CHANGE | CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
𝐊orra rode on her polar bear dog while the rest of Team Avatar cramped in the jeep as it followed behind her. Cloud sat in the backseat with Bolin, her glider clutched between her thighs. She felt the wind on her face as her brown hair kept being pushed away by the harsh wind. It almost felt like they weren't chasing after someone who abided by the group of criminals who tried to take Korra.
Perhaps, Cloud was finally starting to become insane. Everything almost felt so normal.
The jeep drove down a desert path, the sunlight beaming through between the clouds as it shone on them. A couple of spirits flew overhead, some even landed on her shoulders, making strange noises at her before disappearing from her line of sight. Cloud merely paid them no mind as if it were normal.
They arrived in a local Earth Kingdom desert village and Naga stopped sniffing the ground. Asami pulled up the jeep from behind Korra, Cloud exiting the backseat as she jumped off the vehicle, her feet landing on the sand. She definitely did not like the dust flying everywhere. Cloud hated sand. It's coarse and rough and it gets everywhere.
"Aiwei has definitely been through here," Korra said, then turned to her polar bear dog. "Nice tracking, girl."
"Let's ask around," Mako said. "Maybe someone's seen him."
The five of them entered a tavern as Mako pushed the curtain aside at the entrance. Cloud shifted on her foot, peeking from behind the firebender as he was too tall and blocking her sight. Everyone inside the tavern glanced at them, causing a certain airbender to scrunch her face in disdain. She didn't like the unwanted attention.
"Oh look, they have a mover poster of me," Bolin said, however, it wasn't what he thought it was. His older brother looked at the poster with mild surprise. "Must be big Nuktuk fans, yeah, I should go out and say hello..." He rubbed his hands together, and then started to walk forward, but Mako was quick to grab him by his sleeve.
"No. Those are wanted posters, and there's one for each of us," Mako hissed just as Cloud walked towards the wall with their faces on papers plastered on it.
She snatched the one with her face on it and scowled at the false accusation underneath her photo. The firebender also decided to read out Korra's wanted poster. "Wanted by Her Majesty, the Earth Queen, for crimes against the Kingdom."
Mako raised an eyebrow and Korra began fuming behind them while Cloud continued scowling at the posters. He glanced back at Korra, rolling his eyes. "I'm guessing this is because we took her airbenders."
Korra scoffed. "They weren't hers to keep! I swear, if I see her pinchy little queen face again, I am going to..."
"Count me in," Cloud quipped.
"Uh, guys..." Asami interrupted with an alarmed tone. They turned their attention towards the people behind them and saw one man pull out his sword while another showed off his spear. "We should get out of here."
Cloud scoffed at them while Korra did an I'm-watching-you gesture to all the men in the tavern before following after their friends. Even if they did try to capture them, they would only end up on the ground with bruises on their faces. No one wanted to cross them even though they were literally wanted for a false crime. The airbenders weren't toys, and they weren't definitely made for them to use as pawns in their sick little games.
Cloud cursed the Earth Queen in her mind. You reap what you sow.
The airbender sat next to Asami this time as she drove the jeep after Naga with Korra on her back. The team followed a windy road before making their way down a path on the road. The jeep followed closely behind as Naga ran up a small slope. The polar bear dog continued sniffing the ground for any scent near a bunch of rocks.
Cloud had a feeling they were getting close to the truth seer's whereabouts. Other than that, she definitely needed a shower from how much sweat she produced in the past couple of hours in the open sun.
"Naga found something," Korra said, hopping off Naga as the polar bear dog sat down.
She earthbent a giant boulder to the side, finding Aiwei's jeep hidden behind a small clearing. Cloud didn't notice Korra being smacked by her own polar bear dog's tail as she walked past them to examine the jeep.
"This must be Aiwei's jeep. He can't be far," Asami muttered, appearing beside her in front of the abandoned jeep.
Cloud glanced back at her other friends, her gaze landing on a certain firebender as he looked at the Misty Palms Oasis, walking to the edge of the slope. "A penny for your thought?"
Mako cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes at the nearby town. "I was thinking, Bolin and I will investigate the Misty Palms Oasis, and see if he's hold up there."
"Yes!" Bolin folded his arms as he said with excitement in his tone. "I love it when you talk like a cop."
His comment made the airbender scrunch her nose in confusion. "He is a cop."
"I'm coming too," Korra insisted.
Cloud shrugged. "Me, too."
"No, Cloudy." Mako shook his head, causing Cloud to frown at him, pouting her lips as if it would do much to change his mind. Well, he was tempted to change his mind because she looked too adorable and he always had a soft spot for her, but he was stubborn as well. "They need you."
"I can handle myself, you know," The airbender huffed under her breath, turning her back on him with her arms crossed.
Mako gently grabbed her arm, urging her to face him again. Despite the frown on her face, he smiled faintly. "I know you can. That's why I need you with them."
"That's better," Cloud muttered, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly at the guy.
"You and Asami wait here in case he comes back." He turned back towards Korra. "Besides, we don't want to call too much attention to ourselves."
Reluctantly, Korra agreed. "All right."
While the two brothers ventured towards the town in their fancy disguises━if they could even call a bright yellow raincoat as well as bright green goggles disguises, then so be it. Cloud thought it was funny, even though it did more standing out than blending in with the bright colors.
Well, they could blend in with the spirits, but the people? Not so much.
Cloud sat on the edge of the steep hill as if it were the safest thing to do. A couple of colorful spirits flew around her, doing the most random things. Some even tried to pull her hair for no reason, but she didn't mind it. She would summon a small tornado on her palm and release it into the air for the light spirits to chase into the horizon.
After a few minutes, the two brothers came back to them with a piece of new information.
"We found Aiwei hiding in an inn." Hearing the firebender's voice, Cloud airbends up from the ground, removing the sand on her clothes as she trudged towards her friends. Mako pulled off his disguise as he walked towards them. Bolin was nowhere in sight.
"That's great!" Korra said positively.
"We found something too." Asami handed Mako a letter. Cloud peeked behind his shoulder. "It looks like he's gonna meet Zaheer at sundown at a place called Xai Bau's Grove. But I can't find it anywhere on the map."
"I think it's not in this world," Cloud mumbled, her nose scrunching in thought, having heard it before. None of them seemed to hear her, but she just shrugged it off, thinking it was just a simple hunch.
"Let's go bust down Aiwei's door and finally get some answers."
"No." Mako shook his head. "Once Aiwei knows we're onto him, we lose our advantage. I say we stake out his room and when he leaves for this meeting, we follow him."
Cloud agreed. "And he'll lead us straight to Zaheer."
The small town was something she'd seen before━couple of small buildings made from stones and bricks, raging from different colors, surrounded the area. Some spirits lurked around the curb in peace. She couldn't even hear a single loud noise except the buzzing sound coming from the spirits and the sound of their shoe soles crunching against the hot sand. The sun openly scorched on them as if it was a spotlight and they were the celebrities.
The jolly airbender pranced behind her group of friends, and she lightly smiled at the polar bear dog who was seated outside with Pabu. She also noticed two adorable spirits watching the fire ferret bounce around from afar, which put a smile on her face. They entered the inn to try to get a room for them. Preferably, close to Aiwei's room.
Her friends stopped in front of the counter where an old lady stood behind dressed in yellow and green clothing that only meant she was from the Earth Kingdom. Cloud noticed she didn't look particularly happy from their appearance, or maybe she just didn't like her job. Mako leaned his arm over the counter while they stood behind him.
"Good afternoon," Mako greeted. However, the frown on the innkeeper's face just grew deeper looking she aged even more. She seemed to dislike them already. "We'd like a room on the ground floor, across from 102, please."
"Forget it! Last time a bunch of teenagers came in here, they trashed the whole room," She grunted. Her voice was raspy and deep as if she had smoked ten packs of cigars. The firebender frowned and straightened up, not knowing what else to do.
"Do we look like we'd trash a room?" Cloud asked, a small scoff escaping from her lips as she made herself known, stepping up from behind the tall firebender.
The lady stared at her without even blinking, the permanent scowl on her face deepening. Cloud smiled awkwardly before sheepishly moving behind Mako, hiding from the old woman's scathing glare. They do look like they would do more than trash a room.
"We found you!"
Cloud blinked in surprise as they turned around in alarm to face the owner of the voice, her friends getting into fighting poses. Mako lit up a ball of fire above his palm and Korra bended fire daggers in both hands as if they were ready to fight. The man didn't really sound that friendly. The airbender simply looked at the two people by the entrance━other than their hard expression and tough persona, they didn't seem that dangerous, like Zaheer and his group.
"Hey, no bending in here!" The innkeeper exclaimed from behind them but no one paid her attention. "Take it outside!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not here to fight you." The man placed both of his hands out to appease them, the expression on his face changing into an excited one. A goofy smile appeared on the couple's faces. "We're here to meet Nuktuk!"
Now, that didn't surprise her.
The lady with him walked up to Bolin and pulled out a poster for him to sign. "We're your biggest fans. Can you make it out to Lily and Macao?"
As some say, you don't judge a book by its cover (unless it's someone like Tarrlok and Unalaq though. Cloud thought). The Earth Kingdom couple were nice, a bunch of fans but nonetheless, they were not threatening. They really didn't need another enemy━a couple of bloodthirsty criminals who wanted them gone were enough. Although it would still be better if there were none. But it was to be expected when you're friends with the Avatar.
Believe it or not, Cloud still wouldn't change anything in the world. Because in some way, without them, her life would be nothing.