Mayu the Destined was sent out to find Po the Bold, a Dai Li agent who went out west from Ba Sing Se. Along the way he met up with Taqqiq the Foundling and Kensaya the Hammer. While in the wildlands, they heard word of a bandit group attacking the nearby village of Hozi.
The group investigated and learned the Lapis Ward was a group made of former Yellow-Neck daofei muscle that was trying to regroup in the area away from the capitol and the threat of Avatar Kyoshi. They went northwest to look for the group's leader (Wu Xan).
Along the way they met some unaffiliated road-bandits, but Taqqiq scared them off and the companions didn't pursue. They found the Lapis Ward in a small ravine, packing up supplies and beginning to move out. Po moved on to capture Wu Xan, trying to block him off from the other daofei with a landslide. The others took on the remaining bandits while Po and Wu Xan battled it out; eventually, even with Kensaya's help, Wu Xan got the upper hand and escaped.
The group took the remaining bandits back to Hozi, and then returned to Omashu, where Rolan was waiting for Mayu. After chastising Po for his self-centered and dangerous behavior, Rolan offered Mayu a new mission: to find and bring in Chona, a former daofei who had information regarding their activities and wanted to come forward, but was afraid of retaliation (or worse). Mayu agreed, with Po's help, to find Chona, and elected the other companions also accompany him as they worked well as a team, and Kensaya knew some of the more lawless characters in the area.
The group visited one of military's underworld contacts, a water-tribe merchant named Limare. Taqqiq was able to gain some information from her, learning that Chona had fled to a small cave to the southwest that spanned beneath the river there.
The group went west and, avoiding some clever traps, found Chona hiding in the cave. They convinced her that they were her best shot at returning to Omashu safely. But upon exiting the cave, the group was met by a contingent of firebending bandits. At their head, Allaya, the Ember Knife and enemy of Kensaya....
