Chapter 20.1- And so the Dragons Danced

XXXXX- COLONEL SHINSUKE

Shinsuke had lived his life on the edge for most of the time since he’d left the Academy. His father had been an Admiral in the military, and he was trained for years to follow in the footsteps of the Great Admiral Rensuke, scourge of the Water Tribes. Of course, that didn’t come to pass, but he’d been trained for it nonetheless. Trained by a man who had no idea what the word “mercy” meant, needless of the utility of utilising it when training one own’s son.

But for all of that, for all his time at the front lines, nothing compared to facing off with the Old King. Shinsuke sent two powerful bolts of fire, but both of them were ignored as they washed on the stone hat covered the older man’s form and just like with everyone else’s flames, they did nothing. Nothin at all, failing to even mark the stone.

Another powerful blast of fire left his fist as he grunted at the exertion. King Bumi slammed a foot against the ground, creating a powerful effect that tossed Shinsuke off his feet. He had no idea what had happened, except for the ground beneath his feet throwing him upwards and sending him sprawling.

He struggled to rise as he noted that his opponent was marching towards him. In his mind’s eye, he saw the image of the Boulder superimposed on the one of the Old King. This was the second time in the span of a single year that he was coming this close to death. And this time, he wouldn’t even have Amara with him in his final moments. The King marched slowly, taking pleasure in knowing that he was defeated and done for.

Shinsuke resolved not to close his eyes this time. He would welcome death like a man, and would do his absolute best to not dishonour his family in the last moments. His thoughts turned from them to Amara almost instantly. She was back at the camp, he thanked Agni. This attack would be a failure, but he was sure that whoever had been left in charge of the reserve would have the good sense to retreat once news got back to them that the brat failed to contain the Old King. From Amara, his thoughts turned to the Brat as the gauntlet of stone around the old man’s fist reached down and grabbed him by the neck. It spoke of the earth bender’s control that he hadn’t snapped Shinsuke’s neck from that moment alone. The brat had failed. Shinsuke had seen it coming- because who in their right mind- expected a teenager to beat the strongest earth bender in the world- but he still cursed the fool boy for the failure either way.

“Are you the one in charge of this lot?” The Old King’s voice was surprisingly human for a being shrouded in stone. It was light and calm and airy like Shinsuke remembered his Grandmother’s being. It had an undercurrent of persistent amusement in it. This was the voice of a man who laughed, and did it often. The thought of Bumi the Butcher laughing was proposterous to Shinsuke, and he actually chuckled at the absurdity.

It was clearly the wrong thing to do as his opponent- if you could call what unfolded between them a fight- reared a stony fist backwards and prepared to sever Shinsuke’s tie to this world. Against his will, he flinched, closing his eyes as the fist came for him.

That was why he was surprised to still be able to think a second later. Another second passed, and he chanced opening his eyes to find the fist that had been about to kill him blocked by a clear transparent liquid. A watery wall. He breathed a sigh of relief, while cursing Amara for interfering. She didn’t belong in a fight like this.

“Oi. I’m here for my rematch old man” A voice he’d never expected to hear again rang out. His eyes tracked the source as he stepped into Shinsuke’s field of view. The boy looked like shite. His face was purpled, and what must have originally been a clean, immaculate outfit made of the finest materials had clearly seen better days. Mud dripped off of him as he walked forwards, getting closer and closer to the old king.

The Behemoth clad in stone merely grunted before tossing Shinsuke away with nary a care. He was sure the fall would have killed him if he didn’t find himself caught by a watery hand.

Once he was sure he wasn’t going to die anytime soon, he returned his attention to the confrontation taking place. “How did you even manage to survive that?” The Old King grunted with what Shinsuke would have mistaken for amusement had the voice come from any other source.

Suddenly, with no warning, the Old King stumbled forwards. “How fucking thick is this thing?” Shinsuke heard before he saw the reason for Bumi’s shift. Right on his back with a spear stabbed into the nape of the King’s stone armour stood the Zenin boy. The one who spent all his time around the brat. What was his name again? Jojo? Toni? No. Todo. It was Todo. Todo Zenin.

“You had a clear shot. How did you miss?” The brat shouted up at his friend who remained on the back of the imbalanced giant. Struggling to drive his spear any deeper.

“First of all, you were the one who said there’d be an opening right about here. It’s nothing but solid stone best I can see.” The Zenin boy said, still straining with all his strength as the Old King began to regain his balance, ending his stumbling and beginning to stand up straight.

“That’s impossible. He wouldn’t be able to move his head otherwise.” The brat disagreed.

“I’m an earth bender, idiot boy. Why would I need to create gaps in my armour when I could just as easily bend the entire armour to move with me.” The Old King said, making Natsu pale in a way that Shinsuke had never seen before.

“Get away from there, Toji” The brat shouted in alarm. Huh, so that was his name.

Credit where it was due, the other boy jumped out of the way almost immediately. Still, it was a second late, Shinsuke noted as he saw the blood dripping from the boy’s wounds. The armour had shifted form in a split second as a thousand spikes now littered its form.

“Go get healed. You can’t help much with this guy. I’ll deal with him” The brat said.

“Bold words, boy. Especially considering what happened the last time we fought, not even two hours ago.” The Old king said.

“I’ll have your last words now, Bumi.” He said with menace in his voice.