Luke

It could only have been considered a miracle to left on the good terms that we did. And by that, I mean not through the bowels of some undiscovered swamp beast after having been chopped into bits by a band of vengeful swamp-based revanchist waterbenders.

We were escorted out by the personal guard of the commander, whose name we learned to be Karnook. He had expressed the faith he had in his men, but notwithstanding, especially in the wake of what had transpired, I imagined that he wanted to take extra care to ensure our safety. I had no doubt that, yet still, he would have preferred to see our heads mountain on pikes around the perimeter of the swamp as a warning to others rather than dedicated his resources to guiding us and ensuring our safety. The present state of the war, however, seemed to have re-shifted his priorities.

He had ushered us out of his town hall before summoning in what I could only assume to be his more trusted commanders, or chiefs, or whatever they were culturally called. We waited outside as the village continued to move undetected through the swamps. I couldn't help but wonder just what path the village took, if it simply went in a never-ending circle, possibly a figure 8. There wasn't much time to consider the village's path nor trajectory before he emerged from his equivalent of a command structure.

"Seems we don't have much of a choice. The decision has been made to help you in your struggle. You Separatists, you'll be expecting us?"

"They won't attack you on sight," Gordez verified, things already beginning to move along quicker than I'd imagined they would.

"Then I'll send a group of my men to your Separatists. Will it be safe to presume that Kiu hasn't moved locations?"

"Couldn't tell you for certain. I don't know what location he gave you."

"Hmph. Fair enough. I would ask for one of you to stick around and help guide us to your people, but after yesterday, my people will need some time to cool off. Didn't do much to help anything with that scuffle yesterday. Tensions are high right now, but once we're fighting the Fire Nation again, things'll ease down. But I am concerned nonetheless."

"What about?"

"We lack the resources to stage a proper fight. Some of the more revanchist ones amongst us have been raiding Fire Nation convoys and sinking back into the shadows, but they're down to using antiquated weaponry and resorting to guerilla warfare, but we lack any means to put up a proper fight. Hell, we've barely been sustaining ourselves as is. Fresh food and water aren't easy to come by in the middle of the swamp. We used to trade with a town to the southeast of us: Heigou, Earth Kingdom, but they've gone quiet as of late. Haven't heard from them for the last couple of days. Our scouts have been watching the mountains to the Northeast, so we don't believe they've circumvented the swamp, and if they came by way of the Nip, we would have heard word from the coastal towns first, so we don't know what to make of it. We know you've come down this way to help out the Earth Kingdom along the Nip, but if you can check in on Heigou first, see what's going on, I'd appreciate it."

Gordez nodded. Anything to try and start making up for the shitshow from yesterday. "We'll check it out. Make sure things are fine down there."

"Thank you. Village is currently nearing the south of the swamp. You can get off there, my men will escort you out, and from there, I'm sure you'll be able to find your way."

"We'll manage. Thank you."

"I suppose I should be thanking you too, but on the other hand, I can't help but feel like you're dragging us into a war we're grossly unprepared for. But I suppose that doing nothing is the only way to guarantee we all die here. So, in that case, thank you."

"This won't be a suicide mission."

"I suppose we'll find out."

And Karnook had stood by his word. He did just as he had promised, and we were escorted out of the swamp, by some miracle, at least relative to how we entered, still breathing.