Act I: Chapter 6

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It was odd how well I knew the interior of the Fire Nation Ships.

I was on my way to accomplish a quest. The same quest that I got at the end of every battle we had lately. And we had a lot of battles in the last two weeks. Too many…

'Find a way to sink the Fire Nation Frigate so that no one may learn what happened here!

Accept? Yes or no?

Rewards:

+2000 Exp

+5 Wisdom

+5 Intelligence'

This was the sixth time that I was given this quest from Hakoda. Every time, I regretted accepting it.

It's not as if I was tired of fighting the Fire Nation because that would be far from the truth. Already we had taken out 10 ships from the Fire Nation's Navy. That was a feat not even the Earth Kingdom could boast of. Not to mention we did it with no more than 50 people. Along the way, we hadn't lost a single warrior.

In fact, most of them never got to see any action. Calling our victories 'battles' was not an accurate description. 'Ambush' would be the proper term to describe what we did to the Fire Nation ships over and over again. However, another term stood out in my mind.

'Murder is what we're doing.'

I reached my destination on the ship. It was the deepest part, where only a thin layer of welded metal separated me from the ocean. Out of my inventory, a small amount of water graced the world. I swiftly bent it into a razor thin line before thrusting my hand at the hull beneath me, right where a welding seam sat.

It did not cut through immediately. No, I began rotating my hands in a circle, and the water mimicked me. Soon enough the thin line of water was rotating so fast that the metal began creaking. After that, it only took another two seconds to cut a thin line through the hull of the ship.

Water began spraying out of the cut in the hull beneath me.

I stored my water in my inventory again, and then grabbed onto the water beneath the ship with my chi. I took a step back before pulling up on the water. To accomplish the bending I wanted, I executed a random uppercut with my right hand.

It looked like the tip of a mountain pierced through the hull beneath me, if it was made out of ice. The thin line in the hull was brutally wrenched open by my technique, becoming a hole roughly 5 feet in diameter.

Normally, I would hold the ice there and use it as a seal until I could get off the ship, but not today. I knew the water pouring into the ship wouldn't hurt me, so I melted the ice and turned around. I didn't have to watch the hole in the hull to know that water immediately began rushing into the ship.

Calmly, I began walking through the hallways made of metal. When I made it to the deck, the water only touched my feet for the briefest of moments. I walked across the railing that connected the two ships together and was greeted by my father, Hakoda, Vikkok, and the rest of the warriors. They swiftly detached the walkway between the two ships and threw it off the side. We intentionally used the enemy ships, so as not to risk our own boarding device.

'+200 Exp. X3'

I did my best to ignore the prompts. It was the worst part about my quest to sink the enemy ships. Once Hakoda had gotten all the information about the Fire Nation's next plans and movements, he would tie the soldiers up on their ship, and let them fall into the sea with it.

I hadn't known that the first ship that he had tasked me to sink. I had only deduced it after I had received 3000 experience within an hour of walking off of the ship. I still didn't know if it was his way of being merciful, or cruel.

'Quest Completed:

+2000 Exp

+5 Wisdom

+5 Intelligence'

'Level up! +10 AP!'

I felt the changes take place in my mind, and something clicked. Something inside me decided that I was not going to keep murdering Fire Nation soldiers without a just cause.

"That's the last time I do that." I called out, loud enough that all of the warriors around me could hear, including my chief.

"No it's not." Hakoda retorted, almost as if he was expecting my announcement.

I turned to him, and when I did I wasn't intimidated by the level above his head. Because after ten battles full of fighting, killing, and quests. I had gained quite a bit of levels, and stats. I was finally strong enough to stand up for myself, and that's what I would do.

'Koda

Level 34 (700/2300)

Title: Adept Waterbender: CHI increased by 40% at night. CHI Regeneration increased by 100% at night. CHI Regeneration increased while in contact with water by 100%. CHI increased by 40% while in contact with water.

Chi: 710 (994*) 101/hr (141*/Hr)

Strength: 108

Vitality: 85

Dexterity: 100 (130)

Intelligence: 71

Wisdom: 78

AP: 0

Renown: 400'

"We'll see shortly." I told him, not caring whether or not he liked my answer. Hakoda and Vikkok no longer held the raw strength difference over me. Not to mention that I still had my waterbending to use, along with a ridiculous amount of water in my inventory I could summon at any moment. And if I hit them with a kick, my strength went up to 162 because of the Taekwondo passive.

We all dispersed once the top of the ship dipped beneath the surface of the ocean. I knew that there would be retaliation for my actions, and I was prepared to deal with them when the time came.

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I laid awake that night in preparation.

I knew Hakoda wouldn't like the disrespect, but he was not known for displays of violence towards his own people. It was Vikkok that I knew would come for my father and I once again. He was way too quick to dish out violence as punishment. Hakoda, I would have to deal with at a later date.

While I waited for my visitors that night, I couldn't help but think back on a problem I was having.

I didn't know what I wanted to do going forward. Originally, I thought that being on the open seas was the best plan. Take out a ship at a time and weaken the Fire Nation for the Avatar's return. But I was getting tired of the constant fighting, and we had only been gone for a month or so.

I could not keep it up for very much longer. At the very least, we needed a change in strategy. I'm not opposed to fighting the Fire Nation. I'm not even opposed to destroying their navy. But the needless killing had to stop.

I heard a shuffling in the hallways and my thoughts were interrupted as I focused on my hearing. It was night, and the hallways weren't very visible because of the small candles on the walls. Even then, we put them out at night to be able to sleep.

A shadow moved against the far wall, just outside of our room.

I closed my eyes just enough to barely see through them. First it was a head that moved into our room. I couldn't make out who it was because of the dim light and my eyes being mostly closed. But I could see that they were checking to see if we were awake.

The man slowly moved his body through the doorway and into our rooms. My fathers breathing didn't change. It was still the same heavy breathing I was used to hearing while we slept.

Another man moved into the room right behind the first.

'It's the same plan as last time, I suppose.'

I continued to wait until the opportune time to strike. They both turned to us, and the first man was looking up at me while the second was taking his time squatting down in front of my father.

The glint of metal caught my eye. I was surprised, but not surprised enough to keep my eyes closed. When I opened them, I saw that the second man was holding a knife in his hands and was about to make a motion towards my fathers sleeping form. I didn't wait any longer after that.

I didn't even give the man nearest to me any attention at the beginning. All I wanted to do at that moment was stop the one with the knife. So I sat up quickly and swung my legs over my bunk. I used the momentum from that jump off of the bunk with my foot aimed at the knife-wielder's head.

I fell true, but when my foot hit his head it caused him to fall on his back due to him being squatted above my fathers form.

"What the…"

I put both of my arms up and blocked the right hook from the man without the knife. I sent a counter-jab that hit him right on the nose and caused him to stumble backwards a bit.

I felt a small pressure in my left thigh.

I looked down to see the knife-wielding man on his back, and his hand on a knife that he just shoved into my left thigh. Before I could react, he ripped it out, causing blood to immediately run down my leg. He quickly went for another stab on the same leg.

Once upon a time, before I had been in countless life-threatening situations, I would have panicked. I was no longer someone unused to conflict, though. So instead of dwelling on the wound I just suffered, I acted.

I raised the exact same leg that the man had stabbed me in and avoided the second stab. Water flowed from my inventory down to my foot, and froze on the bottom of my boot into the shape of an icicle. With my attacker beneath me, I shoved it down right into his mouth.

The icicle pierced through his lips, mouth, throat, and finally exited his body on the other side of his neck cutting his spinal cord and ending his life immediately.

'+200 Exp'

I took a blow to the side of my head, and I fell away from the first attacker. My foot ripped free of the skull beneath it, sending blood and water everywhere as I lost control of the icicle. It also allowed me some distance between me and my foe, which was good for someone who needed to use his legs and feet to fight.

Unfortunately, the man did not allow me to gain distance and pursued. He led with another right hook that I slipped before countering with two jabs from each of my fists. They connected, but didn't do much outside of that.

My opponent charged me like a bull then and barreled into me. My back hit the metal wall behind me and my hands went to his neck to engage in a clinch. Once he gave me the space, I jumped and threw a knee towards his face while shoving his head down with my arms.

The first one dazed him. The second caused him to fall to the ground like a puppet with his strings cut.

After a moment, when I had enough time to gather my thoughts, I hauled the man's arms behind him and bent some water to encase his hands and wrists in ice. He wouldn't be able to move them, and they would lose feeling eventually. I did the same with his legs.

"Koda?!"

I looked up to see my father standing up from his bed. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at him.

"I guess you really can sleep through a hurricane!"

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Blood dripped down my leg and onto the cotton sheets of my fathers bunk.

There were two bone spears on either side of me, pointing towards my neck courtesy of two warriors from Wolf Cove. I mentally thanked the spirits that they had been the first to arrive, instead of more warriors from Vikkok's tribe. They would have stabbed first and asked questions later.

The body of the man I killed was still in the exact same spot. The only difference was the man's eyes were closed instead of staring blankly at the ceiling above us. Or rather, staring at the spot that I had stood before stomping his soul into the next life. This was one killing I didn't feel that bad for. He had drawn first blood with the knife, and I had proof.

The other man was still laying on the ground with ice covering his limbs, not allowing him to move. Another warrior had a spear pointed at him menacingly.

My father sat beside me with his head in his hands. We were waiting on Hakoda to show up, and I was hoping that would be pretty quick. I was still bleeding from my leg after all. I wanted to heal it, and at the same time, I wanted it to be used as proof of the conflict I just had. I didn't want it to be spun in any way besides the truth.

I could barely wait to see the look on Vikkok's face when he realized that one of his men was dead, and the other awaited punishment. It was sure to be glorious.

I heard the sounds of boots hitting metal and turned towards that direction. Sure enough, Hakoda was the first person to turn the corner. And he had a murderous look on his face. It didn't change whenever he saw the body on the ground beneath my feet. I met his glare with a flat stare of my own.

"What happened here?!" Hakoda asked as he crossed the distance to where we were.

"We were attacked in the night, again." Bato answered him quickly. He had told me to let him do the talking, so I would obey unless I absolutely had to intervene.

"Why is a warrior dead?!" Hakoda practically screamed at him while pointing towards the body that he was hovering over.

My father pointed to the knife in his hand. "He stabbed Koda!" Bato told him, and then pointed at the knife wound on my leg. It was obvious to see it, considering the blood that coated my bare leg. I didn't sleep in anything other than underwear after all.

Hakoda looked between the evidence with an enraged look on his face. Then without asking another question he turned to the other body on the ground, the one still encased in ice.

"Let him go." Hakoda told me, and I swiftly obeyed by melting the ice.

Hakoda yanked the man around to show that he was conscious, just wisely not saying anything at the moment. The man didn't put up any resistance as Hakoda ragdolled him to a sitting position and grabbed him by the collar.

"Why?" Hakoda asked. It was a simple question, but the intent behind Hakoda's eyes spoke of the violence he was threatening.

My attacker didn't answer. He didn't even look the Chief in the eyes. He just sat there and looked at the ground beneath him. He was either very loyal to Vikkok, or Vikkok had some dirt on him to make him that quiet. Most men would have given up the information by now. We were all one tribe and you would think there would be some camaraderie amongst us. Nope, just a bunch of cutthroats and murderers.

Hakoda reached to where his knife was sheathed on his belt, and drew it. He quickly put it to the man's throat. The threat didn't need to be spoken, and Hakoda didn't. To the man's credit, he didn't react to that either. He just kept the dead look on his face and continued to stare at the ground.

What would make him so loyal that he would give his life?

'Kirroq Lvl 31

Brother of Vikkok and warrior of the Southern Water Tribe.'

'Well that explains it.'

"What is going on?"

We all turned to see Vikkok entering the scenario. He was dressed in his full water tribe gear, which was odd considering we had been wearing the Fire Nation's uniform for the last half of a month. He also had his club in his hand. I frowned and mentally prepared myself for a fight. Why else would he bring a weapon?

"Your brother his fucking goon attacked these two tonight. They even used deadly force!" Hakoda answered as he hopped to his feet and pointed the knife in his hands towards Vikkok. "Did you have anything to do with this?" He asked.

"Of course not!" Vikkok answered vehemenously. The way he said it was extremely believable too. Enough to make me question whether or not he sent these two tonight.

"He had nothing to do with this." Kirroq interrupted what was sure to be a screaming match between Hakoda and Vikkok.

Hakoda turned to him. "You acted alone?" He asked as he pried for more answers.

"He disrespected you today. We meant to convince him otherwise." Kirroq told him.

Now that Vikkok was here to defend and represent Kirroq, he was willing to tell his story. Although I had no idea if it was truthful or not. He could have been crafting a story the entire time while he waited on his brother.

'If he is lying, he is damned good at it.'

"I don't need your help with my warriors do you understand. Because of your actions, your friend was justly killed tonight!" Hakoda screamed at the prone man. Once he said that, the guards near me pulled their spears away from my neck.

"He wasn't supposed to do that. He surprised me when he pulled it out as well. I would have stopped him before anything happened." Kirroq answered. Once again, I didn't get even the faintest hint at a lie on the man's face. He seemed genuine.

Hakoda looked away from him to Vikkok then. He still had the angry look on his face, but it had lessened somewhat. That was when I knew that Kirroq would get off easy. Hakoda wouldn't do anything against the brother of Vikkok. They would use the dead body as a scapegoat to let Kirroq off with a slap on the wrist.

"Get up!" Hakoda told Kirroq before pointing towards where I sat next to Bato and the two warriors. "You four get this mess cleaned up! I'll make a judgment by tomorrow." He told us before he grabbed Kirroq by the shoulder and shoved him towards Vikkok.

I wasted no time in bending the water on the floor that was used to immobilize Kirroq towards the knife hole in my leg. I grunted as soon as the water touched it because of the stinging pain that lanced up to my hip. With a thought, the water began to glow slightly as I activated my Waterhealing ability.

"Sorry about that guys." I told the two warriors that were grabbing either side of the dead body on the ground beneath us. "I'll take care of the rest if you throw that body overboard." I told them as I gestured to the blood on the floors.

They nodded at me. "Glad you weren't injured any more than that. Hakoda will do right by you." The one closest to me said. He looked to be around 30 years old, with a strong jaw and hard body.

'Dok Lvl 36

Warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. Friend of your father and Hakoda. Seen as a young but capable warrior.'

I couldn't help but think that he was wrong. Hakoda did not seem like he had a handle on the situation at all. I doubted if Kirroq would face any punishment besides cleaning duty or something equally as ludicrous.

"We'll see." I told him before another sharp pain lanced up my leg.

'I can't wait until this skill gets to a higher level.'

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"...Koda acted in self-defense and justly. He will face no punishment." Hakoda said.

He was standing up in the middle of the mess hall. It seemed to be the best place to get the entirety of the Warriors together. The deck wasn't that ideal because of the wind and sun. The warriors were also much more amicable after a meal as well.

There was clapping from some of the men and they even slapped me on the back as if it was a good announcement. I didn't need Hakoda's validation to know that I did the right thing. That fucker had tried to kill me, and I defended myself plain and simple. All of this was theatrics, nothing more.

"Kirroq will be assigned to cleaning duty for the remainder of our war. He will be the last man into battle, and will receive no loot from war." Hakoda announced, addressing the man that was sitting alone at a table.

'That was not what I was expecting. A month in the Brig or something but not to be turned into a janitor with no hope for glory or loot from battles.'

A hush ran over the crowd and I sought out Vikkok. I wanted to see his reaction to his brother's punishment. I expected him to be upset at the harsh judgment, but instead I saw a content face. This further cemented the idea that Kirroq and his partner had acted on their own. Vikkok might have even approved the sentence to teach his brother a lesson. After all, the warriors talked and Vikkok's standing was poor amongst his own tribe at the moment.

In a way, my disrespectful nature towards Hakoda had increased his standing with the men.

"Any objections?" Hakoda asked the warriors, knowing damn well that nobody would speak out against him.

Especially not the way he led the men into battle. I had many objections towards his motivations and morality in war. However, I could not say that he was an unskilled warrior or bad leader. He led by example and was always the first person to step foot on the enemy ships. The men respected him and there was a reason he was chosen to lead this little war band.

Even still, I needed him to realize that this current plan of ambushing ships on the open seas wouldn't work forever. Nor was it the best use of our resources. I still didn't have any way of convincing him, however.

'As much as I hate it, I'll have to stay quiet until I figure out a better plan for us.'

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A/N: Boom!

So Koda is struggling a bit right now. He is excelling and y'all can see that from his massive increase in levels due to what they have been doing on the open seas. This was a bit of a filler, but it was also me planting the seed of doubt in the current state of things.

What do you guys think about their current battle plan? Should they just continue on for weeks, months, years destroying ships and reaping havoc on the seas?

Or are they missing some opportunities?

Let's talk in the reviews!