And we are back again with another chapter. I'll be honest I kinda hit a bit of a writers block again , but with some help from HammerTide I think I was able to figure out the plot of the next few chapters.
And I think we've seen more than enough of Azula , so let's move over to Kazumi shall we ? And we also have everyone's fan favorite Captain Shin making his appearance in this chapter.
:P
Big thanks to HammerTide for beta reading this chapter and providing good feedback.
:)
With that said , let's get it started !
Shin being a captain with more than a two decades worth of experience as Yuyan Archer was more than used to hearing his fair share of complaints from his men. He usually just told them to buck up and deal with it ... but this was just plain giving him a headache.
" I am not going back in that forest captain ! " Zheng complained , a few of the others nodding in agreement.
Shin just wanted a normal morning in peace was that so much to ask for ?
They were all currently having their breakfast in one of the inns in the village of Hira'a . After the little animal attack , Shin and his men decided to take a few days to rest and regain their strength . But it seemed that now some of his men were feeling more than reluctant to go back into the forest.
Shin couldn't say that he was feeling particularly happy about going back to that hell nightmare forest either but he had a job to do and he needed his team if he was going to do it.
Shin let out a sigh as he calmly spoke" Look ... I know you all have your problems with this mission-"
" Oh its more than that captain ! " Cho shouted in disagreement" Don't get us wrong sir , we are all used to roughing it out , but that forest is just flat out ridiculous and constantly trying to murder us ! " Cho complained loudly , luckily it seemed like there wasn't anyone else in the restaurant at this hour " The killer plants were one thing , the pissed off animals were another ... but now it just seems like this whole forest is trying to kill us ! "
Agni's sake ...
" What are you trying to say ? " Shin glared at him.
" You know what we're trying to say ... " Zheng said speaking lowly " We're saying that even if Princess Azula made it that far into the Forgetful Valley as the sparse clues we've found indicate , could she have really survived these past few months ? On her own ? "
Shin had to admit ... that was a good point.
"... Agni , what do you want me to do about it ? " Shin rolled his eyes .
" We're saying ... that maybe its time to call it quits ..."Cheng said much to his surprise " I'm sorry sir but as it is we are just wasting our time at this point. We should have been able to locate Princess Azula , yet we've found no sign of her . She could damn well be rotting under an unmarked water grave or somewhere in the Earth Kingdom . We're just wasting time and energy at this point ! "
" Our jobs are to locate Princess Azula and report our findings back to Fire Lord Zuko " Shin said rising in tone " And now you just want to call it quits ? "
" Sir , I think we've exhausted and used literally every tracking technique we know ! " Cho argued " If the Fire Lord cares so much about his dear sister , then why doesn't he come down here and do all this shit ?! "
" ENOUGH ! "
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Shin was incredibly grateful that the restaurant was empty for the most part . Excluding the waitress and cook who were looking at their group in surprise.
" Look ... I get that you're all unhappy about the way things are now , but Fire Lord Zuko ordered us search the Forgetful Valley for Princess Azula until ordered otherwise . You are all Yuyun Archers , not a bunch of whiny little kids who can just run away when the going gets tough ! " Shin said angrily " We are going back in that forest whether you like it or not , is that clear ?! "
All of his men nodded scared of him.
Shin settled back in his seat , he really didn't like getting angry , but he knew from experience that sometimes you needed to be firm with your men to get them to do what you want.
" Sir , I don't know how to say ... but I feel like like there's something lurking in that forest sir " Zheng said terrified.
I did get that anonymous feeling of being watched ... and then there was that sudden fog that rolled in out of nowhere...
" I know ... I think there's more to that forest than what meets the eye ..." Shin said as he looked out the window toward the forest.
After lunch and having their usual training session , Kazumi decided to retire to her room early and to wait for evening to approach before getting started on dinner . But she also wanted to think about the events of what had happened yesterday , when she had been confronted by Azula about her sordid past.
She didn't like talking about it , brought back too many bad memories and emotions ... but Kazumi knew that she could never escape her failures and her past.
Azula getting plopped into her life was a reminder of that ... and what she had lost.
Even now with so many years passed ... the wounds of what had happened that day were still fresh in her mind. Whether her nightmares had started up again because of Azula or her own mind tormenting her , she was unsure.
She can still feel the cold of her dead baby in her hands...
Kazumi shook of the thought immediately , she knew that if she started thinking about it than she wouldn't be able to stop and she wouldn't be able to stop until she either burned or cut something down to soothe her sorrow fueled rage.
And what of Azula ?
Kazumi thinks in her mind that its cruelly fitting that she ends up taking in a girl who had lost everything , while she herself had experienced such a tragedy once herself so long ago . It almost made her wonder whether this was the spirits mocking her , for her failure so long ago...
Azula made her wonder of what could have been ... and what might still be-
No . Stop . Don't think like that you fool.
Kazumi knew it was wrong . Some rational part of her mind convinced her it was . That it was wrong for her to even think Azula could be the little girl she always wanted to have ... Kazumi really was a fool in her own mind.
She would be no different from Azula's own mother if she started thinking like that .
But ... but ...
Whenever she looked at Azula , she didn't see a monster like Azula proclaims herself to be ... she saw a girl who had been very very hurt by the world and had received no help from anyone. And was left to rebuild her life out of nothing and with no one but herself to do it.
Whenever she heard Azula's cries during the night at the ghosts and voices that haunt her dreams and in the waking world ... she felt the instinctive impulse to pull her close and tell her that she's not alone and that she is loved.
Kazumi found it shocking how similar in some ways their experiences were...
Kazumi knew that Azula wasn't her daughter ... but she couldn't stop the foolish portion of her mind from thinking it.
The older woman looked out the window to see that the evening was steadily approaching...
She best get ready to start making preparations for tonight . She has more than Azula to entertain after all .
The trek back into the Forest wasn't nearly as bad as Shin thought it would be. They had spent enough time walking and trekking across the forest to become somewhat acclimated to the environment and surrounding area. And to their fortune , they were not immediately attacked by wild animals again upon returning to the forest ( Thank Agni for that ).
Though Shin had to admit that they reentered the forest a bit late into the afternoon so they didn't have much time to cover a lot of ground before having to set up camp again for the night . But at least he managed to get his team back into the forest again after all the complaining they did this morning.
It took a short while before they had their camp set up in a decent enough spot , in a small enough space that they could all keep watch on what was happening around them . Ever since the animal attack , Shin had recommended that at least two members stay awake to keep watch of what's happening around them at all times and to make sure that they don't get ambushed like they did back then . Shin had offered to take the first watch while the rest of his men drew straws to decide who was going to do it.
Ultimately , it was Cho who drew the short straw and was stuck on duty with him. But of course , the lazy oaf fell asleep just an hour into their watch leaving just Shin to guard over the rest of the team.
Shin honestly wondered sometimes how his team was considered the best the Yuyan Archers had to offer . Either they were scraping the bottom of the barrel or they needed to increase the recruitment requirements.
A thought for another time , he supposes...
He wonders how his wife was doing , its been months since he last saw her since he took this assignment . He hopes to make up for all the loneliness she must be experiencing without him...
Shin shook his head and kept his focus straight on their surroundings , he would have time to fantasize about his wife later but now was not the time . He didn't want his team to get ambushed like last time...
Were they ambushed ?
The fog rolled in so suddenly and just as those animals started attacking them , it seemed too well-timed and perfect to be just a random encounter. It was almost as if ... there was something controlling the fog itself and the animals ...
The Avatar had warned that the forest itself was home to many strange spirits and it was not wise to anger them...
So could it be that they were attacked by some kind of spirit ? ...Or something much more sinister ?
The hairs on Shin's neck suddenly stood up and his instincts kicked in , as he unsheathed his blade and turned around to face whatever threat there may be.
Only to find that there was nothing , but the silent wind of the forest mocking him.
Shin looked around the trees that surrounded his team , his instincts had never failed him , he was familiar with the feeling of being stared at by a wild animal ...but this wasn't like that at all.
It was like being stalked by an apex predator , one that can think and watches your every move and thinks about how to counter it.
Shin knew they were being watched but by what ?
Whatever it was ... they needed to find out before they were destroyed by it.
She watched the group of men carefully from the shadows of the tree branches ... carefully watching their every move.
Like a hunter in the night.
Even after all these years , her training still flows through her brain as if it were muscle memory. And she still remembers all the lessons her mother had given her about blending into the shadows and staying out of sight...
Concealing her presence from a small group of men was child's play even without her gifts...
She had been keeping an eye on this group for some time and she had been monitoring their progress and their actions in the forest . It was her duty as a spirit navigator of the Mother of Faces.
Certainly not for any other reason but that.
After figuring out that they were obviously soldiers ... Kazumi had considered several methods of getting them out of the forest . She did not like the thought of soldiers parading through the forest . From what the Hundred Year War has shown her , soldiers bring nothing but death and leave not but destruction in their wake for their Lord's amusement and greed.
But this group was different... they were not going around the forest just mindlessly burning everything to the ground , no ... these men had the training and skill of professional trackers .
And it didn't take her long to figure out what they were tracking...
You must get rid of them...
A dark voice in her head said , but she firmly ignored it the best she could.
Kazumi considered killing them all in their sleep . A simple quick painless death would be sufficient and with her abilities it would be too easy but ...
She had noticed that the captain was routinely returning to the village of Hira'a and sending out a messenger hawk , most likely reporting to whoever sent him.
If she had killed them all , that would immediately spook whoever sent them and they would most likely send an even larger detachment to scour the forest. And even Kazumi doubted she could quietly eliminate them all before they found her house in the forest...
They had already gotten too close that one time... and she had to use her gifts and the animals of the forest to drive them back. And now they had already returned to the forest which was not good news for her.
She had considered using another 'animal' attack but that would seem a bit too suspicious and she needs them to think that these attacks are random or perpetrated by somebody not human...
They are still pretty far off from where her house is but ...
It would seem that she needs to take up tougher measures with these soldiers.
Congrats for those of you who have already figured out it was Kazumi who was sabotaging the Yuyan Archers . I think I already made it more than obvious with how frequent Shin and his team have been getting f*cked over by the forest. Especially with the 'animal' attack basically giving it away.
Now I feel like I should say this because in case Kazumi's line at the end wasn't clear ... Shin and his team are going to be in for an even worse time soon .
:P
But I should also say that next chapter we will be getting back to the happenings of what's going with Zuko and the rest of the fam. And very interesting cloak and dagger style stuff will be appearing as well. Hope you all are looking forward to it !
With that said , see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.
