Finally, after about three hours of Captain Li explaining in the simplest possible terms how this entire contraption was operated, we said our goodbyes to the engineer and climbed aboard. We could, of course, have landed the airship directly in the square and boarded in a nice, orderly fashion, but our lot was young (except for Iroh, though even he, despite plenty of grunting and muttering about rheumatism, joints, and various other internal organs, made the climb quite briskly). As for Toph, we simply tied her securely to my back and hauled her up that way. Ohhh, the complaining... Anyway, we were trained, so rope ladders were more than enough. After that, all that remained was to step onto the bridge and give the order.
"Captain Li, set course east-southeast. We're heading for the edge of the Foggy Swamp."
"At once, Herald." The officer snapped to attention. "Engine room, full speed ahead!" the officer ordered.
The deck trembled slightly, and the city began rapidly sliding away to the left and below us. Everyone immediately crowded around the portholes, oohing and aahing in delight. Even the ever-wise Iroh—hell, even Azula—couldn't suppress a breath of surprise and wonder.
"It's so beautiful." Ty Lee had somehow managed to contort herself above everyone else's heads and was peering through the porthole upside down, her legs hooked around some kind of beam.
Yeah... It wasn't as though we were short on viewing windows, but apparently simply standing at the next one over would have been too boring.
Not everyone, however, was having quite as much fun...
"How are you doing?" I asked the little blind girl behind me.
"Don't even think for a second that I'm experiencing any kind of discomfort!" the little menace declared, tilting her chin up defiantly.
"Just saying—I'm not made of iron, and Ty Lee did have a point."
"And don't you dare come any closer to me, you Brazen Scoundrel!" And zip—off to the side she went.
"That sounds like a challenge!" I proclaimed to the chuckles of everyone around us and went on the offensive...
***
The Fire Herald's Airship. Evening.
I held the flute in my hands and stared down into the dark abyss beneath my feet. Funny how the ocean and the sky were practically indistinguishable at night: darkness stretching endlessly all around you, and the only thing separating you from certain death was a tiny shell fashioned by ordinary human hands, utterly insignificant compared to the Abyss, yet still the only thing you had.
My habitually pragmatic mind, however, immediately pointed out that a firebender's chances of surviving trouble aboard an airship were considerably better than surviving a shipwreck at sea. Unless the airship happened to be over the sea, of course.
After another glance into the darkness below, I reflexively checked my safety line. Once I'd made sure everything was in order, I reached for my cup of tea. Heh. Sipping tea a couple of kilometers above the ground while casually dangling my legs over the void below—even the Fire Lord couldn't indulge in something like this.
If only it weren't for all these thoughts... but there was no escaping them. I was used to having a plan, to knowing what needed to be done and when in order to win, or at least come out even. Sure, things didn't always go the way I wanted, but I'd always had something solid to rely on. But what came next?
The war... The war would be over soon. With the appearance of a means of delivering troops that could double as a heavy bomber, the fall of Ba Sing Se had become only a matter of time. Even if the operation to "drill through the wall" ended in failure, with the necessary resources and a proven technology already in hand, the Fire Nation could churn out ten combat airships a month, or three or four dozen if the shipyards were repurposed for the job. And then you simply loaded them to capacity with blasting-jelly bombs and... that was it.
No, even a force like that wouldn't raze Ba Sing Se to the ground, nor did we need it to. But driving the defenders off the walls and giving our soldiers enough time to scale those same walls? Easy. Especially with the new tanks.
The Avatar could keep causing trouble here and there, but eventually he'd run headfirst into the simple reality of logistics. No matter how formidable a single fighter might be, he couldn't be everywhere at once. His only real option would be to eliminate the entire ruling family, and even then there was no guarantee it would help. More likely, it would simply make the surviving senior officials angrier. A civil war might follow eventually, of course, but before that happened, the enraged military would purge everyone they could get their hands on.
Did Aang understand that? Doubtful.
Still, I would do everything possible and impossible to prevent anything like that from happening. After all, whether I liked it or not, I'd grown attached to Zuko and Azula.
But the question remained: what was I supposed to do afterward? Fine, we crush the Earth Kingdom—six months, a year at most. Then we finish off the pirates—another year. And after that? Grow cabbages in Yu Dao? Not funny. Take on students and pass down my martial or bending skills? That didn't exactly inspire me either. Hole up in some library with a certain Gothic Parrot of my acquaintance? Actually, that wasn't such a terrible idea, but I doubted Suki would be particularly happy with that turn of events. That left "advancing progress" alongside the Mechanist, but I wasn't exactly thrilled by that prospect either, and I wasn't even sure this world truly needed it.
And suddenly it turned out that, aside from fighting and killing, there really wasn't much I knew how to do. My old, half-forgotten knowledge from my previous world didn't count.
And the saddest part was... I was fine with that.
I could no longer imagine my life without fights, chases, and risk. It didn't even matter whether it was a clash of swords or a verbal duel—the process itself was what mattered. How any of that was supposed to fit into a peaceful life, I simply couldn't imagine. And that frightened me.
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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