Making a Pass (Open)

[Yukiko]

“It’s not difficult to find, I promise. If you take the monorail to the Outer Wall, the Zoo is one of the stops.” Yukiko chuckled as she remembered her first time at that zoo. It had been simply massive. She had actually gotten lost for a while, something that rarely happened. Avatar Aang had made it large to begin with, but Ba Sing Se had later expanded it when it became obvious the zoo wasn’t large enough to meet the needs of both the guests and the animals any longer. And the zoo had even tried to buy Hotaka from her! They didn’t have any eel hounds to exhibit. While the sum offered had been an obscenely large amount, she’d declined. She didn’t sell out her friends for anything.

When she began paying attention again, Yukiko noticed the contemplative, worried look on Dartan’s face. She wondered for a moment what he might be concerned about. They had managed to get past her ability as a bender, after all. She pondered it for a moment before realization struck. She glanced over at Dartan, then back ahead. “Say, Dartan. Have you given any thought as to how you’ll get around the city? Or where you’ll find lodging? Or how to pay for that and food while you seek out a Master?”

[shadnicth]

Dartan looked to Yukiko as she asked how he planned to live in Ba Sing Se, with lodging, food and finding a Master. Dartan just smiled weakly, looking at his money bag and back to Yukiko.
"Well... I'm kind of the first person in like 30 years that's left my village to go find a master or travel. So I was given money by everyone to help me out. Not much, but it was all everyone could spare." He said, looking ahead and seeing the docks.

"I only have about 20 gold pieces, and 30 silver pieces." He said with a smile as he looked back to her.
"I suppose I could get a job serving tea or food... Find a place that's cheap to stay..." He said, while his voice had hesitation in it. It wasn't like he had this overall Master Plan for everything. Dartan just wanted to learn Earthbending. That was it. He turned to Yukiko, smiling.

"What would you recommend I do?" he asked her.

[Yukiko]

“What do I recommend?” Yukiko repeated quietly. She pondered the question as they walked past the first warehouse. If she thought he would listen, she’d recommend that he find a job in the Bay, earn some money and THEN head for Ba Sing Se. But she knew he was set on the city without saying a word. He had that determined gleam in his eye. Not only that, he was an Earthbender. They were notoriously stubborn. But he was going to have a trying time in Ba Sing Se with 20 gold and 30 silver pieces at his disposal. ‘I suppose I could set him up with Xiang-ya and her family. And she owns that incredible bakery near the Upper Ring. Perhaps writing her a letter...Yes. That should work.’

“Well, to be honest, you’ll have a really tough time of it if all you’ve got is 20 gold pieces and 30 silver,” she explained. “At best, you could stay in one of the better houses of the Lower Ring for a month or so with that. But I can guarantee you won’t want that. And I know I don’t want that for you. ” She shuddered, remembering the months she had spent in the Lower Ring...a time in her life she frequently tried to forget entirely. “So here’s the deal. I have a friend by the name of Xiang-ya Wei. She and her husband Renshu own a bakery called the Little Dawn. If you’d like, I can write you a letter to give her, asking if she can help you. How does that sound?”

[shadnicth]

Dartan watched with curious eyes at Yukiko as she began to mull over something as she had replied to what she would recommend, by repeating the question. She wouldn't come with him surely... He was a stranger. Who wasn't fond of Firebenders. And she was a Firebender with no home... She then began to comment how the money he had would last him very long in Ba Sing Se, even in the Lower Ring. So instead she offered Dartan a chance to stay with a family she knew as well as a chance to work with them in a bakery.

Dartan's eyes lit up. She actually was going to set him up with a home and job! He smiled wided and bowed to her.
"Thank you! That would be..." He began, straightening up as the words were suddenly lost to him. She had actually helped him in more ways than anyone else could have.
"Thank you..." He simply repeated, smiling at Yukiko.

[Yukiko]

"Thank you! That would be...Thank you..."

Yukiko shrugged as Dartan bowed and smiled at her. “Not a problem. It’s tough leaving home for the first time. I wasn’t much older than you are when I left.” They had reached the wharves by this point. She looked around, trying to remember which direction the ferry was. After a moment, she saw a line far down on her left. Turning, she walked quickly towards it, knowing Dartan would keep pace. “Looks like we found it, huh?” When she reached the person in charge of tickets—a squat little woman with a sour look—she smiled charmingly. She’d stayed with Daiyu on her first stay here. “Hey Daiyu, tough day?” As she spoke, she grabbed a spare piece of paper from beside the woman. Using the quill, she began writing the letter to Xiang-ya in calligraphy—as she always did.

“You have no idea, Yukiko...What can I do for you? Besides let you use all my paper and ink.”

“My friend here is hoping to get to Ba Sing Se.” Yukiko distractedly gestured towards Dartan. “Is it leaving soon and how much for a ferry ticket? And are you going on this voyage?”

“Within the next hour. It’s ten silver pieces for steerage. Twenty for second class rooms. Two gold pieces and fifteen silver, if he wants to ride comfortably. And of course I am.”

“Mm....” Yukiko signed her letter with a flourish and blew on it to speed the drying of the ink. As she rolled and tied it up, she continued speaking. “Excellent, Daiyu.” She reached into the pack at her side and pulled out her money purse. Counting out three gold pieces, she handed it over to the woman. “Keep the change, okay?” Daiyu nodded and wrote out a ticket. “I suppose you want me to show him around before I head off?”

“Nah. I’d like you to take him to Xiang-ya. Can you?”

“I suppose,” the old woman grumbled. Yukiko chuckled, taking the ticket. She turned back to Dartan. Handing it and the letter to him, she said, “Daiyu will get you to Xiang-ya. And the first thing you need to do when you get there is to give the letter to her. She won’t want much to do with you otherwise.” Giving him a pat on the shoulder and a kiss on the cheek, Yukiko turned back the way they had come. “Best of luck, Dartan,” she called over her shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll go far in your training.”

‘And now to see a man about some Laogi plants.’

End.