Longer than usual, took a while to reach a good decision point:
Sunrise
Day One, A Sinking Derrick
”We
should hide,” I said.
“How
will that help?” Ed asked in a harsh whisper.
“Listen,
with your missing leg and the fact you don't speak the language there
is no way we can sneak on board and we're in no position to fight our
way past dozens of soldiers, not to mention how many there are below
decks. Let's find someplace we can wait until they leave.”
“They're
looking for us, and those three from before know we got away alive.
What makes you think they're just going to give up?”
“They're
going to have to, sooner or later. This thing is just going to keep
getting more dangerous.”
“While
we're stuck on it,” Ed pointed out grimly. I couldn't shrug with
both my hands occupied in clinging to the walkway but I think he got
my intention from my expression. He made a pained grimace then
nodded. “Fine, maybe we'll get lucky.”
A
few more minutes of monkeying around on the outside of the derrick
found a window we could climb inside of. The interior was an office
of some kind, scrolls and knickknacks scattered about by the violent
motions. A splintered desk lay against the “floor”. The only
other entrance was a metal door in the wall. Ed gave it a long look
and then began rub his hands together.
“If
we can erase the door they'll never find us.”
“How
do we do that?”
“Alchemy,”
he responded with a grin.
“I
thought you couldn't use yours?”
“I
can't, but you can. Anyone can use alchemy, just like you did to get
us out of the cells. This is a much more complex reaction, however.
It's not something I'd want to try an get a novice to do normally.”
“Is
it dangerous?”
He
scratched the back of his neck. His gold eyes narrowed. “It could
be, but only if I really mess it up. An alchemic rebound should only
occur if you improperly balance the equations and the reaction is
forced to balance itself from the environment. If I get my math
right, the chances of that happening are infinitesimal.”
“So
the real question is do I trust you?” I said, rubbing my forehead.
The phrase 'aclhemic rebound' conjured up all sorts of unpleasant
things in my mind, but my only other choice was to trust in nothing
but luck. Calming myself down I nodded to him. “Okay, what do I
do?”
Ed
sat against the wall, running his fingers over it. “It's not very
high quality steel... probably crucible forged. Which usually means a
higher carbon content, maybe even over two percent...” He pulled
his hand free and rubbed his chin. “I don't need to change the
chemical composition anyway, just the shape. So if I balance the
equation for a range of crabon, say, 1 to 3%...” He suddenly
clutched his hair and pulled on it. “URGH! How did people even do
chemistry without being able to sense the material composition!”
“I
have no idea what you're talking about,” I admitted. I sat down in
a corner and curled my legs up in front of me, wrapping my arms
around them. It was hot in here, but we were high enough up that the
majority of the heat seemed to have spread evenly throughout the
structure. At least there was little chance of broiling to death.
“I
need a bit of your blood.”
“Excuse
me?”
He
held out his two ink wells. “Just a drop or two. It will make the
reaction easier for you to control.”
I
hesitated for a few seconds but finally nodded. “Fine.” It took
me longer to slice one of my fingers with the knife. I considered
closing my eyes and doing it, but that struck me as amazingly stupid.
When I finally did go through with it the event was almost surreal. I
watched the knife cut a small slash but there was no sensation to it,
at least not at first. I had already dripped a few drops into each
inkwell before it began to sting.
“The
cut isn't deep,” Ed said. “Just don't suck on it and it should
scab over in a few minutes.”
“Thanks,”
I muttered.
Ed
turned away from me and back to the wall. He dabbed the brush in one
of the wells and then started drawing. The process was strangely
fascinating. He started with the tiniest, most intricate little
figures and symbols, seeming to jump from place to place on the wall
without rhyme or reason. Then he moved up to larger and large
figures, slowly connecting the smaller symbols into a unified whole.
Finally he ended up by enclosing the whole thing in a circle,
carefully marking out minute lines to exacting specification I could
only guess at.
“Okay,
that should do it. I accounted for every variable I could think of,
including the ones I didn't think I could think of.” He turned his
eyes to me. “It's up to you. Just walk up and put your hands in the
two circles on either side. Like before, try to picture the circle in
your mind. Get it as exact as you possibly can. Don't think about
anything else but completing the equation.”
I
stood up, stretched my hands and cracked my knuckles. I ran my tongue
over my teeth again and nodded. The locations for my hands were
perfectly placed and sized and my mind wandered to how well Ed must
have been able to measure me with nothing but his eyes but I squashed
that thought hard.
Then
I closed my eyes, allowing the symbol Ed had drawn to fill it. The
world seemed to drift away. There was only a dark void, my breathing
and the symbol floating before me sketched in black light. Soon
enough even the void and my breathing flowed away. As before I could
see the symbols and equations in the array begin to move and react
with each other. It wasn't even an effort. All I had to do was
concentrate and the array worked itself, flowing with the
inevitability of water through plumbing until the entire symbol hand
changed into something else.
I
stepped back, blinking away a flare or blue light. When my vision
cleared the door in the wall was gone entirely, leaving nothing but a
featureless metal bulkhead. “Hey! I did it!” I cheered.
Ed
was sitting back against the far wall when I turned to him to share
my enthusiasm but something in his expression stopped me. He was
staring at me, his yellow eyes half-lidded. His lips were almost
white from his grimace. Seeing my expression begin to fall he twisted
his lips into a smile and gave me a thumbs up. “That's great! First
time even with such a complex array. I've never seen anyone take to
alchemy as quickly as you do.”
“That's
good, right?” I asked, suddenly nervous.
“Good?
It's fantastic!” He smirked and rubbed his chin in an exaggerated
manner. “Of course, all credit has to go to your teacher. With my
fantastic skills and your natural talent, we may have a way off this
deathtrap.” He chuckled and this time his smile was far more
genuine. “Anyway, we should get some rest. There is still a lot to
do.”
“Right...”
*
The
sun was just beginning its trek down from its zenith when the ship
left. We both took turns climbing out the window to go spy on it,
partly to see if it was leaving but mostly to get out of the stifling
heat. As the sun climbed the oppressive warmth only grew worse and
worse, making resting for any period of time virtually impossible.
The only silver lining seem to be that the derrick had flooded enough
that I think most of the fires went out.
Ed
crawled in an excitedly announced the departure of our hunters and we
both watched from the window as the ship swiftly edged around the
derrick and out into the sea. It was travelling east, and in a hour
or so was nothing more than a black cloud shrinking against the
horizon.
No
sooner had it vanished then we sprang to work. The time inside the
office had not been entirely idle. At first I had started reading the
various scrolls scattered about purely as a distraction. Sitting
there in that sweatbox allowed my mind to latch onto just how wrong
I felt. It was like a cut on the side of my cheek that I couldn't
just leave alone, except it was everywhere. The feel of fabric
against my chest, the press of metal against my thighs, the...
sensations from that 'thing' down there, all of it ate at my calm if
I didn't keep myself busy.
So
I kept myself busy.
The
office we had taken refuge in appeared to be a quartermasters of some
kind. Ed grew interested when I pointed this out, and began to make
notes of the materials written down on the scrolls. Finally when the
ship had sailed safely out of sight he sent me searching for what I
could find.
I
didn't want to go back into that place, but it was the only choice.
Ed had difficulty enough just being mobile, and besides he was busy
working on his own part of the plan. Still, the derrick had not been
quiet while we waited. More than once it shifted dangerously, almost
making us think it was going to collapse entirely. Ed speculated that
the only reason the whole thing hadn't sunk already has because it
must have been built on underwater supports of some kind, and that
the reason it was listing was because one or more of those supports
had been destroyed. I had no idea if that was true, but there was
nothing I could do about it.
Unfortunately
most of the warehousing seemed to have sunk beneath the ocean or been
consumed in the fire. What few storage rooms remained showed signs of
being emptied by the soldiers before they left. Still, they couldn't
get everything. I managed to find more than half of Ed's 'wish list'
of materials (mostly wood of various types), which we could only hope
was enough.
We
gathered the material near where the ship had been docked. The
soldiers had been kind enough to free up a relatively stable flat
surface for us to work with. Ed had me bring in the materials while
he drew another extremely complex array. It was tiring work, but busy
work that kept my mind from wandering to more personal issues the
whole time.
It
was halfway to nightfall when we finished to Ed's satisfaction. “If
we try for perfect we'll be here all night, and who knows if this
thing will stand up to too much tidal force. Plus we're hungry and
tired. We have to leave now.”
I
had no objections so once again I had Ed guide me through the process
of completing the alchemy reaction. Unlike the last two times this
array was considerably more complex. It took me four tries to get the
thing to work in my head, which seemed to both please and worry Ed
for some reason. As the blue lightning cleared we were presented with
our prize.
It
wasn't much too look at. Ed obviously didn't have much experience
with boats. “What do you expect, Amestris is a land-locked
country!” he complained when I pointed this out. Still, it was
large enough to carry the two of us and what few supplies I had
gathered. We paused only long enough to eat what little food I had
found (some barrels of rice that the soldiers had left behind which
were filling) before casting the boat into the sea and climbing
aboard.
After
that, it was just a matter of rowing (neither Ed nor I were familiar
enough with sailing to risk trying to control a sail, even if there
had been enough canvas). After a brief argument we decided to follow
the ship that had departed. I thought that following the warship in
our tiny, barely seaworthy vessel, was a stupid idea. Ed insisted
that he had seen land in that direction and the ship was heading
somewhere, which was better than rowing randomly around the ocean for
weeks until we starved or dehydrated or a storm killed us both. Ed
won out.
We
set out into the ocean with high spirits.
*
When
I regained consciousness I was lying on a straw mat in an unfamiliar
room. I groaned as the world came slowly into focus and tried to sit
up. A steady but firm hand pushed me back down.
“Now,
now, you've had quite the tumble.”
“What...?”
My vision cleared enough to make out an older woman kneeling beside
me. She had long grey hair and her eyes had heavy lines underneath
them. Her smile was kind and helpful however, and unlike the men
trying to capture us she was wearing a soft green tunic and long
skirt. “Where am I?”
“Tongli,”
she responded. “We found you and your friend washed up on the shore
this morning.”
“Ed?”
I looked around. “Where is he?”
My
last memory was of Ed cursing as he strapped himself to the boat. The
storm had come across us in the middle of the night without warning.
It appeared that our faith in our boat-building skills had been a
little misplaced.
“He's
fine, though he hasn't fully recovered yet. Once we got the water out
of his lungs, he started recovering, just like you.” She gestured
to the wall. “He's in the next room, my son is looking after him.”
I
laid back with another groan. Well, it appears we had survived, at
least.
“You're
helping us?” I asked.
“After
the Avatar showed us such kindness, it would be an insult not to show
strangers the same ,” the old woman said with a smile. “Or at
least, that is what my son would say.”
“You
should get some rest now,” she said. She moved a bowl of brownish
soup next to me. “Eat and recover your strength, then sleep. We
will look after you for now.” She left before I could object too
much, leaving me with no choice but to devour the food provided
(stale rice boiled in salt water this was not). With my belly full it
and my head still aching I didn't resist the pull of sleep for every
long.
*
Ed
and I sat in a small barn, consulting a map the locals had provided.
“I have no idea where any of this is,” Ed said, frowning. “I
was thinking that we were in Xing, but...” He gestured at the
unfamiliar continents. “None of this makes any sense.”
I
had no idea what Xing was, but deferred to his judgement. Even if he
had almost gotten us killed. We had only both been awaken for a
couple of hours, and the villagers here seemed to be willing to let
us be mostly alone. So I had helped walk Ed out to this barn where
the two of us were planning our next move.
The
brief walk through the village had been enlightening. The place did
not look good. Several of the building near the outskirts had been
burned down, and recently as well. The entire place was surrounded by
a high rock wall, which made getting the lay of the land beyond it
difficult. Stranger still the wall didn't look built, and there
weren't any obvious gates. It was like the entire village was built
in the middle of a crater. Stern faced men in green clothing walked
along the length of the wall, most of them armed with spears. More
than a few of them gave us lingering glances.
“How
far do the maps your familiar with go?” I asked.
“Hmm.
Not too far. There's Amestris, and Drakma, and the southern lands,
then the great desert and across that is Xing.” He traced his
finger across the continents. “We could be across the Western
Oceans. Some sort of undiscovered continent? Amestris was never big
on exploration.”
“Ah,
there you two are.”
A
tall boy in yellow and green robes walked into the barn. He had long
brown hair that framed a square-jawed face and twinkling green eyes.
His chin and lips had what looked like the pathetic beginnings of
facial hair on them. “Haru,” I greeted. He was the son of the
woman who had taken us in, the one who had worked nursing Ed back
from near-drowning. Ed scowled at the two of us.
“I
was hoping, now that you two have had a chance to recover, to ask you
a few questions?” I translated for Ed and he shrugged in
indifference.
“Well,
I'll tell you what I can.”
He
nodded. “That's fine.” He pulled out the clothing Ed and I had
been wearing. They had mostly been destroyed by the shipwreck and
Haru's mother had been kind enough to provide us with yellow tunics
and pants when we had woken up. “These outfits, they are prison
uniforms from the prison derrick near this village.”
“If
you say so,” I replied. “We came from a derrick out at sea.”
“How
did you escape?”
“Why
do you care?” I asked, suddenly feeling suspicious.
“Ah.
I see.” He put the clothing down. “That derrick is a prison that
is meant to hold my people. We Earthbenders are helpless in a metal
prison so far from shore. Several weeks ago the Avatar helped rescue
the majority of them from that awful place. Ever since then, we have
been fighting to drive the Fire Nation from our land. Unfortunately,
the Fire Nation is mighty and they have managed to capture many of
our patrols and attack teams. We suspect they have been taken back to
the prison.”
Earthbenders?
Fire nation? Ed was giving me a curious look but I shrugged at him. I
saw no reason to lie, so I told him the truth.
“There
weren't any prisoners at the prison but us,” I told him.
He
winced at that. “I see.”
“And
the entire thing was sinking into the ocean when we left.”
He
pursed his lips. “That's... unfortunate.” He sighed. “I had
hoped with the recent Fire Nation retreat we would get a chance to
take our people back. But I fear they may have been moved
elsewhere... or worse.”
“Retreat?”
I asked.
He
nodded. “Our scouts have confirmed the Fire Nation forces in this
area have all been recalled further south.” He scratched absently
at his partially grown beard. “I fear they may be organizing for a
strike at Omashu.”
“So...
the Fire Nation guys are the one in the red armour with the ghost
face masks?” I asked.
He
gave me a look like I had suddenly grown a second head. And suddenly
that thought was not nearly as funny to me when I looked down at my
lap with a wince.
“Yes.
I'm going to see if I can convince my father to lead the men to
Omashu to help them. But he thinks that now is the time to go try and
rescue our comrades. At the very least, someone has to warn the Earth
King that the Fire Nation is breathing down his neck.”
Haru
stood up. “But this is heavy things for you, who have just escaped
a harrowing experience. Please, take all the time you need to recover
in our village. You are safe here.”
As
Haru exited the barn I turned back to Ed and explained what I had
learned. It was probably time to decide what to do next.
[
]We can help these people fight the Fire Nation.
[
]Hey Ed, teach me how to use alchemy!
[
]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you
can.
[
]We don't need these people's help, let's get out of here.
---------------
Epsilon
Sunrise
Day One, A Sinking Derrick
”We
should hide,” I said.
“How
will that help?” Ed asked in a harsh whisper.
“Listen,
with your missing leg and the fact you don't speak the language there
is no way we can sneak on board and we're in no position to fight our
way past dozens of soldiers, not to mention how many there are below
decks. Let's find someplace we can wait until they leave.”
“They're
looking for us, and those three from before know we got away alive.
What makes you think they're just going to give up?”
“They're
going to have to, sooner or later. This thing is just going to keep
getting more dangerous.”
“While
we're stuck on it,” Ed pointed out grimly. I couldn't shrug with
both my hands occupied in clinging to the walkway but I think he got
my intention from my expression. He made a pained grimace then
nodded. “Fine, maybe we'll get lucky.”
A
few more minutes of monkeying around on the outside of the derrick
found a window we could climb inside of. The interior was an office
of some kind, scrolls and knickknacks scattered about by the violent
motions. A splintered desk lay against the “floor”. The only
other entrance was a metal door in the wall. Ed gave it a long look
and then began rub his hands together.
“If
we can erase the door they'll never find us.”
“How
do we do that?”
“Alchemy,”
he responded with a grin.
“I
thought you couldn't use yours?”
“I
can't, but you can. Anyone can use alchemy, just like you did to get
us out of the cells. This is a much more complex reaction, however.
It's not something I'd want to try an get a novice to do normally.”
“Is
it dangerous?”
He
scratched the back of his neck. His gold eyes narrowed. “It could
be, but only if I really mess it up. An alchemic rebound should only
occur if you improperly balance the equations and the reaction is
forced to balance itself from the environment. If I get my math
right, the chances of that happening are infinitesimal.”
“So
the real question is do I trust you?” I said, rubbing my forehead.
The phrase 'aclhemic rebound' conjured up all sorts of unpleasant
things in my mind, but my only other choice was to trust in nothing
but luck. Calming myself down I nodded to him. “Okay, what do I
do?”
Ed
sat against the wall, running his fingers over it. “It's not very
high quality steel... probably crucible forged. Which usually means a
higher carbon content, maybe even over two percent...” He pulled
his hand free and rubbed his chin. “I don't need to change the
chemical composition anyway, just the shape. So if I balance the
equation for a range of crabon, say, 1 to 3%...” He suddenly
clutched his hair and pulled on it. “URGH! How did people even do
chemistry without being able to sense the material composition!”
“I
have no idea what you're talking about,” I admitted. I sat down in
a corner and curled my legs up in front of me, wrapping my arms
around them. It was hot in here, but we were high enough up that the
majority of the heat seemed to have spread evenly throughout the
structure. At least there was little chance of broiling to death.
“I
need a bit of your blood.”
“Excuse
me?”
He
held out his two ink wells. “Just a drop or two. It will make the
reaction easier for you to control.”
I
hesitated for a few seconds but finally nodded. “Fine.” It took
me longer to slice one of my fingers with the knife. I considered
closing my eyes and doing it, but that struck me as amazingly stupid.
When I finally did go through with it the event was almost surreal. I
watched the knife cut a small slash but there was no sensation to it,
at least not at first. I had already dripped a few drops into each
inkwell before it began to sting.
“The
cut isn't deep,” Ed said. “Just don't suck on it and it should
scab over in a few minutes.”
“Thanks,”
I muttered.
Ed
turned away from me and back to the wall. He dabbed the brush in one
of the wells and then started drawing. The process was strangely
fascinating. He started with the tiniest, most intricate little
figures and symbols, seeming to jump from place to place on the wall
without rhyme or reason. Then he moved up to larger and large
figures, slowly connecting the smaller symbols into a unified whole.
Finally he ended up by enclosing the whole thing in a circle,
carefully marking out minute lines to exacting specification I could
only guess at.
“Okay,
that should do it. I accounted for every variable I could think of,
including the ones I didn't think I could think of.” He turned his
eyes to me. “It's up to you. Just walk up and put your hands in the
two circles on either side. Like before, try to picture the circle in
your mind. Get it as exact as you possibly can. Don't think about
anything else but completing the equation.”
I
stood up, stretched my hands and cracked my knuckles. I ran my tongue
over my teeth again and nodded. The locations for my hands were
perfectly placed and sized and my mind wandered to how well Ed must
have been able to measure me with nothing but his eyes but I squashed
that thought hard.
Then
I closed my eyes, allowing the symbol Ed had drawn to fill it. The
world seemed to drift away. There was only a dark void, my breathing
and the symbol floating before me sketched in black light. Soon
enough even the void and my breathing flowed away. As before I could
see the symbols and equations in the array begin to move and react
with each other. It wasn't even an effort. All I had to do was
concentrate and the array worked itself, flowing with the
inevitability of water through plumbing until the entire symbol hand
changed into something else.
I
stepped back, blinking away a flare or blue light. When my vision
cleared the door in the wall was gone entirely, leaving nothing but a
featureless metal bulkhead. “Hey! I did it!” I cheered.
Ed
was sitting back against the far wall when I turned to him to share
my enthusiasm but something in his expression stopped me. He was
staring at me, his yellow eyes half-lidded. His lips were almost
white from his grimace. Seeing my expression begin to fall he twisted
his lips into a smile and gave me a thumbs up. “That's great! First
time even with such a complex array. I've never seen anyone take to
alchemy as quickly as you do.”
“That's
good, right?” I asked, suddenly nervous.
“Good?
It's fantastic!” He smirked and rubbed his chin in an exaggerated
manner. “Of course, all credit has to go to your teacher. With my
fantastic skills and your natural talent, we may have a way off this
deathtrap.” He chuckled and this time his smile was far more
genuine. “Anyway, we should get some rest. There is still a lot to
do.”
“Right...”
*
The
sun was just beginning its trek down from its zenith when the ship
left. We both took turns climbing out the window to go spy on it,
partly to see if it was leaving but mostly to get out of the stifling
heat. As the sun climbed the oppressive warmth only grew worse and
worse, making resting for any period of time virtually impossible.
The only silver lining seem to be that the derrick had flooded enough
that I think most of the fires went out.
Ed
crawled in an excitedly announced the departure of our hunters and we
both watched from the window as the ship swiftly edged around the
derrick and out into the sea. It was travelling east, and in a hour
or so was nothing more than a black cloud shrinking against the
horizon.
No
sooner had it vanished then we sprang to work. The time inside the
office had not been entirely idle. At first I had started reading the
various scrolls scattered about purely as a distraction. Sitting
there in that sweatbox allowed my mind to latch onto just how wrong
I felt. It was like a cut on the side of my cheek that I couldn't
just leave alone, except it was everywhere. The feel of fabric
against my chest, the press of metal against my thighs, the...
sensations from that 'thing' down there, all of it ate at my calm if
I didn't keep myself busy.
So
I kept myself busy.
The
office we had taken refuge in appeared to be a quartermasters of some
kind. Ed grew interested when I pointed this out, and began to make
notes of the materials written down on the scrolls. Finally when the
ship had sailed safely out of sight he sent me searching for what I
could find.
I
didn't want to go back into that place, but it was the only choice.
Ed had difficulty enough just being mobile, and besides he was busy
working on his own part of the plan. Still, the derrick had not been
quiet while we waited. More than once it shifted dangerously, almost
making us think it was going to collapse entirely. Ed speculated that
the only reason the whole thing hadn't sunk already has because it
must have been built on underwater supports of some kind, and that
the reason it was listing was because one or more of those supports
had been destroyed. I had no idea if that was true, but there was
nothing I could do about it.
Unfortunately
most of the warehousing seemed to have sunk beneath the ocean or been
consumed in the fire. What few storage rooms remained showed signs of
being emptied by the soldiers before they left. Still, they couldn't
get everything. I managed to find more than half of Ed's 'wish list'
of materials (mostly wood of various types), which we could only hope
was enough.
We
gathered the material near where the ship had been docked. The
soldiers had been kind enough to free up a relatively stable flat
surface for us to work with. Ed had me bring in the materials while
he drew another extremely complex array. It was tiring work, but busy
work that kept my mind from wandering to more personal issues the
whole time.
It
was halfway to nightfall when we finished to Ed's satisfaction. “If
we try for perfect we'll be here all night, and who knows if this
thing will stand up to too much tidal force. Plus we're hungry and
tired. We have to leave now.”
I
had no objections so once again I had Ed guide me through the process
of completing the alchemy reaction. Unlike the last two times this
array was considerably more complex. It took me four tries to get the
thing to work in my head, which seemed to both please and worry Ed
for some reason. As the blue lightning cleared we were presented with
our prize.
It
wasn't much too look at. Ed obviously didn't have much experience
with boats. “What do you expect, Amestris is a land-locked
country!” he complained when I pointed this out. Still, it was
large enough to carry the two of us and what few supplies I had
gathered. We paused only long enough to eat what little food I had
found (some barrels of rice that the soldiers had left behind which
were filling) before casting the boat into the sea and climbing
aboard.
After
that, it was just a matter of rowing (neither Ed nor I were familiar
enough with sailing to risk trying to control a sail, even if there
had been enough canvas). After a brief argument we decided to follow
the ship that had departed. I thought that following the warship in
our tiny, barely seaworthy vessel, was a stupid idea. Ed insisted
that he had seen land in that direction and the ship was heading
somewhere, which was better than rowing randomly around the ocean for
weeks until we starved or dehydrated or a storm killed us both. Ed
won out.
We
set out into the ocean with high spirits.
*
When
I regained consciousness I was lying on a straw mat in an unfamiliar
room. I groaned as the world came slowly into focus and tried to sit
up. A steady but firm hand pushed me back down.
“Now,
now, you've had quite the tumble.”
“What...?”
My vision cleared enough to make out an older woman kneeling beside
me. She had long grey hair and her eyes had heavy lines underneath
them. Her smile was kind and helpful however, and unlike the men
trying to capture us she was wearing a soft green tunic and long
skirt. “Where am I?”
“Tongli,”
she responded. “We found you and your friend washed up on the shore
this morning.”
“Ed?”
I looked around. “Where is he?”
My
last memory was of Ed cursing as he strapped himself to the boat. The
storm had come across us in the middle of the night without warning.
It appeared that our faith in our boat-building skills had been a
little misplaced.
“He's
fine, though he hasn't fully recovered yet. Once we got the water out
of his lungs, he started recovering, just like you.” She gestured
to the wall. “He's in the next room, my son is looking after him.”
I
laid back with another groan. Well, it appears we had survived, at
least.
“You're
helping us?” I asked.
“After
the Avatar showed us such kindness, it would be an insult not to show
strangers the same ,” the old woman said with a smile. “Or at
least, that is what my son would say.”
“You
should get some rest now,” she said. She moved a bowl of brownish
soup next to me. “Eat and recover your strength, then sleep. We
will look after you for now.” She left before I could object too
much, leaving me with no choice but to devour the food provided
(stale rice boiled in salt water this was not). With my belly full it
and my head still aching I didn't resist the pull of sleep for every
long.
*
Ed
and I sat in a small barn, consulting a map the locals had provided.
“I have no idea where any of this is,” Ed said, frowning. “I
was thinking that we were in Xing, but...” He gestured at the
unfamiliar continents. “None of this makes any sense.”
I
had no idea what Xing was, but deferred to his judgement. Even if he
had almost gotten us killed. We had only both been awaken for a
couple of hours, and the villagers here seemed to be willing to let
us be mostly alone. So I had helped walk Ed out to this barn where
the two of us were planning our next move.
The
brief walk through the village had been enlightening. The place did
not look good. Several of the building near the outskirts had been
burned down, and recently as well. The entire place was surrounded by
a high rock wall, which made getting the lay of the land beyond it
difficult. Stranger still the wall didn't look built, and there
weren't any obvious gates. It was like the entire village was built
in the middle of a crater. Stern faced men in green clothing walked
along the length of the wall, most of them armed with spears. More
than a few of them gave us lingering glances.
“How
far do the maps your familiar with go?” I asked.
“Hmm.
Not too far. There's Amestris, and Drakma, and the southern lands,
then the great desert and across that is Xing.” He traced his
finger across the continents. “We could be across the Western
Oceans. Some sort of undiscovered continent? Amestris was never big
on exploration.”
“Ah,
there you two are.”
A
tall boy in yellow and green robes walked into the barn. He had long
brown hair that framed a square-jawed face and twinkling green eyes.
His chin and lips had what looked like the pathetic beginnings of
facial hair on them. “Haru,” I greeted. He was the son of the
woman who had taken us in, the one who had worked nursing Ed back
from near-drowning. Ed scowled at the two of us.
“I
was hoping, now that you two have had a chance to recover, to ask you
a few questions?” I translated for Ed and he shrugged in
indifference.
“Well,
I'll tell you what I can.”
He
nodded. “That's fine.” He pulled out the clothing Ed and I had
been wearing. They had mostly been destroyed by the shipwreck and
Haru's mother had been kind enough to provide us with yellow tunics
and pants when we had woken up. “These outfits, they are prison
uniforms from the prison derrick near this village.”
“If
you say so,” I replied. “We came from a derrick out at sea.”
“How
did you escape?”
“Why
do you care?” I asked, suddenly feeling suspicious.
“Ah.
I see.” He put the clothing down. “That derrick is a prison that
is meant to hold my people. We Earthbenders are helpless in a metal
prison so far from shore. Several weeks ago the Avatar helped rescue
the majority of them from that awful place. Ever since then, we have
been fighting to drive the Fire Nation from our land. Unfortunately,
the Fire Nation is mighty and they have managed to capture many of
our patrols and attack teams. We suspect they have been taken back to
the prison.”
Earthbenders?
Fire nation? Ed was giving me a curious look but I shrugged at him. I
saw no reason to lie, so I told him the truth.
“There
weren't any prisoners at the prison but us,” I told him.
He
winced at that. “I see.”
“And
the entire thing was sinking into the ocean when we left.”
He
pursed his lips. “That's... unfortunate.” He sighed. “I had
hoped with the recent Fire Nation retreat we would get a chance to
take our people back. But I fear they may have been moved
elsewhere... or worse.”
“Retreat?”
I asked.
He
nodded. “Our scouts have confirmed the Fire Nation forces in this
area have all been recalled further south.” He scratched absently
at his partially grown beard. “I fear they may be organizing for a
strike at Omashu.”
“So...
the Fire Nation guys are the one in the red armour with the ghost
face masks?” I asked.
He
gave me a look like I had suddenly grown a second head. And suddenly
that thought was not nearly as funny to me when I looked down at my
lap with a wince.
“Yes.
I'm going to see if I can convince my father to lead the men to
Omashu to help them. But he thinks that now is the time to go try and
rescue our comrades. At the very least, someone has to warn the Earth
King that the Fire Nation is breathing down his neck.”
Haru
stood up. “But this is heavy things for you, who have just escaped
a harrowing experience. Please, take all the time you need to recover
in our village. You are safe here.”
As
Haru exited the barn I turned back to Ed and explained what I had
learned. It was probably time to decide what to do next.
[
]We can help these people fight the Fire Nation.
[
]Hey Ed, teach me how to use alchemy!
[
]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you
can.
[
]We don't need these people's help, let's get out of here.
---------------
Epsilon