Luke

We were at a standstill, our forces facing off one another, the bodies of the fallen littering the ground, their bolstered forces, reinforcements having arrived, eagerly anticipating the opportunity to avenge their fallen comrades, the words of their handler the only thing keeping us still breathing.

"You know the countersign," He stated, matter-of-factly, facing us down one by one, his vision lingering on me longer than the others. Or maybe it was merely the paranoia that made me believe so. Had anybody seen me? And if they had, would they even believe what they saw? Considering nobody had yelled at the top of their lungs, "The young one's a firebender," I had to maintain some degree of hope that perhaps I hadn't been seen, and wouldn't find a pike of ice lodged into my heart within the next few vital moments.

There was no answer from any of us, likely on account of none of us knowing just who he was talking to. He spoke again, more emphatically this time, clearly demanding an answer. "How did you know the countersign."

By his own initiative, the mutually appointed leader among us, Gordez, spoke up, but rather than answering, he simply asked, claiming the initiative, and perhaps a few more minutes of breathing room, "Is there somewhere better this can be discussed?"

The commander eyed us, his vision then drifting to the corpses of his men, some situated on dry land, most bobbing up in down in the shallow swamp water. He turned to his men, saying, "Take the bodies. We'll conduct the funeral rites later." He turned to us now. "We'll be taking you to our camp. I hope you understand what that means. You better do a damn good job of proving we're on the same side if you want to leave alive. Fail to do so, and you'll only be leaving through the bowels of whatever creatures in this swamp will end up feeding on your remains."

It was quite clear that little choice was being presented to us in this matter, and so we found ourselves following along, the corpses of the fallen being carried in tow by means of ice rafts floating along the water through which we tread, guided along by the waterbenders who still bore through us with eyes anticipating sweet revenge. It was the Separatists all over again, vengeful eyes trained on us, sheep amidst a pack of wolves as far as they were concerned, mouths watering for the kill.

It was as though the entire village had snuck up on us. Likely because it had. Through the fog that had been enveloping us ever since first setting foot into this swamp, nothing could be seen, nary the tallest tree nor fearsome beast, and so we had all looked around us with anticipating eyes when the commander raised a hand, motioning for all those following him to stop. The other waterbenders seemed unconcerned, as though this was routine, something that, at the very least, may have put us at ease, except it didn't, rather, at least judging by my own take on the situation as well as that of my comrades, we seemed to assume quite the opposite, uncomforted by the nonchalance of the waterbenders, instead wondering if we'd been walked directly into an ambush.

Then the first building emerged from the fog, a tower built upon a wooden tower, floating along the river, a small crew guiding it along as 2 similarly adorned tribesmen stood atop the tower as it floated along towards us. It was only the first of many such structures. Soon following came another structure, only a hut, then more, an entire great hall by the looks of it, followed by even more structures floating on platforms of varying sizes, an entire village floating atop the shallow swamp water. And so this is how they remain undetected. They are never in the same place.

The other waterbenders among us trudged forward, the entrance of their village into their periphery likely no more than a tedium to them by nor as opposed to, what for us, was the most magnificent and awe-inspiring sight of the last month. The commander noticed as much, a smug grin on his face as he asked, "Not bad, huh? Pray we don't make it your grave." He was all too keen on reminding us of the precarious situation we found ourselves in. Until we could prove our alignment, we were in hostile territory. The sentiment was shared. As far as they were concerned, we were enemy infiltrators, destined to be at one another's throats until this situation could be resolved, but as I watched the bodies being carried back to the village, knowing that there would be those demanding reparations in blood, I found that hope to be all the more unrealistic.

A ramp was lowered into the water, allowing us to wade out of the swamp and onto dry land, or, rather, wood. The platforms bearing structures were all being operated independently by waterbenders moving them along, travelling from platform to platform by means of hopping, or simply lowering themselves into the water and getting there the slow and wet way.

It was an entire village, all the amenities you could expect of any grounded community, though constantly at motion, every soul present at work in maintaining the operations whether they were steering the platforms or working to maintain the fog cover that shrouded the town from visual perception. It was a marvel of creativity and constant diligence on behalf of those operating the town.

We were not, however, given the chance to admire the sight, ushered along by the commander who had now parted from the soldiers bearing the dead and injured of their comrades, instead steering us towards the great hall I had observed earlier, alongside a troop of 4 waterbenders, soon summoning another 4, bringing the total to 8. He did not what us going unattended it seemed.

When we reached the hall, however, he ordered his men to remain outside, entering solely with us in attendance, placing an apparent degree of faith in our ability to do the math and realize that attacking him in the center of this town would mean certain death for us all.

He brough us deeper within the candlelit hall into a smaller room near the rear of the building, an office or sorts, or so it seemed, all that was present being a desk, 2 chairs, a few maps of locations unreadable to us save one that clearly displayed the Nip Sea region, though it was unmarked, providing no designation as to where we were, how many these waterbenders knew of the overall war effort, or anything along those lines, nothing here for us to see that would prove dangerous, not that he would even let us live should we prove ourselves a threat. A war room? No, too barebones for that.

The commander didn't sit, instead staying put, standing, fully attentive as he turned to face us, the 4 of us in a semi-circle, facing him all at once.

He was the first to speak, and somehow, judging by the tone of his voice he possessed even more questions than we did. "So who the hell are you and how do you know the countersign?"

We looked between us, unsure of who he was even asking, his eyes constantly darting between us, but as he'd done before, Gordez took the lead, not taking much time to realize it was clearly him who represented the lot of us. "We're with the Nip Sea Separatists. We were sent here by their leader, Kiu."

"Kiu, huh?" He chuckled. "So that's why you're here, then? Kiu figured he'd go for round two, try to get us to join his Separatists again?" His voice was rising. "So that's what this is about?" Louder. "That is why you roamed into this swamp, and killed 8 of my men, critically wounding 7 others?!"

"We didn't want to fight them!" Gordez protested. "They attacked us first! We were forced to defend ourselves!"

"You walk into a swamp you know is occupied by those opposed to the Fire Nation, bearing Fire Nation armor, after defending against them to spare our own lives for generations, going as far back as them massacring our people en masse. What did you expect to happen!? My people are dead, and those who lived are demanding justice, calling for blood against those who she the blood of their family and friends, and the offenders are standing directly in front of me, so tell me why the hell I shouldn't order my men to march into this room right now and execute the lot of you?"

"Because if you do, you lose your only chance of being able to survive what the Fire Nation has in store."

"And what exactly is that? They're going to send another rogue party into this swamp? This swamp has served its purpose before and it'll do so again. Fire Nation bodies litter the swamp floor, and the last group that came, they left as quickly as they arrived. What is it that's so important that the 'Fire Nation has in store?'"

"You tell us. It's like you said, they came and left. Few weeks ago, we have some student from the University at Ba Sing Se, said he's studying something about ancient civilizations, some library possessing knowledge of the spirit world. Just last week, he's assassinated. So tell us, what is he after?"

The commander went silent, simply looking ahead, a blank look in his eyes. "So they know."

"Know what?"

He was still talking to himself still, saying, "Huu told me about the visions the Firebender had, but, but I never knew that the swamp would grant such sight to one like him, enough to undermine everything."

"Wait, hold on. What are you talking about?"

"The spirits. The know how to find them."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"The water and moon spirit. Where to find them!"

"They're spirits. What do you mean 'where to find them?' They don't exist in our world."

"Except they do. Spirits play by their own rules. Some will choose to enter our world to simply feel what it is to exist in physical form."

"Then where are they? Why they hell are they not constantly being defended?"

"We don't know where they are! That's the one thing that kept them safe-that nobody knows where they are, but there's only one place in this world where knowledge of their existence is stored."

"And where's that?"

"We don't know. Some great library, hidden somewhere in the desert, though nobody knows where. If the Fire Nation is pursuing this, with their resources, it's only a matter of time. I don't know how they even learned that the spirits were alive on this Earth, but if they know, they'll stop at nothing to find them."

"And if they do? What happens?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm no spirit expert. You tell me."

"They'll have in their possession the physical manifestation of the moon and sea. They can kill them, harness their power, do whatever it is they desire, but if the Fire Nation does succeed,-"

"-Then they'll have an unimaginable power at their hands." I had to suspend my disbelief to even be able to comprehend what was being discussed. I was no stranger to the spirits violating the "boundaries" separating our worlds, but changing the fabric of the world itself in such a manner, it felt, unreal, like superstition. Even if it was possible, even if something so simple could flip the world upside down, I've seen stupidity in the upper echelons of Fire Nation command, and I had to believe that nobody could be nearly stupid enough to attempt to do such a thing, to alter the world in such a way.

"So this is why Kiu sent you to us."

Gordez nodded his head. So this commander was beginning to catch on.

"Your Separatists. They're out to stop the Fire Nation here, but pushing back the Fire Nation here, it does little to stop them from finding the spirits."

"We're working on that as well." Are we? First I've heard of it.

The commander sighed. "You killed my men, but if I do nothing here, I'll condemn my tribe, my people, the Water Tribes to the same fate."

"So join your forces with the Separatists. I don't know what your reason was for not joining them before, but surely you have to realize that things are different now. We need to unify forces, to push the Fire Nation back, and take a stand."

"I refused to join them before because I didn't want my people being drawn into this war. We were Revanchists, once, but our ways are no longer those of perpetual warfare. We will fight when we have to, push back the Fire Nation where we can, but a war such as this, it would put all of us at risk, but it seems that simply standing aside and doing nothing would mean something far worse."

"So, you'll join us?"

He nodded, "I don't see myself as having much choice, but first, there is one concern I have." His eyes turned towards me. I simply thought he was scanning through the room once more, except his gaze lingered, not simply drifting over me. "Why is there a firebender among you?"

My hand tensed, every agreement we'd seemed to have reached over the last few minutes suddenly overwritten by that simple question. He continued, "Firebenders have tormented my people for generations. They've wiped out all of the waterbenders from our home tribe, they've hunted us down for just as long, they've brought nothing but pain and suffering to my people, so why did I see him, you, kill one of my men by using this power?"

The room was silent until Gordez tried to speak up, saying, "He's-"

"No! I want to hear it from him. Why are you fighting against your nation, boy. Tell me."

I paused, I was frozen, racing through my mind to find whatever excuse I could, my hands shaking, trying to summon whatever lie could come to my mind until finally settling on what was not far from the truth. "I've seen the pain that the Fire Nation has brought to others. I myself have been a part of it. I never want to be a part of that process again. I want to fight against it however I can, finally do something to make amends."

He was silent, his eyes scanning over me, looking me up and down, sizing me up. "You ashmakers have been hunting us down for as long as I remember, but it wouldn't be the first time we've made allies of enemies. If what you say is true, if your intentions truly are in fighting against the evils that your nation has done, then you'll have my support. Do Kiu and his men know?"

"No," I said.

"Good. I've seen his men. You best do a better job hiding yourself around them than you did us. My men are loyal, obedient. They won't act without my orders, so I recommend you do a good job of staying true to your word, and you won't need worry about my men reacting as they only logically should."

I nodded, that moment of tension ending nearly as quickly as it had begun as he turned back to Gordez, asking, "So what would Kiu have us do?"

"The Fire Nation is marching on the Earth Kingdom settlements to the South of the Nip Sea. They're going to need our supports. If we can have your help in defending these people, ensuring we hold on to our settlements here and not lose the sea to the Fire Nation, it would go a long way to crippling their forces in the region. We do that, we remove their foothold here, and make it easier to stop their mission in the Earth Kingdom to find these spirits."

"Hmm. I will gather my men. I'll send some of them to the North to find your Separatists. The others, I will rally them. They'll be ready when the attack comes. We'll give the Fire Nation a run for their money yet."

And just like that, it had ended. We were alive, and we had fulfilled our mission. Congratulations, Luke. You've just escalated this war.