death.
unorthodox.
famine.
pollution.
war.
Here in Ba Sing Se, you know none of these things.
---
Himoko's POV
Captain Kesuk the next morning was already making his sailors (who had woken 10 minutes ago) to get the ship ready for launch back into the sea, back to the North Pole.
I had been awake for two hours, pretty much as soon as the sun had rose up past the horizon, I just woke up. I felt uneasy, being this close to Ba Sing Se, and yet I was so far away from Omashu. The fact that I was on Earth Kingdom land had every instinct within me wanting to go to Omashu and protect my home- But I couldn't, my place was here, faraway, safe from any prying eyes, safe from being captured by the Fire Nation. In Ba Sing Se, I was to be safe from all harm.
I haven't been there in years, stayed there for a whole week, but I felt like I was marching into unknown territory.
Perhaps it's just the worry of knowing what is happening in Omashu, and that I can't do anything about it. I'm stuck here.
But- Pappy told me to do this, so I shall, as the Princess of Omashu.
You must always protect the Heir.
"Well Princess Himoko, it has been a pleasure to be your transport." He bowed his head to me, hand over his heart. I nodded, bowing slightly down to him as well. "I thank you for bringing me all this way, even after the battle that was fought."
"I hope you to be well, if you are ever back in the Northern Water Tribe, ask for me, and we can chat over some tea." I nodded, ready to say something but forced my mouth shut, realizing it was best for me not to say.
The crew moved the rest of the gear onto the boat before they all bid me well, their sentiments towards the journey that was ahead of me.
I watched the boat undock before being pushed off of the shore, the work of the waterbenders. I waited until the boat was only a spec in my vision before turning around and heading into the forest.
Unlike the day before were it was eerily quiet- I could hear birds chirping, moles burrowing into the dirt of the earth, chipmunks and squirrels alike scurrying across the ground and up trees. Others would have found these sounds annoying, but to me, it told me that nothing was worrying the animals, and so I shouldn't worry, there wasn't any danger nearby.
I wonder how the others were doing, where they went after the North Pole, I knew it had to be somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, Aang needed to learn Earth next then... Well then fire, which would be the hardest element to learn, when 99.9% of firebenders wanted his head on a stake.
I debated on trying to send them another letter once I was settled in at Ba Sing Se, but they travel so much I wouldn't know where to send it, and then the thought of it getting in the wrong hands for somebody else... I wouldn't want that, they wouldn't want that either.
I wish there was an easier way to communicate with them.
"There is." I jumped out of my skin, my thoughts fleeting me as I turned, blinking rapidly to see Yangchen standing behind him in her spiritual form.
"Oh so now you show up!" I huffed, watching her lips slowly quirk up before returning to being tight lip.
"I see that you have accepted La as a part of you."
"Yeah and??? What do you want?!" I asked her, turning back around to continue walking. She seemed to follow me, as her voice carried on with me.
"You are still new to being the Adversary, and so you need a teacher yourself to continue on with your spiritual journey."
"Oh fun."
"I heard that you are wanting to get into contact with your friends, correct?" I softly nodded, my eyes moving along the tree line, I was about halfway til being a half mile to the Dai Li, sooo... I would prefer if she would leave before I reached them.
"As the Adversary you are able to get into contact with different spirits, this opens a wave of communication everytime you speak to one, including me."
"Okay, please elaborate, I'm trying to focus on getting to the Dai Li." She ignored my sass and continued, "Each spirit has had some form of connection to the Mortal World-"
"Oh so we are calling it that now-"
"-As one point in time, we all lived here, whether we were a human or an animal, we all walking upon this earth at once point in time, we do not just come into existence as spirits."
"Please get to the point, Yangchen." I muttered, getting a tad annoyed, why did it get so long for her to get to the point?!
"Very well, if you open a channel to speak with a spirit, you can ask them to open up a web of communication with someone in the Mortal World that's hundreds of miles away from you, or you can simply ask the spirit to carry on a message for you to this human."
"Okay, nice. So then I don't have to worry about the message falling into the wrong hands?"
"Precisely."
"Okay so, if I were to give you something physical to give to this person, would it still work?" I questioned her, stopping my walk to look back at her, watching her eyes somehow glint as she answered my question.
"It may take longer than just the passing of word between mouths. As we spirits are not permitted to bring anything physical into the Spirit World." I frowned, sighing heavily to myself as I pushed my hair back behind my ear, blowing a small raspberry to the air.
"That's a bummer, but it's possible so I guess that's a good thing?" I paused for a moment, thinking to myself.
"Do you have a message you want to send to Avatar Aang?" She questioned me, watching me shake my head as I looked back at her.
"No, I will wait until I'm in Ba Sing Se to do so, I don't want to send a message to him and then something drastic happens before I even get there. Despite that I can't tell him where I am at." She nodded before looking beyond me, speaking deliberately.
"In 500ft you will be with these so called, 'Dai Li'. I shall take my leave now." And she was gone before I could even mutter a small 'thanks'.
I zeroed in on my hearing, stretching out the range, seeing if I could hear them, but still nothing, only the animals I could hear, no shifting of fabrics for clothing, breathing of lungs, the beatings of hearts, it was legit like they were the undead.
That was until I heard a soft 'bump' of a heart, one significant heart I could hear, just one, no others.
I continued walking until it was getting darker inside the forest, as more tree leaves seemed to gather above me, blocking out the sun from entering the area.
I paused, hearing leaves crunch as weight seemed to drop down, the whirl of the wind from gravity being heard. It seemed to have happened simultaneously around me before one more whirl of wind passed by me from behind. I turned around, seeing a man leant down on one knee with his hand over his heart. I narrowed my eyes, furrowing my brows as my gaze travelled down to the crest on his chest, the crest of the Earth Kingdom.
"It's good to see you have made it here without harm, Your Highness." The Dai Li Agent stated, his voice gruff but soft, keeping his octave quiet.
"I apologize for the lateness, the captain didn't want me to walk during nightfall." He looked up at me, firmly nodding as he stood up, straightening our his back, holding his hands behind him.
"Let's be off, the Earth King is patiently awaiting for your arrival." He walked past me, saying no more words, but a soft whistle escaped his lips before I heard a soft rustling and suddenly I was surrounded by other Dai Li agents. They walked on either side of me and behind me, in a protective formation, three on either side of me and two walked behind me, with the Dai Li agent that spoke to me a few feet in front. They were all alert, and kept their steps light, barely applying pressure to the ground to make footsteps or sound.
None of them spoke to me furthermore for the first few minutes until I spoke up with a question.
"May I ask for your names?" The agent that was on the left of me, sandwiched between the one in front and behind him spoke.
"Not permitted to know any of our names until we are safe inside Ba Sing Se's walls." He stated, briefly glancing at me at the corner of his eye. I nodded in understanding, these men didn't take any chances, no wonder Ba Sing Se has yet to fall after 100 years... and more years before that.
I didn't hear any of them talk for a while, it was unnerving with all of this silence besides the sounds of the forest, but I could understand why they barely made any noise, it was in case anyone was looking for us- Most importantly me, people who wanted to harm me or kidnap me. Which would enact a greater war since I'm the only Heir to a throne. Gotta love politics.
As we exited out of the forest and into a clearing, the sun covered in clouds softly, a nice breeze passing through my hair is when I heard the two agents behind me beginning to whisper, so softly no one else but me would be able to catch it, not even the wind would be able to and carry it away for people with normal hearing to hear. I didn't make any movement to alert the two behind me that I was hearing them, even though I was fully aware.
"We do the same procedure as with Long Feng when he travels for the Earth King." The first voice sounded older and more mature, experienced when it came to being a guard for Long Feng. I vaguely remember who Long Feng was, I had only met him once, and that was when he had visited Omashu. I never saw him when me and Pappy visited Ba Sing Se.
"And if we are attacked?"
"We run through the procedure, leaving two agents with Princess Himoko to get to Ba Sing Se as fast as possible, the other eight will stay and fight off whoever is trying to harm her." 'Eight?' I questioned in thought, counting the Dai Li agents that were with me. Three on either side, two in the back and one in front- We were missing an agent. There was only nine, but he is implying that there are ten in all-
I heard a stick crack, before something was whizzing through the air. I swiftly turned around as the group stopped, watching as the second voice, that belonged to the one who wanted to be briefed on what to do incase something happens. Ironic they were speaking about this when a wall of earth extended out of the ground, the sounds of multiple daggers stabbing into the other side of the earth being heard.
"Mercenaries, take her and go!" The Dai Li Agent that spoke to me the first time, and I presume to be the leader of this mission- Ordered out.
The one that enacted the earth wall that shielded me from harm, grabbed a hold of my wrist and began running, another following closely behind, leaving seven of the Dai Li agents behind.
We ran across the clearing, and I could hear the sound of the earth moving and the whooshing of flames and daggers being thrown through the air. I could feel myself slowing down, getting out of breath from running but the agent kept pulling me along, his grip tight around my wrist.
Suddenly three fire nation soldiers stepped out of the treeline that we were running towards, we had to divert our path, and I could hear the fire balls they sent towards us being blocked off by the agent running behind us, being our flank and protecting both of us.
I yelped, tripping over my own feet, the Dai Li agent holding onto my wrist staggering as he reared back and kept me from falling flat on my face, "Princess, are you okay?" I nodded, feeling his eyes on me, staring at me worriedly as I lifted my foot up, moving it around and wincing.
"It's just twisted, I will be fine." I stated, the Dai Li agent who was running behind us reaching us.
"What's wrong?"
"She has a twisted ankle." Stated the Dai Li agent holding my wrist, his grip never wavering.
"Pick her and keep running, it's up to you now to get her to Ba Sing Se, keep to the paths, never let them see or determine which one you are taking. Understood." He nodded as the Dai Li agent shielded us as I climbed onto the other's back.
"Understood, I will alert Long Feng of the ambush when we arrive." He told him before he took off running, leaving the Dai Li agent to keep the three firebenders at bay.
We didn't know if anymore were in the forest as he ran in, even now as he seemed to run faster, he kept his weight light, distributing it almost perfectly to keep the sound down. It felt and looked like he was gliding through the air, the wind brushing past us, the sounds of the forest resonating around us, bouncing off of the trees and earth.
I tightened my hold on his shoulders, furrowing my brows at how small his shoulders seemed to be, despite being a Dai Li agent, whom were known for their strength in Earthbending.
As he ran, I closed my eyes and zeroed in on myself, expanding my reach, hearing, waiting to see if anyone was following us. I didn't hear anyone before, I didn't hear until I heard that crack of a stick before they attacked, they were firebenders, fire nation soldiers, they weren't trained to be quiet and stealthy like the Dai Li were, so even if they tried to be quiet, with someone who could bend sound like me- It would be easy for me to pick it up if I looked for it.
And the sound of leaves crunching and groundhogs making noise beneath the ground told me that there was someone following us, and wasn't trying at all to be quiet, focused on catching up to us. I heard the crackling of fire, and the shift of the air, the smell of burning greenery alerted me that it was a firebender that just boosted themselves to shorten the distance.
"Behind-" Before I could finish, he swiftly turned around and stomped his foot on the ground, a ripple of earth exploding out of the ground like a tidal wave, sent straight to where the firebender was.
"He dodged it." He muttered before stomping his foot again and I felt him release my left leg to erupt a wall to divide us, making the firebender having to either go around or over, or just straight through, but the density he created it to be, it would take a bit and more effort to go straight through.
He took off running again, jumping over a tree log as I was granted an idea, glancing up at the trees over top of us. I gripped ahold of my staff, swinging it around from off of my back.
"Launch us up." I told him, seeing him glance at me before nodding. He didn't question me why.
He stopped momentarily, shifting his right foot before we were shot up into the trees. I whirled my staff behind us, propelling us forward before extending the wings out, and we were gliding out of the forest, the force of the catapult of earth powerful enough to launch us so far up was impressive.
We glided as I felt him tighten his grip around my knees. I could hear his small gasp of air, not expecting for us to be gliding, he most likely thought I wanted us to be on the branches and travel like that. Not practically flying in the air 400 or so ft above solid ground.
"Direct me." I told him, eyes narrowing to see what was a mile away.
"There is a underground tunnel, you can distinguish it by a override condensement of trees blocking the sun from shining down on it." I nodded, looking around before he spoke again, "I will let you know when we are in the general area of it, I have never picked it out from the air before."
"This will be a first for both of us, I never carried someone with me on my glider before." I told him truthfully, his added extra weight barely weighing us down.
"So the rumors were true, you are a Air Nomad." I nodded softly.
We slowly descended closer to the trees, the sound of the firebender no longer present in my range. I couldn't hear any others, it was quite peaceful.
"May I ask for your name now? There is no one around to hear." I asked him, waiting for his answer.
"My name?"
"Yeah." A couple of seconds passed by before he uttered out his name.
"Sadem."
To Be continued
Himoko met the Dai Li and Sadem!
The next chapter will be out in two weeks, I'm actually going to be taking a small break from writing Sound Waves due to my immune system being down because of the weather in Pennsylvania being a jerk to my body.
I already feel sick from it, and in general if I don't take care of myself, it will get worse so I don't want that cause I have work and I'm volunteering for a Fall Festival and a GhostWalk this month, so I would rather be in top notch shape for both events. (Especially the GhostWalk since it's my first ever one that I'm doing and have been in).
There isn't much to speak about until next chapter (For what I have planned for anyway) so for now thank you all for reading and I will talk to you all later! -Golden
Word Count without A/N: 3,006
Total Word Count: 3,162
Total Pages: 8.6