Akane had been traveling for a few days now after having landed on the shore of the Earth Kingdom. While she had been I. The Fire Nation she heard rumors of the Avatar being in the capitol city, though she doubted they would stick around in the Fire Nation if they had any brains at all. So Akane had made her way to Ba Sing Se, a hub of information about absolutely anything. As she drew near the city on the back of an ostrich horse she had purchased, Akane and her tigermonkey Ryuu both looked up in awe at the wall of the city. [Color=gold]"Well Ryuu,"[/color] she spoke in a soft tone, [color=gold]"looks like we're finally here. Let's hope that it isn't for nothing. Though with how word gets around here I wouldn't be surprised if everyone knew where the guy was by now..."[/color]

Akane made her way up the path to one of the entrances, where she was stopped by a guard. "Excuse me miss, but we're going to need to search your belongings for any contraband before we can allow you to enter." Without a word Akane handed the man her travelling sack, not having anything she needed to hide. After looking through it thoroughly, the guard handed the bag back to Akane. "Alright, everything checks out. Welcome to Ba Sing Se. Try not to get yourself in trouble."

She smirked at this and stifled a laugh. [Color=gold]"Don't get in trouble? That's asking a bit much isn't it?"[/color] Before the man could respond Akane was already ridin into the city, waving back at him. Ryuu crawled up onto her right shoulder, his orange and black fur shimmering as they left the darkness of the tunnel through the wall. His ears perked up at the sounds of commotion as they wandered down the street, but Akane simply rubbed his head. [Color=gold]"Don't worry about it Ryuu. Probably just someone caught stealing. I heard it happens a lot here."[/color] She glanced over quickly, spotting a couple water tribe men and a woman who appeared to be a local by her clothing, as well as some guards or soldiers. She didn't give them a second thought as she continued.

The ostrich horse trotted along the street, the sounds of it's talons clacking and the bustle of city life filling the air. Something Akane had quickly noticed here was the quality of the air. There was a big difference between the fresh, clean air outside and this city air. To her it felt stale and stagnant. This wasn't a major concern however, as she was used to air such as this in the industrious cities of the fire nation. It was only worse here due to the giant walls keeping the air in. Despite this though, Akane was enjoying herself so far. She had been keeping her eyes open for signs along the street, and as she spotted one for a tavern she had her ostrich horse slow down. Vaulting off of the beast's back, she hitched its reigns to a pole outside the business before entering. 

As she looked around the interior Akane was hardly impressed. It looked rather old and dirty on the inside, not a place she would usually frequent. However, she was not here solely to partake in their goods. As she arrived at the counter Akane took a seat upon a stool which had clearly been sculpted by an earth bender and flagged down the bartender. [Color=gold]"Gimme something hard, would you hun? Doesn't matter what."[/color] She gave the man a wink as she finished her words, watching as he became flustered. She knew fully how her words might be misconstrued, though enjoyed the reactions she received from such wording. After the man turned to get her drink Akane inspected the bar further. It seemed like the kind of place where people shared what they knew, and Akane knew that bartenders usually ended up overhearing most conversations. Upon his return Akane slid a gold coin across the counter to him, and with a hushed voice she spoke. [Color=gold]"Say, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the Avatar, would you?"[/color]

His eyes darted from side to side before the man answered. Leaning in toward her he spoke under his breath. "Between you and me, I heard a young man from the water tribe had been smuggled out of the Fire Nation, and that he's now somewhere in the city. If what I heard about the so called Avatar incident is true, he might be the same water tribe kid." The man cupped his hand over the coin on the counter and slid it toward himself. "Just remember, you didn't hear it from me."

[Color=gold]"Of course not. Thanks for the drink though."[/color] A grin crossed her face as she picked the glass up and put her lips to it, taking a swig of the alcoholic beverage. Even now however, she still hadn't put together that the water tribe kid the man had spoken of might be the one she had seen stopped by the police force. Instead, Akane was just glad than she wouldn't need to do any serious travelling to find the Avatar.