The Avatar's Master

21. A Long, Long Way

Kuvira had a map spread out on the saloon table. She was sipping tea and deciding where to head next. If she kept up her current path, she would come upon town after town like the one she was in, like the one she just came from, until eventually running into the Si Wong Desert with its unending hilly dunes and sandbending marauders and giant sandworms.

Another option would be to hop on a train and ride to the edge of something. Maybe she'd find her way to the coast and catch a ferry to a remote island. Maybe it was time to leave the Earth Territories all together.

Inside, the saloon was dimly lit despite being broad daylight out. Even if some patrons did their fair share of afternoon drinking, they didn't like to be reminded it was daytime. The place was also a dump, and there was nothing to see except more of the same.

"Lost, Stranger?"

Kuvira heard a familiar voice and cringed, realizing who it was. She looked up from her focus on the map and saw the little lady she had left behind the town over.

"Bae, how lovely to see you," Kuvira feigned. "Seriously, what brings you here?"

"Ain't you forgetting something... or someone?"

It was then Kuvira noticed Bae had a rucksack slung over her back.

"I – I... listen, Bae. I know what I said, but the truth is I travel alone."

"Well, I already came all this way. I'm not turning around now! And besides, I've been thinking of doing this a long time, you know... traveling, the big outdoors. I think my husband would have wanted it," Bae said.

Kuvira was silent.

"Awe, c'mon Pang! Waddya say? You and me – on the road? Also, I brought money." Bae held up a sack of coinage.

Kuvira was still silent, but now she was listening.

"Well, stranger, you sure are a woman of few words," Bae said.

"I talk a lot, actually. But only when there's something to say," Kuvira retorted.

Bae chuckled. "Well ain't you a snarky little outlaw?"

"At any rate, why me? Why not go off alone or find someone else to travel with?"

Bae crossed her arms and considered a moment. "I don't know toots. I guess I feel safe with you."

Kuvira, who had taken a sip of her tea, spat it out.

"Take that back. I beat three men to a pulp for sport the other day and enjoyed myself while I did it. How do you know I'm not some psycho killer? How do you know I'm not a wolfbat in koala sheep's clothing?"

"Well for starters you didn't take advantage of me when you could of. And we kept pretty good quiet company if say so myself. Besides, I wanna strangle just about everybody else I meet, except for some queer reason – you," Bae said, resting one hand on her curvy hip.

Kuvira wanted to smile at the last bit but didn't show her cards. It also didn't go unnoticed by the lonesome wanderer that Bae had asked three times to travel with her. Kuvira wondered what would happen if Bae eventually found out her real identity. Perhaps it was a karma she was meant to endure.

An old man sitting at a table in the middle of the room caught Kuvira's attention. He had a Pai Sho board out and was stroking his long beard contemplatively. Kuvira recognized the man from the town Isaan. And come to think of it, she'd seen him before that somewhere.

There was no one playing against the old man, and Kuvira got a little paranoid, looking about the room for spies, wondering whether she was followed by someone other than the woman standing expectantly next to her.