Chapter II

At this point, our hero became much more aware of its deadly power then he might have wanted. One of the Earth Benders had noticed him standing there, and sent a rather large boulder towards him, smashing into Yasuo's chest. He flew back, traveling through the air then smashing into the ground. Gasping for air as the pain spread through his chest, neck, and lower regions. His chest felt broken in multiple places, and both his helmet and spears were gone. Rolling to his side, he pushed from the ground in attempts to gather himself up, collapsing from the pain again.

The view around his eyes blackened, and his hearing blurred heavily as he again and again attempted to regain standing. Finally his muscles weakened and strained under the load, gave out, lying out flat on the ground. The last thing he heard was "Fall back to the center of the camp! Gather the wounded and retreat!". After that the blackness consumed his vision, and his hearing failed him completely.

Days later, Yasuo would regain his consciousness in a fire nation service tent. Around him sat groaning injured men, their bandages and healing ointments giving them either a ghostly tinge, or the appearance of a semi-rotted corpse. Attempting to sit up, he joined the chorus of sick men, the pain in his chest and stomach like that of several swords being thrust into him. An elderly woman quickly ran over, berating him. "What are you doing young man!? You're going to crack yourself like a nut. Sit back down and sleep". Complying with her order he slided down back into his bed, the straw poking him in the back. As he lay, the old women produced some form of ointment and applied it to him, mumbling "Lucky to be alive, that boulder woulda killed most men! Firenations risk takers I swear". "W-where am I?" mumbled out Yasuo, his vision dancing between blurry and clear in a painful manner. "Forty li outside of New Ozai at a Coven. Your camp was attacked and all the injured were taken here for medical attention". Yasuo sighed a bit and asked "Is the rest of my platoon here? Or are they…Gone?" The lady chuckled and said "Your platoon is perfectly fine. They were outside on patrol and completely missed the battle. Their rhinoceros are the only reason you were able to be transported here in anything but a coffin".

Relaxing a bit more, he studied the woman a bit more closely. Her hair was past the point of graying, now turning white in most places, as creases edged along her face like canyons, creating a weird series of features. She possessed striking green eyes, and a warm but stern smile. "Excuse me ma'am but I didn't get your name"? She looked at him and smiled a bit wider, "Huan-Hui, but you can just call me Huan". The name was obviously Earth nation, which struck him as odd, considering the current relations between the two of them. Standing up she said "I have to attend to your friends, but if you need anything, just call old Huan and I'll be right over". She immediately bustled off, administering bandages and medicinal aid to other soldiers.

Gazing at the ceiling and yawning, Yasuo contemplated the weird turn of events. "Is she a colonial? Why would a Earth native be so friendly? Her name was defiantly Earth Kingdom, not colonial but still"... These thoughts and more traced themselves in his mind, leaving imprints for him to ponder. His train of thought was broken by a strong jab to his shoulder. "Hey, buddy, you got any firerocks"? Started he turned to see the broken toothed grin of a fellow victim of war. "Dang nurses won't give me any, they just give me that water-soaked bread, on account of some sorta 'teeth injury', crazy right?!". Not quite sure how to respond, Yasuo just produced a few firerocks he had in his knapsack and gave them to the guy. "Hey, you're alright buddy, names Kaeda, Kaeda KAZUHIRO Kazuki, but you can just call me K". "A-alright" stammered Yasuo as he watched him toss the food in his mouth.

Taking stock of his bedside companion, he was a stocky build, well-built as soldiers of the fire nation were, but lean and mean looking. He had the traditional knot of his hair, and his body was scattered with a myriad of scars from the war. Popping the rocks in his mouth, K looked at Yasuo grinning, before his face started to contort. "O-oh boy, it's been awhile since I-I had these, a but h-h-h" his sentence was cut out as his friend let out a roar of agony, his face now flushed red like an orange. With this roar came a bright orange flame, streaking infront of K, the flames licking the bedpost.

"By the emperor K, put it out!" gasped out Yasuo as the flames began to consume K's bed. "It's alright, it's alright, I got this man". He proceeded to twirl his hands, causing the flame to shoot up and dissipate harmlessly in the air. "You're a firebender?" Yasuo asked, perplexed. "Flaming straight, best one this side of the Crescent Isle as well." K replied, giving him that broken teeth grin. "That is to say, until a group of Earthbenders trapped me outside of Omashu, barely got away alive from that one, then again, which ones do I not get away barely alive from"? He proceeded to laugh at his own question.

Yasuo continued to look at him, a bit fascinated, and reasonably a bit scared. "So uh...K, where ya from?" K seemed to stop laughing at a second, "Well came from some nobles in the Earth Kingdom colonies, not that those pompous jerks at the capital would call me that". K now appeared rather angry, his face changing to a harsh scowl. "Oh yea, just because I'm a colonial I can't be a good firebender huh?! Just because I'm a colonial I'll go 'turncoat'? I'll show you a turncoat"! K, now lost in his memories, began randomly firebending in general directions, the flames emitting from his hands and shooting up, down, and all about the room, almost burning Yasuo and his medical compatriots. Almost as quickly as he begun his attempt at arson, he stopped and looked around the room quickly. "Grap did I do this again? Don't worry I'll fix it"! And much like before, with the flick of his hand, any loose fires wove up into the air and dissipated.

K, deciding he had expended enough energy for the night, lied down after words to pursue sleep. Yasuo, noticing that he also was rather tired, even after sleeping for about a week, decided to retire with his newfound friend. Lying back, he looked at the ceiling, the stone ceiling. It's sandy color faded back and forth, clearly, unclearly, soon enough it was not a clear image. It was merely a jumble of colors, a jumble of similar forms. Soon these forms began to darken, to misshape as his eyes were teased between open and closed, open….And closed….And open… And very soon, darkness overshadowed and covered up the forms, leaving just Yasuo and his brain.