A/N: Howdy everyone! I haven't written a story in a long while, but I recently joined a challenge forum. They encouraged me to get back into this, so voila! For the Long Haul challenge, here is, "The Flames of War". And to my forum friends: it was 1500 words before the author's notes, I promise!
"Are you even listening to me, lieutenant?"
Snapping out of his reverie, Huojin nodded. "Yes, sir," he replied, quickly, "I'm sure we'll be out of this forest in no time."
Laughing, Lt. Colonel Katsu turned his head back toward the front. "If you want to get anywhere against these Earth Kingdom brutes, you have to focus," he said, confidently, "Thinking isn't in their repertoire. How do you think we've driven this far inland in so short a time?"
Huojin shook his head, but chose to remain silent. Katsu was an overweight moron, who spent more time chasing his secretary around a desk than he did actually commanding his battalion. Having the man with his platoon was quickly becoming burdensome, as all he did was talk about how easy the campaign was going to be. If Katsu knew what he was talking about, they'd be marching into Ba Sing Se within a week. Huojin, however, believed that the Earth Kingdom soldiers might have different plans.
"Sir," Huojin began, choosing his words carefully, "We should be as quiet as possible. An Earth Kingdom patrol could hear us, and…"
"Oh, hogmonkeys, lieutenant!" the fat man exclaimed, with a laugh, "There aren't any Earth Kingdom soldiers in these godforsaken woods! And even if there were, it's nigh on impossible that they'll find us!"
"They will with your fat mouth yapping on!" a soldier called out.
"Who said that?!" Katsu blustered, looking angrily at the unit behind him, "I swear by the spirits I will have you court-martialed!"
Nobody answered him, each man keeping as blank a face as possible. Huojin, on the other hand, was struggling to keep from laughing, even as his commanding officer searched for the culprit.
"There's going to be hell to pay for this!" Katsu yelled, outraged, "I'm going to file a formal inquiry! I'll have each and every one of your hea-" He stopped abruptly, an almost ridiculously dubious look on his face.
"Sir, are you alright?" Huojin asked, grasping the other man by the shoulder. He recoiled back, as Katsu fell dead to the ground, an arrow sticking from his back. "Ambush!" Huojin yelled, as more arrows began tearing into his men, "Get down!"
Every man dove for the dirt, struggling to find some semblance of cover from the enemy archers. The men hit in the initial volley lay draped across the brush or prone on the ground. One, who had been hit in the leg, was screaming at the top of his lungs, before another arrow hit his throat and silenced him.
Three more volleys came down, before loud shouts and war cries could be heard from the surrounding trees. The Fire Nation soldiers could now see human shapes materializing from the shadows, running toward their position at breakneck speed.
"Make ready!" Huojin ordered, drawing his sword, "They're coming!" He turned to face the enemy, just in time to block an axe swinging at his head. Pushing himself against the man, he head-butted the Earth Kingdom soldier, who was sent reeling by the blow. Finishing his opponent off with a slash to the back of the neck, Huojin turned to assess the situation.
The sounds of combat echoed through the woods, as the attacking Earth Kingdom soldiers descended upon the Fire Nation platoon. As far as he could tell, the two sides were evenly matched in terms of numbers. The fact that the ground was still firm beneath him was yet another good sign, as that meant the enemy patrol didn't have an earthbender with them. "For the Fire Nation!" Huojin yelled, charging into the melee, "For Sozin! Urrah!"
"Urrah!" came the response, as each man in his platoon screamed the warcry back to their officer. Fighting with renewed vigor, they pushed the earthbenders back toward the trees.
Huojin entered the fray, engaging an enemy swordsman with a swipe at the man's neck. The Earth Kingdom soldier narrowly avoided the blow, and countered with a wide sweep toward the officer's midriff. Jumping back, Huojin ran forward, pushing the other man to the ground. Thrusting downward, he stabbed right into the dirt, as his opponent rolled to the left just in the nick of time.
The Earth Kingdom soldier kicked Huojin in the ankle, bringing him to one knee, as the other man scrambled to his feet. Seeing his opportunity, the enemy soldier swiped across his body at the young lieutenant. Huojin began to bring his sword up to parry the blow, but the other man's sword slashed him open from his elbow to his right ring finger. He fell backwards, his sword falling from numb fingers, and he stared, shocked, at the bloody gash running the length of his forearm.
Time seemed to slow, as the Earth Kingdom soldier paused to catch his breath. Grinning triumphantly, he swung his sword up over his head.
Huojin closed his eyes and waited for the death blow to come. His family, his friends, his favorite teacher from the military academy; all of them flashed through his mind in less than a second. This was the end of his life, and he knew it.
A few more seconds passed, but nothing happened. Confused, Huojin opened his eyes to see the Earth Kingdom soldier frozen, his sword still up above his head. The man's expression, however, had gone from one of triumph, to one of confusion. As if in slow motion, his sword dropped from his numb hands, and he fell to a kneeling position. Blood welled up out of his mouth, and he sagged back onto his haunches.
Standing behind him was a smiling Fire Nation soldier, the tip of his spear glistening with blood. He kicked the Earth Kingdom soldier sideways, knocking his lifeless corpse to the ground.
Huojin began to say something, but stopped as a jolt of pain shot up his arm. He cried out, clutching his bleeding forearm as another jolt shot up, this one even more painful than the first.
"Whoa, there," the friendly soldier said, concern in his voice as he knelt next to the fallen officer. "Don't you worry about a thing, sir. The medics are on their way."
"But...the Earth Kingdom patrol..." Huojin said, his voice worried. He began to try and get up, but was stopped by the other soldier.
"We got them, sir," the man said, reassuring him, "The rest of the company heard the commotion and came to help."
The lieutenant nodded, lying back in the grass with a sigh. "Thank you, soldier," he said, his voice bright from pain, "Thank you...for saving my life."
"Don't worry about it," the soldier replied, smiling, "Just don't waste my effort by dying, okay?"
Huojin laughed, and closed his eyes. The medic arrived a few minutes later, and held a bottle up to the wounded man's mouth. Huojin drank it, making a face as he swallowed the bitter liquid. "That oughta hold you over," the medic said, watching the lieutenant slowly succumb to the painkiller, "Just relax."
Standing, the medic gestured toward a few soldiers standing nearby. "Get a stretcher!" he yelled, "And make it quick! He's losing a lot of blood!"
The men vanished in almost an instant, eager to help the wounded in any way they could. If there was one thing that was markedly good in Fire Nation soldiers, it was in the mutual respect they had for one another. Like each other or not, they were all in this fight together, and took care of each other like brothers.
Turning back to Huojin, the medic kneeled once more. "Hold him still," he ordered, looking at the soldier who had been nearby when he had arrived, "This is going to hurt, even through the painkiller."
The other soldier readied himself to restrain the lieutenant, and the medic began to pour water from his canteen over the wound. Luckily, the sword had not cut through any major veins or arteries, and was mostly a flesh wound up until the hand.
"That doesn't look good," the soldier said, nodding his head at Huojin's hand. There was a clean slice across the back, ending in the mangled remains of his right ring finger.
"No, it does not," the medic replied, beginning to dust the now clean wound with a powdered medecine, "He'll probably lose the finger. It's a real shame; I've heard he was a good swordsman." He threaded a needle with expert precision, and prepared to stitch the wound.
The other soldier tightened his grip on the wounded man, and shook his head. "I'm sure they won't discharge him. Plenty of jobs a man can do without a finger, right?"
The medic didn't reply, but began to do his work. Surprisingly, Huojin struggled very little, his lithe frame having felt the affects of the painkiller much faster than most others would have. The stretcher arrived a few moments later, and he was loaded on and taken back to a field hospital.
"Take good care of him," one of the stretcher bearers said, nodding at the doctor, "The Fire Nation needs more men like him."