Chapter 6: The Bloody Bow
I was done being a janitor by 2 in the morning, and slept came quickly, but not gently. I had trouble calling them nightmares, since most of it came from my memories. My brother's later years, the news of his death, and uncovering my parent's past were very real and concrete experiences.
I had spent much of the night while scrubbing the floor searching in my memories. I was trying to find a clue, or any tip related to my brother's involvement with the secret Order of the White Lotus. I had promised myself that I would not delve into that rabbit hole. There would be nothing there right now but disappointment and deception.
If this secret of my family was out, I was sure my parents would be labeled as traitors, and myself too perhaps. I couldn't let that happen, or else I wouldn't be able to change the Fire Nation. I lost the chance to save myself the moment I decided to not rat my own parents.
Regret was something I wasn't feeling. I loved my parents despite their past. I was still, nevertheless, extremely bothered. My life had taken a drastic turn due to circumstance completely outside my control. I felt powerless and enlisting myself was but an insignificant act of discord against fate.
Enlisting was simply a consequence, and here right now, looking at my hands skinned palms, I didn't feel distressed at having joined it. At least not yet.
Using the tip of my fingers, I peeled the bandages slightly as to get a look on the skin. The cuts seemed to have closed, but the pain hadn't gone much away. Everything was fine if I didn't use my palms, but the moment I made the skin bend with any movement, my nerves fired up.
And today I had to use a bow in order to conquer my place in the army, simply because I was not a firebender. I know benders in every nation are fast tracked simply because of their power. What they may lack in strength, agility, brains, and charisma, can be compensated by controlling one of the elements.
My brother, Zheng Han, was a competent firebender. In one year, he had gained a squad to be responsible for, within a larger battalion according to my parents. By having him in the chain of command, it became much easier for the White Lotus to take action against my country.
Would there be spies in these barracks? It was clear that the chain of command was infiltrated, but I had to wonder, despite my promises against, how deep their hole was.
Hypothetically, what if the Fire Lord belonged to the Order? Would that be treason then? I guess it would be for the prince of princess, but for Ozai…? What am I talking about? Fire Lord Ozai would simply call out the war off if that was the case.
There was no way around it. If one was in the order, you were against the interests of the Fire Nation, the interest of the Fire Lord, and therefore, the interests of the people.
Two bangs on my room's door was all the warning we got.
My roommate, who I had yet to meet, raised himself from bed and stood up with his back straight. This was the first time I had actually seen him, since last night it had been dark when I came to our room and climbed my bed.
He was probably around my height, that is, short, but very muscular. I didn't doubt for a second that this guy could twist my bones. His hair, however, wasn't shaved like many here. He had it tied up in a bun at the back of his head, in typical Fire Nation style. I dropped from my bunker bed and fell besides him, landing hard on the cracking wooden floor.
We exchanged looks before an official entered the room. Then we just looked forward, and my butthole was clenched as the man entered and measured out state. I didn't remember his name. He had been an assistant to the training officials, so we hadn't spoken and neither I knew his rank. Nevertheless, it was safe to assume he was higher than me by a long shot.
He looked at my roommate from the tip of his uncovered feet up to his eyes, holding his sight for a couple of seconds. Afterwards, he did the same to me. Checking that both of us were awake, he nodded and departed without a word. We had around five minutes to be downstairs prepared for the day, and if you weren't ready… well, no explained to me what happened, but I imagined you got more work on your plate.
"I'm Zheng Cao," I introduced myself, reaching for a handshake.
He took it easily enough after a moment of hesitation, with a strong grip, "Dong Yanato, pleasure."
"So, ah—" I started, somewhat confused by my next words.
"Just dress up and brush your teeth," he told me as he picked a pair of red pants, "we talk and discuss roommate's shit later in the day, if you stay that is," and he fleshed me his teeth before heading to the bathrooms.
I was left there with my lips slightly parted. How the fuck did he know about it already?
It turns out, most were in the know.
After dressing myself up with some difficulty, making sure my hands would survive the process, I cam down to join the line of people from my cabin. I immediately received taps on my shoulders, cheeky smiles, and words of sound encouragement.
"Come one, Beelion, you can't fly out this soon!"
"Just don't point the arrow to anyone, or better, anywhere."
The official silenced us, and after that was done, we started our morning exercises. My results at the run hadn't improved that much, and I still ended up at last, but by less 20 minutes compared to my original time.
I had been able to hold on for a little while longer by keeping myself paced in the early moments, a tip from Second Lieutenant Hoi himself. He also advised me to control my breathing, and do my best to use only my nose to avoid pains in the abdomen. I wasn't aware why that worked, but it did.
It didn't stop me from ending the run completely exhausted, but it was an improvement. Silver linings, right?
Of course, I still went terrible on my obstacle races. I wanted to fault my lack of height, but today I kept taking notice of my roommate who managed to jump, dive, skip, and dodge with grace that defied my initial expectations of him. He seemed to be in top shape.
At lunch, I had the pleasure to try out another great dish from the barrack's cook. It was a soup, a special one though as its broth was less of a broth and more of a cream. Apparently, it had been because the seafood used had Starlobster in it, which affected the liquidity of the dish. At least that was what I overhead people talking. I was still pretty alone on these breaks, and I wouldn't expect it to change anytime soon.
Honestly, that was preferable today too. I used much of the time I had in lunch to try to figure out a way to use a bow with my damaged hands and still hit a target. I wouldn't be expecting to get any bullseye myself, and hopefully, Hoi wouldn't too since he knew of my injury.
Time passed faster than I would've liked, which neither allowed my hands to get better nor allowed myself to prepare a good strategy. After all, it all depended on the bow and arrow they would hand me to me.
When the time came for bowman practice, it was clear that the affair was a bit of a fun event to everyone around. People had gathered behind the archers and in the buildings that were close enough to watch them go at it. From what I understood, the army was in need of competent archers, and the barracks of my home island had only been able to produce a few. I saw a dozen—no—18 of them, with bows and arrows.
The first targets were set at the middle of the courtyard, which would be of a distance of around 40 to 50 yards. Most archers managed to hit the innermost circle. Maybe a couple failed to get that close with five arrows, but no one missed a target once.
Afterwards, they increased the distance to around 60 yards. This time, only half managed to hit once in the inner circle, and only three or four did it more than once. Four also missed a few shots entirely.
The crowd that had formed would cheer with each success and whistle with each failure. It had started to become a game, with people laughing and joking as the faux-tournament continued.
The next stage had the targets at the other end completely. I calculated that to be at around 90 yards. Of the eighteen, three managed good hits, with one actually claiming a bullseye, right at the red to on the center. The crowd clapped quite politely at that even.
"Now just imagine that as the Earth's King, and the war is over, lads!" someone said, and many chuckled at the prospect.
Killing the King was quite a way to end the conflict now, wasn't it?
After the last shot was fired, which had been a miss, the archers started to put their stuff together and clean the space. Was this all there was?
Looking at my side, I saw Hoi whispering with another official, and suddenly, one of the archers was called. He approached them, and moments after he looked at me, our eyes meeting.
Then he walked in my direction, meeting me, and gesturing me to follow him into the courtyard. I felt the stares at my back as people chatted laughed. I was sure they weren't really laughing at me, since that seemed to be somewhat nonsensical, but they were smiling at me. I suppose they were looking forward to some entertainment. If I fail, which is what they expect, nothing's lost. If I get it right, then they will still have a surprise, and all's won. For them, my success or failure meant nothing. Only for myself did this matter.
Somehow, that was a relaxing thought. No one was depending on me to hit the targets. It was just me, myself, and I. The power to decide my fate was in my hands.
I was handed five arrows, and a bow that was slightly larger than what I was used to, but still fitting to my habits. The bow itself was a composite one, made from horn, wood, and sinew laminated together. The horn was one the belly, which curved slightly towards the archer. The arrow too was longer than what I was used, but again, all I had to prove was that I was competent, not a genius.
A couple of archers pulled a target from the 90 yards down to close to 50 yards. I suppose Hoi was taking my account of my abilities to the letter.
I took an arrow to my hand and placed it over the bow without pulling the string. Holding the bow was already painful to my hands. I looked at Hoi, waiting for explicit permission. He nodded as soon as he realized what I wanted.
I looked forward and raised the bow, my left palm burning with my press. As I started pulling the string with the arrow, the pain increased my many times fold with the added force, and the hand that held the arrow started to feel unwell.
I breathed in, I breathed out. I kept my eyes on the target, trying to make sure my aim was adjusted, but the pain made it hard to concentrate, and much harder to hold the bow still.
My skin being ripped apart.
I let the arrow go, and it flew majestically towards the floor besides the target.
Some people laughed, other chuckled, and a few simply nodded.
Clenching my teeth, I grabbed my second arrow. I placed it above the bow and brought it up. Again, my hands burned as I fought against the strength of the string. As I held the bow, I felt my skin cracking under tension, my wounds reopening.
I breathed in, I breathed out. I fired the arrow.
This time it landed closer to me, still ending up on the floor.
My heart was beating louder, and my head was starting to feel heavy. I moved some fingers on my hands and I felt some warmness. Looking at the cloth, I saw some small stains of blood that hadn't been there before.
I shook my hands slightly as the bow rested against my leg, trying to get some air inside and ventilate it. It gave me a small measure of relief.
It gave me an opportunity to look around. Some people looked at me, and I understood their thoughts. They were wondering why I hadn't just given up. Looking at Hoi, he had simply kept his stoic gaze. I still had three arrows after all, and I hadn't called it a day.
Picking up the bow, I pulled an arrow and placed it ready to pull. I looked at the target again and wondered quickly about any new ways of taking this challenge on. I raised the bow, arrow in place, but still I did not pull it. Squinting my eyes, I aimed.
It was then that I decided to kneel, one knee on the dirt. Getting my center of mass closer to the ground, I opened my legs slightly for better stability as I pulled the string again. I would never position myself like this to use a bow, but my trembling hold and lack of accuracy was making me try some new things. Injuries did require some adaptations.
The bow was shaking, and my hand was burning again. I was already pressing my teeth tight, but now the rest of my muscles were tensing under the pain stress.
Squinting my eyes, I breathed in, I breathed out. The bow shook and I let go.
The arrow flew and it hit the top edge of the target, bouncing off and taking off a small chunk of it.
"Holy shit," I heard a surprised voice from among the crowd, but it hadn't been the only one. People cursed as they saw the damaged target, and I wondered if I would have to pay for that. Some were laughing too at the result.
I had two arrows left. Suddenly, my hopes of proving myself to be competent, without the need to be a genius, were being reduced to try to not be a liar, instead of being incompetent. I had told Hoi I could do this. I inwardly cursed.
If I managed to this convincingly, with two shots out of five, I suppose this could still work.
Staying in position, I pulled another arrow and took aim again. I pulled the string and I saw a tear of blood run down the bottom arm of the bow as an inferno took hold of my nerves.
I breathed in, I breathed out. I pulled the string further, my skin ripping apart. Finally, I let it go.
The arrow flew high, right over where the previous had hit the target, flying across the courtyard and landing at its end, in the outer circle of a target still at 90 yards, and this time, it stood quiet on the mark.
Some people clapped, but mostly there was silence.
I couldn't stop yet. I had one more arrow, and one shot on target could be deemed as luck. I didn't want to be lucky nor know as lucky. I wanted to be known as competent and be competent.
With the one arrow left, I clenched the bow a final time. After four trials, the fifth took a short moment to put it ready, pulling the string and letting go as I breathed naturally. The arrow flew out of the bow, a couple of drops of blood flew due to the release. The arrow ended up hitting the inner circle of the 50-yard mark, almost exactly what I had promised Second Lieutenant Hoi. It wasn't a bullseye, but it had to do… right?
I looked at Hoi, who was at the edge of the courtyard with other officials, and I felt the crowd looked with me at our highest superior present.
Our eyes crossed and he held himself quiet, the gears in both our heads turning. I wondered if he was trying to understand what I was thinking, just as I was trying with him. Did he think me arrogant for getting only two targets?
"Go to the infirmary, Private Zheng," he started all serious, "You will need your hands back if you want to survive training—"
I saw him smirk before I looked around. Hoi was interrupted by half the crowd cheering and screaming, while the other seemed completely lost. It was clear than only a portion knew of the deal I had between me and our Second Lieutenant. Nevertheless, I managed to catch on to a few individuals who were receiving a lot of coins, properly lucky that they had betted on the black horse against all odds.
After receiving some pats on the back and words of congratulations, I didn't let anything stop me from getting to the infirmary.
I needed some drugs. The pain in my palms was getting unmanageable.
