I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender
Chapter 20
Prince Zuko! Wait!"
Iroh ran after his nephew after the later stormed out of his room. He didn't get too close, however, because his dear nephew radiated hate like heatwaves. He didn't mean it metaphorically as well, Zuko had the air around him heated to such a degree that one could see how it distorted.
When his nephew opened the box, he went ballistic, Zuko immediately released a shockwave that destroyed most of the tables and shelves in the room. After that, he continued in a very Zuko fashion tantrum that reminded the old man of the first year of the banishment.
Now his nephew was speed walking to Shen's office to demand transportation to the now destroyed colony.
"Please reconsider this, nephew! What are you even going to do!"
"I will see to it that they all have a honorable burial and then hunt down the people who did it."
His nephew was acknowledging and responding to him, it's already an improvement. Now to stop him from this madness.
"It is commendable that you feel such responsibly for your people, but you mustn't let vengeance consume you! It will make you do things you will forever regret later!"
Iroh had to sidestep to avoid the shards of glass that were starting to be created when Zuko's foot stepped on the sandier ground.
"And what do you want me to do?! Let those criminals go unpunished? Invite them for tea maybe?"
"If you go down the cliff of vengeance you will find it nearly impossible to climb back up! An eye for an eye will make the world blind, it will help no one!"
This time his nephew stopped and turned his head to look at Iroh, his expression obscure by the infernal helmet that Iroh was now sure was possessed.
"I will not go for an eye, I will cut off the entire blasted head. As you should have done all those years ago in Ba Sing Se."
Iroh stopped on his tracks. That was a low blow, even after all that time. It was a cruel thing to say, especially from his own nephew.
The Zuko he knew would never have done it, now more than ever Iroh was sure that he was influenced by the helmet. He needed to think how to get rid of the cursed thing, and fast.
By the time he finished with his thoughts, Zuko was already inside acting commander Shen's office. The old man sighed as he followed his nephew, perhaps he could convince the old lieutenant to see reason.
He walked in just to see his nephew leave hurrying out, most likely to blow off some steam. He decided to enter inside and apologize on his nephew's behalf to the acting commander.
The acting commander was organizing a few sheets of paper as he noticed the other man.
"Oh, prince Iroh. How can I help you?"
"Commander Shen, I humbly apologize for my nephew's behavior. I hope he didn't take your refusal to hard."
Shen put down his paperwork and leaned his head on his hands with an arched eyebrow.
"What are you about?"
That caught Iroh by surprise.
"I mean, he must have demanded some form of transportation for the destroyed colony. A demand you surely refused."
"He did, and I didn't?"
"What?"
"Prince Zuko did indeed ask for some kind of fast transportation to catch those responsible. I agreed to loan him one of the eyes, he said that it should be enough for him to reach his destination in a day or so with his fire bending."
"How could you!"
"Well, usually I won't even think about it. But so far, the prince has exceeded expectations left and right. I have more than enough faith in him that he will see the job done. He also loaned me his crew for the duration of the trip, a more than enough compensation."
"But he's going to kill for vengeance!"
"I see no problems with that, the bandits deserve nothing less for their crimes. And he must avenge his people, as the prince it's his duty to make sure that such assaults on his people wouldn't be answered."
Iroh began running outside to stop his nephew's madness, however it was already too late. As he ran, he could see a single eye rising up to the air.
He was too late.
Mi-Dved was sitting with Lyn, the Kyoshi warrior leader. She inspected the papers that he brought with him with great interest.
"And how certain are you about the validity of this information?"
She said as she continued scanning the content of the pages.
Said content included some very interesting records of some very shady deals of certain people of wealth in the fire nation. Deals that were made in Amora and included a very specific group of people that Kyoshi island will take great interest at.
"Very. The man who brought it to us is loyal to the prince, or at least too smart to lie in such matters."
The man was none other than Loban, said businessman was all too pleased to use his knowledge and connections to leave his competitors in a tight spot.
Apparently, having a Kyoshi warrior paramour is considered very exotic and while it is mainly practiced in the earth kingdom, some of the less savory nobles of the fire nation took a liking to the practice.
When Zuko asked if Labon himself took part in it, the latter just laughed. The fat businessman, slimly as he may be, took interest in his business empire alone. Labon also was just too smart to take the risk with no financial reward.
Lyn hummed in response.
"And I suspect prince Zuko expects something in return, is he not?"
"As you can guess, Zuko has his own reasons to get after Mi-Sha. And what is the old saying… An enemy of my enemy is someone I can use?"
"That's not how it goes."
"Really?"
Mi-Dved looked in confusion.
"I think it's just right. You use Zuko and his armies to get an opening to rescue your sisters in Amora, and he uses you as a special force to counter threats that require a more covert touch or are too much for the regular soldier."
Lyn could do little but nod in agreement. Either way, she still had many concerns.
"And about those fire nation pricks that hold our sisters? I hardly think that the prince will be too happy if we bring them justice."
"Oh, you'd to surprised. Zuko recognize your claim and while he isn't too happy with a knife in the dark, he wouldn't cry on any of these men. On contrary, those kinds of people are exactly the ones who are most likely to pose problems when he takes the throne, so you'll be doing him a favor."
"So it's to win – win for him."
"More or less, yes. By the way, how are things around here? Any pirate problems?"
"Oh no, nothing of the sort."
Lyn waved off her hand dismissingly.
"Ever since that incident things have gone very quiet around here. In fact, we have almost zero incidents of piracy now, but I suppose that with the Unagi, the loss of their informant and the constant patrol of the fire navy it is to be expected."
"So when does his highness plan for us to join in?"
"In a few months, I suppose, the details are still being ironed."
"Fair enough, I will start to train the girls more about urban warfare and techniques against sand benders. How are the two of you by the way? Does the prince treat you well?"
"Hm?"
The question caught Mi-Dved by surprise.
"I mean, yes? Life threatening incidents aside, I couldn't have asked for a better employer."
"Oh, really? What incidents?"
Lyn asked in interest.
Mi-Dved than began to tell all the adventures they had up to this point. He, of course, changed a few things like having Toph and the Gnome who created the sandstorm as different people. Lyn was attentive all the time.
"Damn, this kid doesn't know how to take a break, does he. You could write a book from all of this."
"There is much to be done."
Mi-Dved shrugged his hands.
"And how is your sister taking it? I can't image her enjoying the danger very much."
Mi-Dved had a very tired look.
"Oh she doesn't, but the perks are more than worth it."
"Let me guess, she's having fun with the prince's money as she's constantly flirts with him?"
Instead of taking offence as some big brothers would, Mi-Dved just groaned and put his head on the table.
"She's driving me crazy. I swear, little sisters are just plain evil sometimes."
Lyn nodded her head in understanding.
"And by your tone I understand that your sister doesn't getting anywhere with the prince."
"Yes, thank the spirits that Zuko is smart enough to recognize danger."
"Not the best thing to say about your sister."
Lyn said as she raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, I lived with her all of her life, I know exactly who she is."
Mi-Dved said defensibly.
"Can't argue with that."
Lyn said with a shake of her shoulders Before continuing.
"You can tell your prince that I won't mind the deal. Now the only thing to do is to make it official by having the mayor agree, but leave it to me."
Mi-Dved nodded in thanks.
"Now, would you be so kind to call Suki when you leave? I have some things to discuss with her."
Her tone was too quiet and too sweet to mean anything good in it.
He silently walked out of the door and to his surprise met the very same girl Lyn asked for. She looked at him like he caught her hand in a cookie jar.
"Your boss wants a word with you."
He finally said.
Zuko was seeing red as he flew with the eye. Luckily, the constant use of his fire bending to speed the flight was a great outlet. Before long, he could think straight again.
"Are you back, your highness?"
"Hm? Oh, Sai! Forgot about you, sorry…"
"Quite a tantrum to forget about the constant voice in your head. So, what are you planning to do now?"
"Ahm…."
Zuko didn't have a plan, per say. He wasn't even sure that he was on the right track, Agni, he hoped he was on the right track and not in the middle of the earth kingdom somewhere!
"Don't worry, I directed your jets to the right direction, we'll be there in an hour. But you still haven't answered my question."
"I didn't really… have one. I kinda hoped you will have one."
"We'll talk about this later, righteous fury isn't a reason to get yourself killed. Luckily for you, however, I could probably track the steps of the raiding party."
"Oh…"
Zuko at least had the decency to look ashamed.
They stayed in an uncomfortable silence for a while.
"It's not your fault, you know."
Sai answered the unasked question that hunted Zuko all the while.
"It was my decision to hang those enforcers, if I just left them where they were than Mi-Sha may have not attacked the colony."
"Maybe yes, maybe not, what do you really know about what a crime lord may or may not have done? There is only one to blame for this, and he sits in the desert."
"And that's it? You're just telling me to ignore it?"
"Hardly. Think about it, learn from it, but never regret it. Regret is a sin, and one that the overlord can't bear. When you start regretting, you think about what you should have done in the past, instead of what you should do now and in the future."
"I still failed, I promised them that I will protect them."
"And now you will avenge them, experience thought me that a bloodbath is always a good therapy."
They stayed quiet for another while.
"Do you want to know why Shen is antagonistic towards your uncle?"
"Ahm… yes."
To be fair, Zuko completely forgot about it. Understandable considering circumstances.
"This is something that you need to figure by yourself, so bear with me for now."
"Argh… Fine..."
"Tell me, your highness, how did you feel when you saw forever little ki?"
"What kind of question is this?"
"Please answer."
"Enraged, heartbroken."
"And what are you doing now? The results you seek, not your present action."
"I'm bringing justice!"
"And why? It wouldn't bring them back. Besides, justice has no meaning for the dead."
"They must be avenged! I can't just leave the criminals unpunished, honor demands it!"
"And is it only honor why you care about this colony?"
"What?! No! I care about the people here! I can't just let them die a meaningless death!"
"Exactly!"
"Hah?"
Zuko let a surprised sound.
"What do you think Shen felt when his son died?"
"The same thing… I guess?"
"True, and what did you uncle do?"
"He retreated. But you can't be serious, he just lost his son!"
"We are not debating wither your uncle made the right decision or not, even if I have a few things to say about it, but about the amenity between the two old man."
"When your uncle retreated, he said that it is fine for him to sacrifice the tens of thousands sons and daughters under his command. But once it was his own son that fell, then it was game over."
"All the life spent for the fire nation's dream wasted in a single decision. As a parent, how would you feel?"
"Bad… But soldiers die at war, and they died for what they believed in!"
"Did they? Thousands of Shens may disagree. This is one thing to lose a child to war, not an easy thing at all, but for them to die as their commander made their sacrifice worth nothing is different."
Zuko had nothing to say against this.
"And what uncle should have done?"
"What would you do?"
"Going berserk and attacking the entire city as a one man army."
Zuko found it a little ironic, because it's exactly what he was doing now.
"At least you're self-aware. I will not claim to know what your uncle had in mind, but I hardly think that he intended to hurt all those families. Most likely he thought he was doing them a favor."
Zuko stayed silent.
"Oh look, we're here."
Zuko looked down and… He saw exactly what he expected to see. There was a mess everywhere, there was no building that stayed even semi standing. This attack was meant to send a message, nothing else.
"Why there are no soldiers here to investigate?"
"Most likely because there is no longer reason to prolong their deployment away from their posts. "
"But they didn't hunt the bandits!"
"The sad truth. Your recourses are limited, as a commander you need to prioritize your targets. Here it was decided that saving manpower for the defense of the other colonies is more important than avenging a fallen one. And that if they find said bandits in the first place."
"It's not fair…"
"Seldom it is, it's up to you to make them fair. Don't the, it's what we are doing now. Walk around the colony so I could scan and analyze."
As he asked, Zuko did a stroll around the colony. He did not enjoy it one bit. Once he completed his action, he regarded Sai.
"So you have a clue?"
"Yes, I analyzed the surrounding. There were between eighty to hundred and ten targets, they came at night and took the colony by surprise. They appeared to have no farther strategy than using overwhelming numbers and brute force. To be fair, they didn't need to."
"Where did they go?"
"Northeast. You will find a trampled trail, follow it and you will find the bandits."
"Then let's go, we're wasting time."
Zuko said as he sprinted in the said direction.
"Caution is advised, I recognized at least forty different earth benders."
That stopped Zuko for a second. Forty earth benders were over a third of the raiding party, this quality of troopers was more in line of the fire nation army than the earth kingdom military, who would kill for even half of the quality.
"You think that they are some special forces?"
"Hard to tell, but I incline to disagree. A special force would have used more strategies than just attack at night and rush at brute force."
Zuko once again used his fire bending to fly across the trail the bandits left, he just hoped he could get there in time.
Huan was in charge of the bombardment. It was a great honor, truly it was, and he was glad that he was chosen for it. As a none bender, he didn't have any high hopes for a good military career. Un the fire nation, power was a must for success, and power he lacked.
To be fair, he expected to be sent and die as another nameless body to the meat grinder that is known as the frontline. And he was indeed sent to the frontline as he expected.
Luckily, the new invention, the eye, was introduced to the army. At first, like any other thing, it was reserved for the fire benders, because only they could fly the thing.
Huan didn't care so much, as long as it kept them alert for ambushes, he was more than happy. About a week ago new models were introduced, models that didn't require a fire bender to use them.
As expected from command, they didn't waste an opportunity to pull the fire benders to the front and put the "regular" soldiers to the more mundane and boring duty.
Huan was very happy that he was among the chosen, a safe job away from the front with as little work to do as possible? Count him in!
Of course it could get boring at times, but for one that was at the front it was like a vocation. Especially with a partner to talk to about all kind of things. It was fun to look and laugh at what people did when they thought that no one was looking.
The real joy, however, came when those "airships" arrived. Just by looking at them he knew that those things meant business. Once again, he was chosen. But not because he was a waste of space, but because he was one of the most senior operators of the eyes.
When the higher ups explained to them the purpose of those things, he knew he hit the jackpot. Now, he could gain the same prestige as those big shot fire benders, but without facing any real danger!
Their first few missions consisted of bombardments on supply storages and small garrisons, their foe didn't really have a chance. Which did make him pity them a bit, but not enough to spare more than a second thought. He knew very well that those same people will kill him and his friends if he let them.
Which let to their present campaign.
The acting commander himself was the one that debriefed them, that alone showed how serious the situation was. His words didn't make it any less dire.
Commander Shen explained them about the massive bombardment, "Make them feel as if Agni himself was shitting at them.", were his words. The result of their mission could potentially save hundreds of lives if they manage to force Beifong to surrender.
Now he was on the air with his crew, above their respective target and ready to unleash hell. He breathed deeply once, twice and turned to his crew.
"Alright, listen up! Wind is weak and our time is almost up!"
He pointed at a sandglass that represented their time to strike. They planned for all the airships to start bombing at the same time, to burn all means to cope and put the entire region in disarray.
"The comender promised the Beifongs some fireworks, and by Agni I'm not going to make him a liar! Now start the bombardment in three! Two! One!"
The last grain of sand went down, and the garrison faced head on the full arsenal of an overloaded airship.
Huan looked down at his work, it really was a terrifying work of art. How the flames of the explosion danced across the field and painted it in all kinds of hot colors, how the explosions made a chaotic but surprisingly beautiful melody.
He supposes that being a none bender wasn't that bad after all, he doubted that even the famed dragon of the west could achieve such a level of destruction single handedly like Huan did right now.
Either way, he was glad that he was with the fire nation, he didn't envy those poor bastards down there.
The night fell on the land as Zuko followed the way that Sai showed him in the helmet.
"How close are we?"
"We should catch up to them in a few minutes, there is a camp not too far away."
"I thought they were smarter then to rest in fire nation territory."
"You'd be surprised how hard it is to move hundred men quickly in an unfamiliar territory. My guess is that they lost their way and had to make a few turns, they could hardly have the time for a well laid plan if they were called right after our fiasco at the desert."
The reminder still hurt Zuko. Luckily enough, Sai changed the subject.
"Are you sure you don't want to rest a little? You used a lot of energy for the trip, you may not have enough to assault the entire camp. Especially if it's as big as suspected."
"I don't care, I'll make enough energy. They need to pay, now! If we wait we may lose the element of surprise, or worse, loose them in the desert!"
Zuko could almost hear Sai's sigh.
"Very well, I will supply you with backup energy. I will warn you beforehand, your body is not yet ready to handle this much energy. You will most likely fall unconscious after some time."
"And how much time will it take to finish them off?"
"A few minutes less."
"Do it."
Sai said nothing, it didn't need to. Zuko immediately felt a surge of power going through his entire body, it was painful but pleasurable at the same time.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened them again, they shined like torches behind the helmet.
"Let's do this."
He said as he sprinted towards the bandit camp.
Tau was one of the men that were called by the boss to off some greenlander colony. Apparently, some princeling disrespected the man and needed to be thought a lesson.
The job itself went well enough, with focus on Gaoling, the flaming pricks were too busy to look at their boys. All they needed to do was to have a long turn and they weren't even noticed.
The task itself was easy enough. There wasn't any force big enough to challenge them, and the local garrison was overwhelmed soon enough. The old man with the eye patch gave a fight, but he was down as well.
Anyway, the trashing of the place was over too quickly for his liking. Sure, they had fun, and he did enjoy holding the woman when they made an example of the kid as the boss ordered, but the orders for quick raid were boring.
What is the worth of raiding if you can't enjoy the spoils? It was get in, trash the place, kill everyone and scram. They didn't even take the goods and coin that were laying on the streets, let alone enjoy the more… lovely spoils of a raid.
But orders are orders, and you don't go against the orders of the boss.
Which led to him preparing to sleep. After a long day of travel, and a few wrong turns on the long way, the men were exhausted. They were in a valley close enough to the desert, so that tomorrow they would already be home.
He was about to close his eyes when a large explosion rocked him out of his makeshift mattress.
"Okay, who's the corpse!"
Tau walked out of his tent to see what was going on. When he walked out, he saw that the men that were on watch were fighting some armored fire bender.
It seemed that their uninvited guest managed to put a dozen or so of the boys under, their unmoving bodies either melted in a few places or bent in a way that was not physically possible.
He wasn't the only one who woke up as he so more of the men went out of their tents and joined the others. Some, like him, were constant enough to enjoy the show. Why work hard if you can rest? It's not like a lone man can beat over thirty men.
Only as time passed, the fire bender didn't wend down as expected. By now over forty of the men went down, to never get up again, and the others (him included) are now fighting the fire bender together.
It didn't make sense, by every right the fire bender should have been exhausted by now. He himself was exhausted enough, and he wasn't a weak man at all.
The camp was in ruins, and only a third of the men were left. They were all earth benders, so that helped. There was a stalemate of a kind.
He was fast enough to avoid being buried and his flames were strong enough to melt the rocks they threw at him. On the other hand, they covered each other, and their rock shields were enough to hold the assault of the flames, blasts, and even lightning, before the guy needed to focus elsewhere to avoid injury.
"Kill him!"
"Don't let him escape the encirclement!"
"It's just one guy! Kill him already!"
At long last, it seemed that finally their hand was on top, as he managed to get a good hit on the chest. The strange fire bender was sent flying to the side.
"Yeah! To your face, bastard!"
"Good one, Tau!"
"Yeah! Show him who's boss!"
"Let's kill and-"
"Enough."
The strange fire bender stood up, shaking off the blow as if nothing happened. He was now holding a pair of swords that he took from the fallen men he crashed into, each now was engulfed in flames.
"You have hurt enough."
The voice that spoke was deep, way deeper than it should have been even with the mask. It didn't sound completely human.
"You are dying here and now!"
The men. No, the thing, pointed its stolen sword right at a group of four men and released such intense stream of fire that it looked more like a beam.
The group raised their shields in time, the others covered them as well, but in did little to help. The attack tore the hard rock like it was nothing, the men behind it didn't even have the chance to scream as they were vaporized from existence.
Some of them, Tau included, tried to run. The thing, however, had other plans.
"Escape is not allowed!"
It jammed the swords to the earth, and it immediately shook and spat flames in the height of a tower. The wall of flames surrounded them completely and their would-be escape was blocked off.
"And when I kill you, then my pain is over."
"No! please!"
"We submit! Please forgive us!"
The men, with no exception, knelt and begged for mercy. He himself wasn't any different as he pleaded for his life.
"Please! They forced me! If I didn't do as they told me, they would have killed my wife and child!"
A fat lie, he didn't have a wife. Children he probably has, but none that he will claim responsibility for. But the thing didn't need to know it, if he acted with enough conviction maybe he will live another day.
And so, he begged and wailed to the ground in thanks for "freeing" him. he hated it with every fiber of his being, but if he can get out of it than he can live it through.
As he knelt and had his head planted to the ground, he could hear the tortured screams of those that were beside him. He did feel a little sorry for them when they met their horrid end, but not more than a second of thought. He didn't care about anyone besides himself after all.
At long last, there was silence. Well, besides the sounds of burning fire. He heard metal footsteps approaching him as he stayed kneeling with the face to the ground.
Then it stopped.
"Rise."
The command was clear. He didn't waste any time complying with the will of the one that has Tau's life in their hands.
"M-my Lord… T-thank you for f-freeing me-"
"Show me your what's in your pocket."
"Y-yes."
Tau quickly emptied his pocket of all his possession. The irony of his reversed situation wasn't lost, but he had bigger problems to deal with than his ego right now.
Even though they were told to not waist time looting, Tau couldn't help himself but take a few things that caught his eye. Small reminders of good times, like that one time when he took the toy of the kid of that family he robbed and killed, or the ring of thar housewife he had fun with as he robbed that house.
"The neckless. Where did you get it?"
"Oh, this? Just some dumb woman- I mean, it was on the ground! I picked it because I thought my wife would like it! You want it? Take it!"
The figure hit him hard with its armored fist that surged with electricity, making Tau fall over.
"Don't lie to me, where did you get this neckless?!"
He took it from the woman he held as she watched her son helplessly. He kept that as a reminder of good times, after he snaped her neck, but he couldn't just say it outload.
"I- well…"
"It belonged to Ming; how did you get it?"
"Who?"
"Ming! The mother of the child you so graciously sent me his remains!"
"What-"
Then it all clicked. The sudden attack, the unreasonable amount of power this guy had, the will and dedication to see them all bloody murdered, how didn't he see it before?
"Y-You're t-the p-pr-"
"Yes, I am prince Zuko. And you are the one who killed Ki and Ming!"
"I didn't to it! It was Li! You already killed him! I only held the woman, I swear! ARGH!"
He bent over in pain as he felt electricity running all over his body.
"You are as guilty as the rest!"
"You are a thief!"
"A thug!"
"A murderer!"
At each sentence the prince sent another blast of electricity at Tau, each stronger than the last.
"M-mercy…"
It was the wrong thing to say, as the prince ruffly pulled him up and smashed him against a hard rock.
"Mercy?!"
The helmet of the prince grew flaming hair that danced like an inferno, the slits of the helmet glow in a dangerous amber light.
"Like you showed mercy to the people you robbed and murdered?! Like you showed when you held and tormented an innocent woman and her little child?"
The temperature grew hotter and hotter by the second, the heat was unbearable.
The prince smashed him again against the rock, making web like cracks to form. The prince then held one hand over Tau's face.
"You are immoral, heartless monster! You and the rest of your kind!"
The prince held his other hand over Tau's heart.
"You don't deserve it."
Tau screamed as the prince's hands grew hotter and hotter. It only intensified when the royal pushed the hand that was on Tau's heart deeper and deeper inside, melting its way in.
"A heartless monster you lived, and a heartless monster you die."
The prince said after a few minutes of slowly melting his hand threw Tau's heart.
Zuko was now sitting on a pile of men he killed. He was drained and needed to rest, right now it didn't matter on what as long as it was soft. Sitting there, he was deep in thought.
The did is done, the bandits paid the price, the people avenged, so why? Why isn't the pain going away?
"You did good."
"Then… why… I feel… so… bad…"
The battle drained him more than he expected, he felt like he was going to fall asleep in any second. Sai was right, he wasn't ready yet to channel spirit energy, but Zuko couldn't find it in himself to regret his decision.
"You're tired. As well as in pain, both physical and mental. Rest now, your highness, I will be on guard."
"Thank you… Sai…"
In his tired state he didn't notice an eye closing in his location, nor the man that came out of it. unaware, he let the darkness take him.
Iroh managed to salvage an eye, thankfully Shen had one as spare. It wasn't fancy, marly a spying tool, but it could get Iroh to his nephew, and that was the only important thing.
He flew to the general direction of the razed colony in hopes that his nephew will cause enough commotion for him to notice from the sky (as usual). Hours went by and Iroh became restless, did something happen? Was his nephew hurt? A part of him hoped that Zuko would understand his folly and save himself from the path of vengeance.
At long last, the spirits answered his call.
Just as it became dark and too dangerous to fly, Iroh noticed sparks in the distance. He was sure that it was his nephew's doing, for who else could it be?
He held his breath and directed his eye in that direction. It would take time, but in the end he would get there. He also followed the spark closely, as long as there were sparks, his nephew was still fighting. Therefore, as long as there were speaks, his nephew was still alive.
It was a little after dawn (and a restless night of slow flight, he couldn't risk hitting something) that the fire stopped. His heart was filled with cold dread because there were only two reasons why Zuko didn't continue, because he didn't need to, or because he couldn't.
Disregarding safety, he used his fire bending to move the eye as fast as possible. What he discovered was nothing less than a horror show. There were bodies everywhere, melted, broken, even with his experience as a general he rarely saw such brutality.
The truly terrifying thing, however, was in the middle. He saw his nephew, with his dark armor and the demented helmet, sitting on a pile of half molten corpses that were melted into one another and created a horror of a throne. A throne on which his nephew was sitting as a carrion lord.
"Zuko?! ZUKO!"
His nephew didn't respond to him, Iroh fearfully ran to check on his nephew. Luckily, Iroh could still fell the pulse. His nephew was merely unconscious.
Iroh then looked at the helmet, he was sure that it was the cause for all of this. He didn't know how or why, but he knew that he had to get rid of it.
And what better opportunity than the present? His nephew unconscious after a hard battle, he surly wouldn't notice if Iroh took away his helmet and threw it to some bush. Oh, he would make a show of helping his nephew with his search, but after no result they would have to except the fact that it was stollen or lost during his nephew's battle in the dark.
With resolve, Iroh prepared to take off the helmet.
"I wouldn't it if I were you."
AN
And this is the end of chapter 20
hope you liked the chapter!
Now for the reviews:
Brenne:
I hope I held your expectations XD
Xxxxxhgg:
They will meet again, but I have big plans for Hakoda, big plans indeed...
Sewrtyuiop:
Glad you thought so!
It took some effort to write a convincing dialog with Toph's father that will get her more freedom, as well as introducing another invention
deniswanheda :
I'm glad you liked it!
Gaoling will have huge role for Zuko's plans, but probably not what you'd expect.
I'm happy that you noticed the parallels between the parenting of Zuko's and Toph's dads, the other sides of the spectrum, each bad for the child.
You can bet that Ozai will be forced to move.
good to hear that you liked the reactions of the girls. I'm not sure about a harem, but they are all teenagers, so drama will happen.
Yes, this raid will still hunt Zuko for a while.
Don't worry, we will see Hakoda's reaction soon.
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.