Wandering Firebender
Twenty Seven: Trust & Circumstance
The sun was shining brightly over the Earth Kingdom today. Elio had the hood of his cloak pulled over his head to shield his eyes from the light. He held onto the reins of his ostrich horse, but after a few days now of following the path, he no longer had to worry about keeping his animal on the right track.
"If my map is right, La, soon we'll be approaching the Serpent's Pass," Elio spoke aloud while looking over his map. "If what Anisa said was right, hopefully we should run into some travelers soon that can lead me to port."
His ostrich horse screeched suddenly and came to a stop. Elio pulled on the reins in surprise as he realized that he had almost barreled through a family of three walking down the trail. Everyone yelped and jumped back in surprise as Elio took control of his steed again.
"Sorry about that! My fault! I wasn't paying attention." He said apologetically, quickly trying to excuse himself.
"You oughta watch where you're going with that thing, kid. That could've been real bad!" The father shouted.
"I know, that's on me. I apologize." He said sincerely.
"You're alright, but honestly, be glad that nothing happened." The father said in response.
Elio's eyes scanned over the family: a father, a mother, and a daughter. It took him a moment to realize it, but he had met this family before.
"Hey, wait... It's you three! I remember you!" He said, removing his hood so that they could see his face clearly.
"Elio!" The daughter exclaimed right away. Elio smiled and dismounted his ostrich horse.
"Hey, Sri! It's good to see you again! How are you?" He asked.
"Not too bad. How about yourself? You look well." She observed.
"Wait a second... You're the kid we asked to help when Sri got stuck in the desert! Well, I'll be!" The father, whose name was Lao, laughed.
"Yes, that was me," Elio chuckled. "It's good to see you all again. How have you been?"
"We've been alright," The mother answered. She stretched her hand out to him. "We weren't properly introduced before. My name is Jin."
"Nice to meet you," He said politely, shaking her hand. "Are you three on your way to Ba Sing Se now as well?" He asked.
"Spot on, kid! We scrounged enough money together to finally make the journey, so it's time to move on up!" Lao said with a laugh.
"I thought you were already on your way to Ba Sing Se," Sri brought up. "Shouldn't you have gotten there already?" She asked.
"Yeah, but we had to stray off course for awhile." Elio answered.
"Who's the 'we'? Oh! You mean you and your lady friend?" Lao asked. Elio nodded.
"Yeah... She had to go back home. So we changed course and went up north. Now that she's on her way, I turned back. I just got back on the right track not too long ago actually." He explained.
"Oh, I see... Hey, you should travel with us!" Sri offered.
"That's not a bad idea. We're all going to the same place, after all." Jin agreed.
"Haha, I was actually going to ask if that was alright. I don't know where to find the port where the ferries are. Do you know where it is?" Elio asked curiously.
"We sure do! So it's settled then! You're joining our expedition to the big city!" Lao said with a laugh.
So Elio joined up with Sri's family for the journey to Ba Sing Se. They redistributed their belongings so that Jin and Lao could ride on the ostrich horse while Elio and Sri carried whatever the ostrich horse couldn't manage. Elio held onto the reins and led his steed; Sri walked next to him.
"So it's just you now? Cindra's gone?" Sri asked after a bit.
"Yep. She went home." Elio said again.
"Where does she live? She's a waterbender, so I would assume one of the poles, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, the north pole," He confirmed. "That's the main reason I took so long; I went with her as far north as we could manage."
"Ohh that makes sense. How're you doing now that you're traveling on your own?" Sri asked.
"I'm doing alright. You know, trying to not get into trouble. Failing at it." He answered with a small chuckle. Sri shook her head and smiled.
"You seem like the kind of guy that attracts trouble." She commented humorously...
The four of them joined up with a number of Earth Kingdom refugees that were all stopping to relax and find shade from the sun. It would've been Elio's preference to continue on past them, but because he had agreed to stick with Sri and her family, he was forced to stop with them.
"This'll be a perfect spot to rest up," Lao commented. "Hey, Elio. You ever been fishing, young man?" He asked Elio suddenly. Elio lifted up his head and raised his eyebrow.
"Fishing? Um...no sir."
"I saw a river just down that way. Come on, we're going fishing!" He gestured him to follow, pulling two handmade wooden fishing poles out of his pack.
"Uh, I have food in my pack. We don't need to." Elio pointed out. Lao laughed and tossed him a pole.
"Don't be ridiculous now. Come on!" He gestured for him to follow again and started walking away from the trail. Jin giggled and smiled.
"You two have fun. We'll have a fire ready for you to cook when you get back." She said with a wave. Elio sighed and reluctantly followed Lao to the river...
"Alright, Elio. The trick to fishing is you need to keep your voice down. Sound carries in a weird way through the water, so you'll scare off the little things if you raise your voice." Lao advised when they reached the water.
"Okay."
"Cast your line just like this," Lao said before demonstrating, casting his line into the water with a sideways flick of the wrist. "Then take a seat." He sat down with a smile.
Elio imitated what he did. His hook flung out and landed in the water a few yards to the left of Lao's line. Then Elio took a seat on the ground.
"Not bad. See, you're getting the hang of it already." Lao said approvingly, speaking in a softer voice now to keep his volume down.
"Thanks," Elio said, keeping his tone low as well. "Now what?"
"Now we wait. Relax." Lao said with a relaxed sigh. Elio swallowed and nodded.
Elio kept his eyes firmly fixed ahead of him, saying nothing. He was listening attentively in case someone approached them. He didn't realize it, but his body was tensing up in preparation of something. Lao observed this and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why so tense, kid? It's just fishing."
"Huh? I'm just...focused." Elio answered strangely; he wasn't aware of what Lao was referring to.
"Uhuh. What's got you so anxious?" He asked.
"Just... I feel like we should still be making our way down the trail. Stopping for this seems...unnecessary." He answered honestly, doing his best to still sound respectful.
"I can understand that. You want a little advice, Elio?"
"Advice?"
"Learn to appreciate moments like this where there's nothing going on," He said. "The Fire Nation's got the whole world so wound up that a man can't even fish in peace. Feels like they're just always breathin' down your neck."
"Yeah. I know the feeling." Elio said with a sigh.
"You've had your run-ins with them too?"
"More times than I would care to count."
"Kid like you? You do something to make 'em mad?" Lao asked with a chuckle.
"No, not really. Just... It's a matter of circumstance." He answered awkwardly.
"That's why you're heading to Ba Sing Se, right? To get away from their reach."
"Yes." He answered with a nod.
"You're not alone there... Where are you from, Elio?" Lao asked oddly.
"Huh. Wh-Why do you wanna know that?"
"Something about ya just strikes me." Lao answered. Elio swallowed nervously. He would have to answer this question very carefully...
"I'm from the Fire Nation..."
"Come again?"
"I'm from the Fire Nation colonies," Elio specified. "I escaped and I've been running for Ba Sing Se. I'm pretty low priority for soldiers, but if they know who I am, they'll try to take me back." He created a cover story.
"I see," Lao stroked his chin and took this information in. "I'm sorry, kid, That's gotta be hard. But you can relax now. The Fire Nation doesn't know about this port. We're in the clear out here." He reassured him.
"With all due respect, I'll breathe easy when I'm finally in the city." Elio said respectfully...
The two of them ended up catching a few fish after an hour or two. They took the fish back and cooked them up in the fire. Then they proceeded to cut up the meat, eat what they needed, and then they gave the rest away to other refugees.
This act of kindness impressed Elio. He even took part in giving some of the fish away. It was hard to describe, but it was nice just to be able to do something nice without being looked at suspiciously.
"Alright. That's enough resting up. We'll go for a little longer before it gets dark out." Lao decided.
"You sure, honey?" Jin asked.
"Oh yeah. I think the kids have rested up enough." Lao said with a chuckle, looking at Elio and giving him a subtle wink. Elio nodded appreciatively and smiled a bit.
So the four of them got situated again and continued walking down the trail. Elio and Sri once again continued walking side by side while Lao and Jin rode on the ostrich horse.
"So how'd it go with my dad? Did he talk your ear off about his love of fishing?" Sri asked humorously.
"Haha, only a little bit." Elio answered with a chuckle.
"So how've you been doing, Elio?" Sri asked, her tone changing.
"What do you mean?" Elio asked.
"Well you know... Since you're..." Sri spun her hand around a few times, not wanting to say what she was referring to. Finally, Elio got it and nodded.
"Ohh... Honestly, I've been in a lot of trouble. Feels like I'm being backed into a corner," Elio expressed his feelings, speaking in a quieter tone. "I just need to get to Ba Sing Se. Then I'll be free."
"Yeah? It's gotta be tough."
"You have no idea." Elio sighed...
That night, Elio was hoping that they would reach the port that Anisa had spoken of. However, nighttime came sooner than he expected, and they stopped for the night underneath a tall rock formation along with a dozen or more other refugees.
Even with his cover story as a refugee and a runaway, Elio was uncomfortable with hanging around and getting too close to any of these people. After all, if something were to go wrong, he wouldn't put it past any of them to turn on him.
After pitching his tent some distance away from everyone else, he went inside and was getting his stuff ready to go to sleep. However, before he could get fully settled in for the night, Sri came by his tent and called to him.
"Hey, Elio. You in there?" She asked.
"Hm? That you, Sri?"
"Yep. You alright? Dinner's done over here. You should come eat." She invited him.
"Oh, uh..." He paused awkwardly. "I-I got my own food in here. I'm good."
"Oh come on, Elio. Don't be like that. You should come eat." She insisted. Elio sighed and opened up his tent, crawling out and standing up.
"Listen, Sri, I appreciate the- oh," Elio took a step back after accidentally standing up right in front of her. "Sorry... I appreciate the invite, but I really need to play things safe on this trip. I'm so close now; I don't wanna mess things up." He explained.
"Why? Do you have trouble controlling your...flame situation?" Sri asked, waving her hand at him. Elio scoffed and snickered a bit.
"Heheh, no. I don't have trouble with it." He answered in a tone that teased her slightly. She picked up on this right away.
"Well, I'm not a bender! I don't know how it works! Maybe you have like, I don't know, flare-ups or something?"
"Flare-ups?" Elio repeated with an amused smile.
"Stop." Sri covered her face and shook her head, embarrassed by her choice of words.
"Anyways, you understand where I'm coming from, right?" Elio asked.
"I do," She answered with a nod. "But these people aren't out to get you. They're just trying to get Ba Sing Se. We all are. You share something in common. Just play it cool and you'll be fine." She insisted.
"I don't know..."
"It's your loss, bud. You'll miss out on some flame-roasted meat." She brought up to sweeten the deal.
"Oh yeah?" Elio's head perked.
"It's delicious. Come and try a bite." She smiled, gesturing with her head for him to walk with her to the fire.
"Mm... Alright, fine. You had me at the meat." He finally agreed.
Sri and Elio made their way to the campfire where all the refugees were sitting and eating. As they sat down, they were greeted warmly and given food to eat.
"So nice of you to finally join us, young man." An older woman said with a smile as Elio sat down. She was one of the refugees whom Elio had personally brought fish to earlier in the day.
"Heheh, well, I was going to sleep early, but this one here talked me into stopping by for a bit. Forgive me if my absence came across as rude." He excused himself.
"Not at all. But a growing boy like you shouldn't be sleeping on an empty stomach anyways." She said to him. Elio chuckled a bit and took a bite of his food.
"I guess not," He agreed. "Mm, this is really good."
"Made it myself," The adult son of the older woman smiled proudly. "Be glad your lady friend dragged you out here. You would've missed out." He teased Elio.
"Oh I'm sure we could've saved you some." Jin said to him nicely.
"Nah, I would've eaten it." Lao laughed.
"Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it." Elio smiled.
"Of course! We're all going to the same place after all. No need to be stingy. We all need all the help we can get." The son said.
"That's very true. Why are you two going to Ba Sing Se?" Elio asked curiously.
"Our town was overtaken by Fire Nation soldiers. We got out just in time. Besides, Ba Sing Se has better resources to take care of mom's medical needs." He explained.
"I may not look it, but I'm getting up there in years," The older woman snickered. "But besides that, it'll be a new life for my son as well. They say the girls in Ba Sing Se are beautiful; maybe he'll finally find one willing to put up with him."
"Hey!" The son exclaimed. Everyone around the fire laughed.
"Haha, do they really say that about the girls in Ba Sing Se?" Elio asked.
"They sure do! There's a whole song about it!" Lao grinned.
"Oh no, dad, please don't." Sri groaned.
"Haha, I'm not gonna do it...
"It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty and they kiss so sweet that you really have to meet the girls of Ba Sing Se!" Lao sang.
"Oh, dear." Jin giggled. Sri covered her face with her hand and shook her head from the embarrassment. Meanwhile, Elio was laughing hard.
"Hahaha, is that real?!"
"It sure is!"
"Oh man, I like that a lot. I'm more excited to get to Ba Sing Se now." He joked.
"Oh give me a break." Sri giggled and shook her head again. Once the laughter had died down some, the son continued the conversation.
"What about you all? What are you hoping to find in Ba Sing Se?"
"Oh, Ba Sing Se was always our goal," Lao said. "But we finally have the money we need to make sure all that's important to us makes it into the big city."
"We ran a shop in a small town just to slowly build up the money. We were at it for years. I'm just glad that we can finally go there and start a new life." Sri said happily.
"I'm sure things will go well for you there." The older woman said in encouragement.
"And what about you?" The son asked Elio. Elio swallowed nervously; he was waiting for this question to come to him.
"I...don't really know anything about Ba Sing Se. I just know getting there means I'll be safe from the Fire Nation. When I get there, I'll figure the rest out." He answered. There was a short silence among the group as they all took this in.
"You're still very young. You could build a wonderful life for yourself in Ba Sing Se. The wonderful thing about the city is that it offers all who enter it a new life; a chance to start over with a clean slate." The older woman said to him.
"That's what I hear... It sounds really nice," Elio said, managing a smile. He then stood up, having finished his food already. "Thank you for the wonderful meal. Excuse me." He said politely before leaving the group.
"Excuse me as well." Sri said, getting up too and following behind him.
Elio walked back to his tent. He knew that Sri was following him, but he wasn't sure what she wanted to say to him in private. When he reached his tent, he turned back towards her.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, wondering why she was following him.
"You tell me, Elio. Something's on your mind; something that you're not sharing." She said, sticking her hands in her pockets.
"What gives you that impression?"
"I'm not stupid. What's up?" She insisted. Elio sighed, looking around and making sure the coast was clear before saying anything else.
"I know your dad says that we're safe on the trail, but I'm not sure about that. I'm just anxious... Just in case, I don't want you all to be seen with me."
"Because of your flame situation?" Sri asked. Elio scoffed, a slight smile creeping on his face despite the seriousness of the conversation.
"Yes... The Fire Nation wants to bring me in dead or alive. Obviously I don't want that to happen. And I don't want anyone else here to get hurt either." He explained.
"It'll be okay, Elio. We're safe on this trail. Thousands of refugees have gone this way and the Fire Nation hasn't found it yet. You can rest easy." She said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I really hope so... Someone that I knew has been chasing me. He was...my best friend back home in the Fire Nation." He admitted.
"Oh wow, really? That's gotta be... Whoa." Sri's eyes widened as she pondered over this.
"Knowing him, I just hope that he hasn't picked up on my scent. He would be daring enough to chase me this far." Elio expressed his worries.
"Jeez, Elio... Your friend must really have it out for you."
"It's more complicated than that." Elio said.
"Lay it out for me. Please." Sri said, hugging her arms. Elio saw that she wanted to understand and was willing to listen. Elio swallowed and sighed.
"Alright... Cassian and I have been friends since we were kids. We played together, trained together, fought each other and stuff. We were like brothers, you know?"
"Mhmm." Sri nodded.
"He had it rough as a kid. He was an orphan in the Fire Nation colonies, barely surviving. It wasn't until a woman adopted him and brought him to the mainland that he...he had a home."
"Oh wow..."
"The Fire Nation took him in when no one else would. His love for our country burns strong. It's like I told Cindra: if he has to choose between the Fire Nation or me, he will kill me." He summarized.
"I'm really sorry, Elio. But thank you for telling me this. I'm sure it'll be alright. It's like I said, the Fire Nation doesn't know where we are. Just try and relax a little bit." She urged him.
"I'll do my best... Thanks, Sri."
"Don't mention it. I've seen you in action; I know I can trust you. And you can trust me too." She said with a soft smile.
"I really do appreciate it. And thanks for dragging me out to dinner too. That was actually nice... I've been playing defense ever since I got into the Earth Kingdom. It was nice...knowing that not everyone is out to get me."
"All things considered, I'm sure it must feel that way. But I got your back." She said with a smile.
"Thanks, Sri. Goodnight."
"Night." She said, playfully pushing his shoulder as she walked away, rejoining the others again. Elio chuckled a bit and watched her go before entering back into his own tent...