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Fire Nation and the Fire controlled regions of Earth Nation spread out in splashes of green and red paint on the polished wooden board. Slim lines of black marked their borders, while great stretches of blue separate and divided them, providing challenges to some and protection to others. Across their surface small, delicately carved figures of onyx, jade, and ivory conducted wars in miniature.
"This is stupid, Uncle! How am I supposed to learn how to conduct a siege," Prince Zuko started, waving his hand over the figurine armies facing off against each other on the constructed battlefield, "If I am on the wrong side?"
"You will not learn anything if you starve to death because I have cut off your supply trains," Iroh said serenely, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes as he arranged two cavalry pieces between the besieged city and it's primary trade route to neighboring settlements. The mountainous terrain made the city easy to defend, but it also meant limited ways in and out.
Zuko stopped at the implied challenge in his Uncle's words and actually focused on the board. He'd been given a marker to show the level of rations available in the city prior to the siege. An unintended hint of smugness entered his tone, as he informed his Uncle, "Nonsense, I can last out at least another four month based on what's in my stores."
Folding his hands across his paunch, the old general smiled as if he had the rest of eternity to spend relaxing right on that spot. "Sieges can last years, Prince Zuko. Perhaps you should start thinking out another strategy."
Caught between refusing to take part in this useless activity, thereby implying he was too weak to meet Uncle Iroh's challenge, and fiercely declaring that he didn't need more than 'four months' to win, thereby admitting that there was value to the exercise, Prince Zuko snapped his mouth shut sullenly and assessed the situation. Iroh's armies had him out numbered and surrounded, camped almost right up against the walls, preventing escape...
A pale hand flashed over the board, as the Prince arranged his spearmen along city wall. The pieces shifted slightly as the ship under them crested a wave, a rolling sensation that Zuko was, as the days turned into weeks, steadily finding more familiar.
"Your armies are in range of my weapons," he said, adding one of the two Earth Bender pieces to the lineup, "And my bending. The mountain ranges prevent you from having too many in the valley at once or camping further back from the walls. I can cut your forces in half without ever leaving the city."
Iroh nodded solemnly, approval hinting around the corners of his mouth. "Good, nephew, but not good enough if I can still get reinforcements."
"It would take two weeks for new troops to travel from the nearest garrison," Zuko said, chewing reflectively on his thumbnail, golden gaze intense as he mentally weighed his options, "If I was able to wipe out a significant number of soldiers over a continuous period of them, it would become impractical to keep sending more." A pause, and then he added in a dark tone laced with bitterness, "Fire Nation soldiers."
Sensing the boy was about to swing back to the tormented broodiness that had become the norm of late, Iroh reminded his nephew, "My armies are not entirely defenseless, Prince Zuko; it will take something large to defeat enough of them too-"
"Uncle, are there caves in these mountains?"
Caught mid-advice, Iroh snapped his mouth shut and raised an eyebrow, sharp mind racing to figure out what Zuko was planning.
"There is the underground waterway," he said, thick finger hovering over the board as he traced out its flow and various branches, a spider web shaped in liquid and stone, "It irrigates three of the cities in this region." An idea occurred to him, when he realized that the waterway went directly under the siege line in numerous places.
"Then I will have it collapsed," Zuko said, confirming what Iroh had suspected and the old general restrained a proud grin, "It will not be easy, but the caverns and the water underneath would make it possible where simple earth bending wouldn't be strong enough. Getting as many of the enemies soldiers as possible would be the hard part," he continued, the intensity of expression showing his focus to win this imitated confrontation.
And then all of sudden, that focus shifted. "Uncle, was this waterway natural or manmade?"
Surprised, Iroh cocked his head, pulling up distant memories of obscure knowledge he had collected over the decades. "Hmm, the original river was natural enough, but man shaped and redirected since then. Solid Earthbender work; they should never fear a drought." There was hint of envy is his voice. Drought was a common and very serious problem in their homeland.
"Uncle, all those benders that were captured as prisoners of war," Zuko said, meeting Iroh's eyes seriously, "Why did father never utilize their abilities? Think of what the Earthbenders could have done for the old city sewage systems, the Waterbenders for our aqueducts."
Iroh lifted both hands, palms facing out, and shook his head. "It sounds so logical talking about it this way. Just like our battle here. War broken into pieces that do not bleed and walls made out of ink. It is impossible for us to know what would actually happen unless it was real and in front of us. In the case of benders, Prince Zuko," Iroh brought his speech back around to the actual question, seeing that his nephew was getting frustrated with his long-windedness, "It would be too easy for prisoners to turn those abilities against their captors; to destroy our homes rather than improve them."
"But Fire Nation is the strongest in the world!" Zuko yelled.
He rose sharply, jostling the game board, fists clenched white with anger. Whether he was furious at his father, for not using the tools at his disposal to benefit his people, or at his Uncle, for suggesting that Fire Nation wouldn't be able to guard its homes against benders of lesser elements, perhaps even the Prince himself did not know.
Either way, Iroh recognized that the exercise was done for the day. Looking away from Zuko's searing glare, he began carefully returning the figurines to their embroidered silk pouches. "Part of being strong, Prince Zuko, is knowing what your weaknesses are." A quick pull on braided cord drew the mouth of a pouch closed. "And part of being weak is letting your fear and need to destroy them consume you."
Silence reined over the room for a moment, broken only by the distant roar of the engine.
"You – that – arrrgh!" Caught unable to find something that properly expressed his frustration and rage, Zuko howled wordlessly and stomped one booted foot against the floor, sending up a flare of fire that threatened the rug he'd been sitting on. "I am going to meditate!"
"Ah, Prince Zuko your temper!" Iroh called uselessly after his nephew's retreating back.