Zen Kai did his best to keep his cool, even with the soldiers sitting there. There were five of them, but as far as they knew, he was a simple Earth Kingdom citizen enjoying some tea.
Suddenly, a girl walked up to him, holding a cup of tea and sat down. Instantly, Zen seemed to light up inside. Even if it may be just one single person, someone actually came. He smiled as she walked up to him. She was wearing an Earth Kingdom cloak, but Zen saw a hint of her fiery red hair and a bit of her outfit underneath. Although he couldn't be sure, he believed she was from the Fire Nation, like him.
"Are you Zen Kai?" She asked quietly. Zen nodded at her and motioned her to joined him at the table. He looked over her for a moment, not speaking as he stared. He was happy someone else believed in his cause, even if it was just one person.
Or just one person for now. Not a few minutes later did another person approach him.
"Zen Kai, I assume?" He asked. Zen nodded silently, and spoke in a whisper.
"Please, have a seat." He looked over the new arrival. He wore a blue and white outfit with a hood, similar to those of the Water Tribe, which led Zen to believe this guy was also from the Water Tribe. He now looked at both of the two people sitting next to him. He was about to speak to them, and relay to them what this whole thing was about, even though they probably knew from the letter, but suddenly, another voice interrupted him. The voice was loud and booming, and caused Zen to jump a bit as she spoke. One of he soldiers looked over her as well, but then shook his head and turned back to the table with the other Earthbenders. Zen sighed in relief.
"HELLO THERE! Is this where the recipients of this letter are to congregate!?" Zen looked at her, mulling over her oddly-worded question. He spoke.
"Uh...yea...sure. Please, have a seat, miss." He said. What was more odd than her speaking style was her appearance.
Zen looked at the three of them now, and began speaking. "I'm glad you all decided to come. I'm sure the travel was quite long for some of you..." He stopped speaking as another boy. The boy sat at a table not too far away, probably just another customer, but closely following the boy was a young girl, black hair with a blue outfit. She was clearly from the Water Tribe as well.
"Hello. This may seem sudden, but are you Zen Kai?" she asked. Zen nodded, and motioned for her to sit down. The last person had done it. Now sitting with him was an assortment of oddities, and there was no way the Earthbenders wouldn't take notice, especially since some of them were clearly foreign in appearance. Zen had to think of something quick, or they would be in big trouble.
Two of the Earthbending Soldiers started pointed at them as they spoke silently to themselves, giving them suspicious looks.
Oh, man, this is it.. Zen thought as he prepared for the worst. Through his cloak, he grasped his blade, when suddenly, another, older man came up to them.
"Finally found the right tea house sorry I'm late we can now begin the first official meeting of "The Society to Prove Cat Owls Are Not Bad Luck But Instead Lovable Pets Who Have a False Reputation For Being Bad Luck"… first subject of business I think we should discuss is coming up with a shorter name that is not such a mouthful."
Zen looked at him, wondering if the man in front of him was crazy, before he realized what he was doing. He noticed the Earth Kingdom Soldiers look at Zen now, and Zen responded loudly.
"Uh...YEA, the "Society for...Cat Owls...are...Bad" can now begin!" He said, raising his hands in the air. Apparently, the plan worked, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers turned back to their own table. He overheard one of them muttering to the others.
"The Society for Cat Owls are Bad? I'm pretty sure your brother was apart of that one, right?"
"Nah, my brother's apart of the Society for the Learning of Lemur Language." said another Soldier.
Zen shook his head in disbelief as the man with the giant flask sat down with them. He nodded at him, and spoke.
"Good cover." he said to the Earth Kingdom citizen. Zen decided it was time to begin speaking, but not here.
"I'm glad all of you decided to meet with me here. This means you share my sentiments. But with those guys here..." he said, pointing at the Earth Kingdom Soldiers, "...I don't think it's a good idea to have this meeting here." He took out a map of Ba Sing Se, and opening it up. He marked a part of the map right outside the Wall of the city.
"If you guys still wanna be apart of this, I'll meet you all here. Let's leave this tea shop for now and make our way there. Try not to stay too close to each other to arouse suspicion. We can give proper introductions once we're there."
With that, Zen Kai stood up and headed for the door. One of the Earth Kingdom soldiers looked at Zen for a second, then did a double take. He spoke to the Earth Kingdom soldier next to him.
"Hey, lemme see that wanted post you have." He said. The second Earth Kingdom soldier reach into his pocket and pulled it out. The first Earth Kingdom soldier grabbed it and looked at it, then at Zen. His eyes got wide. All at once, he stood up and yelled.
"That's him! That's the Rogue! GET HIM!" He yelled. All of the Earth Kingdom soldiers automatically stood up. Zen froze in place. Two of the Earth Kingdom soldiers ran toward him, trying to subdue him, not using their bending as they were in a wooden tea shop. Zen sidestepped one, and knocked the other back with the back of his sword, which now was unsheathed. Zen yelled at the group as he ran out of the Tea Shop.
"Meet you at the spot!" He yelled, as he ran away. Two of the Earthbenders followed him. The other three looked over the rest of the group. One of them spoke.
"They must be with "Rogue"! Call for back up! Alert the city!" Instantly, one of the three remaining Earthbenders rushed outside, while the other two stayed behind and faced the group, and ran up to a giant gong, which he hit with his Earthbending, causing multiple loud bangs to emanate from it, and then travel around the entire city as more Earthbenders used a similar system. Think of it as a siren for the police.
In a matter of minutes, the entire city of Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom Soldiers in it were aware of "Rogue", AKA Zen Kai, and the group he was with. Zen, and the others were gonna have to think fast on their toes to get out of a city crawling with Earthebenders and make it to the meeting spot outside of the wall.