He tugged his hood closer over his face and glanced around nervously. He had avoided coming back to the city as long as he could, but he needed to find someone. He couldn't get her face out of his mind.
Ba Sing Se was way too crowded. Zhanli didn't have a hand's breadth of room between himself and the next person. He slunk into a nook between the city sector wall and a mole-rat stable. Finally able to breathe, he looked around and noted the guards. One, two, three...eight in total.
He had to assume that all of them were part of the Wolverines.
Zhanli tried to remind himself that they couldn't tell he was an earth bender just by looking at him, and that he was acting extremely suspicious. The girl's face flashed in his mind, spurring him to keep walking. If he remembered correctly, her shop should've been this way...
He walked across a low bridge over one of the irrigation canals, pausing to look at his reflection in the too-blue water. He looked like a thief. He looked up, searching among the visible shop signs for the White Lotus.
"Hey, you!" Zhanli froze. His blood was icy, but he kept his face emotionless. He turned slowly around, coming face to face with three soldiers. "Can I help you?" He asked calmly. The soldier in the middle had emerald green and eyes; Zhanli felt them piercing into his soul.
"Remove your hood please," Green Eyes said sternly. Zhanli did as he was told, making sure to look as nonthreatening as possible. The soldier to the left spoke second.
"Where are your identification papers?" His voice was slightly nasal, and he was tall like a tree. Zhanli started to sweat.
He held his hands out, opening his cloak, and slowly reached inside for his ID. Hopefully they wouldn't look too closely. He handed it to Tree and waited patiently, looking almost bored. Tree rifled through the old papers, his brow furrowing. He looked Zhanli up and down, then glanced back at the papers. At Zhanli, at the papers. "You need to renew these, buddy," he said, handing them back. Zhanli's chest sank imperceptibly as he released his breath.
He bowed, receiving the papers. "Yes, I'll do that immediately," he responded. Green Eyes didn't look satisfied. "Why do you look so suspicious, huh? You runnin' from someone?"
"No," Zhanli blurted. "Ba Sing Se is the safest city in the world. Who would I be running from?" He added, recovering. "Well," Green Eyes rolled his neck, looking toward the ground and then flicking his eyes upward to meet Zhanli's. "Not the safest for benders."
The words were quiet and chilling. Zhanli's eyes widened a tad too much to be unnoticeable, and the third soldier finally cracked into a wicked smile.
Zhanli rolled toward the railing of the bridge, falling feet-first into the canal. Wicked Grin vaulted after him, laughing maniacally. He had to get back outside the wall. He wouldn't be safe anywhere in the city; there were too many guards. He flew through the canal and sliced his foot backwards, sending a huge wall of rock up beneath Tree. With a scream, he was launched into the air and landed somewhere behind the others, not moving.
One down, Zhanli thought. He felt something through the ground, and rolled quickly into the water. He was just fast enough to dodge the dagger Wicked Grin sent at his head. He lay under the water, holding his breath, and punched upward, drawing his right hand to his chest. Water flew as rock walls flew up around him. He stood up and bended the walls into a sphere.
Zhanli jabbed quickly left right left right left, and went rolling extremely fast through the city. He wouldn't be able to get over the wall fast enough; they would follow him. He needed another way out...the irrigation canals! There had to be a sewer or something leading out of the city, because there wasn't a natural flowing body of water throughout all of Ba Sing Se.
The bender's bare feet sensed his surroundings through the darkness of the sphere and he followed the canal he was in until he came to a fork. He took the right, which lead to the wall.
He rolled to the side, his earthen sphere disintegrating as he rolled into the safety of a deserted overhand. Well, almost deserted. His gaze shifted slowly to the left, where a kid stood motionless, mouth agape. Zhanli raised a finger to his lips and watched as Green Eyes and Wicked Grin stomped by, frustrated. Green Eyes barked in anger, slapping the water. They eventually went the opposite way in search of him.
He released a large breath and smiled wanly at the kid before creeping cautiously out of his hiding place. He ran back along the canal before reaching the wall, and seeing his exit.
He was safe now, but he would need to return. He had to find the girl.