"Partly to offer you a different perspective. It may not help you, but it certainly won't hurt."
"And the other reason?"
"The other reason?"
"You said 'partly,'" the prince explained dully, still reeling from everything he had just heard.
"Yes... that's true..." I fell silent for a few moments, staring into the coals once more. "Partly, I wanted to draw a parallel between that incident and the situation you're facing now. Perhaps it isn't a perfect comparison, but aren't you doing much the same thing at the moment? Faced with a difficulty, you're trying to run from it—in this case, by escaping paperwork.
"The difference is that, unlike victory in that Agni Kai, the ability to deal with documents and administrative matters is something you genuinely need. If for no other reason than the fact that you remain an heir to the throne, and there is at least a fifty-percent chance that, one unexpected day, you may find yourself responsible for governing a vast nation. And I assure you, that will be far more difficult than cataloging a couple of warehouses."
Loaded down like a freight wagon, Zuko nodded absently and left in complete silence, the only sound being the click of the lock.
He had a great deal to think about.
Two days later, a complete inventory of the arsenal landed on my desk. It included not only every weapon but also the number of shelves, gaff hooks, whetstones, and various expendable supplies. In short, the compiler's thoroughness was impressive.
Heh. And the adjutant had insisted the job would take at least a week.
That, right there, was what proper motivation could accomplish.
Excellent. Now I could, with a perfectly clear conscience, assign our newly liberated prince to command the tracking parties and let him chase down the saboteurs.
Life was gradually improving.
***
Another week passed with us stuck at the Pole. I wouldn't say it was easy, but I wouldn't call it unbearably difficult either… More precisely, I wouldn't, since I was sitting in a warm house and drinking tea with Iroh. The prince, on the other hand, was working his ass off, yes.
With a small detachment of firebenders and two local "guides," he spent days at a time freezing out in the wilderness, which did little to increase his love for his fellow man. The results, however, were excellent: four hidden caches of provisions and weapons raided!
More than that, the prince somehow managed to pick up the trail of a group of ten saboteurs and even captured them alive after somehow approaching them undetected. Across snow. At night. In a blizzard. Against ten waterbenders and without taking losses in his own detachment.
Fucking ninja!
And no, I'm not jealous… well, maybe just a little.
The captured benders and soldiers were solemnly tried and sentenced to death by burning, which was carried out in the city's central square. I can't say I was thrilled by that decision, but there are times when a thing simply has to be done. Still, before the execution, I did conduct a number of experiments with, shall we say, very curious results.
First, "bending suppression," an energybending technique capable of turning any bender into an ordinary mortal… provided the energybender manages to overpower their target.
The technique itself was somewhat like arm wrestling, or a shoving match, to use a simpler comparison. You had to "push" your Chi into the opponent's body, reach their "source," and then… crush it. Extinguish it.
The problem was that doing so was difficult: the victim's chi instinctively resisted foreign influence, and if the victim possessed even a little skill—or simply a strong enough will—you could easily end up being the one crushed.
Fortunately, there were no energybenders among the prisoners (where would they even come from here?) nor any opponents with a strong enough will. Or rather, not quite.
The saboteurs were serious fellows, unyielding and cunning. But only when it came to the bending they were used to. When confronted with matters of internal energies, they were completely out of their depth, and I had no intention of giving them time to adapt and start fighting back. In short, I was able to get some practice in.
Granted, the technique was useless in combat. It was very much a prison or punishment technique, and on top of that, it was far easier and more convenient to perform when the victim was incapable of resisting, whether unconscious or under torture. Nevertheless, it had potential. Especially if I could figure out how to remove the block afterward.
The logic was simple: after spending a week without bending, any bender would become extremely attentive to the orders of someone capable of killing the bender within them. The trouble was that "returning the gift" part had problems. As the saying goes, it's easier to break than to build. If I could extinguish the "source," reigniting it was where the difficulties began.
No, the theory itself was perfectly sound. I knew exactly what had to be done and how to do it, but my power-up through the dragons had come with certain side effects. Too much power. Too aggressive an energy. And my "test subjects" did not possess even the beginnings of energy control and were unable to help.
As a result, the best I could achieve was extensive damage to the body's energy pathways, accompanied by excruciating pain for the victim and the loss of mobility in the affected area.
Yeah… I accidentally invented the Gentle Fist. But what the hell did I need it for?
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰