Men of Hate and Appreciation (1)

Nik, Suki, and Katara had to continue on. Her letter met with no reply, this worried her to no end but that didn't mean they could stop. Their destination was the Makapu Village and for that, they will have to continue moving forward despite her worries.

After all, to Katara, the prisoners in Makapu Village meant a chance to not only free them but also learn waterbending and simultaneously try and find clues about her father. And she knew Sokka enough to understand the fact that if she tried to retrace their steps back to Omashu, likely a dangerous place now that the prisoners of Bumi might have been taken away, he would be livid.

There was one more thing that made Katara instinctively anxious.

She was done with her training, now recollecting her breath just enough to spar with Suki later, too. Her gaze followed the duo's movement as they sparred presently.

Nik was getting a good mastery over war fans. From closing them quickly and striking with its butt to sliding it open and slashing at Suki to counter her attacks. Once he had gotten over the misconceptions that he didn't need strength to defend himself and realized that sometimes trouble may find him instead, Nik's overall strength rose. Not that exponentially but with his status screen keeping a comprehensive record, he knew about his improvements better.

[Name: Nik Faran

Age: 20 (80)

Code: GC—EHG—98034

Authority Rank: 1 (5/100)→ (5.89/100)

Paradise: Transmigration

Title: Transmigration Intern

Bloodline: Adonis' Ember (Common)

Physique: 2.3

Mental: 1.8

Energy: 18.4→ 18.6]

It has been a week since the trio left Chay Thang Colony and his energy stat rose naturally. Meanwhile, even with the lack of improvement in physique stat, Nik was stronger and quicker, affirming the fact that this stat was more comprehensive than a simple gain to the musculature. Not only that, Nik was hard on the grind for AP but this time, he wasn't eager to promote himself again knowing full well that even with benefits, his situation might end worse should he not have enough strength to back his rank.

But his improvements only made it more obvious to Katara.

As Nik was able to start keeping up with Suki on more technical terms, lacking only in experience and awareness on how to deal with various situations that Suki had learned from years of hardship, the sense of 'cooperation' between Suki and Nik grew a tad bit obvious.

In fact, the duo really enjoyed themselves now.

*Swish*

Nik dodged the slice of the sword that Suki wielded skillfully, a real one instead of a wooden one. This, in itself, was a notable mark in Nik's progress. Right now, he practiced how to deal with ranged weapon users with two short fans. Honestly, they were like two sticks so Nik was more comfortable with the fans instead. His smile brightened and as he swept down with a kick only for Suki to jump up, a kick launched during the motion causing Nik to block with his arms as both of them grinned.

'Is something going on?... Well, we three are together most of the time and I haven't woken up at night so it shouldn't be possible,' though the heaviest sleeper of the trio.

But she felt a bit anxious nonetheless. After all, she now began to feel distinctly like a... third-wheel.

"That was great," Suki smiled, catching her breath as she settled next to Katara alongside Nik.

"Yeah, but how did you kick while jumping?" Nik questioned, curious only for Suki to reveal an enticing smile, "That's my something special. Of course, fair trade can be initiated if you teach me something in return."

Seeing her subtly leaning towards him and there being some hidden intentions in her words that Katara couldn't understand, she obviously felt a bit left out.

"Sure," Nik smirked, more than willing to tutor a bright individual who was equally talented in other physical activities aside from fighting.

Seeing the duo banter, Katara finally couldn't hold to herself. Exclaiming softly, she smiled, "Ah, I just remembered! We should be arriving at the Makapu Village and need to prepare our backgrounds. There is a chance that our information might already be spread to various colonies and villages."

Her words were reasonable, making Suki and Nik nod while pondering simultaneously.

"Hmm... would fake background even matter now that they know our face? Of course, that's the worst-case scenario. They still don't know where we intend to go and Makapu Village might just not be informed of our identity," Suki replied.

"I guess fake backgrounds worked well when we were trying to infiltrate Omashu and free the children but now that we know what really is going on, it should simplify the process so, as Suki said, we might not really need a story but more critical information such as where the base of the prison is located. All we know from Bumi is the general location which doesn't seem too probable... after all, who creates a prison within lava and how?"

Katara narrowed her eyes. She had wanted to have a bit more fun with the idea of the fake background and wished to see the new heights of relationship she could forge just for the sake of it. It would also be her way to distract her from the constant worry for Sokka. But this was shut down entirely this time around.

*Clop*

*Clop*

The trio heard the sound of clopping hooves at this point. They only took a more commercial route for the time being. There was only one instance where they were caught in a world of deceptions but other than that the journey had been smooth and now they encountered a trading caravan that they soon hitchhiked to reach their destination even quicker.

The last leg of the journey barely left Suki and Nik any privacy but it wasn't much of an issue. Due to the accompanying mental weariness during such travel, even if enjoying sleeping next to each other, the couple was reasonable enough to not overly exhaust themselves until they reach a point of rest and recovery. Chay Thang Colony was supposed to be such a thing but the situation with the Freedom Fighters had caused some troubles.

The trio was soon dropped off near the Makapu Village. While colonies thrived after the war, the various villages and cities still needed intensive reforms to be introduced to the culture of the Fire Nation, and the Makapu Village was quite infamous in the traders' circle due to two reasons. One, the exaggerated number of fire nation soldiers. Two, a woman named Wu greatly restricted their profits as many in the village, including the fire nation soldiers believed in her for some unknown reason.

Aside from this, the village was still an enigma to the trio and they began moving towards the general direction of the village, intending to use Nik's skill to sneak in.

Makapu was cut off by a gentle stream then surrounded by quite a bit of thicket. As they slowly and cautiously made their way towards the village, the trio found a dark-haired youth silently standing under the canopy of a tree. He leaned against the trunk while waiting with his arms crossed. The youth's attire instantly made the trio tense. Helmet placed on the ground, the youth had the uniform of the fire nation soldier covering his body.

Their arrival to this location instantly caused the youth to open his eyes but then confusion trailed his gaze.

"Who are you?" the youth inquired, his gaze especially focused on Nik while he paid no attention to Katara and Suki. This made Nik observe the youth, too.

Aside from the similarly light tanned skin, the youth boasted a pair of amber pupils that seemed similar to the many fire nation citizens Nik had already met but there was just something strange about the situation. Just the fact that the soldier inquired of their identity meant that Zhao still hadn't passed on the information all around the continent.

"We are travelers."

"Granny Wu claimed that I only have to lead 2 travelers. Women. You will have to pay 3 Phoenix Marks for the toll to enter the village."

Nik blinked in surprise.

"I think you have the wrong person. Let's go," Suki suggested, turning around when a wall of earth blocked their path backward. This truly surprised the trio. Although they have seen earthbenders in the colonies, most of them wore the traditional earthen-colored clothes. This was their first time to encounter a soldier that could earthbend instead of firebending.

"Apologies," the youth retracted his hands and snorted, "But you should give Granny Wu a chance. She changed my life for the better and she may just help resolve your problems... well, the two of you at least. I don't know why she didn't mention you." He looked at Nik.

"Oh, you mean that Wu?" Nik suddenly exclaimed in surprise and questioned the youth, making him frown in confusion.

"You know her?" He inquired.

"Yes," Nik nodded, more than willing to scam the youth in front of him than to pay an unreasonable sum no matter how small. "If you tell her Nik is accompanying these two, she will understand it."

The youth's frown only deepened but confidence is a strange thing. Seeing Nik lie so casually and with such an earnest expression, he couldn't help but finally accept the third individual's presence temporarily.

After this, the youth turned around, silently leading the trio towards Makapu Village.

Of course, this could be one elaborate trap but the trio had the confidence to escape and they wanted to know more about this Wu who predicted their arrival when the individuals who should have known of their journey are not even more than 5. As they walked, Nik struck a conversation with the earthbending soldier. There was a part of Nik who already considered the youth hypnotized but he only had one method of confirming it.

"Hey, you never introduced yourself," Nik smiled, simultaneously snapping his fingers. As he did this, Suki's and Katara's expressions behind him turned slightly solemn as they observed the interaction warily.

"You can call me Sun," the youth remarked.

"Now how did the army of the Fire Nation find itself recruiting an earthbender?" Nik continued, snapping his fingers casually once again.

"I'm special," Sun replied with a strained smile as if he didn't want to talk about it and Nik nodded with a smile, snapping his fingers once again but Sun continued to walk as if nothing was going on. This caused the trio to look at each other.

It was highly likely that Sun... wasn't hypnotized. Before leaving Omashu, Nik and others understood how the process worked on the surface and how to search for someone already in control to someone else's will.

More often than not, it was three successive snaps of fingers. Of course, there are many other indicators but this one was the most common amongst the workers dealing in the trade including the 'researchers' of the art formed from Ba Sing Se.

This situation now truly attracted Nik, Suki, and Katara. Sun was younger than them by a few years but he seemed to have gone through quite a bit to have such a mature vibe around him. But the fact that he called his situation 'special' was worth looking into once they entered Makapu Village because their end goal was to free the waterbending prisoners held within the village and they might just have to face this strange soldier.

***

A/N: Sun isn't an Oc. Those who don't know, he is the fourth lava bender to be shown in the series chronologically after Szeto, Kyoshi, and Roku. He is also rumored to be one of Toph's future lovers because his face is quite similar to Opal's. But that isn't the issue here. Sun is simply an extremely powerful bender and might just work in this particular episode.

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