Chapter 63: Decisions Made
"... What… How?... Why?" Madara didn't even know where to start his questions, which made the girls chuckle in response.
"Well… Long story short, we went to fight in Ba Sing Se years ago, we lost some sisters but ended up victorious… but …" Kira's eyes became a bit sad "In the end, we all judged that we did our part, and decided to leave it to the next generation of Kyoshi Warriors, Suki has been doing great from what I've heard…" the mature woman chuckled at the memory of that little bratty girl becoming a fierce Kyoshi Leader like herself in the past.
"We decided to retire in Ba Sing Se… and we did for awhile…" she sighed "But Ba Sing Se… it's not the place we expected it to be…" her eyes narrowed and a shadow was cast over her face "We would have just accepted it and lived with it… but then we received a generous offer from Lao Beifong a month ago…"
"Now imagine my surprise in knowing that the little brat Madara Uchiha became one the most feared men in the world…"
"The most feared man" Madara couldn't help but to correct her with a smirk.
"Oh? But what about the Avatar?" She asked with a smirk of her own.
"Avatar Who?" Madara just shrugged.
The Kyoshi Warriors and former Beifong Guards couldn't help but laugh, Madara was right. If what they heard was right, the current Avatar is still a kid who is more worried about having fun than fighting for balance, Madara on the other hand…
"Who needs the Avatar anyway?" Said one of the guards jokingly, making the others chuckle and agree.
Even Madara chuckled, relieving a bit of his grief and sadness.
"I wish I could offer you a warm welcome, with a festival and feast… but as you can see... things over here aren't in a festive mood, it's complicated… I'm sure Lao informed you all considering what he wrote to me."
"Yes, he did" Gan replied "He was aware of the attack and sent us as a support unit for you, but it seems we arrived late…" Gan's shoulders dropped with a bit of melancholy, they could feel and see the atmosphere of this place… Death...
If they arrived a day earlier…. Many of the guards and even the Kyoshi Warriors narrowed their
eyes at that thought, how many could've been saved?
"I can't believe that Lao would send you all to help me… specially after the whole thing with Toph…" Madara was still surprised about it.
"He considers you a friend… he gave you that sirship, how hard is it to offer a regular ship and some foot soldiers like ourselves?"
"You know about the airship?" Madara eyes went wide.
"Well… It was hidden for years, but eventually came to light."
"Won't that bring trouble to Lao?"
Shrugging the soldier just replied "He is wealthy enough to not have to worry about that kind of
stuff, the person who sold it to him is toasted though… "
"I am talking about his wife…"
"Oh… Yeah she tore him a new hole…"
"Oof… Well he kinda deserve it…"
The soldiers all laughed, doing the math Lei approached Madara saying "Mr. Uchiha, it seems that Lao sent us around a hundred soldiers and five Kyoshi Warriors…"
"LEI, IS THAT YOU!?" Shouted Gan while hugging the local Jackie Chan.
"H-hey Gan…. Glad to see you alive and kickin…"
"You fucker, you haven't aged a day!" Gan stared at this man that was clearly older than him, but looked now that they were the same age.
Lei chuckled.
As the day went by, the new soldiers helped with the work needed to repair the affected zone, they didn't even ask for instructions from Madara, and went directly to the workers and builders responsible for the repairs.
Madara trained them to be independent and a 'self-sufficient group', which means they grew accustomed to have the initiative to act as they saw fit instead of waiting for orders that may come with a pricy delay.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of it all, he trained the Kyoshi just to get some start up help in this world, and trained the Beifong soldiers just because he was paid to do so, nothing was done for selflessness, every act had a purpose… but…"
"They said that no good deed goes unpunished but… " Madara couldn't help but stare at the large number of men working together, while enjoying his kiseru from his balcony, a smile appeared on his lips as he watched his proud little 'kingdom'.
The resort won't sleep tonight, everyone is working, and the next day… not a single soul complained about it.
The next day started with a very complicated morning.
He talked with all the people that wished to leave his lands and simply approved, and even gave them some supplies for their journey south towards Hotari, a Fire Nation town that the Avatar and his group just left a few days prior after enjoying the Fire Day Festival.
It was the closest safe colony for them, and the road wasn't dangerous, it was just a long walk… a few days long walk...
One would ask why would Madara help people wanting to leave his lands, and the reason is pretty simple.
First, Madara … kinda… owned Hotari and many other Colonies, not directly but at this point, his influence on the colonies were so strong that most governors reported to him and were under his wallet.
Second, he used this as an opportunity to send a few loyal men disguised as former workers to go towards other colonies and keep an eye on their rulers, he can't afford to have turncoats at this point.
After seeing them off, Madara went straight to the funeral rites, he ditched completely the speech about the Fire Lord and his family, and all their glory and bullshit like that, he avoided anything related to the Fire Nation rulers and military as a whole, but kept certain Fire Nation customs since all his people are technically from the Fire Nation.
The bodies were cremated, but instead of being covered in a fire nation flag while the fire engulfed them from below, it was a simple silky red cloth, no banner, no sigil, no brand. It respected their origin but didn't put them under their rule, and everyone understood the silent message.
Madara wasn't happy, and Lei, Kaliya, Nari and the employees weren't happy either. They were not dumb, no matter how much a mercenary band was bold, they would never attack a Colony, even if it was under the request of the Earth King himself.
To be so bold and directly attack the colony they were either under a suicide attack, which is very unlikely because there would be no point, or they received the green light to act, kill, pillage and destroy from someone that gave them insurances.
After that, Madara gathered the Kyoshi Warriors and his new group of elite soldiers.
"We have to leave again," Madara said with a somber tone, he had made his decision. Being a fence-sitter was never his thing, and he would rather try and fail than never try at all, his previous life was already filled with doubts and insecurities, in this life he wanted to change that.
"Do you think it's wise, Madara?" Asked Nari while sitting on her zabuton cushion "The employees won't like it, they will consider you abandoning them in their mourning period, it goes against the conduct of a governor and you will be disrespecting their customs."
The former Beifong guards and Kyoshi Warriors didn't care much, it wasn't their customs, and honestly neither did his own team, but they knew how important it was for a leader to lead by example, especially in trying times.
For a few seconds they could see reluctance in Madara's eyes, but it went away fairly quickly as he asserted himself. "If my intelligence is correct… a Fire Nation fleet should be heading towards the Northern Watertribe as we speak."
As he finished, Nari's, Lei's and even his own eyes went towards Kaliya, who displayed a shocked and worried expression.
"B-boss… are ye sure about that?" The pirate girl asked.
"Yes, and they have the numbers and…" He narrowed his eyes and stared at Kaliya "They have knowledge of the two friends your people keep behind the palace…"
As if struck by lightning, Kaliya instantly stood up "Don't tell me they are planning-"
"To get rid of them? I would love to say that no one is that stupid, but I know of one Admiral that actually is…" Madara interrupted her with a somber tone.
"And how will you deal with the aftermath?" Asked Kira, the former Kyoshi leader. "If you do that, you will be dropping all pretenses with the Fire Nation, and from what I've seen and heard today… that's the only reason why they went through the cumbersome task to gather mercenaries instead of attacking directly."
She wasn't knowledgeable of this place or the circumstances in details, but she was smart and cunning, one doesn't go to war, fight, kill and survive to tell the tale without learning a few things, and if there's one thing she knows it's how ruthless the Fire Nation was to their enemies.
"She is right," Nari agreed "If you do this, there will be no turning back, they will send their fleet here without second thoughts, and even if you kill most of them and keep killing… they won't stop until you are out of the game… you can't risk everything like this."
Madara couldn't help but chuckling "You are right…"
Everyone was quite relieved after hearing that, unfortunately…
"But…"
There it is, there's always a 'but' with Madara…
As they looked at him, they saw his eyes turning red and glowing crimson, with three comma shaped marks around his pupils. For the Kyoshi Warriors and the Elite Guards it was a shock, they never heard of that kind of ability ever!
"… how would they find out… if there's no witnesses left?"
"That…"
"Are you planning on…"
"Exterminating every single soldier that wears the fire nation armor?" Madara asked with a grin. "Why not? They wanted to exterminate my people… I shall erase theirs from existence."
The room was silent for a few seconds, stares being shared and thoughts being formulated inside their heads.
"How will ye do it?" Kaliya was the one to ask, she was from the Northern Watertribe, no way in hell would she live to see it fall, regardless of what happened in the past.
"Wrong question," Madara stood up and looked at his people "How will WE do it?... and to answer that…" He looked up, drawing everyone's attention to the stormy skies, covered in dark clouds that threatened to drown the land under heavy rain, ironically it wasn't even noon yet.
"The Moon is on our side tonight… don't you think, Kaliya?"
It was decided then and there, Madara would take only twenty people with him. His whole team, Nari, Lei, Kaliya, the five Kyoshi warriors under the leadership of Nari, and Gan would lead a 10-men team on their assault.
Xi was new to this place, so Madara never considered her as an aid in this battle, nor did he share with her anything related to what happened, the girl only knew that mercenaries were exterminated for being too greedy and attacked the 'Dragon Lord's land'.
"The plans are set, we leave in one hour under the cover of the storm… and Jackie…" Concluded Madara while standing up together with everyone else
"Yes, Mr. Uchiha?"
"Bring me my armor."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Here's another chapter, so don't go thinking that i abandoned you guys! XD
I was writing this chapter before yesterday's chapter was even published! so yeah don't worry about it... i am not abandoning this fanfiction! i dedicated WAY TO MUCH TIME in research just to give up now!
Now it kinda... annoys....?... me that some people can't understand what a human character is, some people want the perfect MC, with no fears, no hesitation, no flaws... i can't write that, that is a shit MC... My protagonists needs flaws, they need all that stuff that some people call "Pathetic" and "Weak" and "Coward"... all i can say to someone that wants a shitty stoic, gary stu protagonist is.... bruh...
I want to write a growing character, that learn as his journey goes on. In terms of power, because he became Madara, that is pretty much a deadend. He is freaking OP. So i will approach that from a different side, which is his humanity, his personality, his fears, his worries.
He will learn and grow, and will NEVER be perfect, so if you expect him to just overcome everything eventually... give up, this story isnt for you. Human's arent perfect and will never be, so my MC wont be perfect either, he will work and evolve, but never reach the pinnacle of perfection, there will always be weakness to explore and force his growth in different directions.
For those who like what i write and dont cry about you, you guys are beautiful and i hope every single one of you get your desired Waifu harem in the afterlife... because being reincarnated in these fantasy worlds SUCKS...
Believe me... i know...
XD
Chapter 64: Red Moon Rises
"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern tribe. And they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed to have disappeared from the world until now… The AVATAR!"
Said a stern looking middle aged man with bright blue eyes, typical of the Water Tribes, dark brown hair tied and stylized in a tribal way and wearing long blue robes with white fur around his collar.
After a loud round of applause and cheers he continues.
"We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday. Princess Yue is now of marrying age!" he concluded while gesturing to a white-haired young woman.
"Thank you, Father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times!" Yue said with a calm and composed expression.
Giving a curt nod to his daughter, the chief then gestured to two young men led by another stern old man, this one with white hair, who was standing by. "Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!"
As Pakku and his two students bent significant blobs of water, they captivated Aang and Katara. They merged the three blobs into one stream, bending it around each other.
While Aang and Katara were enamored by the "classy" waterbending techniques, Sokka was enamored by something… or someone… else….
"Hi there. Sokka. Southern Water Tribe." Said the teen, giving his typical grin and raising an eyebrow.
"Very nice to meet you." Answered Yue, smiling and bowing slightly.
The two of them shared an awkward silence for a moment until nervously Sokka decided to take the lead in their conversation;
"So… uhhh…. You're a princess. Huh? You know…. Back in my tribe I'm kind of like a prince myself…" The poor sod's rizz would work… possibly… if his sister wasn't nearby to counter it…
"Ha!" Katara interrupted, "Prince of what, exactly?"
"A lot of things!" Sokka shouted in exasperation. Can't his sister work for his benefit once in her life?! "Do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here…."
"My apologies, Prince Sokka." Katara responded, with very obvious sarcasm.
As Sokka tried and failed to level up his rizz and speech skill tree to score a Northern Princess while being sabotaged by his own sister, Chief Arnook and Pakku were having a talk;
"Master Pakku, meet your newest student, the Avatar" Arnook said, with Aang bowing to the master.
"Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment" Pakku said, his memory of Madara and Kaliya were still vivid in his mind, as well as Madara's illusion that made him have nightmares for weeks.
Comparing him… the Avatar feels… unpolished… and that's being polite, the boy in front of him didn't seem to have what it takes to end the war, hell he was more excited about the sight of the city and the food than talking to him… but again… he had been wrong before…
"My friend and I can't wait to start training with you! After we relax for a couple of days." Replied the Avatar with a big grin.
'A couple of days he says...' the old Master frowned. "If you want to relax, then I suggest visiting a tropical island. If not, I'll see you both at sunrise. Good night."
The next day at dawn, Aang and Katara finally made it to the place where Chief Arnook told the Avatar to meet Pakku.
"I've waited for this my whole life," Said Katara excitedly "I finally get to learn from a real waterbending Master!"
Aang nodded with his huge toothy smile as they turned to Pakkyu who was busy bending a stream of water. "Good morning, Master Pakku."
The old man dropped the water and spoke in an annoyed tone "No, please, march right in. I'm not concentrating or anything…"
"Uhhh… this is my friend… Katara. The one I told you about…"
"I'm sorry. I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friend was a girl. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending." Answered Pakku.
Angrily Katara shouted "What do you mean you won't teach me? I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me no!"
Pakku stared at her for a second 'childish and entitled, just because she made her way up here, she believes she has the right to demand my knowledge and skills… a far cry from you, Kaliya…'
"No." he said with a bored tone.
"But there must be other female waterbenders in your tribe!" said Katara.
"Here, the women learn from Yagoda to use their waterbending to heal. I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her student, despite your bad attitude."
"I don't want to heal; I want to fight!"
"I can see that. But our tribe has customs, rules."
"Well… your rules STINK!"
Aang was also angry "Yeah, they're not fair! If you won't teach Katara then…"
Pakku could only stare at the bald boy with a bit of disappointment "Then what?"
"Then I won't learn from you!" the young Airbender shouted, as if it was the ultimate threat.
'Foolish boy… at least that Firebender had the guts to stare me in the eye and make me feel fear, Kaliya at least had the guts to challenge me to prove her point… these two are just… disappointing…'
"Well, have fun teaching yourself then, I'm sure you'll do a great job."
"Wait! Aang didn't mean that!" Shouted the Southern Water Tribe girl right before running towards the fuming Avatar that was already leaving.
'To think that the girl is less of a fool than the Avatar… how disappointing indeed…'
Approaching the bald boy, Katara grabbed his shoulders "You can't risk your training for me. You have to learn from Master Pakku…. Even if he is a big jerk..." she said the final part while stealing glances at the old Master. It's not that he didn't notice or hear it, he simply didn't care.
Aang tried to argue but Katara stared at him as a mother would stare at her misbehaving child, which for some reason made Aang agree with her point of view real quick…
As Aang approached back towards the old Master he was blasted away with a stream of water, making him sprawl on the icy floor of the training platform.
"Why are you laying down already? We barely started… "
Hours passed. Aang was beaten a lot, Sokka was embarrassed a lot, and Katara learned a lot, healing was as bad as she thought and she could see how useful it could be to the team… but she still wanted to fight… the necklace background and also Kanna… or, as many knew her as, Gran-Gran...
Aang then decided to do a more clandestine move that night after the gang talked about their day, he went out of his way to try to teach Katara what Pakku taught him, which didn't end well for the Avatar boy… which led to the current events outside of the main palace of Agna Qel'a.
"Are you crazy, Katara? You're not going to win this fight!" said Sokka worriedly.
"I don't care!" Responded the fuming girl while removing her coat.
"You don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher!" Said Aang, feeling guilty.
"I'm not doing it for you! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!" Katara said as she saw Pakku coming down from the palace; "So, you decided to show up?"
But contrary to her expectations… the old man simply walked away
"Aren't you going to fight?!" the angry Katara asked
"Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong-" Before he could continue talking, whips of water were sent towards him, to which he dodged easily.
"I see…. Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad? Study closely then!" the old Master bent two streams of water from nearby pools and sent them both at a charging Katara.
The impact made the girl fall back while the old master joined the two streams together. Encircling both Katara and himself in a forceful ring of water "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."
The fight continued with Katara trying every trick she learned on her way here, she used every trick she managed to learn from the scroll as well, but all of that merely made the old Pakku raise an eyebrow and continue blasting her with water until she was trapped.
The curtains closed as Team Avatar finally learned about Pakku and Kanna's engagement, and after a long drawn out drama, Pakku finally decided to accept the girl as his student.
'Perhaps… Perhaps you were right all along… Kaliya'
Thought the old man as he walked back to his residence.
For the next few days, both Aang and Katara joined Pakku at the training grounds, Sokka tried to woo Yue, which would've worked easily before she met Madara.
Did she have feelings for Madara? No… not quite, but the point is… the fact that Madara supplied her with the excitement she didn't know she needed from the outside world, which would make Sokka's endeavor significantly more challenging since he wasn't the first 'outsider' that she met.
To be fair, most of Madara's stories about the outside world were a bit more exciting than Sokka's, with the one exception being the Fire Nation Avatar Temple, but even that was just on par with Madara's tales.
The poor guy didn't even have a chance in that. What could Sokka possibly talk about that would be more exciting than a gigantic hidden library that existed since the dawn of humanity, guided by an equally old and wise Owl spirit? To her? That values spirits and worshiped them as divines? ... NOTHING!
Not that Sokka didn't have a chance… It was just that different from canon… he wasn't meeting sheltered and easily impressionable girls… both Suki and Yue had their horizons expanded before meeting him, so now he had to do more than just being charming and funny... he had to be… impressive… which he wasn't yet, but, who knows about in the future?
The fun days came to an end abruptly though, once Sokka spotted the soot, also known as 'Black Snow', that was known to precede a Fire Nation attack. He knew the time had come… The fire nation was there, and this time he felt it would be war.
To make things even worse for Sokka, he also met his rival in romance, a tall handsome young warrior named Hahn, but that drama was short-lived… no drama needed while having the Northern Water Tribe be capital sieged by fireballs after all.
The attack was easily put on hold due to the full moon shining brightly in the sky, which gave Team Avatar the time needed to parlay with Tui and La at the spirit Oasis, unfortunately for them… Zuko managed to steal the Avatar away.
On the streets of Agna Qel'a, the battle was bloody, things that the TV series didn't show, such as the waterbenders using sharp ice to cut and pierce or simply drowning Fire Nation soldiers with their bending, while the firebenders would burn people on their path mercilessly.
With people dying left and right on both sides, the Fire Nation was being pushed back, the Full Moon was no joke and doubled the waterbenders output. Although extremely mild when compared to the Sozin's Comet enhancement, one must not forget the high quantity of waterbenders and the home advantage, everything in Agna Qel'a was made of ice... everything was a weapon under their disposal here.
The fighting was getting more and more chaotic and bloody from both sides until suddenly… the Moon turned red.
"I am… a legend now!" a middle-aged man with sideburns grinned pridefully while holding a bag above a small pond, surrounded by lush green vegetation. "The Fire Nation will, for generations, tell stories about the great Zhao, who darkened the moon! They will call me, Zhao the Conqueror, Zhao the Moon Slayer, Zhao the Invincible!" He shouts in excitement, finally… FINALLY… he achieved something great after so many defeats over the years!
While the Admiral was daydreaming about the fame and glory he would earn under his name, Team Avatar approached them and the fire nation soldiers behind Zhao positioned themselves to fight.
"Don't!" Said Aang while lifting his arms in a surrendering motion, one could see him and Sokka bruised, the southern young man was even limping. If it wasn't for the full moon helping Katara, they would have been captured by Zuko then and there, even Katara was breathing hard with many scorched marks on her tunic.
"It's my destiny, to destroy the Moon and the Water Tribe!" Said the Admiral in glee.
"Destroying the Moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe… It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the Moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world." Aang tried his best.
"He is right Zhao" An old yet stern voice came from the side
"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao responded while looking towards the hooded newcomer.
"I'm no traitor Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the Moon too, we all depend on the balance!" Said the old general with a serious expression, taking his firebending stance "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you tenfold. Let it go. NOW!"
Zhao even recoiled a bit in fear while looking at Iroh, he never saw the old general this serious before, that look in Iroh's eyes was telling him that the old general would aim for the kill the moment he attacked the spirit.
The Admiral's hands trembled; he was frustrated. Everything seemed to be working against him. He failed his mission in the swamp several years ago, he failed to capture the Avatar with the best archers in the world, he failed to capture the Prince to gain the Fire Lord's favor…
Even when he got promoted, the one spark of victory he had in the last decade of his life, he didn't feel like he achieved anything… no… he wanted to show that he was superior, he was worthy… his name should be a legend…
'I will show them all!'
The slight pause already showed a difference from canon, Zhao didn't crouch down to release the spirit, no… under the red moonlight time seemed to slow down as his right hand ignited in flames, aiming for the bag held by his left hand.
Aang, Katara, Yue, Iroh, Sokka… everyone's eyes went wide at the sheer craziness of Zhao's move, they all wanted to move and stop it, but it was too sudden! Even Iroh, who was somewhat prepared, knew that even if he blasted his fire towards Zhao now it would be too late.
They could only watch Zhao's crazy smile in horror, as the Admiral's flames slowly drew closer to the Moon spirit.
As the flames drew closer, a black shadow seemed to rush in front of Zhao, inches before the flames consumed the almighty spirit fish.
A loud CLANK sound echoed throughout the oasis, drawing everyone's attention to the weirdly shaped fan, upside-down and halfway sunk into the earth leaving a trail on the pristine grass, while a man with a wild, long black hair, black clothes underneath crimson armor and red eyes that seemed to reflect the red moon above stood on top of the fan, with one foot on top of the tip of the handle while the other was on the lower part of the fan, in a Sasori style stance.
On his right hand a bloodied scythe could be seen, while his left hand held the bag carrying the moon spirit…. And… a severed arm?!
"It's been a while… Little Zhao… we finally meet again…"
What followed was a scream of pain and agony
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
Hello there! i came here to close 2023 with a golden curtain!
Thank you all for your patience my friends, many things happened the past 2 months.
Our family had a serious scare with a possible disease that my wife could've had... luckly she doesnt! but it took a long time to figure it out and we were all dreading.
On top of that, on the day of the good results, we also adopted a new cat! he was meowing outside and he is just a little kitten, a very mischeivous kitten, but a lovable one!
We named him Ace, and nowi have to worry about my frail things... because the little bastard doesnt calm down!
I wish you all a great 2024, you are all great, and i hope to see you all next year for the continuation of the fanfiction.
Im sorry for the delay again, but i do this for hobby not for money so yeah x-x i write when inspired AND have available time...
Cheers you lovable bastards!
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