In a devastated forest, the clang of swords echoed amid screams of fury and pain, mingling with the crackle of flames and the crash of breaking rocks. The air was thick with the acrid smell of burned trees, smoke, and blood—a stench so strong it seemed to cling to the throat. Above, the sunlight barely pierced the curtain of smoke, turning day into near night.
Amid this chaos, a boy darted swiftly between the trees, swinging his twin tiger-hook swords, cutting with lethal precision any enemy who appeared before him. Hot, sticky blood streamed endlessly down the hilts into his hands and splattered across his body, some droplets even landing on his face.
But he felt no disgust, not even the slightest discomfort. In fact, it felt good to know that each one he felled, every drop of blood staining his body, meant one less animal of the Fire Nation in the world. So he simply followed the electrifying rhythm of battle, the frantic pulse of surviving one more instant.
His eyes caught, to his right, a small girl with short hair, fighting with a ferocity to rival his own as she leapt onto the back of a Fire Nation soldier and drove her daggers repeatedly into the man's chest. The soldier fell to his knees, gurgling, as she yanked the blades free with a sharp pull, her eyes already scanning for the next target. Their gazes met for a fleeting moment, and hers widened as she saw something behind him: "WATCH OUT!"
He understood the warning immediately and spun just in time to see a soldier charging with a fist wrapped in flames. He reacted swiftly with a fluid twirl, hooking the man's leg with one of his swords and yanking upward with force, slamming him to the ground. At the same time, the other sword came down hard across the soldier's throat, leaving no chance to react.
CRACK!
He had no time to breathe before hearing heavy footsteps coming from his left. He straightened quickly, his eyes spotting four nonbender soldiers running toward him, swords and spear in hand. 'This would be a great moment for Ikari to make one of her entrances,' he thought, adjusting his stance for the imminent clash.
But before the soldiers reached him, the ground beneath their feet turned to mud, swallowing their legs up to the knees. They screamed, thrashing in panic.
"Shit!"
"Earthbender son of a bit—"
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
In that instant, four arrows sliced through the air, piercing the soldiers' skulls from the back of the neck. They collapsed, lifeless, like puppets whose strings had been cut.
The boy paused for a second, casting a quick glance at the bodies before running on. 'Good work, Longshot,' he thought gratefully as he searched for another enemy soldier or an ally in need of help.
He didn't have to go far to spot an earthbender raising a wall to block a blast of fire from a firebender. But another soldier of the Fire Nation flanked him from behind and drove a spear into his chest. "AAARGH!"
'Fuck!' The boy sped up, leaping over an exposed root toward the man. In mid-air, he drove one of his swords into the soldier's shoulder, using the momentum of his jump to throw him to the ground. The boy landed on his feet and tried to finish him the same way he had with the other, but the firebender who'd been blocked circled the wall and launched a fireball at him, too fast to dodge. 'Damn—'
At the last instant, however, the ground trembled and a wall of earth rose in front of him, blocking the flames. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a long-haired boy emerge from the trees who, with a quick sweep of his arms, sent the barrier hurtling forward, slamming into both the firebender and the soldier with the wounded shoulder, hurling them against a tree.
'That was close…' He let out a relieved breath, wiping a drop of blood that trickled down his forehead with the back of his hand. "Thanks, Haru."
Haru didn't answer, already running toward the injured earthbender, who writhed on the ground with the spear still in his chest. He knelt beside the man, his hands trembling as he tried to assess the wound. "W-we need to get him out of here, Jet."
"Moving him will make it worse," Jet said, ducking an arrow that whistled past his head. "Better to end the suffering—" He cut himself off as he was forced to cross his twin tiger-hooks in front of his body, blocking a sword strike from another Fire Nation soldier who appeared out of nowhere.
The impact made his arms shake, the metal of the blades singing as they collided. The soldier was strong, pressing with all his weight, but Jet was faster. He spun the swords, disarming the man with a circular motion that sent the weapon flying from his hands. Without losing rhythm, Jet kicked the soldier's chest, knocking him backward, and slammed the blade against the side of his head, knocking him out instantly.
Jet confirmed the man was truly unconscious and turned, breathing hard, to Haru. "We don't have time for this! We need to move!"
Haru looked at the wounded bender, heart tightening. He opened his mouth to argue that they couldn't leave him to die there, but stopped when he heard a crash. He raised his head toward the sound, only to see a huge rock coming straight at them.
"MOVE!" Jet shouted, readying himself to leap aside. Haru, however, stood up, planting his feet on the ground. "Argh!" With a roar, he punched the rock, shattering it into countless fragments that rained around them. Dust rose, further obscuring their vision.
"Cough! Cough!" Coughing repeatedly, Jet waved his arms to disperse the dust. 'Who were the idiots that threw a rock like that in the middle of this madness?!' he wondered irritably, taking a few steps with narrowed eyes, until he spotted Haru, kneeling beside the injured bender. "Haru—" He stopped when he saw that Haru was completely still, staring intently at the man.
Jet didn't need a second to understand what had happened when he saw the man's chest no longer moving. 'Damn it.' Jet ran to Haru, grabbing his shoulder hard and shaking him. "Wake up, man! We can't stop now, or we'll end up like him!"
Haru blinked as if coming out of a trance, but before he could answer, a scream cut through the air from somewhere ahead of them. "MORE FIRE NATION SOLDIERS ARE COMING!" The voice was hoarse filled with panic. "RETREAT! RETREAT! RETREAT! RETREAT NOW!"
********
[Omashu Royal Palace]
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the stone corridors, coming from a man aged by stress. His garments—a dark green Earth Kingdom uniform—were disheveled, and sweat streamed down his forehead, showing just how nervous he was. In each hand, he clutched a handful of letters crumpled by the force of his grip. "Come on… come on… come on…" He quickened his pace, heading toward the throne room.
Upon arriving, two soldiers guarding the entrance with stern expressions cleared the way as they recognized him. "Good afternoon, Li," one of them said, nodding.
"Good afternoon, good afternoon," he gree