A/N- So sorry this is coming about four days late. Haven't had the best week and this story has arrived at a really stressful point in its plot here I can't afford to get anything wrong. Expect the next update on Wednesday next week, and know you could skip the wait and read the next two chapters as well as continuous updates on Pa-treon right now. Since I now qualify as an unemployed member of society, all subscribers on my pa-treon are much appreciated. If you enjoy my writing, then please don't hesitate to support it if you can. 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. Please subscribe to my pa-treon using the website directly instead of using the IOS app. It's cheaper on the website.
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It was perhaps a blessing that Toji's senses were so much better than mine. Because if I had been the one to spot a massive boulder flying right at us almost too quickly for us to truly see, I had no idea how I would have reacted. Perhaps I would have attempted to destroy it head on. I would surely have sought out Toph, the young girl who had grown so precious to me in the time since I'd taken her from her family. Toji worried about none of that. He saw the boulder coming and simply shouted, "Get down". He dove on top of me, forcing me to the deck as the rock flew right over our heads, destroyed part of our ship before landing right in the helm of the ship behind us.
I looked up after that, noting the damage. "Get some order in this bitch", I screamed at the Captain as everyone began running helter-skelter. Our presence had been anticipated, and that meant they were ready for us. Even more rocks came flying by and while two of them managed to strike two more ships in our fleet, they missed mine by a fair margin.
We were miles from the wall. A considerable part of my flagship had sustained damage already, and the 'fleet' I could boat only had three unharmed ships. Two, I amended as another boulder found its mark. This was going to be a slaughter. There were no two ways about it.
"Where is Maki?" I barked out. If there was anytime to need combustion bending on our side, it was this one.
"She was helping Toph try to get some rest. They're both below deck" Toji replied.
"Get her here now" I ordered, even while knowing that by the time the order would be obeyed, it would probably be too late. This was a classic failure of intelligence. They'd known we were coming. We never sent any scouting parties out. We were on ships that we had no idea how to man in Naval combat, and we were sitting ducks in the face of their offensive.
The next boulder I saw did not manage to complete its arc before I struck it down with a bolt of lightning, but I knew that would be a delaying measure at the very best. Those were earthbenders out there. There was no limit to their ammunition, and I could already tell that the ship had stopped moving. The engines had stalled. Probably because of the damaged exhaust, by damaged, I meant non-existent at this point. There was very little chance of this ending well for me. I could see it all falling apart. My hopes of the war. Whatever plans I'd had for the fire nation afterward. My desires to bring honour to my family name. I'd forever be known as the Blunderer of Ba Sing Se, or something equally ridiculous. I struck down another boulder even as I considered my options.
There was no chance of success, but there could be honour in going down with the ship. Of course, that would mean the end of my family name. It was one of the few things that meant anything to me in this world. If I died here, so would the Wu name. So would Toji, and Maki and Toph. No. That wasn't an option. I struck down a third boulder, already finding myself lost for breath. Lightning bending was dangerous, I reminded myself. I'd almost burned out my inner flame using it. But what choice did I have now?
A fourth boulder fell before me and this time I did not even feel my body give out. Suddenly, I was on one knee and struggling to breathe. I wasn't tired. I knew I wasn't. It was just that my body could not take the influx of positive and negative energies that came with channeling and using lightning. It was fine in small doses, but four lightning bolts in quick succession was probably more than anyone else would even have been able to attempt. Still, the failure stung. Especially when three boulders flew on over me like my previous efforts in striking them down had meant nothing. To be honest, it probably had.
Nevertheless, I was stuck. Another one of my ships had been hit in the latest salvo, and all I could hear was the sound of my soldiers dying. These were my men. They'd fought for me, bled for me, and now they would die for me.
"Abandon ship" I screamed at the top of my voice, even as I knew that most of the men were far ahead of me when it came to that. I turned to the men next to me. They were the ones I'd shared a campfire with all those weeks ago. "Jump in the water" I ordered, and credit to them, they hesitated. "Jump!" I rose my voice to drive the point home, and they did as bid. I tried pushing myself up to my feet, but was only able to stand by leaning heavily on the ramp. Another set of boulders flew overhead. They weren't bothered about accuracy anymore. It made sense, I realised. Dozens of escape boats had left the ships behind and were now rowing in a dozen different directions.
My men were deserting. And I could not even bring myself to blame them. Had I not promised them victory above all else? This wasn't victory. If I was breaking my end of the deal, so too, could they? Of course, I was not allowed to wallow for long.
"Natsu" Toji screamed, hoisting a bleeding Maki over his shoulders. I did not hear his next words, my attention fixated on the drip-drop sound of her precious lifeblood as it spilled across the deck.
"What happened to her?" I yelled without even realising that I was yelling.
"She got impaled on some metal that go dislodged in the first hit. Toph was able to bend it out, but we need to get her medical attention, and we need to get her out of here", Toji's words were barely out of his mouth when I suddenly found myself flying through the air. I flew, dislodged from my position by the impact of one of the boulders that I'd thought had gone overhead on the back end of the ship. I didn't feel it when my body struck the ship again after the ship's mast moved in a rush of screeching metal to prevent me from entering the water. I didn't feel it either when I landed on the deck, fully losing consciousness seconds later.
When I came to, the world was spinning around me. A concussion, I diagnosed in seconds. One advantage of my body in this world was that it was basically superhuman. I pulled at my inner flame. That heat that distinguished me from the rest of the world and brought it to the forefront. I let out a breath that I knew would probably have steamed in the air outside. I did not open my eyes. That would hurt. I'd learned that lesson early on. Instead, I tried to think about what had led me here. Concussions were usually marked with short-term memory loss.
I racked my brain and could barely avoid screaming 'Eureka' when it came to me. I'd been on the ship. Ba Sing Se. They had a wall on the beach head. They'd fired on us with trebuchets and probably sunk my entire makeshift fleet. That brought another question. Where was I now? It was moving just like a boat would, so that meant I was still on the water. That went against my first theory that I'd been somehow captured by the Earth Kingdom. But it didn't mean necessarily that I was safe. What made me make the decision that I probably was, was the fact that I could feel my headache reducing. It was also marked with a feeling that I had become more than familiar with- Amara's chi when she healed.
I tore my eyes open and was gifted with the sight of the water bender leaning over my body as she worked.
"Welcome back, General" She said with a smile that did not quite reach her eyes, and I nodded at her in reply while increasing the heat that ran through my body. In case she'd poisoned me, it would be best to burn it out now rather than risk it becoming a thing later.
"Oh good, you're awake. You can talk some sense into this lot" was the next thing I heard. I turned my head to the door of the room I was in and found Maki standing there with an irritable look on her face.
"What's going on?" I said, making to rise. I waved off Amara's attempts to help as I felt my legs almost give out as I took my first step and just reached out for the wooden wall of what I was now certain was a boat. A non-fire nation boat, to be precise.
"Where are we?" I asked next, not even waiting for her to answer the first question, as the second seemed far more pressing at the moment.
"You're on my boat, General" Another voice said, coming into the room next after pushing his way past Maki. He had said the word General with a mocking tone, but that did not offend me very much. Instead, I was more focused on trying to figure out just who was standing before me. He had brown skin and hair tied in a long ponytail that made it all the way to his back. He wore simple clothes, a tunic, and trousers. Simple but well fitting. And well-made as well. That meant a skilled enough seamstress in his service or enough gold for clothes that fit perfectly. Could be both.
"Who are you?" I asked even as I tried to place the features. He didn't have the square jaw that was common in the Earth kingdom, and that skin was much too brown to even be considered fire nation. That meant Water Tribe by process of elimination, but that was not a certainty.
"The name's Kai, captain of the Wicked Wench" He said in an accent that was neither here nor there.
"Captain Kai then" I said, taking the title with ease.
"Your people said you'd pay in gold. For keeping, you here and letting you heal and all" He said, making me narrow my eyes at him. He was making an effort to speak in a more colloquial tone. It just sounded artificial and forced. Of course, he misinterpreted my narrowed eyes and put his hand on the hilt of the blade he wore on his lips. To his credit, he managed to avoid me laughing openly in his face because I had the feeling he would be useful in the near future. Especially since I didn't have the clearest picture of what was happening.
"Worry not, Captain. I am General Natsu of the Ancient Wu family. Those words might mean little and less to you, but trust me when I say that if you do as I will, you will be rewarded with enough gold to buy yourself a fleet of ships and even fill them with wicked wenches", I said, noting that the nod and smile he rewarded my words with did not quite reach his eyes.
"What's going on?" I turned to Maki next.
"Toji and Toph want to assault the City of Ba Sing Se all on their lonesome" Maki said, and I almost chuckled. That sounded just like the little firecracker that I'd made my own and the man I called my best friend.
"You need to go show them you're awake and talk some sense into them so they don't go riding off to their deaths" She said next.
"Of course. Tell me all about what's been going on while I've been unconscious as we walk?"
"Nothing much. The hit that took you out took out much of the ship as well. Toph managed to tear off enough of it for us to remain afloat until Toji found us an escape ship and our lovely Healer Amara. The Earth Kingdom kept firing until they'd sunk the entire fleet and most of the escape vessels. We managed to skirt the entire thing thanks to some clever water bending from the Healer. After that, we were adrift for a bit before we came across this vessel. They're smugglers of a sort-"
"Pirates, My Dear Maki. We're pirates."
"Like I said, they're smugglers who are going to be moving some very illegal alcohol into the walled city. Toji and I were able to negotiate with them to allow us aboard and give us the medical supplies necessary to get you back on your feet. Can't lie, you were in a bad state when they found us so we needed the help. Toji promised gold from his family's coffers." She said in reply.
"And they just believed that and agreed to help?" I couldn't deny being curious.
"They took both your armour and Toji's as collateral to ensure you paid up" It was then that I actually thought to question the lack of the familiar weight of my chest piece on me. I had noted that I had woken up in only a pair of trousers but hadn't thought too much of it. But now that I knew that my armour had been….pledged to pirates of all things. I could not say I felt pleased about it, but I swallowed the feeling. Better alive than slightly dishonored. Besides, I would be receiving my armour in no time. All it would take would be a letter back to the Homeland, and this man would be swimming in gold. I just had to make sure news of the disgrace did not spread far.
Not like it mattered, in the end. I was a General in name only. My army. It was gone. The largest, most well-trained force in the entire Fire Nation Army. Wiped out in one fell swoop with no casualties imposed on the enemy side. Iroh had quit the siege of Ba Sing Se after losing his son. I never even made it to his shores. That didn't even add to the fact that there was a Princess of the Fire Nation missing or dead in this mess. I wondered if the White Lotus would take me for a moment. My family had committed great crimes but surely if I turned cloak early enough. I could even deliver Omashu to their war effort. Bumi was dead, at my own hand but what did that matter, so they were short one powerful bender. I could come with three, and a non-bender that would give Piandao a run for his money.
That was one hell of a military force. Wasn't Aang big on forgiveness as his schtick? I could spin house arrest for Grandfather. He's an old man who poses no significant threat on his lonesome. It was doable. Of course, it grated at me to give up everything I'd worked for. Also, turning traitor would see my family in the dumps for a generation or three. I could marry Maki. She didn't have the right blood, but she had power aplenty. Maybe combustion bending was something in the blood. Children with that kind of power would be good for family. As for my children, wedding them to Toji's or even just a merchant family with a good enough background would be permissible. My Grandchildren would be well-placed to return the family to prominence.
But it felt like failure. Not, it wasn't just the feeling. It was failure. Failure of the kind that I was not even close to being used to. But what were my other options? Getting a Princess killed did not bode well for my future with the fire Nation. Even if I took Ba Sing Se with this lot, there was no chance I was going to live that down. Ba Sing Se was the jewel of the earth kingdom, but it was not worth a Princess. Not Ozai's princess, at the very least.
I finally made it up to the deck and noted the positions of everyone in it. Toph was next to Toji, holding on to him like a lifeline. It was then I noted that we were on a wooden ship, of all things. She was probably only a few steps away from freaking out completely. If a metal ship had been bad, then this was probably a nightmare.
"Good to see you alive, Natsu" Toji said as he noticed me step into the light and I hurried the few steps that separated me from them as I noticed Toph had gotten up and was beginning to seek me out.
Before she could move more than a step, I'd gathered her into my arms. "I heard you figured it out" I said. It was another thing Maki had mentioned. Toph could metal-bend now.
"I thought you were dead" She said instead, sounding so small and tiny.
"Never, kid. Who's going to be here to make you do the impossible if I went and got myself killed?" I said in reply, drawing a smile from her that I returned even if I knew she would never see it.
"So what's this I hear about a fool plan of assaulting Ba Sing Se?" I asked.
Important Announcement: Changes made to my pa-treon structure mean it's now cheaper to read the very next chapter with a lower-tier subscription. I'll be placing a discount on yearly memberships for a week or so to support this
A/N: Sometimes you lose, and it isn't even your fault-that's a lesson Natsu needs to learn. He doesn't live in a vacuum. Here's a fun bit of trivia, the Wicked Wench was the ship Jack Sparrow originally had before it was sunk and then when Davy Jones rose it from the depths, it was rechristened the Black Pearl. That's the chapter. Like I said earlier, you can either wait till Wednesday next week 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.