DEAR DICTATOR → zuko

╸twenty eight : old friends & foes

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❝ old friends & foes ❞

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     THE UNDERGROUND TUNNELS are snuffy and thick. Nari's bag pulls down on her shoulder– there's not much in it, but it's heavy enough that it aches with time. In order to switch it, she has to move the bow and arrows under her cloak and slide them to the other side of her chest. And in order to do that, she has to take a break and set her bag down.

     She stops in the middle of the pathway. There's no need to get to the side, especially at this hour. It'd taken her all day to get from Hengying to Ba Sing Se on an ostrich horse, then she had to wait until someone could escort her into the tunnels.

     They left within the first one hundred yards. Now, she's all alone.

    Nari's mind is as blank as the silent air. The scuffle of her bag gently hitting the ground, clank of her vials, and the thuds of her books echo through the empty halls. Nari feels strange on her own, walking through forbidden halls to enter an impenetrable city with little to no guidance.

     Rumbling clinks the glasses together in her bag. At first she thinks it's an earthquake, but Ba Sing Se is on flat ground, and the rumbling comes from the tunnels themselves. Not Nari's exact hall, but maybe the one next to her.

     It doesn't matter. She takes her bag and throws it over her shoulder, tightening it with the drawstrings as she does so. Next, she pulls the map from where she folded it and tucked it into her waist band, reading what paths run parallel to her. They all meet up within a few hundred meters, making some kind of central passageway where all underground tunnels meet up. Ryo warned her about this spot, telling her to make sure she was alone and chose the right tunnel to proceed.

     But her curiosity outweighs the danger. Nari wants to know what this large, continuous rumbling is. It sounds like some kind of beast, heavy enough to rattle the earth and with enough legs to keep a rhythmic pace. Rolling on the floors, too, like wooden wheels pulled down by gravity as they struggle to keep up. And Nari wants to know what it is.

     She can peek behind the wall, right? Whatever or whoever it is won't see her unless they chose to go down her exact tunnel. And that is unlikely– why would they be taking something so large out of Ba Sing Se?

     She rushes to the archway where the tunnel meets the underground square, holding her bag to her chest so its contents don't make a sound. As for her breath, loudly escaping her chest after a sprint, she keeps it in her lungs.

     Until she doesn't.

     Ba Sing Se is home to many different things, including the absence of war. It's home to a secret government organization that practically rules the whole city, it's home to three different economic rings, it's home to many walls, and it's home to some of the most infamous trading rings on earth. This includes the animal trade.

     Nari squints her brow: "The Avatar's bison?" she whispers, watching as the poor thing is forcibly dragged with chains. When had the avatar been separated from his companion? Air benders are known for having a strong connection with their furry beast, so who on earth managed to break them apart?

     For a moment, Nari's mind jumps to Zuko. He's still hung up on that crazed chase. Nari could care less about what the Avatar does or where he goes, but the metal chains that break across the rock floor shatter both Nari's ears and heart. How could an animal look so sad?