The moon fell, and the sun rose ......
The wind blew through the earth kingdom plains around the area of Senlin Village.
Not long ago, the forest a great distance away from the small town had been burnt to the ground. And now, just last night, smoke once again rose to the skies, marking the possible arrival of what this simple farming village was now most afraid of.
Fire Nation.
They knew not what happened, but it was enough to cause great concern.
As for the chance of it being something else? The loud explosion that occurred said otherwise.
'Those savages are back again ...... I just don't know what they're up to ….'. An elderly man thought to himself at the sight of smoke.
Perhaps another part of the forest would be destroyed again.
Morning had risen across the grasslands, but all wasn't peaceful. A new part of the earth kingdom was scorched with fire across the grounds, indicating the battle that ensued in this area.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of footsteps fell clearly as a short, fat man appeared with an expressionless face.
His gaze swept across the damaged lands, half burned with small patches of preserved grass. Fortunately, green grasslands weren't flammable. Hence the fiery destruction didn't spread.
“..... How many dead?” Captain Han uttered in a low tone.
“..... That ….”. Standing behind him, the lieutenant hesitated to speak. He couldn't see Han's face, but after following him for several years, he was knowledgeable enough to estimate his mood.
Gloomy, cold, grim ..... Furious. The nearby soldiers stiffened in place, some not daring to breathe too loudly.
“Did you not hear me, lieutenant?” His cold voice came again as he turned his head to reveal his side profile.
Although Han was short and fat, that didn't make him less intimidating. In the Fire Nation army, very few could make it to the level of a captain without some form of competence.
Han wasn't an exception, and anyone who dared to underestimate him due to his short height and round frame was in for a bitter lesson.
“Fifteen ..... Sir”. The lieutenant replied. He spoke with a calm tone and a clear voice. After all, this failure had nothing to do with him.
“How many are in the team?”
“Twenty one ….”.
“How many survived?”
“Six sir …".
“Why?”
“.... Because ..... they were ordered to guard the rear…". For this point, even the lieutenant felt slightly speechless. Everyone had died except the ones who didn't participate.
Didn't that mean that the entire team would disappear if they were there?
“..” silence. No one uttered a word as Captain Han continued to peer into the distance with cold eyes.
“..... We underestimated him”. The heavy atmosphere dissolved slightly.
This was the truth. An eighteen-year-old managing to wipe out a Fire Army search party, Han was impressed.
Especially when the rebel in question was a non bender…. He resisted the urge to release a sigh. Even after a year of imprisonment, this kid still had such a sharp edge.
YOU ARE READING
ATLA, In A Darker World
FanfictionMy Name Is Luca. - You Have Died - "Sigh ..... I know". Currently, I am in an empty white space. Was I going to heaven or hell? Well ..... Neither. What was before me, however, was a list of floating words that I could only assume to be my possibl...
