Ch.4 Return to Omashu

"Your Majesty!"

A servant entered the most luxurious room in the whole continent in a hurry. His expression showed fear and panic, a common expression worn by most when dealing directly with Fire Lord Ozai.

Fear because the man could kill you for example only because he was displeased by your voice and panic because of the news he was about to give: basically the worst report to date.

"Chaije." Ozai paused a brief moment raising his chin before resuming "Report on the Water Tribe front I presume?" the servant nodded and kneeled

"So, good news I expect?" that completely drained the blood on poor Chaije's face.

"I-I-I'm afraid it is the complete opposite Your Majesty" at that the fire in the fireplace spiked massively in size blinding everyone present in the room.

"Go on"

"Y-yes, the battle was a complete disaster, The entire fleet was annihilated, Admiral Zhao died, General Iroh and his Highness Zuko are missing, and one of the guards turned rouge." The man went on and on explaining the monetary losses, the impact on public opinion, and other details regarding the dynamics of the mission. The campaign was indeed an absolute disaster, on all fronts.

Everyone waited with bated breaths the raging hell that it was about to rain down, however, his next words were unexpectedly calm"Tell me more about this guard turning rouge. I want to know why he did so and what's his story"

"Y-yes, one surviving guard stated that Admiral Zhao was about to kill a fish that was supposed to represent the moon, the man created a disk out of fire and cut the Admiral's hand before he could do any of that, that was the spark that provoked a big fight that saw the Avatar supposedly knocking everyone down. During the cleanup of the battlefield, we found two senior guards, that would have entered the royal division after this battle, killed with fire constructs; we presume it was his work. Our investigation team presumes this guy's name to be Shen, with no surname, orphan, black hair, and very typical amber eyes. He was fresh out of the barracks and has never shown any subversive behavior. His resume was impeccable so much so that it was Zhao himself who appointed him as his guard. And that's all"

"Let me get this straight." started Ozai "You are telling me that this guy, fresh out of the academy and with light military training had so much control over fire to be able to create constructs without the Admiral noticing, so much power and technique to kill two senior guards, and got appointed as a bodyguard when he was actually a traitor, and most shockingly none ever realized any of this?" putting it like that purposely made the military look like a clown, Ozai implicitly made sure to remind his generals and ministers that without his rule everything would go downhill fast.

Gulp "I-I-t appears to be as your Majesty says." the servant was now straight-up shaking

Ozai took a deep breath, he hated when things didn't go his way "Call the minister of propaganda and tell him he will receive the funds necessary for bettering his system."

"At once sir" the servant was so fast leaving none in the room even noticed

"Sezee, write a letter to my daughter, tell her to get ready to sail, she will bring the Avatar and this traitor to me. This is what happens when you guys decide to put untalented people as admirals."

"Understood sir" the man immediately went out of the room

Ozai was internally furious but he knew that if he showed any negative emotion now things would only go slower. He needed to take over the world, and he needed to do it fast.

...

"To Katara, I want to give you this: This vial contains water from the spirit pond and can cure even the deepest wounds" Katara widened her eyes but I couldn't help but notice that in the end, he still gave the healing item to a woman, ironic.

"Thank you master Pakku" It was indeed a great present, she immediately went to hug him a hug that he, with a rare smile, returned.

"To Aang, I will give you this" he gave him a box, and curiously the Avatar opened it, inside there were multiple scrolls on waterbending another great present for his dear student.

"But remember that they are no substitute for a real teacher" Anng nodded with a smile and gave Pakku a hug.

It was Sokka's turn and I, already knowing where this was going was already shaking my head, poor guy.

"Sokka" he took a step a smile adorning his face "Take care son" he patted him on his shoulder and let him go just like that.

"Shen" hearing my name I stepped forward albeit confused "Chief Arnook wanted to give you a present himself" confirming his words a big ass man came into view a stern expression on his face. When he came close enough he started speaking.

"Youg, Shen, with your bravery you defended our city and our citizens, and for that, you renounced everything you have ever had but most importantly you renounced your place in this continent only to do what is right, and that is admirable. I talked with my daughter and she revealed that if the moon spirit died she would have sacrificed herself to bring it back to life and nothing would have saddened me more than losing my own daughter. In the end, not only did you save this city you also saved my daughter, the most important person in my whole life." he paused to let everything sink in.

"This is why, since you lost one for our sake, I at least would like to repay you back with a home to return to in case you ever need it. So shall you accept it I am going to give you the permanent Mark of the Trusted, all people be it Southern or Northern water tribe shall know your name and shall know that you are one of us? Do you accept?"

At that, I remained flabbergasted, I was not expecting it since the mark of the trusted is extremely serious business, and giving it to a Firebender is a big deal.

However, my answer was obvious "I humbly accept Chief Arnook" I bowed and he smiled

"Your left hand then, this mark will not disappear in water so don't worry about taking baths however remember" he finished the tattoo and looked straight at me "if you are found abusing it it will be stripped away from you in the most painful ways, for a trusted who breaks our trust is considered below every crime"

"I will keep it in mind chief, thank you" he looked straight into my eyes and nodded "Good, and good luck in your journey, you will need it" at that he left and we could start our journey.

...

Aang looked straight at me with a smile "Mark if the trusted uh?"

I smiled back "Yes, I was not expecting it, I knew it was a very big deal to receive one" noticing that Katara and Sokka were looking at me a bit weirdly I felt like I should talk more. So caressing Appa's fur I spoke "this bison is a very good flier, I have never seen one" Aang smiled brightly before bitterly and continued "he is the last one... since you know..."

I nodded, yes I knew. We exterminated every single one.

Sokka chose that moment to speak "well if you didn't kill every single one of them maybe you could have seen some!" of course, this reaction is understandable, they lost their mother, and I hope they will warm up to me someday.

"SOKKA!" Screamed Katara "I'm sorry about him Shen," I smiled gratefully at her

"It is ok, it's not like he is wrong, it is just that I am too young to have caused any of that, if you can't differentiate between me and a Fire Lord we may have an eyesight problem," I said bitterly

To my surprise, Sokka pouted "I-I'm sorry man, I don't know what got to me" I smiled genuinely and nodded

It was Katara's turn to ask a question then "What made you join the military?" I dramatically raised an eyebrow

"Join? What do you mean by joining, I am an orphan, I am conscripted since I could remember." they looked at me with wide eyes and hanging mouths, I had to give them a couple more pieces of info then "The last soldier who refused to continue the war effort had his house burnt in from of him, you don't really have a way out of this" silence permeated the ride, hopefully, they would learn to see common soldiers in another light.

Trying to lighten up the conversation I asked Aang "So, what is our next destination?"

Aang grinned, "Omashu! I want you to meet a good friend of mine"

"Alright then" in this mood we asked out a lot of questions about ourselves we got to know each other a bit better. Anime friendship power is amazing.

Finally, Omashu was in sight, oh boy, here we go.