Two Tribes, Two Children

Chap. 1

New Arrivals

The walls of Ba Sing Se stretched forth for miles in both directions. If a person looked to the sides, he would see walls that seemed to go around the entire world and then circle back to close the gap. If that same person would look up, he would be reminded of the ancient story of the men who in their arrogance, had tried to build a tower to the gods, only to have their efforts destroyed and their people scattered across the Earth Kingdom. For if these walls could stretch so high, they must have been the ruins of that great Tower, rebuilt with a less lofty goal- to protect the city behind it.

And protect it they had. These walls had withstood the onslaught of the Fire Nation for the duration of the hundred-year war. They had endured the 600-day attack of the Dragon of the West, Fire Nation General Iroh. The walls had seen thousands of Earth Kingdom soldiers leave it's protection over the years, as well as re-enter them, no longer able to make use of them. The walls had offered their protection to thousands of travelers and refuges, for what other purpose does a wall have but to protect? Those had been the words of the King, long ago at the wall's construction, that the city would open the walls to any good souls that desired protection. Since that day, those words had been obeyed, and Ba Sing Se had allowed any who needed protection behind its walls.

Well, almost any. There had been one group, other then the enemy Firebenders, which even the wise King had barred from the city. They had been the people who lived out in the great desert, the people that had abandoned the war and the Earth Kingdom for their empty wasteland. Though they were still Earthbenders, the people of Ba Sing Se had given them another name, a name that fit their chosen world; Sandbenders. These people had been barred from the city, forced to live apart from the Earth Kingdom for their perceived cowardice. But even so, four Sandbender skiffs sped towards the city walls, from the outskirts of the desert.

The skiffs sped over the desert with ease, the sails spread wide with fierce winds. But the speed with which they flew over the sands was not of their own harnessing. The guards of Ba Sing Se felt little more then a slight breeze on this hot day, yet the skiffs flew as if a hurricane was powering their sails. For a moment, the guards tightened their grip on their weapons, wondering if the Sandbenders had finally gone mad and decided to force their way into Ba Sing Se with some kind of twisted bending art.

But their fears were alleviated a second later, when the skiffs came to a halt within inches of the ground of Ba Sing Se, the agreed upon reach of their territory. But the guards looked on with apprehension, wondering what infernal magic fueled the skiff's sails. As they wondered, they heard a voice call out, "We've arrived."

"Good." Said another voice, one tinged with youth and anger, as the skiffs began to empty. But the guards quickly saw that only a few Sandbenders exited the skiffs. It was the others that truly caught their attention. Two Water-Tribe children, a young Earth-Kingdom girl, a boy dressed in strange clothing, and a group of nine men and one woman, masked and dressed in ragged clothes all exited the skiff. Turning to the assembled Sandbenders, the hodge-podge group began to speak, as the guards strained to hear what they were saying…

"Thank you for the ride, Sha-Mo." Oscuridad, leader of the Elemental Knights, said, as he looked at the chief Sandbender.

"It was no hardship. We Sandbenders always pay out debts." Sha-Mo said with a glare at his young son, Ghashiun. The boy did not return his father's gaze, only hung his head in shame. Since he had admitted to trading Appa and therefore become the cause of the destruction of four skiffs, Ghashiun had said very little. Part of this was shame, but a greater part was fear of saying anything to further agitate Aang. This was the reason everyone had made sure he was kept out of the Avatar's sight until the group reached the city.

"I see you do." Desierto said, coming to the front. The wolf-man had been an essential part of getting this ride from the Sandbenders. While they did want to help, many of them had become fearful of Aang after his outburst and were…. reluctant to travel with him. But Desierto, as the representative of the Desert Architect Nabu, had been able to convince the Sandbenders that no harm would come to them under his watch.

"Now then," the wolf-man continued, as Katara and Sokka began to remove the group's supplies from the skiffs. "We're going to need a guide in the city, as well as someone who can find the trader that has Appa. I think it's only fair that Ghashiun be that guide."

But as soon as the wolf said those words, Sha-Mo shook his head. "I am sorry great Sandshifter, but we cannot help you any further."

"Sha-Mo, we would not leave him here. As soon as we find Appa, we'll return him."

"It is not that. We do trust you in that. It is that…"

"It's that you want to cut and run!" Aang said angrily, as he forced he way to the front. Pointing his finger directly at Sha-Mo, the angry Airbender continued. "You think taking us here is enough, and now you want to run away! Well it's not enough! He stole Appa and he's going to help me find him, if I have to drag him into the city myself!"

"Aang calm down." Katara said gently, as she placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. "The Sandbenders took us here to help. They deserve a chance to speak." Turning to Sha-Mo, the young Waterbender asked, "Why can't Ghashiun come?"

"We Sandbenders were banished from Ba Sing Se long ago for our percieved cowardice concerning the war." Sha-Mo explained, with a wary look at Aang. "The punishment for any Sandbender found inside is death."

Katara grimaced at this unplesant news, but said, "All right, then Ghashiun needs to tell us about the merchant he traded Appa to."

Sha-Mo nodded and pulled his son up to speak, though the boy was clearly terrifed to be so close to Aang. Speaking quickly, Ghashiun sputtered out a description. "H-He said h-his name w-was Hakin. H-He was a-a Watertribe m-mercahnt, t-tall and d-dressed in f-fancy c-clothes. H-He smelled l-like fish o-or something, though, a-and he c-carried a bunch of pouches w-with him. I-I don't know if he was going t-to trade the bison anytime s-soon."

"Thank you." Desierto said to the boy, who having done his duty, quickly returned to his spot away from the Avatar.

"I am sorry again for all this, Avatar." Sha-Mo said, as the other Sandbenders began to climb back into the skiffs. "I wish there was more we could do help you…"

"Just go." Aang said, in a cold voice. Sha-Mo nodded, then quickly got into a skiff and within seconds, the Sandbenders had taken off.

"Aang, you didn't need to say that." Katara said, as the Avatar turned towards the gate. "He was trying to apologize." But if Aang had heard, he didn't care; he just kept walking towards the gate.

Sighing, Katara turned back to the others and began to pick up her pack, though she voiced her thoughts. "He's getting worse, isn't he?"

"You think?" Sokka asked, as he threw on his own pack. "Aang is either insanely depressed, or insanely angry all the time. It's like there's no middle ground anymore."

"I don't know if it's all bad though." Toph added. "I like to see Twinkletoes being forceful like this, instead of being Mr. Happy all the time."

"Toph, this isn't a good thing." Katara said. "Aang's not keeping it focused anymore. If we don't find Appa soon, I don't know what he'll do." Turning to the Knights, she asked, "Isn't there anything that you can do about it?"

"I wish there was." Oscuridad answered. "But none of us can change his feelings. Luz or I could've masked them once, but they're too intense now, and besides, doing that could affect his connection with his past lives."

"And that's a bad thing?" Tierra asked suddenly. As the others all turned to face him, the dog said, "What? We're all thinking it, so I might as well say it. Aang could go into the Avatar State for anything right now. And if he goes in as angry as he is right now, he could cause some serious destruction."

"That won't happen. Besides, Katara can calm him down." Aire said.

"But what if she can't? What he goes in so deep that none of us can bring him out? And if he does, what are our options? I'll tell you what they are. If Aang goes that far, we would have to kill him. There would be no other way to stop him in that State. And if we kill him there, we kill the Avatar Cycle."

"So what are you saying? That we should get ready to kill him and then go after the Fire-Lord ourselves?" Luz asked angrily.

"No. What I'm saying is that we need to start realizing what we are dealing with here and figure out how to deal with it, instead of standing around noticing it and wishing we could help." Tierra finished.

There was quiet for a moment, then Aang's voice rang out from the gate; "Are you guys coming or what?" The group all looked at each other, then rose up and began walking towards the gate, though Tierra's words hung in all their minds.