Time for things to get big, you guys.
Enjoy!
Part 11: Brothers Fall, Battles Turn
Republic City was formed of several peninsulas linked by earthen and metal bridges and bordered from the north and east by rather sharp mountainous ridges that rose up suddenly and faded away just as suddenly. Thus, though the city was on the coast of the Earth Kingdom, it was almost an island and had more trade by sea than through the passes between the plateaus. Legend was that Avatar Aang and Master Toph had raised the peninsulas from the sea itself to found the city of all peoples, but accidentally raised the neighboring land too high at the same time without noticing.
If everything Relena had ever read about Avatar Aang and his friends was true, she thought it might be possible. It seemed like the kind of thing that would happen to them.
She looked over the skyline contemplatively. It was so different from Ba Sing Se, where the inner ring buildings were all required to be no taller than the palace, and few were more than three stories tall, leaving no view but the ordered lines of the city itself. Republic City had towers compared to that, packed close together and shining in the approaching dusk as the sun lit up the mountainous basin beyond. The architecture displayed indications of all four peoples, really, if one knew where to look – the roofs of the Earth Kingdom, the flourishes of the Fire Nation, the colors of the Air Temples, and symbols of water on every wall along the shore. And there was an emerging style all their own, too, as more and more of the city was rendered by metal rather than stonework and by builders who grew up in a mixed world. But Relena was happiest with the stone buildings in the Earth Kingdom style. They reminded her of home.
She was grateful that the ancestral home of the Peacecraft was traditional and familiar. The palatial residence Chairman Dulindal had constructed was opulent and ostentatious and everything Relena didn't want for herself. She was not here to rule Republic City, she was here to serve it. The Peacecraft manor, while lovely, was even more simple than the neighboring residences of the Council members, within easy walking distance of the City's governing buildings, and yet humble compared to those public places. Still, it also afforded a spectacular view of the central peninsula and the ocean beyond.
But not so spectacular as the one Dulindal's residence must have. Relena turned to look up the northern ridge that loomed above the city to where that now-empty home stood.
Only to fall to her knees as a blast from behind her shook the very ground. Heat washed over her in a sickening wind.
"Relena!" Noin shouted, running out onto the balcony and pulling her to her feet with steady hands. Relena turned to look through the railing to see smoke curling from the City Center, where the Council met.
-==OOO==-
Five masked figures raced through the streets.
"Who's still following?" demanded the mask in the form of the Sun Warriors.
"Mine," called back the blank mask who ran at the front.
"And mine," shouted the Blue Spirit from the middle of the line. "They're heading towards the eastern ridge!"
"We need to move faster!" yelled the unagi mask.
"Mission accepted." The Earth Kingdom warrior stopped sprinting for a moment, pulling up a section of the road with a sharp gesture. He pressed his palms together and the portion of rock formed into a solid round disc of stone. He leaped to stand at the leading edge. "Come on."
The other four, somewhat ahead of him, all jumped to take a place on the stone slab before it ran them over. Now, with the speed of earthbending to help them, they could pay better attention to the skies.
"Nice going, Soldier." Duo grinned behind his mask.
"There's mine," Trowa said, pointing. Above, two hawks were visible, streaking through the air as they followed their targets. "Looks like they're going to end up at the eastern pass by the docks."
"Can we cut them off?" Wufei asked.
"Soldier, do you know the layout of this part of the city?" Quatre asked. At the quick head-shake, he put one hand on Heero's shoulder and pointed with the other. "Go that way until you reach the fountain. Then veer to the left along the brown road. That'll be the quickest way."
"Civilians?" Heero asked. Quatre shrugged.
"No more or fewer than anywhere else."
Other than Quatre's swift directions, they traveled in silence. Heero continued moving, pulling the disc along much faster than they could run, though it fatigued him. However, they had little choice. They'd only been sitting down to the promised tea and meal when their hawks, all five of them, came winging in the window with messages of dire warning. Moments later, as they reached the streets, they could feel the aftershocks of the explosion even deeper in the city.
The Order of the Black Lotus had struck, but they would not escape. Not without a fight. Heero's blood practically sang with it. Here were his enemies, and he had more reason than he'd ever had in his life to defeat them. They might have killed Relena, and he did not have the time to find out either way. If the Order of the Black Lotus had destroyed the first hope for Republic City in a generation, Heero would bury them. Literally.
Seeing a huge crowd of people down their intended route, Quatre abruptly shouted for Heero to turn down a smaller alley, and the others had to flatten themselves on the stone slab to maintain their balance as he careened to the side. Quatre paused in his directions to pull Wufei to his feet, shooting a glance to Duo and Trowa to ensure they had managed the change in direction as well.
"What's the plan, Spirit?" Duo asked as he yanked his braid out from under Trowa's feet.
"We've got to hit them hard and fast," Quatre answered. "We don't know how many there are."
"Doesn't look like many from here," Trowa put in, pointing.
Their detour had brought them to a park, which gave them a clear line of sight to the pass to the east of Republic City that cut through the mountain ridge. Indeed, even from here, they could see a small crowd of black-clad individuals firebending and earthbending their way past the city guards and onto the road out of the city. There was a blind turn in the pass not far beyond the checkpoint, beyond which they could vanish into the fields and woods, and Heero dug his feet into the disc of earth to try to urge it faster. He could not let them get away.
They shot over the broad thoroughfare that led in one direction to the wharf and in the other back towards the city, past a few merchants' storage buildings, and closed the distance to the pass. Five or six Republic City guards littered the road in various states of injury or unconsciousness. The earthbender didn't even pause to look at them, instead kicking up a cloud of dirt as they approached, lifting higher so they could pass over the guards and up the road.
Suddenly Quatre threw out his arms and pitched himself backwards, knocking all four others off the earthen slab with a cry.
Metal and stone and fire crossed mere hand-spans from where they had been even as the disc crashed into the ground.
"What was that?" Wufei demanded, rolling amidst the heap of them and coming up on his feet, followed by the others.
"It's an ambush!" Quatre exclaimed.
From the buildings all along the road, buildings that should have housed merchants' wares and supplies, black-clad warriors were pouring in copious numbers. Dozens of them, practically an army, every single one wearing a piece of cloth to cover their face below the eyes, and every such disguise bore the symbol of the Order of the Black Lotus.
"We've got to get out of here," Trowa glanced around quickly. "There's too many civilians nearby."
The others turned to where he was looking, seeing that the park and road they had just crossed were now filling with a crowd of curious passersby. Someone else was sounding the alarm to raise the Republic City guards. And down at the wharf, several ships of the Fire Nation navy were unloading soldiers too, who were beginning to turn in their direction. In moments, the situation would be an all-out battle, with more than one nation represented.
"What's the call?" Duo again turned to Quatre. This time, the other three did as well. The Blue Spirit mask hid his expression, but they could practically see him vibrating as he thought quickly. It was the result of the pai sho game – there was no doubt amidst any of them now that the yellow-haired wearer of the mask was more than qualified to think through their situation.
"We've got to lead the Order away from Republic City," Quatre said after only a moment's silence while the others tensely set themselves defensibly against the remains of Heero's conveyance. "We can't let the City or the Fire Nation get pulled into this fight. And I bet they'll follow us. This is a setup, no doubt about it. We need to turn this trap into a trap of our own."
"Up the pass, then," Wufei nodded. "The ridge is narrow here, and beyond it is a vast farmland, sparsely populated. Soldier can even block off the pass after us to keep them from following."
"Split up," Heero said. "There may be even more of them on the other side." He turned his head to Trowa. "You're an airbender, right?"
"Yes."
"We will go over the pass first," Heero decided. "We'll occupy anyone waiting for you on the ground. You get this crowd to follow you into the fields out there. Draw them as far away as you can, and we'll guard the pass and handle whoever stays behind."
"Agreed," Quatre said. "But we need to find each other again after this." He spared only the tiniest glance upwards. "Regather at moonrise on the road to Makapu Village. There's a shrine not far from here. If you're not there, we'll assume you've been defeated."
"Acceptable," Heero gave one quick nod. Then he drew another section of earth upwards, smaller this time. Trowa jumped on agilely, already bending the air to help support Heero's earthbending. With tremendous speed, the stone section rose into the air and set off to head over the mountainous ridge itself, the two masked benders working together.
"Let's go," Wufei said decisively. "If we wish to avoid facing this conflict in the city, we must leave it at once."
Quatre and Duo fell in behind him and the three began to run for the pass.
A few individuals were concealed along the mountain road, but as soon as they moved to strike, they gave away their position. Wufei blasted flame and fury at those who revealed themselves while still at range, and Quatre, shotels in hand, slashed at those who closed with them.
In his peripheral vision, Quatre could see Duo bringing down opponents of his own, either those who emerged to attack from behind or those who got up again after Wufei's fire, his arm swollen as he bloodbended them into unconsciousness or worse. He noted that Duo seemed to be taking some care to keep his actions from being noticed by the firebender taking point. Quatre could understand how Duo might not want to share that particular talent with a complete stranger or alarm Wufei with it in the middle of a fight so he let it pass unmentioned.
As they emerged from the ridge, the trio immediately turned south to keep out of the way of where the remaining two masked fighters had taken up positions and were deep in the heart of battle. But Quatre sped up to pass Wufei and take the lead, racing for a line of trees beyond the nearest fields.
"We're going to have company," he shouted.
The other two looked back to find themselves pursued, and sped up as well. They had a head start and a well-timed blast from their airbending ally bought them even more distance and time to reach cover. However, when the three hit the treeline and kept moving, they made no efforts to hide. If they lost their pursuers, their enemies would double-back for Heero and Trowa and the plan depended upon them keeping a good portion of the force occupied.
Without a word, Quatre, Wufei, and Duo crashed along through the underbrush as quickly as they could, leading away as many opponents as would follow.
-==OOO==-
Heero knew any earthbender worth the title would sense their approach from over the ridge, as there was nothing really subtle about this earthbending, and certainly not at that speed. So he was not surprised when, moments after clearing the top of the steep plateau and beginning their descent, portions of the mountain began to break off and launch themselves at him.
What did surprise him was their quantity.
No-Name – Trowa – drew in a deep breath and blew out a gust of wind that helped to redirect the littler stones and all the clouds of dirt and dust in the air, but that left Heero to handle their slab of rock as well as everything else still incoming. With a contemptuous snarl, he ripped control of the largest boulder away from whoever had cast it at them and sent it careening into everything in its path, clearing them a way through. With the airbender to deflect the smashed remains, they didn't even have to slow down.
Heero spotted the largest contingent of the ambushers, raising an eyebrow behind his mask at how many there were, and angled them in that direction. It would have been a well-executed ambush, with multiple groups clustered around the pass, and even a full squad of earthbenders on the backs of eelhounds to chase them down if they had escaped. If the five masked fighters had rushed through the pass without anticipating it, they would have been surrounded and destroyed, obviously the intent of the Order of the Black Lotus who had sent them.
But Heero intended to make every one of them fail in their mission.
Well before they were even a tree's height from the closest wave of attackers, Trowa leaped off Heero's conveyance and threw himself into the air, tumbling over and over as he picked up momentum and wind-speed. When he landed, he brought with him a tornado that scattered the full complement of enemies gathered near into smaller, disorganized forces. Heero was pleased – most airbenders, even masters, seemed to rely too heavily on the advantages of the glider-staff, which was a useful tool but also a distraction if it were removed or damaged. Trowa moved the air better without it than some airbending masters Heero had known.
But then he was in his own battle against a large number of opponents, earthbenders, firebenders, and weapon-wielding soldiers aplenty. It should have been an overwhelming force.
But not against Heero. Not against Soldier.
Deep in combat, deflecting attacks, driving away inferior warriors, cutting off avenues of attack, he registered the fact that the other three had made it through the pass and were veering off to the southeast. He also spotted another squadron of earthbenders with eelhounds who managed to evade Trowa and took off after them. Heero didn't concern himself – Duo had proved to be a competent warrior, Wufei carried strength about him like a mantle, and Quatre was clever. If they could not defeat a few dozen opponents of this caliber, they would not still be alive.
A scream cut into his thoughts and he watched as one of the non-benders was tossed unbelievably high by Trowa's airbending as he had rushed in from behind. Trowa turned to meet another enemy but Heero caught something in the set of his shoulders, in the tension of his motions, that suggested the blankness of his mask was not echoed in his mind. It was another benefit of the metallic disguise – beyond their identities, it ensured that their true feelings were concealed as well.
Heero wondered if killing made Trowa as heartsick as it made him.
A cry from above drew Heero's attention. He knocked the nearest of his enemies away to look upwards, spotting Wing circling high above. The messenger hawks had been trained not to interrupt a battle, but the presence of Wing here now meant a message of such import that it could not wait for the quiet. Heero pulled a pillar of earth straight up beneath him, bringing him to a point towering above everyone else, and held out an arm for Wing's perch. Thankfully, the bird bore the message in one of the large tubes across its back, which was much easier to access in a hurry than the littler, more common carriers affixed to the leg.
Heero pulled out the message even as he tossed Wing back into the air and sent a portion of his earthen tower crashing back to the ground in the faces of a few firebenders who thought to burn him from below. He unrolled the scroll with one hand and read the short message in a single glance.
"It is time. Seal the pass first."
Heero dropped the scroll even as something dark and ugly settled into his stomach but he ignored any sensation except that which focused his bending to its truest heights. Now heedless of further attacks against his person, he turned to the dip in the low mountain and reached.
The top of the ridge exploded in a shower of house-sized boulders that rolled into the pass like thunder scattering clouds through the sky. Heero's body felt thin and brittle from pushing his bending beyond its normal limits, and this time it was aided by a sinking, screaming feeling inside. It felt as though all his bones were breaking at once, as if his bending were ripping them from inside his flesh and turning them to dust.
But his feelings didn't matter. Heero had earthbent the entire mountain ridge and the pass was obliterated.
"Mission accepted," he croaked out.
He never even noticed the slab of stone that struck him from the tower as he fell into darkness.
-==OOO==-
"Mission accepted."
Trowa turned at the coldness in the words in time to see Heero falling. He didn't even stop to think – he just moved. A leap carried him high above his attackers, and from there it was second-nature to carry himself with the air and momentum towards Heero, but he could not intercept him in time.
The earthbender struck the ground with a sick sort of finality, his mask snapping loose. Blood leaked from a wound on the back of his head and his eyes were wide and unseeing.
Trowa felt something awful twist in his heart even as he pulled Heero under his arm and gathered an enormous swirl of wind to lift them up and away.
The mask of Soldier was left in the dirt like a gravestone.
-==OOO==-
"Spirit!"
Wufei turned to see Duo hunched over where the yellow-haired fighter had suddenly collapsed between one running stride and the next. He was clutching his chest and for a moment Wufei feared he had been struck by one of the earthbenders' knives or stones – the black-clad fighters seemed keen to throw anything earthy at the trio. Wufei blasted a torrent of fire towards their opponents and took advantage of their momentary pause while they dismounted their eelhounds to join the other two. Quatre had yanked his mask up on his head and was gulping air as though drowning.
"What's happened?" he demanded, seeing the paleness of Quatre's face but no blood on his hands.
"I don't know," Duo replied.
"It's Heero," Quatre gasped. He looked at them both and his eyes were desperate, lit almost fanatically. "He's in trouble, terrible danger. We've got to help him! We've got to…"
But the next instant, he had lurched to his feet and flung himself across Wufei, pulling the firebender to the ground. He made only a sub-vocal grunt when the metallic projectile, a wicked throwing-dagger, glanced off his shoulder – but had he not moved, Wufei might not have escaped a fatal blow. The pair had barely even struck the dirt before Duo was up and flinging his own daggers with deadly accuracy to remove the threat.
"Looks like these guys are getting ready for a real fight," he reported, eyeing the earthbenders.
"We've got to get to Soldier," Quatre said, disentangling himself from Wufei and wincing as he drew his injured arm to his chest. He was more collected now, enough to remember to use the codename instead of the real one, even pulling the mask back on fully. "He'll die if we don't hurry."
"How do you even know that?" Duo wanted to know.
"It doesn't matter," Wufei said, getting to his own feet and taking a position back-to-back with him. "Spirit has just saved my life and trusting him in this is what I owe him." He flicked a glance to Quatre. "I'm the fastest if I go alone."
"Do it," Quatre agreed. He gripped Wufei's arm with his good hand. "He and No-Name will need your help to survive their escape. Then get to Gundam Island as fast as you can – there's a healer there you can trust if you give them my name. We'll meet you there."
"A different meeting place?" The surprise was clear in the firebender's voice.
"It's safer there," was the answer. "We'll need a secure place."
"Are you strong enough to handle this?" Wufei's eyes flicked over the array of earthbenders who were digging themselves into a circular position around them.
"Believe me, we got this," Duo said savagely. "Go get those guys already. Tell Soldier if he dies, I'll kill him."
Wufei nodded once, shared a blazing look with the two of them that was clear in spite of the masks, and took off running. He leaped over the head of a surprised earthbender and dropped into the saddle of the eelhound tethered nearby. A jet of flame set the creature free and Wufei turned it towards the city. He never looked back as the eelhound bounded into a full sprint and disappeared.
"Sure this was a good idea?" Duo asked Quatre, almost playfully. "Not that I'm doubting you, of course."
"I'm sure. Soldier can't die. We need him too much," Quatre replied. He rotated his shoulders and moved into the spot at Duo's back that Wufei had abandoned. "How many are there?"
"Not more than thirty."
"How long until you can bloodbend again?"
"A little while. I'm as much a non-bender as you right now," Duo said, rolling to one side, with Quatre following him to evade a crush of stone. "Got a plan?"
Quatre spared a moment to grin darkly even though it was hidden behind the visage of the Blue Spirit, still keeping an eye on the earthbenders who were now moving closer as their confidence grew. "Always."
