"Where would you like to head next, Commodore?" the captain pulled me from my thoughts.
"Port Gaoling, Captain," I gave the order.
"But that's territory controlled by the Earth Kingdom!" The owner of the frigate sounded far from pleased by the prospect.
"That's not entirely true," Suki corrected him. "Because of the city's location, its ties to the Earth Kingdom are fairly weak. And as far as I know, there aren't any soldiers stationed there either."
"And how would you know that?" I asked curiously.
I had viewed the city merely as a waypoint — a place to cross the mountains and reach the Misty Palms Oasis, from where I could begin combing the desert. I already knew the city was supposedly independent, just as I knew that said "independence" was largely formal. Populated by merchants and craftsmen, it maintained rather healthy trade with Yu Dao and the cities of the Fire Nation homeland.
Of course, sailing directly into the harbor aboard a Fire Nation war frigate would've been unwise, but landing farther off in small boats and continuing on our way peacefully? Why not?
The thing was, I'd learned all this thanks to my expanded clearance — and by thoroughly questioning Morishita about "how to get to the library." Or rather, how to approach the cities under our control from the south for inspection purposes, avoiding the front lines and the checkpoints along the Omashu–Ba Sing Se route.
So where had my warrior gotten her information?
"Gaoling is one of Kyoshi's closest neighbors. We trade with them from time to time," she shrugged. "So we're generally aware of what goes on in the city."
Yeah… and here I'd already begun suspecting the girl of running a secret network of deeply embedded agents across the world. Ahhh, such disappointment.
"Set course for Gaoling, Captain," I reaffirmed the order.
"Aye!" Li was hardly brimming with enthusiasm, but he no longer dared object. "We'll arrive by around midday tomorrow."
"Excellent."
After nodding to the officer, I headed for my quarters. I still needed to review the route one more time and make a final decision regarding the team.
There was no pressing need to drag all forty soldiers along. Considering where I intended to go, I would actually have preferred to have as few witnesses as possible.
Ideally, only people personally loyal to me "until death."
That list included Suki, Ju, and Dandan — the Kyoshi warriors — Petty Officer Ramis and a couple of his slackers, and… honestly, that was about it.
The rest were merely subordinates. One new order and they'd transfer under someone else's command — or, in the case of the Kyoshi Warriors, return home.
The firebenders, unfortunately, were far too independent-minded and obeyed only within the chain of command, so I couldn't fully trust any of them. Or rather, I could trust them — just not with matters this… delicate.
Well then, I'd find other tasks for the rest. Some could scout the city and its surroundings, others could search around the pass, and a couple of the more loyal ones could remain at the oasis gathering information on travelers and the general situation.
***
Avatar "Little Bastard" Aang. Somewhere.
"I'm telling you, we need to get to the North Pole as fast as possible! Aang has to master waterbending and stop the Fire Nation!" Katara insisted heatedly.
"And when did I say I was against that?" Sokka shot back. "But we need rest and supplies! If a flying bison can fly tirelessly for weeks without food or water, then good for him — because I definitely can't!"
"Appa can't do that either!" the Avatar immediately came to his friend's defense. "He needs sleep too, just like the rest of us!"
"All the more reason," the boy agreed.
"Fine," Katara finally relented, "but not for long. While we're resting, the Fire Nation keeps running rampant! It'll take us weeks to reach the North Pole, and the Comet will appear by the end of summer!"
Aang closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
The world had gone mad.
By his own reckoning, barely a month and a half ago he had been baking pies with Gyatso and trying not to think about the fate awaiting him. Now it felt as though he had stumbled into some terrible nightmare.
Gyatso was dead — killed by firebenders. The war that people in the Temple had once whispered about in hushed voices had already lasted a hundred years. The Southern Water Tribe stood on the brink of extermination. Kyoshi Island — homeland of the Avatar before last — had become a stronghold of Fire Nation warriors.
Part of the Earth Kingdom they had already traveled through lay enslaved. The inhabitants were squeezed for everything they had, and if an earthbender happened to be born into a family, grief came instead of joy. Because anyone displaying talent for bending would inevitably be taken away to a floating steel prison.
Simply for being a bender.
If someone had told him such things before, he would have assumed they were making up a frightening story — and not even a very good one. But unfortunately, this was not some scary tale shared among temple novices on a dark, rainy evening.
It was cruel reality.
He had seen that prison himself. He had freed the captives held within it.
"All right, if the map's right, there should be a settlement around here where we can buy everything we need," Sokka's voice pulled him from his gloomy thoughts. "How are we doing on money?"
"King Bumi was very generous, so we should have more than enough for everything," the girl answered with a smile.
Aang found himself staring despite himself. He had grown up in an all-male temple and rarely saw girls, and Katara was truly beautiful. And when she smiled, that beauty seemed to grow many times over. Besides, the mention of his old friend — who remained every bit the same crazy genius as ever — warmed his heart.
(End of Chapter)
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