Newly promoted General Hwa had finished up the necessary paperwork and transfer of duties, feeling both concerned and proud of the promotion. That she teetered on the edge of being demoted into oblivion for her aid of Xing did not worry her; after all, the young colonel's outlandish claim had proven true, and they had saved the world.
It was entirely her new rank, or rather where that rank sent her that gnaws on Hwa's mind. It was no secret that the eastern lines were far more eventful than the other regions, yet the harvest of merits there was slim for the commanders stationed there. The closer they got to Ba Sing Se, the tougher the resistance got, and the slow crawl threatened to grind to a bloody halt.
Still, being assigned as General of the East did present some opportunities. Being the one to break the deadlock would bring her great acclaim, and having command of the entire front meant that Hwa would have a freer hand in making that happen.
As general, she could theoretically liaise with General Sho and barter for the loan of several regiments…like the Princess' Fire Lancers, for example. Young Xing's unorthodox strategies might be what the eastern front needed. If that meant that she would have to share command (and thereby credit) of the front, so be it.
Hwa was not the type that greedily hoarded the intangible, nor was she delusional enough to think she didn't need any help. She'd even tolerate the brute Dao if it meant advancing the war in the Fire Nation's favor. Maybe she could also reach out to the southern garrisons, perhaps some commanders there might be interested to trade languishing in patrol and guard duties for the danger of the front lines…
The general mulled in silence as she walked through the administration district, but she wasn't so lost in her thoughts to miss the attention of someone moving in to intercept her. Hwa tensed as she slowed and let a modestly dressed noble girl walk up before her.
Modestly dressed in relation to all the primped up courtiers around here, anyway. The girl's face was only lightly powdered, and her hair tied back with a simple silver hairpin. Her silk dress was absent of any metal threading, save for the distinct emblem of the royal flame sewn on her left breast.
It was uncommon to see such a simply-dressed courtier.
The girl wasted no time in bowing at Hwa in greetings. "Crown Princess Azula sends her congratulations on your promotion, General Hwa."
So this was the princess' lackey? That explains the modest clothing then.
"I'm surprised that news has already reached her highness," Hwa bluntly said, and the noble girl smiled a bit too serenely.
"The crown princess had foreseen the likelihood of your promotion, and had prepared for the occasion."
The general raised an eyebrow at that. Princess Azula was far more thorough than she had thought, to anticipate Hwa's promotion.
Before she could think further on it, the girl before her bowed once more. "Ah, forgive me for my poor manners. I have the pleasure of being Hyunji, handmaiden of the crown princess."
Hwa nodded at the girl. "What does the crown princess wish of me?" Might as well get straight to the point. Princess Azula wasn't one to beat around the bush either.
Hyunji smiled, a bit more warmly now this time. "Her highness merely wishes for you to continue doing your best for the Fire Nation. She also cautions you against overworking and overreaching; your merits do you in good stead already and you should not feel like you have to prove yourself."
That was nice of her. But then again, the princess did have an eye for nurturing talent. Which meant that Princess Azula truly did see something in Hwa to send a message like this. The notion that her ascension to general warranted royal attention, even indirectly like this, filled Hwa with some pride.
She couldn't wait to relay this to her parents, uncles and aunties, and not only be the first general on either side of her family, but the first to actually gain royal commendation. Oh, to be able to rub it in the faces of her elders! Mercantile tradition her battleworn ass!
Quickly snapping back to the present before it became too rude, Hwa bowed her thanks at the not-insignificant attention. "Please relay my gratitude for her highness' consideration of me."
The handmaiden nodded, and then to Hwa's trepidation her smile melted away. "However, I'm afraid that I also bear…potentially unwelcome news for you, general?"
Surely the princess wasn't going to start working her straightaway?
Before Hwa could start guessing though, Hyunji turned away and began to walk, offering only a glance to hint that Hwa should follow her towards the much less busy side of an administrative office. The handmaiden glanced around before she spoke again, her voice softer and edged with some worry.
"It is either fortunate or unfortunate that you have been elevated to General of the East, because I have…news meant for such a general." Hyunji gave a dry, consoling smile. "You've saved me time in delivering messages, General Hwa, but I must apologize for the bad exchange on your part."
"What's going on?" Hwa hissed, suddenly wary of her surroundings as she was plunged into some sort of intrigue.
"Are you aware of the War Ministry's competition, general?"
Hwa quickly dredged up what she knew. "I think so? The candidates are still proving themselves for the post of minister?"
Supposedly, after Minister Qin's unfortunate demise, the ministry almost broke down immediately as various assistants and proteges fought to replace him. The Fire Lord encouraged the rivalry within limits, applying the Fire Nation's meritocracy in a slightly more ruthless manner to decide the next War Minister. As such, the candidates were all doing what they could to stand out.
Allegedly, some administrators and overseers were locked in a destructive cycle of sabotage and outright assassination, while others took to the field with untested prototypes, and a few more deluded individuals took to hunting the Avatar.
Judging from the handmaiden's grim nod, Hwa guessed that the second group was a cause for concern now.
"One of them, Chief Engineer Gunsou, has decided to bring one of the late minister's prototypes war machines out into the field."
Hwa thought of the tundra tanks which performed admirably, and wondered what else could be derived from it. "And he'll bring it to the east? Is the machine dangerous?"
"Hmm… Not exactly." Hyunji produced a scroll from within one of her sleeves and offered it to the general. Hwa unfurled the scroll and beheld a precise sketch of a sort of drill on…tracks and spikes? A massive drill on track and spikes, if the numbers attached to every line were correct.
"By all accounts, the Great Drill should be impervious to most external damage."
With that much steel on it, Hwa could imagine that claim to be true. However…
"It would, however, require a heavy escort. One that would likely be far more vulnerable considering the slow speed of the machine."
The general frowned as she noted the specifications of the Great Drill, and saw its abysmal speed. Then she imagined trying to stop earthbenders from reaching any part of the drill to climb inside and sabotage it. Because of course something like this would require various entry points..
And Hwa imagined doing so for dozens, if not hundreds of slow miles, from the front lines all the way to Ba Sing Se. Because what else could a drill like this be used for besides breaching the Impenetrable City's walls?
It'd be a daunting task for sure, though not too impossible. One only needed to dedicate…say about a whole army to keeping the drill safe and un-isolated.
"I can see the cause for concern," Hwa stated as evenly as she could, rolling up the scroll to return it, only for Hyunji to shake her head at the gesture.
"Keep it. We have copies. While the crown princess is more than happy to wish for the success of the many inventions from the War Ministry, investigations up until now have made it clear that this particular system, this Great Drill, might carry a cost of far too many lives to be brought to bear. Building it near Ba Sing Se would expose too many talented engineers, and having it crawl all the way there would tie up far too many troops in its defense."
Hwa nodded her agreement at the assessment. "So what would the crown princess ask of me?"
Hyunji grinned as she lowered her head slightly, giving her a menacing look. "Chief Engineer Gunsou will likely be making the proposal to begin assembling the drill in the eastern front within a few days' time." The handmaiden nodded at the scroll in the general's hand. "Study the schematics, determine how many spears and firebenders would be required to keep it safe, and then as General of the East volunteer your forces to the drill's defense."
Hwa frowned as she tried to find the underlying schemes in that proposal, but she had to admit that her lack of talent for intrigue put her at a disadvantage. What difference did it make, surely the War Council would ask her to guard the drill once it was deployed? It was about the same thi-
Ah.
Hyunji smiled at her reaction. "I see you've realized what needs to be done, general."
"I do," came the reluctant reply. Hwa didn't like this first venture into the realm of politics. "Point out the flaws of the machine to downplay the drill's potency, so that the chief engineer would be affronted and request only a minimal guard to prove his success?"
The handmaiden's smile grew. "You'd make a good court general, General Hwa. But yes, poke at the man's confidence, and he'll likely rely solely on the War Ministry's own forces to escort the drill."
"Wouldn't that be setting them up for failure?"
"It is the crown princess' belief that compromising the whole eastern front for a mere chance at breaching Ba Sing Se is foolish. A chance at just breaching the wall - not capturing the city because otherwise it'd demand even more manpower - for the virtual guarantee of compromising the eastern territories once the Earth Kingdom grows a brain and decides to capitalize on the emptied out defenses. To say nothing of the potential losses if they simply harass the drill's supply line and slowly starve it of fuel and manpower."
Hyunji's smile morphed into something more hollow and cold, almost mirroring her royal mistress' own lethal glare. "Does that sound like a fair trade to you, general?"
It didn't, but considering the amount of metal on the contraption, maybe the princess was being pessimistic on its chances? Hyunji noticed the unasked question and sighed. "In theory, this drill would be all but guaranteed to do its job, and it would be well worth the cost in lives. However, we are not only fighting boorish earthbenders, General Hwa. Remember, the Avatar has returned, and according to reliable sources, he has already mastered airbending and waterbending. Elements that the drill might not be prepared for."
Ah, right. The Avatar.
Hwa looked at the raised control bridge of the drill, one meant to keep it out of reach of earthbender attacks, and then imagined the airbender boy swooping in to tear the whole tower down with a flurry of water blades or a localized hurricane.
General Hwa humbly lowered her head and snapped a salute. "Please relay my gratitude for her highness' compassion for the common soldier."
*****
Hyunji left the new General of the East with full confidence that Hwa's loyalty had shifted that much more towards the princess. Military types tended to take either more work or less, usually proportional to their competency. Hwa was competent, so Hyunji had been prepared for patient nudging. She already had some future aid planned out, all above board and reasonable to ensure that there would be no dishonesty to potentially threaten the stoic woman's joining the ranks.
Crown Princess Azula liked the harder but also more rewarding path of gaining her followers through 'clean' means, which had the nice side effect of maximizing their loyalty to her.
Hyunji herself had been a rescue, so to speak. Her parents had been disgraced from royal court and had to settle for an inglorious posting in a desolate island. The princess plucked them out of obscurity and put Hyunji's parents to work overseeing a burgeoning colony, all for the low price of competence and loyalty. Hyunji too was offered a role in the palace as the princess' handmaiden, though it was for the most part a move to snub some of the court officials.
Not that Hyunji would complain; Princess Azula took good care of her pawns, and was not so close minded that she kept them stunted on a tight leash. Like many servants, Hyunji had proven her worth in palace politics, and had earned greater responsibilities and merit for it. Now she did her mistress' bidding beyond the palace grounds, often acting as a messenger or recruiter in the princess' interest within the home islands.
Her roles were not strictly limited to that, though.
Leaving General Hwa in a good mood, Hyunji returned to the main street and headed for a shuttered tea house. A grizzled old man stood outside of it, dressed with all the plain finery of a retired merchant. She offered him a smile, and noted the way he folded his arms across his chest - Left over right, with the index and little finger flashing out.
Wonderful.
Hyunji passed the old trader, and walked past the tea house as if it never was her intended destination in the first place. She easily slipped into the back alley, using the establishment's back entrance. The merchant's rather dashing grandson held the door open for her, and Hyunji had to resist the urge to flirt as she entered the kitchen.
Just in time, a couple of pretty noble girls like herself - save for their dresses teetering off their shoulders - passed by, 'escorting' an older man into one of the store rooms. It'd have made more sense if this all took place in the brothels, but if a man liked drowning in the smell of dried tea leaves as he fucked, who was Hyunji to judge? It made for a more hilarious discovery, if anything.
The handmaiden waited for the storage room's door to close and double checked for potential interruptions before she walked up to the room and slowly opened it
"Oh my," she said, feigning surprise at the genuinely surprised man and his giggling companions.
He immediately sputtered and his hands gestured in the air. "W-Wait, miss! This is not what it-"
Hyunji aborted the excuse with a sultry smirk - one that took her months to get right because she wasn't exactly a smiley person - and pushed the collar of her dress towards one shoulder. "Mm… Mind if I join in?"
The target's shock took on a different flavor, and then he gulped as his two companions before nodding too eagerly with a dirty and greedy grin.
She locked the door behind her, as one of the other girls grabbed a handful of tea leaves from an open sack to mash against his face and the other began to work her hands down between his legs. Hyunji and her accomplices exchanged looks as the man gave a mewling moan.
Really, she shouldn't kinkshame, but…
"Aww, over already?" Getting back to the task at hand, the two girls giggled and teased their target and easily encouraged him for another round. Hyunji joined along with a vapid smile as they disrobed and made a show of caressing each other before him. The man got hard again (eventually, spirits be praised) and this time both girls got down between his legs, while it was Hyunji who held a handful of leaves.
Except these ones weren't taken from the many containers within the room.
The man moaned in pleasure as she shoved the leaves into his mouth, but credit to him, he quickly realized something was wrong when he tasted the toxic spores from the moldy leaves. Before he could struggle too much, Hyunji's accomplices tackled him down and pinned him by an arm each, while Hyunji straddled him to keep him from kicking too much and kept both hands on his mouth to keep him from spitting out the poison.
She also had the pleasure of leaning down to look him dead in the eyes and deliver the princess' message.
"Chief Administrator Tsu of the War Ministry's personnel department… Crown Princess Azula has taken notice of your rude overreach, both in having the hubris to declare yourself Minister, as well as trying to slip your dirty hands into her regiment." His body bucked and writhed, but the three assassins kept him from breaking free. "For your hubris, know that your remains will be thoroughly humiliated. You might even be posthumously disowned after they discover what we've done to you."
His futile struggles took far too long for the girls' liking, but eventually, the poisonous spores did their work, and Tsu's choked lungs gave out. Hyunji and her colleagues quickly added the finishing touches, and then she left out the back door, while the other two gave her a few seconds before they let out very convincing screams.
Only a little prodding was all that was needed for rumors to spread that the late chief administrator was discovered naked in a tea house's store room. The details varied very little; Tsu had paid a lot of money to close the shop for the day so that he and his companions could enjoy a private drinking session. Then he left his young escorts to grab some tea, but after he took too long they went to find him, and lo, the man was naked and dead, choked with a literal throat full of tea leaves with signs of…personal intimacy found on the leaves on him.
And in him. Hyunji found it rather fun shoving dried leaves into his lower body's orifices. Messy, but fun. Better than trying to smear drying semen on the leaves, anyway. Those girls were consummate professionals to not react at all as they got their hands dirty.
Tsu's death was quickly ruled as a freak suicide (emphasis on 'freak'), attributed to him over inhaling the leaves as he did…whatever it was that he did…and then unfortunately choking to death.
The tea house surprisingly thrived after that, capitalizing on the weird incident. 'Tea so good a man tried to fuck it' became its unofficial slogan. Hyunji had mixed feelings that the shop did so well; on the one hand, the owner's grandson now might inherit a thriving business to be considered a viable prospect for her. But on the other, he was getting too busy running the place to have time for her.
Such was the rocky life of a princess' servant."What's his crimes?" Kilin asked as she stared at the gagged, wide-eyed man bound to a stake.
Xing glanced to his side where a well-dressed young man a few years older than himself stood. The surprisingly young governor of Zilang didn't miss a beat. "The condemned," he said with a sour face, "is convicted of multiple counts of murder."
"Huh. I thought it was partisan terrorism?" Xing asked.
The governor shook his head. "The terrorism charge would unfairly involve his village, who had been highly cooperative in turning in this scum to us in the first place. Plus Unc- Overseer Dae also said that declaring this scum a terrorist would be legitimizing him, and might give other aspiring resistance fighters the wrong ideas."
Kilin didn't appreciate the finer workings of all those words, but she did note the disgust and hate in the governor's eyes everytime it was directed at the criminal.
"Who'd he kill?" she asked out of curiosity, and the official snarled rather viciously.
"Two civilian engineers, one foreman, and fourteen of his own fellow villagers, of which four of them are children."
A sudden void dropped in the elder waterbender's guts at hearing that children were involved.
The governor spat on the ground as he glared daggers at the bound criminal. "The bastard covered a few barrels of blasting jelly with his earthbending, and then sent the booby-trapped boulder rolling down at the newly built creche. The foreman and engineers tried to stop it with their own earthbending, but the barrels went off and turned all the rocks and dirt into lethal projectiles. The villagers sent a runner to one of our patrols, who quickly hunted him down and dragged him here."
It was confusing as it was horrifying to hear that someone could do that to their own friends and neighbors. Kilin stared at the gagged man, and met a gaze that held only contempt.
"You said something about partisan terrorism?" she asked, remembering the other more obscure charge.
"Yeah, bastard had to be gagged because he kept screaming profanities at anyone in any form of Fire Nation uniform, and spouting nonsense about punishing traitors and…'collaborating whores to the Fire Nation' to everyone else." The governor spat again. "Fucking coward doesn't have the balls to go after things that can fight back. According to the report, he was too busy trying to flee rather than put up a fight against the squad that captured him."
Kilin's gaze hardened and turned deadly cold on the man at the stake. The young man was right, this…filth was nothing but a spineless coward with delusions of righteousness. "I'm surprised he's still alive," she remarked. Every second he drew breath was more air he wasted and tainted with his existence.
"Eh, it's only been a week," Xing said. "Supposedly the local judges were debating on how to execute him?"
The governor nodded grimly. "More or less. Some magistrates are arguing that he should be executed in the village for their closure, but since the place is still being rebuilt others have suggested to just get it over with. Then there's the debate on whether to make it quick or slow."
Xing grinned. "My thanks, Governor Hanh, for loaning him to us. I'll do my best to keep him alive for his inevitable execution."
"Eh, if he ends up dying, just make sure he suffers."
The governor bowed (surprisingly offering one to Kilin as well) and then left, leaving Kilin with Xing and his soldiers in one of the regiment's smaller training grounds.
"Now then, elder, with your help, hopefully this sterling example of human monstrosity will get to live through everything I have planned."
The waterbender found herself smirking thinly, and her voice thick with malice. "I'll make sure he won't even pass out," Kilin promised.
She walked with Xing towards the bound prisoner, and kept a hand on the boy's shoulders to track his chi paths as he centered himself. If the whispers were right, someone or something had purposely changed the boy, and for the better. He still didn't have a normal person's chi network, but the holes in his chi paths had been…tidied up, as best as Kilin could describe it.
While before they might be akin to severed limbs that were left open, now they felt more like robust Earth Kingdom stone pipes with some sort of gate or valve to it.
The prisoner's head shifted back and forth as he tried to speak through the cloth gag, but both waterbender and unusual firebender ignored him. Xing drew in a breath, and Kilin felt chi that was not his flow in and circulate through his body. To her waterbender senses, it felt like opening the floodgates to let the irrigation ditches be flooded. It was a potent, heady rush that even seeped into her through her meager contact with Xing.
Xing reached out and pinched the madman's ear, and the chi began to flow away from it. Ignoring the muffled groans of growing pain, the healer focused on bringing her hand down the boy's back, tracing his many severed chi paths and noting the prodigious torrent of energy flowing out of Xing. The paths were no longer buckling and deteriorating, and his body was not losing heat as rapidly as it used to.
There was barely any change in his body's heat at all, come to think of it. Kilin noted no cold sweat or shivering from the boy, and a quick tap on his neck confirmed that Xing was about as healthy as he could be. The healer finally looked over to the prisoner, and was surprised to find him shivering instead. His eyes were fluttering, and he was slumped over with only his bindings to keep him up.
"What are you doing?" Kilin muttered in surprise, and the flow of chi through Xing stopped as he glanced over to her. There was a loud crack as he snapped off the man's now-frozen earlobe and showed it to her. The thing had turned blackened, and Xing gave a casual flick with the other hand to produce a solid pinging sound. A glance back at the victim saw the rest of his ear in an equal state of frostbite, with not so much as a droplet of blood seeping through the jagged wound.
"It seems that I'm able to make use of my previous freezing issue."
That was…new. Terrifyingly new. Xing could drain heat?
"Did you take it from him or the air?" Kilin asked with sudden urgency.
The boy frowned. "The air. I tried to draw it from him, but…it was taking too much effort."
The aged waterbender hummed at that. So it was likely this was a result of drawing chi, not unlike what he was doing before, except that the side effects had changed?
"Can you do it at range?"
Xing shook his head. "I haven't tried. It feels like I can barely control it this way."
Kilin nodded and proceeded to back away. "Well, that's what I'm here for. I'll be at a safe distance."
The young soldier waited until she and his bodyguards were right by the entrance before he took an unusual open stance several paces away from the bound convict. Kilin could see elements of firebending in his short movements, but the movements were too jerky and clumsy. Xing's lack of proper bending experience was clearly showing now, as he seemed to struggle in channeling the energy.
There was a moment where he seemed to get into a smoother flow, and Kilin began to notice the ground around Xing's feet turning paler as it dried out. He finally punched out with two open palms pressed together at the base, but nothing came out.
Nothing that could be seen, anyway.
The prisoner gave a muffled scream as something washed over him and his exposed skin turned pale. His attire became stiff as if the linen suddenly turned into paper boards. The wooden stake he was tied to creaked and glistened from the sudden accumulation of rime ice on its surface. A thin fog wafted down from both man and stake that slowly faded as the ambient heat returned to warm both up.
In contrast, steam was visibly rising from Xing. He wasn't sweating, but the air around him was distorted with a heat haze that quickly dissipated. The ground around his feet had dried to the point that they cracked.
As she stared in stunned silence, the boy slid back into the start of the same stance and began to move again. The prisoner noticed and shook his head desperately, his pleas still incomprehensible through the cloth gag. Xing's hand shot out again, and this time the criminal's scream was much more tortured.
His face flushed red, his once stiff clothing turned soft again and dripped with melted moisture. The stake creaked as it sweated water. And this time it was Xing's back that was covered in rime, and the cracked ground by his feet lightly dusted with falling ice.
"Heat…heat bending?" one of the bodyguards muttered in silent awe.
Kilin couldn't find anything to disprove that claim, and stared harder at Xing. He didn't look any worse for wear, especially when compared to his usual bouts of white fire. Forcing herself to return to her responsibilities, the waterbender cleared her throat
"How's your firebending?"
Xing looked over to her with a grin. "Better than it ever was." His hand lashed out, and a stream of white fire roared just inches past the bound man's head.
"No cold anymore?"
"Not even a hint of a shiver," Xing proudly announced.
Whoever - or more likely whatever - that did this must have been really talented. To not only undo the damage on Xing's chi pathways, but improve it so that he could turn the weakness into a new asset?
If it wasn't clear that the spirits favored the boy, this new feat should confirm it for the doubters.
Still, best not to let it all get to his head; Can't have the boy be too smug that he becomes careless. "It's all well and good, but your form needs working."
Xing slumped a bit and nodded. "Yeah. I'm figuring it out as I go. Normal firebending styles aren't good for it, I've tried."
Kilin nodded in understanding. It was the same with waterbending water whips and ice spikes. Different forms were better suited to channel chi into different purposes. Healing utilized a different level of manipulation and control as well. Xing being so used to blasting his white fire was putting him at a slight disadvantage now since he had no formal bending to use as a foundation.
"Well, you'll have to take it slower and have a feel of how the chi is moving." She walked over with a nod towards the terrified captive. "Let me see how he's doing and then we can figure out how good's your control. Where'd you put his ear?"
Fortunately, Xing had a talent for heatbending which proved more controllable and malleable than his white fire. With occasional tips from the bodyguards in relation to the stances, they spent the day establishing the initial understanding of this new art, and Kilin felt her mind race as she took in the staggering implications of heatbending.
Ice attacks against the boy would be useless. She tried the forms that she knew, and all the frozen spikes and hailstorm did was douse Xing in lukewarm water at best. At worst, Kilin watched the water flash into steam. On the other end of it, he could drain out all the heat from an area and literally freeze limbs off.
With Xing's creativity and ruthlessness, Kilin could already imagine the bloody wake that would follow once he utilized it.
Governor Hanh returned in the evening to retrieve a ruined corpse. Xing was good, but not that good. It was a mistake to have let the boy try and freeze the man's tongue out; the cold air had seeped all the way down to his lungs and asphyxiated him. After that, there was no point in trying to heal up the rest of his frost- and burn- related wounds.She realized too late into her lunge that she had overreached. Her senses screamed warnings as her body stumbled to bring itself to a halt. But it was too late. The monster had simply sidestepped her attack, and with deadly swiftness his head thrust out.
Suki gasped at the strong and hot flesh instantly tightened around her neck, but it didn't stop her from retaliating. Her war fan slashed horizontally, but that only made the malevolent creature step into her reach, her elbow slapping harmlessly against his plates and his presence getting far too close for comfort.
The pressure around her neck tightened even more, painful enough this time that Suki had to drop her weapon in an attempt to break free of the grip. Even as she struggled, the Kyoshi Warrior couldn't break from the gaze of the monster before her. Piercing golden amber eyes glowed with malevolence as they stared into her, and an apathetic straight line formed the creature's mouth. The boy-monster yanked her towards him, and Suki felt his pincer break the skin of her neck with that jarring movement.
She kicked and punched to no avail, and helplessly watched as the boy's other arm rose up, the stinger raised in preparation for a killing blow.
Suki's struggles slackened as tightening grip caused something in her throat to pop, and she found herself gurgling with wide-eyed terror.
"Surrender," came a baleful voice, and though the monster's mouth did not move, she knew it was his. "Submit."
Despite her fear, the warrior managed to shake her head, her eyes never breaking from his gaze. The boy stared at her for a while more, and then she heard a sigh. He brought his face closer and he opened his mouth, and then his head broke up into a swarm of scorpions that poured over Suki's face and spilled over her body. She tried not to scream, but then she felt the pinch of pincers and stingers-
Suki woke up with a gasp, the awareness of her whole body going painfully stiff crashing into her consciousness. It was the same dreadful nightmare again, with one of the more violent outcomes. The girl brought her trembling hand down from her throat before she sat up, and found herself in the comfortable inn that she and her sisters had booked for the night. Across her, Kana remained soundly asleep.
After soft rap on the door, Okuni's head peeked in, throwing a mildly concerned look at Suki. "Everything alright?"
Suki glanced around, and then nodded slowly, hiding her still trembling hands under the blanket. "Yeah. Bad dream again."
There was no Scorpion here.
Okuni frowned a little, and then slipped back out to resume her night watch, leaving Suki to sigh as she slumped down into the bed. The nightmares were infrequent, but their disturbing vividness always left her shaken. What was worse was that there were different 'endings' to the nightmare. This was the first time she recalled the Scorpion's face turning into a swarm like that. Previously, either the pincer around her neck snapped close to decapitate her, or the stinger came down to burst an eye or pierce her forehead.
Or…
Suki chewed at her lip as she recalled the other endings.
Or she would admit defeat, and then the pincer would let go of her throat, only to slice through her armor… Or the stinger would not come down, but strike upwards…between…
Banishing the unwelcome recollection with a sharp shake of her head, Suki rolled to one side and closed her eyes tightly, forcing herself to recall other things as she tried to go back to sleep.
She was surprisingly rested enough in the following morning, and led her Kyoshi Warriors onwards without stumbling or slouching like the first few times. This stretch of their journey this time didn't take too long. They met a passing wagon going their way, and the merchant on it had been generous enough to offer them a lift in exchange for some questions about the Kyoshi Warriors.
It was a small price to pay, and the girls enjoyed basking in the barely restrained awe of the trader and his family.
After weeks of wandering, the Kyoshi Warriors finally reached the most dreaded destination. Suki and her friends traded looks to draw support from each other's strength before they stepped into the colony of Zilang.
As it has been in earlier encounters, the arrival of the Kyoshi Warriors drew many stares, but by now Suki had learned to ignore the curious looks directed at her group. Or the mild annoyance of the local guards.
Throughout their journey within the Fire Nation's territory, the patrols and town guards had always kept a wary eye on the painted warriors, but never once had things escalated beyond some questioning. A captain or two might be overtly suspicious and disapproving of their presence, but nothing even close to harassment came from the meetings.
Suki would take suspicion over leering looks any day though, and begrudgingly admitted that from all she's seen so far, the Fire Nation were far less oppressive overlords than she'd expected them to be. Oh sure, it was a recent change, and the older overlords were practically interchangeable with the fouler Earth Kingdom rulers Suki had the displeasure to know, but that made things all the more impressive.
The heir to the Fire Nation's throne, the crown princess no older than Suki herself, had decided to take over and administer to the colonies with - according to some villagers 'lucky' enough to witness it - ruthless compassion, doing an about turn in their governing policy that focused on bettering the lives of its conquered people.
The changes had made the common townsfolk and villagers treat Princess Azula with respect that made her seem like a saint at times. The Kyoshi Warriors had passed by once-derelict towns being rebuilt, and on two occasions part of the laborers included former officials who had been demoted by their princess. Taxes had been lightened by almost a third, apparently after the princess' own officials did some digging into corrupt governors and magistrates and 'corrected' the rates. Her new colonial magistrates had more integrity and were far more lenient, as were the frequent patrols she ordered to keep the lands safe.
With stories like that being spread around liberally, it was little wonder that Princess Azula won the hearts of the conquered territories. On the one hand, Suki found such veneration by former Earth Kingdom people to be disturbing at the very least, especially the refugees that spat on the names of the lieges they fled from. But yet, as much as she wanted to dislike the princess, Suki had to admit that Azula was doing a lot of good.
Even if part of that good included having the infamous Scorpion Dragon on a leash.
Some said the princess used her charm and wit to keep the Young Dragon loyal. Others insisted that she fed her regiment criminals to sate their bloodlust. And then there were groups that speculated that she had his family hostage or held some other great advantage to keep the psychopath obedient.
More controversially, a few whispers dared hint that the princess willingly 'sold' herself to the Monster of the North in exchange for his loyalty.
Suki liked to forget that those rumors existed, but every now and then some drunkard would spout it, only to be quickly silenced (often violently) by those around them.
And now, she and her warriors were in the lair of the dragon itself. The colony town of Zilang proudly boasted that it hosted the colonial barracks of the 11th Royal Regiment, the 'Princess Fire Lancers'. It said so on the sign on their way in.
After parting with the merchant, they secured lodging for the night before exploring the town.
And there was much to explore.
Compared to the other colonies, Zilang showed more signs of prosperity. It was bustling with activity, just like the other towns they had visited, but there was something more to it. The buildings were no bigger, but there was a clean shine to them that made them feel…better.
Merchants dressed in distinctive Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom attire manned stalls side by side, but there was significantly more Fire Nation red lining the streets than Earth Kingdom green here that the other colonies didn't have.
The clash of green and red extended to the townsfolk, and though many wore elements of both, it was hard to ignore the higher number of red-robed officials walking about. Many had shades of green tastefully sewn into their robes, and some even sported badger mole designs, but regardless it was clear that Zilang was the closest thing to an administrative capital for the colonies.
Only the guards were exclusively Fire Nation in their attire, and Suki noticed that they were far more keen eyed and far more polite. The ones that stopped to question them even addressed them as 'ma'ams' with a passable smile.
"Ah, the crown princess had expected your arrival," one guard said, and for some reason that conjured up the image of a smugly smirking princess, which annoyed Suki. "Please head to the governor's office. I'm told that your stay here will be catered for."
Suki was sure that there was an insult buried in that offer somewhere, but their curiosity made them follow the directions to a large building of white walls and red and green corners. To Suki's growing annoyance, the officials that saw the Kyoshi Warriors walk in bowed in greeting. "Oh, welcome, warriors of Kyoshi Island. Please, have a seat and I'll have things prepared shortly."
"Have what prepared?"
"A gift, from the crown princess. It'll be just a moment." The man left before any questions could be asked, and then returned shortly after with a jingling pouch and a small scroll. The pouch contained a mix of Fire Nation ban and Earth Kingdom yuan.
Suki unfurled the scroll, which simply read, "Payment for the safe transport of potential Fire Nation civilians. From a grateful princess to renowned warriors. Don't antagonize Xing."
The official bowed again as he remembered something. "Oh, if you would not mind telling me where you are lodged, if you already are?"
Suki blinked, but saw no harm in answering that.
"Thank you. We will send someone over shortly. As per the crown princess' orders, your stay in Zilang will be paid for from her personal funds."
Was this a bribe, or was Azula just showing off her station?
Regardless, the now puzzled Kyoshi Warriors left the administrative building and decided to spend the rest of the day sightseeing. As usual, they sought out the poorer part of town, and as usual, the Fire Nation guards did not do anything to dissuade them. Not that Suki expected the place to be in a state of decrepit squalor.
Like the other colonies she'd visited, Zilang's poorer quarters showed off far less shine and its streets were narrower, but things were still relatively clean and orderly. More importantly, there was a sense of busy purpose to the adults here, and few people were milling about idly. Everyone was either rushing out to work or coming back from it, or looking after children, or doing housework.
Suki hadn't had the chance to see the equivalent in Earth Kingdom cities, but she sincerely hoped that it was at least as good as what these people had. That the stories of cramped, overpopulated alleys filled with broken people and waste were a thing of the past.
The Kyoshi Warriors spent an hour walking through the district in the vain hopes of finding anything incriminating, any dark secret about Fire Nation rule before they moved on to the markets. There, Suki and the sisters drew many eyes as usual, and apparently Azula's order was already in effect because the vendors were more than happy to give away their wares to the warriors. The guards even stepped in when some traders were being too insistent on offering their wares, especially those dealing with trinkets.
It was only until one trader practically begged that it dawned on Suki. "Please, take this! It's the least I can do for the great Kyoshi Warriors as honored guests of the crown princess!"
Suki suppressed a shudder when she realized that not only was Azula tying her name with the Kyoshi Warriors, but none of the people here forcing their wares on them were doing it out of fear or easy money (supposedly Azula would be paying them for it, after all); by their proud smiles these vendors were genuinely enthusiastic about giving stuff away to Azula's guests. They were eager to prove the quality of their wares to honored visitors.
As Suki processed the disturbing thought, a voice called out from behind her that caused her hand to shoot straight to cover her throat.
"Oh, fancy seeing you here."
She turned to the familiar voice, and found the Scorpion wearing an amused smirk. Despite the sudden rush of emotion, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors also noted how the crowd around them became much more subdued in his presence, even the guard were fidgeting.
"You." That was all Suki could say, though she had to raise a hand slightly to forcer her fellow warriors back at ease.
"Yeah, me." His smirk faded as a frown formed on his face. "Are you hurt?"
Suki then remembered her hand still wrapped around her neck, and willed it down to her side. "N-No. It's nothing."
The Scorpion gave her a look for a second before shrugging it off and then bowing politely "If you say so. I'll leave you ladies to your leisure and not ruin your enjoyment any further. Please, enjoy Zilang."
As she stared at his departing back, Suki was torn between rushing over to strike him down, and asking him to stay (she struggled to figure out why even if her neck felt exposed at the thought of it).
Thankfully she did neither, and the Kyoshi Warriors retired for the evening for an interesting first day in prosperous Zilang.
Relatively, because Suki had the nightmare again, and when she awoke she resolved herself to try to put an end to it. With face unpainted and dressed in a commoner's outfit, the warrior headed for the barracks of the 11th Royal Regiment as soon as dawn broke out. She didn't even wait for breakfast, or fully clean off the dampness between her legs.