I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender
Chapter 7
Zuko and his men went in, two fire benders lit the way and the rest surrounded them in a guarding position, ready to attack any threat that may come up. Apparently, it indeed was some kind of mine, as the Cheng watchers theorized. Funny how quick the army was to accept the name and organize an entire division around it, the story around the name undoubtedly helped.
Anyway, it seems like there is a battle going on, strange, he didn't know that the soldiers were already here. As he signaled his troops to advance, he had his answer. The mine was filled with workers and pirates fighting each other, it seems like the battle outside took enough taskmasters away from the post for the workers to outnumber their kind masters ten to one. This kind of outnumbering, combined with the fact that while weaker and less trained than the pirates, each had a pickax in their hands, transformed the mine into a powder keg. And the fall of the masked man was the fuse that lit it up.
He noticed that there was some tall teen that seemingly led the revolt, interesting, maybe he could use him for information.
Back to the present, it seems like their mysterious masked men was running somewhere now that wouldn't be good. He refused to let the man go without facing justice, this man killed good fire nation soldiers and if not leading, then still very much responsible for the piracy in the reign. This guy had much to answer for.
"Wait."
'What is it, Sai? I'm busy right now.'
"I think you should help the riot."
'But he's getting away!'
"And he has nowhere to run, the mine is a dead end. Helping the workers is a closing window to raise your reputation."
'Fine…'
"Soldiers! Assault the pirates! Formation Two to One!"
The soldiers spread to pairs and searched for single pirates to attack, the riot gave many chances like that thanks to the disarray. Now that his men had their new equipment, each soldier could act as a fire bender and as a foot soldier. So there was no problem for random pairing to restrict the strategies a pair could use.
Zuko himself attacked and blasted pirates left and right. He shot a fire ball at a pirate that was about to stab a worker, stopping the pirate and burning him in the process. The worker quickly turned around and finished the job, he nodded at Zuko in gratitude.
A pirate came at him from the side. Zuko met him with his own two swords and kicked him in the legs, causing the pirate to lose balance. He then hit the pirate on the head with the broad side of his swords and knocked the pirate out.
Pirate number three tried to attack him from behind, but even before Zuko could put him to his place, he was putted down by the tall teenager with a pickax.
"Thanks"
Zuko said as he blasted another pirate to the wall, knocking him out in the process.
"You're welcome, Mi-dved by the way."
"Zuko. Are you responsible for this little party?"
Mi-dved threw his pickax at another pirate, getting a direct hit on the outlaw in the process.
"What can I say, I just threw the first punch. It's the other that followed. Besides, no one would have the inspiration if the enforcer wasn't thrown like that. Man, what a show! Your doing, I presume?"
"If you mean the masked and armored man, then yes. Is he important?"
"Mi-dved took a sword from one of the fallen pirates."
"Is he important?! Ha! You have no idea what you just did! Know what? How about we have a drink together after that and I will tell you everything?"
"That's… sounds good."
'That was very unexpected, does he even know who I am?'
"Probably not, he probably hates the pirates so much that he doesn't have a problem collaborating with the fire nation. Don't look at a gifted horse in the mouth."
'Why would he have a problem with me being a fire bender?'
"Well, he is an earth bender, so you are theoretically on opposing sides. Although from his appearance I would say that he is from the Si Wong desert, so most likely he didn't have any strong opinion on either side. If he even knows or cares about the war that is."
'So your saying he's a bandit?'
The idea of conversing with criminals and bandits didn't sit well with Zuko, it went against his honor, and he wasn't so desperate to hunt the Avatar at this point.
"Not necessarily, although the hard life of the desert makes honest people as scares as rain. You should give him the benefit of doubt."
'Fine, let's get some pirates.'
Zuko and his new companion continued to make short work of the remaining pirates, the now titled enforcer was nowhere to be seen.
Back in the Earth rumble tournament, Xin was nerve wracked. When he got the message that the boss himself would visit his Earth Rumble, he was both excited and terrified.
Excited because, well, THE BOSS was coming to his show! If the man was impressed enough, maybe little old Xin would get a raise! Maybe even a promotion to be a manager of one of the tourneys in the infamous "Catastrophe Coliseum" in the desert. He could see it, the fame! The fortune! the excitement!
On the other hand, THE BOSS WAS COMING! If he finds at least one thing he doesn't like, Xin could kiss his career goodbye and thank the spirit if that would be all. He knows the boss did worse for less, he heard the horror stories on some announcer that made one joke or another about the boss and how he suffered for thar mistake. Word has it he's still tied up to a rock with vulture-wasps eating him alive.
So it was completely understandable why he was turn about the boss being here. He made sure preparations were made for The Brigand's arrival: polished rows, perfumes for a nice smell, earth green carpet at the entrances. Even with all of that, when the man himself got to the ring he was barely paying any attention to the accessories.
He sat with two of his enforcers in the first row right in front of the fighting ring and not in the VIP sits Xin arranged. Now usually the front rows were empty because of the high chance of collateral damage from the fighting earth benders, but he didn't dare to comment on it. Mi-Sha knew better than most how violent earth bending fights can get and Xin wasn't the suicidal fool that will presume to tell the boss what he can and can't do.
Xin noticed that the boss was extremely interested in the fighters themselves. Once or twice a bolder flew to the direction of the crime lord, but whatever poor boulder was sent to that direction was crashed halfway as if it was under the pressure of an entire cruiser. He wondered why the crime lord didn't just stop the boulders with earth bending, but he supposed a show of force was to be expected from a man of his status.
Mi-Sha was extremely interested in the little miss Baifong, worried Xin more than a little. Toph was a crowd favorite, if the boss takes her to whatever scheme he has the Earth rumble would suffer in many ways. The dormant moral part of him also cried for the fate of the little girl, no matter what the crime lord had in mind for the heiress and master earth bender little girl, it can't be good for her.
Whatever, his life wasn't worth the risk of getting in Mi-Sha's way.
That didn't stop him from having a heart attack when The Brigand himself answered the challenge in all his glory, so he could be forgiven for a little stuttering.
"A-and its s-seems we have our volunteer, ladies and gentlemen!"
Xin jumped to the ring between the two competitors.
"Are you sure you want to go through this?"
He looked at the both of them, but he pointed his voice to the little girl. It was a stupid thing to do in retrospect because she was blind, but he knew from experience that she has a way to notice things like that. He hoped that she would get the clue and forfeit, but the spirits weren't so kind as she only looked amused at some kind of a private joke. With no one answering, with a heavy heart he jumped back to his sit.
"So what's your fighting name? Tall and silent?"
The man just stood silently, observing the little girl.
"Come on, you don't give me much to work with. Cat-eel got your tongue?"
"You're Lao's girl, aren't you?"
It seems that brigand lord Mi-Sha finally decided to speak. It undoubtedly had the desired effect on the little girl.
"Wha! I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
The little heiress seemed to be scared of the fact someone knows her and will snitch on her to her old man. Xin wasn't fan of the prospect as well, he will lose his best fighter as well as his career if daddy finds out he allowed his precious little blind angel into a violent fighting ring. But ultimately Mi-Sha was lord, and his words were the law.
"I'm sure. Say, why don't we make it a little interesting? If you win, not only I wouldn't tell daddy, but I will help you to evade his eye."
It seemed to do the trick, as the blind girl had an interested look on her face.
"And if you win? However unlikely that is?"
Stupid girl! Xin wanted to yell. Don't antagonize the most powerful man in this side of the continent!
The ruler of the underground smiled a crocked smile at that.
"Then you will have to do a small favor for me in exchange for looking the other way. What do you say?"
"You're on!"
"Good."
The man of the desert proceeded to jump a hundred feet to the air and surround himself in a small storm of sand. He continued to float there to his pleasure with the sand bending art that is so iconic to the nomad tribes of the desert.
The blind girl was very displeased with the situation, if her constant muttering of "where are you" were any indication. This was continued like that for some time until the blind bandit had enough of it.
"What's wrong, Big guy? Scared to fight a little girl?!"
Xin knew then and there that the battle would be over, he just hoped that The Brigand would show mercy for the little girl. As he suspected, the true bandit lord threw a shot of sand with high velocity toward the false bandit. The velocity was so high, that there was a gale of wind as a product. The lightweight girl stood no chance as she was sent flying from the ring with a surprised yelp. He was just relieved that it didn't evolve to some kind of execution, he didn't envy the little girl, however.
He jumped down to the ring to give the money to the winner, lord Mi-Sha took the bag and whispered to his ear.
"You can have your money back and return your dues by the usual monthly fee, I have no use in taking money that's already mine."
"Thank you, sir."
"One more thing, have someone show me the girl's quarters in this establishment."
"Yes, sir. Right away."
He didn't envy her at all.
It was strange fighting with someone not under his command, even stranger that he was an earth bender off all things. Not that he showed his earth bending yet, Zuko supposed it was smart of him with the political climate and all of that.
His partner was a heavy hitter obviously, Zuko was still surprised by the fact that this guy was around his age. They managed to finish most of the pirates when they heard a big explosion somewhere in the mine.
"What was that!"
"The enforcer most likely, he must have protected something important if he had to use explosive jelly like that in the mine."
"You know that guy?"
"Know of them. Trust me, I seen one of them only once before, and that was two too many."
"Where do you think he will go now? We need to stop him immediately!"
"You know? It must be the first time ever that someone actually wants to find one of those freaks. But don't worry, this is the only way out. If he wants to leave, he will have to come through here and we will be waiting for him… I can't believe I said that…"
And so, Zuko ordered his men to guard the entrance in phalanx formation as they wait for their man of the hour. The workers were outside the mine in a relatively safe place, bar Mi-Dved and a few others who insisted on fighting.
"He's coming, prepare yourself."
Zuko prepare his stance and electricuted his swords for good measure. If this man is half the swordsman Hakoda is, then he's going to need any advantage he has. And by Agni, good thing he did.
He barely managed to stop a strike that would have cut his head clean off with his swords. A moment later, and he would have been known as the headless prince.
This didn't come without retribution, as the enforcer was shocked by the electricity. He was stunned for just enough time to receive a pickaxe to the face by Mi-Dved. The enforcer was sent to the ground a few feet away for his troubles.
Zuko didn't relent, however, as he was immediately on the masked enforcer. The killer came to his feet in a remarkable speed, but had time to only block the strike, which stunned him again, which gave Mi-Dved the chance to drive his pickaxe again. Runcie and repeat.
At one point, however, it seemed like the enforcer had enough of playing the ragdoll. Relaying on his armor to take the burnt of the attack, he pulled some kind of egg-shaped thing. Mi-Dved immediately recognized the thing, as he warned Zuko.
"Smoke bomb!"
Zuko slapped his hands as he did when dispelling Hakoda's stink bombs. He suddenly felt a shock in his knees and bent down, which saved his life. As he fell, a slash that would have decapitated him bunched off the dark helmet. The force of the blow, however, was enough to knock Zuko to the ground.
Mi-Dved tried to hit the enforcer with the pickaxe, but the armored man was on the move. He evaded the hit and ran for the exit. The soldiers shot fire at him, but he evaded the fire balls that his plate didn't block.
He then proceeded to pull something out of his belt and threw it at the soldiers. The thing was intercepted by a fire ball and exploded; the soldiers were thrown away in disarray. The enforcer, meanwhile, ducked under the explosion and used the opportunity to throw another smoke bomb to cover his escape. When Zuko finally regained his senses and dispelled the smoke, the enforcer was gone.
"Damn it! After him!"
They chased after the enforcer, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Give it up, your highness. He is long gone by now. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to split the men to look after him."
'Damn, you're probably right… fine, what do you think we should do?'
"You should go back to the cave and find clues. I saw something dropped out of the enforcer's belt while you and the earth bender fought him, pick up your reward and deny Zhao of any prize."
"Come man, maybe we can find something in the cave."
"And that's all we could find, Grand Lotus."
Iroh sighed, he contacted the white lotus a few weeks ago at Hǎibiān. He hoped to use the archives of the white lotus to identify whatever ails his nephew and address it, however nothing of great help came.
The members searched a wide array of texts about the health of the mind, they even searched on other causes like spirits, but the results were inconclusive at best. It was clear that Zuko's mind was in turmoil, it was clear that he was desperate for his father's approval, and it was obviously clear that his nephew hit puberty if his "hidden" glances at sergeant Ling, lieutenant Ching's personal aid, were any indication.
He wouldn't fault his nephew on the last one thou, he was glad that Zuko at least has something that resembles a normal teenager behavior. But to be frank, he and Ozai were much worse in that regard at that age.
But he is regressing. None of the scrolls or the books gave a clear answer and many times they contradicted one another, he even tested the theory of spiritual influence. In a few of their tea sessions he made tea from blue lily leaves. Tea is a wonderful thing that has many uses, one of them is to detect dark spirits. The blue lily has the ability to purify poison and if used correctly, even spiritual poison.
A part of him was disgusted by the fact that he used tea in such an underhanded way, but he assured himself that his nephew's health comes first. In any way, besides the usual dislike to tea his nephew is always trying to hide for his sake, bless his nephew's soul, there were no abnormal signs of dark spiritual energy. So either a great spirit was at work, or whatever caused his nephew's change wasn't of the spirit world. He desperately hoped for the second.
In one thing he was sure, however. The helmet has a big part In Zuko's sudden change, either a cause or affect is remains to be seen. He tried to get his nephew to put it down but with little success, he suspected that his nephew even sleeps with the helmet on. He had to take care of the problem, but he didn't know how. If he arranged an "accident" that would make the helmet gone, he feared that his nephew would lose his mind.
Iroh sighed again for what felt like the hundredth time today. Well, he supposes he could get on to the other thing he came to talk about.
"And what of the factory?"
This time it was the other lotus member who sighed.
"It seems that there aren't many investors who are interested in dealing with a banished prince, both you and Zuko. The diamonds certainly helped, but the demands of the prince had been just too much for almost all of them."
Yes, the demands… His nephew insisted on a list of things he wanted from the factory and it's personal. A constant flow of innovation combined with a draconic dress code, not to mention the vow of complete silence and discretion, were uncomfortable for the investors to say the least.
He knew this may happen, and a part of him was a little glad that the factory wouldn't be built considering its primary purpose. But he wasn't a fool, he saw the changes his nephew had in the ladt few weeks. Zuko would get his factory one way or another. This way he could at least have some control on the number of skeletons his nephew would have to put into his closet, as well as increase the percentage of innovations to help the people over the Avatar hunting ones.
"Wait, so there are some who are interested?"
"Well… one. Loban seems to be interested in the proposal, although personally I advise against it."
"Why? Does he have rumors of corruption around him?"
The old man asked in concern.
"No more than the regular businessman, no. But there have been rumors, which were validated, about his lack of concern for his employees. I don't think that he is the right man to be the head of a factory like the one the prince hopes to build."
"Part of the agreement is that Zuko himself will have the final say about what products the factory will export. If he agrees to the terms, then he will have little room to complain."
"I suppose… *sigh*fine, we'll contact him. Not that it will change anything at this point."
"Why is that? Did something happen?"
"You don't know?"
The lower lotus member raised an eyebrow.
"His highness already sent a message to Loban a two week ago, they have been exchanging letter ever since."
"What?!"
"... Did you find?"
Zuko asked his men as they completed searching the mines with the help of the workers.
"Those mines produce mainly Iron, copper and other non-valuable metals, sir. There is a smell of Sulphur in the place the enforcer bombed. Unfortunately, the path was blocked as a result of the explosion, further digging risk downing the cave on our heads. We suspect that the place was some kind of an explosives workshop."
"I see, thank you. Anything else of note to report?"
"The workers are showing signs of abuse and malnutrition, this have to be addressed sooner or later."
"Very well, make sure they all het a warm meal and a comfortable place to stay. Ask them to talk about themselves, but don't outright ask them about all this pirate deal. That way we should have enough information to paint a picture and not worry about the risk of them revolting because they think they are interrogated."
"Understood your highness."
"Very well, you may return to your duties Jee, thank you."
"As you wish, my lord."
As lieutenant Jee left, Zuko had a moment of peace for himself, which he used to ask the console of his must trusted ally.
'What do you make of it, Sai?'
"The mine is obviously used to mine resources for equipment for the various operations of the pirate syndicate in this region. As the trusty lieutenant said, I highly suspect that this mine had a secret workshop inside of it that created the bombs the executioner used. Probably other high quality, by current standards at least, weapons as well."
"If I had to guess, I would say that the various bases had different purposes. The biggest base we found is most likely the one where they store most of their loot and equipment, and therefore the most guarded. The other islands are used as strategic outposts and backup bases in case of a raid on another output."
'I can't believe that such organized pirate organization was allowed to prosper so much right under our noses!'
"They worked smart as well, raiding only enough to make retribution not worth it to hunt a single pirate ship, but together the income was immense. The sheer logistics and influence to subjugate and order all the pirates in the region is impressive."
'You think that we took care of it thou?'
"With the eyes of Cheng, as they will be known from now, the navy will have easy time spotting any gathering of pirates here. Such organized syndicate will cease to exist after the destruction of all their bases simultaneously, whatever pirates will escape will choose other places to hunt."
'I suppose I could live with that for now. So, what do we do now?'
"I suggest talking with the earth bender. He seems to know about the enforcer, most likely he knows about more stuff that may prove beneficial to us. Besides, we could use his earth bending to open the blocked path."
'I still don't feel comfortable relaying on an earth bender like that. I know we fought together, but he's still an enemy to the fire nation.'
"An interesting outlook. What exactly makes him an enemy to the fire nation?"
'He's an earth bender!'
"And so are many in the old colonies, does that make them enemies of the nation as well? Even if they pray for Agni and as patriotic as any citizen from the fire isles?"
'But he isn't from the colonies! He wasn't even raised as a fire nation citizen! He's an unknown bandit from the Si Wong desert!'
"But he did risk his life for you when he could have just stayed back with the other workers, that at least gives him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, you are to rule the entire world. That includes people who are your enemies now, you need to start learning how to work with them. As someone with no loyalties to any party, he would make an ideal test form your leadership."
'I still don't like it.'
"You don't need to like it, just to do it. Try ricuting him, hear what he has to say."
'Fine…'
"And pick a bottle of rum along the way, he did say that he would tell you whatever he knows after a drink."
'But I can't drink! I'm underage, and it's dishonorable!'
"In my point of view, if you're old enough to go around the world and die trying to hunt the strongest being in the world, then you're old enough to get drunk. But I do respect your work ethic. Anyway, you don't have to drink, he does."
'Fine… Let's get this stupid bottle.'
It took a few minutes to find the right bottle, Sai insisted that a first impression with beverage is no less important than first impression face to face. He started to fear that Sai may have the same obsession his uncle has with tea, just with alcohol. That can't be good.
"I object! Don't compare me to your uncle, I'm not alcoholic! I can stop whenever I want!"
Zuko decided to not touch the subject.
Anyway, it didn't take long to find Mi-Dved, his big physique made him easily distinguished. He was surprised to find him sitting alone and looking at nothing.
"Perfect."
"Hey, mind if I seat here?"
"Hmm?"
The earth bender looked up in surprise.
"Yeah, sure. Knock your self out."
Mi-Dved pointed at a spot next to him. Zuko took it as an invitation and sat.
"So what got you so glumly? We won, didn't we?"
"It's not that. I'm just thinking about… stuff."
Zuko thought it was as good time as any to him the bottle, which he gladly excepted and immediately took a sip.
"Thanks, good stuff. Were is it from?"
"From the pirates. They were terrified hosts so far, so I guessed they owed us at least this much for the trouble."
That released a bark of laughter out the earth bender.
"I suppose they do. Want some?"
"Sorry, I have a debrief soon."
"Fair enough, more for me."
"Now is as good time as any, your highness."
'Fine.'
"Listen, Mi-Dved, I need you to tell me what you know about the pirates and the enforcer."
Mi-Dved sighed deeply as he took a bog sip from his bottle.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything, I want to know what I'm up against."
"Tall order, but I owe you at least this much. How much do you already know?"
"Think of me as completely oblivious."
"Very well… Tell me, do you know of the city Amora in the Si Wong desert?"
Zuko shook his head in denial.
"It's the biggest city in the desert, called the jewel of the sands because of that and the attractions it has. It prides itself with being the 'freest' city in the world and it has only one rule: you can do anything you please, as long as you are good enough for it."
Zuko had a suspicion that it isn't as grand as the words paint it.
"What do you mean by everything? And how are you 'good enough '?"
"By anything I mean anything, go for a stroll? No problems. Rub someone? No authorities to stop you. Want a woman? Have fun. As long as you have enough power, be it physical, economical or any other, to claim your prize, you're free to do as you please. Of course, the same can as easily be applied against you."
Zuko shuddered to imagine such lawless place.
"Sounds like a hell hole."
"It's home."
The earth bender replied with a shrug before continuing his explanation.
"The city is seemingly without leadership, but don't let it fool you. Everyone knows that the main, and only, power in the city is lord Mi-Sha. He's the one who basically built the city to what it is in his image, his personal army is the one who's enforcing his will on the lend."
Something clicked in Zuko's head.
"Enforcing… like the enforcer? You mean to tell me that this guy, who nearly wiped the floor with us, was a mere foot soldier to some bandit in the desert?!"
It seemed to touch a nerve, since the earth bender looked at Zuko with a pissed look.
"It is clear that you are ignorant, so you will be forgiven this once. You have no idea what you're talking about, no idea how it's like to live in constant fear under the shadow of this monster. You didn't have friends who said the wrong word, and a day later you see their body thrown in the streets a feast to the ever-hungry crew-rats."
Mi-Dved took a few deep breaths to calm himself.
"And Mi-Sha is no mere bandit. He is the most powerful earth bender in the world, strong enough sand bender to defy the sandstorms. He is an eight feet tall monster of a man that every outlaw in the continent answers to. He goes by many titles: The Brigand, The Boss, even the king of the underworld. He is not someone you can mess with."
Zuko remembered the Thugs from a few weeks ago, how they were terrified of their "boss" and the sheer length that went to silence them. Together with the organized piracy here, as well as the presence of an enforcer, painter a rather grim and disturbing picture.
"Ask about the cave."
"What about the mines? What were they doing with them and how did you get there?"
"Hah… the mines were the primary source for weapons and other raiding equipment, they probably had some kind of an explosives lab. Most likely the reason why the enforcer came here to blow it up, more than that I can't really tell."
"As for how I got here… it's quite a story. To cut it short, my sister and I tried to escape Amora and succeeded. We were on a boat until a storm came and thrown us offboard. When I woke up the pirates already had me in chains."
"I don't see your sister…"
"I… She's not dead! I know it!"
"That's good, offer your aid."
"I can help you search for her, if you want."
Mi-Dved looked at him with a suspicious look, the teen already had experience with false offers of aid.
"And why would you help me? How exactly?"
Zuko smiled.
"I need someone with enough knowledge about Mi-Sha to help me fight him. Besides, an earth bender, especially a warrior like you, would be a huge advantage to have."
"So you want me to work for you."
"Until I defeat Mi-Sha or we find your sister, either or. And make no mistakes, you can decide to leave at any given moment with no strings attached. As long as you don't abandon me in some life-threatening situation."
"Ignoring the suicidal part of fighting Mi-Sha, those are most generous terms. But how can I be sure you won't backstab me? And you still didn't answer about the how."
"You won't. You will have to take a leap of faith, as for how? I already have a ship and the backing of the greatest nation, and I'm in search for someone decades lost, your sister shouldn't be to much of a problem."
Mi-Dved looked skeptically at Zuko.
"And who are you, to claim such things and declare war on Mi-Sha?"
"Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Zuko, eldest child of fire lord Ozai and the prince of the fire nation. Father sent me to hunt someone who could be a nuisance to the fire nation, along the way deal with any problems that may arise. Nice to meet you."
Zuko thought it would be better if he didn't mention the banishment part. Anyway, he gave his hand for a handshake. Mi-Dved shook his hand with a stupefied expression.
"Don't give me an answer right away, you can think of it until the end of the day. But I'm leaving then, so you can't have any longer than that. By the way, do you think you could do something about the blocked path in the cave?"
"Am… Sure, I can give it a try."
Together the two teens went back to the cave. One had a silent conversation with his helmet, and one was deep in thoughts.
"I agree."
"Sorry?"
"Your deal, I agree to it."
"Oh…"
Zuko was in a private room writing letters to different people about today's happenings. He already wrote a report to his father about all he learnt about this Mi-Sha and his business, now he was in progress of writing a letter to Loban about the newly discovered mine.
Loban is a businessman Zuko was in contact with for the last few weeks, Sai found him when the two searched for a proper person to manage their factory. According to Sai's analyses, the man is a savvy businessman and a great factory director. More importantly, he's greedy enough to be lured by the promise of riches, but smart enough to know when enough is enough. With the right pressure he will keep his silence, and he will stay loyal (as much at merchants can be) as long as his gains are staying high.
Zuko hated dealing with dishonest merchants who were only loyal to the coin, but even he had to admit that honest merchants are as rare as innocent soldiers. So they exchanged letters and Loban seemed impressed with Zuko's (Sai's) deep understanding of economics. The diamonds in the letters to Loban helped as well.
The letter to Loban was different from the one sent to father. When to his father, he wrote more about the eye of Cheng and the enforcer, to Loban he wrote about the island itself, its resources and why he should build here a factory.
Or at least he was about to, until Mi-Dved barged into his room.
"I'll be frank, I didn't expect an answer so fast. Are you sure you don't want more time to think about it?"
"Yes. Like it or not, you are my best chance to find my sister. Just remember that once I find her the deal is over, no backstabs, no double meanings, nothing. Am I clear?"
While the tone of the desert raised teen rubbed Zuko the wrong way, he took the little victory.
"Crystal. Now what can you tell about your sister? How does she look, places we can maybe find her, things like that."
"Well, she has a black hair like me, but hers is much longer and reaches all the way to her back. She's around this height and has sun kissed skin like any child of the dessert. She has hazel eyes, and she likes playing with herbs. She's like, very good at healing, had a lot of practice."
Zuko wrote all those things down, he will discuss with Sai what to do with it later on. Maybe he will ask uncle as well.
"By the way, what's her name?"
The earth bender facepalmed Before answering.
"Jasmine, her name is Jasmine."
Some time later, a soldier came to him with a message from Zhao to meet at the medical tent. Zuko was curious about the reason for the meeting place, he was shocked when he heard the reason. Apparently Zhao was heavily wounded by some masked figure thet then vanished from sight.
To Zuko it sounded too much like another enforcer for his liking. He thanked Agni that he had to deal with only one of those monsters. From what he heard, Zhao had much less success than him. Three dozen of men were killed in action and as many were wounded, the enforcer himself didn't seem to be much worse to wear.
And so, he let the soldier lead him to the tent. On the way he asked about the health of the soldier and his comrades, to which the soldier replied was good, if a little bursitis. The soldier also thanked the prince for the eye of Cheng, it seems that the foot soldiers knew exactly the big part it had in guiding and saving their lives.
Once he got there, he saw Zhao in his bed. The captain was bandaged in his entire belly, next to him was a medic that checked on his bandages every now and then. His lieutenants were in a semi-circle facing him, he was glad to note that none of them looked too worse to wear.
"Hello."
"Ah, your highness. Good to see your safe and sound."
Lieutenant Shen greeted him with a smile.
"I want to thank you again for the eyes, your highness, they sure made are job a tad safer."
"Seeing all-most of you unharmed is all the thanks I need lieutenant."
"Yes, yes, now if we could resume our debrief."
Zhao interrupted the conversation. His injuries didn't do wonders for his patience and tact.
"Of course, sorry captain."
The old lieutenant replied.
"Sir, I must protest, you can't lead an assault like that!"
The eye patched lieutenant proclaimed.
"You will do as you are told lieutenant, unless you want to be called sergeant again!"
Zuko took a place a free place between Shen and the scared Lieutenant and asked them what's going on.
"The captain still wants to lead the assault, even though he's bedridden for the foreseeable future."
The scared lieutenant explained, as Shen continued his explanation.
"Yes, it seems that once the pirate threat was dealt with and I withdrew my argument, the captain was eager to push forward. He wants to 'hit the iron while it's hot' as the earth navy is still in a disarray."
"He can't be serious, he'll bleed himself to death half the way to the ship."
"That's what we told him, but he won't listen."
"And what of the manpower we lost during the raid?"
"Actually, that argument on his side. It seems that Zhao's encounter with this enforcer figure you mentioned in your report was the only major loss of men we suffered, so we have more than enough men to stage the assault. You'll have to tell me more about your encounter later, seems like quite a story."
"I admit that I myself am quite curious about it."
The old lieutenant added.
Back in the debate, things weren't going anywhere. Zhao refused to back down and his lieutenants refused to let him fight in this shape.
"Say what you want about Zhao, the men got drive. Either way, the assault must commence."
'Why? It's clear that Zhao isn't in any form to fight. Yes, I don't like the guy, but I don't want him dead!'
"This assault will give us a quick access to a spiritual beacon, which we will use to upgrade ourselves. It also may give some answers about the Avatar, as well as the sister of our earth bender friend."
'What place?'
"Remember the story I told you about the sixth overlord and the fungus?"
'Ew… There? You can't be serious! It's gross!'
"I'm afraid we all must suffer to achieve greatness. Besides, didn't you already were in some filthy places in your search?"
'Not in a literal swamp!'
"Trust me, I'm not delighted to return there myself. But it's our best chance to enhance our spiritual side, it will be more than worth it. Now, say those things."
"Say, Zhao, how far will the fleet go?"
"I beg your pardon?"
The prince's question seemed to stall the argument.
"This attack, what are her objectives? How much territory are we going to gain? Is it a conquest or a raid?"
"Well…"
It seemed like the good captain haven't thought that far ahead. If Zuko had to guess, he would say that Zhao was going to advance as much as he was able without any consideration to the state of his troops, the value of the territories or the cost of maintaining hold on said territories.
Ha… Amazing how much his tactical thinking improved after a few weeks of lessons with Sai. Before, he wouldn't even think about such things and probably would have acted just like Zhao, just rabidly charging to the fight without caring about the consequences. He didn't like the realization.
"Because as I see it, the best course of action would be a complete annexation of the sea strip of Goaling. With our new visibility, guarding the strip will require much less ships on active patrol. And with the right moves, we can make the Beifongs pay fee for letting trade flow through sea. You know how those merchant types are, if they fear they will lose more money, they will pay for their annexation for us."
Zuko looked around and saw that the lieutenants liked the idea. Zhao still was debating it however, he wanted something grander that will bring him closer to the Admiral rank he so desired.
"Besides, with the eyes, you can control the entire battlefield from the sky. Completely safe and with no risk to your injuries. Think about it, the selfless captain commanding his fleet despite his injuries. It would look quite good in your resume. I, of course, can write a few good words to my father as well. The way to commander should be quite fast from there."
And that sealed the deal, Zuko saw the hungry look on Zhao. He wouldn't let this chance go, and it seems that the lieutenants were pacified enough with their captain's health to forsake their reservations.
"All in favor?"
Zhao asked.
All the lieutenants raised their hands.
"Then we attack at dawn."
Zhao smiled viciously.
AN
And that's the end of chapter 7
First of all, I'm happy to inform you that we reached the milestone of 1K views as well as 10 followers!
This wouldn't be possible without your help, so thank you all!
Now for those who are disappointed that Toph lost: Mi-Sha had the entire tournament to study Toph, he isn't stupid. he maybe didn't figure exactly how she fights, but she's an earth bender, you don't need to be a genius to figure out that you need to be away from the ground. What's more, his fight was kinda sus. I gave a few clues here and in previous chapters, wonder who will figure it out.
Hope the conclusion of the enforcer battle was to your liking, I tried to write a fight between an experienced and deadly killer and a powerful but newbie teen with as little plot armor as possable. If Sai didn't save Zuko in that moment (The Shock that forced Zuko to kneel) then Zuko would have been done for.
The blue lily purifying is something I made up, but it sounded good and complemented the plot so I wrote it.
The name Amora is from the biblical tale about the twin cities of sin Sdom and Amora, it felt fitting for the story.
Loban is an actual character from the avatar comics, I have plans for both him and his nephew.
And Mi-Dved joined the party! with a little more to his backstory. you are all welcome to guess if where and how they will meat his sister.
And now we go to war!
How for reviews:
Xxxxxhggg:
So far Ozai has no real reason to be suspicious of a coup, but he will have eyes on Zuko. As for Azula, he would be very split about sending her or not, for reasons I will explain in the story later on.
Brenne:
That he is, I'm glad you liked it=)
deniswanheda:
Duly noted, I'll try to watch for it in the future, hope this chapter is fine in this regard
Anyway, be sure to write what you think about the chapter and the story. Don't be afraid to share what you think could and should happen.