Chapter 3: The girl in the Fort
We spent two days travelling through the forest to where I thought the Fort was. We then spent a week searching the forest area nearby some mountains for the Fort, however we couldn't see the Fort and Toph's feet couldn't find anyone. Since our food was running low we decided to do one final search near where we first started and if we couldn't find anything we'd leave tomorrow. Fortunately we got a lucky break, Toph sensed someone near the mountains.
We quickly headed in their direction and soon found a teenager in Fire Nation clothes. He seemed very nervous and was always looking around before moving on. Since he didn't seem dangerous we decided to approach him in case he was a lost traveller. As soon as I called out to him he quickly ran away from us until Toph earthbended a wall to stop him. When we came near to him he seemed very frightened and blurted out.
"Please don't hurt me, I won't tell anyone about that girl."
None of us had any idea what he was talking about but I noticed that he smelled of incense. He was from the Fort! I could hardly contain my joy. If I handled this correctly we could learn where it was hidden. I decided to act friendly but firm towards him, so he'd be more willing to talk.
"We're looking for the Fort. If you tell us where it is we'll let you go."
I could have phrased that better. But he did answer.
"It's in the mountains in an old mine."
"Why is it in a mine?" I asked.
"The Captain said no one would look for a Fort in a mine."
He was right, we completely ignored the mountains and concentrated on looking in the forest. Hiding a fort in a mine was pretty clever. Now all we needed were directions.
"How do we get to the Fort?"
"You go that way," he pointed left towards the mountains, "the entrance is on the side facing the river."
I turned to Toph, "Is he telling the truth?"
"He is" she replied.
All right, we finally knew where the Fort was. It would be best to try to find it before it got dark.
"Let's go to the Fort."
"What about the girl?" asked Suki (I'd forgotten about that). "Also why were you so afraid of us."
"It's a long story," he said. He seemed to have calmed down now.
"Tell us," said Ty Lee.
"Yeah," said Toph.
"When soldiers from Fire Nation Defence Army came to my village to recruit volunteers to protect the Fire Nation I joined up. Since I'd spent a lot of my childhood playing in this forest I was assigned to the Fort. I acted as a Mapper, finding find routes for Runners to travel."
"What are 'Runners'?" I asked
"Runners are mounted soldiers who carry goods from the Fort to towns, and carry supplies to the Fort," he replied. "I had to plan the shortest route through the forest and a route back that was difficult to follow."
"What does any of this have to do with the girl or why you were afraid of us," Toph angrily said, she was getting bored.
"It all happened yesterday when Captain Bangzhi was conducting drills in the mountains. He'd forgotten to bring a map of the area, so he told me to go to his room (the one with the gold nameplate), in his quarters to retrieve it. I went into the mine and told the guard in front of his quarters that the Captain had forgotten his map and had sent me to get it. The guard let me inside the Captain's quarters and I sae it was divided into 4 rooms. I accidentally went into the wrong room and …"
"You're lying," Toph interrupted.
"Why do you think that," he asked, clearly surprised that Toph knew.
"I can sense when people are lying," she replied.
"It's true," I added (that sounded so lame). Suki and Ty Lee also agreed.
"Okay I lied," he confessed, "I wanted to see what the Captain had in his quarters so I decided to look in all the rooms. The first contained gold statutes, jewellery, and some other valuable stuff. However the second just contained a bed and a table with some cups on it. I thought that this was the Captain's room, even though it was so shabby, so I went in to look for the map. Since it wasn't on the table I decided to look under it. While I was down there I heard movement, then an angry girl's voice say 'guard where's my tea'. I looked up and saw an angry looking, skeletal girl in the bed. I was so frightened that I ran out of the room and all the way back to the Captain. When he shouted at me for forgetting the map I apologised and said I was scared by the girl in his quarters. He seemed really shocked that I knew about her and told me to follow him. We then headed towards an isolated area."
"Maybe she was his daughter," Ty Lee added. Judging by the sparkle in her eyes she was thinking of some strange romance story.
"I don't think so, since the Captain never mentioned having a family. Besides if she was his daughter he wouldn't keep her locked up in a mine and not tell anyone about it," he replied.
"Is the Captain a Snakehead," I asked.
"No, we're never dealt with anyone from the Earth Kingdom," he replied (what did he mean by 'from the Earth Kingdom').
"So what happened next?" asked Suki.
"When the Captain kept asking me about the girl and what she said I knew I'd seen something I shouldn't of. Fearing for my life I decided it was best to leave the Fort. When we were walking near to the forest I distracted the Captain by pointing in the other direction and saying 'There's the Avater' and ran for the forest. As I neared the forest the Captain started Firebending at me, though he missed me. Once in the forest I ran to a tall tree, climbed it, and hid. From there I could see most of the soldiers from the Fort looking for me. I waited until they'd returned to the Fort and it was dark, before I climbed down and ran into the forest."
I couldn't believe it, so many Fire Nation soldiers in the forest and we'd missed them because we were too far away.
"Why'd you hide in a tree, wouldn't it be faster to run?" Ty Lee asked, she looked confused.
"I'm not a fast runner, so I figured if I hid they'd eventually give up and I could escape," he replied.
Before he could continue the story I asked "Does the Captain normally hunt down anyone who tries to escape."
"No, the Captain normally isn't bothered if he loses a mapper, since he can use the existing routes until a new mapper is found. I once heard he ordered the Runners to find a thief but he only sent a few of them. When I saw so many people after me I knew the Captain was serious about catching me," he said.
"So what happened after you climbed down from the tree," Suki asked.
"I ran through the forest for hours. When I couldn't run any further I searched for some berries to eat and then went to sleep. I woke up the next morning, ate some more berries then continued travelling through the forest. When you jumped me I though you were soldiers the Captain had sent to find me."
Okay, so we'd gathered all the information we needed. But one thing still puzzled me, so I asked "Why does everyone from the Fort smell of incense?"
"We burn incense to keep Skunkbears away," he replied.
Since we didn't have any more questions for him we let him go. We he was out of sight we headed towards the mountains.
Notes:
Fire Nation Defence Army: a group of Fire Nation soldiers and Colonialists dedicated to protecting the Fire Nation Colonies from the Earth Kingdom (specifically preventing Zuko giving the Colonies to the Earth Kingdom). Their official leader is Azula but they also have Fire Nation Generals and Governors running the army. They also encourage and train Colonialist to attack Earth Kingdom towns.
Bangzhi is based on Wu Bangzhi, a former chief warden of Chuanxi Prison.
A Snakehead is the leader of a group of Chinese human smugglers (in China smuggled humans are called 'human snakes', so a head of the snakes or Snakehead would be their leader).