The city center of Ba Sing Se hummed. The clopping of horse hoof on stone complimenting the screaming and giggling of over-excited children. It was easy to forget that just a month ago this city used to be a war zone. Of course the city center had managed to avoid the worst of the conflict, the city was large enough that news of a battle on the outer edge would take a day to reach the King.

Speaking of Kings, the city technically lacked one. Ever since the last king of Ba Sing Se had "abdicated", the city had been in a state of interregnum. Everyone knew that even if there technically was no King, the real Monarch had already taken charge of the city. Warlord An had taken over the royal household, exiling any who were loyal to the previous king and replacing them with men of his own. More dancing puppets than men, the only advice they gave was to tell An to calm down when he entered one of his oh-too-common rages. Quite a few had to be whisked out of the palace by doctors after An turned his rage on them.

Despite the facade of normal life in Ba Sing Se, the city had an aura of fear permeating through every section of it. Ba Sing Se had never been conquered in a siege, and yet An had managed to take it anyway, without even needing to resort to assaulting the city walls. If Ba Sing Se was unable to stop him, what could?

An elderly fellow in a filthy cloak stood atop one of the many stone buildings. He stared over the city. His eyes were purple and sagged on his face, his white beard dyed a shade of blackish-grey as a result of days without cleaning. He looked at the silent palace and sighed, dipping his shoulders and shaking his head at the sight of it. There were banners flying off of it, the oncoming coronation had brought with it a feeling of celebration amongst the city's upper brass. The people were not as happy, not in the slightest. An's army had to take to the streets to prevent an all out riot. The tension didn't dissipate, and in fact the army arriving only made things worse.

He licked his dry, cracking lips for a moment, contemplating the palace for a second. Finally he pulled a piece of paper from beneath his cloak and folded it open. He read from it, his mouth making the words as he did.

"You reached the right place," a voice called from behind him, sending the elderly man almost falling off the side of the building.

The bearded figure collapsed onto his bottom after narrowly avoiding tumbling into the streets below. A hooded figure had appeared on the building behind him, dressed in a green cloak with a pair of blue semicircles on each side of his chest. He held out a hand, which the older man used to pull himself up after a moment's hesitation.

The older man again licked his lips and held his mouth open as he collected his thoughts. He hopped in place as he remembered something, and he handed over the paper soon afterwards.

"Are you one of the... oh what was it again?" the bearded man said, his voice trembling much like the rest of his body.

"I am one of the Avatar's Own yes," the hooded figure stated, lowering the hood to reveal a darker-skinned woman with the characteristic airbending tattoos evident through the one that rested on her forehead. She couldn't have been over twenty years old. She carried a frown on her face even whilst her expression was neutral. The older man's eyes bulged out of his head.

"Oh, I thought... your voice..." he stammered. In response the woman gave a soft smirk.

"I get that a lot, don't worry, no offense taken," she said with a shrug. Her face quickly hardened. "You came to find me, you came because you had a purpose. What was that purpose?" she asked, almost as if she already knew his answer.

"Er..." he uttered, still flat-footed and confused. "Oh, I came here to find the Avatar, yes!" he said proudly, puffing out his chest. The woman's frown faded into her natural frown once more.

"Don't go yelling that out now," she cautioned. "But yes, I'm glad you came! An extra pair of eyes slash hands is always appreciated."

The woman pointed a thumb at herself.

"My name is Miki of the Air Nomads, I have a lot to teach you."

---

The sound of a struggling chain, the steady thumping of fist against stone, and the grunting of the man within drifted from the ornate door. Sanshi gulped as the platter in his hands let out a soft noise of porcelain against silver as it shuddered from every blow, even with the door between.

Sanshi sighed to calm his chest.

An is unnatural, no man should be that strong.

An had quickly made the palace his own after seizing the city, replacing the old, overly ornate rooms of the previous administration with more utilitarian constructions of his own design.

"Utilitarian" meaning plain brown stone, maybe with a cushion haphazardly put on top if you were lucky.

The palace bureaucrats had either taken up positions as his footrests or had been sent off to the mines to work until the value of their work matched the value of what they'd stolen from the Earth Kingdom's citizens.

This had even happened to the female bureaucrats, who Sanshi assumed would at least be kept around as eye-candy.

Sanshi himself had been smart enough to bow to An as soon as he had taken the city, thanks to that smart display, he had been given the prestigious position of cupbearer, mostly because An assumed him too weak-willed to attempt to poison him, which wasn't inaccurate.

All others would be replaced by generals from the western boondocks that An had come from.

Sanshi steeled himself as he raised a shaky hand to the door, rapping it twice with his knuckles.

"Come in."

The voice that came from the other side of the door was a powerful bellow despite the owner clearly being short of breath.

Sanshi pushed his way into the room to spot An punch a massive earth pillar, hung from the ceiling from what were clearly some powerful chains, so hard that it ended up laying parallel to the ceiling.

An turned, rolling his shoulder as he did so. Sanshi couldn't help but notice his powerful physique. An was at least twice the size of Sanshi, so large that even the massive Royal Apartment looked far too small for him. He was wide, both of shoulder and of stomach, but his extended stomach didn't look like the blobby result of fat; it was firm and his skin held tightly to it. His arms were so massive Sanshi thought that one of the man's biceps had to be at least as wide as Sanshi's waist.

A bead of sweat dripped off of An's nose, falling in front of the man's mustache, usually exquisitely curled to give the pretense of nobility, but now laying against his beard, which was matted against his chest.

He looked like a shaved elephant mandrill, with the multi-colored face replaced with one of red, the red of exertion and triumph.

"Oh, Sanshi, thank the spirits, I was getting thirsty. Just put it on the table over there," An said, dismissively waving his hand at his servant as he turned back to the earthen pillar. Sanshi began to feel all too hot, the room had been heated to an insane temperature by An's workout, and the ornate robes that Sanshi was wearing made him feel all too overdressed.

As An landed a groundshaking punch to the pillar, Sanshi felt a lump in his throat that wouldn't go away no matter what he did.

Thank the spirits he likes me.

Sanshi nervously placed the drink tray on the bedside table, cringing every time he heard the hearty thump of An's powerful blows.

He quickly placed his hands into his sleeves and bowed to An, who had just kicked a chunk out of the pillar. An sneered at Sanshi's manners. An always seemed to have a distaste for protocol and etiquette; he only pretended to care when his public image was at stake.

Not that his public image was positive in the first place.

Sanshi moved to the corner of the room and watched as An trundled over to the bedstand. He grabbed the bottle and poured its contents into the cup swiftly, swirling the cup in his hand.

"I always wondered," An suddenly spoke, not even turning to look at Sanshi. "Why is it that you gave in so easily? Why were you so quick to abandon your lord?"

Sanshi stared a moment, his tongue shaking in his mouth. His mouth was unwilling to make words. He had never been asked such a question before, and knowing An, this was probably a test of some kind, one that he desperately wanted to pass.

"Um... well I knew that you were unbeatable, opposing you was equal to hitting myself in the face with a hammer," Sanshi said after a time of deep thought. Er scowled at this response, still swirling the cup in his hand. Sanshi found himself unable to look away from the cup, watching the liquid swirling around and around. He knew that looking up would force him to look into those terrifyingly stern eyes, grey as the overcast sky and with flecks of cold black. Finally Er made a sound, a soft snort of derision. The sound shook Sanshi to his very core, and he felt his knees suddenly begin to struggle against the weight of the rest of his body.

"If anything you're truthful. If not smart. If you're so quick to abandon the lord whose service you're born into, how quick will you be to abandon mine?"

"Oh no my lord I swear-"

"You swear to him, you swear to me, first time you lie, am I expected to believe that the second time is truthful?"

Sanshi sputtered and tried to think, his entire body shaking with fear in a way that seemed to bring a smile to An's face.

He's doing this on purpose. He thinks that this is funny! I can't take this anymore! He's gonna beat me within an inch of my life if I don't get him first.

Sanshi slowly moved a hand behind him, still shaking with every muscle in his body. Something inside Sanshi died when he noticed An's eyes following his hand, and An's smirk turning into a wide smile.

An took a soft step forwards, and Sanshi felt his arm stop in its tracks.

He shook as he slowly moved his head. The ground beside his foot had changed into an earthen pillar which wrapped around his elbow, keeping it from moving.

Sanshi hyperventilated. He grabbed his elbow with his free hand. He had to free himself, he had to run, he had to get away. With all of the strength that he had, he pulled hard on his elbow. His arm tightened and waves of stinging pain shot up his trapped arm as he pulled harder and harder. The sound of bare foot against stone got closer and closer as An approached, and despite his arms feeling dead on his body, he pulled ever harder, to no avail. The stone didn't even budge.

"You were right to assume the worst. I have a friend to whom I owe a favor, and your position was just what I needed to repay that favor," An's voice had become soft, it danced from high tones to low tones like the slithering of a snake. "He asked to be cupbearer by my coronation, and I'm not one to put things off until the last day, but I just had so much to do. So, now that today is the last day before this city's crown is placed upon my head, I have no time left to wait," An was within a finger's length of him now, and Sanshi's struggling had given way to frantic pleading in noises that only barely resembled words. An placed a finger against Sanshi's head softly. "The mines aren't that bad, of course you won't enjoy them, no," he said, his voice morphed into a whisper. He cupped Sanshi's trembling face with a pair of warm hands.

"But I've had enough of people like you continuing to work under me out of pure good will. Well that ends today," An's voice had taken an angry tone. Sanshi tried to free himself from An's grasp futilely.

An yanked him free of the restraints.

"Wait nononono!" Sanshi pleaded as he was lifted into the air. "I can pay you! I can pay you!"

An looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Pay me? With what? I have most of anything that I could ever want."

"But do you have hugs?"

"...Hugs?"

"Yes! I-I give really great hugs! I can be your royal stuffed animal but instead of a stuffed animal I'm real!"

An looked tired.

"Oh, I see what this is, this is a prank, you're pranking me right now."

"Wha-no, no prank no joke, this is a real offer!"

An sighed and hefted Sanshi over his head with both arms.

"Wait we can talk about this! I... I can be your stress ball, when you're angry you can hit me! I have a punchable face right? I think I do! I think I'm a pest who deserves the old one two!"

A wall of rock appeared in front of An, and with a small step, he hurled Sanshi towards it.

"Waitnononon-"

Sanshi was only able to hear his body thwack into the wall. His vision darkened, and finally he gave in to unconsciousness.

The city was weird.

There had been many stories floating around her tribe on how grand the city of Ba Sing Se was, how it was so cultured and the pinnacle of the Earth Kingdom's culture. But upon entering, the city was suffocating under oppression. Sure, the citizens' forced smiles and withdrawn nature could have come off as being weary to outsiders, but it was more than obvious that they were absolutely terrified. What should have been a lively city was little more than a group of quaking individuals huddled together in an attempt to survive a metaphorical earthquake.

Her lips parted to let out a sigh, blue eyes temporarily unfocused as she pondered her next step. Information gathering wasn't something she expected to be easy, but the way the people praised the Warlord gave her a feeling that the walls had ears. She hadn't been stupid enough to ask about the Avatar directly, instead inquiring about the warlord himself. The one thing she gathered was that anyone previously in power was sent away, An himself occupying the palace. She had briefly entertained the idea of a visit, but ultimately decided against it.

One thing was for sure, a ceremony of some sort was going to be happening soon. At least, that's what Nadia had understood. A coronation for the Earth Kingdom's new ruler, or rather, new dictator. Going straight to the source was how Nadia had hoped she could find a clue or hint, but she wasn't expecting much. Making sure her blue hood was still secure on her head, she wondered if hiding her face was such a good idea. Not that she was expecting to get recognized, and she still stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the Earth Kingdom natives. It was probably habit at this point, but she felt just a little more secure with it than without it.

"Here you go," The voice of the merchant snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Thank you," She replied, taking the crab puff from his hands. As she bit into it, the foreign taste surprised her. It was fluffy and crisp, but she ultimately decided to liked it. She chose to continue to wander the streets as she ate, ultimately deciding to wander until the ceremony would begin.

Cultured. The only meaning of the word that appeared to apply to Ba Sing Se was cultivation, letting humans grow wild in a controlled environment. Anitelu had been surprised at there being open land within the walls, but it was farmland. Ba Sing Se was human to its core, from the Outer Wall to the Palace that was supposed to be at the centre. It's not like he'd ever manage to get there to search. He poured water out onto the street, to the protests of the crowd around him. Let them complain. It wouldn't be there for long. Calling the water until it was under his feet, he had it throw him upwards. Landing took a little work, but he used the water to secure a hold and stand up.

Much better. The water circled around him, and he shook the dust and grime from it before sending it back into his waterskin. Looking out over the city, Anitelu was struck once again with the sheer impossibility of the task the Elders had set. Comb the entire continent for the Avatar? Even if he wasn't the only one from his tribe sent out, it would take them decades for a thorough search. Closing his eyes, he began to meditate. The Avatar was different. The flow of chi around benders was different to that of non-benders, letting his tribe tell the talented ones straight from birth. In a city like this, the few benders in the Lower Ring stood out to his senses like torches in a thick smog. The Elders had said the Avatar would shine like the sun to even the most oblivious. It was part of the Avatar's power.

But whereever the Avatar was, they weren't here. Anitelu stepped to the side of the building and looked down. Was it worth walking through the streets when the roofs here made a street all their own? He stood a moment, thinking his options through. The road certainly followed more direct routes. That's how they would be designed in this human habitat. However, the direct route wasn't necessarily the fastest or safest. With the amount of people in the city, there was a much higher chance that he'd lose his coins to some unprincipled fool. Decided then. A minimum of fuss is needed. Calling the water from his back again, he used it to cross the narrow gaps between buildings, describing a circuitous, but crowd-free, route to the next wall, and the Middle Ring.

---

---

This was more than he was used to.

It seemed like Ba Sing Se had gone through a change in management, at least in the prison system. For one thing, there were more chains in this cell than Laoshan was used to. Usually, for non-violent misdemeanors they bound their hands and kept some benders on the prison staff. Simple stuff.

Not the case today. Today, He hung from the ceiling, arms pressed to his side and his body encased in a suit of iron links. Odd. Still, nothing the usual tricks couldn’t fix. Closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths, the airbender opened his left hand, flexed a few times. Fingers were still free. Idiots.

This next portion was the hard part, made him glad he did his breathing exercises after he was kicked out. He started easy, pushing hard with the exhale and pulling in deep with the inhale. The chains started to move, ever so slightly. He could feel the air flow through his beard, his hair as he picked up momentum, increasing the speed and depth of his breaths. The monks always said that a clean shaven head was better for this kind of thing, but that was a load of garbage if you asked Laoshan. The wind jetting through his mane while he flew on his glider, clouds parting in his wake, it always felt so free… Just like he was about to be.

The breaths formed a small gust, but that was all he needed to get started. He directed it with each breath, in, out, back, forth, until the air in his cell was moving all together. His body rocked back and forth in his chains, pulling tighter and tighter against his body by the push and pull of the newfound current. If he was less sturdy, this would’ve been really damn painful.

Fortunately for him, Laoshan was built like a small mountain and twice as stubborn.

At this point, the chains were beginning to feel the stress. The former monk’s body was held completely taut, muscles hard as granite as he kept breathing, red-faced and strained, the iron digging itself into his flesh as his restraints jangled and tightened. The monk pushed himself more and more, back and forth, until he heard the groans from the metal. Chains creaked, bolts complained, and most importantly, his restraints were beginning to loosen from all the frantic back and forth… just enough for him to do what he needed to.

Fun thing about Earth Kingdom protocol was that they bound hands together with cuffs, where each hand could reach the other. Usually not a problem, but most prisoners didn't know the proper way to dislocate their thumbs.

After loosening things up and popping a few joints, a little bit of wiggling and a great load of oaths, the monk stepped free from the chains, the last of his bonds clattering to the floor. After that, all there was to do was wait for mealtime. A guard would have to open the door sooner or later…

---

Huan was a simple man.

He kept his nose clean, stayed out of trouble for the most part, and over the course of some forty-odd years, he had managed to make his family relatively happy with a prestigious position in Ba Sing Se’s guard. When the forces of Warlord An attacked, he had defended the city as best he could, but at the end of the day he surrendered with everyone else. Short on manpower for the full management of the city, a good bit of the old guard was recycled, not like they cared about regimes. Huan personally was promptly put back in position as a guard in the Northeast Penitentiary of the Eight Path Prisons, where he was in charge of benders. Pretty simple. Keep ‘em chained, keep ‘em out of trouble. Who knew, if things stayed simple, he might even get a promotion at some point. 'Warden Huan,' he liked the sound of that. As he sat down outside of the stairs to Cold Storage, he blew over the top of his cup of tea and shivered. Part of him always felt bad for the firebenders, but it was infinitely worse for the other poor bastards that got thrown in the river from time to time... Still, though he knew it was selfish, Huan couldn't help but be glad it wasn't him. He was cozy out here, with hot tea, 3 square meals a day, and a good job.

For just one moment, the world was gonna be okay for Ol' Huan. Then there was a deep, slow rumble, accompanied by the sound of distant shouting.

After that, the world exploded.

The door from the non-bending section of the prison rocketed off its hinges with the shrill complaint of shredding metal, the hulk of iron slamming against the wall and falling against the opposite side of the hallway with a series of clangs. Huan let off a high-pitched shriek, his voice cracking like the teacup he dropped at his feet as he scrambled to grab hold of the spear he had left beside him, getting stuck briefly in his chair as his feet refused to cooperate. Through the wreckage at the end of the hallway, he could see a single, unsteady figure lumbering through the newly christened portal, a full head taller than Huan himself and covered in dirt and grime. The figure smiled grimly, yellow teeth showing through a wrankled grimace. His knuckles were bleeding slightly, a substantially whiter tooth than his own wedged into one of his hands. “You’re going to want to move, little man.”

“H-halt! By order of Soon-to-be Earth King An, Leader of Ba Sing Se, Lord of Stone, B-bearer of the Eternal M-mountaaaiiEE!” Huan’s feet flew up and his head flew down as the disgusting monk launched across the room like a smelly freight train, propelled by a sudden gout of hurricane-force winds and twirling like a drunken dervish. The bulky man spun on his heel, shattering the spear’s haft with a strong chop from his left hand and closelining the guard with his right. The guard only had time to make a muffled ‘eep’ through the fabric covering the sweaty vagrant’s elbow before his face hurtled towards the ground, kissing the earth at about thirty miles per hour.

It was a good thing Huan was wearing a helmet, or the concussion from his resulting impact with the ground would’ve ended him. Instead, he merely lay prone, clutching his bleeding face and groaning. Not quite dead. Laoshan nodded as curtly as he could manage through his headache, satisfied with himself. “Purely lethal technique, my blackened, ashen backside…”

Bending over, Laoshan patted the guard down for a moment before finding what he was looking for. As he straightened up, the airbender stumbled for a second, steadying himself against the wall and gritting his teeth as he rubbed his temples. Fucking withdrawal… how long had it been since his last drink? Two days, three? Too damn long.

With a click of the key and a creak from its hinges, the door in front of the mendicant opened, letting a cold gust of air flooding up from the stairs leading down. Earthbenders… always with the underground chambers, always the blasted restraints and stone and rock... Utterly unnecessary.

Laoshan pulled the keys from the door and began to head down. The nonbenders should’ve been rushing the courtyard by now, trying to find some guards to take hostage. Personally, he didn’t think the administration under this new Earth King would give a damn, but who knew? In the meantime, the monk was going to try his luck with some REAL firepower. Heh. Firepower.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Laoshan muttered to himself as he flipped through the dense ring of keys before finding the correct fit. This door was the heaviest he had run across yet, undecorated, iron, and heavy as a bitch. He frowned for a moment, considering the hulk before him. After a moment's consideration, the airbender braced himself against the door, leaping into the air, twisting his body, and letting off a staunch airblast from the dirty soles of his dirty feet. The portal shot open, the stone of the stairs behind him cracking beneath the force of Laoshan's demonstration.

Improvising to protect his head, the nomad twisted the air around him, convincing his body to perform a small flip and land on its feet. He only staggered a little bit. Solid six point landing.

Brushing himself off, the former monk began to examine the room. The only light that showed anything was the glint of torches from the stairway, all fire kept away from this place. Still, garnering a bit from what he did see, there were rows upon rows of metal doors standing in stone, and… the sound of rushing water? More than that, this chamber was freezing. Additionally… he couldn’t hear any prisoners. Usually they cried out, rattled their chains, complained about the food, something. This was… unnatural. Still, Laoshan was here for back-up, and if anyone was still alive and kicking he was going to snag them.

“Oy! If you’re breathing, sign off! A certain man by the name of Laoshan Fang is running a hard jailbreak, and you lucky sops are about to benefit from his great magnanity and desire to get just, so far away from here. We’ve got keys if you’ve got an able body. Any takers?”

---

The Inner wall was proving much harder to infiltrate.

Huo Ling sat crossed legged on the roof of an accommodating Ba Sing Se restaurant staring up at the massive walls that separated the second-class Middle Ring from the estates of the city’s elite. Her unprecedented seat gave her an excellent view of the imposing barrier keeping her from traversing on to her ultimate destination. She sat, ate, and contemplated the irony of having a third and presumably even a fourth wall literally stonewalling her best efforts. Entering the great outer walls at all had been difficult enough, what with the recent abdication and hostile takeover leaving everyone on edge. Lucky for Huo she was resourceful enough to find a place on the earth bender powered monorail riding all the way up to the Lower Ring, though somewhat devious means. From there the plan went cold, at least until Huo miraculously found herself the owner of a significant sum of money, which bought her a ticket to the Middle Ring and an averted gaze from the teller. So far she’d been playing the game by instinct, following the wind and seeing how far luck would get her. A surprising distance admittedly, but even Huo’s luck ran dry eventually. She’d nearly been detained at the monorail station having been caught trying to bribe the tellers into letting her traverse one layer further. It was unfortunate to say the least, there were too many of An’s troops watching the monorail entering and exiting the Inner Ring. Spread thin as they were trying to control all of Ba Sing Se they still formed a bolstered defense around the sensitive Inner Ring, keeping out even a determined figure like Huo. If it hadn’t been for them Huo would’ve put money on the notion that she could’ve bribed every single official she happened across right up to the royal palace itself. An’s men however proved far more loyal then the underappreciated city guard for Huo’s meager offerings to placate them. Instead had to be thwarted by swift feet and a good ability to dodge projectile rocks.

Coiling back Huo hurled her gumjua fruit core into the lawns below her, slumping back down with a disgruntled sigh. When it came to clever plans and inventive schemes Huo lacked the necessary forethought to strategize on any grand level. She was more of a go with her gut kind of girl, and her gut, although comfortably full for the first time in weeks, wasn’t giving her any bright ideas.

At that moment a slight breeze picked up, playfully stirring her black braids and bringing up with it the murmur of conversation from down below. It was a pleasant enough day, and the privileged citizens of the Middle Ring were busy pretending all was fine and harmonious within Ba Sing Se; by enjoying a pleasant meal with their families. Sticking their heads in the sand like a herd of ostrichorses seemed like a common trait of the city’s residents actually. Huo swore if patrols of An’s troops didn’t march past every half hour or so the laymen would have thoroughly convince themselves that nothing at all had changed. Their denialism didn’t extend much further then that however. All through her meal Huo found herself the target of many a disapproving glare or muttered word by the restaurant’s other patrons, all for her crude manners and ragamuffin appearance. It grew to such a point that Huo abandoned their den of judgment altogether and retreated up to the roof to enjoy the last of her supper in some semblance of peace. Also, because if she had to hear one more person complain about how she smelled she might’ve burnt the whole place to the ground.

The muted speech of the diners infiltrated Huo’s not-so-great attempts at formulating some semblance of a plan. The considerations of disguise, giant catapults, and straight up climbing the wall with an ice pick subsided and subconsciously the Fire Islands teen began casually eavesdropping, listening in on the random tidbits of talk that rose with the midday breeze. For the most part the dialogue was on anything from the weather to a favorite tea shop and everything in-between. Excluding mentions of An’s invasion, and not one word about the upcoming coronation. Nothing much of real interest. At least it wasn’t until Huo caught the low rumble of a man’s voice making a rather particular complaint to his friend. Leaning down Huo placed her ear to the green-colored roof straining to make out every last word.

“So I told him, I don’t care how many air benders rob your cart, if you keep losing money I won’t be investing with you anymore. That’s exactly what I told him. Its disappointing to, as he’s usually quite successful, but now he wants loans for new watchmen as well. Said his got the snot beat out of them by the thief. The nerve of some people is astounding. I asked him, why do you have private security you’re a lychees vendor?”

A second voice asked something but Huo couldn’t quite make it out. Nevertheless her interest was piqued. An air bender robbing fruit carts and then attacking the guards went against everything she knew about the nomads. She’d considered them inconsequential before, but couldn’t air benders fly?

“That’s right. Odd isn’t it. Apparently he wanted to be hired or something. Probably a wannabe mercenary, though the first of his kind that I’ve heard of.”

Without a moment more of hesitation Huo grabbed the edge of the roof swinging down onto the open windowsill. She landed as light as a cat, peering into the sunlit spaces of the restaurant. The two conversing men were seated right next to the window, reacting poorly to Huo’s more unexpected entrance.

“Great spirits above girl!” One of the men, a large dumpy looking fellow jumped, spilling his soup onto his lap. His associate, a finely dressed merchant in his middle years jerked as well, but less violently. Saving himself the displeasure of hot liquid drenching his embroidered robes. Huo’s bright eyes flicked from one man to the other as all three stared at each other in an awkward silence. The man who’d spilt his meal rang a little bell, before launching into a reproach of Huo’s sudden drop-in. “Miss, please come down from there. This is rather undignified way to appear, you near frightened me to death. Run along to your mother and father, and make sure they know that you’ve been fooling around and scaring people. You certainly look old enough to know better.” The man sniffed in disdain and fluffed out a silk napkin, dabbing halfheartedly at his lap.

Huo ignored him, narrowing her eyes at the merchant, who shrank back a little, looking very uncomfortable. “Where did it happen?” Huo demanded unceremoniously.

“I beg pardon miss?” The merchant had a gaunt face and he pursed his lips at this unexpected intrusion. Clearly he wasn’t used to this sort of tone from anyone.

“The air bender who’s up for hire. Where was he last seen?” Huo cast a baleful glare towards the oncoming waiter who was flanked by a bull of man, whom she could only guess by his clothing and bulging muscles was both head chef and acting bouncer. They had a clear intent to force her from the premises, which meant the conversation needed to end now.

“Were you eavesdropping on our conversation young lady?” The merchant proclaimed in outrage, not noticing the strange look on Huo’s face. “How uncivilized, you ought to be ashamed of such unladylike behaviors.”

Growling in a very unladylike manner Huo snatched ahold of the merchant’s collar, pulling him closer. A ball of flame materialized in her free hand and she held it close to his face, the fire crackling merrily and giving off a cheery glow that contradicted the intense atmosphere. The room had grown very silent as most of the people present assumed they were watching a robbery take place right in front of their eyes.

“Just, answer the question before you get burned.” She held the flame a little closer to his cheeks, allowing a few silver hairs to singe and crumple.

“In the Lower Ring, in-in the merchants quarter by the little fountain! Gonshu usually sets up his lychees cart there, yeeeee don'tburnme!”

Huo laughed waving her hand and putting the small fire out. “See that was easy wasn’t it. And don’t look so worried, that’s all I wanted from you. Enjoy the rest of your lunch.” Huo leapt clear just as the chef reached the table. The large man brandished a vegetable knife, leaning over the table to stick his head out of the window.

“You ever come back here and bother my customers again I’ll Sautee your liver in a pan of boiling oil you smelly vagabond- aaagh!” He jerked back, just in time to avoid a blast of fire that splashed against the restaurant’s outer wall washing over the grass turning the lawn black and brittle. The building was well built, but dry and old proving to be the perfect kindling for a burgeoning fire. Snickering the arsonist deserted the scene before any soldiers arrived, jogging back the way she’d come towards the monorail station. She’d have to reenter the Lower Ring, but it was worth it in the end. Perhaps her luck hadn’t run out after all. She trusted her gut, and her gut was telling her that if an air bender was really looking for the highest bidder then that person had to be her. And if she enlisted the help of an air bender, well, who cared about walls then?

Jai Sikk grit her teeth in pain as she lifted her feet off the freezing, silt covered floor of the underground river. Canal? Creek? Screw it, who cared? She'd grabbed the chains tightly and lifted herself up to get some relief for her aching legs. The chains were too short, she could only reach the bottom with her tip-toes. Even with the added buoyancy of the water, it got tiring real fast. And that was where the pain started. Hanging by the chains dug into your wrists, cutting off bloodflow to your hands, and it also put you at the whim of the current. Wherever this water came from, it was moving fast. Letting yourself float pulled your arms at the chains, and could twist you around and get you tangled. By now she had worked out some kind of system. Stand for as long as she could, then grab the chains and pull up. She was strong, and it gave her a short reprieve, though she couldn't pull herself out of the water. When her arms gave out, it would be back down to keeping her balance on her toes.

The chains above Jai shifted, and she snarled at the bolts connecting the shackles to the wall. They were almost loose, but what then? The river passed through a grate, there was no escape through there. The doors were locked, with only a small platform on the inside for a guard to stand on when they delivered food. The barred doors offered no hiding spot, so she couldn't use that to her advantage. And her Firebending would be near useless for a few minutes, at least until she warmed up a little. Her way of escape was so close, but there was so much in her way...

The young woman looked up as she heard the door down the hall slam open violently. Normally the guards were a little more careful than that... Then, a voice filled the damp cavern and Jai grinned. Here was a chance if ever she saw one. Setting her feet back onto the mucky floor, Jai took a moment to gather her strength before jerking her left arm down hard. With a loud snapping sound, the bolt above her popped out of the stonework, the chain dropping to dangle from her wrist. Twisting herself up, Jai used her newfound maneuverability to grasp the remaining chain tightly, hauling herself out of the water and planting her feet on the wall. Gritting her teeth and crying out gutturally at the effort, Jai yanked at the remaining chain as it too popped free of its binding.

Crashing into the water below, Jai nearly gasped in a lungful of water out of shock before her sailing instincts kicked in. Never panic if you fall off the boat. Swim up. Get to an edge. Fortunately, her small cell accommodated all of those things, as she broke the surface and hauled herself onto the small ledge by her door. Jai collapsed to her knees as she reached a hand out through the bars, the clanking of the chains around her wrist sounding like victory bells to her ears now.

"If you have keys," The young Firebender called, "Then get me out of this pit!"

---

---

“‘Please and thank you’ wouldn’t be remiss…” Laoshan went door to door, opening the cells after fumbling with the key-ring where he heard coherent complaints. Apparently, there was a lively one or two, but most of the prisoners were soaked, frozen, and not in a state remotely close to being able to fight. Unfortunate. He used his airbending to pull those still hanging from inside their cages to the platform then undid their bonds, but that was about all the happiness he could afford them. Stragglers would be left behind. Poor buggers.

The monk sucked on his teeth, frowning as he regarded those around him. The blasted headache was back, and his mouth was all cotton. The sooner they got out, the sooner he could find something strong, and he had at best a handful of benders to work with. Most of those present were dead in the eyes, but two in particular stood out: a young air nomad, he could tell by the build and the shaved head, and a firebender with blackened fingertips and snarl like a dragonbadger. She had been waiting for him, bonds torn from the corners of her cell and rage in her eyes. Dangerous. Neither one of the young guns would go quietly. Laoshan liked it. He could work with fighters. “Alright. If you can still walk, we’re leaving. If you can’t, that’s tough, but we can’t get weighed down. There’s only so much time before the rest of the city guard catches on to what’s happening here, so I hope for your sakes you’re all capable. Baldy, you're our left flank. Young gun, you're on the right. I'll lead. Let’s hop to.”

The former monk turned, weight on the balls of his feet. Uneven teeth showed through a slightly maniacal grin. Laoshan had what he came for, and now it was time to split.

---

---

If he knew where Zhen had gone - immediately after disembarking, no less - Ren would have had him doing dropstance and surgehops for a month. He'd probably have admitted it was a reasonable idea afterwards, mind, but the grumpy old lizard had a thing about his 'reckless streak'.

Still, capital of the Earth Kingdom and centre of An's power or not, Ba Sing Se was probably the best place to gather rumours that might hint at the Avatar's location or status. It had taken a couple of weeks to get there, most of which he'd spent pulling his weight as a grunt labourer - first to pay his passage on the ship, then in order to travel with a merchant caravan going his way - and suppressing the urge to bend, except in the smallest of ways.

That, obviously, couldn't continue; at the same time, however, he had no desire to be outed to An's forces as a firebender. He didn't know exactly what would happen then, but the rumours suggested nothing good.

Hence why he was standing on the road just outside the Impenetrable City, staring up at the massive gates in consideration. Once he went in, he probably wouldn't get a chance to seriously start firebending until he left again, and given how huge Ba Sing Se was... it could take him weeks to find a lead.

On the other hand, what other options did he have? Wander around aimlessly and hope for the best? Visit all the remote mountaintops and valleys one by one and hope the Avatar didn't move to one he'd already searched?

Sighing, he got into line.

No, he wasn't armed. No, he hadn't committed any crimes by the laws of the Earth Kingdom. No, he didn't have any enemies likely to come looking for him. Yes, he'd stay out of trouble. Yes, he'd report any suspicious activity (hint hint especially Water Tribers hint hint.)

That guard wasn't anywhere near as subtle as he thought he was. Judging from the look his partner was shooting him, she'd be giving him an earful once they were off duty. Still, division in the ranks was no concern of his. At least it indicated there wasn't quite enough fuel for the fire; he'd have a much more difficult time staying hidden if An's thugs were tending the flame too closely, to say nothing of how much less willing people would be to talk.

Briefly offering thanks to Agni (and, after a moment's thought, Guanyin) for how simple it had been to get through, he settled into the well-worn groove of 'patrol walk', a steady gait that could carry him through hours of walking. Best to get the lay of the land first.

---

About ninety minutes later, munching absently on an apple, Zhen found himself walking down a much emptier street than most he'd passed through, and bristling with far more soldiers too.

Distantly, a bell was ringing, loud and strident.

The soldiers started running.

... Well, something was happening.

Finishing his apple, carefully restraining his gait to a sort of loping jog - not an attention-grabbing run, but not attention-grabbingly unworried either - and plastering a concerned expression on his face, he headed in the same direction as An's goons, keeping a careful distance behind them.

Just in case.

Jampa fell in line and took the flank as he was told. "Anything to get out of a prison cell, old man." Honestly, you start one little brawl because somebody disrespects you, and then let that brawl spill out of the tea shop you're in and into the street, and let that street-fight become a brawl, then win that brawl, and suddenly you're thrown in prison? There was truly no justice in the Earth Kingdom. It wasn't that Jampa lived only for fighting exactly, it was just that after he'd been banished from Air Nomad society for the- hah!- the crime of speaking his mind to the Elders a little too loudly regarding their foolish insistence on pacifism in the face of an increasingly dangerous world, his fighting skills and his search for the Avatar were all he had left to him or so he often thought. Therefore, what was most wise was to hone and test them as often as possible and who knew, maybe some day he could find work as a mercenary or something as a result.

But first, he had to break out of prison.

"So, I'm getting my staff, but after that do either of you have a plan? I don't like the idea of going back to prison right after I get out."

Jai watched through the bars of her cell as the disheveled man made his way down the row of cells, opening them and using some pretty obvious airbending techniques to pull the other prisoners to safety. Good, that gave them two different types and styles, doubling their chances at getting out. The young firebender fought to gain control of her breathing and conserve her strength until the airbender made it to her cell. Pushing herself to her feet, Jai stepped out of her cell as it was opened, taking a long look at her two new companions.

"I need to get to my boat." Jai said in response to the young mans question. "They towed it upriver to here, something about evidence. My sword's hidden there, and I'd like to get as far away from this city as I can once we get out."

Jai glared at the old man telling her to take up a position, fighting the urge to spat back at him. As much as she hated being given orders, they'd have to work together to get out of here...

---

---

Twilit shadows spread like the plague, enveloping Huo Ling in their gloomy embrace. Fortune seemed to be in a foul mood to match the darkening sky. Consequently, perhaps predictably, Huo’s attempt to locate one airbender in Ba Sing Se was proving to be a formidable task, misfortune or no. Not that Huo’s tactics were foolproof either. The Fire Islands teen ambled down the dirty alleys and near abandoned streets asking random pedestrians if they’d seen a man selling lychees or an airbender. The former resulted in success far more often than the latter, but the name Gonshu didn’t often ring any bells. There were numerous fruit sellers’ folk knew of, but hardly anyone could recall the name of their local cart merchants, and even if by some chance they did, they were never the right person. Numerous Li’s, Gu’s, Tai’s, and Benhei’s sold lychees, but so far no Gonshu’s. Nonplused Huo continued her dogged journey combing downtown Ba Sing Se, footsore and weary from the long day’s efforts.

At least the streets were clearing out. The people of the lower ring didn’t share the resolute denial of the middle-ringers, and as soon as night began to fall the poor folk took to their homes, fearful of thugs taking advantage of the dark hours and general unrest. Huo herself began to take notice of a few undesirables, hooded ruffians leering out at her from the alleyways. Like sharks sniffing for blood in the water. Flexing her fingers Huo mostly ignored them, but stayed towards the center of the road just in case. A single accurately launched rock from the darkness could lay a person out cold, and that was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now.

A commotion drew Huo attention at that moment, accompanied the sound of a nearby bell. A small detachment of city watchmen and An’s soldiers sprinted past, a half dozen or so of them, seemingly in a rush to get wherever they needed to be. The one in the front held a lit lantern, and the firelight shone bright on Huo’s face as they ran by. “Get to your home girl, there’s about to be trouble.” The growled order had a note of seriousness to it, and Huo didn’t doubt for a second that there would be trouble afoot, soon enough.

“I’ll get right on that sir.” She muttered, shielding her eyes from the glare. The force moved away, clearly not intent on enforcing a curfew, merely suggesting it. At least, that’s how Huo saw it. The night was still young, and despite her worn feet Huo felt an irresistible curiosity to know what this ‘trouble’ might be. She was about to take off after the soldiers when a lone figure jogged past, seemingly matching her intentions to follow them. He was a young man, well built with a complexion that was hard to make out in the twilight, but Huo could’ve sworn he hailed originally from the Fire Islands, the same as her. Trotting to keep pace she reached up and tapped this stranger on the shoulder, who’s name, unbeknownst to her, was Zhen. “Hey there tall guy. You don’t happen to know what’s going down do you? One of ‘em said there was going to be trouble, and he looked serious about it too. Like pentapox epidemic serious.” Huo tilted her head, angling her ears to get a better read on the mysterious bell’s reverberations. “They’re headed straight for that chime too. Reckon it’s an alarm of some kind?”

"Yes that will fit nicely, hmm, maybe a little more taut here..." the attendant muttered to himself as she ran her hands all over the gaudy gold robes that hugged against An's frame in an incredibly uncomfortable way. An attempted to move his arm to perhaps get some feeling back into it, but bending his elbow any further than the ninety degree angle at which they were seated seemed to risk ripping the robes, and the attendants quickly warned him how that would not do. An grumbled as they returned to tying and pulling and pinching.

"Is this thing really necessary?" he asked as a massive crown was placed upon his head, making him appear as if he had a multi-tiered temple for a head. The attendants seemed shocked that he would even ask.

"Yes my King, the crown allows the spirits to see that you are above all others, the jewels show your wealth and power, and the gold represents your courage and honor, like that of the brave armadillo lion," the attendants said reverently, clasping their hands and staring off into the distance with satisfied looks on their faces. An sighed as he twisted and curled his toes within the gold slippers that contained them, he couldn't wait to be out of here.

"My lord!" someone called from within the castle.

Oh thank the spirits.

"Come in, I'm in my wardrobe," An called out as a ceremonial blade was placed in his lap. He heard the door pushed open and the hurried steps of the messenger as he smashed through the attendants' make-up platters and clothing hampers, much to their chagrin and much to An's pleasure. The red-faced messenger fell to his knees in front of An, kissing the floor in front of him for a short second before hastily pushing himself to sit upon his feet as he spoke.

"My king, there's been a breakout in the 8 Path Prison, we are unsure as to the specifics but-"

"Oh yes! Finally, something to do other than sit in this chair! Get me out of these robes, I have to go fight!" An yelled, throwing himself from his chair and beginning to tug at his robes. The attendants quickly mobbed him and forced him back into a seated position.

"My king, we need to finish dressing you! We can't delay the coronation any longer!"

"But I wanna go fight!"

"My king please, this is far more important than some criminals breaking their cages."

An sputtered and pleaded but the attendants refused to budge even an inch. Finally An sighed and allowed them to continue.

"Send General Fang and a unit of earthbenders, don't let them get out of the prison; the gates are opening so that the lower classes can see my coronation, and I'd rather not let a bunch of dangerous criminals jump onto my doorstep," he said dejectedly. The messenger nodded and quickly left the room, leaving An once more at the mercy of the attendants, who began pouring water on his face. An sputtered and coughed out his displeasure but they continued a few seconds longer. Finally An had enough air to speak, and he coughed out the most pathetic "why?" he'd ever heard.

"We need to prepare your face for the paints! Speaking of paints, that beard's gonna need to go!" the attendants said in chorus, beginning to menace him with a number of pairs of scissors.

An screamed internally.

---

"General Fang, you're ready?" Fang's batman asked as Fang finished clicking her armor into place.

"Saddle the Ostrich Horses, I want to get there as fast as possible."

The batman nodded and fled the tent.

Fang only had to wait a short time before the batman returned.

"Your horse has been saddled General, the men have already begun mounting up." the batman informed, clasping his hands behind his back. Fang rotated her wrist and strode over to the flap of the tent.

"Stay with the tent, I won't need you."

Fang left the tent slowly but purposefully, striding over towards the rest of the group with puffed chest. She mounted her ostrich horse and turned it back towards the gathered soldiers.

"You all know who I am and why we're here, so I'll skip the speech, but be assured, if even one of those prisoners gets away, you'll answer to me," Fang said, deepening her voice as she spoke. "I'm sure you won't let them, that would just disappoint me," she said with a smirk on her face. With a kick to the side of her mount, she took off towards the prison, riding through the streets of the capital with her unit in tow.

---

---

“Remember now, we have to keep moving if we all want to get away! I want whoever hired these guards to be horrifically disappointed when they show up!” While the young ones were still talking, Laoshan started hoofing it up the stairs, confident the others would follow. Where they went after they escaped the prison wasn’t immensely important as long as it got them out of the city. Things were a little hot right now, and the former monk most certainly didn’t want to know what happened to prison breakers in Ba Sing Se. The old regime crushed their hands, and he could only imagine what this supposedly crueler warlord of a king would do. “Boat sounds good. Boat sounds quite good. Upriver would be… bloody badgermoles, that’s towards the Middle Ring. Fantastic. We should be heading that way anyhow. Gates are open today with coronation, at least according to the guards I overheard blabbing about it. That, and no one will expect prisoners to escape towards law enforcement. This plan can’t possibly go wrong. Right? Right.” Laoshan muttered to himself, well aware that he was fully audible to those around him.

Destination aside, things inside the prison were going rather smoothly. As things turned out, the guards weren’t prepared for a prison break on the day of An’s coronation, which meant that the riot, the wave of angry nonbenders, and the scattered handful of capable benders from various nations that had been picked up by the wave of rebellion proved more than capable of taking on the reduced watch. The middle aged man smiled as he ran past unconscious prisoners. The meatshields were doing their jobs, and the few groups of guards they encountered on their way outside the cellar were swiftly dealt with by a small horde of angry benders.

Soon enough, the metal of the bending section of the prison turned into the stone of the regular quarters, and the group emerged from their subterranean incarceration into the blinding light of day. Laoshan blinked several times, muttering oaths to himself as the bending party made their way outside. His headache still hadn’t gone away, and all the sun wasn’t doing him any favors.

Glaring through the piercing assault on his brain, Laoshan took note of a few things. The escaped prisoners seem to have taken the guards they found hostage, hog-tying the lot of them and throwing them into the middle of the prison’s yard. The yard itself was huge, with vast metal walls and a clever gate system. The gates were made of gigantic slabs of stone, requiring multiple earthbenders to open them. That wasn’t the problem. The biggest issue was that they would have to be opened from the outside, the entire inside of the courtyard lined with metal so that any earthbending escape could only make it so far. As things stood, the collected masses of prisoners who had helped clear the guards away from Laoshan's escape route was stymied, slamming their faces against the gates in frustrated woe. However, for a clever airbender, it wasn’t hard to notice that there wasn’t a ceiling on this courtyard, and the walls could be surmounted with a bit of fancy footwork, assuming he could get past the razor wire ringing the place.

Taking a moment to gather himself, the mendicant crouched, leaping up into a spinning jump propelled by a gout of wind that dented the metal where he had stood. His dirty feet made contact with the steel of the wall, pushing off, turning, and jetting loose another air blast from his legs to propel himself up to the razor covered wire surrounding the lip of the walls. His fingers latched onto the top of the wall, and he felt himself dangle. Laughing for a moment at how absurd he must look, a massive man with his arms outstretched like a child hanging from a tree, the monk shoved off of the wall, kicking off one final burst of air to flip over the wire and land atop the high ground. Laoshan spun on his feet, adopting a low defensive stance to take on the guards rushing towards him…!

...No one was on the wall.

What? The airbender leapt up to the viewports of the nearest watch tower with a small gust to push him, clinging onto the bars on the exterior of the tower and staring into the city. He knew he heard alarm bells ringing, and sure enough, there was plenty of sound coming from the Inner Ring… then the monk blanched.

“So about those confiscated items… I think we should forget them.” The bulky man tottered slightly, resembling a filthy hog monkey as he leaned away from the bars, shouting down to his younger compatriots. “We have company coming. I see… lots. Lots of ostrich-horses, and a good bit of fancy armor at the head of the charge. We have… 2 minutes? Let’s say 2 minutes, until they get here. Personally, I’m going to skedaddle and find that boat. You all are welcome to join... You know, if you can make it over the walls.” Laoshan grinned his dirty grin, hair slapping across his face in the fresh air as he stared down at badger-girl and the bald one. It was the challenges that made life fun, especially when they were for people other than him. Still, he hoped the fire nation girl would be willing to take help from the nomad. Lao sure as hell didn't know how to pilot a ship by himself.

---

---

A commotion drew Huo attention at that moment, accompanied the sound of a nearby bell. A small detachment of city watchmen and An’s soldiers sprinted past, a half dozen or so of them, seemingly in a rush to get wherever they needed to be. The one in the front held a lit lantern, and the firelight shone bright on Huo’s face as they ran by. “Get to your home girl, there’s about to be trouble.” The growled order had a note of seriousness to it, and Huo didn’t doubt for a second that there would be trouble afoot, soon enough.

“I’ll get right on that sir.” She muttered, shielding her eyes from the glare. The force moved away, clearly not intent on enforcing a curfew, merely suggesting it. At least, that’s how Huo saw it. The night was still young, and despite her worn feet Huo felt an irresistible curiosity to know what this ‘trouble’ might be. She was about to take off after the soldiers when a lone figure jogged past, seemingly matching her intentions to follow them. He was a young man, well built with a complexion that was hard to make out in the twilight, but Huo could’ve sworn he hailed originally from the Fire Islands, the same as her. Trotting to keep pace she reached up and tapped this stranger on the shoulder, who’s name, unbeknownst to her, was Zhen. “Hey there tall guy. You don’t happen to know what’s going down do you? One of ‘em said there was going to be trouble, and he looked serious about it too. Like pentapox epidemic serious.” Huo tilted her head, angling her ears to get a better read on the mysterious bell’s reverberations. “They’re headed straight for that chime too. Reckon it’s an alarm of some kind?”

Briefly, Zhen sent a mental thanks to Ren for his help learning to dull his instinctive reaction to whirl on anyone getting close to him in his blindspot, especially if they touched him. Starting a fight with someone in the middle of the city while the guards were on high alert would have been... not the best idea. Especially not a girl a head shorter than him and about as much less broad, given the Earth Kingdom's views on women. Even if he was pretty sure she was Fire.

Slowing a little to let her keep pace, tossing the apple core into a bin as they passed, he considered.

"Most likely. I don't know Earth protocol, but - no smoke, and no sound of battle, so it isn't a fire or a large-scale attack, but it's something big or they wouldn't have rung a city-wide bell at all." Even on this deserted street, they were passing banners and wall scrolls declaiming the glorious coronation... "Especially since it's An's big day; they wouldn't want to damage their reputation if they could avoid it, which means they really do need all hands tending the flame. That leaves us... probably a prison break. Benders, not just genpop."

He side-eyed her for a moment, watching to see if she'd react to the Fire Nation colloquialism he'd slipped in, or the military terminology. Being out here alone was a fairly significant indicator - Earth Kingdom and women, again - but it was better to confirm his suspicions before actually taking the risk of revealing himself.

---

Satisfaction dominated Huo’s face, even as her eyebrows rose in astonishment at this plethora of new information. Most of the more important aspects regarding this revelation were subtler than the man’s speculations about the source of the hubbub, but conclusive nonetheless. Apparently she’d guessed right about his origins, at least in theory. Still, Huo was now convinced that he was from the Fire Islands like herself, and upon reaching this conclusion she resolved to keep her surname undisclosed. Chances were he knew nothing of the Ling family line, but one could never be too cautious when it came to sensitive information and generation long blood feuds. Rushing alongside this presumed Fire Islander Huo’s mind turned to the literal sense of his words. It was a surprisingly straightforward conclusion, and it made Huo wonder if he knew more than he was revealing. One could imagine many different scenarios beyond just a bender prison escape. And yet, he’d followed something of a logical path to arrive there. But why would anybody in their right mind run towards something they suspected was a breakout of potentially dangerous criminals?

If at all possible Huo’s face contorted in even more surprise and she nearly stumbled mid-step. “You’re helping break someone out! Who in their right mind would try a prison break in daylight, in the middle of Ba Sing Se? You’ve got nowhere to run, you’re surrounded by walls. You’ll be helping your friends escape only to surely get recaptured. And worst of all AN controls the city, and it’s not like he takes kindly to those of us from Fire.” She hadn’t meant to let that last bit slip out and she put a hand over her mouth wanting to take every word back. She’d only guessed he was from fire; well the whole conclusion was a wild conjecture all exclaimed aloud without thought or consideration. She’d just announced to him and anybody listening that she knew his presumed intentions, and that she herself hailed from the Fire Islands. It didn’t help that she was a raging hypocrite too, but Huo wasn’t one for serious self-reflection in any regard. To her finding an air bender to fly her over the walls in order for her to assassinate An on his coronation made perfect sense. Whereas risking your freedom to rescue an imprisoned bender in an An controlled city was insanity.

“Sorry,” she whispered, keeping her voice low as if to make up for the earlier proclamation. At least they were running along a seemingly deserted avenue. “I shouldn’t have said that, but I promise my lips are sealed. I'm no friend of An or the Earth Kingdom.”

---

---

“You’re helping break someone out! Who in their right mind would try a prison break in daylight, in the middle of Ba Sing Se? You’ve got nowhere to run, you’re surrounded by walls. You’ll be helping your friends escape only to surely get recaptured. And worst of all AN controls the city, and it’s not like he takes kindly to those of us from Fire.”

...

“Sorry,” she whispered, keeping her voice low as if to make up for the earlier proclamation. At least they were running along a seemingly deserted avenue. “I shouldn’t have said that, but I promise my lips are sealed. I'm no friend of An or the Earth Kingdom.”

Zhen blinked, eyebrows climbing. That... hadn't been a reaction he'd expected. "Not... necessarily. I had intended to get a read on the situation first, though you're right in that the risks of involving myself could very well outweigh the benefits. I'm not looking for anyone specifically, but..." Well, she was Fire. And from the look in her eyes at that last, he very much doubted she was a turncoat for An. Still, he thought, double-checking for guards with a careful side-to-side of his eyes, best keep his voice low. "An assassinated the last Avatar, but it's been twenty years; if he had the new one, he'd have made a big deal of it by now. He's a very... straightforward sort of man, from everything I've heard of him. But by the same token he's not just going to give up - so he has to be looking, still, and that means he needs information. Which means he needs people to get information from, and it's most likely that the ones he thinks are his best shot? Are being kept right where he can keep an eye on them."

He grimaced. Thin reasoning, faith over basic logic, had always irritated him. Ironic.

"It's a stretch at best, I'm aware, but it's not like I've got any other options. My best plan before the bell was to wander around and hope I came across a likely-looking rumour. And at the very least, if there is a decent shot at a successful escape, a flame burns brighter with more fuel; finding a group I can be assured oppose An as much as I do isn't something to scoff at, even by itself."

Shrugging, he slowed his pace slightly. There was a distinct clamour rising above the general (slightly panicked) city noise and the bell's strident resonance.

"I think this is it."

@Korkoa

Anitelu's decision to stay on the roofline, though causing him some trouble due to the uneven nature of the many buildings, proved the right decision when he caught sight of Earth guards rushing somewhere on their peculiar mounts. Resolving to ask someone about them later, he turned to follow the hurried guards. Using his water to propel himself over larger gaps, it quickly became clear to him that he was not the only person following the guards.

Once he'd spotted them, the red-clad men from the Fire Tribes proved easier to follow. The guards might turn on a moment's notice, but the Fire were hampered by the crowd. If they kept pace with the guards, all Anitelu had to do was keep their garish red in the corner of his eye. "Blessings of the tribes on you," he thanked them, despite the distance. Two markers were always easier for tracking.

The chase stopped outside a building as think as the walls. Despite it being quite within his jumping range, Anitelu hesitated. The aura of the building, the way people on the streets pretended not to see it, made him uneasy. What could be in there that made the citizens fear it so? Perhaps it was a place to keep things, and perhaps people. The Avatar. The Avatar could be hidden in those walls. Why else would the building need to be made so thick? Decision made, Anitelu made the final jump over to the thick, walls...

Just as an Airbender launched themselves to the top. He doubted the airbender noticed him, but Anitelu couldn't stop mid-air. The upward gust knocked him off course. Instead of landing neatly on the courtyard wall, Anitelu collided with the people in the courtyard below, mere seconds before the guards reached the gate. "Drown it in mud," he cursed, looking up at the wild-haired woman who'd had the misfortune of breaking his fall. "My apologies, milady." He said, gathering his water to his hands. He could climb out of here, and that would have to be done soon.

Jai had bristled again at the barked orders from the raggedy, unruly man, but fought to keep her anti-establishment tendencies down. She needed to get out of here, and the more allies she had the easier it would be. The trio raced through the prison, darting through the rioting crowds and sidestepping guards as they went. Jai kept ahold of the chains she'd been bound with (not that she had much of a choice, considering they were still attached to her wrists), testing their reach and strength. They were well made, she expected no less of the Earth Kingdom. Fairly long, and each still had the long lag bolt that had been attached to the wall. Jai nodded to herself as they entered the courtyard of the prison. She wasn't completely defenseless at least.

As the group reached the wall, Jai glared up at the razor wire atop the 15 foot high fence. The airbenders could probably get over that no problem. She'd heard of Firebenders who could 'rocket jump', but had never figured it out herself. Still, that wall wasn't that high...

Laoshan's voice cut through Jai's calculations just before he took off, moving with the quick and almost fluid movements of an accomplished Air Nomad. Rage built in Jai's chest as she processed his words, the unspoken threat of leaving her behind and taking her boat, the one thing she had left that she cared about! That son of a badgerwolf, she wasn't going to let him get away--

Suddenly a shadow passed over the raging girl and a body hit her with a thud and a splash. Jai fell to the ground, sputtering and wiping water out of her eyes... Again. She pushed herself to her feet, glaring at her attacker. A newcomer, pale skin and dark hair peeking out from under a blue, fur-lined hood. Blue cloak, white fur, general aesthetic... Possibly a waterbender? Her suspicions were confirmed when he clenched his fists and the splashing water nearby reformed, shaping itself to his commands. Great, just what she needed to deal with right now.

"No time, Water-Boy!" Jai cried, turning her attention back to the wall. "We gotta get out of here and get to my boat before the smelly airbender steals it!" She growled, racing towards the metal-covered stonework. There were a few rioting prisoners beating futilely against the wall who were about to be very useful. Throwing her right hand up, Jai let loose a concentrated blast of fire, watching the flickering orange blast impact the deadly-looking razor wire at the top of the wall. Pouncing forward, Jai let loose a feral growl as she leaped onto the shoulders of a rioting prisoner and used his height to spring up. Lashing out with her left hands, Jai twisted her wrist and tossed the chain upwards, watching with surprised satisfaction as it wrapped around a piton connected to the ruined razor wire, and gave her the final edge she needed to pull herself up onto the wall.

With her new vantage point, Jai now saw the threats Laoshan had been talking about. The old man was staying put too, seemingly waiting for her and the other airbender. Jai whistled up to the watchtower to get his attention, glaring up at him with fire in her eyes. "Hey! You better hope you know how to sail if you plan on ditching me again!"

Jampa looked around for his staff as they went, considering it was the last vestige he had of his days before his exile from Air Nomad society. When he finally had to admit he couldn't find it, he leaped up to the wall after the old man and the admittedly impressive chain wielding Firebender. He glanced up at the bearded old man once he was there, obviously irritated with him already as he called out to him.

"So, you're an Airbender too? Don't think I'm about to let that go, we've probably got business to settle with each other-" He glanced down at the swiftly approaching, small army headed their way. "After we escape. I'm not leaving without my glider though. If we don't find it on the way to the ship, I have to sneak back in afterward and find it here, it's just that I'm not crazy enough to stay while an army's here on high alert. You can leave me behind then, but it's something I need to do. You might wanna take the pirate lady though. I wouldn't wanna piss her off."

It'd be easy enough to make a run for it from here, at least so he hoped. Jampa might have to help the Firebending lady along, but he doubted it.

---

“Wait a moment.” Huo followed suit beside Zhen staring up at the five meter tall walls of the prison. Despite the commotion, her thoughts were firmly locked on the Fire Islander standing next to her, shock resonating throughout her entire being. Keeping her voice just loud enough for Zhen to hear it over the clanging bell and shouting guards, Huo spoke rapidly, barely able to keep her excitement contained. “You’re from Fire, you’re looking for the Avatar and you despise An as well?” Her face glowed with the cheerful glee of a child who contained an important secret and who could barely keep from giving it away at once. It would seem that her good fortune still held despite her earlier concerns to the contrary. This chance meeting was a clear testament to that. “Would you believe me, if I told you I was after the exact same things? Cause, I am.” Huo winked at her fellow Fire Islander, delighted to have a potential ally on her quest. Although, he’d probably possess differing intentions in regards to the Avatar’s destiny, but she’d light that fire when she came to it. “Maybe we could help each other out. I like your reasoning after all, but surely An wouldn’t keep important prisoners and informants locked up in a rundown bender prison in the lower ring. They’d be kept where it’s easier to secure them in the inner ring. Away from potential riots or peasant revolts. I’m Huo by the way, uh, just Huo. Anyway, I’ve got a plan to sneak into the inner ring during the coronation ceremonies when most of his army will be distracted at the main gates with the crowds. Maybe you could come with me, I just need to find a…. Is that….?”

Atop the prison walls a small group of escapees had gathered. Three in total they stood defiantly in a ragged line, watching something Huo couldn’t see. Their presence alone was unremarkable, it was in fact the means by which two of them surmounted the obstacle that enraptured Huo. “Those two are air benders.” She hissed, pointing towards the trio on the wall. Somehow they’d stumbled upon perhaps the one prison in all of Ba Sing Se that contained air benders. Huo couldn’t hardly believe her luck that night. She needed to play a game of high stakes dice before this streak of good fortune expired. “Listen, can you hear that?” Sure enough the faint beat of running ostrichorses could be made out over the other ambient noise. “They must be cut off from that way, but…. But we could clear a path here. There’s not so many guards. What do you say, um…?” She paused, hoping he'd give his name and agree to her crazy plan. Which ironically was the same insane scheme she'd been denouncing as foolish only moments before.