Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Spark of War. Enjoy the 1200-word chapter. I don't own Avatar, Nick, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko do.

Hao kept his pen moving at all times. His quill continued moving across the paper as he did so.

"Ty Lee, it is wonderful to be able to hear from you. I must apologize for the lack of response in a few days." Hao wrote as he slowly leaned down on his chair. "I've been busy facing off against Earth Kingdom troops. They've doubled their defenses in this area. I've defeated an Earth Kingdom General, but I doubt that will mark the end of resistance in this area." Hao said before shaking his head.

He sighed; Ty Lee was not some military officer that he was reporting to. They were not the Fire Lord or Princess Azula, he could speak more openly to the woman at this exact moment.

"I'm sorry, I'm far more curious how you're doing. We haven't talked in a few days." Hao said, starting to write anew. "Things haven't been as fun without your company to help. I've been so curious as to what you might have done, have you been practicing? I don't know a lot about your aura." Hao stated as he thought about the next paragraph.

"Anyway, I believe I've gotten your tickets. I'll make sure to get on with your show as soon as I get everything settled along this area." Hao added, pausing to flick his quill along the air. "I hope your aura is clear and good and such. I'm sorry, it's much harder to focus on things like us talking when I don't have dozens of panicked soldiers all looking to me for an answer I don't have and all that." Hao added as he turned to look at his pet.

He finished off the letter and put it to the side, curious as to how long it would be until they talked again. If they didn't talk before long? He'd be rather sad as to what happened.

"This war is worse than I thought, why are we still fighting for this land?" Hao asked as he thought about the next paragraph. "We've lost plenty of troops. I don't even have to mention the setbacks and logistics of this camping. We're waging war across the entire ocean. How long does he think we can keep up a campaign like this? The number of soldiers applied to making sure they don't gain ground?" Hao stated as he sighed, pausing to pet Razor Beak.

The bird seemed like his only friend besides Ty Lee. People seemed to think power and authority helped, but they were nothing but false bonds. Hao cared about his men, but he knew more than anything they believed he'd hurt them if he acted out… He wouldn't. Hao didn't want to hurt his men, nor make them seem pathetic or unwanted. They were good soldiers, good people who believed and fought best when they were encouraged.

"Can you bring this tomorrow morning to Lee, buddy?" Hao asked looking at his friend as he did so. "It would help me a lot to know you're the one handling this," Hao said as Razor Beak leaped onto the table.

Hao gently patted the animal on its head. He ran his fingers over the creature's feather-clad head. He liked the animal's company, he didn't judge the general, didn't constantly make him wonder if he was afraid or unable to constantly answer questions.

"Take your time, on second thought," Hao said as he paused to think of his next move. "Ty isn't going to be waiting long, we both know that," Hao said while he cracked his fingers and shook his head.

"I'm curious, she's still a very good person. I just hope she can help." Hao said as he questioned how such a nice woman was working or born in the Fire Nation. "It almost makes me think she was just born somewhere else and I didn't know it at the time," Hao said, rubbing at his temples as he did so.

Hao knew there would be trouble at the moment and such. There were ALWAYS troubles with running an army, you had to manage troop deployments, supplies, constantly oversee the health of your troops. Hao looked around the long open barren brownish-black stone plains around them. It was just waiting for more troops to ambush them; the Earth Benders owned this part of the region.

"I advance any further without reinforcements and we're get cut off from our supply train easily," Hao muttered, rubbing at his temples with a sigh.

The young general slowly approached one of his officers. He was curious as to how and when this would get sorted, Hao needed SOMETHING to get his mind off this work, which included the constant need to be a general.

"Lieutenant, I've heard we've dug in as best we could at the time, yes?" Hao asked, folding his hands behind him as he did so. "Because I begin to think we might be in trouble," Hao added, letting out a mental breath he didn't know he was holding in.

The officer wanted to speak, only for Hao to nod. He could tell what the officer would say, their position was secure, everything was fine, he didn't need to worry at ALL about such things. That would be fine if he knew it wasn't lies.

"Lieutenant, I wish to ask you a simple question," Hao said, gesturing over his shoulder. "While we are secured and I thank you and several others for doing this? I do wish to point out something. We are fighting Earthbenders, people with the ability to plan masterful ambushes and pure unsavory traps that could hurt us and our position. I do not wish to advise you as I am sure your unit is quite busy…." Hao said, pausing so he could better gesture to his surroundings.

"But the Earth Benders could easily ambush us here, sir?" Hao heard to which he gave a simple nod which set off several worried soldiers.

Hao watched them depart, curious as to their overall goal, however? He respected the work they put in and he would be cursed if he didn't admit that on any level. It was almost heartwarming to know their commitment to this was staggering.

"I still have to make sure to give them some manner of reward when it comes down to it," Hao said as he looked at the dusty plains while the earth seemed to hum with energy. "I'll double rations after I make sure the next letter to Lee is sent out," Hao said as he turned and walked back into his tent a moment later.

He didn't know what was coming.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to apologize HEAVILY for this chapter is short. I promise the next chapter will be MUCH longer. The next chapter will end up setting up Ty Lee working for Azula and Hao beginning to question the Fire Nation's methods and such. Until 2-10 months, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter will be 1200-4500 words or such.