Actual Important Notes Of Win: Okay! I've got really exciting news for everybody! [Hoping it's good news]
This is my first story [Technically, my third, but ignore that part owO] that I'm going to put some serious work into. I'm going to work at it, and work at it hard. I have a problem with consistancy, because the moment I start a story, I end up losing interest and moving on. But this one sort of just settled in my mind after I've been listening to some inspiring music. So after a bit of debate, I decided to push forward. It's always good to try new things, and this way, I'm not attacking with a whole load of one-shots. O.o I also thought that I can really challenge my abilites, and show what I got.
I'm hoping what I've got is good, though. The first chapter [annoyingly Dx] Is the longest, but I hope if you think this is good, and can bear with me, that I can push forward and continue. This is what's going down: With the world caught up in its own problems, Zuko finds it hard to enlist anybody's help in stopping a large, unsettling dispute within the Fire Nation. He seeks out to make it a two-man entourage in order to deal with this. Going to one of his newest friends, he hopes to stop this. Even though tough times lay ahead, there is always a lending hand that will be there to stick it through like true family.
Owo There's the better summary, in case the one I leave on the front is confusing. I hope you enjoy, and read on!
Rhythmic patters of footsteps repeated a pattern in the small battle ship, constant chatter of guards, navigators, and scribes filled in any possible silence throughout the metal hull as the tension in the air weighed over them.
"Your highness!"
A soldier exclaimed, throwing himself at the Fire Lord's feet. When he was aloud to rise, his features were etched with nothing but stress and panic, hands shaking and legs trembling as he attempted to stand back up. "We're worried!"
"What happened? Did they take another city?"
"No! No! None of that!" He shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. "We're concerned that your choice in a surprise attack may be too rash."
"I know it's not the smartest thing to do." He agreed, knowing the consequences of the choice in entourage. "But, we can't risk sending the Imperial Firebenders, either. The rebellion might take this as an offense and march faster toward the capital city. Plus, if they lose, word will take too long, and we won't be updated."
"Of course, your highness." The nervous man nodded slowly, unable to argue. There was no denying the cons of sending them in, but there was plenty to refute against. "If you go with only one other person, though, you may perish, and the Fire Nation will fall."
The newly announced Fire Lord nodded, terse. All throughout the past two days, they had been warning him of what dangers lie ahead. He knew, however, that if he were to only send troops, and that if they were to fail, he would end up watching his country fall, and he wouldn't be able to stop them.
"I understand your concern." Zuko let out a long sigh. "But you don't need to worry. Who I'm taking with me is more than capable."
"I'm certain he is, sir." The new topic left the soldier at more unease. It had been rattling his mind the moment his Lord announced it. Of all the people to choose…
"But, what of the Avatar? What about the young Waterbender? Or maybe even the blind Earthbender? They are all very strong benders, and can easily help you on this mission."
"Aang and Katara are at the North pole. The route there is longer, and more treacherous. Besides that, they're trying to reconcile the two tribes together. Toph is just barely heading back home. She doesn't need to be bothered." The former prince glanced over to the wall before a small, but reassured smile appeared on his features.
"Even as good as they are, I need somebody who can read a map, make up plans, and hold their own. There's only one person I know that can do that."
"But, sir!" The solder piped in once more. He knew there was a better choice, there had to be! He wasn't aware of anything that the warrior was capable of, except for the fact that he carried a sword that could cut through metal. That served no purpose if he couldn't use it right. "We urge you to reconcile! You could take any of our expert navigators! We have excellent strategizing people, and even the best non-benders in our Nation!"
Mind already set, Zuko stood up and headed over toward the door, hand hesitating on the handle. He turned to try and rest the uneasy mind that the solider had. "You don't need to be so worried."
"He's better than anybody in the Fire Nation."
He opened the door and stepped out, leaving a confused man in his slump of documents and scrolls.
---
Once the ship had arrived at the Southern Water Tribe, all of the occupants rushed out and bowed down as they made a pathway for their leader. After he had gotten down, he dismissed them, and set off to seek out his friend.
Despite the fact that the village was still relatively small, he was hard to locate. Zuko was just glad that he was welcomed there after the war had been over, so nobody paid much heed to him unless he needed something. He asked around, but nobody was able to tell the Fire Lord where he was, until a sudden and loud outburst rang through the small area.
"Alright! Even though you're still fairly young, it's never too early to start learning." Brow perked, the raven set sight to head over to the broken mound of snow that he figured was the watchtower. Behind it was a group of kids and a teenage boy trying to mentor them.
He remembered the story that Katara told him about her brother trying to teach the kids in the village defend themselves and their home. As far as he knew, Sokka was still never able to get them to understand the tactics of defense.
He had tried to hide the smirk that wanted to appear on his face, and interrupted the moment [The kids looked more bored than anything, anyway. He didn't think they'd mind too much].
"You're still trying to teach them? The war's been over for months, now."
As soon as his attention was snapped, the kids took this as their chance to flee, and headed off to go play in the snow. The brunette was about to shove the menacing distraction away from his learning center, until the image registered in his head of just who it was.
"Zuko?!?"
Without asking any questions, he ran right over to the raven and [nearly] tackled him to the ground in a hug. "Hey! I'm wearing my robes! Be careful!"
"Oh, right." He pulled away, lopsided grin placed right on his face. "Don't want to get Mister Fancy too dirty."
"Tch." He huffed, brushing himself off. "I just want to get out of here as soon as possible, because it's freezing like mad."
"You're still as impatient as ever." He mused, eyebrow perked. There was a good reason that Zuko, of all people was visiting. He knew it wasn't just for a pleasant hello or a lovely drop-by.
"So, what's been up?"
"Just the usual. Staying up until the sun comes up trying to fight papers, reading to death, and studying up on problems." He shrugged, folding his arms. "Listen, I need a proposition from you."
"What? Girl troubles, too? Aw, Zuko…" He shook his head, placing his hand on the raven's shoulder. "You came all the way here just to ask for advice?"
"You're still an idiot." He rolled his eyes, hand grappling onto the brunette's wrist. He picked up the hand and let it drop back to its original owner.
"Hey, I had to try." He put in, for good measure. "So what's on your mind?"
"There's been a rebellion down in the southern parts of the Fire Nation. About two weeks after the war ended, restlessness has been growing, and there are people who want to see my father come back to power."
"What are they, crazy?" The thought of seeing a [now] powerless man try and sit on the throne again stumped Sokka.
"Well, they probably don't think I'm doing too good of a job."
"Oh, please" He waved his hand, dismissing such a thought. "I'm sticking to the fact that they're out of their minds."
Even in the intensity of a situation, the brunette still managed to bring humor into it. He couldn't help but chuckle quietly before going on. "Anyway, because of this, they've been getting as many people as possible to join their cause. So far, there are about 700 of them all together."
"Only 700? Well, that's not bad. Why don't you just send your troops in, have them do a little butt-kicking action, and you're good to go?"
"That report was at least two weeks old. I don't have any updates on their numbers."
"Oh…" His face fell slightly. "But, even though that number is outdated, it's nothing that your guys can't handle."
"Maybe, but they're not ordinary people. They've been taking down any village they come across in the colonies, even the ones that don't live in poverty. One wave of troops can easily be toppled by them."
"That bad?" The brunette shook his head. "No way, they could stop them, even though their reputation is horrible. They're probably just a bunch of sissies, anyway."
"They've already taken down the whole Southern part of the Fire Nation. They have a fourth of the East, and they're starting to get to the West. They're getting closer to the capital city every day."
"Seriously?" His features switched from disbelief, to denial, and then back to disbelief again. "But, you could have taken them out before this happened."
"I know." He groaned, not too pleased on his course of action. "I have sent a couple of platoons down, but I never got word back. I thought they were going to stop…and that there were capable people down there that could stop them. But it just went over…and now they're terrorizing my nation."
Sokka was about to question these rather unwise methods, but once he saw the lack of sleep and tension in his friend's features, he quickly dropped it. No way could somebody of his age keep up with all these reports and problems when he was barely keeping up with his own. Trying to restore balance to the world was never going to be easy, but the raven just seemed like he was dumping everybody's headaches on him.
"How come you didn't ask for help? You know anybody from the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe would assist you."
His face twisted in displeasure. "I…didn't think of it. I know, I'm already doing a bad job, and I've only been in for seven months."
"Well, you're only 16. Handling all of those responsibilities is tricky enough. You could have asked Aang, too."
"He's been too busy. He's got his own troubles. He and Katara have been in the Northern Water Tribe, signing treaties. Some people there still don't like the Fire Nation, and since they're so desolate, their economy is starting to take a sharp decline. They can hardly trade or get goods from anywhere else."
Disbelief took over once more. "Okay…so let me get this straight. The Northern Water Tribe is tied up in troubles, Aang is busy, and you can't send troops because you think they'll be defeated?"
"Sorta. It's that, and I'm sending them all around to help out villages that need help. Especially to Ba Sing Se. I don't have a lot of them, left. Everybody is just too wound up. The effects of the war haven't even come close to leaving. We're still on the beginning steps."
The raven paused, and then gave out a shaky breath. "I'm about ready to throw this crown somewhere and run away. I don't think I can handle it, anymore.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up." The brunette raised his hand back up, placing it on his shoulder in comfort. "What you do is hard enough. I say you're keeping up pretty well."
"But, the rebellion-"
"Is going to get a good old-fashioned smack down." He smirked, and spread the confident infection to Zuko, reverberating the same twist in the lips. "Now…"
"What's your plan?"
"An entourage."
"With who?"
"Who else?" He raised his brow, smirk growing a little more.
"What?" He blinked in surprise, taking his thumb and jabbing it at himself. "Me? Uh…you realize I don't have the 'magic water' skills, right?"
"I've been informed."
"Then-"
"I need somebody who's really good at reading maps and creating plans in a heartbeat…Even if most of them are stupid."
"Hey!" Sokka appeared offended. "They work, I'll have you know!"
"I know they do. And that's why I'm enlisting your help."
"So…it's just me and you, going to go take out a rebellion army of…probably 750? How are we going to do that?"
"The same way you took out a whole fleet of airships in less than two hours."
"Yeah, but, there was only ten of those things! That was barely anything compared to this!"
"What you did was almost suicidal."
"But-!" The brunette was trying to figure out a way to argue against this. Taking those things out was simple. Taking out a large scale army was another thing.
"Well…" The raven gave a false sigh. "I guess you're not as capable as I thought. I'll go find somebody else…" He started to head off back toward the ship.
"What? Oh, hell no." He turned Zuko back around in full swing.
"I thought you didn't want to go…"
"Are you kidding? I was just…acting." The brunette nodded, pleased with his response. "I'm not missing out on taking out these guys with one of my best friends."
He smiled a little, glad that he had help, although it had quickly turned into a frown. "But, I'm warning you now. This is really dangerous. I swear if you even come close to dying I'll make sure you live again long enough for me to kill you personally."
"Well…" He raised his hands, acting offended. "I'll just have to make sure I tough it out then, won't I?" There was a pause, before the both broke out in a smile. "But that means the same goes for you. I'll kick your Fire Lord butt from hell and back ten times over if you even pull that stunt on me."
"Then it's a deal?"
"More than anything." They outstretched their hands, shaking on it, before they decided to close the gap and give another hug. Even though all the jeering humor, Zuko was completely serious. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Sokka. It was too unfathomable.
"And hey, we may not even have to go at it alone. We might be able to enlist help on the way."
"That's true…" The raven nodded, agreeing. Now restless, he started to head back out into the center of the village. "You better pack up. We're going to have a bit of a ride back to the capital."
He nodded, and started to head toward his igloo, before he was stopped by a firm hand to the shoulder. "Oh, by the way…"
"Why were you trying to teach those kids?"
"That? Well, learning to be a warrior is a Water Tribe tradition for boys. Maybe even girls, someday." He shrugged. "Just because the war is over, doesn't mean there won't ever be perfect peace. You have to prepare for the unprepared. Besides, I'm authorized to." He folded his arms, nodding with his eyes closed, as if attempting to look professional.
"I'm sure of that." As his friend turned to get his stuff, he rolled his eyes once more for a good amount of measure.
This was going to be a long trip back…
But, maybe it wouldn't be a bad one.
Ending Notes Of Win: I know. o.O Ending fails. Dx I couldn't fit anything too exciting, but I hope that doesn't stop you from wanting another chapter. Dx I promise, it will get better. I'm doing my best to build tension for all of you excitable readers out there Owo. And now...
Review. o.O I don't want to tell those poor orphans that you won't review just because you're too lazy. Every time you don't review, an orpahn loses a cookie. Do you know how hard it is for those poor orphans to get a cookie? Well, not very easy, I'll tell you what. Owo So please, think of the oprhans. Positive, uplifting reviews and helpful, concrete advice always makes yummy for inspiration. Enjoy, and have a good day!