41st
I will never forget the way the earth reared up before me, the rocks themselves lunging for my throat. Even in the midst of the violent volcanic eruptions of my homeland, I had never had reason to fear the ground beneath my feet. But this was not the Fire Nation, and the earth betrayed me.
We attacked at dawn. The sun's first rays surged through our veins and we thought we were gods among men. We were given the order. Our battle cries rang out from beneath the forest canopy.
'For the Fire Nation!'
And then we charged. My own euphoria lasted only moments.
The instant we cleared the thickets our mortality came crashing back to us. Rocks hurtled at my head and for the first time in my life I was glad of being short and skinny. Both men – no boys, my friends – either side of me were knocked flat in an instant. Larger and larger the boulders began to fall as all around me my fellows began to scream. I had to disable the catapults. If I could disable the catapults, we could reform and lead another charge. And so I rushed forward with what remained of my division.
There were no catapults. Only men clad in green.
And then, almost like a rolling ocean, the earth buckled beneath my feet. It rose up in front of me in one mammoth wave and crashed down over me and my comrades. And that is all I can recall of my first and last infantry battle.
I was not aware of much in the days following. I was not even aware of how I had managed to survive, or how badly I was injured, let alone how we had managed to win the battle when my division had been so utterly annihilated. So it is little wonder I was not aware that a world away, a boy lost his childhood and gained a scar in an effort to try and save my division. To save my friends. And me.
I was unaware of it until after the second coming of Sozin's comet. And by then, it was far too late to thank him.