Chapter Two: Stumbling like an idiot
"So how'd it go, Thundercloud?" Cheng's enthusiastic voice greeted him as he walked in. Rui saw the pai sho board was already on the table. He shrugged and closed the door behind him, leaning against it with a heavy sigh and throwing his hands in the air. "What?" Cheng raised his eyebrows as Rui sat down opposite him. "Don't leave me hanging! I practically had to stick a hot poker up your backside to get you to go see that girl and now you won't tell me how it went?" Rui folded his arms and studied the board with feigned interest. "Nope." Avoiding the subject was a tactic that worked rather well with Cheng, he'd learned, because Cheng was very easily distracted.
Second lieutenant Cheng laughed. He and Rui had come to this rig together around 3 years ago, and had formed a surprisingly good friendship, considering how different they were. He couldn't really relate to the other man, but they both loved a good game of pai sho, and in a way Rui had come to appreciate Cheng's unrelenting optimism and encouragement. He moved his first tile as Cheng went on one of his rants. "You know, I don't get you. You're the best firebender on board. You're the only one of us who didn't piss himself when Warden Ashpot was shouting at us when we first got here… Remember the first order we got when we arrived here?"
Rui nodded. "Don't engage with the honoured guests. Don't give them anything. Finger, whole hand, blah blah blah…" The warden liked to call the prisoners his guests and himself their humble host. He was far from humble though, the man was a maniac and it had taken Rui and Cheng mere seconds to realize that. In truth, the guards weren't much better off than the prisoners. Cheng pointed his finger at him. "And you just disobeyed that guy because you wanted to. Shit, you've been in battle! How can talking to a woman be more difficult than that?"
Rui assessed Cheng's moves, trying to figure out his strategy. Most people played the same game over and over again or at least employed a similar strategy, but Cheng didn't. Sometimes he wondered if his friend even thought about what he was doing at all. If he doesn't, he thought, maybe he should give it a try. "It's not the same," he said, "Facing an enemy is simple, you attack, they defend, and you're supposed to hate each other. And when you're engaged in battle, it's a good thing when you scare people."
Cheng laughed, and weighed in: "You just have one of those faces. And you're too big for your own good. I'm just saying, you're a scary guy and nobody likes the look of you. I don't even know what's worse, with or without the helmet!" Rui scratched his chin, pretending he didn't hear that last bit. At least Cheng had changed the subject a bit. "It's different when you're trying to be friendly. I just don't know what to say." Cheng slapped his forehead in frustration and groaned as Rui took one of his tiles off the board. He gestured at his friend, leaning forward on his elbows. "I told you, just walk up to people and say hey. Did you say hey?" Rui nodded.
"Did you say it angrily? You said it angrily." Cheng slapped his forehead again. "Okay, so you weren't off to a good start. Then what?" Rui sighed and looked away. He related to Cheng how the prisoner had backed away from him, how he hadn't known what to do to convince her he didn't mean it bad. Cheng slapped his forehead a third time. If I keep making an ass of myself, he might get a dent, Rui thought. "So you made her think you were about to rip out her spine through her nostril, and then what? You stumbled like an idiot again? Look, you saw she didn't have anything to eat and you thought you should help, right? So did you?"
Rui shrugged. "Yeah, so I guess that's good." He was winning this game. His friend's forehead was starting to get red. "Just promise me it's just this once. Or at least only her. It's not that I disagree with you, I don't, the warden's policy stinks. And he should buy more food. But you know how he gets if he finds out someone's disobeyed an order. So don't make a habit out of it. I don't know if I'm strong enough to pull you out of the sea, big guy!"
Rui huffed. He didn't like the Earthbenders, they were his enemies. For all he cared, they could drop dead that very instant, the lot of them, there was absolutely no chance he'd give up his own meals for their sake. No good Fire Nation soldier would. They could burn. Rui tried to keep a neutral face. Cheng liked to tease him for looking angry, there was no need to give his friend more ammunition. The girl though… could she really be an enemy like the others? She seemed to pose no threat.
When Cheng had suggested giving her something to eat because she had nothing, it had seemed as logical as throwing a handful of crumbs to a baby turtleduck. Of course he'd do it, he just hated approaching her. He knew how she'd react to him, they all had the same response, but even though he'd foreseen it, it still threw him off-balance when she'd recoiled like a frightened animal. Had she been any of the other prisoners, her fear would have satisfied him, but now, it felt bad. If she was here by some sort of mistake, if she wasn't an enemy, then she shouldn't be afraid. He didn't know what to make of her, what to do next.
He stared at the pai sho board intently. If the warden found out he'd done anything to help a prisoner, there'd be trouble, but he doubted he'd be thrown overboard. Cheng was right, he was too big for it. If anything it would come down to an agni kai, a fire duel to the death. "You're making a habit out of it, aren't you? You're a shit liar even when you're not saying anything, pal! I think you- eh?" Cheng's rant was cut short as he saw the lotus tile Rui had placed in the centre of the board, a winning move.
"I might," Rui admitted, "I don't like disobeying orders, but…" he shook his head. "This is just wrong. Our victory in this war will be built on our superior leadership and strength in battle, not on starving prisoners. We don't need these tactics to keep the prisoners in line. They can't bend here, they can't fight us, and even if they could… all I'm saying is the ones who get nothing to eat now aren't the ones anyone should fear in battle anyway. This accomplishes nothing, it's just cruel. The warden doesn't have to know. It's the right thing to do. The honourable thing."
His friend shook his head. "You know what I just heard? I heard a whole lot of propaganda nationalist ideology la dee da mixed in with your sense of duty and honour. Your honour will be the death of you some day." Rui raised his eyebrows. "Really? I thought you were!" He only just managed to duck from the pai sho board thrown at him.
