People die easily. It is a miracle that our bodies function, that we live. And yet, we do not treat one another as miracles, as ends of themselves. Too often, other people are means. But to what end?
Mine, in this case, is to make both the noble's lives more difficult, and other people's easier. That sort of thing isn't done through bureaucracy. That's meaningless menial busy-work that no one really needs. All it is is a means of control over people.
Keeping records for the sake of history, for the sake of spreading knowledge, I'm all for it. A filing system for that, alright. But a piece of more or less elegantly illustrated piece of paper to confirm my identity, which changes every day, little by little, so that I am no longer the man who left the Northern Watertribe is meant to assure others of my right to exist in a certain area? How absurd.
How easily forged, with a deft hand and the knowledge.
But with an invitation from Professor Singh, Head of the History department of Ba Sing Se, I don't even need that. All I do is tell the guards my new name and they allow me to pass through the gates of Middle, and Upper Ring, into the university grounds. Lush grass and lovely flower gardens line the pathways of the park surround the impressive university building. Not as imposing as the palace, which can be viewed from the roof.
It's been so long.
It is one of those paradoxes, that the subjugation of certain people was the means to this beautiful piece of architecture. Whoever designed it, and whoever built it weren't paid enough, because otherwise there would be architects and handymen who live in the Upper Ring. Such appears to be the way of the world, the sad world order.
Well. Fuck that order.
But, I digress. I am not here to try to convince wealthy people to give most of what they have to people who struggle to survive.
I am here to educate some historians on the Invasion of the Northern Watertribe that I think should actually be called the Defeat of the Fire Navy. Hopefully, that was the end to their fleet.
It's at the grand entrance of the university building that Singh waits for me. "Ah, there you are, hello, Kai, please follow me, the others are waiting."
He hurries. Then slows to accommodate my more sedate pace as I take in my surroundings. Stone floors, tall walls, decorated ceilings, doorframes carved with creeping greenery. Pleasing to the eye. He huffs, but my wordless smile keeps him equally silent. His movements are jittery, excited. It's been a while since I encountered anyone with such passion for gathering true stories. Or, as true as they can be, told from memory.
We pass through a small courtyard, a lovely, yet slightly bizarre fountain with a boar releasing water from its mouth, in the middle. The water gurgles pleasantly. On a bench sits an old woman, watching with sharp eyes as we pass through. Singh nods to her. Her mouth twitches in acknowledgement, but soon her eyes return to me. Scrutiny.
There is such a thing as the truth. But, most days, I cannot claim to remember the truth of events, only my perspective. And this perspective is as true as I perceived it.
"In here," he takes my elbow, unaware of how my other hand automatically twitched to gather the water from the air. Well. He's an academic. And a noble. I'm sure he feels he can touch anyone he wants however he wants whenever he wants.
We enter a sitting room, tastefully decorated. It seems to be a place used for conferences of small gatherings, that two scribes who are now present document. There are five others in the room. Two women, three men, all about Singh's age: well over middle.
...
TRANSCRIPT OF KAI SON OF UTAKATA'S ACCOUNT OF THE INVASION OF THE NORTH POLE
You know, it was actually quite exciting, in the beginning. I was sent out on patrols before, you see, and the skirmishes were bloody enough to not want that to happen in the city, but we always returned. Sometimes injured, but we have healers. I hadn't actually seen anyone die before the invasion.
When it was all over, the bay's water had turned red with blood. The tiger seals were feasting the next morning.
It all began with the arrival of the avatar. He'd come in on his flying bison, although no one got to see it fly until one of his companions took Princess Yue for a ride. He was as the rumours said, young and definitely an airbender. We welcomed him with a feast and he was introduced to Master Pakku, who would teach him waterbending. There was… a bit of a hiccup with that, when his other companion demanded to be instructed alongside him. The Northern Watertribe is a bit sexist that way: women heal and men learn to fight. She was having none of that.
After multiple confrontations, Pakku did decide to teach her. Now, there will be more women who are granted the same privilege. The Northern Watertribe will no longer cripple itself. I'll be curious to see what has changed when I return.
The avatar and her both then joined the efforts to put on a bit of a show for the Full Moon Ceremony. Thirty benders would bend in tandem to create a great wall that would sweep through the bay like it hasn't been done since the tribes came together to build the city, centuries ago. And that would have been that, if on aforementioned ride on the flying bison, Princess Yue and her new friend hadn't seen the Fire Navy's approach. Hundreds of ships.
There was a war council to prepare. One of the patrols was late in returning home.
It was decided that the bay would be our battleground, not the city. Waterbenders would fight there, aided by the warriors. All across it, beneath the waves, traps were laid to sink the Fire Navy's ships. And to stop the first wave of attacks, the benders raised that wall and froze it.
Another unit was sent out beneath the waves, to assess the numbers of ships and the troops on them. They sunk a few. Kimondo rhinos and thousands of soldiers.
We were in for a treat.
But we knew to use our home to our advantage. And so we prepared.
It went in our favour, at first. Fighting in shifts to conserve energy and use the full moon to our advantage. The wall served its purpose, as did the next that was erected. But inevitably, some of the ships made it into the city. That was expected, and the citizens had been evacuated.
What wasn't expected was that the commander of that fleet had planned to assassinate the spirit of the moon, whose physical body resides in that city. Zhao was killed by a unit that had infiltrated his ranks using the uniforms the scouts had brought back with them.
But he had sent someone else ahead. And the moon spirit was killed.
If there hadn't been so many warriors in the bay, defending the waterbenders, they would all be dead.
Not all was lost. Princess Yue, whose life was saved by that same spirit when she was an infant, sacrificed her life for that of the moon. She returned power to the waterbenders and what followed was a worse slaughter than before. The avatar had gone into the avatar state, crushing the remaining navy.
I never want to see anything like it again.
That much power… no one should have it. He saved us. But spirits are not human, they have no need for morality as we do. They only care for balance. And balance was restored – cruelly.
This was the initial telling of the story. What had followed were questions and some vague answers. Kai, the man whom Professor Singh had invited, revealed nothing of detail to the assembled scholars that would give away the exact defensive capabilities of the Northern Watertribe.
What he did go into detail on was the Avatar State. What it looked like. How powerful it was.
It sounded as legend.
It was not.
...
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