Fire Rangers

"ARH!"

The beastly man lunged at him aiming his obsidian tipped spear at his chest. The giant of a man was covered with burn wounds and cuts yet he lived and fought with increasing tenacity. Lu Ten dodged and swung his bloody Jian at the man. It dug into the man's neck, cutting through the hairy beard and into the soft flesh.

His blade caught the feral native in the perfect place; the thick furs and leathers worn by the mountain barbarians were at time troublesome, however fur and leather offered little protection above the neck.

Hot blood gushed out from the man's neck, splattering his hand and scale armoured chest. Lu ten's mind raced, he could feel the sensation of his blade slicing through flesh, it was nothing like practice dummies of hay and wood.

The beastly man fell to his knees heavily onto the rocky terrain, clutching his throat in some futile attempt to stem the spilling crimson life liquid. Lu Ten didn't let up he stood over the man raised his Jian, adjusted the angle and brought it down with purpose and weight onto the man's nape.

He could feel it for a few seconds, the bone of the man's spine, even his fingers as his sword lopped off the brute's head.

The hot blood on his fingers contrasted well with the chilly air.

He whipped his head around, constantly looking for any more enemies in his surroundings.

"All clear!" Juzo a fellow private of his shouted.

"Good, we'll enter the cave as soon after a brief rest." Lieutenant Rasao his commanding officer ordered.

"Is anyone injured enough to need first aid?" He asked.

Lu ten looked himself over as the others did. Aside from feeling tired and high from adrenaline, he didn't seem to have any injuries.Though it was hard to tell with amount of the hormones he was sure filled his entire being.

After thoroughly checking himself, Lu Ten walked over to a large rock and sat. Though he remained vigilant, eyes scanning the area. Looking from the treeline, over the dead forms of fallen barbarians and settling on a cave in the distance.

His father was right, no amount of training or warnings could prepare a man for a true battle of life and death. No military instructor could fully explain the feeling of cutting through a man. No mock fire battles could prepare one for the sounds a man makes when his face was blasted with fire or the stench of burnt hair and charred flesh .

This island was where he first blooded himself. Previously he expected to have done so in the Earth Kingdom at the Great wall.

His first engagement wasn't the invasion of the island. No, by the time the Firebending infantrymen disembarked the ship, the defensive lines of the natives had already broken and majority of the inhabitants were either surrendering or fleeing.

At that time he was certain these people weren't Earth Kingdom citizens. From what his father and other military men had told him, stubbornness and defiance was engrained within each denizen of the massive Kingdom. These people broke and scattered too easily.

His actual first battle as soldier of the Fire army took place as his squadron made their rounds of the base's perimeter days after the invasion. They were looking into some suspected sightings of people in the area. His squad had been attacked suddenly, one of his squad mates took an arrow to the eye before loud shouts broke out from the foliage.

He killed his first man that day with a fire blast to face and a slash to the jugular. He'd later go on to burn and cut down three more by then end of the battle.

'By now the count is what? 19? No 20..' He considered as he felt the sticky blood drying on his fingers.

'I should clean that.' He learned many things no royal trainer or even uncle Piandao could teach him. Sure, he was cautioned of what could happen on the battlefield.

The spray of blood, dirt or other irritants getting into one's eyes. But hearing and experiencing are very different.

He now knew exactly how to slash a man in such a way it sprayed away from his face. Blood had a tendency to get on the face and into the eyes, especially when fighting against towering enemies.

He knew to quickly finish off his enemy even if he knew they were dying. On a battlefield variables and hesitation would be costly. He knew well not to make that mistake again.

It was weeks ago when he killed his first woman. He slashed her across the chest, cutting through the burnt fur and bone. He knew the by the feel of the sword and the gasp she made that the wound was fatal, he'd cut through her left clavicle and logded his weapon in her ribcage. He hesitated for just a moment, hoping for her to die before retrieving his weapon from her torso in an attempt to cause her less pain.

But she was rather tenacious, if it wasn't for his armour and general position, her obsidian blade would have plunged into his neck and slashed his arteries.

"Lu Ten?" A shadow loomed over him, he recognized the voice.

He looked up at the man holding a canister of water to him.

"Thirsty?" The man shook the metal container.

Lu Ten grabbed the water, removed the skull visor plate from his face and began drinking from it with gusto. He expected to hear laughter, but as he looked up he saw Kizan looking to the cave before to them.

It was a jagged, dark hole jutting from the mountainside.

"Damn barbarians..." Kizan cursed.

"What do you think we'll find in there?" He asked, though almost dreadfully certain what to expect by now.

"Likely more bones..." Lu Ten answered, knowing full well exactly what type of bones they would find.

'Likely with butchering and human bite marks on them.' He thought to himself.

"Haaah, these people are something else." Kizan said as he took a seat beside him.

"These lands are harsh, and they seem rather primitive." He said still gazing at the cave.

"I don't think most crops grow well in this terrain and cold" He kicked a black stone away from himself.

"Sure but... To hunt others for food...It's insane." Kizan shook his head.

Lu ten couldn't blame him. Every one had grown up with spooky stories of man eating spirits. He heard crewmen whispering of men being forced to eat their dead crew mates after being stranded in the harsh icy tundra of the south pole after Waterbenders froze their ships.

He even watched plays recounting the ancient petty dynasties of the pre-Earth Kingdom kings and warlords who claimed to eat the flesh of their fallen enemies to gain their strength and intimidate others.

But to be attacked by barbarians as prey and to see the human remains scattered in their camps and caves after defeating them really shocked the base when word got back to the base.

This would be a problem for inland exploration and habitation. A culling was needed to minimize risks when the exploration teams marched in force to map the island, not to mention the safety of the workers who would be needed to clear and expand the paths to allow secure travel.

It was for this reason he and his squad were out roaming the lands near the settlement. The New created 'Fire Ranger' regiment was a resounding success. They specialized in mounted combat and raid tactics inside enemy territory.

They and their mounts were equipped in scale armour from the Fire Island warlord era. It was a variation from the Sei'Naka clan's Dragon scale pattern- able to withstand the blunt and piercing attacks of the native club and spear users though it was much heavier and a little restrictive.

Most of their battle tactics were taken directly from the famed rough rhinos who his father held much respect for. Though none of the famed group were present, their tracking and assault methods were taught to every ranger- with the most accomplished of them becoming Squad Commanders.

They would first identify or discover traces of barbarians, then they would track them down and assault them brutally from atop fast moving Mongoose-Lizards using crossbow bolts and arrows.

They would trace any stragglers back to their dens and finish them off, by cutting them down, burning them within their dens or simply bringing the cave structures they lived within down upon their head using blasting jelly.

This particular group was quite large and very illusive. It's been days since they were on their tails and finally it was coming to an end.

"Alright let's move! Get into formation!" The Lieutenant's voice broke his musings. It was time to check the cave.

Deep within himself, Lu Ten knew for all the terror and rush he felt in battle, he never felt more nervous than stepping into a cave on these strange lands.

'Oh what fresh new horrors await...' He thought as they marched up to the mouth of the cave.

(-)

The rangers made their way up the craggy path and stood at the mouth of the cave armed with long pikes and loaded crossbows. It was large enough for eight men to walk inside shoulder to shoulder. The lieutenant lit up a fire cracker and threw it inside. The explosive went off popping and lighting up, the sound echoing off the walls. The Fire cracker method was a rather good one when used on the savages as they didn't know what it was and would shout and give themselves away. This was vital in ensuring they weren't ambushed inside.

After a few moments of no response, a few torches were lit up and the rangers advanced cautiously with their weapons ready. Warm air assaulted them immediately upon stepping inside. The smell of sulfur was heavy; it mixed well with the other smells of decay and urine, creating a nauseating perfume.

The smell caused the faces of the rangers to set even more firmly than before. They were very familiar with this smell. It was the stench most of the caves they examined had. What they would routinely find were the bones of the dead or in worst cases human carcasses strung up to dry or pitted on sticks to be eaten. It was a sight that gave many of them nightmares.

The light illuminated their path as they travelled about fifteen meters in, reveling fresh horrors in broken bones scattered about. A skull there and a rib here. All grim stuff, that was until the fire light caught the flash of skin!

The ranger focused on the form his fellows ready to spring into action. However instead of a savage waiting to rush them, they saw a bound figure on a animal skin rug. They leaned in to get a better look at the figure.

"A girl?" one of them asked. Looking at the beardless unconscious face.

The girl's face was brutish much like those of all the natives they encounted so far but it was undeniably a female. She was alive too, as they traced their eyes over her form they could see the pinkish hue on her skin and the angry red brusing on her face.

This was new in all the reports of raids on the savage caves none of them had live captives- live ones at least. But it didn't take long for them to notice why exactly this girl was. Her body was bare of cloth but covered in bruises, palmprints. She was bound in such a way that would allow... easy access.

They all scrunched up their faces in revultion. 'These savages... They truly knew no bounds!'

They all stood there for a moment unsure of what to do. The lieutenant worked his thoughts on what to do, did they leave her to die? End her themselves? No that wouldn't do. These savages were alien to them but they did show the capacity to be civilized to an extent at least for what he'd seen in the likes of the coastal natives.

'She could be interrogated for information.' He reasoned to himself.

"We're taking her back to the outpost." The lieutenant made his orders known.

He could tell the men were hesitant, who would want to touch or get close to this... native.

But just as he was about to order someone, Private Lu Ten walked out briskly and began wrap her up within the smelly fur coat the savages had laid out on the floor. Following his lead another two walked over to her and began to help. The native was certainly a female, but seemed to be just as large as they were.

The men will have quite a hard time shuffling her out.