fire & lightning

chapter twenty

       "Did you figure out what route we're gonna take?" Aang asked Sokka as he pulled out one of the maps from the library.

"We just got out of the desert, so it looks like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this sliver of land." Sokka pointed towards a specific spot on the map. "It's called 'the serpent's pass."

"That's the best way to go?" Toph quizzed.

"Looks like it's the only way." I guessed as i took a look at it myself.

"It's not like we have Appa to fly us there." Sokka reminded, receiving a glare from Katara as well as me.

"Shush! Can't you at least try to be sensitive?" Katara disciplined her brother.

"No, it's okay. I know I was upset about losing Appa before, but i just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se, and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse."

"Oh. Okay, Aang. I'm glad you're doing better." Katara gave him a hug.

"So am I." I smiled at them.

"Then, it's time to go. No more distractions." Sokka folded up the map and placed it in his bag.

"Hello, fellow refugees!" A group from behind called out to us.

"Are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se too?" Aang questioned them.

"Sure are. We're trying to get there before my wife, Ving, has her baby." The man held his wife's shoulders, giving her a quick massage.

"Great, we can travel through the serpent's pass together." Katara requested.

"The serpent's pass?" The three refugees gasped. "Only the truly desperate take that deadly route."

"Deadly route?" Toph repeated. "Great pick, Sokka."

"Well, I guess we are desperate." I sighed.

"You should come with us to Full Moon Bay. Ferries take refugees across the lake." Ving described. "It's the fastest way to Ba Sing Se."

"That sounds like a better idea."

~

"I can't believe how many people are here." Katara acknowledged the hundreds of refugees waiting to be escorted onto the ferries.

"Yeah, we're all looking for a better life." Than led us into the bay, then we all waited in line to get our tickets.

~

"Who would have thought, after all these years, i'd return to the scene of my own greatest military disgrace... as a tourist!"

"Look around, we're not tourists, we're refugees. Ugh, i'm sick of eating rotten food and sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this."

"Aren't we all? My name's Jet, and these are my freedom fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot."

"Hello."

~

"Next!" The old woman in charge of the tickets called out. We were next in line, and Aang moved forward.

"Uh, five tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se, please."

"Passports?"

"Uh, no one told us we had to have passports."

"Don't you know who this is? He's the avatar!" Sokka approached the two of them, trying to convince the woman to let us board the ferry.

"Ah, I see 50 avatars a day. By the way, not a very impressive costume." She pointed towards a group beside us, who were all dressed like Aang. "Besides, no lemurs allowed. Do I need to call security?"