"There's room here for up to two hundred people," she said, gesturing toward what I had mentally labeled the barracks. "We don't usually use them—the village isn't far—but under the current circumstances…"
"Thank you. I hope we won't cause too much trouble," I said. Though, considering how much trouble we'd already caused, I doubted that would reassure her.
"It's the least I could do. We really did behave… poorly back on the beach," she trailed off awkwardly. "And Elder Panao started accusing you before he even understood what had happened…"
"Hmm." That was when I suddenly noticed she'd switched to formal speech. "Weren't we already on a first-name basis? Maybe we should stick with that. I get so much respectful formality from my crew that I'm about ready to climb the walls from it. And you're not my subordinate—not to mention you're barely younger than I am."
Suki actually stumbled over her next step. Apparently, a request like that clashed rather badly with the image of a "cruel Fire Nation warrior" she'd built up in her head… or whatever else she'd imagined about me.
"Ahem… as you… as you say, Captain."
"Chan."
"Hm?" Confusion.
"I just realized I never introduced myself. My name's Chan. Calling me 'you' or 'Captain' sounds a bit strange, don't you think?"
"I suppose," she agreed cautiously. Heh. You could practically hear the gears turning in her head—either trying to patch together a new mental image or wondering what this oddball was going to do next.
"Besides, it wouldn't be fair. I already know your name, and you don't know mine."
"I guess," the girl replied, still wary.
"Heh. You probably think I'm strange right now."
Oh, without the face paint, it was much easier to watch the color shift on her face.
"No! Not at all!" That didn't sound convincing.
"Come on, there's nothing wrong with that. I suppose it's just a difference in culture. Your tradition of painting your faces seems strange to me too."
"It's meant to intimidate our enemies! What's strange about a tradition like that?"
"Well, to me it looks like you're trying to hide the beauty of your faces rather than intimidate anyone. And hiding something that ought to be emphasized—that's rather odd."
She was clearly flustered by the direction of the conversation, but pushing it further would be a bad idea. Not exactly the best foundation for flirting—and certainly not the right time or place. In short: everything about this situation said "don't."
"But let's get back to my reactions, if you're interested," I added.
She nodded. At this point, she'd probably welcome any topic that let her steer the conversation away from such a "dangerous" direction. Spirits knew what she might start imagining otherwise—first I compliment her looks, and next thing you know, I supposedly want my whole crew running through the village warriors.
The world here might be enlightened in places, even cultured, but from what I'd seen so far, the locals' opinion of the Fire Nation was anything but flattering. Better not feed those ideas any further.
"My people respect strength. You and your friends showed that strength—and earned my respect. My admiration, even, if I can put it that way."
"But you threw us around the beach! All of us! By yourself!" Suki protested.
"So?"
Yeeeah, the universal argument-killer continued to work wonders.
"I'm… me. I've had specialized training. But most of the men in my crew wouldn't have been able to stand up to you."
They'd been trained to fight as a group—in formation or on the rolling deck of a ship. Against agile, almost ninja-like fighters like these girls in one-on-one combat, most of my sailors would be at a serious disadvantage. So in a one-on-one fight, those ninja-like girls really could tie up just about any of my sailors. Well, aside from Tandao and the veterans my father had assigned to reinforce me. Against them, the girls would've needed three or four warriors at once.
"Our traditions really are very different," Suki concluded after a few minutes of thought, which she combined with acting as my guide.
"And yet you honor the warrior's spirit too. You train your bodies and temper your wills, just like we do. In some ways, we're actually quite similar," I continued, gently working on her. I knew I wouldn't dismantle the image of an "Evil Empire soldier" in a single conversation—but if I could plant a few cracks in it, that would be enough. Later, she might actually think seriously about my offer instead of brushing it aside with polite refusals.
"Now come on, I'll show you where you can drop anchor without risking a run-in with Unagi," Suki said after we finished inspecting the compound and concluded that my men could settle in here quite comfortably.
"Unagi?" What kind of Pokemon was that supposed to be? Didn't ring a bell—and I hadn't come across any mention of it before.
"Unagi is one of the Great Serpents of the Sea," she explained. "It's lived in a bay near the village for a long time and attacks anything that enters the water. That's why we use other access points to the sea for swimming and fishing."
(End of Chapter)
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