The school and with it the network that I am hoping to build are coming along. What is needed now is to establish community centres and safe spaces for people to come together to plan, talk, and form an effective movement. Those spaces need to be guarded, which is why I'm keeping a lookout for young, strong people who could fit in with the crowds and still defend places from the Dai Li and other undesirables. At the very least, they need to be capable of keeping a lookout and warning the people in the meeting if the Dai Li arrives to make trouble.
The reason why infiltration is at this point near impossible is because the Dai Li itself recruits. You do not apply, as you might for a job with the City Guard, and you wouldn't know where. They don't have something as mundane as police boxes. They have offices at the train stations and regular patrols. They are more active during the night than the day.
My suspicion is that they recruit harmless friendly-looking people and then brainwash them. Because we never entered the city by way of official gates, and instead through the harbour and trade we never got the greeting by the Ba Sing Se official that Iroh told me about. Her name was Ju Di. Daito, another refugee and student at the adult evening school we got going with Ranra's help, spoke of Ju Di as well. But their descriptions did not match. Two Ju Di are not a coincidence.
They addressed the new arrivals as a whole when they got off the train from the main gate. Iroh paraphrased that they were welcomed to report any suspicious activity or crime to the Dai Li offices or passing patrols.
We might have to capture one of those Ju Di women and figure out how to break their brainwashing. Or how to follow them. There must be so much documentation that would help us in Dai Li headquarters.
I've asked Gorou to keep an eye out for women like that, to see if they have established a pattern. To see if they live normally among the population or if they go somewhere at night to return in the mornings. Dionu as well, and he agreed after wrangling a promise from me to let him and some of his people come with us when we infiltrate the Dai Li base. His second-in-command looked positively bloodthirsty when he told her that.
He also offered to guard the meetings, but that is not what I hope the movement will be. A place that is protected by a specific gang is not an encouraging one. He knows that what I want for the people is ultimately going to effect his recruitment strategies in Ba Sing Se. If we manage to make a better education as common as I hope it will be, there will be fewer people desperate enough to do grunt work for a gang.
So I'm once again at the market, manning the small booth with the watertribe trinkets Haruto helped me carve. He's on the stool in the corner, making a fiddly piece for a betrothal necklace, even if those have to be made by the one who proposes personally.
A few people stop to look, fewer of them actually touch, and only a young man fingers a delicately beaded woven leather bracelet. He says nothing, but stares at it for a long time, face solemn. It appears to be his default expression beneath the wide brim of his straw hat. He's more of a teenager, I think as I look at him more closely.
I wait for him to make up his mind. He's not the type to be swayed to buy something by a little chatter about the special meaning behind the beads on this particular bracelet.
Before he can, a small, wild-haired girl appears at his elbow. "Longshot! What's taking you so long? Jet's waiting."
Then she looks at the bracelet, "Hey, that looks like something Katara might have worn."
That more than their strange clothing – which is more armour than daywear – catches my attention. And the name, Longshot. They ought to be more careful. "Katara? You don't mean Katara of the Southern Watertribe?"
"You know her?" she asks, "Are you from her tribe?"
"Oh, no, not from her tribe. We met in the North. That's where I'm from. When and where did you meet her? I haven't seen her, Sokka or Aang since Omashu was liberated," there, throw them a bone that is bound to make them curious.
An even more wild-haired teenager shoulders his way through the crowd. This must be Jet. He's carrying swords beneath that cloak.
"Well, then you've seen them more recently than we have! How are they doing?" she asks, just as he arrives.
I look at them, young, scrappy, wild. They could be what I am looking for. Then I lean forwards. "Seems like we have a few stories to share. Why don't we go get some tea and sit down? There's a good and cheap teahouse down on Fisson Street."
"Oh! Yes, that'd be nice. What do you think, Longshot?" then she turns to the new arrival, "Jet, he knows Katara, Sokka and Aang!"
I turn to Haruto, but note Jet's shock. "Haruto, will you be alright for the afternoon?"
"Hm? Yeah sure," he drags his stool to the front and continues to carve.
I duck around the flaps of the stall and join the trio on the street. "Keep it," I tell Longshot, "Longshot, was it? Jet, and…?"
"Smellerbee," she answers, ignoring a scowling Jet.
"My name is Kaito."
"Kaito," Haruto says from the stall, finally looking up from his work for the first time all day, "Don't forget Ty Lee's making dinner tonight. We'll need fresh yoghurt she always cooks to kill the rest of us with spice."
"I'll pick some up," I assure him.
We make our way from the market down to Fisson Street. Iroh and Zuko work there and I'm sure to get a little discount.
"So you like, moved here?" Smellerbee asks. "Was he your brother? He doesn't really look like you."
My skin is darker than Haruto's and where I'm obviously Watertribe, since no Earthkingdom-native I've met has blue eyes, he looks like any refugee around these parts.
"We're staying here for a couple more weeks. But it's really more of a stop before we get moving again. There are just a few things I want to accomplish here before we move back on. And no, Haruto's not my brother. We just travel and live together with a few others."
"What do you want to get done here?" Jet asks. "Don't you want to keep building a life here?"
That's probably what they're doing, then.
"Various things. At the moment, I'm helping to build a few schools in the lower ring," I say and push open the door to the teahouse.
"Kai! Good to see you!" Iroh, or Mushi, comes to guide us to a table. "I see you brought friends, lovely. I'm afraid Lee and Mai are out, but I'm sure you can talk to them if you stay a while."
We sit, Jet tense as a bowstring. "Oh good," I say, "We'll have whatever's on offer today."
"I'll be right back, though I'm afraid I can't stay and chat we're rather busy today," Iroh bustles, and it's true, but not enough that he couldn't stay. Probably wants to give us some privacy. We sit on the benches. Jet and me, Smellerbee opposite and Longshot next to her.
"Right," I say to my tablemates, "I met Katara, Sokka and Aang in the City of the Northern Watertribe a few months ago. Katara and Aang were going to learn waterbending from Master Pakku. Did you know that the North doesn't train women to bend other than to heal? Well, Katara and Aang made such a ruckus, that Pakku changed his mind. I can tell you that's no small feat. I'm expecting to see many changes when I return."
"Were you there, during the siege?" Smellerbee blurts. And where I thought Singh was rude, she immediately realises her insensitivity once I pause a bit longer than usual before answering. She looks ready to apologise.
"Yes. I gave my account of it to the university a few days ago. I have written copies. If you like, you could come by the adult education centre on Lantern Square. We keep one there, for people to read," I watch their faces. Even mostly expressionless Longshot seems curious. "Some of the courses learning to write and read are working on making copies."
"What, like for free?" Jet asks.
"Of course. Some of the funds for it are from the city, some are from the university, and we have also secured some benefactors among the nobility. None of them have any say in what is taught or who. Though they do get to hang up recruitment posters there, with their specific demands of the skills that are necessary for hire. Most of which can be acquired in the school," I explain. I don't add that it's only a few days old. But already we have filled the rooms to the brim with people wanting to learn. "We teach courses on reading, articulation, history, accounting and some of the basics of trade and economics."
Which is all code for educating the people on their situation, the system and how to intervene and change. I'm also trying to get funds for a printing press on the down-low, so the Dai Li doesn't take it away and uses it for more propaganda.
"Wow," Smellerbee says. "All for free?"
"Yes. If you come by and look at the schedule I'm sure you'll find something that interests you. We're grateful for any contributions, so whatever you want to pass on, we'd be happy to arrange space and time for that," I say, phrasing it like it's a proper institution already. It might give the wrong impression, but people are easier to motivate if they think a movement has already gotten started.
Iroh arrives with our tea. Jet eyes him warily. I don't see why. Iroh looks far more harmless than I do.
"Thank you, Mushi," I say, "I was just telling these guys about our new school."
He smiles his wide, kind smile. "Oh yes, it is wonderful! I just went to a class that teaches Ba Sing Se's history last night. It was most enlightening."
"Happy to hear it," I say. "Ranra teaches that one, doesn't she?"
"Yes, with the help of Hana."
"I'll have to stop by next week."
"They are going to speak about the catacombs that were the reason for Ba Sing Se's initial wealth. I'm quite curious to hear about them," and he winks. He knows exactly that I helped craft the lesson plan – and why. That's how the Dai Li still get around when they're not using the trains. I got my hands on a map in the university library, and I made a copy. One of the parts of the lesson for calligraphy and cartography are going to be to copy it down. It's always good to circulate that kind of thing. Even if the Dai Li finds out, there will be copies.
He steps away to greet new customers.
"That's really interesting," Smellerbee comments. She sounds like she's waiting for the catch. That won't come until much later, if they're open to joining the network.
"Like I said, it's free. Come if you have time. Help if you want," I pour us all the tea. "But you were going to tell me abut how you met Katara, Sokka and Aang."
"Thanks," she says, drawing her cup close. "So, we met them near a town called Gao Ling. The Fire Nation occupies it, so we were living in a camp outside, surviving. Well. Some Fire Nation soldiers attacked Katara, Sokka and Aang. We stepped in to help. That's how we met."
"Mmh," I say, eyeing them one by one. "I see."
"What do you see?" Jet bites out, hostile. He's not touching his cup. Shame.
I give him a look. "Those swords aren't very well concealed, you know," I sip my tea. It's good as always. "What made you decide to come to Ba Sing Se?"
"The Fire Nation forced us to! What else could it be?" he says, loudly.
"Economic reasons. Disease, natural disaster, wanting a taste of the life in the largest city of the Earthkingdom? There are many reasons why people move. The war is the most common one, these days, of course. It's why I'm here, too. It's just that my home still stands."
"Right," he says, averting his gaze and glaring at the cup instead.
That's when Mai and Zuko enter the teashop. They spot me right away and Mai comes over to hand off Peter to me, as she always does when she has the chance. For some reason, he's out cold. He's sleeping a lot lately. Must be all the walking he's been doing. "Shirking off the work on Haruto again, Kaito?" she accuses even as she sits down at our table, nudging me further towards Jet on the bench.
"You know me, lazy to a fault," I say, adjusting Peter on my lap so he's comfy. "Mai, meet Smellerbee, Longshot and Jet. You guys, this is Mai and Peter. Lee, come sit. Unless you have to work?"
Zuko sends me an uncomfortable glare. Iroh pushes him towards us with a friendly smile and some well-meaning words about making new friends. Zuko looks grumpy and embarrassed after that.
"Lee, it's good to see you again," Smellerbee greets him before turning back, "We met on the ferry here. So, are you like, engaged?" she asks, eyeing Mai and me. And Peter.
I laugh, choosing to let Mai answer that one for us. Met on the ferry, huh? Something must have happened, if Jet isn't normally this hostile. Which he wasn't before we entered the teashop.
"Not really," she says, and it's vague, but clear enough when she takes Zuko's hand on the tabletop. He blushes with discomfort at the scrutiny it brings.
Jet glares at all of us.
"I was just telling them about the school," I explain.
"Ah. Yes. I need your help on drawing up those lesson plans on the Fire Nation's history and indoctrination," she says it nonchalantly. She pretends not to notice the three new acquaintances gaping as she waves two fingers at Mushi while gesturing at our teapot.
"What?" Jet spits out finally.
"Oh, Mai, Lee and Mushi are Fire Nation refugees. They can't go back because they've been outlawed for helping me," I explain to them. It may have only been Mai, but Iroh doesn't want to return. Zuko… well. I don't know if I'll ever get to talk to him one-on-one at this rate. "So Mai has agreed to teach about the Fire Nation and its history and indoctrination that happens from an early age. You see, every child in the Fire Nation that isn't from the 'colonies' as they call conquered and occupied Earthkingdom territories, goes to school and receives a basic education. Part of it is of course indoctrination. Things like praising the Fire Lord and glorifying the war are daily occurrences."
Zuko's glare is heated. We don't see eye to eye on everything. But we don't fight because Mai is clearly willing to go along with my request. It's that favour I'm cashing in for healing Ty Lee back in Omashu. Which I'm not sure she's told him about. If she hasn't, he's probably feeling very conflicted right about now.
Mushi brings two more cups and a fresh pot of tea. He checks that all guests are satisfied, then he pulls up a chair and provides his own teacup from his sleeve.
I ignore the awkward silence. "Ah, Mushi, I wanted to ask, how are the textbooklets coming along? Do you need more helping hands?"
"We could always use more help, as you know. But I have already secured some of our younger pupils with legible handwriting for helping with those," he explains.
"Good. Thank you."
"It is my pleasure," he says, and I believe him.
I turn back to our new acquaintances. "Ah, sorry. You came here to hear about friends and I keep going on about school… So Katara is as good as a bending Master now, and Aang has incredible talent picking it up. The next time I see Aang, I'd like to get him to tell us about life at the airtemple. That's the sort of knowledge that shouldn't be lost."
Smellerbee nods, as does Longshot. Jet appears to be trying to get a grip on his upturned worldview. Or something. He looks like he's in that particular state of constipation.
"I also persuaded Professor Singh to come around in two days to teach advanced old language courses. If there's someone particularly talented, he said he'd consider taking them to the university library. So if any of you are into that kind of thing, show up. You might get a scholarship at Ba Sing Se Uni out of it."
Somehow this stuns them all over again.
"Here, I still have some of the original pamphlets. The address is on it," Iroh says and provides three neatly folded up pamphlets.
They take them. Stare at them. None of their eyes look like they are scanning the paper.
Oh. Can they. Can they read? Well. Then they should definitely come to the school. The reading and writing course is one we offer every day. The numbers of analphabetic people in the lower ring is very high.
"So anyway, Kaito," Mai says, "Gorou mentioned he wanted to talk to you. Dionu had some kind of news he wanted to share. You should talk to him soon."
"Urgent? Or can it wait until dinner?"
"Not sure. Gorou seemed on edge."
So yes. I frown. "Well. This cuts our chat short, then. How about we talk the day after tomorrow? We can meet at the school, I'll be there to talk to Singh about getting an advanced student from the university to help with the accounting classes."
"Don't forget to mention that you are going to teach Watertribe history and speak about the invasion. There are still too many rumours circulating about the night the moon turned red," Iroh adds.
Yeah. I like to forget about that. But I managed to live through an accounting of it once, I can do it again, in front of a more forgiving audience that doesn't ask such pointed questions about the exact numbers of ships and benders etc. "Right. There's that. So. I'll see you guys there."
I hand Peter back to Mai and climb off the bench, glad that I keep up exercise so that my body is flexible and strong enough to easily land lift me over the backrest. With a little force, I land next to Iroh. I can feel Jet's eyes on me more than ever.
"Kaito, no fish tonight, please," Mai says. It's our little good-bye ritual now. Even if she knows it's not my turn to make dinner.
"We'll see."
She huffs.
.
I make my way down to the train station. Gorou will spot me and lead me to a secure location to talk before we go to Dionu.
And true to this pattern, he finds me. He's more than on edge. He's positively anxious, if I'm reading the shifty eyes, the clenching fists and the set shoulders right. He keeps his feet loose and easily set in case of an attack.
In between one house and the next, he tugs me into a shadow.
"Dionu got news from Tananga," he says, low and serious, "The Fire Nation is sending some kind of huge, long, metal contraption directly at Ba Sing Se. It just tears through forests and even hills. It just drills through them, if they're large enough. No one has tried to stop it yet, but it's clear where it's headed."
Oh. I'd forgotten about that.
A drill headed for the walls of Ba Sing Se.
"Dionu has more exact information?" I ask.
Gorou doesn't bother answering, just leads the way towards Dionu's Ba Sing Se headquarters.
We need to know where exactly it will hit. We need to tip off some of the City Guard. And we need to put together a team to get outside city walls in order to observe and perhaps even intervene, if an opportunity presents itself.
Dionu's face is grim as he meets us outside the bakery. He leads us inside wordlessly. Beyond the smell of the bread, the clouds of flour, he leads us through the small office into the secret brewery and betting office. And beyond that, into the office where he does his own business. A woman is already inside, his second in command here. Her arms are crossed as she looks at us, unhappy with our involvement, as always.
"Yranna," I greet, not expecting her nod in return. Seems like she's warming up to me.
Dionu doesn't bother with the civilities. He points at the map of Ba Sing Se on his wall, that is riddled with small markers of territory. "The drill will hit the wall here. That's more Pah-territory than ours, but close enough. Arrival should be around mid-morning tomorrow. Yranna's already tipped off the city guard, made it seem like an official courier's message from the Mashiro noble family, since it's their lands it's cutting across now. I've also put together a team that can get you and a few others out and stay hidden. We're gathering supplies and putting together some explosion kits now."
Ah. Dionu is so competent it makes my knees weak sometimes. With Yranna, they make the most efficient leaders of a gang I've met so far.
"Lovely. Gorou?"
"Fon and I are coming," he says. "He's on his way."
"Good. Dionu, do you have someone who can tell Haruto that he's going to have to get the yoghurt instead of me?"
He grunts, opens his office door and hollers, "Jeon! Go tell Haruto at the Watertribe Stall that he's going to buy yoghurt tonight! And Kaito, Gorou, Fon, Ebisu and I aren't coming to dinner!"
"Yessir!" Jeon hurries out.
"Itaka! How long till you have the kits ready?"
"Half an hour, Sir!"
"Good! I'm also coming," he says, once he's slammed the door back closed.
"Dionu," Yranna begins, but she stops herself at his glare.
He runs a stressed hand over his head. "I'm no good waiting around, so I'm going. You don't need me here anyway."
She frowns.
He turns to look at me. "Do you have some ideas?"
My brows rise. "You seem to have plenty," I say, but I sit down at one of the chairs, take a small chalkboard and begin to sketch. They wait with varying degrees of patience.
"The drill, if it's to get through the wall, needs to have some means of disposing of the rubble it creates by drilling. So there have to be openings. My guess is that they're here," I point at the drawing of a long tube, marking the places by erasing the chalk there.
"It's going to be powered somehow," I continue, "Either a motor engine or, more likely a steam engine. They haven't had time to locate enough oil reserves yet to transport enough of it to refuel all the way to Ba Sing Se. Coal is easily made if they have competent firebenders. And if it's steam, I can do a lot of damage. I just need to get to the engine rooms. And if we're there anyway, we can find the best places for those explosives your people are rigging together."
"There'll be a command centre and an army inside," Yranna says. "What about if they notice that you're infiltrating?"
"Well. That's what Gorou's for," I say, pointing at him with my chalk. We've sparred in between, and both improved our aim with our bending. Those disks of his are a mean piece of work. We've managed to hone them into having sharp edges. He could easily cut off someone's head with them now. And we tested armour's endurance against them. If he manages to spin them quickly enough, he slices through.
"And me," Dionu says. He's been training with us. He doesn't have tattoos like Gorou, but he's a mean piece of work as a bender. He also has some good aim with similar disks, but he carries them in pouches in his belt.
Yranna scowls, but nods. "I'm coming with you."
Dionu looks ready to protest, but I cut in. They can fight for hours when they get started. "So do you have anyone who can make suggestions for the defensive strategy the wall border can employ?"
He frowns. Yranna answers. "Yes."
"I was thinking, since it's a tube, its surface is going to be hard to penetrate. What would work best would be a concerted effort to set the drill off of its intended trajectory. Turn the front away from the wall. It would buy time, if nothing else. They'd also have to defend against Fire Nation troops. Tanks and rhinos and benders, I imagine. I'm not up to date with Fire Nation Army troops."
"I'll pass it on. Anything else?"
"It's not going to be a single piece of metal. It'll be divided into sections. We might be able to blast it apart at the seams. It will also have to have something like, ah, feet that dig into the ground, so that the drill, when it encounters resistance can push through. If possible, they should be damaged or destroyed entirely."
She nods in a do-go-on fashion.
"My guess is that they have some way of repairing, relatively quickly if it comes to it. So if something happens, like the City Guards failing, then we need to make sure this thing stays broken. How much power is in those explosives?"
"Enough to blast a war tank to pieces."
Oh shit.
"Ah. How many are we taking?"
"Five."
"Okay. How do they work? Do they have fuses?"
"Yes."
"Hm. We should split into three groups as soon as we find the openings. Which are probably on the underside, now that I think of it. Two on either end, with explosives, and one in the middle where I'm guessing they put the command centre. If I remember correctly, they have means of transferring commands through the metal pipes, so they can be heard from all over the drill. We should bring cloth balls to muffle them, if we can. That was really hard to circumvent during the invasion if we wanted to sink a ship. They can communicate a leak very quickly and rescue themselves."
Dionu yanks the door back open. "Make fifty cloth balls the size of your fists! We have enough scraps. If you need more, get tear apart sacks of flour and fill it into some of the empty barrels!"
"Yessir!"
So efficient.
"What do you typically do when a firebender extinguishes the spark that travels along the fuse of the explosives?"
"Kill them and try again," Yranna says.
Right.
"What about archers? Do you have good archers?"
Dionu yanks the door open. "Get me Thera and her sister! I don't care if she's drunk!" he closes it again. "They're good with the crossbows," he explains. They have crossbows. Yakuza are crazy.
"Even better," I say and go back to my drawing. I will never be an artist.
"So that team you put together. Who's on it?" Gorou asks, seeing as I'm back to my own thoughts.
.
We travel through a tunnel that is freshly made by two of our team, who are there precisely for transport. They will also be responsible for getting us back inside the city.
"There's a disturbance to our left," Dionu says, a hand on the dirt. "Feels like someone else is digging a tunnel. It can't be the Dai Li. They use the catacombs. Thanks for the plans, by the way."
"No problem," I say. "So who is that?"
"My guess is that it's the Pah. Latih isn't the type to not know what's coming and not prepare."
"We should meet them," Yranna says. "The Pah can be reasoned with. We can use all the help we can get. It'd be more dangerous without knowing what they're going to do."
"Fon, Keigo," Dionu commands, and off they are, splitting off in another fresh tunnel while we wait in our position. Our transport with the blind mule and its cart with the heavily polstered explosives pauses also, a few paces ahead of us. We carry only small torches, but it's best to remain far away from them with fire.
We can't hear much, but Fon pauses to knock on the other tunneller's wall before breaking through. Polite. "Hey! Who're you?"
"Ah, it's Dionu's men," a woman says. "You're also on your way to that Fire Nation attack site, too?"
"Yes," Fon says, "Boss wants to join forces."
"Mmh. Alright. We'll talk on the way."
And so, our team of twelve gains five more benders and six more fighters with swords, knives and spears. Three of them carry shields that look like they could take a blast of fire or two. This seems more and more like it could actually work.
"Dionu," a woman with dark skin and shorn hair says as her people filter into our tunnel. "Long time. Yranna, you look lovely as ever."
"Latih," Yranna greets, and her voice is warmer than I've ever heard it.
"So what's your plan? We were going to see what the wall guards were doing. We have no idea what that thing looks like other than a drill," the two women begin walking side by side and our group moves along again.
I shoot Gorou a look and he shrugs. Nothing new, then. We move along.
Yranna answers her. "We got some idea of how it must work. That tall one there is a waterbender. He's going to sabotage the steam engine. We have explosives and we're going to set them at points where it'll damage the drill permanently. We got cloth balls to stuff those communication pipes with that the Fire Nation uses. We got word to the City Guards of how it must work, how to turn the thing away from the wall, if they can, and destroy the things that dig into the ground to give the drill leverage."
"You know how competent they are," Latih says derisively. "Well. We're going to see if we can't protect those idiots while they do as they're told."
Seems like we've got a good plan. This seems actually doable.
How strange, that the gangs are protecting the city.
But they've got lucrative businesses and a working system set up. Why wouldn't they defend something so profitable from the Fire Nation? They crack down hard on all illegal activities. While the Dai Li does the same, the gangs know how to avoid them. Organised crime survives in Fire Nation territory only if there's a corrupt officer somewhere. Ba Sing Se would be wiped out, cleaned first. Then the criminals could set up shop again, under the new regime. That sort of survival costs money and resources.
It's easier and more profitable to prevent it.
No one trusts the City Guard to do their job, apparently. Not when they're faced with a new kind of threat.
.
We rest in a newly hollowed-out hill with multiple airshafts just outside of the great wall. Several hours remain until the drill is expected to arrive. It's a good thing Yranna, Dionu and Latih remembered to bring food and water for everyone.
Dionu makes us sand beds to rest on while Yranna and Latih catch up in low voices that don't carry this far. Someone also makes a toilet-box with proper walls to the ceiling for privacy. Gotta love practical earthbenders.
I'm reminded of the time we camped out with the resistance beneath Omashu. I decide to rest and gather some energy for the upcoming fight.
.
With sunrise comes a guard change, and I decide to spend some time in meditation before stretching properly. I'm going to get a workout today.
Gorou joins me. He does that sometimes, in the flat's living room, before we both go out to get our stuff done for the day. Or we train. Or spar with Dionu and sometimes Fon. It's good practise against earthbenders. Neither Mai nor Ty Lee ever join us, but we teach Haruto some basics.
I don't usually accomplish much with meditation. But it's a good way to start the day. Breathing, feeling, thinking of nothing for once.
This time, I can't calm my thoughts properly. So I think about how I might feel if Azula is on that drill. Not good. She's bound to be angry. She's bound to have excessively obsessively trained to vent her frustrations and hurt feelings at the loss of her two friends.
Realistically, if she finds us on that drill, she'll try to kill us. And if that's the case, then I will have to be ready to do the same, in order to stay alive.
She won't be alone.
But I won't be, either. And that entire drill is powered by steam. I'll have access to water from everywhere, so long as I keep a feel out for where the steam pipes are.
We will live. And someone else will die today.
I shift into a stretch.
Gorou gets up. "This might turn into a bloodbath if they have an army in there."
He doesn't sound particularly scared. He means that we are going to be the ones doing the slaughtering.
"It might. But it's best if we're stealthy before finding the engine room. The priority is the drill. We can fight the Fire Nation soldiers afterwards," I say, moving to another position.
"Hm," he agrees. "You're not even wearing armour."
I look down at my brown shirt, loose trousers and sturdy boots. "Yeah. Not much I can do."
He scoffs. Then he shoves his hands into the ground, elbow-deep. He comes up with a large rock. Then he bends it into forearm bracers and a chest plate. He doesn't wait for permission as he takes first my left arm, then my right and bends the things in place. They're divided into fine moveable segments, heavy, but not too bad and still flexible.
"Thanks," I say, surprised.
He grunts. Then he secures the chest plate. I continue my stretches, testing the fit. "It digs in here too much," I tell him tapping where it edg es my shoulder.
He carves that part away.
"Thanks."
Seems like Gorou doesn't want me to die.