A/N - FINALLY HERE IS THIS GODFORSAKEN CHAPTER I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT
Decided to split this one in half, too, so it wouldn't be too long and so there would be less of a wait for you guys. I promise chapter four will be up within a month. I know I originally said that it would be three chapters, but now it's ended up getting even longer than I expected and it'll most likely end up being five by the time it's finished. For some reason the battle was REALLY hard to write. Action scenes are the bane of my existence, and this is the first time I've written a death scene from the dying person's point of view.
~0~
Lu Ten knelt on the floor of his tent, and after checking to make sure every part of his armor was fastened securely, he pulled his mane of black hair into a thick topknot, raising his head to look at himself in the small mirror propped up against his bedroll, now that it was visible in the dimness of the minutes just before dawn. How I've changed, in just two years.
If he had been a boy when he left the Fire Nation, then he was certainly a man now. His short, choppy hair had grown out long and glossy, he stood a good couple inches taller, and he now bore a cross-shaped scar (the result of two separate battle wounds, the first dealt by chance and the second by a man who had, for whatever reason, decided to complete the X shape) on his jaw. He had long since earned his place as colonel and as his father's right hand, and the scarlet tracing on his black royal armor that came with it.
Over the past few months, the reality of war and battle, of struggling for his life and guarding the lives of his comrades, had taught him more than a lifetime of schooling and tame training ever could have. Now, he finally understood what all the other soldiers - from the younger ones in their first tour of duty, to the old retired veterans his father was friends with - meant when they said they wouldn't forget a second of their time on the battlefield, even if they tried. These memories he'd attained over the past years were burned into his mind, for better or worse.
His eyes flicked to the ink portrait placed next to the mirror, comparing his reflection to the image of the black-haired woman with hawk's eyes and a knowing smile. I get more and more like you every day, Dad says, he thought. I think he's right. You know, I've seen a lot by now. I've felt the earth rise up to strike me, but I've also felt the woman I love kiss me. I've watched many of my comrades die, but I've saved the lives of more. I've been all over the Earth Kingdom with Dad just like you were, and it's so amazing that I want to take everything in, even as we're fighting its people. When the war's done, there can finally be peace, and the other nations can learn about us as we learn about them. And I'll have lots of stories to tell my kids when I have them, like you did for me.
Lu Ten straightened up, looking fondly down at Kei Rin's face. I've got to go now, Mom. We're about to break through the walls. You know, the only downside is that you aren't doing this with Dad and I. But I know you can see us, wherever you are. And I know I don't have to ask if you're proud.
The first pale rays of the sun were making themselves known through the gold fabric of his tent, calling him out with the dawn. He turned and pushed open the flap, and smiled at the sight that greeted him. Though the natural world around them was just starting to shake off sleep, under the pink morning sky (only slightly marred by the dark grey clouds he could see starting to roll in) his camp was alive with activity, his soldiers gathering weapons and supplies, double- and triple-checking their armor, feeding and tacking the komodo rhinos, tigerwolves, and eelhounds that were to be ridden to Ba Sing Se today. None were idle, all were wide awake and ready to go.
Lu Ten could practically feel the buzz of anticipation and incorruptible confidence in the air, emanating from every one of his troops. They knew, just as he did, that they were so close to unimaginable glory and victory and progress for their nation that they could practically taste it. His smile broadened at the reminder, and he set off across the camp to tend to the prized tigerwolf that would be carrying him to said victory in less than an hour. As he went, he was greeted from all sides by his troops; he didn't think he would ever cease to be pleasantly surprised and delighted to hear in their voices and see in their faces the adoration and respect they had for their colonel and prince.
"Colonel Lu Ten, good morning!"
"Are you doing all right today, Colonel?"
"Ready to lead us through the walls?"
"Thanks to you and General Iroh, they'll be calling us heroes back home!"
Even his tigerwolf Hakkai, who had a reputation for being a finicky and irascible animal, was delighted to see him. The moment he laid eyes on his master, he quickly stood up from where he'd been lying - knocking over a keeper who was trying to fill his water trough - and gave a welcoming bark, his long tail waving in the air. "Nice to see you too," Lu Ten laughed, and bent down to help the man up. "Sorry about that. I've been trying to train him to be nice to people who aren't me, but I don't think he quite gets it."
"It's okay, Colonel," the keeper assured him. "At least there's somebody the old guy likes. Though I do wish he'd quit throwing me on my tail end every time I try to give him something."
"So do I. I'll take care of him for now, don't worry about it."
The man bowed quickly, thanking him, and went off to tend to the rest of the pack. Lu Ten picked up the large bucket he'd left for him to use and filled the trough, while Hakkai alternated between nuzzling his beloved master's shoulder and trying to lick at the stream of water. "You know, you really have to quit being such a bully to the people who are trying to take care of you," Lu Ten chided the tigerwolf. "Are you aware that you need this stuff to live?"
"Colonel!" two excited voices called from behind him, and he turned to see the familiar faces of the two young soldiers he'd become closest to over the course of the campaign.
"Gisei, Nageki, good morning!" he greeted them, and as always Sergeant Gisei Seigi blushed and Corporal Nageki Noha smirked at being addressed so informally and amiably by their superior officer.
"General Iroh sent us to come and find you, sir," Gisei informed him, his eyes continually flicking downward and to the side as he talked. If it wouldn't embarrass the boy, Lu Ten would laugh: it'd been almost two years and he was still nervous about talking to the warrior he idolized, even if they had become good friends. The fact that he was also the second prince probably didn't help, either. "He says you're to join him and the other generals just as soon as you're ready to go. We're about to leave for the city."
"Is that so? Well, in that case, I'll be there as soon as Hakkai and I are all ready. Shouldn't be more than ten minutes."
"Yes, sir," said Nageki. He glanced up at the sky, which was no longer pink and had instead taken on a reddish glow, illuminating the clouds. "Though I wonder if we might have more problems than we're expecting...Red sky, take warning, bloodshed by morning, or whatever those guys in the navy say."
"Nageki! Don't say those things!" exclaimed a startled Gisei. "Th-those are just superstitions, they don't mean anything! Everything's going to go great today, that's what everyone's saying! Right, Colonel?"
"Exactly," Lu Ten assured the boys. "If everything goes according to plan, we'll all be back home within the month. The three of us aren't expected to stay for the occupation once we take the city, just get the troops who are firmly instated."
"Right! And then we go home and get celebrated by our towns for bringing Ba Sing Se to its collective knees!" Nageki, fully and easily reassured, leaned over and threw his arm around Gisei's shoulders, sporting an ear-to-ear grin. "It might be a little hard for the colonel, what with him going back to the palace and all, but you'll keep in touch with me when we do get back, won't you, Gisei? You're only one island away."
Gisei gave a small but flattered smile. "Sure I will, if you want to! We didn't go through four months of boot camp and then two years on campaign together just to never talk again after everything's finished, after all. That wouldn't make much sense."
"And don't think I'd forget about my friends just because I'm a prince," Lu Ten chimed in as he buckled Hakkai's saddle and slipped on his reins. "True, I'll be a bit too busy to come and visit you guys, but I'll send you letters and gifts from the Caldera. I'm sure I'll be able to do that much at least." With his mount fully tacked, the prince hefted himself on and lifted his hand in a half-wave to the boys still on the ground. "I'll meet back up with you when we move out. Be sure you're all ready!"
Gisei and Nageki assured him that of course they would, and Lu Ten gave Hakkai a quick squeeze to the flanks and set off for his father's tent, where he and the other generals would be convening about now. It wouldn't do for an esteemed colonel to be late, let alone one of the princes, and all matters of etiquette aside, Lu Ten was as eager to get going already as any of the other soldiers were. Two years was too long to be stuck in the same place and making progress at what was, admittedly, a maggot-slug's pace. The sooner he and his troops finished this siege in one powerful, decisive blow, the sooner all of them would be safely back home with their families.
As always, the faces of his aunt, Jun, and his cousins flashed in his mind, instantly redoubling his energy and drive to fight. Soon, everyone, he thought, letting a smile play at his lips. Soon I'll be home, I'll have my new wife with me, and it won't just be like it was before, it'll be even better. The less welcome image of his uncle floating into his mind erased the smile, and his brow furrowed. I'd better be home soon, at least. No telling what that snake's gotten up to without Dad and I around to keep an eye on him.
~0~
He was quite certain that nobody was following him, but that still did not stop him from glancing over his shoulder as surreptitiously as he could as he descended yet another flight of stairs into the depths of the Dragonbone Catacombs. How fitting it was, he reflected, that he would orchestrate the death of two more useless princes in the place where the bones of hundreds of others laid, most of their insignificant names and lives forgotten by the world.
The concept that near none of these royals had done anything of real worth, that would leave a lasting mark, was unbelievable to Ozai, and not in a good way. Could the royal family of the Fire Nation truly be so weak and forgettable? Oh, of course there had to be the occasional white koala-sheep like Zuko, but so many of their blood? Pathetic. Such reflections only added fuel to his desire to rise above them all, to do things that none of his ancestors could have, to have his name remembered beyond even that of his grandfather's.
The actions he was taking now were just one more step in furthering that goal, that he was so tantalizingly close to.
He made a right, then another, then a left down a short flight of stairs, at the bottom of which was a door that looked, at first glance, no different than any of the others. There were a few advantages to being largely ignored by his father and brother and their ilk, one of them being that as a boy he had been able to explore the myriad passages, hideaways, and other secret places that the royal palace had to offer. And now, as an adult, he knew exactly where to go for a fairly unsavoury meeting that he would rather nobody knew about. This was one of the few doors with a lock that could not be opened by conventional means if the occupants did not want them getting in and knew how to correctly work the mechanism. Ozai gave one quick knock, and heard someone shuffling behind the door and then fire being shot towards the door. It streamed into the dragon mouth carved into the doorknob in lieu of a keyhole, and the lock clicked open. When the flames fizzled out, Ozai pushed open the door with a smile.
"Gentlemen," he said cordially. "I thank you for coming at such short notice."
From the table at the back of the small circular room, Colonel Mongke and Vachir of the Rough Rhinos grinned back at him. "To answer your invitation, my prince, it was no problem at all," Mongke assured him, standing up and folding his hands respectfully. "You wish us to move forward with the mission, correct?"
"As soon as you leave the palace," he confirmed. "Prince Lu Ten is your target. Kill Iroh as well if you get the opportunity, by all means, but Lu Ten is not to leave the battlefields of Ba Sing Se alive. Am I understood?"
"Very clearly. We will not fail you."
"Here." Ozai reached into the pocket of his robe and offered Mongke a silk drawstring bag that jingled with gold. "Here's for your pains, and for your silence. This is never to get out."
Mongke accepted the bag and gave it a small, experimental toss in the air. Finding it pleasingly heavy, he smiled. "Rest assured, my prince, this will stay our little secret."
"Excellent," Ozai said, his voice soft and sibilant as a snake's hiss. "And just to ensure your success, I brought you this as well." He took out another, smaller packet, and tossed it to Vachir, who caught it easily. When he opened it and peered inside, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Prince Ozai, is this what I think it is?"
"Guówáng wànsui," Ozai boasted. "The kingslayer's best friend. You now possess the most perfect poison in the Fire Nation, courtesy of the Yuudoku clan. If your weapons don't quite get the job done, then use this to finish the brat off for certain."
"The Yuudoku...the assassin family?" Even Mongke looked shocked. "How did you get this? They don't just give away their prized creation, even to royalty."
"Indeed they don't. My wife guards it as jealously as the rest of her clan does. It took me weeks to procure this tiny sample without her noticing." In fact, he wasn't entirely certain that Ursa hadn't realized that a portion of her poison was gone, and that she didn't already suspect her husband as the culprit. But it didn't matter. She could guess as accurately at the truth as she liked, but she'd never find proof. He had planned this assassination for over two years, and he would not risk exposure just as the plot was coming to fruition. Caution and concealment were of the utmost importance.
"She's not in on it, then?" Vachir asked.
"No," Ozai said curtly, the reminder that his wife was not and never would again be on his side stinging. For the life of him, he could not understand her. Couldn't she see that it was in his power to become Fire Lord, a greater ruler than his father or brother or nephew could ever hope to be, and to make her his Fire Lady? Didn't she know that such valuable things could never come easily, that it was going to take a few small sacrifices to clear his path to glory? When he had first met Ursa, he had not taken her for a coward, but that, regrettably, was what she had proven to be. Such an embarrassment to her strong and fearless clan. Though, at times like this he had to remember that she had not only the blood of the Yuudoku assassins but also the blood of the spineless Avatar Roku running through her veins. Clearly one had canceled out the other, and it was not the one he wanted canceled out.
Though he considered it a serious and vexing problem, Vachir apparently found it funny. "Shut down by your frigid bitch of a wife," he laughed. "How troublesome."
"Silence," Ozai growled, narrowing his eyes at the archer. "Don't you dare insult what's mine."
"Hmph. At least you found it and you'll be able to use it before she does. She might have only had it because those Yuudoku always have something on hand, but it's called the kingslayer's friend for a reason," Vachir pointed out.
"You think I didn't think of that?" snapped Ozai. "Ever since I found it, I've kept an antidote on my person at all times. If she wants to get rid of me, she'll have to find a smarter way to go about it. However, there's no chance that my brother and nephew are so well prepared. I doubt you two will have any trouble."
Mongke smirked. "A job like this is child's play for the likes of us. I swear on my life we will not fail you, my prince."
"Excellent," Ozai said, irritation fading as he eased back into vindictive satisfaction. "You have done well to curry favor with your future Fire Lord early."
"So you're going to off old man Azulon in the meantime?" inquired Vachir, wholly nonplussed about the idea.
"I will give it time. As you implied, the current Fire Lord is just about on his last legs, so I might not even need to take matters into my own hands. If I do, well...he is no less susceptible to guówáng wànsui than Lu Ten is. And if you succeed in your job, then I will surely be waiting to take the crown for my own when Azulon breathes his last."
Both soldiers took that as their cue to leave and begin their own journey to Ba Sing Se, and they stood up to give a simultaneous parting bow. "We look forward to that day, Crown Prince Ozai."
~0~
Crown prince, Mongke had called him before they had left. That had been three months ago, but even now Ozai felt a strong sense of gratification every time he remembered it. By this time his assassins would be reaching Ba Sing Se. He ran a finger down the crude charcoal picture of Lu Ten he held in his hand, which depicted the young prince grinning happily as he entered a firebending form. Azula would no doubt be wondering where her drawing had disappeared to, but she would soon have more important things occupying her mind. Her father would make certain of it.
He brought a small flame forth from his palm, and the thin paper quickly caught. As the image of his nephew was eaten up in seconds by the hungry fire, leaving only grey ash in his hand, a smile stretched across Ozai's face.
Soon, they will call me Fire Lord.
~0~
"Hey, Colonel, did Gisei tell you what his little sister wrote to him yet?" Nageki asked, completely changing the subject for the third time in a half hour. "It's actually really cool."
"No, not yet." In between the boys (who were mounted on much smaller tigerwolves than Hakkai), Lu Ten turned to the right to address Gisei. "Which little sister was this again?" he asked, remembering that the young soldier was the eldest child of a large family.
"Yari, the ten-year-old," Gisei said, digging through the equipment packs on his belt for something. "In the family's last letter, she told me that when she got older, she wanted to be a strong soldier, just like me. Imagine, there's people like you to look up to, but my sister chooses me to be her role model!" Finally finding what he'd been looking for, he drew out an ink portrait of a middle-aged man and woman standing behind four children, two boys and two girls, all preteens of varying ages. "That's her here on the left. And then there's my brother Ken, and my other brother Ono, and my other sister Mori. Wait...Have I told you their names already?"
Lu Ten chuckled. "You have, but don't worry about it. I like that you get so excited talking about your siblings; it's obvious you really love them."
The younger boy smiled. "Yeah, I really do. I can't wait to get back home to them. Yari wrote that as soon as she turns fourteen, she wants to enlist in the army and come to fight alongside me, and that the other three are thinking pretty much the same thing."
Nageki snorted. "At the rate we're going, we'll have ended this war before her next birthday. I hope she won't be too disappointed."
"She sounds like my little cousins, actually," Lu Ten said, recalling the letters they'd sent him. "Zuko wrote me that as soon as he turns fourteen, he wants to become a soldier as great as me, and so does Azula. I've trained them myself, so I know that they're good firebenders. But when I left, they were just eight and six years old...And even now, they're just kids. It's difficult to imagine them grown up, joining the army, and fighting on the battlefield instead of the training grounds."
"My mom said pretty much the same thing when I told her I wanted to enlist," Nageki remarked. "She was worried about what would happen to me, especially since she's always thought that fourteen is too young for the minimum enlistment age. But I told her she didn't have to worry; look at where Gisei and I are now! Only sixteen and about to take down the biggest city in the Earth Kingdom!"
"My parents were really happy when I told them I was going to enlist. They practically pushed me out the door on my fourteenth birthday," Gisei remarked, pocketing his picture again. "They want all their kids to become famous warriors. It's a great honor, after all. And speaking of that...We're going to reach the city soon, so I should probably say this now. Even if we've been lucky and gotten by okay up until now, I still might not get another chance." Gisei straightened his back, took a deep steadying breath, and looked Lu Ten directly in the eyes. Lu Ten wouldn't be surprised if he was willing himself not to blush again. "Colonel, on behalf of all the soldiers under your command, if we don't make it back from the battle today, we want you to know that we believe it is the highest honor to fight by the side of a warrior like you. You are truly great, my prince."
Lu Ten smiled at the deep admiration and sincerity in the younger soldier's eyes and voice. He wondered if the others had designated him to be the one to pass along the sentiment, or if Gisei had volunteered. "If I can, I'll tell everyone 'thank you.' And to be completely honest, the privilege of having comrades like you is my highest honor. When this is over, we'll celebrate our victory together."
Just then, a call came from the nearby head of the army, and Lu Ten recognized the voice as one of his father's lieutenants. "Colonel! We've reached the city, and General Iroh requests that you be by his side."
"Then I will be there," Lu Ten called back. Bidding Gisei and Nageki farewell for the moment, he gave Hakkai's flanks another squeeze and rode up to the head of the army, slowing down once he came up on the right side of his father, who for reasons Lu Ten had never understood favored riding a komodo rhino over a tigerwolf.
Iroh smiled as his son neared. "Take a good, long look at it, Lu Ten," he suggested, gesturing to the city that was coming into full view. "This may be the last time you see Ba Sing Se."
"I have no doubt of it," Lu Ten agreed, privately wishing that the day were sunny instead of grey and stormy, so he would be able to view it in full brightness and glory.
Pulling Hakkai to a stop alongside his father at the crest of the hill that would take them down onto that plain, Lu Ten looked at the city with the same high regard he had had the first time he had laid eyes on it at the beginning of their campaign. He would always love the Caldera far more, but he could not deny that the Earth Kingdom capital was great and beautiful in its own way. Once they won, he would personally ensure that the battle damages were fully repaired and the occupied city was well cared for. Just because it was Earth Kingdom, he reasoned, did not mean that the Fire Nation should just let what could be a great jewel of their empire go to waste. For a city that had been relentlessly bombarded by arguably the strongest troops in the Fire Nation for close to two years straight, Ba Sing Se, battered as it was, still stood proud and defiant in the middle of the flat earthen plain, as did the scores of green-armored soldiers ready and waiting for them at the gates, and that was surely something to be admired.
The lieutenant that had called him forward did not seem to share his sentiments. "I would bet that every last earth peasant is mocking us behind those walls," he declared with a grin, oblivious to the young prince glaring at him. "We'll see how high and mighty they feel when their city is burning down around them."
"We shall see, Lieutenant Kotai," Iroh said neutrally, not looking at him. "I've sent one final hawk to their generals requesting a peaceful and unconditional surrender, and as I've told you before, we must make a point of not moving to attack until we receive the answer. Even as the aggressors in this battle, it is important that we conduct ourselves honorably, and continue to demonstrate that we can be perfectly reasonable."
"You were saying, Dad?" Lu Ten pointed out the small dark shape sailing through the open air towards them. "Takamaru has excellent timing, it seems."
Iroh lifted his arm for the hawk to glide down and land on, and then took the reply scroll out of its canister and unrolled it. He grimaced as he read it. "Our terms have been refused yet again. It would seem we have no choice. Brace yourselves, soldiers." As Lu Ten and the others surrounding him moved to give him room, he tugged on his rhino's reins and positioned himself to speak to the crimson-armored mass of troops that stood at attention before him. "Warriors of the Fire Nation! This day, with Agni's blessing to give us strength, we end this siege!" he shouted, and the cries of assent of thousands answered him.
At a nod from his father, Lu Ten turned to face the city. Though his back was to his army, his voice still carried as far as his father's did. "For the honor of the Fire Nation, for the good of the world..." He reached up and pulled Jianhuren out of its sheath, emphatically pointing the blades at the city, and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "FORWAAAARD!"
With that, both Lu Ten and Iroh snapped the reins of their mounts, and charged down the slope at full speed, with their hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers surging down after them, the sounds of their boots and mounts' heavy feet on the earth comparable to the thunder rumbling ever louder above them. Across the field, Lu Ten could see the army of Ba Sing Se stampeding forward with equal fervor, quickly closing the distance between them. He gripped Hakkai's reins tighter, urging the great wolf on faster. His eyes flicked from one Earth Kingdom face to the next, and the next, and the next, trying to determine which one posed the most immediate threat, which one he should take out first.
By chance, they landed on a man Lu Ten had seen only in pictures, but whose face he'd memorized at the age of eight and never forgotten, and his eyes widened and his stomach plunged in momentary horror as his old nightmares of his mother being impaled on a spike of rock (damn it, why had his young self been so curious? There was a reason his father had tried to keep him from seeing the reports) surged back to the front of his mind. With them came all the rage and hatred that had built up in him over thirteen years, centered on this man and the grudge he bore against him, and he felt it in his chest, fueling his inner fire into a roaring inferno.
Lu Ten gave Hakkai a sharp kick, rushing straight at the enemy general whose life he had sworn to claim himself. As the storm that had been brewing since that night finally broke over them - didn't the spirits have just the best timing, part of him mused - he got the man's attention with what he had intended to be a shout but came out as more of a howl of his name:
"SHAN HOW!"
General How turned just in time to dodge the barrage of fireballs that came at him, and looked up to see the second Fire Prince leaping off his tigerwolf (which, following his training as a war beast, immediately ran off to maul everyone with green armor and Earth Kingdom scent) and pointing his dao swords at him challengingly, fury burning in his gold eyes.
"That's a fierce look in your eyes, boy. Just like in Princess Kei Rin's," the general informed him, and Lu Ten gritted his teeth. This man didn't deserve to even speak his mother's name, and here he was callously dismissing the rank she'd strived so hard to achieve? "I assume that's why you've come to face me personally?"
"You killed my mother, bastard," Lu Ten growled. "It's my duty, as her only son, to take vengeance on her murderer."
How's eyes narrowed. "You think you're some kind of great avenging hero? You and your parents are no different than any other Fire Nation warmonger. By killing Kei Rin, I did what I had to do for my country."
"Is that so?" Lu Ten hissed, as the fire within him blazed higher and stronger, pushing for release. "Then allow me to do what I have to do for mine!"
On the last word, Lu Ten lunged forward, his swords wreathed in fire. How quickly pulled up an earth wall, but the prince only smirked. The dragon-claw dao swords sliced through the barrier as if it were mere gossamer: even the sturdiest stone was no match for Jianhuren. And you, Lu Ten thought as he swung fiercely at How, are no match for me!
~0~
No matter how important the mission was, Mongke reflected bitterly as he and Vachir made their way off their small boat and onto solid earth, from now on if it required him to fight through the Serpent's Pass (especially multiple times, as it had turned out on this one), it would cost the client double.
"Triple," Vachir insisted when he voiced this opinion to his comrade. "I'm not risking being bitten in half by that damn sea worm for anything less. Now are you sure we'll have a good vantage point from here?"
"Absolutely," Mongke assured the archer, pointing at his chosen position. "I scouted this place out before. Even if the storm gets worse, if we shoot from up in that tree, we'll have a clear line of sight and be hidden from view. It isn't as if a Yu Yan archer has problems shooting in the rain, or as if anyone in on the battlefield will have enough free time to spot us when there's flying rocks and whatnot everywhere demanding their attention."
Vachir smirked as they pulled themselves up into the highest branches that would support their weights, looking down on the chaotic battlefield below them. "I bet I won't even need the poison. That brat prince," he declared as he took the first arrow from his quiver, "will have no idea what hit him!"
~0~
Damn, Lu Ten internally hissed, ducking yet another earthen projectile that had nearly taken his head off and looking wildly around. Where the hell did he go?!
In just a few minutes of fighting, he had come close - so close! - to finally killing the man who had taken his mother from him, and then one of the small, numerous trios of earthbenders had worked together to throw up a massive wall between him and How, as soon as they knew they could do it without harming their general, giving the man time to escape the fight he was bound to lose and stealing Lu Ten's chance at revenge away. Well, it was not the most pressing of concerns right now, his voice of reason chastised him as he sliced a forming stone in two with one sword and the earthbender's throat with the other in two smooth motions. He was not here solely to take his revenge, but to help his troops and his father bring down the opposing army and capture this city. He would just have to keep his focus on his mission, and hope for another chance later. Besides, even if How managed to live, at least Lu Ten would have the satisfaction of leaving a long, deep sword scar across the man's torso, a permanent reminder of the prince who had almost bested him.
With two more fierce swings, Lu Ten cut down another two earthbenders, and sent another wheel of fire curving around towards another group. He took pleasure in seeing that the driving rain pummeling them all and steadily turning the ground to muck was doing nothing to weaken the fire of his troops. That's just how strong my comrades are! he thought proudly. Still, I hope we can end this quickly.
Vaguely, he could feel the burn of exhaustion trying to make itself known in his muscles, and every breath he pulled in and let out made his lungs ache and his dry throat smart. And it wasn't as if he was wholly unscathed: blood soaked into the clothes underneath his armor from more well-placed cuts than he'd prefer to have, and a blow from an ungodly heavy rock slab that he hadn't managed to dodge or destroy in time was throbbing like hell. His armor wasn't in much better shape, either. But it was nothing he hadn't powered through before and he wouldn't - couldn't - let it slow him down now. Mom wouldn't give up. Dad's not giving up. Neither will I!
Just as he sent out another stream of fire, sending more soldiers jumping out of the way, something slammed into him just below his right shoulder blade, making him cry out despite himself. For just a second, Lu Ten thought he'd been hit by another rock, but then a different sort of pain flared, as if he'd been stabbed, and he realized that an arrow had just lodged itself in his back. What?! When did the enemy start using archers? he thought, forcing himself to keep going even as it began to spread, to intensify. Well, it's not like I haven't been through this kind of thing before!
Arrow punctures, slash wounds, bone bruises; it was all a more than fair price to pay if he won here today. There was nothing, he reminded himself, nothing he couldn't endure -
"Ah!" Another pierce - another arrow hit home, right through his armor and on the left side of his back this time. Ugh...Relax, it's not too deep...Damn...Every little movement sent a bolt of pain through his body, and he felt as if he was going to be sick. It took him a moment to realize that he'd let an earthbender get much too close to him, and hastily blasted a fireball into his chest. Damn it...I can't let this stop me!
"Colonel!" called a worried voice from close behind him. He couldn't take enough attention off his surroundings to turn and look, but he recognized the voice as Nageki's. "Colonel, you really look like you're about to collapse! I'll cover you if you want to withdraw! We're closer than ever to breaking through the first wall, it'll be fine if you do!"
Lu Ten had to admit, the thought was tempting. But that was not an option for him. "Not yet! I won't leave my soldiers over something so minor, and we've come too far for me to back out now!"
~0~
"What's wrong with you?!" Mongke snapped at his partner, resisting the urge to smack the archer in the back of the head. "Those arrows barely went in! Are you a Yu Yan archer or not?"
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with him, is what you should be asking!" retorted Vachir. "That guy looks like a walking corpse! Why isn't he dead yet?"
"The warriors of the royal family are rumored to be ridiculously powerful, descended from dragons, blessed by Agni, all that garbage..." Mongke muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on Prince Lu Ten. The young man was soaking wet and spattered with mud, bleeding all over the place, seemed to be favoring one side, and had two arrows sticking out of his back. But even so, he doggedly continued to fight, cutting down earthbenders left and right with blades and flame, making his way towards the wall, presumably to aid the siege unit and his father. Thus far, nothing had been enough to kill the fierce young prince. "But he is as human as anyone else, royalty or not."
Mongke pulled the little packet that Prince Ozai had given him out of his bag and opened it, looking at the blue-black substance with the consistency of sugar inside. This little concoction, if the stories he'd heard were correct, was the result of years upon years of experimentation by the Yuudoku assassins, using those they were ordered to kill or otherwise "make disappear" as test subjects to determine which poisons worked best when combined, in order to create the most effective and undetectable poison possible. He could understand why Azulon had arranged to have one of their daughters married into the royal family: it was best to have the enigmatic clan firmly on their side rather than leave them a potentially dangerous wild card.
"Here," he said, offering the packet to Vachir. "Coat your arrowheads with the guówáng wànsui and get in one more good hit. As soon as this works its way through his system, he'll be finished and we'll be on our way."
Vachir chuckled as he took the poison onto his fingertips and spread a generous amount onto his next arrowhead. "Once it's in, it'll dissolve into his bloodstream and leave no trace on the arrow, right? And it's not like anyone will bother looking: with the state he's in, poison is that last thing they'll suspect of killing him. Pity he insists on fighting so hard, eh?" He nocked the arrow and pulled the string back. "Now this time I mean it - I swear on my pride as a Yu Yan archer, he'll die with this shot!"
~0~
He could be of the most use to his comrades, Lu Ten had decided, fighting alongside the rest of the soldiers who protected the siege unit. Each time he could spare a split-second glance over at their handiwork, he saw the web of cracks and craters grow wider and deeper in the thick grey stone. It wouldn't be long before it shattered entirely under their relentless barrage.
"Colonel!" Gisei called. Since meeting up again here, the two of them had been fighting side by side, but with the still-pouring rain and overall din of battle all around them, the boy still had to shout despite their proximity. "Colonel, how much longer do you think it'll take them to break the wall? I don't...I don't know how much more of this we can take!"
"Hang in there, Gisei! You can make it!" Lu Ten shouted back, internally worrying about how true that really was. Gisei had been struggling just as fiercely as he himself had, and his wounds weren't exactly minor. He'd known the younger boy long enough to know that while he had loyalty and determination to spare, he lacked the physical stamina to keep up with it. "Soon that wall will go down and - "
Before the words were even out of his mouth, an immense crash of falling stone came from behind them, and immediately after that the loudest simultaneous yell of jubilation he had ever heard rose in the air from the Fire Nation troops, drowning out the gasps of shock and horror from the Earth Kingdom soldiers. Lu Ten didn't need to glance back to know for certain what had happened. "Speak of the demon! Let's go, Gisei!" Lu Ten called, a smile unfurling on his face as he obeyed the generals' near-screamed orders to advance through the newly made hole in the wall. This step towards their final victory had been almost two years coming, and it seemed to Lu Ten that it put some extra speed in his sprint as he hastened forward -
"Agh!" What the hell, again?! Another arrow had shot through the backplate of his armor and embedded itself in him. And this one had been better than the other two: it was deep in his flesh, right up to the shaft. Never mind, never mind, he could still keep going. Even if this didn't feel quite the same as any other injury on his body...Even if his heart was suddenly pounding doubly hard and fast while his breathing seemed to be slowing down...
"Colonel!" Gisei cried out, alarmed. "Colonel, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about me," he heard himself replying. He was fine, he was. "Focus on yourself!"
"But, Colonel, you look like - !"
"That's an order, Gisei! Didn't I teach you not to get distracted in battle?" He heard no more from his friend, so he assumed that the boy had obeyed his superior. And he really ought to be taking his own advice: he couldn't afford to be held back either. He was stronger than that, and his comrades were depending on him.
But even as Lu Ten tried to keep on fighting with those thoughts in mind, the world began to slowly tilt around him, faint numbness began to take hold in his hands and legs, and an increasingly insistent voice at the back of his mind tried to tell him that this was something that had never happened to him before and that had to be dealt with immediately. After only a couple minutes, he was forced to accept that he couldn't keep going any longer. The sooner he retreated and figured out what the hell was going on, the sooner he could return to battle. Sending one more vast wave of flame into the earthbenders closest to him, he turned to try and find the quickest route out of the fray -
And very nearly froze in horror at what he caught sight of through the sheets of rain instead: Gisei in the middle of close combat with three Earth Kingdom soldiers, fighting as ferociously as a cornered pygmy puma but so caught up in trying to contend with so many opponents at once that he didn't notice a fourth earthbender behind him, raising a boulder as big as he was and about to fire it at the boy's open back.
No, it'll kill him! was all Lu Ten could think as he rushed towards him, terror and
desperation to protect the younger soldier spurring him on faster than he had ever moved before. But it won't kill me!
The dive he made to put himself between Gisei and the projectile was a move he'd pulled and subsequently recovered from plenty of times before, and he felt no fear as he pushed his friend out of the way and let the boulder slam into his body instead, unable to keep back a shout of pain as he hit the muddy ground hard, his swords dropping beside him. At least I'm not stuck under the damn thing, he thought dazedly, realizing he must have skidded a few feet further than the rock.
"C-Colonel?! Colonel!"
Gisei was all right, then, albeit apparently shocked by what the older man had done. If he looked up and focused, Lu Ten could see him taking a defensive stance in front of his superior, shooting blast after blast of fire at the green-armored soldiers coming at them. "Colonel, can you get up?! You need to get out of here - I'll try to cover you, but I don't know how much longer I can hold them off myself! And I don't know where Nageki is - !"
"I...It's okay...Gisei..." With considerable effort (much more than it normally took for him), Lu Ten tried to force his beaten, unwilling body to rise. His right arm, definitely broken in several places, would not move at all, and his legs burned in protest with each tiny movement. He managed to stand upright, but shakily, like a paper doll. "I can...I can still..."
Without any warning, the world turned upside down and he felt himself fall to the ground again, his body still and his mind quickly clouding. Even so, he was not so far gone that he couldn't hear another horrified scream rip from Gisei's throat:
"LU TEN!"
~0~
The cruel, self-satisfied smile of a viper curled Vachir's lips. "Mission accomplished," he boasted.
"The throne is as good as Prince Ozai's now," said Mongke, smirking. "Let's get out of here - I'm sure he'll be very pleased to hear of our success."
~0~
Oh...Agni...
For a moment, all Lu Ten knew was confusion. He stared up into a haze of gray, feeling as if both his eyes and mind were full of fog. He was vaguely aware of being at an unusual angle, and of a dull pain that ached and burned in what felt like his whole torso, while the rest of his body was strangely numb.
...Agni, what...What happened?
"Colonel! Colonel!"
Oh. There was that voice, a familiar one. Someone was trying to call him. He knew that he really ought to answer, they sounded very worried. If something bad was happening, then he had to be there to help...had to help...but he couldn't move, couldn't properly breathe, could barely even think; the fog was too thick to find his way through...
~0~
"Colonel! Answer me! Please, answer me!"
As soon as he had seen Lu Ten's body tip backwards and collapse to the ground, Gisei had moved faster than he remembered ever moving in his life, not knowing what it was he intended to do but knowing that he had to do something. Now he knelt in the dirt beside his fallen friend, trying desperately to get him to respond. There was no fresh blood that he could see, but the whole front of his armor had been crushed in, and there was no way that he hadn't suffered internal damage. His pulse still sped, but Lu Ten's eyes were vacant and unfocused, and he didn't seem to register anything going on around him, let alone Gisei's frantic voice. But it didn't matter. He had to keep trying, he had to keep Lu Ten here and make him okay again somehow, because if he didn't...if he didn't...
Somehow, over his own yelling and the din of battle, Gisei heard a strangled shout, and when he looked up, his heart dropped. Only a short distance away was General Iroh, still mounted on his komodo rhino, staring, horrified, at the fallen body of his son, and Gisei felt as if someone had filled his insides with ice water. The general had always seemed so strong, so untouchable...To watch the man seemingly shattering in a matter of seconds sent a wave of hopelessness crashing over the young soldier. "G-General!" he cried out. There had to be something he could do. The general always knew what to do. "He's hurt...Please help him!"
Iroh yanked on the reins of his rhino, starting to turn and move to where they were, but had to stop and duck to avoid being hit by another earthbender's boulder, narrowly avoiding a blow to the head. When he looked back at his son, he saw that Sergeant Seigi had, apparently automatically, had thrown himself over Lu Ten to protect him from being hit again. That was very good, but...Iroh looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. Though to him, the world had seemed to slow down, almost to freeze, in the second he'd laid eyes on his unmoving son, the legion of earthbenders had felt no such thing, and bore down on them with even more ferocity. The sight made Iroh's stomach churn and his heart pound with anger. Lu Ten had been struck down, and the countless bodies of their fellow soldiers surrounded him, many never to rise again...A red haze began to fill Iroh's vision.
Enough was enough.
"Everyone back! I will finish this myself!" At his command, the Fire Nation soldiers hastily moved back out of range. Iroh snapped the reins sharply, and charged straight at the oncoming enemy.
For a moment, Gisei's stomach dropped when he saw General Iroh turn and ride away from them instead of coming to help, but then he saw the flames forming in the older man's hands and realized just what he intended to do. Still holding his prince's body in his arms, Gisei could only gawk in stunned amazement as the general leaped off of his mount and into the fray, sending enormous wheels and waves of roaring fire at the earthbenders, all around him as he moved skillfully among their soldiers, too fast and uncontrollable to be caught or struck, striking out at everything that moved. (Gisei saw very clearly why he had ordered the rest of the army to stay away from him). The flames seemed to be pouring from all over his body, engulfing the entire green-armored legion in a vast, furious, unbelievable inferno.
"I-I wish you could see this right now, Colonel," he murmured, on the off chance that the older man could hear him. "I think it's going to be all right...General Iroh might actually be able to finish this battle all on his own. Then he'll come back to help us, and you'll be perfectly okay soon...But even so, I can only imagine what he must be feeling right now, to be able to create such powerful fire."
He remembered one instance from his childhood, when lightning had struck an oil well near his town and created a large and violent fire whirl that ravaged the bushland surrounding his home. Back then, he had thought that he would never again see something so terrifying yet amazing at the same time. How wrong he had been. That fiery whirlwind of years ago had taken only a few minutes to cause unmatched death and destruction, and General Iroh was easily matching its devastating power. In the same time frame, the general had incinerated nearly an entire legion of earthbenders, and sent the scant few that survived running for their lives.
"Your father is really incredible, you know..."
"G...Gi...sei...?"
Startled, Gisei looked down to see a faint gleam in Lu Ten's eyes as he looked up at him. "Colonel! Yes, it's me, Colonel; don't worry, we're going to get you some help soon - "
"G-Gisei," he tried, more forcefully. He sounded as if it hurt to speak. "Th-there's something...Not right here, I don't...My body is...I think there's - "
"I know, I know, you're really hurt right now, but it'll be okay, we'll - Oh! General! General Iroh, over here!" he called, seeing Iroh galloping back towards them, leaving an expanse of burned earth and smoking ashes behind him. The earthbenders would likely return, but Gisei highly doubted it would be soon.
"Sergeant Seigi," Iroh began, hastily dismounting and kneeling beside his son. "What happened to him?"
"He..." Gisei felt his throat close up, as Lu Ten's frantic dive to protect him replayed in his mind. How could he not have noticed the danger he was in? For such carelessness, he should have been the one struck down, not his prince. No one should be hurt because of him, but Lu Ten least of all! "He saw an earthbender about to throw this huge boulder at my back, and...he jumped in front of it to save me. Why...?" He looked down at his friend, pale and bleeding in his arms. "Why would you do that, Colonel? I didn't ask you to do that, not for me! What were you thinking?! Now you...you're..."
The corners of Lu Ten's mouth, still trickling blood, jerked up into a pained smile. "'S okay, if...my friend's...okay..."
Gisei's eyes widened. "Colonel...I, I'm not worth that."
"Are to me...A-All of you..." With a bit of effort, he turned his head to look at his father. His left hand twitched, as if to reach for him. "Dad..."
Gisei leaned forward, carefully holding the prince out to Iroh, who gently took his son into his arms, letting the young man's head rest on his shoulder and shielding his face from the rain. "I'm here, son. I'm here," he said softly. The sergeant could tell he was trying his hardest to keep his voice from breaking, and bit his lip to keep himself together too. "Help is coming. You're going to be fine. Everything will be all right."
Lu Ten frowned, struggling to focus on his father's face, struggling to hold onto consciousness, struggling to keep breathing. "N-No...That's not...I'm not..." His vision was steadily blurring and his head felt heavy. The pain was dulling and that paralyzing numbness was setting in in its place, all over his body, but he was aware enough to know that that wasn't a good thing at all. Thinking straight was suddenly a near-impossibility for him, let alone moving. A too-bright whiteness began to edge his vision, growing stronger with each second as he felt himself slipping - too fast, much too fast. Why...Why is this happening? Is this really it for me?
"D...Dad," he managed, his voice barely audible even to his own ears. "I...I don't...want..." The whiteness completely overtook him, pulling him into silence and oblivion. No...
One final time, the faces of his loyal comrades, his kind aunt, his precious lover, his beloved cousins, swam in his hazy mind, and he felt a stab of desperation to find some way to stay and protect them, fearing the uncertain future he would no longer be able to change. His body could no longer keep him in this world, and yet he had never wanted anything more than to stay, stay and keep fighting for the people he loved.
Agni...Agni, I'm not ready...
~0~
Despite having seen plenty of soldiers die in the two years he'd served in the army (far more than he'd ever wanted to), Gisei didn't realize what had happened at first. For one moment, when silence hung in the air between himself and the general (and, he realized, every other soldier who had realized what was going on and gathered around to see what the trouble was), he wondered why Lu Ten's eyelids had drooped slightly, and why his prone body seemed to have gone so unnaturally still. He had seen the colonel pass out from battle wounds before, but this seemed different somehow, almost like -
Finally, horribly, it clicked in the boy's mind, and a noise of horror escaped him. No...No way! "C-Colonel?" he asked tentatively, half to himself, hoping wildly that he would be heard, his prince's body would twitch and his golden eyes would flicker back open, and that awful realization would be proven untrue. "Hey...Colonel? Colonel?"
Just beside him, there was the sound of someone roughly shoving through the crowd of soldiers, and an impatient, familiar voice drawing closer: "Out of my way, get out of my way - Gisei? Gisei, was that you? What's going on, what ha..." Gisei didn't have to look to realize that Nageki had pushed his way to the front and gotten a full look at their dead friend lying in his father's lap. His next words were barely audible, choked with pain. "Colonel Lu Ten? How could...How did this happen? Gisei, did you see?"
Gisei was aware of the eyes of what seemed like every soldier in the army on his back, and the thought of what the collective reaction would be once everyone knew why their beloved colonel had died sent a sudden wave of nausea over him. But he forced himself to say the words again: "I was fighting these three earthbenders, all at one time, and...and there was a fourth one behind me I didn't see, that was going to kill me with a boulder. But Colonel Lu Ten saw, and he...he just...I didn't even realize until he was already on the ground, he - "
"He did that diving thing of his?" someone finished, incredulous. "But that's never hurt him this badly before!"
"Y-Yes, he did, and I, I don't understand this either - "
"Gisei. He did this to protect you?"
The flat, emotionless tone of Nageki's voice (coming from such a hot-blooded and passionate young soldier) should have set off the first alarm bells in Gisei's head. But the warning was lost in the sea of emotions roiling in his body. "He did."
"So this happened because of you, then."
Gisei flinched, and started to look up at his friend to answer, but before he could do anything a blur of red crashed into him, knocking him to the ground; there was a flash of silver and all at once searing pain was flaring in his face, again and again and again. Just as loud as his howl of agony was the other boy's enraged yell: "I'll kill you!"
The other soldiers acted quickly, two of them grabbing Nageki's upper arms and yanking him bodily off of Gisei, who was curled on the ground, staring aghast at the small red-stained knife they'd forced the corporal to drop and at the fat drops of blood that dripped to the ground from the new, burning slashes in his own face. He managed to look up, wide-eyed, at the soldier being pulled away whose face was contorted in fury at him. "N-Nageki?" he whimpered pitifully.
"Shut up! Don't look at me like you're the victim!" Nageki snarled. "Colonel Lu Ten is dead because of you! A failure like you should be branded, so everyone will know how you shame the Fire Nation! They'll scar, you'll see, you'll always see them and you'll always remember, and you deserve it! You deserve much worse than anything I can give you - "
"Silence!"
Gisei and Nageki (along with most of the other soldiers) jumped badly at the sudden shout, and stared incredulously at Iroh, who was glaring not at Gisei but at Nageki. Grief was still clear on his face and in his eyes, but for the moment anger overshadowed it. "You are disgraceful, Corporal Noha. Do you honestly think that this is what my son would have wanted his friends to do? Turn on each other before his body has gone cold?"
"But General, this is all his fault!" Nageki protested, with an almost childlike petulance. "He should be the one who's - "
"I said silence, Corporal! I will hear no excuses. Your behavior shames my son as much as it shames you. Now leave my sight. And will the rest of you," he added as Nageki (now too stunned at being rebuked to resists) was led away, looking up and addressing the crowd as a whole, "stop staring and help this boy! Find a medic!"
The two soldiers who answered fastest - "Yes, General! Right away!" - turned and ran to wherever the medics had been stationed, while Lieutenant Kotai bent down with a folded piece of cloth that looked like it had been ripped from someone's shirt or pants, and told Gisei to press that to the cuts to stop the bleeding instead of his hands. It was thin and ragged, but fairly absorbent, and it would do.
After a moment, Gisei shifted it slightly so he could look around, if with only one eye - thankfully, despite slicing across the whole of his face, Nageki's knife had at least missed both of those. The first thing he noticed was the face of the older soldier who had given him the cloth. Kotai's expression was blank, but his eyes held a carefully restrained shade of the contempt that had burned in Nageki's. The soldier had helped him, yes, but only grudgingly. One brief glance around confirmed that yes, the faces of the his comrades (the ones who deigned to look at him, anyway), were more or less identical. He shrank back slightly, wondering if they all felt the same as Nageki, and just had better control over their emotions. He looked over to General Iroh, hoping to see something different and regretting the thought immediately when he did.
The man's anger had melted away as quickly as it had come, and he gazed despondently down at his son's body. "He was trying so hard not to leave," he mused. "This pained look on his face...He could not have given in long enough to go in peace."
Gisei thought he would prefer being stabbed again than to hear these plaintive words. "General Iroh, Nageki was right. This is my fault. I..." The tears he had fought back this whole time, though he tried to stop them, spilled from his eyes, and what wasn't caught in the cloth mingled with the still-leaking blood and ran down his cheeks to the ground. "I beg your forgiveness," he sobbed out, uncaring of how pathetic he looked.
Kotai's lip curled in disgust. "At least try not to make a spectacle of yourself. Don't you have more dignity than to cry like a weak child?"
"And why not?!" Gisei burst out heatedly, his last bit of self-control obliterated by the one insult. "Why shouldn't I cry?! Forgive me, sir, but it's not right to hold back! The prince...The colonel was my best friend, and my comrade. If a man can't shed tears when his own comrades are killed, then that man is heartless! To show that I feel something for my brother in arms can't be weak! This is just one way that I can honor him!" To make up for what I've done.
"Quiet!" snapped Kotai. "Contain yourself, soldier!"
"Enough, Lieutenant. Enough," said Iroh, his voice all of a sudden dull and weary. Both soldiers looked back at him, and both were startled to see tears streaming silently down his cheeks as well. "Sergeant Seigi is correct. A soldier should never force down his grief."
"I understand, sir," Kotai said, regaining composure quickly. "Now if I may ask, what is our next move? Surely by now Ba Sing Se's army has gotten over their shock, and we do not want to be standing around disorganized when they return to resume the battle."
"No," Iroh agreed, adjusting his hold on Lu Ten's body and slowly rising to his feet. "No, we do not. Which is why this army will be withdrawing from Ba Sing Se and returning to the Fire Nation immediately."
"What?!" Gisei cried out, shriller than he'd meant to. He wasn't alone; the other soldiers, equally stunned, were protesting as well, some respectfully and some not as much.
"I will hear no argument on this point," Iroh said firmly, his eyes narrowing. "There's been more than enough blood spilled on this Agni-forsaken killing field, and there will be no more as long as I am in command."
"But General!" Gisei pleaded. "We have to keep going! We've just broken through the first wall, and we're so close to winning! I don't think Colonel Lu Ten would have wanted us to give up. Wasn't conquering this city what he fought for?"
"What we've all been fighting for," Kotai added, "for almost two years? Are we just going to throw all of that away?!"
"If it means that no more families are destroyed by this siege, then yes," Iroh declared. "Someone retrieve my son's swords, and someone else send a messenger hawk announcing our surrender to Ba Sing Se's generals immediately. We are finished here. Now," he went on, and again glanced down at the body in his arms. "I cannot carry him all the way out of here, I need - Oh." A small, sad smile curved his lips as he looked just past Gisei. "Of course. You were trained to return to your master when the fighting is over, after all."
Before Gisei could look, a mass of black fur was pushing past him, as Hakkai the tigerwolf (looking as exhausted as any of the soldiers, and with about as many wounds) went to inspect the limp form of his master. Puzzled, he nudged Lu Ten's face with his nose, and whimpered when he did not stir. For a few moments he tried to rouse the young man, growing increasingly distressed when he could not. Finally the realization that he was dead got through the wolf's head, and he threw back his head to let out a heartrending howl.
"I know - even you are suffering now, Hakkai," Iroh said, reaching out to give his furry neck a comforting rub. For once, the wolf didn't snap at him. "I need you to let me mount you now, and carry your master one final time."
Hakkai was still, and allowed Iroh to lift Lu Ten's body onto his broad back and climb up into the saddle behind him. Apparently having decided that the matter was settled, he held his son's body steady with one hand and flicked the reins with the other, and rode swiftly off to their base camp without another word to his troops. After a moment of staring after him, still not entirely sure what to make of this, one by one the soldiers began to follow after the general on foot, some looking for their own scattered mounts. Gisei, too shocked to think of moving yet, was not one of them. Even as a few of the pettier soldiers accidentally-on-purpose bumped and jostled him as they passed (probably hoping to surreptitiously knock him into the mud), he stayed kneeling there, staring at the city with his one exposed eye.
This wasn't how things were supposed to go, he internally protested. He remembered all the nights that he and Nageki and Lu Ten had sat around the campfire, fantasizing excitedly about what their long-awaited victory would be like. How many times had he envisioned the three of them reaching the Earth King's palace, and Lu Ten sitting nobly on the great golden throne to claim it for himself, looking every inch the Fire Lord he was destined to be? And now...And now...
A light hand on his shoulder made him jump, and he looked up to see a woman not much older than him: one of the combat medics that had been called for him. "Sergeant Gisei Seigi?" she asked, taking something out of her bag. He nodded, and she offered him a large, heavy-looking cloth compress. "Here, use this to staunch the bleeding. It's much better than that rag. Now, we should be getting back to base, I'll give you some ointment to put on those cuts on the way." When Gisei still didn't move, she sighed softly. "Sergeant, if I may say so, Colonel Lu Ten did not die so his friend could get himself killed by earthbenders anyway ten minutes later because he could not move away from here. Come on, now."
He had no argument for that, and he let the medic put an arm around his shoulders and lead him away from the battlefield. "Don't tell any of those warhounds back at base," she said, quietly so only he could hear even though no one else was within earshot. "But I agree with the general. I couldn't be happier to hear we're leaving this awful place. And just because we broke through the wall is no guarantee that we would have won in the end. For all we know it could have ended up a disaster. And by this point, the less soldiers that end up dead for the sake of this fruitless siege, the better. Do you agree, Sergeant?"
Gisei nodded mechanically, looking at the ground. At the moment, speculations on what might have or what should have happened were meaningless to him. What would any of that change? Lu Ten - his best friend, his colonel, his prince - was dead, had died in pain and fear and desperation; and it was all his fault. If he could, he would gladly have fallen there in Lu Ten's place, as he should have. But none of this could be changed.
This was not how things were meant to be. Not at all.
~0~
