Chapter 8. Kyoshi Island. Part 3.

Here's a chapter for the power stones

***

I managed to keep my composure, and despite my condition, I stood straight, not indicating that I might collapse soon. Most likely, my slightly pale face and trembling hands, which I kept firmly clasped behind my back while observing how my unfortunate companions were stripping the soldiers of their belts and patches, as was proper, and dragging them onto what seemed like the main street for a confrontation with me in the leading role.

"A message for you, Inspector," a panting soldier called out to me, "from the ship we have seized. Prince Iroh wishes to speak with you."

Good heavens, this is not the fiery young Zuko; this is the Dragon of the West himself. One must treat him with respect, considering his status. So, despite the tremor, I had to go.

"You're dismissed," I nodded, and catching one of my guys as they passed by, I added, "If I return and find someone has messed up, I'll cut off your alcohol for a month, and I'll double the training. For everyone."

Truth be told, I barely made it to the ship. I tried to approach with a proud and slow stride, but I knew all too well that I was barely walking. For instance, when climbing the gangway of the ship, my pace was truly tortoise-like; at one point, I even thought I might collapse.

Bruises, injuries - that's only half the problem. I can handle pain, I've been taught that much, but fatigue is another story. It was extreme, unlike anything I've felt before, despite all the training with Piandao. And I have a feeling it's not entirely physical, just very similar.

General Iroh was sitting at a small table, sipping tea with a benevolent look, though strictly speaking, nothing terrible had happened: it wasn't imprisonment or even captivity, but I had expected him to look a bit more formidable.

I chose a standard greeting; after all, I didn't feel like groveling or bowing down immediately. Not before anyone. Even though I had heard a lot about this man and respected him greatly.

"General Iroh."

"Inspector," the prince nodded, "and I haven't been a general for some time," he added with a smile.

"You wanted to see me?" I didn't feel like talking about the weather; it was better to get straight to the point, or else I'd simply fall asleep.

"Yes, have a seat," the prince gestured to the empty tea cup in front of him, which he was holding gently, steam rising from it, with a teapot on the table.

"Thank you, and please, call me by my first name," I nodded, nearly collapsing in front of him. Keeping up appearances was getting harder by the minute. "Do you play pai sho?"

"I do play. How could I not? It's a wonderful game," General Iroh said with a smile, mysteriously producing a game board and pieces.

After the first few tentative moves, we understood each other and essentially stopped playing a formal game. We just started to set up the White Lotus combination and quickly finished, each placing our own White Lotus piece. After that, we looked at each other in a new light.

"It's nice to meet a member of the White Lotus on my journey," General Iroh said warmly, "did Piandao speak of you?"

"He did," I tried to smile back, too weak to even lift my tea, "I am a student of Master Piandao."

"So, it was on you that we pinned the outcomes of our elderly decisions and mistakes," the Dragon of the West remarked, sipping his tea.

And we fell silent for about five minutes. Just like me. I would have loved to keep the conversation going and ask him questions, but goodness, I was exhausted.

However, the tea had a peculiar effect on me: the more I drank, the lighter I felt. It wasn't like a burst of energy from coffee, but my body relaxed and seemed to ventilate intensively. It felt like a cool shower when you're very sleepy, or rather a cool breeze blowing over you - yes, that's a better comparison. Despite the tea being hot, it felt cool. Perhaps because I'm an Airbender?

"I was simply asked to avert a tragedy," I finally decided to say, "something I was going to do anyway."

"A commendable endeavor," Iroh nodded, "but you speak of it too lightly. Are you sure you understand what we're talking about? Sooner or later, you will face the choice of following orders or saving innocent lives. What will you choose?"

"Someone can give me orders only to a certain extent, so obviously the latter," I said with a slight frown.

"For now. Once you've seen this event through to its logical conclusion, and the information reaches my brother, it's not a threat, just that rumors spread quickly. Then he will take an interest in you," General Iroh continued softly and without pressure, not forgetting to pour more tea for both of us. "And in that case, it won't be possible to continue being somewhat in the army and somewhat not. Again, you will have a choice. And something tells me that you will remain in the army. And then, sooner or later, you can expect orders that you can't just wriggle out of."

"Then I'll carry it out in a way that saves as many lives as possible," I tried to make my voice sound as if to say, "It's all already decided and I'm just stating a fact." Though, of course, who knows how I would act? I've long decided that after the war, the Fire Nation is my choice. Industrialization, free education, and so on; there are many pluses and almost no minuses. But I don't want to be a chained dog solving dirty tasks. No, I understand that these tasks exist, but not being the one who solves them at all is not for me.

And considering my work's specifics, it seems they might push me there. May Agni, God, or the Fire Lord, whichever one prefers, prevent this.

"Well, if so," Prince Iroh pretended to believe in the determination of my words, though he likely understood I had only started thinking about it now, "but the choices ahead of you will not be easy, and the first one is literally in a few days. You will have to decide who is right and who is guilty in this whole saga, and it seems, above all, you still want to maintain peace between Kyoshi Island and the Fire Nation."

"I do. And I will," I nodded. "It's not that big of a problem - no blood was shed. Just a few bruises here and there, so we will resolve this matter one way or another. I'm more interested in what to do with you and Prince Zuko?"

"As far as I know, the Kyoshi Warriors were the first to attack," Iroh said, hiding a smile behind his teacup.

"No wonder, your nephew and his soldiers entered the town in full combat gear and started shouting."

"But it was the Kyoshi Warriors who attacked first," Iroh smiled again. "Still not an easy choice."

"I'll figure it out," I shrugged. "Not the most difficult moral choice, honestly."

"I wish you luck in this difficult task," General Iroh nodded sympathetically. "And now, you better go rest. Defeating the Avatar at such a young age as yours and still standing is no small feat. I'm sure it was hard for you to come here, but I'm very grateful to you for the dialogue."

"Thank you for the tea," I replied with a slight bow and, feeling relatively steady on my feet, left the cabin and headed to my own on the ship.

Finally, I can sleep, praise Agni.

***

Waking up was difficult, even though I had slept a good fourteen hours, maybe even more. Barely managing to look at the clock, I forced myself to get up, dragging one leg after another. I fell on the bed without undressing, so there was one plus - no need to dress up. Though I looked a bit messy, what can you do?

After drinking some freshly warmed tea, I left my cabin and went to find the nearest unlucky soul, praying they hadn't messed everything up while I was asleep. But to my surprise, my subordinate was right outside my cabin door, saying he was guarding me, and they even set up a watch near their sleeping leader.

The gesture was appreciated; I'll have to increase the alcohol supply. Assuming they don't mess up elsewhere.

"Go tell the others to prepare our negotiation table or scaffold, depending on how it goes. I'll be there in half an hour," he just nodded and ran off to inform everyone of the new will of their holy me. I hope they don't take what I said literally but stick to the original plan.

After defeating the Avatar, I'm sure their respect for me is at an unprecedented level, if slightly lower than for the Fire Lord, then not by much. Well, let that be, I need to stretch properly first to wake up, and what's the best way to warm up? Right, a fight with someone.

But unfortunately, it's not fitting my status to start sparring or anything like that right now, so I'll just have to fight with shadows. Waving a sword and bending air and fire in the forest for a whole five minutes got me ready to act, invigorating me better than coffee.

My plan before the main event is to talk with the leaders from both sides and find out what the hell is going on and how they see the outcome of this situation. Because sorting this out right in front of a crowd is not the best idea, even rather very bad, let's put on a bit of a show rather than real confrontations.

Hi, now for every 200 power stones there will be a chapter.

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