CHAPTER 21: THE IMPENETRABLE CITY (PART 2)
(Disclaimer: Avatar The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon and Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own my OC's)
(PLEASE READ: THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL TO "SHUJINKO: THE FOURTH MEMBER", BUT A DIFFERENT STORY WITH SHUJINKO AS THE MAIN CHARACTER. THIS STORY WILL NOT HAVE ANY EFFECT WHATSOEVER IN "SHUJINKO SHIPPUDEN". I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL TO SHUJINKO'S ORIGINAL STORY)
Summary: One night, a stranger breaks into Shujinko's house and tries to steal one of the most mystical objects in the history of the Ozuma clan: The Eye of Kazemaru. When Shujinko tries to stop him, the two of them activate an ancient and forgotten power of the gem by accident, which sends them to another dimension where a certain bald-headed monk has to master the four elements in order to defeat the evil Fire Lord. What kind of impact will Shujinko's presence have in the Avatar universe? Who is this stranger and what does he want? Get ready for one wild space-time adventure
To say that Suki was disconcerted was like saying war caused 'bad stuff' to happen.
Once they got to the storage room of one of the wall's guard posts, Shujinko started talking to them about a famous 'ninja clan' (there was that strange word again) from his village, a family known as the Hyūga clan. According to him, the members of the Hyūga clan were born with a 'Kekkei Genkai' named 'Byakugan' (Suki wasn't even going to ask what in Kyoshi's name those terms even meant), which allowed them to 'extend their range of vision and see through matter at will'. If that wasn't enough, the Hyūga had developed a martial art based on their Byakugan, leading them to become one of the most feared hand-to-hand combat experts ever… Yeah, it was complete and utter malarkey.
What truly shook Suki was the fact that the other members of Team Avatar didn't seem to have much of a problem believing him. They looked surprised and curious, yes, but not doubtful of Shujinko's word. How could they think that such an absurd tale was even remotely possible? Had they been brainwashed into accepting whatever the golden-eyed boy told them? Was she the one who was actually going crazy? At this point, Suki was beginning to question her own sanity; for this day was turning out to be too ridiculous for her to assimilate what she was both seeing and hearing.
"Alright, I'll admit those Hyūga guys sound pretty awesome and everything, but where are you trying to go with this?" Toph asked once Shujinko was done, to which Suki could only gape in utmost incredulity. After all that nonsense Shujinko had just spewed, that was her question?
"As I said, the Hyūga invented their own fighting style, the Gentle Fist. It might not have a very threatening name, but this Taijutsu is about as deadly as you can imagine. The reason for this is that the Gentle Fist focuses on inflicting internal damage by attacking the organs of the human body. It doesn't matter if you have big muscles or dense bones, there's nothing you can do to strengthen your organs, and thanks to the Byakugan, the Hyūga know exactly where to hit them. In other words, one tap from the Gentle Fist could cause your liver, your lungs, or your heart to collapse,"
"… Again, that's fascinating, but you're not really enlightening me,"
"What I'm getting at here is that we need to apply the principle of the Gentle Fist in order to stop that drill," the Ozuma explained. "Look at the size of that thing. There's no way we can stop it by attacking from the exterior. We'd just be wasting our time. However, if that drill is built like any other machine, then it must have inner components such as gears, engines, whatever. These are like the organs of the drill's body if you think about it, so if we somehow manage to sneak into the drill-"
"-We could wreck its inner components and destroy the drill from the inside," Sokka finished the idea with a hopeful voice. "That's brilliant! They'll never see it coming,"
Katara was in agreement with her brother. The Chunin's strategy certainly made sense, but after giving it some thought, the waterbender realized that going through with it probably wasn't going to be so easy. "Don't get me wrong, Shujinko. I'm not saying I'm against this plan or anything, but there are still some issues we need to figure out. For example, how are we going to get inside the drill? And if we do, how are we supposed to know which components are important and which aren't? It's a pretty big machine and we don't have a lot of time on our hands,"
"Honestly Katara, my guess is as good as yours," Shujinko admitted bluntly. "There's gotta be at least one part of the drill we can get into. As for its components, I don't have a clue which of them should we go looking for. I'm afraid we're just gonna have to wing it,"
"Actually, that wouldn't even be the case," Sokka interjected, gaining everyone's attention. "Do you remember Luohi, that mechanist we met at the Northern Air Temple? When he was talking about his inventions, he told us that each part has its role, that there are no such things as unnecessary components. Therefore, every component is important, which means we should target all of them. It'll be tedious, but in theory, all we need to do is smash everything we find,"
That last part made Toph smirk. "That's the kind of plan I can get behind. Anyways, as much as I hate being left out of something like this, I don't think I could do much inside the drill given that there would be nothing for me to bend there. You guys should take care of that while I help from the outside. It wouldn't be a lot, but I should be able to slow down the drill for you,"
"And if Azula happens to be there, I'll handle her," Aang declared. "I know she got the better of me last time. However, things are different now that I've learned Earthbending, so leave it to me,"
Upon hearing Aang's intentions, a slight frown formed on Shujinko's face. The idea of Aang taking on Azula all by himself didn't sit too well with him. While it was true that the Avatar now had a third element to rely on, he was still relatively inexperienced at it and he hadn't used it in combat before. Furthermore, Shujinko knew what Azula was capable of, having assessed her abilities first-hand. He trusted his friend and wanted to believe he could do it, but from an impartial point of view, the chances of Aang defeating Azula didn't look so good in the Chunin's opinion.
Be that as it may, stopping the drill was Team Avatar's primary objective at the moment. Dismantling that thing from the inside was going to be heavy work, more so without Toph's help, but if they could get it done fast, perhaps Shujinko could take care of Azula before she had the chance to target Aang. Besides, they didn't know for sure that Azula was even there to begin with. It was only a possibility, and while a solid plan took possibilities into consideration, it didn't treat them as facts.
"It's decided, then. Toph will stay outside and buy us as much time as possible. If Azula shows up, Aang will take care of her. We must stop this drill anyway we can, so don't hesitate and do whatever you gotta do. Understood?"
000
Sneaking into the drill was easier than Shujinko thought it would be.
Once they were outside the walls of Ba Sing Se, Toph took the initiative and tore a big round hole on the ground, instructing the rest of Team Avatar to hold hands and to not let go no matter what. From then on, it was a dark, uncomfortable, and subterranean journey towards the drill. While it was the perfect way to reach the drill without drawing attention, Shujinko felt dizzy the entire time due to the lack of oxygen and being surrounded by nothing but pitch black. If reincarnation was real, then Shujinko hoped he would never be born again as a mole if this was how those poor little guys lived.
Toph led them right next to the rolling wheels of the drill and remained there, raising as much interference as she could to slow it down. Meanwhile, the rest of Team Avatar waited under the drill until they found an opening between two wagons, which were only distinguishable from one another from up close. Their dexterity and nimbleness allowed Shujinko, Aang, and Suki to get inside the gap with no problem before helping the Water Tribe siblings climb up. After that, they had to crawl their way into the drill like stowaways, getting their clothes dirty with oil and dust until they finally reached the main body of the machine undetected.
…
"You know what? Even though this is pretty much how I thought the drill would look like from inside, it's still amazing," Sokka commented. "Fire Nation or not, I gotta give some credit to whoever came up with this. Designing something this huge and complex is no joke, let alone getting it to work,"
"I agree. If I were to guess, I'd say there's probably more machinery here than there is in my entire village, and it's not as if we live in huts or anything," Shujinko said, observing his surroundings with a great deal of interest. Everywhere he looked, there were valves, pipes, gears, and other similar contraptions of various sizes, all of them perfectly distributed and working in conjunction, almost like arteries and organs inside a living creature. "Then again, it makes sense that the Fire Nation has technology of this caliber,"
Aang turned to the Chunin. "What makes you say that, Shujinko?"
"Judging by its size on the map, the Fire Nation's territory isn't all that big, certainly not if we compare it to the Earth Kingdom's. Also, from what I understand, the Fire Nation has no allies and never has had any, which means it has spent the last hundred years fighting alone. In all of that time, they must've invested a lot in developing machines such as this one in order to even the odds. I can't imagine how a single country can wage war for so long otherwise,"
As a matter of fact, that was one of the few things Shujinko was unable to wrap his head around. In the eyes of a ninja, one hundred years of uninterrupted warfare was an outlandish concept to grasp. What nation, and a relatively small one at that, could be so damn relentless as to battle for a whole century without once brokering a peace treaty or signing an armistice? Shujinko was no army general or historian, nor had he ever participated in a war himself (his involvement on this one didn't count), but his limited knowledge on the subject allowed him to discern between the doubtful and the preposterous.
The closest thing he could compare it to was the conflict that took place prior to the formation of the hidden village system, an era widely referred to as the Warring States Period, which lasted for way too many decades and claimed the lives of more people than the three Great Ninja Wars put together. It was an unparalleled massacre that left the entirety of the shinobi continent soaked in blood… But even that was different.
Back then, the Five Great Shinobi Nations were divided into smaller countries with poorly-defined borders due to the constant expansion and shrinkage of territory that came out of war. Also, far from being a 'one against all' situation, it was a battle royale where every country participated for the sake of their own interests, no matter how many battlefields may end up littered with corpses. Last, but not least, ninjas didn't belong to the army of whatever country they fought for. Clans made their living working as soldiers for hire and profited from any leftover spoils they could lay claim to.
The more victories you provided, the more wealth you acquired and the more your reputation grew, which resulted in a higher demand for your clan's services. It was a business as much as it was a way of life. Loyalty and patriotism didn't even enter the equation.
A couple of countries, mostly the wealthiest ones, managed to survive until the end of that era before their territories merged together, evolving into the Land of Earth in the Northwest, the Land of Lightning in the Northeast, the Land of Water in the East, the Land of Wind in the Southwest, and the Land of Fire in the center. Those five nations became the principal players of the new government system that was put in place, also colloquially known as the 'big boys' of the shinobi world, a position that remained undisputed to this very day.
"Shujinko, you still with us?"
The golden-eyed boy blinked before turning to Aang, pretending as if he hadn't just spent the last couple of minutes or so contemplating the contrast between his people's past and the Hundred Year War. "Yeah, what is it?"
"I was just asking if you have any jutsus that could help us tear this place apart fast," Aang said. "As long as we're here, I can only really bend the water Katara and I brought with us. There aren't any rocks around and I don't think Airbending will be of much use in this situation.
"Don't worry, my explosive tags should do the trick," Shujinko replied as he opened his leather pouch and took out a single tag, holding it between his fingers for the Avatar to see. Once again, Suki was nonplussed. How was a small piece of paper supposed to help them? "Anyhow, I was thinking we should split. We'll cover more ground that way and it'll help us deal with the engineers faster. Don't forget we need to stop them as well. Otherwise, they could turn up and fix whatever damage we cause to the drill's components, making our entire plan moot,"
"That's a good point. Given the size of this thing, there's bound to be a whole bunch of engineers working here," Sokka admitted. "How do you say we do this? There are five of us, so we can only make two groups. Three of us in one, two in the other,"
Shujinko thought about it for a while before his eyes met Suki's, startling her a little bit. "Suki, I remember hearing you say that the Kyoshi Warriors are a group of elite fighters. Is that true?"
"W-Well, yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Because you're gonna have to use those fighting skills of yours soon enough. You and I will put the personnel out of commission, engineers and soldiers alike so that the drill is left with no one to keep it functioning. That ought to help destabilize things. Aang, Sokka, Katara, the three of you must find a way to stop the drill for good. In my opinion, damaging the inner components is our best shot, but if you come up with a better idea, then go for it,"
The members of Team Avatar reacted to this proposal in different ways. Aang had no issue with it as Shujinko's reasoning was sound and aimed at preventing a potential problem. As for Katara, she was also on board with it, but as stupid and out of place as it was, the thought of Shujinko running around with a girl doing whatever made her feel an inkling of discomfort, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it. Sokka felt about the same way as her sister, though at the same time, he acknowledged the fact that Suki's safety was almost completely guaranteed with someone like the Chunin watching her back.
Finally, Suki managed to push all the confusing thoughts she had regarding Shujinko to the back of her mind and got ahold of herself, regaining her usual decisive attitude. "Honestly, I'm better at handling Fire Nation soldiers than machines, so count me in. Sokka, I know you can do this. You're a smart guy,"
Suki's compliment was enough to make Sokka forget about any reservations he had, although he was forced to lower his face in order to hide his blooming blush. "Thanks. I don't like to brag about being the brain of the group, but it's nice to hear it from somebody else," he confessed, to which Aang blinked owlishly, Katara raised an eyebrow, and Shujinko stared deadpan at him, not that Sokka noticed any of their reactions. "Alright people, let's get this sabotage party started. This smart guy right here has a couple of ideas on the making,"
000
|Drill's control room|
"I am most honored to have you here with us, your Royal Highness. This is a crucial moment for the Fire Nation, one that will go down in the annals of history as perhaps the most important victory ever obtained in recent times. Before long, we shall have all of Ba Sing Se under our control and the Earth King himself will bow down to you, princess Azula,"
Azula's face remained impassible. Sitting between Mai and Ty Lee, her attention was placed on the walls of the city they were about to conquer, not on the insufferable blowhard that was War Minister Qin. That man had spent the last hour or so boasting about his incredible new invention while letting everybody in the room know how much of a genius he was. At one point, Qin claimed he "expected no reward for this, since he was merely fulfilling the obligations Fire Lord Ozai had entrusted him with", clearly expecting Azula to shower him with praises and promise him a reward that matched the value of his services. Right now, the only reward Azula was willing to give him was a tight leather cord around his mouth so that he would shut up for once.
In spite of Qin's incessant yapping, Azula had to admit (only to herself, obviously) that the drill was impressive. It had to be after all the money, time, and resources that went into the project. War Minister Qin was in good graces with Fire Lord Ozai after providing the army with useful vehicles that facilitated the mobilization of troops, such as the hot air balloon and the tundra tanks. It was rather odd considering that Qin didn't strike Azula as a particularly smart individual, or at least not smart enough to come up with such revolutionary inventions, but as long as he kept them coming, Azula believed it was better to give Qin the benefit of the doubt.
"Tell me something, War Minister Qin. If the drill was to be destroyed or left inoperable, how would you go about it?"
Qin blinked in surprise, not having expected such a question on behalf of the princess. "Destroyed? Left inoperable? I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, princess Azula. This drill was built to resist any and all attacks. Its protective shell is the closest thing to indestructible there is. Trust me, we conducted several tests in order to make sure of it,"
"I have no doubt that you did, but that's not what I asked. A machine will always have weak points regardless of how many defensive layers are added on top of them. Now, I would appreciate it if you stopped testing my patience and give me an answer,"
"W-Well, unless it was struck by, say, a bolt of lightning from the sky or something along those lines, I honestly cannot imagine anything else that could cause serious damage to this drill. My team of specialists worked tirelessly under my supervision to implement every safety measure against any external threats that we could think of,"
'That's where the issue lies,' Azula thought, accentuating the crease in her brow. "What about internal threats? Did you also consider them?"
"Rest assured, your Royal Highness. There's no need to worry about the possibility of the drill's inner machinery breaking down. Every single component works just fine, and in the unlikely event that something does happen to them, our engineers will take care of the problem right away. They might not have my level of experience and knowledge, but they are qualified nevertheless,"
Unsurprisingly for Azula, Qin was unable to realize what she was trying to get at, so she wasn't going to waste any more of her breath inquiring the old dullard for information. Although technology and applied science wasn't Azula's strong point, she was a natural when it came to spotting weaknesses. While the drill's exterior might very well be virtually invulnerable, the same could not be said about the interior.
It was like trying to storm a fortress surrounded by tall, strong walls. If soldiers were commanded to force their way into that fortress, their efforts would most likely be in vain and the siege would be a failure. However, if those soldiers found a hidden gap in the walls, they could slip through it and infiltrate the fortress instead of wasting time and energy. The same analogy applied here: On the off-chance that the enemy found its way into the drill and attacked from within, the entire operation would be compromised.
"Mai, Ty Lee, go take a look around and make sure everything is running smoothly. I am in no mood for any displeasing surprises,"
|Earth Kingdom Royal Palace|
By order of the King:
Through this royal mandate, I entrust Long Feng, Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se and Administrator in Chief, with the task of handling all financial affairs concerning the kingdom's army, including our soldiers' wages and the adjustments to the annual budget suggested by the Council of Five.
Until declared otherwise, no proposal shall be taken into account if not previously brought forth to Long Feng, to whom the Crown has granted the role of mediator and advisor on this matter.
May the Earth Kingdom prosper now and forevermore.
King Kuei.
Once the ink was dry, Kuei rolled up the scroll and stamped his wax seal on his written command, setting it aside with the rest of them. Noticing how his eyes were starting to feel heavy, he glanced at the parchment to his right where he kept his most pressing duties on a list, which were sorted by their relevance and priority in accordance to his judgment. The monarch of the Earth Kingdom was alone in his study, accompanied only by Bosco. His beloved pet bear was currently sitting on a big satin pillow by the corner of the room with his tongue stuck inside a jar, trying to lick the last bit of honey left.
"Excuse me for interrupting you, your Majesty. Perhaps you'd like a cup of tea?"
Kuei lifted his tired gaze and saw Long Feng, his most trusted counselor, standing in the doorway with a steaming teapot and a set of decorated cups on a tray. "I could certainly use one," he replied, gesturing his right-hand man to come inside. Long Feng did so, and after filling his king's cup, he filled one for himself and waited for Kuei's approval before sitting down across the desk. "Before we indulge ourselves, I must ask about the Merchants' Guild. What happened with that dispute that they had?"
"It has all been taken care of, your Majesty. The leader of that guild is a stubborn man, but with enough time and patience, I was able to reason with him. He withdrew his complaint and promised not to bother the Crown with nuisances again,"
"Good, that is a load off my mind," Kuei took a sip of the hot beverage, enjoying its sweet taste and letting out a sigh of relaxation. "I must admit that I sometimes detest having to write a royal command for everything. Running the kingdom would be far less tiresome if you could act on my behalf without me having to put it on paper every single time,"
"Your Majesty, I wholeheartedly appreciate your trust, but I must advise against going forth with such notion," Long Feng replied as he added a piece of lemon peel to his tea, whirling it around with the help of a small spoon. "Regardless of how many years I have humbly assisted you, I will always remain your servant. Everything I do, I can only do it if I have your express consent. I would never dare act without your authorization. Doing so would constitute a major violation of protocol as well as a tremendous lack of respect on my end,"
Kuei placed his left index and middle fingers and started rubbing the skin of his temple up and down. "I suppose you are right. My father used to say that being king is both a divine right and a divine obligation. In all honesty, part of me wonders if he ever got fully acclimated to handling his numerous duties before he passed. Bearing the weight of the Crown certainly didn't do his health any favors,"
To this day, Long Feng was the only person in the world with whom the fifty-second monarch of the Earth Kingdom felt comfortable talking about his father, King Mihon. Mihon was the archetype of an ideal ruler: Fair, intelligent, resolute, and unafraid of employing the use of force when necessary. Although his time amongst the living was cut short, citizens of all social classes thought fondly of Mihon and praised him as arguably one of the finest kings who ever sat on the throne. After his death, the common folk's long-standing tradition of giving monikers to deceased rulers awarded Mihon with the nickname 'Mihon the Illustrious'.
While it was foolish for a king to concern himself with the opinion of the masses, Kuei would be lying if he said he didn't want his legacy to be viewed in a similar light. Once his obituary was written and his body was buried, what thoughts would the people of his kingdom have of him? Would he ever be known as Kuei the Just, Kuei the Glorious or Kuei the Wise? It wasn't as if he was going to be alive by the time the common folk came up with a moniker for him, but even so, what he wanted the most was for his reign to be remembered with dignity. If he managed to achieve that, Kuei was certain he would die a happy man.
"There is no doubt that King Mihon was a good leader and a good father. It was an honor to serve him, just like it is an honor to serve you. Governing the most magnificent kingdom in the world is a responsibility bigger than any other men can fathom, so it is only natural for you to feel that way, your Majesty. Every now and then, even your father would confess to me about feeling overwhelmed,"
"He did? Well, at least I can take some consolation in that," Kuei responded with a ghost of a smile on his face. Noticing that his cup was almost empty, he reached for the teapot before Long Feng could insist on doing it himself. Only then did he catch sight of the spoon quivering inside the cup, followed by the platter and then the table. "Earthquake?"
"Do not fear, your Majesty. I am sure it is nothing but a mild tremor,"
|Inside the drill|
"I'm telling you. As soon as we're back in the Fire Nation, I'm quitting this job once and for all. No ifs, no buts, no nothing. I'm done,"
"Are you sure that's a smart choice, Heiki? And what are you gonna do once you get out? It's not like there's a whole lot of demand for engineers looking for work outside the army, though you might find something if you check out the docks,"
"Nah, I'm not suited for the navy. I think I'll just go back home. My father owns a little piece of land near Fire Fountain City, I'm sure he'll let me stay with him for a while. In any case, I almost have enough money saved up to start my pottery business. I'll open my own shop in town and make a living selling urns, jars, things like that. If that doesn't work out, I can always help my father out and be the foreman of his farm. It'll go to my older brother eventually, but at least I won't have to worry about not having food on the table. What about you, Yiro?"
"If I'm being honest, I don't see myself working in the army much longer. My cousin Tonlong works as a blacksmith in Shu Jing. You know, where the great master Piandao lives. Anyways, now that the forge belongs to him, he reached out to me and offered me a position as his apprentice. Learning the trade will be tough, but I'm a fast learner and the salary isn't too bad either. Besides, after being surrounded almost exclusively by men the last couple of years, I'd be great to meet a girl and finally-"
BAAM
A precise punch to the back of the neck knocked Yiro out cold, preventing him from telling his buddy the rest of his aspirations as a future family man. Taken completely off guard, Heiki jolted forward before he stumbled over his own feet, falling to the floor with a loud metallic echo. As quickly as his shaken body would allow him, Heiki rolled onto his back to see what the hell was going on.
Despite feeling a little dizzy after the fall and having his vision obstructed by the thick welding helmet he was wearing, he managed to spot two unknown individuals within close proximity standing next to each other in the middle of the hallway. His friend Yiro was lying unconscious on the floor right behind them. Instinct overcame Heiki. He got on his feet and grabbed his pipe wrench, the closest thing to a weapon he had on him, and charged at one of the intruders.
Once he was close enough, Heiki swung the tool in a horizontal fashion. His attempt proved futile as the assailant ducked down and stepped aside, getting behind him as easy as child's play. Heiki went for another swing, but a firm jab to the groin left the engineer gasping for breath on his knees, making him drop the wrench. A second later, the assailant had Heiki restrained, pressing a folded fan against his neck with both hands. Meanwhile, Shujinko was busy tying Yiro's hands behind his back with the engineer's own uniform belt.
Having sensed the pair of engineers approaching beforehand, the Chunin had instructed Suki to immobilize one of them while he took care of the other. The main reason for this was that they needed to interrogate someone who presumably knew everything about the drill and use whatever valuable information they got to their advantage, but Shujinko also wanted to check how skillful the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors really was. Even though subduing an untrained engineer wasn't exactly an accurate way to test Suki's abilities, the Ozuma was nevertheless pleased with the demonstration as he now had an idea of what the girl was capable of.
"Nicely done, Suki," Shujinko said after he was done with Yiro. He then walked up to Heiki, who was struggling to breathe normally with Suki's fan just below his chin, and removed the man's welding helmet as he adopted a stern, no-nonsense countenance. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about Heiki's face other than the fact that he wore an eye patch on his right eye, forcing him to rely on only one. "Alright pal, here's the deal. Tell me how to stop this drill and we'll leave you alone. Start talking before you force me to employ other methods,"
"You heard him. Spill the beans now, and don't even think about lying to us," Suki warned, her eyes fixated on her victim's hands in order to anticipate any sudden moves. She had no idea if Shujinko was any good at interrogating people or not, but at least it looked like he knew what he was doing, so she decided not to say or do anything else until the Ozuma asked her to intervene.
"You… You're just brats! How did you manage to get in-!"
Shujinko smacked Heiki across the face, hitting him between his left eye and the side of the nose. Immediately after connecting the punch, he placed the palm of his other hand against Heiki's mouth to prevent a painful yelp from escaping. Not having expected the punch, Suki almost let go of her hostage, but she was able to hold onto him just in time without saying a word, though she did send the Chunin a look of 'How about a little warning next time?'. This escaped the Ozuma's notice, however, as he was solely focused on getting the job done.
"That's the softest I'm gonna hit you. Don't make this harder than it needs to and give me an answer already. How do you stop this drill?" he asked before pulling his hand away from Heiki's mouth.
As soon as he did that, Heiki made the terribly unwise choice of spitting at the boy's face, to which Shujinko barely flinched. "I have no idea who do you take me for, but I ain't saying nothing. Even if you're just a kid, you'll never get away with assaulting a-"
BAAM
Making good on his earlier promise, the Ozuma struck him harder than the last time, burying his knee deep into his hostage's unprotected stomach. Heiki's left eye nearly popped out of its socket as the wind got knocked out of him, making him cough and gasp uncontrollably. Suki kept him restrained the entire time, though she was starting to wonder if maybe Shujinko was going a little overboard with the interrogation. She knew they weren't supposed to play nice with the enemy during such a critical situation, but as far as she was aware, beating an unarmed man to a pulp wasn't going to help them stop the drill.
With a meaner look on his face, Shujinko grabbed Heiki's chin and glared at him. "I'm running out of patience here. This is your last chance to cooperate, and if you don't want to end up a lot worse than you are now, I highly suggest you take it,"
The engineer looked visibly less composed than before, either due to the beating he was being subjected to or the fact that no one was there to help him. It had finally dawned on him that Shujinko wasn't messing around, yet the Chunin had a feeling that Heiki wasn't willing to cave in just yet. If his next answer was incorrect, Shujinko would have to step things up a notch and summon his inner Ibiki Morino if he wanted to get this over with.
"… War Minister Qin designed this drill. He's in charge of everything. I just started working here a few months ago. I-I barely know how to do my own job. You can't expect me to-"
"That does it. Suki, hold him still," Heiki gulped and braced himself for the pummeling he supposed was coming, but instead of punching or kicking him, what he saw Shujinko do next sent an icy chill down his spine. The golden-eyed boy reached for his back pouch and took out a single shuriken, which he held carefully in his right hand. Naturally, Heiki didn't have a clue what kind of weapon was that, but he could tell by looking at its sharp edges that it was no children's toy.
Suki, on the other hand, had seen Shujinko's shurikens before. Back when they were crossing the Serpent's Pass, she would occasionally spot him spinning one of those metallic stars around his finger whenever he was bored. Suki thought nothing of it as she herself carried around her own set of combat equipment such as her katana and her retractable shield, weapons that every Kyoshi Warrior was trained to use with proficiency. Besides, considering the daily dangers that Team Avatar ran into, having the means to protect oneself was pretty much a requirement, a practical necessity.
"What are you going to do with that?" To Heiki's surprise, Suki was the one who asked that, and he could've sworn there was a hint of uneasiness in her voice.
"Since this guy refuses to talk, I'm gonna teach him a lesson. I think I'll start with the eyes," Shujinko replied, pointing one of the shuriken's blades at the center of Heiki's forehead. "Wait, my bad. I meant to say the eye you have left. It seems half the job is already done. Lucky me,"
"W-What!? No, please, don't do it! I-grblh!"
Shujinko silenced the engineer by grabbing a kunai with his left hand and holding it right between Heiki's lips, close enough for the steel to make contact with the corners of his mouth. "Careful. If you make too much noise, you might end up losing your tongue too. Living the rest of your life blind and mute doesn't sound very fun in my opinion, but hey, maybe you'll get used to it… or maybe not. Let's find out, shall we?"
Flabbergasted, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors watched as Shujinko began moving the shuriken closer to Heiki's eye as he continued to make whiny noises. She was so baffled by what was going on that she forgot she was the one holding Heiki from behind. Time slowed down for Suki as a thousand thoughts rushed into her head. Was this really happening? Was Shujinko actually going to stab a man in the eye just like that? What kind of person, especially one so young, could do something as callous and barbaric as that without the slightest bit of hesitation?
By the time Suki got ahold of herself, the shuriken was a few inches away from Heiki. Suki was about to tell Shujinko to stop what he was doing, but before any words could leave her mouth, Heiki started articulating a single word as loudly as he could, trying not to get his tongue whittled by the kunai in his mouth.
"Shtim! Shtim! Shtim!"
"Oh?" Shujinko stopped thrusting his arm just before the pointy end of his shuriken could touch the watery, gelatinous matter of the eyeball. He carefully moved the kunai away from Heiki's mouth, which had left no injuries other than a pair of minuscule cuts around the corners, nothing that wouldn't heal. "I'm sorry, were you trying to say something just now?"
"… Ste-Steam…" Heiki managed to mumble. His entire body was covered in sweat and an obscure mark was spreading down his pants. The stress of the ordeal had caused his bladder to contract, and as a result, Heiki had urinated himself without even realizing it. "The-The drill's engine needs steam in o-order to function. That's what keeps it m-moving,"
For a few seconds, Shujinko's expression faltered, surprised by what he had just heard. Steam? This monstrosity of a machine was powered by steam? How was hot vapor supposed to make a drill of this size move? It sounded absurd to him, but at the same time, it was too specific an answer, which made the Chunin believe Heiki was telling the truth. Besides, this part of the world was vastly different from his, and after what he had seen so far, it would be rather stupid of him to think that this was absolutely impossible. "And where is the steam coming from?"
"The-There are a couple of power stations inside the drill, big rooms with lots of fireboxes. Most engineers work there throwing coal into them. The heat reaches the boilers where water is stored a-a-and I guess that's how steam is generated. Please, that's all I know, I swear!"
Shujinko and Suki exchanged glances, and after a brief moment, the brown-haired boy placed his shuriken back inside his pouch. If these power stations were the heart of the drill, then they would have to visit them and induce a little "cardiac arrest". "Guess I'll have to take your word for it. How many power stations are there and how do we get to the closest one?"
"… Four, but m-maybe five. The nearest power station is the one I work at. Just keep going that way and you'll get there,"
"Good. See? That's all you had to say. Let go off this man, Suki. We're done here," With a confused look on her face, but also relieved that the worst had been avoided, Suki did as told and allowed Heiki to drop down on the floor like a bag of potatoes. The poor guy was shaking so badly that he wouldn't have been able to stand on his feet anyway.
BAAM
Before Heiki had time to regain his balance, Shujinko swung his left arm and struck him with the kunai's ring, hitting the engineer on the right side of his head with enough strength to knock him out instantly. The golden-eyed boy knelt next to Heiki's unconscious body and made a quick check of his vital signs just to make sure he hadn't overdone it. "He'll wake up in an hour or so," he said after inspecting the man's breathing and pulse. Upon raising his gaze, he saw Suki staring at him with a look of reproach that went beyond mere chastisement. "Did you think we were gonna let him walk away? He would've ratted us out given half the chance and you know it. Come on, let's hide these two and go find that power station,"
000
|Later on|
"You were gonna do it, weren't you?"
Shujinko closed his eyes and refrained from groaning out loud. He and Suki were sneaking their way to the power station, walking crouched and staying close to the walls in case they heard someone nearby, with Suki following the Chunin from behind. Everything was going smoothly so far, but it seemed that Suki had a bone to pick with him and she couldn't wait until they were out of trouble to bring it up. "I'm guessing this is about the guy from earlier, correct?"
"What else would it be about? Listen, I have no sympathy for anyone who works for the Fire Nation, even if they're not soldiers, but you crossed the line with what you did back there," Suki responded. "That guy, Heiki or whatever his name is, only had one eye left and you nearly made him blind. If that wasn't enough, you almost chopped off his tongue as well. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"You said it yourself, Suki. I nearly made him blind and I almost chopped off his tongue. Instead of that, I merely roughed him up a little and knocked him unconscious for our safety. All things considered, I'd say he got off easy. Any other soldier would've done a lot worse to him, and so would I had I wanted to,"
"So that's it, then? You just torture people without feeling a shred of remorse about it?"
"I tortured no one. I intimidated one of our enemies and used a bit of physical force in the process. The guy is fine, isn't he? Oh, and even if I had tortured him, it wasn't just me doing the deed. You were a part of it as much as I was. In fact, I don't recall you trying to stop me, which I'm glad you didn't, honestly," Upon reaching the edge of the wall, Shujinko raised his hand, indicating Suki to stop moving while he stuck his head out and scanned the perimeter for any possible threats.
Meanwhile, a crease was forming on Suki's forehead, which the Ozuma wasn't able to see. The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors wasn't pleased by how easily Shujinko presented arguments that countered hers even if they didn't refute them. It made her feel like Shujinko had seen this conversation coming and prepared his answers beforehand. Not being one to give up so easily, Suki waited until the Chunin signaled to her that the coast was clear before continuing with the debate.
"You understand that you could've killed him, right? What if he had moved by accident and got hurt? More importantly, what if he had refused to talk? One way or another, you would've ended that man's life and gotten nothing out of it,"
"Trust me, if I really wanted to, I would've done just that without going through all that hassle, and unless it's for decoration, that sword of yours tells me you would've done the same thing. The reason I didn't kill him is that it would've been pointless to do so," Shujinko replied without skipping a beat. "Suki, I'm not trying to antagonize you, so don't take this the wrong way: With all due respect, you're the last person who can argue with me on this matter,"
Though she managed to maintain a cool head and keep her emotions in check, that second half of what Shujinko said made Suki tighten her fists in indignation. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"While you and Toph were assisting Katara deliver Ying's baby, I asked Aang and Sokka how you met them. From what they told me, the three of them were wandering around Kyoshi Island when you and your fellow warriors jumped on them unprovoked. They said you blindfolded them, tied them to a post, and threatened to throw them into a lake where a giant creature lives if they didn't comply. Aang called it the Unagi or something like that. Unless they lied about the whole thing, I sincerely don't see how you can criticize me for my actions when you had no qualms about feeding three innocent teens to a monster,"
Suki opened her mouth to respond, only to realize the golden-eyed boy had cornered her. If she admitted that was true, either the discussion ended right there or she kept it going while making a hypocrite out of herself. On the other hand, if her answer was "It wasn't really going to happen, we were just bluffing", Shujinko's answer would be "I was bluffing too, just like you did back then", thus leading to one of the two aforementioned outcomes. After a moment of silence, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors made a last-ditch effort to save some face. "We didn't target them specifically. Kyoshi Island is a very secluded place and all outsiders caught trespassing get the same treatment. It wasn't personal or anything,"
"And so what you did to them was somehow okay? Is that what you believe?" Once again, Suki fell silent, only she failed to come up with a response this time around. As for Shujinko, he had no intention of keeping the ethics debate alive, not when the capital of the Earth Kingdom was minutes away from devastation. Besides, he was fed up with Suki getting on his case and acting as if she held the moral high ground.
Still, he understood where she was coming from, at least up to a certain point. It wasn't like he had told her in full detail how he was going to extract the information they needed, so it was only natural that the eye-jamming threat had come off as a shock to her. More importantly, Suki didn't know him as well as the members of Team Avatar did. Hell, she still remained ignorant of the existence of ninjas, so Shujinko couldn't really blame her for not knowing how he and his kind operated during these sorts of scenarios. She had no right to call him out like that, but at the same time, the Chunin could see why she had done it.
In the end, Shujinko came to the conclusion that setting the record straight was for the best. Things between him and Suki were already confusing enough for her and he didn't want the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors to have a bad (or the worst) image of him. If nothing else, Suki was an ally of Team Avatar and Shujinko was working with her right now, so he might as well try to keep things civil.
"Look, I'm not ashamed of what I put that man through. That doesn't mean I'm proud of it either. I'm not a whack job who gets a kick out of hurting or intimidating people, but if I hadn't done that just now, we wouldn't have learned about the power stations. Some things are a matter of doing, not feeling, especially when lives are at stake,"
"… I suppose you're not completely wrong," Suki admitted. "Is that what you are, then? You're the guy in the group who takes care of the dirty work?" she asked, not in a sarcastic or demeaning way, but rather with a tone of complete seriousness.
"I'm not sure I would call it dirty work, but if that's what it is, then… Well, it's better if I do it instead of them,"
The truth of the matter was simple: Shujinko was a shinobi and the other members of Team Avatar were not. Because of this, and also because they were fighting a war, the Ozuma had his own role in the group, and said role was to perform certain actions that the rest of his friends would struggle or downright refuse to commit. For example, none of them would volunteer to kill somebody, not even an enemy. Shujinko wouldn't want to do it either, but if there was no other way around it, it would inherently be up to him to make it happen. Although they would never ask him to do that kind of thing so that they didn't have to, they all understood on a fundamental level that Shujinko was the best-suited individual among them to carry out those undesirable deeds. That was what ninjas were for, after all.
But there was more to it than just that. Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Katara were unlike anyone Shujinko had ever met before. For all the personal losses they had suffered, the dangers they were exposed to, and the responsibilities each of them shouldered, those four still had a pure and innocent heart in the eyes of the Chunin. Despite being embroiled in a war, their souls remained intact, untainted, and Shujinko didn't want that to change because of how rare and precious it was. To that end, he was willing to bear the burden of having to do the 'cruel stuff' regardless of how it made him feel.
There was no reason to let them become more like ninjas if he could avoid it.
Just then, a voice message came over a loudspeaker that was fixed to the wall, which stopped the two teens on their tracks. "Attention to all crew members. This is War Minister Qin speaking. We are closing in on our target. The drill should be making contact with the wall in approximately ten minutes,"
Aaaaaaaaaaand that was chapter 21. Hope you enjoyed it.
As much as I'd like to say otherwise, it'll be a while before I upload another chapter to this story. Getting this chapter done while studying for my finals was already hard enough, and now that I'm on vacation, I wanna take a break from Fanfiction and do other stuff. I'm sure you can all understand.
So, this is a rather unusual chapter. A lot of scenes were added here that I wasn't originally planning on including. I would've liked to be more graphic and detailed about the drill's interior design, but unfortunately, the episode mostly showed us the drill from an outside perspective, so I didn't have a whole lot of footage to work with. I should also admit that describing places/surroundings have always been one of my weaker points, which doesn't help in this case.
By the way, that brilliant mechanist from Book 1, the one that War Minister Qin was mooching off from, doesn't actually have a canon name. Therefore, I have given him the name "Luohi" in order to give him some form of identity, since I suppose he is of some relevance despite being a minor character.
In case you're wondering why I took the time to elaborate on the Warring States Period… let's just say this information will become relevant context-wise in the future.
The scene between Kuei and Long Feng was the one I enjoyed writing the most. As you can see, those two made their debut a lot sooner than they did in the show and I have a good reason for it. I would like it to go on record that I don't like how the Earth King was handled in the show, for they made his character clueless to a ridiculous degree. Not only that, his relationship with Long Feng and the reason behind the faith he had in the man could've been explored a lot more. I don't want to give away too much information here since everything will be explained during what remains of Book 2, but know that this story's Earth King will be different from the idiot of the show, or that at least I will try to have his character make more sense.
Also, the whole "citizens giving their rulers nicknames after their death" was completely made up by me. It's not at all relevant or crucial to the story, but I do think little details like that add to a place's folklore. After all, we do have real-life examples of this, such as 'Alexander the Great', 'Ivan the Terrible', etc.
One of the things that I always praised A:TLA for is how it took the time to humanize the enemy despite being a show aimed at kids. This is especially the case with Fire Nation soldiers/guards, who despite having little dialogue individually, reminded us that they are people too, people with relationships, personal aspirations, a sense of humor, etc. I wanted all of that to be present in the scene with the two engineers.
This leads us to the interrogation/torture scene. I thought it was a good way to bring back an element that, in my opinion, gets easily forgotten at times: The darkness and cruelty with which ninjas are often forced to act, even when it's against their will. Despite being young and a decent guy overall, Shujinko is still a shinobi, and even though it doesn't come naturally to him, he knows that performing morally subjective acts is necessary sometimes.
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Peace!