we leaving?"
"Tonight." she clarified, and he clapped his hands together.
"I guess we can't rest when the Dai Li might find us." he agreed with the sentiment behind their urgency, "Did something happen between you two?" he asked, observing their spat.
"I- uh, no, not really." Katara assured him, "Toph's just picking an argument." she gave her view, eyeing the blind girl snidely, "If you wanted to argue for the sake of it, you should have followed after Azula."
"She's probably getting all hot and sweaty with your brother, so, I didn't do that." she argued, making Katara cringe in disgust; that was the last thing she wanted to think about.
"Why... why did you have to put the image in my head?" she asked her, and Toph just grinned.
"Ah, because I love it when I can get people to tick." she argued, before her expression straightened, "Also, because it's true."
"It might be- but, urgh." she turned away, before stepping over to Aang, who looked ready to ask her what exactly they were talking about, "Don't ask." she begged quietly, and he awkwardly nodded, before gesturing towards her.
"Uh... was that all you wanted to tell me? Or are you here to train?" he asked, and she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Yes, actually. Can we do some waterbending practice? I need to keep my mind off of... all of this." she requested, and before Aang could respond, their other friend decided to throw another verbal jab her way.
"So, you really do like ignorance." Toph argued, and Katara grit her teeth, her grip on Aang's shoulder inadvertently tightening.
"Shut up, Toph." she snapped back at her, letting go of Aang to approach her, "Do you like thinking about all the danger we're in? What the Dai Li might do to us if we get captured?" she pressed her, and the earthbender raised her hands up defensively.
"Hey now, Sugar Queen, I never said I was happy about it... but we've got to be ready to fight. Ignoring that will just make me complacent. Complacency is what lost the Earth Kingdom the war." she explained her line of thinking, before she ripped a bit of dirt out of the ground beside her, hardened it in her grip, before tossing it at Aang.
He shattered the pebble she had made, and dusted what remained of it from his robes, "So, are we all going to train then?" he asked, and Toph shook her head.
"No, I just wanted to see if he was ready to use his earthbending in a proper fight." she explained, turning around before subtly stomping her foot down; a pillar shot up beneath Aang's feet, throwing him into the air, but he was able to land on his own hands, on top of the pillar, before kicking the top part off, throwing it at her.
Toph shattered it, and smirked, "Good." she congratulated him, before making her way back through the trees.
Katara turned back to face Aang, and smiled at him, "Well, you are getting good at earthbending." she complimented his impressive reaction, and the bending that followed.
"Thanks." he smiled back at her sheepishly, before he glanced around, "We'll need to go to a well if we want to get some water to practise with."
"And we don't want to do it out here." she emphasised perhaps the most important point that had to be said.
"You're right." he nodded, before pacing over towards another set of trees, which bordered off the field from another one, "I wonder where the closest well is."
"I had to go there to get us some water for cooking and drinking earlier." she explained, before gesturing for him to follow her.
She led him back through the trees she had come through from the farm, and then past the barn and farmhouse, and then out to a field. At the side of the house, she picked up a pair of buckets, and hooked them over a wooden pole, allowing her to carry them over her shoulders. She could just carry the water by bending it, but she knew that it would be awfully dangerous to waterbend in public, in case they ran into some farmers out in the neighbouring fields. Aang followed after her, and Katara kept her focus ahead of them, wanting to be prepared to deal with anyone; she was more diplomatically minded than a lot of the people she was working with, and would prefer to trick and fool some commoners rather than endanger or outright harm them.
When they crossed the field, they moved through a small gate, leading them out to a small road, which travelled perpendicular to the walls, forming a path all the way between the Outer and Inner Walls. The former were quite close, and imposingly stood above them, while the Inner Walls were still quite a distance to the south, feeling almost as far as the Outer Walls had when they were at the base. She knew it would be a long walk, but she was prepared to do it, knowing the danger they were in if they were to just wait around at the farm for more information to come from the rest of the Coalition.
They crossed the road, and made their way onto a path, which led them further away from the farm. It led off to some other farms, but more importantly, the well was on it, and she could see that there were some peasants there, speaking as they were filling their buckets up. Katara was unsure what to say to them, but knew she just had to pretend she was a fellow farmer and go from there. As they must have been from the area, they would know they weren't local farmers, so she kept that in mind as she and Aang approached the well.
"Ah, good afternoon." one of the men addressed them, "You youngins here for some water?" he asked, and both of them nodded.
"Yes, sir." Aang confirmed, and the man gestured to the buckets that Katara was carrying.
"Why are you letting the girl do all the carrying? That's not very polite of ya." he chided Aang, who raised his hands up.
"Uh, no we'll both be carrying back one each when they're full." he made up an excuse, and another man laughed.
"Ah, don't you sweat it, boy. Old Lian here is just teasing you. She's bigger and stronger anyway." he gestured to Katara, "You two are new. Where'd you come from?"
"Oh, we- uh, were hired by a farmer to help out. We're from the Lower Ring." she explained, and the man nodded.
"Hmph, so refugees, I assume?" he questioned, and both of them nodded, "Ah, well, I hope your families do well with the extra coin." he commented, seeming to pity the refugees, "The war was terrible for our country. Hopefully things will turn around soon and kids like you will have a brighter future."
"Y-yeah, we hope that too." Aang agreed with the sentiment, before gesturing to the well, which the other man, Lian, was operating, "Are you nearly done?"
"Ah, give me a moment, boy... but yeah, I've filled m'buckets." he assured him, "You two kids can get yours."
Once Lian had pulled that bucket of water out of the well, he put it on a pole like Katara had with hers, and then hung the two buckets up; he nodded at the other man, who followed along carrying a single bucket.
"Good day." he farewelled them, "Best of luck with your work. I pray to the spirits for a bountiful harvest this summer."
"Good luck." Aang waved back at them, before turning to face Katara as they walked out of earshot, "That wasn't so bad."
"Assuming they aren't Dai Li agents." she warned him, before sighing, "But I guess we'll never know." she conceded, before hooking one of the buckets to the rope and pulley.
She let the bucket descend down the shaft of the well, before she heard a light splash; she let it drop a little further, and when she tried to tug on the bucket, it felt much heavier.
"So, what are we going to practise today?" Aang asked her as she began pulling the bucket back up.
"To get more creative with our waterbending." she decided, "Having to go to a well seems... a bit much. In the city, we'll need water in a pinch."
"Uh... what about the sewers?" he asked, "I mean, they must have them in Ba Sing Se too."
"Urgh." she groaned, the sights, sounds, and smells from the last time she was in one returning to her mind, "My people might not have much, but we know that having all that stuff... flowing around, it's just gross."
"Huh... I wonder if you could-" he began before grimacing, looking sickened, "Can we change the topic?"
"Definitely."
Toph had decided that walking, despite the comfort it gave her with being able to sense her environment, was much, much worse than riding Appa or flying on the airship; two days in a row, she had spent extended periods of time walking. They had left their hideout just before nightfall, and moved southward in three separate parties, to avoid suspicion from anyone they passed by. They took a rest around half way, allowing them all a short time to recuperate, before they had to continue on their march; they moved all together at that point, not wanting to lose anyone before they reached the walls and their intended passage through. The Inner Walls loomed in the distance, and were hard to ignore, reminding her of the distance she had to cross before they were where they wanted to be.
When they finally were close, the seemingly endless farmland gave away to an assortment of houses, shops, and other establishments, which were built around the closest gate into the city. Being a city controlled by earthbenders, there weren't any actual gates, but rather parts of the wall that would be parted and closed back up at different times, allowing people to freely move between the Outer Ring and the Agrarian Zone. There was a large checkpoint at the gates, manned by a few dozen soldiers and guards, while the settlement surrounding the gate was heavily policed. The others had yet to see much of it, but with her seismic sense, she was immediately aware of what they were facing.
She stopped herself by the edge of the settlement, and turned to face her comrades; Azula seemed to notice her lack of motion, and approached, "What is it?" she asked, the earthbender gesturing towards the gates.
"We won't be able to enter this way." she warned her, "I don't recommend we use any of the tunnels Jet was speaking about here. I can sense them... but there's so many earthbending guards around here, they will be able to tell." she argued, and she nodded.
"Then we'll find a tunnel somewhere else, or you'll dig us one." she decided, gesturing for everyone to follow, "We'll go a little further east. The others said they would meet us there." she reminded them of the other parties of fighters that had come through the walls to join them.
"Then let's move at once." Renshu declared, before gesturing to Toph, "Where can you sense the Freedom Fighters? Can you?"
"Uh..." she mumbled, before clenching her fists, trying to focus as hard as she could on the heartbeats she could feel around her; the settlement obscured anyone in there, as the number of people made their heartbeats hard to focus on, but beyond it, she could more clearly make people out.
The range of her abilities might have been effectively limitless, their accuracy certainly wasn't; she shook her head, unable to sense Jet or any of his friends nearby. They could have already gone through the Inner Walls, but if they had, she would have expected somebody to be waiting outside of the settlement for them to lead them to the tunnel.
"Then they must have gone further east. That was my direction, after all." Azula deduced, and began leading the group away from the main road leading into the settlement.
They took a backstreet, making their way past a few poorly built houses before exiting out onto a path leading through farmland once more. The path took them away from the settlement, but little closer to the walls; she assumed the others were looking out for signs of light that would indicate their allies were nearby. Toph had to simply rely on her seismic sense, but she couldn't make anyone she recognised, at least at that distance.
The following walk was very boring, to the point she would say it was mind numbing. Toph tried to distract herself by walking in different patterns, instead of the usual left foot, right foot march they had been doing on the way to the walls. She would talk to the others, but everyone was exhausted. She hadn't heard a single quip from Sokka, or an odd, airy comment from Ty Lee, not since they took their last rest. She wished they had just taken one of the bridges to the walls, but that was also the quickest way to find themselves in the deepest darkest hole the Dai Li could find for them, lined with metal or wood.
Given the time of night, nobody was out on the roads, but that probably made them even more suspicious to anyone they might come across. She tried not to think too much about that, and whenever she sensed anyone, she gave a warning to Azula or Renshu so they could figure out if they needed to change their route. However, things were quiet, and eventually, she did clearly sense a heartbeat; Longshot was up on some tree along the path they were taking, holding sentry for the Freedom Fighters, who she then sensed further afield closer to the walls.
"Longshot!" she called out to him, "You can get down from the tree now!"
He did so, and Azula turned to her, seeming impressed, "You could sense him? I couldn't see anything."
"Seismic sense doesn't need the sun." she responded with a grin, and paced over to Longshot, who had just gotten out from the tree, and gestured in the direction she had sensed the others.
Renshu was about to ask him what he was saying, but Toph interceded, not wanting to make the situation awkward by asking why the silent boy wasn't giving them clear directions.
"That way. I can sense them, and what seems to be the tunnel." she explained, and the guard held his tongue, nodding and gesturing to his comrades.
"Alright, two of you hold this spot, make sure we aren't followed into the tunnel. We'll signal you when we're going to cross through." he explained, and two guards stayed behind while Longshot led them through what seemed to be a patch of unmaintained land, full of trees, bushes, and long grasses.
They made their way through the winding path, which was a bit awkward, forcing them to duck under tree branches and walk across undulating terrain; however, the foliage began to clear out as they got closer to the walls, where there were was no foliage whatsoever, presumably so those manning the walls could see if anyone was trying to scale them. She thought it was an awfully stupid idea, given that the walls were a sheer face of stone, and if one could earthbend, then breaking through the walls would be much faster.
However, they weren't going all the way up to the walls, but instead stopped at a point which might have otherwise looked like a patch of grass, but Longshot pulled up a wooden panel, revealing a hole that led down into the tunnel. Jet was standing there at the bottom of the hole with his swords on the ready.
"Ah, you're here." he acknowledged their presence, "We weren't too hard to find, were we?" he asked, and Toph shook her head.
"He was in a tree." she retorted, before she quickly scaled down the rungs of the ladder; ladders were always awkward for her, so she tried to get down them with haste, not wanting to be stuck on something that wasn't earth for any longer than she needed to be.
Once she got to the bottom of the ladder, she got to the side, allowing the others to start climbing down; Jet gestured down the tunnel, seeming eager to lead them through to the other side.
"This tunnel goes into an old warehouse. We checked, and nobody's there at the moment. It is used during the day, so we can't just stay around." he explained where they were headed, and Toph crossed her arms.
"Did you end up looking around for a place for us to use as a hideout?"
"The school I mentioned earlier is pretty far from here. It will take a while to get there, unless we can get on a train... but we'll probably need documents for that, and money."
"I don't think money's the problem." she conceded, sensing that Azula had just climbed down into the tunnel.
"Have you let anyone else through yet?" she asked, and Jet nodded.
"Yes, there was a party of earthbenders and non-benders. We're familiar with most of them... they came on the boats with us to your base." he explained, "They're waiting in the warehouse for the rest of us. Longshot, go back to the tree, we're expecting one more group tonight."
She could sense him moving his head, nodding to confirm, before he dashed off back down the path. The rest of them made their way down the tunnel, moving two-by-two as it wasn't wide enough for any more people to move along together. Jet was beside her, and he seemed awkward, his heartbeat rising the longer silence remained between them. He did eventually speak, after presumably mulling over some smalltalk starters in his mind.
"So, uh, Toph, did you want to look around the city?" he asked her, before notably cringing; she didn't even realise until thinking back over the words why he would react so intensely.
"A city is a city. It's a big one, but once you've seen one, you've seen them all." she argued, before shaking her head, amused by his prior reaction, "I really don't care about the 'seeing' thing. I see with my feet, you see with your eyes, there really isn't that big a difference."
"Y-yeah, of course." he nodded, regaining a semblance of the confidence that defined him, "There's some interesting places here. There is a place I think you'd like: the underground earthbending competitions."
"Underground as in unauthorised, or underground like we are right now?" she sought further clarification, and Jet just snickered.
"Yes." he answered her question as curtly as he could; she smirked, imagining what it would be like to be the Blind Bandit again.
"As much as I would like to throw some idiots around, I don't think it's a good idea to make a name for myself here." she conceded, "Maybe after we win. That sounds like a fun way to end all of this struggle... with a fight for fun."
"If fighting was just for fun, I feel I'd be a lot less motivated." he admitted, and Toph shrugged.
"You're the kind of person to fight for a cause. I'm the kind of person to fight because I can. I don't mind the cause, though. I've seen enough to know that this is better than wrestling. Much better." she explained what she thought about their reasons for fighting; Toph had not always been so dedicated to the cause of fighting for the Earth Kingdom, but she could not say the same about Jet.
"Well, I'm glad we agree." the Freedom Fighter replied, his tone suggesting he was pleased with her outlook; she didn't really care if he thought she was cool or not, "I'm glad somebody like you can be so..." he began, before stopping himself; Toph was a little confused about what he meant by 'somebody like you', so she decided to press him.
"Somebody like you? A blind person?" she asked him, and he shook his head.
"No, a noble." he clarified, "You're from money so old, so rich, that you could have lived your life without raising a single finger. You didn't need to come out and fight with peasants like me. You chose that path."
"I guess I did." she agreed, though she didn't think she had started down the path she had for such an honourable reason.
"Do you think we're all the same?" Jet asked her, "I mean, people, that is."
"In the end... probably." she nodded, before grimacing, realising that kind of simplistic mindset ignored an important facet of life; some people were benders, some were not, and some of those benders had innate abilities, people like herself, who didn't have to try nearly as hard to learn and develop their skills, "But some people just have talents. They shouldn't waste them."
"You certainly didn't waste yours." he observed, "I don't like waste either." he admitted, "I wanted to make myself, and help my friends, become the strongest people we could be. I just... well, I don't know how that will fit in once we've won."
"You're a people person." she argued, "You'll figure something out... and if you don't, you've made the friends you'll need to get places."
"I guess you're right." he nodded, before glancing back, "I just worry about my friends."
"If you stick together, then you won't have an issue." she assured him, before scrunching her lips, "Unless you think they should be doing something else."
"This won't last forever." he simply reminded her of the fact that their war for freedom, for their nation, would end, perhaps sooner rather than later, "I want them to have futures too... and not just the lives they lost. Being a peasant isn't really all that fulfilling."
She didn't respond, just thinking about the lives that they must have lived; most of the fighters she knew had lived those kinds of lives, and expected that many of them would prefer to return to peace, calm, and the life of a common person. However, Jet had had a taste for power and respect, and she doubted he would give it up. She didn't think him selfish for having those feelings, because she had had them too. As a noblewoman, she had power, but it was nothing like the power she was being offered through the Coalition. She had the opportunity to reshape the world, just with her words.
Her mind was drawn away from those thoughts of power and politics, as they reached the end of the tunnel; it was a much shorter walk than the one from the Outer to the Inner Walls, or even the walk they had just done from the settlement to the tunnel. Jet pushed open the hatch above them, and gestured for them to climb on up.
"Go ahead. I'll go back and make sure the last group gets through alright." he explained what he was going to do, and she nodded, before climbing up into the warehouse.
The fighters observed her presence, and some of them waved hello, while the others were just sitting around resting or quietly talking among themselves. Toph decided to just wait for the others, sitting herself on a crate, and just let her mind run free. Her mind wandered back to the topic she had discussed with Jet, her future and what she could do. Toph said she wanted to bring justice to the land, and protect those who could not protect herself; she had made those promises to the villagers she had met, knowing they might not otherwise be willing to put their own people in danger for their cause. She did not intend to just renege on those promises, and would make good on her word, when she had the chance.
However, her mind moved beyond that, considering how she could still do what she wanted to do, which was fight, and do it for good rather than just for show. There were many people who had committed grievous crimes and misdeeds across the Earth Kingdom, and though many of those people were deserters, bandits, and genuinely crazed people who enjoyed killing and torturing others, the kinds of people that the Earth Kingdom had always treated with contempt, she felt that her metaphorical eyes needed to be on greater, more powerful kinds of wrongdoers.
The Dai Li were just one group of many, and just happened to be the most publicly corrupt and ruthless organisation, ruling over the largest city in the world. There were probably many Governors, officers, bureaucrats and nobles who were corrupt. She would not be surprised if her own father was counted among them; though, even if she disparaged him for his way of treating her, she could not really argue he was a malicious and greedy individual. He had always tried to be an upstanding citizen, though perhaps that was out of a desire for power in Gaoling and beyond, and not because he actually wanted to do the right thing.
She snickered, realising that her father and Azula were probably more alike than she and Azula were; they both might have been the scorned children of the powerful, but Toph had no ambitions for power. The Princess wanted to make herself the undisputed Fire Lord, and through her connections to the other nations, the leader of the new world she was building. She might have had some altruistic desires motivating her drive for power, but that was secondary to the fact that she had always expected and desired that place of power.
Toph scrunched her lips, wondering if after everything, that was what Azula wanted for Toph; the provisional government was just that, a government that would only stood to unite the people before providing them with the choice to make a new government for the 'Earth Nation', as they liked to call it. Once that new government was in place, somebody would need to lead it, and she imagined that the Princess wanted her to take some position of power, because she wanted powerful allies, not just power for herself.
The Princess was standing not far from her, speaking with Sokka, Hakoda, and Katara, though she wasn't really paying any attention to the topic; the Water Tribe girl turned around to approach her and raised a hand, as if that would get her attention any better than speaking to her.
"Toph, we think we should probably go and check around here. Maybe go buy some more supplies, and find out what we can about the new government here." she explained what Azula wanted them to do, as it was obvious she was the one coming up with the plans.
"Yeah, fine. I prefer that to sitting around... but once we find a proper place to stay, I am hitting the sack." she made her intentions clear, and Katara nodded, before yawning.
"Yep, me too." she agreed with her idea, and Toph stepped back over to the others.
Aang and Ty Lee stepped up as well, both of them seeming eager to leave; the latter butt her head in, and pointed towards the doors, "So, are we going to have a look around?" she asked, before scrunching her lips, "It's pretty dead out there, I don't know if we'll be able to get any supplies." she admitted, and Azula waved away her concern.
"It's not an issue. The sun will be rising soon. We will be able to secure supplies then. What we need is for the Freedom Fighters to show us where we can stay before we find a permanent hideout." she explained her plan, "So, we do need to check around here. Dai Li agents, city guards, criminals. Any kind of organisation poses a threat, and an opportunity."
"How many people are we planning on sabotaging, Sparky?" Toph asked Azula, who just huffed; that was an improvement, as she wasn't getting agitated by the nickname alone.
"As many as we can. This city is large, and complex. Like a machine with many moving parts. We should try and find which parts are vital, and... cause a jam." she explained her ideas through an unusual metaphor; she was unsure if Azula was just trying to sound smart, or if she genuinely just liked thinking things through that way.
She cautiously nodded, having understood the point even if she found the phrasing strange, "So, we should go." she decided, and eyed the others, "All together?"
"At once, but not in a group. I'll have my guards follow each group, for safety." she explained her plan, and Renshu stepped forward.
"Yes, that is the plan. Who will go?"
"I will." Toph already indicated her agreement to the plan, but thought to make it more explicit, "Has anyone here been to Ba Sing Se before?" she asked the fighters who were present; they shook their heads, answering that question at once, "But you have." she gestured to Renshu, "I say the guards take the lead."
"Well... that's a pretty good idea actually." Sokka agreed with her point, "I did memorise the maps myself, but I imagine they'd be pretty good with directions. Not as good as Jet and the Freedom Fighters, but good."
Bato stepped forward, clearing his throat, "I may be able to help as well." he clarified, and Azula nodded, gesturing to him.
"You take Katara, Hakoda, and anyone else who wants to go look around." she suggested, and the warrior nodded.
"I'll do that." he agreed, and glanced at the Chief, "So, we will?" he asked him, and he glanced back over to the Water Tribe warriors, who had sat themselves down at a table; not all of them were with them, having split in two, with one half joining them and the other half going with the group that had yet to reach the walls.
"Some of you should stay here to greet the other men." he directed them, before gesturing towards them, "But does anyone want to come and look around?"
"We're all pretty tired, Chief." one of them conceded, "I trust your daughter to keep you safe." he admitted, and Katara seemed pumped up by that compliment.
"Y-yeah, I will." she assured them, and she grabbed her father by the wrist, "We can go."
"I'll follow." Aang clarified, "I'm not really familiar with this place at all, so I do want to see things."
"This is not a sightseeing trip." Azula warned him, "But... you might think of something while you're out there." she added, conceding the value of him going out, even if he wasn't really thinking about their plans at that very moment.
So, with that, Katara, Aang, and the other two Water Tribesmen made their way out the door; one of Azula's guards tailed after them, even if he wasn't needed for directions.
Toph turned to face Jianren, who was sitting with the other earthbenders, "How about you?" she asked him, and he snickered.
"I am pretty tired too... but I have never been here. I'm sure it's not all that different from Shengchang or Gaochao." he admitted, rising up to his feet, "Come on guys, we might be able to snag ourselves some hot food if somebody's crazy enough to open up their stalls for the morning workers." he suggested, which seemed to entice some of the other earthbenders to get up.
She turned back to Azula, and gestured out the door, "So, we'll go." she decided, and the Princess seemed pleased.
"Good, you'll take them around." she gave her some directions and explicit authority; recalling what she had been thinking about earlier, Toph decided to make her own position clear.
She stepped closer, and whispered into the girl's ear, which was a bit of a challenge, given that she was a bit taller than her, "I will not become the Earth Nation's you." she warned her, and Azula seemed confused, but the meaning of her words dawned on her quickly enough.
Sokka, who might have just been able to make our her words, was equally confused, "Sorry, what?" he asked, and Azula sighed, before offering her a hand.
"I'm not making you do anything... not now, not after." she assured her, and Toph shook her hand.
"I'm glad we didn't need to argue about this. I prefer things to be... polite, among friends."
"Yes." Azula nodded, before making a soft snicker, "At least those friends who are actually capable of killing me."
"Thank you." she gave a curt bow, pleased to hear those implicit words of respect, "I'll be going now."
"What was that all about?" Ty Lee asked them, seeming a bit flabbergasted by the conversation, "Who's making who not do what?"
"Me, her... rule." Azula answered her question, and the acrobat still seemed to be thinking over the words.
"Rule... what, exactly?"
"You can guess." Toph made her think for herself, before gesturing for Jianren and the others to follow, "I don't want to waste this time. If we find some vacant property... that's even better than intel." she argued, and Sokka snapped a finger.
"Exactly. I want somewhere to sleep without the chance of the guards being called on us."
"They still might. Last time I heard, squatting was a crime." Azula warned, and Toph snickered.
"Then we'll just have to make another bunker. Discreetly, that is." she suggested, and the Princess seemed amused.
"Well, I trust you can hide us from the all seeing eyes of the Dai Li. You can see even what they cannot see." she acknowledged the extent of her power, before gesturing to the door, "Are you going to go, or will you wait for Jet?" she asked her, and Toph stopped herself.
"For Jet?" she asked, and she noticed Sokka lightly punching the Princess.
"Come on." he chided her, and Azula just turned away.
It took her a few moments to realise what she was getting at, but she refused to entertain her prodding. She just paced over to the door, and gestured for the others to follow, "Let's go."
They followed her to the doors, which she opened up; she stepped out onto the street, and sensed around, not feeling many people in their general vicinity. There was a patrol of guards making their way down a nearby street, a larger one that lay closer to the walls; they wouldn't be an issue, as she didn't expect to cross paths with them. Further afield, she could sense some pedestrians making their way down streets, presumably heading off early to work. Jianren stepped up beside her, and pointed to their left.
"I can see there's more light that way." he told her, and Toph scrunched her lips.
Sensing in that general direction, she noticed a larger massing of people, though it didn't seem to be any kind of gathering; rather, she assumed it was the local market, which seemed to be getting set up for the morning. That made sense, as workers would come out to get quick meals before they left for their jobs across the city. It was a strange place, already having people about at such a late hour, or early, if she looked at it the other way.
"A market. Probably to sell breakfast." she gave her observations, and Ran clapped his hands together.
"Great. I am hungry." he made his feelings and intentions clear, and Toph raised a finger towards him.
"But do you have any money?"
"Of course. I brought some savings in case we had to buy more supplies." he explained, and with that, they all started walking off in that direction, down the narrow street.
One of Azula's guards, whose name she could not recall, even if she distinctly recognised his heartbeat, followed after them; he didn't say anything, just keeping his distance and holding their rear, presumably in case they were followed. Dai Li agents stalking the streets were an expectation not just a mere possibility.
A few moments later, Ran broke the silence, "Are we really going to have to start working here... like everyone else?"
"Probably." Jianren nodded, "I don't like being forced to labour when we should be rousing our people to fight, but it is honest work. We would be hypocrites if we didn't consider putting in the hours to pay for our own livelihoods."
"I did that back home by protecting the city." the soldier admitted, "I might not be as good an earthbender as Toph, but we had the same job."
"You're right." she nodded, "And I agree. It sucks... but what can we do?"
"Stealing is dishonourable." one of the other earthbenders, Shou, argued, and raised a finger towards Ran, "So, don't think about it. We should only stoop so low if it's absolutely necessary, which it isn't."
"I wasn't thinking about that." the soldier assured him, sounding offended, though he kept his voice low, indicating that he wasn't trying to start an argument; that was a quick way to get some people suspecting them, something they all wanted to avoid.
The group made their way to the end of the street, before taking a right, making their way down a street running away from the walls, towards the market. The number of people didn't increase, suggesting that nobody was really out to go to work just yet. However, she imagined that the men and women working the stalls might be able to provide them with food.
When they made their way out to the street, Toph raised a hand to get them to stop, "Go around, find out what you can. Buy food if you like... but keep an eye out. I'm sure agents will be about... maybe even running the stalls." she warned them with a whisper, keeping her face away from the people running the stalls who might have been able to read her lips and gain some understanding of what she was saying.
Toph had learned that the hard way, as sometimes people would be able to understand her from a distance, even when they couldn't hear her. She had assumed that speaking was not a visual matter, but it certainly was; that made her more cautious when she was in such a dangerous situation. Any given spot in the city wasn't all that dangerous, given the Dai Li couldn't be everywhere at once, but she knew there would be agents holding watch in some places, and she couldn't just hope that the very market she was visiting was not one of them.
The group fanned out, and Toph turned around, making her way through the early morning market, which was mostly still not open. One of the stalls she could see was, which was selling hot food; she stepped over to it, and decided to abuse the opportunity. Get herself some food, make some smalltalk, and hopefully learn as much as she could about the local area. The stall was being run by an older woman, who seemed friendly enough, simply by her posture and heart rate suggesting that she had little to hide or worry about.
"Good morning, darling." she addressed her with the expected amount of familiarity; stallowners wanted their customers to feel welcome as if they were at home, mostly because they wanted those customers to buy from them, "Are you in need of a warm meal? What can I do for you?" she asked, and Toph cringed, deciding to play up the blind girl act.
"Oh, I'm blind." she admitted sheepishly, "I can't read whatever signs you've got here. I smelt the hot food." she explained, and the woman cooed, sounding to pity her.
"Oh dear, that's alright, I can tell you what I have." she assured her, and gestured to the pots behind her, "I have vegetable noodles, pig-chicken noodles, pig-cow noodles; you can choose rice or egg noodles with either. As a side, I have some vegetable or pig-chicken dumplings." explained her menu to her, and Toph scrunched her lips.
"Well, uh, pig-chicken dumplings, and some egg noodles with pig-cow would be good." she explained what she wanted, and gestured to her purse of coins, "How much will that be?"
"Uh, ten copper for the dumplings. That's twelve of them, and two silver for a bowl of noodles." she explained, her words truthful; if she was trying to scam her with higher prices, Toph could tell.
"Alright." she accepted the pieces, and handed her the requested currency; she was able to tell apart the different kinds of coins by touch and weight, and this seemed to impress the woman.
"Oh, you- uh, you can tell them apart." she realised, and nodded, taking the coins into her hands, "I'll only be a moment. The pots are already hot." she explained, and Toph nodded, keeping her senses keen to their surroundings.
She could sense a few people making their way down the street; they appeared to be workers, carrying along bags with them. She could barely make out their voices speaking, which was hard to hear over the sound of the simmering pots and boiling water in front of her. Nobody else of interest came around as she was waiting for the woman to prepare her food, so she decided to make some light conversation, choosing her questions wisely.
"How long have you run this stall for?" she asked, and the woman made an awkward laugh as she was taking something out of one of the pots.
"Oh, ten years now. Nearly eleven." she explained, "We used to get a lot of soldiers coming through here during the siege... that got my business booming. Veterans still come back here for their meals, and now even some of the conscripts come along. Poor fellows can't catch a break, so I'm glad I can help sate their hunger." she explained the kinds of customers she had; perhaps talking about veterans and the war was a way to help signify that she was loyal to the Earth Kingdom.
She understood that outward signs of loyalty were important under Fire Nation occupation, so patriots could clearly understand who was a friend and who was not, but it made less sense when the Dai Li was in charge, even in tandem with their former occupiers.
"Yeah, they must not be having a good time at the moment." she commented on the situation the conscripts were facing, "With the Fire Nation breathing down our necks again."
"I don't want to spread rumours... because my pa said that was rude and a way to catch a beating, but I heard that the new invaders have Water Tribesmen among them. That's what my sister-in-law said." she explained something she had heard, "Never thought I'd hear of the Water Tribes working with the Fire Nation... well, ignoring that one boy." she admitted, clearly referring to Sokka, which amused Toph; even out in the Lower Ring, they had heard about him.
"It can't be good news." Toph admitted, not wanting to sound as if she knew more about the Coalition than the woman did.
If news of their multi-nation coalition was bleeding through the walls and the various restrictions the Dai Li must have set up to prevent the spread of information, that meant that a lot of soldiers must have learned about the nature of their forces. It was no Fire Nation army coming to bring doom to the newly pacified Ba Sing Se, but their would-be liberators; however, Toph wasn't as cocky as Azula, and she wouldn't go as far to say the common people wanted to be liberated. Perhaps they didn't even especially care for the Dai Li's rule, nor the Fire Nation colonial government before it; the Lower Ring was still poor, still without any political representation or improvement of their living conditions. The conscripts would certainly care, given their necks were on the line, but when they were out of the walls, they were less useful as a tool to bring about their revolution.
"The Fire Nation are broken, yet they spare the time to try and take the city again. Fools, I tell you." she gave her thoughts on what Azula was doing, though she presumably wasn't aware of the reasons.
"War is stupid." Toph admitted, those words her own opinion, though that didn't mean she did not want to fight.
She wanted to end it, so they didn't have to worry about people suffering needlessly. She could not cure diseases, but she could stop people from killing each other and destroying their homes; that was within her power, so she would do it.
"Yes, it is." the woman agreed, before handing her her bowl of noodles, as well as a bag of dumplings, "There you go, dear. Have a good day."
"I will." she assured her, and turned her heels, pacing over to Jianren, who was speaking with one of the men running another stall, which appeared to be selling an assortment of tools and clothing required for labouring.
He noticed her approach, and turned around to face her, "Ah, dear, you're done getting breakfast?" he asked, and she cringed, realising that he was pretending to be her father.
"Y-yes, I did." she nodded, feigning shyness, and he grabbed her by the shoulder, leading her away from the stall.
"I hear that conscription is quite the issue in these parts. The able-bodied men being taken away means there's less labourers in the Agrarian Zone and in the factories of the Lower Ring. Even the Fire Nation business people seem annoyed, given they're the ones with all the nice factories." he explained with an eager tone, though in a whisper.
"Good. That sounds like an issue we can persuade them with." Toph realised, already guessing from what the woman said, that conscription was probably the biggest issue around, and that most people might have believed the threat of the Coalition to be a non-issue, which made sense as the Dai Li would downplay the threat.
"That's what I was thinking." he agreed with her, and gestured down through the market, "I say we keep looking around. Maybe there will be more people willing to just... speak with us." he suggested, and Toph nodded.
"Hmph." she agreed, "The poor little blind girl act might help." she admitted, and Jianren laughed.
"It sure might." he agreed with her idea, before gesturing for her to go on.
"Wait." she stopped herself, and grabbed him by the arm, "Why did you act like you were my dad?" she asked, and Jianren made an awkward laugh.
"Uh, well, I mean, we look similar enough." he admitted, "Dark hair, skin on the paler side, kind of lanky." he observed traits that she had, which she assumed meant that he had them too.
"Huh, I forget sometimes that people have different colours... and that colour is a thing." she admitted, and tilted her head, "So, we look similar?" she took away the main observation, and he shrugged.
"Lots of people look similar. There's only so many different ways people can look." he argued, "But everyone is different, at least on the inside."
"Or the same. Blood, guts, and all." she countered, and he shook his head.
"Don't say stuff like that if you're going to pretend to be all innocent." he suggested, and Toph placed her hands on her hips.
"Innocent and stupid are two different things."
Jet felt utterly exhausted after walking around all day; just like the night prior, he had gotten barely any sleep, but at the very least, he was where he wanted to be. More than that, he knew Ba Sing Se, better than the people he was leading around, and perhaps better than some of the people who lived there. He was used to travelling around the city for work, or for plotting against the colonial government; all that work had been for naught, but now, he had an opportunity to return to his original plan. Raising the people of the Lower Ring up against their oppressors; he had seen Ba Sing Se before the Fire Nation's conquest, so he was well aware that there was a structural issue in how society worked in the city, beyond occupation by a foreign power.
He had gotten a little rest at the walls, with each of the Freedom Fighters taking shifts to spot out for approaching allies, however, it hadn't been much. They had abandoned the warehouse at daybreak, and made their way through that small district in the northwestern Lower Ring, searching for some place to base themselves, even if it was only temporarily.
He was not too familiar with the area, beyond the smuggling route he had used to get them through the walls, but he did know that there were some dilapidated slums nearby the gates, which had been ravaged by a fire not long before he left the city. The area's populace were outraged by the lack of support from the colonial government, and he had made quick friends with some of the local leaders, helping them protest for more aid. They did end up getting moved to another part of the city, temporarily housed in old military accommodation near the walls. However, he expected that the slums were still mostly unoccupied, given the damage. There were likely some spots there for them to hide out, not to mention they could probably get jobs helping rebuild the houses there.
So, they travelled to the centre of those slums, which were partially rebuilt, and were already filled with workers at that time of day, either recycling old materials for building, clearing land, or rebuilding houses. Toph had found them a nice spot to use as a hideout, which was some old basements, which had been collapsed upon by rubble, and were easily accessible from a stormwater drain, which took water from the higher parts of the city and under the walls to the Agrarian Zone.
It wasn't the best spot, given that the area was likely to be rebuilt in due course, but Jet did not expect them to be hiding there for long. Everyone shuffled their things inside, quickly turning the basements into a small but densely packed encampment. The only thing that was obviously missing was the Avatar's sky-bison; he had only realised after the fact that he had not come with them to the tunnel. Given his large size, he could not be sneaked around through the Agrarian Zone, let alone through the tunnel, and could only reasonably cross over at night; Aang had decided that he would go back to the farm to check on Appa twice a day, but would otherwise keep him there until they found a larger hideout to use.
He had rested for a short period at the new hideout, but the Fire Lord requested that they go to the local leadership, and start ingratiating themselves. Jet had a few people he could certainly trust, but he was unsure if the old protest movement would be so willing to back him; they might have welcomed the Dai Li's return to power, and given their homes were in fact being rebuilt, they might be supportive of the new state of affairs. He wanted to get it over and done with, so he led them straight to the local community hall, where volunteers used to provide food and other kinds of aid to the displaced locals.
The place was filled with the banners of the new government, and there were even some city guards outside; he was unsure if it was a smart idea to go inside, and cautiously waited there while the Avatar's group made up their minds on what exactly to do.
"I say we at least check it out." Ty Lee spoke her mind, "It's not like we'll be arrested for going inside."
"I don't know." Toph warned against that action, if a bit subtly, "There does seem to be a few people inside there, but it doesn't seem like some gathering of locals... more like an office."
Jet sighed, and decided to just play along with ignorance, "I can just ask them. I did live in another part of the city." he explained, and the others nodded along.
"Just choose your words carefully." Azula gave a modicum of advice, and he rolled his eyes, already knowing that guards and officials in Ba Sing Se were always the kind to act like they had sticks up their butts.
"I've been in this spot before." he reassured her, before pacing over towards the doors; the guards standing there eyed him momentarily.
Jet checked their faces with a glance, not recognising them; he only knew a few guards personally, so he knew there was little chance he would recognise two out of the thousands that patrolled the city. So, he decided to take the original approach he had intended.
"Uh, I haven't been here for a while." he explained his reason for even having to ask them, "Does Adu still work here?" he asked, and they glanced at each other with confused faces, "Tall, a bit swarthy, and got burns on his arms." he gave some descriptors of Adu, one of the friends he had made in the local community.
"You mean that sandbender fellow?" one of them asked, and he nodded.
"Yep, that's Adu." he confirmed, "Is he around?"
"Well, the Governing Council has taken over operations here from the charity he was running." the guard explained, "This... Adu, I think he still works with the clean-up crew. You'll find him... uh, well, cleaning up."
"Thank you." he bowed in respect, something Jet wouldn't usually do, but he needed to play the part of somebody who wasn't trying to cause any trouble; playing up his rebellious, roguish persona would not do him any good with city guards.
"Did you help after the fire or something?" he asked, and Jet nodded.
"Yes, I used to work here cleaning up. Me and my friends." he clarified how he had come to the specific part of the city, "We're all refugees, like the people who lived here before the fire."
"Hmph, well, most people are around here." the guard admitted, "Huiyan here is one too." he gestured to the man beside him, who had remained silent throughout.
"Yeah, you don't need to remind me. Half my family died on the way to this spirit-forsaken city." he retorted, indicating he wasn't as dutiful as his comrade; he was just doing what he had to survive, and being a guard, that was a secure kind of profession, even if it got him in trouble with crime, and potentially even with the Dai Li, if he didn't watch his tongue.
"Hey now." Jet spoke up, before the other guard could even correct him, "I'm sure we can agree Ba Sing Se wasn't what we were told... but it's our home, isn't it?" he asked the guard, and Huiyan nodded, his eyes turning out towards the street.
"Just let me do my job, kid."
"I'm going." he reassured them, before turning his heels, making his way back towards the others.
They were standing under the cover of some drapes that hang from one of the newly rebuilt buildings, which appeared to be some kind of mix of shops and an apartment block; it was a far cry from the terrible slums that preceded it, but the handiwork on the building itself wasn't the best, and that was by Lower Ring standards.
"My friend isn't here." he explained, and Jet gestured towards the area where labourers were cleaning up, "He's probably working over there. I probably should have just checked... but I thought he might still be working in the hall."
"I assume it's all run by the Dai Li now." Toph guessed, and he nodded.
"Well, the Governing Council... appropriated it. Probably took the wind out from beneath the little movement we had going here." he explained, letting his frustrations be clear in his tone, "So, let's just go speak with him. I'm sure he'll help... but I'll do the talking. I don't think-"
"Yeah, they don't like the Fire Nation. We know." Katara assured him that they all understood the issue.
Jet nodded, and turned around, leading them along to the part of the district where they were still clearing out the rubble; there wasn't that much left, but it seemed to have piled up, and the labourers were using earthbending to clear it away and reuse materials for later construction. That was a smart move that saved them a lot of money, but it also meant that without enough earthbenders the work would take far too long. Despite the size of the city, there couldn't have been that many, especially considering a lot of them might have just gotten conscripted by the Dai Li to defend against the Coalition. The workers were pottering away with things, seeming exhausted under the morning sun, but none of them were lazing about.
When he walked around the nearby street, he kept an eye out for Adu, and eventually, he did spot him. He could see him working with another earthbender, reusing the rubble to build some new foundations for a building. They were under the cover of a tarp, so it was hard for either of them to see each other, but when he got close, Adu must have recognised his face; Jet was wearing a topknot, and the usual garbs of a peasant, but he had seen him dressed similarly before.
"Spirits be damned. The winds have brought an old friend back to this sorry place." he greeted him with a smile, and offered him a hug; Jet accepted it, and gestured to the rubble around them, "So, are you here to help clean up?"
"Uh... not these ruins, I'm more into cleaning the city." he explained himself, hoping Adu would read between the lines; he did, and stroked his beard with a smirk.
"So, you have come back to sing a song of liberation." he realised, "It seems your timing was off. It seems that one of the Fire Lords is about to conquer the city."
"Well, that's- uh, can I speak with you privately?" he asked, and Adu glanced behind himself at the other workers.
"That's not foreboding in the slightest." he sarcastically commented, and nodded, raising a hand to his workmates, "I'll be back in a moment. My friend here just has brought news." he explained, and the other workers nodded; one of them raised a hand.
"You better come back and put in twice the effort, Adu!" he prodded him, and the sandbender flicked up some of the dirt at the worker, who just laughed, earthbending the dirt into a ball that he tossed at Adu.
He weaved right out of the way of it, despite having turned around to face Jet again; the two of them walked away from the worksite, across the street, to a newly built building; under the shade of a tarp, Adu leaned on the wall, and gestured to the Freedom Fighter, telling him to speak.
"I should probably explain myself. I went to Omashu." he clarified where he had been since they last spoke, "I fought for the King there, and we gave the Fire Nation a good headache." he proudly told him of his work, and Adu glanced around, presumably because he had noted the absence of his friends.
"And where are your little friends? Well, little friends and old Pipsqueak." he corrected himself, knowing it was quite almost offensive to call Pipsqueak anything but big.
"They're all good." Jet assured him, "They're resting because we've spent days walking. Finding old friends is my burden to bear." he explained, and Adu furrowed a brow.
"Why are you seeking me out... beyond missing my renowned company?" he asked him, and Jet chuckled.
"I wasn't joking... the hour of liberation will soon be here." he assured him, "I am part of the Coalition. We are an alliance of rebels from across the Earth Kingdom, with assistance from both of the Water Tribes... and we are here to end the Dai Li's rule." he told him what they were doing, Adu's eyes widening.
"You're... you're not playing with me." he realised it was no joke, nor some extreme exaggeration, "You're being serious?"
He nodded, and raised a fist up, "I would not lie to a friend. The Governing Council will never listen to the people, and we need to reunite the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation is weak and divided, so this is our greatest opportunity."
Adu grabbed him by the collar, "You might not be lying, but don't think I've been living under a rock here." he warned him with cold eyes, "The Fire Lord... Azula." he reminded him of who was leading the Coalition, "You're her servant now? After all her people have done?"
"That's not how it works." he retorted, "I dislike her as much as the other rebels, but she is not controlling us. She is simply aiding us. Our goals align." he argued, "If you think she's going to rule the city... you must think she's stupid. You know what happened to the colonial government, better than I do. You were here."
"Yes, I do, which is why I can't fathom how you'd trust her. She already beat the Dai Li." he reminded Jet of what had happened the last time Azula was in the city.
"You know as well as I do that wasn't a real victory." he argued, before crossing his arms, "Adu, I know you hate the Fire Nation."
"Of course I do. They're the reason us refugees are here. My people do not seek out conflict... but they sought out my home. We were just humble traders and herders. We hadn't done anything to aid the army, but they destroyed us anyway." he reminded him of what had happened to his own hometown, and he raised a finger to Jet, "Are you going to forget what they did to your home as well?"
"No." he assured him, "That's why I'm part of this alliance. Once the Earth K- no, the Earth Nation, is united, we can make our demands of the Fire Nation, and make sure those responsible are punished." he explained, "Justice won't come from the Dai Li, and it won't come if we aren't united." he argued, "Do you want them to decide what is justice?"
Adu raised his chin, clearly still mistrustful, but he could see it in his eyes; Jet had won him over, at least in part, "No. They would just want to secure their own power... and help out their donors in the Upper Ring." he conceded what the Dai Li would do, "And their colonial allies." he added, before gritting his teeth, "What will she do with them?"
"Remove them to the colonies." he clarified, "That's my best guess. She doesn't want the Fire Nation here. This is our city, even she doesn't deny it."
"That doesn't exactly solve the problem, does it?" Adu rhetorically asked him, before sighing, "The people here hate the existence of the colonies even more than your average Earth Kingdom patriot. They are the reason these people have no homes anymore." he reminded him of their nature.
"Don't think I forgot." he retorted, "I have lost the same as you."
"I know." he agreed with him, "So, how can you stand by and let the colonies go from occupied lands to truly part of the Fire Nation?"
"The Fire Lord has promised self-determination, and for our nations to rule the land together in the meantime." he clarified, answering not the actual question Adu had, but the question that naturally followed from it.
He was surprised by his words, and turned his eyes away, "So... you're either being fed lies, or she's actually trying to make peace."
"This won't make me not hate the Fire Nation. I want the bastards responsible for ruining my life- my friends' lives, I want them dead." he argued, raising a fist, before he softened his expression, knowing there was no point to getting angry, "I just know peace is better than war. And not peace under the Fire Nation, but peace with them. That's the only way we can hope to get justice."
"That isn't winning." Adu argued, "I thought you wanted to win."
"My people having peace is victory. If that peace was only on our terms, what do you think we would have to do? We would have to conquer the Fire Nation. Is that even possible?" he asked, and his friend sighed.
"No." he quietly conceded, "It isn't... not while there's still a Fire Lord. You have a chance to get rid of one of them."
"No I don't." he retorted, "The Coalition is my chance at justice. If I can't win with them, then I won't win, ever." he argued, before offering him a hand, "Please, Adu. I know you hate them, but the people here... they will suffer as long as the Dai Li rules. We can end that. We can make sure the ash-makers leave, and this city remains ours."
"And that sounds bloody." he warned him, and Jet shrugged.
"Surely it will be." he agreed, before raising a finger into the air, "But whose blood will it be? The blood of the common people, or the blood of the Dai Li, when we make them kill each other?"
Adu seemed to finally have been swayed, and smirked, "If only for that... I'll consider it."
"Thank you for hearing me out." he smiled at him, before sighing, "I do have something else to ask."
"What is it? Do you want me to bring more people to your plot?" he asked, and Jet shook his head.
"I mean, names would help, but I can do that myself. I'm more worried about what happened back there. Since when did they run the community hall?"
"Urgh." Adu groaned, and then he facepalmed, "Those bastards can't stand a single bit of self-organisation. We never even said anything treasonous, or did anything of the sorts." he argued, crossing his arms, "They took over operations a month ago. Said it was part of some Urban Reconstruction Project, so we weren't needed to run and pay for things ourselves. That was nice, until I realised that meant we had no say in the work, or how much we got paid. It isn't much, I'll tell you that. At least it's consistent." he explained what had happened, sounding a bit conflicted; Jet knew that a consistent bit of income, even from the corrupt new government would certainly help.
"The problem is that they're deciding who owns what places we build. Who lives where. How the resources are allocated among the displaced." Adu further explained, and Jet nodded.
"So, they're not listening. That's pretty usual for the government around here." he admitted, before smiling, "But you see, that's the one problem we're really solving. Not just the corruption, not just the brutal crackdowns, not the colonisation. It's making a government that actually listens."
"Of the people, for the people." Adu entitled it, "I like the idea, it reminds me of how my people live. If I join.. I assume that means I'll have a say in how all of this new government stuff is organised."
"Certainly." he assured him, "Though, the people will definitely have their say as a whole."
"Then I can't say no. The opportunity is too great." he admitted, "You should go and find Teng. She's definitely going to be interested in all this."
"Where's she now?" he asked, and Adu scrunched his lips.
"She works at the press now. Printing out posters and the like for the Governing Council. She hates it, but she does like to abuse her access to the machines. She's helped me make some fliers."
"That's better than just writing out fliers by hand." the Freedom Fighter noted the advantage of using a press, "I think she'll be very helpful. Or at least, the keys to her workplace will be."
"She might help you." Adu assured him, "But don't steal her keys. That will only end badly."
"I wasn't going to, I promise." he reassured him, before glancing back the way he had come; he could see that Sokka and Azula were watching from afar, though he doubted Adu would have seen through their disguises unless he paid attention to their eyes, "I will speak with my allies. I hope they will trust you. If they do, then I will give you the directions to our hideout." he explained, "We can't just let anyone in."
"I understand. Just like how you couldn't trust just anyone with your smuggling." he acknowledged, before chuckling, "I'm guessing you entered the city through the tunnel near here, right?"
"Right on." he confirmed with a smile, "I knew they'd come in handy again."
"Do you want me to find some more people for this plot of yours?" he asked, and Jet sighed.
"As much as I'd like to assemble a whole army of commoners who are pissed off with the Dai Li, there's the threat of infiltration to worry about. They're far more devious than the Fire Nation... they have agents everywhere."
"So, don't go for people with full sets of clean teeth?" he asked him, perhaps as a joke; the Dai Li did appear to draw their ranks from the middle and upper classes of Ba Sing Se, therefore not anyone from the Lower Ring, but he had never been able to determine their recruitment process.
"The better their reading skills, the less you can trust them." he joked back, and Adu laughed, patting him on the back, "The one good thing about them being in charge again is that they seem to be much more open in their activities. I've heard they're even recruiting people to their ranks from refugees... but they have pretty high standards."
"What, did you try to join up?" Jet asked him, not expecting him to actually say yes.
"No, no, but my buddy Wang actually tried to join up. Thought that he could get some more money and maybe even try to get a place in the Middle Ring. I told him he was an idiot for thinking they'd take some refugee who can't read, no matter how good an earthbender he might be." he explained, seeming disappointed rather than angry with his friend, "Wang fucked it, of course, but he said that some people did actually get in. Women, even."
"I thought they were all men." Jet admitted, and Adu nodded.
"That's true... kind of. The women are never out on the streets doing the grunt work... though I imagine some of them might disguise themselves to keep an eye on subversives like us."
"Spirits willing Teng isn't one of them, then." Jet hoped, knowing that with her skills, she might actually have a chance of being recruited.
"No, she's a non-bender... and you know her, she hates corruption and all the lies they keep feeding us."
"I hope so." he smiled, before turning around, "I'll go find Teng. Which press is it?"
"Timu Press. It's in the southern part of this district, near the Lower Ring Walls."
"So, I assume the place is run by some snobs from the Middle Ring."
"Basically. In their defence, I believe they did try and promote our community organisation before the Dai Li forced us to work under their authority." he explained, "You might find some more people willing to join your cause. Definitely don't lead with the Fire Nation bit. That'll just piss 'em off. Even snobs can be patriots."
"Of course." he nodded, before cringing at the thought that Toph was one of those people; though, she was from an even wealthier background, "Yeah, they can be."
Before he could walk away, Adu raised a hand up to grab his shoulder, "How do I know I've got in?"
"I'll just find you again. You work here, it's not that hard to find." he assured him with a snicker, before pacing his way down the street.
He turned a corner, where Sokka was waiting for him, arms crossed and with a smile on his face, "That actually went pretty well, all things considered." he observed the results, "So, let's go find this Teng lady. I'm sure she won't stab Sparky over here." he sarcastically quipped, presuming correctly that she wouldn't like to meet Azula; Teng was not a happy person, but she had her heart in the right place.
"Don't call me that." Azula retorted, as she was crouching by the street corner.
"Hey, even I can admit, Toph comes up with good nicknames." Sokka argued; the aforementioned earthbender strode over and pat Sokka on the back.
"Thanks, Ponytail." she smirked at him, and Sokka rolled his eyes.
"I would take it back, but Sparky's actually pretty cute."
"Shut up." the would-be Fire Lord snapped back, rising up to her feet, "Let's just go find her. I'm sure your friends are finding other potential allies."
"Huh... maybe Smellerbee beat us to Teng." Jet suggested, "Those two got along pretty well."
Azula stepped closer to him and pointed her index finger on his sternum, "Just take us to where she is... assuming your friend wasn't completely useless and didn't give you directions."
"No, he did." he assured her, and scrunched his lips, "It's near the Lower Ring Walls." he clarified, "Probably just down this street." he gestured to the closest north-south running street, which would lead them to the walls.
"Good. Let's get on with it." she decided, before snapping a finger at her boyfriend, "Is Jet being truthful?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so." he nodded, confirming he had told her what Adu said, "I don't think he's going to betray us, if that's what you're thinking."
"I'm right here." he opened his arms wide, "Come on, do you think that poorly of me?" he asked them, not rhetorically, but genuinely asking if they thought he would betray the Coalition, despite willingly joining their cause.
"Yes." Azula bluntly confirmed, "Unlike most of the soldiers that betrayed my trust, you have a very good reason to hate me."
"Okay, if we wanna argue like a bunch of fools, can we do it when we're not going to be overheard?" Toph asked them all, stepping between them; Jet resolutely nodded, and got on with what was asked of him, leading them to Timu Press.
"She's right." Katara agreed with her, and that was all that was said; everyone else kept quiet, or quiet enough that Jet couldn't hear them.
Toph paced up beside him, and pat him on the back, seeming to sympathise with him more than Azula, at least for that moment, "Don't stab her." she requested quietly, and he snickered.
"I already made it clear, I'm not doing that."
"Now." she corrected him, "This is surely not a good opportunity to fork us off to the Dai Li." she prodded him; she was joking, much more obviously than the Fire Nation girl was.
He knew that because he and Toph were actually friends; he didn't have many people he could trust in the Coalition beyond his friends. Bato and Toph were probably the ones who knew him the best, and conversely trusted his intentions. Jet knew why Azula wouldn't, and in her shoes, he wouldn't either; he wanted justice, and the Dai Li, despite their flaws, might have a chance to do that for him, if they could actually be trusted to push the Fire Nation from their lands. However, everything he'd heard so far only told him, despite her own cooperation with his people, the Dai Li would tolerate the present state of affairs, and accept the colonisation of his nation as a fact. Jet could not stand for that.
"They're fools. I don't think they're evil, I think they're greedy and stuck in their ways." he argued on his opinion on the Dai Li, though without context, he realised he might have sounded like he was talking about the Fire Nation, "The guys we're trying to beat."
"The Fire Nation are stupid too, but... you can't say Azula is." she countered, and he shrugged.
"She's good at sneaking and tricking. So are the Dai Li. We'll see who's better at Pai Sho."
"Where did you hear that saying?' she asked him, instead of addressing his criticism of the Princess, and Jet made a sheepish smile.
"Oh, uh, King Bumi. He told it to me when he first met us." he explained, and Toph scrunched her lips.
"He didn't actually challenge you to the game, did he?" she asked, and he shrugged.
"He offered, but I refused. I can't play." he admitted, "I never had the chance to learn."
"Not even here?" she asked, "I thought somebody here would be... uh, nevermind."
"What is it?" he prodded her for an answer, "Do you like Pai Sho clubs or something?"
"No, I'm just- urgh, I'd prefer if somebody else explained. There's more to all of this than you realise."
"The Coalition?"
"Yes." she nodded, "I bet King Bumi's already sent messages here... to try and sway his own allies to our side."
"Why not tell Azula who they are?"
"Because they don't trust her. Just like you." she clarified, speaking quietly enough that Azula wouldn't hear her, "Let's just not talk about that any more." she warned him, and he held his tongue.
The street was long, but they traversed it quickly, and the walls approached quickly enough. However, Jet realised that he was still quite tired from all the walking they had done over the previous few days, and found himself puffing, nearly lost for breath by the time they rested, at a local market close to the walls. He had been there a few times in his time in Ba Sing Se, so he recognised it, but he didn't know anyone who ran the stalls there, and he didn't know if asking for directions was a good idea.
Peasants like himself usually weren't literate, and Jet was no exception; the printing press was a place he would not be expected to go, and they might think he was trying to steal from them. In truth, he was considering it, if only because their tools would go a long way to help them spread the word for their cause without necessarily risking their own necks. Jet wanted to find old friends, but he could not be so sure that those old friends would keep his plans hidden from the Dai Li.
He took a swig from his water skin once he sat down, and glanced around, wondering if any of his other friends from the district were around. Most of them he had met working to clear the ruins of slums which were still underway after all those months. That just told him how much work there was to do in the city, and how little the Governing Council thought of those in the Lower Ring; he might have hated the Fire Nation Governor and his cronies, but at least they had offered some morsels of aid to the poor people who had lost their homes. That was certainly not out of the goodness of his heart, but to avoid a revolt, which happened anyway.
"Things just never get better around here." he mumbled to himself, "I hope this all works. These people have had their hopes crushed too many times."
Katara had heard his words and sat next to him, "I hope so too. The war has hurt the people here, even if the city might be safe."
"Safe from being raided, perhaps. Not from the greed of those who already have too much." he grit his teeth, "The people already know what's wrong, they're just too afraid to act."
"Fear is a great motivator." the would-be Fire Lord commented as she stepped past him, "No time for rest. We must be close now."
"It is." he reassured her, "Just let me rest my legs a little."
"You're fit." she reminded him, "You have little excuse to be so lazy."
"Give him a break." Katara snapped back at her, "We're all tired. You can't deny it."
"I won't, but I need more hands... or friends, you might call them. The world cannot turn itself over."
"I have a lot of them." Jet reassured her, "We- we have time."
"Not as much as you might think." she snapped back, "You are used to being a small-target. Barely an issue, but still a thorn. Irritating." she told him what he had been to the previous colonial government; perhaps she was trying to comment on his previous bouts of conflict with the Fire Nation, but she knew nothing of it- he would prefer that she didn't.
"And you want to set the whole house on fire." he argued, "Maybe literally. That's your choice. We can play the long game, or we can do it your way."
"Both ways would be better." Sokka suggested, "That way we won't lose if one plan falls through."
"You cannot break the people. They will answer the call if enough of them believe they can win." Jet assured him of the fortitude of the masses, the people to which he belonged, and who he truly cared for.
He might not have known them, but they all shared his face; they knew of the horrors of war, of the injustice they had been served when they arrived in the impenetrable city. They all wanted something better, and when they got the chance, they could all make it for themselves.
"I hope you're right about them." Azula acknowledged, "But when I think about it, the people in my own country never thought to do anything of the sorts... and unlike yours, they don't have the excuse of being illiterate and poor."
"Because they benefited from your war of aggression." Jet whispered through grit teeth, "They have populated the colonies and stolen what belonged to us. To me." he gestured to himself, "And we'll take it back."
"Prosperity can only be achieved together." she argued, "I know the colonies are a thorny issue. Their status will be resolved by consensus and words, not by fire and stone."
"Words will only do so much." Jet warned her, "But that's a problem for the future." he reminded them all, realising how stupid it would be to argue about the colonies when they had yet to bring his nation back to its feet.
"Right, so can we not argue about it until we're done?" Toph asked them, and everyone nodded; with that, Jet got back up, and glanced around, deciding to continue down the main street in search of the Timu Press.
He made his way a block down, before glancing down either street to the side; he realised he didn't know what a press looked like, nor could he know how to write 'Timu Press' in any case. In that specific situation, his illiteracy was certainly going to cause him more issues than he would prefer it to.
"Shit." he grumbled under his breath, and Sokka stepped past him, and pointed towards a sign.
"Timu." he called it out, "That must be it."
"Wait, you can read?" he asked, and Sokka scoffed.
"Y-yeah, of course I can." he assured him, before scrunching his lips, "Wait, you can't?"
"I was never taught... at least not a lot. My family were farmers." he explained, and glanced over to Katara, "You can too, I assume."
"Yes, Dad and Gran-Gran taught us." she clarified; as their father was Chief, it made sense that he was literate, but given he was from the Southern Water Tribe, it came as a surprise, given what he knew about it from Bato, "Most people in our village know how to."
"Huh." he mumbled, "Well, let's go find Teng." he decided, not wanting to waste any more time discussing literacy; it was irrelevant to their goals, beyond the question of whether the commoners would be able to read the posters they would make.
He paced over to the place Sokka had gestured to, and slowed himself as he neared the entrance. He kept a close eye on the windows and other ways he could see inside. Glancing around the area, he observed that there were a decent number of people about, given it was a major street, and approaching noon, when people would most likely be taking breaks from their work to eat and rest. He wondered if he could find Teng, so he approached the front door, where he saw a few men eating their lunches.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for somebody." he addressed them, and the men looked at him with suspicious expressions.
"Who are you, boy?" one of them asked, and Jet placed a hand on his chest.
"Jet. I'm a friend of Teng's. I've been looking for her. I know she works her."
"What kind of-" one of the men began to ask, presumably about his name, before the first man cut him off.
"Teng's on her lunch break, like the rest of us. You'll have no luck finding her here, but she'll be back soon enough."
"That's alright, I can wait." he assured them, and turned around intending to head back to the others, who had followed after him slowly; as he paced past a crossing street, he saw some city guards coming through, stopping him in his tracks.
Jet looked away, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention, and once they were gone, he stepped across the crossing, and towards his allies; who were quietly chatting among themselves by the side of the street. Before he reached them, somebody walked into him, throwing him off balance. He would have been mad, but Ba Sing Se was a busy place, so that kind of accident was all too common; however, when he felt the pressure of a sharp tip on his back, he realised his mistake.
"Shit." he murmured, "Trying to rob me in broad daylight?" he asked the person behind him, who grabbed him by the arm; Toph noticed what was going on, but didn't move, just expressing some concern in her face.
He let his captor, if he could call them that, pull him back towards the side of the street, by an alleyway; when he turned around, he was surprised, but only for a moment. Her hair fell differently over her face, and she looked a little cleaner and better dressed, but Teng was still Teng; she was shorter and physically weaker than him, but that didn't make her threat of violence any less serious.
"Hi, Teng." he addressed her calmly, "Can I ask why you have a knife against my back?"
"You left without saying goodbye. We only figured it out after we found your spot abandoned." she explained how she had learned of his absence from Ba Sing Se, "Who would have thought you would have made friends with ash-makers of all people... important ones too."
"W-wait." he mumbled, realising that she must have known that Azula was among his allies, "How did-"
"The eyes aren't hard to miss when you've got a few Water Tribesmen among you." she clarified, "That must be the boy, the one I heard you helped... and that makes her the... well, you know who."
"Jet." Toph spoke up, now standing by the edge of the alleyway; Teng turned around, her grip on him tensing up.
"Who the fuck are you?" she asked, "Other than one of the ash-maker's cronies."
"Come on." she sighed, "This again?" she asked, and Teng scrunched her lips.
"Again?" she questioned her words, "Answer my question."
"Toph." she gave her name, "Now, don't hurt Jet. Enough people have kicked his ass for the stupid things he's done, and this isn't one of them."
"Oh it was a pretty stupid idea." she snapped back, "You idiots coming here, that is."
"How long did you follow us for?" Jet asked her, and she spat on the ground.
"I saw you talking in the market. I couldn't hear... but I figured out who they were. It was easy enough."
"That doesn't bode well." the blind girl admitted, "But she did know you. The Dai Li don't know us."
"Well, I did- uh, have a few bouts with them in the past." he admitted, "They never caught me, but- uh, I think-"
"Stop stroking your own ego." Teng snapped at him, "You're not important, and neither am I." she reminded him, "But the girl across the street, she certainly is. Why are you helping her?"
"You've got it the wrong way around." he tried to explain, realising that she was assuming he was actually serving Azula, rather than the Coalition; he would never, and had already made that clear to the girl herself.
"Sorry, what?" she scoffed in disbelief, "I've heard a lot of rumours, none of them good." she admitted, "The Fire Lord made the Water Tribes her allies by promising them the riches of the city, and others control of it. Are you going to be a lord, Jet?"
"No." he refuted her words, "Those are lies. I serve the Earth Nation."
"Earth... Nation?" she mumbled, before smirking, "Hmph, that does sound nicer than a kingdom." she approved of the implicit meaning behind the name, before pushing the knife closer to his side, "Explain."
"The Coalition exists to liberate our nation. The Fire Lord is just part of it, aiding our goals."
"She rules the colonies. She will want to rule more of our country before this war is done with." Teng argued, and sighed, "I cannot trust an ash-maker. How can you?"
"Our goals align... for now. Please, just hear us out."
"Yeah, I'd prefer not to knock you out, lady." Toph admitted her own feelings, already having moved into a stance telling Jet she could do just that at a moment's notice.
"I don't want to fight, I want answers." she snapped back at her, "Specifics."
"Okay, fine, can we just get somewhere a little less public." he requested, not wanting any random passersby to overhear what he had to say.
She dragged him further down the alleyway, and led him to an odd spot, which kept them well out of view of anyone on the street proper. Then Teng turned him around, and their eyes locked.
"Go on." she told him to continue, and he did, not wanting her to decide to make good with the threat the dagger implied.
"The Coalition is going to overthrow the Dai Li." he told her the blunt fact of the matter, "We need to gather the people to help us overthrow them. The Fire Lord has plans to turn the enemy on each other, but even with that, we need our people to make their voices heard." he explained what needed to be done, which pleasingly aligned with his own desires.
"And what comes after the Dai Li?"
"A government ruled by those brave enough to stand against them. We will make sure that the people are heard, and that our nation is remade." he explained what their intentions were, and Teng huffed.
"That sounds too good to be true."
"We can only make it true if we participate. You participate." he told her, tapping her sternum, "So, will you help us?"
"I won't help ash-makers without good reason." she retorted, before sighing, "But I can think of something that will give me a reason."
"That is?" he prodded, and Teng pulled out a poster from her belt that was crumpled up and torn; he couldn't read it very well, but made out 'free' and the symbol commonly used to represent their nation, "What happened?"
"We failed. When the Fire Nation shit the bed, we thought we had our chance... but things went sideways. I was lucky enough not to get caught, but many of my friends... people you know, they were caught by the Dai Li and sent away."
"And that means they're probably getting brainwashed." he realised; she shook her head, seeming to not believe that was true.
"They would have come back, acting all weird and suspicious, but they didn't. Nobody's come back. My guess is they've got them in some labour camp somewhere, but I haven't had the chance to sneak out of the Inner Walls to try and find it." she explained, "The Dai Li are watching all the time, and they probably are just waiting to snatch the rest of us up. If you can deal with their operations here, then we'll help you."
"We being... your friends who might not even be alive."
"They can't refuse free labour. I don't know where they are, but they must be somewhere in the city." Teng explained, and clenched her open hand into a fist, "I can't just let them rot."
"No, I understand." he reassured her, "I'm not just saying this because you have a knife up against me... we can use every ally possible."
"So, you're saying our interests align." she whispered, before nodding, "Time to prove it. Are you a freedom fighter, or just a dashing swordsman?"
"I'm both." he retorted, pointing a thumb towards his sternum, "Wherever I walk, tyrants will fall."
Toph stepped up behind him, and forced Teng's knife away; she didn't turn to face him, and instead just pointed her left hand at his face.
"I don't think you have the right to be that confident... but you're right. They will fall."
The idea of going right after the Dai Li didn't sit right with Sokka. However, Azula thought that Jet's idea was a good one, and was worth the risk. The local agitators would not support a Coalition with Azula at the head without good reason, so proving their worth and genuineness was necessary. That frustrated him, but when he stepped back and thought about how Azula was viewed across the Earth Kingdom, and especially within Ba Sing Se, he could not blame them for mistrusting them.
He had already gotten a chance to rest, and now that it was dark again, it was the optimal time to strike. He and Renshu, despite butting heads more often than not, both advised Azula against trying to go after the Dai Li, but Jet was given some information that would supposedly allow them to learn more about their operations without directly confronting them.
As soon as the Governing Council was aware of their presence, things would fall apart; perhaps some Fire Nation officers would join their Fire Lord, believing her to be their salvation against their Earth Kingdom lessers, while the rest would try and strike her down as a way of proving their loyalty. The Dai Li would want them gone, no matter what, and probably brainwashed, for good measure. The Governor was one thing, but Azula would be far more useful, and Aang even more than her.
So, for their safety, they could not all be together in one place; they sent Aang to go feed and tend to Appa under the cover of darkness; their base was far too small and cramped to hide the sky-bison, but Jet promised them he could bring them to his intended base of operations, the old Earth Kingdom military academy. He had his doubts, but he had even asked about it, and supposedly, it was still abandoned, and was rife with illicit activity.
Not all of them were headed to the place Jet had decided upon, only those Azula thought were necessary; a few guards came for her protection, the Freedom Fighters served as scouts and muscle, while Sokka, his sister, and father came along, with the intention of using their wits and waterbending when necessary. He appreciated the respect, and knew that Azula would want him nearby in any case. They watched each other's backs before in Ba Sing Se, and it would be no different this time.
They were relying on perhaps the most important person in their party, Toph, to do the heavy-lifting; she could see in the dark, through walls, and the ground, and see for effectively an indefinite distance. That made her extremely useful in a situation where stealth was paramount. Aang had learned her technique, but Azula wasn't willing to endanger both of them; the Dai Li were far more dangerous with a higher number of captives, especially powerful ones.
When they got close to the location, she raised her hand and made them stop; she gestured down the alleyway they had been traversing, towards a building that lay at the end of it.
"That must be it. What did she say it was, again?"
"Publicly, it's a teahouse. It shouldn't be open at the moment." Jet answered her question, and Azula stepped forward.
"How do you signal your friends?" she asked, and he raised a finger, before making what looked like the shape of a seashell with his two hands; he made a whistle that sounded quite similar to a birdcall he'd heard in the forest when he was with Azula.
The birdcall was loud, at least enough that the other Freedom Fighters, who were a street away, could hear it; the birdcall was returned with different ones, but they were all the same, in a few different directions.
"Huh." he murmured, finding the technique to be very interesting, and quite subtle; without having seen it in action, nobody could really guess that it was people making the noises instead of actual birds.
"They'll do as you asked." he explained, before gesturing down the alleyway, "Just wait for the ruckus to start, then you'll have your chance."
As he waited in the dark, he turned to face his girlfriend, who had her arms crossed; she hadn't been in the best of moods since she woke up, though that was perhaps because she still didn't have a good grasp on the Dai Li's operations. What they had learned from the Freedom Fighter's friends told them that they were publicly operating all around the city, but that they still had more discreet operations, so they could spy on subterfuges, which included, but was not restricted to the people they had met.
Supposedly, the Dai Li were running some kind of labour camp, which had been stated by multiple sources; he imagined it was more than one, given it would be hard to hide a massive labour camp from public eyes. How they had heard about it was unclear; he imagined that rumours had spread from the military, who had to be operating it.
The Dai Li had their methods of reeducating people, and that did not seem to be what was at play at the moment. Perhaps the Dai Li wanted them as a reserve army, to use against their ostensible allies if their alliance did eventually break. That made sense, as playing both sides would ensure ultimate victory, no matter if the Coalition got what they wanted. Sokka hated that, and would do what he could to make sure there was justice for their victims.
"This can't be just a labour camp." he mumbled, and Azula nodded.
"Precisely." she agreed, seeming to have already come to that conclusion, even if she hadn't made it clear earlier, "I know they'll have some ulterior motive for it. Perhaps they're serving the ends of some landowners. From my earlier research, they did seem to be strong backers of the Dai Li's 'preservation of cultural heritage'."
"That's what they call a dictatorship?" Hakoda asked her, and she nodded.
"It's strange. They do not claim to serve the purpose they actually do. After seeing through my own nation's propaganda, it's... different." she gave her feelings on the matter, "They are liars and sneaks, through and through. I cannot say I am much different, but they would lie to each other. I would not lie to you."
"I know that." he assured her, "You can't lie to your people, either."
"While I rule them, certainly not." she agreed, "That would only sow distrust in the Fire Lord, something I cannot stand for."
"But most people aren't under your fist." Jet observed, having been listening to their conversation.
"Would you have me openly declare my intent to our foes?"
"No." he agreed with the point she was making, though he was clearly annoyed, "But I can't say you aren't a hypocrite."
"Maybe I am. But my principles here are clear. Those who I protect will hear the truth, and those I face will hear what I need them to."
"That does seem fair." Katara agreed with her point, "Honesty to a fault... doesn't really work."
"Shut up." Toph addressed them all, "People can probably still hear us." she warned them with a hushed, but clearly agitated voice.
They remained quiet, though Azula and Sokka stepped away, back down the alleyway, so they could continue talking to each other.
"If we find the camp's location, what do we do?" he asked her, and she scrunched her lips.
"It would be unwise to release them and start a fight when we cannot win it yet. Release some people... perhaps, if only to ensure the loyalty of the allies Jet is trying to win us."
"See, this is what he's getting at."
"I can't save everyone at once. I have to decide." she spoke her mind, and Sokka could not say he envied the situation she was putting herself in, and the people they sought to help.
"Suffering is suffering." he argued, "I'm not a big philosophical guy, but I think we should try and help where we can."
"We will." she reassured him, raising a hand to his cheek; it was soft, not firm, reminding him that the warrior-princess was not just a hard, strategic fighter, but a person with love, fear, and all the good and bad stuff in between.
Her hand tensed, momentarily digging her nails into his face; he didn't wince, and just stared her down, "Focus."
"Focus." she repeated the word back to him like a mantra; she moved her hand away, and turned herself around, "You're smart for a savage."
She was invoking a girl long dead, so he had to invoke a naive boy just as dead, "You're the savage."
"Yes, yes I am." she agreed with him wholeheartedly.
An explosion went off nearby, and Sokka cringed; he hadn't been privy to the details of Jet's plans, but was under no illusions that it wasn't his intention to start a wild goose-eel chase. The Dai Li needed to be drawn away from their hideout so they could investigate inside, and take any secrets for themselves.
"Finally." Jet muttered under his breath, and hammered his fist into the wall beside himself, "As soon as they're gone, it's ours."
"Are you sure your friends will keep them occupied?" Hakoda asked him, and the Freedom Fighter nodded.
"Do you think this is the first time we've tried something like this?"
"What business did you have with them before?" he pressed, and Jet shrugged.
"They mess with my friends, they mess with me." he declared, "This is just keeping true to that promise."
A few men stepped out of the teahouse, which had been unlit at that time of night; they weren't obviously Dai Li agents, but when they put on their conical hats, they could not be unseen as anything but that. When they were gone, Jet cautiously approached the front door while the rest of them remained under the cover of darkness in the alleyway. He threw a rock at the base of the door, hard enough that it made a loud crack. That got the attention of somebody inside, as Sokka could clearly make out the light of a lantern being moved towards the doorway through the fogged up windows. When it was opened, Jet had stepped aside. The man at the door had the lantern in his left hand, and a stone-glove covered the other.
Sokka was thinking of a way to draw the man out when he suddenly heard a sputter, his eyes darting back to the man's face; Jet had cut his throat open, right there in front of them. Katara gasped, but she was the only one, the others standing in silence as he covered the bleeding throat with one hand and grabbed the lantern with another. He put the lantern down, and kept holding onto the man as he bared his last breaths, suffocating on his own blood.
"Shit." he muttered under his breath, watching as Jet dragged the body out of view, into a neighbouring alleyway.
Toph immediately crossed the street, punched him in the side, before opening up a pit to hide the body in; Azula shook her head, seeming slightly frustrated by the turn of events, "He could have drawn him over. That was more dangerous... somebody might have seen." she whispered her concerns, before stepping out across the street, "Guards, stay here and hold watch, the rest of us will check inside."
"What if the agents return?" Renshu asked her, "We can't just expose ourselves." he warned her; that was as close as the usually subservient Captain of the Guard would get to criticising her.
"Don't." she retorted, "Be wind." she ordered the guards, who nodded and held the position in the alleyway, while the rest of them entered the teahouse; Sokka thought over the very poetic order she gave, but decided to just let the guards be the judge of it.
Azula had taken the lead, and raised a hand as they all entered inside, "Remain quiet. Don't touch anything that is in plain view. They will know." she gave directions; Sokka stepped out into the kitchen, which lay behind the part of the teahouse where customers would sit.
He couldn't see anything too interesting, only the kinds of utensils and tools he expected for a kitchen, and the entrance to the pantry; he opened that up, and saw that it was just filled with tea and dry food, exactly what he expected for an actual teahouse. If it weren't for the hats, he might have just decided that they had been fooled, and that the place wasn't a Dai Li hideout after all.
"What is the purpose of a place if it's so public?" he asked himself, unsure what the Dai Li would be doing there; a teahouse was a public place, meaning they couldn't just arrest people or hold them prisoner there.
The only purpose he could see for it would be to gather intelligence under the noses of the public, who would come to the place and discuss all kinds of things. Teahouses were popular in the city, which had observed throughout his past time there. So, he guessed there was something more, which would allow the Dai Li to use the place to further their goals, beyond learning about the local gossip.
Sokka was no spymaster, he could not really know what was going through their heads, nor the extent of their plans, but he had figured from how they had had to hide themselves, the Dai Li were likely hiding things beneath their floorboards. The ground beneath him was solid rock, so he made his way around the building's ground floor, before he found a portion with wooden floorboards that felt hollow; unsurprisingly, it was in a corner of the teahouse, by the washroom. He guessed they had the drains to ventilate air into the room beneath, though he couldn't figure how to get down.
"What's got you so focused on the floor?" Katara asked him, and he tapped his foot on the floorboards.
"There's a way down here. That's where they'll be hiding their records and everything else important."
"If we're lucky, it will merge with the other tunnels." Azula spoke up as she approached, "Toph says they move. The tunnels keep getting changed, so nobody can use them but the Dai Li."
"What about where our hideout is?" he asked his girlfriend, who shook her head.
"It's been destroyed. They're not going to bother using those tunnels again until they have a reason to spy in the area." she whispered back, before reaching down to tap on the floorboards, "Toph, there's a brick in the way."
"Got it." she accepted her implicit request, pulling whatever brick was blocking the planks from being moved out of the way; with that, he could push them down and slide them under other planks, revealing a ladder down into the basement.
He quickly scaled down and eyed around the dark room; Azula sparked the candles alight, turning the room blue for a few moments, before the flames regained their natural orange hue. The room was a little cavernous, with a stone roof blocking the floorboards above, so nobody would suspect the existence of the basement. The room had beds, tables, and a small kitchen, which appeared to connect to the chimney in the main kitchen, allowing smoke to easily escape.
He stepped over to one of the tables, where there were some papers laid about; they just seemed to be some very basic reports, written by the agents in the area. They spoke of how they had harassed some agitators to silence them, and infiltrated a protest movement, allowing them to spy on their leaders. That didn't seem out of the ordinary, but didn't tell him about what they wanted to know.
Jet's friend had been part of a popular uprising against the Fire Nation's rule, and when the dust cleared, their leaders were apparently arrested and taken to a labour camp. He didn't know if they'd even have information on it, but he was sure that they were sending their 'undesirables' some place. Azula had gotten some information on such operations back when they were first investigating the Dai Li, but that was so long ago, and he could barely remember what was said. The year or so of life had turned his memories to fog, and that fight was a distant memory.
So, Sokka continued searching the basement, until he came to a cabinet, which had records located inside; he imagined they were copies they held for safe-keeping, and there was probably some central place they held the originals. That was a place he'd like to infiltrate, but he had no idea where it would be, beyond the palace district and perhaps the Crystal Catacombs that lay beneath it.
He pulled some of them out, and when his father and girlfriend approached with interested looks, he handed them some, "Keep them in order." he gave them vital advice, given they wanted to leave the place without the Dai Li knowing they'd accessed the documents.
"I was about to tell you the same thing." Azula admitted with an approving smirk, before she sat herself down and began to look through them; Hakoda did the same, and Sokka sat beside him with his own handful of records.
He looked through one after the other, hearing about all the conniving acts the Dai Li had committed in the district. They were keeping tabs on colonists, businesspeople, refugees, and former soldiers, all people that would hold issue with the Dai Li's style of ruling under the Governing Council. He also saw a few records of orders they had received from the top; they were told to ferment anger and control the opposition, who would allow them to restrain their power of the Fire Nation allies. That very fact intrigued him, and he was sure that the people who had betrayed Azula for the Dai Li would like to hear it.
The most interesting record was one of the oldest, which concerned the very information he sought; those captured rebels who rose up against the Fire Nation. They were split into two groups; the grunts and generally uneducated masses of the movement were to be sent to a place called Lake Laogai for processing, while the leadership was to be held there indefinitely.
He had heard of Lake Laogai, but only as a physical location; on the maps, it was placed on the direct opposite side of Ba Sing Se, close to the south-eastern portion of the city, out in a rough part of the Agrarian Zone. He knew that they might have some secret base there, but he was unsure how to find it. If there were labour camps at the lake itself, that would not surprise him, given that was a source of water, and the rough terrain might make it easier to create a fenced off place to hold all those prisoners.
"Lake Laogai." he told the others, "That's supposedly where the prisoners are being held... or were."
"Were?" Azula raised a brow, "Where did they take them?"
"It... it doesn't say." he admitted, "That's where most of them were just processed. Some people might still be there. The leaders."
"The people this Teng girl wants." she recalled, "But... if my memory doesn't mistake me, the Dai Li didn't tend to have prisons. This Lake Laogai might be the place they... well, I don't have to tell you, Sokka."
"You're saying that's where they would have taken me?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Precisely. The Dai Li's brainwashing programs have to be run from somewhere, and I doubt they'd be egregious enough to do it in the city itself. If anyone escaped mid-treatment, that would cause quite a storm."
"Everyone's too afraid to do anything." Sokka argued, "I don't think that would change a thing."
"It would make them more aware." she countered, "If you thought you could be taken and lose your identity, memories... everything... would you just stand there and take it?"
"No." he admitted, "But we're not like everyone else. We are willing to fight."
Azula sighed, and looked over the documents herself, "We will need to find this Lake Laogai eventually... but I doubt we can free these prisoners, not yet. The labour camps might be a little easier to target."
"If they're anything like the Fire Nation prisons we encountered, they'll be tough to break into." Hakoda warned her, "All made of metal, and with multiple layers of defence."
"There is only so much defence to protect you when the ground opens up beneath you." she argued, before smirking, "That's why earthbending is the key to our success."
"I can't disagree. You can't exactly melt steel with your firebending." he argued, and Azula nodded.
"Not in the amount necessary... nor with the speed." she agreed with the sentiment, "Let's get moving." she told them, "I've already got some locations that might be worth our interest." she explained, "There's a gang that have been paying the Dai Li off so they can continue extorting part of the district, near the gates. We might be able to do the people here a service by... making sure the laws of this city are followed by all."
"Ironic." Hakoda noted the nature of her idea with a smirk, "I think that will earn us the support of Jet's friends, even if we don't liberate their imprisoned allies."
"I agree." Azula nodded, before rising to her feet, "Everyone back up the ladder. The Freedom Fighters' trick won't last forever." she warned the others; that consisted of Jet and Katara, who had been rummaging through the room for anything of interest.
Toph was still upstairs, presumably holding watch; everyone made their way up the ladder, as quickly as they could, before Toph put the bricks back in place. Then Sokka put the floorboards back down, leaving it as he had initially found it.
"Did you find anything upstairs?" he asked his sister, who shook her head.
"This is just a teahouse. I think they don't want their customers finding anything suspicious." she gave her own observations.
"And we'll be meeting the workers soon enough if we don't hurry." Toph warned them, gesturing towards the doors, "Let's go. I can sense that they're heading back this way already."
"Shit, that was quick." Jet mumbled, before grasping her by the shoulder, "My friends, are they alright?"
"I can sense all their heartbeats. I think they're just waiting out the storm... that's the phrase, right?"
"Uh... don't ask me." he refused to correct her; Azula did, however, give an actual answer.
"It is." she confirmed, and pushed the door open, "How long until they find the body?"
"Unless they've got somebody with seismic sense or very good smell... a while. Long enough that they'll never be able to trace it back to us."
"But they'll know." Jet realised, "Who else would do this? The locals know it's a death sentence... or worse."
"Exactly. We want them to be afraid. If they aren't, then we aren't doing our jobs." Azula retorted coldly, before stepping out into the street, "Waste another moment, and I won't bother trying to save you all."
"That's a lie." Sokka warned her with a whisper as he followed her across the street back into the alleyway, where her guards were patiently awaiting her.
"We need to move, your majesty." Renshu stressed the danger they were in.
"I'm well aware." she agreed, "I would say use the tunnels beneath us... but given they were built by our enemies, I doubt they'd be stupid enough not to check them."
"The street it is." the Captain nodded, and gestured ahead of them, "Take point, men." he ordered the other guards to move ahead to make sure they had eyes on the path.
Following them, he remained by Azula's side, checking the streets as they crossed them, and then any alleyways they passed too. There were a lot of paths by which they could be attacked, but he was just acting under the assumption the Dai Li had seen through their little ploy. He didn't know if they were cognizant enough to do so; he certainly hoped they wouldn't, but that did not equate to belief. His fists were clenched and his teeth grit, and Sokka's heart pounded in his chest like a drum being struck by a madman.
"You look like you're about to pass out." Azula offhandedly commented as they turned a corner.
"I'm afraid." he bluntly admitted, before shaking his head, "But I should just focus. It isn't that far for us to get back to base." he realised, and she sighed.
"Not that far for them to track us either." she countered, sounding unafraid, though he could see the fear in her eyes; Azula had not been that arrogant for a long time- she was more than aware of her own mortality and fallibility.
"We should round the path a bit then." he suggested, and she gestured ahead to her guards, making a whistle.
"Take a scenic route. We can't have them find the others." she ordered them, and they continued ahead after comprehending her words; instead of moving straight ahead, they turned left, in the direction of the walls, rather than across the district, towards the ruined slums where they had set themselves up.
As they made their way down the street, and out into a night market that was just getting packed up, he felt confident enough that they weren't going to be followed. So, in the meantime, he made small talk.
"I'm exhausted." he admitted, "We need to fix our sleep schedules."
"If you want to wake at a normal time, then try to do so, but it will be worse for at least another day." she warned him, before grasping him by the wrist, subtly enough that the others probably wouldn't notice.
"I don't know who we can trust here." he added quietly; he didn't want to go straight to such a serious topic, but it was what was on his mind.
"Ba Sing Se is a farcical city. It's full of liars. You're best to trust actions over words." she gave her own view, "We have our allies. They will serve us well enough, while we determine who is friend, and who is foe."
"Or who are tools." he added, knowing the danger the Dai Li's brainwashing technique posed to them all, "We don't know who's been brainwashed." he argued, before leaning closer, "Jet... even Bato. All the Freedom Fighters could be." he whispered, his words impossible for the others to hear over the chatter in the night market.
"Now, you're sounding like me." she noted with an almost amused tone, though her grip tightened on his wrist, "I hope they weren't stupid enough to get caught, but we cannot dismiss the possibility. The only people I can trust are those I know well."
"So, not even Toph?"
"Well, she's never been here before. There's no way she could be compromised." she argued, "I trust her to find the weeds in the grass."
"Heh, she probably can't tell the difference." he admitted, knowing that even with her seismic sense, it would be hard to discern things about plants.
"I would accuse you, but I can vouch." she argued, "You've had far too many opportunities to off me, even in Long Feng's presence."
"True." he admitted with a smile, before scrunching his lips, "But... can I say the same?"
"I barely slept the entire time we were in this spirit-forsaken city last. The guards were always by my side. There's little chance... but they probably would have eventually tried. Because of our wit, we figured them out first." she argued, before clenching her free hand into a fist, "But we must keep our guard. We cannot tell when they will strike."
They moved out of the market into ordinary streets again, and hastened themselves; Azula remained silent from then on, presumably thinking about how they might counter the Dai Li in a direct combat encounter. He didn't want her worrying, but formulating a plan would certainly help them in the long run. However, Sokka couldn't help but feel bad for her; he felt bad for every single one of them, forced into a situation where their paranoia would run wild, afraid of treachery, sneak attacks, and all kinds of plotting.
The Dai Li were the greatest threat, but he could not ignore other elements; criminals, the colonials, and even what remained of the Earth Kingdom military. Those people still loyal to the Earth King might take issue with their plans, and once they learned of the Coalition's plot in Ba Sing Se, they might become their next in a long line of enemies. He would prefer to make allies of those people, but he knew that would be a challenge, especially given how interwoven the Coalition was with the Fire Nation; the remaining loyalists would think their allies traitors and the Water Tribes enemies of their king.
He preferred to make friends, and was intent on finding more people to bring to their side. Jet had a lot of friends, but there were people beyond the Lower Ring who might support them. Intellectuals, bureaucrats and the more well off might consider there to be more opportunities under a new nationalist regime. Some might think that they could make money, or simply build something better for themselves and their families. They all wanted peace, and the Coalition was the only party trying to achieve it for the sake of the people, and not just because they wanted power.
Azula wanted power, but at least, he could say she wanted it for the right reason. Defeating her father and rebuilding the Fire Nation into something better was something he could not disagree with, even if he might have held issue with the idea of her reigning as an absolute, infallible monarch. He didn't like to butt heads with her over such things, and it seemed that he had won that argument, even if they edged around it.
She had taken up the cause of the lowest of the low, and spoke of having the people govern themselves. This wasn't all political posturing, though it might certainly look like that to the people of the Lower Ring. She genuinely seemed to believe in it, having learned the best lesson the Southern Water Tribe could teach her: a stringently hierarchical and authoritarian society wasn't the only way to run things, and neither did the Fire Lords have an innate right to rule. She knew that right could only be earned through the respect and support of the people; unlike most would-be rulers, she had the help of centuries of propaganda to help the masses cheer her on when the time came. Sokka didn't think that was very fair, but he wasn't impartial either; her victory was his victory, and his victory was her victory.
When they reached the ruins once more, the group came to a halt, approaching one of the entrances down into their base; it was connected throughout by the abandoned tunnels that had presumably been dug by the Dai Li themselves. Toph had checked them, and they were caved in all around the district, suggesting that they had been blocked off on purpose because the Dai Li didn't want anyone randomly coming across the tunnels to use them to traverse the city. Before Toph even reached them to open the tunnel, it opened up before them.
Sokka was confused, until he felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned to see Jianren with a cocky look on his face, "Did I scare you, boy?"
"A bit." he conceded, and glanced down the hole, "Thanks." he acknowledged his help, before quickly scaling down the rungs of stone that led into the tunnels.
Once there, he made his way down, picking up a wooden torch from the ground, which Azula lit with a flick of her wrist, "This place smells." he mumbled, and she laughed.
"Of ash." she noted, "I wonder if anyone tried to hide here from the fire... it doesn't seem like it would have done them any good."
"I'd prefer not to think about that." he admitted, knowing that the thought of the countless people who must have perished in that fire was disturbing and saddening enough.
Ba Sing Se was a big city, so it probably had little effect on the place as a whole, but many lives would have been upturned. It was no wonder the city was on the verge of revolt when Azula arrived, given the fire must have happened not long before.
The timing led to thoughts that Sokka didn't want to entertain. The Dai Li might have started the fire to incite a revolt, which would lead to more Fire Nation soldiers coming to the city, and then give themselves more victims to brainwash. He didn't know if it was worse to think that Ozai had orchestrated everything, such as to give his colonists more land to easily appropriate, to coincide with the crackdown that Azula would inflict. He forced those thoughts away, and tried to think of what he would do when he returned.
"Sleep." he mumbled under his breath, and Azula seemed confused for only a moment, before she giggled.
"You're predictable." she commented with a smile, even if it came across as half an insult, "We will." she reassured him, and as they reached the doors into their base proper, she knocked on the door; it was unlocked and opened up for them, allowing them to step inside.
In the room, he could see that Ty Lee was playing some card game with some other fighters; she turned and waved at them, before returning to the game at hand. Azula didn't bother to intercede and greet her, but nodded, before she and Sokka walked back towards their quarters; they were afforded a small part of the basement to themselves. It was blocked off, so the guards could more easily protect it, but that made it a little stuffy. Sokka had already filled up his waterskin on the way to the Dai Li run teahouse, so he didn't need to worry about that.
When Azula reached the room, it was as they left it. Quaint, a bit dusty, and full of their things, the little that they had hauled across the world. Azula had more than him, but that was because of the amount of clothes she had, along with various belongings she had gathered along from her time at the base. One of those was a jian sword, which she supposedly didn't even know how to use, but wanted to use as a signifier of authority, even when she was forbidden to firebend. He wasn't too familiar with swords himself, and would like to learn how to use one eventually, though he had little time, nor the motivation, given the chi-blocking skills he had honed for the past year or so.
Azula sat herself down on the bed, looking blankly for a few moments, before she gestured out of the room, "I need to get changed."
"And I haven't seen you change a dozen times?" he asked her, and she scoffed.
"That was in the cold of the South Pole or on the boat. I didn't have much of a choice." she reminded him of the context in which he had done so.
However, he knew that she had changed in front of him, and him in front of her, more than a few dozen times since they left the South Pole. In fact, it happened more often than not, though that didn't mean they were ogling each other. They both wore undergarments, after all. So Sokka just crossed his arms, sat on the bed, and let her pull off her outer robes.
"At least close the door."
"It's made of stone." he reminded her, and Azula rolled her eyes.
"The curtain, idiot." she retorted, and shoved him closer towards it; he grabbed the curtain, and pull it across the doorway; to call it a curtain was a bit charitable, given it was no more than a bit of leather skin running through a wooden pole that was fastened to the walls above the doorway.
He sat himself back down, and let her pull off her robes, hang them up, and then put on the longer robes she preferred when sleeping. Once those were on, she slid her boots off, and turned to face him.
"Well, we're going to bed, are we not?" she asked him, and Sokka shrugged.
"I assume my father might have something to say about the documents we were looking over." he recalled what they had been doing.
"That can wait 'til morning." she retorted, grasping Sokka by the shoulders, pulling his outer robes off, "Get in bed."
"I can't tell which way to read that." he admitted, and she rolled her eyes.
"Can I not just lie with you? Can it be as uncomplicated as that?"
"Yeah, it usually is." he admitted, knowing that even if Azula wasn't one to shy away from physical intimacy, she sometimes just preferred to be in his presence; lie together, sit together, it didn't matter.
They would usually talk, mostly about things that barely mattered, but that was the point of it. They were open to each other, and Sokka couldn't say that about anyone else. He couldn't be brutally honest with Katara, even if he trusted her with his life. Azula, on the other hand, actually wanted that brutal honesty; coming from a life where people lied and boot-licked their way to the top, she found his honesty refreshing and reassuring.
Sokka wasn't intending to lie to her, unless it would do them both far more good than lying would. He hadn't encountered many occasions where that would be the case; perhaps the only place was her brother, who he held no great love for, though he honestly preferred if they made peace. Zuko's supposed demise made that a non-issue, yet he still lingered over them, like a gut-wrenching stench after an awful shit. He was the one who had attained victory, and proved himself the 'rightful' Fire Lord, yet Azula persevered, and still wanted to claim the throne.
Perhaps it was because she knew nothing else. He wanted the throne for her, if only because he knew it would give her some comfort, even if he'd prefer, selfishly, that he was the only comfort she had. He could not be that greedy, and he knew she wouldn't be so self-centered as to ignore Sokka's own desires. He had no great desire to be a ruler, or a consort, but that was what it looked like was going to happen; he wanted to help his people, and being Chief was a dream, but actually attaining the role felt terrifying at times. He knew it would be a long time, though if Azula had her way, he'd be storming the Chief's palace in the North and proclaiming himself the 'Great Unifier' or some other hogwash like that. Part of him thought it glorious, and thought that nobody was more capable or better positioned to do so, but that didn't make it right, or what he truly wanted for himself.
"And what's struck your mind?" Azula asked him as he slowly pulled off his robes, and replaced them with his usual sleeping garbs, which was just a tunic and some pants, "You're moving like you're in the thickest mud I've ever seen."
"I... I don't think I could handle all the responsibility you're going to take on." he admitted, "I'm... I'm somebody who likes to take charge, but a whole nation, that's... that's a lot."
"I'm well aware of it. I've been preparing my entire life."
"Even when you were with me?" he asked, and she smiled, lying herself down on the bed.
"Oh yes, I see that now. I didn't at the time, but your people have their ways of teaching, even when they aren't trying."
"I think they were." Sokka countered, "Gran-Gran certainly was."
"Of course she was. She lived through the raids on your tribe. The worst time for your people. She wants the Fire Nation to improve itself so that never happens again." she rationalised how Kanna had treated her, and tried to help her see the world as Water Tribespeople did.
"I think she just liked you." he admitted, "You're just another one of us. Our family."
She almost scoffed at that, and turned over, "Family is overrated."
"Not this one." he argued, and pulled his boots off before lying down beside her, "You're part of it."
"And I would prefer it if you weren't part of mine." she whispered; her words might have sounded harsh and blunt if he wasn't already well aware of how her father was, and what her relationship with Zuko was like.
"Your uncle isn't that bad. I'd like him to be mine." he admitted honestly, not wanting to hate on Iroh even if she liked to; she snickered, and rolled over.
"Does your mother have any family?" she asked him, and Sokka sighed.
"I haven't seen them in a long time. They live in another village." he admitted, "I have a few aunts." he clarified, knowing his mother had sisters; some of them had come to care for Katara and Sokka after Kya's death at the hands of the Fire Nation, but they had had to return to their own villages soon enough, as they had their own families to care for.
He had cousins, but he knew even less about them. Of the boys, he thought that he might have met some of them fighting for the tribe, but supposedly they were all too young to serve as warriors. The girls he knew very little about, though when he imagined them, he thought of other little Kataras.
"And you?" he asked Azula, who shrugged.
"Father never let us learn anything about Mother's family." she admitted, "Probably for good reason... given the Avatar stuff." she added, before rolling back over, "I do wonder if there's anyone left. People she left behind when she married my father. Maybe I have aunts and uncles... but I'll never know."
"I'm sure they'd be decent people." Sokka assured her, though that seemed to annoy her more.
"My mother wasn't decent. She was selfish and unfair." she snapped back at him, "Maybe it was because of my father, but she could have tried harder. She didn't."
Sokka sighed, and didn't know what to say to that; he wished that her mother had been kinder to her, or that Ozai had let his children have normal relationships with each other and their parents, though if that had been the case, perhaps they never would have met. They were stuck with the pieces they had been given.
"You never had a chance." he mumbled, before leaning over to kiss her forehead, "We'll be better."
"So... you think so too." she whispered with a smile, "I feel it out of spite, you feel it out of love. We're so different, yet so similar."
"Oh, it is out of spite." he assured her, before thinking about his childhood, and all that he had suffered through; it wasn't his parents' fault, but the fault of the world itself, "I want to make sure my people have a great future. I want nobody to know hunger, to know pain, to have to struggle to survive. I am-"
"You'll be a great Chief, Sokka." she declared, and he held his tongue.
"I- I don't even know if being Chief will help." he admitted, "I've seen all this Fire Lord stuff... and as much as I want you to win, I can't say it's making me like the idea of ruling."
"You don't rule, you lead." she countered, "You're not going to be like a Fire Lord. I never would expect you to be."
"I'll never be your equal." he admitted, finding the words an insult to himself, but a compliment to her strength.
"As a ruler... perhaps." she softly agreed, seeming less condescending and more saddened, before she smiled, "But you'll be a great father."
"Please don't tell me this is the bit where you say you're pregnant." he mumbled through grit teeth, and she scoffed.
"Fuck no." she reassured him, "But one day, we will put my father to shame. We'll build something real."
"No offence to your grand plan... but this sounds much better than ruling the Fire Nation."
Azula's cheeks flushed red, and she pulled herself closer to him; she grabbed him by the sides of the head, and their eyes locked, Sokka feeling not as if he was simply looking into her golden eyes, but fiery pools that opened her very heart. For a moment, he thought that perhaps the real power she held was there, and not in her flames.
"And it is my greatest shame to agree with you. I'll never leave your side again."
"As heartfelt as that is, I do want to be able to at least shit in peace." he requested in jest, knowing she was just trying to be romantic and restore any lack of confidence he might have had in her desire to remain by his side.
"Shut the fuck up." she snapped back at him, before grabbing his head and pulling him in for a kiss.
He didn't say a word, and fell into the embrace; he didn't need to say anything else. His jokes had gotten him what he wanted, at least for those few moments. Then, he heard a thump on the curtain, as Azula was trying to pull his tunic off; he froze for a moment, before pulling himself off of the bed. Azula sat up, adjusted herself, and nodded, allowing Sokka to open the curtain. It was his father, who presumably had come to discuss what he had read in his documents.
Hakoda had the most awkward look on his face, as if he had just died of shame; he looked away, and let out a sigh, "Sorry."
That was all he could muster, and Sokka just felt bad, "No, no, uh, you wanted to talk about the Dai Li's documents, right?"
"Uh... yes." he confirmed his suspicions, "But I can see you- uh, were about to go to bed."
"Well, go on." Azula politely, but firmly demanded; his father understood, and cleared his throat.
"There's a few locations I read about. Places where the Dai Li was spying on local agitators. I've written down the names now that we're back. Even if they're not friends with Jet, we can probably try and make inroads."
"I concur." she agreed with the proposition, "Anything else?"
"The Governing Council has given orders to rebuild the slums and ban any Fire Nation settlers from occupying the new houses, even if they live in the district." he added, and Sokka hummed, knowing that meant that the Fire Nation elements in charge wanted to prevent further antagonising of their colonists; being shown to exploit the suffering of the mostly refugee slum dwellers would not go down with the rest of the Lower Ring.
"That is of little surprise." Azula commented, "They must fear an uprising against the colonists... and I hope their fears are well-placed." she admitted with a smile, "I hold no ill will towards them, but their presence makes our job all the more easier."
"Hopefully we can have them leave in peace, eventually." Hakoda gave his own opinion on the matter, "Sorry again. I'll- uh, head off now. I'll make sure one of the earthbenders shuts the proper door here." he observed their lack of protection, before pacing off.
Sokka closed the curtain and sighed, "He just had to show up as we were making out." he made his frustrations known, and Azula giggled.
"Get back in bed, idiot."
The city of Ba Sing Se was always alive with activity, and especially so during the middle of the day, when people took their breaks from the usual humdrum of labour. Ty Lee had never seen a place like it before; even the Fire Nation capital wasn't as lively, and none of the colonial cities she had visited while in the circus had been anywhere near as bustling. The massive population seemed to drive it, but the sprawl of the city, and the interconnectedness of its various districts, which were by themselves, as large as other cities around the world. They had only really been active in a single district in the northwestern part of the Lower Ring, yet it felt like they were walking across an entire city when it came to actually doing anything.
The days they had spent in the city all blurred together, though she was relieved that her sleep schedule had returned to something resembling 'normal'. For the first few days, she was struggling to stay awake during the day and sleep during the night, because of how they had been travelling during the cover of darkness on their way to the Lower Ring. The work they had undertaken was mostly reconnaissance, searching for potential allies and threats in the area. Their ultimate intention was to find a proper base of operations somewhere else in the Lower Ring, where they could house their massive rebel force, which still mostly remained outside the city.
Aang's use of his glider and sky-bison meant he was able to sneak out during the evening and early morning, and his reports were promising. All their plans had not been for naught; the airship still scoured the lands north of the Outer Walls, and the enemy army was apparently in shambles, with large camps now formed inside the walls, full of wounded and recuperating soldiers. It seemed that Jet's crazy plan had worked, and the base's defences had led to the devastation of the army of mostly conscripts.
However, Aang had not visually confirmed this, and had remained close to the walls, not wanting to travel into the combat zone; she didn't blame him, knowing what had happened the last time they had faced soldiers with Appa. But, rumours were filling the streets already, and though they were clearly skewed by the propaganda the Dai Li must have been pumping out, the conscripts' stories were believed by the public. They were not fighting Fire Nation forces, but Earth Kingdom rebels and Water Tribesmen; the propaganda claimed they were slaves or mercenaries, but the people doubted these claims.
Azula knew exactly how they ought to abuse these new stories; that was simply by spreading propaganda that was wholly truthful. They would plaster posters across the district, telling the people of the Coalition's war, and how they were uniting three of the nations against the Dai Li's rule. So, they took the opportunity to steal some printing presses during the dead of night, and brought them to their hideout. All it took was a dozen or so people working day and night, printing out the posters. Then came the task of putting them up; they couldn't do it in the sight of guards, or worse, Dai Li agents, as that would out them as sympathisers at best, and Coalition saboteurs at worst.
Ty Lee was eager to get out of the hideout, finding it stuffy and kind of gloomy, stuck underground. Those who had been to New Omashu called it a poor comparison to the great underground city, a few basements and some accompanying tunnels. They had so many fighters that they had to dig out new places for them to sleep in, and everyone agreed that it was dangerous to have so many people in one spot when the Dai Li could quite easily uncover their presence. There were already plans to move people to new, smaller hideouts, where they would coordinate efforts via messengers; messenger hawks would be preferable, but they would stick out like sore thumbs in the city, so moving words by human hands was preferable.
However, that was all still a hypothetical, and though Jet and his friends were eager to aid with their knowledge of the city, most of the places they had stayed in were far to the south of their present locale. It would take a while for them to move to those better known districts, and moving so many people at once was dangerous. It was already bad enough in the Agrarian Zone, and they had done that at night, in a place where there were barely any people.
She was accompanied by a few of the new friends she had made over the course of her journey; some of them were her chi-blocking trainees, while others were fighters that she had gotten to know staying with in their new, very cramped hideout. Everyone had to get along when they were stuck together like that, though they all appreciated the breathing room they received while outside. Ty Lee thought the whole task of sticking posters up was extremely boring, but she was able to spend much of the time socialising with the others.
Ji was as usual, quite energetic and eager to get around, and when she was standing still doing the work, she would comment about things she saw and make small talk; Ty Lee enjoyed that as well, but the comments were actually useful for once, given they had to be constantly aware of the threat posed by the Dai Li or the city guards that did their bidding.
Now they were putting up some posters in an alleyway near a local market, a place she expected random market goers to frequent; that meant the posters would actually be seen, which was important. Putting them up for nobody to actually absorb the information made all the effort of creating them and putting them up for naught.
"They really have to tempt us with the fresh food, don't they?" Ji mumbled as she was sticking another poster to the wall.
"We don't have nearly enough money to just go around and buy market snacks everytime we smell them." Haru warned them, "Those are expensive. We'd be better off making our own food."
"And why should I listen to you, kid?" Ji retorted, and he scoffed, pointing at her.
"One, you're what, five years older than me, and two, I used to run a store with my mother. I'm pretty aware of how easy it is to get scammed by these people." he argued, "And Ty Lee's too nice to not get scammed." he gestured to her, making her snicker.
"Hey, I won't deny it, but I'm not dumb. I know people just love to scam, but I have my charms."
"Uh, I don't know if that's the wisest thing to do, especially around here." another of her friends, an older non-bender by the name of Yanjun, warned her, "There's a lot of... well, shady people around these parts. It's the Lower Ring, remember?"
"Uh... to be honest, this is the first time I've been here before, and it really doesn't seem all that bad." she admitted, "I mean, the Dai Li... clearly not nice, but the people here just seem like they're hard-working, ordinary-"
"I'm not talking about the people running the stalls." Yanjun warned her, "Remember when that Jet boy went on about gangs? Well, they're everywhere. Most cities in the Earth Kingdom are like this, and this place is probably worse than most."
"Oh." she mumbled, and cringed, "Yeah, well, I mean, we do want to try and beat up bad guys, right?"
"She has a point." Ji took her side, "We should use every chance to make the people know we are their allies. What's better than beating up the people who are extorting and harassing them every day?"
"You can't just beat up gang-members." Yanjun retorted, shaking his head with clear disappointment in his tone, "I wish things were that simple, but no, we can't do that. Just ask any of the leaders. They'll agree with me."
"Yeah, you need to scare them off." Ty Lee argued, "Like with-"
"Don't say explosives." Haru asked abruptly, sounding as if he was begging, "I've heard the Princess likes to use them, but that won't work here. This is a city. There are guards everywhere."
"I wasn't gonna say that. I was gonna say... uh, beat them up in the middle of the night, and force them out. All at once."
"That... I mean, it might work, but you'd need to force their leader to submit." Yanjun conceded, "And I don't know next to anything about the gangs around here, other than that they exist."
"Don't say anything until we know anything." Haru suggested, "Plus, we need to keep putting these up." he reminded them, and Ty Lee nodded, and picked up the bucket of glue she was lugging around once more, as they needed to move to a different alleyway to put up more posters.
She whistled out to get the attention of Smellerbee, who was holding guard for them at one end of the alleyway, making sure that they didn't get spotted by the guards. She followed the rest of them down the alleyway, where they turned left, and continued walking parallel to the market, finding another alleyway to put up posters. This one was a little narrower, and had a few bends in it, making it more of an issue to spot out potential onlookers. When they found a suitable spot, out of view of those taking the main street, she put the bucket back down, and began lathering some of the glue on a new poster. Once she got back into the rhythm, and the others did as well, they quickly fell back into the habit of chatting.
"I'm curious about the Fire Nation Capital." Ji spoke up, and Ty Lee hushed her.
"Shh, I can't just go around talking about that." she warned her, and the others laughed.
Yanjun looked on disapprovingly, but gestured to her, "Go on. Just be vague about it, in case some nobody comes through."
She sighed, and scrunched her lips, "I don't really know what to say about it. It's a city... a lot smaller than this one."
"No city's as big as Ba Sing Se." Ji retorted, "How about something interesting?"
"It's... uh, it's built on what used to be a volcano." she explained, and the others seemed impressed.
"I've seen one of those before... mountains that spit out smoke and fire." Ji recalled, "I was told it was dangerous to go near them... and you're saying there's a whole city on top of one."
"It's not smoking at the moment." she clarified, "The volcano hasn't erupted for... I don't even know. So long ago that they don't even have a date for it. But you can tell it's a volcano. It's got a big crater rim, and a little peak in the middle. That's where the palace was built."
"Huh... so, there must be some hot springs there as well." another fighter, Hoifa, guessed correctly.
"Oh, there definitely are. There's lots of hot springs, and people even pump water into the ground to make them themselves. That's how we always have nice hot water to wash with. The spas in the capital are the best in the world... and I've been to the best."
"It's at the palace." Yanjun deduced, and she snickered.
"Y-yeah, and when we blow it up with the airship, I'm gonna cry." she pouted, making all of the fighters look at her aghast, "Wait... I probably shouldn't have said that."
"No, it makes sense." Yanjun conceded, "The palace is where Fire Lord Ozai is, so, blow it up, he dies." he understood the natural consequence of attacking the place, "I'm just... well, he is the Fire Lord's father."
"Yeah, that's... seriously messed up." Haru mumbled, "Even if I want that guy beat, it's... eh." he mumbled, seeming uneasy at the idea of Azula ordering her own father's death.
"I don't like it either, but that's what is necessary." she assured them, before her mind's eye turned to Mai; Ty Lee usually wouldn't get mad, but the rage boiled up from her heart.
She scrunched up one of the posters she was trying to put up, and sighed, frustrated that she had openly reacted like that. Ji noticed her reaction, and stepped over to her.
"Uh, Ty Lee, are you-"
"I'm fine." she forced out a lie, and made a smile, "I just screwed this paper up by accident." she justified her frustrations, even if they had caused it; she flattened out the paper on the wall, and once it was flat enough she glued it up.
She pulled out another poster from her bag, and took a long breath, forcing herself to calm and ignore the feelings that were pulling at her. Part of Ty Lee just wanted to leave on the airship and get it over and done with; kill Ozai, be done with the war, and save herself and Azula the struggle that would surely follow if they didn't act. Once she would have abhorred such thoughts, but she could no longer, only feeling anguish and rage over what had happened. She silently begged that Mai and Zuko were alive, waiting in hiding for them, but as each day, week, and month passed, she felt less and less hope, and more and more frustration. Azula was next.
"Ty Lee." Haru addressed her this time, stepping closer to her, "You don't need to continue if you don't want to."
"It's not about wanting anything." she softly admitted, hushing down the rage as she just tried to explain her state of mind, "I have to do this. We have to do this. This is the safest plan."
"No, we all get that." Ji assured her, "You're just seeming... well, a bit off. Did all that lack of sleep get to you?"
"If I was really tired, I wouldn't have this problem." she admitted, "It's either us or him." she directly addressed the matter.
"Ozai, that's who you're speaking about." Yanjun realised, before tilting his head, "Do you fear for your Fire Lord's life?"
"I fear for all our lives... but especially hers." she confirmed, gritting her teeth, "He killed... he killed my best friend." she admitted; that statement might have degraded Azula's virtual position, but that was irrelevant, because it was the truth, "I- I want justice." she added, before clenching her fist, feeling the anger boil up again, "Even if it's with my bare hands." she made her resolve clear, and threw her fist into the wall; she was strong enough that it wouldn't hurt her, not as much as it would hurt a soft-handed bender- they relied on the elements, not their physical strength and agility.
Before her hand could make contact with the wall, Haru blocked it grabbing her fist with his open palm, which forced his hand back into the wall; he winced from the strike, but eyed her with concern, "I understand your anger, more than you realise."
The guts it took to keep his composure was impressive, but she didn't want to hear it.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the 'nice one'. I know what people have to say." she argued, knowing how to console somebody; she was always the empathetic type, even among her identical sisters, but that also meant that she could see words for what they were.
"I'm not lying." he retorted, now seeming offended, "My father was taken with the rest of the earthbenders of my village. I didn't see him for years... I thought he might be dead, and I was mad. Eventually, I just gave up; my inner voice told me that something had to be done. I attacked the invaders... I killed people." he admitted what he had done, "They were bastards, and they deserved it."
"We all relate to that, brother." Yanjun assured him, and Haru sighed.
"But she doesn't... even if she has the same feelings." he gestured to Ty Lee, "You've never killed anyone, right?"
"N-no." she conceded, and he raised his chin, seeming pensive and angry, just as she was.
"Don't do it for the wrong reason." he warned her, "I felt righteous, but it achieved nothing. I would have rotted in prison with the other earthbenders if it weren't for the civil war and the Water Tribesmen coming to help us."
"If Ozai dies, then we'll all be safer. Everyone in the world, even the people we'll probably have to fight in the Fire Nation." she argued why it was necessary, "So... I couldn't regret that. Azula might. I can't let it be her choice."
"I don't think defying the Fire Lord is a good idea." Yanjun warned her, "And I say this as somebody who thinks she's an arrogant little shit."
"I'm well aware." she mumbled, before shaking her head, "Just- can we just talk about something else? I don't want to think about death."
"Fair enough." Haru agreed with her, "Let's talk about that volcano city again." he suggested, and Ty Lee laughed.
"It's much cleaner than this place, I can say that. Even the parts where the less well off people live. The streets are ordered, and all the houses are well-built." she acknowledged, placing her hand on the wall in front of her, "These houses all look like they're one earthquake from falling apart."
"With all the earthbenders around, they can afford that." Yanjun suggested, before he turned his head, "Wh-" he gasped out, before stepping down the alleyway; Ty Lee was confused what had gotten his attention, as she hadn't heard, seen or felt anything out of the ordinary.
"What's wrong?" Ji asked him, "Can you hear somebody coming?"
"I swear I heard somebody screaming." he explained why he had reacted, "It was far off, but I could hear it."
"This city's full of sound. Maybe you're just going crazy from the lack of sleep." Ji suggested, seemingly as a jest, before pacing down the alleyway, "Though now that you mention it, I can hear more shouting than usual. Not just people calling out from stalls, or labouring." she agreed with his observation, "Maybe we should go check it out." she suggested, and Ty Lee glanced down to the bucket of glue.
"Urgh, I'm gonna have to carry this around." she realised, and Ji laughed at her, before picking the bucket up herself.
"Don't worry about it, Skinny Arms." she assured her with a little jab at her less impressive physique; she was getting physically stronger with all the training she had been doing, but after spending so much time just as an acrobat, she was not as strong as the fighters she was working with, even if she was more athletic than them.
"Hey." she called out, and pouted, before turning around to wave at Smellerbee, "We're going to check something out."
The Freedom Fighter approached, and a smirk formed on her face, "Huh, I wonder if the posters are already working." she suggested, "I'd sure love that. Saves us the trouble of putting even more of them up."
"We still need to put more up, so the people know what's going on out there." Ty Lee reminded her.
"Word of mouth is even better than paper. Once you have enough people saying a rumour, then it's basically a fact."
"If enough people say the sky is green, then that doesn't make it a fact." she argued against her way of thinking, but Smellerbee just smirked a pat her on the back.
"Nah, they'd just think blue and green are the same thing." she countered, and Ty Lee couldn't argue against that; their posters might change people's minds, and if enough people's minds were changed, then their actions would surely change as well.
"Huh." she mumbled, before realising she needed to follow after the others, who were making their way down the alleyway.
Winding down the alleyway, they made their way out onto the main street, where Ty Lee finally understood what was going on; she could see an Earth Kingdom soldier, by his attire, an officer, being chased down the street by angry men and women.
"If you're so eager, then why don't you go out there and die yourself!" one of the commoners accused him, tossing a rock at the soldier; he was lucky enough to be an earthbender, and could bend it to a halt before it smacked him in the face.
However, he couldn't stop some old rotting vegetables, which smacked him in the face; Ty Lee almost laughed at him, but was more concerned when she saw him continue running off, to some guards.
"Guards, guards! These stupid peasants are attacking an officer of our great army!" he declared, and the guards seemed more confused.
"Are you off-duty... or- oh." one of them seemed to realise something that the others had not, "He's pressing men into the army." he realised, "I know that's your job, but you can see that's-" he tried to dissuade the man from continuing what he was doing, but was cut off when another rock was tossed down the street, hitting one of his comrades in the chest, and throwing him to the ground.
"Stop that!" one of the other guards demanded, "Go in peace, and we will not press charges." he ordered them, to no avail, as some pulled out tools and more rocks, clearly intent on taking the impressing officer down.
They probably would beat him to death, given how angry they were, and Ty Lee didn't want her or any of her friends to intervene there. The protest would help their cause, given what the implications were; they didn't want to go out and pointlessly fight the coalition. By virtue of that, they were already friends of their movement, even if they wouldn't say it. They probably didn't want to fight, but a fight was coming no matter what they thought; she knew that depriving people of a choice was wrong, but she did not doubt the necessity of what they were doing. All the people in the Lower Ring would continue to suffer needlessly; that would happen no matter if they plotted to depose the Dai Li or not.
Ty Lee stepped back, and looked to her friends, who seemed to approve of the crowd's eagerness; they watched as they rushed at the guards, who struggled to defend themselves with polearms. They ended up leaving the officer to his fate, and she looked away, not wanting to watch the man get beaten to a pulp. Instead, she turned around, decided that she ought to find Azula and the others. They were certainly going to be interested in how the protest progressed, and the eventual crackdown that would have to result from it.
"Stop it now!" one of the guards shouted, "Return to your homes!"
His words were not heeded, and the shouting and cries grew louder; she made her way down the alleyway, and turned around a corner to take a shortcut, making her way back closer towards the market. When she reached another major street, she saw more people moving through, throwing cobblestones at the guards and the impressing soldiers they were trying to protect. Once the commoners rushed past them, leaving the street open, she crossed over, and glanced around, trying to spot any of her comrades.
"Where is everyone?" she mumbled to herself, knowing that they might lose each other in the commotion.
She knew the others were likely on the other side of the market, and thus, were not as aware as she was of the scale of the rioting; it might have been in protest, but they had solidly chosen violence, which was clearly the only language the guards and military officials would understand. She heard more shouts, and turned around to see that the others were following after her, with Ji at the back, carrying the bucket of glue.
"As much as I'd prefer to watch these idiots get their arses beat, I'd say this is a good time to get some more posters up." Yanjun suggested to her, and Ty Lee tilted her head.
"I mean, you can, but I'm afraid the guards are gonna come right back and catch us red handed." she gave her own opinion on what they should do, the others nodding.
"Let's go to another alley. Hopefully we can find the others." Smellerbee suggested, before scrunching her lips, "I know Jet had... well, it's not important now." she mumbled, pacing ahead of them, "I remember Sokka... or was it his dad? One of them said we should meet at that fountain in case things went bad. The one at the southern end of the market."
"Oh." Ty Lee perked her head up; she had forgotten about that, and was much relieved to know where to go, "Then let's go there. I think Azula will want to do something."
The others just nodded, understanding the plan, and followed after her; when they turned another corner, they made their way south, then crossing into the market, which was mostly emptied out, with the stall-owners packing all their things up, presumably because they had realised what was going on with the riot. She saw a few guards rush down through the street, those ones armed with proper, bladed weapons, which she imagined they might try to use on the people; that certainly wouldn't end well, but she didn't try to stop them. Revealing herself would only make things worse, especially when she wasn't confident that her small group could do anything.
So, once they passed through, she made her way across the market, and down another alleyway, where she spotted a few other people; Katara, Aang, and a few of Smellerbee's friends were putting up more posters. They turned to see them, and the Avatar approached her.
"Ty Lee, do you know what's going on? We've been hearing lots of shouting, but nobody's come and said anything." he explained his own view on the situation.
"Some officers are getting beat up because they're trying to force people into the military" she explained, "The guards are making things worse."
"Of course." Katara mumbled, seeming unsurprised by the turn of events, "So, that means the posters are working."
"We can't be sure of that." Yanjun warned them, "It could be that somebody spotted the officers messing with people, and they started chasing them down."
"Well, we'd be awfully lucky then." Katara admitted with a smile, though she seemed a little uneasy, "Let's pack up, guys, I'm sure Azula will want us all together now." she suggested to the others, who nodded.
Ty Lee placed a hand on Aang's shoulder, knowing she ought to try and get his help, "You're fast, Aang. Can you look around and try to figure out where the guards are coming from?"
"Oh, okay." he agreed to her idea.
"They must have a barracks." Haru spoke up, "It'll be well-protected by men and walls.. I can't say I've seen one in the area."
"And then what?" Katara asked, "What are we going to do? We can't just run out and fight them."
"We don't need to. We need to lead the people to them, and force them to give up. Prove to the people here that they have the real power." Smellerbee declared confidently, and Ty Lee nodded, having thought of something similar.
She heard some more shouts in the distance, and turned to her friends, "How quickly do you think it will take the Dai Li to come down here and start taking people?"
"They've got a thousand eyes." Pipsqueak declared, "They've probably been watching us."
"But they don't know who we are." Katara argued, and Aang nodded.
"I've been careful." he assured them, and Smellerbee stepped forward.
"Whether he's right or not, we have to stay... uh, what's the word."
"Vigilant." Yanjun gave her the word she was looking for.
"Yeah, vigilant." she agreed with him, snapping her finger, before pointing down the street, "Now, we need to find the others... before we're the ones who get arrested."
"Definitely." Aang agreed with her, and began pacing down the alleyway in the direction of that fountain they had been speaking about; it seemed he had not forgotten where they were meant to meet, making Ty Lee feel a little embarrassed, if only for a moment.
When they made their way back out into the market proper again, she could see more people rushing through, this time commoners, though they were going in the opposite direction that the rioters had been chasing the officers. She was unsure where they were going, though perhaps they were criminals, trying to steal things while the guards were distracted; like themselves, they would have every reason to blend in. She didn't want to accuse anyone of anything, and just ignored them as she continued on towards the fountain. There, she could see Azula speaking with Renshu and Sokka, though the guards weren't surrounding her; she guessed they might be out in the neighbouring streets, keeping watch to make sure they weren't cornered by the guards or the Dai Li.
When she realised it was them, she raised a hand to hail them, "Our work has bore fruit." Azula acknowledged with a smile, and Ty Lee took the lead, wanting to ask her what she knew about the situation.
"Did you see how this started?" she asked, and Azula shook her head.
"No, but given I haven't seen Toph or any of her group, I have a feeling they might have had something to do with it." she gave her best theory, before sighing, "This will cause a crackdown. We do not want to be in the middle of it. We can provide aid where possible to the commoners, but painting a target on our backs is the exact thing we want to avoid." she explained her intentions, "We need to find the others. Once we have, we'll meet back at the base and discuss this situation."
"Alright, well, Aang's the fastest." Katara gestured to him, "Maybe he should go off and find them. The rest of us can try and help the protesters where we can."
"They seem pretty capable if you ask me." Smellerbee argued, "I think we just need to make sure they prove our point."
"That they have power?" Azula presumed, and Ty Lee nodded; her friend smirked, and raised her hands, "Well, get a move on. Everyone keep their distance from each other... we cannot be caught out together."
"Got it." Katara agreed to her plan, and turned to Aang, "Look ahead. Find Toph."
He nodded before dashing down the street, back towards where the rioters had been; Ty Lee held herself back for a moment, unsure if it was all that smart to go out there and endanger themselves when they barely had established themselves in the city. However, she could see that Azula was not seeking a confrontation; she knew that was stupid, because they weren't an army, they were just a few people who were good at hiding and organising themselves. That was a recipe to make a criminal syndicate, but not a rebellion against the Dai Li. They needed connections, and now, she could see the opportunity. The people might not know their names, but they would know their message.
So, she turned around, and began making her way after the others, turning down an alleyway so she could move parallel without making it obvious that they were going together. Her group kept their pace, following after her, and when they did eventually cross back over a major street, they came across what they had been expecting; at least a dozen guards, trying to hold off a mass of people, who she couldn't even count the number of. They were throwing things at the guards, and though their screams and shouts were mostly incoherent, mixing into a loud, cacophonous babble. What she did hear was something she wasn't expecting.
"Traitors!" they accused the guards, and the accusations grew louder and more furious; Ty Lee realised she couldn't actually determine what they were being accused of betraying- the Earth Kingdom, the common people, or even the city itself.
She couldn't make out any of the others that had travelled out to put up posters, so she turned down another alleyway to try and get around the crowd. She made her way down that alleyway, and then back out to the main street. There she saw the other side of the wall of guards, where a few were being treated for injuries. Some of them saw the group make their way out, and one of the guards pointed at them accusingly.
"Get out of here!" he demanded, readying his polearm, "Unless you want a beating." he warned, and Ty Lee stepped back, not wanting to get directly involved.
Smellerbee tapped her on the shoulder and gestured across the street, "See the posters. The others were here." she pointed out the posters that were lining the alleyway running from the other side; Ty Lee nodded, and before the guards could do anything, they all ran across the street, ignoring them in their entirety.
Once they were on the other side, she heard more shouting behind them, and guessed they might be pursued; she was fast, so she wasn't worried about that. When they got around to an alleyway that ran perpendicular, leading them back around behind she spotted a few of the fighters who were out with Toph; their disguises were convincing, but she knew their faces. They were speaking frantically, so she approached with haste.
"What's going on?" she asked them, and they looked to her with fear.
"It's Toph, she's run off. She told us to stay put while the protest was going on." one of them explained, "It's been a bit, and we're getting worried."
"Of course, she must have some plan." she realised, before scrunching her lips, "Was she with anyone else?"
"Uh, yeah, that Jet kid." one of them clarified, and Smellerbee stepped up beside her.
"He's probably gonna do something stupid." she admitted, which was a bit harsh coming from somebody who was supposedly his friend and willing follower.
"Why do you say that?"
"The only thing that can make this protest worse is if somebody starts attacking people." she explained, before scrunching her lips, "Toph can attack from behind walls... right? She's going to-"
She was cut off by the sound of some closer shouts and screams, but distinctly, not coming from the mass of protesters she had just moved past. Ty Lee glanced around, confused where the noise was coming from; and paced down the alleyway in the general direction she heard it come from. When she made her way down to the end of the alleyway, back out to another street, this one running back to the market, she glanced around, seeing some more protesters, and worse, she made sight of somebody she hoped not to see.
There was a Dai Li agent, who was restraining people, presumably to prevent them from joining in on the nearby protest.
"Stay still and things will be fine." the agent warned them with a gruff, but calm voice; she found it oddly familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on where she'd heard it from.
"Hey!" she heard another voice call out, "The Dai Li!"
That voice she certainly recognised, and turned around to see Jet pointing down the street at the agent; some protesters came out, and started shouting profanities. The agent realised the issue, and grabbed one of the people he had restrained by the scruff of their collar; it was a young girl, who clearly was unarmed and didn't seem threatening in the slightest.
"Leave if you know what's good for you!" he warned the protesters, who instead used his earthbending to grab the girl with the stone gloves he was wearing, before tossing her through the air, distracting the protesters as they ran out to try and catch her.
Ty Lee was fast enough that she was able to do it herself, letting the girl land in her arms. The force of the throw threw her down to the ground and the girl on top of her. She let out a groan, and was confused even further by a familiar smell; the girl smelt of dirt and oddly enough, perfume. There was only one person she could think of that would smell like both.
"Toph?" she realised who she had just grabbed, and the girl made a muffled hushing noise.
"Just play along, dummy." she whispered to her, before pretending to be unconscious, with a completely limp body.
Ty Lee tilted her head up, watching as the Dai Li agent shot himself into the air, landing on a nearby roof, before dashing out of sight. Now that she knew it was Toph, she couldn't be sure that was an actual Dai Li agent; if it wasn't, then she wasn't privy to the plan she just saw executed.
"Girl, are you alright?" one of the commoners asked Toph, offering her a hand, and she groaned.
"No thanks to any of you." she grumbled, feigning frustration as she struggled back up to her feet with the man's help.
Toph smiled under the cover of her messed up hair, and Ty Lee dusted herself off, turning around to see that Azula and Sokka had been watching from afar with interest. She grabbed her friend by the wrist, and took her along, knowing they had to get back to the base before they found themselves arrested.
"I can walk by myself." she snapped at her, wringing her hand free.
"But can you stay out of trouble?" she questioned her back; the blind girl just scoffed.
"I handled myself well." she declared confidently, and pointed over to Jet, "It was his idea."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." he exclaimed, before stepping closer to whisper, "We can talk about this when we get back."
"Leave the streets at once!" she heard a guard shout out, "Or we will force you out!"
"That's our cue." Toph decided, and pointed over to Azula and Sokka, "Let's get them and get out of here."
Ty Lee glanced back to her friends, who were following behind, surprised by the turn of events and cautiously eyeing the guards as they began to close in. She gestured for them to follow, and once they got over to the Princess, she addressed them.
"Get out of here." she ordered them, "Meet back at base... and you." she turned to Toph, "Don't do anything like that without my permission."
"Hey, it was Jet's idea."
"To have you get beat by a Dai Li agent?" Sokka scoffed, and she gestured back towards where the agent had been.
"By Jianren." she corrected him, and Azula looked utterly perplexed.
"Your deceptions know no moral code." she admitted, and turned around, "Good. Honour will only get us killed."
Sokka didn't seem to approve of her words, but Ty Lee stepped beside her friend.
"If they fight with lies, then we'll fight with them too."
