Teaser: It felt uncomfortable, caught on a precipitous stage where you had decided, but not yet acted upon a decision. There still was that lingering uncertainty that just couldn't be expelled. He was certain, damn it, but that didn't mean that he wasn't afraid.
A/N: A special thanks to LoveToRead613 for your encouraging words every time, and once again to Mr. Haziq.
I hope you both, and whoever else makes it this far in reading, enjoys this next chapter as well :)
Chapter 21 Milli Tveggia Elda
He had reached a decision. The thought ripped him out of the warm and cosy cocoon of sleep at the first light of dawn. It felt uncomfortable, caught on a precipitous stage where you had decided, but not yet acted upon a decision. There still was that lingering uncertainty that just couldn't be expelled. He was certain, damn it, but that didn't mean that he wasn't afraid. Afraid to make the wrong decision; despite having never felt surer; afraid to forget his negotiating points; to not be able to prevail for the sake of his people.
At least the sleeping bag had done its job and allowed him some rest. Despite some initial difficulties falling asleep, and having been roused by bodily needs at night once, he did in fact feel more rested than he had in a while. It seemed that the previous days had knocked him right out after he'd finally succumbed to a semblance of sleep without anyone watching.
He could hear Bato's snoring next to him and quietly sighed, sitting up. He was glad that the camp didn't raise quite as early as he, and he knew, despite wanting to get it over himself, he needed to mentally prepare for the day. Carefully he crossed his legs twisting towards the rising sun and prayed for guidance.
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Bato blinked, he'd heard quiet mumbling and turned towards it. The dark silhouette of the ex-Prince stopped at once. Bato groaned and pushed himself upright as well.
"Firebenders really do rise with the sun, huh?" he grumbled. He should have expected it, but to be fair, the boy hadn't tried to wake him this time.
"Yeah, we do," the boy murmured. "I need to talk to the Chief."
Bato pushed his head back into his pillow, muffling a groan: He wasn't awake enough for this.
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Bato had insisted on visiting the latrines and eating some breakfast first. Hakoda wouldn't be awake yet anyway. There was Napatki, the new night guard, waving them over, a steaming bowl in hand.
"Man, Zuko," Napatki was saying, "How on earth did I confuse you with Bato? He's so much taller than you."
To Bato's shock, Zuko's lips twitched: "It was dark. And he's not that much taller than me." he shrugged before walking off to get his own food.
"What are you talking about?" Bato asked, at once feeling like he'd missed something.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Napatki said. "The guy had to use the loo sometimes past midnight. Came right up to me just to let me know. I accompanied him to the latrines and then walked him back to your tent. Just, with the parka and rain, I totally took him for you at first. He didn't wake you up?"
"Indeed," Bato said, now a lot warier all of a sudden. Either the ex-Prince was a lot stealthier than he'd thought, or Bato had slept unusually deep, he nearly always woke up when Hakoda left the tent at night. By the time Zuko had finished eating, Bato had spotted Hakoda leaving for the latrines as well, and Zuko, without doubt, had too; He saw how the boy had tensed up, anticipation written all over his posture. When Hakoda came over, he took one look at them both, and said: "Just let me eat first."
Bato smiled at the fraction of tension that washed from Zuko's shoulders.
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"Alright, I take it we need privacy for this?" Hakoda said after putting down his bowl.
Zuko nodded and gestured towards Hakoda's tent in askance.
"Bato, can you handle matters out here?" Hakoda asked as he stood up to lead the way. Bato just gave a short nod. Only when Zuko and Hakoda were both comfortably settled on some furs did they pick the conversation back up.
"Thank you Chief Hakoda, I am aware of my position as the sole representative of the nation you seek to fight against. So I, Prince Zuko, am here to broker terms so that we might be able to achieve a compromise on how this war should end."
The awkward boy from outside was gone in an instant, replaced by the steel-backed Prince from their earlier talks.
"I thought you had made it a point yesterday that you aren't a Prince anymore?"
Zuko ground his teeth in frustration. "I am a Prince and I am not. It is complicated" he put out, "That isn't the point of this discussion. I would like us to come to an agreement for the future. I will not sit idle as you plan the destruction of all I hold dear. Your people were not afforded this dignity, don't allow my people the same disservice, please."
"I think there is very much point to discussing this. Yesterday you claimed to no longer have a duty to your country. As a Prince, you do. I can't discuss terms with someone who is as indecisive as a flag in the wind."
Anger flashed in his golden eyes before Zuko reduced it to a glower as he collected himself, and continued. "Chief Hakoda. I can reject the title of Prince of the Fire Nation all I want, but unless my father declared me illegitimate, something which he would find next to impossible to do, due to the Fire Sages being present at every royal birth, and my prior status, I will still be a Prince. Happy?" he asked, raising his sole eyebrow.
"Are you serious about acknowledging your duty as a Prince to your country?"
"Would I have come to you with this intent of talking for my people if I wasn't? I may not want the title, but I know it is my duty."
"Remind me again, what do you see as your duty to your people?" Hakoda said, watchful eyes resting on Zuko.
Golden eyes softened as he realised they were finally getting somewhere; "To protect and uphold their values. To act as their voice. To be the example to which they should aspire to. My father has forgotten much in his pursuit of vanity and glory, but my mother remembered what it meant to be a true Fire Lord. Master of all, Servant to all." he concluded, a touch of sadness wavering in his voice.
Hakoda dipped his head in agreement and spoke. "Very well. What terms are we talking about?"
"The handling of persons of war, civilians and soldiers alike on both sides. Your intents with the Earth Kingdom soldiers, the lands held by the Fire Nation at home and abroad, and any payments the Fire Nation can offer in recompense for the eighty years of war upon your shores."
"You do not have the power to promise to uphold any of those things in your current position. What can you offer?"
"I can and I will offer those terms, Chief Hakoda. Although not approved by my father's faction, even one half-blind could see that my uncle, Prince-General Iroh, has strong support back in the Nation. As to his…transgressions as Azulon's general against the Eastern Earth Kingdom, that is where I come in. My Uncle has shown no love to my father or sister, and with his son and heir Lu Ten, Agni rest his soul to the ancestors, departed, I am his sole heir. I can offer myself to mediate, as I do to you now, to soothe the burns the Fire Nation has caused the world. Please, Chief" Zuko paused, the weight of the title eating the gap before he continued: "Hakoda, let us speak of terms and peace, not bandy barbs and war." Zuko sighed, hoping what he said was enough.
"Shouldn't Prince Iroh have been crowned Fire Lord instead of Ozai in the first place?"
"He should have been. My father saw that he wasn't." Zuko said, in a tone that suggested nothing further should be said on that matter.
Hakoda decided that it would get them further to drive the conversation onwards, instead of pushing for subjects that he already saw, the Prince wasn't willing to discuss right now.
"Alright, let's talk about persons of war. Once the war is over, I want all prisoners of war, still alive, to be returned."
"That would be my wish also. But, I can not promise all. Just as there are men who went beyond their commands, or were exceptionally cruel generals or admirals in our ranks. There have been rumours of some of yours who have achieved the same. War Chiefs would be held to the mark of our and your judgement, to be managed as seen fit. Furthermore, some are too dangerous to be returned, I hope that you understand that they shall remain in custody. I expect nothing else but equal terms to our troops also."
"I see your point, though I would like to know how you imagine the process of release. As for the release of your own troops. The Water Tribe doesn't usually keep prisoners and I cannot speak for the Earth Kingdom."
Zuko paused, a bit struck by the notion of no prisoners and what that could mean, but he continued, "It would be my intention that those who merely were acting under orders should not be tried and be allowed to return. Those who gave the order, or otherwise committed acts outside of those orders, would be tried, and handled as appropriate. To my knowledge, the Earth Kingdom has acted in similar ways before. I hope they are as consistent as the element they bend." Zuko lamented that he couldn't do more for those in prison themselves. He repressed an internal shudder at his experiences, but if he couldn't make the promise for the Fire Nation to do the same, how could he expect Hakoda to honour such terms?
"With the release of prisoners of war, I expect an influx of people, we will not be able to feed with what we have been able to hunt recently. We will need supplies for that alone already, but that is for later. You mentioned civilians on your side as well!?"
Zuko was relieved that Hakoda was staying on topic, so he continued: "I cannot assure you of supplies, but I hope that is expected payment once the war is finished. As to the civilian population, well… don't hurt them?" He shrugged, a touch of the awkward edging out:
"The Fire Nation sought to attack your people as it was thought most of your population was able to waterbend, a fact we found false. In the Fire Nation, it is not typical, as is the case in the Earth Kingdom, to be able to wield an element, so please afford my people the dignity to be out of the war as much as they can. But I must warn you, it is normal for a non-bender in the Fire Nation to wield at least one weapon. I, begrudgingly, accept that those people, by attacking you, must be accepted as part of the war. But please, take prisoners, not lives, however far that is removed from your culture."
"We have neither the food, nor the structures to keep prisoners, we have, in the past, passed any prisoners on to the Earth Kingdom, but I don't know what happens to them from there on out. They may be tortured again, and then most likely sent off to labour camps. I always thought a quick death would be more merciful." Hakoda stated. He understood where the boy was coming from, but he was under no illusions about what was done to and with prisoners taken from the war effort.
Zuko's gaze grew guarded. "So long as you can expect similar circumstances for your own people, and that of the Earth Kingdom, I guess we must accept these… acts as they happen. How do you intend to manage the generals of the Earth Kingdom? My Uncle spoke of their stubborn nature, and they won't bend easily, especially to one they might see, incorrectly, as a lesser?"
"Agreed. We intend to open up communication for an allied attack, and it is my wish, as well, to keep in charge of the operation, as we had to evacuate their soldiers before, because their Generals ignored our word on naval matters. We may hold back information, so they will need to refer back to us, but I cannot assure you that they will conform."
"Good, good", Zuko's face had the face of one who was pacing the room, despite him being seated. "I think it is understandable that you, your troops and allies, treat Fire Nation soil as such. I cannot see my Uncle wanting to retain the territories held by the Fire Nation that are of Water Tribe land, so I would see the Islands of Linhao and Gako returned to the Southern Tribe, and Nanbei to the North. However, the colonies…" Zuko stopped, waiting to see Hakoda's move.
"Hmm, yeah, it would be unreasonable to displace entire colonies and force them to return to the mainland," he said, unsurprised at Zuko's stance. "Nor would it be right or safe for the people to just be handed over to the Earth Kingdom. The first colonies have been part of the Fire Nation for how long now? One hundred years? More? But the Earth Kingdom will probably disagree on that. You will have to discuss final borders with them."
Zuko nodded, hiding his smile as he did so, before eliminating it, as it reminded him too much of Azula. He returned his gaze to Hakoda. "Thank you Chief Hakoda for your support. I will indeed be wanting to raise the discussion to the Earth Kingdom, but I wished to first understand other perspectives outside of my own. I don't see much more I had hoped to raise with you, so if you will allow me to leave."
"There's still a lot to be discussed, as mentioned by you, I do very well see supplies to survive once our people are returned as expected payment, but I also expect good trade deals and that trade be supported this far down south, as well as travel through the ocean between the Fire Nation mainland and the colonies be made possible again under reasonable circumstances."
"I believe that is a matter for another time. Those waters are not just any one nation's, so to define the border, we will need to discuss with more parties. Is that everything?"
"There is one more thing. The Fire Nation took a lot of war loot when they took the benders. They stole things that had been passed down over generations, they robbed us of sacred waterbending artefacts, status symbols and the like…"
"Yes, I am aware, but I…"
Suddenly, the tent flaps opened.
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By the time Katara stirred, the sunlight teased through the gap in her tent. She stretched, and her hand landed on the gilt-worked box she had brought from the library, the sun catching on the faded silver that adorned the cache. She ran her fingers over the overly ornate design, the name of its owner, Angnuk, caught in her mind.
With everything that had occurred since they had left the library, she hadn't had the chance to look more into the contents. She moved outside the tent, to be able to read the fine hand that she remembered written in the journal. The bending scrolls, she kept back, as she wanted to try those when she could find more time to look them over in depth. So engrossed was she in going to read the journal at long last, she hadn't noticed that Toph's side of the tent looked barely slept in.
Sitting on the sand, after making sure that any moisture within it had been drawn out, she basked in the morning sunlight. What she found drew her in in an instant. Angnuk, as she quickly found out, was starting a new colony of the Tribe, Tikaan Puviak, Wolf Bay. With an enraptured start, Katara recognised the name. Her home. Angnuk was writing about the founding of the Southern Tribe. She sat enthralled at the descriptive detail of the grandeur that the South once had. Wide streets, each family their own igloos, not a cluster of tents as she had known, and in the middle of it all, an al-qasr. Was that some form of a house? The term puzzled her, but she shrugged it off. The words within the sentences, sometimes had an odd order too, which made understanding even more difficult, but she didn't let that deter her, either. She continued in hopes of getting more meaning through context, but the words just didn't make sense. There were too many words she did not recognise, did not know; Words like forstofu and Hásætish. Putting down the journal, her head still caught in the images of grandeur, she made her way around the camp, trying to find someone to ask.
The first tribesman hadn't a single clue what she was on about, and laughed her off, saying that all that travel had gotten to her head. The next wasn't much better. By the fourth, she had had enough; The men's jeering comments were grating on her nerves. Here she was, sitting on the foundation of their tribe, and no one was caring to try to answer her questions. The last straw came when one of the older tribesmen, Þyrnir from one of the outlying tribes, said that she should stick her nose elsewhere, and not be caught up in fairy tales and made-up words.
That was not the right thing to say, and the next thing Þynir knew, he was doused with a cold wave of seawater. Spluttering, he tried to regain his composure, however, quickly mastered himself the moment he realised Bato, concerned by the disturbance, was coming over.
"Katara, care to explain yourself?" Bato asked, his tone sharp, as he looked down at her.
"He started it, making inappropriate comments. Now, if you will allow me, I have to see my father. He will help me I am sure." She pushed off, her stride sure. Bato tried to ward her off, holding his arms out, but it was futile, as she just ducked under them. His calling was pointedly ignored as Katara went on with confident steps, oblivious to his warning. Dividing the entrance flaps, she dove into the yurt, Bato hot on her heels.
Hakoda and Zuko were looking up at her, and she blushed in the lantern light. Having stepped in just behind her, Bato gulped, as awkward as Katara, and ended up twiddling his thumbs in the tense air.
Katara, in the meanwhile, tried to just plow through the awkwardness, her goal now in reach: "Umm, sorry… am I interrupting something? I just… umm, dad, what does Hásætish mean. I found this old book back in the Library, and it talks about home, but I don't know what this Angnuk is talking about."
She gingerly handed the old journal to Hakoda, whose eyes shone with faint recognition as she talked. Zuko's too. After the Prince had gotten over the shock of seeing Katara, he took on a studious look.
Hakoda sighed though after Katara's questions, while she raised much to think about. He could remember distantly Chief Tiguaak talking about the ruins of Hásætish and how it was taken early in the war, but he couldn't recall what he was referring to, and he admitted as much to his daughter, who looked crushed that not even her father knew. She was sure her gran-gran would know, but she was half a world away and shouldn't be made to listen to her silly questions. She turned away, defeated, Bato laying his hand softly on her shoulder in sympathy, and moved to leave when Zuko spoke.
"Throne," he murmured, almost unbidden.
She turned back, as did Bato, and suddenly all eyes were on the Prince.
"It means throne. I remember my mother talking about it when I was young; before Azula started to listen more to Father than to her." He shrugged, uncomfortable with all the eyes on him.
Katara's eyes shone with excitement. "Did you see it, Chief Angnuk, at least I think Chief," Hakoda nodded along, some parts of the past were not forgotten, "described it as high backed, in dark wood, and inlaid with glass beads and pearls.
Zuko's face took on a distant look, as he looked into memory. "Maybe, I did see many chairs that were finely carved in the palace, maybe I saw one like that, many years ago. I am sorry, Katara, without seeing it again, I can't say for certain."
"Ok, ok. What about forstofu and al-qasr? These really confused me. Like we have rooms in our tents back home, but I've never heard of a forstofu."
Hakoda looked to Zuko, a calculating eye watching the Prince as he easily answered:
"From what I remember, a forstofu is like an entrance hall. In the Fire Nation, we call them antechambers. It is like the room before you enter the Hásætish Herbergi, sorry the Throne Room in common." Zuko paused as his mind caught back up to speaking in Common Trade "They are usually quite small, as it is where you wait to be received by the Lord, or Chief." He inclined his head to Hakoda, " As to al-Qasr, I am surprised the Water Tribe uses that word, it is something and a word I thought only the Southern Earth Kingdom uses. Anyhow, it means something like keep or castle, which I think the Southern Tribe was famous for in its time, before the raids…" he trailed off, caught in the awkwardness of bringing up what the Fire Nation had done. Bato and Hakoda looked at each other, in deep shock at the depth of the Prince's knowledge and education, the boy was a dangerous asset in the right hands, that was for sure.
Katara, oblivious to the exchange between the adults, sighed; so much of her culture lost, her head caught in dreams of how grand her homeland was at the start of the war.
Hakoda, shaking his head from that shared knowing glance, thanked Zuko for his insight, as he encouraged Katara out of the tent, hugging her tight."Zuko and I were just finishing up some matters. You have had a trial, and I hope a glimmer of hope that not all is lost. Go, have some breakfast, we will talk some more soon, I promise. That book you hold is very valuable. I hope you will tell me more in the days to come."
She sighed, nodded her head in agreement, and smiled sadly at Hakoda before she left, the tent flaps closing behind her and Bato, eager for some food and some calm from all the revelations that had just occurred.
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After Katara's departure, Zuko politely nodded to Hakoda before he stated "I believe we have an accord."
Hakoda nodded in agreement, before continuing. "We do. But there is much to discuss. You know the Capital better than any of us here in the camp Zuko, I would welcome you to help reduce the blood spilt of both our people in the next meeting. I will gather the men."
With that, Hakoda got up. Left alone, Zuko moved further into the tent, in need to move to settle his nerves. The round space felt surprisingly large for being under canvas. Looking up, Zuko studied the yurt's rafters and ring in the centre of the roof. The fabric covering it had been flipped back to let in some light, now that it wasn't raining. There were areas separated by curtains, Zuko peaked into one that was half drawn back, and saw a low table backed against the circular wall. Across it was the map from earlier, the silly tourist map they had plundered. But there was more. He saw scrawled notes, all jumbled together.
Hearing voices coming closer, Zuko wrapped up his walk, returning to where he'd been received before, just in time to see the tribesmen come in. After the initial shock of seeing the Fire Nation exile at the head of the meeting, their faces became scowls. Only Aang and Hakoda held any form of kindness in their eyes. Even Bato and Sokka's gaze had a wary edge to them.
With the men convened, Hakoda moved to Zuko's right hand, not overstepping him, but a half step behind. The action brought some wide eyes around the group before Hakoda raised a hand, hushing them all.
"Prior to this meeting, Zuko and I have had a discussion of accord. He agreed to terms which I see amendable, with the return of our stolen lands, and of our people, when he comes to power. In return, Zuko has asked that we pledge to the return of any prisoners that can be returned, and that I support his plans for the reconstruction of the world from the damage wrought by the Fire Nation's war over the past century. He now speaks as council for how to best approach the invasion, Zuko?"
As all eyes turned to him, Zuko began, his voice cracking awkwardly, before gaining confidence: "Thank you, Chief Hakoda. As he has said, we have agreed on terms. I don't know much about how to help you yet, however, as I know next to nothing of this plan–"
A tribesman cropped up "And why should you, how can we trust the son of the Fire Lord?"
Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but before he did, Sokka of all people replied for him.
"I, of all of us, have distrusted Zuko for the longest time. I saw his face as the face of the raider who killed my mother, as the face of the war. Over the past few days, however, as I have come to understand him better, I believe he won't do anything that would jeopardise those under his charge." Sokka paused, as Zuko looked at him in surprise, then finished with a laugh twinkling in his eyes, "he also can't lie to save his life, so if he does lie, we will all know."
A nervous chuckle went around the room and Zuko blushed at the comment in embarrassment, while at the same time recognising the value of it for lightening the mood. He continued:
"As I was saying, I need to understand the plan before I can help."
Bato stepped forward, placing his hands on the tourist map, right as another councilman raised his hand and stepped forward.
"Wait." he demanded, "Why don't you tell us about the military bases in and around the Fire Nation."
Both Zuko and Hakoda silenced the man with a glare, Zuko added to it, his words between clenched teeth, "I won't tell you that information without knowing how you plan to attack. There is no point in me mentioning there is a watchtower on, let's say, Hira'a if you come from a different direction. It will just distract from the main focus. Bato, Sir?"
The tribesman smiled as he took to the floor again and began "Although I admit this isn't the best map, it is what we have. The idea is simple. We gather the Earth Kingdom men, and ourselves, at the harbour for a hard assault. With the brute force our forces can provide, and with the chance of the century to hand, we can distract the forces there, whilst Avatar Aang and his group make their way to the capital to end Ozai's reign there and then."
Aang turned somewhat green at the comment to end Ozai's reign, but he set out to speak anyway, tone polite: "It would be nice to have you with me Zuko, with all of us; me, Katara, Sokka and Toph. And You lived in the palace, so I'll need your help."
Zuko nodded to Aang before turning across the group. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my grandfather, in anticipation of retaliation by the Water Tribe fleets after the raids began, made significant safeguards against this brute force naval attack. Across the entrance to the bay stands two statues of dragons, and one of him in the middle, built in his honour," he spat the word out. "Beware of those, because in times of war or siege, a steel net can be raised out of the water, which is then lit aflame: Blocking any ship from coming or going, a trap. So, unless you have a way to circumvent this, or mask your coming, how do you see yourself getting anyone in?"
"Interesting," Hakoda said. "That is indeed something we need to consider, but we weren't under any illusion that we could just sail into the bay on our own ships."
"So what are you gonna do? Try to take over part of the Fire Nation Navy? An unannounced Fire Navy fleet arriving at the bay of the Capital would raise suspicion, too. And how would you get that fleet, how would you maintain it? Without firebenders on board, those ships eat a shitload of coal to run."
"Prince Zuko, thank you for pointing this out to us, we're not that far in planning yet. But you are right, we need to look at the logistics." Hakoda pointed to the map, "I had wished to set up a base camp, so we are closer to our target, and I believe this bay here could provide us with the needed cover."
To everyone's surprise, Zuko sighed and raised a hand to cover his face, shaking his head. "And you haven't questioned why it is uninhabited and what that note might say…"
"I had hoped that you could tell us if it's a viable option or not, as we, indeed, aren't able to read the inscriptions. What's the issue with this bay?"
"It's prone to tsunamis, big ones, which means it is a death trap. Don't camp there. Also, if you want to be in the Fire Nation in advance, you may not want to locate your entire force all in one place, in case of discovery. And in a bay, you're completely trapped. Hiding smaller groups of people would be a lot easier, but it would also require you to be able to communicate over large distances, to make the attack coordinated."
"And where do you suggest we make camp then?" Tulimak asked.
Siimaktuk immediately raised objections. "We are giving him a chance to lead him right to a trap if we ask about this."
Sokka objected: "Yet he is the only one who knows the Fire Nation, quit your jibber-jabbering and let him speak."
Zuko continued as if there had been no interruption "I can teach you how to catch and train wild hawks, trained messenger hawks can be quite expensive, but it takes a couple of weeks to train one, just to keep that in mind. Come to think of it, if you're already in the Fire Nation before the attack, you might as well want to take down the communication towers. Give me the map. Do you have another sheet of paper or parchment? We need a copy of this."
"We can do that later, but those are good ideas. What is needed to take down one messenger tower?"
"That is harder, they're at high places and are often protected by archers, as well as other precautions, and they're usually staffed with about five to ten people who do various jobs not guarding the tower. As much as it pains me to say, figuring out how to poison the birds would probably be the most effective, rather than trying to bring the whole structure down."
"Is poisoning them really necessary?" Aang questioned, voice shy.
"It's a matter of weighing the risks with the rewards. If you can poison the birds without having a full-scale attack to take down the tower, you have the same result but a much smaller risk. Aang, you can't save everyone and everything."
"We'll consider it," Hakoda said, nodding back to the hidden table that Zuko had inspected earlier. Someone was sitting there, scribbling something in the light of a candle.
"Did you already think about how to get from the beach up to Fūrinkazan? It's quite a distance, and you're very exposed on all sides."
"It doesn't look that far away on the map, and the area looks quite open?" Aniu pointed out, causing Zuko to sigh again.
He gave the map to the tribesman standing closest to him and told him to hold it up for all to see… then he started pointing:
"As you probably know, this is Fūrinkazan, or Caldera City, the Capital of my country. It's called Caldera City because it's in a gigantic crater. It is a high plateau, so you have to walk up, and the walk takes you about an hour and a half. Furthermore, the landing harbour is surrounded by high cliffs, and yes, the Fire Nation has stationed Yuyan Archers and catapults there at all times. Furthermore, in those cliffs, there are camouflaged caves with tanks at the ready. If the stationary groups get a signal that the gates of Azulon are up, they have plenty of time to get into position. And even if they don't, the military is efficient. It won't take them too long."
"By La, that's a lot," Aniu exclaimed.
"Yeh, and I haven't even mentioned the city. The crater is surrounded by cliffs, they act as a natural defence wall. And the quickest way to enter the city is through the gate, which is a short tunnel through said cliffs. There are also some path's across the cliff line, but those are narrow footpaths… See where I'm going with this?"
"What about the palace?"
"Imperial firebenders, Yuyan Archers, plus ground troops. And other preventive measures. And then there's Fire Lord Ozai, who is very unpredictable at the best of times."
"What about Chi-Blocking?" Sokka piped up.
"I take it you've met Ty Lee…" Zuko said grimacing, "It's not a common skill, more of a speciality of the Lee family, I believe."
"Ugh, thank goodness." Aang sighed. "Chi-blocking is scary."
"Do I even want to know?" Hakoda muttered under his breath. "Back on topic: How would you personally approach an attack on the Capital? Just out of curiosity."
"That, as said, would depend on a lot of things. I, however, would try to avoid a hard frontal assault, if I could help it: You need a lot of people, a lot of equipment, and you'd be setting everything on that one card with guaranteed heavy opposition and a lot of casualties."
Hakoda looked thoughtful. "What would you propose we do, then?"
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It felt wrong to not be sitting next to the tent, to not have an ear tuned in on the meeting and, to keep a foot on Zuko. Instead, she was out here, supervising Aang's earthbending whenever he was outside of a tent, and feeling like she'd left Zuko to some canyon crawlers. He was mad at her, though, and she knew he disapproved of her listening in. They hadn't talked this morning, Zuko had pretty much ignored her, and she hadn't known what to say. She, who always, always, knew how to respond, was speechless. She had felt him look away, and it had hurt more than she had thought it would.
He had struggled as she had pulled him into the tent the day before. His heart had raced against his rage and fear. It hadn't been right of her to force him into that situation. Even if it had achieved what she wanted. They were actually talking in there now, but she had lost the right to be privy. She knew the fault was on her alone and she had no idea how to apologise and be heard.
In the Earth Kingdom, you apologised in formal words and reparation payment. It wasn't the sort of thing that would mean anything to Zuko, despite his royal upbringing and the culture no doubt being similar in lots of ways. They were the same in that regard.
And then there were the words he'd spoken.
"You disregarded any thought of what getting involved means with my status here."
In a way he'd been right, she had thrown care into the wind; she'd been too upset by the council's idiotic ignorance. And in turn, she'd become just as ignorant.
Aang was doing a boulder-smashing exercise coming close to splitting the last one, so she kicked into the earth, raising up a couple more. Aang groaned.
And even more shocking had been the statement Zuko had made towards the end of their short conversation. It expressed so much about his beliefs and how he perceived their relationship in one single sentence.
"Just because you saved me, and I owe you a life debt, doesn't mean that you can pull shit like that on me…"
She'd come to think of him as a somewhat friend. Of course, he was still reserved around her, but he seemed to be like that with everyone, and they had had some lighter moments where she'd managed to get him to drop that guarded self for a little while.
She'd had no idea that he saw himself in her debt. It put their companionship in an entirely different light. Had he just been humouring her all this time?
Had he put up with her and their groups' ridiculous treatment towards him because he'd felt like it was safer for him to not be on his own, or had his sticking around to do with him feeling duty-bound to stay because of a debt?
She couldn't quite tell.
Expressing his wish to leave had been something new when they had arrived at camp, and she wasn't sure how much of the flowery speech Zuko had presented to Chief Hakoda on the fly had just been said to appease him. One of the first points he'd made was that Toph had rescued him, so he 'owed' her his life. He'd gone on about having assisted them and that they now no longer needed protection. His heartbeat had been going crazy from the nerves, but he'd held his own, he'd stayed outwardly calm. It was admirable.
There were many reasons why hearts would race or change beating patterns, it really was an art form to decipher and she had thought that she had a pretty solid grasp on Zuko's. There had been nothing off about it.
Like he fully believed in what he'd been saying. Was that why she hadn't paid attention? Because him not-lying was good, and the nervousness and fear to be expected? Or had she been too distracted by his wish to leave? She really hadn't thought much of what he'd said beyond that he was trying to leave. That had taken her off-guard, though it certainly shouldn't have.
She needed to talk to him.
00000
"Well…" Zuko gathered himself, thinking for a moment about what he would do in their position. He felt alienated and at home all at once. He'd been taught all this, especially about Caldera City, he knew its defences well. Iroh often had taken Caldera as an example to teach strategy to him, as Zuko knew the city and terrain well. Though he'd just as often run him through overcoming defences on places they had been to or were approaching. It had been a tutoring game to pass time on the ship. Iroh had taught him, also, that plans weren't the important part, the process of planning and constantly adapting was. Zuko wasn't good at sticking to plans anyway. Things always came out different, and he'd been way too emotional and reactive in the past. He knew too well that sometimes a good plan lasted only until you got punched in the mouth.
"I'm not that good at plans and following through with them, but I'd probably try to find a way to approach the city from a different angle, infiltrate to get into position. Something along those lines."
"Hmm, that's not actually a bad idea, but we still need to overwhelm the military. And you said you didn't want us to terrorise any inns." Sokka teased, remembering the discussion the day prior. How Zuko had pointed out that they may target inns for raids.
Zuko stayed on topic: "I think you'd also just really struggle to blend in, especially as a whole group of people, so yeah, there's that. I mean, you potentially could pass as colonials from the south, but you'd have to spread out and integrate, which would eat away from your time to prepare."
"Yeh, no." Siimaktuk said, tone dismissive. "We're not gonna split up so much that they can take us out one by one."
"Siimaktuk, he just said that it wouldn't make sense to do so," Bato said in warning. "Let him talk his way through his thoughts, ideas take time to develop."
Zuko didn't feel comfortable having been put into the spotlight. "What kind of overall strategy and tactics makes sense heavily depends on how big the force is, really. It also depends on what those people are trained in. You're used to Naval warfare, so you're probably mostly used to planning your own manoeuvres with your fleet. That fleet's size is a given at the start of the battle. What you do is admirable, but taking over a city is out of your area of expertise. From what I know, you raid on land, if needed, but this is on an entirely different scale, and you're intending to not only raid, but take over the Capital and potentially hold it until things settle."
"You don't know about our strategies and skill set." Þyrnir sneered, not liking how the Prince spoke to them at all.
"I know enough. I know that you have managed to get mid-sized warships abandoned before. Thanks to the fact that you have this map, I know that yes, you do raid. I know that though you're working with the Earth Kingdom forces sometimes, you're not subordinate to them. You're your own independent force. I know you specialise in small operations. I'd just like to point out that I didn't say any of what I said before to spite you, but it's important to keep those things in mind."
"He is right." Hakoda took the word. "We do our work with subterfuge, we try to stay unseen, target what we need; such as only destroying the ship's motor, not the whole ship. We try to be efficient and we try to use our surroundings to our advantage, trying to find friends in our surroundings, rather than seeing it as an obstacle. These are our skills, and we should try to utilise them. That doesn't mean that there won't be any frontal confrontation, but we should be smart about how we want it to happen."
The men murmured in agreement to their Chief's words, and just a moment later, Bato took word again.
"So, maybe we should address the environment and see how we could potentially work with it."
"Sure, so, what are Caldera City's defences towards the inland?" Tulimak asked.
"Uh…"
"Show us how the population is spread across the mainland!" Aniu demanded.
"Is that a mountain range?"
"I assume there are more military bases around the mainland, not just in front of Caldera City, right?"
"Hold on, hold on. Give him time to answer. One question at a time." Hakoda spoke loudly, seeing that the Fire Prince was getting annoyed.
"Ugh, Thank you Chief Hakoda. On Caldera City's defences towards inland. I think there are lookouts, but not much more. The volcanic crater is raised like a mountain. So Caldera has the advantage of the high ground, but they don't generally expect an attack from that side, because it's quite a way to go with partially difficult terrain and volcanoes in between. The Caldera crater itself is surrounded by villages, farmland, woods, and plains, which are surrounded by said difficult mountain range, and depending on where you are, vegetation and climate can differ a lot."
"Hmm, that doesn't sound too bad." found Sokka.
"Ugh, what were the questions again?"
Zuko answered the questions as well as he could, pointing out that questions that involved places would better be drawn on a map later, instead of having him attempt to explain it verbally. People just didn't seem to get it, as they kept asking about similar things.
In general, they kept bombarding him with inquiries, frequently disrupting by discussing something with their neighbours, or interjecting when they disagreed or wanted more detail on something. Zuko felt increasingly stifled, his head swimming, and eventually decided that enough was enough.
"How about we take a break?" he disrupted the questioning.
The men muttered, some in agreement, some in anger that he called the meeting off, but Hakoda nodded and Zuko stalked outside, needing fresh air.
00000
Toph had tried to stay away from the tent and had decided that she better get some energy out of her system on their earthbending practice ground. This way she couldn't hover and wouldn't get tempted to listen in on the war meeting. She busied herself while still trying to decide what she was going to say and when she felt the people starting to stream out of the yurt, she picked herself up and returned to the camp.
Zuko was stalking across the open space with Nukilik close behind. She felt him glance at her, then subtly pick up his pace.
"Hey Sparks" she called out, not surprised at the displeased halt in Zuko's movements.
"Not now, Toph." he exasperated, before proceeding to walk towards the latrines.
"Zuko, please, listen, I –"
He'd paused once more, this time turning around. "Toph, I've been cooped up in those meetings all morning, thanks to you. I'm exhausted, I'm hungry, and I need to go somewhere. The least you can do is wait." With that, he quickly picked up his step again and walked away.
Toph sighed and decided that she might as well get Zuko some food while she waited. She went to Appa's saddle to get two bowls, and then headed to the open cooking fire where a big pot was stirred with today's meal. She made sure to get Zuko a good portion, then proceeded to walk to the logs halfway across to the latrines at the other end of the camp. She felt Zuko washing his hands in the bucket outside the outhouse. This time, she waited until he was closer before trying to approach him again, consciously feeling the heat from the two bowls warm the wood from the inside. At least this time she had a peace offering.
Zuko's shoulders sagged for a moment when he saw her, but she just wordlessly held out the bowl meant for him.
"Spoons?" Zuko asked, and Toph cringed, at once realising that in her haste, she'd totally forgotten about those.
Zuko snorted, a quiet, suppressed sound of faint amusement. "Can you hold onto this a little longer so I can get them?"
"Uh, sure, sorry." She said, taking the bowl back.
When Zuko and Nukilik returned, Zuko took his bowl back and handed her a spoon. The grip was shaped a little differently than their usual ones, probably one of the camp's supplies. They sat down, away from anyone else, and started eating in silence.
When Zuko had finished his meal, or as much as he could in his agitated state, he put the bowl down next to him and leaned back his head. Toph was guessing he was trying to relax, maybe trying to enjoy the sun rays that seemed to come out at random to warm you up. Clouds, those supposedly weird shapes in the sky that apparently looked like down feathers, but were anything but, as she had discovered while being a sky-bison passenger. They were disappointingly cold, moist, and very fly-throughable.
The thoughts didn't keep her distracted for long, but she tried to keep them busy anyway, as she was trying to give Zuko some space. She could feel Nukilik's presence, just as silent.
Finally, Zuko sighed and turned to her. "Alright. What do you want?" His voice had taken a cold quality again, but it was less biting than before.
"Are you okay?" she found herself saying before she could help herself.
"I'm fine." He wasn't lying, but Toph knew he just kind of brushed off a lot of the bad things that happened to him this way; trying not to let whatever was currently happening to him get too close.
"I, I'm glad…" time passed, and she was still searching for the right words that just wouldn't come. She wasn't used to trying to actually, seriously, apologise.
"Look," and again, it struck her how silly it was for her to have picked that word to start back up. "I… what I did was… unfair to you. I shouldn't have done that…."
Zuko said nothing, but she knew that she still had his attention.
"This… I really just was getting really frustrated with their stupidity and I didn't think about the repercussions it would have on you."
"That doesn't make it any better, Toph." Zuko reminded her coldly.
"I'm… I'm not trying to make up excuses. Really, I'm not."
"I know."
"There…. There's something else I want to talk about: You don't owe me a life debt. I didn't save you just for you to be indebted. I saved you because it was the right thing to do."
She felt him shift his weight and silently sigh, shaking his head ever so slightly.
"I do owe you. I was dying, my fire was dangerously close to fading entirely that day. I wasn't even able to walk away on my own."
"What happened to you wasn't right, and behaving like a decent human being to someone else shouldn't force them, you, to feel indebted."
"People never do things without reason. Not that I'm not thankful for what you did, but being kind for no reason gets you exploited, you know that just as well as I do. And you did ask me about teaching firebending that day. Don't tell me you weren't already thinking about if and how to rescue me when asking that question."
They hadn't noticed Katara and Aang approaching, they both just stood there, listening to their conversation with growing shock as Toph recounted new details of the rescue.
"I was just checking my options," Toph was saying, "but I had already decided, regardless of what you would say at that point. I knew that I couldn't expect you to commit treason just because I freed you. But you didn't deserve to be tortured to death, not for being a firebender, nor for being the son of the Fire Lord."
"That village thought I deserve it, and so would the majority of your people, if they knew who I was. Even here, though most people see me as a useful source for information, they'd rather have me dead. Say what you want, I see it in their eyes."
"That doesn't make it right. You're not your father. And you don't owe me for saving your life when other people tortured you to the brink of death for something you can't even do anything about."
"I have done a lot of bad things though, in my father's name. And I knew it. I just tried to shush that guilty voice in my head so I could go home. I tried not to think about it back when I hunted the Avatar. Now, I can't get it out of my head: Aang's imprisonment would have looked very similar to mine. Chained up, kept weak, and barely alive. I was ready to deliver him, a twelve-year-old, to such a life, and now it makes me feel sick just thinking about it… You can't just say I don't owe you."
"Yes, I can. And you saved us all back at the library."
Zuko shook his head anew and wove a hand through his hair, at loss. He seemed to have given up on trying to convince Toph that he owed her… but apparently that just meant moving to the next person he felt this way towards. "Even so, I still owe Katara for healing me. And–"
Katara quickly butted in. "No, Toph is right, healing you was the right thing to do. And you really did save us by saving Appa."
Zuko shook his head again, reinforcing his denial before he continued with what he had set out to say before.
"I owe Aang, even just already for letting me stay with your group despite all I had done against his person," he explained, voice now starting to raise in agitation. He looked entirely uncomfortable, cornered, sitting on that log.
Aang stepped closer and squatted down so Zuko would look at him,
"Zuko, you have repaid any debt you may have owed me when you saved me from the very fate you've just described. And I know you're gonna say that you had done so only to capture me yourself, but still, you gave me a fighting chance, and it made all the difference."
"You saved my life there, too. You easily could have left me at Zhao's mercy, but you made sure I could get away."
"We did it together, but you did risk your life to get me out of there. We worked as a team to get out, so really, we both saved the other's life."
Zuko seemed floored, combing his fingers through his hair again, reluctantly whispering:
"... I could have left. For real, I could have left any time, after the library, hell after that random village. But no, I stuck it out, for some stupid life debt that's not even real."
He was shaking his head again like he couldn't believe it. Then threw up his hands like he didn't know what to do with them anymore.
"I could have left. I COULD HAVE LEFT." He got up, too upset to stay seated, his lunch bowl soon forgotten, spilling its contents into the sand. "I put up with so much of your shit and I could've just left…" Sparks were escaping from shaking fists.
"I'm glad you didn't." Aang quietly said. "The sandbenders would have taken Appa and we would have all died in the desert."
"Yeah, whatever, it's done. And I'm still stuck here," he said. He walked another few steps, angrily kicking into the sand before looking at Nukilik square in the eye, his irises a raging gold. "I need to get away, can we go down to the beach?" he said, with barely repressed anger.
Nukilik nodded, falling into step behind him.
They all watched them cross the clearing to the beach without a word, each on their own trying to process what had just transpired.
This wasn't exactly what Toph had hoped the outcome would be, but she supposed it was as good as it would get. Zuko no longer seemed angry at her, but rather seemed to be angry at the situation in general. It probably was best to give him some space.
00000
Nukilik followed Zuko's beeline to the open space before the shore. The air around him was shimmering as if the ground was heating up the air. Nukilik could feel the residue warmth from the path. When Zuko stopped, having a good amount of space to work with, Nukilik paused too. Curiously, he watched as Zuko shifted into position and drew his swords.
It was just as fascinating as the first time Nukilik had seen this movement, as Zuko's seething emotions were rolling off in waves. While last time, he'd have described it that way figuratively, it wasn't a figure of speech any longer.
The boy threw himself into the movements and whichever outward direction the Dao were swung, heat followed, preceded, the warrior couldn't tell which, only that this fire had no colour, and that it dissipated just as quickly as it appeared.
Nukilik had thought he'd seen Zuko's rage last time. The boy surely had had enough reason, after having been dragged into the midst of his perceived enemies by someone he had appeared to trust before that point.
This however appeared to surpass the rage from the day before. And yet, Zuko seemed in perfect control. Those colourless flames stayed unlit.
It was a dance, a lament of trust as fluently displayed as if timed to a beat. With powerful strokes, not only punched but slashed. The hands, one guarding, the other attacking, switched at a moment's notice. The shimmering flares that surrounded Zuko's motions only enhanced the movement's not-quite-tangible appearance. He felt the faint leftover reach of Zuko's heat in his face more than once.
Nukilik knew then, he absolutely could not stop Zuko, should he ever decide to leave.
0
A/N:
Ystävä: Month's ago, we were discussing something, ML typed up a fair bit of drama on Zuko's part in a bout of inspiration, but we didn't have an exact place for it yet, so, I'm really happy I found a way to weave it in as a direct quote.
We also role-played another scene, so that was interesting. I'm not used to it and really struggled, haha. I kept wanting to plan ahead how the conversation would go, and when to place which point, which, defies the point of splitting the roles in the writing process, but ML was chill about it and put up with my struggles and I'm happy with the end result. Was worth the experience, and I think I just need to get used to it. Now I'm curious, can anyone guess which scene this was?
On another note, I decided that the camp set up in the show left some serious questionmarks and therefore I changed at least the main tent to a yurt built for travelling, instead of a tent that looks like its soon ready to collapse by the next gale. As for the sleep tents, My internal eye settled on viking tents with a wooden frame. Sorry for changing it so late, I'll probably go back and fix some descriptions in earlier chapters when I'm ready to reexamine them.
Anyway, i hope you enjoyed the chapter and we'd love to hear your thoughts on it, so see you in the comments:)
ML8991: Hey guys, hope you've had a great start to the year. A lot of meat in this chapter, and most of that is due to Ystävä, so hope you enjoyed it.
Was glad we could evolve the story, and the meetings aren't just meetings, we get to see the tactical minds of the important players in this war, which was great to see play out. Coupled with some needed cultural insights and Zuko's drama, things are definitely evolving, almost quicker than we can write them at times.
A small note to that, did a lot of thinking about names here, which was fun to play with, and it adds a lot of internal flavour for us to play with. A big example of this was Þynir. The use of the thorn (Þ, a letter that became th in modern English), was deliberately done. Not only for the fitting pun given his abrasive nature, but also as it is retained in Icelandic. With this in mind, I wanted to convey that this character had closer connections to the north, perhaps a father, and thus is more traditional/stuck in his ways than some of his fellow tribesmen.
Good news for all of you though, the next chapter is mostly wrapped up, so hopefully you won't be waiting too long for it to come. See you guys then, and thank you for all the love you give us, it means more than rubies.