STERLING FIELD, MAY 20, 3:00 PM
The Scottish Army stood on the field in Sterling, awaiting the battle. Over the last few weeks, every man in Scotland between the ages of 15 and 64 joined in to defend what their country stood for. Also, about half of the country's women joined too. Unlike England, Scotland fully permitted women to join its army. This was influenced by William's books, some of which described women leading the Ancient Celts into battle. With an age range stretching 50 years and women also being included, the Scottish had a total of 115,000 troops ready for battle.
At the front of the mega crowd of troops were William Jr, Robert, Hamish, and Campbell. All of them had swords, except Hamish who had his battle axe. Each of them had designs on their faces made from war paint. Morrison then came riding towards them on horseback. He had been sent to personally find out how many English soldiers would arrive.
As Morrison stopped in front of them, William Jr said, "So, how many?"
"The English have a grand total of 670,000. They're on their way and they're not far."
"What about the Irish?"
"Stephen's bringing in all the Irish troops. They're over to the east somewhere. They're also not far."
"Will it make a difference?", Hamish asked.
"I don't think so. Even with the Irish, we're still outnumbered 5 to 1."
People at the front who heard this began to have doubts. Then, an unexpected surprise happened. The Welsh finally made it after supposedly staying neutral during the whole war. They came in from the west and stopped and settled next to the Scottish. Their main commander then rode to the middle, where the MacKay boys were.
"We'd thought you'd never show.", William Jr said.
"Neither did we.", the commander said. "But we've spent weeks preparing our forces for this. We just knew this day would come."
"How many could you get?"
"I'm leading all 15,000 of my men into this battle. Does that affect the odds of victory?"
"Vaguely", Morrison said.
"Well, we'll be with you until the end. That is our promise."
"Alright then. Go rejoin your men. And be patient. We're still waiting on others.", William Jr said.
The Welsh commander then rode away back towards his men.
About 10 minutes later, a noise came from the other side of the battlefield and slowly got louder. Eventually, the entire English Army marched over the hill onto their end of the battlefield. Morrison was right. They did outnumber the Scottish by a lot.
About 5 minutes after the English arrived, a noise came from the east that everyone including the English noticed. The Irish showed up, led by Stephen. Though he was only 13, he was a much better warrior than some adults, so his father fully allowed him to fight. He rode on horseback at the front of the large crowd of 20,000 troops. They also stopped and settled right next to the Scottish, as Stephen rode up and joined his brothers.
"Glad you could make it.", Robert said.
"Of course I made it. I wouldn't miss this day for the world."
"Specifically, how many could be here?", Morrison asked.
"20,000"
"Did you by chance run into father on your way here?", Hamish asked.
"No. But I ran into the Northern Water Tribe. They're coming too."
"How many?"
"Couldn't tell. But I'm sure they brought all they could."
"Well, the Welsh just arrived a little bit ago. They're over there.", Campbell said as he pointed to the west.
"Good. The Welsh usually wouldn't do something like this. They're too isolated off on that island of theirs."
"So are you.", Hamish said while laughing.
"I may have my own island, but I keep in contact with father."
"Because you're his son."
"Because I'm his favorite.", Stephen said while grinning at Hamish.
"Stop arguing or whatever you're doing.", William Jr interjected. "Or I'll kill the both of you before the English get their chance."
"Fine. But I'm staying here. I'd like to revisit the opportunity to go into battle with my big brothers.", Stephen said.
"Great."
After 20 more minutes of everyone waiting and talking amongst each other, the Water Tribe showed up. They were wearing their regular clothing this time, because by now they had publicly acknowledged that they were in the war. Their commander rode on horseback to the MacKays plus Morrison.
"Quite the gathering.", he said.
"Indeed. If you're bold enough to think of it that way, this is really just one big party."
"In that case, let's party. My troops are all ready and have settled next to the Irish, if that's alright."
"My people more than welcome the Water Tribe.", Stephen said.
"Excellent."
"How many do you have?", William Jr asked.
"10,000 nonbending troops. I also have 2,000 benders that will stay in the back until such time."
"Good. Then rejoin your people and wait for the rest to arrive."
The Water Tribe commander then rode away back towards his troops.
A few seconds later, the Kyoshi Warriors came running out from behind the boys.
"Hey, guys. Are we late?", Suki asked partially out of breath.
"No. You're on time. So take a minute to catch your breath, darling." William Jr said.
"Good. This is certainly going to be a historic day no matter what the outcome is and...Woah! We're fighting all them?"
"I know, I know. We're terribly outnumbered. But we're to show our strength. It's about quality, not quantity."
"Well I sure hope that happens."
Two minutes later, the Freedom Fighters came out from behind them. They didn't say anything. They just focused on what was about to happen.
Five more minutes passed. Then, the Notre Dame monks came out from behind.
"Glad you make it.", William Jr said.
"We're here to do what we always do.", Louis said.
When finally showed up, the monks would go and give each group a blessing before going into battle. They would then spend the battle carrying off the fallen soldiers' bodies.
After 15 more minutes, the rest of the Clan finally showed up from behind the crowd and slowly made their way to the front. William was at the front of the Clan, carrying a two-handed sword. He was wearing his kilt like always and this time had blue war paint all over his face.
Behind him was Aang, who was carrying his staff and wearing the traditional one strapped Air Nomad monk robe, Sokka, carrying his sword and boomerang and dressed up in a Water Tribe battle uniform, Toph, in an Earth Kingdom battle uniform, Katara, in traditional Water Tribe attire, Lin, also in an Earth Kingdom battle uniform, Haru, also in an Earth Kingdom battle uniform, and Teo, in a modified version of his chair that could turn into a glider.
William rode up to Morrison and asked, "How many?"
"Us or them?"
"Them."
"670,000"
"And us?"
"Including the benders?"
"Yes"
"162,000"
William then got off his horse and spent the next three minutes pacing back and forth, trying to think of what to do next.
Then, another very large noise came from the south. Then, it came from both the east and west. Hamish rode to the east to investigate it, while Campbell rode to the west. When they both came back at the same time, William asked, "Who is it?"
"Fire Nation", they both said.
Then from the back of the Scottish crowd moving towards the front came Zuko. When he got up to William he said, "This is my way of making amends."
"I know now about Longshanks and the Colonies."
"Yes, but I still feel that I need to redeem myself in some way."
"How many did you bring?"
"100,000 nonbenders. 25,000 benders."
The MacKay children gasped before William said, "Alright then. Stick with us."
Just when everyone thought they were there, one last party showed up. It was Earth Kingdom soldiers. They went on the very outsides to the east and west, next to both divisions of the Fire Nation. Earth King Kuei then came out from the back and made his way up to William on horseback.
"I thought you didn't want to get involved.", William said.
"Public opinion has rapidly shifted in the last two months. Everybody is behind Scotland. As Earth King, I'll do what I can to help end this war once and for all."
"How many did YOU bring?"
"40,000 nonbenders. 5,000 benders. Does that help?"
"We're still outnumbered 2 to 1."
"Quality, not quantity, father.", William Jr said.
"Thanks for reminding me, son. Alright, your majesty. Stay with us up here."
Kuei then joined the others in the front as William rode out a little further to address the Scottish. In the front middle was Aang, Sokka, Toph, Katara, Zuko, the MacKay children, the Kyoshi Warriors, the Freedom Fighters, Earth King Kuei, Haru, and Teo. They all listened to every word he spoke to the crowd, as he rode back and forth on his horse.
"King William, are you aware that we're outnumbered?", one man in the middle of the crowd yelled. The crowd then yelled in agreement.
"Yes, I'm aware.", he yelled back to crowd.
"Maybe we should go home.", a woman warrior yelled. The crowd then yelled in agreement.
"If you go home now, you'll have no homes left after this battle is over. The English will stop at nothing to make sure that happens."
"They have too many.", another man yelled.
After the crowd yelled in agreement and then quieted down, William continued, "Sons and daughters of Scotland, I am William MacKay, your king who has been fighting for you."
"I heard William MacKay is half-god.", another man yelled.
"Yes, I've heard that too. He kills the English by the hundreds. And if he were here, he'd consume them with fire blasts from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse."
The Clan and the rest of the Scots laughed.
"But I AM William MacKay! And I see my entire country, men and women both, and even adolescents, standing together here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free Scots. And free Scots you are. What will you do with that freedom?! Will you fight?!"
Some of the crowd yelled in agreement while others yelled in disagreement.
"Against that? No way. There are too many. We'll run. And we'll live.", another man yelled.
Some of the crowd yelled in agreement before William continued.
"True. Fight, and you may die. Run, and you'll live. At least for a little while longer. And dying in all your beds, ten or twenty years from now, would you all be willing trade those wasted, enslaved years for one chance to prove yourselves? If we walk away and let our kingdom fall, then ten years from now, we would want one chance, JUST ONE MORE CHANCE, to come back here on this battlefield and personally tell our enemies, that they may take our lives, but they'll never take OUR FREEDOM!"
The Clan and the rest of the crowd loudly yelled in agreement and begin chanting, "SCOTLAND! SCOTLAND!".
Longshanks, who was at the front of the English Army, said to his squire, "Well, they seem quite optimistic. Too bad that won't last much longer."
"Should we offer them the final terms, sir?", the squire asked.
"Yes, we will. Well then, let's go."
Longshanks, his squire, and his highest ranking commanders then rode to the middle of the battlefield and raised a white flag, as a symbol of parlay.
The Clan saw this and Aang said, "Let's see what they want."
"Stephen-", William started.
"I'm right behind you father."
William, being the king of Scotland, Aang, being the Avatar, Kuei, being the Earth King, Zuko, being the Firelord, and Stephen, being the king of Ireland, all slowly rode to the middle of the field. The Water Tribe and Welsh commanders then followed them once they saw it from a distance.
The seven of them got to the middle of the field and sat on their horses across from Longshanks and his commanders.
Longshanks started with, "Earth King Kuei. I did not expect you to chose sides in this war. Especially the side of my enemy."
"Edward, you have taken this war too far. Ba Sing Se and the rest of the Earth Kingdom no longer support your quest for world domination. The whole world is against you.", Kuei said.
"I can see. You men managed to drag the Water Tribe and the Welsh into it."
"They tried staying neutral at first. As did I.", Aang said.
"Of course. I would never expect anything less from the AVATAR."
"This world wants peace, Edward. You have disrupted its balance. I'm just thankful that you're not a bender. We all know how far I've had to go to stop THAT problem."
"Don't be silly. Ozai may have tried once, but he was merely a tool in the expansion of England's empire. I'm it's grand architect."
"Empires...power...control...you don't know love or peace. They're so unfamiliar to you. And that's why I stand with Scotland. They stand for those things. And they stand for freedom."
"As does Ireland. You never had a chance at convincing us into an alliance. We all know I would never betray my father.", Stephen said.
"And the Colonies will never bow to you.", Zuko said. "The Fire Nation supports Scotland."
"Well maybe I should let William in on a little secret-", Longshanks continued.
"I already know.", William said. "If your country holds the Colonists hostage like that again, the whole world will come and destroy England. That is a guarantee."
"Now tell me, what did you come out here to say to all of us?", Aang asked.
"Our final offer and its terms", Longshanks said. "All of you, lead your armies off this field, and without any more violence against your people, including Scotland's, you will each be granted money and estates in England and will pay me an annual duty-"
"No! I have an offer for YOU.", William said.
"From which you pay me an annual duty-"
"I said I have an offer for you."
"Are you really disrespecting the banner of truce?!" Aang asked.
"From this king, absolutely!"
Aang sighed before William continued to Longshanks, "Here is Scotland's final offer. Lower your flags and march straight back to London. But before you do that, stop in every town in Scotland, every Fire Nation Colony, and finally Republic City and beg for forgiveness from all of them for 20 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that, and you will be spared. Do it not, and every last one of you will die today on this battlefield."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, William."
"I'm giving them a choice, Aang. We all make choices. Even you, Sir Avatar. If they chose right, I'll leave them be. And if they choose wrong, they will pay the ultimate price."
"...Fine. Then let them choose."
Longshanks laughed before continuing, "You are outnumbered 2 to 1. You have no calvary. No army in 125 years has won without such necessities. If you men don't lead your armies off this battlefield, you will surely die."
"So where do stand on my final offer?"
"England will never apologize for being a glorious empire."
"Then before we end this war once and for all, stand alone in the middle of this field, get down on the ground, put your head in between your legs, and kiss your own arse goodbye. Just say it. Goodbye, arse. Nice knowing you. See you next Thursday."
Longshanks and his men then left.
William then turned to Stephen and said, "Be ready and do exactly as I say. On my signal, take your troops ride around mine and flank them."
"Should we really divide our forces?"
"Do it."
"...Yes, father."
William then turned to the Welsh commander and said, "Do the same thing. Just go the opposite direction."
"Done."
"They'll think we're running away.", Zuko said.
"They'll think THEY'RE running away. But YOUR forces will dive straight in. Attack from the sides and take out their archers. Do it when they order in the infantry."
"What about my forces?", Kuei said.
"Just stand by. You'll be our reinforcements. If we need you, we'll flag you down."
"Done."
"And us?", the Water Tribe commander asked.
"Follow the Fire Nation's eastern forces. If we put a dent in that area, we can help the Irish corner them."
"Done."
Each leader rejoined their forces. During the parlay, the monks were giving the troops blessings. When William returned to the rest of the Clan, they kneeled as Louis gave the Scottish forces an absolution. After a minute, they all got back up.
Following the rules of war, the Clan's benders left and settled behind the nonbending troops. This included Aang, Katara, Toph, Zuko, Lin, and Haru.
Longshanks began the battle by calling all 1,000 archers forward. They marched to the front of the army and prepared their bows with arrows. The seconds grew longer during the intensity of waiting.
After a minute of intense silence, the Scottish broke the tension by yelling and lifting their kilts, flashing their genitals at the English. When he saw this, Longshanks ordered the archers to fire their arrows. The arrows flew far through the air and as they neared the other side, the Scottish squatted to the ground and put their shields in front of them. The arrows hit the shields are most of them got back up completely unharmed.
When they got back up, the Scottish continued taunting the English by turning around mooning them. When the English archers fired again, they got back down with their shields and covered themselves from the oncoming arrows.
While most of Scottish troops were still down, William waved a giant green flag at the Irish and the Welsh in the distance. They saw it and each group, containing tens of thousands of troops, crossed the field. Although it confused the English, it fooled them into believing that they were retreating.
Meanwhile, the English ordered in the calvary and out from behind the archers came 3,000 men on horses carrying jousting lances. They started out slow and then got faster. William, remembering his conversation with Aang and Sokka in the grove, was prepared for this part.
The horses got faster and closer. William raised his arm and yelled, "Hold!..."
They got closer.
"Hold!..."
And closer.
"Hold!..."
And closer.
"Hold!..."
And closer.
"HOLD!..."
When they were close enough, the calvary lowered their jousting lances and pointed them directly at the Scottish.
William then lowered his arm and yelled, "NOW!"
All the Scottish troops in the first few rows picked up giant wooden spears and pointed them towards the calvary. At this point, the calvary was so close that it was too late for them to slow down their horses. They then ran directly into the spears. The spears in the front hit the horses, causing most of the calvary soldiers to fly off of them and land on the spears in the back. Almost every one of 3,000 calvary soldiers were killed within two minutes.
Longshanks, now startled by this, immediately ordered in the infantry, which comprised of a massive 600,000 soldiers. The Scottish and the Fire Nation had a combined 215,000 troops. They were outnumbered roughly 3 to 1, but they knew how to fight. The English and the Scottish charged towards each other. The Fire Nation also charged towards the English from both sides.
When each group made contact, swords loudly clanked. Many Scots had to fight two English soldiers at once, which is why most of them brought two swords with them. Every Scottish and Fire Nation troop slashed through soldiers and as a result, they became covered in blood.
The Fire Nation's attack from the sides forced the English to split into three separate groups, now making their middle forces more vulnerable and easier to penetrate through.
After an intense hour of fighting, the Water Tribe's assist on the Fire Nation's eastern forces caused the English to retreat towards the west. William then got on top of Sokka and Hamish's shoulder's and waved the giant green flag. The Earth Kingdom's western forces, who had been patiently waiting, charged in and cornered the English.
At this point, two thirds of England's entire infantry was killed. Longshanks then ordered in the benders. England's bending forces comprised of 6,000 earthbenders, 200 of which could also metalbend. They went straight in and attempted to cause a sway in momentum.
To neutralize England's earthbending attacks, Zuko ordered in 5,000 firebenders, while the Water Tribe ordered in all their waterbenders. After another exhausting hour of battle, all of England's original infantry were dead, as was half of their benders. Longshanks in a panic, ordered in the last of his soldiers, which were 60,000 reinforcements. Benders and nonbenders fought each other the rest of the battle.
During the fighting, the Notre Dame monks were busy. They had spent the last two hours dragging the bodies of fallen soldiers off the battlefield. They were lucky to have not been harmed.
Only a few minutes after the English reinforcements were sent in, the Welsh and Irish, who went all the way around the hill, reappeared and attacked the English from the rear. They were gone for so long, but had gone undetected and gave the English the element of surprise. They did exactly what William told them to do and began by taking out all the English archers.
To assist the outnumbered Irish and Welsh, the rest of the Clan charged into battle, with 100 more benders behind them.
Completely surrounded, the remaining English soldiers decided to fight to the death. Longshanks and his commanders did the same and had charged into battle a little earlier. They were skilled and had less trouble killing the Scottish than the rest of the army.
Aang, despite going into battle, did what he normally did as an airbender and played defense. He would continue to hold the record of being the only person on the battlefield to not kill anyone.
Longshanks meanwhile, had other plans. He quickly grabbed two metalbenders nearby and they both ran towards Aang. They threw chains around him, preventing him from bending. Longshanks walked towards him with his sword.
William, who had killed at least 200 soldiers by himself at this point, saw Aang and charged in his direction. Katara and Sokka also saw this, but they were subdued by the few remaining metalbenders.
Longshanks walked up to Aang. With his army now decimated, he thought that killing the Avatar would determine who really won the war. It wasn't completely logical, but he was fishing around for any form of victory at this point. He raised his sword, prepared to plunge it into Aang's heart. Aang was now sure that this would be the moment he died.
At the exact second that Longshanks began to throw the sword down towards him, William somersaulted into the middle between the two of them and pointed his sword upwards at Longshanks. Longshanks, at that exact second, leaned forward into William's sword, causing it to stab him in the heart. He dropped his sword above him and William stood up, twisted his sword a little, and then pulled it out. Longshanks fell backwards to the ground and died.
By killing Longshanks, William had not only defeated a tyrant who disrupted peace in the world, but also fulfilled his life debt to Aang, who had saved him 25 years earlier at Notre Dame.
William slashed the chains with his sword, untangling Aang. They quickly hugged, as he had still remembered the life debt, and then finished the battle.
The remaining earthbenders and metalbenders were killed by Toph, Katara, and Lin. The final casualties were unexpected and thought to be impossible, as they included 12,000 for the Scottish, 5,500 for the Fire Nation, 3,000 for the Irish, 2,000 for the Welsh, 1,500 for the Earth Kingdom, 600 for the Water Tribe, and an astounding 668,500 for the English. The battle which had a grand total of three hours, finally was finished when the remaining 1,500 English soldiers surrendered.
All the soldiers surrounded the English, as William went to the top of the hill and overlooked everyone. Just like everyone else, he was covered in blood and was relieved that the battle and the war were finally over. They all looked him and he raised his sword high into the air and yelled at the top of his lungs, "FREEDOOOOOOOM!!!" to which the hundreds of thousands of troops yelled back.
He then walked down towards the Gaang who were not far from him. He hugged each of them and then collapsed in exhaustion. Aang and Zuko then carried him off the battlefield and to the town of Sterling, where all of the wounded were then cared for.
Sterling was the longest, most intense and most violent battle of not only the entire war, but also in the history of the Avatar world. It also went on to become known as the greatest victory battle in any of the Avatar world's wars. The allied victory helped return peace to Scotland and the entire world.