AN: Posting late, because I had to do a lot of research on war crimes, and then decided to split the chapter in half.
Book 3 DamNation
Chapter 1 The End of the War.
In the reclaimed city of Ba Sing Se, two Earth Kingdom soldiers, one a bender and the other a musketeer, stood guard atop the outermost wall of the city, the fields of the lowest ring to their backs. Two weeks had passed since they'd taken back their city, and in that time the former secret police force, the Dai Li, having reformed after their organizational decapitation, had begun restoration of the city's civil services with the assistance of the Order of the White Lotus.
Above, having flown for over a thousand miles on tailwinds eastwards, carrying letters on their backs, dozens of messenger hawks bearing the Fire Nation's seal filled the air. While most flew deeper into the city, diving down to land outside of what buildings they believed to be messenger posts, one curious bird had come to rest on the wall directly beside the Earth Kingdom guards.
Unsure of what to do, the bender between them took the message off the hawk's back, and read it to himself. After only a few seconds of confusion, the man's expression changed to surprise before he looked at his partner. "The new Fire Lord's called for peace!"
Zuko rubbed either side of his nose, before opening his eyes once again, watching as the Earth Kingdom countryside passed by in the window of his private rail car. The steam locomotive and all its accompanying cars chugged along over a bridge, making headway towards the town of Baiyin, a silver mining settlement in Dong Tai province, on the north coast of the Western Great Salt Lake.
Now that almost a month had passed since Sozin's Comet, Zuko was heading to the town to meet with representatives of the other nations, who'd thankfully returned his letters and agreed to the meeting.
Sokka had chosen the location. It was connected to the colonial rail line, meaning it was directly linked to both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom's seat of power in Ba Sing Se. The province was geographically in the middle of the Earth Kingdom's northern half, and connected to the water by the coast of the lake, making it possible for the Water Tribes to attend. The land had been in dispute while under occupation amid the war, so it was as close to "neutral" as any side could get. Truthfully, Zuko was sticking his neck out, as the province was no longer under occupation, the nearest army units were back behind the borders of the Colonies, and the navy had returned to Fire Nation waters. He was fully expecting some opportunistic resistance fighters to take advantage of his kindness, but shoved the worry into the back of his mind, as he was with The Avatar… Metaphorically.
Aang had already flown out to Baiyin with almost everyone else on Appa nearly a week ago in preparation for the meeting. Zuko was only traveling separately due to the royal precession being in tow, and his travel by train was because all airships in the Fire Nation were grounded due to safety concerns regarding their hydrogen buoyancy cells. Having set a few on fire personally, Zuko was hesitant to fly on an airship ever again… A sentiment Connor shared as well.
Both his sister, Azula, and her fiancé, (though that had not been publicly announced yet,) Connor were aboard the train with him. Mai and Ty Lee had come too. Their company was not only expected but welcome. If not for the circumstances, Zuko felt like he was a young boy again, being surrounded by his friends and family.
The train's whistle blew, rousing Zuko out of his thinking. They were nearing Baiyin, and he wasn't even properly dressed.
Aang stood beside his friends near the raised wooden train platform at the north end of town, surrounded by a crowd of townsfolk who were anticipating the historic event that would be the first negotiations between the warring nations. They were all awaiting the arrival of the delegates participating in the peace conference. From a technical standpoint, two were already in town. Aang was to be the mediator for the nations and speak to preserve Air Nomad cultural sights. Suki was representing Kyoshi Island with the rest of her warriors. Katara and Sokka could have stood in for the Southern Water Tribe, however Chief Hakoda was scheduled to attend.
A whistle could be heard in the distance, and Aang looked west to see smoke rising in the air. Only a few short minutes later did a steam train bearing the Fire Nation insignia pull into the station at the end of town.
Foregoing much of the spectacle and ceremony, only six Imperial Guards stepped off of the train to make space for their lord before Zuko himself made his appearance. Azula, wearing her longer hanfu for the courtly aura it provided, was the next to leave the train. Connor followed shortly after. He'd cleaned up nicely for the occasion, having tied his wavy red hair into a top knot, and trimmed his now month-old beard to a uniform length. His wardrobe for the formal event was a strange mix of fashion from the old and new world. While he wore the same spike-toe boots he'd grown used to, his pants were a much more form-fitting pair of button-fly maroon breeches, tucked into the boots. Covering his torso was a white collarless button-up shirt, maroon single-breasted button-up waistcoat, and shin-length crimson robe that was left open much like a frock. The palace tailor nearly had a conniption when Connor asked if buttons could be stitched into the robe as well. Finally, Mai and Ty Lee walked out one behind the other, before the train began to move once more, pulling forward onto a sideline just past the station so the next train could pass through town.
"Fire Lord." Aang said with a small smile, bowing to his friend, hand over his fist, to which Zuko returned the bow and the smile while he came down from the station platform.
"Avatar." Zuko said, before finishing the bow and hugging Aang.
"It's good to see you all got here safe." Aang said as he broke the hug and looked over at the others.
Azula smirked. "As if we wouldn't be able to handle ourselves."
Connor spoke up to Sokka directly, the younger teen's posture fixed ramrod straight. "Has that back brace been working?" He asked, wondering if the whalebone and leather creation had been doing its job in assisting Sokka's healing.
"I get the occasional ache from time to time, but nothing Katara hasn't been able to deal with." Sokka said, looking down at the abdominal belt that fit over his sleeveless blue tunic.
Zuko's smile never softened, as he remembered he was here to do more than hang out with his friends. "Have the other delegates arrived?" He asked, looking around, and settling his attention on Suki and Toph standing beside her. As if on cue, a loud fog horn could be heard coming from the lake to the town's south, but rather than a ship beaching itself, an airship descended to port. While the craft was made in the Fire Nation, the flag of the Southern Water Tribe was draped over the sides, covering the insignia of its nation of origin. Below it, a much more conventional twin-hulled wooden sail ship of the Northern Tribe made landfall.
Aang and his friends made their way to the town's dock, as sailors and airmen moored their respective ships. Landing ramps were placed for both crafts, and from the Northern ship, Chief Arnook stepped onto the dock, as from the airship, Chief Hakoda of the South first looked to his surroundings to find his children approaching the docks, before rushing to them.
"Dad!" Katara said as she hugged her father, trying to hold back her tears.
Hakoda closed his eyes and swayed on his feet slightly. "I told you I'd see you soon." Breaking away from his daughter, Hakoda turned to his son. "Sokka." He said, before going in for a much firmer hug.
"Whoa, easy, easy." Sokka protested, as his father embraced him. "The brace isn't just a fashion choice."
Hakoda awkwardly pulled away from Sokka. "Oh, right. I heard about your fall."
"Ah, it wasn't anything Katara couldn't fix." Sokka said, putting his hand on his sister's shoulder. From behind them, Connor playfully rolled his eyes. The clearing of a throat to their right caught the crowd's attention.
Chief Arnook was standing there with a raised eyebrow. "Not to break up the family reunion so suddenly, but where are the other delegates? Master Pakku should have been here with this rebel leader Mr. Hei by now."
"I'm not sure…" Hakoda said, before looking at Zuko.
The New Fire Lord coughed into his fist before speaking. "There was a change of plans. Hei is sending an ambassador in his place. The change might have slowed their departure…" Zuko looked at Hakoda now. "And I see that there are no representatives from the Foggy Swamp Tribe with you."
Hakoda rubbed under his eye. "Unfortunately. The Foggy Swamp has no official system of government, and no one was willing to come with us when we arrived to spread news of the peace conference. Huu might have offered to speak as their spiritual leader, but currently, he's a prisoner of war, which would be one of the things we've come to negotiate over. As far as they're concerned their tribe never participated in the war, only their volunteers did."
"Would you be willing to speak on their behalf, Chief?" Aang asked.
Hakoda sighed. "I would, but I'm fairly certain that the Foggy Swamp falls under Earth Kingdom rule. So we'll have to wait and see what Hei's ambassador wants to do."
Sokka put his chin in his hand for a second. "Hei sounds familiar."
"Wasn't he that Dai Li agent that helped us find Katara?" Aang asked his friend.
"So we're going to meet a representative of a secret police." Mai sighed. "Wonderful."
In the distance, a low whistling to the east signaled the arrival of the train from Ba Sing se. Connor shortly chuckled. "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." He said in English.
Once more the group migrated to the train station, but rather than a grand procession as had followed Zuko, only two cars were pulled into town behind the engine and coal cart, and off the back stepped Master Pakku of the Northern Tribe, wearing his White Lotus robes, and a woman in a cream colored dress many attending the peace conference recognized. "Joo Dee?" Aang asked in surprise, as the train left town, heading further west.
"Wait, you know this lady too?" Connor asked.
"Well, how do you know her?" Sokka asked.
Azula blinked for a moment as she remembered the face of the woman. "She was our tour guide when we first infiltrated Ba Sing Se posing as nobility from Omashu."
"What are you doing here?" Katara asked the woman, putting her hands on the ambassador's forearms.
Joo Dee pulled her arms away from Katara and straightened out the creases on her sleeves. "While your concern is appreciated, I'm fine, Katara." Joo Dee said, before smiling, sending a familiar but uncomfortable shiver up Katara's spine. "Hei has sent me here to represent The Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se, and its sole remaining executive governmental organization, the Dai Li, led by Secretariat Hei, in the peace talks."
Sokka crossed his arms. "Have you forgotten that the Dai Li brainwashed you?"
Toph, having remained silent until now, raised an eyebrow from behind everyone. "Why would she remember that?"
"Wha-" Sokka started, before realizing his logical fallacy. "Right… She's probably been brainwashed by Hei again."
"Please, everyone." Joo Dee said, holding up her hands. "I can assure you, my brain is thoroughly unwashed… And it has been since Long Feng destroyed the Dai Li's headquarters under Lake Laogai."
"You remember that?" Aang asked.
"I remember everything, as do the rest of the Joo Dee's." Joo Dee said.
Sokka was just confused. "Then why are you going by Joo Dee? And why would you still work for them?"
Joo Dee smiled. "Because I'm the real Joo Dee. The other girls have all had their conditioning broken and were offered employment in lower managerial positions within the reforming government. And you must understand, the Dai Li is not the organization it once was. Hei is a far more reasonable leader than his predecessor and had the device used to hypnotize us dismantled. More importantly, in the time of crisis our kingdom is faced with, I have a civic duty to undertake. It's an honor, not a burden, to serve as Hei's personal ambassador." Joo Dee looked around at everyone before she started walking towards the station's stares. "Anyways. If I am not mistaken the meeting is supposed to take place in the town hall."
As Joo Dee walked away, everyone turned to Master Pakku for answers. "You would not believe how many times I've heard several Joo Dees say something like that in the past two months."
"So she is brainwashed?" Connor asked.
"It appears so." Pakku said.
"I can't believe that the Dai Li is still doing that." Katara said, putting her hands on her hips. "Hei's just as bad as Long Feng."
"I don't know." Toph said. "I can't tell if she's lying since it's possible she really believes everything she's saying, but she seemed… Less fake than before. Maybe Hei's brainwashing isn't as intense as Long Feng's."
"Or what if it's more intense, and she's just been double brainwashed?" Aang asked, hands on either side of his face.
Connor raised an eyebrow. "I'm leaning towards her being less brainwashed. The notion that she's the only Joo Dee working for Hei personally is clearly false, but everything else she said sounded like your run-of-the-mill patriotism to me."
Azula narrowed her eyes on the back of Joo Dee's head as the woman made her way to the Town Hall. "The greatest manipulations always sprout from the seeds of truth."
"You'd know." Zuko said, playfully teasing his sister.
"Yes, I would." Azula said with a smirk. "Be mindful of Hei's intentions here. He would not send this woman to us knowing full well we're aware of her brainwashing unless it serves some purpose to further deceive us." Azula said, before looking up to the sun in the sky. "It's time for the meeting… Shall we?" She asked everyone present.
"Uh." Zuko stuttered. "Right. To the town hall." He said, before beginning his march to the building up the street, the rest of his friends and delegates lagging behind him, as the six-man guard created space.
"So, Master Pakku, what's with the robes?" Katara asked.
Pakku looked at Katara out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "I suppose that the secret isn't quite so open just yet. I'm a member of The Order of the White Lotus, a secret society dedicated to philosophy, truth, and harmony between the nations. We've recently come out of the shadows to assist the Earth Kingdom in fighting the Fire Nation, coordinating with The Water Tribes and rebel groups throughout the world." Pakku put his hands into the sleeves of his robe.
"Sounds like an inverted private army." Connor said.
"It's more like a very selective pai sho club actually." Pakku said with a smirk. "The Order has done much less fighting than we have facilitated resistance. We've mostly just been messengers and done delivery work." The old man's smirk softened. "And on a somewhat related note, when I and the northern relief fleet initially made their way south to help our sister tribe begin rebuilding, I was able to reunite with Kanna."
"You found Gran Gran!?" Katara asked.
"Oh, I did more than just find her… After all this time, we've finally married." Pakku said, holding up his hand.
"Oh, that's so great!" Katara said.
"Yeah!" Sokka said, elbowing Pakku. "Hey, we can even call you Gramp Gramp."
"Yeye Yeye?" Connor repeated the common speech words phonetically. "Sounds like eer-uh·kwaa."
"I'd prefer you'd still just call me Pakku." The water bending master said, waving off his new grandson's inventive nickname.
The gang filed into the small town hall, taking their seats around the long rectangular table in the single-room building's center. Aang sat at the head of the table near the front door, his friends behind him, as Zuko sat to his left, the entourage of other Fire Nationals behind him. Suki sat to Aang's right. To Suki's right was Joo Dee, who was the first to sit down. Master Pakku stood behind her. To Zuko's left was Chief Hakoda, and Chief Arnook. At the end of the table was a stenographer preparing to document the meeting in shorthand.
Zuko cleared his throat and spoke first. "I can't begin to express my gratitude to everyone for showing up. You have no idea just how much it means for peace already that you all were willing to come and talk."
"Think nothing of it." Hakoda said.
"It is only because of your kindness as the new Fire Lord that we've been given an offer to negotiate in the first place." Suki said.
Arnook cleared his throat. "Of course, The Avatar's presence is what cemented the trust we all had that this was not a deception."
"I understand…" Zuko said, closing his eyes for a moment, before putting his hands together on the table. "But, before we can begin any true negotiations, I wish for everyone to share the state of their nation, its people, and its culture, so that we all can better understand each other's situations, and arrive at a solution that most benefits everyone affected by the war."
Aang nodded his head at this. "I think that would be for the best."
Joo Dee raised her hand. "If I may speak first?" She put her hand down receiving no opposition. "The Earth Kingdom has been broken by the war. Our states have not been unified under a single system of governance for over thirty years. Provinces have split away, been colonized, or are being occupied by enemy forces or by our allies. Our economy has nearly collapsed, our people starve, and we have lost over a million lives to the fighting alone… The industrialized slaughter of our citizens is another matter entirely, and I believe it would have been successful if not for the efforts of Chief Hakoda's many liberation raids on the death camps. But I know that the Earth Kingdom is fortunate enough to have been spared, in a relative way of speaking, the worst in this conflict." Joo Dee looked across the table at Hakoda and Arnook.
Hakoda stood from his seat to speak. "Before our sister tribe from the north came to our aid, the Southern Water Tribe faced near extinction. In one lifetime alone, I watched my village, one of only a few remaining, reduced to no more than a small handful of families, as Azulon's reign saw the functional extermination of our water benders…"
As Hakoda sat down, Arnook stood. "The North was fortunate enough to have only minor incidental scuffles for a large majority of the war, but Admiral Zhao's siege not only violated the sanctity of our neutrality in the war, it was an abhorrent attack on the spirits."
Arnook sat down, and Suki closed her fists atop the table. "Thankfully the war only came to Kyoshi once and left the same day. However, that does not detract from the atrocities I've witnessed across the world, and know would be committed on my people if Ozai had remained in power, as they were committed by Azulon, and Sozin both before him."
All eyes in the room settled on Aang. He drew a breath to steady his nerve. "Speaking as the last air bender, and not as The Avatar… Sozin's attack on the Air Temples, and the hunts carried out for air benders after the war began, destroyed the Nomads… Our bending form, our people, and our culture were all gone for a hundred years before I returned to the world."
Silence permeated the room, and Zuko looked away from everyone, before addressing the delegates. "I expected as much… And before any further proceedings, I fiercely apologize for the actions of my forefathers." He glanced around before moving on. "I believe that the most immediate issue we have the ability to resolve is the territorial changes that have come from the conflict. I am willing to return all territorial gains the Fire Nation has made over the course of the war in the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation will also recognize the waters surrounding the poles as belonging to the tribes. Additionally, the original islands and cultural sites belonging to the Air Nomads will be respected as sovereign territory." Zuko looked to Aang, who smiled gently at him. "Are these terms agreeable?"
"Land is only one part of what has been stolen from the Earth Kingdom." Joo Dee said flatly. "The Fire Nation holds many prisoners of war."
"Right…" Zuko said. "Assuming that all parties are in agreement, the prisoners of war from every nation will be returned as quickly as possible."
"Yes, they shall…" Joo Dee started with an uncomfortable smile. "After the Earth Kingdom holds trials for violations of our laws of war."
"Now hold on." Zuko said, putting his hand up. "The Fire Nation is prepared to return the prisoners in its possession, regardless of supposed crimes committed during the war. I expected the courtesy to be reciprocated."
"Regardless of what you expected to be reciprocated, the Earth Kingdom is a nation of law and order." Joo Dee's smile faded, but nonetheless she remained unemotive. "It would be hypocritical to simply release criminals back into the world while in war, but not do the same for our own citizens in peace."
"Just as it would be hypocritical to come to a peace conference and threaten prisoners you've taken when the opportunity first presents itself." Zuko said, balling his fist as it returned to the table.
"Wait, hold on." Connor spoke up from behind Zuko, before coming to his right side between him and Aang. "I have a question that just might make everyone pause for a moment… Is there any form of written law, or regulations that the nations have all agreed upon upholding during war?" All of the delegates looked around the room, and silence answered Connor. "Alright, then, how is it you can be the judge of other nation's soldiers and they be the judge of yours if none of you have an agreement on what is considered a violation of the laws of war?"
"His strangely pigmented countryman makes a good point." Pakku said to Joo Dee with a short shrug.
Aang pursed his lips together for a second. "Connor is right. Before any trials should be held, we'd first need to have a discussion on what constitutes crimes committed at war, and agree upon them… For now, I think it would be best if all of the prisoners being held were returned to their home nations, and if there are any to be considered criminals among them, they can be brought before a tribunal at a later time. All in favor?" Aang asked, earning raised hands from every party save for Joo Dee before she conceded defeat, and raised her hand.
Not to be deterred Joo Dee spoke before anyone else could get a word in. "I think it best we have that discussion of what is considered a crime committed at war sooner rather than later. While we are all here, and available to negotiate, of course."
"Then that begs the question…" Pakku said. "What are the laws of war?"
"And we've officially circled back to Connor's point about no nation having the exact same rules to wage war with." Zuko said.
Aang looked around the room. "Well…" He had to pause. His peaceful nomadic upbringing made him averse to discussing war as if it was an inevitability. "What is it that every nation considers proper conduct while at war? Surely there's got to be more everyone can agree on than disagree on?"
"A good place to start would be declarations of war." Hakoda said. "As I understand it, the Fire Nation's first official blow dealt to every other nation came before an official notice was made."
Zuko nodded. "I consider the surprise attacks on the other nations by my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to be not only dishonorable but cowardly. Moving forward, if any nation is pressed to violent conflict with another, their government should be made aware they are at war, be it through messengers or correspondence."
"A sentiment I'm sure we all agree with." Suki said, earning nodded heads from the room.
"Following the beginnings of a war, the events transpiring during them are also commonly regulated." Arnook said. "As the topic was brought up first, the treatment of prisoners of war needs to be taken into consideration."
"An acceptance of surrender when logistically possible has always been part of the Earth Kingdom's policies of war." Joo Dee said.
"But are the conditions the prisoners are being kept in ethical?" Aang asked. "I understand that war is horrible, but if people are going to be captured during war, then they should be treated with respect, and not be forced to suffer."
Zuko cleared his throat. "I know that much of the past century has been marked with atrocities committed by the Fire Nation, but I believe that pre-existing laws if they were followed in the first place by previous leaders, could have avoided much of the unnecessary hardship and destruction wrought on the other nations. I propose that Avatar Szeto's War Accords, the principle document that outlined the Fire Nation's conduct of war before Sozin's time, be both expanded, and enshrined."
"Forgive us if our access to the material has been limited, but what exactly would those accords entail?" Joo Dee asked.
"Oh, right." Zuko said, shaking his head. "I can have copies shipped in for review. Until then though, we should probably continue with the rest of the negotiations."
"Yes." Chief Arnook said. "On to the matter of the war's impact on the economies of the nations involved… As I understand it, the Fire Nation, despite having sent three generations to fight and die in war, has enjoyed prosperity before and amid the conflict, and I believe wholly that this is the result of your industrialization. The Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom have lagged behind in that regard… Our technological progress is limited by our geography and available resources… I've no doubt that with the end of the war our countries will recover, but in an attempt to expedite that process, I'm requesting that The Fire Nation be willing to freely share its technological advances with the world."
"Of course." Zuko said, nodding to Arnook. "Whatever it is you wish for assistance in, I'll happily accommodate. And this offer extends to all the other nations as well."
Behind Zuko's back, Azula crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "It was always Sozin's dream to share the Fire Nation's prosperity with the world… And here, in some small way, Zuko has promised to see that dream come to fruition." She thought to herself.
The delegates had agreed to break for lunch after a failed attempt to renegotiate what bodies of water belonged to who. The initial issue with defining new maritime borders was that none of the present nations shared a unit of measure for such huge distances, especially not over the open ocean. The Fire Nation had their historic mile, based on one thousand double paces. The Water Tribe had the maero, a far greater distance nearly six times the Fire Nation mile. The Earth Kingdom only had the common measurement Li, which was far shorter than the other two. But how could those even be judged accurately while at sea? To the delegates, this problem was an extremely serious one, with no answer in sight, but to an outsider looking in, the solution had existed for nearly two hundred years.
Connor very quickly figured that no nation had a definitive way to measure distance while in open water, because they didn't know the size of their world, for lack of need. All of the (known) land masses on their world were very tightly packed together, with the winds and currents generally favoring expedient travel along several known coastal routes or direct line travel north or south, so there was never a reason to venture open water for more than a few days at most, and so there was also never a need for accurate maps or the knowledge of how to make them. All of this combined meant that Connor was going to spend most of his lunch break thinking about what he would need to do to accurately define a "nautical mile" in the new world.
Connor sat down in the town's hotel restaurant, and ordered a simple soup, using a calligraphy brush to write notes in English on a piece of parchment. Azula had of course joined him, and picked up that something was troubling her fiancé. "What's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing really." Connor shrugged. "One of the things that's strikingly different about our worlds is, while one of your countries can produce steamships and aircraft that can traverse the seas and the sky faster than anything in my world, your maps are like something out of antiquity. So, I've consigned myself to solving your world's naval border dispute, by helping cartographers create an accurate map."
Azula hummed at that. "And how would you do that?"
"Lots of mathematics." Connor groaned. "I'm not actually bad at most forms of math, I just hate it."
"That doesn't exactly lay out a step-by-step plan." Azula said, crossing her arms. "I'm assuming you're about to try creating a new system of measurement?"
Connor scratched his temple with the handle of his brush. "More like re-create one. I'd have to start with getting my hands on a quadrant and measuring the angles between me and other known objects in the distance, as well the sun, probably over the course of an entire year, to triangulate the circumference of the world either in the English unit system, or your notations, divide that number by three hundred and sixty, to get a single degree of distance. Further dividing by sixty would give me a minute of arc, and like magic, I've got a nautical mile. From there I can divide a map into a grid of longitude and latitude, which would make it infinitely easier to chart courses, estimate voyage times, and accurately judge positions on open water based on a ship's speed."
"Sounds... complicated." Azula said.
"Yeah, well the other option is to introduce you to the French metric system, which is reliant on the meter, or one ten-millionth of a quarter meridian, which is the distance from the equator to the North Pole, which means if your world is a different size than mine that meter isn't going to be the same." Connor said, setting his brush down, to rub his eye. Azula's mouth opened, but she found herself confused. "Like I said, I hate math."
Before Azula could get another word in, the sound of a single loud bang from outside caused both of them to nearly jump out of their seats. "That sounded like-" Connor started.
"Gunfire." Azula said, before the two stood, and made their way to the door. Connor took his pistol off his belt, as he made his way into the muddy street, and heard shouts of pain coming from nearer the port.
The two hurried to the screaming, where just outside of a stand selling fire-roasted meat, Hakoda sat on the ground, clutching his knee in pain, bleeding into the street, covered in mud. Not two paces away was a man in the bland shades of earth kingdom green, being dog-piled by four of Zuko's imperial guards, as the other two stood with Zuko his back up against the nearest building, a pistol left in the mud nearby.
"What happened?!" Azula asked her brother, as Connor dropped to his knees to get a better look at Hakoda.
"This assassin jumped out of the alley and drew a gun at me!" Zuko said, pointing at the man being shoved into the dirt. "The guard's stopped him before he could shoot me, thankfully, but his gun went off when it hit the ground, and Hakoda's…" The larger man's pained grunting was enough of a giveaway, but Connor still pulled the chief's hands away from his injury to see the wound directly. "He got hit."
Connor sucked a breath through his teeth. "Oh, this is bad." He said, realizing the bullet had gone directly through the tribesman's kneecap, and shattered or tore everything in the joint. Working quickly Connor stripped his belt of its sword and holster, to slip it around Hakoda's leg like a tourniquet. "Oy, someone help me pick him up." Connor said as he moved to grab Hakoda under his arms. One of the two men guarding Zuko sprung into action, taking the man's uninjured leg and helped Connor lift and carry the chief back up the street. "This town have a doctor?!" Connor shouted at what few villagers had gathered around to watch the chaos unfold, failing to get a response. "Christ. KATARA, YA' DAD'S BEEN SHOT! I'LL NEED YOU IN A MOMENT!" He shouted as loud as he could, as he and the guardsman carried Hakoda back to the only building he knew had a table big enough to work on.
Azula held the door open to the hotel's restaurant, and Connor heaved Hakoda up onto an unoccupied oval table. Not another minute later the door burst open and Zuko with the rest of their friends came rushing into the restaurant, traipsing mud everywhere. "DAD!" Katara shouted, as her father tried to sit up on the table. "Dad!" Katara repeated, taking his hand.
"Katara…" Hakoda said before his head rocked backward and he passed out. She took out water from her pouch and immediately went to surround his blood-soaked leg with it, but before she could start, Connor took hold of her wrist.
"I wouldn't do that…" Connor warned.
"You called for me to help! Let go of me!" Katara shouted, trying to pull away.
"Why, so you can kill your father?" Connor asked, causing Katara to pause, and stop her struggling. Connor huffed. "He's been kneecapped, through and through. His joint's been ripped apart, every bone in it's like crushed glass, and he's covered in shite. Blood loss is the least of his problems."
Katara closed her eyes, letting a few tears fall, before she took a few breaths and looked back up to Connor. "Then what do you need me to do?"
"Cut away the pant leg on his injured side, and clean away all the mud. Do not let my belt come off his thigh." Connor said as he started to make his way to the door.
"And where are you going?" Katara asked her question going unanswered.
Connor put his hands up and shouted to the rest of the room. "Everyone else get out!" He then turned to Azula. "In my luggage on the train, there's a bag marked with a red snake coiled around a stick. Get it, and quickly. I'll need your fire bending afterward."
Azula took off running, as the rest filed out behind her, and Connor, now without the eyes of his friends and the public on him, put his mouth to his forearm, rather than his blood-covered hand, and exhaled through his nose. Katara took notice of Connor's somewhat unsteady demeanor. "What's wrong?" She asked.
Connor looked at her and then closed his eyes. "I've never surgically amputated a limb before."
AN: Peace sells, but who's buying?