Chapter 13: Wrath of Nations
The two opposing groups of the now semi-dubbed 'Battle of Yu Dao' advanced on each other to engage in battle, the armies of the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and people of Yu Dao on one side led by Team Avatar—and the Raiders of the Icelands on the other.
As the groups neared each other, Zuko, Aang, Kuei, Katara, and Touya met in the center of the wide expanse of earth as representatives of their side, while Eivor approached as the sole representative of her people.
"Who are you?" The Viking questioned, her hand on her belt, should the need arise to draw her ax.
"I am Fire Lord Zuko, and this is my colony. You and your raiders attacked several other locations and left death and ruin in your wake." Zuko replied with a glare. "What I want to know is why." He added.
"It is simply our way of life. Nothing more." Eivor stated, unphased by the man's question.
"And that's your justification for slaughter?!" Aang growled.
"We made their deaths quick. That should count for something." The woman rebuked. "Cruelty isn't our aim. We give all our opponents honorable deaths in combat." She added.
"We still need to have you answer for it all, since not everyone will see it that way." Zuko told her.
"If you wish to die here and now, so be it." Eivor stated, drawing her ax. "Just don't cower away when my ax comes down on your neck." She added as she rejoined her group.
Zuko and the others were quick to reconvene, right as Anvari took the Icelander's war horn and blew it, causing everyone on their side to roar as they charged forward.
Aang met one of them and had difficulty keeping up with the high power attacks of the Raider in front of him. He was able to fight back, however, so he would be fine.
Swinging his staff, he blew the vikings back, causing them to crash into others and cause an entire wing of the army to fall into disarray—but not enough for the Icelanders to not be able to retaliate—as they did just that by conjuring spears of Earth, Fire, Water, and in a few cases Air, with their own elements of bending that looked just like theirs—and sent them raining down on the armies, killing those who couldn't find or generate cover or were in tanks.
"Crap!" Touya cursed as he sent some fire at his own opponent, distracting them long enough to allow him to get close and snap their neck.
"These guys are seriously not giving up!" Sokka exclaimed as he tried to defend against another raider—until he saw Thorfinn who had his meteorite sword! "What?! That's my sword!" He exclaimed.
"You made this?" Thorfinn blinked in surprise before looking at the blade. "I'll just say this now: It has multiple impurities, but nothing melting down and refining won't fix." He told him. "What did you use to make this?" He wondered.
"A meteor." The water tribe boy stated as they clashed weapons, his club against the blonde's hammer.
"That explains the impurities." The hammer user nodded as he pushed the warrior back and went into the air with his rendition of air bending and swung his hammer around—and then storm clouds started to gather above them.
"Oh no…" The boomerang user groaned before looking at Aang. "Aang, think you can dispell that?!" He called.
"Maybe—Gah! But not in time!" The monk replied, as lightning started to gather. "Uh oh." He gulped as he was punched.
A bolt of lightning crashed down on Thorfinn's hammer, and using the weapon to redirect the energy, he sent it straight at the opposing armies, sending them flying.
Zuko let out a grunt as he landed on the ground beside Touya. The two got up and looked around, seeing their forces dazed and vulnerable, making them easy targets for the Vikings.
"This is not going well." Touya groaned as he tried to get up.
"Can't really argue." Zuko groaned as he got up as well, right as a volley of fire and boulders started flying at the Icelanders and hitting them back, inflicting similar losses as before on their side.
And at the head of this counter attack was Azula, Toph, and the Earth Rumble benders with the remaining Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom forces, keeping them away from the Water Tribe support benders.
"Don't let them take any more of our people!" Azula yelled as Toph got another boulder ready, allowing her to light it on fire before it was sent on its way.
Aang, now seeing the forces rally around Azula, a former enemy, felt himself grow emboldened as Katara too gathered around the rallying forces to fight Eivor personally… and knew exactly what to do.
Taking his stance—he went into the Avatar state—his tattoos flashing and glowing as his elemental orb formed around him.
"Huh?" Eivor uttered as she looked at what Aang was doing.
"Oh you guys are screwed now." Toph grinned.
"Cuz you're about to get a serious beat down courtesy of the Avatar." Touya grinned as Sokka helped him up.
Then Aang entered the Avatar state, the elements flowing around him as he rose into the air. Thorfinn tried to blast him with lightning, but it just became a part of his new element arsenal instead.
Combining the elements together, Aang sent them at Thorfinn and slammed them down on the Icelanders, sending them flying and decimating them in one move—luckily not killing anyone.
"Yeah! Way to go Aang!" The freedom fighters cheered.
"That definitely ended it." Touya grinned.
Floating to the ground, Aang held his staff at Eivor, going back to normal.
"Give up?" The Avatar questioned warningly.
"I… Yield…" Eivor groaned, unable to muster the strength to continue fighting after such a devastating attack.
"Gather them up." Zuko gestured, Kuei doing the same to his men.
The battle of Yu Dao lasted only a few minutes, but for some, it felt longer.
But everyone was relieved that the loss of life was minimal…
(Later)
The Icelanders were rounded up by the Fire Nation after the Dai Li managed to restrain them, and were brought to the leaders of the allied armies, as it was time for them to decide on where to go from there.
"Okay, dealing with raiders of this nature is not something I've done before." Kuei commented.
"None of us have, but there's a first time for everything." Zuko nodded in agreement.
"I used to barter with pirates, but…" Aang nodded, trailing off.
"Not really applicable here, I don't think." Touya stated.
"The difference in culture throws that idea off a bit." Azula nodded in agreement.
"Seems like the best way for us to resolve this is to try and make them accept a treaty and return any and all plunder or give reparations." Enji stated.
"Yeah, that's going to have to be a given. It's either one or the other, given how far they've gone for it all." Zuko nodded.
"Either way, we need to do something in response to all this." Ty Lee nodded.
"Especially with what they did to the North Pole." Katara nodded.
"And Kyoshi Island." Suki added.
"There's also the chance of them being incredibly stubborn about everything about it." Sokka pointed out. "Ya know, like how Toph is sometimes." He added.
"Yea–HEY!" Toph started to say before turning to the boomerang user indignantly.
"What do you think we should do, Avatar?" Azula questioned, looking at the Last Airbender. "You are the mediator after all." She added.
"They did say this whole thing they did was a way of life…" Aang hummed as he brainstormed. "Let's make the offer to turn over their plunder or pay reparations, and see how they take it." He decided.
"Seems fair." Touya nodded.
"As long as they give some form of restitution for what they did to my sisters and our allies in the White Lotus, I say I'm down for it." Suki nodded.
"Speaking of which." Zuko hummed, "Should we bring Uncle Iroh in on this?" He asked, looking at his sister.
"If he thinks he can help them see something they never considered, then sure." The blue flame user nodded in reply.
"Or at the very least, convince them to go into a peace treaty with us, so we can get them to agree to not raid us anymore." Sokka nodded. "Seriously, what a mess." He added.
"With his penchant for sage advice, I'd say that's a safe bet." Touya nodded.
"Don't me and Zuko know it…" Azula snorted in agreement while her brother shook his head with a smirk.
(Later)
A few days later, Eivor was now sitting in the Jasmine Dragon Tea shop at a round table with Aang, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Kuei, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee, Azula, Touya and Iroh. Her hands were chained and she was disarmed, but otherwise, she was unharmed.
"This is an interesting place." The Viking woman hummed as she looked around.
"Thank you, I made it important to make this place welcoming." Iroh smiled, pouring everyone some tea. "Please, drink. You must be thirsty." He nodded.
"Hm…" The blonde hummed as she looked at her tea before she took a sip. "... Wow. We don't have anything like this back home." She whistled.
"Oh? What do you drink in your land?" Iroh asked, deciding to establish a rapport with the woman to gain a common ground.
"Aside from water, we drink mainly the milk of our yaks, ale and mead." The viking replied.
"Ale?" Sokka questioned.
"Mead?" Katara parroted.
"What're those?" Suki questioned.
"They're strong drinks, kinda like whatever you have in these lands." The woman explained in reply. "We drank that stuff a lot." She added with a chuckle.
"Fascinating." Touya nodded, arms folded. "Let's get to the reason we're here, please?" He added.
"Right, right." Kuei nodded.
"A lot of people aren't too happy with what you did to them." Zuko told Eivor. "If you return the plunder you took, it could smooth things over." He added.
"And what are we to sell to gain funds for our people?" Eivor questioned. "We plunder for coin and resources, both of which we use for the betterment of our settlements. Going back empty handed is not in our best interest." She added.
"That's where the second part comes in." Kuei spoke up. "If you enter a treaty with these lands, you'll get what you need." He added.
"How do trade agreements sound?" Zuko elaborated. "It'd be much less labor intensive than raiding constantly, not to mention cost fewer lives." He added.
Even after relieving the war in miniature—he still had the best interest of others at heart: preserving life, even of his enemies.
"I do see your point." Eivor conceded. "However, those among my people won't be so content due to our lifestyle." She pointed out.
"The nations are always looking for good warriors to establish peace after the war…" Ty Lee noted.
"Mercenaries are in high demand." Sokka nodded.
"And you guys look like you'd do great in Earth Rumble." Toph grinned.
"In other words, there's a lot your people could do here and there's a dozen ways to provide for them." Aang chimed in, Momo chirping in agreement.
"… Very well." The blonde woman nodded.
"Very good." Iroh nodded in approval. "You may find yourself discovering new things to broaden your horizons after today." He told her.
"He knows what he's talking about." Azula nodded in agreement.
"I shall take your word for it." Eivor nodded.
(Timeskip)
Months later, more and more Icelanders arrived in the Earth Kingdom lands, and the rulers all signed a binding treaty with Eivor and Anvari, making it where the Icelanders were allowed to settle in the four nations, even the Air Temples in case of the 'Windborn' as they were called, so long as they did not cause any damage to them.
After that, no more raids happened and all the plunder Eivor and her people took was returned to their origin points. The nations, meanwhile, were able to get a taste of Icelander architecture and culture outside of raiding.
It wasn't all bad, all things considered though.
Right now though, there was a great truce banquet in Yu Dao to celebrate the colony's rebuilding after said treaty.
And the Icelanders brought plenty of food and drink from their culture, which the gang was partaking in as we speak…
"Your fist is without ale, young Sokka." Sigurd, a Viking with wild red hair in braids, said as he put his arm around Sokka's shoulder. "Let us address that." He added.
"I'm just not sure how well I'd take that stuff." The idea guy chuckled awkwardly.
"Young Toph seems to be handling it." The redhead pointed out as the two looked at the Blind Bandit, who was having a drinking contest with Eivor.
"I will drink you under the table." The woman smirked.
"You wish, bring it on!" Toph retorted as they started chugging down ale.
As their contest went on, people around them cheered on as the two became progressively more drunk. They either swayed to the side before righting themselves or spilled some of their ale. Toph, in the end, passed out since she couldn't handle it.
"... I've been wrong before." Sigurd shrugged as Eivor let out a victory cheer.
"This mead, it tastes of honey." Iroh mused as he, Enji, Zuko, Aang, Touya, and the now recovered White Lotus men tried the honey wine together.
"It feels kinda strong." Enji commented, holding his head.
"It is wine made from the best honey." Anvari replied. "We often add different berries, spices and what have you to add flavor to it. But this is what it is like without that." He added.
Azula would have tried the beverage, but due to her breastfeeding Ursa Minor, she couldn't do that for fear of causing her daughter any illness—something she wanted to avoid happening to her beloved child.
"My goodness, you're certainly a hungry child, aren't you?" Frig, Anvari's wife, mused as she watched Azula feed Ursa.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Azula chuckled.
"Well, if she's that hungry now, she's liable to be a fighter when she's older. Just look at Eivor." Frig remarked, jutting a thumb at the blonde who was learning the ropes of Pai Sho.
"If I have my way, she'll be the opposite." The princess stated. "My brother and I were made into soldiers at our ages, thirteen in my case and fifteen in his." She continued. "I may be fifteen now, but I'm not going to let myself repeat the same mistakes." She added, stroking Ursa's hair as the babe suckled on her mother's breast. "So my daughter will never step foot on the battlefield, so long as I have a say." She nodded.
"Smart woman." The Icelander woman nodded in approval. "Not every child is meant to be a warrior." She mused, looking at her own belly, which seemed swollen.
Azula nodded as Ursa finally stopped suckling, allowing her to cover back up and rock her to sleep after burping her.
"Though I can most certainly see that your daughter will grow into a beautiful woman." Frig nodded. "One who will likely be desired by everyone who sees her." She added.
"Oh yeah. If things go well, my daughter will be one of those girls." Azula smiled as she looked at her pride and joy. "Isn't that right, my fire lily?" She smiled at her daughter.
Ursa smiled as she babbled at her mother, putting her pudgy little hands on the princess's face. Azula smiled back, kissing the baby's forehead as she held the baby in her arms.
It wasn't the same as, say, holding a future avatar—but holding the culmination of oneself and their spouses' love made flesh and blood—was something in a league of its own in its own right.
Dragon Emperor0: Hey guys. Sorry about the wait. We had other stories to do, plus my co author wasn't really feeling working on this particular story just yet. Which, honestly, is entirely valid. I know I've felt the exact same multiple times.
ThermalsniperN7: Plus, when you have a big workload/catalog, it becomes difficult to be motivated for whatever's next.
Dragon Emperor0: It's not that bad, though. It could be way worse, trust me. Anyway, we decided to not stretch this battle out too long because if we did—it would become complicated to the point of incomprehensibility. Hence why we switched gears afterwards.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. It felt easier for us that way. Hope it's not too disappointing. Anyway, see you next time.