𝐒𝐔𝐍&𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 ━━━ ✧ ⋆ （ avatar the last airbender ）

━━━━━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗. bad omens

The war room is filled with murmurs of unease as my father and I enter, a suffocating sense of dread hanging heavy over the area like a weighted blanket of furs. My father's generals stand at attention when they spot us, the murmurs fading into a stark silence.

I follow behind him silently as he makes his way to the head of the table, which is lined by a map of our city and its north-most territories, ending with our great wall and several miles of the ocean beyond. He looks between each man gravely.

"Shall we begin?" My father questions, voice sure and strong. And yet, I know he truly fears that our paradise will fall, and all that will remain is ashes where it once stood.

Several "yes, sir"'s ring out through the room, and the war meeting begins.

Father starts by being told of our full numbers of soldiers, of both bending and non-bending ability. He then is told by General Tarquin of the final count of volunteers for the mission he'd mentioned in the council, and moves a wooden wolf sculpture representing his battalion to the ocean, before the intimidating numbers of the Fire Nation Navy, indicated by phoenix sculptures.

Each sculpture represents ten ships. There are fifteen sculptures beyond the wall━━━and that was just what our scouts had seen before they were forced to retreat, their position threatened to be compromised. My heart nearly stops at the realization, throat closing beyond my control.

As they converse, I study the map intently, taking note of the portion of our own, still unused, numbers. My brows furrow, something about Tarquin and my father's plan to infiltrate the enemy's navy bothering me immensely. It is not until they begin talking about the command ship itself that the realization comes to me.

"Father, if I may," I speak up, not allowing myself to be intimidated by the many eyes that instantly sweep towards me.

Father unfolds one arm from his chest and gestures for me to continue with an encouraging nod. "Go on, Xing Hua."

I step forward, my head tilting subtly as I take the map in. The phoenix sculpture in the front is painted red, standing out against the cream color of the rest. My hand reaches forward to grasp it and move it further back.

"The command ship won't be leading the attack," I say finally, placing it in the middle of their ranks. "The Fire Nation prioritizes keeping their commanding officers away from the most populated portions of fighting. It's too much of an unnecessary risk to send an expedition into the heart of our enemy. Even if they managed to reach the command ship, Tarquin's battalion wouldn't have enough time to clear their navy again before alarm is raised."

"And what would you suggest instead?" Father raises his brows in challenge, though it isn't in a mocking way. He's encouraging me. The realization inspires confidence in my chest.

Taking another moment to study our numbers and theirs, I gather the pieces painted blue, representing our waterbenders. "We should split our benders into three main groups." I place five pieces in front of the wall, three on top of it, and the final five behind the wall, towards the populated part of our city. "One group should be the offensive unit consisting of our strongest waterbenders, meeting the Fire Navy head on to stop as many as they can. Should they find themselves overwhelmed, they could easily retreat, supported by the waterbenders stationed on top of the wall.

"The group on the wall will also be in charge of rebuilding and stabilizing the wall, making sure it remains as undamaged as possible so that any satellite ships cannot easily infiltrate our city. Each Fire Nation ship is armed with catapults that they light to destroy any resistance. It's unlikely they will change tactics when it has worked so efficiently in the past."