Chapter 1 - Off the Rails

General Summary

Overview

Just moments after escaping their earthen prison, urgency and necessity are turning four strangers into fast friends. As they make their way through the Crystal Caverns, a wave of distrust permeates the air.   Putting aside their differences, our unlikely heroes focus on the task at-hand, fighting off would-be kidnappers and following a trail of breadcrumbs leading to their escape. With two other survivors from the train in-tow, these strangers are forced to make an unsettling decision.

Rewards Granted

• +10xp to all for combat
• +5xp to Gang Gaun for ingenuity
• +5xp to Shan and Tui for roleplaying
• +5xp to Nok for insightful Knowledge checks
• +1 Honor to all for 'Protector' role

Character(s) interacted with

Chen Shintu Fa Dr. Dao @Shui @Ryu

Notes

Narrative

With not a moment to spare, Nok and the gang deliberated their next course of action.   "Guys...there's a fork. The path goes to the left, and to the right," Nok observed.   Shan closed her eyes and took in her surroundings. Her chest raised slowly as she inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly over a few moments—though Tui grumbled that it felt like an eternity.   Opening her eyes, Shan lifted her head and pointed to the right, "I can feel a soft current of air coming from that direction—"   "That's great n'all, but what about our stuff?" Nok chimed in, both Gang Gaun and Tui muttered support in unison. "Seems to me that might be the way out, but I need to get my things," he insisted.   "I agree with the big fella," Tui said. "We need to gather our things before we head out. If they took our stuff, it stands to reason that they'd keep it separated, but nearby."   "Well seein' as how we all agree, how's about we get a move on?" asked Gaun rhetorically. Without further deliberation, Gaun and Nok began to move down the left-side corridor.   Shan motioned to the young boy and older woman, the latter continuing to tremble to her core. "Stick close to me," she said, "and try not to say anything." Ryu, stoic in his demeanor, interlocked his arm with the woman's as if he were merely accompanying her across a busy street. With his other hand, palm up and outward toward the direction of the corridor, Ryu gestured for Shan to 'lead the way'.   For several grueling minutes, the corridor seemed to stretch and wind infinitely forward, its narrow width forcing the strangers to follow behind Nok in single-file fashion. With only a couple glowing crystals—looted from the unconscious body of Mawe the guard—to illuminate the darkness, Tui kept a small flame in his open palm. Still, anything more than a few feet away was obscured by intangible nothingness. Remnant markings on the wall which would belie the delicate excavation of the corridor went entirely unnoticed; even the earthbenders who would no doubt recognize the tunnel's provenance were far more concerned with their immediate task at-hand: escape.   As the rest of the party pressed forward, they ran into the back of Nok, who had stopped moving. "Hey uh—" he murmured, "there's something up ahead." Indeed, the now-familiar soft green light of the glowing crystals poured into the tunnel ahead of them.   "Could be more guards," Gaun chimed in.   "I'll take my chances," said Tui as he pushed past the others, vying for a spot in the front of the procession. But Nok had already begun walking and he broke through the threshold separating the tunnel behind them from the spectacular, illuminated room.   The strangers sighed in unison, momentarily nonplussed by the floodlight of green filling the convex chamber. Inside they saw a veritable treasure trove of crates, some open, most of them stacked one on top of the other. Open containers brimming with glowing crystals were scattered along the walls of the chamber, their soft light amplified by the sheer volume of crystals in such a small space; even the closed containers seemed to emanate a languid glow. On the opposite side of the tunnel from which they came, they spotted another tunnel.   "There's a whole room full of this stuff," Nok said aloud to himself, looking at the crystal in his own hand.   "Maybe our stuff's in here as well," Gaun pointed out, gesturing to the multitude of containers in the room.   Still bringing up the rear and standing near the threshold from which they had entered, Shan shifted her weight.   "I can't feel the breeze anymore, and I think we're getting further away from water, too," she noted, as if to remind the others of their precarious situation.   "How much do you figure this stuff is worth, anyway?" asked Nok who was struggling to stuff the oblong and awkward crystals, still raw and uncut, into his few pockets.   "Not much," Tui informed. "In fact, there's hardly a market for these crystals at all."   "I've never actually seen 'em in person before, but I know these crystals can't be found anywhere else in the world," said Nok, "they gotta be worth something."   "They do give off a right-purdy glow, though," whistled Gaun who, like Nok, was trying to fill his pockets with the jagged, radiating minerals. "But glowing crystals ain't worth a lick in a place like Ba Sing Se. The city's full of this stuff. Why, our beloved Queen's palace was full of the finest—"   Tui interjected, "No, what I mean is, like the big guy pointed out," he gestured to Nok, "these crystals are rare. There's no market for them because the Crown has," he paused to correct himself, "...had a monopoly on distribution. I think we might be dealing with smugglers."   Gaun's gaze shifted inquisitively to Tui at his casual drop of the word of "smugglers". Their eyes met briefly before Tui looked away.   "Oh, great," Shan rolled her eyes. "throw smuggling into the mix with kidnapping, terrorism, and unlawful detention."   Shan stepped forward while perking her ear up. "I though I might have—" she began, her words curtailed by the cacophony of crystals spilling onto the ground from the crate she had bumped into.   For the world's longest moment, no one said anything, and all eyes turned to Shan.   "Shit," Tui exclaimed. "We need to get moving....now!"   He gestured to the passageway opposite from where they came. Nok and Gaun hurriedly picked up as many crystals as their arms could carry, the gems spilling from their crossed arms onto the cold stone beneath their feet. As they fell, several crystals shattered on impact, glowing shards sprinkling the floor and emitting light in their immediate areas. Gaun pulled his neck up from the ground, looking forward to the exit at nothing in particular.   "Guys, I have an idea," Gaun said. Planting both feet firmly on the ground, Gaun stretched both arms outward and away from his body toward the direction of the crates behind him. His fists formed a grip as if he was pulling on an imaginary rope, and pulled his arms back across his body swinging them to the opposite side toward the unexplored tunnel. Gaun did this several times, beads of sweat forming on his bulging shoulders, trickling down his exposed biceps. For all his effort, and despite his lack of familiarity, Gaun's earthbending launched several large crystals down the corridor in quick succession, each further than the other. Seeing his accomplishment, Gaun grinned to himself and turned to his companions to gloat.   "Did you guys see—" his words were cut short by unknown voices coming from across the chamber, from the threshold through which they had found this place.   "Hey! Who are you and what are you doing here?" a voice beckoned. Everyone froze in disbelief; they had been found and now they were caught once again.   Without thinking, Shan improvised, offering the deepest octave her vocal cords could offer, "This is Mawe. We're looking for the perps."   Now standing in the chamber, the green glow illuminated two figures in the darkness. They looked at one another, then back to Shan. "Okay, Mawe," the doubt in his voice palpable, "where are we moving these crystals?"   "Oh, that's...uh" stuttered Shan, her mock voice cracking under her nerves. Immediately her thoughts were flooded by shit, shit, shit, shit!. As if by reflex, Shan swirled the small volume of water she had been carrying with her from the holding area, lobbing it in the direction of the disembodied voice with incredible force. A succinct grunt spewed forth, followed by the sort of thump one might expect to hear when a body in motion meets an immovable, stony wall.   Where two figures had stood, a single motionless body remained. Shan shot the second person a piercing glare, unaware that the dim lighting could not convey her expression. As if understood, the figured disappeared back into the tunnel, his silhouetted melding with the darkness behind him and his presence punctuated by increasingly distant wails and unintelligible shouting. Everyone looked to Shan.   "Well that was—" Tui began.   "—impressive," finished Gaun, letting out a long whistle.   From the other side of the chamber, Nok waved the party down. "Come on, if they don't know we've escaped yet, they definitely do now."   Shan gestured to Ryu and the old woman, nodding ahead of her to voicelessly tell them "get in front of me." Following the series of 'runway' lights laid out by Gaun, the group of strangers hurried into the passageway.   Only a few moments, which felt like hours, had passed before Tui once again exclaimed, "shit!"   Though wider, the passage way twisted only briefly before opening up to yet another fork-in-the-road. To the left, Nok noted more of the same faint, green glow coming from the bottom of a stairwell. As if by instict, Nok stepped toward the descending stairs carved from stone.   "Oh, no," Tui commanded. "Absolutely not, we do not have time for this."   "But our stuff might be down there," Nok pleaded. "I would hate for my Fungal Plague sample to fall into the wrong hands."   "Your what now," exclaimed Gaun.   "Aw, don't stress too much," said Nok, who was inching closer to the stairwell. "I got it stashed away in a nice, rocky container. I had it with me on the train—". The old woman let out a smothered cry and Ryu leaned in to mouth a shh gesture.   "You brought," Shan punctuated each individual word, "a harmful...biological sample...aboard a train...filled with people." She did not ask Nok for clarification, instead pointed out the ludicrousness of it all.   "My village is in trouble! I came to the city to find a cure; it's not deadly, per se, but—"   "But what?" Gaun inquired.   "...but it will make you cough and such," Nok explained.   "How academic of you," Shan narrowed her gaze toward Nok.   Nok smirked, and began his descent into the glowing pit, making quick work of the stairwell. Gaun and Tui, defeated, followed closely behind.   The stairs opened up into another large, convex chamber, this one even more luminous than the last. Massive crystal growths sprouted from the cavern's walls, their combined, verdant light poured over every crack and crevice, baring the glossy looking stone walls into view. The enclosure glistened, the moisture on its walls sparkling and refracting the light from all around. No apparent entry or exit could be seen, apart from the stairs through which they had entered.   "This is beautiful," Gaun said.   "...and our stuff ain't here," Tui gestured to the lack of crates and containers in the chamber. "Nothing but rocks—can we go now?"   "Wait," pleaded Nok. "I just want to..." his voice trailed off as he walked around the chamber, his fingers reached out to caress the walls as he did. Before he could make a second round along the walls, Tui grabbed him by the vest.   "It's time to go," he said, pushing the man back toward the stairs. Shan, who remained at the top of the stairwell with Ryu and the old woman, called down below.   "Do you boys want to hurry up playing explorer?" she chided. "I can hear voices."   Gaun and Tui collectively pushed Nok up the stairs as they hurried behind him. Nok, who could barely catch his breath, moved with the rest of the party who had unanimously decided to press forward down the unknown path from which the chamber had diverged.   "Hey there's definitely something going on here," Nok speculated as they moved. "When I was looking at the walls, I saw these weird markings and I think our friend here is right," he gestured to Tui.   "Yeah," Gaun agreed. "I saw 'em, too. Those scratches and scrapes were made by machines, the kind you use to excavate. Looks like they been harvesting the crystals. What fer, I wonder?"   "Does it matter?" Tui asked. "There's some kind of operation going on here, and the sooner we get out, the sooner we can all be on our merry way."   Shan paused in her gait, holding up her hand. She was leading the group of entangled strangers down another winding, seemingly endless corridor when shot spotted the flickering green light. Everyone except for Gaun put their backs to the wall in quick succession, with Shan peering out into the open blackness. "I count," she huffed three separate breaths in quick staccato, "three moving lights up ahead."   But for Gaun, it was too late. Perhaps he was caught up in the excitement of the moment, the claw marks of machinery in the lower cavern reminding him of his obligation to the city of Omashu, or perhaps he simply could not slow his momentum; in the end, it was Gaun's body, lit up by the soft green of the crystal he carried, that appeared in the clearing. His body's core stopped before his feet, and he stopped himself from falling forward onto his face.   "That's them!" shouted an unfamiliar voice, followed up by an immediate thhwp sound, and then the spattering of their footsteps closing the distance. Gang Gaun bellowed in pain and grabbed his arm, and took half a step backward.   "I think," he said speaking between panting, "they just threw a knife at me." His calm explanation betrayed the pain he was in. With his free hand, he yanked free the knife from his bicep, weighing the light blade in his hand for moment. Everyone looked at Gaun with the same dumbfounded expression, except for Ryu whose wide-eyed stare and open jaw telegraphed his enthusiasm for over the earthbender's current situation.   Tui stepped forward, and took an aggressive stance. He shifted his weight to his core and threw his hands in front of him. His hands were empty of the small torch he had conjured before, and he held out his empty hand to Gaun.   "Not to ruin your bad ass moment, old man, but are you going to keep that...or," he flagged Gaun's attention to his open palm, his fingers moving in unison to convey that he wanted the knife.   "Oh," Guan wiped the blade across his chest, "this? 'Ere you go." He flicked the knife in the air and caught it by the blade between his finger and thumb, offering the handle to Tui. He clutched the light blade in one hand; with a swift motion he flicked the wrist of his other hand, and launched his small flame forward at the oncoming guards.   There were three figures in view of Tui, their visibility betrayed by the lantern-esque crystals tied to their waists. With no time to spare, flinging his fireball torch was little more than reflex, and he missed his intended target by a wide margin. The flame whirred past the shoulder of the left-most guard, now only a few feet from Tui.   Springing into place from his step, the man planted his center of mass adjacent to, but beneath, Tui's torso. The metallic sheen of the brass guard in his grip flickered as the light from the crystals jostled and bounced around. He threw two upward jabs in quick succession, each one landing square in Tui's chest, and he gasped for air.   Less than 20 seconds had gone by since Shan tried to alert everyone, and she had just witnessed a stabbing, an attempted stabbing, and a mugging in the blink of an eye. She made a mental note of these legal infractions and took a deep breath. Worry about reporting this later, she thought to herself and she once again drew her water around her body, whipping it forward into the face of the woman who had thrown the knife. The woman flew backward, collapsing to the floor without so much as a whimper.   Gang Gaun whistled, "shucks, sweetie! Where did you learn to water-toss like that? What'd you say you did again?"   "I didn't," Shan replied. "I'm a secretary, and that's four." She nodded to the woman across the opening, and shot a piercing glance at the other man who had stopped in his tracks. Had he seen the icy glare, he no doubt may have felt intimidated by the waterbender, perhaps even admiration of her skill; but the light was sparse and Shan's visage was obscured by the darkness. Instead, he paused his gait in shock of his friend whose body laid motionless on the floor. He growled, shouting in Shan's general direction.   "You guys have caused enough grief," he exclaimed. "First my buddy Wan and now her?!" He gestured to his fallen companion. "What we're doing here is too—" his words were cut off by a barrage of rocks he hastily, but narrowly dodged as he closed the distance between he and Shan.   During this brief monologue, Gang Gaun had seized his opportunity to rip a few loose stones from the nearby wall and hurl them at their aggressors. None of the flying rocks connected to their intended target, and they smashed against the wall behind them, erupting into several clouds of dust and debris before settling to the ground surrounding the knife-throwing woman.   "Knife wound," Gaun said, and he breathed a light laugh mixed with a sigh.   Nok, realizing Gaun's shattered stones had fallen to the ground and mixed with the water around the woman's body, voiced an unintelligible excitement as he rushed closer to the spot she where she laid. In broad, swooping gestures he swung his arms from side to side, his arms bent at the wrist toward the ground as if he was picking carefully at the watery earth. A blanket of mud levitated from the ground in a slosh, initially wobbling until its consistency became viscous. Pulling his hands inward, Nok brought the mud to the feet of the brawler engaged with Tui. The mud lathered the man's boots, filling the space between his soles and the earth, and caused him to lose his balance.   "Hoo-wee," he exclaimed with a twang. "Did y'all see that?"   "Good form," Tui remarked as he finally caught his breath, recoiling from a second punch from the brass-knuckled brawler. "What kind of operation are you running here," he said dodging another uppercut, "where none of you are properly armed?"   "Small fish," the fighter sputtered, "big pond. We—" Tui's fist connected with the man's jaw and produced a successive series of pops, snaps, and cracks. He collapsed to the floor.   The man now engaged with Shan drew his blade and with a guttural bellow thrust its tip into Shan who shifted her weight just a split-second too late, and paid for her mistake in the form of a cut on her upper arm.   She swiftly retaliated, drawing water from the woman's body and, in the process, jostling her into consciousness again. Weaving the water between herself and the fighter, she whirled it around her head to pick up momentum and slapped the man square in the temple. The swift blow left the man dazed and stumbling until he, too, collapsed to the floor. Just under two minutes had passed since Shan first tried to warn the others; to get the jump on these guys.   "A librarian," Tui repeated her words in disbelief.   "A secretary," Shan corrected, but Tui was already trotting over to the woman stirring on the ground. She grunted as she tightened her core and attempted to lift her upper body. As she struggled, she pushed off the ground with the arm that wasn't clenching her ribs. The act of shifting her weight down her forearm and into the ground looked as though it exhausted her. Before she could make an effort to test her legs, Tui held his face inches from hers, with a knife in one hand at her throat, and a small flame in the other.   "It has been," he enunciated each word individually, "an exhausting day. You're gonna tell me your name, and what is going on here."   The abject horror on her face reflected in his pupils, and she could see the firebender's flame flickering in the eyes of her own reflection.   "I will literally tell you anything you want to know, I-I," the words spilled from her mouth before she could even think to say them.   "One of your guys who we fought earlier said something about warning 'the boss', and ran off with a man in white coat," Tui pressed the knife to her cheek, "who's your boss and what does he want with him? What does he want us?"   She groaned out a laugh, "You m-mean Shintu? She's the one," a cough erupted, "in charge."   "Shintu," Tui repeated. "Okay, then where's all our shit?"   "There," she pointed down the direction from which she and her companions had come, "we took everything from the aftermath to the meeting room."   By this time, the other survivors from the train accident—and they were beginning to think it was no accident—had gathered around Tui. Shan kept her distance and gazed like an eagle-hawk at the woman on the ground. Gaun and Nok both hovered behind Tui, chiming in among themselves until they heard the last part of her statement; Nok leaned in closer.   "The meetin' room?" he seemed to inquire genuinely.   "Why's he such a big deal?" Gaun wondered aloud, asking no one in particular.   Tui didn't give her a chance to speak. "Tell us how to get to that room, and what to expect."   She did. She told them how they had been hired to bring the doctor, Peng Dao, to this place and wait for Shintu's orders. Only she knew where to take Dr. Dao from here, that's just what she knows. She explained that they could anticipate five additional sentries, including Chen who had warned her to be on the watch for some 'spooked survivors'.   Shan led Ryu and the older woman into the darkness, and lit the way with the crystal she took from the open crates. Tui and the earthbenders followed behind, a mutually-unspoken pact of silence remained unbroken by everyone and everything apart from their soft footsteps.   Gaun lifted his head from watching his own feet and peered toward Tui, who was once again holding a small torch in his open palm.   "You never did say," Gaun began, "what it was you did, Mr. Hotman."   Tui kept walking, his eyes still faced forward following Shan's light.   "Oh," deflected Tui, "yeah? And what do you do?" He had hoped to keep the discussion away from him and his past. Tui had spent several years trying to keep anyone from paying attention to him; the last thing he wanted was to feel noticed. These are good people, he thought, as he always did, whenever he felt like his very presence threatened those around him. Thus it came as a surprise to Tui when Gang Gaun addressed him directly.   "I'm Gang Gaun," he said, emphasizing each vowel. "I'm a maintenance engineer on the Omashu Delivery System. How about you?" Gaun's inquiry felt like an invitation, rather than an interrogation. For a brief moment, this gave Tui a sense of relief that became an existential dread. He opened his mouth to speak the same half-truth about being just another 'passenger on the sea of life' but Shan's voice came out instead.   "Ahead, more lights" she observed and stopped moving. Everyone behind her followed suite. "This time, we'll do things differently." She took the crystal glowing in her hand, and pulled on the collar of her shirt with the other, placing the crystal between her body and her linens.   "I just want to get a closer look," she said and she began to tiptoe toward the source of the lights. No doubt more guards, she expected. She crept along the path, careful to hug the wall to her left. Each pointed step following the last with rhythmic precision. Shan focused on nothing but her breathing, and so almost did not hear the man's unexpected voice.   "Yunnow I can see you," the voice said. Shan halted to a stop, her heart pounded in her chest like a prisoner professing his innocence. "Those crystals are mighty bright." He stressed the vowel in his last word for what felt like an eternity. Everyone else waiting on Shan's lead stood paralyzed by fear.   "Oh, screw this" Tui cursed to no one in particular, and simply walked forward to meet Shan. The torch in his palm still burned unimpeded. The obscured let out a long whistle.   "Ain't no way that's you Shu," said the man. "Shu Tsukuda." Tui ignored the man and leaned in to Shan.   "Who does this guy think he is?" he dismissed, and he whispered to Shan, "you ready?" The flame he carried in his hand grew larger, more intense as he took an aggressive stance. The disembodied voice from the unknown man grew closer.   "Woah, now—that's no way to treat an old friend, is it Tui?" he punctuated the nickname, enunciating a hard-T. Tui's confidence wavered as the increasingly louder voice washed over him with familiarity. It can't be, he mouthed but did not speak. "Don't tell me you don't recognize your old pal Shui?"   Gang Gaun, who had stayed back with Ryu, and the old woman, looked to Nok and asked, "what in the world is going on?" Nok just shrugged, the massive leaf tied to his head slid backward as he did and he pulled it back over his messy hair.   "You know these people?" came another voice.   "Chen," Shui condescended, "why you don't let me handle this one?"   "Monkey-feathers!" Tui exclaimed as Shui stepped into view.   "Been a while since that job off the Fire 'pelago and the boss kicked you off the ship," Shui intimated.   "That's not how I remember it," Tui corrected. "Shui what in the name of the Mo Co Sea are you doing here?"   "Running another job," Shui answered, the nonchalance in his voice betraying the implied importance. "You know the game."   "You call," the dip in his breath fueled the emphasis of his next words, "bombing a train full of civilians just 'another job'?!"   "Oh, that train business?" he asked rhetorically. "That wasn't even us. Real sorry you got caught up in all that; hope you weren't hurt too bad; glad to see you're still alive and kicking! Tui in the flesh. What's it been, three years? Four?"   Tui's eyes widened with a blend of rage and confusion. He couldn't find the strength the speak.   "Hey," Shui continued, "you never told me you were staying in Ba Sing Se. You ever run in to our mutual friend?" Tui winced. Shui's question was again rhetorical, another jab at his past and his desire to leave it behind. Tui imagined his old friend's words coming from a place of jealousy. I got out, he thought. And you didn't.   "What's going on here," Tui waved his arms in all general directions.   "Shipping," Shui answered. Smuggling, Tui thought.   "And the man in the white coat?"   "You mean Dr. Dao? He's very important to us. The work he's doing is gonna take us all into the next age, really kickstart a revolution of things."   "Where is he, where are our things?" Tui pressed.   "We hurt your friends back there," Shan spoke out, "and we will not hesitate to do it again." Shui chuckled.   "We got some stuff from the wreckage over here," said Shui as he began to walk away. He turned his back on his friend, and trusted nothing would happen. Instead, he offered his good will and indicated Tui and his companions to follow him. "We kept it in the meeting room. Ol' Chen here was kind enough to gather it all up."   Nok and Gaun simultaneously gestured for Ryu and the old woman to move on ahead, which gave them the opportunity to bring up the rear. Shan and Tui were already following Shui. In less than a minute of silence, during which Tui desperately kept from making eye contact with anyone, they were before another open chamber, this one in the middle of a larger clearing.   Inside, the chamber was bright with the light of actual crystal lanterns fastened to the walls. In the center of the room was a large, rectangular wooden table, its edges rounded and splintered from years of use and neglect. Several chairs surrounded the table, most of which were pushed in and all of them gave off the same rustic appeal as the table. The chairs' dark green upholstery, where it remained, was tattered; cushioning sticking out wherever a tear could be found. Shui led Tui and the others to the back of the room next to a collection of stacked crates.   "Your things," he said. "I'm sure you'll find everything in good order. How's about a trade?"   "A trade?" Tui repeated.   "What are you, an iguana-parrot?" Shui ridiculed. "We'll give you your stuff, and let you go. No questions asked, no harm, no foul. Just leave the crystals behind." Tui recognized when an offer sounded too good to be true. The others, Nok in particular, groaned and grumbled over the loss of the glowing crystals.   "You'd let all this slide, and let us go, for a couple of glowing rocks?"   Shui chortled, "you don't get it? The Earth Kingdom is in disarray. No queen means no laws, which means these babies," he grabbed the crystal from Shan's hands and tossed it up into the air, letting it come back down into his hand, "can be exported to anyone, at any time."   "So there's a buyer," Tui guessed.   "And here I thought you'd stopped playing," Shui smirked. "We got a deal?"   Tui looked to the others for approval, his eyes meeting each of theirs for the first time since the revelation that he might have once been associated with Shui—a man purporting to be their incidental captor. Shan nodded approvingly to Tui, projecting her concern as she draped her waterskins back over her waist. Nok again shrugged, trying to hide the bulging crystal in his pocket.   "I just want to get home," Gaun said, and he glared at Tui. "Whatever it takes to get out of here."   "Then it's settled! Chen here will escort you out," Shui waved his hand to Chen. "Won't you?" Chen nodded. "I'd love to join you, Tui, but I've got some bookkeeping needs done, you know how it is. But I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon enough. When you see her, give Aki a kiss for me will ya?"   "Be a stranger," Tui remarked, and set off through the threshold back into the cavern proper. The others followed quickly behind he and Chen, who led the way for nearly 2 minutes before they came upon a set of ascending stairs carved directly into the stone. A light, cool breeze flowed from the stairwell. Chen paused for a moment, and then continued up the winding, spiral stairs.   "Look," he started, his words conveying a serious sincerity, "I'm sorry for what you've been through. What we've done—"   "Why is the doctor so important?" Tui asked.   "I don't know," Chen offered. "I really don't. Only what Shintu tells us we need to know." He continued his ascent.   They grew nearer to the top of the staircase. Tui could see a dim light painting each stair, covering each one more than the last. He knew they must be close, because he could smell the wet earth and salt filling the air. For a moment, Chen disappeared around the carved column of stairs until he, too, stepped through the final threshold. A great wall, second only to those of Ba Sing Se, stood before them emblazoned with Earth Kingdom insignia. Several watchtowers ran along the wall adorned with green and gold tiling, dilapidated and cracked. Moss could be seen growing along the wall in several locations, blanketing the stone staircases leading up to the watchtowers. Several pillars were cracked or near-collapsing, and the towers themselves looked as though they had not been occupied for decades. One of the towers had, in fact, collapsed in on itself. The Earth monarch provided seemingly few, if any, resources for the upkeep of this particular station; it may have abandoned it altogether.   They heard the soothing rhythm of small waves crashing against the other side of the wall. Despite these grandiose trappings, the entire facility looked and felt abandoned until, the in the distance, they spotted several small figures moving even smaller crates toward the wall and wharf.   "This is the Crystal Cove," Shan projected. "This is one of the sister ports to Full Moon Bay!" Chen nodded in silent agreement.   "We need to keep moving," Chen whispered, "just stay along this far wall away from the wharf and we won't—" A woman's voice boomed from above.   "Chen the coward," she said, and she came into view peering over the wall. She appeared to be a young woman, in her mid-twenties. Her dark skin and hair blended into the default darkness of the cove. It was apparent to anyone who laid eyes on her that she was missing an arm from the shoulder-down, because in its place was an obvious metal prosthetic limb. Despite her short stature, her booming voice made it very clear who was in control. As she spoke, the figures in the distance stopped moving and put down their crates. The woman cracked a threatening smile.   "My name is Fa Shintu," she said as she eyeballed Chen's companions, "and none of you are supposed to be here. How did you—never mind, actually. It doesn't matter."   Shan drew the water from the skins at her side while Tui squatted and raised his arm as if to strike, and produced a small flame in his palm. Nok and Gaun each pulled Ryu and the old woman close to their respective bodies. Shintu laughed in staccato.   "Look," she began, "I'm feeling generous today. I'll let you walk away if you promise not to interfere. Leave the crystals behind, and ignore what you saw. Dr. Dao has an appointment and I won't let him be a minute late. His research is too important."   "Trust me," Chen whispered, "you can't win this. There are at least a dozen people aboard those ships alone. She's doing this because she doesn't feel threatened by you."   "We can't just leave an innocent man behind," Gaun pleaded.   "Accidents happen every day," Tui replied. "This may be our only chance."   Nok shrugged, "we can't keep just one?" He began to pull the crystals from his pockets.   "Drop them," Shintu said. She pointed to Nok's groin, "that one, too." Nok groaned audibly, and begrudgingly complied. "Chen, would you be a dear and get the door for our guests?"   Chen was already in position along the far wall, his feet rooted firmly on the ground, earth encasing each of his boots to give him additional support. He lifted his arms warily, and he pushed upward on an intangible weight. The wall began to rumble in front of him as rock sheered and peeled back into itself. A crevice formed, and became a crack, which became a fissure, and ultimately passage way. Finally, a blinding light shone through from the other side.   "You've got to come with us," Tui pleaded with Chen. "There's crates all around here, let me make a distraction."   "Don't bother with me. These are my orders, and this mutiny is mine to face," Chen explained solemnly.   "Are you an absolute idiot?" Tui exclaimed in disbelief.   "You seem like a decent fella," Gaun said and he motioned his thumb over his shoulder to Shintu, "why stick around here with the tin can?"   "I've done everything I could to see that no one else gets hurt today—"   "Screw this," Tui said as he pulled his hand back into a flame.   "—No!" Chen begged, "she knows my family! She knows where they live. As long as I'm around, they'll be safe." Tui extinguished the fire within him. His eyes met Chen's, and he felt the pain Chen telegraphed with his stare. Tui understood how heavy the weight of this burden could be, to keep safe the ones you loved.   "All right," he accepted. "Let's go everyone." Tui waved down Ryu and the old woman, signalling them to move out first. Gaun, then Nok, then Shan all followed suit. As Tui head out behind them, he looked over his shoulder back to Chen who was still in his silly earthbender squat, holding the door open.   "Thank you," Tui said. "Will you be—"   "I'll be fine," Chen said. "Now go."   The six of them, no longer just strangers from the train, walked out into the hot, arid sun. The largest and brightest source of light in the world beamed down upon them. It was nearly midday, which meant that they had spent the entire night either locked up or fighting for their freedom. Tui took a deep breath and doubled over with a grunt.   "You're hurt," Shan observed. "Here, let me help you." She drew water from her skins once again, and placed her hands, palms out, in front of her. She formed a large sphere in her palms which began to whirl around until a soft glow—or perhaps it was just the sun's reflection—seemed to emanate from its core. She guided the sphere up and down Tui's body as if she were gently wiping down a window. The old woman, who finally introduced herself as Koso the tea brewer, thanked each and every person, including Ryu, by offering to brew them tea at her shop.   "The trick is," she started, "the water has to think with you." Tui could feel the tension and aches in his body release, and he found it easier to breathe.   "Thank you," he smiled at her. Shan smiled silently and began to work her way through each of the others, bringing of them the same quiet relief. Gaun waited patiently for his turn.   "When you're finished with me, I think we should get going," he said. "I need to get back home."   "It's about a days walk to Ba Sing Se from here," Tui said.   "How do you know?" said Nok.   "Because that," Tui said as he pointed to a structure on the horizon, "is the western Waystation."