Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

13

❃ The Three Refugees ❃

After days of riding the ostrich horse nonstop, the three of them finally made it to the next village on Kanak's map. Apparently, this place was known for its large ice glacier that provided a natural source of fresh water and ice to the hot desert oasis. It was one of the few villages that existed on the outskirts of the large Si Wong desert, meaning that it was probably filled with different travellers like themselves.

"Misty Palms Oasis." Iroh announced enthusiastically.

Keya scratched her cheek and took a look around the place. Wary villagers stood on various shady corners, watching their every move as they entered the town. The town itself was more of a hamlet, only littered with a couple of small, sandy hutts. Their flat rooftops were supported by round, wooden beams that stuck out of the walls. Other than that, the Earth Kingdom girl could spot a small pub and a poster board. All the buildings surrounded a stone pond with a bright shard of ice inside. A few desert fox dogs licked the ice glacier happily. They were so cute! Keya slid off of the ostrich horse's back. She walked over to the fox dogs and tried to pet them.

One of the fox dogs in particular looked rather adorable. Its tawny eyes focused on her as she approached it with her hand stretched out.

"Hi there, little buddy!" She cooed, but before she could pet him, a warm hand grabbed her arm.

"Are you stupid? Don't pet wild animals, Keya. Do you want to get your hand bitten off?" Zuko scolded her as he let go of her arm. The fox dog took this as its cue to run off. Its admirer looked at it sadly as it fled.

"Now look what you did," Keya pouted, "you scared it off."

Zuko crossed his arms and pinched the bridge of his nose with a frustrated groan. "I was trying to- Ugh, never mind. We need to look around and figure out a new plan if we want to avoid getting hunted down again."

Iroh nodded and stroked his beard in thought while Keya tried to touch the ice glacier. She had one foot in the pond already when she slipped and fell on her backside with a yelp.

"Eek! This is so cold!" She complained with another pout. Keya's high walls had started coming down a bit after having travelled with the two men for a while. She couldn't help but let some of her true personality slip out. Especially when there were cute animals and interesting objects involved.

Zuko stomped over to her and held his hand out stubbornly. "It's an ice glacier! Of course it's going to be cold! Can't you stand still and stay out of trouble for once?" He scolded, but helped her up anyway. Keya looked up at him sheepishly and got out of the pond. She stood in front of him now.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I've never seen an ice glacier before. Does it always look like this?"

Her confession shocked the well-travelled boy. Zuko had already seen both the North- and the Southpole, so the sight of ice was quite boring to him. "Oh." The word tumbled out from between his thin lips. "Yes, it usually looks like that... but much bigger."

He watched as her grey eyes became wide with marvel. She looked at him like she wanted him to tell her more, so he did (to his own surprise). "I-I happened to visit the Northpole a while ago. That whole place is covered in glaciers as tall as mountains."

Keya's teeth peaked from behind her wide grin. "Really? How was it? Did you happen to visit the Northern Water Tribe? My father was from there. I always wanted to see where he came from, but I couldn't just leave home of course. Mother used to say that we'd go one day, but we've yet to visit it. So far, this is the most ice I've ever seen in my life."