After years of traveling, they finally managed to find somewhere safe and start over unfortunately for them peace that they found was never going to last.
A kingdom of burning ashes
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blueayes
If you want peace, then you must prepare for war.
- Location
- austin
The sounds of the endless ocean moving outside of the ship echoed throughout the room, they are a constant reminder that no matter how comfortable the ship is, it's never truly safe.
I look down at the girl that I chose to be my partner and I watch as she trembles.
Her pale skin is what first attracted me to her, but it was her light blue eyes and long blond hair that kept my attention on her.
It had been years since I had a partner, many would say that what I had just done was an act of evil, the girl's warm hand and delicate smile reminded me that souch things have long since been forgotten.
I let her guide me to the bed and as I lay next to her, I'm forced to hear my heartbeat when I feel her head on my chest.
I've long since lost track of how many years the fleet has been traveling throughout the world, or better-said worlds.
long ago the world saw the dead rise and while we all believed that it was the apocalypse the militaries of the world quickly dealt with the walking dead and the event was quickly forgotten.
that was a mistake.
The end didn't come quickly, at first there were videos of normal people dealing with groups of dead that showed up on the internet, and like before the dead were dealt with quickly.
To make sure that no animal became infected the bodies of the recently deceased, as well as the ones that began to walk again were burned.
I don't think that I have to mention that the animals were affected as well, as it doesn't make any sense for something like this to only affect people.
So the animal's bodies were burned alongside the bodies of the people.
I can't help but smile when I hear the girls snoring, It is such a simple thing but it's something that I have grown to appreciate.
I don't know when everything went from bad to worse or even when things went bad only that one day the world began to be overwhelmed by the dead.
You may be wondering how was this even possible when the dead were so easily dealt with.
The answer I a lot more complicated than I can ever truly answer.
the only thing that I can say is that there wasn't just one kind of undead, we were so confident in our ability to deal with the threat, that when the new versions of whatever was bringing the dead back to life appeared we were completely unprepared.
I was just a simple factory worker back then, one of an endless sea of migrants who had grown up in a country that didn't care about him and didn't care about its own lower classes for that matter.
I grew up with a mother and father and I had several brothers and sisters, but I don't know what happened to any of them.
I don't know if they were eaten by the hungry dead, became one more of the infected, if they managed to reach somewhere safe, or if they made it onto one of the ships that took people off the planet.
the only thing that anyone could do back then was run away and that was what we did it was that very action that led me onto this same ship.
I don't need to say that I began to bring people on board or that we began to sail from one point into another and we began to grab any ship or boat that we found and began to drag them with us until we either ran out of fuel or the currents led us to land.
Every time we reached a port we would take all of the fuel and whatever supplies we could before the dead overwhelmed us.
Before we knew it we had said all over the world but no matter where we went not a single place was ever safe.
I don't know when we began to cross into other worlds, and truth be told I don't want to know.
Perhaps I've just gone insane and I'm still asleep in this very ship and everything that I've experienced until now is nothing more than a cruel dream.
But as much as I hope that that was true I'm sad to say that it's not.
I'll skip a lot of the details but as time went by we began to perfect our ways of searching the ports, and with the practice that we gained we began to go deeper into the cities and brought more people into the fleet.
Yet no matter where we went not a single place was safe.
It was as if hell had opened and all of the souls were being allowed to return to their bodies.
From one world to another the story was always the same, the dead had risen and overwhelmed the living and so we continued to move from one port to another.
Every world we visited had an abundance of technology and information that we weren't able to completely bring with us, but we took as much as we could before we were forced to leave.
...........
"Admiral you need to see this sir!" I heard a man say to me, his panic-filled voice told me that whatever was going on was urgent.
"What's happening!" I say to him loudly as I push the girl off me and I quickly get dressed.
"Sir there's a fleet of metal ships coming towards us!" the man answers me.
I can't help but feel a cold dread spread through my chest, it isn't the first time that we run into another fleet and the situation always ends with us fighting one another.
It doesn't matter that the people on those ships become another group of faces amongst the many that live in the fleet, but the danger to the ships is always present.
As I open the metal door and look at the frightened expression on the man's face I can tell that we aren't just dealing with normal people.
It's not the first time that we encountered people who can fire energy beams, control the weather, or have some kind of power, and unfortunately, it's nearly impossible for normal people to fight them.
I followed the man to the top of the ship and I found myself looking at a large metal ship that left behind a thick trail of black smoke in the air.
A mage used her magic to show me what the people on the approaching fleet looked like and unfortunately, they were all wearing what could only be called uniforms.
We had somehow managed to find ourselves in one of the worst situations that we could have found ourselves in, as we had somehow managed to find ourselves meeting with this world's military.
It didn't matter if this world had been invaded or not, as our presence would be met with hostility no matter what we said or did.
As I watched the craft come closer the mage focused her spell and showed me something that made my stomach turn, the men onboard the black ships were making fire come out of their hands.
Judging by the way that they were acting they were used to doing such things daily, or they were aware that we could see them and were trying to intimidate us.
Unfortunately for us and them if the latter was true their attempt worked and we would be a lot more careful in dealing with them.
I listened as one of the Admirals beneath me announced who we were and that we didn't want any problems.
The man announced that if we had entered the kingdom's borders we would turn around and leave without any problems, his words were met with several fireballs being thrown at us by the approaching fleet.
I couldn't help but close my eyes with regret, as I steeled myself and ordered my men to return fire.
As I listened to the sounds of spells and canons firing at once I could only watch as the black metal ships exploded.
I could only watch as search parties were sent to find and capture anyone who had survived.
Unfortunately, they didn't find anyone, as everyone on those ships had been killed, so my men had no other option but to look through whatever they could find floating in the water to get as much information as they could.
Again they found nothing as the few things that either floated to the surface or simply were destroyed held little information at all.
The scrolls that the men could find showed that the fleet that we had encountered was nothing more than a fleet used to show that this place was under the rule of the Fire nation.
But these were waters that hardly anyone ever crossed which explained why my fleet was able to defeat the patrol ship so easily.
As we left the ruins of the petrol fleet behind, we began to notice a considerable lack of corpses, normally whenever we encountered a fleet, the corpses of truly dead animals people would follow.
Yet there were none.
We soon found an abandoned village and as usual drones, scout teams, and spells were used to search the area and to our collective surprise there weren't any dead.
So for the first time in years, we allowed ourselves to to leave the safety of the ships and allow both the children and the animals a chance to run and experience what it is like to live on land.
It didn't take long for the animals to feel their instincts call to them but thankfully the farmers or were they caretakers now, had tied the animals to heavy materials so they couldn't escape and be turned or eaten by the dead.
Everything about the area that we had found ourselves in was perfect, as there weren't any undead or dangerous animals around.
Before we knew it we began to repair the wooden houses of the village, but there weren't enough for everyone.
So we began to cut down the nearby trees and dug up as many stones as we could and we began to build new homes for ourselves.
In less than three years the small village had turned into a small city, while there weren't any towering buildings like the ones from the different versions of Earth, none of us were ready to build them just yet.
For all we knew the dead were somewhere else and we were just in an isolated part of the world and none of us had the strength to see another one of our cities die again.
Little did we know that our presence in this world hadn't gone unnoticed and that there were already people from this world living among us.
........Several years later.......
I look down at the girl that I chose to be my partner and I watch as she trembles.
Her pale skin is what first attracted me to her, but it was her light blue eyes and long blond hair that kept my attention on her.
It had been years since I had a partner, many would say that what I had just done was an act of evil, the girl's warm hand and delicate smile reminded me that souch things have long since been forgotten.
I let her guide me to the bed and as I lay next to her, I'm forced to hear my heartbeat when I feel her head on my chest.
I've long since lost track of how many years the fleet has been traveling throughout the world, or better-said worlds.
long ago the world saw the dead rise and while we all believed that it was the apocalypse the militaries of the world quickly dealt with the walking dead and the event was quickly forgotten.
that was a mistake.
The end didn't come quickly, at first there were videos of normal people dealing with groups of dead that showed up on the internet, and like before the dead were dealt with quickly.
To make sure that no animal became infected the bodies of the recently deceased, as well as the ones that began to walk again were burned.
I don't think that I have to mention that the animals were affected as well, as it doesn't make any sense for something like this to only affect people.
So the animal's bodies were burned alongside the bodies of the people.
I can't help but smile when I hear the girls snoring, It is such a simple thing but it's something that I have grown to appreciate.
I don't know when everything went from bad to worse or even when things went bad only that one day the world began to be overwhelmed by the dead.
You may be wondering how was this even possible when the dead were so easily dealt with.
The answer I a lot more complicated than I can ever truly answer.
the only thing that I can say is that there wasn't just one kind of undead, we were so confident in our ability to deal with the threat, that when the new versions of whatever was bringing the dead back to life appeared we were completely unprepared.
I was just a simple factory worker back then, one of an endless sea of migrants who had grown up in a country that didn't care about him and didn't care about its own lower classes for that matter.
I grew up with a mother and father and I had several brothers and sisters, but I don't know what happened to any of them.
I don't know if they were eaten by the hungry dead, became one more of the infected, if they managed to reach somewhere safe, or if they made it onto one of the ships that took people off the planet.
the only thing that anyone could do back then was run away and that was what we did it was that very action that led me onto this same ship.
I don't need to say that I began to bring people on board or that we began to sail from one point into another and we began to grab any ship or boat that we found and began to drag them with us until we either ran out of fuel or the currents led us to land.
Every time we reached a port we would take all of the fuel and whatever supplies we could before the dead overwhelmed us.
Before we knew it we had said all over the world but no matter where we went not a single place was ever safe.
I don't know when we began to cross into other worlds, and truth be told I don't want to know.
Perhaps I've just gone insane and I'm still asleep in this very ship and everything that I've experienced until now is nothing more than a cruel dream.
But as much as I hope that that was true I'm sad to say that it's not.
I'll skip a lot of the details but as time went by we began to perfect our ways of searching the ports, and with the practice that we gained we began to go deeper into the cities and brought more people into the fleet.
Yet no matter where we went not a single place was safe.
It was as if hell had opened and all of the souls were being allowed to return to their bodies.
From one world to another the story was always the same, the dead had risen and overwhelmed the living and so we continued to move from one port to another.
Every world we visited had an abundance of technology and information that we weren't able to completely bring with us, but we took as much as we could before we were forced to leave.
...........
"Admiral you need to see this sir!" I heard a man say to me, his panic-filled voice told me that whatever was going on was urgent.
"What's happening!" I say to him loudly as I push the girl off me and I quickly get dressed.
"Sir there's a fleet of metal ships coming towards us!" the man answers me.
I can't help but feel a cold dread spread through my chest, it isn't the first time that we run into another fleet and the situation always ends with us fighting one another.
It doesn't matter that the people on those ships become another group of faces amongst the many that live in the fleet, but the danger to the ships is always present.
As I open the metal door and look at the frightened expression on the man's face I can tell that we aren't just dealing with normal people.
It's not the first time that we encountered people who can fire energy beams, control the weather, or have some kind of power, and unfortunately, it's nearly impossible for normal people to fight them.
I followed the man to the top of the ship and I found myself looking at a large metal ship that left behind a thick trail of black smoke in the air.
A mage used her magic to show me what the people on the approaching fleet looked like and unfortunately, they were all wearing what could only be called uniforms.
We had somehow managed to find ourselves in one of the worst situations that we could have found ourselves in, as we had somehow managed to find ourselves meeting with this world's military.
It didn't matter if this world had been invaded or not, as our presence would be met with hostility no matter what we said or did.
As I watched the craft come closer the mage focused her spell and showed me something that made my stomach turn, the men onboard the black ships were making fire come out of their hands.
Judging by the way that they were acting they were used to doing such things daily, or they were aware that we could see them and were trying to intimidate us.
Unfortunately for us and them if the latter was true their attempt worked and we would be a lot more careful in dealing with them.
I listened as one of the Admirals beneath me announced who we were and that we didn't want any problems.
The man announced that if we had entered the kingdom's borders we would turn around and leave without any problems, his words were met with several fireballs being thrown at us by the approaching fleet.
I couldn't help but close my eyes with regret, as I steeled myself and ordered my men to return fire.
As I listened to the sounds of spells and canons firing at once I could only watch as the black metal ships exploded.
I could only watch as search parties were sent to find and capture anyone who had survived.
Unfortunately, they didn't find anyone, as everyone on those ships had been killed, so my men had no other option but to look through whatever they could find floating in the water to get as much information as they could.
Again they found nothing as the few things that either floated to the surface or simply were destroyed held little information at all.
The scrolls that the men could find showed that the fleet that we had encountered was nothing more than a fleet used to show that this place was under the rule of the Fire nation.
But these were waters that hardly anyone ever crossed which explained why my fleet was able to defeat the patrol ship so easily.
As we left the ruins of the petrol fleet behind, we began to notice a considerable lack of corpses, normally whenever we encountered a fleet, the corpses of truly dead animals people would follow.
Yet there were none.
We soon found an abandoned village and as usual drones, scout teams, and spells were used to search the area and to our collective surprise there weren't any dead.
So for the first time in years, we allowed ourselves to to leave the safety of the ships and allow both the children and the animals a chance to run and experience what it is like to live on land.
It didn't take long for the animals to feel their instincts call to them but thankfully the farmers or were they caretakers now, had tied the animals to heavy materials so they couldn't escape and be turned or eaten by the dead.
Everything about the area that we had found ourselves in was perfect, as there weren't any undead or dangerous animals around.
Before we knew it we began to repair the wooden houses of the village, but there weren't enough for everyone.
So we began to cut down the nearby trees and dug up as many stones as we could and we began to build new homes for ourselves.
In less than three years the small village had turned into a small city, while there weren't any towering buildings like the ones from the different versions of Earth, none of us were ready to build them just yet.
For all we knew the dead were somewhere else and we were just in an isolated part of the world and none of us had the strength to see another one of our cities die again.
Little did we know that our presence in this world hadn't gone unnoticed and that there were already people from this world living among us.
........Several years later.......
blueayes
If you want peace, then you must prepare for war.
- Location
- austin
........Several years later. Change.....
The sounds of hammers hitting nails could be heard throughout the city as the construction workers happily did their jobs.
She could see the thick clouds of steam and smoke coming out of the many chimneys or windows of the houses that she walked past.
Now and then she would walk past a horse, a giant bird, or any other animal that was either pulling a carriage or being used to herd other animals to wherever they needed to go.
the city was different from the city that she had grown up in, it did not have any of the giant buildings and its streets were divided into three different sections.
One was for animals, another was for things like cars or other machinery and finally the last was for people who were either walking or riding their bicycles.
She couldn't help but hum to herself as she walked past one of the many dojos that promoted their different fighting styles.
She was aware that several of the people in the city were able to fire energy beams or had some sort of power and used these combat schools to teach others to control their powers.
Still, she couldn't help but feel herself becoming tense whenever she passed one of these schools.
She knew that she was being overly cautious because it had been these same people who had saved her and the fleet on several occasions she couldn't help but feel afraid whenever she was around them.
She tried to keep her emotions under control as she walked past a group of children practicing magic and it was only when a police officer stopped her that she realized that she had insatiately tightened her grip on the machine gun that she was carrying.
The officer had guided her past the group and told her that her phobia was normal as not everyone had come from a world that had people who could do magic.
He then gave her a flyer that he advised she used to attend classes that would help her get used to their presence before leaving her alone.
As she walked she began to see something that she hadn't seen in years, white specks had started to fall around her, and as he lifted her hand to catch the specks she found that they were cold.
She couldn't help but smile, it was snow, and for the first time in years, she was happy to see snow again.
She finally reached her destination, it was one of the many stations that the military used to keep eyes on the people, but the one that she worked in was used to monitor the outside of the city.
"Hey I know that you just arrived but what did he say?" her boss asked her.
"He says that he isn't our leader and that he will only step in if things go bad." she answered her boss and she didn't react to the pain that his expression showed.
Everyone had hoped that the Admiral would continue to lead them, just as how he had led them through their time at sea, but the man claimed that there were three different kinds of leaders.
Those that were good leaders, those that were never supposed to be leaders, and those who did the job because they had to.
She hated the man's refusal to take his rightful place as their leader because it was him, not anyone else that had kept the fleet together regardless of the people's beliefs or the fact that they had come from different worlds.
The man had led them through one apocalyptic world to another and kept them safe and yet he refused to continue to do just that.
He refused to keep them safe, he refused to keep them together.
The different groups were already fighting amongst themselves even though the city hadn't been completed yet, there were still men- women- children, and elderly people living inside the ships because there weren't enough houses for them to live in.
"Did you tell him about what we found?" her superior asked her.
"yes, but he said that we needed to learn to handle things without him." she answered her boss and the man simply nodded at her words.
A month ago, the scout teams found several villages that had been burned and the people that should have been living in them were nowhere to be seen.
Normally the military would have kept this information a secret so that the people in the city wouldn't react, but they had seen how the civilian population would turn on them when they discovered that the military and their leaders had kept vital information from them.
No one wanted to be on the receiving end of a fully armed group of people who wanted to punish those who had lied to them.
Fortunately, when the people heard about what the scouts had found they didn't react violently, they simply kept their eyes open for anything or anyone that looked like it didn't belong.
She was about to say something when the hollow sounds of a bell began to echo inside her head, the bell was made out of a special material that didn't make any noise but instead sent the sound into people's minds.
It was something that was used to alert survivors of the fleet's location without catching the attention of the dead.
Without hesitating she ran after her superior who began to demand answers as to what was going on and to everyone's surprise the scout teams announced that they were being attacked, by people who could control the ground itself.
She could feel her heart beating rapidly inside her chest as the sounds of gunfire and explosive spells came through the radio.
The voices of the scouts shouting that they needed reinforcements seemed to be getting further as the station sent warnings to the fleet and whatever defenders the city had.
Everything seemed so far away as he stood in place and it was only when she felt her superior's hands on her shoulders that she snapped out of whatever trance she was in.
Yet the reality of the situation only set in when she saw the panicked expression on her superior's face.
"Get to the ship and tell the Admiral that we are being invaded!" her bosses shouted at her and without thinking she ran towards the place of the only person that everyone could trust.
The moment that she exited the building she found that the calm city had come to life in a panic yet currage-filled motion.
The men and women who could fight ran to the edge of the city, while the women, children, and those who cared for animals ran to hide from what was coming.
As she ran she saw mages who were using their spells to create a protective wall around the city, while tanks, mechs, and drones made their way to the outside of the city.
She felt a sense of relief over her, but it quickly shattered when the ground beneath her feet began to shake before breaking.
If it hadn't been for a martialist who had seen her fall, she would have been dead, the man was one of the people who had abilities and he had saved her despite her fear of him sn those like him.
She thanked the man for his help and ran to inform the admiral, yet as she neared the docks, she began to hear the sounds of cannons and gunfire.
The fleet was once again forced to do battle but most of the ships were still anchored, so they weren't able to fight properly.
She watched as the ships began to drop the chains that connected them to the anchors, meaning that they hadn't lifted them out of the water because something had stopped them.
She finally made it onto the Admiral's ship and found the man glaring at the incoming ships before he turned and looked at the video of the approaching army.
She was about to say something to the man, but seeing as he was already aware of the situation she found that she didn't have to say anything anymore, instead, she listened to the man orders the fleet to pen fire.
The sounds of hammers hitting nails could be heard throughout the city as the construction workers happily did their jobs.
She could see the thick clouds of steam and smoke coming out of the many chimneys or windows of the houses that she walked past.
Now and then she would walk past a horse, a giant bird, or any other animal that was either pulling a carriage or being used to herd other animals to wherever they needed to go.
the city was different from the city that she had grown up in, it did not have any of the giant buildings and its streets were divided into three different sections.
One was for animals, another was for things like cars or other machinery and finally the last was for people who were either walking or riding their bicycles.
She couldn't help but hum to herself as she walked past one of the many dojos that promoted their different fighting styles.
She was aware that several of the people in the city were able to fire energy beams or had some sort of power and used these combat schools to teach others to control their powers.
Still, she couldn't help but feel herself becoming tense whenever she passed one of these schools.
She knew that she was being overly cautious because it had been these same people who had saved her and the fleet on several occasions she couldn't help but feel afraid whenever she was around them.
She tried to keep her emotions under control as she walked past a group of children practicing magic and it was only when a police officer stopped her that she realized that she had insatiately tightened her grip on the machine gun that she was carrying.
The officer had guided her past the group and told her that her phobia was normal as not everyone had come from a world that had people who could do magic.
He then gave her a flyer that he advised she used to attend classes that would help her get used to their presence before leaving her alone.
As she walked she began to see something that she hadn't seen in years, white specks had started to fall around her, and as he lifted her hand to catch the specks she found that they were cold.
She couldn't help but smile, it was snow, and for the first time in years, she was happy to see snow again.
She finally reached her destination, it was one of the many stations that the military used to keep eyes on the people, but the one that she worked in was used to monitor the outside of the city.
"Hey I know that you just arrived but what did he say?" her boss asked her.
"He says that he isn't our leader and that he will only step in if things go bad." she answered her boss and she didn't react to the pain that his expression showed.
Everyone had hoped that the Admiral would continue to lead them, just as how he had led them through their time at sea, but the man claimed that there were three different kinds of leaders.
Those that were good leaders, those that were never supposed to be leaders, and those who did the job because they had to.
She hated the man's refusal to take his rightful place as their leader because it was him, not anyone else that had kept the fleet together regardless of the people's beliefs or the fact that they had come from different worlds.
The man had led them through one apocalyptic world to another and kept them safe and yet he refused to continue to do just that.
He refused to keep them safe, he refused to keep them together.
The different groups were already fighting amongst themselves even though the city hadn't been completed yet, there were still men- women- children, and elderly people living inside the ships because there weren't enough houses for them to live in.
"Did you tell him about what we found?" her superior asked her.
"yes, but he said that we needed to learn to handle things without him." she answered her boss and the man simply nodded at her words.
A month ago, the scout teams found several villages that had been burned and the people that should have been living in them were nowhere to be seen.
Normally the military would have kept this information a secret so that the people in the city wouldn't react, but they had seen how the civilian population would turn on them when they discovered that the military and their leaders had kept vital information from them.
No one wanted to be on the receiving end of a fully armed group of people who wanted to punish those who had lied to them.
Fortunately, when the people heard about what the scouts had found they didn't react violently, they simply kept their eyes open for anything or anyone that looked like it didn't belong.
She was about to say something when the hollow sounds of a bell began to echo inside her head, the bell was made out of a special material that didn't make any noise but instead sent the sound into people's minds.
It was something that was used to alert survivors of the fleet's location without catching the attention of the dead.
Without hesitating she ran after her superior who began to demand answers as to what was going on and to everyone's surprise the scout teams announced that they were being attacked, by people who could control the ground itself.
She could feel her heart beating rapidly inside her chest as the sounds of gunfire and explosive spells came through the radio.
The voices of the scouts shouting that they needed reinforcements seemed to be getting further as the station sent warnings to the fleet and whatever defenders the city had.
Everything seemed so far away as he stood in place and it was only when she felt her superior's hands on her shoulders that she snapped out of whatever trance she was in.
Yet the reality of the situation only set in when she saw the panicked expression on her superior's face.
"Get to the ship and tell the Admiral that we are being invaded!" her bosses shouted at her and without thinking she ran towards the place of the only person that everyone could trust.
The moment that she exited the building she found that the calm city had come to life in a panic yet currage-filled motion.
The men and women who could fight ran to the edge of the city, while the women, children, and those who cared for animals ran to hide from what was coming.
As she ran she saw mages who were using their spells to create a protective wall around the city, while tanks, mechs, and drones made their way to the outside of the city.
She felt a sense of relief over her, but it quickly shattered when the ground beneath her feet began to shake before breaking.
If it hadn't been for a martialist who had seen her fall, she would have been dead, the man was one of the people who had abilities and he had saved her despite her fear of him sn those like him.
She thanked the man for his help and ran to inform the admiral, yet as she neared the docks, she began to hear the sounds of cannons and gunfire.
The fleet was once again forced to do battle but most of the ships were still anchored, so they weren't able to fight properly.
She watched as the ships began to drop the chains that connected them to the anchors, meaning that they hadn't lifted them out of the water because something had stopped them.
She finally made it onto the Admiral's ship and found the man glaring at the incoming ships before he turned and looked at the video of the approaching army.
She was about to say something to the man, but seeing as he was already aware of the situation she found that she didn't have to say anything anymore, instead, she listened to the man orders the fleet to pen fire.
blueayes
If you want peace, then you must prepare for war.
- Location
- austin
For a brief moment, there was silence, it was as if everyone outside had agreed to stop shooting at one another, yet the silence didn't last as the sound of the enemy ships exploding broke the silence.
She could only watch as the fleet charged at the invaders like a pack of angry lions or enraged dogs that had found something that had entered their territory.
She could only watch, even as she felt the ship begin to move and enter the battle.
She felt her eyes widen as the submarines began to fire upon the enemy fleet and used the chains to drag the enemy ships down into the water where they would finish them off like hungry sharks.
"This was all wrong, this shouldn't, this couldn't be happening." she thought to herself as she turned her head and saw the fight between the invading army and the city's defenders.
It was happening again, just like every time, she thought that she was safe, they thought that they were safe and the dead had found them again.
It didn't matter if the people on land or the ships weren't dead yet, they were no different from them, as they didn't have a reason for attacking them and yet here they were fighting for their lives.
"Admiral! The airforce says that they are ready to help they just need the word!" she heard one of the sailors say to the admiral.
'Tell them to do it now!" the Admiral ordered and the man began to shout the admiral's order into his radio.
It didn't take long until the sounds of airplane engines reached her ears and the enemy ships began to vanish under the combined firepower of the ships, submarines, and airplanes.
The fight on land ended just as quickly, but whatever joy she and the rest of the crew felt was completely gone when the men began to bring back the bodies of the dead.
"Damm it.' was the only thing that the admiral said as he stood over one of the bodies.
She felt a ball form in her chest as she walked closer and found herself looking at a human-sized doll that was made out of stone.
The rock that made the doll's body had been carved and painted with a combination of gold, yellow, and brown colors that made it look as if it was a soldier.
As she lifted her head to see the scavenged ships of the enemy fleet, she found that they were made out of some kind of rock that floated in the water.
the ships themselves were painted with the same colors that the stone soldiers were, meaning that they were either just a diversion or whoever sent them hadn't bothered to risk their own lives in this attack.
This attack was just the first of many that would follow and the only reason that the city had managed to survive this time was pure luck.
She remembered the Admiral. "The Admiral he'll know what to do, he always does." she said to herself and so she ran to him hoping to hear or feel something that would help her feel safe again.
She ran to the bridge and found that she wasn't alone, as the rest of the crew had gathered and were all looking at the Admiral waiting for him to tell them what to do.
The pain on the Admiral's face was clear and he made no attempt to hide it, yet she found herself breathing in deeply as the man opened his mouth.
"We don't know who attacked us or why, but what we do know is that we don't know when they will attack again so everyone," The admiral took in a deep breath and for a long moment he seemed to almost hesitate, but that was impossible because the admiral never hesitated.
He was someone who always had a plan, who always knew what to do, no matter how bad a situation was, he always kept everyone safe, despite how insane things became.
"Tell the scouts to go further into the new lands, as for the fleet I want half to spread and search the surrounding area, but the submarines need to stay close just in case someone manages to get past the ships."
She couldn't help but smile, the admiral always had a plan.
When she heard the collected breaths of the men and women around her, she knew that her feelings were shared by the crew.
When she looked around she found herself looking at the softening expressions of the men and women that surrounded her. She wasn't the only one who felt comfort whenever she heard the admiral give an order.
............Change .....
The sound of the body hitting the ground as its head fell off reached her ears.
Azula could see the blood dripping from the executioner's sword before the man used a rag to clean his blade, she hated the fact that she wasn't in control of anything and had no other choice but to obey everyone else.
It had been a year since the Fire Nation had been defeated by the Avatar and his allies and ever since then the people of the Fire Nation have been on the receiving end of their resentment.
Soon her brother the man who had become the new Fire Lord became hated and resented by those who felt the rage of the other nations' people.
It was those same people who had rescued her along with several of her loyalists.
It had only been pure luck that they had been able to hide amongst the people of this new kingdom because no one truly knew who belonged where.
These people were refugees from who knows where, perhaps they were from some distant land that had been destroyed or were simply refugees from the war but she did know one thing they were dangerous.
The people here simply wanted to be left alone and the Earth Nation had attacked them, perhaps they thought that the Fire Nation was trying to build something in their territory.
She ignored the thoughts that entered her mind as she turned to look at one of the few Earth Benders that had controlled the stone arm.
She would have burned the man's arms and legs, but she decided to spare him, not out of kindness or mercy. She simply wanted to see how these people would treat those that attacked them.
She had to admit that she was interested in their torture methods and how they gained information.
"Is this him?" she heard someone ask her.
"Yes he's the one that was controlling the stone soldiers, I know that because once he was unconscious the things stopped moving and fell.' she answered the man who had spoken to her.
She watched as the commoner along with others like him grabbed the earth bender and dragged him away, she felt her flames cover her hands but she quickly made her blue flames vanish as she did not have the luxury of attracting attention to herself.
the day will come when she is once again in her rightful place, her name will and will once again fill those beneath her with fear, but until then she will keep her head down and follow orders.
She could only watch as the fleet charged at the invaders like a pack of angry lions or enraged dogs that had found something that had entered their territory.
She could only watch, even as she felt the ship begin to move and enter the battle.
She felt her eyes widen as the submarines began to fire upon the enemy fleet and used the chains to drag the enemy ships down into the water where they would finish them off like hungry sharks.
"This was all wrong, this shouldn't, this couldn't be happening." she thought to herself as she turned her head and saw the fight between the invading army and the city's defenders.
It was happening again, just like every time, she thought that she was safe, they thought that they were safe and the dead had found them again.
It didn't matter if the people on land or the ships weren't dead yet, they were no different from them, as they didn't have a reason for attacking them and yet here they were fighting for their lives.
"Admiral! The airforce says that they are ready to help they just need the word!" she heard one of the sailors say to the admiral.
'Tell them to do it now!" the Admiral ordered and the man began to shout the admiral's order into his radio.
It didn't take long until the sounds of airplane engines reached her ears and the enemy ships began to vanish under the combined firepower of the ships, submarines, and airplanes.
The fight on land ended just as quickly, but whatever joy she and the rest of the crew felt was completely gone when the men began to bring back the bodies of the dead.
"Damm it.' was the only thing that the admiral said as he stood over one of the bodies.
She felt a ball form in her chest as she walked closer and found herself looking at a human-sized doll that was made out of stone.
The rock that made the doll's body had been carved and painted with a combination of gold, yellow, and brown colors that made it look as if it was a soldier.
As she lifted her head to see the scavenged ships of the enemy fleet, she found that they were made out of some kind of rock that floated in the water.
the ships themselves were painted with the same colors that the stone soldiers were, meaning that they were either just a diversion or whoever sent them hadn't bothered to risk their own lives in this attack.
This attack was just the first of many that would follow and the only reason that the city had managed to survive this time was pure luck.
She remembered the Admiral. "The Admiral he'll know what to do, he always does." she said to herself and so she ran to him hoping to hear or feel something that would help her feel safe again.
She ran to the bridge and found that she wasn't alone, as the rest of the crew had gathered and were all looking at the Admiral waiting for him to tell them what to do.
The pain on the Admiral's face was clear and he made no attempt to hide it, yet she found herself breathing in deeply as the man opened his mouth.
"We don't know who attacked us or why, but what we do know is that we don't know when they will attack again so everyone," The admiral took in a deep breath and for a long moment he seemed to almost hesitate, but that was impossible because the admiral never hesitated.
He was someone who always had a plan, who always knew what to do, no matter how bad a situation was, he always kept everyone safe, despite how insane things became.
"Tell the scouts to go further into the new lands, as for the fleet I want half to spread and search the surrounding area, but the submarines need to stay close just in case someone manages to get past the ships."
She couldn't help but smile, the admiral always had a plan.
When she heard the collected breaths of the men and women around her, she knew that her feelings were shared by the crew.
When she looked around she found herself looking at the softening expressions of the men and women that surrounded her. She wasn't the only one who felt comfort whenever she heard the admiral give an order.
............Change .....
The sound of the body hitting the ground as its head fell off reached her ears.
Azula could see the blood dripping from the executioner's sword before the man used a rag to clean his blade, she hated the fact that she wasn't in control of anything and had no other choice but to obey everyone else.
It had been a year since the Fire Nation had been defeated by the Avatar and his allies and ever since then the people of the Fire Nation have been on the receiving end of their resentment.
Soon her brother the man who had become the new Fire Lord became hated and resented by those who felt the rage of the other nations' people.
It was those same people who had rescued her along with several of her loyalists.
It had only been pure luck that they had been able to hide amongst the people of this new kingdom because no one truly knew who belonged where.
These people were refugees from who knows where, perhaps they were from some distant land that had been destroyed or were simply refugees from the war but she did know one thing they were dangerous.
The people here simply wanted to be left alone and the Earth Nation had attacked them, perhaps they thought that the Fire Nation was trying to build something in their territory.
She ignored the thoughts that entered her mind as she turned to look at one of the few Earth Benders that had controlled the stone arm.
She would have burned the man's arms and legs, but she decided to spare him, not out of kindness or mercy. She simply wanted to see how these people would treat those that attacked them.
She had to admit that she was interested in their torture methods and how they gained information.
"Is this him?" she heard someone ask her.
"Yes he's the one that was controlling the stone soldiers, I know that because once he was unconscious the things stopped moving and fell.' she answered the man who had spoken to her.
She watched as the commoner along with others like him grabbed the earth bender and dragged him away, she felt her flames cover her hands but she quickly made her blue flames vanish as she did not have the luxury of attracting attention to herself.
the day will come when she is once again in her rightful place, her name will and will once again fill those beneath her with fear, but until then she will keep her head down and follow orders.
blueayes
If you want peace, then you must prepare for war.
- Location
- austin
Azula looked at the red and orange embers that floated in the air before they became dead ashes.
The stone army hadn't been able to cross the defensive line but that didn't mean that the Erth Benders hadn't been able to damage the city.
She couldn't help but let out a breath and silently cursed the fact that she needed to breathe in the air around the city, despite being at the edge of the city's border she could still taste the sea.
She hated it, she hated the taste of the saltwater that hung in the air, it reminded her of the Water Benders and the Avatar.
Yet she couldn't help but hate the taste of the air, the Avatar that thing that should have remained dead was an Air Bender, someone that could control the air itself and use it as a weapon, it had been him who killed her father and brought their kingdom into ruin.
The ashes that fell around her reminded her of the day that her brother betrayed her and their father, he was just like their mother.
A traitor.
Azula couldn't help but smirk at the memory of the day that she had escaped from the prison, it had been on that day that her rescuers told her about what had happened after her defeat and her brother took the throne.
After her brother became the new Fire Lord, the other Nations began to demand the land that the Fire Nation had taken from them.
Her brother agreed under the condition that they do it slowly, as the people there needed to be moved so that the original owners of the land could return peacefully.
The other Nations didn't like his answer and have been attacking the people of the Fire Nation since then.
The fact that the guards didn't attempt to stop her escape was proof of how much control her brother had lost and what was to come.
"Lady Azula." she heard someone say to her and when she turned she found a slender woman whose hair seemed more like a lion's mane, while she had light skin, her red dress made her blue eyes nearly glow.
"What?" Azula said to the woman.
"You have yet to hand in your area sheet, so we haven't been able to set a section for your people." the woman said to her.
Azula wanted to burn the woman, she hated the fact that her people were being made to aite to have something.
She didn't care that they didn't have homes and were camping outside, what she hated was the fact that these people were acting as if they were being generous to them.
The people were hers, not theirs, and as such they should have burned everyone that challenged them and taken what they wanted, but no she knew better than to act.
The woman in front of her was the Admiral bed wench, so if she killed her the person that could control all of the benders, whose words could have all of the strange machines and weapons pointed at her, would turn his eyes towards her.
"Here." she said to the woman as she took out a rolled-up sheet of paper that she had kept in her back pocket and she watched as the woman smiled at her as she took the sheet of paper from her hands.
"So what are you looking at?" the woman asked her.
"This place is borderline, it's the only explanation that I can think of." Azula answered the woman who listened to her but kept smiling at her.
"What I mean is that ships have to cross through here to get to someplace and people have to cross through here if they want to walk to someplace."
" So it's only a matter of time before we are attacked again." she said to the woman sat on the ground and patted the ground next to her.
Azula ignored the signal and remained standing next to her.
"You know your funny, thinking that we don't know that you and your people are natives of this world." the woman said to her.
Azula was about to attack her when she felt the eyes of the people in the city.
"So are you threatening me?" she asked the woman.
"No. Tell me Azula what's the difference between a king and a peasant?" the woman asked her.
"A king ius supirrior to a pessant." Azula answerd teh woman.
"If that was true then why are kings always dying when the people rebel?" the woman asked her.
"A king can carry the weight of the world, a peasant can't."
"Rulers rise and show what they are capable of, foolish rulers take their place and have others do things for them. Eventually, the kingdom falls into ruin and a King is born amongst the peasants and replaces those who led the kingdom into ruin"
"A peasant is none of that, a peasant can only lower his or her head and obey. He\ she is but livestock, now and then something great is born something that wants to escape even when those around them try to keep them from rising."
Azula looks at the woman who turns and looks up at her. "So Azula which one are you?"
Azula doesn't answer the woman, she just watches as the blond woman stands up and pats her dress to remove the dust and ash that clung to her dress.
"When we first came here, we found a ship filled with soldiers dressed like you and your men, you can imagine what happened next. That's how we know that you are from here." the woman said to her before she began to walk away.
Azula could only watch as the woman walked away, she didn't realize that she had squeezed her arm so tightly that her armored glove had started cutting into her hand, it was only because she smelled the burning blood that she realized what she was doing.
As she began to calm down she realized that what the woman had said to her wasn't a threat but a warning, these people knew who she was but they had given her and her followers a chance to prove themselves and they had done just that.
The fact that the woman had even said anything to her meant that either her superiors or the Admiral had ordered her to do so, meaning that things were in motion even if she didn't know what those things were.
The stone army hadn't been able to cross the defensive line but that didn't mean that the Erth Benders hadn't been able to damage the city.
She couldn't help but let out a breath and silently cursed the fact that she needed to breathe in the air around the city, despite being at the edge of the city's border she could still taste the sea.
She hated it, she hated the taste of the saltwater that hung in the air, it reminded her of the Water Benders and the Avatar.
Yet she couldn't help but hate the taste of the air, the Avatar that thing that should have remained dead was an Air Bender, someone that could control the air itself and use it as a weapon, it had been him who killed her father and brought their kingdom into ruin.
The ashes that fell around her reminded her of the day that her brother betrayed her and their father, he was just like their mother.
A traitor.
Azula couldn't help but smirk at the memory of the day that she had escaped from the prison, it had been on that day that her rescuers told her about what had happened after her defeat and her brother took the throne.
After her brother became the new Fire Lord, the other Nations began to demand the land that the Fire Nation had taken from them.
Her brother agreed under the condition that they do it slowly, as the people there needed to be moved so that the original owners of the land could return peacefully.
The other Nations didn't like his answer and have been attacking the people of the Fire Nation since then.
The fact that the guards didn't attempt to stop her escape was proof of how much control her brother had lost and what was to come.
"Lady Azula." she heard someone say to her and when she turned she found a slender woman whose hair seemed more like a lion's mane, while she had light skin, her red dress made her blue eyes nearly glow.
"What?" Azula said to the woman.
"You have yet to hand in your area sheet, so we haven't been able to set a section for your people." the woman said to her.
Azula wanted to burn the woman, she hated the fact that her people were being made to aite to have something.
She didn't care that they didn't have homes and were camping outside, what she hated was the fact that these people were acting as if they were being generous to them.
The people were hers, not theirs, and as such they should have burned everyone that challenged them and taken what they wanted, but no she knew better than to act.
The woman in front of her was the Admiral bed wench, so if she killed her the person that could control all of the benders, whose words could have all of the strange machines and weapons pointed at her, would turn his eyes towards her.
"Here." she said to the woman as she took out a rolled-up sheet of paper that she had kept in her back pocket and she watched as the woman smiled at her as she took the sheet of paper from her hands.
"So what are you looking at?" the woman asked her.
"This place is borderline, it's the only explanation that I can think of." Azula answered the woman who listened to her but kept smiling at her.
"What I mean is that ships have to cross through here to get to someplace and people have to cross through here if they want to walk to someplace."
" So it's only a matter of time before we are attacked again." she said to the woman sat on the ground and patted the ground next to her.
Azula ignored the signal and remained standing next to her.
"You know your funny, thinking that we don't know that you and your people are natives of this world." the woman said to her.
Azula was about to attack her when she felt the eyes of the people in the city.
"So are you threatening me?" she asked the woman.
"No. Tell me Azula what's the difference between a king and a peasant?" the woman asked her.
"A king ius supirrior to a pessant." Azula answerd teh woman.
"If that was true then why are kings always dying when the people rebel?" the woman asked her.
"A king can carry the weight of the world, a peasant can't."
"Rulers rise and show what they are capable of, foolish rulers take their place and have others do things for them. Eventually, the kingdom falls into ruin and a King is born amongst the peasants and replaces those who led the kingdom into ruin"
"A peasant is none of that, a peasant can only lower his or her head and obey. He\ she is but livestock, now and then something great is born something that wants to escape even when those around them try to keep them from rising."
Azula looks at the woman who turns and looks up at her. "So Azula which one are you?"
Azula doesn't answer the woman, she just watches as the blond woman stands up and pats her dress to remove the dust and ash that clung to her dress.
"When we first came here, we found a ship filled with soldiers dressed like you and your men, you can imagine what happened next. That's how we know that you are from here." the woman said to her before she began to walk away.
Azula could only watch as the woman walked away, she didn't realize that she had squeezed her arm so tightly that her armored glove had started cutting into her hand, it was only because she smelled the burning blood that she realized what she was doing.
As she began to calm down she realized that what the woman had said to her wasn't a threat but a warning, these people knew who she was but they had given her and her followers a chance to prove themselves and they had done just that.
The fact that the woman had even said anything to her meant that either her superiors or the Admiral had ordered her to do so, meaning that things were in motion even if she didn't know what those things were.
blueayes
If you want peace, then you must prepare for war.
- Location
- austin
The ashes had long stopped falling and the city became calm once again, Azula watched as the houses grew around her, but she remained in her post watching as the world around her changed faster than she ever imagined.
The people that had come with her were starting to live inside the area that she had chosen and were now starting to follow the other group's example.
She could hear the bells of ships as well as the bells that were on the edge whenever a wave was large and strong enough to reach it.
She hated how quickly she had gotten used to living here, she hated the people in this city, she hated that no one wanted to go and look for those that attacked, she hated .....she didn't know what to hate, but she hated it.
"What are you doing?" she heard familiar the voice of someone that she would rather not hear.
"Doing my job.' she answered the woman who once again sat on the ground next to her.
Azula turned and looked down at the woman and couldn't help but smirk, she hated that ever since they spoke the woman had started talking to her whenever they saw each other.
Azula never once tried to speak to her, but for whatever reason the blond woman always tried to get her to talk.
"So when is your shift over?" the woman asked her.
"It's never over." Azula answered her coldly hoping that the woman would leave her alone.
"Well I was going to invite you to have a drink but since you are busy.' the woman said to her Azula couldn't help but let out a breath.
"Alright I'll go with you, I mean it's not like there's anything else for me to do." she said to the woman who immediately gave her a wide smile.
"Good because there's something that I want to talk to you about." the woman said to her as she stood up and patted the first of her dress.
She followed the woman to a nearby brewery where a group of women were busy making alcohol, yet they didn't enter the area where the women were working they instead went to the area where several men were sitting down and drinking.
They found an empty table and sat down, they didn't even order anything when a waitress brought them two cups filled with beer.
"Thank you." Azula heard the woman say to the waitress who smiled and walked away.
"It's funny don't you think, how all of us come from different places and we all learned to get along." the woman said to her before she took a drink from her beer then frowned before grabbing the salt container that was on the table and began to throw pinches of salt it into the beer.
Azula took a drink frowned and followed the blond woman's example, she enjoyed the salty flavor of the beer and nearly emptied her cup.
"So you wanted to talk to me." she asked the blond woman.
"Always straight to the point." the woman said to her, but she didn't look at her, the woman's eyes were on the men around them.
"It's funny you know, there was a time when it was shameful for the men to sit and enjoy themselves while the women worked." the woman said to her.
"I fail to see the humor." Azula answered her.
"The Amiral has decided that there's no point in searching for the people that attacked us, afterall if another wave was coming they would have arrived by now."
Azula didn't say anything she just stared at the woman as she tried to understand why she was telling her this.
'You don't agree?" she asked her.
"Yes and no. On one hand, no one knows we are here on the other hand it's just a matter of time before someone either starts looking for the prisoner or decides that they don't like us being here." the woman answered her.
"So what do you want?" she asked the woman who finished the rest of her drink.
"I want you not to move. I don't know what you're planning, but you aren't the only one who's planning to do something."
"I don't care what you are planning, as long as you don't put this city in danger. I'm just asking you to wait until the people outside make their move."
Azula felt her hand becoming hotter as the flames covered her hands, but he didn't move she just lifted her hand and allowed the fire to surround them, but it didn't burn her or the woman in front of her.
Azula didn't say anything even when the blond woman lifted her hand and took control of her flames from her.
"So what do you say?" the woman asked her as she held her fire in front of her.
"I'll wait." Azula said to the woman.
The people that had come with her were starting to live inside the area that she had chosen and were now starting to follow the other group's example.
She could hear the bells of ships as well as the bells that were on the edge whenever a wave was large and strong enough to reach it.
She hated how quickly she had gotten used to living here, she hated the people in this city, she hated that no one wanted to go and look for those that attacked, she hated .....she didn't know what to hate, but she hated it.
"What are you doing?" she heard familiar the voice of someone that she would rather not hear.
"Doing my job.' she answered the woman who once again sat on the ground next to her.
Azula turned and looked down at the woman and couldn't help but smirk, she hated that ever since they spoke the woman had started talking to her whenever they saw each other.
Azula never once tried to speak to her, but for whatever reason the blond woman always tried to get her to talk.
"So when is your shift over?" the woman asked her.
"It's never over." Azula answered her coldly hoping that the woman would leave her alone.
"Well I was going to invite you to have a drink but since you are busy.' the woman said to her Azula couldn't help but let out a breath.
"Alright I'll go with you, I mean it's not like there's anything else for me to do." she said to the woman who immediately gave her a wide smile.
"Good because there's something that I want to talk to you about." the woman said to her as she stood up and patted the first of her dress.
She followed the woman to a nearby brewery where a group of women were busy making alcohol, yet they didn't enter the area where the women were working they instead went to the area where several men were sitting down and drinking.
They found an empty table and sat down, they didn't even order anything when a waitress brought them two cups filled with beer.
"Thank you." Azula heard the woman say to the waitress who smiled and walked away.
"It's funny don't you think, how all of us come from different places and we all learned to get along." the woman said to her before she took a drink from her beer then frowned before grabbing the salt container that was on the table and began to throw pinches of salt it into the beer.
Azula took a drink frowned and followed the blond woman's example, she enjoyed the salty flavor of the beer and nearly emptied her cup.
"So you wanted to talk to me." she asked the blond woman.
"Always straight to the point." the woman said to her, but she didn't look at her, the woman's eyes were on the men around them.
"It's funny you know, there was a time when it was shameful for the men to sit and enjoy themselves while the women worked." the woman said to her.
"I fail to see the humor." Azula answered her.
"The Amiral has decided that there's no point in searching for the people that attacked us, afterall if another wave was coming they would have arrived by now."
Azula didn't say anything she just stared at the woman as she tried to understand why she was telling her this.
'You don't agree?" she asked her.
"Yes and no. On one hand, no one knows we are here on the other hand it's just a matter of time before someone either starts looking for the prisoner or decides that they don't like us being here." the woman answered her.
"So what do you want?" she asked the woman who finished the rest of her drink.
"I want you not to move. I don't know what you're planning, but you aren't the only one who's planning to do something."
"I don't care what you are planning, as long as you don't put this city in danger. I'm just asking you to wait until the people outside make their move."
Azula felt her hand becoming hotter as the flames covered her hands, but he didn't move she just lifted her hand and allowed the fire to surround them, but it didn't burn her or the woman in front of her.
Azula didn't say anything even when the blond woman lifted her hand and took control of her flames from her.
"So what do you say?" the woman asked her as she held her fire in front of her.
"I'll wait." Azula said to the woman.