Chapter 19.3- And so the Dragons Danced

“Good enough. Let’s go kill a King” He said in reply. ‘Let’s’ he’d said like he was going to have any part in this suite mission. I followed the shorter man as we walked off to the edge of the camp. It was still a surprise that the Omashu soldiers hadn’t noticed yes yet, but that would change in time. Just like I was going to be sent after the King in the cover of darkness, the army was going to match for the city in the same time. The only difference was that I was going to leave earlier than they did. Much earlier. The sun had just set and the night was just beginning. 

We came across a man at the end of the camp. With the brown skin native to the earth kingdom and a grey goatee, he was distinctive, to say the least. He also had a giant cart of cabbages next to him. My brain started to short circuit as I ran through the implications of what I was seeing. 

“Natsu, meet Pau Gan-Lan the Cabbage Merchant” He said. My brain was still racing through the consequences, so all I could offer was an absent nod of my head. 

“He will get you into Omashu, under the guise of one of his farm hands. Here is your disguise” He said, passing me an outfit that I quickly put her my mission suit. 

“Off you go now” Sung said, watching us walk away. 

I had so many questions about what was going on. First of all, how could the cabbage merchant be a fire nation spy? I mean, it explained a bit. Everyone had assumed that the reason the cabbage guy kept showing up where Aang went was because the writers wanted him to have comic relief, but what if the reason he seemingly followed the Avatar around was because he was actually following the Avatar around. Keeping tabs on the Gaang on behalf of the fire nation was something else. It also explained how he always happened to have a new cart of cabbages. With the amount of times his cabbages got destroyed by the Gaang in their misadventures, one would expect him to have gone out of business pretty quickly. Replacing that much produce so quickly and consistently was well beyond most merchants, I knew. 
“I’ll do my part and you’ll do yours, Kid. You pretend to be my assistant and carry the cabbages in. When we’re in the city, I will guide us towards the palace and once we get close enough, I expect you to slip off and never be seen again. If any of this gets traced back to me, you won’t like yourself” He said with menace in his voice. 

I merely smiled widely at him, reaching up to adjust the green beret on my head, a carbon copy of his. “I understand” I said after he kept giving me an expectant look before I moved forwards and took over the cart. If I was going to pretend to be his assistant, then I had to make sure I sold it as much as possible. 

“Here you go.” He said, passing me three different strips of what looked to be hair. I took it, and confirmed that it was indeed hair. Black, coarse hair. 

“Cover up that pale skin of yours. Anyone can look at you and see that you’re fire nation from a mile away” He grunted at me. His voice had an irritable quality to it. Like he was used to being annoyed and expected to be. It was like he went through the effort of being pre-annoyed before anyone actually did anything. 

“Aye Captain.” I snarked, beginning to apply the disguise while strongly hoping and praying that the hair had not come from somewhere _undesirable_. 

XXXXXX

“Name and Business” The Gate Guard asked as we approached, barely even looking up from the list in front of him. He was obviously bored. I would be, if I were in his place. 

“Pau Gan-Lan, the Cabbage Merchant, with my nephew, Lou Gan-Lan. Here to restock the store so we can get right on selling cabbages in the morning” The merchant replied quickly, but not too quickly. I made a conscious effort to prevent any of the nervousness I felt from showing on my face as the soldier finally looked up to give us a long stare. 

“I didn’t know you had a nephew” The guard said in turn, still fixing us with a gaze. 

“Yes. My sister’s gotten tired of the boy lazing about the house so she sent him with me so he could get a feel for the family business.” The cabbage merchant was smooth but the guard kept staring at us. I looked around, noting where all the guards were. I was sure I would be able to escape from them if we got found out, but that would put months of planning to waste. 

“The youth of these days” The guard said, shaking his head before slamming a foot down. There was an audible grinding sound as the wall split to make an entrance for us to pass through. 

“Make sure to be good to your nephew, boy” The guard said as we passed him by. I nodded, not trusting my voice not to give me away. 

“Good. We’re in. Keep your head down and follow my lead" The merchant ordered. 

XXXXX

When we got to the palace it was only a matter of him leaving me alone for a few seconds for me to take off the disguise as I passed right in through the service entrance he pointed out. Once I was inside, it was easy. It was almost child’s play to walk into and across the palace once I got in. Considering that it was night time, maybe around 9 or 10 pm by my estimation, it was reasonable that there wouldn’t be that many people hanging about. 

A/N; Another update.