Chapter 15.1- And so the Dragons Danced

We set off at dawn, because of course we did. There was nothing more cliche than that. Me, and two hundred men, nearly half the encampment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Shinsuke. Sung hadn’t been kind enough to allow to pick the entire team of hundred that I would have preferred, but at least I’d been able to ensure that Toji was on the team that would be following me to hunt down the most dangerous element against the Fire Nations military interests in the Earth Kingdom. The Mountain. 

Between last night and this one, I’d been doing my best to try to come up with strategies for the hunt. He’d been roaming the mountains and plains of the Earth Kingdom for years now. Sniffing him out was going to be next to impossible, but there was at least one thing working in my favour. The report had said he had a half thousand men with him. It was going to make beating him more difficult, but I had an idea or two. The important bit about his numbers though was that he’d quintupled them since he’d attacked the encampment just a few months ago,. That wasn’t even enough time to begin training completely new soldiers into a single combat style .The hope here was that they were going to be sloppy. The mountain knew how to vanish into the woods with nary a trace, b ut it was likely that his recruits wouldn’t have anywhere near the required level of skill to pull off the vanishing act with the same alacrity. At least, that was the hope. It was also possible that every single one of them had assimilated well into the Mountain’s tactics and were just as skilled in turning into mist and vanishing in the air. 

It wasn’t likely, but it was possible. That was why we pushed things in our journey back to Han’s camp. The men had no idea what would be happening after we met with the General, but that was just for operational security, and also plausible deniability so Sung could say he had no idea about my plans later on. It was just the kind of plan within a plan that he’d execute. The only hope I had was that he wasn’t actually trying to actively fuck me over. Considering my Grandfather’s new position on Ozai’s advisory council, I hoped it would be unlikely. I mean the news that he and I weren’t on the best of terms couldn’t have travelled this far, could it? 

I stirred my mount and moved across the march to the front. The tip of the spear, if you would. There, I met Lieutenant Colonel Shinsuke, and the Head of the Healing corps of the camp, Amara. “Well met, Lieutenant Colonel” I said with a bow of my head as he noticed my approach. 

“Captain Natsu, or is it Major now?” He asked with a bright smile on his face. He was a very personable man, smiling widely and projecting a loud boisterous voice. I could already tell that I wouldn’t like him even though everyone else did. He screamed fake to me. That smile, wide as it was, didn’t reach his bright gold eyes as they shined with a hidden flame. This was the son of the Butcher of the Water Tribe, I reminded myself. His father’s actions were well-known, and the fact that they were controversial within the fire nation itself went to show just how bad they’d been. He’d singlehandedly, with those raiders under his command, culled the Southern Water Tribe from a population of thousands to the hundreds that remained now. He’d taken their water benders for the ‘glory of the Fire Nation’ and started a breeding program that led to people like Amara. 

I turned to the healer next. She wore her hair long with flowers running their way through, but that was the only splash of colour to be found on her that wasn’t red or black. She wore the fire nation uniform well, with nothing to hint at her water tribe ancestry beyond the bronze skin she had. Shinsuke’s father was hailed as a hero by most of the top brass of the military because of the breeding program. He’d taken all the scrolls and information the southern water tribe had on healing and then bred all the female water benders he’d captured to produce a generation of children. 

Those who showed water bending talent were trained to be healers from a young age. Now, they made up most of the healing corps’ higher ranks. Sure, there were healers and doctors who didn’t have the benefit of bending within the corps, but still within every division of the army there were at least ten water bending healers to provide vital aid. We were also trained to protect them with our lives as they were the lifeblood of the army. 

“Major, Sir.” I said to Shinsuke, answering his unasked question before turning to the woman by his side and continuing, “Healer Amara. It’s lovely to meet your acquaintance. I must say that rumours of your beauty fail to do you justice. You outstrip the stars themselves with your radiance.” I said with a theatrical bow that made her titter. I wasn’t lying though. She was beautiful. Easily the most beautiful woman I’d had the pleasure of seeing in either of my lives. Maybe it was because of the unmistakeable foreignness in her appearance. Her hair was black liker ours, but instead of being smooth like silk, it fell across her face in scattered curls that framed her face and caught the eye. Her darker skin shone with the sun, as it reflected the sun’s rays on its moisturised surface. Her face, oh man her face. Full, not angular like I was used to, and doubly as beautiful for it. And then those looks were placed on a body that would not have been out of place on a fashion magazine from my first life. She was tall, even on the horse, I could tell she was taller than I was. And then her curves were a thing of beauty.

“Major Natsu, you honour me. It’s quite the contrast then, that rumours of your taciturn nature seem to have been overblown.” She said with a smile on her face. Unlike Shinsuke’s, there was nothing false about it. Pearly white teeth peaked out from full brown lips that made me wonder what they tasted like. 

“Please, dispense with the formality. Call me Natsu” I said, ignoring Shinsuke’s raised eyebrow. 

“If I must, Natsu. Then call me Amara” She said, stretching a hand that I took before placing a light kiss on it. 

A/N; And that’s the bees-knees