A Warrior's Fate
It had been frighteningly easy to gain access to the commander's ship. At night, he'd stealthily come aboard. Nobody had suspected him; Hahn's men were currently infiltrating the other ships.
That Soki guy from the Southern Water Tribe was clueless.
'They're not wearing the same kind of armour these days,' he'd said.
What did he know? He was just a meaningless peasant from the Southern Water Tribe. Sure, he was the chief's son, but he knew nothing of the customs of the great Northern Water Tribe.
Nobody questioned him while he was approaching that Admiral Chiu, or whatever his name was. Before the sun set again, he was already in a perfect position to attack the admiral.
Pathetic! The Fire Nation was oblivious to the stealth of the Northern Water Tribe.
"Admiral Choi," Hahn screamed, ripping the helmet off his face. It wasn't the way of a proud warrior to attack an enemy without warning. "Prepare to meet your fate!"
With that he charged, ready to strike, ready to kill. The guards behind him didn't even try to stop him. He was too fast, a true warrior of the Northern Water Tribe.
He was already close, all he needed to do was another step and his spear would penetrate the commander's heart.
What?
He'd stepped aside and a moment later he felt gravity do its work as he fell down into the water. His entire body seemed to burn though he'd been thrown into ice.
He'd failed.
The ship's movement tore him into the depth of the sea. He felt it. As if a leopard shark had grabbed him, he was ripped downwards. The armoury was too heavy. He wouldn't be able to resurface again.
All of a sudden, Hahn felt something grab his chest and he was torn up again. When the water was replaced by air, he was finally able to breathe again.
"Stupid trainee," a deep voice hissed at him, "What were thinking by swimming in that water? If you wanna die just ram a spear into your chest for that would save me a lot of trouble." Teeth chattered right behind him as ropes and a pair of strong arms held him tight. Like this, they were turn up, back into the enemy's ship.
"Don't be too hard on him, Ryu," another male voice spoke, "He seems hardly old enough to be in the Navy. You know how those mistakes happen."
"I didn't become a damn diver to get a," he said a word the Water Tribe Warrior had never heard in his entire life, but it didn't sound very nice, "Newbie out of the," again a word he didn't know. Another one this time, "Water. Get a," same word as before, "Blanket. Kid's not a bender. Right?"
Hahn, whose entire body was shivering, didn't react. How long would it take until they'd see that something was amiss?
"Kid?" Ryu, as the diver who'd just saved his life seemed to be called, asked sharply. His body too was shivering but he seemed to be warming up bit by bit, from the inside as it seemed. He was also moving very strangely and it took a moment before Hahn realized that this had to be some sort of firebending form.
"Damn polar water," the diver cursed again, "Sucks the heat right out of your body. I can't wait to get home again. Or at least Earth Kingdom territory. The water's warmer there." He cursed again and grabbed Hahn's shoulder, "Newbie! I asked you a quest… What kind of armour is that?"
That was it. He was dead.
"He's one of the infiltrators," a voice only a few feet away stated. Hahn's head jerked around as he saw a Fire Nation soldier in full armour approach him, "The admiral tossed him overboard."
Ryu said another word foreign to him, "I jumped into that," that word he knew and it was enough to redden his pale cheeks, "Water to get out a Water Tribesman? Agni, don't do this to me! What are our orders, lieutenant? Throw him back in?"
Hadn't Hahn already lost all colour due to having fallen into the deadly water, he definitely would have blanched now.
"No orders. The admiral's actions speak for themselves, but since you did the work, sergeant, it's your choice. Kill him now, throw him back in or make sure he stands in the frontline. He better not be attacking the admiral again."
With that, the red armour turned and Hahn had to look back into the face of the people who were in charge of his life.
He was a warrior of the Tribe and he would die as such. Forcing his shivering limbs into fighting position he said, "I am Hahn of the Northern Water Tribe and you are dead the moment you're trying to touch me. I will fight until I no longer breathe." If his teeth weren't chattering, the threat might have been worthwhile.
Ryu twisted his arm quicker than he could watch him move and it hurt enough to make him cry out.
"Just a kid!" the strong man spat as he let go, "That's sick. Who would be sendin' a kid on a suicide mission?"
Grumbling and silently cursing, he ripped down the warrior's armour.
It hurt. Hahn winced at the sensation of the cold air touching his soaked robes. He protested when the robes were taken off.
All of a sudden, he panicked and started fighting the diver, but his grip was too strong.
What would he do to him?
To his surprise a strangely warm blanket suddenly wrapped around his arms and torso.
"The prince was sent on his quest at thirteen," the unnamed enemy stated quietly.
"The prince beat Zhao in an Agni Kai. Kiru said so, remember? He saw it. Kid's the heir and a bender. He's of Sozin's line. He was born to deal with that kind of thing. This boy here's not even a soldier."
"I'm a warrior!" Hahn protested, but all he received was a slap on the back of his head.
"You better not talk, Water Tribe," Ryu hissed, "If you wanna live a little longer."
"Prince Zuko's dead," the unnamed soldier replied evenly.
"Believe it when I see it," the diver replied earning a stern glance by the other.
"The admiral announced…"
"He wasn't looking for a body, was he? Ain't believin' anything till I see that body," Ryu replied coldly.
"That cold water froze both of your brains, yours and Koi's," his… partner, or whatever he was, replied, "You never met the prince, neither did Koi. Or Kiru for that matter. The prince's ship blasted apart! There will be no body left."
"Koi's fished out more casualties than you ever will, Choi." Hearing that name out of the diver's mouth directed at another made Hahn almost laugh hysterically. Instead, he shivered at the clear warning in Ryu's voice, "And no, he didn't know the prince, but his ship contains the prince's old crew. Heard stories…"
"And since when do you believe in stories? They're sailors and everybody knows they're just a bunch of screw-ups. They'll make a flickering flame into an inferno if it serves their purpose," Choi stated in disbelief.
"Agni Kai?" it sounded like a reminder. Whatever that agni thing was, it seemed to be important.
"Oh, please! Admiral Zhao is a Firebending Master. Ever heard of a master's stance broken because their adversary performed kaiten naguru ashi from an impossible angle?" Performing a what? What were they talking about?
"When said adversary is of Sozin's line, you better believe they can," Ryu replied plainly.
"The prince's a failure," Choi retorted, "Everyone knows that."
"Then why is his entire crew still loyal to him? Why do they hold a," Hahn turned bright red at the word Ryu used. He wasn't quite sure what it meant, but he could imagine it, "Memorial to his honour? Why do they stick together like this?"
"Failures can be nice people," Choi argued, but all he received in return was a raspy sound from the diver, sounding a bit like laughter.
"Prince ain't nice. From what I hear, he's arrogant and doesn't give a flying," this time, Hahn had the urge to cover his ears, "About anything but that quest of his. Anyway, when it comes to a fight, he's not letting others do his dirty work. He's right there, in the frontline, with his crew as back up. When his men got hit, you bet he got hit worse. And yet he was always the first to stand up again. You don't wanna lose that kind of superior officer."
"Well, they did."
That ended the conversation. Hahn noticed that the feeling in his limbs was returning slowly. It prickled painfully right beneath his skin and he quietly hissed in pain. The exclamation caught the Firebenders' attention and Hahn gulped.
Ryu looked at him with those amber eyes he'd heard every Firebender had. The diver cursed yet again.
"I ain't killin' no kid," he said catching Choi's gaze again.
"You heard the lieutenant," the other man protested.
"I did. If the kid's so fond of Fire Navy armour, he can wear one. Like this he'll see what it's like to be tossed around by a bunch a Waterbenders. If he's lucky, he'll live."
Without another word, Ryu turned and walked away. Hahn looked at the other Firebender then into the water.
"Don't," the tall, strongly built sailor ordered, "Ryu is not going to get you out of there a second time. You are damn lucky he's my superior. I'd have just tossed you off the ship."
A/N: I guess this is the first story on FFN I've posted, I don't expect any reviews for. Hahn was a minor character who, in my opinion, was arrogant and not too intelligent, so it's hard to feel for him. However, this story came to mind and I decided to post it.
The siege of the North is a very special opportunity to show the hardships of Fire Nation soldiers and to demonstrate they're human, soldiers following orders and not monsters. Sure, some of them are, like Zhao, but not all of them.
To all those, who got to this point reading: thank you. Reviews are appreciated.