Cheng had been sitting in the dusty alley for a couple of hours, and it was starting to get frustrating. His mark was a new merchant to the village of Liqiang, and that meant he wouldn't be guarded around Cheng, who had become infamous in the village. But he was so ridiculously careful with his cabbages that it almost wasn't worth it. Not that he was vigilant of his surroundings, no, he was too focused on his wares for that.

Cheng had marked him the day before, and was sure to be at the alley early. When the merchant finally arrived, he very carefully removed the cloth from the near perfect pyramid sat atop his cart, then reoriented every single one so that the greenest leaf faced the oncoming crowd. Then he gingerly wiped every single one with a wet cloth, and would do it again every time a passerby kicked up a cloud of dust. In between his constant fussing over his cabbages, he found time to shout out his wares, or ware, because he only sold cabbages.

So while waiting for the man to settle down, Cheng sat in the empty alley across from the man, pretending to focus on the rocks spinning this way and that in between his palms. Cheng almost didn't notice the man pull out his lunch, but he had gone oddly silent for a moment and when Cheng looked up he was sitting down next to his cart instead of constantly pacing around it. The stone clacked together when he closed his hands around them and crushed them into dust. He rubbed his palms together to get rid of any sweat and stood.

It was tempting to steal the lunch instead once he saw what it was. The rice, meat, and fried cabbage was still steaming somehow, and it made his mouth water at the thought of a hot meal. But he stopped the train of thought immediately. He had a plan, and he would stick to it.

The cabbage at the bottom of the pyramid, on the corner farthest from the merchant. He hoped that removing the one would topple the rest, and if he timed it right then the merchants mouth would be full just as the cabbages fell. Any addition to chaos following his grabbing the cabbage would be helpful.

Cheng took a deep breath when he saw the man pick up his chop sticks. He darted towards the cart as soon as the bite was in his mouth and picked the cabbage out of the pyramid. It didn't fall, but the reaction of the man as he tried to swallow his bite was good enough.

Cheng was already a block away when he heard the man shout "Stop! That thief took my cabbage!"

He laughed lightly as he ran and glanced back at the man. The crowd that gathered around him were now looking around frantically.

But as he was watching, two earth kingdom soldiers stepped out from a building he had just passed. In unison they slammed a foot into the ground and uppercut the air. He could hear stone crumbling and grinding in the direction he was running and knew what happened before he even looked. A wall had been built in front of him.

He turned to focus on the obstacle in front of him. With a practiced flourish, he punched into the air with a grunt mid-run, and a perfectly round hole fell from the wall, just big enough for him to leap through. He jumped through the hole and caught a glimpse of the soldiers behind him. But when his foot landed on the other side of the wall, it stuck. A stone had popped up out of the ground, exactly where his foot landed and tripped him. He caught himself on his shoulder as his foot was flung up behind him by a pillar rising from the same patch of ground and slid on his back for a distance.

When Cheng managed to gather himself, he saw a third man standing above him. With a stomp of his foot, Cheng was risen into the air by an earth prison, held about his shoulders and completely off the ground.

The man was an imposing sight, standing in front of Cheng. He was three times as wide as the boy, dressed up in the uniform of an army general. His black hair was greased and tied into a tight knot behind his head. A short, sharp goatee covered his chin. He had the stern face of command that immediately stopped any struggle that Cheng had in himself.

He stared silently for a moment with a furrowed brow before a grin crept onto his face.

"That was impressive, kid. But we're going to have to take that back." The cabbage was trapped in Cheng's hand within the prison, but they both knew what the man meant. He punched a hand into the stone and pulled it back out with the cabbage, slightly bruised, but still edible. He passed it off to one of the soldiers standing shame faced behind him.

Despite who the compliment was coming from, Cheng felt himself grin. "If it was that impressive I'd like to be paid for the show. Price is one cabbage"

He hummed "Don't push your luck. Be glad I'm not punishing you" Then he went silent and stared again. Cheng had trouble keeping eye contact, so he glanced around and noticed the crowd forming. He looked down and blushed in shame. Suddenly the man stomped a foot and the prison fell away, dropping Cheng to his knees. "I'll do you one better."

Cheng looked up at him questioningly.

"We're stationed here for the night, I have nothing better to do, and you look hungry. Come have lunch with me." Before Cheng could even answer, the man picked him up by the shoulders and all but dropped him on his feet. "I'm General Yiban." He looked at Cheng expectantly.

He looked down at the ground again. Orphans were more often than not ignored. It had been weeks since he'd heard his name. He was reluctant to tell this mountain of a man what it was, if only for an instant. But he had just let him off after stealing, despite the hysterical shouts for justice coming from the merchant he'd just stolen from. "Cheng… My name is Cheng."

"No last name." it wasn't a question, but Cheng nodded anyway. "Where are you from? You don't look like you're from Liqiang"

He was suddenly eager to end the longest conversation he'd had in some time. But a hot meal stayed his foot.

"I'm from a fishing village…" He paused for a moment, surprised that he had to think to remember the name of his home. It was sad to think that the only survivor almost forgot the name Dingcun. "I was from Dingcun… before it was attacked."

The generals mouth fell into a straight line. "And how old are you?"

"I'm fourteen."

"I'm sorry to hear that... know that this war takes from everyone, you're not alone." Seemingly making the decision that he had said enough, the general nodded curtly and prompted the soldiers at his sides to follow. Giving no indication to Cheng that he wanted him to do the same but a glance back when he had made it a distance away.

Cheng watched the man make his way about the village for some time. He stopped occasionally to buy something and handed whatever he bought off to one the soldiers to carry. Or if not to buy something, then he stopped just to converse with the villagers lounging in chairs in front of their homes, or tending to their wares at a stall or in a store. He gave of a much different atmosphere around the people than when he had talked to Cheng before. The man talking about the weather with a toothy smile in front of him gave the impression of a jovial neighbor, rather than an army general like he had before.

Giving up on trying to decipher the man, Cheng took to watching around him. They were walking through a section of the village that he must not have explored yet. Because, while all the buildings looked the same as the rest of the earthen huts, there were smaller tents interspersed between them. It took him a moment to notice that, instead of the odd patriotic citizen, every single tent and hut had the earth kingdom symbol either punched into the stone above the doorway, or hung above the tent flap in a golden cloth.

Cheng felt himself jerked to the side abruptly by a large hand. He hadn't noticed that the general took a left while he went straight, one of the soldiers roughly corrected his direction. It was at a hut twice the size of all those surrounding it that they stopped walking.

The general stooped and entered the shack, and the two soldiers stationed themselves on either side of the entrance. When Cheng stood stationary, the soldier on his right beckoned him in, looking at him as if he were doing something funny.

The inside of the shack was fairly cozy, all things considered. The biggest fixture of the room was a massive stone desk fixed on the right. It was littered with papers, the stack on the right hand side as tall as the generals' head when he was seated, and the left hand side only as tall as his fist. Lanterns and candles were hung in every corner of the room, though all were turned off to let the daylight illuminate the room. A wash basin and sleeping cot were placed in the far left corner of the room, and a couple of chairs were placed around a small stone table to Chengs left. Given nothing else to do, Cheng glanced again at the general, and when nothing came of that he studied the papers on the desk more closely. There were half written letters, unfilled forms, and maps with tiny marking on them littered all over the place, including the floor. Judging by the map the troop had been traveling for a long time. All the way from Ba-sing-se, looping all three segments of the continent along the coast, and then to the Liqiang at the center of the continent from the south coast.

After a considerable amount of time watching the general, he was motioned to sit at the small table as the food was brought in. It was a thick and hearty stew with a large chunk of hard bread to dip into it. Cheng noted that the utensils and containers were made of clean stone before he started. All else was forgotten as they ate. Both too absorbed in the food to discuss whatever it might have been that he was brought to discuss.

It wasn't until both plates were clean, and Cheng was getting ready to excuse himself that the general spoke again. "I need to have a word with you before you decide if you want to leave." The general swept the table clean, knocking everything into a hole that had opened up in the ground, and then closed said hole over the stone utensils.

This made Cheng stomach jump, he thought he had gotten off free. He immediately jumped into a well-practiced apology. "I know stealing is wrong, and I know how bad of a person I must have been to steal another livelihood from them. I promise it will never happen again if you let me go just this once. I'll even go an apologize to the merchant I stole from.

The general broke into a smile, and Cheng felt cold relief wash over him. For some reason the idea of disappointing this man made him feel terrible inside, especially after being treated to a meal by him. "Shut up, kid. I know why you stole, and I know nothing I say will stop you from doing it again." he rubbed his hand over his hair, suddenly looking a bit worried. "No, i have something more important to talk about with you."

He leaned back in his chair and took a long breath with his arms crossed before speaking again. "You said you were from Dingcun?"

Cheng stiffened in his chair slightly. "Yes... Why?... Sir" He added, not knowing how to address the question.

"Before I say what I will, I want you to remember something. We are in the center of an army of men, all stronger than you, of which am the commander. So you must restrain yourself. Do you understand?" The general leveled Cheng with a look that left no room for argument.

Cheng didn't like the direction that the general was taking. So Cheng, looking for an out, grinned. "I wouldn't say they're stronger than me. It did take an army general to stop me from stealing a cabbage."

There was a hint of a smile on his face, but the general fought to hold his mouth in a straight line when he spoke again. "This is serious, Cheng"

"Right, sorry. I'll listen, and keep what you said in mind."

The general took a deep breath and spoke. "I am responsible for the attack on Dingcun."