Chapter Fourteen: Cognitive Dissonance.
Here be violins.
--
The Guardian.
In the end, it turned out that there wasn't much battle left for us to assist in. The earthbenders had been pretty well subjugated, at the cost of a few houses- turned out that Qiqiang had decided that it would be easier on his men if he bombarded the earthbenders first, destroying a lot of their cover (and more than a few houses, but that's hardly a great loss). All we really had to do was lock up the prisoners somewhere, allocate a garrison for the town and leave them to decide what to do next, and get moving.
The upshot of all this meant that we were soon back in our huge metal transport, roaring across the landscape with gay abandon. I took the opportunity to nap.
--
The Assassin.
Okay. Let's get this show on the road. First step- threat assessment.
Allies- just the one, and she's behind me, and to the left.
Enemies- forty men, but no more than ten of them are benders. That's actually fairly standard proportions. The rest are armed primarily with spears, but they have swords at their sides. They're in several small groups, but the benders are gravitating towards each other. Can't have that.
Hmm... how to play this... I think-
There's no time to think about it any further, as the first soldier rushes towards me, slashing with his sword. With no time to prepare, I step backwards, avoiding his horizontal swing, and bring my sheathed sword down on his clavicle. He buckles, and stumbles towards me. I move forward, and with my left hand draw my short sword, plunging it into his stomach, just below the ribcage.
There's an intake of breath behind me, but it's not important. Toph is the only one behind me, and I didn't hear anyone else moving towards her.
As the man's eyes bug out, and he gasps silently, I push him, and he staggers backwards, me directing him with one hand on my short sword, aiming to keep him staggering backwards towards the knot of firebenders. A rumble to my left indicates that Toph has finally got to work engaging the non-benders, and the firebenders are reluctant to start attacking me from behind my shield.
Another step, and I'm close enough. I kick the man to the ground, and leap over him, drawing my long sword. There's a beat of confusion as I land in their midst, and it's enough. I cut one down before he knows what's happening, and the sheath end of my stick smashes the side of the helmet of another, disorienting him, the shock running all the way up my arm.
Their superior numbers (ni- eight to one) actually work against them here, especially since they're all benders. No one of them can fight at full effectiveness without effectively killing or injuring at least two of his comrades.
The irony is at this rate I'm going to kill or injure all of them pretty soon. The sky forms are perfectly suited for this, sword in one hand, stick in the other, quick, agile and unpredictable. My sword slashes across the knuckles of a bender about to launch an attack, severing three of his fingers, while I jab my stick into the face of another, pushing his helmet around until he's blind and sending him careering into another. Ha.
After a flurry, the seven (six) benders pull back, and I have to dodge a fireball by leaping backwards. Damnit, they're regrouping. Can't have that.
Okay, they've pulled back into a tight knot, and they're all aiming at me. Hmm. This could be bad.
...Knives. I'll drop the stick and throw my knives into the fray. Hopefully that'll confuse them long enough to allow me to attack.
Right, they're moving, time to-
As I shrug, dropping a knife into my palm, and the benders launch their attack, a wall of earth springs up between us. A glance to my right reveals Toph, still fighting the remains of the non-benders. She must have noticed my situation.
...Thanks, but I had the situation under control (sort of). Next time, we'll have to iron out some of these issues. For now...
I wheel to the left, leaving my stick in the dirt. As I turn the corner, I come face-to-face with a skull-masked firebender. He brings his palms up, but we're too close for that, and my knife is up and under his ribcage before he can blink. Shoving him forward, I turn the corner, keeping the wall at my back. There are another two benders in front of me, and I slide into my flame stance.
Sword held in one hand, the other stretched behind me for balance, my stance side on. These are all to compensate for the fact that it's my most aggressive form. The small target and good balance gives me enough to use quick thrusts and rolling slashes. It works well against small groups.
They blast in unison, but I take a half-leap to the side, and their blasts go wide. I retaliate, bringing my sword down in a long curve. It slashes one open from the shoulder to the hip.
Firebender armour is layered leather, designed to fight other benders. None of them really expect to be fighting swordsmen. Typical bender arrogance.
As the soldier crumples, I sprint forwards and lunge, putting all my strength from my shoulder into the blow. He takes it to the stomach, and folds around it.
Job done. A glance confirms that Toph is almost done, tossing men around like ninepins. I decide to watch the show. It's pretty spectacular, watching her economic movements- a flick of the wrist, or a twist of the heel- hurl men high into the air, or bury them into the ground.
Wait a second. If there were six guys before Toph pulled up the wall, and I just fought three...
The wall behind me explodes, and I'm thrown to the dirt.
Fuck.
Wasting valuable seconds wondering when I forgot how to count, I rolled onto my back, to be confronted with the last three benders. Two were identical, but the third was bleeding from his hand, and I could see that he had lost all but his index finger and thumb. That guy. Well, he wouldn't be too much of a threat. The others...
Actually, I'm kind of screwed.
As I start to get up, I see the foremost one punch his fist forward. Everything seems to slow as I scrabble backwards (not nearly fast enough) and a plume of flame begins to blossom from his knuckles-
and dies as a rock the size of a watermelon smashes into his skull, audibly cracking his head and sending him tumbling to the ground. That's my cue.
My left hand flicks, and my knife buries itself in the throat of another man, while the ground swallows the wounded man up to his neck.
Nice.
I stand up, and walk over to the fallen men. I dig my throwing knife from that guy's throat, and look around for my stick. Oh yeah, it's on the other side of the wall.
On my way, I pass Toph. I guess congratulations are in order.
"Pretty good going there."
I'm expecting something, perhaps some smug reiteration of her talents. So it's a little surprising when she doesn't say anything. Shrugging it off, I went to retrieve my stick, short sword, and other knife, wiping down all my blades before putting them back in their proper sheaths. Once everything was in order, I walked back to Toph.
...Okay, something's wrong. She's just... standing there, looking vacant.
"You okay? You seem a little off. You hurt?"
"Fine."
"...You're sure?"
"I'm fine. Can we go?" she snaps, and begins to stomp away. I know better than to pursue the subject.
I frowned, and watched her walk towards the mouth of the pass. She's not limping, there's no visible blood, and I didn't notice any bruising. So what's wrong?
--
The Guardian.
"Mai, get up!"
...Azula. Sending Ty Lee to wake people up is funny the first time, in a sociopathic kind of way, but the second time? Not so much. She exudes levels of perkiness that are hazardous to the drowsy. The symptoms include grumbling, disorientation, and a sudden predilection for violent murder.
"Mai, did you hear me? We're here!"
I blinked. "Where were we going again? I wasn't listening."
She rolled her grey eyes. "We've arrived at Full Moon Bay, and we've got to leave this thing behind and take a boat."
I sighed, and got up, following Ty Lee out of the machine into the weak sunlight. The machine, along with several others of its type, was sitting at the mouth of a narrow pass. I shrugged, and followed Ty Lee down the pass.
The path quickly became steep, and lead eventually to a ferry station, where Azula was waiting, along with a squad of Royal Guard. Huddled in one corner of the cove, trying to look as inconspicuous as two hundred people can, were a whole group of refugees. Looks like we caught them after all.
Azula nodded at me, and I returned the gesture. Out of curiosity, I sidled up to her.
"So. What next?"
She half-turned to look at me. "Once the Field Marshall arrives, we and the Royal Guard will take these ferries" she gestured to point at the two remaining boats stationed at the dock "and meet up with the Northern Army. They're already en route to Ba Sing Se. Once we join them, we are going to set up a great show of besieging the city. From there, we can arrange a meeting with Long Feng, who, with enough persuasion, will allow us access to the city. We remove the Earth King, name Long Feng as substitute, he announces surrender, we kill Long Feng. When the Comet arrives, we concentrate all our forces in the North and melt the Northern Water Tribe. Victory for the Fire Nation."
...Whoa. I actually was thinking in terms of the next day or so, but whatever.
I made my way to the nearest ferry, Ty Lee in tow, and flopped down in a seat. I had a lot to think about.
--
The Assassin.
We made out way through the pass, often walking in single file (or whatever you call it when there are only two people. Longitudinally?) through the rocky pass, Toph always some distance behind me. The silence was cloying, and it was only amplified by the terrain, bouncing off the jagged spikes of rock. I didn't like it.
It wasn't the lack of noise so much, that wasn't a problem. In fact, it may have been an asset- Fire Nation ships had begun to patrol these waters, and the Earth Kingdom were far from nautically capable of stopping them. The quiet made us less noticeable, and let me listen out for any threats.
The problem was how unnatural it felt, given my present company. In the week or so that I had known her, it had become apparent that on most days Toph couldn't find quiet with both hands and a map. Not that she could find anything with a map anyway, what with them being made of paper, but anyway...
I wonder, is there any way you could make a map for the blind? Perhaps you could take a board, and dribble hot wax in lines to represent roads and such? And then the blind person could trace it with their finger?
No, the heat from their fingers would eventually melt the wax. We'd need something stronger. Perhaps I could carve the lines into the board, kind of like engraving? All I'd need is the right sized bit of wood and a sharp knife. And the ability to draw maps, of course. Hmm, perhaps I should start simple, with words, perhaps. I should really ask Toph about this.
...Except Toph's not talking to me right now. And I don't know why.
Meh, whatever. She'll either get over it, or it'll get brought up soon enough. I've got other things to worry about.
Like what the hell we're going to do next. Perhaps Aang has a plan of what he actually plans to do once he's mastered the elements. Perhaps he's planning on taking this opportunity to make contacts within the upper echelons of the Earth Kingdom society.
And perhaps Princess Azula is a kind-hearted, well meaning flower child, with everyone's best interests at heart. And perhaps Zhao didn't have a face like a monkey.
--
It's later, much later. The sun has set, and we're both sitting in front of a small camp fire. A small pot is bubbling over it; a small vegetable stew, with the rest of the bread just for variety.
I have spent the entire journey in speculation about our next move. It doesn't paint a pretty picture, I'm afraid. I keep trying to avoid it, but it all really comes down to one thing. I'm going to have to leave, and pretty soon.
I mean, here, I'm just another guy. Sure, I can fight, but I've hardly got the monopoly on that. But in the Fire Nation, that's where I can employ my talents.
But before that, there's gonna have to be a whole lot of paperwork to get through. Ugh. I don't like any of this plan. I'll keep thinking, see if I can come up with a better one.
On the other side of the fire, Toph is sitting, listlessly, her face as blank as I had ever seen it. She hadn't moved since she sat down.
Right. That is it. To hell with waiting it out, I'm going to find out what's wrong with her now. She's creeping me right the fuck out.
"Okay, Toph, what's wrong? Are you sick? Are you hurt? Are you practicing mime? Have you taken a vow of silence? Eaten any strange berries? Come on, give me a clue here."
I stood up, and took a step towards her, reaching out my hand to try and... take her temperature, or something. That turned out to be a mistake.
A column of earth flew upwards, grabbing my hand, and Toph whirled to face me.
Shit. She's panicking. Okay, until I can figure out why, stay calm, and look non-threatening. I mean sound non-threatening. Or should I look non-threatening as well? I haven't quite got a handle on the nuances of her earthbending-sense yet. I'll try and look and sound non-threatening, just in case.
"Okay, so I'm the problem. Why? Tell me what's wrong, Toph, or I can't help you."
"You don't get it?" She's inhaling madly, and she actually sounds honest-to-spirits scared. "You killed nine people today."
Oh.
Ah.
Sokka, you are a world-class moron. Right up there. You were so eager to see just what this girl here was capable of that you dragged her into a battle without thinking. Sokka, she's twelve years old.
You insensitive bastard.
"It's not even that" and she flops down, not paying attention to me, and my arm is freed from its prison. "It's not even that I felt their hearts just stop. I mean, I should really have guessed that you killed people. I mean, you're covered in sharp metal objects. It's worse. I killed people, more than you. I didn't even mean to, I just- I just..."
She's broken down,head in her hands, sobbing like the child she is and you shouldn't have forgotten that. Damnit, I wish Aang was here. We could really do with some kind of existential wisdom right now.
But he isn't here. And I have no idea what to say.
"I mean, I'd fought in the ring, and people never broke like that, it just, ...I didn't even realise what I was doing, I was just fighting, like I always had. But they didn't... afterwards, I counted all the heartbeats left. Twelve. I killed nineteen people."
She's rambling now, talking to herself, drowning in guilt.
Damnit, how do I help her? What do I say? I have no idea how to help her cope with it.
Don't. Let her get desensitised to it. She's a great weapon, and this will make her even more useful.
I can't stop the thought. It's an insidious idea from some black corner of my mind, but I can't stop thinking it. And I instantly hate myself for it.
Spirits preserve me, I'm probably about to do the wrong thing here. But it's too late for me to care.
I sit down on the earth next to her, and tentatively put an arm around her shoulder. She stiffened at my touch, but after a few moments leaned towards me and buried her face in my shirt. I sat there, holding her still, until she cried herself to sleep.
Now, was that the best possible thing I could have done, or the worst?
I guess... I guess at worst it's delayed her crisis. If she can just make it through the next day or so, we'll be at Ba Sing Se and she can talk to someone more qualified to help.
I somehow doubt tomorrow will be much fun.
--
I know, I know, Mai did nothing this chapter. There was nothing she could have done, at least not within the constraints of the plot.
As for that whole thing with Toph, I can't decide whether that blew the Good Ship Tokka out of the water, or if it set it going I dub this ship HMS Tokka breaking champagne etc etc. And if so, does that count as Ship Tease? I never meant it to; I just have a story I want to tell. Oh well.
Ugh. More internal rhymes.