Chapter 14: The Seventh Kingdom

Travelling had become much more difficult lately. The terrain of the Spirit World had taken a dramatic turn for the worse seemingly overnight. Massive hills and craggy canyons were commonplace now. Razor sharp spires soared before them, obstructing their view of the horizon. Without Hanjo's meditation to scout a path ahead and Suda's ziplines giving them a means to climb the rocks, their journey might have come to a dead halt. As it was, the Avatar's entourage was barely capable of clawing their way forward.

Suda helped Whistler to climb over a cliff-face, then took a moment to rest. All this metalbending was beginning to wear him out. Sen and the rest were happy to give him some time to breath, as they were all fairly tired too.

Ada handed Suda a bottle of water while Whistler, as usual, went to Sen's side.

"You been meditating like I told you?" She asked. She liked to capitalize on every minute of downtime to help Sen learn. His airbending had been developing sluggishly. He was barely capable of creating a light breeze. It showed potential, but not enough.

"Whenever I get the chance," Sen sighed. He missed being able to sit down and rest while he learned. All those months on Hayao's island had spoiled him. It was difficult to return to the routine of travelling and training at the same time. They didn't even have the luxury of the Avatarmobile, as they had when he'd been learning earthbending with Suda.

Whistler had heard more than her share of excuses from Sen. It wasn't just the travelling that was holding Sen back. Something about him didn't click with airbending. It wasn't a matter of spirituality, so far as Whistler could tell, so there had to be some other aspect of airbending that didn't mesh with Sen's personality. As a native earthbender, that was to be expected, but it was still a problem to be solved.

Sen's silent meditations did not last long. As he tried to focus on spiritual energy, he sensed a great concentration of it nearby. There were spirits lurking in the shadows. Sen stood up and looked in their direction. Whistler tried to get him to sit down, but he was more concerned with the nearby spirits.

"I know you're there," Sen said to the distant shadows. There was a small sound of shifting in response. Sen took a few steps closer to the hiding place of the spirits. A small gathering of the strange creatures emerged from hiding. They showed obvious signs of anger, but their rage was not directed at Sen. Suda took a few steps back. He did not like spirits.

"Whatever's troubling you, I can help," Sen said. "I'm the-"

"We know who you are," One of the darkest spirits said. It was in a state of flux, constantly teetering between its stable, normal form, and a corrupted mirror of itself.

"He is the Avatar," a much more stable looking spirit replied. It was hound-shaped, and it circled the flock of angry spirits like a guardian. It was trying to keep them in check, acting as the voice of reason. "And he is on our side."

"He's on the humans side," One of the darkened spirits said. It took a few steps towards Sen, but was herded back into the group by the encircling hound-spirit. "The Avatar always sides with the humans."

"You're having problems with humans?"

"They have broken our arrangement," The hound spirit said. "They've settled too deep into the Spirit World."

Sen nodded. He knew what was going on now. After the Spirit Portal's had been opened, Korra had laid out one very clear rule for humans in the Spirit World; no permanent settlements more than a few miles from the portal entrances. Only one group of people had broken that arrangement so far: the Seventh Kingdom. Sen looked over his shoulder at the rest of his group. They had clearly reached the same conclusion.

"Well, I have good news," Sen said. "Even if I don't do anything, I can guarantee that the people troubling you will be gone soon enough."

That seemed to please the spirits, and their confused forms stabilized. Sen knew that if it really was the Seventh Kingdom troubling these spirits, then General Rahm would not be far behind. They would be removed one way or another.

"Then you intend to do nothing," One of the more aggressive spirits said.

"No," Sen said quickly. "I'll go and talk to them, convince them to leave. I want these people out of the Spirit World as much as you do."

That satiated the anger in the spirits heart, and the last hints of the tainting darkness left them. They thanked the Avatar for his consideration, gave him directions to the Seventh Kingdom's base, and departed peacefully. Sen bowed respectfully to the spirits as they left, and then turned to his allies. They were slightly less pleased with this arrangement.

"I don't think we should do this," Ada said. "The Seventh Kingdom are dangerous."

"Not to mention that Rahm is going to come along and annihilate them all eventually," Whistler cautioned. "Better for us if we're not there when he shows up. Last time was a close call."

"What are we even going to do? I mean, we could maybe get them to leave," Suda said. "I don't really feel like helping the Seventh Kingdom."

"Neither do I," Sen said. "But I'm not just going to leave them to be wiped out by Rahm. I'll do what I can to convince them to save themselves, and if that doesn't work…well, I won't feel too bad leaving them to whatever happens."

While he was certainly loathe to assist the Seventh Kingdom in any way, they were the lesser of two evils in this situation. He could not leave them to be massacred by Rahm. Ada and Suda were persuaded as well. Whistler could care less, but seeing as she was in the minority, she did not bother protesting.

They began to follow the directions the spirits had provided, following crude trails through the rocky cliffs of the Spirit World. As they proceeded, Sen was unsurprised to find the soil turning black and metallic.

"More Spirit Metal," He said. He rubbed his palm along a solid chunk of the crude ore. "I'm starting to the think the Seventh Kingdom is attracted to this stuff."

"Then we know who to thank for Rahm being indestructible," Whistler groaned. "They must have led him right to it."

The climb came to an end in an open plain, pockmarked with deposits of Spirit Metal. A settlement was clearly visible, and they marched towards it. It was not long before they attracted the attention of the locals.

A small stampede of mounted riders approached them, brandishing metal spears and bending arts in threatening displays. One of the leaders, a firebender, encircled the Avatar's group in a wreath of flame. Sen did not blink as the fire licked at his face and bounced orange light off the lenses of his glasses.

"We have something you'd like to talk to you about," Sen said.

The mounted warriors conferred amongst themselves for a moment. The lead rider then pointed his weapon at Suda.

"State your business," The lead rider said.

"Don't look at me," Suda grunted. He had no desire to speak to the Seventh Kingdom any more than he had to. He pointed at Sen. "He's in charge here."

The lead rider looked at that tall, muscular Suda, and then back to the much shorter, frailer-looking Sen. His confusion was apparent.

"We know what's been wiping out your outposts," Sen said. "We came to warn you."

The riders talked amongst themselves again. They were clearly surprised that Sen knew anything about them at all. After a long deliberation on their part, the warriors of the Seventh Kingdom begrudgingly guided Sen and his comrades towards their settlement. They kept their spears at the ready all the while. Ada shot each and every rider a dirty look as they marched.

The Seventh Kingdom's home was actually somewhat impressive. The last outpost they had seen had been little more than a group of shanties; this seemed like an actual city. Multiple buildings with tiered roofs and tall, decorative spires sprawled a mile of the rough terrain. A few hundred people were visible in the streets already, and they all seemed to be deeply curious about Suda and the other new arrivals.

"This is Pakkre, our city," their guide said proudly. "The crown jewel of the new Kingdom."

Suda was not impressed. Neither were any of his friends, for that matter. Though all three of them were too young to personally remember the Seventh Kingdom war, they all had their own reasons to despise the rogue military faction. Ada had studied the war extensively, so she knew about their underhanded military tactics and their attacks on innocent civilians, Whistler knew that the Kingdom advocated for the strong having absolute power over the weak, and Sen knew that the Seventh Kingdom had been responsible for imprisoning and torturing Miyani when she was just a child. The Avatar and his friends were a barely contained ball of anger, all directed at the Seventh Kingdom.

Either unaware or deliberately ignoring that seething rage, their guide led them to a large structure at the center of the city. Judging from the ostentatious decorations, it was likely the home of their admiral. A humble servant opened the front door as the captain approached.

"Welcome to the home of Admiral Yut," The captain said.

"Why is he called an Admiral? I thought your navy got wiped out," Ada said. "To the last ship, right? Every single one?"

The captain of the mounted guards gave her a very long, angry glare. Ada smiled right back, knowing full well that she had made him very angry. The Seventh Kingdom had possessed a fearsome navy once, until they had foolishly attempted to blitz the Yala Strait and gotten most of their ships wiped out within a single day. She wondered if Yut had been responsible for that ill-advised offensive. She doubted it. Anyone who made such a costly mistake would not still be in charge of his fleet. Even if that fleet didn't technically exist anymore.

The captain led the way to a large hall, with a table suitable for several guests. The room was not well-decorated; Yut had not been expecting guests, after all. After ordering a few of his helpers to prepare the room, Yut invited his guests to sit. He took a long look at his new guests. He lingered for a while on Suda.

"Thank you for bringing them to me, Captain Chanchai," He said to his subordinate. Chanchai bowed respectfully and left, leaving the new arrivals alone with Yut.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering what city is-"

"We know exactly why you're here," Ada said. "You lost the war and you came running to the Spirit World to hide."

The Admiral gave Ada an angry glare. She smirked back at him. Sen turned to her.

"Ada, if you could please not aggravate them-"

"No, I suppose she has a point," Yut admitted. "Our campaigns in the physical world were largely ineffective. We failed to hold any territory. I like to think that our ideals helped to change the world, however-"

"That didn't happen," Ada said. The Seventh Kingdom had been founded on the idea that might made right; the more powerful ruled over the weaker by nature. That manifested especially as a prejudice against non-benders. However, by uniting all the bigots under a single banner, the Seventh Kingdom had only made it easier to wipe that bigotry out. Oppression of non-benders was nearly non-existent now.

"You will speak when spoken to," Yut said sharply, pointing his finger at Ada. Sen put a hand on her shoulder and forcibly pushed Ada back. They were here for a reason, after all.

"You know your outposts have been getting wiped out," Sen began. "We know why-"

"I'll get my answers from the man in charge, thank you," Yut said dismissively. The Admiral turned his head to Suda while Sen shrugged his shoulders.

"Why does nobody think I'm in charge?"

"It's probably because you're short and skinny and have ugly-looking stubble," Whistler said. Sen clenched his fists. She did have a point. Sen was still in his awkward teenage phase, while Suda was practically a grown man. The beard alone was a decisive factor.

"Are you telling me you allow this boy to boss you around," Yut said incredulously.

"I know it may not look like it, but I'm a lot stronger than Suda."

Yut froze, and looked over Suda. Suda stared right back. There was something very curious in the Admiral's gaze. Recognition, in a strange way, mixed with nostalgia. Yut hesitated briefly before asking the question that was on his mind.

"Suda, you are…Where are you from?"

Suda paused for a moment to wonder why Yut would ask such a thing, but he answered regardless.

"I'm from Garsai. What's it to you?"

"I think…I knew your father."

Sen could feel Suda's blood suddenly run cold. His face showed sparse hints that those words upset him, but on the inside he was a maelstrom of confusion and anger. Ada seemed to pick up on a few of those subtle hints as well. She knew Suda better than most, and even she had never heard much of anything about Suda's father. Suda was not very open about his past.

"Well, that makes one of us," Suda said.

Without much warning, Whistler turned her back and headed for the door.

"This is about to get real emotional, and I have zero time for that," Whistler said. She waved a sarcastic goodbye and walked out the door. There was a moment of awkward silence after her exit. Yut eventually continued.

"He was a good friend of mine. He often spoke of his son –you, I mean. When we served together he would tell me all about you. How sad he was that he had to leave you behind."

Suda rested his hands on the table, the muscles in his arms tensing visibly. He was still restraining himself. Suda had been trying for a very long time to put his past behind him. The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of his father. If he was here, though, he might as well make sure the past stayed in the past.

"Now, I'm sure you must have all kinds of questions," He said to Suda. "Please, feel free to ask anything you think of."

"Is my dad dead or not?"

Yut was taken aback by the bluntness of Suda's question. He tried to read the boy's mood before answering. Suda's face betrayed little emotion, and Yut was forced to go with his gut instinct. Servers began laying food on the table. Whistler was the only one who ate.

"Your father is no longer with us," Yut said regretfully. Suda nodded. So he was officially an orphan, then. Just one more thing he had in common with Sen and Hanjo. The Avatar's eyes were darting between Suda and his uncle.

"He died fighting for what he believed in, though. We should all be so lucky."

"Was he fighting for the rebellion, like you?"

"For the revolution, yes," Yut said, as if calling it a 'revolution' would make it seem more noble. "His military career was short, but proud all the same."

Suda did the math in his head. The Seventh Kingdom uprising had happened when he was six years old. His father had left just before that. He'd been abandoned just so his father could fight an unjust battle in a war that his side would lose anyway. Suda rolled his eyes.

"I think I've heard enough," Suda said.

"Well, then, you wouldn't mind if I asked you some questions, would you?"

Suda looked at Sen. Sen nodded, and Suda nodded at Yut in return. Yut still seemed uncomfortable with the fact that Suda was taking orders from someone who was, by all appearances, much weaker. Had Yut known that Sen was the Avatar, his mood would have changed quickly.

"Now, I do wonder what brings you to the Spirit World," Yut asked. "It's a fair coincidence, you must admit, us meeting each other."

"Everything happens for a reason," Sen added.

"I'm talking to Suda, boy," Yut said, with a sudden hardness in his voice.

"We're travelling," Suda said. "From Republic City to the North Pole. The Spirit World was the fastest way to do it."

"Really, even with all the disappearances?"

"Well, it was a concern, but once we realized all those 'disappearances' were actually Seventh Kingdom members hiding out in the Spirit World, it didn't bother us as much."

"Yes, then, tell me more about these other outposts you've encountered. Why have I not been informed of strangers in our territory?"

"Mostly because everyone we met is dead," Ada said flatly.

"General Rahm followed you into the Spirit World," Sen explained. "He's been tracking you down. We crossed paths with him near your outpost at the Spirit Metal canyon. That's what Chanchai brought us here to say."

Yut nodded. They had lost contact with that outpost lately, bringing an abrupt end to their research into Spirit Metal. Something about his story did not add up, though.

"That's impossible," Yut scoffed. "Rahm's been dead for nearly a decade. General Lokus killed him."

Sen had been idly toying with a fork as a means to keep his hands busy, and when he heard the name Lokus he clenched his fist hard enough to bend the utensil. Yut noticed the sudden outburst.

"Are you alright, boy?"

"Excuse me," Sen said through clenched teeth. When Miyani had spoken of her imprisonment, she had mentioned Lokus by name. He was directly responsible for most of what she'd suffered through. Just one more person out there who had hurt his friends and faced no consequences, Sen thought to himself. Sen left the dining hall in frustration.

"I'm afraid Lokus lied," Ada explained. She was no fan of the Seventh Kingdom, but even they didn't deserve what Rahm would do to them. "I've seen it myself. The things I saw…Only someone as powerful as Rahm could do that."

Yut rubbed his chin. It certainly explained the disappearing outposts. A super-powered psychopath with a grudge against the Kingdom was a sensible explanation for the disappearances. Rahm being alive also offered certain other benefits. For one, it meant that Lokus was lying. Lokus had built all of his prestige around the idea that he had killed the mighty General Rahm. If that was discredited, he would be removed from office, and there would only be one high-ranking officer left in the Seventh Kingdom.

"Well, in that case I'll make sure to keep my people safe," Yut said slyly. If he could play this situation right, he would be in charge of the Seventh Kingdom.

"The only thing to do would be to pack up and leave," Ada advised. "You might be able to-"

"I can handle my own affairs," Yut said harshly. Ada shrugged. She was trying to save them, but she wasn't trying that hard. They were still an oppressive rebel regime, after all. The world would not too greatly mourn their loss, and neither would Ada. As a nonbender, she had something of a personal grudge against them.

Whistler was taking a look around the Seventh Kingdom compound. It was a fairly nice place, and they would likely have something useful for Whistler to take. They'd all be dead soon anyway, so they wouldn't miss whatever she took.

Whistler carefully perused the Seventh Kingdom's city, but found little she actually liked. The Spirit World was not rich in resources, so almost everything they had was made from wood or stone. Anything actually valuable was kept under tight lock and key by the high-ranking elite. It took a while, because the residents of Pakkre were too curious about the outsider to be much help, but she eventually found a useful lead. One of Yut's fellow officers kept a warehouse of gear used to traverse the Spirit World's wastes. Whistler headed in that direction. What she found was less exciting than she had been expecting.

Massive racks of gear, things like saddles and riding boots for the mounted soldiers, were being organized by a small army of workers. Whistler recognized Chanchai coordinating the workers as they scrambled about their duties. He was shouting orders in a harsh voice, and his words seemed to strike fear into his workers. Whistler frowned. She had been expecting something like this. It was better if she didn't get involved.

She was about to sneak away when she saw one of the workers trip and fall over. One of the Eel Hound saddles he had been carrying was caught on a shelf and torn by the fall. The organizer reached to his belt. Whistler saw a whip.

Chanchai never made it to the first strike. Whistler surged forward and caught the flailing whip on her staff. The leather strand wrapped around the aluminum shaft, and Whistler spun it rapidly to tear the whip out of the organizers hands. With that done, Whistler pressed the end of her staff into the hunter's throat and pushed him back against a wall.

"Not while I'm here," Whistler said threateningly. Chanchai recognized his guest.

"Ah, yes, one of our new friends," He said. Her seemed more amused than threatened by Whistler's display. He calmly removed himself from Whistler's attempt at a pin and tried to retrieve his whip. Whistler pushed the weapon away with a gust of air.

"You really are making this difficult," He said.

"I don't put up with slavers," Whistler said. She was loathe to have anything resembling principles, but there were certain things she hated. She wasn't a fan of authority of any kind, not even democratically elected ones. Tyrants, though, were by far the most vile. Those who controlled with fear and force were the worst of the worst.

"You really are new to the Kingdom, aren't you? I don't think we ever got introduced. You know I'm Chanchai, and you are…?"

"Someone without the patience to listen to you," Whistler spat back. "I don't care about your explanations. You don't get to hurt him."

"Don't preach to me," Chanchai said. "The man you're trying to save held this whip not a few months ago. I proved myself stronger, and now I hold power. That is our way."

Whistler looked at the whipped slave. Knowing he had once been a slave driver himself did change things, but not enough.

"That doesn't make it right," Whistler said. Talking about right and wrong was strange to her. It felt unnatural.

Chanchai shrugged his shoulders. Then, with a sudden sweep of his arm, he produced a thin strand of fire from his hands and struck the errant slave with it, burning his skin and clothing with the lash of fire. Whistler knocked Chanchai to the ground with a burst of air, just a little too late to stop him. The slavedriver's reflexes were quick, though, and he was back on his feet in an instant.

"I am the strong, and my word is law to the weak," Chanchai growled. "That is our way."

The slave that Chanchai had struck looked at Whistler. It wasn't a look of gratitude or hope. His eyes were red with fear and pain. Whistler turned to the slaver and brandished her staff menacingly. A wicked grin spread across her face.

"Fine. Then I'll play it your way. Winner takes all."

Chanchai smiled.

"An airbender, offering to fight? You do surprise, outsider."

"There's no airbenders like me," Whistler boasted. Chanchai was not convinced. He had fought airbenders during the uprisings. They retreated too easily. They were easy to manipulate if you could exploit that tendency.

Chanchai opened with a strike of fire to Whistler's left. With a typical airbender, this would cause a reactive move backwards and to the right, and Chanchai knew exactly how to strike to capitalize on that movement. Whistler, though, did not fight with the typical airbender mindset. She used air to push aside the flames and dove forward, taking Chanchai off guard.

Her next moves were just as unexpected. All of Chanchai's previous airbender opponents had fought to disable or disorient. Whistler meant to hurt. She slammed the heavy metal of her staff into Chanchai's stomach, then spun to a follow up attack on the back of his knees. The combined blows forced Chanchai to his knees.

Whistler rested her staff on her shoulder, confident in her resounding victory. She had never expected it to be much of a challenge. Nobody ever expected an airbender to be vicious.

"Well, I win," Whistler said arrogantly. "Now I own you, right? Those are the rules?"

Chanchai was ashamed of his defeat, but there was greater shame in defying his principles. Reluctantly, the slaver nodded.

"Great."

Whistler leaned over to look Chanchai in the eyes. He had rarely seen such hatred in anyone's gaze. Whistler hated slavers, prison-keepers, kidnappers; anyone who took freedom from another was her enemy. There were many forms of limiting freedoms, of course; governments, schools, and organizations all had rules that limited peoples behavior, but they were at least consensual in most cases, and they were spared most of Whistler's anger. Those who took freedom without consent, though, deserved no mercy.

"Jump off a cliff," Whistler commanded. Chanchai started to tremble. Whistler noticed his hesitation.

"I said, jump off a cliff. I own you now, remember? Those are the rules."

"But you can't-"

"But I can! I'm the strong, you're the weak, my word is law," Whistler said, her voice laden with bitter sarcasm. "I can do whatever I want."

"I won't!"

Whistler folded her staff in half and tucked it into the holster on her belt. She put both her hands forward.

"Last chance, slaver," She said.

"I won't! You can't make me!"

"You'd be surprised what I can do," Whistler said grimly. She began to spin her hands in a circular motion. Chanchai felt a sharp pain in his throat.

"I was lying when I said there was no airbender like me. There used to be one."

Howling air began to spiral around Chanchai's head, enclosing him in a spherical vortex.

"His name was Zaheer."

Applying the last techniques she had read about in Wan Shi Tong's library, Whistler pulled her hands back and ripped the air from Chanchai's lungs. It caused intense pain, and Chanchai began to panic and clutch desperately at his throat, but it didn't end his life yet. There was some time left yet before he suffocated. Some of the effects were immediate, though. Chanchai's eyes turned red. Veins in his neck bulged as his lungs struggled for the slightest gasp of life-giving air.

Whistler held her hands steady, despite the tremble that tried to find its way to her fingertips. She stayed the course. Chanchai was the one thing she hated most in the world. A slaver, one who inflicted fear and pain, took away freedom, all for his own benefit. There was nothing in him worth saving.

Chanchai fell forward, onto his hands and knees, barely holding himself up. Whistler's fingers twitched. The suffocating cyclone howled in Whistler's ears. It didn't matter. Rahm would come soon anyway. He'd be dead one way or another. Whistler clenched her teeth.

Slowly, weakly, Chanchai managed to raise his head and look at Whistler. His eyes were red with pain and fear.

With a frustrated cry, Whistler waved her shaking hands, and the spiraling air vanished. Chanchai took a sharp, sudden breath as air returned to him. Whistler grabbed him suddenly by the shoulders and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground once more. Breathless and afraid, Chanchai laid motionless on the ground, taking deep, heaving breaths.

"Don't-" Whistler tried to talk, to give some kind of lecture, but a tremble in her voice was evident. "No more slaves!"

With that short outburst done, Whistler quickly retreated from the warehouse. She thought that by leaving Chanchai behind, the shaking in her hands would stop, but they did not. She barreled past the borders of Pakkre and sat down in the dust of the Spirit World, trying to quiet her shaking hands.

Yut had managed to maintain a fairly civil conversation with Suda for some time now. He mostly asked about Suda's metalbending. He showed a slightly unhealthy interest in how Suda compared himself to others. Suda was not interested.

"Look, we came here to warn you about Rahm, and we warned you," Suda said. He turned to Sen. "Can we go now?"

"I'm just wondering if you would regard yourself as exceptional," Yut asked casually. "How do you compare to other metalbenders?"

"I don't," Suda said. "It's been a long time since I faced another metalbender. I can only think of Rahm…and I'm not anywhere in his league."

"He's very good," Ada said. "I'm from Zaofu, so I know metalbending."

Ada bit her tongue just a second too late.

"You're from where?"

Zaofu's military had been one of the first stopping blocks of the Seventh Kingdom's uprising. Zaofu's philosophy of equality and communal living was a direct counterpoint to the Seventh Kingdom's ideals of dominance and social supremacy. The Seventh Kingdom military had attacked the city unprovoked and without warning, because they thought that their peace-focused mindset would make the city an easy target. They had been wrong, to say the least. As it turned out, the Beifong family had been funding more than art and music programs. Thanks to Ko Rin's intelligence network, the Seventh Kingdom sneak attack was discovered weeks in advance, and the invading force was wiped out with extreme prejudice. It was one of the first major disasters of the Seventh Kingdom's campaign.

Yut turned to his friend's son. His face bore an obvious expression of disgust.

"What have you been doing with your life," He said. "Running about being ordered around by children, gallivanting with mongrels from Zaofu."

A vein in Suda's neck twitched. Yut continued his monologue.

"You have so much more potential than this, Suda! Your father knew you were destined for better things! He joined us so you could live in a world free of these weaklings, not follow them like a dog on a leash!"

Suda clenched his fists.

"What are you- He joined because of me?"

"Yes, Suda," Yut said, suddenly sounding sympathetic. "Your father told me a lot about you. Your gifts in bending were obvious from a young age. He knew you were destined for greatness, and he joined the Seventh Kingdom to fight for a place where great men like you would not be held back by the weak. A place where your supremacy would be recognized and rewarded."

Yut stood up, walked over to Suda, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Your father loved you, Suda. Enough to give his life to make a better world for you."

Suda was staring blankly forward, dealing with the revelation. He had always assumed that his father had abandoned him for the same reasons as any other deadbeat dad. Laziness, irresponsibility, selfishness-those kinds of things. The truth was…different.

The truth was worse.

Suda stood up and violently pushed Yut's hand off of his shoulder. Yut took a few steps back.

"I don't care," Suda said. "I've never cared, not for a day of my life. Maybe he did love me in his own twisted, stupid way, but I never even knew him. I never had a father."

"You should watch your tone-"

"I don't care what you think, Yut! I don't care about you at all," Suda shouted. "The only reason I'm here is because he wanted to be here!"

Suda pointed at Sen, who nodded awkwardly in affirmation. Yut seemed angered now.

"Your father didn't give his life to watch you waste your life with children and mongrels from Zaofu!"

"He didn't give his life for anything," Sen said. "Your rebellion failed, your ideals were crushed. Now the last little fragments of your dead dream are going to be wiped out."

Sen stood up and pulled Ada towards the door.

"He's coming."

They were quick to turn their backs on Yut. They all knew what Sen meant. The shockwaves of his footsteps announced his presence miles in advance. General Rahm was on the hunt. Suda led the way as they marched away from Yut, and from Pakkre. Whistler, trembling still, met them on the cities outskirts, and they fled into the distance.

Rahm was curious to see an outpost that seemed to be expecting him. Rahm often arrived as a hurricane of death and destruction, a titan of fear and death. Here, though, they were welcoming him. Rahm proceeded steadily to the heart of the Seventh Kingdom city. The military was waiting for him, not as a hostile vanguard, but in a ceremonial formation.

"General Rahm, I presume," Yut said welcomingly. He had brushed off the dust and dressed himself in the best clothes he had. Rahm did not react to his formality. Yut was secretly intimidated by the new arrival; he was massive, and clad in angular black armor that sent a shiver down his spine. The sight of the titanic sword at Rahm's back filled Yut with dread. Despite the fear, he had to press forward. This was an opportunity. He walked towards Rahm.

"My superior, General Lokus, claims he killed you, you know."

This elicited a reaction at last. A low growl of displeasure rumbled forth from Rahm's helmet. Yut felt slightly more confident.

"I imagine you're insulted," Yut said. "I can offer you revenge. Al I ask in return is that you accept our unconditional surrender."

Yut knew he was no match for Rahm. His best hope was to distract the General while Yut consolidated his power. With Lokus slaughtered, Yut would be the leading figure of the Seventh Kingdom. Yut extended the hand of friendship to Rahm, hoping to close the deal.

Rahm's gauntlet closed around Yut's forearm in a vice-like grip. Surrender was unacceptable. Rahm lived by a simple philosophy: victory or death.

"I do not negotiate."

Rahm clenched his fist, and Yut's bones were crushed to splinters under the herculean force. Yut screamed in agony, and his men launched an attack. Lances of flame and metal soared towards Rah, but accomplished nothing against his armor. The attacks wreathed Rahm in a halo of fire and splintered metal, furthering his demonic appearance, but they never hurt him. Years of conflict had taught Rahm how to temper his armor against any attack.

"Where is Lokus," Rahm demanded. He didn't have to ask twice.

"At the portals," Yut howled. "He's in hiding at the settlement near the portals!"

And thus, Rahm had no more need for Yut. He released his crushing grip on Yut's arm, grabbing instead onto Yut's head. He endured a brief moment of Yut's screams for mercy before slamming his fist shut tight. Slowly, he turned to the rest of the Seventh Kingdom, and drew his blade.

Pakkre was soon as quiet as a grave.

A similarly enduring silence pressed down on Sen and his friends. They walked in silence for hours, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the graveyard of the Seventh Kingdom. Suda radiated an odd intensity that kept anyone from speaking. After travelling a few miles, they all ran out of energy, and Sen decided to stop their march. Whistler was quick to put distance between herself and the rest of them. The three that remained stared at each other for a while.

"I always wondered why you never talked about your past," Ada finally said.

"I don't have a past, okay," Suda said, clearly agitated. "There was a bunch of stuff that happened to me, alright, it's not part of who I am, it isn't important. What I am is what I'm doing right now. I'm the good guy, you guys are my friends. All that bandit stuff, my parents, none of it matters."

Sen walked forward and grabbed him by both arms, forcing Suda to look at him.

"It does matter," Sen said. "You don't have to like it, Suda, but you have to accept it. Because everything with your parents, all your years as a bandit…It's why you met me. It's part of you."

Ada stepped forward, with her arms wrapped across her chest. She looked hesitant, but she managed to speak.

"Suda, I know that life must have been rough for you," She said quietly. "But if all that…trouble, is what made you who you are today, I wouldn't change any of it. You're an amazing person, and I think of you like a brother."

Her face turned red. Sen nodded. Suda stared at them in silence for a while.

"I know maybe I don't know what family means," Sen said sheepishly. "But I think you're-"

Suda interrupted him by throwing his massive arms around Sen and Ada both, pulling them close to his chest. Sen felt slightly crushed, but he didn't mind. Suda's heart was pounding, filled with a rush of emotion. Eventually, he released them.

"There's no family resemblance, you know," Suda joked. "Everyone will think you're adopted."

Sen chuckled and slapped Suda on the arm. With a quiet goodnight, they all went to their beds, and slept with surprising ease. The only one awake now was Whistler.

She sat with her back to them all, watching her hands. They were shaking, always shaking, no matter how hard she tried to make them stop. She had thought that leaving the Seventh Kingdom, and Rahm, behind, would stop her hands from shaking. It had not. She wrapped her arms tight around herself and tried to calm herself. There was no danger here, she told herself, and she tried to sleep. She closed her eyes, and all she saw was the circle of air, sucking the life out of Chanchai. Her hands started to shake harder.