Path Ahead

The Fallen City

Iroh's feet and legs were killing him by the time he caught his first glimpse of Ba Sing Se. More accurately, he saw the bustle of Fire Nation personnel and machinery that surrounded the city, moving freely where the walls once were. Iroh winced as he saw, even from a distance, the farm fields and pastures torn up by all of the traffic back and forth. Although Iroh himself had once broken through the outer wall and attempted to take the city, the sight of the great jewel of the Earth Kingdom laid open like a gutted animal felt indescribably wrong to him.

He sighed, focusing on the more immediate issues of pain and discomfort. He was in much better shape than he had been just a few months ago, but he was convinced that the human body was simply not meant for this kind of thing. Nobody else was complaining, however, and he had the idea that this group would not be as indulgent as his nephew, so he kept his suffering to himself. Among them, only Aang also seemed to be chafing at the mode of travel, not being used to keeping his feet on the ground so much. He at least was able to jump on his glider from time to time to act as a scout, although even that activity had been curtailed since the city came into view.

Sokka signaled a halt, and Iroh nearly collapsed in relief. Only the vestiges of his pride kept him upright. One second later, he was grateful that he had not given in to weakness because Sokka turned to him and spoke.

"Do you know where exactly the Masters will be meeting?" he asked. "Even without the walls, it's a big city."

Iroh thought it over. The message had not been very specific, but there were certain signals the Old Masters used, and the number of places they could reasonably hide was limited. He looked around carefully. He was sure they'd be gathering on the south side, which limited the options.

"There," he pointed off to his right. There was a tumbled mass of stone that might have been the remnants of inner city walls or buildings carelessly thrown down. However, Iroh recognized the signature of a master earthbender making a shelter while disguising it as a heap of rock. "That pile of large rock to the south."

"Can't Toph tell where they are? She's met at least one of them before," Katara suggested, but the blind earthbender shook her head.

"It's too far away, and there's too much going on," she explained. "When we get closer, I should be able to get us to the right spot quickly."

"I'll go check it out," Aang volunteered, but Sokka stepped forward and stopped him.

"We're too close to the city," the young warrior said with a note of authority. "We can't risk you being seen right now." Aang looked disappointed, but he nodded resignedly. Iroh had marveled at the way Sokka had taken charge of this group. When there had been only six of them, there hadn't been so much need for leadership, but when the Kyoshi Warriors had joined them, Sokka had stepped up to give everyone direction. Young as he was, Sokka certainly had the intelligence and vision required of a good leader, yet he was also willing to listen to those around him and take suggestions. From some things Katara had said, he might not always have been this way, but Sokka currently exhibited an excellent combination of leadership traits.

"Well, I guess we might as well find a place to wait out the rest of the day," Suki declared. "I don't think we'll want to go marching across the plain in broad daylight."

Nobody argued that. Even if they weren't as footsore as Iroh, the interruption of their rest the previous day combined with walking all of the following night and the final push this morning to get within sight of the city had made everyone tired and edgy.