Lieutenant Zhao

Our ship had been found 3 hours later by the FNS "Pathfinder" that had been sent out to try to discern what had happened to us. They found us dead in the sea, still taking on water, unveiling a new crippled system within the ship by the minute. Whatever the hell that storm had been, it did a number on us. The more I realized just how stranded we were, the more I came to realize how lucky we'd been to get out when we did. No. Not luck. Good leadership. If it had been Zain in charge, we'd be at the bottom of the Nip sea, half of us dead, the rest of us cramped in whatever air pocket we could find before giving up and trying to make a map dash for the surface-a swim we wouldn't live through.

I got us through this. The people on board had to recognize that. They had to. At least, that's what I was praying for in my head as, to our mutual surprise, it wasn't the Captain of the "Pathfinder" that boarded our crippled floating of scrap metal, but rather, the general himself. As acting captain of "The Zodiac," I had been the one to meet him as he strode on deck. I'd been ready to defend my actions to some lowly captain, but this, I hadn't yet synthesized the words on how to explain what had happened. That we'd lost the treasonous skiff, that we'd failed our chase, that we'd been stopped by a spirit. Who in the right mind would believe it? I wouldn't have.

I don't know what I'd been expecting. Perhaps to have been restrained, even detained aboard "The Pathfinder". While Section 3, Article 2 deemed what I'd done to have been lawful until proven guilty by a court, the execution was very much the opposite, and mutinying officers such as I would be detained and treated as a traitor until found innocent. I had thought of that when I made my choice, hoping my actions would speak for themselves. But now, our prey gone, escaped into the Nip Sea, and m only excuse being an attack from a spirit, I didn't much like my odds. I expected many things, but not for General Shu to push his first into my stomach, his steel gauntlet granting his assault extra strength as I fell from a full-attentive position to my knees, gagging on a regurgitating lunch trying to make its way back out, only for me to swallow it against my will in a fool's effort to retain what I could of my dignity in that moment despite having been pummeled by a senior officer.

"What in Raava's name did you think you were doing?"

I was still gagging on my own blood that was now intermingling with the vomit lining my throat, making a second attempt to come out once more. "Speak, damnit!" he said again when I failed to answer. "Explain your actions."

"I was." I coughed, interrupting myself as I attempted to struggle for air, "attempting to apprehend the crew, and possibly Earth Kingdom personnel, of a stolen Fire Nation vessel."

"In the process, running a friendly blockade."

"My ship was in the best position to pursue, already tailing it."

"You know protocol, Lieutenant. In an incident such as this, where a blockade closes in an untimely manner, approaching vessels are to evade the blockade to avoid any risk of friendly casualties. At that point, the nearest Fire Nation vessel will break off of the blockade to engage hostile vessels. It's protocol, soldier. Or do you only remember the ones that allow you to weasel your way to power."

I looked around the deck. All the rest were silent, none daring to speak to my defense. Not Izzo, not Zeera, and especially not Captain Zain who had just been liberated from captivity below by Shu's personal guard.

"I knew that I could make it through, and I didn't want any more ships disengaging from the blockade. Protocol also dictates that if vessels can avoid breaking off from a blockade however possible, they must."

"But not at the cost of Fire Nation lives, lieutenant Zhao."

"He doesn't care about Fire Nation lives!" bellowed Zain from where he was flanked by Shu's guards, who promptly had to restrain him as he tried to lunge forward at me. "He's only in it for his own gain."

"At least I acted while you-"

"Don't speak out of line, Lieutenant!"

"Ha!" laughed Zain from where he was being grabbed under the shoulders by two Fire Nation soldiers, nearly levitating the small man off the ground.

"The same goes for you, Captain. You're not out of the woods yourself. You have something to say, lieutenant? Then speak."

Thank you.

"Sir. I acted because Captain Zain refused to, despite the clear signs of enemy infiltration aboard the destroyer that passed through, intervene. He ignored any and all advising that the crew and I gave that pointed towards the fact that the vessel was stolen."

General Shu looked around now, towards the crew, asking, "Is this true? Did anybody else raise these complaints."

Damn it, Zeera. Speak!

"Sir!" she said. "Permission to speak?"

Finally. Took you long enough. But I guess that makes you the smarter one now, doesn't it?

"Granted."

"Both Lieutenant Zhao and I approached Captain Zain with our objections. Lieutenant Zhao noted that the ship was an outdated model and that there was no officially licensed nameplate aboard the vessel, but rather, merely a painted etch of the name. I made note of the nonstandard armaments aboard."

"Nonstandard armaments?"

"A 105-millimeter artillery gun. Manual by the looks of it."

"And your captain ignored these objections?"

"Not ignore, sir, but certainly not act on them either. He accepted the first explanation that the vessel's crew gave, as though trying to evade conflict."

"You lying whore!" The captain yelled.

"Strike him!" Shu ordered the guards, followed by the one on the right, while maintaining his grip on Zain's right shoulder, twisted his torso to land a good punch in Zain's stomach with an ungloved fist.

I wanted to speak, but this time, I knew better.

"Permission to speak, General?"

"Granted."

"It is captain Zain who should be held accountable for what occurred. If he had intervened, we could have stopped the vessel before it even reached the blockade."

"Captain Zain will be punished for his actions, but you forget, Lieutenant, he wasn't in command for the full duration. That was you. You can't have the freedom to assume command and not be found accountable for your actions. Can't have it both ways, lieutenant."

No. Of course not. That was stupid of me.

"Stand up."

I struggled to get to my feet, but somehow managed, returning to an attentive position.

"Because of the incompetency of this vessel," he continued, "A hostile vessel has worked its way past our blockade and now stands poised to interfere with our operations in the Nip sea. There is no time to return to the Fire Nation for a court martial and I will not waste supplies on prisoners. Invoking Section 1, Article 7, as your commanding officer, I will be assuming judgement of this case. Lieutenant Zhao, for negligence regarding blockade procedure, and inadvertent endangerment of Fire Nation personnel, you are hereby demoted to ensign and relieved from your post aboard 'The FNS Zodiac.' You are hereby stationed aboard the 'FNS Ajax, to report there following conclusion of this court session'"

His own ship. Was this a demotion, or a promotion? Or did he just want to keep an eye on me. Either way, I could use this.

I suppressed a hidden grin, saluting as he dismissed me, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief as he moved on over to Zain.

"Captain Zain, for negligence regarding blockade procedure, inattentiveness to your surroundings, ignorance of your inferior crewmen, and deliberate endangerment of Fire Nation personnel, you are stripped of your command, expelled from the Fire Nation Navy and armed forces, and are subject to immediate death by firing squad.

Wait. What?

The murmurs were going around the crew already and Zain, nothing to lose, was squealing at the top of his lungs. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! 'Deliberate' endangerment of Fire Nation lives? My ass! I'm not a traitor!"

It mattered not. The soldiers who were already practically carrying him, brough him over to the wall of the superstructure, 2 more of Shu's guards approaching with binders, clasping his arms together behind his back and, with more difficulty, his legs to one another, before being cuffed to the maintenance ladder that ran up the superstructure, and the four firebenders moved back into a firing position, the ex-captain in their sights.

"On my mark!"

"You can't do this. I've served my nation loyally for 17 years! You can't do this!"

"Ready!"

The soldiers got into their firing stances, in the proper standing positions to charge up four fatal blasts of fire.

"I swear to you. I wouldn't betray my nation. I'm sorry, just please. Don't kill me!"

"Aim!"

I could feel the change in atmosphere as the men began building the flames in their retracted right hands, ready for the killing blow.

"I'm begging you, please. Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"

"Fire!"

Four quick shots. Four holes in the man's body as his body slumped forward, not allowed to fall to the metal floor on account of the handcuffs binding him to the wall, propping him up like a scarecrow. And that it was. Justice, but also a warning. To the crew of this ship, but mostly to me. I got lucky this time, but this, so I saw, watching the small flames still dancing around within Zain's lifeless corpse, this is what happens to those who fail the Fire Nation.

Luke

I woke up with the light and dark playing tricks with my eyes, replacing one another from one moment to the next. Clouds? I wondered, trying to turn my head where I lied in bed to get a look out of the window above my bed, a task that soon revealed itself to be impossible.

I closed my eyes, trying to achieve the impossible task of getting comfortable in my sweat-soaked bed and underclothes. No side I turned to would suffice, and the sporadic appearances of light that flashed across my eyes didn't help. What the hell kind of clouds were these? I opened my eyes, a new sense of determination to get up and see if I could block the window with anything to try to get back in bed until I turned around, looking through the window to see not clouds, but leaves, branches, trees, shore.

We're here. So why the hell did nobody wake me up?

I new sense of purpose and energy, I shot out of bed. I'd hoped to try to beat the rest of the crew's realization that I hadn't yet emerged from my room, but the metallic clang that sounded from my door told me that I'd failed in that regard.

"Luke." Zek called. "You up?"

"I'm up! I'm up!"

"Then get up, you lazy piker!"

What the fuck is a piker?

"I'm coming, asshat."

I heard his chuckle through the door as he left me to my own accord.

I was out of bed now and could see myself in the reflection of the mirror above the washing basin in my room. Hell. How long was I out?

It didn't matter. There was still water in the basin and reached in to splash some on my face until the whole of the water fell back into the basin between my fingers.

My hands were shaking.

I tried clamping down on my right hand with my left, but when the left was shaking just as furiously, it didn't do much to help.

The nightmares are over, Luke. I tried telling myself. You're in control again. I nodded to myself, as thought trying to cast aside my own worries. There'd been good dreams and bad dreams. It started mostly with the nightmares for the first part of the time I was out. The people I killed, the families I destroyed, the chills in the middle of the night (or day). It became hard to tell the difference at one point. Then those finally began to dim. And it was as though the world grew brighter, but the shadow remained. And there was that image. An image I'd seen before. Buildings burning, on a mountain peak, connected together by bridges, people screaming, burning. But who? People. Just people.

Then there were the good dreams. The people I saved. The new leaf. The person I could be. The person I had to be.

And while the shake in my hands slowed, I didn't want to take any chances. Besides, I needed more than a handful. I dunked my head into the water, letting it revive me from the nights' worth of terror and restlessness. I was awake.

I took off my underclothes as though I were peeling them off rather than disrobing, tossing them to the side of my room's door. I'll wash them later today. Naked, I opened my closet door, looking low to expect the pile of common clothes and armor, only to look up to find my armor neatly stacked on the shelves, helmet and breastplate on one shelf, leg and arm plates on the other. Next to that, neatly folded was the gray Fire Nation uniform that went under the armor, neatly folded and, I smelled, cleaned too.

As I pondered who, what, why, and how, I couldn't help myself from growing increasingly worried as the implications came to light. No. I hadn't been eating or drinking. There's no way they had to. Please tell me they didn't have to clean me. I stood there, nude for a few moments, trying however I could to rationalize an explanation that ended with them staying away from me in that sense, using my full bladder and desperate desire to shit as a hopeful, if not desperate attempt to say that they hadn't done so. The less I know, the better.

I found the underwear folded as well, grabbing it, sliding it on, one of Zeeda's many gracious gifts to us, including the clean spare uniforms and common clothes. I didn't know what the day had in store, so for the moment, not expecting the need to blend in any time soon by the primitive look of where we were outside, I settled for gray baggy pants, a dimmed brown tunic. Over it, always expecting the worst, I donned the Fire Nation armor plate, elbow guards, and knee guards, tucking the bagginess of the pants into the military boots, and, in accordance with the late winter day that it seemed to be outside, a light brown coat that I left unbound in the front, revealing the armor, hoping to dissuade any confrontation if it came to that. I buckled my belt around my tunic, sheathing my short sword, and lastly, in an easy to reach spot in my boot, my lucky knife, Danev's lucky knife before me.

Where are you now, Danev? You in the spirit world somewhere, floating around, one with peace, is your soul still trapped in your body I buried that fateful day, or are you just in the void, in the nothingness beyond?

It wasn't a question I wanted answered. Not now, at least. I'd find out when my own time came. And so I pushed the door to my room open, finally ready to meet the world that awaited me.

So after a quick trip to the latrines on board the ship rather than over the deck due to the magics of Fire Nation plumbing and engineering, I was on the main deck, gazing out in mystical delight at the world around us. Trees surrounded us on every side except for one miniscule passageway that itself was shrouded by bent over trees, shrouding the passageway, perfectly concealing us. How the hell did we find this place?

As though to answer my question, Boss walked up next to me, stopping by me, and saying, "It wasn't my doing if that's what you're wondering."

"How did we get here?" I asked, truly wondering about all that passed since I'd fallen into that grievous slumber.

"I tried to break the blockade. It didn't work. We got caught. We ran. They had us. Then-"

"Then the sea awoke from its ancient slumber," interjected Zek, putting an arm around Boss's shoulder so as to elaborate upon the sheer magnificence of the events I'd missed. "The water spirit of days long past, heard our cries for help, and in his mercy and grace, summoned the power of the sea to his command, whisking away our pursuers, and guiding us in his comforting arms to this little sanctuary we now call home."

I finished listening to Zek's story, more than amused, somehow glad to hear his dumb voice after what'd felt like so long without it, now turning to Boss to hear the real story. "Flash storm. Strong one too. We'd taken on damage to our engine and were sitting ducks when we got lucky. Not spirits. Luck."

"You have no imagination, Boss," Zek said in disappointment as he removed his arm from Boss's shoulder, turning me to ask, "Feeling better, Luke?"

"Better's subjective," I answered. "On one hand, I no longer feel like I'm about to throw up at any damn moment, but on the other, I'm back to hearing your shit jokes."

"So improvements all across the board. You almost sound like you don't want to stick a knife in your own throat for once."

"Riiiiiiiiight. Now I just want to stick one in yours."

"And he has a sense of humor too. Man, I'm starting to like this non-edgy and depressed version of you. I think we'll get along great."

"Zek," Boss said, "Mind giving Gordez a hand in taking inventory of what we'll need to get this thing back up and running?"

"Can do, Boss." He turned to leave.

Boss regained my attention and I his. "You mentioned we got hit."

"Fire Nation warship. Miracle we survived, really."

"Or maybe Zek's just right and we have friends in high places."

"A crew as morally devoid as ours? Wouldn't count on it."

You'd be surprised of the low lives spirits use to do their bidding.

"So we got in a bit of a scrap. Did anybody-"

"Die? No. At least I don't believe so. None of our shots hit home and we didn't get the chance to use the gun."

"Alright," I nodded. That was of some small comfort, to hear that both we and the Fire Nation soldiers got out with our lives intact. They may be our enemies in a way, but I still can't help but feel the loyalty they earned from me by saving my life all that time ago.

And now that we were done talking shop, Boss looked at me, with real intent in his eyes that were in the shadows of his dark brown, almost black hair, asking, "How you feeling, Luke?"

"Better. A lot better. I feel like I can finally get back to being myself now. It's been too long of being afraid to be inside my own body."

"You still comfortable doing this, the fighting, the war? You don't have to stick around. I'm sure there are some towns around here where-"

"No. I want to stay. I don't feel like I'm still being weighed down by my past, like I have a debt to pay, but I want to help the people who can't protect themselves. I've spent too much of my life exploiting them, and I want to give myself the chance to be the good guy for once. Or at least however close I can come to that."

He nodded, seemingly relieved, proceeding to say, "Glad you're staying with us, then. We need all the help we can get."

"What do you need doing? Want me to try and help getting the engine back?"

"No, no. Already got pretty much everyone working on that. I actually wouldn't mind you doing some scouting for us, find out where we are. I want to think we're on the northern end of the Nip sea, but I can't be sure. We got spun around quite a bit in that storm."

I nodded, asking, "You try looking at the sun?"

"Have you?"

I looked up. There was no blue to be seen in the sky. Just a tick white sheet of clouds spread across the whole sky. "Point taken," I said.

He resumed, "I'd like for you and Ka'lira to get a lay of the land, draw some maps, and try to find civilization. You're already equipped more or less like a civilian so you should be more or less good to go. Find her, probably near Zek, and get going."

"Yes, sir."

"Wait wait wait. You've been out for 6 days."

6 days? Wasn't sure if that was more or less than what I'd expected.

"You hungry?" he finished.

And I finally became aware of the gaping hoe in my stomach that had been left unfilled for the aforementioned span of time. And I suddenly lost the ability to talk as that pain, that aching feeling became the only thing I knew. I nodded.

"Ka'lira cooked up some fish we caught. It shouldn't be cold yet. It's still upstairs. Eat up, clean up, find Ka'lira, and get going. Oh. And I don't want you guys walking mindlessly for hours on end. Take Shanzi with you.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

After all this time, I still didn't know if I should salute, so instead, I nodded my head, and set off to eat, and later, to find Ka'lira, likely near Zek. I was no stranger to it. I saw the same thing with Danev. The pleasures in this world only last so long. Enjoy it while you can.

Zek

"All sounds simply enough, I guess," I said to Gordez, looking over the grocery list he'd had me compile. Hammers, wrenches (a kit of different sizes), 1-inch screws, and any other sizes you see (the more, the merrier), screwdrivers, a crowbar, 2-inch thick metal plating) "The tools should be simple, but it may be a bit tougher getting the metal plates we need."

"We can focus on that later. For now, I just need some equipment to be able to start stripping the bad sheets from the engine before it warps anymore under the heat and gets in the way of the machinery."

"Fair enough."

"Am I getting reimbursed for what I spend in town?" Ka'lira asked.

"It's coming out of your pay," Gordez joked.

"Wait," I interjected. "We're getting paid?"

Gordez smiled, turning back to Zadok and…Kosah. Was going to take a while for me to learn their names. I turned to Ka'lira, "Well, this about covers what you're going to be looking for if you manage to find a trace of civilization out there, not that I'm counting on it."

"Who knows? I might come across a natural reserve of…" she looked at the list over my shoulder where I was holding the list, her chin brushing against my shoulder as she did so, almost resting her head on it, reading "adjustable spanner wrenches. Whatever the hell those are."

I smiled, enjoying the feeling of her momentarily resting her head on my shoulder, even if it was more in a joking manner that romantic one, but hey, it was a step in the right direction. At least, I wanted to think so.

She leaned back against the catwalk railing, tapping against the open spot next to her for me to join in. I leaned against it as well, not sure if the heat in the room was from the engines as Gordez's crew worked desperately to stop them from overheating, or something else.

"So how am I doing?" she asked.

"Pardon?"

"Getting assimilated. You know, fitting in?"

"Oh please. You were fitting in the practical moment you got here."

"That's a lie if I ever heard one. I saw the way they looked at me, eyeing me up and down as though they didn't trust me."

I had to stop myself from laughing. "They looked at you that way because you were the first girl they'd seen in years. A soldier doesn't see a real girl for years on end, the first one they see, no matter how pretty or ugly, they imagine fucking them."

"What a vivid image, except you didn't look at me that way. So what? You saying I'm not 'fuck-worthy' by your words?"

Gordez's head shot around the moment he heard that, not sure what in Raava's name he was hearing, the expression on his face enough to make me burst out laughing if I wasn't preoccupied trying to find the safest way out of this trap, at least until Ka'lira also saw Gordez's face and burst out laughing, saying, "I'm just screwing with you, but look Zek, I know the faces of guys who want to take me. You forget where you found me in the first place. And those weren't the faces I saw here. The people here, they're decent, good people. It's been too long since I could say something like that. But I was a newcomer, a risk, and the look I saw, that's what it was, distrust."

I sighed in relief, so glad she gave me a tactical retreat from that corner I found myself trapped in, saying, "You can't blame them, Ka'lira. We all were, still are, on edge."

"Oh I don't blame them at all. I get it. I just want to hope I've moved past that."

"You have. Without a doubt. Now the ones in question are those two."

"Kosah and Zadok? I trust 'em?"

"Really now?" I asked, amused at how she'd come to that conclusion. "And why's that?"

"I don't know. They just seem innocent and well-meaning. Eager even. Though I imagine going against their country's a bit tough on them."

"It's not really accurate to say we're going against one single country. I mean, you saw what happened at Jianghe. That incident at the blockade, nothing by comparison. This is just about trying to do the right thing."

"So if it were to come to a choice between the lives of civilians, and the lives of Fire Nation soldiers, which would you choose."

And I thought about that for a moment, knowing clearly what the correct answer was, but I wasn't trying to give her the correct answer. I wanted to give her the truth. The trouble was, I wasn't even so sure what that was, what it meant, until I remembered what Boss had told me once.

"When you turn your blade on somebody who can't defend themselves, you stop being a soldier. You become a killer. A true soldier doesn't fight because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what's behind him. A real wouldn't turn his blade on the weak, but a killer would, and I know whose side I'd take."

The answer seemed to not only satisfy her but impress her in a way. I cleared the bead of sweat that had grown on my forehead in anticipation of her response which luckily, had been unwarranted.

She looked off in the distance for a while, at the inner hull of the Patriot. I wondered what she was thinking as I looked off down the catwalk, but in reality, was looking at her with the corner of my eyes, comparing how much different she looked now than from when I first saw her almost a month and a half ago.

She'd been so skinny, clearly underfed. Her nose was broken, and she wore the bruises on her like a soldier wore armor, hiding behind them, terrified. Yet now, she looked alive, she looked happy even. Her hair had grown out. She wore it in a braid she jokingly promised to teach to me one day to one side of her head, going down around 5 inches past her shoulder. She eventually had managed to fit into our smallest size of clothing now that she was finally getting some weight on her. And she wore it well, wore it with such comfort and confidence despite everything that had happened in her past, as though this was her new chance.

It was a new chance for everybody. I tried to forget those early days in the army, and the things I'd done. I tried to forget the face of the first girl I forced myself on. A "rite of passage" my first squad, Killian Squad, had called it. She was terrified, and I didn't enjoy a minute of it. I tried to stop myself from finishing, as though that would be my silent protest to what the rest of the soldiers, no, monsters, had wanted me to do, and was ashamed when I did. I regretted that day ever since.

I got my second chance when Boss found me and made a request with my CO to have me put into Squad Iron Fire. The reassignment was approved, and I was able to leave that past behind. I learned 3 days later that Killian Squad had been wiped out in an Earth Kingdom ambush. I shed no tears for me, but I did for that girl, and how terrified she was, of me. And that was the worst part of it. There was no feeling worse in the world than having somebody look at you and having their first reaction be that of fear.

But when Ka'lira looked at me, like she did just then when her eyes met mine for a small moment and she smiled, I knew what I wanted somebody to think when I saw me. I knew what I wanted her to feel when she saw me. When I saw her, I saw somebody who was able to go through so much yet become stronger for it, and I admired her for that, for the amazing, strong, beautiful person I saw next to me.

I wanted to say just as much until Ka'lira turned her head to where I was looking and said, "Ah. There's the man of the hour."

I saw who she was referring to as Luke dismounted the ladder leading down, already seemingly overwhelmed by the heat below decks, pulling off his overcoat accordingly. Damn. Just a few more minutes would've been nice.

"What the hell is that heat?" Luke complained as droplets of sweat could already be seen forming on him.

"That is the heat of big business my friend," I said, laughing off my missed opportunity. Next time, I promised myself. "And you are to be our errand boy," I finished, handing him the shopping list.

He looked over it. "I don't know what half of this stuff even fucking means."

"That's why our job is to find civilization and find somebody who does," Ka'lira responded. "Guess we should get going." She turned to me. "Wish you were coming along, Zek. But I guess the Patriot will be your date for the day."

"You wish. Accompanying a woman while shopping. I almost feel bad for you, Luke."

Luke had no desire to enter the banter and was merely watching in amusement as he ascended the ladder.

"Oh don't get jealous. Next time I'm taking you along with me. I'll let you buy me something nice" she finished with a blink.

And by the time I had fully comprehended what she was saying, she was gone. "Wait," I heard myself say to nobody in particular. "Was she flirting with me?"

Luke

It always was an experience in itself to turn Shanzi on, letting her motor come to life all around you as the small lights in the tank flickered on with the engine's hum to life.

In front of me, yet even more mechanical might was sounding as the forward ramp of The Patriot lowered until stabbing into the mucky earth below us. I heard Ka'lira climb into the tank behind me as she maneuvered her way past the gunner's seat into the passenger area next to me, finally settling into place and taking out the empty sheet of paper we were supposed to map the terrain on as we went ahead.

"You ever been in one of these before?" I asked Ka'lira.

"Once or twice. Zek would drive me once and a while."

I grinned. Of course he does. "Well I don't drive like Zek. So you may want to buckle in."

She accommodated my wish willingly enough, setting down the paper and quill on the dashboard as she reached around her to strap in both one brace around her shoulder, and the other around her waist.

When I heard the sound of the buckle, I let Shanzi's might come to life as we moved ahead, rolling naturally down the ramp without the aid of any engine, and came to a crashing halt on the earth terrain, but we weren't some primitive ostrich horse-drawn carriage. This was a Fire Nation tank, and the treads rolled against the mud, digging their talons into the deep earth, gaining traction where there was none, pulling us ahead off of the beachhead, into the shroud of the forest ahead of us.

I could see next to me that Ka'lira was still trying to become acclimatized with the sudden change in atmosphere she found herself in, the motion all around her, almost sickening. I knew the feeling, remembered my first drive back in Citadel. I was too young for the infantry then. Those tanks were my only way into the war and out of that forsaken city. Didn't mean I didn't find myself fighting outside of the tank more often than not, but I wouldn't have changed a thing. It got me away from Citadel, and that's what mattered.

We rolled ahead in the mud. I only realized a few minutes of grinding riding that I still had the handbrake on and that I was in the complete wrong gear. Yeah. It's been a while.

As we drove ahead now, I could see that her shock wasn't coming from her unfamiliarity with the vehicle, but, as she confirmed with a later question, possibly my driving. "So, how long have you been driving these?"

I grinned to myself. Enough. But I wanted to mess around with her. "Oh I was trained in how to use these. Don't worry."

"In how to drive, right?"

"Oh not at all. I was the gunner. You know, one who shot people while others did the driving."

She went green. "Oh."

I chuckled to myself as Ka'lira struggled to find a stable surface on which to draw her maps, but the silence of the tank, silence being a funny word considering the ear-shattering sound of the engine, was starting to get to me. So I yelled over it to ask, "So you and Zek. What's going on there?"

It was worth the struggle it cost my lungs just to see her go red on the other side of the tank as she tried to remain nonchalant when asking, "What do you mean?"

"I mean. I don't want to have to worry about where I'm sitting in this tank."

I didn't think that it was possible for her to get redder, but in that moment, she did, and the lines between red from embarrassment and red from anger became very blurred.

"What?! No! Me and Zek! No! And definitely not in the tank! Not that we, I-."

It was becoming all the more difficult to keep myself from bursting into laughter, but, inevitably, I failed, and I broke down into laughter that showed itself through my driving as I failed to keep a straight path, only getting her all the more angry with me.

"You know," she said. "I really didn't realize that your naturally, non-depressed self, was a complete asshole."

I allowed myself to laugh yet again. It felt good. Being able to do that. I'd forgotten the last time I'd laughed. Had it been something Danev said? Maybe even something Reek said? "Yeahhhhhhhh. Sorry about. I finally remembered how much fun it is to fuck around with people. And how did you know that I didn't always used to be a depressed piece of shit?"

"Zek would tell me about it."

"Awwww. He would tell you stories about me. That's sweet."

"There wasn't much else to do when we were cleaning your bed of your piss and sh-"

"Okayyyyy. That's enough to that. Did not need to hear that."

It was me who was going red, and her who was laughing now. "That was mean," I said.

"That was payback."

"Fair enough. Sorry, if it's not too late."

"You're forgiven."

"Can we at least have the mutual understanding that what happened in my room stays in that room?"

"It's not me you have to worry about. Zek's the loudmouth."

"Well fuck me, then. The one person on this ship I can't keep quiet."

Ka'lira chuckled. "I'll talk to him. Make sure that incident doesn't become ingrained in our codex."

"I'd appreciate that."

"So if you don't mind me asking, what was going on in that head of yours for the last 6 days?"

"That…is a great question."

"What, you don't remember?"

"Oh, I remember, but to try to describe what I saw and what I heard in there, well, I'm not ready for you to look at me like I'm a complete fucking lunatic just yet, you get me?"

"That's fair."

It was a wonder how Ka'lira was balancing the difficult tasks of making conversation, handling the terrain and the rickety nature of the tank, and still managing to be inscribing an accurate map, at least, I assumed it was accurate, because we'd already been coming quite a long ways in the tank. If we continued off in this direction, we should still be going north. I wonder where the nearest town is.

As more time passed, it was her to bring up conversation, mostly starting with how I got into the war. I kept out some of the more intimate details, talking about how I was rescued by the army from the slums in Citadel and put in the army.

"You didn't get a choice then, to join the army?"

"You mean if they asked me if I wanted to join or not, not particularly."

"And you don't feel any kind of anger for that? Despite everything that happened in the war?"

"If I wanted to look at everything that's happened in my life with the gift of hindsight, the first people I'd blame would be my parents, whoever they are, for bringing me into this world in the first place, but at the time, the army seemed like the better life, and as far as I'm concerned, it still was. Whatever it took to get out of that city, I would have done."

She nodded, moving the topic along to "So how did you meet these guys? Boss, Gordez, Zek?"

Real clever. Putting Zek at the end there. Very aloof.

I decided not to play by her rules and save some time by going straight to the point and saying, "It was Zek at first who really made me feel welcome. I wasn't exactly the most receptive at the time though. I'd just lost my first squad and the few friends I had there and wasn't exactly the most willing to make any new friends any time soon." Then I decided I wasn't done screwing with her. "Besides. Their more nocturnal activities. I wasn't too fond of. Granted, I hadn't been at war nearly as long as them and hadn't been driven to such desperation just yet."

"Wait. What do you mean?"

"I'll ask that you don't judge them too harshly. You're in the trenches more months on end, years in some of their cases. You have needs, you know? And sometimes, those needs are put into practice, no matter how abnormal they may seem. Not that I'm judging. I'm just saying-"

"Wait wait wait wait. You mean they-? With each other? Do they still? Not that it matters to me, but-"

I was trying to just stare ahead at the road, focusing on the most minute details to try to keep myself from bursting out in laughter again, but it was simply not going to happen, and my guise went down, proceeded by me just bursting into another pulse of laughter.

"Wow. You are such a dick. You're aware of that, right?"

"Oh, I know. Man, I've missed this."

I saw her roll her eyes from the corner of mine, getting distracted by the amusing sight to the point that I almost missed the hazard of the tree falling down directly in front of us. I brought us to as sudden a stop as I could, sending us both colliding with our seat restraints which, thankfully, were on.

"Well." She said. "That was sudden."

"Bit too sudden, yeah?"

I tried putting us in reverse, but we were locked in place, I couldn't move.

"Why aren't we moving?"

"No idea." I looked outside through the small hatch. It looked clear enough. "Stay here."

I unbuckled myself from where I was seating, clambering over the driver seat to the gunner's hatch, opening it with my left hand while unsheathing my sword with my right, and I stepped out, looking down at the treads that were caught in a metallic chain that had gotten caught in the machinery. What the hell?

"What's the problem?" Ka'lira asked from behind me. I told you to stay inside. But it was too late. I heard the bushes rumbling to my right, my left, above me. I drew my sword, but it would do no good against the 2, 3, 5, 9, 11, 14, and counting figures as they emerged from the bushes and the tree branches, drawn bows trained on my position. A split-second awareness told me not to form a flame in my left hand. I didn't know who these people were, but something told me they weren't friend with the Fire Nation, and that gave me hope. A hope that eroded when Ka'lira yelped for help as she was dragged off of the tank, and I felt a blow to the back of the head tat sent me to the ground, with darkness in my eyes.