Chapter 21.6- And so the Dragons Danced

“So what’s the plan?” Toji asked after I made camp when we’d barely gone more than a few kilometres from Omashu.

“Our orders were to expand the Fire Nation’s hold on the Earth Kingdom and take Ba Sing Se by the middle of next year” I told him.

“Yes. I read the scroll just as you did”

“That means we need to keep a pretty straight path from here, advancing through the Kingdom, but such a path puts us in a disadvantageous position” I said, pointing out a spot on the map as I did so.

“Fong’s Fortress?” He asked.

“Precisely”

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve begun falling for your own hype after the Omashu thing but it’s a good thing I’m here to beat sense into your head. It’s impregnable....”

“I’m aware” I said, but he continued like he did not even hear me.

“Not the kind of impregnable that you get when only idiots attempt something. It’s really impregnable. It’s at the centre of a mountain range that acts as a natural chokepoint. It has access to the sea so a siege would be fruitless, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers won’t hesitate to drop a mountain on your head, besides. None of the traditional methods of approach work here. None of them” He said.

“I know that. But I have a plan…”

“I know you do. You tend to have plans, and I do believe that if you beat your head against this for long enough, then you’ll manage to do what no one else could and take the damn thing. But we don’t have that kind of time. I don’t know about you, but six months is not a lot of time to me. And that’s all the time we’ve been given to run through the Earth Kingdom and take Ba Sing Se. We can’t afford distractions. Especially this kind”

“I am not comfortable leaving an enemy to my back, Toji”

“But we can’t do anything about it.”

“Well, you can’t. But I can’t. Like I said before you so rudely interrupted me, I have a plan.”

“A plan. Let’s hear the plan then”

“No.”

“No?”

“If you’re not going to believe in my plan before even hearing about my plan, then I just won’t tell you about my plan” I replied.

“You can’t be serious”

“You will find that I am”

“Okay then, what are you going to do?” He asked with a sigh.

“I’ll be taking Maki and 200 of our best firebenders and impregnating that bitch” I told him.

He burst into laughter at that, and I joined him. His laughter was infectious, and I couldn’t deny that I’d told a good joke then. A stolen one, but a good one nonetheless.

“Alright then. I assume you’ll be leaving me in charge of this lot”

“You assume correctly. Make them run drills or whatever. Maki and I should only be gone a week at the most”

“Is there anything I can say to change your mind?”

“No”

“Then may Agni light your path, General” He said with a bow

A/N: Last bit