Luke

We left the alleyway alcove behind us, the two of us, I was sure, glad to leave behind that display-the bodies, the screaming-the misery. At least, I know I was. I felt no apathy towards them to be sure. As a matter of fact, I wanted to do everything I could for them, but I knew the cost of war, and knew that many of those in that alcove were lost causes. That didn't mean they should be dumped into a whole and left to rot, but it did mean that the number of those that resources were wasted on for them to die anyway would outnumber those who made it at the end of the day.

I felt heartless just for thinking that. I'd seen the military hospital back at the Dragon's encampment outside the walls of Ba Sing Se. I'd seen how many men were left mangled, half-dead, dying after that failed attack that had all been the fault of that damned glory-hound Zahckrael. Never much liked hospitals after that to be sure. Maybe on small part because they'd tried to cut off my right arm, but that was a whole life ago. There was no point in still worrying about it now. That had been a whole life ago.

I could feel Zare's eyes shifting to me from time to time. At first, I thought it might have just been her checking to see if I was still beside her, then perhaps something else the second time. On the third time, I manage to catch what she was looking at-the sword sheathed to my side, poking out from beneath my coat. I suppose it was a rather key factor in investigating on somebody who you were travelling with, knowing exactly what they were capable of. I managed to catch her sight as she was looking towards me that last time. I wasn't sure if I had expected her to turn away blushing the way that Danev had always used to describe the girls doing whenever he'd looked their way. Then again, he'd been an attractive man. That, or he had just been full of shit. Rather than doing that, however, Zare met my sight, almost in a daring fashion, soon after asking, with something of a smug yet curious look about her, "So. A volunteer, huh? Don't often see many volunteers to our prestigious institution geared up the way you are. Who exactly are you?"

Her eyes had drifted over to the Fire Nation breastplate exposed where my coat parted in the middle, black and red painted steel a very clear indicator of the armor's origin. I prayed her next question wouldn't be directed towards that. I took the opportunity before answering to also get a measure of her. She wore rather plain attire, bearing a lightweight coat, one similar to mine, parting at the center, that seemed to fit her a small bit too large, the sleeves only needing to be rolled up ever so slightly to allow her hands to poke out. She wasn't small by any means, and I figured that the coat would also have been a small bit too large on me as well, but opted not to think about that, seizing whatever opportunity I could to allow myself to be bigger in stature than somebody else, myself standing a glorious, by my estimate, entire inch over her. While it wasn't much, it was the most I could hope for nowadays. I wasn't able to make out any weapons on her figure, but figured such was the intent behind the coat. Likely a dagger at most. Nothing too concerning. "And how often, pray tell, do you get volunteers to this "prestigious organization" I asked, mimicking the same half-mocking way in which she'd referred to her own organization.

"Often enough. Some are just drifters wanting to tag along with us until the next populated town we get to," she placed emphasis on the word 'populated' drawing some grim irony to the reality around us. "Sometimes we'll also get mercs who, though we don't pay them, will help themselves to the belongings of the fallen."

"Nuns are fine with that?"

"The nuns don't believe in possessions," she scoffed. "Very good reason you won't see those robes on me."

"And here I thought it was because the colors would clash."

She chuckled. It felt nice having somebody else to laugh at my jokes once in a while. I could get used to this. "Others will just join out of goodwill like that gentle giant, Gehor. He was already around before I was, but apparently had been protecting the sisters here for quite a while. So you never said who you are. Certainly seemed pretty capable back there with that guy we were treating."

"Well, a volunteer obviously."

"Woah, no way!" she whisper-yelled, feigning shock.

I rolled my eyes, unable to suppress the small smile on my face. "Let's just say I'm with a small group and we're going around seeing what we can do to lend a hand."

"Then you chose quite an interesting time to visit the Nip Sea. Hear there's a war going on."

"Yeahhhhh, may have taken a step or two too close for comfort."

"Suppose that explains the sword and Fire Nation armor." Figured she'd notice.

"Can't afford not to be unarmed back here."

I wasn't sure if she took the bait, or had merely decided for herself that it was safe enough to show me as she pulled up her coat, revealing a rather large dagger, or perhaps an extremely small rapier, tucked beneath her belt at her side. I wanted to think it had been me successfully goading her into revealing her armaments, but the smarter part of me figured it was at her own discretion to decide just what to show me. "Won't disagree with you there."

By this point, we had already worked our way beyond the city center, now headed towards the southern end of town where it was becoming slowly more apparent that no relief aid had made it this far. The fires were far more fresh, many still burning, the bodies likewise scattered around, birds and rodents alike still feasting on the remains, feeling as we approached down the main road.

The stench was awful. My nose twitched, myself wanting to pull my shirt up to cover my nose, but resisted the temptation, wanting to keep myself completely focused on searching for survivors, wherever they may be.

We passed along the buildings, having truly stepped into a ghost town, nothing left breathing. Many of the buildings were completely destroyed, caved in, or simply piles of ash.

We went quiet for a while, ourselves going down the streets, checking alleys, intact buildings, whatever few there were, just anything for a sign of life. Nothing.

"How long did you say you've been in the Nip?" Zare asked quietly after a small while as we continued to conduct our search to no avail.

"I didn't," I said, only realizing after I said it like an idiot that it was just a way of asking. I tried putting the dates together in my mind, thinking of when we'd ran the Fire Nation blockade. It was getting harder and harder to remember. Winter had already passed if I remembered properly. Everything with Jianghe was early Spring, and it was not early Summer. "Around 2-3 months, I'd say?" Damn. Just that? It'd felt longer than that to be honest.

"Then I take it sights like these are no stranger to you?"

They were in Jianghe. At least for us. The Separatists were in the North, in thoroughly controlled Fire Nation territory, the Fire Navy having a tight enough grasp on the sea to have prevented an Earth Kingdom advance into their territory, keeping they controlled territory safe from any such atrocities such as these, but no, sights like these were no stranger to me. "You'd be correct then," I answered. There was no prideful smile in realizing she'd been right this time around, herself only maintaining a grim look on her face when surrounded by circumstances such as these. "I take it this isn't your first either?"

She shook her head. "May as well be. Still feel like puking every time. Was the Earth Kingdom fortress before this, Louziwan. Didn't feel so bad there. Mostly soldiers. Was the temple before that though, Wawuwan. Just pilgrims and priest, all dead."

"Damn." It was all I could think to say. All that really came to mind in light of something like this. Perhaps, to a good degree, some of what rendered me speechless as well was shame in knowing that it was my country responsible for these actions. It was hard to think of anything to say when I was still too busy working down the guilt, and, to some degree, trying to rationalize it, but as I looked at the mangled bodies and burned homes around me, no rationalization could come to mind.

"Who the hell could have done this?" It was a legitimate question. We all knew the Fire Nation, but who? I wanted to know the unit, the army, the commander, but upon asking that question, realizing who I was talking to, somebody who'd have no idea of anything like that, I realized it was a fool's errand, until, however, she came back with a clear and distinct answer.

"The Rough Rhinos."

I'd heard the name before. Hell, at this rate, who hadn't? The freelancer mercenary band on a continual contract with the Fire Nation, taking the jobs that were too bloody and dirty for the military to do themselves. Their names had been attached to multiple other incidents before as well, the first to come to mind-the destruction of Jet's hometown, and the destruction of the homes of so many other Separatists as well. It seemed that wherever the Rhinos passed, they left fire and ruin in their wake, and a shared fear and hatred for everything they stood for, standing only to watch the world burn, and make a profit while doing so.

I nodded my head, enough on my end to show comprehension as she continued with just what I'd been thinking, "Doing the jobs that even the Fire Nation would rather not attach their names to."

"Bit too late for that, no?"

"Bit too late for any one side. War's been going on for, what, 96 years now? Rate it's going at, no side of this continent won't be hit by the time the war ends."

"If it does end." We had turned down another road, one seeming even far more dark and dismal than the last, bodies stacking atop one another, an all-new scene painting itself in front of me-civilians fleeing from one of their rhinos, trying to escape the streetway, only to be met with a rhino at the other end, trapped, pressed against one another, slaughtered en masse. Fucking savages.

I don't think either of us really knew how to continue the conversation past that point. It may have been for the better, searching for the living among scores of dead being the least desirable setting for making conversation. The minutes drew on, and the minutes soon became an hour.

"Think anybody's still alive?" She ended up asking at some point.

I shrugged, staying silent myself for a small while until also saying, wondering, "Feels like the south side got hit all the harder."

"Probably entered through here. Took their sweet time before going to the center. Animals."

"How'd they get in though? City has walls. The Rough Rhinos aren't exactly quiet. And where the hell is the city garrison? I don't see any military bodies here."

Her face had now taken a scrunched-up look to it, as though she were thinking, looking around, realizing the validity in what I was saying. "Might have just busted the gate down," she said, herself not believing it, but seeming more to be playing Vatu's advocate. "Garrison might have been posted somewhere more tactically advantageous?"

"This province was one of the few entry points into the valley between the swamp and the mountains to the East."

She was nodding, herself having thought of that too. "Think they had inside help? Rhinos paid off the garrison?"

"It's a possibility, but they're Earth Kingdom soldiers. Would they just leave their posts to the Fire Nation that easily?" Now it was time for me to make the argument I already knew the answer to.

"Earth Kingdom doesn't mean shit out here," Zare responded. "Garrison's are militias, civilians with spears, some leather armor, and access to the city gates. If they believe the city's going to be lost anyway, and there given the chance to leave with their families with some coin on top of that, who wouldn't take that chance."

"Doubt they'd make it long before the Rhinos decided they didn't like the idea of leaving witnesses. Were probably cut down too. They wouldn't had to know it was a fool's bargain making a deal with the Rough Rhinos."

"They probably did know, but notwithstanding, it was deal with them, or fight, one of them a deathwish beyond all shadow of a doubt, so they took the other. Unless-"

"Unless they weren't militia? Maybe mercenaries paid to enter the city and open the gates?"

"Mercenaries hiring mercenaries," Zare said through a grim scoff. "Not unlikely. Nations do it during sieges. I see no reason why the Rhinos wouldn't do it for a raid."

"All the same. They see gold at the end of the road and have no trouble paving it with as much blood as-"

Zare raised a hand, interrupting me, prompting me to go silent immediately. My heart jumped. Were they still here? Just lurking in the rubble waiting for a rescue team? I listened. No. It wasn't that. It was coughing, coming from our right.

Zare and I nodded to one another. We both heard it, heading off immediately in that direction, swerving through alleyways and so many other signs of that slaughter that had transpired here, eventually coming across the rubble of a collapsed burning building, and beneath it, just barely exposed to outside air, a young woman, only her upper body exposed, herself still struggling for air.

"Help me," she weakly let out.

Zare and I both immediately rushed to her side, Zare sliding down onto the ground, immediately supporting the woman's upper body, reaching beneath her coat for a canteen of water that she immediately raised to the woman's lips. "Hey there," she said, softening her voice. "I'm Zare and that's Luke. We're going to get you out of here, alright? You're safe now."

My eyes were fixed on the rubble. There was a good amount of it, but luckily, she was located near the edge. There was a small fire burning in the rubble, spreading, but quite slowly. We'd have time. I followed the logical pattern of rubble upwards, finding what lay near the top, and moving it aside as Zare continued to whisper sweet nothings to the woman, getting her to calm down. It was working as she wasn't nearly making as much noise as she was before, her breathing evening, no longer struggling for air as she had before.

I began removing the rubble, layer by layer, able to notice that the pressure being placed on the woman was slowly decreasing. "Alright," I said. "We should have more room now. Try giving her a small pull?"

Zare nodded, placing her arms beneath the woman's shoulders, clasping on tight, and giving a hefty pull away from the rubble. I could feel the edge of the building's ruins shift as Zare made progress in hauling the woman out, pieces of her old home falling out of place around her, progress being made until, suddenly, all progress ceased, Zare fell backwards, and the woman screamed. It was a horrifying, blood-colling scream, bile building up in her throat, prompting Zare to immediately return back to the woman's side, offering her a swig of her water once again as I returned to the rubble pile.

The fire was still burning, growing in fact as of now. The shifting of the building had likely fed more tinder and kindling to the growing flame. Shit. "We're on a short time frame now," I said, more to myself than anyone else.

"I got her here. Just get her leg free. It's all that's left."

I nodded, seeing that it was indeed the woman's right leg that was all that was still trapped beneath the debris. I moved the rubble aside, tossing away wood from the walls, stone from the chimney, some rudimentary tiles from the roof, all of it, digging deeper and deeper with greater haste as the flame grew. I reached an arm out to control the flame, stopping myself from doing so the moment that my hand had even left the rubble pile, realizing just how stupid that would be in front of others, instead, trying to intensely focus on the flames, trying to calm it the same way I had been able to put out the smaller embers in the city just by looking at them. The same effect was not proving to come into fruition now, myself unsure if it was because it was a more difficult task, I wasn't focused enough, or I was too anxious. I was scared. I remembered Jeong Jeong in that moment. Fire feeds off of emotions. Fear, anger, hate, these are the emotions firebenders choose to use, but these emotions are fragile, weak, they cannot be relied upon. His words never spoke more true than they did right now, myself unable to cool the flames as they approached, instead working desperately to remove the rubble, nearing her leg, until I saw the issue at hand. Directly going through her leg at the shin was a lead pipe, likely belonging to a gas stove, nailing her to the ground.

"She's being nailed down by a pipe!" I called out to Zare, not letting myself be distracted in trying to ease the woman's mind. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"What?!"

"I can't get her out!"

"Can you cut through it?"

I considered as much, reaching for the sword at my side, unsheathing it, testing its blade. No. It'd never go through. "Won't go through!"

The flames were approaching, growing in strength, size, and speed. She didn't have much time.

"Well we can't leave her!"

The flames were almost to her. We didn't have much choice. I left the rubble, getting on a knee at the woman's side, shaking off my coat, and undoing the belt around my waist. Zare saw what I was doing quickly enough, and nodded, already straightening the woman's leg. "Wait. What are you doing?!" the woman called. "You're supposed to get my leg out! What are you doing!"

"I'm sorry," Zare said. "It's the only way.

"No no no! You can't do this!"

I already had the belt fastened above her knee, tightening it to ensure as much blood flow would be cut off as possible. The woman knew what we were doing, and her screams would not let up, growing viler and more animalistic as she saw the inevitable approaching.

"Gag her," Zare said. "She'll bite her own tongue off from the pain.

I nodded, working past the initial guilt, knowing this to be the only way, pulling out a rag from my pocket and stuffing it into the woman's mouth, her screams becoming muffled. Zare and I both looked towards the approaching flame. "Now or never" she said, giving the belt one last pull to ensure it was as tight as could be, promptly moving beside the woman's head, holding it in place to ensure she didn't lash it back and hit it against the rocks beneath her.

I brought the blade out to just below the belt, right above the knee, placing the cold steel against her skin, a muffled scream emerging from the woman's gagged mouth. Zare gave me a nod, eyes narrowed in determination so as to reassure me that this was the only way, something that, in that moment, I needed. I brought the blade up, bringing it down again with the blade, getting a sense of exactly where to cut. I raised the blade one final time, and in one swift motion, brought it down.

I heard the steel clang against the rock beneath her leg before I had even heard the fleshy slice through her leg and the grotesque snapping of her bone. It felt as though a tense rope had been cut, slack now returning as her lower leg simply detached as though magnets of like forces were repelling one another. Blood. A lot of it, the new stump still bleeding, albeit less than it would have been without the tourniquet. Zare was already dragging the body back away from the burning pile of rubble the moment the limb had been severed. The screaming had stopped, herself having passed out from the blood loss, or perhaps in making the mistake of looking down.

The woman was on her back, heavy eyelids covering her sleeping eyes, face towards the sky, head between Zare's legs where she'd fallen back on her hands to support herself. I was trying not to look at the loose leg now being consumed by the flames but found I couldn't help myself in having my eyes drawn towards it, and, with it, the stump of the unconscious woman next to us.

I had risen back up to my feet, standing above the two of them, shortsword still dripping fresh blood, additional blood splattered against my arms and chest, now mixing with that of the man from earlier. I let myself catch my breath as I looked at the sight, watching the pile burning once again, destined to have consumed the woman had she been there a minute longer. We came in time for her. How many others did we not come in time for? How many did we just narrowly miss?

I shook my head, banishing the thoughts, wiping the bloodied blade against my pant leg, rubbing it dry as much as I could in that moment before returning the weapon to its sheath.

"Think we should cauterize?" Zare asked between breaths.

I looked at the stump. The bleeding had stopped for the most part. At the very least, if the woman died, it wouldn't be from blood loss. I shook my head. "No. Bleeding has mostly stopped. Cauterizing might be too risky. Good chance of infection. Zare nodded, looking back on the unconscious woman, removing the cloth gag from her mouth, seeking to restore the amputation victim's dignity to some small degree.

"I'd hate to be her right now," Zare said.

"Same here. I happen to like my limbs." My attempt at humor shrouding just how close I'd come to having my own limb amputated before, and what I went through to try and avoid it, nearly killing myself in the process.

Zare nodded, looking back deeper into the south end of the city. "How many more are out there?"

I went to her side, settling down on a knee as well as I looked into the distance where fires still burned, and with them likely hundreds more bodies still lay scattered across the streets.

"Don't know," I responded. "Maybe none. Maybe hundreds."

"Then we're not done."

"No," I agreed. "Not yet."

She turned back to the woman whose head rested between her legs, saying, "We'll get her back first. Make sure she gets the care she needs. Then-"

"Then we get back out there."

Her head turned towards me for a small moment, the vaguest smile rising to her face. "You know?"

"Hmm?"

"You remind me of someone."

"And who would that be?"

She let out a small and brief chuckle, cutting herself off, shaking her head. "Nobody. Never mind." She hadn't meant it in an attempt to convince me it really was 'nobody' simply dismissing it as a point of conversation for now. I wouldn't push, I figured, but couldn't help but find myself the least bit intrigued. "Let's just say," she continued, "You're just the type these nuns would love."

Zare, my friend. you have absolutely no idea what the hell you're talking about. "If you say so," I scoffed, rising to my feet, offering her a hand to stand as well, which she did indeed take, rising up to my side, letting go once she had her bearings once again.

I bent back down, picking up the woman and hauling her over my shoulder. She was light. Perhaps such was the consequence of having a dozen or so pounds swiftly removed in the near blink of an eye.

"Well then," Zare said, brushing off her clothes, looking in the direction of the north of the city, towards the alley alcove. "Looks like it's going to be quite the interesting day then," she said, shooting a small half-smile behind herself towards me.

That it would be. Finding myself landlocked amidst so many strangers, people from all across the Earth Kingdom who I knew nothing about, I'd been expecting to find myself feeling like an imposter among them, standing out like a sore thumb. Being separated from Zek and the others, I'd expected that to have become far more obvious, myself then alone, stranded in a sea of all these people, but now, with Zare, it felt different, to some strange degree. It almost felt as though there were something strangely familiar about her, as though there was some underlying sense of similarity that I couldn't put my finger on. I had no idea if the feeling was something that I alone was feeling, or if it perhaps was something she'd sensed as well. Probably not. I'm only being paranoid.

"Then I guess we better get started," I returned the smile, pushing the earlier thought aside. Despite her back being to me, her head still faced me with its right side, the small glisten of the sun reflecting off of her green eye before turning back around to face the north of the city, the odd feeling of familiarity never quite going away. An interesting day indeed.