Chapter 25.1- And So the Dragons Danced

“Don’t do it” were the first words she said as she walked up to him. He stared her down, but she did not even flinch as she met his eyes. He sighed. Reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He wanted to ignore her and just do as he wished, but this woman had saved his life. She was more important to his war effort than 99% of his army on an individual level. The only person other than himself who was more mission critical than Amara was Maki herself. Even Toji would fall to the wayside when compared to the value of the water bender healer. A value she’d shown by saving quite a few of his men from certain death.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” he tried to avoid the entire conversation in the first place.

“Don’t play me for a fool, Natsu. I know what exactly happened to Fong’s men. I know what you’ll allow the men to do to these water benders the second we leave this accursed swamp” She accused, and he shrugged her words off. It was a question he’d been considering already. What to do with the captured benders. This was not as easy as with Fong where they’d all been earth Kingdom army soldiers. It also wasn’t as easy as with any other village for the simple reason that they could not leave them here. It would be foolish to leave an enemy to his back, and especially one that was made up of benders as endangered as water benders.

“What happened to Fong’s men will not happen to these people. I promise you that, Amara”

“That’s not enough. I need to know what you plan to do with them” She probed again, and he buried the urge ti send a blast of fire in her direction. So many questions. So many fucking questions. Everyone had a question about everyfucking thing and it was like they did not realise that he was just as they were. Just as human. Just as flawed, and just as fucking clueless. He had no idea what he was going to do to them. But he also couldn’t say that. He was the General. In charge. In command. It was his duty to decide what happened here, and he could not fail in that much.

“When we arrive at Gaoling, word will be sent to the Fire Nation command as to what we have discovered here and they will decide our next steps regarding these people. But if you want them to make it all the way there then you will play your role”

“What role?”

“Divine the water benders among them. Point them out. See to it that the men break both their arms”

“What?” She screamed at his words.

“Amara, this is a battle camp, This is a division of the Fire Nation Army. Every single piece of our camp is mission critical. Every body we lose to attempted escapes is one less that will be jumping over the walls of Gaoling in two days. Every man we have to dedicate to guarding these folk is one less for absorbing and deflecting fire from earth kingdom catapults. The truth of the matter is that we can not spare the men. If you don’t want these people dead, then you will do this. You could heal them in minutes, could you not? See to it that each break is as clean as possible. Just a little bit of pain to keep their lives intact. Worth it, right?” As he spoke, he stepped closer and closer to her until he was moving her hair away from her face and wiping the few drops of tears that had fallen down her cheeks with his thumb.

“This is for their own good” He said to her, making sure to emphasise the words and let them sink in. She nodded at his words. He nodded at her, and then took his hand back before turning towards the tree as it was being searched by his troops for anything of use or value.

“Give that to Toji,” He said as one man began walking towards him with a ceremonial bow and a quiver of arrows in his hands. The man nodded and smoothly moved towards his second in command.

When the tree was searched and stripped of all of value, he and his men opened fire once again. This time, there was no protection for the tree as it caught on fire and began to burn. They stepped past the still burning tree, ignoring the wails from their prisoners at seeing their home so casually put to the torch and moved on the second half of the swamp. With the giant tree on fire, there was precious little burning that still had to be done so they covered the distance in only a few hours and then found themselves at the other side.

When he turned around, it was clear that the Foggy Swamp would never exist again. Juxtaposing this sight, and the sight of the once mighty swamp he’d dared enter into almost a day ago felt like comparing the moon and the sun. They were polar opposites.

“We’ll make camp here. Standard scouting procedures. Make sure we don’t get ambushed.” He ordered Toji and then began working to set up his own tent. For the road, he’d abandoned Sung’s practice of having a command tent since it was too much effort to set up and took too long to pack up. He preferred quick starts and stops so he favoured the same tent he’d used when he’d been a mere Captain. He chuckled at that. It made it seem like his introduction into the army had been a lifetime ago. Sometimes, it felt that way to be honest. Like who he had been at the Academy, and who he was now were completely different people even with less than a year between them.

A/N; Here ya go!