Chapter 2: Wars of Frost and Flame

The sounds of battle drums and war horns in the early morning awoke Xisheng from a peaceful slumber. They weren't the most welcome sounds to wake up to, but they were certainly familiar. While stationed in the Earth Kingdom, he had been awoken by similar instruments many times to fight off a push into their lines.

That said, Xisheng was used to fighting battles with less sleep than was probably healthy, so doing so now was not what bothered him. No, what irked him was that the war drums wouldn't be in use unless they were about to mount a ground assault. As he had anticipated, Zhao was so eager to prove that he was some sort of legend that he couldn't stand waiting for more than a day of bombardment before initiating an assault. The fleet literally had thousands of sulfur bombs in their arsenal. They could have bombarded the Northern Water Tribe for days, probably for a whole week and then some. They had enough bombs to probably turn the entire city into a mound of icy rubble, but that wouldn't be nearly as glorious as a land assault spearheaded by the Admiral himself.

So, as usual, hundreds of men and women would probably die today to satisfy the ego of their commander. It was hardly anything new: years ago some general in the Earth Kingdom theater had planned to use a battalion of completely new recruits for some sort of suicide operation. Rumor was that the now banished prince had objected to the strategy, something that would have boosted him to the height of respect and admiration in the military had he not turned his back on his own words as soon as they were challenged.

Having not even been in the military at the time, Xisheng had of course not been present for the Agni Kai in which Prince Zuko was to defend what he believed in. But word had spread around the Fire Nation quite quickly: the moment Zuko was faced with a fight he did not believe he could win, he crumbled. Suddenly the lives of those recruits didn't matter as much as his own safety, and that brought more shame and dishonor to the boy than literally anything else could have. The civilian population of the country didn't care nearly as much as the military one did, and very few common soldiers still looked on the Prince with any fondness after he made it so abundantly clear that their lives weren't worth defending when the odds were stacked against him.

As for Xisheng, he cut the banished prince some slack. He had been fairly young at the time, and being thrust into combat against the Fire Lord himself would be shocking for anyone. But Zuko had been foolish. He didn't have to win against his father. No one expected that of him, and it wasn't the point. The point was that he would be willing to fight against someone so much more powerful than him not just for his own convictions, but for the people of his nation. When he had essentially surrendered to his foe, he had betrayed both himself and the soldiers who trusted him. How could someone unwilling to fight for their people against impossible odds ever hope to be Fire Lord?

That said, Zuko had been horribly dishonored that day. The Fire Lord had really banished him for his own good more than anything else. If Zuko had stayed in the Fire Nation all these years, everyone would have been reminded of his disgrace whenever they saw him. By keeping him out of the public eye, the Fire Lord had at least made sure that the upper echelon of Fire Nation society would more or less forget about the incident. As for finding the Avatar, while it was a long shot, it was one of the only things the banished prince could do to erase his mistake. After all, great follies required great reparations. Besides, it was the only thing Zuko could really do besides conquer Ba Sing Se single handed that would clear his name.

As for the scar, it did seem harsh to some, but it was not as if the Fire Lord could give his son special treatment just because he was family. Not wounding him in any way at all would have been the same as accepting his cowardice in the face of the enemy, not to mention go against the sacred rules of an Agni Kai. What was the Fire Lord supposed to do, disregard the country's most sacred traditions just because the person in question was his son? That would have made him only marginally better than his cowardly brother.

Besides, being a Firebender himself, Xisheng knew for a fact that the prince's scar was hardly a result of wanton cruelty. If the Fire Lord had wanted only to hurt and shame his son, why exercise enough control to avoid incinerating his eye? Xisheng was fully aware how difficult it was to control the heat of your flames to such an extent that everything around your target was burned, but not the target itself.

If anything, the scar would serve as a reminder to everyone that the prince had come a long way from what he once was when he manged to return. And now that the Avatar was actually back without a doubt, Zuko had a real chance of restoring his honor, his dignity, and the respect of his citizens and soldiers. Even Zhao was on board with the idea: dislike Zuko as he did, there was still no denying that helping him in his quest to capture the Avatar was the best thing for his career. Zhao couldn't really rise any higher in the military than he already had, but if he helped the future Fire Lord achieve his greatest objective, well, the benefits would be astronomical.

That said, maybe Zhao should have tried a little harder to catch the young Airbender a few weeks ago. After all, master marksmen or not, how on earth did he expect the Yu-Yan archers to somehow defeat someone that could control air? It didn't make any sense at all.

Either way, the situation now was what it was. They'd be deploying for a ground assault against the Northern Water Tribe within the next hour. Hopefully the overnight bombardment had worn out the enemy to an extent where they'd be defeated before nightfall. Normally it would be fine if they couldn't destroy the enemy in a single assault, but that only applied when they were killing every enemy they came across. The Fire Nation military had standing orders to capture benders alive if at all possible; while the purpose of this directive was lost on most of the troops that followed it, those who knew what was truly going on understood that the benders of the other nations couldn't be re-assimilated into the new society if they were all dead.

Needless to say this had made the war considerably more difficult for the Fire Nation over the past century. Having to fight with some degree of restraint in order to take the most powerful enemies alive was difficult. Moreover, keeping those benders incarcerated after the fact was expensive, taking both resources and troops. Meanwhile, the Earth Kingdom had not taken a Fire Nation soldier alive in a hundred years. A trek through the Earth Kingdom and a peek into any of their prisons was proof enough that there had never been Fire Nation captives in their borders: colonists and soldiers alike, all were executed by the Earth Kingdom.

Because this no mercy rule was followed by the majority of the Earth Kingdom army, the rules of engagement had changed just slightly about forty years ago. The Fire Lord still wanted benders to be taken alive if possible, but by now there were a significant number of both Earth and Waterbenders in their custody, so if a particular bender seemed too dangerous to risk capturing lethal force was acceptable. On a somewhat more morbid scale, any enemy bender that claimed the lives of one whole squad was to be killed rather than captured. The Fire Nation may have wanted to bring enlightenment to the world, but not at the expense of too many of its own people.

Besides, it was difficult to not want some form of retribution against the enemy for their acts of barbarism. Granted, the Fire Nation had committed genocide a century ago, but the events surrounding that incident were still shrouded in uncertainty. All Xisheng knew was that the idea had supposedly not been to kill them all from the start. Of course, the initial intention didn't justify the wholesale slaughter of an entire race, but at least the Fire Nation had learned from the mistake. They'd yet to do anything nearly so heinous again. They didn't even execute prisoners of war, with the exception of very rare cases.

But still, as infuriating as it was to know that every captured man and woman was executed in front of Earth Kingdom troops for morale, Xisheng had to keep in mind their true purpose. That being the case, he quickly donned his armor for the coming battle, hiding his unique features behind the skull of his helmet and ensuring that his armor was strapped snugly to his frame.

As soon as he was prepared for battle, Xisheng made his way to the deck of the ship. Unfortunately it was still his duty to guard Admiral Zhao, so unless the man had different orders for him, Xisheng would be spending this battle escorting the foolhardy commander, something that didn't bode well for a soldier interested in staying alive.

Even so, it was comforting to walk the deck of the ship, as it allowed Xisheng to witness the fleet's ground forces as they prepared to attack the Northern Water Tribe. Xisheng had of course never been part of a naval assault before; he would have assumed that landing craft were necessary, but apparently the plan was to simply ram the battleships into the wall and drop the ramp, allowing the Fire Nation's troops to storm into the city en masse. It was certainly a good approach, and one that couldn't be performed without the technology of the Fire Nation.

Xisheng glanced down at scores of infantry, bender and non-bender alike, alongside tanks and Komodo rhinos. Naturally the armored vehicles were in front, protecting the more vulnerable soldiers that would storm in behind them. Just on this ship alone, there had to be a thousand troops ready to assault the enemy. Of course, it was twice as large as even the second largest class of vessel present.

Turning his attention away from the ranks of soldiers below and towards the command deck of the ship, Xisheng spotted Admiral Zhao and a handful of other Firebenders that would be his guards. Naturally the Admiral didn't even notice Xisheng's arrival, but the common soldier had expected no less. Thankfully, it seemed that Xisheng's input would not be needed this time, as Admiral Zhao or his advisor General Iroh had organized the assault in a tactically sound manner this time.

The first wave of ground troops would have their advance covered by a barrage from the waves behind them. With that cover they'd have little fear of enemy attacks while they moved forward and destroyed whatever secondary defenses were in place.

Xisheng was about to come and stand behind the Admiral, but not before he heard the door to the command deck behind him burst open. "Admiral Choi! Prepare to meet your fate!"

Xisheng and every other guard quickly turned on their heels to see a Water Tribe boy with dark hair rushing at the Admiral with a spear and an outdated uniform. Aside from the appalling breach of security, Xisheng wondered how this warrior had possibly managed to remain undetected on their ship. Either way, being the last guard to arrive Xisheng was closest to the infiltrator, who was ignoring everyone else in favor of charging right at the Admiral. Clearly he was no experienced soldier.

Taking advantage of the boy's complete and total lack of self-awareness, Xisheng stepped into the boy's path, fists raised to strike a killing blow. The Water Tribe native looked genuinely surprised that someone was actually going to intercept him, and he didn't seem all that interested in being diverted from his task of killing Zhao. The haphazard swing of his spear was evidence enough that he considered Xisheng a nuisance in his path to success.

Unfortunately, the difference in battle experience was immediately obvious. Xisheng sidestepped the spear tip, grabbing both the shaft and the boy's collar as he passed. With a considerable advantage in leverage, the Fire Nation soldier hurled the lanky Northerner back the way he had come, sending him tumbling across the deck. With a somewhat clumsy recovery roll, Xisheng's opponent got to his feet, with a smirk on his face that indicated he was about to spout some sort of bravado. However, the expression was quickly wiped away when the tip of his own spear tore into his unarmored abdomen, hurled from Xisheng's hands.

Falling to his knees, the infiltrator reeled in obvious shock, unable to utter any sort of pained cry as his blood stained the old uniform he was wearing. Well aware that his death would be slow and painful at this rate, Xisheng took the few steps necessary to reach his dying victim, opting to finish him off mercifully rather than with the even more painful demise that was Firebending. Grabbing hold of the spear's shaft, Xisheng yanked it out of his foe's abdomen, only to swiftly stab him through the neck instead. Gruesome, perhaps, but by severing the spinal cord Xisheng ensured his foe would feel no more pain as he passed.

When the deed was done, two of the other guards lifted the body over the edge and into the water, at which point Xisheng noticed the mixed looks he was getting from his two superiors. Zhao for one looked impressed by the swift reaction to a potential threat and ruthlessness in dealing with it, but Iroh looked disappointed and even appalled. Xisheng couldn't imagine why: he had been protecting the retired general as well.

By now the assault was well under way, with the first wave of Fire Navy ships having already deployed their troops onto the enemy's shores under the cover of dozens of sulfur bombs. But while Xisheng was occupied with trying to witness the battle, he couldn't help but overhear Admiral Zhao's conversation with the Dragon of the West, which had something to do with the Moon Spirit, and more importantly, something to do with destroying it. This was something Xisheng was none too happy to hear.

While astronomy was just as relatively fresh in Fire Nation science as genetics was, by now the leading minds of the country knew that the Moon was important for a reason beyond nighttime luminosity. Preliminary studies had shown that the size of the Moon, as well as its location around the Earth, affected the tides of the oceans. This seemed to corroborate with what everyone knew about the Moon and Waterbending, so anyone who knew these things would also know that having no Moon would be very, very bad.

That said, perhaps it was fortunate that Xisheng would be on escort duty for Zhao after all. If the Admiral was going to do anything insane... well, he was just a faceless soldier. All he had to do was escape immediate retribution and he could easily disappear back into the ranks. Of course, being a loyal citizen of his country, committing essential treason really didn't sit well with Xisheng, but he was willing to toe the thin line of allegiance to better serve the final objective. Not that he would ever truly betray the Fire Nation of course: he was supremely dedicated to their true cause.

Thinking about it made Xisheng eager to join the battle. After all, winning it was just one step closer to realizing their final goal. Thankfully Zhao seemed eager to get involved as well, though for his own glory no doubt. Either way, he ushered his flagship forward, and soon enough the golden beast that made up their prow smashed through what was left of the Northern Water Tribe's ice wall, and the thousand strong army of troops on the main deck rushed out onto the battlefield.

Naturally the Admiral's retinue had to descend from the command deck first, at which point Xisheng discovered that they would be taking Komodo rhinos to their destination, wherever it may be. Apparently Zhao had a map, something Xisheng couldn't make sense of if he had truly discovered it in the Earth Kingdom as he had claimed when talking with Iroh. But while that raised a fair number of very good questions, Xisheng had no time to dwell on them, as he and his fellow Firebenders were thrust into battle.

Being on the front-line allowed Xisheng to see the results of his tactics yesterday firsthand: the Fire Nation line was rapidly demolishing all resistance ahead of it. Even powered by the sun, their swift advance could not be accredited to that alone. The enemy was tired, as they should have been considering the dozens of sulfur bombs frozen in pillars of ice around the field of battle. The Waterbenders had spent most of their night intercepting the projectiles, and now they were paying the price for their fatigue.

Even so, it was difficult fighting Waterbenders on a battlefield comprised entirely of their element. Even tired as they were, Xisheng saw many Fire Nation soldiers fall prey to Waterbending attacks from unexpected directions. Some of them found their heads suddenly submerged beneath the icy floor of the city, doomed to drown unless their allies could break the ice and draw them out in time. Others were impaled by spears of ice shot from angles unseen, while even more found themselves cleaved in two by powerful Waterbending slices.

It was a different kind of violence than Xisheng was used to, as he had only ever faced Earthbenders in combat. However, he was familiar with the attacks of the Fire Nation, and while he did not relish in killing, he could not deny that he was glad to see the enemy burned to a screaming crisp or blasted apart by a concussive blast after they killed his comrades. Xisheng himself killed quite a few Waterbenders from the back of his rhino. One was simply set alight by a large blast of flame. Another found his leg separated from his body in a bloody mess when the concussive force of a charged Firebending explosion impacted the ice next to him. These were the kinds of injuries and deaths Xisheng was used to seeing.

Considering the fact that they had landed significantly later than the initial force, there was not much fighting to really be done for the Admiral's retinue, especially once you considered the fact that Zhao was spurring them past the conflict itself and towards his personal objective. It was during this time that Xisheng noticed a distinct lack of one General Iroh, who had been present when they had first disembarked from the ship. The man's absence made Xisheng uneasy, but Zhao did not seem to care or even notice that he was missing.

Thanks to the fatigue the Water Tribe's forces were experiencing, the armies of the Fire Nation advanced throughout the majority of the city well before nightfall. By early evening, they had pushed the enemy forces back to their final line of defense, the palace itself. Granted, it wasn't much of a palace, but it was a royal building of some sort, and according to Zhao it was where the Moon spirit rested.

Naturally the remaining Water Tribe forces had holed up inside this building, along with the civilian population that had been taking refuge there since the start of the engagement. Needless to say, the battle was essentially won, as the Fire Nation could not possibly lose now, but there was still one wild card to take into consideration. No one had seen the Avatar on the field of battle that day, but surely he was still present. Even now, it was possible that the Avatar could turn the tide.

But from what the Fire Nation had seen of the Avatar so far, he was little more than a coward. Even in situations where he could have easily defeated his enemies, he instead chose to flee. He was an Airbender at heart, avoiding confrontation if at all possible and preferring to dodge trouble rather than face it. If they were lucky the Avatar would simply flee this battle as well.

They would soon see what the boy would do, as the Fire Nation could hardly occupy the city overnight with the Moon on its way. They had a few hours of daylight left in which to win the battle, and for Zhao to achieve his 'destiny.' That being the case, the invading army took positions to assault the final line of defense, which was unfortunately approachable from only one direction. The seat of power here in the Water Tribe was elevated above the rest of the city. It was surrounded by water on all sides, and the only way to reach it was a staircase and a bridge that led to the front door. The only choice for the invaders was to move along this rather narrow path made of ice, putting them at a massive disadvantage against their Waterbending foes.

Thankfully the solution was fairly straightforward. The enemy would be too busy taking cover from a bombardment to actively attack the advancing ground troops if the rear Fire Nation lines kept up a steady assault. With this tactic in mind, Zhao ordered the tanks and rhinos to stay in the rear and attack the palace from afar as he led the infantry across the bridge.

Xisheng was worried that the enemy would still manage to collapse the bridge as they traversed it, but as he followed his commander to the front door with several dozen troops at his back, it became obvious that the enemy was more concerned with surviving the concentrated attacks pelting their fortress and less with stopping the troops coming to kick down their front door.

Xisheng watched as Admiral Zhao blasted the barrier before them into nothingness, clearing the way for his troops to enter the palace. "You know how it goes men; take prisoners. The Fire Lord frowns on civilian casualties, and get the leader alive if possible. Charge!"

Considering the fact that these reminders were completely unnecessary, the forces of the Fire Nation wasted no time in rushing through the breach and into the last line of defense for the Northern Water Tribe. Naturally, what warriors remained of the enemy rushed forward to meet them, protecting their people from what they no doubt believed to be genocide or some other such nonsense.

As for the Admiral's retinue, they followed the man himself through the now embattled palace, fending off what few warriors were brave or foolish enough to challenge them as Zhao ignored the conflict in favor of his true objective. It briefly occurred to Xisheng that the map they were using was very detailed, leading him to question its origins, but it nevertheless proved accurate. Zhao led his guards outside of the main palace and towards a back pathway that eventually brought the group of military men and women to a small circular door in a wall. It looked like nothing of note to the majority of the guards, but Zhao was grinning like a madman at the sight of it.

"We're here. Give thanks men, for today you get to witness the birth of a legend!"

Zhao led the way into the abode they had discovered, where Xisheng and his fellow Firebenders were met with a truly astonishing sight: grass, trees, and warm temperatures throughout the area, something that should have been completely impossible in the North Pole. One of the soldiers commented on exactly this.

"How is it so warm here? This doesn't seem possible."

Xisheng, being somewhat knowledgeable on these affairs, made an assumption. "If this is truly where the spirits reside, it must be their doing. Ironic, that they have the power to do such things yet the Tribe that worships them still lives in a frozen wasteland."

Zhao ignored the conversation his minions were having in favor of walking towards a pool in the center of the grove. Once there, he wasted no time in snatching up one of the Koi fish that swam around inside and stuffing it into a bag. If this was supposed to do something, no one could tell, because the Moon had not yet risen on this side of the Earth. It was still a short time away yet. This naturally didn't stop Zhao from descending into some sort of mad rant regarding the glory he would receive and all of the wonderful titles that would be bestowed upon him for his victory.

Xisheng was worried what Zhao's actions here would do to the world, but as he could not tell what kind of effect it was having without the Moon present, he made no move to stop the Admiral. Acting too hastily could cost the Fire Nation in more ways than one. However, it was clear that the situation was about to get a lot more intense when a large shadow passed over the grove, and the soldiers of the Fire Nation glanced up to see the Avatar's flying beast descending towards them. It did not take long for it to land, or for its passengers to hop down to the earth to confront them.

This presented a very notable problem: child or not, the Avatar was a powerful Airbender and had proven himself to be a match for superior numbers more than once already. While confident in his own abilities, Xisheng had no delusions regarding how a fight against this child would likely go. Still, he wasn't about to cower or flee now. He'd fight the Avatar to the death if he had to.

Thankfully it seemed that there would be no need, as Zhao was quick to threaten the fish he was holding when he saw that he faced the Avatar, and this was enough to keep the child and his Water Tribe allies at bay.

Naturally, the Avatar gave some spiel about preserving balance and not disrupting the natural order of things, but it was nothing but idealistic tripe in the ears of the soldiers that heard it. Yes, Xisheng understood that destroying the moon was probably bad, but he had come to loathe the foolish trappings of balance for the stratification it brought upon the world.

No, what the Avatar said was just noise. It was the words of who came next that were truly surprising.

"He's right Zhao."

Zhao and his retinue all turned to face Iroh, who had appeared from the shadows to their right. Before all else, this raised far too many questions for Xisheng. How long had he been there? How did he find this place? Had he arrived before them and simply been waiting for the right time to act? There were too many factors that didn't add up properly. Something wasn't right here, beyond the obvious that even Zhao saw.

"General Iroh. Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"

"I'm no traitor Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the Moon too. We all depend on the balance."

There it was. The obvious sign of someone that did not share the righteous cause. Iroh believed in balance. He believed in what the Avatar stood for. Xisheng had half a mind to attack the old man where he stood, as he understood better than anyone that Iroh truly was a traitor to their cause, but before he could make any move at all, the world was bathed in crimson light. The Moon was rising.

Most of the people in the grove gasped at the sight above them, of a blood red moon likely caused by the strife Zhao was causing the now mortal Moon spirit. As expected, destroying the Moon was a terrible idea, but this and that were two different things, and preserving a critical celestial body versus maintaining arbitrary lines of division in society had nothing to do with one another. With this in mind, Xisheng began formulating a plan that would prevent the destruction of the Moon and still maintain his loyalty to the Fire Nation. Thankfully Iroh's next words made his planning much easier.

"You can now see what chaos you are unleashing upon the world Zhao! Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you tenfold! Let it go, now!"

With that, Iroh took a Firebending stance, and was more or less threatening Zhao, an Admiral of the Fire Nation Navy. Yes, this situation would work out nicely if only Zhao would heed Iroh's threat for just one moment...

Thankfully Zhao did just that, releasing the captured Moon spirit back into the pool. As he did this, the moonlight that now bathed the world returned to normal. However, Zhao's tensed and twitching muscles spoke volumes of his anger and rage, and anyone with half a brain could see that he was about to do something crazy. Xisheng watched as Zhao raised an arm into the air to unleash a Firebending blast at the pool and the mortal spirits, and that was his opportunity to strike. Everyone was looking at Zhao: no one was looking at Iroh, and no one could confirm or deny whether or not the traitor general was about to attack the Admiral.

"Admiral, look out!"

With that cry, Xisheng threw a punch that sent a Firebending blast towards Iroh, cutting off Zhao's assault on the Koi fish. Naturally Zhao and the other soldiers assumed that Iroh had been about to attack, and Xisheng's fellow guards turned on Iroh as well even as the old man deflected the surprise attack that had come his way.

With multiple soldiers now launching attacks at him, Iroh had no choice but to defend himself, though this ended up being child's play for the old man. He intercepted all five plumes of flame with one large blast of his own, then simply forced that blast outwards to engulf his attackers. Zhao's retinue, save Xisheng, had been incapacitated with almost laughable ease. If anything, it was a testament to the massive gap in skill between an average bender and a master.

Now only Xisheng and Zhao still stood, though the latter was turning tail to flee into the foliage of the grove. "Kill that traitor soldier! Don't you dare abandon your post!"

Xisheng felt a modicum of disgust as he watched Zhao flee, but he nevertheless took a stance against Iroh, who had lowered his arms the moment Zhao disappeared. The old man actually seemed pleased. "That was quite clever of you, soldier. But you've protected the Moon and Zhao is gone. Why do you still stand ready to fight?"

Digging his heels into the ground and taking deep breathes, Xisheng knew that he would likely not be able to defeat a legendary Firebender like the Dragon of the West, but he was still ready to try regardless. "Don't mistake my intent. I always knew you were a coward, but now you've proven yourself to be an outright traitor. I won't just let you walk away."

Iroh cocked a curious eyebrow at his opponent, seemingly unfazed by the insults. "You are loyal to the Fire Nation yet have protected the balance of the world. You do realize that these are conflicting ideologies?"

"The natural balance of the world is a concept I support. The balance of society is a construct of human thought, and one I wholeheartedly oppose. The world needs unity, not separation. As a member of the royal family, surely you know of our true cause?"

The Dragon of the West raised his arms in a combat stance. "I know that it is presumptions to assume the right to rule others simply to solve their problems."

"And yet you support the Avatar, who embodies that idea more than anyone else. Look 'General', we both know neither of us is going to change our beliefs at the drop of a hat. Let's just fight."

Iroh released a defeated sigh as he prepared for Xisheng's attack. "As you wish. By all means, please make the first move."

While Iroh's politeness had struck Xisheng as nothing more than that before, now it infuriated him. Not only had this man invalidated the deaths of every soldier at the Siege of Ba Sing Se, but now he was betraying the very thing they had all given their lives for. Xisheng did not particularly enjoy violence, but he was not without fury of his own.

"Your men and your son will thank me for avenging the sacrifice you wasted and betrayed, Iroh. This is for them!"

Surprisingly, Xisheng's attempt to goad his seemingly unflappable opponent actually worked; to be fair though, he was bringing up his fallen son.

Iroh punched forth a powerful gout of flame that Xisheng chose to evade rather than block. In his experience it was always safer to evade if you could manage it. Sidestepping the attack, he retaliated with a bending punch of his own, though Iroh simply powered through it and unleashed a wave of flame along the ground, forcing Xisheng into the air and exposing him to an unavoidable follow up attack.

Xisheng was met with a fireball the moment his feet left the earth, knocking him backwards but not stopping him from performing an almost flawless recovery upon landing. Rolling with the impact to get to his feet as quickly as possible, the somewhat experienced soldier released two spirals of flame with spin kicks at head and ground level, then followed up with two punches in the middle that covered all the bases. Being a little too old to be dodging such wide ranging attacks with any real spryness, Iroh simply lived up to his moniker and breathed fire from his mouth to match and overpower Xisheng's attacks. While it was an impressive display of force, large Firebending attacks had a major downside: they blocked the user's view of the enemy.

Taking advantage of Iroh's technical blindness, Xisheng rushed through the wavering flames, protected by armor that had long since been developed to resist Firebending for training or potentially dangerous moves. Forming a blade of fire in his hand, he rushed through Iroh's attack and swung the flaming extension of his arm at him from the ground to the sky. With enough power an attack like this could cleave a man in two, but Iroh was quick enough to more or less stumble backwards out of its way.

But a stumble was still a folly in a duel, and it gave Xisheng enough time to leap in the air with a flaming axe kick, one of the most powerful melee Firebending moves there was. Unfortunately, he underestimated Iroh's skill and power, and though the old man only had time to raise his arms in defense, earning himself several severe burns on his arms, he nevertheless weathered Xisheng's attack, allowing him to counter with a powerful condensed blast of flame that smashed into Xisheng's chest and sent him careening through the air.

Though he had not yet lost consciousness, Xisheng knew that the battle was over as he smashed into the grassy earth of the grove. And while his ears were still ringing, he managed to hear just a bit of Iroh's words to the Avatar and his friends.

"This battle is lost...must flee... fight another day..."

It was all Xisheng managed to hear before he slipped into unconsciousness, but he nevertheless could settle on one thought in his mind as he did so. There was no question that the once esteemed General Iroh was a full-blown traitor to his country and everyone that had trusted him. No question at all.

---

When Xisheng awoke from his forced nap, he was met with the familiar unchanging countenance of a Fire Nation soldier. While the helmets were great for intimidating the enemy, they certainly weren't something anyone was eager to wake up to...

"Admiral, the Corporal is waking up."

Xisheng barely had time to get to his feet before Zhao was in his face. "You! What happened?! Where is General Iroh?!"

More than a little irritated that the Admiral was snapping at him even though he was the one that had fled, Xisheng nevertheless kept his displeasure under wraps. "I was no match for the Dragon of the West Admiral. He rendered me unconscious with ease. He could be anywhere, but it was obvious that he was assisting the Avatar."

"You let him escape?! You incompetent moron! What kind of soldier are you?! Even the Moon spirit is nowhere to be found!"

Xisheng glanced around the oasis, now teeming with Fire Nation troops. One glance in the pool was enough to tell him that Zhao spoke the truth. It was no surprise really considering that the spirits couldn't stay here now that it was under Fire Nation control, but even so Xisheng was surprised that the spirits were allowed to leave this oasis at all. Perhaps they didn't even need to be in a special place?

Either way, Zhao was apparently still furious that Xisheng had allowed the traitor Iroh to escape, and the soldier wasn't having any of that. "With all due respect Admiral, the General is a legendary Firebender. Surely you didn't expect a simple soldier to best him?"

"I expected you to do your job! Now the spirits are gone and we have a traitor on the loose! Moreover, he took Prince Zuko with him! We've got no idea if he's in league with the old man or if he's just being strung along as insurance! You could have prevented all of this if you weren't so incompetent!"

Xisheng was about to make some snarky comment about the Admiral fleeing the scene of the battle, but thankfully another soldier cut in before he could ruin his career. "Admiral, Corporal Xisheng fought with honor and skill. I was incapacitated by the traitor general in seconds, but the Corporal even managed to wound him. I was barely conscious for the fight, but he did his best to defeat the enemy."

Admiral Zhao scoffed. "Well let me know when trying and failing actually wins the war. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish subjugating this pathetic excuse of a country!"

With that, Admiral Zhao turned on his heel and stormed away from the soldiers that had been his escort during this fiasco. Needless to say, Xisheng's dislike for the man multiplied tenfold, but he was simply glad that they had emerged from this battle more or less victorious. While the Avatar had escaped and a powerful Firebender had betrayed them, the Northern Water Tribe was subdued, and that brought the Fire Nation one step closer to realizing their final objective.

The soldier that had come to Xisheng's defense grabbed him by the shoulder before he could go anywhere. "Corporal. I meant what I said a second ago. You're a very skilled warrior. Few soldiers could have put up a fight as effectively as you did."

Xisheng shrugged off the praise, not feeling worthy of it. "I still lost though. Fighting well and winning are two very different things."

"Maybe. But that's not the point. You fought against a superior opponent knowing you were almost guaranteed to be defeated, and still did very well against him besides. A Firebender with your talents should be putting his skills and guts to use elsewhere."

"I can't think of any better place to employ those things than on the front line."

The faceless soldier shook his head. "We both know that there will be few major offensives after this point, at least until the comet arrives this summer. With the Dragon of the West turning traitor and the questionable loyalties of Prince Zuko, I get the feeling a lot more Royal Guards are going to be needed in the coming months..."

Xisheng had never thought of being selected for such an honor before. Then again, he had never wanted to be, since Royal Guards did nothing when the royal family was sitting around in the palace all day. But it was true that leaving Iroh on the loose would be catastrophic for the Fire Nation, and it was about time that the Crown Princess had a chance to prove herself to the people... it was all conjecture at best, but it did seem likely that elite Royal Guards would be seeing some action sooner than later.

"You think I have the skills to be a Royal Guard?"

"Moreso than the rest of us at any rate. I'm just a Captain, but I think it's about time someone put you in for a promotion. Who knows? Maybe when the Fire Lord reads the reports of this conflict, he'll see that you have the potential to serve the Fire Nation in a much greater fashion. I doubt the Admiral will even mention us, but you can rest assured that as Captain of his escort during this mission, your exploits will be fully noted."

Xisheng bowed to the man. "Good enough for me Captain. But while this is all well and good, I imagine our assistance is needed in managing the city now that it is under our control."

"Fair enough."

The Captain led the way out of the oasis, presumably to bring Xisheng and some other soldiers into the city to help establish order. While it was a short trek, it gave Xisheng time to think about what the future could hold if he really was promoted to a position in which he could guard the Princess and all those she called her allies.