Rewrite, Rewind
Chapter 28
The Fire Nation soldiers were vamped up again, confident that their spirit friend had returned to their side. They believed that the spirits approved of this attack, that the spirits wanted the fire nation to conquer Ba Sing Se. they ignored the rumors that the Painted Lady helped the civilians as well, tending to the sickly wives and the injured children alike. They only know that she visited their hospitals in the dead of night and healed those their physicians had originally given up hope on.
"What a fantastic tale," Lu Ten looked at the commander who interrupted the report from the soldier. "Spirits don't actually exist. Whose spouting such foolish words?"
"Whether it's foolish or not, it brings up our soldier's morale," General Iroh chuckled warmly. "why stop such rumors?"
"You can't possibly tell me that you believe in the spirits?" the commander scoffed
"Where else could my mother go?" Iroh asked with a sad smile. "if the spirit world did not exist, then where would our dead rest?"
"I agree with father, Commander," Lu Ten said, turning his attention on the middle-aged man. "If there is no life after this, then what's the point in this war? There must be something we have to achieve here in order to go the next journey." The commander rolled his eyes, scoffing at Lu Ten's words.
"Commander Zhao," Iroh called, his voice soft and warm despite the steely glare he sent the much younger man. "The spirits still exist; they still visit us when we least expect it. I suspect that this former river spirit, the painted lady, is a spirit that has chosen to stand by us. We may not know the reason but perhaps we have the same or similar goal."
"Whatever floats your boat general Iroh," commander Zhao sighed.
"You should be more careful with your words commander Zhao," Lu Ten smirked at the man, finding amusement in his blatant disrespect of something that literally surrounded him. "Considering it was only due to this Painted Lady that we broke through the outer wall as early as we did, I suspect she has more power then you realize."
"Perhaps she's a water bender in disguise," Zhao mocked back
"A Water Bender dressing up as a Fire Nation spirit? Oh I can see that not ending well," General Iroh laughed, "literally for no one."
"it would be our luck they'd chose the Kemurikage spirits," Lu Ten chuckled with his father. "Regardless, who this painted woman is, she's lending aid to our forces. She is an ally and we should respect her efforts." Zhao rolled his eyes again, folding his arms in front of himself and leaning back on one foot. "unless you have a better explanation for why our soldiers are being healed at unnatural rates? No? then stop questioning them."
"That's the thing though prince," Commander Zhao struggled to hide his scowl. "This 'spirit' is helping the earth peasants as well."
"Is she reviving Earth Kingdom soldiers?" General Iroh asked seriously
"…no news on that," Zhao admitted slowly
"Then she's an alley and we respect her," Iroh concluded and waved a dismissive hand at the commander.
Zhao left with a scowl and red cheeks.
"I don't trust that man, father," Lu Ten murmured to his father, turning to look at the map of Ba Sing Se that they found.
"No one does son, no one does," Iroh sighed heavily.
One year and six months into the attack on Ba Sing Se
"Are you sure this information is legit?" an earth kingdom soldier asked his comrade. It was nearing mid-day; they were traveling in the heat of the day towards the new front lines of the invading Fire Nation Force.
"Yes," his commander agreed, sweat trickling down the back of his neck. "the informant said they will be exchanging their injured for stronger soldiers. To ensure their soldiers return to their base camp, they will be scarifying several hundred healthy soldiers to act as guards. This is the best time to attack."
"With only two dozen soldiers?" another commented doubtfully
"The Dai Li will be joining in this time," the commander reassured. "Only the spirits know how many souls they have in their rankings." His soldiers fell silent, mentally preparing for the attack they would need to perform to make the mission a success. They found the Fire Nation soldiers fairly easily, mostly because said soldiers found them first and sent a volley of fireballs at them first. The battle began and it continued to rage with the earth benders seemingly gaining the upper hand as the soldiers slowly retreated a little more at a time. Eventually, though the team of twenty realized they were led into a trap, surrounded on all sides by fire benders.
"Give up!" one of the commanders ordered loudly, "you've lost this fight!"
"If they're smart they'll drop underground," someone out of sight scoffed, clearly not thinking they'd be heard by said earth benders.
"I drop, you wall?" the commander asked his right hand-soldier
"Deal," the moved together, one raising a protective barrier with the help of two other soldiers and the other three helping with the drop of earth underfoot.
"What idiot spouted that?!" the commander raged overhead, the earth benders all clapped hands and looked around. They were surprised to find themselves in a large underground hall, green-glowing stones erected as light sources in intervals along the walls.
"You're late," the twenty soldiers turned to look at the speaker, a man dressed as the police force of Ba Sing Se was standing nearby. "we should hurry now. We don't have much time before they notice."
"Notice what?" on cue stifled shouts and sounds of fire bending exploded overhead.
"We need to hurry," the Dai Li agent ordered, already moving forward past the group. "We'll be late if the commanders chose to leave with the injured."
"So we'll be using this tunnel to get to the outer wall in time for… what now?" the commander asked
"The rest of the army is pushing the Fire Bender's back," The Dai Li informed him. "The Dai Li are performing assignations of the higher-ranking officers to put their people in disarray."
"How much time do we have before the rest of the Fire Nation is at the broken outer wall?" The commander asked
"We don't have much time," The agent retorted. "If General Iroh reorganizes the forces at the wall, they could reclaim the parts of the city they've already abandoned."
"I don't see the Fire Nation retreating after everything they've gained," a soldier grumbled.
"After today they will have no choice but to retreat," The agent replied stiffly. "not very many men can continue fighting after the loss of their children." They came to a dead end, a wall inscribed with the city-street at the top of it. "Your target is Lu Ten of the fire Nation. He is general Iroh's only son." The Dai Li agent turned to face them, arms already moving, "the Dai Li cannot be exposed to the Fire Nation just yet. So this assassination is something you soldiers must do." The wall opened up to a dark space between two buildings, a young woman greeted them with a warm smile. She had long black hair pulled back into a simple braid that reached down to her knees and fire-orange eyes that danced with suppressed laughter.
"How'd I know?" the young woman's voice shook with laughter, no one could respond before she lifted her bow and arrow and released three arrows, one in the Dai Li agent's back and another two that hit the two soldiers directly in front of him. Two soldiers cursed as they leaped forward and reclosed the exit.
"Who the hell was that?" the commander asked, supporting the injured agent while another solider ripped out the arrows.
"A medic in the hospital," the Dai Li agent coughed wetly. "We… we dismissed her… she… she's bender… leeeesssss."
"…Dead," the commander whispered, his fingers falling from the agent's neck where he had previously been waiting for a puls.
"What do we do now sir?"
"We wait," the commander sighed, "maybe we'll move after sunset. That's when the fire benders are weakest…" he looked up at his soldiers, two of them were clutching at the arrows buried deep into their shoulders. "She… she's bender-less but… she killed a man and wounded another two…"
"I didn't know doctors could be so terrifying," a soldier grumbled. The sound of collapsing earth followed by the appearance of three Dai Li agents appearing in their hall, each wounded with arrows in their bodies.
"What are you doing here?" one of the agents questioned
"You met that doctor too?" the commander asked
"Doctor?"
"That's what he said," the commander moved to reveal the body of the agent to his comrades. "He said she was a doctor in the Fire Nation hospital. She was dismissed because she was bender-less."
"She has archery skills apparently," one of the soldiers scoffed.
"The doctor in the fire nation hospital?" one of the Dai Li questioned, "the one who treats the civilians?" the soldiers shared unsure looks.
"It must be her sir, she's the only non-bender in the fire nation army." Dai Li with the arrow in his leg spoke up.
"We should've known she had combat skills," the third sighed. "No one sends a non-bender into a war zone without having the skills to protect themselves."
"It doesn't matter," the commander frowned thoughtfully. "She's fire nation and she's deadly. When the sun goes down, she'll be at the same disadvantage as all the other fire benders."
"…come with us," the leader of the three Dai Li agent ordered, "We'll go get treatment then retreat with the others."
"Sundown will be the perfect time for reclaiming our territory." The soldiers agreed with heartfelt cheers.
please leave reviews
I love the feedback
