Chapter 80: Temporary Settlement
"Well, it was a good spar. How did you come up with those slicers made of ice?" Suki questioned, exhausted as she entirely leaned against Katara. While a tough and adaptive fighter, Suki now came to a realization that she lacked in terms of endurance when compared to the likes of Katara, who has been bending from her childhood, and Nik, who simply seem inexhaustible at times— a trait she wanted more 'uses' of.
"I just did," Katara grinned. She was at the cusp of mastering many of the moves directed within the waterbending scroll and this gave her many ideas on how to waterbend.
The two women walked towards the village slowly with Katara helping Suki until she regains a bit of her strength. While Suki could walk on her own, this simply allowed her a quicker recovery.
"So... before we got interrupted by Sun... you were saying something," Katara gulped, again finding her interests lining with a more passionate side of the world while Suki glanced at her, "Really? Nik is now gone for hours and that's what you're worried about?"
Blushing, Katara hissed, "I can't ask this in front of him now, can I? And I don't make you feel guilty whenever you want my lotion!"
Suki pursed her lips before sighing. Of course, this was only a front. Suki enjoyed Katara's more than she would like to admit and with how sneaky she and Nik have been, it was a little refreshing boasting some of her adventures to Katara.
"Fine," Suki breathed, "What is it that our talented waterbender wants to know?"
"Um... when did you guys get together?" Katara finally inquired.
"Chay Thang Colony... you know, after Nik decided to hog the bed for himself," Suki replied with ease.
"And why didn't you tell me?"
"It never came up," Suki blinked, "We never really got the chance to announce it and whenever we were with you, you either trained with us or asked us to do various chores."
"Oh, so it's my fault," Katara scoffed and then thought for a moment, "Wait... you said you two never got the chance when I was nearby... what did you guys do when I wasn't?"
Suki silently smirked, not speaking further.
"What... did you do?" Katara inquired again, her breath picking up in pace as her chest began to heave. Many thoughts— possibilities as to what the couple might have done— emerged in Katara's head and where they might have done it. The fact that the two had started to train a bit farther from her finally struck Katara that 'training' was much more than a spar and practice in awareness of surroundings.
But instead of speaking, Suki's smirk and gaze only turned suggestive. Her hand that coiled tighter around Katara's shoulder and she finally pushed her lips a bit closer to Katara's ear, whispering gently, letting her warm breath and hotter words linger— "You already know."
Katara gulped, her face heating up with a rush of blood as she began to imagine quite a bit until—
"There you are!"
A hurried shout broke Katara out of her thoughts and caused Suki to click her tongue as she was enjoying teasing Katara.
The two women looked at a young girl stopping a bit in front of them with a worried expression, "Come to the village quickly. Nik... he brought a bunch of beggars with him who got into a problem with the guards!"
Suki and Katara froze for a moment.
Beggars?
A strange idea struck them but it was hard to believe it. After all, it was Nik. There was no way he could have already done it, right?
Suki no longer leaned on Katara and made sure to push herself a bit more so that they could make it to the village in time.
"How did you find us?" Katara questioned.
"Aunt Wu told me you two would pass by here. She is trying to keep the situation in control."
"I thought she was resting," Suki narrowed her eyes, causing Meng to smile in embarrassment, "Um... she told me she was resting, too... soooo..." the girl dragged her words, adopting a cute smile as the two rolled their eyes.
---
"About time you bastards left!"
"Yeah! To think you all would imprison these guys under the Makapu mountain... wait, didn't the Fire Lord announce in his procession that all the prisoners are released?"
Quite a few villagers crowded the entrance of the village as they held various farming tools in their hands and glared at the group of other civilians alongside a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers standing with a severe look on their faces.
It was noted from the very beginning that things were tense within Makapu Village. It wasn't like other villages or colonies even after all these years for reasons unknown to Nik. After all, the few villages had their children stolen and their existence erased even without killing them, an act far crueler. And then there were mixed colonies and villages.
Makapu, on the surface, looked like a mixed village but the villagers never really saw eye-to-eye with the 'invaders.'
Nik's arrival with the Water Bending prisoners ignited the suppressed frustration of the villagers, a blaze that even Wu couldn't placate with her reputation and cooperative ideas.
This instantly ostracized the families of said firebenders, too, causing them to quickly make way towards the firebenders so that in the event of them being attacked by the villagers, they could be protected.
"Oh... I'm thirsty," Hama gasped, revealing a pitiful expression unlike her vicious candor in the enjoyment of exacting vengeance on the firebenders before. Not only her, but many other waterbenders, especially females, used their haggard visage to their benefit. The pitiful group struck a chord with the villagers while the anger towards the Firebenders only grew further.
"How could you do this to them even after the war?" One of them shouted.
What could the opposing party reply with?
Even they didn't know why these prisoners were kept away in secret from the Fire Lord himself!
What the guards, at least, on the top, did know was that this order came directly from the Phoenix King himself— he who rules all.
Nik wasn't standing in the middle of the confrontation, of course. But he didn't take off his disguise now either. There were a few from the village who may have guessed his identity since there were three newcomers yesterday and suddenly the prisoners successfully escaped but not many cared at this point. Among them was Wu included, too.
"Please listen to me!" Wu shouted, her words again showing their effects. She had been unable to resolve the conflict but...
Her words revealed that she never intended to do that in the first place.
"Six years ago I predicted that the Fire Nation Soldiers will arrive and we need to remain cordial so that we can survive."
Her words caused a few villagers, especially the old and middle-aged men to flinch. Unlike popular belief, not all men are eager to fight. Some have lived long enough to fear losing their families and accumulation, too.
"The situation remains the same. Please, I have never guided you incorrectly and I don't intend to commit that mistake now. Our friends from Fire Nation are not at fault—"
"Say that after you've been imprisoned for years! Made to live with the bare minimum and boiled over magma!" Yoki hissed, causing Wu to flinch while Yoki turned to the villagers, revealing a sense of charisma Nik had noticed long ago. Aside from Hama, everyone seemed to follow Yoki's lead.
"Everyone! I don't hate Fire Nation. It's war! Our tribes had more wars before the Northern Tribe was consolidated and I get it. Power is to be grabbed— Wars are to be fought!
But we were disgraced!
Not killed, but disgraced.
Not set free after the war but continued to be disgraced over and over.
I watched my brothers crying tears of shame and my sisters almost descend into madness stemming from humiliation!"
"Granted you sons of bitches never taught females of your tribe to fight in the first place..." Hama stated under her breath mockingly, something that came to Nik's attention.
"I don't know who this lady is—" Yoki pointed at Wu, "But she calls these dishonored men— guards!" he scoffed, "Friends. She calls them friends. If it is us today, you're all next in line."
Wu trembled, "I did not mean to—"
"And when more Fire scums come in knocking once they know we have escaped, they won't spare you all," Yoki revealed, turning to Hara who had already covered himself and now stood at the entrance of the village with a dazed expression.
What Yoki had just stated was the truth.
Hara would have to report back the escape of the prisoners and when more soldiers do arrive, they would most likely trample over the lives of the villagers, probably start building another colony or have the villagers absorbed into an already developed colony.
Even Wu grew silent now while Nik lowered his head slightly.
He should have acted a bit more patiently, the realization struck hard as he had basically put an entire village to a spot by hurrying to rescue the prisoners. Sure, he could comfort himself by saying that— who knows what could have happened if he didn't save them as quickly as possible?
But didn't Nik know himself the best already?
Saving them was secondary.
For the moment, in that prison, Nik was seduced.
By Power.
Ordinarily, he wouldn't be able to achieve what he just did but with the combination of bending, Kyoshi arts, and the ability to devour clothes, Nik took care of the opponents easier than he had expected and it pushed him to test the fruits of his training further.
'I should have been a bit patient... or smarter to have a plan ready for this situation,' Nik contemplated, feeling grateful towards his luck yet cursing it simultaneously.
"Wait... Aunt Wu, is our village going to be destroyed?" One of the younger kids questioned with a horrified expression as she shook her head.
"I have not seen the destruction of Makapu Village."
"Then you saw it wrong," Yoki scoffed.
"No, she can never be wrong," one of the older men hissed at Yoki, surprising the group of waterbenders with his pious expression, "Please, we know the situation is extremely dangerous. Help us pass this tribulation, too."
While the villagers pitied prisoners, Yoki had accidentally pulled them to reality, too. In face of destruction, the villagers would only listen to one individual who had earned their trust for years— Wu.
"What's going on?" A surprised voice broke out in the middle of the group of Fire Nation soldiers as Sun pushed through. He instantly caught up to Hara and looked around, his chest heaving against his armor while he gasped for breath.
"Here comes the traitor," a young girl scoffed, her voice traveling to the other side, causing Sun to flinch.
"You call us dishonorable, fine," Hara suddenly spoke up while Wu was still pondering after hearing the villagers plea by closing her eyes and sitting cross-legged right there without caring for anyone.
"It was wrong, to have imprisoned all of you. But I was bound by my duty. It was my decision to follow the Phoenix King's order. It was my decision to let Admiral Zhao have his way. My men are innocent. Heck, Yoki, this guy is the reason why you all didn't boil in your cells!"
Hara pointed at Sun, "He is a Lavabending prodigy, you ignorant Jasper Cow Boobs! An earthbender! Stop calling my men names or I will let you guys know how the Fire Nation won the war."
"Not with your bending, obviously. Without those mechanical contraptions, you're nothing," Hama crossed her arms, glaring at the guards as they flinched.
"And Lavabender or not, dying would have been better. Don't tug on my soft side, Hara. I have none left for you," Yoki stood beside Hama provocatively. Though exhausted, the waterbenders had enough to pull their bodies in one last battle, something they showed by standing in between, guarding the villagers simultaneously.
"Wait," Wu suddenly opened her eyes as she tried to stand up. Seeing her almost fall down, Nik quickly helped her up since she stood closer to his side by the edge.
"I believe we can end current confrontation quicker than a battle," Wu was strangely sweating bullets and looked extraordinarily tired, "While I didn't manage to see things clearly for our village, I did see the separation of Tui and La. Not an eternal one but to us, it may just be considered one in our lifetimes."
"I don't know any of those weirdos!" Hama snorted and just when she expected to be backed up by Yoki, she felt something strange.
Turning around, Hama found not only Yomi but every waterbender dazed. A few revealed a look of shock and fear.
"How did you..." Yoki stuttered.
"I can predict the future. Please, believe me. Nothing will arise from the current conflict while the news of your escape may provoke the fire nation troops in the Northern Tribe to act aggressively.
I know what I have predicted and I now know the existence of those two, too."
Her words were confusing to many but Yoki's expression only grew contemplative.
"How do you propose we return to the Northern Tribe? And even if we did, the scum here would just notify his superiors," Yoki looked at Hara coldly.
"I won't." Hara surprised others.
"Warden," a few guards gasped as Hara raised his hand, "I will only inform that you all escaped. Where? Probably mainland? Who knows. You all do seem pretty pissed at the Phoenix King because of his acts of not honoring the traditions of Fire Nation."
Hara's words shook his subordinates as they grew quiet. "I never meant to keep you there, Yoki. But instead of burdening one of my brothers or sisters and living off my retirement back at Fire Nation, I would rather take this burden for myself, too. Killed many of your tribal offenders as is, might as well keep you locked up, right?"
Saying so, Hara turned to a middle-aged dark-haired woman standing with an infant in her embrace, "After this... I promise, we will leave."
"I never doubted you even once," The woman replied gently.
"I take responsibility for my men. Only the spirits know how heavy their shoulders felt all these years and how annoyed Aunt Wu felt helping us all during our tough moments. If any of the villagers spout nonsense, that's not on us."
"And why would I believe you?" Yoki frowned.
"Do I look like I give a shit?" Hara scoffed, "Run back to your tribe or stay, who cares? The reinforcement will soon arrive. If you oppose, then I assure you that Phoenix King will bury the village and despite Fire Lord's benevolence, he would only be able to watch from the sidelines.
Once those above me believe that the Villagers aren't a threat and even cordial, they will leave them alone for a period. If you're discovered by our men at the Northern Water Tribe, then it isn't on me or my men."
Yoki's frown deepened. Even Hama was silent. She might not know who Tui and La were, but she realized that staying here meant dooming herself and the villagers which didn't need to be done.
"Your name is Wu, right? If it is possible, could this village help us rest for a day? We will take our leave tomorrow," Yoki finally glanced at Wu.
"It would be our pleasure," Wu bowed slightly and the villagers accepted the decision, too. In fact, Hara's agreement with the Waterbenders made many villagers reflect on their own actions but many were still doubtful as they expected troublesome times ahead of them.
Still, one step at a time, right?
"Come on, let's round up our patrol for the day," Hara waved his hand, turning around while their families returned to their houses, not stopped or called names by any villager this time around.
---
"I don't know what might happen!" Meng continued in worry. Her words only served to make Katara and Suki worried, too.
Their steps, however, came to a halt as they saw many 'beggars' strolling around, scrutinizing items and fruits in the market. Some of them walked past them with nets and whatnot as a few gazes lingered on Katara by these men and women.
"Um... what?" Suki looked at Meng as the girl shook her head in a dazed manner, "I don't know," she uttered.
"Hmm?"
A gruff voice behind the trio shocked them as they hurriedly turned back to see a burly man with long dreadlocks and a bushy dark beard. His clothes were in tatters while he held a large bag filled with berries in his arms.
"Girl, so you're Nik's woman?"
'How the hell did he know that by a glance?' Suki shouted inwardly but what surprised her more was the fact that the man continued to look at Katara, causing both of them to feel a bit stifled.
"I'd say a man like him can do well with a more giving body," the man shrugged.
"Wait... me?" Katara pointed at herself as if to confirm what's going on in her and Suki's head.
"Well, you're the one with that betrothal necklace, aren't you? Hmm, so already waterbending and breaking traditions, are we?"
The man's presence turned a bit aggressive, causing Katara and Suki to grow tense while Meng took a step back.
"Pfft, relax. A joke, as they say! How stupid we were to not include women in waterbending training," the man shook his head while reminiscing, "Could have kept our tribe safe..." he finally clicked his tongue against his teeth, "Come on up, Nik is with Hama. Oh, by the way, call me Yoki, and don't tell Hama that I told you guys she's a witch worse than black platypuses!"
Katara still blinked, "Wait... me?" Causing Suki to glare at her with exasperation.
Why was even Katara suddenly pushed to the role next to Nik again?!
***
A/N: As you can see, I wanted Nik's sudden rise in confidence to come with a bit of consequence but not too large since that will just disrupt the story— for instance, an all out battle right within the village.
The second thing, I will be changing Freedom Paradox Physique to Freedom Paradox Source. Probably won't edit what I have already written since I'm lazy af, but the next time, it will be changed accordingly.
As for Hama, she was eventually caught in canon and I don't see it changing even without Avatar's and Katara's intervention so her appearance right now was fine with me. At first, I simply decided her to have dead of old age but then I thought it would be interesting if Katara learned actually waterbending from Hama. Not only that, Katara is older and wiser, so her current thoughts, while not drastically different from the canon counterpart, may just work well with Hama.
***
Shout-out to Gregory and Zatsuke
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