Daughter of the Moon - Book Two: Earth

Chapter 10.2: On Our Way to Ba-Sing-Se

-Elara -

Our plan to liberate food was as follows. Get in. Get out. Don't get caught.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true. There was more to the plan than that, like how were we were going to sneak around when it was dark and how Smellerbee was going to keep watch while Zuko, Jet, and I snuck into the kitchen to snatch the food, but those were just the details. The condensed version was definitely much simpler to follow.

Zuko lead the way the the top deck while Jet, Smellerbee, and myself followed behind in close succession. Once he had determined that the coast was clear, he beckoned for us to slip into the galley, staying put as we flew past and falling into formation right behind me at the tail of our group. I wasn't sure if he was even aware of what he was doing at the time, but the moment I had sped by him, he happened to put a hand on the small of my back as if to usher me to go quicker. But it didn't seem like that to me. No. For me it was pure electricity, and it took everything in my power to focus on following Jet as he busted the lock to get into the kitchen.

Once we were inside, I was hit with a brick wall of mouth-watering aromas as I took in the sight before me. There were tables upon tables just filled with the most delicate cuisines, and none of us hesitated to begin stuffing our bags and bowls full of decadent food. Jet wasn't kidding, the captain really was eating like a king.

We quickly went to collect as much as we could carry, and I stumbled across a beautiful pot of stew. Purely out of habit, I raised an arm to bend the broth into some bowls (just as any reasonable waterbender would), but was quickly stopped by Zuko as he grabbed my arm and pulled it down. I had nearly forgotten that I was supposed to keep my bending a secret to uphold my alias (just like Zuko and Iroh), and if it hadn't been for Zuko in that moment, I would have blown my cover.

Initially, I had thought it strange to hide my bending, but Iroh had quickly convinced me once he had reminded me that waterbenders generally didn't have a reason to be fleeing to Ba-Sing-Se. It would be suspicious if one just showed up out of nowhere, especially after news of the victory at the Northern Tribe had spread to the Earth Kingdom. That being said, I was still grateful to have Zuko to keep me in check, and I was lucky that Jet hadn't been paying too much attention.

Once we had the stew all packed up and ready to go (all done by hand, mind you), we heard Smellerbee whisper urgently. "Guards coming!"

The three of us bolted out the kitchen at Smellerbee's command, and I heard a deep thunk as an arrow plunged itself into a nearby beam (that would be Longshot—right on time with the getaway). Once we found our homemade zip line, we clipped the food to it and set it down, Longshot catching it silently just like we had planned. Then, just as the guards were walking around the corner, we slid down the rope ourselves, slipping into the darkness and getting away unseen with our bounty to share.

*****

Once we had returned to the main deck with the rest of the refugees, our little group quickly distributed all the food, making sure everyone was fed before sitting down for a meal of our own. Let me just say that the food tasted as good as it had smelled, and if not, better.

While we ate, we formally introduced ourselves to the Freedom Fighters (Iroh, Zuko, and I having readopted the names Mushi, Lee, and Jade respectively), and we discussed what we were looking forward to in Ba-Sing-Se. Freedom from the Fire Nation, a fresh start—all very alluring ideas for refugees like us. But like all good things, the night quickly came to an end as the refugees went their own ways to retire for the night.

While Iroh and others were happy to follow the trend of catching some sleep, I chose to stay up a while longer to try and enjoy the night. I knew that we would be docking soon, and I also knew that once I was in the city, I wouldn't be able to see an open body of water like this again. Even though it was right in front of me, I was already beginning to miss it, so I had to take everything in with the fragment of time I had left.