A/N- Yeah, this is coming ahead of schedule. A whole week and one day ahead of schedule even. Of course, we know that the normal release schedule here is once every two weeks, but with some space in my schedule, I should be able to upload the next chapter in one week, on the 3rd of October. You could skip the wait and read the next two and continuous updates on Pa-treon right now. For Pa Treon, you can remove the hyphen between Pa and Treon and Google it, then search for my username—Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting it in your address bar.

The first steps came easily enough. The next few after them, however, were tedious, messy, and difficult. It felt like with every step, his ostrich horse would find itself caught in something, and then he'd have time to slow down to remove whatever reed or vine or greeny obstruction hard hindered his movements before continuing on. If it were just him with the difficulties, then perhaps his displeasure would have taken a while to hit the tipping point. He had patience for days, after all. But it was not just him. He had to deal with muttered complaints from thousands of men at the same time as they all tried to make their way through. In the first few minutes of entering the swamp, whatever they had that seemed to even resemble an organised movement had been washed away, leaving rank chaos in its wake.

The caravans had already broken down in fifteen minutes of entering, and then they'd had to slow down to allow some men fix the wheels before they could keep going. Thirty frustrated minutes in and he'd had enough. "Dismount. Dismount, damn you all. We continue on foot. Guide your ostrich-horses by the reins and try to avoid us getting caught up even further in this mess" He said this time, and his orders were heeded quickly. Abashed, he released that he had not said his orders, but screamed them. Not even an hour in, and the swamp was already beginning to get to me.

"I don't want to hear it", I snarled at Toji as he stepped right next to me.

"Yeah, I have the good sense to save 'I told you sos' for after we get out of this mess. I just wanted to tell you that two of the caravans have broken down again" Agghhhh. He wanted to scream. Wisely, Toji stepped backwards, but he did not lash out in his anger. He allowed it to flow through him and then released it from his nose in the form of steam. He felt calmer. Cooler and calmer. He wiped off a line of sweat from his forehead. The humidity of the damn swamp wasn't doing them any favours either. In the plains, they had the benefit of a cool land breeze to help them weather the beating of the sun, but here there was nothing. He couldn't even gain the pleasure of the sun beating down on him because the damned foliage canopy was in the way.

When his fingers left his head, he saw her. Not even her. Just her hair flowing around the tree as she darted behind it and began to move. "Hey you, stop there" he shouted and began to move after her. Lost in his chase, he ignored Toji's attempts to call out at him. He ran deeper into the swamp, searching her out. She surely had something to do with this, he knew. Perhaps a spirit-maybe the face stealer or something like that. A spirit that had plagued his sleep and was now plaguing his campaign. All he had to do was reach it, he thought. He stared down at his fist and nodded.

He remembered the show. Humans had received bending to allow them to fight spirits on an even footing. That meant bending could hurt them, and when it came to making things hurt, there was no element better than fire. And when it came to fire bending, there were few better than he was. It was not a boast.

No longer bogged down by his mount, he practically flew through the swamp's foliage. He ran across a wide vine that ran through a small pond's worth of water, and then jumped the rest of the distance to land on the ground before jetting off again. Spotting a loose vine attached to a tree, he ran almost vertically across another tree before jumping and grabbing a hold of the vine before swinging with it across a dozen feet before he landed on the ground. Again, he could just make out the back of the woman he was chasing as she banked left. He followed, turning left on a dime. Only his continued flexibility and dance training prevented him from spraining his ankles with the movement. Finding no easy path after her, he ran along one tree before reaching its first branch and then running along that until he landed on the next branch of the next tree, and so on. Now, he could make her out as she ran across the ground.

He smiled on sighting his prey. This was finally over. He ran the last few feet of the branch he was on before he jumped and boosted his flight with his fire bending. She never even managed to react in time until he had landed right on top of her. And then as he reached down at her, the body beneath him disappeared.

Looking around himself as he stood up, he realised that he'd somehow managed to het himself totally and completely lost chasing this damned thing down. "Fuck!" He screamed to the heavens. This time, he did not even bother with resisting the urge or trying to find a more healthy outlet for his frustrations. "Fuck" He screamed again, realising how good it felt. To just let loose with no restraint and caution. He didn't have men here that he needed to see him as anything more than a kid who'd got in over his head. He didn't need to be anything for anyone for perhaps the first time in his life. "Fuck" He shouted, and this time, he could not help himself, he fell down on his arse and began to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

What did it say about him that he felt like he'd found himself the most while being lost from anything and everything that mattered?

"Surely, your grandfather raised you with better language than that, Natsu my love" The voice cut through his laughter like a knife through butter, and he whirled around in shock to look at the person who'd addressed him.

"Mum?" He asked instinctively on seeing the face he'd only ever got to see in portraits at home. Portraits that he'd lost access to after he moved out.

"My sweet sweet boy" She said, in way of greeting, taking a step forward. No. This couldn't be her. She was dead. I lifted my fists in her direction.

"Don't come an-any closer" I said, cursing myself for the stutter. It was a legacy of my old life that I was sure I had left behind so why was it rearing its ugly head right now of all times.

"You have nothing to fear from me, my son. My love. My boy" She stepped closer still. The voice in my head urged me to attack. To do something-attack her or run. But it was screaming at me to not let her get close. Maybe it was the tiredness that came from lack of sleep, maybe it was the swamp, maybe it was a million different things, but I did not move a single step as she covered the distance between us and then grabbed on to my face.

"My sweet summer boy, Natsu. You have been so very brave. So strong. So strong without your mother. You can rest now" She said as she took me in a hug.

"How is this possible?" I found my voice, and muttered into her shoulder.

"The foggy swamps are a very spiritually charged environment, my son. Here, spirits that have lingered close to the veil between worlds can cross over if someone from this side pulls them over. You pulled me here, Natsu. You wanted me here, my love, my boy."

"But how?"

"You're lost, my boy. You've lost your way."

"I have."

"But rest now. Mommy is here. You don't have to fight any more."

"I don't have to fight anymore," I said, and then I felt myself freeze.

"I like fighting" I said this time.

"What?"

"I like fighting. It's the only damned here that matters. It makes me feel alive, real, makes my actions matter." I said. It felt like I was talking to myself, and that was the truth. I felt myself as I was being enclosed in the vines of the tree and tried moving my limbs only to find that they weren't responsive. They were bound pretty tightly, But my head wasn't. I took a deep breath in, and I bathed the vine that was forming around me in fire. I turned my head, and allowed the fire to spread all around me until every bit of green around me was ablaze. I fell to the water below with a splash and just sat there for a second, breathing heavily. I'd come close to dying just now, I knew. If that spirit had taken me, then that would have been it for me. Stupid. So fucking stupid.

I cursed at myself even more intently as I scrambled out of the water. Where were my men? Toji? Maki? There was a spirit in this swamp, and I'd left them chasing after the damn thing.

XXXXXX

I found Toji slashing and stabbing at vines as they tried to reach out for him. Maki was already nearly fully covered, and several of my troops were in even worse positions. I announced my presence with a sweeping arc of fire that cut through several of the vines reaching for Toji even as it cut half of those holding Maki in her position.

"Burn it all. Burn the whole fucking swamp" I shouted at no one in particular as I landed and began to do just that. Wide, sweeping arcs and fire blasts left my arms and legs as I danced around whatever vines managed to reach out for me. This spirit was powerful, but something told me that it drew its power from the swamp itself, and that was what I attacked. Those around me followed my lead without question. Even though I'd essentially abandoned them, they were still willing to follow my command. I silently promised myself that this would be the last time I would prove myself unworthy of their loyalty.

The Foggy Swamps were a staple of the earth kingdom's geography, standing as long as the famous Si Wong desert and being just as relevant, but even as great as it was, there was little it could do in the face of over a thousand firebenders unleashing their wrath at the same time. This was unlike any of the previous burnings I'd witnessed when we had to clear out forests or sections of forests for logistical advantages. Those had been organised affairs which were strictly monitored to prevent uncontrolled forest fires. This was the exact opposite of that. We burned, and we did it indiscriminately, and fire did what it did best, it spread.

We moved through the entire thing, setting every single bit of greenery on fire as we walked through. If we were anything less than a Fire Nation Army battalion, we might have found ourselves in some serious trouble with all the burning we were doing, but we were well-placed, and even better equipped to deal with the effects of our own fires.

It took what felt like hours to run through half of the entire swamp and raze it down to the ground. In the time since my first anger-driven command, we had settled into some sort of organised system. The army moved in several rotating circles with a shuffled series of firebenders at the circumference of each circle to do the burning. The non-benders, few as they were in my division, stood at the centre of the circle, and helped to direct the firebenders and keep them on task. The healers managed the rotation, keeping a careful gaze on each bender and swapping those who were tired out before they flagged and fell to exhaustion.

"Maki out. Natsu in" Amara commanded with a noticeable edge in her voice. She was not a fan of this. This indiscriminate destruction. But just as I knew the sun would rise in the East tomorrow, I knew she would do as she was told. Her loyalty was beyond reproach. I took Maki's place and began sending the sweeping arcs of fire forwards as we came towards the massive tree at the centre of the swamp. This was the centre of the swamp, I knew. And burning the tree was sure to destroy whatever the fuck that spirit had been. That spirit that had been bold enough to use my mother's face in its sick game.

"Aim at the tree" I commanded, forcing my voice louder than ever so I could be heard above the roar of the flames. I took a stance and sent my most powerful stream of flames at the tree.

And then suddenly, there was a wall of water covering the tree from all sides. Our flames washed against the water, quickly beginning to boil some of it.

"Hold" I commanded, but it seemed those towards the East had either failed to hear me or hadn't the endurance to keep their streams going on for long. Once the fire to the east shut off, the entire arc of boiling water was sent streaming right at me and my position. I felt my life flash before my eyes before the water suddenly parted before me like a scene out of the fucking bible and crashed down around me. I looked at Amara, and found that she'd lifted both hands with a look of concentration around her face.

I couldn't keep much of my attention on her, and it was snatched by the screaming from all around me as the men without a water bending healer in their midst were forced to take the full brunt of the boiling water attack.

"Leave this hallowed grounds, and never return, fire benders" The tree's massive vines parted to reveal an eclectic group of humans. Water benders, I deduced. The Foggy Swamp Tribe, to be precise. There were about two scores of them, I estimated as my mind began to form plans.

"And why the hell would we do that? We outnumber you, quite overwhelmingly in fact" Shin began. I allowed the arsehole hold their attention by being himself as I began to think of a way to deal with his without losing a good portion of my men. We weren't in the best of conditions for facing down skilled water benders, knee-deep in the substance as we were. We also weren't rested, or even mentally prepared for this kind of resistance.

"Your numbers mean little. We are the Foggy Swamp Tribe. The Great Swamp Spirit herself is on our side, and she has commanded you to return from whence you came, or find your lives turned to nutrients for the swamp."

"The Great Swamp Spirit? You are clearly insane, and I demand to speak to someone with some control over their faculties." Oh, bless your heart, Shin.

I subtly adjusted, moving away from the water to stand on one of the upraised roots along the ground. I watched Toji as he did the same.

"Your arrogance will be your downfall, fire bender" The Chief, or at least the one I suspected to be the chief, spoke with a sense of finality.

"Before we begin, I have a quick question. This Great Swamp Spirit of yours. What is it?"

"A good question. I will enlighten you so you understand what you face. The Great Swamp Spirit is the spirit of this very swamp. She is the one who gives us our power to bend water within the swamp here and has guided our people for millennia".

"Perfect. Now, do all of you talk to her"

"As the Chieftain, I am the Great Swamp Spirit's envoy. Her voice on this plane. What is the purpose of these questions?"

"Nothing much. Just wanted to know which one of you would be the first to die".

"What?"

The confused expression would be destined to be frozen on his face for eternity as I sent him flying to the ether with a single bolt of lightning. I reached down to blow at my smoking fingers as I relaxed the stance I'd assumed in a second.

"Anyone else?" I asked with a smirk that I really wasn't feeling.

Regardless of whether I was in it or not, I still ran down the length of the root and jumped onto another and then another in quick succession as I worked to close the distance between the water benders and I. Large, sweeping attacks would not work if we were in their midst, I calculated. I spun into a backflip that took me right over a cutting scythe of water. The rush of water aimed at my midsection was met with the hottest flames I could muster on short notice that evaporated the whole thing into steam before it could hit. And then I was among them. What I'd realised in the first few seconds of this fight proved true. The way they'd frozen with the death of their chief. The way they, even now, hesitated as they tried to figure out what to do next. These people, they weren't fighters. Not truly.

That was why I felt no pleasure as I leaned out of the way of a sloppy punch and retaliated with another that sent my opponent flying into the distance with a crushed ribcage. It was why I heard no drums in my ears as I forced myself into a split to dodge two attacks from opposite directions and retaliated with a wide sweeping arc of flame that cut two down at the knees and forced another backwards. Their lack of experience was why they turned all their attention to me, who was among them, and paid no attention to Toji until he'd landed with a spear right in the neck of one of the older looking women. It was why their ice shields were too brittle to stave off the knives that tore through them and a bit into their necks.

It was why, with one blast, Maki had torn their entire group asunder, and given Shin the space to jump in with his own powerful sweeping arcs. It was why in the face of organised resistance, the quality of which they'd never expected, they began to surrender. The first one to raise their hands in that motion had done it too late, and I'd stabbed a hand through the left side of his chest before I even recognised the motion for what it was. The next, made sure to accompany their actions with the right words. In one fell swoop, whatever resistance they'd sought to muster was dead and buried, and they'd surrendered. It was a victory. Undoubtedly so. The kind of victory that could earn me a commendation. Uprooting a secret water tribe and defeating and capturing them all in one fell swoop was a victory worthy of a tapestry. Then why did it taste like ash in my mouth? Maybe it was because I'd heard nothing since this fight began apart from the wails of the woman who had stood by the Chief's side after his body had fallen over right in front of her.

A/N; Will Natsu become a better person after this? Of course not, growth is never so linear. Like I said earlier, you can either wait till Thursday, the 3rd of October, for the next chapter or skip the waiting and read the next two, as well as continuous updates as I write on pa-treon (same username as up here- link in bio). Both are equally valid actions, so no rush. For Pa Treon, you can remove the hyphen between Pa and Treon and Google it, then search for my username—Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting it in your address bar.