I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender
Chapter 22
"I must say, the tea is better than I thought."
Zhao said as he sipped his cup after Jasmine filled it.
"Thank you, commander. Uncle did it himself."
Zuko told him as he pointed with his head to Iroh's direction. Uncle nodded his head in thanks.
And it was true, uncle did make the tea. Albeit, in a different kettle and completely unaware of Zuko's scheme. Convincing him was also too easy, uncle will jump on any opportunity to make tea.
Uncle may have raised a brow when he saw a different kettle than the one he made in, but fortunately he said nothing. The fact that he tasted the very same tea he made also quelled his suspicions.
Unlike Zhao, however. The tea the commander had was from a special chamber in the kettle, one where alongside the tea was a drop a special potion Sai instructed him how to make.
The potion itself was easy enough to make, it was also inspired by the incident Zuko himself had earlier. Whoever drinks it will have severe troubles with his bowls for a day or two, more than enough for Zuko to hijack back the surrender.
Yes, Zhao may blame the tea party, but with all the others fine he will just look stupid. Besides, in this case Zuko will just say that it was probably something Zhao ate before.
The potion will take effect in an hour or two to avoid suspicion. Now it was only a question of keeping Zhao hear long enough for the effects to take hold.
"So tell me, Zhao, how is being a commander treating you? It was some time since we fought together."
"Yes, it was, and so far I'm well. The pay is good and there are many more responsibilities. My wife and son are certainly happy."
"Wait, your married?!"
Zuko couldn't hide his surprise, because really, who in their right mind will marry someone like Zhao? I mean, even a Komodo-rhino sounds more appealing.
"Yes, with a kid. What's with the tone?"
Zhao raised one of his bushy eyebrows, displeased.
"Ahm, I-… I mean that you're just so dutiful and hardworking, it was hard to picture you outside of the military. I meant no offence."
It seemed to pacify Zhao a little. If there was one thing that can calm him down, it was flattery.
'Thank for the save, Sai.'
"Anytime, I must admit that it caught me by surprise as well."
"The airship is a nice boon as well."
Zhao continued as if nothing happened, bragging always calmed him down.
"You see, it is the one and only of its kind as for now. The fire lord himself saw it fit to give me command over it as the officer who introduced the eyes to the fire nation."
"It's a marvelous work, really, and one can't help but enjoy the view. Do you know that it can move faster than any cruiser?"
"It's good to know. I'm glad that my idea is gaining such interest."
He needed to remind Zhao that it was Zuko who invented to eyes, and that Zhao's success was Zuko's achievement, not his.
"Yes… Your contribution had been… Noted."
Zhao had an annoyed look on his face.
"Did my father say anything about it?"
"The fire lord… Was pleased with the farther advantage our great nation made."
That … that was the closest thing to father saying he was proud of him!
Zuko was glad he had the helmet on, or else everyone would have seen him smiling from ear to ear. He almost missed Zhao's words.
"And a new batch of airships is to be introduced later this month. We are planning to test their effectiveness against the well-armed walls of Omashu, to see if they will be as efficient against Ba Sing Se as we hope. "
"And you will have the honors?"
Zuko asked. To which Zhao gritted his teeth, so the answer was most likely negative.
"Unfortunately, the command thought that it is better to let more officers experience the full capacity of the airships before committing a grand scaled attack. Foolish if you ask me, I already have such a force under my command and know very well how to use it. They should have just untrusted me, and I would have made quick work of Omashu."
"His attitude was most likely the main reason for the decision. Besides, it was Shen and not Zhao who commanded the air force."
"I'm sure you will get your chance."
Zuko replied evenly before continuing his interpretation.
"I must say, I'm surprise by your speed. Even after Shen sent his latter, I figured it would take at least a few more days to come."
"What can I say, your highness, I like to be updated about the situation. It is only expected of me."
'Lier!'
"Lier."
Zuko and Sai said together in the prince's mind.
"Now I'm afraid that I must cut this meeting short, I need to prepare for the surrender."
Zhao said as he stood up from his sit and went to the door. He stopped right before going through it and turned his head to the prince.
"You may come as a witness, if you want. As long as you behave and stay in line."
With those final words, Zhao left the room completely.
"What. An. Ass"
Jasmine finally said as they made sure that Zhao couldn't hear them.
"Try working under him."
Shen commented to Jasmine, which made her shudder in disgust.
"He'll get what's coming for him soon enough. Karma will make sure of it."
Zuko said to keep deniability for and in front Shen. He was pretty sure that the old man was onto them, or at least had suspicion, but against a prince and with Zhao being so… Zhao, Shen didn't have problems to stay quiet and play the game.
"So, should I prepare for the trip, your highness?"
Shen asked.
"Yes. Agni wills it, Zhao will have his own problems to deal with in an hour or so. Do you have the papers?"
"Yes, the agreement is ready and in a safe place. Should I extract it for the flight?"
"Yes and keep it with men you trust, it is not beyond Zhao to ruin the entire surrender for pettiness."
Zuko ordered the old soldier before turning to Jasmine.
"Alright boys! A hurry up before we have another snowstorm!"
The man loaded their last cargo inside their strange transparent dome like building.
On a cliff nearby, a pair of siblings were watching the new thing that was built before them.
"What do you think this is, Sokka? Who are they and what are they doing here?"
The sister asked her elder brother.
"How would I know? You're the one with magic water here."
Sokka was a bit miffed right now. Ever since the food supply stopped, he had to go hunting triple time, there was no other man who could after all. His success was varied, meaning he barely got enough food for the village to go by.
He was hungry and tired and the fact that his little sister forced herself on his hunts didn't help his mind to calm down, especially when she seemingly had more success than him to catch fish. He argued that she was scaring them away from him and using her magic water to cheat, but she didn't seem to accept his reasonable points.
Now, a little more than three weeks after the supply stopped coming, they found in their hunt this… Sokka didn't know exactly what it was. Only that it was strange, completely not water tribe, and that it didn't belong here. He was certain that this was some kind of fire nation plot.
"Excuse me?! First of all, it's not 'magic water', it's water bending. Second of all, how in La's name are the two things connected?"
Great, now she's all bratty and that…
Deep breathes Sokka, deep breaths. Men don't lose their cool just because of their little sisters are being annoying.
"Whatever, can you use your magic water to make it go away?"
"Argh, you're imposable! Why don't you do it yourself, ho mighty warrior!? Or better yet, why should we even do something? They are far from the village, and I don't see any fire nation symbol."
"Hey! You're the one who is so proud of her water bending, miss 'I can beat an entire platoon of fire nation soldiers with a bit of practice'. Besides, look at the inside of this thing, it's all green… and grouse…"
His sister rolled her eyes.
"Those are called vegetables. You know would know it, Sokka, if you weren't chocking on your jerky all the time."
Katara then looked back at the strange house in interest.
"But now that I think of it, how is it possible? Don't those kinds of things need warm weather and sunlight? They should have frozen long ago, and yet…"
"Eh, the invisible walls probably keep the cold wind out and the sunrays in. the density of everything inside probably keeps everything humid as well, not so different from our igloos."
Sokka waved his hand in dismissal.
"What?"
He said after Katara looked at him weirdly.
"Nothing, it's just… strange to hear you say something smart for a change. I guess you can use your head when you want to."
"…"
"That… was the best thing you said about me in over a year and I still don't know if I should take it as a compliment or an insult…"
Sokka said in the end and decided that watching the strangers was better than the awkward silence, and he glad he did because he saw something that caught his interest.
"Wait, are they… Fishing? Oh spirits, they are! There is a fishing pool in there too!"
"What! How!"
His sister was as excited as him. obviously, she understood the superiority of meat as well as him.
"Maybe there is some hole connected to the ocean there and the fish attracted to the hit, I don't know."
He answered back.
"That is great! Maybe they can help us! Imagine it, no longer to need to go hunting for scraps!"
Katara's eyes particularly shone with hope.
"Wow there sis, in case you have forgotten, they are strangers. I mean their obviously fire nation, who else could they be?"
"Don't be stupid, Sokka. The fire nation only destroys, they can't create anything that isn't a weapon. Those people are obviously refugees from the continent that came here hiding."
"But-"
"Sokka, the village is starving. We can't go on like this, I know that you try your best and that it's slowly breaking you. Please, let others help."
"I- well… Oh fine, but the first sign of trouble and we're out of here."
Sokka ended surrendering to his little sister's baby seal eyes.
"And when they will turn out to be fire nation, I'll say 'Told you so'."
He had to say it so his sister wouldn't think she won the argument.
"Fine."
He could particularly hear her eyes role to his side as they went to the strange building. After a few minutes, they were greeted with the men guarding it.
"Hey there, how can we help you?"
The guy at the front said.
"Hello. My brother and I were just passing and then we saw you and got curious. Are those really fruits and vegetables inside?"
"Well, yes. "
"Did the fire nation sent you to spy on us?"
Sokka got to the heart of the matter.
"Sokka! You can't just say something like that!"
"Don't tell them our names!"
Katara then turned to the man.
"I'm sorry about him, he was born without the thing called common sense."
"Eh, no problem. The question was fair enough."
The stranger waved off the remark before answering.
"I can't speak for the others, but as far as I know we're all here as a part of an experiment to grow vegetation in the south pole. Nothing about spying or anything, not that I would have gone if it was something that dangerous."
"And from were exactly, are you?"
Sokka asked.
"Me and the others are from the continent. Each of us is a second son at best from a farm or a store there. with not many choices of work besides being conscripted or banditry we decided to except an offer of some big shot company and here we are. I myself am an earth bender, so I had to be extra careful not to draw unwanted attention."
"See Sokka, I told you that they aren't with the fire nation."
"He could still be a spy…"
Sokka muttered under his breath.
"So is that all, kids? Because me and the boys still have work to do."
"Actually…"
Katara began to play with her fingers.
"Is there any way that we can… get some food? We are ready to work for it, of course!"
The man looked at them both up and down, apparently find them wanting.
"Look kids, I appreciate the effort, but I don't think that you have the green thumb. And even if you did touch something green connecter to the ground in your life, we have enough men for that. Only things I have in mind are either cooking, cleaning or sowing. And even then, you need to talk to the boss here."
"Amm… Can we come to you later with an answer?"
Katara asked.
"Sure, as you can see, we're not going anywhere."
The man pointed behind him at the building.
The siblings went away back to their village.
"Katara, what was that? Are you seriously considering that guy's offer? We don't even know his name!"
"Well, it's not like we have many options! In case you didn't notice, food is something that we desperately need! I don't like it as well, but if they are ready to give us food in return for what the women here do anyway, then it's a risk I'm willing to take."
"Argh… we'll talk to gran-gran, maybe she will put some sense into you."
The two continued their track to their home.
"We are to land in Gaoling in a few minutes, your highness."
One of the pilots informed Zuko.
It was very nice of Zhao to invite him at the end of the tea, now no one even bated their eyes about Zuko's presence. Of course, with Shen back as acting commander because of Zhao's ill-timed illness, things are going to go as planned. Poor Zhao, he really should watch what he's eating.
A small part of him still didn't like the fact that he had to poison a fellow countryman, and he suspected that poisoning an officer is considered a treason. Oh well, he should just debate with Sai about more honorable ways to take care of the unexpected.
On the other hand, this really couldn't happen to a better person. Zuko wandered who is going to be Zhao's scapegoat this time, probably the one who made his breakfast or something. Whoever that guy will be, Zuko will have to take responsibility and make sure the poor sod will have someplace to work.
"Are you ready, your highness?"
Shen asked him from his side.
"As ready as I'll ever be. Without Zhao, however, it should be a show at most."
"Yes, it should. I wonder how the little lady Beifong is, now that she's back home."
Zuko wondered as well how Toph was doing. Oh well, he will have plenty of time to ask, they needed something to pass the time so that the surrender would look convincing. He wondered how lord Beifong is handling the situation right now, the man can't be having a happy time.
"Bark!"
Zuko patted Xing's head. The hellhound wanted to make up for the lost time it was away in the mission with Mi-Dved, it relentlessly wanted Zuko's attention at it took some heavy bribes of treats to keep it away for the duration of the meeting with Zhao. Zuko had the feeling that Xing would have had enough and mauled Zhao the moment he opened his mouth, or sooner.
"There, there, boy. We're almost here. Now when we'll go out, we need to make an impression, so put on your scary face."
"Grrr"
Xing bared his fangs and his eyes lit ablaze with wisps of fire escaping from the sides.
"Good, like that. We want a show of force, not to be seen as rabid."
Then, a voice announced their lending.
"All personal, prepare for landing! Parade one, to position!"
He saw the numerous soldiers filling four rows, two rows at each end of the platform. The spears of the none bending soldiers were pointed to the top.
At long last, the airship landed, its length barley fitting the garden. Once the door opened, the four rows marched and created a corridor between the ship and the party of lord Beifong who waited at the other side of the garden.
The garden itself was surrounded by green wearing guards, no doubt that those men were part of the earth kingdom army that fought against the advances of the fire nation here in Gaoling. While Zuko figured that they wouldn't attack, he could clearly see that they were far from happy.
Never mind, his soldiers and the airship can deal with them easily enough.
"Presenting, commander Shen and prince Zuko!"
"Well, it's showtime."
Zuko said as he stood up and created a flame on the helmet, a nice little trick that Sai taught him. Xing followed suite with faming eyes.
As Zuko went down the platform. He was very aware of the complete silence at the garden, and how the movements of his armor were heard clearly. He walked through the column of men, each side of if had two rows of which one faced inwards and the other faced outwards.
With Shen to his right and Xing to his left, he faced Lord beifong and his advisors, who all knelt.
"Princ Zuko, Well come again to my humble abode."
Together the two parties set and discussed the terms of Gaolin's surrender. It was all for show, both him and lord Beifong had already agreed on the terms. The purpose of this visit was just to make it official.
The process itself took longer than Zuko expected, fake haggling and even faker flattery ran for an hour or so before the deal was sealed. Even then, there was one thing that Zuko had to do before leaving.
"And one last thing, your daughter would be one of my sister's ladies in waiting."
It was a sign they both agreed to signal when to talk privately, Zuko had no intention to bring Toph anywhere near his sister.
Lord Baifong made a face before answering.
"I Don't think that this as a good idea, your highness."
Good, he was playing along.
"And why is that? Many would kill for such an offer."
"I mean no offence, your highness. But perhaps if you see for yourself, it may be easier to explain."
Zuko faked thinking about it for a few seconds before turning to Shen.
"Very well. If I don't return in half an hour, extract me by force."
The old acting commander saluted and Zuko turned back to lord Beifong.
"Very well, lead the way."
Lord Beifong, Zuko and Xing went inside.
Once they were inside, Zuko let a sigh of relief.
"Thank Agni that was over."
"It was indeed tiring."
Beifong replied.
"Although the massive airship did catch me by surprise your highness, I'll admit."
"You and me both. Zhao caught wind faster than we expected and came to 'claim his prize', thankfully he was delayed at the very last moment by a very ill-timed bowl problem."
"Oh, yes… I heard about this Zhao character. It is very fortunate indeed. Do pass him a quick recovery from me."
The last part was clearly fake.
"Anyway, how things have gone with you, your highness? I've heard about the village, you have my condonation."
"I… thank you. At least I gave the ones who did it their duo."
Beifong looked at him in surprise.
"But the news came yesterday at most, how could you possibly find them in such a short time, let alone bring them to justice?"
"I flew with a fire bending enhanced eye to the colony and then followed the tracks of the group as I jetted my way. I caught them camping and fought them there, all one hundred and twelve."
"That's… impressive, your highness. Remind me to never test your conviction."
"Thank you, how is Toph by the way?"
"Oh, she's very well."
This time Beifong was very sincere with his words.
"We owe you a great deal, your highness, my little angel was never happier. I had my reservations at the beginning, I wouldn't lie, but with her special 'sight' everything is much easier."
"Glad I could help."
"You know, seldom I am proven wrong, rarer are the times that I'm happy being wrong. But this time, there hasn't been any time that I have been happier to be proven wrong. As a parent, my greatest wish was for my daughter to live the best life she had. That is why when our little Toph was born blind we nearly broke, because we knew that she will never have the life other children will."
"Hah, it's funny really. we were blinded by our daughter's blindness so much that we didn't see the miracle right in front of us. A guilty part of me is glad that all of this unveiled the truth to us, I only wish that the price wasn't that high."
"Hey, we all make stupid mistakes. I mean, look at me, I'm banished and disowned for Agni's sake. All we can do now is to push forward and do our best."
They walked a bit in silence, the Beifong patriarch thinking about Zuko's words.
"Your father is truly blessed to have a son like you. I Don't know how things are at the palace, and I wouldn't intrude, but know that you will always be welcomed here. My little Toph looks up to you like an elder sibling that she never had, you know that?"
Lao said in the end and Zuko froze in his tracks for two seconds.
Beifong opened the door, and They were greeted with the female part of the Beifong family.
"Zuko!"
He was immediately tackled by a Toph shaped object, thankfully he managed to hold his ground.
"Toph! Control yourself, young lady!"
Mis Beifong cried in dismay.
"I'm so sorry, your highness."
"It's fine, how are you by the way, Mis Beifong?"
"Oh, just splendid, war aside of course, little Toph is happier than ever. Do you know that the only thing she talks about is 'when will Zuko come?' I think she took quite a liking to you."
"Mom…"
Toph buried her head it the closest thing, which also happened to be Zuko's armored chest. Zuko ruffed her head and messed her hair playfully as retribution.
"Let me guess, someone skipped her lessons?"
"No…"
"Yes."
Both Beifong women answered at the same time, you can guess who said what.
"Anyway, how are things with you?"
Toph asked once she went back to her mother's side.
"Oh, the usual. A bandit hunt here, a meeting with commanders there. A word of advice, always check the inside of the kettle."
"Cool!"
Zuko continued to talk about his adventures before returning to the airship.
When Zuko and his party returned to the base, there was a commotion. The moment the airship touched the ground, one of the men of his crew, Tang if he remembered correctly, ran to him in panic.
"Your highness! Your highness!"
"It's Zhao! He's trying to arrest Jasmine and Mi-Dved for high treason!"
"What! Where are they?!"
Zuko sprinted after Tang, Xing hot in pursuit.
After a minute or two, they reached a door. They could hear shouting from inside, Zuko recognized a few voices that belonged to his man.
Without thinking, Zuko kicked the door, and it flew open.
"What is going on here?! Zhao, what is this I heard about you arresting my men?!"
There was silence for a few seconds, before the source of the problems decided to speak.
"Ah, your highness, finally decided to return. As you can see, I'm merely putting some criminals to justice. You see, those lowlife scum that you have been so trusting of have tried to poison me during our meeting. Of course, you had no idea of it, otherwise you would have executed them yourself, wouldn't you, your highness?"
Zuko's hands shook in rage and small sparks ran randomly across his body. Next to him Xing growled and bared its fangs, ready to maul at Zuko's order.
"And do you have any proof, commander?"
Zhao smirked.
"I went to your meeting fine and healthy as a Komodo rhino, but a few hours after I suddenly had terrible stomach aches without eating or drinking a thing. Why the timing is very… unfortunate, wouldn't you say? It's as if someone didn't want me to be at the surrender."
"Give it up, Zuko, I'm giving you a chance to walk with your honor intact. Of course, we can talk in private about keeping things quite."
"In case you have forgotten, commander, we all drank the same tea as you, and you don't see any of us having a weak stomach. And don't even think of saying that Jasmine slipped something to your cup, we all saw that there was no such thing."
Zhao's smile dropped.
"She's a thief and a lowlife from the dessert, there is no doubt that she knows all kinds of dirty tricks. Her brother is no batter, the savage broke the arms of the men I sent to retrieve the criminal. Obviously, he is part of the ploy. The two of them are resisting lawful arrest and refuse questioning, that alone is a proof of their guilt."
"So your 'proof' is stereotypes and overprotectiveness of a brother over some armored men being after his little sister? Of course they would resist if you imprison them for something they didn't do!"
"I-"
Zhao began to speak, but Zuko had none of it.
"You are out of line! You bit the hand that fed you. I gave you the key for a promotion, years before your time. Then, when you decided that you don't feel well, I wiped your butt and filled your place at the surrender, saving you from embarrassment and possibly demotion!"
"And what do I get in return?! Accusations and blackmailing!"
"No Zhao, I am the one who is giving you a chance to walk away. You're still sick, because of that you say crazy stuff. Return to your bed, now, and I wouldn't write an open letter about how you tried to arrest two teenagers and blackmail your prince."
Zhao greeted his teeth.
"No one will believe you."
"You'd be surprised. Besides, they don't need to believe me, they only need to not like you. Your call."
Zuko crossed his arms, daring Zhao to call him out. It was Zhao who was shaking his hands now. After a few seconds of a very tense silence, Zhao's belly answered for him as it made all kinds of sounds.
"It seems… that I am still unwell. Forgive me, I will return to my chambers."
Zhao left the room. The men that were with him stood confused, not knowing what to do. Zuko made his feelings very clear.
"Scram."
Zhao's soldiers didn't waste time following his commands.
"My hero!"
Jasmine hugged him after Zhao's soldiers left.
"Good thing you came, your highness. Things could have gotten ugly."
Lieutenant Jee commented.
"How did any of this happened?"
Uncle was the one who answered.
"It seems that that commander Zhao had an ill-fated case of Bowl movements exactly when he needed to embrace the ship. He wanted someone to pay and held the last person who gave him food as the prime suspect, in this case in was our dear Jasmine."
Uncle nodded his head towards the girl.
"Zhao was very eager to see it threw as fast as possible and organized a squad to arrest Jasmine. Fortunately, Mi-Dved is always near his sister, and he raised a commotion that summoned the crew for backup. Once it was clear that the squad couldn't strongarm the crew, Zhao went here himself to order her arrest. Once there was a word that the airship is coming to land, we sent Tang to fetch you. From there you already know the story."
"I see, and the arm breaking part?"
"They didn't understand when a no is a no."
Mi-Dved said.
"Can't blame you, probably would have done the same thing."
Zuko said with a shrug, and he meant it too. He and his own sister may have a complicated relationship (to say at least), but if Azula was put in Jasmine's situation… okay, she would have still put Zhao in his place without any help. The point is that Zuko will help her in time of need.
"So, what's now boss?"
'Sai?'
"We did here everything we needed to, Loban and Beifong can figure things among themselves at what their parts will be. We have businesses south that would require the ship, we have kept them waiting long enough."
'But what about Mi-Sha? I can't just let him be.'
"And you wouldn't. but for now, we need time to gather enough troops and intelligence for a direct assault, What Toph gave us is a very good start, but not enough. Let Lao worry about the supplement, he has the highest interest in ending Mi-Sha. Shen will have no choice but to pimp up the manpower near Lao to avoid any assassination attempts as revenge. The two will take care of the military aspect in this region until you arrive to put the final nails in Mi-Sha's coffin."
'Fine.'
"We go south and continue the mission. We searched everywhere for air, now we continue to the next element, water. On the way we should also check on my greenhouse project to see how things are doing, with any luck we may actually eat something that doesn't require a hammer to crack the ice shell."
"Hear, hear!"
The crew said.
"The good news is that this should be much shorter than a year so we may not be buried in a snowstorm. The bad news is that we still be there long enough to fill the weather, so bring something warm to wear to keep your buts from freezing."
"Question."
"Yes, Jasmine."
"When you say, 'warm to wear', how warm do you mean? And a follow up question, is midriff fine?"
"There are places there that will literally freeze the blood in your body and make unprotected fingers fall from cold in a minute, so you tell me."
Jasmine's eyes grew a few sizes and she smartly kept quiet. Her brother, however, raised his hand.
"Yes, Mi-Dved?"
"What's a snowstorm? I mean, I get the storm part, but what's snow?"
"…"
"To be fair, it was to be expected. There is hardly snow in the desert and it's not like they could have gone somewhere else."
"You remember the icy treats they gave us beck then in Kyoshi island?"
Zuko tried to start an explanation.
"Yes."
"Good. Now imagine a sandstorm, just the sand is white sand at least ten times colder than the treat."
"Oh…"
"Indeed, so make sure that you have something worm your size."
"Yes, sir."
"Gran-Gran, you can't be serious!"
"I afraid I am, grandson. If the village is to survive, we need food."
"But I can get you food! I can hunt!"
"While it is remarkable that you go far and beyond your limits to get us food, a good warrior and leader need to know when he is fighting a loosing battle. One man, no matter how good of a hunter he is, just can't feed a village of a few dozen mouths."
"See Sokka, even gran-gran is telling you this."
"But we don't know those guys, they could do all kinds of nasty things for all we know!"
"You are right, little one, but we stand now before a choice. we can choose to refuse, we are well within our rights, and slowly but surely starve to death and hope that the men will come before is too late. Or we can accept, take a risk and maybe even get a reward."
"But what about our values, our culture?"
"If we are all dead then our values and culture will die with us. Besides, water adapts. We adapt to the surrounding, we guard our culture by the close ties we have for one another. As long as we live, we will prevail."
"Yes, gran-gran…"
Sokka said with defeat.
"So who are we going to take?"
Asked Katara?
"Ask for volunteers, see how many you can get. How many men were there, again?"
"Something around fifty or so."
"Oh my, in that case we should start with five and see how this is going. We should also agree on a proper wage before anything."
"Yes, gran-gran."
The siblings said together as they walked from the igloo.
"So, who do you think will volunteer?"
Sokka asked as Katara held her chin with her hand, thinking.
"Hmm… Kiva, most likely, and maybe Sakai."
"That is not enough."
"We'll get enough, we have three volunteers already."
"Three? Sis, I think the weather finally broke you. Kiva and Sakai are two people."
"Yes, with me as a third."
Katara said with confidence, daring Sokka to contradict her. Something which he immediately did, and with passion.
"Excuse me? Nonononono, no way. You are staying here, as far away from strangers as possible. You are the last water bender in the entire south for crying out loud, do you know how bad it will be if something happened to you?"
"Sokka, I can take care of myself! Besides, as a water bender I have a better chance of protecting everyone if things will be as bad as you fear."
"Ha! So you admit I was right."
Katara rolled her eyes.
"I never said you weren't, just that we have no other choice."
"Whatever, I still consider it a victory."
Sokka said, proud of himself.
"I'm still going."
"No, you're not. I'm your big brother, and you will listen to me."
"I'm going wither you like it or no!"
The siblings continued their argument as they went searching for volunteers.
AN
And this is the end of chapter 21
hope you liked the chapter!
Now for the reviews:
Arrowman:
read next chapter to find out ;)
Engineer1869:
Wow, just... wow.
I don't know what to say, I'm happy that you liked my story so much, I did worked hard on the symbolizations of the dream and the chapter at large.
I can't do your review justice, but I enjoyed reading and re-reading it very much!
Xxxxxhgg:
I'm happy that you noticed. Yes, Sai didn't tell Iroh everything he knew, not even close. you don't want to tip your enemy after all. An enemy that knows what you know is a threat, an enemy that thinks he knows that you know is a concern and opportunity, but an enemy that doesn't know that you know is a gift.
deniswanheda :
I'm happy to hear!
Azula will have to up her game, that's for sure. I have plans for her in future chapters, but it may take some time.
You can bet that Sai will milk Iroh's confessions for all their worth, it's just a question of timing.
I'm glad that you like Jasmine's character, one of the things I had to be careful as a writer is the introduction of OC's. To give them enough depth but still have the spotlight on the main characters to not alienate the readers, it's very good for me to read that you like my OC that much.
Arrowman:
read next chapter to find out ;)
Brenne:
Iroh is still around, don't worry... for now at least. He wouldn't leave Zuko like that.
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.