I don't own Avatar: The last airbender
Chapter 36
"Argh…" Zuko definitely feeling the battle as he tried to get out of the bed. He was the in his private tent at the middle of the camp to which he went right after he returned from his fight with Mi-Sha. Luckily, the soldiers carried him half the way as a form of appreciation.
He had asked to bring Jasmine and Katara to him for relief, they were after all the best healers he knew that would keep his black and blue body secret from the regular soldiers. He had an image to maintain after all.
"Oh, and tell Jasmine to bring 'it'. She will know what I'm talking about." Zuko mentioned, addressing the first aid kit the raven haired girl carried with her. Something must have been lost at translation, because when he told the guard to the guard just winked at him.
After a few agonizing minutes, that became way longer then they should, the guard from before return and called from outside the tent. "Ladies Jasmine and Katara are here as you instructed, your highness."
"Let them in." Zuko said. "You're excused for the night, enjoy the free time while you can."
"Very well, sir. Have a pleasant night yourself." With another wink, the man was gone. No, really, what did that man think was going on? Never mind, with the guard leaving the girls finally entered the tent…
"What are you two wearing?" Zuko couldn't help himself but ask in confusion to a grinning Jasmine and an embarrassed Katara.
Jasmine's attire was a tad more daring then usual (which was very daring as is). Her usually exposed belly was revealed even more as her golden brown top was more similar to something one will wear at the beach, If it wasn't shining like a field laden with small gold oars. Her bottom was tulip skirt with matching colors to the top that reached her knees. However, as the fabric went down it became more and more transparent until her knees were basically without cover.
She wore with the skin sandals that crawled from her ankle up to almost the knee and had a golden necklace, as well as golden ring bracelets and a golden arm wear in the form of a snake on her right arm. Her iconic jasmine was placed well at the side of her hair.
Katara, in contrast to Jasmine, wore a much more conservative but no less beautiful, dress. The dress was blue in color, like it owners eyes, and shined like Jasmine's fabric. With if flowing weakly with the wind, it imitated the see with it movements. The dress itself was sleeveless as well and had a tulip styled bottom as well. Unlike Jasmine, however, it was clearly a one-piece and reached down to stop only a finger or two above the ankle. Another difference was that the tulip ends we're transparent but had an interesting coloring of white, like a sea foam.
As accessories, Katara wore a pair of baby blue evening shoes and a silver colored arm wear on her right arm with wave pattern. As well as a pearl necklace around her neck and a loop of pearls attached to the shoulder ends of the dress that circled the shoulders.
"You like?" Jasmine said with a grin as she did a spin. "We discovered that both of us are good at knitting, so we tried a few ideas. What do you think?"
"I have never seen more beautiful dresses in my life, the two of you are incredibly talented." Zuko honestly said. Apparently it was the right think to say, because even Jasmine blushed a little from the honest praise.
Huh, it appears that all you had to do to make a flirt blush was being honest about her good qualities, who knew.
"Not that I'm complaining." Zuko continued. "But why did you bring them now?"
"Well, you told us to bring 'it', didn't you?" Jasmine made a quoting sign. Smiling like a cashier cat all the while.
"I meant the medic kit." Zuko massaged between his eyes. "Please tell me you brought it."
"It's with me." Katara said as she turned and pulled a small kit and a sack of water from somewhere in her dress.
"How did you…"
"Oh, we figured a way to have secure pockets inside the dress." Jasmine answered his question. "We're planning to add it to the next line of dresses. Actually, a representative from Loban will come tomorrow to discuss it, we should have just enough time before the summer line starts."
"That's… Actually impressive." Zuko admitted. "Wait, how did you convince them to come here, we're literally in the middle of nowhere and about to attack the most powerful crime organization since the fifth nation."
"Oh, I have my ways." Jasmine played with her hair. "They already know me there and know how good I am to business. Besides, I may or may not have thrown some weight as the prince's favorite girl."
"Oh Agni, this is so going to bite me later, doesn't it." Zuko covered his face with his hands. "Just undress me and let's get this over with."
He immediately heard the two girls squeal. One from embarrassment and one from excitement, one guess on which girls let each squeal.
"To patch me up!" He immediately added when he understood how his wording sounded like.
"Spoilsport." Jasmine muttered as Katara sighed in relief. The two then walked to each side of Zuko and started to take off his armor.
"Careful." Zuko warned them. "The armor took quite a beating, some parts may be a bit tricky."
"Noted." Jasmine said as she evaded a spring that jumped from the part she unequipped.
"Say, wasn't this armor supposed to survive a komodo rhino stomping without a scratch?" Katara said as she pulled a plate with a clear fist shaped dent the size of her head.
"It did." Zuko answered. "I was there when they checked."
"Oh…" was all the water bender could say.
"Yeah, good thing I had it on. I don't want to know how I look underneath, though."
"I do." Jasmine said. "Still, I'm sure that the other guy have it worse. Not that I ever doubted your victory."
"Yes you did." Katara rebuked. "You spent the entire day worrying in your bed."
"I was worried about my brother, okay?" Jasmine answered before turning to Zuko. "I'm still mad about it, you know."
"He was safe enough." Zuko rolled his eyes. "Besides, let's be frank. It's hardly the most dangerous situation he was in this month."
"Not the point." Jasmine finished to free his right hand.
"And the Zuko plushy?" Katara said smugly.
"Xing wasn't around, ok?!" the desert native defended herself. "It was the closest thing available."
Jasmine being on the back foot… Zuko didn't think he would see the day. Jasmine probably influenced Katara more then she should have. Oh well, as fun as it is, Zuko should probably put an end to this before his two healers start fighting.
"Girls, can we save it after I don't feel like I puked my kidneys?" That seemed to pull them back to the situation at hand as they muttered an apology.
Soon enough, the dented pile of his armor was on the floor and he was only in his underwear. At one side, Jasmine purred like a very pleased cat and on the other side Katara was heavily blushing and covering her eyes with her hands (while peaking through her fingers every now and then).
Zuko was suddenly very aware that he was in his underwear on his bed alone in his room with two very beautiful girls with just as beautiful clothes. He decided to focus on his aching everything to avoid any 'rising' problems, which was even easier done then said consider his physical situation.
"Well, I can certainly say that you are a man of color." Jasmine said as she finally applied the salve. "At this point your skin is more black and blue then regular."
"Certainly feels like it." Zuko groaned as he was tended. "The guy knows how to punch, I'll give him that."
"I still don't understand how you walked around all this time, by all accounts you should have been unconscious five times over." Katara said as she used her water to heal a large bump he had on his head.
"Iron will and pure spite." Zuko answered
"I can relate." Katara agreed before she tried something. "Strange, my healing doesn't seem to affect your scar."
"You can heal things that are part of the body, A scar like that is basically a collection of dead cells that are stuck and the body is unable to replace them. Because of that, the scar is a foreign object and unaffected by the chi flows." Jasmine explained. With her looks and attitude, people often forget that she was genuinely smart and knew her professional well.
"Oh…" Katara looked sad.
"Hey, it's not your fault." Zuko assured her. The pain in the head severely lessened. "My head fells much better."
"You can help me down here afterwards." Jasmine said. "The salve is almost completely applied, and those muscles could really use your magic hands."
By Katara's yelp it was going to be either very long, or very fun to watch. Taking his mind off the duo, he wondered how Mi-Sha was doing right now. He really hoped that the crime lord was in a much worse pain then he is.
Deep inside one of his tunnels, Mi-Sha held back a moan of pain as the medic acupunctured him. Apparently, it was the fastest (and maybe only) available way for him to regain control over his arm after it was electrified by Zuko. As the healer explained , a chi blocking on the pressure points will cause an overload that will be cleared in a few hours until the pressure point reboots. What the prince did was basically frying the way the chi flow, it would take the physical trauma of every fried point to bring back the arm to a serving condition. The process was slow and painful, as the nerves had to be reactivated via direct physical stimulation.
Oh how he hated the prince. The pain, the humiliation… he had to turn tail and flee, from a single person at that! An air bender, banished from the sky! And by a fire bender no less! And now he was forced to hide in a cave like a rat so that people wouldn't see the state he was in. The kid will pay, Mi-Sha promised, and damn the consequences.
And the loss of men, one and a half thousand soldiers gone in one battle. Don't get him wrong, he cared nothing about any of them, but he expected them to at least do an equal damage to the other side before they hit the bucket. Even their special camelephant unit was useless, and it was specifically made for such things. A useless investment it seems.
As another needle pierced him, he thought back about his fight with the prince. By all accounts, he should have easily won. He was stronger, more experienced and an air bender in the sky for crying out loud! But he did have many disadvantages. He had to sustain a sandstorm with a miles long diameter, which greatly tire him. He also lacked any armor in contrast to the prince who had an armor strong enough to survive his blows.
No, seriously, what was that helmet made of?
But even then, it was no excuse. He underestimated the prince, or more accurately overestimated himself. He was so sure in his own strength and abilities that he didn't even think that they may be countered, and when it did happen he found himself with the pants down. He needed to find a way to counter back, and fast.
What was worth, is that his humiliating defeat was made public. By now people would have heard about what happened, which meant that his image of invincibility was basically ruined. Now he had to kill the prince to regain a part his previous standing, in brutal fashion preferably.
Which brought another problem. If at first men stayed loyal to his strength, now they will start defect. Like rats escaping a sinking ship. He will have to make an example of the first who tries, as well as making sure that both spawns of Zaire will be made a brutal example of anyone who betrays him.
Another stab, another pain, another reminder of Mi-Sha's failing. Oh, he was sure that Hakoda, that sea dog, is laughing his ass of right now. Damn it, but that can wait. The best way to relieve himself was with that Sea dog's wife, but because of the healing even that was denied from him. Never mind, he should focus on the important things anyway.
He had sent orders to his subordinates to men the gates ant the streets. He also gave order to place the unimportant (mainly civilians, low level thugs and Hakoda and his men) in the more flammable areas and save his better men for surprise attacks through the tunnels. Unfortunately it will have to be like that for now, at least until they exhaust the fire nation enough for a head on assault.
In any case, it would take years to recover financially, and that's not counting all the upstarts that would show up like mushrooms after the rain to try and take his title.
Another pained sound was held back as he felt a shock in the arm, the needles activated another neuron. He felt his fingers a little, which was already good, but in that speed he will never recover enough before the fire nation reaches the gates. He couldn't imagine the damage his image will suffer from it.
Never mind, for now he'll give orders from here.
Sneaking into Amora the night, Suki decided, was much less scary then it sounded. All it took was one trip on an eye at the cover of darkness and then a jump from a rope. True, it had its own risks, but it was much quicker and less dangerous then trying to sneak behind the sprawling mob of criminals surrounding the walls and then climb the walls themselves without anyone noticing. Only to then ran around the city until they reach their destination.
Here they just anxiously waited in an eye meant for deployment as the fire responsible for the flight was well hidden from the outside. They stayed like that until they saw a blue dot in one side of the city, a sign from the guys inside. When asked privately about how a flame can be blue, Zuko explained to her that the burning of different things can release fire of different colors. Suki didn't understand completely, but she also was too distracted by demonstration of creating a rainbow of fire.
To be fair, she also came mostly to steal more time with Zuko then actually being interested in flame color. But she digresses.
They climbed down with ropes once they were low enough, ten batches of ten ropes, and met their inside men. People who shared the same cloth fashion as Sokka and Katara, south water tribesmen if she had to guess. How did Zuko managed to get them inside and to get them to help the fire nation is something she will definitely question Zuko in private later, he must have quite a story.
Looking up, she saw that the eye that brought them rose up. Once again completely unseen in the night sky.
"Hello there, friends." The man before them greeted. "A strange night for a late stroll."
"There is safety in numbers." Lyn answered.
"In place like this danger will mount with strength." Came a reply.
"Then it's good that my fan is my only weapon." Lyn said back.
"Hello, friends. I am Bato of the south." The man said once the safe words were exchanged. "Please, follow me."
They followed the man through the streets, that where suspiciously empty. Sure, it was the hour of the owl, but they should have seen at least some people. Homeless, criminals, someone. Of course they stayed in the shadows just to be safe, but the uneasiness was clearly felt.
From the moment they met this Bato, it took half an hour of twists and turns until they reached a building that Suki recognized as the probable base of operations of those men. There, they went inside as they met the leader of the men, who ironically was Sokka's dad.
"Hello ladies, I hope that your journey was uneventful." Hakoda said across the room that served as an office for the occasion. Next to him were a bunch of men who were most likely his advisors and generals, she recognized Bato at Hakoda's right.
"Thankfully it was." Lyn said from the other side of the table. Suki was on her right and next to them were another eight of her sisters, the rest of the leaders of the squads.
"I must congratulate the prince for his victory." Hakoda continue. "I don't know what exactly he did, but Mi-Sha had yet to make a public appearance. Instead, he makes duo with messengers to pass on his orders ."
"Do you know where he hides?"
Hakoda shook his head at Lyn's question. "I'm afraid not. He's inside the tunnels, of that I'm sure, but I don't know anything beyond that."
Her leader let a frustrated sigh. "Fine, we'll get him eventually."
"On a more important note." Lyn continued as she put a map of the city on the table. "We need to plant explosives in those points across the wall. Do you think you can spare ten or so men to guide us? We need to plant those explosives tonight."
"That we can." Hakoda nodded. "And I assume that the invasion itself will happen tomorrow morning?"
"You assume correctly." Lyn nodded in return.
"But how are you going to make sure that those things explode?" The chieftain questioned. "You can hardly be there without being noticed once day come, and I hope you don't plan on my men for it."
"No such thing." Len explained. "You see, those bombs are rigged to explode in a certain time, there is no way of stopping the countdown. And it will be stuck to the wall with jell. Even if the bombs will be discovered, it will be far to late to do anything. Of course they will be hidden under a small pile of hey."
"You brought active bombs here?!" one of the men yelled.
He was quickly silenced by Hakoda, who simply raised his hand. "I must agree with my friend here, how can we be sure that those things wouldn't malfunction? Or that this isn't some elaborated scheme of the prince to have us all killed?"
"I wouldn't risk my sisters in that way." Lyn retorted. "And as for your second point, his highness said something about preferring to have you alive. That he needs you for some things he plans to pull off."
That didn't went well with the other men.
"Chief." One of the other men said. "Are you really going to go with this? They clearly serve the fire nation! Besides, do we have any proof that even one of those women can fight?"
With a snap of her leader's fingers, Suki immediately took action. She threw a rope that warped itself around the head and eyes of the man who spoke and then pulled, hard, causing the man's head to hit the table with force. While the man was dazed, she used the table as a spring with her right hand and jumped to his side. While the tribesman was still in daze, she let out three quick and precise chi blocking hits to restrain him and used the same rope to choke him as he fell to the ground.
Another snap of Lyn's fingers had Suki release her hold on the man, who weight more then twice her weight, and jump back to Lyn's side.
"And she didn't even use the fan. I believe that this is enough proof." Lyn said evenly. "Unless another demonstration is in order? Someone?"
After a few seconds of silence, Hakoda finally spoke. "No, I think that we're good. But if I may, why so many bombs? And why are they so spread out? Wouldn't it be more useful to have a few big holes that will blow away the men in the choke points?"
"Oh, the bombs aren't for that. The fire army is more then enough to take care of those inconveniences." Lyn swayed her hand. "No, the bombs are for opening holes in the wall for the citizens to escape."
"This doesn't sounds like something very fire nation, I'm surprised the prince planned that." Hakoda said.
"He didn't ." Lyn replied. "He promised to not leave a stone upon stone once he's done, but I managed to convince him to allow the innocents to leave."
"You clearly haven't been in Amora, have you…" Hakoda said. "Never mind, whatever non-fighter people left here would jump on the opportunity, if they make it that far."
"What do you mean by that?" Suki had to agree with the confused tone of her leader.
"You may have noticed that on the way here, the streets were uncharacteristically silent." At Lyn's nod, Hakoda continued. "It's because Mi-Sha had an 'innovative' idea of facing the food shortage."
"He didn't…"
"Oh, it's much worse than that I'm afraid. Mi-Sha ordered the execution of any non-combatant his men could find and the cannibalization of their flesh as a food source for the troops. This way killing two birds with one stone at he both has more food and less mouths to feed."
"Oh Kyoshi…"
He did what?! Sokki knew that their nemesis was cruel beyond belief, bit this… This was something beyond her wildest nightmares. Like something that may come from some deranged storyteller with both too much free time and lack of sleep. She just couldn't comprehend the sheer barbarity of the situation, and to his own people no less.
Looking to the sides, she saw that the reaction of her fellow sisters was much like her own. They were all disgusted and one or two held their mouths in horror. Lyn herself had her hands shaking in rage.
As if counting to ten in an inside voice, her leader finally calmed down. "He will pay for his crimes soon enough, but it makes our mission even more important. What are the complications we may face?"
"Aside from the random patrol I can't see much, maybe some have a tracking animal as a companion." Hakoda pondered.
"Really? I was led to believe that there may be rabid beasts unleashed on the streets. As well as all kinds of traps and ambushes."
"I don't know about the rabid animals, although it does fits Mi-Sha's resume, but I would release them only after the enemy arrived. Otherwise, it would be counterproductive as the beasts will eat his out troops. As for the ambushes and traps, much of the same. They were designed for a mass of fire nation soldiers, not sneaking warriors of your abilities."
"Speaking of animals." Lyn suddenly remembered. "His highness told me to pass on to you that once the bombing starts, Xing will sneak through the chaos and will find you. Then Zuko told that you can use the dog for 'you know what' and just to make sure that you'll have the 'other you know what ' at hand.
The chieftain released a long breath and thanked Lyn for her input. Suki wondered what that was all about, but ultimately decided that it wasn't her place to dig. Especially when she had much more pressing matters at the moment.
"Very well, then we shall move at once." Lyn said. "Choose ten men as guides and we'll start right away."
Kori Morishita was deep in thoughts as she sat in her study. Before her were a bunch of sheets, a bottle of ink and a written piece of paper. One may look from the side and think that she was in the process of doing homework, and technically they wouldn't be too far.
Only in her case, the one who gave her said homework far outclassed any private tutor her father had. Even her father himself, the mayor of Yu Dau the first colony, would be hard pressed to say Anything. Yes, before she got a letter from the fire prince Zuko.
When her parents first heard from a servant that the prince himself had written a private letter to their daughter, they were understandably frightened. Apparently, there were a few unsavory rumors about the first child of Ozai in regards for his advances towards young women like herself. She herself was shocked and terrified, and can you blame her? She didn't think that she was too pretty or something like that, but what other reason can there be for the prince of the nation to write directly to her?
Don't get her wrong, she was flattered. Any girl would have been. But she didn't know the prince at all besides from hearsay, and definitely wasn't ready for any commitment. She didn't want to end up being the second Ursa, no matter how good the pros are.
Thankfully, for everyone involved, the letter was far from what everyone feared. Oh sure, the prince was charming enough in his writing, but nothing remotely romantic was mentioned. Instead, his highness had come to her for advice on the integration of the colonies.
That's right, the prince wrote to her specifically for political advices. Her parents were much more relieved after that, even if a bit (very) surprised. His highness explained that from his travels, he had seen how mismanaged the integration of the colonies is. He asked (not like it was an order in anything but name, despite the pretty way it was written) her opinions and solutions as someone who was living this issue and in the age group he desired to affect.
Of course, her parents were also very pleased to hear how the prince described their daughter as dutiful and with wit, but she digressed.
Now this left her with one hell of a job, as the prince expected to hear her answer on the issue during his stay here for the opening of the power station that kept her father very busy. It was a great opportunity for her family and herself, but it also accompanied a great risk. because of that, she found herself with much more free time from her tutors, but it wasn't like she could enjoy it. The document itself must be perfect, it was a mission from the prince after all, and that meant that all her free time was spent on said document.
She found herself running across the entire colony and having conversations with all kinds of people approximately her age. Some were enlightening, others just rude, but the point was that she now had a large verity of sources to start writing her document.
She was also personally invested. Much of the document was her own musing, questions that were always in her mind. Who is she? Was she technically an earth kingdom or a fire nation? How does her earth bending affects this situation? Should it? She is shedding her heart in this paper, she just hopes that the prince wouldn't shred it to pieces.
But she was actually having a good feeling about this. Prince Zuko was actually making effort to be a better ruler for the colonies as well, even if it caused her father a headache sometimes. He also boosted their economy with all his investments, bigger and larger then any royal before.
Kori looked at the Zuko doll at the side of the table, a must to have item for any girl. He made many workplaces for both colonialists and natives, as this very doll is the product of said arrangement. But it wasn't the only doll she hid from her father.
Next to the prince, stood the doll of his very own right-hand man, Mi-Dved. It may be unbecoming of her, but she idolized him. Mi-Dved was everything she ever wanted for the people of the colonies. He was an earth bender, came from the gutters, and basically was as far from a fire nation citizen as possible. And yet, not only did he find his place in the fire nation, but he was close to the prince no less.
Sure, some people said that he was an uncontrolled brute. But then again, you don't face off against ten meters high pile of living weed by being nice. Besides, he was proximally her age, there is no way that he was as big as they say.
She also respects his sister, who may have succeeded even more than him in integrating herself in the nation, but she couldn't help but feeling as if Jasmine was leaching at the prince. Then again, she may be based because she felt a little envy for some reason every time she had to look at the girl's latest article.
Shaking her head from the thoughts, she focused on the paper. Where was she again? Ah yes, the cultural clash young kids face from their home versus their environment. Well, her solution for this problem would be…
Gao read the latest reports from the front. He sat at his office in the palace of the, now late, earth king. All things considered, it could have been way worse. With proper military leadership at the capital, supply and orders could be finally given at a continental scale. And thankfully, it was enough to hold the fire nation advancement, at least for now.
The vast resources of the earth kingdom were finally in use, as he ordered the eggheads at the academy to pull themselves together and finally do something useful besides studying history, paint, or debate how to pronounce a word. He had hopes that they would discover how the fire nation created those eyes and use this knowledge to create their own fleet.
He also ordered to reverse engineer those steam cruisers to mass produce their own , quite frankly way outdated, navy. He knew that the vast earth kingdom had the resources to outperform the fire nation, it was only a question of utilizing said resources. There is also the problem of building said fleet without having the fire nation, who had nearly complete control on nearly all the shores of the continent, but that was a problem for later.
Gao heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
A messenger went in and by his look Gao immediately knew that he should start preparing for a headache. Which was proven correct when the messenger opened his mouth.
"Lord general, sir. A letter from the middle ring representative. They ask about your plans for the floods."
Not this again. Ever since that fateful day where the earth king died, the entire city was engulfed in a storm that wouldn't stop. Rain pouring on land none stop and lightning flashing above at random. There even have been some reports of hale in a few places. Understandably, this caused chaos, especially in the lower ring where it had more hovels than houses.
Personally, he thought it was a punishment for their collective sins that allowed the earth king to be killed. He just hoped that it will stop when a new earth king will be on the throne, but than again, what did he really know about spirits. He's just lucky that he didn't declare himself or the console of five the knew rulers of the kingdom, he didn't what to imagine the mess they would have to deal with theologically alone.
But that didn't mean that he was free from nonsense.
"Civilian issues are to be reported to the council of nobles, in the lack of a king. I'm the head of the army, we deal with the security of the kingdom and that alone."
"There had been no answer from the noble console, or rather no solution. They said that they were too busy with deciding who will be the next earth king, that with the spirits watching in must be the right choice."
Gao may, may, have excepted this excuse if he wasn't familiar with the nobles. Even so, they could have at least delegated the task to someone else who was less busy. But no, knowing them, they just didn't want to get in contact of the lesser people and deflected the issue to him out of spite for making them actually do something. Even though he was pretty sure that their efforts in finding the right earth king were summarized to who throws the best party.
Inbred imbecile, all of them.
"The lower ring had started showing signs of a plague as well, lord general. The water combined with the wastes proved to he a fertile ground for disease, and the mosquitos who swarm the new swamps don't help the matter."
"Blast it!" Gao cursed. "Half of the population will die if it keeps going!"
Gao massaged his head as he thought about a solution, after some time he had a skeleton of one. "Ok, listen up. Gather every available earth bender and tell them to create a way for the water to get out of the city, bring down every house in the way if you have to. We have to drain those swamps at all cost."
"But sir, an action like this would require breaching the outer wall." The uncertainty of the messenger's voice was clear.
With a loud hit on the table, Gao already had enough. "In a few months there would be no people to man the wall if we don't act now! You will do as you are told, or so spirits help me you'll be stuck as a private for the rest of your life!"
"But what if the fire nation –"
"The pressure would be strong enough to move a cruise, I hardly think that the fire nation could use those breaches. If anything, the water stream will be more secured then the wall next to it. Besides, it could be used as a biological warfare to build another layer of defense around Ba Sing Se. We can close the holes gradually once the wastes start emptying."
"As you command, lord general." The messenger bowed as he left.
A few seconds later Goa pulled a bottle from under the table, he needed a drink to replace his current headache with a far more manageable one.
Zuko woke up with his body feeling much better than the day before. He petted Xing, who was sleeping next to him with the head resting on Zuko's chest. The dog yawned, in the process exposing it's razor sharp teeth, stretched, and got up. Zuko quickly followed suit.
Thankfully, Xing was the only one in his tent, he was really afraid that Jasmine may have tried something. Either she was professional enough, or respected him enough to hold herself back. Or Katara stopped her, Zuko frankly didn't want to think about it too much.
"Ready for the big day, your highness?"
"I hope so." Zuko said to himself as he checked himself in the mirror. There was almost no sign from yesterday's battle, water bending healing was really effective. "Months of preparations, all leading to this moment."
"It's a milestone. A stepping stone, one of many."
"You think we're ready?"
"I know we are."
With a smile, he put on his clothes and went outside.
Zuko was in the middle of donning his armor. Unfortunately, his old armor couldn't be saved, especially with the time limit, so Zuko had to make duo with a new set.
It had the generic look of a fire bending armor, but painted black when it wasn't red. Of course, it was much better defended than the run in the mill armor, with metal plating and scale like formation in the places that were needed for movement. Zuko and Sai also made sure that it had the desired ventilation for the quick aerial maneuver that saved Zuko more then once yesterday.
It had all the functions of the previous armor, especially an enhanced dart shooter and hand blade, but also had some unique upgrades of its own. The anti venom and adrenaline potions that previously had to be manually injected are now safely inside the armor and are directly injected to the bloodstream under Sai's control.
Another upgrade was the retractable steaks at his feet. It sounds a little strange, but it turned out to be a brilliant idea. One of the most common ways, according to Sai, for a water bender or an air bender to win a duel is to wash/blast away their opponent. The steaks are meant to plant Zuko to the ground at Sai's command and basically nullify said strategy… for the most part, a strong enough flood can wash away trees after all.
After donning his gauntlets, Zuko looked at the mirror and nodded in appreciation. He went out from the dressing room and was met with his uncle.
"Nephew!" His uncle greeted him. "How are you in this fine day?"
"As good as I can be, I think." Zuko answered honestly. "It's my first siege, after all."
"You have done magnificently so far, nephew, we are all proud of you."
"Thanks." Zuko returned his uncle a smile. "So what about you? How's the feeling of being back to service?"
"Oh, I never stopped serving, nephew, I only changed the way I serve." Uncle said wisely.
"He plays with his words, he reeks of conspiracy."
'Not now, Sai.'
His uncle continued talking, unaware of the conversation instead Zuko's head. "But I must say that I do feel a bit nostalgic. Fortunately, I'll stay at the command center, I'm afraid that I'm a little rusty with my old bones."
"Yeah, right." Zuko rolled his eyes. "As if you can't solo everyone in camp."
"You overestimate me, nephew." Now uncle rolled his eyes. "Besides, my passion for battle is not what it used to be, I much prefer a happy dual of pai sho with a warm cup of tea in my hands."
"I heard that Mi-Sha ordered his men to burn all the tea leaves in the Si Wong and replace them with cheep regular dry leaves to sell them to tea shops across the world as the real things for decades."
The desired reaction from his uncle didn't come late.
"That animal!"
"He will pay for his crimes with his life!"
"I will impale him on spike and burn his body for all to see!"
"I will burn this pathetic city to the ground!"
"They. Will. Be. Avenged!"
It seems that you can take the man from the war, but not the war from the man. Although Zuko had to admit that this obsession for tea was starting to get a little concerning.
"Well, it seems like the dragon of the west is ready for action." Zuko suddenly heard Shen's voice.
"Yeah, and so am I. How are the troops?" He asked the old lieutenant.
"Everything is in place, my lord. We all are ready to follow your signal."
"Very well, let's do it."
With those final words, Zuko flew to the sky trying to look his best. He had a preference to give after all.
There it is, the city of Amora, it's view was clear to see as Zuko watched it from the sky. He could clearly see all the parts of it, from the slums that littered most of the place to the shining and beautiful buildings at the center. It was as if the city itself was separated to rings where the closer to the middle you are, the richer you are. He wondered if Ba Sing Se followed the same concept.
"Most cities are. And from the last time I was there, Ba Sing Se always had been one to excess. Hardly things changed from that time."
Well, wasn't that depressing.
Zuko looked at the timer at the side of his helmet, it showed how much time they had before the bombs that the Kyoshi warriors had planted by now would explode. Of course the fact that said bombs where in place was one big if, but Zuko trusted Lyn and her girls enough for those kind of things. Now if said trust could be expended to not stealing the sweets from the storage room…
In any case, he should start his speech now.
"Vermin of Amora!" His voice was clear and amplified my the helmet, everyone down there could hear him.
"For too long has this wretched city leached on those around her, Judgment had come toi-Sha for his crimes!"
"With his deeds, the cowered have brought this place to my attention, with his assault of the citizens of the fire nation he had brought this place its execution."
The counter was getting closer and closer to zero.
"The sniveling rat is hiding in his cave, to afraid to face me, so he sent you all to die to buy himself a few more days. But I am just, so I allow you all a single choice. Those who flee will not be pursuit, those who surrender will be met with latency, those who fight will be butchered in brutal fashion."
It was for the army of sand people and mercenaries who stood outside the gate by the thousands, but also for the people who had no part in this conflict. It was the best he could do for Lyn and her Kyoshi warriors.
"I judge this city guilty of crimes against the fire nation and its people, as well as crimes against humanity. The fate of Amora would be the same as the fate of Hǎibiān. A stone upon stone, that was my promise. I wouldn't leave a stone upon stone!"
The clock is reaching zero.
Zuko pointed an accusing finger to the city below.
"Amora's execution begins today!"
The clock reached zero.
The walls suddenly exploded in ten different places simultaneously.
the shelling started.
His army charged.
He shot down towards the enemy on the walls, a meteor from the heavens passing judgment.
AN
Preparing the ground before the main event, as well as a few perspectives about what's happening behind the scenes. Anyway, how did you like the chapter?
Now for the reviews:
deniswanheda:
Thank you!
Trust Sai to have plans within plans, that rock is a double-edged sword that we'll see the effects of very clearly in the future. For Zuko, it was a gift to his father, and currently the person that Zuko wants to please the most (however wrong he is in his thinking is another matter). For Sai, it was the seed to fertilize the ground for Zuko.
Jee's recognition of the none fire nation in the party is a huge political implications, as I don't think that someone in the fire court had said anything remotely like that ever since the war started.
I will keep quiet about the air bender stuff for now.
02cjdgmail:
Glad to hear!
anyway, yes. The change was intentional, congratulation for noticing. A lot of things happened to Hakoda in the time between those two thoughts, as well as the general change in opinion that sometimes happens when a person looks at something from afar versus looking closely. Remember, before he didn't know about all the mess with his wife, things like that tend to change the perspective of a man.
Zuko still has some things he needs to go through before his view about his father is shattered, Azula's birthday arc will be interesting to say the least. As for the human part, no. Zuko hasn't yet comprehend the full meaning of the changes that Sai made. Which is ironic, because in some sense he is an even more hideous abomination then the rats at the workshop.
Engineer1869:
Happy you liked it!
Oh, Jee had nothing to worry about. It's not like his overlord would have burned him to crisps, had him holed with more holes then a Swiss cheese, threw him and everyone he knew and loves to a dungeon full of rats while covered in honey (not necessary in that order) or something like that. As for the stone, no doubt it will be something important in the fire nation culture, but it's a dangerous honeytrap that will bring catalytic results in duo time. You know what they say about what power does to a person. And yes, Azula isn't having the best time right now.
You diagnosed Hakoda spectacularly. And yes, meat is off the menu for now (a harsh thing to do for a group of adult Sokkas).
Yeah, telling them later is probably for the best, nothing ruins professional approach more then family drama.
Anyway, I'm more than happy to read all your reviews.