In the year of the dragon, an event occurred which would plunge the world into a seemingly endless darkness. It was the beginning of the great war. When Fire Lord Sozin, in his greed and his lust for power, launched a devastating attack on the world. The war stretched over the entire globe. There were many victories and many defeats for all nations. Most of what is known to have happened in these battles come from those who fought. The soldiers in the front lines, feeling the pain of battle and the rage of war first hand, they alone knew what truly happened at each battle, each siege, and each invasion. These are the stories of those soldiers who fought so bravely in that conflicting time....
The War Chronicles: Book One, Fire.
It was on one warm summer night, at the fire nation capital, when a young Fire Nation boy could be seen running through the streets. His name was Roni.
Roni was sixteen years old. He looked like the average fire nation boy, pale white skin, shaggy jet black hair, and fiery golden eyes. He had always lived in the capital city with his parents, but ever since his father had died eight years ago, times had been rough for Roni and his mother. They lived in a small apartment, in a dirty rundown part of the city. His mother would leave each morning, to go wash dishes at a nearby tea house and come back late at night, exhausted.
And Roni knew that she did this just to get the small amount of money needed to keep them both alive. Roni needed to help her in anyway he could, even if it meant doing things his mother wouldn't want him to do, behind her back. So he got some work from the leader of a gang. And that was the reason he was running from gang members on the night of the fire festival.
He ran as fast as he could down the abandoned streets, closely followed by three large teenagers. He leaped over some boxes and threw down a fruit cart as he sped by.
The fruit splattered on the ground and the two largest of the three teenagers slipped and fell flat on their backs, while the skinnier and shorter one hopped over their heads and continued the chase.
Roni made a sharp right turn down an ally way and knocked over some barrels of water. He kept sprinting, and glanced behind him to see the the last gang member closing the gap between them. He dashed over a wall and climbed up on to the roof of a low building. The gang member still followed. Roni leaped across to the top of another building. He was about to jump to another when the gang member tackled him and they both rolled off the building and down to the hard earth.
He laid there panting and groaning as the the gangster stumbled to his feet. Roni looked at the shaved head and fiery expression of the gangster, as he spat on him and spoke.
"I finally caught ya, you little rat! You put us through a lot of trouble, which, frankly, just makes us angry, and you don't want to do that, but you did! And now we got ya!"
The bald headed gangster roughly grabbed Roni by the collar of his tunic and slammed him against the wall of the building.
"Alright now scum, I'm gonna take you back to the boss and boy, he is not gonna be happy with you!"
"But wait do you really want to take me back to Kroi?" Roni said feebly.
"Yes, I REALLY do."
" Oh, OK then but- WAHHHH what is that!!!!???" Roni screamed and pointed down.
The gangster looked down, and Roni immediately brought he arm up, a wave of golden flame followed it.
"MY EYES!!!!" the gangster screamed as he fell to his knees, his hands covering his burned face. Roni leaped over him and sprinted down the ally. He turned a corner and right when he thought he was home free, he slammed right into the other two gangsters. Roni fell flat on his back and looked up at the two very large gangsters, who were apparently covered in smashed fruit.
"ohhhhh, uhhhh....hi fellas whats going on" the gangster grabbed him by his shoulders and lifted him up. The bald gangster came up from behind, his face red from both anger and the burns he received.
"Take him to Kroi, NOW!"
They took Roni down several streets till they reached a half burned down abandoned building, they walked inside into a large open room where there were a few other teenagers. One of them, who was shorter than the rest and had the palest skin and his black hair spiked up, spoke.
"Roni! Its so good to see you again, I've been expecting you for some time now. Here have a seat."
"Thanks Kroi, but I really need to leave, I kinda had other plans for this evening so.....if you don't mind..." Kroi grabbed Roni and slammed him down on to a hard wooden chair.
"Oh no you don't, Roni, we had and agreement, remember? I gave you ten silver pieces last week and last night you were supposed to break into governor Qin Lao's house and bring me anything of value you could find. But my boys was watching the governor's place last night and you never showed up!"
"Thats not true! I showed up last night, its just that....the house looked to well protected."
"Don't give me that! The place was empty, only one or two guards and that was it. You know all the governors and noblemen were summoned to the palace last night, so why didn't you go in!"
"I......uhhh...well...you see...."
"I've had enough, Ju Li teach him a lesson."
Kroi stepped aside and a huge gangster stepped in front of Roni.
"WAIT......WAIT!!!! I have the stuff you wanted, it's hidden, I'll show you where!"
"Thats impossible, my boys said NOBODY went inside last night."
"I did, I promise let me show you, its not far."
"Alright, but if you make one wrong move, you're a dead man!"
The Gangsters tied Roni's hands behind his back and took him to the door, as soon as he was out the door, he sprinted down the street.
"AFTER HIM!!!!"
Roni kept running as he dodged knives and fireballs. If he could just reach the palace, he would be safe. He turned a sharp corner and jumped into an ally and hid behind some crates. He watched as the
gangsters ran by. Safe at last, he thought. He moved around to try and untie the ropes which kept his hands behind his back, if he tried to make a flame he would just end up burning himself, because he was not a very good firebender, he had only taken a few lessons from his father before he died. He would do anything to learn better firebending.
Just then Roni looked to his left, and there was the bald headed gangster his face burned red, in his hand was a long knife.
"Now I got ya!"
Roni quickly kicked with his right leg and sent out small fireball which struck the gangster and slammed him against a wall, knocking him out.
Roni ran down several more streets till he finally reached the Fire Nation Palace, where the great fire festival was being held. Roni scanned the crowds with his eyes till he found who he was looking for.
In a corner their was another teenager, it was Roni's best friend, Zhang. Zhang was a year older than Roni and had long black hair which he almost constantly stroked with his hand and wore the finest clothes his parents could buy. He had lived his whole life on Ember Island till his family moved to the capital six years earlier. He was a very good firebender, the only problem was that he was a very bad teacher so he couldn't teach Roni more firbending moves.
So Zhang stood in the corner surrounded by three attractive girls, he was talking to them and trying to impress them, when he noticed Roni.
"Excuse me ladies for just a moment." he said and walked over to Roni.
"Well, well, well, look what the cat-rabbit dragged in. man, what happened to you?"
"Its a pretty long story, Zhang, but I'll tell you later, right now do you think you could get this rope off me?"
"Sure. Do you want me to Burn it off!" he said and entered a dramatic firebending stance.
"no, no thats fine, if you could just get me a knife, that would work awesome."
"always gotta do things the boring way don't you." Zhang said as he pulled out a knife and cut the ropes.
"yeah well, the boring way just always seems to be the less painful way." Roni replied as he rubbed his sore wrists.
Roni looked around at the huge crowds, the dazzling lights, the fire jugglers, the loud musicians and hundreds of food carts.
"so uhhh, I don't really get it, why would Fire Lord Sozin just have a random festival for no reason?" Roni asked.
"Well because he loves us of course! I mean seriously, we have the strongest nation in the whole world. Thats something for the Fire Lord to be proud of. Wait here comes the Fire Lord himself!"
immediately all the crowds fell on their knees and bowed as Fire Lord Sozin walked out of the palace gate followed by the fire sages, politicians, Generals, admirals and a ton of other people.
Then the strong old white haired Fire Lord smiled and spoke.
"My dear people, some of you probably wonder why I'm having this festival for you all, trust me, there is a great reason for it, a reason for great joy and celebration which I will announce in just a moment. But first I want you to think of what good fortune we all have to live in such a nation as this. We have such great wealth and an abundance of food that we sometimes forget that there are other nations less fortunate than us.
And it was then that I realized that the people of the other nations are suffering, and that only we could help them,and that is why I have officially declared open war on the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads."
the huge crowd, which had been cheering so loudly only a moment ago, was now completely silent. And each person had a horrified expression on their face. Sozin's smile now faded into a hard grim face.
"Yes, I have declared war on each of the other nations, but I did not do this for my own gain or even for the gain of the Fire Nation. I am doing this to help the poor people of the world who are being abused by an oppressing nation.
Some of you may remember many years ago, I had invaded the Earth Kingdom, but Avatar Roku attempted to assassinate me and threatened to kill me if I did not pull my troops out of the Earth Kingdom, I did so, and lost all hope in my cause, but twelve years ago Avatar Roku died, and ever since then I have been planning and building everything I need to free the people of the world.
Some of you don't understand what I mean when I say that the people of the other nations are being oppressed well I'll give you examples: the Earth Kingdom, so large a nation with so many people, you would think that the Earth King would care for his people, but no! He cruelly taxes them so that he cold build his palace and if they can not pay the taxes, which many of them can't, they are imprisoned!
The Water Tribes, such a savage and barbaric people, I'm sure that many of you don't know that in the Water Tribes, women are denied of some of the most basic rights! And are treated like dogs by those brutish barbarians who call themselves Men!
And finally the Air Nomads: many of you think that they are a peaceful people with no army whatsoever, if that is what you think, then you also have fallen under their allusion. For I have recently gained intelligence stating that the Air Nomads have armies hidden in each of their temples, and their just waiting for the right time to strike. So now my people I urge you, follow my lead and together we , the Fire Nation shall free the world!"
Sozin raised his hands high as the crowds let out a huge roaring applause. Roni was silent, unsure of what to think he looked over at Zhang who was cheering as hard as he could. Then over a hundred uniformed Fire Nation soldiers stepped out on to the stage and Sozin spoke again.
"People of Fire, I present to you the first Fire Nation soldiers who will be landing in the Earth Kingdom in one week, they leave tomorrow. Please treat them kindly." with that, Sozin went back into the palace and the soldiers came down into the crowds.
Zhang turned over to Roni, who had a grim look on his face.
"whats the matter?"
"I don't know, Zhang, this war......it just...i don't know, doesn't feel right somehow."
"WHAT!? Think about it man, the Fire Nation, the supreme power in all the universe! And since we live in the Fire Nation, we'll probably get RICH!"
"Zhang.......you're already rich."
"No, my parents are rich. But anyway you'll see, this war will change our lives."
"yeah, I guess your right."
Zhang started walking back to the corner he was at before with the girls, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two soldiers talking to the girls. He kept walking towards them.
"alright girls, I'm back, hows about we go get a bite to eat?"
The girls hardly even noticed him, then one of them spoke.
"No thanks Zhang, we wanna stay here with Lie and Tin Lee, did you know they are soldiers."
"No, I didn't even notice the big flashy red uniforms."
then the one of the soldiers turned to the girls.
"hey, anyone wanna get some dinner, on me." he said as he pulled out a bag filled with money. Zhang's mouth dropped when he saw the bag. "Hey, it pays to be in the military." the soldier said, then walked off with the other soldier and the girls.
Zhang scowled and walked aimlessly through the crowd, mumbling to himself.
"Stupid soldiers.........think they're so tough.....with their money.....and uniform....grrrrrrr!"
He realized he was hungrier than he thought,so he walked up to a food car, and stood in line. He was near the front of the line when a soldier walked up and was about to get in line when he noticed how long it was, he sadly started to walk away, when the food merchant called him over.
"Hey you, soldier. You can come to the front of the line, and soldiers eat free too."
This was too much for Zhang. He threw his arms in the air and yelled.
"WHY CAN'T I GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE! Why can't I get free food, or impress girls or have lots of money!"
There was an awkward silence and everyone stared at Zhang. Then the soldier looked at him and said, " If you want all those things, why don't you just go sign up?" he pointed over to a couple of tables, where recruiters were seated and there was a line of men waiting to enlist.
"well then maybe I will!" Zhang stormed off in the direction of the tables when he stopped and thought for a minute. " Why don't I join the army.......I'll get money......power...and all the hot Earth Kingdom babes! But no.....I can't go alone...that wouldn't be any fun...I know, I'll get Roni to come."
Zhang immediately ran off to find to find his friend. He found him back where he left him, with the sad, distraught look on his face.
"Hey buddy, whats wrong, you're not still like this because of the war are you!?" Zhang prayed that it wouldn't be the war, because if it was, he would never get Roni to join him.
"Oh, no it's not that, its just that....well...my mom doesn't have much money left, and our land lord said he's kicking us out if we don't get him his rent by next week, and my mom still has to pay for our food this entire week. Plus I have a bunch of angry gang members who wanna kill me, and I cant fight them."
"oh, man that sucks, I would give you money, but you know my parents, they're kinda stingy when it comes to giving me money.......but hey, I got an idea, you and me should join the army!"
"WHAT! Are you crazy, we'll be killed! We can't fight Earth Bender, let alone Airbenders or Waterbenders. And how would joining the army help us?"
"well......for one thing you could get the money you need, and you would be off in the Earth Kingdom, or some other place that the gang members can't get you at, and the army will teach you how to fire bend. Not to mention the dozens of adventures you and I will have together, come on man, how can you not benefit from this?"
"well......I guess your right....but still..."
" Roni, think seriously for a second. You know they're gonna get you whether you want them to or not."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we're going to war with the entire world! They'll need hundreds of thousands of troops! Which means theres gonna be a draft if enough people don't sign up, which I bet you they won't. So what do ya say. Wanna be soldiers?"
Roni sighed. "alright, you convinced me. Where do we sign up?"
the two boys ran over to the enlistment desk, where a middle aged officer sat with a pen and paper.
"Come to sign up?"
"why yes, as a matter of fact, we have." Zhang said.
"Alright then, sign here, you'll meet at dawn tomorrow morning at Fort Shun, there you'll be transported to Bei Lee Island for training."
"DAWN!!?? you mean we gotta leave tomorrow!?" Roni said, surprised at how quickly he had to leave.
"The war waits for no one."
Zhang handed him the pen, Roni sighed and wrote his name. "Here we go."Zhang looked at him and smiled. " this is it, Roni, we're going to War.
Next chapter: chapter II, Training.
Sorry this chapter was kinda long, I couldn't split it in half because this story is really about the war, and I wanna spend the least amount of time possible outside of it.
Please R&R thanks.