Helping a friend (Loolaalee, Tarlof)

((CONTINUED FROM: Welcome to Ba Sing Se))

As the carriage approached, Amaya saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head in that direction, but whatever had moved was gone. She looked back toward the carriage only to once again see the movement. She glanced over and saw a small dog sitting in the middle of the road, staring at her. She took an uncertain step towards it, and it jumped up with joy and ran off into some bushes. Amaya waited for a second, and the dog reappeared, this time looking a little impatient. It seemed to be calling her toward it. Amaya glanced back at Bailey and at the slowly approaching carriage, then turned back and ran after the dog. She pushed through the bushes, following the dog through various twists and turns. "Where are you taking me?" she asked as she stopped, out of breath. The dog simply barked and ran off again.

Amaya had no idea where she was anymore. All she did was follow the stupid dog. It led her into some tight spaces that only someone as small as Amaya could fit in, and finally they emerged in an old abandoned building that had the windows boarded up. The dog sat in the middle of the room, wagging its tail. Amaya looked around. The room wasn't totally dark, but she lit a flame in her palm anyway, to help her see better. The dog flinched at the sight of the flame and inched backward, growling. Amaya put the flame out and walked toward the dog, but it seemed to resent her now, and tackled her, pushing her to the ground. It then jumped off of her and ran out of the crawl space they had come through.

Anika was curled up in the corner of the room crying. She had a nightmare and ran from the orphanage. Suddenly she heard growling. she peeked over a crate she had dragged to hide herself and saw the local stray leaving and a girl her age lying on the ground. she quickly dried her eyes and crawled out of her little spot.

''he don't like fire.'' she said. ''he was abused by some boys who used fire.'' she was curious about this girl. she was dressed very well to be in this area. ''I'm Anika, who are you?''

Amaya sat up quickly at hearing the voice of another person in the room. She reached for her bow, and realized that she had left it packed with her stuff. She slowly started stepping backwards, holding her hands out in front of her. Then she realized that the person who had spoken was a girl, about her age, dressed in tattered clothes. Amaya looked at her curiously, lowering her hands. She was confused that the girl's speech was so...street. Amaya knew that there were poor districts in this city, but was it so bad to the point that the children didn't learn to talk properly?

"My name is Amaya. I'm from Ember Island. I'm visiting with my family," she said. At the mention of family, she remembered that she had left her mom and brother a ways back, and she had no idea where they were or how she would get back to them. "Oh gosh...my family...mommy will be so worried! And Shuramine...I know he'll try to find me! I can't let him get lost here, he could never survive on his own!" she said aloud, panicking. She paced back and forth in the room, her hands on her head, her breathing heavy, as she tried to figure out how she would ever find her family. She stopped as an idea occurred to her. She walked over to the girl and dropped to her hands and knees so they would be at eye level. "Do you live in the city? Can you help me find my family?" Amaya asked curiously.

Anika thought about it for a moment, drawing her knees up to her chest. ''You have a family?'' she asked, quietly. ''A real family?'' anika sniffled a little before realizing she was about to cry in front of a stranger. ''I'm sorry. I was orphaned when i was 6. We are in the lower ring. its known as the poor district or the artist ring. at least by me. I can take you to the orphanage. miss Tiánměi can help you there.'' anika stood up and held her and out to Amaya. ''Take my hand and don't let go. Ever.''

Amaya stood up, and reluctantly, reached out her hand and grabbed Anika's. "So how far is this orphanage? I ran all the way here, so i'm really tired. How long will it take to get there?" Amaya asked. She not only wanted to know the answer because she was so tired, but also because she wanted to go to the orphanage and meet this person who would help her find her family. She wanted to get back to her mother and brother as fast as she possibly could. She didn't want to think of herself as a lost or missing child, and she was already missing them. Deep down, she had a burning dread that she would never see them again, at least not in the close future. The thought scared her, and she shook it aside and took a step closer to Anika.

anika started to walk to the old door. ''not long. we are near the middle ring,'' she slid open the door opening a space about half the hight of the girls. ''the moment we get out take my hand again,'' she said as she let go. she exited the building and waited for amaya to take her hand. once she did, anika led her through the city to a wall. ''i'm going to make us a tunnel. the orphanage is just on the other side.'' she let go of amaya and got into a horse stance. she spun and thrust her right hand out at the wall. it opened like a pupil and extended al the way through the wall into her room. she grabbed amaya's hand and pulled her into the tunnel. she waved her hand above her head and brought it down behind her hard, closing the tunnel. once inside she scrambled to her dresser. ''miss Tiánměi will have heard that. i have to change before she gets her or im in trouble.'' she dug through her clothes. she pulled out a light pink under kimono and a darker pink kimono. she put them on, light pink underneath and had just tied the obi when Tiánměi walked in.

''Young lady, where have you been,'' she said before she realized amaya, ''and who is your young friend?''

''i had a bad dream and went for a walk,'' anika replied in a very noble tone ''and this is amaya. she got separate and needs help finding her family.''

Amaya crawled through the small space and stood up, taking Anika's hand again on the other side. As they ran through the city, Amaya searched frantically for her family. She knew they were out there somewhere. But Ba-Sing-Se was possibly the largest city in the earth kingdom, maybe even the world. She had no idea how she would ever find her mom and brother. She didn't stop looking until Anika let go of her hand to make the earth tunnel. The two of them crawled through and emerged in what looked like a bedroom. As Anika frantically changed clothes, Amaya looked around. It was small. There was a bed and a dresser, and a small window, but other than that there was nothing. There wasn't really room for anything more than that anyway.

Amaya looked at the door as a tall woman walked in. The lady looked at Anika. "Young lady, where have you been?" Then she noticed Amaya. "And who is your young friend?" Anika replied quickly by saying she had a nightmare and went for a walk. She then explained that Amaya was separated from her family. "Can you help me find them? Last I knew, they were taking a carriage, but I don't know where to. We're from Ember Island, so I have no idea how to get around the city. Please help me!" Amaya plead, tears welling up in her eyes.

Tiánměi smiled. ''i can do my best little one.'' she held out her hand. ''why don't you come to the kitchen with me and tell me what you can ok? if you are hungry i can get you something to eat.''

Amaya cautiously took the woman's hand. She was too scared to feel hungry, and she felt awful because of the guilt she had from running away. "So, my mom, brother, and I, along with a few family friends, came to Ba-Sing-Se on a little trip. One of our friends, Takeda Golude, had a carriage come get us to take us around the city. But before the carriage arrived, I sort of wandered off and ran into Anika here, she said, telling the story of what happened. "My mom and brother are probably looking for me now. They would be wearing fire nation clothing, like mine." She said.

''i recognize the name takeda,'' Tiánměi said thinking back. ''he was a playwrite a year or two ago. i had the pleasure of meeting him during a fundraiser for the orphanage. walks with a cane does he?''