Don't Stop Now [Finding My Path Sequel]

Chapter 6

Getting off the boat was a pain, but Lina and I kept trudging through the lines, knowing fresh air would be worth it.

"Passports?" a lady asked without even looking at us. We handed them in and she ushered us past.

"Finally, fresh--" Lina was cut off by a cough, and I didn't blame her.

The city air was anything but fresh. In my first small wiff, I caught scents of decay, trash and dirty animal. I hardly wanted to take a second one.

"What is that?" Lina choked out.

"Ba Sing Se's lower ring," was all I could tell her. "Come on, maybe it'll be better once we're past here."

I was sadly mistaken. The scent of the city did not get any better, but it became more bareable the longer we wandered around our new place of interest.

"It's different than I imagined," Lina said.

I was glad she said it before I had to. "Very different." This part of the city was worse than all of Republic City put together, and Republic City had some bad parts. Around every corner, there were piles of trash no one collected, neglected shops and stands, and almost no people outside. Every once in while I heard a scream, too. There were no sirens to sound a police force on the way, though.

Spirits waundered the streets too, clearly uncontrolled here. They hissed as they flew past, like they knew I didn't belong here. I was more than a little freaked out.

"You're mom left the city for this?" Lina asked, ducking as a volture spirit came a little too close for comfort.

"Technically she left this, went to the city, then came back here," I reminded her.

"I think that only makes it worse."

There were hardly even any clean places to eat. Any seemingly nice places were over priced anyway.

"What are we going to do here for a week?" I asked outloud, losing hope of the adventure I had pictured.

"Find your mom and get out," Lina suggested. I would always have Lina with me, though.

I nodded solemly. "For now, let's just get to the hotel."

"It should be on the street," Lina muttered, looking closely at her map. "What was it called again?"

"The Gopher Bear. And I think I just found."

A few stores down, in dull green letters, The Gopher Bear was painted on a sign. Below the sign was a one story complex that looked nothing like any hotel in Republic City.

Lina didn't seem affected by this. Instead, she picked up the pace and beat me to the lobby. She was already telling the clerk, a small, grumpy man, our names.

"Ah, I see. You called yesterday. Here's the key. Enjoy it or whatever," he said, tossing her a single key on a hook. "Just so you know, that door has no protection against metalbenders. Or earthbenders, really."

I nodded quickly in thanks as Lina headed down the only corridor there was, probably into one of the few rooms the motel had.

She found the door and unlocked it, holding it for me before walking in herself.

Entering the room, I knew this was going to be a very long trip.