Calypso-Avatar The Last Air bender (Being heavily edited! Finally right?)

2.26 Lockdown

The group had gotten to Ba-Sing- Se without further interruption. The train ride was lacklustre, Aang and Asha sitting together per usual; a little reassurance was needed along the way, but other than that the ride was fine. 

"Have I mentioned how much I hate cities, and walls, and more importantly rules?!" Asha groans, dragging her hands down her face as she does.

"I agree. Being back in the city is the worst." Toph sighs, grabbing onto Asha's forearm.

"What's the problem with it?" Raiko asks the two, raising a brow. He very rarely, if ever, found himself in a city as big as Ba-Sing-Se, and he couldn't see the outright problem with it.

"I agree, it's amazing!" Sokka cheers, looking in awe at the big city. 

"Last time you said that, we were at the Northern air temple." Asha grumbles.

"Just a bunch of walls and rules; like Asha said. You wait; you'll get sick of it in a couple of days."  Toph reassures, pulling the air bender to the other side of the train tracks. The rest of thr group quickly follow.

From there, an escort (Joo Dee) led them into a carriage, claiming it a great honor  to lead the Avatar and Onsra around the city-- which, it really wasn't, in Asha's humble opinion.  In the carriage, the seven people sat, many bored (and by many, I mean Asha, Sokka, Raiko and Toph) while the carriage continued on.  Aang, Asha and Raiko sat together (Zulu laying on Asha's lap as Momo lays on Aang's), while Toph, Sokka, Katara and Joo Dee sat opposite them. 

"This is the lower ring." Joo Dee explains, smile plastered on her face while she refuses to look out the very window she was gesturing too.

"What's that wall for?" Katara seems to be the only one interested in what Joo Dee has to say, as the others either don't care or are too busy watching the outside of the carriage.

"Oh, Ba-Sing-Se has many walls. There are the ones outside protecting us, and the one's inside that help maintain order. This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsman and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively. You do want to watch your step though." Their escort preens as they pass two particularly mean looking men, who glare at the carriage as it passes. Despite the safety in both numbers and the carriage itself, Aang finds himself pulling Asha closer to him, not that she minded. 

"Why do they have all these poor people blocked off in one part of the city?" Katara continues to dig.  Joo Dee ignores her while they move on.

"This is why I never came here before. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live." Aang looks down, his arm around Asha's shoulder. 

"Sister Ashuna brought me here, to learn what a proper lady should act like." Asha took up a fake, snobbish accent causing laughs from Toph and Raiko to roar out. 

"This is the middle ring of Ba-Sing-Se, home to the financial district, shops and restaurants and the university." Joo Dee introduces as they pass over a bridge, a nicer and cleaner looking part of the city becoming visible; but the air benders don't separate. 

"Yeah, we met a professor from Ba-Sing-Se University. He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war that is absolutely crucial for the king to hear! " Sokka says all in one breath, leaning to close to Joo Dee to emphasize a point. The girl only grins.

"Isn't history fascinating? Look, here's one of the oldest buildings in the middle rind, Town Hall." Joo Dee exits the carriage as it stops, her arms folded withing the sleeves of her kimono. Sokka just stares after her, bewildered.