In the weeks following the fall of Ba Sing Se, Song had left home as much to seek her fortune as to get away from everything that had gone wrong since the theft of their ostrich-horse.  Her mother hadn’t been happy with her decision, but she had eventually acceded, realising that her daughter would likely sneak off in the middle of the night were she forbidden the chance to leave.  She only wished Song hadn’t picked such a tumultuous time to leave.

Now on her own, earning her way across the Earth Kingdom as a travelling doctor, Song was enjoying the solitude of her travels.  Her solitude was shortly broken by a crashing noise from the nearby underbrush.

Brown eyes went wide, and Song immediately ducked behind a tree — the forests were filled with dangerous animals and people.  The crashing noise was shortly followed by a thin man somewhere in his early twenties, accompanied by a large bear of some kind. "Bosco, I think we're lost," the man said.

…or possibly not.  There was no way that man could be dangerous, Song noted.  There was an air of childlike innocence about him.

"Maybe we should have stayed with the others. Then at least we wouldn't be lost..."

Before she realised what she was doing, Song had stepped out from behind her tree.  “Are you travelling anywhere in particular?” she asked him gently.

He jumped a little, then smiled at her. "No, just wandering. Learning about the world."

She blinked.  “It’s a bit dangerous to be ‘just wandering’,” she said.  He had a nice smile, at any rate.

"Oh, I know that. The others tried to talk me out of it. But Bosco and I decided we should learn something about the world, since--well, never mind. I probably shouldn't talk about that, anyway."

Was he running from something? She could sympathise with that.  “Is Bosco your…,” she tried to find a word, “ah, companion?”  She nodded to the animal.

"Yes! This is Bosco, he's a bear." He smiled brightly at her.

Song couldn’t help but smile back.  Turning to the bear, she bowed.  “It’s nice to meet you, Bosco.”

Bosco waved a paw at her.

“He seems very intelligent,” she commented.

"Oh, yes, he is!"

She looked up at the man.  “What about you?”

"What about me?" he asked, blinking at her through a pair of tiny glasses, perched on his nose.

“What’s your name?”

"Kuei. What's yours?"

“I’m Song.”  She offered him another smile.

He grinned back, and bowed. "It's wonderful to meet you, Song!"

She bowed in return, understanding that there was no possible way she could in conscience allow these two to wander on their own anymore.  “A pleasure, Kuei.”

Bosco groaned his agreement.

“Have you been travelling long?” Song wanted to know.

"A few weeks," Kuei replied.

“Really?  What a coincidence!”

"Is that how long you've been travelling, Miss Song?"

“Yes, it is.”  She smiled.  “I got restless.”

"That sounds lovely." He smiled back.

“Perhaps we should travel together, then?”

"Sure, if you'd like to."

“Well, it does get a little boring, being alone,” Song pointed out.

"I suppose you're right. Although I have Bosco, it's nice to have human people to talk to, too."

“Yes, it is.”  Song fiddled idly with her braid.

Seeming satisfied with this turn of events, Kuei then turned to Bosco, whispering something in the bear's ear and scratching it.

“Does Bosco approve?” Song asked, half-teasing.

"Yes, he does," Kuei said, turning back to her and smiling brightly.

There was that childlike innocence again.  How had he gotten to be that old and yet still retain it?  To distract herself from the dark turn her thoughts were taking, Song replied, “I’m glad.”

"Would you like to meet him a little better?" he offered.

“How so?”

He took her hand, and pulled her over to the bear. "Let him sniff your hand, and then, if he likes you, he'll let you pet him!"

“A-all right,” she conceded, since she was already there.  She noticed Kuei hadn’t said what Bosco would do if he didn’t like her.  Fortunately, this didn't turn out to be a problem, as the bear sniffed at her hand, then licked it and rolled over.  Hesitantly, she petted him.  “Oh!”

He grinned at her, and Kuei clapped his hands in delight.

“He’s so soft,” Song said wonderingly.

"Yes, he is, it's wonderful."

“It really is.”  Song grinned up at Kuei, almost feeling like a little girl herself.  He grinned back, now unsure what to say to her.  After a moment, Song looked up at the sky.  “It’s getting late.”

"Is it?" He looked up, as well. "Oh! Yes, I suppose it is."

“Maybe we should make camp for the night?”

"...all right..." He frowned. Mostly, he and Bosco just stopped and curled up someplace sheltered to sleep when they got tired.

However, it quickly became apparent that by ‘make camp’, Song really meant ‘make a fire’.  She had a tarp in her pack, but that was for spring rainstorms.

"How do those stones work?" Kuei asked, watching her use her spark rocks.

Song paused and glanced at him.  “You’ve never used spark rocks?”

He shook his head. "No, Miss Song."

How in the world had he…?  No, not thinking about that.  “Then come over here and watch,” she said gently.  “You strike them together like this,” she demonstrated, “and the friction creates sparks that can be used to start a fire.”  Her leg throbbed a little bit, and she laid down one of the rocks to rub it absently.

"Are you all right?" He asked, when his excitement over the rocks had faded and he noticed her rubbing her leg.

She stopped immediately.  “Yes, fine.”  She smiled at him.  “Just an old scar.  Nothing to worry about.”

"All right, if you're sure." He turned back to the rocks. "Can I try?"

“Of course.  But be careful.  Fire is unpredictable.”

"Right, of course." He took the rocks and banged them together--and nothing happened.

Song smiled and moved to sit just behind him and to the side.  “Here,” she said, covering his hands with her own and moving them.  “Try it at more of an angle, like this.”

This time, he made a spark, and his eyes lit up. "This is amazing!"

“You’ve really never seen spark rocks before?”

He shook his head. "No, I haven't. ...There's a lot I haven't seen," he said, frowning slightly. "That's why I'm here, you see. To learn about the world."

Song nodded.  “That makes sense.”  Even if your timing is fairly poor.

"But I'm learning so many wonderful things," he said, eagerly. "Like these spark rocks. Magnificent!"

She couldn’t help but laugh.  “Yes, I suppose they are.”

He grinned at her. "Yes!"

“Would you like to keep them?”

"...They're yours..." he said, uncertainly.

“I brought a spare set,” she told him with a smile.  “I tend to keep doubles of almost everything — I work as a doctor, you see.”

"Thank you! That's so kind of you!"

Song’s eyes darkened as she remembered the last thing kindness had earned her, but she quickly covered that thought.  Kuei was not Lee.

Kuei spent the rest of the evening bouncing around delightedly from subject to subject, telling her all about everything he'd seen in the last few weeks he'd been travelling, until he curled up next to Bosco, and fell asleep.

For a long few moments, Song watched the man sleep, feeling somewhat envious that he’d managed to keep the innocence the war had taken from her years before.  Her last thought before sleep took her was: Who are you, Kuei?

 

 

They’d travelled together for nearly three weeks when trouble found them.  Song had been explaining the uses of ginger to combat nausea when chains spun out of nowhere, tangling around Bosco’s limbs and dumping the bear to the ground.  Startled, the girl rose to her feet, instinctively stepping in front of Kuei as three men in green emerged from the foliage.

Kuei's eyes widened, taking in the chains and the uniforms, and he let out a startled cry of surprise, then reached forward and jerked Song behind him.

“K-Kuei, what—” she started, only to be interrupted when one of the men stepped forward, holding the thin man’s gaze.

“We’ve been looking for you.”

"I-I'm not going back with you," he said, a little shakily. "Let Bosco go!"

The man smiled coldly.  “I’m afraid you have no choice.  Co-operate, or things will go badly for your little friend there.”

Song went cold.  How dare he use her to threaten Kuei!  “I’d kill you first!” she snapped.

"Leave Miss Song out of this!" Kuei cried, keeping himself between her and the men.

“We will,” said the spokesman, so long as you—”  He stopped, transfixed by the arrow that had just lodged in his throat.  As he collapsed, his companions started to react, only to be impaled by a single arrow each and follow him to the forest floor.

Kuei cried out and backed up into Song, who grabbed him and tried to find the source of the arrows.  The source, however, found them — a young man about Song’s age dropped from the trees above them and approached the bodies.  Slinging a longbow over his shoulder, he methodically searched the bodies, putting coins in a pouch on his waist and tucking papers into his shirt.

Kuei was shaking slightly, staring at the bodies with an expression on his face that Song had never seen there before.

Rage.

That rage frightened her more than anything — who were those men, and why did they inspire such out-of-character emotions in him?  “Kuei?” she asked, hesitantly.

He didn't answer, still staring at the bodies.

“Kuei?” she tried again, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He jumped a little. "Oh!"

“What is it?” she asked him softly.  “What’s wrong?”

"N-nothing. Are you all right? Did they...?"

“No, I’m fine,” she reassured him.  “Are you all right?”  The bowman had moved onto the third body by now.

"Y-yes, I think so." He turned back to glare at the bodies, fists clenched.

“Who were they?”

“Dai Li,” said the bowman now as he turned away from the last, closing his pouch.

“…what are Dai Li?”

"Ba Sing Se's secret police," Kuei replied, shortly, then went over to Bosco to try and unchain him.

What do the secret police of Ba Sing Se want with Kuei? she wondered, following him to help.  We’re not even close to the city…

He put his arms around the bear's neck, and started shaking again, sinking to his knees.

“Kuei…”  Song hesitated, then knelt next to him and hugged him gently, trying to ease his fear.  He took a deep, shuddery breath, then buried his face in Bosco's fur.  Whoever these Dai Li were, whatever they wanted with Kuei, Song realised that she hated them for causing such fright in this innocent man.  She tightened her hug and softly said, “I won’t let them near you, Kuei.  I promise.”

"Don't do that," he said. "Th-they'll hurt you..."

“I’m a doctor,” she replied, and left it at that.

The bowman spoke again without warning.  “They’ll have reinforcements.”

"Oh, no...."

Song released Kuei and stood up.  “Then we’ll have to leave before they get here.”

The thin man nodded, finished unchaining Bosco, and stood up as well.

The bowman watched them, then said, “Follow.”  Without waiting to see if they would obey, he turned and strode off.

Kuei shivered a little, sparing the bodies another look, then did so.

Song picked up the rear with Bosco, not looking back once.  Let the scavengers take the bodies.