For all the constant news from the front lines, there was actually very little happening as Suki and her squad of Kyoshi Warriors got closer to it.
None of the painted protectors had expected their current situation, to be honest. They'd come across a sizable refugee convoy, and as they had done in the past the Kyoshi Warriors gladly offered their aid in escorting a small town's worth of people to safety.
The funny thing was, 'safety' to these people was on the other side of the border, in the Fire Nation colonies. Suki had initially wondered whether propaganda had affected these burdened folks, but then the mayor freely explained that they were fleeing from the very real threat of Earth Kingdom military officials.
"They come for our men and women, our food stores, our raw material, our money… I swear, if they could they'd take the whole town with them, down to the last brick."
That was disturbing, but as Suki had learned over the months traveling across the continent, it was far from surprising. She and her warriors had come across villages bereft of any men save for the invalid, the elderly, and those too young to walk and run.
In some encounters, the womenfolk were 'conscripted' too, even if the Earth Kingdom did not employ women in their armies. Dark tales followed after those cases, tales that made the Kyoshi Warriors question the Earth Kingdom' position as a noble, beleaguered defender against Fire Nation aggressors as the stories painted them out to be.
It didn't help that the Kyoshi Warriors' encounter with actual Earth Kingdom military forces did not always turn out well. In some cases, the commanders and troops recognized the painted faces of the girls, and Suki found herself under the uncomfortable attention of intense hope and awe.
It was as if her squad carried the powers of the Avatar to smite the enemy.
The common soldiers generally kept a reverential distance, or came with simple offerings that made the girls uneasy, while their captains and generals would, in varying degrees of subtlety and desperation, request for the Kyoshi Warriors to join them in battle. To stir the men's spirits by leading them to victory, to show that the Avatar's favor had not completely left the Earth Kingdom.
Suki knew better than to agree to such suicide missions. For all their prowess, the Kyoshi Warriors were trained and equipped as defenders, not war leaders or front line soldiers. Her encounter with the Scorpion had made that ugly fact abundantly clear. And there were only six of them, a fraction of a fraction needed to fight off the hundreds and thousands of the Fire Nation soldiery.
The Kyoshi Warriors had come to the continent to gather information, not die in desperate and ultimately futile battles.
At least those commanders eventually resigned themselves to her rejection, and allowed the Kyoshi Warriors to pass without any further issue. Those were still decent men, understandably weary and grasping at whatever opportunities they could to push back the Fire Nation invaders.
However, there were also encounters with far less savory types. Some bands of soldiers were barely tolerable. Their gazes were clearly improper, but for the most part they kept their hands to themselves and only gave filthy sneers or grins, which the Kyoshi Warriors quietly endured as they quickly moved through such camps.
The group finally agreed to stay away from any further military forces after their last meeting with a pompous and…uncouth general. His troops were respectful enough, but Suki did not like the way the man and his officers looked at her or her sisters. Her skin crawled as she felt their unsubtle gazes roam across her body, while their thin insinuations threatened Suki's tolerance.
Only when a captain brazenly brushed his hands against Okuni did the Kyoshi Warriors finally tire of the filthy atmosphere. Unfortunately, the general and his men did not take kindly to their sudden need to leave, and they barred the exit.
Suki and her fellow warriors felt no guilt as they drew their fans and swords at the leering men. They had been outnumbered almost three-to-one, but Kyoshi's martial knowledge served them well.
With so many people inside the earthen command post, the officers couldn't earthbend effectively, and Suki had to admit to relishing beating them into the ground. Sword pommels and fan edges struck bare hands and feet to disrupt earthbending, while the bladed edges trimmed off finger tips or carved shallow cuts as incentives for the unruly men to stay down.
At one point, Kana had been dragged down by several men, but her sisters all quickly converged to free her before the filthy hands could pry the armor off her. For that insolence, the girls struck harder than necessary, denting metal plates and cracking bone.
There were no fatalities once the Kyoshi Warriors finally broke out of the post, but they left the officers inside with enough broken bones to keep them occupied. Just for safety, they kept moving through the night, to maximize their distance from the repulsive men.
Guarding refugees came with no such problems, and was far more in line with Avatar Kyoshi's intentions for her warriors. Admittedly, there was little to actually do while escorting villagers and townsfolk from one place to another. The bandits they faced were often ill-trained and ill-equipped, making them barely worth considering as a threat.
Things might change for the worse though, with this particular group. Suki didn't know how the Fire Nation would react to so many civilians crossing their border, but she could only hope that the rumors of their disciplined conduct was at least half true.
She hated to say it, but Suki really hoped that the damned Scorpion was a good example of how the Fire Nation military behaved when dealing with civilians. No ransacking, no senseless slaughter, no filthy hands. After all the leering and dark looks, Suki could honestly say that she much preferred dealing with smug psychopaths instead.
The refugees came to their final checkpoint within the Earth Kingdom, a rather quiet dirt road hidden under the shadow of the Kolau mountain range. Just beyond would be the conquered lands of the Fire Nation. The weathered and hunched guide leading them until now gave the weary civilians the all clear to break camp.
"I'll wait with you all until your Fire Nation contact arrives. He should be here by noon tomorrow at the latest."
Suki frowned. "Why isn't he waiting for us? Isn't it more dangerous to wait out here?"
The guide shrugged. "He's being careful. All it takes is one bad run in with a patrol to mess things up."
Suki conceded the point, though she wasn't entirely happy with it. If an Earth Kingdom force spotted them, she dreaded to think of what kind of chaos would ensue. Worse, a battle could suddenly take place in their region, forcing the refugees to scatter.
Thankfully, none of Suki's wild and bloody imaginations came true, and the contact appeared the following morning. The Kyoshi Warrior didn't know what to expect in the first place, but she was still surprised by the new guide's appearance.
The silver-haired man was garbed in the standard greens of the Earth Kingdom, and wore his attire neatly as any self respecting merchant would. And just like many merchants Suki had seen, he had a cart to peddle his wares.
A bit strange that it was comprised entirely of cabbages, though.
The merchant guide adjusted his turban before exchanging bows with the first guide. "This is the group then?" he asked courteously as he swept his gaze across the refugees. It did not linger on the Kyoshi Warriors for even a fraction of a second.
"Yeah. Problems?"
The cabbage merchant stroked his short beard. "Hm, the frontlines are still quiet on both sides, so it shouldn't be a problem. We'll still stick to the usual schedule, though, just in case."
"I'll leave them in your hands then." The hunched guide gave a grateful bow to the merchant before handing over a small jingling sack. Probably his cut of the commission.
The merchant beamed a smile at the staring refugees, and then clapped his hands. "Alright, before we go…has everyone had breakfast yet? I still have some hearty cabbage soup if anyone's interested!"
And it was good soup indeed. Rather than just plain cabbages boiled to mush, these vegetables were salted, and the soup was mildly spiced with bones and other greens added to it. Suki and her Kyoshi Warriors went for seconds and thirds, and the merchant, Je-choi, surprisingly turned away their offer to pay.
"The samples are free," he explained with a kind and guileless smile. "I'm experimenting with new recipes, you see. I'm glad that you fine young warriors approve of this version."
The Kyoshi Warriors practically emptied out the cauldron between themselves as the refugee convoy began to move again. They kept at an almost leisurely pace, following after the merchant and his cart. For all of Suki's nervousness, nothing happened along the way to the mountains.
Morning turned into afternoon, and they finally had stopped for a break right as the dirt road led into a narrow tunnel. Suki took the opportunity to socialize with Je-choi, who used the time to tend to his cabbages.
"I'm surprised a trader like yourself would become a refugee smuggler," she casually remarked to initiate the conversation.
The cabbage peddler smiled as he brushed away some dirt off a head of cabbage, and then directed that smile towards her once he was done. "It's something of a necessity at the time, and then it became a side job."
"Necessity?"
He gave a sad nod. "Aye. The war isn't good for business, unfortunately."
"Oh? I thought there'd be demand for food?" Suki's basic understanding of commerce, and the rumors she picked up in Kyoshi Island's docks, told her that there were many people profiteering from the war. Especially those who dealt with necessities like food.
Je-Choi scowled. "Oh, there is. The problem is, I can't get my cabbages to the markets to be sold!"
"Bandits?" Suki guessed.
The cabbage merchant shook his head with some anger. "Worse. Earth Kingdom." At her surprise, he began to rant. "Either they charge an exorbitant toll to enter towns and cities to do business, or they seize my cabbages for 'the good of the Earth Kingdom'. And that's if I'm lucky! The number of times I've had to replace my cart along with my cabbages after marauding soldiers descended like scavengers…"
He was visibly trembling with rage, enough that people around him were starting to stare. Suki wanted to cut in, but he was on a roll.
"And that's not all. Do you know how hard it is to source good cabbages now? There's sooo many villages I've passed through that have their whole harvests taken by Earth Kingdom armies. Whole fields plucked clean, down to the last shoot! And it's hard enough to buy cabbages from the honest farmers, but after all that trouble, the officials and soldiers have to disrespect me and my innocent goods. Sometimes it feels like they're no better than bandits!"
Unsurprisingly, the refugees around Je-Choi were nodding their heads in agreement. After all, they were fleeing to escape forced conscription and seizing of food and wares.
"I'm trying to ply an honest trade, but with the losses I've incurred, I was forced to try out a new…career." Thankfully, he calmed and it seemed that his rant was over. "And it turns out I'm rather decent at it," he finished with a smile.
"I…see…" was all Suki could say, and then she had to risk another question. "So how do you get good at sneaking through the borders anyway?"
"Oh, I'm just making use of the routes us traveling merchants use to seek more opportunity. With how hard it is to earn a living in the Earth Kingdom, routes like this one we'll be using have been made by entrepreneurs to make a better profit in the Fire Nation colonies."
Suki couldn't help her skeptical look. "They don't confiscate your stuff?"
Je-Choi shrugged. "Eh, they used to be as bad as the Earth Kingdom. Worse, even. Then the crown princess took over, and things quickly changed. For supposed enemies, they're much friendlier when it comes to business. They don't put up any silly tolls, their soldiers don't ruin your day…" The merchant suddenly adopted a smug look. "In fact, even before this some Fire Nation soldiers have been much better customers than the Earth Kingdoms'."
Suki's skepticism remained. "Forgive me if I find that hard to believe."
"I know," the merchant said with a boastful grin, aware that he now had an audience around him. "But it's true. I was working along Omashu's routes back then, back when it was still under King Bumi. Some rather scrawny but no less deadly bandits appeared and were ready to rob me of cabbage and yuans."
The serious gravitas in which he told his tale drew Suki in, and she barely had the presence to note that the refugees and even her fellow warriors were drawn into it.
"I would've lost everything there, probably even my life. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Or a group of their soldiers anyway. They dealt with the bandits with ease, and for a moment I feared they would pick up where the bandits left off."
Je-Choi's eyes had a faraway look to them as he continued. "But no, as it was getting late they instead offered to host me at their camp, and promised to escort me to safety. Oh, I was just as skeptical as you all at first, but it was hard to refuse men with pointy spears, right? So I followed them, and it turns out, they were very polite hosts. Even gave me a bedroll and warm tea. They ended up buying my whole cartload of cabbages… No haggling, no threats, just asked about the price and then left a whole sack of money. Paid in Ba Sing Se yuans too, which had better exchange rates back then."
"I guess there's always exceptions to everything," Suki offered begrudingly.
"Yeap," Je-Choi agreed wistfully. "I heard they're doing well for themselves now, so I'd like to think that they're responsible for influencing the princess."
Now that was a curious string of words. "Did they become the Fire Nation princess' bodyguards or something?"
"Oh no. From what I gather from the colonies and the trade ports, she promoted them to a royal group or something…"
No.
No way.
"...and made their new leader her champion." The man shook his head fondly. "Ah, I still remember when he was a bright young lad back then. A cheeky brat, for sure…"
Suki exchanged dumbfounded looks with her sisters and the colonists who seemed to have a clue.
She had to ask.
"Is… Are you talking about Xing and the 11th?"
Je-Choi's eyes lit up happily. "Oh, you know them too? Let me tell you, the tales people spin about them don't do them much justice."
Merciful spirits, was this man raised or born wrong?