Sight ↣ A:TLA

16

Thalia (1)

Thanks to the sand benders, we were able to get out of the desert. We ended up finding a waterfall that had a safe pool of water at the end of it. We figured it'd be nice to take a short break while Sokka figured out the next route.

I sat with Sokka on a large rock as he looked through maps he "borrowed" from the library. Toph sat next to us, kicking her feet in the water.

"So, do you get to see underwater too?" I joked.

"Ha ha, so funny." Toph sarcastically remarked.

"Water bending bomb!" Katara yelled from the top of the cliff. She jumped down while holding her legs to her chest. "Yeah!" 

When she landed in the water, it practically made all the water from the pool escape. Her bomb even made Aang fly out of the water, which made us all laugh. Well, except Sokka.

"Sure, five thousand year old maps from the Spirit Library - just splash some water on 'em." He put one of the maps to the side to show us it dripping wet.

"Sorry." Katara easily bent out the water from the map, satisfying Sokka.

"So, did you figure out what route we're gonna take?" Aang asked him. We all met together on the land and crouched to the floor as Sokka laid out the map.

"Okay, we just got out of the desert so we must be around here. And we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here. It looks like the only passage connecting the South to the North is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass."

"You're sure that's the best way to go?" Toph asked. I nodded slowly, "It doesn't sound very reassuring."

"It's the only way. I mean it's not like we have Appa to fly us there."

"Shush up about Appa." Katara scolded him. "Can't you at least try to be sensitive?"

We all looked to Aang who just sat with his legs to his chest. He seemed fine after Sokka's comment. "Katara, it's okay. I know I was upset about losing Appa before, but I just wanna focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the Solar Eclipse."

"Oh, okay. I'm glad you're doing better." Katara said.

"To Ba Sing Se we go." Sokka rolled the map back up and stood up. "No more distractions."

From a distance, a voice caught our attention. "Hello there, fellow refugees!" A man waved to us. Behind him stood two women, one of them clearly pregnant.

Sokka frowned and I flicked him. He yelped and held the back of his head. "Hey!"

I pointed my finger at him. "They're coming over here, so be nice."

We all introduced ourselves quickly before Aang asked, "Are you guys heading to Ba Sing Se too?"

"Sure are. We're trying to get there before my wife, Ying, has her baby." Thang said, rubbing his wife's tummy. I smiled at the sight.

"Great! We can travel through the Serpent's Pass together." Katara offered.

The group backed away, their faces covered with fear. "The Serpant's Pass?!" Ying gasped. "Only the truly desperate take that deadly route."

"Deadly route -" Toph punched Sokka in the arm. "Great pick, Sokka."

"Well, we are desperate." Sokka said, rubbing his arm.

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

"And it's hidden so the Fire Nation can't find it." Ying added.

"Hm, peaceful ferry ride or deadly pass?" Katara looked to her brother with her hand on her chin. Sokka frowned and slumped his shoulders.

I cocked my brow at him, "Who made you the leader again?"

>>>

On the other side of a long tunnel, there was Full Moon Bay. We looked around and there were so many people and several ferries were docked.

"I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation." Katara said.

"We're all looking for a better life, safe behind the walls of Ba Sing Se." Thang put his hand on his wife's back and she nodded slowly.

"We should get our tickets." I pointed to a line just a little bit away from us. We all walked over together.

In front of us was a man getting his own. However, the mean old lady didn't hand him one. "I told you already! No vegetables on the ferry! One cabbage slug could destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se! Security!"

The man screamed as a large platypus-bear destroyed the man's carriage full of cabbages. "Ah! My cabbages!"

Two guards proceeded to take him away while he cried.

"Next!"

I jumped before walking forward.

"Uhm, five tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se please." Aang asked slowly.

"Passports."

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

"Don't you know who this is?! He's the Avatar!" Sokka presented, but the woman wasn't impressed.

"Ah, I see fifty Avatar's a day and by the way, not a very impressive costume." The woman pointed in a direction, making us turn. A group of boys dressed as Aang were seated with disappointed looks on their faces.

I shrugged. "A for effort."

"Besides, no animals allowed." She leaned down and lowered her voice to sound more intimidating. "Do I need to call security?"

"There's no need for that." Toph and I walked up the woman and slid her our own passports.

"My name is Thalia Beifong and this is Toph Beifong. We need five tickets."

The woman was in awe of our passports. "The golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Beifong family."

"It is your pleasure." Toph said as the woman bowed to us. "As you can see I am blind and I am traveling here with my cousin. These three imbeciles are our valets."

"But the animal-"

"Is my seeing eye lemur. You don't think it's my cousins job to take care of me, do you?"

The woman looked over at me and I shook my head at her.

"Well, normally it's only one ticket per passport. But these documents are so official, I guess it's worth five tickets." She stamped five tickets in a row and I grabbed them from her. "Thank you very much."

As we walked away, Sokka grinned while snatching a ticket from my hand. "Alright! We scammed that lady good!"

Suddenly, Sokka was halted by a girl grabbing the back of his shirt. "Tickets and passports please." She said with her hand out.

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I got a problem with you. I've seen your type before: probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar."

I stepped in front of Sokka, my eyes brows furrowed. "Sorry, but what are you getting at?"

The girl lightly laughed and looked passed me to Sokka. "It's me, Suki."

Sokka grinned and pulled in the girl for a hug, knocking me out of the way. "Suki!"

"Sokka! It's good to see you!"