Xing’s words might have stalled the sally, but it was the three Earth Kingdom generals he’d captured from the Outer Walls that got a good portion of the defenders to step aside and let Xing advance to the Inner Wall. They even got to keep their weapons as those that didn’t run to seek out their potentially mind-blasted loved ones bore witness to the colonel’s next feat.
The remaining defenders were on the great walls, defiantly hurling down boulders and spikes onto Xing as he neared the walls with a fearsome surety. Kai felt undeserved brotherly pride at watching his spirit-touched little brother shoot up to the skies far, higher than any firebender of the 11th could manage, to land onto the walls.
Even from down here, the captain and his colleagues could see the peasants and soldiers behind the parapets suddenly fall over as Xing’s new and utterly ruthless firebending was put into use. And to think that just a few months ago, he was having trouble controlling his heat to cook eggs. Now the boy was dropping men all around him without fatalities. Kai couldn’t imagine how it must feel to have the very air around you suddenly reach temperatures hot enough for sword hilts to start sweating resin glue, but it must be a new level of agony considering the amount of Dai Li prisoners still groaning in pain back at the lake.
The waterbender healers were just starting to tend to their wound when Kai and the rest of the regiment moved out, if only to stop their noise from annoying everyone. Plus, there was a growing queue among the troops to brush up on their interrogation tactics on their reprehensible prisoners. Ping of course, was first in line, her grudge against abusive monsters reignited.
Her lieutenants had already been briefed about their captain’s tendencies, and should step in to stop her from losing herself to her old…nightmares if it ever came down to it. Just in case, Kilin and her folk would keep an eye out as well.
Speaking of prisoners, General Yama and his clique earthbender prisoners stood beside Kai, watching on with varying degrees of interest. The old badgermole in particular was stuck with a deep scowl ever since he passed by the brainwashed women and abused Kyoshi Warriors. It was rare to see Yama eerily quiet, which made his caged anger all the more notable.
The faded screaming from above the walls died down, and Xing popped up behind the walls to launch a stream of white fire into the air. Mozi, Kai and the other captains gave the orders, and the 11th took several steps back, and all the firebenders dropped into a stance in preparation for potential intercept work.
It was the first time Kai - and likely anyone else within the 11th - saw hewn and earthbended rock glow like a lantern’s screen. There was a strange sort of beauty as the glow radiated out from the top where Xing stood, and covered a whole section of the Inner Wall right down to the base. Then Kai had the unique experience of watching a stone wall, one that defied the great Prince Iroh, sag as if it were made of wax left under the sun.
The rocks glow turned from a dim orange to an intense, white-yellow that hurt the eyes. Then the bulge from the drooping wall ruptured with a roaring spurt to herald the spilling of molten earth. The farmlands below the walls exploded into a heavy curtain of smoke, and more trails from behind the wall told of buildings probably caught up in it as well.
Kai hoped that nobody was stupid enough to defy Xing’s orders to leave. It would be a stupid death, but a death nonetheless to mar his record.
The 11th was treated to an outright historical sight of Ba Sing Se’s Inner Wall being breached (and such a waste of an innuendo that was) in a most unique way, and there were appreciative ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the assembled troops. The Earth Kingdom folk were understandably more shocked than anything, though Yama’s scowl still didn’t budge.
Once the wall had melted down low enough, another burst of white fire had Mozi giving out another order. “Hans! Get the wasserwerfers!”
Thirty flammenwerfer tanks rolled out, their weapon’s fuel tanks now replaced with water. Despite the change in purpose, Kai spied the Hans aiming their shielded hoses looking just as serious and grim as they did when entering actual combat. Some truly courageous wall defenders attempted to hurl rocks down to stop the advance, but Xing was seen quickly flying over to put down such resistance before they could truly flare up.
If Kai guessed right, the young colonel probably just heated all the rock and dirt around him to make it impossible for earthbenders and their bare feet to literally stand their ground. Well, better half-boiled feet than outright death. The captain had an inkling of what his little brother had planned, and while he didn’t take his studies in court politics so seriously, Kai grasped enough of Xing’s moves to appreciate the boldness of trying to win over an enemy city with minimal casualties.
It was a good thing Kai already had his marriage officially acknowledged, the last thing he needed was for Ren to get inspired by of all this and set up trials for him to crawl through before accepting his proposal.
Huge clouds of steam exploded as the wasserwerfers sent out focused streams of water into the pooling and bubbling lava from a safe distance. The gap in the wall was quickly blocked by a massive column of steam. The Hans literally emptied their tanks into the steam fog before turning back for a refill.
Kai couldn’t see Xing anymore by that point, and considering there was no screaming to be heard, he probably had moved on to secure the next piece of his engagement contract.
The 11th waited for another round of the Hans dousing the melted wall section and then waited some more for the steam and smoke to dissipate enough before advancing into the city. They pointedly kept their eyes forwards and to their flanks, pointedly ignoring looking up to the skies to not see the Avatar and his companions flying over their heads.
Neither Xing nor the 11th received specific orders regarding the capture of the Avatar after all, and the regiment had far more important things to do like bounty hunting. Kai liked to think of it as charity to the more desperate, who needed their one big break. Let them have a nigh insurmountable crack at capturing the Avatar.
With the same lackadaisical attitude, the regiment didn’t care too much when their longest serving prisoner broke away from them and followed after their colonel.
*****
“He’s down there!” Sokka called out, pointing down at the wide road for Aang to see. The airbender gave a stony nod and urged Appa on towards the palace. Xing had asked to meet them at the palace gates, but the gang had all quietly agreed to shadow his moves instead. Aang was worried that there might be other nasty secrets that the Scorpion might reveal en route, Katara still didn’t trust the guy, Toph kept her reason for curiosity to herself, and Sokka was…torn.
On the one hand, he shared Aang’s sentiment, not wanting to miss out on any further nasty secrets lurking in Ba Sing Se. Secrets that Xing might try to exploit for his own gains. If he knew about the dungeon under the lake, what else might he hold close to his chest?
Yet on the other hand, a part of Sokka wanted to make sure Xing didn’t get obstructed in his travel towards the palace. That part of him wanted to see how the Scorpion Dragon would bring justice to the prisoners of Lake Laogai. Seeing the bawling soldiers trying to snap their sisters and wives out of the Dai Li’s trance, Sokka felt a quiet rage that called out for blood.
What had happened to the Kyoshi Warriors was utterly horrific. Would that fate await Katara if the Dai Li got their hands on her? Would she be another brainwashed girl so they could control Aang? What if they managed to reach Yue?
Sokka wanted to be there when Xing dispensed justice. He wished for all the dark rumors about the young commander to be true, only so that the Dai Li and all involved with them would suffer.
They reached the palace gates way ahead of Xing, who was running alongside another man. An Earth Kingdom warrior, interestingly enough. In any case, there was an air of impatience from the gang as they waited for him. Aang was absently patting Appa’s head possessively as he kept alert of his surroundings, and Sokka couldn’t blame his friend for his paranoia. Though hopefully he’d lose some of the tension later on.
Sokka himself took the time to study his environment. Compared to the rest of the city, which was in the throes of panic as their walls failed them, the ostentatious noble housing around him was dead quiet. A check with Toph confirmed that the nearby buildings were empty, their residents probably fleeing someplace to escape the city. Past the gate and the (relatively) unimpressive set of walls surrounding the palace though, Toph picked up some activity.
“There’s a group of soldiers near the gate, but there’s also some people in robes and dresses further back beyond them.”
“Wonder what they’re up to?” Katara asked, trying to get Aang’s involvement.
“Whatever it is, I hope Xing gets here quickly.” It didn’t work too well unfortunately. Aang really looked like a kid with a tantrum when he was in a sulky, simmering mood.
Xing arrived minutes later, and with him was an old earthbender who looked too angry to be hunched over with age. “Thank you for not heading on first,” he greeted with a nod, most of his fury from earlier now faded away.
“Why do you want us here?” Toph asked immediately.
“Well, to get straight to it, I’d ask you to help spare the Earth King from his fate.”
The quartet of teens immediately made their surprise known. “What? Why?” Aang asked. “I thought you’d want to murder him for what he did.”
Anger flickered in Xing’s eyes, but he managed a casual shrug. “He probably didn’t know about what went on under the lake. Not that it absolves him of all blame, but…” Xing glanced at the scowling earthbender beside him. “...killing him does not suit our purposes. He’d be a martyr, and that’d push his supporters to join those of the Dai Li’s, which might make them tolerate the atrocities committed under Lake Laogai.
“I still say you’re too soft,” the old earthbender grumbled.
“So, you want us to…save him?” Katara asked with a frown. “Just so you can have an easier time taking over the city?”
“I rather you ask him for the truth of his involvement with the Dai Li. If he proves…well, not innocent, but truly oblivious to what they did, then I’d ask that you help him escape before I get my hands on him and throw him to the crowd. If he knows of the atrocities, you can deal with him yourself, or leave him for me, or both.”
“And what’s he here for?” Toph asked, pointing at the surly warrior beside Xing.
“I got a nephew that really needs some harsh, bone breaking lessons, the fu-.”
Thankfully, Xing cut in before the tirade could really start. “I’d like to ask that you bring General Yama with you. He has a…much delayed family reunion.”
Appa flew past the measly palace walls, raising a choir of startled guards and courtiers. Sokka saw some people’s eyes go wide at recognizing the Avatar’s arrival, while others went wider when they saw General Yama. For all his sourfaced-ness, the old man went pale and clammed up the moment Appa took to the skies.
The palace guards tried to intercept them, but a still pissed off Aang was not having any of it. Powerful gusts of wind knocked any opposition off their feet and sent them flying, and another mighty gale rolled the prone figures far enough away for the riders to slip off Appa’s back.
“Allow me,” Yama muttered as he walked to the massive doors, looking up and down the portal with surprising hate. “Stupid brat should’ve just burned this whole place down…” The old general stomped his feet, and a spike of dirt and pavement shot up like a wedge to force the door open. For some reason, breaking through the doors further soured the man’s mood. “Fucking still haven’t fucking switched from hardwood…”
With Yama leading the way, they made a beeline straight for the throne room, armed guards be damned. Not even Katara was too reluctant to sweep the guard aside with some roughness, and Aang was just venting at this point with each blast of air. It was weird to see Toph being the calm, measured one for once, but then again she was probably studying how General Yama was earthbending.
The old man wasn’t as powerful as Toph, but even Sokka could see the skill in which he wielded his earthbending. Instead of just hurling boulders, Yama compressed them into dense rocks that cracked metal and bones as it flew. His earth spikes were smaller yet no less deadlier than any other earthbender Sokka has seen, while his movements were quicker and less…stompy.
It didn’t take too many hallways before they finally broke through to their goal. The last of the palace guard were arrayed in a tight formation, spears and earth spikes forming a prickly wall that stood between the gang and the shocked young man standing up from his throne.
“Fucking stand down, you useless shits!” To the guards’ credit, they didn’t budge from Yama’s crass yelling. But the richly dressed man by the throne took on a highly surprised expression.
“Un- Uncle Yama?”
The Earth King’s surprise turned into a startled jerk as Yama wasted no time to berate his nephew.
“At least you’ve got enough of a brain left to recognize me. Call your guards off, or I’ll do it for you.”
“B-But uncle… They said you were lost-”
All of the sudden, the general crouched and swiped his leg to one side, and the guards almost reacted in time to stop the earthen wave from crashing into them. Except that Toph used their distraction to stomp her foot and send the whole section of floor they were standing in flying high up, where a collective ‘oof’ could be heard as men were crushed against the ceiling.
“You’re welcome,” she said with a cheeky smirk, which Yama ignored as he walked up to the throne.
“What else did they tell you, runt?”
The Earth King raised his hands placatingly, giving unsubtle glances around the throne room for help or an avenue of escape. “I was told…they said that you had been dragged away into a Fire Nation dungeon. That you were likely dead.”
“Pfft. Yeah? Who told you that? Which general gave you the news, huh? Hao? Mura?”
“L-Long Feng.” And Yama stopped in his tracks.
“And the Council of Five?” Yama asked, softer this time but no less scowl-ey.
“T-They’re busy with the war, are they not? I’ve read their reports they send to Long Feng, they’re struggling to keep the Fire Nation in check.”
Even from behind him, Sokka could tell that the old general’s scowl managed to grow deeper.
“Nevermind that,” Aang suddenly cut in. “Did you know about the girls in Lake Laogai?”
“Wha-?”
General Yama slumped, a hand rising up to his face. “Fuck…it really is incompetence…?”
“What’s going on?” the confused king asked.
And Aang and Yama both took turns to explain what had happened, while Sokka and Katara checked on the guards and Toph played truth detector.
And Sokka felt amused and disgusted at just how oblivious the young monarch was.
He hadn’t known that the walls had gone down. Long Feng had said the ruckus outside was due to the walls being reinforced.
He looked genuinely appalled (and Toph confirmed it) at hearing of what was discovered in Lake Laogai. He’d not heard anything about it at all.
He looked even more shocked when they told him that the city was practically lost at this point, that the Scorpion Dragon - which Long Feng had assured him was a myth used to scare soldiers into doing their jobs - was making his way to the palace.
And it shocked the gang too when Yama corrected his nephew’s assumption. “I’ve been a guest of the 11th for a fucking long time now, no thanks to you.”
“My- What? But uncle-”
“Don’t ‘but’ me, you dolt! You simply believed that I was kept in some dungeon?”
“But Long Fe-”
“Long Feng this, Long Feng that! Is that all you listen to, boy? Ever tried a thing called ‘doubt’ or ‘thinking for yourself’?”
The Earth King looked utterly insulted, but considering his company, he did well to try calming his uncle down. “Please, uncle, I didn’t know. I am truly sorry.”
Yama shook his head with a heavy sigh, hands flying up in the air with exasperation. “Of course you didn’t know. Fucking didn’t know you’re the reason why I had to remain with the brat too, I bet?”
Toph confirmed the king’s confusion was genuine, and the general let out a hollow bark of laughter. “Did you simply stamp whatever piece of paper Long Feng gives you, or did you just give him your royal seal?” Even from a distance, Sokka could feel the wrath and disappointment from Yama’s glare. The Earth King, being the direct target of it, was utterly cowed and visibly shrank back.
“I was supposed to be freed, about five years ago,” the general elaborated, as much for his nephew as for the rest of the audience. “Cheap ransom too. The smug bastard Lidai felt I had suffered enough. Then I had the bloody shame of having the brat come and rescue me when my supposed escort turned on me and tried to off me.”
Yama’s eyes were wide as he clearly lived through his memories. “Lidai had the fucking audacity to feel bad for me, and left me go at the next outpost we came across.” He turned to Aang, as if audience participation suddenly was a thing. “Did you know what happened when I got there?”
The airbender shook his head, and Yama snorted and he spun about to jab a finger at the king. “I found spears pointed at me and a royal fucking decree ordering my corpse’s return! With your royal stamp on it!”
“Ouch,” Toph commented, and Sokka saw a few recovering guards wince from hearing the tale.
“I-I…I didn’t know…”
Ignoring the Earth King’s apology, Yama turned back to poor Aang, his hands emoting rather expressively as he ranted on. “It must’ve been the stupid cunt. I told them he was a useless inbred imbecile, but did anyone listen to me? ‘No Yama’, they said. ‘He’s a good king’, they said. My sweet, brilliant sister couldn’t have been responsible for birthing such a useless shit.”
The general caught himself before he rambled on, and then snapped a finger at his royal nephew who looked conflicted at the blatant slander in front of him. “Your father sent me to the boonies because he hated my guts, and I respect that. You didn’t even know you signed my death warrant.”
There was no mistaking the tone of finality from the general, and the Earth King began to really plead for his life. “Uncle Yama, please…”
A loud explosion echoed from beyond the throne room. Xing had arrived.
Sokka immediately turned to Aang, Katara and Toph, exchanging questioning glances with them. Aang frowned for a bit, then gave the panicking Earth King a glare for a second. Then the gang turned their silent looks to Yama, who simply scowled back at them.
White flames heralded Xing’s arrival. Sokka watched from the safety of Appa’s back as the Scorpion strode into the throne room and the guard around him screamed from being bathed in invisible fire. Only Yama stood unaffected somehow. They would have to figure out a way to counter that nonsense. What kind of whale walrus bullshit fire is that?
Xing looked up to them with an expressionless face, giving only a nod that Aang replied in kind as Appa began to rise. The Avatar then turned to the Earth King holding tightly onto Appa’s fur, and Sokka worried for a second that he’d blow the monarch off the air bison’s back.
“Come on, the faster we head south, the better.”
The deal was to drop the king in friendly territory, though why Xing would be so merciful still escaped Sokka and his friends. The Earth King was to be allowed to try and rally resistance against the Fire Nation, and Sokka could only wish him good luck in that. Because judging from Aang’s disapproval, the Avatar would likely not be dealing with the monarch any further after this.
Besides, with Xing’s agreement, the gang would have to rethink the day of the Black Sun. Maybe they could spring Bumi out of Omashu to figure something out, and get a second opinion on whether the Scorpion could be trusted to provide Aang with a firebending master.
*****
Yama felt much calmer as he watched his useless nephew fly off with the Avatar. He heard Xing walk up beside him despite the cries of agony around him.
“I’m surprised you let him live, general.”
“Shut it, brat,” Yama snapped instinctively, and then sighed. “Stupid shit’s the last I have of my family, of my sister…”
“Here’s to hoping he doesn’t waste his second chance at life, then.”
Yama dismissed the brat’s words with a snort, and then turned to the young colonel, the soon-to-be prince of Ba Sing Se. “Thank you, Xing.”
The boy smiled in return. “As I said, don’t sweat it. You’re still free to join him, if you’d like. Maybe help screw his head on straight?”
Yama snorted again. “Yeah right, and that’d get me, what? A year at most before you crush him?”
“Eh… If he plays his cards right, I have no reason to go after him.” Only if Kuei gave up his claim on the throne… Would that be a good thing, then?
“I’ll pass, brat.”
Xing had his plans for the dethroned Kuei, Yama knew it. Yet it was a small price to pay for the safety of his last kin.
“What now, then?”
Xing turned to the throne, and sent a column of blinding fire that turned it into a lump of glowing rock and metal. “Well, General Yama, the new position of City Advocate is open, requiring someone to tell me off if I start mistreating the city’s populace. Do you know any surly, irritable prick for the job?”
Xing’s words might have stalled the sally, but it was the three Earth Kingdom generals he’d captured from the Outer Walls that got a good portion of the defenders to step aside and let Xing advance to the Inner Wall. They even got to keep their weapons as those that didn’t run to seek out their potentially mind-blasted loved ones bore witness to the colonel’s next feat.
The remaining defenders were on the great walls, defiantly hurling down boulders and spikes onto Xing as he neared the walls with a fearsome surety. Kai felt undeserved brotherly pride at watching his spirit-touched little brother shoot up to the skies far, higher than any firebender of the 11th could manage, to land onto the walls.
Even from down here, the captain and his colleagues could see the peasants and soldiers behind the parapets suddenly fall over as Xing’s new and utterly ruthless firebending was put into use. And to think that just a few months ago, he was having trouble controlling his heat to cook eggs. Now the boy was dropping men all around him without fatalities. Kai couldn’t imagine how it must feel to have the very air around you suddenly reach temperatures hot enough for sword hilts to start sweating resin glue, but it must be a new level of agony considering the amount of Dai Li prisoners still groaning in pain back at the lake.
The waterbender healers were just starting to tend to their wound when Kai and the rest of the regiment moved out, if only to stop their noise from annoying everyone. Plus, there was a growing queue among the troops to brush up on their interrogation tactics on their reprehensible prisoners. Ping of course, was first in line, her grudge against abusive monsters reignited.
Her lieutenants had already been briefed about their captain’s tendencies, and should step in to stop her from losing herself to her old…nightmares if it ever came down to it. Just in case, Kilin and her folk would keep an eye out as well.
Speaking of prisoners, General Yama and his clique earthbender prisoners stood beside Kai, watching on with varying degrees of interest. The old badgermole in particular was stuck with a deep scowl ever since he passed by the brainwashed women and abused Kyoshi Warriors. It was rare to see Yama eerily quiet, which made his caged anger all the more notable.
The faded screaming from above the walls died down, and Xing popped up behind the walls to launch a stream of white fire into the air. Mozi, Kai and the other captains gave the orders, and the 11th took several steps back, and all the firebenders dropped into a stance in preparation for potential intercept work.
It was the first time Kai - and likely anyone else within the 11th - saw hewn and earthbended rock glow like a lantern’s screen. There was a strange sort of beauty as the glow radiated out from the top where Xing stood, and covered a whole section of the Inner Wall right down to the base. Then Kai had the unique experience of watching a stone wall, one that defied the great Prince Iroh, sag as if it were made of wax left under the sun.
The rocks glow turned from a dim orange to an intense, white-yellow that hurt the eyes. Then the bulge from the drooping wall ruptured with a roaring spurt to herald the spilling of molten earth. The farmlands below the walls exploded into a heavy curtain of smoke, and more trails from behind the wall told of buildings probably caught up in it as well.
Kai hoped that nobody was stupid enough to defy Xing’s orders to leave. It would be a stupid death, but a death nonetheless to mar his record.
The 11th was treated to an outright historical sight of Ba Sing Se’s Inner Wall being breached (and such a waste of an innuendo that was) in a most unique way, and there were appreciative ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the assembled troops. The Earth Kingdom folk were understandably more shocked than anything, though Yama’s scowl still didn’t budge.
Once the wall had melted down low enough, another burst of white fire had Mozi giving out another order. “Hans! Get the wasserwerfers!”
Thirty flammenwerfer tanks rolled out, their weapon’s fuel tanks now replaced with water. Despite the change in purpose, Kai spied the Hans aiming their shielded hoses looking just as serious and grim as they did when entering actual combat. Some truly courageous wall defenders attempted to hurl rocks down to stop the advance, but Xing was seen quickly flying over to put down such resistance before they could truly flare up.
If Kai guessed right, the young colonel probably just heated all the rock and dirt around him to make it impossible for earthbenders and their bare feet to literally stand their ground. Well, better half-boiled feet than outright death. The captain had an inkling of what his little brother had planned, and while he didn’t take his studies in court politics so seriously, Kai grasped enough of Xing’s moves to appreciate the boldness of trying to win over an enemy city with minimal casualties.
It was a good thing Kai already had his marriage officially acknowledged, the last thing he needed was for Ren to get inspired by of all this and set up trials for him to crawl through before accepting his proposal.
Huge clouds of steam exploded as the wasserwerfers sent out focused streams of water into the pooling and bubbling lava from a safe distance. The gap in the wall was quickly blocked by a massive column of steam. The Hans literally emptied their tanks into the steam fog before turning back for a refill.
Kai couldn’t see Xing anymore by that point, and considering there was no screaming to be heard, he probably had moved on to secure the next piece of his engagement contract.
The 11th waited for another round of the Hans dousing the melted wall section and then waited some more for the steam and smoke to dissipate enough before advancing into the city. They pointedly kept their eyes forwards and to their flanks, pointedly ignoring looking up to the skies to not see the Avatar and his companions flying over their heads.
Neither Xing nor the 11th received specific orders regarding the capture of the Avatar after all, and the regiment had far more important things to do like bounty hunting. Kai liked to think of it as charity to the more desperate, who needed their one big break. Let them have a nigh insurmountable crack at capturing the Avatar.
With the same lackadaisical attitude, the regiment didn’t care too much when their longest serving prisoner broke away from them and followed after their colonel.
*****
“He’s down there!” Sokka called out, pointing down at the wide road for Aang to see. The airbender gave a stony nod and urged Appa on towards the palace. Xing had asked to meet them at the palace gates, but the gang had all quietly agreed to shadow his moves instead. Aang was worried that there might be other nasty secrets that the Scorpion might reveal en route, Katara still didn’t trust the guy, Toph kept her reason for curiosity to herself, and Sokka was…torn.
On the one hand, he shared Aang’s sentiment, not wanting to miss out on any further nasty secrets lurking in Ba Sing Se. Secrets that Xing might try to exploit for his own gains. If he knew about the dungeon under the lake, what else might he hold close to his chest?
Yet on the other hand, a part of Sokka wanted to make sure Xing didn’t get obstructed in his travel towards the palace. That part of him wanted to see how the Scorpion Dragon would bring justice to the prisoners of Lake Laogai. Seeing the bawling soldiers trying to snap their sisters and wives out of the Dai Li’s trance, Sokka felt a quiet rage that called out for blood.
What had happened to the Kyoshi Warriors was utterly horrific. Would that fate await Katara if the Dai Li got their hands on her? Would she be another brainwashed girl so they could control Aang? What if they managed to reach Yue?
Sokka wanted to be there when Xing dispensed justice. He wished for all the dark rumors about the young commander to be true, only so that the Dai Li and all involved with them would suffer.
They reached the palace gates way ahead of Xing, who was running alongside another man. An Earth Kingdom warrior, interestingly enough. In any case, there was an air of impatience from the gang as they waited for him. Aang was absently patting Appa’s head possessively as he kept alert of his surroundings, and Sokka couldn’t blame his friend for his paranoia. Though hopefully he’d lose some of the tension later on.
Sokka himself took the time to study his environment. Compared to the rest of the city, which was in the throes of panic as their walls failed them, the ostentatious noble housing around him was dead quiet. A check with Toph confirmed that the nearby buildings were empty, their residents probably fleeing someplace to escape the city. Past the gate and the (relatively) unimpressive set of walls surrounding the palace though, Toph picked up some activity.
“There’s a group of soldiers near the gate, but there’s also some people in robes and dresses further back beyond them.”
“Wonder what they’re up to?” Katara asked, trying to get Aang’s involvement.
“Whatever it is, I hope Xing gets here quickly.” It didn’t work too well unfortunately. Aang really looked like a kid with a tantrum when he was in a sulky, simmering mood.
Xing arrived minutes later, and with him was an old earthbender who looked too angry to be hunched over with age. “Thank you for not heading on first,” he greeted with a nod, most of his fury from earlier now faded away.
“Why do you want us here?” Toph asked immediately.
“Well, to get straight to it, I’d ask you to help spare the Earth King from his fate.”
The quartet of teens immediately made their surprise known. “What? Why?” Aang asked. “I thought you’d want to murder him for what he did.”
Anger flickered in Xing’s eyes, but he managed a casual shrug. “He probably didn’t know about what went on under the lake. Not that it absolves him of all blame, but…” Xing glanced at the scowling earthbender beside him. “...killing him does not suit our purposes. He’d be a martyr, and that’d push his supporters to join those of the Dai Li’s, which might make them tolerate the atrocities committed under Lake Laogai.
“I still say you’re too soft,” the old earthbender grumbled.
“So, you want us to…save him?” Katara asked with a frown. “Just so you can have an easier time taking over the city?”
“I rather you ask him for the truth of his involvement with the Dai Li. If he proves…well, not innocent, but truly oblivious to what they did, then I’d ask that you help him escape before I get my hands on him and throw him to the crowd. If he knows of the atrocities, you can deal with him yourself, or leave him for me, or both.”
“And what’s he here for?” Toph asked, pointing at the surly warrior beside Xing.
“I got a nephew that really needs some harsh, bone breaking lessons, the fu-.”
Thankfully, Xing cut in before the tirade could really start. “I’d like to ask that you bring General Yama with you. He has a…much delayed family reunion.”
Appa flew past the measly palace walls, raising a choir of startled guards and courtiers. Sokka saw some people’s eyes go wide at recognizing the Avatar’s arrival, while others went wider when they saw General Yama. For all his sourfaced-ness, the old man went pale and clammed up the moment Appa took to the skies.
The palace guards tried to intercept them, but a still pissed off Aang was not having any of it. Powerful gusts of wind knocked any opposition off their feet and sent them flying, and another mighty gale rolled the prone figures far enough away for the riders to slip off Appa’s back.
“Allow me,” Yama muttered as he walked to the massive doors, looking up and down the portal with surprising hate. “Stupid brat should’ve just burned this whole place down…” The old general stomped his feet, and a spike of dirt and pavement shot up like a wedge to force the door open. For some reason, breaking through the doors further soured the man’s mood. “Fucking still haven’t fucking switched from hardwood…”
With Yama leading the way, they made a beeline straight for the throne room, armed guards be damned. Not even Katara was too reluctant to sweep the guard aside with some roughness, and Aang was just venting at this point with each blast of air. It was weird to see Toph being the calm, measured one for once, but then again she was probably studying how General Yama was earthbending.
The old man wasn’t as powerful as Toph, but even Sokka could see the skill in which he wielded his earthbending. Instead of just hurling boulders, Yama compressed them into dense rocks that cracked metal and bones as it flew. His earth spikes were smaller yet no less deadlier than any other earthbender Sokka has seen, while his movements were quicker and less…stompy.
It didn’t take too many hallways before they finally broke through to their goal. The last of the palace guard were arrayed in a tight formation, spears and earth spikes forming a prickly wall that stood between the gang and the shocked young man standing up from his throne.
“Fucking stand down, you useless shits!” To the guards’ credit, they didn’t budge from Yama’s crass yelling. But the richly dressed man by the throne took on a highly surprised expression.
“Un- Uncle Yama?”
The Earth King’s surprise turned into a startled jerk as Yama wasted no time to berate his nephew.
“At least you’ve got enough of a brain left to recognize me. Call your guards off, or I’ll do it for you.”
“B-But uncle… They said you were lost-”
All of the sudden, the general crouched and swiped his leg to one side, and the guards almost reacted in time to stop the earthen wave from crashing into them. Except that Toph used their distraction to stomp her foot and send the whole section of floor they were standing in flying high up, where a collective ‘oof’ could be heard as men were crushed against the ceiling.
“You’re welcome,” she said with a cheeky smirk, which Yama ignored as he walked up to the throne.
“What else did they tell you, runt?”
The Earth King raised his hands placatingly, giving unsubtle glances around the throne room for help or an avenue of escape. “I was told…they said that you had been dragged away into a Fire Nation dungeon. That you were likely dead.”
“Pfft. Yeah? Who told you that? Which general gave you the news, huh? Hao? Mura?”
“L-Long Feng.” And Yama stopped in his tracks.
“And the Council of Five?” Yama asked, softer this time but no less scowl-ey.
“T-They’re busy with the war, are they not? I’ve read their reports they send to Long Feng, they’re struggling to keep the Fire Nation in check.”
Even from behind him, Sokka could tell that the old general’s scowl managed to grow deeper.
“Nevermind that,” Aang suddenly cut in. “Did you know about the girls in Lake Laogai?”
“Wha-?”
General Yama slumped, a hand rising up to his face. “Fuck…it really is incompetence…?”
“What’s going on?” the confused king asked.
And Aang and Yama both took turns to explain what had happened, while Sokka and Katara checked on the guards and Toph played truth detector.
And Sokka felt amused and disgusted at just how oblivious the young monarch was.
He hadn’t known that the walls had gone down. Long Feng had said the ruckus outside was due to the walls being reinforced.
He looked genuinely appalled (and Toph confirmed it) at hearing of what was discovered in Lake Laogai. He’d not heard anything about it at all.
He looked even more shocked when they told him that the city was practically lost at this point, that the Scorpion Dragon - which Long Feng had assured him was a myth used to scare soldiers into doing their jobs - was making his way to the palace.
And it shocked the gang too when Yama corrected his nephew’s assumption. “I’ve been a guest of the 11th for a fucking long time now, no thanks to you.”
“My- What? But uncle-”
“Don’t ‘but’ me, you dolt! You simply believed that I was kept in some dungeon?”
“But Long Fe-”
“Long Feng this, Long Feng that! Is that all you listen to, boy? Ever tried a thing called ‘doubt’ or ‘thinking for yourself’?”
The Earth King looked utterly insulted, but considering his company, he did well to try calming his uncle down. “Please, uncle, I didn’t know. I am truly sorry.”
Yama shook his head with a heavy sigh, hands flying up in the air with exasperation. “Of course you didn’t know. Fucking didn’t know you’re the reason why I had to remain with the brat too, I bet?”
Toph confirmed the king’s confusion was genuine, and the general let out a hollow bark of laughter. “Did you simply stamp whatever piece of paper Long Feng gives you, or did you just give him your royal seal?” Even from a distance, Sokka could feel the wrath and disappointment from Yama’s glare. The Earth King, being the direct target of it, was utterly cowed and visibly shrank back.
“I was supposed to be freed, about five years ago,” the general elaborated, as much for his nephew as for the rest of the audience. “Cheap ransom too. The smug bastard Lidai felt I had suffered enough. Then I had the bloody shame of having the brat come and rescue me when my supposed escort turned on me and tried to off me.”
Yama’s eyes were wide as he clearly lived through his memories. “Lidai had the fucking audacity to feel bad for me, and left me go at the next outpost we came across.” He turned to Aang, as if audience participation suddenly was a thing. “Did you know what happened when I got there?”
The airbender shook his head, and Yama snorted and he spun about to jab a finger at the king. “I found spears pointed at me and a royal fucking decree ordering my corpse’s return! With your royal stamp on it!”
“Ouch,” Toph commented, and Sokka saw a few recovering guards wince from hearing the tale.
“I-I…I didn’t know…”
Ignoring the Earth King’s apology, Yama turned back to poor Aang, his hands emoting rather expressively as he ranted on. “It must’ve been the stupid cunt. I told them he was a useless inbred imbecile, but did anyone listen to me? ‘No Yama’, they said. ‘He’s a good king’, they said. My sweet, brilliant sister couldn’t have been responsible for birthing such a useless shit.”
The general caught himself before he rambled on, and then snapped a finger at his royal nephew who looked conflicted at the blatant slander in front of him. “Your father sent me to the boonies because he hated my guts, and I respect that. You didn’t even know you signed my death warrant.”
There was no mistaking the tone of finality from the general, and the Earth King began to really plead for his life. “Uncle Yama, please…”
A loud explosion echoed from beyond the throne room. Xing had arrived.
Sokka immediately turned to Aang, Katara and Toph, exchanging questioning glances with them. Aang frowned for a bit, then gave the panicking Earth King a glare for a second. Then the gang turned their silent looks to Yama, who simply scowled back at them.
White flames heralded Xing’s arrival. Sokka watched from the safety of Appa’s back as the Scorpion strode into the throne room and the guard around him screamed from being bathed in invisible fire. Only Yama stood unaffected somehow. They would have to figure out a way to counter that nonsense. What kind of whale walrus bullshit fire is that?
Xing looked up to them with an expressionless face, giving only a nod that Aang replied in kind as Appa began to rise. The Avatar then turned to the Earth King holding tightly onto Appa’s fur, and Sokka worried for a second that he’d blow the monarch off the air bison’s back.
“Come on, the faster we head south, the better.”
The deal was to drop the king in friendly territory, though why Xing would be so merciful still escaped Sokka and his friends. The Earth King was to be allowed to try and rally resistance against the Fire Nation, and Sokka could only wish him good luck in that. Because judging from Aang’s disapproval, the Avatar would likely not be dealing with the monarch any further after this.
Besides, with Xing’s agreement, the gang would have to rethink the day of the Black Sun. Maybe they could spring Bumi out of Omashu to figure something out, and get a second opinion on whether the Scorpion could be trusted to provide Aang with a firebending master.
*****
Yama felt much calmer as he watched his useless nephew fly off with the Avatar. He heard Xing walk up beside him despite the cries of agony around him.
“I’m surprised you let him live, general.”
“Shut it, brat,” Yama snapped instinctively, and then sighed. “Stupid shit’s the last I have of my family, of my sister…”
“Here’s to hoping he doesn’t waste his second chance at life, then.”
Yama dismissed the brat’s words with a snort, and then turned to the young colonel, the soon-to-be prince of Ba Sing Se. “Thank you, Xing.”
The boy smiled in return. “As I said, don’t sweat it. You’re still free to join him, if you’d like. Maybe help screw his head on straight?”
Yama snorted again. “Yeah right, and that’d get me, what? A year at most before you crush him?”
“Eh… If he plays his cards right, I have no reason to go after him.” Only if Kuei gave up his claim on the throne… Would that be a good thing, then?
“I’ll pass, brat.”
Xing had his plans for the dethroned Kuei, Yama knew it. Yet it was a small price to pay for the safety of his last kin.
“What now, then?”
Xing turned to the throne, and sent a column of blinding fire that turned it into a lump of glowing rock and metal. “Well, General Yama, the new position of City Advocate is open, requiring someone to tell me off if I start mistreating the city’s populace. Do you know any surly, irritable prick for the job?”
