The Origin of Roh-Shan

F: Suley's Boat

Roh jumped off the sailboat on a burst of air as they neared Suley's battleship. She snapped open her glider while Haider and the other fighters pulled in the sails and grabbed the oars to take over the last three hundred feet or so to shore.

Her feet crunched as she landed on the deck. The boat must've been poorly stored, since the deck was covered with dust and dirt particles. Barrels lined the main deck. She didn't have to wait long. Suley stepped forward, a grin on his face. "I was wondering when you'd drop by."

She snapped the glider shut with force. "Destroying Ren Haru wasn't enough for you, huh?"

"I'm just trying to give people space to use the freedoms th--"

"Freedoms they were born with, yeah, save it. Your stupid society has already turned into a bureaucracy, and that took what, like a month?"

He grit his teeth. "It's better than the Monarchy. At least in my society everything is fair! Everyone starts off equal, what they choose to do with that is not my problem!"

"It's not mine either, yet here I am, on your dirty-ass boat, having to explain to you that nobody starts off equal in this world. Removing class does not magically solve everything. Some people are born without bending, some are born physically or mentally handicapped, some people aren't as strong, some aren't as smart, the list goes on. You never had a CHANCE at creating an "equal society" because there's no such thing. You just created a world in which violence and greed win. "Fairness" is the stupidest myth I've ever heard."

That got to him more than she'd expected. The dirt around her feet swirled for a moment as he clenched his fists. "If you're so keen on leaving the world flawed the way it is, why are you trying to change my society? It's a natural shift. People live here and like it. Why can't you let them be?"

"Because you've got a whole nation of people out on the water right now! They had to evacuate their entire country because of your violent Residents. They have nowhere to go. This is not the natural way societies shift, this is war."

He carefully stepped toward the door that led to the bridge of the ship. Roh circled him, matching each step. When he reached the door, he yanked it open and yelled down, "Launch the missile!"

Roh's eyes went wide. She lunged toward the door, but a wall of black fire shot up in front of her, sending her tumbling back toward the edge of the deck. She was barely on her feet again when another straight wall of black fire surged perpendicular to the first one, headed straight for her.

The fire burned as it reached her, but it almost felt like the fire itself was physically blowing her back, and she tumbled over the edge, into the water below, without her staff.

~//~