THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 2)

(XVIII) Fire

"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard anything about a flying bison. I didn't even know there were any," the pet store owner tells us apologetically.

"If someone wanted to sell a stolen animal without anyone knowing, where would they go‌?" Aang asks.

"Where's the black market? Who runs it?" Sokka points at the man accusingly. "Come on, you know!"

"Uh... That would be illegal," the man replies, clearly nervous. I follow his worried gaze and quickly realize he's eyeing Joo Dee warily. Very suspicious. "You'll have to leave now; your lemur is harassing my sparrowkeets."

Thanks to Momo, we are forced to leave the store before he can cause any more trauma to those poor animals. We won't give up that easily, though. We are here on a mission: one that includes both meeting with the Earth King and also finding Appa. I swear, I won't leave Ba Sing Se unless Aang and his bison are reunited. I owe it to them, in the very least.

Our next stop is Ba Sing Se University. Here we meet with a student who seems to be the only one willing to even speak to us.

"Hmm... I've never seen any sandbenders or nomads around here," the student replies. "You should ask Professor Zei, he teaches the class on desert cultures."

Well, I guess it's unfortunate that Professor Zei's currently spending eternity at the Spirit Library.

"Right. And which of your professors could we ask about the war with the Fire Nation?" Sokka raises an eyebrow.

"Uh..." Once again, I notice the young student eyeing our guide warily before speaking. "I don't know. I'm not a political science student... I've got to get to class."

"Wait!" I try to call after him, but he speeds away from us.

After that, we decide to stop for the day. So far, we have gotten absolutely no clues as to what could've happened to Appa, and that's not even the strangest part. No one has been willing to even speak to us about the ongoing war, and I have no doubt it has something to do with Joo Dee's presence.

"Well, I'm sorry no one has seen your bison. Why don't you go get some rest‌?" Joo Dee says, as she gets in the carriage after they drop us at our temporary residence. "Someone will be over with dinner, later."

The carriage drives off, before I get the chance to even ask any questions. However, as the carriage leaves our sight, we catch a glimpse of a man peeking through his window to look at us.

"Hey, come with me," Sokka says, gesturing for us to follow him.

"You're the Avatar! I heard you were in town," the man says, opening his door and peeking out. "I'm Pong."

"Nice to meet you, Pong," Aang greets him with a smile.

"So, Pong, what's going on with this city? Why is everyone here so scared here to talk about the war?" Sokka asks.

"War? Scared? What do you mean?" Pong asks.

"I can feel you shaking," Toph declares, calling his bluff.

"Look, I'm just a minor government official. I've waited three years to get this house. I don't want go get into trouble," Pong says, immediately raising my alarm.

"Why would you lose your house?" I raise an eyebrow. "What is going on here?"

"Shh, listen, you can't mention the War here," he warns us fearfully. "And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li."

Pong then shuts the door in our faces, leaving me even more confused than before. Why are the Ba Sing Se officials hiding the war? More importantly, who are they hiding it from? Not two days ago, Ba Sing Se was attacked by the Fire Nation. How can they expect to keep it a secret?