Chapter 20: Zoo

"Will you abandon me this time, Monk Gyatso?" Asked Aang lightly as he glanced at Gyatso while walking down the bustling street of Ba Sing Se.

"Hoho, abandon is such a harsh word; I prefer the term independence. Like a baby chick leaving the nest." Remarked Gyatso with a soft chuckle as he looked at Aang, who faintly sighed while shaking his head.

"I don't think I'm ready to become independent just yet; I'm merely eight; can't you at least wait until I've reached puberty?" Said Aang softly while observing the various citizens of Ba Sing Se and the occasional street vendors.

I didn't get a response from Monk Gyatso as he merely chuckled, causing me to sigh while I decided to forgo the entire conversation as I changed topics.

"You've visited Ba Sing Se before, right, Monk Gytaso? So, do you have any specific places in mind?" Asked Aang curiously as he glanced at Gyatso, who nodded while rubbing his chin.

"I've got a few places in mind, but not many, though." Replied Gyatso lightly as he observed his surroundings while walking beside Aang, who nodded.

"What do you have in mind?" Said Aang with a raised eyebrow as he gently kicked the air, creating a gust of wind that navigated through the legs of numerous civilians to catch a toddler from falling.

"Middle Ring Earth market, Palace grounds and Royal Palace, Firelight Fountain, Ba Sing Se Zoo, University, and Monorail." Stated Gyatso lightly as he rubbed his chin with seven fingers in the air, slightly surprising Aang.

"Seven different places? Seems you've visited this place often. Also, the Royal Palace? Are we even allowed in there?" Remarked Aang as he gave Gyatso a surprised look, causing him to smirk while nodding.

"Heh, I was quite the active Air Nomad; I had a great friend who visited many different places around the world, and I often accompanied him." Replied Gyatso with a grin as he glanced at Aang, who skeptically looked at him, only to smirk afterward.

"As for the Royal Palace, don't worry; the current Earth King owes me a big favor. He won't mind if we do a little exploration of his palace." Added Gyatso with a smirk as he winked at Aang, causing him to nod.

'Hmm, I really need to ask Roku what type of stuff he and Monk Gyatso got into during their younger days.' Thought Aang lightly with a raised eyebrow as he eyed Gyatso, only to gently shake his head.

"So, which one shall we visit first?"

"Well, that depends; which one interests you the most?" Replied Gyatso with his own question as he eyed Aang, who furrowed his brows with a thoughtful expression.

"The Royal Palace doesn't interest me much, so we can save that for last; as for the Monorail, Firelight Fountain, and Earth market, they are somewhat appealing, but I find either the Zoo or University to be interesting." Declared Aang softly while gazing at the sky, causing Gyatso to nod.

"Well, I'm sure you're visiting the University for their large repertoire of scrolls and books; however, you won't be able to read it all in one day, so I suggest the Zoo." Remarked Gyatso lightly, his words causing Aang to furrow his brows before slightly nodding.

"Yes, I suppose you're correct, Monk Gyatso. Maybe I should set aside the University for an entire day instead." Muttered Aang quietly as he rubbed his chin, causing Gyatso to chuckle while grabbing his bo-staff off his back.

"Hoho, what a studious Air Nomad. Have a little fun, Aang; no need to be a boring nerd." Said Gyatso with a chuckle as he leaped onto his glider and flew into the air while Aang's facial expression uncontrollably twitched.

"D-Did Monk Gyatso just call me a… Boring nerd?" Said Aang in disbelief as he stared at Gyatso's figure, only to leap onto his glider and follow after him.

'Roku, we're going to need to have a talk sooner than I thought.' Mused Aang solemnly as he flew through the air while Roku unknowingly watched in amusement.

Putting aside the fact that the only person I'd call a father had just called me a boring nerd, we flew through the skies of Ba Sing Se atop our gliders as we headed toward the city's Zoo; obviously, we weren't walking, the city is far too large and densely packed for that, but thankfully we had gliders to help but. However, even still, it took us nearly five minutes before we neared our destination, causing me to really marvel at how extensive Ba Sing Se truly was.

Landing on the ground outside of the Zoo's entrance, we garnered a lot of looks from the surroundings like always, but, over these past two months, it's something I've gotten used to, so I paid them no heed and continued like usual.

"One adult and one child." Said Gyatso with a faint smile as he stood before the cashier and placed several coins on the table.

"Y-Yes, here you go, Sir. Enjoy Ba Sing Se's Zoo." Remarked the cashier with a professional smile as she took the coins and handed two bronze tickets to Gyatso.

Once Monk Gyatso received the two tickets, we then headed deep into the entrance of the Zoo, eventually standing in a short line for a few moments as we quickly reached the checkpoint where they checked for tickets; since we had ours, we were promptly allowed access into the Zoo.

"So, where shall we go first, Aang? This is your experience, as I've already been here before." Asked Gyatso with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Aang while gesturing to the large map of the Zoo.

Gazing at the map, I noticed the Zoo was separated into four different parts or sections, and unsurprisingly, they referred to the four different bending countries. Beasts that inhabit the Fire Nation and Water Tribe ecosystems are on the right, with the former being in the far back, while Beasts that inhabit the Air Temples and Earth Kingdom ecosystems are on the right, with the former being in the far back.

However, considering I've never been to the Fire Nation or the Water Tribes despite living close to the Southern Water Tribe, it was an obvious choice.

"Water Tribe and the Fire Nation." Stated Aang calmly as he went to the right, taking the lead while Gyatso closely followed behind.

After a minute of walking, I finally began to see beasts I'd never laid eyes upon, only beasts I'd read about in scrolls, so while a little difficult, I could identify a few of them.

"An Owl Wolf is much larger than I had thought." Muttered Aang lightly as he gazed at the large enclosure where a few Owl-Wolves flew and walked about.

The enclosure beside the Owl-Wolves were just ordinary wolves, yet they were significantly smaller than their crossbreed cousins, causing me to slightly tilt my head since, by all accounts, it made no sense; after all, owls are smaller than wolves, yet somehow, by combining them, they reach a size comparable to that of a horse if not even slightly larger.

'The beauty and mystery of life.' Mused Aang lightly as he shook his head and glanced between a wolf and an Owl-Wolf.

Anyway, I wasn't only here for two different beasts and continued walking through the Water Tribe section, taking my time and admiring many different beasts, such as the Buffalo Yak, Mink Snake, Snow Leopard Caribou, Polar Bear, White Hamster, and many other's that would take quite a while to name, and those were merely just the land animals, I hadn't even touched the aquatic beasts.

"Heh, a Polar Bear Dog." Muttered Aang with a faint smirk as he gazed at the large beast comparable to a polar bear, if not larger in some rare cases.

"Hmm, is something unique about them, Aang?" Asked Gyatso curiously as he glanced at the Polar Bear Dog enclosure.

"No, I just find it slightly amusing that such adorable creatures hold such a fierce and aggressive reputation." Said Aang lightly with a faint smile as he eyed the beasts while Gyatso nodded in agreement.

"Yes, they can be quite adorable, but you can easily say the same for Sky Bisons, no?" Remarked Gyatso with a slight chuckle as he rubbed his chin before glancing at Aang.

"Well, to be fair, Monk Gyatso; Sky Bison are naturally peaceful, unlike the Polar Bear Dog." Stated Aang lightly as he continued walking down the path while Gyatso followed behind him.

"Hoho, true. But an enraged Sky Bison is far more terrifying than a single Polar Bear Dog." Declared Gyatso with a faint chuckle while Aang promptly nodded in agreement.

"I'd rather face a pack of those beasts than ever experience an enraged Sky Bison." Remarked Aang, his words causing Gyatso to laugh loudly while gazing at the other enclosures.

"You haven't told a single lie, Aang."

Monk Gyatso and I continued exploring and observing the various enclosures, coming across various dangerous and peaceful beasts, though after an hour or so, I began heading towards the Fire Nation section, and I was very curious about their beasts.