Chapter 14

(Location: Omashu)

Katara, Aang and Sokka looked at what was in front of them, almost hoping it was a dream. The city of Omashu stood before them, only now the Fire Nation banner fluttered above the city gates. There was a small amount of smoke coming from the upper level, indicating the presence of a new factory that must have been built by Fire Nation colonists.

"I can't believe it," Aang said, looking out over the city. He looked at his brother and sister. "I know the war has spread far, but Omashu seemed untouchable.

"That's how it was until now," Sokka said, crossing his arms and looking out over the city. - Now Ba Sing Se is the only remaining stronghold of the Earthrealm. - If he thought about it, it seemed more than alarming to him.

"This is terrible," Katara said, walking up to Aang. - But we must move on. - If the city was occupied, they had no chance of finding Bumi.

"No," Aang answered defiantly. - I'll go there to find Bumi.

"Aang, stop," Sokka told him. - We don't even know if Bumi exists...

- What? - Aang interrupted him, suddenly angry. - If?

"Alive," he stated bluntly. Aang was outraged and Katara gave him a dirty look. He ignored them both. - You'll have to face the facts. Sooner or later you will lose someone. - He looked at his sister. - We must know.

Katara ignored her brother.

"I know you chose Bumi," she told Aang, "but there are other people who can teach you earthbending."

"The point is not to find a teacher," he said stubbornly. - It's about finding my friend. "He wasn't going to leave until he knew Bumi was alive."

- Okay, then how do we get inside? - Sokka asked. Akela tensed, sniffing the air. He turned and growled, showing his fangs. - What is this, Akela? the tribesman asked, turning to see what it was.

- Hey, group with a white six-legged buffalo, we are coming behind you! - a voice rang out. A boy rode a dog up the slope. - How are you doing? "My name is Kiba Inuzuka, and this is Akamaru," he introduced himself, and the dog barked in greeting.

- Why are you doing this, Kiba? You'll scare people if you keep this up," another boy said as he joined Kiba.

- Oh, relax, Shino. "Their dog smelled us before we showed our faces," Kiba replied.

Akela's growl became louder.

- Hey! Akela is not a dog, he is a wolf! - Sokka shouted.

Kiba looked a little embarrassed.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. - I'm still learning, so your wolf seemed like a dog to me. No hard feelings, okay? - The last part was addressed to Akela, who simply flicked his tail once. To Sokka, this meant that Akela had thought things through.

Shino turned to face the slope.

-Are you coming, Hinata? - he called.

- I will be right back. "I'm not as fast as you guys," the girl said, walking up the slope.

Behind her stood a woman who looked like she was in charge.

"Kiba, you shouldn't rush into attack like that," she said. - One day you will be in trouble.

"Understood, Kurenai-sensei," he answered respectfully.

Meanwhile, Sokka took out his boomerang and prepared to use it.

- So, who are you? - he demanded.

The woman they now knew as Kurenai looked at them as if they had just appeared.

- I'm sorry, my name is Kurenai Yuhi and I'm here to protect your group. These are my students, Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru," she pointed to the first boy and the dog, "Shino Aburame," she pointed to the second boy, "and Hinata Hyuga." - She finished, pointing to the girl.

Sokka looked carefully at the people standing in front of him. Kurenai was wearing what looked like a mesh shirt with one sleeve. The shirt was covered with bandages with a pattern that resembled the stem of some kind of flower with thorns. Although Sokka was smart enough not to look too long at the older woman's upper thighs, he noticed that they were covered in bandages. Her hair was long and black, but the most noticeable thing about her were her eyes. They were red, but not red like the Fire Nation's.

Kiba was wearing black pants and a black jacket that appeared to be leather to the tribe. He had shaggy brown hair, pronounced fangs, and red tribal tattoos on his cheeks that resembled fangs. Akamaru was, in a word, big. His fur was white and there were dark brown spots on his ears. At the moment, both he and Akela were conducting the canine version of a staring contest.

Shino looked strange. He was wearing a dark jacket with a high collar that was pulled up, covering the lower half of his face. On top of the first jacket was another, dark green in color, with a raised hood that covered the upper part of the head. He was wearing safety glasses and had a backpack slung on his back. Sokka could also swear he heard the sounds of bugs on Shino.

In contrast, Hinata's appearance certainly caught the attention of those viewers who didn't bother to look at her for long. She was wearing a lavender-cream jacket, long sleeved and baggy in appearance. She was also wearing dark blue pants. She had long blue hair and her eyes were very amazing. They were white with a hint of lavender and had no pupils.

Despite their different clothing, they had one thing in common: they wore headbands (Kurenai, Shino, and Kiba wore them on their foreheads, while Hinata wore them on their necks) that had a strange symbol that almost looked like a leaf on them.

- So, we know who you are, now what are you doing here? Have you been following us? - Sokka asked, not paying attention to Katara's low whisper - Sokka!

"We were hired to protect you three," Kurenai explained.

- Who hired you?

- I think it was a man named Arnuk. He is the leader of the Northern Water tribe on this side of the planet. "She took out a scroll, inside of which was written the contents of their mission, and handed it to him.

Katara finally exhaled and explained:

- I feel sorry for my brother, he gets paranoid around strangers. - Sometimes she wanted her brother to relax a little.

Shino shook his head.

- It's completely logical to be suspicious of people you don't know, claiming that they are there to protect you. Your brother has nothing to apologize for.

- Okay, then I assume you overheard our conversation? - Sokka asked Kurenai after reading the scroll and giving it back.

She nodded.

-You plan to go into the city and save someone, right?

"That's right," he replied. "Now the question is, how do we get inside?"

- My team will be able to get inside quite easily. But I don't know if we can take you the same way.

- Do not worry about it. "I'll take care of it," Aang replied.

"Okay, we'll meet the resistance inside," Sokka decided.

- Uh... Sokka, how do you know there's resistance? - He was clearly puzzled by what the Tribesman said.

- Yes, how do you know? - Katara repeated the question in a slightly snotty tone.

He looked at them both with a blank expression.

- This is a large city of the Earth Kingdom, which is completely occupied by the troops of the Fire Nation. There must be resistance there, you just have to find them. Clear?

- No, we're going to find Bumi! Aang replied, almost yelling at him.

He sighed in irritation and despair.

- Okay, okay. But if we can't find it right now, then we'll meet resistance. - He turned back to Kurenai. - You do not mind?

She nodded.

- Everything is fine. You should look for your friend at night," she suggested. - That way they won't be so easy to detect.

- Okay, we will look for Bumi until dawn, and then we will meet with resistance. - He looked around. - Is everyone happy? - Everyone agreed. "Perhaps it would be better to leave the dog with Appa and Akela," he told Kiba.

- Why should I do this? - Kiba replied, narrowing his eyes. He went everywhere with Akamaru. He wasn't going to leave him for no reason.

- Because in the cities of the Earthly Kingdom there are no such big dogs. It will catch your eye.

Kiba thought about it. Since they were in a foreign country, it was best to play it safe and listen to the opinions of the locals.

- Good idea. He turned to Akamaru, who had broken eye contact with Akela to look at him. "Akamaru, I need you to stay with these two for now." - He pointed at Akela and Appa, who had Hinata scratching one of his ears (and loving every minute of it) - Can you do that for me?

Akamaru nodded and then turned to Akela to resume their competition. Aang, Katara and Sokka climbed onto Appa's back with Momo, Akela and Akamaru in tow.

"We're leaving," Sokka said as Aang scooped Appa into the air. As they flew under the bridge leading to Omashu, Sokka looked at Aang. - How do we get inside? - he asked as he and Katara put on their cloaks. Last time they had to literally go through the main gate, and he doubted they could do it now.