Morning Day Six, Earth Kingdom Coast
Blue lightning and smoke danced in my vision for a few seconds
before clearing. I kept my hand over my mouth and tried not to breath
as I waved away the last of the dust. An excited murmur erupted all
around me as the results came into view. Ed clapped his hands
together.
“Alright, looks good.”
He hop-walked with his crutch into the remains of the array and
knelt down next to the metal limb I had crafted. He picked it up with
both hands. “Heavy,” he noted. “Heavier than my first limbs.
But I guess that's a tradeoff for such poor quality steel.” He
reached into a pocket and pulled out a length of rope marked with
black rings at regular intervals and began to measure it.
“Will it fit?” I asked.
“I hope so,” he said, measuring the 'knee' of the limb. “I did
the calculations five times on the trip.” He frowned and weighed it
again with one hand. “I think it will do. It's better than walking
around on a crutch.”
“What we need is titanium,” I said.
Ed extended his stump and grabbed hold of the fabric bunched up
there before he began to roll it back. “Second rule of alchemy. You
work with what you have.”
“Couldn't I just transmute the iron into titanium?”
“You're not ready for inter-elemental transmutation yet,” Ed
said. He was carefully polishing the mechanical joint where his knee
used to be and doing the same to the artificial limb I had created.
“I wasn't ready for any kind of transmutation but I pulled them
off well enough,” I said a bit sullenly.
“Don't get cocky just because you have natural talent.” Ed slid
the limb into the housing with a click. He winced in anticipated pain
but then blinked. “Oh right, no nerve connections.” He tapped the
limb. “Feels weird.” He looked at me. “Just because you've been
lucky doesn't mean you're good. A friend of mine used to say you
start out with a finite amount of luck, and the trick is to become
good before you spend it all. You proceed with your alchemy at the
pace I set, and master your basics before you try anything more
advanced.”
I sighed and stood up. “Okay.” I offered him my hand.
He took it and I pulled him to his feet. He took a few seconds to
adjust his balance but managed to stay on his feet. “Ugh. No
response at all.” He took a few tentative steps. “This is going
to take forever to get used to. It's like...” He paused and
chuckled. “It's like someone replaced my leg with a hunk of metal.”
“Are you good to travel?” I asked.
“The walk will help me adjust.”
“I'll go tell Tyro.”
The earthbending chief was standing with the rest of his men closer
to the ship. Unlike them he was making an effort to look like he
wasn't staring. The ship itself was run aground in the small bay we
had drifted into with the morning tide, having been forced to wait
for the high tide all night before we could land. The reason he had
chosen this bay was its narrow entrance, which the earthbenders had
sealed up behind the ship to hide the ship from being spied at sea.
“Your friend is ready to go?” Tyro asked.
“As ready as he needs to be.” I glanced over my shoulder at him.
“How long is the walk?”
“It will take most of the day.” Tyro said with annoyance.
“Haru will be fine,” I tried to reassure him. “If there is a
rescue mission we need to go on, the soldiers at the base will help
us do so.”
“You don't understand, I've been in their prisons. It's not an
experience I want my son to go through alone.”
“I want to head to Omashu and beat some firebender heads in as
well, but I'd rather do so with an army at my back than not.” I
paused. “Besides, the more alchemy I can learn, the better.”
He nodded in defeat. “Right.” He turned to his men. “Gather
the prisoners and lets get a move on. It's a long walk.”
*
The first indication I had that anything was wrong was when the
ground punched me in the gut. Ed shouted and threw himself to the
side as a pillar of earth erupted in front of him. I collapsed to the
side, unable to do much but clutch my ribs and moan. I heard shouts
and cries of pain across the trail.
We had walked into the mountains along a narrow pass with high cliff
walls on either side. You couldn't have asked for a better
earthbender ambush site. Of course, we hadn't been expecting an
attack from our allies. The pain began to fade enough that I was able
to sit up, but my ribs sent a mind-numbing shock up my body at the
movement reminding me I still hadn't recovered from almost breaking
them just two days ago.
A flash of movement drew my attention. There was a man bearing down
on me, riding what looked like a velociraptor in green harness. He
had a very nasty looking polearm pointed straight at me. My mouth
opened but nothing came out. Then Ed appeared. He leapt into the air
and brought his metal limb up and down in a vicious axe kick that
snapped the haft of the spear in two. He landed poorly, the
artificial limb twisting under him and sending him to the ground. Two
more dinosaur riding men leapt down from the cliff and brought their
spears towards his back.
A slab of stone erupted from the ground next to him, angling over
him to form a shield that deflected the attacks. The two riders
stumbled as their spears were jarred loose from their hands.
“Stop!” Tyro roared. “We are not your enemies!”
“What's going on here?” Another man was coming down the cliff,
this one riding a platform of rock that slid down the side of the
stone like an elevator. He wore loose green armour with a
wide-brimmed hat on his head. “Who are you?”
“I am Tyro of the village of Tongli,” Tyro snarled as he strode
forward. “What are you doing attacking us?”
“I... you aren't a prisoner?” the man asked as he leaped to the
ground.
“Do I look like a prisoner!” Tyro snapped and gestured behind
him. “My men are armed and the firebenders are in shackles!”
“We just saw...” The man gulped and adjusted his collar with one
finger. “A lot of firebenders and...”
“And you didn't think,” Tyro growled. I got the impression he
was glad to have someone to take his tension out on. “And these two
boys are our friends as well. They helped us capture all these
firebenders.”
“They... did?” The man was looking at me and Ed (who had climbed
out from under his rock shield and was glaring at the man). “Uh...
I think maybe we should talk to the general.”
“Maybe we should,” Tyro barked. He turned to me and continued in
a much softer tone. “Nin, are you okay?”
“No, I think I'm going to faint.”
And I did.
*
I regained consciousness to the moans of the wounded. I opened my
eyes warily and saw I was in some sort of building. Glancing left and
right I saw the room was full of injured men and women in partially
worn green uniforms and armour. More men and women, these ones
dressed in a lighter shade of green, were moving among the wounded
offering various drinks and occasionally changing bandages.
“Hey, you're awake.”
“Ed?” I looked up and saw Ed was sitting behind me.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like someone smashed in my guts with a rock,” I said. I looked
down. My shirt had been removed and I had to push down the impulse to
cover my chest with a shriek. Of course, there was nothing to cover.
Great, now I was injured and depressed. My wounds had been wrapped
tightly in white bandages.
“Where are we?”
“A fortress.” Ed leaned back in his chair. “It's pretty big,
built on the top of a mountain with really, really high walls.
Reminds me a bit of...” He trailed off. “I'm just glad you're
okay. You looked pretty bad there for a while.”
“Bad?” I asked, gingerly touching my bandages only to wince.
“Two of your ribs were broken,” he said. “You need to rest and
recover, so we're not going anywhere for awhile.”
“Ah.” I allowed my head to fall back on the cot. “So what's
going on?”
“You're asking me?” Ed snorted and crossed his arms over his
chest, his gold eyes narrowing. “I can't understand a word they're
saying. That Tie-row guy and his men went into this central building
while you were led here and the prisoners were led to what I presume
is a prison.” He glanced around. “And for some reason, the people
here keep giving me dirty looks.”
“It's your eyes.”
“My eyes?” He looked perplexed.
“Yellow eyes, its a trait common in the Fire Nation from what I've
gathered. At least, almost all the firebenders from that ship have
yellow eyes.” I gestured vaguely into the air. “And their skin is
lighter than the people from the Earth Kingdom.”
“Everyone here looks like they have a tan compared to me, and I
haven't even seen one blond. Why would they think I'm from the Fire
Nation?”
“They're scared. They've been fighting a losing war for one
hundred years.”
Ed lapsed into silence at that. A few minutes later a nurse came and
checked on me, forcing me to sit up as she prodded my chest and
shoulder clinically. Then she forced a drink into my hand which she
insisted I drink, even though it tasted extremely bitter. If it was
pain medicine, it was extremely poor pain medicine.
“Ah, so this is our little hero.”
I turned to regard the new voice. He was a tall man with an
extremely full beard much like Tyro's, but his was still a vivid
brown and his hair had not deserted him. He wore expensive looking
garments in green and gold, complete with some sort of headdress
which pulled his hair into a topknot.
“Excuse me?” I asked him. I noticed that all the men in the room
had gone quiet at his arrival and were looking at him expectantly.
“General Fong, I presume?”
“Yes.” He crossed one arm over his stomach and made the very
slightest of bows. “And you would be Nin, the alchemist?”
“Close enough,” I agreed. “I'm honoured by your visit.”
He inclined his head slightly, as if it was only proper to be
honoured. “I just wanted to meet the hero who helped capture so
many firebenders.”
“I was just part of a group effort,” I demured.
“Don't sell yourself short,” he said with a smile. “You
infiltrated the enemy vessel, fought through many enemies at great
personal cost and managed to destroy their engine room, forcing a
surrender. The Earth Kingdom could use more people like you on our
side.” His eyes glinted and his grin widened.
“Uh... thanks again.” I coughed into my hand, suddenly feeling
uncomfortable for some reason. “Can I ask, what you intend to do
about Omashu?”
He frowned. “Yes, Omashu.” He looked around the room. “This
isn't really the place for such discussion. I will be deciding what
to do with my old friend Tyro. For now, you rest.”
“You know Tyro?”
He laughed. “Tyro was once my superior when I was just a rookie.”
He shook his head with a rueful grin. “But he mustered out years
ago, long before I was made an officer.” He frowned. “Terrible
about his son. But I will see what can be done. You two need to rest
now, so I will leave you to it.”
He spun dramatically and walked out of the room. I laid back and
looked up at Ed, who was frowning deeply.
“What is it?”
“I don't know. Something about that guy...” He shook his head.
“What did he have to say?”
“Not much. Just wanted to see me in person.”
*
It was two days before I was up to moving anywhere, though the
doctor seemed to find the speed of my recovery remarkable. “You
have a very healthy flow of chi,” he told me while forcing me to
drink a small cup of very potent tea which made me jitter with
nervous energy for the next three hours. Shortly after the visit by
General Fong I was moved to a private room with Ed. “A suitable
reward for a hero such as yourself,” was the only explanation I
got.
During that time Ed stayed mostly in the room with me, only leaving
to get our meals and for an occasional walk. He spent his time
working out as best the small room allowed him to, trying to adjust
to his artificial leg. He also liked to work out shirtless, which
caused the sweat to roll over his muscles in a way I found very hard
not to stare at. I kept staring down at myself in misery, which Ed
thankfully interpreted as annoyance at my wounds.
We also worked on his vocabulary the whole time as I tutored him in
the local language. Ed steadfastly refused to teach me even a single
thing about alchemy until I was recovered. When I was well enough to
walk unaided we received a summons to see General Fong in his office.
Fong's office was at the top of the central tiered tower which
overlooked the entire base. It really was impressively big, with the
external walls stretching at least four stories tall and only this
able to overlook them. Large stone plazas faced the four cardinal
directions, with low structures scattered about near the walls. I
also got the impression there were even more chambers beneath the
surface.
“Ah, I'm glad to see you looking so well,” Fong opened the
conversation. He was sitting behind a large stone desk on a dais
slightly above us. Standing next to him was a beautiful woman with
long black hair and pale skin wearing a green dress that accentuated
her curves. For some reason, she was staring at Ed instead of me and
barely even gave me a glance. “This is my secretary, Tsubaki. If
you have any needs while staying here, please let her know.” He
introduced her with a wave.
“Ah, thank you.” I bowed as much as my tender ribs would allow.
“And a pleasure to meet you,” I said to the secretary.
“Charmed,” she said with a smile that probably would have been
alluring towards men not in my unique circumstance. Than she went
back to staring at Ed. Ed, for his part, was giving her a curious
look, rubbing at his temple absently.
“Can I ask where Tyro and his men are?” I began.
“Ah yes. They left the day after you arrived.”
“They did?” I was a little shocked.
“My old friend was quite concerned about his son. The fall of
Omashu is an incredibly serious problem for us as well, so I
dispatched some of my men with him to assess the situation.”
“Ah... I was hoping to help him look for his son. Haru rescued us
from drowning and I feel I owe him.”
“No need to worry yourself about that,” Fong chuckled. “You
must concentrate on recovering your strength and studying your...
alchemy was it?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Tyro tells me many amazing things about your skills. I must admit
I do not quite believe all his stories. Would you mind terribly
providing a demonstration?”
“Just a moment.” I turned to Ed. “He wants me to show him some
alchemy. Should I?”
Ed glanced at me, then toward Fong and his secretary. “Something
isn't right.” He cracked his knuckles. “But okay. You're probably
recovered enough to do a simple transmutation.”
I indicated as much to the general and he laughed. “Excellent.”
He clapped his hands and a quartet of men came in, carrying a large
sheet of metal between them. “Armour from a Fire Nation ship we
captured and tore apart for scrap. We were planning on sending it to
Omashu to be processed into weapons but...” he trailed off sadly
and shook his head. “Still, I hear you can bend the metal?”
“It's not bending,” I said as the sheet was placed in front of
me. “It's transmutation. The metal is deconstructed into energy and
then reconstructed into another configuration. Technically it can
work on anything.”
“Anything? Really? Fascinating.”
“Ed, I think he wants to be impressed.” I said to him.
“Yeah...” Ed pulled his brush and ink from his pockets and knelt
down next to the metal, his artificial leg clanking against the stone
floor. “Here, let's try this.” He began to paint an array onto
the metal.
“What is he doing?” Fong asked.
“It's called an array. It controls the alchemy. Without it,
alchemy is impossible.” For me at least.
“Why is your friend doing it and not you?”
“I'm his student.”
“I see.” He rubbed his beard. “And can anyone learn this
alchemy?”
Ed stood up and looked at the array. “Okay, finished.”
“Ed, can anyone learn alchemy?”
“Anyone with a Gate,” he said absently.
I repeated that to Fong.
“Gate?” he asked. I shrugged.
“I don't know much about it yet. It's... like the quality that
allows people to be a bender, I suppose?”
I knelt in front of the metal plate and placed my hands on the
array. In a storm of energy and smoke the metal rearranged itself
into a new shape. It was a suit of armour, huge and menacing and much
more complete than anything I'd seen so far in this continent. Ed
smiled at it nostalgically. Fong's eyes widened. The secretary
flinched, raising her hand up to defend herself, but then lowering
them when she realized it was only empty armour.
“Magnificent,” Fong said, standing up. He walked down the stairs
beside his desk and placed his hand on the armour. “Such precise
control. With this art, the technological advantage of the Fire
Nation would vanish.”
“Excuse me?”
Fong grasped his arms behind his back and began to pace back up to
his desk. He talked over his shoudler towards me. “I used to think
that we could end this war with on decisive strike. That taking out
the Fire Lord Ozai would be enough to finish this. With the Avatar on
our side, the war could be over in weeks.” He turned to face me.
“But the news you brought with you that Fire Lord Ozai is dead, and
yet the war continues, and if anything is growing worse each day, has
caused me to reevaluate this position.” He gestured at the armour I
had transmuted into existence. “Nothing less than complete victory
will be enough to end this war now. And this alchemy may well be the
key to that victory.”
“What are you saying?” I asked warily.
“I want you and your friend to teach my people alchemy. With
access to this art, we can smash the Fire Nation's war machines with
ease and end the war once and for all. So, what do you say?”
[ ]I don't feel comfortable teaching people how to use alchemy for
use in a war.
[ ]What's in it for me?
[ ]It's really Ed's decision, not mine.
[ ]I see no problem with this.
Hopefully Yuku won't go down again so badly next week. New chapter Monday morning, voting ends Sunday midnight.
---------------
Epsilon
Blue lightning and smoke danced in my vision for a few seconds
before clearing. I kept my hand over my mouth and tried not to breath
as I waved away the last of the dust. An excited murmur erupted all
around me as the results came into view. Ed clapped his hands
together.
“Alright, looks good.”
He hop-walked with his crutch into the remains of the array and
knelt down next to the metal limb I had crafted. He picked it up with
both hands. “Heavy,” he noted. “Heavier than my first limbs.
But I guess that's a tradeoff for such poor quality steel.” He
reached into a pocket and pulled out a length of rope marked with
black rings at regular intervals and began to measure it.
“Will it fit?” I asked.
“I hope so,” he said, measuring the 'knee' of the limb. “I did
the calculations five times on the trip.” He frowned and weighed it
again with one hand. “I think it will do. It's better than walking
around on a crutch.”
“What we need is titanium,” I said.
Ed extended his stump and grabbed hold of the fabric bunched up
there before he began to roll it back. “Second rule of alchemy. You
work with what you have.”
“Couldn't I just transmute the iron into titanium?”
“You're not ready for inter-elemental transmutation yet,” Ed
said. He was carefully polishing the mechanical joint where his knee
used to be and doing the same to the artificial limb I had created.
“I wasn't ready for any kind of transmutation but I pulled them
off well enough,” I said a bit sullenly.
“Don't get cocky just because you have natural talent.” Ed slid
the limb into the housing with a click. He winced in anticipated pain
but then blinked. “Oh right, no nerve connections.” He tapped the
limb. “Feels weird.” He looked at me. “Just because you've been
lucky doesn't mean you're good. A friend of mine used to say you
start out with a finite amount of luck, and the trick is to become
good before you spend it all. You proceed with your alchemy at the
pace I set, and master your basics before you try anything more
advanced.”
I sighed and stood up. “Okay.” I offered him my hand.
He took it and I pulled him to his feet. He took a few seconds to
adjust his balance but managed to stay on his feet. “Ugh. No
response at all.” He took a few tentative steps. “This is going
to take forever to get used to. It's like...” He paused and
chuckled. “It's like someone replaced my leg with a hunk of metal.”
“Are you good to travel?” I asked.
“The walk will help me adjust.”
“I'll go tell Tyro.”
The earthbending chief was standing with the rest of his men closer
to the ship. Unlike them he was making an effort to look like he
wasn't staring. The ship itself was run aground in the small bay we
had drifted into with the morning tide, having been forced to wait
for the high tide all night before we could land. The reason he had
chosen this bay was its narrow entrance, which the earthbenders had
sealed up behind the ship to hide the ship from being spied at sea.
“Your friend is ready to go?” Tyro asked.
“As ready as he needs to be.” I glanced over my shoulder at him.
“How long is the walk?”
“It will take most of the day.” Tyro said with annoyance.
“Haru will be fine,” I tried to reassure him. “If there is a
rescue mission we need to go on, the soldiers at the base will help
us do so.”
“You don't understand, I've been in their prisons. It's not an
experience I want my son to go through alone.”
“I want to head to Omashu and beat some firebender heads in as
well, but I'd rather do so with an army at my back than not.” I
paused. “Besides, the more alchemy I can learn, the better.”
He nodded in defeat. “Right.” He turned to his men. “Gather
the prisoners and lets get a move on. It's a long walk.”
*
The first indication I had that anything was wrong was when the
ground punched me in the gut. Ed shouted and threw himself to the
side as a pillar of earth erupted in front of him. I collapsed to the
side, unable to do much but clutch my ribs and moan. I heard shouts
and cries of pain across the trail.
We had walked into the mountains along a narrow pass with high cliff
walls on either side. You couldn't have asked for a better
earthbender ambush site. Of course, we hadn't been expecting an
attack from our allies. The pain began to fade enough that I was able
to sit up, but my ribs sent a mind-numbing shock up my body at the
movement reminding me I still hadn't recovered from almost breaking
them just two days ago.
A flash of movement drew my attention. There was a man bearing down
on me, riding what looked like a velociraptor in green harness. He
had a very nasty looking polearm pointed straight at me. My mouth
opened but nothing came out. Then Ed appeared. He leapt into the air
and brought his metal limb up and down in a vicious axe kick that
snapped the haft of the spear in two. He landed poorly, the
artificial limb twisting under him and sending him to the ground. Two
more dinosaur riding men leapt down from the cliff and brought their
spears towards his back.
A slab of stone erupted from the ground next to him, angling over
him to form a shield that deflected the attacks. The two riders
stumbled as their spears were jarred loose from their hands.
“Stop!” Tyro roared. “We are not your enemies!”
“What's going on here?” Another man was coming down the cliff,
this one riding a platform of rock that slid down the side of the
stone like an elevator. He wore loose green armour with a
wide-brimmed hat on his head. “Who are you?”
“I am Tyro of the village of Tongli,” Tyro snarled as he strode
forward. “What are you doing attacking us?”
“I... you aren't a prisoner?” the man asked as he leaped to the
ground.
“Do I look like a prisoner!” Tyro snapped and gestured behind
him. “My men are armed and the firebenders are in shackles!”
“We just saw...” The man gulped and adjusted his collar with one
finger. “A lot of firebenders and...”
“And you didn't think,” Tyro growled. I got the impression he
was glad to have someone to take his tension out on. “And these two
boys are our friends as well. They helped us capture all these
firebenders.”
“They... did?” The man was looking at me and Ed (who had climbed
out from under his rock shield and was glaring at the man). “Uh...
I think maybe we should talk to the general.”
“Maybe we should,” Tyro barked. He turned to me and continued in
a much softer tone. “Nin, are you okay?”
“No, I think I'm going to faint.”
And I did.
*
I regained consciousness to the moans of the wounded. I opened my
eyes warily and saw I was in some sort of building. Glancing left and
right I saw the room was full of injured men and women in partially
worn green uniforms and armour. More men and women, these ones
dressed in a lighter shade of green, were moving among the wounded
offering various drinks and occasionally changing bandages.
“Hey, you're awake.”
“Ed?” I looked up and saw Ed was sitting behind me.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like someone smashed in my guts with a rock,” I said. I looked
down. My shirt had been removed and I had to push down the impulse to
cover my chest with a shriek. Of course, there was nothing to cover.
Great, now I was injured and depressed. My wounds had been wrapped
tightly in white bandages.
“Where are we?”
“A fortress.” Ed leaned back in his chair. “It's pretty big,
built on the top of a mountain with really, really high walls.
Reminds me a bit of...” He trailed off. “I'm just glad you're
okay. You looked pretty bad there for a while.”
“Bad?” I asked, gingerly touching my bandages only to wince.
“Two of your ribs were broken,” he said. “You need to rest and
recover, so we're not going anywhere for awhile.”
“Ah.” I allowed my head to fall back on the cot. “So what's
going on?”
“You're asking me?” Ed snorted and crossed his arms over his
chest, his gold eyes narrowing. “I can't understand a word they're
saying. That Tie-row guy and his men went into this central building
while you were led here and the prisoners were led to what I presume
is a prison.” He glanced around. “And for some reason, the people
here keep giving me dirty looks.”
“It's your eyes.”
“My eyes?” He looked perplexed.
“Yellow eyes, its a trait common in the Fire Nation from what I've
gathered. At least, almost all the firebenders from that ship have
yellow eyes.” I gestured vaguely into the air. “And their skin is
lighter than the people from the Earth Kingdom.”
“Everyone here looks like they have a tan compared to me, and I
haven't even seen one blond. Why would they think I'm from the Fire
Nation?”
“They're scared. They've been fighting a losing war for one
hundred years.”
Ed lapsed into silence at that. A few minutes later a nurse came and
checked on me, forcing me to sit up as she prodded my chest and
shoulder clinically. Then she forced a drink into my hand which she
insisted I drink, even though it tasted extremely bitter. If it was
pain medicine, it was extremely poor pain medicine.
“Ah, so this is our little hero.”
I turned to regard the new voice. He was a tall man with an
extremely full beard much like Tyro's, but his was still a vivid
brown and his hair had not deserted him. He wore expensive looking
garments in green and gold, complete with some sort of headdress
which pulled his hair into a topknot.
“Excuse me?” I asked him. I noticed that all the men in the room
had gone quiet at his arrival and were looking at him expectantly.
“General Fong, I presume?”
“Yes.” He crossed one arm over his stomach and made the very
slightest of bows. “And you would be Nin, the alchemist?”
“Close enough,” I agreed. “I'm honoured by your visit.”
He inclined his head slightly, as if it was only proper to be
honoured. “I just wanted to meet the hero who helped capture so
many firebenders.”
“I was just part of a group effort,” I demured.
“Don't sell yourself short,” he said with a smile. “You
infiltrated the enemy vessel, fought through many enemies at great
personal cost and managed to destroy their engine room, forcing a
surrender. The Earth Kingdom could use more people like you on our
side.” His eyes glinted and his grin widened.
“Uh... thanks again.” I coughed into my hand, suddenly feeling
uncomfortable for some reason. “Can I ask, what you intend to do
about Omashu?”
He frowned. “Yes, Omashu.” He looked around the room. “This
isn't really the place for such discussion. I will be deciding what
to do with my old friend Tyro. For now, you rest.”
“You know Tyro?”
He laughed. “Tyro was once my superior when I was just a rookie.”
He shook his head with a rueful grin. “But he mustered out years
ago, long before I was made an officer.” He frowned. “Terrible
about his son. But I will see what can be done. You two need to rest
now, so I will leave you to it.”
He spun dramatically and walked out of the room. I laid back and
looked up at Ed, who was frowning deeply.
“What is it?”
“I don't know. Something about that guy...” He shook his head.
“What did he have to say?”
“Not much. Just wanted to see me in person.”
*
It was two days before I was up to moving anywhere, though the
doctor seemed to find the speed of my recovery remarkable. “You
have a very healthy flow of chi,” he told me while forcing me to
drink a small cup of very potent tea which made me jitter with
nervous energy for the next three hours. Shortly after the visit by
General Fong I was moved to a private room with Ed. “A suitable
reward for a hero such as yourself,” was the only explanation I
got.
During that time Ed stayed mostly in the room with me, only leaving
to get our meals and for an occasional walk. He spent his time
working out as best the small room allowed him to, trying to adjust
to his artificial leg. He also liked to work out shirtless, which
caused the sweat to roll over his muscles in a way I found very hard
not to stare at. I kept staring down at myself in misery, which Ed
thankfully interpreted as annoyance at my wounds.
We also worked on his vocabulary the whole time as I tutored him in
the local language. Ed steadfastly refused to teach me even a single
thing about alchemy until I was recovered. When I was well enough to
walk unaided we received a summons to see General Fong in his office.
Fong's office was at the top of the central tiered tower which
overlooked the entire base. It really was impressively big, with the
external walls stretching at least four stories tall and only this
able to overlook them. Large stone plazas faced the four cardinal
directions, with low structures scattered about near the walls. I
also got the impression there were even more chambers beneath the
surface.
“Ah, I'm glad to see you looking so well,” Fong opened the
conversation. He was sitting behind a large stone desk on a dais
slightly above us. Standing next to him was a beautiful woman with
long black hair and pale skin wearing a green dress that accentuated
her curves. For some reason, she was staring at Ed instead of me and
barely even gave me a glance. “This is my secretary, Tsubaki. If
you have any needs while staying here, please let her know.” He
introduced her with a wave.
“Ah, thank you.” I bowed as much as my tender ribs would allow.
“And a pleasure to meet you,” I said to the secretary.
“Charmed,” she said with a smile that probably would have been
alluring towards men not in my unique circumstance. Than she went
back to staring at Ed. Ed, for his part, was giving her a curious
look, rubbing at his temple absently.
“Can I ask where Tyro and his men are?” I began.
“Ah yes. They left the day after you arrived.”
“They did?” I was a little shocked.
“My old friend was quite concerned about his son. The fall of
Omashu is an incredibly serious problem for us as well, so I
dispatched some of my men with him to assess the situation.”
“Ah... I was hoping to help him look for his son. Haru rescued us
from drowning and I feel I owe him.”
“No need to worry yourself about that,” Fong chuckled. “You
must concentrate on recovering your strength and studying your...
alchemy was it?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Tyro tells me many amazing things about your skills. I must admit
I do not quite believe all his stories. Would you mind terribly
providing a demonstration?”
“Just a moment.” I turned to Ed. “He wants me to show him some
alchemy. Should I?”
Ed glanced at me, then toward Fong and his secretary. “Something
isn't right.” He cracked his knuckles. “But okay. You're probably
recovered enough to do a simple transmutation.”
I indicated as much to the general and he laughed. “Excellent.”
He clapped his hands and a quartet of men came in, carrying a large
sheet of metal between them. “Armour from a Fire Nation ship we
captured and tore apart for scrap. We were planning on sending it to
Omashu to be processed into weapons but...” he trailed off sadly
and shook his head. “Still, I hear you can bend the metal?”
“It's not bending,” I said as the sheet was placed in front of
me. “It's transmutation. The metal is deconstructed into energy and
then reconstructed into another configuration. Technically it can
work on anything.”
“Anything? Really? Fascinating.”
“Ed, I think he wants to be impressed.” I said to him.
“Yeah...” Ed pulled his brush and ink from his pockets and knelt
down next to the metal, his artificial leg clanking against the stone
floor. “Here, let's try this.” He began to paint an array onto
the metal.
“What is he doing?” Fong asked.
“It's called an array. It controls the alchemy. Without it,
alchemy is impossible.” For me at least.
“Why is your friend doing it and not you?”
“I'm his student.”
“I see.” He rubbed his beard. “And can anyone learn this
alchemy?”
Ed stood up and looked at the array. “Okay, finished.”
“Ed, can anyone learn alchemy?”
“Anyone with a Gate,” he said absently.
I repeated that to Fong.
“Gate?” he asked. I shrugged.
“I don't know much about it yet. It's... like the quality that
allows people to be a bender, I suppose?”
I knelt in front of the metal plate and placed my hands on the
array. In a storm of energy and smoke the metal rearranged itself
into a new shape. It was a suit of armour, huge and menacing and much
more complete than anything I'd seen so far in this continent. Ed
smiled at it nostalgically. Fong's eyes widened. The secretary
flinched, raising her hand up to defend herself, but then lowering
them when she realized it was only empty armour.
“Magnificent,” Fong said, standing up. He walked down the stairs
beside his desk and placed his hand on the armour. “Such precise
control. With this art, the technological advantage of the Fire
Nation would vanish.”
“Excuse me?”
Fong grasped his arms behind his back and began to pace back up to
his desk. He talked over his shoudler towards me. “I used to think
that we could end this war with on decisive strike. That taking out
the Fire Lord Ozai would be enough to finish this. With the Avatar on
our side, the war could be over in weeks.” He turned to face me.
“But the news you brought with you that Fire Lord Ozai is dead, and
yet the war continues, and if anything is growing worse each day, has
caused me to reevaluate this position.” He gestured at the armour I
had transmuted into existence. “Nothing less than complete victory
will be enough to end this war now. And this alchemy may well be the
key to that victory.”
“What are you saying?” I asked warily.
“I want you and your friend to teach my people alchemy. With
access to this art, we can smash the Fire Nation's war machines with
ease and end the war once and for all. So, what do you say?”
[ ]I don't feel comfortable teaching people how to use alchemy for
use in a war.
[ ]What's in it for me?
[ ]It's really Ed's decision, not mine.
[ ]I see no problem with this.
Hopefully Yuku won't go down again so badly next week. New chapter Monday morning, voting ends Sunday midnight.
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Epsilon