After everyone grabbed a quick nap to recover their energy, we finally transferred from the military train that ran between the Outer Wall and the barracks onto the civilian train bound for the heart of Ba Sing Se.
"Look! The Inner Wall!" Katara exclaimed as our carriage slowly approached the colossal wall.
"I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece."
"Hey! Don't jinx it!" Sokka crossed his arms, clearly unwilling to tempt fate. "We could still get attacked by some giant exploding Fire Nation spoon or find out the city's submerged beneath an ocean full of killer shrimp!"
"You been hitting the cactus juice again?" Toph, seated between Sokka and me with Momo on her shoulder, asked with a joking smile.
He shrugged. "I'm just saying, weird stuff happens to us."
"You could say that again," I muttered just as a man, sucking on a corn cob in his mouth, hazily walked past us before planting his body dangerously close to me.
I instinctively shifted a little closer to Toph.
"I've seen stranger things, but this is in the top few..."
As we neared the Inner Wall, Katara noticed Aang sitting quietly with his eyes closed, his head resting against his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Aang; we'll find Appa." She reassured him.
"It's such a big city," he replied quietly.
"He's a giant sky bison!" Sokka said, trying to sound optimistic for once. "Where could anyone possibly hide him?"
The train passed through the enormous gates of the Inner Wall, revealing the entirety of Ba Sing Se for all of us to see.
And it was gigantic. The rumors hadn't done it justice.
Ba Sing Se stretched all the way to the horizon, packed with countless roads, houses, markets, and towering buildings that looked like tiny toys from our elevated track.
Sokka's confident expression slowly melted away.
Realizing the city's gigantic size, Sokka could only mutter a soft "Oh."
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A few minutes later, the train rolled into the central station, where rail lines from every district converged.
I hauled our luggage out of the storage compartment as we stepped onto the platform.
"Back to the city again," Toph sighed the moment her feet touched the tiled floor. "Great..."
"What's the problem?" Sokka asked, looking around with childlike excitement. "This place is amazing!"
"Well, it's just a bunch of walls and rules. 'Don't do this.' 'Don't do that.'" She sighed. "Trust me. You'll get sick of it after a couple of days."
Aang and Katara wandered over to the railing overlooking the city.
While they were doing their thing...
Tilting my head slightly, I glanced behind us.
As the train pulled away from the platform, a woman stood on the opposite side of the tracks, her long dark hair billowed gently in the breeze.
Our eyes met, and the strange smile on her face widened as she began walking toward us.
"Hello, my name is Joo Dee!" She bowed politely, her cheerful tone not matching the unnerving smile plastered across her face.
"I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se." Her gaze lingered on Aang before drifting across the rest of us. "And you must be Sokka, Katara, Renji, and Toph! Welcome to our wonderful city."
She clasped her hands together. "Shall we get started?"
"A guide? Great!" Sokka said, immediately stepping forward. "Yes. We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King immediately."
A brief silence followed before Joo Dee simply smiled with her hands folded neatly behind her back.
"... Great! Let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it!"
She turned and began walking away. Sokka hurried after her, slightly irritated.
"Uh, maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the Earth King. It's about the war. It's important."
Joo Dee stopped in place and slowly turned back towards us.
"You're in Ba Sing Se now." The smile on her face never changed.
"Everyone is safe here."
... As expected, nothing comes easy for Team Avatar, huh?
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Seated inside a carriage pulled by an ostrich horse, we rolled through the busy streets as Joo Dee gave us a brief tour of the city. Shops, homes, and countless people lined both sides of the road.
"This is the Lower Ring."
"What's that wall for?" Katara asked, pointing toward another massive wall cutting through the city.
"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls!" Joo Dee replied cheerfully. "There are the ones protecting us from the outside and the ones inside that help maintain order."
She gestured toward the district around us.
"This is where our newest arrivals live, along with our craftsmen and artisans—people who work with their hands."
Her smile widened.
"It's such a quaint and lively place."
Meanwhile, I spotted two men standing in a narrow alleyway.
One casually rested a hand on the hilt of a dagger hanging from his waist.
Both of them silently watched our carriage as it rolled past.
A stark contrast to her description, I noted.
"You do have to watch your step, though."
Joo Dee's warning immediately put Katara on edge.
Even Momo, who had been hanging upside down from the carriage roof to look outside, quickly scrambled back inside.
"Why do they keep all the poor people confined to one part of the city?" Katara asked.
"This is why I never came here before," Aang murmured. "I'd always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live."
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Strolling into a noticeably more prosperous district than the Lower Ring, Joo Dee continued her tour.
"This is the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se, home to the financial district, countless shops and restaurants, and Ba Sing Se University."
"Yeah, we met a professor from Ba Sing Se University." Seizing the opportunity, Sokka tried again. "He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war that's absolutely crucial for the Earth King to hear!"
"Why, that sounds lovely." Joo Dee smiled pleasantly, unfazed. "Isn't history fascinating?"
Her eyes drifted toward the street ahead.
"Look! Here's one of the oldest buildings in the Middle Ring—Town Hall!"
The carriage came to a gentle stop.
Joo Dee stepped out as though the conversation had never happened.
Sokka stared at her back in disbelief.
"Seriously... is that woman deaf? She only seems to hear every other word I say!"
"It's called 'being handled.'"
Toph crossed her arms.
"Get used to it."
============================================
"The Upper Ring is home to our most important citizens."
And she wasn't exaggerating.
This place was on the same level as the Beifong manor. Mansion after mansion lined the streets, each one lavish enough to make nobles from other nations jealous.
Ba Sing Se must have one hell of a treasury to afford all this.
"Your house isn't far from here."
============================================
We passed another wall, this one guarded by a tall gate. Behind it, the roof of a massive building was barely visible from our position.
For what felt like the nth time during this tour, Katara asked: "What's inside that wall?"
My eyes immediately locked onto the entrance. Three men stood within the gateway, wearing dark robes and wide-brimmed hats.
Our eyes met.
Even from this distance, I could feel the hostility in their stares.
"And who are those mean-looking guys in robes?" Sokka pointed out.
"Inside is the Royal Palace," Joo Dee explained cheerfully. "Those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions!"
After hours of being redirected and politely ignored, Aang finally let out an exhausted sigh. "Can we see the Earth King now?"
"Oh no," Joo Dee chuckled lightly. "One doesn't simply pop in on the Earth King!"
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By the time the tour finally ended after nearly three hours of sitting, smiling, and listening, I had to stretch my aching body, trying to loosen the knots forming in my muscles.
Joo Dee led us toward a small house and unlocked the door.
"Here we are! Your new home."
She waited patiently as everyone began moving inside.
Then, hurried footsteps approached.
A messenger quickly handed Joo Dee a scroll before rushing away to deliver more messages throughout the neighborhood.
Joo Dee unfolded the scroll and read its contents.
"More good news!"
She looked up with the same cheerful smile.
"Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed and should be put through in about... a month."
"Much more quickly than usual!"
Everyone stared at her.
"A month?" Sokka whispered, horrified.
"Six to eight weeks, actually."
Her wide smile somehow made the situation feel even worse.
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