Here's the third chapter of the story, I know it's up fast but I've had some of the chapters written for a while, just needed to edit and tweak as I wrote later ones. The pace is probably going to slow down, as school is really starting to become more time-consuming. Please RxR, I need the feedback!
Chapter III: By the Light of the Moon
The night seemed calm, although he noticed a nasty storm brewing to the south. Agni, I'd hate to be caught in that. He stood, pulled his cloak around him, and left the cabin where he was staying. It was really more of a simple barracks for the crewmen, but after weeks of sleeping on the ground, it felt wonderful. At least until he went to sleep. I'm just lucky that I didn't burn anyone. He almost couldn't remember the last time he'd gone a week without the nightmares. But really, he thought, they're not nightmares truly. Simply pictures of me that are a bit too candid for my comfort. He was interrupted by Mai walking past from the deck entrance, looking noticeably pink in the face. Maybe that was just the lighting. Either way, she didn't seem to be paying much attention as she caught her foot on a loosening floor tile and stumbled. Akira shrugged it off, heading out to the deck. He noticed Zuko was out here as well, staring out at the water. Taking a spot on the railing a few yards away, the High Guard left the Prince to his thoughts, instead returning to his own with a resignation bred of familiarity.
What was it that Seargent Ling always told us? He'd say, "knowing is good, knowing can save your life and your honor in many a situation. However, there is a limit to what can be called 'useful knowledge.' That must be understood. Some so-called 'knowledge' is simply misleading half-truths and outright lies, meant to obscure your true objective. While you are serving as an active member of this Guard, you must know the distinction between the two types of knowledge." He'd gone on to list useful knowledge, such as tactics, political theory, and military protocols and when to pull influence to bypass them. He listed "distracting" knowledge as well, including, to Akira's surprise, most of the traditional honor code.
"On a battlefield, honor is always second to survival. I don't know if the regular army teaches that, but in this elite unit, all of your instructors and superiors believe that your lives are too important to waste for something like honor. Your services to the Fire Nation and the Fire Lord are too invaluable . Therefore, think of the military honor code as secondary to your tactical training and your own survival instincts." I remember the last time he gave us the "knowledge speech." It was the day we finished our training, and were given the rank of second lieutenant. Seargent Ling gave us another speech too, later that night I think. I wish I could remember what it was about, I remember it was important to him. I wonder if he's still living in the city, I really would like to go see him, tell him I made Captain.
Akira looked up at the sound of the door opening again, and then a slight shuffle as two people tried to cross the threshold at once. Finally, Zuko simply backed up and let the figure out onto the deck before entering himself. The figure was wearing a cloak like him, although the High Guard's insignia was missing from the back, and the clasp in front wasn't the Fire Nation symbol, simply a button and a string catch. The cloak looked like it should be rags by now, but somehow it held together. Just one of the ship's crew, he thought, and returned to watching the ocean. It seemed odd, but he liked the water, liked how it moved smoothly and continually, and how it caught and reflected light. He was an unusually good swimmer as well, often swimming in the mountain-fed rivers in his childhood. Childhood. I'm hardly sixteen. We've grown up fast. It was true, Guardsmen were typically picked around their third birthday, and formally trained from age 10 to 12, when they would be officially inducted as a Rank Guard, usually protecting lesser officers, or going out on missions that the leaders deemed unfit for the older High Guards. Elevation to the elite status of the High Guards took a further year's intense training, and attrition rates ran past 90 percent.
Something struck the rail of the ship, jerking Akira back to the world once again. The cloaked person was only a few feet away now. He had been nearly ten yards apart. How many more people were going to make it to him unnoticed? Akira turned and regarded the figure, frustration at his own inattentiveness turning him mouth down into a severe frown. The figure backed up quickly, then stopped and seemed to shrink a little within the cloak. Great, now the crew is going to be unbearable. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to look angry or anything, I'm just used to being able to tell when someone is right next to me." The figure looked up, or at least he thought it did. "Why are you hiding your face?"
"Because you've hidden yours." The voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it, like a familiar song that's sung out of rhythm. He stared at the figure, trying to affix an identity, but the cloak effectively obscured all physical clues as to who was speaking to him. "Need a hint, Akira?"
"Wha--Ty Lee?" He couldn't help but marvel how different she sounded now. Her voice hadn't really changed pitch, but the tone behind the words wasn't at all like her. She pushed back the hood and face veil from the cloak, and it really was her. Akira just stared. Her words had been laced with something more than innocent taunting. "I--sorry, it's just I--" His brain worked furiously, and in some corner of his mind, the thought arose that he could dissect an enemy's battle plan, devise a counter-strategy, and create at least two fall-back maneuvers with a glance at the battlefield, yet here he was unable to speak to an old friend?
"Don't bother trying to come up with some planned response or whatever it is. I just wanted to say that you--that--" Now she broke off as well, turning angrily to watch the waves.
Blast it, why do I have to deal with this? He moved to the center of the deck and began running his warm-up sets, then moved on into some basic patterns that he hadn't practiced in some time. He was about to move on to more advanced sets when he felt her approach him. Good, I can see people again. Well, it wasn't really "seeing" in the normal sense of the word, but if he was focused enough he could feel the heat around him, and a person was a burning candle against the cold metal of the ship. Without entirely knowing what he was doing, he reset his stance to face her and narrowly missed a jab to his upper torso that would have downed him by sheer force. She didn't even wait for me to complete a ready stance, what's so wrong? But there was no more time to think, just act and follow the cues the fire gave to him. He twisted away from several strikes that aimed for his exposed joints, where the armor gave way to the cloth bodysuit. One twist caused a jab to land dead center of his chestplate, and the resulting impact felt like a spear strike. This isn't good, as hard as she's hitting she'll break something against the armor. He sighed inwardly, wondering how she was going to take this, then grabbed a hand, spun her around while pinning her arms, and pushed her onto the deck, pinning her with his knees. After a moment's squirming, she finally stopped and he let her up. She scrambled backwards, quickly putting a good five or six feet between them. She grabbed up the cloak from where she had discarded it and made her way to the door.
"What did I do?" Akira called out. Ty Lee paused, the door open. "Whatever it was, just tell me and maybe I can fix it! I don't want to fight you!"
"What are you talking about? You're a High Guard, you went off and learned how to fight and--and be a great soldier and come back for medals and--and you left--you left--" The door slammed with a resonating clang, leaving him standing in the moonlight, wondering when, exactly, everything had started going wrong.
