Boss

It was an uneasy peace that held things together over the next week. I spent the night with one eye open, a part of me feeling more exposed than I ever had before, now having anybody else by my side, in the same tent as me as I slept. Only Jadoh was around, and he'd taken to spending his nights with the rest of the Seppies above in the platforms. And so I'd been left on the cold earth floor, having the tent to me, myself, and I, but still just thankful that I wasn't inhabiting a suspended wooden structure hanging hundreds of feet above. Then again, if it falls, no saving me down here right below it anyway.

Maybe better not to think that way.

Almost a week had passed, and the fact that nothing notable had occurred was what worried me more than anything else. It felt like the calm before a great storm that would tear down the world around us. As though all of us were holding our breaths, waiting for the inevitable to strike. Yet all around me, all behaved as though everything was business as usual. They seemed to believe that, with the retreat of Luke, the return of Lei'fo, this temporary alliance had broken apart just as we'd all feared it would. I felt completely out of my element, a stranger in an antique land where all knew I didn't belong. Every look I was given from the people around me, it was as though they were merely commenting to themselves, "Oh, he's still here? Hasn't left yet?"

Every day I spent here, the more out of place I came to feel. Kiu had calmed their anger, their rage, but the implications were still clear enough for me to see, no matter how much Kiu tried to persuade me otherwise. Our time here was up.

Every now and then I'd see Jadoh. He didn't receive the same looks I did. He was nearly one of them now. I wasn't sure whether I was meant to feel happy for him, or betrayed. Hell, I didn't even know how I did feel.

I wasn't sure, if I told him we were moving on, where his loyalties would lie. A knot in my stomach, however, told me that I already knew the answer to that.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kiu asked. I'd been in my tent, packing my bags on the 6th day since he'd come back. Enough time for me to realize this was going nowhere.

I stood up, setting down the armor plate that I'd been considering how to fit into my bag. Maybe I'll just wear it. Could come in handy if leaving doesn't go as planned. "Going home. Where I'm wanted. Where I'm needed."

"We still need you here. We want you here too."

"You want me here. It was obvious enough when we first came here around a month ago, but now, it's apparent that it won't change. Only you, and sure, maybe a small handful of others want us here, but we don't belong."

"So, what, just because the others aren't being particularly nice, you're leaving?"

I chuckled. "Nice way of putting it, but no. We can't do any good somewhere where we need to sleep with one eye open for fear of having our throats slit in our sleep."

"You know they won't do that. I talked to them. There won't be any retribution."

"And I appreciate you stopping them from killing us that day in that place, but judging by the looks we still get, they want to, and even you can't hold them back forever."

"Then tell me what needs to change. Please."

It was odd seeing a man of his age beg. It wasn't pitiful, or pathetic, just somewhat sad. He really thought he could control this. I feel like he should've known better, but I guess I couldn't blame his naivete. He'd been able to keep his grasp over his kids for so long that now, accepting that some things were out of his reach, he just wasn't capable of doing so.

"It's nothing you can change. They hate us. They refuse to work alongside us, and that simply won't work. They refuse to believe we're allies, and because of that, I don't think this'll ever change."

"Are your people any different?"

"My friends didn't try starting a mob to kill everybody else."

Kiu sighed, still unwilling to give up. "I'll have another talk with my people. Just give me until tonight. Please."

I closed my eyes. I needed to think. Did I really think him capable of changing anything? Not really, but did I owe it to him, to give him one last shot?

"Tonight then. But after that, I need to go back to my people."

"Will Jadoh be going with you if you do?"

"That's up to him."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

With that, he closed his eyes, nodding to himself, and left. It felt bad to admit, but the truth was, I had no faith he'd be able to stop that tide.

I wasn't even sure if, all things considered, I was all that upset. From the beginning, this was meant to be a temporary arrangement. Hell, the only reason we were even aligned with the Seppies was because they'd have killed us if we didn't. Never really had been the best foundation for an alliance. I was sure that, had the Patriot been functional earlier, we'd have been out of here the moment they showed us their backs. We'd only been here out of necessity, just as they'd only needed us as, at the time, we were a convenient resource. The convenience had become a burden for them now, and for us, the threat of staying now outweighed the threat of leaving.

Leaving was, indeed, the only natural progression of things. Yet at the same time, it felt like something was being left behind. There was something about Kiu that I couldn't help but be drawn to out of respect, admiration. He was a man born in war, and a warrior of an age such as his, you couldn't help but respect. I'd been through war. I'd fought to protect the colonies in the local defense force, fought in the Southern Raids, fought through the Siege of Ba Sing Se. I'd seen war at its worst, but for the first time in a long while, I could finally look at somebody and know they'd been through more, seen more war than I ever had.

It was less a wonder how he was alive, and more a wonder he was still sane. A part of me wish we'd found the Seppies sooner. He'd have been able to help Luke when I couldn't. Maybe it was for the best however that he'd done it on his own. It was hard to know for sure, of course.

I guess the pain from leaving was not for leaving the Separatists, but for leaving Kiu. He'd been the first person I'd had to look up to since Iroh. We may be on separate sides of the conflict in our beliefs but having somebody who even had the chance of speaking wisdom to you once in a while, it helped. It helped to not be alone. That's the burden of command, I guess. And now it's time for me to bear that burden once more. But I'll give Kiu his chance. I'll give him until tonight.

I didn't want to be around when it happened. The last thing I wanted were more eyes on me. I decided I'd spend the evening in the library. It seemed to draw in Luke so much, maybe I'd find some worth in spending the evening here as well. Worst case scenario, I'd simply klept some light reading for Luke for the journey to our next port. How do we plan on getting past the blockade, however? We could, of course, go with the original plan and still look for some mercenary work in the Nip Sea area, preferably on the other side of it for a while, where the Seppies wouldn't reach us. Knowing us, however, the odds were good we'd end up on opposite sides as the Separatists this time around. And once again, while I had no issue going toe to toe with the Seppies, Kiu was another matter. Would it be possible to convince him that a quick and decisive Fire Nation victory was better for his people than subjecting them to decades of violent stalemate? Hmphh, maybe, but his kids? Not so much, and he went where they went, so that was a dead end.

Guess that's just the natural progression of things.

Was on the way to the library when I passed by two of Kiu's men, a pair who, contrary to the others, seemed to bear me no ill will.

"Kalev, Harick" I greeted them in turn.

"Fancy seeing you out here at this hour," said Harick. "Not on your way to join the speech?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I can do without the glares, so I don't think being the obvious center of attention would do me any good."

"Ah nonsense, the others are lightening up."

"You so sure about that?"

"Well. We're not burning torches and raising pitchforks to kill you in your sleep anymore. So it's progress at the very least."

I chuckled. "Good way of putting it, but I'll pass all the same. Gonna get some light reading done. Or, well, at least just distance myself from the others."

"Ah very well. Can't stop ya. Oh you might come across Lei'fo. He's still hanging up here. Was looking for you actually."

"Oh that outta be fun. What's he up to?"

"Said he wanted to talk to the prisoner."

Fennick. Poor kid. Had it hard enough when he first got here. Things got better for a while, but once Lei'fo got back, he had bonded once again with Kai over making the poor lad's life as miserable as possible. Jet didn't do anything to stop them. Just stayed out of their way while the two bonded of tormenting the kid physically and mentally. Well, it was more just Kai doing the tormenting. Lei'fo feeding ideas to him over lunch since Lei'fo was still on a metaphorical "probation." Guess said probation didn't apply when Kiu wasn't around to call him out on it.

"Ah right. So bad cop, worst cop, or even worse cop this time around?"

"Didn't take the time to ask.

"Hmphh. Maybe consider getting Lei'fo to talk him down. We need the prisoner alive enough to talk after all. Especially if we still give a damn about the ransom he's carrying around with him."

"We'll see what we can do," finished Kalev with his first and last contribution to the conversation. He wasn't a vocal individual, but I wanted to think there was enough in the way he held himself that said he didn't hate my every gut.

It didn't take long for me to get settled. On any normal occasion, I'd take the book down with me to the surface, but considering that was where the rally was being held, I preferred to take my chances up here.

Even this many hundreds of feet in the air, the glow of the assembly of torches below reached up to where I saw, illuminating the "library" in a light that, had I been more at ease, might have reminded me of somewhere resembling "home."

Finding a piece of literature to ease my mind did end up proving a more difficult ask than I had anticipated. My journey here culminated around 30 minutes later with me simply bagging the book, hoping that Kiu wouldn't hold it against us.

I looked around at the suspended wooden world around me. Despite the vertigo-inducing conditions, the lifestyle that threatened to collapse beneath my feet at any moment, there was no denying that it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. While I wouldn't miss the fear of a death hundreds of feet below that threatened to swallow me whole at any moment, I couldn't deny that I'd miss the architectural feat that it was, especially for a band of backwater freedom fighters. Hmm. Freedom Fighters. I really have been here too long.

I wasn't sure what it was that made me want to roam the platforms one last time, getting my last glimpse of things before the time inevitably came to part ways. A part of me wondered if I'd be back here in the near future, perhaps as an invader next time. No doubt it wouldn't go smoothly. I'd seen these guerillas in action more than enough times to know that I wouldn't want to be on the attacking end.

I passed on by the command structure, the "city center", the bathrooms: small private rooms with holes in the middle leading to the abyss below, a cordoned off area which only the suicidal would dare wander into. I later passed the walkway that led to the prison. I couldn't help but think about Fennick again. A strange sense of guilt told me just to check on him. Make sure that Lei'fo hadn't gone too far.

I took no note of the first few specks as I passed by them. You saw blood so often in war that it was no wonder some of it would be spread around home. Back in Ba Sing Se, the trenches had been filled with a horrendous, never-leaving mixture of mud, blood, and soot, combining together to form a fluid from which there was no escape. All of it would mix in the clouds-the rain, the soot, the bloods from our shells striking, sending it into the air until it came back down as rain. Never seemed to stop, so I was no stranger to the straggling droplet here or there. I didn't think twice of it, not until the footsteps became clear, red as well, leading from the prison. No. My paste hastened. Lei'fo, what did you do? I knew it. I knew he'd go too far. I knew he'd push too much.

A puddle of blood was swelling at the cell door, growing, expanding, falling between the cracks in the wood. I swung the gate open, and there the poor kid was, hunched over, back against the wall, not moving. There was no breath left inside of him. His knees were bent as though he'd tried to stand, but been sent right back down. But when I looked at him, the thing was, he wasn't beaten, not recently. He wasn't kicked, harassed, assaulted, he was simply dead. His head was tucked into his shoulders, facing down, empty, soulless eyes staring at his shoes as though worrying over getting them stained with his own blood. I tilted his head back, revealing the gaping gash that opened his neck up wide. He hadn't been kicked, beaten, pushed to his limits. He'd plain and simply been killed. What the hell happened here?

I jolted out. I need to find Kiu. No. Screw that. I need to find Lei'fo. "Lei'fo!" I yelled. "Where the fuck are you?! Come out!" He couldn't be gone. He had to be hiding. There was no way he was already gone. This just happened. I ran over the walkway again, the puddle of blood still growing, now seeping off of both ends of the walkway, creating a steady stream flowing down into the underbrush below. "Lei'fo!"

I can't find him. I have to get to the lift. Had to tell Kiu. Just then, the ringing of a bell. The alarm system. I knew where it originated from. The lift. It was meant to signal that somebody was in need of being raised or lowered, but the bell continued. It wouldn't stop. It wasn't a call for a lift, it was a warning. The closest we had to one.

The ringing continued as I ran there, but as the seconds went on by, and I followed the trail of blood that led to its owner, the alarm lost its fervor, its intensity, its willpower. The sound died the moment I reached it and witnessed Pho as he tolled the bell one last time, before falling. The lift was already lowered, it was already down. What the hell had happened.

I knelt down in a slide to where Pho was laying, holding his head up. His body was riddled in stab wounds, ranging down his chest and back, his face beaten in, a miracle he'd dragged himself this far, Raava only knowing how far he'd gone, but as I turned my neck to see the blood trail he'd left in its wake, turning corner after corner, it was clear he'd made quite the journey.

"Pho! Hey, Pho!" I yelled, giving him a small slap across the face, knowing the moment his eyes closed, they would forever stay that way. "Hey, stay up! Come on! What happened?! Who did this to you?!"

He opened his mouth so as to speak, but the words died in his mouth, just as the mechanics of the lift could be heard. They were coming up. Thank Raava. "Hey, come on! Pho! Don't close your eyes. Come on! Stay up! Up here!" I yelled, the idiotic, adrenaline-fueled part of me believing they could hear me beyond the grinding of the gears and rattling of the chain that brought them up to me. "Don't fall asleep. Come on, look at me!"

His eyes turned to me, and I looked into his eyes in the final seconds before the life left his body, leaving him there, dead in my arms. What the hell is happening?! The lift reached me, and the door shot open, 2, no 3, no 4 Separatists rushing out, swords and spears in hand, all aimed towards me, catching me holding the body of a dead comrade, their immediate assumption instantly clear. And so that was what they saw, yet another one of the strangers standing over the body of a dead fellow Separatists, the lines of aggressor and victim instantaneously drawn.

"What the fuck did you do!?"

I let go of the body, Pho's lifeless corpse crumpling to the ground as I got onto my knees, but was instantly kicked back down.

"What the fuck did you do?!" He asked again as one of his buddies bent over Pho, and already I could hear the same pleas for signs of life that I had been uttering just moments ago.

"I didn't do this!"

"Then who the fuck did!?"

His spear was aimed directly at my throat, a mere inch away. I saw the hate in his eyes, the anger, he was ready to go for the kill. I closed my eyes, anticipating the worst when a new alarm rang from below. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?

"Are we under attack?" One of the Seppies behind my soon-to-be killer asked. The new alarm and the question, in conjunction with another, was enough to get the man to pull back his spear and set it aside, himself preoccupied with new concerns.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Where's Kiu?"

"Still downstairs."

"Pho?"

"He's. He's dead."

"Fuck."

"What do we do?"

The assortment of voices, each indistinguishable from the last, made one and the same in confusion, anger, sorrow.

"What do we do with him?"

I noticed the heads turn to me now, and within a second, the spear was raised back at my neck.

"Did you do this?!"

"No!"

"DID YOU KILL HIM?!"

"I didn't kill him!"

"SO WHO THE FUCK DID?!"

I didn't dare speak my first guess and utter Lei'fo's name. The moment I did, the second they would doubt everything I had to say.

"I don't know!" was all I could muster.

The lift began to lower behind them. I attempted to rise to my feet, but the nearing proximity of the spear into my neck, drawing a trickle of blood, was enough to send me back down. "Don't you fucking go anywhere!" He turned to his allies behind him. "Help raise the platform!"

The 3 of them got to the wheel, spinning it, increasing the rate at which the platform was raised, bringing it up all the sooner, and when it did, reaching where we all stood, some of us less so than others such as in my case, Kiu came walking out, flanked on either side by 1 guard, Jet being one of them. The others in front and above me instantly saluted as their commander exited, his eyes instantly drawn to Pho's body, dead on the ground, visibly recoiling, then his eyes turning to me. "Are you hurt?"

I only then realized I was covered in blood, none of it my own. I nodded, myself shaking in the process, completely unwittingly, everything having occurred in the last few minutes simply too unexpected to ignore.

"Commander! Sir! What's going on?!"

"There's been an incident below. One of our men is injured."

"Sir, are we under attack?"

"We don't believe so. What happened up here?" he asked, turning to the guardsman who now stood at ease, spear still in hand.

"Came up and saw them like this."

"Boss, you were up here. What did you see?"

"It's. I coughed, reaching up to my neck, feeling the warm wetness from the fleshly drawn blood, now standing on my own two feet. The same man, antagonistic as ever, raised his spear, but was quickly quelled by a simple motion of Kiu's hand. "It's not just Pho. Fennick. He's dead too."

The guard spoke up. "Who?"

"The prisoner," Kiu answered.

"Who then?" The guard asked. "Who could have done this?"