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 looked around; he had sent a squad of mounted soldiers to do some recon around the permitter. He was quite annoyed at the lack of progress in this campaign, but it wasn't like he could fault his army when it came down to it. The high command meant that they only cared about how powerful the army was and its gains, without them?

This campaign was doomed to fail without his army gaining ground. Hao prepared to wait; he had already given the rest of his men orders. He turned back to the letters, ready to send another one to Ty Lee.

"I wonder if she got the last one, Razorbeak does go straight to her," Hao said as he leaned back in his chair. "I really should ask her to relax when she gets back, though. She needs rest just like everyone else." Hao added as he leaned up, slowly walking towards the edge of the tent, curious how it would be tonight.

Hao sighed as he shook his head, he decided it would help. Ty didn't judge him; she didn't demand results from the battered and bruised soldiers under his demands. She wanted a friend, one who enjoyed her company and didn't judge her for being different when it came down to it. He walked towards the desk, taking his seat once more.

"Dear Ty Lee," Hao said, beginning to start thinking aloud. "I'm sorry if I'm swarming you with these letters. I'm planning to hit your next show if I can make the time, if not? I planned on it. I miss talking to you, even if I don't understand the aura stuff? It's not as good being on the frontlines, everyone puts pressure on you, they ask questions you don't know…" Hao said as he looked at the majority of the paper.

His next request was going to be for more ink. Maybe he could purchase it from one of the Earth Kingdom shops. Hao thought for a second, gazing up at the moon before he dismissed the thought.

'There probably think I just stole money from one of them though and burned a village down.' Hao thought as he sighed and then swirled his pen into what little ink he had left.

"I only have enough ink for 3 letters, maybe 4. I plan on spending it on writing you." Hao continued as he shook his head. "I hope you're alright, your shows are one of the few things that perk me up. You don't judge me on results, you don't ask for the entire countryside to be burned to a cinder. If you read this? Please hug Razorbeak for me, that bird ALWAYS goes out of its way for us. I think Razor likes you… Anyway?" Hao added before preparing to finish the letter.

"If this does reach you? Just know you're always going to be on my mind, Ty." Hao added aloud as he brought a hand to his temples, yawning as he did so. "I hope you stay safe, I'll come to visit the SECOND I have a chance to do so. Your good friend, Hao." Hao finished and set the letter aside.

He yawned and then started to think about his next letter, curious what to tell her. Hao sighed as he shook his head, looking at the oak table behind him as he did so.

"I seriously need to get something to distract them from this war for a bit," Hao said as he shook his head, rubbing at his temples as he did so. "Ugh, there's times where I just explain how best to do this. People don't know how hard it is being a general in the Fire Nation army at the end of the day." Hao added as he let out a breath of air as he did so.

He was quite interested as to what would come next. More soldiers would come, they would die in the progress, more would come. Hao was many things, but he was not callous to his men.

"If it was so easy? This war would already be over." Hao stated as he rubbed at his temples. "The sooner they go home? The sooner we can enjoy life. Why do they keep sending soldiers over to die? It's almost like they get a kick out of almost dying like this." Hao muttered as he sighed, looking down at the ground as he did so.

"I almost wish I could relax, wait for something nice," Hao added as he paused to let out a sigh. "No. I think like that? Their get someone killed or worse. I can't let someone take a hit when I'm the one calling the shots." Hao stated as he sighed, closing his eyes to himself.

He knew plenty of his men were unsure of what to tell him. They didn't have much on their minds besides the war. The war consumed everyone and everything around them. If it had been anything else? He'd be chuckling to himself… But now? He was just saddened by the conflict.

"Sir?" Hao heard as he turned to the side. "There's a letter for you, it's urgent." Hao heard to which he blinked.

One of his soldiers approached, a letter grasped in their hand as he grabbed it from them. He nodded as the man departed, unsure what to tell the man.

"Take a break from sentry duty, you deserve it," Hao stated before peeling the letter open. "This is from command. Why would they send someone to deliver it in person?" Hao questioned; an eyebrow raised as he did so.

He turned and walked back inside. There was plenty of questions on his mind, one of them being why it had been him to get the letter. He didn't think he or his soldiers were in an important part of the city. If he was? Then his timing had been off by a hair.

"Are you going to be ok, sir?" Hao heard as he turned to look to the side.

"Perfectly aright, soldier," Hao said before rubbing at his temples. "Just starting to get tired a little, there's plenty of stuff going on, you know?" Hao questioned as he slowly thought of what to do next.

The letter was slowly pulled out of the casing as Hao sighed and prepared himself. He hated high command letters. They constantly made him question if they enjoyed the death of people on both sides. It wouldn't surprise him due to how much the war had been consuming their soldiers.

"There are times where I question who is in charge around here," Hao muttered to himself.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to apologize for the chapter being shorter. The next chapter will end up being longer and such. The next chapter is in 2-10 months and will be 900-6500 words. It will show both Hao's next mission and set up Ty Lee getting recruited by Azula. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter will be a bit delayed but will be longer