Zek

It was midafternoon, and Cholla was wasting no time. In a matter of minutes, the town of Jingping had fallen completely under his control. Most of the garrison had willingly surrendered themselves over to the Captain, or, rather, Commander's authority. Some, however, much like their foolish commandant, had held out, and now found themselves jailed.

I wish it was something as simple as a play for power, expanding his control or something along those lines, but it wasn't nearly so simple as that. Cholla's primary intention was, beyond any doubt, to retaliate. In order to do so, however, he needed the means, he needed the centralization of military power. And that was not something he was going to achieve by going through the disgraced governor Xinhai.

Those who had resisted Cholla were already in custody, and now, Xiahu soldiers were already rounding up the civilian populace, taking a headcount. Cholla was planning on arming them down to the last man possible, regardless of age.

He had already given us the go ahead to board wherever we pleased under his authority. All around us, civilians would be returning home from having had their number taken to find some soldier or another having claimed their bedroom for their own.

This is war, I remembered.

These are the people who suffer first and are rewarded last.

This is what I was supposed to be fighting against. What we were supposed to be fighting against. Now we were no more than mercenaries, dipping our toes into conflicts where we didn't belong, taking sides we were supposed to be fighting against.

I grimaced.

Ahead of me, men were separated from the women, husbands from wives, sons from mothers, children as young as 10 being handed weapons they had no reason to wield.

Damnit all.

I didn't know where the others were. Gordez was already being tasked with arranging defenses for the town, fortifying the coast and the like, doing so only after asking Zare to check on Ka'lira, wherever the hell she was. And Zek. He had stalked off somewhere or other.

I tried thinking of the last time I had talked with Zek, that having been back in Xiahu, before everything went as it did. We'd been talking over dinner, I remembered. What we were talking about, however, I found myself hard pressed to recall.

It was only last night.

I shook my head, forcing myself to return to the present.

I was the only one here right now, watching from the sidelines as I saw children handed spears that stood twice as tall as they did.

The air fell thick around us, at least for those of us who were aware of the threat coming. The vast majority of people in this small town, not so small, I supposed, by comparison with the rugged half-manned 'fortress' that was Xiahu, didn't seem to realize the breadth of the issue at hand.

I wasn't even sure I did at that. All I knew was that the Fire Nation would be here eventually. Cholla seemed aware of that as well, hence the fortifications, the child soldiers, the mass conscription. We were getting ready for the worst.

"Can feel it in the air, huh?"

I shouldn't have been surprised to have been met with Zare's voice.

In the last few weeks since I'd met it, it's felt as though It's been her I'd been spending the most time with as opposed to the others.

Was it surprising?

Gordez was busy keeping all of us alive, everyday trying to be the leader that Boss was, or, I thought he was, that qualification of leadership having become blurred in the time away from him. At the very least, Gordez was certainly putting his all into living up to the example of leadership he viewed Boss as. Whether it was building ties with the locals we encountered, be it the Revanchist Water Tribe, the locals of Heigou, the nuns, or now, the Earth Kingdom garrison of Xiahu, well, Jingping now.

Zek, well, he wasn't Zek right now. That much was clear. Zek was the Zek that had been travelling alongside me for over a year now up until yesterday. Whatever it was that transpired between him and Ka'lira, assuming the issue even was between them, though I guessed it was, he had been thrown completely away from his former self, myself only able to hope that he snapped out of it soon enough.

And, I guess, then, that me and Zare simply had the most talking to do, whether it was getting to know each other, or being the closest in terms of age, myself now wondering if her birthday was before or after mine, finding myself praying that I had finally found an escape from being our band's youngest. I suppose that pretty much summed it up, much the same way as getting to know the others of Squad Iron Fire had gone, the beginning being the peak of conversation only to mellow down later into rock solid camaraderie.

I didn't see things playing out too differently with Zare for as long as she decided to stay. I had to remind myself occasionally that her appointment here was only temporary, her likely to return to the nuns once this conflict was resolved, if ever it was.

I snapped myself out of the daze to return to the present reality of Zare rather than the future possibilities. "Mhmm," I answered. "Gearing up for war for real now."

"Was it like this for you before?" she asked as she sat down, adding, "At Ba Sing Se," leaving enough of a pause for my heart to cramp in my chest until remembering the false narrative I'd established of having been an Earth Kingdom soldier at that selfsame site, defending rather than besieging.

"Wasn't too different," I said, not seeking to lie. "Situation gets desperate enough, you stop caring how old somebody is, only if they can hold a bow or spear. Doesn't matter if you're under 5 feet or have a pair of tits."

I paused for a moment, wondering if my latter comment had come off as too crass, but Zare's sincere chuckle quickly put me at ease as she seemed to find genuine comedy in my statement. "Really?" she asked. "Chicks too? Didn't think the Earth Kingdom would ever get desperate enough for that."

I then found myself strained to remember if I had ever encountered a female soldier at Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation had more than its fair share of women amongst its ranks. The Earth Kingdom on the other hand…The only women I'd faced at Ba Sing Se were civilians.

Not that it had protected them from me at the end there…

I shuddered at the memory, trying to set it aside, to not swell on it.

It wasn't enough. I found myself slipping into it, that same rabbit hole, all of-

Suddenly, the deep dive was halted, something taking me out of it. Her voice. Something I found myself thankful for in that moment more than I ever would have thought.

"Hmm?" I asked, having not caught her statement, praying she'd repeat herself rather than cast aside her statement, threatening to send me back into the realm of shadowed memories.

Luckily, her purposes were far from malevolent, and she seemed to feel no sleight at me having not heard what she'd said. So she repeated nonchalantly, "you know they actually want me serving as support here?"

"Don't want you fighting?"

"Pfft," she scoffed. "Hell no. If there's one thing I can ever rely on the Earth Kingdom for, it's for them to remain grounded in tradition even if it comes at their own expense.

I remembered her telling me, albeit briefly, of her father, the bounty hunter he'd been, and her own training in the same martial arts. "I imagine it's quite different from what you grew up with?"

She scoffed, looking off into the Nip Sea where it rested to our North. "Oh, no shit."

"Father being a bounty hunter and all. Teaching you the same stuff. Not exactly the most traditional Earth Kingdom family."

"Mmm? Oh, yeah. Of course."

There was something off in the way she'd responded.

Had I struck a sensitive subject?

I remembered the way in which she'd brought it up to me only this morning. It certainly hadn't been a detail she'd been keen on sharing. Perhaps it was a subject best omitted.

A terse silence ensued, one that only lasted a few seconds, but, at least for me, and I assumed her as well, seemed to last marginally longer.

I was thus surprised then when she, with seemingly no discomfort or awkwardness, broke the silence in asking, "Hey, Luke. There's something I need to ask. And feel free to say 'no'. It's pretty damn stupid."

"Well," I said, forcing myself to break out of the awkwardness, seeing as how she had done so too. "With an engrossing introduction such as that, how could I say, 'no' to hearing you out. What's up?"

The casualness of my statement elicited a slight smile from her. One that quickly faded as she proceeded to say just what it was that seemed to be on her mind. "'member how Cholla mention yesterday how he sent word to the nuns? About the way to Xiahu being clear?"

That subject of the conversations of last night finally cleared itself, remembering quite well for the most part the exchange that had occurred. "Yeah, I remember, but why-" Then it struck me. There was no Xiahu for them to go to, and no clear way for them to take. What the hell are they walking themselves into? "Oh," I said, now realizing. "Oh shit."

"Yeah. 'Oh shit'. I asked Cholla to send word to Heigou. Said it wouldn't matter, that the people there likely would have already left. I know he's right. They would have gone the moment they got the word. Besides, Fire Nation probably is watching for birds. Won't let any get through."

"Could try the Nip? Get word through the waterbenders?"

She shook her head. "Fire Nation holds the seas here. Anything would get intercepted."

"So…what did you have in mind? And…where do I play in, exactly?"

"I need you to help me get out. I need to get to Heigou, try to find them before anyth-"

"Woah woah woah" There was no thought to precipitate my interruption of her 'plan', if one could even call it that. "You want to what now?"

"I want to go to Heigou. I'll be travelling alone so I'll move faster, and I can probably find them easily. I'm pretty good at tracking, and-"

"Okay, stop again. You want to go out alone? You just said that the Fire Nation will be holding the area to stop communication between here and Heigou. You said yourself that they'll shoot down any bird between here and Heigou. If they can spot and shoot a bird, they sure as fuck can do the same to you. You actually considering this?"

"They'll die otherwise!"

"You'll die if you try to pull of this stupid ass stunt. You don't even know if they're still alive. Fire Nation could have already gotten to them. You saw what the Rhinos did. You really think…" I stopped myself short, realizing the insensitivity of what I was saying. She didn't seem fazed by it, however. If anything, she seemed all the more intent.

I knew what she meant. I knew what she had to do. From a logical standpoint, there could be no justifying it. But from a human side of things, I knew she believed it was what she had to do. She had to believe they could still be saved.

Can they?

"Look," she objected, her voice far harder now as she continued with, "I'm going either way. So you going to cover for me, or aren't you?"

"Fuck no. If you're doing this, I'm going with you." I said the words before I could think them through. What the hell did I just volunteer for?

"No. You have no idea what you're volunteering for."

Fuck, she's right.

"Oh, and you do?"

"I thought this through more than you have."

"All of 5 minutes more? Sorry, Zare, but this is a half-assed and stupid plan at that." Her face was no descending into a scowl. Who could blame her? I was desperate to try and change her mind. In which direction, I couldn't say. Towards staying, or going and taking me along, it didn't matter. So long as it wasn't her dumbass idea to go at this alone. "I can help."

"My father trained me for this kind of thing. Believe me, you'd only slow me down."

"And I spent my entire childhood dodging gangs, evading security forces, and surviving by staying unnoticed. I can handle myself."

"No," was all she had to say. I was making no progress. I was no forced to play a card I hadn't desired to draw.

"Look. You either go with me, or you're not going at all."

"That a threat?"

"Damn right it is. I'll tell Cholla. You know he wouldn't want the chance of information leaking to the Fire Nation if you were to get caught. He'd lock you up, and then you'd never reach your friends." Did I feel guilty for needing to play it this way? Sure. Did I have any other option? Maybe. Was I willing to wait to find those options rather than settling this as soon as possible? No.

"I'd get out."

"You really want to play it this way. You saw me get away from the Rhinos last night."

"You got lucky."

"Oh, so you're the only one who's just an expert at everything you do? Get off your high horse."

"I'm not-" she growled in frustration, an animalistic sound that may have sounded cute in another circumstance. "I just don't want anyone else putting themselves in harm's way."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'd follow you anyway. So keeping me out of risk is out of the picture. Now it's just a matter of whether we'll be doing this together or I'll have to follow from a distance."

"For fuck's sake," she scowled, albeit in a manner that felt almost softer than before. "You always this persistent?"

"Only on Tuesdays."

"It's Saturday."

"Oh, is it? Whoops."

She rolled her eyes, a gesture I could appreciate, marking that some state of levity had been reached at least.

"So is that a 'yes'?" I asked.

I was met with a look somewhere between amusement and annoyance. "You saying you'll help me get out then?"

"I'll help us get out."

"Then 'yes'."

I nodded. "Good."

It was then that Zare sighed, and I could detect already the makings of a sense of defeat as she proceeding to ask, "Think the others would come along too?"

I scoffed. "I think Gordez would be willing to throw us in the brig just to stop us from doing something so stupid. Zek, and Ka'lira, I could see it, but I don't know, I think there's something going on there."

"Not Ka'lira," Zare shook her head. "Gordez wanted me to check up on her. She's not doing too well."

"You actually found her?"

Zare nodded. "Holed up with an Earth Kingdom family. She's…she's not doing too well."

"She say what's up?"

"What do you think?"

"Hmm, I'll take that as a 'no' then."

"Think we should take along Zek then?"

"Might be reluctant to leave Ka'lira here alone, but, shit, might be good for him. Get his mind off of things."

"He bad too?"

"By the looks of it, yeah."

"Mmm. Alright then. But nobody else. We should keep it small. Not draw too much attention. How do you think we should go about getting out?"

"Oh we can just walk out," I answered with a shrug. Most of the soldiers are rounding up the civvies anyway. They won't be looking for us."

"It's-it's that easy?"

"Mhmm. Sure is."

"So, why did I come to you for help?"

"You tell me, but hey, you already asked, I already said, 'yes', so let's get Zek and get a move on."

"I think I fucking hate you, ya know that?"

"Oh, and you hardly even know me. There'll be plenty more room for you to hate me even more as we get to know each other even better."

At that, I noticed through the corner of my eyes, a small smirk that rose to the edge of her mouth as she answered, casually, "I'll be looking forward to that, then."

And with that, there was little more to say or do than find Zek and be on our merry way.