76 Chapter 76: Arts and Deals
A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn
Pa treon.com/HolyJoker
(20+ chapters in advance)
______
Chapter 76: Arts and Deals
***
'Dead, they are all dead. Every single one of the warriors that I had sent is dead. My naivety got everyone killed. Not only the elders but also some of the promising younger generation were dead. Hahn was amongst them too. Yue must be devastated at her betrothed's death. How can I face her now?'
Arnook beat himself over the decision he made. His body felt like it was falling apart from the stress. While he had been worried about pleasing everyone, he failed to take into account people's lives and that this was a war, not a political battle.
Only Pakku now in the Northern Water Tribe could be called a true waterbending master. While he was the best amongst any of the Elders, one man could only do so much.
Arnook held hope that maybe they were still alive, but he had learned better. The experience of dealing with a war was quickly dawning on him.
While walking down the road, he almost felt sick to his stomach when he stumbled into Sokka who was waiting for him in a secluded place, with very few people.
"Hello~" he greeted the Chieftain cheerfully and waved. "I see that you're troubled, chieftain. I can deal with all of your problems."
Sokka's words and gentle smile were meant to disarm anyone, he was like the helpful neighbor boy. "You know, I have some knowledge on situations like these. If you leave everything to me, then I will take care of it."
Have someone else do the bothersome things for you, they will help you, and they will be your comrade, with seemingly no benefits to them. Sounds good right?
Sadly reality wasn't that bland, people were complex, and everyone had their ambitions. Sokka was taking advantage of the depressed and sleep-deprived Chieftain. Even Arnook knew, if he didn't know now, he would in the future.
The chieftain stared down at the ground, he wanted to sleep, he wanted to be with Yue, and help her through this hard time. His heart clenched at the thought of his daughter, she was scared.
'This guy is either having mental degradation due to the lack of sleep, or he was that desperate. Maybe both.' - Thought Sokka, playing the act of a helpful young man. Whether Arnook could see through this or not didn't matter, desperate people sometimes clouded themselves to believe what they wanted to believe. There was a reason why so many people fell for scam calls.
"Then, fix it," Arnook muttered, his voice filled with a strange optimism in them.
His reaction made Sokka suspicious, but he didn't think about it too much. He clapped his hands, to bring the attention of the chieftain to him. "Well, I am not your dog though. So how about a deal that is beneficial for both of us. You didn't listen to my plan the first time, so now I have no reason to listen to you for free."
"What do you want?" The chieftain inquired, he didn't act like he was here to negotiate but just compromise. It unnerved Sokka a little at just how vulnerable people could become when desperate.
'Will I one day end up like that too?'
Everyone could end up as shit on the side of the road one day. Sokka didn't want that to happen, especially since he knew that his situation wasn't as good as it appeared and he knew that. Still, he played it as everything was okay, and the smile on his face didn't falter. Though he promised himself to not act like a fool when the time came.
Arnook was worried about what would happen when the Fire Nation took over, and what would happen to Yue. These thoughts made his mood worse.
"I want supplies, food, workers, and protection be sent over to the Southern Water Tribe," Sokka stated what he wanted and his tone made it clear that there was no room for negotiation. "If you promise me that and we get it on paper, then I will agree."
Arnook nodded, expressing his agreement to the deal. Sokka had to try hard to keep his smile down since in his wording he had been vague and never mentioned how much quantity of food and other things they would have sent to the tribe. Normally such vague words could be used by someone like Arnook, who was in power, to dodge or negotiate down the deal. But being the Chieftain would only put him at a disadvantage when Sokka became the hero of the Northern Water Tribe.
Sokka had a very detailed idea of how things would go, and while he predicted how this situation might play out, he also knew that some things could and would go wrong. But now, he had an incentive to win, a benefit, a reason, and that was a motivation that would push him.
Though during the ordeal, Arnook didn't try to negotiate, this surprised him a little. After all, just because someone had a tone like they didn't want to negotiate didn't mean that you shouldn't try to talk with them. To Sokka, it made sense, since the Northern Water Tribe didn't have any trade with the outside world.
This was a nice surprise to him, like a birthday gift. But Sokka was a little disappointed at how incompetent the ruling power of the North was.
Like a shark, Sokka smelled blood at this incompetence, and showing weakness in front of someone like him wasn't a good idea. "Also, the North won't intervene in the politics of the South, even after this war is over. Of course, I will need that in writing too."
This time Arnook, through his tired eyes, frowned. "The North had been ruling the Southern Water Tribe for-"
"But you haven't been ruling it for a hundred years now, and they have lost a lot of manpower due to the war and now it is a poor region, a shadow of its former self," Sokka reasoned, as his smile slowly started turning into a frown. He wasn't really annoyed but had to play his part. "The Northern Water Tribe will be destroyed without me, are you sure you want that? The Southern Water Tribe will just be an economic wormhole, do you want to have to keep sending supplies on the other side of the world for a long time? The journey itself is expensive as hell, people don't do all that for free."
He made sure to make Arnook think that the deal was beneficial for both of them. So the Chieftain wouldn't feel like he was being screwed over… because he was.
Sokka knew that the Southern Water Tribe would become rich, as it had the biggest oil reserves. But at this time no one knew about it, and he made it sure in his wording that he included the whole South Pole wouldn't be interfered with, not just the Southern tribe. These kinds of things were good to make clear early on. So in the future, when problems start arising, he will have the deal to his side.
[Intelligence increased by 1, for making a good deal that outsmarted the other side]
'Well, I am not exactly screwing him over. Technically.'
Arnook sighed, but in the end nodded, agreeing with this deal too. In his eyes, the Southern Water Tribe would be a never-ending money sink. Overall it was cruel to think of it that way, but he was glad that Sokka was taking this out of his hands. "I agree, the paperwork will be done and we will both make a blood fingerprint on the contract that will be held for now, until the end of time."
'Jeez, look at these theatrics. Well, I guess they are very old-fashioned and think things like these are still cool.'
Sokka kept his thoughts to himself and didn't utter a word about his thoughts. Instead, he just smiled and shook the tired chieftain's hand. "Glad we could work this out. Now go and rest, I will take care of things from here on out."
Arnook walked off to be with his family, and his posture was that of a defeated man, even though he tried to keep the illusion that he was okay.
**
The world around him was filled with uncertainties, but Sokka knew better than to panic.
The coldness around him seemed to sink into his skin, but he stood tall, unwavering. Breathing out a hot cloud from his mouth.
"What a sad situation," for a split second, Sokka allowed himself to feel pity for Arnook. But he understood that this had to be done, things were becoming complicated and the best he could do was take care of the people close to him. "The prey, or the predator, I wonder which one I am."
Looking at the sky, Sokka saw the clouds slowly moving. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, riding any thoughts of hesitation in his mind.
He walked along the road, silently, but quickly at the same time. Arriving atop the wall, he looked at the sky once again and saw that it was dark. Soon the full moon would become purely visible. After writing these documents, he knew what had to be done. "Human moves for their benefits, if there was nothing to be gained, life wouldn't be worth living."
Sokka wanted to go and immediately pressure Arnook into signing the papers but decided to let the man spend some time with his daughter. Yue was someone whose demeanor reminded him of someone in his past life, he was reminded of a bloody bathtub, every time he looked at her.
Though he mellowed out later on in life, during his younger years, he wasn't nice at all. Harsh environments always grew strong people, survivors, and those kinds people weren't nice most of the time.
**
He waited for a couple hours, standing there while staring at the Fire Nation navy, hundreds, possibly thousands of ships stood. Even with the Gamer Interface, that was something Sokka couldn't deal with.
But he never was someone who would give up so easily, it wasn't like he had to fight against the enemy head-on.
Sokka used a minor trick with his waterbending and made an ice cube that perfectly fit in his hand. He compressed the ice, making it more rigid and stringer and the sparkle that it gave off was like that of a diamond.
"Sokka?" Suddenly Katara's voice rang out, as she had walked up the stairs and stood next to him. Overlooking the Fire Nation navy. "The Chieftain called for you and has requested Aang as a witness. Did something happen?"
Her voice showed that she was worried about him. But Sokka dismissed such thoughts of her's with a gentle smile, fondly clasping her cheek. "No, don't worry. I have everything under control. I will make life in the Southern Water Tribe amazing."
At first, Katara glanced at him questionably, as if confused by what he had said. She only smiled, feeling the gentleness that he usually never showed. "You don't have to worry either. As your sister, I will be by your side too. So stop being so sad."
Sad? Sokka hadn't noticed he was making that kind of expression. But he wasn't worried, since Katara was the one who saw this side of him too. Cold, sarcastic, kind, which side was his real one?... All of them were him.
Sokka dismissed any distracting thought that came to mind and patted his sister on the head, before walking away with a smile on his face. He was back to normal as if nothing ever happened. As if he hadn't revealed something he considered a weakness to his sister.
**
As he walked towards Arnook's home, the people looked at him and talked in whispered tones. Sokka didn't mind it and took this with stride, smiling at everyone, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Once he arrived at his destination, he saw Arnook's humble home. It had one floor, with no extravagant decorations on it either and from the outside, it seemed like something a middle-class family would own. The windows were made out of something that seemed like transparent ice, and it made Sokka curious if they were made using waterbending.
He walked in without hesitation, and even inside, the house was humble, with a small table in the middle for four people. A small stone stove on the corner had something cooking within it. Sokka took a deep breath in the house, and felt the cold air permanente his lungs, like everywhere else in the North Pole, the place was cold.
Aang was sitting nervously in one of the chairs, it was clear with his nudging that the young Airbender was uncomfortable. He saw Sokka and waved at him. "Hey, we haven't been able to see each other a lot lately. Do you know why the chieftain has called us here?"
Sokka shrugged, acting as if he had no idea. "Where is Yue?" That was another question he had an answer to but decided to act clueless. The [Map] was a very convenient tool to have.
"Sokka!" Yue's voice sounded out in excitement before him, and her rushing steps were heard before her hug that made him almost stumble forward.
Turning around, he smiled at her and hugged Yue, engulfing her in his arms. "Have you gotten better?"
"Yes!" She stated, excitedly, as color seemed to come to her face. Yue seemed happier than she had been since the explosion.
"I knew my good looks would bring anyone back to good health," Sokka jokes, looking Yue in the eyes as his smile dampened a little. "Take better care of yourself, or I will be worried."
Once again, Sokka said another lie without missing a beat. By now, Yue had outlived her usefulness and there was nothing that could be gained from her. But he decided to help her. Why? Because he wanted to. There wasn't some deep meaning to it, nor a benefit.
Yue giggled, in turn, hugging him even tighter.
Aang looked at the table awkwardly, feeling like a third wheel.
That was when Arnook came into the house and saw Sokka and Yue hugging each other, both with smiles on their faces.
********
A/N: If you wanna join my Discord server to ask any questions or see character pics. Here it is the link:
https://discord.gg/bqadGRAUHA
