Blazing Crystal (Revised Version)

Chapter 35: The Search

Chapter 35: The Search

The rumble of the monorail kept me awake as I looked out the glass windows down at the agrarian section of Ba Sing Se. It had been an early morning for us, but the General wanted us comfortable in the city as soon as possible. His generosity was in gratitude for our ability to take down the machine when none of his men were successful in their attempt. He had told us he even sent word to the Earth King's advisor that the Avatar and his companions had arrived at Ba Sing Se.

We had a brief breakfast, thanked the General for his hospitality, and then followed an Earth Kingdom soldier around the barracks and down some stairs. We eventually ended up walking through a side door that led into the monorail station. The Earth Kingdom soldier gave us a personal escort to the monorail, bumping us to the front of the line which irritated people who had been waiting for their turn. I mouthed my apologies as we walked past them into the just arrived monorail.

Once we were on board, the soldier informed us that our escort would meet us at the Lower Ring station with transportation. As I took a seat on a stone bench beside Sokka, I wondered what transportation he could possibly mean.

Katara was turned around completely in her seat, pressing her face to the glass of the monorail so she could look out. "Look, the inner wall! I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece."

Sokka looked over at her. "Hey don't jinx it! We could 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."

Toph, who looked uncomfortable, asked, "You been hitting the cactus juice again?"

Sokka grimaced. "I'm just sayin', weird stuff happens to us."

Nodding, I added, "Yeah... It's not every day we have to fight off sea monsters."

Aang tried to lighten the mood. "We're safe in Ba Sing Se. And better yet, we're one step closer to ending the war and finding Appa."

The thought of Appa made me frown. Looking down at my lap, I pictured the big guy in my head. He was probably cold, scared, and so alone. There was no telling what his captors were doing to him. The possibilities were too horrible for me to bear.

"Don't worry you two... we'll find Appa," Katara suddenly encouraged. Glancing over at Aang, I saw he looked as dismayed as myself.

Aang's optimism was fading. "It's such a big city."

Sokka tried to cheer him up. "He's a giant bison. Where could someone possibly hide him?"

Crossing my arms, I answered, "Wherever he is, I'm going to find him... I owe him that much." Momo crawled onto my lap suddenly and nudged my elbow with his nose. I smiled weakly and scratched behind his ear. He purred, shutting his eyes. "Don't worry Momo... Appa will be with us soon..."

"Crys... Please don't be rash and go off on your own once we get to the city," Katara begged. "You're prone to danger lately."

Toph smirked. "I doubt Princess is going to make it far with you and Sokka constantly hovering over her. You two haven't stopped worrying about her since we grabbed her from Zuko a few weeks ago."

Katara defended her overprotective nature. "Do you blame us? Whenever Sokka and I leave her she gets into crazy situations."

Running a hand through my hair, I stated, "This is coming from the kids who rode on canyon-crawlers to get out of the Great Divide."

Aang beamed. "Now that was a fun time right there."

The monorail began to slow in pace a few minutes later, and eventually our ride stopped at the station in the lower ring. As we emerged and began to make our way to the edge of the platform and onto the streets of Ba Sing Se, I was bewildered by the amount of people around us. But my bewilderment had more to do with the number of poor and homeless in the area. The lower ring was definitely a sad sight to see.