Near the border of the Soviet Union and Finland, May 16th, 1940
Dmitry was your typical Soviet soldier. He was a farm boy from slightly outside Stalingrad. That was a long time ago however. He was in his early twenties, at the prime of his life.
He had dark brown hair that just seemed like it was placed on his head. He had never used a brush before. He was from quite the rural area after all.
He had never seen or tasted war. He was too young to miss out on the glorious revolution but now here he was, standing in a field, overlooking Fire Nation defenses set up further ahead. He could here the light sounds of machine guns.
He was a mere private, nothing special. He was under the command of Colonel Petrov, an effective commander. He was ruthless on the field and never gave up an inch of land. He told his men was that there was no step back now. Forever forward for Stalin. That is what he would say.
Dmitry had only seen the Colonel twice and would most likely see him today as well. He just knew the man was medium height and burly. He didn't know much else.
Dmitry was a musician. Even though he had been a farm-boy, he could sing and play instruments. One day he hoped to be in an orchestra and play for Stalin. Maybe songs like 'Katyusha' or 'Red Army is the Strongest'. Those had always been his favorite.
He looked up once again at the fields ahead. The Fire Nation had situated themselves at the edge of a forest near the border of the Soviet Union and Finland. After here, it would be a strenuous march to the portal in Finland.
"Dmitry!" He turned and saw his friend, Viktor walking towards him. He was slightly smaller, about five foot, eight compared to Dmitry's six foot one. He had pure black hair that was sleeked backwards under his cap.
He had known him for awhile. They had gone through training together. The two worked together very well and had hit off very nicely after they had much success in training exercises.
"Viktor!" Dmitry exclaimed and opened his arms. They exchanged a short hug. "What is it that you want to tell me?"
"Colonel Petrov wants us to attempt to flank the enemy. We'll go through the woods from behind. We'll squish them like little ants." Viktor said with a smile causing Dmitry to laugh.
"How are we going to get past them though. How far does this defensive line extend?" Dmitry asked after he finished laughing.
"About 2 miles east until a really big hill. Or it's more like a ridge. Regardless, Colonel Petrov has had people exploring the ridge for an easy way through for armor or infantry. They found one."
Dmitry nodded, "When are we leaving?"
"Now."
"Now?! Then why did you just tell me? I have to prepare, get my rations, my lighter, my cigars, my gun." Dmitry said in shock.
"You have your gun in your hand. The rest of that crap you don't need Dmitry." Viktor replied exasperated.
"Fine, lead the way." Dmitry said through gritted teeth.
"Of course, your majesty." Viktor smirked and motioned for Dmitry to follow. "Now we go off to war!"
Eastern Earth Kingdom
Zaire brushed some hair off her face as she peeked over the hatch of her tank. She looked at the portal ahead and the lines of medium Zoryu and light Yosor tanks.
The new tanks were top of the line, the soldiers were new to the service including her. There were only six divisions of tanks, three light and three medium. Heavies were still in production.
Zaire was part of the medium tank division assigned to go through the portal to deal with the Soviets. She was a new tanker but she had a knack for on the ground thinking. She was quickly able to move up the ranks and become a tank commander.
The Fire Nation had never cared for gender roles. Whoever was best for the job was chosen through their long history. This was shown in Azula and her entourage conquering Ba Sing Se a few years ago.
Zaire wanted to be like Azula, ruthless and cunning. She greatly desired these traits so that she could be the best person she could be. She wanted to lead troops to glory. For the glory of her nation! To end gender inequality. That was what the Fire Nation fought for. To make the world a better place for all.
"Commander, you should get inside. You wouldn't want to be outside the tank when we go through the portal. Who knows what will happen." Her gunner Rimu called.
Zaire nodded and grabbed the hatch and closed it behind her. Her eyes took time to adjust to the darker interior of her tank and she could eventually see the rest of her crew.
There was Rimu the gunner, Seeza her loyal driver, Iresa the radio operator, and Dozum the loader. Seeza and Iresa were both girls while Rimu and Dozum were boys and frequently complained on how they were outnumbered. They would joke around about how they would have their revenge one day.
"How close are we to the portal Seeza?" Zaire asked.
"About 50 meters. There are two tanks ahead of us." Seeza replied.
"Alright strap everything down. Also don't forget to strap yourselves in." Zaire said.
The crew began to strap things in. Zaire bolted a few things down while Iresa made sure her radio equipment was strapped in. Seeza made sure all her driving equipment was good and Dozum double checked the ammo was all good. Rimu just strapped himself in and gripped his seat. The rest of the crew all buckled up once they finished as well. By the time they were done, they were next up.
"Yeah, let's go!" Iresa yelled leaning forward in her seat. Rimu meanwhile was quickly turning pale in his seat. Zaire chuckled to herself.
"Seeza, bring us through." The tank lurched forward through the portal and they eventually felt the side effects.
They could feel themselves spinning upside down. It was a nauseating affair. Rimu leaned forward and turned green.
Finally they exited and Rimu unstrapped himself and climbed out of the tank to puke. Zaire rolled her eyes. "Is everyone except Rimu alright?" She asked.
"Yes commander, everything seems fine." The other three chorused in sync.
"Good"
The air was warm, maybe in the sixties. It was pleasant weather. The sky was blue with few clouds in the sky. There were tall dark evergreen trees raised up above them.
Once he finished puking, Rimu looked up in amazement. "Wow" he rasped before puking a bit more up. "I hate when this happens." He mumbled quietly.
"Seeza, bring us with the group. We're going to have 40 miles to travel before we reach the front. Everyone get your rest." Zaire told the people within the tank.
"Yes commander." They chorused again.
"Great"
A Ridge in Finland, May 11th, 1940 6:00AM
Dmitry and Viktor walked next to each other as they walked through the pass through the ridge. It was early in the morning, in the mid forties and windy. Their cotton clothes prevented them from feeling too cold yet Viktor was still shivering.
"It is extremely cold here Dmitry. Why is it so cold!" He mumbled as his teeth chattered.
Dmitry chuckled lightly. "We're close to the Arctic circle my friend. It's not going to be like how it is in May near the Black Sea." Viktor was from Crimea or somewhere around there. They had both experienced similar weather from their homes. He adjusted his Mosin-Nagant.
Viktor took in a deep breath and pulled his cotton dark green jacket closer to him. "This is when I regret being called to service. It is cold here."
"At least you weren't here during the winter. Imagine how cold it would be then."
If possible Viktor shivered even more. "I don't even want to imagine that."
"Why don't you jump on that tank." Dmitry pointed to the new T-34 tank to their left. It was supposed to be a joke but Viktors joke detecting skills were frozen.
Viktor turned to the T-34's commander. "Can my friend and I sit on your T-34." Viktor called to the man. "We're freezing in our boots!"
"Hop on!" The tank commander yelled back with a smile. Viktor and Dmitry did so with wide grins.
As they continued through the pass, which Dmitry had dubbed "The Pass of the Ridge' more soldiers hopped on the tanks. Any semblance of stealth was thrown away by their singing.
"Rastsvetali yabloni i grushi, poplyli tumany nad rekoy. Vykhodila na bereg, Katusha! Na vysokiy bereg na krutoy. (Расцветали яблони и груши Поплыли туманы над рекой Выходила на берег Катюша На высокий берег, на крутой.)" The group sang the lyrics of Katyusha.
"Someone should like make a truck named after her!" Viktor joked causing those singing to laugh. Singing was a great way to wake the mind up from marching through the night. Hence why they all participated. Even the tank commander and his crew. They could hear the muffled cries of the driver from below.
"You know I've always loved that song." Dmitry admitted.
"Yes I know, you want to play it in front of Stalin with your instrument." Viktor repeated with deadly accuracy.
"It's a trumpet!" Dmitry replied with a scowl.
"Look everyone smile and wave!" The tank commander, Nicholas, pointed at someone with a camera. "They're taking a video."
The group smiled at the camera, a few waved while Viktor elbowed Dmitry. They all looked extremely silly, all Caucasian in little brown cotton hats and large trench coats except the tank commander who wore a normal helmet and a formal uniform. They're smiling faces and joyous feeling would be eternally captured in video.
"You know what I think we should sing." Nicholas called back to them. "What?" The others asked in unison.
"Red Army is the Strongest!" He cried. The group cheered in reply. They began to hum.
"Balaia armiia, chiornyj baron snova gotoviat tsarskij tron, no ot tajgi do britanskikh morej. Krasnaia Armiia vsekn simej! Tak pust' zhe Krasnaya, Szhimayet Vlastno. Svoy shtyk mozolistoy rukoy, (Белая армия, чёрный барон Снова готовят нам царский трон Но от тайги до британских морей Красная Армия всех сильней! Так пусть же Красная Сжимает властно Свой штык мозолистой рукой,)" The songs reverberated across the pass, showing their joy in their nation, the one that was strongest. The great Soviet state.
Katara felt alone as she looked around. She could hear machine guns firing in the distance. The men screaming for mercy and for their mothers. The cold fog of death and war was choking her.
She wanted to scream. She wanted it to be over. The guns, the war, the screams! She forced her hands onto her ears and shut her eyes.
She heard Alexandru screaming as a bullet impacted him in the head. She heard Americans cursing and screaming. She could hear the whimpering of those too afraid to move.
She wanted to open her eyes, move her hands but she was afraid of what she would see. Her body rocked back and forth.
She heard explosions around her. And then nothing.
After a minute she cracked open an eye. She scrambled backwards at what she saw. It was Pierre in a black casket, his eyes shut. Her breathing was shallow but it slowed eventually.
Suddenly Pierre's eyes snapped open. Katara screamed and tried to scramble backwards. She hit a wall and watched in horror as Pierre rose from his casket.
He looked just as he had when he had died. His chest was bloody and his hair blood soaked. As he walked, he stumbled. He was extremely pale and his left leg was twisted backwards.
"This is your fault." He whispered, pointing his finger at Katara who screamed again when the hand was completely black from decay.
"If you had been there, I would have lived. I would still be here!" He screamed causing Katara to begin rocking back and forth on her butt. All around her, she could hear screams and yells. She just wanted them to leave. She just wanted it all to end.
That's how Aang had found her, rocking quietly back and forth as she sobbed. He had been getting some water when he heard Katara's cries. Aang realized she was having nightmares over the battle from a few days ago.
He has quickly walked over and sat down next to here. He silently brought her into a hug, allowing her to bury her head into his shoulder.
It was in the early morning as the two sat. Aang comforting and Katara getting it all out. Aang had luckily not been at the battle for too long. He and Zuko had moved to intercept Azula. From what Aang heard it was just as bad as Lyon, if not worse.
A lot of people that Aang had known, Alexandru, Luca, Pierre had been killed. He couldn't even imagine how Katara felt watching all of this. He couldn't imagine the horrors. How could something be worse than Lyon? He hoped he would never have to find out.
In the morning, they would go through the portal. Off to reconquer the Earth Kingdom from the Fire Nation. To bring them freedom the Americans and French said. Aang doubted that.
He was beginning to question which side was the good side in this war. There was no clear cut good and evil like he had first believed. Instead, he was learning this world had committed much of the same horrors the Fire Nation had once committed.
They had murdered native peoples for the sake of Imperialism and making their names bigger on a map. What would be the best course of action? Both sides seemed to have truly horrible leaders in charge.
Were they even the good guys anymore?
"Get up you two lovebirds!" Toph shouted waking Katara and Aang. They had fallen asleep in each other's arms. Sokka looked on with bored eyes as Aang and Katara scrambled forward.
"We're about to head through the portal. Are you guys coming or not?" Sokka asked in boredom.
"Yeah, we're ready to go!" Aang said in his normal cheery voice. "We just need to get Appa!"
"You should probably wait until everyone else gets up, Aang." Sokka replied with a slight scowl, still unhappy at seeing his closest friend asleep next to his sister. He didn't even know who he was worried about.
Haiko had been up in his room for a long time. He had taken Pierre's death hard and had quieted down. He rarely ate and they had no clue if he slept. Katara would sometimes gently knock on his door to see if he was ok.
He wouldn't usually answer and Katara would tell him that there was food at his door. When they came back up, there would be no food so they assumed that Haiko was still alive.
But it was now that Haiko emerged from the room. Zuko was the first to see him, standing in the hallway. Zuko had been brushing his hair and had wandered into the hallway just in time to see Haiko appear.
Zuko bit back a snarky comment upon how he looked, which was actually quite well for someone who had been in a room for a week, and nodded at Haiko. "Haiko." He acknowledged.
"Zuko." His voice was raspy, most likely from not speaking in a week. "I heard we were going through the portal today. Is it true?" Haiko asked.
Zuko gave him a short, quick nod. "It is."
Haiko nodded silently before entering his room again. He emerged a minute later with his rifle slung over his left shoulder and a small suitcase in his right hand. At Zuko's questioning glance, Haiko said, "It's extra uniforms, I don't have any other belongings. I left Pierre's stuff in the room, it feels suitable that way. I left a note, telling whoever comes next of Pierre and his stuff. Maybe they will come up with something."
Zuko noted that Haiko had almost no bags under his eyes, he was simply pale. The happy Haiko that had come out into the world with Pierre had retreated back into his form and back was the serious Haiko. The one that rarely showed emotion and killed without mercy. The Haiko that sometimes he feared.
Haiko glided down the narrow staircase and upon reaching the living and dining room where everyone was, he nodded at everyone and exited out the door. Everyone stared for a second before Aang asked, "Where is he going?" Sokka shrugged.
Haiko trudged through the cobbled streets, passing many soldiers who were joking around and entertaining the local girls. He allowed himself a small smile watching an American kiss one of the local French girls.
He was heading towards the graveyard, to say a final goodbye to Pierre. Who knows when he would see him again? When Haiko reached the graveyard, he made sure to avoid the poppies. He quickly found Pierre's grave and saw a picture of him, smiling in his military uniform laying on the gravestone.
Haiko bit his lip and grimaced. "Well Pierre, it's been fun. We're heading out to the other world now. I feel like an explorer about to sail for the New World. Like Columbus or Magellan. You're probably surprised I know these people but I learned my western history. I wish you were here to join us. It would've been fun going to this new world. We would've been modern explorers, learning about this new lands culture." The wind blew against Pierre's back and the trees above him swayed.
"It was enjoyable, you know, exploring France with you. Even in Lyon, there were some fun times. But now here we are, you six feet underground and me still here, standing over your grave. Is it warm down there? I hope so, I know how much you hated the cold." Haiko took a deep breath.
"This is probably the last time I see you for a while. With us going to fight the Fire Nation in the Earth Kingdom. We'll see how that goes." Haiko took out some chocolate and a pack of cigarettes. He lightly tossed them onto the gravestone. "I know you love these chocolates and cigarettes. I'm sure you'll appreciate them. Anyway Pierre, I'll see you on the other side. I doubt you're here, but I do certainly believe in spirits. So if you are still here, safe travel to the other side my friend."
With that, Haiko turned and left the graveyard. He passed the sign and entered the town. He quickly found Appa and realized he was the only one here. He sighed and patted Appa. "Hey Appa, how's that," he glanced at whatever Appa was chewing on. "Food."
Appa groaned. "Me and you both. Do you want to go in front of the house where Aang is? I'm sure he would appreciate it." Haiko reasoned with the Sky Bison.
Appa raised itself off the ground and turned to Haiko, as if gesturing for him to get on. "I see we have an agreement." Haiko said with a slight smile. He threw his suitcase onto Appa's saddle before climbing up.
"Alright I'll tell you where we're going big guy. Straight." Haiko told the bison who slowly walked forward.
"I feel like I'm on an elephant." Haiko mumbled before talking a bit louder, "Appa it's on the other side of town, can't you go a bit faster." Appa raised its mouth and made a noise.
"I have to get you to fly, don't I. What's it? Him Him, Ho Ho, Pip Pip, Yip Yip?" App suddenly rose into the air, sending Haiko backwards down the saddle. He scrambled forward and quickly got back up front.
"Forward Appa!" He yelled, ignoring the shocked looks from the soldiers below. "Bring us down in front of that building with the green shingles!" Haiko pointed down at the building.
Appa did a hard turn to the left, causing Haiko to slide again. "Woah" he exclaimed as he almost fell off the side of Appa. "Be careful Appa!"
Appa righted himself and began to descend. Haiko let out a breath and laid flat on his back on the saddle. He wished Pierre was here. If he was, that would've been fun. Haiko longed for Pierre's laugh and just the air around him. It was an air that just created joy inside of Haiko. How he wished Pierre was here.
And that is how the Gaang found Haiko, laying upon the saddle, staring up at the blue skies above. Aang sighed and airbended the baggage up onto the saddle. He flew up onto the head of Appa and motioned for the others to follow, which they did.
"Yip yip Appa. It's time to go home." Aang whispered into Appa's ear before they rose into the sky.
Near the Southern Earth Kingdom Portal
Captain Alfred Dietrich stared out at the cloudy skies as the cold breeze lightly hit his face. The black hair under his cap remained in place even as the hat threatened to blow away.
He let out a breath as he looked around at this new world. On either side of him were groves of trees and sometimes clearings where he assumed had once been Fire Nation bases. They had already been cleared out through bombing runs and a frontal assault of panzers.
That was how they learned of the special aspects of the portal. How when one went through the portal, they experienced a twisting feeling. Much equipment had to be strapped down so that it didn't go flying in both tanks and ships.
He stared out at the water ahead and let out a breath. He looked up to see two Bf-109's flying above, on either side of the canal. Further ahead, he could see the opening out to the sea.
He was worried that upon reaching open sea, he would find the full force of the Fire Nation navy bearing down on him. He didn't want that, it would certainly spell doom for him and his ship.
"Captain, it's time." Captain Dietrich turned around to see one of his officers, Officer Hackmann, standing in front of him. Captain Dietrich bit his lip in thought.
"Indeed it is Hackmann. Indeed it is. Tell the men to prepare to dive." Captain Dietrich ordered calmly.
"Aye aye Captain!" Hackmann saluted and went below deck leaving Captain Dietrich alone above deck. He stared along the deck of his sub, the U-26 and smiled.
"It is most certainly time." He mumbled to himself, chuckling softly. He went over to the hatch and climbed below decks, shutting the hatch above him.
U-26, the first ship in the new world, slowly dove into the canal as it slowly approached open sea. It's front gun submerged first before the conning tower sank below the waves.
A single periscope peeked out above the waves as the u-boat slowly made its way forward, into the deep depths of the sea.
Dmitry stared down the little incline that led to the Fire Nation position. "So they're all down there in those woods?" He asked Viktor. The two were in front of a line of T-34s that were positioned to quickly attack the Fire Nation position from their flanks.
"They should. We should easily be able to clear them out. We surround them on all sides. But we have to wait until they bombard the positions." Viktor replied and on cue, they heard artillery in the distance.
"I doubt the artillery will do anything." Dmitry noted.
"It's not that they won't do anything physically, rather what it will do mentally. They'll expect an attack from the east, not from the west where we are. I'm sure we'll feign an attack on the front but we're the main force." Viktor jerked a thumb towards them. "They won't know what hit them."
"A brilliant idea from the colonel again." Dmitry said with a nod causing Viktor to turn to him. "I don't know why you hero worship that man. You literally kiss his boots!" He exclaimed.
"Well he did think of this plan yes?" Dmitry asked.
"No, the General did. Colonels control a small area. This is a large battlefield. This defensive line stretches for many miles. General Zhukov gave orders for all the colonels in the area. General Zhukov, unlike Colonel Petrov, is brilliant. Do you know what he did in Mongolia against the Japanese?"
"No, I didn't hear."
"At the Battle of some obscure Mongol river that I am too lazy to remember, General Zhukov pushed back the Japanese and completely encircled their armies. He crushed them like ants. We lost a fair amount of troops while the entire Japanese force was killed or captured." Viktor kept on making these intricate hand movements while Dmitry rolled his eyes.
"Sounds like propaganda to me." He murmured.
"You have no idea about the art of war."
"I prefer the art of music and other arts."
Viktor rolled his eyes and returned to staring below. "When should we head down there?"
"Soon, very soon."
"This isn't a movie Dmitry. I want a specific time."
"Fine, we go when everyone else is beginning to head down." Dmitry gestured to the soldiers milling about. "I wonder how the people below feel?"
"It is nothing to concern yourself with Dmitry. Our nation comes first, not theirs. Our people come first, not their."
"I suppose your right."
"One of us has to be the patriotic one. Not a hero worshipper."
Dmitry grimaced and the two entered into silence. It was broken when men began to make their way down the hill, towards the Fire Nation position.
"I suppose that's our cue." Viktor said, picking up his Mosin-Nagant 91/30 and beginning to walk down the hill.
"Wait for me Viktor!" Dmitry called.
In front of the two was an officer who was giving hand signals. He would order to stop with an open palm or go with a movement of the hand forward. His orders were instrumental if the Soviets wanted to suffer little casualties.
The Soviet soldiers moved forward silently, camouflaging with the green around them.
"Do you see them?" Dmitry whispered harshly to Viktor.
"No, but I can definitely hear them." Viktor replied. Ahead of them, they could hear Fire Nation soldiers talking lowly to each other.
The officer put up his hand and Viktor and Dmitry stopped. "Look, it's a Fire Nation sentry." Dmitry pointed to a Fire Nation soldier ahead of them standing with his hands in front of him.
"Dmitry, that man is taking a piss." Viktor scoffed. "We have to take him out, follow my lead." Viktor laid himself on the ground and began to crawl towards the man.
"Viktor, what are you doing?" Dmitry hissed.
"Taking the dude out." Viktor hissed back before continuing to crawl forward. Dmitry scowled before following.
The two crawled under a bush to the right of the man who had begun to whistle a happy tune. "I almost feel bad killing this man." Dmitry whispered.
The man quickly stopped whistling and turned to the bush. Viktor sent Dmitry a death glare as he reached for his pistol before the man shrugged.
"I must be hallucinating." The man said to himself. Viktor crawled forward a bit longer until he was almost next to the man.
The man finished whistling and pulled up his pants and was about to turn around and step on Viktor. This is when Dmitry made his move. He quickly rushed forward and with a knife he had taken out of his pocket, drove it into the man's neck.
The man clutched his neck and fell forward without a noise. Viktor stood and dusted the dirt off his shirt. "Quick thinking Dmitry."
"You're welcome." Dmitry grunted before they saw the officer motion for them to move forward.
Suddenly the machine guns began to fire and Viktor and Dmitry ducked down to the ground. They then realized that they weren't being shot at but rather the men charging directly.
The soldier reached the edge of the tree line and could see the Fire Nation soldiers in their miniature trench. Most had spears causing Dmitry to chuckle. They were so unprepared and primitive.
There was an explosion down the line causing the Fire Nation soldiers to freeze. "Now's our chance." Viktor whispered to Dmitry.
They both grabbed their grenades, pulled the pins, and chucked them into the trench in front of them. Twin explosions caused a chain reaction throughout the line as men lobbed their grenades into the enemy trench.
Dmitry and Viktor moved forward and leapt into the trench to find that they had already cleared it with their grenades.
"Sweet no casualties." Dmitry pumped his fist as Viktor chuckled until he froze. He grabbed Dmitry and pulled him down as an arrow flew past them. Viktor grabbed his Mosin-Nagant and shot the archer that had mysteriously appeared.
The archers shoulder jerked backwards and he fell forwards flat on his face.
"Don't count your eggs before they hatch Dmitry. Come on, we have a trench to clear." Viktor gestured for Dmitry to follow, causing a growl from Dmitry as he thought of the arduous job ahead of them.
Japan
Souza and Zim walked silently through the abandoned camp. Anza, meanwhile, was rummaging through the old bunkers.
"We should probably check the commander's tent, don't you agree?" Zim asked Souza.
"I do agree, the question is which one is the commander's building, not tent Zim." Souza replied without a moments hesitation.
"Probably the largest one in the middle." Zim said after rolling his eyes at Souza's words.
"That…is actually a good idea."
Souza and Zim walked to the largest building which was about the size of a bathhouse. When Souza opened the door, they found the room filled with dust.
Zim coughed while Souza walked to the desk and blew on it, dispelling more dust into the air. Souza grabbed a paper and read it over. He hummed lightly before freezing.
"Zim, we have a problem." Souza handed the paper to Zim. Zim's eyes skimmed the paper before he sighed and ran his hand through his long hair. "This complicates things."
"Indeed it does." Souza replied, taking the paper back. "With the fall of the portal, it will mean we have to get through many Japanese outposts. It's going to be extremely hard for us to get back home."
"And rejoin the fight." Zim concluded. Souza stared at Zim for a short second before nodding slowly. Zim was still extremely patriotic unlike Souza and Anza who had become disillusioned with the Fire Nation. Souza did not want to return to the Fire Nation to fight for it. He wanted to return to the village he hasn't seen since he was in his teenage years. Anza was similar but he didn't know where she had lived in ten colonies.
"Sure Zim." Souza stated carefully before picking up another paper. "This is why this place is abandoned." Souza said after reading the paper. "The people were moved to a prison camp called Zentsuji. They're the new guards for the Fire Nation soldiers at this camp. It also says they're building one somewhere in the Earth Kingdom."
"You're joking."
"Read for yourself." Souza handed a sheet of paper to Zim before going to the next paper. It was a map that detailed the surrounding area. In the top right corner was something labeled 'portal'. Continuing to search the map, Souza found something labeled 'here'.
Souza couldn't help but smile. That solved the problem of finding the portal. It was to the north, in a valley if the contour lines were anything to go by. He placed the map in his pocket for further use.
Souza picked up the next paper and found that it was named, A Summary on Fire Benders. Souza examined the paper and saw it was several pages thick. The first page was simply the title and the word copy at the bottom.
Souza flipped the first page and found it was on study one. He began to read.
A few firebenders were captured the other day. Under the command of Emperor Hirohito, we took them to our lab. We had a total of 12 firebenders and a few prisoners of war that we had captured in China. On the first firebender, we forced him to demonstrate that he could firebend. How so? At gun point of course. One of the local guards assisted us in this endeavor.
We proceeded to then inject him with a serum that had mixtures of cyanide and chlorine in it to test if the man was immune to certain chemicals. As we expected, he was not and died shortly after. We buried the body in an unmarked grave in the mountains.
The next prisoner was a prodigy. He was extremely intelligent and realized the endeavor he was in. He went with our efforts and we learned of his troubled childhood. He was seen to have a want of love from his parents which abused him. When he finally entered the army, which he did so to prove himself, he found he was a prodigy. We believe that troubled conditions, such as desiring a parents' love or being abused can lead to one being a natural prodigy. That is our hypothesis. The man who decided to work with us, we were merciful to and chose to shoot him in the head without his knowledge. As honorable death as one who was captured can achieve.
It seems the Fire Nation has a similar idea of honor to us. They believe that honor is the highest thing that one can achieve. It is treasured above all else, similar to our own nation. However, surrender and being captured isn't very frowned upon. In this we differ.
But enough of that rant, we decided to continue to test the hypothesis of trauma or want to be seen creates natural prodigies in firebending. Here we interviewed a normal firebender who lived a good life. He was an average firebender who was ok at the art. His parents loved him, while he wasn't spoiled, he wasn't unloved. He received many tutors on firebending that helped him to get where he was.
Then we went to another firebending prodigy. We interviewed her and found she had a similar life to the first firebending prodigy. This requires further testing but we conclude that a troubled life can help one become a firebending prodigy. Both patients had no training until the army and are naturals.
We proceeded to take blood from the firebenders before we continued further testing on the Fire Nation soldiers.
-Scientist Yoshimura Naitō, April 12th, 1940
That is when Souza chose to stop reading. What he had read was horrible. What the Japanese did to prisoners was horrible. He could never be captured or let anyone in his group be captured. It would be the death of them.
Souza vowed that he would bring attention to this when he reached home. He would write it in his journal and take the report with him. From there he would publish both and let the world see the atrocities of the Japanese.
He stuffed the sheet into his bag too. His interest was lost in continuing to go through the papers fearing what else he would read. His fear outweighed his interest. It was not time to go down this rabbit hole. He had learned enough.
Souza's mind turned to the other fact he learned. Extreme trauma and desire for love can lead to natural firebenders. Anza, from what he could tell, was a natural prodigy. She had almost no training but can already fly.
He turned to the door when he heard an explosion. He walked to the door and checked to see Anza staring at the burning wreckage of a building. She could knock someone out so easily Souza remembered from his and Anza's time alone.
She had told him she lived a good life in the city. Was she actually being true with him? What exactly was Anza hiding?
Merry Christmas, from my family to yours. May you have a wonderful day and many wonderful days to come.