𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔

Chapter 6

Their entrance into the Elite Force was nothing special. They—all five of them—lined up on the field of the arena. Katara snuck a quick look at the spot where Juiko had burned to his death just that very morning. There was nothing to show for it; the dirt was as brown and uniform as the dirt under Katara's feet. She wondered what they had done with the remains. probably dumped them in a ditch somewhere, as befitted Water bender scum.

She turned her attention back to Lt. Ensei, who was strolling in front of them, occasionally pulling the cigarette out of his mouth to exhale softly. She noticed the small yellow ponytail tied low at the nape of his neck, which was a bit strange. Many of the men here kept their hair long, but for the older men, it was usually tied in a top knot. For the younger ones, such as Hiro and the Emperor Zuko, hair was tied high on the head. Maybe Lt. Ensei just didn't like the current styles, Katara thought.

He turned to face them, hands clasped behind his back, cigarette held loosely at the corner of his mouth. "I won't mince words with you guys," he started. Katara thought it amazing that his speech was perfectly clear even with that cigarette between his lips. Did he practice?

"This is a really bad time to join if you value your useless lives," Ensei continued to drawl. His expression looked like he didn't give a damn whether they cared or not. "Those rebels are gettin' notions."

The lieutenant began to pace again. "Notions like... spreading. Like moving onto our territory. Reports coming from the Northern Earth Province telling us the rebs gettin' fidgety and shit. Starting to attack our bases and setting up their own forts and raiding our civilians."

Hiro shifted uneasily next to her. Oran stood straight at attention.

"Add on the fact that we just had our own little Water bender drama this morning. If one of 'em got in here, it means there's even more 'em out there."

Ensei took a long draw on his cigarette again. Katara failed to see the advantages of sucking on a smoke-producing little twig all day long. But she was, at heart, a Water bender, so she didn't expect herself to understand.

The lieutenant pulled a crumbled piece of paper from one pants pocket. Katara caught a glimpse of an official-looking seal on it before Ensei cleared his throat and began:

"The postings are as follows. Borr and Utsek in Patrol 6 under Lt. Sakai. Oran you're with Corporal San of Patrol 4—don't look so worried, the Corporal's a good guy—"

Ensei's eyes skimmed over Katara and Hiro. "And you two are with me. Don't look so scared, girlie, I'm a good guy too."

Katara gritted her teeth but didn't say anything. Look scared? Her expression hadn't even twitched when Ensei looked at her. Was he purposefully getting under her skin?

"Now report to your new home sweet home. You two—" He pointed at Hiro and Katara. "—Come with me." They began to walk back to the Elite's barracks, Ensei strolling a little ahead of them.

"Now I'm supposed to give you some crap speech about being honored to serve the Empire or whatever, but I'm not usually up for that kind of strenuous exercise." He gave them a sidelong look. "To me, there's only one thing you really gotta know. You serve the Emperor first, me second, your fellow soldiers third, and yourself last. Got me?"

They both nodded. What else could they say?

Entering their new room, Katara noticed that both her bag and Hiro's were already there, thrown on the top mattresses of two sets of bunk bends. The bottom bunks had various personal items scattered over the top. Their new "fellow soldiers". She wondered where they were.

"This is home sweet home," Lt. Ensei stood in the doorway, tapping one foot casually against the wooden floor. "Me and the other leaders get our own private quarters. You'll meet the other two members of Patrol One soon enough - I think they're in the armory or at the sparring ring."