Information: Official Staff Communication
Deep Red (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
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Information: Official Staff Communication
official staff communication
Unfortunately, because I locked the thread I was compelled to go through it...
I have to admit I am not exactly thrilled by how this thread is going. I have two primary concerns.
First, there seems to be a faction of participants here whose behavior treads very close to - if not over - the line of Rule 2. I am not at all sanguine about this quest turning into the "we're going to be Hitler, but better" -fest that some of the participants seem to want it to be.
Second, I am also concerned about the vitriolic behavior of some of the participants. This is a story, and it's not necessary to pull out the knives and try to stab each other to death. I would have handed out threadbans, but, well, it's been a week, so I think I've done enough of that.
I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, though - for both the first issue and the second.
I have to admit I am not exactly thrilled by how this thread is going. I have two primary concerns.
First, there seems to be a faction of participants here whose behavior treads very close to - if not over - the line of Rule 2. I am not at all sanguine about this quest turning into the "we're going to be Hitler, but better" -fest that some of the participants seem to want it to be.
Second, I am also concerned about the vitriolic behavior of some of the participants. This is a story, and it's not necessary to pull out the knives and try to stab each other to death. I would have handed out threadbans, but, well, it's been a week, so I think I've done enough of that.
I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, though - for both the first issue and the second.
Chapter 7: Over the Horizon (Part 6)
Hey all, welcome back. Thank you EmpressSquishette for going through the thread and unlocking it - I know we've had a lot of issues lol and I haven't really known how to handle it. I've spoken to a couple people and hopefully the interpersonal conflict will settle down now. If anyone in the thread, mod or not, has any concerns they want to communicate to me I'll do my best to respond to any messages in a timely manner. And for readers in general I just want to reiterate two main requests if that's okay -
1. Please don't personally attack anyone. I hope this should be self-explanatory.
2. Whatever you intend to vote for, please do not ever bring in real-life examples of wars, imperial occupations, or genocides to say "the aggressors did X and it worked for them". It really makes no difference why you're bringing it up or whether you give a disclaimer that "I'm not saying it was moral just that it worked" or so on. The same goes for any posts saying "we should learn from the tactics used in X example of real-life imperialist oppression" or any variation like that. I've been telling people for a while not to do this and I don't want to be rude or confrontational but I just want to make clear that I do mean it and your example is not going to be an exception.
If anyone has questions, comments, or concerns - whether they relate to the discussion or the quest - please feel free to voice them. Thank you all for reading! Here are the results of the two live sessions that took place while the thread was locked. This wraps up Chapter 7.
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
It wouldn't be quite accurate to call the Avatars' writings a wealth of information. They're more like a wealth of questions.
Avatar Asahi, the Fire Nation Avatar before Roku, lived nearly five hundred years ago - the long lives of Yangchen and especially Kyoshi stretched the time frame of that cycle by a solid two hundred years beyond the average. Asahi lived in a time when the Fire Nation was still relatively new - the Fire Lord was still barely independent of the Fire Sages, and the tensions between them were so strong at the time that political and spiritual concerns permeated seemingly everything Asahi thought about. When it came time for him to master the Avatar State, he agonized over where to do it for the sake of political optics - and in the process, made a painstaking list of locations that apparently had great spiritual significance. Great spiritual power. Sites where Asahi seemed to believe the chakras could be unlocked with greater ease, and not only because of the teachers to be found there.
The Spirit Oasis. The Silent Spire. The Great Pyramid of the Bhanti. The Crystal Vault. You can feel the reverence with which Asahi wrote the names - but there are precious few details. The Sages provide some additional information about where these sites are believed to be located. The Spirit Oasis was apparently a temple in one of the Water Tribes; it may have already been destroyed in the war. The Crystal Vault was a temple beneath Ba Sing Se that was sealed off during Kyoshi's time. The Silent Spire was a sacred chamber in the Eastern Air Temple; it was likely destroyed in the fighting with the Air Nation, but an exhaustive inventory of the damage was never taken. The Great Pyramid of the Bhanti was an ancient Fire Sage sacred site, but records of its location were unfortunately destroyed during an uprising hundreds of years ago.
So many possible leads, but all of them dubious. It's still not clear what form of power, exactly, these sites held. Asahi described opening the chakras as touching an 'infinite well of cosmic energy', and theorized that he was touching the source of the Avatar's power and even of bending itself - and that's all perfectly well and good, it's all very promising and spiritual, but what does it mean in practical terms? What is this power? Why does it flow better in some places and some times - and some people - than in others? And how do you alter that flow? Asahi believed the answer was self-reflection; his notes devolved into long introspective passages on his fears, his hopes, his loves. And you suppose it worked for him, but it seems a difficult feat to scientifically replicate.
And Avatar Roku actually seemed to have much the same opinion.
Roku studied the Avatar State on Crescent Island, and quickly seemed to grow impatient with the meditative approach. His notes quickly turned away from reflecting on his emotions to reflecting on physical phenomena - how his chi felt, how it flowed through the chakras, what physical factors seemed to make the chakras open or close. He approached the issue with a more modern mindset, and took painstaking notes on his methodology and thinking.
And on the day of the Winter Solstice, he managed to use the power of the sun to force his chakras open all at once. He entered the Avatar State without meditation. And his method seems replicable.
This could be exactly what you need. Or, well, a start. It had mixed success. He made a volcano erupt, he couldn't exit the Avatar State afterwards without re-blocking his chakras, he couldn't control his bending. But he was the Avatar. Unblocking his chakras forced him into the Avatar State. If you forced your chakras open, you wouldn't have to deal with an Avatar State. It could work better for you. It could be an easy fix, easier than whatever spiritual and emotional navel-gazing is normally done to try to open the chakras. You could refine Roku's work; find the right place, the right time, the right physical methodology. Roku never bothered to make a second attempt. He fell back on meditation after his first failure. You could succeed where he failed.
There's enough detail in these two accounts that you could also probably attempt to replicate their... you aren't sure what to call it. Meditation program? You could certainly think about your fears and your loves and so on and hope that would fix your bending. Avatar Asahi certainly wrote about it all in painstaking detail. Maybe you could even try to find leads on modern practitioners of these old beliefs, to see if they could teach you something useful.
But you've been meditating for years. And look where that got you.
What leads should you prioritize following up on in your research?
Roku's research is promising, and you may be able to improve upon it... but you have to be cautious. There's no guarantee that you'd suffer the same loss of control that the Avatar did - but if you did suffer the same loss of control, there's also no guarantee that you could fix it as easily as Roku did. Loss of control is death for a firebender. Loss of control is how you end up like Azulon.
May he rest in peace, of course.
Even if it seems somewhat unscientific, you decide you'd be better off focusing the lion's share of your efforts researching these meditative techniques. The fact of the matter is that, unless these Avatars were intentionally making false reports of their experiences, meditation did work to open their chakras. There has to be something there. You may be able to refine the meditative technique just as much as you could refine Roku's; you just have to pare away the mysticism and identify what really worked. You shouldn't just accept it at face value that these Avatars' old philosophies of peace and harmony were simply uniquely suited to opening the chakras. There has to be something deeper going on. You need more details about the process.
Unfortunately, even though the Fire Sages aided Roku and Asahi in their meditation, the methods they used to do so have been lost. The Fire Sages' old writings about the spiritual virtues of peace and balance were among the first things to be destroyed or sealed away at Sozin's command. Ideally, though, you'll still be able to dig up leads that let you track down modern practitioners of this spiritual system and interview them about their research.
Over the coming weeks, you spend a great deal of your time buried in the Sages' archives. The time you don't spend reading, you spend honing your skill with weapons. But as the time of your departure steadily approaches, you turn your attention to one last thing that's still left unfinished.
You need to talk with your sister.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Crown Princess's Chambers
It turns out Azula has the same idea. Late at night, a few days before your departure, she slips her way into your room through the window.
The window. Honestly. She's so dramatic.
You shut your eyes quickly and pretend to be asleep as she creeps over towards your bed. When you feel the knife gently touch your throat, you honestly feel more exasperated than alarmed.
Sleep deprivation must be getting to you. It slips out before you can stop it. "Is that a knife at my throat, or are you just excited to see me?" you mumble.
You instantly regret it. What were you thinking? Spirits, Osamu's sense of humor must have rubbed off on you. Azula's just silent for a moment.
"...What?" she asks.
You'll have to wait a few years before explaining that one.
"You're getting a little repetitive, you know," you say instead, opening your eyes. "And I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish, doing that."
She flicks her finger at the candle next to your bed and lights it blue. You tell yourself you aren't jealous. "I'm testing your awareness," she answers. "You shouldn't be letting me reach you with the dagger at all."
She lifts the blade from your throat. You catch a glimpse of it in the candlelight - it's the hairpin dagger you got for her.
Azula scowls at the same time you smile.
"I see that you like the -"
"It's perfectly fine, yes," she says, stowing it safely back in her hair.
You keep your smile from getting improperly large. There's no reason to be undignified. "I'm very glad."
Azula rolls her eyes. You sit up, and pull her into a hug. She allows it.
"I'm glad you came to see me," you tell her as you release her. She sits on your bed next to you. "I wanted us to have a chance to speak before I departed."
"I wasn't going to let you leave without saying goodbye," Azula says, then immediately scowls. "Not that it matters. What did you want to talk about, then?"
"Well, first of all, I wanted to properly congratulate you on your new blue fire," you say, trying to think of what you actually want to say. "It suits you perfectly."
Azula snorts. "Not everything is about fashion, Akane."
Does everyone think you only care about appearances?
You keep your smile in place. "I didn't mean aesthetically, Azula." You reach over to the candle, letting the blue flame caress your fingertip. "I can feel the difference," you murmur. "Your fire feels more concentrated, now. Hotter. More energetic. It's an impressive feat."
"I know."
Naturally.
"But in any case, you're the one who came to see me," you point out. "I'd like to hear what's on your mind, first."
Azula seems to hesitate at that. Rather than saying anything, she reaches out towards you - and gently touches the scar on your cheek.
You suppose that gets her point across well enough on its own.
You put your hand over hers, though you don't quite remember to smile.
"It's alright," you tell her. "It was hardly an ideal situation, but I understand why you had to do it. I'm not angry."
"And I understand why you did it," Azula answers. "All of it."
"Do you?" you ask neutrally.
"Father says a firebender's will has to be unshakable," Azula answers. "And you were showing him that yours is."
That was the idea at the time, you suppose.
"If you were just sentimental and weak, you wouldn't have been able to burn Zuko when you wanted to," Azula reasons. "You were sending a message to me and Father at the same time as you sent a message to Zuko." She smirks. "You're strong enough to protect who you want to and destroy who you want to, and you don't coddle weaklings like Mother did."
Right. Nothing like Mother.
"Azula..."
If you can't be honest with your own sister, where does that leave you?
"It wasn't quite so simple, unfortunately," you murmur.
She frowns. "What do you mean?"
You take her hand in yours and rest it in your lap.
"It was not my idea to scar Zuko," you say quietly. "Father ordered me to, to send a message to Iroh."
Azula frowns, then snorts. "I guess that would send Uncle Fuddy-Duddy a message. Zuko's the only one he cares about."
She isn't getting your point.
"I should not have agreed to do it," you say. "Scarring Zuko accomplished nothing worthwhile."
Her frown deepens. "You just said it sent a message," Azula argues.
The wrong message.
"Father interpreted it as a message that he could pressure me into following his whims, in the right situation," you say slowly. "It was a mistake. A severe one. I would have sent a better message by continuing to refuse to hurt either of my siblings."
She scowls. "Why would you protect Zuko? What's he done to deserve it?"
"I would protect him because he's family -"
"That's stupid," Azula says. "Mom is family. Uncle is family. Grandfather -"
"Azula," you murmur.
"So what if Zuko's family?" Azula demands. "Being loyal to someone just because they're family is careless and stupid. We're not loyal to each other because we're sisters."
You - shouldn't be surprised she said that.
"I will always be loyal to you, Azula," you say gently. "But I don't want to play favorites like Mother did -"
"Then stop acting like you should reward Zuko for doing nothing!" Azula snaps. "If he wants protection, he should earn it! I did!"
You stiffen.
"Do you think I'd just stop caring about you if you didn't work for it?" you ask softly. She scowls.
"You care about me because I deserve it."
"Exactly -"
"And I deserve it because I'm brilliant and skilled and powerful and on your side," Azula finishes. Her tone is almost flippant, but there's no humor in her expression. "Zuko isn't any of those things. I am. We're not the same. Whether we're related or not doesn't matter."
"Family isn't just a matter of blood." You fight down a stab of irritation when you realize you're quoting Uncle, but push on. "Family is..."
...Do you have a definition that isn't just quoting Uncle? Or Mother?
"I've always been closer with you than with Zuko," you say instead. Your free hand comes up to brush back through your hair; it's a mess. "But I still want to keep him safe."
Azula scowls. "You can't act like Zuko and I deserve to be treated the same way."
"I don't treat you the same way."
"So why would you want to?" she challenges.
"Because I'm not Mother -"
"I know you're not!" Azula snaps. "Because Mother thought everyone but Zuko was a monster! So why do you want to act like her?"
"I don't want to act like her," you say levelly. No matter what everyone seems to think.
"So why are you so obsessed with helping Zuko?" she demands.
"I'm not obsessed with helping him, I just didn't want to burn him -"
"Who cares?" Azula sounds almost defensive. "Father was sending a message to Uncle -"
"I don't want to act like Father, Azula," you snap.
She crosses her arms. You fold your hands in your lap.
"Why not?" she asks.
You speak slowly, still trying to gather your thoughts.
"Every time I follow Father's whims, someone gets scarred. For no worthwhile reason," you say quietly. "And it's my own fault. I let myself show weakness, bend to pressure... I don't ever want to let myself burn something or someone I don't want to again."
Azula just snorts.
"Then you should be acting more like Father, not less," she says. "Father always burns exactly what he wants to, and nothing ever makes him hesitate. That's what he was trying to teach you, dum-dum."
But - you know Father isn't wrong, but -
"He's not right about everything," you say.
"So stop worrying about Zuzu and focus on getting as strong as Father is!" Azula snaps. "That's what I'm going to do! And then when you're Fire Lord you can do anything you want to just like he can!"
"It's not that simple," you tell her.
She almost rolls her eyes. "How is it not that simple?"
"Father may be strong, but that doesn't mean his definition of strength is always objective," you say. "He calls actions strong when they align with his interests and weak when they go against them. You don't need to emulate him exactly to be strong. I'm going to rely on my own understanding of strength, and you should too. "
Azula's expression turns suspicious. "You sound like Uncle."
You figured she'd say that. You roll your eyes dramatically. "Yes, because I think the real definition of strength is drinking twelve cups of tea per day."
There's a twinge in your chest as you say it, but it makes Azula snort and crack a smile.
"It's for the best if we learn to rely on our own understanding," you finish. "Eventually, when we're ready, it will be our will that matters, not Father's."
You hope that sounds reasonably un-treasonous.
Azula just shrugs. "Eventually."
"But be careful here with Father, Azula," you say softly. You lean in, dropping your voice to a whisper. Azula shuffles a little closer to listen. "Whenever he dislikes how strong someone becomes, he does his best to isolate them. I may not have disobeyed all his orders, but I've stood up to him enough that he may try to pit us against each other. I'm sure you'll recognize it if he does."
Azula nods quietly. You draw back and meet her eyes.
"Always be careful who you give your trust to, Azula," you murmur. You tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "Do you understand?"
She nods. You kiss her forehead.
"No matter how things change while I'm gone, you'll always have mine," you tell her.
Azula puts her arms around you and gives you a tight hug. That's answer enough.
You sit together and whisper for a long time into the night, talking about the future. Azula asks about your plans in the Earth Kingdom. You give her what advice you can for generating lightning, in case you aren't back in time to see it. She tries to explain what it feels like when she creates blue fire. You promise you'll get there eventually, and she shrugs and smirks and says "By the time you're Uncle's age, maybe." In return, you make sure to do her the favor of giving her a list of your books that you expect her to read while you're away, and a list of tips on how she should style her hair and make-up. They're long lists.
You make plans to write when you can - and you quietly tell Azula that if you ever need to exchange messages in secret, Mitsuko has promised that her father can handle it.
You talk through the night. But morning comes before long.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
It's time.
You've done as much research as you possibly can. You're leaving for the Earth Kingdom with a new journal full of meditative techniques that you've reverse-engineered from the Avatars' and others' writings, as well as the most pertinent notes you've acquired on the physicality of chakras and spiritually-powerful places and times.
You've also acquired some leads on living people and groups who may still have knowledge about these things. The residents of the Northern Water Tribe, obviously, since there's purportedly some sacred site they have custody over. There was also once a group called the Bhanti Tribe, apparently a very spiritual sect of firebenders. The island Asahi visited them at is developed now, but Asahi did note he never visited their most sacred sites - and there's no record you could find of the tribe ever being eliminated or assimilated. In theory, they could still live in the deep, uninhabited jungles of some of the homeland's islands, and their sacred sites could persist with them.
The homeland's just as out of reach as the Water Tribe for now, but there were two leads in the Earth Kingdom as well. There were groups of people from the Earth Kingdom who had close ties to the Air Nomads - Air Nation, rather. These acolytes were considered 'spiritual siblings' to the Air Nation, and participated in many of their religious and spiritual rites - and they were never specifically targeted by the war effort in the way the airbenders themselves were. Some of them may still survive, and the knowledge of the Air Nomads with them. You've located a few old Air Nomad sacred sites in the Earth Kingdom where acolytes might congregate, and it's also possible they could have returned to the Eastern Air Temple, in theory - Fire Nation rangers haven't made regular missions there in decades. There's also apparently a massive swamp in the Earth Kingdom that was purported to have significant spiritual power during Asahi's time. You've located the swamp he was likely referring to; modern sources say there's little of note there now, but it is inhabited by small tribes - they could have some spiritual knowledge that could be of use to you.
Finding a chance to investigate either of these leads will be difficult, though. Your most likely chance would simply be to establish yourself well enough in the military that you can get yourself a mission to go behind enemy lines with a relatively vague objective, or little oversight. You're royalty, so working your way out from under the chain of command isn't out of the question. It's just a matter of proving yourself enough that people will let you get away with it.
Well. If you decide to follow up on these tenuous leads at all, anyways.
But that still leaves one question - what assignment are you going to take first in the Earth Kingdom? You have to make your final decision.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
At Sea
Azula, Father, and Piandao see your party off. Mai and Ty Lee and their families are in attendance too, but you suspect it's more for their parents' political posture than for your benefit. You suppose it's the thought that counts, though.
Piandao and Mitsuko exchange a hug that seems like it lasts forever. You bow to Father.
"Bring honor to your Nation, Princess Akane," he tells you.
"I will, Father."
You and Azula steal a quick, tight hug before you leave. "I'll write," you whisper. She nods. Mitsuko bows to her after you separate, and receives another nod in return.
"Fight well," Azula tells you both.
"We will."
Hua approaches you soon after the ship gets underway. You're lucky. The seasickness hasn't set in yet.
"Your Highness." She bows.
"Lady Qin." You nod.
"I had some thoughts to offer regarding our plans, if I may."
"Please, feel free," you say. "I appreciate your insight."
You suppose you're both going to keep pretending she's only here to help you. No need to bother acknowledging that she's Father's spy.
"Thank you." She inclines her head in another small bow, then begins. "Prioritizing the rebels was a prudent decision. Maintaining control of the territory we've taken will be the most important challenge the Fire Nation faces in the long term."
Yes, you and Father had a lovely discussion about that right after the first meeting you had with Hua. "I agree."
"I've taken the liberty of plotting out a possible route to Gaipan after we arrive in port," she continues. "We can pass through major settlements such as Yu Dao on the way there, and acquire information from the locals."
You nod, looking out at the sea. "I'll review your route tonight, then. Thank you for your initiative."
"It is my honor to serve the future Fire Lord."
You glance at her out of the corner of your eye. For a moment, your gazes meet.
Interesting choice of words.
"I'll continue to review all the information available regarding the pertinent regions of the Earth Kingdom," Hua says. "I'll keep you appraised of anything that might be useful. If you have any questions or requests for me to focus on, please only say the word."
"Thank you, Lady Qin," you say. "I look forward to working with you."
"And I with you, your Highness. I am at your disposal."
With another bow, Hua leaves you to your thoughts. You shut your eyes as the ship shifts beneath you, and rest your hands on the side to steady yourself. The sun hangs high overhead; you can feel it on your skin, even if your fire remains distant.
Maybe you'll find it, somewhere over this new, distant horizon.
-----
Thanks for reading, everyone!
1. Please don't personally attack anyone. I hope this should be self-explanatory.
2. Whatever you intend to vote for, please do not ever bring in real-life examples of wars, imperial occupations, or genocides to say "the aggressors did X and it worked for them". It really makes no difference why you're bringing it up or whether you give a disclaimer that "I'm not saying it was moral just that it worked" or so on. The same goes for any posts saying "we should learn from the tactics used in X example of real-life imperialist oppression" or any variation like that. I've been telling people for a while not to do this and I don't want to be rude or confrontational but I just want to make clear that I do mean it and your example is not going to be an exception.
If anyone has questions, comments, or concerns - whether they relate to the discussion or the quest - please feel free to voice them. Thank you all for reading! Here are the results of the two live sessions that took place while the thread was locked. This wraps up Chapter 7.
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
It wouldn't be quite accurate to call the Avatars' writings a wealth of information. They're more like a wealth of questions.
Avatar Asahi, the Fire Nation Avatar before Roku, lived nearly five hundred years ago - the long lives of Yangchen and especially Kyoshi stretched the time frame of that cycle by a solid two hundred years beyond the average. Asahi lived in a time when the Fire Nation was still relatively new - the Fire Lord was still barely independent of the Fire Sages, and the tensions between them were so strong at the time that political and spiritual concerns permeated seemingly everything Asahi thought about. When it came time for him to master the Avatar State, he agonized over where to do it for the sake of political optics - and in the process, made a painstaking list of locations that apparently had great spiritual significance. Great spiritual power. Sites where Asahi seemed to believe the chakras could be unlocked with greater ease, and not only because of the teachers to be found there.
The Spirit Oasis. The Silent Spire. The Great Pyramid of the Bhanti. The Crystal Vault. You can feel the reverence with which Asahi wrote the names - but there are precious few details. The Sages provide some additional information about where these sites are believed to be located. The Spirit Oasis was apparently a temple in one of the Water Tribes; it may have already been destroyed in the war. The Crystal Vault was a temple beneath Ba Sing Se that was sealed off during Kyoshi's time. The Silent Spire was a sacred chamber in the Eastern Air Temple; it was likely destroyed in the fighting with the Air Nation, but an exhaustive inventory of the damage was never taken. The Great Pyramid of the Bhanti was an ancient Fire Sage sacred site, but records of its location were unfortunately destroyed during an uprising hundreds of years ago.
So many possible leads, but all of them dubious. It's still not clear what form of power, exactly, these sites held. Asahi described opening the chakras as touching an 'infinite well of cosmic energy', and theorized that he was touching the source of the Avatar's power and even of bending itself - and that's all perfectly well and good, it's all very promising and spiritual, but what does it mean in practical terms? What is this power? Why does it flow better in some places and some times - and some people - than in others? And how do you alter that flow? Asahi believed the answer was self-reflection; his notes devolved into long introspective passages on his fears, his hopes, his loves. And you suppose it worked for him, but it seems a difficult feat to scientifically replicate.
And Avatar Roku actually seemed to have much the same opinion.
Roku studied the Avatar State on Crescent Island, and quickly seemed to grow impatient with the meditative approach. His notes quickly turned away from reflecting on his emotions to reflecting on physical phenomena - how his chi felt, how it flowed through the chakras, what physical factors seemed to make the chakras open or close. He approached the issue with a more modern mindset, and took painstaking notes on his methodology and thinking.
And on the day of the Winter Solstice, he managed to use the power of the sun to force his chakras open all at once. He entered the Avatar State without meditation. And his method seems replicable.
This could be exactly what you need. Or, well, a start. It had mixed success. He made a volcano erupt, he couldn't exit the Avatar State afterwards without re-blocking his chakras, he couldn't control his bending. But he was the Avatar. Unblocking his chakras forced him into the Avatar State. If you forced your chakras open, you wouldn't have to deal with an Avatar State. It could work better for you. It could be an easy fix, easier than whatever spiritual and emotional navel-gazing is normally done to try to open the chakras. You could refine Roku's work; find the right place, the right time, the right physical methodology. Roku never bothered to make a second attempt. He fell back on meditation after his first failure. You could succeed where he failed.
There's enough detail in these two accounts that you could also probably attempt to replicate their... you aren't sure what to call it. Meditation program? You could certainly think about your fears and your loves and so on and hope that would fix your bending. Avatar Asahi certainly wrote about it all in painstaking detail. Maybe you could even try to find leads on modern practitioners of these old beliefs, to see if they could teach you something useful.
But you've been meditating for years. And look where that got you.
What leads should you prioritize following up on in your research?
Focus on researching the meditative techniques and leads on any modern practitioners - even if it seems unscientific, you know it worked for the Avatars. (21)
+ There's nothing inherently dangerous with applying modern methods to Roku's Chi studies - but we should be careful about uncontrollable power. For all your father's faults, he did teach you that uncontrolled and unrefinied power is untenable and dangerous. Approach this info with that cautious frame of mind. (18)
+Question things, constantly. Don't ever take anything at face value and constantly work to understand things and see what they in front of your own eyes. (18)
Focus on building on Roku's ideas - if you apply modern knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and do further research into chi, you might be able to refine Roku's research. (14)
Focus on researching more about these sacred sites - whatever you do, you'll likely want to understand and make use of whatever form of power or knowledge Avatar Asahi believed to be stored in these sites. (4)
+ There's nothing inherently dangerous with applying modern methods to Roku's Chi studies - but we should be careful about uncontrollable power. For all your father's faults, he did teach you that uncontrolled and unrefinied power is untenable and dangerous. Approach this info with that cautious frame of mind. (18)
+Question things, constantly. Don't ever take anything at face value and constantly work to understand things and see what they in front of your own eyes. (18)
Focus on building on Roku's ideas - if you apply modern knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and do further research into chi, you might be able to refine Roku's research. (14)
Focus on researching more about these sacred sites - whatever you do, you'll likely want to understand and make use of whatever form of power or knowledge Avatar Asahi believed to be stored in these sites. (4)
Roku's research is promising, and you may be able to improve upon it... but you have to be cautious. There's no guarantee that you'd suffer the same loss of control that the Avatar did - but if you did suffer the same loss of control, there's also no guarantee that you could fix it as easily as Roku did. Loss of control is death for a firebender. Loss of control is how you end up like Azulon.
May he rest in peace, of course.
Even if it seems somewhat unscientific, you decide you'd be better off focusing the lion's share of your efforts researching these meditative techniques. The fact of the matter is that, unless these Avatars were intentionally making false reports of their experiences, meditation did work to open their chakras. There has to be something there. You may be able to refine the meditative technique just as much as you could refine Roku's; you just have to pare away the mysticism and identify what really worked. You shouldn't just accept it at face value that these Avatars' old philosophies of peace and harmony were simply uniquely suited to opening the chakras. There has to be something deeper going on. You need more details about the process.
Unfortunately, even though the Fire Sages aided Roku and Asahi in their meditation, the methods they used to do so have been lost. The Fire Sages' old writings about the spiritual virtues of peace and balance were among the first things to be destroyed or sealed away at Sozin's command. Ideally, though, you'll still be able to dig up leads that let you track down modern practitioners of this spiritual system and interview them about their research.
Over the coming weeks, you spend a great deal of your time buried in the Sages' archives. The time you don't spend reading, you spend honing your skill with weapons. But as the time of your departure steadily approaches, you turn your attention to one last thing that's still left unfinished.
You need to talk with your sister.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Crown Princess's Chambers
It turns out Azula has the same idea. Late at night, a few days before your departure, she slips her way into your room through the window.
The window. Honestly. She's so dramatic.
You shut your eyes quickly and pretend to be asleep as she creeps over towards your bed. When you feel the knife gently touch your throat, you honestly feel more exasperated than alarmed.
Tell Azula she's getting a little repetitive. (18)
Is that a knife at my throat, or are you just excited to see me? (18)
+Commence hug (19)
+ Are you at least using your hairpin knife? Or is Zuko going to find himself missing that custom blade of his out at sea? (12)
"Is this simply how you greet me nowadays? A simple hug and a "Hello sister, how nice to see you!" would suffice." (5)
"You know most people just say hello" (2)
Continue to pretend to be asleep until Azula gets bored and lifts the knife from your skin, then greet her. (2)
Is that a knife at my throat, or are you just excited to see me? (18)
+Commence hug (19)
+ Are you at least using your hairpin knife? Or is Zuko going to find himself missing that custom blade of his out at sea? (12)
"Is this simply how you greet me nowadays? A simple hug and a "Hello sister, how nice to see you!" would suffice." (5)
"You know most people just say hello" (2)
Continue to pretend to be asleep until Azula gets bored and lifts the knife from your skin, then greet her. (2)
Sleep deprivation must be getting to you. It slips out before you can stop it. "Is that a knife at my throat, or are you just excited to see me?" you mumble.
You instantly regret it. What were you thinking? Spirits, Osamu's sense of humor must have rubbed off on you. Azula's just silent for a moment.
"...What?" she asks.
You'll have to wait a few years before explaining that one.
"You're getting a little repetitive, you know," you say instead, opening your eyes. "And I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish, doing that."
She flicks her finger at the candle next to your bed and lights it blue. You tell yourself you aren't jealous. "I'm testing your awareness," she answers. "You shouldn't be letting me reach you with the dagger at all."
She lifts the blade from your throat. You catch a glimpse of it in the candlelight - it's the hairpin dagger you got for her.
Azula scowls at the same time you smile.
"I see that you like the -"
"It's perfectly fine, yes," she says, stowing it safely back in her hair.
You keep your smile from getting improperly large. There's no reason to be undignified. "I'm very glad."
Azula rolls her eyes. You sit up, and pull her into a hug. She allows it.
"I'm glad you came to see me," you tell her as you release her. She sits on your bed next to you. "I wanted us to have a chance to speak before I departed."
"I wasn't going to let you leave without saying goodbye," Azula says, then immediately scowls. "Not that it matters. What did you want to talk about, then?"
Comment that if she came to see you, she must have something on her mind. Tell her she can go ahead and speak first. (32)
+Well for one you want to congratulate her for the blue fire, it's very fitting. (29)
+ After letting Azula speak first, then we can talk about the future. (18)
+I'm sorry I can't be here for you any longer (15)
Tell her that you wanted to talk about everything that's happened - with the two of you, and with Zuko. (6)
+Well for one you want to congratulate her for the blue fire, it's very fitting. (29)
+ After letting Azula speak first, then we can talk about the future. (18)
+I'm sorry I can't be here for you any longer (15)
Tell her that you wanted to talk about everything that's happened - with the two of you, and with Zuko. (6)
"Well, first of all, I wanted to properly congratulate you on your new blue fire," you say, trying to think of what you actually want to say. "It suits you perfectly."
Azula snorts. "Not everything is about fashion, Akane."
Does everyone think you only care about appearances?
You keep your smile in place. "I didn't mean aesthetically, Azula." You reach over to the candle, letting the blue flame caress your fingertip. "I can feel the difference," you murmur. "Your fire feels more concentrated, now. Hotter. More energetic. It's an impressive feat."
"I know."
Naturally.
"But in any case, you're the one who came to see me," you point out. "I'd like to hear what's on your mind, first."
Azula seems to hesitate at that. Rather than saying anything, she reaches out towards you - and gently touches the scar on your cheek.
You suppose that gets her point across well enough on its own.
Tell her you understand why she burned you. (18)
+ put your hand over hers, show her that you don't resent her for burning you. (22)
Gently take her hand, but keep it on your cheek. "I'm sorry you were forced to do that. I wasn't being a very good sister that day was I?" (11)
Ask her - gently - why she burned you. (10)
Tell her you forgive her. (4)
+ put your hand over hers, show her that you don't resent her for burning you. (22)
Gently take her hand, but keep it on your cheek. "I'm sorry you were forced to do that. I wasn't being a very good sister that day was I?" (11)
Ask her - gently - why she burned you. (10)
Tell her you forgive her. (4)
You put your hand over hers, though you don't quite remember to smile.
"It's alright," you tell her. "It was hardly an ideal situation, but I understand why you had to do it. I'm not angry."
"And I understand why you did it," Azula answers. "All of it."
"Do you?" you ask neutrally.
"Father says a firebender's will has to be unshakable," Azula answers. "And you were showing him that yours is."
That was the idea at the time, you suppose.
"If you were just sentimental and weak, you wouldn't have been able to burn Zuko when you wanted to," Azula reasons. "You were sending a message to me and Father at the same time as you sent a message to Zuko." She smirks. "You're strong enough to protect who you want to and destroy who you want to, and you don't coddle weaklings like Mother did."
Right. Nothing like Mother.
Tell Azula your will broke. You should have protected Zuko just as much as you protected her. You should never have given in to father, not against either one of them. (22)
+It was a moment of weakness. One that cost me dearly and will not be repeated. (18)
+In the end, I turned out to be just like mother. I had to choice one sibling over another. (13)
+You put too much faith in me. I'm fallible just like anyone else (13)
Tell Azula you burned Zuko because Father threatened you. (8)
Tell Azula she's right. (4)
+It was a moment of weakness. One that cost me dearly and will not be repeated. (18)
+In the end, I turned out to be just like mother. I had to choice one sibling over another. (13)
+You put too much faith in me. I'm fallible just like anyone else (13)
Tell Azula you burned Zuko because Father threatened you. (8)
Tell Azula she's right. (4)
"Azula..."
If you can't be honest with your own sister, where does that leave you?
"It wasn't quite so simple, unfortunately," you murmur.
She frowns. "What do you mean?"
You take her hand in yours and rest it in your lap.
"It was not my idea to scar Zuko," you say quietly. "Father ordered me to, to send a message to Iroh."
Azula frowns, then snorts. "I guess that would send Uncle Fuddy-Duddy a message. Zuko's the only one he cares about."
She isn't getting your point.
"I should not have agreed to do it," you say. "Scarring Zuko accomplished nothing worthwhile."
Her frown deepens. "You just said it sent a message," Azula argues.
The wrong message.
"Father interpreted it as a message that he could pressure me into following his whims, in the right situation," you say slowly. "It was a mistake. A severe one. I would have sent a better message by continuing to refuse to hurt either of my siblings."
She scowls. "Why would you protect Zuko? What's he done to deserve it?"
"I would protect him because he's family -"
"That's stupid," Azula says. "Mom is family. Uncle is family. Grandfather -"
"Azula," you murmur.
"So what if Zuko's family?" Azula demands. "Being loyal to someone just because they're family is careless and stupid. We're not loyal to each other because we're sisters."
You - shouldn't be surprised she said that.
"I will always be loyal to you, Azula," you say gently. "But I don't want to play favorites like Mother did -"
"Then stop acting like you should reward Zuko for doing nothing!" Azula snaps. "If he wants protection, he should earn it! I did!"
You stiffen.
Ask her if she thinks you'd stop caring about her if she didn't earn it. (25)
+Family's more than just blood ties. (14)
No, you earned my trust and we became very close. But he's still my little sibling and an older sister should protect them even when they, like Zuko, don't like her. (7)
Tell her you never want to make your family feel like they have to earn your protection. (5)
It's not about deserving, or reward. It's about not engaging in pointless cruelty. (2)
+Family's more than just blood ties. (14)
No, you earned my trust and we became very close. But he's still my little sibling and an older sister should protect them even when they, like Zuko, don't like her. (7)
Tell her you never want to make your family feel like they have to earn your protection. (5)
It's not about deserving, or reward. It's about not engaging in pointless cruelty. (2)
"Do you think I'd just stop caring about you if you didn't work for it?" you ask softly. She scowls.
"You care about me because I deserve it."
"Exactly -"
"And I deserve it because I'm brilliant and skilled and powerful and on your side," Azula finishes. Her tone is almost flippant, but there's no humor in her expression. "Zuko isn't any of those things. I am. We're not the same. Whether we're related or not doesn't matter."
"Family isn't just a matter of blood." You fight down a stab of irritation when you realize you're quoting Uncle, but push on. "Family is..."
...Do you have a definition that isn't just quoting Uncle? Or Mother?
"I've always been closer with you than with Zuko," you say instead. Your free hand comes up to brush back through your hair; it's a mess. "But I still want to keep him safe."
Azula scowls. "You can't act like Zuko and I deserve to be treated the same way."
"I don't treat you the same way."
"So why would you want to?" she challenges.
"Because I'm not Mother -"
"I know you're not!" Azula snaps. "Because Mother thought everyone but Zuko was a monster! So why do you want to act like her?"
You don't want to act like her, but you don't want to act like Father either. (22)
+"I allowed myself to be weak. To be pressured. I should never have allowed myself to burn something or someone that I had no desire to burn." (11)
"I don't want to treat you both the same way, but zuko didn't deserve to be permanently scarred because of my own weakness." (6)
You don't know. (5)
+"I allowed myself to be weak. To be pressured. I should never have allowed myself to burn something or someone that I had no desire to burn." (11)
"I don't want to treat you both the same way, but zuko didn't deserve to be permanently scarred because of my own weakness." (6)
You don't know. (5)
"I don't want to act like her," you say levelly. No matter what everyone seems to think.
"So why are you so obsessed with helping Zuko?" she demands.
"I'm not obsessed with helping him, I just didn't want to burn him -"
"Who cares?" Azula sounds almost defensive. "Father was sending a message to Uncle -"
"I don't want to act like Father, Azula," you snap.
She crosses her arms. You fold your hands in your lap.
"Why not?" she asks.
You speak slowly, still trying to gather your thoughts.
"Every time I follow Father's whims, someone gets scarred. For no worthwhile reason," you say quietly. "And it's my own fault. I let myself show weakness, bend to pressure... I don't ever want to let myself burn something or someone I don't want to again."
Azula just snorts.
"Then you should be acting more like Father, not less," she says. "Father always burns exactly what he wants to, and nothing ever makes him hesitate. That's what he was trying to teach you, dum-dum."
But - you know Father isn't wrong, but -
"He's not right about everything," you say.
"So stop worrying about Zuzu and focus on getting as strong as Father is!" Azula snaps. "That's what I'm going to do! And then when you're Fire Lord you can do anything you want to just like he can!"
Tell Azula that Father's definition of strength is biased towards what he wants. You're going to find your own and she should too. (18)
+ Tell her never to trust Father either way. (18)
+Tell her that Father secures his own position by destroying the support network of those who could threaten him, including or perhaps especially his children. Tell her to be wary of attempts by him to sour her opinion of you, and that if he tries it will be proof of your words. (14)
+"you're right. And when we're strong enough, we'll ensure our will is what matters, not fathers." (12)
Tell Azula to go ahead and hone her strength, but never to trust Father. (15)
+ Tell her never to trust Father either way. (18)
+Tell her that Father secures his own position by destroying the support network of those who could threaten him, including or perhaps especially his children. Tell her to be wary of attempts by him to sour her opinion of you, and that if he tries it will be proof of your words. (14)
+"you're right. And when we're strong enough, we'll ensure our will is what matters, not fathers." (12)
Tell Azula to go ahead and hone her strength, but never to trust Father. (15)
"It's not that simple," you tell her.
She almost rolls her eyes. "How is it not that simple?"
"Father may be strong, but that doesn't mean his definition of strength is always objective," you say. "He calls actions strong when they align with his interests and weak when they go against them. You don't need to emulate him exactly to be strong. I'm going to rely on my own understanding of strength, and you should too. "
Azula's expression turns suspicious. "You sound like Uncle."
You figured she'd say that. You roll your eyes dramatically. "Yes, because I think the real definition of strength is drinking twelve cups of tea per day."
There's a twinge in your chest as you say it, but it makes Azula snort and crack a smile.
"It's for the best if we learn to rely on our own understanding," you finish. "Eventually, when we're ready, it will be our will that matters, not Father's."
You hope that sounds reasonably un-treasonous.
Azula just shrugs. "Eventually."
"But be careful here with Father, Azula," you say softly. You lean in, dropping your voice to a whisper. Azula shuffles a little closer to listen. "Whenever he dislikes how strong someone becomes, he does his best to isolate them. I may not have disobeyed all his orders, but I've stood up to him enough that he may try to pit us against each other. I'm sure you'll recognize it if he does."
Azula nods quietly. You draw back and meet her eyes.
"Always be careful who you give your trust to, Azula," you murmur. You tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "Do you understand?"
She nods. You kiss her forehead.
"No matter how things change while I'm gone, you'll always have mine," you tell her.
Azula puts her arms around you and gives you a tight hug. That's answer enough.
You sit together and whisper for a long time into the night, talking about the future. Azula asks about your plans in the Earth Kingdom. You give her what advice you can for generating lightning, in case you aren't back in time to see it. She tries to explain what it feels like when she creates blue fire. You promise you'll get there eventually, and she shrugs and smirks and says "By the time you're Uncle's age, maybe." In return, you make sure to do her the favor of giving her a list of your books that you expect her to read while you're away, and a list of tips on how she should style her hair and make-up. They're long lists.
You make plans to write when you can - and you quietly tell Azula that if you ever need to exchange messages in secret, Mitsuko has promised that her father can handle it.
You talk through the night. But morning comes before long.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
It's time.
You've done as much research as you possibly can. You're leaving for the Earth Kingdom with a new journal full of meditative techniques that you've reverse-engineered from the Avatars' and others' writings, as well as the most pertinent notes you've acquired on the physicality of chakras and spiritually-powerful places and times.
You've also acquired some leads on living people and groups who may still have knowledge about these things. The residents of the Northern Water Tribe, obviously, since there's purportedly some sacred site they have custody over. There was also once a group called the Bhanti Tribe, apparently a very spiritual sect of firebenders. The island Asahi visited them at is developed now, but Asahi did note he never visited their most sacred sites - and there's no record you could find of the tribe ever being eliminated or assimilated. In theory, they could still live in the deep, uninhabited jungles of some of the homeland's islands, and their sacred sites could persist with them.
The homeland's just as out of reach as the Water Tribe for now, but there were two leads in the Earth Kingdom as well. There were groups of people from the Earth Kingdom who had close ties to the Air Nomads - Air Nation, rather. These acolytes were considered 'spiritual siblings' to the Air Nation, and participated in many of their religious and spiritual rites - and they were never specifically targeted by the war effort in the way the airbenders themselves were. Some of them may still survive, and the knowledge of the Air Nomads with them. You've located a few old Air Nomad sacred sites in the Earth Kingdom where acolytes might congregate, and it's also possible they could have returned to the Eastern Air Temple, in theory - Fire Nation rangers haven't made regular missions there in decades. There's also apparently a massive swamp in the Earth Kingdom that was purported to have significant spiritual power during Asahi's time. You've located the swamp he was likely referring to; modern sources say there's little of note there now, but it is inhabited by small tribes - they could have some spiritual knowledge that could be of use to you.
Finding a chance to investigate either of these leads will be difficult, though. Your most likely chance would simply be to establish yourself well enough in the military that you can get yourself a mission to go behind enemy lines with a relatively vague objective, or little oversight. You're royalty, so working your way out from under the chain of command isn't out of the question. It's just a matter of proving yourself enough that people will let you get away with it.
Well. If you decide to follow up on these tenuous leads at all, anyways.
But that still leaves one question - what assignment are you going to take first in the Earth Kingdom? You have to make your final decision.
You'll put down the rebels threatening Fire Nation civilians around Gaipan. (21)
You'll take on missions going behind enemy lines and assassinating Earth Kingdom officers and officials. (8)
You'll take on missions going behind enemy lines with special forces units, spreading mayhem and terror in the Earth Kingdom countryside. (0)
You'll join General Endo on the front lines as an officer under his tutelage. (0)
You'll take on missions going behind enemy lines and assassinating Earth Kingdom officers and officials. (8)
You'll take on missions going behind enemy lines with special forces units, spreading mayhem and terror in the Earth Kingdom countryside. (0)
You'll join General Endo on the front lines as an officer under his tutelage. (0)
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
At Sea
Azula, Father, and Piandao see your party off. Mai and Ty Lee and their families are in attendance too, but you suspect it's more for their parents' political posture than for your benefit. You suppose it's the thought that counts, though.
Piandao and Mitsuko exchange a hug that seems like it lasts forever. You bow to Father.
"Bring honor to your Nation, Princess Akane," he tells you.
"I will, Father."
You and Azula steal a quick, tight hug before you leave. "I'll write," you whisper. She nods. Mitsuko bows to her after you separate, and receives another nod in return.
"Fight well," Azula tells you both.
"We will."
Hua approaches you soon after the ship gets underway. You're lucky. The seasickness hasn't set in yet.
"Your Highness." She bows.
"Lady Qin." You nod.
"I had some thoughts to offer regarding our plans, if I may."
"Please, feel free," you say. "I appreciate your insight."
You suppose you're both going to keep pretending she's only here to help you. No need to bother acknowledging that she's Father's spy.
"Thank you." She inclines her head in another small bow, then begins. "Prioritizing the rebels was a prudent decision. Maintaining control of the territory we've taken will be the most important challenge the Fire Nation faces in the long term."
Yes, you and Father had a lovely discussion about that right after the first meeting you had with Hua. "I agree."
"I've taken the liberty of plotting out a possible route to Gaipan after we arrive in port," she continues. "We can pass through major settlements such as Yu Dao on the way there, and acquire information from the locals."
You nod, looking out at the sea. "I'll review your route tonight, then. Thank you for your initiative."
"It is my honor to serve the future Fire Lord."
You glance at her out of the corner of your eye. For a moment, your gazes meet.
Interesting choice of words.
"I'll continue to review all the information available regarding the pertinent regions of the Earth Kingdom," Hua says. "I'll keep you appraised of anything that might be useful. If you have any questions or requests for me to focus on, please only say the word."
"Thank you, Lady Qin," you say. "I look forward to working with you."
"And I with you, your Highness. I am at your disposal."
With another bow, Hua leaves you to your thoughts. You shut your eyes as the ship shifts beneath you, and rest your hands on the side to steady yourself. The sun hangs high overhead; you can feel it on your skin, even if your fire remains distant.
Maybe you'll find it, somewhere over this new, distant horizon.
-----
Thanks for reading, everyone!
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Chapter 8: Never Sets (Part 1)
Hey all, here's the results from tonight's live. We're starting a new chapter now as Akane travels to the Earth Kingdom. Sorry it's so little, just been writing poorly lately. Thanks for reading!
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
At Sea
The first thing you meditate on is fear.
You kneel in your quarters as a storm rocks the ship. The wind howls. Rain hammers. Your candles flicker, uneasy; even with your eyes closed you can feel them there, the flame dancing and fluttering when it should be as steady as your breathing. Nausea boils in the pit of your stomach, but it's not as great a distraction as the stab of longing that pierces you whenever you hear thunder.
The Earth Chakra is located in the base of the spine. It is the foundation of everything, the first chakra the Avatars learned to unlock. To them, it represented survival, and was opened by letting go of fear.
Most things you study come easily to you. This doesn't. Survival is action. How do you meditate on survival? What does it mean to 'let go' of fear?
What are you afraid of? What are you most afraid of?
Death is the obvious answer. Isn't it? The Earth Chakra is survival; the opposite of survival is death. Death is obviously the worst thing that can happen to you. You've encountered death more than once.
But what do you see, when you picture what you're afraid of?
You're on your back. Your muscles are screaming. Your throat hurts. All you see is smoke and fire.
Azulon.
If he tries to hurt her, you'll have to move quickly to get between them. You can make lightning as you do. It'll be enough. You don't stand a chance of survival against Father in a fight, but you can do enough.
Father.
"Safe travels, Zuko."
Yourself.
Your hands twitch in your lap. Your scars itch. What are you afraid of? You're afraid of dying, aren't you?
But you're afraid of more than that.
What was the point of his letters if he wasn't going to listen to you? Didn't it mean anything? Did he not care about coming home to his family?
What will you do if something happens to Azula while you're away? Writing letters never saved anyone's life.
"Straighten out of that ridiculous bow and look at me."
You do. Perfect posture. Polite expression. He looks at you with nothing but anger and you don't know why.
What will you do if Father never brings you home? What if you can't satisfy him or outwit him? You've never managed to before, have you? He's always gotten the last laugh. You have no power in the Earth Kingdom. You can't fight him from across an ocean.
Your fire is red. Low red. Cool red. You can't get it any hotter. It still feels like it wants to explode but now it lacks the heat.
"Your will is your sun, indeed."
What if your fire never comes back? Do you expect any of this to work? You're grasping at straws and you know it. You have no guarantee. You can't force your flame to return.
And...
It runs in the family, doesn't it?
What's wrong with you?
What would you do - what will you do - if you are sick? If you're like Azulon. Do you honestly believe reading books about 'illnesses of the mind' will matter, in the end? What can you do? What difference does it make what you do?
Survival is action. You must act to defend yourself, to secure your position, to eliminate your weaknesses - but what difference do your actions make? You can choose to train, but you can't choose whether you'll get your fire back. You can choose to study, but you can't choose whether you'll go insane. You can choose what to write and say but you can't choose whether anyone will take it to heart. You can choose to pursue perfection, you can choose to master everything you possibly can, but you can't choose whether it will matter.
You can't choose whether you'll survive any more than you can choose whether you have scars.
Helplessness suffocates you like smoke.
How are you supposed to just 'let go' of that?
You know exactly what you're supposed to do. You read Roku and Asahi's journals. You know the thought process they followed. Acceptance. You're supposed to just accept it. Helplessness is a part of life, you suppose. You're not omnipotent. You're supposed to accept that.
It's exactly the kind of philosophy that Father despises more than anything. Spineless. Weak. It's the opposite of everything the Fire Nation believes; you'd be a laughingstock for ever expressing it out loud.
And apparently it worked for the Avatars.
Why did it work for them? Why should you accept this? It makes no sense. Accepting helplessness as a part of life - accepting limits to your power - does nothing but demotivate and paralyze you. It encourages exactly the sort of stagnancy that the Fire Nation is trying to pull the world out of. That docile acceptance of fate is exactly why the other nations are so backwards.
That's what you've been taught all your life, at least.
You take a deep breath, re-centering yourself. Think this through. The Avatar studied this in each of their lifetimes, but it didn't paralyze them completely. They may have had a backwards goal, always fighting for some vague idea of balance, but they still fought for what they believed. They didn't value acceptance for its own sake - that, or they were all just hypocrites discarding their beliefs. And if they did end up discarding their beliefs in every lifetime, why would they continue to bother relearning them? There had to be some other value in these teachings.
Was the purpose just to free them from distraction? Roku and Asahi wrote about finding 'inner peace', but it seems like there would be more productive ways to let go of distraction than simple acceptance and peace. Was it meant to help indoctrinate Avatars into passively accepting the world order they were being trained to maintain? That's possible - and it would imply their method for opening the chakras wasn't the only one that worked. You shouldn't dismiss that possibility, but you also shouldn't be too quick to believe it. If you assume that this philosophy does have some value beyond simple propaganda... what do you come up with? Why acceptance?
You got the impression from the Avatars' writings that this meditation was more of an intuitive process for them than an intellectual one. You can only hope your way will work, too.
Why acceptance? Why peace? It can't just be for the sake of feeling better - you doubt you'll feel any better by 'accepting' whatever horrific things might be out of your control. There has to be more. If this is the right way, there has to be something it'll give you. Something to make it worthwhile.
You suppose you'll just have to try and find out.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Yu Dao: Capitol Building
The voyage lasts only a few more days. You continue your meditation and your weapons training with Mitsuko as best you can, but arrive at no great breakthroughs before you make landfall. Yu Dao is only a day's ride away from port, and you're thankful for that. You spend most of the ride hosting Hua and Mitsuko in your carriage, and while Hua is pleasant enough it's still impossible to forget the fact that she's Father's spy. Spending the day in such close quarters with her sets you on edge; at least on the ship you had personal space. But you suppose you'll have to get used to it.
You're greeted with somewhat less fanfare when you arrive in Yu Dao this time - the city knows you're just passing through rather than staying. But the mayor still treats you to a feast in the evening. Mitsuko sits at your right and you allow Kori to sit at your left, in between you and her father - which seems to delight her whole family. She regales you with all sorts of stories about her earthbending practice, though she seems a little less overwhelmed with awe for you this time around. The Mayor, whenever he gets a chance, tells you how well things have been going in Yu Dao since your last visit, and promises his entire administration will provide whatever aid you need for your business in the Earth Kingdom.
Is there anything you should ask him about or for?
-----
I stopped there and opened write-ins. Again, sorry for the super-short update. Just haven't been on my writing game this week. Thanks for reading all, sorry for the trouble!
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
At Sea
The first thing you meditate on is fear.
You kneel in your quarters as a storm rocks the ship. The wind howls. Rain hammers. Your candles flicker, uneasy; even with your eyes closed you can feel them there, the flame dancing and fluttering when it should be as steady as your breathing. Nausea boils in the pit of your stomach, but it's not as great a distraction as the stab of longing that pierces you whenever you hear thunder.
The Earth Chakra is located in the base of the spine. It is the foundation of everything, the first chakra the Avatars learned to unlock. To them, it represented survival, and was opened by letting go of fear.
Most things you study come easily to you. This doesn't. Survival is action. How do you meditate on survival? What does it mean to 'let go' of fear?
What are you afraid of? What are you most afraid of?
Helplessness. (22)
Losing those you care about (7)
Ozai. (5)
Being Controlled (4)
Fear. (2)
Being exposed for treason. (1)
Losing those you care about (7)
Ozai. (5)
Being Controlled (4)
Fear. (2)
Being exposed for treason. (1)
Death is the obvious answer. Isn't it? The Earth Chakra is survival; the opposite of survival is death. Death is obviously the worst thing that can happen to you. You've encountered death more than once.
But what do you see, when you picture what you're afraid of?
You're on your back. Your muscles are screaming. Your throat hurts. All you see is smoke and fire.
Azulon.
If he tries to hurt her, you'll have to move quickly to get between them. You can make lightning as you do. It'll be enough. You don't stand a chance of survival against Father in a fight, but you can do enough.
Father.
"Safe travels, Zuko."
Yourself.
Your hands twitch in your lap. Your scars itch. What are you afraid of? You're afraid of dying, aren't you?
But you're afraid of more than that.
What was the point of his letters if he wasn't going to listen to you? Didn't it mean anything? Did he not care about coming home to his family?
What will you do if something happens to Azula while you're away? Writing letters never saved anyone's life.
"Straighten out of that ridiculous bow and look at me."
You do. Perfect posture. Polite expression. He looks at you with nothing but anger and you don't know why.
What will you do if Father never brings you home? What if you can't satisfy him or outwit him? You've never managed to before, have you? He's always gotten the last laugh. You have no power in the Earth Kingdom. You can't fight him from across an ocean.
Your fire is red. Low red. Cool red. You can't get it any hotter. It still feels like it wants to explode but now it lacks the heat.
"Your will is your sun, indeed."
What if your fire never comes back? Do you expect any of this to work? You're grasping at straws and you know it. You have no guarantee. You can't force your flame to return.
And...
It runs in the family, doesn't it?
What's wrong with you?
What would you do - what will you do - if you are sick? If you're like Azulon. Do you honestly believe reading books about 'illnesses of the mind' will matter, in the end? What can you do? What difference does it make what you do?
Survival is action. You must act to defend yourself, to secure your position, to eliminate your weaknesses - but what difference do your actions make? You can choose to train, but you can't choose whether you'll get your fire back. You can choose to study, but you can't choose whether you'll go insane. You can choose what to write and say but you can't choose whether anyone will take it to heart. You can choose to pursue perfection, you can choose to master everything you possibly can, but you can't choose whether it will matter.
You can't choose whether you'll survive any more than you can choose whether you have scars.
Helplessness suffocates you like smoke.
How are you supposed to just 'let go' of that?
You have to - you're supposed to - just accept it. No one can be all-powerful. You just have to tell yourself that helplessness is sometimes a part of life. (27)
You have to stop focusing on what could be. Focus on doing whatever you can in the moment. There will always be something you can do in the moment, no matter how small. (25)
Combat helpessness by doing your best and acknowledging that your are doing so. You are doing what you can. Your choices may not matter in the end. You may find better choices in the future. But you are doing your best with the knowledge and tools you have now. And that is what matters. That you continue to progess towards your uncertain, but now hopeful future. (12)
You need to accept that there will always, no matter what, be situations you are unable to change, while striving to become strong enough to make the list of those things as small as possible. Acceptance and improvement. (7)
You have to focus on other sources of strength and stability - things you can rely on to protect you even when you yourself are helpless. (7)
You just have to focus on getting stronger. More power is the only defense against helplessness. (2)
You have to stop focusing on what could be. Focus on doing whatever you can in the moment. There will always be something you can do in the moment, no matter how small. (25)
Combat helpessness by doing your best and acknowledging that your are doing so. You are doing what you can. Your choices may not matter in the end. You may find better choices in the future. But you are doing your best with the knowledge and tools you have now. And that is what matters. That you continue to progess towards your uncertain, but now hopeful future. (12)
You need to accept that there will always, no matter what, be situations you are unable to change, while striving to become strong enough to make the list of those things as small as possible. Acceptance and improvement. (7)
You have to focus on other sources of strength and stability - things you can rely on to protect you even when you yourself are helpless. (7)
You just have to focus on getting stronger. More power is the only defense against helplessness. (2)
You know exactly what you're supposed to do. You read Roku and Asahi's journals. You know the thought process they followed. Acceptance. You're supposed to just accept it. Helplessness is a part of life, you suppose. You're not omnipotent. You're supposed to accept that.
It's exactly the kind of philosophy that Father despises more than anything. Spineless. Weak. It's the opposite of everything the Fire Nation believes; you'd be a laughingstock for ever expressing it out loud.
And apparently it worked for the Avatars.
Why did it work for them? Why should you accept this? It makes no sense. Accepting helplessness as a part of life - accepting limits to your power - does nothing but demotivate and paralyze you. It encourages exactly the sort of stagnancy that the Fire Nation is trying to pull the world out of. That docile acceptance of fate is exactly why the other nations are so backwards.
That's what you've been taught all your life, at least.
You take a deep breath, re-centering yourself. Think this through. The Avatar studied this in each of their lifetimes, but it didn't paralyze them completely. They may have had a backwards goal, always fighting for some vague idea of balance, but they still fought for what they believed. They didn't value acceptance for its own sake - that, or they were all just hypocrites discarding their beliefs. And if they did end up discarding their beliefs in every lifetime, why would they continue to bother relearning them? There had to be some other value in these teachings.
Was the purpose just to free them from distraction? Roku and Asahi wrote about finding 'inner peace', but it seems like there would be more productive ways to let go of distraction than simple acceptance and peace. Was it meant to help indoctrinate Avatars into passively accepting the world order they were being trained to maintain? That's possible - and it would imply their method for opening the chakras wasn't the only one that worked. You shouldn't dismiss that possibility, but you also shouldn't be too quick to believe it. If you assume that this philosophy does have some value beyond simple propaganda... what do you come up with? Why acceptance?
You got the impression from the Avatars' writings that this meditation was more of an intuitive process for them than an intellectual one. You can only hope your way will work, too.
Why acceptance? Why peace? It can't just be for the sake of feeling better - you doubt you'll feel any better by 'accepting' whatever horrific things might be out of your control. There has to be more. If this is the right way, there has to be something it'll give you. Something to make it worthwhile.
You suppose you'll just have to try and find out.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Yu Dao: Capitol Building
The voyage lasts only a few more days. You continue your meditation and your weapons training with Mitsuko as best you can, but arrive at no great breakthroughs before you make landfall. Yu Dao is only a day's ride away from port, and you're thankful for that. You spend most of the ride hosting Hua and Mitsuko in your carriage, and while Hua is pleasant enough it's still impossible to forget the fact that she's Father's spy. Spending the day in such close quarters with her sets you on edge; at least on the ship you had personal space. But you suppose you'll have to get used to it.
You're greeted with somewhat less fanfare when you arrive in Yu Dao this time - the city knows you're just passing through rather than staying. But the mayor still treats you to a feast in the evening. Mitsuko sits at your right and you allow Kori to sit at your left, in between you and her father - which seems to delight her whole family. She regales you with all sorts of stories about her earthbending practice, though she seems a little less overwhelmed with awe for you this time around. The Mayor, whenever he gets a chance, tells you how well things have been going in Yu Dao since your last visit, and promises his entire administration will provide whatever aid you need for your business in the Earth Kingdom.
Is there anything you should ask him about or for?
-----
I stopped there and opened write-ins. Again, sorry for the super-short update. Just haven't been on my writing game this week. Thanks for reading all, sorry for the trouble!
Chapter 8: Never Sets (Part 2)
Sorry, it was another slow night. Just a lot of infodumps, basically. Thanks for reading! I'm trying to get to the more interesting stuff so I can pick up steam. I'm honestly probably just going to skip over this kind of filler and tactical information in the future because I'm not sure it actually adds much to the story as opposed to just having Akane learn it off screen and know relevant information when an actual vote comes up. Sorry! I hope that doesn't cause problems.
-----
You'll need to ask the Mayor about rebel activity in the region, but doing that in the middle of a public dinner would probably come across as if the Capital was harboring some ill will towards him after your last visit. You spend the dinner focusing on lighter topics - like how Kori's earthbending studies have progressed.
"It's been great! I've been making up lots of new moves!" Kori says excitedly. Her expression turns sheepish. "Maybe too many. Mom says I need to learn more about proper earthbending."
If you'd blinked, you would have missed the alarm that flashed across Mrs. Morishita's face.
"Not that we discourage her interest in studying firebending," she says quickly -
"Of course." You give them both a small smile. "Studying the foundations of your natural element is always a worthy pursuit. I'm sure that if you keep an open mind, studying either element will help you to learn more about both."
Sometimes you wonder whether it would be easier or harder to make conversation with people who didn't desperately want to impress you.
"As a matter of fact, there was a question I wanted to ask you both, Kori, Lady Morishita," you continue, struck by sudden inspiration. "I was doing a bit of bending research of my own in the capital, and I came across mention that one of the chakras related to bending has traditionally been known as the 'earth chakra'. I wondered if you might have some insight into its nature?"
Before you even finish your question, you can tell by their expressions they don't know. Kori looks to her mother in confusion, and Mrs. Morishita dabs her face with her napkin to try to hide her uncertainty. Mayor Morishita, still smiling jovially, takes a bite of his food and glances at his wife.
"It's a rather obscure philosophical concept," you offer. "I understand if you haven't encountered it."
"I'm afraid I haven't, your Highness," Mrs. Morishita says. She looks to her husband. "I believe the university has studied some of the beliefs of the Earth Kingdom...?"
It turns into a bit of a drawn-out affair; the president of the University of Yu Dao is actually at the dinner, at a seat way off towards the more unprestigious corner of the room. He ends up equal parts surprised, elated, and terrified when the Mayor introduces him to you after dinner, but unfortunately says that he isn't familiar with any work his scholars might have produced on beliefs related to chakras. He promises to look into it, but you're not especially hopeful.
The rest of the evening passes uneventfully enough; you and Mitsuko stick with Kori and smile at her pleasant rambling about earthbending and schoolwork and Pai Sho, and out of the corner of your eye you watch as the Mayor does his best to ingratiate himself to Hua. And once most of the guests have left, you get to work.
* * * * *
Commander Long is the leader of Yu Dao's garrison; you met briefly, last time you visited. He's a greying man, born in the colonies but firmly Fire Nation in descent. You, Hua, Mitsuko, and he spend most of the night in a meeting room together, poring over maps and records. You're actually rather impressed with him. He doesn't ask questions about where you're going or what your mission is, just provides as much information as you could ask for. Part of you wonders if he's always been this competent, or if everyone here is just doing their best to make your second impression of the city government better than the first.
He provides an insider's perspective on the region's situation. The region's forces are well-trained, and they're decently staffed - a contrast to some of the Fire Nation's other holdings. But Long believes the region doesn't have enough tanks; they only have a handful, but fortunately for you they're all in Gaipan. Long confirms what you know about the region's camps - there's only one, northwest of Gaipan - but he provides you with a bit of new information in the form of a rumor that the governor of Gaipan is starting to crack down on the natives in the town, and the prison camp's population may start to swell somewhat soon.
You ask him about rebel activity in the region, and his first reaction is to frown.
"The rebels here have gone to ground," he says. "We've been gradually rooting them out. There's been bandit activity farther east, though."
In the general direction of Gaipan. "And what would you say is the public perception of the rebels in the region?" you ask.
He doesn't hesitate before answering. You appreciate that.
"Here, and in the cities along the coast, the rebels have limited support. Our natives know better," he says. He traces his finger along the map. "Further east, the situation's different. You pass a line about here -" He points; it's a line to the west of Gaipan. "- and you get into settlements that've gone back and forth for decades, or that got taken for the first time ten years ago or less. Out there, it's safest to assume any native who hasn't worked with rebels before has at least thought about it."
He pauses, then taps on Gaipan. "Near Gaipan they've got this leader, Onyx. I don't want to presume, your Highness..."
"I'd appreciate your insight, Commander," you say. "Please, continue."
Long nods, frowning.
"The first report of him being in the area was about a month ago," he says. "And if it had been up to me, I would've crushed him with everything I had the minute I heard he was there." He looks up from the map, meeting your eyes. "If it's the same Onyx I've heard of, a friend of mine fought him two years back."
Hua's eyebrows go up, but she looks to you rather than interrupting. "Really?" you ask. "Is he an officer here?"
Long shakes his head. "He was killed a year ago," he says shortly. "But I heard about Onyx from him, and his unit. The ones who were left. It wasn't a pleasant story."
"What did they say about him? What makes him so dangerous?"
"It's not him on his own," Long says. "He's not a bender. It's what he does to the natives."
"To the natives?" you ask. "Not to our people?"
"Oh, he kills our people, sure," Long says. "What he does to the natives, though..."
He shakes his head, frowning down at the map.
"This isn't a civilized land, Princess," he tells you. "The people here... there's a savage side to them. You can train them not to show it, but deep down... they've all got it. And the right leader can bring it out. That's what Onyx is. There's something he lets loose in these people. I don't know how he does it - Shen never understood it. But, somehow, he knows how to make even the best natives turn into monsters. By the time he's done with them, they're savages - practically ready to kill and eat whoever looks at them the wrong way. The man has to be stopped."
It's quiet after he finishes. Hua meets your eyes, her expression calculating - you imagine she's trying to decide where tall tales end and reality begins, like you are.
"I'll certainly keep your recommendation in mind," you tell him.
He nods. "Someone's got to stop him. Before it's too late."
Scary stories aside, Long does provide one thing that may prove eminently useful.
"You say she can track anyone?" you ask. "How?"
"She's got this rare animal called a shirshu," Long begins.
"A tame shirshu?" you ask. He gives you a surprised look.
"You've heard of them?"
Well they're only the best hunters in the world, with a sense of smell that's arguably supernatural - scientists have never observed them to lose their prey, even under the most disadvantageous circumstances and the longest imaginable chases - and they have incredibly effective fast-acting paralytic venom and endurance and speed easily comparable to or greater than that of an ostrich horse and intelligence far beyond them - a collection of traits that makes them probably the most desirable mounts and almost certainly the most fantastically-effective predators in existence, to the point where you're frankly surprised they haven't spread across the entire Earth Kingdom and outbred and devoured all competing forms of life, while also making them so ridiculously difficult to capture and tame that there isn't a single one in any of the zoos or circuses in the homeland Fire Nation, at all, anywhere, and there hasn't been since twenty-four years before you were born.
"I believe I read about them once when I was a child," you say. "Please, go on. This June has a tame shirshu?"
"She does." Long hands you a file on the bounty hunter - there's a drawing of the shirshu on the second page. And a portrait of a woman's face - feminine and young, perhaps Hua's age. She has none of the scars you might expect a bounty hunter to have, at least not in the illustration. Her hair is in a topknot - is she from the Fire Nation? "She's expensive, but she's the best tracker I've ever heard of. And she's a local - grew up in the Earth Kingdom, knows the land - including the parts we don't control yet. Mixed, I think, but smart. I know she's worked for the Earth Kingdom before, but from what I've heard she's never been less than professional on a contract for us. If you need a local guide or hunter, she's who I'd recommend."
A shirshu - and a bounty hunter who has one tamed - would be perfect for hunting down Onyx. Maybe Long's guessed what sort of mission you're on. Either way, it could be useful.
You look to Hua and Mitsuko. Mitsuko has a bit of a smile on her face, but Hua doesn't seem to share your enthusiasm. "I'm sorry," Hua says. "I'm not familiar with shirshus."
"They're very good tracking animals," Mitsuko says, still smiling slightly. "Scientists have never observed them to lose their prey, even over incredibly long distances. There aren't any tame shirshus in the entire homeland."
Yes, exactly. "Quite," you say, nodding. "It's a potential asset we'll need to keep in mind. Thank you, Commander Long."
"It is an honor to serve, your Highness."
Is there anything else you should ask about?
-----
Okay, I opened up a write-in box for questions after that, but honestly I probably won't do much with most questions in there because these sections where I offer write-ins for like random questions to ask usually end up dragging on much longer than just me giving the info I consider relevant when and where I want to give it. Sorry DX Just something that I think might work better in the future, because I don't really like these filler sections and I'm sure they're boring to read too. Thanks for reading anyways! We'll move forward more next week.
-----
You'll need to ask the Mayor about rebel activity in the region, but doing that in the middle of a public dinner would probably come across as if the Capital was harboring some ill will towards him after your last visit. You spend the dinner focusing on lighter topics - like how Kori's earthbending studies have progressed.
"It's been great! I've been making up lots of new moves!" Kori says excitedly. Her expression turns sheepish. "Maybe too many. Mom says I need to learn more about proper earthbending."
If you'd blinked, you would have missed the alarm that flashed across Mrs. Morishita's face.
"Not that we discourage her interest in studying firebending," she says quickly -
"Of course." You give them both a small smile. "Studying the foundations of your natural element is always a worthy pursuit. I'm sure that if you keep an open mind, studying either element will help you to learn more about both."
Sometimes you wonder whether it would be easier or harder to make conversation with people who didn't desperately want to impress you.
"As a matter of fact, there was a question I wanted to ask you both, Kori, Lady Morishita," you continue, struck by sudden inspiration. "I was doing a bit of bending research of my own in the capital, and I came across mention that one of the chakras related to bending has traditionally been known as the 'earth chakra'. I wondered if you might have some insight into its nature?"
Before you even finish your question, you can tell by their expressions they don't know. Kori looks to her mother in confusion, and Mrs. Morishita dabs her face with her napkin to try to hide her uncertainty. Mayor Morishita, still smiling jovially, takes a bite of his food and glances at his wife.
"It's a rather obscure philosophical concept," you offer. "I understand if you haven't encountered it."
"I'm afraid I haven't, your Highness," Mrs. Morishita says. She looks to her husband. "I believe the university has studied some of the beliefs of the Earth Kingdom...?"
It turns into a bit of a drawn-out affair; the president of the University of Yu Dao is actually at the dinner, at a seat way off towards the more unprestigious corner of the room. He ends up equal parts surprised, elated, and terrified when the Mayor introduces him to you after dinner, but unfortunately says that he isn't familiar with any work his scholars might have produced on beliefs related to chakras. He promises to look into it, but you're not especially hopeful.
The rest of the evening passes uneventfully enough; you and Mitsuko stick with Kori and smile at her pleasant rambling about earthbending and schoolwork and Pai Sho, and out of the corner of your eye you watch as the Mayor does his best to ingratiate himself to Hua. And once most of the guests have left, you get to work.
* * * * *
Commander Long is the leader of Yu Dao's garrison; you met briefly, last time you visited. He's a greying man, born in the colonies but firmly Fire Nation in descent. You, Hua, Mitsuko, and he spend most of the night in a meeting room together, poring over maps and records. You're actually rather impressed with him. He doesn't ask questions about where you're going or what your mission is, just provides as much information as you could ask for. Part of you wonders if he's always been this competent, or if everyone here is just doing their best to make your second impression of the city government better than the first.
He provides an insider's perspective on the region's situation. The region's forces are well-trained, and they're decently staffed - a contrast to some of the Fire Nation's other holdings. But Long believes the region doesn't have enough tanks; they only have a handful, but fortunately for you they're all in Gaipan. Long confirms what you know about the region's camps - there's only one, northwest of Gaipan - but he provides you with a bit of new information in the form of a rumor that the governor of Gaipan is starting to crack down on the natives in the town, and the prison camp's population may start to swell somewhat soon.
You ask him about rebel activity in the region, and his first reaction is to frown.
"The rebels here have gone to ground," he says. "We've been gradually rooting them out. There's been bandit activity farther east, though."
In the general direction of Gaipan. "And what would you say is the public perception of the rebels in the region?" you ask.
He doesn't hesitate before answering. You appreciate that.
"Here, and in the cities along the coast, the rebels have limited support. Our natives know better," he says. He traces his finger along the map. "Further east, the situation's different. You pass a line about here -" He points; it's a line to the west of Gaipan. "- and you get into settlements that've gone back and forth for decades, or that got taken for the first time ten years ago or less. Out there, it's safest to assume any native who hasn't worked with rebels before has at least thought about it."
He pauses, then taps on Gaipan. "Near Gaipan they've got this leader, Onyx. I don't want to presume, your Highness..."
"I'd appreciate your insight, Commander," you say. "Please, continue."
Long nods, frowning.
"The first report of him being in the area was about a month ago," he says. "And if it had been up to me, I would've crushed him with everything I had the minute I heard he was there." He looks up from the map, meeting your eyes. "If it's the same Onyx I've heard of, a friend of mine fought him two years back."
Hua's eyebrows go up, but she looks to you rather than interrupting. "Really?" you ask. "Is he an officer here?"
Long shakes his head. "He was killed a year ago," he says shortly. "But I heard about Onyx from him, and his unit. The ones who were left. It wasn't a pleasant story."
"What did they say about him? What makes him so dangerous?"
"It's not him on his own," Long says. "He's not a bender. It's what he does to the natives."
"To the natives?" you ask. "Not to our people?"
"Oh, he kills our people, sure," Long says. "What he does to the natives, though..."
He shakes his head, frowning down at the map.
"This isn't a civilized land, Princess," he tells you. "The people here... there's a savage side to them. You can train them not to show it, but deep down... they've all got it. And the right leader can bring it out. That's what Onyx is. There's something he lets loose in these people. I don't know how he does it - Shen never understood it. But, somehow, he knows how to make even the best natives turn into monsters. By the time he's done with them, they're savages - practically ready to kill and eat whoever looks at them the wrong way. The man has to be stopped."
It's quiet after he finishes. Hua meets your eyes, her expression calculating - you imagine she's trying to decide where tall tales end and reality begins, like you are.
"I'll certainly keep your recommendation in mind," you tell him.
He nods. "Someone's got to stop him. Before it's too late."
Scary stories aside, Long does provide one thing that may prove eminently useful.
"You say she can track anyone?" you ask. "How?"
"She's got this rare animal called a shirshu," Long begins.
"A tame shirshu?" you ask. He gives you a surprised look.
"You've heard of them?"
Well they're only the best hunters in the world, with a sense of smell that's arguably supernatural - scientists have never observed them to lose their prey, even under the most disadvantageous circumstances and the longest imaginable chases - and they have incredibly effective fast-acting paralytic venom and endurance and speed easily comparable to or greater than that of an ostrich horse and intelligence far beyond them - a collection of traits that makes them probably the most desirable mounts and almost certainly the most fantastically-effective predators in existence, to the point where you're frankly surprised they haven't spread across the entire Earth Kingdom and outbred and devoured all competing forms of life, while also making them so ridiculously difficult to capture and tame that there isn't a single one in any of the zoos or circuses in the homeland Fire Nation, at all, anywhere, and there hasn't been since twenty-four years before you were born.
"I believe I read about them once when I was a child," you say. "Please, go on. This June has a tame shirshu?"
"She does." Long hands you a file on the bounty hunter - there's a drawing of the shirshu on the second page. And a portrait of a woman's face - feminine and young, perhaps Hua's age. She has none of the scars you might expect a bounty hunter to have, at least not in the illustration. Her hair is in a topknot - is she from the Fire Nation? "She's expensive, but she's the best tracker I've ever heard of. And she's a local - grew up in the Earth Kingdom, knows the land - including the parts we don't control yet. Mixed, I think, but smart. I know she's worked for the Earth Kingdom before, but from what I've heard she's never been less than professional on a contract for us. If you need a local guide or hunter, she's who I'd recommend."
A shirshu - and a bounty hunter who has one tamed - would be perfect for hunting down Onyx. Maybe Long's guessed what sort of mission you're on. Either way, it could be useful.
You look to Hua and Mitsuko. Mitsuko has a bit of a smile on her face, but Hua doesn't seem to share your enthusiasm. "I'm sorry," Hua says. "I'm not familiar with shirshus."
"They're very good tracking animals," Mitsuko says, still smiling slightly. "Scientists have never observed them to lose their prey, even over incredibly long distances. There aren't any tame shirshus in the entire homeland."
Yes, exactly. "Quite," you say, nodding. "It's a potential asset we'll need to keep in mind. Thank you, Commander Long."
"It is an honor to serve, your Highness."
Is there anything else you should ask about?
-----
Okay, I opened up a write-in box for questions after that, but honestly I probably won't do much with most questions in there because these sections where I offer write-ins for like random questions to ask usually end up dragging on much longer than just me giving the info I consider relevant when and where I want to give it. Sorry DX Just something that I think might work better in the future, because I don't really like these filler sections and I'm sure they're boring to read too. Thanks for reading anyways! We'll move forward more next week.
Chapter 8: Never Sets (Part 3)
Here's the results of tonight's live session. Thanks everyone for reading! I'm excited for all that's coming next. ^_^
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
Commander Long can arrange to get you in touch with the bounty hunter he recommended, the one with the trained shirshu. After explaining the tracking abilities of a shirshu to Hua, she agrees that it may be a worthwhile investment - that kind of tracking ability could let you hunt down the rebels considerably faster. It's your call how and if to approach her, though.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
The "Flashy Bird" Tavern
You have no desire for word to reach Onyx or his allies about the Fire Nation hiring an expert tracker, so you decide to approach June incognito. This is a process that involves waiting until your caravan passes by the town June is currently in, then dressing yourself in the plainest clothes you can scrounge up, removing your makeup and accessories, putting your hair in the plainest style you can bear, and doubling back with Mitsuko and Hua to visit the filthiest tavern you have ever seen. Well. The only tavern you have ever seen.
It's extremely filthy.
Everyone smells. Everyone's shouting. There are stains everywhere. The place is jammed full of scruffy, greasy, beer-soaked men, and all of them seem to be permanently leering. Hua gets the most attention, likely because of her age. But you and Mitsuko aren't ignored, either. Mitsuko stays close to you and keeps her hand on her sword - a plain sword, one borrowed from your guards. You keep your hand on yours, as well.
This is torture.
"There she is," Mitsuko murmurs to you, nodding towards your right.
You spot her immediately. June sticks out in the crowd - she's a slim, almost delicate-looking woman, surrounded mostly by hulking men. The topknot she's put her black hair into stands out as well. She's the only one in the tavern wearing her hair in the traditionally-Fire-Nation style, and the paleness of her skin suggests she might well be from the homeland. The serpentine tattoos on her bare shoulders confirm it's her. She's Hua's age or older, you think, and seems to be engaged in some sort of arm wrestling match with a man twice her size. You can tell just from the expressions on the two's faces that June is going to win.
She looks surprisingly less rugged and filthy than you imagined, to be honest. You could envision someone with her features in the royal court, if she was wearing more proper clothes. Even in her current, rather rugged outfit, she still looks almost elegant.
Well, you'd best get this over with.
Mitsuko is already moving in front of you by the time you start towards June. She clears a path through the crowd so you don't have to. Hua trails behind you. June glances up as you approach, and so does her arm-wrestling opponent. He scowls at you, probably worried that you're going to see it when June inevitably beats him.
"What's a bunch of little girls doing here?" he barks. His breath is disgusting enough that you can faintly detect it even over the general odor of the tavern. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Hey, let 'em watch," June says. She sounds infinitely more relaxed than the man; she really is just toying with him. She's really quite strong, isn't she? "I always enjoy a chance to be a role model."
"You're June?" you ask her.
"That's me."
"I'd like to speak with you about business."
June's eyebrows go up a bit. Her gaze flicks over you, your face and your hands. Ah. Your nails - you didn't hide your manicure. You'll need to wear gloves next time you disguise yourself as an average citizen. But you hold still, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that you know that she knows you're some sort of noble.
"Alright," June says. "If you say so. Give me a minute to finish this."
The crowd and its stench and its sweat are pressing in all around you - a dozen men all acting like this match isn't already decided. You would really rather not wait.
You can be patient. There's no reason to cause a fuss or attract attention. "Of course," you tell her.
"Like they can afford you," June's opponent grits out, still straining to try to budge her arm.
"Maybe I'll give the kids a discount, make up for them being too young to celebrate my win with a drink," June says.
How long is she going to sit there and banter with him? This can't possibly be engaging for her, she's too far out of his league to gain any benefit from this competition. But you stand there and wait and listen in polite silence while they continue.
After what must be the longest minute or so of your life, June finally bothers to slam the man's fist down on the table. The crowd cheers as if surprised, and money changes hands - a fair amount of it going to June.
"Drinks for everyone but the kids!" June shouts. There's another cheer.
This place is probably the single loudest and smelliest location you have ever had the misfortune to experience.
"Come on," June says, standing and putting her hand on your shoulder. "Let's get you somewhere out of the way before you faint."
You are not going to - whatever. "Lead the way."
June guides the three of you out of the crowd, bringing you to a back room in the tavern. It's empty except for a table with five chairs around it, and is lit only by a handful of candles. June takes a seat and puts her feet up on the table, and gestures to the other chairs. You sit.
At least it smells better here.
"Sorry to make you wait," June says. "You know how it is."
You don't.
"Do you drag out those matches for your own entertainment, or for the crowd's?" you ask her.
June just smirks.
"So, who exactly wants to hire me?" she asks. "And for what?"
"I've heard a lot about your effectiveness as a tracker," you tell her. "And your even-handedness when it comes to matters related to the war -"
"So you're with the Fire Nation," June says.
Why do you even try to be subtle?
"I'm more interested in the question in who you'd like to work for," you tell her. "And whether you'd be amenable to arranging lasting employment."
June lifts her arms. "If you've got the money," she says. "But I was joking about the discount."
Of course.
The negotiations are relatively quick; you and Hua do your best to haggle, but June is as unyielding as a boulder. But you have the funds.
When you return to your caravan, you have a bounty hunter and her shirshu in tow.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Road to Gaipan
"I should've asked for more money," June mutters. "How much did you spend on that steak?
You gingerly pet her shirshu, smiling as it chews on the snack you brought it. The books were right about the species' preferred diet.
"You're being paid very well," you remind her.
"Not by royalty's standards."
"I don't collect a salary at all, actually," you tell her. "You're making more than I am."
"Funny how you can still afford to pay me, then."
You raise an eyebrow at her, but she's completely unapologetic for her sarcasm. As usual. In the few days since she's joined your group, she's quickly fallen into a habit of testing how far she can push the bounds of courtesy. She hasn't said anything particularly annoying, though, so you tolerate it. Her company is actually rather enjoyable. Hua keeps more of a distance from her, but Mitsuko gets along well with her too.
And the shirshu is every bit as majestic as you expected.
"Princess Akane?" Hua calls. "Are you ready to depart?"
You straighten, wiping your hands on your armor. It's a little difficult to get used to, wearing this instead of a dress. "I am. Shall we brief in the carriage before we arrive?"
You should reach Gaipan by the end of the day.
"Certainly, your Highness," Hua responds.
"Am I joining this briefing?" June asks.
"You are."
You, Mitsuko, June, and Hua end up sitting together in your carriage as the caravan starts moving again. You fill June in on the pertinent details of your mission, and she promises Nyla - her shirshu - will be more than adequate for the job. With a shoe or a piece of cloth or a well-used weapon, she can track down any rebel who escapes you; with a rebel in custody, she can retrace their steps to find whatever hideouts they've been at. It should greatly speed your progress.
"Onyx will probably attack the prison camp nearby before long," you say. "It fits with his past tactics. If we lay an ambush there, we shouldn't have any trouble collecting scent samples for Nyla to track down whichever rebels survive."
Hua nods. "We'll need to act quickly when we arrive. I worry that the governor's crackdown may be playing into Onyx's hands. Filling the prison will only make it more devastating if Onyx successfully raids it, and if he's imprisoning innocents it will only turn the natives against us -"
June snorts. Hua pauses and raises her eyebrows at her. You're a little taken-aback as well, though it's more due to Hua's opinion than to June's rudeness.
That's not exactly your Father's line on the issue of imprisonment, is it? Is she only saying these things to curry favor with you? How would she know that it was your opinion? Father could have deduced it and told her, but...
Hua looks from June to you. Right. Focus.
You give Hua a sympathetic look, but don't chastise June. You doubt she'd respond well to it.
"If you have any thoughts to share, June, you're welcome to do so," you tell her. "You've lived here longer than any of us. Your insight would be valuable."
Hua schools her features, looking patiently at June. June looks between the two of you, seeming to weigh whether she actually should state her opinion or not. Finally, she shrugs.
"It won't make any difference whether your governor's locking up innocent people or not," she says.
What? Does she just not care about the natives? Doesn't she live here? "Why do you say that?" you ask her.
"Nobody's going to care," June says, her tone almost bored. Hua raises her eyebrows again. "You're from the Fire Nation, they're from the Earth Kingdom. Every time you lock someone up, all they're going to see is the Fire Nation taking away another one of their neighbors. Doesn't matter what they did or didn't do. They'll hate you just as much either way."
"Then we should minimize the total number of people we imprison, to avoid angering them," Hua says. "And the obvious way to do that is to ensure we only imprison those we absolutely need to."
June almost smiles and shakes her head. "It won't matter. They'll still fight you."
"And why is that?" Hua asks.
"Because right now they think they've got a chance," June says. "You'll get some quiet after you kill Onyx, maybe, but that'll just last until the next time they think they've got a chance. Just like the Fire Nation'll never stop fighting as long as they think they've got a chance to win. Being angry doesn't have anything to do with it at this point."
A rather deterministic view. "Then how would you end the fighting?" you ask her.
June quirks an eyebrow at you. She almost looks amused.
"End it? The fighting's never going to end, Princess." She looks out the window of the carriage. "The Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom are going to be fighting over this same land long after all of us are dead."
You suppose the Comet's impending return isn't common knowledge in the Earth Kingdom.
"Regardless," Hua says. "As long as we are fighting the war, I recommend we fight it with the assumption that victory is possible. Shall we continue, Princess?"
You nod. "Let's."
June says nothing for the rest of the meeting. Just watches the Earth Kingdom pass by.
You arrive in Gaipan before sunset.
-----
Thank you everyone for reading! Things will start really happening soon, I'm excited. Sorry for the slow pace lately! Let me know what you think!
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
Commander Long can arrange to get you in touch with the bounty hunter he recommended, the one with the trained shirshu. After explaining the tracking abilities of a shirshu to Hua, she agrees that it may be a worthwhile investment - that kind of tracking ability could let you hunt down the rebels considerably faster. It's your call how and if to approach her, though.
Hire June on retainer, so you can use her for whatever missions you may have in the future as well. (18)
+ Meet June yourself, in person. (15)
+ Bring Mitsuko and Hua, obviously. Also approach her incognito. We don't want the general public, be they EK or Colonial, to know we're hiring out an elite bounty-hunting mercenary for our military work. Best keep this on the down low for the duration of our operation. (13)
Hire June to hunt down Onyx with you. (3)
+ Have Hua approach June for you - she's not royalty, and she's probably better at negotiating in general than Mitsuko is. (2)
+ Meet June yourself, in person. (15)
+ Bring Mitsuko and Hua, obviously. Also approach her incognito. We don't want the general public, be they EK or Colonial, to know we're hiring out an elite bounty-hunting mercenary for our military work. Best keep this on the down low for the duration of our operation. (13)
Hire June to hunt down Onyx with you. (3)
+ Have Hua approach June for you - she's not royalty, and she's probably better at negotiating in general than Mitsuko is. (2)
Go to a tavern June frequents to meet her. (16)
Send for June to meet you. (6)
Send for June to meet you. (6)
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
The "Flashy Bird" Tavern
You have no desire for word to reach Onyx or his allies about the Fire Nation hiring an expert tracker, so you decide to approach June incognito. This is a process that involves waiting until your caravan passes by the town June is currently in, then dressing yourself in the plainest clothes you can scrounge up, removing your makeup and accessories, putting your hair in the plainest style you can bear, and doubling back with Mitsuko and Hua to visit the filthiest tavern you have ever seen. Well. The only tavern you have ever seen.
It's extremely filthy.
Everyone smells. Everyone's shouting. There are stains everywhere. The place is jammed full of scruffy, greasy, beer-soaked men, and all of them seem to be permanently leering. Hua gets the most attention, likely because of her age. But you and Mitsuko aren't ignored, either. Mitsuko stays close to you and keeps her hand on her sword - a plain sword, one borrowed from your guards. You keep your hand on yours, as well.
This is torture.
"There she is," Mitsuko murmurs to you, nodding towards your right.
You spot her immediately. June sticks out in the crowd - she's a slim, almost delicate-looking woman, surrounded mostly by hulking men. The topknot she's put her black hair into stands out as well. She's the only one in the tavern wearing her hair in the traditionally-Fire-Nation style, and the paleness of her skin suggests she might well be from the homeland. The serpentine tattoos on her bare shoulders confirm it's her. She's Hua's age or older, you think, and seems to be engaged in some sort of arm wrestling match with a man twice her size. You can tell just from the expressions on the two's faces that June is going to win.
She looks surprisingly less rugged and filthy than you imagined, to be honest. You could envision someone with her features in the royal court, if she was wearing more proper clothes. Even in her current, rather rugged outfit, she still looks almost elegant.
Well, you'd best get this over with.
Mitsuko is already moving in front of you by the time you start towards June. She clears a path through the crowd so you don't have to. Hua trails behind you. June glances up as you approach, and so does her arm-wrestling opponent. He scowls at you, probably worried that you're going to see it when June inevitably beats him.
"What's a bunch of little girls doing here?" he barks. His breath is disgusting enough that you can faintly detect it even over the general odor of the tavern. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Hey, let 'em watch," June says. She sounds infinitely more relaxed than the man; she really is just toying with him. She's really quite strong, isn't she? "I always enjoy a chance to be a role model."
"You're June?" you ask her.
"That's me."
"I'd like to speak with you about business."
June's eyebrows go up a bit. Her gaze flicks over you, your face and your hands. Ah. Your nails - you didn't hide your manicure. You'll need to wear gloves next time you disguise yourself as an average citizen. But you hold still, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that you know that she knows you're some sort of noble.
"Alright," June says. "If you say so. Give me a minute to finish this."
The crowd and its stench and its sweat are pressing in all around you - a dozen men all acting like this match isn't already decided. You would really rather not wait.
Wait patiently for June to finish her game. (12)
+ Ask June if she drags these matches out for her own entertainment or for the crowd's after she inevitably wins the match (7)
Ask June if she drags these matches out for her own entertainment, or for the crowd's. (7)
+ Ask June if she drags these matches out for her own entertainment or for the crowd's after she inevitably wins the match (7)
Ask June if she drags these matches out for her own entertainment, or for the crowd's. (7)
You can be patient. There's no reason to cause a fuss or attract attention. "Of course," you tell her.
"Like they can afford you," June's opponent grits out, still straining to try to budge her arm.
"Maybe I'll give the kids a discount, make up for them being too young to celebrate my win with a drink," June says.
How long is she going to sit there and banter with him? This can't possibly be engaging for her, she's too far out of his league to gain any benefit from this competition. But you stand there and wait and listen in polite silence while they continue.
After what must be the longest minute or so of your life, June finally bothers to slam the man's fist down on the table. The crowd cheers as if surprised, and money changes hands - a fair amount of it going to June.
"Drinks for everyone but the kids!" June shouts. There's another cheer.
This place is probably the single loudest and smelliest location you have ever had the misfortune to experience.
"Come on," June says, standing and putting her hand on your shoulder. "Let's get you somewhere out of the way before you faint."
You are not going to - whatever. "Lead the way."
June guides the three of you out of the crowd, bringing you to a back room in the tavern. It's empty except for a table with five chairs around it, and is lit only by a handful of candles. June takes a seat and puts her feet up on the table, and gestures to the other chairs. You sit.
At least it smells better here.
"Sorry to make you wait," June says. "You know how it is."
You don't.
"Do you drag out those matches for your own entertainment, or for the crowd's?" you ask her.
June just smirks.
"So, who exactly wants to hire me?" she asks. "And for what?"
Give nothing concrete, but say that you'd be hiring her to work in the interests of the Fire Nation. (19)
+ We've heard quite a bit about your skills as a tracker and mercenary. We're curious if they could be used to help us deal with a rather thorny set of problems. (10)
Introduce yourself as the princess. (5)
+ We've heard quite a bit about your skills as a tracker and mercenary. We're curious if they could be used to help us deal with a rather thorny set of problems. (10)
Introduce yourself as the princess. (5)
"I've heard a lot about your effectiveness as a tracker," you tell her. "And your even-handedness when it comes to matters related to the war -"
"So you're with the Fire Nation," June says.
Why do you even try to be subtle?
"I'm more interested in the question in who you'd like to work for," you tell her. "And whether you'd be amenable to arranging lasting employment."
June lifts her arms. "If you've got the money," she says. "But I was joking about the discount."
Of course.
The negotiations are relatively quick; you and Hua do your best to haggle, but June is as unyielding as a boulder. But you have the funds.
When you return to your caravan, you have a bounty hunter and her shirshu in tow.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Road to Gaipan
"I should've asked for more money," June mutters. "How much did you spend on that steak?
You gingerly pet her shirshu, smiling as it chews on the snack you brought it. The books were right about the species' preferred diet.
"You're being paid very well," you remind her.
"Not by royalty's standards."
"I don't collect a salary at all, actually," you tell her. "You're making more than I am."
"Funny how you can still afford to pay me, then."
You raise an eyebrow at her, but she's completely unapologetic for her sarcasm. As usual. In the few days since she's joined your group, she's quickly fallen into a habit of testing how far she can push the bounds of courtesy. She hasn't said anything particularly annoying, though, so you tolerate it. Her company is actually rather enjoyable. Hua keeps more of a distance from her, but Mitsuko gets along well with her too.
And the shirshu is every bit as majestic as you expected.
"Princess Akane?" Hua calls. "Are you ready to depart?"
You straighten, wiping your hands on your armor. It's a little difficult to get used to, wearing this instead of a dress. "I am. Shall we brief in the carriage before we arrive?"
You should reach Gaipan by the end of the day.
"Certainly, your Highness," Hua responds.
"Am I joining this briefing?" June asks.
"You are."
You, Mitsuko, June, and Hua end up sitting together in your carriage as the caravan starts moving again. You fill June in on the pertinent details of your mission, and she promises Nyla - her shirshu - will be more than adequate for the job. With a shoe or a piece of cloth or a well-used weapon, she can track down any rebel who escapes you; with a rebel in custody, she can retrace their steps to find whatever hideouts they've been at. It should greatly speed your progress.
"Onyx will probably attack the prison camp nearby before long," you say. "It fits with his past tactics. If we lay an ambush there, we shouldn't have any trouble collecting scent samples for Nyla to track down whichever rebels survive."
Hua nods. "We'll need to act quickly when we arrive. I worry that the governor's crackdown may be playing into Onyx's hands. Filling the prison will only make it more devastating if Onyx successfully raids it, and if he's imprisoning innocents it will only turn the natives against us -"
June snorts. Hua pauses and raises her eyebrows at her. You're a little taken-aback as well, though it's more due to Hua's opinion than to June's rudeness.
That's not exactly your Father's line on the issue of imprisonment, is it? Is she only saying these things to curry favor with you? How would she know that it was your opinion? Father could have deduced it and told her, but...
Hua looks from June to you. Right. Focus.
Ask June if she has a thought she would like to share; she's lived here longer than any of you, and her opinion is valued. (15)
Ask June to show proper respect, but also ask her for her opinion. (2)
+Talk about respect privately when this is done. (2)
Ask June to show proper respect and not interrupt others while they speak. Ask Hua to continue. (0)
+ Tell Hua you agree. (0)
Ask June to show proper respect, but also ask her for her opinion. (2)
+Talk about respect privately when this is done. (2)
Ask June to show proper respect and not interrupt others while they speak. Ask Hua to continue. (0)
+ Tell Hua you agree. (0)
You give Hua a sympathetic look, but don't chastise June. You doubt she'd respond well to it.
"If you have any thoughts to share, June, you're welcome to do so," you tell her. "You've lived here longer than any of us. Your insight would be valuable."
Hua schools her features, looking patiently at June. June looks between the two of you, seeming to weigh whether she actually should state her opinion or not. Finally, she shrugs.
"It won't make any difference whether your governor's locking up innocent people or not," she says.
What? Does she just not care about the natives? Doesn't she live here? "Why do you say that?" you ask her.
"Nobody's going to care," June says, her tone almost bored. Hua raises her eyebrows again. "You're from the Fire Nation, they're from the Earth Kingdom. Every time you lock someone up, all they're going to see is the Fire Nation taking away another one of their neighbors. Doesn't matter what they did or didn't do. They'll hate you just as much either way."
"Then we should minimize the total number of people we imprison, to avoid angering them," Hua says. "And the obvious way to do that is to ensure we only imprison those we absolutely need to."
June almost smiles and shakes her head. "It won't matter. They'll still fight you."
"And why is that?" Hua asks.
"Because right now they think they've got a chance," June says. "You'll get some quiet after you kill Onyx, maybe, but that'll just last until the next time they think they've got a chance. Just like the Fire Nation'll never stop fighting as long as they think they've got a chance to win. Being angry doesn't have anything to do with it at this point."
A rather deterministic view. "Then how would you end the fighting?" you ask her.
June quirks an eyebrow at you. She almost looks amused.
"End it? The fighting's never going to end, Princess." She looks out the window of the carriage. "The Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom are going to be fighting over this same land long after all of us are dead."
You suppose the Comet's impending return isn't common knowledge in the Earth Kingdom.
"Regardless," Hua says. "As long as we are fighting the war, I recommend we fight it with the assumption that victory is possible. Shall we continue, Princess?"
You nod. "Let's."
June says nothing for the rest of the meeting. Just watches the Earth Kingdom pass by.
You arrive in Gaipan before sunset.
-----
Thank you everyone for reading! Things will start really happening soon, I'm excited. Sorry for the slow pace lately! Let me know what you think!
Chapter 8: Never Sets (Part 4)
@Dur'id the Druid - oh gosh nope lol I write everything as I go. That's why the story is such a mess at times lol, this is literally all first drafts written in response to people's decisions at the time. It's fun though! And here's the results of tonight's session! I'm so sorry that tonight's session was just sort of an interlude introducing the situation and relevant characters and giving infodumping again but at least this time it's for a productive reason - choosing Gaipan's policy to deal with the rebel sympathizers. The votes at the end of tonight's session will get opened again for a bit at the start of next live session, so anyone who missed the vote tonight will have a chance to chime in then! Thanks for reading everyone!
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
Gaipan: Capitol Building
You, Mitsuko, Hua, and June steal your way into Gaipan in secret, leaving your caravan behind; it continues on its path to the front, to serve as a decoy. No reason to let the rebels here know who has come to visit them, yet. The mayor of Gaipan quietly sees you to your rooms - one for you and one for your companions, though you do have Mitsuko moved into your room for protection - and has his butler provide you with refreshment. You note that there are few servants other than the butler, and the rooms here are positively tiny and practically impoverished by your standards.
Calling it a 'capitol building' might be a little generous.
According to what you've read, Gaipan was once a rather bustling town. It has a good location near several significant waterways and roads, making it well-suited to trade. The war has made it wither, both before and after the Fire Nation first conquered it decades ago. Commander Long commented that most settlements past the west coast of the Earth Kingdom are either fresh conquests or towns that have changed hands many times over; Gaipan is, unfortunately, no exception. Though it's been quite some time since the front last passed back and forth over Gaipan, the fighting took its toll - and worse, a rebellion some nine years ago had a brief period of such success that reinforcements had to be sent in to retake the town, ripping open Gaipan's old scars. Bleeding away more of its life.
You knew in theory that the Gaipan you were going to was a shadow of the Gaipan you've read about in history books. Less than a shadow. But seeing it in front of you is still... it's almost stunning. You've never been in a settlement this small and sparse in your entire life, not even if you count Ember Island. Gaipan is barely more than a logging outpost, now, and a rest stop for troops moving through the region. But there are still people living here. Civilians. Natives, mostly, but also a slowly growing number of settlers from the homeland. You suppose that's part of the war's nature. Empty land always ends up refilled. And conquered land often ends up contested.
You just have to do what you can to help this region finally achieve some of the peace it deserves.
In the morning, you meet behind closed doors with the mayor and his officials to discuss your plans for Gaipan.
The governor's meeting room is a simple affair, furnished with nothing but a long table with maps and papers piled on top of it. You're given a seat at the head of the table, of course. Mitsuko and June stand behind you, and Hua to your right. There's a great deal of bowing and complimenting as the others around the table introduce themselves to you.
"We are humbled by your presence, your Highness." The mayor, Shen Liu. The primary civilian authority, though he's effectively subordinate to the ranking military officer...
"I look forward to working with you, Princess Akane." Lieutenant Colonel Yu Zhao, whose authority you suspect comes from more than just rank - the Zhaos are an old, prestigious military family, one of the few that climbed in stature after your Father's ascension rather than falling.
"We are at your disposal, Princess." The Lieutenant Colonel is accompanied by Captain Itsuo Chujo, the head of the local guard. He bows deeper than the others; despite being one of the older men in the room, he also seems to be the most self-conscious. Which is a little surprising, considering the last person in the room -
"It is an honor to have you here with us, your Majesty."
Yin Tan, adviser to the mayor. A native. If her olive skin didn't give her away, the fact her clothes are Earth Kingdom green would - as if someone decided to make sure no one would mistakenly assume her ancestry traces back to the homeland. To your homeland, at least. The woman looks to be in her thirties, old enough to have lived through at least one major rebellion. And if she's here, you imagine that she collaborated with your government through all of them.
Interesting. What makes someone willing to make that choice? It's something you'll likely benefit from understanding.
After exchanging polite introductions with all of them, you call the meeting to order. The mayor takes the lead, filling you in on the details of the situation.
"The situation has been... escalating," he says. "Onyx's cell is active somewhere near the town, and he's been trying to recruit our natives. Flyers have been making their way into the town somehow - propaganda posters, mostly making claims about us planning a genocide against the natives."
Wonder where they got that idea.
"We've been as gentle as we can," the mayor says. "We've collected and burned all the propaganda we could find, and punished the people reading it with a few nights in the town jail. We've offered rewards for information and turned up a few leads - we got the names and faces of two of the distributors, but one managed to escape arrest. The other was transferred safely to the prison camp outside of town."
"Good," you say. "Has he offered any information?"
"Not yet, Princess. I'm told they're working on him."
Either way, June may be able to track down more rebels using his scent. You nod. "Continue."
"The issue is that the distribution of propaganda hasn't halted," the mayor says. "And the natives are reading it. More and more people are filtering in and out of the jail, but the punishment isn't severe enough to deter anyone. They're getting agitated. We've had vandalism, refusal to work, rocks thrown at guards - not bended, just thrown, but the intent is the same. When we've arrested those responsible, rumors keep getting started that we're punishing the natives at random rather than finding the guilty parties. The rebels have somehow managed to become very effective in convincing the locals that their misinformation is true. And we don't have the facilities to imprison people for long here, so we send the violent natives out to the real prison..."
He trails off. "And that plays directly into the rumors about genocide," Hua supplies.
"Yes." The mayor's nervousness is obvious; he swallows before continuing. "I admit that we didn't consider the enemy's propaganda a serious threat at first," he says. "And we lost some time as a result. But I've reassessed the situation and developed a new plan to repair matters, with your approval. I believe we should arrest and publicly try the worst of the troublemakers here, to break the back of the rebels' support network in the town - and, at the same time, I would like to open a new provisioning program to give additional supplies to the poorer natives in the town, to improve their situation. A carrot and a stick." The mayor gestures nervously. "Between the two, we can pacify the natives long enough for Onyx to be killed. After that, the agitation will die down on its own."
Interesting. You glance over the other officials, keeping your expression neutral. "What do the rest of you think of this plan?" you ask. "Please speak freely. I'd like to hear every perspective."
"Providing additional provisions to a rebellious population has obvious risks," Lieutenant Colonel Zhao says. "There's a very real chance that any supplies we give could end up in the hands of the rebels we're fighting. Putting the town under martial law until the crisis has passed could deprive the rebels of support just as effectively without the risks. The natives won't like it, but once the agitators are dead they'll move on. And if they're kept under watch to prevent them from acquiring weapons, there's little risk of them starting an uprising of their own. Not an effective one, at least. The only difficulty will be in making sure they're kept under close enough watch." He frowns. "Based on the reports we've gotten of Onyx's attacks on shipments in the region, I suspect Onyx might actually have a tunneler."
Hua's eyebrows go up. Your expression remains neutral, as always. "How certain are you?" you ask.
"I've learned to trust my instincts when it comes to tunnelers," he answers simply.
Earthbending isn't just useful for combat and creating fortifications. Not by a long shot. The ability to create tunnels for hidden travel - and not just to create them, but to create them quickly and on a scale sufficient to move troops - is possibly one of the most strategically valuable forms of bending in the war. It's also rare enough that if Onyx has a tunneler, it's vanishingly unlikely that he just happened to find that tunneler here. Tunnelers are specialists. Elite specialists.
"We'll have to take the threat seriously, then," you muse. You nod to the guard captain. "What else?"
"I've never fought a tunneler," Captain Chujo says. "But I do know these people. They're angry, your Highness. Enough to make some bad choices. Giving them a little extra food and pay could help convince them we're not planning on killing them all. But our people will complain. The natives don't work as hard as they do - they won't like seeing them getting extra pay for nothing. If we're giving out rewards, I think we should give them to the hardest workers, not just the poor. Maybe it'll get the natives more focused on work, and less on rebellion."
You look to Yin Tan after he finishes. She seems surprised by your attention, and bows before answering.
"The officers and the mayor all make good points, your Majesty," she says. "Whatever you choose to do, I will make sure the natives understand that you do it for their sake."
No suggestions of her own to offer? You suppose she doesn't want to overstep her bounds - even with your permission to speak, she'll still have to answer to the others here long after you're gone. But her ideas could be valuable -
Unless the mayor already voiced them. Hm. Did he really come up with the carrot and stick all on his own?
"Thank you," you tell her. "Your contributions are appreciated."
The mayor glances at her as she bows again. Yes. You do think the provisioning program was her idea, wasn't it?
It's your choice what to suggest or ask here, and the final policy decision will be yours.
-----
That concluded the text of the chapter - after that I just opened the collection of votes we needed to address. The votes aren't final yet; they'll be opened again at the start of the session, Saturday at 6 pm EST. But for those curious, the current leading options are:
- Implement a provisioning program giving moderate aid to the poor and moderate rewards for hard work.
- Do not implement martial law.
- Lighten the sentences for minor crimes, releasing people if needed.
- Keep your presence here a secret for now.
Sorry for the lack of action again! Next time we should finally really get into the fray. I'm excited haha, I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for reading!
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
Gaipan: Capitol Building
You, Mitsuko, Hua, and June steal your way into Gaipan in secret, leaving your caravan behind; it continues on its path to the front, to serve as a decoy. No reason to let the rebels here know who has come to visit them, yet. The mayor of Gaipan quietly sees you to your rooms - one for you and one for your companions, though you do have Mitsuko moved into your room for protection - and has his butler provide you with refreshment. You note that there are few servants other than the butler, and the rooms here are positively tiny and practically impoverished by your standards.
Calling it a 'capitol building' might be a little generous.
According to what you've read, Gaipan was once a rather bustling town. It has a good location near several significant waterways and roads, making it well-suited to trade. The war has made it wither, both before and after the Fire Nation first conquered it decades ago. Commander Long commented that most settlements past the west coast of the Earth Kingdom are either fresh conquests or towns that have changed hands many times over; Gaipan is, unfortunately, no exception. Though it's been quite some time since the front last passed back and forth over Gaipan, the fighting took its toll - and worse, a rebellion some nine years ago had a brief period of such success that reinforcements had to be sent in to retake the town, ripping open Gaipan's old scars. Bleeding away more of its life.
You knew in theory that the Gaipan you were going to was a shadow of the Gaipan you've read about in history books. Less than a shadow. But seeing it in front of you is still... it's almost stunning. You've never been in a settlement this small and sparse in your entire life, not even if you count Ember Island. Gaipan is barely more than a logging outpost, now, and a rest stop for troops moving through the region. But there are still people living here. Civilians. Natives, mostly, but also a slowly growing number of settlers from the homeland. You suppose that's part of the war's nature. Empty land always ends up refilled. And conquered land often ends up contested.
You just have to do what you can to help this region finally achieve some of the peace it deserves.
In the morning, you meet behind closed doors with the mayor and his officials to discuss your plans for Gaipan.
The governor's meeting room is a simple affair, furnished with nothing but a long table with maps and papers piled on top of it. You're given a seat at the head of the table, of course. Mitsuko and June stand behind you, and Hua to your right. There's a great deal of bowing and complimenting as the others around the table introduce themselves to you.
"We are humbled by your presence, your Highness." The mayor, Shen Liu. The primary civilian authority, though he's effectively subordinate to the ranking military officer...
"I look forward to working with you, Princess Akane." Lieutenant Colonel Yu Zhao, whose authority you suspect comes from more than just rank - the Zhaos are an old, prestigious military family, one of the few that climbed in stature after your Father's ascension rather than falling.
"We are at your disposal, Princess." The Lieutenant Colonel is accompanied by Captain Itsuo Chujo, the head of the local guard. He bows deeper than the others; despite being one of the older men in the room, he also seems to be the most self-conscious. Which is a little surprising, considering the last person in the room -
"It is an honor to have you here with us, your Majesty."
Yin Tan, adviser to the mayor. A native. If her olive skin didn't give her away, the fact her clothes are Earth Kingdom green would - as if someone decided to make sure no one would mistakenly assume her ancestry traces back to the homeland. To your homeland, at least. The woman looks to be in her thirties, old enough to have lived through at least one major rebellion. And if she's here, you imagine that she collaborated with your government through all of them.
Interesting. What makes someone willing to make that choice? It's something you'll likely benefit from understanding.
After exchanging polite introductions with all of them, you call the meeting to order. The mayor takes the lead, filling you in on the details of the situation.
"The situation has been... escalating," he says. "Onyx's cell is active somewhere near the town, and he's been trying to recruit our natives. Flyers have been making their way into the town somehow - propaganda posters, mostly making claims about us planning a genocide against the natives."
Wonder where they got that idea.
"We've been as gentle as we can," the mayor says. "We've collected and burned all the propaganda we could find, and punished the people reading it with a few nights in the town jail. We've offered rewards for information and turned up a few leads - we got the names and faces of two of the distributors, but one managed to escape arrest. The other was transferred safely to the prison camp outside of town."
"Good," you say. "Has he offered any information?"
"Not yet, Princess. I'm told they're working on him."
Either way, June may be able to track down more rebels using his scent. You nod. "Continue."
"The issue is that the distribution of propaganda hasn't halted," the mayor says. "And the natives are reading it. More and more people are filtering in and out of the jail, but the punishment isn't severe enough to deter anyone. They're getting agitated. We've had vandalism, refusal to work, rocks thrown at guards - not bended, just thrown, but the intent is the same. When we've arrested those responsible, rumors keep getting started that we're punishing the natives at random rather than finding the guilty parties. The rebels have somehow managed to become very effective in convincing the locals that their misinformation is true. And we don't have the facilities to imprison people for long here, so we send the violent natives out to the real prison..."
He trails off. "And that plays directly into the rumors about genocide," Hua supplies.
"Yes." The mayor's nervousness is obvious; he swallows before continuing. "I admit that we didn't consider the enemy's propaganda a serious threat at first," he says. "And we lost some time as a result. But I've reassessed the situation and developed a new plan to repair matters, with your approval. I believe we should arrest and publicly try the worst of the troublemakers here, to break the back of the rebels' support network in the town - and, at the same time, I would like to open a new provisioning program to give additional supplies to the poorer natives in the town, to improve their situation. A carrot and a stick." The mayor gestures nervously. "Between the two, we can pacify the natives long enough for Onyx to be killed. After that, the agitation will die down on its own."
Interesting. You glance over the other officials, keeping your expression neutral. "What do the rest of you think of this plan?" you ask. "Please speak freely. I'd like to hear every perspective."
"Providing additional provisions to a rebellious population has obvious risks," Lieutenant Colonel Zhao says. "There's a very real chance that any supplies we give could end up in the hands of the rebels we're fighting. Putting the town under martial law until the crisis has passed could deprive the rebels of support just as effectively without the risks. The natives won't like it, but once the agitators are dead they'll move on. And if they're kept under watch to prevent them from acquiring weapons, there's little risk of them starting an uprising of their own. Not an effective one, at least. The only difficulty will be in making sure they're kept under close enough watch." He frowns. "Based on the reports we've gotten of Onyx's attacks on shipments in the region, I suspect Onyx might actually have a tunneler."
Hua's eyebrows go up. Your expression remains neutral, as always. "How certain are you?" you ask.
"I've learned to trust my instincts when it comes to tunnelers," he answers simply.
Earthbending isn't just useful for combat and creating fortifications. Not by a long shot. The ability to create tunnels for hidden travel - and not just to create them, but to create them quickly and on a scale sufficient to move troops - is possibly one of the most strategically valuable forms of bending in the war. It's also rare enough that if Onyx has a tunneler, it's vanishingly unlikely that he just happened to find that tunneler here. Tunnelers are specialists. Elite specialists.
"We'll have to take the threat seriously, then," you muse. You nod to the guard captain. "What else?"
"I've never fought a tunneler," Captain Chujo says. "But I do know these people. They're angry, your Highness. Enough to make some bad choices. Giving them a little extra food and pay could help convince them we're not planning on killing them all. But our people will complain. The natives don't work as hard as they do - they won't like seeing them getting extra pay for nothing. If we're giving out rewards, I think we should give them to the hardest workers, not just the poor. Maybe it'll get the natives more focused on work, and less on rebellion."
You look to Yin Tan after he finishes. She seems surprised by your attention, and bows before answering.
"The officers and the mayor all make good points, your Majesty," she says. "Whatever you choose to do, I will make sure the natives understand that you do it for their sake."
No suggestions of her own to offer? You suppose she doesn't want to overstep her bounds - even with your permission to speak, she'll still have to answer to the others here long after you're gone. But her ideas could be valuable -
Unless the mayor already voiced them. Hm. Did he really come up with the carrot and stick all on his own?
"Thank you," you tell her. "Your contributions are appreciated."
The mayor glances at her as she bows again. Yes. You do think the provisioning program was her idea, wasn't it?
It's your choice what to suggest or ask here, and the final policy decision will be yours.
-----
That concluded the text of the chapter - after that I just opened the collection of votes we needed to address. The votes aren't final yet; they'll be opened again at the start of the session, Saturday at 6 pm EST. But for those curious, the current leading options are:
- Implement a provisioning program giving moderate aid to the poor and moderate rewards for hard work.
- Do not implement martial law.
- Lighten the sentences for minor crimes, releasing people if needed.
- Keep your presence here a secret for now.
Sorry for the lack of action again! Next time we should finally really get into the fray. I'm excited haha, I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for reading!
Chapter 8: Never Sets (Part 5)
Here's the results of tonight's session. It's good to get to write something more than the boring infodumps I've been bogging myself down in lately lol, even if it's nothing wild yet. We're going on the hunt.
-----
After some time spent in discussion and deliberation, you persuade the others to adopt what you think should be an even-handed and effective plan for handling the discontent.
You'll balance both suggestions for distributing extra supplies to the population, giving both aid to the poor and additional bonuses for hard work. There's a limit to how many supplies Gaipan can requisition, so the aid given out won't be extravagant, but it should still help to smooth things over and incentivize good behavior. You won't implement martial law, but you do have troops available who you can station throughout the town to make your presence more visible. That should help provide a deterrent and possibly improve intelligence gathering. And, rather than cracking down harder, you'll also go out of your way to show some lenience - you'll reduce some punishments for minor offenders and release a few unimportant troublemakers. At this point, the usual punishments for sedition are causing dissent rather than stifling it, and adaptability will do more good than strictness. For the dissidents who do need to be punished, you'll arrange public trials to demonstrate that the process is fair and transparent, not biased against then natives.
The mayor will make a speech tomorrow to the effect of 'the Earth Kingdom's attempts to divide our town against itself will not bear fruit' and so on, and offer the new measures as an olive branch to help the community heal in these troubled times. You'd do it yourself, but you have to continue to keep your presence a secret. Keeping the rebels unaware of your presence gives you an advantage you don't want to waste.
Your lenience seems to surprise some of the others. You think you defend your position persuasively enough, but you can tell the Lieutenant Colonel and the Guard Captain still have heavy misgivings; they would have preferred martial law. The mayor and Hua seem persuaded that the plan may be best for long-term stability, though. And while Yin Tan speaks very little except to promise to carry out your instructions to the best of her ability, you think she's pleased by your even-handedness with the natives.
With that decided, the only remaining question is how to take the fight to Onyx.
You see two obvious options: set an ambush for Onyx at the prison, which you know he'll target sooner than later, or go on the offensive by using the rebel prisoner you have to provide Nyla with a scent trail to follow.
"The prison is well-staffed and fortified, Princess," Lieutenant Colonel Zhao informs you. He lays out a map of the camp for you and refers to it as he speaks. "The quarry has a light steel outer wall around the perimeter - not invincible, but enough that most earthbenders would have to approach it and undermine the foundations rather than battering it down from a distance. The forest has been cleared away in the immediate vicinity of the camp, and the watchtowers - here, here, and here - should provide ample warning if anyone tries to cross the clearing to attack."
"But you believe Onyx has a tunneler," you say.
He nods. "And that's the main problem. A skilled enough tunneler could move Onyx's forces under the camp without tipping off guards on the surface. The buildings' foundations were built to keep earthbenders from undermining them, so they can't turn the whole quarry into a sinkhole, but the threat is still considerable. I've reinforced the guard with infantry and a tank platoon, and ordered the prison to remain on high alert and double patrols until further notice. Tunnels or no, we won't make it easy for Onyx to take us by surprise."
You nod, looking over the map. Your experience with battle tactics is still entirely theoretical, but you suppose that Onyx might plan to attack the prison from within and use the prisoners to supplement his forces. None of the prisoners are earthbenders, but...
"Is it likely that Onyx would have the resources to arm the prisoners?" you ask.
"We doubt he could arm them well," Zhao says. "He's stolen weapons, but not enough for that many people. But this whole region is covered in forest. They'll at least have an abundance of wooden spears and bows."
Nothing especially deadly, but still something. And Onyx wouldn't have to win the battle, just escape with the prisoners into their tunnels and disappear. Assuming he has a tunneler at all, of course.
Well. When has expecting the worst ever let you down before?
"A firebender of your skill would be invaluable at the prison, Princess," Hua says. "Lightning would be an excellent way to dispose of Onyx and any earthbenders he has."
Yes. It would. That's another problem you'll have to deal with, isn't it?
"What other options would we have?" you ask. "June, could you track down the rebels' encampment using our prisoner?"
"If the prisoner had anything that belonged to his boss, Nyla could hunt the boss down by their scent," June answers. "Otherwise, he can still retrace the prisoner's steps. It'd lead to the rebels eventually, or at least to somewhere they used to be."
"So if they've moved camp, it would be a dead end?" Hua asks.
"Only if we can't find a new scent trail at the old camp," June says.
"And would Nyla be able to tell if she was leading us into an ambush?"
"He'd be able to tell when we were getting close to other humans."
"How large a force would you take with you if you went hunting with this shirshu, Princess?" Zhao asks. "We could send a tank platoon with you to reconnoiter in force, but if there's a risk of it just being a dead end..."
You don't have unlimited forces at your disposal in the region - wasting them on missions that don't work out would be a good way to leave new vulnerabilities for Onyx's rebels to exploit. How should you approach all this?
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
You make the call to go on the hunt with June. Waiting for Onyx to come to you only helps him turn things further in his favor. An envoy makes a quick, discreet trip to the prison to collect the captured rebel's effects for Nyla; you wait in the capitol building for him to return, spending every free moment practicing with your sword and daggers. You don't wait long. When the envoy returns, June sifts through the box of possessions he's delivered and pulls out a shirt for Nyla to sniff. The shirshu seems to get excited at the start of the hunt; June has to take him by the scruff of the neck to keep him from sprinting off.
"Hey-hey," she says sternly. "Backtrack." She whistles three times, quick and sharp. Nyla perks up at the sound, seeming to understand. "Backtrack."
She climbs onto the shirshu's back and nods to you. "He's gonna have to follow the trail through town first," she says. "Meet you outside."
"Meet you there."
You, Hua, and Mitsuko take your mongoose-lizards and meet her in the forest, and then you're off.
Nyla moves at a breakneck pace. The four of you quickly tear through the forest. When Nyla suddenly comes to a halt, sniffing the air nervously, your heart jumps into your throat.
"Does he smell rebels?" you ask, sword already drawn. June shakes her head.
"There's no one around," she says. "But our guy spent a lot of time here." You frown; there's nothing here that you can see, no sign of past habitation. "Maybe there used to be a camp..."
"In the trees," Mitsuko murmurs. "Look."
The trees? She points up. What...? You don't see...
Ah.
The trees around Gaipan are towering things - you've never seen any as tall in the homeland. Even the Royal Woods aren't nearly as tall. But you never really considered...
"Treehouses," June says, sounding almost impressed.
"A tree-village," Hua says. "How...?"
Up above you, near the canopy of the forest, you see them - walkways and platforms, sprawling out and connecting a dozen different trees. The branches beneath them camouflage them, shielding them with leaves from prying eyes below; if Mitsuko hadn't pointed it out, you doubt you ever would have seen it. But once you see the underside of one platform, you can follow it with your eyes, trace out the topography of what could easily be an entire village in the trees - a small one, certainly, but still...
Amazing.
Mitsuko brings her mount up alongside yours, and gives you a small, private smile. You allow yourself a little smile back.
Enemies or no, you can appreciate a clever invention when you see one.
"It must be abandoned if Nyla doesn't smell anyone," June says. "We should take a look around, see if they left anything Nyla could use."
"They may have left traps behind," Hua cautions.
"I'll go first," Mitsuko says, dismounting. "You can follow once I make sure it's clear."
You catch Mitsuko's eye and nod. Be careful. She nods back, and starts to climb. She ascends quickly at first, then pauses and points up.
"There's a rope hanging there," she calls. "Taut. Looks like some kind of trap."
You circle around the tree until you can get a better look. There's the rope, and - yes, there's the glint of something metal.
"I think it is a trap," you call to her. "I can't see how it's triggered. Mitsuko -"
"I'm being careful," she says.
You adjust your grip on your reins and nod.
Mitsuko keeps going, her movements slow and steady and graceful. It's a long climb. She points out another possible trap - one you can't even see from the forest floor - and another, but she makes it up to the platforms without setting anything off.
"Platforms feel a little unsteady," she calls down. "And I see a tripwire. This might be rigged to collapse."
A fall from that height would kill her.
"Do you see anything June can use?" Hua calls.
"Nothing yet," Mitsuko responds. "But there's a bunch of huts up here. Might be something inside them."
There'll probably be nothing but traps inside - they wouldn't have left anything, they weren't chased away in a hurry by your troops. This whole thing must have been set up to kill whoever finds it, they must have assumed the captive would give up the location under interrogation. Why else would they abandon a camp like this?
"Mitsuko, be careful," you call. You can barely see her through the leaves. "Avoid the platforms completely if you can. We just need something small. Bedding, clothes, even just a piece of a chair -"
"Got it," Mitsuko answers. "I'm being careful."
You can see her moving, navigating her way across the branches around the platforms. You should have brought rope. She could have secured herself with rope. Why didn't you anticipate this? Treehouse-building must have been mentioned in one of the books you've read as a cultural element of this region, you must have somehow missed it - how could you be so careless?
"I'm going in to one of the huts," Mitsuko calls down.
"It's probably trapped," you tell her.
"I know."
"Be careful."
You should have climbed up with her. You can't do anything from down here. If it collapses under her...
"Kid'll be fine," June says.
The silence feels thick enough to cut with a knife. You think you hear Mitsuko's voice after a few seconds, but it's too quiet to make out what she says.
"Mitsuko?" you shout.
A moment passes before she answers.
"I messed up," she shouts back.
Your breath hitches.
"There's this, thing," she shouts. "I think the hut's going to fall once I move -"
"Just get out!" you shout.
"There's a scrap of cloth on the floor!"
Is she insane?
"Mitsuko, don't you dare -"
There's a series of snaps so loud you can hear them from the ground, and then the biggest platform you can see starts falling.
"MITSUKO!"
The walkways attached to the platform fall with it - everything's getting pulled down, the whole village. It crashes and thunders and smashes through all the branches in its way, nothing but a growing wall of wood and leaves and debris you can't see Mitsuko -
Your mount starts moving before you even prompt it, trying to flee from the avalanche - and you pull it back, not even conscious of why, you just know that Mitsuko is going to fall here and you need to be here, you can do something, you can catch her, you can -
You barely manage to get out of the way before the hut crushes you. It practically explodes on impact, splinters of wood flying everywhere; you turn your face away to shield it as your mount frantically scrambles away. You don't manage to get out from under the walkway. Not completely. Your sword comes up before you even realize it's in your hand, slicing through the wooden planks coming down towards your head - you release a sputter of red flames with the swing, and the impact jars your arm painfully, but it's enough to save you. You look up again, searching, waiting, dreading -
Mitsuko has her sword buried in the trunk of a tree, holding her hanging in the air.
"Princess!" Hua shouts. "Are you hurt?"
She's fine.
"You guys okay down there?" Mitsuko shouts.
"You're alive?" June calls up to her.
"I'm good."
Your heart feels like it's pounding out of your chest. You think you might be sick.
Idiot. Idiot.
You're distantly aware Hua is looking at you. You have to keep your face blank. You don't trust your voice.
"I'll be down in a minute," Mitsuko says. She reaches out to a nearby branch, beginning to climb. "And I got the cloth."
Deep breaths. You blink slowly, deliberately. Face blank.
"Princess?" Mitsuko calls. "Are you okay? Is the princess okay?"
"I'm alright." Your voice is steady. "Please be more careful on the way down."
"I will."
You still feel sick, watching her climb slowly down. But looking away makes it worse. A part of you almost hates her for that.
Almost.
Idiot.
-----
After some time spent in discussion and deliberation, you persuade the others to adopt what you think should be an even-handed and effective plan for handling the discontent.
You'll balance both suggestions for distributing extra supplies to the population, giving both aid to the poor and additional bonuses for hard work. There's a limit to how many supplies Gaipan can requisition, so the aid given out won't be extravagant, but it should still help to smooth things over and incentivize good behavior. You won't implement martial law, but you do have troops available who you can station throughout the town to make your presence more visible. That should help provide a deterrent and possibly improve intelligence gathering. And, rather than cracking down harder, you'll also go out of your way to show some lenience - you'll reduce some punishments for minor offenders and release a few unimportant troublemakers. At this point, the usual punishments for sedition are causing dissent rather than stifling it, and adaptability will do more good than strictness. For the dissidents who do need to be punished, you'll arrange public trials to demonstrate that the process is fair and transparent, not biased against then natives.
The mayor will make a speech tomorrow to the effect of 'the Earth Kingdom's attempts to divide our town against itself will not bear fruit' and so on, and offer the new measures as an olive branch to help the community heal in these troubled times. You'd do it yourself, but you have to continue to keep your presence a secret. Keeping the rebels unaware of your presence gives you an advantage you don't want to waste.
Your lenience seems to surprise some of the others. You think you defend your position persuasively enough, but you can tell the Lieutenant Colonel and the Guard Captain still have heavy misgivings; they would have preferred martial law. The mayor and Hua seem persuaded that the plan may be best for long-term stability, though. And while Yin Tan speaks very little except to promise to carry out your instructions to the best of her ability, you think she's pleased by your even-handedness with the natives.
With that decided, the only remaining question is how to take the fight to Onyx.
You see two obvious options: set an ambush for Onyx at the prison, which you know he'll target sooner than later, or go on the offensive by using the rebel prisoner you have to provide Nyla with a scent trail to follow.
"The prison is well-staffed and fortified, Princess," Lieutenant Colonel Zhao informs you. He lays out a map of the camp for you and refers to it as he speaks. "The quarry has a light steel outer wall around the perimeter - not invincible, but enough that most earthbenders would have to approach it and undermine the foundations rather than battering it down from a distance. The forest has been cleared away in the immediate vicinity of the camp, and the watchtowers - here, here, and here - should provide ample warning if anyone tries to cross the clearing to attack."
"But you believe Onyx has a tunneler," you say.
He nods. "And that's the main problem. A skilled enough tunneler could move Onyx's forces under the camp without tipping off guards on the surface. The buildings' foundations were built to keep earthbenders from undermining them, so they can't turn the whole quarry into a sinkhole, but the threat is still considerable. I've reinforced the guard with infantry and a tank platoon, and ordered the prison to remain on high alert and double patrols until further notice. Tunnels or no, we won't make it easy for Onyx to take us by surprise."
You nod, looking over the map. Your experience with battle tactics is still entirely theoretical, but you suppose that Onyx might plan to attack the prison from within and use the prisoners to supplement his forces. None of the prisoners are earthbenders, but...
"Is it likely that Onyx would have the resources to arm the prisoners?" you ask.
"We doubt he could arm them well," Zhao says. "He's stolen weapons, but not enough for that many people. But this whole region is covered in forest. They'll at least have an abundance of wooden spears and bows."
Nothing especially deadly, but still something. And Onyx wouldn't have to win the battle, just escape with the prisoners into their tunnels and disappear. Assuming he has a tunneler at all, of course.
Well. When has expecting the worst ever let you down before?
"A firebender of your skill would be invaluable at the prison, Princess," Hua says. "Lightning would be an excellent way to dispose of Onyx and any earthbenders he has."
Yes. It would. That's another problem you'll have to deal with, isn't it?
"What other options would we have?" you ask. "June, could you track down the rebels' encampment using our prisoner?"
"If the prisoner had anything that belonged to his boss, Nyla could hunt the boss down by their scent," June answers. "Otherwise, he can still retrace the prisoner's steps. It'd lead to the rebels eventually, or at least to somewhere they used to be."
"So if they've moved camp, it would be a dead end?" Hua asks.
"Only if we can't find a new scent trail at the old camp," June says.
"And would Nyla be able to tell if she was leading us into an ambush?"
"He'd be able to tell when we were getting close to other humans."
"How large a force would you take with you if you went hunting with this shirshu, Princess?" Zhao asks. "We could send a tank platoon with you to reconnoiter in force, but if there's a risk of it just being a dead end..."
You don't have unlimited forces at your disposal in the region - wasting them on missions that don't work out would be a good way to leave new vulnerabilities for Onyx's rebels to exploit. How should you approach all this?
Stealthily reconnoiter the rebel's trail with June, Mitsuko, and Hua. (10)
+If we can't kill Onyx, go for the tunneler. (9)
+Destroy or sabotage any rebel supplies we find at their potential campsites. Starve them out. (6)
Lie in wait for Onyx at the prison. (0)
Reconnoiter the rebel's trail in force. (0)
+If we can't kill Onyx, go for the tunneler. (9)
+Destroy or sabotage any rebel supplies we find at their potential campsites. Starve them out. (6)
Lie in wait for Onyx at the prison. (0)
Reconnoiter the rebel's trail in force. (0)
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
You make the call to go on the hunt with June. Waiting for Onyx to come to you only helps him turn things further in his favor. An envoy makes a quick, discreet trip to the prison to collect the captured rebel's effects for Nyla; you wait in the capitol building for him to return, spending every free moment practicing with your sword and daggers. You don't wait long. When the envoy returns, June sifts through the box of possessions he's delivered and pulls out a shirt for Nyla to sniff. The shirshu seems to get excited at the start of the hunt; June has to take him by the scruff of the neck to keep him from sprinting off.
"Hey-hey," she says sternly. "Backtrack." She whistles three times, quick and sharp. Nyla perks up at the sound, seeming to understand. "Backtrack."
She climbs onto the shirshu's back and nods to you. "He's gonna have to follow the trail through town first," she says. "Meet you outside."
"Meet you there."
You, Hua, and Mitsuko take your mongoose-lizards and meet her in the forest, and then you're off.
Nyla moves at a breakneck pace. The four of you quickly tear through the forest. When Nyla suddenly comes to a halt, sniffing the air nervously, your heart jumps into your throat.
"Does he smell rebels?" you ask, sword already drawn. June shakes her head.
"There's no one around," she says. "But our guy spent a lot of time here." You frown; there's nothing here that you can see, no sign of past habitation. "Maybe there used to be a camp..."
"In the trees," Mitsuko murmurs. "Look."
The trees? She points up. What...? You don't see...
Ah.
The trees around Gaipan are towering things - you've never seen any as tall in the homeland. Even the Royal Woods aren't nearly as tall. But you never really considered...
"Treehouses," June says, sounding almost impressed.
"A tree-village," Hua says. "How...?"
Up above you, near the canopy of the forest, you see them - walkways and platforms, sprawling out and connecting a dozen different trees. The branches beneath them camouflage them, shielding them with leaves from prying eyes below; if Mitsuko hadn't pointed it out, you doubt you ever would have seen it. But once you see the underside of one platform, you can follow it with your eyes, trace out the topography of what could easily be an entire village in the trees - a small one, certainly, but still...
Amazing.
Mitsuko brings her mount up alongside yours, and gives you a small, private smile. You allow yourself a little smile back.
Enemies or no, you can appreciate a clever invention when you see one.
"It must be abandoned if Nyla doesn't smell anyone," June says. "We should take a look around, see if they left anything Nyla could use."
"They may have left traps behind," Hua cautions.
"I'll go first," Mitsuko says, dismounting. "You can follow once I make sure it's clear."
Allow Mitsuko to go first (13)
Go with her and watch her back (3)
Go with her and watch her back (3)
You catch Mitsuko's eye and nod. Be careful. She nods back, and starts to climb. She ascends quickly at first, then pauses and points up.
"There's a rope hanging there," she calls. "Taut. Looks like some kind of trap."
You circle around the tree until you can get a better look. There's the rope, and - yes, there's the glint of something metal.
"I think it is a trap," you call to her. "I can't see how it's triggered. Mitsuko -"
"I'm being careful," she says.
You adjust your grip on your reins and nod.
Mitsuko keeps going, her movements slow and steady and graceful. It's a long climb. She points out another possible trap - one you can't even see from the forest floor - and another, but she makes it up to the platforms without setting anything off.
"Platforms feel a little unsteady," she calls down. "And I see a tripwire. This might be rigged to collapse."
A fall from that height would kill her.
"Do you see anything June can use?" Hua calls.
"Nothing yet," Mitsuko responds. "But there's a bunch of huts up here. Might be something inside them."
There'll probably be nothing but traps inside - they wouldn't have left anything, they weren't chased away in a hurry by your troops. This whole thing must have been set up to kill whoever finds it, they must have assumed the captive would give up the location under interrogation. Why else would they abandon a camp like this?
Tell Mitsuko to look as carefully as possible - even to avoid stepping on the platforms at all when she can. (11)
+Tell her to check the huts for any left over bedding material or any other structural elements that may have left a scent. Event something like a piece of a chair should leave enough of a scent for a Shirshu (8)
+ Panic internally (7)
Tell Mitsuko not to risk it - she should just climb back down. (4)
Climb up to help Mitsuko search. (2)
+Tell her to check the huts for any left over bedding material or any other structural elements that may have left a scent. Event something like a piece of a chair should leave enough of a scent for a Shirshu (8)
+ Panic internally (7)
Tell Mitsuko not to risk it - she should just climb back down. (4)
Climb up to help Mitsuko search. (2)
"Mitsuko, be careful," you call. You can barely see her through the leaves. "Avoid the platforms completely if you can. We just need something small. Bedding, clothes, even just a piece of a chair -"
"Got it," Mitsuko answers. "I'm being careful."
You can see her moving, navigating her way across the branches around the platforms. You should have brought rope. She could have secured herself with rope. Why didn't you anticipate this? Treehouse-building must have been mentioned in one of the books you've read as a cultural element of this region, you must have somehow missed it - how could you be so careless?
"I'm going in to one of the huts," Mitsuko calls down.
"It's probably trapped," you tell her.
"I know."
"Be careful."
You should have climbed up with her. You can't do anything from down here. If it collapses under her...
"Kid'll be fine," June says.
The silence feels thick enough to cut with a knife. You think you hear Mitsuko's voice after a few seconds, but it's too quiet to make out what she says.
"Mitsuko?" you shout.
A moment passes before she answers.
"I messed up," she shouts back.
Your breath hitches.
"There's this, thing," she shouts. "I think the hut's going to fall once I move -"
"Just get out!" you shout.
"There's a scrap of cloth on the floor!"
Is she insane?
"Mitsuko, don't you dare -"
There's a series of snaps so loud you can hear them from the ground, and then the biggest platform you can see starts falling.
"MITSUKO!"
The walkways attached to the platform fall with it - everything's getting pulled down, the whole village. It crashes and thunders and smashes through all the branches in its way, nothing but a growing wall of wood and leaves and debris you can't see Mitsuko -
Your mount starts moving before you even prompt it, trying to flee from the avalanche - and you pull it back, not even conscious of why, you just know that Mitsuko is going to fall here and you need to be here, you can do something, you can catch her, you can -
You barely manage to get out of the way before the hut crushes you. It practically explodes on impact, splinters of wood flying everywhere; you turn your face away to shield it as your mount frantically scrambles away. You don't manage to get out from under the walkway. Not completely. Your sword comes up before you even realize it's in your hand, slicing through the wooden planks coming down towards your head - you release a sputter of red flames with the swing, and the impact jars your arm painfully, but it's enough to save you. You look up again, searching, waiting, dreading -
Mitsuko has her sword buried in the trunk of a tree, holding her hanging in the air.
"Princess!" Hua shouts. "Are you hurt?"
She's fine.
"You guys okay down there?" Mitsuko shouts.
"You're alive?" June calls up to her.
"I'm good."
Your heart feels like it's pounding out of your chest. You think you might be sick.
Idiot. Idiot.
You're distantly aware Hua is looking at you. You have to keep your face blank. You don't trust your voice.
"I'll be down in a minute," Mitsuko says. She reaches out to a nearby branch, beginning to climb. "And I got the cloth."
Deep breaths. You blink slowly, deliberately. Face blank.
"Princess?" Mitsuko calls. "Are you okay? Is the princess okay?"
"I'm alright." Your voice is steady. "Please be more careful on the way down."
"I will."
You still feel sick, watching her climb slowly down. But looking away makes it worse. A part of you almost hates her for that.
Almost.
Idiot.
Chapter 8: Never Sets (Part 6)
Here's the results of tonight's live and the aborted live session from earlier. Thanks for reading!
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
"It was going to collapse either way, so I thought I should at least make sure I got the cloth we needed." That's her excuse. You can't even begin to put into words how completely foolish it was for her to put her life at even the slightest risk over something so small. After you finish checking her over for injuries (she's completely fine, thank the spirits), you resolve not to talk to her at all. To demonstrate your displeasure. When you turn away, though, she leans over and gently dabs at your cheek. A slight stinging there belatedly informs you that you must have gotten cut by the splinters flying everywhere. Your eyes meet.
Something loosens in your chest.
"We're fortunate that you're safe," you tell her. Politely.
"I'll be more cautious next time, Princess," she answers.
Hua and June are watching. You nod and pull away.
The cloth Mitsuko recovered was small; just a spare scrap that must have been left behind by whoever was in charge of mending the rebels' clothes. But it's enough for Nyla. He and June lead you deeper into the forest for hours.
"I recommend we stop for the night soon," Hua finally says. "The sun is setting."
If you had been walking, you might have stopped short. You don't let it show on your face. But she's right. The shadows are lengthening. The sun is setting.
You didn't feel it.
"I agree," you answer out loud. Now isn't the time to get distracted, you're already well aware your firebending is out of balance. "It won't be safe navigating in the dark. June, can Nyla tell how much farther we have to go before we reach the rebels?"
The bounty hunter leans over to pet her shirshu. "We're close. Relatively. If we stop now, we'll probably reach them early tomorrow morning."
Hm. That does imply you could reach them tonight, if you pressed on. But navigating the forest in the dark, when they've probably laid out all sorts of traps...
You decide to make camp for the night. You pick a decent, sheltered location and break out the bedrolls. June and Mitsuko rig up a few simple traps around your campsite. June says that if you're lucky, they'll catch any rebels that try to sneak up on you in the night, and if you're really lucky, they'll catch nothing but some fresh breakfast for tomorrow. Mitsuko takes first watch.
You can't sleep. You make an attempt, but you can't. The ground under your bedroll is incredibly uncomfortable and you constantly feel as though insects are crawling on you. You catch a few of the miserable things parading across the top of your bedroll and incinerate them - you can manage at least that much - but it only makes you more hyperconscious, more paranoid about every little itch and scratch. Even on your way to Gaipan, you never slept under conditions this rough. This is a first for you. You suppose you'll get used to it eventually.
Just not tonight.
Since you're not sleeping, you resolve to at least spend your time meditating. It's a productive way to rest. And you suppose you have relevant things to reflect on.
Mitsuko could have died today. And you would have been helpless to stop it. If you had your firebending, maybe you could have done something, but who knows? The point is that she could have died, and if you could have stopped it at all you certainly couldn't have done it as you are now. If she had died today, you would have been helpless. Mitsuko could have died.
Is that the kind of fear you're supposed to just accept?
It makes a certain sense, you guess. If you find yourself in a helpless situation, why bother doing anything but accepting it? What else can you do?
That feels like such a worthless line of thinking. If Mitsuko was going to die, would she want you to just accept it and do nothing? How are you supposed to get your firebending back if you don't have any fire in you? This makes no sense.
You incinerate another bug crawling on your bedroll.
'Acceptance' of fear worked for the Avatars, somehow. You know that much. But does that make it right? Father's philosophy works for him - does that make him right about everything? Should you just listen to Father's philosophy because he's apparently able to use it to fuel his firebending? Maybe the only reason you're even entertaining this Avatar philosophy is because you lack the confidence to forge ahead independently and find your own truth. Or maybe you only think you're studying the Avatar's philosophy out of lack of confidence because what you actually lack is the confidence to set aside your preconceptions and find wisdom in ideas that are alien to you.
But you feel like you're debating the merits of a philosophy you don't even fully understand. Your education has always framed 'acceptance' as being equivalent to defeatism, but it must be more complicated than that. There has to be some nuance to what these people believed. They had hundreds of years to reflect on it in much more depth than this, if it could be debunked and dismissed that easily wouldn't they have discarded it themselves?
And now you're debating the merits of debating the merits of a philosophy you don't understand. You're just spiraling out farther and farther away from the actual issue.
What does it mean to 'accept' your fears?
Assume that the concept has some merit to it that you're currently unaware of. The concept must not be self-explanatory. Your lack of understanding is likely due to a lack of sufficient grounding in the context the idea is meant to be situated in. So use context clues. The chakras are a sequence; what does the sequence tell you about the individual parts? After the earth chakra comes the water chakra - it's not the same order as the Avatar cycle, you have no idea if there's some significance to that. The water chakra deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt; if you can only begin to unlock the water chakra after unlocking the earth chakra, then it stands to reason that the method for unlocking the earth chakra exists in part to prepare you for unlocking the water chakra immediately after. So the earth chakra requires you to accept fear for the sake of unlocking survival, as preparation to forgive guilt for the sake of pleasure. But what does pleasure mean? Sensual pleasure? The Air Nation was considered degenerate. But the chakra immediately after water deals with willpower, so in that context you can assume that 'pleasure' is something that enables willpower - it must mean pleasure in an atypical sense of the word, a sort of 'pleasure' that centers more than it distracts. Self-affirming pleasure, or joy, you suppose.
How does this relate back to fear, again? Damn it. You reach over to your pack and pull out your notebook, brush, and ink; you need to write this down or you'll just keep going in circles and forget half of the details by morning. You use your free hand to provide a candlelight as you start jotting notes down.
Survival -> Pleasure (Self-affirmation? Joy?) -> Willpower
Acceptance of fear -> Forgiveness of guilt -> Release of shame
You feel like you were getting somewhere and then you lost it. Damn it. What were you...? Accept fear so that you can survive and have joy and from joy develop will...? Framed in that context, is the chakra sequence telling you to just push aside fear and focus on the positive around you? It feels a little too simple. If you go farther along the sequence... well, from what you remember, it isn't especially helpful. After the fire chakra it becomes more spiritual and ephemeral - the next chakras govern love, truth, 'insight', and the cosmos. Although, the final chakra is supposed to involve letting go of earthly attachment for the sake of cosmic enlightenment... is that a parallel to the first chakra involving letting go of fear for the sake of fundamental survival? They're the first and last, so a certain symmetry would make sense...
Now you can't tell if you're actually being insightful, or if you're just self-indulgently distracting yourself with mind games that mean nothing.
But you're supposed to accept fear for the sake of survival - for the sake of more than survival. Both for survival alone and for more than just survival at once. The chakra is simultaneously a discrete entity and a component in a greater whole - similar to how the Air Nation might have viewed the individual person's relationship with the universe, if you remember that Pai Sho book correctly. Ah, that's good, that might be something useful. There's a parallel between the way these individual components of life fit together and the way individual lives fit into the universe. That seems significant.
This is actually probably completely useless and you haven't figured out a single thing about fear yet.
Spirits.
There has to be some overarching idea here, some concept that will make it all just click into place once you figure it out. A key to decode the Air Nation's spirituality. Or maybe you just want there to be one.
You are not becoming enlightened fast enough.
The night passes frustratingly slowly.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
You're tired when the sun begins to rise, but you can function. You managed to get a few hours of sleep, you think. You're on the move before the forest wakes, and the sun is still rising when Nyla comes to a halt.
"He smells people nearby," June says quietly.
You and Mitsuko draw your swords and look up, scanning the trees from top to bottom. They'll have look-outs above and traps on the ground.
"How close is 'nearby'?" you ask June.
"Close enough that a good sentry could spot us," June says. "Come on."
She urges Nyla over to her right, sheltering in the shadow of a tree. You, Mitsuko, and Hua follow her, taking cover behind trees of your own.
"Whoever it is, we need to spot them before they spot us," June continues. "Mitsuko, do you see anything?"
Mitsuko scans the trees again, then narrows her eyes and points up at something in the upper branches of a particularly large tree. You follow her gaze and see nothing - no, there, there's slight movement in the leaves. You can't make out anything else from this angle.
"One sentry there," Mitsuko says quietly. She keeps looking, leaning around her cover. "Another there. Can't see any others from here."
"We must be approaching their camp," Hua whispers. She looks to you. "Should we report back or continue?"
If you could eliminate the sentries stealthily and close in... but there's always a risk you'd be spotted by another sentry in the process of dealing with these two. If the sentries raise an alarm, you'll almost certainly be outnumbered - you don't know what kind of camp you're approaching, but it'll have more than four people in it. Maybe even the earthbender. And you have no fire; a fight would be risky, even setting aside the fact that Hua will eventually notice how weak your bending is. But if you leave and try to come back in force, there's a considerable risk of warning reaching the rebels before you can deal with them.
What should you do?
"Locating their camp is enough for now," you decide quietly. "We'll leave and come back with reinforcements."
You make a quiet retreat, methodically cataloging everything noteworthy about the area as you go.
* * * * *
You report the location of the rebel camp to Lieutenant Colonel Zhao and lay your plans for the assault. You have enough troops in the region that you should be able to encircle the camp and cut off all escape - assuming that the tunneler, if there is one, can't evacuate the rebels himself. Unfortunately, there's no way to know for certain whether the tunneler will be there, or how advanced his skills are. So much rides on that single earthbender's capabilities; it's maddening, having such an important variable that you can't predict. But you can probably assume that the tunneler isn't rendered impotent by the forest terrain; if he couldn't work around roots, Onyx probably wouldn't have made his camp in the middle of the trees. So however unpredictable this earthbender's skillset may be, you need to make plans to deal with it.
Lieutenant Colonel Zhao has one idea on how you can counter their defensive advantage, though.
"They're in the middle of a forest," he says. "We can burn them out. Light a ring of fire around their position and let it launch the assault for us. They'll be driven from their entrenched position, and our soldiers can maintain a perimeter to catch them as they flee rather than needing to charge into the depths of the forest themselves. The only downside is the waste of good lumber."
Not just lumber - those trees that must be centuries old. Practically historical monuments in and of themselves, and biological marvels besides. But there's no sense being sentimental about that. You suppose there is a risk that a forest fire may be more indiscriminate in its lethality than your soldiers, though. You didn't see the camp for yourself, but Hua did say that Onyx was recruiting children.
Fire doesn't take prisoners.
You suppose there's also the option to commit the tank platoon currently stationed at the prison to the attack; it could help with running down anyone who escapes the camp. But that would be a gamble to say the least; you don't know whether Onyx, the tunneler, or even the bulk of their forces are in this camp. If this is the rebel's central camp with all of their key personnel, you could certainly benefit from committing everything to make sure no one escapes. But you have no way of knowing whether that's the case.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
You waste no time. The troops are on the move before the end of the day. Zhao leads from the front. He isn't thrilled that you denied his idea to use a forest fire against the rebels, and seems a little eager to take out his frustrations on the enemy.
You're going into battle without your firebending. You need to balance appearances with practicality. Where should you position yourself?
You inform Zhao that you and your retinue will remain with the rear guard. It'll limit the danger you're in, so your lack of firebending will hopefully neither be revealed nor cause your untimely death. The excuse you give Zhao is that you and your tracker will need to stay disengaged from combat and ready to hunt down Onyx once he inevitably tries to escape with his tunneler. Zhao seems to accept it; he tells you to stay alert and trust your instincts, because he's sure the tunneler will make a break for it as soon as he can.
"I expect hazard pay for this," June mutters. Again. "I'm not a soldier."
"As I said before, you'll receive the proper bonus," you tell her. "But we need you on hand to hunt anyone who tries to flee."
"Nyla doesn't work like that," she warns. "He still needs a scent sample to really track someone."
"We'll improvise," you say. "But we all need to contribute here. We have a chance to end this rebellion quickly. We need to capitalize on it."
"It would be an extraordinary accomplishment to put a stop to the rebellion so quickly," Hua says. "We could save a number of lives."
"We could," you agree. "As long as Onyx and the tunneler are neutralized here."
Mitsuko just nods, her hand tight on her sword. She's been tense all day; the looming battle is getting to her. June is clearly nervous too. Even Hua seems a little on-edge, though she hides it well.
You feel nothing. You suppose the battle doesn't seem real to you yet. You're aware there will be death on both sides, some of it possibly inflicted by you personally. But it's an entirely theoretical prospect.
Your troops take up their positions. Your forces keep their movements loose and ambiguous until the last moment, then quickly maneuver to form a perimeter around the approximate location of the rebel camp. You and Zhao give the commanders approval to begin closing in. Zhao gives a speech. It's mediocre.
Like the tightening of a noose, your perimeter begins its abrupt, violent contraction.
-----
Thanks for reading, everyone! Let me know what you think.
-----
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
"It was going to collapse either way, so I thought I should at least make sure I got the cloth we needed." That's her excuse. You can't even begin to put into words how completely foolish it was for her to put her life at even the slightest risk over something so small. After you finish checking her over for injuries (she's completely fine, thank the spirits), you resolve not to talk to her at all. To demonstrate your displeasure. When you turn away, though, she leans over and gently dabs at your cheek. A slight stinging there belatedly informs you that you must have gotten cut by the splinters flying everywhere. Your eyes meet.
Something loosens in your chest.
"We're fortunate that you're safe," you tell her. Politely.
"I'll be more cautious next time, Princess," she answers.
Hua and June are watching. You nod and pull away.
The cloth Mitsuko recovered was small; just a spare scrap that must have been left behind by whoever was in charge of mending the rebels' clothes. But it's enough for Nyla. He and June lead you deeper into the forest for hours.
"I recommend we stop for the night soon," Hua finally says. "The sun is setting."
If you had been walking, you might have stopped short. You don't let it show on your face. But she's right. The shadows are lengthening. The sun is setting.
You didn't feel it.
"I agree," you answer out loud. Now isn't the time to get distracted, you're already well aware your firebending is out of balance. "It won't be safe navigating in the dark. June, can Nyla tell how much farther we have to go before we reach the rebels?"
The bounty hunter leans over to pet her shirshu. "We're close. Relatively. If we stop now, we'll probably reach them early tomorrow morning."
Hm. That does imply you could reach them tonight, if you pressed on. But navigating the forest in the dark, when they've probably laid out all sorts of traps...
Make camp for tonight and continue the hunt in the morning. (14)
+Prepare traps of your own around your camp. (7)
+Maybe we learned a lesson on helplessness. Mitsuko could have died and not even our full firebending could have saved her. Meditate and dwell on this. (7)
Press on through the dark. (0)
+Prepare traps of your own around your camp. (7)
+Maybe we learned a lesson on helplessness. Mitsuko could have died and not even our full firebending could have saved her. Meditate and dwell on this. (7)
Press on through the dark. (0)
You decide to make camp for the night. You pick a decent, sheltered location and break out the bedrolls. June and Mitsuko rig up a few simple traps around your campsite. June says that if you're lucky, they'll catch any rebels that try to sneak up on you in the night, and if you're really lucky, they'll catch nothing but some fresh breakfast for tomorrow. Mitsuko takes first watch.
You can't sleep. You make an attempt, but you can't. The ground under your bedroll is incredibly uncomfortable and you constantly feel as though insects are crawling on you. You catch a few of the miserable things parading across the top of your bedroll and incinerate them - you can manage at least that much - but it only makes you more hyperconscious, more paranoid about every little itch and scratch. Even on your way to Gaipan, you never slept under conditions this rough. This is a first for you. You suppose you'll get used to it eventually.
Just not tonight.
Since you're not sleeping, you resolve to at least spend your time meditating. It's a productive way to rest. And you suppose you have relevant things to reflect on.
Mitsuko could have died today. And you would have been helpless to stop it. If you had your firebending, maybe you could have done something, but who knows? The point is that she could have died, and if you could have stopped it at all you certainly couldn't have done it as you are now. If she had died today, you would have been helpless. Mitsuko could have died.
Is that the kind of fear you're supposed to just accept?
It makes a certain sense, you guess. If you find yourself in a helpless situation, why bother doing anything but accepting it? What else can you do?
That feels like such a worthless line of thinking. If Mitsuko was going to die, would she want you to just accept it and do nothing? How are you supposed to get your firebending back if you don't have any fire in you? This makes no sense.
You incinerate another bug crawling on your bedroll.
'Acceptance' of fear worked for the Avatars, somehow. You know that much. But does that make it right? Father's philosophy works for him - does that make him right about everything? Should you just listen to Father's philosophy because he's apparently able to use it to fuel his firebending? Maybe the only reason you're even entertaining this Avatar philosophy is because you lack the confidence to forge ahead independently and find your own truth. Or maybe you only think you're studying the Avatar's philosophy out of lack of confidence because what you actually lack is the confidence to set aside your preconceptions and find wisdom in ideas that are alien to you.
But you feel like you're debating the merits of a philosophy you don't even fully understand. Your education has always framed 'acceptance' as being equivalent to defeatism, but it must be more complicated than that. There has to be some nuance to what these people believed. They had hundreds of years to reflect on it in much more depth than this, if it could be debunked and dismissed that easily wouldn't they have discarded it themselves?
And now you're debating the merits of debating the merits of a philosophy you don't understand. You're just spiraling out farther and farther away from the actual issue.
What does it mean to 'accept' your fears?
Assume that the concept has some merit to it that you're currently unaware of. The concept must not be self-explanatory. Your lack of understanding is likely due to a lack of sufficient grounding in the context the idea is meant to be situated in. So use context clues. The chakras are a sequence; what does the sequence tell you about the individual parts? After the earth chakra comes the water chakra - it's not the same order as the Avatar cycle, you have no idea if there's some significance to that. The water chakra deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt; if you can only begin to unlock the water chakra after unlocking the earth chakra, then it stands to reason that the method for unlocking the earth chakra exists in part to prepare you for unlocking the water chakra immediately after. So the earth chakra requires you to accept fear for the sake of unlocking survival, as preparation to forgive guilt for the sake of pleasure. But what does pleasure mean? Sensual pleasure? The Air Nation was considered degenerate. But the chakra immediately after water deals with willpower, so in that context you can assume that 'pleasure' is something that enables willpower - it must mean pleasure in an atypical sense of the word, a sort of 'pleasure' that centers more than it distracts. Self-affirming pleasure, or joy, you suppose.
How does this relate back to fear, again? Damn it. You reach over to your pack and pull out your notebook, brush, and ink; you need to write this down or you'll just keep going in circles and forget half of the details by morning. You use your free hand to provide a candlelight as you start jotting notes down.
Survival -> Pleasure (Self-affirmation? Joy?) -> Willpower
Acceptance of fear -> Forgiveness of guilt -> Release of shame
You feel like you were getting somewhere and then you lost it. Damn it. What were you...? Accept fear so that you can survive and have joy and from joy develop will...? Framed in that context, is the chakra sequence telling you to just push aside fear and focus on the positive around you? It feels a little too simple. If you go farther along the sequence... well, from what you remember, it isn't especially helpful. After the fire chakra it becomes more spiritual and ephemeral - the next chakras govern love, truth, 'insight', and the cosmos. Although, the final chakra is supposed to involve letting go of earthly attachment for the sake of cosmic enlightenment... is that a parallel to the first chakra involving letting go of fear for the sake of fundamental survival? They're the first and last, so a certain symmetry would make sense...
Now you can't tell if you're actually being insightful, or if you're just self-indulgently distracting yourself with mind games that mean nothing.
But you're supposed to accept fear for the sake of survival - for the sake of more than survival. Both for survival alone and for more than just survival at once. The chakra is simultaneously a discrete entity and a component in a greater whole - similar to how the Air Nation might have viewed the individual person's relationship with the universe, if you remember that Pai Sho book correctly. Ah, that's good, that might be something useful. There's a parallel between the way these individual components of life fit together and the way individual lives fit into the universe. That seems significant.
This is actually probably completely useless and you haven't figured out a single thing about fear yet.
Spirits.
There has to be some overarching idea here, some concept that will make it all just click into place once you figure it out. A key to decode the Air Nation's spirituality. Or maybe you just want there to be one.
You are not becoming enlightened fast enough.
The night passes frustratingly slowly.
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
You're tired when the sun begins to rise, but you can function. You managed to get a few hours of sleep, you think. You're on the move before the forest wakes, and the sun is still rising when Nyla comes to a halt.
"He smells people nearby," June says quietly.
You and Mitsuko draw your swords and look up, scanning the trees from top to bottom. They'll have look-outs above and traps on the ground.
"How close is 'nearby'?" you ask June.
"Close enough that a good sentry could spot us," June says. "Come on."
She urges Nyla over to her right, sheltering in the shadow of a tree. You, Mitsuko, and Hua follow her, taking cover behind trees of your own.
"Whoever it is, we need to spot them before they spot us," June continues. "Mitsuko, do you see anything?"
Mitsuko scans the trees again, then narrows her eyes and points up at something in the upper branches of a particularly large tree. You follow her gaze and see nothing - no, there, there's slight movement in the leaves. You can't make out anything else from this angle.
"One sentry there," Mitsuko says quietly. She keeps looking, leaning around her cover. "Another there. Can't see any others from here."
"We must be approaching their camp," Hua whispers. She looks to you. "Should we report back or continue?"
If you could eliminate the sentries stealthily and close in... but there's always a risk you'd be spotted by another sentry in the process of dealing with these two. If the sentries raise an alarm, you'll almost certainly be outnumbered - you don't know what kind of camp you're approaching, but it'll have more than four people in it. Maybe even the earthbender. And you have no fire; a fight would be risky, even setting aside the fact that Hua will eventually notice how weak your bending is. But if you leave and try to come back in force, there's a considerable risk of warning reaching the rebels before you can deal with them.
What should you do?
Leave and come back in force. (14)
Try to stealthily eliminate the sentries and get closer. (8)
Try to get closer and scout out the rebel camp without engaging the sentries. (3)
Try to stealthily eliminate the sentries and get closer. (8)
Try to get closer and scout out the rebel camp without engaging the sentries. (3)
"Locating their camp is enough for now," you decide quietly. "We'll leave and come back with reinforcements."
You make a quiet retreat, methodically cataloging everything noteworthy about the area as you go.
* * * * *
You report the location of the rebel camp to Lieutenant Colonel Zhao and lay your plans for the assault. You have enough troops in the region that you should be able to encircle the camp and cut off all escape - assuming that the tunneler, if there is one, can't evacuate the rebels himself. Unfortunately, there's no way to know for certain whether the tunneler will be there, or how advanced his skills are. So much rides on that single earthbender's capabilities; it's maddening, having such an important variable that you can't predict. But you can probably assume that the tunneler isn't rendered impotent by the forest terrain; if he couldn't work around roots, Onyx probably wouldn't have made his camp in the middle of the trees. So however unpredictable this earthbender's skillset may be, you need to make plans to deal with it.
Lieutenant Colonel Zhao has one idea on how you can counter their defensive advantage, though.
"They're in the middle of a forest," he says. "We can burn them out. Light a ring of fire around their position and let it launch the assault for us. They'll be driven from their entrenched position, and our soldiers can maintain a perimeter to catch them as they flee rather than needing to charge into the depths of the forest themselves. The only downside is the waste of good lumber."
Not just lumber - those trees that must be centuries old. Practically historical monuments in and of themselves, and biological marvels besides. But there's no sense being sentimental about that. You suppose there is a risk that a forest fire may be more indiscriminate in its lethality than your soldiers, though. You didn't see the camp for yourself, but Hua did say that Onyx was recruiting children.
Fire doesn't take prisoners.
You suppose there's also the option to commit the tank platoon currently stationed at the prison to the attack; it could help with running down anyone who escapes the camp. But that would be a gamble to say the least; you don't know whether Onyx, the tunneler, or even the bulk of their forces are in this camp. If this is the rebel's central camp with all of their key personnel, you could certainly benefit from committing everything to make sure no one escapes. But you have no way of knowing whether that's the case.
Don't use a forest fire, and don't take the tank platoon. (13)
Use a forest fire to burn out the rebels, but don't take the tank platoon from the prison. (6)
Don't use a forest fire, but take the tank platoon from the prison. (2)
Use a forest fire to burn out the rebels, and take the tank platoon from the prison. (0)
Use a forest fire to burn out the rebels, but don't take the tank platoon from the prison. (6)
Don't use a forest fire, but take the tank platoon from the prison. (2)
Use a forest fire to burn out the rebels, and take the tank platoon from the prison. (0)
* * * * *
97 AC (15 years old)
Forest of Gaipan
You waste no time. The troops are on the move before the end of the day. Zhao leads from the front. He isn't thrilled that you denied his idea to use a forest fire against the rebels, and seems a little eager to take out his frustrations on the enemy.
You're going into battle without your firebending. You need to balance appearances with practicality. Where should you position yourself?
The rear. You can offer strategic input and keep yourself out of situations that would require firebending. (12)
+Get June and her Shirshu in the area of operations to keep anyone from fleeing and getting important VIPs (16)
With June and her Shirshu. You can be useful with coordinating the chase and protecting one of your most valuable assets. (10)
The front - make yourself useful, and see if you can capture any children who might be there alive. (3)
+Get June and her Shirshu in the area of operations to keep anyone from fleeing and getting important VIPs (16)
With June and her Shirshu. You can be useful with coordinating the chase and protecting one of your most valuable assets. (10)
The front - make yourself useful, and see if you can capture any children who might be there alive. (3)
"I expect hazard pay for this," June mutters. Again. "I'm not a soldier."
"As I said before, you'll receive the proper bonus," you tell her. "But we need you on hand to hunt anyone who tries to flee."
"Nyla doesn't work like that," she warns. "He still needs a scent sample to really track someone."
"We'll improvise," you say. "But we all need to contribute here. We have a chance to end this rebellion quickly. We need to capitalize on it."
"It would be an extraordinary accomplishment to put a stop to the rebellion so quickly," Hua says. "We could save a number of lives."
"We could," you agree. "As long as Onyx and the tunneler are neutralized here."
Mitsuko just nods, her hand tight on her sword. She's been tense all day; the looming battle is getting to her. June is clearly nervous too. Even Hua seems a little on-edge, though she hides it well.
You feel nothing. You suppose the battle doesn't seem real to you yet. You're aware there will be death on both sides, some of it possibly inflicted by you personally. But it's an entirely theoretical prospect.
Your troops take up their positions. Your forces keep their movements loose and ambiguous until the last moment, then quickly maneuver to form a perimeter around the approximate location of the rebel camp. You and Zhao give the commanders approval to begin closing in. Zhao gives a speech. It's mediocre.
Like the tightening of a noose, your perimeter begins its abrupt, violent contraction.
-----
Thanks for reading, everyone! Let me know what you think.