Gladiator: Mark of the Rouge
Chapter two: casting
Sokka's dream….
"In the time just before the first avatar, when energy benders walked the earth there was a boy born from a woman from the Northern Water Tribe and a man from the Southern Water Tribe. This boy and his father were branded with the Mark of the Rouge for their worship of the great spirit Crom lord of warriors and Blacksmiths. Crom was the husband of Gear mother of spirits and the planet." An old Japanese man with a deep voice tells his audience.
The man was wearing dark orange water tribe monk robes. The old spirit was telling a story too several young spirits. His head was bald with a bit of stubble, his eyes were black, and around his neck were several saber tooth moose lions saber teeth.
This is Mako one of the oldest of the chronicler spirits.
"The boy, Conan would grow up to be a powerful energy bender. He would unite the scattered tribes of the Southern Water Tribe becoming a king by his own hand. Six years after uniting the Southern Water Tribe and creating Cimmeria a kingdom were all spirits are worshiped, Conan would help a young Air Nomad named Wan, who was trying to bring peace to the land of man and the realm of the spirits." The old man says.
In the end to achieve the goal Conan would be forced to slay his mother who became the high priestess of the La spirit of the moon. La angered by Conan killing his mother gave him a choice. To live un-ageing until a he trained a man who was worthy of succeeding him or kill Wan the Air Nomad who was trying to bring peace to the world of man and the realm of spirits." The old man continues his tale.
"Because Wan was so close to bringing peace Conan chose to live until a he trained to a man worthy of succeeding him. Gaea so moved by Conan's sacrifice bound a part of her spirit to Wan thus the First Avatar was born. Crom would remove half of Conan's soul to be reborn as the Conan's true hire. When Wan died Conan's granddaughter Korra was born as the second Avatar." Mako tells his audience.
"Over the years the royal city of Cimmeria was abandoned but the tribes stayed united and Conan declared the leader of the Southern Water Tribe would be a man chosen by the people." Mako says
"To this day Conan still waits for the man worthy of succeed him. And I will your chronicler." Mako says as he finishes his tale and seemed to look at Sokka with his last words.
Dream ends…
Sokka groaned as he rolled over in the bed he was laying in, he did not want to get up yet. Then the nine-year old boy realized he was lying in a bed. He realized he should be a Sokka icicle frozen in the snow. This revelation wakes Sokka who tries to stand up but he gets tangled in the blank he was under casing him to fall out of the bed.
As Sokka groans on the floor he hears laughter coming from his right. Blushing Sokka looks up and sees a very tall, tan man with black hair and sullen blue eyes. The man was wearing water tribe furs and was also laughing at Sokka with a deep booming laugh. The man was holding a stone in one hand and the biggest sword he has ever seen in the other.
The swords strait blade was at least six inches wide until it tapered off into a triangular point. The blade was split down the middle with a grove that tapered of at both end of the sword in a half circle. The swords hilt was the same demon skull as the mark of the rouge the c shaped horns pointing the same way as the tip. The swords pummel was big enough to comfortably hold in two hands. The blade itself seemed like its made of two types of metal.
"Glade to see your alive boy. I thought I would be digging a grave soon with how long you slept. My name is Conan. What is your name boy?" Conan asks Sokka.
"My name is Sokka formally of the Southern Water Tribe. But I renounced my tribe and received the Mark of the Rouge. I will go now this is a sacred place and I should not be hear." Sokka says as he gets up.
"Were are my clothes? Did you do something to me well I was a sleep you pedophile?" Sokka yells as he wraps the blanket that tripped him tightly around himself. This caused the man to develop a tick mark over his left eye.
"Fuck no you stupid boy." Conan yells as he hits Sokka on the head after he dropped the stone he was using to sharpen his sword. Sokka yelp in pain as he holds his head.
"You got stuck in a blizzard before you collapsed at the foot of The Forge. I'm sure you are hungry I and I made eel snapper stew. But if you're going to have that kind of attitude I'll eat it all myself." Conan calmly tells Sokka with a weird ascent.
"I'm sorry." Sokka tells Conan as his stomach growls. Conan just throws a shirt at Sokka as he laughed.
"Come with me." Conan tells Sokka as he starts leaving the room. Sokka put on the shirt and fallows him. Something about this man made Sokka trust him. They arrive in a kitchen with a pot of stew bubbling on a stove.
"Sit at the table I will dish us up some breakfast." Conan says as he grabs two bowls from the cupboard. Conan fills the bowls and sets them on the table along with two spoons.
"Mr. Conan you said this was The Forge. Would that be the same forge that the secret of water tribe steel was discovered?" Sokka asks as he scarfs down the stew.
"yes." Conan says as he eats with a bit more manners.
"Then are you the Cursed King of Cimmeria and the only king of the Southern Water Tribe. Cursed for killing the corrupted Priestess of La, to live until he found a man worthy to be his successor? And can I have seconds?" Sokka asks Conan as he holds up his bowl.
"I am Conan the First and Last King of the Southern Water Tribe. And yes you can." Conan says as he refills both of their bowls.
Sokka stares at Conan with stars in his eyes. Sokka looked at the king like he was his idol.
"I can take you back to your tribe if you want but considering you bear the same mark I do I doubt you want to return. So I will make a deal with you Sokka, if you stay here and learn all I can teach you, when your training is complete I will take you to a ship that is bound for the Earth Kingdom." Conan tells Sokka.
"Sounds like a good idea when do we start my Lord?" Sokka asks the tall man.
"We will start after dinner in The Forge. We will make you a child's blade. And I will teach you how to make the best swords in the world; a true Water Tribe sword. There's a different between a Whale tooth Scimitar and a True Water Tribe Strait Sword. I am going to teach you to make one as my father taught me. And just call me Conan my time as king is long gone." Conan tells Sokka.
The two begin to eat the large pot of eel snapper stew Sokka barely eating more than Conan.
The Forge, in the Room of Blades…
There are four tables in the room along with several smelting furnaces, forges, and anvils. There are also several double edge sword molds of different sizes by the furnaces.
On the first table are piles of iron sand. Of the sixteen hundred piles of iron sand most of them are the normal dark grey of raw iron sitting on white paper. Two hundred of the piles of sand are white and sitting on black paper.
The white sand is a rare metal called Snow Iron. Snow Iron is a little softer than true iron but can absorb impacts far better than regular iron. The only down side is snow iron is very rare as it is only found in the South Pole
On the second table are over seven thousand steel plates. Three thousand five hundred of the plates are the light silver color of normal steel. Three thousand four hundred of the plates are a lighter silver from color because they have a lower carbon content. But only one hundred of the plates black steel this black steel is meteor steel. And only fifty are snow steel.
On the third table several kinds of materials and tools for crafting the handles of the swords. The fourth table is by the furnace and contains several smelting cups
"Now Sokka you need to pick two piles of iron sand that we will use to make the core of your sword. A good warrior can maintain his weapons but a great warrior can make his own. Ask me any questions you have about the materials. Together we will forge a blade for training. I will make a sword from the same materials you chose. We will start by casting the core so chose two piles of sand." Conan tells Sokka.
After several questions Sokka grabs two of Snow Iron sand piles. Conan takes four of the piles of Snow Iron. Conan and Sokka take them to the fourth table. Conan grabs one of the clay cups and sets it in front of Sokka. Conan then grabs a clay cup that is double its size of the one he set in front of Sokka.
"Before we start Sokka tell me how does a boy make his first Whale Tooth Scimitar?" Conan asks Sokka.
"First he must either kill a Lion Whale or chose from the K9 teeth of one that has already been killed. After he has his tooth he carves the blade to the shape and size he wants it to be. The most common form is that of a hook so you can drag up a large fish and cut its head off the head with the same tool. A boy then uses a thick slab of clay and make a mold of the blade." Sokka takes a moment to get a drink from his water skin.
"After making the mold the boy must widen and deepen it for when it is time to pour steel on the blade. The mold is then coated and fired to prepare it for use. After the firing of the mold is done the boy must clean up the mold to prevent any imperfections in the blade. When this is done the mold is taken to the forge. The boy then must choose a steel ingot and smelt it." Sokka takes a breath.
"The boy will spend the night making sure the steel melts and loading fuel into the furnace as it is needed. When the steel is melted the boy must places his carved tooth and mold on the casting table and then the steel is then poured over the tooth. The blade is then removed from the mold after the steel has cooled." Sokka continues.
The casting table is a long table that has a two L shaped divots carved whale tooth is placed on. The mold is placed in one of the divots and the carved tooth is placed in the mold.
"Three days later after the scimitar is removed the boy is helped by the weapon master weapons smith of the tribe to temper the blade. And on the night of the new moon to signify the boy's first step into manhood, the birth of a new warrior and hunter the blade is quenched in the ice." Sokka finished.
"A perfect answer. The method of making the whale tooth scimitar is similar to what we will be doing. But the first step is smelting the core of the sword from pure un-hardened iron. After the metal has melted you will pick one of the child sword core molds to cast the core. When this is done I will tell you the next step. And you need to know that until your training is complete you will be called kid or child during training." Conan tells Sokka.
With thoughts words Conan and Sokka pour the Snow Iron sand into the smelting cups. After that the two prepare a furnace. They will spend the night making sure the snow Iron melts properly. Interesting fact about snow iron is the only metal that when fully melted glows a dark black.
A long night later…
Conan grabs a pair of long tongs and two pairs of thick gloves, one of the pairs of gloves are child's sized. Conan hands this pair of gloves to Sokka before he grabs two pairs of dark goggles and puts one pair on handing the other to Sokka.
"Watch what I do carefully Sokka. Put the goggles on over your eyes and never look into the furnace without wearing them when you are not loading fuel into it." Conan tells to Sokka as he puts on his gloves and goggles.
Using the tongs Conan reaches into the furnace and pulls out the smelting cup that is almost overflowing with molten Snow Iron with a smile on his face. Almost all he lived for recently was perfecting the art and science of forging perfect blades and now he will be able to pass culmination of several millennia of research about how to make a strong, flexible, and nearly unbreakable blade down to the next generation.
"When you pull the smelting cup from the furnace make sure you have a good grip on it not to tight but not to lose you do not want to crack the clay or drop the cup." Conan says as he removes the smelting cup from the furnace.
"After taking it out of the furnace you pour it into the mold of your choice. We will use the basic molds this time as it is tradition. When you are ready you will learn to make your own mold. Be careful not to spill when you pour the mold." Conan tells Sokka as he pours the molten metal into a nearby mold for an adult sword.
Sokka watches as the molten metal was poured into the mold. The molten snow iron was glowing a deep black as it flowed into the mold slightly overflowing from the mold.
"Now it's your turn Sokka be careful and take it slow." Conan says as he hands Sokka the tongs.
Sokka pulls on his gloves and grabs the tongs form Conan. He carefully pulls the smelting cup testing how much presser is needed to prevent it from slipping from the tongs before he pulls it from the furnace. Sokka then carries the full smelting cup to the child sword mold and pores it in.
"Good job kid you did not spill a drop, the first time I did that I got this." Conan says as he takes off his gloves and shows Sokka the scars on his palms.
"You have some talent in this field, now we will begin your training after some breakfast. It will take three days for the sword cores to fully cool. Now a friend of mine should be here by now so let's go meet him." Conan say.
Two put equipment away and leave the room of blades heading for the kitchen.
"Something smells good." Sokka says as he walks beside Conan.
"That would be roust duck, my friend is definitely here." Conan say as the two enter the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen is an old man in was wearing dark orange Water Tribe priest furs. This is the old spirit was telling a story too several young spirits in Sokka's dream. His head was bald with a small amount of stubble, his eyes were black, and around his neck was several saber tooth moose lions saber teeth.
"Breakfast is almost ready you two, my famous Fire Nation roast duck with potatoes and green beans. Sit, sit, and I am Mako by the way." Mako says as he motions for the two water tribe men to sit at the table.
"Nice to meet you Mako, I am Sokka. I was just accepted as Conan's new student it's nice to meet you." Sokka says with a polite bow before he sits down.
"Your mother really must have beat the manners into your think skull. Foods done now let's eat." Mako's says.
Mako sets down a several bowls of food at the table, before taking a seat himself.
"So Mako how do you know Conan? This is very good." Sokka asks as he takes a bite of the roust duck
"I am his Chronicler Spirit. And now I am your Chronicler as well." Mako says as he takes a bite of his food.
"What does that mean?" Sokka asks slightly freaked out.
"I record your story for the spirit world. That's all you will get out of me. Conan here has been trying for ten thousand years and has not gotten more than that."
Water tribe village just after Hakoda arrived….
"You gave Sokka the Mark of the Rough, why?" Hakoda yelled as Ozai carried his wife down the ramp with Zuko, who was carrying his little sister.
"What's the Mark of the Rough?" Azula asks still looking quite green.
"The Mark of the Rough is given to thoughts who no longer want to be members of the Southern Water Tribe. But before are first and only King, Conan, took control of the Southern Tribe and helped the First Avatar bring an end to the spirit wars. The mark was used to mark people to be cast out of the Northern Water Tribe. Now let's get these ladies some of the last of are frost kelp tea, it will get rid of the lingering effects of sea sickness. Unfortunately it's the last we have after most of the warriors left but it is the best cure for sea sickness. And you guys can call me Gran-Gran. And Hakoda we will talk more about this in are hut." Gran-Gran says as she motions for them to fallow her.
Inside the Village Chiefs hut…
"Here you go dears I added some sea lime to cut the bitterness, but I would drink it down quickly with how bad you two look." Kana says as she hands the tea to the girls.
"Now I gave Sokka the mark because his destiny changed, and you know that as the Wise Woman of the village I must help all the people of the village to achieve their destiny. Now you know I would not help them should their destiny lead to their death. Sokka will reappear one day alive and well. But that was all I could see that I can reveal to you. Now then who are you four?" Kana asks the family.
"I am prince Ozai, formally of the Fire Nation navy as a doctor, this is my wife Princess Ursa. And this is my son Prince Zuko and my daughter Princess Azula." Ozai says as he points at the members of his family.
"It's nice to meet you I am Kana but like I said you can call me Gran-Gran. I am the Wise Woman of the Southern Water Tribe. I am glad to see your father returned are Water Benders Ozai. It's nice to see some of my old friends again. Now it's been a long day so let's get some rest. Now Ozai and Ursa can sleep in the First spare room, Zuko will stay in the second spare room. Now I don't know how you feel about this Hakoda but if you're ok with it Azula can stay in Sokka's room, or she can stay with Katara." Gran-Gran tells the group.
"I guess that's ok mother after all Azula deserves her own room and Azula is old enough to have her own room if she wants one. So Azula do you want your own room?" Hakoda asks the nine-year old girl.
Azula is shocked that he was actually asking for her opinion instead of just giving her the room. After all she was a princess so most people gave her what she wanted or her mother told her what to do. But daddy always asked what she wanted to do like this man just did.
"If that is ok with you sir I would like my own room." Azula asks politely shocking Ursa.
"Its fine with me Azula you look very tired would you like to go to bed now." Hakoda asks the girl.
"Yes I would sir the tea helped but I still don't feel very good." Azula says as she yawns. She may be nine and did not normally need a nap but the cold weather was draining her strength.
"Would you like me to if I tucked you in dearie I could tell you a story from the Water Tribes past if you want." Kana says as she saw the look Ursa gave Hakoda.
"I would like that m... Gran-Gran" Azula starts to say but the look Kana gives her makes her stop before she called her mam.
"Good come Azula let's get you tucked in. I'll carry you to if you want and do not worry, I'm stronger than I look." Kana says as she walks to the short little girl.
"I would like that as well the cold is really sapping my strength." Azula honestly tells kana.
"Well then you are a very strong young fire bender. Normal until a bender reaches the age of twelve they are very susceptible to the weaknesses of the three bending element. The fact that you are only feeling tired means you are a very powerful young bender indeed." Kana says as she picks up the little girl.
"I am indeed powerful." Azula says as she snuggled into Gran-Gran a bit.
Kana then carries the girl to Sokka's room with a snicker.
"How did you get her to be so polite? She is usually such a handful." Ursa asks Hakoda.
"Really love she is always like that with me. But I treat her the same way I would an adult most of the time do to her intelligence." Ozai says as she looked at his wife.
"So am I but I was… owe my spirits I should have noticed it sooner since I acted the same way Azula did until my Mama saw how intelligent I was and started teaching me about herbal medicine." Ursa says upset.
Ozai grabs his wife up in his arms and holds her.
"It's ok dear at least you realized it now and can work on improving your relationship with her. Maybe you should start teaching her about herbs it might help. How come you never told me you know about herbs honey?" Ozai asks his wife.
"You never asked dear. And if you turned out to be an unreasonable abusive son of a bitch I would have to kill you. If you knew about my herbal knowledge it would be traced back to me. But lucky for you treated me right and I fell in love with you the bite mark on your chest is proof enough of that." Ursa says as her husband's words comfort her.
(I think I am about to make Azula much more dangerous… opps. LoL)
"There's something behind that tell me about this bite mark." Kya asks Ursa.
"It's an instinctive fire bending technique used by fire bender woman who are in love called the Dragons Bite. It was passed to us by the dragons when they taught use to firebend. We unconsciously heat are teeth up and then bite are man marking them as ours. And it warns away other woman telling them that if you try to sleep with this man you will have to fight for him." Ursa says with a smile.
"Sounds allot like the Lunar Bite. We water benders instinctively use are waterbending to mark are man with a freezing cold bite to the chest. Same principle I guess. My Hakoda cried like I hit him in the balls when I gave it to him, he cried like a baby for three hours after words too. But it is good payback for making us woman go through child-birth I feel." Kya tells Ursa.
"My Ozai balled for four hours when I gave him the Dragons Bite. By the way where did you get that parka it's so cute?" Ursa asks Kya as she moved to sit by Kya.
"Well that explains the mark on your chest Ozai. Let's go get a bit of limeade from the bar my treat this time." Hadaka says to Ozai as the girls start talking about clothes other girly things.
"Let's go and it also explains your chest mark. I am looking forward to tasting this stuff you seem to love. Do you want to come with Zuko?" Ozai asks his son.
"Yes dad I would. Mom is going all girly" Zuko says with a yawn.
The men could tell that the boy was being affected by the cold but was trying to act tough.
"Then grab your coat Zuko lets go…son." Ozai says as he watches Zuko's eyes light up when he called him son.
Ozai remembered some advice Hakoda gave him.
Flashback
"You don't seem to like your son very much Ozai why is that?" Hakoda asks as he takes a sip of his coke.
"I am not sure he is mine after a letter I was given that my wife tried to smuggle out of the plaice. My father thought it would be smart to force my wife to live only for me. She has been trying to send letters to her family of and I have a woman copy them before she sends them out. One of them contained some disturbing information about Zuko. I have not looked at the kid as mine since then." Ozai tells Hakoda.
"Well did you raise him, change his diapers, feed him, comfort him when he had a bad dream, were you prod of him when he first fire bent?" Hakoda asks Ozai.
"Yes I did, why do you ask?" Ozai asks Hakoda.
"Well then who else would be his father? You're his father regardless of blood. He is your son you raised him so that makes him yours." Hakoda tells Ozai.
Flashback end
Ozai smiled as he saw the bright expression on Zuko's face as the kid put his coat on. The boy would end up falling asleep on a bar stool a half hour later.
Earlier with Azula and Gran-Gran…
Azula gave a cute little yawned as Gran-Gran carried her into Sokka's room. When Gran-Gran set Azula down in Sokka's bed, the massive amount of residue chi absorbed by Sokka's blankets caused Azula to feel very comfortable and she almost instantly fell asleep. Gran-Gran smiled as she covered the little girl with a second fur blanket.
"It looks like both you and my grandson destinies are intertwined. I hope to live long enough to see the end of your tale. Sleep well little fire bender sweet dreams to you." Gran-Gran tells the sleeping girl as she tucks the fur blankets into her sides.
Azula would keep the blankets for a long time using only the heavy fur blankets to sleep for years to come.
To be continued…
Mako is an homage to the late Mako's charter in the original Conan movies. Mako is the name of the actor who voiced Iroh in the first and second seasons of the last air bender.