Book One: Rain

Chapter Six - The Border

The Western Earth-Lustran Border, May 22, 302 AG

   After nearly two whole days of walking, they made it to the border. Relief swept them off their feet, only to find disappointment when they hit the ground. Wastelands, nothing but desert lied ahead for them. 

   Kenny, Evine, and Marzie all stood in the long line at the frontier. A band of earth kingdom soldiers guarded the border as if their lives depended on it. Serious looks on their faces intimidated Kenny, but Marzie reassured him everything would be fine. 

   Up ahead, many of the groups advanced in distraught. The border patrol wasn't letting lustran citizens in the Earth Kingdom, groups of three and four turned to two and one, or none. Hate ran deep for the Lustran Empire throughout the Earth Kingdom, and the world. 

    "Lustran scum! Get out of here! You think you have the right to enter Si Wong Desert? Even if it is a wasteland, wastelands are too good for you! Get out! Out!" A boy about the same age as Kenny ran away, being tripped redundantly by the soldiers. Janju hid in Kenny's backpack at the sound of the soldier's yelling.

   "Are you guys from the Empire? I'm from Omashu so they'll let me pass. There's no way I'm crossing that border one person short." Marzie said, nervous for what was about to come.

   "I'm from the Northern Water Tribe," Evine replied, "If I was born in the Empire, I'd fling myself off a bridge." He rolled his eyes and spit on the ground next to Kenny, "Imperialistic cunts."

   Kenny paid no mind to Evine, in fact he found that quite funny. But it wasn't time for laughter, "They're not going to let me pass," Kenny sighed, "I only have a Lustran passport." Kenny looked at them very nervously, and then abruptly Kenny started to extract things from inside his bag "So here's a canteen full of water and some berries for Janju. Take Janju and most of my water and I'll meet you guys at Lan Oasis, only thirty miles from here. It'll take a few days considering the dryness of the climate, but that's fine."

   "No!" Marzie demanded, "You can't go alone! It's the desert! I heard there are giant angry spirits that live under the sand and attack you at night."

   "Ridiculous," Evine began to criticize, "I'm crossing the border, and there are no angry spirits under the sand. You're from the Earth Kingdom, don't they teach you anything? Everyman and woman for themselves. It's how the world works, don't try to change the only constant in people's lives for some irrelevent amateur firebender."

   "I hate to say this, but Evine's right, about everything he just said actually." He found this very ironic, but this was barely the time for irony or humor. "You guys have to cross the border, without me." 

    Marzie protested but to naught. "Im not crossing alone with Evine."

    Kenny took off his back pack and placed it on the ground. "You won't be. Janju will be with you." He placed both his hands coiled around Janju's body and picked him up. Janju, however, was not having it. She squirmed and attempted to be free of his grip. "Janju, cmon. I know you heard me, you're going with Evine and Marzie." But Janju refused and gawked back. "Janju, you have to go!"

   He let go of Janju and she immedietly flew over to another one of the teams and started eating the crab out of their bag. "Oh, I guess Janju won't have a problem with be leaving then," He was slightly hurt but brushed it off quickly, "Okay guys, see you on the other side I guess?"

    "No, you won't. I'm coming with you." Marzie asserted, standing her position. 

    "Oh, for the love of Kyoshi! Go, Kenny. Marzie you're staying here you rock for a brain..." he thought for a moment, but nothing came to him "you rock for a brain..." Kenny chuckled, "..."

   "You might have to go reread your limited edition book of insults," Kenny remarkedand Evine sarcastically smiled. Evine would've given him a dirty look but it was evident in the way he was slumped over nd short-eyed that it was time for the little babies bed time. 

   Marzie let out a subtle laugh, but when she saw Kenny begin to walk away he laugh turned to silence. When he was a far enough distance, she spoke up, "This isn't right you know, leaving him alone. We're a team."

      "Avatar Adram and Fire Lord Horo III were a team, that didnt stop him from suffocating the life out of him though." Evine's mouth blabbered on, cynically. He put his hand on Marzie's back and looked at her with his arctic blue eyes. "Get Janju, and let's go."

     Without a word to reply to him, she did as he said. Marzie was shocked Evine would go so low as to compare that to this. She got out her passport and so did Evine, they passed the security and began to walk across the hundred foot wide line that divided the empire that is with the kingdom that was. 

-

   Kenny walked, jogged, skipped, walked some more, and fell to the ground. This process repeated itself until he found shelter under a nice apple tree abundant in its forte. He ate a slightly rotten apple, thinking about things one only thought about in the most silent of nights and darkest of silences. He felt the company of his thoughts that weren't very comforting. 

   He made a small fire, small enough to avoid being found for a while. He had traveled two or three miles from the frontier trying to find a blind spot in the border patrol, but there wasnt. Every yard or so there were at least two guards standing watch. 

   His eyes wandered around him, he was at the foot of the Great Mount, sitting under an apple tree, warming up near a fire, trying to illegaly cross the Earth Kingdom border. He almost laughed at himself. Many words came to his mind in that moment, and you can sure bet your entire bank account pathetic was one of them.

   As the night went on, the moon was high in the sky shining light on the whole world. He actually felt this lght to be quite disturbing yet comforting in some ways. He couldn't sleep because of it but it was the only light for miles that would unconditionally shine on him.

   His drownsiness cradled him to sleep but his restless body refused it. His weight washed eyes looked into the fire, mesmerized by its glory. He couldnn't keep his eyes off it. As the winds carried the flames away bit by bit he continuedto bask in it, until it was all gone. 

   Kenny laid down on a wooden stump, he closed his eyes and miraculously fell asleep to the sound of cricket chirps and owls talking to eachother. He wondered what they were saying, if maybe, just maybe, they were talking to him. 

-

   "What should we do with him? The boss might like having a Lustran cunt to beat around when he wants."  A deep voice rusted with greed and evil intoxicated the air.

   "I really want a raise and I heard boss like them, uh, erm... not inverted?" The other man reluctantly spoke, not knowing how to phrase his sentence without disrespecting the boss.

   "Yeah... I heard that too. How much of a raise is it?"

   "Five gold pieces."

   His mouth nearly dropped, "F-five?! I could buy a mansion next to the Kings Palace!"

  "Yeah, maybe not right next to but close."

    Kenny thought he was dreaming of voices again, but sadly not. He woke up to a confined space, a small metal cage with a drape covering it. He slipped his hand through one of the metal bars and lifted the cloth up a tad to see sand, and when he lifted it up more, sand. His face dropped, and panic ran through his body. "Where am I?! Who are you!"

    "Looks like the little cunts awake."

   Kenny clenched his fist, took a deep breath and spoke again, calmly. "Where are you taking me?" 

   "Asking nicely now are you? You're going to have to apologize first, you hurt my feelings." The man chuckled, and the other laughed.

   Kenny took one more deep breath, he concentrated his chakra at the tip of his finger and a small flame came out. He slipped his finger through the bars and lit the cloth on fire. The flame spread rapidly throughout it, turning it to ash. The men were dragging the cage along the sand with a board of wood, which unfortunately didn't catch fire.  They dropped it brusquely.

   Kenny looked at the men and asked one more time holding onto the bars, "Where are you taking me?"