Pre-Chapter AN: Another chapter out on time. School break continues till tomorrow, when I actually have to go put in the work to earn this degree. As always, more chapters of this story are on my pa-treon, and more stories are on my profile. Go wild!

My war cry was matched by dozens of voices behind me as we all fell upon the Mountain's ambush. It was like a sneak attack to counter an already existing sneak attack. The earth kingdom nationals were caught with their pants down, not literally, thankfully, and were hard-pressed to react to our advance. Toji was the first to make contact as he jumped right out of the saddle of his horse before spinning into a kick that sent one man crashing into the ground, unconscious. The others noticed him and attempted to dogpile him with their assault, but it was laughable how much ease he had cutting through the farmhands and hunters that formed the earth kingdom army.

I could hear most of my compatriots file out behind me as they ended their charge to engage the soldiers they found without opponents. I, on the other hand, did not let myself get distracted. I could not turn away from one of the first sights I'd seen the moment I got a view of the attack. The Mountain was faced off against by Colonel Shinsuke as he stood right in front of Healer Amara. Perhaps it was the Fire Nation's racism, but for some reason the water bending members of the Healing Corps were required to wear extremely distinctive outfits. I could not rule out the possibility that that was the reason for her being targeted by the large man. The Colonel was clearly attempting to shield her from him, and that was not going as well as it should have been.

Shinsuke was a powerful fire bender, there was no doubt about it. Every blast he sent was with an audible rush, and his form was textbook perfect, with only the slight flavouring that came from applying the style in combat. He sent a powerful blast at the Mountain, that the behemoth of a man merely leaned out of the way off before his hammer came swinging in. Shinsuke was able to dodge backwards, but it was clear to me now that the fight had been going on for some large amount of time. While the Earth Kingdom Brute was fresh as a fucking daisy, Shinsuke looked to be on his last legs.

"A little bit faster, boy. Come on!" I urged my mount as we did all we could to cross the distance separating us from the confrontation. I wanted to call out to Shinsuke. To let him know I was coming, that all he had to do was hold out for a bit longer. But that would be stupid. I couldn't let the element of surprise go. That was why I was racked with guilt when I saw Shinsuke put his all into a final last ditched rush at the brut that the monster of a man was able to parry, laughing all the while. His hammer slammed into Shinsuke's midsection with the ring of metal meeting metal. The man was propelled backwards by the attack, somehow managing to fly over Amara entirely. Closer to them, I could make out the visible dent on his chest piece. It had been caved in entirely. Fuck.

Amara took a stance I didn't recognise, calling forth water from a waterskin that she seemed to have hidden on her person, waiting for the Mountain to advance. He got close to her, and she struck out with the water, using it to strike his armour. The behemoth did not even flinch or grunt to show that the impact had done anything to him.

Finally, I was close enough. I could do it now. I held tight to the reins of my mount as I transitioned from sitting on the saddle to standing. The Mountain, too focused on Amara, never noticed me until my knee was right next to his face. I guess those Earth Kingdom helmets were shitty, got paying attention to your surroundings.

Powered by a blast of fire from my feet, my left knee crashed right into the side of his head and sent the bigger man crashing to the ground. I joined him there, but quickly rolled backwards until I was sure I was beyond his reach. The helmet might have worsened his situational awareness, but that thing was a hell of a weapon. My knee felt like I'd smashed a hammer into it. I could hear the monster beginning to rise, and no matter how much my body begged me to do the opposite, I also made my way to my feet. Fuck. That first attack was definitely a tie. At least, I could see a dent on the helmet, and he was still struggling to take his feet, so I could see that the Mountain had indeed felt the attack.

I felt a cooling sensation as water wrapped around my knee. "That's the best I can do to help you" Healer Amara said to me before running backwards and struggling to rip Shinsuke out of his armour to begin healing him. The numbing effects of the water allowed me to take my stance with only a wince of pain. My opponent finally managed to lift himself up to his feet, and I wasted no time in heading right for him. I was still in pain, but allowing him to gather himself and take stock of the situation would be a mistake. A mistake that could quickly turn fatal if care wasn't taken.

The dust beneath my feet was blasted away as fire erupted from the soles of my feet and propelled me at my target. He tried to lean out of the way of the flying roundhouse kick I started with, but the attack was nothing but a feint. When the leg that lifted from the ground returned, I sent multiple blasts of fire smashing at his midsection. Dodging was impossible, and he didn't have enough time to block. Each fire blast hit him like a canon and he stumbled backwards. I would have smiled in satisfaction if my knee wasn't screaming at me in pain from that manoeuvre. Lesson number 1 from today would be that that helmet was much thicker and tougher than it looked.

I couldn't stop, so as my opponent slammed his feet into the ground to create a wall to separate us, I was already moving. I moved around the shield right as he was beginning to stand upright again. Not so quickly, you bastard. My flames came as I called them, allowing me to close the distance faster than he could lift another wall. He abandoned the motion in favour of swinging at his own wall with all his strength. His hammer made contact and shattered the wall, sending all the rubble from the collapse flying right at me. Crafty. It wasn't enough, as I jumped right in the air, using my flames to grant me much needed lift to fly above the attack. As I flew back down, I stretched my arms behind me, using fire to accelerate my descent.

The Mountain, credit to him, figured out what I was about to do pretty quickly. On the other hand, his chosen response left a lot to be desired. He held his hammer in both hands, preparing to swing at me the moment I got into range. Stupid. I waited until the very last second before I moved my hands, creating another fire blast right in the behemoth's face, using the concussive force to change my direction and allow me to land right behind him after moving my body in response. Reeling from the unexpected attack, there was little he could do against me as I smashed my foot into the back of his knee, sending him falling to the ground on one knee. I did the same with the other knee, and as I prepared to end the fight, I was forced to jumped backwards as I felt the ground beneath me quake. It was just as well that I did, since the ground I'd been standing on was replaced by spikes of stone, rising as high as my opponent was tall.

I felt my knee twinge in protest at me ignoring its weakness. Looking around, I could tell that much of the attack was still ongoing, but my group had helped in turning the tide. Any second now, and a retreat would be sounded. I could not allow that happen. I took a deep breath and took a stance I hadn't taken in years. It still felt easy, muscle memory slipping into place like putting on a glove. My outstretched fingers began their dance as I tore apart the positive and negative energies that made me, well, me. My opponent had no idea what was coming for him as he lifted himself to his feet.

I was planted on the ground as solid as any earth-bender as my left hand completed the arc, following my right, before they both briefly crossed each other, allowing the positive and negative energies to come together again. In that same instant, my right hand struck out, index and middle fingers first. I heard it before I saw its effects, as my vision was lost for a few seconds from the flash. When it cleared, I could see him right opposite me. Or what remained of him, rather. Where the mountain had been, stood a burnt corpse. The lightning bolt had torn right through him, burning his body and cooking him to a crisp. He landed on the ground, obviously dead.

A cry went out. Louder than the clap of thunder my lightning bolt had created. "Natsu!" Toji shouted above the sounds of jubilation, and the rest of the army took up the cry. Chanting my name. I looked around, and noted that the Earth Kingdom nationals had chosen two paths. Either trying to run away, which was bound to get them killed as they fled without any order or cover, or surrendering and dropping their weapons. Apart from the soldiers accepting surrenders, the rest were swarmed around me, beginning to block my view of my surroundings as they gathered to celebrate.

I bleeped, an undignified sound, as I felt myself be lifted from the ground. I would have smashed the head of whoever dared inside, but I could recognise the feeling of the hands that held my legs. I looked down and was met with a familiar mop of scattered black hair. It was Toji. "Natsu! Natsu! Natsu! The Thunderer!" Toji screamed, pumping his left hand, getting the entire crowd in it with him. When he shouted the last phrase, the crowd went wild. I felt fear for my eardrums as they all screamed the title, "The Thunderer! The Thunderer!" They shouted in unison. I looked down at his head in irritation. I knew that telling all those stories about the Norse gods and pretending that I'd come up with them was going to bite me in the arse at some point.

XXXXXXX- COLONEL SHINSUKE

All he felt was pain. With just one hit, he could tell that the monster had broken most of his ribs and maybe even more than that.

"Stay with me, Shinsuke. I'm with you. Someone help me get this off" He heard her voice. Amara. The love of his life. His father thought he'd been crafty, sending Amara off to the army when he knew Shinsuke had always dreamed to join the Navy like him. He'd thought that by forcing him to choose between his dream and his love, he'd get Shinsuke to abandon the love of his life in favour of some boring Fire Nation girl. He didn't know him. He never truly did.

Because if the great Admiral Rensuke had known just how deep the love his son bore for the daughter of the woman he despised so much, then he'd never have allowed them to grow up together or even spend as much time as they did. Thrust between two choices, Shinsuke did what he always did. He went with his heart. He picked Amara and enlisted in the army in the hopes of joining her.

It had taken him years to reach the rank of Colonel and gain enough capital to get himself posted to General Sung's division to join Amara, and now all of that was going to be taken from him because of some earth kingdom barbarian? Some piece of shit scum.

"The Thunderer!…" He heard from several voices at the same time. For some few seconds, he thought they were going to be attacked again, but it took him little time to figure out that it wasn't a cry of panic, but one of celebration.

"What…s g-oi" He struggled to speak, to force his mouth to move to form the words.

"Shhhh" She pressed down on his lips with her fingers.

"I'm here" She said, leaning down towards him. Her voice was perfect as always. Angelic. A voice he could fall asleep to. If it was the last thing he listened to before he died then it would have been worth it all.

"Tui and La, guide my hands" She said in prayer to those strange spirits they worshipped back in the water tribes. She'd been civilised by her presence in the Fire Nation, but some things couldn't be helped, could they?

He felt his armour fall around him. And then there was a cooling sensation.

"The Thunderer!" was the last he heard before he descended into complete unconsciousness.

XXXXX- GENERAL SHUGABU

"My King, our scouts say that they've come into contact with fire Nation scouts again. They're getting closer and closer to our walls" he said from his position on the floor.

"They are, are they? Well, this is sure to be interesting." The King replied from his position on the throne before erupting into uproarious laughter.

"Who is in command of the next set of dead meat?" He asked when he was done laughing.

"A man named Major General Sung. He is young, but so far, he hasn't lost a single battle and there is very little the unified army is capable of doing to halt or slow his advance." He explained, getting another round of laughter from the King. 'The King is a bit eccentric' his predecessor had warned him after choosing him as his replacement after retirement. A bit eccentric had proven to be a huge understatement.

"And how sure are you that he's coming this way? Last time that they passed, they gave us a good skirt over in their rush for little Kuie's Kingdom" He said, voice leaving little to doubt about his feelings.

"Not very, but this approach is much different from the last one. Last time, much of the smaller villages were ignored, but now they are taking everything they come across without hesitation" If the man wasn't of the Fire Nation, he would have been impressed with his achievements so far. He looked poised to regain all the progress that their Prince had squandered in the failed invasion of Ba Sing Se.

"Let him come if he dares, then. Positive Jin is abundant in the air tonight."

Post Chapter A/N; Well, this chapter is going to be a bit shorter than usual. I just feel that adding anything else here would be a terrible idea and not fit with the vibe. We've got the next two chapters of this story available on pa-atreon, and you can read all of that right now just by heading to the link on my profile or searching for my username up there. Feel free to have a look.