The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

Chapter 71 [~|~] The City of Walls and Secrets

Azara sat in between Toph and Sokka as the train rumbled along, Aang and Katara seated across from them. "Look, the Inner Wall! I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece," Katara breathed out excitedly, pointing at the approaching structure.

"Hey, don't jinx it! We can still be attacked by some giant exploding Fire Nation spoon. Or find out the city's been submerged in an ocean full of killer shrimp!" Sokka shouted out dramatically as the rest of the group shot him a look.

"Have you been drinking cactus juice again?" Azara sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm just saying, weird stuff happens to us," Sokka shrugged as a man sucking on a corn ear sat in between Azara and Toph, pushing Azara into Sokka as they all looked at each other with the same startled expression. Azara shifted over, not wanting to be crushed by the random man, but Sokka didn't have much space to move over, leaving them in a slight predicament.

"Uh, I can move to the other side if you're—" Azara suggested as half of her body was resting on Sokka's and the other half on the small space between Sokka and the random man.

"—No, no, uh, it's fine," Sokka stuttered out as the train hit a bump, which moved Azara further into Sokka's lap. The two refused to meet each other's eye line, lest their very prominent blushes be noticed by the other.

"Don't worry Aang, we'll find Appa," Katara reassured Aang, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's such a big city," Aang mumbled into his crossed arms, sounding doubtful of their ability to find Appa.

"He's a giant bison! Where could someone possibly hide him?" Sokka replied, trying to cheer Aang up. However, the optimistic look in his eye faded as they entered the Inner Wall, and the giant city was suddenly revealed to them.

"Welcome to Ba Sing Se," Azara muttered out, staring at the expansive city below them. The train slowed as it entered the station. The group moved to disembark with the rest of the crowd, which was predominantly refugees.

"Back in the city. Great," Toph huffed as Azara shared a similar expression on her face.

"What's the problem? It's amazing!" Sokka spoke excitedly, looking around at the vast city.

"It's just a bunch of walls and rules. You wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days," Toph continued, crossing her arms over her chest. The train started to pull away behind them, revealing an Earth Kingdom woman with a weird smile and look in her eye. Azara raised an eyebrow as the woman approached, her gut twitching that something was off with her.

"Hello, my name is Joo Dee! I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka, Katara, Azara, and Toph! Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?" Joo Dee asked, her wide smile unchanged as she clasped her hands together behind her back.

"Yes. We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King, immediately," Sokka stated, stepping forwards with a determined look in his eye.

"Great! Let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it!" Joo Dee responded, completely ignoring Sokka.

"Ugh! Maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the king about the war, it's important," Sokka tried again as Joo Dee didn't even blink at his statement.

"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here," Joo Dee spoke, causing the group to share confused looks with each other.

Jo Dee eventually convinced them to follow her down to an ostrich horse carriage. Azara stared out the window of the carriage, already bored of Joo Dee's incessant ramblings as they continued through the streets of Ba Sing Se. "This is the Lower Ring," Joo Dee announced as Katara looked up at the Lower Ring Wall.