[Fire Nation Capital - Harbour City]
"The invasion force is prepared and awaiting your directive, Commander." The Lieutenant's voice cut through the silence of the cruiser's war room.
"Ahead of schedule. Excellent." My voice rumbled. "Tell me, Lieutenant, did they teach you about the North Pole on your island?"
"No sir."
I gestured her into my war room.
My seven-foot frame armoured in steel as thick as any tundra tanks, cast a long shadow across the metal walls of the cruiser's war room as I stopped beside my map table. My skull-faced helmet fixed intently on a specific location on the map before me: The North Pole. The flicker of the torches cast a soft, undulating glow on the map, highlighting the contours of the North Pole continent.
"Agna Qel'a, a mighty fortress sitting on the edge of the most desolate places in the Four Nations." I told her the name of our prize. "Hard to reach and even harder to conquer. Impenetrable, contemporary military experts claim. And its great walls have withstood the sieges of a dozen lesser armies across its history. The Northern Water Tribe has spared no effort in making it so, for good reason. The Southern Water Tribe has all but ceased to be a nation, and now Agna Qel'a is the last holdout for true Water Tribe culture. If this citadel was to fall, the Water Tribe will be effectively finished off in this war. It is our shining jewel sitting in the ice and snow just waiting to be claimed, and all we need to do is take this specific axis of advance from here..."
My gauntlet-clad fingers traced a route from the Fire Islands to this fortress in the ice, and the Lieutenant's eyes followed, quietly considering our axis of advance.
"... To here."
A tap. Right in the heart of Agna Qel'a.
The way those amethyst purple orbs widened told me what she thought of my plan. But her whisper still followed, "This isn't going to be like Omashu."
"But the principle is similar." I pointed out, my eyes never leaving the map. "Omashu fell because they underestimated us, because we struck where and when they least expected. Agna Qel'a will share the same fate. We will have the elements of surprise and raw fighting strength to turn the tides in our favour."
I paused, my gaze fixed on the path I traced out across the North Pole. The echoes of history whispered through the chamber. In the 13th century, Chinggis Khan faced a similar challenge with the Khwarezmian Empire. The great fortress of Samarkand stood between him and the Khwarazmian trading capital of Bukhara, just as Agna Qel'a stood before us now. By virtue of a stroke of tactical brilliance, he conquered them both with relative ease. Time will only tell how successful I'll be in adapting the strategy used there to here.
"History awaits our move," I murmured. "Like Chinggis before us, we will turn the impossible into the inevitable."
The Lieutenant's helmet nodded, understanding the weight of the moment. "Then the troops and I are ready to follow you into history, Commander."
But there was something off in her scent as it drifted through the air. Hesitation.
"Something on your mind, Lieutenant?"
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" She leaned forward, her voice lowered slightly, as if about to share a deep secret.
I nodded in turn, "Granted."
"I've been in correspondence with Fire Nation High Command these past few days through Admiral Zhao." She revealed. "The consensus is that you've become too valuable to risk, commander. Getting Fire Lord Ozai to even listen to a marriage request for his daughter has been immensely challenging, but not only did you have the Fire Lord consider you, you actually succeeded in acquiring the betrothal. High Command wants to advise you not to go through with this plan- they would rather have one of our own from the Fire Nation Military as prince-consort rather than some Fire Clan Noble who has been lounging in his manor and snacking on Zankan cherries while we fought this war, tooth and nail."
"And he couldn't tell this to me himself?"
"Admiral Zhao said that you needed to hear this from a soldier from your own division, sir." She solemnly said- looking me right in the eye, "The 41st Division can and would execute this operation without you risking yourself, Commander. You've trained us well. Give us the chance and we'll make you proud, sir."
"And personally? How do you feel about that, Lieutenant?"
She didn't hesitate to answer, "Personally, I think If there is anyone in the Four Nations who can lead a suicide mission from the frontlines and come out unscathed, it would be you. But..." Her amethyst purple eyes searched mine as she spoke, softer and more candidly, "... I agree with the admiral. I d- the troops- don't want to see you injured, commander. Coordinating this operation from a distance still seems a reasonable choice to make. We won't respect you any less if you decide to coordinate the offensive in a manner befitting more your rank- far from the frontli-"
I raised a hand, cutting her off mid-sentence.
"Without my personal attendance, casualties will be all too high. And that is wholly unacceptable. I will have everyone in the 41st be there to see Agna Qel'a fly Fire Nation colours. Including you, Lieutenant. So, don't try to stop me."
"I lack the rank to do so, commander." She said, the soft smile audible even with her helmet on, "It'll be an honour to break another enemy stronghold by your side."
"The honour is all mine."
"Commander Khan, I..." A hesitant tone tinged the Lieutenant's voice. She clearly had something else she wanted to say. A favour no doubt. Maybe for any family she had here. Given that this may be the last time that we may see the Fire Islands, I was willing to grant it too. But she just looked away, glancing back at the map, "... I was wondering if the armada will support us, sir."
I nodded. If the Lieutenant wanted to keep it to herself, that was fine too.
"They will play their part... in due time." I smiled, just a touch of smugness in my deep voice. "But our initial move will set the stage for a swift and decisive victory. They will tell of this campaign through the decades, the day we outmaneuvered the Water Tribe in their own snow-covered homeland."
"For the Fire Nation!"
"For Fire Nation." I stood up straight- looking away from the map, my strategy clear in my mind. "Tell the captains to cast off, and cage all the messenger hawks. No correspondence in or out of the fleet. From this point onwards, the 41st Division is going dark. And by the time anyone fully realises where we are or what we have done. The Water Tribe will be effectively finished off in this war."
"Sir, yes, sir!" She hurried off to relay the order.
As I turned away from the map, the shadows in the room seemed to dance with the promise of impending and total conquest. Agna Qel'a would be ours, and with it, a new chapter in the Fire Nation's legacy would be written.
I stepped out of the war room muttering under my breath a phrase that I borrowed from Zhao.
"Let's write history."
(Several decades after the Great War) [Air Temple Island]
A pair of books slapped dully against dining table, followed by the scraping of chair against wood floor, then by the sound of her toned Avatar butt depositing itself on said chair.
"Okay, I give up. How did he do it?" Korra asked, leaning forward and settling a serious look on the airbender girl sitting across from her. "Both of your books mention how fun the Fire Nation commemorations were with their ostrich-horse racing, their feasting, their parading and their traitor-burning. And also, how poor Princess Azula wept for the future of her nation as Anya the Evil practically replaced her. But then it just skips to the part where the Siege happens; and suddenly, Khan is in the middle of Agna Qel'a wrecking stuff up! Were there missing pages or something? How did Khan get to the centre of the city that not only held off the Fire Nation for as long as Ba Sing Se did, but also was in the middle of icy North Pole where Firebending is practically useless? Just... how?!"
Still mid-bite of her crispy salad greens, Jinora replied with a bemused smirk, "... Well, that's one way to start a conversation, Miss Avatar. Not even a 'Good morning' for your airbending teacher's eldest daughter?"
"Good morning, Jinora." was Korra's flat response.
"Yes, it sure is a good fine morning, isn't it?!" the younger girl beamed, and Korra just stared back with bags under her eyes.
"You're going to keep avoiding my question, aren't you?"
"May~be?"
"Jinora, please? It's been bothering me, I have to know!"
"Oh, you're so easy to tease, Korra!" The airbender girl just laughed, "But I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the books as much as I did. Have you finished maybe one of them? Maybe both?"
"More like 'maybe neither.'" Korra sat back with a scoff, "I just finished reading the part about the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe where Anya the Evil was doing her usual evil things but with boats. But then I realised that they never once mentioned how Khan managed to cut straight into the centre of Agna Quel'a."
"Fair, but I'm surprised that you don't know about that part." Jinora said, taking another crunchy bite of her salad, "I mean, this is Water Tribe history, and relatively recent one too. Didn't you have private tutors teaching you since you're the Avatar?"
"Yeah, about that..." Korra chuckled sheepishly, scratched the back of her head, "I might have been struggling to master firebending at the time, okay? I wasn't exactly focused on Water Tribe history then... or at all. But besides, who even pays attention to history lessons anymore? Everyone knows what happened during the siege. It's the battle that made Admiral Zhao the Magnificent famous after all, and that kind of once-in-a-millenia battle sticks in people's memories."
"Understandable." the airbending brunette nodded, chewing, "I've read that Avatar training is intensive. Getting you to enjoy reading about history is enough for me."
"Let's not go too far... maybe just the cool parts for now." Korra said, eyeing the covers of her two books, The Romance of Princess Azula and The Sage of Anya the Evil. "It's been pretty neat reading about all this. Seeing these names and hearing these stories, something about the Khan just feels very familiar to me. Like I've met him before..."
Jinora stopped chewing.
"Something wrong, Jinora?" Korra asked.
"Nothing's wrong." the younger girl laughed, "I'm just wondering how you can't see why he's familiar when you did face him off in your previous life as Avat- Grandpa Aang."
"It's not like I remember any of that."
"True, but if you don't mind me asking though..." Jinora began in a casual tone, her grey eyes looking up from her salad to stare at Korra, "... Why do you want to know so badly? You don't need this kind of history trivia if you just want to impress a guy. Just what's in the books should be enough."
The stare was just a mite too intense for Korra, enough to send a small shiver down her spine. "Just call me curious, I guess?" Korra tried to laugh it off- looking away with a careless shrug of her shoulders. "But you know me- I'm a sucker for these kinds of stuff. Training, pro-bending... Anything that has a lot of punching and bending really."
She glanced back at the younger girl who was smiling again.
"Well, you're in luck." Jinora winked playfully, "The Great War was a hundred years of punching and bending. More so in the parts where the Khan is involved. If you're enjoying this much, then I'm sure you'd enjoy the rest too. I can point you in the right direction!"
"Maybe I'll even take you up on your offer!" Korra laughed, "And since we're back on the topic... mind answering my question now? How was Commander Khan to get behind the Northern Water Tribe's walls and in the heart of Agna Quel'a. In the middle of one of the greatest battles in the war? Because on one side, the entire city was being guarded by all the waterbenders in the North Pole. And from the other side, it was getting hammered by the trebuchets of hundreds of Fire Nation cruisers."
"That's because he didn't." Jinora quipped with a smile, but that only made Korra more confused.
"What are you saying?"
She leaned closer with a smile as if sharing a juicy piece of gossip. "I'm saying that Khan and his 41st Division were in the North Pole and operating to take Agna Qel'a down long before the Fire Nation Armada even arrived."
"But that's impossible!" Korra refused that answer, even as she tried to make it make sense in her head, "Was the North Pole a lot different than it is now? Because last I checked, Agna Qel'a sits in one of the hardest places to get to in the whole world! From the front, nothing but a hundred miles of iceberg-riddled sea. And from the back, a hundred more miles of frozen wasteland. And you're saying that he just casually sailed up there, past all the Water Tribe patrols?"
"Yes." was Jinora's casual reply.
"Bull-pig." Korra responded.
"Well, actually... there was one ship that could have stopped him."
"An infamous Fire nation force would ring some alarm bells." Korra shook her head, "I know for a fact that waterbending skimmers can outrun a cruiser for a day- long enough to scurry back to Agna Qel'a. So why didn't that water tribe ship sound the alarm?"
"Simple." Jinora said, smirking. "Because it wasn't a Water Tribe ship."
(Present Day) [Northern Sea near the Fire Nation Colonies]
"Not good enough," Zuko muttered under his breath.
He launched into kata yet again. His boots thudded against the ship's metal deck as he moved through the precise steps. Dense bolts of fire shot from his fists, like flaming arrows shot towards the western horizon, and dissipated a fair distance off the port side of his ship. His topknot swayed with the rhythm of his movements, yet his frustration only grew with each unsuccessful attempt. His tempo was still unsteady, his breath control still uneven, his firebolts still too feeble and overall, it was just...
... still not good enough.
But as he prepared to do another kata, the echo of fat footsteps on metal halted him. Exhaling in irritation at having his training interrupted, he turned and saw his Uncle Iroh approaching. The wrinkled lines on the older man's face were more pronounced today, but Zuko just ignored it.
"What is it, Uncle?" He grunted- wiping the sweat off his brow with a rag.
"Nephew, I have something important to tell you. News from the Capital city."
Zuko scoffed, "I'm surprised that they still bother to update you on matters of the Throne."
"I still have many friends in the Capital City." His uncle smiled wistfully, "Friendships can last decades if formed on a strong foundation, and I have founded them on the strongest foundations in the Four Nations: the Pai Sho table. We still keep in touch through letters from time to time, and sometimes, they relay news to me. This is one of the few times when it is of great import."
"Is this about the Great War Commemorations?" Zuko said with a sigh, "If it is, I don't want to hear it. I can care less about the other soldiers celebrating and relaxing. The Avatar definitely isn't relaxing at the North Pole: He's probably mastered Waterbending by now! Meanwhile, while I'm still struggling with the kata you gave me more than a week ago!"
"An element is an immense primal force that demands proper respect from its benders, Prince Zuko." His uncle calmly lectured him, "Mastery of even a single element is an undertaking that takes many years, even for the Avatar. But no, this isn't about the commemorations, Prince Zuko."
"Then what is it about then, you old gasbag?"
He watched as his uncle Iroh's lips tightened with that hesitation that was so unlike him. Amber eyes just looking straight into his. He was starting to get worried as some seconds of hesitant silence passed them by. But finally- with a heavy sigh- his uncle spoke, "It is about your sister Azula."
Zuko arched an eyebrow. That was it? That was the topic that had the old coot so worried? Zuko expressed exactly what he thought of her: By scoffing in derision.
"And why should I care about what she's up to?" He growled, already marching past his uncle.
"Because, Prince Zuko, I just thought you deserved to know when your own sister has been betrothed."
Now that caught Zuko off guard. He stumbled over his own feet, his jaw hung loosely in shock as he whipped around to face his uncle. Several times, he tried to speak out, but the words kept eluding him. His mouth opening and closing until finally, he managed to blurt out in an incredulous voice.
"My sister, Azula, is betrothed?"
Iroh solemnly nodded, his hands tucked in his red sleeves.
"Impossible." Zuko shook his head, "That would mean that she either found not just a guy who was interested in her, but also one who she liked enough to accept a marriage proposal from... Or, she managed to mess up so seriously that father decided she'd be better off getting married off to some Fire clan noble! And I just can't see 'Miss Perfect Prodigy Daughter Azula' doing either. It sounds like your senile letter friends just wrote you a whole lot of ostrich-horse droppings!"
"It is no mistake, nephew." Iroh said calmly, "The Fire Lord had stripped her of her position as Chief Coordinator and gave it to her betrothed. And from what I've gathered, it was a betrothal personally arranged by the Fire Lord himself. Formal enough that he had announced it to select noble clan heads and high ranking officers. Naturally, he did not see fit to inform me- her uncle- of this."
Zuko ignored his uncle's disappointed tone during the last sentence, he was still focused on one specific fact.
"Azula... She screwed up?"
His uncle just whispered softly, "Is it so hard to believe that your sister would make a mistake?"
"Yes, this is Azula we're talking about." Zuko replied. "I just can't believe it. Her, Father's favourite who always met his expectations and who was always showered with praise for it... messed up this up badly?"
"So badly in fact that Ozai had apparently imprisoned her for it." Iroh confirmed.
"Well, I for one am glad that she finally got her due."
"Are you really, nephew?" Iroh looked at him sadly, "Are you really glad that your sister has been imprisoned by your father?"
Zuko didn't answer, saying instead, "It doesn't matter how I feel. Who did father even choose as her betrothed, uncle?"
"I suspect Fire Lord Ozai was motivated by-"
"Who is it, uncle?"
Iroh hung his head, "The commander of the 3rd Army's 41st Division."
Zuko's eyes widened in recognition, quickly followed by a sneer on his lips.
"That pillaging barbarian who people keep mistaking me for?! He's the reason why I can't even show my face in the colonies without either being showered in praises or glares for things that I didn't do! That's the one who my sister is betrothed to?! That's-!" He paused in his tirade as he actually thought about it, and he quickly changed his tone to a more level one. "Actually, if he's anything like the rumours say, then they definitely deserve each other. My horrible sister can be a horrible person together with her betrothed."
"She is still your sister." His uncle gently admonished him.
"And?! As if your relationship with my father is any better!"
Something tense and painful flashed in his uncle's face, but it was only a brief flash. Iroh spoke in a sad tone, "Azula... She is not Ozai. She is still young, and not set in her ways. It is not our place to judge her too harshly so quickly."
"But we haven't seen her in two years, uncle. Two years!" Zuko bit back, "For all you know, she might have become so much worse, worse enough that even you would think that she needs to be taken down!"
"You don't know that." Iroh protested, "And that is not very kind to say, Prince Zuko."
"Azula never had." He grunted, shaking his head with a frustrated sigh, "Figures. Even when Azula failed so badly, all father would do to 'punish' her is by giving her some barbaric 'war hero' as her betrothed. It sounds less like a punishment and more like father just found the perfect match for her. Besides... with how much trust and freedom Commander Khan gave those Kyoshi Warrior turncoat girls, then I think my crown princess sister is getting off easy!"
"Nephew... your sister just lost your father's faith in her, and now she's imprisoned in Hari Bulkan." His uncle reminded him. "And from what I've been told, the Commander has not been... kind in his treatment of her."
Zuko just heaved a heavy sigh of frustration, leaning on railings and looked westwards, towards the Fire Islands. Towards home.
"What do you want from me, uncle?" He growled, "After everything Azula has said and done to me, should I be feeling sorry for her now? Should I be angry that she's getting treated the same way she has treated me and everyone else over the years? And should I be the one extending my sympathies when her only problem is that she disappointed father for the first time while I stand here- stripped of my birthright, banished from my home and wrestling with the huge challenge of taking down the Avatar himself? Is that it?!"
By the end of it, his voice had risen to a shout as he glowered at the old coot. And to his infinite surprise, the old man met it head on.
"What I want is what you need, nephew!" His uncle Iroh- like a rising fire- raised his voice as well, "Your life isn't just a shadow of your sister's, Zuko. You need to stop comparing yourself to her, and to start measuring yourself by your own deeds and by your own heart! To be the master of your own destiny!"
Iroh exhaled, lowering his voice back to its calm rumble as he looked at him.
"But most of all, young prince... you need to stop seeing Azula as a standard that needs to be met, and more as..."
"As?"
"As your little sister." answered Iroh.
Zuko had nothing to say at that.
"Your entire life doesn't need to be measured in how it compares to your sibling's." the old man said with a soul deep sigh, "And maybe- if Destiny smiles on you- you won't grow mad from it. Now more than ever, family is important."
Having said his piece, it was Iroh's turn to walk past him- heading back down below deck. Zuko was content to watch him walk away before the pieces suddenly clicked together in his head.
"Wait, uncle..." He called out to the older man, "Just now, you were talking about you and father too, weren't you?"
General Iroh stopped for a moment, but did not turn to face him or even glance over his shoulder as he spoke, "Azula needs her older brother more than you think, Prince Zuko."
Zuko knew that the most he'd get out of his uncle. So he let him walk away.
Instead, he settled back into his stance, focusing intently on his training. He needed to be strong enough, not just to confront the Avatar, but to face the tangled Spider-snake web of family and honour that constricted him.
As he moved through the firebending kata, his thoughts drifted to Azula. The idea of her as a helpless princess locked away was almost laughable, yet a part of him couldn't ignore the pang of... something at the thought of his sister in such a state. But these thoughts were overshadowed by the sheer need to capture the Avatar first. He can sort his feelings over family matters about it when he was allowed back into the Fire Islands again... and when his father allowed him back into the family as the Crown Prince- as his son.
When Zhao's armada sailed for the North Pole, Zuko would be at the vanguard. He would not let anyone, not even his new brother-in-law, stand in his way. But just as he was about to resume his kata, one of his firebenders, clad in red armour, approached briskly.
"Prince Zuko, we have a situation at the bridge. Visual contact with a sizable pirate fleet to our west. A looted cruiser and several junks, sir."
"Heading?" Zuko asked without breaking his stance.
"Northeast by North, but there's nothing north of here, sir."
"Pirates raid the Northern Water Tribe sometimes." Zuko remembered the Waterbending scroll that the Avatar's friend had swiped from pirates. "Send a spot report to Fire Nation Command about the fleet, and notify me if they change course. Now clear the deck; I'm resuming training."
The firebender snapped a salute then departed. Alone again, Zuko's mind wandered back to his uncle's words, echoing with a weight he couldn't shake.
"Not just a shadow of Azula, huh?" He muttered before resuming his firebending, The fire was denser and hotter, and each movement more determined than the last. And as he launched the last firebolts in the kata, the full weight of what he needed to accomplish pressed on him – his confrontation with the Avatar at the North Pole would be more than just a mission; it would be a chance to step out from under these shadows and earn his right to come home.
He was going to come home and take his place as the rightful Prince of the Fire Nation. Not his future brother-in-law.
"I'll make you proud and capture the Avatar, Father." Zuko whispered, hoping the cold ocean wind would carry his quiet promise south-east and to the Fire Islands, "I'll be the first Fire Nation soldier to step foot on Northern Water Tribe snow."
[The North Pole]
The virgin white snow of the North Pole crunched underneath my armoured Fire Nation boots.
My large armoured form casually hunched over the little campfire sitting in the snow, and tossed the arctic penguin-fish eye into my bubbling alchemy cauldron with a soft plop. I stirred it around until the notification popped open.
[Dew of the Mountain: Frostbite]
Radiant blue in hue like icebergs and a sweet aroma that could tempt even the most stoic of Fire Nation warriors, it truly is a testament to what happens when Fire Nation warlords moonlight as mixologists.
When consumed, a shiver runs through the drinker's body, granting them a tiny silver of the power of the arctic mountains. The stamina regeneration as expected from the Dew of the Mountain allows the drinker to push beyond their usual physical limits without succumbing to exhaustion. But now, it also bestows the gift of night vision to its drinker, enabling them to see clearly in the darkest environments, as if the nights in the arctic were as bright as its days. An invaluable asset for missions in the dark, possibly revealing threats that would normally lurk unseen in the shadows. Moreover, this elixir seeps into the drinker's bones offers a robust resistance to cold, protecting its drinkers from the biting chill of frosty climates.
A single sip and brave warriors shall have what they seek- the strength to weather the cruel weather of the arctic. Ice within and ice without... All with a pleasant explosion of melon and sweet prune flavour!
Apart from one's eyes glowing slightly in the dark, there are no side effects. Contact your local Fire Nation Giant for more details.
+ R +
Made by: Khan (Herbalism Level 21)
Ingredients: Mountain Dew, Melonyam, Sea Prunes, Arctic Penguin-fish Eye
Effects:
(+7%) Stamina Regeneration for (22) hours
(+6%) Fortify Waterbending for (11) hours
(+8%) Cold Resist for (11) hours
Nightvision for (24) hours
+ R +
"The Fortify Waterbending will be useless for firebenders like us." my deep voice rumbled. "But the rest of the effects will be invaluable for the coming operation. I wish it didn't start sounding like a TV advertisement though."
Nodding, I quickly storing the fizzy drink into cans. I was in the process of packing up my cauldron when six figures in dark Earth Kingdom green cloaks trudged up the snow to approach me.
"Has the 1st Cavalry Scout Squad found our contact yet?" I nodded to them.
Suki's blue eyes shone through the narrow opening in her winter cloak as her soft voice slipped the answer through the chill air, "June and the Lieutenant should be coming back any minute now. And... I really thought Zuko was going to pick a fight and blow our cover back then."
"It was good that he didn't." I muttered, "I would have been forced to sink his ship to maintain our disguise as pirates."
The Kyoshi Warriors shared a look between each other.
"Aw man... now I'm disappointed that he didn't try anything!"
"I wonder how red his face would have gotten if we had to sink his ship in front of him."
"His crew is really small... Do you think we could have recruited him?"
"Yeah, we could have used another servant boy around. That's true."
"Or a Tsungi Hornist. Or a clown. Lots of employment opportunities for Zuko."
"Hey Khan, do you think he knows that you're betrothed to his sister yet?"
"Uncertain, but all the same, I'm not looking forward to that conversation." I admitted. With luck, Zuko wasn't going to swear vengeance against me for furiously assfucking his sister or something. It's a shame that I couldn't even complete her bonus objective before I had to leave too. The entire Royal family- save for Fire Lord Ozai- continues to be a headache. I sighed, "How's the disembarkation process going, Suki?"
"Last time we talked with the 2nd Company?" She clarified, "They'd be almost done by now if I remember correctly."
"We're making good time then." I turned around to survey the process at a distance.
Down by the shore, the 41st Division disembarked from the fleet of pirate ships anchored in the cover of an glacial inlet. The dark red and black fabrics of their specially-crafted (Exquisite) [41st Division Frostguard Greatcoats] (Of Cold Resist) contrasted starkly against the white of the snow. In hindsight, I should have introduced the concept of camouflaged uniforms, but damned if my division didn't look like an intimidatingly fashionable bunch of imperialist soldiers right now.
"HONK!"
Our Ostrich-horses, those great brown birds, looked unbothered by the arctic conditions. Barded warmly for the arctic conditions and fitted with their own special snowshoes, they strutted over deep snow and through the brisk arctic air as casually as they did back in the milder Earth Kingdom winter. Their armoured riders helped with the disembarkation process- gestured with their lanterns, and their yells of direction echoing.
Finally, our valuable equipment and supplies hit the snow. Loaded onto the caravans and coaches- all which had been converted to sledges- they glided easily across the snow- drawn along by powerful draft Ostrich-horses.
The sight of my division, a sea of red and black against the white snow and our division's proud banner waving in the arctic winds, filled me with pride. We were more than just a military force now; we were a symbol of the Fire Nation's military might now. Because after tapping into the final wave of recruits for this enlistment season, the Fire Nation sorely needed another big win to build the momentum. So, it was up to us to bring about a swift victory here in the North Pole and bring the Agna Qel'a to its knees, and with it, the last bastion of Water Tribe resistance.
A sudden feeling surged through me- telling me that the recon team was right there. And half a moment later, Suki's voice announced it.
"They're back!" she called out- apparently the first to spot them.
Over the crest of an ice ridge, a great barded shirshu bounded with an explosion of snow, shortly followed by an armoured flock of Ostrich-horses in Fire Nation colours. The powerful creatures galloped to a stop right in front of me, kicking up snow.
"Hey, big guy!" June greeted- looking comfortable in her thick winter coat- lined with furs and highlighting her dark painted lips and purple eyeshadow. She sent a laidback smile my way, "Did you miss us? The Lieutenant here definitely missed you. Should've heard her. Couldn't go one sentence without mentioning you. It was cute."
"Commander, sir!" The Lieutenant just saluted from atop her Ostrich-horse, her black and red greatcoat clinging securely around her bright red armour.
"Judging by the smiles, you found our contacts?" I ventured. A lot was riding on them after all.
"Mhm, we found your frozen little friends alright." June hummed, "Miss Lieutenant over even had them follow us."
"You led them here?" I aimed the question to the Lieutenant.
Her feathered-helmet dipped slightly from a brief nod. "They claimed that the previous rendezvous point was recently buried under a snow storm and was no longer viable, sir." She explained, "So I made the call to arrange an alternative point. Just a few hours away. I'll submit to whatever disciplinary action for overstepping my authority, sir!"
"At ease, Lieutenant. It was the right call. We're in a rush to burn our enemy's capital down after all."
"Thank you, sir!"
"Can you tell me about their disposition and fighting strength?"
"Wary, but willing to listen, sir." the Lieutenant answered, "As for fighting strength... about division strength? It's hard to estimate, sir."
"I wouldn't go as far as that." June scoffed. "Relax Khan, I think you'll like what you see."
"Good enough. Let's go meet them." I said, standing up from my cauldron before glancing at the Kyoshi Warriors, "Come one, ladies. After a long boat ride, there's nothing like a trek through the countryside."
"Yeah, I just wish it wasn't this country." Suki grumbled as she and her sisters followed along in their snowshoes.
"I don't think our face paint was made for these kinds of temperatures."
"Yeah, sure does feel like I'm wearing a mask made of snowflakes right now."
"Aw. You poor things." June cooed before patting the saddle behind her, "I got space for five of you up here with me."
There was a brief scuffle in the snow as the girls fought for the spots. Squawks of indignation as they tripped each other up in the snow, but in the end, it was rendered pointless, because one Kyoshi Warrior didn't make a move for it.
"Suki?" I said- the silent question hanging in the air, and she just smiled up at me.
"I'd rather walk with you, Khan."
Underneath my skull helmet, I smiled. She didn't have to, but I appreciated it all the same. I looked back.
"Alright, 1st Cavalry Scout Squad!" my voice boomed, "Let's go meet our newest friends!"
(Decades Later) [Air Temple Island]
"So that's how they got to the North Pole..." Korra said as the pieces slowly clicked into place for her.
Her blue eyes were fixed on the book, specifically on the map of the North Pole included in The Saga of Anya the Evil. Her brown finger hovered over a specific point on the map.
"That's what he did, didn't he? Those were the pirate ships that ambushed the Khan on his way to recruit Anya the Evil. The same ones that the Khan boarded and claimed. He used them as a disguise to transport the 41st Division across the Northern Sea!
"Clever, isn't it? Clever and devious." Jinora casually remarked between bites of her salad. "Using the ships of a known pirate fleet, the Khan managed to move the entire 41st Division across the Northern Sea. No Water Tribe patrol would dare stop a large fleet of pirates for an inspection; but at the same time, it didn't give the Northern Water Tribe any reason to believe that a massive Fire Nation armada was coming, or that the Fire Nation was invading at all."
"The perfect disguise..." Korra muttered, more to herself than to the airbender. "... But why go so far? Why even do that when he was just going to wait for the Armada to arrive?"
"Waiting for the Armada is what you'd expect from a normal Fire Nation officer. But the Khan wasn't." Jinora said, a glint of amusement in her grey eyes. "He wasn't exactly a man known to be slow or timid."
"No way... you can't be telling me that he attacked Agna Qel'a before the Armada even arrived!" Korra laughed the idea off.
Jinora took another leisurely bite of her salad, "No one thought that Omashu could be taken within a single week, by a single infantry division either. Not the Earth Kings, not the Fire Lord, and not a single general on either side of the war. But the Khan did it anyway."
"Now I know you're messing with me!" Korra laughed again, a twinge of doubt crept in her voice, "An armada of two hundred Fire Nation cruisers had to be sailed in just to hammer down those coastal walls, the Khan had just one cruiser and four junks with him- it was impossible! And even if he got inside, thousands of Waterbenders call Agna Qel'a home! The 41st Division would have been outnumbered ten-to-one at best! And all that while they're in the North Pole where the freezing cold makes firebending challenging, even for me! And I'm the Avatar! That'd be absolutely freaking nuts!"
The airbender girl said nothing, choosing instead to smile at Korra with a smug, knowing expression.
"...He totally did, didn't he?" Korra exhaled as she lay back on her chair.
Jinora chuckled, "You know, you wouldn't be sounding so confused if you had just paid attention in your history class."
"Yeah, yeah. I hear that enough from my teachers, but this is just adding more questions than answers."
"I think it's still the same question." Jinora said with a shrug of her shoulders, "But instead of 'How did the Khan get inside Agna Qel'a?' the question now is 'How did the Khan get inside Agna Qel'a without the rest of the Fire Nation backing him up?'"
"Well, I got nothing!" Korra grunted. "As far as I know, he just snapped his fingers and used spooky spirit magic to get him and his division to Agna Qel'a just as the Armada arrives."
"He didn't." Jinora mumbled mid-chew.
"Well, this just isn't something that a firebender could have read about in books!"
"It wasn't."
"Between the arctic ice plains and the iceberg coastline, the North Pole is impassable unless you were a local or had big freaking battleships. It's why Ice Dodging has been a coming-of-age ritual for the Water Tribe for the last thousand years! Hugging the iceberg-riddled coastline with a boat is just that damn tough to pull off!" Korra fumed, and Jinora took another casual bite of her salad.
"It is."
"... And you're having too much fun seeing the big dumb Avatar think, aren't you?"
"I am!" Jinora chirped with a bright smile.
"Give me a break." Korra exhaled in frustration, her theories crumbling one after the other in her head. "You're a lot less help than I expec... Wait a minute. Jinora, what if there was someone from the North Pole who could have helped the Khan find a way, maybe even guided him?"
This time, Jinora didn't have a quippy answer, but her smile and subtle nod was all the confirmation Korra needed.
Korra leaned back, her mind racing for a moment before sputtering to a halt. She shook her head. "Forget it. No one in the Northern Water Tribe would-"
"If not the Northern Water Tribe, who else?" Jinora pressed, "Think, Korra. Think about who else knows the North Pole and Agna Qel'a like the back of their hand. About who has an axe to grind large enough that they wanted nothing more than to see Agna Qel'a burn."
Korra leaned back, thinking hard. Until finally, she looked up. "No... not them."
(Present Day) [The North Pole]
The sound of panicked screaming echoing from a burning Agnas Qel'a...
That was how Avatar: Legend of Korra introduced the {North Pole Barbarians}. An army of armoured, hammer-wielding strong men who laid waste to the Northern Water Tribe capital. An impressive feat seeing as- by the time AtLoK came about- the Water Tribe city had only grown in size and technology. A massive modern city... and they still had the balls to attack it and ruin the Northern Water Tribe's day. In short, they were my kind of people. But more importantly, they were in possession of knowledge that I wanted. Needed, actually.
They knew how to attack Agna Qel'a.
That was why the 1st Cavalry Scout squad and the rest of my companions were accompanying me here- through the stark, white landscape that began to merge into a blur of endless snow and ice. The meeting point, as it so happened, was at a place you'd expect in the North Pole.
"A forest... in the North Pole?" Suki muttered in mild apprehension as we entered the shadow of such a place.
Indeed, a dark forest of great trees- larger at the base than Tundra Tanks- stretched for kilometres before us. Thousands upon thousands of light brown trunks spiralled upwards- twisted like rope. Their winding branches stretched far- holding up a thick green canopy like gnarled fingers lifting up your blanket in the dead of night.
"One of many ancient forests scattered across the North Pole." I explained- drawing from meta information that I learned from AtLoK. "This place is hallowed ground, I believe, said to be inhabited by spirits. Best not to anger them by destroying their supposed homes."
'Spirits.' The word was enough to make my entourage of Kyoshi Warriors and Cavalry Scouts wary- their mittened hands rested on their weapons' hilts and their sharp eyes watched the dark corners of the forest with distrust. After that incident with the Knowledge Seeker, I didn't blame them.
Spirit Check succeeded! (62/50 Spirit Required)
"Sir..." The Lieutenant murmured, armoured hand tightening on her reins as her eyes locked at a large forest clearing ahead. A great conglomeration of rounded igloos had been erected across the snowy clearing.
"I see them." I confirmed.
Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors subtly turned to me- their eyes gleaming underneath their cloaks, "Khan, should we..."
'... circle around and prepare to strike them from the rear if things go wrong?' was the silent question.
"No, they of all people know better than to try and spill blood on hallowed ground."
"Ok." Suki's voice whispered back, "But our katanas lie ready, waiting on your word."
As we approached the clearing, the Buffalo-Yaks, grazing on what scant bushes and moss that could be found, nervously whinnied away as our Ostrich-horses leered hungrily at them. The sound drew out the people from their igloos, but noticeably not too far. They were indistinguishable from the Water Tribe as far as I could tell. The same blue eyes, sharp and cautious from the hoods of the same blue winter parkas, watched us approach. And their mittened hands resting on the scimitars and machetes that hung from their hips. They were clearly wary of my little parade of Fire Nation elites.
Their elderly chieftain stood at the centre of the great clearing, alongside a small child rounded by the thick furs it wore.
Garbed in a blue parka with more elaborate designs than the rest of them, the barbarian leader was an old man, thin and hunched over like a tree bent by strong winds. But still, he stood without a cane. His wrinkled cheeks were ruddy from the arctic air and I had to wonder how this frail old man could lead this tribe, but I knew better than to judge by outward appearances, especially old farts. His deep blue eyes were calm as he watched my entourage's approach, even as I and the Ostrich-horses towered head and shoulders over him.
Just as my little parade was about ten paces away from him, I raised my clenched armoured fist- a mere gesture- and we stopped [As One] with an almost inhuman level of synchronised precision.
We stared each other down.
The Fire Nation Giant and the North Pole Barbarian Chieftain.
"I am Khan." My voice rumbled like crumbling rocks, "Commander of the Fire Nation's 41st Division. To whom do I speak?"
The chieftain's gaze was piercing, assessing me with a mix of wariness and curiosity. "Essin, Chieftain of the Partas Clan." His creaky voice answered as his mittened hand gestured to the kid standing beside him- barely as old as Anya was, "This is my grandson, Eswar."
The child tried to look brave as my skull-faced helm briefly glanced at him, even as his tiny knees shook. I did not recognise their names- not from the canon Avatar show at least. But all the same, they were part of this world- just some of the innumerable faceless and nameless characters that inhabited this world of Avatar.
"You have come far from your warm lands to speak to us, Fire Nation." spoke Chieftain Esswin.
"Yes, we have."
"Did you think to bribe our cooperation with the trade goods from your ships in the past moons?"
"No, it was a mutually beneficial agreement." I replied, unbothered by the accusation. My eyes flicked towards the steel scimitar that hung from his hip, and the steel machete on his grandson's back. "I understand that good steel is valuable here in the polar territories while pelts of arctic fauna are valuable in my nation. A healthy slice of trade was so much better than simply demandingto speak with you, was it not?"
"It was." The chieftain grunted in agreement, but settled a serious look at me. "You wish for us to help you in bringing down Agna Qel'a."
It was not a question.
"Yes." I replied, "Help us reach our goal, and you shall have your share of the spoils when we sack the fortress. You and yours need not even join us on the battlefield."
"Our people have survived here long before the Fire Nation's ships even appeared on our horizons. We do not fear strife. Especially not with them. But... is this an alliance Or subjugation under the guise of it?"
Now we have a problem. The raw skepticism in his voice wasn't as clear of an indicator of how much these people cherished their independence as what came next. I saw it, and everyone in my entourage saw it too. The entire barbarian clan around us tensed their hands on their weapons. Through [As One], I felt June, the Kyoshi Warriors, the Lieutenant and the rest of the 1st Cavalry Scout Squad... they were all a hair's breadth away from slaughtering them all.
"Don't." My voice firmly commanded- not to my forces, but to the Chieftain. "We both know what will happen if we disturb the peace of this place. So, don't bait my forces."
I stared down the chieftain for a few long seconds before finally...
He chuckled with a smile made of toothless gums.
"You struck me as a man who was familiar in the ways of the spiritual. But oftentimes, familiarity with those ways does not mean they respect such ways. You have just proven that you do." He raised a thickly-covered arm and gestured to his clan to stand down. "Very well, Fire Nation. Let us truly talk. You promise riches and prosperity, but we need a guarantee. Your kind is known for treachery. You may not betray the spirits, but you may yet betray this would-be alliance."
My skull-faced helmet dipped in a nod, I couldn't fault him for his mistrust. The history between our nations was stained with blood and fire. "Your guarantee is our mutual goal, Chieftain Essin. The most that anyone heard of your culture is that you harbour a marked... dislike for the Northern Water Tribe. We dislike the Northern Water Tribe as well. We have that much in common at least."
There was a tightening to Essin's jaw and his eyes widened to almost round. "The Northern Water Tribe." Chieftain Essin repeated, his aged voice graining a marked edge of fury. "Is that what they have claimed to the rest of the world?"
"I have read many written accounts." I replied, "And I have yet to come across one that would claim otherwise."
That was the last straw apparently, as elderly chieftain turned his head to the side and bellowed with a surprisingly loud voice, "CLAN, GIRD YOURSELF FOR WAR. WE'RE FIGHTING ALONGSIDE THE HOT LANDERS!"
There was a rush of movement as the barbarian clan around us began gathering their belongings, carrying their belongings out from their igloos: Rolled up sleeping bags, leather bags of their personal effects, and spears and machetes, both steel and whaletooth. All of them were carried out and tied to the backs of their whinnying buffalo-yaks.
My and my entourage's confusion must have been palpable, because Essin turned back to me to address it.
"You are wondering why we're choosing to cooperate with you so easily." He began, even as his own grandson scurried off to prepare their own things. "You must understand something, Fire Nation, that when Agna Qel'a was first founded it was not a place for any single tribe to claim as their own. It belonged to all the tribes, for we were all the Northern Water Tribes. So, it was a slap to the face when this latest war between nations bubbled up, and they 'Northern Water Tribe' offered shelter behind those walls. As if it was theirs to give! And now it is they, 'the Northern Water Tribe.' And us, 'the North Pole Barbarians?' Tribes have gone to war in the past over far less."
"But Agna Qel'a is already a confederation of many tribes." I pointed out- having already researched our target well beforehand, "And those that didn't want to participate in its policies went on to form the Southern Water Tribe. So, where did your clan come from?"
My green eyes peered through the slits of my helmet and down to the patiently smiling senior.
"Unless... you were part of the Agna Qel'a. Until you were not. That's what these wandering clans are. You're political dissidents, sentenced to the most common punishment in Agna Qel'a: Exile."
"You got this all from musty old books, Fire Nation?" He chuckled. Then with a sombre sort of pride, the old man glanced at his people. "But yes, we descend from those voices that spoke too boldly or too loudly against the Northern Water Tribe's sanctimonious rule. They shunned us all, cast us out of our birthright and forever barred the gates of Agna Qel'a to us. But unlike our Southern kin, we know our place is here: the land that the Ocean and Moon Spirits had promised to us. Our estrangement from Agna Qel'a, our conflict with the 'Northern Water Tribe', runs deeper than just politics- filled with grievances that even time has yet to heal. Old grudges carved onto even older whalebones."
He shook his head, airy wisps of sparse grey hair slipping out from under his parka's furred cowl.
"For now, all you need to know, Hot Lander, is even if the price of our way of life is..." He glanced at his grandson- the answer to the unasked question of where the child's parents were, "... very high, you will not find a clan of more able big game hunters in all the Four Nations. We will fight with you against our wayward kin... On one specific condition."
"Name it." my voice rumbled.
His gaze, intense and unwavering, met mine. "If the Head Chieftain of Agna Qel'a is captured, becomes our prisoner, I demand that you allow me the right to confront him, to pass judgement. This is my condition, non-negotiable."
"You may have your confrontation, and you may pass judgement, but whatever sentence you give him is to be carried out after the siege."
A cloudy blue eye narrowed with an annoyed look, "What part of 'non-negotiable' did you not hear, Fire Nation?"
"The part where you're too willing to potentially compromise our operation with your impatience."
"Bah, we've waited generations for this. What's a few moons more?" Essin grumbled, "If we're negotiating, then my clan is willing to postpone his sentence, if you would fire up your Hot Lander forge and meet our immediate need for arms and armour. So, Fire Nation, do I have your promise?"
Without hesitation, I met his demand with a firm nod, "You have my word. Should the Chieftain of Agna Qel'a fall into our hands, he will face you. You will have your chance for justice or vengeance or whatever we wish to call it."
"Then we have an accord." Chieftain Essin solemnly intoned as he raised his gnarled hands to the sky, "Spirit of the Moon, shine over our sworn bond! Spirit of the Ocean, safeguard our promises in your tides! Ancient spirits of the True North, bear witness to this pact made before your abodes! So, mote it be!"
"So, mote it be." I repeated solemnly.
Chieftain Essin nodded, the tension in his posture easing slightly with my assurance. "Then, about the arms and armour we require to fight alongside you, Fire Nation... how capable are your smiths?"
From my [Inventory], I twirled a blacksmith's hammer in my hand, and smiled underneath my skull-helm, "Very capable."
Even then, my eyes shone with anticipation.
The plan was coming together as I walked in the footsteps of giants. In the 13th century, Chinggis Khan, aware of the formidable defence that the Khwarezmian Empire had arrayed before him, made the formal military decision to... befriend the local nomads. Nomads, who lived off the lands and knew it as they knew the faces of their family. Nomads... who knew the weakest and most vulnerable point of the empire. And here, I have done the same.
All that was left to do now was...
(Decades Later) [Air Temple Island]
"So, what happened next?!" Korra demanded, banging her fist on the wooden dining table.
"Hey! Watch it!" Jinora steadied her glass of ice water and pouted at her, "Did you even know this part of Water Tribe history?"
"Sorry." Korra admitted. "And no, I didn't know this part of Water Tribe history."
"Don't let it bother you." Jinora sighed, lazily waving her fork with a piece of lettuce on its end, "It was a divide that grew over the course of at least three hundred years. You won't read this in any Northern Water Tribe history schoolbook, trust me. And if we're being honest, it's the Northern Water Tribe's fault for modelling their justice system after Otter-Penguins and just exiling all their detractors out of the flock. Literal bird-brain policies."
"Hey! We do that in the South too." Korra tore her eyes from the pages to look at Jinora with narrowed eyes. "And that still doesn't explain HOW! You know, this would go a lot faster if you just told me what you know, Jinora."
"Maybe I do know, maybe I don't." Jinora leaned back in her chair, her smile widening. "But where's the fun in just telling you everything, Korra? I feel like I'm teaching you something valuable here about critical thinking. So, let's play a little game of Hot and Cold! You try and figure out how he did it, and if you're getting closer, I'll tell you you're getting warm. Colder, if you're getting farther from the truth. It'll be as if you're really following in the Khan's footsteps!"
"I know how the game goes." Korra grumbled, "But sure, let's make the Avatar work for her answers today."
"That's the spirit, Korra!" Jinora grinned, "So put yourself in the Khan's shoes right now, and tell me: how did he manage to get all the way inside Agna Qel'a?"
"Ugh... I hate critical thinking." Korra groaned, furrowed brow in thought anyway. "Okay, so if he was already attacking Agna Qel'a before the Armada arrived, that means that he didn't have the heavy artillery to break down the coastal walls to do it."
"Alright. So the Khan made friends with the barbarian clan that's been giving the North some trouble in the past few decades? What does that get him exactly? Because Agna Qel'a wasn't any less defended even if the Khan and the 41st had a clan of barbarians backing them up. Did they teach him a secret tunnel under the ice?"
"Warm." Jinora responded with a hint of pride in her voice, and Korra nodded.
"Right, so he had to have snuck inside." Her eyes drifted to the ragged, icy coastline of the North Pole. "Agna Qel'a would never let a pirate fleet into their harbour; and there's no other port in the North Pole now and there hasn't been in the last thousand years. So, the Khan had to have made landfall in the North Pole wilderness, established a base and snuck into the city... with his entire division... through the great coastal wall... Guarded by all the Waterbenders in the world... where they could see any ship coming in from a dozen miles away... Okay, this is just sounding really stupid."
"Oof, you're getting colder," Jinora shook her head. "Well, The Khan could have done that, I think. But that wasn't his plan."
"Well, how else could he have gotten inside?"
"Look closely at the map of Agna Qel'a." Jinora casually said, her mouth half-full with her salad.
"I don't know what you're trying to show me here..." Korra grumbled her lips but looked anyway. A water tribe city of ice built in a circular valley. A huge coastal wall of Agna Qel'a protected the port- standing as tall as any Fire Nation Cruiser at the time. The entire land perimeter around the city's circular valley was a smooth white like a fresh tub of ice cream. Not even a chest-high fence to stop anyone from walking into the city.
Her brows raised as the pieces clicked together. "No..." Korra dismissed the idea as quickly as it had formed. "They couldn't have assaulted Agna Qel'a by land!"
That amused smirk sprouted on Jinora's lips, "And why not?"
"Because the terrains around Agna Qel'a are a nightmare! It's already a dicey trip trekking the poles for a team of waterbenders; trying to do it with Firebenders is a death sentence! The blizzards hammer that place so hard that even people like me- who've lived our entire lives there- can barely stand that level of sheer butt-freezing cold."
"You're getting warmer by the way." Jinora said with a touch of irony.
"Now, I know that you're messing with me." Korra laughed, her blue eyes meeting Jinora's amused greys, "Take it from me who grew up a waterbender from one of the poles. Polar terrain isn't something to mess with. There's the arctic ice plains around Agna Qel'a... We have places like that in the South Pole too, where even putting a single step where you shouldn't risks collapsing the ice right from under you! And the only other alternative is even worse than that! The deep arctic tundras are full of frozen mountains made of permafrost and ice fields of sharp, pointy icicles that could run a person through if they slip onto them. There's no way, Jinora."
Korra shook her head for emphasis, brown ponytail waving in the air.
"No freaking way that he did used the land approach."
But instead of being called out on her bluff, Jinora just smiled a bright smile. "Warmer~" She insisted, having entirely too much fun in Korra's opinion.
"Okay..." Korra sighed, "Let's pretend for a second that I believe you. So, the Khan somehow managed to find a way to cross the ice plains and hit Agna Qel'a from the side-"
"Colder."
"What? So if he didn't march over the ice plains, then..."
Korra sat back and furrowed her brows. trying really hard to think of any way that anyone could possibly pull that off. One after the other, her theories of how anyone could possibly pull that off crumbled in her head... until just one remained. Blue eyes widened. Bewildered, she looked up at the cheerily smiling airbender and shook her head, "The arctic tundras? No... he can't have. That'd be insane! Waterbenders have died trying to do that!"
"Hot. Really hot." The brunette teased.
"Jinora..." Korra muttered, "You can't be saying that he... that the Khan-"
"-That the Khan not only tricked and avoided every Water Tribe patrol to land undetected on their homeland..." Jinora weaved her fork around the salt and pepper shakers, dodging them with ease. "... but also marched his entire division through 300 miles through the most brutal winter terrain that the Four Nations has to offer thanks to his new barbarian friends' knowledge of the local geography..."
Korra watched as Jinora danced her fork around the dripping glass of iced water, and then around her wooden salad bowl.
"And after that gruelling, perilous journey..." Jinora softly said as she lifted her sharp fork up in the air- the metal gleaming under the sunlight, "... the 41st still had the strength to deliver a surprise assault so devastating- so brutal- that in one fell swoop..."
Her fork stabbed down- spearing through a grilled cherry tomato.
"... it sealed the Northern Water Tribe's fate in the war?"
Jinora lifted it up, regarded it with clinical grey eyes. Watched as- skewered on the prongs- the tomato bled and bled- its innards dripping from its numerous wounds on its scorched black outer skin. Then with a smooth motion, it disappeared past pink lips and white teeth, disappearing into the airbender's gullet.
She smiled.
"Congratulations, Korra." Jinora licked her lips as whispered, "You're on fire."
"That's... unbelievable." Korra sat back with a dumb look, and Jinora's slender shoulders shrugged in red and orange airbender robes.
"Hey, if you find it hard to believe, you can always ask Gran-Gran." the younger brunette said, "She was thereafter all. And she'll tell you that the 41st Division arrived long before the naval artillery bombardment did. You might want to be gentle about bringing it up though. It's a... touchy topic."
"Yeah, I know." Korra nodded solemnly. "Granny Katara... she was never the same after that fight."
(Agna Qel'a - Weeks before the Armada's arrival)
Katara shivered, and not just from the cold.
The relentless Arctic winds may have been biting through her parka, but it was standing there at the northern city edges of Agna Qel'a that was sending fearful shivers down her spine.
Who wouldn't be uneasy? When they were staring out from the edge of the world?
Just snow, ice, and blizzard. Stretching into the horizon. A monochrome landscape where the sky and earth merged into an indistinguishable blur of white- as if the blizzard winds had sanded off all the colour from the world.
Her father used to tell stories about these places: About the jagged, snow-swept lands of the True North Pole and the True South Pole, and why children should never venture far from their settlement, especially out in a blizzard. He told of the clawed hands of angry spirits that would reach up from under the packed snow and drag them under. Deep under the ice and snow, so deep that their bones would never be found.
She thought she had grown out of those horror stories.
But now, standing here, she understood why her mother never stopped her father from telling them, no matter how scared it made a younger Katara. They weren't just horror stories- they were serious warnings, couched in the guise of ghost tales, about the real dangers of wild, hungry animals, and unstable ice sheets that covered sub-zero water pockets, and deep pitfalls hidden by the deceptively smooth surface of the snow. Maybe there weren't hungry spirits hiding in the snow now, but it didn't make this place any less dangerous. And it didn't frighten her any less, but regardless...
Katara put on a brave smile. For Aang.
"See?" She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as she gestured to the empty, blizzard-battered wasteland that surrounded Agna Qel'a. "There's nothing here. There's nothing to worry about."
Then her brother had to open his big fat mouth, "Yeah, no Fire Nation here! Nothing at all, except for rampaging spirits of ice and winter, of course. Oh, and savage barbarian tribes who'd drink from your skull. Yep, there's totally- Ow!"
"Sokka!" Katara scolded, her heart beating in her ears. Sokka's words, meant to be a joke, unwittingly echoed her childish fears over the silly horror stories. And yet, she couldn't help it, her eyes flicked back at the blizzard- looking for a threat that was hidden just beyond sight, waiting for them in the relentless storm.
"I'm just saying, Katara." Sokka rubbed his shin where she kicked him, "There's nothing coming to attack us, especially from this direction! Aang just keeps having bad dreams caused by bad sandwiches. I mean, how would anyone attack the North Pole from... well... the north?! Is there a super north that no one knows about? That's just crazy talk!"
"Yeah, sorry for making you guys worry again." Aang said, smiling wide and thankfully, not sensing her unease for this place.
"It's no trouble, Aang." She smiled back, "Having peace of mind is important too."
Sokka rolled his eyes, "Sure. But next week, we're going to be digging underground just to check that no one's gonna attack us from there too, aren't we?"
Katara crossed her arms and aimed a cross look at her brother, "Then why did you come along if you were just going to make fun of us?"
"As if I'd let you two go out here on your own." Sokka said honestly.
"Raaw!" protested Appa.
"Oh, sorry, Appa." Sokka apologised with a smile to their sky-bison, "What I meant to say was 'As if I'd let you three go out here on your own."
"Raaw!"
"Yeah, you tell him, buddy!" Aang guffawed, and Sokka laughed along with him. And soon, Katara's lips couldn't help but crack a smile at her brother's protectiveness.
"Okay, you two. Let's head back before Princess Yue starts to miss Sokka too much." She suggested, her voice firm yet gentle.
At the mention of the princess, her brother's blue eyes lit up and the smile grew wider on his cheeks. "Ohoho, don't you worry. Sokka would never make a lady wait!"
"Alright, let's go, O' Sokka the Never Late." Katara shook her head as she smiled. So simple, her brother was. It was one of his charms. She hoped that Yue wouldn't take advantage of her brother's simplicity, not too much at least. And Katara was actually looking forward to some hot food in her belly too.
But as her hands gripped the rope ladder up Appa's saddle, she heard it. A sound, a solitary note lost in the wind, faint and out of place, reached only Katara's ears.
honk
The distant honk of an ostrich-horse.
Her grip on the ladder loosened and snow crunched under her boots as she stepped away, her eyes scanning the white horizon, searching for the source. That sound... it was impossible in this barren landscape. Nothing could live in this place, there shouldn't be any animals here! So... where did that sound come from?
"What's a matter, Katara?" Aang's voice made her jump, and she whipped around to see him looking over to her with concerned grey eyes.
Even Sokka joined in, leaning over the saddle, "Yeah, Katara, what's up?"
She glanced back at the blizzard, then at Aang and Sokka. "It's nothing. Just a trick of the blizzard winds." She said, her voice firm yet gentle despite her heart racing, not wanting to alarm either of them. She pulled herself onto Appa's saddle with them.
"I think what you need is some sea-prune stew to warm you up." Aang smiled as he gripped Appa's reins.
"Yeah, probably just the cold getting to me." She agreed with a weary nod.
"Yip yip!"
Katara breathed a sigh of relief as they lifted off from the snow and rose high into the air. Away from here.
"... Does Gran-Gran still get those PTSD attacks?"
"You mean those 'Qela Flashbacks? Whenever she hears an ostrich-horse honking, yeah." Korra nodded, "At least she's finally stopped having them from car horns? Still thinks Ostrich-horses, geese, turtle-ducks and anything else that honks or hoots or quacks are pure evil though."
"...Poor Gran-Gran." Jinora shook her head with a sigh.
It was only when they finally took leave of that place- back to civilization that was a stone's throw away, that Katara truly relaxed.
'It was nothing,' she told herself as they flew back to the city. 'We're safe. There's nothing lurking in the blizzard. Nothing hiding in the snow. Nothing at all.'
honk