Prisoner of War

Ba Sing Se

Rhea had a hard time finding the entrance to the city. The only way in without bending was a small port where several ferries arrived every day.

The armadillo-wolf, which she had dubbed Azara, followed closely at her heels. The two had formed a strong bond during their journey to the massive Earth Kingdom Capital.

A soldier stopped her at the gate. "Stop. No animals."

Rhea sighed. "Sorry, but Azara won't leave my side for anything, even if I tell her to." She spoke aside the man. "She's not exactly trained yet."

"Well, that's your problem." He held. "There are no animals allowed beyond this point."

"Please," Rhea pleaded. "She won't appreciate being separated from me. And I assume you don't want an angry armadillo-wolf on your hands."

The soldier gritted his teeth. "Is that a threat?"

"No, sir." She assured. "I'm just trying to warn you. I assume you would be blamed for any damages caused."

He grumbled something about getting fired under his breath. "Fine, bring her through."

Rhea tried not to look too excited. "Thank you." She led Azara through the outer wall into the lower ring of the city.
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Azara pounced on an alley rat, growling when she missed.

Rhea clicked her tongue. "Azara, here girl."

The armadillo-wolf snorted at her escaped prey and bounded over, circling her companion and rubbing her furry cheek against Rhea's face.

Rhea chuckled. "Come on girl. Stop being clingy."

The creature made a sound like a purr and bobbed her head, almost knocking Rhea over.

"I know, girl." Rhea laughed. "I know. I'm excited to." Her gaze settled on the distant wall separating them from the inner rings of the city. "Now we just have to get to the upper ring." She scratched Azara under the chin. "Give me a lift to the next checkpoint?"

Azara grunted and nudged Rhea with her nose.

Rhea smiled and hauled herself onto the wolf's back. Clicking her tongue, she urged the creature forward with a gentle squeeze of her heels.

They bounded through the streets, being careful not to trample anyone or anything.

Rhea spotted a group of men holding up a woman with her child. She tugged on Azara's fur, urging her to stop, and slid to the ground.

"Hey!" She dashed towards the men.

They turned to acknowledge her.

"Let them go." Rhea skidded to a stop and glared at the muggers.

One of the men, presumably the leader, chuckled. "And who's gonna make us. You?"

The others took up the laughter, filling the alley with their villainous mirth.

Rhea crossed her arms. "Yeah, me."

The leader chuckled and grabbed the woman by the arm. "Don't kid yourself, little girl. Move along before you get hurt."

She glared at the leader. "You're going to wish you hadn't done that." She clenched her fist. She lunged forward and punched one of the men in the jaw.

He doubled over, cupping his hands under his bleeding lip. "That was a mistake." He wiped away the blood.

Rhea glared at him defiantly. "Why don't you come and fix it then."

He growled and lunged forward.

Rhea ducked under his arms and spun behind him, jabbing him between the shoulder blades with her knuckles.

He stumbled forward before collapsing.

The other men turned as their companion cried out.

Rhea turned to face them.

The leader stumbled back a step. "What are you?"

She smirked. "In your words, I'm just a little girl."

He narrowed his eyes.

"I recommend you leave while you can." Rhea threatened.

The gang leader growled, but backed away and led his men out of the alley, two of them dragging their limp companion.

Rhea watched them leave before walking over to the woman and her child. "Are you okay?"

The woman flinched away, but relaxed when she saw that it wasn't one of her tormentors. "Yes, thank you." She narrowed her eyes. "You look... familiar."

Rhea turned away. "I... get that a lot. I guess I just have one of those faces."

The woman continued to stare at her.

"I should go." Rhea strode back over to Azara and heaved herself onto the creature's back.

The woman followed her into the street as she loped away. When she saw that Rhea was too far away, she grabbed her child's hand and ushered him down the street.
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Rhea leaned down close to Azara's back as they rushed through the middle ring.

Security hadn't proved too much of an issue. Azara could be intimidating.

The armadillo-wolf breathed heavily, skidding to a stop and lying down on the messily cobbled street.

Rhea swung her leg over the wolf's back and sat down beside her. She patted Azara's side. "Good girl."

The creature turned its head and rested it on Rhea's lap.

Rhea stroked her plated head. Azara had earned a break. And, now that they had stopped, she realized how tired she was too. She leaned on Azara's soft neck and closed her eyes.
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The upper ring looked like a completely different city. The houses looked more like palaces and the landscaping was pristine and orderly.

Rhea felt completely out-of-place with her rugged clothes and giant armadillo-wolf. She felt like she was being watched and the streets were nearly abandoned.

The upper ring may have been the smallest level of the Earth Kingdom capital, but it wasn't small. Finding the Avatar wouldn't be easy.

Something crinkled under her foot.

She looked down to find a piece of paper that had been crumpled and smoothed more than once. She reached down and picked it up.

Turning it over, she found a picture of Appa -the Avatar's flying bison. There was a message inscribed beneath it.

Missing Bison.
If you have any information, please contact the Avatar in the upper ring.

An address followed the message.

Rhea almost scoffed. There was no way her luck was this good. She followed the directions to a large house. Was she really doing this? She almost walked away, but stopped herself. Clenching her fists, she steeled herself and walked to the door, knocking quickly before she changed her mind.

There was a moment where nothing happened.

Just as Rhea was about to give up, assuming they weren't home, the door opened.

Katara spoke to someone over her shoulder then turned to face their visitor. "Hi. What do y..." she froze when she saw Rhea. Her eyes narrowed and her grip tightened on the doorknob. "You."

A/N
Yay! I finished another chapter! And it didn't take me a month. 😁 Hope you enjoyed.
-Cheshire