"What do you mean: we have to go all the way to the wall!? Can't you just let us in!?" shouted Sokka in aggravation as he stared at the older woman who worked the desk at the 2nd Hospital he, Katara, Aang, and Toph had visited that morning.
"I'm sorry, but we don't take people with injuries like this. You'll need to visit a military clinic for that kind of treatment," she said in an even tone, and although Toph could feel the woman's hands quaking, she didn't tell any overt lies that she could detect.
Sokka sighed in response. "Fine, we'll go. Come on, guys," he said as he began to walk out, followed by the others, with Katara and Aang the last to leave, with the taller young woman supporting him.
"I'm sorry, Aang," she said as the two made it back outside. The Sun had already begun its ascent, and people had begun to awake and set about their days. Of course, unlike the rest of Ba Sing Se, the ring directly behind the walls was open country, with small collections of houses nestled together amidst the large fields of crops. Around the Hospital was one such "village" with a single path carved between at least a dozen other buildings on either side while fields of wheat and other produce stretched out behind them.
As Katara and Aang walked down the steps of the plain white-walled building, they found the rest of the GAang standing upon a raised piece of earth. "Good, I was about to leave without you, Twinkletoes," Toph sarcastically remarked as she turned to face them with her milky white eyes pointing where they stood.
Katara shook her head in disapproval as Aang stifled a chuckle. "Toph, this is no time for that. We need to get going. Here, help me with Aang," she replied as she made her way over, and the two girls helped the young (old) boy onto the giant stone slab.
"Katara, it's okay. I don't feel that bad," he retorted as he maneuvered himself to lie down facing the front to help Toph move it. However, as Aang did, the pain in his right thigh shot up again. "Agh! Ow. Okay, maybe it is that bad," he gave a sheepish grin as Katara also got on.
However, as Sokka leaned forward to take hold of their ride. "Hey, Toph, I think you forgot the handholds-"
"All right, enough chit-chat, let's go!" shouted Toph enthusiastically as she hopped on the back and began moving her arms as Aang attempted to mimic her motions from his prone position while also bending handholds for Katara and Sokka. The stone slab rapidly slid down the road as Aang and Toph earthbent it toward the inner wall as the latter tried not to think about his leg. Aang could still hardly believe what had occurred the previous night. He had gone out to search for Appa, blowing his whistle wherever he went, when he saw something flashing in the sky above the city. Curious, he flew up on his glider to investigate.
In place of anything he expected, he found two large bird-like machines flying through the sky under their own power, a feat he thought impossible for anything but an Airbender or an air balloon. From the sound alone, it was clearly steam-powered, though how it flew was a mystery to him. When he drew closer to the one closest to him, he recalled seeing no clear symbology save a black double-headed bird emblazoned on a yellow, black, and blue painted tail section. However, on its back sat at least three people, the one facing him dressed in a plain blue jacket with a leather jerkin and helmet, with goggles covering his eyes. When he got level, he shouted at them, and Aang clearly remembered the man turning to face his front before calling to whom he presumed to be the pilot before again facing him.
"Hey, kid, what do you think you're doing up here!? Now go down, or I will not hesitate to open fire!" the man's words reverberated as he wished he had taken his warning seriously.
In response, Aang said the first thing that came to mind. "Wait, you guys are Fire Nation!" looking back on the situation, Aang realized he had little reason for saying this, as nothing, save for his statement, made them out as such. Of course, in the heat of the moment, he was more concerned with the man's words than examining the situation logically. For all he knew, the symbols could've belonged to some new formation of the Fire Nation army. Either way, he planned to lose altitude and Airbend them out of the sky before grabbing them and taking them down to the city. But the machine then maneuvered so that the tail was facing him. At that moment, rather than the barrage of fireballs he was expecting from the rearmost man, he heard a sound akin to fireworks combined with thunder. The next thing Aang knew, his glider's wings filled with holes as projectiles whooshed and zipped by him at incredible speed. He attempted to evade this strange yet deadly attack from the large device on the back of the machine, manned by the same man who had shouted the warning at him. Suddenly, just as Aang felt safe, pain shot through his thigh- "AAAAAAHHHHH!" -putting him in a tailspin as the unpleasant sensation coursed through him, causing him to lose focus.
Sure, Aang had suffered a minor scratch or two before, but this surpassed any physical pain Aang had known. It stung and throbbed as he could feel the skin and cloth of his pants grow wet and moist with what he knew to be blood. He felt himself growing faint, but when he was lucid enough to notice the ground getting closer, he shook himself from his pain-induced stupor and used his Airbending to steer toward the house he and his friends were staying in for the night. The next thing he knew, he crashed into the small yard in front of the house, where Sokka, Katara, and Toph found him shortly after, and the rest was a blur of pain and concerned conversation.
After arriving at the inner wall, Aang and Toph quickly earthbent their way up to the top, where they and the others met with the Earth Kingdom Royal Guards on the battlements, who led them to their nearest infirmary. While impressive in terms of thickness, the outer wall still dwarfed it in sheer scale, though the inner wall boasted large oval-shaped towers, which ensured interlocking fields of fire and made it more likely for incoming boulders to bounce off the thick stone. Beyond was the outer ring, with thousands, if not tens of thousands, of little buildings with characteristic white-washed walls and green tiled roofs packed together like tiny pieces of rice in a large bowl with little space left for practically anything else.
When the GAang and their escort arrived, they found themselves inside one of the towers, the interior of which had the marks of a military infirmary, with many empty beds in orderly rows filling most of the space. The only occupants seemed to be men with minor injuries or illnesses; the others were medics, doctors, and even some nuns, who all appeared quite bored when Aang and his friends entered. "The Avatar has been injured and requires treatment!" bellowed one of their escorts.
All at once, the medical personnel swarmed over to him, quickly getting Aang into a medical bed and examining his wounded leg. At the same time, others attempted to question his friends on what happened. "We don't know exactly, but this was inside his leg when I attempted to heal it," said Katara as Sokka handed her the metal pellet from Aang's wound.
One of the medics proceeded to question her. "What do you mean? You don't look like a doctor to me, though based on your clothes, I would assume you are a Waterbender?" Katara was hardly surprised, given that her blue, white-lined dress and plain blue wool trousers most certainly made her stick out from the crowd while abroad, though it was surprising that few seemed to notice her and her brother.
"Yes, I am."
"Then why did you not seal the wound?"
In response, Katara huffed. "I was going to, but someone-" she glared at Sokka for dramatic effect before she faced the man again. "Told me not to."
Sokka sighed before taking the pellet and bringing it up to her face. "I don't know why this is so hard for you to understand, but this isn't some burn you can magically heal. You see these little indents and notches?" in response, she nodded, but before she could speak, he continued. "It means that this thing broke inside Aang, meaning we need to get the whole thing out before we can seal it. Otherwise, it might get infected,"
"And how would you know?" she asked as she side-eyed him.
Sokka sighed once more. "If you must know, I nearly got infected when I got the fishhook stuck in my thumb, and while getting it out, a tiny piece got stuck inside," he told her.
In response, Katara stifled a chuckle. "Wait, you mean when you-"
"Yes, that," Sokka interrupted, preventing her from finishing.
The medic either didn't notice their conversation or didn't care. "Don't worry, the Avatar should be fine in time," he turned to Katara. "But, if you could aid with healing, it should help him recover more quickly."
Though she was planning on helping regardless, she wordlessly nodded at the man's words and moved over to Aang's bedside as a nun placed some form of green ointment around the wound. Aang's pants also had a large tear to allow for better access. "This should help soothe the pain," the older woman said as she dipped her finger before adding more.
"Oh, thanks. It kinda feels funny," Aang replied as Katara bent down next to him.
"That means it's working," said the nun with a smile as she turned to Katara. "Young lady, if you could hold his hand during this next part, that might help," she then turned and left while two medics and a doctor made their way over.
"Okay, why-" she paused once she saw the doctor pull out a pair of tweezers while another produced a small vile. "Okay, Aang, just look at me, and you'll be fine," said the Waterbender as calmly as she could while she walked over to the other side and took his hand while the two shared a comforting gaze.
It was an agonizing experience, but after just under half an hour of poking around, they pulled out all the fragments, and Katara sealed Aang's wound. Unfortunately for them, there was another problem. Whatever this thing was, it had fractured Aang's femur and, upon impact, had caused quite a bit of internal bleeding, meaning that, were it not for the actions of his friends, he likely would have bled to death in less than two minutes. However, the leg was still a problem, so the medics gave him one of the few pre-built splints they had on them and sent them to the rail station, where they were now. "Well, how do you feel, buddy?" asked Sokka as he turned to him.
Aang now walked using a pair of crutches to keep his right leg off the ground, though his eyes were downcast. Never in his life had he suffered such a horrific physical wound, and the loss of his glider was another piece of Airbender culture and himself he had lost. He could still hardly believe it was even possible. "Kinda, I guess? I mean, it doesn't hurt anymore," he said as he hobbled after them. "But, thanks, guys. I'm not sure I would've made it without you."
In response, Toph came over and punched him in the arm, causing him to stumble. "You got that right-" she paused to help him as her smile morphed into a sheepish grin. "Right, sorry."
"Toph, you need to be more careful," scolded Katara as she walked over and separated them. "Are you okay, Aang?"
"Uh, yeah, I'm okay," he said as he looked away, his cheeks reddening.
Katara, however, didn't seem to notice. "Good. Then come on, we need to make it to the meeting point," she said as she helped him along. Before they had sent them away, the soldiers had informed them a guide was waiting to greet them at the station.
Upon entering the main room, they found themselves surrounded by a crowd of people who'd just gotten off the train that just arrived. "Okay, they should be here somewhere," said Sokka as the group began searching. However, the train left as the crowd dispersed and those who wished to get on did so.
On the other side stood a beautiful young woman with long black hair, green eyes, and an unnervingly wide smile, wearing a long formal gown with a green scarf with the Earth Kingdom sigil wrapped around her neck. Once the train left, she made her way up to them. "Hello, I am Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se-" Suddenly, for just the briefest of moments, her eyes focused on the Avatar as her smile wavered. Then, all at once, it was as though it had never happened. "-Avatar, we've been expecting you."
All right, so I hope this chapter is satisfactory. Alas, I apologize for it being so short, but I felt I shouldn't focus on Team Avatar too much, given the fact that this story isn't really about them, and, aside from Aang's injury, there isn't going to be enough changes to warrant further attention, at least for now. Though I would like to know if I should do one about Zuko and Iroh, or if I should remain focused purely on Ivan and Azula for the next few chapters. Also, please remember to R&R, as I have a difficult time judging what people do and don't like about the story.
After talking to someone more experienced in these affairs, I realized that, if I left the injury the way it was, they most likely would have had to amputate Aang's leg.